Lavishing on Lobsters in Genting Highlands

       

Located at Level 1 of the new SkyAvenue Mall

        A name that has been generating a buzz in Genting Highlands is Burger & Lobster, a restaurant that was established in London back in 2011. It is the brainchild of 4 schoolmates and was conceived on a rooftop in London. Their plan was to just focus on one or two main ingredients (burger and lobster) and dish up perfect renditions of them. 
        With branches worldwide, in Stockholm, New York, Dubai and others, we Malaysians can  hold our heads high that Burger & Lobster chose Genting Highlands to be the location of its first outlet in South East Asia. Their lobsters are flown in live from Nova Scotia while their burgers are made from supreme halal-grade beef from Australia. 
        A comparison with their London restaurant menu shows that Burger & Lobster, Genting Highlands, has creatively tweaked their menu to suit local tastebuds. Their one-page menu offers 3 types of burgers, 3 different ways of indulging in the lobsters, a selection of 3 lobster rolls, and a choice of 3 desserts to end your meal. For each, there are 2 different prices as the lower price is for GentingRewards members.

This is displayed at the front of the restaurant where the queue is formed. There is also a Chinese version, probably to cater to the many Mainland China tourists.

        On our 2nd night in Genting Highlands, hubby and I joined the 12-minute queue to dine here. Hubby chose to have The Original grilled lobster with lemon and garlic butter. As he's an expert in digging into crabs, ravishing their crustacean cousin was not a mean task for hubby. After all, Burger & Lobster also provides patrons with a lobster cracker and a lobster pick. And oh, by the way, a lobster bib is also handed out so that clothes do not get soiled even when hands get dirtied. I decided to cheat - to have my lobster and yet not having to patiently dig for the meat. Therefore, my choice was the Seven Samurai Lobster Roll.

The crowd at Burger & Lobster

Hubby is poised to feast on his grilled lobster

Can't wait to sink my teeth into my lobster roll

        I usually delight in watching hubby devour his crabs, but that night, I was too enthralled by my own meal. My toasted brioche roll was bursting with the chilled lobster meat that had been tossed well with the seven spices sauce. It was so yummy, and I would not hesitate to order this again on a subsequent visit. When hubby tasted my food, he too agreed it was finger-licking good. He enjoyed his grilled lobster, but conceded that mine was a better deal. 😃
        It was indeed a lavish dinner but most importantly, we both enjoyed it very much. And life is meant to be enjoyed. La Bonne Vie!

Hubby made me pose like this...his pet rabbit, apparently!  😜

        

Going Porky in Genting Highlands

                  Besides shopping, our recent Genting Highlands trip enabled us to delight in some good food. My blogger friend, Claire, raved about Go Noodle House and its legendary Chinese Imperial noodles. So I cajoled hubby into having a go.
         As with all the good eateries, there was a queue to gain entry into Go Noodle House, located on Level 4 of the new SkyAvenue Mall. To order your food, firstly, you choose your noodles. There are only two types of noodles to choose from : Yunnan style mi xian (米 線) or meehoon (米粉). Next, you pick your soup. You can opt for either superior soup (三鲜汤) or homemade spicy soup (秘制辣香汤). Finally, you select your treasures (pork balls, pork belly slices, clams, scallops, prawns, fish, etc.).
          Treasures for oink oink lovers like hubby and I would naturally be pork. I ordered the Bursting Meat Ball mi xian in superior soup (RM14.50) while hubby went for Pork Belly Slices mi xian in superior soup (RM16.90), adding another portion of pork belly slices for RM8.50. My Bursting Meat Balls have hot fillings in them, just like Fuzhou fish balls, which are also available here at Go Noodle House.

My Bursting Meat Balls mi xian in superior soup

Hubby's Pork Belly Slices mi xian in superior soup

Our choices must be good as they are featured as chef's choices in the menu

          One bite into the silky smooth noodles, which are completely different from the usual mi xian that you buy from grocery shops or from Sitiawan, and we were both hooked. The flavourful fish-based soup with a hint of Chinese wine was so good that hubby kept slurping it up, long after he had finished his noodles and pork belly slices. Hubby and I often practise barter trade, whereby I offer him some of my food in exchange for some of his. In that way, we can sample more variety. So he had one of my Bursting Meat Balls, which he agreed were really tasty. And I had a huge slice of his pork belly, which was tender and juicy.

