Ramadan Buffet 2016 – Merdeka Palace

Posted on By sweet surrender 2 Comments on Ramadan Buffet 2016 – Merdeka Palace

It’s that time of the year again. Merdeka Palace Hotel and Suites is having their annual Ramadan Buffet Dinner. Was there to try it out on the first day. Pardon the bad photos, my camera’s battery decided to die on me when I wanted to take the first photo so had to use my phone instead.


There are more than 120 varieties of food on offer. Not too big, not too small. Just nice.


This year’s theme is Arabian. They have added new choices of food in the menu too. Dimsum is one of them.


Lok-lok and pizza. The pizza is the exact same pizza you’ll get from their Italian restaurant, Ristorante Beccari. Love the pizza, one of my favourites.


This year, you don’t only get roti john, you’ll also find shawarma, and mini burger. Another new addition is the cucur station where you can find banana, prawn, and vegetable fritters.


The whole roasted lamb of Merdeka Palace never failed me. Another favourite of mine. Meanwhile, I was craving for satay as well, so satay was another must-go for me hahah…


Wide selections of salad with many types of dressings and appetizers to choose from also. Umai of Merdeka Palace is a must-have.


Sarawak Laksa should not be missed. There’s also pasta station but I forgot to take photos of it duh… Not to forget the hot dishes such as rendang, curry, mixed vegetables, and so on.

Oh ya! Another new addition, Beriani Gam (no photos), a dish from Johor, serving for the first time in Merdeka Palace.


I didn’t get to try every single one of the food there, it’s just too much. I just went for my favourites. Hehehe… That’s all ate and some appetizers such as umai and ulam-ulaman. Don’t have the capacity to eat that much anymore. I need few sessions to try everything -.-”

Let’s just say, there’s great improvement this year. The price is still not so bad if compare to other places. You can even opt for the Ramadan Buffet in Aurora Court, the coffee house of the hotel, which will have all the food in Balai Merdeka minus the roasted lamb.

Ramadan Buffet Dinner is priced at RM86nett/adult at Balai Merdeka (6th June – 5th July) or RM76nett/adult at Aurora Court (13th June – 5th July).

For reservation or more information, please call 082 – 258 000 ext 8061(Aurora Court) / 8054(F&B Department)

Food Porn

Kayaking at Semadang River

Posted on By sweet surrender No Comments on Kayaking at Semadang River

Kayaking… Years back, friends kept asking me to go with them but I rejected them every single time. Now… I have no choice but to participate in it. After dating the Orangutan at Semenggoh, we went to Kampung Bengoh at Padawan area for river kayaking.


We started the journey at Kampung Bengoh. Briefing was done to make sure we know the basics, what we should do and not do. It’s a 11km journey which took about 4-5 hours to complete with pit stops of course.


Getting ready to start…


It was a really hot day. Good thing there’s rain the day before so the river flowed better and didn’t need much energy. Well… Still requires energy, just not as hard, we just let the river did the job while enjoying the work of mother’s nature. There’s some small rapids too.


Our first pit stop was a mini waterfall (Aruang Pi’ at Trusan Mini Waterfall). Need a great deal of balancing for me to walk in as I’m very bad in balancing. What’s more, I was just wearing flip flops which is not recommended. It’s better to wear aqua shoes or water shoes. The rocks are slippery. It was great to dip into the water after kayaking under the hot sun.


After that, we continued on to Kampung Danu for lunch and rest. You can go around the kampung to experience the surrounding before continuing with the journey.

Along the river, the view changed from greens to lots of limestone formation along the way. It’s so pretty! Just too bad, I don’t have the photos. All the photos in this post are not taken by me. You can google it by keying in “Semadang kayak”.

We had a final stop at a sandy bank (I think it’s called Sibudak) for a rest and swim if you like before continuing the journey to the pit stop at Kampung Semadang.

It was a really good experience and eye opener even for a local like me. I did suffer bites from sand flies because we stopped too long at the riverbank for vine climbing activity. I would suggest not to stop here unless you would like to climb the vine. Was tanned by the sun too which is unavoidable but it’s nothing major.

Did suffer from shoulder and arm soreness that evening. However, after taking paracetamol, I woke up feeling no pain or soreness the next morning. I’m quite surprised since I’m not a person who do outdoor activities or even exercise. Hence, I guess anyone with no serious illness can do it without much problem. You’ll be taken care by experienced guides too. The river is quite safe, it’s not too deep and you have life jacket also. Great for beginners too.

Last but not least, be sure to apply sunscreen and insect repellent. Cap is very important. Wear something light with long sleeves to cover your arm if can. If you have swim tights would be great too. Sunglasses isn’t recommended unless you can secure it well enough from falling off. Don’t forget about towel and dry clothes for change after kayaking.

