October Updates!

*Sigh* Time just flies and it's been almost 2 months since my last blog post *gasp*

Been really busy with cakes and parties and also the kids! 

So here's what happened in October:

First up on October 5th was the very first Nuffnang Food Fest. Am very proud to be part of this event as The Cherry on the Cake was invited by Astro's Lifetime Channel to be their baking partner. I personally baked a total of 1000 pcs of chocolate vanilla cupcakes! Total of RM1146 was raised on that day for breast cancer welfare charity.

 Astro's Lifetime channel's booth at the Nuffnang Food Fest 2013

Together with a few friends, Marissa and I watched The Gruffalo at PJ Live Arts, Jaya One. We bought premium tickets and had a good view of the stage! The show was so enjoyable - highly recommended for families. The next show coming up is Aesop's Fables by Jim West. We watched Jim West's production before last year and it was really good too. 

For the very first time, my kids participated in a Halloween costume contest held at Bangsar Village. Free for all Toys R'Us members. All participants received a goody bag and also a meal set from Nando's. Evan dressed up as a mad scientist and Marissa was a good witch. We had fun putting the costumes together! After that, the kids get to go trick or treating around the mall and they amassed a huge lot of candy. Obviously I didn't allow them to gobble the candy all up in one go….. The next day, the kids participated in another round of Halloween costume contest at Bangsar Shopping Center this time and went around trick or treating as well. 

 Both boys won honourable mention awards in the contest

Marissa refused to go on stage! 

So that pretty much wraps up what happened in October!

Coppelia Ballet Premiere

Coppelia Classical Ballet Premiere: Saturday night 8:30pm Istana Budaya

Evan & I arrived early and we went straight to the media registration table to collect our 2 complimentary tickets. In my earlier blogpost, I did mention the whole family is going but unfortunately, we were informed that only 2 tickets were allocated per blogger. I didn't want to buy an extra ticket for Marissa which costs RM123, as she may end up sitting on my lap which is strictly not allowed or she may even fall asleep during the performance as the ballet is over 2 hours long.  

We bought the program book for RM10. We also took the opportunity to purchase The White Bat DVD for RM35. The White Bat was a ballet production at Istana Budaya in 2011. Read all about our experience at Istana Budaya's The White Bat here. We watched the DVD just yesterday together as a family. We still kept the program book and our tickets stapled on the front cover although it has been 3.5years ago!

Anyway, back to the ballet, it was very interesting. Our seats at the Grand Circle were pretty good because of the good leg-room and clear view of the stage. Too bad we weren't close enough to see the facial expressions. 

Act 1 was the opening dance which we saw during the rehearsal. It was magical seeing the dancers on stage in full costume dancing on the set. 

Act 2 was my favourite - Evan loved it too because we get to see the various 'dolls' in Dr Coppelius' workshop! 

Act 3 was very nice as well where the dancers get to strut their stuff here. Pas de deux between the newly weds Franz & Swanhilda plus solos by the principal dancers and guest artistes. I love watching Connor Walsh dance - he has such a big on-stage presence. A group of children also performed during Act 3 and there were 3 boys! 

I wonder what ballet performance it would be next year and hopefully Evan will be able to audition for a role in the children's ballet. I'm secretly wishing it to be The Nutcracker. 

YTL's Tanjong Jara Resort - Day 4

Last day at Tanjong Jara Resort! Had breakfast at Di Atas Sungei. The spread here is more impressive than Nelayan. Basically both places serve the same food - only that Di Atas Sungei has a noodle soup station, waffle station and a juicing station. Oh and they serve porridge as well. 

All in all, it was such a relaxing holiday that I enjoyed so much! No housework.... and lots of yummy food! Service & hospitality rates at A+

Here are a list of activities available while on your trip to TJR:

Activity menu for Tenggol Island, inclusive of lunch

1) Snorkelling RM290 per pax

2) Diving RM480 per pax

3) Discovery Scuba Diving (for those without license) RM600

Not available during Nov-Feb.

