The Couplehood Journey of a Distort Soul....

London - Emirates Trip 2011 Part 2..

I woke up early and took a leisurely stroll around Sussex Garden; reached Lancaster Gate and I immediately bought my travelcard for today; all day pass to zone 1-4. Returned back to the hotel just in time for morning breakfast; toast with cereals and yoghurts. After breakfast I started my journey to Wimbledon; via Paddington Station to Southfielda on the District Line :-)

The journey took about half an hour and upon exiting I started my walk to AELTC. It was a slow 20 minutes walk and I reached the gate by 9.50am. Waited for a few minutes before we were ushered in. I immediately paid for my Museum & Tour which is scheduled to begin at 10.30am. The tour took about 1 and a half hour to complete and it was very interesting; I visited to all the available courts as well as Henman Hill and the player interview room. I did my shopping at the souvenier shop before visiting the museum; I do like the John McEnroe presentation. I then began my walk back to Southfields after nearly 3 hours at AELTC :-)

   
 

 

Hard Rock Hotel Penang...

After much persuasion from Arief we finally went to Hard Rock Hotel Penang (this is our third trip since it's maiden opening in 2009). We began our journey from Pokok Assam after lunch; stopping at Padang Kota for Eliza's favourite sotong bakar. We arrived by 4pm and enjoy the complimentary welcoming drink. We then check-in into our sea-view room # 504 and Arief immediately change into his swimming attire. We went down to the pool by 5pm and Arief was extremely happy; playing all over the swimming pool until 6.30pm. We had to stopped as it was about to rain. We then had our dinner at Hard Rock Cafe nearby with 15% discounts. We opt for the mix appetizers while Arief had his kids meal of chicken and chips. It was indeed delicious. The next morning we enjoy our early buffet breakfast and we plan to play at the swimming pool again. Again Arief was grinning from ears to ears and we finally check-out by 10am. It was an enjoyable trip to Hard Rock Hotel and we will come back again this year :-)

Cameron Highland Family Holiday Part 2...

We decided to cut short our family trip to Cameron Highland as my mom is not feeling well due to the cold weather last night. I went with Eliza to Ringlet to buy our packed breakfast; roti canai, nasi lemak and meehoon goreng. We checked out by 10am and we plan to drive to Boh Plantation. The road going up to Boh Plantation @ Gunung Brinchang was quite scary indeed and then we realized that Boh Plantation is closed on Monday. We then decided to drive up to the Strawberry Farm; again a scary drive. And to our suprise the farm has ran out of strawberries due to Chinese New Year weekend. But we had fun taking funny pictures there. We then drove down to buy our fresh vegetables & fruits at the nearby market as well as dropped by Bharat Tea Plantations for scones. We reached Ipoh by 2pm and proceed to have lunch at Restoran Tasik Raban nearby Stadium Indera Mulia. We finally arrived in Taiping by 4.30pm; in need of a good rest :-)

Cameron Highland Family Holiday Part 1...

My sister manage to book Rumah Peranginan Persekutuan Bungalow in Cameron Highland for our family holiday; it was only RM100 per night. We started our journey to Taiping at 8am and arrive safely by 11am. My mom prepared home cooked lunch for all of us; just the right tonic to boost my energy for our drive to Cameron Highland from Taiping. We began our journey by 2.30pm and reached Rumah Peranginan Persekutuan by 4.30pm; a good 2 hours drive via Simpang Pulai. The bungalow is indeed huge and clean. Arief enjoys the company of his cousins; Ilyas and Irfan; and they enjoy playing all over the huge hall. We had our home cooked evening tea before heading out to Tanah Rata for Bharat Tea; no scones though as it was nearer their closing time. We ended up buying our dinner at Tanah Rata pasar malam; apam balik with fried mee, kuehteow and meehoon. We manage to watch Australian Open Final at the bungalow; congratulations to Nole for winning in 5 sets; the longest set in a Grand Slam Final :-)

Kuantan Day Trip @ Ameer Wedding...

We began our journey from Shah Alam by 9am; travelling with Eliza's parents to Kuantan. We decide to pit-stop at Temerloh R&R; waiting for Eliza's sister to arrive. We then continue our journey and we arrive at the wedding by 1pm. It was just nice as the bride & groom has not arrived yet. We were ushered to the main table inside and all of us thoroughly enjoy the feast. We started our journey back to Shah Alam by 3pm; stopping by Tanjung Lumpur to buy Keropok Lekor and Coconut Jelly. We arrived home by 6pm; tired but enjoy the delicious feast. In need of our rest as we will be travelling to Taiping & Cameron Highland tomorrow :-)

2011 Universal Studio Trip Part 5...

We check-out from our homestay at 8.30am and we drove to Larkin to enjoy our morning breakfast @ Kacang Pol and Lempeng Kelapa. It took us almost half an hour to reach here due to the morning crawl. We started our journey home to Shah Alam by 10am; exiting at Air Itam for some shopping. Arief bought 3 bantal peluk there as well as buying kerepek and fruits. We even had time to eat two durians. From Air Itam we proceed to Batu Pahat for our lunch; briani gam. It was cheap and delicious. We re-enter the highway via Muar and proceed for our last R&R at Restoran Jejantas Melaka. We reached Shah Alam by 6pm; exhausted but thoroughly enjoying our family vacation to Singapore. Next family vacation; Jakarta & Bandung in 2012 :-)

2011 Universal Studio Trip Part 4...

From The Lost World we went to Ancient Egypt and all of us rode the the Treasure Hunters. It was already approaching 5 pm and all of us are tired and feeling a bit hungry. We walked by Sci-Fi City and notice the two giant rollercoasters; BattleStart Galactica Human & Cyclon. Scary sight indeed. We decided to try the accelerator instead; my and my two sisters. The ride spinning motion was exhilarating and we manage to wave to Arief and Ilyas who were watching from outside. We walk by New York City where we manage to catch the breakdancers performing. We ended the day by having our tea at Celebrity Cafe & Bakery and went for shopping spree the their merchandize outlet. Well I went with my sis to try the Enchanted Airways; quite interesting ride indeed. We exited Universal Studio by 6.30pm and I went with Abg D to the nearest 7-11 to top-up our Autopass card. Driving back to Johor Bahru was again smooth with no traffic jams. We stopped by Huizi Hot Wok again for our dinner; this time we opt to take-away and ate at our homestay :-)

2011 Universal Studio Trip Part 3...

We went into Far Far Away and all of us went to catch Shrek 4D; even my mom. It was such a hilarious ride with the 4D experience of rocking chairs + wind + water + spiders. We exited Shrek 4D and walk to The Lost World. Here's when the fun began; the kids @ Arief + Ilyas went up the Dino-Soarin and this time we don't need to queue thanks to the Express Pass. It was fun watching both Arief & Ilyas enjoying their ride. All three kids went for their milk break after that and Eliza along with my sisters when up the Canopy Flier. I think all three of them were screaming and closing their eyes during the ride. We manage to catch the Water-World Stunt Show at 3pm; we opted for the dry seat of course. The show is full with explosives and water stunts; it was enjoyable for everybody :-)

