Weekend Staycation at WEIL Hotel Ipoh Part 1 of 2

Posted on by Leia Harris

A lot has been going on in my life over the past few months. My mom’s caregiver ran away in early June so I’ve been under extreme stress, My mom’s back at a new nursing home for the time being until I can resolve some major issues in order to bring her back home. I kinda neglected this site. But, I’ve been focusing on life, my mental health, and my work. I was given the opportunity to de-stress myself last June to have a weekend getaway or staycation at one of the most popular 5-star hotels in Ipoh – WEIL HOTEL IPOH.

This will be in 2 parts – this is the 1st part where I will be covering the hotel aspects during my stay at WEIL Hotel Ipoh.

Check out PART 2 where I will cover all the dining experiences during my stay.

Weekend Staycation at WEIL Hotel Ipoh

If you have never been to WEIL HOTEL IPOH before, it’s strategically located in the heart of Ipoh town and it’s connected to Ipoh Parade shopping mall. It’s the only hotel that’s conveniently connected to a mall where your shopping, leisure, and food are just within a few walks away. There are also a lot of restaurants nearby like in Greentown and Ipoh SOHO so you have a lot of options in the surrounding area.

Continue reading “Weekend Staycation at WEIL Hotel Ipoh Part 1 of 2” →

I’m Back, Baby!

Posted on by Leia Harris

It’s 2023 and I am back!

I'm Back

Okay, so I’ve been gone for a long time… again.

A lot has happened in a year. Some good, some bad, some were so shitty that I can’t even find a word to describe them.

Don’t even get me started when the pandemic started. 3 years of living in pure hell. The virus scare, the nonstop lockdowns, deaths, vaccinations, sickness… my God. And all this happened when my mom got critically sick multiple times in 2020, in and out of the hospital and emergency rooms, and with me living without electricity for 10 months, living in my car alone during the lockdown with no money, no job, no life, no communications, and not a single thing to do. It was extremely tough… but I survived it.

I’ve moved to a new house for the time being since the beginning of the year. I had a lot of problems in my old house I feel I need to get away for a while, clear my head, and deal with my depression and problems before I deal with my old house and move back in. I have renewed motivation to fix my life and get back to what I’m passionate to do – blogging!

Every time I remember that all my old blogs were deleted during the pandemic by my web host, I get depressed. I’m starting from scratch now. It’s gonna be a lot of hard work but I’m confident I can do it. Rebuild my career and life. This new blog is gonna be my new home for everything I wanna post when I used to have different domains for different niches. I’ve managed to salvage some of my food review posts from my old blog Sinfully Delicious Malaysia from Internet Archive. Couldn’t recover a lot of posts from other websites. 2 years of posts also gone. Caput. Sigh.

In my old house, I couldn’t even use my computer due to the house’s condition. I decided to bring over the computer that my friend bought for me in late 2020 and I’m surprised everything is still working fine even after a year of being in ‘slumber’. That’s why I’m able to start focusing on blogging again and my social media work.

My mom was in the nursing home for like 3 years and now she’s back home so my life and priorities have instantly changed. I no longer live alone and I have to take care of her. I lost my sweetheart cat BamBam in August last year and I’m still depressed and heartbroken about it but I know he wouldn’t want to see me being a non-functional depressed human being. He would want me to be happy. I have 10 cats now and 1 new kitten.

Life so far has been okay compared to the previous 3 years, especially during when the pandemic started. I’ve lost myself and a lot of friends since then but I’m more peaceful now. My mental health has been better since I moved and now that I’m able to blog again, I wanna use my blog as a medium for me to write my thoughts, something I’ve stopped doing for years and it’s been detrimental to my mental health. I’m nowhere near done with this blog, though. There are a lot of things I still need to do but I’ll work on it. I still haven’t even finished moving house completely either and it’s been almost 3 months now.

Man, how quickly time flies. It’s March already?

Ramadhan will start on March 23rd. Gosh!

Anyways, I’ll end this introductory post. This post should have been written after I finished re-posting all the recovered posts over a year ago but I never got around to it. The pandemic really messed up my mind and life.

