Ante Kitchen & Bar @ Solaris Dutamas

I have been patrolling Publika's area quite often recently, hunting for food. There are a lot of non-franchising cafes and bars around, serving my favourite breakfasts and western foods. :D I Google-d around to find a decent place for celebrating our third year anniversary of paktor-ing. XD Anyway, found this relatively new restaurant located at Solaris Dutamas, at the same row as Pappa Rich called Ante.

Ante~ Sounds like Auntie.

It was very empty as we reached at around 7pm but it was almost fully booked. Fortunately, there were still one or two empty tables left. :D The place was very dim, with yellowish lightning, quite romantic too if minus the customer crowd. Lol~

The empty cafe.

Ante serves mostly western cuisine raging from salad, burgers to steaks. The pricing is quite reasonable with main dishes at around RM30++. They serve pork dishes too! My favourite. :D The pork ribs sound not bad but we did not opt for that. Lol.

Salad~

The BF has a pint of the so-called "Super Dry" (what's that mean?) Asahi (RM26). Tasted watery. o.O First time drinking Asahi, does it taste so bland all the while? :(

Asahi~

Ordered a glass of Apple Juice (RM6) which is obviously not freshly squeezed. -.-"

Bottled Apple Juice.

We had a bowl of Mushroom Soup (RM12) as appetizer. It was creamy enough but was a little cold when served. :( Quite a lot of mushroom chunks but nothing compared to the one we had in The Daily Grind. That was superb. It came with some fried breadcrumbs, which I think was slightly too oily. I would prefer the normal ones, not fried.

Soup, got what soup? (From RK Curry House video.)

We browsed further at the appetizer items and found this interesting, the Cod Crab Mashed (RM18). Although it is called an "appetizer" but it came after the main dishes were served. Not a good idea. =.=" I do not like it as all. It was potato mashed with Cod (I did not find and taste that) and crab meat, then baked with cheese. The BF said it tasted like ordinary mashed potato but it tasted awful to me.

Yucks!

The saviour of the evening was my Char-Grilled Pork Chop (RM33), served in cream sauce with mashed potato and cooked apple (?). The pork chop was grilled to perfection. The meat was very tender and juicy although it was a little bit oily. The pork chop was very thick and I could not finish it by myself. I like this dish. :)

Fattening!

The BF had The Ante Pork Burger ((RM35). Came with pork patty, bacon slice, sliced onions and egg, served with fries. The BF struggled to eat it as it was very thick and the stuffs just got all over. The burger was as tasty too but I still prefer my pork chop. XD

Hello, huge burger.

We did not see any dessert item in the menu. So we headed to elsewhere so that we could complete our three-course dinner. Lol.

Not dessert.

Happy Belated Anniversary to us! :D

We are old! XD

Siem Reap Day 3

It was raining almost for the whole day on our last day at Siem Reap, really from the time we opened our eyes. :( Breakfast at hotel was OK. Since it's complimentary, I have nothing to complain. :D Had cornflakes + muesli + buns + croissant + coffee. Lol~ Typical kiasu here. XD

Yummy breakfast.

Although it was raining, we tried our luck to walk to the Old Market which is located around the pub street too.

The rain got heavier when we almost reached the market. =.=" Nothing much there as it looks like a local market for the Khmer to buy their supplies, like any of our local market. Moreover, it was super pack probably because it was a Sunday.

In the Old Market, scary.

We went to a cafe at the Pub Street to wait for the rain to stop. I think we sat there for one hour and it was still drizzling.

Their fresh spring rolls were disasterous. They put in parsley which I hated the most! >.<

 There was this tuk-tuk driver, aiming at us. He stopped his vehicle right in front of the cafe, waiting for us to leave and he really waited for one hour! o.O He is such a patient fella but too bad we walked back to the hotel. He must be disappointed because he wasted one hour just in hope of earning that USD1. I felt bad~

Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day!

