Honeymoon the Return (5th anniv) - Bali

Hard rock hotel… hard rock hotel… hahaha.. bukan heart break hotel ye.. tapi hard rock hotel.. hihih… yeahh! That’s where we stayed for our honeymoon in Bali on 12 May- 14 May 2013. Boleh kate the best hotel we have ever stayed lah… thank you hubby for choosing (paying for) that hotel! Memang rock!

Our 3 days 2 nights ‘honeymoon the return in Bali’ was amazing! And because this is our 2nd time to Bali, we self arrange our trip. We weren’t using travel agency service that provide packages as usual. We made our own package! Hahaha.. hotel and all activities are made by online booking.

Basically this is our own arrangement: 

Bali Honeymoon Itinerary

12 May 2013

12.05 pm – Depart from KLIA

3.00 pm – Arrive at Ngurah Rai Airport

3.30 pm – arrive at hotel by taxi – check in

4.30 pm – Jalan-Jalan at Kuta Town

13 May 2013

6.45 am - Breakfast

7.15 am – Depart to Benoa Harbour

8.45 am – Boarding for Lembongan Island Beach Club Cruise

9.15 am – Departs from Harbour

2.45 p m – Boarding from beach

3.15 pm – Departs from pontoon

4.15pm – Arrive at harbour

5.15 pm – Arrive at Hotel

5.30 pm – rest and relax at hotel

7.30 pm – Dinner at Hard Rock Cafe
10.00 pm - live band

14 May 2013

7.00 am – Breakfast

7.30 am – Depart to Bali Green Spa

8.00 am – Spa Treatment

10.15am – Depart to Hotel
10.30am - explore hotel

1.00 pm – check out

1.15 pm – Depart to Airport

1.30 pm – Arrive at Airport

4.00 pm – Depart from Airport

7.05 pm – Arrive at KLIA

For our hard rock Hotel we book through Agoda, for Lembongan Island beach club Hai Cruise we book from Balionlines.com and for our spa we booked at Bali Green Spa. It was very very easy to Self arranged trip to Bali as it is one of the most popular tourist destinations. Everything is available online!

We departed from KLIA at 12.05pm and arrive at 3.05pm. From the airport we took a taxi. Fare is 45,000IDR around RM15 lah… ok lah kan… but make sure you buy the ticket at the counter. Kalo idak mau kena titik bayor lebih! Hehe..

After about about 20 minutes journey we arrived at Kuta area. Hardrock hotel located just in front of the Kuta Beach. For every vehicle that entering the hotel area, they must undergo a security check. Bukak boot, bukak bonet, siap check bawah2 kreta tu lagi… the taxi driver told us they are looking for bomb. What??!!! Uhhh gerunnyer aku… huhuhu… Bali was once attacked by terrorist long time ago and Kuta is a hot spot for the attack … so they took serious precautions towards the tourist safety… hwmm bagus lah… I feel secured stay in the hotel because it was guarded 24hrs and only guests are allowed to be in the area. 

Out from the taxi we were greeted with a huge welcome! Yeahh... I like! At the reception, I presented the Agoda slip and requested for a room with nice view. We get just what we asked, view from our room is superb! Facing the beautiful landscape, quiet during the day but happening at night because we can enjoy live band music from our room balcony. Upon check in we received a welcome drink, discounts coupon for Hard Rock merchant, spa and other various services. The best part is we get complimentary photography session. That one I will not miss lah… definitely! Hihihi… so, we make an arrangement with the hotel for that session on our 2nd day.. the result? jumping photo! check it here in this entry.

After settle down and have some rest, we proceed with our first activity which is exploring the Kuta area and hunt for food. Hubby suggested for McDonalds as it is the most trusted food to eat because it has certified by Majlis Ulama Indonesia, but I want to try Indonesian food. So we walked along the Kuta road but there is no nasi padang restaurant or anything similar in the area. Then we find the Beach Walk Complex. Aha.. maybe there is food court inside. So we explore that huge shopping mall and finally find the food court.  Macam2 adaaa…. Penang char kuey tiaw pon ada-tapi non halal ok.. 

