Breakfast Bar, Pantai Cenang, Langkawi

because my flight was super early, when i reached, i was super hungry as well - BREAKFAST!!! now for breakfast, i was told to look for RED TOMATO... but i couldn't find it!!! i drove up and down the Pantai Cenang road and still couldn't find it... i eventually found it AFTER i had my breakfast.. shucks...

so where i had breakfast? found this HUGE BIG YELLOW signboard called Breakfast Bar. and it was really close to Sweet Inn. so since i couldn't find Red Tomato, i thought i'd give this place a try, since it was packed.

saw lots of foreigners just hanging around, having their breakfast, reading their book like there's nothing else to do.. now that's life! and when i got in, i still wondered if THIS was Red Tomato! lol (i know pic shows empty tables - that was AFTER i had my breakfast and it was close to lunch time.. lol)
they had a menu of different types of breakfast set and i was confused. lol. they had western to locals and noodles. so i went for the Langkawi Set RM10, it had toasts, chicken ham, eggs, cheese, butter and jam AND get this.. teh-tarik!! NICE!!! i was pretty full after that... lasted me a few good hours.

you have the option to sit by the counter or at the tables.. indoors and outdoors... i don't know if it was me or not but i felt Langkawi was hot. i was sweating everywhere i went. so i sat at the counter infront of a fan :) if you have company, you can sit by the perimeter of the cafe to ppl watch and enjoy the outdoors.

how did it compare to Red Tomato? that's another story....

Sweet Inn Motel, Pantai Cenang, Langkawi

Langkawi, haven't been there for ages. the last time i went, well, it was history, no point talking about it. but all i can say is that i did see most of langkawi the 1st trip. so this trip was to see the latest offerings langkawi can offer and to just have some "me" time and relax.

did my research online and managed to get RM0 fare on firefly!! and RM61 per night/per room. i found it on Agoda.com and the hotel i'm talking about is Sweet Inn, Pantai Cenang. :D

here's the main "lobby" which is actually somewat outdoor type. if you notice towards the left side, that's the "breakfast" table and the reservations counter. my room is on the right (ground floor). it was a cosy welcome for me. the owner (i think) knew who i was and asked me how was my flight etc etc. now that's a welcome for me. and actually asked me which room i would like, groundfloor or top floor.. lol. since i'm lazy to climb stairs, i took the ground floor.

room is quite nice too, 2 single beds, with towels and soap. cupboard with hangers, tables chairs. even the bathroom is clean and had places to put your toiletries and hang clothes which i like. unfortunately the tv doesn't work, it was the tv plug that got broken. not sure why they didn't repair it. but it was ok for me, i didn't go to langkawi to watch tv. luckily i brought a book along :) location wise is quite good too. it's not ON the beach but it's just across the road. the road has lots of restaurants and shops and of course other motels/hotels.

Pantai Cenang is to be said the most popular beach, happening beach with bars and pubs and practically everything. and it's famous among backpackers. so yea.. was glad to have found Sweet Inn. :) wouldn't mind going there again heheheh....

Becky's Hen's Party - Sept 2010

we all got excited when we heard Aaron and Becky was to get married, and that when the bridesmaids were identified, we all started planning!! dress designs, colour, meetings with the bride, hen's do planning (which by the way, the maid-of-honour planned it - good job Rosie!)... everyone was all hoo haa-ing about :)

the time came and it was set, serviced apartment booked, deco done, reservations for massage and dinner done, cake done, annual leaves applied AND approved done. we were all ready to party!!

so first of, we all met at the apartment, Rosie was early to set it up, some came a lil earlier before the bride to help complete the prep and then the bride came. to her surprised she didn't expect the decorations! there were cake cutting (no pic of cake as it's kinda an erotic one - by yours truely), gift giving (lingerie to be precise) and "crowning" of the bride-to-be

then we all headed towards Deluxious for a relaxing massage. first we were given warm tea, brief explanation of the massage and off we went to get pampered for an hr. then Rosie went to set up the dinner table downstairs.

after the massage, we all got ready in our pretty flowery dresses and wristbands and headed for dinner. we were all hungry! when we got in the private room, we were all surprised by Rosie's talent of decorating the table! with centre pieces, place settings, flowers here and there, a jar for love notes, ribbons and gifts for all of us from the bride! so sweet!! thanks Becky!!

