Tag Archives: 3 star hotel

Kuching trip with my daughter – Abell Hotel and Jawhara Palace

Posted in Good Things, Leisure & Travel by

My daughter and I went for a 3D2N weekend trip to Kuching to attend my cousin’s wedding at Jawhara Palace. For this particular stay, we booked a 3-star hotel called Abell Hotel. As usual, I did my hotel booking through Agoda.com. I picked the Superior Queen Room with a city view. Total payment was RM 429.53. Breakfast was included for 2 people.

The room has the usual amenities. FREE wifi, hot shower, a mini fridge and complimentary bottled water + beverages. I am most pleased with the Sarawak Hospitality. Everyone is so soft spoken and polite, from the reception to the housekeepers and kitchen staff. Check-in was a breeze as I had paid in full online. NO deposits were collected. I like that we don’t have to tap our cards to use the elevator. That is very convenient. I really love the room. It was so comfortable and cosy. The air-conditioning was really cold, but since I am Elsa, I don’t mind.

The location is superb as well. If you choose not to have breakfast at the hotel, there is the 24-hour Atmosferah Restaurant (mamak) located just in front of the hotel. Whereas to the hotel’s right is the RJ CAFE, which becomes so lively at night. Of course, this hotel is within walking distance to Topspot, The Reef and the many eateries at Padungan. If we had stayed longer, I would have been able to get my chicken panini from Bing and enjoy mi belacan from IG Ais Kacang, manok pansuh from Lepau, cheese naan from that famous place that I haven’t been to!! The landmark Waterfront, Cat Statues, and Darul Hana Bridge are all easily accessible. We were thrilled that the Borneo Cultural Fest was ongoing during our visit. Oh my, so little time with so many things to do!

The breakfast selection at Abell Hotel was adequate. I am delighted that they serve Sarawak Laksa too. That is a must. On the first day, we went to the restaurant at 0630H. We were early because the akad nikah at Jawhara Palace is at 0830H.

The Wedding at Jawhara Palace

Jawhara Palace is a house that people can rent for weddings or events. After breakfast, I ordered GRAB and arrived there within 15 minutes. The groom’s side of the family is in pink, whereas the bride in green. Haneem and I have shopped for our attire a month in advance. My daughter was really excited. The akad nikah ceremony was simple. Lunch was served by 1030am and the wedding ended by noon.

The next exciting part of my trip was getting some souvenirs, visiting the Borneo Festival and enjoying the Regatta at The Waterfront. This will be in my next entry.

HONG KONG trip – Air Asia, overnight stay at YouniQ Hotel

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Since I am in government service, I need to submit my application for overseas holidays 1-2 months earlier, including proof of insurance. Initially, we wanted to fly with Cathay Pacific. However, we missed our flight at 8 a.m. I did have a bad feeling about this. After all, early morning flights are never a good idea if you are commuting from Melaka at 430 a.m.


We missed our flight for Cathay Pacific

I was fuming silently when Mr Husband decided to return to Melaka and forfeit the whole trip. I tried to get my leaves signed and the suitcases packed nicely. He cited reasons for wanting to spend the holidays with his mother instead, and that our daughter was just unlucky for not being able to go overseas. The universe must have heard my silent screams, as it turns out that my MIL already has a holiday planned with her eldest son.

Now, if it were me, I’d probably book another flight to at least Langkawi or Kuching the same day. Some sort of trip to soothe the heartache. It did not happen initially. But the final innocent laments of the daughter to say, “What a waste to get all dressed up and not go for a trip!” did the trick. And just like that, another flight was booked using Air Asia to HK the following day.

The blessing in disguise is that, instead of lugging 2 big suitcases in HK, we repacked our luggage and brought only one. We later learned that it was easier to travel in the city that way.

The YouniQ Hotel

We stayed overnight at YouniQ Hotel near KLIA. Pretty comfortable and sufficient for travellers. There is a mamak nearby and plenty of kedai runcit. I believe the room rate is an average of less than RM100 per night, depending on room size. There’s a water dispenser, an iron and a laundry area on every floor. I also saw other budget hotels nearby – Sky Star Hotel, Qlassic Hotel and Sri Langit Hotel.

