71 mb for offline perusing

Again , even if your travel plans never materialise , it does help to download Tripadvisor's offline app called City Guide . Do not download from Google play direct. First download the Tripadvisor app from Google play then download the City Guide from the app button you just downloaded. This works like a dream on Android platforms.

Some of you will find this helpful without using data but useless if your battery is going kaput. So make sure you have your powerbank with you at all times. 

Banana leaf rice now with GST - Veloo Villas

This hearty wholesome fragrant rice meal below, accompanied by 3 vegies,  2 types of chicken in saucers , mutton curry in a saucer, plus one deep fried fish .....it is best eaten with fingers. Without forks and spoons . Not to say we did not want them, we did try to request for them but those very aloof servers were up to their tricks again and we were forced to use our hands.

Anyway, last time, our overall set meals did not cost THAT much. 

Early Penang durians - April 2015

Ah the thorny fruits hung up for sale are beginning to grow in numbers day by day. From a few miserable ones to this much now . Soon , the new season will be in full swing and I think we have been eyeing the stalls long enough to launch into a small but expensive indulgence today. Look at the guy pose as if those were trophies behind him.

It's been drizzling, the weather is damp and cold,

, perfect , let's eat.

Mc Cafe Double Wall Mug

Finally managed to get a hold of this. Been looking in all the wrong places when it was right under my nose all this time. 

Priced below RM20 , yes , it does seem a wee bit too pricey at first. After all , this not Starbucks .

Fish head curry stall - Sin Kim San , Rangoon Road

It's been raining hence the weather is much cooler today. Time for something spicy. An excuse actually . I just want to set my mouth on fire while satiating my craving for some maddeningly soft fleshed fish .

Fish head curry does just that. It's the best of both worlds. 

The expert sets to selecting the species . Kalah or Kannah I don't know which or what, but damn, the flesh is damn, damn , damn good....like a cross between chicken , swamp  crab and frog leg . Yes I have eaten frog legs but that was YEARS ago . This is a fish we're talking about with texture of  

3 animal species. 

All this talk about the head, where's the fish head ? Ok let's lift it out from under the luscious pile of okra , onions and mint now shall we ? 

Rough guide on how to spot false official statements

The IGP certainly has his hands full this week. But what we're concerned with here is how to tell if a statement which you get via the social media is false or not.

50 Year Calendar Keychain

Bitt DoubleIS is one gorgeous mum

who travels everywhere with her beautiful children and not have a hair out of place. Big sighhhh on my part. I seriously do not know how she does it. 

Seeing how she enjoyed Rome, got me digging this 50 year calendar keychain out .... which you guessed it, I bought from Rome last year.

10 Reasons to Start your morning happy at Mc Donald ' s - coupons !

Just when we're all thinking of ways to save, and fastfood meals seem to be cheaper than so many of our overrated street foods nowadays, Mc Donald's seems to emphatise with us more than politicians from both divides.

Thing is, you first gotta lay your hands on this coupon flyer. Found it partially hidden beside the cash counter. 

Got me a few.

It's a 2 page flyer. First page .

Fantastic savings here.

Second page.

These offers apply exclusively to Mc Cafe outlets only.

Tripadvisor views at last count

 Tripadvisor knows how to word their emails into coaxing a review out of you. 

This is what they sent me last Saturday.

Apparently my 60 reviews have been read by 44 , 623 travellers . Is that a lot or what ? 

Temple of the Batcave - not Batman ' s hideout

Well I didn't exactly go in. This is just a picture of the sign towards the property.

No relevance to the subject but if you must know , some old timers in Penang actually have consumed bat soup before and according to them these fruit bats are very tasty but no , I am never having any thank you . 

Anyway , this is a temple. Not Batman's hideout. 

If you're near Penang Hill , you might wanna check this out. A lot of legends exist and the Tua Pek Kong is a Malay spirit whom the Chinese here worship.

Supermarket stalker

I am now approaching my mid 40s. Of late , I have been having a lot of problems and I mean a heck of a lot of problems, with male strangers who just start tailing me especially when I am in a supermarket. It's not only annoying. Does not flatter me one bit. In fact , I feel so terribly harassed . It's gotten so bad , especially after I caught one of them waiting outside the women's changing room I was in, nowadays I rarely walk around unescorted .

Look , I really do not know what the problem is. I don't wear mini skirts , hot pants nor plunging necklines. I've got some meat in all the wrong places, plus I don't even wear an ounce of makeup. I certainly don't think I am that attractive neither is this blog of mine that famous  . 

Nasi Kandar Shahirah Banu - meal for less than £1 or €1.30

Today , it is still possible to get a rice meal below RM5 in Penang.

Two small cuts of chicken , 2 tiny pieces of ladies fingers , 1 salted duck egg ( bad habit picked up from Malacca ) , big scoop of snakegourd , cost me  RM4.70 ......not inclusive of papadom and drinks.

Former TAR college students might know this restaurant when it was formerly known as Jamal Tariq .

In fact , I have personally seen Karpal Singh's son , Gobind Singh Deo ( RIP ) come takeaway from here before. 

But this is an Indian movie you know ?

