Busy Bodhi Cafe

It's started to rain after few weeks we suffer from the hot and hazy weather, the rain chase away the haze. No more hot weather and I can put on my blanket during my sleep, I used to be a person that put on blanket even it's not cold but I kind of abandon my blanket last few months, damn hot. I know I haven't finish my Singapore posts (I think only 4-5 more to be posted here, nothing much on my last day), but I feel to write something else or something new to me. 

Before I started, I want to share some grandmother stories on how this post come along. You know, Georgetown Festival 2014 is coming real soon and there is a campaign so call GTFWORD, some kind of alphabet hunting around the heritage area; entrance ticket for some GTF show will be given away to those lucky one who found the word (fixed by GTF with weekly basis), you may read here for details. I thought that was an easy task and wanted to get the alphabet hunt but I only manage to get 3 out of 26 alphabets. I almost walked the whole area but I think I might missed some hidden corner, better luck this week. 

I missed the alphabets, but I found a new hidden gem - Busy Bodhi Cafe around the heritage area, not really hidden as it is actually located at one of the mural that drawn by Ernest Zacharevic. Quite a good spot to have small cafe nearby the mural, people tend to look into the cafe after photo session with the mural; they might go in and give it a try after few more glances. 

For God sake, there was no one when we were there and I pretty love that kind of situation, it means I can walk around the place without bother anyone else, not good to make people feel annoy when they enjoying their moment there right. There are only 4-5 tables available in the cafe, don't complain it is too small as it would be a perfect stopover place if you feel tired after strolling around the area. You know what attract me to go in? It's the umbrellas! When I browse Facebook and I saw people sharing the photos and I promise myself that I need to pay a visit and I did it the next day, efficient no? Empire Damansara has the floating umbrella which photography is prohibited unless you ask permission from the management, we do have it now in Busy Bodhi Cafe. 

The cafe is not big, but I still took some times to look around and take some nice photos; they decorate the place with some old school thingy which I heart so much. Oh yea, don't expect air-conditioning here but they do have big fan blowing in the cafe, even the sun was so hot out there, I can't feel that either, the umbrella and trees did some magic too. 

"Don't play Candy Crush, play Can-Crush!". Saw the cute poster near the bar table, the waiter is kind enough to invite us to play the that and keep top up the empty can when he saw the quantity of can is less than two. The secret to successfully crush a can is Hit-It-Fast, I tend to play it gently at first as I scare I'll spoil the thing. A big biscuit tin is prepared to put the crushed can. 

Peach Fizz + Mango Fizz | RM13/ea

Umbrella seems to be a signature to the cafe, you will get your beverage with a paper umbrella on top. As you can read from the menu, there are not much snack available in the cafe, but I feel the beverages are more than enough. I want to try their Heavenly Clouds next time, it is actually an ice cream topped with candy floss, I just couldn't had it that time as ice cream make me feel thirstier; so I got myself the fizz beverages under the Thirst Quenchers column. 

Ended this post with my blurry photo, I look good when the camera didn't focus on me lol, it was too hot so I tied up my hair, if not it would turn to be a messy grass, how to solve my dry and fizzy hair issue? Laugh.

Ps: no Wi-Fi available in the cafe, as they support "Disconnect to Connect" campaign.

Location
64, Lebuh Acheh, 10200 Georgetown, Penang.

Business Hours
7.30am - 1.00am (Daily)

Contact Number
012-497 5599

Facebook
Busy Bodhi Cafe

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It's been half a year, did you achieve any goal?

MOF @ My Izakaya . Singapore

When it comes to a new country other than mine, I'm a total road-idiot moreover I didn't take part to plan any of this, I was just enjoy myself and go every places which was planned. After the USS, we planned to have dinner at Blue Garden Korean BBQ Buffet Restaurant as they offer cheap buffet at $26.90 per pax. It was a total disaster when we only knew about they were under renovation that time, we didn't expect that to happen and we did not prepare any other plan. Since we were so hungry (after some time, our tiredness made us forgot our hungriness, can live without food now lol) and tired that time, we decided to go Tiong Bahru Plaza to hunt for our dinner.

Tried to find a restaurant which is not available in my country and we got this: MOF @ My Izakaya. We were led to their outdoor area (of course the waitress did ask us if we mind to be seated at outdoor area when we were queuing outside), luckily the rain stopped when we were there, a great time to sit outdoor and get some fresh breeze. 

