Swiss Garden Resort & Spa, Kuantan

18-20 Mar 2010

We've been to Kuantan 3 times in a span of 15 months. As such, Kuantan was not in our mind for our holiday, at least for a while.

William and friends planned to go to Kuantan for Mar 10 school holiday and asked if we were interested to join them. Kuantan? But we just said no more Kuantan for a while! William and friends planned to stay in Swiss Garden Resort & Spa, not Hyatt Regency (the hotel that we usually stay in Kuantan). I asked Hubby for his opinion and he said "OK." That's it?

It's not the destination, it's the get together for old friends and let the kids have a break since it's school holiday. This time round, I was not the organiser but William and wife were.

William smsed me on the hotel room rates and asked if we prefer to stay in Garden view or Sea view room. Based on the experience with other group of friends, they usually book the cheaper room. Reason being we would not spend much time in the hotel room and also to accommodate other friends who may not wish to spend so much in hotel room. So, without much thinking and asking, I just asked to be booked in Garden view room.

On 18 Mar 2010, my family was the first to check in the hotel. When I was told there were 2 sea view rooms and 1 garden view room, I was surprised. OK ... all of them were booked on sea view room and we were on garden view. Why didn't they tell me? I would have just book the sea view too, so that all of us could be together. Never mind ...

Then, I was told our room is double bed room. The other friends of mine were all on King size bed room. I requested for king size bed and I was told that I need to make the request during reservation. What?

At this moment, honestly, I did not feel good. What happened to the togetherness? What happened to the caring and sharing? What ....

As we got into our room, I was still feeling disappointed. When I was the organiser and made the hotel reservations, I will forward the reservation confirmations to all of my friends and reminded them to make their requests to the hotel directly. Its my mistake to assume that everyone is the same, think the same way and do the same thing. OK ... I wasn't going to allow this hotel room thingy (though I would still prefer to be together and in the sea view room as those rooms had been refurbished) to spoil our decade of relationship and holiday. I'm sure my friends sensed that I wasn't happy and I'm also sure that they are reading this post quietly now :)

Anyway ... back to Swiss Garden Resort & Spa. We kinda like this hotel, especially the hotel has been refurbished. The one thing that I do not like as much is the hotel location. The hotel is located in Beserah, whereas Hyatt Regency is located in Telok Chempedak, which is in better location with more eateries options within walking distance.

We went to Swiss Garden in Mar 10 which is school holiday and the hotel was fully booked. The check-in process was very slow, it took about 20 minutes for the lady in front of me to be checked-in.

After dinner, we went to this place Limbong Art for shopping.

We've been to this Cherating Turtle Sanctuary. On popular demand, we went there again after our buffet breakfast in the hotel. Hubby led the way with the help of his GPS.

A staff showing the kids 5 days old hatchlings which will be released into the sea once they are of age.

Jaden likes blowing bubbles and I brought it along for him to play in the resort.

One of the thing that I like about beach holiday is photography. It's very easy to take nice, beautiful, candid and natural photos. Consequently, I'm always not in the photos.

Edward and family.

Michelle and family. Noah has gone to catch crabs.

The loving, Yong couple ... but why arent they holding hands?

William and Naomi. The man who claimed has saved my life in Taman Negara a decade ago ... telling everyone that we met and ... still talking about it. Sign of ageing ...

The three boys catching crabs.

I like this candid shot with blue crystal reflection from the pool and ball.

Jaden dislike the feeling of wet sand and kept on washing his legs.

And yet ... he liked to play with it.

The group, except for Hubby who was suffering from stomach ache from the spicy dinner the night before.

After the beach play, the group adjourned to swimming in the pool. This adult pool is 5 feet deep.

After the beach play and swimming in the pool, all of us were very hungry. We had our dinner at Pak Su Restaurant. Luckily, the restaurant had a big table that could accommodate 16 of us.

We ordered lots of food and this dinner bill was picked up by William.

It has been a while since I joined this group of friends for vacation. Their style now is to take turn to pick up bill rather than go on cost sharing on total trip expenses. We had not picked up any bill and book to pay for the following day lunch.

After the dinner, we had our welcome drink at Swiss Deli Lounge.

Every night, we would have our chit chatting at Michelle's room.

