BiG Apple Donuts & Coffee

OMG OMG OMG! This was how I felt when I sunk my piggie teeth onto their soft donuts! I had never been a big fan of donuts but after trying these, OMG, I dont ever wanna eat Dunkin's or ordinary donuts anymore!

Though I have never tried the well-gushed Krispy Kremes, but i can say that Big Apple's is here to satiate that donuts tastebuds of ours. They are so the very FLUFFY!!! and dont have that floury and plastic taste like Dunkins. Very fresh, and the aroma will lead you from the flea market streets on to their shop, which located quite hidden from view. Behind TGIF.

Their very nicely presentation box! I like! Yes, again, I am a sucker for good presentations * :P *

They do a bit less choices than Dunkins, but fret not, most of the flavors here tastes good nonetheless! We chose a box of 6 to share - from top left, clockwise - green tea, oreo, vanilla creme, choco pops, oreo again and vanilla peanut butter, i tink. We like the Oreo ones the most, but actually all of them nice oso la... We oso got the complimentary free donut with our drink, which they gave us the glazed donut - that one is very good too!

At the side of the box, there is this advertisement to promote their donuts, which are very well written! I know this pic is a bit blur, but go check it out the next time you buy their donuts - the people who wrote it memang pandai with words - I suka ! * LOL *

Definitely will return my partronage - like the donuts a lot despite they are loaded with sugar and huge amount of empty calories! * :P * A bit pricey at rm2 for one donut - that is not of big size sumore, but worth the taste it brings...

Rate: Food 8.5 /10, Service 6.5/10, Price 4.5 /10

My Loot from Viet & Spore!

Okay, guys! I shall start on to post about my trip to Viet and Spore despite part by part as I still have yet to receive all pics from others. Be patient ya! * :P * But I shall start with what I've managed to lugged all the way back to Msia * LOL *

Being a * ahem! * partial shopaholic * innocent PQ *, I must see every shop and must buy something * :P * Hence, shopping and travelling with me requires a teeny weeny bit more of patience * :P * Ya what, some more I have a bit of those Japanese tourist syndrome, where I must take pics of everything I saw * :P * and Kiasu-ism propelled me to not miss anything * wink! *

Vietnam, despite words that things are cheap there, well, werent so cheap to my point of wallet. Quite similar to Msia actually, maybe a few ringgit cheaper and many can be found in Msia too, hence I dont see the need to purchase much. With limitations on my financial aspect, I tend to be a lil more selective on my shopping agenda and decided to buy on 2 criteria ;

1. It is uniquely found in that place and cant be bought in Malaysia;

1. It is cheaper than in Malaysia.

There are shops everywhere in Hanoi, with most of them not on fixed price system, so haggle your mouth off! And i tell you, its no easy business trying to haggle when you dont speak their language, especially when you are a tourist, they reluctant to give a good offer and expecting you to be an easy chunk of meat to slice off. Food are relatively cheap though. Another thing is that, with it still in the dominant grasp of war recovery period despite the economic arising, there arent many things exactly attractive to buy ( to me that is) with most of the stuff sold are those tourist-sy souvenir items. But one can still buy a lot of stuff, that is with the determination and patience to brave through the crowded streets looking into shops and take the leap of trying to haggle for the best price. My itinerary there in Hanoi did not include much time for me to scour the shops, hence I focused more in absorbing the scenery and culture.

However, I had tremendous fun shopping in Spore! OMG, everything I saw, I wanna own * :P * but too bad I was on a tight budget, hence there were limited stuff I can buy. Though no worries, I now know what and where to buy, hence my next trip to Spore I will kasi sapu habis-habisan sama dia! * muahahahaha! * Maybe what Wai Aik said is true - I am more suited to travel to developed nations as I like to shop so much * heehee *

Singapore is densely populated with shopping places, from major shopping complexes to the neighbourhood malls. For the 1st time in my life, I actually felt that I had enough of shopping malls already! I dont even have much time to stay in one mall to another, hence i sort of mall-hop, look around 2-3 floors and moved to another * :P * I MUST go back to Spore sometime!!! * LOL *

Most of the stuff sold in Spore is more or less similar to Msia after the currency conversion, though some stuff are relatively cheaper there. If one earns Spore dollars, well, things are rather cheap to them. Like for a Malaysian, to buy a pair of basic heels, not of branded or good quality, it costs about rm50-rm80, but in Spore, a similar pair will set you back at about less than 35 SGD, which is of much BETTER quality than the major V brand in Msia * sigh * I must go back some time soon! * :P * Anyone?

