To PUTRAJAYA and Beyond (Nasi Beriani Anwar Ibrahim)

The wait is over!

Picking up from where we left off last week we were indeed glued to the television later that evening when all polling stations had closed. In fact we stayed up till the wee hours of the next morning only to find Malaysia with a hung parliament.

For the next five days we watched and waited with bated breaths, waiting for common sense to prevail. In the end with a little bit of royal cajoling a unity government was formed, and Anwar Ibrahim took his oath of office before the Yang di-Pertuan Agong at Istana Negara (National Palace) on the 24th of November 2022.

After the dusk settled we took stock of our country's position. For a start, our currency improved with our stock market seemed refreshed. With Anwar Ibrahim at the helm we held confidence that the nation will be led by an old hand.

Enough of politics, we rose early this morning and headed to IKEA Cheras to run an errand. We ended up with a few items we did not initially plan on buying, but that was the risk we took when we came here.

We then drove to Putrajaya and speaking of Anwar Ibrahim we headed to a food court in Presint 8 where the Prime Minister had lunch just the day before. I had the Mutton Briyani while Cat tried the Beef Briyani. 

Together with a round of drinks our prime ministerial lunch came to RM34.50 (approximately USD8/EUR7) which in our minds was quite reasonable. We then drove to Dataran Putra (Putra Square) in Presint 1 and took in the sights of Putrajaya in all its glory while casting a glance at the Prime Minister's Office. We do wish him all the best.

We then took a drive to Cheras where I had an appointment with a friend to acquire a pre-loved central processing unit (CPU) to be used with a monitor for our CCTV system. We had to wait for a while since Shawn ran into some problems with the CPU.

He eventually sorted things out, replacing the initial unit with a superior one, and with that we headed home. 

A week after GE15, and we wondered, have our prayers for a better tomorrow been answered? We sincerely hope so!

(Do visit our YouTube Channel Have Perut Will Travel)

📍 Location:
IKEA Cheras - https://goo.gl/maps/Co2Eo1HNv8PyxC3y9
Medan Selera P8 (Presint 8) - https://goo.gl/maps/g2FaSEJXxmtd97Lb9
Putra Square - https://goo.gl/maps/VqFNo6mFo9hgHSR17
Ali Food Corner Damai Perdana - https://goo.gl/maps/fDnqDuvsN6bKjU9u5

To The POLLING STATION (GE15: Today Malaysia Decides!)

Today Malaysia Decides!

As promised, we were up bright and early this morning to head to the ballot boxes and left our home at 8:00AM.

We wanted to make sure we were among the earliest to cast our votes and hailed a Grab car to the polling station at St John's Primary School.

We arrived a few short minutes later and found the polling station to be professionally managed without any large crowds. We headed to our polling channels (Cat and I were assigned Channel 4 while Brendan was assigned Channel 5) and waited our turn.

It was all over in a matter of minutes, and we were glad we came early. Brendan's friends were reporting large crowds forming at polling stations all across the country. 

We were thankful to all the volunteers for manning the polling station as well as law enforcement officers for keeping the peace.

We then walked down St John's hill and headed to our favourite breakfast spot, Mansion Tea Stall for Roti Canai.

We then walked to the Maybank nearby to replenish our Federal Reserves and headed home. We have done all we can, exercised our constitutional rights and will be closely monitoring the results. We will be glued to the television later in the evening when all polling stations are closed.

We pray for a better tomorrow!

(Do visit our YouTube Channel Have Perut Will Travel)

📍 Location:
SK ST JOHN 1 - https://goo.gl/maps/tB8fr2hrkAiY8Qy79
Mansion Tea Stall - https://goo.gl/maps/p3rYE9Q7qS7APoUK6
Maybank (Jalan Bunus Branch) - https://goo.gl/maps/bh3RyqbTsSzqvAzV8

To KLIA and Back (GE15: Tomorrow Malaysia Decides!)

Tomorrow Malaysia Decides!

The 2022 Malaysian general election, formally the 15th Malaysian general election (GE15), is scheduled to be held tomorrow to elect the members of the Dewan Rakyat (People's Assembly) in the 15th Parliament of Malaysia. 221 seats in the Dewan Rakyat will be contested during the election. Between 2020 and 2022, the prospect of an early federal election was high due to a political crisis. Political instability caused by members of parliament switching parties or coalitions, combined with the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, has contributed to the resignation of two prime ministers and the collapse of each of their respective coalition governments since the prior election in 2018.

