Ramadhan Feasting 3 - Awana

First is the photo - it is obviously a shot of Starbucks ... this particular outlet is located at the Kuah Jetty ... right smack in the city ... in case I didn't mention it earlier, the Jetty is about the only place that seems to have a "cafe" scene ...

Anyway for this round of review, I am presenting Awana ... a hotel in the famed Genting group. It is located at the end of Pantai Tengah ... you just drive along the road past the "famous" Unkaizen ... Japanese restaurant and onward until you see a huge guard post ... continue through and before you stretch an immense and usually empty carpark before you reach the main building

The hotel itself has been touched up a fair bit from what I recalled in 2001 when I used to go there to purchase "DVD" and "cheap eats" ... now it seems like a proper hotel ... I especially loved the outdoor seating where there is a plank boardwalk of sorts that you can sit or lean over and peer into the darkness ... a row of orange-y light bulbs give the place a sort of quiet carnival (is there such a thing?) atmosphere ... and you can actually see Kuah town from this place even though it is a good 20 to 30 minutes drive along winding hilly roads ...

So how is the food? Like Aseania they have a rotating menu ... unfortunately the price tag is RM38 per pax ... and what is shocking is the lack of variety ... I guess they were not expecting many guests and therefore prepared very little food ... unfortunately with this, it becomes a vicious cycle ... our table had 3 pax ... another table 4 (2 adults and 2 kids) ... another table of 4 adults ... and that was it ... all others walk through and walk out!!!

There is 1 type of soup and 1 porridge, no salads but only pickles etc typical of kampung Malay stuff ... less than 10 types of hot dishes/ main course and a smattering of desserts ... the action stands were deserted ... of 4 stands on the outside ... 3 had something to offer ... first up was an Asam Laksa (very delicious!) ... Tomato rice with beef rendang is in the next stand and then teh tarik on the third stand ... and that was it

They had less to offer than roadside stalls!

Sad really ... I won't be making a return trip, that's for sure ...

Ramadhan Part 2: Aseania Langkawi

To those who emailed me after the first posting on food - a big thank you ... for today, we moved on to the next hotel that is less than 5mins driving time from our first ... Aseania. The hotel is a pink monstrosity located near the intersection between Pantai Chenang and Pantai Tengah ... you cannot possibly miss it ...

Before we delve into the food, one thing that I thought was lovely (not the pink facade) ... was the location of the pool ... when you walked down the winding staircase to the coffee house ... the first thing you will see is the pool and right next to the pool is an immense chunk of rock ... a mountain/ hill is backing the pool ... as in really close ... as in you can reach and touch it ... gives it a nice sense of space and location ...

The price is RM28 per pax for the food ... and the menu changes throughout the week ... so before going do call and get a copy to choose what you like ... I must admit that this is lovely ... menus are predominantly local/ Malay recipes ... there is the usual drinks stall of teh tarik ... then 3 action stations with no one on duty (ikan bakar, bubur lambuk and Thai koay teow soup) ... for breaking of fast we had an array of hard dates and limp kueh (not good) ... followed by the main courses of 1 beef, 1 chicken (very nice), 1 koay teow goreng (too greasy), stir fry vege, rice, fish curry ... and a host of local salads and crunchies ...

Though the selection is not vast, the taste is more or less spot on ... the only problem is that because this is low season in Langkawi ... each chafing dish has a very limited quantity ... you better take whatever you think you like ... there are no seconds! To a certain extent, I don't blame them ... not many guests and they expect guests to be in before 7:30pm. Unfortunately for those of us who liked to linger and eat a little slower ... we were disappointed ... because they don't do re-fills

What was also odd is that they permit the staff to dine off the buffet carts right on the dot when the guests are permitted to eat ... we see a number of staff coming to take glasses of drinks and food and going through the door to eat behind ... they should have done this prior to bringing out the food

Ramadhan ...

What has Ramadhan got to do with me, a non-Muslim? The answer is very simple. I am Malaysian. So it is the FOOD, glorious FOOD. Ramadhan is really cool because this is the time when the entire Malaysia turns into a veritable feast ... from kampungs to cities ... in 5-star hotels (where you have to make reservations in advance) to roadside gerais ... you can sample everything and anything traditional ... even fusion (organic fried chicken) ... and it will suit any budget and palate ...

