Grandma Sponge Cake (KK FoodieVenture #218)

We'd never roam around the Jesselton Quay area before even though we passed by them a lot so we got a bit curious on time and decided to see what was up with the place. Quite a lot of shops have opened within the JQ Central (the lower part of the massive building where all the shops were) and this one caught our attention. Mind you, they're located at the backside of said area so we'd only noticed them when we'd parked our car at the back. I've heard that Sarawak's sponge cakes were quite popular so we tried a small packet of their namesake to see how it tasted and it was pretty good. It was sweet and airy, which reminded me of that small & simple cupcakes being sold in old school bakeries during my school days. We'd also tried their Cheezy Watermelon drink (sans the cheese 😅) and it was just nice. The place itself was also well decorated and has a great hangout vibe which we loved. 

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UTAN Restoran dan Kafe (KK FoodieVenture #217)

As I went through some KK based foodies social media for lunch ideas, this place came up quite a few times. The location itself was confusing to us non-locals but thanks to Waze we'd managed to get there safe and sound (they're at the backside of Toyota Putatan building at Jalan Sekolah Petagas, Kampung Petagas). And it would be advisable to visit around the evenings as even though the jungle inspired decor were lovely, the heat & sunlight might be bothersome since they're an open aired, no air conditioning establishment. The food also took a bit of a time to reach your table especially during peak hours but I have to say that the food that we had were delicious. We'd ordered their Nasi Kuning Pandan, Ikan Goreng Kunyit and Classic Malay Satay and all were very tasty, well presented and seasoned. Definitely worth a try should you're not in a hurry. 

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Ramenya Imago (KK FoodieVenture #216)

At one time during dinner, I was left to my own devices at Imago Shopping Mall because my hubby was off catching up with an old friend of his. Hence I went to a place where I know he wasn't going to take me anytime soon (since he isn't a fan of ramen) which is located on the ground floor of said mall, its entrance facing the outside of the building (facing the KK Times Square to be exact - on the same row as Grill Patio). As expected, the place has a variety of ramen as well as Japanese rice sets. I went with their Smokey BBQ Chicken Truffle Ramen and it was superb. The broth was rich and savory, just how I like them.  I also like the overall ambience of the place, as it was obviously Japanese inspired.

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Outward Vacay: SSVC @ Gaya Street KK

Yup, the somewhat recent 'long' holidays for The Harvest Festival (Kaamatan) has not come to waste for me and my hubby as we made our way to KK yet again, to clear our heads from our daily stresses (of course 😉).  

So we've actually stayed at the Mercure Kota Kinabalu City Centre before (located at the end of Gaya Street, nearest to the Jesselton Point Ferry Terminal) but I think even before the MCO started, they had already outsourced their apartments to outside operators which I'm guessing is to cut some operating costs. So the one that me and my hubby had rented was operated by the Sunset Seaview Vacation Condos (SSCV) which also ran a slew of other apartments all over KK. And by the looks of it the apartment that we had still maintained its original look (judging by its similar designs with their hotel room). The views from the apartment were also great and the apartment was more than spacious enough for the both of us but just like other Airbnb styled rented homes, no housekeeping were available during our stay (even though they're literally still within the Mercure Hotel - heck we even shared the same lobby area and lifts with the hotel guests). Also the apartment doesn't provide a washing machine (but there's a coin laundry just steps away from the hotel) and it's a struggle to find a public parking nearby. But on the bright side, at least they're walkable to the Suria Sabah mall and we got to use the hotel's swimming pool. Oh and checking in and out were also very easy and straightforward (without any receptionists to deal with) so kudos for that. 

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