From the main road, one gets on to a narrower road (1 way each direction), the start of which is marked by a police post. And on this narrow road (the journey from the main road to the jetty is pretty long - at least 25mins), it is easy to get lost and head in the direction for the Sedili jetty so follow the signs that say KFC. I kid you not. There is a newly built KFC at the jetty which opens at 10.30am. The first ferry out to Sibu Island is at 11am and the KFC is the only place in the jetty which is air-conditioned and has a nice view of the sea. The cost of the tickets to the island was not included so we purchased 2 round-trip tickets at Counter 1 of Tanjong Leman jetty at RM140.
The journey to the island on the ferry took less than half an hour. The ferry was supposed to hold just 50 pax and there was just the right number of seats for that number of people. Some folks put on life jackets and we followed suit though my CEB commented that this was a bad idea as we would be trapped in the cabin if the boat capsized. I made sure we sat very near the exit so we could get through the door. Just in case. The tragic drowning of fellow anglers at this same area couple of years ago is pretty much unforgettable.
My CEB on the other hand, had never been to the resort so I was careful not to spoil his experience by telling him what could be expected...he would find that out in due course. As we made our way to the room which was situated along the winding path up a hill, we came across some wild deer lazing in the shade. When we moved closer, well....guess from the pic below it is clear what happened. Forget Bambi cozying up to you.
The room (superior room) was just as I remembered it. Dank, dusty and dark. For the first time since a long time, I had to get up in the middle of the night and put on a pair of long pants so I could sleep on the sheets. I was scratching uncontrollably in my shorts and T-shirt before that and just praying I could fall asleep so I wouldn't feel how dirty the sheets were. There was limited cable access on the small (32 inch?) TV in the room and although we were told there was free WIFI access in the room, neither of us could get a working connection on our smart phones. We were "connected" but could not access the web so lying about the room (which is what my CEB loves) for the afternoon was out of the question.
So we made our way to the lobby where my CEB tried to access the web on his HTC but again the free WIFI service proved deceptive and he gave up after a fashion. To sit in the lobby and hear the cawing of the peacocks was not an experience I enjoyed.
My second time canoeing (first time was in Hanoi) and I was determined to get paddle around the island or at least head in the direction of the mountain which was most scenic. Unfortunately, the waves were pretty strong (monsoon season isn't officially over till Feb) and we found ourselves being rocked pretty violently in the little orange canoe.
From the pic below of my wet hair, it is pretty evident what happened. We capsized. The wave rocked us to the right and instead of leaning to the left, we let ourselves get caught in the momentum and before we knew it, we were in the sea. Salt water in my eyes, my haviannas floating around me...the canoe overturned next to my spluttering CEB...what an experience. The first thing I did was check that my camera was still around my neck (waterproof cameras rock), and then grab for my haviannas. My CEB and I then took an end of the canoe each and uprighted it before clambering on board. That was when he wanted to call it a day but with half an hour more to go, I wasn't about to. So the compromise was that we would just canoe near the island and not around any bends. Especially when my CEB pointed out that the resort staff in the sea centre were watching TV and not know if anything happened to us. 
It started raining in the evening and to our amazement, we saw a peacock sitting in the rain at the small pool at the top of the slide (the pool). We had pretty much run out of things to do on the island short of fishing (which we didn't come prepared for and were loathe to spend good money renting rods and sitting at the coast) so we decided to take the earlier ferry (10am) back to the mainland instead of the 2pm one the next day.
Since there were no other restaurants on the island and there were no transport services provided between the kelongs nearby and the hotel, we had dinner at the same restaurant we would have our buffet breakfast the next time. There was a choice of having either a buffet at RM55 per pax or ordering from the ala carte menu but because we were starving, we didn't look at the menu at all. The buffet for dinner wasn't exceptionally good but the lamb curry was pretty delish. There was plenty of fish, green veg (kai lan) with mushrooms, and 1 other main dish but really the selection of mains was very limited. And the dessert sucked. Awful. Just awful. I would not recommend having the dinner buffet at all - a salad from the ala carte menu at RM20 would be a better choice.