 

Christmas & New Year Buffet Spread @ Berjaya Times Square Hotel Kuala Lumpur

Posted on by Leia Harris

** This blog post was originally posted at ‘Sinfully Delicious Malaysia’ blog on December 21st, 2018

The Christmas spirit is back in town again! Celebrate this season with the ever-popular festive with your year-end festival gatherings at Berjaya Times Square Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

This year, BTHKL will be offering the Christmas Eve Buffet Dinner on the 24 December 2018, Christmas Hi-Tea Brunch on 25 December 2018 & New Year’s Eve Buffet Dinner on 31 December 2018 at Big Apple Restaurant

If you’ve never been to the hotel before, it’s very easy to get there and very convenient. Berjaya Times Square Hotel is connected to Berjaya Times Square (the shopping mall) and easily accessible by monorail (Imbi station). You can also directly walk to the hotel from the monorail station without having to go through the mall.

You will be spoiled for choices for the whole family with an array of activities lined up by the hotel to complete your festive celebration and culinary adventure. Apart from that, there will also be lucky prizes to be won such as the fashionable gifts of finest artwork sponsored by 97bros, hotel stay vouchers, and hotel dining vouchers.

Continue reading “Christmas & New Year Buffet Spread @ Berjaya Times Square Hotel Kuala Lumpur” →

Moodmojee – Mood Booster Beverages by Anchor Food Professionals

Posted on by Leia Harris

** This blog post was originally posted at ‘Sinfully Delicious Malaysia’ blog on December 11th, 2018

Following the success of its previous campaigns such as Say Cheese, PizzArt, and Anchor Travel Cakes, Anchor Food Professionals returns to debut six new dairy beverages to boost your mood with their Moodmojee campaign.

These beverages were conceptualized and created by Anchor Food Professionals chefs to showcase the delicious possibilities of dairy in beverages, bringing a sip of global trends to Malaysian consumers.

The Moodmojee campaign will see Anchor Food Professionals partnering with fifteen food & beverage customers in both Peninsular and East Malaysia, where these creamy creations will be introduced in phases nationwide starting from November 2018 until January 2019.

Always on the pulse of global trends and a master of innovations, the dairy foodservice leader from New Zealand is consistently exciting its customers by sharing new ideas and ways of doing things. The end goal – to help their food services partners find more performance in their business.

Inspired by Asian cheese teas, Jack Tan, Associate Foodservice Director of Anchor Food Professionals shared, “We understand the versatile role dairy can play in delivering great taste, texture, and appearance in any form whether it’s in beverage or cakes. Dairy is traditionally very popular with Western markets but this time, we wanted to play with local ingredients to give it an overall Asian taste and feel.”

He added, “We are always looking at what’s trending around the globe and strive to bring it back home to excite our business partners and ultimately, the taste buds of Malaysia. We have learned that creativity and innovation are as important as taste to consumers these days.”

Designed as mood boosters, the range of beverages brings unexpected pairings aimed to delight taste buds. This year’s range promises pairings of zesty, sweet, savory, and salty flavors with creamy and smooth textures. Think of yuzu, pomegranate, mint, chocolate as some of the ingredients that will be paired and brought to life using the natural and fresh goodness of Anchor’s dairy.

The delicious beverages will be available in two outlets in Perak. In Family Confectionery located in Kampar, Lemon Mint Meringue and Kaya-Nika Fusion are sold for RM12.90 and White Chocoffee is available at RM10.90.

In The Baker’s Hut Manjung, Pom Grey Twist and Kaya-Nika Fusion are selling for RM15.90, and White Chocofee is selling for RM14.90.

Continue reading “Moodmojee – Mood Booster Beverages by Anchor Food Professionals” →

Ayam Brand™ Healthy KIDS Food Festival @ STG Oldtown Ipoh

Posted on by Leia Harris

** This blog post was originally posted at ‘Sinfully Delicious Malaysia’ blog on November 13th, 2018

Did you know that Malaysia is named as one of the ASEAN countries that has the highest prevalence of obesity among children and adolescents with 23.7% of our children and adolescent being obese?

This is why Ayam Brand™, a Malaysian favorite for 126 years is holding a nationwide Healthy KIDS Food Festival to fuel better food choices as part of its annual corporate social responsibility program.

The event was held at STG Oldtown Ipoh.

Ayam Brand invited the children from 4 different children’s homes in Ipoh to join the event – Rumah Anak Yatim dan Warga Miskin Budi Mulia Nurul Huda, Praise Girls, and Boys Home Ipoh, Rumah Anak Yatim Yayasan Amanah An-Nur Maisarah, and the Salvation Army Ipoh Children’s Home from Perak.

