Khuntai Restaurant, Thai Seafood in Butterworth Penang

In Penang whenever I have the desire to taste Thai Style seafood, Khuntai Restaurant is my first choice. Khuntai Restaurant is a Thai seafood restaurant that located nearby Jalan Raja Uda Butterworth Penang. I have been here for at least three times to taste their Thai style seafood. The price for the food at Khuntai is reasonable and environment here is very nice. There is indoor and also outdoor sitting area which is nicely decorated. The outdoor sitting area is something like small hut.

While the main dishes are in the progress, we can always order starter to warm up our appetite. There are many starters to choose in the menu and the Kerabu spicy sotong is one of them which I have tried before. The sotong or squid is mix with onion, chili padi, tomatoes and others vegetable. It is highly recommended for those who love spicy food.

In Khuntai, their rice is not just serving in plate to their customers but it is filled into a special, nice looking Thai design pot. The customers then can take the amount of rice that they one to their own plate. This type of serving style and the used of the Thai design pot make the dining environment more alike to a Thai restaurant.

Tom Yam soup is a dish that must not be missed out while dinning in Thai style restaurant. The seafood Tom Yam in Khuntai contains squid, prawns, fish, tomatoes and other tom yam soup ingredient. Well, I like the Tom Yam in Khuntai because it is not just only spicy like most of the Tom Yam soup I have tasted but really bring out the taste of Thai Tom Yam soup.

The famous dishes in Khuntai are the seafood that steam with their own made spicy lemon source. All the seafood here can be cook in this style which is the MUST order dishes. I have tried the lala , Kempar and also prawns that steam with the spicy lemon source. You will never feel enough once you try it!

After having such a heavy spicy meal, a cool coconut pudding can help to put out the fire.

For those who are interested to pay a visit but don’t know the location, you can directly search Khuntai restaurant in you GPS system. If your GPS map doesn’t show this point, then you can search for Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Li Hwa and Khuntai is located near the school. Hope you will enjoy the food too!

Penang Muka Head Light House

Muka Head Light Penang

When you visit Penang National Park, there are a few of the landmarks that you can check out. Some of these landmarks can be reached easily but some are not. I have visited the Light house at Muka Head. This landmark is considered to be easily reached for me. The light house is about 14m tall and was built in 1883. When you reach the light house, you can are allow to go up to the top of the light house and take a good view of the surrounding.

So, how to go to the light house? To visit the light house, first you must go to the Monkey Beach from the Penang National Park. From Penang National Park, you can choose to way to reach Monkey Beach. You can either jungle trekking to the beach or go to the beach by boat. If you choose to go by jungle trekking, there are no additional charges and all you need is stamina. It took approximately 2 hours to reach the Monkey Beach by jungle trekking. If you choose to go by boat, you will need to pay for RM50 for one way to reach Monkey Beach and it only take about 15minutes. The fee for the boat is counted per trip, so if you go by group you can divide the fee among your group members. So if you are taking the boat to and back from the monkey beach, it will cost RM100.

After you reach Monkey Beach, there is only one way to go to the light house. That is by jungle trekking from the beach up to the light house. It will only take approximately 30 minutes to reach the light house. To return to Penang National Park from the Monkey Beach, you can either take a boat or jungle trekking all the way back to where you started. The light house is a great place to visit if you happen to come to Penang National Park.

Fun at Universal Studios Singapore

The Universal Studios Singapore is located in the Sentosa Isalnd of Singapore.It is very convenient to get to Universal Studios Singapore as there are a few types of transport for visitors to choose. Visitors can travel by using bus to Resort World, drive to the island or use the Sentosa Express. Senstosa Express is the monorail service bringing visitors to Sentosa from Habourfront. If I’m not mistaken it only took 3SGD for the whole trip in Sentosa.

The attractions in Universal Studios Singapore are Hollywood walk, New York, Sci-Fi City, Ancient Egypt, The Lost World, Far Far Away Kingdom and The Madagascar. The attractions are mostly from the movie which most of us have watched before. The New York is another section where all the buildings are design like in the New York. You can take pictures all the way down in this section.

The Hollywood Walk is a street where all the buildings are design like in Hollywood. There are shops along the way of the Hollywood street. Some of the shops are only for decoration which I think it by be open and selling souvenir someday in the future. Along the way in the Hollywood street, you will see some of the characters from the movie walking around and you may go and take a photo with him/she.

The Far Far Away Kingdom from the Movie Shrek is another attraction in Universal Studios Singapore. The castle is open for visitors to watch Shrek in 4D effect. It is a place that you must not miss when you visit this place. If you are lucky enough, you may be able to take a photo with your favorite character in Shrek. Puss In Boot is my favorite character in Shrek but the strange thing is that I’m not really a cat lover.

