Malacca Getaway

No matter how many times we go to Malacca, there is always something to do. 

Despite our regular brief weekends or short getaways there, we still can't cover everything in one visit. And we're not ashamed in repeating or revisiting places in Malacca too!

Upon checking into Estadia, our chosen accommodation for the brief weekend, golek-golek atas katil dulu jap then off to dinner. Will share a bit more info on the hotel in a bit.

For dinner, mestilar gi makan seafood kat Parameswara, Umbai.

Lovely evening...Slow breeze, almost sunset, the mood was set for some lovey dovey dinner sesh and seeing your other half stuffing his/her face with awesome seafood. Biler dah kahwin memang masing-masing makan tak control. Masa dating everything was eaten in dainty bites. Control macho/cantik. Now if mulut penuh with bits of sauce dribbling near your lips also no hal! Hahah!

Apologies for the blurry picture.

 This was the best Sweet & Sour Pepahat I've ever had. I don't regularly take pepahat, but entah malam tu ada mood to eat them. Felt like having something different. Pepahat is also known as bamboo clam. For Europeans, it's a smaller version of the razor clam. Not sure if you guys eat razor clams so I can't say for sure whether they're exactly the same.

We had a grand time stuffing our faces with these babies! Must have sotong goreng tepung!!! Always!!!

Ok, so right after dinner, we got back to the hotel. Estadia is basically owned by the Hatten Group and the hotel adjoins the Hatten hotel. Due to last minute bookings and knowing we won't be spending too much time in the room, we decided on Estadia. Not too bad I must say. A bit leceh to masuk though but so convenient due to the location being next to Mahkota Parade and our favourite Assam Pedas place is just 10-15 minutes walk away.

Takkan nak tido terus after stuffing our faces? Mesti jalan-jalan to burn some of the calories. Hmphh, tak jalan lama sangat pun. Masing-masing dah nak golek atas katil sebab kenyang sangat.

How cute is this huge None slippers.

Breakfast was included in our package. Not too bad lar the fare. Tak banyak tapi just nice. I would definitely recommend for those who are coming for a short stay or kalau family kahwin and nak longgok all family members in one place, Estadia is THE place.

Instant love I tell you. Their tiffins are so cute. They were arranged as part of the deco at the entrance of their restaurant. 

Malu nak tanya if they jual or not. I think they do tapi at hotel price lar.

See the paintings hanging on the left side of the wall? My initial intention for this trip was to find a nice painting or picture for our home. Ala-ala sketch look of Melaka tapi misi gagal. Hmpph...

This is the lobby of the hotel by the way. Love how spacious it is despite the compact and almost confined size of the hotel.

This was part of the deco near the stairs heading to their shop. Tak gi pun. Again, I love the hotel's local touches to their decor. Nostalgic and proud of their heritage.

Pagi tu lepas breakfast, terus gi ke bandar. Memang nak gi Muzium Tan Cheng Ho. Lar, betul-betul tepi Hard Rock. Selalu passed by tapi tak pernah gi.

One of the wells in the muzium. Air still bersih and cool.

 If you get the chance, try to find three of the wells in it. All of them are in the building. 

A miniature model of a Chinese trading ship.

The second well. 

A miniature of the ships. 

Seriously, it's kinda hard to imagine Melaka crowded with those ships. So many!

The is the third well. We actually missed it. We had to retraced our steps to locate it.

We both enjoyed our visit there. Hubs bought a replica of an old drawn map. The plan is to frame it and hang it in the library.

One unsettling thing during our visit to the museum was the lack of respect by the Chinese (Mainlanders) tourists. Main-main ketuk gendang, gamelan and playing with the exhibits selamber dawg ajer. I got annoyed. Hubs was already giving me the "Just ignore" look. Frust!

 Orang tukang jaga pun dah lama fed up but since it's a source of income terpaksa terima ajer. Bayangkan, drum stick untuk gendang or bits of pasu pun boleh they bawak balik. WTF! Please lar, dah visit people's country give the proper respect. 

