Frozen Lunch: Chicken and Egg Wrap

In the world we are living in this day and age, all of us seem to be very busy and on the move throughout the week. Either with work or school, we sometimes find it tricky to decide on what to eat that is cheap, quick and convenient to adjust to our hectic schedules. 

Many defer to buying meals as this will save a lot of time but at the same time forgetting the extra cost they are spending and lacking the concern with the nutritional content of the food they buy. Cooking your own meal shouldn't be such a hassle if you plan it well. Plus, this will allow us to include in the healthy components to our meal and yes, this will save us a lot of money too!

Chicken and Egg Wrap is one of the perfect meals that is packed with good proteins that will fill you up instantly and last for a long time. You can make a bunch of them at one time to be frozen and you will have your meals for the week already sorted. Find out on how to do this below!

WATCH THE VIDEO ON HOW TO DO IT HERE!

INGREDIENTS

1. 5 eggs
2. 2 large chicken breasts
3. 2 onions
4. 1 large capsicum
5. Red cabbage
6. 1 tsp of paprika, garlic powder, cumin, salt, pepper and white pepper
7. Olive oil
8. 5 Tortilla bread

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a bowl, marinade the chicken breasts with the mixture of olive oil, paprika, garlic powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the marinade set in the fridge between 30 minutes to 2 hours.
2. Chop onions and capsicum as well as red cabbage and set them aside.
3. Get your pan nice and hot on medium high heat and drizzle some olive oil in the pan. Then throw in the chopped onions and capsicum. Stir once in a while and let cook till the onions are caramelised and the capsicum soften up a little bit. Set them aside.
4. In the same pan, pour some more olive oil and grill the marinaded chicken breast for roughly 5-7 minutes on each side depending on how thick they are. Once they are cooked, take them out and set them aside to rest for a couple of minutes and start slicing them into thin strips.
5. In the same pan again, pour a tad more olive oil and add in your eggs. Season with some salt and white pepper and start making your scrambled eggs. Once done, set them aside.
6. Time to assemble: Place a tortilla bread on top of a piece of aluminium foil. Add a small portion of each and everything (red cabbage, onions and capsicum, chicken strips and eggs) on the tortilla and then slowly roll/fold it all together, tucking in both sides and secure the entire wrap with the aluminium foil.
7. Repeat step 6 for the other 4 wraps.
8. Once completed, store all the wraps in a ziploc bag. Place the bag in the freezer for your weekly consumption.

SUGGESTIONS

1. I live in the hot tropical country of Malaysia and the frozen wraps will definitely be 'defrosted' by lunch time. If you're in the colder climate, I suggest you cover the wrap with tissue and reheat it in a microwave in your office pantry.
2. Do not add any condiment in the wrap to be frozen as this will make the wrap soggy. Pack the condiment in a separate container and turn it as a dip for your wrap instead.
3. You can also make your own flat bread instead of using the store-bought tortilla. The recipe for the flatbread could be read HERE.
4. The longer you marinade the chicken, the better it will taste.
5. The process of folding the wrap requires practice. Look on Youtube for some tutorials.

5 THINGS TO EAT IN ALOR SETAR, KEDAH

Alor Setar is said to be one of the best places in Malaysia to get delicious and mouthwatering food. Whenever and wherever you are in Alor Setar, you can always have ample choices of food varieties to fill you up either for a big full-filling meal or for even just a casual snack in between them. Not only these are easily to find but most of them are very cheap and affordable. Cheap and tasty, what more do you want, people?! LOL

Now, the list for famous stalls and restaurants in Alor Setar to find good food just seems endless. Everyone always have their favourite joints to get their meals. Below are my personal favorite places to eat whenever I am in Alor Setar.

You can also watch the full food experience below!

ROTI JALA/ ROTI KIRAI STADIUM

For breakfast, rather than having your typical roti canai or nasi lemak, having a huge folded roti jala at the Darul Aman Stadium would be a treat! They are very crispy on the outside and soft on the inside are perfectly served with a slightly sweet and spicy chicken or beef curry gravy.