we finally decided on what to eat, some were nice, some were ok-only... but because we were there talking and eating and talking.. those who were hungry (yea the portions were abit smaller than usual) were not in the end. then we had to write love notes, wishes, and blessings for the couple and place it in the jar. what a lovely idea! the bride then gave us the green light to open our presents! yippie! it was an air-fragrance flower thingy where it soaks the liquid scent and the fragance evaporates through the flower.. interestingly nice :) thanks Becky!

after dinner, more picture taking before we head out to party!

before heading out, we all discussed on how to get the hen's night sponsored. eventually we came to the idea of selling Becky's kisses for RM10 !! and she was game for it! cool!!! so we headed to Soho (upstairs) where we know we'd find some familiar faces to gain some support. true enough, we saw the grooms friends!! i know, we all went "oh no! is aaron coming? is this his bachelor nite as well?" but in the end it was NOT his bachelor night and he didn't come. so we got his friends and the familiar faces we found that night to give us support! we had strangers joining in the fun too! Becky earned RM80!!! dun play play yo!!

after the night out, we were all tired, we headed back to the appartment, some tipsy, some not. we had more wine, changed to our pjs and continued to chat till about 4am or so.. can't remember. it was great!

we all pakat-ed to get up early to head for breakfast somewhere but in the end, i think we only left the apartment around 10-ish am ahhahahah fail.com! and by the time we decided on a place to "brunch" it was nearly 12pm! yeah.. breakfast it seems! lol

we went to Soul Kitchen for brunch, most of us were our first times there. nice cosy place to hang out with your friends for long chats. food was fusion and limited. i believe everyday the menu changes? not sure. they even have a pet dog hanging around the cafe! how cute! feels like home! those who needed coffee had coffee, then we had pasta, sandwiches and more pasta i think. would love to go back there again to try.

after that we all went our way back home to catch some sleep :) hehehe and that's how we celebrated Becky's Hen's night 24hrs of girly things :) hope you enjoyed yourself Becky!! *huggies*

*oh if you want to order erotic cakes/cupcakes, send your email to shimmering.oven@gmail.com to get ideas and quotations :) thank you

weddings....

as some of you would know, i had a string of weddings to attend and help out.. don't get me wrong, i loved every moment of it and i'm glad that those couples included me in in their planning.

now i have a couple of non-wedding weekends before the next 2 weekends of weddings start again. i take this time to "reguvenate" but somehow i'm getting withdrawals! hahahah like i keep thinking on what am i to wear, where's the wedding etc etc etc but in fact, there's no wedding to attend... lol

i love weddings.

i love the flowers, the dresses, the deco, the music, the company.. i love it when friends and family come from everywhere and be at the same place at the same time to celebrate the couple.

weddings can be said as a reunion (of friends and family) and a place to match-make.. hahahah right! u'd think with that so many weddings i attended, i would by now have a bf at my side? hahahah.. NOT!!! love at first sight? nah... friends match-making you with their single friends? hahah nothing like that happened. but it's ok you know. weddings are not about you. it's about the couple who's getting married, their love, their togetherness, their happiness

but of course the core of a wedding is of 2 individuals that love each other so much that they're willing to spend the rest of their lives together. that they'll do anything for each other, be with each other through thick and thin, support each other in whatever happens. i know, some say why waste money and hoo haa to plan a wedding, y not just register and be done with it. well to one with their own opinion, and mine is such, there SHOULD be a celebration (big or small is up to you) but at least something.

i do get questions on when's my time, why am i not married yet...yada yada yada...

with all the happy happy going ons at a wedding. there's obviously something more serious in the background. it's not just finding a bf/gf and marrying them. it's something that you would need to be true, honest, and sure about. that the person you are marrying is the one u want to live with, love, and be with till your last breath. now it's hard to know what the future lies, but that's the thing. u would find it in your heart for that answer - to say yes, to a person.

i'm not trying to scare you (or myself) but just stating the facts. as i said earlier, it's lovely to see ppl getting married and everything that comes with it. and the fact of having a baby together, starting a family together, that makes it MORE worth it don't you think? it's a whole new world for you. and i think that's how life should be.