Our last day in Kuantan was a raining day. The kids were disappointed as they could not swim in the pool. I brought sand art to Kuantan and the kids played with it before checking out from the hotel.

Edward suggested to have seafood lunch in Telok Chempedak. Unfortunately, it was closed. To avoid the inconvenience of moving around in raining day, we had our lunch at the neighbourhood coffee shop, Restaurant Hoi Yin. We had its famous curry noodle, soup noodle, dry noodle, etc for lunch. This is the restaurant that I must frequent when we stayed in Hyatt Kuantan.

On the way home, we stopped at Sin Kee Hung to buy local produce as souvenirs. This shop was recommended by William's friend which coincidentally, it's the same shop that we went previously.

We had our early dinner in this restaurant which is located in Bukit Tinggi, Bentong. This restaurant was recommended by Jestine and they hosted the dinner.

There was fish pond and the kids enjoyed feeding those fishes.

After the dinner, Michelle brought us to buy fresh vegetables and fruits from the neighbourhood night market.

After the night market, we bid good bye to each other and our holiday ended there.

It was a good, relaxing holiday with lots of good food. It was our first holiday in school holiday as Jared started his primary school this year.

Steam Tilapia Fish @ Rawang, Restoran Lan Je

24 Mar 10

My team was out on market survey again ... the 3rd trip and hopefully, the last trip. Having covered Sg Buloh, Rahman Putra, Sri Damansara, Kepong, Damansara Utama, Kota Damansara and Mutiara Damansara the last 2 trips, this time round, we covered Rawang and Selayang areas.

We planned to leave office by 10am, then each and every one of us had something to complete before we could leave the office. By the time we started our journey, it was almost 12pm. Since our first stop for the day was Rawang, the guys suggested to have lunch prior to the important assignment. Salesman being salesman, they are really good with places to eat. They suggested to eat at the famous steam fish in town ... Restoran Lan Je.

We reached the restaurant about 1pm and there were a few group of customers waiting for their tables. After a while, a lady approached us and took our order while waiting for seats. The restaurant sells very limited dishes and their speciality is the steam fish. Not long thereafter, we had our seats.

While waiting for our food to be served, I took a few photos of the restaurant and observed that most of the customers ordered a fish to each one of them. My colleagues told me that their fish is so nice and tender, customers will not mind the waiting and usually ordered a fish to each person. Then, I suggested to order additional fish.

Our food came about half an hour thereafter. In addition to the three fishes, we ordered four angle beans in belachan and kongpo cuttlefish.

The fishes were not too big in size and were extremely yummy with lots of ginger in soy bean paste and steam to perfection. The restaurant only serve one type of fish in one type of cooking ie steam tilapia. The only option available is whether you like the fish to be of normal spiciness or extra. That makes the restaurant able to focus and remain specialise in its speciality.

Look ... how clean were our fishes!

The total bill came to RM80 for the above dishes with 4 rices, 3 Cokes, 2 100 Plus and mineral water.

This Rawang restaurant is the original branch, with other two branches in Balakong and Kota Damansara.

Ming Ren Restaurant, Genting Highland

27 Sep 09

After the lovely lunch at The Olive, we brought 4th Auntie walked around Genting Highland. The last time she was there was more than 10 years ago.

In return, Hubby wanted to bring his 4th Auntie to try out Ming Ren Restaurant "Xinjiang's Lamb Speciality Cuisine". Ming Ren Restaurant is located in Level 2 of Highland Hotel. We have been to this restaurant several times as Hubby loves its tantalising, tender and succulent lamb dish.

There were 2 choices of rice, the normal white rice or this special yellow mini rice (RM3++ each).

We ordered 2 types of lamb dishes ie Roasted Lamb Ribs (RM41++).

and Roast Lamb Skewer (at RM6++ each).

Tempura Beancurd (RM16++)




Stir fried Beijing Cucumber with Preserved Olive (RM 15++)

We had Genting shareholder voucher and entitled 30% discount for the meal. The total bill was RM95.70.

The Olive, Genting Highland

27 Sep 09

Hubby's 4th Auntie offered to take us out for fine dining as belated Birthday celebration for both of us since our birthday was in end Aug 09. She asked us to choose the venue.

