Shangri-La Hotel Kuala Lumpur

No, I didn't get to stay there, but I did get to hang out at the Shangri-La this week observing one of The Boy's events there. What a nice hotel!

From an events point of view the staff, service and catering were impeccable, but I seriously want to stay there now. From the moment you walk into the lobby, everything is luxurious and beautiful and nice. And the guest rooms are great too - The Boy was lucky enough to get a free upgrade to an Apartment Suite last year and it was wow!

Highlights of my week:
- Lobby with amazing water feature and beautifully relaxing lounge
- Lunch buffet at Lemon Garden cafe, they have EVERYTHING including delicious sashimi, my favourite :)
- Strawberry tartlets, chocolate brownies and pretty much most of the corporate events menu...

Pretty and delicious...chocolate brownies at Shangri-La Hotel Kuala Lumpur

No I didn't eat four, though I was seriously tempted...strawberry tartlets

UNIQLO Disney Project

My name is Lisa and I love Disney. I may be 27 but that hasn't stopped my love of all things princess and Minnie Mouse-related. I put this down to my Japanaese grandparents taking me to Tokyo Disneyland on a ridiculously regular basis during the first few years of my life and conditioning me to love it. My most recent visit to Disneyland was Tokyo, November 2010 and I can honestly say it was one of the most magical days of my life. The Boy will attest to my running around the whole day with a stupidly big smile on my face, just as excited as the children visiting for the first time. 

So when UNIQLO released its range of Disney-themed T-shirts, the Disney Project, I simply had to get one. No matter that I already have a Minnie Mouse hat and a Thumper (the rabbit from Bambi) T-shirt, and gave my old Minnie T-shirt to my little sister. Some might say this is more than enough for someone this close to 30, but I disagree.

After a couple of weeks of indecision (do I want more Minnie or should I branch out to Daisy Duck?) I finally bought this Bambi t-shirt at the Suria KLCC UNIQLO store. The material is lovely and soft, it's easy to wash and at 39.90RM it's a pretty good deal.

My new Bambi t-shirt!

N.B. Since it is an Asian brand, the sizing runs smaller than in Australia/UK. I usually wear a Small/8-10 in Australian brands but I bought my T-shirt in a Medium.

Now my only problem is trying to decide whether I need a Snoopy t-shirt too from UNIQLO's new Peanuts/Snoopy range!

There are quite a few UNIQLO branches in Kuala Lumpur and of course around the world too. Find all the T-shirts and store locations here: www.uniqlo.com

Sounds of KL

I love the sound of the call to mosque. There's something very peaceful and soothing about the long chanting cries, and it's a sound that I have come to associate with life in KL just as much as the traffic noise.

I've even started using it to keep track of time!

Masjid Jamek (Jamek Mosque), the oldest mosque in Kuala Lumpur

Saisaki Japanese Buffet Restaurant, UOA Centre

The other night The Boy and I paid a visit to Saisaki for a Japanese buffet dinner. Located in the UOA Centre across the road from KL Convention Centre/Aquaria, Saisaki always looked crowded even during the week. We finally took the plunge after our new friends J&S recommended it as one of their favourites for a special occasion. After all, Valentine's Day was just around the corner, why not treat ourselves early?


Saisaki is quite a large restaurant. Open for lunch and dinner, it is a full buffet with a separate drinks menu. From the moment we arrived the service was impeccable with the staff all friendly and attentive. It was almost 8pm on a Friday night but plenty of people eating which was reassuring, as there's nothing worse than a buffet full of food that has been sitting in baymarines for hours.


We quickly ordered drinks - a beer for The Boy and a fresh watermelon juice for me. I should mention there are also dispenser drinks available as part of the buffet e.g. lemon tea, blackcurrant etc. which we actually didn't see until later but my juice was deliciously refreshing so I didn't mind. 


Our drinks arrived and I set off for the buffet. First port of call was the sushi area. There was a fantastic range of sushi, maki and sashimi available for self-serve, all looking bright and fresh and some of it beautifully decorative. I happily created a sushi platter all for myself (on a lovely plate too) headed back to the table to eat. 

The highlights for me were the aburi salmon, which had the perfect just-seared flavour, the chu-toro sashimi (fatty tuna) which was melt-in-your-mouth delicious and the inari boat for its bright colours and sweet flavour. 


The Boy came back with a plate loaded up with fresh tempura and a small dish of dipping sauce. While the prawn tempura was a bit batter-heavy in my opinion, the tempura eggplant and pumpkin were delicious, as was the yasai moriawase (mixed vegetables). 

