Photo by Marul

Taken at I-Lotus. I thought this was very nice of the restaurant. Hee. To my non-Muslim readers thank you for being courteous to us ravenous Muslims. I very much appreciate it and am very happy that you are joining us for sungkai! =D

Au Lait Cafe is one of those cute new places in Kiulap that I quite like because it employs young locals as the waitstaff. Maybe it’s just me but I find it quite amusing when I can order pasta puttanesca in pure Bruneian. Hehe.

For every Friday and Saturdays, Au Lait has a BBQ Sungkai Buffet that is absolutely scrumptious! The selection is small but it has reasonable quality. Quite impressive.

First course: Tuna pasta salad and assortment of vitamin and fibre enriched goodies. Huhuhu. Wasn’t too memorable but was not bad.

Second course: The meats all drowned in delicious brown liquid also known as mushroom sauce! Slurps! See I eat vegetables and olives too…..

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OK FINE! That’s not my plate, I’m not that healthy. Truth is, I was already halfway done on my plate when I suddenly remembered that I forgot to take a photo of my plate! Meats smelled so nice bah!

Here it is anyway, almost halfway done. Hehehe. Slurps!!! I love a good barbecue. Smoky well marinated meats.

Third/Final course: I went for a second round! *guilty* This time they ran out of the baby potatoes so it was replaced with fries (wooohoooooo!!!) and also they ran out of lamb so had roast beef instead! Still it was very very good, and it was served medium and still blushing in the middle. Poured mushroom sauce all over this one as well.

Overall it was a nice barbecue sungkai. I would totally recommend it to everyone!

Got chicken.

Got lamb.

Got beef.

But THE BEST OF ALL: For the first time ever at a sungkai buffet, got TAPAK KUDA!!!

Remember only Fridays and Saturdays!

Au Lait Cafe

BBQ Grill Sungkai Buffet @ $16 per adult and $12 per child

Call 223 1901

I just love love this movie! Dug has got to be one for the funniest and most adorable characters created this year! Hahahah.

“I can smell you!”

49. Transport: Lan’s car!

50. Roti Bakar Tepi Jalan: I LOOOOOVE this roadside stall!

Basically theyserve two main food items. The first being the awesome charcoal toasted thick toast, generously spread with butter. And the second is their phenomenal half boiled eggs. Wow, so simple yet sooooo delicious! This is easilly one of my favorite locations in Georgetown.

51. Muzium P. Ramlee: A lot of people do not know that P.Ramlee was actually born in Pulau Pinang. Now they actually have a cute little museum of his memorabilia and best of all, it is located on the site of the house where he was born and where grew up.

The main building of the museum

Entrance

Official address of the house

Actual house complex

Reminds me o the toilet in Ali Baba Bujang Lapok. The one that got “X”-ed.

The place is actually open to public but we were there on Monday, which is the ONLY day of the week when the place gets closed. Haha, how unlucky is that!

52. Market: I cannot for the life of me remember what this market was called, but I remember it was only about 5 minutes slow walking from the P. Ramlee Museum. It was really cool though! Many awesome stuff were sold from old to new, from big to small. Not as massive as the ones I went to when in Bangkok, but still quite big.

Cheap wallets!

Dancing solar powered flowers! Cute!

Plants! Even the Monkey Pot. Hehehe. Still have liquid inside to make your hair shiny.

I loved this: antiques! Like this old phone. Was so heavy! The man said it still works.

Old tools! Dunno who’d be interested in buying these. I bet the owner could make more money selling it of to a recycling plant.

53. Sri Aruloli Thirumurugan, a Hindu temple on top of Penang Hill. Apparently, it is one of the oldest Hindu temples in Penang. Since our cable car ride won’t be arriving in 30 minutes, Lan took us to see this temple which was just nearby. Heheh awesome view from up there and also, check out those mega huge giant statues of Hindu deities!

Construction work was going on as well. The temple was making a roof for the giant giant super duper mega huge lady head statue behind me.

View from the Temple. Very windy and cool up there!

54. Bukit Bendera (Penang Hill): There is a very interesting railway there which is apparently called a funicular railway. Construction of the railway took place between 1906 to 1923, at a cost of 1.5 million Straits dollars. The railway was opened to the public on October 21, 1923. The 2,007 m (1 mile 435 yard) journey takes about half an hour. A VERY LONGGGGGGGG half an hour.

Waiting for our ride

Inside the very very warm and very very stuffy cable car.

Awesome view from the top

Gerai Kak Som: We had something to drink before going back down.

55. Hameediyah Restaurant: Home of the most delicious briyani I have ever tasted in my whole life. Slurps! Pictures of briyani will be featured on Makan Saja at a later date.

56. Batu Ferringhi Beach: Probably the single most heavily developed stretch of tourist resorts in the entire country, the scenery and the beaches have undeniably suffered under the assault of all that concrete. Still, while the beaches aren’t the best in Malaysia, there are still miles of white sand and palm trees left. Fierce competition keeps hotel prices low and there’s some great food to be found too. (According to WikiTravel)

Sat at a nice shady cafe, waiting for sunset.

Nice view right? Sunset here is orange, unlike Langkawi’s pink ones.

With Amir! Sluuuuuuuuuurping down the iced tea.

57. Majid Chelor Chelor (Satay Rebus): Basically it is similar to a steamboat where fresh food is skewered on bamboo sticks and cooked in a pot of boiling water, dip into the special sauce and you are in for a great time trying 30 over different varieties.

Very interesting food eating experience!

58. Slippery Senoritas: Well, of course we went clubbing! Hehe.

View from outside

Us inside

Look! They’re playing Tom & Jerry on the TVs. Hehehe.

