The Danna, Langkawi

The Danna, may well be one of the most overlooked hotel in Langkawi. The six-storey white building takes after a colonial-style architecture, but very much less formal in atmosphere compared to the likes of Raffles or E&O Hotel. 

The location was not too far from the airport, and it's very near to the Cable Car Station. It is, however, a distance from the Kuah Town.

The white colonial style building of Danna reminds one of the style of E&O Group and the Raffles Hotel. 

We arrived at our hotel just before noon. Check-In was done at the comfortable sofas where the staff bring the documentation to us, instead of us queuing behind counters. Not only were we given cold towels and welcome drinks, we were also given a 5-minute shoulder and back massage by the masseurs from the hotel spa.

As the room was not ready, the duty manager took us on a tour around the hotel. The Verandah is designed in the colonial style with a high ceiling. In the late afternoon, the place turns into a charm where guests enjoy drinks over lounge music.

There's also the gym, the spa and chill out areas where guests can just relax in. There is even a games room with a pool table. DVDs of movies were available on loan to watch either in this room or the comfort of your own room.

The deal-breaker of our decision to take Danna lies with the pool. Looking through all the possible choice of hotel, I think Danna offers the most impressive pool facilities. As we reckon that we would spending most of our time at the pool rather than the sea, our criteria was a good pool.

There are altogether 3 pools that are linked together. The adult pool was designed with an infinity edge, the kids pool and jacuzzi pool all sectioned together.

The pool enjoys both the sea view and the mountainous view. Needless to say, this is the place that we spent most of our time when we are at the resort. 

The rooms is huge at 60sqm. It brings a woody charm where the furniture are colonial-style design, made modern. No wonder this is the hotel which Caucasians love.

This is a change for us from the usual modern business-style hotel, but we love the change.

Breakfast is served at The Planters. The buffet breakfast serves a wide variety from local delights to Western. Other than the buffet breakfast, we can also choose a main course from the daily menu. Choices in the daily menu range from Egg Benedict, to Waffles to Asian Porridge. The Western choices are definitely better than the Asian choices.

The food served is truly good quality. This, coupled with good presentation, makes it perfect. In fact, we were so full every morning that we just skip lunch.

Champagne is also available for breakfast. Don't get drunk at the start of the day thou'.

Snew's Rating: 4.5 / 5

Stay Period: 14-17 Nov 2013 

To be honest, we didn't have any high expectation of this hotel when we made the decision to stay here. After all, how much can one expect out of a non-branded hotel in Malaysia? However, the service that rendered was so flawless that it has set a high standard in our expectation of the next holiday resort.

Impeccable service. Something that I am really impressed with for this hotel. There were a few occasion where the service really exceeded our expectation.
1. When the room was ready, the duty manager saw us dining at the cafe, and ran back to the lobby and personally brought the keys to us (instead of us going back to the lobby area).

2. Our flight was late in the evening. We had a late check-out at 3pm. Thereafter, we were also offered a hospitality room (with no question asked) to freshen up before making our way to the airport.

3. Politeness and Helpfulness of the Staff. After staying in numerous hotel in the world, this is the only hotel that truly impress upon us. The service rendered was from the heart. The staff remembers our name and request. When they promised to check on our request, they came back to us with an answer promptly.

Kudos to the team! We definitely recommend this resort to anyone going on a holiday to Langkawi.

Yongkang Street 永康街, Taipei

Yongkang Street 永康街 is famed for the street that housed the "original" Din Tai Feng 鼎泰丰。It's a "must go" place for most Japanese tourists.

Papa Snew insisted that a trip to Taipei is not complete without a meal at Din Tai Feng 鼎泰丰, although it's so common back home. We have heard that the queue at this particular store, or any others, could go up to more than 1 hour. 

The comforting thing is, Yong Kang Street is across the road from our hotel - Hotel 73 that we stayed in Taipei. We skipped the breakfast at the hotel and went to queue for Din Tai Feng before lunch time, and we managed to get a table within 20 minutes. 

