Monday, May 31, 2010

1st June, 2010

Today's weather;

A blue sky with some fluffy skies rules over Pattaya today. It looks like another nice and warm day again with a current temp at 7am of just below 29.5C.

Max temp yesterday was over 34.2C.

Koh Samui was hot with a max temp of 34.9C and there was a drizzle of rain at one point.

Camille

Hong Ming Food Services (Crab) at Taman Setia Indah, Johor Bahru

Hong Ming Food Services (N1 34.424 E103 46.011) is located in the middle of  Jalan Setia 9/17 of Taman Setia Indah, Johor Bahru. From the name of the restaurant, I believe they were started from food catering services (correct me if I'm wrong).

Hong  Ming Food Services at Taman Setia Indah, Johor Bahru

As I understand, they are famous with their Honey Crab.
we visited the restaurant on a Saturday night around 8pm, the restaurant was Full of customers!

Indoor area
Outdoor area
There were outdoor and indoor to cater different kind of customers. I would prefer indoor because I need the light for food photography. Both areas were Packed!

We placed our order once we got our table...

Our foods order :-
1)  Brinjal mixed with Petai Bean (Parkia speciosa or stink bean) and other vegetables.
2)  Spicy Clam
3)  Honey Crab (Signature Dish)

Brinjal mixed with Petai Bean and other vegetables

Spicy Clam

Honey Crab of Hong Ming Food Services

The first and second dishes served on our table with white rice, but we gonna wait for the Crabs....the funny part was, we waited the Crabs until we finished Everything on the table and Still no sign of it! The lady boss Keep on saying that the Crabs will be serve at the last?! That puzzled us! After everything finished, the LAST dish should serve on the table, right? (I don't wanna comment on their bad management)
We continue to wait for another 20 minutes...at last, the Crabs appeared! We had to taste the crabs without the rice....

Overall, the dishes were Excellent! Thumbs Up for the three dishes! We like the 2 Big crabs! But...bear in mind, you gotta be very patient and wait for it! We (2 adults & 1 child) spend 1 hour 30 minutes for our dinner, it was TOO long!

The Damage : MYR79.00 for 2 adults and 1 child. Reasonable price. But we put them at the last of our Seafood list because of the Crabs take too long to Appear! (Waiting time is too long!)

Foods rated : 4/5
Service rated : 1/5

Hong Ming Food Services
29, Jalan Setia 9/17,
Taman Setia Indah,
81100 Johor Bahru.
Tel : 07-3597782 / 012-7187782

Location map of Hong Ming Food Service

Sunday, May 30, 2010

31st May, 2010

Today's weather;

A nice blue sky with some clouds in it rules over Pattaya this morning. Current temp at 7am is 29C

Yesterday was a nice day with slight overcast so not too hot. Max temp reached 32.6C

Now off for some wreck diving.

Camille

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Goodbye to May 2010

Goodbye to May 2010

A day early because I will be wreck diving tomorrow in Pattaya and won't have a lot of time to post.

May was an interesting month, if not only because of my change in my work situation with new partnerships on Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Lanta.

Weather wise it was warm and hot all over the month but at last we had some showers, I would almost think that we had more rain during May than we had during the rainy season! All in all a great month for good holiday weather.

There has been enough about the Bangkok riots and I can only hope that the current peace prevails and Thailand will be put on the map again for what it's known for, the Thai smile and a great holiday destination.

There were also two new restaurant reviews, the Lebanese station where I went twice this month and Cafe del Sol on Koh Tao. Both very recommendable.

Other blogs that had some good posts include Beyond the Mango Juice, who's author happened to be on the scene in Udon Thani when it was burning during the recent riots.

Jamie at the real Phuket blog had a family visit to the Cliff and and River Jungle Resort in the Kao Sok National Park, a resort that's high on my list of places to visit!

Monique keeps bombarding us with stunning nature pix, a great Dutch woman living on Samui.

Mike, a very active blogger residing in Prachuap Kiri Khan is looking at the costs of living in Thailand.

Malcolm is retired in Thailand and is loving it, he talks about the untouched live by Bangkok riots rural life in the boonies.

