i can’t think of a better way to spend your Saturday than having afternoon tea with your bff at a cosy yet classic-ly elegant environment, reveling in tête-à-tête over English tea and delicate scones and sweets.we were seated at a pretty table by the window. i secretly yay in my heart for natural sunlight. and you should yay too, for beautiful pictures you’re about to relish ( i kinda went overboard with the photo taking). that’s my bff, LeeChing, she’s no stranger on AntzWorLd as she appears quite often here. by the way, if you don’t remember, we had a fabulous staycation at this reputable hotel last month. read here to refresh your memory.

we reminded each other, today is a day we have to act all tai-tai, walk like a tai-tai, smile like a tai-tai, nibble like a tai-tai and of course whisper like a tai-tai too. LeeChing was talking berry softly on the phone to the point that her boyfie on the other end can hardly hear her Afternoon Tea at 1885, Eastern & Oriental Hotel is priced at RM 56++ per person and you’ll need to come in at least a pair. each of you can choose a pot of tea of your choice and the food portion served for two.

we were given a menu to choose our preferred tea. the choices although not really extensive, was varied and pretty interesting!LC's Earl Grey
an extravagantly tea with the intensive aroma Japanese wild berries.

while i had Morgentau.
a tea creation with delicate fruity flavours and petals.

Earl Grey was too overpowering for my liking, i like mine more. i have always loved fruity scent, in my tea and perfumes.dollops of dense yet light clotted cream.raisin and plain scones

i know i should start off with savory sandwiches first. but i couldn’t resist warm scones. i couldn’t resist the clotted cream more actually. so i had to have the scones first, sorry sandwiches.

scones were well made, not dry or doughy..same goes with the homemade jam. not sickly sweet as those commercial ones. even a non-jam person like LC spread it thickly on her scones.dainty array of finger sandwiches served in a two-tiered tray.

the top consists of

-Soft Cheddar Cheese, Ripe Tomato on Whole Wheat Bread
-Lemon Chicken Salad, Crunchy Celery in Puff Pastrywhile the bottom tray had

-Roasted Beef, Grain Mustard Mayonnaise on Village Bread
-Cucumber with Cream Cheese Dill on White Brown Bread
-Chicken Breast, Horseradish Cream on White Bread
-Scottish Smoked Salmon, Lemmon Butter on Poppy Seed Bread
-Egg Mayonnaise Voulevant, Chopped Shallots, Alfafa Sprouts

well, there’s really many breads for an afternoon tea. O.o

we had a hard time gulping them down nibbling them.. nonetheless there’s few that i really like and wish i could have second serving of.lastly, a vintage plate laden with sweet treats inclusive cheesecake, macaron, chocolate cake, white chocolate ball, meringue with coated strawberry.it’s hard to say which morsel i liked the most, as every one is tasty. even a non-dessert person like LC (she’s quite picky also heh) enjoyed all of them, especially the chocolate cake, it’s really chocolatey to her liking!don’t be intimidated by the environment, it’s actually quite relaxing in there. at night, the setting is transformed into somewhat poshy for fine dining.with such elegant setting and delightful afternoon tea offering, there’s no wonder why 1885 is awarded Malaysia’s Best Restaurants consecutively two years (2011 & 2012).

so to conclude, i would recommend Afternoon Tea at 1885, Eastern & Oriental Hotel if you’re looking somewhere nice to catch up with your girlfriends over dainty food in a light and relaxing environment. do remember, reservation is highly recommended!

i went to Muar again when i was back home last weekend! my bff with balls (bffwb) had some errands to run in Muar and i shamelessly tagged myself along he invited me to go along!

our initial plan was to have brunch at this POPChuco cafe when we arrived but to our dismay it only opens at time 1600 so we tried our luck at this nice cafe along the same road which bffwb visited few weeks back. it’s closed on Monday. bloody hell. must be bffwb no shower that morning! so we resorted to Old Town White Coffee wtf. we did go back to this lovely cafe in the evening!

we were so glad that we came!POPChuco Art Gallery Cafe is like a hidden gem among stones wtf. we almost missed it as i didn’t expect it to be a two-storey wooden house. when Waze told us that we have reached the destination we both were like WTF? where’s it? we had to park the car by road side and search for it on foot, fearing that we might miss it again. =.=

how could we even miss this huge singboard? i had no freaking idea.there’s three dining areas altogether, alfresco, indoor at ground floor and upstairs. it’s an old wooden house where you have to climb the stairs outside of the house in order to gain access to the first floor. the upper level only opens after time 2000, we left earlier than that, so didn’t manage to have a look.POPChuco Art Gallery Cafe is a creation by 7 youngsters. each of them experts in different fields (law, food technology, psychology, photography etc) but they share one interest, i.e. art. and they welcome art lovers to work with them, whether you’re an artist/photographer/composer.

pachuco means any young hispanic/Mexican-American males perceived (through similarity of garb, haircuts, etc.) to be members of a street gang (source). and that is what POPChuco is, nonchalant, rebellious, whatever with some pop elements.there’s surprises at EVERY nook and cranny of the building, the wall, the lamp, the divider, the window, the fan, the eberythingyoucanthinkof are all skillfully quirkily decorated, handmade using recycled thingamajigs with aplenty creative juice, effort and love.

apparently, they are not that good at food art. food was unfortunately disappointing, not as interesting as their art creation. only ONE main dish every day, good thing is they rotate the main. they have wider choices for side dishes and beverages though.

