Feasting at Pak John Steamboat

Feeling like having halal steamboat? Introducing Pak John Steamboat at IOI city mall. It's a family friendly steamboat restaurant too.

Pak John Steamboat & BBQ Buffet IOI City Mall

Ioi Resort, 62502 Putrajaya, Selangor
03-8957 1128
https://g.co/kgs/YXTNRb
https://www.facebook.com/pakjohnioicitymall/
http://www.pakjohn.com/v2/

Priced at RM42.90++ per person, the variety and quality of food provided is definitely way much worthy. We are talking about 100+ food choices! That's why it's great for big group dining too. Because it satisfies everyone.

Each pot can be filled with a soup base. Choose from chicken soup (great for those with young children like me), miso, tomyum, prawn or curry. I should have brought more people with me because I really want to try other soup variety too. Nevermind, more excuse to visit in the near future! The pots are heated using electricity, no worries that baby Bing might be too near to an open fire source.

Firstly, look at their meat and seafood section. You name it, they have it. Scallops on a stick, scallops with shells on, prawns, soft shell crabs, squids, clams and other shellfish. I would say among my favorite is the marinated meat section. Huge slab of chicken/beef marinated with black pepper/honey/satay/hot sauce. With some simple DIY grilling, these turn into absolute delicacies.

There's also a huge range of fresh vegetables like bak Choi, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, spinach, tomatoes, pumpkin, mini corns, cauliflower, sweet corn, broccoli, Roman lettuce and kangkung. Tofu includes white tofu, tofu pok, egg tofu and crispy bean curd. Even mushrooms include champignon mushrooms, enoki, black fungus and oyster mushrooms. And of course eggs. The vegetarian options are so extensive.

Various fresh and dry noodles are also free for us to pick from.

As if that's not enough, there are also unlimited premium beef and lamb slices, abalone and smoked duck slices available upon order.

For young children who doesn't want to wait, there's also fried rice/noodles with vegetables, steam sweet corns, fried fish balls, spicy fried chicken, sausages and nuggets.

The selection of sauces is also fresh. Love the shallots oil and lime chili sauce which really tantalizes my taste buds.

The dessert section is equally exciting. Besides ready made fruit cocktail, dadih and cendol santan, there are also cakes and fruits such as papaya, watermelon, orange and pineapple.

Ice cream flavours include chocolate, cookies and cream, matcha, strawberry and coffee.

Or have a portion of shaved ice Ais Batu Kacang. It's drizzled with fragrant corn and rose syrup. The bottom of the glass is filled with preserved red beans, cendol, cream corn, nata de coco and cincau. Such a generous portion that Bing is absolutely thrilled about!

There's also a partitioned cubicle for big groups and on that particular night we had 2 birthdays happening of which Bing happily sang birthday songs to.

Our verdict 8/10! Thumbs up for the great service and value for money. Perhaps the only downside is the relatively pricey parking rates at IOI mall which was RM4 for the first hour and RM1 each hour thereafter on a weekend.

Ipoh Food Trail

One simply hasn't explored Ipoh if food is not  the main part of the itinerary. Here's where we went recently for a one day food trip!

Nam Heong Ipoh Soho
Block B,2-15, Ipoh Soho, Shah,, Jalan Sultan Iskandar, 30000 Ipoh, Perak
05-246 0521
https://goo.gl/maps/X9s3qs7x7d22

The must have are their signature white coffee and egg tarts! Now that everyone is more health conscious, one can choose the less sweet version of the coffee which tasted equally aromatic without indulging in the extra sugar load. The egg tarts were simply heavenly with fresh and crispy pastry. They have so many branches now but the one in Ipoh is still the best.

Our first experience being served by female robot waitress. 

Green Town Dimsum Café

10, Persiaran Greentown 4, Pusat Perdagangan Greentown, 30450 Menglembu, Negeri Perak
05-255 2010
https://g.co/kgs/x3q9Ac

The only halal dimsum place except in hotel settings with Jakim's approval. Family friendly and a great place to bring Muslim friends. Even though it's pork free, the dimsum still tastes pretty good. Love how the fried radish cake is served spicy with Ipoh's signature juicy beans sprout. If you don't feel like ordering too many baskets, you can choose their combo set instead to get more variety.

Restaurant Onn Kee

49, Jalan Yau Tet Shin
Taman Jubilee
30000, Jalan Yau Tet Shin, Taman Jubilee, 30000 Ipoh, Negeri Perak

https://g.co/kgs/a1pCZN

I have previously posted on my Instagram about this must try in Ipoh. One of the healthiest yet yummy beansprout chicken that goes so well with either kuay teow soup or rice.

