Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Porn's Thai food at Star Vista

Pornsak has opened another Porn's (wah big business wor!) at the new Star Vista, so we decided to check it out during lunch. Luckily we were there early because the whole place was packed by 12:30pm! Seems like Star Vista is attracting lots of lunch-goers from the surrounding offices!



Like seriously, how can you go to a Thai restaurant without ordering green curry or green papaya salad right? Porn's green curry is really nice - fragrant and rich. I think I can come here alone and order just this curry and a bowl of rice!

I'm someone that don't really like sour food and I've had some bad experience with very sour (at least to me lah!) Thai papaya salad. Luckily, the green papaya salad here is not that sour! I like the nice touch of that crispy bean curd skin (I guess!) which adds some texture to the salad. I think the salad will taste even better if they add some pomelo as well. After all, this salad is not cheap wor!



The minced chicken with basil leaves is overwhelming with basil leaves fragrance, so yes, another dish that needs another bowl of rice! But it does get kinda boring after chewing on the minced meat for some time. Maybe some vegetables added will be nice.



We ordered a small portion of the Tomyam soup which we heard is the authentic Thai kind, the kind that looks innocently clear but actually super spicy! And boy was this soup spicy! What we like is that it is not oily at all, but what we didn't like is that there are too little seafood in the soup. Could be a little bit more generous lah!

Overall, the food at Porn's is good, but for the three of us, it turned out to be about $16 per pax. So I don't think I can afford to lunch there everyday lah!

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Old school dim sum at Red Star, Chin Swee Road

I really like dim sum. I'm a Cantonese so I guess it's in my blood. And sometimes I just want to break away from all those ATAS dim sum at Wah Lok or Min Jiang and simply go for something old school. Like Red Star.



I know porridge is one big bowl of carbo that will fill up half my stomach immediately and leave no space for the others, but I have to eat porridge when eating dim sum, and it has to be century egg porridge (皮蛋瘦肉粥). There is not much meat and egg in this porridge, but the taste and texture is good. Tasty and silky.

The popiah (春卷) is not bad too, with lots of ingredient in it, even shitake mushrooms.



These two dishes are supposed to be the new Chef's Recommendations. The durian pancake is nice in the way that they are quite generous with the fragrant durian paste. But feel kinda weird to eat this as part of dim sum.

The chicken is good though. It has a really high class name too - Golden Dragon Chicken (金龙鸡) - sounds like the chicken pieces will jump up and kick White-chan any time. It is actually sotong paste and chicken wrapped under those crispy chicken skin. White-chan said this is really a must-try!



After that we had some classics like shrimp dumplings (虾饺) and chicken feet (凤爪). The shrimp dumpling was not really that good, not really the standard that I've expected. The skin was not Q enough and too bland. The chicken feet was really tasty though.



We had planned to have egg tarts to end our dim sum but when the aunty pushed a cart pass our table with egg custard bun (流沙包), we changed our mind. Their egg custard bun is quite nice, with rich, sweet and salty custard flowing out of the bun as you bite into them!

There're still lots of other dishes that we didn't order because there were only two of us with limited stomach space. But if you're ever going Red Star, do try their mixed beef internal organs soup (牛什汤), big bao (大包) and feng chang (粉肠), among other goodies!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Set Lunch at District 10 at Star Vista

With the opening of Star Vista, we've got more lunch options now, but only when we feel rich lah, since the restaurants there are not really considered cheap. So this time round we made a visit to the District 10.

They have this set lunch during lunch time, but still not cheap, mind you. The Grilled Black Angus Cheddar Cheese Burger is about $19 and the Hoegaarden Battered Fish and Chips is like $24. The set lunch includes a soup or salad, and a drink. And yes, the mains are much smaller in the set lunch. For example, you get one fillet of the fish for the set lunch instead of the normal two. But no surprise lah, since they're not the only one doing this cheap act for set meals.



The soup of the day was mushroom soup and most of us ordered that. Heng I chose the salad instead. Just look at the photo! I was not playing with perspective here. The salad was really so much bigger bowl than the soup. My friend finished the soup in three mouths. But maybe that was not that bad either because they didn't really liked the soup. Some said it was "powder-ly". The salad was actually good though, with good amount of dried tomatoes and nuts, and the vegetables were fresh.



