My Trip to Teluk Sengat and Sungai Rengit

Since it's been awhile since the last time I went for a road trip. Well, the last time was about a month ago, which for me, that’s awhile! Anyway, I wanted to go to Kota Tinggi for lunch. Yeah… Breakfast in Skudai, lunch in Kota Tinggi, dinner in Perlis. Then in the future when I get to own a private jet, maybe I could actually do that outside Malaysia. Wouldn’t that be cool?

Ok, back to Kota Tinggi. At first I wanted to eat at the famous Kedai Basir for their delicious and unforgettable chicken rice. Situated in the middle of Kota Tinggi’s town, this is the specialty of Restoran Basir. Their chicken rice is well-known all over Johor, maybe even Malaysia. I’ve been there about three times and I could never get enough of it. But then, at the very last minute I decided to skip Kedai Basir to check out a Seafood Restaurant in Teluk Sengat which was recommended by a friend of my dad.

I didn’t know what expect in Teluk Sengat. I never had been there before. But when I reached the town, it was like being in a whole different state. I was so used to busy and noisy city, even the Kota Tinggi town wasn’t as cute as this one. Notice that I used the word ‘cute’. Teluk Sengat was a sleepy small town overseeing the calm, blue and windy sea. The seafood restaurant was easy to find, and after one a half hour of driving, I was starving. So, I get down to ordering as soon as I set my ass on the chair.

Imagine this, an open air restaurant, situated at the higher part of the town. Cooling sea breeze blowing softly on your hair. You could smell the ocean. It was incredible. And when the food arrived, I forgot all about the chicken rice during the first bite. Everything was perfect! The fish was soft, the squid was tasty and you could simply tell that everything was cooked with fresh ingredients. I ordered a meal that was enough to feed a whole family, but the two of us simply finished it all. And then, we washed it all down with herbal Chinese tea. Don’t get me wrong, Restoran Basir’s chicken rice will always have a place in my heart, but this seafood restaurant is simply make me feel like I was in heaven.

I even keep the receipt to show you how much it cost me. Ok, I admit it cost a lot, but it wasn't a surprise because seafood usually are a bit costly. And it's definitely worth every single cent too.

After exploring the Teluk Sengat’s town, which only took about 5 minutes (seriously, the town was micro) I decided to continue driving to the Sungai Rengit to check out the beach. At the Sugai Rengit town, I was greeted by a mutant metal lobster. I was so amazed by this lobster. It reminds me of Doctor Octopus from Spiderman 2. Quite an imposing structure.

I drove around aimlessly trying to find a nice beach to park and take pictures. A bolt turn brings me to heaven. Well, the seafood restaurant was a different kind of heaven, but this place is just drop dead gorgeous. I never thought my plan to skip Restoran Basir’s chicken rice today was actually the best plan I ever made in months!

The place is called Tanjung Kapal Beach Resort. It’s a very neat nicely designed and meticulously maintained resort. I don’t know how else to describe it except it’s the most cute and beautiful resort I ever seen. It wasn’t big, just nice for those who are looking for a quite escape from the busy city life.


This is the view from Tajung Kapal overseeing the ocean. I just love the fact that they build a nice chair and swings so you sit there and enjoy the sea. And below is the picture of the rooms. The rooms are facing the ocean. Just perfect.

I’m definitely in love with the place. Took a bunch of pictures and I would like to share some with everybody. I wish I could stay overnight and simply experience of waking up to the sound of the sea wave. How I wish I didn’t have to leave the place so soon. But I didn’t leave without asking for more information and contact numbers. And what I found is this resort offers standard rooms and the executive rooms. They’re all air-conditioned, complete with colored tv and water heater. For those who want to camp instead, they have the place for that too. Actually, Tanjung Kapal Beach Resort is pretty complete.

I promise I will come back soon and spend the night there. Then I will write to brag about how much fun I have. I bet my stay will be terrific! Oh, how I can’t wait!

Marché Restaurant vs the Norway Bakery Moments Café

My favourite activity whenever I go to Kuala Lumpur is to drive around and look for places to eat. And this time, there are 2 eating places that I want to talk about. One is called Marché and another one is the Norway Bakery Moments Café.