2011 Universal Studio Trip Part 2...

We had our morning breakfast at a nearby restaurant; nasi goreng + roti canai + lontong. We opted to drive into Singapore via Tuas @ Second Link and the journey was so smooth with almost no traffic at all. Custom clearance was a breeze and getting the autopass was fast (mine need to be updated though). It was just a straight drive to Universal Studio with one turning to the left to use the flyover and we pass only three traffic lights before arriving at Universal Studio @ 11am. It looks empty from the parking spot but as we came up via the escalators then we notice the huge crowd. We manage to take our pictures at the famous rotating globe before we enter Universal Studio. I wanted to purchase an express pass for all of us but the counter staff told me the waiting time is only 5 minutes per ride. So we started walking to Madagascar where we manage to take pictures with Miss Woddy Woodpecker. My sister's family went to take their pictures with the characters from Madagascar and that it when I noticed the 45 minutes waiting time for Crate Adventure. I went back to the service counter and bought 8 express passes. With this we manage to jump the queue and rode Crate Adventure. My mom didn't opted to follow and she waited outside. It was an interesting water ride through the Madagascar movie adventure. By the time we conclude our short ride we noticed the waiting time is now 60 minutes. From Crate Adventure we went to the carousel @ King Julien Beach Party Go Round. We had a blast riding the carousel. We then went for our lunch at Casa Del Wild :-)

 

2011 Universal Studio Trip Part 1...

The day is finally here; our family trip to Johor Bahru. It has been awhile since my family went for a vacation together and all of us were looking forward to it. Our morning began with a visit to the nearby clinic as Eliza was not feeling well @ sore throat. We then began our journey and we stop at Dengkil RNR for our morning breakfast @ nasi lemak + roti canai. The drive was smooth with less traffic and we exited the highway via Tangkak for our lunch @ mee bandung. We began our journey back with a full stomach and proceed to Johor Bahru; we did however watch a car spun infront of us. Alhamdulillah we were far back but the sight of the car spinning was quite scary; no harm to both drivers involve in the accident. With my GPS we were able to locate our homestay at Taman Rini; it was huge and clean. We refreshed ourselves before heading to Johor Bahru for dinner. We took a drive until the coastline and decided to visit a restaurant in town but I mistakenly key-in the wrong GPS coordinates and we bypass the restaurant. We ended up having our dinner Huizu Hot Wok; nearby to our homestay. It was indeed an excellent choice; food was delicious and everybody enjoy the dinner :-)

Morning at Belum Resort & Talapia Bakar...

It was raining when we woke up and it was refreshing indeed. I manage to walk around the resort while waiting for Eliza & Arief to get ready and it was indeed beautiful with it's nature elements. Btw we had to use umbrella to walk to the breakfast hall; umbrella is provided at every corridor. The breakfast spread was just nice and we sat inside as it was still raining but the view from the restaurant is amazing. We really like the bihun goreng with sambal nasi lemak. Arief as usual enjoy his koko krunch with milk while watching Pink Panther in YouTube. We check-out by 10am and stayed at the lobby until 10.30am reading newspaper. It was still raining when we started our journey from Belum Resort and we arrived at Restoran Tasik Raban by 12.30pm; just nice as after that three express buses stopped there for lunch. We ordered Ikan Talapia Bakar with various kampung vegetables and ulam. It was delicious and cheap (RM35 total). Btw Malaysia won the AFF Suzuki Cup; they lost 1-2 in Indonesia but won on 4-2 overall :-)

Tasik Raban & Pulau Banding...

We had our morning breakfast buffet at the hotel. The spread was just nice and we really like the bihun goreng and chicken porridge. We check-out by 10am and started our journey to Pulau Banding. We did make a brief stop at Tasik Raban Resort; the road leading to the resort is quite bad but the view of Tasik Raban is beautiful. After exiting the Tasik Raban bridge I noticed a restaurant @ Restoran Tasik Raban and my sister recommend for us to try this place for lunch. And it was indeed an excellent lunch; cheap and delicious. We took ikan keli goreng with various ulams and sambal tempoyak. Even Arief enjoy eating Ikan keli goreng :-)

We drove past Lenggong (my sister used to work there years back) and reached Gerik at about 2pm. The road to Pulau Banding is quite challenging and we safely reach Belum Rainforest Resort by 3pm. The registration was smooth and we were ushered to our room. We were at awe at the beautiful design (no TV and it is a nature resort). Arief immediately took his bath in the huge shower. Then an accident happen; Arief drop the glass while he was showering. He immediately ran out and we noticed that his left foot is bleeding @ slight cut. I went to our car and took out our Medical Kit while telling the housekeeping to clear the broken glasses in the shower. Arief was a bit shocked if the accident and cried when Eliza bandaged his left foot. We then immediately drive back to Gerik to visit the nearest clinic for further check-up. Alhamdulilah it was just a small cut. It was such a huge relief :-)

We drove back to Belum Rainforest Resort; not before stopping at Gerik to buy fried bananas and roti gardenia for Arief. We reached there by 5.30pm and we went straight to Sidai Cafe for some needed R&R. We ordered sandwiches and karipap with teh tarik and nescafe tarik. Arief was busy playing with his playing cards; obviously all the good cards is with him and eventhough we have the better card Arief will always find a reasong that his card will win (quite funny actually). We went back to our room to refreshed before having our buffet dinner at the hotel @ RM35 per person. The spread was just nice and delicious. BTW the Wifi here is excellent and we can watched YouTube via iPad in our hotel room :-)

Felda Residences Hot Springs...

We opted for a brief vacation in Sg Klah Hot Springs. We started our journey from Taiping at 11.30am; we had our morning breakfast of Bismillah Roti Canai with my mom. We exited at Bidor for our lunch as Tapah RNR was too packed. We drove around Bidor town for awhile before we decide to visit a local restaurat serving rice and it was indeed delicious. From Bidor we just drove straight to Sungkai and enter Sg Klah which is located inside the Felda plantations. We immediately wnen to check-in at the hotel and it was quite fast. We were ushered to our room @ 103 and it is just a walking distance to the hot springs. The weather was just excellent. We walked to the Mountain Springs Pool and it was quite crowded. We took a spot beside the pool and I went in with Arief. It was indeed cold and Arief enjoy playing in the water. We then went to the hot pool and it was indeed refreshing but kinda dirty. We didn't manage to boil any eggs there; they ran out of eggs. We finished our session at the therapy garden before walking back to our room. We had our early dinner at the hotel restaurant @ local buffet at RM20 per head :-) 

Langkawi 2010 Part 4...

