Sugar High at Bon Bon

Went to have lunch at Bon Bon Cafe in Damansara Jaya, at the side street next to Atria shopping centre. This cozy little cafe has managed to charm its customers for years and they still keep coming back for more. The secret lies in the heavenly cakes. The food there is alrite, with the rosemary chicken tops the list of my favourites. Well, the highlight of Bon Bon cafe is always the dessert after the main course anyway. So make sure you keep aside a little of your appetite for the awesome cakes.

The cake menu changes from day to day. The proud owner of this shop bakes her cakes with such passion, to the point of obsession to some. She would tell you how to eat her cake at its best, and at what temperature etc. She uses fresh non-fat ingredients so she wouldn't be too happy if you happened to scrap away the cream on your cake! And she's not afraid to tell you off that you are spoiling her cake! However, we all still love her because she really casts magic spell on her cakes, they are really to-die-for!


We were lucky that the heavenly warm chocolate walnut cake was available that day. Honestly, you can't go wrong with any cake here made with chocolate. Dark chocolate is used and it's always very moist, and not too sweet. Coupled with cold vanilla ice-cream, honestly, can life gets better than this?! I also tried her cookies & cream chocolate cake and Devil Chocolate cake before, they are all equally good and give me equally orgasmic chocolate-high. :D


My colleague ordered the tiramisu with brandy. I haven't ordered the tiramisu for years as I thought it was a tad too dry when I tried years ago. This time, I decided to give it another chance. I tried a spoonful of the tiramisu with Brandy and was pleasantly surprised! It's marvellous ! The cake is soaked with brandy so it's very moist. The coffee cream used in between is very light and the coffee tasted not too strong to cover the taste of brandy. However, the tiramisu has a crusty base which I'm not too used to. I thought crusty bases should only be found in cheese cakes. But anyway... maybe I should be more open to new ideas. I would rate the tiramisu here 2nd best in Klang Valley. My absolute favourite is still Cafe Cafe!


The banana crumbles is also an old-time favourite in Bon Bon. I think the tiramisu and banana crumbles are a permanent fixture in the menu. As I'm not a big fan of bananas, I just tried a little bit to taste. It's excellent if you like bananas.

Worth a mention is the durian cake of Bon Bon cafe. The owner has got 'bored' with the durian cakes so she refused to bake it anymore, much to her loyal durian cake fans' disappointment. I don't know how to describe the durian cake because it's so good, shall I just say it's better than sex?! :D
My colleague also highly recommended her bubur-chacha cake, which you need to pre-book and only available as whole cakes. I haven't tasted it before so no comments, but hey what a creative cake to make!

All these years living in Klang Valley, Bon Bon cafe is still my favourite place for cakes. The price at Bon Bon is just slightly higher than Secret Recipe, but for such heavenly cakes, it's certainly money well-spent!

Happy Dumpling Festival

As always, my favourite food must be from Penang. Presenting to you my favourite dumplings made by a neighbour of mine in Penang, ta-dah:


Picture 1 is the kee chang stuffed with red bean, there's no need to eat with sugar nor gula melaka anymore. The red bean paste is sweet enough to go with the kee chang, but still not too sweet until you feel 'jelak'.

Picture 2 is the oat bak chang. The main difference here is it is not made of glutinous rice, but oatmeal! Very healthy! The rest of the ingredients are the same, with nuts, chestnuts, mushroom, sinful pork belly (sam chan bak) and of course my favourite salted egg yolk. So you can enjoy as many chang as you wish without the guilt since it's oatmeal! :)

My neightbour also makes tao chang and the conventional bak chang. All are good. You can reserve the chang 3 days in advance. She does delivery too. Call my mom if you need her contact information.

端午节快乐！

Robin Hood

On the flight to Delhi, my friend and I stole the purple pillow and blanket from Singapore Airlines, thinking that we could use it during our journey in Nepal and India. The stolen goods had proven to be very useful indeed, especially when the pillows in the guesthouses we stayed in were flatter than a naan bread.

