Activity Book For Kids

Kids cut and paste activity

While browsing for children's books at Borders bookstore in Kuala Lumpur last Friday, I chanced upon Kumon Activity Book for small kids. It's called Kumon First Steps Workbook. There are a few First Steps Workbook for kids age 2 and up but I was more interested in "Let's Cut Paper" and "Let's Sticker and Paste" as my son (who is actually 3 years +) is discovering cutting and pasting skills. He can sit for hours cutting paper and he's really proud of his "end product" though mummy will then have to clean up the mess.

Kids Activity Book: look at the concentration on my 3 years + old :)

Kids Activity Book: He's super proud of this :)

"Let's Cut Paper! Amazing Animals" consists of 39 colorful pages of animals that your kid can cut around, straight lines, zig zags, curved and spiral around cute animals like alligator, bat, whales and such. I am not too sure of your child but my 2 year old definitely is too young to handle scissors on his own, this workbook is more suitable to 3.5 years old in my opinion.

Inside "Let's Cut Paper", kids cut along the dark grey lines

Page 22 of Let's Cut Paper!

"Let's Sticker and Paste! Food Fun" consists of 8 pages of sticker activity and 31 pages of cut and paste sticker activity (the cut out can be quite small and parents have to cut it out for the kids), the food pictures consists of desserts like sundaes and cupcakes and also a lot of colorful fruits and vegetables so that the kids can also learn the different types of fruits and food at the same time. This workbook entertained both my 3 years + and my 2 year old for a good 30 minutes.

Kids Activity Book: Page 19 of Let's Sticker and Paste

Kids Activity Book: Page 29 of Let's Sticker and Paste!

Kids Activity Book: Page 30 of Let's Sticker and Paste!

A great way to spend some bonding time with the kids without turning on the television. My first son was so proud of his achievement that he kissed me on both of my cheeks after completing 8 pages of the "Lets Cut Paper!" Kumon workbook. I'm no Kumon expert but this workbook receives my seal of approval for both the beautiful pictures and easy activity. 

Seaworld - Gold Coast With Kids

Up close with dolphins encounter at Sea World - Gold Coast

Sea World at Gold Coast Australia was the part of our Brisbane holidays that I was really looking forward to. It was also the only attraction that the family woke up and got ready early enough in the morning to enjoy 3/4 of our day there. 

We set off from our accommodation at Brisbane Holiday Village, Eight Miles Plain at 9.30am and arrived at Sea World, Gold Coast slightly more than an hour later. It was a nice day, cool with a slight sun. 

Stroller rental at Sea World Gold Coast - it's 3.00pm and my second son was dead tired :)

After renting a stroller from Guest Services, it was nearly 10.45 am and we didn't think that we can make it for the 11.00am dolphin show as it was at the other side of the park and we had my 71 year old mother-in-law with us. We decided to take the tram and just give it a shot, who knows we might get to catch some of the show. Arriving at the dolphin show area at 11.10am.. we managed to catch the dolphins leaping of the water in a beautiful choreograph waving good bye. Hah! What a bummer.. but it was a beautiful ending and that made us resolve to come early for the 3.00pm show.

Sea World - Gold Coast's dolphin show

My excited 3 year old wanting to catch a picture of the dolphins at Sea World Gold Coast

After the show, some of the dolphins hang around the area for a quick swim to give those who missed the show a shot at snapping some pictures. But fret not, even if you miss the show, just 5 minutes walk down is an area designated for an up-close experience with the dolphins, so even if you don't sign up for the up-close experience with the dolphins package, you will still be able to see those who participate in this and get some neat video footage as well.


This is a video of part of Sea World - Imagination dolphin Show:







We walked a bit to an eating area next to Sesame Street for an early lunch. Supposedly, there is a halal food outlet there but we didn't know that then and we happily munched on our home-made spaghetti (yes, they didn't check our bags and allowed it in even though the website states no outside food) our kids occupied themselves with gawking at the fun fair styled game stalls.