5 mins walk away, what better way to fight the heat than by having a bowl of nice cendol. Before anyone asks "Why tak makan ngan durian?", well sebab earlier that week we just had durians so both of us nak simple cendol sans the durian. Perut pun still penuh from breakfast. Mata ajer kempunan nak rasa. Still yummy babes! Tengok how pekat and dark the gula melaka.

Before going back to the hotel, we jalan-jalan then gi makan assam pedas before checking out. Like I said, memang brief visit ajer. Sajer nak keluar KL and jalan-jalan makan and lepak bersama. 

Til' our next visit to Melaka.

Raya Haji di Kelantan

Hubs and I spent our recent Raya Haji in Kelantan. Overall, it was a good 3 night stay.

It's the second time I've ever been to Kelantan. The first time was with friends and we stayed at one of the hotels in the city. This time around, I get to experience the real kampung life.

To start off, the food was and is awesome. I am still sticking to my guns...the food here trumps whatever they have in Penang. I swear! I know I may be getting a lot of flack on this but I don't care. You don't know food if you have not eaten here in Kelantan.

Only one of the two sweet drinks I had in Kelantan. Above is the pic of the Teh Tarik Madu each of us had. Serious nampak menarik but damn sweet. Most of the time I survived on air kosong with my meals. Giler manis ar their drinks. Food kalau pedas pedas betul. Some say their food manis but so far I takder lar encounter any sweet nasi dagang or what not.

Pagi Raya Haji...hubs' cuz prepared her Nasi Lemak Meletops...She better bukak kat KL soon. Memang best!

Home-made tapai you alls. I was looking for some good ones during the trip. Terharu when both his cousin and aunt made home made tapais.

Nyummmssss...Nih his aunt's version of the tapai.

Benda nih some grilled etok which is basically a type of clam (not sure whether sungai or laut tho). Sedaps and berlemak. But damn susah lar nak bukak. Took me an hour just to peel three of those. Beli satu bag last last give up kasi the local relatives hentam ngan best while I looked on. Bohooo. Nasib baik gigi tak pecah masa nak bukak.

Colek Ayam is a must. Serious nampak simple but gawwwd...I shared with Hubs cos' jeans dah ketat tapi nafsu nak rasa tetap ada.

And a MUST MUST MUST...gi borong serunding, dodol and food stuff kat Pasar Siti Khadijah. Batik pun ada tapi taknak bore you with my Batik purchases. 

Oh, and jangan lupa makan roti titab kat kopitiam kita. Serious best. Roti, telur separuh masak, butter...waaah...meleleh air liur teringat. Mana nak cari yang best kat KL whoaaa.

Fireflies in Kampung Kuantan, Kuala Selangor

With my revision classes nowadays, we can't afford to take too much time off away from the city for any holidays. Well, at least until my exams are done. So, for the recent Labour Day weekend, we took a short drive to see the fireflies in Kampung Kuantan, Kuala Selangor. With the highway, it was only a 40-minute to an hour's drive from KL.

The last time I was there was when I was 13 or 14 for one of my school visits. Believe it or not, Hubs has never seen fireflies in their natural habitat. 

To start off, I suggest those intending to pay the cute fireflies a visit, try and get there early because you would want to avoid the tourists arriving in drones in tour buses. The ticket booth is only open at 7.45pm. So what I would recommend is for you to get one of your friends or family members to queue for the ticket and arrange for the others within your group to start queuing on the jetty. Why? Well, regardless of you getting your tickets first, tourists won't care and would go straight to the jetty. Furthermore, though having arrived late, many won't hesitate to jump the queue.

One boat would fit four persons and it costs RM53 per boat. So let's say it's only the two of you, you'd still have to pay RM53. Don't worry though, no one else would take advantage of that extra space in your boat. No free-riders. One ticket is for one boat.

Here's the ticket. 

