Station 1 Cafe @ Komtar Walk, Penang

i actually haven't heard of this place before. i was told that they started off in KL, but i don't remember seeing it in KL either... hmm.... anyway, the first time i came here was after a church meeting and it was just for drinks, so didn't really try the food. so this time, i owed mum mother's day lunch, and decided to come here. it's been a while since i hung out at Komtar, thought it was dead, but surprisingly it's not! :D

anyway, Station 1 Cafe is located at Komtar Walk (and they have other outlets as well). just by the spider-overhead-pedestrian-walk thingy and next to Prangin Mall. u know where Komtar and Prangin Mall, u'll know where Komtar Walk is...

so first, i thought this place is like any other place similar to Old Town.. selling toast bread and eggs, coffee, hor fun...etc but they had MORE than that! western food (pasta, steak, lamb, fish), local food and different types of drinks. nice! i was very hungry - no breakfast, and i think i over ordered... heheheh i was stuffed at the end of the day...

first i got garlic bread, cause i remember the first time i came, i had drinks and garlic bread... yup, not bad, bread's soft, authentic garlic spread... nice, good to start off the tummy. heheheh

then it was drinks, i had (top pic) longan+milk ice blended.. love it!! it had LOADS of longan (mum said it might have been half a tin can of longans! in that mug! hahaha) and mum had a refreshing green apple+pear+honey mix (on the menu, it said it's good for bringing down high-blood pressure and cools the body).. quite nice i'd say...

then i saw this asian salad type of dish on the menu and thought i'd try it... not too sure why but i tend to get my salads AFTER i get my main meals.... hmm.... taste was not that bad actually, got a tinge of sourness from the sauce, crispy chicken and good hint of chilly... couldn't finish cause, as i said earlier on, it only came when we were half way through our mains... hmm....

AND here are the mains. i had mix-grill.... loads of meat!! LAMB, STEAK, CHICKEN and SAUSAGES... only for RM22+ i was stuffed after that!!! and the corn!! OMG!! delicious!! young, fat, juicy and just enough of salt to taste! i was really taking my time to finish this. the main courses comes with 3 types of sauces, Black Pepper, Mushroom & Salad Sauce (no idea what's that - but that's the one i tried, and it was nice, tangy!)

mum had lamb of course, and together with Black Pepper sauce - lamb was lovely, she enjoyed the corn and mash potatoes... but she said the black pepper sauce was not peppery enough even with 2 helpings of the sauce... so that's one thing Station 1 Cafe should improve on....

so, peeps, don't know what to eat, dunno where to go, try Station 1 Cafe, price is kinda ok, nice air-con place (there's outdoor as well), for the guys, they have promo of beer and flatscreen tv for the football season... AND free wifi!! i believe this place is open till late... nice place to hang out i'd say! :)

if you've forgotten how Komtar looks like, hahahah here it is!

G Hotel @ Gurney Drive, Penang

G Hotel, that's where the family went to spend the weekend after Easter. dad had gotten 2 nights free and heck we needed a short break :) it was our first time staying (though i have stayed before - briefly with my cousin) here and tried our very best to make use of all the facilities - typical Malaysians, no? hahahha

at check-in, we were greeted with a Welcome Ice-Cream cup! not the usual Welcome drink you would usually get at hotels. what we had was Black Sesame flavour and Blueberry Riples - quite nice actually. we had to wait a bit for our rooms as it said it was still going through some housekeeping.

this is the entrance to their coffee-house/restaurant where the breakfast/lunch/dinner buffets are held. food is so so.. maybe the days we were there had different themes... weekend themes should be nicer - i think.

here's the open lounge just next to the reception/lobby area, good place to be spotted and get picked up! lol (NOT that i was trying.. :P heheh) they had some Mango delight offers, mango cake, mango pudding, mango cheesecake...etc

what's funny about our rooms. the receptionist said that we had 2 double beds (and we thought it was good cause we didn't have to get an extra bed (there were 3 of us)... then when we got to the room we saw this (look at pic above)... now, do you call that DOUBLE bed? if you meant double SINGLE beds, you are correct, but if you call that TWO DOUBLE beds? hello.... what we had was supersize single beds .... have to give it to them, it was quite comfy - so much better than my own bed at home! LOL

the bathroom is normal hotel standard style, simple and nice. quite spacious as well!

cause dad had gotten the stay from his work place, he was asking the hotel to get us sea view room and we got it! we got the view of the ever "beautiful" Gurney Drive and well weather was kinda gloomy, it rained half the day...
pool by night
jasmine flowers around the pool - make it smell nice :)

i know, i kinda took alot of pics of the pool! haha sorry! i just thought it looked unique and nice. though what's wrong with this pool layout is the position with the sun. those who love to sunbathe wouldn't like this pool as most of the time it's covered by the buildings, you would need to fight for certain "spots" around the pool just to get the sun... it would be better if the pool was on Gurney Drive side, no buildings blocking and no apartment owners peeping at you...