He wanted a picture with Elmo but ermm.. he's too short and mum's a bad photographer

Sesame Street Beach at Sea World Gold Coast

The underground observation area for the sharks and manta rays were really beautiful and huge and  I think provides a better view of the sharks than the ride on a glass bottomed boat that you have to pay extra for. There is also a touch pool for rays, starfishes and sea cucumbers but my kids didn't dare to touch any. I was quite looking forward to seeing the polar bears but when we reached the polar bears enclosure, we (and other Sea World visitors) couldn't spot one.

Penguins at Sea World- Gold Coast

Since my kids are still small, we didn't go for any of the rides, but they still enjoyed Sea World very much. It was an amazing day and Sea World is a must for any Gold Coast tourist.

Sea World Gold Coast - Whale Watch Cruise

Sea World Gold Coast also offers whale cruises that departs from Sea World do check out their website for more details.

My Kids Trial Class at HanaSuria Montessori

If you've been to Solaris Dutamas for dinner or groceries shopping, you would have noticed a Montessori sign on the second floor of one of the shop houses at Solaris Dutamas, Mont Kiara called HanaSuria. 

Then, if you are like me and tried to find more information about HanaSuria Montessori online, you would have found a road block unless you understand Japanese. The only other way to find out about HanaSuria Montessori is to go there yourself. 

That's exactly what we did and we found out that we have to make an appointment first and visiting hours are usually arranged at 4pm. Hmm.. so maybe it's a good thing that they don't want to disrupt the kids education with enquiries that may not result in enrollment? 

Regardless of what I mentioned in my other post on Montessori Pre-schools in Mont Kiara,  in the end we did go and have a look at HanaSuria Montessori and we quite like the environment. It was neat and cheerful, their Montessori materials are comprehensive (they have what Lil Ones Montessori have), musical instruments, costumes for role play, an area for gymnastics and the arts and crafts are very nicely displayed on the wall. Ms Sharon, the director's wife also showed us some materials that she herself made for the students language curriculum as she has teaching background also. So, convinced that this is the best place that combines Montessori method with "traditional" method, we decided to give their 5 days trial a shot.

The first two days of your son's trial class, they let you stay for a short while then you have to leave so that the kids get used to the place easier in their opinion. My first son love the place at once and was at ease especially with their various Montessori materials while my clingy second son has separation anxiety for 2 days max. We tried the trial class for the full 5 days but by the end of the week, I was exhausted from having to wake up early everyday to fix school lunch for my kids as I'm not really comfortable with the fact that Mr Wong (the director) and Ms Sharon (the wife) prepare the morning snack and lunch at their home even though they assured us that it is prepared from halal ingredients. Plus, the last day my son did not eat the lunch that I prepared for him and I thought : "even if I prepare lunch for him everyday, I can't control which one he chooses to eat in school as I'm not with him." This was my main concern. 

My second concern was that throughout the trial class, I only observed Mr Wong being at hand to help maintain order during the session, a young chinese teacher and a young malay assistant teacher handle the kids and another helper is around to manage the clingy kids (usually new ones). I did not see Ms Sharon, whereas the main reason I decided to give HanaSuria Montessori a try is because I believe in Ms Sharon capabilities. When we enquired regarding Ms Sharon's participation in the class, Mr Wong replied that Ms Sharon is more towards curriculum planning. So, maybe I'm not giving the two young teachers a chance, but I'm not very comfortable with the fact that my kids education is in their tender hands. 

It is quite unfortunate that in the end we did not enroll our kids in HanaSuria Montessori as Mr Wong and Ms Sharon are a nice couple and very helpful and courteous people. The students at HanaSuria are also cheerful and courteous too. I especially like the fact that during snack time, the elder students will help the younger ones get ready for snack and serve them :) It sure promotes responsibility and a helping and caring attitude in the kids.  

If you don't have halal food constraints, then you might want to give them a call and arrange for trial class and see how you like it. Do note that the fees I mentioned in my previous post, may no longer be valid as Mr Wong mentioned that he will be raising fees in April 2012.

HanaSuria Montessori is at Block B, 15-2 &15-3, Jalan Solaris 1, Mont Kiara. You can call them up at 03 62037508 to make an appointment.

