Damansara Village @ Ipoh

Hey y'all! I know, technically speaking, I am supposed to blog about the Nuffnang 6th birthday bash first.. Haha. But I'm still waiting for some pics taken by Desrrey and Sean on their camera (some of my iPhone pics suck) so I'll skip that and blog about that later.

Mr Choe and I got invited to Damansara Village for a - erm how shall I call it? - media engagement party? makan makan with Ah Beng and Patrick? - function. I initially didn't know what event it was except that we were invited by Henry and TV personality "Ah Beng" and famous radio personality Patrick Teoh will be there. And I initially thought the event was going to be in Damansara (as the restaurant name suggests) and didn't know about Damansara Village @ Ipoh till I googled it. Then I came across this post on Damansara Village blogspot, where bloggers were being invited to a dinner at Damansara Village @ Ipoh on the same night. Now, we're not invited as a blogger but as personal friends but that shouldn't stop me from blogging about it. ;)

See, they are in Imbi, Petaling Jaya and Ipoh.
Oh, for those who are still new to this branch in Ipoh, they are located just beside the Lost World Theme Park at Tambun. :)

When I got there, I quickly took a few shots of the place and its surroundings before it's too dark.
There was still a lil' amount of sunlight when we arrived at 7.30pm.
And what they said in their blog is true - if you dine here, you'll be dining amidst 200-million-year forests.

Then, dinner is served.


The best thing about of Damansara Village is in its soup.
We could really feel the herbs in the soup and we could feel the nutrients going into our body, rejuvenating our cells. hahahaha. (so "kua cheong")
But seriously I think the soup's really good. It's not just the normal clear soup you get from a lot of steamboat places.


The service was also good. See, not only did they help us place raw food into the pot to cook, the waiters even made it a point to get the cooked fish out of the pot and place them onto individual plates for each of us, served complete with soy sauce and seasonings. *thumbs up for the good service*

Another thing that I really liked are the prawns but I ate them too soon that they didn't make it into my pics. haha. Therefore, for that, you'll have to make your way to Damansara Village. Haha.

We need to thank Henry (bottom right) for inviting us and introducing us to good steamboat!
"Ah Beng" Lum Tak Weng (I don't really know how to spell his Chinese name) was also there to welcome all the patrons that night.

Then we had a really good chat with Yen, Jason and Patrick.
They are all real friendly people and we found out that Patrick is living in a place I am currently surveying! ahah. Gotta pay him a visit soon!

The fresh, sweet, juicy prawns are waiting for you at Damansara Village! :D

Taiwan: Taroko National Park to Chingjing

This is another picture-full post. Hehe. I really enjoyed taking pictures in Taiwan, there are just so many beautiful things to capture. And this, has to be one of the best places in Taiwan. This is the most scenic route we took; from Taroko National Park all the way to Chingjing, stopping by the peak of the mountain range, Hehuanshan. When we were there, Hehuanshan recorded a temperature of -2C. Luckily, when we reached Chingjing, where the sheep are (as you will see), the weather became very kind to us. It was about 13C, with bright blue sky. Again, I can never tell you enough, how much I love a BLUEEE sky.

This is going to be a chronological post. You will see how the scenery changes from Taroko National Park, all the way to Chingjing. It's really mind-blowing. First, we saw amazing rock/mountain formations at Taroko, then we encountered think fog at the Divine Tree Boulevard, then a SPECTACULAR display of an endless blanket of clouds below us. In Mandarin, it's called "yun hai", 云海. This is what I learned from the tour guide. Hehe. It's truly amazing, truly breath-taking, that at that moment, I thought I made it to heaven, where the angels live. Our tour guide mentioned that we were so lucky to see the sea of clouds - it does not happen everyday. I guess Mother Nature worked its magic specially for us, or maybe it was my birthday gift from the Gods above. ;))

At Chingjing, we had so much fun chasing the sheep, feeding the sheep and watching the sunset at Green Green Grassland,  and then strolling in a little park called Little Swiss Garden. We were at Chingjing from Christmas eve till Christmas. So happy I got to experience Christmas high up in the mountains, with sheep as my company. Hahaha.

I believe this is a must-go destination, and this route is a must-take route, should you visit Taiwan. I hope my pictures will do the place justice. ;))

Told ya, this route is definitely worth it! Charter a vehicle, and go up the mountains!

Taiwan: Yilan in pictures

Yilan is a very peaceful town in Taiwan. It may not be the most popular tourist destination in Taiwan but we are glad we visited Yilan. It's really relaxing and we had a lot of fun just being on our own. We also tried to do some "elevation" shots as you will see below. Haha. ;))