Day 1 Breakfast @ Hard Rock Hotel, Penang

The variety of foods served in Hard Rock Hotel's breakfast is extravagant...much more choices than Club Med (Cherating).

Buffet breakfast starts from 6:30 till 10 (or 10:30...can't remember)...Anyway, to avoid the crowds and long queue, better to go around 7-8.

I usually went down around 7:30, and the queue was already forming due to the limitation of seats inside (back then SOP were still in place).

The patrons were not allowed to self-service, but instead wait for the staff to serve at the counter. Just tell/point/signal to them on the food that we want and they will serve us at the counter. Sometimes it could be a hassle to wait for the staff to attend to us, coz they could be 'absent' from the counter/while settled other things.

Here's my lavish breakfast...

Started off with local food - Fried rice, fried noodles, some stir fried green leafy and minced chicken.

Then followed by western - potato wedges, sunny side up eggs, sausages and ham

this one no need intro.....the sambal is superbly spicy...nevertheless it was good!

from the Chinese section - dim sum! i mean halal ones

from the Indian section - aloo goobi, samosa and deep fried spring roll (not quite Indian cuisine...hmmm)

that's all for my first day breakfast....

BON APPETIT!

Company Dinner @ Hard Rock Cafe, Penang

Now, this is the real Company Dinner...

the buffet dinner held the day before was just a preliminary...LOL!

The theme this year is 'Back to School' 

but, nope, i did not dress as a school girl nor as a teacher...

not into these kind of costume play...

as a foodie my focus is on...ahemmm.....FOOD!

but before that...let me tour you around the 'cafe'...

Like any other Hard Rock Cafe, it definitely will have some display of items belonging to 'stars'...it could be a hat, weird concert costume or even guitar used during a concert.

I was seated at this long table next to the bar.

As we had our ESCAPE park challenge earlier that day, we received our participation cert during the evening (didn't expect that!)

the mini stage in Hard Rock Cafe

now....to the food...

Starters: Cheese nachos

Starters: Broccoli soup with garlic bread

Mains: New York Strip Steak medium rare

halfway eating....a cut across the slab of meat...yea...it is pinkish!

my final bite...with blood oozing out...*vampire mode on

just as i thought that our meal has completed...the below was served!

some sort of light snack platter(?) consists of buffalo chicken wings, deep fried calamary, deep fried breaded chicken breast, some spring rolls etc...

and lastly we have desserts...chocolate brownie with vanilla ice-cream!

I also ordered a glass of cocktails...this was so refreshing after the heavy meal!

some rock band to entertain us that evening...

we had a jolly good time with various pop/rock songs....

Sushi Zanmai again...

Each time when i craved for Japanese curry rice, I would either go to Yoshinoya or Sushi Zanmai for its affordable price.

But ever since Yoshinoya called it a day during the MCO time, i only left with Sushi Zanmai....so here it is...

chicken katsu curry rice....

There were no carrots nor potato cubes in the curry, so it was quite plain.

i also ordered a plate of prawn tempuras...

It has 4 pieces per set.

The prawn tempuras were fresh & crunchy...just good enuff  to satisfy my cravings fix.

Total damage for this meal is RM30.60nett (inclusive of tax and service charges).

ESCAPE Penang

One of the itinerary during the recent company trip was a team building program at ESCAPE park.

This park is located quite nearby our hotel, just 5 minutes drive away.

We arrived quite early before it opens at 10.

After a short briefing by the program organiser, we headed in by checking-in using these facial recognition turnstile. Paperless and swift process.

As we were the first group of visitors (of the day), the place was quite empty, neat and clean.

while waiting for the place to officially open at 10, some people went to get ready with their sports attire, meanwhile yours truly loitered around the souvenir shop and snapped some pictures.

We were given option to either join the team building activities or free-and-easy. I choose the latter, coz the team building activities are too strenuous for my physical body....old liao... 

I would say many of those activities here are super 'challenging'....as in jumping from 5th floor to the ground....although with strings attached (to slow down the motion) it still looks scary to me once at the top. I somehow don't trust the strings.

The park has dry area and wet area (water activities/pools). The wet area only opens at noon.

Here's me and a colleague comparing our shoes...play matchy matchy coz the shoes were bought from the same shop!

After tried some 'challenges' (flying fox, balancing on rope etc etc), i was exhausted and looking forward to the lunch!

It was provided by the organiser FOC. In case these foods are not enuff, we can still buy from the A&W kiosk located in the park. There is only one miserable food option in this park....nothing else besides A&W.

i had Coney dog, fried chicken and a plain bottled water...

Can't eat much coz later at noon i wanted to go for the longest water slide in the world, hence tried to avoid bloated stomach.

the chili for the coney dog

Just like a kid, i look forward to play water...but not these kind of slides....this is too steep for me....

but instead i had 3 rounds of world's longest slide - The 'Guinness World Record-setting slide', measuring 1,111 meters (3,645 feet). It wasn't scary coz the waterslide doesn't go fast. Instead, it was a cooling and windy 'ride'!

The water park has a huge pool with swings and slides too...very much like a kids playground...yea...it is for kids but adults can enjoy it too...the bucket at the top will pour gallons of water once full.

Enjoyable time at ESCAPE despite some bruises here & there due to the activities.

Company Dinner @ Grand Ballroom, Hard Rock Hotel Penang

The so called 'company dinner' was held together with the company trip, at the hotel ballroom.

It was a simple event with some games...and well...good food!

the Company Trip aka Spring Vacation (as the committee named it) was held from 24 to 27 March, kickstart with this buffet makan makan on 24 March.

Due to SOP, the committee arranged the seating with ample distancing. Only 5 person per table.

The entire ballroom was used, despite only a small number of us (less than 60 pax).

Before the dinner starts, we were given some challenges/games....one of it is solving a jigsaw puzzle. The fastest to complete will get a grand prize...

At the end of the day, everyone will get a prize whether it is consolation or top 3 prizes.

My team won the 1st place. Woohooo!

After then, the makan makan starts....we were served by the hotel staffs

Here are some of the dishes:

Fish fillets

I think this is chicken

Prawns in dark soy sauce

Beef...can't remember the exact dish name

Baked eggplant in cheese

Pumpkin dish

desserts....jackfruit sago soup

assorted local kuihs

assorted tarts and mini cakes/pastries

Belgian choco cake

(below) Dunno what cake is this...

(below) more cakes with weird decoration....LOL i m so lousy in describing food

yea....there's lots more till we couldn't finish...

and of course, we have fruits too...

and what is Hard Rock hotel dinner without the cocktails?

(below) this is not milk but some sort of smoothie....taste weird like melted ice-cream....I didn't manage to finish it!

Anyway, foods were great and everyone enjoyed the free flow of cocktails that evening.

Looking forward to the next day...

Here's daytime view from my room