Towards the end of our journey, we no longer need the pillow and blanket anymore. I suggested that we donate them to the homeless people on the street, imagining that we were Robin Hood, stealing from the rich to benefit the poor.

To our dismay, it's a heroic act turned awry. We bumped into the 'lucky' beggar on a back street of Delhi. As soon as I made eye contact, she came over to grab my hand and begged. I opened my bag, instead of money or food, I pulled out first a pillow, and then a blanket and handed them to the beggar. She took them but didn't look too grateful. My gesture attracted the attention of other beggars on the street nonetheless. Before I knew it, the whole troop of beggars were surrounding us and grabbing our arms or touching our hands to beg for food and money. Even Robin Hood wasn't prepared to help a whole 'kampung' of beggars! We had no choice but to run!

We ended up being chased by a kampung of beggars down the street, and the more persistant ones even followed us for the next 2 streets! What an experience!

Now come to think of it, I guess Robin Hood should have given the beggars food or money instead of non-essential things as what bothered them most at that point of time must be hunger, not creature comfort 'luxury' items like pillows and blankets.

Sorry for being such a thoughtless 'urban' Robin Hood...

Our beloved purple pillow that had seen us through our incredible journey in India & Nepal

I'm from Papua New Guinea

Best way to stop touts from harassing you about where you are from >>>

Tout: Where you from? Ja-Pan?

Me: No

Tout: Ko-riAh?

Me: No (walk away)

Tout: Taiwan? (chasing)

Me: No, stop following me!

Tout: From China? (kept following)

Me: Arghhh...No I'm from Papua New Guinea. (frustrated)

Tout: What Papa? (stunned)

Me: Papua New Guinea, you mean you don't know? (frown and sarcastic)

Tout: ..... (stunned and speechless,nailed to the ground in contemplation)

Me: (run before they gather their composure and persist in following and selling you something, regardless of whether they know your country or not)


*So do I look like I'm from Papua New Guinea?! Hehehe...*

Story of True Friendship

Few Mongolian kids were out at play at the grassland. They were running towards a nearby hill. Kid A forgot to wear her shoes when she left home. She accidentally cut and wounded her right foot due to the rocky terrain and had difficulties in keeping up with the other kids. Her best friend Kid B saw Kid A's bleeding foot and offered to carry Kid A by letting her piggy-back on her. Halfway up the hill, Kid B was very tired carrying Kid A on her back since Kid A and B were about the same size! So she put kid A down, took off her shoes and let Kid B wears it. Then this time kid B offered to carry Kid A. They took turns carrying each other, and the one who carries would get to wear the shoes. They finally reached their destination by sharing that 1 pair of shoes, and by carrying each other.

This true story was told to me by my friend who went to volunteer in a summer camp for orphans in Mongolia. To me, I think this is a very touching story of true friendship, a story of how to overcome adversity by helping each other, and make the best out of that unfavourable situation. Kudos to the Mongolian kids.

Because you were not there

'How many people and who did you go to Tibet with?'

'Oh just 2 of us, me and my girlfriend.'

'Hmm... I didn't know you went with your girlfriend. You didn't show any of your girlfriend's photo in your facebook album, so I thought you went alone...'

'......'

'So did you go to Everest Base Camp? It was fantastic isn't it?!! Part of the highlight of my trip to Tibet was staring at the peak of Mt. Everest right in the eye! The splitting headache, pounding heart throughout the sleepless nights, the bone-chilling cold, the hygiene hell of the toilets, all these hardship that I had to endure were all worthwhile -- just for that fleeting moment of seeing eye to eye with the majestic Everest. I'm sure you felt the same as I did!!...'

'Erm... I didn't go to Everest Base Camp...'

'Huh?? I can't believe you! You went to Tibet but didn't go to Everest Base Camp?!! I thought you are as kiasu as I am!! It's one of the must-see in Tibet you know?! What a waste!'

'My dear, I know it's the must-see. But what to do?! Because you were not there to plan the trip with me...'

