Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur

This is a very accessible hotel using public transport. I travelled by bus from Melaka Sentral –> TBS (KLIA Transit)–> KL Sentral (Monorail) –> Sheraton (the Medan Tunku station). I had a moment of anxiety about choosing to use a private vehicle like Grab or public transport. I chose the latter. At least I don’t have to make small conversation with the Grab or taxi driver cause they like to ask questions like ‘where do you come from or ‘why are you here?’, ‘do you work’ or anything along those lines?

The fares:

Bus from Melaka Sentral RM14.40 + 0.70

KLIA Transit from TBS to KL Sentral RM6.90

MONORAIL from KL Sentral to Medan Tunku station RM3.40

I departed from Melaka at 1130AM. Reached the hotel (with lunch in between) just after 3 PM. Quill Mall may look like it’s just the opposite of the hotel. The thing is it is not as easy to go to the opposite side by going through the monorail station. There’s just no road passing through. Instead, you’d have to use the pedestrian traffic lights on a very busy road. So, do not be fooled. Plus, apart from the LG level where the food’s at, there isn’t really much to see in the mall. The boutiques are on the meh side. There are the Eco shop and Mr DIY but that’s just it.

The room was very comfortable though. Oh, man.. I really loved the space, the bathroom and the mini closet. It’s really relaxing. I had a workshop on Friday and I had planned earlier to bring my Minci family. Unfortunately, Mr Husband was not up for the idea which means that the kids are not going either. So, I have the room all to myself. I drank my coffee, and my tea, soaked in the bathtub, got naked and donned just the bathrobe instead since I forgot to bring my kaftan. My Deluxe Room with City view rate on Agoda totalled up to RM893.20 for a 3D2N stay. It is on the non-smoking floor with Free WIFI and breakfast.

The pre-conference workshop was great. After that, I was in a dilemma of whether to go to the Spa or enjoy my night at KL. I decided to brave the drizzling rain, in the monorail and head over to the hippest place in Kuala Lumpur, Bukit Bintang. Bukit Bintang is where they have the Pavillion, Sephora, Fahrenheit, Lot 10, Sungei Wang Plaza and the viral wagyu sate. Of course, there are loads of places to eat once you get there. It is a very happening and touristy place. It’s where influencers go to show the urban lifestyle. Well.. something like that.

This monorail is an intercity link. Basically, if say I am not keen to shop at Bukit Bintang, I can stop at Imbi station to go to Berjaya Times Square, Hang Tuah station to Lalaport Bukit Bintang City Centre. Or just head to Nu Sentral.

At Bukit Bintang, I went window shopping at Pavillion. Made a short stop at Book Excess in Fahrenheit. Wanted to get a steak but the restaurants are full (Friday night), so I ate Kyonchon instead. I tapau-ed Krispy Kreme doughnuts so I could bring them back to my Minci family in Melaka.

I checked out on a Saturday and the journey back to Melaka was equally smooth.

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Minci travels Macao 2019. Tickets and the start.

This is Part 1.

I am a Malaysian. I am a Muslimah and is traveling with my two young children. Let’s face it Macao is expensive. So it is very hard to create a budget itinerary when you want to be comfortable. Or maybe there is a way but I have yet to find how. We shall learn from other bloggers. I am not going to lie. I felt a bit anxious wearing a hijab there but thankfully nothing bad happened.

Short clip Video

Edit by googlephotos

Here are our preparations for the trip. It is a 4D3N trip using Air Asia. Mr Husband was very generous as he ordered in flight meals for the  direct 3 hours 45 mins trip from KLIA to Macao. Perhaps he did not want Ninie to be irritable and hungry. Yes, young girls need to be fed before she starts rolling on the floor like a mop. The ticket was booked in less than a month prior to the trip. We went there on the 29th of March. The ticket was booked on the 13th of March. Very last minute. Geram pun ada. Tak sempat nak inform boss. 

