Black Kettle Cafe Penang @Beach Street

Looking for dinner? Here you go, you may visit Black Kettle Cafe which located along Beach Street Penang. The cafe is at the corner of the long stretch of building housing Ghee Hiang (the famous biscuit) and is very big. 

This is the front part of Cafe.

This is the behind part of the cafe.

The Pancake

The Aglio Olio with Big Prawn

This cost around RM35++.

Would give a high thumbs' up for the food of this place even though the cafe charges GST and service charge.

Where is it? 

105, Beach St, Georgetown, 10200 George Town, Penang, Malaysia

Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/blackkettlemalaysia/

Lunarich @ Gurney Paragon Penang

Another new Italian Restaurant, well not so new since it's been around for a year before we decided to try it out is the Lunarich at Gurney Paragon. Situated right above of TGIF, it provides both indoor and outdoor dining experience. 

iced green-tea, iced mocha

The mushroom soup comes with two garlic bread.

Aglio Olio

Overall, the dining experience is good with really polite services from the waiters. However, taste of food is probably a little above average. Going back for more? Perhaps we would hunt other Italian's instead.

Georgetown Wines (Wine, Bar & Diner)

A place to chill and relax after a hectic day would be a place with wine and good food. At Georgetown Wines, you can find just that!

White Wine from Italy

 Priced at reasonable pricing with generous portions, this place is definitely recommended not only for its food but ambience and good wine too!

The Spaghetti Aglio Olio 

Clams in White Wine, Garlic & Parsley

Where at?
19-19A Leith Street (Right opposite of the parking site of Red Garden)

Tel NO.: +6042621011

DeTitle Dining Cabin @ Lorong Selamat, Penang

There are many websites nowadays offering attractive deals. Competition is so tough that some businesses are willing to give as much as 70% discount just to attract crowd. I was attracted to this pay nothing for RM8 discount offered at an online website recently. The voucher can be claimed at DeTitle Dining Cabin and since this place is close to my work place, i decided to give it a try.

Nevertheless, I was rather disappointed as the food was not up to expectation and despite the RM8 discount, prices are actually not on the lower end.

DeTile is uniquely painted in purple so you can hardly miss the sight of this shop

with an extra RM5, you are entitled to unlimited servings of soup and dessert

jasmine tea RM6.90

spaghetti bolognaise RM19.90

oriental seafood spaghetti RM19.90

aglio olio RM16.90

cheese-baked macaroni RM18.90 (plain); RM20.90 (with ham)

spicy fried spaghetti RM19.90

some desserts

In a nut shell, this would be my first as well as last visit. For the portion that I am getting is not on par with the price I am paying. Despite so, I must commend on the polite service. Still, they lack workers and thus waiting time is exceptionally long as well.

Where at?

97, Lorong Selamat, 10400 Penang

Tel no: 04-2297961

Closed on Wednesdays

Michelangelo's, Gurney Plaza

A recently opened Italian restaurant, taking over Breeks at Gurney Plaza is this rather posh and high-end restaurant, Michelangelo's. It offers a variety of Italian cuisines as well as drinks (for those who love to drink).

the interior is decorated with sophisticated chandeliers and wall paintings

a separate for both food and drinks

these bottles are put on every table but they are not foc, each bottle costs RM14 (you have a choice between sparkling and non-sparkling)

linguine con vongole, RM32.90 (creamy but not too heavy)

margherita pizza, RM23.90 (super cheesy and highly recommended!)

Where at?
Gurney Plaza, Al-Fresco area, right beside Coffee Bean

Tel no: 04-2296332

Pepes' Pizza & Pasta, Lake Tekapo, New Zealand

After a bad experience with pasta at Monsoon Restaurant & Bar, we were really hesitating to try yet another pizza/pasta meal. But Pepes' pizza and and pasta was recommended by Walter (our host at The Chalet Boutique Motel). So, we decided to try after surveying the whole stretch of shoplots in the town of Lake Tekapo only to find out that Pepes' was indeed the place packed with most patrons. There were many people waiting in line to be seated. Not wanting to waste our time to be seated, we decided to take away instead.

 a cozy feeling inside Pepes' Pizza with its very own fireplace

Their small pizza is priced at $21.50 while the large one is priced at $32.50. There is however another option for people who want to have the best of everything (like me!) with 2 different flavours on a large pizza by paying only $2.50 extra. So, that means, we pay $35  for a large pizza with 2 flavours.

carbonara (bacon and mushroom with special carbonara sauce) and macauley chicken (apricot capsicum,smoked chicken and cream cheese)

We were glad we listened to Walter and tried out this place. It was indeed one of the BEST pizzas i have ever had! :)

Where at?

Village Mall State Highway 8,

Lake Tekapo 8770, NZ

Tel no: +643 6806677

La Porchetta, Christchurch, New Zealand

We have been looking forward to this meal in New Zealand after reading lots of positive comments about La Porchetta in online review websites. This restaurants holds a wide chain of outlets across Australia and New Zealand, with 2 being in Christchurch itself.