PRICE: RM2.50 (plain), RM3.50 (special – with an egg).

GULAI IKAN TEMENUNG, KUALA KEDAH

As most Malaysians eat rice in their meals for lunch, having lunch at Kuala Kedah where they serve rice with fresh fish such as mackerel and snapper cooked in a thick and rich curry gravy is definitely to die for! As located near the jetty at the sea, the restaurant prepares the curry earlier on and will chuck in the fresh fish in the gravy before serving them hot to the customers. This ensures that the fish is still fresh, moist, soft and heavenly delicious! Simply by having plain rice with the fish curry will make you come back for more!

PRICE: VERY CHEAP. I don’t know the breakdowns for each dish but for 3 medium-sized mackerels, 2 pieces of snapper, one fried egg and half of a salted egg, it only cost RM27. Yes, including 3 plates of rice and drinks!

MEE ABU

Mee Abu is certainly one of the best restaurants to get satisfying and delicious fried noodles. The restaurant usually prepares the fired noodles in a large batch (rather than cooking them one by one to fit your order). The cook will finish off the serving with how you want the fried noodles to be – such as the spiciness level or with or without vegetables. What’s amazing about the fried noodles here is the quantity of noodles as well as what they put into the dish. They are generous with the quantity of noodles and fried tofu and adding some cuts of soft flour fritters as well as chunks of sliced spleen. Not only it taste great, but this dish will certainly make you full!

PRICE: RM5.50

MEE HAMID

Mee Hamid is also famous for their fried noodles. The noodles are cooked slowly and are mixed together with a nut based gravy. This create a rich flavor to the dish and coats the noodles to produce a gooey texture to it. What makes this dish stands out is that apart from some sliced spleen and fried tofu, they also put in cubes of potato and both soft and crispy flour fritters that all go incredibly well together. These bits of ingredients just make the dish rich in flavours and textures! The crispiness of the crispy flour fritters just makes this dish even more exciting! Genius. Simply genius!

PRICE: RM5

NASI LEMAK ROYALE

A trip to Alor Setar would not be complete if you don’t have the famous Nasi Lemak Royale. This is the perfect dinner meal. Not to be confused with the ordinary nasi lemak (coconut milk rice) the rice here is nothing like that as it consists of aromatic, spiced, yellowish soft and fluffy rice that is then mixed with some spoonful of delicious thick and rich curry and dhal gravies. You can choose to have it together either with the proteins of your choice (chicken, prawns, squid, and salted egg to name a few) as well as some veggies. The rice itself is rich and delicious. The MIXTURE from the different gravies just creates a rich, spicy, sweet and salty taste that will leave you addicted in each and every single bite of the meal.  

This dish is great to be eaten at their stall but trust me, if you want an even more amazing eating experience, have it packed to takeaway and let it ‘rest’ for a few minutes first. This will cause the ingredients to be mixed and glued together that will just elevate the greatness of the flavours!

It’s not a fancy nor a pretty meal. It is a sloppy dish and you’ll get sloppy eating this, but THAT is just part of the Nasi Lemak Royale experience.

PRICE: RM7 (with a piece of chicken and extra rice and gravy!)

This list is beneficial if you have a full day to spend in Alor Setar. You can easily have everything on this list from breakfast, tea time to dinner!

Homemade Flour Tortillas / Flatbread

Flatbread or tortilla is said to be one of the oldest forms of bread in human history. Not only it is so quick and easy to make, but it also very delicious. It can be eaten in many ways. Whether dipping in your favourite curry gravy or turning them into a complete wrap packed with awesome flavours!

Most recipes out there include the use of oil or butter but this recipe is based on the very basic of ingredients. It's healthier and very convenient for you all to give a go at this.

You can also find the similar recipe for chapati HERE.