           We were excited to note that Go Noodle House has its tentacles at many places, including 1Utama, Pavilion, Avenue K, Mid Valley Megamall, Gurney Plaza and Queensbay Mall. Hopefully, a branch will be opened in Ipoh soon.

Conquering the Genting Highlands Premium Outlets

       Our visit to Genting Highlands after a lapse of around eight years was mainly to see the storm of hype surrounding the Genting Highlands Premium Outlets. Being South East Asia's first hilltop premium outlets centre, the Genting Highlands Premium Outlets is run by the Simon Property Group, which is the name behind Arundel Mills, Chicago Premium Outlets, Napa Premium Outlets, San Francisco Premium Outlets, Johor Premium Outlets and many others.
     

    The Genting Highlands Premium Outlets, which opened its doors to the public on 15 June 2017, features many brand names that caught our attention. Hubby and I were keen to pick up more sportswear so our main focus was on Skechers and Adidas.
     

Whee! Zipping over and past many buildings in Genting Highlands

The cable cars of Awana Skyway

     From our hotel, we made our way through the new SkyAvenue shopping mall to reach the Awana Skyway station. Taking the 10-minute 2.8-kilometre long cable car ride down to the Genting Highlands Premium Outlets was another new experience as the Awana Skyway was only open last year. Previous visits to Genting Highlands involved travelling on the Genting Skyway, which is 3.4 kilometres long. The Awana Skyway has 99 gondolas, 10 of which are fitted with glass floors. We noticed that USB ports are available in the gondolas for charging of smartphones and other devices. The ticket is priced at RM8 for a one-way journey.
     Thanks to my premium outlets-savvy friend, I had earlier downloaded the Simon application onto my phone, registered as a member and received an e-mail verifying my registration. By flashing the e-mail at the Information Centre, I was given a Savings Passport, which entitled me to more discounts at certain outlets.

It's just a leaflet but does offer some good additional discounts.

     Our first stop was at Adidas, which was having a grand sale. So there was a queue to enter the outlet. In spite of the crowd, we managed to find what we wanted. We then turned our attention to Skechers as I needed a second pair of sports shoes. Hubby too was captivated and converted (I still remember how he scoffed at me buying my first pair of Skechers last year). 
     We explored all three levels of the Genting Highlands Premium Outlets, named as High Street, Middle Street and Low Street. It was truly a day of fruitful shopping and we had spent almost 6 hours there!

First day's haul!

The final purchase was an unexpected one. I had not planned on even entering the Coach outlet as there was, predictably, a long queue outside. But hubby literally dragged me to join the queue and we finally left the outlet with a Blake 25 in red bubble leather.

Hubby chose this for me

     Before calling it a day at the Genting Highlands Premium Outlets, I dropped by at the Information Centre again to collect a total of 10 free cable car tickets. Being kiasu, we descended there again the next day but left empty-handed. Hubby had his sights on a Tumi backpack for work and after checking out of our hotel on the third day, we utilised our free tickets to visit the Genting Highland Premium Outlets for the third time to make the purchase.
     All in all, we went (came), we saw, we conquered!

Trying Out The New Kid On The Block

          Our two-night stay at the whimsical Hotel on the Park, Genting Highlands, was comfortable and fun. The 271-room hotel is the new kid on the block as it only made its debut on 22 July, ahead of the opening of the Twentieth Century Fox World Theme Park.

Welcome to the brand new Hotel on the Park!

          Hotel on the Park used to be the Theme Park Hotel, located right at the doorsteps of the Outdoor Theme Park and the Arena Of Stars. It underwent a complete refurbishment and is now incorporated with an Alice In Wonderland theme at the hotel's public areas. Hotel guests, especially those who are shutter happy, will be delighted with the floor-to-ceiling pillar of stacked oversized tea cups (which reminds me of Alice's garden tea party), a bright pink giant bench (which makes me understand exactly how a shrunken Alice would have felt) and the trick mirrors (which reinforces the world of illusion that dear Alice had gotten herself into after falling down the Rabbit Hole). 

It was not easy to clamber up this giant bench at the lobby.

Spiderwoman caught in the act!

