Found some of the pictures I took that are already uploaded on my Picasa , so here it goes
The hotel outlook, very grand looking I know and its cheap too (like 150RM only inclusive of breakfast) but nowadays I checked the price on Wotif and seemed to have increased. If they have not done any renovation to the room, well the room is normal and nothing special compared to the room pictures I featured in this blog like the Gardens or the Banyan tree room.
The hotel lagoon, when filled up, its quite nice and people can kayak around it. Overall this hotel is very good for families, their pool is big and nice too, some parts are semi-indoor (roof above it) and there are some small slides too.
Me at the lagoon, very hot in Port Dickson and the beach, virtually none at this hotel, only sand and lagoon. Though there is the public beach with jet ski and banana boat rides quite nearby (still need car)
View from the room, the lagoon semi filled-up, in the early morning its nearly empty, but too lazy to take a pic, its not a nice sight anyway. Breakfast in the hotel was not that good, well a simple hotel with simple standard.
They have a few old arcade games at the lobby and a few karaoke boxes too. but the lifts are like forever damp and smelly.
The only Port Dickson attraction we went to, a lighthouse, its name is Cape Rachardo (Tanjung Tuan) Lighthouse. Its still in operation and the hike up from the carpark where there is a hotel too, then we can just park the car there.
since its located in a forest reserve, there is plenty of flora and fauna around but, we are sweaty and we are no hikers into jungle. The hike up and down is as much exercise as we get for the entire year (cos we do not exercise at all)
At the top, we managed some very decent pictures of the sun going to be set
This one taken with my sunglass acting as polarisers (since then the sunglass has been retired due to broken legs)
The pool back at the hotel , very inviting right
No beach activities but the view is quite alluring and relaxing for a short getaway.
Seremban is just half an hour away so we have dinner there at the amazing crab restaurants they have and I always visited seremban every time we went to KL (Genting) because their Bah Kut Teh and seafood is very good. Not to forget the Seremban Siew Pau and my favourite Kaya Puff ( its chewy – the kaya and crispy – the puff , smooth – its more like a pancake on the outside, and better than any macaroons that cost like $2 in SG, this one cost less that a buck and its huge!) yes traditional and no-nonsense but its really wonderful, next time I will remember to take a pic before gobbling them all up
the lagoon empty is really ugly!
the sky is always super nice blue
island in the distance visited by many ships, wonder why?
Seremban in a rainy evening, many buildings still british inspired.
My crustacean friend we had for dinner,
and on the way home, we came across this place
Eagle ranch resort
Each of those wagon is 2 rooms (upstairs and downstairs), quite unique rite, and there are many things on their resort (archery, go-kart etch) but its a little bit far from port dickson and not sure about the food around it.
mainly for team- building i guess, but maybe its popular? not sure but sure look very interesting decor
One last look at the cute wagons
till next time’
now blog about the trip proper,
btw we are team 8, so maybe, i CAN split the entries into 8?
oh well, in the plane, very smooth ride, I was initially quite afraid, cos I remember long long time ago, someone told me that the skies from Singapore to KL is always cloudy and thus expect a bumpy plane ride, and I rode on Aeroflot (on the way to Moscow in 2000) from Singapore to KL and I had bad motion sickness. but on wednesday, there was no bumpy feeling on the plane at all!
mrK busy filling up forms (he is so nice really!, usually he doesnt even wanna look at the forms except to put his signatures)
me busy camwhoring in the plane, well actually, even though I have a camera with me, I seldom take picture of myself, so my camwhoring skills suck! just look at my DOUBLE chin , ahhhh the horror!!
but with the iPhone, there is so many photography applications so its like having ur own polaroid camera, with a lomo, fisheye whatever lenses there is thrown in but of course, the results is not as satisfactory.
but for the easy fixes and watermark adding, there is always Picasa!
so yeah, I dont photoshop, i only do very minor touches with Picasa.
SO, back to the flight, it was inaugural flight, so Penang Tourism WELCOMES us with a bang!
Pretty ladies giving out flowers and goodie bag while the guys tirelessly beating their drums!!
