Travel News - Plaza Premium Lounge, KLIA

I had the privilege to drop by the newly upgraded Plaza Premium Lounge in Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and toured the place.  It's the world's first "Pay-In Lounge" where all travelers, irrespective of airlines or travel class can enjoy the luxury experience of a business-class traveler. It was only then I found out that Plaza Premium Lounge operates at more than 40 locations in 12 international airports - Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Hyderabad, Johor, Kuala Lumpur, Muscat, New Delhi, Shanghai, Singapore, Toronto and Vancouver! Operating 24/7, this airport lounge network which is located on the Mezzanine Floor at the Satellite Building was the first to achieve the ISO 9001:2000 certification.  There is also another lounge at the Public Concourse at the Kuala Lumpur Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) where one can definitely escape from the maddening crowd.

The upgraded Plaza Premium Lounge and the service team (who happened to be in private room area for a meeting - this is also the room where businessmen/executives can conduct formal/informal business meetings.  VVIP/celebrities would usually be in this room when they are in the lounge).

There are two lounge areas, one with a bigger seating/rest area while the other has more dining tables.  Starting from RM118.00/person, one can enjoy the full facilities in the lounge like shower amenities, VIP meet-and-greet services, business centre, secretarial support, wide selection of latest movie and publications and ...

High Speed Internet Workstations

Variety of Food - local delights , hot dishes (the pineapple chicken curry that was served that day was delicious!), salad, sandwiches, desserts and snacks.

Night View in San Francisco - Twin Peaks, Castro & Broadway

The weekend is here and almost coming to an end.  While I'm still recuperating from my Taiwan trip (the schedule was hectic!), here are some shots of the night view in San Francisco.

If you're ever in San Francisco, make sure you go up to Twins Peak for it's one of the best spots for a great view of the city.  Be it day time or night time, the view of San Francisco city from Twin Peaks is breathtaking!

Pictorial Friday!

While I'm away in Taiwan, I thought I would post some photos of mine that were taken when I spent 2 months in San Francisco last year.  Yes, I haven't finished blogging on my USA trip! Hahaha.... I've also mentioned that there is still more from that trip to be blogged since I also traveled to Canada and took a little side trip to Las Vegas and here I am now, in Taiwan!

So, enjoy the sights ... Have a great weekend everyone :o)!

Columbus Tower (Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope Studios) along Kearny Street

Stopping to smell the flowers along California Street ...

Sin Yee Kee Beef Noodles @ Pasar Besar Seremban & Legend Premium Tower

Enroute to Port Dickson last month with Ash, we decided to stop by the Pasar Besar Seremban for yet another beefy adventure at Sin Kee Beef Noodle stall.  I have been here several times (blogged about my first visit to this place a long while back in 2006 using my little Samsung camera! Check out my ancient post and old pics HERE).  As usual, I ordered my fave beef noodles with beef balls and tripe.  I love the gooey gravy and the whole works here (something Ash was not accustomed to and didn't enjoyed as much as I did).

Look out for stall no. 748

RM5 of gooey goodness in a bowl :o)

To Ipoh We Go - A Tale of 5ive Floggers & 1 City (Part Four - Final)

So, what do 5 floggers (that's food bloggers for the uninitiated) do when they get together? Eat, of course and eat and eat !  ;o).  How do we do it?  Why, apart from the fact that some of us are 'larger than life' that make this task easier, we follow a simple rule of not ordering full individual meals at each round but more like a bowl or two shared by the five of us (in this case) but ever so often what will probably "knock us out" are the drinks as we tend to down them more to quench our thirst and our stomach will be bloated with water rather than food.  But as they say "The show must go on!" ... and so it did :o)





To ensure that our stomach had a short break before springing (more like expanding, I would say...hahaha) into action, we dropped by Seng Kee to pack a few packets of their delicious Heong Peah, read the earlier post on Seng Kee HERE.

Coconut husks used in the process of making Heong Peah

After we were done shopping, the next "action" took place at Dai Shu Geok (a place I've been to before, read my earlier review on this place HERE).  No noodles for me this time round just my fave Sar Kok Liew (Fried Stuffed Turnip).

However, we found them oilier on this visit and cold - we probably missed the fresh batch and hence not totally satisfied.  We put in an extra order of Popiah (Fresh Spring Roll) which I found just average  ...

To Ipoh We Go - A Tale of 5ive Floggers & 1 City (Part Three)

Well, what do we do after sweating it out in a lane for a photo shoot? We go eat again of course! Hahaha...We let Jason decide and we ended up in Sin Yuan Hong.  First order? We were really thirsty and ended up with ...