This is us excited to see the fireflies. After one VERY RUDE group of tourists jumping the queue ahead of us and one them even dared to give me a look after bumping into me. You're lucky I was more keen to see the fireflies than making a scene dude. Hmpph... P.S. Manners and queuing are not foreign okay?

Due to the very low light, I could not take as many pictures and videos with my phone no matter how tech savvy it is. Only when the Pak Cik on the boat took us very close to the trees was I successful in taking some videos albeit not as great and awesome as seeing them up close and personal.

To make the experience even more special is that I got to come back to a place I had visited as a teenager with my husband to watch one of our country's natural wonders. In addition, this trip further solidified my plans to include more eco themed trips after my exams. 

Oh, being a typical tourist, I can't exactly leave without getting one of their magnets can I? Hahaha...

Here's to more eco-trips this year. Yay!

Sale Shenanigans

Last Friday, Hubs took a day off for some quality time with moi' i.e. Lovely Wifey.

It was all planned in advance of course. In the few weeks leading towards the planned day-off, we received e-mails on Anya Hindmarch's as well as Valiram's sale to be held on certain dates. So the day-off coincided with the first day of those sales. To top it off, our trip to BB area has been long overdue with Hubs needing to do some minor repairs to one of his dress watch and the service centre is located in the same row as the locations for those sales. Great! Perfect.

Anya's sale was great. Deals were definitely good. At first instance, I felt that the sale collection available were very limited. Macam tak ikhlas almost. Nonetheless, those who love Anya still kept coming in. We almost left if not for the usual Sales Assistant we usually engage with informing us of a different location for regulars. Better collection for sure and a lot more choices. I know some may argue that it's not fair. On the other hand, I can see the benefit from this method. This gives their regulars preferred treatment and ample opportunity to view more of their collection. Perhaps they had received many complaints from their regulars beforehand from their previous sale whereby they didn't get the chance to view or purchase the previous sale collection.

Then off to the Valiram sale. It's our second time attending one of their sales. Previously, we went on the second day and many of their items were already sold. This time we managed to get there on their first day. 

Oh my gaaaawddd, soooo many people. 

Take a look at the pictures below. These were taken before 12 noon yer. Itu pun ramai dah hold items while they tour other booths and some even already made payment outside.

REMINDER: 

THESE PICTURES ARE MINE. NOT TO BE CIRCULATED OR REPRODUCED FOR ANY REASON OR OTHER PURPOSE WITHOUT MY PERMISSION. PLEASE REFER TO SIDEBAR FOR DETAILS.

But please yer, not the "rempuhan and minah menjerit-jerit to get a number and buy a certain type of tudung" kind of crowd. There were lines going in. All coordinated and organised. The only "berpusu-pusu" was done and concentrated at the many different booths. Especially those selling Tory Burch and Kate Spade. Crowds were civilised and decent. Have not heard of anyone terjatuh or kena pijak kepala or injured to get to the items.

The discounts were awesome, ranging from 50% -80% sales. Branded items from Tumi, various luxury dress watches, Giuseppi Zanotti, Michael Kors, Victoria Secret, Bath & Body, Godiva, TWG and many more were up for grabs. I didn't even bother looking at Kate Spade and Tory Burch. Next time lar. I was not in the mood in getting my toes stepped on further, or worst, rolled on by those on wheelchairs. There, Alhamdulillah, dapat lar rezeki suami beanie from Tumi. Hubs also got a steal from Mont Blanc. 

We didn't want to spend too much time at BB area. So we quickly made a bee line for the cashiers outside the ballroom. I like standing in line and observing what people purchased. Like the last time, I can see many had borong for resale purposes or maybe made multiple purchases for their large families, to which Hubs doubts on the latter. Maybe next round I nak borong and jual jugak lar. Bring in my own 'rempuh' gang and spread out at different booths. I siap ckp ngan Hubs I'm gonna place two at the front, two in the middle and one at the back and attack each booth. The bigger ones should be placed at the front. Easier to infiltrate. Hihih. 

