Dining With Jewelle

We were not totally impressed with the Celyn Cafe at its old location in Damai, because its poor ventilation system. So we have never went back until we found out that it has opened an outlet together with its hotel at the new CityMall along Jalan Lintas-Kolombong.

Celyn Cafe at the CityMall is on the upper floor and you could take a lift from the lobby of Celyn hotel.

When we went there on Merdeka Day, the cafe was empty although there was a large lunching group due to arrive according to the manager. The place was certainly impressive and hubby loved the chair.

Their lunch set menu was quite interesting and despite the temptations of the “rack of lambs” for RM50+, we decided to order spaghetti (Eu’s request) and lamb chops.

Since hubby is into salad these days, he ate his portion (and mine) of the potato salad with relish. The potatoes were very tasty although I can’t imagine how he or anyone can swallow those raw cabbages.

Eu is more vocal with her taste and after one bite of the garlic bread, promptly said “Euw, I don’t like garlic” and gave it back to her papa. Qi was even worse and after an experimental bite with the cabbages and carrots, gave everything back without swallowing anything.

But I was surprised that Eu really enjoyed the spaghetti as she is someone who I almost always need to coax or threaten when it comes to food - unless it’s chicken skin (a rare indulgence - don’t worry). The meatballs were good too.

Hubby was satisfied with his lamb chops. He did gave me a piece but I have no recollection of it now - must be good then!

As soon as our food were done, we got ready to leave as the kids had just about had it with sitting down. I left first with the kids as hubby went to pay and he had to call us back in after a while because we still have our dessert and hot drinks!

So back we went inside to the kids protest until Eu had some of the honeydew pudding and she quieted down and between the three of them, they finished off hubby’s and mine (as I don’t like the taste of honeydew).

I think we’d definitely return as the food and service was good. The only snag is that, parking is bad here and on that day, a friend was supposed to join us for lunch and she had to cancelled as she could not find a single parking spot! This CityMall is not even fully occupied yet!

Anyhow, check out the Celyn site. Their boutique Celyn Hotel looks very nice and one of these days, we definitely have to stay at their resort in Kundasang.

I have a close friend who moved with her whole family to Perth earlier this year. Her hubby is doing his MBA and she is, according to her e-mail, enjoying herself as a stay at home mother to her brood.

As of today, they have been away for about 6 months. But it really didn’t feel that long ago when that we, together with a few other friends visited them for Christmas last year and talked about the excitement and opportunities of starting life anew in Australia.

In fact, in their enthusiasm that “mothers will get milk money allowances and they don’t have to work!” and rationale that “KK is a time bomb, better get out before it gets worse” did plant some seeds “what if” and “why not” in all our heads.

But however appealing and interesting moving abroad is, I don’t foresee hubby and myself seriously contemplating migrating elsewhere. Brunei, in my opinion is still a great place to live and bring up kids. Besides, if we ever get too bored with home, visiting them in Perth is a few hours flight away.

In fact, since it’s quite near to home, I don’t know why we have never thought of going over there! Hubby has some cousins in Perth and I have a few Sabahan friends who’ve also made Perth their home.

Perhaps, I should try to convince hubby to forgo all his motor show trips in exchange for a trip to Perth. February next year seemed like a good time with the Perth International Art Festival taking place from the 8 February - 2 March 2008.

Besides, sightseeing and catching up with friends and relatives, it would be fun to participate in this cultural festival and I’m sure the kids would enjoy the family oriented events, the circuses or dance performances.

But I’m more interested in the Aquarium of Western Australia where you can explore 12,000 km of Western Australian coastline from this place! We enjoyed the Sentosa Underwater World in Singapore and I’m sure we’ll enjoy this place just as much, if not more.

As for accommodation, I’m sure we’d be offered to stay at friends or relatives but even if we aren’t, hotels in Perth are quite reasonably priced too. My favorite hotel booking site states that a 3 star hotel in Perth starts from AUD60 (approximately B$75).

Hubby has a few cousins over at Melbourne and what better way to explore the Australian scenery if not by their train service which has a direct line that links Perth and Adelaide. Having to stop in Adelaide is much welcomed too because I read that there is a place called Hahndorf, which has a chocolate factory and strawberry farm, two things that I’m sure my kids will enjoy.

The hotels in Adelaide is slightly pricier than from Perth, a 3 stars hotels starts from AUD69 (approx. B$86) but since we’ll probably be here on a quick stop over it won’t cut too much into our budget.

In Melbourne, accommodations are not a problem at all as hotels in Melbourne are relatively much cheaper than Perth and Adelaide, where a 3 stars hotels starts from a mere AUD50 (approx. B$63). So we could stay here longer and explore the Melbourne Zoo and Luna Park.

So you see, although as of this very moment, we have no plans whatsoever to visit Australia, I already have a general itinerary and we could go there tomorrow and I’d know what to do.

Now you know why I just love hotel booking sites and travel sites - never mind that I don’t even travel that much!

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