Map of HanaSuria Montessori:


  

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Snow House at i-city, Shah Alam, Malaysia

Snow Walk at I-City Shah Alam

A long time ago, when  I was still in school, I remember my friend said she went on a holiday to Kuala Lumpur and visited a snow city at Mines Resort City. While my father takes us to road trips to Malaysia all the time, we have never visited Mines Resort City as a family. So, when we first shifted to Kuala Lumpur, Mines Resort City was one of the first places that we took our kids. Sadly, the snow city there no longer operates, the zoo is also very dismal, you kind of feel guilty for visiting the place as you feel like you are in cahoots with the operators for providing such a heartbreaking environment for the animals and the light show in the evening is well simply not worth the wait. The only tourists you see at Mines Resort City are Middle Easterns and Chinese tourists. Frankly speaking, tourism Malaysia should de-list Mines Resort City from their attractions list. 

Anyway, enough about Mines Resort City, so, apparently, there is a new place called I-City at Shah Alam and they also have snow there called Snow Walk plus a lighted up city walk. Someone commented that it is even better than Snow City in Singapore, so.. intrigued we decided to give it a go. 

Finding information about I-city is very difficult. Their official website offers no helpful information whatsoever with regards to attraction, operating hours and pricing. I wonder who handles their website content, design and programming. The information that we got also came from another blogger. 

I-city is at Shah Alam, and it's about 20 mins drive from Sunway Lagoon (we picked up our friend who was staying around the area). Admission fees for I-city are as such:

Entrance to I-city: 

RM1 per entry (6.00am - 6.00pm) and 

RM10 (6.00pm - 6.00am) 

Snow Walk ticket price is at 

RM 25 (adults) RM 20 (kids) (before 6pm)
RM 35 (adults) RM 30 (kids) (after 6pm)

Operating Hours : 

10.00am - 1.00am (Mon - Thu, Sun & Public Holiday)

10.00pm - 2.00am (Fri - Sat & Eve of Public Holiday)

It was quite an impromptu visit for us as we originally thought that we will be meeting our friends for dinner only but it turned out that they did not visit I-city the night before as the taxi fare is quite exorbitant since not many taxi ply that route so we decided to go with them that night. 

Snow City Malaysia:My poor baby with sandals!

Frankly speaking, we strongly advise against going to I-city impromptu if you plan to go for the Snow Walk. Unless, you are already wearing jeans and socks with sports shoes or sneakers on. Boots are even better if you plan to enjoy the place thoroughly. My kids were wearing 3 quarter pants and sandals. I had thought that It will be like Snow City Singapore where they provide gloves, jacket and suitable shoes. We learned the hard way that they didn't. Well, maybe due to the cheaper entrance fee but hey, if you don't provide, at least sell those items at the site or even inform people on your website to wear proper bottoms and shoes. That's common sense isn't it?

Snow City Malaysia: an excited 4 year old

So, even though, yes, it's much better and bigger than Snow City Singapore, there's not many people that can enjoy Snow Walk I-city, Shah Alam thoroughly. And that is such a sad thing as it really is a big place with lots of fun. There are multiple ice slides and a mini football ice field, an igloo, an ice tunnel and many more. I didn't even get to explore it till the end as my kids are already screaming from sheer cold (from their feet) and I was also limping around from the unavoidable ice that keep creeping into your shoes. Sheer coldness! And it wasn't only us. I saw many other people wearing sandals and slippers, quite a pity. 

These are some pictures taken at the Snow Walk. 

Snow City Malaysia - The Ice Slide

Kuala Lumpur with Kids: Inside an igloo!

Kuala Lumpur with Kids : Snow Walk Malaysia

We didn't get to go for the City Walk to see the lights as it was raining that night. There was not much shelter and we stuck around for a while at the arcade / fun fair area ( a bit dated) before going out of I-city since I had to change my kid's diapers and the toilet at I-city smells. The surau / prayer room at I-city is also very small (fits 3 person max) and is just beside the smelly toilet which makes it uncomfortable to perform your prayers there. I would advise all Muslims to perform their prayers first before going to I-city and all mommies and daddies to check the kids' diapers before visiting Snow Walk at I-city and bring lots of wipes for emergencies!