The Pilot should have announced it! everyone loves to be part of History, they should know that it is the inaugural flight and that Penang Tourism is welcoming us with a bevy of pretty ladies in national and traditional costumes! Oh well, I am sure by the end of it all everyone will realise, but I knew it, thanks to kelly and michelle so I was super EXCITED about receiving the pretty flowers (made of rattan and pretty laces!) and the goodie bag, an eco friendly blue bag with Penang tourism T shirt (I dont have to buy any Souvenir already!) and maps of Penang.
The flowers made a nice addition to my bag too!
Then another surprise, the organiser give us FREE AIRPORT TRANSFER to our hotel! so happy, save at least RM 25 (BY TAXI) to maybe rm 8 (by bus which will take forever cos it was rush hour already (5pm) by the time we cleared immigration and get onto bus)
Berjaya Georgetown is located at 1 midlands Park, Jalan Burma. Midlands Park is not exactly a park, its more of a shopping/hangout place. There are many entertainment outlets such as snooker/billiard, KTV, bar, Pub, Computer gaming and food place like KFC, Dimsum restaurant and 7-11. At night, the hotel’s bar is also very happening with live music! very very loud, but I stay in 27th floor outta 29 floor so it was peaceful and quiet and very good view.
so heres what the room look like, simple and most importantly, clean
BTW, there is this cafe just opposite the hotel, called Island RED cafe. AT night, like 7 onwards, it is FULL! all the parking lots are taken up, all the way until 1-2 am, then ppl started leaving, but really, always patronised. It served normal cafe western food, we didnt try it because we are always full by the time we return to hotel sooo the next time we are in Penang, we are definitely going to try it to see whats the hype all about.
there is no pic, its easy to find, just opp the hotel, right next to the Nokia centre and the Penang Adventist Hospital.
after we put down our stuff and freshen up abit, I practised my starJump!!
then took in the views from the room,
KOMTAR on the left, highest building in Penang, at 60 storeys high, the centre of government offices and heard alot of good food are nearby, more on KOMTAR on the other parts!
on the right, should be Jerai Mountain, the mountainous area near Penang National park (i think!)
Right below, our neighbours, school , condos, cafes etc.
then we go to Gurney Plaza, its so near the hotel so we walk there!
its easy to walk there, just follow the road, take a left at the first opportunity, walk straight ahead and you will see Gurney Plaza, supposedly the best mall in Penang.
There is a nice Playground just next to the mall, so we play for a while there, while practising more starjumps!! and try our hand at capturing the colours, we love this super well maintained and colourful playground!!!
We got hungry so we walked round the mall to find out whats available, then at the top floor (7th storey) is their cinema, 1st July was the opening day for Ice Age 3 : the dawn of Dinosaurs.
Then we saw a banner, wednesday night is movie night, shows only at RM6!
we got excited, but then we find out that its not applicable for ice age, its applicable for shows like transformers though.
well its still cheap plus I am sure we can still make it within budget since we have extra RM thanks to exchange rate difference.
so we bought tix to Ice age 3D!! RM 30 cos its 3D! still cheaper than Singapore (3D movies not applicable for any credit card discount!) and the cinema is really quite clean and well maintained!
now we get really hungry and head out to the famous Gurney Drive hawker centre.
Thats the huge hawker centre behind me, a very crowded place!
Their muar Chi is sold out! 
and Char Kway tiao Q was super duper long (well only this particular stall actually) so we eat asam laksa (very different from any kind of laksa in singapore), fried oyster, Rojak and Sotong Bakar (grilled sotong)
for drinks we had sugar cane and soya bean
total dinner cost RM 24
then we take a walk along gurney to enjoy the sea breeze
before catching our movie!
us in cool 3d glasses!!
ICE AGE is damn funny and highly recommended. 3D is really cool, sharp and super clear pictures!
CYA tomorrow for More adventures!!!
Pic from the night before,
we were excited about our Taiwan trip, so we took pics with the hotel, usually we do not do this!
thats right, our home in Taipei, Taipei Fullerton Hotel.
While the name Fullerton immediately reminded me of the very posh Fullerton hotel that is just right next to the Supreme Court, beautifully situated along the banks of Singapore River, the one in Taiwan is not as grand, and I dont think they are by the same management.
Nevertheless the hotel is really nice, free internet broadband in the room.
