Dal.Komm Coffee, Suria KLCC

After going through 2 weeks of craziness at work, I decided to take a week off with my parents to KL, accompanying my dad while mom was meeting her friends. Of course, I can't just ditch dad and off to my friends so we spent some quality time, walking around Suria KLCC, doing some shopping... only at the end of that day I realized it's like when I'm hanging out with my girlfriends. :D

We took a break at this Korean cafe instead of our usual spots i.e. Starbucks and the place is called Dal.Komm Coffee. If you didn't know, dalkom means sweet in Korean. 

Nunpat Dessert Cafe, Imago KK Times Square

I've been continuing my search for the next flavour I want to feature after the last Flavour Crush post but what can I say. My interest is still going on towards Green Tea. 

A friend of mine introduced me to this Korean dessert cafe in Imago KK Times Square and I gotta say, I'm already making plans for future visits. 

If you didn't know, this cafe is actually a sister cafe to Beans N Beans. Even the menus are actually the same. The only difference is the interior. Beans N Beans has much darker interior and as Nunpat is located at the outside area of Imago, there are more natural lighting that comes into the store.

As I've been wanting to eat the Cheesy Egg Ham Tortilla from the last time I went to Beans N Beans, I ordered it again.

The highlight of this visit is definitely the Green Tea Bingsu (shaved ice)! There's red bean paste (which is perfect) plus that vanilla ice cream that's truly a cherry on top. I heard that the Green Tea powder used in the Bingsu is brought from Jeju island. Whoa~ I really love it as it's not too sweet and if you're obsessed with Green Tea like me, do give this a try!

I decided to try the Croque Monsieur as well as they're having 20% off if you're taking it together with a Bingsu. Do check out the store for more info on this. 

Until next post, annyeong~

App Review | SweetSpot Mobile

Have you seen this mini signboard in Starbucks before? I just did today when I went to Starbucks cafe in Imago KK Times Square.

After asking the barista at the counter, turned out all you need is to download the SweetSpot Mobile app on your smartphones and connect your VISA credit or debit card. 

Girls Day

It's been about a year since I have a girl's day and even I'm surprised myself. So last week me and me office mate planned to go out this weekend and we're definitely enjoying ourselves. Well, shopping, going to one clotting store after one another, with Starbucks on our hands, awesome brunch... Can a girl ask for more? 

Around 9 in the morning, we took a bus from our place to the KK city and walked from the bus stop to Centre Point to get some stuffs from Popular bookstore and then we headed to Oceanus shopping mall as someone haven't been there. haha not me! 

There, we went to my favourite Starbucks cafe and I ordered my favourite Green Tea frappucino for myself and Caramel frappucino for her. We hung out for like few hours, chatting away before we head to Nando's for brunch. 

I ordered the usual Nando's chicken with wedges, Mediterranean rice and that newly sweet potato for sides. It's truly a comfort food for me. The ambience is nice, there are lots of people but still good enough to have nice conversations. 

After going for another spin around the mall and picking up some products from TheFaceShop, we went ahead and started our 'journey' towards Imago, KK Times Square. 

Enjoying the view while taking a break from the long walk~ :D We went to beauty shops, looking at bags... ah~ so heavenly~

Then around 6 p.m., we started going back to Centre Point as she needed to duplicate her house keys. We stopped by at Starbucks at Palm Square as we both equally tired of walking around so much! haha

Drinking Green Tea latte as it's really cold and I ordered caramel macchiato for her. Then around 7 we started walking back towards the bus station and we were lucky as the bus took off right after we hopped in. :)

Overall, it was really a nice outing for me. We both had fun, having light and enjoyable conversations. I honestly haven't experienced that for a very long time. Truly blessed. 

I guess that's all from me~ I'm sorry as it's been slow for the past months as I've been busy with work... ah~ typical. 

Anyway, I'll be seeing you guys next post. Until then, take care! :D

Wake Me Up When September Ends

Still couldn't get over these shoes from Skechers. I was looking for something in between of feminine shoes and something I can wear with jeans, I found these! #Skechers #SkechersMalaysia

A photo posted by real__nmj (@hunnyandvanilla) on Sep 7, 2016 at 5:16pm PDT

 First, I've been loving my recent purchase from Skechers. As Nike no longer sell ballerina shoes i.e. their Mary Jane collection, I moved over to this brand and I gotta say I'm not regretting one bit! The cutting perfectly fit my feet and I'm loving the choice in design. I got one pair in grey and another in black! It's suitable for me to wear with jeans and of course with Baju Kurung for work.