Restoran yoke fook moon sdn bhd

65-69, Jalan Leong Sin Nam, 30300 Ipoh, Negeri Perak
05-241 6589

https://g.co/kgs/tWNeVA

Of the many dimsum places, this is one of the rare ones which is opened for dinner. Just couldn't get enough of the dimsum, dumplings, pau and cheong fun. Special mention about their frozen durian mochi. This is subject to availability but it's a must try for durian lovers. Love it to bits.

If you are driving from South, remember also to stop by Bidor for a tasty treat.

Pun Chun Restaurant 品珍酒楼

38-40, Jalan Besar, 35500 Bidor, Negeri Perak
05-434 1554
https://g.co/kgs/dcnfRE

Perfect for breakfast/brunch/lunch, their dry noodles served with roasted duck is simply to die for. Not to mention the roast buns straight from the oven. Freshness overload!

There are many other food to try out in Ipoh. But we just didn't have enough time and stomach space! Which means more excuses to visit Ipoh :)

The bamboo heaven Tadom Hill Resorts revisited

Our last stay at Tadom Hill when before the second baby was conceived. Now with me delivering in 2 months time, we are back to Tadom Hill Resorts. This time round to introduce everyone to more fun and luxurious accommodation options here.

Read about our previous stay experience here.

Tadom Hill has changed a lot since our last visit. Not only is the Hakka village up and running, there are also additions of Premium Gendui Chalets. And this will be the main star of my article today. To know more about the various accommodation options available, please refer to their official website. For the more adventurous ones, there are plenty of economical tents and bamboo tents. With the most basic amenity and shared bathroom. Big groups can also rent the Hakka village with its own common areas.

As for us, family with young children, the premium Gendui Chalets are definitely a very comfortable getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city. We were absolutely in love with the bamboo furnishing. It made the room cool. Those who like the room colder can also switch on the air-conditioning.

Besides bamboo, batik was also used to create the Aboriginal feel of the room. 2 beautiful batik swans were fixed to the wall next to the towel rack. The bed frame was handcrafted with bamboo, making it sturdy and stable. Bamboo charcoals were hung in the room to absorb humidity. The bathroom also had a heated shower and hair dryer.

Each chalet could fit 2-4 people at a rate of RM250 for two (off peak rate).

The Premium Gendui Chalets are named after the much-loved Gendui Tadom who was a legendary leader of Bukit Tadom. She led the villagers to fight against the invasion of the jungle beasts. Besides that she also had mystical powers in healing.

Unfortunately there was on and off storm during our drive to Tadom Hill Resorts and we only arrived after 6pm. The rainy resort had a surreal atmosphere. It took about an hour from town last visit but it dragged to almost two hours the recent visit.

After a satisfying dinner at the Garden bistro, we were all flaked out and welcomed the comfortable embrace of the chalet's bed. Of course, most people would opt for BBQ instead. Be rest assured that the staff have all of it covered from providing all the equipment and marinated meat. Just grill and enjoy.

We woke up around 6am the next day just in time to have a glimpse of the resort early morning. It was very peaceful. Baby Bing picked up a soccer ball left on the grounds and started playing happily.

Buffet breakfast was served around 8am. It's complimentary of the overnight stay. Malaysian style with nasi lemak, fried meehoon, omelette station, sausages, baked beans, fruits, bread with Kaya butter. My favorite was nonetheless the spicy sambal.

Senamrobik started around that time too. 

And lots of day trippers and team building activities started. Day pass is included as we were in house guests. That meant we could play unlimited water activities during the day.There's rafting, water slide, diving, Tarzan swing and swimming.

Other activities such as ATV, flying Fox, ball games, limbo, archery, sumpit would incur extra cost. But to find so many variety of games in one place, it's indeed great to cater to a big group.

Or you can simply have it free and easy. Stroll around the scenic resort and take countless photos or simply enjoy watching others carrying out the activities.

Tadom Hill Resorts is definitely one of the most popular spots to experience living away the city, as well as to organise team building activities. Now that it has so many more accommodation and activity options, remember to head to Tadom Hill for your next family day or team building getaway!

Indomie craze featuring Indobowl Lake Fields

Fancy Indomie? Do you know that having instant noodles don't have to be boring? Find out all about the fabulous combination of Indomie that you can possibly have at Indobowl! It's much more than a boring plate of dry instant noodles. You should try it out especially if you love spicy food.

Indobowl Cafe

72, Jalan Tasik Utama 7, Lake Fields, Sungai Besi, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur
019-542 6869
https://g.co/kgs/KaHhxF
Facebook https://m.facebook.com/IndoBowlOfficial/

To start off, enjoy their giant serving of beverages. One needs these icy drinks to ward off the spiciness of the sambal.

