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Some of you may have found out from Facebook or Twitter that Ms. Clover and I took a short weekend trip to K.L, just to relax and get away from things for a while. It has been a stressful period for the both of us and so with a long weekend coming up, it makes perfect excuse to go up North :)

Cheap air fares from budget airlines made traveling in the region so much easier: just click and go basically. Armed with our passports and 1 set of clothes, we headed off to explore KLCC. Not very adventurous this time coz' we just want to go away from our sunny island... only to land in rainy KL for the evening.

Trader's Hotel was our top choice due to its concept liken to G-Hotel Penang but Trader's, being more of a business hotel, lack the cosyness and funkiness of G-Hotel and the spa can't really compared to Danai Spa also.

Okie. I'm being biased here. Its a great hotel to stay in: 4 minutes to KLCC's Suria Mall, 7 mins to Pavilion KL, lovely view of the Petronas tower day and night, lovely view of the garden park in the golden triangle, the staff are professional and warm, love the interior decor of the business centre, executive lounge and the cafes... etc.

Here's some pics from the Ricoh GrD v.1 to share:

Labels: BnW, Clover, Food, Hotel Interiors, Images, Inspirations, Photography, RICOH GrD, Thoughts, Travel, Us, vacation

Posted by ShutterBug at 20:58 | Permalink | Comments 5

Finally, the blogger interface is fixed... thanks to a link given by TonesOfPink! Apparently Singnet's proxy is the culprit *grrrrr...* but it's okie... as long as I can start blogging again...

Nope, I've not gone to Timbuktu and lost contact with the world (still Twittering and FBing) but this little proxy thingy set me back for quite sometime till Jojo came to the rescue!

So here's a backdated one from the recent trip to Penang's G-Hotel:

It was a short trip over the weekend to get away from Singapore for a while... tix were bought like very early this year from TigerAir for S$0.00 so we made the best use of the cheap airfare to revisit some of our fav. haunts in Penang + some more recommendations from friends!

We decided to stay in G-Hotel this time round due to the fact that we couldn't get a single booking at our old favourite Northam All Suites over that particular weekend as it coincided with the Penang Run as well as Heritage Weekend so most hotels were full. Why G-Hotel was spared the bursting room demand.. no idea but I think cost is one. We couldn't get a normal deluxe room so we had to up the budget to the Executive rooms which we had no regrets upon reaching the establishment.

Totally worth the money spent! More pics here !

Labels: Clover, Images, Photography, Ranting, RICOH GrD, Thoughts, Travel, Us, vacation

Posted by ShutterBug at 11:11 | Permalink | Comments 5

Labels: Bangkok, Canon 5Dmk2, Clover, Images, Photography, Travel, Us, vacation

Posted by ShutterBug at 15:24 | Permalink | Comments 4

A pleasant surprise was hatched in a shroud of secrecy complete with radio silence, secret code names and a whole bunch of people whom have come together to give this ole' bug a wonderful surprise @ Pasta Inc tonight :D

Labels: Celebrations, Clover, Food, Friends, Occasions, Thoughts, Us

Posted by ShutterBug at 02:59 | Permalink | Comments 11

We are an odd pair... :)

When Ms Clover wanted to do a salad for dinner to bring to work (she is on shift tonight), I decided to pitch in but we have very different ideas of how the salad should turn out and so, we decided to make it a competition using the same main ingredients and do a Salad-2 ways.

The main ingredients consist of Baby Spinach, pan-seared chicken breast & Yellow bell peppers. No time limit and we can use any spices or methods to achieve the end results.

Ms Clover did a warm salad using a Bacon + Sherry vinaigrette toss while I went for the healthier Mediterranean-style salad that uses flavoured olive oil and sauteed bell peppers with spices.