October Coffee Roaster, Jalan Lintas, Kota Kinabalu

Of course, as it's the kick-off of the weekend, me and my friend have to hang out at our favourite cafe, October Cafe. We hit the day off with having light lunch at The Peak Vista cafe.

I've been craving for garlic bread and these are just perfect! Though I always have mushroom soup with garlic breads, not with these babies! They're crunchy and so tasty on their own. I ordered Green Tea latte this time and just love it's unchanged taste. 

Beans N Beans, Suria Sabah Shopping Mall, Kota Kinabalu

I was on my way to meet a client today for a sushi when I passed this Korean cafe at Suria Sabah Shopping Mall and as my client was not gonna be here for another 2 hours, I thought it's nice to have a little something while waiting. 

As I don't have my DSLR with me I guess I'll be sharing some photos with you but I'm definitely gonna snap some more on my next visit. 

Flavour Crush | Green Tea

If you didn't know, I super love Green Tea and always into trying new stuffs made off the flavour. Well, at least for the past few months. 

But first let me tell you the one drink that got me hooked onto green tea-flavoured beverages and food. 

I asked to have Earl Grey Jelly instead of double choc, and the barista said yes! Loving the combo! #StarbucksMY

A photo posted by Ivory and Brown Studio (@ivoryandbrown) on Jun 29, 2016 at 5:05am PDT

I've been a fan of Starbucks Malaysia Green Tea Frappucino and I have several ways to make it even tastier by adding twists to its original recipe. That photo is actually from my second Instagram account where I usually posts about my Starbucks addiction. haha that's just another version of the beverage offered at the store for limited time only - with additional earl grey jelly to it. 

Now let's go to the rest of stuffs I've tried for the past months. 

Another Year Has Passed

It's been few years since the last time I celebrate my birthday. In 2014, I was so busy with Eid preparation and as my birthday fell on 1st Syawal that year, I only realized after we went to 4 or 5 house visits. 

Last year was a bit crazy too as mum and dad were busy with their own projects and I had to babysit my baby nephew so we just went out to get cakes but only ate it like few days after my parents were done doing their stuffs. 

As for this year, I feel kinda different as I celebrate my birthday in my office. Only one person who knew about it but everyone of course found out later~ Thanks for all the wishes, guys!

I was in tears for a little while for this really kind gift. The ribbon is handmade and she even handwritten her wishes. Ah~ so sweet! sorry for the cameo of my coin purse there.. haha

We bought some cakes during lunch hour but later around 3 p.m., Dad popped in at our usual hangout place i.e. Multi Bake downstairs so I grabbed some more cakes for us at the office. haha

After work, my lil' bro came to pick me up and we headed straight to Suria Sabah to have dinner at Sushi King, my all time favourite place. But before that, I went to Ogawa at Level 2 to pick up something, a gift for myself this year. 

After dinner, we went to Golden Screen Cinema (GSC) to watch Jason Bourne. I haven't watch the first 3 movies but this movie is awesome to me (big fan of action movie here) with the fight scenes, explosions and whatnot.  

So I guess that's all about it! I'll see you guys next post! Au revoir~

October Cafe, The Peak Vista

If you didn't know, I'm a huge fan of Korean culture. K-Pop used to be a huge part of it but my K-culture fever had started from a K-drama starred by my all-time fave actress, Song Hyekyo. 

One of things about K-culture that I love is cafe. I had an opportunity to work part time as online shopping site administrator selling K-beauty products before and the person I worked with travelled back-and-forth from Seoul to Kota Kinabalu quite frequently. So one of the things she shared about living in Seoul is the cafe culture which is very much practiced by a lot of people who are living in that city. .

.. so I began to dream to go to similar kinds of cafe in Seoul. I was really excited actually when my new friend brought me to this cafe located at The Peak Vista, Tanjung Lipat, Kota Kinabalu. 

