De' Chiengmai, Kg. Melayu Sg. Buloh

De' Chiengmai

Jalan Kampung Melayu

47000 Sungai Buloh 

Selangor Darul Ehsan

(603) 6156 3225

This is a Thai seafood restaurant but they also serve some chicken and such. The restaurant have ample parking space and used to be a popular venue for wedding reception. 

When I arrived, it looked deserted. But actually there were several patrons already inside. The main restaurant is the building on the left. Just try the door even if they appear to be closed. Seriously.

Pandan-wrapped Chicken (RM3/piece)

Tempura Squid (RM18)

Chicken Tom Yam M (RM35)

Tempura Prawn (RM18)

Kailan with Salted Fish (RM8)

Steamed Siakap (RM50)

Taste - Average

Price - Expensive

Ambiance - Inside: old fashion coffee house, outside: wooden Thai traditional building

Restoran Siriwan, Bayan Lepas

Siriwan Thai Seafood Restaurant

1-1- 31 & 32 Krystal Point 2

Jalan Tun Dr. Awang

11900 Bayan Lepas

Pulau Pinang

Hours

1130 - 2200 daily

If you're looking for a decent place to bring your guest in Penang, try Siriwan Thai Seafood Restaurant in Krystal Point, Bayan Lepas. Or maybe you're staying in the Krystal Point hotel, make sure you try this place. It's a bit expensive but like I always said, when the food is delicious, expensive becomes worth it!

Tom Kha Gai- recommended!

My favourite, aside from the butter prawn is their tom kha gai. It's creamy version of tom yam. So sedap omg.

Butter Prawn - recommended!

Kangkung Belacan

Tap Tim Krob

Taste

DELICIOUS!

Price

Fair because so sedap. RM80.20 for 2 pax

We had rice, iced lemon tea and longan in addition to those in pics above

Ambiance

Air-conditioned, traditional wooden Thai building design

It is not your typical hyped-up Penang food but if you ever feel like having something Thai in Penang, remember Siriwan Thai Seafood in Bayan Lepas!

Lunch at Samila Beach

Lunch at Samila Beach

Samila Beach is in Songkhla and you can get tuk-tuk or rent car to get there. Just book Songkhla tour from your hotel or tour agencies. I rented a car from the M & R Tours opposite Kosit Hotel for 1000 THB (half-day tour).

Our driver was the one who took us here and I cannot read the restaurant's name. You can refer to the map below for some idea. Just ask for Muslim food. The restaurant we went to has prayer rooms and a group of grandfathers in kopiah ate there so it's probably halal :)

They have tables in the restaurant but we chose a bamboo hut by the beach. Just nice for the four of us.

It was a sunny day but the hut was in a shade and the wind breezy so we really enjoyed our lunch.

***

Taste - Delicious!

Price - Average. 800 THB for 4 pax

Ambiance - Outdoor under tree shade with beach view

Yummy tomyam <3<3<3<3 200 THB

My Crabmeat Fried Rice

If you're thinking that the price was a bit expensive, let me assure you that it was SO worth it. That tom yam soup was delicious and filled with crab, squid, prawn and even bits of fish! I wish I am there right now. Their fried rice was delicious- it seems that the Thais are really good with fried rice.

Overall 3 and 1/2 <3<3<3< of 5

Idrus Ikan Bakar

Penang = Food

Although Penang offers variety of delicious food, I believe that it is seldom for visitors to come for the seafood. The usual suspects would be nasi kandar, pasembor and char kuey teow. Yawn~ 

;p

So nak makan mana malam ni?

Did you know that near the Penang (first) Bridge island side (Batu Uban- keep left & turn left after exiting the bridge), there are a few ikan bakar restaurants? If you haven't, why not give them a try? The other day, I had dinner at Idrus Ikan Bakar and oh my, I'm so sharing the place with you!

Taste - In general, #iLike but there are a couple dishes which #iLove

Price - RM81 for 2 pax (Relax! Will explain further below)

Ambiance - Family-friendly 

Sotong goreng tepung, udang goreng butter, tom yam campur, telur dadar, nasi & juices (my pineapple juice not in pic)

Healthy eating kononnya, we ordered half plate of rice each. Rasa incomplete if makan seafood no nasi :p

The waiter asked, "udang nak berapa ekor?" (how many prawns would you like?)
In any restaurant, that is the cue. You know they charge per piece if they ask how many you want. Budak tamak gila udang (me!) asked for 8 prawns.

Now I know. Maximum 3 prawns per person. They don't give you those scrawny udang harimau like other typical tom yam restaurant.