Now that I have blogged about this and have some photos of the place, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to forget that I've been to Sibu Island Resort and there is no way absolutely that I am going back, esp given the bedsheets!
The spread of food was superb for the CNY reunion dinner - there were loads of sashimi (no shortage of tuna, salmon etc) and sushi. And oysters, scallops in shells, prawns (both the normal type and the river type with the big head), and even crab legs at the cold counter area. There was also a dragon beard candy counter (that had a really long queue each time). 
The lobster bisque was extremely creamy and delicious, as was the black herbal chicken soup. For a buffet especially. Hot dishes-wise, there were just too many to choose from ranging from Indian curry chicken which my sister found mouthwatering good, to otah which I simply loved, and even sambal stingray and grilled seabass etc. There was also a counter serving beef (ribeye) and salmon wrapped in cheese. Oh, and there were pineapple tarts, tang yuan, red bean soup, jelly and even durian cake for dessert. Perfect. Just perfect.
And the price for all that food? Just slightly under SGD400 for the 7 of us. Money well spent and value for money. Grand Copthorne even had a Cai Shen Ye ("God of Fortune") go around the tables shaking hands and everyone at my table shook his hand for good fortune :)I have watched a lot of movies between now and the last time I blogged about a movie. However, I have not been compelled to blog about any of them, good, mediocre or bad.
I do now. Here is the Slog's Review of Viral Factor: (scream!!!!) VIRAL FACTOR SUCK EGGS!
Okay, great I've got this out of my system. I foolishly noted an acquaintance's post about how great Viral Factor was and insisted my CEB and I watch it on Chinese New Year's Eve. Instead of Journey 2 (which was no great shakes but which I would have happily watched twice on hindsight).The movie is like a 150 year old vegetable that won’t just quit despite being senile, incapacitated and annoying. The characters in the movie are worse – they get shot with bullets, front, back, centre and side and yet can run with the best of them and kick the baddies’ ass.
The opening scenes were shot in Jordan but there were only Chinese actors/actresses which made the whole thing seem rather unrealistic. The good cop lead actor played by Jay Chou was part of a team tasked to protect a scientist who was able to make a deadly virus. His girlfriend called Ice (what a name) gets killed in the shootout and Jay’s character gets a bullet in the head. He is told he will die in 2 weeks/months. His character’s mother then chooses to disclose that he has a father and brother. I hate the mum’s character – she is incredibly full of self-pity and sheds endless tears at every scene when talking about the past or when embracing the present. The tears are all for herself of course…ugh. Ugh ugh. Okay, so Jay takes an AirAsia plane (one would have thought he would fly by a better airline given his limited lifespan) to KL where his character’s dad and elder brother are. On board, he meets a doctor played by an actress who has been beat about the head with an ugly stick. She tells the pilot to fly at a lower altitude (is that even possible?) so that Jay’s headaches will ease. They part at the airport and incredibly, she just happens to be the one scientist that the baddies target to kidnap and work on the virus because the scientist got killed running away. Oh yes, a huge part of the movie is shot in Malaysia of all places (one is treated to repeated scenes of the twin towers ugh). Jay sees her being kidnapped and saves her from his bad ass elder brother.
In the evening, he susses out his good for nothing gambler of a father and what do you know, the first time he finds his father, the father is being pummeled for failure to pay his debts. What a family reunion. At this point of the movie, I find myself feeling genuinely sorry for Jay. He has been given short and bad lines which he delivers in a stilted stuffed monotonous voice. And sorry for his character too. With a mother like that and a father…and a bullet in the head. He gets the second prize pity ticket. He founds out he his a niece who is the only likable character in the movie. Nicholas Tse isn’t too bad either – he gets the first prize pity ticket because of the troubles in his personal life. Good acting despite the lousy script and lines.