Giant Soda Gembira- soda water, syrup and basil seed
Giant cendol Jagung- cendol, creamed corn, coconut milk

Sate Chicken Madura

Have some non spicy entree while waiting for the real deal.

This is soy marinated chicken sate that goes well with crunchy preserved onions,shallots and lime leaves that are slightly sweet to taste.

Nasi Ayam Balado

Fried rice with chopped long beans and their signature sambal merah. It comes with a quarter chicken chop that's marinated with turmeric and so juicy. And a piece of crunchy cracker :)

For the indomie dishes, it either comes in the dry or soup version. I personally prefer the dry version because my memory of Indomie is the fragrant garlic and shallot that permeate every corner of the kitchen.

Indomie Ribeye Steak Australia

Dry Indomie served with slices of grilled ribeye steak in bite size. Luxurious combination! Topped with a sunny side up egg and the fiery sambal merah. Would prefer the ribeye to be medium rare though as it's kind of tough when it's well done.

Indomie Salted Egg Chicken

Dry Indomie with chunks of fried salted egg chicken. Salted egg is such a trend now and I must admit it tastes good.

Indomie Mumbo Jumbo

This huge platter can be shared between 4-6 people. A very generous bed of dry Indomie with 4 sunny side up eggs. If you can't decide what meat would you like, share it with others! This set has chicken sate, grilled chicken chop, rib eye and lamb shank. And I must give credit to the lamb shank which is done nicely, still tender and juicy without the goaty smell. One can also choose between the spicy sambal merah or the sweeter version of sambal hijau.

Indomie Soto Seafood

The rare variety of soupy Indomie. This Soto soup is sweet and not oily unlike most of the other Soto I have had. The taste of seafood is a pleasant surprise. Have it fast though otherwise the noodles will become soggy. The prawns were fresh, fried tofu a great combination, crab stick and fish balls complete the idea of comfort food. Of course，not without 2 eggs and a generous amount of sambal merah.

Judging from the size, this can be shared between 2-4 people.

I know you all must be drooling by now. So I have kindly prepared these vouchers from Indobowl to one of my lucky readers! I'm giving it out in a big stack :p

How to win them?
1. Like and follow my Facebook page

2. Subscribe to my YouTube channel

3. Like and comment 'I love Indobowl' on my Facebook post

4. Tag 3 friends in your comment.

Winners will be announced on 12 November. Good luck!

All time favorite pizza from Domino's

Pizza remains one of our favorite takeaways or delivery. Being a comfort food, it can be so hard to resist at times. Whether it's for a proper meal when we have no time to cook or for the rare occasion of supper and movie night, we prefer to order from Domino's.

Not only because Domino's offer a wide variety of pizzas, but also for the following reasons.

I must admit it takes the hang of it to familiarise yourself with the online order system as this is my first time trying it out. But once the correct information is keyed in, ordering pizza from Domino's is easy peasy. Whether it's to request for delivery or takeaway, the nearest Domino's branch will be assigned by the system to make sure we have the freshest pizzas at the time of our choice. One can also choose to pay using  cash on delivery/credit online. Redeeming voucher can also be done paperless. This system is even in Malaysia's Book of Records!

One more thing I love about Domino's is that the company discourages the use of plastic bags by incurring a small charge to it. Great move indeed! Besides being green, Domino's also care about the community evidenced by the whopping RM40,000 raised through 'Food for the Poor' program. In 2012, 100,000 meals were packed for the needy throughout Malaysia. Domino's was also involved in flood relief when the East coast was badly hit in 2015.

As more and more branches of Domino's are opened, it has also become one of the most easily accessible pizza outlets.

During 'it's all about you' campaign, of course we have to join in the celebration. 

On the way back from a short weekend getaway from KL, we dropped by the Taman Tas branch to pick up our order done earlier that day. The whole process took less than 5 minutes as we have already made advanced payment. Just have to show the staff the email received after the order was done. 

Tada, a very filling dinner for two. Unfortunately baby Bing hasn't started to take pizza yet. So it's all ours!

A regular sized seafood delight pizza. It has tomato based sauce and hand torn thick crust with a generous amount of mozarella, green capsicum, tuna and crabstick. Add on a cinnamon bread stick with 2 cans of soft drinks. Our cheat day on a lazy Sunday night.

The perks of purchasing with the online system- a complimentary pizza voucher valid for 2 weeks. Looks like another cheat day is coming soon haha.

To know more about Domino's campaign, head on to their official website here.

http://www.dominos.com.my/itsallaboutyou

And watch their official video here. 