I actually went to Hanoi with one luggage and brought an extra one back! * :P *A very big one some more! * LOL * Rather cheap, about rm50 * hehehe * More space for me to buy more things! * howling * No la, actually, the luggage I initially used had a broken wheel, so I though it would be safer for me to get a new one, especially when the luggage definitely will get heavier on the return trip * :P * and I still hafta lug my stuff in Spore before heading home to Msia, so better a new one.

All the cutesy stuff I bought! * heehee * And a red handbag from Hanoi which costs less than rm30 * heehee * I managed to find some of those "ears" I collecting from Spore which were rather cheap. Yes, I brought home paper products, all the way from Hanoi. Hey, it were cheap ok! * :) *

My Evita Peroni findings! OMG, its damn cheap in Spore, wei! Each of these are SGD 19.90 + 20% off some more! * swoon! * In Malaysia, it can easily cost rm70 above, with most stuff now in Evita Msia priced at rm 70 upwards.

Bought blusher at the duty free area in Changi Airport - SGD 29.40. Much cheaper there.

Original CDs at less than SGC 10.00 each! OMG!

Seashell necklaces from Halong Bay, Vietnam as souvenirs.

Yarns! Cheap-cheap! * :P *

Heels at SGD 19.90 and Charles & Keith handbag at SGD 29.90! * heehee * The bag I wanna use for work later and as I only had enough allocation of $$$ to choose between a Charles & Keith heels or bag, I chose the latter cos I really need a working bag and since I had a hard time finding one I actually like in Msia, I just get it la * :P * The heels will have to wait till my next trip * hehehe *

Straw sandals from Hanoi - souvenirs.

Piggy Banks! Oh, I just couldnt resist these!!! I initially saw this when I was in a cab in Hanoi, and I actually squeeked in delight! As Vietnam has a lot of peddlars selling things on small carts, motorcycles or bicycles, I saw this ah poh's bicycle is LOADED with these pigs!!! So cute leh! I nearly wanted to jump out of the cab to buy them! Thankfully I found them on sale at a Hypermarket there and its cheap too! 10000 Dong! About rm 2.25... I like them so much, I actually bought FOUR of them, one for myself, and the others for my cheemuis!

Some of the snacks I bought in Spore. Wanted to eat them while I was there, but somehow forgotten and brought home. Very nice to eat leh!

Japanese Cookie and Dorayaki! Bought from Takashimaya, Spore - DAMN, GILA SEDAP! I love the Japanese cookie a lot! But it despite very sweet, cuts your tongue at a hefty about rm6-7 for one small cookie. But to me, worth every sen! * hehehe *

These are the stuff I bought la, tak banyak actually * :P * Bought quite a lot of food stuff from Vietnam too, but forgot to take pics of them - mostly those local candies and cookies stuff, which are rather unique to me.

What is certain is - Must save more $$$ to go for the next Spore sale! Who's with me? * :P *

Headache...

Am in the process of uploading pics of my Vietnam and Spore trip... Headache ah...

Should I post all in blogger? Which will take million ages to load... Or shall I ask those who are interested to view it in Multiply? Which this option will allow you all to view it without much explanation from me...

* sigh... * What is the best solution leh? * sigh... *

Buddhist Culture & Art Festival 2007

Last Thurday, I paid a visit to the Buddhist Culture & Art Festival 2007 at Mines International Convention Centre. I had a truly good time there, with many informative materials about Buddhism as well as photo galleries ( related to Buddhism, of course).

I really like the way they decorate and design the exhibitions - very carefully planned and creatively displayed. One can see how thoughtful and how much effort these people paid to make the every single display. Once I stepped into the hall, I was greeted by the sweet, alluring smell of flowers, their fragrance embracing the entire hall. There were flowers EVERYWHERE! My fav!!! * heehee * And I got the opportunity to gaze at the sacred relics - Wow is the only feeling to describe them. There were also booths selling things relating to the Buddhism theme as well as free distribution of Dharma books. I was intrigued by this section where they offer the publics the chance to do some "writing mediatation" - where one can rewrite a copy of verses of a prayer while observing mindful thinking. Me Mum said this is a form of meditation to reflect upon your self and by copying the verses is one of the way to observe good karma. Will try it sometime...

Here are some of the photos I managed to take when I was not distracted by the displays... * :P *

There are Buddha images almost every where - each thoughtfully and creatively decorated. I couldnt manage to take pics of one particular display, where they place images of Buddha and his disciples in the theme similar to the Christmas decorations where the depict the story of the birth of Jesus - very innovative ...

The Wishing Lanterns! You can write your wish and stick it onto the lantern and will them to come true! * :) * It is about 2-3 stories high and it rotates slowly, shining beautiful lights.