Very handsome singer from the Philippines. I swear he looked at me everytime he said the word beautiful!

The Penang Gang!

Will be back with more adventures tomorrow!

I am currently using a Nokia E63, which is a much cheaper version of the famous E71. Best phone ever! My emails are all synced with my phone, and as you know I Tweet, MSN and Facebook from my phone regularly. Furthermore, Brunei has THE best data charges in the whole wide world. I spend as little as $0.20 maximum every day heavilly using the GPRS. Also I am so in love with the calendar function. Nowadays, if events don’t get logged into my phone, I will for sure forget all about it!

As you can see from my calendar in the picture above, yesterday I went to the sungkai buffet at I-Lotus Restaurant. I-Lotus is the lovely lush restaurant situated in Rimba and can be seen from the Tungku Link Highway.

At the price of BN$16.80 per adult, all diners get free flow cold bandung delivered to your table, and a LOT of food!

Each table is equipped with these four blue pegs, which are for the teppanyaki hot plate. You may pick fresh seafood from a stall, then send it to the hot plate corner so the very fast cooking chefs may cook in any way you like. Tag your plate with the pegs and then when the food is cooked the waitstaff will send it to your table.

The hot plate and the two very fast cooks. People were already sending in their orders by 6pm.

First course: I feel like starting with dessert first. Had some rubies, coconut jelly and some yellow glutinous rice balls with coconut milk and gula anau. These were only a fraction of what was offered from the ice kacang stall.

Second Course: A selection of fritters. Fried stuff are always good. I find that pretty much anything deep fried becomes instantly delicious. Hehe. I had some wantans, fried crabsticks, fried tapioca, fried yam, chicken balls, fish balls, sausage stick and fried chicken with some very nice chilli dip.

Third course: Rice noodles with tom yam kung. Very nice dish although after a while it did get a bit too spicy haha. Otherwise quite yummy.

Fourth Course: I only had three prawns. They were cooked with belachan which gave it that salty spicy kick. Quite nice although I would prefer them to clean the prawns first! I don’t quite fancy the sandy texture of unwashed prawns. But on the plus side they were very fresh!

I had my meal with copious amounts of hot soya bean, which I thought was very very very nice! Especially with the rain and the wind billowing outside. It was very very comforting.

Now it may seem as if I didn’t eat a lot this time round, but actually there was a lot of food on the buffet table. However, by the time I got around to visiting the main course, everything was finished! 0_0″ I was actually quite full already by that point so it didn’t matter. However, let that be a reminder for everyone. If you dine here, start scavenging on the buffet table early.

Here are some very good looking foods that I did not get to taste hahaha:

Char kway teow

Stirfried bittergourd with egg

Beancurd and minced chicken

Sweet and sour chicken (I think)

And the one that looks the most appetising to me: Mushrooms and Pakchye

I guess I’ll never know if they taste good or not, but you can find out for me right? Go on over and write me a review of the main courses if you’ve been there!

I-Lotus Restaurant

Sungkai Buffet @ $16.80 (adult) & $9.80 (child)

Sahur Steamboat Buffet @ $11.80 (adult) & $7.80 (child)

Call 2422466

39. Transport to KL Sentral: Another taxi! This is the hundredth taxi I think I’ve sat my butt in in the past few days haha. Ok, so lugged our luggage in and whadya know? Cannot close! Taxi driver had to secure using this hook and string thing. Clever!

From KL Sentral we took a 6 hour train ride to Butterworth. It was very comfortable and I slept the whole way. As you can see in this ugly photo here.

Subahanallah! If ugly had a face…

40. Butterworth Train Station: Yeay finally here!  Butterworth is a delicious sounding place that is the main town on the mainland side of Pulau Pinang. Less happening, and actualy quite boring if you don’t know anyone there. Hehe. But it is an important transportation hub for all train and many bus services because none of them goes directly to Penang island.

This is the very first engine used to commute between Kuala Lumpur and Butterworth. Took pictures there.

Posting this picture up because I look skinny hahaha. I sucked tummy in!

Anyway just for your info: Butterworth railway station is conveniently located next to the bus and ferry terminal, south of the town centre. It is a major rail terminal for Keretapi Tanah Melayu (Malayan Railways) trains heading south to KL and Singapore, and north to Hat Yai in Thailand. Interesting right? There is an adventure there waiting to happen.

41. Transport: Motorcycle!

LOL! No lah, I’m kidding. I cannot drive a motorbike at all. Our friend took us by car and drove to a swimming pool. Have no idea where it was and what it’s called. So I’m just gonna call it, Butterworth Swimming Pool!

We came with the intention to swim, but unfortunately the rules in the pool were quite strict and we could only swim if we were wearing swimming caps and goggles. Sigh! So no swimming.

42. Pantai Bersih: Haha, yes it really is called Pantai Bersih! Poor beach however, did not live up to its name. But I enjoyed the beautiful orange sunset.

Reminds me of the dirty Pantai Jerudong a bit.

43. Henry’s house. Henry is our very good friend from Butterworth and had generously spent his time with us when we were there. We didn’t stay at his place. We were just there to hang out a bit, freshen up, before going out for dinner. Anyway, his family owns a roadside restaurant and sold delicious (apparently) non-halal wantans! He is the cook for the restaurant. I have awesome friends who do awesome things for a living.

His family is a mixture of Taoist and Buddhist. Hehehe. Very interesting I thought. Although Henry himself is quite atheistic. Here is their tapikong, put in the living room!

