Ruby's Resort - my second home

Took advantage of the long holidays and returned to Ruby's Resort. This is actually my 9th time staying there. Hardcore as you may say, we return whether its rain or shine. I must confess that this trip was actually planned in 2010 itself. Yes last year. And our next return in August 2011 was also booked last year itself.

Here's my room. Yes my room because I've been staying in Palm 8 out of 9 times. This room has been repainted in white recently. Gorgeous isn't it? The usual works, we check in. Switch on the AC so that Shalom can rest before we hit the beach.

And while the diva rest, we head off to the cafetaria to makan! If you head here, you'll love the ice kacang. It goes well with the chicken wings too. And while we're at food, one of the other 2 faves of ours are the tom yam and the hokkien yee mee.

Done with makan, we waste to time to head to the beach. See what I mean that the skies and seas are really blue? And I'm very sure one of my pals who's doing her pre wedding shoot here next week is certainly going to have a fabulous time and seriously fabulous pics. The whole place is just so serene. Just perfect to chill and recuperate from the hustle and bustle of crazy KL.

With the seas so blue, a dip is certainly unavoidable. Strangely, the waters are really calm in the morning. So calm that I can actually see my own toes:D And so calm that I dare walk out deep almost to my chest with my camera sans the underwater casing to snap picture!

And if you wanna have a lil spa session, you may do so. We had a great time scrubbling our dead skin off with the soft black sand:D

The pretty blue sea isn't just for us human. Furkids enjoyed themselves too. Shalom is a water baby and it is tough keeping her away from the water. Its either she dashes straight into the sea or just strolls at he edge of the beach that guarantees us a soak mop looking Shalom.

And obviously when she's wet, she isn't a pleasant sight but that cute happy wide smiley face of hers makes up for all the awful looks:P

Please take note that you should always accompany your furkid when they play by the sea or in the water. They may get into trouble, turn tired or in long hair furkids like Shalom, the hair may weigh them down. Having some adults to be with them is always a good idea. Thanx to Jo who kept Shalom company so I cold snap some pics and video.

Here's a video of Hershey's maiden swim.

And Shalom's

A trip to Ruby's doesn't mean you need to get wet. A walk by the beach at night is equally fun. This time a bunch of us took a walk after dinner to look for turtles. We didn't find any turtles but we found a light bulb. A huge on that is the size of Jo's size 5 Crocs!

Lil and her old boy Tyrus also opted to stay dry this trip. And here's some dry shots of our furkids:D

And if you can wake up in time for sunrise (be by the beach by 7am), this is what greets you!

A reminder to myself that I really should be keeping (all) my cameras in the cupboard provided or else I end up getting my lenses all chilled. Then this is what I get when I want to shoot:-(

If you're game for a stay at Ruby's that has no Astro (cable TV), wifi, rather horrible mobile signal (but livable) no frills resort, here's the details:

Ruby's Resort

Lot 350, Jalan Kemaman,

Kg. Chendor,

Cherating, 26080,

Pahang, Malaysia.



Phone Number

+6016 938 1298

+6016 360 0009 (Aunty Ruby's)

GPS coordinates:

N 04d 8.956 E 103d 24.425

http://www.rubys-resort.com

And when you're there, please give her a hug from Evelyn and Shalom.

Also, please pick up after your furkids after they poop. We want this to be a furkids friendly resort forever!

Food for Thought ~ Songket

Songket - one of my fave fabrics is handwoven in either silk or cotton with gold or silver threads. I love wearing them. I love using them as my of my home decors. Now, Songket bring a new meaning to me. Check out Songket Restaurant & Bar.

Conveniently located in the heart of KL centre along Jalan Yap Kwan Seng, this quaint restaurant is happily "hidden" behind Tony Romas. Because she's happily hidden, she remains nicely quiet and peaceful away from the hustle and bustle of KL city yet being nicely nestled in the middle of KL city. Don't take my word. Come visit and have a meal (open for lunch and dinner but during the night it feels like I am back in a kampung). Coupled with its warm ambience, this makes the perfect place for your business meal or in my case I had a lovely time dining and chatting with pals over some wine (Thanx Tony for the lovely dinner and company).