We walk around the food court to survey our dinner. And my eyes catch a glimpse at the words Nasi Campur.. my heart said “nyumm, Indonesian food!” but when I read further it stated “Nasi Campur & Babi Guling” ohh noOoo! Punah harapan.. hahhaa.. What do u expect kan? This is not Malaysia where all meal sells in food court are Halal… hwmm.. so we keep looking and finally find a stall that sells Indian food and have the halal sign. Hwmmm boley la… walopon kesucian tempat tu diragui, at least there is halal sign. Indonesian food lah sangat kan?? Huhu.. 

Food there is expensive ok… we ordered lamb briyani with lassy and tandori chiken naan with chai tea, bill is around RM60…. Hahhaa… amek kau! Luckily the food is not bad at all. Kenyang perut… Alhamdulillah….

After dinner, we loiter around the shopping mall. For me there is nothing special there, just like any other shopping complexes… so we decided to go back to our hotel to rest for tomorrow we have to wake up early for our cruise trip!

13 May 2013

Early morning wake up! After breakfast ala vegetarian, (don’t dare to consume food that contain meat) we waited at the lobby for pick up to Benoa harbor for the Lembongan Island beach club cruise. 

At the beach club we ride the banana boat and swim in the swimming pool. I don’t dare kayaking or swimming in the sea because the wave is extremely strong as we reach there during the high tides. We only we walk along the beach after the water level going low in the evening.

About the food for lunch, telan jer lah mane yang confirm tak haram walopon kesuciannye diragui…. They served BBQ lunch, several of food including pork lah of course. Glup! Next time datang bawak bekal ye… Huhu..

Anyway, overall, two thumbs up for Lembongan Island Beach Club Hai Cruise! We pay USD 86/person, total USD172 for the trip = RM550++, quite pricey but worth it. The journey was amazing! Cuma the wave was too huge and make me sea sick. Tapi kejap jer.. and it was part of the adventure, not interrupting the fun and excitement at all.. 

We reached our hotel around 5.00pm. After rest and freshen up, we went out for souvenir hunting. We stop by Hard Rock Café to look at the menu. Hwmm… we doubt it... and we decided not to have dinner there… so we proceed with our souvenir hunting until we feel that we can no longer walk! lenguh!! Hahaha… Then we stop by McDolands and tapau for dinner back in our room. After dinner we thought to watch live band at the centre stage but we are too tired that we end up watching it in our room, live on TV. Hwmm lagi best!

14 May 2013

Our last day and it’s our spa day! After breakfast we waited at the lobby for pick up to the spa. Purposely set spa on our last day. After tiring exciting days of activities we conclude it with spa treatment, Ohh how nice... hehe... 

Bali Green Spa… the front part of the spa is not that impressive but the back yard…. Perghhhh!! Who expect that there is a mini bali country yard behind that building?? We were warmly greeted and served with orange refreshing drink and cold towel while waited for them to prepare a gazebo for us. Actually you can choose either to do the treatment in a room or in gazebo. And we choose it to be in gazebo lah of course… then we choose the scrub, lavender for hubby and coffee for me… 

one happy customer.. the spa surrounding

We took the 2 hours spa that include aromatic foot bath, Balinese massage, foot massage and body scrub. We only pay USD50 for 2 persons. Very reasonable and I think that it is very cheap for the satisfied service and quality of treatment. 2 thumbs up!!

After refreshing hours in spa, we back to our hotel. I requested for late check out and they extended it to 1pm. Hwmm… We only have little time to spare in the hotel for taking picture… we don’t even have time to swim in their huge swimming pool.. ishhh rugi. But it’s ok. It will be the reason for us to come again! Just to enjoy the swimming pool. Hehe..

We check out and took hotel transport to airport, 75,000IDR and we pay 100,000 IDR including tip for the driver = RM30++. On the way we drop by a souvenir shop for last minute shopping. It is called Krisna Ole ole khas bali. I think it’s the best place to buy souvenir… then we proceed to airport…. and get ready to leave Bali and make plan to come again someday. Hehhee.. belum balik dah rasa nak datang lagi… that how good Bali is!

At the airport, we waited for boarding time and unfortunately our flight delayed for 3 hours. And I had the most horrific flying experience! I will tell in my next entry… tungguuu… hehehe..

so, jom Bali!!!!

