Berjaya Times Square Theme Park, KL

The Year-End School Holidays are upon us once again. Bring your kids for a fun day out at Berjaya Times Square Theme Park KL, the largest indoor theme park in Malaysia.

The theme park is open daily during the school holidays from 11am to 10pm. Tickets can be purchased on Level 5 at the ticketing office and a second entry within same day is permitted with your wristband.

On Level 5, you will find the Galaxy Station housing exhilarating adult rides such as Spinning Orbit and Ooort's Express. Not to be missed is the Supersonic Odyssey, Asia-Pacific's longest multiple-inverted roller coaster that is 800 meters long and runs at a top speed of 80kmph. Perfect for thrill-seekers! Your child may also go on these rides if they meet the minimum height requirement of 140cm.

The roller coaster ride is indeed thrilling, as Hubby can attest to; looping the loop and making high speed drops and turns.

For the younger children, head on up to Level 7 where you will the Fantasy Garden for hours of unlimited fun. Hop onboard the train and go on a ride through the Fantasy Trail.... look out for the special "glow in the dark" effects as you go through the tunnels.

Other family rides you can go on here are the Botanic Drive (it's like going on a safari and your kids get to "pretend" they're driving the jeep), Crazy Bus (the bus goes up and down in anti-clockwise direction) and Buddy Go Round (their version of a merry-go-round).

Their favorite ride here at the theme park was the Honey Bump, the kids version of bumper cars. Our children must have gone on this more than 20 times, as they had so much fun driving the mini cars around the circuit. Their driving skills were pretty good for their age, I have to say.

Do note that there is a maximum height of 140cm for certain rides too, and Baby C just about made it on most rides as she's growing up fast!

Take a ride on one of the Flying Bumbee Bees - the control buttons allow the children to move up and down as they please. The kids were "buzzing" when they came off this ride.

We've seen the adult versions of this swinging ship in other theme parks before, so the kids were intrigued about Molly's Cool Swing. For the best experience, do sit at the far end of the ship ;)

For those above 140cm, there is Robo Crash, the adult's version of bumper cars.

All in all, a very enjoyable, fun day out for the kids. We easily spent about 4-5 hours here. Unlike most theme parks which only allow single entry, I think it's really great that we can reenter once more within the same day - this means we can take a breather or go out for a nice meal and then come back again to enjoy the rides.

Ticket prices (there are special rates for families)

Opening times: Mon-Fri 12pm - 10pm; Sat, Sun, School Holidays & Public Holidays 11am - 10pm.

Location:  Berjaya Times Square Theme Park, Level 5 & 7, Berjaya Times Square, No.1, Jalan Imbi,
55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Tel: 03-2117 3118

GPS Coordinates: 3.142637, 101.709538

Website: https://www.berjayatimessquarethemeparkkl.com


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Big Apple Restaurant + In-Room Dining, Berjaya Times Square Hotel KL

We kicked off the school holidays with a staycation at Berjaya Times Square Hotel KL last weekend. While staying at the hotel, we enjoyed a meal at the Big Apple Restaurant and several others via in-room dining (which comes from the same kitchen).

Big Apple Restaurant is the hotel's all-day dining restaurant (certified Halal by JAKIM) serving an array of local specialties as well as International cuisine. The menu is pretty extensive, ranging from appetizers to soup, salads, pizza, from the grill items, Thai food, Malaysian food, snacks and desserts. Diners can also enjoy seasonal themed buffet spreads as well as weekend hi-tea in the restaurant.

Located on Level 14 (West) of the hotel, diners can enjoy a view of the Petronas Twin Towers while dining here. Service is welcoming. On the first evening, we ordered the Big Apple Pizza with 3 toppings. For the topping, diners can choose from honey barbecue chicken, mixed peppers, mushroom, olives, seafood, tuna, pepperoni and pineapple. Our choice was pepperoni, pineapple and lots of cheese topped on a thin crust pizza.

We enjoyed the Mini Beef Cheese Burger (RM18), served with French fries. Although this came from the Children's Menu, we were impressed with the thick patty and generous portion. Very tasty too.