The room had a view of the TAIPEI 101, the tallest building in the world right now (yeah WTC is down thats Why). More about Taipei 101 next time.
and the room decor is simple yet comfortable and sophisticated. The best thing is for my sister, the WC had a bidet ( water for cleaning, directly from the WC, eliminating the need for copious amount of tissue paper), cos my home too, all toilets are equipped with bidet.
and they have half windows and then the study table cum cabinet to put all sorts of things from the fridge, stationery etc etc.
oh well no pic of the room either, I dunno why.
Location wise, its in Nanjing West ROAD, very near to Taipei 101, within walking distance to RAO He night market, I will tell you more about RaoHe in another post.
ok thats it about the hotel in Taipei.
we LEFT most of our luggage in this hotel, cos we are going to go outta town for a few days. and I forgot to bring alot of stuff cos I was too tired n forgot to pack many things.
today we went for a city tour around taipei after breakfast.
the hotels in taiwan are generally super small just like Japan hotels. the breakfast restaurant was so cramped, I can feel the heat from the food warmers, many times I am just so scared someone will pour their entire breakfast on me when they accidentally slip
the breakfast was decent though.
In taiwan, especially in Southern taiwan, ppl use Hokkien as their everyday languange, and most of them do not understand english.
Taiwanese are very hardworking ppl, just like most chinese although, as i have learned in Sociology, hardworkingness has nothing to do with race or gender. it is just their society and in order not to be labelled as a deviant, we will just follow.
Taiwan has many indegenous tribes too, their most famous singer A*mei, comes from one of these tribes, usually live in the mountainous regions in the middle of Taiwan itself.
our tour guide, is a neighbour of mine in Jakarta, by neighbour I dont mean he live in Jakarta and so do I, but really we live in the same neighbourhood. I can walk to his place kind of thing but I dunno him of course, cos he has migrated long time ago to taiwan, he is quite knowledgable and friendly
thats our guide with my family, well my guide did not take a pic with my family he just happened to be in the pic
our first stop in the city tour, Chiang Kai Shek memorial hall.
chiang Kai shek marry the youngest soong sister, Soong may ling. credited as the father of taiwan, but because of politics his popularity is waning and even accused as the thief of china due to the amt of stuff he took that are now stored in the national museum, as usual due to lack of time we did not enter the place
thats the man himself, hard at work
thats us outside, the guy on the left on my Dad is the tour guide, speak Indon quite well.
so after chiang kai shek memorial, we went to the martyr’s shrine, a place containing thousands of names from those who died in the war to mainly watched the changing of guards, quite impressive but i was lazy.
Martyr’s Shrine, very expansive place and one of the view still guarded by the elite guards and many tourists flock here to watch the changing of guards ceremony and so did we.
My pretty Sister outside the National Museum.
All these places are actually quite near each other, the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial, Martyr’s Shrine, National Museum and even the Presidential Palace. all had expansive ground, with beautifully manicured gardens.
while the rest of Taipei is kinda shabby,crowded and just look grey to me. Even Singapore look so bright. but it seems like most of the buildings are not maintained properly, esp the exterior. Maybe because its winter, everything just gets dark faster and add to the gloomy mood.
then we went to have lunch, yeah I do not take a pic of whatever I eat because, my family is around, it feels quite weird to be taking such pics. secondly, other ppl are around cos we are in a tour group. Lastly cos I thought nobody cares about the food as part of the memory and do not want to look Kampung/SuaKu.
However I was wrong. Some people even took videos of their family eating! and all the courses.
oh well nothing special about the food, regular chinese food, with lots of chicken (its cheap), Pork (also cheap), egg (very cheap i heard) and veg. I get bored of it and sometimes just go to 7-11 and buy snack.
Hi-Chew sweets are very cheap (8-12 NT) my sister bought alot as souvenirs, cos it comes in many different flavors instead of the usual apple flavor found in Jakarta. They have strawberry, lychee, honey melon etc etc.
continue on to Part 2,
after lunch is our journey to Hua Lien by their high speed train.
This is just more pictures from the Bintan trip
I just want to show u their amazing spa pool and their double sink bathroom. yeah its my dream to have double sink. I mean imagine, bonding over teeth brushing.
oh well i just wish to have it
and poster bed.
the spa pool
and lastly, MrK walking by the serene stones to a place where many RICH couple had gourmet dinner by the sea, complete with candlelights and butlers and entertainment such as violins.
