Rossini's at Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit Hotel

It was just after lunch time when I checked in and it was pouring outside so I was minded to find some grub in the hotel. I'd read about the award-winning restaurant Rossini's which just happened to be in this hotel so I decided to check out the place. To my delight, there was a signboard outside the restaurant advertising its Power Lunch, which looked really affordable at 690 (2 courses)/780 Baht (3 courses)(excluding taxes of course). Getting a seat for lunch on a wet Thursday afternoon did not pose much of a problem and the staff were attentive and spoke good English.

After I'd placed my order, the complimentary bread of basket arrived with some olives. No butter. I wonder why (but in any case I asked for some). And they also served a trio of flat lollipop-looking biscuits with nuts stuck on them. Forget the bread - that was nothing extraordinary but those biscuits things, they were just the right mix of sweet and crunchiness, the kind that leaves no cloying sweet aftertaste in your mouth, and not hard enough to hurt your teeth.

The waitress followed up with a complimentary beetroot mousse. Now, I hate beetroot but since this was free...well, it proved to be pretty alright with little bits of potato at the end.

I ordered the Seafood Salad for my appetizer and it came with all of 1 scallop, 1 squid, 1 mussel and 1 prawn. Fresh, presented well but...I would try some other starter if I'd the chance to go back. Even knowing that this was Rossini's did not raise this dish in my humble esteem.

I ordered the veal pansotti with parmesan cheese sauce as my main. It was a toss up between the veal and the snapper with black truffle sauce and it was only because the server strongly recommended the veal that I decided against the snapper (Which I will have the next time I go back to BKK).

Well, the dish looked like this when served - 3 lumps of yellow, green and brown. I'll give this dish a really low score for presentation. Just because it is a set lunch menu doesn't mean that you can depart with the aesthetics altogether, ya know?

But presentation aside, the whipped potato and the spinach heaps melted delightfully in the mouth and the veal was just awesome. Juicy, succulent, tender and done in a way such that each bite of the veal meant a mini-explosion of flavor in the mouth.

Dessert was the orange and pistachio cake. It was blah. Nothing to crow about - the cake was not too moist or too dry but it lacked the richness of a really delicious cake. I would not order this again.

Based on my experiences of having set lunches at better restaurants (even the celebrity restaurants in Singapore's MBS), I wouldn't be quite so quick to belittle my experience at Rossini's. However, I think that one should order from the ala carte menu to be able to truly judge the quality of the dishes of a restaurant.

And the power lunch (not very much food, was it?) cost a total of 918 Baht (about SGD 36?) after taxes. The Slog Reviews: 7.5/10 for this experience, and hoping to have a better experience at Rossini's the next time.

Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit Hotel

Having stayed at Sheraton HCM and Sheraton Hanoi the last business trip, it shouldn't have come as a surprise that my co booked a room at Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit for my Thailand work trip.

But it was a surprise, because the 3 SPG hotels (Sheraton, Westin and 4 Points) are located within 5-8mins walking distance of each other and I'd thought that the most expensive option wouldn't be their first choice. I had thought it would be 4 Points, and if I was lucky, Westin.

But as it turned out, not only was I going to be staying in Sheraton for 2 nights (The Sheraton was rated #4 of all the hotels in BKK on tripadvisor ), but there was also an upgrade to the grand deluxe room which came with a host of benefits such as the butler service, free laundry (2 pcs) per day and free high-speed internet in the room. More on that later.

The Sheraton is connected to Asoke Station by a sheltered bridge and it takes all of 5 mins to get from the lobby to 1 of the largest newest malls in BKK, Terminal 21. Westin is right opposite Terminal 21 but one has to cross a small road to get there and it was raining when I arrived. So in terms of access to the BTS and the mall, the Sheraton beats Westin hands-down.

Anyway, when I arrived, for once, the staff at the reception escorted me right up to the room after the checkin process. She also arranged for tea (there was ice lemon tea, coffee or hot tea) to be brought up to the room before we entered the room, and for the bags to be brought up later. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the tea came with 2 biscuits in a nice little tray. Below is a picture of the grande deluxe room. It reminded me a lot of the club suite I'd stayed in at the Sheraton Imperial in KL. The room was spacious of course but the design was far from modern and sleek as you can probably tell from the picture below.

