KOI The Imago (KK FoodieVenture #201)

It's almost the end of month again and I'm still back-to-back with work (and dreaming of my long end-of-the-year break which cannot come any sooner). And as I went through my collection of foodie pics recently (yup, it's steadily growing again but without any signs of being post out any time soon 😌) I noticed that I have (yet again) forgot to post this along with my previous KK posts. But better late than never right?

Yes, like any other self proclaimed bubble tea enthusiast (but had to slow down a bit due to health issues), I was obviously familiar with this brand that has finally made its way to our shores. So I've tried their newly promoted Dark Lava Milk Tea and it was err.. okay I guess; tasted like any other dirty chocolate milk tea that I've had before. I did read numerous reviews before stating that this brand might not be on par with some other big name tea establishments out there and there might be some truth to it. I'm not saying that its bad but I guess I was expecting more. But then again, I might want to give some of their other drinks a try as well just to see whether my current opinion still stands. After all, it's only fair right? 😉

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Al Yusufi Cafe

Okay so since I'm on a roll, I might as well squeeze in as many posts as I can before I go into silent mode again. 

Now I don't know why but this particular shop has seen tenants come and go like water over the years. The latest one being the Al Yusufi Cafe, a promising eatery with (despite the name) a variety of menu items to choose from. Me and my family were thinking of dining somewhere else within the same area (which is the Fajar Complex; they're right beside a convenient store called Harmony) but since the said eatery were full, we decided to give them a try. 

My parents both ordered fish dishes (which were the Ikan Putih Bakar set & Ikan Kerisik Goreng set if I'm not mistaken) while me and hubby dearest chose the Nasi Goreng Ayam Berempah and Nasi Goreng Kampung respectively. I was pleasantly surprised that their dishes were actually quite tasty; as agreed upon by my other family members. Mine was just right for me as the fried rice was not oily and the chicken was crispy. I did saw banners being placed all over Tawau & even some social media posts promoting this place and yet they still seemed to be struggling by the looks of it. Hopefully they can survive longer than their predecessors as I was hoping to try their other dishes in the future.

** Current status - Has been closed (as of April 2024)

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Outward Vacay: Hotel 17

A back-to-back hotel reviews can only mean one thing; that this little old lady has become absent-minded and was sure as hell that she'd post about this before. But alas, it was only my brain trying its best to deceive me.

I have actually went for a 2 days only trip to KK sometime last month and since I didn't bring a vehicle along, I decided to booked a hotel that is closer to a mall for my own convenience. Hence I choose this hotel, which strategically located within the KK Times Square commercial area (the row directly facing Sutera Avenue) and just a few steps away from Imago Shopping Mall. 

Although a small hotel (formerly Kingston Hotel if I'm not mistaken) they still have elevator leading up to the rooms (more because of the building's original design than anything). The room that I was assigned to was a pretty, clean and cosy themed accomodation (mine was sunset themed), while their bathroom/ shower were fairly spacious. Plus, they did gave me a room that has partial view of the front side of the hotel which was nice. It's a small, boutique hotel but I still enjoyed my comfortable stay there. Oh and if you do brought along a vehicle, do take note that they didn't provide any free parking so the rate for parking within the area is roughly RM1 per hour (yup, even during the nights). And the parking ticket payment machine is conveniently located at the backside of the hotel. 

Type - Sunset Suite

Room - 5/5 (slightly small in size but still comfortable to stay in)

Price - 4/5 (so-so but hey, you can't argue with the location)

Service - 4/5 (again okay la.. the reception staff were courteous)

Decor - 5/5 (personally I loved the themed rooms concept)

Facilities - 4/5 (they do have a cafe on the groud floor if you feel like eating something)

Location - 5/5 (they're walkable from Imago which was a huge advantage) 

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Outward Vacay: Wings Hotel Semporna

Wow I didn't even realized that I haven't posted anything for almost 2 months now. I blame my lack of entries on my seemingly endless workload and equally continuous health issues (yup, aging sure is fun 🙄). 

But here's an accommodation entry on my somewhat recent day trip to Semporna. Me and my husband wanted to try something different this time around and go for a hotel that was not located on the main road. This classic aerial themed boutique hotel is located at Jalan Seri Melor Tinagayan, right beside a Bataras Hypermarket branch. Their location might be a bit further off the main road (hence why their pricing was on the cheaper side as compared to other accommodations within the tiny district).

The room that we had was quite spacious for the price, reasonably cleaned and came with an equally spacious private balcony; perfect for someone who loves people watching like me. The slight downside for our room however was the very limited tv channels (seems to be a thing here in Semporna) and the water heater not working at all as we had to make our showers with cold water only. But the hotel itself has numerous facilities to attract patrons to their hotel, what with the really cute (but slow as hell) single elevator (similar to that of Vista Hotel), free parkings, attached self service laundry and Insta-worthy sitting deck on the top floor of the hotel. Heck, they even have their own line of merchandises as souvenirs, which was quite impressive for such a small hotel. 

Type - Standard King Room

Room - 4/5 (would be better if the water heater was fixed)

Price - 5/5 (like I've said, their cheaper than most of the other accommodations in Semporna)

Service - 4/5 (okay la.. at least the reception staff were courteous)

Decor - 4/5 (decent although has definitely seen better days)

Facilities - 4/5 (as mentioned above)

Location - 4/5 (a bit out of the main town area but still very self sufficient) 

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Healthy Dessert

I'm just baffled that this quiet cafe has been around for awhile now and yet is not as viral as other similar places in Tawau; which was odd since they have a comfortable & cozy vibe going on at their cafe at the Kubota Square commercial area (on the same row as Oldtown White Coffee cafe and the Chiffonade restaurant), something that Tawaurians seemed to love nowadays. Plus I do appreciate the fact that their variety of perfectly displayed cakes, cookies and sweets were pretty extensive everytime I went into said eatery (and from what I can see, mostly were even made in-house). I've 'tapau-ed' their Chocolate Brownies and Magnum Choc Mousse Cake and both were neither too sweet nor dense and the portioning were quite generous. 

But if you want to eat something heavier then fear not since they also have other all-day breakfast sets, pastas, burgers and poke bowls for you to choose from. I've tried their Lovely Breakfast and some Plain Waffles with Choco & Peanut Butter fillings and both were pretty tasty and err.. filling to be sure. Their staff were also very courteous and polite when dealing with every customers so that's definitely another plus point in my books. 

** Current status - Still in operation (as of July 2023)

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