Ah Her Bak Kut Teh @ Pandamaran, Klang

My quest to find the best Bak Kut Teh in Klang landed me at Ah Her Bak Kut Teh in Pandamaran, a simple roadside stall that is extremely popular with the locals and visitors. Although my quest is far from complete, I can say Ah Her is one of the best (within top two) I have tried so far. As far as I know, Ah Her is only open for dinner.

Most of the Bak Kut Teh we have is soupy and extra soup can be requested without hassle. But Pandamarans Bak Kut Tehs soup base is uniquely rich and thick and very little soup is served in each portion. The aromatic and delicious soup can only be topped up when you ask for additional rice, and the additional soup they give is about 10 to 15 table spoons at most!

A case of arrogance, or the precious soup is prepared just enough for the day only? Thats for you to decide yourself.

Each person will have their own bowl of Bak Kut Teh, so theres no need to fight over the meat and soup lol. More hygienic too dont you think? The soup tastes like a cross of very flavorful, condensed Bak Kut Teh soup and braised pork gravy. I am sure anyone whos new to this style of Bak Kut Teh would be pleasingly overwhelmed by the great aroma and flavor.

By the way, this is something new to me so I am sharing with you guys as well. Do you know that some older generation of Klang people regard the bowl type of Bak Kut Teh as the traditional Klang Bak Kut Teh, and not those served in claypot? To them, restaurants using the word claypot and Bak Kut Teh together and claiming that they are selling Klang Bak Kut Teh are usually frowned upon. Interesting eh? I knew this from my readers comments.

Each individual bowl of Bak Kut Teh consisting the normal cut is priced at RM8. Now do you see how little the soup is lol. I usually drench my rice with soup because I know that it can always be refilled later. But since soup refilling is not entertained here at Ah Her, mixing the rice with soup certainly felt like a waste. Better save all the soup you can for savoring later.

But if you really like the soup so much you can keep asking for additional rice to get it refilled (in spoonful amount though). Just a suggestion lol.

Chicken feet is also available here for the same price @ RM8. Dont expect the soup to taste the same because the rich gelatin in the chicken feet made it felt starchy.

Sai Kuat (small bones?) or sueh kuat in Hokkien is a choice cut and I highly recommend you guys to order at least one of this. Although packing more fatty pork skin, the texture of the meat is exceptionally soft and tender. Even the soup that comes with Sai Kuat tastes BETTER - weird but true. I am guessing that different soup is given for different cuts ordered.

Heavenly delicious, I kid you not.

After all the good stuff being said, here comes the not so pretty facts. Ah Her Bak Kut Teh is too popular and crowded that you may need wait for a long time for the food to arrive, upto an hour if you are one of the late comers. Its safe to say that if you arrive anytime later than 5.30pm you will have a hard time finding a table. Best bet is to reach around 5pm to have an early dinner rather than having to endure this painstaking wait.

Think I am exaggerating? This photo depicting Ah Hers customers seated all the way from the middle to the end of the street says it all. It was only 6pm.

The waiting feeling is made worse when you see food coming out, but not headed to your table lol. And to those who are not fluent in Hokkien you might find it a little intimidating conversing to the lady boss, as shes a straight-spoken person eager to get the orders down as quick as possible. Dont misunderstand this with being rude yeah.

Heres another bad news, if you are eager to try out Ah Her Bak Kut Teh I am sorry to say that I do not have any address or clear direction to the stall. I am not yet an expert navigating through Klang, especially Pandamaran area. So all I can provide is a Wikimapia location to it and some key buildings around the area.

My method of locating this Bak Kut Teh gem was by following the signboards leading to Pandamaran from Klang town. Alternatively you can use KESAS highway and exit to Pandamaran using the Pandamaran Interchange, see map.

When you reach Pandamaran, look for Pandamarans police station by asking any locals (I did that). Because if you are able to locate the police station you will definitely be able to find Ah Her. They are only like 200 meters away from each other. Do study the maps diligently and do not hesitate to ask for help if youre lost. Good luck.