After a mamak breakfast, we checked out at 8am so that we wouldn’t miss the 1pm flight to HK.

Air Asia Flight

It was a 4-hour flight. Mr Husband ordered in-flight meals that consisted of roasted chicken, biryani, nasi lemak and chicken rice. Unfortunately, the only beverage available is an Americano. Haneem slept throughout the flight.

This time we were early and ready

Hello Hong Kong

The weather in HK is like Malaysia. So is the GMT. Just that the prayer times are similar to Sarawak, an hour earlier compared to Semenanjung Malaysia. Below is our basic itinerary for the week-long trip. Some people love a packed one, but given our budget and family stamina, this is what we came up with.

I will be writing separately on the hotels we stayed at, the food, Disneyland, Ocean Park, Kowloon and Madame Tussauds. So, keep a lookout for the posts for the coming few days. Maybe weeks. I don’t think I could write about it fast enough, considering my work commitments. ha ha.

D Gateway Perdana Hotel

Posted in Everyday Life, Reviews by

The plan is to attend my son’s Majlis Anugerah Pelajar at UKM Bangi. Since his event coincides with the ASEAN meeting, I thought I should stay somewhere nearby in case there’s heavy traffic coming my way. After all, I am not familiar with the whereabouts of places in Selangor and W.P. Kuala Lumpur. My husband had an outstation duty, which is why he couldn’t attend the ceremony. My daughter, on the other hand, has school the next day. So I left her in Melaka for a sleepover with her cousin. Thankfully, they are enrolled in the same school.

I brought my mini suitcase with me to work so that I could head straight to the highway after office hours. I chose D Gateway Perdana Hotel because it seemed close to UKM Bangi on the map. It is easy to find once I am off the highway, too. True enough, it was, and the location was superb. Although the layout of the hotel seems odd, there were so many places to eat nearby!

The hotel provides FREE parking. The reception is situated right in the middle of the quiet mall. However, it is very lively outside the mall. It is also particularly close to a shopping area and a park. I was able to do some brisk walking around the area and also on my designated floor, as the rooms were arranged to be in a giant loop. The quiet surroundings can be a bit eerie as a solo female traveler.

My Superior Queen room had an interesting layout. Upon entering, I was faced with a staircase leading up to my bed and bathroom. It was a unique experience for that one-night stay. I paid RM 92.38 for it, including taxes and fees. For dinner, I bought mi kolok from one of the stalls at the market just below the hotel. Then, I bought some bread and additional water for my breakfast in the room. I did get some coffee from Richiamo Mart the next morning, just before I checked out.

Overall, as a budget hotel, it certainly exceeded my expectations. I would love to bring my family for a stay here again as I feel that there are lots of other interesting restaurants and stalls that I haven’t tried yet. It would be a culinary adventure.

I will tell you about the Majlis Anugerah Pelajar in a different post.

Amverton Heritage Resort Melaka – an escapade for exhausted parents

Posted in Good Things, Leisure & Travel, Reviews by

The room, food and activities are nice for exhausted parents with energetic children. I booked a room with two single beds on Agoda. Com. Total was RM 442.45 including tax and fee for a 3D2N stay. This time I did not include breakfast. I wanted to see whether the menu is nice. If not, we will have our meal nearby. This resort is located at Ayer Keroh. Thus, near a few main attractions and MITC of course. That is where the food is. However, we did get 2 free waterpark tickets (priced at RM15/each). I bought an additional 2 tickets.

We checked in on Friday just after our Rejab Iftar at Mi Tarik Lanzhou. Mr. Husband brought his inflatable mattress. We pushed the single bed next to each other, giving enough room for the Queen-sized mattress. There were the usual expected amenities: FREE WIFI (with a very long password), a mini fridge, an iron with a board, and a TV. Plus points, a bathtub, and room service! Although we do not need it, the idea of it being available made me happy.

Even chilling at the lobby is nice. The breeze, the ambience is just relaxing and cooling.