You must be wondering why I took only 1 single Xiao Long Bao 小笼包 instead of the entire basket. That's because Papa Snew was so hungry for it and before I could take a photo, he has already eaten a few! 

For some strange reasons, I got to say that Din Tai Feng in Taiwan still taste the best. 

Our hotel receptionist recommends the other eateries along Yong Kang Street instead. I guess the locals do not really fancy Din Tai Feng. The other eateries such as 高记, 度小月 serves similar food and frequented by the locals. 

We came across a stall that forms a long queue. This stall sells one of the best Fried Spring Onion Pancakes - 葱油饼. The Chinese version of Roti-Prata containing spring onions. This one is really yummy, fluffy and crispy. Really worth the queue. 

The longest queue at Yongkang Street is the Yongkang Beef Noodles. On the Sunday that we visited, there was a long queue outside the shop. Infact, it was the long queue that caught our attention that the beef noodles must be good.

We went back the next day to try the beef noodles. It turned out to be the best beef noodles I had. The beef was just tender, and the soup was full of beef flavour. That really explain the queue.  

Location of Yong Kang Beef Noodles as below. 

Snew's Rating: 4.8 / 5

Yongkang Street, the "must go" place in Taiwan. Great restaurants with great food. Quaint branded boutique with prices that aren't exactly cheap. "Must Try" is the Yongkang Beef Noodles. Avoid lunch hour and weekend as the queue can get insane. 

Yongkang Street

MRT Station: Dongmen Station (Yellow or Xinzhuang Line)

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Tea at Maokong 猫空, Taipei

Maokong 猫空, literally translated as "No Cat" in Chinese, is located on a hill in the Southeast corner of Taipei City. It doesn't mean that Maokong has no cats, but a name that has been derived from "Niao Kang" in native Taiwanese dialect. 

Maokong today is famous as a place for drinking tea, as it was a district classified as tourist tea plantation. Tea plantation is the main draw for tourists to Maokong and the area is now also famed for its beautiful quiet scenery. 

Getting to Maokong is not difficult. However, the journey does takes a bit of time. Take the blue MRT line to Zhongxiao Fuxing 忠孝复兴 to change to brown line to Taipei Zoo 动物园. Taipei Zoo is the last station in the brown line. It takes about 30 minutes to reach Taipei Zoo from Zhongxiao Fuxing Station.

From Taipei Zoo MRT Station, follow the sign to the Maokong Gondola Station. It's a short 5 minutes walk away. To travel to Maokong, you will need to transfer to the Maokong Gondola.  A separate fare for the Maokong Gondola is payable. It cost 50NT per way, which I think is a very reasonable fare.

We did choose the Crystal Cabins as Papa Snew and myself feel that our weak hearts couldn't take the glass bottom cabins. The entire journey is a total of 4KM, lasting a good 30 minutes. The journey include 2 stops in between. However, the destination for most passengers is the final stop, Maokong.

It started raining slightly as we got up the Maokong Gondola. I was really disappointed as I have done some checks on the weather forecast, and was forecast to start rain only at night, Hence I change the schedule to travel to Maokong in the afternoon. However, the rain started just as we reach Maokong Station just around noon time. The views were all camouflaged under the misty rain.

As we exit from the Maokong Gondola Station, we walk towards the left and we found a stretch of tea house. The one recommended by friend, "Ms Taiwan", is 大茶壶茶栈二楼。

It's in a old shophouse, about 10 minutes walk down the road. Apparently the tea house on the ground floor is a different one from the second floor. The one that "Miss Taiwan" recommended to me is on the second floor.

"Ms Taiwan" recommended the "must try" dish as the Caipo Chicken Soup 菜脯鸡汤。Drinking Chinese tea and Chicken Soup doesn't seem to go together in Singapore. I would think it as too much liquid intake in the warm and humid weather. However, it was the perfect combination over in Taiwan. With the weather chilling up after a slight rain, having hot tea and soup with side dishes is just perfect.