We will be flying back to KL this evening and we had our last breakfast buffet at the hotel; still the same spread as the day before. We went to Makan Mahsuri and we really enjoy the historical tour. We drove back to our hotel to pack and we check-out by noon. As our flight is schedule to depart at 8.30pm; we decided to just drove around Langkawi; we stopped by Pantai Pasir Hitam (not that black though) and we also went to Jom Ikan Bakar. This time we ate siakap bakar and it was indeed delicious. We went again to the cable car as Arief wanted to feed the fishes there. This time we saw one huge fish swimming (black & orange colour) in the lake and the fish slapped his huge tail at the jetty as we were finishing our feeding session. It was indeed scary. We stopped by at "The Loft" for our evening tea and we hang-out there until 5pm. On the way to the airport we had Laksa at the many stalls beside the strip and we arrived at the airport by 7pm. We dropped off our rental car and we immediately check-in. The flight was again delay and we arrived at LCCT by 10pm; and we got our luggage by 10.30pm. We had our supper at Abg Ngah house (kuehteow goreng) and we arrive back home by 12.30pm. Tiring indeed but it was such an enjoyable family holiday to Langkawi :-)

Langkawi 2010 Part 3...

We started our day with the usual breakfast buffet at our hotel (quite limited offerings but just enough to satisfy our morning cravings) and we proceed to Idaman Suri @ shopping. We arrived there as they were about to open @ 9.30am. We then drove to Hj Ismail outlets where we bought chocolates. From Hj Ismail we went to Jom Ikan Bakar for our brunch; this time it was crowded but we still manage to have our favourite Ikan Keli bakar. After lunch we drove back to Kuah as Arief wanted to buy his Toys @ Hot Wheels sets. It was full with shopping trip today as we visited the only shopping mall in Langkawi; didn't bought anything though apart from Arief playing with the battery operated motorcycle. We went back to our hotel room; exhausted from the shopping trip. We didn't manage to swim in the swimming pool today as it was raining. We went out for our dinner at Wonderland @ opposite our hotel where we ordered Siakap Sweet & Sour, Crab, Squids & Kailan. It was indeed delicious; thank you to Hazry for the recommendation :-)

Langkawi 2010 Part 2...

We went for the hotel breakfast buffet and we sat the the balcony facing the ocean and swimming pool. We started our day by driving to Langkawi Eco-Park nearby the jetty where we walk to the huge "Helang" statue. We didn't walk in the Eco-Park though as it seems so abandoned. From here we drove to Kompleks Kraf Langkawi where Arief pooped. We decided to visit Jom Ikan Bakar for our early lunch; it was still empty but the grille fish is running out fast. We manage to get two ikan keli and it was indeed delicious. Then we went to the cable car; didn't rode it this time as we had experience it last year. We ended up spending most of our time here feeding the fishes in the pond; RM3 worth of fish food. We then went to Langkawi Under WaterWorld and Arief wanted to feed the fishes there as well. Nothing new but this time Arief is more curious looking at all the sea animals. We drove back to our hotel for some needed R&R before we went down to the swimming pool. It was such a beautiful sight (evening sunset) and Arief really enjoy playing in the kid swimming pool. We drove out to Pantai Cenang as we wanted to visit the night market infront of the Langkawi Under WaterWorld but to our dismay there is only 2 sellers plying their trade; such a big letdown. Arief was already sleeping and we decided to have our dinner there; one of the many restaurants (didn't remember the name but the food was such a let-down). We did walk briefly around pantai cenang before we drove back to our Hotel :-)

Langkawi 2010 Part 1...

We will be going to Langkawi again; been coming here since Arief was 3 months old and one of our favourite vacation destination. We took the late evening flight from LCCT; park our car at Abg Ngah house at ENSTEK and Hazry send us to LCCT (it was his day-off). Our flight was slightly delay; supposed to departure at 6.30pm but was rescheduled to 6.50pm. Arief was already anxious to board the airplane. We took our usual seating @ 28 and began exploring their menu without realizing that they don't serve heavy food for flight less than 45 minutes. We ended up buying Ribena for Arief; btw Arief fall asleep upon arriving in Langkawi. We waited for about 20 minutes for our bags and took our rental car; Mazda 3 (I book Nissan but it was fully booked). We went to re-fuel at the nearby Petronas Station before driving to Kuah @ Bella Vista Hotel. For our dinner I bought nasi lemak saloma + kari itik @ nearby the jetty. The check-in at our hotel was smooth and we were ushered to our room @ 319. A bit peculiar in the design though :-)

Awana Genting @ Eliza's Birthday Part 2...

We went up to the Indoor Park and bought the unlimited tickets for the rides; Arief & Eliza rode the carousel + ferris wheel + mini train (twice). It was fun watching Arief playing with all the rides. We had actually decided to enter the Snow World but we went and play bowling instead @ 1 game each. Even Arief enjoy rolling the bowling bowl down the alley; knocking down 9 pins in one of his many efforts. We spend most of our time at the Arcade; mostly by throwing balls at the mosquito (one of many scenes and this game is quite addictive and fun for the whole family). We manage to collect the token tickets and we redeem it for pencil box, whistle, sand paper art and novelty pen. We had our late dinner at the nearby McD before driving down to Awana :-)

Awana Genting @ Eliza's Birthday Part 1...

We went up to Awana Genting to celebrate Eliza's birthday. We had initially plan to visit IKEA early in the morning but we decided to visit Elizany's family in Kajang instead; Zarith & Zakuan had a bout of diarhoe recently and his in-laws is recovering from surgery. From Kajang we drove to Taman Tun Dr Ismail; visiting Eliza's Auntie. I bought nasi briani Restoran Haji Ismail for our lunch where we ate after my Friday prayers at the mosque nearby. We drove up to Genting by 2.30pm and we reached Awana by 3.30pm. It seems that there is an MCA BrainStorming over the weekend; so expecting a huge crowd. We refreshed ourselves before driving up to Genting by 5pm :-)

WCM Sunday Drive to MABIQ...

We went for our first WCM Sunday Drive to MABIQ Kuantan. We woke up early and we make our drive to Shell Station NKVE by 7.15am; ample time for us to have our morning breakfast at KFC. And I opted to lead the mini convoy to Gombal Toll; took the scenic route as I miss the first turning. We arrived there by 8.30am; parking as well as waiting for the other WCM to arrive. After the usual driver's briefing as well as group pictures, we started our journey MABIQ at around 9.45am. We arrived at our first rendenvouz @ Temerloh R&R at around 10.45am for a brief pit-stop and arrived in Kuantan by 12.20am. From Kuantan Toll we proceed to Tanjung Lumpur @ MABIQ. We were greeted by all the MABIQ occupants and it was quite touching listening to the speeched from the founder as well as during the doa recital by one of the children. The lunch menu was excellent indeed with ikan patin, daging salai, sambal hitam and various ulam. Even Arief enjoy having ikan patin and playing all around the area. We solat Zuhur there before ending our session at MABIQ; I managed to give out duit raya to the children there and take our group photo in-front of the establishment. WCM BB Group manage to organize a mini convoy to buy keropok as well as enjoying the local delicacies; satar & otak2 at Restoran Pak Su & Mak Su. We began our mini convoy back to KL after Asar and we reached Temerloh R&R by 6pm (brief pit-stop). We started our journey back by 6.45pm and we reached home by 9pm; faced traffic jams upon exiting Gombak Toll :-)

    

 

Pict courtesy of WCM Members :-)

Teluk Intan, Hotel Sutera Jelita, Ijam's birthday & Al-Fresco...