INGREDIENTS

1. 2 Cups of plain flour
2. 1 tsp of salt
3. 1 tsp of baking powder
4. 1 Cup of warm water

SEE THE VIDEO ON HOW TO MAKE THIS BELOW.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a bowl, add in the flour together with salt and baking powder. Give a quick stir.
2. Pour in 1/4 of the warm water and mix with the flour. Repeat this step until you use up all the water (4 times) and you'll end with a manageable sticky flour. 
3. Knead for 5 - 10 minutes until you get a smooth soft dough.
4. Divide the dough into 5 and let them rest in the bowl for 15 - 20 minutes, covered with a warm cloth. 
5. On a flat surface, sprinkle some flour.
6. Flatten the small dough and start kneading until you get a thin, round shape dough.
7. On a medium heat, place the rolled dough on the pan.
8. In roughly 30 seconds to a minute you'd see bubbles started to form on the dough and the colour will change.
9. Flip and cook on the other side for another 30 seconds or so while patting down on where bubbles are formed to release the air from the bread.
10. Done and enjoy!

SUGGESTIONS

1. REFERRING TO STEP 2, TRUST ME, DO NOT ADD IN  THE WATER ALL AT ONCE AS THIS WILL MAKE IT VERY DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO KNEAD THE DOUGH.
2. While kneading the dough, if you must, adjust by adding in some more flour if the dough is too sticky or add in a little bit more water if the dough is too dry.
3. Forming the dough to a round shape requires skills and experience. Do not get frustrated if you do not end up one. It took me at least 20 attempts to be able to get one acceptable round tortilla.
4. If you're making them in a large quantity, do cover the ones you have finished cooking under a cloth or in a container to ensure moisture of the bread won't evaporate, thus keeping them soft to eat.
5. If you're making the breads for later consumption, keep them in an air tight sealed bag and store them in the fridge. 

MY FIRST SHELL OUT FEAST EXPERIENCE: SEAFOOD MAT ROCK DER, KUALA PERLIS

In December last year, my friends and I were in Arau, Perlis. We were there for a quick one-night pit stop at our friend’s place, Syuk before making our trip to Hat Yai. Before our visit to Perlis, Syuk had already settled on to take us to Mat Rock Der Restaurant at Kuala Perlis for a highly-rated seafood dinner.

1.    Getting There

It was just a 20-minute drive to get us from Arau to Kuala Perlis. So if you are from Arau, distance shouldn’t be much of a problem.

Restaurant Address:

2 Gerai MPK, Persisiran Pantai
02000 Kuala Perlis, Perlis
Malaysia

2.    Parking

No proper parking is available there. So you just have to park your car at the side of the road but make sure you park properly as the surrounding area is quite dark and vehicles seem to be moving quite fast.

3.    The Restaurant

It is just a medium-sized stall with small number of tables available. When we were there it was fully packed. I suggest that you make a reservation first before dining, just like Syuk did.

4.    The Food

Portion? We ordered the portion for 6 people. Our small table was piled up with quite a huge spread! We were barely able to get every plate on it. But we were hungry and it looked like it wasn’t enough LOL. #NafsuMakanLOL  

Fresh? Oh, yes it definitely was!

Taste? The seafood were prepared in a balanced flavoured, not overpowering spices. Not spicy and not too salty, not too sweet. Everything was well balanced. I prefer it that way as it draws out the fresh sweet flavours of the seafood itself.

One of my favourites

Yummy!

Love this!

Crispy fried squid! 

5.    Price

For the seafood set for the portion of six people plus rice for 8 servings (YES WE NEEDED MORE LOL), everything was totalled up to around RM 120 inclusive of drinks. So that’s about RM 20 per person. For me, with the quantity and freshness of the seafood, THAT was cheap.

6.    Rating

7.5/10. I have not experienced any other shell out dining elsewhere so I have nowhere else to compare to. But I really enjoyed the food there and totally recommend for others to try whenever they are nearby. Thanks Syuk for bringing us there!