就这么一句，包含了少许遗憾，少许伤感。遗憾的是我们所曾经共同拥有的梦想实现时，身边的人却早已替换了；伤感的是我们都各自身在现任爱人身边，但一颗心，却还感觉空洞无比，就好像西藏无限的空间，无尽的天涯。
天涯的尽头到底在哪儿？人家说天涯的尽头就在心里。我想，那是因为重要的不是实际距离有多远，而是心的距离有多近吧。。。

Sounds of Tibet

Have you ever listened to the sound of silence? In daily life, you experience this after you have turned off your car engine but still sitting in your car, with all windows tightly wound up. It's like you are being placed in a vacuum or a blackhole, you hear nothing but silence.

Now imagine you are standing before an open space, an endless plateau where you can't see the other end of the horizon. And behind you, is the towering mountain from the Himalayan range. Occasionally, you can hear the howling wind, the fluttering prayers flags, or the rumbling sound of rocks rolling down the slope of the barren mountain due to wind erosion. But most of the time, it's just the hollow sound of emptiness. That is the reverberating sound of silence, that is the unmistakeable and yet unforgettably haunting sound of Tibet.

Remembering Tibet

Tibet - the Land of Snow, Shambala, the rooftop of the world, a vast plateau with all the most romantic names you could think of. The eerie yet intoxicating emptiness of the plateau complements the Buddhism teaching of emptiness - 色即是空，空即是色.
My trip to Tibet back in June 2007 was my most unforgettable trip of a lifetime. Recently, I have a friend who just went to China to 流浪. I strongly recommended him to visit Tibet. Before his trip, I was so enthusiastic in giving him all my travel tips and hoped that Tibet would leave the same indelible impact on him as it has for me.

What's so special about Tibet, he asked. To me, the snow peaks, serene mountains, vast land, turqoise lake beckoned like a magnet. But most importantly, Tibet is THE place for me to comprehend the definition of infinity. The plateau is so vast I could not even see the end of the horizon. Somehow, looking at this endlessness of space has been the most awe-inspiring experience for me in Tibet.

Use your heart to feel Tibet, not your mind, only then you'll find your Shangri-la in Tibet. Where is infinity? Infinity is in your heart...

Trekking Bukit Tabur

Don't know what got into Chris lately, kept finding out places to trek around KL. Well, I don't mind one bit since I love trekking.
We went to Bukit Tabur in Taman Melawati on saturday. We had to wake up very early for the trip. I was unwilling to leave my comfy bed so we only made it out of the house around 7.15am, which was quite late because it gets very hot on top of Bukit Tabur later in the day. We were in time to catch the sunrise over Jalan Duta though.

After a few wrong turns to 'holland' as usual, we finally arrived at the foot of Bukit Tabur at around 8.30am, which is also near the entrance to Empangan Klang Gate, one of the oldest dam in Selangor. The climb up Bkt Tabur wasn't too tough stamina wise, just need a bit of very basic rock climbing skills.

For people who are not used to tackling this kind of terrain, a little bit of courage and kiasu-ness may help. :) According to Chris, the quartz formation in Bkt Tabur is actually the biggest in the world. I don't really believe him though. Haha...if it's true, Malaysia would have been the biggest exporter of quartz watches already!


There was a few spots where you need to abseil down a rock as high as ~15 ft. Without a harness, it got me a little nervous. The warning sign about previous cases of severe accidents here was rather discouraging too.
Actually there is another 'chicken' exit route to bypass this part, but kiasu as we are, we chose to challenge ourselves. Here's how Chris tackled this obstacle.

We safely passed this obstacle without a scratch. Actually it wasn't really that scary, but if you are really that unfortunate and happen to lose your grip on the rope and fall down the cliff which has a drop of 150m (according to the warning sign, I'm not sure how accurate is that though), chances are you'd be seriously injured. However, possibilities of falling to that side of the cliff is actually quite slim. So don't let that warning sign drown your courage.