Kuala Lumpur with Kids: A smaller slide for kids and adults

Travel with Kids: Can you see the mammoth and sabre tooth tiger?

To summarize my pretty long review for I-city, Shah Alam: Go, if you are near the area and wearing suitable clothing and footwear and go only for the Snow Walk and the City Walk and then get out fast before nature calls!

Map of I-city Shah Alam:

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Easy Pancake Recipe / Resepi Penkek

Easy Pancake Recipe for the kids' breakfast

(Untuk Bahasa Melayu, skrol ke bawah)

All kids love pancakes and ordering Mcdonald's hotcakes happy meal for breakfast is like a ritual for my family. Today though, I decided that enough is enough, let's make our own pancakes since it's so easy. The trick is to get the right recipe of course :) well, a quick search shows that the basic ingredients are pretty much the same, flour, milk, egg, baking soda and salt plus your desired flavorings be it chocolates, fruits or vanilla.. texture and taste are actually pretty much experimental I would say, heat up your saucepan and try one first and adjust the batter accordingly, how hard could it be? once you get your favorite batter jot down the recipe!

For myself, I used the basic Jamie Oliver breakfast pancake recipe and tweak it a bit for my kids' taste. 

My simple pancake recipe is as such:

150g plus 3 heaped tablespoon flour

150g fresh milk

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tbsp sugar

a pinch of baking soda

a pinch of salt

Beat the eggs, and add in the milk and sugar. Fold in the rest of the ingredients DO NOT WHISK / BEAT. Over beating the dry ingredients will make the pancakes flat.

Heat up the non-stick girdle (I don't grease it with butter or oil) and pour the batter one at a time. 

Flip the pancake when bubbles start to appear on top. 

Serve with butter and jam or maple syrup. Makes 7-8 small pancakes. 

Malay Version:

Resepi Penkek Mudah Untuk Anak-Anak

Resepi penkek mudah:

150g + 3 sudu makan penuh tepung gandum

150g susu segar

2 telur

1 sdt vanilla

1 sdm gula pasir

sedikit baking soda

sedikit garam

Pukul telur dan masukkan susu dan gula. Gaulkan bahan-bahan resepi penkek yang lain. JANGAN PUKUL. Gaul sahaja, jika kita terlebih pukul tepung dan bahan-bahan kering lain, penkek tidak akan menjadi gebu.

Panaskan kuali non-stick tanpa minyak dan tuangkan menggunakan senduk (masak satu per satu).

Terbalikkan penkek apabila bahagian atas mula berbuih.

Hidangkan dengan mentega dan jem atau maple syrup. Dapat dalam 7-8 penkek kecil. 

Anda juga boleh menukar resepi penkek asas ini mengikut citarasa anda. Tambahkan perisa kegemaran anak anda, seperti pisang, strawberi, coklat cip dan sebagainya.  

Selamat mencuba!


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Malay Recipe: Ayam Paprik / Chicken Paprik

Ayam Paprik is a simple dish that I would prepare whenever Mr Husband is on the way back and I have less than 30 minutes to get dinner ready.

It is a simple dish that is very easy to prepare. You can also put in vegetables in the dish so that you don't have to cook a second vegetable dish.

A Simple Malay Recipe: Ayam Paprik

(Untuk Bahasa Melayu, sila skrol ke bawah)

Below is the recipe for Ayam Paprik (Chicken Paprik):

Ingredients of Chicken Paprik:
500gm chicken fillet
1 medium sized onion
3 cloves garlic
1.5 inch young ginger
4-5 birds eye chilies
(blend all of the above)

1 lemongrass stalk - bruised
4 kaffir limes leaves - shredded
4 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp sweet soya sauce
2 tbsp tomato sauce
desired vegetables such as carrots, young corn and cauliflower
1/2 bowl of water
1 tsp cornflour
1 fresh tomatoes - diced
1/2 medium sized onion - sliced

Chicken Paprik Cooking Method:

1.Heat up the saucepan with some oil and stir fry the chicken fillet and set aside.
2. Sautee the blended ingredients.
3. Add in lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and all the other sauces.
4. Add in the chicken and vegetables and water and let it simmer for a while.
5. Mix the corn flour in some cold water and add in bit by bit of the corn flour water or more until desired consistency.
6. Lastly, add in the tomatoes and sliced onion.