Andrew looks at Thai rural poverty - a powder keg, in reference to the recent riots?

Thai Life in Phana's blogger Lawrence is connecting to the past in this interesting post and Ben, the Thai Pirate looks at kids being Muay Thai youngsters.

If you want to have a look at some funny Thai related pix, visit and befriend my TIT or This is Thailand Facebook page. There are some real crackers there.

If you read all these posts and stroll around on just these blogs, you'll have a nice and relaxing Sunday!

Stay tuned and keep posting on all of our blogs,
Camille

30th May, 2010

Today's weather;

A blue sky with some random clouds is hanging over Samui this morning. It looks like it's going to be a very hot one today. Current temp at 7am is 27.2C

Today I'm off to Pattaya until Friday.

Yesterday saw a merely overcast day but once the sun came through it was very hot, resulting in a max temp of 35C

Camille

Puteri Harbour at Kota Iskandar, Nusa Jaya - Johor

Puteri Harbour (N1 24.667 E103 39.380) is located at Kota Iskandar, Nusajaya - Johor (Near to Gelang Patah town). We visited this Harbour on a Saturday for our photography session.

"Puteri Harbour is the jewel of Nusajaya. This waterfront precinct, is an integrated waterfront and marina development that spans 688 acres offering a panoramic view of the Straits of Johor. Puteri Harbour redefines luxury living and offers boundless real estate benefits to the astute investor. Located adjacent to Kota Iskandar (Johor state new administrative centre), Puteri Harbour will be a unique luxurious lifestyle community, offering the experience of exceptional waterfront living, dining, entertainment, the arts and culture in a safe and picture postcard natural setting." Source from here.

The info center or reception at Puteri Harbour

The area is open for public, and we were pleasantly snapping our photos without any restriction. Once you walk pass the reception area, you will entering an open area with full of coconut tree! A Tropical smell! :)



Right side of the building (The architecture is done by Philip Cox)

There's a cafe located at one of the end of the building. Nice environment, it's Nice to relax yourself in the cafe with a Ice Cold Beer in this Hot weather.

The cafe at the Puteri Harbour buidling

We were continuing pressing our camera shuttle until we walked to this point to have a rest...
Let me share some photos around our first pit stop...:)




The S.O.S. station

We continue to walked after a short break, the path lead us to the end of the Marina bay...along the way, we spotted many yacht (in all size) were docking side-by-side....



This Yacht is for sale...wondering how much??

This was the Biggest Yacht we spotted at Puteri Harbour at that moment

Do you know what is this 'round thing' hanging on it??

A full view of the Puteri Harbour from the end of the Marina Bay

The Harbour is protected under the Security Surveillance System. You will notice the CCTV cameras are everywhere! Yes, you are being monitored! :)

The CCTV Surveillance System at Puteri Harbour 

The friendly Security Guard during patroling the Marina area...

I noticed the sitting area are design and build by the Theme of 'Wave'. Correct me if I'm wrong...



Please don't bring your children here to playing and running around, it's not allowed by the authorities and the other Main reason is...there is NO railing along the promenade...kids might easily fall into the water! Beware!


I cannot imagine that...what if I own a yacht and I can easily sail to anywhere around the World?! Oh! What a good life! Dream it rather than NO dream! Haha! Will working towards this one of the goal, who knows One day my dream might come true? :)
There were many ad about the selling the used Luxury Yachts at the building...
Tempted but cannot do anything...haha!

The advertisement about used Luxury Yacht

Friend who shoot like a Pro.

The above photos were taken by Canon EOS 450D with ND Filter.

Location map of Puteri Harbour of Johor.


Friday, May 28, 2010

29th May, 2010

Today's weather;

It's good to be back home on Samui again after having been on Koh Tao for a few days for a successful PADI IE but not for long, since tomorrow I'll be off to Pattaya for some wreck diving until Friday.

In the meantime, back at the farm there's a light overcast with the sun trying to battle it's way through. Current temp at 7am is 27.6C.

