I was on a weekend trip to see my dad. My ulterior motive was to declutter his house of my late mom’s belongings. Mother was a fashionista confined by her duties in the household. Despite not earning a fixed income, she has a beautiful collection of jubah, blouses and baju kurung. On second thought, she does have an income. A monthly ‘Kasih sayang income’ from her two daughters with varied amounts. It was pretty disheartening having to pack it up and give it away. However, considering that her fashion is very Hetty Koes Endang and Warga Emas, we should give it to those in the same age group.
My sister and I did pick and chose some clothes that we liked. I gave more to my sister because she would find them more useful since she has a job teaching. I am less fashionable and tend to stick with attire in my comfort zone.
I booked a hotel during my stay at Bandar Saujana Putra. There were a few budget hotels to choose from and I picked I Go Hotel. The location is very strategic at BSP 1 with loads of places to eat. This could be influenced by the fact that it is near MAHSA University which is where the students are.
I made my reservation through Agoda.Com, my trusted app to make any staycation possible.
My Double bedroom was priced at less than RM80/night. The room had a simple setup which was enough for a comfortable stay. The air conditioning was good. The toilet was super clean with its soap provided. There were simple beverages for free and a water dispenser at the lobby. To me, that is good enough for a budget hotel. They even provided guests with a mini flask in case we wanted hot water in our room at night. That was super thoughtful.
After a good night sleep, I woke up and showered. Did my checkout early and had breakfast at the mamak. Then, I surveyed the area for other hotel options for the Kuching delegates for my brother’s wedding in July. I completed my cleanup for the day till evening. I had to stop after I sneezed too much. The dust was getting to me, my eyes were teary and despite putting on a face mask, I just couldn’t go forth with it.
I will be coming back soon to BSP to continue the ‘death cleaning’ – perhaps in another 2 weeks or so.
Since we are regulars, in fact, parents looking for a place to take care of our children in a different city, there wasn’t really anything strikingly new in our itinerary at Langkawi. Definitely not for international travellers to find interesting. I did record a few clips during the trip – will upload that soon on Youtube.
Laksa Power Ikan Sekoq
Just before we checked into our hotel, we went to the airfield area for a simple lunch. There are a few Laksa Ikan Sekoq stalls here but we chose the one with the yellow signboard. Cause we remembered it as the one serving the non-spicy one. Perhaps the new thing about the menu is that it now has telur sarang on the laksa. Which brings the price up to a whooping RM10 per bowl. I didn’t have pictures of it because I was too hungry. Thankfully, the laksa was delicious and was quite hoping to get a second in a few days but it was closed on the other day we came.
Langkawi Wildlife Park
This place is eerily quiet during the school holidays but we have always enjoyed coming here. The animals seemed to be well fed and the kids enjoy the interactions with the animals – by giving food. This time we met a racoon instead of a crocodile at the station where we can touch and pet the wildlife creatures.
The new thing about this place is that they have a pony ride and soon, it seems that they will bring in tigers. They also have new merchandise – this snow-like glass frame for your photo. They don’t sell the little magnets on their own anymore which is such a pity. They should just let visitors get the small magnets as a purchase option. Better something than nothing kan.
Langkawi Geopark
We went to the cable cars this time as we wanted to see the SkyBridge. That was new for us and boy it was magnificent. You could get to the bridge either by the gondola or the nature trail. We opted to go there by the trail and come back with the gondola because it’s just too tiring to hike up later on. We bought the tickets through Klook but the queue was still super long when you want to collect your tickets as they provided only one counter for online purchases.
Maha Tower
This place is new and its attraction is the sunset view. So it is better to go there later in the evening. While waiting we get to rest in the very luxurious feeling waiting area and have beverages. Do you know how sunsets look so beautiful when you see them online? Well, it’s thanks to the photographers and the video makers for making a timelapse of it. Otherwise, it is quite difficult to appreciate the sun going down bit by bit. That is why I tried to capture my own video.
I should have brought a tripod.
Because someone knocked my camera on the rails and the raw footage was somewhat ruined. I tried to edit it but it didn’t really come out that nice. Here is what I managed to capture.
Underwater World Langkawi
We always loved the penguin place when we came here. Reminds us of Happy Feet. Again the place is very quiet for school holidays. The merchandises they offer are the usual photo stuff. I just feel the merchandise team could explore more on this apart from the photo.
That’s pretty much what we did. We usually go to these places after breakfast and come back to our hotel room by noon. Then the little one and my dear husband will sleep while I finish my assignment on the laptop. Then we go out again for dinner and see the Langkawi lights at night. Even though it’s the holidays, our bedtime is still by 900pm. We feel so old. Ha ha ha. We came to Langkawi with one piece of luggage and came back with two!
I also bought a duty-free YSL Libre perfume for myself because I got influenced. And of course my favourite chocolates – Bounty & Maltesers. We returned to KL using Batik Air this time and felt way better. Kudos to management for giving complimentary bottled drinks to kids.