SPICY FRIED RICE – NASI GORENG CILI PADI

Fried rice is a very common dish throughout most parts of Asia. It is the best way to reuse leftover cooked rice. There are no limits on what you can put into the dish. You can choose to put any proteins or vegetables you desire that will make this dish as one complete meal. Fried rice has so many varieties. Some are mild in flavour, and some are spicy – just like how many Malaysians love to have their fried rice. This spicy fried rice recipe is one of Malaysians favourites. It is spicy of course but what’s best about this recipe is how easy and simple it is for one to cook. There are of course other more ingredients can be incorporated into this dish to elevate it to the next level, but this is for us lazy bums out there who want to have something delicious but very simple to make.

INGREDIENTS

• Cooked rice – from a cup of uncooked rice
• 1 shallot, 7 cloves of garlic and 7 bird’s eyes chilies - pounded/blended
• 1 tsp of fish sauce
• 1 egg
• Few strips of boneless chicken – chopped
• Half a handful of dried anchovies
• Cabbage – roughly chopped
• 4 tbsp of oil
• Salt and pepper for seasoning

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cook rice and let it cool down for a bit.
2. Heat wok with vegetable oil on medium heat.
3. Fry the dried anchovies and once cooked, take it out and let it sit on a plate to be used later.
4. Put in your pounded/blended shallot, garlic and bird’s eyes chilies into the wok and stir for a couple   of minutes.
5. Add in the chopped chicken and stir until they are cooked. Pour in the fish sauce and mix.
6. Set the chicken to one side of the wok. Add in one egg.
7. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Put in the cooked rice and mix.
9. Add chopped cabbage and the fried dried anchovies and mix everything together well.
10. Serve and enjoy.

Watch the video on how to make this HERE!

• This recipe is for 2 portions of serving.
• Suggestion: Have this dish with an additional fried egg and some fried fish crackers!
• Bear in mind, that this dish is quite spicy. So if you can’t handle the heat, please omit or reduce the use of the bird’s eyes chillies. You can add more if you want it to be spicier!
• You can always use other kinds of vegetables such as carrots and green peas.
• It would be nicer to use prawns instead of chicken.
• If you want a touch of sweetness to the dish, you can include about a tbsp of sweet soy sauce.

ROTI CANAI

Roti canai or roti kosong

Roti canai is an Indian-influenced flatbread widely available in Malaysia. It could be found at all local mamak and some Malay stalls. This dish is usually eaten during breakfast or tea time. They are also called Prata and Porotta, in different regions of the world.

The dough of the roti canai is made from such simple ingredients: plain flour, fat (oil or ghee) and water. But making them is not that easy. The dough needs to be flatten, tossed and stretched multiple times until it is paper thin and then folded before placed on a large flat pan. Only experts can do this. Watch the video if you think you can master this technique on one go.

Preparing the roti canai

Roti canai is delicious by itself but goes extremely well with dhal (lentil curry) or overnight curry – you know what they say, “overnight curry tastes better!” The dhal and curry are also served with a spoon of sweet and spicy sambal (Malay chili condiment) – trust me, the sambal takes this dish to another level!

Egg roti canai or roti telur

The roti canai is versatile too! They come with many variations such as roti telur (with egg), roti sardin (with sardines) roti pisang (with sliced banana) and believe me, many more!

The crispy exterior and fluffy interior of this flatbread is such an amazing dish to have. Having it together with teh tarik (pulled tea), this meal will definitely make you addicted for more!

ASIAN STYLE FRIED SPAGHETTI – SPAGHETTI GORENG

Pasta is such an amazing ingredient. Apart from Italian cuisines, it goes great with Asian flavours too!

One of them is FRIED SPAGHETTI. Here’s how to make a spicy fried spaghetti with an Asian twist!

Watch the video on how to make this HERE!