And we should have eaten our soup and salad slower. Much slower. Because we had to wait more than 30mins for the main course to arrive at our table. Not very lunch-time-friendly for people like us who need to rush back to the office.

Again, heng I ordered the burger because apparently the other main courses my friends ordered were not that good. I think it must have been my lucky day. Should have bought Toto or Big Sweep after the lunch. The burger meat was nicely done in medium rare that I requested, tender and nicely seasoned. The fries were good too. They remained crispy even after I had long finished my burger. I will eat this burger again (ok, probably not for lunch since I don't have so much time to waste).



The linguini with tiger prawns didn't really make it. While the prawns were not really huge, they were not stingy with the quantity. The linguini itself was not too bad either. The only problem, and the main problem, is that this dish was super duper oily. So oily that a pool of oil remained in the dish after my friend finished the linguini. Also, perhaps the chef didn't mix the linguini well, some portion was overly salty and some just tasteless.

As for the Hoegaarden Battered Fish and Chips, I was also told that the fish didn't taste well due to its texture. Guess I don't expect my table of friends to come back to this restaurant any time soon.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Food Trip to KL - The famous Chicken wings at Wong Ah Wah

When people talk about the BBQ chicken wings at Jalan Alor, you can be pretty sure they're referring to the ones by Wong Ah Wah. Apparently they have been there for the longest time and their BBQ chicken wings are the best on the street.

I have already checked and double confirmed on his BBQ chicken wings since the first time I was there years ago, and yes, I still come back to Wong Ah Wah each time I come to KL. So now you know how good these wings are!

Jalan Alor is a rather long food street and very touristy. So to get to Wong Ah Wah, you need to walk pass all the other shops trying to shove their menus into your hands, walk all the way to the end of the street, until you see a Mickey Mouse signboard with the name "Wong Ah Wah". Nope, I also dunno why they like Mickey Mouse so much.



There're two dishes you have to order here. Chicken wings and satay. Both BBQ till perfectly fragrant and super tasty.



In the past few times when I was here, I ordered their fried Hokkien mee, which is really tasty and full of wok-hei and crispy pork lard! Believe me when I say their fried Hokkien mee is the best I've eaten in KL so far!

This time round, we decided to try something else so we ordered the siew yoke mee. And boy we were so spot on! After I ordered the siew yoke mee, White-chan was actually worried that after they pour the dark sauce on the siew yoke, it won't be crispy anymore, but his worry was definitely not called for! I don't know how they do it, but the siew yoke pieces are still crispy in the sauce, all the way till we licked the whole plate clean! The wanton mee style egg noodles is also very tasty and filled with wok hei! Ok, I think this noodles dish has taken over the position of their fried Hokkien mee in my heart!



This last dish that we ordered is definitely not for the faint-hearted. Sotong fried in salted egg. NO! Don't even try to count the calories and cholesterol in this dish! But it is all worth it! Although the sotongs are thickly coated in tasty salted egg, they are still super crispy! If you think fried crabs in salted egg is nice, wait till you try this dish! Our only advice is: order the smallest portion (which is exactly what you see in the photo, still quite a large serving!) and make sure this dish is shared by AT LEAST two people!

Again, we're satisfied with our dinner at Wong Ah Wah. Next time, maybe I'll try their famous BBQ stingray!

Friday, October 5, 2012

Krispy Kreme is coming to town? Orh.



Sure White-chan and I had Krispy Kreme for breakfast in Dubai. Sure we had it for snack in Kuala Lumpur. Had some more in Tokyo.

Sure Krispy Kreme is nicer than Dunkin because the dough is more melt-in-the-mouth, they have more interesting flavours too. But the problem is that, after coming back to Singapore, I don't miss them at all.

But we do miss the Mister Donut old fashion donut with strawberry cream topping that I had in Tokyo. Whenever we see a Mister Donut store in Japan or Taiwan, we just have to go in. They are THAT good. Their dough is so rich and soft at the same time, and you remember the smell of the doughnut even after you are back in Singapore. They are so good you don't even remember whether they are too sweet. Because it doesn't matter.

And how about Dunkin Donuts? Don't even go there.

This is the Halloween special at Krispy Kreme Japan...