Key buildings: Balai Polis Pandamaran Jaya and Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan (Cina) Pandamaran A

Wikimapia location: Ah Her Bak Kut Teh

Authentic Kuching Kolo Mee @ Bintang Food Court, Taman Kinrara Puchong

My visit to Kuching about three years ago opened my eyes (and mouth) to some really nice hawker food like Kolo Mee, Sarawak Laksa, Sio Bee and Teh C Peng Special. Among all I missed Kolo Mee and Teh C Peng Special the most.

Its difficult to find someone who prepares Kolo Mee like how they do it in Kuching, mainly because most of the recipes have been tweaked to suit the locals taste buds. If you frequent hawker centers in KL you will find many stalls claiming to sell Sarawak Noodle or Sarawak Handmade Noodle, only to be prepared by foreign workers. Although some of them are actually quite good, its nothing like the real Kuching Kolo Mee.

Then I read about a stall in Puchong that sells Kolo Mee which tastes like those in Kuching at headsteadis blog. I have always wanted to give it a try but somehow Id just totally forgotten about it, until last weekend. Based on headsteadis clear direction and armed with a GPS, it was extremely easy for me to find the food court where the Kolo Mee stall is at.

This is the first time I saw a Sarawak Kolo Mee stall in Klang Valley.. the rest just go by the name Sarawak Noodle.

A normal plate costs only RM3.80 and the portion is satisfactory too. Well I am not a Kuchingite so I wont be passing judgment on the Kolo Mees authenticity. I just know its delicious, and surely beat the hell outta many Sarawak Noodle/Kolo Mee I tasted before. Not even Rajah Brooke Cafes (claims to sell authentic Sarawakian food and even appeared in 8TVs Hochak @ Kuchai Lama) Kolo Mee can come close to its awesomeness.

The springy egg noodle, lightly coated with char siew sauce that gives it a hint of sweetness and topped with minced pork and char siew slices.. simply appetizing and gets better with subsequent mouthfuls. I love everything about Kolo Mee except for the fried shallots. It is something I have hated since a small kid lol.

Too bad they didnt have Teh C Peng Special.. or it would have been a complete Sarawakian meal

The uncle manning the stall is soft spoken and polite. He is from Sarawak and the noodles he used to prepare the Kolo Mee is also sourced from Sarawak. Only the garnishing and sauces are sourced locally, which do not make a huge difference to the taste.

According to some other Kuching bloggers this is the most authentic and best tasting Kolo Mee in Klang Valley. Kudos to them for testing the various Sarawakian eateries around. As for me I wont be claiming it as the best in Klang Valley yet - not until I have tried and tested the others.

So, my next Kolo Mee destination will be Restoran Gembira @ Taman Megah. For the direction to Bintang Food Court, do refer headsteadis blog as he did a good job explaining it.

Kolo Mee Stall @ Bintang Food Court (one row behind Taman Kinraras Bintang Supermarket)

GPS Coordinate: N03 03.751 E101 38.778 (malfreemaps)

My Honeymoon Dessert House @ Sunway Pyramid

Last Friday I went for an invited meal at My Honeymoon Desserts House @ Sunway Pyramid, a restaurant owned by a husband and wife team who share the same passion for the best desserts. The whole idea of coming up with their own dessert restaurant first started when they were celebrating their honeymoon in Hong Kong and stumbled on Chung Kee Desserts, which is well known for its creative Chinese desserts. This is also how My Honeymoons tag-line Our Desserts, You Honeymoon was born.

Hundreds of dessert ranging from traditional sweet soup, sweet ball, summer special, icy swallow, crystal grass jelly, sago, special granulated ice and many more are available in My Honeymoons menu. And like always we like to start with something light on the stomach like the pillow-shaped Mango Pancake @ RM9.

My cutting skill sucked, plus the plastic knife wasnt exactly sharp so please pardon the mess lol. My Honeymoon insists on a 50-50 ratio of whipped cream and mango for the pancakes so customers need not worry about being shortchanged. The succulent mango was sweet, largely due to the fact that only Philippines mango, the sweetest mango in the world is used.

