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Whilst Julie's Parents and Bro's Family changed cars and drove back to Christchurch to fly back to Malaysia, we were on our way to Rotorua...

We were taking another 2 days to check out Rotorua, the only North island place we were visiting... not counting Auckland lah... cuz we were going to just drive straight from Rotorua to Auckland Airport.

Rotorua... is the land of sulphur pools... mud pools and Maori culture...

with limited time at hand we had our days all mapped out...

But first, lets see what we ate there!

McDonalds!... unique burger called "The Boss!" - actually its a mesh of 2 quarter pounders with added tomatoes. We had initially just wanted to try Burger King, which had more unique stuff then Mc'Ds but we ended up here for lunch after helplessly wandering around a shopping venue looking for food... not cheap at NZ$9 (value meal)


After a relaxing dip in some thermal pools at Waikite Valley Thermal pools, we headed back to Rotorua for dinner. We were very afraid since it was late most places would be closed but thankfully after roaming around we came across a whole stretch of restaurants... We went to a pizza place first but it was closing... then wandering to another restaurant, they seemed so busy and would care less of us waiting to be seated, so ahh... we walked next door and stumbled upon the restaurant, "Solace Cafe & Restaurant" which offered us a steak special at NZ$19, which each of us took... it was lovely...


Seafood chowder for Hannah... (it was good with lots of fish and scallops)


& Tiramisu dessert to cap off the evening...


The next day after our trip to Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland, we went to Fat Dog Cafe for some of their Nz$9 lunch specials... it was served with rice!

I had the Pork Ribs Special... awesome amount of ribs...


and Julie had the Chicken with Apricot sauce... the rice served was mash like...


Our last dinner in New Zealand was a Hangi dinner - traditional Maori dinner, after an excellent cultural show! It was all cooked via hot stones and steam in the ground... more modern now... but still a traditional method.


All the Kūmara (Maori, for sweet potatoes) you could eat; they were really sweet and nice!


Lamb central... it was a buffet... serving this much lamb is sinful...


Chicken galore... plus potatoes which was served with a thick creamy sauce...


suffice to say... it was an extremely extreme dinner... :p

It's over 100 years old...

and it's still in business...

they must have done something good...

and yes! EXCELLENT PIZZAS!

We came here right after our gondola trip... for a warm, toasty meal... we ordered 2 large and 1 medium size pizza plus a plate of pasta to share among us.

IT seems, their menu hasn't changed since it was first introduced... woo... i bet the prices has though... as the large pizzas were NS$30 each! and pastas at NZ$20.

The minute u enter the building, u are hit by how dark it is... as u enter u think, eh... is it actually open... only when your eyes adjust to the lighting, do u see the ever so dimly lit lights... and a fireplace with real wood still crackling! A top the fireplace as a mantle piece is an old panoramic view of Queenstown... all pristine with trees... not a hint of all the buildings nowadays...


There weren't many people for lunch that day and our food did come quite quickly...

We took a large Seafood Pizza... filled with mussels and chucks of blue cod! worth the $$ we spent!


Next was a large Royal something with all kinds of meat! and smothered with cheese! Lovely


A Small plain pepperoni pizza... also looked lovely...


The pasta was drenched with meat sauce... was nice but normal lah... not as worthwhile as the pizzas... but this was mainly for the kiddos to eat... so it served its purpose...

So if u do stop by Queenstown... and hungry for pizzas, don't look elsewhere... The Cow Restaurant is the PIZZA place to be!

After our Farmtour... we were wondering what to eat for dinner, and upon recommendation by our hosts we drove to Fairlie town... 3km away.. to this restaurant, The Old Library Cafe & Bar.

Wow... we didn't expect it to be a restaurant which had won several national & international awards a few years consecutively... in this obscure town...woo... what a blessing.

Prices weren't to say very ex... but it was considered and indulgence lah.... The deco and ambience of the place was nice... unfortunately i think also due to it being a small town... the restaurant really didnt have many cooks in the kitchen maybe only 2, and there was already a big group plus some other patrons when we went in... so food did take a bit long to arrive.


But overall service was good... and the kids did get have lots of books around to entertain time.

Julie had some BBQ pork - lovely, soft meat with crispy skin, with a huge bowl of chips,


whilst i took the rack of Lamb to share with Hannah (she developed this taste of lamb meat... she can eat more meat then rice) - super tender, unfortunately almost too little.