This time around we pray that common sense prevails, and the next government is a fair and just one elected is by the rakyat, for the rakyat. May eternal damnation await those who play the race card!

Brendan's faculty gave him an extra week off for the mid semester break, and that meant that he will be flying back to Kuala Lumpur later today for GE15.

Today has been declared a public holiday so that Malaysians will have time to return to their respective polling stations. We started our morning with a leisurely drive to Tanjung Sepat (yet again) for lunch. This time we thought we would try something new and visited Restoran Ban Joo Hing.

It did not offer the same seaside views as Baywatch Restaurant and Sin Hock Heng Huat nearby, but we did not mind it all that much. We spent some time scouring the diminutive menu and with a little help from the waitress settled on the:

• Spicy Fried Sting Ray for RM38.00
• Sambal Fried Prawns for RM48.00
• Chinese Herbal Paper Wrapped Chicken for RM48.00
• Sweet Potato Leaves for RM12.00
• 2 servings of Plain Rice for RM1.50 each
• 1 pot of Chinese Tea for RM6.00

Our lunchtime seafood spread came to RM155.00 (approximately USD34/EUR33) which was quite steep by our reckoning, but it is what it is we suppose. 

Lunch out of the way we then drove a short distance to Mimi Dragonfruits to replenish our reserves of you guessed it, dragon fruits. By the time we got to Mimi it was pouring and she was kind enough to fetch us with her umbrella. We ended up buying RM60.00 (approximately USD/EUR13) worth of dragon fruits which put a smile on Mimi's face.

We then made our way to KLIA and waited for Brendan's flight (MH2513 which departed from Kuching at 1:51PM) to arrive. According to Flight Radar his plane touched down at 3:20PM and within half an hour he walked out onto the Arrival Hall. 

We then got back into Puteh and got home an hour and a half later. We will be up bright and early tomorrow morning to head to the ballot boxes, so please stay tuned!

(Do visit our YouTube Channel Have Perut Will Travel)

📍 Location:
Restoran Ban Joo Hing - https://goo.gl/maps/a7DgSnaxM43KcD588
Baywatch Restaurant - https://goo.gl/maps/ME1cnNngAc6Vkigq6
Sin Hock Heng Huat - https://goo.gl/maps/wRFaHCu3cn5HP3E39
Mimi Dragonfruits - https://goo.gl/maps/RphKwLDCdD4wDKDBA
Kuala Lumpur International Airport - https://goo.gl/maps/ZKny1DBPGRpcAnXF8

KUALA SELANGOR in 24 Hours (Hotel Le-Shore, Restoran Jeti, River View Seafood, Roti Canai Pelangi)

Kuala Selangor!

I took leave from work today to attend a regular medical check-up at KPJ Tawakkal Specialist Hospital.
Since being hospitalised a decade ago for Hypothyroidism, a state in which the thyroid gland does not make enough thyroid hormone, I have been seeing the Rheumatologist every other month to check on my TSH, T4 and T3 levels.

Apart from being overweight everything checked out fine and we left KPJ Tawakkal Specialist Hospital for Kuala Selangor. A little over an hour later we arrived at the Pasir Penambang of Kuala Selangor.

Kuala Selangor is a coastal town located about 70 kilometres northwest from Kuala Lumpur. Situated where the Selangor River meets the sea, the small town of Kuala Selangor is known for its fresh seafood, historical sites, and natural hidden gems. Looking to experience their fresh seafood we walked into Restoran Makanan Laut Jeti. An hour or so later we emerged with our bellies for and took a stroll. Be sure to catch our previous video on our seafood lunch.

We then walked over to our budget hotel and checked into Hotel Le-Shore where we had booked a room for the night. Our room was originally RM93 a night (approximately USD/EUR20) but we overlooked the fact that it did not have a window. Being quite the claustrophobe I decided to upgrade our room to one with a window so we ended up paying an additional RM89 (approximately USD/EUR19).

I spent the afternoon organising the videos and photos we had taken earlier then took a short nap. We emerged later in the evening and walked over to River View Seafood Restaurant for dinner. Be sure to catch our previous video on our seafood dinner as well.