44. Random Nasi Kandar Restaurant: Or in this case, Nasi Kandar Salam where I had THE BEST NASI KANDAR EVER. I was quite wow-ed.I mean, I knew Pulau Pinang had the best nasi kandar, after all this is where it came from. On this day, I realised, everything I’ve read about it is an underrepresentation. There should be new adjectives created to describe the curry gravy I had.

The thing is, this was just a random Nasi Kandar restaurant, there are better ones with more delicious food apparently. I was like… *speechless*. I cannot imagine nasi kandar ever tasting any better.

By the way, we had nasi kandar because we were heading towards Sungai Dua, where the best Penang Char Kway Teow in Butterworth is. It had a long queue, so we need to eat something first. Haha.

45. Sg Dua Char Kway Teow, Telur Ayam Di Basuh: I love that they tell you that their eggs are washed! LOL. Anyway there were so many people there!

This is their menu. Only 3 items.

This is the VERY VERY GOOD CKT!!! Penang style is different where there is quite a lot of gravy. Tastes a little peanut-y and because Penang is a coastal area, all seafood, including the cockles and prawns used are extra extra fresh.

46. Transport: Midnight Ferry from Butterworth to Georgetown.

Obligatory group photo

Georgetown, from the perspective of Butterworth. Two towns separated by the Penang Straits.

View of the interior. Pick any seat you like! But since we’re going on the midnight ferry ride, it was pretty much empty except for a few people.

An identical ferry next to ours. Top floor for people and bottom floor for cars.

This was a very interesting ride. I am now in love with ferries! This ride, which took about 30 minutes, only cost RM1.50.

47. Transport: Amir’s car! On the Georgetown side, friends of ours, Amir and Lan were already waiting for us. Many hugs and laughs were exchanged because I haven’t seen these boys in over 7 months! Like my friend said, “kalau betian basar udah!”. LOL. Amir is very young like 24 yet he already owns his own small contractor business. Building houses! How cute is that? Like him, his father also joined SSEAYP, and was in the same batch as our national leader. Hehe.

48. Bayview Hotel, Penang. Since it was already quite late, we went straight to our hotel.

This is the only hotel I know that has more than 5 electrical sockets in each room!!! Awesome right! LOL. But we spent the night talking and laughing and pretending to sleep!

Next Malaysia Tour post would be about our day in Georgetown with Lan and Amir!

From The Brunei Restaurant Review:

“Villa Mauri aims to provide quality and value for money dishes.” said Chef Intrigila while explicating the ideas and concepts behind his restaurant during an interview with the Weekend. (Emphasis mine)

Villa Mauri’s sungkai buffet is one of the most expensive in the country. I was very very intrigued on how they would make diners feel like they’ve eaten $30 worth of food when most sungkai buffets around the sultanate offer more food for less.

“This is new. What’s this “semi buffet”?” Marul & I pondered. Anyway the system in Villa Mauri is that, they have starters and antipasti laid out on the buffet table, but main courses are to be ordered.

Seated in the “private room” nearest to the buffet table.

Well Chef Mauri doesn’t have a handlebar moustache, just to dispel any rumours. Anyway, on to the food.

First course: salad leaves of various kinds, onions, grilled eggplant, grilled zucchini, fresh tomato wedges and my favorite balsamic dressing on the side. Good!

Second Course: Antipasti. Oh wow, from below clockwise, tomato, zucchini and cheese salad, Italian omelet, mussels gratin, tuna salad, stuffed mushrooms, eggplant cake, fish carpaccio with capers and beef carpaccio. In the middle is the squid salad. These were all very very good!

Third course: We all had pizza to share amongst us and Chef Mauri sent some Diavola (above) and Hawaiiana to our table. I had my pizza with some cream of potato soup from the buffet table, pictured below.

I love having soup with my pizza, it’s very comforting. Sometimes I takeaway my thin crust pizzas back home after a heavy Italian dinner where everyone ordered too much and thought they can finish everything but can’t. In the morning, I’d make some pumpkin soup and have it with some cold pizza. Pumpkin is my favorite soup in the whole wide world.

Fourth Course: My main course arrived, the meatballs and tomato sauce served with vegetables. There were 4 giant balls on my plate, smothered with the freshest tomato sauce ever. They were absolutely lovely!

The sungkai menu gave you a choice of either rosemary lamb chops with rice or vegetables, sirloin steak and black pepper sauce, meatballs and tomato sauce, grilled chicken breasts, or a generous portion of fresh barramundi dressed with a lemon and herb sauce.

I am strongly recommending the barramundi. It was awesome! My absolute favorite from all the choices.

Fifth and final course: This was the legendary Fantasia di Maria, which was THE MOST DELICIOUS CHOCOLATE PUDDING IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD. It was so good that I devoured almost two ramekins of the stuff. Reeda will bear witness! It was absolutely deeeeeeliiiiiiiiicious. If you consider me a good friend of yours then order this next time you dine at Villa Mauri, or else I will be obliged to sever all friendship ties we have.

Overall, I thought the whole meal was certainly good value for money, especially when you take into account how everything came in extremely generous portions and the kind of service and quality you get with your food. If this was a regular ala carte meal, it would’ve easilly gone up to $50 per person, considering all the antipasti, salads and main courses you’re getting. The restaurant takes good care of their patrons, “to make sure my customers don’t think I’m robbing them”, was the Chef’s exact words. I am very much recommending this restaurant for sungkai, if you have special occasions to celebrate.

Remember. Have the chocolate pudding. Tell Chef Maurizio I sent you.

Villa Mauri

Semi Sungkai Buffet @ $30.00 (adult) & $20.00 (child)

Call 233 5585

Day 6

35. Masjid India during ISA Protests. KL is generally a very tourist friendly place. You feel safe there even when walking in the middle of the night after clubbing. However, on Day 6, when we were in KL, it didn’t feel quite safe when out of nowhere many policemen and various uniformed personnel were roaming the streets, armed and looking very menacing. Turns out, there was some sort of protest going on in the city against the Internal Security Act.