As it was nothing much, we went back to the hotel in the hope that the rain will stop soon. As we wished, it stopped! once we stepped into the hotel. =.=" When we wanted to step out again, it rained. It got very heavy this time that we decided to put on the raincoats. T.T

Luckily I got these useful raincoats last minute at Guardian the day before the trip. :p

We got back to Pub Street for lunch after my afternoon nap. Lol~ Eating some expensive and not-so-nice Khmer food. I prefer the food in Malaysia. :p

Lunch again! o.O

We had earlier booked for the ATV Quad Ride tour with the hotel. Check out their website here. We booked for a 2-hour ride that costed USD55 per person. They provide transportation to and back from their place, around 30 minutes tuk-tuk ride from the hotel.


Once reached their place, the owner started to brief us immediately on how to ride the ATV and some dos and don'ts. Each of us had a guide with us to go for a short round, to test if we are okay to ride the vehicle alone. Too bad, I was too chicken that the guide refused to let me alone. >.<"

Nice scenery, muddy roads.

It was not that bad to have someone to ride with me. At least the guide could chit chat with me in those two hours and he was very friendly. Additionally, he could tell me about some information about the places.

Me and the guide. He was carrying my pink backpack. XD

We went around the countryside, seeing mostly paddy fields. Very beautiful and peaceful green scenery. People still use buffaloes instead of machines to farm, so you can see buffaloes everywhere at the village.

Thinking of a way to pass through these buffaloes.

It rained all the while when we took the ride. We chose to ride in the afternoon the hope to see sunset at the rice fields but we already expected we would not be able to see it due to the weather. By 5pm, the sky was very dark and the rain got heavier and heavier than we needed to stop at a side to wear raincoats prepared by the guide.

See the dark sky?

It got too heavy at a point that we lost our moods to snap photos. All we wanted to do is to get back to their office as soon as possible because it was getting colder. T.T The roads were too muddy that my pants were all wet (due to the rain) and dirty. To me, the ride was really worth it and it will be perfect if it was not raining. A new experience to both of us. :)

Not bad huh? :D

It was just nice at 7:30pm when we finished cleaning ourselves up after the adventurous ride, time for dinner! We walked to the Pub Street again (I do not know how many times we went there but there was the only place where we could find expensive decent food). I already decided earlier to eat some exotic meat BBQs at a restaurant called Cambodian BBQ.

Easily found in the Pub Street.

The place was so packed. It provides some weird meats like the snake, crocodile, kangaroo (wtf?!), ostrich as well as some common ones. We ordered set which include pork, beef, squid, chicken, snake and crocodile, and topped them up with frog legs and fish. Both of the crocodile and snake meats were very chewy, I no like it. >.<"

Snakeeee~~~

And please be noted that after the session, you will smell like BBQ meat yourself too. =.=" I smelled like BBQ panther when I boarded the plane the next day as I wore back the same pants.

Us, the BBQ meat. -.-"

The hotel provided us transportation back to the airport the next morning. It was really a nice trip if it wasn't raining that much. Nice people and beautiful places. I think I will probably be returning some other time during the dyer season. :)

Our Air Asia's Expedia flight.

Siem Reap Day 2

On Day 2, we ditched the tour guide and planned to go by ourselves since no one was listening to him. FHL. Rejuvenated after a good sleep. We started our day at 8am with the hotel's complimentary breakfast~ XD


We hired a tuk-tuk from the hotel for half a day for our tour to the Angkor Wat at USD10. The tuk-tuk would then send us to the places we want to go and wait for us at the attraction. He will then send us back to the hotel. We reached the fortress of the Angkor Wat at around 9:30am. It rained the night before so the weather was slightly cooler but yet the sun was still burning. It was lesser people than I expected and the main entrance of the Angkor Wat was closed for some construction. So we entered using a side entrance. T.T

At the fortress. Windy~

The place was majestic. I was touched as I have been wanting to see the temple for a long time. Moreover, I kept wondering how those people back then built these temples. It was so tall and full of carvings. The best part was that I wondered how they climbed up the staircase? It looks so scary. Did the princesses wear heels ar? If yes, how they use those scary staircases ar? Lol~ I think I would have crawled up and rolled down instead. XD

I iz touched~~ T.T

After spending more than an hour to feel the place (Lol~), we left for Ta Phrohm. It was located deeper inside the park. From Angkor Wat, we had to pass by Angkor Thom and rode another 15 minutes to get there. It was far more crowded there than in Angkor Wat. The road was packed with tuk-tuk and tourist buses that our tuk-tuk driver suggested that we walked in. Since it rained in the morning, the place was super muddy and dirty. (Yucks!)

