3 Cafes To Fix Your Sweet Tooth

"you are the sweetest feeling i know" 

// butterflies rising //

Penang Getaway

"Taste the streets of wherever you travel. Each destination has a flavor."

Afternoon Tea @ Orchid Conservatory, Majestic Hotel KL

" Life is like a cup of tea 

to be filled to the brim and enjoyed with friends"

French Afternoon Tea @ Ladurée, Pavilion

"Tea time is a chance to slow down, pull back and appreciate our surroundings." 

- Letitia Baldrige - 

4 Fav Japanese Inspired Cafés in KL

"Hard work should be rewarded by good food."

- Ken Follett -

    

Tis' The Season for some Cookies!

It's the start of the month of December and well, have ya'll been doing well in November? Well, I'm okay I guess. I hope you are doing better than me heh. :) ANYWAY, I've decided to write about food again on the start of a new month so here it is! I hope you enjoy!

As a person who LOVES cookies, I've got to know something interesting through a good friend of mine that Caffe Bene is having a 'Blogging Event' for their Cookie Connoisseur's Menu & obviously, I got all excited and started planning when to go and what to write about. :)

Dim Sum @ Yun House, Four Seasons Hotel, KL

"Dim Sum-body tell you that you are Siew Mai type?" 

;)

    Hey ya'll! :) I'm guessing the quoted PUN gave you some idea about what I'm gonna write about right? Or maybe you just got the answer from the title... OH WELL! It was a recent event where I got to try Yun House's Dim Sum with two of my best friends (1 is missing unfortunately, you know who you are). We went there to celebrate one of my best friend's belated birthday and to tell you the truth; it's worth it if you decide to go there on a 'Once in a Lifetime' basis hahaha. So here's a picture of the birthday girl below cause we all LOVE her! ;)

Café Hops in M'sia 4.0

"I like adventures, and I'm going to find some." 

- Louisa May Alcott -

    How are ya'll doin' these days? Well, I guess I'm both happy and sad at the same time. :) Happy cause I've been keeping myself busy and its' a FIRST for me to have my sem break filled with more than five events and meet ups with my friends! However, sad cause happiness won't last forever as I try my best to look forward to the start of my new sem. There's a random selfie of myself treating it as an OOTD above (the worst #ootd I bet HAHAH) cause... why not? ;)

English High Tea @ Park Avenue Lounge, Genting

"It's the people you hang out with makes you happy, not just the food." 

    Hey all! xoxo I'm back to the blogging world with a High Tea indulgence and I do had a lovely tea with my friends! Just a quick update about me: I've just finished my finals of semester 1 and I'm having my break right now so I'll try my best to blog more so do keep watch on my social media updates about my blog posts!

Café Hops in M'sia 3.0 (PJ edn.)

 "There is no sincere love than the love of food."

- George Bernard Shaw -

    It's been a tough and rough month for me during the middle and end of July to be honest. I almost lost my passion for everything especially in writing but with the help of my closest friends and family; I was able to piece my life back together bit by bit again somehow and someway or another. Be it having to dwell a little on my past favorite moments to make myself smile & comfort myself a little and not be sad or just trying to put on a fake smile in front of everyone so they wouldn't worry about me too much. To tell you the truth, I'm still struggling & I bet it will take quite awhile for me to lose the pain BUT "It's okay, I'll be fine.", "Maybe it's just not the right time", "Let's wait for the right time then" is what I tell myself every single day and night with a naive hope that I carry in my heart in order for me to live now.

A French Indulgence

    "The smell of freshly baked pastries, friendly waiters & a lovely indulgence with a close friend of yours are what makes the day satisfying." 

    Well, here's a picture of me (taken by Jia Ai, xoxo) trying to pretend being candid with a messy hair while sipping on my Raspberry Lemonade drink. It was one of the most 'refreshing' shots that my friend had taken of me (if you get my pun. pfft.).

Café Hops in Malacca

    All of you might already know that I'm a lover for cafe hopping and on my previous post I have already written about my trip to Malacca with my friends and if you haven't read it... What are you waiting for? go read that now and then only come back here HAHAHA. Anyway, Malacca also have some famous cafes that are worth visiting instead of just going to the same cafes in KL right? My friends and I decided to visit some of them too and it was awesome, lovely and delicious of course! ;)

Café Hops in M'sia 2.0 (ft. friends)

    Recently, food and friends is probably the only thing that could make me smile genuinely. Well, majority percentage lies with my friends. They make me smile the most and forget all the worries and problems I have in my mind recently. This may sound cheesy but to me, their smiles meant the whole world to me; seeing their smiles made me happy and unconsciously, I smiled too. But it's not just them who made me smile but also the food we were willing to share together made me felt that I was part of them cause food always does bring people together right?

