So much to do... Food and non-food activities at Branscombe

Flowers, flowers, flowers – lots of them. That’s what I have always remembered about English countryside. I can go on, and on, and on taking photos of the many varieties of flowers in England, but I won’t. The above are just a few from the camera… There is so much more to do and things to take photos of.

For example, food, since our time here is often divided between seeking out food and not seeking out food. The former always involve food (of course!) and some related activities like drinking beer or cider (which I’m fond of while here in England). The latter involves some walking and looking at the countryside (sometimes blogging). Having established these 2 very clear-cut categories, let me start with category one.

Seafood at Masons Arms Hotel, Branscombe

Branscombe is the village with the longest main road, and it took us a while to find the pub. We went the entire length of the main road then arrived at the next town, before we realised we had gone too far and had to turn around. Country roads are very narrow, and that would sometimes mean a zillion points turn, and with some stopping and weaving around oncoming cars, we arrived only minutes before the kitchen closed. Phew!

We had only 4 minutes to order lunch. That was not difficult, since this is a seaside town, I decided on seafood. By process of elimination, I settled on the seafood stew. That was a good choice - really delicious. As usual, the serve was big – it had 2 varieties of fish and mussels, and came with a bowl of mash potatoes topped with cheese. I ate most of stew, washed down with cider, but did not manage to eat much of the potatoes (I remember thinking that I’d never eat again after this huge meal!)

 
Yummy fish stew with baked mashed potatoes

Jeremy and Chris both had the lemon sole topped with lobster pieces, and served with lobster sauce. They both seem contented.

 
Lemon sole with lobster and lobster sauce

 
Inside Masons Arms Hotel - Jeremy getting us our drinks: beer, cider and pimms

A walk after our big lunch

With full bellies and feeling slightly energised, we took a walk to the beach. It was a pleasant walk on this cool afternoon. Getting there, we walked along a narrow road, sharing it with cars. This may not be the safest choice (but not too bad since cars were only travelling at 20 mph or less) but we were up high with nice views. On the way back, we walked alongside green fields and across a small stream – much more pleasant.

 
Lovely cottages – not sure what the smoke was about

 
Rolling hills behind me

It took about 15 minutes to stroll to the beach. I had forgotten about the pebbled beaches of England. I find this rather unusual since most beaches I have been to are sandy.

Close-up of pebbles on the beach

 
Lovely green hills make a nice backdrop

 
Jeremy looking happy in the sun

More food and non-food activities later…

Spectacular views from Pilsdon Pen

Pilsdon Pen is a 277 metre hill in West Dorset, England. It is one of the highest hills around here.

We went there yesterday, and had a good gentle hike up and down. There were sheep poo along the way – frankly, I’ve never seen so much poo in one place. I had to see where I put my feet and that made it difficult to look at the views too. However, it was worth the effort, as the views were spectacular.

 

2 little birds in a nest

It is a coincidence that I have seen a birds’ nest in Malaysia where I was last week, and now, in Dorset, England. It is not that I go seeking out nests in the wild. In Malaysia, the nest was on a plant in my brother’s garden (click to read my blog post about this). Now in Dorset, this nest is on a beam close to the ceiling, of the house we are currently living in.

I managed to take the photo below with the 2 cute birds peeking out of the nest. These 2 little birds with their black & white, shiny and neat coat remind me of the character, Nibbler of the TV cartoon series, Futurama (without the 3rd eye, of course).

Photos taken at The Aryani Resort, Terengganu

7 days of blissful and serene existence of having nothing much to do — what more can one ask for on a holiday. They even have internet in our room and wifi at the cafe at no extra cost — a bonus for those of us who blog and enjoy sharing our happy snappies with the world.

During the week, we spend a lot of time doing this,

and this. It’s a fantastic way to cool down.

They serve yummy Mee Bandung, a local speciality of noodles in spicy tomato sauce.

Beautiful fish (where are they?) pond with lotus plants.

The carved numbers (11) of our unit for the week (left) and a photo of their wonderful pool (right)

… and another one…

 

This is my art studio away from home, where the sea just 50 meters ahead (left). When we first arrived at the resort, they served us welcome drinks and keropok lekur, which is a local snack made of fish and flour (right). It is deep-fried, and the condiment is sweet chilli sauce. It doesn’t look good, but it was yummy. Keropok lekur is a popular snack amongst the locals. Roadside stalls sell it, and if you can find some nice ones, it’s heavenly with fresh coconut juice on ice :).

Malaysian Chinese food

My brother invited us to dinner last week at a Chinese restaurant. In Malaysia, Chinese restaurants usually served a combination of Chinese dishes plus a fusion of Chinese, Malay and Indian dishes.

Here are some photos taken at dinner:

This is petai and prawns sambal (spicy condiment), which is extremely popular in Malaysia. Petai is a crunchy bean, and this dish is delicious with soft fluffy steamed rice. Wiki refers to petai as twisted cluster bean or stink bean. Beware that after eating petai, ones urine can smell rather unpleasant, but this only lasts for a short while (trust me, it is worth the trouble).

Chicken in soy sauce, plus watermelon. What a strange combination – but I wondered if they should eaten in the same mouthful. Hey, I trusted the chef and did not want to miss out on a good thing. I was wrong – unfortunately, it was a rather weird mouthful! The chicken was rather nice when eaten by itself. Everyone else at dinner ate the chicken with their main meal and left the melon for later.

I’ve never had Aussie Chinese food, but Jeremy tells me that this pork dish is like one – a starchy sweet and salty mix.

Malaysians love their condiment – which is usually a mixture of chilli with some spices or sauces or sambal. This is a close-up of sliced chilli padi (small chilli which is usually very spicy) with ginger, onion and vinegar.

We also had a few other dishes, but I was hungry and forgot about taking photos. :)

Colours in a Malaysian garden

Mom’s colourful plants. Enjoy!

    

A visit to a shopping mall for all our needs

It is hot and humid in Malaysia all year round. The many shopping malls in the city of Kuala Lumpur and its surrounding suburbs are popular destinations for people of all ages. Besides “using the free air conditioning” (Malaysians love to use this phrase to refer to an outing to such a place), it is also a good place to lepak (Malaysian slang meaning to relax or to chill out), to shop or window shop, and to use free wifi provided by some establishments.

When we are in Malaysia, we tend to go to One Utama Shopping Mall frequently for all the above reasons. I found one such outing to Bandar Utama especially efficient, as I managed to do all of the above. We had lunch, and then found ourselves in Pick n Brew, a restaurant in One Utama Shopping Mall a few days ago. We ordered 2 cups of coffee and spent a few hours there surfing the net, blogging, checking our emails, etc. Like us, a few other people also brought their laptops to work there over a drink or two. It was a good day out for me. I was able to get in touch with others on cyberspace, and then went home with some T-shirts, jumpers and even a pair of shoes :).

Photo of Jeremy with his laptop in Pick n Brew

Artwork titled “Skin Deep”, now available on T-shirts

These are my 2 of my favourite T-shirt designs, currently available from my online shop at Redbubble. They are available in a variety of colours are printed on 100% cotton fabric, and are available in cuts to suit men, women and children. I have bought a few, and I found them very comfortable.

For more info, please click on the images, or visit my online shop.

Design 1: Available in 9 light colours.

 

      

 

Design 2: Available in 8 colours