Fatty Kee (under Ang's Hotel) Oyster Chicken Wings @ Kota Kinabalu [Sabah]

I personally found it quite hilarious when i chanced upon the name of a restaurant while researching for food in Kota Kinabalu; Fatty Kee (under Ang's Hotel); it was literally very factual on its whereabouts although i thought it might face a problem if the owner of Ang's Hotel decides to sell off the property! 

Imagine: Oh, the delicious wings can be found at Fatty Kee (under Ang's Hotel) but hold on, Ang's Hotel is no longer in existence and i think it's now called Cavin's Amazing Humble Lodge or something. Haha. 

Jokes aside, this place was renowned for its never-ending crowd at night and my suggestion is to visit way before dinnertime! I reached at around 5 pm and was the second or third customer. Without delaying any further, let's dive into the review of the dishes we had that day.

Bird's Nest

Weather was insanely hot and i thought a bottle of bird's nest drink would help to soothe my parched throat. Turned out it tasted nothing like the real thing (obviously), had a rather sticky consistency and i guess i should have opted for ice lemon instead! 

Sweet & Sour Pork

Very traditional gu lu rou and the sensation i got was similar to the first time i took a bite and began my love affair with it. My only issue was that i would have preferred a crispier touch.

Deep Fried Cuttlefish

Differing from many in the market, this had a delightful curry flavour with a texture well-liked by those who enjoy the crunch! 

To better the experience, the chef should consider adding a cold mayo or tartar sauce as a dip. 

Furong Egg 

Unexceptional.

Oyster Sauce Chicken Wings

The one dish on every table; these chicken wings propelled Fatty Kee to its current fame and many reviews rated the wings as the best you could find! 

Smeared in thick gravy of oyster sauce and garlic bits, this was indeed a unique marination and the taste was immensely flavorful with a lingering garlic fragrance that worked up my appetite! 

Alex found them to be overly sweet though and stopped at just one piece. Thank god he did that as it would just mean an opportunity for me to clean up the wings, all by myself!

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Location

8 Lorong Bakau, Jalan Pantai,

Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

Map

As above

Operating Hours

5 pm till 12 midnight

[Closed twice a month]

Menu 

As above 

Price

Bird's Nest Drink - Cannot Remember

Sweet & Sour Pork - RM 10.00

Deep Fried Cuttlefish - RM 12.00

Furong Egg - Cannot Remember

Oyster Sauce Chicken Wings - RM 12.00

For my 7-day Kota Kinabalu itinerary, click here.

Charcoal Kiln @ Batam Island [Indonesia]

I was thinking of blogging about this after i have generated the post on my one day free and easy trip to Batam Island but i am facing limited time today; no thanks to the three ladies who persuaded me to have coffee at Starbucks followed by a pretty filling meal at Holland Village XO Fish Head Bee Hoon! 

Anyway, i actually didn't notice the kiln until i exited from the kelong seafood restaurant and it of course piqued my interested even though we were rushing off to Nagoya Hill shopping centre.

There were at most two surviving kilns in Singapore and i was fortunate to be able to identify one. However, the ones in the lion city appeared to be deeper and were more popular known as dragon kilns. 

It was also surprising to see so many blocks of wood on the floor; note that they seemed to belong to the same species and even the length for each of them was deliberated. Honestly, if they were to be burnt off, why go through all the trouble?!

Only when i turned to face the above stacks that i realised this kiln wasn't used to make pottery. The purpose was to made charcoal! Now, that's fresh as i had never chanced upon a charcoal kiln! 

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Location

Kampung Tua Tiang Wangkang,

Batam Island, Indonesia

Snorkeling at Manukan Island (Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park) @ Kota Kinabalu [Borneo]

Yes, yet again another snorkeling; do bear with me as it would be the last one i had for Kota Kinabalu! This follows, by the way, the snorkeling i had at Sapi Island.

The vast underwater scene was relatively sparse which wasn't a bad thing as it meant better clarity whenever activities were detected. 

Like the congregation of fishes that came together to make themselves bigger, likely as a mode of defense towards their predators. 

Guess it didn't work as can be seen from the photo above although their strategy could be to deter their predators from far as they would have appeared much bigger from a distance.

Sea grass - this reminded me of a Mantanani Island in Kota Kinabalu that was renowned for its numerous sightings of dugongs! Sea grass, as some of you might be aware, is a common staple for the marine mammal.

What Manukan Island lacks in terms of underwater scenery was made up by the huge amount of fishes in the water.