and for those who are single out there, who doesn't believe in marriage or doesn't want to, or is just comfortable where they are, i respect you. it takes alot to be where you are and be happy. and it's also nothing wrong in NOT getting married! there's so much you can achieve and do being single and its the same as being married, just maybe in a different way.

yes, i am single and i'm happy where i am. if i'm meant to be single all my life, so be it. if i do find a partner and eventually get married, i'm good with that as well :) i leave it in His hands....

and whatever it is... i still love weddings :D

Sigi's Bar and Grill by the Beach, Golden Sands, Batu Ferringhi, Penang

i've always heard so much about this place, all the happening ppl, bloggers, Penang celebs tend to hang out here.. but somehow i never got the chance to pay them a visit. now finally an invite from my aunty and uncle from England for dinner was held there, was quite excited :)

Sigi's as i believe, had gone through some renovations earlier (i think the same time the hotel - Golden Sands, had renovations done) so am not sure how different the Sigi's now is compared to the Sigi's then.

when we went in, we were greeted by some friendly staff and a cool interior. there was a mini water pond feature thingy right in the middle of the room, couple tables around it and bigger tables along the edges of the room. on the walls they had frames that looked like they had water in them... nice... nice place for a date ;)

so we sat at a table and started to order. they had food from western (steaks, burgers, pizza and pastas) to local (char koay teow, fried mee...etc) to drinks, cocktails, alco, coffee/tea, juices... good variety i'd say. we had some difficulty choosing our food at that moment. lol!

i had a mango cocktail drink. not sure what was inside but it was sure strong and made me a lil "warm" inside.. lol.. but i think it was the partially opened sliding door (that we sat next to) that had outside warm air coming in :P

somehow uncle and i thought of the same thing to order a prawn appetizer, mine was a grilled/bbq prawn and he had Kataifi wrapped prawns. we both tried each others prawns, and it was lovely. different but lovely pitty it was just appetizers, we only got like 3-4 prawns each LOL (i know, i'm greedy)

aunty ordered a salad, but she wanted it together with her lasagne, so she left it on the table till her mains arrived. for my main, i ordered a pizza, Palm Beach Pizza, why? i don't know, it was impulsive. i never used to order pizza for my main but somehow something told me, when dining at Sigi's you got to try their pizza - hence i ordered a pizza. no regrets, it was quite good, thin base but nice. good to go along with a cold beer ;)

aunty ordered Peppino's Lasagne which looked very cheesy and tomatoey. smelled great too! she said it was good :) big portion for her but in the end i believe she finished it heheheh. and uncle had pasta with prawns and chilly and capsicum - yup he's white and he can eat moderate spicy food :) love those prawn sizes.. worth every penny i tell you!

now comes the dessert, aunty was full and couldn't go on, uncle and i agreed to share, if the portions are small we'll have one each. :D so we asked our waiter what was their famous dessert and he suggested The Bombe!! lol!! with a name like that you'd think u'll have some bomb-alaska type of dessert infront of you! hahaha but what i think we got was a slice from a "bomb"... it's actually made of mango sorbet, white chocolate parfait (still figuring out what parfait is), italian meringue and pine nuts... lovely lovely lovely... and what's funny, ONE slice is enough, two would be pushing it. verdict? uncle and i had one each :P

so, nice place to dine, by the beach, good food (though price can be quite pricey) but with the atmosphere like that, how to say no? :) when u get the chance, got a bonus, special occasion, try out Sigi's sure it'll be worth it... i'd go again!!

Harvest In Cafe, Irrawaddy Road, Penang

it was a birthday treat by my godsis, and i like it that she suggested a place i never been before, or never heard of before! it's Harvest In Cafe, hidden at a corner of Irrawaddy Road in Penang. it's located with other restaurants as well.