And here's the Halloween special at Mister Donut Japan!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Food Trip to KL - Sun Foong Bak Kut Teh

I know the famous KL Bak Kut Teh places are all in Klang. But in one of the previous trips, we went all the way there just to find out that they only open for breakfast and dinner, and we could only see the uncle clearing his stall at 1pm. So we had to settle for a Bak Kut Teh lunch in KL city. And luckily there are some pretty good ones around here (ok maybe a bit more expensive than Klang lah, but you think the train tickets free one har?).

Hidden somewhere along Jalan Imbi, there are a couple of kopitiams selling Bak Kut teh. And since Sun Foong has been mentioned on local food blogs and it also seems to be the most crowded one, we decided to give it a try.



Two of their best sellers are their Original Bak Kut Teh which consists of pork ribs and other internal organs like intestines and stomach; and the Mixed Bak Kut Teh which consists of pork ribs, some vegetables like mushrooms and cabbages and fried beancurd skin. Personally I prefer the mixed one, especially the fried beancurd skin that really can soak up the very strong herbal soup! Yes the soup is really strong and tasty, and it is free flow! As for the ribs, they are the perfectly brewed meat-falling-off-the-bone type, and they are actually pretty generous with the amount of ribs in both pots.

You can either have white or yam rice with the Bak Kut Teh, and we had one each and regretted. Because we should have ordered TWO yam rice! The yam rice is very fragrant and filled with the taste of dry shrimps! And it is not too wet and lumpy, so you don't really feel too heavy even after having one bowl! This yam rice was that close to stealing all the attention from the Bak Kut Teh soup!



Youtiao is another must-eat when it comes to Bak Kut Teh. The youtiao here is not exactly the crispy kind, but when soaked with the herbal soup, it is pure heaven! And since the youtiao came before the Bak Kut Teh, they actually gave us a few bowls of soup to dunk the youtiao first! Cool!

Drinking so much Bak Kut Teh soup, we were definitely in the danger of getting very heaty. Luckily they also sell this liang teh to cool us down! And this liang teh is not those Jia Jia can type lor, it is home brewed type that you can even find the ingredients in the cup!

Overall, the price at Sun Foong was cheap by Singapore standard, and it is a great place to get away from the crowded shopping malls for a quiet lunch! Oh and you can also buy bak kwas after the lunch as well, since they are near a street of all shops selling bak kwas!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Food Trip to KL - Nasi Lemak and Hokkien Mee

We've been to KL for quite a number of times, but never to Kampung Baru the Malay village. This time round, we decided to take a trip to take a look at its Saturday pasar malam (night market), and more importantly, to try the famous Kampung Baru Nasi Lemak.

When we reached Kampung Baru it was still in the early evening so everyone was still setting up their stalls, but we got an idea of what to expect... mostly clothing and of course food. But we were starving so we went straight to search for the famous nasi lemak place.

Before coming to KL, I read from food blogs that the famous ones are Antarabangsa and CT Garden. But it seems like Antarabangsa has better opinions on their rice, so I decided to give it a try. After asking around for directions, we finally arrived at the Nasi Lemak Antarabangsa, which turns out to be a small eating place. The nasi lemak is scooped from the rice container and you can point and order any of the various trays of side dishes. Most (or all!) of the side dishes look spicy and they even have cow lungs...



We tried both fried chicken and rendang chicken and both are really tasty. The fried chicken is crispy on the outside and tender inside! The rice is also not bad, but not as fragrant as we expected. The sambal is just nice for me, a bit sweet and not too spicy, but White-chan thinks it is not spicy enough! Overall, I think the quality is average and we can definitely get this standard of nasi lemak in Singapore.

Not satisfied, we proceeded to the Jalan Petaling night market. After some shopping for anime and roast chestnuts, we decided to try the famous fried Hokkien mee at Kim Lian Kee. Turns out there are two Kim Lian Kee there, with one looking more run down and the other more glam. Since both were as crowded, and White-chan didn't feel like taking the risk of falling sick on his first day in KL, we went to the more glam one opposite Hong Leong.



The fried Hokkien mee was not bad, the broad noodles was Q and they were also not stingy with meat and cabbage. But we feel that the one we always have at Wong Ah Wah is better because their wok-hei is stronger. So next time, we should still stick to Wong Ah Wah!

