Superb paella at Kaiku, Barcelona

JS with his lens at work under the warm winter sun
while Monkey was bz hopping around kicking the fine sand by the beach
yeah winter in the Mediterranean is pretty mild but that really depends


Barcelona is such a beautiful city
u get a lil bit of everything from art nouveau to gothic architecture, great tapas and ham, excellent spanish cavas for u to clink ur glasses....amazing FOOD, friendly ppl and the VIEW...
we must go again and I don't mind doin all of the above all over again
just that TIME is so limited and there's alwiz another city waiting to be explored
:))))))

and so from various readings and research, there's a quaint family run paella shop by the beach in Barcelona
it was not easy reading the address in Catalonian and locating it...
but thanks to google earth we managed to pin-point exactly where it is...
only thing was...we were standing along the beach trying to locate this shop that was SO NORMAL looking we missed it everytime we walked past


there were outstanding glass cafes by the beach
nice al fresco dining with blasting music
more al fresco nice avant garde cafe
and we didn't expect to find Kaiku here :)))


when we finally did, there weren't chairs and tables
there was nobody
even the lights were not switched on
Brave Monkey walked in and asked...if this is Kaiku? Is it open today? Are u open for lunch?
the staffs were then having their humongous lunch on a round table...all turned and looked at this tiny monkey speaking in such a squeaky voice coz I was intimidated by them and they dun speak english
hahahahahahhaa
then I continued to wave at them and smiled and did my famous HEEEEEEEEEE grin
-_-"


Lunch is only open at 1.00pm
sigh....an hour wait...
I've forgot....Catalonians have really late lunch...and tapas from 7.30pm onwards before proceeding for dinner at 10pm
and continue drinking till a.m.
just like the Greeks

the one hour was quite well spent...we walked along the famous beach
under beautiful palm trees
I felt like I was in L.A. hahahahhahaha
watching ppl rollerblading, jogging, walking their dogs
and some were sun-bathing.....
yes sun bathing in the winter


JS said they must be fr Iceland where they dun get a lot of Sun throughout the year
-_-"
Iceland???

the tall building in the picture resembling Al-Burj Arab is actually W Hotel Barcelona
built on reclaimed land out on the sea

and at 1.00pm sharp even before the staff could set up the cutlery on their table
we've already set out bums there :))))
such beautiful weather with sea view, we must sit at the terrace

what a beautiful pic composed by JS
our table was underneath beautiful tall palm trees
:))))))))))
so nice...I could hang out here forever

pickled mediterranean olives
I can't seem to find good quality olives in Malaysia
it's the usually commercialised brands


we started with a really refreshing salad
just look at how RED the tomatoes were!!!!
sun ripen on its wine...they were as sweet as nectar


lurve the pickled spanish onions innit
with the occasional refreshing bite of shaved zucchinis
toasted grains and Radiocchio
I dun really like radiocchio bcoz of the bitter after taste but this one was sweet??!?!?!!?
how come? 

another refreshing dish was this RAW Shrimps with dressing served with a very unique leaf
I can't remember the name of this dish

we have never tasted this leaf before

it has a long finish with a unique taste

I couldn't believe a small lil restaurant like this could create something this yummy and beautiful on the plate

our main course came!!!!!!!!!!!!

really really good Smoked Grain Seafood Paella
everything was just so perfect


the grain has got this smoky burnt flavour
sweetness from the broth of seafood and saffron

the grains were FAT
aren't they cute?
there were a lot of small pieces of octopus, shrimps innit

by the time we were done and Burped :P
the lunch crowd came...hehehehehhehehehe

The waiting staff was really friendly and recommended a yummy homemade chocolate cake
it's not the light type of cake but heavy ones with nuts and pieces of valencia orange peels innit


if u are looking for a fuss free simple menu, fresh produce from the market, family run paella place
this is the one....
dun waste time goin to those touristy restaurants
esp those that can speak good english
hahahhahahaha yes it's true and it applies on all countries that we've visited


we saw so many other paellas served on tourists table
and none of the looked like this
*I'm sure none taste like this too*


highly recommended
:))))


Kaiku Restaurant
Place del Mar 1, 
La Barceloneta,
Barcelona, Spain.
Tel: +93 221 9082
www.restaurantkaiku.cat

Picnic lunch at Kubu Beach

the 3 of us *including Berr of coz* were so looking fwd to our picnic lunch
coz it was set on a private beach down the cliff
with really AMAZING views!!!!!

once our Butler dropped us at the edge of the cliff
we just got stoned and mesmerized by its view

"are we really goin down there for lunch? are we even in Bali? this looked so Aussie!!!"
Mr. Butler: "Yes Madame, u are in Bali...this way please."

heheheheh pai seh pai seh until ppl have to remind me :P

Kubu Beach is about a few hundred steps down fr the cliff
it's situated bout 1km away fr the resort...so u can imagine how big Ayana Resort is!!!!