INGREDIENTS

100 – 110 grams of spaghetti

½ of onion, 3 cloves of garlic, 5 bird’s eyes chilies (optional) – all finely chopped

1 tbsp of chilli paste, chilli sauce, tomato ketchup, oyster sauce

1 - 2 tbsp of sweet soy sauce

A few strips of chicken breast – chopped

2 eggs

1 red chili and 3 stalks of gai choy – chopped

3 tbsp of vegetable oil for cooking

Salt and pepper for seasoning

INSTRUCTIONS

1.    Put some water in a large pot. Turn the stove on and once the water is boiling, add a tad bit of salt and olive oil. Then add your pasta and let it cook (time: refer to the instruction of the pasta packaging). Once cooked, set it aside (with some of the pasta water).

2.     Heat wok with vegetable oil on medium heat.

3.   Once the wok is hot, put in the chopped onion, garlic and bird’s eyes chili and stir for a couple of minutes.

4.     Add in chili paste and let it cook until the oil is separated for the chili.

5.     Next, put in chili sauce, tomato ketchup as well oyster sauce. Mix everything together.

6.     Add about 3 tbsp of pasta water and stir with the rest of the mixture.

7.    Add in the chopped chicken strips. Once they are cooked, set them to one side of the wok and break in eggs on the other side of the wok.

8.     Season with salt and pepper.

9.   Add in the cooked pasta and pour in the sweet soy sauce. Mix everything well till the pasta is all coated with the sweet soy sauce.

10.  Taste for seasoning.

11.  Finally, add in the chopped gai choy and red chili. Stir everything together for about a minute.

12.  Serve and enjoy.

·       This recipe is for 1 portion of serving.

·      Bear in mind, that this dish is quite spicy. So if you can’t handle the heat, please omit or reduce the use of the bird’s eyes chilies.

·       You could always use other kinds of vegetables such as bean sprouts, cabbage and carrots.

·        Apart from chicken, feel free to replace/ add together with prawns or beef.

Langkawi Holiday Day 3, Final Day.

12^th August 2017. Final Day.

Please click on the links below to read the rest of the Langkawi Holiday Experience!

Day 1 Part 1, Day 1 Part 2, Day 2 Part 1, Day 2 Part 2

As mentioned in my last post, the final day was mainly dedicated for shopping. I had to buy some chocolates and a few kain batik for my mom. We had all agreed to buy everything we needed at Haji Ismail Group (HIG) Complex.

That morning, we had breakfast at the same place we went the day before. It was close, the food was nice and the price was reasonable – couldn’t find any reason to eat somewhere else. After breakfast, we took one final stroll along the Chenang beach located behind the rows of shops. The iconic Langkawi Beach Sign was located there so we wanted to check it out.

As we were walking along the beach, I noticed that it was quite a long beach. The sands was also more dense or compacted compared to the beach at Pulau Beras Basah. Ocasionally, we stumbled upon some litters such as plastic bags, water bottles and even old torn up clothes. Since the beach was located so close to the rows of shops, along with many chalets and hotels built along it, I assumed it would be quite challenging to manage the litter or waste disposal there. We can always complain and finger point towards the local authorities for not doing a better job managing this kind of issue, but we also need to look at ourselves and reflect. “Do we throw out our rubbish in the bins provided?” “Do we tell our kids to pick up the litter they threw on the ground?” “Do we even confront the people that crumpled their receipt papers and chuck it on the floor whenever we see one?” So, I think we all need to be responsible for this. Most importantly, we need to change ourselves first and help others change too. Okay, why on earth I am preaching all of this? LOL.

Litter spotted immediately :(

Final moments at Chenang Beach

As I was saying, we wanted to see the Langkawi Beach Sign. It was located at the other end of where we started walking. Even though we weren’t in a hurry, the distance towards the board was approximately one kilometre long, thus we felt a bit demotivated to walk till the end. Our pace too, gotten slower. Yun and I were in front of the pack and once in a while we looked back and saw Kamil, Zi and Syuk taking photos. At one point, they even stopped walking.