Turtle watching
1) Standby from 9pm-11pm, once turtles are sighted at Kerteh, you will be transported there to view the turtles laying eggs on the beach
2) RM150 per pax

Eco River Cruise

1) Marang River

2) Visit to a village

3) RM150 per pax

Not available during Nov-Feb

Jungle Trek inclusive of packed lunch

1) Chemerung Waterfall Hike RM150

2) Full day excursion

3) Kids below 14 yrs not allowed

Chef's Morning Market Visit & Cooking Class

1) Dungun's local market Trip RM50

2) Cooking Class RM150

Bicycle Tour

1) Dungun's fishing village on rented bicycles

2) Sampling local snacks 

3) RM50 per pax

Terengganu Craftsmanship Tour inclusive of lunch

1) Kris blacksmith

2) Batik & Songket Makers (Nor Arfa)

3) Mengkuang & Bamboo weavers

4) Brass Foundry

5) Duyung Island Shipyard

6) Central Market of Kuala Terengganu

7) RM200 per pax 

Dungun Night Market

1) Happening every Thursday RM30 per pax

Dungun Town Tour

1) Learn about Dungun's history RM50 per pax

Batik Painting Class

1) RM80 per pax for painting 2ft by 2ft

2) RM50 per pax for painting 1.5ft by 1.5ft

YTL's Tanjong Jara Resort - Day 3

Birdsong can be heard in the wee hours of the morning heralding the dawn of a new day at TJR. We headed over to the Nelayan for buffet breakfast. Menu remains almost the same... only difference was instead fried noodles, there was fried kuay teow. Noteworthy to try out is the Nasi Dagang wrapped in banana leaf. The rice has a lovely aroma and texture and it comes with a piece of ikan tongkol (tuna). 

After a hearty breakfast, we headed out to Dungun town to get a copy of The Star newspaper. Then we decided to drop by Teluk Bidara - a short drive away.

Lunch was at Nelayan:

1) French fish soup

2) Asian Burger - beef patty with blended bunga kantan & coriander with a slice of sweet mango!

3) Thai fried fish rice - excellently done

4) Poire Belle Helene (poached pear with vanilla ice cream) 

 French fish soup

Thai Fried Fish Rice

Dessert! Poire Belle Helene - can't enough of this!

Next up is a pampering spa session at The Spa Village. I booked the Asam Roselle signature package which consists of a floral bath, traditional massage with roselle oil and a roselle body scrub. 

After the 100 minute pampering session, a pot of warm roselle tea is served. Besides the spa packages, there are also a la carte massage sessions available. Just check out the spa menu upon arrival and book your appointment.

Played around with my iPhone 5 camera while strolling along the beach. Hubs also played with his Nexus smartphone and took the photos below:

Tonight Chef Ann of Di Atas Sungei attended to us and discussed our dinner preferences. We ended up with

1) Fried calamari

2) Crunchy prawns thai style

3) Aubergine Sambal

4) Sizzling hotplate tauhu 

5) Chocolate lava cake

6) Peach crumble

 Our selection of dishes to go with white rice

 Peach crumble

Choc Lava Cake

Looking forward to breakfast at Di Atas Sungei tomorrow instead of Nelayan. 

YTL's Tanjong Jara Resort - Day 2

 We woke up early at about 6am to catch the sunrise at the beach.

Took some pics at the children's pool area. TJR has 2 pools. The other pool is only restricted to adults.

 Lovely view of the beach from Nelayan restaurant

Enjoyed our early morning brekkie at Nelayan. It was buffet style. Good selection but nothing extraordinary. We had yogurt (Nestle), juices (not the freshly juiced ones), coffee, tea, nasi lemak, nasi dagang, pancakes, breads, toast, cereal, fried noodles, ham, sausages and there was also an egg station. 

After filling up our empty stomachs, we headed out to Dungun town to buy The Star newspapers. We also dropped by the local market there. Saw this trader selling fish satay which were freshly grilled right from his motorbike! Bought a packet of dried kerepok ikan. Then we head off back to TJR.

Fighting fish @Dungun Market

Chillaxing on the balcony's deck bed 

After that lunch again at Nelayan:

1) Thai Beef Salad - absolutely delicious dish!

2) Fish Head Curry - a MUST try - the curry is heavenly!

3) Nasi Goreng 

4) Dessert - poached pear + vanilla ice cream (yummylicious!)

