Alt. Space @ Jaya One, Petaling Jaya

Stumbled upon this place as we were looking for a coffee place in Jaya One. The Bee was full and the only seats available are those high chairs that you sit at the bar. A no-no for girlie outings. Thus, we wandered around and thankfully found this little gem. The signage was pretty catchy, Alt. Space. The look from the outside looks a little misleading as you would think that it is a cafe but yet, there are words like "office" that will make you think twice about stepping in.

Rental Rates

Drinks Menu

Seats were aplenty and pretty comfortable. The concept of this place is for people who works on a mobile office environment or people who just needed a temporary office area in the heart of Petaling Jaya. The place is comfortable and I always had a thing for quiet and comfortable places. If it is too crowded, we would not have enough time just to chill and chat.

We sat on the Group Workstation area as there are no charges after 6pm for the rental of the area. However there is a rental charge if the hours are between 8am-6pm. There is a also a single workstation area for just one person and is cheaper than the group rental. The rental is by hourly.

Drinks are served here and not just space for rent. Food can also be ordered but it is from the Fronterra kitchen.

Hot Chocolate

It even has an area for you to leave your name card (for future business opportunities . Overall this is definitely an alternative work space for me if I would need to go somewhere to work as it is indeed comfortable as an office space as well as quiet enough for me to concentrate on my work. They even rent out the whole space for events and can hold up to 100 people at the same time. It is a dog friendly place too :)

Address:
27-G Block J Jaya One,
No.72 Jalan Universiti,
Section 13,
46200 Petaling Jaya,
Malaysia
Tel No: +603-7931 8181

An American Tale

My all time favourite cartoon since childhood and the song that made me cried the first time ever :) Even now, it still tingles the heart as the little mouse cannot reunite with his family.

Dreamz Bakery @ The Strand, Kota Damansara

Another cute place for desserts and more specifically, mille crepes in Kota Damansara at a cafe cum bakery called Dreamz Bakery! Situated on the first floor of the shop, it is a little difficult to spot. It is located near the pub called Beer Belly. 

The decoration in the restaurants are very cute. Look at how they number their tables :) They have two type of seating area, one where you can sit on the floor ala Japanese style with a cushion to make it more comfortable and another type of seating with high chairs and tables.

The Hot Chocolate was pretty normal except that presentation wise it was interesting. They used three tiny marshmallows with different colours on it. Looks pretty cute. When you stir it in to melt, it may look a little weird as the colours mixed with the coffee but once it has been stirred well, there are no visible colours.

Cute Hot Chocolate

Ordered their Chocolate Mille Crepe cake. It was just alright. If only the crepe was colder, we would have enjoyed it more. Preferred the mille crepe sold in Nadeje in Malacca town. 

Chocolate Mille Crepe

A Closer Look at the Layers

Tried their Vanilla Crepes which was just alright. Again, I wished that it was a little colder. 

Vanilla Mille Crepe

Durian Cream Puffs were delicious! The durian cream was a little frozen, thus giving it a ice-cream like texture which was good. The puffs were pretty light and fluffy too. We were given eight pieces which is an additional of two because the puffs that day were a little smaller than usual.

Durian Cream Puffs

They even have a corner that has this netting for you to clip your messages for the bakery. There are various ink chops for you to decorate your message, pens for you to write and mini clips to clip the note on the net. Creative right?

There are also various types of cookies and biscuits on sale. A selection of macaroons are  sold her as well. 

Address:
No32-1, The Strand,
Jalan PJU 5/20D, 
Pusat Perdagangan Kota Damansara, 
47810 Petaling Jaya, 
Malaysia
Tel No: +6012-200 3441

Let's Eat Bogota!

Was assigned to this part of the world at the last minute. Had less than five days to prepare and that includes working hours, a trip to see the doctor in KLCC for the yellow fever jab, packing and buying whatever that is needed. That is why I ended up leaving behind some important toiletries like my regular facial wash and shampoo. 

Anyhow, I had some interesting food in Bogota. First of all, ordering food in Bogota is not an easy feat for non-spanish speaking individuals. Barbequed meat is pretty popular namely beef and chicken. It is a little harder to find seafood here. 

Parilla Carne

Tamales is a very traditional Colombian food. It is made from mashed corn glue with small pieces of chicken and some peas. There is another version of Tamales but it is wrapped in corn husk. Taste wise varies as it depends on how good it is. Had it a few times in another hotel but it was not really good but tried it at another place, I like it.

Tamales

Morcilla or blood sausage or sometimes known as black pudding was terrible tasting (this comes from someone who does not like congealed pork blood found in curry noodles in Malaysia). This version of blood pudding have rice as a filler.

Morcilla

Had typical Colombian lunch which was kinda of like set lunch of the day. It comes with a soup (a choice oc cream or traditional soup), a salad, rice with meat, a side of vegetables, plantain or potatoes and a drink. Plantain is deep fried bananas and the variety of banana is large and not sweet.

Sopas

Salada

Typical Colombian Lunch

Brevas or figs was served during one of those lunch meals and also during breakfast to be topped in the cereal. It is figs cooked in a sugarcane (panela) syrup. Taste wise it was just slightly sweet maybe a little weird. 