In addition to the iced tea, there was a complimentary platter of fruits consisting of 2 bananas and 2 mangosteens next to the hot drinks facility. I have to say that the selection of complimentary tea and coffee bags was pretty good.

A picture of the room next to the toilet which is some sort of a walk in wardrobe. It came complete with a safe, and pretty fluffy complimentary bedroom slippers.

Here is a picture of the toilet. The bathtub was clean enough so I had a good soak in it. The shower on the hand needs to be improved - there isn't the right mix of hot and cold water - it is either a touch too much of either.

I'd read that the pool at Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit was something pretty amazing and my room on the 2*th floor had a view of the pool if I looked straight down from the window. It did seem rather pretty with the lush greenery and the dark blue tiling. If one wanted, one could have breakfast by the pool (But the selection of food would be smaller)

The more distant view from my room was of the river. In 1 of the mags I read, I learnt that the river flowing through BKK was the heart of the city. Which was something new to me because all my trips to Thailand consisted of well, shopping, eating and massages at malls and little nooks and crannies.

When my CEB finally joined me late in the night (almost midnight), the 24hr butler service promptly provided more iced tea for the 2 of us and biscuits. That was when I really started digging the butler service.

Because I had to leave the hotel at 8am for work and I didn't want to wake up early to have a buffet breakfast that I wouldn't be able to enjoy, I ordered from the butler service, a cup of hot tea and some biscuits. It was delivered in all of 5 mins and this was how I left my CEB to enjoy his day of a nice buffet breakfast, free in the room broadband AND WIFI, and easy access to the shopping mall. While I went to work. To say my CEB was happy is an understatement.

Talking about the buffet breakfast, I'd read on the internet that the spread was something awesome but my CEB had told me it wasn't. I was to find out the next day when we went for breakfast together before checking out. I didn't think the spread was that limited - of course, there are better breakfast buffets we've had but still, it was decent enough. My CEB groused that there wasn't anyone to cook noodles on the spot for guests (unlike 4 Points) and eyed the noodles I'd ordered for breakfast from the ala-carte menu. I think the bowl of noodles cost about SGD13 but it wasn't expensive when one comes to think of it. At least in comparison to the breakfast buffet which cost SGD40.

Now, here is the reason why one should book the Grande Deluxe Room at the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit. Other than the perks of the butler service, the room comes with unlimited drinks at The Living Room (the lounge for Sheraton).

I missed drinks the first night because I was out shopping. However, the second night found us at The Living Room enjoying the complimentary snacks AND the complimentary drinks between 6 to 8pm. Did I mention that the cocktails, mocktails, beers and even wine (red, sparkling, white) on the menu were ALL free?

So we drank quite a fair bit. My CEB going straight for the sparking wine of course, and me, pussy-footing around with the mocktails (literally) and then progressing to the cocktails.

The Slog Reviews: 9/10. I have to say that the amount for the grande deluxe room at the Sheraton is worth every penny. A fabulous experience all in all. And when we got back, the first thing we did was to book air tickets to go back to BKK in August.

Xu in Ho Chi Minh Vietnam - 1 of the best fine dining experience I've ever had

It is 8pm and I am still stuffed from the buffet brunch at Ku De Ta. I'll write about that later but first, let me share this absolutely fabulous dining experience I had in Ho Chi Minh. I'd walked past the restaurant on the way to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner the day before, and the simplicity of the menu outside, the glimpse of the interior, and 2 Japanese girls carrying a map and scurrying in, caught my attention. So, the next night, we were back for dinner at Xu. The first level is the bar area which appears to be highly popular among the local folks and expats. Men and women can choose to sit at the bar, high bar tables or sprawl in comfy couches. The dining however, is on the second floor which looks like this. We did not have reservations (duh) but the sincerity (and not menace, I hope) written all over our faces got us in. Don't be fooled by the empty tables - the tables filled up really quickly by 7.30pm.

The servers spoke pretty good English and were helpful and friendly. Upon their recommendation, I ordered the fresh spring roll filled with ribeye. Now, my mother dislikes eating beef and when I mentioned that to the server, he was quick to check with the kitchen and offer to have the spring rolls filled with shrimp instead. However, given that the cost was VND200,000 still, I thought we should still stick with the ribeye.