Malay Version:

Resepi Ayam Paprik:

500 gm isi ayam
1 bawang besar (sederhana)
3 ulas bawang putih
1.5 inci halia
4 -5 tangkai cili padi
(kisar semua di atas)

1 serai - ditumbuk hujungnya
4 daun limau purut disiat
4 sdm sos tiram
1 sdm kicap manis
2 sdm sos tomato
1/2 mangkuk air
1sdt tepung jagung
sayur-sayuran seperti lobak merah, jagung muda dan bunga kobis
1 tomato - didadu
1/2 biji bawang dihiris bulat

Cara-cara memasak Ayam Paprik:

1. Panaskan sedikit minyak dan goreng isi ayam sehingga kuning tapi jangan hingga garing dan ketepikan.
2. Tumis bahan kisar.
3. Masukkan serai, daun limau purut dan sos-sos yang lain.
4. Masukkan ayam, sayur dan air hingga didih.
5. Larutkan tepung jagung dengan sedikit air dan masukkan sedikit demi sedikit ke dalam kuah sehingga kepekatan yang diinginkan.
6. Akhir sekali, masukkan tomato dan bawang yang dihiris.

Montessori Preschool and Daycare Kuala Lumpur

Exploring Montessori Pre-schools at Damansara Mutiara as Mont Kiara's options  are on the high side

Choosing a kindergarten or preschool for my kids was a big thing for me and I think maybe I went a bit overboard going to so many kindergartens and montessori preschools in Mont Kiara, Sri Hartamas and Solaris Dutamas. In the end, we went back near our previous place of residence at Damansara Mutiara. 

Mutiara Homes just in front of The Curve Shopping Centre / e@Curve is a residential area that holds a treasure of kindergartens and montessori pre-school. If you stay near Mont Kiara, Taman Tun Dr Ismail or Damansara Perdana, this place is a good place to start looking for a pre-school and daycare for your kids. Try driving around the area to have a look. There are at least 3 at Jalan PJU 7/12 itself. There's Peter and Jane Kindergarten just at the entrance of Jalan PJU 7/12, Young Thinkers at no 21 and Montessori Ilham at no 87.  

The Montessori's classroom in Kuala Lumpur - Mutiara Damansara

For hubby and myself, we are already exhausted with researching preschools for our two kids. Our considerations are affordable fess as we are sending two kids (that automatically scratch off most Montessori in Mont Kiara with the exception of HanaSuria) halal food prepared at school or by a Muslim lady (that cancels off HanaSuria) and teachers that look like teachers and care like mothers (if you know what I mean). That day, we actually had two appointments to look at Montessori pre-school at Mutiara Damansara. One was Young Thinkers and the other was Montessori Ilham. Even though, we passed Young Thinkers first, somehow by chance, we decided to look at Montessori Ilham first and I immediately feel at ease with it.

I love this Montessori preschool, it has an outdoor playground with swings and slides and those rocking kiddy rides and a shaded outdoor area for kids to play cooking with a toy kitchen (beats me why my sons like playing with this) and two small tanks that house a turtle each.

Nursery Kuala Lumpur

Inside the Montessori preschool, I see some Montessori materials and books are big and interesting (though a bit dog-eared but still in pretty good condition). Children artworks decorate the walls and when I was there, they were doing spaghetti and meatballs. Cute!

Learning Maths at Kindergarten, Mutiara Damansara - Kuala Lumpur

What I like about this Montessori preschool is that the are 3 teachers, Ms Yoges, Ms Vivian and Ms Safiyyah and they all look capable and kind. I asked about their qualifications and Ms Vivian replied that they are all degree holders. I also like the fact that the kids do art and craft during school hours, Agama (religious studies) on Thursdays and Musikgarten on Fridays. The clincher is of course the small number of students at this moment as they moved to Neo Damansara last year so a number of kids transferred to other kindergartens but the move didn't work out so they shifted back to their original place at Jalan PJU 7/12. But, with their program and warm environment, I'm pretty sure more students will enroll soon. By then, my second son would already be used to the place, so I'm not too concerned about it. 

