Tag Archives: long weekend

KHM Strawberry & Jam, BOH Sg Palas, Centrum

Posted in Food and Drinks, Places to Eat, Travel 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 🤗

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The Lace Boutique Hotel

Posted in Reviews, Travel by

The long weekend is here. PKPP is extended till the end of the year. Malaysians are saying bye bye to their passports already. I have decided that we will not go back to Kuching this year for our annual trip. Instead, we will just go for short trips in Semenanjung Malaysia. And that was what we did.

It was a 3D2N stay in Johor Bahru. Mr Husband booked our staycation abode at the Lace Boutique Hotel he stumbled upon Agoda at a very good price. On the first night, he chose a one bedroom suite priced at RM130/night and on the second night a 2 bedroom suite for RM 150/night. Both without breakfast options. It was a huge price drop having seen it’s original price at the website. Perhaps the CEO was being benevolent and wanted more Malaysians to travel interstate and stay at the hotel. Stimulating the economy, they say.

Lace Boutique Hotel is owned by a YB Datuk Paduka Hjh Rokiah Hj Omar. From what I gather online, she is an entrepreneur with an impressive portfolio. Such as in the motoring business, hotel and saloon. All branded under the name Lace.

Lace Hotel is covered in gold-ish decorations. It gave me the Las Vegas & Empire Classic vibe. I was honestly surprised that both rooms that we booked has a bathtub.

The boutique hotel has a terrific location. You will never go hungry as there are loads of eateries at the area of Kpg Melayu Majidee and is of walking distance. The hotel is also in the heart of the city near the main road making trips easy for anybody outside of Johor.

The rooms were clean. The amenities they provided were plenty and enough. There was a microwave, kettle, plates, cutleries and even a complete set of teapot to make our own coffee and tea. The rooms were spacious and the bed was comfy. The air conditioning was wow!.

This location is also FOOD PANDA and GRABFOOD friendly!!! I know cause that was one the things I checked first. The riders can deliver your food to the hotel as it is so accessible. Of course you can always go out in your car and get food or take a walk.

The swimming pool was at the rooftop and the kids loved it. I was not sure where the cafe was as we did not have breakfast there. It was generally a wonderful stay despite a few small bumps. By that, I mean:

  • On the first night, the WIFI was not working at our floor. The TV was also not getting a good reception as they were using some sort of internet TV. The shows keep on buffering.
  • The bathroom could use an additional ‘ambience’ light. I know moms or ladies would appreciate soaking in the tub at night while watching the night sky through the big window with that sort of light in place.
  • Enough shower/bath gel. As opposed to 2 bottles of shampoo and conditioner without the shower gels. Texture dia rasa lain. Oh well, maybe for my future trips I should consider bringing my own travel-sized bath gels. Although I really love the hotel ones especially if they have nice bottles.

That should be it. Very minor problems.

For this trip, we were very relaxed. We did not even go to Legoland. Instead, we spent most of the time in the room (since husband has things to sort out about work), goofing around & sleeping. We only went out twice to go to the Johor Zoo and Ikea Tebrau.

Ended our Johor trip at Tanjung Piai. Took a few photos as momento.

If I was a Johorean, this would definitely be high up on my list for a mini weekend getaway with the girls or something. It does look high-end exclusive yet a bit abandoned from far. Probably because the glass windows have not been regularly cleansed for some time. Or maybe it has but it still looks stained with mold. Otherwise, the interiors are truly Instagram-mable and worth checking out.

Getaway to Genting Highland

Posted in Good Things, Travel by

When we only had Ee, our firstborn, planning for a holiday is much easier. Now that he has gone for formal schooling on top of us parents shouldering more responsibilities at work plus the addition of little Ninie, it is not that simple. We have to think about his attendance at school and also our absence from work. The timing has to be right. And of course our bosses approval to take leave.

Genting Highland was the least on my mind when it comes to a family holiday as it almost always associated with the place where people gamble and have extreme fun. Interestingly, it is possible for families to have enjoy an innocent time there too. I know I did. The kids too and even my elderly mother in law was overjoyed.

