Tag Archives: budget travel

East Riverine Boutique Hotel – bringing Sarawak into KL

Posted in Leisure & Travel, Reviews by

So.. is Chow Kit like a mini New York? Macam tetiba ada hotel tema Sarawak?

Hello East Riverine Hotel

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 kek lapis 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.

KHM Strawberry & Jam, BOH Sg Palas, Centrum

Posted in Food and Drinks, Leisure & Travel, Places to Eat by

We had a list of places we’d like to go : Lavendar farm, Flora Park, Butterfly Park and the market. The market is a good place to buy sweet potatoes, jagung susu or jagung mutiara, strawberries, hybrid guava/apple fruit and boxes of local tea and chocolate. However, the rain kind of inhibited some of the mood, dampens the energy, plus the kids prefer food over anything else. Maybe we will go next time when we are on leave during a warmer season. Still, the visit was worthwhile and we did our best in the soaking weather.

KHM STRAWBERRY & JAM

This was an accidental place of interest. We used to enjoy going to AGRO Farm before but somehow we stumbled upon this place. So, we parked by the side of the road not knowing what to expect. It was a fruitful visit. Turns out people flock here for it’s scones and jam. I loved the citrus tea a lot. The kids enjoyed the strawberries dipped in chocolate sauce.

BOH SUNGAI PALAS

Despite opening a new cafe on the lower ground, there still isn’t enough place for everybody. We kind of missed out on having its selection of cakes with tea.

Perhaps I should try going to the other tea brand place, Cameron Valley. It also has a platform to take pictures of the tea plantation just like Sg Palas. Cameron Valley’s tea has flavours of which strawberry taste best.

Anyway, when we arrived at BOH Tea Centre, we endured the climb up to the place and I bought some specialized tea as a momento. I chose the hibiscus tea (spa-infusions) and two other flavours from the Seri Songket series: Green tea & Earl Grey + Tangerine tea.

CAMERON CENTRUM MALL

This was an impromptu destination. I mean, who would want to go to the mall when you have Cameron Highland tourist spots everywhere? But we did just that. We wanted to find lunch and hey hey hey.. the concourse was so lively with so many people and activities. My husband and I tried pani puri for the first time there. We tasted this bread thing from Rollney’s cause it is too much effort to go to Mahkota Parade for that in Melaka. Hahaha.. mengada.

Lunch was nasi campur and gosh it was amusing to see my daughter sitting beside her father, having the same gestures and such. My daughter merajuk for a while when we were there because she wanted those colourful hats that you could squeeze the ears – so Mr Husband bought it for her.

For dinner, we went to this area where there’s a lot of steamboat, shell outs and grills. Google for ‘adik Aisyah steamboat’ for the prime location. We had our steamboat at a different place than Adik Aisyah cause this AA place is so popular and the queue is so long.

Looking forward to more staycations in 2023. Tq Cameron Highlands 🤗

Park Inn by Radisson Putrajaya

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But it’s in Kajang. Yet, far from the crowd.

This hotel looks so majestic and radiant at night. I did not get to take a photo because it was raining and I just wanted to check in as quickly as I can. As usual, I booked my stay through Agoda.Com. I chose the non-smoking Deluxe Room (28m2 room) with 2 double beds at RM339.20 per night including tax and fees. It comes with FREE Breakfast and FREE Wifi. I wished I could stay longer but we had to return to Melaka the following day. We were staying there for the night because we plan to try their hi-tea buffet at the restaurant. It’s a get-together to celebrate Haneem’s birthday and my brother, matin. They are birthday buddies.

The breakfast spread was wonderful. I really loved their dhal. Ym god, it is just dhal but it’s like really good dhal. Vegetable dhal pulak tu. With the roti bom. The 24 hour gym is also very inviting but I did not bring my gear. I did not know that they had a pool or I would have brought my kids swimming suits.

I managed to complete part of my OUM assignment at the hotel too.