Mr. Nathan Deverre from Ayam Brand™ gave an overview of what the Ayam Brand Community Care Campaign ‘Healthy KIDS Food Festival’ is all about.

This year’s charity campaign aims to empower children to make their own food choices through engaging and interactive activities that help them identify the main food groups, understand portion size, and make more informed food choices on how nutritious food can positively shape their bodies.

Ayam Brand™ emphasizes the contribution of its products to participating charity homes as many of these homes lack regular access to good sources of nutrients, that are essential for children’s health and growth.

Now in its eleventh year, the Ayam Brand Community Care Campaign has reached approximately 20,000 people from 482 charity organizations, providing them with 1,404,000 healthy and convenient meals!

Explaining the Healthy KIDS Food Festival, Ayam Brand representative Mr. Nathan Deverre said “Children learn better through play. Ayam Brand developed the Healthy KIDS Food Festival with games created for kids to have fun while learning how to make informed food choices.  We hope the kids participating today will practice what they have learned daily and shared these tips with their friends to spread the message of healthy eating.”

Continue reading “Ayam Brand™ Healthy KIDS Food Festival @ STG Oldtown Ipoh” →

“Selera Warisan” Ramadhan Buffet 2018 @ Swiss-Garden Hotel & Residences KL

Posted on by Leia Harris

** This blog post was originally posted at ‘Sinfully Delicious Malaysia’ blog on May 24th, 2018

This Ramadhan, Swiss-Garden Hotel & Residences Kuala Lumpur is having “Selera Warisan” Ramadhan Buffet, showcasing over 150 different dishes from freshly prepared salads to kerabu, soups, hot dishes, mouth-watering desserts and a variety of thirst-quenching beverages.

Swiss-Garden Hotel & Residences Kuala Lumpur is strategically located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur between bustling Bukit Bintang and Chinatown. You could take the Star LRT from KL Sentral and stop at Hang Tuah station which I did. Even though the hotel is within a walking distance, it’s a pretty tiring one because you have to cross the roads using the pedestrian bridge and also it was like walking up the hill to get to the hotel. Just thought I’d mention that if you’re planning on walking to the hotel with a bunch of bags.

The buffet Ramadhan is available at ‘Flavors‘ Restaurant for the whole month of Ramadhan located on the 1st floor.

Their Executive Chef, Chef Othman Abu Baker will prepare kampung-styled dishes with an extravaganza of flavors to suit the modern palate. Chef Othman has 30 years of experience in the culinary field with 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry and specializes in rustic European and Malay-styled dishes.

Throughout the whole month of Ramadhan, diners will be entertained by the live Ghazal music performances.

Continue reading ““Selera Warisan” Ramadhan Buffet 2018 @ Swiss-Garden Hotel & Residences KL” →

Ramadhan Buffet 2018 @ Concorde Hotel Shah Alam

Posted on by Leia Harris

** This blog post was originally posted at ‘Sinfully Delicious Malaysia’ blog on May 24th, 2018

Concorde Hotel Shah Alam has chosen ‘The Best of Kota Anggerik‘ as the theme for this year’s Ramadhan buffet available at Melting Pot Cafe.

I took the 7.25 am ETS train from Ipoh and reached KL Sentral at about 10.15 am after a slight delay. It’s been a while since I last took the morning train. I didn’t even sleep as I was afraid that I’d overslept like last time and miss the train. Took the KTM train to Shah Alam and reached the hotel at about 12 pm. I’m actually surprised I managed to reach before the event started.

The menu comprises over 100 scrumptious dishes.

Out of over 100 dishes, 10 of the hotel’s specialty dishes include:

  • Nasi Kandar Seksyen Sembilan
  • Asam Laksa
  • Daging Rendang Tok
  • Sambal Petai Pedas Manis
  • Ayam Kari Kapitan
  • Kacang Panjang Tumis Belacan
  • Kambing Panggang Berempah Bawang Putih
  • Sup Gear Box
  • Sup kambing Mamak

Continue reading “Ramadhan Buffet 2018 @ Concorde Hotel Shah Alam” →

Buffet Ramadhan 2018 @ BGR Restaurant, Bangi Golf Resort

Posted on by Leia Harris

** This blog post was originally posted at ‘Sinfully Delicious Malaysia’ blog on May 23rd, 2018

Bangi Golf Resort is having their buffet Ramadhan at their BGR Restaurant from 19th May – 13th June 2018.

