Durian Party at Silka Hotel, Johor Bahru

I was invited to Silka Hotel (N1.52325 E103.81232) at Johor Bahru for the 'Durian Party' on one of the Tuesday evening. That was my first visit to the hotel...

Silka Hotels is a value hotel brand by Kosmopolito Hotels International Limited, a fast-growing hotel chain operating in Hong Kong, China, Malaysia and Singapore. The Silka Hotel (formally known as Dorsett Hotel) at Johor Bahru is located along Jalan Masai Baru and in the vicinity of 2 Hypermarts (Tesco and Giant) which is very convenience, and it's just next to Pasir Gudang Highway which connected to the North South Expressway of Peninsular Malaysia.

Main entrance of Silka Hotel

The hotel is renovated from a block of Prima Regency Apartment, the design is small in space but fully equipped and comfortable. The lobby area was cozy and accompany by the white orchids around...

The Lobby of Silka Hotel

When I reached the hotel, it was still early...after registered, an Orchid's welcome drink was served. I took the change to snap around the lobby and the coffee house area...

An Orchid's welcome drink from Silka Hotel

The Coffee House of Silka Hotel, Johor Bahru

Nice Deco of the coffee house...

Once the VIPs arrived, the event party started at the Kapitan Corner of the hotel,  it was half sheltered and with the alfresco dining area...

The sheltered area of Kapitan Corner

The opening speech from Ms Christina Toh (Area General Manager of Kosmopolito Hotels International).

Ms Christina Toh (Area General Manager of Kosmopolito Hotels International)

Follow by Mr. Philip Schaetz (Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing of Kosmopolito Hotels International) and Ms Christina cut and open the Durian...

Mr. Philip Schaetz and Ms Christina Toh

Mr Philip had the First Durian on the party!

After Mr Philip had the First Durian on that evening, the Party began! I was surprised! Not many Caucasian like Durian because fo the strong odour.

Many other foods available on that evening, most of them served with Durian's flavour.

The Chef from Silka Hotel who prepared all the Durian's snacks and 'kuih'.

Closer look...

All Durians were available at the outdoor area which was the main spot of that evening...

Many type of Durians available, D24 and etc...

Too bad the Musang King was not available...

Everyone was busy looking for their Favorite Durian's food...

Next to the Durian 'stall', I found the Delicious Durian's spring roll stall...

The Durian's spring roll stall

They even prepared and cook it on the spot...it was Nice Durian spring roll for the night! I like it very much!

Prepared and cooked on the spot

The Durian's spring roll

The Durian flavour 'Roti Prata' stall was the last...I had one of it, Nice!

The making of Durian Roti Prata

Beside all the Durian's food, there were also some local foods served with rice. I tried the Rendang chicken which was flavourful!

The local food - Fried Chicken

Vegetables

My first round of Durian's food...

Top : Durian's Roti Plata, Left bottom : Durian's Spring roll (favorite), Right bottom : Durian's pancake and chicken

The games started during the party, well...I was not lucky enough to grab any prizes! Haha! But the prizes were generously sponsored by Kosmopolito Hotels & Dutch Lady.

Once I finish the first round, I started to taste different Durians one-by-one...

All Durians were Fresh and Nice! I prefer those with a little bitter taste and D24...how about you?

Yummy!

The fresh Durians of that night were sponsored by Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority(Fama).

The representative from the Durian's sponsor having a short speech

The Management planning to having the Durians Party yearly during the Durian's season. And the event is exclusive by invitation only. But Silka Hotel just had a Durian Feast Hi-Tea Buffet on the 7th & 8th July 2012 (2pm-6pm) for the Durian Lovers, beside the fruits there were also serving Durian Cheese Cake, Durian Bread and Butter Pudding, Wajik Durian, Dodol Durian, Pulut Putih Durian, Serawa Durian, Bubur Cacar Durian, and many more durian specialties!

Another package offered by the Hotel was 'Durian Fest Package',  which includes overnight accommodation in a deluxe room, complimentary breakfast for two adults and two children below 10-years-old, two Durian Fest High-Tea vouchers for 7 July or 8 July, and complimentary shuttle bus service to Johor Premium Outlets with cost of SGD95.00 nett.

If you missed it this year, don't miss it again! Take note on next year Durian package offer by Silka Hotel during the Durian season!

It was a Awesome Durian Party organized by Silka Hotel, thanks Mr Christpher Tan (Communication Manager) who invite me to the Party.

Durian in Wikipedia.

