Birthday Celebration at Hubba Hubba Seni Mont Kiara

Tweet My helper has been with us for 5 years now and we have been very blessed to find a good one. Today's her birthday and despite the busy and hectic day, I took the kids out together with Yaya (helper in Filipino language) for a quick dinner.

I'm glad we decided to go to Hubba Hubba at Mont Kiara as we ended up with a memorable celebration. 

They surprised her with a birthday cake, plus a printed out photo remembrance. More than what I had in mind... Hence I would recommend this to people who want a fun celebration, who wants easy parking, a place that has alcohol, kid-friendly and nearby Mont Kiara residents. 

Not to be missed, especially those who want a quick meal -- we had pizza which my daughter loved. Sea bass fish fillet which is good quality. And Cantonese fried rice which was decent. 

Virgin mojito were superb too.

Friendly service, good food and decent price. What are you waiting for? 

As of this writing December 2015, they open from 11am to closing (means they wait for customers to leave I guess). 

Hubba Hubba 

Seni Mont Kiara 

Green Juice for all!

Tweet The Sun Newspaper features La Juiceria Cold-Pressed Green Juice at 50% off via newspaper ad clipping. 

Malaysians are starting to become healthier as green juices take popularity. The Goodness Greens of La Juiceria is outselling every other flavour. This means people are starting to understand the power of greens. The green juices have more than 70-80% of veggie content while a small amount of fruits , to keep things palatable. 

Enjoy a green juice today and see the difference it can make to your life!

Juice on! 

IDC Ice Cream at Damansara Kim

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Ice cream always have a way to getting into people's list, even if that person is on a diet. Well, at least it happened to me.

Perhaps my will is not strong enough at this point in time. Or maybe it's the happy memories it brings from my childhood. Or simply, I have kids and every now and then I want to build that "happy moment" with them over ice cream, just like when I was a kid.

After our maiden meal at The Kitchen Table, which is also at Damansara Kim area, we decided to be adventurous with the kids and brought them to this new ice cream place. For a rainy day, it was buzzing with people, and I even bumped into an old friend.

Our visit was well worth it to IDC Ice Dreams Cafe at Damansara Kim. For those not familiar, as after I lived in KL for 9 years, only now did I hear about this area! It is opposite the highway that faces Damansara Uptown.

It was easy to park at the place and we found our way into their freezing-cold cafe. Seems to be young boys running the place, all friendly and ever ready to explain their best sellers.

We ordered some affogato specialties and coffee. While my little girl had some mint choco chip on a cone. Worthwhile visit and will surely come back again,

IDC Ice Dreams Cafe at Damansara Kim

Ice Cream Display

Worth mentioning and trying : Vanilla Ice Cream topped with olive oil and sea salt

Affogato with chocolate ice cream and coffee infused with orange

Price was reasonable. Ambience is simple and nice. Air-conditioning was TOO cold for an ice cream place. Luckily I was able to request to tone down the A/C when we sat in one area. Easy to park. Vanilla ice cream with olive oil was superb!

Ice Dreams Cafe IDC

https://www.facebook.com/idckl/

Address: 30, 119 Jalan SS20/10, Jalan SS 20/10, Damansara Kim, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
Phone:+60 3-7731 0969

Caffe Crema Mont Kiara

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Happy that we get to have a decent specialty coffee place nearby our place in Mont Kiara. Small and cozy. Serving up serious coffee. Nice interiors. Love the acacia wooden trays. Walking distance from our place. Located beside a salon. It's hidden from the road because it's housed inside Plaza Mont Kiara. 

Worth the visit if you prefer serious speciality coffee vs the usual Starbucks, which is also stone's throw from this place. 

Bonding time with daddy over Babyccino

Specialty Drip Coffee

Hand Brew Coffee

Drip coffee which hubby tried. It was okay, not overly fantastic. Go for the usual latte instead. Or perhaps maybe we are not the right target market for such specialty coffee, though hubby usually likes the black, simple ones.

Cake was well presented.

Love the wooden plates. 

Love their branding and the thought process that went into how they serve their coffee.

