Guess how much these costs in Ringgit Malaysia?

Ops.

After showering, I rested for a while as I was very tired before heading out for dinner.

Managed to catch few winks and we were out on the streets again, looking for food. We walked towards the Thaveewong Road with hope to stumble upon cheap street food to fill our stomachs.

There are many motor-stalls along the famous road, but they are mostly selling crepes, fruits and drinks.

Suddenly Kurubee saw a lady holding a bowl of noodles and asked me if I knew where she was walking out from.

I didn’t know where, so I shook my head. Then we saw another person with the same bowl, so we traced it to a darker and quieter alley and found a Muslim lady busying preparing food for her customers.

Actually we didn’t know what is the lady selling or how to order food from the lady as she speaks limited English and we don’t know Thai language. By observing the food that her customers ordered, we noticed that she’s selling chicken rice and chicken noodles. So we pointed to the rice and showed two fingers, and then waited for our food.

And guess how much our kai fan costs?

60 Bahts.

-_____________-

The most expensive kai fan I ever ate.

Luckily the portion is big. She’s very generous with the chicken meats and rice and even gave us a big bowl of soup, but the soup is a bit salty.

Since she didn’t have a proper place for us to sit, we resorted to borrowing chairs from the clothes stalls nearby. The lady is very nice, she asked the stalls’ owners for few stools for us to sit, but we were very paiseh. We determined to finish up our kai fan as soon as possible.

But the thing is… I’m a slow eater, swt.

While eating, I told Kurubee that if the chicken rice costs us 60 bahts, I don’t know how much a dish gonna costs in a fancy restaurant. He nodded, but we were optimistic that they are actually cheap eateries somewhere in Patong, just that we haven’t discovered them yet!

After the filing meal (I was seriously bloated), we walked and feasted our eyes on the goods paraded from the stalls/shops located along the famous Thaveewong road. It was a very long, never-ending walk. I don’t think we could finish covering all shops/stalls. Furthermore they’re repetitive.

One shop really caught my eyes is the HELLO KITTY SHOP! When I saw that, I immediately dragged Kurubee into that shop, tho he was VERY reluctant to enter. Once inside, I started to look at the goods and compared them (the quality) to the authentic Hello Kitty shop I’ve been in Japan.

Quality wise cannot fight la. But the price is much cheaper here in Phuket, hehe.

But we didn’t linger long there as we have a show to catch.

So I made Kurubee to promise me on coming back to this shop the next day.

Out of love, he agreed.

I didn’t leave the shop empty handed. I bought this pouch, which I genuinely thought is a laptop sleeve. *smack head* Probably if I have a Netbook or an iPad, it would fit perfectly well, lol.

So we walked to Millenium Hotel for our minibus to the famous ladyboys show, the Simon Cabaret. We waited for 1-2 minute and a purple minibus with picture of a ladyboy on the body came. Like usual, the driver came down, we showed our voucher to board the minibus.

The place is about 5-10 minute drive down the road. We were driven right to the front of the entrance, where we were then ushered down to the ticket counter to collect our tickets and paid the remaining of the payment since we’ve only paid the deposits at the tour agency.

I was still thirsty from the dinner we had earlier, so I asked the gentleman at the counter where can I buy drink. He pointed to the bar counter outside (which is part of the Simon Cabaret too) and said I can get coffee there.

I looked at the bar and thought to myself that they couldn’t be free. Furthermore, the guy didn’t mention the word free. Seeing there’s still time to kill, I dragged Kurubee to the nearby convenience store to buy mineral water.

We went to Family Mart. Not only we bought water, we bought sweets too cz we’re thinking sweet would be easier to smuggle in, lol.

When we walked back, the entrance of the Simon Cabaret was lighted up and we took the opportunity to take pictures there.

Then it was time for the show. We quickly entered the auditorium and were led to our seats. To our ‘horror’, there’s a complimentary water bottle place at the water handle (think GSC) for the audiences.

Kurubee advised me to add a tip to this place on Foursquare, so that in future, people who are thirsty like me wouldn’t need to run out to the nearby convenience store for water. Lol.

So, if you’re there… and when you check-in to Foursquare, tap the tip bar and you’ll see my tip there!

BUT the thing is… we’re unsure about the normal seat as we gotten ourselves VIP seats.  So, maybe the free water bottle is for the VIP seat only le? Hiak hiak hiak.

If you’we wondering what’s the different between the regular and the VIP seat? The regular/normal seats (700 bahts) are on the upper tier and the VIP seats (900 bahts) are on the lower tier and if you happen to sit on the first row, guys… be prepare for extra surprises!

Like every Broadway/musical show, we weren’t allowed to take any photos/videos there. If you want to know what’s there in Simon Cabaret, you have to get your butt there to see it for yourself. Don’t worry; the show is totally safe for audience of all ages and is very entertaining. You’ll be mesmerized and at awed at the dances, the quality of the performances and not forgetting the charming ladyboys.

Some are so pretty with fair, smooth skin that you’ll be thinking, that couldn’t be a ladyboy!

Also, you’ll be guaranteed to laugh till you drop by some comedic performances.

After the show ended, the audiences were ushered to the exit on the left side of the auditorium where all the ladyboys would stand at the side waiting for the audiences to take pictures with them.

With a fee of 40 baht.

A group of Indians in front of me complained before we went over to take pictures. She was complaining to her friends that about she and another guy (she was pointing to that guy) took picture with 3-4 ladyboys and ended up paying over 2,000 baht.