they have a fully equipt gym as well! found out that one of my MyviC members work there and he was the one who help set up the gym, not bad not bad... and it seems it is opened to the public (of course you got to pay for membership la) i did about an hour plus in there... why? cause it was raining and there was no sun by the pool.... :P

the place to be for live jazz music is G-Spot, just level up from the lobby, you can hear sweet sounds of jazz... nice place to hang out with some friends, have a beer or two (or cocktails if you fancy) can be quite pricey but what do you expect right? u're in a hotel!

so if you want a quick getaway and yet be close to civilization (mall, restaurants, traffic), G-Hotel is the place to be. i left my car in the basement for nearly 3 days cause i had everything around me :) service is great, rooms are comfy, food well i've yet to try their chinese restaurants though, pool is big and spacious... so nice one G :) thumbs up for you!

Chicago Rib House @ Gurney Plaza, Penang - GOOD NEWS

I've found out that they're re-opening Chicago Rib House again after the closure in Autocity, Juru. they're now in Gurney Plaza. and guess what! they're opening on the 4th of May!!! i've been invited for the opening but unfortunately i'll be working - not too sure if my mum will be going though...

anyway, i'll sure to patronise the new outlet soon and write a review :) for you!

Food & Tea @ Jusco Perda

Food & Tea is located on the 2nd floor of Jusco Perda, Bukit Mertajam. it's a Hong Kong style restaurant, selling baked cheese rice, noodles, hot coke, milk and egg... type of concoction, you know, those kind of places. mum was itching for something different and we decided to try this out.

when we walked in, the interior was abit different, they had large orange bowl chairs and at the other end they had booths. it was quite stuffy inside and found out that the air con was not working (but then again they had the open kitchen concept so maybe the ventalation was not good?) and they had stand fans all around the restaurant. it was quite uncomfortable, stuffy restaurants are a big no no... guess what, i went there again for the second visit and the condition is still the same... :(

there were some markings on the menu stating the chefs favourite or the popularity of the dish for that restaurant, so we tried them. it was the fried rice, it came in a very big portion, mum couldn't finish it. and i had the spare ribs. surprisingly the ribs were nice, unfortunately it was not meaty enough...


the second time we went there, we tried the baked rice and some local chinese desserts. it was quite alright, not too bad and not that good as well. if u're looking for something simple and just to fill your tummy, this could be one of the places to go, but heck u might just wanna grab a McD n even that would be more satisfying... lol

Noodle Station @ Sunway Carnival

i've only been to Noodle Station once, and that was long time ago... it's the outlet in Sunway Carnival, Seberang Jaya. as the name suggests, it's a place where you can get all sorts of noodles.

the noodle base is egg noodles ala wantan mee noodles, but the menu has all sorts! from soup to dry, koay teow to yellow noodles, they even have western food! but.. err.. it's a noodle restaurant, why would you want to go there for western food right?

what we had here was (i think la) dry tom yam noodles and tom yam soup noodles. it was quite tasty (cause it's tomyam obviously) but i never did go back to try the rest of their other noodle dishes (i'm not a noodle fan.. so yea...). i'll definately go back there again when i get my "mood" for noodles and try their other types of noodles.

as for drinks, they have the sorts, from coffee to fruit juices, ice blended, smoothies and milk shakes, good variety... i think we tried the smoothies, it was nice as well, i don't remember it as too sweet or too bland, just nice :)

so if u're a noodle fan and love to go round hunting for different types of noodles, try Noodle Station, so many types of noodles under one roof (though they DO have a few branches! lol) and maybe you could let me know which one is good? to ignite my noodle "mood"? heheheh

*i think this post has the most "noodle" words i've written! LOL

reaching the POINT

"i was a carefree woman, stronger and sure of myself now.. i'm just screwing things up"

"it's because you've experienced love, now that it's gone and you're looking for it again, hence... you're not as before"
"unless you stop looking, like totally decided... that"

"OK THAT'S IT! I'll do something else and dont want to look for a companion, if got then got, dont have then dont have"

"only then when you have reached that POINT, you'll be "free" and back to your old confident, carefree, strong self"

now that's one heck of an advice, and i'm keeping that close to my heart.. so the question now, WHEN will i reach that POINT?

Kafe Memory Corner @ Pulau Tikus

Kafe Memory is a new eating outlet in Pulau Tikus. it's the corner shop opposite Ban Joo Lee (Kedai Runcit) and Penang Medical Supplies (PMS) and next to a ice-kacang stall. went there for a quick bite and to cool down on a sat afternoon. it was kinda quiet as there were no customers. as you know, no customers - food not so nice. but then again, the place was new and we were there towards the end of lunch time, so who knows, maybe they had better business before we came :)

the menu was simple, they specialised on ramen noodles, from chicken soup based to herbal to tom yam. two of us tried the chicken and tomyam... the interior is quite simple too. they were going with the olden chinese style of kopitiam, solid wood type of table and stools and wooden staircase.. clean, nice and simple