Brevas

I had arepas a few times and didn't liked it. Told my colleagues how I felt about arepas and they insist that arepas are good. Finally we went to a more proper arepa stall and ordered one with stuffed champinones and it comes with one single boiled quail's egg. However, I still don't really like arepa even after trying this :p However, the mushroom filling is very good as I am a fan of mushrooms :)

Arepas

Empanadas are really delicious. Basically, it is similar to Malaysia's curry puff concept except that the outer skin is made from mashed potatoes and the filling is made from stir fried minced beef. They are really delicious. It is a popular snack as I see it being sold quite often in shops.

Empanadas

The Innards of Empanadas

Sopas or soup is pretty popular eaten by its own with some rice and more often than not, a slice of avocado. The most popular sopas is Ajiaco pronounced as A-hee-a-co (silent J). Basically, the soup contains potatoes, corn and bit and pieces of meat. It also contains a piece of corn on the cob in the soup. I forgot to take picture of it. Instead, I have a picture of Sopa de Mute which is also sopas with an assortment of beans. This is also eaten with rice, a slice of avocado and a delicious pieces of sweet cheese bread. 

Sopa de Mute

My colleague also recommended this beer called Redd's which he mentioned is a ladies' beer which is really good. As light as Hoegaarden but sweeter.

They have special bottled sauces called picante and they come in various flavours.

Picante

Tried their really traditional alcoholic beverage called Aguardiente which literally means Fire Water. Bought a small bottle to try and boy, it really is strong. Before I even sip it, I could smell just how strong it is. Just managed a sip and it feels hot on the throat. The warm feeling is alright for me but not the taste.

Aguadiente

Obleas is a popular sweet snack and who can choose different flavours. I had mine with arequipe which is also known as dulce de leche, mora and crushed nuts sandwiched between two very thin disc of wafer. It was a delicious treat. Sweet from the arequipe and a little sour from the mora. The nuts lends a nutty bite to it.

Obleas with Arequipe, Mora and Crushed Nuts

Paper Thin

Aromatica is a type of fruit tea and not some aromatherapy stuff. I had it from a number of different places but the one that stood out was at the Sopas place near the place where I stayed. It was delicious as it had some fresh fruit like strawberries in it. Another plus point is that, it looked so pretty :)

Aromatica

After a visit to the Gold Museum in download, we hunted for lunch but instead hung out at the cafe. Ordered something that was displayed on menu with the word Desayunos on it. It came with a huge hot choclate, a portion of cheese and two pieces of bread. The portion was B-I-G. Later I found out the bread is actually Pandebono which was cheesy and desayunos is actually breakfast! Below you can compare the size of a coin and the hot chocolate. 

Food in Colombia was indeed an eye opener for me as it is very different from the part of the world where I stay. Even the rice is cooked a little different with a little bit of salt. 

Tanjung Sepat Road Trip

A good friend recently took me to Tanjung Sepat just to have some seafood and explore the area to celebrate my birthday. Always loved the idea of exploring new places as each and every place has its own unique characteristics. It proved to be an enjoyable trip even if there were only two of us as there were many things to look at. 

Along the Way

Cows Grazing Grass

 Finally we reached Tanjung Sepat after about an hour and half drive from Petaling Jaya. We could tell that we are near the seaside when we started seeing some empty blue spaces in the sky, with nothing blocking the view.

After looking at some of the restaurants, we decided on Ocen Seafood restaurant which sits by the shore so you can enjoy the ocean view and eat. The food was indeed excellent especially the Oyster Omelette. Although the oysters in it are a little small but they compensate in terms of quantity and freshness. The seafood here is cheap and delicious. The total price for three dishes is less than RM40!

Oyster Omelette

Steamed Clams

Our Feast

Tiny crabs are abundant here.

Inhabitants

Footprints of the Waves

There were some living creatures in the muck. Mud skippers!

Mudskippers

The wooden jetty is always a charming piece in any fishing village. The rough wooden planks placed together, well worn, faded with the rain, sun and saltwater, the wear and tear of shuffling feet carrying baskets of sea harvests onto the land and most of all, it is always almost never, perfect. Some planks may go missing, some a little broken and some may even give you a feel of a see saw when you walk on them.

Jetty

Fishing boats by the jetty. My friend was really curious with how the fishermen actually get down to their boats as the platform of the jetty is well over about 8-10 feet above the fishing boats. So happened that one of the fishermen was checking out on his boat and curiosity finally got into my friend and asked. 

Moored Fishing Boats

The fishermen has to climb down using those large logs (made from coconut tree trunks) and slide down. I was definitely impressed on their agility as it was a little high and any fall, you would end up in the water!

Fishing Tools

We saw two brown dogs when we were there. They definitely look healthier than a lot of domestic dogs as there are plenty of space for them to exercise and explore. One was really having fun, chasing mud skippers and running  in the water. He looked so happy :)

Playful Dog

Splashing Fun Time

There was this famous shop that sells Mui Choy Pau (preserved mustard greens buns). We had to wait nearly an hour for it and the customer before us bought over RM300 worth of paus.

Busy Making Paus

On our way back, there was event going on or rather, it was ending. A sailing competition! Interesting to see so many sails with younger participants with much smaller sails towing their sail boats onto land and washing them.

Sails

And More Sails!

After driving a little further down, we saw some dead mangrove trees and it looks so picturesque. So we stopped the car and got down. Some traps were laid in the water and saw a trapped snake.

Trapped Snake

Beautiful View

Tanjung Sepat is indeed an idyllic town with great and affordable seafood. Once again, thanks for planning this :)