We also had the Australian rib eye steak (200g), served with fries, garlic mashed or steamed rice. The steak was cooked to our preferred doneness, though I would have preferred the meat to be more tender. Perhaps tenderloin would have been a better choice here.

As Big Apple Restaurant is quite busy on weekends, we opted for in-room dining for the rest of our meals and it was great, as we got to dine in the comfort of our spacious suite and the kids loved the novelty of it. Room service was usually pretty fast too, with food arriving within 30 minutes of placing our order.

Having dinner in their pyjamas.. lol!

I have to say Asian food is the forte of the kitchen team here. We enjoyed every Asian dish that we had here. The Mee goreng mamak (RM33), wok fried yellow noodles with chicken, prawns, fish cake, bean curd, tomatoes and peanut sauce was moist and flavourful. You can specify whether you would like it mild, spicy or super spicy. We went for spicy and it was just nice for us.

Executive Chef Ian hails from Penang, aka the foodie haven and he highly recommended his Seafood hor fun (RM33). True enough, this luxe version tasted fantastic - a mix of flat rice noodles and rice vermicelli with prawns, squid, scallops and vegetables in a rich egg drop sauce. I certainly wouldn't mind having this again.

The Nasi goreng kampung (RM33) was well executed; fragrant, spicy fried rice served with a crispy chicken wing, fried egg, pickled vegetables (acar), fish crackers and a Malay spiced fried fish fillet.

For those who love Thai food, please do try the Thai dishes here. We were told that they have a Thai chef in their kitchen team. We loved the chef's signature Kaeng Kiew Wan (RM30), Thai green curry chicken with coconut milk and baby eggplant served with steamed fragrant rice. The Thai green curry was mildly spicy, very creamy and portion was generous too.

I also tried the Tom yam nam khon (RM36), another chef's signature. The spicy and sour soup was well-balanced, with generous amount of seafood such as shrimp, squid and fish and mushrooms. This is served with fragrant rice.

Hainanese chicken rice (RM33), steamed or roasted chicken served with fragrant rice, clear broth, chilli and ginger dip.

Salmon belly with Japanese tobiko (RM51), seared salmon belly served with baby mesclun garden greens on avocado puree and garnished with Japanese flying fish roe.

If you like something more Western, try the Fish and Chips (RM22), served with tartar sauce. This was from the children's menu, and the portion was more than sufficient for lunch for sharing between the two kids.

We enjoyed the children's burger on the first day, so burger again it is again for our last meal! This time, we had the adult's version from the a la carte menu. The Grilled ground Australian beef burger (RM48) comes with a 200g patty, sandwiched between sunflower seed bun with lettuce, tomatoes, grilled onions, cornichons, melted cheese and fried egg. Messy but extremely satisfying.

When you're on staycation, you get to eat dessert even if it's 10pm at night.

Raspberry mascarpone cheese terrine (RM22)

*All the dishes above are also available to non in-house guests at Big Apple Restaurant.

Pork-Free.

Opening times: 6.30am to 12am. In-room dining available 24 hours.

Location: Big Apple Restaurant, Berjaya Times Square Hotel, 14th Floor, West Tower, 1 Jalan Imbi, 55100 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-2117 8000 ext 8133

GPS Coordinates: 3.142637, 101.709538

Website: https://www.berjayahotel.com/kualalumpur/dining/big-apple-restaurant.html


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Restoran Sweetland, Cheras - For Excellent Char Siew & Noodles

Note: The chicken rice shop has moved to Batu 11 Cheras and the fried noodle shop has closed down. Come here for the curry laksa and char koay teow instead.


Happiness is... when you discover new eateries serving great food!

Earlier this week, we were in the vicinity since I wanted to get santan (coconut milk) for our mango sticky rice dessert.  There was a Thai restaurant I wanted to try, but it has closed down so we walked over to Restoran Sweetland to see what stalls were opened. Right at the entrance was a noodle stall - there were pictures of the noodles dishes they offer here along with their English names below it. We placed our order for two noodles dishes and went inside to look for a table.