When the dish was served, truth be told, I was aghast at the size of the portions. SGD12+ for just one spring roll which was sliced into 4 pieces. Yes yes, I know, fine dining, not pig out session but still. But the moment I bit into the spring roll, and the juices of the perfectly done ribeye flooded my mouth mixed with the accompanying greens within the roll, I was in gastronomy heaven. I kid you not. The right doneness, the right portions in each quarter, the sweetness and succulence of the meat, of the entire roll...even my mother said there wasn't any trace of "beefiness" at all. Yet it was still beef to a beef lover, and 1 of the best I ever had...in a spring roll at that!

The next dish is my mum's favourite out of all we had for dinner. Lemongrass skewered seabass. It sounds deceptively simple, and if it weren't for her, I wouldn't have ordered seabass at all because that is a cheap fish. And one that I have caught so many times, F.O.C. So why would I spend VND300K (SGD 18+) on a fish dish in Vietnam.

But..and I mean a huge but here...thank God I had my mother with me. Because the chef in the kitchen worked a miracle with the fish. No, not the Jesus kind of miracle by multiplying the fish. In fact, the opposite. I thought with the price tag on the dish, we would get a whole fish at the least, even if it was a small one. But wrong. Just 4 portions of fish. No kidding. For SGD20, I could get 4 whole seabasses in the market/fish pond.

The sweet onions, coconut milk and mushrooms accompanying the fish were so delicious that I wiped the plate clean. I don't care if those were there to beautify the dish because...they were so  delicious. And the fish, when I say the chef worked a miracle, I meant it. He managed to turn this ordinary-tasting fish, into pure chunks of heavenly sweetness and flavor. And I mean flavor, the kind that bursts in your mouth and makes you think that if the world were to end with this fish dish in your mouth, you have absolutely no regrets. It is THAT good.

Out of deference to my mother again, I ordered the chicken roulade. Out of all the meat, chicken is at the bottom of my list but my mother loves chicken so...Anyway, when the dish was served, I was pretty immune now to the appalling portions. Again, for VND250 (SGD15+), the food was beautifully presented but so, so, so, limited in quantity. Esp when viewed by a glutton.

Now, the puree that accompanied the chicken which was more than ordinary slices/cuts of chicken somehow enhanced the experience of eating the chicken meat which appeared to be wrap around some sort of center. I am sorry I can't describe this dish better but believe me when I say the chicken was the most tender I've ever had.

Up next, coconut braised pork belly. Hey, all I am going to say is that...have you watched Masterchef? Because this dining experience made me feel like....wow, so this is what the really good food in life must taste like. I haven't been eating grass my entire life, and had the good fortune to eat at pretty pricey places both in Singapore and overseas (esp when travelling for work with the "Higher Beings"), but nothing I've eaten so far has moved me as much as the food in Xu. So. Order the pork belly (but only after you had the seabass which is still more awesome)

And surprisingly despite the little portions of everything, I was quite full by the end of the main courses. I suspect it has to do with the fact I ordered morning glory to go with the one bowl of rice that we shared. This was the only dish that didn't have me waxing lyricals because the entire dish was all stems. For VND60,000, I think we should have at least some green leaves!

We had room to spare for dessert and thankfully the server warned us the portions would be really small. I had no idea how small till dessert was served. Now, each dessert cost between USD 75cents to USD2, so we figured we could order 4 and share, so that we could try more. The coconut che (in the shotglass at the end) was ordinary, the durian one failed to impress in anyway, and the pandan pannacotta was just passable. The only one slightly more interesting was the sugar and cinnamon soursop parcel which was recommended by the server.

And...after having the 4 desserts, we ordered another 4 because frankly, a teaspoonful for 2 pax isn't quite going to cut it. The chocolate brownie with ice cream was a waste of money, the white chocolate custard was good, chocolate kumquat truffle was boring and I forget what the last one is. But you should get the drift by now - desserts at XU...not fab. Main courses...Fab.

The Slog Reviews: Don't, please don't miss out dining at Xu if you are ever in the bustling city of Ho Chi Minh...and especially if you are staying in District 1! If I ever have to (touch wood) go back to that city, you can be sure that I'll definitely be back for more of the good stuff.

La Jolie Hotel & Spa in Vietnam Ho Chi MInh

Excuse the appearance of the bed. I snapped the picture when we were leaving because I could not be arsed to do so when checking into the hotel. Travelling with two large suitcases, having to tip the bellboy, and having to move from Sheraton to a well, more affordable one kind of quells the happy-camera button.