and oh you are welcomed to bring your own food (which is a rare scene in restaurants/cafe) for birthday celebration/gathering/anyoccasion/evennooccasion, but you have to order the beverages on their menu.we ordered a rice set meal and one side dish and a dessert for sharing.

i ordered Dragon Fruit Juice for myself while bffwb had Pop Why which comes together with the set meal, i remembered mine was really refreshing but i couldn’t recall the taste of Pop Why. but i do remember the POP drinks series have cute Chinese name like 随便，都可以， 一样，不懂叻，and 有什么. that’s 有什么 on the table, which literally means, got what?Sweet & Sour Rice | RM 10.90
an ordinary 咕噜肉饭 with sides of fried egg with runny yolk and veggie.Fried Mushroom | RM 4.80
battered abalone mushroom deep fried to crispy! nice snack to munch on on a lazy (late) noon!Ice Cream Potted | RM 5.90
vanilla ice cream on an Oreo cushion, topped with crumble Oreo soil and decorated with mint. Oreo lover will definitely love it. you can also choose chocolate ice cream if you’re a chocolatey person

there’s so many many cafes in Penang that i want to explore before heading back to Malacca end of this year like 42 La Boheme, AHMO, Kwong Sang House, De Yard (for food), Coffee Element, Nostalgie Cafe The Daily Dose, Behind 50 and.. i ming ming got a looong list in my mental note but suddenly can’t think of others now =.=

anyway,

the bff and i dropped by Ete Cafe to kill some time while waiting Moustache Houze to open at around 1630. the sun was mercilessly searing hot that day and we have been on the road ON FOOT for more than 5 hours. when we arrived at Ete Cafe, the first thing we noticed was, to our horror, it’s NON air-conditioner. we almost wanted to leave, but then i couldn’t think of any other cafe in the vicinity, so we went in 硬着头皮ly.the little compartment is ventilated by two standing fans, but we still felt it’s a lil’ stuffy in there. nevertheless, it’s a quaint lil’ cafe with coffee and French dessert being their specialty! they have a wide array of coffee beans available on the shelf. and they use siphon coffee maker to brew your cuppa coffee, kinda interesting. but cold beverage is what we needed to keep us alive there and then! also had a creme brulee for sharing. beverage was meh but the dessert was good! apparently the Taiwanese owner acquired baking skill from the renowned Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris!neh the siphon coffee maker. glassware like this reminds me of laboratory’s!desserts on display!i like how they use vintage frame to showcase the dessert namesIce Fruit Tea | RM 10
did i just pay 10 buck for a glass of colored plain water =.=. it seems that they have diluted the drink as it used to be more concentrated, judging from the color intensity la.Creme Brulee | RM 15
i judge a creme brulee by its crisp caramel layer! and yes it was berry nicely done here! gave the soft yet firm custard a good textural contrast! nom! although RM 15 is quite pricey for a small tub..

it’s such a lovely cafe, it’s a shame that it’s not equipped with air-conditioner.

went out for a drink last saturday with the boyf (yup! he was in town) and friends, JS and iforgot. we were famished after drinking and off we went supper-ing at 3am before heading home. or was it super early brekkie?i was amused by its moniker, Jiao Sai, which literally means bird shit. and apparently the night was still young, most of the patrons were youngsters.uncle doing his thang!Maggi Goreng Tom Yam
it comes with fried chicken cubes and a sunny side up!sinful yet tasty.

it might look unappealing but it actually tasted quite good. they use those instant noodle from Thailand, instead of maggi mee’s mee, which was just fine. the boyf ordered mee goreng original, i had a spoon and thought original one tasted better. JS insisted tomyam is the bomb though. you just have to go find out yourself which suits you best!

however, waiting time is subject to how crowded the night is. be patient ya.

i was running errand at Little India together with labmates cum lunchy buddies the other day. we were pondering what-to-mum for lunchy, and G suggested Chai Diam Ma and i quickly said YESH excitedly since i have not tried it before while ALL of them went without me some time ago tsk.i was enticed by the art piece displayed at the entrance. it’s so errrr raw.

they even DIY-ed their menu {Penang} Lunchy @ Chai Diam Ma, Queen Street

i couldn’t resist snapping around this cute lil’ cafe after ordering my food.handmade dolls for sale. keychains, accessories, clothing and some other knick-knack can be seen all around the cafe, which are up for sale too!

btw, chai diam ma means sundry shop in hokkien! i’m so used to chap fo pou (cantonese) though.the al-fresco area. it was a rather hot day, so we opted indoor, with comfy couch.

and i learned that most of the furnitures are actually recycled. that’s why they look run-down. but i can assure you they are sturdy!the menu is limited but they do have some daily specials which vary from day to day. and because the dishes are prepared fresh, hence the waiting time is slightly longer compared to other cafe.Watermelon Juice | RM 5; Honey Lemon | RM 6; Passion Fruit Milkshake; RM 8
Cele said the juice was tasteless. i looked back at the menu, it states ’100% fresh fruit & sugar free’. haiyo no wonder la :/.honey lemon was mediocre while the milkshake was decent, berry milky according to CC.Lasagna with Meat Sauce | RM 14
CC loves this to bits! i had a spoon and it’s actually berry tasty, berry cheesy too! the salad served consisted slices of tomato, zucchini, capsicum and rocket leaves, with balsamic vinegar dressing, i think.Baked Macaroni with Bacon & Mushroom | RM 14
mine! again, berry cheesy. taste wise, was a tad bland. but the bacon made it up! the strips are slightly crunchy, just the way i likey!

we would have enjoyed our quaint lunchy more if we weren’t summon back to lab.