Panama Canal

Bought some coffee beans from the local mart in Costa del Este a few days before departing. I should have buy more coz it was good.

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The company sponsored our tickets to the Panama Canal. 

Me & my colleagues from other regions went there on one of the weekday evening. We left the office early and the company driver chauffeured us there....yay! Feels like school field trip 😂😀

Weather was hot, but windy. The temperature is similar to Malaysia, and it hasn't rain for weeks!

Panama canal - one of the greatest manmade-canal of the last century, connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean.

This is the original canal (aka Panamax Route) which is narrower for smaller size vessels.

The visitors can only watch from the viewing platform.

From afar, there's a bigger cruise ship sailing on another canal for bigger size vessels (aka Neopanamax Route).

'Brisk business' there....the vessels continuously coming...non-stop

The canal uses a series of locks to raise and lower ships between sea level and the elevation of the canal.

Atlantic to Pacific (or vice versa), here is the process:

Gatun Locks – Raise ships ~26 meters to Gatun Lake.

Gatun Lake Transit – Ships travel ~33 km across the lake.

Culebra Cut – Narrowest section, carved through mountains.

Pedro Miguel Lock – Lowers ships ~9 meters.

Miraflores Locks – Final descent to sea level (~17 meters).

I only witnessed the Miraflores Locks process as the others are located elsewhere along the canal. Pedro Miguel Lock is located 1.5km away and is not clear from the viewing platform.

[Below] A picture for remembrance.

Athanasiou @ Costa del Este, Panama - Part 2

During the daytime, this place sells freshly baked pie, pastries etc

Cakes....

and gelato with assorted flavors

more pastries and cupcakes

coffee

It opens from morning till night....but I prefer going there in the evening, after sunset, because during the day it gets quite stuffy inside due to the sunlight streaming through the glass windows.

Athanasiou @ Costa del Este, Panama - Part 1

[Throwback] My manager recommended Athanasiou....so I went there for my dinner one day....

It was a quiet evening....

Empty seats....it is usually crowded during the daytime.

My pesto fusili....yummmzzz yummmzzzz!

Then I had dessert....

The price for different scoops as shown below.

Order and pay at the counter then show the receipt to the staff for them to prepare the gelato.

I had single scoop Stracciatella gelato on cone. Fancy Greek name, but it is actually a creamy vanilla or milk-based gelato with fine shavings of chocolate mixed in.

Enjoying this on a quiet weekend evening.

How quiet?

Look at the empty streets and tables...Not even a human in sight!

Daytime was not that many people too....It was a long weekend with public holiday so many has gone for holiday elsewhere outside the city.

Cutie Pie

Spotted this cute lil' boss sitting outside the Yi Poh restaurant some time ago.

Look at the well groomed fur...so white and fluffy.....

She/He seems unfazed with me taking her/his picture and even look at my phone camera directly. Very photogenic!

Dave's Deli, IOI City Mall @ Putrajaya

I had a date with my colleague cum ex-colleague (2 times colleague then now back to ex-colleague).

We were a loyal fan of Dave's Deli since 10 years ago when Dave's Deli has 30% discount during lunch time. Back then, her eldest daughter was in primary school and now she is already in college. Time flies!

I would usually order the Hainanese chicken chop or Chicken Parmigiana.

The below is Hainanese chicken chop.

The interior of the restaurant. 

Order via the counter. After payment, the staff will give you a number and the food will be delivered to your table.

Usually, the food is prepared within 10-15 minutes depending on the crowd. Back then we make use of our waiting time by going off to the nearby bakeries to buy bread or get some groceries done at the nearby Tesco supermarket, while one colleague will look after our seats. By the time we came back, the foods were already served on the table.

The bill: RM27.90 nett

[Below] IOI City Mall - East Court.

This section is under the new wing launched during August 2022.

Oriental Kopi - Mee Siam

Oriental Kopi

Went to Oriental Kopi Pavilion BJ to try out their mee siam with boneless fried chicken.

The price is slightly cheaper than the fried chicken leg. This one is boneless fried chicken, perfect for lazy people like me who don't chew bones.

I remember the mee siam to be slightly moist & flavorful last time, this one is abit dry. Also the egg was runny previously, but now it is almost solid, like 90% cooked, hence there's no runny yolk to drench the mee siam. Boneless fried chicken tastes OK though and is well marinated.

After trying all 3 (curry chicken, chicken leg and boneless chicken), i think i prefer the curry chicken with thick curry gravy where I can 'banjir' (flood) the mee siam in case it is too dry.

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ILoveYoo

I like to eat curry chicken so much that I ordered the curry chicken noodle in ILoveYoo😂

It was a Tuesday special with free soy bean milk.

The noodle type is pan mee but it has softer texture, almost like linguini.

[Below] The full menu.

What should i try next? 

Kebun Kopi & Ai-Cha

Another new ice-cream/boba tea shop opened in the neighbourhood. With Mixue and Bingxue already in the market, there would be stiff competition among 3 of them. I can see that now all of them are having price war like RM1.99 per soft-serve ice-cream.

Bingxue is offering matcha flavor (or mixed vanilla matcha) whereas Ai-Cha has the seasalt vanilla flavor. The el-cheapo soft-serve is no longer dominated by Mixue now...

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I have yet to try Ai-Cha, coz I prefer the refreshing watermelon....

Bought this watermelon from The Store coz it was cheap....just like the soft-serve😂

Nice to quench thirst on a hot day.

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While at The Store, I noticed a new eatery just opened (on last month)....

The menu is a one page with illustration....quite simple...

So the following weeks, i went to try one item each.

The first week, I tried nasi lemak chicken rendang. It was good, the rice is aromatic with santan. Rendang is quite authentic like those sold in Malay stalls....although the owner of this eatery is a Chinese. By the way, this is not a halal eatery but is pork-free.

The second week, I tried their mee siam...

It is perfectly fried, not too dry and taste better than Oriental Kopi.

Then the following week, I tried the curry CCF. Also, it hits the spot.....curry gravy might look diluted but packed with umami flavor. Dried shrimp sambal is provided, it is not spicy just to add some umami-ness to the plain ccf. 

On another visit, I also tried the prawn chicken horfun (no picture here). The horfun is smooth and the soup is packed with umami flavor from the prawns and chicken....So far all the food that I tasted hit the spot. The chef definitely knows what he is doing.

They also sell kuihs, sweet and savory types for RM3.50 per box.

I bought a sengkuang (jicama) dumpling and a taro cake. Both were freshly made as they are re-stocked on a daily basis (except during public holidays)

I would definitely buy this again, perhaps also tried other kuihs such as kuih talam and angku kuih.

[Below] The owner decorated the eatery like a garden.

Of course these are fake plants, but blend well....it feels like eating in a garden😂(although not a real garden)

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Some decorations in Pinnacle mall in conjunction with the upcoming lantern festival.

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KFC - that's where i want to be!

Nowadays a set of 2-piece chickens meal with coleslaw, mashed potato and drink costs RM17. Add-on RM3 for a large fries....

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Tofufa (RM3) from pasar malam.

A similar box like this costs RM6.50 in ILoveYoo eatery.