My Valentine's (in 2009)

Despite all the blogs that are backlogged for a considerably long time, I want to write about my Valentine's outing with Jenn. I realised that the year 2009 would be the last year that both of us could celebrate Valentine's together before the arrival of our baby daughter. So I called my Starwood agent & asked him to help me planning a surprise for her... all these was arranged a month before the day and I had to make sure that she didn't smell anything suspicious until then. I know how she loved surprises... so all my activities were kept to the minimum to avoid detection. When I told her over dinner that I'd bring her for an outing and asked her to pack her bag, I knew that my plan had succeeded upon the look on her face. The smile of being surprised, excited, happy all-in-one, nothing could have made me happier than that (well, except maybe for my daughter's first time seeing the world).

My Valentine's gift to her??? A night stay at a 5-Star hotel (^_^) The Westin KL! I want to utilise my Starwood privilege before it expires... so rather than buying her a bunch of overpriced roses and dinner (mass produced food) for Valentine's, a practical yet well-deserved price of RM250 nett for their Deluxe City View room.

Majestically standing in the heart of Golden Triangle, this award winning hotel set a record for the millennium when it was sold by Ireka to The Westin Group for RM1 million per room (total 555 rooms!!!). It was quite an achievement, considering the construction of this hotel on a relatively small piece of land (1.2 acre) and during financial crisis (1997) + SARS (2004)... they persevered and finally completed the building and won FIABCI award shortly after that. What an interesting story to tell.

So we checked into our room on the 21st floor... took off our shoes.

Jenn quickly changed to her sleeping clothes and jumped on the Westin's signature Heavenly Bed, which is so famous throughout the world... consisting of feather pillows, synthetic pillows, boudoir pillow, down blanket, 400 thread count cover sheet and duvet cover! tempted already?? They also sell these to the room guests should they want to make purchase. OOohhhh... someone's shy to show her face to the camera :)

Me?? First I took a picture of the view of KL city through my room's window... Time's Square is clearly visible.

Then I started to unpack our stuff - placing toilettries and make-up in the bathroom which Jenn loved so much... big mirror, bath tub, separate toilet bowl and shower room. If only our house's bathroom is as luxurious as this.. sigh! Oh yes, I'm the one who always do the packing and unpacking whenever we go for holiday. Guess I'm the organised one here, lol!... she just gave me all the things that she wanted to bring and I'll fold, organise and put into the luggage bags.

So when her stomach was crying for food (Jenn gets hungry easily these days), we proceed to The Living Room where we had high tea (or lunch?). It normally cost about RM88++ per person but we dined for free! There, I saved about RM200 for lunch here... lol! The whole place was quite dimly lighted except for the concourse area in the middle, but of course you could still see all the foods and beverages.

There was a birthday party being organised here... the management made sure it went well but closing one section and filled it up with red + white balloons.

Dessert section - chocolates, cakes, puddings, jelly - just name it!

Fruits and drink section at the bar

Roasted lamb

Chicken rice or ho fun

Italian food...

Or else you can opt for their curry laksa too!

Oriental treats

I just love this part.. my stomach cried for these!

Creative way to display assorted chocolates!

The rest - cheese, bread, toast, not to forget fresh salad!

We adjourned back to our room as Jenn wanted to get some rest before going out again later in the evening. Our destination??? Pavilion KL... just opposite our hotel.

Jalan Bukit Bintang is congested... as usual!

Ah!!! So romantic! Love is in the air!! Saw this guy dropping down on his knee and proposed to the love of his life at the entrance of Pavilion. It drew a lot of spectators to witness this memorable event (for the couple)... and when the guy slipped the ring onto the girl's finger, it was met with thunderous applauses from the audience, including both of us!! I even wished him congratulations..

Both of us had agreed not to go to those places offering Valentine's set, as it was total rip-off. So Chinese food it is... and we came to Emperor Q by MOF (Ministry of Food). This place reminded me of MOS (the clubbing scene). The name refers to Emperor Qian Long, an ancient Chinese emperor who ruled China.

They have a unique setting for its seatings. It was like a semi-oval shape restaurant separated by glasses and another few tables at the back. Even though it stated Chinese Casual Restaurant & Cafe, they might have messed up with the identity... as beside Chinese food, they also offer Salad, Sushi, Temaki and Tempura ala Chinese style. Oh well, I was darn hungry and wanted to order my food.

we started with this minced pork eggplant @ RM10.80 - the minced pork was superb! The gravy was a bliss and complimented the rice perfectly. The eggplants had also absorbed the gravy.

Asam curry chicken @ RM21.80 - for this price, I expected the portion to be bigger. Yet, it came with less than 10 pcs of chicken cubes and 3 pieces of broccoli on a hot plate which was placed on a clay stove warmed by fire below.. The gravy was quite good though - spicy and sour to my liking. however, please don't expect too much on this one.

Kailan in 2 styles - stir fried kailan stem & deep fried kailan leaves with dried shrimp and dried squid. Thumbs up!

Mapo tofu pan fried cod fish set @ RM34.50 - mapo tofu was not that delicious... so so only!

Pu er tea @ RM5 per pot - taste was acceptable, but not as good as my puer tea at home.

Complimentary chawanmushi - still piping hot with generous seafood inside.

Me couldn't wait to eat... bon appetit!

Before we headed back to our hotel, I wanted to take a picture of myself sitting on Malaysia's version of Spanish Steps. This girl actually walked and sat right next to me... what happened to be careful with strangers??? Obviously she was fearless. Kinda cute actually and I couldn't help myself but to take a picture with her. She requested me to show her the picture too... lol!!

That pretty much sums up our Valentine's Day together.. our 3rd time as husband and wife. Both of us had a great time together on Valentine's Day... and hope that everyone out there experienced the same. Last picture before we went back to hotel and called it a night!