Tag Archives: travel with toddler

Weekend in Kuala Lumpur at Izumi Hotel, Bukit Bintang

Posted in Everyday Life, Leisure & Travel, Reviews by

Apart from being my fathers part time personal assistant (PA), I have also been kept busy with my proper job as a medical officer. I have been selected to attend a weekend conference. Yah.. bila mana ko tak oncall dia suro gi kursus – Thank god, the conference was beneficial and interesting. buatnye dia suro aku attend rashes in pediatric patients.. or asthma in pediatrics – aku akan mengamok sebulan.

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So I happily booked a hotel near the venue of the conference. I was not willing to splurge that much money at JW Marriot itself, so I booked Izumi Hotel. Somehow rasa tertipu dengan Agoda.Com because the rate offline was cheaper than online. Tapi takpe.. rezeki hotel.

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Both Mr Husband and I are not really familiar with Kuala Lumpur. So we were technically tourist in our own country. WAZE was hopeless in directions – hence turned to Google Map for help. The entry to the hotel was into a very small Jalan Berangan just under the fly-over near the Arab Restaurant (middle pic). Go slow, you might miss the turn. Turned out, the hotel had a GREAT location.

Like wow.. dalam map nampak jauh sikit tapi the shopping places were like so near!! Everything is within walking distance. The husband and child should not by any means get bored okay?!!! Pavillion, LOT 1o, Fahrenheit Shopping Mall, Sungei Wang plaza was practically sepelaung away. There were lots of options of restaurants to have a meal. Arab? Malay? Western? Chinese? A bar? You name it!  For a while, Bukit Bintang seemed like a foreign place because of the flock of international tourists everywhere! So meriah!!!

We did not even have to use our car which was kept in the ‘lift carpark’ of IZUMI hotel which was co-shared with Fortuna Hotel. I was so impressed.

The ladies at the hotel reception were ever so helpful. We had complimentary newspaper (The Star), free WIFI in every room, complimentary drinking bottles of water and coffee in the room. On top of that, there was an ironing area and water dispenser on our floor (level 8) for both hot and icy cold drinks.

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My boy loved the shower. Interestingly, there was a small glass window separating the bathroom and the bed, so I can watch over my boy while he so called independently showers himself. Ha ha.

We paid about MYR 130/night. There were breakfast options at its very own IZUMI Bistro but we didn’t take it. I would definitely choose this hotel again in the future.

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Hotel Bangi-Putrajaya : perasan kaya sekejap..

Posted in Everyday Life, Leisure & Travel by

Hotel Bangi Putrajaya was previously known as Equatorial hotel. I was informed by a friend that their star ratings dropped – hence the change in name. Which probably includes the management team. That did not deter me to book it for my so called weekend stay-cation.

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The plan was to ronda2 Putrajaya or Bangi and use the room for sleeping only. We ended up soaking in the luxuries of the room and place. Ha ha. Our feet were practically rooted to the room.

Our room number was 611. My son thought that we were given that particular room because he enjoyed watching Astro Ceria. Of course – that was not the reason.

The world doesn’t evolve around you my son.

So what do I think of the place?

Price : I’d say it is worth every penny. This is after all a resort. I booked my room through Agoda.Com, so it was quite easy.

Location : Love the hotel on top of the hill. It overlooks a golf course and if you’re lucky you get to see the pool. You would have the feeling of being isolated in a land far far away but interestingly we still see flocks of people appearing here and there. Mostly participants of a meeting or a course.

Hospitality : Very friendly and accommodating front desk. They were also very thoughtful by providing free flow drinks while waiting and a bowl of sweets at hand for visitors. Mr Husband loved the FREE, COMPLIMENTARY English newspapers. I also learnt that they have a shuttle service to IOI Mall Putrajaya.

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Food : I wish I could say the breakfast was awesome. Well.. they could try harder. He he.. after all there is a nearby food court which has a the famous Haji Samuri Satay!

Cleanliness : Tip top. KUDOS to the housekeeping team.

Would I book it again? definitely! Once they are done with their renovations of course.

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Malacca Premium Outlet, Cendol Bakar & Rojak

Posted in Everyday Life, Places to Eat by

Perhaps a valuable lesson to teach your young uns is of how to do window shopping – and that was exactly what we did at Malacca’s newest shopping attraction  – Freeport Malacca (Premium) Outlet.

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It has the usual things  – the windmill was pretty. My boy loved it a lot. We tried on shoes and clothes but we did not buy anything. Ntahlah .. tkde nafsu nak beli apa2. After all we are saving our mullah for our ‘delayed honeymoon trip’ next month.

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This also means skilfully distracting our boy from going into Toy World and making up creative excuses for him to not go on the carousel or indulge in money related activities. kedekut.

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We did have lunch at the foodcourt though. Expensive. Whadya expect? But since Ee finished his spaghetti meal – it was worth every penny. Despite not buying anything, we spent nearly 2 hours day strolling and checking out every store – comparing prices from what it should be outside the outlet. I’d say it’s quite  a bargain for the quality of things one could get from there. Perhaps they’d be even greater discounts during festive seasons. At least I know now where to get a nice pair of Santa Barbara Polo Racquet shoes …

I loved the open concept. I wish there were more trees or shady areas. Perhaps it will be in many years to come.

Our adventure did not stop there. We also made a pit stop at Cendol Bakar Drive thru. Ordered 2 VIP cendol before heading off to Alor Gajah to buy its famous rojak. A day well spent.