Will I go again? Depending on my mood hahaha… I’m not an outdoor person, that explains why. Still I would recommend it to anyone who are interested to try. It’s a good one.

Going Places, Uniquely Kuching

Semenggoh Wildlife Centre

Posted on By sweet surrender No Comments on Semenggoh Wildlife Centre

Semenggoh Wildlife Centre is where you can see semi-wild Orangutans and their babies roaming around the place freely. No cage at all. It’s located at Padawan area. Feeding time is between 9-10am and 3-3.30pm.

I can’t remember how many times I’ve visited this place. I think once or twice during primary and secondary school. Anyway, that was decades ago hehehe… Due to work, I have the chance to visit this place again last weekend. Can’t really recall much of the place except the one of the orangutan called Ritchie. So this recent trip can be considered a totally new experience for me.


We were lukcy that day to see 3 Orangutans. These photos were taken by one of the team members. My camera is just too hopeless to zoom this far.


How to get here? You can take the green CPL bus number K6, it will go all the way to the centre. Otherwise you can just drive there or hire taxi. From Kuching without heavy jam, it should take less than an hour to reach.

It’s an interesting place to go if you would like to see Orangutan without the cage. However, there is no guarantee to see one if you’re there. It’s all pure luck. If you can see one, you’re pretty lucky. Even the guide who went with us, the most he had came across was 5 Orangutans at one time.

Hmmm… I foresee that I might be coming to this place quite often from now on hahaha… We’ll see…

Going Places, Uniquely Kuching

Bako; Semadang River; Damai

Posted on By sweet surrender 2 Comments on Bako; Semadang River; Damai

So… I was busy last weekend. I had a date with mother nature around Kuching. Posts will come soon.

Friday, visited Semenggoh Nature Reserve, a place I went back then in school. It’s been so long! More than two decades ago! I sure sounded old hahaha… Had a date with our precious orangutan again after so many years. After that, went to Kampung Bengoh for my virgin Semadang River kayaking and received love bites from the nature.

Saturday, went to Bako National Park, my virgin trip there too! WOW! Living in Kuching for so many years yet it’s my first time there. It was hot! Went into the jungle and humidity was high, I’ve not been doing this kind of thing for decades as well! *BLEK* Lucky this time no love bites. After Bako, we headed to Damai. I didn’t do much there except trying to rest. I skipped all the jungle activities hehehe… Spent a night at Damai Beach Resort in the hilltop room for the first time as well.

Sunday, I skipped the jungle activity but went to Sarawak Cultural Village and did a hair spa at the resort. Didn’t get to do a massage as there’s not much time left, we’re behind schedule. Even for Sarawak Cultural Village, I went there decades ago and this is my second time but it was my first time having lunch there. Lastly, went to Escobar for dinner and first time seeing a breathtaking view of the moon and Mount Santubong at night.

There’s a lot of first-time and second-time-after-few-decades last weekend eh? I was expecting soreness from the arm, shoulder, and the legs but none except love bites *LOL* What a surprise!

Here’s some photos from Instagram before I post them here in detailed. Another busy weekend on the way!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFoY8llmoEr/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFpjRi4GoHC/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFq7sW6GoEw/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFtHudTmoLK/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFyTfqPmoKo/

Going Places, Land of the Hornbills - Sarawak, Uniquely Kuching

Goodbye Star Cineplex

Posted on By sweet surrender 3 Comments on Goodbye Star Cineplex

3rd May 2016 marks the end of Star Cineplex operations. The door opened for Kuching’s movie goers in 1997. This place had been serving Kuchingites for almost 2 decades. Many of us grew up coming to this cineplex with friends and family.


1997, I was in secondary school. Came here few times with friends for movies and annual Chinese New Year movies with family. However, if you asked me what’s the first movie I watched here, I can’t remember.


Then, college years with college mates. Finished college, with workmates only for horror movies *LOL*.

I have no idea since when I stop coming here. I think maybe around 2006. Ever since then, I didn’t go to other cinemas in town as well. Maybe I did but it’s like once in a blue moon as I’m not a movie person.


Then, slowly big brands came to Kuching and stationed themselves in new shopping malls.


After so many years… Star Cineplex can no longer sustained its business. Competition was just too stiff. They decided to close it down for good. When the news came out, everyone was rather sad about it but what to do?


Before they closed it down for good, they had a sale to sell off things in the cineplex such as posters, souvenirs, merchandises, cinema chairs and more. I managed to go over there on their last day to have a look, nothing changed, still looked the same.


Took some photos and browsed through the area. They showcased their equipment as well. So… That’s how all these things look like.

After going around, we left the place for the last time.

Farewell Star Cineplex, one of the places in Kuching where most born in the 80’s and early 90’s spent their time with family and friends. All left now are memories.

Uniquely Kuching