We will be driving to Teluk Intan today to celebrate Ijam's birthday. We started our journey a bit late as I went for my tennis session at Bangsar and we had McDonalds Seksyen 3 for lunch (also major pit-stop for Arief there). We officially began our journey at 2pm; via highway and exited at Bidor. From there we proceed to Teluk Intan via Federal Route 58 (45 minutes to arrive). Then I rely on the Papago GPS for the hotel location; which was nearby to a Kolej Kommuniti. It's just an end shop lot (3 storeys); recently open for business 6 months ago and we were quite impressed with the room and bathroom. Arief seems to really enjoy having his shower there as the water pressure is strong. We drove to Ijam's house; again using Papago. We didn't locate the house initially as we manage to locate the Petronas Station and saw Ijam's car in one of the houses there; behind Giat Mara :-)

The house is a government bungalow with huge built-up land; does reminds me of my old government bungalow in Parit Buntar. I went out with my father-in-law into town to buy charcoal and ice cubes (also bought water bubble blower for Arief at 7-11). Arief had a blast playing with the water bubbles while we prepared the charcoal for the BBQ pit. We started cooking by 7.30pm and we had our first taste of the chicken BBQ by 9.30pm; delicious. Arief wanted to eat the birthday cake but we had to wait for Elina's families to arrive from Shah Alam; and Arief fall asleep at around 10pm. We finally did the cake cutting ceremony at 10.30pm. I went out to Al-Fresco at around 11pm to meet-up with a few of my WCM members for some drinks and watch South Korea vs Uruguay :-)

WCM FD10 Port Dickson Part 2...

We went for our lunch at the Resort Cafe; buffet at RM10 per adult and Arief was still sleeping. The buffet spread was just nice and we enjoyed our food; accompanied by many WCM members. We took a short drive around Pantai Teluk Kemang to buy Arief his buoy @ Ben10 and beach ball. We drove back to Permaisuri Resort and manage to get a parking nearby the lobby. We bought ice-cream for Arief and we went into the karaoke lounge for some needed air-conditioning while waiting for our room keys. We were given room 208; and I need to carry our bags up to our room as the concierge is busy entertaining the other guest. BTW the lift was also congested and I think I made three trips from our WISH to our room; exhaustive indeed :-)

We refreshed ourselves before heading to the swimming pool; where Arief had a blast playing in the kiddies and adult pool. Well I had to carry all over the adult pool as he would like to step on whale design at the bottom of the adult pool. Arief finally stop playing at the swimming pool because he had to pee; and he really did. All over the grass when we open his swimming trunks. We went up back to our room to refresh before heading down for dinner at the beach; warung style with meal coupons. We took Nasi Ayam, Nasi Goreng Spicy and chicken wings; with ice kacang as well. Arief was so sleepy that after dinner we brought him to our room for some needed R&R @ sleep. I went down to the beach to watch World Cup with the other WCM members; Argentina vs Nigeria and after half-time I decided to sleep for awhile with plan to wake-up and watch England vs USA. Well the plan back-fired as I went down after half-time and the othet WCM members was already walking up to their room :-)

WCM FD10 Port Dickson Part 1...

We were supposed to be at Shah Alam Stadium by 9.30am and we arrived by 9am, wearing blue denim shirt. I had initially plan for a morning breakfast of roti canai but instead we bought bread and kuih. There were already 4 TW waiting at the designated spot. By 9.30am the crowd is getting bigger with TW driving in with various color; all in their headgear and walkies;. We began the drivers briefing by 10.30am; mostly on safety and drivers driving etiquette. We were then asked to line-up our WISH based on colors; with fog lamps on and by 11am we began our convoy to Port Dickson. It was such an enjoyable convoy among new friends; and I bet the other drivers are at awe watching our convoy as it was organized so professionally. We reached Mambau by 12.30pm (traffic jam approaching Seremban) for some R&R. The police traffic (outriders) arrived at around 1pm where they briefed us on the convoy safety to Port Dickson via outriders. We were asked to switch on our hazard lights and head lamps during the convoy. Then we began our convoy to Permaisuri Resort Port Diskson; it was so happening as we passed by traffic lights, roundabouts and various junction without stopping. We then arrived at Permaisuri Resort PD by 1.30pm and proceed to find parking at the resort vicinity. BTW Arief was watching Toy Story & Mr Bean from Shah Alam to Mambau and stay awake during the outriders escort to Permaisuri Resort but fall asleep upon arriving :-)  

Pict courtesy of WCM members :-)

WISH is back in Shah Alam...

We started our drive home by 10.30am; and we had our morning breakfast in our room (I bought roti canai, nasi lemak, mee goreng and teh tarik at the nearby restaurant). We make our schedule pit-stop at R&R Air Keroh (Jejantas) where we had our lunch @ nasi. We even managed to buy Nike Shoes for Arief at Al-Ikhsan Factory Outlet there. We started our journey back at around 3pm and we reached Shah Alam by 5pm; and it was raining rather heavily approaching Shah Alam. The drive to JB and back is very enjoyable; Eliza and Arief manage to enjoy watching DVD's with massive leg-room while I listen to my iPod (dual-zone capabilities of our WISH head-unit) :-)

Universal Studio Part 6...

We went to the Universal Studio Stores again to buy our t-shirts; and while shopping around Arief hinted that he needs to go to the bathroom (big one). Eliza had earlier chosen her t-shirts and while I shop around for a birthday gift for Irfan (t-shirt as well) and key-chains for our WISH. When I finished shopping, Eliza is still with Arief at the toilet and I decided to walk back to Lost World as I wanted my Jurassic Park t-shirt. I finally got my t-shirt. We went in to watch the "Monster Rock" at the Hollywood Theater nearby and Arief was clapping happily during the performance. We then decided to tour the theme park again and it was already 5pm and the crowd has dispersed. We rode the King Julien Beach Party-Go Round as well as twice riding the Dino-Souring. We did wanted to watch Shrek 4-D but Arief wanted to visit the Mummy again; and this time we manage to ride the Treasure Hunters. We exited Universal Studio at 7pm (closing time) and still manage to buy Woddy WoodPecker Popcorn set for Arief. I walked to the nearest 7-11 to top-up the Autopass (SGD30) while Eliza & Arief waited the Universal Studio Entrance. Our parking charges is SGD20 (10 hours) and we got stucked in the usual immigration clearance jam at woodlands and only reach our hotel by 9.30pm. We were too tired to go out for dinner and I just walked to the nearest stalls and ordered chicken wings, nasi goreng kampung and mee rebus stualang. It was an enjoyable family vacation and Arief's birthday celebration at Universal Studio Singapore and we intend to visit again in the near future :-)

 

 

 

Universal Studio Part 5...