I found that there's limited number of parking spaces so I'm guessing it's even harder to get parking space at night.

I gotta say, I'm loving the interior. So cozy especially with the wooden furniture. But there's something caught my eyes the moment I stepped into the cafe.

You know when you watch K-drama they always have fancy and lovely mugs for the scenes when the couple drink their coffee in the morning? Ah~ that feeling!

So-called Steamboat

I saw Enoki mushrooms at my next-to-office supermarket and suddenly I was craving for steamboat.

Okay, I don't have the equipment. You know, the gas that you place in the middle of table. So I thought, let's just make do with whatever I have in our kitchen.

So here are the ingredients to make my steamboat happened:

 

The store is selling a packed of these processed foods. I added extra chicken sausages.

  

For veggies, I got some baby corns and lettuce. 

 

Of course, Enoki mushroom! 

 

Some vermicelli noodles.

 

One egg is more than suffice.

 

 

Yellow onion and some scallion.

 

I picked up an instant steamboat sauce. Made sure there's Halal stamp on it. 

How to? Easy peasy. Just bring the water to boil, put in the steamboat sauce. Take the baby corns first as those take the longest to cook. After the water started to boil again, throw in the onions and the processed foods and let it cook for like a minute before you put in the vermicelli noodle. When all is cooked, put in the Enoki mushrooms and an egg, stir a little and then add the lettuce and chopped scallions at the end. 

Voila! For dip, I just use my mum's sambal belacan and all is good. Took me about half an hour from preparation to the table but I guess it'll be much shorter if I didn't slow down cutting veggies as I was listening to Mariah Carey's songs. Haha

Until next post, toodles!

Nasi Kerabu Ayam Perchik, Bazaar Ramadhan Asia City, Kota Kinabalu

If you know me that you probably noticed that I don't go to Bazaar Ramadhan often as I tend to spend a lot of money buying lots of food that eventually goes unfinished. Of course, I tried to just bring like RM20 whenever I go to Bazaar but then it's hard to determine of what to buy so I ended up going back to get more money or just borrowing from friends. haha 

Anyway, mum got me a Nasi Kerabu from this Bazaar Ramadhan in Asia City, KK few days ago, an absolute favourite and I just fell in love with it. 

I went to get one for myself yesterday and the taste remains the same.

I have to say that everything really goes together. The rice is well-cooked. The thinly sliced raw vegetables. The sauce is really nice and the chillies is quite spicy. Then, there's the Ayam Perchik! So delicious!

So yeah, if you're thinking to get some for yourself, do visit their stall, I positively think it's by Melati Catering located almost at the end row of the Bazaar, next to Mikro Kebab. It's RM10 per box but it's quite a big meal for a person. 

Until next time, toodles!

10 Days In

It's been 10 days since us Muslims performing our obligations in this Holy month of Ramadhan.

I haven't had any problem adjusting during the day but getting up at 3 in the morning is still difficult. I at least snoozed my alarm for 3 times.

Sigh. Still aiming to become a better Muslim.

Praying while at work is definitely not easy as there's no provided space to Solat so i make do everyday to pray in the Account Department. Alhamdulillah.

Ya Allah, please make me a stronger person while facing your challenges in throughout this Ramadhan~ amin.

Buka Puasa Buffet at Tanjung Ria Kitchen

Recently, especially during the time when I'm about to buka puasa, I love to scroll down @foodpsabah Instagram feed to check out great places to dine. 

But the latest video posted on the account has definitely made me jumped with joy when me, mum and and my lil' bro got invited for buka puasa with a client. Check out the video! 

Of course, there are amazing varieties of food to choose from which you can totally check out at the open-kitchen restaurant. From Rendang to the famous Oxtail Asam Pedas, tandoori, and satay, you can definitely find the food that you love. 

As for me, I've been wanting to have Garlic Cheese Naan, so after getting enough dessert for myself, I went to get some from the Naan station. The chef even deliver it to our table!

Served with dhal, the cheese just melts in your mouth with the slight hint of garlic to taste, it's just perfect!

Tikka chicken with the sauce, it was so tender and the juices just filled in your mouth! So savoury!