And the best thing was that, it was happening right under our hotel!!! Had an awesome time as “wartawan bebas”. Hahaha. Things like these never happen in Brunei after all. The pictures here are taken by my friend, I only have blurred camera phone pictures.

Protesters refusing to budge when given the first warning to bersurai.

They even had a special t-shirt made for the event calling to end the ISA.

TEAR GAS!!! This is the time you should run or your eyes will sting like a bitch!!!!!!!!!!!! The only solution is to rub your eyes with salt. Then RUN!!!

Or this will come after you with a vengeance! A fire engine randomly spraying high velocity water to the crowds. It is unfortunate that these shops did not cover their goods, I bet millions of dollars were lost that day.

Obviously after the morning of tear gas, arrests, and all the water blasting, it would be impossible to go anywhere in the city. After searching around we found two taxis who were willing to send us to high up theme park, Genting Highlands!

36. Genting Highlands!

Had such fun there! And no it wasn’t that cold, until it started to rain!!! Freezing!!! LOL Had to buy a shawl after that.

37. Low Yat Plaza: Many many floors of gadgets! Kind of like the equivalent of Bangkok’s Pantip Mall.

38. Cap Square: Modesto’s to be exact.

TO BE CONTINUED (Yet again!)

For those not in the know Tarindak d’Seni is located in the building of one of Brunei’s most important landmarks, the Pusat Kesenian dan Pertukangan Tangan Brunei. You can park either in front or at the back. I purposely parked in front as I wanted to enjoy the nice scenery on my way to the restaurant.

It was already almost badok time when I arrived. I really do encourage you all to park in front if you wish to have sungkai there. It really is quite the view.

Some foodie behind the scene photos. It may not apply so much for me because I have a pondan camera but photos taken are chosen very carefully and painstakingly processed before publishing. Then the article needs to go well with the photos, and they must compliment each other perfectly and not only that, words should be written and put down properly as so it would be as honest as possible yet will not offend. But despite all that, food reviewing is still, one of the best jobs in the world.

Everyone dining at Tarindak will be served a trio of sweets in a cute little dish lined with a banana leaf. I particularly like the one on the right, Kuih Sarang Semut, or honey cake. Was very sweet but sweet things go very very well with the spicy fare served at Tarindak.

First course: I am not particularly fond of kerabu dishes and unfortunately this was no exception. None of these particularly appealed to my tastebuds. The acar was nice and I can imagine it going very well with some CA Mohammed Lamb Briyani. Hehe. But just for your information, from bottom (anti clockwise): Kerabu Tauhu, Kerabu Lobak Putih, Kerabu Kentang Sambal, Acar, Kerabu Tauhu Pedas, Kerabu Sayur Pakis.

Second Course: Oh just looking at this photo makes me feel like going back to Tarindak for another bowl of ambuyat. I had my ambuyat with Cacah Campur, which is a mixture of Cacah Asam, Tempoyak and Binjai. All that’s missing is Cacah Pedada and it would’ve become the most perfect ambuyat dish ever. For protein, I had the Grilled Fish, which I know for a fact, is the most delicious grilled fish I’ve ever had in my life.

Third Course: Mee Hoon Basah. I’ve never had Mee Hoon cooked this way before. It’s quite different. Somewhat tangy, and very light. Not bad.

Fourth Course: Four Kinds of Lemang and Beef Rendang. The beef rendang was very good. Very rich and extremely tender beef pieces. Tarindak really does their proteins well. The lemang was so-so, I guess I’ve had better. Although the yellow coloured one was was quite soft and yummy.

Fifth Course: Bubur Pulut Hitam. Oh wow! Was ecstatic when I saw this on the buffet table. This is one of my favorite desserts in the whole wide world and I am pleased to report that it was executed very well.

Sixth Course: When we were there, the corner where all the grilled stuff was placed was always packed with people queueing up. Finally at the end, when people started going home, did I manage to sneak some grilled chicken and beef. Beef was ok, but the chicken was awesome and tender. Both dipped in oriental spice rubs, and tasted charcoal grilled. No sauce was needed.I would’ve been happy just eating the chicken and rice alone.

Seventh Course: Cucur Kacang, Kuih Bom and Kek Kukus Masam Manis. Washed the sweets down with some extremely creamy teh tarik. Maybe too creamy for me. Cucur kacang was awesome though!

Overall, my experience at Tarindak d’Seni was very positive. I noticed that most of the more delicious food were of the traditional Bruneian fare like the ambuyat which was absolutely to die for! I’d really like to go back there on non-Ramadhan days to have their ambuyat ala-carte with all the sides. The scenery wasn’t that great as the Brunei Bay gets pretty dark at night, but during the day it is just breathtaking. Waiters and waitresses were very attentive and hope they stay that way. Totally recommended.

Tarindak d’Seni Restaurant

Sungkai Buffet @ $25 (adult), $10 (child)

Call 2240422

Naqiyah is a budding makeup artist friend of mine who also jointly owns one of Brunei’s leading hip fashion store, Rock Paper Scissors with her boyfriend, known only to the blogging world as, B. Recently she has been in and out of makeup school and and logging all her makeup endeavors in easy reading blog, Gosip dan Gincu.

Before I went on my Malaysia Tour, she posted an ad on her blog asking if anyone wants to be her guinea pig so she may practice makeup tricks. Since I’ve always been intrigued by her makeup style, I jumped at the opportunity to learn some new tricks. So a date was set, and rescheduled, and a few weeks later I came to her cosy little shop at The Mall, natural beauty, sans makeup.

