El Cerdo KL

Fancy a good pork and Spanish restaurant in KL? El Cerdo is the place to go. It is located in the heart of the city's nightline district, Changkat Bukit Bintang and within walking distance from the Bukit Bintang MRT station.

The restaurant is decorated with many 'piggy figurine' which highlights its specialty dishes here.

It has a rustic interior with lucky charm sculptures, painting and ornaments which add to the welcoming atmosphere in the restaurant. 

Complimentary bread was serve before any appetizer and main dishes were served.

The restaurant has a few variety of draught beers (Tiger, Edel Weiss, Hoegaarden & Kristoffel Dark) and I am happy they serve the Paulaner beer (RM 28). Tiger draught is RM 16 a glass.

I am quite surprise to see the availability of port wine here. A 60ml of Dow's Fine Ruby is a sweet version of the port is worth a try (RM 35).

El Cerdo's Farmer Sausages (RM 42) consists of mixed sausage types served with sauerkraut.

My personal highlight when visiting a Spanish restaurant is paella. This is the Mountain Paella (RM 103) which is made up of bacon, chicken slices, fresh assorted mushroom, chicken sausages and semi cured chorizos. For those who enjoys paella, this would be the place to be.

This Paella definitely live up to its name with all the ingredients cook up together. Definitely the best paella in town.

When it comes to pork dishes, rib dishes come to mind. Oven roasted Spanish Iberico spare ribs (RM 108) served with pineapple & apple sauce.

Not the best Iberico rib I came across but is good enough.

Some ice cream dessert to end a wonderful dining experience here. This is the place to be for an authentic Spanish cuisines.

Grip 6 Classic Series Belt

I have wrote about Grip 6 minimalist wallet and this time I will have a look at the Grip 6 belt. It is actually the belt which how the company started and grow until the present day. All their products are 100% made in the USA.

The packaging is simple with the box made from recycled material. The belt is neatly rolled inside the box.

The belt consists of 2 parts; the buckle and the strap. The buckle is CNC laser cut and is built with brushed T6061 aluminum. It weights around 25g.

The classic series is the most basic design Grip 6 has to offer and it cost USD 35. The webbing strap is 1.5" wide made from high tensile nylon fiber wave. Both the buckle and strap come in different colors. I opt for a ninja black buckle with black strap. What make this belt fun is that it can be interchange with other Grip 6 buckles and straps of different color to suit the occasion.

The strap has a breaking strength of over 2000 pounds. When ordering, just measure your waist and pick the size according to your waist size in inch. In my case, I ordered a 38" strap size and Grip 6 will add another 8" to the strap and hence the total length of the given strap will be 46" in this case.

At one end of the strap is a flat surface stopper which is to terminate at one slot of the buckle.

The belts working principle is through friction between the strap and the buckle. Grip 6 called the locking mechanism as "Badgerbite" as when locked, it is as tight as a badger bite.

To use the belt, the other end will now enter the other buckle slot. When the strap is slid in vertically to the slot, there is no friction and can slid in easily.

To lock it, the strap just need to be placed at an angle to create a friction with the buckle and hence the tight grip. 

The belt will take some practice to get used to. Once you get your hand on it, fit up is pretty easy and fast. The belt felt really light and secure. The flap is not visible as it is tucked behind the buckle. 

The buckle is shaped slightly curve to the contour of our belly. It is quite light and I barely notice that I was actually wearing it.

These are currently the belts I am using; from the traditional tongue buckle and auto lock buckle with leather strap. With their metal buckle and leather strap, they are way heavier compared to the Grip 6 belt.

Continuous use of the tongue buckle belt will leave a permanent mark on the leather strap and aggravate the holes in the long run.

The auto lock type belt will have some wear and tear underneath the belt after long use.

I been using Grip 6 belt almost 5 days a week for about 2 months now and there ain't any wear and tear sign on the strap although kink will develop at the strap in way where it grips to the buckle. The kink is not a big issue as it can return back to the original shape after stretching the area a few times.

Grip 6 gives unlimited lifetime warranty to the belt against any malfunction and all possible wear & tear as it is designed to last a lifetime. This is probably the only belt I need for the remaining of my life and could even pass it down to my next generation.

