Langkawi Day 1: Adina Drive in Motel, Pantai Cenang.

Heading to Langkawi today didn't have me all excited because I was too tired from work. Pagi petang berdiri jaga exam got me exhausted. Habis jaga exam 4.45pm terus punch card dan balik rumah sambung packing last minute, solat Asar then terus bersiap and ambik Zara dulu before ambik HB kat office dia. Flight 9.20pm so we had plenty of time and tak perlu rushing sangat. Park kereta kat Putrajaya Sentral lepas tu naik KLIA Transit to KLIA2, tiket sama harga dengan ke KLIA, RM6.20/person even though KLIA2 stop is after KLIA.

Dalam KLIA Transit to KLIA2

Sampai KLIA2 makan dulu, solat jamak qasar then baru masuk gate. Flight delay sikit dalam 9.45pm baru berlepas. Took about an hour so landed around 10.45pm.

We can see the plane from the waiting area.

Alhamdulillah Abah dah menunggu sebab flight Mak Abah tengah hari tadi. So Abah dah sewa kereta siap-siap. Jarak airport ke hotel is about 20 minutes tapi kitorang singgah tapau makanan dulu. Abah dah tolong check in for our room masa diorang check in tengah hari tadi. So dapatla bilik sebelah-menyebelah.

Kitorang stay kat Adina Drive-in Motel, area Pantai Cenang. Rate RM122/night untuk Studio Room (through Agoda)which has one double bed and one single bed. So kalau nak duduk bertiga tu kira murahla. Bilik luas tapi kurang bersih. Ceiling bersawang, lantai berpasir. Rasa macam nak beli penyapu je sapu bilik tu sendiri. Celah-celah katil pun macam tak bersapu. Nasib baik katil and toilet ok. Untuk katil double tu diorang bagi selimut untuk single jugak. So aku ni nak share dengan anak 2 tahun pun macam tak cukup apatah lagi kalau orang dewasa nak share berdua. Zara if you know is a fidgety toddler, jenis semua benda dia nak usik so as a mother aku ni cukup cerewet pasal kebersihan bila travel.

 

Bangunan bilik kitorang yang sebelah kiri in this pic, naik tangga tingkat atas. Kereta siap boleh park depan bilik masing-masing as there were plenty of space. So kalau duduk sini malas serabut cari parking area area Pantai Cenang, boleh je tinggal kereta kat hotel and jalan kaki.

Ada sink kat luar bilik. Kettle, iron and ironing board also provided in each room. Cuma nak makan macam susah sebab takde kerusi. Yang ada cuma bangku kecik kat almari solek so aku makan kat situ jela.

Atas ni gambar bilik Mak actually, and gambar pun Mak yang ambik. I forgot to take pictures of my room. Tapi sama je pun bilik aku and Mak.

And this is the toilet, also in bilik Mak and pic from Mak. Ours was similar anyway. The downside was toilet flush bilik kitorang rosak, keeps on flushing non stop sampai mengganggu tidur aku malam first tu. Second night aku pergi tutup pipe water supply ke flush tu and pasang bila perlu je.

Kitorang book hotel ni 2 malam, then lagi 2 malam nak duduk Kuah pulak. The best thing about this hotel is the location. It is within walking distance to Cenang Mall, The Zon and other duty free shops. Kalau nak ke pantai kena seberang jalan and lalu between kedai-kedai | other hotels dalam 50-100m (I'm not good at estimating distance). Nak cari makan pun senang tapi kedai makan area Pantai Cenang ni mahal-mahal sebab kat kawasan tarikan pelancong kan. Kedai makanan Arab bukan main banyak. Hotel ada swimming pool, nampak dari balkoni bilik je tapi tak sempat nak guna so not sure about the cleanliness. Tapi macam kecik je sesuai untuk kanak-kanak.

I wouldn't say I won't come back to this hotel, but maybe next time I'm here I'd like to check out other hotels especially the ones across the roads right in front of the beach.