I had some traditional kuihs with self-made ABC (though there's a guy who shave your ice for you but you can totally choose the ingredients that goes into your ABC, your poison, so~) but there's one thing I had to get (and lined for!) which is churros!

I've made these with my roommate before but these are just so delicious! You can roll with sugar and cinnamon or just having it on its own, your choice!

I decided to go and see other things  I wanna eat when one of the chefs offered me yong tau fu!

Oh, yes! It's really nice! The combination of stuffs in there just really go well together. I just wished I have more room to eat this. haha

My personal favourite from the drinks station is definitely the guava juice and the fruit punch. Both have original taste which I really love. 

You probably don't know but I don't eat meat so my lil' bro who had mutton told me that it tastes really great and indeed the meat is just so tender. We all had dumplings but I don't really taste the difference between theirs and the ones sold on Fook Yuen. But still, all tastes really nice.

So, that's just a little bit of it from me. Didn't take more photos as I was having discussion with clients and of course, I was just hungry. haha

You guys can check out Hyatt Regency Kinabalu Facebook page to get more info on how to place reservation. It's RM150 per pax, RM75 for kids age 7 to 12, RM130 nett for early birds (3 days advance reservation). 

Until next time!

Kokol Heaven Resort

Last March, it was rather spontaneous for us actually, to visit the place as we were supposed to go and meet some people but the whole thing was cancelled so Dad decided to drive us to this place that his friend's was bragging about throughout last week.

Located at Jalan Kokol, Menggatal, Kota Kinabalu, (you guys can go here for its full website), it took about more than an hour to get to the hill from Kota Kinabalu city.

First, I'm gonna talk about the place, the interior and of course, the view.

This is the main area of the cafe. We hung out here for a couple hours before heading back to the city.

Outside of the cafe. 

That house is apart of the resort. I'm hoping I can stay in there next time.

This is quite an interesting part of the resort. Water element that totally add the coolness of the place. 

The view is just... 

The lawn area is quite huge so it's perfect for family gathering. 

This is the view at the back of the resort. The road down there is where we came from. 

This is the front of the resort. 

It was during a tea time when we got there so we ordered tea and pizza which is the signature dish of Horizon cafe. The pizza is quite delicious! Forgot to take photos of the food as we were so hungry the moment we got there. LOL

If you're just planning to hang out at the place, the entry fee is RM10 per person but it's fully redeemable when you pay for your bill at the cafe.

Overall, the resort is great especially for a weekend getaway. Who knew this kinda place exist just outside the city? Too bad as the trip was cut short as we needed to head back around 6 just before sunset. It was quite nice hanging out there and of course I'd love to go there and maybe stay at the resort next time.

Until then, daa~

Ramadhan 1437H

Ramadhan comes again. I pray that we all can go through this Holy month and become a better Muslim by the end of it.

One of the things that I have made myself promise is to not buying food from bazaar. The reason is definitely because I want to encourage myself to cook healthy food at home and sharing house. Less sweet food as well.

Last Weekend before Ramadhan

Woke up like 7-ish in the morning, with the sun rays burning my skin (I forgot to close the curtain last night duh) so I got up right away. Finished my laundry at 9-ish, I left the house around 10.

After working on some papers for like 2 hours in the office, me and a senior colleague of mine took the bus heading for the city. But then, we had to take separate ways as she needed to spend some time with her friend, hence here I am, at Starbucks Warisan Square, sipping my favourite Green Tea frappucino, even though it's raining cats and dogs out there.

As you can see in the above photo, I FINALLY repaired my iPhone 5S so welcome home, Erry 5.0. The new LCD screen costs me RM300 and I spent RM50 on new clear plastic case, USB cable, and tempered glass. Damn, there goes my May allowance.

Mum and Arif came and joined me around 3 p.m. so after hanging out for a little bit (while writing this post) we decided to go for a little shopping for upcoming Ramadhan that'll be kicking off tomorrow.

So happy weekend, everyone! Hopefully we can fulfil our obligations throughout Ramadhan this year and may Allah be with all of you.

Of Kaamatan and Starbucks Malaysia

Being apart of East Malaysia is always something that I'm proud of. Though I've lived in KL for almost 10 years and I do speak KL slang rather fluently, I still live like any regular Sabahan girl who love ambuyat (traditional Bajau-Brunai dish) and of course not forgetting, celebrating the fact that within one state, all kinds of people who grow up with many cultures since birth, multi-religion, all kinds of colours, can live peacefully. 