It was our first try at brewing chinese tea the correct way. The staff were very friendly and showed us how to brew tea. Tie Guan Yin (Iron Buddha) 铁观音 is locally grown over at the plantation at Maokong. However, we decided to try a combination tea of Osmanthus with Pu Er 桂花普洱。I like the Osmanthus scent mixed in the tea with a nice flavour that is not too strong.

We spend a good 3 hours chilling there and slowly savouring the aroma of the tea. I guess the rain also kept us there, and finishing a whole pot of chicken soup for 2 person and cups after cups of Chinese tea just makes time pass really fast.

The sky managed to clear up as the rain  finally stop after 3hours. We finally managed to get a better shot of the scenery.

Even though we spent 3hours enjoying the tea, we couldn't finish brewing the tea leaves. The staff vacuum-packed the reminding tea leaves in a packed. We were told to consumed it as soon as possible so as not to lose the flavour of the tea leaves.

We strolled back to Maokong Station to meet our friends for dinner. We were late for our dinner appointment with our friends. To get back to Taipei City, the journey takes about 1 hour. That is not taking into consideration the time to walk to Maokong Station and to change from the Gondola Station to the MRT. A safer time would be to account about 1.5-2 hours if you have dinner or other plans back in the Taipei City.

In anyway, the trip to Maokong was worth it. It was a nice chill out place for tea and to be away from the city.

Before I conclude, 大茶壶 is split into two levels and operated independently now. Apparently, there's some politics between the family and they split the tea house into two. The one that we went is on the second level, and it's open till 6am in the morning. You can enjoy sipping tea with a cool scenic view. If you are lucky, the clouds may hover in, creating a feel of "sipping tea in heaven"!

大茶壶茶栈二楼

台北市文区指南路三段38巷37号之1， 2楼
Tel: + 886 2 2939 5-57
Opening Hours: 10am - 6am


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Windsor B&B 温莎堡民宿 @ Jiufen

I was recommended to Windsor B&B (bed and breakfast) 温莎堡民宿 by a friend. When I first saw the photos of the room, I fell in love with the place immediately. Initially, I planned to stay one night at Sun Moon Lake and one night at Jiufen. But I realised it make no sense to travel so far to Sun Moon Lake and back just for one night. So I decided to spend more time at Jiufen and vicinity. The photos of Windsor just seconded my choice. So, we booked a 2-night stay there. 

The owners of Windsor B&B - 许大哥 and 陈姐 (Mr and Mrs Hsu) are husband and wife team. Their daughter and son also help out in the running of the B&B and the cafe.

Windsor B&B have a few sections of the Inn. The first is 涵馆 (Han Guan), which is housed together with cafe. There are 4 rooms for this, each with a different theme. We stayed at one of the rooms here on our first night.

Our room was 涵馆 2 and Mrs Hsu personally brought us to our room and introduce us the place. The room is big. The concept of 民宿 Mingsu means its a comfortable stay and carries a homely feel. The room is divided into a few areas. It has a living area as well as the bedroom. Stepping out, you have a lookout area, toilet and bathroom. There's even a stairs leading to the second level. The second level is an area where you can have tea, and enjoy a full glass panel view. 

A partially blocked view from the lookout benches, but we do have a good seaview.

The next morning, breakfast is provided at the cafe. The breakfast area has a full glass panel view where we enjoy sipping coffee and enjoy views of the Pacific Ocean.

The second day, we shifted to the another section of the Inn, which is located almost at the end of the Jiufen Old Street. This is call the 日光涵馆 (Ri Guang Han Guan). This section have 7 rooms, also individually themed. Our room was 日光涵馆 7. The huge glass panel was the highlight of the room. From that huge glass panel window, we have a clear unblock view of the Pacific Ocean. We were Wow by the scenery and spent a lot of our time enjoying the view from our room. 

There were two levels, and the room could sleep up to 8 pax (2 double beds on each level). This room is good for extended families travelling together (although there is only 1 toilet). 