#iLove butter prawn

You can give the tom yam campur (mixed) a miss :(

The tom yam campur was too oily for my liking. Very spicy but like no purpose kind of spicy. Orang nak pedas supaya sedap but this one macam pedas for the sake of pedas. Boo~

Sotong goreng tepung #iLove #iLove

Firstly, I don't like squid. Tentacles. Janggut. Eyew~
The only time I can eat them is when they are fried; cut into little bite-size pieces and dipped in batter.
The sotong goreng tepung in Idrus Ikan Bakar is a winner! Sila order when you come here.

Back to the price. RM81 untuk 2 orang je?! Mahalnya!
Tak mahal. Seriously worth it. As I've mentioned, I bantai ordered 8 prawns (which turned out to be big ones) tapi tak menyesal pun sebab sedap.

Yummy! Ok ignore that black thingy. Belum buang letak tepi.

Ini one of the smaller prawn ya.

Operating hour 5 pm till late (1 or 2 am).

OK bye dah lapar nak siap pergi dinner.

*update*

I visited Idrus Ikan Bakar again recently. Initially, I wanted to try the "famous" place next door BUT I was sitting for about 10 minutes, just one table away from a table occupied by a waiter (he was wearing the restaurant's t-shirt) who was playing with his phone, and got ignored. Don't ask me why he was sitting at the table. 

  I said out loud, "tak ada orang nak ambil order ke?" (is there no one to take our food orders?) and the staff got up, walked to the cooks at a booth nearby and loiter there instead. At least 2 other tables were not served as well. So I got up and went to Idrus. No regret. 

Dinner for 2- fried prawn, fried squid/calamari, tomyam & unidentified veggie dish

I forgot which tom yam is this but it's the top one in the menu. Way better than the tomyam campur fm my last visit.

Delicious food, good service. Why go anywhere else?

D'Halal Cafe, Siem Reap

D'Halal Cafe

#715 & #717

St 14 Mondul I

Svay Dangkum, Central Market

You should be able to find the place using Waze. Type in D'Halal Cafe or Explorers House and check the position. I used Waze to help my tuk-tuk driver find the place for lunch. We came here twice- 1st night dinner and 2nd day lunch. No pic from the lunch as I was too hungry and the keli goreng sambal was tasty!

Taste - Delicious!

Price - Included in tour package

Ambiance - Modern decor, very pleasing and comfortable

Like I said, menu wajib for this trip

<3<3<3<3

<3<3<3

Fried chickeeeennnnnnn

I dunno what this is as I don't eat it

The cook was friendly. I *think* her name is Asmara. She came out to chat with my parents and aunt and that's how we got the keli goreng sambal for lunch :D

Adik asked for ayam penyet but tempe is hard to find in Siem Reap so too bad for her! Eh, that's a business opportunity right there.

Check out reviews in TripAdvisor to see which dish you should try here.

Repeat Cambodia

#RepeatCambodia

Date: 30 January 2015 - 2 February 2015 (4D3N)

KUL - Siem Reap - Phnom Penh - KUL

8 pax

Alhamdulillah. My wish to revisit Siem Reap is granted. As my birthday gift, mom booked a trip to Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. We spent 2 nights in Siem Reap and 1 night in Phnom Penh. Instead of arranging everything ourselves, we took a tour package so everything was pretty much included. Well, except for my 'special tour'. Will tell you more about that later.

30 January 2015 (Friday)

Arrived in Siem Reap at noon and immediately bought the Smart SIM for US$5 (data 5.5 GB). Tour guide took us for lunch at the Wau Restaurant in the Angkor Shopping Arcade. They have another branch in Phnom Penh. 

Note: the one in Siem Reap recently moved to the SR Shopping Arcade so don't use the old location on Google Map.

The restaurant staff announced the sambal with flourish. Unfortunately my tour group members weren't the type who need sambal while traveling.

Somadevi Angkor Resort & Spa

After lunch, checked-in to Somadevi Angkor Resort & Spa before going to Wat Bo, a quiet temple near the Moon Boutique Hotel which I stayed in during my first trip to Siem Reap. Our tour guide Mr. Sam told us that the right way to visit a temple is by going clockwise. Anti-clockwise movement is for funeral procession. 

Wat Bo

Artist in one of the workshops

Next, we visited the Artisans d'Angkor, a craft workshop. You'll get to tour the workshops in the centre and buy the final product at the souvenir shop. We didn't buy any as I was rushing the group so I could get to the Angkor National Museum and spend enough time there. The rest of the group went to Tonle Sap lake for the river cruise and to see sunset instead.

Photo credit: A. Dali

At the Angkor National Museum, I skipped the introduction video, the first few galleries and went straight to the Great Khmer Kings gallery. I've done a post on the museum earlier so I'll be updating that post instead of posting a new one. You can check it here.

Stayed until the museum closed and forced to go back to the hotel. Only 15 minutes walk according to Google Map. Started walking and got lazy half-way so I hired a tuk-tuk to drive the rest of the way :D Traffic was kinda scary and I hate crossing roads in general.