Weekend Getaway: Avilion Admiral Cove, Port Dickson

Sabtu lepas ada kenduri sepupu Mak kat PD, whom supposedly is my uncle yet he's only 23. Kitorang bertolak Jumaat malam sabtu. Singgah makan Wadihana kat Bangi Gateway dulu, then bertolak dari Bangi 10pm and arrived PD at 11pm. We stayed at Avilion Admiral Cove. Check in took a while sebab booking last minit so they still haven't received the confirmation from Agoda. With all the confusion, menunggu la for about 15 minutes kat lobby.

View from our room

Dapat bilik kat level 1. Mak, Zara and I stayed in one room (Straits Studio) while Abah, Imran and HB stayed in another (Superior). The difference between those two rooms was only the view, and the size of the room. Straits Studio view menghadap laut, but laut yang takde pantai la sebab kat luar tu marina. Superior pulak menghadap bangunan lain tapi boleh la nampak a glimpse of the swimming pool. But that would also depend on which room you are staying. Straits Studio was spacious jadi seronok la Zara lari sana sini. Superior is smaller but comfortable enough for 3. Both room ada daybed tapi dalam Superior takde cadar while Straits Studio ada cadar. Sarung daybed and cushion tu nampak macam kotor sikit sebab macam lama and banyak stain. Nasib baik Abah bawak sleeping bag so boleh la buat alas. They also provide iron and iron board in both rooms.

King bed in Straits Studio

Daybed with linen in Straits Studio

Breakfast was ok. Takde la banyak sangat choice tapi ok la. What I liked was the salad bar with 3 different types of dressing, cheddar cheese and beef pepperoni  (which were sliced a tad too thick). The fresh milk was nice, masa pekerja tu refill I notice they use Goodday milk. Kadang-kadang ada hotel yang guna fresh milk yang rasa macam pelik. Sort of susu murah ke apa I don't know. But taste different la if you know what I mean. Juice pulak on the first day ada pineapple and guava, the second day manggo and guava. Juice rasa pelik so I didn't have any. Thank goodness for the fresh milk. The breads were ok, they serve croissants with a couple of pastries each day. Ruang makan tu was rather small comparative to the hotel and obviously it would be full. The good thing was they kept on refilling the foods and I can see the chefs coming out to check on the foods, the manager was also there monitoring the staffs the whole time.

Hari first turun breakfast kitorang macam tercari-cari mana dining area. Sebab susunan hotel ni macam pelik sikit, kena pusing sana sini. Dari segi service for me semua ok, the staffs were ok. Hari nak checkout, Mak mintak extend our checkout time and dia bagi latest at 1pm. Lebih dari 1pm dia akan automatically charge RM100/hour. Hotel ni pun dekat je dari tol PD. I think dalam 10 minits macam tu la lebih kurang. In a nutshell, the hotel is clean and comfortable with spacious room so I would recommend it if you are looking for a hotel in PD.

Weekend Getaway: JPO + Grand Bluewave Hotel, JB

Finally, the weekend for our getaway to USS! Kononnya Zara's belated birthday + my advance birthday vacation. Masa beli package holiday kat MATTA Fair, ingatkan nak ber-honeymoon. Tiba-tiba macam dah jadi family day pulak with my parent, sister & brother in law, cousins and aunt join sekali. Not that I mind, memang lagi seronok pergi ramai-ramai pun. :D

Zara malam tadi, dah standby dengan beg dia.

Malam sebelum gerak, aku siap message kat group Whatsapp family, esok nak gerak by 9am sebab petang nak relax dalam hotel. Tapi malam tu Zara pulak tidur pukul 4am! Sudahnya lepas Subuh tidur balik, 8.30am baru bangun and 10am++ baru gerak dari Bangi. Singgah 'brunch' kat Restoran Jejantas Ayer Keroh, Bebi baru sedar dia tertinggal passport so kena patah balik. Nasib baik la Redza tu jenis relax je tak marah. Kalau aku la yang tertinggal, I don't even want to imagine. :p

Singgah JPO dulu before check in hotel. Last time aku pergi JPO (some time around August last year), macam tak best sangat pun. Barang tak banyak. Ni macam dah best la pulak. Clarks outlet dulu ada a few designs je. Sekarang dah banyak, even rak dalam kedai tu pun dah bertambah. Dah la kali ni masa memang limited sebab nak check in hotel so sempat masuk certain kedai yang memang target nak beli je.