While waiting for noodle dishes to arrive, we spotted strips of char siew hanging at the chicken rice stall. I remembered someone commenting on my previous post about it being good as it is grilled with charcoal so we decided to try. We ordered a small portion (RM6) and indeed, it was good! As I was photographing it, I knew I would like it already as I could see the tender meat and melting layers of fat. The outer layer was also nicely caramelised and sticky, so yummy! So happy to discover this! ;)

Our first noodle dish arrived - the fried kungfu sang mee noodles. It looked great and we couldn't wait to dig in! Fresh egg noodles have been deep fried so it was nice and crispy, then you eat it together with the rich eggy sauce along with prawns, pork slices and vegetable. Both Hubby and I agreed that the noodles tasted fantastic and that we would definitely return for this.

We also had a Fried Koay Teow which uses thicker type of koay teow noodles. It was decent and tasty enough, though we would probably not reorder this again as we prefer the version using thinner noodles. There was ample amount of beansprouts, fish cake, chicken slices, prawn and egg.

Best of all, both noodles only came up to RM12, very reasonably priced indeed.

********

Since then, we have returned several times to have their char siew. Do remember to specify for "pun fei sau"(half lean half fat) for maximum pleasure! We usually have the small portion for RM6.

Hubby also tried their char siew siew yuk fan (BBQ pork and roasted pork rice) (RM8.50). We liked the roast pork here too, as it is flavorful and has a lovely crispy, crackling. A nice balanced meal as it comes with fragrant rice and a bowl of soup too.

Kungfu sang mee again cos we love it! (RM6 per plate)

Also tried the loh mee (braised noodles with black vinegar).. very appetizing! (RM6)

You can also get a good bowl of curry laksa here. Read our review here.

Opening times: 8am to 2pm daily.

Location: Restoran Sweetland, No.65, Jalan 34/154, Taman Delima, 56000 Cheras, KL. (Waze: Restoran SweetLand)

GPS Coordinates: 3.057619, 101.747664


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Recipe: Mango Sticky Rice (Thai dessert)

BabySumoKids' love for mango sticky rice started one fine evening when we went for a fiery Thai meal. Now, everytime we visit a Thai restaurant, mango sticky rice is a must-order dessert. At first it was one dessert between four, and lately it's been one between two and still, they would want more.

Mangoes are in abundance in supermarkets now, so I thought it'd be nice to make their favourite Thai dessert at home. The mangoes were really sweet and have ripened nicely, so it was the perfect pairing for the sticky rice. This time, I used regular caster sugar instead of palm sugar as I prefer the rice looking "white" rather than having a brown hue, just like how they serve it in the Thai restaurants.

One plate each, everyone should be happy now, right?

Thai mango sticky rice (Khao Neow Ma-Muang)
Recipe by Baby Sumo, adapted from here
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 25-30 minutes
Serves 4-5


Ingredients
For the steamed sticky rice with coconut milk
300g sticky or glutinous rice
250ml coconut milk

For garnishing
2-3 large ripe mangoes
200ml coconut milk

3 tbsp caster sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1. Put the rice in a bowl and pour in enough cold water to cover the rice. Soak for at least 3-4 hours. Drain and transfer to a steamer basket (or just use a plate suitable for steaming). Spread the rice in basket/plate and place in the steamer over low heat. Steam for 25-30 minutes, or until the rice swells and is tender (take a grain and test). The cooking time will vary depending on the soaking time.

2. While the rice is cooking, place all the coconut milk (250ml +200ml) in small saucepan, along with the sugar and salt over low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. This will take about 5 minutes.

3. Once the rice is cooked, pour 250ml of coconut milk over the rice and use a wooden spoon to mix thoroughly. Transfer to a large tray and spread out the rice to help it cool quickly. If it cools slowly it will be soggy rather than sticky.

4. Peel the mangoes and slice off the two outside cheeks of each, removing as much flesh as you can in large pieces. Slice each cheek into smaller pieces, horizontally.

5. Place a mound of sticky rice on a serving plate, then arrange the mango pieces on top. Spoon some coconut milk on top. Serve warm.

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