Yesterday was a warm day, especially when the sun broke through the cloud cover and last night around 10pm we had a nice refreshing shower. Max temp reached 34.7C

Camille

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Cafe del Sol, Mae Haad, Koh Tao

Cafe del Sol, Mae Haad, Koh Tao

To catch up on my restaurant reviews, here's one more, this time coming to you from Koh Tao where I just spend two nights for a PADI IE.

The Cafe del Sol has been visited by me occasionally, mainly for lunches and despite good reviews by other people that visited the Cafe, somehow I never got around going there in the evenings for dinner, until two days ago.
We went and had dinner and it was excellent, I had a really superb lamb chop and it was that good that we went the next day again!

Trio pepper pork with gratin

My student during this trip had two days in a row the trio pepper pork with gratin. An excellent choice and the gratin alone is worthwhile going there.

Gnocchi quatro formaggio

Yesterday I had a gnocchi quatro formaggio, which was really nice as well.

The Cafe del Sol is easy to find, coming from the Seatran pier, just walk straight up the road and the second crossing will have the Cafe at your left hand. They also offer free wifi to customers.

Another good addition to Koh Tao's culinary road map. Highly recommended.

Camille

28th May, 2010

Today's weather;

A cloudy sky hangs over Koh Tao with a current temp at 7am of 29C.
Later today we will take the ferry back to Koh Samui again!

Today is also one of the most important Buddha days in the year; Visakha Bucha Day and many Thai people will visit their local Temple today.

Yesterday saw the sun and clouds battle it out over Koh Tao with a massive shower around 3pm.
Max temp reached 34.4C.
Samui stayed dry for the last two days.

Camille

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

27th May, 2010

Today's weather;

As mentioned yesterday, I'm on Koh Tao for a PADI IE and Koh Tao is clouded but dry this morning. Current temp is 29C.

Koh Tao yesterday during the afternoon storm

Yesterday we left Samui under good weather circumstances and the trip over to the Rock was easy without waves. Around 3pm though, a storm raced over Koh Tao with very strong winds but hardly any rain for about an hour. After that it calmed down again and when the sun came out it immediately heated up again.
Max temp reached 33.8C

Camille

Din Tai Fung Taiwanese Restaurant at Bishan Junction 8, Singapore

Din Tai Fung (鼎泰丰) Taiwanese Restaurant (N1 21.039 E103 50.943) is located at Bishan Junction 8 Shopping Complex, Singapore. I love to taste their Xiaolongpao 小笼包 (Little Dumpling) since the first time I had it at Taipei 2004. Let me start with their History...

History
"The founder of DinTaiFung was Bingyi Yang, born 1927 in China’s Shanxi Province. In the summer of 1948, Bingyi Yang decided at the age of 21 to leave the KMT-CCP Civil War in China behind. He boarded the ferry “Hualien” and decided to seek his fortune in Taiwan with an uncle there. With the help of his uncle’s wife, Yang found his first job in Taiwan – as a deliveryman with “HengTaiFung”....“DinTaiFung” soon stopped selling oil entirely and became a full-fledged restaurant. This was also where the legend of how “DinTaiFung” became an international brand began." Source from Here.

We were invited by my brother in-law in one of the Sunday afternoon to take our lunch at Din Tai Fung Restaurant. I will definitely won't miss this chance because it's been more than 6 years that I never have a chance to taste the Delicious Xiaolongpao (little dumpling) again! :)

Nice and tidy Taiwanese style in the restaurant

Once we ready, my sister in-law did the order. I'm anxiously waiting for the dumplings to serve on the table...
The first dish that served on the table was the Famous Din Tai Fung Appetizer.

Appetizer

Follow by the Steamed Cold Chicken (Forgive me, I don't know what they called it in English). It was really as cold as just took out from the fridge! And...the chicken was gentle and succulent! 

Steamed Cold Chicken

One of the Din Tai Fung Signature Dish : Special Recipe Noodle.

And my Favorite!! Xiaolongpao 小笼包 (Little Dumpling) !!

Famous Xiao-long-pao 小笼包 from Din Tai Fung

Accolades
Din Tai Fung is known internationally for its xiaolongbao. Din Tai Fung was ranked as one of the world's top 10 restaurants in 1993 by The New York Times.