Macha Shakes with soft serve ice cream . $6.80

Diced Salmon Bibimbap . $12.80

Pork Hot-Stone Bibimbap . $12.80

White Clam Soup . $7.80

Before that, I prepared myself to have Korean food but now we forced to dine in Japanese restaurant, it explained why I insisted to have bibimbap (I craved for Korean food that night) but the Japanese style of bibimbap is not that spicy but sweet. Overall, the food is good, we munched the food as fast as we could so that our rice wouldn't become char after long time; I just realize everything we ordered are in hot-stone or in a pot! I love the diced salmon bibimbap the most, but I think I churn up too much and it became minced salmon bibimbap, I can't even have mouthful salmon! Their service is good and I can't help myself to fill in their survey form and give them a thumb up. 

After the dinner, we bought some chicken and mushroom curry puff from Old Chang Kee which is quite famous I heard. Not bad tho. 

Last place we visited in day one was Clarke Quay, it's really full of people along the pubs. We didn't get a drink there, but we bought a Gong Cha wintermelon milk tea and sat on the stairs to enjoy the night view. I think we walked too much in a slipper, I can't feel my legs that night (throughout the trip) and I remember I fall asleep in 1 minute after we back to our hotel. Laugh.

Location

#02-16/17/18, Tiong Bahru Plaza, 302 Tiong Bahru Road.

Business Hours

11.30 am - 10pm (Daily)

Contact Number

+65-6338 5523

Website

ministryoffood.com.sg

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Transformer tonight!

First time in Universal Studio Singapore

Universal Studio Singapore (USS) post is finally here! I just realize I didn't take a lot of pictures to be posted here, quite regret now and I'm a truly fail tourist when I get affected by the weather; you know I really hate broiling weather, once I sweat then here gone my mood. The weather didn't treat me well throughout my Singapore trip, I sweat and every photos I took after that are so ugly and not presentable to be shown here. So don't expect to see my face on these post lol. Nonsense no more, let's back to the topic. We were at USS after some rest and shower at Hotel 81, we reached there around 1pm, many of you might say I should go there on the next day I reach Singapore so that I'll have more time to play all the theme park games. We thought of that too but we decided to go there on Friday to avoid the expected heavy crowds on weekends and to save some time from queuing. Looks like we are right!

The entrance fee is around $74 if you get it from USS, if you want to skip the queue, you can buy the ticket online before you go there. We got our ticket online from Asiatravel which cost only $65, together with the ticket, we also get the $5 retail discount voucher and $10 meal voucher. Once you bought the ticket online, all you need to do when you arrive the park is to collect the ticket from their kiosk nearby the bus station. We spent some time to locate the kiosk as we not really know where is the bus station in USS.

We were here, the signature globe that you must take a shot whenever you are in USS, glad that it's not as crowded as I thought, seems like we made a correct decision to be here on Friday. It was quite hazy when we were there, not sure why. 

First thing we did in USS is to hunt for food, we didn't get anything for our tummy after breakfast, pity them. There are total of 7 zones and each zone is with own themed restaurant; we didn't care about that and the first restaurant we saw is Mel's Drive-in at Hollywood zone. The food is not bad and I think it is yummeh, or maybe I was just too hungry; better than McD I would say. 

You get to see many designed truck along the streets which sell small bites and beverages, they surely are picture-worth for me. 

Our first ride - A Crate Adventure at Madagascar. Don't feel to get the fury ride first after our lunch, as I might puke my burger during the ride. It's some kind like a river boat ride, and you get to know the Madagascar full story throughout the ride.

The Far Far Away Castle and we were so lucky to see the Shrek and Princess Fiona in real, everyone even aunties were so happy and followed the ogre just to take a photo with them. I think we spent most of our times in Far Far Away, we played most of their rides and shows, personally think that the Shrek 4D Adventure is awesome! 

Okay, we kinda skipped the whole Lost World and Ancient Egypt as I really don't enjoy the fury ride, I have a weak heart, even the rides in Genting Highlands would kill me, the rides in USS would kill me more. 

I really enjoyed seeing these building, aren't they look great?

The ride that I love the most is TRANSFORMERS THE RIDE, I was cheated by the front few rows and thought that no one were queuing, once we get into the building and we just realized they queue was.... okay, it's worth queuing. It was awesome and I feel to get another ride, it's like we really fighting inside together with Autobots. I'm totally in Transformers fever now as the Age of Extinction is up on next week, I got my ticket already, have you?

My main purpose to USS was to get a bumble bee water bottle like the one that owned by janechuck, I walked around the area and couldn't look for one, all I found is this bulky water bottle or container I would say. Why they stop selling that, I want one so badly! 