The next morning we woke up and had breakfast at Warung Dimyati, a stall famous for its Roti Canai Pelangi or multicoloured Roti Canai. I had the blue Roti while Cat tried the pink Roti and we both tried their "telur goyang" variant (two half boiled eggs placed on top). Together with a round of Milk Tea, a variety of local cakes and two packets of Nasi Ambeng (for lunch later) it came to a very reasonable RM45.50 (approximately USD/EUR10).

In case you're wondering Nasi Ambeng is a fragrant rice dish consists of white rice prepared with chicken curry or chicken cooked in soy sauce, vegetables, fried noodles, some salted fish, fried coconut flesh, and so on.

We then headed back to the hotel and checked out and enjoyed a leisurely drive back to Kuala Lumpur. We hope to come again one day with Brendan to visit the many historical sites that exists on Bukit Melawati, as well as fully immerse ourselves in the tourists’ attractions here like the Kuala Selangor Nature Park, Firefly Park, Sky Mirror, Blue Tears, and Eagle Feeding. Please stay tuned!

(Do visit our YouTube Channel Have Perut Will Travel)

📍 Location:
KPJ Tawakkal KL Specialist Hospital - https://goo.gl/maps/3aVxJKbZnQ1YAERe6
Restoran Makanan Laut Jeti - https://goo.gl/maps/uQBLBaMY1y4vMa4g8
Hotel Le-Shore - https://goo.gl/maps/xxR4yCUnss8u4gUf8
River View Seafood Restaurant - https://g.page/riverviewseafoodrestaurant?share
Warung Dimyati Roti Canai Pelangi - https://goo.gl/maps/egASTPqJufz5mCH36

RIVER VIEW Seafood Restaurant

Seafood again!

We were spending a night in Kuala Selangor, and after our seafood lunch at Restoran Makanan Laut Jeti earlier in the day we decided on another round of seafood.

Why? Because When in Rome, do as the Romans do. So when in Pasir Penambang, we enjoy fresh seafood.

We first tried the restaurant beside the hotel where we stayed but were unsure if they were open. So we walked to the same area where we had lunch, and right beside it stood River View Seafood Restaurant. We read good things about this restaurant and knew we had to give it a try.

Just like Restoran Makanan Laut Jeti this restaurant too sat on the banks of the Selangor and had an awesome riverside view as well. As always we carefully perused the menu before finally deciding on:

• 1 plate of Butter Prawns for RM27.00
• 3-in-1 Steamed Red Snapper for RM33.60
• Fuyong Egg (Omelette) for RM12.00 
• 1 jar of Apple Juice for RM17.00 each
• 2 servings of Plain Rice for RM1.30 each

This time our seafood spread came to RM92.20 (approximately USD/EUR19) which was a little cheaper, but taste wise was more in tune with our palate. The sunset was simply awesome, and River View has now become our new favourite seafood restaurant.

Thus ends our seafood extravanganza, please stay tuned for more eating escapades in our videos to come!

(Do visit our YouTube Channel Have Perut Will Travel)

📍 Location:
River View Seafood Restaurant - https://g.page/riverviewseafoodrestaurant?share

Restoran Makanan Laut JETI

Seafood!

We came to Kuala Selangor with the sole purpose of experiencing fresh seafood. With that in mind the first thing we did after arriving in Pasir Penambang was to head to the first seafood restaurant we could find.

Of course the fact that Restoran Makanan Laut Jeti sat on the banks of the Selangor river helped us make up our minds as well. After a long while perusing their menu we decided on:

• Assam Steamed Jenahak [Snapper] for RM56.00
• Nyonya Styled Squid for RM22.00
• Oyster Pancake for RM18.00 
• 3 servings of Plain Rice for RM1.50 each
• 1 pot of Chinese Tea for RM4.50

Our lunctime seafood spread came to RM110.80 (approximately USD/EUR23) which was a little steep by our standards, but taking into account the Snapper cost half the bill put things into perspective. 

We will be having seafood for dinner as well, so please stay tuned!

(Do visit our YouTube Channel Have Perut Will Travel)

📍 Location:
Restoran Makanan Laut Jeti - https://goo.gl/maps/uQBLBaMY1y4vMa4g8