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Crystal Jade Jiang Nan's rainbow xiao long bao

Crystal Jade has opened a Jiang Nan restaurant at Vivocity level 1, right at the same level as the other more ATAS Crystal Jade restaurant. Looking at the menu, the Jiang Nan restaurant seems to be a upgraded version of the La Mian Xiao Long Bao restaurant, now with more variety added.

One change we love is that now you don't have to finish up a big bowl of la mian only to realise that your stomach has run out of space for other dishes. Now you can order the smaller bowls, which also means more business for Crystal Jade lah since now you don't have excuse not to try the other dishes. And mind you, the smaller bowls are not that stingy ok! We ordered the "small size" dan dan mian at SGD4.50 instead of the "normal size" at SGD9.50. The amount of noodles is still reasonable, still bigger than a pack of instant noodles lah! And then we ordered the rainbow xiao long bao that most tables seem to be ordering.



And here's our take on the different flavours:
  • Yellow = Prawn = like a prawn dumnpling.
  • Green = Vegetables = nothing to shout about... actually already forgotten how it tasted like...
  • Brown = Foie Gras = really can taste the Foie Gras and this actually went well!
  • White = Original =nothing beats the original!
  • Yellow = Cheese = like eating a pizza filling.
  • Magenta = Spicy beef = not too spicy and very beefy, this is good.
  • Orange = Spicy chicken = not bad but not very memorable too.
  • Black = Black truffle = not too stingy on the truffle, not bad.
  • Yellow round one in the middle = custard = Just the usual custard bun. Nothing to see here.

Well, White-chan still prefers the famous xiao long bao from THE OTHER restaurant that starts with Ding. We've also ordered the Sheng Jian Bao to see if this dish has improved in this upgraded version of La Mian Xiao Long Bao.



The verdict? Nope, nothing has improved. The soup inside is still not enough, and the bottom is still not crispy enough. Ok let's move on to the most sinful dish that wee ordered... the fatty Dong Bo meat!



When we ordered the Dong Bo meat, we were still thinking "Wah! Why three pieces of meat so expensive?!" because we didn't expect three buns to come with the meat. Either we were too blind or they didn't indicate it explicitly enough... And since this was the last dish, by the time we moved on to it, we were already very carbo loaded from the previous bao's... so luckily the buns are delicious enough to keep us going! In fact, the chewy buns really go well with the sauce!

As for the meat, the lean parts are not so lean that you'll have to chew 100 times before you can swallow, and the fatty parts just melt in the mouth! So yes, this dish is expensive, but well worth it!

At the end of the day, we spent like SGD50 for two persons, and of course we got very bloated from all the carbo. Oh, and remember, DON'T ever order plain water because it costs 50 cents!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Food Trip to KL - Feasting at Hotel Maya

One thing we really like about Hotel Maya is how they really ensure that their guests don't get hungry. Our SGD175 per night hotel stay comes with buffet breakfast. So as proud Singaporeans, we made sure we woke up early to go for the breakfast! One glance at the spread, ok lah, actually the selection quite reasonable. Got local delicacies, all sorts of breads, salad, juices, one egg station. The only problem is that the food got cold a bit too fast.



But luckily all is not lost! After we kancheong spiders went to fill our plates, we then realised there was a little piece of laminated paper on the side of the table. WALAUZ! It is actually a side menu of all the hot dishes (yes, they actually named it the hot dishes menu. So I think they also know their buffet spread is cold lor...) we can order as much as we like! Why the server that brought us to our table never say one! DOTZ...

OF COURSE we then ordered our second rounds from the hot menu! And the food is actually good! The nasi lemak I ordered is soooo good! The hot rice is filled with coconut fragrance, the sambal just nice and not too spicy for me, the curry chicken so rich! But then OF COURSE I got very full after finishing all the delicious rice lah...



White-chan ordered the French toast which looked good, but taste so-so only. Maybe the chef is better at local food bah.



The next day I ordered the Egg Benedict, which was again so-so, and the egg was not really poached that well. While the curry noodles that White-chan ordered was not bad, it'll be nicer if it's even richer. But after trying out other curry noodles elsewhere, I found that the curry noodles in KL are indeed not as rich as the ones I had in Penang, so maybe it's a KL taste thing bah...