    Just yesterday, me and my friends went to two types of cafe; one is dessert cause who doesn't love to eat desserts right? and the other one is more to breakfast and brunch menu. Well, both were suitable to be recommended in my point of view and one can also just take a 3 minute walk to each of the two cafe technically! :) It was fun since it was our first time hanging out going to cafes instead of just going to shopping malls and window shop; it was a whole new memory made for us and we loved it. It was decent and to be honest, I do hope we were able to continue the moments for a little much longer than the usual 24/7. Anyway, cafe hopping is fun when you go in groups just because you're able to share the costs and also enjoy the moments of chit chatting and catching up with each other's lives at the same time and at least for me; we were able to have enjoy good food while we laugh at each other's funniest stories.

1. Jao Tim

    To those who are not the morning type of person that you are and you tend to feel a little fancy wanting to go out to have some brunch with your closest friends because why not right? Once in a while, it feels good to hang out with friends to have brunch with them; maybe you would still see their sleepy faces at times but it's worth the hang out just because its FRIENDSHIP GOALS - having breakfast or brunch with your closest friends. Well, back to food of course, if you're that type of person, you can go to Jao Tim located at Petaling Street; same lane as leaf & co cafe. It has a modern vintage feel to it and although it may look a little empty, it's peaceful. :) Peaceful to have a cup of coffee or tea and some croissants or sandwich. Music was played softly so it wouldn't interrupt our conversations with our friends, the great wide spaces in between each tables felt like they were giving us the spaces we wanted to have instead of the crowded tables that made it narrow in between. The food? Well, I could say it was lovely and light. The beverages? It was okay I could say in my opinion. But overall, it was pleasant as you get to enjoy quietness and vintage feel at once and it is a great combination.

Here are some photos I've took during our visit to Jao Tim:

The entrance of Jao Tim. It felt like it was hard to find the cafe at first but their doors were kind of unique and with the golden signage, it was practically easy to be spotted so yeah. 

The staircase of Jao Tim.

A top view shot of how the cafe looks like. See how the spacious it is? ;)

The food we ordered. We had Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Chocolate croissant, Chicken Pie and some drinks. If I would recommend between those 3 dishes, I would say Chicken Pie just because I personally prefer softer foods so the Chicken Pie was the softest of all. The other 2 had a little crisp in them.

A closer look of the Grilled Cheese Sandwich. :)

Our drinks: Latte, Hot Chocolate, Mocha and Earl Grey Tea. You could say it's the usual common drinks.

A cup of latte ordered by my friend.

The vintage feels that I was talking about was the decorations that they put in the cafe too. HAHA

2. Urban Artisan

    The next stop was desserts OF COURSE!! In Malaysia, the weather is ALWAYS scorching hot 24/7 and to kid you not, you can sweat easily despite it was only a 3 minute walk from Jao Tim. This dessert shop has been quite the popular topic when it comes to frozen yogurt ice cream. Its called Urban Artisan which is basically located in Petaling Street too, you can also say it's kind of the opposite lane of Merchant Lane cafe. Their ice creams are famous for the unique combination of two different flavors, they also have single flavors too if any of ya'll wants to savor only one flavor. Oh!! and they changes the menu every week as I was told about when I asked them for more information. Their flavors? I could say it's REALLY unique and different from the normal ones you try at llao llao or just any other Fro-Yo shops. I think that's what makes them unique and popular. The visuals? Splendid HAHA!! It's insta-worthy, TRUST ME! But try not to take it outside of the shop to have it especially when the weather is typically hotter than usual because it'll literally melt immediately. It's worth going to visit if ya'll wants some awesome perfect visuals frozen yogurt ice cream or just wants to have something that are more different than your go-to ice creams.

Here are some photos of Urban Artisan:

Urban Artisan cafe outlet, its all white so it's easy to be spotted. ;)

This is Thai Tea with Japanese Black Sesame flavor. It's really unique and they said this is the 'best-seller' out of the other flavors. It's worth a try! It has creamy texture to it, you can taste the Thai tea more to be honest. One mixed flavor ice cream cost RM12.90 for your information. 

If you're looking for more refreshing flavor, this is the one! It's Hawaiian Pineapple with the Natural Frozen Yogurt flavor. It's more on the sour side but not so sour. You can taste the pineapple flavor and also how the natural frozen yogurt flavor blends together with the pineapple to balance the flavor. It's worth trying!

So this is the reason I said to not take your ice cream cone out cause look at the picture, we just gotten it and when we took it outside for a better exposure, it melted miserably because the ice cream is not usual Gelato type of ice cream so it's fragile and melts faster than usual and also it's because of Malaysia's weather so yeah. 