what this place has to offer is local and western dishes, home cooked i believe and simple. i like the interior (white and black, grey theme) and it gives a contemporary yet homely feeling. like a place where you can bring your gfs and just chill the night away! :)

we went there for lunch and it was starting to get packed. lucky we managed to get a table. there was a long table on the other end of the room and it was someones birthday as well!! coolness! :D looking at the menu, prices are ok and what's good is that there's no 5% or 10% tax. now that's a place in my good books! :)

so here's what we got, some garlic bread and the soup of the day - mushroom? can't remember lol (this was in Sept yo!) melanie said the soup was good, i had a taste and yup i agreed. i liked the garlic bread as well, not too hard, yet crunchy and soft at the same time, not too much garlic but just enough to have the garlic taste/smell.
their mocha ice blended was quite good too :) am not a coffee drinker, so as long it taste nice, it's ok for me, can't say for sure if they use super branded coffee or whatever. i enjoyed this drink :P they also have other fruit juices, soft drinks and ice blended drinks.. though am not sure if they sell beer... hmm... another reason to drop by again? :D



what i had was the BBQ chicken with rice, didn't i say earlier (in my other posts that BBQ is the bomb!!?) tht i love BBQ? anything BBQ? so yea, i HAD to try this one. portions are average, good enough for an average Penangite stomach. but if you're super hungry, make sure u get the soup or an appetizer before your mains. melanie had chicken chop (i should believe so from the pic) and think she replaced the chips to salad. she too said it was not that bad.

nothing to shout about though from just the 2 dishes we had. but it's good enough for a 2nd visit to try their other dishes. parking may be a prob, so be it lunch or dinner, make sure u go early to get a good spot, if not, u gotta walk abit.

nice place to hang out with your good friends, for a meal, drinks and chat. service is quite good and place is clean and cooling. so, who wants to join me for my next visit? :)

Double Good, Sg Nibong Kecil, Penang

Double Good Restaurant is a chinese rice&dishes type of restaurant. never actually heard about it, but my cousin (as usual) told me about it. we were to have dinner with my aussie cousins there and she told me that food here was quite nice. she warned me that this place is quite noisy, and it's not a place to eat and chit chat and take your time. once you finish, they will clear your table and expect you to call the bill and not hang around. lol....

and it was true!! their service is good. quick, fast and efficient and you're in and out in no time! lol.. some would think as it's bad service or something, but heck, i don't mind, the food's good! :D

check out what we ate... (in no particular order)

assam prawn curry (i think)... yummmy!!!!


toufu, nice light dish



ahh this is unique, shredded fried kailan with fried ikan bilis!
never seen this before and yes, it did taste like kailan!!


belacan fried chicken

pork ribs with oats (think oat prawns, but with pork) i like!


every dinner must have a fish - this is quite nice, not sure what it is

cutlets or somesort - tasty too!

aaaahhh!! and for dessert, peanut pancake and peanut "soup"
not many places serve this but Double Good does!!
it's not too sweet, not too peanut-y, just nice!!

so, starting to crave for chinese food? head down to Sg Nibong Kecil, the shop lots next to Esso (that's infront of Bkt Jambul Complex) for dinner.. sure to be satisfied one! :P try to be early, as they can get quite packed. enjoy!

Cheryl & Edzil - 101010

Cheryl and Edzil's church wedding was held at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Penang. it was quite an exciting day as family from all over the world flew in for this event. the 6 children of Gerry Reutens were all united again for this wedding.

pics here are just the cream of the crop, most of you would have see it in FB and in Photobucket. here are the links - Church & Dinner... dont' forget clips on YouTube as well!! :D

my dad, the commentator

the bestmen

walking down the isle

the bridesmaids

"you may kiss the bride"

then after the wedding ceremony, we all headed towards the cafeteria of the church for some refreshments/light lunch. food was good :) yum yum and that was when the cousins started to "pimp" the bridal car for their getaway! lol

later that evening, after everyone has got some rest and changed, the dinner reception was held at the ballroom of Cititel Hotel, Penang. the hotel did a lovely job in decorating the hall. and what made it more special? an painting of the couple by Aunty Esther :D

there were 2 lovely performances by 2 lovely people, Cheryl's friend from Japan that played the ukelele and our wonderful cousin, Kevin, came all the way from Sydney!

both parents dancing the night away....

the family yam-seng-ing together ... a few times actually! LOL

and the night continued with more dancing, macarena-ing and karaoke-ing till time was up and had to go. it was a great nite, lots of food, people, family and laughter.

Wishing Cheryl and Edzil all the best in your new life together and hope to see some juniors soon! :D