Heading Home via Tasik Raban

It was only a short break. We had to leave this morning for home with school and work coming tomorrow. We did not want to leave too late. I didn’t want the boys to end up too cranky the next morning. I stayed back with the boys while Anita and her mum went to the market. They certainly bought plenty of stuff to bring back to KL, fresh fish and all. We also had some relatives coming over to visit. They were the ones looking after the house while we were away. My Mum wanted to leave some money for them and asked them to do some other odd jobs. We had some problem with the main stairs being too steep. Maybe, it needed to be redone.

Reached the destinationAs the sign said, it was about 30km off Kuala KangsarAnyhow, we left the house by 11, and headed to Lenggong for lunch. There is a restaurant there whose specialty were fresh water fish. I have to confess that I am no fresh water fish fan. I don’t mind them being raw, but they have to come from the sea - that’s my rule! Apparently the place was quite famous, located along the Gerik-Kuala Kangsar road, an alternative route to get to KL from Kota Bharu should you chose to take the East-West Highway rather than via Karak. A favourite joint among convoys.

Tucking inSome ulamTempoyak - not for the faint-heartedThe place was located at Tasik Raban, just after the junction to MRSM Lenggong if you are coming from Kuala Kangsar towards Gerik. It should be on the right side of the road if you were coming in that way, around half an hour from Kuala Kangsar. We quickly settled in and ordered. Since I didn’t know much, my wife did the ordering. The best food there I must say was the pekasam - a kind of heavily salted and marinated fish. It was gorgeous. They also did drinks by the jug, which was different. Certainly with the hot weather, that hit the spot. Most of the fish there were grilled, but since I was not much of a fan, I did not really appreciate the true taste, hence I better not make a fool of myself by trying to describe them. They have the usual selection of fresh water fish - patin, keli etc. 

The convoy have arrivedBefore we left, there were a convoy of 15 bikes pulling over. Certainly looked fun in their overall and all. I took out my camera and took some snaps of the restaurant. Just in case if anyone was interested, the details of the place can be seen on the banner above.

We travelled on and reached KL by 5 pm, unpacked and unwind. The boys were already asleep by 8pm. I was feeling tired to but had to do some reading and writing. It was raining outside. I didn’t reckon I can stay up too long ……

Slideshow of this trip can be found here.

Relaxing Day

At the Duta tollWe reached Kuala Kangsar just after 9pm, taking us just over 3 hours. The lack of traffic helped. I did not have to do any of the driving, our driver did the honours. I was too tired to drive anyway, coming home straight after work, a day of clinic in the morning, followed by the Nurses Day party in the afternoon. I managed to leave earlier than usual to beat the traffic. A quick shower and packing, then off we went. The boys had a good nap all the way, and they were up and about well into midnight, before finally taken to bed.

Sunset near Sabak Bernam along the PLUS highwayWhen we woke up this morning, they were still asleep, so we sneaked out to the morning market quickly to buy breakfast. Nasi lemak, roti canai and other goodies, then munch them away until late morning. The main surprise was how cheap the food were. The same amount of food could easily cost twice as much in Taman Melawati market, but not nearly half as nice!

Beli! Beli!After breakfast, we left for Taiping as Anita wanted to get some cheap clothes for the boys. Idlan wanted to stay at home, so we only brought Irfan. Taiping was only 30 minutes away by the highway, and using GPS, we did not get lost finding the Taiping Sentral Shopping Centre, one of the new establishment opened there. It was next to a Tesco and was quite crowded that day.

Taiping Sentral Shopping Mall - next to a TescoAnita spent quite a lot on the clothes, but they were all on sale. Again, it could easily cost more in KL. We then had lunch at the A&W there before heading home. With nothing much to do, I decided to take a nap, then headed out again to get the famous cendol and laksa for tea.

Irfan coming out to playQuick strollLet's go this wayMy mum-in-law went to Ipoh to visit her relatives, so we stayed back at the kampung house. After tea, we then took a walk around the kampung and let Irfan loose with the camera. A few of the neighbours children came around, while Anita handed some chocolates and cookies to them. They promptly showed Idlan and Irfan around the kampung.

Back to baseTrooping inBy the time I wrote this entry, the boys were still up watching their DVD. We were planning for an early morning, heading again to the market for breakfast, followed by lunch at an ikan bakar place that my Dad has been talking about all day. Will see if the place was as good as he described it.

Slideshow of the trip can be found here.

The Apartment

It has been a long couple of days with the exams and after work this afternoon , I had to run some errands for Anita, preparing for Idlan’s birthday party next weekend. We headed initially to Damansara Perdana, to a newly renovated shopping complex called Perdana Shopping Centre - previously called the Tropics. We wanted to order the birthday cake, but unfortunately the shop was closed. Mama Min - the owner - was out for a couple of hours and we just missed her, which was a shame.

Next stop, the Curve for some afternoon tea and more shopping. I actually missed lunch and was therefore rather hungry. A few weeks ago, we wanted to try the Apartment restaurant there, but Idlan wanted to go to Marche instead. Since it was just me and Puan Anita this time, we thought why not.

The Apartment was best described as cozy. It was nearly empty when we arrived. We took our seat on the back room, on a sofa. There were three other tables taken up in the restaurant at the time, so we got our privacy and was attended by a Pilipino gentleman as our waiter. The menu was more extensive than I thought, and items containing alcohol were clearly marked. Therefore, the famous mussels they served there was out of the question.

