A taste of Malaysia on Malaysia Day 2012 - Hilton Abu Dhabi

Happy Malaysia Day 2012! 

Hotel: Hilton Abu Dhabi
Add: Al Khubeirah, Abu Dhabi
Located: Along Corniche Road, opposite the "bridge" to Marina Mall, and not far from the Intercon
Tel: +971 2 681 1900
Opening hours: 6:30am - 11:00pm
(I assume they are opened so early as they probably serve breakfast to the Hilton guests!) 
So many traditional Malaysian dishes ... there was even Lekor and Serunding!

 

I had to rub my eyes ... Sarawak Laksa!!! And it was good :-) Lemak, tasty and full of flavour.

 

There was so much on offer (Especially great value considering the accept The Entertainer vouchers - 200 AED for the two of us, including all-you-can-drink ... Wine, German bottled beer, water, soft-drinks, etc!) ... I didn't even get a chance to try every thing!

There was even kuih-muih :-) and Red-bean dessert ... Sweet-time!

Alas .. Its over now, I can't wait for 2013's installment! Well done, Hilton Abu Dhabi and Chef Ismail! 

 

49er's The Gold Rush - Dana Hotel, Abu Dhabi

Hotel: Al Diar Dana Hotel
Address: Al Meena, Abu Dhabi
Located: Corner of Sheikh Zayed 2nd Street and 10th Street
Tel: +971 2 645 8000  

Well known for being a seedy joint - As long as you go before 9pm, its actually "OK"! Food was very well priced, with a mixed grill costing only 79-89 AED or RM$65-70. Good customer service, decent food ... Its OK!  

We had ... Chicken wings to start, Mixed grill as my mains, and a "Love Boat" to finish!  
Goodbye and bon voyage, E ... You will be missed :-(  

Harley Davidson CVO Street Glide

Heh heh ... My first motorbike "shoot" :-) with my Nikon D7000 and humble Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens.

The legacy of the Harley-Davidson name lives on... Check out the ustom touches and performance that distinguish this from every other bike on the road! I love the premium custom paint and huge wheels and brake disc calipers! The build quality is also impeccable :-) I don't know the details - But the electronics seems impressive, and the chrome bits all bling-bling! This is what is known as a "Harley Custom Vehicle Operations motorcycle", and the exposed detailing of the huge Screamin' Eagle engine is there for all to see!

Harley-davidson.com ... Introducing the largest wheel ever offered on a Touring bike. We've pushed our Agitator front wheel another inch, taking it to a full, bold 19 inches (483 mm). But size isn't everything. You'll still get that custom Agitator style—wheels with a seven spoke design; contrast chrome and black, or mirror chrome finish, and, matching full-floating brake rotors with a polished chrome center.

More info from Harley-davidson.com ... Unique to the CVO™ Street Glide® model is the new tank console—slammed to sit low, the fill cap and fuel gauge are flush to the tank to complement the overall streamlined design. But the feature that truly shines is the black console insert—complete with a CVO™ logo—so there's no doubt that this bike rolls with unmistakable Custom Vehicle Operations™ style

Harley-davidson.com ... Every aspect of the rear of the CVO™ Street Glide® model is designed and combined to form a unique whole. The full-depth saddlebags offer hauling capacity with a dramatic styling angle. Right under the saddlebags are the dual exhaust 4-inch (102 mm)Touring mufflers, billet end caps with contrast chrome and black accents and gleaming chrome exhaust shields. And shining from the seamless design are the striking LED combination stop-turn-taillight assemblies, with wires tastefully concealed.

More shots of this beauty ... Not many knocking about in Malaysia I think!

I love the paint-job, I love the exposed engine and who can argue with the brand kudos ... this is one amazing bike!

Transit plays at Zeta Bar - KL Hilton

Its been a while since I partied at KL Hilton ... A few of us Oldhamites gathered in Kuala Lumpur for E+J's big day, and celebrated the wonderful event with a night out at Zeta :-)

KL Hilton

Add: 3 Jalan Stesen Sentral, Kuala Lumpur Sentral

Tel: +603 2264 2264

Opening hours: 8pm - 3am 

  

Zeta has always had good bands ... Transit was no different, they rocked the house!
Transit's season at Zeta this year: 02 Jul 2012 - 29 Sep 2012
Timings: Fri-Sat, 10:15pm - 2:15am (They also play on Tues-Thurs)

A Michael Jackson impersonator runs onto the stage - The security team tried to remove him, but Transit kept the fella on the stage!

Is that Pit Bull? Haha...

The band played all the latest hits ... and the crowd loved it!

 

Transit is made up of ...

Leader - Bassist and lead singer, John Deschenes

Backup vocals - Jehan El-Dabbagh, with Lafonda Jackson

Keyboard - Andrea Spolti

Lead guitar - Francois “Frank” Pellerin

Drums - Justin Jackson

 

Le Meridien - KL Sentral, Malaysia

Add: 2 Jalan Stesen Sentral, Kuala Lumpur Sentral Located: Connected to KL Hilton, and linked to the excellent KLIA Express train station Tel: +603 2263 7888   My "Classic" room was small, but well appointed. Excellent customer service and friendly staff throughout my stay on the "Starwood Guest floor". 

 

Renovation notice ... From 1st August to 31st October 2012, the hotel will undergo a transformative project of the hotel lobby and hotel entrance/port corchere, creating new forward thinking and interactive spaces. During this project, the closure of affected areas will be done in phases. The check-in and check-out will be relocated to level P3, adjacent to hotel main entrance and KL Sentral Transportation Hub.

 

My "classic" room toilet ... Simple, but clean and hey .. it works!

This is Favola, Le Meridien's italian restaurant. When you sign up as a Starwood guest for the first time, or perhaps as a returning Starwood guest, the hotel gives you two cuppas Illy coffee, nice!

View from my room, on the Club Level 33rd floor lounge...

 

I was looking out the window when I noticed this cool looking swimming pool above the new Aloft hotel, that's due to open March 2013 ;-) Nice!

Sultan - Mandarin Oriental, KL

My first visit to Sultan at the MO in KL ... I think I actually preferred Casbah to this place!

Located: Mandarin Oriental, Kuala Lumpur

Tel: +603 2179 8966

There's a DJ (In fact there's 2 I think - If I remember correctly, its all a blur now!) spinning tunes "live" from an elaborate (supposedly gold-plated) centre console, and there were probably 60 people in the entire place by the time we left in the early hours of a Saturday morning. Not busy!

My Oldham bros trying their hand out on one of the two custom-pool tables ...