... a Kopi Ping (Ice Coffee with milk) each.  Which we later kinda regret as that meant we were full of water, hence less space for food! :p

We then ordered a set of Poached Eggs On Toast .... I tell you, a work of art it is!

To Ipoh We Go - A Tale of 5ive Floggers & 1 City (Part One)

Before Precious Pea left Malaysia to build a new life over in Melbourne, the few of us practically "swore" to make a trip to Ipoh together but it didn't materialise.  Well, not until Precious Pea left and returned for two months, to grace our shores again during Chinese New Year did we seriously plan for it ...

And so, we did it....making a one day trip to Ipoh finally when the five of us (Jackson, Jason, Andrine, Precious Pea and myself) set off towards our destination one early Saturday morning.  We had made a trip to Ipoh (sans Jason) previously during The Star's Drive For Food Contest back in 2007 and we looked forward to the trip this time round as a complete unit :o)

Our memorable trip back in 2007

Arriving around 9am, our first stop was Simee market for the delicious egg tarts (see my previous blog post on Choy Kee's stall).  I took it easy here while the rest of them went through the usual photo session of the place.

Ipoh folks enjoying their Saturday morning

Can you spot the floggers? ;o)

LEED, A Work Of Art - 555 Mission Street, San Francisco USA

555 Mission Street, an all glass 33 storey tower is one of San Francisco's signature tower as it's the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) development in the city. According to 555 Mission Street website, Tishman Speyer (the developer) is taking the following measures:-

• Refrigerants in all building heating and cooling systems that emit compounds that contribute to ozone depletion and global warming have been eliminated.
  
• The building has been designed so that the energy systems and building envelope exceed California's energy code performance by 5%. Exceeding the energy code means the building uses less energy than a typical office tower, saving fossil fuels.
  
• The architectural curtain wall was designed to enable direct views of the outdoor environment for 90% of the building's occupants.
  
• At least 10% of the materials used in the construction of the building are from recycled sources. The vast majority of the recycled content is from the building structural steel and in the aluminum curtain wall, not recycled materials used inside the building.
  
• The building mechanical design will bring in 30% more fresh air to all occupied spaces than required by code.
  
• An alarmed air quality monitoring system ensures that ventilation systems maintain design minimum ventilation requirements.
  
• All adhesives and sealants, paints and coatings, and carpet systems used in building meet or exceed the low VOC (volatile organic compounds) requirements of the South Coast Air Quality Mgmt District, Rule 1168, providing better indoor air quality to people with respiratory sensitivities.
  
• Total water usage the building is reduced by at least 30% through careful selection of water efficient fittings and fixtures.
  
• The roof will be a highly reflective, lightly colored 'cool roof' system that will reduce the affect of urban heat islands.
  
• The development will include designated parking spaces for low emission and fuel efficient vehicles.

Cool, eh? Check out the photos I took ... By the way, pardon my ignorance but does anyone know if we have any such LEED development in Malaysia?

555 Mission Street, San Francisco

There are art pieces around the area. This is Human Structures by Jonathan Borofsky.

A closer look at the structure

Moonrise by Ugo Rondinone

555 Mission Street building and Human Structures against the sky... towering art of beauty.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVEYRONE!

Picnic @ The Presidio, San Francisco

Well, now you know that we had bought all the earlier stuff from Whole Foods Market for our picnic at The Presidio. It was a cloudy day but we decided to still go ahead with it despite the drop in temperature.

Well, The Presidio itself is a park within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and within The Presidio itself is home to George Lucas' headquarters of Industrial Light and Magic and LucasArts. It was on George Lucas' 7 acre "Great Lawn" where we had on picnic - yes, it's open to the public! How nice of George! :o) But of course, there are security staff patrolling the grounds, so that things are kept orderly and proper. Nevertheless, mom and I were happy to have had the experience of not only visiting The Presidio but also picnicking in such a lovely area.

I was thrilled to see Yoda in the park! He's my favourite character from Star Wars

This time round though, Yoda was at "the office"! Hahaha....


The office was closed, being the weekend and all. We walked right up to the office to take a look inside, through the glass door ...


...and saw Darth Vader and Jango Fett! We fled from the scene, fearing for our lives! :p


We then reached the Great Lawn area ....

Chill Out @ Luna Bar, Pacific Regency Hotel, KL

How has your weekend been so far? It's already Sunday ... and the weekend has come and it's going :o). Take time off to chill ... Here are some pics I took of Luna Bar @ Pacific Regency Hotel when I did some chilling there recently. It's a nice place to hangout, soaking up the fun (not sun ...since at night, hahaha) with the usual suspects ... love the surroundings! Have your dinner there and party the night away at the pool area or just chill indoor. Click HERE for the floor plan of Luna Bar to have a better idea of the layout, it's a great place to throw a party.

