Pasta Zanmai @ Midvalley

Pasta Zanmai is a nice place to go for Japanese and Western fusion food. They have a few restaurants in KL/Selangor. I have only been to the one in 1 Utama and Midvalley. Personally, I prefer the one in Midvalley due to the conducive environment and better food. The set meal is really value for money, around RM22-23 per set and with 2 dishes. For small eaters, you can order one set and share with another person. My favourite are the rolls and mini pizza.

Loke Tin @ Lucky Garden

Loke Tin is a nice place to go for dishes around Bangsar. The price is reasonable, less than RM20 per pax. Pre-booking and ordering can be made.

Below are some of the recommended dishes:

Vietnamese chicken - sweet and sour

Sweet and sour chicken

Black pepper venison

Marmite chicken

Tofu - portion rather small

Everyone's favourite - spinach soup with a little bit of cooking wine

Copenhagen, Denmark

Copenhagen is a busy and fast moving city compared to Aarhus. There are a lot of fast moving bicycles on the bicycle lane and they are not merciful. If you are on their way, they will "horn" at you. So, stay away from the bicycle lane if you are not cycling~ The weather was extremely hot and dry as we reached.

First thing that you must do as reach is go to the Central Station and get a copy of the city map. The map is free and contains useful information such recommended route and attractions, bus route, train and metro stations and tickets available

Then, get yourself a City Pass. The 24-hour City Pass is quite a good deal if you plan to stay for 1-2 days. It costs 70DKK for all transportations within zone 1-4, including the train to the airport. It can only be bought at the train station or movia ticket offices (which I have no idea where is that). 1 normal bus ticket cost around 20DKK. There are other types of tickets such as the 24 hours ticket (125DKK) which covers the Greater Copenhagen Region and Flexcard which is valid for 7 days (215DKK). The most convenient way to travel in the city is by bus.

In Copenhagen, there are plenty of churches, castles, fountains and green statues. Compared to Aarhus, there are more historical buildings here. The architecture is simply beautiful and colourful. The statues are always in green. I wonder if there are any reasons behind that.

The canal tour is a must-go. The cheapest tour costs only 30DKK for an hour trip. There is a tour guide explaining in Danish and English. Due to her slang, the explanation was not clear. If you are in a rush and want to get an overview of Copenhagen, this is something money for value.
If you are a student, then good news for you – in Denmark, students get a very good rate for the entrance fees, which is approximately 50% cheaper than the original fees. In order to be eligible for the student rate, you need to have a student card. In this card, it must contain your name, university, expiry date and a photo of yourself. To be on the safe side, you can apply for the International Student Card. In UK, the discounts is not so significant – around 1-2 GBP.

Attractions:

Stroget is a very long shopping street. Along the street, you can see a lot of street performers. Some dressed up in odd costumes like vikings or Charlie Chapin. There are some music performers and they are very good. There are a lot of coffee Charlie Chapin shops, boutiques and souvenir shops along the street. You can also find a lot of souvenir shops along this street.


Tivoli is one of the world’s amusement parks. I heard that the roller coaster is made of wood.

Radhuspladsen (City Hall Square) is near Tivoli and Stroget. You can get many buses around the city hall.


The King's Garden is a very beautiful garden with statues, flowers and trees trimmed in various shapes. It is located in the city, near to Nyhavn. It is the most well maintained public garden I have never being to and it reminded me of Alice and the Wonderland. Rosenborg Palace is an old castle located in the garden. This castle was the residence of the royal family until around 1710.


The famous Little Mermaid was moved to the World Expo in Shanghai. Therefore, we only got to see a huge signboard near the actual location of the statue.

Christianhavn is the land of the outcasts. Compared to the city center, there is more quiet and relaxing. Some of the scenery there looks like Amsterdam. There are people who stay in the boats and it is known as home boats.

Some notable churches are such as Our Saviour’s Church and the German Church. The architecture is very unique.

Amalienborg Palace is the current residence of the royal family. It consists of 4 buildings, forming up a circle with a statue in the middle. It does not have the usual designs of a castle. In addition, it was not surrounded by high walls or gates. It is open to the public and guarded only by 2 guards. Near the palace is a small garden facing the sea with a huge garden. In Denmark, there is also changing of the guards departing from Rosenborg Palace at 11.30am and end at Amalienborg Palace at 12pm.


Christianborg Palace is another amazing palace. Unfortunately I did not have enough time to visit it. I only manage to catch a glimpse of it on the bus and it is really beautiful.

Nyhavn is the waterfront where you can take the canal tour. It is lovely place with colourful buildings, plenty of ships and pubs. Heard from Wei Chung that during the viking days, there's a lot of prostitutes there. Coincidently, it was the season of the jazz festival. The whole area was crowded. People were enjoying themselves with the performance and beer.

P/s: Please refer to my FB for more pics.

London, UK

London is a busy city. There are buses, cars and people everywhere. Things that attract my attention in UK include the grayish stone buildings, red double-decker buses and tube stations. The weather was around 22 Celsius on my first week there and cooler on my last day there. I spent a total of 2 days there.

There are plenty of churches, castles and museums around London. The entrance of many museums is free of charge, which is something good. If you are on a tight budget, you can always hang around in London without paying any entrance fees.

Tesco Express is something like a mini mart and can be easily found around London. The meal deals are quite good. You can get a small bottle of concentrated juice, some cut fruits and sandwiches at 2 GBP.

Attractions:

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament are located at the bank of River Thames. There is a bridge near Big Ben called Westminster Birdge. Walk to the middle of that bridge and you will be able to get a nice shoot of the building.


Westminster Abbey is a Gothic church that is the traditional place of coronation for English monarchs and owned by the royal family (UK Attractions.com 2010). The architecture of the church looks a lot like the Houses of Parliament, which is located nearby.

London Eye is a huge ferris wheel located near Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. It was once the world’s tallest ferris wheel.

Buckingham Palace is the official residence of the British monarch, the home of the Queen. The changing guard ceremony is scheduled daily at 11.30am and finished at 12pm. It is recommended to go there early to get a nice spot as it will be crowded.


Trafalgar Square is a square in Central London and one of the most famous squares in the world. From afar, I saw the stunning statues, sculptures and fountains. The breeze around the area was nice.

British Museum is a comprehensive museum with collections from all over the world. It is one of the largest museums in the world. Most of the exhibition halls are free. I was fascinated to see some familiar artifacts which were found in my high school textbooks.

London Bridge is an ordinary bridge connecting City of London and Southwark. There is nothing much to see there.

Tower Bridge is a stunning suspension bridge in London. To me, it looks more like a castle. It was built to address the need of river crossing due to the increasing commercial development in the East End of London. A traditional fixed bridge could not be built because it would cut off access to the port facilities in the Pool of London, between London Bridge and the Tower of London (Wikipedia 2010).


Tower of London is a castle located near the Tower Bridge. Prior to my visit, I have heard a lot of negative feedback regarding this attraction. In addition, admission is not free. Therefore, I did not visit this castle.

St Paul’s Catheral is a very grand church located near Tata Modern.


P/s: Please check out my FB for more pics.