Siu~V: August 2013

i know, lazy bum of me for the lack of updates.. ^^

I finally have time to now write about last my work visit to JB. Lucky me got to stay in the luxurious Thistle JB, formerly known as Hyatt Regency JB.

Coincidentally, my working colleague Yee Yu and I wore a panda shirt that day. How cool is that!

With their cheapest rooms going for >RM300/night, the beds were SO worth it. They were extremely soft and cosy.

A very well-equipped bathroom.

A truly spacious wardrobe, it could fit a whole person in it.

Since it was already dark as we arrived at the hotel and without any nearby makan outlet, it was the best opportunity to try their room service. As expected, hotel rates for hawker fare would be something like this...

The Tom Yam Seafood Noodle Soup was so-so; could be spicier, but mostly, i loved that there were lots of vege and the amount of prawns in it were endless.

Nasi Goreng Kampung was tasty but again, could be spicier. The satay and fried chicken at the side though cold, were delicious.

This was our dining area during our breakfast buffet. Nothing to shout about their spread, hence did not care to take any photo of what i took that morning after. Just liked the ambiance of this place.

Whilst in JB, my friend Kelvin was so kind as to bring us for a nice Hakka lunch at this place in KSL City.

We were close to being the only ones there. ^^

Not that the food wasn't good; it made me miss my mummy's home-cooked food, especially the yong tau foo.

Back to the main reason i was in JB - work at this place.

I was at Puteri Harbour Family Theme Park for a medical insurance presentation to its employees. It was the first time i worked with such a huge screen, thank God i did not have to stand on the (kiddy) stage to talk.

Biggest perk from my hard work that day - free entrance + personal guide to the theme park after that! Whoopeee!!
Which also means they'll be getting free publicity as i post lots of pictures below.

There are 3 sides to this theme park - starting with Hello Kitty Town, possibly a favourite of every visitor..

..unless maybe if you're a guy, as everything is so PINK and LOVELY and so PRINCESSY...

Hello Kitty's house is huge (like the size of a real house!) and definitely worth a tour.

A grand kitty welcome at the main entrance of the house.

The kitchen area is even bigger than my actual kitchen.

Bathtub with a huge BOW-tie and check out the dressing table.

The bedroom.

I loved the wardrobe and the costumes in it.

Apart from the house, there were lots of other rooms with tons of activities for kids, such as this cookie making and decorating class.

Another favourite of mine is the Heartful Forest which leads to a place called Black Wonder.

Oober cute characters to welcome you!

This is an area for kids to play a highly interactive fun game of detective

This is so cool.

The story goes that this is the evil Kuromi...

..who has captured Hello Kitty and Dear Daniel, and the aim was to rescue these poor kitties.

Managed to take a photo with this beautiful Golden Kitty.

Completing the Hello Kitty town in about half an hour (i'm no kid mah!), i found myself in their merchandise store where everything was priced way beyond my expectation. No kidding, every Sanrio item here was fully imported from Japan, hence the hefty price tags. Take for example this plain looking compact mirror and comb - how much did it cost?

Something close to a whopping 100 smackaroos!

I'd rather just spend it on a sumptuous Hello Kitty-designed waffle! ^^

Now, the next section of this park is Lat's Place. Now if you were born in the 70's, then you'd be very familiar with this Malaysian cartoonist. Remember Lat the Kampong Boy whose comic strip i used to read in The Star when i was young,

This is actually a restaurant that serves lunch and dinner to the public.

Beautiful Malay village setting at the background. Makes you feel like you're in the comic strip itself.

The final section of the park is called the Little Big Club, home for 6 famous childhood characters which includes Thomas & Friends, Pingu the penguin, Angelina the Ballerina and Bob the Builder.

The spacious play area that is bound to appeal to every kid here.

Riding on Thomas' train was fun but short.

"Hey Bob!"

My first time meeting Angelina, mum has never introduced this ballerina to me before.

I remember PINGU when i was little! Have always had a soft spot for this plasticine penguin when i was young, i nearly bought a whole collection of his vcds.

Nice big igloo where Pingu calls home.

Biggest companion (and i mean literally) growing up with me has got to be this warm cuddly purple dinosaur.

No doubt that I LOVE YOU, BARNEY!

Not too long ago, i was in Singapore to attend a business workshop which i don't think i want to dwell on much, except for the fact that i was with my other 4 colleagues from Msia.

Kristy, Yin, Yasmin and i

This is Brian, the organiser of this 2-day workshop. Below - free publicity for an insurance company! In actual fact, this was just the venue for our little workshop.

Nice office located very near to Chinatown!

Though dressed in our formal office attire for most of the day, thankfully it wasn't all work (and no play) for us.

Firstly, the hotel we stayed in was smack awesome! This is M Hotel on Anson Road.

Spic and span, spacious...

and the bed was the comfiest i've slept in a very long time.

For some reason, i was very impressed with their room service menu and its rates. I think their course set were pretty decently priced. And wagyu beef burger for only SD27?!

Didn't had the chance to try the food though as we had better meals outside!

A few doors away from my hotel and voila, i found AXA Singapore HQ. A very circular building, it felt like i was walking in circles inside.

I took my early morning breakfast at the hotel.

And amazingly sumptuous it was.

Muesli has never tasted so good...

Yup, it sure tastes as good as it looks.

Will definitely stay here again if i have the chance.

Lunch served during our training...

greedy greedy me.... (grin)

my first visit to a Ben & Jerry's store. why don't they have one here in kl?

cosy, homey and rustic.

sweet, rich and to-die-for... (melt)

We were treated to a nice fancy seafood dinner at Jumbo Restaurant.

Some of the participants of the workshop included those from France, Thailand, Hong Kong and Singapore itself. We were posing with our bibs, which means we were all ready to attack the crabs!

Dinner is served!

Scallop heaven!

COD!

Refreshing!

There's just no way we could ever stain our shirts with a bib this huge!
They even have small plastic bags to keep our phones in. So thoughtful, or they must think we transform into barbarians when it comes to eating crab.

We got the Black Pepper Crab and while i enjoyed it like a 5-year old with a popsicle, it turned out to be too damn spicy for the hong kees and definitely the ang-mos.

So blardy meaty too!!
Sadly, there were leftover crab at the end of dinner as it proved too hot to handle for most dinner guests. I mean, who wastes crab meat?! -.-