Yuan Wei Restaurant, 原味亚参鱼

Yuan Wei Restaurant，原味亚参鱼

The writer and his family visited a restaurant named Yuan Wei Restaurant which served one of the best Asam Fish and Fried Oyster. 

 Menu on the wall

Menu on the wall

The writer ordered several dishes, such as:-

Fried Oyster

The writer who had a strong enthusiasm in food, especially food that relates to oyster. Although he had tasted Fried Oyster in Muar, Melaka and even Kuching, but certainly this is the best fried oyster that he had ever tasted.

Asam Pedas Fish Fillet

It has a sufficient taste of sour and the fish served is fresh. It stimulates the writer's appetite to eat more.

Mixed Vegetable

The writer feels that this dish is usual.

"Bomb"

Dish that looks normal but it is delicious.

Nyonya-steamed Stingray 

A dish that can't be easily found throughout the experience of eating seafood because it is fresh, delicious and reasonable in its pricing.

The dishes served by the restaurant has a quite big serving with a much reasonable price. It certainly fulfills the determinants of demand for market demand, such as taste and pricing. It served an extraordinary dishes that stimulates and triggers our will to eat more without much consideration. Besides, the pricing is quite reasonable and served in a big serving, so it is much suitable for travellers that travel in a group, or in a family to dine-in.

This restaurant is unlike the other seafood restaurant at which you can spot flies flying around and the table at times smells badly. This had also proven that the owner of this restaurant really focuses on the cleanliness, so it is certainly safe to eat. The best place that reflects on the cleanliness of a compound is the toilet. The writer initially has no confident in the toilet, but after he used it, he realized that it is certainly out of his expectation as it is CLEAN!

The writer will suggest Yuan Wei Restaurant as one of the best seafood restaurant that he had ever visited.

Batu Pahat

(Wikipedia, 2013)

Batu Pahat is a district in the state of Johor, Malaysia. It lies southeast of Muar, southwest of Kluang, northwest of Pontian, and south of Segamat and the new Ledang district. The capital of the district is Bandar Penggaram, Batu Pahat.

Several years back, during the writer's last visit to Batu Pahat, it appears to be a small district which hadn't developed just like the writer's hometown. The writer got a shocked after looking at the great development of the town, especially Sri Gading.

Sri Gading, Batu Pahat, Johor has developed well as you may see foreign investors setting up their factories and bases along the way from Johor Bahru. The writer saw companies like Fujitsu also set up their factory in Sri Gading, which is one of the industrial zone in Batu Pahat. This had proven that Batu Pahat could be a world-recognized industrial region as foreign investment has confident in investing their business in Batu Pahat.

(Wikipedia, 2013)

Batu Pahat is Johor's second largest manufacturing industrial town; encompassing textiles, electronics, food-processing, timber, porcelain and plastic industry. It produces 50% of the textile exported from Malaysia and there are about 300 garment and textile factories.

There are several industrial zones including Tongkang Pecah, Parit Raja and Sri Gading. Private industrial zones include Sri Sulong, Lian Aik and Buditama, ranging from 20 acres (81,000 m²) to 200 acres (0.81 km²). Foreign investments include Sharp Roxy, Sony, Fujitsu, Hitachi and Mitsumi. There over 20 public listed companies, including Harta Packaging, PCCS, Baneng Holdings, S&P, Sharp Roxy, Ramatex, Southex, Prolexus, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Yong Tai, Hwa Tai, AE, Kia Lim, Kayu Wangi, Hup Seng, Xiang Leng, Magnum, SKP, SPI Plastics, BP Plastics, Cheng Yap Sdn. Bhd. and Fast Track Solutions Bhd.

Agriculture is another important source of income for the locals. Batu Pahat has some of the largest rubber, oil palm, coconut and cocoa plantations in Johor. Fruit produce such as watermelons,papayas, bananas, pineapples, durians and 20 varieties of vegetables are exported. There are also several fishing villages near the Strait of Malacca, providing rich sources of fisheries. Ornamental fish such as the arowana are major exports for some companies such as Xiang Leng.

The above mentioned quote really shows that Batu Pahat had a rapid growth in economic as they manage to attract well-established foreign companies to invest in their district. The factors could be that Batu Pahat is centralized as it is located on the south-east of Muar, south-west of Kluang, north-west of Pontian and south of Segamat.

Several kilometres from Sri Gading, the writer spotted lots of entertainment spots, such as hypermarkets and shopping complexes. As a result, to understand more on the rapid growth of Batu Pahat, the writer googled around and found out in details the local attractions that were scattered around Batu Pahat district.