Last March, I had the chance to try this new swanky hotel in the heart of Midvalley, KL.
When I visited, they were only at their soft opening. Their residences are not even open yet. so are some of their hotel rooms.
It was quite a good deal but I cant remember the price, we got club facilities with evening cocktail ,breakfast and all day snack n soft drinks (love their juices!, they also provide free flow of Perrier, but me not fan of gassy drinks)
their breakfast is really good, give us freshly cut fruits and freshly blended juice too.
and the best thing is The Gardens and Midvalley Megamall just downstairs.
those of u not in the know, Gardens is where all the swanky branded names are, n everyday I pass by this place to get to the more affordable Midvalley megamall.
everything was on sale too. esp Metrojaya, MrK spent alot on his new workwear there.
OT:and his bro n mom spent a Lot more on the following month Genting trip, where i got them to stop by Stadium Malawati in Shah Alam for the Metrojaya Warehouse sale.
I queued to enter the cosmetics section but nothing much catch my fancy. unlike the hype online about Stila big sale. I wanted to get some lipglazes from stila.
but i did buy Issey Miyaki ltd edt perfume. yeah I am not a perfume person, in fact i dun do any makeup at all. but every girl needs a perfume rite? well i have one already now. besides the sample sizes i always get from shopping centres 
we spend alot on eating and lazing about in the room,
well the room is contemporary, with alot of hidden storage, n very huge table.
we later moved to another room with not so huge table though and seems smaller but I didnt take a pic
really good idea for my room decor next time
the bad thing is , their sink is very small n their bathtub and shower is together, so it gets very wet. however, it was not slippery at all!! i love love their marble flooring. very surprising but really not slippery.
anybody knows what kind of marble it is? or all marble is just like that?
but i like their all over glass look. very classy. and their wardrobe is just behind the sink, giving u that walk in wardrobe look.
the view is ranging from pool view or city view, but well city is a city so the view does not matter at all.
their pool is gorgeous too but their pool bar etc was not yet open n i went to the pool when it was already closed, so yeah no pic
well food wise, i discovered I love domino Pizza, first because they have thin crust and second, their garlic twisties n cinnamon bread is really good!
but the best thing gotta be their honey BBQ chix wing.
i will eat domino whenever i am in Gardens /Midvalley.
oh Before I forget, we park the car at the premier parking spot in Gardens. really good parking with huge lots.
Gardens also have its own Premier Golden Screen Cinemas, but Itwasnt cheap n I dun really want to watch the shows that they were showing. so yeah didnt get to try
Long awaited update ok my Tioman trip. Arranged very last minute! My lab was havig safety audit so I gave myself a week break!
Spent 3 days researching on the best place to stay. Most were already full esp those popular with singaporeans like paya beach resort. Other resort were too low end for MrK liking.
So after much research n changing of destination from Tioman to rawa island to Besar Island. We still go back to Tioman because Besar island hotels were mostly fully booked due to a filining of expedition Robinson, a survivor like reality tv show from the scandanavian country.
So we booked ourselves to Berjaya because their rooms r nice n their location just a few meters away from Renggis island, a popular snorkeling spot in Tioman as many reef sharks n live corals have been spotted there.
the jetty at Tekek
the ferry from mersing will stop at a few jetties, first at somewhere near Japamala resort, one of the YTL luxury resort in Tioman. Arguably the best and of course the most expensive place to stay in Tioman. This place reminds me alot of Banyan Tree Bintan, because its also situated on a hill.I think the stop its called Genting JETTY.
Then it will stop at Paya, where paya beach resort and tioman paya resort is located
then it moves on to Tekek, where berjaya and a few very small backpacker hostels are nearby. the airport is also here. Tekek has many many duty free shop and being the main village, the government offices and the polyclinic is also here. there is also the only ATM on the island. Yes tioman is very very laidback and underdeveloped, although the room in Berjaya is nice.
