Pelicana Chicken @ Petaling Jaya

Pelicana Chicken, a Korean restaurant that has over 2,000 branches in South Korea itself. Main attraction of it, fragrant fried chicken that came with different spices and flavors.

The dishes are all pretty simple, yet stunningly delicious. My personal favorite, Peli Spicy D'Fish Burger. Tender fish meat, served with the special sauce and soft bun. It's not even that expensive, though. You could get it with only RM13.90.

Pelicana Chicken's best seller, the five flavors Peli Yang Nyeon chicken. Original, spring onion, charcoal BBQ and hot spice, you will never run out of option to select from.

Similar to any other restaurant, Pelicana Chicken serves its customer with some of the little dishes, which you could get with only RM4.50 each. The only thing that differs this restaurant from the rest, is that the little dishes were awesome. Korean fragrant, a mix of black sesame and seaweed. The smell itself, had me longing for more and more.

So next time if you're visiting E-Curve Mall, which next to IKEA, you may try out this restaurant.

Level 1, lot 1-43, Mutiara Damansara, Petaling Jaya.

Tel: 03-77320087

One last picture of myself. Could I finish up all of theses? Great promotion by Pelicana Chicken during Ramadhan. 33% off for this gigantic meal for six, which cost you only RM98.90.

My 5 obsessions with China

Hi guys ! My name is Ariq Rakoli and I'm the blogger for Ariq Travel Log. Over these few years, I had been obsessed with the Mainland China. After a short stay of six months in Beijing and Chongqing, I couldn't stop thinking of going back the very place again. Every year since then, I planned to have at least a trip to any province in the country. If there was anything to stop me from traveling, I would have this insane longing running through my head. Here are the five reasons for my obsessions:

1. The infinite history

Even since the years during high school, I was taught with some of the glorious history of China. The Three Kingdom, the Great Wall, the great Qin Dynasty and its emperor. All of these came straight to me as a great wonder. We do not have this in the place where I came from.

2. The variation of culture

56 ethnic and 33 different provinces, and that is exactly why I love this country. Wherever you go, there are all different. Don't get me started language itself. When you are a frequent traveler in a particular country, you'll keep looking for the dissimilarity in everywhere you go and China has it.

3. Here lays the strangest and the wondrous

From the oddest snack such as fried tarantulas and tiny scorpions, to the world's most amazing valley and mountains. China offers a wide range of stuff to be discovered. The only thing that keeping you from it, is your willingness to seek for it.

4. The Chinese beef noodles

And of course not just the noodles. If you look carefully into the menus, you will see the dishes are actually made distinctively. There is difference between warm and cold dishes, oily and dull soups, overly dried and watery platters. None of them were made with improper intention or mistake, they were just designed that way.

5. The welcoming locals

Ni hao ( hello ) or huan ying ( welcome ), the most common words greeted to me by the locals, regardless of their age or ethnicity. You could receive more of that warmth feeling if you were a foreigner with ability to converse in Mandarin, as they would delight to have further conversation with you.

Well, I believe there more to be discovered in this country. But for now, these are my best obsessions.

Suggested plan for BJ & GZ

There are plenty of ways for you to plan your trip. Sometimes it could be a slow pace kind of trip, or it could be a rushing trip where you wish to go all destinations in one single week.

In my own opinion, I would prefer to have something in between. Meaning, a slow moving trip that could cover all the possible destinations. So there you go, a couple of itinerary suggested by myself. Perhaps you could try it someday.

There are two different destinations - Beijing and Guangzhou. For those who wish to visit Beijing, I have suggested mostly the famous locations that we could in TV or magazines. But if you have something else in mind, don't halt that thought.

As for Guangzhou, I designed the trip mostly for those who wish to familiarize themselves with the trading there. Exactly like what I did last time. But in between, you could still visit some good places in Guangzhou.

Summer Palace in Beijing

Every time I get bored at home, I would just take out all the old photos I had and browse through them. Sometimes I would take notice on good photos I had, but never really shared them. What, that's a shame.

Summer Palace in Beijing, an enormous combination of Imperial Garden and Kunming Lake, with the built of ancient palace in the middle. The total size of this area could reach up to 3 square kilometers, which most of it is covered with water.

I went to visit this place on my first and second trip to Beijing. I liked it there. Back in Southeast Asia, the only location that this place reminded me was Thailand. Tiny river in the middle of the markets and streets, whereby you could see people commuting from one place to another using boat. But in Summer Palace, you could enjoy the awesome view of old palace, with some canals running in between.

