Online shopping craze featuring PGmall

Gone are the days when we have to walk under the hot sun from shops to shops in order to purchase goods and services. Online shopping platforms bring everything you need to your door step with just a few mouse clicks.

PGmall is an flourishing online shopping platform based in Malaysia. It's unique as it benefits both buyers and sellers.

The buyers get the best price. Everyday hot sales bring you your favorite goods only at a fraction of the price, mostly 50% off! I found my favorite Laneige sleeping mask at RM56.85 for example. A deal you can't find anywhere else.

The range of products is also extensive, not losing to other established online shopping app eg Lazada and 11street. You name it, they have it. Shoppers pay using paper gold under their public gold account. Gold as an universal exchange medium allows consumers to get the highest purchasing power. That's the really interesting part. Some merchants also provide free shipping.

Merchants, on the other hand, get to advertise and sell for free. There may be a small amount of transaction fee charged in the future. It's totally FOC at the moment because it's launching! It's truly Malaysian because you can find Malaysian products under its own category. Great for small and medium sized enterprises just starting out. Lower cost for merchants also mean cheaper price tags!

Try PGmall now for exciting deals whether you are selling or buying!

Breakfast and brunch in Kluang @ Tangkak beef and RailCoffee

It's been 2 months since we last visited my hometown. Time flies. A huge foodie himself, hubby is always so eager to explore yummy eateries.

I'm not exaggerating when I say Tangkak beef has the best beef noodles we have ever had, not just the best in town! It originated from Tangkak, Johore but has become so famous in Kluang as well.

Look at the variety of beef dishes they serve. Hoping to return and try their beef kut teh.

Look at this glorious bowl of beef noodles. We ordered 濑粉 (a type of pasta made from rice flour) just because this is the most traditional way to have beef noodles.The soup, is sweet and not too overpowered by the beef taste.

And beef brisket is the best cut to go with it. It's braised so perfectly that it just dissolves in the mouth, releasing the rich flavor of the piece of meat.

Dipped the beef pieces in their special chilli sauce that tastes a bit soury to further enhance the flavor.

The soup is topped with this secret shallot based condiment.

It's such a disappointment that they weren't serving beef balls and raw beef slices on the day though.

On the other hand, Coffee lovers like us can never miss out starting the day with a cuppa at RailCoffee Kluang. It's just located in the railway station itself. Be ready to fight for seats because this place is always full.

This cup of Kopi C has come a long way. The bitter and aromatic coffee is the favourite of many.

Since 1938, this shop has been serving the locals and travelers their signature coffee and charcoal toasted bread. Now, people from in and out of the country flock to this spot everyday to reminisce this traditional breakfast. Simple yet elegant.

Their round toasted bun sandwiches a thick slice of melting butter and kaya (coconut and screwpine spread) that's the breakfast to have in Malaysia.

We rate these two must trys 8/10!

Staycation at PNB Perdana Hotel and Suites on the park

Staycation has become our frequent adventure away from home after baby Bing was born. It's no longer suffice for a hotel need to function as a bedroom. What we are looking for is a fun getaway for our family of three.

PNB Perdana Hotel and Suites on the park fits the bill. 

Located just next to ampang park LRT, we could travel around KL city without congestion. That's the Saturday when I brought baby Bing alone all the way to enjoy Redcups coffee at paradigm mall.

The deluxe suite is great for a small family. Walking in and one will be greeted by a small but compact and functional kitchen. It's equipped with a standard size fridge, microwave and 2 stove tops. Cutleries and crockeries are also available. .

The bedroom is just next to the kitchen with en suite bathroom. It has a wonderfully soft and fluffy king sized bed and a walk-in wardrobe with a safe. It can also easily fit another single mattress for baby Bing but I forgot to bring his travel mattress.

The bathroom is clean and the bath tub is obviously the focus. This is because baby Bing loves to play in bath tubs at least twice a day. Comparing with swimming pool, we usually prefer to let him play in bath tubs because the water is warmer and cleaner, the tub is safer and easier for us to supervise his play, as well as his own preference.

The bedroom has a huge wooden window that directly visualise the living area. It gives the place a very kampung feel but the overall design is modern. Baby Bing at 16 months of age has already learnt how to switch on the television using the remote control without me demonstrating it.

The view outside is of a concrete jungle. Fairly impressive mountains of private residences and office buildings.

The selection of breakfast buffet was also fairly wide and tasty. Particularly love their DIY charcoal toasted bread.

Unfortunately this time round baby Bing is still having a cold so no pool frolicking fun. But he did have his share of fun at the playground.

Overall, we rate the staycation experience 8/10. Very family friendly and affordable.

Seafood feasting at Ana Ikan Bakar

If you haven't had seafood here, you haven't been to kuantan. And Ana Ikan Bakar Petai is one of the favorite hangout places. From a small shoplot until triple its size, one should not be surprised at how good the food here is. Even though there are easily twenty similar outlets around the Tanjung Lumpur area, this restaurant is always crowded.