Two sweet balls (available in peanut, custard or sesame flavor) come with an order of Sweet Ball Peanut Cream @ RM8. The peanut creams smoothness is a result of using manual hand grinder instead of machines to prepare it.

Mellow Fellow Pastry @ RM16 is considered one of My Honeymoons signature dessert. It is basically a dessert created by arranging layers of jellies, fruit cubes, paper thin pastries and blueberry sauce on each other then topped with a scoop of ice cream.

Drenched in blueberry sauce, Mello Fellow Pastry was the sweetest dessert among all we tried.

Jelly Bean is a type of tasteless, translucent balls closely resembling the sago pearls we see most of the time. According to My Honeymoon, Jelly Bean is only available in Hong Kong and they are the only dessert house in Malaysia serving it. Jelly Bean Passion @ RM16 looked interesting from the menu so we ordered one to try. Two mini jugs of Mango sauce and milk serve as the dressing.

Personally I didnt really like the Jelly Beans because of their hard texture, I still prefer our local sago pearls.

Durian Pancake was an enjoyable fare and like the Mango Pancake it also employed a 50-50 ratio for the durian filling and whipped cream. As soon as the Durian Pancake was served, the durian fragrance immediately filled the air. And thats even before they were cut! My Honeymoon simply does not skimp on the ingredients and the raw materials are of high quality as well. Highly regarded as the best of the best durian, Raja Kunyit aka Mao San Wong durian sourced from Bentong is used to prepare the durian filling.

Mango Glutinous Roll @ RM9 - the sweet Philippines Mango was again much appreciated but I found the grated coconuts taste to be too strong and overwhelmed the dessert. And I thought it was very expensive too.. RM9 for two slices of mango is pretty insane pricing.

Lastly, Sweet Memory @ RM13 - a milk (imported from New Zealand) based dessert that comes with a lump of purple rice and durian flesh. According to My Honeymoon this is a dessert with health benefits, as purple rice is very nutritional, high in fiber and rich in iron. It also has a distinctive nutty taste, quite delicious when eaten together with the slightly sweet milk.

Since opening on Valentines Day 2009, My Honeymoon Dessert House already has three outlets at Kepong, 1 Utama and Sunway Pyramid. Next, they are planning to expand to Bukit Bintang and IOI Bouvelard. Customers dining at My Honeymoon are guaranteed that the desserts would taste the same in whichever branch they go to. This is because they have a centralized kitchen where all the desserts are first prepared by a chef from Hong Kong, then distributed to the outlets.

Overall I would recommend the Mango and Durian pancakes the most, followed by any desserts with durian included because they are generally quite good. That, and the excellent customer service aside (the outlet manager gives good explanation and recommendations to customers) I feel it would be nice if the price can be lowered to suit the majoritys budget, though I understand that imported ingredients will incur higher cost.

My Honeymoon Dessert House WWW (PORK FREE)

LG1, 118A Lower Ground 1,

Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall

Business Hour: 10AM to 10PM

Pondok Satay - Excellent Satay @ USJ, Subang Jaya

It is quite difficult to find a satay restaurant in Klang Valley which is able to rival Haji Samuris Sate Kajang. So when a close friend mentioned of a very good satay restaurant called Pondok Satay in USJ, I went to try it immediately the next day. With a GPS in hand (thankfully), I managed to find the place with relative ease.

My first thought when I saw Pondok Satay was why is it so hidden?? Because the shop itself is not visible from the main road, and you actually have to go behind the shop lots to find it.

With such limited exposure no wonder the place rarely receive any mention. Another question mark for me is the price of the satay - 62 cents for a stick of chicken satay? Why the two cents lol.

After placing our orders, the guy went to prepare our satay.

Since we were only there to try instead of having a full meal, we ordered only 5 chicken (sate ayam) and 5 mutton satay (sate kambing). Unlucky for us, beef satay (sate daging) was not available on that particular day.

Similar to Haji Samuri, peanut sauce and sambal are served separately at Pondok Satay. This is different from the normal satay stalls where only 1 type of sauce is served, and its usually sweet too.