After the first obstacle, there are a few more 'juvenile' rock-climbing and abseiling spots here and there. Then it's smooth-sailing all the way to the top! You'll be rewarded with magnificent view of another hill next to Bkt Tabur, as well as a bird's eye view of the Klang Gate Dam.

On the other side of the hill is the beautiful KL city skyline with the Twin Towers and KL Tower all lined up before our eyes. I was really impressed with the view. Absolutely lovely!

Proceeding down from the peak, the quartz/limestone formations gradually turn into moss-covered forest. I think the forest is very pretty, like fairyland!



We had the choice of continuing onto another hill which we had no idea leads to where or go downhill to where we parked our car, which is near the dam. Since it was already mid-day and I was starving, so we just trotted through the jungle back down to the foot hill. The jungle was full of flora and fauna in which some have extended their territory into our trail. A family of ants even hitchhiked home with us from that jungle to civilization! Haha...

Overall, I think Bukit Tabur offers very good trekking. Highly recommended for a little bit of adventure to spice up your life! And here's my favourite photo of the trip to wrap up this article. :)

Toilet Woes Part 2 - Toilet Nightmares

*** WARNING, this article is disgusting. Read at your own risk ***


My stomach has grown weaker as I grew older. One would have thought Penangite like me who loves to eat at filthy roadside hawker stalls should have very strong stomach; but too bad, I always get diarrhea when I'm on the road in 3rd world countries, especially in recent years!

Most of the time I couldn't pinpoint which food I have eaten wrong to cause my diarrhea. What's more annoying is that it didn't happen to anyone else in the party, just happened to me! However, this didn't stop me from eating the local delicacy whenever I travel. I still eat all I want and suffer the consequences later. Can't help it, I'm a born glutton and proud to be one. :p

So my never-ending toilet nightmares continue since my stomach continues to play practical jokes on me. My worst ever experience was having diarrhea in my sleep and soiling my pants on an overnite train in Vietnam, where there was no running water to wash! I took sleeping pill that night thinking to have a more peaceful night (I had a nightmare of Vietnam war ghosts haunting me in the train the night before). Bad idea! The sleeping pill made me sleep so soundly until I was not aware of my bowel movements! By the time I woke up startled, it was too late. What made it worse was, there was no running water in the toilet. The only water available was hot drinking water. I had no choice but to use the boiling hot water to wash my hands after the clean-up. I still remember how miserable I felt!

Then when I was in Peru, I again had problem with my stomach. It started with my stomach fully bloated with gas the night before. Bad news, the diarrhea started the next day, which was the day I need to spend a lot of time on the road! I was basically checking out every public toilets along the way of my journey in Sacred Valley. At Moray, there was this filthy public toilet that refused to flush after I've done my business. It was ugly. There was a queue out at the toilet when I came out from the cubicle. Feeling embarassed, I apologized and told the next person that I'm sorry but the toilet cannot be flushed. The next person told me that she's also having diarrhea and she cannot afford to go look for another toilet. She went in anyway. So I wasn't the only one with a weak stomach, as if that is a consolation. Hehe...

My recent experience at HuangShan, China wasn't any better. The night before I went up to HuangShan, I had such bad diarrhea I did not even manage to sleep the whole night! I kept running to and fro every few minutes I might as well just sleep in the toilet itself! All the charcoal pills and imodiums in the world couldn't even stop my diarrhea. Feeling exhausted in the morning, I did not even dare to consume anything for fear of more output on the other side. I was toying with the idea of giving up HuangShan and just stay back at TangKou to rest. But my chao kiasu spirit still rule the day. At the end, I went up to HuangShan anyway with an empty but upset stomach. Luckily I was able to stay away from toilets the whole day I was hiking on HuangShan. With no sleep at all the previous night and an empty stomach, the trail of the western circuit seemed like hell. I really must respect my perseverance for being able to complete the whole circuit without fainting. Luckily enough, my stomach stopped playing with me the whole day. Not until the next morning, when I was rudely awaken by another unexpected passing of the bowels in my sleep. Sighh... when would this ever end?...