It was time to move onto hot dishes, of which there were plenty, mostly Japanese but also some Chinese items mixed in (grilled phoenix feet anyone? Or perhaps sweet and sour chicken?) The Boy raved about the braised beef while I took a liking to the beef omelette. The salmon garlic rice is also a must, with deliciously crispy pieces of garlic scattered through fried rice with small pieces of pink salmon. It reminded me of my favourite garlic and shallot rice at The Rice Den in Sydney. 


There was also a teppanyaki station which we didn't try this time around, where you choose your own meat and vegetables and have them cooked to order on a hot plate; and a takoyaki station with all the necessary trimmings. Plenty of reason to go back again!


I have to admit that I actually had eaten so much sushi and sashimi by this point that I didn't have a lot of room left for the 'main' part of the buffet, as what room I did have I was leaving for...dessert!!


Yes. I come from a family of dessert lovers, people with sweet tooths worse than mine and my siblings' you would be hard-pressed to find. So did the selection at Saisaki satisfy my lust for sugar?


It had a pretty decent crack at it. There was a shaved ice station where you could choose your own syrups and toppings but The Boy and I bypassed it for self-serve ice cream. He had Pistachio & Almond and Chocolate Chip, while I had Green Tea, Choc Chip and Cookies & Cream. Yum yum yum. The Boy was very impressed with the Pistachio, and we both liked the chocolate - this is rare as I am not actually a huge chocolate ice cream person (I prefer to eat actual chocolate most of the time!)


There was also a lovely selection of mini cakes so I sampled a coffee cake and a vanilla cake, while The Boy chose a chocolate cake. The vanilla cake was a little too sweet on a full stomach but the coffee cake was very nice. I finished off with a pumpkin custard (made in a real pumpkin) and a mochi filled with red bean, one of my favourite Japanese sweets. 

When we left it was after 9 but still plenty of people eating their fill. The staff were just as friendly on the way out as they had been when we arrived and we left feeling pleasantly full and happy after an enjoyable dining experience. 


The price for the dinner buffet on Friday night was 65.90RM per person. Prices vary. You can pick up a price list from the restaurant or find out more on their website.

Restoran Saisaki Healthy Japanese Buffet:

Unit No. 1-9, 1st. Floor, Wisma UOA II,

No. 21, Jalan Pinang, 50450 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel : 03-2166 3728 Fax : 03-2166 6728

www.saisaki.com.my  

World Press Photo Exhibition

The World Press Photo Exhibition 2011 came to Kuala Lumpur recently. The exhibition showcased the winning images from those submitted by photo journalists around the world last year to this non-profit organisation.

There were various categories from news to sport and entertainment and each photograph made an impact in its own way. As usual (which is sad to say) some tragic events featured a number of times in the winning images, such as the devastating earthquake in Haiti and the oil spill off the Gulf of Mexico.


The 2011 Photo of the Year, a portrait of Bibi Aisha, an 18-year-old girl who had her ears and nose sliced off as punishment for fleeing her abusive husband, was powerful in its confrontational nature and the dignity of the subject. 


Another that I found particularly moving was a series of photographs showing a Chinese firefighters engaging in clean-up operations following an oil spill in northeast China - one of them, Zhang Liang, is caught in an undercurrent and drowns, and a memorial service is later held for him. The image of his colleague in tears at the funeral is heartbreaking. 


These things always make me think though - why didn't the photographer get in there and do something instead of just snapping away? Perhaps I don't understand the point of photo journalism, but surely there are situations where trying to help is better than trying to tell the story?

The World Press Photo exhibition was free and held at the KL Convention Centre. It travels around the world throughout each year, so if you find it heading your way, do check it out.
 
For more information visit www.worldpressphoto.org and the 2011 winners page http://www.worldpressphoto.org/winners/2011

My first POS Malaysia experience

Today I paid my first visit to POS Malaysia aka the post office. Until now I've managed to avoid the place and my only experience with mail has been waiting (a frustratingly long time) for things to get delivered from Australia.

True story: My best friend sent me a beautiful parcel of Christmas presents 2 weeks before Christmas. When did I receive it? The 31st January. I rest my case.

Back to the post office. Now I've stood in my fair share of queues and dealt with several unfriendly, unhelpful or slower-than-a-snail members of staff at the post office back in Sydney. But today was a brand new experience.

When I arrived I noticed the entire place was full of people sitting or standing, but all of them waiting and only a handful getting served as half the counters were unattended and even those that were, occasionally the staff member would casually get up and share a joke with a colleague or seemingly do nothing. There were at least half a dozen or more people standing outside in the mall as well. Clearly things could take a while.

My next problem was that I had no idea what I was meant to do. All I wanted was some stamps to mail a card. Looking around, I saw an electronic ticket display calling numbers in turn with a designated counter next to it. A-ha. I looked around for about 5 minutes and eventually found the ticket dispenser tucked away behind a crowd of people in the corner of the post office with no sign.