Babyccino for the little one

Wooden interiors 

For 2 cups and a cake. Paid separately for the babyccino.

Cafe Crema at Plaza Mont Kiara (near Subway)

Caffe Crema

Address: E01-02, Plaza Mont Kiara, Block E, 2 Jalan Kiara, Mont Kiara, Mont Kiara, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Phone:+60 3-6206 2237

Price Increase in Malaysia: Cost Of Living Going Up

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This December 2015 marks our 9th year living in Kuala Lumpur. We proudly call it our home and we have had so many beautiful memories and wonderful stories of our stay. We still call it our home and we hope to have many more wonderful years in this warm, friendly country.

Things have been smooth-sailing for many years. However we can see the winds of change blowing strongly.

The past few months have been turbulent, mainly with the government issues and scandals, currency devaluation and GST implementations in 2015. And one eye-opening shocker for a housewife-mother-of-two (yes, that is my official title when I'm not at the office), happened on November 15 , 2015 Sunday. I jumped down for a quick grocery trip to One Mont Kiara Mall, my usual place, to quickly grab packets of cheese and got a shock of how prices have sky-rocketed!

I always bought Kraft cheese (shredded) for the kids -- easy to mix with pasta and other cheese-related dishes. I remember clearly how it used to be rm14 per packet not so long ago. Then jumped to rm17-ish for some time. Today, when I saw the whopping rm23.55 per packet I was really awakened to the fact that cost of living has indeed gone so high up.

Add to that fact, the toll fees have gone up, electricity also has gone up. Housing loan interest rates are going up. 

I hope that some stability will happen soon. Praying. Hoping. Waiting. Meantime... I grabbed another cheese brand and left KRAFT alone for today. The price is just heart-stopping. Perhaps I need some time to digest the fact that the prices are here to stay due to all the issues ongoing.

RM23.55 now for a packet of shredded cheese. Not so long ago it was around RM14-17 price range.

A Pie Thing

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Hubby has always been a fan of PIES. We have always tested pies from different places. Sometimes disappointed, other times happy but never "WOW".  Some places that serve pies (from what I remember over the years -- Dome Cafe and Alexis).

I've heard about "A Pie Thing" for a while now but never went in to check it out. Until recently when the stars aligned, I decided to give it a try. One rainy Friday night, I went over to satisfy my curiosity.

Since we tried it that one fine evening, we have been back several times to take away pies for our meals at home. Their take-away boxes are cute and well-designed. I like how they did the branding.

Worth mentioning are the Lamb Pies -- the best in town. Other flavours are yum too, though nothing tops the lamb pie.

We have tried several-- from vegetarian to chicken cheese. Hubby tried the beef, too. 

Service is friendly. Place is minimalist cool--and menu is simple to understand.

Love the gravy. Being someone from the Philippines, we love our gravy. And I wish they would give more -- to people like me haha. In fairness I never tried to ask for extra gravy. Perhaps next round I will! 

Sneak peek into my take-away bag 

The yummy inside of my Lamb Pie

View from my seat on that first visit

How it looks when you do the take-away. I opted for the mash potato and peas on top. Gravy separated in another take-away container so you can pour it.

A Pie Thing at Uptown Damansara Utama 

A Pie Thing

128G, Jalan SS21/35, Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya, Selangor

https://maps.google.com.sg/maps?oe=UTF-8&hl=en-sg&client=safari&um=1&ie=UTF-8&fb=1&gl=sg&sll=3.133535,101.624485&sspn=0.0002136,0.0002852&q=a+pie+thing&gmm=CgIgAQ%3D%3D

Huey & Wah Marshmallows

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Years ago, I chanced upon Huey and Wah marshmallows, thanks to Big supermarket. After being satisfied with the marshmallows we bought, we decided to do a bulk order, as a giveaway, for my daughter's birthday party. We were happy and satisfied.

One time, we went to Penang, we visited their cute little cafe. It was nice to meet the people behind their brand. And we had a memorable visit.

Fast forward many years, we were pleasantly happy to see that they came to Publika, for a short 3-day exhibition. There was KAFFA, a cafe exhibit in the middle of Publika. We went to Publika especially for that -- to drop by and say hi and buy some marshmallows!