Dinner at Riblee's

We went to Riblee's in Desa Sri Hartamas for dinner on friday night. The restaurant was surprisingly packed and the only table available for our party of 7 was just the table out at the veranda, ie. no air-conditioning. (We went there about a month ago on a sunday night and the restaurant was so quiet and empty!) It was so freaking hot that evening we were not too happy with our seating. The annoying mosquitoes under the table added to our anguish. Note to self: Make sure to book a table indoor on a friday night if we come again!



We ordered quite a few dishes but some are rather forgettable. The one appetizer worth a mention is the escargot in garlic, herbs and butter. I think the taste of garlic has almost covered the taste of escargot but for garlic-lovers like me, I didn't really mind that. The garlic herb sauce was great with the toasts that came with the dish.



For mains, funnily enough, I didn't really fancy the ribs at Riblee's while the restaurant is famous for its pork ribs. I tried the signature Baby Back Ribs before, it's nothing spectacular. And this time we tried the St Louise ribs. Nothing memorable either. The side, curly fries were also too salty and hard I think even McDonald's curly fries are better! What saved the day was my all-time favourite - the John Dory Fillet in cream sauce. It's still as good as ever. It's got a layer of black fungus in between the fillet, and bacon and mushroom bits sprinkled on top. This dish is delicious only when consumed hot. It got a bit fishy after it turned cold. The price is also very reasonable for such a big portion.



Next, we proceeded to dessert, which was the highlight of the day! The oreo ice cream cake is my absolute favourite! There's actually no cake, just a block of vanilla ice cream with crushed oreo cookies, with a layer of chocolate crust at the bottom, and on top, drizzled with sinful chocolate sauce! Yummy yummy! I would go back to Riblee's again just for this!



We also ordered the chocolate mud pie. It's not too sweet, so less guilt, but I'd prefer it to be more moist within the cake itself, not from the chocolate sauce drizzled on top.
Overall, I would just recommend the John Dory Fillet and the heavenly oreo ice-cream cake. Oh, did I mention the service sucked big time?! Maybe because the restaurant was just too busy that night, service was painfully slow. We waited for more than 45 minutes for our food to be served. And the foreign workers who served us hadn't got a clue on whatever we asked for. But I guess the cozy ambience, big portions and reasonably priced 'ok' food in an upmarket neighbourhood has retained Riblee's popularity.

Hiking Broga Hill

Broga Hill, also known as Bukit Lalang, is located near the University of Nottingham at Semenyih.Chris promised to bring me there after looking at others' blog and nice photos of this place.
We left home at around 6am to Semenyih. It took us around half an hour to reach the entry to the path, which is right opposite a 'Rabbit Funland' on the main road of Semenyih. Actually the entry point was a bit unconvincing in the dark. If not for the many cars parked inside the oil palm plantation and beside the road, we would have missed the place completely. Yes, to my dismay, we had to walk through an oil-palm plantation to reach the foot of Broga hill. I have this weird phobia for palm trees. I just hate the menacing palm leaves that look like a thousand fingers out to grab you. Somehow I have imagined palm trees are man-eating trees since young. But due to my chao kiasu spirit, how could I give up halfway and not hike Broga Hill since we were already there?!
I hung on dearly to Chris in the dark and tried not to look up at the palm trees as we walked through the plantation. It was just a short walk before we reached the foot hill. From there, it's all the way up, crossing a secondary forest to the top of Broga Hill that is covered with lalang. Some of the lalang are even taller than me! The walk should take around 1 to 1.5 hours to the peak. The hike was quite a walk in a park, too unchallenging for my liking. Even a tiny little toy poodle can conquer the hill, so can anyone with minimal stamina.


As for the view, actually I was not too impressed because there was no sea of clouds, nor nice sunrise that day. I guess luck was not by our side because usually sea of clouds will only be seen if there was rain the day before. We have been under a dry spell for a week or 2 so forget it!
Still, I felt cheated by others' extraordinarily nice photos! It's either they have done a lot of post-processing for those photos, or I'm just a lousy photographer! Haha... I was so sorely disappointed that I tried to look at the photos of other photographers with SLR to compare. Hehe theirs didn't look any more impressive than mine so I was finally happy and appeased.(haha really chao kiasu!)