I’m not gonna post up a before picture because I look awful without makeup, but if you’re curious, head on over here. But I am gonna post up a picture of what my makeup usually look like.

My style is dark thickly lined eyes and heavy mascara, with my cheeks usually accented with some pink blush and a brush of bronze for a healthy glow. I prefer bare lips too, as I’ve got dramatic eyes and would like to keep my face less made up.

But we had much fun during the makeover as she played around with colours, creating this Malibu Barbie themed look that emphasised my tan from Langkawi! (Yes, the nonexistent tan that I keep telling everyone about because no one noticed) She said it was inspired by my pink maxidress.

I kept on telling Nikki that I’ve never had so many colours put on my eyes before, but actually, I later realised I have. Haha. What I meant was I’ve never had so many light colours put on my eyes before.

But the result was very nice especially around the eye area! She did a wonderful job blending the pinks and the greens together. Next time she said would like to try something darker and more me, but looking back, I kinda like this whole experimentation thing. Never know where we’ll end up.

Thanks Nikki!

I think we’re the only country who gets excited about sungkai promotions more than Hari Raya. Haha. I compiled this directory from what I can find online and those from word of mouth. I pride it to be the most comprehensive sungkai and sahur list in Brunei! So if you think there are any missing, do leave me a comment and I will try to ammend it. Let’s help out each other!

Please do link back here if you’d like to copy and paste the list!

If you like and think this directory is very useful, do leave me a note in the comments section. Thank you so much and hope you have a very meaningful Ramadhan.

Own a restaurant? If you want to feature your restaurant here, just leave a comment or email me at maurina@gmail.com. This is a free service and I would like to apologise if I made any mistakes in spellings or phone numbers.

A

Aiana Restaurant & Cafe

Sungkai Buffet @ $6.90 (adult), $4.40 (child 6-12)
Sahur Buffet @ $4.90

Call 8884122

Airport Restaurant

International Ramadhan Buffet Dinner @ $28.50 (Adult) & $16.50 (Child)

Call 2339207/2331853

All-Star Sports Cafe, Holiday Lodge Hotel

Sungkai Buffet @ $15.00 (adult) $8.00 (child)

Call 2611618 / 8631259 / 8782691

Amigos Restaurant

Hawkers Ramadhan Buffet @ $15 (Adult) & $8 (Child)

*1 free buffet for every dine-in customer of 5 adults

Call 2334189/2334197

Aneka Rasa Restaurant & Catering

Sungkai Buffet @ $10.90 (adult), $5 (children under 6 years)

Call 2231728 / 8751223 / 8807714

Aranda Cafe, D’Anggerek Hotel

Sungkai Buffet @ $10 (adult), $5 (child)

Call 2345222 Ext 815

Aroidee Restaurant & Catering

Sungkai Buffet @ B$6.00 (Adults) & B$4.00 (Children)

Call 2671024

Asma Hotel Restaurant

Sungkai Buffet @ $13 (adult), $10 (child)

Call 2612218

Atrium Cafe , The Empire Hotel & Country Club

Sungkai Buffet @ $28 (adult) & $14 (child).

Call 2418888

Au Lait Cafe

Sungkai at Au Lait @ $12.00 (adult) &$10.00 (child)

Fridays & Saturdays: BBQ Grill Sungkai Buffet @ $16 per adult and $12 per child

Call 223 1901

*Read review available here.

Axtivo Cafe

Sungkai Buffet @ $14.90

Call 2335642

Ayamku Restaurant (All Branches)

4pcs Ayamku Goreng (1 wing & 3 mix part) @ $4.80

1pc sutch fish fillet, 1 pc Ayamku Goreng & 500ml Pepsi bottle @ $4.80

1 set spaghetti, 1 stick crab balls, 2pcs spring roll & 500ml Pepsi bottle @ $3.90

Azmee Restaurant

Sungkai Buffet @ $7.90 (adult), $4.90 (child)

Call 2424386

B

Big Papa’s Restaurant

Sungkai Buffet @ $8 (adult), $5 (child)

Call 2233333

Blue Eden Cafe

Sungkai Buffet @ $8.50 (adult) & $4.25 (child)

Call 2239476

Buccaneer Thai Restaurant

Sungkai Buffet @ $9 (adult), $5 (children below 10 years)

Call 3330406 / 3334533 / 3347337

C

Capers Italian Restaurant

Sungkai Buffet @ $14.80 (adult), $7.50 (child under 10)

Call 2238996

Charcoal BBQ & Grill

Skewer Buffet @ $32.90 (adult), $1 per year for children below 12

*20% discount on all ala carte

Call 2221171

CheezBox Cafe & Restaurant

Sungkai Buffet @ $19.90 (adult) & $12.90 (child)

Call 2425506/7

*Please read the sungkai review available here.

