Golden Palm Iconic Resort and Spa, Sepang - best ke ?

Wow , lamanya tak update blog, been a few months since i note down my travels. So what happened ? If you read my blog , you would have known that i got pregnant , but i did some travelling during those 9 months but i got lazy..... Well it's not really lazy but pregnancy really took a toll on me , fatigue, work stress and etc , hence the mia act.

Yes i gave birth recently - 8/9/2013! A baby boy @ 2.5 kg and we name him Kefli. One month earlier than expected date , hence he is so tiny.

Still in my 2 months maternity leave , i decided to take an extra month by clearing my annual leave and taking some unpaid leave .So in total i'll have 3 months leave , yahoooo. Still this is uncomparable to other countries like Uk and Australia which allows up to 6 months maternity leave. Malaysia is also one of the country with the least maternity leave in comparision to some of her Asian counterparts.It's my only opportunity, once work commence i don't think i'll be able to just take off like that .

Coming to Kefli's 2nd month , i decided to take a short vacation . Kefli can't travel far or take the plane - i don't want to stress him out too much . Plus if he gets cranky , i'll be effected too ! Port dickson Avillion would be our first choice but we've been there many many times. thus we wanted to explore new places.

I googled and thought Sepang Gold Coast would be the perfect choice . I booked a 3D/2N stay at the Golden Palm Iconic Resort via Agoda (soon to be Avani due to change of management) despites various negative reviews we went ahead anyway.

Prior to arrival , i requested for a room closest to all facilities . We were granted the first room and the closest to the lobby ( room 001) . Hubby was concerned that our room is far from the buffet restaurant Bila Bila and the pool . It turned out that the location of our room is actually the best for us , cause it's walking distance from the lobby , near the beach and kids club. We recceed the pool , not only it was small and crowded but the water is dirty and murky too . So we are better off filling our time by the beach.

Super crowded pool . In this case Avillion PD and Hyatt Kuantan tops our list .

Ok here's what i like about the hotel

1. Room was spacious and tastefully decorated. Build on sea, thus you get that cooling breeze. My daughter loves chilling by the balkony and watch fishes swim by.

2. Bed - we loved the bed ! Huge and comfortable , all 4 of us slept soundly thru out the 2 nights we were there ( of course i have to wake up every 2 hours to breast feed Kefli ) .

Barely 2 months old Kefli is enjoying the cosy and comfy bed.

3. Bikes - there's bicyles for everyone to use . Nice and enjoyable , also because the buggy service is rather poor . During peak period , you might have to "berebut" the bikes with other guests, unfortunately.

4. Beach - the private beach belongs to the resort is well maintained and filled with kids and adults activities such as beach soccer, batik painting, drawing, kite flying, swimming, bouncing castle and etc. I found these most exciting especially for family with young children like us.

Bouncing castle by the beach.

5. Kids club - the best so far for us compared to many other hotels we've been to. Spacious and located in the resort beautiful land scaped garden.

Plenty to do at kid's club.

What i don't like about the resort

1. Service - poor , extremely poor . May be it's because of the high occupancy and staffs can't manage the over whelming demand . It took them almost 6 hours to bring our extra blanket and our kettle ( the room's kettle was missing , so we asked for one to be send to us).

2. Distance - it's a long walk from all facilities especially if your room is located at the end of the palm. We were lucky that we get room 001. Tips - get room 001 - 008 to be near to the lobby and the beach . But if you want a better view and don't mind walking then get the rooms further down.

3. Buggy service - really slow , management should increase the amount of buggy. There's a waiting time of at least 15 mins. There are also times where there's no buggy at all. So you won't have a choice but to walk or take the bike ( not elderly friendly).

4. Food - the breakfast buffet is nothing to be shout about , for a resort such as these the quality of food is 1 star. The best buffet breakfast for us is from Golden Sands Penang . Even Avillion PD is better.

5. Lalat - flies Omg, this is such a turn off. During our breakfast buffet we were accompanied by ga zillions of lalat. We decided to skip breakfast on our second day . I cooked magee curry in the room instead. At least we know that our food isn't contaminated.

6. Parking - we got lucky and parked in the hotel compound. But many people complained that they had to walk very far to park.