They were making SMORES on the spot, and offered many new flavours.

I opted for my usual weakness -- salted caramel. While my daughter took her usual Chocolate flavour.

For lovers of marshmallows and want a good quality (and artisanal), try their goods!

Making Smores... check out the flame!

Inserting melted marshmallows into the biscuit

Happy girl!

Selection they had

My weakness -- Salted Caramel!

Huey And Wah

website: https://hueynwah.my/ 

368-1-14, Bellisa Row,
Jalan Burma, 10350 Penang
+604 . 228 3962

Noriter Cafe at One Mont Kiara: Birthday Party Review

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I first wrote about Noriter Cafe months back, for Mother's Day. Old review can be seen HERE.

Since it was a good experience, I decided to throw my son's 2nd birthday party at their location. It seemed like an easy task, since I can get some assistance from Noriter to organize it.

The birthday celebration was held on a Sunday lunch time, 11am - 2pm. In true Malaysian fashion, most of the people came at about 12 noon already, which was expected. Usually, Noriter rents out for 2 hours, and you will need to pay extra to extend to 3 hours. We had a dilemma as well as another birthday party was booked after us... so it was kind of a rush to pack up in the end.

I'm going to share my honest review of what happened so that people can make their own choices when it comes to your child's birthday party. That way, you know what to expect. I will also give my comparison against the other experiences, where I held a party for my daughter in other locations such as Kids E World in Gardens Mall, as well as J KIDS at Publika.

Things I liked about Noriter:

• The owner Jason was very helpful in everything. Even their staff are also helpful and friendly. They have the service to help you organize some of the party stuff, such as putting some signages, setting up balloons, etc. Of course, all that for a reasonable fee.
• Location is easy to access. If you are like me, you will most likely want to drag stuff to the party, like your own food, give-aways, etc. You can take the lift (elevator) from the basement parking straight to the cafe area. Likewise if you have tons of gift to bring home afterwards!
• The decoration which they already have in place is sufficient for a nice photo opportunity. It doesn't take much to decorate the place up. Great for people who want to have memorable photos and ample lighting (due to the location of Noriter it is near the rooftop and good sunlight during the day time).
• They allow you to bring your own food, after you have fulfilled the minimum requirement payment based on the number of adults and children you have estimated. They have a checklist of things if you want to do a party. Talk to them so they can help you plan and estimate it.
• They had their own branded plastic bags -- if in case you need (suddenly) to give out additional stuff. I wanted to give away some of the cold-pressed juices, and forgot to bring our own plastic bags, Luckily, they provided it.
• They provide easels for you to make your own signage. They also have pillars where you can hang your own birthday announcement. I made all our own signages to ensure the theme was well executed.
• Jason, the owner was flexible and agreed to allow me to bring my own cold-pressed juices as I explained that it's my own company and I wanted guests to enjoy the juices that day.

Compared to the children other parties I have made:

• Noriter is picturesque and well-lighted
• The young kids (from 6 months old - 5 years old) really enjoyed playing in the play area. They all stayed and didn't want to leave yet. The play area is small, but full of interesting toys. It is safe for young kids and one can easily keep an eye on the kids. Unlike the parties at Kids E-World (which is a HUGE place), you can rest and chat with people while your kid is inside the play area. J-Kids at Publika is also manageable inside, as it is not too big, yet not too small. Though so far, this is the best venue for young kids ... and I would recommend it for max up to 5 years old.
• One can bring own food here, unlike Kids E-World, which totally disallows everything. They want to charge you for everything there -- inclusive of bottled water, etc. Their food catering was so-so. I wouldn't do it again as I found the food really below par as to what you are paying for. It would have been a good option for them to allow people to pay and also bring their own stuff to add to the food.
• For J-Kids, they completely allow you to bring all the food you want! They just want to charge for the venue and the number of kids coming to the party.