Cocoa Cafe & Restaurant

Sungkai Buffet @ $6.00

Call 2426866

Coffee Zone

Sungkai Buffet @ $9.90 (adult) & $5 (child)

Call 2239333 (Kiulap), 2423333 (Gadong)

D

D’Other Office

Sungkai Buffet @ B$10.80 (Adults) & B$5.80 (Children)

Call Mr. Sulaiman at 7138116

Da’an Forees Cafe

Ramadhan Special @ @ B$11.90 (Adults) & B$5.90 (Children)

De’TYMZ Cafe

Sungkai Buffet @ $8.90 (adult) & $4.80 (child)

Call 223 2883

Deanna Restaurant

Sungkai Buffet @ $6.90 (adult) & $4.50 (child)

Call 2337557 or 8625757

Dynasty Restaurant

Semi Buffet (Eat All You Can) @ $25 (Adult) & $15 (Child)

Sahur Buffet Dim Sum (11pm-1.30am) @ $18.50 (Adult) & $12.50 (Child)

Call 2430185/6

E

Emperor’s Court

Ramadhan Buffet Dinner @ $25 (Adult) & $15 (Child)

Call 2332880/1

Excapade Restaurant

Ramadhan Promotion: 15% discounts for all Excapade Privilege Card Holders

Call 2234012 (Kiulap), 2443012 (Gadong) 2335512 (Serusop) 2234011 (Regent Square)

Express Fast Food Restaurant

Sungkai Set: Nasi Beriyani with complimentary cup of Bandung @ $7

Call 2337777

F

Farmbasket Snack Bar

Sungkai Buffet @ $8.80 (adult), $5 (child).

Call 2234666

Fratini’s Restaurant

50% off on all pizzas & pastas

Call 2451200/2451300 (Centrepoint), 2334520/2334530 (Piccolo)

Fun Wok Hong Kong Restaurant

Steamboat Buffet @ $19.80 (adult) & $12.80 (child)

Sahur Dim Sum Buffet @ $14.80 (adult) & $9.80 (child)

Call 2232397

G

Goldiana Cafe & Lounge, Orchid Garden Hotel

Sungkai Buffet @ $21.80 (adult) & $13.80 nett per child (between 5 yrs and 12 yrs)

Call 2335544 ext. 8023

* Read review available here.

Gripps Cafe

Ramadhan Promotion: 15% discount for Baiduri cardmembers who spend more than $20.

Call 2237505

H

Halim Plaza Hotel Restaurant

Sungkai Buffet @ $6 (adult), $4.50 (child)

Call 4260688 / 4260588

HYS Tindulang Restaurant

Sungkai Buffet @ $7.50 (adult) & $5.00 (child)

Call 8770786 or 2661810

I

I-Lotus Restaurant

Sungkai Buffet @ $16.80 (adult) & $9.80 (child)

Sahur Steamboat Buffet @ $11.80 (adult) & $7.80 (child)

Call 2422466

*Review is available here.

Ideal Cafe & Grill

Sungkai meals @ $2 each!

• Mini sausage with garlic rice
• Nasi Impian
• Ayam Masak Merah
• 1/2 cheezy macaroni
• 1/2 spaghetti

Any orders above $15 gets free delivery.

Call them at  2453254 (Gadong Properties Centre), 2 420596 (Abdul Razak Complex), 2 341104 (Delima Jaya Complex) or 3377207 (OGDC Seria)

J

Jessamine Restaurant and Café, RBGC

Sungkai Buffet @ $7.50 (adult) and $4 (child)

Call 8757089.

K

Kafe Mawar Ria

Sungkai Buffet @ $6 (adult) and $4 (child)

Call 8716439

Kayu Nasi Kandar

Sungkai Buffet @ $11 (adult) and $5.50 (child)

Call 2653886

Kern Restarurant

Sungkai Buffet @ B$5.90 (Adults) & B$3.90 (Children)

Call 8645333 0r 8645335

Khaz Corner

Sungkai Promo @ $5 per person

Call 2426600 / 2670600

Kimchi Restaurant

All-You-Can-Eat Korean BBQ @ 19.80 (Adult) & 11.80 (Child of 5-12yrs old)

Sungkai Buffet @ 15.80 (Adult) & 9.80 (Child of 5-12yrs old)

Call 2222233

Kitchen of Jasmine

The Puasa Treat Set @ $10

Set consists of:

1 mini lasagne OR mini shepherd’s pie
4 mini Red Velvet
4 mini Carrot Cupcakes
4 mini simple swirled Chocolate Cupcake
4 mini simple swirled Vanilla Cupcake

Call 8997333 or email at jasminekitchen@gmail.com

L

LaMee Restaurant

Sungkai Buffet @ $6.50 (adult) & $3 (child)

*15% discount for dine-in, 10% for take-aways.

Call 2430113 (Gadong) 2340112 (Delima)

Le Taj Restaurant

Sungkai Buffet @ $14.80 (adult), $7.50 (child)

Call 2238996

M

Mama’s Delight

Sungkai Buffet @ $7.50 (adult), $4.50 (child).

Call 3333001

Manjaro Restaurant

All you can eat Menu @ $12.90 (adult) & $7.90 (child)

Call 223 6493

Marsha Restaurant & Catering Services

Sungkai Buffet @ $6 (adult), $3 (child).

Call 3230932 / 8857574

Mawar Coffee Garden, Brunei Hotel

Sungkai Buffet @ $9.90 (adult), $5.50 (child).

Call 2242372/3/4/5/6/7/8/9 Ext 25/26

Misato Japanese Restaurant

Sungkai Buffet @ BND$14.90(adult) & BND$8.90 (child)

Call 2239159

Millennium Restaurant

Sungkai Promo @ $19.80 (adult), $13.80 (child).

Call 2424168

N

Nice Delight Cafeteria

Sungkai Buffet @ $7.00 (adult), $3.50 (child).

Call 2653222 / 2650525

Nur Wanita Restaurant

Sungkai Buffet @ $18.00 (adult), $12.00 (child).

Call 2426789

Nurizna Restaurant

Sungkai Buffet @ $7 (adult), $5 (child)

Call 2455409

Nyonya Restaurant

Serusop & Gadong: Sungkai Buffet @ $12.80 (adult), $7.80 (child)
Yayasan: Sungkai Buffet @ $8.80 (adult) $5.80 (child)

Call 2447090

P

Pines Restaurant

Sungkai Buffet @ $14.99 (adult) & $3.99 (child)

Call 242 5461/ 8996251

*Read the review available here.

