Embarking on a New Endeavor; University

Sorry for the one month hiatus. It was because nothing interesting had happened for the past one month, sadly. I had a few 'food hunting' trips with my younger sister to Singapore for a couple of times, met up with friends who were leaving to overseas and I was also busy 'preparing' and ' getting ready' for university ( which I did, 2 days before moving up to Kuala Lumpur. Procrastinated, as usual. ) 

The spontaneous trips to Singapore with sister were so worthwhile because we love food, a lot. Our trips had a purpose; which was to look for and try out the healthy food places Singapore has. Why? Because of the over-consumption of goodness during the whole Chinese New Year season... With the fact that Johor Bahru has very limited number of health-conscious restaurants / cafes which emphasise on the quality and nutritional values of the ingredients, we decided to have a few trips to Singapore. After much research on numerous blogs and websites, we decided to look for a few.

First on the list was Cedele. It has a few branches in Singapore and in Hong Kong, whether they're all-day dining, semi-restaurant, bakery cafe or just bakery. Every food is homemade from scratch, unrefined sugar is used and no trans fat in all food. Not bad huh? We went to the one at Wheelock Place, just beside ION. 

I ordered the Carrot & Orange Booster and sister ordered the Green Apple & Carrot. $6.90 each. The drinks are freshly squeezed and it's really refreshing especially the hot weathers we are always enduring.

Sister ordered the Chicken Portobello which consists of Grilled Chicken with Portebello Mushroom, Melted Brie Cheese, Onion Marmalata, Lettuce and Tomato for $15.80. The whole combination is really fulfilling and healthy too.

I ordered the Breakfast Biscuit with Sausage and Egg which also consists of Poached Egg, served with Butter Onion Sauce for $13.90. The sauce goes really well with the biscuit as the texture is not as thick as I thought.

The mouthwatering pastries and cakes displayed.

Next was Tsujiri which is located at 100AM. This is highly recommended to all green tea / matcha lovers because everything served there is green tea-flavoured. Green tea is widely-known to have many health benefits and it's popular especially among women because it contains an antioxidant which helps to burn calories. 

Sister ordered the TSUJIRI Parfait ( O-maccha ) for $7.50. They have Vanilla flavoured ice-cream too.

I ordered the Chiffon Cake Parfait ( O-maccha ) also for $7.50. There's a dollop of red bean paste at the side, cornflakes below the ice-cream and the chiffon cake is green tea flavoured too!

We also went to llaollao at Marina Bay Link Mall. It has only one branch in Singapore. However, you can find llaollao in many other countries too, such as the United Kingdom, Russia, France, Belgium, Spain, Turkey and etc. It is said to be the healthiest yoghurt ever because the yoghurt is made from skimmed milk and you can combine it with a variety of sauces, nuts and fruits!

The different sauces to choose from, such as coffee, dark chocolate, cherry, rum and raisin and many more!

And the crunchy toppings such as almond brittle, grated coconut, walnuts and etc. The selection of fruits are on the other side such as strawberries, kiwi and blueberries.

We ordered one Sanum each, where you can pick 3 different types of fruits to top with served with caramelised seeds, cereals, frozen yoghurt and a sauce of your choice. Seems good right? It tastes good too.

Also, if you're a sushi lover, you should really try Maki-san. It's located at Handy Road.

Why is it different from other sushi places? Because you get to customise your own sushi according to your own preferences! You'll get to choose a limited number of fillings ( depends on whether you chose Little San ( $7.90 ) or Mega San ( $9.90 ), with extra charges on additional fillings ), 1 type of sprinkle ( such as chicken floss, raisins, bacon bits ) and 1 type of sauce ( such as honey mustard, sesame, teriyaki ). There is an option for you to have brown or white rice, normal seaweed or seaweed with sesame too! 

 It was so good that I had to buy another box of sushi back to Johor Bahru for dinner.

Looking forward to more trips like these with sister! 

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Moving on to another chapter of my life; university. I've been enrolled to Monash University Malaysia, if you're wondering, and I'm currently pursuing Bachelor of Business and Commerce. It is my first time being away from home for a really long period of time. Despite that, I still haven't had the taste of being homesick yet, surprisingly. My parents, sister and I came up to Kuala Lumpur 5 days before orientation which was on the 19th February ( Wednesday ). They helped me to move into Sunway Monash Residence and it was actually my first time there. I didn't bother to take a look or even consider the other accommodation choices I had because being the protective dad as usual, he wanted me to choose the nearest accommodation to school. So, yeap. The facilities here are fully-equipped and pretty well-maintained. It has a swimming pool, launderette, gymnasium, Starbucks, a cafe, convenience store and etc. The best advantage of living here is it's just less than a minute walk away from the university. So, I guess it's also the best choice for me because I have difficulties waking up really early in the morning. 

In case you're curious about the interior of the hostel, 

The kitchen where only a microwave oven and water dispenser are supplied. So I have to make all my meals using only the microwave oven. A rice cooker or slow cooker is allowed though.

Common area.

There are 3 bathrooms and 3 toilet cubicles. 

A panorama of my room. Spent more than 3 hours unpacking, arranging and cleaning it and I realised that I have too many things... And yes, the room has a mini fridge and a television but I haven't used the TV, yet. Not even once.

Love the floral bedsheet set I got from IKEA !

A few days before I spent my first night in the hostel, I was with my family all the while. They planned to accompany me before the university commenced, probably because they didn't want me to loiter around.. We stayed at Berjaya Times Square Hotel. It was our first time staying there and I had no idea why dad booked that hotel instead of Grand Millenium which we've been staying at for over 20 years whenever we come to Kuala Lumpur, according to mum. But, it was a good place to stay at although there's nothing much to shop for in Times Square though. 