Ended up I got myself this portion water bottle, was too thirsty when I get this bottle and after I had a sip on it, I just realize the water bottles with better design are selling at the same price. Smack, I should just get something better than this? 

After those should-not-miss-rides in USS, we just wandered around and enjoyed some shows. The Lights, Camera, Action that hosted by Steven Spielberg is quite good, he is really an awesome film maker and get there yourselves to see the movie magic. Before we left, we did some shopping there and the minion shop really make people crazy on. I didn't get myself anything except for the water bottle, I spent a lot to get my sister a bumble bee mug, now I'm regret for not getting one myself even I know I won't use it, just to keep it. 

When we were about to left the place, the street entertainment is shown, and bubbles are everywhere, the best shot I got is this lol, lame not? It's really a good place and now I understand why people wanted to go there badly, for me, I'll definitely go back again for more rides and will only go there during weekdays to avoid the queue. 

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Perhaps I should try those rides I missed on my next visit.

Hotel 81 Premier - Star . Singapore

You might notice that I seldom post about where I stay when I'm out for travel, I finally decided to post one (more to come if some of them really good) as I really feel that this hotel is quite good and affordable, will definitely stay here again if I'm in Singapore next time. Every time when it comes to a travel trip, accommodation is most important thing that we should insist about, so that we can get a good rest after a long day walk. I'm okay with anything as long as the room and bathroom is clean, most important is the bed.

After did some survey, we decided to stay in Hotel 81 Premier - Star, which is just revamped and upgraded in late 2013. The hotel 81 have 24 hotels under their management, all of them located near the central area of Singapore and with different theme. As for the Hotel 81 Premier - Star, it's located at Geylang; yes it is in a red light district which if travelling with kids we would probably avoid but as a travelers like us, we didn't see any problem it will cause. It's like a budget trip for us, the branch at Geylang provide cheaper deal compare to Hotel 81 located at other areas, it's like only $100 for a night in superior room. 

If you want to view their hotel exterior design and lobby, visit their website here as I was too busy to snap the photos, or I should say I didn't foresee I'll blog about the hotel. I like wooden kind of thing, and the room is really up to my liking, wood everywhere including the floor! I like their concept that the basin is out from the bathroom, you can enjoy your tooth brushing moment while getting some view from the window (temporary no good view from there, as renovation is on-going there). I read some of the review in tripadvisor and saw some bad comments on the room, but it's just fine for me as you get what you pay for, or it's just some old comments before they revamped the hotel. Their service is quite good as well! We booked the room without paying any deposit, we only made the payment when we reach the hotel provided you bring along the email confirmation from them. 

Wi-fi is including in the hotel fee and is reset by daily basic, you will need to get a new username and password from the staff on the next day, the internet speed is fast! Like normal hotel, you will get mini fridge, electronic safe, LED television and complimentary beverages & toiletries. Nearby they hotel, there are many local hawker stalls but we didn't give it a try until our last day, the nearby Aljunied MRT station is just around 5-10 minutes walking distance. If you do not like the walking, just request a taxi service from the staff, they are really friendly and willing to help. I'd enjoy my stay there and would come back again if I'm there.

Ps. we noticed there are a lot brothels opposite the hotel, we were so yearn to know how it looks like in there, but no chance.

Location

31, Lorong 18 Geylang, Singapore 398828.

Contact Number

(65) 67488181

Website

www.hotel81.com.sg/hotel_star.html

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Happy Father's Day to all the daddy in the world. 

I was in Singapore!

Finally made up my mind to write about my past Singapore trip during birthday month, here come a teaser before I really post places and food that I went and had over there. It was a not so impromptu trip, I just realized I didn't spend much during the trip as all were within our budget and I managed to get some haul there, if you notice my Instagram. My first time there, so I decided to explore the place thoroughly by our own, instead of calling friends to meet up during the trip, hope that those who stay in Singapore would understand me. Call you up during my next visit, most probably year end? Haha. Since I visited most of the visitor spots, I guess I'll have more time to meet up with friends if I happen to be there again. 

It was a 3D2N trip, a bit too rush for us as we wanted to go every places that recommended, I can't feel my legs on the second day and so on. So if you haven't been there before, try to make it a relax trip, go only places that you really want, after-all Singapore is so near to us, you can go plenty of times if you want to. I stay in a food heaven, but I must say I love some of the food in Singapore!

See you soon!

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Should started to plan my next trip! My saving plan too!