We just walked to Sci-Fi City; noticed the two Battlestar Galactica rides that was temporarily closed (Human & Cylon). I was tempted to try the Accelerator but again the queue is too long and it was still drizlling. We then walked to New York; excellent architecture. We even managed to catch the dance performance at the street. Arief was still sleeping soundly and we decided to have our lunch as it was already coming to 3pm. We opted for Mel's Drive in and we manage to book our table beside the main entrance. I bought the value meals of Chili Burgers and Crispy Chicken Burgers with the vouchers. Arief suddenly woken up from his sleep and feeling a bit cranky. I took him to the Universal Studio Stores and I bought Arief his Universal Studio T-Shirt as well as T-Rex cap. He really likes the merchandise and immediately wore it after lunch :-)

 

 

 

Universal Studio Part 4...

We then went to Ancient Egypt @ Mummy. It was started to rain quite heavily and we immediately went to queue for Treasure Hunters ride. While waiting Arief wanted his milk and I duly went back to our stroller to prepare his milk and while having his milk in the queue; Arief fall asleep. Even when it was our turn for the rides Arief was still sleeping soundly (we did try to wake him up). BTW I manage to park our stroller at one of the closed stall carts; away from the rain. We did manage to catch a glimpse of the Revenge of the Mummy thrill rides and we promised ourselves that we will taking this ride in our next trip here :-)

 

Universal Studio Part 3...

The Lost World is very happening; to Arief especially as he likes the dinosaurs. I went to buy some needed beverages for us; complete with the Universal Studio Water Bottle with dinosaurs head (later I bought the lanyard to complement the water bottle). We took pictures with the two big dinosaurs in-front of their food-court and pass-by Water World Show (next trip perhaps). There are a few more rides here @ Rapids Adventure and Canopy Flyer; not for Arief though but we decided to ride this next time as the queue is too long (need to buy Universal Express next time). Eliza & Arief did queue for Dino-Soaring; nearly 45 minutes to their turn and it has started to drizzle. Arief really enjoy riding the Dino-Soaring; his smiling during the ride is so priceless. As it was raining, I went to the nearest merchandise store (Dino Store) and bought transparent Universal Studio Singapore Umbrella for Arief (as well as fridge magnets) :-)

 

 

Universal Studio Part 2...

From Hollywood we went to Madagascar; and I saw the famous airplane on the tree as well as the big ships as shown in the movie. There were photo opportunities with the characters but Arief wanted to survey the place first. "Crate Adventure" is not in operational yet; hopefully soon and the Q at Beach Party Go Round was quite long. Upon exiting Madagascar, we passed by Shrek house and there is a photo opportunity with Shrek. We duly waited in the line (the last one actually) and we manage to take our pictures with Shrek. We entered "Far Far Away" and notice the long queue for Shrek 4-D Adventure and Enchanted Airways. We ended up buying ice-cream at Friar's. We went to watch Donkey's Live; an interactive Live Show which was very funny and entertaining. Arief really enjoy watching Donkey sings on the stage. We exited the show and went straight into the merchandise store; there is a miniature ferris wheel inside and we asked Arief whether he would like to ride the ferris wheel but he declined as he wanted to enter the Lost World to watch the Dinosaurs :-)

Universal Studio Part 1...

We drove our WISH to Universal Studio Singapore to celebrate Arief 4th Birthday. We went for our breakfast at the nearby Mamak Restaurant before starting our journey into Singapore. I've set the GPS to Sentosa and we begin our journey via Woodlands. I forgot t fill-up the entry card into Singapore and we ended up filling the car at the immigration booth. Then I parked our WISH at LTA (Land Transport Authority) Office to purchase the autopass @ SGD10. The journey from Woodlands to Sentosa is about 32km and we reached there by 10.45am and I immediately drove down to the parking lots (using Autopass as the mode of payment @ SGD2 per hour). We parked our car; took pictures of the location and proceed to walk to Universal Studio :-)

We took our pictures as the famous rotating globe of Universal Studio and Arief was extremely happy and can't wait to enter. We were greeted by the usherettes and as we were tourist from Malaysia; we were given coupons (SGD30 for F&B and SGD15 for retail). Then our adventure began with Hollywood; cool architecture and with the famous Walk of Fame. We pass by the Main Retail Stores and reminded ourselves that we will visit upon exiting Universal Studio. I took a lot of pictures as the scenery is so beautiful and the weather is just nice; with drizzle expected in the evening :-)

 

WISH in JB...

We started our journey from Shah Alam by 1pm; after we had our lunch at Pak Li Seksyen 7 (char kueh teow & nasi ayam lemon). I set the ICE to play Valentine's Day at the headrest monitor while I listen to my iPod (zoning capabilities). The drive was smooth from Batu Tiga all the way to Melaka; a bit jam approaching Johor border though. We arrived in JB by 5pm. Along the journey I noticed a lot of Singaporean cars (WISH as well) on the highway; mostly returning back to Singapore. I took out the recently bought Navman GPS System and navigate our direction to the Zone. We reached The Zone within half an hour; did make a wrong turn at the last traffic light as the address was wrongly type on the GPS. The Zone is actually located in the Duty Free area and we got lost trying to find the hotel lobby. As parking options is quite limited here, I opted for the Valet Parking (RM20 for 24 hours) and I parked in-front of the hotel lobby. The check-in process was smooth and we got our room within 10 minutes; 1426. The room is spacious with an excellent view. We refreshed ourselves before heading for our dinner nearby; Restoran Talam with ikan pari bakar, kailan ikan masin, telur bistik, daging masak pedas and otak2. We did a brief shopping the Zone Gallery and went back to our room for some needed R&R :-)

Hard Rock Hotel Penang Part 3...

We went for our breakfast buffet at Starz Diner; it was surprisingly packed. The buffet spread is quite good actually and we enjoy our morning breakfast there. Pity they have a few flies problem; similar from our previous visit in 2009. We check-out by 10am as we still need to drive back to Shah Alam today. And we decided to use the famous Penang Ferry. We didn't have to wait long for our turn on the ferry as it was on Monday; pity Arief was sleeping soundly during the ferry ride. We arrived in Pokok Assam by noon; just nice for lunch and we proceed driving back to Shah Alam and safely reached home by 5.30pm :-)

Hard Rock Hotel Penang Part 2...

We went to The Rock Shop and bought the famous HRH t-shirts. Arief was feeling sleepy due to his activities in the swimming pool earlier. We went for our buffet dinner at Pizzeria and the spread was quite delicious; much improved from our previous visit. We thoroughly enjoy our buffet dinner. Eliza went up with Arief to our hotel room first as Arief wanted to sleep and Arief even said that he wanted to go back home as he misses his PS2 @ Ben10. I went back down to continue having dinner with Aiman. There was no Live Band tonite at the Hotel Lobby as they were showing the EPL matches on the big screen. We wandered around the HRH as Aiman would like to take more pictures and went up to our room by 10pm. We were really tired as well as full from the scrumptious dinner and we fell asleep immediately :-)

Hard Rock Hotel Penang Part 1...