From baked fish, fried sotong to Satar, they also sell all-time favorite like keropok lekor and tomyum. Look at the amount of fresh seafood you can choose from-- fish, prawns, squid, shellfish (by the time we reached at 6.30pm, half of the seafood was already gone! That's how popular it is)

I like how their baby chair is made from stainless steel. So easy to clean. It's also one of the cleanest baby chair I have ever seen outside. They also have a on-site playground. At least baby Bing had fun running up and down the slides instead of clinging onto mommy during dinner. But that also means mommy and daddy have to play tag team.

Their signature baked fish. The fish was wrapped in banana leaves and baked till it's slightly charred on the skin but still juicy inside. The fish was also coated in fragrant sambal petai before baking. There are 3 unique dipping sauce -- lime, Birdseye chilli with soy sauce and chilli belacan which brings out the flavor even more.

Ikan siakap masak tiga rasa. The fish was deep fried to extreme crispiness and golden color before drizzled with sweet and spicy sauce. It's very appetizing when all these flavors combine.

Deep fried tempura squid. The squid was fried with just the right duration until the flour turns into a pale yellow color while the inside is just cooked.

Accompany all these with a cup of refreshing coconut shake topped with vanilla icecream.

All these goodness for RM140 only. Fairly cheap for kuantan standard yet taste amazing. Worth trying if it's your first time in kuantan.

Our verdict 7/10!

All-time favorite curry noodles at Aman Kopitiam

One glance at the exterior, one may just dismiss the shop as being old and unattractive. But it's unusually crowded during breakfast and weekend. So we went to find out the secret behind the long queues.

Aman Kopitiam is located opposite to KCDC private hospital. We were early on a Saturday morning so it wasn't crowded yet.

There's a good variety of stuffed tofu, vegetables and other ingredients made fresh to go with the yummy noodles. They use conventional yellow noodles here.

So what do we think about the food?

The noodles mixed with caramel sauce tasted rich and springy. The noodles in the curry gravy, on the other hand, went really harmoniously with the other ingredients.

The curry itself, on the other hand, was not overpowering or overly oily. But it just brought the whole noodle dish into a wholesome experience. The plain noodle soup was disappointing though-- soup was fairly bland.

Malaysians love having their food with chilli or sauces. The sambal here on the right of the photo was absolutely amazing. Not too spicy yet adding into the richness of the curry soup. The blended chilli was ethereally equally powerful in waking up the senses.

Definitely coming back for more in the future. Our verdict 6.5/10.

Surprise gift in the mail featuring Printcious

Those who have read my last post about customising gifts by Printcious would have shared my open secret to give the unsuspecting husband a surprise gift. Being so busy, he hasn't had a clue to read my previous blogpost before the gift arrived on my doorstep.

Tada! Our customised throw pillow!

What's so special about this pillow? It commemorates our first trip overseas as a family of three. This photo was taken at the Edinburgh castle. Those who have children will know it's not easy to bring a toddler on a long haul flight as well as an overseas trip, especially during autumn as it's cold.

The planning required and the amount of luggage is considerable. But we really want to bring baby Bing along. After our last trip to India without him, he was so left out and sad when we video called him.

Here's to the motto 'born to travel, forced to work!' Ryan is an avid traveller whereas I'm a more indoor and stay at home person. He has taught me what traveling can teach and shape a person's character. And I have learnt to love traveling as well. Here's to many more years of traveling to come as a family!

We even managed to get baby Bing to pose for a family photo with the gift.

We are very satisfied with the quality of the pillow. Sky blue is our favorite colour and brings about a sense of peace and serenity. The material of the pillow cover is silky to touch. And the whole pillow is oh just so cuddly.

The other feature that we really like is that the pillow cover can be removed. This is important especially for families with young children as it can be washed in case of soilage. Oh well, baby Bing has the tendency to give everything his signature bite or kiss which is full of salivary goodness.

One would have thought customised items will take quite long to make and deliver. However, we are pleasantly surprised at how fast the gift arrived in mail. It only took a mere 6 days for something so special to be delivered.

Speaking of which, I have a few more special occasions lining up for the coming weeks. Why not design another gift with personal touch?

Happy dim sum treats

When we have nothing planned, the best thing is to eat our hearts out! Having wonderful dim sums is definitely a good option. I have tried these 3 places recently and find their food worth having.

Elegant inn Hong Kong cuisine

Now this is what we call the ultimate dim sum place. It's one of the best dim sums we have ever had in our lives- gold standard being Tim Ho Wan in Hong Kong. 

Smooth and springy cheong fan filled with juicy char siew. Stir fry carrot cake with crunchy bean sprouts which always smell amazing. Liu sha bun that really explodes and release all these great salty egg paste to saturate the taste buds. Their buns and pumpkin soup with sago are equally refreshing.