Although the sambal given looked little, it was actually more than enough because of its spiciness. We didnt have to mix a lot of samabl into the peanut sauce, a mere spoonful was enough to provide the kick.

These are the 62-cents-a-stick chicken satay - meaty with little fat yet wonderfully juicy and tender. Simply delicious, no doubt able to give Haji Samuri a run for their money.

Each stick of mutton satay is RM0.90 and it packed more flavor if compared to chicken satay. But being more flavorful doesnt necessarily means it would taste better, its just that mutton naturally does have a stronger smell and taste if compared to chicken meat. So its really up to your own preference of meat.

If you are a satay lover and want to try something new instead of always going back to Haji Samuri, which by the way has already dominated the satay business in Klang Valley, do give Pondok Satay a try. Based on my own experience I am sure you wont be disappointed. If you are unable to visit USJ, another alternative I would recommend is Sen Kees Duck Satay @ Kepong (not halal though!)

Pondok Satay

9 USJ 8/2 B (behind 7 Eleven)

Subang Jaya

Tel: 012-393 5590, 012-311 5590

Opens daily from 3.30pm to 2am.

GPS Coordinate: N05 21.712 E100 27.199 (malfreemaps)

Wikimapia location: Satay Pondok

Penang Road Famous Cendol and Ais Kacang @ Jalan Raja Uda, Butterworth

Was back in Penang a few days ago during the Hari Raya break. It has been a loooooooooong time since I last posted anything on Penang food so here goes. Despite Bukit Mertajam being a lot nearer to Butterworth than Penang Island, the only food I posted before in Butterworth is Sweet Paradise (Chao Quan) Dim Sum lol.

So I did a research on Butterworths food and found that it is actually quite a food paradise itself. If you stay in Butterworth basically theres no need to travel anywhere else for food. At Jalan Raja Uda alone you have hawker stalls and restaurants lined up on both sides of the road, which will take you a really long time to try all of them.

While browsing Wikimapia on Jalan Raja Uda, a small box attracted my attention. It was labeled as Butterworth Red Bean Ice in Chinese, which is actually Ice Kacang. The description says it is the best Ice Kacang @ RM2.70 with lots of fresh ingredients, and waiting time is long too because of the number of customers.

Roughly remembering the stall as somewhere before a photo shop along Jalan Raja Uda (its just a straight road), I managed to locate the stall easily thanks to the crowd that made it even more obvious. Little did I know that this Ais Kacang stall is actually a branch of the Penang Road Famous Cendol and Ais Kacang, I was totally clueless about this, lol fail. No wonder it is so popular.

After waiting 10 minutes for a seat, I had to wait another 20 minutes for my Ais Kacang to arrive. Firstly, it looked nothing like the one I had at Penang Road because it had a lot of peanuts and didnt have those small green jelly balls.

That aside, I have to say they really did not skimp on the ingredients as generous amount of peanuts, red beans, grass jelly, sweet corn and atapchi were given. For me its super valuable. Theres simply no way you can purchase a bowl of Ais Kacang laden with so much toppings for only RM3.50 in KL.

The soft shaved ice, sweet tasting with a hint of refreshing Sarsi flavor was a perfect treat in the hot afternoon. Every mouthful taken is met with interesting textures of the crunchy peanuts, tender-soft red beans, smooth grass jelly and chewy atapchi. Just great.

The man responsible for manning the ice shaver also takes orders and remembers them. I watched him doing his work and I have concluded that at least 3 bowls/packets of Ais Kacang or Cendol can be prepared in a minute.

His partner is an efficient worker as well, having to pour like 5 to 6 types of syrups into the shaved ice, then place the toppings. Watching them handled and prepared the onslaughting orders made my wait a lot more bearable. lol it somehow felt like watching a show.

In short, awesome Ais Kacang and I loved it. Only the waiting time is a deterrent. And I felt it was better than the one at Penang Road too, not sure about the Cendol though. Knowing this Cendol and Ais Kacang stalls existence is good news for me because I dont have to drive across the bridge to get a bowl of nice Ais Kacang now. Butterworth also got!

