MY BANDAR PENAWAR GASTRONOMIC ADVENTURE - PART 2

   16th SEPTEMBER 2026   ~ We had to drive more than 20km for dinner to Dapur Kembar. I had bought a hotel in room in Pengerang and the original plan was actually to stay in Desaru. My gastronomic adventure buddy discovered this place on TikTok so we wanted to give it a try.

When we arrived at about 8:00 p.m. all the tables were taken. We had to wait for quite some time and at one point, we decided to make a move and find another eating place. Then only, people started leaving and we managed to be seated for our meal. Guess people came at that same time for dinner that evening.

The foods ordered were Sate, Fried Rice and Fried Noodles. The portion was big and the food was quite spicy but that was alright for me.

Based on the crowd we met at the restaurant, this could be a popular place among the locals. One place you would consider for a decent dinner in Bandar Penawar.

THE CHINESE NEW YEAR LUNCH DATE AT A MAMAK RESTAURANT

Masala Tea

   17TH FEBRUARY 2026    ~ I wanted to pass the CNY cookies to Miss Grace Choo, and she suggested we met up for lunch instead. The chosen venue was Q Bistro at Taman Mutiara Mas, a Mamak that I wanted to go as this was one of two branches in Johor Bahru. Before this, I got to eat at three outlets in Kuala Lumpur/Selangor.

Fried Noodles

Miss Grace Choo was the person who had been giving me a lot of assistance when I was still teaching in SMK Taman Universiti. She was always willing to lend a helping hand, especially when dealing with issues involving Chinese students and parents. It was good to have the chance to sit and chat longer as it used to be a "hi" and "bye" kind of thing before this.

I met another students' father who was also eating at the restaurant with his grandson, Dr. Mohd. Fua'ad Rahmat. I taught four of his children when they were in school. He was also one of the Chairman of the school's Parents Teacher Association once.

THE VERY LAST COFFEE SESSION FOR THE YEAR 2025

 

The very last coffee session for the year 2025 was done with Mr. Masrizal Sayute, an ex-colleague of SMK Taman Universiti, at Nasi Kandar Mamu R Restaurant in Senai.

For the year 2026, I hope there will be more frequent coffee sessions with friends and ex-students. It is good to get to talk to people as I stay at home most of the time now that I have retired.

UNPAID REVIEW OF THE RESTAURANT: Nasi Kandar Mamu R is a rebranded Mamak restaurant. The dining hall looked new, clean, modern and bright. The food [we had beef fried noodles, fries and nuggets] was surprisingly good. This would be the next meeting place for me in Senai area.

This is also the very last blog post for the year 2025. The KPI for 2026 is to update all the pending posts of 2025, which are still a lot actually. *sigh*

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYBODY!

WHEN EATING BURGER AND FRIES WAS NOT ENOUGH

   20th SEPTEMBER 2025    ~ When eating burger and fries was enough for lunch [READ HERE], then it was time to get real food somewhere else. Thanks to Mr. Norazman for agreeing to go on another gastronomic adventure in the same day.

The restaurant visited this time was Q-Bistro located in Subang Jaya, which was not that far from the hotel where I was staying.

What a relief it was to get real food for the day.

As I was paying for the food at the counter, someone approached me and what a big surprise it was. My [UPM TESL] and her husband and daughter were also eating in that restaurant, hence an unplanned gathering took place. I had to prolong my stay in Q-Bistro and they even sent me back to the hotel. It's a small world after all.

MEETING AN EX-SCHOOLMATE AT PARADIGM MALL, JOHOR BAHRU

   4TH JULY 2025    ~ I finally got to see this one ex-schoolmate [of SMS Muar] again after asking him out many times. I just have a few ex-schoolmates who regularly go for chat sessions and Mr. Mohd. Razib Noordin was one of them.

butter kaya croissant

fried noodles

We had the meeting at Vivo in Paradigm Mall. It was just a short dining in session for lunch after the Friday prayer and we had to bid goodbyes before 5.00 p.m. to avoid the traffic jam. Will be seeing Mr, Razib again as he promised to give me young banana plants from his garden.

THE BREAKFAST SESSION WITH THE TESL GANG BEFORE THE EXCURSION

   29TH DECEMBER 2024    ~ The day in USJ was started with the breakfast with three TESL friends. The host, Puan Hazlina Aziz, took us to Q-Bistro Restaurant in SS15.

Puri Bread

Fried Noodles

Roti Canai/Paratha

Masala Tea

After the not so light brekafast. we were so ready to get to our next destination, the Chinese Mosque in Klang, to meet more TESL friends.

MY HAT YAI GASTRONOMIC ADVENTURE - PRE-DINNER SESSION AT MALIAM RESTAURANT

spot the error

2nd DECEMBER 2019 ~ It was raining heavily and we could not even cross the road to get to the mall, so the best option was to stop at this restaurant called "Maliam Restaurant". 

the biggest order chit ever - in A4 size

It was too late for lunch and too early for dinner. It could be our tea for the day but it did not really matter as the six of us finally met up in Hat Yai and sitting together at a dinner table.

fried noodles

banana flat bread (roti canai) (I think)

The food tasted similar to what we have back at home. We actually did not really focus on the food served as everyone was busy chatting while waiting for the rain to stop (and start exploring the shopping mall).

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MY HUA HIN GASTRONOMIC ADVENTURE - FINDING HALAL FOOD

Reading people's blogs before going to places proved assist me a lot There was a cluster of stalls right opposite the train station and a few of which served halal food. I was not worried anymore as I know where I could get my meals from.

I had fried rice and tom yum for lunch. I had tasted better food but I was thankful as I knew I could eat easily in Hua Hin.

This is Joe, the stall operator who comes from Pattani and could converse in Malay language with Kelantanese accent. He even helped to get cheaper taxi to get to the tourist's attractions as well as to get back to Bangkok on the last day.

I wanted to tried the flat bread from this stall for breakfast but it was still not opened at 10:00 a.m.

So I had this instead, fried mee hoon (something like thinner glass noodles). They did not have anything light for breakfast it seemed.

There will be more gastronomic adventures soon. Make sure you come back for more.

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