I related this to Kurubee, and he said don’t get 3-4 ladyboys le, we take with one only.

And since Kurubee had already narrowed down the one that we were be taking picture with, so I thought alright. Afterall it’s just 40 baht for a picture.

Little did we know we had to pay 80 baht. No, we paid 100 baht, because while I was searching for another 40 baht in my purse, Kurubee directly handed him/her 100 baht.

And that fella didn’t even give us change back.

Extra 20 baht.

-_______________-

If I know about this, I would have directed the photographer in Mandarin (the Chinese guy whom Kurubee passed his DSLR to) to include in a half of a random ladyboy who was standing at the side too!

That would worth my 100 baht. Me and Kurubee, One and a half ladyboy.

Lol.

Overall, the show is very good, in fact it’s excellent. I brought my mum there in my 2nd trip to Phuket, and she too likes the show. But if you want to take picture with the ladyboys, either you have the exact amount with you beforehand or be prepare to ‘tip’ extra.

But our minibus didn’t come at that time. We got worried as we thought we might got cheated. So Kurubee immediately called the tour lady for confirmation and we were told to be patient as the minibus might be late as the driver needs to pick up people from other hotels as well.

Hearing that, we went back to our hotel’s lobby and waited there. Somewhere near 7.30am, the minibus driver appeared and asked for our voucher. After confirmation, we quickly boarded it. Then he drove all the way to another 2 resorts to pick up guests, but the last one didn’t show up though he’s already late in picking them up. So we left after waiting for 15 minutes for them.

Ohya, in within the waiting interval of 15 minutes, I forced kurubee to grab few stuffs for breakfast from the convenience store beside the resort, Family Mart as I was super hungry. Gotten all these for about 50 baht.

Poor driver sped his way to Ao Por Pier as we’ve already late for our cruise. In the minibus, Sat and I camho like mad, keke.

The moment we got down from our minibus at some huts opposite the pier, we were led to the entrance of Ao Por Pier where bus ferrying us to our ship waiting for us.

There are many stalls selling big hats for 100 baht but since I’ve already brought my mum’s big hat along with me, I didn’t think of getting one.

And I regretted not getting one! Why? Because Mum’s flown into the sea by the super strong wind when our boat heading towards the first island eventho I was wearing it!

Monkeybananafishballdonkey!

Back to the story, our captain of the boat gave briefing and when he mentioned that all the water and soft drinks onboard are free (except for the beers), kurubee’s eyes lighted up as little plan cooked up in his mind.

Yeah, he planned to drink as much of soft drinks as possible. Rofl.

Soon our boat reached the first destination, Ko Phanak. Canoes were alighted from our boat; the boat crew went to their canoes. One by one, they picking up us in pairs or triple and canoed towards the rock island.

I wore my life jacket as I was afraid that the canoe might topple and unable to float, lol. Furthermore I was carrying my DSLR with me, but I put them in a plastic bag, JUST IN CASE YOU KNOW? Lol.

We were brought to appreciate the greenery around the island.

Not forgetting the monkeys too…

Our rower paddled into a cave, and that’s when I thought, damn, this is when I need flashgun as my flash was too harsh, lol. I took few shots then just sat back and enjoy the ride. He passed torchlight to kurubee and we looked around the cave and when the torchlight shone above our heads, we can’t believe our eyes…

There are bats allllllll above us. Some got irritated by the light and flew away.

Luckily they didn’t attack us I tell you. Rofl.

Then we went back to our boat, where we were brought to our second destination, Ko Hong.

Again we got down (armed with my iphone) and this time the ride was more pleasing than the first one. We got back the same rower as told by the captain and kurubee was far more than happy to get him back as our rower, cz he already befriended him.

Now, the reason why I said canoe-ing around Ko Hong is a pleasing one because we were cruising along the lagoon and it was cloudy that time!

Tho the whole lagoon was jam-packed with CANOES (like wtfish right?) but it was still a relaxing one. Our rower is one funny, friendly guy. He would point to us on what to look and chat and laugh with us. Actually, he talked more to kurubee than me. Kurubee entertained him more while I sitting in front took endless pictures of the lagoon using my iphone, since I got the best view.

We were brought to see a cave.. which has a lagoon at the end of the cave but it can be accessible during low tide only.

The lagoon is also the place where local fisherman fished for fishes and sea creatures. Our rower brought us near a sampan where a horseshoe crab was seen passing among the tourists.

That’s our friendly rower, btw.

When I saw the horseshoe crab, I was checking for the ROE, swt. Cause I was taught that the best part of the horseshoe crab is the roe!

Our friendly rower took us into a very nice lagoon surrounded by high rock, and I felt very serene there. It was so beautiful and peaceful there. Then rower paddled out to the open sea via a smalllllll opening that required us to bend down, lol.

Back to our ship and our captain steered the wheel to the famous island, Ko Ping Khan or famously known as James Bond Island. On the way there, we had our lunch!

And I loveeeee their tomyam! Very appetizing! Slurrrrrps! Because it was so nice, I took two bowls of tomyam loh, haha!

By the time we finished eating, our boat was nearing the James Bond Island. We rested awhile and Kurubee took his 7th or 8th bottle of Fanta? Lol.

Our boat stopped suddenly and we were asked to board the long boat which ferries passengers from the bigger ships to the island. Since there were so many of us, we took the 2nd boat to the island.

When we reached, we walked past the long souvenir stalls and headed towards the back where the famous iconic island can be seen.

