TWG Tea Boutique, Pavilion

After berbuka and prayers last evening, I took the boys out for a drive. We planned to see some lights in Kampung Baru, but it turned out that traffic was really bad. We ended up stopping at Pavilion instead for some drinks.

As we came out of the car park, we saw this intimidating new restaurant there. Well, not rally a restaurant, but more of a boutique cafe, something similar to the Starhill Tea Salon, called TWG. We saw a branch before during our stay at Marina Bay Sands Singapore earlier this year, and we got curious.

An eye-opener!

But we had a slight issue. The boys were already in their pajamas, and this being an upmarket cafe, they might throw us out. Idlan and Irfan were having none of that, and insisted to go in to have a look, bearing in mind, Irfan especially was a tea drinker. The wait did not mind, more so after Idlan went to the counter and started ordering some chocolate bars.

We were sat down in the middle of the restaurant and had a look at the menu. There was at least 200 blend of tea on offer ...... some being just simple iteration is the next, but the list was impressive none the less. Picking time.

Yes, they sell teapots tooAnd some gifts tooIdlan ordered some Assam tea - by some exotic named blend of course. A second flush brew for extra kick! Irfan went for chamomile, but mixed with some exotic herbal concoction. Being a coffee drinker, I decided to go with some iced beverage, coffee mixed with watermelon juice. Not bad.

Irfan's brew, chamomile. Very fragrant.Anita's a bit strongerWagyu burger. Well done!Irfan had some quicheYup! Grounded tea powder sprinkled on them fries!For food, I had a burger, while the children shared some quiche. The fries which came with my burger had ground tea powder sprinkled on them. And the food was actually rather nice. I would definitely be coming back for snacks.

The restaurant was situated in the second floor of Pavilion, turning to the right wing on entering them all from the Bukit Bintang entrance. More details here.

The Headline This Morning

Keeping my fingers and toes crossed ......

The Smokehouse, Frasers Hill

One of the main problem we had with Smokehouse, was the amount of time we actually spent at the hotel. Not enough. We ventured into town too much while we should have just relax there, sipping tea, waiting for dinner in such splendid surrounding ......

We only realised that on the morning we packed up and about to leave. Even my Mum-in-law said the same. I was sure that the boys wouldn't mind as well, but unfortunately, my Dad-in-law has a hospital appointment the next morning. Plus the small matter of traveling up to Penang as well.

Irfan just couldn't stop fretting aboutThe hotel is about 15 minutes walk from town if you're keen. It certainly was far enough from the town to be secluded. Secluded enough that I did not have cellular signal. But luckily, the Internet at the lobby was pretty fast.

The hotel itself was not terribly huge. We stayed at Charles, the main family room, complete with bunk beds and a small lounge in the room. Nice cosy decorations, with a decent-sized bathroom. And the best thing was, it was the only room on the ground floor in the main building, right next to the restaurant. On the last morning, when the boys woke up late, we went for breakfast leaving them in the room .....

My in-laws stayed at Ashley, located at an annex building, behind the main hotel. One had to walk through a small covered corridor to get to the dining area. A couple of years ago, we stayed at the same annex when the room there had a bunk bed.

Since our last stay, the place had undergone some internal redecorations, although the theme was still the same. They had new carpeting, a change of manager, but the structure is still pretty much similar. Unfortunately, the pastry chef has since left. So, no more fresh croissant in the morning. On the first evening, I ordered a chicken pie, and was disappointed that it was not as creamy as the last time. The breakfast was also a notch lower than before. The manager said that the chef was still the same since our last stay. Shame that the quality of the cooking had gone down. The still have the same gorgeous afternoon scones though.

We would definitely be turning again in the future, although we would probably spent more time at the hotel rather than venturing too much into town. One of the problem was food. The hotel serves mainly western food. We probably had enough of the food after a couple of days. A quick drive into town should solve that problem with a good selection at the newly-built food center, near where the miniature golf was located. More information on the Smokehouse can be found here. More on the Fraser's Hill stay here.

More Mess!

Now that I've recover from my bout of depression, it was time to rejoicing as to or row would be my last day at clinic before Raya. Still the we're plenty of things needing sorting out, but it should be a nice day prior to a break tomorrow.

Looked so innocentLet me get some papersLet's start drawingThe robot almost done! On/Of!The boys had been really at it all day today since they were pretty much a home. The room was a right mess, and I think, I would have to take them out for a drive tomorrow evening. otherwise, they would drive everyone mad.

iKlout?

I thought that my accounts had been hacked since fixing out that my Klout score had surged from around 16 steadily towards 51in the past couple of weeks. It turned out that they have changed the algorithm. Damn it! I thought I was becoming an overnight sensation there, but it was merely a change in the way the count was established. Well, Justin Bieber had no reason to be afraid then .....