Flying with AirAsia to Bali (KUL-DPS)

It has been 6 years since we family last travelled to overseas by plane together. We saw AirAsia's flight promo to Bali on Feb this year and we thought, why not let's go for another trip together =D

Air ticket
We paid about RM317 for flight ticket to and fro per person, including AA Insure Return amount to RM155 for 5 of us.

Flight time

Departure: 1800-2100
Return: 0600-0900

Our departure was delayed for 3 hours plus due to radar at Jakarta spoiled #tripdisaster1. But we told ourselves that is not going to ruin our mood.

Luckily the hotel we stayed at (Wina Holiday Villa, Kuta) is only 15 minutes from Ngurah Rai airport. We reached hotel at around 1am plus. Guess what #tripdisaster2, the shower was spoiled -_-! We complained and had to wait until 4am to shower. Went to bed at around 5am. Duh! Luckily the hotel management changed the rooms for us.

Mode of transport for LCCT-Home vice versa
We drove ourselves to LCCT and parked our car at the parking area (Zone A). All we thought was just fine but my dad's car tyre was punctured when we returned to Malaysia -_- sweat big time. Not only we have to pay for parking (RM162+) for about 4 days, but also paid to take bus from LCCT to KL Sentral as well as taxi back home. #tripdisaster3

Talking about going to LCCT, we should have taken the bus from KL Sentral to LCCT. At only RM9 per person times 5 of us, it is definitely much cheaper. Parking at LCCT costs a lot, duh~ lesson learnt.

Itinerary
95% of the planning was done by me, be it places to travel, where to eat and AA flight itinerary stuff. Mistakes made and lesson learnt- do not confuse your first name and last name people!

For baggage, you can pre-book online at AA's website and save up to 66%. We paid RM40 (20kg check-in baggage).

Visa
For Malaysians, no Visa is required upon reaching DPS.

Declaration form
The flight attendant from KUL to DPS will hand out the forms and you are required to fill them up. If you have nothing to declare, proceed to Green Zone in DPS. If yes, proceed to Red Zone.

White card
We will need to fill up the white card (arrival and departure card) that will be given by the officers in DPS. Most of the passengers in the same flight with us did not know that so we were blur and don't know where to proceed. No officers were there to guide us what to do. I understand it is midnight already but hey, at least the security guard will tell us what to do. My mum asked the guard and he answered rudely.

I guess that's all about it. I know it is a long essay but I believe those will be important and useful guide for you guys who want to travel to Bali in the future.

More updates about Bali is coming up! :)

Bloggers Graffiti Workshop @ Publika

Artists who produce grafitti and bloggers who blog have common similarities- we all need ideas and inspiration to create something for audiences, reader and people from all walks of life. I am glad to be invited by Nuffnang to attend the workshop whereby we can have opportunity to understand how graffiti works, at the same time exchanging ideas.

I am sure some of you have wondered who is the artist behind the graffiti art works done on the wall of streets at some places in Kuala Lumpur, for instance in Klang River. Does it ring a bell? :D We have four famous artists in Malaysia who are Katun, Medea, Escape and Anokayer. Do check out their facebook or blog to view their pretty artworks :D

Adapted from The Star:

Once labelled as vandals, the beginning signs that the graffiti community was finally gaining acceptance were first seen in 2008 when former Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) director-general Datuk Salleh Yusup was paid a visit by three graffiti artists, Kioue, Anokayer and Tha-B, who showed Salleh photos and sketches of their past works.

Their aim was to convince Salleh that something could be done to brighten up the bare walls of the Klang River.

 

One of my personal favorite piece

Seeing the graffiti up-close and witnessing how the artists complete the artwork was an eye-opening experience. We were told that they usually take one whole day to complete average one graffiti. That's fast, isn't it? =D If I were the one doing it, I would have taken way longer time.

I am very delighted to see that Publika supports local artists by providing the platform for them to showcase their artwork, something which I need to appreciate more.

Bubbles & Bites, Highlands Hotel

Our day making mooncakes in Genting Highlands has not ended yet. We proceeded to the newly opened restaurant for late lunch. The name of the restaurant gave me a cheerful impression. Let's see whether it will be the same upon entering.

A casual Continental Cottage Cuisine with a Rustic concept that serves fresh and honest food with specialize in pizza and pasta.

Purplish and elegant violet themed restaurant, easpecially for the females they will like the place here. Good selection of pop songs enhanced the overall ambiance.

Other food varies from Western, Burgers & Sandwich, Snacks, Salad and Dessert.