Started off with Aneka Pembuka Selera while we waited for our other dishes to arrive. This platter consist of cucur udang, kepak ayam, popiah goreng and tauhu sumbat. However we opted to replace the popiah goreng with pegedil. I've always loved pegedil and this is one of the yummiest I have had for a long time. Here the pegedil is a mixture of potatoes and minced chicken.

Vegies are always a must. We opted for pucuk paku goreng which was a lovely stir fried with shallots, chilly and garlic. Although for the strangest "I don'y know why" reason, I thought I actually tasted desiccated coconut in it. I must ask Tony the next time I swing by Songket.

And if you love meat, the 2 must eat here are the rusuk panggang and the kambing panggang.

Rusuk panggang is a well marinated chargrilled ribs served with pegedil. Served with a house blend of a spicy soy sauce and sambal belacan, I still preferred the ribs on its own with its own marinate. Because it is chargrilled, the meat retained its juice.

The kambing panggang is so sinfully yummy that given the chance (I was recovering from my bad throat then when we ate at Songket), I would have requested for another serving of this awesome chragrilled leg of lamb. Dip it into the peanut sauce served with it although I still liked the lamb as it was. The marinate was subtle yet the "lamby" taste wasn't overpowering.

I am not much of a coconut person. So I normally stay away from curries that contain coconut milk. However this dish of Kari Udang Raja had me wanting more. The natural sweetness of the king prawns and coconut milk blended superbly with the choice of spices.

With such lovely dishes, it is hard to not carbo load here. Rice does not stop at white rice here. So we opted for the nasi lemak pandan and the nasi minyak. The nasi lemak pandan is rice cooked with coconut milk with a delightful pandan aroma. It is served with some anchovies (ikan bilis), peanut and sambal. Nasi minyak is spiced rice served with some acar (tangy crunchy pickled vegetables) on the side. Was quite tempted to try the nasi kerabu and nasi goreng kampung (my all time fave). However will leave it for another time.

Done with dinner, we opted to rest our stomachs a little. Took a walk around Songket.

After a little walk, we were still quite stuffed to start on desserts. So we opted to rest a little longer. Unlike many other places, Songket Restaurant & Bar offers its diners a Malay cultural performance everynight (weekdays) at 9pm. Diners can expect a repertoire of dances from the different states in Malaysia including Mak Yong, Zapin, Joget and more. And if you're game, you can certainly join the dancers for a Joget Malaysia too:D And this is indeed a good place to bring our foreign friends to experience Malay food and its rich cultural heritage.

Finally we were all ready for dessert. There was 8 items to choose from so we opted for the unique ones such as the durian tiramisu and the tapai pulut. The durian tiramisu is made with fresh durians. I asked Tony what happens if its not the durian season? And at Songket, the durians are kept frozen in the freezer. Honestly, this is a good idea. At least you have durian rather than no durians or worse still places that resort to durian essence or flavourings.

The tapai pulut is a sweet dish of fermented glutinous rice served with a scoop of ice cream. Absolutely delightful, the fermented glutinous rice was easy and light. And it did not give me any heartburn (which I normally get after any glutinous rice meals).

Sago gula melaka is a common dish found in many places. Here at Songket, you have fun playing with your sago melaka. The chilled sago is in a mini pool of coconut milk and palm sugar syrup (gula melaka). You stir the coconut milk and gula melaka together controlling the amount of sweetness or creaminess of coconut milk as you like.

I was a happy girl that night. My dinner of the lovely Malay dishes, delectable desserts and wine drove my flu and sore throat away:D Now to plan my next trip to try the other dishes.

Songket Restaurant & Bar

• 29 Jalan Yap Kwan Seng (behind Tony Romas)

50450 Kuala Lumpur

• +603 2161 3331 (advisable to call for reservations)

• Business Hours - Mondays to Fridays 12pm - 3pm, 6pm - 11pm

- Saturday, Sunday & Public Holidays 5pm - 11pm