In line, I also observed many had purchased Tory Burch and Kate Spade as well as MK bags. What's up with MK yer? I really have to make a closer inspection of its appeal the next time round. All the women in line had at least one MK in hand. Am I missing something? Not forgetting those VS cosmetic bags with mini perfumes or shower gels. Must not miss them next time.

Many would take these pictures and argue "Kata ekonomi gawat!". Well, that's one way of seeing it. Another view would be pasal ekonomi gawat lar orang tertunggu-tunggu for these sales. Good branded quality items at extreme discounts, mana hang nak dapat? When I shared these pics on my watsapp group, of course ada yang excited and asked for location, dates, etc. and there are those commenting "oooh, people living beyond their means and shopping based on wants rather than need bla bla bla". NORMAL. DON'T WORRY. TEPUK DADA TANYA SELERA. All are entitled to their opinion of course. 

By the way, the sales weren't just for us mere mortals yer. I saw one Puan Sri and children in tow as well as high ranking execs there too. They know when to snap a good deal when they see one. Everyone is allowed to be frugal where they can be. They just have to be smart about it.

That's the end of our sale shenanigans.

There's actually a continuation to our day off post-Valiram. A different one totally unrelated to shopping kind of post. Look out for that one. 

The Little Things

These days, I don't get too many off days. Unless I decide to be naughty and reschedule my plans and spend some time with Hubs of course.

One morning, I decided to make a simple fare of a breakfast for hubs. Sausages, toast, eggs, baked beans. Husband walked in the kitchen and kantoi'd what I was frying for him in the pan.

"Where did you get that?"

"Arghhh maaan. You weren't supposed to be in the kitchen. Dah lama dah. Got it when I went to New Zealand for my meeting."

He walked out of the kitchen laughing.

Why was he laughing?

Well...cos' I made his sunny side up in a shape of a heart.

Seee???

This is a picture of his heart-shaped egg with wholegrain toast before plating all those beef sausages (his fave by the way) and baked beans. 

I try to show some love in anyway I can...big, little to the teeniest way I can.

The Long Weekend - THE GOOD AND THE BAD

Hi Everyone...Hope you all had a lovely long weekend.

To my readers who celebrated CNY, hope you had a wonderful time with family and friends not forgetting all those yummy food and traditional dishes. May the Year of the Fire Monkey be a good one for all of us.

A dashing monkey in a suit to boot!

It wasn't even Valentine's but the recent long weekend proved to be very much enjoyable for us HusbieWifey as we got to spend some quality time together. Well, the first two days lar yang best. Tak gi mana pun. Spent our long weekend in KL with no jam, just amongst the holiday crowds in malls/main places tourists go to kill time.

The best was last Sunday where we went to check out Ikea Cheras to buy some household items. It was our first time there and with many being out of town we had no problems parking. There were still many people though so I can't imagine the crowd during any of the usual weekends.

We only go to Ikea after making a list of things we need to buy with some extras i.e. impulse purchases if and when we see fit. Tak main ar jadi tourists in Ikea. Jalan-jalan hassling among the crowd is so not fun. I love to see Hubs assemble items bought. Simple ones of course. Wouldn't want a repeat of continuous cussing overheard from the kitchen when he tried to assemble the metal cabinet the last time.

Did you guys know that for Ikea Cheras, they operate differently in terms of delivery and assembly services? In PJ, you'd only have to wait for one group to deliver and assemble your furniture whereas for purchases made from Cheras, you'd have to wait for two separate contractors/agents for delivery and assembly separately. Haiyooh, cannot keluar rumah lar. Next time buy from Ikea Curve ajerla!

