Superb Koey Teow Th'ng

Superb Koey Teow Thng @ Sri Bandar Market (Heng Choon Thean)

I usually don’t have Koey Teow Thng early in the morning,  need some thing spicy and hot to wake me up. 

It was one of those days where all my regular makan stalls at the Market were not open, or have not open yet, its  6.15am …   this Koey Teow Thng stall was the only thing open that was not 100% carbo.  So hubson choice.   (there were a few economy noodles shop already open) 

Verdict:  Superb, One of the best I ever had, soup was delicious, and I do think they use the Ipoh Hor fun which is imported in daily.  Definitely will be back for more.

Location :  Refer to my Sri Bandar Post for Map,  Here.  Stall is close to the “Back” near road. 

Back to Ah Chong Canteen for some seafood

 

Back to Ah Chong Canteen (Beach Front, Non Aircon Seafood @ Pantai Bersih Butterworth)

We drop by at Ah Chong Canteen (In Waze as Restaurant Nelayan Ah Chong, our “only” seafood place at Pantai Bersih, Butterworth, for some crabs. 

We had crabs done 2 style, With Curry Leafs as well as Baked, as well as Marmite Chicken, Clayport Seafood, Lala, and Kailan, and Chicken Satay for me.  ( I don’t enjoy Seafood)    Total damage around RM250/- 

What I really like about this place is,

1)      Simple Unpretentious set up,  May be a bit “rough” for others

2)      The Beautiful view,  best view just before sunset. 

3)      The Unpretentious and Simple food, not overly decorated. 

Location Map is attached    

AKS Restaurant, Old China Town, Alor Setar Kedah

AKS Restaurant, Old China Town, Alor Setar

My last visit to this non aircon “restaurant” (in fact to Alor Setar) was like 15 – 20 years ago.  It was one of our regular makan place (the actual atmosphere is like a Kopi Tiam)    

When we walk in, it was like being going back in time.  Every thing is the same, from the tables and chairs, the traditional kitchen to the English speaking (and good English at that) order taker. 

We skip my regular order of fish curry, and ordered the Steam Golden Promfret, Medium portion of My usual plate Mix Roast Meats, and Sambal Belachan Kang Kong.

Verdict :  Just like it was years back,  definitely the best Kangkong Belachan I had this past 10 years

Total cost was RM73, which is  Meal was for 3 persons. 

pricy for a kopi tiam style restaurant, portion was ample.

Location :  See Map Attached,  Alor Setar Town,  Corner of K371 Persiaran Sultan Abdul Hamid and Jalan Tengku Yaakob,  Near Dataran Tanjung Chali, and Tun Dr Mahathir Birth House. 

Aeon Alma Sushi

Aeon Alma- Self Serve Sushi @ Ground Floor

We were at Aeon Alma, Bukit Mertajam, when we decided to have some Sushi at the Self-service counter there. 

The Self Serve counter is loaded with various types of Sushi, and well as many other types of Japanese food.  Frankly we were a bit loss, and just grab items that looks familiar to us.  

Personally I had the Salmon Sushi. 

My Opinion: Not being use to Japanese Food, I would not know how Japanese it is and how its suppose to taste, but it was ok with my taste buds.

Seaview Food Court, Chai Leng Park

Seaview Food Court, Chai Leng Park

Not one of my favourite place to have a meal initially, due to the difficulty in getting a parking place.  However, this has improved as they have manage to get a car park at the community field next to the Chai Leng Park Petronas Station. 

Seaview Food Court, is usually jam packed, (in the evenings) when I usually visit.  On this visit, we had some of the harder to find food in the area,  Namely Deep Fried Pork Intestine porridge,  Lamb Soup Indian style, Roast Pork Noodles.  

There are many stalls,  it will take some time to go through all of them.

Location Map is attached 

Best Chicken Wing in Town

Butterworth Town.

