Boat Noodle - Empire Damansara

Empire Damansara is a very new building in Damansara Perdana, it has become one of the popular hangout place since its opening on December 2013. One of the most popular restaurant here recently is the Boat Noodle where you see people taking photos with stacks of bowl.

The wait is ridiculously long due to the high demand and the small places which doesn’t accommodate much people. We’ve waited for about 30 minutes on the very limited chairs provided outside the restaurant. The price of the noodle is RM1.90 per bowl, don’t be surprise because that small bowl of noodle definitely worth less than RM1.90! This is how they tease people by stating the level status, so if you manage to finished 30 bowls you’ll get a big round of applause. (Note: Paying RM1.90 x 30 =RM57)

I won’t say the noodle is bad, in fact the food is quite good, but I don’t enjoy at all. For a heavy eater like me, obviously that one bowl of noodle is enough for ‘one shot’ only! You can definitely imagine how small portion it is!

TIP: If you want to enjoy the food more, I suggest you to order 5 bowls one shot, pour all the 5 bowls of noodle into 1 and eat.

Overall, the food is good, the wait is long, the portion is small. You judge it. The restaurant did sell a good concept!!

【New Zealand - 20 days itinerary】

New Zealand is a country best visit with your friends *perhaps

If you enjoy road-trip, this is the country to be

Do it with 3 of your friends, as 4 perfectly fit in one car,

otherwise, you'll have to pay more :D

So here's a map pinpoint the cities & towns you will have to stop by,

well, you may still skip some of the town if you wish to,

just make sure to check the travelling hours from one place to another before you make your decision, as a long roadtrip is really tiring with the speed limit of 100km/h & 50km/h when you entering a town. T.T

Accommodation

You can easily book the youth hostel over the country, the one i stayed is YHA (Youth Hostel Association), sign up for their 1 year membership which can be amazingly used internationally! (I'd tried using it in China, and i did get discount)

So why sign up the membership it's simply because you get discount for all of the accommodation you booked with YHA, i think it's 10% per night? Well, calculating my stay in New Zealand is 20 days which is 18 nights plus minus, one person per night in YHA is about $35 (app. MYR100)...with 10% discount for 18 nights, i'll let you do the math :)

Car Rental
I make my car rental with Apex, well, not much of problems, my Malaysian Driving License is valid, and they've got a lot pick-up and drop-off points all over the country.

I started my journey from Auckland, drive all the way down to South Island and return my car in Christchurch Airport and take a flight back to Auckland and continue another journey up North to Bay of Islands.

Foods
I don't really think that there's a New Zealand's specialty except for pies...yes, pie and Fish & Chips (mostly you have to pay for sauces 50 cents per pack), so i wonder if that's the western eating habit, i can't really finish the fish & chips without any sauce!

Eating outside in a restaurant is really expensive, it costs about $17 - $20 per person for lunch (and those are just lunch set promotion), and it definitely cost for more dinner. Here, that's the benefits of travelling with parents, my mum cooked almost every night, did the grocery in their supermarket and the amazing YHA has a big kitchen where you can cook your dinner, everyone seems to cook their own foods there.

Sightseeing
Sightseeing spots and attractions have an entrance fees, and the fees ain't cheap!! So be prepare to pay a pile of money for tourists attractions spots.

So these are the basics i can tell,

i'll post more about which place is worth visiting and which is not on my following posts,

and to be honest, if you're planning a short trip, don't waste your time!

20 days is not even enough for me to cover the whole country,

so do it in ONE or TWO months will be good,

so what? Start saving then...*grin

【Seoul - Must Eat】

I have friends went to South Korea following tour telling me...

foods in Korea..sucks!

Therefore, I'm here writing this...to fight back! *grin

If you tell me foods in Korea sucks, i might have to tell you,

you've never really tasted Korean Foods!!

Here we go...let's start the crave...

1. Pork Stew Soup ( Must TRY!!)

First, I'd posted about a guesthouse i stayed in Seoul on my previous post, which is Seoulwise Guesthouse, so we accidentally found this restaurant during our way back to the guesthouse, we're hungry & starving after one walking day, so just walked into the restaurant and set down, if you're lucky, you met that one lady that speaks mandarin, but if you're not, i'm sorry, you'll have to order by pointing at the picture, though there's only a few choice, not too worry about it =)

Too bad, I don't know what's the name of the restaurant as it's all in Korean, but here's the map i got from Seoulwise Guesthouse & i edited a bit.

Go to Metro Station Hongik Univ. and proceed to Exit 2 as you can see on the map, follow the black dots, i'm not sure whether the construction is still there or not, but i'm pretty sure there's a petrol station on your right as you walk by, when you see a bar on your left, you're just a few step away from the restaurant, and yes, the restaurant is right at the corner!!

2. Spicy Octopus

Can't help with this one, was brought to this restaurant by a friend, it's at Ewha University Station, go to this station and maybe you'll able to find the restaurant while you're shopping around, it's somewhere next to a haircut shop on a building on second floor, well, i guess you can get this spicy octopus anywhere, just try it if you happens to spot any restaurant selling it!!

3. Gyoza (Myeong Dong)

This is another MUST-TRY foods!! Click on to this link, there's a good guide on how to go to this restaurant, if you're there during lunch or dinner hours, be prepare yourself to wait in a long queue!! :D



4. Yeolbong Jjimdak (Se7en Restaurant)

This is really good for the one who loves spicy foods!! Follow this link for a good guide to this restaurant located at Hong Dae!! There's a few branches, if you really wanna go, search for it, i believe fans will have posted a lot of guide to this restaurant! :D

Remember to look out for this CHICKEN little!! xD

4. Samgyetang (Ginseng Chicken Soup with rice)

I guess this is one of the famous food in Korea for visitors, and this is one expensive meal i've ever had! I think it's about 14,000 - 20,000 krw for one bowl, well, it's ginseng, you get what you paid for! :) I've heard alot of people writing about the queue, but the time i went in the morning, there was NO QUEUE AT ALL!

For direction, click here!

4. Smokey Saloon Burger (Itaewon)

This is a burger restaurant i read it from a magazine, a restaurant recommended by BIGBANG member - TAEYANG! So, as a super duper VIP, i'd to visit this restaurant no matter how (in a way hoping to meet any BIGBANG members there *grin), but the burger here is absolutely good!!

Try the Ambulance burger, recommended by alot of bloggers, average cost per person is 9,000 - 10,000 krw (app. MYR33).

For direction, click here!

5. Abiko Curry House

This is another restaurant recommended by BIGBANG! There's a few branches, the one i went is in Myeong Dong, i can't seems to find the branch located in Hong Dae.

Whether you believe me or not, the curry rice here is even nicer than the one i tasted in Japan!! :D Here, you get to choose the spicy level from 1 to 5, i chose level 4 and i almost burned my tongue out!! Sorry, can't seems to find a good guide to this restaurant, that's my next to do during my second visit, i'm gonna find the branch in HongDae!

Oh ya!! Just to let you all know,

look for this sign if you have no idea what to eat in Seoul,

it's a 'Good Restaurant' sign,

an award from the Korean Government for the best restaurants.