We were a party of 12 people. 1 senior citizen, 6 adults, 3 kids, 2 toddlers. We departed from Melaka at 0800H and arrived at Genting Skyway by 1030H. Mind you, at this time of the year AWANA IS STILL CLOSED FOR RENOVATION. Gosh, the pain of driving up to Genting Premium Outlet (GPO) and then going down again to the original skyway is so grrrrr..

We bought a return ticket for the cable car at RM16/pax. Kids are priced at the same rate. The view from it was amazing. I love how the thick fog hugs the jungle and terrain underneath – it is so beautiful. If only, I knew how to take better photos. Temperature was a nice sort of cold. The kids did not even have to wear their jacket. takyah bawak, semak. dahlah semak, berat lak tu.

Once we arrived at the stop, we had lunch at McDonalds. My diet was naturally ruined.

Our first adventure was The Skytropolis.

An indoor fun fair if I may say. I am not really a fan of rides. Nor is Ee. Ninie had height restrictions. So Mr Husband had the most fun there while I take photos of his embarassing blood curdling screams. It’s either you pay for a combo ticket or you pay per ride, which is a freaking RM10 each. Gile. Nama pun Genting. On weekends & public holidays, the rate climbs up to RM15 per ride. So, get a combo priced at RM90 to give you access to rides in Skytropolis, the SnowWorld and an exhibition. Or any other combo of your choice.

Later we stopped by at an exhibition featuring local art and culture called Senikome Peng Heng.

Boring. No crowd. Maybe we missed the timing for the guided experience tour. So you might want to arrange your activities accordingly as you might feel that your RM9.50 admission fee a total waste. What was more jaw dropping is that my dear Ninie (who is barely 2 and understand nothing much) was also charged RM9.50. Like, wadahek.

Can you appreciate Ninie’s artistic pose for the camera? lol.. we certainly did not coach her..

SnowWorld was most fun.

Luckily Ninie was more than 73cm – so she could enter the place. We are allowed 30 mins in the dome to experience the subzero environment and play the Toboggan slide if you like. Jacket, boots and gloves were provided. They even have Ninies size. You can place your personal belongings in the locker provided too. All this at no extra charge. Inside, there will be professional photographers helping to take your photos but you can bring your own phones too. After all, they charge RM50 per photo once you collect them. It is advisable to bring your own pair of socks as the boots can be quite damp and soggy. Plus,you wouldn’t want your feet to get icy cold. Admission fee is a flat rate of RM45 for visitors as small as Ninie to someone as old as Tun Mahathir.

The fake overseas scenery.. and snow covered pavements..

We spent 5 hours in Genting Highland without the visit to the premium outlet and there is still so much more to explore. Personally, I feel a trip here would be more happening if I were to go with my friends and do more adult-like activities such as the Void, listen to a symphony and such.

We spent 2 nights at a 3 star hotel outside Genting called S Damansara. It is because after Genting we had other mini trips as well in nearby areas.

It was a comfortable hotel which also caters for group tourists. We opted to have in house breakfast as well and I feel that the spread was adequate. The options are pretty much like what we had at Silka Cheras.

Our rooms were a Superior Twin with no windows and we were lucky to have interconnecting rooms close to each other. Price wise can go as low as RM92 per night and up to RM150 for bigger rooms. The most expensive room they have is the VIP Suite which can amount up to RM500/night which could appeal to larger family groups. There is also FREE WIFI access in every room.

The kids find the vendor machine so fascinating..

The trip to Genting was fun yet tiring. We were on our feet for the whole day but I was glad to burn some calories. On another note, I feel this years themed holiday is Tempat Perjudian considering our earlier family vacation was to Macau.

After Genting, it was to Kidzania and Petrosains. That is another blog entry.

A daytrip to Universal Studios Singapore from Johor Bahru

Posted in Everyday Life, Travel by

We are a family of 4. I have a child in primary school and a toddler just over 14 months during the trip. We went for this short excursion during the Melaka public holiday long weekend in April.

We initially drove from Melaka and then stayed at the Hotel Sentral in JB where our bus was scheduled to pick us up the next day.

I wrote about the hotel here.