*more photo in my FB..

Guilin beautiful Guilin!

Guilin?? That is most people’s respond. Haha.. Seems obvious that Guilin isn’t a very popular destination to most Malaysian. Haha actually I myself don’t really know about Guilin. It just happens when I was looking for a place to go for my family vacation, I came across a low-priced fare by Airasia to Guilin. I started google about Guilin and found that it is a very beautiful place, relaxing and suitable for a family with a baby vacation. So I decided to pay a visit to Guilin to see with my own eyes is Guilin really beautiful as mentioned in virtual world. For those who are wondering, where on earth lah Guilin ni kan? Guilin is in guangxi, China. Ce try google Guilin image, you’ll be amazed I tell u… hehe.. 

So, on 11th-15th Oct 2012 was our trip to Guilin! I was very excited and anxious at the same time as this is the very first time ever for Raheel being on a flight. But the wariness are all for nothing because Raheel was just fine. Behave very well and he enjoyed being on board. Raheel memang rock and sporting kan? 

Ok, back to our story in Guilin, the journey started as early as 3.30am as our flight boarding on 6am. Find out my story about our adventure during boarding in entry “Huru-haranya LCCT” 

at the airport

We touched down around 10.30am after 4hours flying. Note that there is no time difference between Malaysia and Guilin. 1st impression at Guilin airport “busuknyer! We were greeting by unpleasant smell while walking out of the arrival area. Something smell like human poop! Immediately I checked Raheel’s diaper. Manelah tau Raheel cikabiyak… but there’s nothing there. And the smell is getting stronger as we walk on the travelator and thank god disappear after that. Bagai nak pengsan aku! May be somebody done his or her BIG business in the plane and didn’t clean it properly or that thing just stick on his or her pants.. eeiiiiyuuu!!! 

Enough of that disgusting story. After collecting our luggage and done with the immigration procedure we were out of the arrival area and was welcome by our tourist guide, a not so amoi but not yet a nyona lady. Right away she started chatting about Guilin... Guilin is water and mountain and so on… oho.. I cannot recall her history tale... plus I was blurred because I can’t really get what she said. You know, English that sounds like Chinese, really hard to understand. Words she pronounced don’t sound like it supposed to be sounded. And she herself couldn’t understand us and we have to speak words by words together with sign language… urghh the language barrier… but we managed to deal with it until the end… 

one of the unique activities

Ok, let’s move on. From the airport we went for our first activity- Li River Cruise! It is one of must do activities when you visit Guilin. This is where you get the chance to see the local people activities along the river. And the river is unbelievably crystal clear! The only drawback was the boat was quite old and the people (Chinese people) in the boat talk soooo loud! Plus we did the river cruising during hot sunny almost afternoon day and Raheel was starving because he hasn’t eaten since morning as he was asleep when we ate breakfast on the plane plus we forgot to grab his munchies that were in the other bag. So you know how it is when a little boy is hungry… Raheel was being grumpy and cried and make it hard for us to really enjoy the scenery and I just wish the cruising to end soon and finally it ended! 

the only safe eating place

Next destination was of course LUNCH!! We were brought to a Muslim restaurant in the city and ate a big feast! That is the only trustworthy Muslim restaurant in town and that was where we had our lunch and dinner while we were there. After that I requested to go straight to our hotel because Raheel needs to rest. That’s one of the advantages when we travel with a private tour coz we can arrange our own schedule according to our convenience. So, to hotel we went! Have a good rest until dinner time and continue with the night tour. 

About the hotel, there’s nothing much to talk about, you know how 3 star hotel’s condition. We stayed at Baigong Hotel which I used to refer as Bengong Hotel. Breakfast is absolutely uneatable. Luckily we’ve prepared for that and had brought our own food supply. Haha.. 

