Category Archives: Halal

Christmas, Eats, George Town, Halal, Sea, Stays, Travel

By-the-Beach

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The view from the parking lot at sunset is a warm enough welcome to Penang’s latest accommodation-by-the-sea, Hompton By The Beach.

Dottie and Steph are very blessed to be taking in such beauty when they step into work each day was my first impression when taking in this sunset.

The hotel and its staff are unpretentious , judging from the warm hospitality, genuine smiles and good food served earlier.

The fresh salmon and tuna won me over and were such a welcome from the usual frozen variety found in other establishments.

The festive-themed buffet dinner was all about freshness and good taste and it did not have the taste of the usually mass-produced food found in hotel buffet lines.

Even the Christmas desserts – like the fruit cake and panna cotta – had a home-made touch and taste to it.

The Seafood Galore Buffet Dinner on Saturdays and Sundays from 7pm-10pm is priced at RM108 nett for adults with free flow of beer and red and white wines (senior citizens are charged RM88 nett). The buffet only option costs RM78 nett per person (senior citizens aged 55 and above pay RM58 nett) Kids aged 12 and below dine for free. And the best part is that it is served in the hotel’s sea-fronting Spice Garden outlet on Level 11.

A special promotion currently has buy 3, pay for 2, buy 5 pay for 3 and buy 7 pay for 4 deals respectively.

Call 04-3733233 to book your tasty dinner with an awesome view!

Eats, George Town, Halal, Shop, Style, Travel

Athene the Spice Girl

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I met this purveyor of artisan spices two years ago at her “spice laboratory” in Relau on the island.

The warmth and bubbly personality matched her colourful and aromatic spices as did her passion for cooking and sharing food and recipes.

Faten Rafie (or Athene to family and close friends) is the force behind the ‘Athene Spices’ brand of artisan spice blends and rubs, which are designed and created for home cooks to make easy, yet exciting dishes.

They are all natural, free of artificial colours, flavours, preservatives and MSG-free.

Just staring at the colourful contents of her bottled spices is enough to inspire the foodie in all of us and here’s why:

Her recipes are so easy to follow and end up looking like one has slaved for hours in the kitchen!

Befitting its premium tag, Athene Spices products are targeted at those with greater purchasing power and exposed to international cuisines, and also the health conscious, who do not want oil or sodium in the food they prepare and consume.

For this Ramadhan season, Faten has kindly shared some recipes below which include her famous spices which have found their way into Malaysian kitchens and restaurants at home and abroad.

Together with her businessman husband Azizi Hassan, Faten sources her spices like nutmeg pepper locally, and mix them into their distinct products with labels like Hot Chick Spicy Salt, Lemon Lime Pepper Salt, Mandy Spice Mix, Lebanese Za’atar, Moroccan Ras el Hanout and Hyderabad Biryani… to name a few, for retail and wholesale.

Check out her online spice shop at http://www.athenespices.com

If you are in Penang, her spices at stocked at both the Tropical Spice Garden’s gift shop at Teluk Bahang or The Tropical Spice Garden In the City store in George Town.

They make great gifts for Hari Raya open houses or to pop into a festive hamper.

(Images courtesy of Faten Rafie and NST)

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Eats, Halal, Travel

Red, yellow, white & blue (cupcakes)

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The bake-off fever continues to rage at Flex Malaysia with a special cupcake wars event to celebrate Malaysia’s 60th birthday.

What better way than to party with the nation and each other, than by baking dainty cupcakes, decorating them meticulously in colours found on the ‘Jalur Gemilang’ and then feeding your colleagues and bosses with these creations?

This is precisely what 36 Flex Johor employees did yesterday at the Senai (medical) facility. The lobby and a portion of the first floor had temporarily morphed into a mini bakery where cupcakes ruled the day! Thank you Alex and Ken for working your magic!

The Flex Merdeka Cupcake Wars was all about colour, creativity, cooperation and consumption (of the cakes!)

Judges Stella, Joe, Rebecca & Ed had the enviable task of eating their way through 18 cupcakes (and fears of going into a sugar coma!) which were lovingly baked and decorated by Flex employees from the Johor sites in Senai, Port of Tanjung Pelepas and Skudai.

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Theirs was not an easy task as they had to make a second round among all the baking stations set up to be absolutely certain of their deciding votes for the cupcakes.

Val’s decision to acknowledge a surprise category of bakers with an additional mystery prize, is a reflection of Flex’s care and recognition of employees who go the extra mile.

Following very closely to the chosen theme of ‘Colours of Malaysia”, the teams gave their all in attending to the smallest of details, while staying calm and baking on.

The goodwill and new links forged were so apparent when a team had to turn to the other competitors for some extra eggs when theirs became runny and threatened to affect their cupcakes.

Equally heart-warming was seeing a judge help in assisting a team which was having difficulty using an attachment on their baking appliance, while another judge stepped in to assist with the photography set-up.

And the Pensonic products continue to spark joy among all the participating Flex bakers who now have some new baking goodies to call their own.

Happy Birthday, Malaysia!

Eats, Festivals, Halal

Cookie Bake-Off with Flex

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They came, they baked and impressed the judges, their colleagues and all cookie monsters present! Forty Flex Penang employees comprising 20 teams rose to the challenge yesterday in displaying their baking prowess at making Hari Raya cookies. 

Left to concoct their own recipes or fall back on traditional festive ones, the teams did Flex proud by displaying so much love, joy and pride in what they were doing while having fun.


Stella, Faten and Joe had a field day sampling the bakers’ delights and Val conceded that every single team and their cheering supporters present were winners. The attention to detail, creativity and taste were amazing while Flex’s generosity in allowing the bakers to take home the Pensonic ovens and cake mixers and a host of other goodies are enough reason for it to remain employer of choice and have more employees asking for more corporate cooking events.


Pensonic’s abilities in organizing cooking events were put to the test and they emerged with flying colours and have proven that their corporate headquarters are more than just a place to view their products and impressive test kitchens, but also a spot to cook and have fun in.

Eats, Halal

Time-out in Tambun

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Bukit Tambun on mainland Penang is only a 45-minute ride from George Town on a traffic-clear day. The drive to this fishing village is one which is akin to taking a chill pill. Swaying coconut trees, cool breezes and a laid-back way of life greet any stressed out person driving into the village. Defences are let down as one takes in the slip-slap of the waves while fishermen take off or return on their boats. The healthy and green mangroves also lend a sense of calm to the senses as one delves into fresh seafood offerings at the various eateries built on stilts.

The star dish of the day was the Crab Fried Rice recommended by Ed for my crustacean-loving friends.
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