One nice extra that Hotel Maya provides is its free coffee and tea supper at its Sky Lounge on the 13th floor from 9-11pm. When we were up there at 9:30pm, the outside tables were already choped by the even more kiasu ang mors! While it is nice to sit outside and drink coffee while looking at the Twin Towers, the inside seats also not bad lah, very glam and comfortable environment also. While the coffee and tea are nothing to shout about, OOOH the little cakes are nice! I especially love the coffee tiramisu cake! And these cakes and biscuits are different every night some more! OF COURSE I know because we go up there every night lah!







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Tuesday, September 18, 2012

[SPONSORED] Sensational Journey - How to travel around with nothing but Heineken beer

Man of The World Justin is going from Shangdu to Shanghai to Hainoi then finally to Bangkok. And here's the catch. He is going to travel without any cash, and just a backpack full of Heineken beer (WAH! I wonder how many bottles are there in the backpack! Not heavy meh?).

He traded a bottle for a ride on a horse back in Mongolia Shangdu. He tried to trade a bottle for a ferry ride in China Shanghai but was rejected by the counter aunty. But don't worry, he got it resolved! I don't know how many bottles he traded to jump from boat to boat just to cross the Yen River in Vietnam. And finally he traded some bottles to dress up for the party in Bangkok! Power sia!

I wonder at the end of the day, how many bottles of Heineken beer did he give away in total in this whole journey? If Justin gives me a bottle of Heineken, I'll drive him to the zoo to have breakfast with the orangutans' family! What will you trade a Heineken for?

For now, Let's follow Justin in his Heineken Passport journey!

Sponsored Post

Monday, September 17, 2012

Food Trip to KL - Large room at Hotel Maya

In the past, it was a difficult choice to make between staying at Bukit Bintang area (nearer to all shopping malls) or near KLCC (accessible to LRT station). With the new covered walkway that linked up Bukit Bintang to KLCC, this is no longer an issue. So this time round, we stayed at the Hotel Maya, which is near KLCC. The location of Hotel Maya has a big pro and a little con. The pro is that it is a few minutes walk to either KLCC or the Bukit Nanas Monorail. The con is that... it is next to a cemetery... So not so good for those who of you who are pantang.





The room is really good. I can't really find anything I could complain about the room at all. You get a huge room comprising of bedroom and a little living room to watch TV, surf net at the study table, or just stare outside, like at the cemetery, on your lounge chair. I've only seen such a huge room in service apartments. Even the Ritz Carlton KL and Traders KL rooms are smaller lor!



The bathroom is also huge, with two separate sinks and one bathtub that is suspiciously big enough for two! And they're very clever in a way that the shower next to the bathtub is not enclosed so you don't have that danger of knocking your elbow on the glass walls anymore!





The design of the room is also very comfortable to the senses. Instead of the usual dunno-clean-or-not carpet, the room is tiled with wooden floor. The minibar and coffee making machines are hidden in the little compartment next to the TV (yes, took us suaku some time to find it). The wardrobe is hidden in the walkway to the bathroom so that it'll only reveal itself when you close the bathroom door! And then you get a "walk-in" wardrobe! Smart right!





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Friday, September 14, 2012

Food trip to KL - Flying by Jetstar Asia

Yes, I know we can drive or take coach to KL easily so why take a plane? Well, because we were lucky enough to grab a less than SGD50 (incl. tax and return!) Jetstar Asia ticket! So why not?



Of course, the budget airline air ticket does not include food and drinks on the plane as usual. And they charge you one arm and two legs for microwaved-tasteless food as usual. So I don't understand how come there're still people ordering food for a 40mins flight. So hungry meh?



Once we touched down at KLIA, we made our way to the hotel. There are a few ways to go from KLIA to the city. If you're very rich or you're on business trip, and feel like contributing to the Malaysia's economy, you can take the fixed-rate taxi, which I think costs around RM70. Ironically, this is actually less than me going from my house to the airport in Singapore.

If you are in a hurry or you just love to take trains, you can take the KLIA Express which takes 28mins to get to KL Sentral for a price of RM35. And don't worry. Unlike the MRT ride to Changi Airport, you'll sure to get a seat on this KLIA Express because you can actually count the number of passengers taking the Express.