Marché Mövenpick Restaurant

Marché Mövenpick Restaurant is situated in the Curve, one of the newest shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur. From a friend's recommendation, I went there to check it out. Upon arriving, I was greeted by their two friendly staffs, handing me a piece of paper, which they called a passport. They explained that whenever I made an order inside, they will stamp the passport and I will have to hand the passport to the cashier after I finish dining. Sounds reasonable, so I took it and when inside to embrace my dining adventure!

Marché was more like a combination of a market and a buffet. Marché, which means market in French consists many stalls with variety of choices. There's home made pizza's stall, the deserts' stall, the steak and grill food's stall, the pasta's stall and many more. You can place your order in any of these stalls, get your passport stamped, and bring the food to the table.

I love the concept and it certainly is different from any other restaurant that I've been to. However, I'm extremely disappointed with the price. I do understand that western foods could be a little bit more expensive, but Marché was totally over charging it foods. I could get the same thing somewhere else with half their price!

Norway Bakery Moments Café

Let's move on to the Norway Bakery Moments Café which is on the third floor of the Berjaya Time Square Mall. Actually, this is my second visit to this café. I came here before, fell in love with the sandwiches that they offered and I came back. Anyway, I added the word Norway because they put a Norway flag on their signboard. It is actually a Norwegian bakery chain. Here, this is an article from the star that will explain it all.

Unlike Marché, here things are more straight forward. You pick, you pay, and you eat. No passport, no stamps. Norway Bakery Moments however does not sell any heavy cuisine such as pizza or pasta, but they do have many choices of sandwiches, puffs and buns. The sandwiches are juicy, the buns are chocolaty and the puffs are yummy! Not to mention that the price is right! It was a bakery heaven!

Some of their heavenly selections

Their delicious looking sandwich

This café also offers variety of delicious coffees. I'm a big fan of coffee, so any café that has good coffee will surely see me again and again. Too bad they don't have this café back in Johor Bahru, because it will definitely be my favourite hang out.

Go to Marché if you're looking for a different environment as long you don't mind being overcharge. Like I said, the concept was lovely if you can look past the price. The Norway Bakery Moments however was more laid back and down to earth with heavenly choices of foods!

Crystal Crown Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

This time during my visit to Kuala Lumpur, I stayed at the new Crystal Crown Hotel. Situated in Kepong, they're a bit far from the city so it will take a while if you want to go to the main shopping complexes. Actually, I didn't realize that it was a new hotel until I read the brochure when I checked in. The reason I choose this hotel on the first place is because of the internet promotion rate, which claimed that if you make your reservation through the net you'll get the RM115 per night, compare to the real rate which is RM145 per night.

I wasn't really happy during my check in process because they mixed up my stay period. I made reservation for 2 nights, instead they only booked me for one night. Typical Malaysia online system, they always screw up. And the front desk staffs need attitude training. Not that they were rude, just need to be improve. But they redeemed themselves by working out the mixed up.

The room however was decent, clean and comfortable. There was a glitch with the wiring but it was solved quickly by the maintenance crew. It wasn't an exactly smooth 'settling down' process but they are new, so I cut them some slack.

The rest of my stay was fine, not terrific, but fine. The breakfast buffet was average and the room service was helpful. There's always room for improvement however. The checking out process was slow, because they screwed up with another costumer's bill, which doesn't concern me, but they left me hanging there for 10 minutes to work on the matter. And, despite the promotional rate that they offered, they charged me RM135 per night anyway.

I've come to conclusion that this hotel offers a nice and comfortable place to accommodate your stay, sure, if that's all you're looking for. But if you want a nice, warm and cozy staffs, go somewhere else. However, I give them all credit for at least being generous with their smiles.