Back to the tour we went for a scenic view at night at a park that I couldn’t recall the name. hehe… but here’s some photo from that tour and the scene is remarkable! Guilin is undeniably a very nice place especially at night coz they shower their park with lights… colourful lights! 

the view? simply magical

sun and moon pagoda

In the morning, we visit a park, a beautiful park (again, don’t remember the name) to see the banyan tree, a sacred tree for the local people. I relate it as the tree in avatar movie. Hehe… it was very fascinating to see the local people doing their morning activities. Our tourist guide told us, their people love to dance and I can see that. They are dancing something like aerobic in the park.

the banyan tree

After that we went Liu San jie park, the minority village… learning a thing or two about the minority people of guilin and enjoying the remarkable view in the park. There are 4 minority people if I’m not mistaken which I don’t remember the name. Haha! Nampak sangat aku memang tak pay attention on what our tourist guide explaining. 

Then we went for tea drinking and I was excited to taste their assorted flavor of tea. And we bought a canister of osmanthus tea. Osmanthus is a flower found in Guilin and known for the goodness in health. I don’t actually really care about the goodness, I care about the flavor and it was the most expensive tea I have ever bought. One canister cost me 300 yuen or approximately RM150. Never mind the price coz the tea can last for years and it tastes good! Plus it is a healthy drink. Hehe… 

one of the minority house

Then after lunch we were heading to Yangshou, few hours journey. Haha.. it’s been quite some time before I manage to write this entry so I can’t remember how many hours it took to reach Yangshou from Guilin. On the way there we stop by a village for river rafting - Another unique experience where we were cruising the crystal clear river by a bamboo rafting while listening to a girl singing. Then we watch a demonstration of a bird catching fish in the water and spit out the fish from its throat and gave it to their master. Very fascinating! Then we watch something like opera shows on the river which I don’t understand not even a word by their performance yet entertained by it. The show was actually about the custom of one of the minority people in Guilin. 

After enjoying the rafting adventure we headed to Silver Cave to enjoy the scenary in the cave. Then we went to our hotel that is just nearby the famous street in Yongshou known as the west street. We have a good rest and at night we went shopping at the west street – a super crowded market. This place is where we can see a lot of orang putih… ehehe… west street is a nice place for shopping china’s goods but we really have to know how to bargain in order to get a good price. The starting price set by the hawker are extremely and ridiculously high. We have to bargain and bargain and bargain, otherwise we will end up buying things that is far expensive than the actual value. 

down park of this picture is actually reflection of the upper part. . amazing kan?

sea of people in west street

 The next morning we visit the crown cave. A very very very beautiful and unique place where we can experience different kind of things all in one place. To reach the cave we have to ride a glider/ slide something like a cable car gondola which I found a bit scary because of their lack of awareness about safety. Can u imangine riding a vehicle with no wall/ fence without seat belt? And we have to drive that ‘gondola’ ourselves and follow our instinct weather to accelerate or hit the brake. Luckily we were safe! Hahaha… Then in the cave we have to walk then ride a boat. Again no safety because no life jacket was provided. I just pray to Allah to protect us especially Raheel. After boating, we walk again, up and down the stairs then a mini train and finally we ride and elevator. How cool they have lift in a cave! The view along the journey in the cave was spectacular! 

the 'Gondola' and it is not attached to each other tau.. 

After that we headed back to Guilin. Have lunch and went to visit silk store. Then head back to hotel and have a good rest after very tiring yet thrilling day. 

In the morning after breakfast we visit another park, yushan park and relax while enjoying the breathtaking view and listening (not listening actually) to our tourist guide another history tale. After that we went to a not very satisfying food massage but we cannot complaint because it is free. Hahaha, free because it was actually a trick for them to promote their super expensive traditional herb. We were not buying it! Haha.. 

yushan park

zheng yang street

After that went to head to Zhenyang Shopping Street (something similar like our petaling street) we just survey survey jer.. boring because I wasn’t able to do as much shopping as I wanted to coz we have running out of cash after shopping SAKAN at west street in yongshou. Haha.. padan muka aku! 

We did'nt change too much Yuen but we did bring a lot of RM assuming we can at any time change the money at money changer in case we’re running out of Yuen. Unfortunately they do not accept RM, their banks only accept USD. Silly…. Ntah hape2… GrrRrr!!! 