Pondok Sari Wangi

Sungkai Buffet @ BND$11 per adult and BND$5.00 per child

Call 2445043 (Gadong), 2661893 (Sengkurong)

R

Rasamas Restaurant

Sungkai Set $12 (recommended for 2 people): 2 portions of rice, hall chicken, Japanese tofu, bean sprout, two bowls of soup, two specially-made puddings and two glasses of ‘Air Bandung’

Sungkai Set $23 (recommended for 4 people): One whole chicken, four portions of rice, four specially made puddings, and four glasses of ‘Air Bandung’, four bowls of soup, Japanese tofu, bean sprout and additional mixed vegetables)

Call 2232928 (Kiulap Branch) or 2460659 (Giant Branch)

Raudati Restaurant

Sungkai Buffet @ BND$5.99 per adult and BND$3.99 per child

Call 2231907 or 8683622

Restoran Amanah Harith

Sungkai Buffet @ BND$7.50 per adult and BND$4.50 per child

Call 2612140/8750292/8884546

Rizqun Coffeehouse

Sungkai Ramadan Buffet @ $22.00 (adult) & $12.00 (child)

Call 2423000 ext 7811

S

Saffron Cafe

24th-31st August: Introduction to the Ala Carte Buffet @ $10

1st September onwards: Full Ala Carte Sungkai Buffet @ $22

Call 2235888

Seafood Paradise

Sungkai Buffet @ $9.90 (adults) $5 (child)

Call 2231788 / 8788934 / 8830189

Seasons Restaurant

ASEAN Ramadhan Buffet Dinner @ $26 (Adult) & $14 (Child)

Call 2422291/2/3

Seri Anjung Restaurant & Catering

Sungkai Buffet @ $8 (adult), $4 (children 6 – 12 years old)

Call 2222776 / 8989766

Serikandi KB

Ramadhan Buffet Dinner @ $11.90 (adult) & $6.00 (child)

Call 3332862 or 8118860

Serikandi Kiulap

Ramadhan Buffet Dinner @ $10.90 (adult) & $5.90 (child)

Call 2460462 or 8857458

Shifa Isdha Cafe

Sungkai Buffet @ $8.00 (adult) & $5.00 (child)

Call 885 0081

Shikai Restaurant

Special Ramadhan Promotion Menus @ $

Menu A: Half-portion of Roasted Duck, Curry Sliced Fish or Chicken, Baby Kalian with Garlic and Fried Rice with Egg.

Menu B: Roasted Spring Chicken, Curry Sliced Fish, Bean Sprout with Salted Fish, Duck or Chicken Sushi and Rice.

Call 245 6222

Soto Rindu

Sungkai Buffet @ Giant: $7 (adult), $5 (child),

Sungkai Buffet @ Sengkurong: $6 (adult) $4 (child)

Call 8790579 / 2671040

Swensen’s Cafe & Restaurant

Sungkai Buffet @ $12.80 (adult), $8.80 (child)

Call 2451864

T

Takara Japanese Restaurant

Ramadhan Special: 20% discount.

Call 2450180

Tandoor.com

Sungkai Buffet @ $19.90 (adult) $14.90 (child)

Call 2450182

Tanjung Selera Sungkai Buffet

Sungkai Buffet @ $7.50 (adult) $5 (child)

Call 2661810 / 8770786

Tarindak Restaurant

Sungkai Buffet @ $20 (adult), $10 (child).

Call 2612500

Tarindak d’Seni Restaurant

Sungkai Buffet @ $25 (adult), $10 (child)

Call 2240422

*Review available here.

Tasek Brasserie, Sheraton Utama Hotel.

Sungkai Buffet @ $24 + 10% discount (adult) $12 + 10% discount (child)

Call 2244272

Taurean Cafe

Sungkai Buffet @ $9.90 (adult) $5.90 (child)

Call 2456389

TT Blues Cafe

Ramadhan Promotions: 50% any food and drinks

Call 2424527

Twelv Cafe & Restaurant

Premium Malay Buffet @ $14 (adult) & $6 (child)

The Gourmet Spread @ $16 (adult) & $6 (child)

Call 223 9771

V

Vanda Restaurant, Orchid Garden Hotel

Weekend Dim Sum & Steamboat Sahur @ $18.80 (adult) & $9.80 (child between 5 yrs and 12 yrs)

10:00pm to 2:00am Fridays & Saturdays only

Call 2335544 ext. 8023

Villa Mauri

Eat all you can @ $30.00 (adult) & $20.00 (child)

Call 233 5585

*Review available here.

Vintage Rose Cafe

Sungkai Buffet Nusantara @ $13.90 (adult) & $10.90 (child)

Friday special: Unlimited pasta and roasted items @ $18.90

Call 2233688

W

Wiwan Restaurant and Cafe

Sungkai Buffet @ $6 (adult), $4 (child).

Call 3335010

Wywy Restaurant

Sungkai Buffet @ $5.00 (adult) & $3.50 (child)

Call 2660196(Sengkurong), 2652557 (Bengkurong), 3335140 (KB), 2334301 (Lambak) 0r 4220277 (Tutong)

Z

Zaika Restaurant

Sungkai Bufet @ $17 (adults) & $8.50 (child)

Call 3347455

Every year, the Goldiana Cafe of Orchid Garden Hotel is famous for holding one of the most epic sungkai buffets in the sultanate. Last night was no exception. If you would really like to conquer all the food stalls, you need to have a plan. Haha! Mine was to assemble small bites on my plate of food, according to its originating cuisine.

From left to right: Potato Croquette, Vegetable Canneloni and Roast Beef with Gravy.

