Outward Vacay: Cottonhouz by Ayuhouz

I admit that the main reason why I eventually stayed at this relatively new boutique hotel was because of their eye-catching reception booth (yup, an actual booth rather than a lobby) in the middle of KK Times Square, Kota Kinabalu. The booth itself is located at the back of Dojo Nanyang Kopi House and adjoining to the Fishmarket Restaurant. But to access their rooms, you need to walk towards the staircase right next to said restaurant, where you will also find a lift. Although you can only access the room area with a valid keycard, safely might still be an issue going in and out of the place. Plus they shared the same floors as the Vibrant Hostel. Room wise, everything is still brand new & clean which was nice. Although predictably the sizing might be on the smaller side but there's still space for you to put your things. There's also a TV equipped within the room but with no available channels (unless you have your own Netflix/Prime Video account). And do be careful when using their shower/bathroom as the tiles were those slippery types. Also the hotel does not provide any free parkings (but paid public parkings are available) & they do required a deposit of RM100 per room upon check in. 

Type - Standard Queen 

Room - 5/5 (small but clean & still in its 'new' stage)

Price - 4/5 (affordable for its prime location)

Service - 4/5 (I appreciated the staff's efforts to store guest luggages within their very small reception booth)

Decor - 5/5 (again,key word here is 'new' so still very pretty la)

Facilities - 4/5 (at least they did provide a lounge area on every floor for guests to enjoy)

Location - 5/5 (walkable to and fro Imago Shopping Mall & just pin Dojo KK Times Square should you wish to use Grab)

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

ILike & Yogurt In A Can City Mall (KK FoodieVenture #271)

And last but least I'd also stopped by this yogurt drink kiosk located on the ground floor of City Mall KK (right in front of game shop Kiara Kristal Toys) to sample their (ironically not yogurt drink) Watermelon Peach Fruit Tea. I was waiting for my hubby to finish his 'business' inside the game shop so I pretty much decided on a whim to try them out. I was quite surprised to find out later that it was an international brand. The beverage that I had were actually quite tasty & refreshing. It might not be any different from other fruit teas out there but still pretty satisfying in my opinion. 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

XOCO City Mall (KK FoodieVenture #270)

I actually wanted to go somewhere else for some coffee (like I actually drink coffee 😆) but me and my hubby stumbled upon this cafe as we were strolling around City Mall KK (their located on the ground floor, the right side outer part of said mall if you entered from the main entrance). We were intrigued so we decided to go in and try out their Signature Chocolate drinks (mine was hot, his was iced) and some Chocolate Chilli Cheesecake. It was my first time trying such cake and I actually I liked it (my hubby not so much as he thought it tasted weird). It tasted more like a chocolate cheesecake but with slight spiciness as an after effect. The drink was also very nice but nothing note worthy I'm afraid. But it is definitely a great place for people to just hangout or if you want to have a quiet me time as the ambience were very chill and the staff were very accommodating. 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

BSGrill Warisan Square (KK FoodieVenture #269)

My husband has been mentioning this Malay owned western eatery to me a couple of times since he followed said owner on Tiktok. And because we were staying within the area (their on the ground floor of Warisan Square, on the same row as Cha Inherit) we decided to check out the car enthusiasts themed eatery (the owner also sells car accessories so...) while we were there. This is actually their latest branch as they also have other outlets in Putatan and Kingfisher. My Charcoal Grilled Chicken Burger was very juicy and nice while my hubby proclaimed that their Lamb Chop+Beef Burger combo were his current faves. Pricing was very affordable as well and portioning were okay for the price. The overall ambience was also pretty chill so a must try for any local western food lovers. 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Oriental Kopi Suria Sabah (KK FoodieVenture #268)

With the unprecedented long public holidays recently (whole 5 days here in Sabah mind you including the weekend) it was only 'logical' (ehem) that me and my hubby unwind ourselves in good old KK. And legit question though; does Brunei have similar holidays with us as I often noticed them descending upon KK whenever we had school holidays? 

Anyways we were in the mood to wait-in-line for the much hyped Oriental Kopi outlet on the 1st floor of Suria Sabah mall since the crowd seems to be manageable when we walked by. It took us probably 20 minutes or so to be seated so it wasn't that bad when we were there. But I do noticed that the waiting time for larger crowd (more than 4 person) tends to be longer since it is easier to seat 1-4 person according to the size of their tables. 

The menu items were pretty extensive as well which made both of us a bit 'rambang mata' (I only managed to snap just a few pages of the actual menu below). We got greedy and ordered their staple 6+1 Oriental Egg Tarts. And yes, we did had to 'tapau' it back with us since we didn't expect it to be thick & err.. high (?) in terms of sizing. But we actually liked the (very) crumbling texture & (very) soft egg feelings. And I have to say that I'm in loved with their Peanut Toast as the generous (watery) peanut butter spread was just chef's kiss. We also had their Malay Fried Rice and Kampung Meehoon with Fried Chicken Meat and both were commendable as portioning were rather big as well. 

So would I come back and braved the waiting line again for them in the future? Maybe.. If I had a craving for the Peanut Toast. Their drinks were also okay but nothing outstanding I'm afraid.

• 
• 
• 
• 
•