The worst was on Monday of which the effects from the day lasted till Tuesday. I told Hubs I was not in the mood to go jalan-jalan.  NO, NO, NO...don't want to listen to Wifey kan?! After doing our house chores in the morning, waiting for the Ikea people and having our late lunch, I would have preferred to stay home, rest and study. Exam dah dekat. I'm still way behind in meeting my own personal deadline. Well, we don't always get what we want do we???!

Cue my long rant.

Hubs' relatives came from Penang over the long weekend. We were at his family's house everyday. Forget that my bro had his birthday on Monday. Yeah, my bro declined my invitation to go makan-makan as he had plans already but I still wanted to insist for lunch on Tuesday if possible to which I had to forego in the end as well. Reason? You will read it below. If I were to do that to any of his bros Hubs would have surely thrown a fit I am sure. UNFAIR I tell you! I get that we have an obligation to entertain family members and relatives but balance it out please.

Don't worry. This is not the bad bit. The bit that I am holding him accountable till the end of our days is this...

That evening, his parents told us to meet up at KLCC. This was on the pretense that it will not be long and I would still have time to cover at least a bit of my studies that night. Ok. KLCC it is.

UTTER COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME! SO NOT FUNNY!!!

One of my seriously MAIN pet peeves is to go somewhere and BERLEGAR. Like seriously just stand around doing nothing! Literally stand AROUND waiting for the Wrath of God or sumin. If cuci mata tengok-tengok survey pun I don't mind OK. Going into shops for nothing! Not surveying, looking out for something in particular or buying anything! TOTALLY FOR NO REASON.

After the huge Tanglung picture session, we took the kids to Toys R Us.

One of the things I highlighted to Hubs was it didn't sit well with me that we brought his less-well-off nephews and niece to Toys R Us. Just like retail bankers KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER and CUSTOMER'S CUSTOMER policy, we should KNOW OUR FAMILY lar. Have a plan. If it was with the intention to purchase and belanja them takper. Not to tengok-tengok. Just went in to entertain the nephew from his own family, whom is better off of course compared to the other nephews, to play at the lego area. Do you know how tiny that area is? To cram all three of his nephews, one niece, other kids and parents manning the kids in that small corner of the toy store for sure cannot lar.

One particular observation I relayed to Hubs was how one of his nephews was holding a medium sized Minion Plush toy. Holding it and telling his mum it's Rm19.90. No, it wasn't ok. Mum told him to put it back cos' it's actually RM199. Luckily, secretly Hubs and I already bought some Legos from Bricks Store for the boys and a plush toy for the little girl the day before but were only to give it to them that night. Again, not the so-bad bit.

After, we spent a good half hour to 40 minutes just standing around in front of Toys R Us debating where to go next. I was already sitting down on the floor. Not long as FIL and BIL came over to enquire. Final decision, MITSUI! Arghhh!!! SO FAR! To bring the relatives jalan-jalan! Ok, still not too bad. Neither of us had been to Mitsui as yet. The worst was yet to come as after Mitsui the plan was to have dinner at Bagan Lalang. I have my suspicion on whose brilliant idea it was to go there especially when it was close to 6pm when we reached Mitsui. Should have gone straight to Bagan Lalang from KLCC. But NOOOOOOOO.

Upon reaching Mitsui, we spent over an hour of sitting on the bench doing I-SWEAR-I-DON'T-KNOW WHAT. I didn't even go into the shops, just window shopped as we passed by the shops. The sales were OK but I wasn't looking for anything in particular. The relatives too seemed blur to kill time. Most of us spent our time on the bench in Mitsui. I'd rather have brought them somewhere where the kids could play about.

Whilst sitting on the bench, we tried to hurry all to leave for Bagan Lalang. Even suggested other places to go to. With a party of 12 people it would be no easy feat to get a table. When we relayed info that the wait in Bagan Lalang could take up to two hours if we're late, those who had not been there took it as us exaggerating info. NOOOO, don't want to believe us right? We left around 7'ish, through the jam, and reached Bagan Lalang close to 9pm.