Pictures of posh cars were seen hanging on the wall. Seating area provided are comfortable with a children's play area in one corner. And the best part of all, the food is delicious and comes in very affordable price.

 

 superbly cheesy pizza - $7.50

 marinara pasta - $12.50 

alla matriciana - $12.50 

The pasta comes in both entre and main sizes main one priced at a little higher price.
I would say that this will be the place i will frequent if i were to live in Christchurch. Besides that, they also offer a wide variety of desserts from ice cream to brownies.

Where at?
Find your nearest location at http://www.laporchetta.com/index.php

The one i visited is at 484 Cranford St, Papanui SI, 8052


Tel no: +643 3523094

all about Bali~

Finally, the long-awaited Bali trip is here...The only thing all of us hoped for is a nice, pleasant weather that could bring nothing but ease to our travelling. And, alas!! We got it...all the 4 days of our trip was indeed smooth-going.

our lodging for the 3 nights (Jayakarta Bali Club)

Here are some of the sight-seeings we have done...

 Bali beach...

more Bali beach...

 isn't Bali all about beach and sand?

 amazing temple of Tanah Lot

 @ Taman Ayun

 sunset @ Uluwatu, a plce full of notorious monkeys (make sure you go with a guide or you might be attacked by 1 of those monkeys; have seen it with my own eyes)

a shot of the Pecatu Indah Resort 

 Tegallalang paddy field (where they filmed "Eat, Pray, Love"

 Tirta Empul

 people bathing @ the public pool @ Tirta Empul (it is believed that if you bathe with the water, you will stay young)

 do's and don'ts @ Tirta Empul pool

 magical water pool @ Tirta Empul

 i thought he was 1-legged til i saw...

this!! (looks like he was practising 1-legged stance)

 coffee testing @ Sai Land, Coffee Luwak (a famous coffee to be tried in Indonesia)

 breath-taking scenery of the Kintamani volcano (in cloudy sky)

breath-taking scenery of the Kintamani volcano (in clear sky)

As advised by a friend who have been to Bali, we didn't try food sold by the road-side. Bali was definitely a heaven for both sight-seeing and food. There is such a wide variety of places to dine that we find 3 nights is barely enough for us to try all. ;p If you have a love for drinking and food, Bali is definitely the place to be! A piece of advice from a taxi driver, "Always frequent the place with lots of people because this shows how good the place is." So, choosing a place to settle down for a meal is not so difficult after all. We were lucky to have been told of Jalan Lesmana, Seminyak where all the "great and famous (lots of patrons)" were located at.

 with a large man-made stage, the Hard Rock Cafe is quite a popular place among the "ang mohs"...they have live performance starting 10pm with local talents showing off their singing abilities (the ones we heard of are pretty good!)

 @ Ultimo, Italian restaurant (a fine-dining restaurant with super low and affordable prices on its menu)

 my favourite of the entire trip (Indonesia's very own ayam panggang with rice, cost about RM13)

another nice ambiance restaurant; Rumors (wonder what the 2 girls are looking at in the yellow-framed picture?)

 here's what they are up to (taking 2-in-1 shot under flame, and this cost only RM10!)

 another round of shot (i didn't try because i was refraining myself from alcohol, trying to uphold the 5 precepts in Buddhism) :)

a random shot of a cute girl i saw during our visit to Tirta Empul

The whole trip was rather nice minus some of the tiring road trips. Bali is actually a huge place. You definitely need to travel by car and must be a superbly capable driver! The road there are very narrow as compared to Malaysia, and surprisingly, the Balians can fit 2 SUV's in 1 single lane! Honking over there is not a scolding signal but a signal to tell you "i am taking over you now, becareful". And the Balians are pretty alright with their peers taking over them. No swearing, no cursing, and for this, i admire them very much!

If you can ride bike, you can rent a bike and travel on your own. If you think you drive better than a F1 driver, you can also rent a car and drive around on your own. ;p If you want more challenges, you can rent bicycle. Otherwise, you can get cabs almost at every corner of the streets at very reasonable rates. No need of bargaining as the taxi drivers use meters. You could also charter a tour guide of your own.
If you so happen to find something you like and want to make purchase (stalls by the road side), make sure you bargain at least 50% off the original price. Don't know how exactly you can do it, but I managed to with the help of my travel mates! ;)

Ah, I have totally forgotten about my spa experience in Bali. Well, it's not something that I want to remember of. Guess I have to say, we were promised a good spa experience but were brought to a rather not-up-to-expectation kind of spa. Should i describe the condition of the room, i will tell you to watch the movie "Saw". Yes, the movie "Saw", or for better imagination, the first movie of "Saw" where Dr Lawrence played by Cary Elwes found himself awakened and chained in an unused bathroom. Well, the spa that i went to gave the similar chilling feeling of that in the movie. *Goosebumps* So, returning to Bali for its spa? Big no no!!

I can definitely find better spa in Penang!!

Hope my sharing on my Bali trip gave you better insights on the beautiful island.

In the mean time, have a happy week ahead!! ^^