Merchant's Lane Cafe, Kuala Lumpur

If ever you run out of places to go to in Kuala Lumpur, you can never go wrong with going on a food trip.  And if you are a social media savvy, an instagrammable food, cafe or restaurant is a bonus.

Merchant's Lane Cafe is exactly this.  Good food and coffee plus a quaint interior for your photos.

I ordered flat white coffee.  It was good but I prefer if it's a little sweeter.

For the main course, I had Hongkie Beef Stew.  The beef was slow cooked to perfection.  It's very tender that it melts in your mouth.  It came with mashed potatoes (under the beef), bokchoy and savory sweet barbecue like sauce.

Merchant's Lane Cafe is located near China Town.

Just a few steps away after this street sign.

It's easy to miss it but it's the first door (green color) of the building.  You have to climb the stairs to get to the dining area.

Merchant's Lane Cafe:

First Floor, 150, Jalan Petaling, Off Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur.

Opens at 11:00am to 8:00pm

Note:

This post is based on my personal experience only.

Please check their official page for the updated details.

Colmar Tropicale, Berjaya Hills Day Tour

I had a quick vacation in Malaysia last August 2017.  I attended a christening of my friend's daughter to whom I was chosen as one of the godmothers.  I extended my stay and took the chance to explore some new places and revisit some old.

First stop, Colmar Tropicale.

Colmar Tropicale is a French themed village and hotel in Berjaya Hills Resort, Bukit Tinggi, Pahang, Malaysia.  It is around an hour away from Kuala Lumpur so it's a perfect destination if you are looking for a day tour outside the city.

Make sure to book your trip in advance.  If you're going on a day tour, they have shuttle service from and to Berjaya Time Square to Colmar Tropicale.  Here are the schedule as of August 2017:

Berjaya Time Square to Colmar Tropicale:  9:30am / 12:00pm / 5:15pm / 8:30pm

Colmar Tropicale to Berjaya Time Square:  8:00am / 10:45am / 4:00pm / 7:30pm

Rate:  RM 60.00 / Adult / return shuttle (RM 55.00 4-12 years old)

Entrance:  RM 15.00  adult / RM 8.00 child

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to book in advance because they do not have an online facility for booking.  If you want to book online, you will have to email your credit card number in a form to authorize them to charge the amount.  I wasn't comfortable with providing my credit card number so I took a chance on buying the ticket early morning on the day of my trip.  Their ticketing office is at the 8th floor of Berjaya Time Square.  When I got there, it was already fully booked.  Mind you, it was a Monday!  I had no choice but to contract a taxi and negotiate a round trip fare plus waiting time.  The initial asking price of the taxi was RM 200.00.  I told them it was too much and I do not have money since I'm already going home the next day.  Final price that I agreed to pay for a round trip and 2 hours waiting time was RM 130.00.  That's more than double the amount of the shuttle!  Anyways, I agreed to it because I don't have anywhere else to go in KL for a whole day.

As expected, the Colmar Tropicale Village is perfect if you like taking pictures.  So even if I spent a lot to get there,  I enjoyed my quick stay at the village just by taking my own pictures lol.  There's nothing else to do after all. :D

There are also a few restaurants where you can have a snack or lunch.

For the final vedict, RM 130.00 plus is too much to spend for a half day or full day trip in Colmar Tropicale.  If you'll pay RM 60.00 to go here I'd say it's not bad.  Nevertheless, I was happy despite the struggles to make this trip happen.   And that's priceless. :)