Other guides for yum cha places in Hong Kong

Kong Mah restaurant

Located in kampung sungai buloh, it's in the midst of the hustle bustle of various Chinese eateries in the area. They serve food at god speed. Everything is steamy hot. We feel a bit overwhelmed with the wide choices. Their dim sum is very fresh and definitely not the 'ready made frozen types'.

 Our favorite is the prawn dumplings with skin so springy and prawns so crunchy. But baby Bing's favourite is cheong fan which I thought was a tad too soft and squishy. They also recently upgraded to air-conditioned dining area.

Yong Xiang restaurant

We enjoy dining here because the environment is cosy, decoration modern and food fairly tasty. I'll say there are not many dim sum places in kuantan and this is one of the most decent ones.

The selection of dim sum is not as wide but they are full of flavor and order to make. Besides that, one can also order char siew, wanton, roast pork, as well as other rice and noodle dishes. I really recommend the butter chicken which is so fragrant and creamy with the scent of curry leaves.

If you crave for some good and delicate teatime, do try out one of these outlets and let me know what you think about them. Enjoy!

Caring for your skin with Virgin coconut oil featuring TropikaBeauty

Virgin coconut oil has long been reputed to have good skin and hair care effects. It's extracted from fresh coconut milk without using heat via cold compression or fermentation. It's a great moisturiser. 

Besides that, it contains lauric acid which has antibacterial and disinfectant properties hence preventing blemishes.

Because it's not refined, Virgin coconut oil retains high levels of vitamin E and minerals, as well as it's antioxidant priorities. And they smell fantastically coconut (really rejuvenating and relaxing).

Coconut is very easily available in a tropical country like Malaysia. Therefore it tends to be cheaper comparing to overseas.

TropikaBeauty came up with a series of skincare and haircare products not only suitable for adults, but also mild enough to be used in babies.

Tropika face cleansing oil

I have been searching for a good and natural makeup remover. This cleansing oil comes in liquid oil form. When applied onto dry skin, it removes makeup so effortlessly and thoroughly. Even for waterproof makeup. At the same time, the oil moisturisers the skin and avoids overdrying.

Tropika baby herbal cream

Baby Bing has been suffering from post viral cough and post nasal drip. And he really vomits sometimes, especially at night when it's cold. Poor boy. This cream is really great at soothing him. Besides coconut oil, it also has ginger, eucalyptus and menthol. We applied this on his chest and woila no more coughing at night!

Tropika baby hair and body coconut and lavender oil

Nowadays, even baby has aromatherapy and massage. This oil makes baby Bing smell great. I applied it on his hair because it's quite dry after shampooing. Even after playing when he sweated so much.

If you followed my previous blogpost, you will understand that lavender essential oil is also good for ezcema.

For babies who have sensitive skin--
One tip about trying new products for baby is only try one product at a time and use a patch of skin eg back of the hand to try first. After a day if there's no reaction then it's safe.

That's all for all the benefits of Virgin coconut oil. Stay tuned for more skincare and haircare tips.

Healthy snacking with signature market

Welcome back to the healthy eating series. As a breastfeeding mother, I'm constantly hungry. I'm sure those who breastfeed or have friends who breastfeed will understand. So I need lots of snacks. 

It's very easy to fall into the trap of taking unhealthy snacks such as chocolates, cookies, doughnuts and cakes because they give instant gratification. So, what snacks are healthy?

 Ingredients- low sugar, low salt, low calories, high minerals and vitamins, high fibre

 Way of cooking-Choose baked instead of fried

 Examples will be nuts and grains, yoghurt, vegetables and fruits, occasional dark chocolate is ok.

So one may argue it takes too much effort to prepare these snacks and they may be less tasty than our conventional bread and Kueh (which have high GI index) 

It's not easy to find instant snacks that fit the above criteria after a while. I chanced upon signature market while googling one fine day. It's based in Malaysia but also has products imported from the US.

 It's so easy to get organic products using signature market at a fraction of the price. Look at the varieties they offer. Not only can I get adult snacks, I can also get snacks for baby Bing! Signature market also has some household products.

 Got my parcel a week later. Full of yummy goodness. Very neatly packed.

 Baby Bing was also excited to open the parcel. Items received in perfect condition.

Tada! Resealable snack packs -white sesame energy squares, garlic bread cashew and cranberry super seeds trail mix. One can also choose different combinations of seeds and nuts if desired. Since our last try on ostricare yogurt pieces, baby Bing is in love. So there's more Happy Baby yoggis this time round.

The blueberry granola mix opens up just like a carton of milk. And can reseal on its own. Lots of GoNatural breakfast bars to last me during long clinic days. Otherwise I might just munch on cookies or cream filled bread which have way too much sugar and calories.

 Last but not least, pancake mix that will last us a few months. Signature market was also thoughtful because the eucalyptus laundry liquid was sealed separately in order to prevent leakage.

 Alright that's all for the post about healthy snacking because it's teatime! Here's my first yoghurt granola with cranraisin during teatime. Full of crunchy and fruity awesomeness :)