In the picture collage above, there’s this straightly slanting rock where everyone rushed to take picture with. Everyone BUT us. I think we were running out of time, that’s why we didn’t picture there.

Like most tourists, we took countless photos with the island; especially the ‘holding island’ poses, lol.

Then we climbed up the rocky stairs to the other side of the island. Actually we didn’t know where to go, and we just followed where the crowd was going to.

Much to our surprise, we came to a beach with fantastic view of the smaller islands around James Bond Island.

We were given only 30 minutes to linger there, so we quickly took photos there and walked back to the port near the souvenir stalls. Our crew came to look for us and we got onto the longboat.

We were given slices of watermelon and pineapple to chill… and I took 2-3 slices each.

Our boat then sped (I don’t know if our boat really speed or not, but I’m assuming it did, lol) all the way to our last stop, Ko Lawa Yai.

At the last island, we were given time to snorkel, swim or canoeing around. Guess what we did?

Canoeing, of course. Seeing the condition of the sea water, I don’t feel like jumping in. Also we didn’t bring towel and extra clothes along so swimming and snorkeling aren’t feasible. Furthermore, Kurubee was keen to get his hand on the paddle oars, so after we were ferried to the island, we hijacked one canoe and went for a little exploration, just two of us.

Barely 10 minutes into canoeing, we were asked to return the canoe, swt. So we walking around the island hand-in-hand before deciding to head back to our boat. Didn’t know why there weren’t pictures taken there, lol.

And I dozed off all the way back to Ao Por pier…

We set our alarm to ring at about 4pm (Thai time, which is an hour later than us) and we snoozed that till 4.30pm, Lol. By the time we woke up, we quickly showered and prepared ourselves for our first and only stop for the day, Phuket Fantasea.

Our package for Phuket Fantasea including return transfers, dinner and VIP Gold Seat for the show. I can’t remember the amount of price we paid but I remembered the lady gave us special price as she said it was the ‘low season’ that time.

Ohya, before napping, kurubee activated the EDGE and 3G package on both of our phones and he took 50MB of EDGE/3G package to last us for 3 days.

At about 5pm, we walked towards Millennium Hotel for our ride as the minibus couldn’t stop at our hotel. Millennium Hotel is situated next to Jungceylon which is like 5 minutes walk away from our hotel, so we gladly made the walk. Furthermore, the area is already packed with stalls and we did few stops just to look at the goods.

Nearby the entrance of Millennium Hotel, we waited for good ol’ 5 minutes before we saw a pink minibus driving towards us and stopped at our side. The driver came out and asked, “Phuket Fantasea, Ricos Hotel?” where we said yeah and ushered us in. We took few pictures with the pink minibus with elephant image before hopping in.

The driver then reversed and picked up a Korean couple at Millennium Hotel. The Korean girl looks rather snobby, and I’m assuming they must be coming from rich families as a cheapest room in Millennium Hotel costs at least RM450 per night. T_T

Then we’re off to pick up a gang of angmohs somewhere in the heart of Patong, before heading up North to Kamala. Along the way, I tried calling Emily and Jess but both of them didn’t answer. Then I called up Aaron and I showed him the street view of Patong when he answered my call.

At about 6pm, we reached the entrance of Phuket Fantasea and the moment we got down from our pink minibus is the foul stench of elephant poo. -.- Apparently an elephant just poo-ed/peed there (How I know?, because there’s a wet mark nearby, lol).

Then I quickly queued behind a long winding line to get our tickets from the ticket counters. Somewhere in the middle of the line, a lady behind a small counter would say, “Hi, welcome to Phuket Fantasea. Where are you from?” and would type in the country name upon hearing your answer before giving you a broad smile and a ‘Thank You’.

I queued about 10-15 minutes before gotten our tickets. kurubee on the other hand was going around snapping pictures of the places. At the ticket counter, I was asked if I would be interested in purchasing books and CDs on their shows, which I politely declined. Hee!

The moment I walked in, I remembered telling kurubee that this place feels like Disneyland to me. Why I said so?, that’s because the buildings are built so extravagant and cartoonish with a pinch of Thais here and there. Walking around Phuket Fantasea with kurubee holding my hand made me feel like a child, Lol.

Since it was still early and the restaurant only opens at 7pm, we took our own sweet time snapping pictures with almost every display, picture, backdrops and mascots available.

There’s even a dance performance on a grand stage in the middle of lighted up ‘town’.

Not forgetting the elephant rides around the fountain, in between the Grand Palace (where the show is shown) and the Golden Kinnaree Restaurant.

Because one needs to pay for the elephant ride, we didn’t do that. We’re the kiamsiap couple, where we only do things that are free or already included in the package, LMAO LMAO.

At about 7pm, we walked to the Golden Kinnaree Restaurant where at the counter before entering the restaurant; a beautiful Thai lady gave us our table number. We walked in and were led by another beautiful Thai lady to our table. She even showed us the food from non-halal and halal sections which we nodded in acknowledgement but have no intention to get from the halal area since we’re looking forward to some pork. Lol.

However, problem rose.

After getting food from the buffet counter, a petite Thai guy came to me in a rather angry tone, telling me that my plate contains pork. I told him yeah, I can take pork and why? But he kept telling me no pork, no pork. Confused I looked at him and tried to decipher what he was trying to say. Seeing the commotion from afar, a Thai lady walked to our table and spoke the Thai guy. Hastily the Thai guy walked away and the Thai lady followed him. Worriedly, kurubee quickly came to me and asked what’s the problem. I told him, I don’t know as this guy keeps pointing to my plate and tells me no pork, no pork.