Ok on average , it was a pleasant stay. We had a wonderful time. Bare in mind that this review is written from the point of view of a mommy and it's targeted towards family with young children.

I brought my 55 days old son and for those of you who are superstitious, this resort is absolutely all right , nothing spooky happened to us. Kefli did cry but that's because he is hungry and not because he sees .......muaha ha ha , just kidding.

Posted via DraftCraft app

Baby Names - Any suggestions ?

Can preggers fast during ramadhan ?

Assalamualaikum and salam ramadhan, it s my 4th day fasting and things are going smoothly , alhamdulilah ! When i told some people that i am fasting and almost 7 months pregnant , they gave me the "you crazywomen" look . Then i feel oblige to justify that i have no intention to harm my baby , and it's absolutely all right for preggers to fast.

At first , i thought i couldn't do it , i didn't have the confidence . When i consulted my doctor , she assured me that it's ok to proceed with fasting if i think i can persevere and have the will power to do it . In fact research have shown that , fasting does not harm the baby , it s really up to mom if she think she's up for it.

I tried fasting when i was carrying Kaseh. I didn't want to push myself and gave myself the option to break fast , if i feel tired or hungry . Surprisingly , i did feel a lil tired but my tummy wasn't growling like it used to . Amazing and unbelievable , cause i swear on normal days , i would usually have to munch on something every 2 hours. I don't get it , but i guess due to it's spritual nature, the al mighty is watching over me and making the journey a lot easier . Tq.

Thus , with this pregnancy i don' t see any issues in completing my fast thru out the holy month. However , a few tips for preggers who decide to fast this Ramadhan :

1. Sahur is a must ! Eat some carbo like rice or bread with something hot like milk or coco.
2. During sahur , eat some dates, they are really really good for you , gives you energy thru out the day , it s amazing !
3. Eat your obimin at night ! This is because obimin can increase your appetite and make you hungry , thus better consume before bedtime and not during sahur.
4. Nap , don t feel guilthy , just nap if you need to , 45 mins is good . And i have found a cosy corner in my office where i can just doze off in the afternoon . Improves my mood and productivity too !

So preggers happy fasting and take good care of yourself ! Xoxo

Posted via DraftCraft app

Alergic to Ipad !

Hey , i'm back ! I'm back ! Missed me ? Honestly , thisvis the reason for my disapearance:

I'm pregnant!! Apa kena mengena ? Well apart from the usual morning sickness , i am alegic to ipad ! For some weird reason . Ok , i wanna throw up now , gtg .... Will update soon !

Posted via DraftCraft app

Sebak So Sad!

I knew that this day would come, and today it did. Hari ini merupakan hari pertama Kaseh pergi school on her own. Usually she would be accompanied by my maid Karimah. Kaseh is probably the only kid in the kindy to be allowed to have a guardian for almost 2 months! My justification to her teachers is that , she just turned two and she would need someone to take care of her in school. I know, it sounds crazy to be sending my two year old to school, but it's play school where she learn to sing, develop her motor skills and most importantly socialise.
It's from 9am to 12 noon daily and after school she spends her time at Opah's house. I think that's fair.

Sol took the day off and i took half a day, just to make sure that her transision goes on smoothly. For a 2 year old losing a Kakak ( Karimah 's contract ended and she as gone back to Indonesia for good) and now having to deal with school alone is quite traumatic , i can imagine. So we wanted to make it as easy as possible for her.

Not so easy acctually, cause i ended up tearing when i saw her crying and calling our names. It was as hard for me as it is for Kaseh. I had to be strong and told Sol that i would wait in the car, while he settle Kaseh with her teacher's in school. Oh man that was tough.

Kaseh was crying non stop, and i just couldn't take it.

We were asked to pick her up at about 11.15am. Slightly earlier than usual cause it's her first day in school alone. Sol and myself headed for breakfast at a nearby mamak. That was acctually our first time in a very long time to have breakfast together, just the both of us. Even that, we couldn't stop but talking about Kaseh.

We got back to her kindy at 11.15 sharp. I was acctually nervous.