I later found out their desserts were highly recommended... darn! should have tried one! So... even if u don't stay at the Farmstay... and just passing by Fairlie, do it justice and eat a meal here...

On the day out visiting the Heritage places... we also had a lunch in one of those quaint shops serving authentic Khmer food... part of the experience Cambodia thingi...

The BP staff had scouted the place earlier and settled for a standard Khemer Set Lunch Menu!

For starters we had, Mango Salad with Smoked Fish - almost similar to the Thai kind... but not so sourish... and the fish was nice!


Mains were, Amok style Chicken served with Steamed Rice - very nice... and very small portions! the style is like a blend of otak-otak spice and mild curry...


It was also served with, Sour Soup with Fillet Fish & Long Beans - very tom yam like minus chilli... maybe its tailored for foreigners cuz it's not spicy hot at all... or Khmer food is a milder version of Thai food.


They also gave us some Tropical Fruits - watermelon & pineapple slices for dessert... the bill came to USD6/pax... not to say really cheap... but much cheaper then the proper restaurant one!

One of the nights, the BP Staff and some of the early arrived customers went for some Khmer Food at a restaurant downtown... It was a set menu - Khmer Cuisine Set, costing US$19/pax. Woo... so it had better be good...

It started with drinks... I tried their local beer... "LAO" Beer... not bad!


For Starters we had Fried Spring Rolls (Vegetables Fried in Rice Paper & Served with Mildly Spicy Peanut Sauce) - This really is just normal Spring Rolls u can prolly get anywhere in Malaysia lah... maybe for some foreigners this is special.


Then came our soup, Siem Reap Soup (Lightly Spicy sour with Seafood & Vegetables, Cooked in Coconut Milk, served with Jasmine Steamed Rice) - most of us ate up all the rice with this dish thinking it was the mains... cuz it had enough condiments to be a full meal! It was "tom yam" like... but lemak!


Our Mains, Khmer Fish Amok (Fresh Water Fish Steamed in Coconut Milk with Local Greens, served with Jasmine Steamed Rice) - It really tasted like Otak-Otak - Penang style with lots of fish... quite alot of them was not used to it and couldn't even finish half of it, whatmore with more rice being served... woo! it was very filling!


For Dessert we had Banana Chef (Small Khmer Bananas Sauteed & Topped with Passion Fruit Sauce), keh like grilled bananas... the sauce was very nice... definately a sweet-tooth dream!


Everyone was very full by the end of the meal... but i still can't believe the price... fooh! Ex man! I guess since the place was air-conditioned and a proper restaurant, u pay for ambience also kua!

A French Dinner was also included in our working trip to Siem Reap. It was prepared by "Le Bistrot de Siem Reap" quite a reputable restaurant at the Resort we were staying, Victoria Angkor Resort & Spa. It was supposedly quoted "the best French restaurant in town" by Condé Nast Traveller Magazine... i suppose the best in Siem Reap, heh!

I've never really eaten any french food per se except for one time when Justine Wong who was still training as a chef, volunterred to cook for us! Heh! It was nice... so this is my 2nd try on french cuisine.

Our 5-course dinner began with Starters, we had a choice of either;

Snails in Garlic & Parsley Butter - my first time eating this fellas... snails... i guess its not your garden variety kind, keh! it was very "lala" like in texture...


or Shrimp Ceviche with Green Lemon Juice & Herbs - err... this is not my kind of thing, Julie enjoyed this more... sourish cold prawns... eck!


Then we had Soup, Vichyoise - Served Chilled... tasted like very fine mashed potato soup, when you get over the chilled state, its really unique.


They then served us a cup of Champagne Granite to wash your palatte before enjoying your main course!


For the main course, We had either Traditional Lamb Stew - oooohhh! This was superb! Very tender Lamb pieces in a delightful mix of vegetables - very very nice.


or, Beef Fillet with Sauteed Foie Gras - Also nicely done, with melt in your mouth goose liver...


Dessert was Lemon Pie with Glazed Chocolate... hmm...not great... looks nice


Ending with coffee or tea, there were also free flow of drinks the whole night through... so i must say my first formal introduction to french food was a special one, incidently it cost each person USD50 for the set that night!

When we thought we had exhausted any possibility of finding a new place to try... this turns up... heh.

Julie had asked around her co-workers if there was any interesting places to go to this weekend when the topic of food came around... normal lah! for malaysians... So, the question of why there was no particularly good "pau" place in Kuantan.