I ordered three items - buffalo mozzarella salad as starter, seared salmon for main and for drinks, I ordered the tangerine cooler. Anita ordered prawn skewer from the tapas menu, shepherd’s pie and tea. The prawn skewer was really nice. We ordered a small tapas portion, and got ourselves only 4 succulently-baked tiger prawn, in a pineapple, peppery, nutty sauce, with hints of oregano. Difficult for me to describe the exact ingredients, but definitely something we will order again in the future. I was quite disappointed with my salad. The portion of cheese was small compared to the potatoes and shallot which made up the rest of the serving. The cheese was also too mild to contrast with the sour taste of the tomatoes, and the dressing did not do much to add to the flavour. I ended up leaving most of the tomatoes, and munch on Anita’s prawns instead.

My buffalo mozzarella salad Anita's prawnThe seared salmonThe seared salmon however saved the day. It was served with baby potatoes and puree sauce. Simple but nice. The salmon was very well poached, although I wished that the portion was bigger. Anita’s shepherd’s pie was not much to write about I was afraid. It was baked well, but was too dry in the end. I definitely prefer the chicken pie from Smokehouse over this.

My tangerine coolerI must say that the specialty of the Apartment was definitely the drinks. My tangerine cooler was definitely ……. cooling. It was lemonade with a hint of citrus, topped up with mint. Definitely will order that again should I drop by here in the future. Hit the spot in the hot sun. Shame that they don’t to drinks to take out …..

Will I come here again? Definitely with friends for a chat, but not for serious dining. I doubt that my parents would have appreciated the food. It was certainly more fusion than traditional - my parents were a bit more conservative when it comes to food. Cost? Medium, comparable to Marche and the likes. In short - grab a nice corner sofa, order the cooler and some tapas, and sit back. Didn’t check if they do free wifi here but I did see a few of the customers opening their laptops. For those on the rush, there was also an express lunch menu - very reasonably priced, but I was not sure if that was a regular fixture.

Lot 72, 73 & 74, 152, Ground and First Floor (next to TGI Fridays), Western Courtyard, The Curve Shopping Centre, Mutiara Damansara. Check out their neat website here.

More Exams

Finally heading home after such a long but fruitful day. Disappointed that some of the candidates did not fare as well as expected, but I suppose in any exams, there will be some party left with bad news.

So, the part II MMed Exam was wrapped up. Off to HUKM tomorrow for the MMed I clinicals. Will have to be there early to beat the traffic and calibrate the cases. Hopefully it won't be as long a day as today was.

The candidates will only learn their fate on Friday morning after individual marks were tabulated and discussed. Since it will be on a Friday, I will not be able to attend the meeting but will be present when the news about the results were broken. I shall just leave it at that for the time being.

During the deliberation at the end, the External Examiners did remark abou the long day and the element of examiner fatique creeping in. It will not be fair if that were to affect the assessments of the candidates. However there will never be a totally fair exams although some exams were fairer than others. In terms of organisation, yes, there were a few hairy moments with patients not turning up. One of the patient was drowsy with a drug he has taken and was snoring away while another had a weak bladder and we had to call the cleaners in to mop up the floor! There was also this classic picture of one of my invigilating colleague using a cow bell to alert the candidates that time was up. It was a sight!

Dinner at Thistle

Strolling around the poolWe got ready to leave Port Dickson just after Maghrib. As Mother’s Day will be the day after, and with my Mum and wife on tow, I decided to treat them for dinner. We took off to Thistle.

Leaving our apartmentNormally, we visit Thistle for either lunch or afternoon tea. This was the first time we turned up for dinner there - the last time being a Ramadhan Buffet does not count! The boys wanted the children’s menu that they do there - fish and chips called ‘Little Mermaid, and chicken nuggets which I forgotten what it was called. While waiting for the food, it being a long day, the boys were expectedly grumpy. Usually, we get to sit by the children area where there things to get them occupied. Unfortunately those seats were taken because we were late. I took Irfan for a stroll around the swimming pool instead.

Checking into the restaurantFish + alphabet chips = 'Little Mermaid'We were fortunately served by this kind young gentleman called Stephen for the evening. He got the children’s food ready in double quick time and offered us to take the desserts from the buffet even though we ordered a la cart. It turned out that he was the outlet manager, hence the prompt friendly service. Even without him, as far as I can remember, the service there was never that bad. However, since we never really spent a night here, I really can’t comment about the service. Looking through the review, it has been a mixed bag. There were more negatives and positives since the new owner took over - it used to be called Guomon, but lately that has changed.

Irfan reaching for his nuggetWhat I liked about the place is the family-orientated service. They have a separate kids area - called Kid’s Zone - where you can take your child to play in a padded ball room. There were also video shows and games for children. There was of course the separate menu for children I mentioned before. The usual gripe I have about the place is the lack of lifts. There was only a single lift taking us from the lobby to the restaurants, which during peak times can be an issue. The lobby however was really nice and roomy. I was hoping for a conference to be held here for a long time in order to sample the services first-hand.

Margherita

For the evening, I had some salad and pizza. The children were thrilled with their food and finished them. The local menu was not that bad either, with my Mum having some fried rice. I had steak there before - which I remembered being on the dry side, but with really nice salad and accompaniment. Price? A little steep for PD standard, but very reasonable if you regularly eat out in KL. Very affordable. This being Mother’s Day weekend, why not have a treat. After all, my credit card offered a 'Mother's Day' discount ….