Never seen Kaseh so sad, hugged her thru out our journey back to grandma's house. I checked her progress with her teachers and they say it's normal for kids to cry and be sad , especially when their parents is around. Let see her progress for the whole week.

Kaseh's Progress:

Monday - Sol took the dah off and i took half day off. She was crying and Mrs Geetha had to calm her down. We left her crying and ran off, the more you linger at the kindy the harder to let go. So my advise is just leave her. You gotta be cruel to be kind.

Tuesday - From now onwards it's just me, cause Sol needs to be at work by 8.30 am and i have the more flexible work schedule, thank god. Followed her in to kindy, tried distracting her with some toys, tried sneaking out quietly but she is quick to notice. Once she sees mommy isn't around she cried and cried, teachers had to come her down. Picked her up at 12 noon today, and she was happy to see me, still sobbing but able to follow instructions from her teacher like , wear your shoes first Kaseh and saying good bye to everyone before she ran off to greet me. It' s a welcoming bonding between me and Kaseh. Before this she had Karimah to rely on, so it didn't really matter if mommy is around or not.

Wednesday - Kaseh noticed the routine already and started to merenggek the moment she woke up from bed, refusing to go to school and even refusing to shower. She woke up late , at 9 am and we only got to school at about 945am! She refused to shower ,thus i wiped her using a soft tower with luke warm water and got her ready for school. She showed another form of retaliation when she threw up in school. Ok 3rd day is suppose to get better right ? But seems like a lil bit tougher than yesterday.

Thursday - Still refusing to shower, and this time she wanted me to hold her while i'm driving.(please do not do this on the road ya). She begged to not be send to school, and started sobbing, i was so sad but i remembered what her teacher said, that she can't lose momentum, and we must keep going in order to set a routine for her.

Friday- Surprisingly she woke up very early today. She showered and was her chirpy self until she notices that i made a turn to the kindy instead of grand ma's house in BU 2.Started crying
But i had to be strong and leave her with aunty shiela.

I have a CNY lunch in the office and had to get Kaseh to go on the van with uncle ragu for her trip back from school, i couldn't pick her up from school and i got a little worried. But since Aidil and Amyra ( Kaseh's counsins ) will also be in the van, i was a bit relieved.

In the office, i got a bit worried, i wasn't sure how Kaseh will take the van ride. So i left the office and waited at grand ma's house just to check on her. In fact she did very well!

I got back just on time for the office CNY lunch.

Phew, what an adventure. I am so glad that tommorrow is the weekend ! But come Monday we will face another adventure !

Thanks for reading XOXO !

Posted via DraftCraft app

Abu Kurap!

Sunday, sunday,sunday this Sunday is a little bit different from the past 4 weeks for us. We are spending the weekend at home, running errands and taking a break from travelling. It's quite a relief acctually, it's nice to be home for a change. Being at home does not mean lazing about doing nothing for me, i'm the kind who tak boleh duduk diam ( can't sit still) , so there's plenty of things to be done around the house, one of it is taking Abu to the vet.

Abu is this kitten i rescued in TTDI on my way back from my morning jog a few months back at Taman Lembah Kiara.

This is how he looked then. After a month this is Abu.

It looked like a male to me and that's why i named him Abu, after the vet checked him out, he is acctuallyb a female ! Alamak !But i like calling her Abu, so i guess , Abu is short for Abulina?Abubedah, Abusara?Abuhana and the list goes on, but ok I'm sticking to Abu jugak regardless. Dah biasa panggil dia Abu.

My kucing ada masalah kurap and she's been scratching herself till her ear bleeds. I bought a tub of ubat (cream base) from the pet shop but it didn't work in fact it got worse. So i had no choice but to take her to the vet.

Heshmael's clinic for pet in Sunway Damansara, my friend Suzie told me about this clinic and i brought Abu here. It's really close to my house too !

Abu is diagnose with lice ( kutu) and this is apparently commom for stray cats. She was given
another type of lotion to treat the problem. According to the dr. some people apply ubat gamat at the effected areas ( usually the ears, feet, tail), but it will take longer to treat. So i decided to go with the

I asked the doctor if the kutu will attack us human too ! But she smiled and said it will only effect other cats, dogs and rabbits. Thank god !