Total time spent in Bagan Lalang, 20 blardy bleepin' minutes! AFTER AN HOUR'S DRIVEEEEE FROM MITSUI!!!!!  After observing for themselves the massive crowd there, they declared as "Takder Harapan" and debated where else to go.

Oh no, don't believe the people who had been there right? We're just exaggerating right? Sometimes, you just have to let them experience it themselves to believe it. Well, it should not have been at the expense of those who had experienced it before and with kids in tow. Through the jam and not well lit areas some more. Nasib baik budak tak ngigau.

So to save the day, Hubs suggested we head to Saba'a in Cyberjaya. Kids were already asleep by the time we reached there. Dinner time was 10:45pm for us.

Hooray ... (Sense the sarcasm here please).

Even then Hubs wanted everyone to be seated first before ordering. Here, I had to put my foot down and forced him to order and add on later if necessary. The restaurant closes at 1130pm.

We reached home close to 1am. The whole night my body ached and I was in pain whilst sleeping.

Next day, FEVER for me please!Ding!

Urghhhh...bad enough I didn't get my roti boom at the place I wanted that morning. We went to his family home and stayed there from morning till past 2pm. Whilst there, I couldn't take it anymore and had to go upstairs to sleep off my medication.

Total of TWO days wasted. Still want to cry whenever I think of it.

So leaves me 3 days with some serious cramming session minus this hour of blogging.

So, got fooled twice with "Jalan-Jalan" episode. The first was where we got stuck in the Thaipusam procession in KL sometime last year. Nasib baik tak cirit time tu. Dah sakit perut but tahan wei.

For sure, when I have kids, I shall not entertain such jalan-jalan session with no plans. I'm game for jalan-jalan but dekat-dekat where it would be convenient for me and the children. Budak nak tukar pampers, tido, minum susu and makan on time, merengek with Mummy frustrated as the minutes go by would not be an ideal combo. Just hope then we all have our priorities in mind when suggesting places to go.

Shopping for seafood in KK

It was the day we were scheduled to fly back to KL.

So, after checking out the wet market nearby with the added information from our own surveying done throughout our stay, we decided to purchase our frozen seafood from this shop. It's located near the hotel and comparing the selection from other shops, we felt here was the best place with more choices and comparatively moderate prices.

We didn't get the lobster but opted for these giant tiger prawns. You won't get them in KL for the price you pay here in KK for sure.

Other assortment of frozen seafood.

Prawns, prawns everywhere.

We left the shop with two boxes of frozen seafood. Any purchases made here are packed according to airport restrictions so you guys don't have to worry. Also, you won't need to pay extra for the packaging services at this shop.

Oooh, something to point out here. All transaction are done in cash. Cash business only yer! They don't accept credit cards.

Of course we made sure we bought dried seafood too. 

Memang borong ikan bilis Grade A banyak-banyak, cumi kering and a bit of the ikan kurau masin.

They were just packing the udang kering. Of course I just had to buy them. Tried them in my cooking once we got home and was definitely happy with our purchase. They were fat and succulent and weren't overly salty.

This was the dude whose shop we bought the dried seafood from. All were good purchases. 

However, upon our return, despite all the extras he gave, we felt the price he quoted was slightly on the pricey side. Just slightly, nothing too drastic. Definitely still cheaper from anything you would get in KL. 

I would still recommend a visit to his shop. His is situated at the front part of the Filipino Market, near the main road. Somehow I felt that his shop had more good stuff and definitely more selection to choose from. Just look out for the Afro dude and you won't miss his stall. 

Maybe those visiting KK soon may want to try buying from the shops inside? Or bargain harder with the Afro dude?

Island Hopping - Mamutik, Manukan and Sapi Islands

We now get to the best part of our KK trip. To be honest, our island hopping session turned out to be far better than expected. 

We had no initial plans. Just a general idea that we'd like to go island hopping if we had the time, no pressure, a rough idea on mode of transportation to the islands (initial idea was to be thankful if we could even visit one of the islands) and seriously, with no advanced planning we didn't know whether the tour would be enjoyable in the least but worth the try I guessed.