Given that I'd arranged for day tours (Cu Chi Tunnel, Ho Chi Minh City Tour) for the next 2 days, there wasn't much point staying on at Sheraton Hotel at USD250++ a night. I'd checked Agoda's reviews and La Jolie had received so many positive comments that it made sense to book a room there for about SGD80 a night.

 

La Jolie is a new hotel and the taxi driver (airport cab) could not find the hotel. We went around a few times till we found the tall skinny building next to some sort of an Indian restaurant, and 2 traffic lights away from Sheraton. The staff were friendly and spoke good English but what I really disliked about the hotel was that they were insistent on keeping our passports unless we gave them USD20 as deposit. I definitely wasn't comfortable letting them hold on to our travel documents overnight and shelled out the USD20.

However, other than that, and the taxi incident, which I shall write about later, I have nothing but good things to say about the cleanliness and condition of the hotel. The room (we were upgraded to a suite on the 6th floor which had an awesome river view) was all in white, clean and spacious enough with free wifi. There was even a bathtub (not just a shower), bathing robes and a safe in the room with 2 bottles of complimentary water.

As for the breakfast, I thought it was really excellent for the price we were paying. There were eggs and pho to be had (by ordering), as well as dessert like coconut jelly which I ate without restraint, soup, porridge, fried noodles, fried rice...and the staff provided excellent service throughout. The environment as per the pic below was clean and comfortable. In fact, I would go so far as to say that other than the drinks available (or lack of), La Jolie's breakfast spread gave me almost as much satisfaction as the buffet breakfast I'd been having at Sheraton.

In fact, our breakfast experience was so good that we decided to utilize the 30% discount coupon the staff gave us upon checking in to have dinner at the restaurant (the same place we had breakfast). We ordered spring rolls, since these are a Vietnamese staple, but the spring rolls turned out to be fried spring rolls and not the fresh ones. Therefore, be very careful when you order spring rolls in Vietnam - always ask if fresh, or fried, if not clearly specified. In any case, the fried spring rolls were decent enough - not swoon-worthy or even close. Despite being a tad too oily for my liking, the spring rolls were crunchy and quite tasty, especially with the dip.

We also each had a bowl of pho. Unfortunately unlike the pho for breakfast, the beef in the dish while plentiful, was either cooked too long or was just plain tough. Not very appetizing. I would strongly suggest against ordering pho as a main course from the menu (unless during breakfast).

Overall, I would definitely rate La Jolie Hotel very highly in terms of service, location, food and condition of the room. Definitely value for money in every way given its current hotel rate. However, the hotel needs to stop holding on to travellers' passports in exchange for a monetary deposit. I hardly think there is any law that mandates that and if this is a policy the hotel has, it definitely is a huge turn off.

Also, the hotel called a taxi for me from off the streets at VND160,000 to take me to the domestic airport. I paid that amount to the hotel staff but when I asked the driver at the airport to give me a receipt (for my travel claims), he wrote that he only received VND130,000. I am definitely not too thrilled about the hotel keeping VND30,000 for doing nothing except sending a staff to flag down a cab passing by which I could have done. That doesn't smack of an honest way of earning money.

Hard Rock Cafe in Ho Chi Minh City

I've been to Ho Chi Minh (HCM) a couple of times but never knew that there was a hard rock cafe there despite staying at the District 1 area hotels like Park Hyatt, and hotels at the Riverside like The Majestic. I always thought that the Hard Rock Cafes would be centrally located or at least in a popular district with visible presence. However, it took a 15 min slow walk from my hotel (Sheraton) to get to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner as the restaurant was located at/next door to Intercontinental Hotel (a 6 min walk from Park Hyatt). Click here for the address. Because we got there about 6+pm, there was some rehearsal going on for a show that night and it was really really loud. The server informed us that if we wanted to stay until the show started, we would have to pay for tickets for the show. I told her that given the noise level, I could not wait to be out of the place fast enough. Snap. The manager was at my side in all of 5 mins explaining that the rehearsal would be over soon and we could get to enjoying our meal without our eardrums throbbing.