After loitering around the street we went back to our hotel, then out for dinner then back to hotel again and wait for the morning to come. And when the morning comes we pack our bag and back to our beloved country Malaysia… end of adventure in Guilin sweet sweet memories

Summary, Guilin is a very interesting place to visit to see countryside Chinese people culture and very remarkable scenery. It was a different experience we had that you will never have here like seeing worker sweeping in the middle of a highway without any safety sign. However, atmosphere and the surroundings make us love Malaysia even more because Malaysia is tidier and the people are 100 times more polite than the people in Guilin.

keje gilerr...

for more photos, macam biasa, ada kat fb.... 

fuhhh finally siap jugak entry nih!!

anniversary @ Grand Lexis Port Dickson

Aku nak Sambung cerita pasal 17th May… hahaha.. I don’t care even if now is already july, aku nak cerita jugak! As I wrote on my previous entry about our 4th wedding anniversary ::HERE::
We always celebrate our anniversary on a vacation kan. As I promised, here are the stori mori at the grand lexis… there are 2 sides of stori. One the bad one, and another a good one.

Let start with the not so best to hear:

Few weeks before nak pegi, I have already called for reservation. Thank god, bilik memang banyak lagi because it wasn’t peak season. Sape jer nak check in on Thursday non school holiday pulak tu kan? So I reserve a room and in order to secure a room kita kena provide credit card details sampai cvv code belakang tu pon kita nak kena tulis kat form and fax to them. I don’t really agree on this, rasa concern and tak secure nak provide those information to them. So I paid cash instead. Payment thru cimbclicks jerr….

Before that, I have to wait for them to email the booking confirmation form. I expect them to email it immediately after our phone conversation (like always based on my previous experience with other hotels) , tapi rupenyer I have to wait 24hours for that. Siap aku kena call back sbb dah tunggu punya tunggu tak sampai2, dia pon tak mention to emel within 24 hours… so meaning to say reservation dia agak lembab la… and call pon sikit punya susah nak get thru… not so 5 star la… pas tu pulak, when they finally send the confirmation letter, they asked me to settle it immediately. Imagine ye, I received the emel on 30th April at 4.22pm and they mention on the emel “Kindly find the attachment for your reference. Please sign on the confirmation letter and send it back to us by 30th April 2012” mane sempat! Ko hengat keje aku ni ngadap benda alah ni aje?? So I have to call back and ask about the validity of the form if I were to sign it on 2nd May. Sbb 1st may kan public holiday… seb baek buleh… kalo tak aku nak kena tunggu another 24 hours plak kan for another confirmation letter!

So on 2nd May aku settle kan bayaran. And then pulak I requested for special arrangement since this is our anniversary vacation and I planed to astonish hubby with extended birthday surprise, during the phone reservation I’ve mention about it and the representative ask me to communicate through emel about this matter. So, I did as she says. I explain details about my plan and about what I need them to do. And on 3rd May dia reply will check and advise you accordingly. So I assumed they are working on my request tu la. So I waited for a solid week, and no response… kalo tak boleh, just reply and tell me that they are not able to fulfill my request, habis cerita kan! Ini tak reply2… ingat aku ni byk sgt masa nak follow up2… and I wasn’t request for their service for free pon! Sebab semangat nak surprise kan hubby I shoot another emel to them asking about my request. It was already 14th May only 3 days away from my check in date. Then they called me and explain itu.. ini… end up most of the arrangement buleh dibuat but there is one yang memang dah tak sempat nak buat, yang paling surprise plak tuh! Tulah! Korang lambat sgt respond! Tapi tak pelahh… birthday hubby pon aku dah celebtare kaw2 punya…

Summary: reservation grand lexis, slow and not efficient! Doesn’t reflects 5 star hotel status!

Now the best side:

Hotel dia memang superb! Ambiance memang relaxing and best! Best! Best! reception service pon bagus and friendly sgt. After checking in, we were brought to our room by buggy. Note that the room is quite far from the reception area.

I booked for a deluxe pool villa above water with glass panelled floor. Ini yang jadi favourite Raheel. Sibuk tengok fish (macam ada la kan..) hihi..

Once the door was open, jeng jeng jengg…. A birthday cake was waiting for hubby! Black forest cake yang sedap! Cuma not so presentable because they left the cake in the box. I expect the cake to be put on the table with lighted candle… hehe.. tapi ok laa.. after settle down then only we proceed to upacara memotong kek birthday hubby.