Showered and refreshed, met the group at the hotel. They were boasting about gorgeous sunset but too bad they had to skip shower as tour guide ushered us to dinner at D'Halal Cafe next to the Explorers House. You can find the place on Waze. 

My sister's favourite tom yam

After dinner, my parents and siblings went shopping while I opted to sleep early.

31 January 2015 (Saturday)

No sunrise chasing this time.

Tour guide took us to get the tickets for Angkor Archaeological Park. I've arranged a special trip for myself with Salim, our tuk-tuk driver/tour guide from my first trip. The group was going to Angkor Wat, Ta Phrom, etc. - those temples I've seen and I had arranged a separate tour to see the Roluos Group Temples and Banteay Srei. Banteay Samré was on itinerary as well but I got lazy :p

Lolei

Preah Ko

Bakong

Banteay Srei
Photo credit: A. Dali

It was in time for lunch when I finished with Banteay Srei and so I asked the tuk-tuk driver to skip Banteay Samré and drive me to D'Halal Cafe to meet the group and have lunch. After that, we continued the tour with Angkor Thom and the whole shebang, ending at one of my favourite place - Bayon Temple.

Dinner was at D'Wau Restaurant and at 7.30 pm we were taken to the Amazon Angkor Restaurant for Apsara dance show. Amazon Angkor Restaurant offers buffet dinner, meant to be enjoyed while watching the show. Unfortunately (or fortunately because I don't really like queuing with huge crowd) for us, the food was non-halal.

Apsara Dance Show Opening Band
Photo credit: A. Dali

Photo credit: A. Dali

Apsara Dance
Photo credit: A. Dali

Another night of shopping for mom and another early bedtime for me. 

1 February 2015 (Sunday)

Early check-out and off to Phnom Penh by road. The poor road condition made a somewhat very interesting journey.

Photo credit: A. Dali

Photo credit: A. Dali

Photo credit: A. Dali

We made a few short stops at the Prey Pros Restaurant with the beautiful lake view in Kampong Thom, a local market in Kampong Cham to get/see fruits, spider on stick and lemang, and the roadside vendor selling lotus seeds before reaching Phnom Penh at noon.

Prey Pros Restaurant

Bidding goodbye to Mr. Sam and our driver, a different tour guide named Mr. Kun took over. 

Siem Reap Guide

CHAN SAMNANG 

(+855) 17 673 586

lgsrp99@gmail.com

Phnom Penh Guide

KUNTHUL VANN

(+855) 12 66 22 51

(+855) 93 97 70 70 (Viber, LINE, WhatsApp)

kunthul@gmail.com

vannsokun (Skype)

Honestly I pun tak tau mana first name, mana last name mereka. Suka hati je dia bubuh.

Telur dadar ni macam menu wajib for this trip

Lunch at Ah-Man Green Restaurant before a very quick refreshing up at the Green Palace Hotel. No idea what's up with the green obsession. Good luck kut?

Green Palace Hotel

First tour was the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda. They are in the same complex- one entrance fee in short. Unlike other places, they actually observed proper dress code here. No sleeveless, no shorts. 

Royal Palace

You don't get to wander the palace of course, since the royal family still live there but you'll get to see the coronation room, some exhibition on royal outfit and lifestyle and the pagodas. Hire a guide so you'll be able to understand and appreciate the place.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

A depressing place but one that you should visit none the less. Great place to learn a bit of Cambodia's history and a lot about humanity. Couple this place with the Choeung Ek Killing Field and you'll get the perfect dark tourism package. I didn't get to visit the killing field so I'll have to return. 

Learning from our 'short' refreshing up session after lunch, Mr. Kun didn't allow us to go back to the hotel and took us for a drive around town while waiting for dinner to be ready =p

Dinner was at the Phnom Penh branch of D'Wau Restaurant where we had the opportunity to meet the nice and friendly owner.

The restaurant was on the top floor though, not the ground floor.

Traditional Khmer Massage <3

Back at the hotel, it was spa time for me while mom and aunt who had an earlier spa session went for another shopping trip at the local night market. So much of "there's not much shopping (can be done) in Cambodia!" *roll eyes*

2 February 2015 (Monday)

Sunrise from Green Palace Hotel

Buffet breakfast in the hotel (got pork so pandai-pandai la pilih pastries and fruits only) before we were off to the airport for flight home.

***

It's nice to have the opportunity to compare the experience between taking a tour package and arranging things on my own. I prefer the latter for Cambodia as it gave me more flexibility in terms of cramping as much tour/activities as I want in a day. Also, the food on this tour package is too 'Malaysian' whereas on my first trip we got to taste some local dishes like amok and their take on fried rice (which is different and tasty!). 

But for places like Indonesia, I prefer to take the tour package and have everything pre-arranged, sorted and handled by somebody else.