We had a few hours to kill. Let's watch an Indian movie then.

At the ticket booth, I ask the girl for a suggestion. 

" Which is better ? Komban ?  Or Detective Byomkesh ? "

The pretty Indian lass looks shocked. She's probably wondering whether these 2 Chinese people are lost in Bukit Jambul. But she manages to keep her tongue in check.

" I have watched Komban already but not the other . Komban is a Tamil movie and Detective Byomkesh is a Hindi one " she adds on . Settled on the Hindi one , though the movie poster was oddly Tin Tin inspired.

When is a Taufoo Pok not a Taufoo Pork

* Today , I'm still getting search queries popping up on this subject in my stats bar , so if you're reading this , hopefully you will walk away more informed *

All thanks to a misspelling by a chain restaurant , today some people are still ( after all these months !) convinced that this beancurd by product , contains pork. Taufoo pok is made in a similar manner as cheese is . Coagulants are added into soy milk then twice deep fried at different temperatures till they look like gluten puffs. If you take too much, obviously it's not the healthiest of choices .

It's delicious but should be eaten in moderation. 

And Pok is a Chinese word which means Puff by the way.

As there are many vegans in the country , some who are so fastidious they don't even consume garlic ,think about it .... if this ingredient so much as contained meat , 

they would see to it that life becomes very miserable for the manufacturer indeed. 

Creepy Penanti highway rest stop

There are some places along our highways that are absolutely creepy and spooky even during bright daylight. This is one of them. 

The covered overhead bridge connects both sides of the highway and from the looks of it , there were plans to set up fast food restaurants in the overhead bridge itself just like the one in Sungai Buloh.

As you can see , nothing materialised which is pretty odd actually. 

The Canadian Lobster Crazy Deal - Manhattan Fish Market

Folks in Kedah went half mad when they saw the price. Me , I sulked away, seeing how the outlet I usually patronise was promoting Australian Spanner Crab at that moment.

 Well , now that the lobster deal has finally hit our shores , I certainly did not need any convincing .

 I mean , how can lobster be cheaper than beef  right ? 

Well actually , prices have dropped in the western world . Caused by overfishing , which reduced predators , resulting in a  lobster glut. 

Oh , who cares , I still think this is madness ! One please, thank you .

An occasional nomad

Autumn and early summer are some of my favourite seasons.

Having hibernated with my eyes wide open from winter through spring , my feet are getting itchy once again to flit through departure gates. 

But first I have to wake up from my comfy slumber and go disturb my agent first. Next, tackle the one place I have put off for so long. 

One freaky meal

The meal was supposed to act like a pick me up. A self reward for restraining myself in the spend to kingdom come department. And for having to finally go trudge somewhere I have all these years, not been keen on going. 

Until I noticed the man on the left. I have to admit I did feel jittery. It's the beard that's gotten the bad press and sadly , I have been negatively influenced I'm afraid .  

This coming from me , a person who saved one old dude from getting pepper sprayed by a travel companion .....all because she too was spooked out by his appearance. He never knew what was about to hit him when I hissed at her to keep it away.

How not to eat mangoes

Some of you are eagerly awaiting the next Penang durian season. Currently there are a few stalls selling just a few precious fruits but whatever is available, is considered the " head " or beginning or early fruit thus the taste won't be as robust . Most local folks won't buy them as the fruit will be quite tasteless and flat , just like Thai durians so don't waste your money . Malaysian durians are very creamy with flavours ranging from sweet to slightly bitter and sharp.

As for me, whenever the craving crops up , I will get some durian ice cream but lately supplies for that too seems to have dried up. 

Full Breakfast Menu at The River Grill

Breakfast here is not only very filling but the eye catching placements make the experience more interesting and appetizing for diners young and old. 

Plus , I saw a few vegans who were clearly pleased with the very healthy spreads that do not sacrifice good old tasty foods blessed by Mother Nature.

Two mornings in a row , I headed straight towards the attractive salad portions placed into little glass cups with different dressings . 

Orangey brown base contains a sweet sesame based dressing.

No GST at Ah' Basri Satay !

While other mamak restaurants are charging RM3 for one plate of rice and RM2 for an egg , see for yourself.

Really no GST ! Still RM1.20 for one chicken satay.

Not only that, the size of their satay is still the biggest in I dare say the whole of Malaysia. Not even 5 star hotels serve satay this big.

They've now opened up another outlet on the mainland and yet have decided to not burden us customers.

How cool is Ah' Basri Satay ? Very admirable. An example for other traders to follow. 

Revenge of the Swarm Golden Sticker

Thought Swarm was all about no brainer reward stickers. It came with the Foursquare app which I use occasionally to find new places to eat and follow interesting people with a similar thinking or lifestyle. 

Then the other day, when I was in Malacca , I finally checked in enough times to earn this Shopping Bag Icon Golden Sticker next to my face. 

Whopeeee :D ! 

The River Grill | Casa Del Rio

No I haven't finished uploading all my Casa Del Rio pics yet. Next post happening now.

From the outside, the restaurant looks quite intimidating what with the iron gates and grills . More so at night. 

We are down here for breakfast as it is included in our stay.

Menu is placed out front .