To enjoy the best flaming Chicken wing in Butterworth area, head for gluttons street at Chai Leng Park (Location is attached), middle section  

You do have to wait though, while its being charbroiled, right infront of you,  tasty, succulent, smoky,  excuse me for cutting this post short,  I am heading for Gluttons Street, Chai Leng Park for more Chicken wings,  see you there. 

For Location Map see previous gluttons street post here

Durian Season is Starting .......

Durian Wholesale @ Chai Leng Park

  

This the place to go to for Durian and also for fruits when at Butterworth / Seberang Prai,  Open Daily till around 7.30pm.  Whole durian or pre packed durian is available. Large Selection. 

Map Attached :  At Chai Leng Park,  Very Near Pelita Nasi Kandar Chai Leng Park 

Upgrading from Redmi Note 5, Which Phone? Part 2, The Short List.

Upgrading from Redmi Note 5, Which Phone ?  Part 2, The Short List 

After filtering and looking at all the specifications, see Part one. I manage to filter it down to 3 main contenders, one of them Branded which just Launched, The current King who has been around for a few months, and a Johnny come lately yet to be launched.

The current King Mid Ranger, Premium Feel, Good in Photography Redmi Note 7 (With USB C) + SD 660 4g/64gb Glass sandwich Estimate RM 750, Top in AnTuTu Score if you can get the Pro version, which I cannot, has a Hybird SD Slot     

The Branded Beautifully, Astonishing Frills Mid Range but highest price  Samsung A50 6g/128 = RM1100, with USB C, NFC, Dedicated SD Slot.    

The Johnny come lately, Fast charging, Best Gaming, Potential Best Photography Realme 3 Pro (USB) SD 710 with 2 version 4g/64gb or 6g/128 gb Price unknown, Possible the best Photography as it has the Sony Ixm519 sensor, and with a Dedicated SD Slot.   

Choosing the actual replacement will have to be more then features or specification, it will have to be have to be boiled down to “Price”, “How it all Fits together” and the “User Experience”  

For this I begin to troll the net, watching many U Tube Videos, and Reading many Tech / Phone Websites.   And after many hours their General Verdict are

No Direct Answer

Depends on Your requirements

Samsung A50 – Estimated RM1100 for the 6/128 Version 

come only one version 6g/128gb at RM1199 but possible is possible to get lower by up to RM200   

Vivid Display

In-screen fingerprint Scanner

Best overall software experience

USB C

Dedicated MicroSD card Slot

Samsung Brand Value

Redmi Note 7 – Estimated RM750 for the 4/64 Version
No Pro version in Malaysia
No 6/128 version in Malaysia 
Best Camera Performance

Premium Look with Glass Sandwich Front and Back

USB C

No Dedicated Micro SD Slot

Realme 3 Pro – Price at  RM899 4g/64gb, RM1088 6g/128gb

Best in Class Gaming device

Currently best camera performance, can beat Redmi Note 7 Pro at times, and May Beat it in future with soft ware updates 

Fast Charging out of box

Ad free UI

Micro USB

Dedicated Micro SD card Slot 

Information from Various Internet sources, and may be subject to changes without further

notification. this blog post is for my own use only, Use the information here at your own risk   My Wants, Requirements, Taste, is not yours.  Make your own decisions  

Upgrading from the Redmi Note 5, Which Phone? The contenders

Upgrading From the Redmi Note 5, Which Phone? - the Contenders 

My Wish List

A phone which is better then my current Redmi (Xiaomi) Note 5 and with the following features, with a Max Budget in the Low RM1K 

My Must Have

4K batteries

Twin Sim

Screen Size 6 in plus

Would like to have - 

Better Photography for Low Light Conditions with

Fast Charging (if possible with out buying extra charger)

Dedicated SD Card Slot

NFC 

Stock Android

After Checking Around we have In contention “The following Phones”.    

First Up is the successor of my current Redmi Note 5 that running of 4g / 64gbs, Octo 1.8gbs is the Redmi Note 7.   