Let’s talk about the room. When I book for a room, the staff told me that deluxe room is quite small. But actually it isn’t that small… ok lah for our family yang bertiga je ni… bilik siap ada kitchen and spacious bathroom. And the best part is of course la the swimming pool. Cuma swimming pool agak kecik la… sekadar boleh sekali kuak dah sampai hujung… but ok lah… nice! Maybe if we go for a bigger room such as executive pool ke, then the swimming pool will be bigger. Tapi bigger room comes with 2 or 3 beds. Nak buat hape banyak2 bed?? The only room with 1 queen size bed is deluxe room..

Room interior nice and simple, Cuma aircond agak kurang sejuk. Usually hotel room kan sejuk tahap beku, but for this one ada sikit warm but comfortable la. Tido tak yah pon nak pakai selimut tebal tu…

Petang tu kami round2 around the villa area. Hwmmm… cantikkk… but if the sea is crystal bule lagi cantik! Tau2 je lah air kat port Dickson tu kan coklat keruhh.. hihi.. time nil ah aku nak terbayang kalau lah skrang ni kita kat Maldives… tak pon sekurang2nyer kat mabul island ke… huhu… best tuuuuuu!!

Hehe.. at night, dinner yang ditunggu2… candle light! Walopon ada Raheel si budak tasyebok, but we really enjoy our anniversary dinner. Dengan setting yang sungguh romantika tu… hihi.. rasa bahagia sungguh! The food also very nice! Nampak portion nya sgt kecik tapi kenyang tuhhhh..! nyum.. nyum…

Most of the time kat sana we spend by berendam dalam swimming pool. Tak cukup dengan pool dlm bilik, pool kat luar pon rendam jugak! The part yang buat aku excited is the water slides for kids tu. Tapi bonda jer yang excited lebih2, Raheel tak suke pon nak main dlm air tu… sibuk nak berkepit with bonda!

Anyway, paling best main air is time Raheel tido lah! Hihih… time ni lah his parents nak bermaharajalela! Hehehe.. kate swimming pool dalam bilik.. dah tengah malam pon kami bantai berendam lagi! Wahhh sungguh enjoy!!! The next day before balik pon sempat lagi main air! And I request extended checkout just so that kami bleh berendam lama2… hihih..

so, bila checkout time dah tiba, terpaksalah kami checkout…. Bye2 grand lexis!!!! Sweet memories we have with you! Hotel ni memang recommended lah for couple to have romantic getaway… serius! Best!!

A'famosa Resort- Birthday vacation & Raheel's first water activity

On 4th Feb 2012 my family and one of my brother’s family went for a short break at A’famosa Resort. We stayed a night at D’savoy Condotel, a 2 bedroom condo, nice and spacious condo with a very nice view.

On morning of 4th Feb (my birthday, hehe) we head to the resort water park. We had a blast with the slides and I was so excited because this is Raheel’s first experience playing in the water and I can say that Raheel doesn’t really like being in the water, he enjoyed it but didn’t really love it. I guess it is because he is high altitude boy. Budak gunung la mcm ayah and bonda dia.. hehe..



muka cuak Raheel dlm air

After a tiring day swimming in the pool, we headed to the resort condotel. It’s a very nice 2 bedroom apartment, with a spacious living room and a kitchen. Plus, the views from our condo balconies are magnificent! (there are 2 boaconies… hebat kan?) Worth the money we paid for the accommodation (RM388/ night). The only drawback is they didn’t provide kitchen utensils mcm pinggan mangkuk, sudu garfu. Tau lah cooking is not allowed, tapi at least sediakan lah pinggan manggkuk tu…





at front balcony... angin sgt kuat!

At night we went to cowboy town! Enterance ticket punyalah mahal! But there’s nothing much to see beside red Indian, live animal and little firework show… other than that, we also watch 4D movie which I think was just ok… and there are other games but they are something similar with what we can get at a common funfair and plus we need to pay for the token to play. After enjoying the carnival, we went back to our hotel and have a good rest!