Zara having late lunch at JPO.

Checked in kat hotel dah almost 7pm, pukul 8.30pm nak keluar makan balik. Tak sempat nak rehat sangat pun. Mandi, solat, and belek-belek barang yang beli kat JPO tadi. Kitorang duduk kat Grand Bluewave Hotel, JB. Satu malam RM230 untuk Studio Room book kat MATTA Fair. Semalam aku tolong book the same room for Bebi & Redza through Agoda RM203 per night and they got upgraded to Executive Studio. Pftt! No more MATTA Fair for me.

I like the room. Spacious with carpeted floor, jadi anak aku nak main lari sana sini takde la risau sangat. The carpet pun seems clean enough. Kalau ada extra guest nak tidur atas lantai pun selesa lagi, banyak space. View menghadap laut | Singapore but biasa-biasa je. Serabut and sesak pun ada, tengok luar ada construction (at the moment) and laut yang seciput between Malaysia and Singapore. Tapi view dari suite Mak Abah menghadap tambak Johor and the better side of the city so cantik la sikit.

I'm also happy with the bathroom even though takde bathtub, shower dia best and luas with pretty tiles. I would say I like the Studio Room punya bathroom compared to the Suite Mak Abah was staying. Jubin kat Studio Room lagi cantik (color dark grey jenis kesat) while kat Suite (color maroon jenis licin). I feel that the Suite's bathroom is too big, making me feel rather uncomfortable. The shower and bathtub were together and I don't fancy having my shower in a bathtub. But rasanya unlike me, ramai yang kisah sangat kot hal shower/bathtub ni?

For my Studio Room, masa masuk bilik we realize ada dia bagi satu je towel so HB call mintak hantar satu lagi and they sent it straight away. The downside was probably the TV which was quite small. Channel pulak tak banyak and channel yang ada pun semua siaran tak berapa jelas. All in all, I'd stay again at this hotel.

Lighting in the room was rather dim.

Imran nak bawak kitorang pergi makan dalam 9pm so kitorang ke rumah nenek dulu, tunggu dia kat sana. Tunggu punya tunggu, pukul 10pm baru dia sampai. Kitorang bawak nenek keluar makan kat Restoran Singgah Selalu. Kat situ, nak bercakap dengan orang kena shout at the top of your voice sebab ada live band and speaker dia kuat giler. Seronok but kesian kat Zara tengah tidur. Environment dia buat rasa macam orang muda pulak lepas sini malam-malam. Kahkah.

Sampai hotel nak masuk bilik ada problem dengan card so HB kena turun ke reception and activatekan balik card tu. It was already after midnight and HB terus tertidur, penat sangat. Aku pulak melayan si kecik tu main pukul 2am baru tidur. Phew.

Weekend Getaway: Samsuria Beach Resort, Kuantan

Our weekend getaway destination this week is Kuantan. Mak ajak ikut pergi kenduri kawan Mak kat IIUM Kuantan so sambil tu boleh la bercuti tepi pantai. Kitorang (Mak, Abah, me, HB & Zara) semua naik satu kereta je, Abah sewa Alza. HB sepatutnya kena kerja pagi ni, tapi dia kesian kat aku sebab tau aku suka bercuti and nanti aku penat jaga Zara sorang-sorang so dia pun skipped work. Bertolak pagi dalam 9am and singgah makan kat Petronas sebelum Bentong. Masa stop tu aku perasan HB dah nampak macam risau and takde mood je sebab bos dia call and supplier asyik call. Kesian dia..huhu. Aku pulak rasa bersalah.

