Strawberry Moment Dessert Cafe @ Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

Highly recommended according to the multiple blogs and websites hailing this cafe as THE place to go in Cameron Highlands. 

With that in mind, our expectations were actually quite high when we entered the shop. The menu was extensive with so many things to order! Sadly, i have only one stomach (obvious right?!).

Strawberry Strudel 

This multi-layered pastry was screaming "EAT ME!!" when the server put it in front of me.  The strawberries were fresh, the cream used were thick and sweet enough.

BUT the pastry was just not up to standard to award it as an almost flawless dish. Given it was crispy and flaky, it had a taste of a stale, airy bread. The pastry fragrance was also lacking.

Strawberry Ice Baby

Marvellicious!! 

A refreshing milk-shake drink made with fresh strawberries and mixed with tiny sago seeds but without the articificiality and fattiness associated with normal strawberry milk shake (i can only think of Macdonald's milk shake).

French Fries

I hate to order French fries in a foreign contry because you are wasting the empty space in your stomach for a dish so mundane! But what Alex said was right; french fries do taste better in colder regions.

Strawberry Mini Steamboat

It was fondue lah!

When i saw this item on the menu, I was wondering how should the taste of strawberries dumped in a bowl of chicken or tom yam soup be like.

Coming back, fondue was never my favourite but this changed my mind.

The chocolate used was not sugar sweet but cocoa sweet! It also lacked that overbearing jelak taste often faced from prolonged indulgence! if not for my almost exploding stomach (from the ass), i would definitely down the whole bowl!!

By the way, fresh cucumber in liquid chocolate was so good!! Moist, crunchy surrounded by the warm chocolate.......

YUM!!!

==========

If you wish to buy some local produce back home, this cafe has a connecting shop that sells 3 in 1 strawberry coffee, strawberry tea, dried strawberries and others! Not exactly that economical for me but still worth a visit!

Opening hours are from 10am to 10pm but you better pray hard; I went at 8.30pm, it was closed and the next morning, i reached at 10am, the shop finally opened at 10.30am.

Please refer to the map above for the location (red star)! The cafe is beside Kavy Hotel!

Kopitiam Pau Hei @ Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

This was the first place we dined at after the disheartening conversation with the hotel receptionist.

A newly opened shop with less than 8 tables and partially obstructed by the outdoor market, the one word on the big (fortunately) banner that immediately caught my attention was kopitiam (hokkien for coffee shop).

To say the truth, what i did notice was KOPI (coffee); heavily demanded due to a severe lack of sleep.

Interestingly, the dishes available in this kopitiam were pasted on the wall! Two dishes immediately woke the hungry sleeping dragon in my stomach!

Lo Mai Kai (Glutinous Rice with Chicken)

Usually filled with chicken meat, mushroom and topped with sticky glutinous rice, this dish was steamed for the optimal infusion of the rice by the rich juices of both the chicken and mushroom.

Steamed to almost perfection, the one in Pau Hei was bigger, had more chicken and a slice of egg! The rice was one of the best i ever had for lo mai kai with just the right amount of moisture and oil.

The only complaint?

The slice of egg lacked the normal egg taste; either it was absorbed by the rice or the egg was not fresh!!

RM2.50 per bowl cup bowl

Chee Cheong Fun

Freshly made on the spot upon ordering, this Cantonese-style chee cheong fun was smooth, wrapped with fresh prawns (or char siew or even curry chicken), drenched with the palatable sauce and topped with a generous serving of crispy fried onions!!

What more to say? It was good enough for us to order two plates!

RM3.80 for one plate

==========

Please refer to the map above for the location (red star)! I am using Hotel Rosa Passadena, Brinchang town, as the focal point!

Good Food @ Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

When my initial request to check in at 8am was rejected by the hotel receptionist, we went to our next priority and asked if there's any good food around the hotel.

The young lady informed us with a straight face:"There's no good food around here."

She was serious.

*thunder clouds congregated with numerous lightning strikes*

I blinked and to the extent of almost stuttering, said :"No good food at all???"

She gave a smile but remained affirmative of her reply. 

Having a skeptical attitude was essential in this situation and i told Alex that either her taste buds were not working or she did not explore the town enough.

Okay, there's a third reason.