The master bedroom.

Master bedroom's bathroom.

The view was really magnificent. You could see two of the many landmarks of Kuala Lumpur; namely the KL Tower ( on the left ) and the Petronas Twin Tower ( on the right ).

Kitchen.

Living room.

Another bedroom. Just nice for my sister and I.

After checking in, we simply walked into Rasa Utara at Times Square because we were too famished to walk to anywhere else to have our lunch. Sadly, the food there was quite disappointing, neither flavourful nor spicy enough. 

Dad's Milo.

Sis and my Mi Rebus.

Mum's Curry Fish with Rice.

Spicy Stir-Fry Brinjal.

At night, we went for a visit at a family friend's place. Before that, we went to have dinner at a random restaurant we passed by at Cheras.

Stir-fry Kang Kung Belacan. I couldn't stop nomming on this.

Mum's favourite fried eggs.

And KL's oh-so-famous hokkien mee. Tasted mediocre to me though. Hopefully, dad's going to bring me to the one at Loke Yew!

The next morning, on the 27th February ( Thursday ), we had breakfast in our room.

Love breakfast like this!

Sis and my omelette served with hash brown, grilled tomato and sausages.

Dad's Nasi Lemak.

Pastries which were so good! Served warm too.

Mum's favourite fried eggs again, served with sausages.

We went to IKEA in the afternoon to get a few necessities for me and my room such as a laundry bag stand, bedsheet set, cutlery, bowl and etc. I'll never get tired of IKEA because I love shopping especially for house goods besides groceries. Weird, I know. Other than that, I also missed the popular meatballs served in the cafe after my first time having it with Christy and Jacelyn last year. So, we had our lunch there!

The combination of the gravy and cranberry jam is just...indescribable.

Salmon.

Chicken Wings.

Chicken Thigh with Swedish Sauce and Mashed Potato.

Dinner at Grand Harbour at Bukit Bintang that night. The place serves really good Dim Sum but too bad, it was time for dinner instead. But, the ala carte food there are pretty tasty too.

Soups.

Fried rice which was really delicious.

Steamed chicken.

Stir-fry long beans.

Char Siew and Siew Yoke.

Dad's Wonton Noodles.

On the 28th February ( Friday ), we checked out of Berjaya Times Square Hotel and we went for a heavy breakfast at May King Restaurant which is very popular for its Lum Mee, located at Pudu. We even had to queue up for a seat in the restaurant. 

The sight of these made me hungry already..

My Kuey Teow Soup which I love it. It's similar to the one at Paparich but the texture of the kuey teow is alot more tender and smooth.

Curry Lum Mee which is quite limited. Only 200 / 250 plates of it are served in a day, if I'm not wrong.

The popular Lum Mee which everyone has to try.

Meatball Soup.

Fried Dumplings.

Checked into Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa that evening because it was more convenient for me to go back to the hostel before they left. It was our first time staying there too. The hotel staff is friendly, which made our day even better, and the rooms are really comfortable.

Another great view from the window.

Sent off Alnick at the airport that night with Sam and Eak-Kuan. It was a really last minute spontaneous plan but luckily, there was still plenty of time before his flight. Anyway, all the best for your studies! Also thanks to Sam for fetching Jacelyn at Taylor's and dropped us at the hotel!

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The next day, on the 22nd February ( Saturday ), we had lunch with cousin's family at Delicious, Sunway Pyramid.

Cousin's Cappuccino for RM10.50.

Cousin ordered two fried Organic Eggs with sides of toasted Country White, Hash Browns and Sauteed Button Mushrooms for a total of RM21.70.

Nephew's Eggs Benedict for RM15.90.

Mum's two fried organic eggs ( yes, again ) on toasted Country White with sides of Sauteed Button Mushrooms, Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Smoked Salmon for a total of RM33.60.

I ordered the Smoked Salmon Open Sandwich with Sour Cream and Capers on toasted Multigrain served with sides of potato wedges and salad for RM27.90.

Sister's Chicken Avocado Wrap for RM24.90.

Jacelyn's Chicken Katsu Curry on Spaghettini for RM22.90.

Parents dropped Jacelyn and I at Sunway Pyramid after lunch before they left to Johor Bahru. We did what girls do; shopped and tea. What else to do, right?

Tea date at TWG, which we had promised one another long before I moved here or even before TWG was fully renovated.

Ordered the Pink Flamingo, suggested by Jacelyn, and I liked it!

Ordered scones too.

Creme Brulee.

And of course, my favourite macarons! We ordered the Napolean Tea & Caramel ( on the left ) and Bain de Rose Tea ( on the right ). Our cravings were satisfied instantly. It was a really good day.

Spent the next day, 23rd February ( Sunday ), a day before orientation at Joon Soon and Jason's housewarming party. We shopped for groceries, prepared meals and barbequed. It was a really tiring day after spending hours in the kitchen cooking and making salad, mashed potatoes and spaghetti with the rest. I did not even have time to snap a photo of the food we've prepared.. Nevertheless, it was a well-spent day indeed.

As for the orientation for the new intakes, I can say it was rather...boring. As usual, speeches and talks about the university and respective schools were given and also a tour around the university by the 'buddy' or guide assigned to us. The number of students especially in the School of Business is really big compared to less than a hundred of us in the A-level course back in college which makes it hard to get to know the right people to mingle with. I'm quite glad to have a few JB friends taking the same course as me and also having Leshan as my housemate. Talk about pure coincidence. 

I believe a new environment creates new experiences. Hopefully, there are more good opportunities and surprises awaiting for me in the future. Fingers crossed.