Batu Pahat is famous for its local delicacies and textile industry. Once regarded as the "Little Paris" of Malaysia, Batu Pahat was famed for its "red-light town" reputation in the 1960s and the 1970s. However, the efforts of the state government in cleaning up the town in the 1980s succeeded and now there are only one or two bars of such kind left in town now, like Tiong Ah Bar, the oldest bar in town.

Notable local attraction include:

• The Batu Pahat town square (Dataran Penggaram,大草坡) was renovated in the 1990s on the occasion of the town's centennial celebration. Sitting right in the middle of the square is the landmark, which depicts a floating hand chiselling a rock. Common activities in the square such as children playing with balloons, remote-control cars and kite-flying can be seen during weekend nights. Surrounding the square are some old government offices.
• BP Walk (峇株星光大道), located at Jalan Rahmat (大马路), is also a famous place for townfolks and there are quite a number of stalls selling the food along the walk.
• Tasik Y, a abandon tin mining lake in the past and now become the green lung in Batu Pahat town, near Taman Soga.
• Lover Bridge (情人桥), famous for couples and for those who like to fishing which located in Segenting, 8 km away from town.
• Pantai Minyak Beku, a historical site in Batu Pahat which is 10 km away from town. One of the historical site is Perigi Batu Pahat (Batu Pahat well).
• Batu Pahat Mall (BP Mall)
• Aeon Big Batu Pahat (previously known as Carrefour Batu Pahat)
• Square One Shopping Mall
• The Summit Shopping Mall

The writer felt regretful as he only managed to cover Batu Pahat Town Square, Batu Pahat Mall and The Summit Shopping Mall for this visit. He also noted down the place that he had missed for a second revisit, perhaps during his Chinese New Year holidays.

The writer was also impressed with the beautiful scenery of Bagan, which is one of the region in Batu Pahat. It reflects on the imbalance of economic growth in the district because Bagan certainly looks like a rural area as compared to region such as Sri Gading, Tongkang Pecah and Parit Raja. As a result, the environment is well-preserved from pollution.

(Wikipedia, 2013)

Bagan parish is one of 14 parishes found in Batu Pahat district, Johore state and parishes covers several villages. Whole district of Batu Pahat has a population of about 468,058 local residents. The most populated mukim is Simpang Kanan with more than 311,862 people and the least populated is Bagan with a population of only 4,692.

Perhaps due to the lack of population that may go even worse with migration factors that lead to the imbalance of economic growth, Bagan is certainly left out as the writer along the way sees only paddy fields and villages. This can also be an effort for the Ministry of Tourism of Malaysia to continue preserving the nature, but come out with ideas in promoting this place to the public. The writer believes that by doing this, unemployment rate (u-rate) that contributed by villagers may decreased and helped out in Malaysia's economic growth.

Batu Pahat now is a developing district as compared to the past. The writer believes that Batu Pahat will be soon becoming one of the district that are recognized widely in the nation for it's rapid growing development. The writer decided to visit Batu Pahat once again and explore the local attraction that are mentioned in Wikipedia.

KTS Garden

The seafood fried crispy noodles was one of the best starter that the writer had ever tasted. The cook managed to dissolve various taste of the seafood into the gravy that are fried together with the crispy noodles whereas the seafood, such as fish meat, octopus and etc were great as it has no sign of overcook - turn hard.

As for the Stir Fried Pork, it was a little bit salty if it stands by itself. However, if you eat it with rice, then it turns different. It has it's unique fragrant and taste great just as it should be.

Among all the dishes, the writer loved seafood fried crispy noodles and steamed cod fish the most. This is because both the dishes was great and the taste wouldn't be easily found in the market and it certainly obeys the determinants of demand. No wonder the owner's business grows from an ordinary shop lot to an standalone restaurant with such spacious parking lot.

While eating the steamed cod fish, the writer feels guilty to his "brother", William. He remembered his promise to William that he will treat him cod fish as he overheard that William loves cod fish very much. On his birthday previously, the writer intended to treat William with cod fish, but unfortunately, due to budget constraint and the unavailability of cod fish, so he didn't manage to treat him one. The writer simply hopes that before he went back for his Chinese New Year celebration, he has the chance to treat William with the cod fish, perhaps in KTS Garden.

People usually have a perception saying that when a stall served delicious food, there is certain probability that their pricing will be high, but this assumption doesn't apply to KTS Garden. Although they served delicious delicacies, but their pricing is reasonable. Imagine eating 5 dishes of medium serving that are served with seafoods that cost you RM193.20. Doesn't it consider as cheap?

Perhaps it is cheap, so the local and their staffs recommend the writer to make a reservation first, especially every Saturday and Sunday during dinner time. KTS Garden will usually go FULL HOUSE in these 2 days.