Packing the suitcase

  1. Brahims instant meals. While Mr Husband and I are adventurous when it comes to trying new food – we were just worried that both Ninie and Ee being unaccustomed to new dishes may not be able to stomach their meal very well. So we brought something more familiar to their tongue from home. A few other instant meal options I discovered out there was the delicious Sharifah (Nasi Briyani GAm) which I ate before the trip and Kembara Meal that was a bit over my budget. The latter is sold at selected petrol stations. In Melaka, they have it at MITCs Petronas station.
  2. Medicine and ointments
  3. A simple notebook. For me to document anecdotes for my blog and hobominci
  4. Extra coffee and hot chocolate beverages with snacks
  5. Entertainment for the kids in the hotel. In our case, the ultramans and raksasa. 
  6. Socks and light jackets
  7. BABY WIPES!!! Very useful for easy, effective, quick sanitation. Basically to wipe everything from bums to food and stuff.
  8. My doTERRA oils – I handpicked Peppermint, Wild orange & Forgive Roller Blend to bring with me. And since we will be doing a lot of walking – the deep blue rub.

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Currency

I exchanged RM500 of spending money into HKD. In Macao, we can use HKD but the change will almost all the time be given back in their own currency, the Macanese Pataca (MOP). I made my husband keep my money and basically spent it on souvenirs like magnets, food and taxi fares.

Since coming back from the trip I have yet to receive any change, so I guess we have spent it all. Ha ha ha.

Starting the Journey

We left Melaka at 0530 in the morning by car and stopped at Seremban RnR for Subuh prayers. This time we parked at Salak Tinggi instead of the Long Term Car Park centre. From Salak Tinggi we took the KLIA Transit train and hopped off at KLIA2. Since we are traveling with an infant, we have to check in at the counter which was a breeze that morning. We bought a 25 kg baggage and ours was already a freaking 19Kg. macam heran ada jugak.. bawak apa lah.. LOL.

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We had a light breakfast and it did not take us long to board the plane. Our flight was at 1005AM and e.t.a was 1355PM. There is no time difference between Malaysia and Macao. Only the prayer times are slightly early. I did have a bit of difficulty to locate the baby changing room once we’re in the departure hall. I did find one at the L2 area. It had a water dispenser in the room hence easy to prep Ninies milk. It also had a small curtained area for privacy in case a mom needs to breastfeed or do some pumping.

Ninie amazingly behave throughout the flight. The in flight meals were delicious. The prebooked meals we had were Potato salad, choc banana muffin (highly recommended),  milk coffee, chicken teriyaki with rice, bukhara chicken briyani and uncle chins chicken rice. We had a similar menu on our flight back home.

2 adults, 1 child, 1 infant : Return tickets + in-flight meals + tax = RM 1595.00

With Air Asia, everybody can fly.

Our plane landed 15 minutes early. There is no prayer room at Macao airport but it is okay, we can perform our jamak prayers at the hotel.

Immigration was simple. Because we have no hidden agenda of course. No questions. They check your passport, look at your face and soon you are on the way. Not even a Hello was exchanged. We then took a cab to our hotel which was located in the city itself. The Metropole Hotel.

Revisiting Langkawi 2015 : The itinerary

This is not the best itinerary around. But I hope to offer a different perspective to anybody’s visit to Langkawi be it for the first time or god knows the 20th time throughout your entire life.

LANGKAWI

The last time we went here as a family was less than 4 years ago, so we did skip the island-hopping trips and most of the tourist-y stuff this year. Instead, we took a more relaxing approach to our trip and enjoyed more of the gastronomic experience in Langkawi.

As usual, with AirAsia “everyone can fly” and we booked our tickets through the website 6 weeks prior to the trip on AirAsiaGo.Com. The total payment for our return tickets (4 adults, 2 kids) from KLIA2 to Langkawi including the hotel stay at Tok Senik Resort for 4D3N amounts up to RM 1519.08.

I will be sharing in my next posts about our experiences at the resort and of course our very little activities in Langkawi. Here is a brief outline of the trip.

ITINERARY

Like any other trips via KLIA2, we would park our car at Putrajaya Sentral first before then taking the KLIA TRANSIT train to the airport. Putrajaya Sentral offers good overnight parking rates for a maximum of 14 days. This is not only a convenient way to start our travels but also comfortable. However if you intend to hog along a lot of luggage with you, especially after shopping at your holiday destination- using this mode of transportation is not advisable.

LANGKAWI2

Hope this kickstarts things. Next I’ll tell you about the Tok Senik resort.