    Well, I do hope I can visit more cafes soon so if ya'll have any cafe suggestions that I should visit please feel free to drop a comment or just text me if any of ya'll know me HAHAHA. For more photographs of the two cafes I visited, you can visit my VSCOGrid just by pressing the icon on the left side of the blog or you can click here OR you can visit my Instagram (@shannonpsl) Thanks for reading all the way here!! I appreciate it very much!! :)

Sincerely, Shannon

Café Hops in M’sia 1.0

    Cozy vibes, good food and a good coffee to drink away and relax; that’s what makes it a simple yet enjoyable cafe to go to and sit or just take some picture shots of the environment. Basically, the vibes that a cafe gives to a customer are somewhat mostly cozy, modern but a hint of vintage feels, the smell of coffee beans filled in the atmosphere and sometimes, the corners of what every photographer wants to get their hands dirty with their camera. I’ve been to a few decent cafes which was pretty much how I described it to be; lovely and of course I would like to share some of the vibes with y’all readers.

P.S. this is solely based on my experience and also my opinions so no harsh comments please. ;)

VCR, Jalan Galloway 

    VCR is a cafe that consists of modern and a hint of vintage vibes; from the modern glasses that was built as walls at the upstairs, the soft music filling up the wooden places and furniture and little windows that the sunlight shines through; its lovely. Its' a self ordering platform at the cashier but you get to see the baristas doing the coffee at times which is amazing! I love how they present their food; color and taste were splendid to me. The prices of the food ranges from RM19-RM23 if I'm not mistaken. But its worth it to drop in to VCR to fill up the hungry tummy and and quench up the thirst.

This is their French Toast with a little corner of raspberry compote and a top of espresso no-churn ice cream. the chocolate part is filled with cookie crumbles and sunflower seeds and a dash of mocha sauce underneath it. 

This is VCR interior at the upstairs of their cafe.

FEEKA Coffee Roasters, Bukit Bintang.

    FEEKA is a place where you can sit and relax while looking at their interiors and also have a little photo shoot or two with their lovely background wall settings. One can also sit and enjoy the taste of their food especially their pastas. I had one of their Duck-Confit Pasta and its' lovely! I never got to try their coffee but you can! ;) Their price range are affordable too so just get your car keys or call a grab to head to FEEKA cause you should enjoy and explore more!

This is their little photo shoot corner as I would call it cause Less is definitely More! :)

This is basically what me and my friends had ordered. Red Velvet cake, Mixed Fruit Juice, and two more pastas which one of it haven't came in yet.

Little People Cafe, Avantas Residence Ground Floor

    Little People Cafe has a pretty white settings and theme to it where photographers are able to take picture with natural lighting most of the time cause I did got some good lighting to take a few shots of the cafe. They serve some nice mocha and some pasta too! I love how their interiors there are so minimal yet aesthetic; Its' serenity filled the cafe and you can just order some drinks with a laptop in front of you as you sit and relax there while doing your work. Their price range of a dish are normally RM20+ or so.

Their coffee bar station as I would call it. It's lovely with the mini plants on the shelves; just look at them! 

Behind every flatlays pictures. LOL

Merchant Lane, Jalan Petaling

    Merchant Lane has by far the best food for a mix of Malaysian cultures in it based on my experiences. I've been here quite a few number of times and it never fails to satisfy my tastebuds every single time I visit there. They have the most beautiful modern vintage vibes and interiors that I love taking pictures of from their several wooden furniture, modern music filling up the cafe and their beautiful plating of their food; all are amaze-balls! You can go with your family and friends and even your partner to enjoy a decent lunch or dinner cause this cafe is lit. PS: I highly recommend their South China Sea dish cause that salmon is 'salmonlicious'!

How can you not love their interiors right? Its lit especially at the counter area.

This is some of the food we've ordered; from main dishes of Nasi Lemak 2.0 to Spaghetti Bolognese and some little snacks of Pipits Nest. Want to know what does it contains in Pipits Nest? Head on over there to try it now! ;)

    These are the four that I recently love to visit and yes; you readers out there around KL area should go try it out! I feel all of this cafe visiting with friends made my friendship became closer than ever just because delicious food are what brought us together. ;)

Sincerely, Shannon.