After mumbling for so long on the dishes served in KTS Garden, the writer tend to complement to their facilities and customer service as well. KTS Garden has a group of attentive waiters and waitress, at which they will at times assist you in topping up your tea in the cup, or maybe refilled your dry teapot unlike the other restaurant at which you need to raise up your hand and wait for their service.

Besides, KTS Garden has lots of parking lots as the entire compound of KTS Garden could be as big as a football field (perhaps more)!

Homestay Kuching

The writer was initially attracted with their brief description in their official webpage before proceeding with hotel reservation through Agoda.

HomeStay Kuching is a budget hotel located at Kuching Sarawak Malaysia. HomeStay Kuching is the hotel that provides their guests with a comfortable environment in an atmosphere that makes you feel home. You will also be greeted by our friendly staff with their lovely smile and heartfelt welcome, "Selamat Datang".
What makes HomeStay Hotel Kuching special is that it is a budget hotel that has the astonishing facility of Air-conditioning, Hot Shower, Satellite TV programmes & etc. Furthermore, the hotel is located in Kuching City, HomeStay Kuching is a mere 5-minute drive to the city centre, major shopping complexes, and within reach to both the commercial hub of Kuching, the nightlife of the City. Also within close distance are the Kuching International Airport (KIA), tourist attractions, such as Kuching Waterfront, Sarawak River, Main Bazaar, Sarawak Museum, etc., and various restaurants and local food stalls with unlimited choice of local and western cuisines. When the meeting, sight-seeing, shopping and the like activities wear you out or when you want to take a break from the busy city life, HomeStay Kuching’s clean and homey rooms are ready venues for some peace and quietness.

Location
The writer checked in in approximation of 6:45pm after his trip to the airport, but the writer lost his way due to the small signboard for this hotel and never knowing that the homestay is located of the same building with Ghee Yong Motor.

He initially thought that it was the GPS that led him to the wrong way as in Malaysia, GPS can also be known as Guna Pun Sesat, but he was wrong after he knowing that homestay was located of the same building with Ghee Yong Motor. Sorry, Waze for blaming you!

The Blue Colour Landmark represents the location of Homestay Kuching / Ghee Yong Motor

Reception Counter

The Hotel Reception Counter

The writer's first impression on this hotel was not very good as they emailed him with an email stating that check in is supposed to be before 7pm as they have no all-day long reception service, but after the writer checked in and asked their receptionist, the receptionist then told him that such policy only applies 2 years ago. 

When he first entered the room, the room was small, but clean. He certainly had a good night sleep while he downloaded several dramas due to the fast internet connection. A homestay that can be managed with high internet speed is much more demanding as compared to those who don't as internet connection had turned from a want to a need in this fast-growing era.

Facilities

(HomeStay Kuching, 2013)

HomeStay Kuching also provides a host of conveniences the guests can enjoy:-

• Air Conditioning
• LCD Flat Screen TV
• Satellite TV
• Wireless Internet Access for all rooms
• Wi-Fi available in public areas
• IDD Telephone
• Private Bathroom
• Car Parking available
• Ceiling Fan
• Electric Kettle
• Room Service
• 24 Hour Reception
• Wake Up Call available
• Lift to all floors
• Cafeteria
• Shuttle arrangement to and/or from Kuching International Airport
• Breakfast for in-house guests
• Arrangement for Launderette
• Arrangement for Car Rental

Cafetaria

The hotel's banner was hung and can be seen once you enter the cafe

After a good night sleep, the writer then went for his breakfast at the cafe. 

Wallpaper of the cafe in Homestay Kuching

The decoration is quite elegant for a homestay standard hotel.

Place of which they serve buffet during corporate function

Sound System and Whiteboard ever ready

Dining Place

Based on the photos above, the writer strongly believed that Homestay Kuching dealt with SMEs for their corporate events as they are ever ready with instruments that are required to cater the needs in dealing with those events. As Homestay Kuching has limited space, therefore, by putting their apparatus around may seems to be messing up the cafe, but this also shows that their fighting spirit in fulfilling all customers' needs.

Breakfast Presentation

All-day Long Menu

The breakfast serving concept follows the concept used by China. The writer had once visited Tianjin with his family members and checked into the hotel prepared by the tour agency. In the morning, the writer was shocked with their breakfast presentation - a paper and tick-box form, then he asked the tour guide in charge about it, then he was told that in China, especially Tianjin and Beijing, they usually prepare breakfast based on as-you-want basis. It is a great practise especially during the economic downturn! 

My Fried Curly Noodles

The noodles taste good, at least much better than the noodles served in the hostel.

My hot soy milk