If you are a Muslim and have othet considerations like me, this Montessori offers Iqra' classes. 

Montessori Ilham hosts parent-teachers meeting twice a year and an annual concert for the kids. They also have school excursions and this coming 26th March the kids are going to a supermarket to learn about food and experience buying their own groceries. 

School hours are form 8.30am-12.30am and daycare pick-up is at 6.00pm. Fees are quite reasonable at  RM380 for half day and RM720 for full day with lunch. Other fees such as registration, deposit, misc and uniform apply.

So, it looks like I'm enrolling them in Montessori Ilham even though it's quite a distance from Sentul East and I have to send and fetch them myself. 

These are some pictures of Musikgarten last Friday and a birthday celebration of one of the kids there.

Musikgarten class; my 21 months old enjoyed it very much while my  4 year old was quite shy

Well, my 4 year old is certainly not shy when enjoying cake :p

If you are staying in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Mont Kiara or Mutiara Damansara, you might want to check this place out.

Montessori Ilham is at no 87 Jalan PJU 7/12  and you can take a look at their blog here.

     

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Langkawi Food / Makan Best di Langkawi

While searching for food in Langkawi and venturing to the Kuah area, we passed by a place called Minang Pelangi. It is a restaurant serving Indonesian Minang Style food. Even the chef and waiters are Indonesians. Minang Pelangi is a few minutes drive down from a shop called Riku-Riku on your left side of the road if you are coming from the East side of Langkawi. It is a standalone building in Minang Style with a compound for parking and is beside a budget motel. It is before the main Kuah town if you passed Langkawi Parade that means you have already missed it. Sorry, I can't be more exact, I forgot to write down the address. Do ask the locals if you can't find it. 

The restaurant is big and spacious with a few fish tanks to keep my sons entertained. decor is sparse though and there's some mosquitoes especially near the fish tanks so slap on your mosquito repellent. 

Drinks.. are less than desirable. Better to order can drinks to avoid being disappointed. But food was quite nice. Not as nice as the Padang restaurants in Kuala Lumpur but for a sleepy town like Langkawi, I would say this is the place to go if you are craving for some Indonesian food in Langkawi. 

These were what we had:

Langkawi Food: Minang Restaurant at Kuah

This squid dish is called sotong bakar if my memory serves me right. It was very tasty, the gravy is not spicy though the color might suggest otherwise. The squid is also juicy and not stringy. 

Langkawi Food : Gulai Ayam; Minang Restaurant at Kuah

The gulai ayam is nondescript. No complaints but not outstanding either. Our bergedel (no picture) is also quite average. The potatoes are soft with no fillings inside as some Malaysian restaurants would serve.

Langkawi Good Food: Sup Buntut ; Minang Restaurant at Kuah

The Sup Buntut (Beef Soup) tasted absolutely delicious the first day, refreshingly cool enjoyed on a super hot and sweaty afternoon. But the next day when we dropped by and ordered the same dish it was a tad too salty.

Langkawi Makan Best: Terung Balado at Minang Restaurant; Kuah

Terung Balado (Eggplant in chili paste) seems to be hubby's current favorite dish when eating in an Indonesian restaurant. The eggplant is soft and the chili paste sweet and spicy but not overly hot.

Langkawi Makan: Dendeng at Minang Restaurant; Kuah

Minang Pelangi have two versions of dendeng (sliced spiced fried beef) the crispy version and the tender version. The above picture is the crispy version. I like it though some might find it a tad too crispy to the point of being crunchy and it is a tad salty. Hubby prefers the tender version. The tender version does hold up the spices pretty well.  