Cowboy town! byk tanglung sbb theme chinese new year

The next morning we went for breakfast at the restaurant that was quite far from our hotel. And because breakfast venue is centralized for the entire resort residents, it gets over crowded. Not enough food and not enough seats, very noisy and inconvenient. We really were not enjoying our breakfast.

After the not so good breakfast we packing up and ready for check out! Then we went to animal safari.We ride a caged tram and watch free animal (nak naik tram ni pon kena Q sikit punya lama!). Funny la pulak. Macam binatang2 tu yg tgk kita dok dlm cage. Slalu depa yg dok dlm cage! Haha.. after that we watch cowboy show, bird show, elephant show and multi animal show. Then we went to monkey island! Overall animal safari ni memang best!



duduk dlm sangkar!

Late on the evening we leave the resort. Bye bye a’famosa resort… summary: A’famosa Resort was quite a nice resort but vacation there is quite costly. Besides accommodation, we need to pay for parking fee, and high entrance fee for each park. I give 2 out of 5. rendah kan rating tu? basically it is because of the high fee but not so well maintained facilities, landscape and servcie provided in the resort. rasa not worth paying that much (except for the hotel)

Before heading home, we stop by Bandar Melaka! My sister-in-law mengidam nak naik river cruise… after queuing for more than one hour finally we get to ride the boat and enjoy night scenery along the river. It was fun!

After the very tiring long long day we head home with a sweet sweet memories…!! What a birthday! Hehehe…

lamanyer baru entry ni siap and berjaya di publish...

review about Colmar Tropicale - a french theme resort

Recently hubby and I together with our 10 month old son, Raheel, went for a trip to Colmar Tropicale Bukit Tinggi, Pahang. It is a French themed resort under Berjaya Hill located 2,700 feet above sea-level amidst 80 acres of rainforests (taken from the website). The concept, the scenery, the environment and surroundings really is spectacular! really siuts to those who wants to rest, relax and have a peace retreat.

For me everything there is perfect BUT the hospitality by the staff. They are very unfriendly and inefficient. First, the reception didn’t give precise information about the room available. She told us that there only 2 type of room available which is standard room comes with 2 single beds and suite comes with 1 king sized bed. I plan to stay only one night and don’t mind staying in a small room as long as hubby, Raheel and I can sleep together on a bed. So I asked the lady whether the single bed can be moved closer together (like most hotels). And she confidently said yes! So without thinking any further we took the standard room.

Then we proceed to our car, collect our luggage and wandering at the basement parking looking for which door to accessed to our block. I saw some maintenance worker looking at us and nobody offered any help. Yes, you are the maintenance guy, nothing to do with bell boy or whatsoever but you are the hosts and we are the guess… at least you can show us the right direction. There I see the unfriendliness and their unwillingness to help.

Come in the room, the first thing I checked was the bed. We tried to move the bed closer but it is actually a build-in bed and cannot be moved at all! Gggrrr!! Hangen satu badan aku! If the lady gave us right information we must have took the suite! How can I possibly sleep on a single bed and breastfeed raheel? Mau tergolek budak tu. Dah ler dia tido suke pusing2!

so, after some considerations my hubby called the receptionist asking to upgrade our room. We waited almost half an hour for the process and the bellboy came to bring our bags and lead us to our new room. On the way to the room my hubby and I tried to make a conversation but he didn’t seem interested. Cisss! Memang tak peramah!

Once we entered the suite, wahhhh!!! It’s huge man! Really huge! Kalo nak main kejar2 dlm bathroom pon buleh! Memang puas hati but the furniture quite old… but it is ok and worth the price...

Long story short, dinner time we head to one of the restaurant (forgot the name cause all the shops there using French name. we ate roasted chiken! Yummy! Yummy ke?? Not so yummy but ok ok la… it’s not the food I wanna talk about, it’s the waiter. The unfriendliness of them… I don’t know how to explain, all I can say is I don’t feel warm or cozy eating there.

Then after having dinner we go jalan2 around the resort and before head back to our room we stop at their pizza restaurant to tapau a pizza. This time I wasn’t only upset about their unfriendliness but I felt so mad of the waitress rudeness!