I gave the office at the Jesselton Jetty a call that particular morning after breakfast to get the necessary info such as boat departure times and costs. They told us to come down to the jetty asap, which lucky for us was only within walking distance from the hotel. 

Here's Hubs looking flashy with my flowery Adidas bag. 

All the way to the Jetty he was complaining how ridiculous he looked carrying it. Only later that day he actually appreciated the fact how useful that flowery bag was with how much stuff could fit into it for our island hopping getaway.

On the way though, we got even luckier to have met Shah, the guy that we chartered a private speedboat for ourselves for the day. To boot, the price which was absolutely worth it, took us to to the main three islands of Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park namely Mamutik, Manukan and Sapi.  From KK, it probably took us 15-20 minutes to get to the first island.

I would definitely recommend chartering a private speedboat to skip all the waiting time and queues. It saves time and you won't get stressed when you decide to go off to the next island. Queues tend to be very long and we could see the many dissatisfied faces as well as frustrated parents with their kids in tow when we went straight ahead to our chartered speedboat. Unlike us, they had to go through the hassle of waiting for their turn to get on their respective speedboats with hoards of people aboard. Even to push off, those boats which took in groups won't leave until all those in the group are aboard. So more waiting time i.e. wasted time when you could enjoy skipping off to the next island.

Island- HOOOOOOOO!!!

Here we are, at our first stop for the day, Mamutik Island.

The water was so clear you can see all the cute fishies. This was just at the jetty alone.

There's a guide to the type of fish tourists may encounter at the Marine Park. Oh, for adults, entrance fee is RM3 per person upon which you'd get access to all three islands.

Here's a map of the Marine Park.

My most decent picture in Mamutik without exposing too much to my readers. :p

A view from the jetty at our second island of the day, Manukan Island.

This was taken in Sapi Island. Our last stop for the day.

What I discovered, and this is my personal view, is that each island has a different shade of colour. This in reference to their waters. All are clear and clean mind you. However, the shade of colours are either mainly green, mainly blue or a mixture of blue and green. So pay a visit to the islands and discover it for yourselves. Definitely worth exploring our beautiful Malaysia.

Ohh, don't forget to bring your snorkelling gear. We went ahead without any but managed to rent two for ourselves for the trip.

Seafood at Sri Selera KK

In KK, choices for seafood are aplenty.

We were recommended a few including Welcome Seafood but we opted for the one where a local mentioned there would be more choices and that is Selera KK. Selera KK is just 10-15 minutes walk from the hotel. There you will a find a few restaurants all located under one roof i.e. a giant foodcourt where the locals refer to as Selera KK. 

For two nights straight we dined in Selera KK at the restaurant of our choosing and didn't even bother going elsewhere. Service was excellent and the food was great!

Seriously, I think this lobster was keen at continuing our staring contest!

There were plenty of sea creatures where most I've never seen or attempted to eat. However, at the risk of posting too many pictures for this post, I am only posting those that I ate as well as other interesting ones.

Above is a mantis shrimp. 

This differs from a boxing prawn. Though they look similar, boxing prawns are smaller, have a thinner shell and they have those blade-like hind legs. When we chose the boxing prawn, we saw that the boxing prawns were kept separately in individual plastic bottles to avoid them slicing each other or the hands of the restaurant workers.

The lobster we chose for dinner.

Mmmmm...what to do with this lobster?

Cook it in butter sauce of course.

To go with our lobster, we opted for kailan garlic to complement our dish.

And here's a picture of our fried butter garlic boxing prawn.

Comparatively, seafood is cheaper than Semenanjung. However, I've heard that if compared to Sarawak, it might be cheaper there. Not so sure about that. Nonetheless, a testament to us enjoying and being satisfied with the fare in Sabah by having dinner at the same place two nights a row speaks for itself.