as you can see the menu was quite short and simple. the food too were simple. the only thing stood out was the tomyam ramen that we tried. nice and thick and spicy. it doesn't have the instand-tomyam-packet/noodle type of taste, it tastes like it's either home made or from a very good paste.. lol.... so it's worth coming back for again - especially those tom yam lovers! :)

oh, not forgetting, there were 2 huge prawns in it! so hope if you try it out u'll get them too! ;)

the chicken/veg soup based ramen was quite dissapointing though. my friend said it was kinda bland. she had to tambah touyu and pepper and some chilly for some taste, but then again, she's the type to eat cili padi in everything she eats, so yea... hahahaha... if u're the type who prefers soupy stuff and mild tastes, then maybe this would be nice for your taste buds... :)

anyway, i'd give them a few months more for them to settle down and get used to their kitchen (as service was kinda slow for a party of 6 of us - with NO ONE ELSE in the restaurant) and lets see if there's more to the menu and better service.

*no other pics of my friends food as it looked normal only...

Clinic Cafe @ Seberang Jaya

now what comes to your mind when u hear "Clinic Cafe"? i didn't know what to think of! i thought "Cafe" was someones nama-glamour (fancy name) hence naming his/her clinic, Clinic Cafe... but no it's not, it's a restaurant, so say my cousin.

so the foodie in her (and us) wanted to try and to see what this cafe is about. it's in Seberang Jaya/Prai (opposite Billion/Sunway Carnival - same row as Roxbury). from outside, u won't notice anything fancy but when you go in, u'll feel like u're in a wrong place, cause it somewat looks like a clinic/hospital. the menu is very simple, normal expected type of food, no speciality by the cafe, drinks - the same as you can get at any other cafe.

so what's different with this place, it's the interior. the chairs and tables looks like half-cut hospital beds, some tables are made from aluminium (like an operation table), the walls have pics of the human biological map (or whachamacallit), then there's operation lights hanging from the walls/ceilings but they were not turned on. the waiters were dressed as doctors and nurses.. so that's interesting. and if u feel like sitting in a wheelchair - be our (or their) guest, they have wheelchairs to use!

now you would expect a place like this to have some what of a different type of menu or taste, unfortunately nada! takda! none whatsoever! we got to give it to them for using the kidney bowls and stringes as plates and cutlery... hahahha yea the stringes were used for syrup for drinks and/or sauses for the food...

tea with brown sugar in a stringe and banana chocolate milkshake

i think it's fresh orange and lassi...

ceaser salad

some deepfriend prawn roll/fritters

tomyam fried rice and chic wings

fish and chips

black pepper spagetthi

tomyam magee - tasted like out from a packet

everything was so so, there were no oomph factor, it's already a feat to get penang ISLAND people to come to the mainland but to have them try this kinda food.... oh boy u're in trouble - u'll never see them again. and it's not even cheap!! all that food and drinks came up to about RM100++

now, why am i reviewing this again?

.... SOMETIMES i feel...

only sometimes i feel..

.....but i'm ok now, without you

*Curtesy of Postrejects.com

need to chill~!

so many things have been happening, most of it are unwanted stress. i always thought i was the cool-dude like my dad, nothing moves him, he'll just put a smile on and as if it was nothing. well i thought i was him cause only at that moment of stress i'll be stressed and the next hr or so or when the wave passes, i forget about it and felt like as if that was nothing.

every now and then, ppl would remind me.. hey, remember u were stressed when this this this happened? well i would remember the issue/incident, but i can't really remember how i felt when i was stressed at that time.. well i think u can call this tidak-apa attitude...

anyway, as years gone by, we naturally would get older. and when we get older, we have more problems, physically, our biological clock and body... i noticed that my body doesn't do well with stress. it all started end of last year, during christmas/new year. it wasn't the stress of planning the new years eve party (Lynn, don't get me wrong) but it was because of work.

i couldn't take christmas leave or even celebrate christmas with a clear head/heart because issues at work. it just doesn't make sense why i'm always having leave problems when i'm the only one that celebrates christmas. work was really giving me hell. and that left a mark on my health. since dec till now, in april, my menstrual cycle has not been the same before. i know it's natural for some but mine has been on the dot (28 days cycle) since i had it like.. 15 odd years ago!!

i know i should go to the docs. i sort of mentioned once to my doc but she just passed it off as stress and too much exercise... uh? too much exercise?? i stopped gymming since dec!! how can she say too much exercise? so i figured it was stress..

now i thought march was a stress-less month, no big events, no trips that needed ALs... but there were some commotion at work regarding ppl leaving and new hires and coverage. my old self would think that it was nothing, i was stressed abit but it was nothing MAJOR, know what i mean... and i thought april would be back on track... but i guessed wrong, totally out of the cycle-i see signs.... sigh... hope this coming hotel stay would bring down my stress level and get back on track of my cycle... :-s

i know this post may not mean much to you readers, but i just thought i'd post it up - for saja sake... :P