it's a mixture of sand and rocks
the surfs were kinda strong so swimming is definitely not recommended

yes we are almost there....just a couple of more steps
*Berr was inside my straw bag :D*

got our Bamboo cabana :D *eppy*
JS was really in the mood for a beach vacation
*see the green round fury thing next to me....:D that's Berr inside his pouch.....too sunny he said*

later a huge basket came with a truly authentic Balinese specialities

the staffs were so well prepared....came with towels...
set the lounge chairs....took our drink orders...
decked out a few tables to accommodate our truckload of things

*actually only JS's stuffs coz he brought his huge camera, lenses, tripods, peripherals etc*
and lastly set our lunch table :D

I must say Balinese rice were somehow different
will blog bout their beautiful rice terrace in the next few rounds :P
it's round, soft and fat....just like pearls of barley
it's so fine and came in individual grains instead of our usual lumpy rice

our picnic lunch
udang asam pedas - poached prawns with spring onions relish
*their sea prawns were HUGE*

ayam panggang - roast chicken salad with shallots

salada bebek bertutu - Balinese spit roasted duck salad

*Mr-No-Duck-No-Chicken got roast beef salad and more HUGE prawns*

tempe kering - soy sauce candied tempeh with potato

rempeyek kacang - rice flour crackers with peanut

lurve their lapis pengit - indonesian layered cake
which I forgotten to snap pic

lurve it so much that I saved it for dinner :P

fresh indonesian fruits - buah salak and local orange
salak is a palm fruit and not many ppl can accept it
it's either u like it or hate it
it's also called Snake Fruit for it's geli-ish skin :P

after the scrumptious lunch we lazed around for bout an hour with the panoramic view
it was really nice as the whole beach belongs to errm like 4 couples only :D

our straw hats....
I dun understand why his straw hat has to cost 10x of mine T_T

as Monkey & Berr were zzZZZzzzzzziinkk-ing away
JS worked on his photography skills

u can see there were only a few quaint bamboo cabana
with other facilities provided at this private beach

very nice pics he took there
think u need to feel the nature to capture the mood of this place
can't describe how bliss we were...u have to be there to feel it :))))))))))

then it's time to hit the pools!!!!
so many pools to choose from...

"Butler which is the best pool to go to?"
Butler: "Madame for privacy, may I recommend River Pool.....it is a combination of 7 cascading pools and a jacuzzi"

we nodded and let him whisked us back in a buggy
lil did we know....his definition of privacy was EXTREME
coz that 7 cascading pools...there were only JS, Berr and Monkey

-_-
WAHHHH I wanna stay here for a MONTH!!!!!

Pulau Manukan, Sabah

I wanna be here right now~~~~~
with Berr

how often can u just laze so close by the sea
with the waves almost touching your toes as it breaks onto the shore
right under a shady spot
and beautiful irregular rocks around ya

clear blue sky
with the occasional sea breeze brushing my face
and the view of Pulau Sapi right across

Total Bliss~~~~~

Manukan Island, Sabah

We arrived at Manukan late morning
*yes after the fun boat ride...hehehe*
the island was already packed with tourist
the last time we went to this island was 2007
:))))

the lovely jetty heading

JS camera was really good...
can see the corals kekekekeke
we walked to the other side of the island to get a nice shot across
the view of Sutera Harbour in red roof greeted us
backed up some beautiful mountains

This side of the island has more rocks and less tourist

the sea was so turquoise!!!!
and good visibility of corals
Monkey enjoying the sun
well how often do we get sun sitting inside the office?
this was the view I've been enjoying half the day
white sandy beach
swaying trees
the SEA!!!!
aaaAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh

later we walked around the island

Mamutik island is just right across

Monkey can't decide where to land her bum to enjoy the rest of her afternoon

every single spot seems so nice and I wished I can rent a hammock and sleep there
finally found a nice place under a beautiful tree

sooooo kenot resist ice creams!!!!!
JS was busy SNAPPING pics
and NAPPING O_O
zzzeeerrrrnnnkkkk

his view in between his legs
kakakkakakakakkakakaka
the 2 bummers sat under the tree for 2 hours I think
more like slept for 2 hours

Monkey bought tonnes of bread to feed the fish

come come.....it's makan time!!!!

no....they looked like prawns but they were not!!!
the colourful ones were parrot fish

I'm so sorry there's only plain stale bread for sale here
otherwise I would have bought you orange + poppy seed bread
cheese sticks, 5 grains bread and my favourite sourdough
:)))))))))))))

errrr I dun think I can feed them those :P
Manukan Island even provided tourist the definition and description
of each and every types of fish swimming there
as always there's an ending to every outing
and soon we hopped to Beach Bum for another
terrifying and fun ride home
hehehhehe

can always come back again
:))))))))))))))))