You gotta be careful when you bite on the dumplings, because the juices might just spill everywhere!! Haha!

We also ordered their Famous Fired Rice with Pork Chop. It was also one of the Best dish of that day! I never taste it before at Taipei, first time in Din Tai Fung of Singapore.

Signature Fried Rice with Pork Chop

Even I cannot really remember 100% of the taste of Din Tai Fung at Taipei, but I can assure that the dishes serve in this restaurant are as good as the Main shop in Taipei!
Delicious!

Rated : 4.5/5

We will definitely come back for more!!

Operation hour :-
Week day and Saturday : 11am - 10pm
Sunday : 10.30am - 10pm
Public Holiday : 10am - 10pm
Official website : http://www.dintaifung.com.tw/en/index.asp

Location map of Din Tai Fung, Singapore


Tuesday, May 25, 2010

26th May, 2010

Today's weather;

Heavy cloud cover over Samui this morning and rain is definitely in the cards. Current temp at 7am is 27.2C.

Yesterday saw cloud cover and sunshine all day long but in the evening it started to rain and there were some heavy rain showers and thunder and lightnings roaring. Max temp reached 33.3C

Today I'm off to Koh Tao for two nights with my IDC candidate Sunil for his PADI IE, we completed the current IDC two days ago.

Camille

Monday, May 24, 2010

Lebanon Station, Lebanese restaurant in Chaweng

Lebanon Station, Lebanese restaurant in Chaweng

It's been a while since I have posted a restaurant review, so this one is for Bron, you know who you are!

Following the one way system in Chaweng, when you almost come to the end, about 100 meters before the T-crossing marking the end of the one way system, is on your left hand side the Lebanon Station.

I love Middle Eastern food, see my post about the absolutely fantastic Egyptian restaurant Nassir El Massri in Bangkok, one of my faves and a must stop when in Bangkok.

This is one of my all time fave dishes; Hummus, cooked and mashed chickpeas.

Falafel, deep fried chickpeas

The mixed grilled platter with chicken, beef and lamb

A special salad which usually is only prepared during Ramadan.

The reason I went there yesterday was that Imad, who staffed my recent IDC hails from Lebanon although he works and lives in Dubai, so when he discovered a Lebanese restaurant in Chaweng, he spend half of his time on Samui there! Since left today for Lebanon this was his goodbye night and had a very enjoyable meal here.

It's a very small place, almost a hole in the wall kinda place but if you're in to Middle eastern food, you will find what you want right here.

Camille

25th May, 2010

Today's weather;

It's slightly cloudy over Samui with the sun battling to get through the cover, not unsuccessfully most of the time. Current temp at 7am is 28.9C.

Yesterday saw a mixed bag of sunshine and some cloud formations. Max temp reached 33.5C and it stayed dry all day long.

Camille

Sunday, May 23, 2010

24th May, 2010

Today's weather;

More overcast to start the day with on Samui and a current temp of 28C at 7am.

Yesterday started with overcast but the sun broke through and kept a busy exchange going on all day long with the cloud cover. The temperature was nice with overcast but quickly rose when the sun broke through. All of the island where I was yesterday stayed dry but there were parts of the island with some rain. Max temp reached 34.3C when the sun was out!

Camille

Saturday, May 22, 2010

23rd May, 2010

Today's weather;

There's a nice cloud layer over Samui this morning and I wouldn't be too surprised if somewhere today there will be some more, much needed rain. Current temp at 7am is 28.7C

Yesterday saw mainly overcast all day long with the sun peeking through on occasion. Late afternoon it started to rain and things cooled down nicely. Max temp reached 32.7C.

Camille

Friday, May 21, 2010

22nd May, 2010

Today's weather;

There's plenty of overcast right now over Samui, maybe some rain coming our way later today?
Current temp at 7am is 28.5C.

Yesterday was sunny and hot, once more. Max temp reached 33.2C.