Just in case if you had some extra cash, I would recommend you to take the tiny boat cruise across the little canals. If you were just like me, meaning a budget

traveler, just take you time to enjoy the view while strolling across the big castle.

As I said, the size was huge. It took us around 4 hours just to cover the whole area. We started from the back of this palace and slowly we climbed up to the top, and we walked down toward the main entrance. The photo below, that was the view we saw the moment we reached top. It was exactly like how they showed the palace in some old Chinese movie.

Aside from the architecture attraction, Summer Palace in Beijing also offered some other fun stuff to explore, such as these odd-looking relics. You could find stuff like these in every room inside the palace. Most of the were beautifully preserved over hundreds of years and you could only view it from the back of thick glass.

And of course, the souvenirs. I did see these adorable Chinese dolls and I was frantically attracted bu them. The were carefully carved and it would worth a fortune if I took it back to Malaysia. But you know what, it was freaking expensive.

Well, this castle was certainly huge. Some times you could just walk around and decided to take photo of anything. Even the electrical box. And perhaps this particular type of photo, regardless of any trip, sad and exhausted faces after non-stop walking.

If you were lucky enough during the morning, you could see some of the little shops there would offer you could drinks, served right inside a block of ice. That was pretty cool.

The trip was indeed fun. But mostly, it wasn't caused entire by the palace itself, it was my friends. These two lovely souls, they brought up the mood even when I kept whining on how tired I was.

But hey ! That lady seems familiar, doesn't she? Yeah, that's Hannah, the Canadian girl who paid me a visit last year. And the guy over there, he's the Russian teacher I met in college. I didn't study Russian, but somehow we were very close.

I uploaded these following photos, specially made for them. I certainly know that Hannah would read this, she reads all my writing. But the Russian guy, in the other hand, I am not so sure. I'm not going to tell him directly, though. Allow him to find out himself.

A little quote I'd like to share: "When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable - Cliffon Fadiman".

This is exactly why I love China. It gives me an unsavory vibe every time I stepped my foot there, but it never backs me down from having more.

Cheap Korean Food in Beijing

One of my favorite food in Beijing, was the Korean food near my school. Why ? It was super cheap. Like seriously, I could get a bowl of Bibimbap ( mixed rice ) for only 10 yuan and Kimchi Ramen for only 12 yuan. And ultimately, the menu that I had nearly every dinner, Kimbap ( rice roll ). And it cost me only 8 yuan for a long roll, which could be cut into 10 to 15 thin slices. Just look at the top photo, sweet fried egg, cucumber, carrot, ham and cabbage, rolled into fragrant pearl rice, which covered with soft and delicious seaweed. It was lovely. A plate of Kimnap and a bowl of sweet corn slaw, it made an absolute wonderful dinner.

There were about 4 to 5 mini Korean food restaurants around my school. Most of them served the same menu, but made with different taste. We could choose for take-away or just simply call for delivery. The deliveries were all for free, as long as we lived within a kilometer from the restaurant. So back in the days, when it got really cold outside, nobody would want to get out from bed. The delivery service was pretty useful for us and even the delivery guy recognized us already.

In the right photo, my friends and I were having a delicate meal of Korean Kimbap and some slaws. Just look at how happy there were. What ? You don't think they enjoyed their meals ? Well, if you were about to have a major performance in three hours time, of course no one could smile even to a tasty meal.

There will be more info sharing from me for the great meals in China. But for now, I will have to bid my goodbye and hopefully all of you could try this delicious meal someday.

Ramadhan Buffet Preview @ KL

You have no idea how grateful I felt when I received this invitation. It'd been two months since I got back from Guangzhou, and you know what, I hadn't had time to let myself lose a little. Adulthood, no one could argue that.

Fine dinning, Plus buffet. Meaning, a free flow of amazing cuisine. When it comes to food, nobody should underestimate my tiny little stomach. It could fit a human in it.

During this Ramadhan season, some of us would probably be thinking where to get KL's tastiest location to dine in. Well, let me tell you something, if you've got that extras to spend, why not try out Hotel Seri Pacific.

With the range from RM 70 to RM 110 net, you could actually have all these, without even stopping. Not advisable, though, if you were the kind of person who'd been dieting your entire life.

My personal favorite, would be the oyster and crayfishes. Barbecued oyster with custard and cream, that gave a milky and thick barbecue taste, and extreme fragrance of grilling. I had like six pieces of it before I had enough. Allergic.