Overall, the morning hike was ok, if you just want to be out there to be close with nature. Don't expect this to be the training ground for your future tougher hikes.

Toilet Woes

When on the road, one of the things that top my list of concerns will be public toilets. I have the bad habit of not having a fixed time to defecate. Haha..that means I could just do my business as and when I feel like it, no matter where I am.

Of course being a 'princess' as I am, I choose my place of defecate well. My travel mate always teased me: your high-class bottom needs to sit on high-class 'jamban'. Hotel/museum/library toilets and the likes are my 'jamban' of choice. But there was once I need to 'pang sai' badly and there was no nice clean toilet insight. It was in Boston if my memory serves me correctly. So I walked into this nice-looking building that looked like a posh office block. Unfortunately the access door to the toilet section was locked! I put my charm to good use, fluttered my eyelashes and shamelessly asked the security guard, 'Can I use the toilet pleaseeee?' I must have looked really miserable then because the guard actually unlocked the door for me so that I could use the posh private toilet! The guard immediately locked that section again after I 'spiced up' their toilet! Hahaha...that was one of the nice toilets I've used, as a trespasser.

Another time, I went to Putrajaya to 'phak thor' at night. But alas, I need to pee badly when we were driving pass the Istana Melawati. I tried my luck by asking the guard at the gate of Istana Melawati, 'Is there a toilet in the palace that I can use? I know the King is not at home today.' Surprisingly, the guard actually opened the gate and let me in! I asked Chris to keep the guards busy by chatting with them in case they suddenly regretted letting me in. Anyway, they just led me to a small toilet beside the guardhouse. So disappointing... but hey, how many people has urinated at a palace which is not open to public?! :p

Other public toilets at famous sights I've left my footprint, or rather my feces in, are at the top of Eiffel Tower, Paris; Fullerton hotel, Singapore; Mikimoto pearl museum, Japan etc. People usually collect souvenirs when they travel, I guess I left my 'souvenirs' for the public toilets when I travel. Hehe...should I feel proud of myself for my toilet experience?

That Special Place called London

Was chatting with my buddies on skype and we talked about our travelling habits. Everyone must have known by now, I'm chao kiasu to the core when it comes to travelling. I must make full use of every minute of the day, regardless of whether I've been to the place, or only for the first time. And I usually do a lot of planning and research in order to not waste any time at the destination.

I was telling my buddy that although I've been to London many times, I still treasure every minute of the time there. London is the only place I do not need to do any planning. I don't even need a map. I just need to keep walking and somehow I'd end up following the same old circuit - Covent Garden, Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, Regent Street, Big Ben & Parliament. Those are the places that I'd go check out over and over again, just to say 'hello, nice to be here again'. I have no idea why I kept going back to those same old places like a magnet each time I had the chance to visit London. Maybe because these places are a reminiscent of my past, it's a symbolic place where I found and lost my heart. It reminds me of what made me the way I am today.

London might not be the coolest, the most beautiful or the most romantic city in the world. In fact it's kind of gloomy and depressing at times. But London will always hold a special place in my heart, just like he does...

Upcoming Trip - Guilin

I've just signed up for a packaged tour to Guilin with a tour operator in Penang, departing during the Raya holiday season. I know it's too early to be excited but I am excited nonetheless! My heart already started to fly far faraway, looked up pictures of Guilin, even thinking of extending my trip at the transit city Bangkok for a couple of days! Hehehe... really hong soh. Now I've got one more thing to look forward to in my monotonous life. :)

This Guilin trip will be the mother's day and birthday treat for my mom this year. In fact she'll be celebrating her 67th birthday in Guilin! Yippee!
Every year I vow to bring my mom somewhere for holiday to make up for the guilt of not being able to always be by her side in Penang. It's not cheap to keep this promise, but seeing the smile on my mom's face during the trips is simply priceless... and that's what keeps me doing it annually.