We went to Langkawi again this year from the 1st of March till the 5th for the pre-Ramadan and school holiday trip. We departed from KLIA with the new low-budget airline MYairline Malaysia at noon. The queue was expectedly long because it’s ‘budget’ but the check-in process was I feel, messy. We had less than 90 minutes before the departure and we were still in the queue despite already checking in online when the lady at the counter screamed out to the crowd ‘last call Langkawi.. last call Langkawi!”. It was honestly annoying and probably lack of insight because everyone in the line IS BOUND FOR LANGKAWI!. Just speed up the process, my gawd.
Anyway, nothing eventful happened on the flight. It had the same vibes as Air Asia – the red and the black. In-flight purchases and meals, if you wish as well.
Upon arrival in Langkawi, we were a bit surprised to see the very quiet airport. It is the school holidays after all but where is the ‘holiday crowd’? Did everyone go to Hatyai? Mr Husband rented a Myvi and we headed to our hotel, Langkasuka.
Langkasuka Hotel
It is situated very near The Grand Continental Hotel in Kuah. Only, this hotel is connected to a mall. I liked it. It is a 3-star hotel but the service is impeccable. The room was spacious but the air conditioning was freezing. They have the usual amenities: a mini fridge, a kettle with complimentary beverages, a hot water heater, an ironing board with the iron, a prayer mat and FREE WIFI. Mr Husband also included breakfast during our stay. I super love the food we had for breakfast at their Lemongrass restaurant. They also serve in-room meals at a reasonable price.
The hotel may look ugly and suss from the outside. Especially with the construction going on outside but the place is fine. And safe.
Our room was a Superior Triple Room with 3 single beds. The price at the time was ranging between RM240 – RM280 per night. I’m not quite sure about the exact amount my husband paid for it. We parked our car at the parking space behind the hotel/mall. There is also a mini swimming pool and gym just outside the breakfast restaurant.
In the mall, they have the usual marhaen retail stores, a food court on the top floor and a fast food restaurant on the Ground Floor. In the evening it is quite lively because they are other eateries open nearby for your meals. I recommend this hotel to families with small children. It’s pretty cool. Even then I really hope we are not going to Langkawi again next year. The dear husband really loves the place too much.
Our little family arrived at the hotel near 9pm and the first thing that surprised me was the tribal pattern on the wall near the reception. Another family came through the door, speaking in the Sarawakian language headed to the lift. I was like, “OK… this is an interesting boutique hotel”. Soon after, I caught sight of some keklapis inside the display fridge near the entrance and that kind of triggered me to have a quick swipe on Instagram and find out more about this hotel.
Apart from its very strategic location, it offers various types of rooms suitable for a family staycation and is priced from as low as RM 100/night. Ours is a Family Room with 2 double beds, and a cute living area with a mini fridge and an ironing board. They provide a safe, body soap and shampoo, a hair dryer and complimentary beverages. The hotel also has FREE WIFI but is only accessible via coupons. We received two coupons for our room. I guess it means that only 2 devices can use the WIFI at one time. It has a lounge area too but we didn’t have time to explore much of it as we were chasing time to go Genting.
Breakfast is provided at the Sugar Bun restaurant next door. It is served as an ala carte meal. You have to make your choices the night before and let the receptionist know. It has a very ‘mak-mak’ vibe to it cause it’s like those breakfasts you have at home where you just eat what your mom cooks for you. The coffee and tea are very basic with only sugar to taste. The cakes are nicely lined up on the plate – the usual bahulu and banana cakes that any Malaysian family would eat in the morning. Even the ‘American breakfast’ meal wasn’t American enough. Haha. The breakfast is fulfilling and decent considering the price you pay for your room. So yeah, not too bad. If you want a fancier breakfast – there are always other options available elsewhere. In fact, at night, this area is lit! There are so many things to see and eat.
We parked at a common parking area nearby the hotel as they don’t have this facility. However, you don’t really need a car to enjoy Chow Kit because the LRT is just around the corner and even on foot, there are so many things you could explore. Overall, the stay was pleasant. Would definitely recommend this place to those who are on a budget but still wants to make the best of their stay in Kuala Lumpur.
This place reminds me of Universal Studios Singapore. The layout is elaborate and very magical.
We drove to Genting Highland from our hotel in chow kit, East Riverine Boutique Hotel and parked at the space at Genting Premium Outlet. Bought tickets for the Awana SkyWay at the booth and enjoyed the view from the cable car. The ‘air gondola’ operates from 7am-11pm daily. Oh, please remember to wear a face mask in the cable car – it is compulsory since you are in a closed area with other people. It is still the rainy season at this time of the year and the fog was really thick in the morning even though it was already 10am ish. Our family was a bit underdressed and not prepared for the cold and rain.