Hubby chose The Olive located at the Lobby Floor of Genting Hotel. This restaurant won the Restaurant of the Year for Hospitality Asia Platinum Awards 2005-2006. The last few times that we were in Genting the restaurant was closed as the only lunch that the restaurant is open is on Sunday. On any other days the restaurant is open for dinner only.

The colour theme for the restaurant is "olive" and green with warm lighting.

Trendy, cosy, yet modern and elegant ambiance.

The Restaurant serves Continental cuisine ie meat, seafood, salads, pizzas, delicious desserts, fine wines and more.

I decided to choose "Olive's Experience" 3 courses menu (RM 88.00++) consisted of Fragrant wild Mushroom Soup, Pizza Margherita and "The Durian" dessert.

Our appetizer ... varieties of bread, one of it was in "Olive" shape, Season Platter (RM48++), Mushroom Salad (RM26++), Fragrant wild Mushroom Soup flavored with Fresh Herbs & Cep Powder (from the set that I ordered), etc

Hubby ordered Angus Rib Eye (RM95.00++).

4th Auntie ordered Roasted Chilean Sea bass with Ponzu Sauce set on bed Asparagus & Ragout of Mushrooms (RM60.00++).

Pizza Margherita

Hubby's choice of dessert, Cream Brulee (RM24++) ... sourish and tanga taste.

Chocolate Lava Cake set on Dark Pitted Cherries & compliment with Ice Orange Soufflé (RM22.00++). Auntie only managed to finish half of it. I love hot chocolate cake with ice-cream and obviously, I cleared the other half of this dessert.

The Durian, presented in such a nice, tempting way.

Throughout the lunch, inclusive of our table, there were only 2 tables of customers in the restaurant.

The opening hours of the Restaurant:

Mondays to Saturdays: 6.00pm to 7.00pm

Sundays: 12.00pm to 2.30pm and 6.00pm to 11.00pm

Birthday Lunch at D’Italianies Kitchen

12 Jul 09

The food served at the Italian restaurant near my office is excellent. My office had held numerous luncheon there too. One Friday, my sister asked me "When are we going to have lunch at the Italian restaurant near your office?

Since both of my sister and her husband's birthdays are in the month of July, I answered "Why not this weekend? Is my treat to you and your hubby".

I like the simple and clean design of d'italiane kitchen, which is owned by an ex-accountant. I like the bowls, plates, glasses, etc used by this restaurant. The owner told me he picked and choose these from a few different places.

My brother in-law jokingly said I need not booked the entire restaurant for the celebration. This is because we were the only customers there then. As the restaurant in located in an office building, the restaurant is quiet on weekend but not on weekday.

For starter, we ordered Mushroom Cream Soup (RM8.90) and Sauteed Foeste Mushroom Platter (RM16.90).

The soup was creamy and the mushroom platter was tasty. We always like the mushroom soup at The Italianies and since we've tried this mushroom soup at d'italiane kitchen, we like it better here. At this stage, my guests were happy to have found this restaurant.

My sister ordered Roasted Garlic Lamb Cutlets (RM49.90) which was good too. The meat was juicy and tender.

My brother in-law ordered Alle Vongole (RM21.90) which was disappointing. The taste was a little blend.

Hubby ordered Risotto Con Pancetta Beef (RM23.90). The first time that I tasted risotto, I never like it. Risotto taste like in between rice and porridge but Hubby loved the risotto that he ordered.

As for me, I ordered their famous Sicilian Seafood Pizza (RM26.90). The crust was thin and crunchy with generous portion of seafood.

We had a pinch of each other food and get to try a variety of food of the restaurant. We were so full by the end of the main course.

The cake at d'italiane kitchen looked yummy. Since we were so full, I proposed to share dessert.

We ordered Galbani Tiramisu (RM16.90) which was disappointing. The portion was so small and the taste was unlike the traditional tiramisu.

Luckily, the two caffe latte (RM7.90 each) were good ... thick, hot and had a good aroma smell.

Total bill came up to RM201.40. We had a satisfying meal and good moment, with the restaurant all by ourselves and full attention from the staff. My sister and brother in-law were impressed with the food at d'italiane kitchen. The only disappointing ones were the pasta and tiramisu which we gave the feedback to the staff there. Hope they will improve on it.