Silka Hotel Johor Bahru

Lot 101375, Jalan Masai Lama
Mukim Plentong, 81750 Johor Bahru

Tel: +607-360 1000
Fax: +607-360 5000
Email: info.johor@silkahotel.com

URL : http://www.silkahotel.com/johorbahru/index.php

Location map of Silka Hotel at Johor Bahru.

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Famous Stuffed Crab at Tong Juan Restaurant (东源酿蟹餐室) - Chukai Kemaman, Terengganu.

Before we drive back to Johor Bahru from Legend Resort Cherating on the Media FAM 2012 trip, I decided to drove to Chukai - Kemaman for the Famous Stuffed Crab at Tong Juan Restaurant (N4.23150 E103.42813).

The journey Only took us 15 minutes drive from Cherating to the restaurant, it was 3pm in the afternoon and the lunch hour had pass...so the restaurant just left one table of customers...

Tong Juan Restaurant at Chukai - Kemaman.

It's actually a 70s old fashion type of kopitiam...I like the classic look, especially the chairs...

The 70s type of restaurant interior...

We already had our lunch at the Resort, our main purpose here was to try out the Famous Stuffed Crab. I heard about the stuff crab decades ago, therefore we have to try it since we already so close to it...!

Beside the stuffed crab, there are som many singature dishes serve by the restaurant...well, I will definitely try it on my next visit...

Other dishes serve by Tong Juan Restaurant

We ordered four stuffed crab, having one in the restaurant and 3 take away...

It looked abit weird by presenting Only one crab shell on the plate?! Haha!

The Stuffed Crab of Tong Juan Restaurant

The dish was unique and special!
They filled up the shell with crab meat mixed with some vegetables and cover by a layer of eggs with a nice aroma of butter...deep fried to perfection.

Filled up with crab meat and vege...

The dish goes well with rice, because it taste a bit salty. But we can't take any rice with it due to the heavy lunch from the Resort...Anyway, I'm satisfied with the unique taste! And it cost only RM8 per stuffed crab, reasonable and worth to try!

If I'm not mistaken, Tong Juan was the first restaurant to serve the Stuffed Crab since the earlier 80s, and the Famous dish is well known through out the region. Nowadays, you can find a few restaurants around the same area selling the same dish...

I will suggest you to visit the restaurant if you having vacation at Cherating, because the nice dish is just about 20 km away!

The Famous Stuffed Crab of Tong Juan Restaurant, Chukai.

Location map of Tong Juan Restaurant at Chukai Kemaman, Terengganu.

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Famous snack - Keropok Lekor around Cherating, Kuantan - Pahang.

Once we checked out from The Legend Resort Cherating, we did some shopping on the local foods at Chiang Kee stall (N4.02990 E103.39848) along the Cherating main road...follow by hunting for our favorite 'Keropok Lekor' around the area...

Keropok Lekor is the kind of snack which made from the fish with mixture of salt and flour.The snacks are high in protein because of the fish and famous at Terengganu area - East Cost of Malaysia.

At first, we stopped at this little stall (N4.06262 E103.38995) along the road, we unexpectedly grab 'all' Keropok in this stall! Before I had my share...Oh! My goodness!

The Keropok Lekor stall along the main road

Then we saerched for another stall (Cap Kren Stall N4.09474 E103.38220) which was about 200 meter away and grab the balance...everyone was happy! We bought 2 packs which cost MYR20.00, each of it has 10 sticks.

The lady wrap it nicely...

There are 2 types of Keropok Lekor available, the one at above was steam and the other type is deep fried. I would prefer the deep fried type because of the crispyness! :)

The deep fried type of Keropok Lekor

Sometimes I saw this snacks are also available around Johor area, but I never try it...but my teammates said it will be fresh and delicious at Cherating or Terengganu area compare with others states in Malaysia...what do you think?! :)

Do drop by and buy some of it if you pass by Cherating, you might like the fish taste of it! :)

Location map of the Keropok Lekor stall at Cherating, Kuantan - Pahang.

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Fireflies boat cruise at Kampung Ibok, Chukai Kamaman - Terengganu.

On our last night of Cherating vacation, we visited the Yak Yah Firefly Sanctuary (N4.30647 E103.37418) which is located at Bungkus River (Sungai) around Kampung Ibok, Chukai Kamaman. The journey took about 45 - 60 minutes from Legend Resort Cherating (approx. 30KM).

Once we reached the riverside, there was a short safety briefing by the tour guide and everyone get ready with the 'life jacket' and prepare for the boat cruise...