Food and drinks to ease the hunger pangs

          Check-in was a breeze, staff was friendly and I was pleasantly surprised to find that our room was ready for us although we had arrived 5 hours ahead of check-in time. We were there at peak season too! Although my room had already been paid in full via Agoda (RM333 per night), a deposit of RM200 was still required.
          Pleasant surprises continued to abound as we made our way to our room. Line art, cartoons, handwritten signage and bright purple coloured-lit corridor led us to our room.

The coloured light gives the illusion that you are entering a tunnel of mystery.

Handwritten signs to point you in the right direction

Colourful and quirky vending machines outside the rooms

It was an eye-opener to find the room number written on the ground!

And inside, there were more oohs and aahs. We had gotten ourselves a Sixers Room as it was the only one available on our dates. It is furnished with 3 queen-sized beds, 2 of which are on a tatami-styled raised platform and 1 more is on a bunk bed over the platform. Design is minimalistic yet functional. For example, in place of a wardrobe and tv console, coloured knobs are placed all over the wall for hanging of clothes and the tv is held by brackets with artwork surrounding it. There are lots of hand-painted signs and drawings in the room, and even on the blackout roller blinds. The washroom area is spacious and is divided into 2 separate cubicles ... 1 for the toilet and 1 for the shower. They are generous with the toiletries too and I was pleased to see the ultra-important hair-dryer. Being able to enjoy a strong wi-fi signal in the room made our stay even better. I later found that even after 3 hours post-check out, I was still connected to the wi-fi on the second floor, where our room was. And that is a big thumb's up!

The Sixers Room is such a cute room, which you will fall in love with!

Playful me could not resist testing out the bunk bed.

The washroom area with 2 huge sinks, lots of knobs for hanging stuff, ample toiletries, separate loo and shower plus the ultra important hairdryer

Pretend I'm there

Use me for your clothes

To remind you of journeys in life

I light up your world

Watch me!

Power up!

Kettle with a difference

A telephone that looks more like a weighing scale

Happy Feet stayed here!

          Hubby and I really enjoyed our stay at this new and quirky Hotel on the Park, which will be an even bigger hit when the new theme park opens later this year. Their Quads and Sixers rooms are a very clever concept as families visiting the theme park will be able to all camp in the same room. I would say Resorts World Genting has done an extremely good job with this new kid on the block.

Lighting A Candle For My Uncle

       He would have been 90 years old on 28 August this year. But he left us for a better place 4 years ago, after a short battle with the Big C. I miss him a lot, and more so at this time of the year. This is the time when I would send him birthday cards and buy him his favourite mooncakes.

     He was another father figure to me, someone whom I revered. As a little girl, I used to look forward to his visits. He was then working in Kuala Lumpur but made frequent trips back to Ipoh to visit Granny, and he always put up at our house. There was usually a multitude of gifts for me, some of which were souvenirs from his many trips abroad. I loved listening to his stories and my passion for travelling stemmed from these stories.

     He gave the impression that he was a taciturn martinet, but to me, he was always loving, understanding and wise. I love my name Irene because it was he who gave me that name. I remember bidding him good night on one of the occasions when he was staying at our house. He then sang the American folk song "Goodnight, Irene" in his rich baritone.

     He was highly proficient in both English and Mandarin. Every time he was back, he would enquire about my progress in learning Mandarin from the Saturday classes in school. It was, unfortunately, the one aspect that I was a disappointment to him as I never got a good grasp of the language. Although I had to tell him I always scored 0 or close to 0 for Mandarin dictation, he never once reprimanded me but would only encourage me to work harder. I have, however, ensured that if I cannot write a slew of Chinese characters to impress him, I could at least write 二舅父      (Second Maternal Uncle) in the birthday cards that I sent him. 

     He had an insatiable interest in learning new things. Being in his 80s did not deter him from learning the ropes of using a computer, buying a laptop, getting connected to the Internet and starting a Facebook account. Whenever I find myself missing him, I open up our Facebook message chat where I can view all our past messages. I often shared hubby's sunrise and macro photos with him as he admired hubby's photography. In fact, he used hubby's sunrise shot at Gunung Brinchang as his profile picture.

     He had often dismissed his sharp stomach pains as gastritis. It was a severe bleed on one night that revealed something more sinister. I remember sitting by his hospital bed the day before his operation and he weakly clutched my hand. He softly said, "I have fought many battles in my life, but I don't know if I will win this battle."