Not just the seafood, this buffet in fact provides you various type of cuisine. Authentic Malay food, Indian, Japanese, Turkish and Chinese. But of course, they all come with different pricing.

While others were busy munching on their food, I took my time slowly interview the chefs. Wonderful people, lovely smiles, it doesn't surprise me the food tasted amazing. And the male chef over there, he purposely put the fire up when I tried taking photos. And he was like, "did you get that?" That was nice of him.

One thing for sure, I will absolutely miss those sashimi and kebabs. But no worries, there will be plenty more to come. Just enjoy the meal, guys.

My lovely Mom in Guangzhou

Previously on Ariq Travel Log ~ ~ ~ Lol. I was imagining my blog being made into a movie or TV series. It would be awesome, yet horrible at the same time.

Anyways, if any of you have read my previous article, I actually shared some of my latest trip to Guangzhou. I did realize it was boring. So, to get a little bit of personal, let me present you this lovely photo on top. My dear mom, who was so thrilled for her first trip to China.

Travel with your love one, they say. To be honest, Guangzhou city is not a place for you to bring you parents to. I'm not saying that it's terrible or anything, it just that, there are plenty of other good places that you could go with the same kind of budget. Well, it's a shame that I got to know a bit later.

Fortunately, my mom's presence somehow had adjusted the entire mode. It was supposed to be a full-time tour guide job for me. Well, since she was around, I got to have some good time there.

One's success will never be meaningful if you can't share it. It felt great every time my mom asked me about this country, and I could answer it straight away. It's not really a big deal, but it feels wonderful to be able to share. Especially with the one you care most.

One thing I could tell after spending a week with this group of seniors - they were lovely. You know, sort of like the mix of adorable and heart-warming.

If you still don't get it, let just put it this way - when a young teenager decides to spend money on his trip, he only thinks of how much does the souvenir worth or will it look cool of he brings it home. This group, on the other hand, spent most of their money purchasing stuff for their kids, or even grandchildren.

"Will my granddaughter fit to wear this?" Or, "Do you think my son would love this?" I was with them the whole day, from morning till midnight. So, I knew what were they searching for most of the time. It was unlike any other young people. These were a group of great parents.

The last two days of our trip, our group separated into two. Three of them decided to take the train and headed to Hong Kong. A-day trip. It sounded short, but that was all the time they had. As for the rest of us, including my mom, we stayed. I planned to utilized these two days to discover more of Guangzhou city.

A plain city, that filled with tons of unknown sides, that was how I saw it. There was one particular spot that I'd been craving to take my mom to. the Huaisheng Masjid.

Well, coming from the South-east region, most of the masjids here all designed with some Islamic architecture. A huge kubah, with a distinctive crescent moon on top of it. But after getting here, it gave my mom a different idea on how the Muslims in China designed their masjid.

The main prayer room that resembled a Buddhist temple, wall of manuscripts that carved with Chinese characters, and the entrance that would never make anyone assume it was a masjid. I just loved it.

Anyways, this is a post that specially made for my dear mom. SO there you go, some of the photos of her alone. She has always been awkward in front of camera, as if she forced herself to be in front of it, knowing the fact that she could not escape from being a model, and she tried so hard acting brave in every photo. Well, that sounds pretty much like me.

Every time I had her to get ready for photos, a smile drawn to her cheeks instantly. Most of the time, I would draw up my camera slowly and I did not intend to take the shot at the first sight. I let her be still for a couple of seconds. I let her be in the state where she could be deluded with joy. That temporary happiness, that angelic smile, it was what I found amazing while taking all these photos.

Time flies, and I accepted it with an open heart. You do not wish the time to freeze, you move one and seek for the next memorable moment. That's how I deal with life.

After a week of exhaustion, well, we should better get going. Just like any other trip before, I tended to have mixed feeling while waiting for the flight. I wanted to stay longer, at the same time, I missed home. It was brief, but not being able to have banana cake or coconut rice as breakfast, it just hurt.

I'm not going to lie, this was not my best trip ever. But like I said before, her presence changed it all. It wasn't the trip that made it memorable, it was her.

I truly appreciate for you guys to read this post. It took me quite sometimes to come out with the best words. It just has to be special.

Feel free to look for me, or contact me, or whatsapp me. I would love to share my information regarding this city.

"Never go on trips with anyone you do not love - Ernest Hemingway" Grab the hand of you love ones, and start creating your own everlasting memory.