A lot of people in TaProhm! >.<"

Ta Prohm is famous as the place where Tomb Raider was filmed. It has been built back in thr 12th century as a monastery and university. It was left pretty much the same as it was found. (Credit to Wikipedia again~ XD) The uniqueness of this place is that the trees were left grown out of the temple ruins. It would have been a superb place if there were lesser people and no rain. Too much tourists there that my mood for photographing was slightly spoiled. :( Btw, we got lost inside and we couldn't find our way out. >.<"

Tree on some ruins.

The tuk-tuk driver wanted to bring us to those ceramic making places to suck our money and kept asking if we have any plans. We told him to send us back to the hotel so that we could have some rests and also our lunch. He looked not happy though. Lol~ So we took a bath and went to the nearby for some not-so-nice lunch. LOL. Then we went back to the hotel and rested again, waiting for the time for our massage!


The receptionist at the massage place has a sour face. The massage was not that good, she focused on pressing onto the part below my pelvic bone which made my legs super numbed. =.=" She wrongly recognized me as a Japanese and told me all sorts of Japanese words. -.-"

After masaji! XD

We went back to the room for a nap after the massage. I have been sleeping a lot during the trip. Lol~ The first trip that I slept so much, the bed was very nice. haha. We headed to Pub Street for dinner after rejuvenated. XD We thought of getting the tuk-tuk since it was drizzling but the fella offered it with USD2, so we walked there. Lol. USD2? Kiss my a**~ It was within walking distance. Pub Street is just a short street with some dark alleys filled with pubs and restaurants, like our Changkat Bukit Bintang. It the place where most tourists will hang out at night la.

The Pub Street~

Had our dinner at The Red Piano which Angelina Jolie visited. Right at the corner of the street, a cozy place and it serves Khmer and Western food. It was still quite empty at around 7:30pm.

Cozy place. :D

Although we do not normally drink alcohol. We ordered the Tomb Raider cocktail just because of the name. It was a mixture of Cointreau, lime juice and tonic. Just like an ordinary lime juice. :P

Hello, Lara Croft.

I had their Green Pepper Beef Rice which was ok. I like capsicums~~ :D The portion was very huge and it came with two piles of rice. Weird presentation. XD

The dish is meant for 2 person they mean? But I finished them all by myself.

After eating we walked over to the night market which is located just across the main road. We bought some souvenirs there. We wanted to walk longer but it started to drizzle, so we headed back to the hotel early. :( We missed out some souvenirs.

Night market signage everywhere.

We found Hello Kitty Cambodia shop at the night market. We did not buy anything there and we wanted to return on the following night but it was closed at 10++pm. Night market is closed at night? Lol. They have cute t-shirt with Hello Kitty riding on tuk-tuk and some Hello Kitty in durian costume. Too bad~~~ T.T

Hello Kitty in Angkor Wat~ XD

Siem Reap Day 1

Last year during an Air Asia promotion, I cannot remember how me and a friend ended up buying flight tickets to Siem Reap. The ticket price was cheap at RM200++ for return. I remember that we wanted to call along few more friends but their reaction was "What? Siem Reap? Yerr, I duwan >.<". I wonder why. =.=" I have been wanting to visit it during my college days. :D

Oh, Hello Cambodia! I have been longing to see you~

There we go, one year past soooo fast and the time has arrived. Since I have been flying back to KK for the past month and did not get enough of rests, I felt a little bit reluctant and tired. Lol~ I am old. Anyway, our flight was at 6:50am (Cheap flight ma. We are I am cheapskate. T3T)

Siem Reap International Airport, which looks like a hotel view.

We booked our hotel room via Groupon voucher. We stayed in Prince D'Angkor which were located at the Sivatha Road. The voucher only costed like RM500 for 3 nights, including free massage and free airport transfer. Worth it. :D

Neat hotel room and the model.

Upon arrival, we were invited to be seated at the hotel lobby as the staff there got our passports and checked in the room for us. Nice service. We got our room at 9am, nice! XD

Beds. Very tempting.