We started with the Jumbo Combo: This consisted of the Santa Fe Spring Rolls, Hickory-Smoked Chicken Wings, Onion Rings, Potato Skins and Tupelo Chicken Tenders. The dish came with 4 different sauces for mixing and matching, 1 of which was Blue Cheese. Presentation of the dish was good, impressive, and portions large enough for 3-4 pax. The server suggested that this dish was enough for 2 for the evening, (hint: I should not order any more). But hey, I am Stuff-Thy-Face-If-Stressed-When-Travelling-For-Work. So after demolishing most of the smoked chicken wings, onion rings and chicken tenders, and leaving most of the potato skin behind because it was so hard and not worth me wasting any calories on, I waved the server over and to her horror (Are you SURE? *high pitched tone), ordered the Smokehouse Trio Combo (slightly more expensive (almost VND400K) than the Jumbo Starter which was about VND320,000+).

Smoked chicken, smoked ribs and smoked pulled pork. The ribs were so good that it had me licking my fingers and wishing that I'd ordered all ribs instead. The chicken tasted like well, chicken...and I was so so incredibly stuffed that the taste of the pulled pork did not register much. I think it tasted porky even though it was coated with heaps of some sticky thick sauce. Needless to say, to the smug triumph of the server behind us, we had to ask for bags to take away the fries, and the other half of the Jumbo Combo. Note: I managed to down the entire glass of milkshake before leaving as a final gesture of defiance.

As you can tell from the picture above, the ambiance at Ho Chi Minh's Hard Rock Cafe is really very nice with all those pretty red lanterns at the bar. The servers speak reasonably good English and on a Thursday evening, the restaurant appeared to be popular with expats (no local folks here) and other tourists. I really like Hard Rock Cafe. The atmosphere and servers there (from USA to Ho Chi Minh) somehow make me feel welcome and less alone when I am travelling for work.

Oh and of course, I had to get my HRC fridge magnet. For some strange reason, they did not have the guitar-shaped magnet so I had to make do with this one. And the Love All Serve All bit is missing too. Oh well. I'm not sure if this is true but the guy manning the cashier told me that there would be a Hard Rock Cafe in Hanoi sometime in 2012. I'm so not going to back Hanoi ever if I can help it (more posts on that later) so despite preferring to always buy my own magnets from places I have been, I'll have to get my colleagues to send the guitar-shaped magnet to SG. I bet it'll have a picture of Halong Bay!

An extremely popular restaurant in Muar Shee Yan (Xi Yan Lou)

The day after I came back from Hanoi, I persuaded a reluctant CEB to spend the weekend in Muar because I was craving the fish eggs dish from my favorite restaurant there. 

 And so, after a heart-stopping incident at the Singapore causeway (the first fuel check I'd been subject to in 3 years ), we found ourselves in what my CEB termed, the "boring little town". Although it was the school holidays and the wedding season, we managed to snag the last superior room with a queen bed in Streetview hotel, 1 of the newer hotels in Muar.

RM98 nett bought us a decent room which was cozy, clean and reeking of disinfectant. The sheets were clean and there was cable (ESPN but not HBO or Star Movies). The toilet was spacious and though nothing close to fancy, pretty fine- nothing like a hot shower and a working toilet. Oh, and there was also free wifi in the room so after we checked in and once the curtains were drawn against the blazing sun outside, my CEB engaged in a meaningful relationship with a bag of chips while watching Japanese movies on his netbook.

We wanted to go out for an early dinner but the carpark was so full that it was hard to get my car out. And so we decided to take a walk instead to the nearby shopping area consisting of The Store and Wetex Parade. We couldn't find a cineplex so we ended up buying groceries (more chips for my CEB to devour) and having a pretty sucky early dinner at the Sushi King. I have to say that the shopping in Muar is really dismal - forget high-street fashion or large high-end departmental stores. However, if one is into nightlife reminiscent of that of Singapore's in the 80s, Jalan Ali in Muar has quite a few roadside hawkers that sell "Muar Chee" (pun intended) and other sort of foodstuff.

My CEB wanted to go to Shee Yan only the next day (Sunday) but I wasn't having any of that after having put so much mileage on my car to get to Muar just for my fish eggs. I'd made reservations at 8.15pm (the lady informed me that they closed at 9pm) and although we reached the restaurant early about 7.30pm, the restaurant was so popular, so crowded that we ended up sitting outside on the bench waiting for a table until 8.30pm.