Finally the Thai lady returned and apologized, before explaining that the table we were sitting at is for the halal eaters only, and that’s why the guy kept saying no pork. Then her explanation only it made sense of the guy’s behavior earlier. Sheasked if both of us are non-halal eaters (and we said yes, quite aloud, lol) and if we’re okay with changing to another table. Since we haven’t started eating and they could prepare us another table, we’re totally cool with the change.

Immediately few ladies helped us with transferring the food and showed us to our new table. Hehe.

We spent about 45 minutes stuffing our tummies full, before leaving the restaurant. A white building with bling bling fascinated our eyes and as though being charmed, we entered the building without second thought.

Inside, there are more blings, shining stuffs that charmed our eyes. Kurubee saw a statue of Lord Ganesh in gold and it’s so beautiful, but the price is way too much to handle. So we just did see and go on the stuffs there, not daring to touch anything for the fear of spoiling the expensive stuffs.

From the back, we walked into another building where the kids would love to enter: the amusement park. There are lots games for the kids to play and throw, and we just took at the side looking at all the games available there.

Then we walked out of the amusement park and lingered around the cartoonish town, before entering the Animal Kingdom.

There are many types of ‘bizarre’ animals there, and one of the highlights is the white Siberia Tigers. Almost everyone was seemed taking picture of and with the tigers, others just looking in bewilderment at the side. Kurubee took few pictures of me with the white creature before leaving the building.

Then it was time for the show. We walked back to the Grand Palace, where we were led to lines and lines of queues.

It was jam-packed with people and there were few counters where we need to show our tickets to the crew before they clipped our tickets. At the final counters, we were asked to handover our cameras, video cameras, and even handphones as these are not prohibited into the show.

Right after we deposited our cameras, we were led to long hallway where one can take picture with the performers, the elephants and baby tigers for 400-650 baht depend on which you chose to take picture with.

Again, we didn’t take picture with any because we couldn’t part with our baht, lol. Actually we didn’t bring much baht there, hence the prudent attitude.

We went up to the stairs before entering the auditorium, and to our surprise, we got a very nice view of the entire stage as we were sitting in the middle of the upper tier, and we were thinking to ourselves, no bad for a last minute booking!

10-15 minutes later, the show started and I wouldn’t reveal the content here, but I think you’ll be amazed with the dancer skills showcased here. The show is all right, you need to listen properly to get the story right, else you’ll be wondering what the hell is happening now.

But don’t say I don’t warn you – the sound effect and the firework MAY not for the faint hearted. I said that because I jumped SO MANY TIMES during the show, lol.

Oh, there’s one part where I love – the hanging in the air part!

After the show, we went to collect our camera from the pick-up counter, walked a little before heading back to the minibus area for our ride to our hotel.

Our verdict: Phuket Fantasea is overall an entertaining place, but don’t think one will want to go back there again (unless exception).

A little note here: after finish watching the show, (if possible) quickly get down to the pick-up counter to get your stuff if you hate waiting in queue to collect your stuff.

So slightly more than a year later on 6th October, this trip initiated back. Yay!

This is my cute travel partner.. kurubee

.. which also happens to be the love of my life too, lol! And we flew in together from Penang to LCCT and boarded the afternoon flight to Phuket.

It was a cloudy day when we arrived in Phuket International Airport (HKT). Couldn’t contain our excitement as it was the first time we flew out of country together. <3 As we were the first few passengers that gotten out of the flight first, we breezed through immigration counter swiftly and gotten ourselves FREE local sim cards at the counter at the side while waiting for our luggage.

From the arrival hall, we walked into another hall where there are like many tour agency counters situated on both sides. One man asked us if we need any ride to our hotel and quickly mentioned about free ride to hotel. Upon hearing the word FREE, our eyes immediately lighted up and we were led to this counter called, Phuket Friendship Tour.

The lady behind the counter is so polite and soft-spoken. She asked us how long was our trip before suggesting the possible activities we could do. Of course we’ve already have few activities in mind, but we just like to hear what’s her plan. So she showed us few packages and we signed up with her after both sides agreed to a certain price, which now I can’t remember, lol. We do have our receipts but it’s all with kurubee, hmm.

After paying the price and gotten our vouchers (and of course her handphone number in case anything goes wrong), we were ushered to the taxi waiting area.

Few minutes later, we found ourselves sitting in a Honda taxi ferrying us to our hotel, Ricos Hotel on Bangla Road. Our taxi damn cool ler, got monitor behind the headrest, promoting Thai tourism.

We even stopped by 7-eleven to buy ‘refill’ (reload credits) for our sim cards. Both of us gotten ourselves 90 baht refills each. Then the journey continued but our taxi driver decided to do another stop somewhere near Patong. We got a shock as he suddenly turned left into a row of shophouses and we were thinking shit, what are we gotten ourselves into?

Then the driver turned to us and told that he had to stop here and he walked into a tour agency. Few minutes later, another guy came out with broad smile and greeted us. Apparently he explained on the reason why the taxi driver made this stop and further asked if we have taken any tour package. If we haven’t, he said we could book one with him.

Unfortunately we have already sealed deal with Phuket Friendship and even showed him our tour package vouchers. Politely he thanked us for listening to him and walked into the agency. Our taxi driver returned and this time he drove us directly to our hotel.