Camille

Laem Hin Seafood - still a favourite restaurant

While I do intend to add more restaurants on this blog as time goes by, everyone has their favourite places to eat, places where you feel comfortable, relaxed and you KNOW the food is going to be good. Some days you feel like experimenting, other days you want to head out for lunch safe in the knowledge that you'll enjoy your meal. Last week, on one of my final days of holiday, with the kids already back at school, my wife and I had a chance for a nice lunch together, just the 2 of us. It was a hot, humid day, typical for the time of year. My wife fancied somewhere with aircon, like Fuji Japanese restaurant in the Central Festival mall (we did eat there this week!), but I realised I'd not been to Laem Hin Seafood for ages, and wanted to taste some real Thai food. Laem Hin was the first restaurant I wrote about on this blog back in April 2006 - see here.

Although it was a hot day, there were plenty of dark clouds around, which you can see in the photos below. In the hot season (March - May) you can get thunderstorms any time of day. This year the real low season weather is very late coming (see more on the Phuket Weather blog). The restaurant was not too hot - most of the seating is shaded, though they do have tables out on the old jetty which would be nice for a romantic evening meal.

Laem Hin Seafood tables on the old wooden jetty

View from our table at Laem Hin Seafood

Getting there: It's a few km north of Phuket Town (if coming from Phuket Town direction on the main airport road, you need to go past the turning and do a U turn. If coming from Patong direction, head to Tescos, turn left on the bypass road and right at the end of that road where it meets the airport road. Sign at the turn off - picture below, then you drive a few km through a Muslim village before getting to Laem Hin at the end of the road. Google Earth location link here. The image on Google Earth is updated since 2006, shows clearly the new jetty that does kind of spoil the view from the restaurant.

Sign to Laem Hin, southbound on airport road a few km north of Phuket Town

We turned up very early for lunch.. about 11:30am, we were the first customers - more people arrived later. It's a popular place for locals, and certainly getting better known by tourists, has recommendations on other websites, it's not just me! Laem Hin Seafood has a long menu, there are tanks with fresh seafood next to the kitchen, or you can get simple rice and noodle dishes. My favourites are the salads. Thai salads are not just some veg and dressing. Oh no. There's lots of flavour, often rather a lot of chilies, various flavourful things like lemongrass. Laem Hin has a huge list of salads. I felt like ordering about half a dozen. Made do with my favourite Yam Gung Seab (made with dried, smoked shrimps) and Yam Tua Pu (wing bean salad with coconut milk, tamarind, shrimp.. oh, stop it's making me hungry!). Photos below.

Yam Gung Seab

Yam Tua Pu

My wife had a spicy soup (called Tom Pret), half of which was taken home in a doggy bag :) Waste not, want not! Oh, and we had rice of course.

Rice

Not disappointed. Never have been at Laem Hin Seafood. I took a little walk around after eating. When we first came in 2006, the old wooden jetty was used by longtails heading to Koh Maphrao and Koh Rang Yai, small islands just offshore from Phuket. Now there is a new concrete jetty. I liked the old wooden planks on the remains of the old jetty...

Wood on the old jetty at Laem Hin

Close to the restaurant there are some stilted houses. Laem Hin is really a small fishing village, but the land between the main road and the restaurant has attracted developers in recent years, though quite a bit of the land is wetland - there are also some shrimp farms along the way. The houses near the restaurant retain the traditional feeling. I walked a little way taking photos while my dear wife drove ahead and waited patiently.

Houses near Laem Hin Seafood

House and boats near Laem Hin

House on the road near Laem Hin Seafood

I can taste those salads now... prices are very reasonable too. I was glad to find that Laem Hin Seafood is still good. I should mention that just over the water towards Koh Maphrao, there are several floating restaurants. We ate only one time over there and mean to do it again so I can blog the experience! We'll also be back at Laem Hin. Phuket has a fair number of local restaurants around the coast that are all but ignored by 99% of tourists. Yes, if you have a hotel in Karon or Kata, it's a fair drive to Laem Hin, over 20km... which is why I do recommend having your own transport in Phuket.. that's another story, but Phuket is a big place, and if you sit on the beach you are seeing just a tiny part of what makes the island, and on the main beaches you see practically nothing of the "real" Phuket which is what this blog tries to show.