CHRISTMAS HOME COOKED GOURMET

It's our first time spending Christmas in Brisbane with our children. On the eve, we had a family dinner in my daughter place.    

 Roasted "Turkey" as the main course.

 Prawn and mango salad

  Paella, a Mediterranean dish.

 Smoked leg ham with cheese and raisins

     The chief cook assisted by mother and son..

On Christmas day, we drove over to our cousin's place in River hills for dinner. To beat the heavy traffic jam, we used the "Legacy Way" toll tunnel" and arrived just in time. 

 

 

What a feast!

 Dinner prepaid by my cousin's wife! 

Baked "Salmon" was superb!

Leg ham.

I had two rounds of the delicious food. It was indeed a Christmas to remember.

SINGAPORE AIRLINES TO BRISBANE

Just before Christmas, we flew with Singapore Airlines all the way from Kota Kinabalu to Brisbane with an overnight stop at Singapore. On our first leg, we took Silk Air, the regional wing of Singapore Airlines..

Silk Air Airbus 320-200 with the config of 12 Business class and 138 economy.

The economy cabin .

Hot meal was served on this this 2 hours flight.

Approaching Singapore Changi International.

Landed at Terminal 2

As our flight to Brisbane was to depart at 06:50 the following day, we put up a night at Crowne Plaza hotel located at the landside of Terminal 3.

A comfortable deluxe room

In the evening, we took a brief tour around Terminal 3 and at the same time to look for dinner.   

  

There was the "STAR WARS" promotion with a display of a X-Wing starfighter in the terminal.  

We ventured into the terminal's food court at the basement and it was crowded.  

The queue at "Kopitiam"

This Japanese Ramen shop was quite empty.

 Then, we came across this roasted duck restaurant on the first floor.

It's the popular "Dian Xiao Er" restaurant specialized in Chinese cuisine especially with roasted duck. This shop too, was having a long queue.   

We decided to "take away" and enjoy our dinner in our hotel room.

Next morning, we were at the departure as early as 05:45 for our departure to Brisbane. 

Flight departed about 10 minutes late due to missing passengers.

SQ A330-300 cabin layout.

Breakfast was served after 90 minutes in flight. I was surprised that their inflight meals were not that great as advertised. The "Chive Omelette" and "Braised Egg Noodles" were plain.    

2 hours before landing, we were given a simple refreshment of "Ciabatta" either with egg mayonnaise and roasted chicken or beef pastrami, lettuce and relish spread with coffee or tea..   

 

It took just over 7 hours or so to reach Brisbane.

Landed at Brisbane International on time at 16:45.

It's our first time flying with Singapore Airlines after 20 years. Happy with their services but a bit disappointed with their inflight meals.

MERRY CHRISTMAS and A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS and A HAPPY NEW YEAR (2016)!

Christmas is just a few days away with 2016 New Year in the following week! It's time for love, joy and peace. We wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS and A VERY HAPPY 2016 NEW YEAR!

Our Christmas tree is up.

 Lighting up in another colour.

A big "thank you" to them for putting up the tree! A small Pizza and KFC party for their hard work! 

Also,  "thank you" to my wife who baked this for the celebration.

SUPERTANKER CHINESE RESTAURANT KOTA KINABALU

Supertanker is a famous local Chinese restaurant. It's one of the best restaurants serving a variety of popular Chinese cuisine in Kota Kinabalu. We had a re-union family dinner 2 weeks ago.

Located at Grand Industrial, phase 2, Jalan Bundusan, Kota kinabalu.

The pork ribs in sweet and sour sauce were delicious.

 Steamed corn fed chicken

 The popular "yam ring"

 Stir-fried Hong Kong "kai lan" with prawns.

 Stewed home made bean curd "tofu" and seafood. 

 Tiger prawns cooked in butter and the curry leaves

To end the dinner, we had this steamed seven star garoupa.

The food  of Supertanker has the quality with reasonable pricing. For foreign visitors, the access to this restaurant is poor unless they have local friends with own transportation. However, majority of the taxi drivers in the city are familiar with this restaurant. Reservation is a must, preferable a day before dining. They can be reached at Tel: 088 717 889.   

  

MOUNT KINABALU - OFFICIALLY OPENED FOR CLIMB FROM 01DEC 2015

A total of 135 climbers including 55 foreigners successfully reached the sumit of mount Kinabalu on 02 December after spending one night at "Palaban" formerly known as "Laban Rata".

It was the first climb opened to public using the new trails after all activities were eased following the 05 June earth quake that claimed 18 lives.

Both ascent and descent will be via the Tempohon trail while the Mseilau trails remained closed indefinitely. There is an slight increase in the price of the climb package which includes climb permit, insurance, mountain guide fee, transfer, accommodation + meals.