Happy Kamil

Yun and I were getting closer to the sign so we speeded up the pace and got as close as we wanted to sign. I couldn’t get it how I didn’t notice this from afar; but once I got very close to the sign only then I realised that the Langkawi Beach Sign was incomplete. Some of the components were missing. I even tried guessing what the sign actually says. I was disappointed. Langkawi is one of Malaysia’s most famous tourist spots. And the Langkawi Beach Sign to me, should be as iconic as the Hollywood Sign to LA. I hope by now they have gotten the sign fixed.

Dear oh dear :(

After having our last Langkawi beach moment, we decided to check – out of our motel. But I had to make a quick stop at the men’s room first. We left the beach and crossed back to Chenang Mall. At the mall, I asked a security guard (non-local) there to direct me to the toilet. I couldn’t understand a word he was saying. I couldn’t hold it any much longer. I hurried and searched for somebody else that could help me. I met one person, and he told me that there were no toilets at the mall. I was like “Are freaking you kidding me? So where do you guys go to take a leak? Cross to the ocean and do it?” 

Luckily this lady heard me arguing with that man and she told me where the toilets were. So, I ran to the toilet and went in. I saw a couple of cleaners preparing to clean. As I was trying to get into one of the toilets, one of them stopped me. He wouldn’t let me in! He told me to use the toilet upstairs. Only God knew how much I wanted to urinate on him that moment LOL. That guy could have just let me use it for 30 seconds then I would have been done. Have you ever faced with a similar moron-sabotaging-your-pee-moment and then you tend to get mad at everything and everyone around you? I even thought of giving up and rushed to a corner somewhere to pee! Haha!

I rushed upstairs. But, the issue then was I couldn’t find where the toilet were! Then I saw a guy - who I eventually found out was working as the toilet entry fee collector (is that the proper term for it? Haha) and showed me where the direction to the toilets. Once I knew where they were, I ran like crazy but whilst running I heard that guy kept on calling me. I then shouted; “What?!” He answered; “RM 1, Sir!” Seriously??? So I just replied back; “I can’t hold it any longer, but I swear I’ll pay you once I am done!” Geez all that drama I had to go through to do the number one.

Once I was done, I met with my friends that were having drinks and desserts at a bakery: The Loaf. As we were talking I learned from Syuk that The Loaf was established by the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Mahathir Mohamad.

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After all that drama, we got back to our motel. We changed and pack everything and checked out from Sweet Inn Motel. For the price we paid and the location the motel was located, we thought it was pretty decent. So, if you want to know more about the motel (location, booking etc), please read here.

We actually stopped by at Pantai Tanjung Rhu before heading to HIG Complex to have some quick photos taken

We then made our way to Haji Ismail Group (HIG) Complex. As we were driving there, it started pouring rain. Heavily! Thank God it didn’t rain like that the day before while we were enjoying the island hopping activity. We also wanted to get lunch first. We didn’t have any specific restaurant we wanted to head to. So Kamil suggested we go and eat at the food court in front of Haji Ismail Group (HIG) Complex. I thought that was a good idea as we had ample of choices to choose from – crucial as we are all picky eaters!

The HIG Complex

The stalls at the food court offered a few selections – from nasi campur, nasi ayam, ayam penyet to desserts such as cendol. At the food court, I was tempted with the variety of gravies at this one Malay stall. As I was about to pick up a plate, there was this voice inside of my head telling me to keep looking till the end of the food court. So, that was exactly what I did. At the end of the food court, at the very last stall where the customers were not as many as the rest of the stalls, was a stall called Restoran Haji Ali. Certainly that voice in my head was my imaginary nasi kandar Guru LOL. Like I said, there were not many people buying from them, so I thought their nasi kandar probably weren’t that great. But, that didn’t affect me so I decided to try it out anyways!