Redmi Note 7 is Price at RM679 3g/32gbs or RM799 4g/64gbs, is a solid all-rounder phone, its uses USB C, provided decent performance & quality photography, it has a Glass Sandwich Screen & Back, and use a Hybird Sim Tray to shoe horn a SD card in and have a built in Memory of 64gb. It has fast charging capability however the fast charging power brick is not provided, nor does it provide a dedicated SD Card slot. 

Mi Max 3, will provide decent upgraded, especially with it 7 in screen, and 5500 mah batteries and in fact I would not hesitate to pick this up at the current Rate of RM 1000 plus for the 4g/64gb.   The down side is that the Mi Max 3 is essentially the same as the Redmi Note 5, other then a bigger screen and batteries. So there is no point in purchasing this model . 

Samsung has astonished me with the Samsung A50,  it list of specification of a Official Price of RM1199 (Available at most places with a discount of RM100 or even more) for the 6g/128,  6.4in AMOLED screen, NFC, 3 Rear Camera Main 25mp, Ultra Wide 8mp, Dept 5mp with a Front Facing 25Mp,  Dedicated SD card Slot, fast charging of 15w, and a Under display Fingerprint reader.  Practically all my wish list They only left out Stock Android.      

Asus Zenphone Max Pro M2 priced originally at 4g/64gb at RM859 and RM999 for the 6g/64 has a 5000mah batterie, the highest rated Gorilla Glass Rating (6) among all the phones, dedicated sd card slot, and while it’s a near stock android, its not 100% stock android.    

Realme 3 Pro, A real powerhouse For Gaming, Photography which with Fast Charging, Price TBA. Its produce in 2 versions (let see which arrive here) 4g/64gb or 6/128gb, is very much dedicated to Gaming & Photography, first it has selfie centred with a 25mp Front Facing camera, and its main rear 16mp with 1.7 (f/1.7) has the same sensor used in One Plus 6T which scored in 98 DXO Mark   (Sony imx 519). Special Software for64mp photos &  Low Light / Night Photography is also available. They also provide out of the Box the 20W VOOC super fast charger, that can give you 50% charge in 30 min.    Performance of its GPU is also above its class.  

Oppo F 11 is the Big Brother Version of the Realme 3 Pro,  Price at RM1088 for the only 4g / 128gb version it offers many similar specifications, with even a larger 6.35 screen however could potentially loose out on the Camera Sensor and the SD Hybird slot 

Information from Various Internet sources, and may be subject to changes without further

notification. this blog post is for my own use only, Use the information here at your own risk   

Desirable Mid Range Smart Phone Features.....

The Perfect Mid Range Smart Phone    

What would be the perfect Mid Range Smart Phone possible? ……… ,  at least for Me …….

Here are some features I find desirable 

• Performance, decent performance especially in Gaming, smart phones are use for gaming now a days. 
• Photography, should be decent enough and with low light capability, the second important phone function For Both front / rear cameras.   
• Memory (RAM) – 3g or 4 g would be ideal, unless you play “intensive” games.  
• Built in Storage of around 128gb would be ideal, unless there is a dedicated SD card slot    
• Dedicated SD Card slot, the ability to have expendable memory save photos, documents and other work without using cloud.  A Hot swappable SD Card Slot will be preferable,
• USB to GO Function – Ability to transfer files are important
• USB C will be preferred to speed up transfer (already available in most but not all)
• Batteries of 4000 Mah, are already to common,  its time to bum it up
• Fast Charging, Large Batteries will also need fast charging (already available in most but not all)
• Screen Sizes, of 6 to 7 in would be preferred, large enough for easy function ability and portability, with 1080 display .
• Dedicated Headphone Jack (3.5mm) is preferred, one should be able to multitask, listen to music via a headphone or speaker and to charge or download at the same time ……..

• Stock Android (Not Near Stock or Pseudo Stock) – Ability to Update Direct
• NFC is a function ability that will be increasingly important with Contactless Payment / Access getting more and more common
• Lastly Solid Robust built able to withstand a few bumps here and there (Nokia 3310 anyone)