Category: Travels

Pet-friendly beach resort in Cherating, Kuantan.

Last weekend, the entire family went to Cherating for my Mom’s birthday. Ruby’s Resort was the natural choice for accommodation as it’s pet-friendly and I believe it is the only pet-friendly resort in the entire nation.

# – Charlie <3

The place was truly wonderful! We had such a great time with our furkids. Mom brought along Sisi, Brad & Pitt while we brought Charlie. It’s the very first time our doggies got to see the beach!

# – Charlie with daddy.

# – My daddy chasing after Pitt.

# – My parents running with Brad and Pitt.

Chatted with Ruby about her resort and shocked to hear that she had guests who secretly took off at 2am leaving the beds soiled with dog poo and pee. I was so shocked to hear that there are people who behave such a way! It’s disgusting!

That’s why Ruby now has a policy for guests with pets to bring their own bedsheets. Honestly, I was rather taken aback when I learnt of the bedsheet policy but after listening to Ruby, I can totally understand why she decided to impose it. I’m just thankful that she didn’t decide to ban pets from her resort thanks to that terrible experience.

By the way, Ruby herself has 9 cats and 3 dogs and various other animals as pets!

# – Charlie and his sandy nose, hehehe.

# – Was about to keel over and die chasing after excited Charlie <3

# – BF taking picture of wet Charlie.

Bringing our own bedsheets was absolutely nothing considering the fun and happiness we got from vacationing with our furkids :)

# – My Dad’s still got it!

# – With the resident doggie, Stout. He is possibly the most friendly, adorable dog I’ve ever met!!!

# – Mom with Stout’s sister, Princess. Also impossibly friendly!!

Of course we had superb food while in Cherating. One restaurant worth noting is Restoran Duyong, which is less than 5 minutes away from Ruby’s Resort. Aside from serving fantastic seafood, it’s also pet friendly! :)

# – Deep fried squid. Crunchy but not overcooked…YUMMY!

# – Tom Yam fried rice. Spicy but tasty.

# – Perfectly stir fried kailan with salted fish.

# – Black pepper crabs with glass noodles. Orgasmic!

# – The interesting dish called Loy Katong. Delicious deep fried battered fish and vegetables with some raw vegetables and delicious spicy dipping sauce.

Such a fun and relaxing weekend. I can’t wait to go back to Ruby’s Resort!

Ruby’s Resort,
Lot 350, Jalan Kemaman,
Kampung Cendor,
Cendor, 26080 Kuantan,
Pahang Darul Makmur,
Malaysia.
GPS Coordinates: N04º 8.956, E103º 24.425
Tel: +60 16-938 1298

Restoran Duyong,
Batu 28, Kampung Cherating,
Cherating, Jalan Kuantan-Kemaman,
26080 Kuantan, Pahang Darul Makmur,
Malaysia.
Tel: +609-581 9578/+6013-908 1549

In Penang. Again!

Was so happy when the boyfriend suggested we head up to Penang for a getaway in conjunction with his mom’s visit to Malaysia. Penang is my favourite state hands down. Love the food, the architectures, the food….teeheehee.

It’s 1.30am now and I’m blogging in our hotel room in the dark because I’m such a dedicated blogger, right? Nope….the truth is my stomach is just too full for me to fall asleep :P

# – It’s been many times, but yet I still feel excited at the sight of Penang Bridge suspension hehe.

As soon as we crossed Penang Bridge, we headed towards Tanjung Bungah for the famous banana fritters and deep fried ninkou. They’re so good it’s not unusual to see Singaporeans buying 50 pieces at one go at this place!

# – 10 pieces each of both banana fritters & fried ninkous. As I regretfully discovered, was simply too much for 3 people :P

By the time we roused from the sugar induced coma it was time for dinner at New Lane. Sadly, the awesome stall selling pork intestine porridge was closed but I made it up with 2 plates of charkuewteow, a bowl of laksa and 3 pairs of kickass grilled chicken wings. For the record, I shared.

# – How to tell which chicken wing was eaten by a white person and which by a chinese? Chinese gnaws it down to the bones!

Before I knew it, supper greeted me in the form of hokkien mee (or prawn mee as we KLites call it) from Old Green House. This has got to be the most sumptuous version of Penang Hokkien Mee with the addition of roast pork, extra prawns, pork balls and other goodies. A little pricey but totally worth it!