We went to celebrate our "increment" at Hard Rock Hotel Penang; this time Aiman will be joining us as well. We drove to Penang after our lunch in Pokok Assam; the driving was smooth as usual and we reach Penang within an hour. We make a brief pit-stop at Padang Kota where we bought rojak pasembor and sotong bakar and proceed straight to Hard Rock Hotel Penang. The registration was fast and we were ushered to our room; 239 Hill View. The design is the same as per our previous visit with a small cozy balcony and a nice Beatles Poster on the wall. And this time we manage to test our iPod on their Hifi System. We refreshed ourselves before heading down to the swimming pool; Arief is the most happiest of us all as he was playing all over the swimming pool and riding down the water slides @ Vortex. The previous two small slides was under repair but Arief is brave enough to ride the Vortex; with us of course. He even went with Aiman on the slide; dive down into the water even but he still wants to ride the Vortex over and over again. It took us awhile to coerce him to stop playing at the swimming pool and we went up to our room to get ready for our buffet dinner :-)

Cameron Highland...

We went to Cameron Highland on a day trip with my mom; and my sis family with Aiman is joining from Shah Alam too. My mom last went to Cameron ages ago and she is looking forward to the trip, cooking bihun goreng, cucur jagung, cempedak goreng and ayam goreng. We started our journey at 9am, same with my sister. We arrived at Simpang Pulai by 10am and began our descend to Cameron Highland @ Tanah Rata. The journey was a bit challenging with various "zig-zag" on the way up. Arief was sleeping soundly during the journey up. We stop at one of the many shops there and bought vegetables, fruits, corn and fried mushroom. Arief really likes the fried mushroom. We arrived at Tanah Rata by Noon and parked opposite Starbucks. We went and bought a few souveniers nearby while waiting and my sister arrive at 12.45pm :-)

We went for lunch at one of the many indian restaurants, bringing along our food as well. Arief, Ilyas and Irfan was really enjoying each other company and it was a handful for us to manage them, it was fun though. Aiman was clicking away with his new DSLR camera. From there we went for Bharat Tea. We ordered scones, brownies and strawberry cheese cake with strawberry flavoured tea and teh tarik. Arief and Ilyas was busy clicking away with their digital camera, same with Aiman. From there we went back to Simpang Pulai and stop at the various shops, buying more vegetables and fruits. We arrived at Simpang Pulai by 5.30pm and Arief didn't sleep at all. My sister continued with her journey to Shah Alam while we drove back to Taiping. It was an enjoyable family trip, tiring though and my mom decided not to visit Cameron Highland again due to the long drive up the hill. BTW the two last row is the picture taken by Arief :-)

 

 

 

Langkawi Part 6...

We woke up early as we wanted to have our breakfast at Padang Matsirat (buffet breakfast was not included in the package, blessing in disguise as the hotel is currently renovating the cafe and swimming pool). We went to Restoran Mempelam and had nasi lemak, nasi goreng and roti canai. The food here is delicious. We went back to our hotel for check-out and we drove straight to the airport which was just next door. We were again the first at the queue; no questions from the customs (we didn't buy that much and no blue plastic bag @ Idaman Suri). Our total luggage weight is within the allowed limit; Alhamdulilah. BTW the flight is almost full; must be due to the school holiday. We went for our dose of Starbucks Coffee while waiting to board our plane and Arief decided to pooped (better here rather than on the plane). We went into the boarding area by 11.25am and it was already full. By 11.50am I just stand up and queue; we were the first and others followed. Arief as usual can't wait to board the plane. Our seat is No 28 (favourite); not to near to the toilet and few of the first to be serve refreshments. BTW we were tempted to order the Oriental Mee but decided not to as we will be having our lunch at Abg Ngah house. We arrive at LCCT a bit late due to traffic congestion; 1.25pm. It was an excellent and enjoyable vacation to Langkawi and we can't wait to come here again next year :-)

Langkawi Part 5...

We drove to Idaman Suri from Galeri Perdana; where we did our shopping (kain batik, kain pelikat, handbag, chocolates, utensils, dining set, jug etc etc). The place was so crowded with bargain hunters and holiday shoppers. We had to watch Arief carefully as there is a lot of fragile things on display. We finished shopping by 12.30pm and we rush immediately to Padang Matsirat for lunch at Jom Ikan Bakar (I did stopped by to buy minyak gamat). The place was crowded and lucky for us we came in just before the tourist bus. We had three ikan keli, one each of ikan pari & kembung for lunch; even Arief enjoy eating the ikan bakar. It was started to rain when we were enjoying our lunch; we really like the ikan bakar and it's air assam. We arrived at Helang Hotel by 2pm but our room was still not ready and we need to wait for another hour. We then drove back to Kuah to finish our shopping (done at 3.30pm and Arief was sleeping inside the car). We were thinking of having laksa first but we decided to go our room instead. I lost my cool at the check-in when a family just simply cuts queue and demand their room keys (no manners). We finally got our keys and I decided to push the luggage trolley myself as I don't want to wait for them to send it up. We were really impressed with our room; spacious and clean :-)

We refreshed ourselves and waited for the rain to stop before heading out to eat Laksa and Cendol nearby the airport runway. It is delicious and we manage to see a plane take-off from the runway. We then went for our last drive to Kuah and we stopped by at the Jetty where Arief went to play his favourite Daytona at the arcades. We bought KFC for our dinner and Arief ate in the car as we were driving to Pantai Cenang. I wanted to buy nasi lemak bungkus for our dinner but we couldn't find any there. Arief was already sound asleep when we reached back to our hotel and we can't wait to get a good night rest today after an exhausting shopping day :-)

Langkawi Part 4...

It was so quiet at EcoPark Hotel and I had to turn the TV through-out the night to keep us company. We woke up early as usual and we went for our breakfast at the Rockside cafe nearby. The buffet breakfast was simple; kuehteow goreng, baked beans, scramble eggs & toast with orange juice. After breakfast we take a short tour around the vicinity; it was quite odd as there was nobody around. We checked out at 9.30am and we proceed to drive to "Air Hangat Park" and we took the scenic route there. It took us about half an hour to reach there and Arief fall asleep in the car. I did stop by at the Craft Complex (survey for our next visit). When we reached "Air Hangat Park" it was still close and we proceed to Galeri Perdana @ Tun Mahathir gallery. As Arief was still sleeping soundly, we decided to drive back to "Air Hangat". Then we noticed that it is undergoing a major renovation. We then drove back to Galeri Perdana and went it. It was truly an amazing collection of souvenier from various countries, the best is a horse cart given by Argentina. I really like the car collection while Arief enjoy looking at the many model airplanes on display :-)

 

Langkawi Part 3...

