KL Family Visit

Over the weekend, my whole family went for a trip to KL. This was our 1st family trip since 1997's trip to China's XinJiang. The journey began at Boon Lay with out Grassland coach departing on time. 6hrs later, we finally reached the Commercial Capital city of Malaysia. We transferred to the KL monorail towards our hotel near Chow Kit station. Brisdale Hotel is located in the Malay community area of the city, with a huge Pasa Malam nearby.

Our itinerary started almost immediately upon checkin. We set off for Chinatown, where we began our eating feasco. We started with a Luo Han Guo drink each, followed by the famous dumpling noodles. This was followed immediately with a pack of multi-flavoured Mua-Chee.

We were quite stuffed in our belly as we started strolling the flea markets of Chinatown. Along the way, we met our cousin Wei Guang. He's kinda like the manager or Da Ge of parts of the fea market, a rather well known personality in the area.. I got myself a pair of surf shorts while my sis got 2 watched from my cousin. And then we indulged ourselves with dinner with the famous claypot rice, together with BBQ stingray and clams. By the end of our eating session, we were as bloated as we could ever be.

We headed towards Titiwangsa for KL's latest attraction, Eye on Malaysia. It's basically a giant ferris, but not too much of a giant in the midst of seriously big wheels (one popping up at Marina Bay in S'pore). The cabin didnt have any stabiliser so it's kinda like the old fashion type where it swings and swings with the slightest movement. The 1st round was fun, as we frantically snapped photos of the limited city skyline. The next 3 rounds, however, were too much of a good thing. by the 3rd spin, we were already starting to get giddy. We couldnt wait to get out the moment the cabin opened the doors. But the most unfortunate thing happened. The sky gave way and downpours came striking on us from all corners.. Luckily my sis fren was there to give us a ride back to our hotel.

The next day was a rather free-n-easy day. My parents and my youngest sis were shopping and meeting my relatives while my sis and I walked around Bukit Bintang area towards KLCC. The sweltering heat prompted us to get some cold relief via some delicious ice-cream. My sis went on for Ocean 13 at KLCC while I went for a body massage session on the outskirt of KL.

Dinner was a family reunion affair. We caught up with relatives we've not met for over a decade. Afterwhich, more relative meet up at my mum's brother's place. The night ended late, with my whole family chatting in our hotel room.

The next morning, we went for breakfast wtih our relatives. It was kinda a power(full) dim-sum breakie, where out tummy reached the breaking point again. On our way to the bus terminal, my youngest sis finally succumed to her motion sickness and delivered a powerful display of flowing fluid via her guts... tat kinda set motion for a horrible journey back to Singapore for her.

Overall, it was a fun trip, kinda better than I've expected. Well, the work load in the office tat welcomed me wasnt really as nice though.. sian. haha

Jittery Heart

today feeling really anxious, nervous, blur.. .. almost like something bad's gonna happen really soon.. it's a feelin nobody likes... it's like the floor beneath you will suddenly give way.. .. the main prb: I dont know what has contributed to such an emotional upheavel.

haiz..

ubin-ubin

This weekend, I went to the illdyic island of Pulau Ubin, located on the north eastern shores of Singapore. It was an outing planned several weeks in advance, for the celebration of my good fren(PF)'s 26th birthday.

All of us (basically the Yuppies Gang consisting of KK, PF, CF, WS, JH and VVN) gathered at the Marina Country Club on the outskirts of Ponggol. It has been years since I last visited the resort in Ubin, and perhaps also the same number of years since I stepped foot onto the shores of Ubin. Naturally, I was excited. I had planned for the whole event, including preparing for the steamboat food (which my mum helped a great deal since I usu return home rather late). Big bags of food and several bottles of mineral water, soft drinks and alcohols were carried on board the ferry which brought us to our resort in ard 25 min.

The clear blue skies and warm weather greeted us in the most welcoming manner possible. We got our keys from the counter and began unpacking our stuff for the lunch time steamboat in our poolside chalet. The lunch was simplu filling, and I reckon around 30% of the food was left over in the fridge.

The cake cutting session followed nex, with the delighted birthday girl (PF) opening up each presents. I gave her a necklace. After opening the presents, we went for a breezy biking tour of the island. Thankfully it drizzled a bit before-hand on an otherwise hot day.