On The Tables

  'Dear God, thank you for the food and drinks that you have provided us as we will eat and drink with a thankful heart. In Jesus name we pray; Amen' That's what I'll always do before I eat any food served on the table wherever we are - I pray. And yes it is indeed important to appreciate the food we have on our tables and not to waste food; so if you know you are easily full and happen to have a big plate of rice in front of you; call for a change of small one or just give half of your rice to someone who can eat a lot! ;) 

  Food has always been a part of our lives ever since we were born into this world. From the types of cultural food to the different methods prepared by each restaurant with a visual that is always so attractive and also simple yet delicious to be eaten and snapped a picture before we eat. Every time I stepped into a cafe or a lively restaurant or even just a small snack/dessert shop, I would always take a few pictures of the food I've ordered and edit the photographs when I get back home. That's my hobby; food photography. 

  As a youth and a university student, I know all of us LOVE going to cafes and dessert shops that are sophisticated and trendy to take a photo of and post it on any social media we have like Instagram and yeap, I'm one of them too! ;) Going to cafes had me getting all kinds of inspirations whenever I stepped into their cafe where you can see some cafes have wooden tables and chairs that are vintage but covered with transparent glasses and modern music to make it a modern vintage style of cafe. Some even have an all-white concept cafe which is so elegant that we ourselves can't succumb to our urge of taking photographs of their cafe structures or if it's not food; just snapping an 'OOTD' (Basically means 'Outfit of The Day') picture to post on Instagram is good enough. 

  For me, I take food photographs from the top most of the time where you can see everything on the table. So here are some that I've taken in the past. ENJOY! ;)

 

This picture was taken in VCR, Jalan Galloway. In my opinion, they have the best coffee and cakes and even main course there! :) They have this Black Velvet Cake which I personally loved it too! I love how they show their modern characteristics in the cafe but at the same time I also love how they show their love for a hint of vintage where you would see some straw weaved chairs and small tables, wooden tables and chairs too!

 

Another one from VCR, Jalan Galloway. :) this is Latte and Lemon Poppy Seed Cake. It's really really nice! ;) Also, whenever you stand outside their cafe, their walls are painted in black and I feel like it gives off a sophisticated yet elegant feel to it. :) 

 

This one was taken at Merchant's Lane, Jalan Petaling. They serve fusion food where there's Western and Chinese and I think there's many more. The combination of fusion food are what makes them special! :) Their cakes are a 'to-die-for' too! ❤️ I also actually love how they serve the dishes with different types of plates which makes them somehow unique and different; basically not standardised in a good way cause different is always good. :) 

 

Well, it's not always all about cafes so this picture was taken during Chinese New Year where we had a gathering with my mum's sides. 

  In conclusion, the food we have on the table brings happiness to us and also bonds our relationship between each other who surrounds the table. That's why we need to thank God for the food and gathering provided by God and also the person who cooks and the person who hosts ;) 

Sincerely, Shannon. 

My Sweet Tooth

  Are you a sweet tooth? Well, cause I definitely am a sweet tooth! :) I love sweets and sweets do love me, that's what I think. They make you feel like the world that has fallen apart had been mended and healed. The sweetness that we taste made us put a smile on our face with the feeling of excitement and tingles in our body & heart. These feelings comforts us in a way when we feel down or heart broken as we take a bite of a chocolate fondue cake with a little rainbow sprinkles on top that catches our eyes with their surprising colours.

  Mum would always say, "Don't eat so much sweets or you'll get a toothache from it." And yes; it's true, sadly. We eat too much and we'll end up standing in front of the dental clinic to get our teeth treated. So, we do have to control our sweets adventures. We have to brush our teeth every morning and night before we get in & out of our bed. But we will not stop our sweet tooth, we'll just reduce a little. Heh. 

  What kind of sweets do you like? Desserts? Or healthy original sweet fruit? I like both as it gives a great combination of flavours and colours to it if you plate them together. I like how the sourness of the strawberries balances up the sweet chocolate fudge cake and how tropical fruits gives its colours to the vanilla cake covered with pure white whipped cream. Food platings are similar to pairing our clothes the night before we go to a wedding dinner. We mix and match the colours and at the same time putting on a little accessory to complete its look. Those colours brightens us up and act as a mood maker for us when we feel like slumps where sadness can be seen through our eyes easily by these sweets. That's why they lighten up mood and comfort us with their bright colours that symbolises inspiration, motivation & happiness of course. 

Like this waffle at 'Madame Waffle' located in 3rd floor, Midvalley, Malaysia. The sliced strawberries and blueberries gives its sourness that has been actually overweighed by the sweetness of the chocolate drizzle and the waffles. The sourness of the fruits are like the downs we faced while the sweetness symbolises our happiness in us. The happy memories can help us overcome every downs and challenges we face as sadness are always overweighed by the immeasurable happiness that we have in our lives. (The cost? Well, I'm not very sure about the other desserts but all I know that the dessert in the picture is kinda pricy for a mini waffle but it's really good so... But I heard you can buy a piece of an original waffle for RM6.00. The price of the flavoured ones increases by a few pennies worth.) 