We ate at Minang Pelangi twice, the first day was absolutely delightful and we came out fully satisfied with our lunch (maybe it was partly due to the fact that we were quite hungry at that time) The next day, some dishes turn out to be a bit salty and the bergedel was very oily. I didn't enjoy the second day much too as my kids started to act up. If the restaurant can be consistent in dishing out delicious dishes then I would highly recommend this restaurant but seems like consistency is a bit lacking. So, if you decide to give this restaurant a chance, I hope that your dishes turns out well.

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Jimmy's Cafe; Langkawi

Makan Langkawi - Jimmy's Cafe

Dining out in Langkawi is very easy as there is a plethora of restaurants suiting every budget and taste. From Italian, Middle Eastern, Thai and Indian cuisine, I do not think that there would be a problem to find good food in Langkawi. I remember the first time I went to Langkawi with husband, we just drove around and ate at an Indian restaurant (can't even remember the place and name) and it was very nice. We also tried the Thai restaurant at Langkawi Oriental Village and it was also very nice. 

This time around, as my mother-in-law and her sister came along for the Langkawi holiday, we tried out restaurants that are more to their Malaysian and Middle Eastern-partial tastebuds.

Dining out Langkawi: Jimmy's Cafe set-up

First restaurant that we dined in was Jimmy's Cafe beside Laman Padi (one of Langkawi attractions). This restaurant came highly recommended in Trip Advisor but I was kind of unsure whether or not it is a halal restaurant. A quick check with the owner reveals that it is a halal restaurant and that the owner is a Muslim from Kedah and Jimmy is just a nickname that stuck. 

Dining Out in Langkawi : Jimmy's Cafe View

Jimmy's Cafe is a cool breather from the hot sun. The restaurant overlooks a paddy field and it was a nice scenery to gaze upon while you enjoy your food and drink. The service is also warm and attentive. But the food tasted quite average and most dishes a tad too oily to me. Drinks were also not notable.  Maybe we ordered the wrong dishes. Somebody on Trip Advisor recomended their Thai Coconut Soup but we didn't order that. We ordered samosa as appetizer, a salad, rendang, Thai-style fish (recomended by Jimmy), butter chicken (hubby's must-have) vegetable tom yum and spaghetti bolognese for the kids (I do not recommend ordering the spaghetti bolognese).  

Makan Langkawi : Samosa, Jimmy's Cafe

Our appetizer, the samosa is a delicious crispy popiah skin filled with soft potatoes that were spiced just nice and not too heavy nor oily. This one disappeared very fast from the plate. 

Makan Langkawi: salad; Jimmy's Cafe

The salad consisted of cucumber, carrots, tomatoes and onions with some sort of dressing, it was edible but also forgettable.

Makan Langkawi: Tha Style Fish, Jimmy's Cafe

Our Thai Style Fish is tender fish fillet in a spicy sauce. The dish is a bit too oily for me to enjoy. It also tasted more like sambal fish to me. 

Makan Langkawi : Butter chicken; Jimmy's Cafe

Our butter chicken did not taste like butter chicken, more like curry chicken in our opinion and since hubby does not like eating curry with rice, he was of course disappointed with this dish.

Makan Langkawi : Beef Rendang, Jimmy's Cafe 

Our beef rendang is the savior dish, I would say, tender beef in creamy coconut sauce.. yummy.. more please..

Makan Langkawi : The Steamed Rice, Jimmy's Cafe

The steamed rice at Jimmy's Cafe came with a mini salad (like a raita - cucumber, tomatoes and onions) pappadums and crackers. The crackers weren't very crispy as it should be. 

Our vegetable tom yum (no picture) was a special request from us to suit my mother-in-laws' diet. It wasn't in the menu but Jimmy graciously agreed to our request. Unfortunately, it was too spicy for us. The dish was made from prawn stock as authentic Thai Tom Yum always is,  it didn't quite go with the vegetables but I think it will taste very nice with seafood instead.

All in all it was a very filling lunch as portions are really huge. Ambience was quite chill and Jimmy was very attentive. Price is a bit on the high side though.  

Jimmy's Cafe is just beside Laman Padi and very near to Casa Del Mar. Do check out their opening hours before dropping by. 

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