Just before the end of the day, JH and VVn had to leave for the mainland, leaving the 5 of us taking turns to play majong. It's been a few months since I last touched a tile, and I must confess that I'm still in my losing streak.. In fact, all of us were, all except WS who won in total of $150 from everyone of us. Haiz.. Guess it's really a matter of who is lucky that day.

The next morning, we woke up feeling refreshed, well at least I did. We took the ferry out of Ubin. At that point of time, I was feeling kinda down. It's been quite a wild month so far for me, with almost all weekend occupied with something exciting. However, June is rather empty for now.. haha.. Can't always have fun I guess.

A new discovery: I didnt experience any motion sickness while on the ferry to and from Bintan the week before. I didnt had tat again to and from Ubin.. Does it mean my motion sickness has been cured? Hopefully so.

Bintan Spaventures

Excited group at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal

It was early morning on Saturday, the 3rd week of May 2007. Embarking on my 2nd overseas trip with my colleagues and feeling really tired but excited, I made my 1.5hrs journey to Tanah Merah MRT Station to meet the rest of my colleagues for the start of the 2D1N Bintan Spa Trip.

On board the Penguin towards Bintan!!

In all, 13 of us gathered at the Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal, anxiously waiting to board our ferry, Penguin 31. The ferry was full with lotsa holiday-makers (mainly aunties), which transformed the sea trip a noisy one.

Departing Singapore... ...

My colleague and I on the top deck of the ferry

Finally, after almost 2 hours of choppy waters, we arrived at sunny Bintan. The hot weather welcomed us with all its sunshine smiles as we meander our way thru the town centre towards the outskirt where our inland resort lies. Bintan Agro Resort is a sprawling holiday destination, with a huge variety of accomodation. As a big group, we had 2 cottages with 3 rooms each. Simple and clean, the self-sufficient cottages are not your typical 5-star hotel standards. They are more like homes you will find along the streets of Malaysia. But the place was well-maintained and spacious.

Harbour view of the Bintan Port Customs
Our accomodation, the nice little cottage

Lunch was a simple affair, but at dirt cheap prices. We ordered around 10 dishes amongst the 13 of us, and each paid only $8 for a superbly prepared and filling meal. After the great lunch, we were given a tour around the resort's ground by the friendly staff on a bike-tricycle. It was a fun ride and we were given fresh fruits plucked from the trees.

Waiting for lunch to arrive......
Complimentary tour ride around the resort by the friendly staff

View of the pool, from the Spa complex

The star of the trip was the spa session. I took up the King Spa, which set me back $74 for a 2.5hr session. It included a jaccuzzi session, followed by a body scrub using coffee beans. The scrub was relaxing (though I still feel the best scrub I had was in Bangkok). Then come the main dish, the oil massage. Frankly speaking, THIS MUST BE THE BEST OIL MASSAGE I"VE EVER HAD till now. The attention to details and the consistency were executed so well you are put into relax mode almost immediately the moment they started with ur feet. The whole session ended with a full body mask. After the spa session, everyone was drown in the siesta mood. We headed for a hearty dinner of crabs and fishes, and then sleepily returned to our cottages. I thought that all of us would have an early night since we were all in the mood to sleep. But I was WRONG!!

Night gathering at the common area of our cottage

Crazy snap shots

Games session commenced, with Twister being the main event. It was so funny stacking onto each other. It was almost midnight that we realised that we had purchsed too much food. As such, we played silly games to clear the food, where the loser will finish 1/2 a cup of the instant noodles. I had 1.5 cups.. Tell you, I will not wanna eat another cup noodles anytime soon!

Twister time, and everyone's really twisted!!

The nex morning, everyone woke up with panda faces. Yup, most of us didnt have enuff sleep. After an Indonesian breakfast, we split into 2 groups. One group went to the beach for sight seeing. My group went to the resort pool for a dip, and a second shot at the back massage. At just $10 for the almost 40 min session, I can tell you that not even a pizza comes that cheap! Cheap is one thing. The service was impeccable and the massage was itself a triumph. It was so relaxing that I nearly fell asleep towards the end of the session.

Poolside fun just before the ferry ride home

Well, good times have to end somehow. After the massage session, all of us gathered at the lobby for our bus ride to the ferry terminal. It was a short but memorable journey which left all of us looking forward to the next one.

A satisfied group at the Bintan custom terminal