You see, if you're traveling in two or more, you'll rather take the RM70 taxi because it is actually cheaper right? And then the taxi will stop at your hotel some more, not some ulu pandan KL Sentral!

Since we're neither rich nor in a hurry, we took the longest but cheapest way. By airport shuttle. The Star Shuttle costs us RM18 per person and takes us straight to our hotel door step. (Oh but of course the shuttle does not go to ALL hotels, so if your hotel is not in the list, it's better to take the RM10 Airport Coach to KL Sentral then take a train/LRT/Monorail/taxi to your hotel). Yes, it takes the longest, but 1.5hrs is still manageable lah.



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Thursday, August 9, 2012

A Kuala Lumpur summer - Three of us in Melia Hotel

There were 3 of us in this KL trip and my friend recommended the Melia Hotel due to its location. This is one convenient hotel alright because the Bukit Bintang monorail station is really literally just outside the hotel. Oh and just opposite the hotel is Berjaya Times Square as well!

The Melia Hotel is a 4-stars hotel according to some websites and the room is indeed reasonably spacious. Well, at least there is enough space to add one more bed and we can still walk around freely!



The only problem we have with the Melia is perhaps... their service. These were what we hated:
  • We specifically asked for a non-smoking room in our booking but still we were given a smoking room due to "hotel fully booked and not enough rooms". Hmmm...
  • When we made the booking, we already specifically asked for extra bed because there were 3 of us. Of course they ignored this request as well so we requested for the extra bed again during check-in (and of course agreed to the additional cost). After checking in, the counter staff told us the extra bed will be sent over to our room shortly. Well, it didn't happen when we returned to the hotel later, and we had to ask for it again, and also to remind them the third person need to bathe as well.
The doormen and porters were friendly and helpful though!

Monday, August 6, 2012

A Kuala Lumpur summer - Why drive to KL when you can take a coach?

Seriously, I own a car, but I've never driven up north to KL before. Why drive when I can take a coach? Firstly, I don't have to prepare small change for kopi money along the expressway. Secondly, I don't have to prepare all my cash and valuables for the robbers/kidnappers/car-jackers along the way.

Ok, I know if I drive, I might be able to reach KL in 3 hours, compared to the 4-5 hours journey on a coach. But hey, these days the coaches going up north are getting better, so it's actually not so bad wor!

On this KL trip, we're taking the Aeroline from Harbourfront. It is not our first time taking Aeroline coach, but they seems to have improved their service since the last time we took their coaches, which is really cool. And did the fare goes up with the improved services? Seriously, I don't remember how much we paid previously lah!

So we started off by booking our tickets online. It's a flat rate of SGD50 per trip, you can choose from the different timings they have, and you can even choose your seat! Machiam buying air tickets lidat!

On the travel date itself, we just had to bring the reservation slip or number to the Aeroline counter to collect the actual boarding pass and then wait for the coach.

So what are all these services that I was talking about?


  • You get one bottle of mineral water.
  • You get a small cup of 3-in-1 coffee/tea/milo.
  • The meal has improved from fried beehoon/pasta to airplane-quality 3 mini-course meal. I said airplane-quality, so don't expect gourmet standard lah, but still edible lah, and very filling (at least for us).
  • Instead of the previous everyone-view-the-same-video on the common TV, now you get your very own entertainment system that consists of some of the latest movies, music (didn't try this because I have my own mp3), and even simple games (looks kiddish but I caught my friend playing at some point. Guess they are good for passing time lah).
  • THIS is my favourite. You get a powerpoint to charge your handphone/notebook/tablet or whatever! Now THIS is really useful for a 4 hours journey.
After the 4 hours ride, we ended up at the Corus Hotel which is good if your hotel is somewhere near it. Else you'll have to pay a charge-as-they-like taxi to bring you to your hotel, like what we did.

Oh, one note on travelling to KL though... try not to come back on a Sunday night, unless you don't mind adding another hour or two to your journey back... whether by car or by coach...



P.S.: This post is not sponsored by Aeroline and there're lots of other coaches going from Singapore to KL. I've tried Grassland but didn't really like their service, but I heard Transtar is not bad. So go try try bah!

Monday, July 30, 2012

[ADVERT] New packages from Royal Brunei Airlines at the Travel Carnival fair 2012

Royal Brunei Airlines will be launching new travel packages at the upcoming Travel Carnival Fair 2012, to be held from 4–5 August, 2012 at Singapore Expo Convention and Exhibition Centre.