If you didn't know, Tadau Kaamatan which means Harvest Festival is celebrated by Kadazan-Dusun people in Sabah throughout May even though it's actually falls on 30th and 31st of May which are Public Holidays for Sabah. The highlight of the fiesta is definitely Unduk Ngadau or beauty pageant.

So that's briefly about Kaamatan but as I don't really celebrate this festival being Bajau myself and of course, most events during this festival involving alcohol so to be perfectly honest, I never go to any of the event. I usually just catch up with the morning paper of 1st June, who won the beauty pageant contest. haha typical

Anyway, this year Starbucks Malaysia has released a limited edition card just for Kaamatan and Gawai (Sarawak's version of Kaamatan for lack of a better expression) and its definitely something I wouldn't miss for my Starbucks trading card collection but that's not all! For the first time for Starbucks Malaysia, they're also giving a complimentary Starbucks Card Album with the purchase of 12 Grande or Venti handcrafted beverages with Starbucks card. From 16th May till 15th June, go and have 12 awesome choices of beverage of yours and collect one album from the Partner at the store, after you received that shining gold star in your Starbucks Rewards account. 

I got mine within 4 days as I was rushing before I headed back to my mum's hometown in Sandakan where there's no Starbucks cafe available so thank God as I managed to score one album!

It's about A5 in sized and housed like 30 cards. Black and gold? Totally my thing!

The inside leaf is velvety, carved with Starbucks Malaysia 2016. Totally reminds me of last year's Summer travel pouch. 

The first page is like Starbucks planner's where you can fill in your personal details. The plastic pockets for the cards are sealed with 2 golden screws so if you can manage to find similar pockets, you definitely can add some more!

   

These are the cards I collected for this year of 2016. Beginning with the Tribute Card - which was released last year in the US along with that Anna Sui's limited edition card, then the Chinese New Year card that comes with red packets. 

Next, the Thank You card, just another regular Starbucks card, then the first release of Spring Card. 

  

Then, there's the supposedly limited edition from Korea but it turned out that it's released in Malaysia as well. Next is the most expensive collection of cards I got this year, the Easter Egg cards!!  So pretty though. Haha

Not forgetting, this year's basic Summer card. Supposedly, there's gonna be a limited edition Sunmer card called Wave but I still haven't got the slightest idea of how it's going to look like.

Finally, I got the latest card released this year, which is the Gawai card. The minimum amount to activate is RM50 so I got myself one to keep and 2 for trade.

So to all Starbucks card collectors out there this Card Album is definitely a must-have so grab yours and let me jnow what you think.

Last one!

Until next post! Toodles!

6 Weeks In

 

So it's been about a month and a half since I moved into this Sharing House. Yep. That's what I call the house that I'm renting currently. Overall, I find my housemates are really into their own routines as some of them have been living in the house for about 5 years.

While the others have been living for about 2 to 3 years but I don't really know about them much as I never actually get to sit with them and chat.

Then there are the new ones like me who moved in about 2 weeks before me and these girls are always doing stuffs together. I tried to be among them for the first few weeks but I gave up recently. It's hard for me to intervene in their conversations as it always about them and most importantly, I don't have much in common with any of those girls.

I usually arrived around 6 in the evening at the house and I haven't started planning to cook dinner for myself yet so I usually just go up to my room right away, watching drama, shower and then off to bed like 9 p.m. haha I know! As someone who used to sleep like 2 in the morning, having to wake up early means I need to sleep early as I usually take some time to get up. But recently, I usually get up the latest at 6 a.m., be the first to shower, and getting dressed at 7 a.m. and off to work. I'm taking the bus most of the time as I don't want to drenched in my own sweat if I were to walk to the office in the morning.

I walked home most of the time but if I were to work extra hours, I usually get a ride home with my colleague or to somewhere in KK where I meet my parents for dinner. They'll send me home right after.

So that's pretty much my routine during the weekdays. It's beautifully boring I tell you. But still, I'm grateful to Allah and hopefully I can mend my parents' broken hearts bit by bit.