# – Remember to order your Old Green House hokkien mee with Cintan noodles. By the way, the puny plate of lobak in this picture cost us RM9. Quite nice but whether it’s worth RM9 or not…I don’t think so.

The next day, while on the way to Kek Lok Si temple, we stopped at Kopitiam Taman Emas opposite Penang Girl’s School for its unique Penang laksa served with deep fried spring rolls. In all honesty, I’m not particularly taken by the noodles (though I must clarify that they’re still WAY better than the average stuff you get in KL), but my gawd the spring rolls? After dipped in the laksa soup, they’re capable of bringing joy & happiness even to the most cynical of mouths.

# – Who knew spring rolls and laksa could make such a killer combo?

Glad I had lunch because it was a challenge climbing up the pagoda at Kek Lok Si. Though I’ve been to Kek Lok Si several times, it was my first time up the pagoda. Everytime I thought I had reached the top, I was greeted by a new set of staircase. It was mindboggling…

# – View from like 2nd floor I think though I honestly thought this was top floor. By the time I actually reached the top floor I was too delirious to take a decent picture of the view -_-

I know, I need to work on my fitness :P

Before I end the blog post, here’s an obligatory camho picture from the grounds of Kek Lok Si…

# – Me and my zodiac sign, the rat.

Seriously, the rat statue kind of crept me out cause it looked so menacing. C’mon it’s more scary looking than the tiger okay? I wish they had made a cuter version!

Have a great week, peeps!

My Obsession with Kulfi.

Does anyone know what a kulfi is? Is it commonly found in Indian restaurants in Malaysia? Please enlighten me because I can’t believe this dessert has eluded my insulated ass for the past 26 years -_-

My first taste of kulfi was in India, specifically Golconda Fort. After a longass hike up and down the fort, I stopped for some rehydration at an ice cream cart. I’m so, so, so, so glad I chose kulfi, something I’ve never heard or tried before. The one I had was made by Scoops, which makes vegan ice cream :D

# – At the bottom of Golconda Fort enjoying a kulfi stick. Hmmm hmmm!

Kulfi is possibly the best ice cream-like dessert I’ve ever tasted. Traditionally flavoured with spices and nuts, it is impossibly rich, creamy and dense. It tasted way more premium than any premium ice cream I’ve had before! In fact, between kulfi and premium ice cream, I would choose the former in a heartbeat.

# – A half-eaten kulfi stick. Took me a while to tear my mouth away so I could take a picture!

# – Posers.

We were at Paradise Food Court for apparently the best briyani rice in Hyderabad (will blog about this later) and to finish off our meals, ST intelligently ordered kulfi matka (basically kulfi in a claypot) while my fickle ass ordered Khubani Ka Meetha. Cause it sounded exotic.

# – ST’s super delicious kulfi that was topped off with crushed almond.

Well, Khubani Ka Meetha is basically stewed apricots. Unbelievably sweet, cloying and generally did not rock my socks.

# – Force feeding myself with Khubani Ka Meetha due to ST’s anal retentiveness about wasting food :(

Thank heaven, the very next day I got to eat some kulfi to erase my memory of the words “stewed apricots” at Chatt’s wedding. Chatt’s caterer had brought dozens & dozens of high quality kulfis shaped in cylinders, of which they cut into wedges and served to guests. I had about 9 cups which probably altogether was about as fattening as 6 servings of chicken spicy mcdeluxe. Absolutely not regrets.

# – The kulfi wedges from Chatt’s wedding. This picture is making me restless because I NEED KULFI!

At the wedding, I started asking everyone at our table whether it’s possible to make kulfi at home. To my delight, it is apparently super easy! You don’t even need an ice cream maker! Just a freezer, milk, sugar and flavourings. I am seething with excitement about making my 1st batch of kulfi!!!!

We also had kulfi again on our last day in Hyderabad at Bikanervala, a sweet shop cum restaurant (will blog about this later too).

# – Little pots of creamy goodness.

Honestly, this was not the best kulfi I had because it was a little too soft for my taste. But the flavours were beautiful so I whacked it all anyway :D

# – Kulfi from Bikanervala.

And now, it’s time to make up for my 26 kulfi-less years.