The reply was this funny restaurant along the main Berserah Road! So near, yet we had no idea... which only has pau's sold on Saturdays... and only after 2.30pm... and they start taking orders from morning itself...!


Restaurant Zen Zen, mostly serves mixed rice and typical drinks on most times... but i think they specially make their own "pau"s to cater to some requests from patrons and had proven popular... so its a permanent Saturday fixture.

We tried 3 of their 4 limited choices, missing out on their "Chai Pau" (Vegetable pau) which we will come back later to try...

We had their "Loh Mai Kai" which proved to be their best offering... yummy glutenous rice with lots of "lieu"... really good!


Their "Char siew pau" was ok... Julie loved it... but it was not my kind of pastry... they used the non fluffy dough... it was the more traditional kind of pau...


The next offering was more unique... a mix of butter and kaya... aptly named "Yin-Yong pau" it smelled heavenly... and tasted really nice... Julie was more interested in the "char siew" one...


After the yummy meal... we went to see "The Dark Knight"... what more can i say about the film... go watch it... and be dazzled for the next 2.5 hours.

Well one of the main reasons to go up Penang Hill was also to try out this cool restaurant, David Brown's Restaurant. We saw this ad in a Visit Penang Map picked up at the airport...

It had scones!... woo... and other english foods...

we later came to know... it's the same group of fellas who also manage the Ye Olde Cottage in Cameron Highlands too... we had a lovely experience drinking english tea and scones there too the last time we were there, so we were totally physched up to go and have a meal up there in Penang Hill

Well u can read about Penang Hill on the other post... but my oh my... they really did up the place... a little bangalow on a hill on a hill... yeah... its situated on strawberry hill on Penang hill... wierd...they had a nicely done garden with a small pond with reeds and frogs! lots of flowers and a super nice view...

but as all the reviews of this place has said... yeah... service is kinda bad... more like inexperienced fellas without any proper training... maybe they don't stress it... but a shortcoming in my opinion.

the food... big portioned and not bad... not great... but well done... the scones are a definate must... lovely with fresh cream, butter and strawberry jam (RM6.00 each though)... if u take their tea set... 2 scones with a pot of tea and a slice of cake... is around RM20+

I had mix grill... a whole lot of meat topped with a bullseye egg..


Julie's dad, who paid for the meal had a super big grilled lamb, hannah had some and said she chewed till her mough was tired... but it was honestly done nicely.


Julie had stuffed roast chicken... interesting stuffing...


We had our meal in the garden... from dusk till night! a nice cooling time too... since it's quite high on the hill... overall... it was an enjoyable time... a bit on the ex side... of course if u visit Penang Hill, come up for the tea & scones lah at the least...

Calling all chocoholics! This is the shop of your dreams...

This shop sells nothing but chocolate stuff... everything in their menu has chocolate as one of the main ingredients... or totally made of chocolate!

instead of expressos... where coffee beans are ground and compressed hot air pushed through to give u a shot of expresso... the same techinique is done here to cocca beans... giving u a very aromatic hot chocolate drink...

of course... this is singapore... so u pay in Sing dollars... woo hoo... ex... but since try once only... try lah.

We had Dave & Kel plus Janice together with us for this sweet indulgence... after our dinner of peranakan food at the Esplanade... and after a walk to the singapore Merlion to rid us of the super full feeling, we came back to sit and drink a cuppa at Max Brenner's Chocolate Bar.

Julie and I ordered a hot chocolate drink (SGD6)... an iced blended chocolate (SGD9) one and also a chocolate brownie... the hot chocolate was very nice... ex... but nice... the blended... is way overpriced and didnt taste that great either (a very forgetful drink)... the only redeeming thing was the presentation... where they did serve all their drinks in custom cups... and the ice blended one came with a stainless steel straw... too thin in my opinion... could hardly suck anything.




Janice also ordered a waffle (with choc of course) for all of us to share... looked great ... and tasted nice too...


overall... this bald man's place... is ok lah... good to try once... but i'm sure u can find lots of other much better value for money places in Singapore to hang out. Lots of the other patrons were like massively ordering their choc fondue (SGD20-30!)... ehh... cheh kinda overated... bits and pieces of fruit and marshmallows to dip in your personal tiny pot of chocolate...

no matter what my opinion is... be prepared to wait for a sitting or be squeezed in... the place is super crowded...