I was really impressed by the boat (max. 15 person) which was running on battery! Yes, you heard me right! Operate by battery Not Diesel! This will reduce the pollution to the nature and we were Really enjoyed the quite boat ride....

Everyone prepared on the boat for the Fireflies river cruise...

I apologize because not able to take A single photo of the fireflies around the river...

The ride was quite and with the fresh air from the nature, the fireflies view was Awesome! The water reflection was really light up the Dark river! Total journey was about 8KM and it took almost an hour...
The tour guide was very knowledgable (who speak fluent English) and he was explaining about the firefly from start till end of the trip...

It was an eye opener for us especially the Battery operating boat. We took another hour back to the resort and everyone was exhausted because of the whole day activities...I end my 2nd day at Cherating in the pub accompany with beers and other teammates...

If you have enough time on your vacation, don't mind trying this fireflies boat cruise. I like the environment very much even we were in the dark most of the time...:)

We left the Legend Resort on the next day noon time after the Nice lunch provided...and we'll see you again Cherating! Bye!

Related post :
*  Media FAM Trip 2012 at Cherating, Pahang.

Location map for Fireflies boat cruise at Kemaman, Terengganu.

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A visit to Pulau Ular (Snake Island) at Cherating, Kuantan - Pahang.

Afternoon session of the second day...simple buffet lunch from the Resort, we had a short rest in the room, follow by the sea activity 'Sight seeing and short trekking at the Snake Island (Pulau Ular)' (N4.05518 E103.40767) which is about 6km away from the beach of Legend Resort Cherating. There are many activities beside this, where you can ride on the ATV and many more...(refer to the last photo of this post)

We went to the island by 2 groups, another group was for island snorkeling. The speed boats waiting for us somewhere nearby the beach, so once we got up the boat, all wet! Haha!

Welcome onboard! Snake Island...here we come!

The speedboat journey took 20 minutes to reach the island (6km), by then we were totally wet again because of the strong waves! I'm glad that my wife & daughter enjoyed the ride very much! (it was their First experience!) The water splash into the boat and to all of us all the time during the journey, we were fortunate enough to met the very kind boatman who offered his 'waterproof bag' for all our cameras and mobile phones! Thanks Mr boatman!

The Snake Island (Pulau Ular)

The small island was beautiful! The water was clear and I saw the fishes swim around....

The beach of Snake Island

Crystal clear water at Snake Island

The beach was full of dead corals...and decorated by some volcanic rocks...

Dead corals were everywhere at the beach...

Interesting rocks formation along the beach...

Scenic view of the surrounding...

Everyone was walking here and there, and some were taking their best shot of the island...the weather that day was hot!
The island is actually just about 1.5km from the nearest beach...

The nearest beach is just about 1.5km away...

Once we finished the photography session at the beach, we separated into 2 groups where the other group was going to enjoy their snorkeling and we started our short trekking at the same time...

The snorkeling group finding their best spot...

Please beware of the jelly fish around if you planning to go for snorkeling, because two of our teammates 'kiss' by the jelly fish during the trip...

We started to hike and going to walk to the highest spot of the island, said by our guide (the boatman).

The trekking started from here...

Our guide - the boatman.

Merely about 10 minutes, we reached the highest spot of the island, the breathtaking view attracted everyone to had a short rest on the beautiful rock! Nice!

There is another smaller island at the back by the name of 'Eagle Island'. According to the boatman, there's an eagle stay on the island. We were lucky enough to spotted that eagle too!

Nice view from the island, the smaller Eagle Island at the back.

That eagle just flew passed us and way back to its home...

We started to walked again after another 5 minutes, the return route was different from where we came from...many bats 'slept' by the huge rock on our way back...

The bats that slept on the rock...

The last path was fill with water before we reach our boats, that was the moment I felt very proud of my daughter! She was scared and doesn't want to pass through initially, but after the encouragements from friends around...she did it at last! I will never forget her expression before and after! Great!

The water path before we get into the boat...

Well...everyone was 'wet' again! Haha!
The total duration of the walk was just about 30 minutes...

Another group of friends enjoyed their snorkeling not far away from the beach...

The snorkeling spot...

The boatman sailed around the island and we speed back to the resort. The trip was excited! Especially when the strong waves splashed into our face! Haha!

I'll advise my friends to visit the island if you never try before! It can become an unforgettable trip for you! 

The activities board at the beach of Legend Resort, Cherating.

Related post :
*  Media FAM Trip 2012 at Cherating, Pahang.

Location map of Snake Island (Pulau Ular) at Cherating, Kuantan - Pahang.

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