The road in Tioman is only a car width and all the cars are usually 4×4, or motorcycles. Berjaya has shuttle for their guests from the jetty. and their shuttle bus is very very old, sometimes I am quite scared of whether it can make it up the hills. though its quite a blessing cause theygo very slow round the bend and helps me enjoy the view. it was just a short 5-10 mins ride from the jetty.
more about tekek in other parts because we spent 1 afternoon n a half exploring the area by making use of the shuttle bus service.
the next stop is air papan, where all the cheap hostels/backpackers are around. its also called ABC. and supposedly the only nightlife in Tioman. Tioman natives are all muslims so they do not really make merry by drinking and singing loudly all night long. although they are duty free which means very very cheap booze
the last stop is Salang, also very close to the marine park. we didnt get to go because our tour changes itinery and supposedly all u do is feed fishes, more for children.
they used to go round the island to the other side and stop at Juara, a small bay on the other side of the island directly facing the ocean. but no longer. thus making our choice to stay at juara beach resort to be more expensive because we need to hire a 4×4. I get sick easily on bumpy ride and i dun want to start my day in tioman that way. well someday
we book ourselves to berjaya superior room at 300rm per nite for 3 nites with breakfast. if u want to know where we bought it from pls let me know.
we took the 2 pm ferry. there is 3x service for the ferry. 10 am, 2pm and last at 5pm.
we are lucky to get a room near the beach. this is a view from our room. rainy weather sucks i know but its ok, we need to rest inside the room too rite.we got a first floor room.
the superior and deluxe room at berjaya are all duplex, can be quite noisy. the agent told us its gonna be concrete. but we can hear ppl talking still esp the next door.
well basically 1st day, after 2 1/2 hr ferry ride, ferry was quite comfortable. the horror stories about ppl drowning and stuff were quickly forgotten. after all i didnt go during monsoon season
During monsoon season (oct-feb) most resorts are closed. but berjaya, being served by airport remained open.
after walking round the hotel n the beach, we went outta hotel for dinner and sunset. we ate at the chinese restaurant by the beach just outside the hotel.
then we go on monitor lizard spotting before dinner starts. there is a lot of wildlife in tioman because 90% of the area is still primary rainforests. alot of tours offer jungle and waterfall trekking too. but u know, I am a sedentary person plus i dun even bring any trekiing shoes. and we r on a budget. so we need to choose what tour we wanna go for.
and i leave u with the view on our balcony, yes we have a balcony, but we dun really use it but to hang wet clothes because yeah, insects are abound!
next i will tell u how we avoid sandflyn other insect bites and our stolen buys
Thursday and Friday on 7 n 8 may I went to bintan and stayed in what can be considered the best hotel there the banyan tree bintan. I stayed in the valley villa their cheapest room! But it can cost more than 400 use a night. Thankfully room was free. It’s really paradise there. The beach was pristine sand was soft. Really will return someday not sure if other parts of bintan beaches will be so nice but banyan tree bintan is truly a different place. The room is designed for 2 person everything came in doubles like double sun bed double sink n even 2 working tables
Lastly they also have 2 pools the beach pool n the spa pool
I also had opportunity to try the spa. My first spa experience ever truly relaxing and nice. It’s a massage therapy actually so never tried the whole works but I think it’s gonna be as great if not better
We were supposed to get yoga too but my travel companions were lazy
We had dinner in kelong restaurant in nearby nirwana gardens hotel normal seafood n it’s expensive
But everything in bintan is expensive n for lunch on Friday we had it at saffron in banyan itself and cost is crazyly expensive but it’s quite worth it
All the beach picture u see r snapped from inside saffron cos I am lazy to upload pic taken with my real camera when u was walking on the beach.
In all we spent more than 700 sgd for just 1 nite n 2 meals for 3 person in 1 room
Spa n room was free so those money is mainly food n ferry fees as well as other transport incidentals
Pictures taken using iPhone
Today we r leaving bali for surabaya, the capital city of east Java province.
the Ngurah rai airport can be reached within 20 mins from the hotel. but since hotel breakfast sucks we just go early to the airport (ard 3 hrs early). luckily there is the free assisted baggage handling and check in if u have the BNI platinum credit card which mom has. so we dont have to wait for our baggages to be checked in, someone else is doing it for us.
but then we had to plastic wrapped the honey which cost 50000 IDR. what a waste, some of the honey spilled out too
here is photos at the denpasar lounge. very big which has quite huge varities of food although still not as good as the surabaya lounge. the food in the pic is called Bubur Madura (Madura porridge). It is a kind of dessert made from different flours with different textures and combined together and with Gula Melaka (gula jawa we called it ) and it taste really good.