Not needing to pay a bill, that ruled out pressing B so I pressed A. Armed with my ticket I happily went to stand outside and wait. Another electronic display read: "stamps, parcels. Please press button A"

Note the punctuation, it's important for the story. I read it and thought, yes I pressed A, I'm all good.

Another 10 minutes went past and the ticket numbers being called out slowly went up towards 1425 which I was holding. An automated female voice announced each ticket and counter as they were called on the machine, although it was all in Bahasa Malaysia. Was it my imagination or did she sound cranky too?

After I had been standing outside the post office for what seemed like forever, I observed a European man who had just been called up to one of the 'multi-service' counters getting rather fired up at the guy behind the counter. Why? He wanted to buy stamps and after waiting half an hour, had just been told that stamps were only being sold at counter 5 which you didn't need a ticket for, you simply had to join the queue.

Aha. I looked back at the electronic sign and saw it actually read:

"Please queue at counter 5 for the following: POS express, registered post," -display changes- "stamps, parcels. Please press button A" 

Aha.

I threw away my useless ticket and hurried to join the queue at counter 5 in front of the cranky European gentleman. 45 minutes later, I was finally out of there with my card stamped and sent off to Japan (I really hope it gets there). 

POS Malaysia, you need to invest in bigger and better signs that don't show half a sentence at a time, and have more staff working so people aren't spilling out into the streets while they are waiting. That was way too much work for a card, imagine if I ever had to send a parcel!

3 months in...

It's been three months since I arrived in KL so I thought I'd take this opportunity to list a few top 3's...

Food
Char kway teow
Chicken satay
Nasi lemak

Drink
Soya bean
Teh tarik
Milk tea with pearls (not strictly Malaysian but it's everywhere and I love it)


Shopping malls
Pavilion (one-stop-shop for high street fashion without the crowded feeling)
Central Market (souvenirs and pretty artifacts)
Sungei Wang (cheap clothes and shoes)

Sightseeing
KLCC Park/Petronas Towers
Lake Gardens
Chow Kit market

Food courts
Lot 10
Pavilion
Suria KLCC Level 4


Bars and restaurants
The Apartment Downtown/Malones, Suria KLCC
Madam Kwan's
Havana, Changkat Bukit Bintang

I hope to add to these lists and maybe even change some of them as time goes on and I get to know KL more. Cheers!

Thean Hou temple

On The In-Laws' final day in KL, we decided to do something different to the countless shopping malls and popular tourist spots like the Lake Gardens and KL Tower they had seen during their stay.

Thean Hou temple (temporary stage in foreground)

While not particularly religious, I am a big fan of temples usually for the decorative architecture, landscaped gardens or general atmosphere, and I'd read about Thean Hou temple a while back and filed it away for later reference.

Being a Chinese temple, which are among the more colourful in the world, I thought now would be a fantastic time to see it because it would be even more lavishly decorated than usual, so off we went. To get there, we got a taxi from KLCC which took us the 3km or so south of the city and dropped us off at the bottom of the hill. Being a weekend during Chinese New Year and by this time the middle of the day, there was a snake of cars lined all the way up the hill road that led to the temple as Chinese families paid their annual visit.

Stalls selling food, souvenirs and even mole removal services lined our walk up. By the time we reached the temple, The Boy was more focused on finding ice cream to cool off from the heat. Fortunately for his appetite, the base of the temple contains a small food court, plus more snack and souvenir stalls and soon we were all happily indulging in a cold treat.

Posing with the dragon to mark the new Lunar Year

We took some photos of the Lunar Animal statues that were placed in a garden area to the left of the temple. I was born in the Year of the Ox, plus I am a Capricorn, which explains my enduringly stubborn nature!

Ox baby

Thean Hou temple is certainly very colourful and visually impressive. I particularly admired the ornate dragons decorating the roof.

Dragons decorate the roof of Thean Hou temple

The Boy on the upper deck of Thean Hou temple

There are good views from the upper deck of the temple, providing more photo opportunities for us tourists! For me though, the most stunning sight were the hundreds of red lanterns strung up as Chinese New Year decorations.

The Petronas Towers are faintly visible in the distance through the archway

After we had taken our final happy snap, we headed back to KLCC, this time deciding to walk to the closest monorail station (Tun Sambanthan) given the lack of taxis! It is actually quite a simple walk, although it takes 20-25 minutes.

Just walk back down to the bottom of the hill then turn right and follow the main road past the first overpass, until you come to the stairs that take you up to the monorail station. It's a bit tiring in the heat but we all agreed the visit was well worth it!