We went to check at GeoPark Hotel on our reservation and the room is ready. I duly re-parked the car infront of the hotel and took our luggage to our room. Eliza & Arief was waiting at the lobby; resting under the air-cond after the tiring climb on the stairs. From the hotel we drove to Padang Matsirat for lunch. We wanted to visit "Jom Ikan Bakar" but it was closed. We went to Restoran Mempelam instead and we had ikan bakar (pari, keli & siakap) for lunch as well as ABC for desserts. After lunch we drove to Langkawi Water World. The last time we went here Arief was still small and he was sleeping. Arief was very excited to visit the Water World and he wanted to see the big shark (none here). Arief likes looking at the penguins; actually Arief was tired and sleepy but he was too excited to sleep. He did sleep during the drive back to EcoPark Hotel :-)

We went for our evening tea at Loft Langkawi; looking forward to their scones but it has already finished. We ordered pastries instead with hot chocolate & ice lemon tea. From here we drove to Kuah to do some Duty Free window shopping. We went to about 4 shops around Kuah; didn't buy anything yet as we still have a full day tomorrow. We went for our dinner at a foodcourt nearby to the jetty; Nasi Lemak Saloma (one of the cleanest shop there and it was quite delicious) :-)

 

Langkawi Part 2...

We had our complimentary breakfast at the Hotel; the spread was just nice and we really like the kuehteow goreng. We check-out by 9am as we wanted to go for the famous Langkawi Cable Car. We reached there by 10am as I got lost along the way (I should have use Google Map on my BB for direction as I drove to Pantai Cenang instead). We parked at the back and had to walk on the small suspension bridge (quite shaky). I called Maleck (my ADBA senior) as he had FB me last night saying that he is working there and he gave discounted tickets for the cable car. The journey up to the top took less than 5 minutes and it was an enjoyable ride; Arief was at awe with the amazing scenery as well as watching a lot of eagles flying around the mountain. We stop at the highest peak and decided to walk on the suspension bridge. BTW we need to walk down to the suspension bridge; stairs provided of course. The view is amazing but again it was quite shaky, But the worst part is when we need to climb back up with Arief. I carry Arief up the stairs and it was extremely tiring. We rest for awhile before taking the ride down while Arief drank his milk during the journey :-)

 

Langkawi Part 1...

We had to change our earlier plans for the Langkawi trip as Eliza needs to attend an interview in KL (promotion). I'll fly with Arief first while Eliza is taking the evening flight. We went our from Shah Alam at around 7am and reached Abg Ngah house by 8am; arriving at LCCT by 8.15am. The check-in counter was not open yet; I decided to wait there and within few minutes the counter was up and running. As it was still early, I went for breakfast with Arief at Marry Brown (fried chicken and chicken burger). Arief was busy taking pictures with the digital camera. We went into the departure hall by 9.30am and Arief can't wait to board the airplane. I had to coerce him to listen to my iPod while waiting. Arief enjoy looking outside the window during take-off and he asked for his milk. As long as he did not pooped during flight, I'm okay. We reached Langkawi as schedule and our rented car @ Vios is already waiting outside. I drove to our Hotel at Kuah town @ Langkawi Seaview Hotel and overshoot the turn until I reached the jetty; but thanks to Google Map on my BB I managed to locate the hotel with ease (should have use this in the first place). BTW Arief fall asleep in the car :-)

As our room is not yet ready, I decided to drove out into town to locate the famous duty free shop @ Idaman Suri;  managed to locate it with the direction given by the hotel staff. We went in for a brief survey before heading out to the shopping mall located at the Eco-Park and bought Arief's Big Ultraman @ RM10. We had our lunch at McD where Arief went and play at their mini playground and Arief specifically asked me to sit at the nearest table. BTW the service here is slow due to many customers, most of them are tourist. We went back to out hotel to freshen up and I even managed to take a short nap; only to be waken by Arief as he had pooped. We went out to Kuah Town by 5.30pm; we went to Haji Ismail Duty Free Shop where we bought a lot of chocolates as well as a cabin bag to carry the chocolates. I even had time to share "nasi lemak" with Arief before we drove to the Airport to pick-up Eliza (arrived at 7.35pm). We went straight for dinner at "Airport Corner"; rice with ayam masak kunyit, kailan ikan masin and telur bistik (they cook telur bistik differently here). It was raining quite heavily and we went back to our Hotel by 9.30pm :-)

 

Hard Rock Hotel Penang Part 4...

I woke up at 6am today eventhough I stayed up until midnight to update my blogs via the free wifi provided by the hotel. The dawn view from the balcony is outstanding. The bed is very comfortable. We went down for our complimentary buffet breakfast at Starz by 8.30am. It was still emply but by the time we finish it was almost full with patrons. I went out with Arief to the hotel lobby while Eliza continue to have her breakfast and I asked the staff on the complimentary platinum records; given to the first few who had booked to stay here. He immediately went to check at the registration counter and he immediately gave it to us; an excellent souvenier. We rushed back to our room to change as we plan to take Arief for a last dip in the swimming pool :-)

As were about to enter the swimming pool, it started to drizzle. Arief cried as he wanted to play in the swimming pool but we finally manage to convince him to play at the Lil' Rock Club first. 15 minutes after that it was all sunshine and Arief gets to play around in the swimming pool. We were there until 10.30am as it was already hot, Arief manage to play on the slide as well as enjoying the water playground. We checked out at around 11.30am and it was again smooth. I bought HRH Cap for my souvenier as well as HRC one shot glass for Faiz @ ADBA junior. It was an excellent vacation; the staff is friendly and the hotel is fun. We will come back here again for 2010 :-)

 

 

 

Hard Rock Hotel Penang Part 3...

We went to the bare-foot BBQ for our dinner and I immediately went to the buffet spread and took lamb, beef, oyster, crab, shrimp and chicken (it was actually salmon and it is extremely delicious). Arief & Eliza was enjoying the salmon and I went for the second helping (at this point that I realized it was Salmon after asking the chef). I really like the lamb, beef and oyster while Eliza adores the crab as well as the oyster. We also had the HRC special salad and it was delicious too. They do servsed fried rice which was just nice and crab nuggets too. BTW Arief pooped during dinner and Eliza had to bring him back to our room to clean him. While waiting I had another round of BBQ and finish it off with sweet desserts. Arief really likes the choc mud cake and he ate one small portion with his hands (well he did start dinner with choc mud cake).  After our dinner, we sat at the lobby and listen to the Live performance from a local band. We had plan to drive to the night market nearby but Arief was so sleepy that he wanted to go back to the room. We duly went back and Arief upon entering the room, he just lie down on the carpet trying to sleep :-)

 

 

Hard Rock Hotel Penang Part 2...

We went down to the swimming pool and we had a blast. Arief was really enjoying the slides and he even tried the big slides; with me and Eliza of course. We enjoyed it too and we really like the water playing area by the pizzeria; fill with a lots of water sprinkler shooting from all over the area. It was really happening over here with water volleyball being organized by the staff as well as beach football. Not forgetting the non-stop music. It did took us awhile to convince Arief to stop playing at the swimming pool and he finally agrees after he is really tired. BTW I met with my old friend from UiTM at the swimming pool; small world. While we were drying ourselves, I overheard from the beach deejay that they are having bare-foot BBQ at RM55 per adult and we decided to have our dinner here. I had planned to drive to Batu Maung for some seafood but considering the distance; we might as well have our dinner here as it is much more happening :-)

 

Hard Rock Hotel Penang Part 1...