Since I am still in Langkawi (6 weeks and counting) ... I have taken the opportunity to put on a couple of kilos (I kid you not) and been busy checking out the local eateries ... so which eatery is up for the first bout of scrutiny?

Casa Del Mar - beautiful place but with only 30 + villas/ rooms ... they do not offer this (boo!)

Meritus Pelangi - about ten times the size of their neighbour, Casa and styled in traditional Malaysian village architecture ... unfortunately they do not have anything for breaking of fast as well ... justification? Not enough tourists and locals to partake so they maintain a normal BBQ buffet dinner (boo!)

Shrimps - the first 2 are hotels and this is a restaurant located next to a shrimp farm ... hence the name. I didn't even think there was a buka puasa (breaking of fast) offering ... but a few colleagues who had been in Langkawi for a fair number of yeas dialled them up and .. away we go!!!

At less than RM20 per pax, the offering is traditional fair but boy was IT YUMMEEEEEEEEEE! The drink for the day was jagung (corn) ... something I didn't have since school days. Then there is the usual dates and local kuihs (more than 6 different varieties). Fruits of papaya and pineapple are sliced and arranged side-by-side placed within the shelled out husks of pineapple. It was very nicely done and we took one of these to share. For those who need their carbo, aside from steam rice, there is fried koay teow and fried rice. Next comes the soup - a fragrant Thai tom yom that is sour and spicy and oh-so-heavenly! For the side dishes or rather main courses, from my memory, there was more than 15 dishes. 2 types of shrimps (naturally) that was sweet and juicy, sotong, cuttlefish, fried fish, ikan bakar, raw vegetable salad, stir-fried vegetable, beef, lamb and a variety of chicken

What more can you ask for at that price especially since it is Langkawi where some roadside tandoori chicken can rake up to RM7.50 a piece???

What more can one ask for???

Why seconds of course ... which is what all 4 of us did ... and thirds ... and ... heheheeh

Ummm in terms of atmosphere, you have a choice of sitting in the little pondoks/ huts overlooking the beautiful village scenery or nearer to the food chafing dishes in a canteen like environment. Being the greedy gluttons that we are, we chose the latter (HAH!)

Settling into the Rhythm ...

... of life in Magnificent Malaysia ... yeah for those of you who know me in Bahrain (the Beautiful) ... I am still kind of lame with these types of phrases ... sort of like a pathetic 13-year-old trying to sound smart ... actually upon reflection as I grew OLDER I noticed that I get swamped with lots of inconsequentials like ... work, relationships, outing obligations, small talk, reading the news, etc ... to the point that the personal things that are important to me in my younger days, that I felt most proud of, that I actually cultivated on, that drove me ... have disappeared.

Amongst these include writing (yes I used to write for the university magazine in Australia, to the English dailies like NST and STAR and even kept the clippings whenever I got published and to some fan-zines in the States) ... my weak-assed sketches using mechanical pencils ... a while back I spent a few weeks brushing up on this and posted them somewhere on the 'net ... paintings in watercolour ... etc ... things that are deemed to be "creative" ...

Sad, isn't it? Maybe that's why I am doing this blog. Maybe I am hoping that if I do this consistent enough, I can finally pluck up the courage to complete the novel that I had drafted and carried with me wherever I go since ... 1997 ... if memory serves ... all 600 over pages of the damn thing ... I even had hardcopy ... I even checked out the agents and publishers to send it to ... but I never got around to polishing it up ... sigh!

Perhaps if I can settle down into a job for a good 12-months I can get around to this as well ... perhaps ... but whatever it is, I will definitely share it (and bore all of you who read this) with everyone on this blogspot ... hahahahaah ... did you realize that by reading this I have taken the most precious possession of yours? Time?

Mwa-ha-ha-ha ... I am indeed the thief of time ... but hey, bear with me ... I am so tempted to spill out all the bitchiness of life here ... without censorship ... give me time ... I am sure it will come ... hahahahaah!

In case you are wondering, today's photo is taken in Langkawi during sunset when I was here on holiday in Feb 2008 ... little did I know I would end up working here in Langkawi ... hah!