Looked kind of delicious as it seemed familiar to the type that mum has cooked for me before; think it is called red monkey in Hokkien (ang gao) and said to be quite expensive! 

Pomfret! Steamed pomfret in Teochew style was the most delicious; oh boy, i must be very hungry right now as i have not had lunch yet!

Thousands and maybe millions of ikan bilis in the water too!

Boring seabed - i am so accustomed to seeing beautiful corals set with vibrantly coloured fishes that this didn't meet my expectation. Thankfully, i was already pre-informed that Sapi Island was a superior spot for snorkeling in the marine park. 

Giant clam!

Leading into the sea, this could be the remnants of an old jetty. The wooden beams had been intentionally sawn off, possibly to prevent injuries from poor swimmers who would have cut themselves if they unwittingly swim towards them.

Corals were slowly taking ownership of the cut beams! 

Something was hiding in the rock! The thing wasn't as common in the marine park although back in Krabi, they were seriously in abundance! 

Ya lah, sea urchins!

Anyway, more of the unexciting underwater pictures i took at Manukan Island. Hopefully, the next trip to Perhentian Islands would result in way more spectacular photographs! 

Taking a breather before i continued my boring exploration. The place right ahead was Kota Kinabalu by the way. As you can see, water was crystal clear! 

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Location

Manukan Island, Kota Kinabalu, 

Sabah State, East Malaysia 

For my 7-day Kota Kinabalu itinerary, click here.

Coffee : Nowhere - A Nice Place to Chill Out Near NUS @ West Coast Plaza [Singapore]

Nowhere - the pronunciation has always been a confusion; should you pronounce it as no-where or now-here? Mystery solved; it should be no-where.

However, according to google, nowhere is defined as not in any place or not anywhere which is an oxymoron when used in conjunction as brand name for a shop that sells coffee!

Personally, i prefer Coffee Nowhere over the hundreds of cafes that have been sprouting like mushrooms in Singapore! It has character yet not overly focused on interior design. 

On one hand, it seemed to target the office crowd but on the other, you could still find some comfortable spot where you can spend your afternoon sipping on your beverage while reading a novel. 

Unlike some coffee cafes, there was a food menu (including full day breakfast options) with set lunch / dinner on weekdays! Pity the selection was pretty limited and i was the only one who opted for the set. 

Mushroom Soup (Set Lunch)

Visually, the texture told me this would likely be the thick, clumpy type of mushroom broth that i have always enjoyed over the watery version.

Realistically, it had that earthly flavour signature of edible fungi but failed in having a seasoning that could have enhanced the taste. To put it simply, the taste was bland and flat. 

Prawn Oglio-Olio Spaghetti (Set Lunch)

Nicely adorned; the aroma that accompanied the hot pasta when it was served to my table surprisingly did not manage to agitate my appetite as i would have expected. 

With six prawns (yes, i counted them), i thought the spaghetti was quite a good deal for a set lunch!

The first thing that hit my taste buds was its spiciness! Other than that, there was hardly any seasoning or flavour that stood out and like the mushroom soup, it was relatively bland once you remove the "spicy".

Whatever the case, i paid for the meal out of my pocket and i am not going to lay it to waste. 

Drink (Set Lunch)

The above was supposed to be my drink; if i remember correctly, you only have a few choices and none of it appealed to me; hence, i passed this to my friend. She had no complaint so i guess it should taste alright. 

Creme Brulee Cappuccino 

What i had was this! For members, there was 1 for 1 beverage on Mondays and i sure didn't regret ordering the creme brulee cappuccino; the top layer cracked just like its dessert cousin and the coffee was creamy, flavourful with a touch of the creme brulee that many loved to have. 

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Location

154, West Coast Road, 

#B1-06/07, West Coast Plaza

Map 

As above.

Opening Hours

Mondays to Fridays - 10am to 10pm

Saturdays, Sundays, PH - 8.30am to 10pm

Food Menu

As above

Drink Menu

As above

Pricing

Prawn Oglio-Olio Spaghetti Set Lunch - S$12.80

Creme Brulee Cappuccino - S$7.80

Additional Information

Free wifi (password would be on your receipt) and plain water can be taken from the counter on the second floor! Maybe i should have gotten some salt and pepper for my soup and main. 

A friend had the Burger Nowhere - i stole a bite and thought it was absolutely to my liking! Maybe i should give the food another chance; next time, i shall have the chilli crab baked rice! 

By the way, sign up for the prepaid member card for a better deal!