Food Review - Bancarella

Assalammu'alaikum family, friends, readers and followers of this blog. I know and well aware that I've been blogging personal events for a long long time. So now, time for a review ya?

Bancarella is a newly opened (probably 6mths ago or so?) stall at the Alexandra Village selling western, mainly pastas. Muslim owned, so guaranteed Halal!

The have Beef Bolognese, generous sauce, and portion is nice, at just S$5! Look at the picture, tell me you aren't convinced?

The yummy Beef Bolognese from Bancarella is generously sauced!

You know there is this craze with Salted Egg anything, right? You know those Salted Egg Buns, then the Salted Egg Crab and all that.. Well... at Bancarella, there is Salted Egg Prawn Pasta! Oh yes.. And as usual, generous with its sauce and prawns, I always count 3-4 big prawns in mine!

Is it yummy enough for you? It definitely is for ME!

I was very impressed with their restaurant quality in terms of taste and presentation that I decided to lead my husband here for his birthday treat!

And yes! They went the extra mile by adding "HAPI BDAY!" on his plate!

I highly recommend this place! I have never tasted something so nice at such an affordable price! And I kid you not, they did not compromise the presentation or taste to that any lower of a good restaurant, in fact I feel they are better than restaurants that are mostly very stingy with their prawns and sauces.

If you need something light, do give their sweet potato fries a try. ;)

So give it a GO and support local ya? 

Address is here:

Blk 120 Bukit Merah Lane 1 (to the end, near the neighbouring blocks that sells washing machines and refrigerators)

If you're lazy click here to the map.

Wassalam,
Jun

Travelling in a big group - Part 2

Assalammu'alaikum family, friends, readers and followers of this blog.

So sorry abt the abrupt ending of my trip post.. I shall now focus on the happy memories and good stuff ya?

So with a big group, of various age group, and having them letting me decide what to do and where to go.. we ended up with a vague itenary and just adjust to suit as the day pass..

Our Driver is Mr Haikal & Mr Alif Afifi

Nice pair, little words, but willing to just let us decide and he will just drive and drop, and call him for a return fetch for the next drive and drop.

Day 1:

We wasted a bit of time screwing up the simcard. Our initial bungalow was screwed too.

So we had lunch, and by the time we got to the replacement bungalow, it was already almost 4pm, so we did our prayers, and only managed to head on to Oriental Village.

As previous blog, we had the most fun at Art in Paradise (5D Museum). It is only open till 7.30pm.

So we spent hours there, then went ahead to grab souveniers first so we don't have a chance to forget later on.

By the time we were done there, evening is almost gone, so we headed to the beach to catch the most beautiful sunset (return to previous post to see the pictures!)

Then we headed to the pasar malam, and we were done for Day 1.

Day 2:

Planned -
1) Breakfast
2) Shift to new air-conditioned chalet (which we regretted, see previous post!)
3) Taman Agroteknologi Mardi

4) Makam Mahsuri
5) Telaga Air Hangat

Congkak is a traditional malay game, of which I am proud to say that my children know how to play. 

Not bad the service, possibly the best foot scrub I've ever had. 

6) Tempat jual Gamat
7) Bird Paradise
8) Puchase raw food and stuff for BBQ
9) BBQ all night

Please tell me, DARK right? This is with the help of our unit's lights.. And that woman asked us to move to the corner which is 150% even darker. Use your brain la eh anak "Warisan Siti". Please eh!

Day 3: It is sad that the end is nearing...

So we planned the following:

1) Breakfast
2) Underwater World

3) Enjoy beach breeze

We hang around this area. the chalets here are much smaller probably enough for two with just a bed and toilet. but it faces the beach which probably makes it fun to just hang out at the beach instead of inside the chalet. They have about 10 huts or so. Behind (further away from the beach) is a longer house with several units for possibly bigger families.

4) Shopping & Lunch (no pics la too busy shopping!)
5) Dataran Lang

6) Spa Time

Very serene, and great atmosphere 

This place is highly recommended! We reached there a little late, one of the masseuse had to stay back because of us, for that we thank you and we will put on a separate post to review their services and prices so stay tune for it. If you are in Langkawi, do look for Bellis Spa. money very WORTH spent!

7) Dinner
Because it was our last night, we invited the drivers to join us.. He brought us to his hometown (Kuah) maybe most sought for makan place, and it was truly awesome. Fishes were freshly caught!

And we spend rm100 for 12 of us! We had Ikan Bakar, Ikan Tiga Rasa, Kangkung belacan, tom yam soup, telur dadar, Sambal Lala, Urap, and boy we were full to our brims.

Now the day has really end...

The girls in foreground and the boys in the background. 

I like that yellow plane! I do! I do! I do!

With a heavy heart, we had to bid Langkawi goodbye. We will return Langkawi, we will... May you continue to prosper, and surprise us with your upgraded versions.

We deeply will miss you!

Wassalam,
Kami #anakcucuPakMasnollah bercuti..

Our Langkawi Trip - Travelling in a big group!

