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.
This is what I said on Google Reviews. Mr Husband booked a room here during the Deepavali holidays. Coincidentally, school is also out so we get to go for a staycation at Johor Bahru.
My daughter was really looking forward to our stay here. She said it’s been a while since we went for a holiday. Although I believe we’ve just had a weekend stay at The Everly Putrajaya a few weeks ago.
Kids waiting at the lobby while Mr Husband checked us in.
Little fashionista going up the lift with her new hat and Anya
The moment I stepped into our Premier Suite, I immediately loved it. It was a lovely room that had a kitchenette equipped with a microwave, a fridge and a kettle, a dining space, a living area and a separate bedroom. There were two writing desks which is great. I could continue doing my assignments in the room and he could do his work in the living area. My daughter enjoyed the bath tub of course and the son just loved being in an air-conditioned room. Staying in a dorm means that he is deprived of life luxuries. This room probably cost us roughly between RM250 – RM270 per night through Agoda.
Free WIFI is available but only 4 gadgets are granted access. There’s an ironing board with iron as well. The pool is on the 7th floor. We wanted to have a look but then we got stuck in the lift. Hence, the mission was aborted.
Breakfast for 2 adults is included in our room rate. So we paid extra for the kids. The breakfast menu was top-notch for a 4-star hotel. As mentioned, I loved their nasi lemak paru. The restaurant is also not overly crowded making it a pleasant experience in the morning. If you prefer having breakfast outside, either order a GRAB and have it sent to the lobby or walk across to the R&F Mall.
During our stay there, we were out and about mostly until after lunch. We would just order our dinner through GRAB but that is when an unfortunate incident happened. Our Kacang Pool and rice meals were stolen by a fellow hotel visitor. The hotel cooperated by giving access to their CCTV. Mr Husband had a good look of the culprit’s face, requested a refund from GRAB and was hoping to confront this guy during breakfast time. We didn’t see him. Most likely he enjoyed our meal as breakfast. HA HA HA.
Since this hotel is near the main road, we could hear motorcars honking almost every 30 mins during rush hour. It’s almost normal to see some shameless car owners cutting the queue. I understand the frustration.
Overall, it was a very comfortable stay. I would definitely repeat a stay here although I’d be more likely be trying out other hotels if we are ever going to JB again. It would be nice though if the big windows were cleaned as the view seems amazing at night. Minus the smudge.
Zoo Johor had a makeover. The first time I went there was when I was heavily pregnant with my daughter in 2017 and the second time around was when she turned 3 years old. Now, the zoo looks more modern although it is way smaller than Zoo Negara and Zoo Melaka. Of course, the fees have gone up but it was still a great place to spend the day out with the kids. Tickets can be bought online or at the premises using the kiosk. The zoo will be closed every Tuesday starting November 1st.
I liked the part where we hovered over the Gladiator-like rings to see the lions, tigers and bears.
Another great feature is that visitors get to snap photos with the birds and snakes (in a glass box) without concerns about paying extra or being in a queue. I would say it is a minimalistic zoo that is equally entertaining. As it doesn’t have the ritual photography sessions at the front gate or the ‘come here buy your fridge magnet‘ salesperson at the zoo exit. It’s just a place where the family could hang out and get excited over the animals at a small cost. I like that. Animals should be accessible to all classes of citizens. Rakyat Johor sangat bertuah.
We spent roughly an hour at the zoo and managed to put in about 5K steps into our daily walk routine. Afterwards, we made a quick stop at Mid Valley South Key Mall for lunch. We had Nandos and even ordered the bottomless drinks and yoghurts. The vanilla yoghurt had a smooth taste and not too sour. My husband loved it. He also shopped for new work bags and a luggage bag for his sister. I didn’t get anything. I am being very mindful of my spending lately because I have a bigger financial goal in a few months to come.
The beautiful posh mall
Thankfully with Deepavali decor instead of Halloween
Our bottomless yoghurt
During this staycation in Johor Bahru, we stayed at The GBW Hotel. I will blog about it in another post.
My dad is driving me nuts with his holier-than-thou attitude. I am trying my best to not snap back at him like any respectful daughter should be. So is news about Fattah Amin. How do I stop reading about him on my feed? It has started to become so irritating to see the public putting him on a moral pedestal.
On a different note, my dad introduced us to his girlfriend a few weeks ago. We had tea together at Secret Recipe, Alamanda Mall. Our prospective stepmother is from Acheh, Indonesia. They were introduced to each other via a mutual friend. She comes across as a lovely lady, a single mother who single-handedly raised 2 children for the past 10 years since she divorced. She earns a decent income working in administration to support her living expenses.
On the day, we exchanged pleasantries. My younger sister and my niece joined us too. Throughout the meeting, I couldn’t help wondering why is it of all the ladies that my dad could have met, he decided to go for a relationship that crosses international borders. To be honest, I have some concerns about how my dad plans to navigate his life as an elderly, married man with 2 stepchildren later on. However, I think it is something that we will address later on. We ended the session amicably and parted ways.
Although the meeting was short, I took the opportunity to bring my husband and daughter together with me to Putrajaya. I booked a room at The Everly Putrajaya Hotel. This time hoping for a better experience than the one we had before. Indeed, it is much better now. The hotel and Alamanda Mall are so close that I could walk there. We had dinner at Sepiring that night out of curiosity. Mr Husband had his nasi lemak pandan and my daughter went for curry noodles. I had the kid’s menu mac and cheese. We had a really rested night afterwards.