The view that blown Papa Snew off. He asked me why didn't book the same room for 2 nights. Well, occupancy at Windsor B&B is very high. We booked our rooms 1 month before arrival and there were limited rooms left. We have to adjust our travel schedule to fit the room availability. 

Snew's Rating: 4.5 / 5

I would fully recommend Windsor B&B to anyone going to stay at Jiufen. Other than these two sections of the Inn, they also have a section call 香草庭院 and 老舍 which is more rustic and ancient feel. However, 涵馆&日光涵馆 are still the more popular choice. 

Tips if you planning a stay at Windsor:

1) Book Early. We made our reservation 1 month prior to our arrival and rooms are almost fully booked. Remember, this is not a hotel and there are not more than 15 rooms. They are very popular with Singaporeans, Malaysians, Hong Kongers and Japanese. So, book your stay EARLY! 

2) Bring only Hand or Cabin Luggage. There are definitely flight of steps in Jiufen. If you the stay is at 日光涵馆, it's at the far end of Jiufen Old Street. Plan your trip such that you can leave your huge suitcase with the concierge in your Taipei Hotel. 

On our trip back to Taipei from Windsor, we ask the staff at Windsor Cafe to get us a taxi that comes right at the doorstep of Cafe to Ruifang. Cost slightly more at NT200 to Ruifang Train Station. 

3) Book a Driver to explore the nearby areas. The North-eastern coastal areas and nearby areas from Jiufen are beautiful places to explore. We went Jinguashi 金瓜石, Golden Waterfalls 黄金瀑布，Yin Yang Sea 阴阳海, Nanya Rocks 南雅奇石，Shifen 十份and Yeliu 野柳 on a road trip (which I will next blog). It's definitely worth a trip to these places. 

4) Moderate your Expectation. Remember that you are staying at a B&B, not a 5-star hotel. It's the intimate experience of staying at a place owned by a local family that is invaluable. It's authentically design and every detail that been put into thought by them. Treat it like you are staying at someone's house on your holiday. Do not pinpoint or worse, try to compare it to staying at a luxurious hotel.

Windsor B&B 温莎堡民宿
The website is in Chinese.
You can email reservations to service@windsor.idv.tw
Upon reservation of your room, you will need to transfer 50% of the room reservation charges to confirm the reservation.

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Best Cendol in Penang

There has been a long debate on whether the best Cendol (otherwise spelled as Chendol or Chendul) comes Melaka or Penang. For me, the winner still goes to the original Penang Road Cendol. What's a trip to Penang without the Penang Road Cendol? You can't believe it, but my Dad and I love it so much that we could have it everyday when we are in Penang. Yes, it's unhealthy, but how often do we travel to Penang?

Although Cendol has become a common form of dessert in Singapore, I can't find the perfect one after tasting this one. This authentic Penang Cendol is located in a side lane call Lebuh Keng Hwee, off Penang Road. 

This street stall history dates back as early as my Dad's childhood days. Apparently the stall has been around since 1945. There are two stalls in the lane. There are many stories on the competition between the two. But the winner is clear and evident from the queue. Even the colour of the Cendol of the winner stall looks more appetising. 

With the success, you may be expecting this in a shop, or at least coffee shop, but no, this authentic stall still operates in a push-cart stall. 

You can either choose to stand on the street to have your bowl of Cendol, or order it into a coffee-shop just slightly down the street (middle of the street, same side as the stall) to enjoy it in the comfortably seated. I believe this coffee-shop belongs (or rented) to the cendol owner as it's all decorated with photos of celebrities visiting the fame stall. Do note that there is also another coffee-shop located at the start of the street. Do not go to this coffee-shop just to have your cendol as they will charge you 20cents more to have your cendol inside there, which also serves other food.  