Now, the assam fish is the restaurant's specialty with every table ordering this dish, and the other dishes may appear to be very simple and ordinary like fish (eg stingray in curry powder) otah, fish eggs, squid, prawns etc but believe me, the otah is to die for with bits of prawns and fish inside. And the fried fish eggs, don't even get me started on those...

As you can prob already tell from the pic below, going to the restaurant for dinner wasn't quite enough for me and the next day found us both back at the restaurant's doors at its opening hours (11.30am on Sunday). We thought we would be the first but there were about 3 families seated already. 1 of them made the mistake of being a smart mouth to the aunty behind the food counter when picking his dishes, and when it was my turn and he'd gone off, she told me she would give him the blackest fish eggs. Hah. Never offend those who have a say in what goes pass your lips!

I, on the other hand, enjoyed one of the best fish eggs dishes which had me closing my eyes in sheer ecstasy at the sweetness and fluffiness of the fish eggs. If I could pack away some of the fish eggs, the way I did with the otah, I certainly would have! But because I can't, you can bet that I am going back to this little heaven on earth as many times as I can!

Oh, and on the way back at the Malaysia side of the causeway about 3+pm, there was a Grassland bus trying to cut into the middle lane from the right lane. And the car behind it and in front of me kept applying the horn to force it to move. It didn't. And so this ah beng with badly dyed yellow hair stuck at his head out and yelled "Oy! (Insert Vulgarities)" at the bus, before turning around to look at me and mouthing what appeared to be reassurances that he would get the bus out of the way. And then he turned right back to yelling "Oy oy" at the bus and after a fashion, the bus did move off. And the Ah Beng turned around and gave me the most beatific smile I'd ever seen before putting his dyed head back in the car and going off. I laughed so hard I cried.

------------------------

Address of Shee Yan Restaurant (Xi Yan Lou)

30 and 31 Jalan Pesta Baru 1

Pusat Perniagaan Pesta Baru

Jln Bakri 84000 Muar, Johor

Tel: 06-953 9014

From Five Stars to No Star

The second last time I was in Vietnam,we went, as my friend The Slug so aptly put it, from Hyatt (we spent one night at the amazing and exp Park Hyatt at Ho Chi Minh) to hovel (which was some hotel called Dic Star in Vung Tau).

No different this trip. I am in some strangely named hotel which is a hole in the wall in Hanoi. After spending two nights at Sheraton Hanoi. The cost of this room is the cheapest I have ever paid for any hotel room - about SGD13.62, which is less than 1/10th of the cost of 1 night at Sheraton Hanoi. Hah.

However, to my surprise, this hotel isn't too bad. It is heaps better than Sweet Inn Hotel in Langkawi which was until before now, the cheapest hotel I have stayed. For starters, the room is clean, spacious and there is free wifi in the room. All for just SGD13.62 a night - thank you booking.com for the wonderful 50% flash deal.

I am running a low grade fever from walking in the rain the past few days though - the last time I was in Hanoi, it was blazing hot and I called this place Hanoi Hell. The past few days though it has been raining non stop here and that is just another form of hell. Imagine lugging the heavy suitcases in the rain and not being able to take any nice photos. Ugh. I can't wait to be home.

Thai Odyssey - the best massage in JB

I never used to like massages but my first boyfriend was a fan of massages. I would go shopping while he had a massage, especially when we crossed the causeway to City Square where Thai Odyssey is located. My second boyfriend went for massages every week or so too, and I went with him once but the experience was so painful that I swore never to go again.

Well, since last year, age has caught up with a vengeance and I experienced backaches (esp lower backaches) and other body-aches that made me downright uncomfortable. I wasn't incapacitated by any degree but the soreness and sometimes, pain would make grouchy me even more grouchy.

Today was 1 of those days where I awoke with a backache between my shoulder-blades that would not ease up. And remembering how a Traditional Thai massage at Thai Odyssey (the city square outlet) eased the aches I had once before, I made my way to the outlet at KSL city.

Thai Odyssey at KSL City is located at one corner of the 2nd floor near the bridal shops and appears to be dimly lit at the reception area and throughout the entire shop. But the staff were friendly and accommodating even though I walked in without an appointment. I had my feet washed before exchanging my flip flops for their bedroom like sandals. Unlike the outlet at City Square where there are individual rooms with thin walls, privacy for each person here is assured through the use of curtains. Despite the appearance, everything appears to be very clean (From what I can see at least in the dim light), and smells fresh and nice.