We came into the restaurant, nobody even looking at us what more to greet, Haram! Then dengan terpinga2 we were looking for any waiter to take our order. Then my hubby approached this one lady and with a sour face she asked us to wait. Hell! Buat2 busy pulak! There I saw only two tables are occupied! Finally there’s one Indian lady took our order. My hubby asked her recommendation on the pizza. Maklumla, all the pizza name is in French. And she answered without even looking at us and with a fedup reaction. Damn! Terbakar betol aku. We were not looking for attention or royal treatment, but pay a little respect. We are guess here!

The next day, we decided to take the provided tram to Animal Park. When we reach their waiting hut I saw their worker sitting there chatting and joking with each other. Nobody greet us as we approached. And when my hubby ask about departure time to animal park one of them answered then or while continue laughing with their jokes. JERK!! As we sat there waiting I felt so grrRR with their behavior. They acted as we were not existing.

It was the same at the animal park. The entrance guy was not friendly at all. We weren’t feeling welcome at the animal park! Luckily the animals there especially the rabbit are all friendly! Yes, I can say that animal there is more friendly than the human!

I’ve been to many places/ resort that’s why I can see so much different comparing to colmar tropicale in term of warmth and kindness of the staff. When I was in Holiday Villa Bali, smiles never leave their faces and they greet us whenever they see us. Same goes in phuket and nothing less when I stayed in Hard Rock Hotel Penang. And as far as I can remember I have never came across any hotels or resort with this lousy treatment as colmar tropicale.

What a shame, Berjaya Hill succeeded to build a very gorgeous resort, with so much attractions and stunning scenery but they failed to trained their employee with the skills of hospitality-the most essential skill.

I’ve already lodged a complaint about this matter through guess satisfaction survey and I really hope there will be changes on their staff attitude when I see them in my next visit.

Raheel's first vacation!

since Raheel was born up until he is 10++ months old ayah and bonda never bring him jalan-jalan on a vacation. Asyik2 jln at shopping complex.. asyik2 shopping complex. Sampai raheel dah naik boring! (raheel boring ke? Bonda yang boring?? Hehehe..)

so, on 5^th and 6^th oct 2011, ayah and bonda brought raheel to Bukit tinggi pahang for his first ever vacation. Hahaha.. satu malam jer stay at colmar tropicale, kira vacation la jugak kan. Actually this was an unplanned trip. Kalo ikutkan kami tengah berpantang dari going for any trip/vacation/ escape/… whatever yang sewaktu dengannya because there’ll be a mega project trip insyallah… but because aku dah sangap coz it’s been so long since our last cuti2 Malaysia (trip to penang when raheel was still in my tummy). Since then, even after Raheel was born we weren’t going anywhere. Well it was not because we have raheel that we cannot move but it was because financial restriction lah because our mega project beli rumah. Habeh semua duit being invested on rumah ku syurgaku itu…

so like I said it was unplanned, hubby was requested to take compulsory leave (tu la… Masa org nak cuti tak bagi, dah nak ujung tahun kena habiskan cuti sesibuk paksa org cuti!) .

 …continue citer, because hubby got leave during weekdays, so I purposely apply leave as well so that I can be at home with hubby (sajer menggedik!). so as we were sitting at home with nothing to do suddenly the feel like going for a trip membuak2 pulak. without thinking any further we made decision to have a trip to colmar Bukit Tinggi because it is near, nice place and most off all sana ada rabbit park for Raheel to play2 with the rabbits! hehehe... (actually bonda dia yang excited lebih nak main rabbit!) 

so, (berapa byk so aku nih?) tak pe lah... so, we really enjoyed our trip there! everything is nice except the not very friendy staff. ini aku akan buat entry lain, review pasal tempat nih...

k... these are some photo from our trip to be shared. pleasant viewing! hehe.. 

nice tiny town

our room!

at the living room

spectacular view from our balcony

taking photo until dusk! 7pm owedi..

dinner time! Raheel eat empty spoon..

breakfast!

Raheel cutest face!

gorgeous view

swan!

like at the stair of an old palace

yeayy!! rabbit! rabbit!

. ...and the donkey..

Raheel's first vacation foot wax monument. monument tuhhh! haha..

Raheel's first "pebenda nama benda nih?" ride