Ri Yatz Heritage Hi Tea Buffet

Seriously i don't like the weather now. I don't like too much rain cz its not only cold, it's wet and inconvenient. On top of that, we are currently in anesthesia posting and everyday also hv class in the super cold icu seminar room. Sitting there for an hour or so felt like being in a freezer. Luckily, last weekend, it was sunny and hot and we could go out and have some fun. :D

Since we got 3 days off, we went to the nicest (in term of most cosy and warm and classy and beautiful) place in KT, Ri Yatz Heritage to try their hi tea buffet which was said to be the best in town. Yes, it's buffet time. hehe The Monsoon Cup has not started yet (this place is well known for hosting the Monsoon Cup each yr) but we saw some of the contestants there already. hehe. I was here at the Monsoon Cup last yr so i know how crowded and lively this place is gna get in a few days.

Soon, plenty of colourful sailing yachts will fill up this place. Normally, Kuala Terengganu town can be seen from here. Saw those tiny buildings in the distance? Thats Kuala Terengganu town or to be exact the Bazaar Warisan side.

Pulau Duyong in the distance - famous for crafts, boat making and lekor making.

The monsoon wind giving off the hair ad effect on Sarah's hair :p

Because we knew we were going for hi tea, we skipped breakfast and lunch just to ensure we could ate to the max! haha

The Verandah Restaurant of Ri Yatz. You can actually choose to dine al fresco or inside with the air con. Personally i preferred al fresco cz the wind was so nice and you can hv nice scenery of the surrounding accompanying you while you enjoy ur hi tea but it was fully booked outside so we had to dine inside.

Ms. Ally Later will come later. (pun intended)

The row of main course.

Nasi Minyak (a Terengganu specialty), ketupat, lemang and curry chicken (curry chicken cant be seen in this pic but it's the 4th tray from the left)

Roti jala and peanut sauce. I like roti jala. Nice.

Beef rendang. Honestly this is really good. One of my fav among all the food there that day. The beef is tender enough and there's no beefy smell. Yum. :p

Baked pasta - contrary to the beef rendang, this is actually quite bad. Even the cheese cant save the taste of it as the cheese is over baked causing it to be chao ta (burnt) and the pasta itself is pretty tasteless.

Someone said this looks like jelly. hahaha

The desert corner. Disappointing cz how can u have a desert corner that does not have cheesecakes?? or ice creams?? Typically they do have quite a variety of other cakes like blueberry, banana, chocolate, butter etc. And typical traditional Malay kuih. I did not try the jelly tho but it looks way too sweet.

Looks can be deceiving so never judge a book by it's cover :)

The kuih are so-so also.

Glasses of plain water was better than the orange and longan juice which were horrible. The juices tasted too artificial and sweet.


Ice kacang corner

Banana fritters and otak-otak

This is another of my fav. Beef burger. He will grilled the burger for us on the spot so the burgers were hot and fresh.

Look at the beef patty sizzling on the hot plate

And the best part of this beef burger is the bun. Like serious. The bun is very sweet and buttery. So good you can even eat it on its own. haha

Penang laksa corner. Surprisingly, it tasted quite ok also the penang laksa. Cz i think the soup is thick enough.

Sandwiches and salad

Smoked salmon and ham on bread. Quite good too.

Rojak petis. The sauce too spicy for my liking tho.

And lastly fruits fuits.

Everyone happy, sleepy (cz after eating a lot, wna turn into pigs dy) and contented after their meal.

The four guys

After eating, we decided to enhanced our digestion by walking around the beautiful chalets. After all the weather is so good, why waste it. haha. The chalets are very old-style, classic looking. Looks like a very cosy and peaceful place to spend a nite.

Then we hang around the pool side while the sun started to set. I felt like swimming one cz the water looks so inviting and theres no rain and the sun was setting so not so hot. But, din bring any swimsuit cz thats not part of the plan.

This fellow swam with his sunglass on. Not a bad idea especially when u wna swim back stroke like this.

End of the pool.

Another pic by the pretty pool side

Love in the air, literally!

But while the sun had not fully set, the moon was already halfway out on the other side of the sky.

Then we moved on to another spot just enjoying the rest of the evening watching birds and sky and the natural beauty. It was a feeling that amused you inside and makes you light and happy. ;)

Ahem, dont u wish our uni have a spot like this where students can go hang out and de stress in the beautiful environment?

His shirt so ngam blend in with the grass. Actually the grass quite poky dno how he can stand the poking grass. haha

The evening sky. I like sky like dat.

More of the sky. hehe

And another one. Well you dont get to see sky like dat everyday.

The reflection of the setting sun.

A boat making garage

Birds fly high and free

Their home unpolluted by men.

As the boatmen head home, we finally decided to head home too.