She must be a super duper foodie and only the best can meet her terminology of "GOOD FOOD".

In the next few postings, i am going to prove that there was good food around that area!

At least to me!

Cameron Highlands - Is It As Warm As Rumoured?

It was eons (fine, at least 8 years) since i last stepped into this realm situated at 5,000 ft (1,500 m) above sea level and it was with great anticipation (strawberries strawberries strawberries!!!!!!!!!!) when i boarded the bus to Cameron Highlands at 10.30pm last Thursday.

Cameron Highlands should be bestowed the Strawberry Zone!!

With only 3 to 4 hours sleep in the luxurious Konsortium Snoozer bus (free upgrade!!) due to a constant accumulation of pee in the limited capacity bladder and the 20 over movies available for leisure viewing, we finally reached Brinchang at 8am!

The town of Brinchang

Yes, a sleep-deprived 9 and a half hours!! Luckily the cool weather did a great job in refreshing my mind and body!

Unquestionably, the weather was still as comforting as before! But I can't say the same for the hot months of June or July hor.

Since the hotel check in at Rosa Passadena will start only from 2pm, we signed up for the countryside tour at RM25 a pax. This tour included visits to Rose Centre (an additional RM5), Butterfly Garden (an additional RM5), Tea Plantation, Strawberry Farm, Chinese Temple and Bee Farm.

Good news!

The first three were FUN!!

Rose centre was a big area full of flowers!! We could have spent more than an hour there!! Butterfly garden was not just butterflies! There were also insects and snakes! PLUS, you can take pictures with the insects at no additional cost! Tea plantation (BOH) was boring but I had a relaxing time at the cafe; slowly sipping a cup of hot tea and looking dreamily at the expansive scenary right in front of me!

Rose Centre

Butterfly Garden

Tea Plantation

Bad news!

The last three were BORING!!

The strawberry farm allowed only a disappointing section (3 rows to be exact) of unripe strawberries for public; the Chinese temple was so uninteresting i really don't know what to type here; the bee farm was just a garden with a lot of bee boxes. FULL STOP.

Chinese Temple

Bee Farm

To dilute my disappointment with the strawberry farm, we decided to heed the advice of a fellow traveller from Hong Kong and walked to a supposedly big strawberry farm near our hotel.

LOOK! 

Rows after rows of strawberries!!

Columns of fresh vegetables!!

Loads of mini cacti at RM10 for 6!!!

With such good weather and in such a laid back environment, it was a really relaxing and stress-free vacation!

============

More Info

Brinchang is one of the 3 bigger towns in Cameron Highlands but has the highest concentration of hotels. I did not choose resorts because when night falls, you will be clueless on what to do! It will not be easy to walk to the towns in darkness and with only 50 cabs available, you will be equally helpless!

The pasar malam is located at Brinchang itself but do not expect too much! It is not that big and the stalls do not differ too much on the products for sale. However, it should be a good beneficial walk after a heavy steamboat dinner!

Tanah Rata is the main administrative town for Cameron Highlands and it has a bus terminal connecting other parts of Malaysia.

Love Affair

I admit having a love affair.

Remember the first time we met in year 2001? In Hougang Plaza, at a dowdy stall that looked suspiciously illegal? When I first looked at you, I cannot help but commented how beautiful you were.

The moment my mouth touched you, I blamed myself. Why I didn’t meet up with you sooner?!

Was God playing a love game with us?

Yes, I do love you very much, Ayam Penyet!!

Munch Munch Munch!!

What were all of you thinking of? Hahahaha.

Ayam Penyet is an Indonesian dish directly translated to “Chicken Smashed”. Despite the cruel word used for the name, it is a dish that’s better than the famous Hainanese chicken rice we have in Singapore! Except for the rice that is.

 

First, I would like to thank Ms Hannah Lim, who was so so kind to pack a box of Ayam Penyet from the Science canteen in NUS (University). And that indirectly, gave me a chance to blog about this dish. Now, look at the picture. 

A healthy, vibrant dish with meat (chicken), vegetables (tofu, lettuce, baby tomatoes) and rice. The visual should be sufficient to elevate your appetite. Too bad smell cannot be recorded or else you might have attempted to eat the picture straight from your monitor screen.