1. First course: Western Plate. Yummers. Potato went really well with the beef!

From left: Shrimp & Dragonfruit Salad, Warm Melon Salad, Rojak, Potato Salad, Corn Salad, Sambal Squid

2. Second Course Which Was Supposed To Be First Course: Well yea, you can see where my priorities lie. Beef first, vegetables later. Plate was rather mediocre, but rojak was awesome.

Magic pot

3. Third course was my FAVORITE! It was sooooo good and simple and it’s called the Taiping Style Claypot Rice. The lady who was serving this stall was very sweet. She went “HI HI~”. So dear! Hehehe.

In it was a decent sized piece of chicken which went FLOOF underneath my fork because it was sooooooo tender, and giant mushrooms! I believe they were all braised in the dark coloured sauce on very very low heat for a very very long time to get to that texture and taste. So good! This I believe was the star of the night. Delicious!

4. Old English Style Pumpkin Soup and Bread Roll. Well, I don’t have a decent photo of this. But it was nice. A little bit thin, but flavoursome. Then again, u can’t really mess up pumpkin soup!

5. Fifth Course: Fish and Wedges served with Tartare Sauce. The stall actually called it Traditional Cooked Fish. Nyeh. Anyway, this was nice too. Simple and filling.

Extra crispy apam balik.

6. Sixth Course: Apam Balik. This was sooooo good! Not too sweet, had the usual peanuts and milk in the filling and also sweet corn! Soooo good! Make sure u ask for extra crispy because that is the only way to eat it.

DROOL~~~!!!

7. Seventh and Final Course. Simple fare of bananas dipped in dark chocolate. Which I washed down with a hot cup of teh tarek. Alhamdullillah.

Remember to Love Food and Hate Waste!

Sungkai Buffet

$21.80 per person.

$13.80 for children ages 5-12

For reservations:

Call 2335544 ext. 8023

More information click here.

Bridex in Jerudong this year was a lot of fun for me and boyfriend. He likes toys and I like men in uniform so together we have reached a mutual understanding. Bought the 2.30pm ticket on Friday, 14th August.

Got on them shuttle bus.

Felt quite confused initially because didn’t know where the bus was going to take us. Brought us to the highway! Didn’t know Jerudong had many shortcuts. Hehehe, otherwise we would’ve gone by car!

Had to walk a bit before we got to the main building. Lazy! But weather was awesomely sunny and windy so didn’t mind one bit.

Then had to queue up for security checks. Went through metal detectors to make sure we didn’t bring anything weaponny, or maybe they’re actually just curious as to how many secret piercings Bruneians have on their bodies? Also screened for temperature. Too hot, too cold?

Was very very excited to see THE DOME!!!

Took photos with fake and handsome militarymen in uniform.

Took photos with real militarymen (jet fighter pilots, not so dashing as the dummies but still quite handsome) in uniform!

Wore uniforms worn usually by militarymen. Above is a bullet proof jacket worn by men in combat in the jungle. Surprisingly very light. Will not wear as fashion statement.

The one below is the mask I should’ve worn during the ISA protests in KL hahahaha. Can’t really breathe in in comfortably, but hey, I guess comfort is the last thing one thinks of when faced with deadly physically harming gases, or anthraxes!

What are we watching?

Well not aliens. But close.

Walk further down from the building, is the sandy beach, where the helicopters and whatnots are doing military stuff-ish things. It’s all very GI Joe. Hehe.

SWAT on the roof, ready for anything. Cool right? Afterwards, they all scaled down the building in 15 seconds without a noise! Thought that was awesome. Heheh, can’t say the same about the drill in Sheraton Hotel. Ah well, mistakes happen!

Tadaaaah! A tank! There’s me pretending to be a spy.

Not successful because after that, the two guys on top of the tank went, HI MAURINA!!! Hehehe. Yes, apparently friends of mine. What are the odds!

People are arranged in a row behind me. Had no idea why, so took a photo! I like this photo, very LOMO-ish.

Then it was time to go home. Was scary going on the bus. Everyone was pushing and shoving and I believe my ass got groped. Hmm! Well actually it wasn’t groped but wouldn’t it be scandalous it it was? Anyway, we got lucky because then a bus stopped right in front of us! Poor others had to wait. It was a very lucky day for me, Alhamdulillah!

Fun stuff. Looking forward to next year’s!

Or is it that I don’t know how to manage my time? I have a few posts lined up for you people:

• Continuation of my Malaysia Tour post!
• BRIDEX 09 (So last week but I thought the event was rather blogworthy) – Blog post here!
• My makeup session with Naqiyah Ishaaq. – Blog post here!
• Somehow I need to get BERSATU’s logo on my sidebar. Because apparently was nominated as Ketua Bureau of Teknologi Maklumat? Or something. I’m really quite excited. Would like to work on a new site, or might just keep the old one but to revamp it with some new skins and add some more widgets to enhance it. Grr, I don’t like Blogger.
• And my alter ego foodie porn blog needs to be updated with many many photos of Malaysian origins!

Will get around to updating this week! I’ve been abandoning you! Hehe.

Oh, I also owe sungkai dates for many people. I already have pretty much the whole of this week sungkais planned for reviews, so please look out for them over the next few days for sungkainspiration.

Which reminds me, I haven’t even gone on a proper anniversary sungkai with Boyfriend. Aiyayaiiii! Where are my priorities!

Ok gotta run. Many errands to run today and my dad has asked me to clear my junk from the make-shift storeroom cum guest surau downstairs. I will do that tonight, I must!

I NEED MAXIMISE MY TIME!!! I need to gain back my awesome multitasking capabilities!