and then we took Mandala airlines from Denpasar to Surabaya.
some pics we took onboard the plane
within one hour we landed at the brand new Juanda airport in Surabaya
then we tried to call our favourite hotel the sheraton surabaya, it was fully booked and crazy amt is charged although not as crazy as Bali prices (ard 1 mill rupiah per nite)
and then we went to book through KAHA tour (they have a counter at the airport) we are staying at JW Marriotts.
the hotel is located very near Tunjungan plaza (sheraton is just next to it) and the hotel provide shuttle service to the plaza every half hour. we went to the plaza almost everyday to buy mineral water and to eat too.
for lunch we have rawon setan (ghost soup) rawon is a kind of of black soup which has meat and taste nice. usually comes with small tauge and belachan chilli. the history of this ‘ghost’ food is actually varied.
the less spooky one is that they used to open at night only and was located next to a nightclub and ghost also come out in the middle of the night only so they make that connection
the more spooky one is that they were used to be located behind a hospital, so those unidentified dead bodies might be thrown to them to made into rawon thus the name ghost rawon.
it is supposedly one of surabaya’s favourite eating haunts n indeed it is quite crowded at all times we know because our room faces the street. and rawon setan is located just across the street.
btw that Kaha tour price is quite reasonable the marriott room cost only 550000 inclusive of breakfast for 2. and the room is quite nice with 2 queen size beds in the room and complete shower amenities with bathtub too.
in the afternoon, we went for christmas mass at the oldest church in surabaya is called Gereja Kepanjen. the architecture is famous everywhere and it is indeed majestic. too bad I dont have pictures so here is some pics taken from the net
photos taken from mimimama.multiply.com
there are other unique surabaya architecture too in that website. as well as the famous ice cream zangradi (exist since the 1940s) mom used to have dates there. maybe my sis too if she really attend universitas airlangga like mom used too.
anyway at night we eat at Pondok Tempoe Doeloe ( House of Yesterday pardon the translations). but being christmas night, they ran out of almost everything, leaving us to just eat fish, vege and usual stuff. their fried chicken is their speciality. actually this restaurant is available everywhere even in Jakarta so no pics
lastly here is some pics of Marriott Lobby , as expected it is very grand and nice
and the super huge christmas tree sssss
and the bathroom pics
no room pics sorry but they are nice and well furnished so yeah well recommended esp if the price is right
So mom n dad n my little sista decided to be a domestic tourist this year, our plan is to visit grandmas, who are old already and visit some other relatives as well as to visit some of Indonesia’s most famous beaches.
SO on the first day, 20th December 2007, at 810 am we boarded a plane to Mataram, with a short transit at Surabaya the capital of East Java province.
Here is the super long que just to check-in, domestic air travel in Indonesia is really a huge market, linking many towns to others. Previously whenever we visited grandma we have to drive 12 hrs plus, but now with flights as many as 40x a day, we hv a grand selection of flight timing.
Anyway after we check-in, we went for breakfast at the lounge. The lounge food is usually simple, like fried rice or porridge with some light snacks and soft drinks on free flow basis. To get the lounge priviledge, usually you have to have a platinum credit card or some kind of priority membership with the leading banks in Indonesia. One card may admit one or 2 person, so my family already have credit cards enough to admit 5
here is some lounge pic
the lounge in terminal B (domestic flights) has sucky food but with fast internet connections so I researched a bit on my destination place, Lombok in the West Nusa Tenggara Province (NTB).
Usually, I do lots of research before going somewhere especially if it is on free and easy basis but my home has very slow internet so i dont bother.
anyway here is some facts
Mount Rinjani, the second highest mountain in Indonesia is located in lombok, not sure if I have some pics of Rinjani peaks from far far away.
and in the midst of the mountainous ring there is a very famous and beautiful lake called Anak Segara lake. But we didnt visit any because the climb up there takes 3 days of hiking and camping.
so we boarded the plane, by walking of course….very hot but its cool, feels like the budget terminal in Singapore.
and here is some view
Landing at Surabaya, proceeeded to the transit desk and rushed to the lounge again, because lounge in Jakarta has sucky food and budget airline (all airline except garuda are budget airlines) dont give food.