Now my internal review:

For me, the skin for Ayam Penyet is a big determiner of whether it is good. In this case, the skin was still crispy despite a one hour wait in the sealed box (my lunch hour was 1pm and I got it around 11.45am) and the strong turmeric flavour was felt in every single bite!

The meat was a bit dry (due to the wait) but still succulent enough to feel the smoothness! The baby tomatoes were so cute I had to eat them. They were sweet and of course, very healthy!

The typical chilli for ayam penyet must have “chilli power” and it usually elicits two kinds of statement: “So nice, I wana more more more more!!” or “CCB, why so bloody hot?!?!?! WATER!!”

Unfortunately, I belong to the latter. Hence, I will always request for nasi lemak chilli, which is sweeter and not as hot! 

====================

A fabulous meal that will no doubt be even better if you eat it fresh and hot from the frying pot! At $4 a portion, it will be well worth your money.

Location Map:

Please click HERE, select Faculty of Science which will bring you to an information page, click Faculty of Science under “Location”, click the “+” on the map for zooming!

A gentle reminder that canteens are sometimes closed during the holidays.

Office Pantry

For some, the pantry is just a long table at a small corner of the whole office; you will be GLAD to find a few packets of 3 in 1 coffee-mix and at most, a toaster oven that is only BIG enough for two pieces of bread.  

For bigger corporations, most likely the pantry is a room and maybe a much bigger one than yours. In this case, there's a pretty high chance to see a water sink, water dispenser, a fridge, a microwave oven PLUS a few tables and chairs.

Wait, isn't that the kitchen? 

In my work place, i have the luxury of a fairly big pantry serving almost 30 staff members and in my Starhub days, the pantry was big! With so many users for the pantry, it is inevitable that things (usually food and drinks) are sometimes "LOST".

The usual defence to this "theft" is to write your name or paste a post-it note (with your name) on the item. BUT, when it happens again and again, you know you have to do something more extreme!

 

Although i regret to inform you that there's always a joker amongst the thieves!

If you meet the joker, please resign to your fate.

SERIOUSLY

Seafood Paradise (Again) @ Defu Lane

It was yet again another trip to this restaurant that seemed to be permanently etched on our minds (at least for Alex and I) whenever we crave for butter crabs, mantou and mee goreng!!!

I was not that impressed with the food in my first post 1 year back on this eatery. However, my last trip (less than) 2 months ago changed my biased perception utterly.

Just a short review on some notable items!

Mee Goreng

At S$8 for small, the real thing was anything but small. The rich spicy noodles was good enough to make your stomach crave for more! With so many squids, fish and prawns, the price was really a big steal!

Wasabi Prawns

Just a warning; this small dish was not that economical at S$16 for 6 prawns that will absolutely not be deemed as big. However, it will be worth a try for first timers.

Besides the crunchy exterior with a fresh moist interior, each prawn was heavily soaked in a mixture of wasabi and mayonnaise! Rest assured, the wasabi was not very "choking". In a way, it reminded me of the salad prawns usually reserved for Chinese weddings... without the wasabi.

Butter Crab

For the past 3 times i ate this dish, i revised my rating higher EVERY SINGLE TIME. This time, we ordered a small crab at 700 grams PLUS 12 pieces of mantou!!

Though it was still not as thick as Mellben's butter crabs, there was a unique taste (maybe a combination of curry leaves, pepper, chilli, sugar) that made you want to lick the plate dry! Highly recommended with mantou!!!

At $38 per kg, the crab was not that small (psst.... i suspect the shell was super light) but all crabs should taste the same so long they are fresh! What matters most is the gravy they come with!

===============

Total damage was S$66.15 for 4 of us and it was just the right amount of food! No service charge was added to our bill although the service was very attentive. No additional charge as well for plain water.

Please refer to their official website HERE for more information on menu, opening hours and how to get there.

Nutella Ice Cream @ Island Cremery

Like many people, i love ice-cream!

Whether they are from Swensen, Hagen Dazs, Udders, Island Creamery, Scoops or even Macdonalds and street stalls don't matter to me! Be realistic, no vomit or beer flavour lah.

If not for my ballooning waistline, i would pamper myself every meal with a scoop of this frozen sugar-filled dessert.

My favourite?

Nutella ice cream from Island Creamery!!!