I’m not going to waste anymore time reviewing the movie except that it is predicable. Jay with the bullet in his head sacrifices his life for the brother when they take down the baddie. The little girl gets saved and is reunited with the grandmother (the most annoying character who of course cries tears of self pity and stupidly asks for Jay – I mean, come on, how could she not have known). Nicholas’s character does time of course and the baddies are all killed by the superbionic brothers.
This has to be one of the worst movies ever.
At my friend's recommendation, I had Ikkousha's version of Hakata Ajitama Ramen, which he said was the most popular of the 6 ramen stalls here. The lady at the stall persuaded me to opt for the ramen bowl which had 7 slices of fatty pork meat and cost a hefty SGD17+ a bowl (regular version). The Slog Reviews: 6/10. The broth was so darn salty that finishing the soup base was not possible, and I was thankful to have my cup of bubble tea which I'd bought earlier with me to clean out my mouth between each bite. The noodles were firm and springy, no complaints but the meat had loads of fat, and being soaked in salty broth did nothing to improve the taste of the meat. I wouldn't go back to this stall again.
My friend on the other hand chose Bario, because he was starving. I understood what he meant when he carried his bowl of ramen to the table - a veritable mountain of ramen indeed! I think I'll try Bario the next time I go back!
When I complained to him about the saltiness of the Ikkousha ramen, he said I should try the Sappora Ramen because that had corn in it and would be sweeter.
The menu had black angus beef but at 1pm, they had run out of beef which made me most upset. I mean, what kind of buffet runs out of a dish, and they had less than 15 dishes on the brunch menu! So we made do with the oysters, foie gras, chicken teriyaki, yellowfin tuna steak, prawn skewers, tempura, fried rice, all of which were rather limited in portion-size wise. There was also the breakfast menu one could order a chicken steak from, or crumpets even with eggs. Milkshakes like banana something, lychee with coconut milk, coffee (latte, mocha) and tea were also available in unlimited quantities.
The dessert spread was pretty good and there was a fair selection of unique chocolate desserts all of which tasted delicious, like the balls which had a hint of banana. My mum thought I'd taken this plate below to share with the rest of the table, but no mdm, I finished all of it on my own,
And at the end of 3 hours of eating (the buffet brunch is from 10 to 3pm), I was so stuffed I could not open my eyes. It was raining outside and the aircon was slightly chilly so I took out my burberry cashmere shawl which is as soft, rich and fluffy as, well, I don't know, and wrapped it around myself...and almost dozed off. The rest carried on with their lattes and mocha shakes.
The Slog Reviews: Not going back to Ku De Ta anytime soon for the brunch buffet. Although the place was packed (mostly with tourists), and some felt that it was not expensive given the quality of food, I know of an even better place to drop one's dollar and feel satisfied, as one should when going for an all-out-pig-out.
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.
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. 
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.
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.
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.
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 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. 
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. 
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.
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!
We were given counter seats so we had a bird's eye view of how the noodles were prepared. And the chefs in the kitchen appeared to be actually Japanese and not locals. I ordered a bowl of the original Nantsuttei Ramen which cost SGD12. The egg cost an additional SGD 1. As you can tell from the picture below, there is unfortunately, only 1 slice of char siew in the bowl of noodles but the entire meal was flavorful with just the right amount of roasted garlic oil that did not leave a greasy film on the lips. 
My CEB on the other hand, ordered a bowl of the hot/spicy ramen with a "hotness" level of 4. Apparently, someone actually ordered a bowl with a "hotness" level of 10 before and lived to tell the tale. My CEB however declined to challenge that record claiming he was here to enjoy a meal and not suffer. Oh well, in any case, by the time he was done, he was perspiring but well satiated.
The Slog Reviews: Definitely good authentic ramen with great noodles texture and slurp-worthy soup :)
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.
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. 
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!
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.