The Madagascar is located next to the Hollywood walk. This is another attraction where you can see many visitors taking photos around. One thing that makes me amaze is that visitors automatically queue up to take photos with the character of Madagascar. This is an unusually scene if it happen in Malaysia.

Besides taking photo, there are still lots of fun. In The Lost World, There are water world, Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure, Canopy Flyer, Amber Rock Climb and Dino-Soarin. For me the Dino-Soarin is kid’s game but there is no age restriction. If you are interested, you still can ride on the pteranodons. I did not try the water world because I did not bring any extra cloth to change if I get wet. I enjoy the Canopy Flyers lots and it is not enough for only playing once.

Besides excitement in The Lost World, the Ancient Egypt is another excitement you must not miss. In the Ancient Egypt Pyramid is the roller coaster which travels in the dark. You can see the route at all. All you can do is feel the way and excitement. Thump up for Ancient Egypt. Sorry that there are no picture for the outdoor activities because I can’t stop myself to take out my camera. All I want during that moment is continue having fun.

DESA Milk Farm, Kundasang

Desa fresh milk can buy from any supermarket in Kota Kinabalu. In Sarawak, this milk can also be found in some of the grocery stall but the price is slightly expensive compare to Sabah. This is because this fresh milk is produce by DESA CATTLE (S) SDN. BHD in Sabah where their milk farm is located in Kundasang. The milk farm is not big but there’s lots of cow. I feel that the number of cows here does not enough to produce the milk for all the local Sabahan and at the same time to export to other state. This might be why not every day we can buy this milk.

The cow is in black and white which is alike to the New Zealand cow. I got no idea what species it is. They can be raise in Kundasang mostly because the weather here is very cool. The milk farm is open for visitors every day from 8a.m. to 5p.m. The entry fees is cheap which are RM3.00 for adult, RM2.00 for kids and student. If you come on the right time, you will have the chance to see their process for producing DESA fresh milk.

The view around the farm is very nice and the air is cool. It is very relax to spend holiday in Kundasang. You can fully enjoy the life in the countryside. Kundasang is located about 2 hours from Kota Kinabalu town. The milk farm is located about 15 minutes from Kundasang’s market.

Beware! There is lots of mine all over the field of the farm.

A Short Trip to Lundu Sarawak

Lundu is town in Kuching division at south west of Sarawak. This is my first time when to Lundu. Lundu is a place famous with the beach call Siar Beach, Gunung Gading National Park and Keropok. Gunung Gading National Park is the home of numerous rare plants including the world's largest flower, the Rafflesia tuan-mudae (bunga pakma) which can stretches nearly one meter in width during full bloom. The peak of Mound Gading is about 900 meters high. My visit here is neither for the purpose to visit the beach nor the National Park but got some job to be done here. After finished the job, we went to buy keropok at the road side stall near the bridge. The famous keropok maker makes keropok at their house in Lundu. I’m not sure that they are sold here or not but I’m sure you can get it straight from their house if you want. It is located somewhere near the stall here and I’m sorry that I didn’t take the picture of the house. However it is very easy to recognize because you can see the many keropok outside their house if the weather is good.

Beside the stall, there is a river. There used to have ferry service here to take passenger to the opposite or from opposite site to here. Since the bridge had been build, this service no longer requires. Now the hut here is used by visitor to view the river. For people who like to fish, I think it is not so suitable for fishing due to the tow poles here.

On the way back, we use another route which is to Rambangan if I’m not mistaken to back to Kuching. By using this route, we need to take a ferry. In Kuching, we don’t have a change to take ferry, I think this is only my second time using a ferry. My first time riding ferry is at Asajaya.

The worker on the ferry is fishing the small fish in the river. I don’t think they eat it because it is very small. Most probably they use it as bait for bigger fish at some other places.

When we reach the opposite site, we continue our journey back to Kuching. Here it is, we left crossing the boundary into Kuching from Lundu. The weather seem like going to rain and unfortunately that the car break down somewhere near Matang Wildlife Centre. We have to wait JKR’s mechanic come to fix the car. However, all this did not making me late for going home. I’m thinking to pay a visit in Gunung Gading National Park someday although my colleague told me that there nothing special in the national park. Need Crazyfool to bring me there with his four wheel drive!!!

Sematan Beach and Market

Last week I had gone to Sematan. This is my second visit to Sematan. Well, before I come here that day, I have went to Lundu which is located not far away from Sematan, I think about 1 hour drive maybe. In Lundu, I did not go for visiting although the beach in Lundu is well known as one of the best in Sarawak. I go to Lundu for some supervision work follow my supervisor to the district office for some JKR work.

Well, I’m not going to talk about what I do in Lundu but what I want to share here is what I had done after the supervision work. After we left Lundu, we went to Sematan to have our Lunch. Sematan is a place near the sea side. Hence, you can buy fresh sea food here. The wet market in Sematan is not big but the sea food here is fresh and cheaper than the price in Kuching market. After we finish our lunch, we walk to the market to see what we can bring back.The choices are not much in Sematan market because all the sea food sell here is based on what they can catch.

