I wanna vent about Awana: a hefty bill, terrible service and where’s my durian?!

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Awana. A-don’t-really-wana blog about Awana. Mainly because I don’t usually like blogging about negative experiences and well, last time I blogged about bad service, the place closed down! Granted, it wasn’t because of me that they closed down – it was because of the bad service, clearly!

Anyway, in my don’t-want-to-blog-about-Awana-ness, I’ll summarise my experience in three dot points:

  • The food is actually pretty good ~ yay!
  • But it cost a ridiculous £50 per person ~ boo.
  • And the service is atrocious ~ double boo.

That’s my review and now I can talk about other stuff!

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Plum Valley: the mystery that is Chinese fine dining. And yes, it’s still a mystery.

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Chinese fine dining, hey? We at thecattylife are not unfamiliar with this topic. We’ve been to Kai Mayfair and well, yes, we’ve been to Kai Mayfair. We are not unfamiliar with the topic but we are still much confused. Although we were bedazzled by Kai Mayfair’s superb service and quality food, we are still concerned about having to spend more than say £20 a head for Chinese (and that is already a lot). We don’t understand where our moneyz is going and still think that Chinese food is really just that. Chinese food.

We are especially confused by that restaurant in Chinatown, Plum Valley, who calls themselves “Chinese fine dining” but they don’t even have a website. What the heck fine dining restaurant doesn’t have a website?

And yes, we’re doing this post in third person. And plural.

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happiness is: spicy pumpkin soup, crumbed chicken and a round of good friends

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My friendships are the foundation of my life. Having come from an enormous family ~ well, my immediate family is small (and I cherish them so!) but coming from a large extended family where I have over a hundred first cousins, for me, blood is not always thicker than water.

I moved out of home and away from my family over a decade ago (I just felt a new wrinkle burrow itself into my forehead) and though I’m ever so slightly obsessively-compulsively-fiercely independent, my friends are my life source; they’ve been with me through the lowest of lows and highest of highs. We’ve laughed and cried ~ thankfully more laughs than cries ~ and while it’s been difficult with us all scattered across the globe, I’ve got most of my girlfriends with me in London right now, a rarity I know, and believe me when I say I appreciate it more than you can imagine.

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a holiday in London: the Andaz Liverpool St Hotel and 1901 Restaurant

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So it’s Bank Holiday weekend and Panu and I are in London. I know, abysmal effort on our part to get away seeing as we’d just come back from Hong Kong and that virtual cheque book is still hurting just a little bit.

I wanted to do something though, anything so as to not waste this long weekend and so we decided, as you do (or maybe it’s just me), to play tourist in London and stay at a hotel.

I mean, why not, right? Right.

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Sedap: that was good but um, is that all we get?

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There’s something to say about Malaysian food in London: there just isn’t enough of the good stuff. Even the Evening Standard’s showcase of London’s Best Malaysian Restaurants is a little embarrassing. I mean, there’s stuff, sometimes there’s a lot of it, but it isn’t any good.

And then you get places like Sedap. The food is good stuff, but the portion sizes! Or lack of rather. There just simply isn’t enough of it.

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