Assalammu'alaikum family, friends, readers and followers of this blog. I know I haven't blogged in awhile. Well, 2015 gave me an opportunity to be home a lot, and I cleared my leave to spend almost 2 full weeks at home.

I even had a family vacation, and it is not just my parents, this trip consists of 3 families! Yes! Both my sisters came along!

So it was me, my parents, Ummie Yam's family minus Siti N, Mama H's family minus her husband, 10 of us! Yes, my husband didn't get to tag along too, and I missed him tonnes! Doesn't help that my dad keep calling him instead of my brother-in-law.

Yup, these 10 went on a holiday, TOGETHER!

Planning

Now, travelling in a big group is not always easy or smooth sailing. Being a big group, it meant many differing opinions, and ideas. Thankfully, it didn't take too long to decide on Langkawi. And for me to do all the necessary booking. We wanted to all stay in one place, like a house, instead of hotel rooms where we will be separated. So we decided on Permai D'rees bungalow that could fit all 10 of us.

We had budget restraints and decided to try stay low to sgd$300 range, and we managed! Each of us paid sgd$308 each for our 4N3D stay. This is includes our van with driver throughout our stay on top of our flights and accomodation. SWEET!

Hiccups

While I was onboard my flight, I got a message from our driver/guide that he couldnt get us a van until 4pm. Dang! Upon arrival, My Digi simcard refused to work, and we stupidly tried to configure and troubleshoot leaving all of us stranded for an hour or so, before we decided to just get a new simcard and call our driver. Thankfully, he was already there with our van, so we can basically start our adventure right away. We were starving so we head out for lunch first. 

Then another hiccup. the bungalow we opted for had some problems, and he had arranged us another one in replacement, a homestay bungalow. 

And so we all thought, one after another, or please don't spoil our moods. 

The replacement bungalow wasnt that bad but it was not air-conditioned, the toilet kindda smell, and the fridge had left overs! And oh! The lizards were huge and FAT!

The children requested we get the house changed. So we asked, and the driver said he would arrange while we go out sightseeing. 

Art in Paradise, Langkawi

Of course, we headed out to Oriental Village to check out their 5D museum!! We took too many photos! It was nothing BUT awesome! We all had fun, then we knew we would continue to have fun as a family regardless what may come. 

Here are just some highlights of the pictures we took...

Oh, I borrowed a son while I was there. Heh!

The boy just came to me and so I took him in my arms and took a picture together! 

Sunset

You all know Langkawi has the nicest sunset right?

Well try to disagree with this:

Pasar Malam

Their pasar malam is not something you would want to miss if you on the main island. Oh no no no no. We didnt have pictures to prove you but it was awesome, where else can you get a cup of coconut drink for just RM1? We went crazy with the food and brought them all home to munch on.. It is not every day that we live in a huge house... 

Nany's Homestay

It is really not always that we get to enjoy such a huge house to ourselves...

A little secret sharing okay? We instantly regretted the shift, this house is 110% nicer than the "new" place. Now, let's rant, okay?

Penginapan Chalet Warisan Siti

This place. Initially we were feeling good about the shift, air-conditioned, very clean, seemed to taken care of pretty promptly and periodically as there were no weird smell of any sort. 

The driver even said we could BBQ that night at that open space in front of our unit. And yes, it is a chalet, so imagine Aloha. Yeah.. THAT size. I know.. We should have just sensed it was too small and we should HAVE just requested to shift back to Nany Homestay where it is roomy and had plenty of space to "lepak". 

It would have been pleasant had someone who claimed to be the owner's daughter hadn't come by to argue with us on how we got to the BBQ utensils.

Okay, you know what? They only provide the pit okay! the rest we need to BUY on our own! No mesh, no charcoal, no thongs, nothing okay! And guess what? It was pitch dark, we only had the lights in front of our units to depend on! And the lady asked us to BBQ at the corner where it is totally PITCH BLACK! IT was DARK damnnit! My BIL asked if they would BBQ in that dark corner, and she stammer. He said we can shift it to the corner, but we would definitely need some light, and again, she stammer and then decided it is OK because she didnt want to waste electricity. Even got the cheek to ask us where we got our mesh and food from. Like DUH we bought them, where in this chalet would we find them? And then she pointed our the the pit, and asked my BIL where we got that from. Like how ridiculous, right? From your whoever who gave us the keys to the room?!!

And then she just tapped on her husband and left. Yup, left us in the dark BBQing away. We didnt expect that MUCH, but if this is how you are treating your guests, then I guess you deserve a 0* out of 5. Yup, ZERO! No PR skills at all! 

At this point, it is obvious why we regretted so much about shifting! It was suppose to fit 10 pax, but no extra mattress, no extra pillows. Just great, isn't it? We, 10 adults, slept on 6pillows and 3 beds. guess what? some of us had to sleep on the hard cold floor. How great?

Thankfully, we all spend a lot of time OUT. 

I will continue on my trip blog and itenary another day.

Happy Holidays!

Wassalam,

Jun