Restoran Haji Ali

My love for these will never fade LOL

I ordered my usual whenever I go to a nasi kandar joint. “Nasi lebih, kuah lebih, ayam seketul!” – “Extra rice, extra gravy and a piece of chicken!” But this time, I also felt like having a ball of begedil – a sort of deep fried potato patty. My plate was mounted with awesomeness. I just hoped the taste wouldn’t disappoint me. The price was RM 7.50 only! So cheap! With that large cut of chicken and begedil, I thought it could easily be RM 10. Then, the moment of truth; the taste.

It was amazing! So good! I really enjoyed it! Plenty, cheap and delicious! I certainly recommend for others to try it. I was quite surprise to see it was not packed with customers. Probably I didn’t come during their peak hours.

With you, my life is complete! Haha

After we finished our lunch, I went to look for some kain batik for my mom. My mom made it very specific to me not to buy the ones imprinted with animal characters. I needed advice on this. So I asked Yun to help me out. We managed to get 3 pretty kain batik for RM 45.

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Now, came the main event! Chocooollllaaaaaattteeeeeess shhhhhooopppiiinngggggg! And we were excited! Haha! Before I continue writing this, I wanted to note here that my budget for chocolates shopping was RM 200, max! I had to buy a few for my girlfriend and a couple more for my family – my family is not that crazy over chocolates. So, RM 200 at a duty-free shop? I thought I would be just fine and enough.

So once we entered the shop, I could say that 80% of the customers were focusing on the chocolates. Half of the shop was displayed with chocolates only! So many types! So many brands! So many people! So many potential diabetics LOL! I felt like I was in a chocolate maze or something. The chocolates were stacked here and there. With the large varieties available, I found it quite time consuming finding the ones I needed. I was like on a treasure hunt on a gameshow (but for this case I needed to pay for the prize LOL). I prayed hard not to trip onto the stack of chocolates and create a mess. That’d be embarrassing.

Chocolates <3

More chocolates <3 <3

Yes! More and more chocolates! <3 <3 <3

Kit Kats!

The moment this photo was taken I dreamed to have a secret cabinet built in my house to stash these. No joke.

Yun looked a bit confused. I know Yun, it was certainly a tough decision to pick what to buy

I wasn't sure why Zi was hugging the chocolate bar, but her trolley was just in front of her. Or was she just in love with the chocolate that much?

No, we're not in a bookstore. Haha

One by one I managed to get everything on my list – with a few more that I had ‘accidentally’ attracted to. Haha! I spent roughly around half an hour to get everything in my cart. It was close to full but I thought I had gotten enough of everything. So I headed to the counter to pay. As I was unloading my chocolates I started to realise I might have bought more than I should have. The cashier then started to scan the tags and up and up the price went. It was about to reach RM 200 (my budget) but the cashier was nowhere near done! I started to get worried. From that moment I just knew, damage had been done. I couldn’t go back LOL. Guys, don’t be like me – please properly calculate the total of your items before heading to the counter!

Please click on the links below to read the rest of the Langkawi Holiday Experience!

Day 1 Part 1, Day 1 Part 2, Day 2 Part 1, Day 2 Part 2

The chocolates were totalled up to RM 308. I only had about RM 300 in my wallet! I was RM 8 short! I remembered before entering the shop I noticed a few ATM machines were placed just next to the entrance. I guessed the management had anticipated this kind of issue would happen LOL. Luckily there was no one else queuing behind me so, I said to the cashier; “Would it be okay for you to wait for a minute and let me withdraw some money?” He just nodded with a cheeky smirk on his face – I think he was judging me; “Poor guy. You don’t have enough money with you.” Haha!

Finally, I paid everything and walked out of the shop feeling embarrassed (for not bringing enough money earlier), guilty (for buying more than RM 300 worth of chocolates) and disappointed (that I spent over my budget). Then I looked at all the chocolates inside my bags and all those negative feelings turned to a smile and I felt happy! Who cares about embarrassment, guilt and disappointment? I was happy damn it! 