View from the upper deck


Bright lights


Bar near the pool area

Things & Places Seen In San Francisco - Part 4

Here are more sightseeing pics ...

What are those ahead? What's floating up there?

Books flying in the sky? Oh...they are wired together! But this is not what makes this display at the corner of Columbus and Broadway Street unique...

If you look down right below those "books", you'll find yourself smiling when you see these on the floor...

Things & Places Seen In San Francisco - Part 2

It's sightseeing time again....

Love the shiny floor at bloomingdale's at Westfield San Francisco Center


The beautiful dome shaped roof at Westfield San Francisco Center


Dome and pillars - lovely architecture


Then there is a different type of architecture in San Francisco Chinatown :o)

Things & Places Seen Around San Francisco - Part 1

I'll be posting random shots of pics I've taken here and there that caught my eye as I go for my daily walks in San Francisco. Probably quite a few, so here's Part 1!

Lane Next To The Beat Museum at Broadway Street


Colourful Chinatown


Colourful Chinatown shopping!


Transamerica Pyramid at Montgomery Street...currently the 105th tallest building in the world.

Sepang Gold Coast

A friend of mine is interested in taking up one of the villas in Sepang Gold Coast and a bunch of us went on a 50 minute journey to take a first hand look at some of the show units there. Sepang Gold Coast is a stretch of 22km of sandy beach, under development to be an international tourism destination and its Golden Palm Tree Villas are currently 90% sold (completion by end 2009) whilst the Sea Tropics Village (low-rise villas, with built up ranging from studio 500 sq. ft till penthouse 2,050 sq. ft which includes a private swimming pool and an open lanai) will be launched in April 2009. A massive club and retail shops are also in the pipeline.

It has been selling well locally and also overseas as the management has included free handling & processing fees for Malaysia My Second Home programme (MM2H) for foreigners who are interested to take up the villas in Sepang Gold Coast. It is sold with an option to lease back to the developers where owners get a guaranteed return of 8% per annum for the first two years and a projected return of 7%-12% for subsequent years. This villa resort will be managed by Swiss-Belhotel International and owners who lease out their units are given 14 days of free stay at the resort per year.

A personal friend of ours (from the senior management team) arranged for a guided tour of the area. So, off we went on a buggy ride, right into the show units which were located about 1km away from the reception/club area.

These are the Travelers Palm Villa, studio unit 520 sq. ft

Ivory Palm Villa - 1,192 sq ft (with three rooms)

Another room in the Ivory Palm Villa - note the Balinese style Alang-alang thatched roof!

One of the rooms from Canary Palm Villa (816 sq. ft - two rooms)

Can All My Future Weekends Be Like This One?

I had an enjoyable weekend, starting with a food crawl with some floggers in Kepong on Saturday night- the first food crawl for 2009 ...

and ending my Sunday here...

Sepang Gold Coast

Stay tuned....

Here's To A Great Week Ahead!

Have A Great Weekend!

Was supposed to continue on my picnic trip in LakeEdge Puchong when I last went there on 30 August but had forgotten about it till now. It's been three months since then - Thanks to Czar again, I gladly joined in the fun as they rounded up the family (I've been adopted by them!) for a "nearby" getaway for fun and food.

Before we laid out the picnic spread, the adults took a walk around the area enjoying the scenery. The kids' laughter which broke the silence every once in awhile made that a true family moment. I really like the tranquility and the landscape here. How nice would it be if I had a weekend house here in LakeEdge, away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

The kids were enjoying themselves; first swimming, then basketball and finally with the younger ones taking shots at Big Bro with some penalty kicks! Of course, little bro kicked with more gusto than sis.

Here are more pics from that day's outing

"Salem High Country" pose for the camera, remember that ad?

I love LakeEdge!

Our simple picnic spread (according to Czar). From Top Left : Keropok Lekor, Sweet Corn, Fried Bee Hoon, Bruschetta (my absolute fave!), Home made sausage buns and sausage sticks. Peach Custard Tarts (melted a bit from the heat but was good stuff nevertheless) and finally tong sui - white fungus, lychee and other assorted stuff. Czar and cousin are good and fast cooks and though they regard this is as simple fare, it would have taken me ages to get the food ready where it might turn out inedible in the end. Hahahah...

Whatever it is, I want more WEEKENDS!!! Don't we all ? Weekends that are totally free from any work and when I can "laze around like a vegetable" if I choose to vegetate! That's bliss ;p. Have a great weekend!

Sunday clears away the rust of the whole week.
~ Joseph Addison