Looking down from Kuala Lumpur Tower…

Another place that I got a chance to visit while I was in Kuala Lumpur is the Kuala Lumpur Tower. When I first thought about going there, I thought this wasn’t going to be too hard. But for me, that wasn’t the case. You know, you’d think finding a tower 421 metres high would be intuitive, but boy it was not! I had to make many turns and going around the same place over and over again. There weren’t many signboards, and when you actually follow those few signboards, it has a tendency to disappear just when you need them the most! Many of Kuala Lumpur’s signboards are like that, so beware! I’m obviously not from Kuala Lumpur, so I was fuming trying to find the way. And finally when I did get to the entrance, the signboard there was small too and nothing to look at.

Pic: The Kuala Lumpur Tower looks beautiful and imposing from down here.

Enough of that. Finally, I found my way to the Kuala Lumpur Tower. I am told that the 421 metre tower is the highest communications tower in Southeast Asia, and apparently, the top of the tower had its design inspired from a pineapple, due to the tower’s location in Bukit Nanas or “Pineapple Hill” (literally translated). Yes, the tower looks more imposing in real life. The staff working there are very helpful, and they lead me to the counter where we can buy tickets to get up the tower. After getting my ticket, I boarded the elevator which will take me to the viewing area. The elevator ride took about a minute or so, and soon we were at the viewing area.

Pic: (Top) We're having a good time at the Observation Deck.
(Bottom) What a hazy day huh? We were at the Eye on Malaysia earlier!

Just my luck, when I got up the tower, I realized that today is one of those hazy days. But I still got the best out of my trip. You can really see the entire town from here, this is one of the best places to absorb the view of Kuala Lumpur (wonder how things look like on the top of KLCC). You can make use of the binoculars up on the viewing area to take a closer look at places or even people, and there are also souvenir shops there. If you’re feeling hungry, there’s also a fancy restaurant at the top floor of the tower. What a very cool and romantic setting to have a dinner there. I didn’t go there though, because the price is also rather “fancy” for my tastes, haha. Before leaving, the staff gave me a survey form for me to fill, gauging my whole experience. Generally, I’m very happy and satisfied with the whole experience, I only wish it was easier to find the tower in the first place! After that, I took some more pictures and left with a smile on my face. Many more places to go.

Taking a spin in the Eye on Malaysia

Hi everybody! I know, it’s been quite a while since I last posted here, but honestly, I’ve been swamped with work! Need to get the money some way to go traveling around, right? Anyway, during the past month, I did manage to go to Kuala Lumpur, just to take a break and visit an old friend. While there, I managed to go to some interesting places and one of them is the Eye on Malaysia, located in Taman Tasik Titiwangsa.

Pic: Wow, couldn't wait to get in it!

It may be a glorified ferris wheel, but ferris wheel rides are always fun. Besides, girls love it (guys take note, they almost never say ‘no’ to it)! Anyway, I went there on a weekday, so there are no huge crowds in sight, and I went during the day too. Just wanted to get a good view of the skyline while I’m at it. Arriving at the site, I thought “what a big ferris wheel..”. Not as big as I’d imagine, but big nonetheless. It was a weekday and about 2pm, so there was only a handful of people. Getting tickets was easy enough. It cost me RM15 for one ticket, and there is a more expensive VIP booth, but I thought that would be overkill. So after waiting for a couple of minutes, I was seated in my booth. It had air-conditioning and the windscreen was tinted, so everything was comfortable. Soon enough, we started spinning.

Pic: Took this picture from inside my booth, nice view eh?

The view from up there was great. I can see the entire Kuala Lumpur skyline clearly. Everything from the Istana Budaya to the KLCC and KL Tower, even some old houses can be identified from up here. Took the opportunity to take the pictures you see here. After the ride is over, I was feeling kinda thirsty, so I decided to get some coffee. There were several cafes near the Eye on Malaysia where you can relax and enjoy a cup of coffee. I just decided to get some from a mobile café truck since I had other places to visit.

Pic: One last parting shot before we got on our way...

Oh, at night, there is a “sound and light” display and even fireworks shows there. So it depends on your preference, whether you like the view at night or during the day. All-in-all it was a fun ride, especially if you go together with your friends and family. Though I hope the ticket price could be a little cheaper, that would surely attract more people to take a spin. Getting there is not much of a problem. Just find your way to Jalan Titiwangsa or the Istana Budaya, from there, you can find signboards pointing you to the Eye on Malaysia.