  Other than making us happy and motivated, it helps us in mending our friendship too. People would say "coffee and friends", but I would say "desserts and friends". Oh! And not only friends, you can have sweets with your family too! It shortens even more of the distance between you and your family already have. It may look like a plate of chocolate drizzled waffles and a cup of hot chocolate or maybe a single scoop of ice cream are only meant for a person but it can be shared with friends over tea time or snack time whatever you call it. It's like when you want to lose weight but at the same time you want to indulge some sweetness in your life. Conclusion to that problem - share them! Sharing is a definite caring right? And caring ends up with a closer relationship with your family and friends too! :) 

  This single scooped ice cream my family and I had at 'Inside Scoop' located near Leisure Mall in Cheras, few blocks away from Poppo Kanteen (The address is 20 Jln Manis 4, Taman Segar, 56000 KL) was delicious! We tried many different flavours of ice cream as they offer free tasting and we ended up ordering three types of flavour. I've forgotten two of them but one of them is a berry flavour. These three flavour of ice cream brought my family and I closer to each other. We share our ice creams with each other and we had some laughs over jokes and riddles we shared together. It was lovely and the texture of the ice cream was so smooth and pleasurable! (How much? All I know is each scoop cost RM7.80 and it increases with each next scoop.) 

Okay, eventhough I don't really have a lot of thing for cocoas but I have to say I have a thing for waffles more and this waffle is at a café named 'Mad about Coco' located in Farenheit 88, Bukit Bintang. (A walking distance from Pavilion.) We had chocolate Belgium waffles and some churros and a cup of their signature hot chocolate. It was mouth-watering! I love how all its sweetness are different where the chocolate drizzles are drizzled with different types of chocolate like white, dark and brown. I also love how the waffles are like fluffy clouds hanging up in the sky while the chocolate drizzles covers the the fluffy waffles with their overloading sweetness. This waffles and hot chocolate brought my friends and I together on a beautiful sunny Saturday where we took some selfies together and had talks about what to do in our future as we've already finished high school and now in search for colleges/universities. It was a great gathering with them and I'll definitely cherish them in my heart forever. (P.S. The food is a little pricy depends on what you order in my opinion so be sure to look at them $$ if you have budget in your food.) 

  Sweets definitely has its benefits where it brings people together and cheer people up from their misery. The thing is, a little sweetness in life will never hurt us. Instead, it cheers us up and inspire us. Having a sweet tooth can have its cons but we're grown ups that knows how to control our sweet hunting journey right? ;) Having a sweet tooth is not all bad as it gives us more happiness than others who doesn't like sweets at all; but who doesn't love sweets right? Sweets are like medicines as it gives us happiness in life that covers the sadness and bitterness we have inside of us. They let us forget the pain we have and makes us remember the good parts only. Sweets are the definite pure sweetness in our lives and we can indulge in them whenever we feel like it so eat some sweets and don't avoid them because avoiding them makes you unhappier and having no happiness makes you depress. So live your life and let a little sweetness come into your life to comfort you okay? :) Once again, a little sweetness in life does not hurt. Instead, it makes you happier! 

You can try out some other sweets I recommend here too! 

Monster Ice Cream located in LG floor, Berjaya Time Square, Malaysia. I guess you can say it is a monstrous ice cream where a generous amount of fillings are served with whipped cream and sprinkles and a stick of Kit-Kat. We had the signature ones which is green tea flavour and it's extremely delightful! :9 Obviously, the signature ones are more cheaper than the customise ones so you decide? Heh. ;) 

Magnum Ice Cream located in 3rd floor, Midvalley, Malaysia. You can customise your own ice cream fillings if you want. They also have their signature ones that are nice too! The picture above is one of their signature ones and it's my all time favourite - Black Forest. (The same goes for this Magnum, customise ones are more pricy. 1 signature ice cream cost RM9.90 so.. Yeah)

Lastly, the ever internationally famous Starbucks that you can find anywhere too is a sweets land! They have lovely snacks and drinks but mostly coffee. Heh. But their hot chocolate is scrumptious so you can try them out! :) The coffee crunch is an addictive kind of food too and I love it! Heh. It's amazing. (And we all know Starbucks drinks in M'sia are kinda costly too so if you want to reward yourself once in a while, go ahead!)

• Sweets are what brings us together and fills us with boundless happiness and inspiration in our lives. Don't hate them because they give you toothaches since you're the one who decided to love them right? Hehe ;) •