This is horseshoe crab. Have you ever eat this? They are still alive. I never eat this before but from what I know they did not eat their meat but eat their egg. Hence all the horseshoe crabs here are female. I wonder how they differentiate their gender. I bought my self 2kg of crab home. Quite regret for not buying the horseshoe crab, next time must buy and have a try.

After leaving the market, we headed to the beach. There’s a resort call Palm Beach Resort in Sematan where it is a nice place to relax yourself. We did not go there but to the public beach in Sematan. Well, we did not swim, just drop by to feel the sea wind before we take our way back to office. Sematan did not change much since my last visit.

Dry Market Kota Kinabalu

Every semester end before I go back to Kuching from Kota Kinabalu, there is a place in Kota Kinabalu that I must visit. Or I should say that every time before I got back from Kota Kinabalu to Kuching, there is a place that I must pay a visit. It is just a dry market call “ Pasar Ikan Masin” located in the centered of the Kota Kinabalu Town. If I’m not mistaken, this place consider as the Filipino Market.

What so special about this market? Well, it is a place where you can buy fish’s air bladder 鱼鳔, sea cucumber, dry scalloped, salty fish咸鱼, and other dry product. Fish’s air bladder and sea cucumber is what we Chinese like to buy as a gift when you go one place. However this is not for my case because it is my grandma that wanted me to buy those foods.

Fish Air Bladder 鱼鳔, Do you know how to value the grade? I’m not pro in this, all I know is the ticker it is, the best it will be. So I always look for the thick one. The type of fish is also the factor for the quality but I not sure that which type of fish give the best fish’s bladder.

Sea Cucumber, Various size of sea cucumber you can find here. The bigger it is the higher the price

The price in this market is reasonable. The advantage of buying thing here is that you can bargain. If you are gifted with the talent of bargain or you equip with a good bargain skill, for sure you can get a cheaper price. As for me, I don’t have those skills, but somehow the price I get still consider cheap if compare to the price in Kuching. Hence, if you like to buy all those dry product, you must not miss this place when you visit Kota Kinabalu.

Next to the dry market is the fruit market and the handicraft market. The picture below shows the fruit's market. Most of the time you will find mangoes sold here.

My First Touch On Snake!

Have you ever see a snake such as this one? It is white but with yellow spot on it. If you never see before and want to see it with your own eyes, you can pay a visit in 1 Borneo Hyper mall at the Handicraft and Cultural Centre and take a glare on it. Well, this is no more a new news for student in Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) because UMS’s students always visit 1 Borneo and the snake was there since month ago. However I like to share this in my blog because it is my 1st touch on snake. Furthermore the snake that took my 1st touch is a weird snake which I never see before from television or other places (This snake is weird to me but maybe not to you).

I don’t know how many times I have see this snake every time I visited 1 Borneo. Each time I see it lying on the table, I would like to touch it but I didn’t have the courage to do so even though I knew it is not dangerous. The snake just lying on the table without moving and that’s make me think of a phrase we Chinese like to say or more precise is what Hakka used to say “Quiet Dog Bite” which make me feel that it is dangerous. However, today I see it gliding slowly on the table trying to get down to the floor. This make me feel that it is even dangerous than not moving but I finally touched its skin while it is moving. The feeling was like touching a hard plastic.

From the picture below, you can see that the snake is not only for display but is prepare for visitors to take pictures together. If I’m not mistaken they are having some event related to reptile and that’s why the snake is here. I don’t know how long this event be held. 1 picture cost RM10.00. It is not expensive to buy an experience with that price. So go take a photo with Snake now!!!

Civic Centre Kuching

Civic Centre Kuching is one of my favorite places where I always visit when I’m in Kuching. There is a Civic Centre Tower where visitors can view Kuching city at a higher point. This is really a relaxing place for me. It is also a place where I can see quite a number of foreigner visitors.

Here are some shot of Kuching, Sarawak.

The tall building here is Wisma Saberkas which can be said as one of the oldest shopping complex in Kuching. Now, it is known as a shopping mall where you can shop for hand phones, Computers, Laptop and other’s electronic equipment. However, the opening of 1TJ might take over this place in the future.

The mountain shows in the picture below really look similar to Mount Kinabalu. I’m so surprise the moment I look at it. I got no idea whether it is Mount Santubong, Mount Serapi, or Mount Matang.

Dewan Undangan Negeri Sarawak where it is still under construction. Do you notice a colorful building at the bottom of the picture below, that is Star Cineplex which is one of the cinemas in Kuching.

Sarawak Club.

Random shot of Kuching.

Besides enjoying the nice view of Kuching, there is also a shop selling souvenir.

If you get to visit Kuching someday, Civic Centre Tower is the place you must not miss.