Best value white coffee

Hi! Shall we enjoy a cup of coffee? Locals will tell you that the best white coffee can be found at the railway station in the tiny town of Kluang in Johore. However KLites don't have to worry as the owner has set up a branch in the Ikano Shopping Center. Now you can spend a morning shopping at the Curve and then enjoy Kluang white coffee in air conditioned comfort.
The shop is normally crowded with young singles and couples who need a caffeine fix and some local fare. Then there are the retirees who wish enjoy a cuppa good quality coffee but are reluctant to pay the exorbitant prices charged at Starbucks and other hip joints.
Their specialty? Strong flavorful coffee naturally. Visit the shop to check out the rest of their menu. A glass of iced coffee and a plate of nasi lemak with 2 large pieces of fried chicken costs under RM15 ($5).
One of the most popular items on the menu is the toasted bread spread with butter and kaya (creamy egg jam). Simply yummy!

Visited Oz land again

Spring is in the air. Well, at least in the Southern Hemisphere. This will be a long blog as I've lots of pictures from my recent trip to Adelaide and Melbourne to share.
Took lots of pictures of this cherry tree as it reminded me of the Sakura season in Japan. Miss the lovely spring blossoms in Niigata and friends at ADORC oops I mean ACAP

Lavender is my favourite flower. I like to keep a handful of dried flowers in my coat pocket so I can smell their fragrance whenever I take my hand out of my pocket.

Even the pine trees are in bloom on this fine Spring day. The mix of cones and yellow flowers look so pretty.

Free transport is available around the city by tram or bus. It's so convenient. The new trams in Adelaide look sleek and colourful.

We went to the Farmer's Market for breakfast and to shop for organic home-grown products. Bought organic brocolli and pears which seem to taste much sweeter than the ones bought from Chinatown market. They have organic wine too.
Spent one lazy morning pottering around the Torrens River near the University of Adelaide. The view from the riverbank is so serene.
The black swans are extremely friendly. If you are in a paddle boat in the river they will come right up to you for food.
Unfortunately this one got nothing as I forgot to bring along some bread. It appears that this very tame pelikan bird is used to posing with humans. Hope he is not expecting food too.
During the weekend we went to our favourite beach in Glenelg with my daughter and niece to eat their famous fish and chips.
From Adelaide, we had only 2 days left in Melbourne. So much to see and do but so little time. We decided to catch the free Melbourne City Tourist shuttle for a quick tour of the city before the weather set in. I need to stay at least a week to explore all the interesting places in Inner Melbourne alone.
Melbourne Visitor Centre at Federation Square. The staff were extremely helpful when I asked for help to plan my trip to Ayers Rock next year. Friends from Japan are welcome to join our group for this adventure.
The Melbourne skyline viewed from the casino would have looked even more spectacular at night but it was too cold, wet and windy for us to venture out after dark.

Innovative architecture blended well with the surroundings. A very creative mix of attractive buildings here especially the Australian Centre for the Moving Image. I especially liked this fierce looking snake creature.
The famous Crown Casino where fortunes are made and lost. Alas there was no time for me to try my luck.
I would have loved to experience the awesome view of Melbourne from the Southern Hemisphere's highest viewing platform, the Eureka Skydeck. but hubby (who is afraid of heights) declined. It's a glass cube that projects 3 meters out from the building 88 levels up.
An interesting building near the Skydeck88. Golden bees on the wall of a building. What will those designers come up with next?
The famous Flinders Street Station....probably one of the busiest transportation stations in Melbourne. I love the architecture.
And these impressive looking buildings which blended so well with the modern ones.
While waiting for the rain to stop, I took some shots of the Forum Theater.
And this wonderful old church in Southern Cross. There are many churches and older buildings in Melbourne which are well preserved. I noticed many had female figures sitting on top of the buildings. Interesting!
Even the office buildings have a majestic frontage although the interior is probably very modern.
After a long and tiring walk around the various precincts, it's time to enjoy the delicious food. There is a wide choice of Asian food along Swanston Street in particular the Chinatown area.

This is my favourite restaurant serving delicious Vietnamese beefball noodle soup. It's particularly good eaten with their chilli paste. Apparently President Clinton took 2 bowls!

Fishing in the South China Sea

Went fishing last week at a kelong off the east coast of Johore. A kelong is a wooden structure built over the water which provides shelter for anglers like me who wish to fish day and night on a relatively stable platform. It looks small from a distance but is actually quite a huge structure.

It was only a 15 minute boat ride if you travel by speedboat but if you take of one these bigger boats, it takes about 40 minutes from the jetty to the kelong.

The sunrise was breathtaking when viewed off the deck. Across the horizon is Pulau Sibu or Sibu Island, a very popular tourist resort with the Singaporeans.

They had pictures of previous visitors with their big catches displayed on the notice boards in the kelong. I'm wishing that my photo will be included at the end of the visit.

Did I mention that the facilities are very basic? The toilets are just holes that lead into the sea. There are areas for dining, games, and a TV lounge for those who don't fancy fishing but are there to enjoy the fresh marine air and food with family members.

For the rest of us, we didn't have time for TV, mahjong or sleeping. We were outside fishing day and night....until our arms ache from holding the fishing line, not hauling in fish.

We were given 4 meals a day including supper, and fresh fish was on the menu in every main meal. Coffee and tea were available all day. I could use my handphone but unfortunately could not connect to Internet. Anyway it's a good place to catch up on my reading. Some lazy anglers spent their time sleeping in the shade while waiting for the big fish to take the bait.

Others preferred to fish in the shade wearing fashionable attire. It looked difficult to fish wearing high heels but surprisingly she managed to catch a fish!

I caught a bucket of small fishes and a huge squid. Sorry, no pictures of the squid as it was caught at night. As for this little fella, it was returned to the sea to grow bigger for my next visit.

World Cup fever

I'm tired, lacking sleep, irritable and partly dysfunctional. The TV is tuned on the sports channel continuously and the buzz of vuvuzelas is haunting me day and night. All other programmes are put on hold until the FIFA World Cup 2010 season is over.

It got so intense that Australia had to change their Prime Minister when the Australian team crashed out and were sent home. Now the England team is in disgrace and their fans went on a wild drinking spree to drown their sorrows. Good for beer sales though.

Some of us are hoping that Japan will make history tonight in their match with Paraguay and hence march into the knockout stage. Japan is the only Asian team left. Keisuke Honda, our hopes are on you.

Back in Australia again

I'm back in Australia for another holiday and here I am standing in front of Adelaide University watching the young students hurrying by on their way to their classes.
It's a holiday here on Monday 26th to commemorate ANZAC day. It's a day to honour the brave Australians soldiers that sacrificed their lives for the country.
While strolling through the Botanic Gardens on a hot day I saw a rather strange and beautiful sight. Colourful parrots are stopping by at this fountain for a cool bath and drink. Like all the other wild birds found in the park and around the city they are not fearful of people.
As is obvious, I had a very relaxing holiday. The autumn weather was perfect and I got to spend time with my children. We went strawberry picking and sun-bathed at the beach. And of course we enjoyed the bountiful fresh fruits and food.

Alice in Wonderland is in town

It's the school holidays and the crowds are flocking to the movie theaters to see the most popular show...Alice in Wonderland in 3D. I'm not a big fan of Alice but I can't help taking a few photos of the excited crowd as well as some of the characters back stage when I went to the Mall last weekend.

Some friends dropped by for dinner

Some "old" friends dropped by for dinner last Sunday night. I think they enjoyed the Malaysian food and Australian wine. It was exciting for me to hear the latest developments at ADORC. Gosh, am I really that short?