So , that was Abu's first trip to the vet. She's scheduled to visit again in 2 weeks time, for follow up and vaccination.

Dr Zulfa confirming that Abu is acctually a female ! So nama pun tukar jadi Abuleha ! Thanks for reading XOXO!

Posted via DraftCraft app

Keropok Lekor Adventure in Cherating

After lunching at Singgalang Jaya nasi padang in Kuantan, we make our way to Cherating. The journey takes about 45 minutes. If you drive straight from KL it will take approximately 3 hours, almost the same duration to Kuantan. So it works out faster if you head straight to Cherating and don't stop in Kuantan, like we did. Anyways we planned this trip that way so that we'll be able to enjoy both Kuantan and Cherating, greedy right?

The journey was ok, we drove along the coastal line, the scenery was mainly the beach and the kampung houses along the road. Occasionally i hear Kaseh say "Mama lembu", no she don't mean that I'm a cow , but she just spotted a herd of cows, lazing by the road side. A nice change from "Mama! Tractor!" Along Kota Damansara road. I' am glad she is seeing these animals in real life now, as to just learning them in books.

Swinging from one tree to another at Impiana Resort, Cherating.

We arrive at Impiana about 2pm, great timing actually, cause as we checked in , other holiday maker started to arrive, nasib we got our room already. Guess who officiated the king size bed?

My little princess taking her afternoon nap.

As soon as Kaseh woke up we wasted no time, we explored around the hotel. First stop is the beach !

This is my signature pose, it's really challenging to do :).

The sand is a bit yellowish, but nevertheless clean and quite. I don't recommend anyone to swim in this beach, cause the waves are really massive and can be scary. It's dangerous, and you can see that the resort have raised RED flags along the beach, indicating that, it's dangerous to swim.

Tip 1: Follow the flag's warning. Don't swim when the red flag is up. No kidding ya, the sea is really unpredictable even if you are a season swimmer.

We head straight to the pool after the beach and spent about an hour by the pool.
This is Kaseh's first time swimming on her own without clinging on to any of us. What a proud moment for me cause she's finally learnt to waddle with the help of the swim jacket.

Tip 2: if you want your kids to learn how to swim, you gotta swim or at least be in the pool with them. I first brought Kaseh to the pool when she was 4 months old, i got her a baby warmer from mother care, and dipped her for 10 min max. You don't want to soak them too long. And it got longer and longer as she grow older. Now she can in the pool for up to 1 1/2 hours, and can stay as long as you allow her. But of course for me 1 1/2 is her max time.

It was gloomy thru out our holiday in Cherating, bohoooooo.

This is how Impiana looks like. It's a 3 story building with no lift. If you have elderly person with you, or you suffer from back pain and can't walk, or you are simply lazy.....

Tip 3: Request for a room on the 2nd floor. It's the same level as the lobby and i think the nearest room to all facilities are 209 and 210.

Main hotel lobby.

The restaurant where breakfast is served.

That night we decided to have dinner here. Not recommended uols. Don't eat here please, MS Restaurant Cherating, is just horrible.

Why ?
1. Service is super slow
2. Waiters are really rude
3. We asked for sotong goreng tepung and they told us that it's unavailable like 30 mins after.
4. The drinks are really sweet.

I read other people's blog about places to eat in Cherating and i read that Peninsular Seafood and Sri Baggih is quite good, may be next time.

Kaseh battling it out with Ayah in congkak.

Breakfast buffet is pretty good. Point of difference is the roti bakar stall , which no other hotel serves, as far as i am concern lah.

This is a must try in Cherating, you'll find Keropok Lekor's stall abundant along the coastal road. Some argued that the ones made in Terengganu is better, but i personally think these from Cherating is all right too .

2D/2N wow time flies and it's time to head back to KL. I'm feeling kinda of sad because this is the last strech of long public holidays, there's non in March or April. Thus it also means that, bit susah to plan our breaks. But that won't stop me right ? Apa yang penting? Jalan-jalan :)

Thanks for reading XOXO!