The Shore Oceanarium Malacca review

It's been a long overdue post. A few months ago, hubby attended a conference in Malacca so it's mommy and baby Bing bonding time! Even though Bing loves hanging around the hotel, but it's also important to bring him out to explore. On that one fine day, we visited the Shore Oceanarium.

The Shore Oceanarium
Jalan Persisiran Bunga Raya
Second floor, the Shore Shopping Gallery, Malacca
Opens daily 10.10am to 9pm
https://g.co/kgs/Ju9CmQ

This was baby Bing's first visit to an aquarium. And this was the right place to head to. Because the collection was just nice and not too overwhelming for the attention span of a toddler. It took us the whole morning to finish enjoying all the exhibits. Around 2-3 hours I would say to stroll leisurely. At the price of RM33 (remember to bring your child's MyKid because they start charging at 3 years old), it's a fairly good bargain.

We were handed a quiz to redeem a souvenir -- a colorful fridge magnet at the end of the visit too. This made mommy extremely excited but I think baby Bing was too young to understand that. Ha

The highlight of the visit was the 'petting' zone. Baby Bing visited the area twice. He absolutely loved the opportunity to get up and close with the sea creatures. There were star fish, sting rays, baby sharks, horseshoe crabs. With the exception of horseshoe crabs which were indeed kinda spooky, baby Bing had great fun touching the creatures. But the poor star fish were chucked a few times back into the pool. Cheeky Bing indeed.

There were also multiple sections for various fish, sea creatures, reptiles (much to Baby Bing's dismay). Very educational because it talked about salient facts about the exhibit, as well as explaining the life cycle of frogs for example using actual eggs and tadpoles at various stages of development.

There were also multiple pit stops for people to stop and pose in artificial backgrounds called augmented reality.

Not to mention the free 4D movie telling a story about the undersea adventure of a baby turtle.

Those who would love to feed some fish can purchase additional fish food and join in the feeding frenzy. Or just simply enjoy the open air fish pond.

Official website
https://www.oceanariummelaka.com/

Soothing eczema featuring 100% Aloe Vera Gelly by Forever Living

Eczema is a skin condition whereby the skin is extremely sensitive to chemicals and allergens. The skin is usually dry and itchy. Scratching further worsens the vicious cycle by introducing microscopic skin breaks that may result in more inflammation and thicker skin called hyperkeratosis, as well as giving germs a chance to enter causing infection.

Unfortunately, eczema can only be treated, not cured. The mainstay of treatment is to keep the skin moisturised at all times. Any inflamed areas will be treated with mainly steroid based ointments/cream until subsided. Steroid when used correctly on the skin, rarely causes significant side effects.

Ryan, baby Bing and I unfortunately all have had some sort of eczema on and off. It's incredibly common. So we are excited to share our experience trying out this moisturising Aloe Vera Gelly by Forever Living.

Forever Living Products International is Multi Level Marketing company based in United States of America. It specialises in aloe vera and bee based skincare and supplement products.

This Aloe Vera 'G'elly is a thick and translucent gel containing humectants and moisturizers. Readily absorbed by the skin, it soothes without staining clothes. It also doesn't have any artificial fragrance. The only caveat is the use of methylparaben as a preservative. Generally speaking, some people with sensitive skin may have allergic reaction towards methylparaben. So when in doubt, do a mini patch test at the back of your upper arm (somewhere not obvious and leave it for 24 hours before using it). Luckily we are ok with it.

Aloe Vera has been used traditionally as a first aid plant for burns. There are very good reasons why Aloe Vera is essential in every household. Not only is it great to soothe irritated/burnt sunkissed skin , it is also useful to clear up acne (antiseptic and salicylate content). It's great moisturizing and high vitamin as well as mineral content makes it awesome for those with skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis and minor burn without skin breach.

If you are interested to know more about the medicinal properties of aloe vera, head to this webMD site.

So, what's our experience using this? The aloe vera gelly is suitable for the whole household. It's translucent and slightly sticky to touch. It's absorbed almost as fast as it's being applied. There's no artificial scent. This is such a bonus point because baby Bing loves to munch on his fingers/hand on and off. The size of the packaging also fits easily into my handbag while we are traveling. What's more, this is the only gel that I have to bring for both the toddler and adults. A great product after a sunny day out to cool the skin down.

To those staying in Kuantan, there's a Forever Living branch in the city. Drop by and have a look at the wonderful range of products they offer besides Aloe Vera Gelly.

Forever Living Products (M) Sdn Bhd

A9, Ground & 1st Floor,, Lorong Tun Ismail 10, 25000 Kuantan, Pahang
09-515 7311
https://g.co/kgs/ZV8Wr8

Aloe Vera Gelly
Official website
https://www.aloeveraforever.my/aloe-vera-gelly/