Thai Beef Salad

 Fried Rice, fried chicken, acar & fried egg

Fish Head Curry

Rice & salad & kerepok ikan to go with the fish head curry

With our lunch barely digested, we decided to go for the Jara Hill Walk. A short jungle trek up and down Jara Hill - nice view from the top but lotsa mozzies. Complimentary activity happening everyday except Fridays.

Kampung Life activities are on every Saturday in the evenings: 

Be treated to Kerepok Lekor, Vegetable prawn fritters and kerepok ikan. Roselle juice and iced coffee also available to quench your thirst.

 Apam Balik - with sweet corn, nuts, chocolate chips and strawberry jam

Gamelan music

 Congkak

Coconuts plucked by the angry monkey!

Other activities : sepak raga, bamboo dance, head & shoulder massage and batik painting demonstration. 

This time we had dinner at Di Atas Sungei - there are no menus here. We discussed our requirements together with the staff there and we ended up with kangkung belacan, buttermilk prawns (their signature dish) and sizzling black pepper hot plate lamb (highly recommended!). We also had mango salad and satay as appetiser. Dessert was banana fritters served with vanilla ice cream. Nom Nom Nom........... 

YTL's Tanjong Jara Resort - Day 1

We actually booked a package to Tanjong Jara Resort (TJR) for our 'babymoon' while I was preggers with Evan. Unfortunately, had some complications during the pregnancy i.e. ovarian cyst and we had to cancel the booking. Eventually, when the kids came along, we did not have the opportunity to visit TJR until now - to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary! We booked the all-inclusive residents' package for 4D/3N and enjoyed an additional 10% off since we booked 30 days in advance.

We drove all the way from KL to TJR in Terengganu. Long drive that took about 6 hours - no thanks to heavy traffic due to some roadworks in the land of kerepok lekors. Nevertheless, we were glad to finally arrive at the reception of TJR. Immediately, the gong was sounded to announce the arrival of new guests. The porter promptly took down our luggage and escorted us to the reception area where we were greeted with another staff who served us roselle juice and offered us cold towels. Checking in was a breeze and we were escorted to our Bumbung room. Bumbung rooms are rooms on the upper floor Serambi rooms are on ground floor. We got a Bumbung room with a lovely view of the sea.

Good points: Balcony, high ceiling, more privacy, most economical room available.

Not-so-good points: need to climb stairs to access - not so convenient with kids or senior citizens.

Lay-out for both the Serambi and Bumbung rooms are the same.

 King size bed 

 Day bed - can fit 2 small kids or 1 big kid

 Study desks on both sides of day bed

 Super large and spacious bathroom

 Vanity table inside the bathroom

Bathtub flanked by shower room and toilet

View of Serambi & Bumbung rooms. 

Anjung rooms are also another choice - most expensive - but it's an entire suite - just like a little house on the beach. 

We proceeded to the Nelayan for our late lunch. 
We ordered: 
1) Nelayan's Caesar Salad
2) Tomyam Soup with grilled prawns
3) Terengganu's Delight
4) Satay - mixed chicken & beef
5) Coffee & Tea

All were very tasty and satisfying except the beef satay which was had a rather chewy texture. And there were no hard boiled eggs in their version of the Caesar salad.

 Caesar Salad

 Terengganu's Delight

Satay

Walking on the beach

We explored the resort by foot and then decided to take a rest in our room befoe going back to the Nelayan for our dinner much later. Our dinner was supposed to be in Di Atas Sungai but since a company has booked the entire restaurant for their function, we were upgraded to the Nelayan for fine dining.

This time, we ordered the following for our 3-course dinner:

1) Soft shell crab

2) Mushroom soup

3) Catch of the Day - grilled red snapper in Malay style with chilli

4) Baked Seabass with kaffir lime & lemongrass

5) Apple pie

6) Flourless choc cake with vanilla ice cream

7) Coffee

The Nelayan's impeccable service and delicious offerings did not fail to disappoint. This time, my only grouse was that the seabass was a tad too bland for my liking but it was actually very well baked and had a lovely soft texture. We were also given complimentary bread and spring rolls served with a shot of pineapple/celery juice as starters.

 Soft shell crab

 Seabass

 Red Snapper

Choc Cake (to die for!)

Will blog more about TJR tomorrow! Planning to view the sunrise, go for the Jara Hill walk and Sucimurni experience..... plus gorge on eat more food.