Trove Hotel Johor Bahru

Trove Hotel is another refreshing hotel in Johor Bahru. It is located at the same road as New York Hotel at Jalan Dato Abdullah Tahir. This hotel is considered an old hotel and it used to be Grand Continental Hotel.

I was here in July 2020 when interstate travel was allowed after the nation's first lockdown. To attract visitors after the post MCO, the hotel offered room rate of RM100 per night.

The room has been renovated to give it a modern and fresh look. As it was used to be an old hotel, the room is spacious to my liking. Just wish there are more lightings especially at the desk for me to do some work. All the rooms are fitted with an alkaline water dispenser and bottled water is not provided to occupant.

Swimming pool and function rooms are located on the 8th floor. From here it offers a panoramic view of its surrounding area.

Complimentary breakfast is provided. However, due to the pandemic, there is no buffet breakfast. Guest is given 3 breakfast sets to choose from and I opt for an American Breakfast set.

There is not much attractions around the hotel with the nearest shopping complex been the Plaza Pelangi. However, there are many convenience shops and eatery within the walking distance from the hotel. There is also an Irish Pub on the 1st Floor

Farewell Mutiara Hotel Johor Bahru

I was quite dishearten when I heard the hotel will be closing permanently on 1 June 2021. This is another long list of hotels in JB which has been affected by the ongoing pandemic and cause it to shuts its door. I decided to pay homage to my favorite hotel in JB by commemorate some of my experience staying here.

The hotel first opened in 1982, initially called Holiday Inn and then Crown Plaza in 1982 before change to its current name in 2000.

Even though the hotel is almost 40 years old, it is still well maintained. The lobby also  has a few shops selling watches, jewellery and clothes. 

It is a good base to explore Holiday Plaza and KSL City Mall as both are within walking distance from the hotel. 

In order to attract people during the long year pandemic, the room rate has been reduced to RM128. The room is very spacious and comfortable. Even with the reduced rate, the service and the quality of the room are not compromised, unlike certain hotels which I had stayed during this period.

Lucky for me, I always have the city view while staying here. Those who stay on the other side of the hotel will have a railroad view. My last stay here was 6 March 2021.

It is sad to see such a wonderful hotel and its people will have to go. It will remain open to the public until 23 May 2021. Just wish I am allowed for another interstate travel during the current Movement Control Order 3.0 so I can have a last stay here.

Dango A10 Pull Pocket Adapter

In order to allows  A10 Adapt wallet to have extra cards carrying capacity, one of the option available is the A10 Pull Pocket Adapter. This is one of the advantage of the Dango A10 Adapt wallet as there are a few accessories (sold separately) which can be attached to its rail and at the same time its application can be customized according to the user's need.

The A10 Pull Pocket Adapter (USD 35) comes in a few leather finishes but I opt for their water resistant, non-leather DTEX material. It still keep the slim profile and can holds up to 3 cards. It weights only 17g.

It has a pull tab which will slide the cards up vertically. I have my own concern on the durability of the pull tab as it don't seems to be made of durable material. I would love to see an opening at the bottom of the adapter so there is another option to slide the cards out by finger in case the pull tab broken off in the long run.

As the rail of the A10 Adapt wallet might cause some wear to the edge of the card, it is best to keep cards you try to keep intact in this pull pocket. The pull pocket does not offer any RFID protection. It is better to keep the cards which require RFID protection inside the A10 Adapt wallet chassis

The sliding plate of the adapter is made of polycarbonate and seems to be incorporated to the pull pocket by a strong adhesive. The addition of this slightly thicker sliding plate will reduce the number of notes able to be stored inside the A10 Adapt wallet cavity.

Now, fully attached to the A10 Adapt wallet, it still maintain the slim profile of the overall wallet. It can now carry a total of 7 cards in this configuration, an extra 2 cards from the original A10 Adapt wallet.

With the A10 Pull Pocket, it will be a tight fit to carry notes. Ideally, 2-3 notes will be the best without causing much resistance when sliding the adapter. I also found out the A10 Adapt wallet can accommodate a few coins in the cavity.

Overall, I quite satisfy with the Pull Pocket Adapter as it gives extra cards carrying capacity to the A10 Adapt wallet I currently using now. The wallet still look sleek and elegant with it on.