I had the 90mins Traditional Thai massage (RM108) because I had more time than usual, and the 60mins massage was just RM20 cheaper. I was at first apprehensive of the masseur's capabilities because this was my first time at Thai Odyssey at KSL City but at first touch, I knew I was in good hands. Somehow she knew exactly which areas hurt the most and needed the most stretching and man, it felt good. And of course, hearing the crack of my spinal cord being manipulated gave me a feeling that I was "fixed" good. I was served a cup of tea at the end and found my flip flops just outside the curtain when I was done.

Oh, and after the massage, I did not have any bruises whatsoever unlike the times when I tried other massages which were really torture sessions. There was this massage place my CEB brought me to at the recommendation of the wedding studio early this year, and at the end of the session, my back looked like this. The masseur said it was because I had too much heat, and that's utter crap - she was just rough and applied too much pressure. The bruises were so bad that I had trouble sleeping on my back the first night! And when I tried another massage place at KSL's ground level, I had bruises around my shoulders because the lady squeezed so hard there. She said I had too much heat too. What bull. And for those places, the masseurs aren't the shop's employees (unlike Thai Odyssey) but come to do a massage when called for by the shop owner. 

Ugh.I'm not paid in any way to write about Thai Odyssey but I thought I'll share about this great place to those looking for a clean safe pleasant place for a cheap massage in JB / Johor. And unlike those "promotional" massages in Singapore, there is absolutely no selling or promotion by the staff of any massage packages.

You can check them out at this link (click here). They appear to be a well established branch with many outlets throughout Malaysia including KL.

Yee Kee Beef Noodles at Seremban

Thanks to the friendly and helpful server at Pasar Besar where we bought more of the famous Empayar Seremban Siew Pau who gave us clear directions (go pass Jusco which will be on your left and at the end of the road where you see a Petronas, turn left), we managed to have some famous Seremban beef noodles while in Seremban. When we got there about 6.20pm, there was only 1 other table occupied at this so-called famous beef noodles stall and I had my misgivings. But it was too late to do anything and so we sat down and looked through the menu which was pretty extensive with set meals (RM 13 for a bowl of noodles, beef ball soup and a drink) and stand alone beef noodle dishes.

The picture below shows the interior of the restaurant. I found it strange too that most of the servers were Malays and not Chinese, given that beef noodles are more of a Chinese dish than Malay dish.

And where we were seated had me facing a mural that covered the entire wall of peaceful grass-eating cows. However, even the cow staring straight out at me did not faze me or my CEB from tucking into the bowls of dry beef noodles, which were served within minutes.

Here is a close up picture of the beef noodles. I had the set that came with the soup while my CEB ordered a large bowl of dry beef noodles (there is the option of a regular bowl but my CEB being my CEB....).

I should mention here too that Yee Kee Beef noodle stall sells more than just beef noodles per the poster they had up below. If not for the fact that we had a complimentary buffet dinner waiting for us back at our hotel in Port Dickson, we would have tried the other dishes too.

Or maybe not. Now, if one has limited capacity, one should definitely just order a bowl of their ultra-delicious dry beef noodles. Despite my CEB's resolution not to eat everything (so he would have space in his tummy for the buffet), he finished the entire bowl of beef noodles and even eyed my below. The Slog Reviews: 9/10. We agreed that Seremban beef noodles are indeed the best. The gravy was not too thick or salty but was just the right texture and taste, and the noodles were cooked to soft perfection, sliding down our throats together with the sauce. The seasoning of nuts and sour veg made a perfect complement to the gravy and noodles. The only thing that could do with some improvement was the beef - not that it wasn't tasty or well cooked but this dish would have been perfect if the beef was sliced beef fillet.

I should also mention here that my CEB said that the beef balls were the best he ever had - they were so springy that when he bit down on them, he could feel the sponginess and the soup squirting out of 'em balls.

In any case, I would definitely recommend a visit to this beef noodles stall if one is in Seremban. I don't have the exact address but I took a picture of the road's signboard on our way out and I hope that helps, in addition to the directions at the start of this post.