Going in now.

A funny picture for your bad day

Found this so funny , I just had to copy and paste this picture . Taken from Dayak People Educated's facebook page I think the comments rolling in are even funnier.

Everybody knows him. He's like the single most powerful dude in Sarawak.

With his young Middle Eastern wife next to him , any wonder how he ended up with one button the way it is ?

There goes my resolve

The following is a GST groan post , so if you've had enough of that well, stop don't go on further.

After getting GST-ed for essentials such as sanitary pads , and instant noodles , this is the next shocker.

My favourite mamak slapped us with a 6 % charge on a rounded off total, for 5 pieces of chicken , 4 plates of rice , 3 potato bergedils , 3 drinks , 2 cuts of skatefish. 

@#$^&€£¥@#$/^&€¥₩ !!!!!!

Some of us have no fighting chance and it is up to us to bring them a little happiness

Caught the Mixed Martial Arts MIMMA event today at Prangin , a complex filled with the most hodge podge collection of mall trawlers from the down and out to those who are definitely not.

And these 2 fighters provided the most excitement of the night , yet the event drew no blood . Why not when there is no raw and burning hunger for fame. 

Coca-cola aluminium polar bear bottle

As the title suggests , this whole bottle with a zagged cap is made from aluminium.

Very attractive jacket design won't come off that easily. 

Priced at RM7.90 , I do think that it is quite costly but still I got one for myself

Ikan Bakar with salted duck egg gravy - a revelation

It's run down places like these that hold surprising gems . Though I have been patronising this food court , on and off each time we are in town , for the Nyonya chapfun and Bubur Chacha, a quick check in , via Foursquare made me decide to try out the much recommended Ikan Bakar stall .

Selected mixed seafood ( squid rings , clams , skatefish ) and waited for quite a long time before this graced our table. 

I Want D Kuching - Oh ' s Spinning Cat

So I missed out on the 1st week promo. Only wanted the cat but there was none to be found in outlets on the island. Which led me to start trying to weedle outlet managers for one. Didn't work though I did make one funny fella remember me really well past all the crowds of people. Day before , he told me to leave my number and I scrawled " I want D Kuching" instead of  " Kucing " on a bill and shoved it in his direction. Maybe I shouldn't have done that because the next night he looked me straight in the eye and told me with slumped shoulders 

" Tak de "

Serve me right. Anyway I finally got it after being held ransom to purchase a Happy Meal set at yet another outlet  . 

Just what I need

With GST applied to Instant Noodles even it's no wonder Tun Mahathir has gone on a rampage.

Leave the titans to slug it out , as I busy myself with these products. 

Fantastic

I made the shortlist sometime back.

Submitted all my documents and had to wait it out.

Took weeks for them to get back to me with this fantastic piece of news.

Now that it is finally here and confirmed , I cannot tell you how relieved I am. 

Yes baybeh !

Mamee Chef Gold Recipe - Kari Seribu Rasa

Earlier this year  , Mamee Chef gave away 1000 trial boxes of their Gold Recipe series over facebook .Each box contained 2 varieties of noodles . One of Mee Tarik and the other , Beehoon vermicelli. Both Kari Seribu Rasa flavour. 

I received it before CNY and procrastinated until I flipped through yesterday's morning newspaper and spotted the advert proclaiming Mamee Chef Curry Laksa as the No.1 noodle in the world. The world ?

Scrolled down further and rolled my eyes upwards.  Said the Ramen Rater. Omg , that guy again ?

 I don't believe it . 

As a consequence , I finally dragged my trial box of Kari Seribu Rasa sample out from the shadows of Mordor and torched the aluminium pot over the stove.

GST for Dummies - from The Star Graphics

I think the world of our Malaysian cartoonists. They're smart , sarcastic and so creative it makes me feel so sexay lol. Totally out of topic and context , I know .

Take these illustrations by Hassan Bahri and Mohd Izudin Ismail of The Star Graphics called 

" Life From April 1 "

This 3 column spread is a keeper. Wonder if I can get it laminated.

The two best jokes to emerge out of the GST brahuha

I love this illustration by Hassan Bahri and Mohd Izudin Ismail from The Star Graphics . It made me laugh .

Due to misinformation and crowd mentality, we've helped manufacturers clear their formula milk stocks.

That's joke number one.

Joke number 2.

Omg so mean and cruel but still I can't help but laugh.

Taken off our PM's facebook. 

01.04.2015

Found this on the net.

How depressing and apt it is at the same time.

Whoever took time out to do this....lol. You just described our pain in one picture.

Have A Happy GST ???

I can't believe the store man actually wished me 

" Have a Happy GST " 

just now when I left the outlet . 

But he did.

The gall of him. Made me feel like stringing him upside down and shaking his brains out . 

Happened at a flat priced outlet which revised its price from RM5 to RM5.65 before GST and by tomorrow , everything will shoot up to RM6. 

Grrrrrrrrr. Shopping as a therapy just got much less pleasurable. 

While the aunties and uncles battled amongst themselves to get more toilet paper , the lala luis and ah beng chais decided to cram up the tills at surprise , surprise .....Watson's. 

Proof below.