When we reached our hotel, kurubee showed the receptionist the printed hotel voucher from AirAsiaGo website. The checking-in process was fast and smooth. After few minutes we were given keys to our room which is on the 2nd floor.

For the price we paid for the hotel room, we are actually satisfied with the condition and cleanliness of the room. The view from our room’s window isn’t really a nice sight, but it’s alright since we’ll be spending much of our time out of the room. The yellow lights made the room a little dimmer, but it brings out romantic feel in the room. Moreover yellow light saves energy right?

]]> http://phingelicious.com/2010/12/a-little-getaway/feed/ 6 http://phingelicious.com/2010/12/back-from-great-trip/ http://phingelicious.com/2010/12/back-from-great-trip/#comments Sun, 26 Dec 2010 15:11:08 +0000 angeline http://phingelicious.com/?p=2854 The month of December is definitely the month full of surprises. So many unexpected things cropped up – one of them happened 4 days ago: Phuket.

This trip is so last minute, so unplanned with me doing all the bookings few days before flying. About to lose my mind for this, but I’m glad that I managed to pull this through. It was a well-deserving trip for me and my family.

Phi-Phi shall be my little escapade in future. Definitely will be. Awesomest island. <3

Stay tune for the posts.

Besides being forced to take leave, sister came back home and bro was in school holiday, mum and dad received email to book room for only 1GP.

So much of coincidence propelled us to make this sudden trip to a fun city above the clouds, Genting Highlands. That’s the Genting tagline by the way.

Come 9^th of September, a day before Raya where everyone woke up way too early in the morning and departed from our home at 5.30am. Well, my bro proposed us to start journey at 4, but everyone was reluctant to leave the bed. Lol!

The highway was packed with car even at 5 in the morning as PLUS offered additional 10% to the existing 10% discount on class 1 vehicles during off peak hours every day. Do bear in mind, the off peak hour is from 12 midnight till 7 in the morning.

Well, we missed it by 15 minutes! We got off the highway at Ipoh for breakfast and mum nonchalantly said the promotion was valid whole day for that weekend when I insisted it wasn’t. So dad drove slowly and we even took our own sweet time at the R&R.

We dropped by a corner lot kopitiam somewhere in Taman Ipoh for breakfast. If not mistaken, the kopitiam is called Restaurant Ria Sentosa. Ordered their wantan mee and it is not bad.

After filling our stomachs, we continued our journey all the way to Genting Highlands. In between, I received sms from Sat asking my whereabout. When we were somewhere around Batang Kali, Sat told me that he’s already at the Genting Cable Car station. Dad asked if he wanted a lift, but Sat politely declined since we were still about 25-30 minutes away from the station.

I doubt taking cable car would be faster than driving up. True enough by the time we passed by the station, Sat was still in mid-air. Didn’t know where exactly was he when I called him as I couldn’t get him through. It was very misty and not to mention, cold too! Quickly I wound down my window and let the cool breeze woke my sleepy face. It totally reminded me of my childhood as my parents frequently brought us to Genting Highlands when my siblings and I were younger and my sis and I would wind down window and stick our heads out to feel the cool breeze; which was of course followed by mum’s scolding of being so advengerous – a word of adventurous and dangerous combined, lol!).

Finally reached the peak; parked at the First World Hotel’s parking bays and went to the lobby for check-in procedure. However, the machine was offline and we had to go through the old check-in system. Bleh!

And then Sat arrived! XD

We went for lunch at Jia, a food court near the stage at First World Plaza Level 2A. I remembered someone telling me about the must-try bak kut teh meal there so I recommended my parents that. Manatau, the bak kut teh for 3 pax with 5 oily white rice costs RM80++. @_@

And the bak kut teh is not even nice.

Sat’s lunch even worst – his economic rice costs him RM20++. So blardy expensive.

Mum commented that we should have our lunch at casino where the food there is cheaper and more delicious. But my bro is still underage! So we teased my bro by saying we’ll be going to have dinner at casino tonight and asked him to look for his dinner himself. Lol!

Before lunch, I had bought All Park tickets (RM59) for me and my siblings and Outdoor Park ticket (RM44) for Sat; which I regretted for I should have get Outdoor Park tickets for all. I guess my mentality at that time was that my sis and bro are still young and wanted to sit those Indoor Park rides at night.

Immediately after lunch, my sis, bro, Sat and I bid my parents goodluck and goodbye and went down the escalators to the Outdoor Theme Park. We managed to cover 7 rides – the Rolling Thunder Mine Train, Spinner, Cyclone, Grand Prix Fun Kart, Pirate Ship, Boating and Mini Train. Not bad considering it was the eve of Raya. Hehe!

We wanted to try more, like the Flying Dragon but it has super long queue. Then we wanted to go for Corkscrew but my baby bro felt scared looking at it while Sat and my bro ran off when my sis and I pointed Space Shot at him. I tried persuading them to Dinosaurland but all totally dispersed when I said that. As for Sungai Rejang Flume Ride, all four of us agreed not to get ourselves wet. Lol!

Soon, all of us felt hungry and decided to have early dinner at KFC. After dinner, I asked Sat to enter the casino for a game or two since he’s been talking about visiting Uncle Lim. So he went while we queued for Venice Gondola. Just before we got into our gondola, he came out and I thrust my DSLR to him, asking him to take pictures of us. And the pictures came out beautifully. ^^

After the gondola ride, Sat suggested us to play arcade games. So off we went to the arcade in Genting Hotel there. Seriously, I don’t know if the arcade is exactly in Genting Hotel, but I’m assuming it is since the Genting Casino is just above. Lol!