Overall, the buffet was ok. Really i think it's the best in Kuala Terengganu too compared with the rest of the hi tea buffets i had tried. And for only RM 26.50 per person, it's really quite reasonable too for that kinda ambience, setting and food quality. :)

PS : All photos of the day was taken by DD so all credit goes to him. :)

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Redang Underwater

As promised, Redang underwater pics!! :)

After seeing Redang above water, it's time to continue being amazed by it's beauty undewater. It's my 1st attempt at underwater pics so they might not make you go 'WOW' but it does not matter. Cz then only you will go and c for yourself and then you can go 'WOW'.

Redang underwater world is so beautiful that i cant resist trying to capture what i saw to share with all of you. Looking back at the pictures i can still feel myself snorkeling amidst all those colourful, pretty fishes, looking at the corals, swimming through the clear, blue water and swallowing mouthfuls of salty sea water.

Remember the Kodak disposable camera i bought b4 going Redang? Well, in my opinion, if you are planning to be actively involve in scuba diving or snorkeling and is interested to capture all those beautiful underwater creatures cz they are jz too irresistable, then might as well invest in a waterproof casing for your camera instead of getting the disposable one. Cz there are too many limitations to the disposable one. Firstly, it can only take up to 26 pics (simply not enough cz being buoyant and shaky underwater, it is very likely pics turn out blur so u hv to take multiple shots on one thing jz to get a pic that turn out nice). Secondly, the color of the pics are not sharp and natural enough. All the pics will turn out vintage looking. Thirdly, it cant zoom very far and you practically cant make out much details of the things u take with the zoom.

Nonetheless, if you are an occasional underwater person or jz wna take a pic or 2 for rememberance sake, then it's ok to get the camera. :)

Here are some samples of pics i took with the disposable camera :

Sample 1 - this is not the original color of the fish (which u will see in below pics) and dont u think the pics look so vintage? haha

Sample 2 - under enough sunlight, the pics are actually quite clear but still lack the sharpness of color

Sample 3 - Above water, the pics are ok. For rememberance sake!

We went snorkeling at 4 different spots altogether. Laguna brought us to 3 spots and we went to the shark bay (if you dont know where, click here) ourselves. I know one of the spot is the marine conservation park which we need to pay a conservation fee of RM 5 but the other 2 spot is somewhere in the middle of the open sea so all i knew was i was in the middle of the South China Sea.

When i went to the 1st snorkeling spot, i was so amazed and thrilled to look at all those fishes and corals and when the fishes swam past me, their scaly, slimy body touching me, i actually felt very 'geli'. What i love about this 1st spot are the Christmas tree soft corals (not Christmas trees on land but in the water, dont play play) that the guide showed us and also all the clownfishes (imagine all the little cute Nemos) playing peek-a-boo. So cute i tell u i felt like smuggling one back. :p

Din get to capture any pic of the Christmas tree so wont spoil it for you all who never seen it before. Go Redang to see it for urself so that you'll be awed and amazed like me. hehe. The Christmas tree will closed up like a round button when not touch and once you touched it, it will open up and unfold it's branches looking like a Christmas tree! So so so pretty.

Laguna also provides underwater photography service so they helped us to captured some of these pics :

By Laguna 1 - I had to hold my breath and tried to stay as long as possible underwater for them to capture the pic. Can fl my lung expanding to the max! I only like this pic cz this is the only pic i had with Nemo and the sea anemones altho Nemo is like hidden there at the far end of the pic. (Nemo v shy one always hide among the sea anemones so v hard to capture their pics. After a few attempts, i gave up and enjoy looking at them instead. I think Cotton Island got more nemos)

By Laguna 2 - I love this pic so much. This is how it felt like to be skin diving. Cool.

By Laguna 3 - The fish looked photoshopped here but it is not!

By Laguna 4 - The ultimate poser. hahaha but i like his pose. Superman in water!

For day 2 we rent a camera from Pelangi Resort (Sony T100) cz after day 1, im convinced we are too attracted by the underwater beauty that i wna share it with everyone so that u all will get attracted and tempted also and go Redang (im doing free promo for Redang now cz i love that place.. haha).

Day 2 1st spot - Marine conservation park

Unfortunately, i din get to see any turtles or stingray here cz according to the guides, turtles can be found here during the peak season and even stingrays are spotted.

Smile for the camera :) My goggles 1/4 with water already.

With a bright sun (that is causing sun burn), the pics will turn out clearer and better and the fishes will reflect the sunlight and look even prettier.

Some soft corals

Dead corals at the sea bed

Dont ask me what are the names of the fishes cz i dno what species they are other than the few common or dangerous ones. All i know is they are all very pretty and friendly and hungry! So some of their names are created by me base solely on how they look. Correct me if you know their names. hehe

Part of a shipwreck that is found in the conservation park. Snorkeling around the shipwreck can be dangerous cz they mite look innocent from far but in real, they hv sharp edges and surface that can cut you real deep. And they are made of strong metals so if you hit against them, it is very painful one even though u r in water and pain is suppose to be much less in water.