There are four packages devised to position Brunei as an alluring and exciting escape for any traveller, who can enjoy off the beaten track activities, and also have a chance to get immersed in Brunei’s history, living cultures, extremely rich biodiversity and stunning views.

Ok let's see what they're going to offer us people who have never been to Brunei...

ULU ULU FUN 4 Days 3 Nights package



Highlights of the package:
  • Brunei by Night tour 
  • Speedboat and longboat rides 
  • Trek to Sg Apan waterfall 
  • Kayaking 
  • Canopy walk
The package includes return economy class ticket on Royal Brunei Airlines, one night accommodation at Palm Garden Hotel and two nights at Ulu Ulu Resort stay nestled in the middle of the vast Ulu Temburong National Park Rainforest, on the banks of the Temburong river and Belalong river!

For a group of four, the first two passengers pay S$888 per person and enjoy 25% discount or pay only S$666 per person for the next two passengers

FAMILY FUN 3 Days 2 Nights package


(Photo source: The Empire Hotel & Country Club, Brunei)

Highlights of the package:
  • KIDS STAY FREE – Two kids (12 years and under) can stay for free when sharing accommodation with parents on existing bedding
  • KIDS PLAY FREE – Children (4-12 years old) have free 03 hours daily access to the E-Kid’s Club
  • KIDS EAT FREE – Two kids (5 years and under) can avail of free buffet dining when accompanied by parents
The first passenger can opt for an all-inclusive fare of S$740 and the second passenger enjoys the benefits of half price at S$365, plus a facility of 5 KGs excess baggage per passenger

The package includes return economy class ticket on Royal Brunei Airlines, two nights hotel stay in superior room inclusive of government taxes, services charges and breakfast for two adults at The Empire Hotel & Country Club

NATURE TO WONDER 3 Days 2 Nights package



Highlights of the package:
  • Day outing trip to the National Park (Ulu-Ulu Resort) to explore pristine forests of Brunei
  • KIDS PLAY FREE – Children (4-12 years old) have free 03 hours daily access to the E-Kid’s Club
  • KIDS EAT FREE – Two kids (5 years and under) can avail of free buffet dining when accompanied by parents
Two passengers can opt for an all-inclusive fare of S$688 per passenger and enjoy the benefits of 5 KGs excess baggage facility per passenger.

The package includes return economy class ticket on Royal Brunei Airlines, two nights hotel stay in superior room inclusive of government taxes, services charges and breakfast for two adults at The Empire Hotel & Country Club.

FREE & EASY LEISURE 3 Days 2 Nights package



Highlights of the package:
  • Two passengers can opt from an all-inclusive fare of (as low as) S$600 per passenger, while the second passenger enjoys a discount of 40% or above plus the benefits of 5 KGs excess baggage facility per passenger.
  • The package includes return economy class ticket on Royal Brunei Airlines, two nights hotel stay in superior room inclusive of government taxes, services charges and breakfast for two adults at a of hotel of their choice, the options being: the Centrepoint Hotel and the Rizqun Hotel.
This package is developed for regular visitors of Brunei who want to plan their own itinerary.

Why book at the fair?

Royal Brunei Airlines will also have a promotion at its stand at the Travel Carnival fair, wherein visitors can purchase RBH Packages to BRUNEI and stand a chance to win Royal Brunei Airlines return economy class tickets, spa and meal vouchers. Also at the stand, visitors can deposit the cut-off coupon filled with their details (that will be advertised through various newspapers) at the Brunei Airlines / Brunei Tourism Booth J02-K02 during the fair and simply receive a free goodies bag. Those interested can also visit www.bruneiair/singapore to download the cut-off coupon.

Which one will I choose?

I've never been to Brunei before, so instead of choosing the Free & Easy package which is usually my first choice, I think the Ulu Ulu Fun 4 days 3 nights package seems better. As someone who is into Photography, the canopy walk and trek to Sg Apan waterfall seems interesting. Some more can stay at the Ulu Ulu Resort in the middle of the Ulu Temburong National Park Rainforest, on the banks of the Temburong river and Belalong river leh! Now I just need to go look for 3 more kakis to go with me!