No winners yet coz I liked them both :D

For anyone who's interested, here's my recipe for the Mediterranean-style salad:

Ingredients -

~ Baby Spinach leaves
~ 1/2 to 1x Middle size Bell pepper (yellow or red), de-seed & cut to thin strips
~ 1 piece of Chicken breast, sliced to bite size
~ Fresh basil leaves (about 3 will do), chopped finely
~ French Sea salt + freshly grinded Pepper to taste
~ Basil & Sundried tomato flavoured Olive Oil
~ Lemon juice (adjust to taste)
~ Lemon zest
~ pinch of thyme (dried or fresh is fine)

Cooking -

~ season chicken pieces with a bit of shoyu (soya sauce) or teriyaki sauce, sugar & freshly grind pepper
~ Saute the bell pepper strips with a bit of sea salt and sugar without oil and then add a pinch of Thyme.
~ Pan sear the chicken pieces after seasoning. You can have it a little charred on the surface if you like. No need for oil, just a good non-stick pan will do fine.

Combine the Bell pepper strips, Baby spinach, chopped Basil leaves into salad bowl. Drizzle the flavoured Olive oil over them and toss the combination till even. Squeeze lemon juice over (adjust to your liking) and add sea salt and pepper to taste. Toss the combi one more time to even out the dressing.
You can also add the chicken in at this stage or leave till later.

Serving:

Just before serving, you can add the chicken pieces on top and grate some lemon zest over :)

Labels: Clover, Food, Home, Images, Inspirations, Recipes, RICOH GrD, Thoughts, Us

Posted by ShutterBug at 19:53 | Permalink | Comments 2

...left us both gasping for more... ^.^ from the moment we stepped into the restaurant, the familiar smell of being in Japan hit our nostalgia glands and instantly, we were transported back to the delicious eateries in Osaka and Tokyo... apart from the mix of Japanese/ English spoken by the staff, we were mesmerised totally by the magic of this place.

I have always wanted to come try the food here after reading Imp's gastronomical accounts of the delicious authentic Japanese food here... and decided to bring Ms Clover for a little Omakase meal on Saturday evening. The presentation of the food, the freshness of the sashimi (okie, it's still not as fresh as we expected coz we had super fresh sashimi from Tsuikiji Market before but this is really the closest we can get to getting top-notch Japanese food) and the service quality of the staff.

I'll just let the pics from the Ricoh GrD whet your appetite a bit:




The experience left us wanting more and of coz, a much lighter wallet but I must say, it's all worth the experience! We will definitely return for the lunch bentos as well!

* got an sms from Tatsuya (Ronnie) this morning on thanking us for patronising them... wonderful service this is!

Labels: Celebrations, Clover, Food, Images, Local, RICOH GrD, Thoughts, Us

Posted by ShutterBug at 23:17 | Permalink | Comments 8

It's amazing that once in a while, a little bistro pops up as a new establishment and magically whisk you away to a place where the sea surrounds the beautiful islands of Greece and the beautiful chalk white and blue architectural buildings of Mykonos and Santorini stand out in the warm evening light.. Just imagine yourself sipping cold bubblies and enjoying the alfresco dining under the blue hour dusk...

Wait... I'm still in Holland V :)

Well, that's what I personally felt when we walked into Mykii's this evening for dinner. I would have never heard of this place until I did a search on HungryGoWhere.com to see what is nice around Holland V since Ms Clover needs to go there to return her books from EMC bookstore.
We have yet been to Greece or to the wonderfully romantic island of Mykonos or Santorini but this place, this evening, gave us a taste of what it would be like :)

I totally love the ambience, the beautiful simple theme that reflects the isles' signatures and of coz, the fusion food that came along. Maybe it's just us in the mood for some tranquilty and a dinner just for us both coz it was empty in the bistro except for the 2 of us there. The evening was cooling and clear which added to the whole magical dining experience... hahaha... :)

Although the fusion food was a surprise (I thought they would try serving up authentic Mediterranean crusine before taking the fusion step in order to entice more Singaporeans), but it's a mixed review between Ms Clover and me (on the food)... Here's some iPhone pics (do forgive the poor quality though) to share of the place:


Well... overall, it's a great experience.. I would give it a 7.5 out of 10 for ambience, 7 out of 10 for food. Definitely will be back to try other stuff :)

Check out the review from HungryGoWhere
Check out Mykii's official Website

Labels: Clover, Food, Images, iPhonePic, Local, Thoughts, Us

Posted by ShutterBug at 01:28 | Permalink | Comments 6