the lounge in Surabaya is huge and served very good food, of all the lounges I visited during the trip, this is the best lounge.
we filled up very quickly because the plane gonna leave soon, our names were called on the announcement. so Sista quickly packed her peanuts and board the plane again
Soon we arrived in Mataram. greeted by this beautiful view
and then get shocked because there is only one belt serving the luggage and the belt stopped abruptly after a meagre 5 metres and dropped the luggages to the floor.
then we were met by our hotel transport, the Novotel Lombok at Kuta beach.
the journey from airport to Novotel took almost an hour of mountainous road and sudden braking because some dog, cat, chicken and even buffaloes cross the road.
Fun huh??
and then we found out that although Novotel is located at the beachfront of a beautiful beach there is no one selling food around, the nearest is almost 2 km away so we have no choice but to lunch at the hotel at exhorbitant prices
The Novotel outlook
The room inside (we took a room not a villa it cost 785000 IDR with an extra bed) The room is small but quite comfortable. Dad thinks is expensive but I think its nice and the price is good for a high season time such as this.
band theathroom. the bathroom door is coated by mirror on both side, giving the feel that the bathroom is large but actually is tiny. very nice
the hotel provide bottled water plus galoons outside so we saved money on buying water, which is perfect cause near the hotel there is nothing except coconuts and the occasional buffaloes.
so we took our lunch
The restaurant inside, all very ‘back-to-nature’ feel, the room the surroundings and everything else
Next to the restaurant is the Papaya bar, which is quite fully used because lots of the guests staying are actually expats working in either Jakarta or Surabaya, they loved to while the night away in this place, very nice place overlooking the beach
Next to it is the swimming pool, they build the swimming pool high up, and has to climb stairs to get to it, they also have the garden pool which was just in front of my room (my room in 2nd floor so maybe downstairs my room) but the pool is kinda not tended to well , some insects inside so we didnt swim there
there is also the wading kiddie pool, very fun to wash feet after walking at the beach at (oops dont tell anyone)
and the jacuzzi cum beach pool just downstairs of the main swimming pool located atop, infront of the pools are the beach volleyball court. and then its the beach.
me and sis had Bebek Betutu, which means Duck cooked in some kind of spicy sauce. not bad
Mom n dad had Sop Buntut which is a BeefBone soup. Standard is ok only
Some early view of the beach, we have others later because we are staying here for 3 nights
At night, everyone was tired so mom and I took our dinner first, I had the Nasi campur Mandalika and mom had some fried rice with some fancy name, I think by the time we left, we tried almost everything on the menu. the restaurant is called Kafe Chilli, well it is the only restaurant in Novotel anyway. they served international buffet every night with different themes but the food is almost the same.
tonight they have Traditional Sasak dance for entertainment accompanied by Gendang Belug which is a kind of traditional instruments. Sasak is the name of the people who live in Lombok, almost everyone is from suku (race) Sasak. the people are black but strong and the women exudes the same personality, hardworker and strong. they love to wear black therefore it gives a mystic feel.
Some pics of the dances, there were many presented, I just do not get a good view and my camera, the latest Lumix is more built to capture great landscape not this kind of moving and night shots so pardon the shots.
Some food pictures,
Notice the plates, they are all made of clay and they are super duper heavy
at night Dad and sis finally wake up and eat dinner just before the restaurant closes. there is also a small night market at the beach front manned by locals around and it is quite cheap to buy from them as souvenirs to give others.
Thats all for day 1, I will be back with more pics for day 2, and 3 in Lombok
still no PS and having midterm blues
oh I really hate exams,
SOme pics taken along the way
Pic of the Chicken rice ball in Melaka
also went to the souvenir shop but didnt take piccy, it has changed alot from the last time I visited Melaka during my Cedar days. Last time this shop selling food is very packed, when I was there, not a single soul…well time has changed.
Here is pic of the newly revamped Resort Hotel in Genting
The lobby
The room
The toilet
its really comparable to other nice hotels. highland and Genting feels old and lousy as compared to this one.
After 2 days there we went back to singapore, on the way visited this Kuan Im temple, there is a huge Kuan Im statue there. and the weather is really nice so is the scenery
Ok thats all next up is pics from the Hokkaido fair