Chocolates = Love = Happy. LOL.

Well, apparently I wasn’t the only one who went overboard with the chocolates shopping. Zi and Syuk bought a lot as well! But kudos to Kamil and Yun. They both managed to control their temptations and just bought the amount they had initially planned for.

The time I vowed not to buy anymore chocolate for at least 6 months LOL

By the time we were all done with the shopping, the rain had also stopped. So before getting poorer (LOL) we left Haji Ismail Group (HIG) Complex and made our way to the Eagle Square (Dataran Lang) to take photos at one of the most visited Langkawi attractions: The Big Eagle. But before that we made a quick stop at Masjid Al-Hana to perform our prayers.

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We had saved to visit this site as the last stop as we thought not only it would be convenient for Syuk and Zi to take the ferry back to Penang from Kuah Jetty (very close to the Eagle Square) later on, but also it would be the perfect spot to conclude our amazing holiday in Langkawi.

Once we arrived, we managed to secure a parking spot without any trouble. The place was not as crowded as I expected – there were a lot, but not too many. The situation must be very different if we went during the school holidays.

The entrance

There's the eagle!

Sexy butt, eh, nice view, I meant.

The eagle was huge! Looking at it reminded me of our trip to Pulau Singa Besar when we saw some eagles flying over our boat. It was so cool! – Check out the post here.

We spent about an hour there and took as many photos as possible. It was however impossible to get the perfect photo in front of the Eagle – you’d always get photobombed by other people taking selfies there!

Pretty cool!

From another angle

That 5 seconds when no one was near the LANGKAWI letters

After that, it was time to say goodbye to Zi and Syuk as we dropped them off at the jetty. It was quite sad. Wish they could have stayed a little bit longer.

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Our flight back to KL was scheduled at night (10 pm). Kamil, Yun and I didn’t know what to do and where to go before our flight. It suddenly rained again and heavily! To kill some time we decided to have some drinks at Langkawi Parade – Thanks, Yun, for treating us the drinks! After that we dropped off our rental car and took a Grab car to KFC – we thought it’d be best to have an early dinner – we learned from our mistake (DO NOT EXPECT ANY NASI LEMAK DURING THE FLIGHT! LOL).

There was a long queue at the counter at KFC. It was taking forever for us to get served. I think we had spent more than half an hour for our turn. Estimating the time we had to eat, the journey to the airport and the time for us to pray and all, we realised we needed to eat fast. Really fast! I ate my meal in less than 5 minutes. Imagine that – a piece of chicken, a Zinger burger and fries in less than 5 minutes!

We then took another Grab car to the airport. As we were heading there, I was feeling a wee bit worried that I might have exceeded the luggage’s 30 kg weight limit – because my chocolates were a lot! Seriously they were heavy, plus I had bought other stuff as well. But luckily when we checked at the airport, it was way below the limit. Phewww!

We were tired and Yun and I complained that we still needed to drive back to our houses once we arrived in KL. I was hoping I wouldn’t fall asleep while driving hehehe. To make things worse, or flight was delayed. Goodness! But that bought us some more time to chat and talk about stuff. And then after about an hour long of waiting, it was finally time for us to fly back to KL and marked the end of our Langkawi Holiday!

~ Goodbye Langkawi ~

The products that I bought at the gamat  store

My chocolate consumption for one year LOL

The Langkawi Holiday was such an amazing experience. I really enjoyed the time we had there. There’s nothing better than spending time with my friends exploring the island and doing activities together! The unplanned trip turned to be a great one! I wanted to say thanks to all of my friends whom had made this trip so much fun! Thanks for the all the help, contributions, treats and the memories! Hoping there will be another fun trip for us to go together! Hopefully, soon!

Travel buddies! :)

Please click on the links below to read the rest of the Langkawi Holiday Experience!

Day 1 Part 1,  Day 1 Part 2,  Day 2 Part 1,  Day 2 Part 2