Needs Improvement:

• The food that we paid for, based on the listing, was below my expectation in terms of execution. The fruit platter was mediocre. The rice ball was okay, though people didn't eat much of it. For the price of the afternoon tea time set, it was also extremely small and mediocre. I guess that is expected perhaps for a captured market? I seriously think they can improve themselves in this area. It would make more happy customers if they placed a little more love, effort and care into what they are charging vs what they are serving.
• I decided not to take a photo of the final bill since I was a bit put off about what happened in the ending. I was happy more people came in the end, that what I expected and assumed. Jason, the owner, went ahead to charge me all the additional heads who arrived -- which is okay and fair. However, the charges he did, which should equate to additional food, did not happen. He informed me that it seemed there was a lot of food already, so they didn't prepare anything anymore. I didn't want to ruin a good party and just left it at that. Whoever wants to do a party there, just be informed of the consequences, or perhaps inform him early that if he is going to charge additional heads, he should at least bring out the food which is what you are already paying for.
• Back to back parties are really stressful due to the timing, and the need to shoo away all your guests because you need to pack up as well. Though they were quite helpful in the packing up, since they want to ensure the next party will be satisfied with their set-up time. 
• Air Conditioning at One Mont Kiara (at that Noriter floor) is not sufficient. At that area, it can get very warm and hot, depending on how sunny it is that day. Noriter has electric fans on standby, which is good to cool down the place. Though it kind of blows away those pretty balloons that you have set up.

In conclusion.... would I recommend this place?  YES, I WILL.  All the guests -- both adults and kids, had a good time. And that is what's important.

Just wanted to share all the experiences, so it may help other people out there.

In terms of expenses, the party at Kids E-World (the Gardens) is the priciest of all. Followed by Noriter. JKids is the most affordable and flexible venue.

Birthday at Noriter Cafe in One Mont Kiara

Birthday cake, this was bought from another supplier (a fiend of mine who makes cakes)

Our very own cold-pressed juices 

Birthday Boy and daddy

The place has good lighting. Good for some solo shots!

Easy to decorate the area. All the guests had a good time.

Kids enjoying the toys 

Juices for kids and adults

Playing with the car and reading books

Our helper and birthday boy. Balloons set-up , simple yet effective.

With some of our guests 

blowing of cake

Family Picture

Busy playing

A Happy Ending.

Noriter Cafe

2nd Floor of One Mont Kiara Mall

1 Jalan Kiara, KL 50480

Jason - 010-2953099

Nara Kitchen Again at Damansara Utama

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This is my third visit to Nara Kitchen, all three times were for breakfast. This third round was solely for hubby to get to try some of the stuff which I enjoyed in the past visits. 

At first glance, their menu doesn't have much for breakfast -- same comment from my husband in his maiden visit to Nara. I noticed that most of their menu is more for lunch time. Though I totally appreciate the thought that they open at 8am on weekends. I love early morning breakfasts, which is hard to find. Most places open at 9 am or even 10 am -- which leaves me missing Manila, where some breakfast places as early at 7am!

Meantime, my own observation in the three visits, I have seen customers who sat down inside Nara, looked at the menu, and left. This didn't happen only once. I suspect there is a disconnect on the expectation of breakfast. They were probably on a search for the typical eggs, ham and bread combo. And I don't blame them. There are days I would love to have that... and perhaps one day Nara would also consider to do that.

We enjoyed our round of waffles, and breakfast pudding. The granola was okay, nothing to shout about, though I love the presentation. Breakfast pudding was creamy -- and I shared with my 2-year old son. Waffles was a hit, daddy and little girl finished it.

Coffee was once again, just okay. 

My daughter tried the hot chocolate. Looked nice, but she didn't manage to finish it.

Would I come back again? Yes. But it will be to try our their lunch or dinner menu.

Staff are friendly. Nice little place. Worth visiting, and you be the judge.

They are located beside The Good Batch, another cafe, which I am yet to check out.

Standing at the window of Nara Kitchen

Beautiful Breakfast Pudding

Hot Chocolate

Waffles

Partial view of their Menu

Coffee (and a Shopkin!)

Granola

Bill for 2 adults and 2 kids

Nara Kitchen & Co.
61 SS21/1A, 47400 Petaling Jaya (uptown)
Located facing the main road. Beside the Good Batch. Alongside Soft Srve and Wondermilk.
They accept credit card now.