Artisan Baker, Wagga

Early one Saturday morning, I decided to visit Artisan Baker to purchase some cronuts. I have read about their cronuts in the local newspaper. It look pretty busy from outside. Parents and children were having a bite and a drink before heading off to sports.

I ventured in and saw a line queing to the counter. Should I line up? I didn't have any cash on me. Do they have eftpos? I tried to sneak a look at the cash register but they were too many in front of me, blocking the view. Oh well, I shall queue up and find out shortly, won't I?

The staff looked very busy running around serving customers with hot drinks and pastries. Some were there to buy freshly baked breads. The place smells divine. The counter has trays loaded up with pastries and sweets tarts and pies. I was eyeing to see if I can see any cronuts. I could only see some filled donuts and some twisty thing.

Oh my, is that almond croissants? There was a tray, with what looked like croissants stacked high, covered in white icing sugar. It was like a snow capped mountain! What a sight to behold! I wished I had taken a photo of it but there were customers behind me and I didn't want to hold up the line.

I will return another day for other goodies. For now, I bought these today :) Happiness is a donut or two or five, covered in sugar.

Till next time, see you soon...

Artisan Baker is located at 

2/189 Morgan Street

Wagga Wagga

NSW 2650

0269717180

Royal Brunei Airlines Dreamliner

For my 50th birthday celebration, I flew with Royal Brunei Airlines Dreamliner to return home to Kuala Lumpur in April. I had decided to splurge and travel Business class as a pressie to myself. Royal Brunei had a sale on and I quickly made my booking. The hardest part was coordinating connecting flights as I live in regional New South Wales. I took a Rex flight down to Melbourne and went to the International Terminal to check in.

At the check in counter, I was given an Express Pass ticket to go through the fast lane at Immigration and an invitation to the Business Lounge. Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA) does not have a lounge in Melbourne, however, guests are invited to use the Cathay Pacific Lounge. The lounge itself is very cosy and small. It is sufficient for a rest whilst waiting for my flight.

As RBA is a dry airline, alcohol is not served on board, I decided to indulge in a couple glasses of champers with my steamed dumplings in the Cathay Pacific lounge. Just on the note about alcohol, RBA cabin crew will give you the glassware and ice, etc if you were to bring your duty free alcohol on board for consumption. All passengers must exit plane during transit and you cannot take your duty free alcohol into Brunei.

The Cathay Pacific Business Lounge in Melbourne

My seat in Business class. This is the first time I flew at the pointy end and the service was impeccable. I was addressed by my name and treated like Royalty.

I was offered a welcome drink and a hot towel to refresh as I settled in, the crew waited for me as I was taking a few snaps of the cabin, I was in. So nice to be waited on :)

I then started to play with all the buttons on my seat and adjusted my window. There are no shade covers on the windows, instead, there was a button to adjust the tint of the glass. I soon turn down the glare to a deep shade of blue. This aircraft is super silent too.

Inflight Dining was impressive. I didn't think I could eat any more after stuffing my face with so many dumplings in the Cathay Lounge, but I managed to polish everything away. I must have eaten at least three plates of keropok snack while watching the movie on board. Inflight entertainment was varied with limited choice of the latest movies. I had a snooze after my movie, it was fantastic to lie flat for a sleep. How will I ever travel in economy class again?

When I woke up, I asked to try the Teh Tarik on board with another plate of keropok, of course!

Chicken Tikka Appetiser

Thai Beef salad entree

Teh Tarik

Fresh Fruits

Main course - Beef Tenderloin with vegetables

Inflight snack -Keropok udang

My Transit in Brunei

Arrival into Kuala Lumpur

Transit was approximately an hour and a half in Brunei, I didn't have to clear Immigration as I did not leave the airport. I went straight to Sky Lounge to have a rest. It was dinner time and I tried the daging masak merah. I took one bite and put it down. The meat was rather tough and chewy. I couldn't eat it so I snacked on cakes and kuih instead. 

My baggage was automatically transferred to my connecting flight to Kuala Lumpur. The flight onward to Kuala Lumpur was with an Airbus 320.  Flight time was about 2 hours.

I had chicken rice on board for dinner. It was very uninspiring. The chicken was dry and overcooked. It's not too disappointing  as I will be eating more of this in Malaysia. The cabin steward was very attentive. He was so friendly, happy and funny. I was glad my travelling was almost over and I would be in KL soon.

We landed safely in Kuala Lumpur and my bag was first to come off the belt. I also cleared Immigration on the fast lane and went off to find my sister who came to pick me up at the airport. What a good little sister she is! :)

KLIA