Paulaner Wheat Beer Natural

After searching high and low for Paulaner beer, I finally found an outlet called Weissbrau at Pavilion KL which sold this brand.

Paulaner is a German brand beer which I heard is very nice to drink. It is a wheat beer with its brewery established in the early 1600s in Munich.

I was initially disappointed as the outlet only sell bottled Paulaner Wheat Beer Natural as I was expecting it coming from the tap. A bottled of this beer (500ml) cost at a whooping RM38

The beer is made from water, malted wheat, malted barley, yeast and hop. It has slightly higher alcohol content at 5.5%

The beer form quite a head once poured on a chilled glass. It has a golden cloudy appearance as it was unfiltered.

Paulaner beer did not disappoint me. It is really smooth as if it was a draught beer. This is definitely the best German beer I had drank to date, let alone the best bottled beer. I will definitely come back for more!

Ramadan Buffet @ PICC

The fasting month presents me with an opportunity to feast on some of the buffet offered almost on ever nook in the city. One will be spoil of choices.

After doing some research around, I finally decided to dine at Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) due to its reasonable price and soothing ambience.

The food here is served by Eden Catering, utilizing the convention centre entire dining area. They charge RM50 for adult and RM25 for children.

Diners can opt for open air balcony with a spectacular view of whole Putrajaya, the federal government administrative centre.

I was there early as the Muslim can only break their fast around 7.30pm, I took a round tour to have an idea what they got to offer. The satay, grilled seafood (fish, squid and stingray) and roasted lamb are in high demand here.

Large selection of assortment for diners to create their very own ABC and Chendol.

There are just too many desserts for me to choose from. They are just so colourful and tempting.

I got to be selective with the food as I do not want to get bloated too early into the buffet and get my money worth while dining here. I skipped the rice, noodle and pasta.

The satay is probably one of the best I had taken so far. Two thumbs up! The dim sum are also good although they didn't consist of any pork. It is best to avoid the prawn and clam as they are nowhere near tasty.

Some of the fruits are also disappointing like the mangosteen where almost all of them had turned bad.

My ice kacang. Not so great either. The hawker stall ice kacang is definitely better than this.

Some of the decorations which use real fruits where they are "carved" on.

They served 4 types of porridge here and manage to get hold of 2 of them as my stomach almost reached its maximum capacity. The porridge are delicious, just too sweet.

The other highlight here is the availability of the live band which sang various Hari Raya songs

Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendol

Penang is famous for its Teochew Chendol and there are a few stalls selling it along the Penang Road. It's hard to determine which is the best so I did some research before I arrived at Penang.

The most famous stall is at Jalan Keng Kwee, off Penang Road. The stall is located at an alleyway beside Joo Hoi Cafe.

This stall is always fully packed from afternoon until late evening. Everyone seems to throng this place continuously. A bowl of Chendol cost RM 1.80 and take away cost a bit more at RM 2. Everyone has to stand and savour their Chendol as there are no chair and table to make them comfortable (and no one seems to mind standing).

The workers here are very efficient and able to come out with the order in a matter of minutes even though there are a lot of orders from all directions.

There is also another "imitation" stall operating right opposite the famous one selling the same product. However, this stall register a lot less customer than the famous stall. I believe the owner should move to another location as there is no point keep competing with the famous stall as he is obviously the big loser on this alleyway. The only advantage this stall has is the availability of chairs and tables for his customers.

The chendol here comprises of green pandan made from rice flour together with red beans, coconut milk and shaved ice topped with palm sugar (gula melaka). It is an excellent thirst quencher under the scorching sun.

The chendol from this stall don't have a thick santan (coconut milk) but is compensated with a lot of palm sugar to make it tastier. They are pretty generous in the amount of the chewy green pandan rice flour and red bean.

Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendol received recognition from Phua Chu Kang and Rosie. Somehowe the owner and Phua Chu Kang shared something in common, a mole at the right cheek.

Jaz Beer

Jaz beer, the first truly Malaysian beer was introduced in 2007 but somehow its market pretty much concentrated in the West Malaysia only. I believe there are still a lot of locals who don't even heard of the brand before.

The beer price is pretty much on par with other branded beer brewed in Malaysia such as Tiger, Carlsberg and Heineken. I thought it would have been cheaper since it is a home grown brand.

The beer is brewed in Port Klang with malt, hop and carbon dioxide. The manufacturer claimed that the beer is brewed using German technology.

Even though it is brewed with German technology, the taste differ from the normal German beer I took before. It forms quite a head when poured and produce a clear golden liquid. Pretty neat in term of appearance.

The beer is smooth and well balanced by the bitterness of the hop and sweetness of the malt. I believed it is brewed to suit the Malaysian drinkers taste and liking.

Jaz beer is a refreshing beer to take and I am looking forward to have a few pint of it in the future.

Penang Ferry Ride

I always enjoy a ferry ride on the iconic Penang ferry whenever I had the chance. It has been 2 years since my last ride and recently I manage to set my foot again to the "Pearl of the Orient"

Arriving at Butterworth either by train or bus at the Penang Sentral, getting across to the island is rather convenient by using the ferry service.

The fare remained unchanged since my last visit here, RM1.20 for adult and RM0.60 for children. However, it is a free ride from Penang island to Butterworth.

A major change here is the ticketing system was used to get onboard. Previously, all one need to do is to insert enough coins to the barricade machine and one is through. There is only one kiosk (this kiosk used to be the place for the people to get small changes to get through the barricade) and one lane for passengers to pay the ferry fee and this is likely to cause a bottleneck during peak hour.

The waiting area is not air conditioned and things could get sticky on a hot and humid day.

The ferry takes about 20 minutes or so to get across. The ride is rather comfortable from here onward.

Along the ride, one will have a clear view of KOMTAR and the Penang Bridge

There are also a number of merchant vessels at anchorage around this area.