I like how they place floating flowers in a big clay pot in one of the exhibition display booths - so pretty! And in this booth, they also have a baby Bodhi tree in a pot, where they put an image of Buddha meditating under the sacred tree - creating the scene how Buddha used to meditate under the cool shelter of the Bodhi tree in his path to seek enligtenment. Superb!

There are clay art works by Burmese (or was it Nepalese?) monks. They displayed quite a many of them and upon closer examination, each work are skillfully made and impressively intricate.

Okay - you all must be wondering why of all ppl, PQ would go for such an exhibition * :P * Well, my mum was one of the volunteers to help out at the festival. She came home gushing about how beautiful was the 3000++ stalks of lotus being flown just for this event and how she and the other volunteers had to sort, trim and prepare the flowers to be sold to the public who wish to offer the flower to the Buddha. She knows how much I like flowers ma... * heehee * and she were telling me how she was surrounded by hundreds of lotus that were to be sorted. Out of curiosity, I went to look at it myself - i tak percaya mar - and was astounded that it were true...

LOOK!!! LOTUS EVERYWHERE!!! * heehee * I was privileged to be able to go in and see this scene as this area was restricted to volunteers only * heehee * I had always admired lotus flowers ans it is certainly rare to be able to be surrounded by this many!!! Love it! White and Pink everywhere, with wafts of sweet fragrance enveloping me - heavenly!

Pretty Lotus flowers used as decoration and also sold to the public to generate donations. I like the white ones!

And like the pink ones too * :P *

More pics of the lotus flowers - these were the ones bought by the public to be offered to the Buddhas and were placed surrounding the Buddhas.

Of course, such an engrossing trip hungers the piggie's tummy * :P * To satiate the pangs, just head up to the upper floor where they housed many booths from various Buddhist organizations all over Malaysia selling vegetarian food, partly to raise some fund for their organizations. I had this fantastic vegetarian nasi lemak - sedap!!!

They gave 2 servings of vege, sambal and one serving of sambal 'vegetarian' lamb pieces. The Ah Poh who sold this dish was talking her own sweet time to pile on the servings onto the plate - ensuring each serving were equally proportioned! * :) * It took her about 3 minutes to serve one plate! * pengsan * So cute la, that Ah Poh... But this was one good plate of vegetarian nasi lemak - must be cooked by some "professional" homemakers...

I really enjoyed myself at this festival. At first, I went with sceptism, thinking it would be boring, but it certainly "enlightened" me * :) * With so much to see and explore, to read and experienced, it definitely worth the time spent and the long journey all the way to Seri Kembangan (or is it Balakong?). Must go again shall there be another such event!

SoHo

Firstly, I must apologise to all of you for not blogging about my trip to Vietnam and Spore YET - I am waiting to receive more pictures from my travel mates, sort and compile them before I load them all up to gag you guys with them! * :P *

Did anyone miss my long absence anot? Or arent you glad I am not around to bug you all? * heehee *

To ease the longing of some of you who dearly missed me * blush *, I will post an entry about this makan place I went right before my vacation. Went to have brunch at SoHo in OneU - a kind of posh style of Chinese dining place.

Ambience is, well, very posh, with the dominating color of white. Of course, price-wise, you all can guess by now. However, I feel that with that kind of price to pay, at least here they live up to the service that at least, satiates the ringgit going out. With cute and contemporary designated cutlery, impression was already worthwhile.

We mainly ate dimsum there. They have some rather unique dishes to offer as well as many Shanghai-nese style of culinary. As they have a bilingual menu, with the amateur me at reading Chinese words, I somehow find the Chinese names for some of the dishes different a lot from the English version! Amusing!

The glistening paus - named in Chinese as " tiin har taai yat pau " tipu-ed me into ordering when it in actual, suspiciously similar to the ordinary " chaarn pau " available in most dimsum restaurants. * :/ * And in the back, the egg white eggtart. Nothing impressieve about it other than the name.

The "har kaaw" and dumplings made from sticky rice. I liked the Har Kaaw! The dumpling was so-so aje... But I really like the presentation of all their dimsums! Very nicely made and served!

The Siew-Loong Paus! Yummy!!! But were a lil disappointed that some of them were "bocor" upon arrival and leaked some of the juicy sauces out... But I still think they are pretty good!

A kind of steamed glutionous sweet cake with mung bean paste in it. Aptly names "qing wa wong ji" (Frog Prince) in Chinese, was very cutely and detailedly made. Tasted a lot like "ang ku kueh" but these cost a hell lot more! * :P *

Overall, the food here is rather good. Despite the high price, it deserves a return patronage by me as I like their preentation and food * wink * No frequent visits though! * :) * Am rather broke after my long vacation * hehehe *

Rate : Food 7 /10, Ambience 7 /10, Service 6 /10, Price 4.5 /10