Posted via DraftCraft app

Our Last Min. Kuantan Trip on CNY 2013

We are on a roll man, travelling every weekend since we came back from Hua Hin. I am begining to enjoy a travellers life, exploring, eating, self claimed hotel reviews and of course the most satisfying objective is the time spent with my beloved family. There's only 3 of us , i think we need additional skippers to row the boat ! Ha ha but as my sister puts it, enjoy it while i can , bila anak dah 3 macam dia , yes the funs triples and the effort also triples.

So this CNY is a lil last minute actually. I don't like last minute holiday plans especially over a long break like this. Hotels are normally expensive, roads are jammed, eateries will be full and it's crowded every where. With all that in mind, we still brave thru and cook up some plans and we decided to go to Kuantan, cause staying at home in KL is no fun either. Boring kan?

At Teluk Cempedak.

With last minute breaks like this , you must also psych up your mind and lower some expectations, so here are my compromises for this trip.

1. Not staying in my first choice hotel.
I wanted to stay in Hyatt Kuantan for 2 night cause seriously it's the best hotel in Kuantan. We've never stayed there before but my mother and my sister once said that if it's not Hyatt, then there's no point visiting Kuantan - sampai macam tu sekali :).

But the hotel is fully booked. So apa nak buat, sebab kami last min kan. It's ok, lower your expectations remember ?.

2. Not staying in your 2nd choice hotel for the whole duration of your trip.
The next beach resort is either Swiss Garden Spa Resort in Beserah or resorts in Cherating. Swiss Garden pun penuh. Ha ha tak pe, luckily for us Impiana Resort, Cherating still have rooms but only available for one night! I did not want to miss out the opportunity, the more i contemplate, i might lose the room. So i booked via Agoda. Satu malam pun satu malam lah , apa yang penting? Jalan-jalan !

3. To creatively craft your holiday, to suit your need with limited resources and budget.
Sol pulak insist on 2 nights, he thinks that the driving up to Kuantan is not justified if we stay there just for one night. So sebab i dah malas dah to do all the arrangements,it's up to him to find a hotel in Kuantan the night before we check into Impiana Cherating.

He found a new hotel called Rocana Hotel, just opened for 7 months, still a few rooms available, good location not by the beach, right smack in the middle of town right opposite Berjaya Mall. Rate is at Rm 150 per night. Since my MIL ( mother in law) wanted to come along, we booked 2 rooms and brought my maid too for a free holiday.

The rooms are really spacious, i think is about 50 sqm. Rooms are new but limited facilities, no pool, no gym, suitable for business and families on transit like us.

We arrived at about 930pm that Sunday night, 10.02.13 and Kaseh officiated the king size bed.

View from the room, as you can see, Berjaya Mall is just walking distance away.

Buffet breakfast isn't fantastic, most of the food finished by 9.15am. Breakfast ends at 10.30am. It's kind off disappointing, but may be they are under staff over the CNY break. I am giving them the benefit of the doubt, but if normal days pun macam ni then, the buffet breakfast is not worth it, you are better off pi makan kat di many yummy Kopitiam that offers really good east coast breakfast selections such as nasi dagang, nasi minyak, laksam, roti bakar and malay kueh mueh, close to the hotel.

After breakfast, we head to the famous Teluk Cempedak, baru pukul 10.30am dah ramai
orang.

There's a square as you enter the beach side, parking is at Rm 2 perday. There's plenty of places to eat including a drive thru Mcdonalds, KFC and Cha Time. Someone told me that this Mcdonalds is the higest earning McD in the whole of Msia. Don't quote me cause i hear rumours say so.

Along the TC you can walk on the bridge that takes you to another beach. I noticed tracks use for hikers and bikers are visible along side the bridge. Exploring the inner junggle of TC would be that one thing i want to do when we have the chance to stay in Hyatt Regency, Kuantan.
Amin :).

My daughter got really excited with the wave that she dived straight into it. A panicky moment for me , thank goodness i managed to scoop her out , we both got drenched. Kaseh got a new set of clothes where as i am just glad that she and my ipad mini are unharmed.

I wish it was bright and sunny, kalau panas confirm lagi best !

Kaseh looking at the wave before she decided to dive masuk laut !