     He never regained his vitality after his operation but deteriorated fast. It was heartbreaking to see him struggle with even a few sips of water. The only bright side of his illness was he came to know Christ and accepted Him. Cousin KC sent him a Bible and when I visited him, he eagerly asked me to read to him from the Bible.

     His demise has left a void in our lives and to this day, we miss him dearly. I wanted to look for photos of us together to be shared in this post, but sadly, I could not find any. If I could turn back the hands of the clock, I would love to have a photo with him and to tell him, "I love you very much, Uncle Wai."

My suave Uncle Wai

Revelling In Memories Of Otaru

      It has been almost a year since I visited Otaru, situated in western Hokkaido. Although it was merely a day trip in this beautiful town with the scenic canal, memories of Otaru remain vivid in my mind.
     Otaru has a glorious history as it served as a major trade and fishing port. In fact, it used to be the gateway to Hokkaido. No wonder the nickname "Wall Street of the North" was bestowed upon Otaru.

Photo opportunities abound in scenic Otaru

     Present day Otaru is very popular among tourists as its beautifully-preserved canal area lined by old warehouses makes a picturesque stop. There is an aura of romance, and this explains why this area is much sought after as a filming location. I dream of returning to this canal area on a winter's night with my darling, as I believe the air of romance will be heightened by snuggling up to your loved one on a snow-covered path.

Four belles at the Otaru Canal

Otaru Canal, 1140m in length and 40m in width, was completed in 1923 after 9 years of construction.

      A visit to Otaru's Music Box Museum will surely delight any girl. There are over 3000 types of music boxes and it would be immensely difficult to make a decision on which to take home. I was tempted to get one of the sushi music boxes, and then my attention was caught by a sweet angel on a music box. Ah! Making a decision had never been such a chore, but finally I decided not to get a single music box and to only leave with memories of this fairytale emporium.

Dainty sushi music boxes

The Music Box Museum is the building in the background.

     The mouthless cat with the big white face and red bow @ Hello Kitty had never fascinated me the way Snoopy did. But when one visits Otaru, dropping by at the Gin no Kane (Silver Bells) Cafe to grab a cup of coffee in a Hello Kitty souvenir mug is a must-do! For 620 yen (approximately RM24.80), one gets to enjoy a great cup of coffee with a slice of apple cake, and then take home the Hello Kitty mug as a souvenir.

Enjoying a cuppa and a piece of apple cake

     Otaru is also the home of LeTAO, which is synonymous with the melt-in-the-mouth double fromage cheesecake. Visiting this confectionary shop is a real delight as samples are abundant and it is a great place to bring home some  cheesecake and chocolate souvenirs.

Taking a breather before entering LeTAO for some shopping

Savouring the beautiful buildings of Otaru with Huey Pin

      There is indeed so much to experience in Otaru and my time there did not do justice to the place. I would have loved to explore Otaru at a leisurely pace but the tour itinerary required us to make the 25-minute journey back to Sapporo for other agenda. Sayonara, Otaru!

Rewarding Ourselves With A Japanese Meal

       After an hour of prancing, leaping, hopping, twirling, sashaying and gyrating at our zumba class, Derrick and I decided to reward ourselves with an early dinner at Sushi Zento. We were there before 5.30 p.m. so there was no crowd to jostle with. 

A feast after hard work at zumba

     With branches in KL, Petaling Jaya, Seberang Jaya, Penang and Johor Bahru, Sushi Zento is one of our favourite places for a Japanese meal. Their dishes never fail to impress us, and even the assortment of sushi rolls on the conveyor belt is a delight to the eyes and to the palate.

      Throwing caution to the wind, Derrick feasted on his favourite Buta Kakuni Don (braised pork belly on rice) and Shishamo (grilled willow leaf fish). I ordered a Nameko Miso Shiru (soy bean soup with "tofu", seaweed and a Japanese autumn mushroom) to go with my Shake Yaki Meshi (salmon fried rice). We also shared a Una Chizu Shake Tataki Roll (reversed roll of seared salmon and eel).

Buta Kakuni Don (RM24)

Shishamo (RM13)

Nameko Miso Shiru (RM7)

Shake Yaki Meshi (RM11) and Una Chizu Shake Tataki Roll (RM32)

      I wish there was more room in my stomach as I would have loved to end my meal with their goma or yuzu ice cream. But I was too stuffed for dessert. Sigh! Oh well, there's always another time.