Ban Lee Bak Kut Teh @ Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur

After an early morning errand sending our maid to LCCT as she was going to Indonesia for Hari Raya Puasa. We decided to take our breakfast somewhereconvenientbefore we go back home to start our day.Located next to Dynasty Hotel, Jalan Ipoh which no one can possibily miss this eating shop. The shop is finished with original old mosiac and white glazed wall tiles which is quite impossible to get them now. I like to see these old & classic coffee shops with such finishes I reckon soon all these classic architectural features would be gone.Ban Lee Bak Kut Teh operates 24 hours with two separate teams maintaining the flagship of Ban Lee. They have been in business for a long time and still going strong to provide the people of KL good and gorgeous BKT.The soup is dark in colour than usual and with strong herbal flavour. Most importantly it has the magnificent taste of a good BKT. This is a healthier ch! oice of pork ribs BKT.And this is a sinful kind of BKT with pig intestines, stomach and a mixture of other parts of a pig, if your cholestrol is on a high side avoid this. Maybe once in a blue moon it might be alright on a second thought.

Kedai Makanan Ban Lee

222, Jalan Ipoh,

51200 Kuala Lumpur.

(next to Hotel Dynasty)

Tel No:+603-4045 3009/+6012-203 6865

GPS : 3.172557, 101.691642

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri 2012

Wishing all my dear readers and friends who are celebrating this special ocassion..

"Selamat Hari Raya Aidifiltri".

*Artwork by Baby C.

Eating Snakes in Jakarta

During a trip to Mangga Besar, I found those restaurants serving cobras in different forms (Sate Cobra, Cobra Soup, Grilled Snake, etc...). I was not really in the mood for trying but I took a few pictures...

If you are interested, they are quite easy to find, on the main street, approximately 2 kilometers east of Jalan Hayam Wuruk. You call also try this one more particularly:

King Cobra
Restaurant & Medication
Jalan Mangga Besar Raya No93C
Phone Number: +62-21 629 6087

Siera or Pujasera Nightclub (Mangga Besar)

Jakarta nightlife still surprises me... The latest unexpected found was Siera which I had heard of before but never had the chance to visit... People also call it Pujasera, but I was unable to understand which name was the proper one...

Siera is located on Jalan Mangga Besar, about 1 kilometer East of Jalan Hayam Wuruk. It is not too difficult to find but you should be attentive not to miss it. It looks like a Roman temple, with a colourful lighting.

You have to pay about Rp20,000 to get in, and for this price you will get a small bottle of water. Inside is really crowded, until morning. The club is like a long corridor, maybe a 100 meters deep, with at least 500 people, maybe a 1000. If you were on the dancefloor at the end of the corridor and suddenly there was a fire, you'll have no chance to escape. It is very likely that 90% of the customers have taken drugs, and I would imagine that all girls in this place are working. As the price and facilities are quite cheap, it attracts a crowd of middle class Indonesian, with few Chinese.

The music is very aggressive and loud, and personally I couldn't stand to stay more than 10 minutes in the club. I took a few pictures, which are unfortunately quite dark, but I have a video that captures well its essence.

Overall: Recommended place for those wishing ! to explo re the undergrounds of Jakarta nightlife. Also good for anybody who wants to experiment the contradictions of the capital of the largest Muslim country on earth.

Pujasera / Siera Discotheque
Jalan Mangga Besar 65, North Jakarta
Phone number: +62-21 659 2445

Qi Restaurant (Sultan Hotel)

Located in Lagoon Tower, near Sultan Hotel, Qi Dine & Lounge is a restaurant coming from The Rych Concept Group (also behing Airman Lounge).

Qi serves fusion cuisine Japanese with a French twist. Favourites are the Smoked Salmon Parfait, the Surf & Turf, or The Rych Drunken Veal Check.

I haven't tried the restaurant yet but was contacted by the management to write a small text about it. Please do not hesitate to write your own comments on this blog about the place.

Qi Dine & Lounge
Lagoon Tower next to Sultan Hotel Complex
Jalan Gatot Subroto, Jakarta

Phone number: +62-21 572 7239
Email to qi.rsvp@therych.com
BB pin : 27D088D9

Facebook : Qi Jakarta
Twitter : @Qi_indo
Website: www.qi.co.id

Opening Hours:

Everyday from 11am to midnight (later on weekends)

Prive Club & Mezza9

Priv is the nightclub replacing Indochine. It is a mid-to-upper class venue, popular mostly with Indonesian but you'll always find a few foreigners there. The new management has been rather successful compared to the previous one, and the club has a good image and decent crowd on weekend. Expect mostly commercial music unfortunately.

Also comes with 2 restaurants, Mezza9 and Priv Kitchen Cosmopolitan.

Operational Hours :

Mezza9 : Everyday 11am 11pm.

Prive Club : From Wednesday to Saturday (9pm to 3am, 4 am on weekends).

Priv Club & Mezza9

fX Lifestyle Xenter 8th floor

Jalan Sudirman, Senayan, Jakarta

Reservation & Info : +62 877 822 89045

Phone number : +62-21 2555 4489

Fax : +62-21 2555 4490

BB PIN : 21FB5A10

Facebook (where I took the pictures): Prive or Prive Club Jakarta

Twitter : @priveJKT
Web Site: www.privejakarta.com
Email: marketing@privejakarta.com / herard@privejakarta.com

Gelato @ Cielo Dolci, Paradigm Mall, Kelana Jaya, Selangor

I scream, you scream,

We all scream for ice-cream!

Lusciously smooth gelato

After lunch at Bulgogi Brothers, we were looking for a place for desserts and came across Cielo Dolci. The lady at the gelato counter gestured us to come in and try the flavours. We sampled the vanilla bean, hazelnut, salted caramel, coconut and mango sorbetto - all so good. We'll have a cup please, thank you very much.

Cielo, pronounced as "ceh-lo", means heaven/sky, in Italian. The name captures the very essence of our Dolce Freddo Artigianale (artisanal frozen desserts). The owners are professionally trained in Italy.

Gelato is healthier than ice cream, lower in calorie content, with a more intense flavour. Cielo's gelato and sorbetto are freshly made daily.

For a small cup, we got to choose 2 flavours, and we went for the salted ca! ramel &a mp; fairy dust as well as coconut and gula melaka. I really loved the salted caramel flavour, and the gelato was lusciously smooth and creamy. I also thought the name was very cute - the fairy dust refers to the chocolate shavings on top of the gelato. The coconut and gula melaka flavour was a great combo too! The price is very reasonable at RM8.80.

Menu

Paradigm Mall is a little out of the way for us, but Cielo Dolci is one of the places that tempts us to return there again.

Join their Facebook page here for latest seasonal flavours and updates.


Location: Cielo Dolci, LG50, Paradigm Mall,1, Jalan Kelana SS7/26A, Kelana Jaya, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

GPS Coordinates: 3.105378, 101.594757