Mr Husband bought the tickets from one of the self-service machines. I downloaded the Genting Skyworld App because it is said that you could cut down your waiting times at the rides by making a booking there. You could set it up as a group booking and such. However, since there was not much of a crowd that day I did not use the app. We went there on the Thaipusam long weekend.
Ticket price:
Awana SkyWay – Standard return ticket RM18 x 4 = RMRM72. Only kids less than 90cm get to travel for free.
Genting Skyworld – I supposed it will be cheaper to get the tickets online plus there are various packages for the trip there. Our total was roughly RM620 ish for 4 pax (2 adult + 2 kids).
Genting Skyworld has 9 exciting themed worlds. Each world has its own attractions, entertainment shows, merchandise stores and F&B to enjoy. There are height restrictions for some attractions but my girl who is just above 110cm could get on most rides. It is a very ‘family-gastro and bladder-friendly’ place. Bring a water bottle to fill up at the water stations. We went our way through the theme park using the map provided so we wouldn’t miss anything.
STUDIO PLAZA
This is the main entrance which has a very golden and lavish setup. Since we were there at the opening times, we get to enjoy a mini Las Vegas-ish show for a few minutes before everyone entered the park. They had the best-smelling popcorn.
EPIC
This place is based on the animated movie of Epic.
The one where the girl shrunk and become friends with woodland creatures and then began fighting with evil forces. There are two rides here – Epic voyage to Moonhaven and Epic Hummingbird Flyers. The earlier ride is like those lazy river rides BUT you will get wet as your boat passes through a particular splash. So your options are to go on this last or go ahead with a raincoat/ extra pair of clothing. We barged ahead and got wet.
RIO
Adapted from the Rio animations – this place is super colourful with tropical colours. My brave girl went up the Samba Gliders! They had to take off their slippers cause they were hanging on the gliders but she said she was not scared at all. My son went afterwards, with the dad of course. I was not that keen to go because of the height and because I had to keep my bag in the lockers. It was too much trouble for me.
There was also their version of the teacup – Rio Carnival of Chaos and the very short ride on the merry-go-round. The Blue Sky Carousel was a double-decker, super pretty but only went around about three times! It was that quick.
ICE AGE
We watched an interactive entertainment show here. Kids love it. As an adult, I was like,“cepatlah habis.. tak habis2 nyanyi.. ha ha ha”. My girl was thrilled to know there was (fake) snow there. There were four attractions here but we only went to 2 which are the vertigo-inducing Sid’s Rock ‘N’ Slide and the Mammoth Fun Zone. The Mammoth place is like a playground. We had our lunch here at Buck’s Cafe. It was of course theme park price but thankfully delicious. We ordered two sets of rice meals, an onigiri, a strawberry sando and a few drinks. I just realized that I didn’t take any photos of the food. Probably because we were cold and hungry.
ANDROMEDA BASE
This is where the most adventurous people would enjoy rides that have thrill scores of 1.
We did not go on any rides. I did encourage Mr Husband to go but since we’ve just had lunch, being turned upside down and twirled around vigorously doesn’t sound that good. I personally am not a fan of crazy roller coasters either. We are somewhat of a very introvert couple. LOL. We did get to see the performance by Caucasian space men which was sturdy and acrobatic in nature.
ROBOTS RIVET TOWN
This town is made for little kids. Slow, comfortable, colourful rides – love it. We get to squeeze into one car at the Bigweld’s Zeppelin. The description of the ride in the pamphlet made it sound like we would fly very high. Kids would though!
LIBERTY LANE
The highlight of this place was the 3D hovercraft ride with characters from Planet of the Apes. The entranceway setup reminded me of The Mummy place at USS. It was convincing and in a way as visitors, we were immersed in our character to save the ape leader. Gosh, what was it’s name again?
At first, we thought it would be a mundane visual thing with the 3D glasses but as we got on the hovercraft, it was so real and thrilling. We wanted to get on it the second time after we’ve finished the 1st round of everything but it was temporarily closed – maybe for rest or sanitation.
CENTRAL PARK
‘Night at the Museum’ was also closed when we got there. But we did get on the Independence Day: Defiance spaceship. Our legs were hanging off the spacecraft and we were swooshing in space fighting off imaginary aliens. I would caution those who have epilepsy or vertigo to be careful on this ride because of the flashing lights and fast-motion swings. I was nauseous but I survived the ride uneventfully. Obviously, the seats were manipulated to make us feel that we are in mid-air but it was believable and exciting.
I imagined the place would be very pretty at night with the lights from the fountains. It also has a very spacious, beautifully decorated park.
EAGLE MOUNTAIN
The attraction is not open yet but they have a pretty burger eatery there to try. This place marks the end of the 9 themes and is near the entry/exit door.
Overall, it was a fun experience for me as an adult and of course even more for the kids. I am glad the fog cleared up afterwards so we could take better pictures. That is one thing off my bucket list for places to go in Malaysia. Until next time… taraaa
Minci Moss 