BGR Restaurant is HALAL certified by JAKIM and is one of the very few golf resorts in Malaysia to receive this accreditation since 2009. It also has the honor of being the most Halal Compliant Restaurant in Selangor and received the coveted award from Menteri Besar of Selangor in 2017.

Fulfilling the promise of ensuring all items be promptly refilled and made available on the buffet until the last diner has eaten his / her fill while working on the concept of zero waste; BGR Restaurant will be partnering Food Aid Foundation to donate and rescue any surplus food from its Buffet Ramadhan to feed the hungry and needy.

Also, during the month of Ramadhan this year, BGR Restaurant will be contributing 1% of its Buffet Ramadhan Revenue to Islamic Relief Malaysia (IRM) in order to help empower the community and providing humanitarian aids to the disadvantaged.

I drove all the way from Ipoh to Bangi. From KL, it took me about an hour-ish to drive to Bangi and it wasn’t that hard to find the place with GPS navigation.

Before the buffet, the media/bloggers people had the opportunity to visit their farm. It’s a bit further up so we had to queue and wait for the vans to take us to the farm. You definitely can’t just walk there because it’s quite far.

Continue reading “Buffet Ramadhan 2018 @ BGR Restaurant, Bangi Golf Resort” →

“Juadah Warisan” Ramadhan Buffet 2018 @ Pacific Regency Hotel Suites KL

Posted on by Leia Harris

** This blog post was originally posted at ‘Sinfully Delicious Malaysia’ blog on May 22nd, 2018

This year, Soi 23 Restaurant at Pacific Regency Hotel Suites is offering ‘Juadah Warisan’ Ramadhan buffet from 19th May 2018 until 13th June 2018 with more than 100 selections for you to feast on.

Be prepared for some hot and tasty dishes like Ayam Pencen Salai Masak Lemak Cili Api, Rendang Tok Wan, Daging Bakar Masak Lemak Pukuk Ubi, Ikan Goreng Pedas Bumbu Acar, and Gulai Kawah while being served with piping hot steamed white rice joined with a variety of ‘ulams’ and an array of spicy sambals that would make the perfect meal.

Last year, their Ramadhan buffet was held on level 33 (check out my review of Bazaar 33 from last year) but this year it’s held at Soi 23 restaurant located on level 23.

It’s still a picturesque view. I had the nicest seat by the window with the best view so while enjoying my dinner, I enjoyed watching the city center, the skylines, and the sunset. You could also see the KL tower which is just across the hotel.

Pacific Regency Hotel Suites is also near the Bukit Nanas monorail station. Based on past experience, it’s quite difficult to get Grab (or Uber last year) because the area is notorious for its traffic jam.

Continue reading ““Juadah Warisan” Ramadhan Buffet 2018 @ Pacific Regency Hotel Suites KL” →

“Dari Dapur Bondaku” Ramadhan Buffet 2018 @ WEIL Hotel Ipoh

Posted on by Leia Harris

** This blog post was originally posted at ‘Sinfully Delicious Malaysia’ blog on May 22nd, 2018

WEIL hotel Ipoh has chosen the theme “Dari Dapur Bondaku” (A taste from mother’s kitchen) for this year’s Ramadhan buffet spread at TIFFIN Restaurant. Diners will be able to enjoy not only the traditional flavorsome Ramadhan dishes but also many authentic flavors from the chef’s mother’s kitchen.

TIFFIN is a certified Halal restaurant. Diners will enjoy a gastronomical adventure featuring favorite dishes such as Nasi Permata, Gulai Rebung dengan Perut, Ikan Patin Gulai Tempoyak, Daging Masak Kuzi, Dalcha Kambing, and many more mouth-watering dishes. TIFFIN will also be featuring an action stall corner where diners will be able to pick dishes from the Satay Counter, Noodle Counter, Sup Tulang Counter, Shawarma Counter, Goreng Counter, and a whole lot more

I started at the salads station and they had a variety of salad dressings as well.

What a beautiful-looking plate of pasta salad.

Continue reading ““Dari Dapur Bondaku” Ramadhan Buffet 2018 @ WEIL Hotel Ipoh” →