Cendol is made from a combination of coconut milk (santan), a worm-like jelly made from rice flour with green food colouring (from the pandan leaf), shaved ice and gula melaka (palm sugar). It's not easy to get the cendol - the worm-like jelly that is the right texture nowadays. Those pre-packed ones factory-made ones are hopeless. Not easy to find one that is home-made or hand-made these days 

There is also a cendol shop that is at Komtar Walk, just a few steps away from Komtar (located from the linked bridge down Komtar) and this original stall at Lebuh Keng Kwee. I was told it belongs to the same owner. Mainly targeted to the tourists and tour groups, the shop have seats in an air-conditioned and nicely decorated cafe environment. Believe that the pricing would be higher as well. For us, we still prefer the original authentic stall. We didn't even give it any chance of trying it even though it's just a few more steps away. Psychologically, I believe that the original stall is still the best. 

Snew's Rating: 4.8 / 5

There is so much comparison between Cendol from Melaka and Cendol from Penang. The conclusion winner still goes to Penang Cendol, and particularly, this stall in Penang Road. Although they taste similar, but Cendol in Melaka has the rich taste of gula melaka and coconut milk, taking after the Nonya Peranakan taste. Penang Cendol also has Gula Melaka syrup in it, it doesn't have the over-powering sweet taste, and the coconut milk just make it perfect combination. 

Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendul

Lebuh Keng Kwee,
(Off Penang Road)
Opening Hours : Mon – Fri 10:30am - 7:00pm
                         Sat – Sun 10:00am - 7:30pm

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Best Char Koay Teow 炒粿條 in Penang

During our trip to Penang last year, we tried like like 6-7 different Char Koay Teow (also spelled as Char Kway Teow) from different stalls. We must have been mad! But for Papa Snew who's first time in Penang, this was not too much of a crazy thing to do! 

Lorong Selamat Char Koay Teow

The best Char Koay Teow  no doubt, goes to the famous Lorong Selamat Char Koay Teow. The signature identity is that the stall owners are frequently seen wearing goggles while frying the Char Koay Teow. Hence, they are better known in the Internet as the "goggle sisters".

While waiting for the Char Koay Teow, we also ordered Fried Oyster Omelette (Oh Chien 蚵煎). The taste is good although it taste slightly different from the one in Singapore, although I can't really describe how it is different. 

To quench our thirst, we also ordered Ice Kachang. Ice Kachang in Penang is served with a scoop of Ice-cream. This is passable. The best Ice Kachang in Penang is found in a coffeeshop, call Kek Seng Cafe in Penang Road which I tried in my previous trips. 

Here comes our main lead of the meal - our Char Kway Teow.

The Chinese believe that a good dish must have enough "Wok Hei" - meaning the fire must be big, or just enough to achieve a smoky taste. This could only done if the dish is cooked using charcoal and only experienced chefs with good skills are able to achieve this taste.

In addition, to ensure that every plate of Char Koay Teow is cooked just right, it has to be cooked in small portions, that is, every plate should be individually fried. However, to strike a balance between taste and efficiency, I believe they cook 2-3 plates together due to the demand.

I must say, this is just the perfect taste that I wanted. I won't dare to say I'm a food specialist, but having tasted Penang Char Koay Teow since young, I wouldn't settle anything less than a good plate of Penang Char Koay Teow  The Singapore version is always too sweet (with too much sweet sauce), and too much yellow noodles in it to be called a Char Koay Teow. Penang Char Koay Teow is cooked with lard instead. Unhealthy as it is, the lard taste should not be over-powering but yet brings out a nice aroma to the dish.

I was told that the lunch queue for this stall takes more than 1 hour. We were lucky that we went after lunch hour, about 2+pm, and waited no more than 20 minutes. Negative publicity has circulated in the Internet on this Char Koay Teow stall. There was even a FaceBook group started  to boycott this stall due to its rude and arrogant service. I guess for visitors coming from KL and as far as Singapore, we're not too bothered by it. Like any other of the guests, we just want our long-awaited plate of Penang Char Koay Teow.

Kafe Heng Huat
108, Lorong Selamat,
10400 Penang

Opens: 11am to 5.30pm (Close on Tuesday)

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