In-house breakfast started at 7am. The price was RM30 for adults and RM20 for children. The options were satisfactory. They had bread but not other forms of pastry. The bihun and curry were delicious. There’s nasi lemak, lontong, congee etc. I loved that they provided mugs for our hot beverages and not those tiny cups. That is the way to go! Mr Husband had a meeting that morning at a nearby hotel, so I didn’t bring the kids for a swim due to safety reasons. I worry that I won’t be able to keep an eye on both. But we did play at the playground and the kids’ zone. The entry bracelet could be worn for both days we were there. In other words, you can enter and exit the park no matter how many times you like, as long as you wear the bracelet. We went to the waterpark later in the evening once Mr Husband came back from his meeting. The employees even use the stapler to make it easy to remove and fasten again.

Our humble breakfast buffet.
After breakfast, I brought them to the playground near the waterpark. For Vitamin D.
There’s also an indoor playground – the Kids Zone. With a mini library and lots of little tables for self-activity.
There’s also a little sand area where kids can build sandcastles and stuff. There were lots of slides too. My daughter tried the ‘tall’ one. That one is only for kids between 6 to 10 years old.

That’s why I believe this is an excellent spot for tired parents. Personally, I don’t have the stamina to spend over four hours at a water park just to get my money’s worth. But at Amverton, we could enjoy an hour of water play, take a break for a meal and a nap, and then head back in the evening for another session. Later, we’d pause for dinner and even continue the water park fun the next day until checkout. It’s perfect for parents to sneak in some much-needed rest between activities. I believe the adults would enjoy the swim at the huge pool just beside the mini water park. I’ll do that with Haneem once she’s a bit older. Amverton is also lenient with swimwear. I love that we can wear T-shirts instead of a burkini.

The normal swimming pool roughly 4ft over here and the waterpark just beside it.

We used GRAB for our lunch and dinner. There’s an in-house restaurant and cafe where you can have your meal. I might consider that during our future visits. Yes, we love this place so much that we’re thinking of making it our getaway place at times when we feel that we need to go to a kiddie-themed waterpark.

Our stay at Hotel Rosa Passadena, Brinchang

Posted in Food and Drinks, Leisure & Travel by

This is probably one of those older hotels in Cameron Highland. My good take on this hotel is that it is within walking distance of Big Red Strawberry Farm, Centrum Mall and lots of eateries at the nearby shop lots. My idea of walking distance is less than 20 minutes walk. There’s even a huge Mr DIY beside the hotel in case you forgot to bring your toothpaste. Like we did!

Mr Husband booked a triple bedroom that comes with a bathtub. He paid more than RM200 per night. Like other hotels in CH, there is no AC unit in the rooms. However, this hotel was considerate enough to provide a little fan. Although the cold atmosphere would be sufficient and comfortable to sleep in at night, the room needs ventilation during the day. We do not sleep with the windows open at night because of mosquitos despite there being a netting on the window frame. Our net had a hole big enough for mozzies to enter. Each room has a WIFI connection, a mini fridge that is not working and a TV unit. Complimentary beverages and bottled water are provided daily. Housekeeping services also replenish empty shower foam and shampoo bottles.

There is no parking space at this hotel but there are ample public ones outside the hotel. The coupons can be purchased at the hotel reception. They have room service but we didn’t require any.

The breakfast spread was commendable for this classic hotel. I particularly enjoyed the sambal for the nasi lemak. I also liked that they fry their eggs in advance. Normal fried eggs for our mains. No such thing as having to wait for the cook to prepare an omelette.

On the first night, we had dinner at the nearby Tomyam restaurant. We had the tomyam, egg bistik, sotong tepung and rice. Of course, it was delicious. Pernah ke kedai tomyam tak sedap?

The following night, we had Western food at Pizzarella Misokimchi. The pizza had a thin crust and our toppings were tomato cheese and Hawaiian chicken. Haneem chose chips. The pizza was not so bad. I actually loved it.

We didn’t do much at CH this time. It was more of a visit to go somewhere with a cool temperature and have strawberries. I will write about our mini-activities later.