Bought 2 Ezycard reloaded with RM50 each and were given a free gift per card.

The boys starting showing off their skills at the basketball machine. I played like twice, teaming with Sat while my bro and sis teamed up. And sis commented me on using two hands when throwing the ball which I claimed I was so used to the netball style!

Don’t play play, I played netball during my schooling time okay.

We went around, aiming for games that will generate lots tickets. In the end, my bro concluded that the basketball spewed more tickets than the rest, so my sis and bro worked hard shooting the balls into the net while Sat and I went around looking at the ridiculous and hard to score non-machine games, like hitting the milk tin pyramid with super light hollow rubber ball.

Or throwing the very bounce-able rubber balls into the box of small holes angled at 45 degree! -.-“

Those non-machine games are harder to score than the one we played at the fun fair carnival beside Queensbay Mall. Though the prizes there are a little low standard, but at least the joy of scoring/hitting the target is there.

I pulled Sat away and asked him to stop wasting his energy and money on such game and go for the machines one instead. So we went back throwing balls at the machines.

Sat and I then got bored of throwing balls, then we went around looking for other type of games. That’s when we spotted a guy stood at this driller machine with tickets kept coming out from it. We were wowed and Sat immediately tried his luck but seemed like his estimation was a little bit high.

In the end, we got bored and tired. Sat had to leave for another vigorous function involving some kicking and running, so he bid us goodbye and left while my bro, sis and I were choosing the gifts exchanged for the amount of tickets we got which we didn’t do so at the end since it can be redeemable the next day.

Together, three of us we went to the casino to look for our parents at the casino but since bro couldn’t enter, we asked him to wait for us outside.

Little did we know the Genting casino is so big! That was the first time I entered Genting casino as I always went to the one in First World Plaza. My sis and I got hard time looking for our parents; we went row to row, front to the back, scanning through the mountainous people at the tables. Getting frustrated, I decided to give my parents a call asking their whereabout.

Only then we knew they were at the Monte Carlo.

We walked towards Monte Carlo and I was at awed at the decorations, the games, and the amount of people in the casino. And of course I choked at the smell of the cigarettes too. Totally hate the smell. Luckily there’s one part of the casino where gamblers aren’t allow to smoke. I was totally relief when walking there. Lol!

We finally found my dad standing in front of us from a distance. We got our room keys and mum asked us to quickly do Genting card. I got one, but was to expire by the end of September 2010, so I renew it.

After that we went out to look for our bro and quickly walked towards First World Plaza for Indoor Park rides. You see, why I said that I regretted on buying All Park ticket is because the Outdoors Park rides are open and working at night. They are only open during school holiday, eve and on public holiday. So it’s quite wasted loh, since I could bring my sis and bro outdoor for another round of fun. Moreover, the Indoor rides cater mostly for family with young kids, so it’s doesn’t work in our favour anymore.

Especially the Reindeer Cruiser – which obviously is designed for family with young kids as the cruise wouldn’t even fit all 3 of us and I had to take another ride alone while all the other mums eyes staring at me. I did feel like not taking the ride but hell ya, I paid for my ticket and I don’t care about the stares anymore. Lol! -.-“

We then went to queue for the 4D Motion Master Ride. Never in our mind that we would need to queue for more than an hour there! So totally not worth the wait at all as they were showing Haunted House, the same movie that I saw long time ago! I thought they’re playing Turtle Vision, but I just found out that they’re showing Turtle Vision in the day and the Haunted House at night.

We ended the night with a bowl of hot chicken porridge from Marry Brown Restaurant. Then we went back to our room where my bro went to sleep in the same room as my parents, leaving my sis and I in another room.

I can’t sleep well that night, while my sis dozed off almost immediately. So I talked to Sat and listened to songs until I dozed off too. Still, I woke up few times in the middle of the night. At 7 in the morning, I decided to wake up and shower. I woke my sis after I were done. Sensing that my parents might still be asleep since I called them and nobody picked up, I went over to my parents’ room and true enough, they were still sleeping!

My sister and I ended up watching cartoons shown on TV channels while waiting for my parents and bro to get ready. Then we went down to meet up with Sat for breakfast. Yes, Sat purposely went up Genting Highlands again just to see me. Bleks.

Mum asked us to go for the complimentary hotel breakfast since she doesn’t like the breakfast there. Then mum and dad went for breakfast at the casino while four of us went up to the First World Café with coupons in our hands. The staffs were in traditional Malay clothing today as it was the first day of Raya! The lady took my coupon and chopped it but stopped my sis and bro from entering as according to her, their coupon didn’t entitle complimentary breakfasts. I looked at the two coupons; they were similar and I don’t see any difference in them. I asked her to show me, but she kept pointing at a sentence which the other coupon has too.

Sensing there were other patrons looking at us, Sat thanked her, asked my sis and bro to enter the café first and walked out to settle the other coupon. I followed him. He then asked me to call up my dad for clarification, which my dad didn’t know if we were given complimentary breakfast or not. Dad asked us to wait as he went to the counter to ask about it. Meanwhile, Sat showed our coupons to the ladies at the cashier counter and they helped in verifying our coupon.

A little talk over the walkie talkie and the ladies allowed us in. But she did say that our room package doesn’t includes breakfast; but since two already went in, they sort of close one eye.