The Deluxe room
Dinner at Sepiring
The Deluxe Twin Room was priced at RM 299.92 per night. Breakfast was included for 2 adults. I had to pay extra for my daughter. There’s a mini fridge and we get two key cards. I love that the hotel is putting in an effort to become more sustainable by serving their drinking water in glass bottles. Which could be refilled from a water station near the elevator.
The hotel lobby was quirky yet welcoming. The aroma of coffee from its cafe was so enticing. The check-in process was incredibly fast. So are the lifts despite the high volume of visitors using it during the peak hours of checking-in.
Breakfast was satisfactory. Nothing very memorable or nasty either. However, I do have to mention that they have a huge selection of pastries to choose from. The seating arrangements felt a bit crowded though. The space from one table to another is quite narrow. Just enough for a pair of buttcheeks to walk by. The coffee dispensed by the machine tasted horrible. Even instant coffee sachets were better.
This hotel is convenient to choose if say I wanted to go to Alamanda Mall for a mini staycation. Although the mall is not that huge as compared to IOI City Mall, the shops there are still OK for families to go to and enjoy their weekends. Sadly, the GSC cinema has closed down. So the only thing that can keep you entertained is yourself with your family. Ha ha ha.
Parking is free. Just hand in your touch-n-go card to the reception.
I have never been to Miri. Therefore I was very excited to receive an invitation from a distant aunt to attend her daughter’s wedding. So much so I had surveyed the price of the tickets at least 2 months before the given date. My flight options were quickly narrowed down to Air Asia.
Thankfully they have a flight+hotel promo and coincidentally the hotel that I picked was also the reception venue for the wedding. Initially I did not purchase any pre-booked meals for my flight. However, when it got rescheduled, I decided to get Pak Nasser’s nasi lemak for my flight to Miri as my breakfast meal. I did not get any extra luggage because I aim to travel very light for this 2D1N trip.
The total cost for my trip with Air Asia was RM578.49 including tax.
The itinerary was a 0620H take off from KLIA2 on Saturday and arrive Miri by 0850H. Then the flight back is on Sunday at 1540H due to arrive by 1750H. Then comes the question, how early should I get to KLIA2 from Melaka which is a 1 hour 30 mins drive away on the highway. I decided to stay at the Capsule Transit Hotel in KLIA2 (landslide). I parked my car at the Long Term Car Park (LTCP) and took the FREE shuttle to KLIA2. When I came back from Miri, the total parking rate was RM52. You could check the daily and hourly rates at the website. Just remember to pay it with cash.
CAPSULE TRANSIT KLIA2 – LANDSLIDE
I could easily book the room at the airport but several reviews that I read said that it can be fully booked really fast. I did not want to risk sleeping at the airport in the open considering that I am a petite lady, an easy target to get mugged or harrassed. Even by another female. So I made my booking through Agoda which costs me an extra RM20 from it’s usual rate. Even then I was still excited to get the experience and so I just paid RM196 for it. I could stay there for 12 hours which gives me access to it’s services like a bed, hot shower, bathroom, a goodie bag etc. I was elated that they have towels and bathroom slippers. I was also counting on the toileteries in the welcome bag which also has a pair of ear plugs, a bottled water, toothbrush with paste and an eye mask to sleep.
I checked into the capsule hotel just after 9pm – I had dinner earlier at one of the restaurants at the airport. I also did my Jamak prayers at the musolla available near the arrival area before I go down to the Transportation Hub floor (where the hotel was) because I just want to shower and then rest once I get into my room.
The bathroom reminded me of my dorm in boarding school. You bath with a fairly confident looking latch on the cowboy-ish door and hang your towel on top of it. There was hot water, shower gel and shampoo in the bathroom. I chose to stay in an all-female area but I still have to get out of the area to go to the bathroom. I did not know that first time around, so I had taken off my hijab freely only to discover that I need to put the towel over my head because the men could still pass the female bathroom to go to the main door.
Since I am petite, I could actually stand in the capsule room. It has a comfortable mattress, a comforter with two pillows. The only privacy I had was a blind that I could roll down as my door. It can get quite chilly at night despite the closed ‘door’. The area is hauntingly quiet out of everyone there being respectful towards each other of wanting to rest and all. In fact, it was so quiet that I could hear the background buzzing noise of the airport. Hence, the ear plugs to help with our sleep. However, I still felt anxious because although I tried my best to not concentrate on the sound, it still gets to me. Plus, I was so worried that my alarm would disrupt other people from their sleep because we only have blinds as doors. Which leads to a cycle of thoughts where I’d questioned ‘what if I don’t hear my alarm if I put the volume down?”What if I miss my flight?’
In the end I had very little sleep due to my anxiety. I knew I slept because I dreamt there was a sink in the room – which they didn’t but it wasn’t a very sound sleep. It was fairly disrupted. I was up by 0430am. Went to the bathroom to relieve myself and took another quick shower before I checked out of the hotel. I don’t think I would stay here again if I had a very early flight like this one. I would stay if say my flight was at 8 or something because I know I will automatically be up by 6am. Even without the alarm. Giving me more time to prepare myself.
Anyway, since I’ve already checked in online, I just made my way straight to the departure lounge. I kept telling myself ‘no coffee, no coffee, or you’ll pee’ and had plain water instead. I performed my Subuh prayer in the plane just like everybody else. We took our wudhu earlier and just prayed when the time came in our seats. The flight to Miri was uneventful and we actually arrived 30 mins earlier than scheduled.
Later I will share about the wedding and my stay at Meritz Hotel.
Minci Moss 