And these are the ticket prices I mentioned before in the similar blog post.

uss price

I packed my bag light but with enough supplies to keep the kids happy. Some of the things in my tote include;

  • Small thermos for hot water to prepare Ninie’s milk
  • Few empty bottles for us to drink and istinjak. There are loads of water coolers all over the place. InsyaAllah, dehydration would be the less of your worries
  • But mind you, the sun can be really hot. So bring along a mini fan or hat to cover your face
  • Apply sunscreen religiously
  • Lots of wipes.
  • Snacks for babies. Although they did not perform a bag check on us at the entrance, we thought we’d be safe and not smuggle in too much outside food. Furthermore, there are halal certified eateries inside the theme park.
  • Comfortable footwear
  • Bubble play toy. Bought those mini ones at Eco Store. 4 for RM2.10. It was a bargain.

On the day itself, we had breakfast at 7am in the hotel restaurant. I also made sure our son relieved himself as many times as he can before we got on the bus. We departed by 0815 am at our stop. To be honest, the trip from JB to USS itself is less than an hour BUT what kept us waiting were the pit stops at both Immigration offices. Malaysians getting out of Malaysia is easy, its getting into Singapore that begs a longer queue. Thankfully, our bus for that day was not full. So the wait took less than 30 mins at each stop. We were able to arrive at USS by 10am ish.

There were numerous tips online on how you wish to make use of the time there. But with kids, everything can be unpredictable. There is no order. You just venture in and pray for the best. Most of the rides have height requirements for children and Ee is at an age where it is possible to get on almost all of them.

Can babies enjoy USS?

 

Absolutely, even though they lack the memory of it. Ninie was able to enjoy the Shrek 4D cinema. In fact, we entered the premise twice. More for the cool, air conditioned surroundings. Even then, Ninie had fun experiencing the jerky movements of the chair and ‘special effects’ which complemented the short movie.

She could have also enjoyed the merry-go-round but she was fast asleep then. So only Ee and I went on the ride.

In the New York section, there is a mini behind the scene ( BTS ) cinema that Ninie could enter too. This place basically shows how , for example , a natural disaster is emulated and designed for a movie. I thought the scene presented to us LIVE was so realistic. Storm, fire, ship.. everything!

Lunchtime at Oasis Spice Cafe

This is one of the food premises certified as halal in USS. It is located just in front of The Mummy ride. Although the interior is Egypt looking – it serves briyani and the briyani reminds me of the one I had when I was a student in Manchester, UK. It was that delicious. I could actually cry because I really miss this briyani recipe.  Unlike the ones we have in Malaysia. Price kena tutup mata though.

This particular site is fantastic as it listed other Halal eateries you can try too in USS.

Here is my attempt using the Remove Unwanted Content of Photo app. Yes, the name is that long. As you could see, there are a few irregularities in the picture above.

This above photo is taken during my long queue for The Revenge of The Mummy ride in the Ancient Egypt section. The waiting line was long but the wait was fun nonetheless because the design of the area was awesome. I really did feel like I was in a lost tomb and that The Mummy could attack this mummy anytime. The ride did made me feel a tad nauseous especially after my briyani.

Prayer Room

Its a small building located between Ancient Egypt and the SciFi City. Just behind the locker area. There is a partitian for men and women. Of course visitors must be considerate of each other as each space could accommodate about 3-4 people only at one time. They provide prayer garments, mats and ablution facilities there. Telekung dia warna warni and it is a very clean space.

Scheduled Shows

We managed to enjoy the Sesame Street Anniversary Show. Unfortunately my kids do not recognize these characters since local animations have a stronger fan base in Malaysia. We have Boboiboy, Upin Ipin and Didi & Friends to name a few. If you’re not Malaysian, you should consider checking em out. Especially the 1st Boboiboy movie and the recent Upin Ipin Siamang movie.

At the Hollywood area, there was a wonderful singing stage show. They sang from melodies coming out from the jukebox. I was in awe to see those very Hollywood sort of old school cafes you see in the movies with the neon lights and big high up in the sky signboards. Those diners la where people get pancakes and coffee. Or a quick lunch.

We departed from USS at about 1730H ( I think). It has been a while. We had dinner from the food trucks near the hotel. The trip left us feeling elated and rejuvenated in a way. I have never had so much fun in a theme park. Would really want to go again. Time for another piggy bank.

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