Off the beaten path-Sunflower Farm-Saraburi-Thailand

Ive been to Thailand countless of times but i'll always find some new places of interest in this Land of Smiles and the recent one being the sunflower farm in Saraburi. It was by chance that i read certain trip report on other travel blogs about this wonderful seasonal scene which is available during the cool season of November to January. As i was there during the Christmas holiday, i didnt miss the chance to include a visit to the sunflower farm in my itinerary.

Saraburi is located about 140km from Bangkok, roughly 2 hours travel time by car. Apart from the sunflower farm, it's a very quiet local town with not much things happening and from my observation they are leveraging on its location as a transit town near to the border of Laos and beautiful mountainous landscape as potential tourist attractions. 

There are many sunflower farms scattered across Saraburi and it varies in sizes. We happened to be there just roughly an hour before its closing time around 6pm. Entrance fee of THB 10 was charged per person.

entering Saraburi town

Thousands of bright yellow flowers greeted us upon our arrival at the farm, unfortunately the flowers had started to protrude downwards due to setting sun....preferable to come in the morning

The farm had been equipped with cute ornaments such as giant sunflower replica, scarecrow and mini windmill

You can buy some local produces such as sunflower seeds and honey at affordable prices here. It was a very beautiful and romantic place to spend the day with your family and loved ones and i hope to return in the future and spend more time here,especially when the sunflowers are in full bloom and erect. Cheers-Kay2015

Food Review: Pappa Mia-Terminal 1 Changi Airport-Singapore

I closed the year 2014 with a trip to Singapore on the New Year's Eve, and what a blast it was celebrating the new year and watching magnificent fireworks display at the Marina Bay Sands. The only qualm that i have, and also as a reminder to me in the future is try to be near as possible to the MRT Station and to watch the fireworks from there as it was quiet a chaotic scene once thousands of spectators dispersed the countdown area at the same time and the police had set up barricades to block the way and channelling the traffic into few confined spaces...it was an utter hell being stucked for hours and crammed with each other just to get to the MRT stations!

Anyway, lets talk about food. In Singapore there are limitless culinary options and not a problem to find halal eateries across the island and also in its main airport, Changi. One of the halal restaurant that you can try is Pappa Mia, located in Terminal 1, Departure level. From the selections of delicacies served here, i can say that this restaurant is intended to be "kopitiam like" with selections of mainly local and fusion dishes. The prices are friendly to your wallet as well.

Lets look at the menu, it's quiet extensive thus can suit to every tastebuds.

What i ordered:

Calamansi Juice-very refreshing, with nice blend of tangy-soury-sweet taste

Beef Brisket Noodle-large chunks of briskets which fell of the bone tender. Love the fact that they managed to balance the saltiness of this dish as i despised overly pouring salty taste usually apparent in dishes with soy sauce. You can choose the type of noodle as well.

The staffs were all friendly and readily available to serve you, as always with the general populations of Singapore, their services are generally top notch! With affordable pricing, friendly service, comfortable seating and tasty dishes, this restaurant is a must try halal restaurant whenever you chance to be in Changi Airport. Cheers-Kay2015

Food Review-Chardin SeaView Seafood-Port Dickson

Apart from Klang or Kuala Selangor being the seafood mecca near to KL, one should not leave out Port Dickson which is just 1.5 hours drive away from KL (in good traffic).

One of the famous seafood restaurant in Port Dickson is Chardin Seaview Restaurant, offering halal seafood at affordable price and most importantly as the namesake, its seaview.

They offered vast array of seafood which can be cooked to your likings and all are as fresh as can be as most are live seafood which are being kept in the aquarium situated at the side of the entrance to the restaurant.

Being a crab lover we ordered Nipah Crab to be cooked in Chilly Sauce. Minimum order for crab is 2 crabs and we can testify that 2 crabs are sufficient to feed a family of 4 due to it being a meaty type of crab unlike the normal blue crab. One crab is priced at RM 38.

Then we also have Kangkung Belacan

Venus Clams in Spicy Sauce

Butter Prawn

 Sweet and Sour Seabass

the whole spread

It was a truly satisfying meal. The service was fast and most importantly all the dishes were deliciously cooked. I dont mind to drive to Port Dickson simply to eat at this restaurant next time.Kay2014

Food Review-Muhibbah Seafood Restaurant-Sg Penchala

I am an avid seafood lover and it's no surprise that im always on the search for the best seafood restaurants in town and beyond. Recently i managed to try Muhibbah Seafood Restaurant, located in Sg Penchala is their new premise as it has moved from its previous location in Taman Tun.

This new location sits on top of a hill overlooking the greeneries of what is left of Sg Penchala amidst the heavy development around this area. Being here made me feel as if im somewhere out of KL and it's a good thing as being city dweller, all we wanted during the weekend is some peace and quiet.

the menu

The friendly owner or manager greeted us and took our order.After that the preliminaries were the serving of nuts and refreshing tissues

We ordered the Chilli Cockles.This was nicely cooked with apparent taste of soy sauce and fermented bean paste (taucu)

then the seafood tomyam. Not the usual thick broth found in Thailand but has similar taste

then the Butter Prawn. Fresh succulent and big prawns served here

The Kangkung Belacan. Love the fact that the belacan taste can be well tasted as in most places you didnt get the taste of belacan but only the smell.

finally the Sweet and Sour Garoupa (Kerapu). We ordered the smallest fish and it came out sufficient for the two of us. Nice balance of sweet and sour of the sauce as well.

For an establishment of this standard we found the price of the dishes affordable and with the taste and quality of the foods we'll definitely return to try other dishes in this restaurant. The only disappointing thing is that they dont serve crab here. Cheers-Kay2014

Muhibbah Seafood Restaurant
Lot. 2851, Jalan Seri Penchala,
Kg. Sg. Penchala,
Kuala Lumpur.
03-77273153

Opening hours: 12.00pm - 2.30pm and 6.30pm - 10.00pm

My Hotel Reviews & Travels

Most of my posts recently were of foods and may not be well consistent with my intended purpose of creating this blog to also review the hotels that ive stayed in and also my travel stories. Fret not as though i did not write anything on hotels in this blog, I have been actively sharing my reviews of hotels in TripAdvisor and my recent post can be found here:

http://www.tripadvisor.com.my/ShowUserReviews-g297930-d3526481-r229911692-Holiday_Inn_Express_Phuket_Patong_Beach_Central-Patong_Kathu_Phuket.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT

You may find my other reviews as well if you check my profile. I hope to spend some time to actually share my reviews of hotels and travels in this blog..so stay tuned! Cheers-Kay2014