How nice they are. We were grateful and quickly went into the café. I called up dad telling him that everything is fine and asked him not to be worry.

After breakfast, Sat, bro and I went to the arcade for basketball shots while my sis entered the casino with my parents. Sat and bro tried their luck at the drilling machine again. Luck was on Sat’s side when he managed to get it through the hole and we got 200 tickets. Thinking that Sat’s lucky today, we went to try our luck at the roulette, leaving my bro at the arcade since he said he’s okay on his own.

Done gambling, we went to find my bro at the arcade where the boys had rounds of basketball and drilling and shooting. Then we redeemed prizes for 2800++ points. I realised we spent RM200 solely on arcade game. Super expensive! *pengsan*

Then it was the time to go. All of us went downhill and headed to the Genting Strawberry Park near the Gohtong Jaya Hotel. I passed my DSLR to Sat and to our horror, my camera lens got foggy! Kantoi case! T_T

The entrance is free, so we just walked by the turnstile into the strawberry farm. There’s a strawberry stall at the middle of the farm and mum bought two packets to try. One can pick their own strawberries for RM3 but we weren’t interested in doing the ‘harvesting’. Lol!

Then we walked along towards the exit. Little did we know that the exit route is super far! We had to walk passed the bee/honey farm, gift shops, orchid farm, vegetables farm, mushroom farm, more shops, Thai open-restaurant, and more stalls in order to get out. It reminded me and Sat of the same ordeal we went through in Yogyakarta. Haha!

I had fun snapping around the floras at the vegetable farm. There are plenty of flowers that I seldom seen so I quickly captured them down. Then Sat challenged me saying that he could do better, so he took my DSLR and snapped them too, in another angle – which of course, I refuted!

Oh ya, we ate our strawberry at the strawberry restaurant. Spotted their strawberry popsicles and my bro and I bought one to try, and I was disappointed. Totally cannot fight the one I had in Cameron Highlands as the people there make strawberry popsicles using strawberries puree, not the syrup.

After spending an hour at the strawberry park, we dropped Sat at the cable car station and headed home. Stopped by Tapah for KFC as dinner and reached Juru toll few minutes after midnight, just in time for the 20% discount promotion! Haha!

Now, where to next for family trip… ^^

Picture taken from Tripadvisor

The journey began on Friday afternoon, where B and I battled the bad Friday jam on bridge to head back home in time. We had dinner, went back my home to shower, and then off to the train station.

My stimness look at the station. I was quite sleepy, yet excited. Haven’t been on train for ages!

It was quite packed at the station – with locals as well as the foreigners. While waiting for the train to come, we took pictures! Hoho!

We waited there for like half an hour, then the train arrived. We walked to our coach, which was at the farrrrrrr end! T.T

The moment we walked into the coach, to be frank – I was half stunned and half amazed. Stunned cz I never expect the sleeping coach would be like this. Amazed cz I know it’ll be one pretty amazing ride. Stunned cz I was wondering how to get up there. Amazed cz a big size ah moh managed to get himself up there!

We knew we can’t be standing on the corridor for the entire night, or at that moment – as people will be walking there, so I prepared to get myself up there. I threw my backpacks up, climbed the mini staircase just to find myself asking B,

“Where do I put my shoes? Takkan leave it there? Later gone then how?”

He was also unsure of where to put.

A man heard our conversation and he pointed to the net at the side and said, “you can keep your shoes there.”

At that moment we felt so jakun and stupid there!  Why didn’t we see that net thingy? ROFLMAO.

I took the blue plastic that they provided, put my shoes in and place it at the net thingy.

Of course I didn’t twist the plastic bag like what B did la. Lol!

And then B climbed to his ‘bed’. (That’s how the phrase “climb to bed” got from laaa.) It was entertaining watching him getting up to his berth. Seeing him twist his body, lifting his leg to get it – while me snapping his photos, it was really fun!

Now I understand why the lower berth costs LOTS more than the upper berth. The amount of space. One could sit up on the lower berth, but need to hunch when sit on the upper berth. I was okay with the space as I’m not claustrophobic. And so do B. *phew*

As I was dreadfully tired, I slept after 30 minutes of goofing and woke up at 3.30 in the morning. -.-”"”" I tried to continue sleeping, but I can’t. Probably I was holding my pee that time, plus I was hungry – that’s why couldn’t continue sleeping. Haha!

So, I woke B up. By ‘psst’-ing him. Lol! But obviously the psst didn’t work because of the loud chuchu-ing. So I resorted to SMS! Which he replied like probably half an hour later. Lol!

We went for super early breakfast. Shared fried rice. Drank hot milo. Was still holding my pee – but didn’t go because the toilet is soooooo small and dirty! I was afraid that if I go in, I might dirty myself IF the train stops abruptly.

The train reached the KL Sentral at 5.30 in the morning. I quickly ran for toilet and blasted all out! (Pee only okay… ) Then we got ourselves the KLIA transit ticket to Putrajaya (for a brief stop), before heading straight to LCCT.

It was really a fun time taking train, but it would be better if could get the lower berth lorrrr…

*mental note to myself – if ever travel by train again, get lower berth ticket at least a week before departure*

Knowing that Hard Rock Cafe is new in town, we decided to drop by – despite few of us had been there before. Lol!

The 1st time I visit HRH, I didn’t enter the HRC as the cafe was fully-booked. So, I was very very excited and looking forward to chill there!