Sampai IIUM Kuantan pukul 1pm++. Even though aku student IIUM, ni first time aku jejak kat IIUM Kuantan ni. Terasa rindu pulak kat zaman belajar dulu sebab IIUM Kuantan is like a miniature IIUM Gombak. Lepas kenduri terus check-in kat Samsuria Beach Resort & Residence. Nampak kosong je macam tak ramai orang, scary jugak. Tapi Mak kata resort ni pun baru je bukak dalam sebulan, maybe rami tak tau lagi kot. Even bilik depan kitorang pun still tengah renovate lagi. Sebab konsep dia macam apartment, so no breakfast will be provided. Tapi bilik tu lengkap dengan dapur, microwave, kettle, kuali, pinggan etc kalau nak prepare makanan sendiri.

Since pagi tadi badan Zara macam panas sikit jadi Abah suruh pergi beli ubat kat klinik. HB keluar dengan Abah cari klinik sebab aku dengan Mak macam penat and malas nak keluar. Rupanya diorang sampai ke Teluk Cempedak sebab HB nak beli bubur McD untuk Zara.

Petang Zara tak habis-habis ajak keluar tengok 'pish' (which would be the swimming pool).

Since Zara tak berapa sihat and angin laut kuat kat luar, Zara mandi bath tub je kat bilik. Komen aku tentang bilik | resort ni, all is great except lantai berhabuk (maybe tak bersihkan lantai betul-betul after renovation) and ada habuk & sawang belakang pintu. But other that that, all is great.

Weekend Getaway: Traders Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

Mak plan nak bercuti dengan Syafiq before dia balik UK ahad ni. Mula-mula nak pergi Penang, but then macam rushing sangat pulak so bercuti kat KL je. Mak kalau duduk hotel dia pentingkan view, so kat KL ni what better then looking out of your window to the view of KLCC. So diorang pun bercuti kat Traders Hotel KL and aku pun menyibuk. Hehe

Mak and Syafiq pergi check in dulu petang Jumaat. Bebi mintak teman pergi Pavilion dia nak cari winter coat because esok diorang nak berangkat ke Jepun untuk honeymoon. So nanti balik dari Pavilion dia drop aku and Zara kat hotel. Supposedly dari Pavi ke Traders Hotel tu dalam 10min je. Tapi sebab guna Google Map & Waze dua-dua macam confusing and kitorang asyik ter-miss simpang sebab ada construction, jalan tutup etc. Bangunan pun tulisan semua tinggi-tinggi so kalau dari jarak yang dekat nak kena jenguk kepala ke atas susah jugak. At last kitorang lalu kat Mandarin Oriental and tanya bell boy direction ke Traders Hotel, lepas tu 2 min je sampai. -_-"

View dari level 28, at night.

Baru aku tau lampu KLCC (and bangunan lain kat sekeliling) akan tutup secara berperingkat. Pukul 1.30am, most buildings dah gelap macam gambar bawah ni. Yang terang belakang KLCC tu bangunan Public Bank. Tu pun masa aku terbangun dalam pukul 5am tengok dah gelap jugak.

View dari level 28, during daytime.

Pagi Mak tak nak breakfast, Zara pun nyenyak tidur lagi so aku pergi breakfast berdua dengan Syafiq. Kalau duduk kat executive floor, boleh breakfast kat cafe level 32 overlooking the view of KLCC instead of going downstairs. Kat atas tu tak ramai sangat orang and the waiters were very attentive (which aku tak berapa suka sebenarnya). The breakfast spread was one of the best I've ever had because of the variety such as Malaysian, Arabian, Korean, Western, Japanese dish. I don't even know what some of them are. Untuk makanan melayu ada nasi goreng and nasi lemak je if I'm not mistaken. The breads/pastries pun tak berapa banyak. They were also like five or six different types of cheese.

Sorry, takde gambar before, ada gambar after je :p

If you are staying on the executive floor, petang ada complimentary high tea and malam free cocktail on the 32nd floor. Coffee and soft drinks are FOC throughout the day and you can get them also on the 32nd floor. Too bad tak cukup masa nak check out the pool. Lepas check out hotel kitorang terus ke LCCT nak tengok Bebi and Redza berlepas pergi honeymoon. Jumpa HB and Abah kat sana.

Happy honeymoon! ❤