The hotel has good view but their elevator is not available for the first floor. For those who get the rooms on the first floor, you guys need to take the staircase. Kesian. o.O

Swimming pool at Prince D'Angkor. :D

Anyway, we met a new friend during our trip as he stayed at the same hotel too. Since we did not plan for any tour to the Angkor Archaeological Park, we muka tembok and tagged along him as he has booked a tour guide to the place. XD

The view on the Tuk-Tuk on our way to Angkor Archaeological Park.

We got onto a Tuk-Tuk and started our journey. We stopped at the ticketing counter on the way to get our three-day pass (One day is not enough to cover all the places it seems). The three-day pass costed at USD40 whereas the one-day pass is at USD20. The three-day pass has to be used in 3 consecutive days. There is a seven-day pass too, which I do not know the price but it can be used in any 7 days in a month.

Angkor Pass with our fat faces~ :D

The tour guide's plan for the day was to visit Angkor Thom. (I was very eager wanted to see Angkor Wat but he said we should visit that on the next day. T.T). That tour guide's English language isn't very good but we could still understand la. He told us about the history like a programmed speaker (We did not listen to him most of the time). Lol~ I hope someone could do that to me last time so that I needed not to read the History subject's textbook. XD

The entrance of Angkor Thom.

Angkor Thom was built by the king Jayavarman VII, which took over the city after the death of the previous king as their capital city. The highlight of Angkor Thom is the Bayon Temple, which was the state temple built to replace Angkor Wat. (Credit to Wikipedia XD).

I am watching you~

The Bayon temple was built with a lot of stone faces all around. The face resembles a smiling Buddha. It's like an optical illusion everywhere. Lol. On some of the walls at the Bayon temple, crafted some stories on how the enemies had brought down the Khmer. The Bayon is a lot huger than the Angkor Wat.

Three smiling Buddha faces. Optical illusion.

Then we moved to the Baphuon, which was built to worship the Hindu God. We did not climb up to the temple as my friend was wearing a pair of shorts and she was not allowed to go in. So we walked to the back of the temple and the tour guide showed us an unfinished reclining Buddha statue, which was very abstract. I would not have noticed if he did not mention it.

Can you see the reclining Buddha?

We then proceeded to the Phimeanakas and Terrace of the Elephants before heading to our lunch nearby. It was at around 1++pm and I was tad hungry. >.<" The price of the food was obviously to cut the tourists. I had a can of soft drink for USD2 and a plate of Fried Rice with Pork for USD5. The lunch place is just some stalls set up on the muddy grass field. Btw, I think they like their food sweet. The fried rice has no other taste than sweetness. Lol~ But did not taste that bad la, our first Khmer meal. :D

Big plate of rice.. Nom! XD

After lunch, we headed to the Tonle Sap Lake. We traveled for one hour from the Angkor place to there. Please remember to bring along your sunglasses and those surgical mask if you visit Siem Reap it is so dusty there. You will not be able to open your eyes without your glasses. We did not wear a mask while on our way to Tonle Sap. At the end, we felt our mouth was very dry and full with sands when we reached =.=".

At the jetty~ Boats waiting for water fishes. XD

The boat ride in the Tonle Sap Lake costed USD20 per person, which I think is not worth at all. The boat will bring your to tour around their floating village and send you to the school/community center, so that you can donate some money to the children there. We did not want to stop by but the tour guide insisted we stop there. =.=" They did not force us to buy/donate because we looked poor. They aimed those big boats with a lot of Japanese tourists~ Lol~ Our saviors.. XD Then they took us to the floating market to see the crocodiles and to get a photo of the whole floating market view at a platform.

The view of the Tonle Sap Village~

We headed back to the hotel for a rest and had our dinner at Koulen II Restaurant, which I think most of the tourists were cheated to go. Lol~ Not cheat la. It located just few hundred meters away from our hotel. It served international buffet in a hugeeeee hall. I think it can accommodate hundreds of tables. There were these traditional dance shows started at around 8pm, which ended with an Apsara Dance Show. Their dances are all slow and steady and draggy. Lol~ I nearly fell asleep watching them dance.

The stoned face Apsara dance. Stolen from my friend's Facebook as my camera was lousy to take photos at low light.

That's all for the day. We slept very early during the trip, we are old. I think we fell asleep while watching the television. Lol~