My next quest is to find out the other branch in Chai Leng Park as stated in its signboard. But I guess that quest can only be completed next year, as I will be relocating to Singapore soon for work purpose (sigh).

Direction: Drive along Jalan Raja Uda and look for Wo Lai Yeh dried meat, the Ais Kacang stall is directly opposite across the road. Alternatively, use Raja Udas Pizza Hut/New Town Kopitiam as reference. If Pizza Hut/New Town Kopitiam is on your right, then the Ais Kacang stall would be on your left about 1km down the road. Lookout for road side the hawker stalls.

Wikimapia Location: Penang Road Ais Kacang (Raja Uda Branch)

Business hours: 2pm onwards, until finish.

KL in a tour ride

At a loss on what to do, when you have a few hours to kill and are in Kuala Lumpur for a day or two?

Well, take a ride on the Kuala Lumpur (KL) Hop-On and Hop-Off city tour. I like to call it Ho Ho Ho…! (Sounds like Santa Claus’s laughter).

This double-decker bus service takes the scenic route around the Kuala Lumpur city centre and passes by 42 main attractions.

It is a great way to see the city in such a limited time. A one day pass entitles you to a 24 hour ride bus service.

Fancy visiting the tallest twin towers in the world? Hop on the bus and make your way to Kuala Lumpur City Centre, at KL HoHostop number 22. Make sure you look out for the colourful logo of the KL HoHo bus service, as this is where the bus will take and drop you off.

Its bus services are pretty regular, so have no fear, you can shop or walk around to your heart’s content! Once you are done shopping, you can always hop right back on the bus.

I would suggest boarding the bus and taking a round the city trip. You can take the bus from your hotel, or start at its first stop, the Malaysia Tourism Centre (MATIC) at Bukit Jalan Ampang.

From here, the bus drives to KL Tower, at Bukit Nanas. It proceeds to several destinations including Bintang Walk, KLCC, Merdeka Square, Lake Gardens and Central Market.

Other attractions of the bus include multi-lingual commentary, wifi service on board, sky view and open deck; disable friendly seats and choices of 24 and 48 hours tickets.

Visitors, tourists and locals can buy the bus tickets for the ride at the bus, at selected travel agents, hotels and 24 hour convenience stores around the city centre. Locals get special rates, too, and it is a good experience for the whole family.

This is certainly a great way to spend a day in Kuala Lumpur, especially if you are in the city centre even only for a while.

So, what are you waiting for? Hop on a ride with the KL HoHo!

Place for backpackers to visit Kota Bharu.

Recently, i had been to Kota Bharu, just to seek the place for  backpackers to stay find have a cheap and affordable place to stay. Well, at last my searching ends when i found Zecks Travellers Inn.

For backpacking travellers you may choose a homestay such as Zecks Travellers Inn. Homestay-like hostel in a residential area close to the city center. It is almost like staying with a malay family. Zeck and his family are lovely hosts and run the place for over 20 years already. This is the address : 7088-G, Jalan Sri Cemerlang, 15300 Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia. Or you may call him at 609-7431613.

Kota Bharu is the state capital of Kelantan.The name means ‘new city’ or ‘new castle/fort’ in Bahasa Malaysia. Kota Bharu is situated in the northeastern part of Peninsular Malaysia. In 2005, it had an estimated population of 425,294, making it the largest town on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia.

Well, hope this post can give you guys a solution on where to stay in Kota Bharu, especially for backpackers!

Fireflies

Kampung Kuantan is famous for its fireflies (Kelip-kelip in Bahasa Malaysia) dwelling along its river bank due to the berembang trees, or its scientific name Sonneratia Caseolaris, with open foliage, which is suitable for the breeding of the phosphorescent beetle. Its located at Kuala Selangor, 67km southeast of KL.