As me, Emily n Shuqi reached late, we had to wait for Yin to bring us in. At the entrance, the bouncers stopped us for bag check. Which greatly reminded of the security check at work. Minus the magnetic scanner thingy. Lmao!

Before we reached, we were told that we got a very nice place. And it was so true. We got the seats facing the stage directly, and we got long couch which is like yay! Because everyone wanted have the best view and nobody want to sit on chair with their back facing the stage including me, I had to sit more to the next table’s side on the long couch. I don’t mind sitting there as long as I got a comfy seat and great view. BUT my view was blocked by a man’s head of the next table who was sitting DIRECTLY in front of me. When I say directly – it means right in front of me.

Potongstimness!

Thus, I changed seat. I rather turned my body to face the stage, than having a head blocking the 70% of my view. *hiss*

One of the main attraction in HRC is the live rock genre band! Very rocky indeed, as they’ve rocked my night! (Gosh, sounds so wrong… hmm)

There are 3 singers – and the person to look at would be the one in the middle. I mean look at her – she sings, she moves, she dances, she “seduces” with eyes – while the other 2 just goyang kepala and move the mic stand. Okayla, I agreed that’s what a male singer would normally do. If both of them dance like her, then probably it would be very weird. Haha.

Back to the lady singer – her voice is awesome! Her voice can go all the way uppppp and all the way downnnnn. Terrific! Definitely wow us that night!

One thing I don’t like about the live singing is the sound system. Don’t get you wrong – the sound system is great, BUT as the night grew older, the volume got louder! Loud till a point I got massive headache. Luckily I managed to escape the ‘noise’ when Vingie asked me if I wanna checked the hotel out. Thanks Vingieeeeee!

The drinks.

Normally, people would order beer or cocktails at pub/club to chill. I would to – but because my skin condition got bad, I barred myself from ordering one. So, I quenched my thirst by ordering mocktails, or should I say non-alcoholic drink a.k.a Wild Berries! It’s very nice and the best thing is – the glass is big! Which means don’t have to order drinks often. Which means save money! *whee*

But, I was curious to know how much the price of the cocktail there. As Emily and I skimmed through the menu, I noticed that the price of the cocktails and mocktails there weren’t cheap. Cocktails would be priced above RM30 or RM35 (can’t recall), while the non-alcoholic drinks like the berries I had would be above RM22. Mine is RM25.

After few thoughts, our mocktails are considered cheap because they come in big glass. I felt the cocktails aren’t. The cocktail I normally order – Long Island Tea which Shuqi and Yin ordered that night costs RM42 per glass. If my memory doesn’t fail me, I usually pay from the range of RM27 to Rm35 for that.

But, this is HRC we’re talking about. GOTTA PAY FOR GREAT ATMOSPHERE! PAY FOR THE LIVE BAND PERFORMANCE.

So, I’m fine with paying RM29 for drink there. LMAO.

The design of the HRC is unique. I love the idea of combining the long couch and high rise bar tables to accommodate more people. I love the idea of building a mezzanine floor to house more people. I love the idea of turning the parapet wall into very cool bar tables, where people would place their drinks there while looking at the band. Excellente concept!

Oh, I love the idea of putting in a shop in the cafe! Why? Because there are chances of people buying something there. As memento. Wicked idea right? Haha!

Plus, what’s Hard Rock without their ever famous souvenir shop? (I can still recall the Hard Rock shirt that my parents bought for me years ago)

I didn’t check out their shop by the way. Yvelyn asked me if I want to, but I declined. Why? Because I feared that if I saw something that I like and I couldn’t have it because of the price – I might feel sad.

I shall visit when I’m loaded! That’ll be like 10 years later! Haha!

Seriously, HRC is packed with peoples! From the time I stepped into HRC which was at 10.45, the crowd kept increased, never decreased. I did a lot of observation, apart from listening to the music sang by the band. And I realised HRC managed to attract people from different walk of life. Different races, different ages, different dressing code,different “motives”.

Thus my FB status that day,

semakin lewat, semakin ramai olang, semakin hot, semakin banyak ‘eye-opener’!!!

Lazy to elaborate more, I shall summarise them into these!

Obs. 1 : HRC has free wifi! That day I was busy twittering and updating status on FB. Hoho!

Obs. 2 : Saw managers from workplace. Seems like they’re good at chilling out too. *hohoho*

Obs. 3 : Lots people with DSLR that day!

Obs. 4 : They have small ‘dance floor’ right beside the stage. But not much people utilised it. Most Malaysians are shyyyy. They would rather look at people who dance skilfully and think “I also can dance like that mah, but I shy” . LMAO.

Obs. 5 : Saw Mr. Geh, Mr. Suki and Hao Hao that night! So coincident oneee!

Obs. 6 : I scanned here and there for hot macho guys, found one but he’s more to the metrosexual-ic than macho. With a girl constantly baleko him.

Obs. 7 : I accidentally saw text message of the apek of opposite table. It started with “Cinta kita tidak akan …” The wife and kids were sitting next to him. So hmm…

Obs. 8 : The band sang lots 80s’, 90s’ songs. But we want more of PCD, Beyonce, BEP!

Obs. 9 : A girl surrounded by 3-4 mens? Hmm…

Obs. 10 : This one have to sensor la. P&C! Ahaks.

Lastly, a picture of us at HRC. Where iz me? *cries*

I had a great, fun night that day! Need such outing to unwind ourselves!

Where’s next?

-XOXO!