We arrived at Hard Rock Hotel Penang by 4pm (all of us wore HRC t-shirt); a good one hour an a half journey from Taiping (Arief was sleeping soundly during the journey). HRH is located at Batu Feringgi and it is just opened on 19th September 2009. There is no basement parking but we managed to find a nice parking near the main entrance. The hotel staff were dressed in striking red ensemble and I really like their black lanyards. I immediately went to the registration and check-in; it took about 20 minutes to confirm our room. We were served with the customary welcoming drinks and it was quite good. Our room is 403 Sea View and we request for the concierge to send our luggage first as we wanted to tour the hotel. It was filled with music memorabilia and we took a lot of pictures; the best one is with the signature guitar. We went to their merchandise shop; there's three actually One for HRC and two for HRH. We bought HRC Penang t-shirt at RM90 for our souveniers. We went up to our room and we were really impressed with the design and view; can't wait to go down and enjoy their big swimming pool with three slides. Arief was already jumping up and down in the room asking us to hurry up and go down :-)

 

Genting Highland Part 1...

We went to Awana Genting Highland to celebrate our 4th Year wedding anniversary (we honeymoon here after driving back from Awana Kijal). I managed to buy the vouchers via Lowyat for RM45; free one night stay at Awana Genting Highland among it's many offerings. We started our journey quite late; at around 11.30am and we stopped for lunch at McD NKVE (Petronas).  We arrived at Awana around 2pm and we proceed for check-in. It took awhile as the queue is quite long. It was worth the wait as upon the confirmation of our room via the vouchers, we were given a free breakfast buffet vouchers by the Hotel staff (she thinks that Arief is cute and it would be a hassle for us to go and buy breakfast in the morning). Our room is on level 11; and the finishing of the room is very impressive as compared to our previous experience. Thumbs up to Awana Genting Highland :-)

We drove up to the theme parks at around 4pm and we parked at Genting Resort. Arief was already excited to explore the new surroundings; and it was quite cold too. The journey to the indoor park is quite far from here with many escalators and walkways. We passed by their Casino and as well as the Vision City (arcade games). Upon arriving at the Indoor Theme Park, we asked Arief whether he would want to play with all the rides but he declined. We ended up just touring all the retail shops available. I did bought Ultraman stickers for Arief to keep him busy while we have our early dinner later. We wanted to have something hot but not the usual fast food outlets; we eventually went for dinner at Hou Wei. We ordered roasted chicken rice and Hor Fun Soup; both is quite delicious :-)

As promised, we took Arief to the arcade game where we spend RM30 playing the arcades; from Daytona to Drum Machines to Dance Mania and basketball. All three of us likes playing "Go-Go-Balls" where we hit the object on the screen with small plastic balls. Arief also join in the fun by throwing the plastic balls. We also play the water fire and baseball. We collected about 179 tickets and we redeem it for a set of fridge magnets and stickers. Btw it took us awhile to coerce Arief to stop playing at the arcade. On our way out we bought KFC Snack Plate for Arief. It was already 8.30pm and it was quite foggy and cold. The drive down to Awana was a bit dangerous with the low visibility. Alhamdulillah we arrive safely and Arief fall asleep in the car :-)

 

 

Kota Kinabalu Holiday Part 7...

We went for our breakfast at Restoran Getaran Jiwa; we had the usual nasi goreng, toast and cakes. After breakfast, we went back to Tune Hotel for check-out (impressively very smooth; just remember to return the towels). The drive to the Airport took about half an hour. I had to wait for the rental car company representative to come to the airport to pick-up the rental car (excellent rental service). My father-in-law bought fresh prawns at the airport; RM96 for 2 kilos. We immediately went inside the boarding hall after checking-in. We went to Gate A2 but we were asked to change to Gate A5 instead. We boarded a connecting fight from Taiwan to Kota Kinabalu to KLIA. Arief spend most of the time watching DVD and he fell asleep upon boarding. The meal served is rice with chicken or fish; we do prefer the meals on our previous flight though. Arief only woke-up when we were about to land in KLIA. BTW Arief took home the small pillow from the flight :-)

Kota Kinabalu Holiday Part 6...

We went back to Pasar Filifina as my mother-in-law wanted to get clarification from the seller on her new bought pearls. We managed to find a nice parking spot in-front of the pasar. Arief and my father-in-law walk to the back of the Pasar Filifina to watch the sea and to our surprise it is full with street vendors @ pasar malam and we noticed a lot of stalls selling fried seafood. Without hesitation we took our seats and ordered our meals; fried squids, prawns and ikan merah. It was delicious. But Arief pooped and we had to clean him inside the car as the toilet there is not "hygenic friendly". After our scrumptious dinner, we went to Wawasan Complex nearby. It is an office building with numerous retail outlets and the ground floor. We had our cham at Olden Kopitiam there before heading back to our hotel. BTW we did make a brief stop at Dubai Textile at Alamesra; selling muslim scarfs. We went for our last tour of One Borneo before calling it a night :-)

Kota Kinabalu Holiday Part 5...

We were supposed to wake up early to drive to Mount Kinabalu Park but we ended up having our breakfast at 8.30am. We went to Restoran Senaria at Alamesra nearby and ordered roti canai, bihun goreng and nasi goreng lalap (chicken strips). The service is very dissapointed; they make a blunder on our orders and the didn't deliver roti bakar. After breakfast we began our journey to Mount Kinabalu Park; driving towards Tuaran. BTW there is a lot of roundabouts over here but less signage guiding to Mount Kinabalu Park. Upon reaching Tuaran, I stopped at the nearest Shell Station and my father-in-law ask the attendant on the direction and he suggested we proceed towards Danau. From here the driving is mostly uphills; tiring as I need to overtake a lot of big lorries. We are at awe at the view of Mount Kinabalu while driving there and we reach the Kinabalu Park at around 10.30am. It was very windy and we spend about 45 minutes there taking pictures and admiring the view. Arief enjoy the watching the scenery as well as playing all around the park. We drove back to Kota Kinabalu and reached there just nice for our lunch; we decided to have our lunch at Restoran Getaran Jiwa at Alamesra :-)

 

Kota Kinabalu Holiday Part 4...

We drove for our dinner at Anjung Selera located nearby the sea-front and opposite the floating mosque. We wanted to avoid the dinner and we went there early. There were a lot of shops there serving mostly seafood plus chicken wings and satay. We ended up choosing the nearest shop to our parking. We ordered chicken wings, squids, prawns, telur bistik and kailan ikan masin. Arief was busy playing all over the Anjung Selera; throwing and kicking pebbles everywhere. The meals was just mediocre; a bit dissapointed actually. It was beggining to rain as we were about to finish our dinner and we drove around Kota Kinabalu town before heading back to our hotel. Arief was already sleeping and we decided to walk around One Borneo exploring the many retail shops available. We also shared a hot white chocolate at Gloria Jeans located at the Tune Hotel reception :-)