Some parts of the ship wreck.

Colorful corals growing on parts of the wreck

Hard corals

These black and white stripey fishes are the most common and is found in abundance. And they are very hungry fishes too.

The fish must be wondering what i am doing taking its pic

Just for fun

At some spots, there will be zero fishes in sight and then at some spots suddenly, there are just plenty of different type of fishes surrounding you. So many that you don't have time to take all their pics cz they swam very quickly too.

A blue fish and a bigger version of black and white stripey fish

Suddenly this big colorful fish jz swam right in front of me. It's one of the most beautiful fish i had seen especially when it's scales reflect the bright sunlight. Like rainbow. And the fish below it is a blue polka dot fish.

The yellow fish again. So outstanding.

You know why i said they are hungry fishes? See.. they all swimming towards the bread

Them in abundance. Got black and white stripey and black and white with a hint of yellow stripey. Maybe they are cousins.

This is one of the 'ugly' fierce looking fish i saw cz it has sharp teeth! But it swims very slowly one. Not as agile and active as some of the other smaller fishes.

Saw the 2 fishes kissing anot?? So loving. Fishes also know how to pda. haha

The fierce fish heading straight towards me. Faster take a close up pic of it and swam away. Quite scary also when it comes straight in ur direction.

Aonther pic of it

The white pompret look-alike, fierce looking fish and orange polka dots fish

This was quite near the shore dy. A lot of these white pomprets-look alike near the shore. But i dont think they are the white pomprets we usually eat.

More and more of them going for the bread

So many till it started to get scary!! Now u know. If you want to be surrounded by the fishes, just get some bread and they all will come like a magnet.

Until one point i felt too geli, i resurface to the water with my bread and then they started biting me instead. Hungry naughty fishes!

After lunch, we were brought to our 3rd spot which was after the Man and Woman Island. The fishes here are even prettier and it's much cleaner here too. My fav spot of the 3 spots.

Corals

Can see the black sea cucumber right in the middle?

Most of the fishes can camouflage very well among the corals and rocks. See if you can spot the fish here.

Chewing on the corals

This is like my fav pic of the bunch. The whole school of anchovies swam right past me jz like dat. It was truly a sight to behold.

Another beautiful pic.

Half black and half silver fish. Camouflage pretty well also this little fellow. See can spot anot.

A small blue/yellow fish among the large coral

More camouflage

This fish also very pretty. Got red lips like applying lipstick

The dark blue fish swimming mysteriously among the hard corals. I know they are hard cz here was where i got my abrasions.

Giant sea clams

Dont you jz love how blue the water really is

Spot the fish!

And this too. Spot the fish!

Blue nose and black body fish

Can you see a baby 'elephant'?

Dno what fish. Know it camouflages pretty well also

Cute yellow little fishes

Half yellow and light blue fish

Pretty sight right?

Another super colurful beautiful fish that stands out from the school of greyish looking fish.

A variety of them living in harmony

Ikan ikan yang banyak dan cantik

Fish fish swimming in the sea (running out of caption)

Saw the 'tiger' fish? Cz got orange and white stripes. lol

Another fish feeding on the corals

Black sea cucumber and a rock looking fish

In one with the sand bed


When you touches it, it actually contracts and closes.

And then the batt died so we went to the last spot, which is the shark bay and managed to capture one last pic of the baby shark we saw.

Baby shark in the distance. When we saw the first baby shark from far, we were so excited and if you can screamed in water, we would. But when one of the baby shark swam right straight in our direction, it wasnt even exciting or funny at all. It was scary! Cz even tho it's a baby shark that is said to have no known history of biting any humans, there's always a first time. Luckily it turned into another direction right b4 knocking us straight into our face ( they say when you see sharks you shdnt move or try to swim away cz it will further trigger them to attack you. I think it might be true cz we din move and the shark went another way!! )

And other than the baby sharks, there are many many pretty colourful and polka dots fishes in the shark bay too.

Seriously, i don't think the pictures can do enough justice to the marine life and the beauty under water. There are many many more beautiful and pretty fishes but of course not all of them are captured on camera. The fun part of the snorkeling experience is in kicking and battling the sea waves swimming after the fishes who swam even faster or just slowly snorkel as u take in what u normally cant see from land. Let the fishes come surround you, let their scaly body glide against you, let the sea water hit against u as u take in mouthful after mouthful of salt water and let the sun above show no mercy on you. Thankfully, the pollution level is still ok so the waters are still clear and there are still aplenty fishes. Quite sad to think of what happens in the next 50 yrs if Redang becomes so badly polluted and there's no more fishes.

I came up after all the hours of snorkeling baked, beat and cut. But it's all worth it. Cz i totally enjoyed the tranquility of being surrounded by the natural beauty underwater and it amused me to see school and school of fishes swimming round and round having the time of their life.

I definitely enjoyed my whole Redang trip and i wna thanks DD for making it happen. Yay :D

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