Selection of desserts

Eye-pleasing ingredients and food available at the open counter

Partial open style kitchen

Beverages like sparkling wine, wines, champagne, beers from all around the world, alcoholic soda and ciders and selection of soft drinks

The Menu

My choice of alcoholic beverage

8 hour slow braised lamb shank, served on cous cous

The meat was very tender but not until the mushy stage, leaving slight pleasant chewy texture. Loved the balance of spices in the gravy. It was my first time trying cous cous and it taste like fluffy, tiny rice grains. Raisins added in it gave a hint of sweetness.



al dente Spaghetti cooked with wine, garlic, tomato and seafood sauce.

The tomato based sauce lacked fragrance like how I used to like my mum's version. It was less salty to my liking but you can always add salt in your food as they use very little natural salt in their seasoning.

Loose Pasta Frittata- Pasta omelette with spicy garlic sausages, egg and cheese.

Indeed a very interesting dish as shorts strands of pasta are fried with other ingredients mentioned into a pancake shape. Tasted decent.

Caesar Salad- with smoked salmon.

Fresh and crisp lettuces coated with right amount of dressing

Home-style Macaroni & Cheese

The best Mac & Cheese that I've ever had! Macaroni was cooked perfectly al-dente, coated with luscious creamy cheese sauce. It didn't taste too overpowering and jelak easily. A highly recommended signature dish.

Peri-peri Chicken Wings

Freshly fried wings with your usual Nando's most spicy Peri- peri sauce. The sauce might be a little tad too spicy but that brought out the overall taste. It was alright for me.

Isle of Capri- Rich tomato base with sliced turkey ham, mushrooms, spanish red onions, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, grilled red capsicum & plump anchovies

It would taste better if more tomato sauce is spreaded on the pizza base as it tasted a little dry. Decent pizza though.

Thai Red Curry Seafood Pizza - Thai Red Curry sauce base, tiger prawns, marinated calamari, mussels, mushroom and lychee with mozzarella.

I love anything spicy. This has got to be my favourite pizza by far. The sauce has the aromatic plus spicy kick to it and a hint of sweetness, definitely much better than the similar Royal Masala from Pizza Hut. Seafood was definitely fresh. Did you notice there were lychees too? I would say it is a great idea as the added fruity sensation makes this a perfect pizza, Asian style.

Lam Lee Burger- B & B's take on the signature classic Malaysian street burger. Served with fries

Freshly ground beef made into patty and wrapped with egg omelette, like the usual Ramlee style burger. I didn't try this because I personally can't take beef. Fries were fat and juicy though.

Strawberry Margharita

Bread & Butter Pudding

Served warm to us. Immediate thumbs up after taking the first bite of it. Love the soft, smooth and eggy pudding with fragrant buttery bread. Tasted not too sweet as well.

Traditional Tiramisu, served with candy floss

Another favourite dessert of mine. Soft pillowy coffee sponge with good amount of mascarpone cheese. Recommended signature dessert.

Cheese cake, served with candy floss

A bit dissapointing as the cheese was little too dry.

Before we left Genting, we had a mini celebration with two bottles of champagne.

Awesome peeps I met during #MoFE 2.0

Bubbles & Bites, Level 2, Highlands Hotel
Operation hour: (Mon to Thurs)  11am to 12am
                           (Fri to Sun, Eve of PH & PH) 11am to 2am

Selling Price: A'la Carte

Recipe: Mooncake Skin

As from the previous post, the humble Chef Gan shared with us how to make mooncake skin. We had a chance to master the techniques of wrapping the fillings with mooncake skin too!

Ingredients for the skin:

750 gram flour
600 gram golden syrup
 15-20 gram alkaline water

150 gram oil

**Remember to save extra flour for dusting purposes.

Tools:

Mooncake Mould

Roller

Scraper

 Mix all the ingredients together except alkaline water, which is to be added at last when you mix other ingredients completely.

 Knead until everything is mixed well together

 Use scraper for better dough handling.

About 50 balls of dough can be made using the measurement provided

Cover the dough balls with plastic wrap. Set aside for at least 3 hours.

Smaller shaped ball is the mooncake skin dough, while the bigger shaped ball is the filling. We used white lotus paste.

Knead the dough into round shape using roller. Dust some flour to avoid flour sticking.

Wrap the filling with mooncake skin until become ball-shaped mooncake

 Dust some flour into the mould to prevent sticking.

 Here's a detailed view of the mould

 Put it inside and press till become flat

 Knock out the mooncake carefully

 Here you go, Chef Gan's handmade mooncake

 Bloggers getting hands on to enjoy the experience. Had so much of fun and laughter with them!

 Came out pretty good looking! =D

 Group photo with Chef Gan. Photo credits to Hu Boon

Lastly, we get to bring home freshly baked, own-made White Lotus Paste Mooncake.

Thank you Resorts World Genting and Nuffnang for the great opportunity.

My dad couldn't resist and gobbled up the whole mooncake, even before I had a chance to photograph the interior look XD He commented it was well-wrapped, I'm satisfied =D