Delicious, Midvalley Megamall

Located at Lot G 001, Ground Floor, Facing the Gardens Midvalley. As the name suggest the food here is simply delicious. So is the bill.

Our family outing on 12 April 2014.

Crispy Mushroom / Cheese Risotto RM13.11. Yummy to the very last bite.Comes with Basic sauce. Never taught that mixing risotto (Italian rice), with mushroom and cheese and made into balls coated with flour would taste so delicious. This would be my wife's next home cooked project  

Garlic Ciabatta Toast RM6.51. Tasted rather good, although lacking sprinkled fresh basil. We always get it that way at Delicious Sunway Pyramid   

Nasi Kerabu RM28.49. Tasted great but blue rice wins hand down every time

Spaghetti Basil Pesto, RM26.27. Brilliant. Just the right amount of basil sauce and cheese without overpowering the dish. Chicken was brilliantly grilled  

Spaghetti Carbonara with Chicken, RM28.07. Just Ok for me. Do not recommend this dish. Found the sauce rather plain and bland

Rose Soda RM8.68

Honey Lemon Tea RM8.68

Chocolate Sunddae RM17.50. Brilliant. Must have

Chocolate Brownies RM15.28. Brilliant as well

The Bill 

Jetty Kuala Tembeling, Pahang

This is the Jetty for Kuala Tembeling, Pahang. It is one of the many entrance points to Taman Negara by boat. The boat ride takes about 3 hours and there are no pit stops.i.e. no bathroom breaks. So go before you leave the Jetty.

The boat leaves daily at 1.30pm, so don't be late. One ride only a day.

Cost is RM35.00 per person for adults and kids of any age 

The boats are all now made from fiber and no longer wood

 

The Jetty

This contraction might have been used years back to load and unload cargo into the boats

Benta

If you search the internet to find out more about Benta, surprisingly there is not much information. This is a stark contrast to other places in Malaysia. The reason I say this is because Benta appears to have a rich Chinese heritage and history, judging from the age of houses generally in the area.

The only thing I managed to obtain from the internet is that Benta is geographically located at these coordinates, 4° 1' 0" North, 101° 58' 0" East.

Anyhow its near Lipis, Pahang. So heres my Two cents worth of contribution to bring alive this town.

I was made aware of Benta, thanks I must say to K3K Benta Kaya Kopitiam. Its one of my family's favourite food joints. Apparently Benta Kaya has been in operation since 1955.

Its founder, Ho Kwai Sam ( 何桂三 ) in 1930 migrated from China and resided in Benta, Pahang. He was a rubber tapper and operated a small grocery stall. Eventually, realizing that a rich sensation coffee / tea would lead to an energetic day tapping rubber, he inventively, founded 桂三記 (Kwai Sam Kee) and originated a homemade kaya, served with fresh baked bread and aromatic smooth coffee to start everyone’s day.

After 50 years of history at Benta, Kuala Lipis, Pahang, Malaysia, Benta Kaya Kopitiam (K – Kwai桂, 3 - Sam 三, K - Kee 記) carries on the traditional in various locations.

Trust me when I say that their kaya is the bomb. We always buy a cup to bring back home, whenever we eat there.

It was during one of my visits to Benta Kaya Kopitiam that I realized that they got their inspiration to name their outlet after the Benta Bridge. Hence, I made it a mission to one day see it for myself and that's what I did. 

Pictures were taken on 1 April 2015 and its No April Fools Joke.

 

The Benta Bridge, linking two towns. Its about 50 meters

 Underneath is the Benta River

A closeup of the Bridge

This Bridge links Kampung  Sri Benta and other towns

The Chinese village settlement is reminiscence of older times

You can feel the sense of neighborhood and that it is a close knit community

You don't see wooden structures like this now days, except probably here

Remarkable Taman signage. Identifying the Malay settlement  

Simply breathtaking 

Closeup, I doubt anyone is staying here for now, but I suspect that the adjoining modern structure might be the owner

Managed to get a glimpse of this beautiful pink wooden Malay house 

The Park Ranger is also located nearby

There's a gorgeous huge old Angsana tree outside the Rangers office. My colleague is posing in the picture to give you an idea how big is the tree. Please note that I'm not an advocate of cigarettes no do I condone smoking

One of the few Villages left untouched by development. Not many places where your house has a scenery of a khatulistiwa jungle centuries old  

You will still see rubber tree plantations here

This tree is still producing rubber sap

Unfortunately this tree has "expired" its production of sap

Realize from cut grooves in the coconut tree that it is the place for people to leach on when climbing 

Closeup, the cut grooves are clearer visible

On the way exiting Benta, you will pass by Kampung Terap where you will see this gorgeous tree 

It might have died years ago but it's still a splendor to behold

The tree is almost white in color

Guli

Marbles or “Guli Batu” or “Kelereng”, is one of the many Malaysian traditional games. 

I remember playing them at school during my primary school days. Its origin eludes me but it was a simple, cheap, easy, no frills and provided hours of fun type game.

We would play it still dressed in our school uniform after school or during recess. I would be in my white short sleeve shirt and navy blue shorts with white shoes and socks.

My son nowadays sticks to his PSP and Ipad and I dread to think what he is missing. It is not only playing traditional games but missing out on friendship that he would be making along the way and oh yes, the laughter. I remember the laughter and “cheatings” involved. You know kids, they will try to outdo one another. It was good fun never the less. 

We played it in shaded area, but not always. Even if it was hot, it was still game on.

Back in those days, the sun was not this hot and furthermore; we had tons of energy and stamina.  

We played on a wide open area with sandy flat surface. The rules of the game were simple. 

A round circle about 1 meter was drawn on the ground.  We had to throw the marble to hit its target.  A maximum of 5 players at any time were the norm.  A hole measuring 10 cm wide and 7 cm deep was dug in the middle of the circle.

A long straight line about 3 meters from the circle is drawn.  That is the starting line.

Each player will have a main marble and a few betting marbles. The main marble is usually colored using a color pencil or engraved in pencil the name of the player. This is to differentiate the main marble from betting marbles. I remember coloring mine using a Staedtler Noris 2B black pencil in the hopeless attempt to get a black silver metallic finish. Hey! It was cool for me in those days to have a mat black silver finishing.  

The betting marbles are kept in the circle. 

The players will need to throw their main marble at the betting marbles in the circle.  The betting marbles that comes out from the circle becomes the property of the new owner. The main marble cannot be touched or taken.

If the main marble is stuck in the circle, the player has lost the game.

The one who comes out on the top with the most numbers of marble is the winner.

Another improvised and simpler way of playing the game involving no betting marbles is to dig a hole and stand about 2 meters away from the hole measuring 5 cm wide. The player who reaches the hole first is the winner.

I was informed that back in the days of the prewar era, pieces of woods as bid as a hens egg, were rounded to form a marble. Subsequently, after the war, marbles as big as your toe were made from chalk mixed with cement. Marbles now come in various shapes, sizes and materials.

I managed to find the same type of white cement marbles in Pekan, Medan Selera Pekan, near the taxi terminal.