At night, we slept like a Tetris game. To fit onto the Kingsize bed. My kids should be grateful that their mother is petite. I can snuggle anywhere between them.

The next day after check out we headed to the RPG Restaurant. At the hotel lobby. A few weeks ago, I’ve already made a reservation for 7 adults and 5 children. Payment details were :

RM52.90nextt x 6 adults = RM317.40 (1 FOC)

RM31.70 nett x 3 kids = RM95.10 ( cause 2 kids were below the payment age)

My sister bought cakes and presents for the meet-up. The hi-tea spread was OK. I really loved their western options, the kambing soup and of course the dessert table. I had lots of rojak buah. Fully recommended.

Kuching 2022: The Lime Tree Hotel

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I wrote about our stay here in 2016. I guess we came back hoping that the delicious Laksa Sarawak and Banana Fritters is still around at the breakfast buffet. Indeed, it is still there and boy, the place still looks brand new with added facilities. Having a water dispenser in the lobby was a good additional touch.

I made several bookings through Agoda and also through their own website. Upon checking in, there will be an RM50 deposit which will be returned upon checkout.

For myself, I chose the Family Room option from their own website. It can fit four adults so it was spacious for us. There was a King size bed and 2 single beds, a bathtub (my daughter loves it), a microwave and a mini fridge. My booking for this room was for 5D4N at RM 275.50/night. I got 5% off as I was staying for more than 3 nights.

I booked for my sister 1 Executive Suit King + 1 Standard room. This one was done through Agoda. To be honest, I should have just done the booking through the hotel’s website but I did my sister’s booking first. Hence, Agoda. The Executive Suite has 1 King size bed, a mini sofa and a mini fridge. That sets them apart from the standard room. The total for her for both rooms during the 5D4N stay amounted to RM 1080 (exec) + RM603.50 (std).

My dad had a longer stay in Kuching, about 7 days. Hence, his Standard Room total was RM 1106.

We had FREE WIFI, free breakfast, and the parking lot at the site (but very limited). They had this very aromatic in-house lime soap too. The air conditioning was very cool and the housekeeping was superb. This hotel is within walking distance of Padungan Chinatown, Main Bazaar, The Hills shopping complex, and the waterfront (to me, it is possible to walk there) with so many eatery outlets to choose from. Kuching has Grabfood and Food Panda too which is great.

the laksa station – they even have the ‘how to’ on the wall

The breakfast selection was adequate. The layout is such that we felt like we are going to someone’s house to eat. It was very homey. It is not disappointing and most importantly their kitchen is certified as HALAL. I noticed that most visitors to this hotel are overseas tourists from Europe of all ages. There seemed to be a tour package service there but I did not explore any further. I fully recommend staying at this hotel again and again for its wonderful hospitality.

Mini Langkawi

Posted in Good Things, Leisure & Travel, Reviews by

At this time of the year, Malaysia is slowly heading towards the endemic phase. This means HCW will be having a headache in the few weeks to come because procedures will change on short notice. This Langkawi trip was planned to coincide with the last week of the school holidays and also after I have submitted my assignments for this semester. I thought it’ll be a good short break until I am at it again for the exams in April.

Langkawi Wildlife Park is probably the only tourist attraction that we enjoy going to from time to time. This is our 3rd visit after the ones in 2018 and 2020. They have removed the virtual thing (thank goodness) and I think the place could do with a better cafe interior. Put some fish or something in the cafe’s main area. Make the place smell of coffee and pastries or whatever that is suitable for the area. With smell, people will come even though they are not hungry.

This is the 2nd part of the Langkawi trip. I think I understand now why Youtubers could churn a lot of videos in a week. It’s because there are lots of footage. They record a lot of content. I find it is easier to edit these videos because I had a lot of clips to put together.

Ramadhan is in April. There are various activities planned for the month. May is Eid and also my husband’s birthday. Maybe another staycation trip during that time.