Lost World of Tambun, Ipoh

Posted in Everyday Life, Leisure & Travel, Parenting, Family and Relationships, Reviews by

I never liked waterparks. It feels odd having your clothes stick to you hippo body in public. No amount of joy could replace that embarrassing thought but I wouldn’t mind dipping in a private pool though. Still we went to Sunways Lost World of Tambun all the same, because it was a long weekend and Hazeeq’s mom is hating her job already and wants to go elsewhere. before she hates everybody as well.

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We bought the tickets to Tambun online and got our tickets through a special booth. As expected, there was a bag check for outside food and drinks or any prohibited items. Perhaps you can save on the mineral water by bringing in the same bottled ones they sell for a freaking RM4.50 in the park – the one with the blue label and a mountain on it I think (i don’t remember the brand now)

the weather was lovely - the sky was blue and the mountain was ever so green

Tambun  is divided into a few smaller parks inside.

  • Amusement park – kind of like the one you see at funfairs. shoot to get a toy. merry go rounds and stuff.
  • Water park – where the slides and giant pelampungs are
  • Tiger Valley – we were too early for the tiger show so there was not much to see except the lazing tiger in its captivity
  • Tin Valley – pretty awesome for picture taking. lots of props and nice scenery
  • Adventure Park – rock climbing? go ahead
  • Petting Zoo – my sons favourite place. mine too.

At night, it is liven by its special Hot Springs and Spa. I daresay Tambun has something for everybody from the young to the elderly. My in laws enjoyed the stroll around the area. Loved the landscaping especially at the Tin Valley. Those mountains are just WOw! It makes me feel like wanting to go China and see the precipitous pillars in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park with my own eyes!

Here are some of our pictures;

at the Tin Valley, it's got lots of history along the walk - how it was back then, what the tin is used for..

merry go round tambun

i honestly wished i could put the snake around my neck.. ha ha

We finished the visit to Tambun in less than 3 hours. ha ha. That’s because we did not spend much time at the water park. Celup2 kaki. Even Hazeeq dipped only half of his buttocks in the kiddie pool. He loves his animals but hates the water I guess.

hello Ipoh – our hotel and food

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

This was a much awaited trip. 

The 5 hour journey however turned into a 7 hour stretch. I swear I could grow a beard in the car. or have roots growing from my buttocks. We bumped into a lot of mini accidents along the way, none were that disruptive to the traffic but invited audiences in the driver seat to have a peek all the same. It was raining cats and dogs in Ipoh hence we were glad when we finally arrived at the doorsteps of DeParkview Hotel.

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The hotel boasts of a 2 star facility. I wouldn’t mind giving it a 3 star based on the warm welcome at the front desk itself. Both ‘aunty’ and ‘uncle’ seems to know the best place to get food including whereabouts of the local Pasar Malam and best place to get limau bali. 

I loved the new-ish room and bathroom facility with hot showers! It has a kettle – yeay! Two complimentary bottles of mineral water with coffee sachets on arrival (only). Free shower gels, toothbrush and fresh towels. Apart from that, ironing board, extra pillows and hairdryers are available upon request.

Perhaps we’ve missed the memo but the rooms are not made up on a daily basis despite putting a sign outside the room. Thus, we had 3 days worth of rubbish sitting in the dustbin in the room throughout the stay. We did look for a common bin outside the room, along the alley .. just in case. But there were none. So we left the bin outside the room for the rubbish to be disposed of. It worked. So thats why its a 2 star facility – hahaha. Yang penting bersih.

Now comes the important question :

Would I stay in this hotel again? A definite YES!

Our main objective to Ipoh was actually to visit The Lost World of Tambun. Will get to that later. Sambil menyelam sambil minum air.  We did however get to taste some of the popular local eateries here. 2 in particular are;

LAKSA TELUR GORENG BERSARANG

Kafe Setinggan Laksa Telur Goreng Bersarang 
No.1,Jalan Margosa D/8,Seri Margosa,
Taman Seri Botani.

We had a difficult time persuading our little Ultraman to come along. All he wanted to do was watch cartoon in the hotel room. The laksa was a bit spicy for our boy but we adults enjoyed it. Kira adalah rasa ikan. We were a bit lost at first on how to place our orders but we followed the crowd. The place was packed. The turnover rate for each table was pretty fast.

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I was a tad disappointed however with the attitude of some of the young uns. There is little ‘urgency’ to eat up their food and they somehow seemed oblivious to their surroundings. Its as though they feel the need to claim their birthright to sit at the table for hours talking nonsense because ‘hey I paid for my laksa and drinks – I can sit here for as long as I like’ come on lah – this laksa is so nice you should share it with other people. Let this makcik have a seat and enjoy the meal as well.

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This is a noodle based dish served in a fish-y soup concoction. Normal laksa would have hard boiled eggs as its choice of condiments. This particular cafe chose to serve its eggs in a nest-like appearance hence its name. It was delicious all the same.

My next mention is ..

NASI VANGGEY

Apparently this Nasi Vanggey was also referred to as Nasi Ganja because it’s said to be very addictive. Also seems like Nasi Kandar to me. A rice dish with many side dishes to choose from. I ate safe by having what is biasa. Mr Husband chose my dishes of sotong kari and ayam madu. I am not a fan of rice dishes (omputih sangat)  but I suppose this one is OK. I wouldn’t mind having it again. Boleh kenyang satu hari. 

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Perhaps I can next try the Halal Dumplings. Or any other special Ipoh food apart from the coffee. Any recommendations?