Hotel Seri Malaysia Melaka

Hotel Seri Malaysia has a knack for positioning its hotels at a location which appear to be a bit far away from the town or main attraction and this is the case with Hotel Seri Malaysia Melaka in Ayer Keroh, some 5km from the Ayer Keroh toll plaza and adjacent to the Ayer Keroh Arch.

As with all its chain hotels, the lobby area is not air conditioned. Check in duration can be pretty long for walk in guest compare to those who had made reservation.

 

 

The deluxe room (RM 148, corporate rate) is decently spacious and can fit 3 person with a queen size bed and another single bed. The room is generally clean and everything seems to be in order. I would say the hotel is on par with any 3 star hotel in this country.

 

Interestingly they have self service washing and drying machine at the walkway outside the rooms. Ironing board is also available for every hotel guest.

There ain't much activity to engage here while staying here except dipping inside the pool. Zoo Melaka and Ayer Keroh Country Club is a few distance away from this hotel.

Complimentary breakfast is served for every guest. They serve decent breakfast and I'm fairy satisfied with my stay over here.

Ayer Keroh Arch

The Ayer Keroh Arch is situated at the main entrance to the Historical City of Malacca, just after passing through the Ayer Keroh toll plaza when entering from the North South Highway. The Arch has been around since May 2004.

 

The concept of the design of this arch was based on on the old palaces during the glorious era of the Malacca Sultanate. There are six towers signifying the six fundamental of Islam while the arch itself reflects the three main ethnic groups in Malacca, namely the Malays, Chinese and Indians.

The arch is 47.8m in length with a height of 22.1m, while each tower has an average height of 24m. There are spiral stairs within each tower which leads to the top of the tower but the access point had been securely locked by the authority concern. It would have been a breathtaking view from the top of the tower.

The Ayer Keroh Arch with its traditional Malacca architecture design has become another principal landmark for tourists visiting the Historical City of Malacca.

KLCC-Bukit Bintang Walkway

A fully air conditioned pedestrain walkway linking KLCC and Bukit Bintang has just been completed and opened to the public early this year.

 

 

 

The walkway includes 562m long and 5m wide elevated walkway that traverses through the busy areas of Jalan Pinang, Jalan Perak and Jalan Chulan with escalators and staircase entry and exit points at strategic and convenient locations. Security guards are present within the walkway to ensure the safety of the users.

  

It links KLCC to Impiana KLCC Hotel and the hotel to the Pavilion bridge crossing at Bukit Bintang

The project was financed by Petronas under its social contribution programme. It would have been better if it could be extended futher to Fahrenheit 88 and Sungei Wang Plaza as pedestrian still need to brave the traffic from Pavilion onward.

 

The walkway passed through the KL CityWalk, which is a new lifestyle concept been introduced between the KLCC and Jalan P. Ramlee.

 

Bavarian Bierhaus as seen from the walkway. This is my favourite drinking place while in KL and this also happen to be my usual route when walking from KLCC to Pavilion before the walkway is opened.

I find the distance from Pavilion to KLCC is slightly longer via the walkway compare to the walking route which passed through Novotel Hotel and Wisma UOA. However, the walkway provides a more comfortable walk when it is really hot out there and during the rainy day. The walkway is open daily from 6am to 11pm.

Chi Ka Yin Restaurant

Chi Ka Yin Restuarant prides itself in serving traditional Hakka dishes and I had been reading a numbers of positive reviews about it. Hence, I decided to give this restaurant a little visit to verify all those claims.

Apparently, this restaurant also featured in 8TV's Ho Chak programme as well as in the local newspaper.

There is nothing much inside the restaurant in term of decoration. Customer has the option to dine outside or inside the air conditioned area.

We can also see the kitchen and observe how the food are prepared. I had put a few orders of their signature dishes and I did not have to wait long.

The braised duck (RM 12, small) came highly recommended by the staff. The meat ain't tough and the sauce is slightly sweet. Slightly above average.

Spring Roll (RM 12, small) received a lot of accolade but somehow it tastes pretty average to me. Served with chili sauce.

I heard so much about its Bitter Gourd Salted Vegetable Soup (RM 6.50, small) and I just have to try it to be sure. It doesn't taste bitter at all. Somehow I couldn't find any bitter gourd in it. This looks and tastes more like a salted vegetable soup to me.

Overall, the food here are just average to me. It is just not good enough to attract me back here again.

Chi Ka Yin Restaurant
9-G, Jalan Puteri 2/6
Bandar Puteri Puchong

Alor Setar from the air

Alor Setar is probably the greenest place I ever seen in Peninsular Malaysia as paddy fields are almost everywhere if you happened to fly over it.

No wonder the city is the distribution center for manufacturing and agricultural products such as paddy.

 

Alor Setar city appears to be surrounded by paddy fields from the air. What a sight to behold.

 

The Alor Setar Tower, the landmark for the city, stands at 165.5m tall. It functions as both a telecommunication tower and tourist attraction.

Capsquare

Capsquare is a small shopping complex in Dang Wangi which I just came to know about while exploring this part of KL.

This place seems to be the home to PIKOM for their PC fairs. I would say the location is pretty strategic as it is just a short walk from Dang Wangi LRT Station.

 

Capsquare has a plaza and a convention centre of its own. I have to say it is quite a pleasant place to hang around.

 

 

The mall itself is pretty small with shops specializing in information technology, electronics, GPS and communication. Surprisingly, there is a TGV cinema on the 3rd floor.

 

 

 

There are a lot of drinking places just outside the mall, specializing in German beers such as Paulaner. I will probably be back for a pint of beer in the future.

Yut Kee Restaurant

Yut Kee Restaurant at Jalan Dang Wangi has been operating for more than 80 years is an iconic landmark in Kuala Lumpur and one of the last remaining Hainanese coffee shop in the city.

This eating place has a long list of signature dishes and drinks from recipe as old as the shop itself. It is currently run by the third generation of its original founder.

 

The shop interior seems to survive the test of time as probably nothing much has changed since the inception of the shop. Marble table and wooden chair are still used here, as with the kopitiam of the yesteryear.

The place is always crowded and there will be usually be a queue outside the shop. Be prepared to share a table with strangers as the owner just have too many customer to cater.

 

Pork chop (RM 10) is a bit different from the normal pork chop I used to consume. Served with gravy, potato wedges and onion, it offers the best of both worlds, east and west. The meat is tender and almost boneless.

The chicken chop (RM 8.50) has the same presentation as the pork chop and I actually had a hard time to differentiate it with the pork dish. I reckon they use the same gravy for all the western food here. Another tasty dish the shop had to offer.

 

The roti babi (RM 8) is something unique. The deep fried bread is stuffed with shredded pork and onion. It actually feels like munching a tuna sandwich.

All the food came out pretty fast. Probably less than 10 minutes. There are just too many dishes to try out here such as the kaya toast bread, roasted pork roll, beef noodle, coffee and the list goes on.