Here is site of one of the largest firefly colonies in the world, stretching a few kilometres along the Selangor River. Travel upstream in a small boat or sampan or take a motorized boat at bukit belimbing and in the quiet darkness, you will see thousands of fireflies flickering like Christmas light lining. Per trip around RM 15 -20 perperson.

For further information, contact:

Kelip-kelip Trading Services Sdn Bhd

Batu 5, Kampung Kuantan

45500 Batang Berjuntai

Kuala Selangor

Selangor Darul Ehsan

Malaysia

Tel: (+603) 3289 2403

Fax: (+603) 3289 4807

Sarawak Gunung Mulu National Park

Gunung Mulu and Kinabalu National Parks are Malaysia first world heritage sites gazetted by UNESCO. My trip to Mulu National Park was earlier than year 2000, but regretfully missed the Sarawak Chamber, the largest cave chamber in the world and Gunung Api due to time constraint. Hope to visit the park again.

There are many caves in the park, but only a few caves are opened for visitors such as Sarawak Cave, Cave of the Winds, Deer Cave, Clearwater Cave, Lang Cave, etc. Deer Cave is the largest passage cave in the world and its bat exodus is a nature wonder cannot be missed.

Below is excerpt from UNESCO offical website.

Date of Inscription: 2000

Criteria: (vii)(viii)(ix)(x)

Property : 52864 ha

Northern Sarawak, island of Borneo

N4 7 59.988 E114 55 0.012

Basic Description

Important both for its high biodiversity and for its karst features, Gunung Mulu National Park, on the island of Borneo in the State of Sarawak, is the most studied tropical karst area in the world. The 52,864-ha park contains seventeen vegetation zones, exhibiting some 3,500 species of vascular plants. Its palm species are exceptionally rich, with 109 species in twenty genera noted. The park is dominated by Gunung Mulu, a 2,377 m-high sandstone pinnacle. At least 295 km of explored caves provide a spectacular sight and are home to millions of cave swiftlets and bats. The Sarawak Chamber, 600 m by 415 m and 80 m high, is the largest known cave chamber in the world.

Justification for Inscription

Criteria (vii), (viii), (ix) and (x): The concentration of caves in Mulu’s Melinau Formation with its geomorphic and structural characteristics is an outstanding feature which allows a greater understanding of Earth’s history. The caves of Mulu are important for their classic features of underground geomorphology, demonstrating an evolutionary history of more than 1.5 million years. One of the world’s finest examples of the collapse process in Karstic terrain can be also found. GMNP provides outstanding scientific opportunities to study theories on the origins of cave faunas. With its deeply-incised canyons, wild rivers, rainforest-covered mountains, spectacular limestone pinnacles, cave passages and decorations, Mulu has outstanding scenic values. GMNP also provides significant natural habitat for a wide range of plant and animal diversity both above and below ground. It is botanically-rich in species and high in endemism, including one of the richest sites in the world for palm species.

How to get there?

There is no land transport to Mulu National Park, you either to take flight or boat from Miri.

By air, MAS provides several flights from Miri and Kota Kinabalu daily. More flight schedule can be found from its official website.

By boat, this route is more adventurous, time consuming and unreliable. River trip from Miri to Mulu takes about ten hours. First catch an early morning taxi from Miri to Kuala Baram where an express boat takes you up the Baram River to arrive at Marudi around lunch time. Board a second boat taking you to Long Terawan, a small community of Berawan people. On the Tutoh River here you must hire a local longboat to bring you to the Park.

Alternatively, backpacker can choose a tougher route from Limbang, the trip is known as the headhunters’ trail. The trail takes its name from its historical role as the route taken by warring parties between the Tutoh and Medalam rivers.

Trekkers must begin walking from Kuala Terikan no later than 1.00pm in order to arrive at Camp 5 before dark. The area is very isolated with the nearest town several hours away, the trail is well marked and maintained but tree falls and river floods can cause confusion. A Sarawak Forestry Licensed Park Guide is compulsory on this trail – getting lost is easier than you think.

Where to stay?

You are advised to book the room before you arrive the park through travel agent. There are cheap chalets, hostels and luxury hotel in and outside the park depending on your budget.