We enjoyed Teluk Cempedak very much, and would like to spent longer time here, but weather did not permit us to do so, kejap hujan kejap mendung. So we headed back to Rocana Hotel, checked out and move on to our next destination, Impiana Resort Cherating. Yohooo keropok lekor here i come!

But of course before we leave Kuantan, we must stop for lunch, since our breakfast this morning at Rocana was so so, we stopped at a nasi padang restaurant just opposite the mosque in Kuantan town. I'm so hungry and looking forward to some good food!

There's plenty of nasi padang restaurants along these row of shop houses, but we decided on this one cause the selections of lauk is more meriah.

Restaurant Singgalang Jaya.

I recommend - Sup Tulang, perut masak lemak, ikan siakap masak lemak merah,terung cili, sambal hijau and sambal belacan .

I'm not sure what Sol, MIL and Karimah took , but we all had a hearty meal including Kaseh who had a bowl of rice with sup tulang. Total bill came to Rm 40 including drinks!

We are now all geared up for Impiana Resort, Cherating.

Posted via DraftCraft app

Famous Ikan Bakar @Pasar Keramat

I don't normally frequent the Keramat or Kl area for no reason , kecuali ada kerja or sebab terpaksa. But today is an exception. We head towards Keramat because my maid wanted to buy gold. After 2 years of serving us she will be leaving home to Semarang , Indonesia for good next week. She wanted to use partial of her pay to buy a gold necklace for herself, i guess it's a wise investment. I am not a gold lover, i hardly have any barang kemas (jewellery)
for myself, the last i bought jewellery was in 2009, it was my wedding ring.

Even that i wanted to buy a necklace cause i don't wear rings, but my mother insisted because it is custom that rings are exchanged during the akad nikad ceremony(solemnisation). I settled for a diamond ring which we bought in Habib. Wore it couple of times only and now it sits in it's case in my room. Nevertheless the memories that i brings is priceless.

Our lunch at ikan bakar, pasar keramat.

Right, back to our mission to buy gold, a friend of mine Wan Zuraini (Wan Cha) owns a kedai emas in Pasar Keramat called Kedai Emas Wan Hassan. She is however now working in Kota Bharu, Kelantan. Her brother is mending the shop, i gave her a call and told her that i wanted to visit her shop, because my maid wanted to buy gold.

While we are busy looking and learning about gold from Wan, Kaseh found her own goldmine full of toys !

Today i learned that gold is very expensive. I remembered my mother bought me a gold necklace for my 16th birthday with my name engraved on it and i think those time it costs about RM 350, for something similar now is about RM 1000+. As of today, gold was priced at RM195 per gram. Kesian my maid , she managed to buy only one item, hopefully it will do her good in time of desperation.

After that, we took the opportunity to have lunch at the famous ikan bakar ( grilled fish) in Pasar Keramat . I was introduced to this place by my collegues when i was working in Jalan Semarak for a telecomunications company. I no longer work there, thus this is really an opportunity for me to introduce the place to Sol,Kaseh and Karimah. I don't know when the next time will be.

If you've never been there, the ikan bakar stall in situated right opposite the pasar basah ( in front of the fruit stalls) , there are other vendors selling ikan bakar , but this particular stall is always crowded. It's not that comfortable to eat here actually, cause it's kinda off hot and crampy. But if you are a food lover like me, you wouldn't mind. Bawak balik rasa tak sesedap punya.

Type of fish available- pari (stingray), kembong( indian macarel) and terubuk.

Other fish dishes are available too , like gulai lemak cili padi ikan merah ( red snapper in coconut milk) and asam pedas kembong and pari.

Tip 1- go for the Pari Ikan Bakar , it's their speciality, the fish is fresh and the sambal cicah is so yummy !

Tip 2 - ask for the gulai lemak ikan gravy and eat with white rice, great combination. Ikan pari is my favourite here.

Not all ikan bakar places offers fresh pari like this one.

Asam pedas kembung .

How to order - when you reach the stall , you must be slightly agressive in booking your table.2-3 other groups are also eye-ing the same table, if you come during peak time. Jangan lah kiasu sangat , but go for it if you see an empty table, don't wait to be serve. The kakaks there are too busy to attend to you sometimes.

Once you get your table, order your fish, it automatically comes with the air asam, sup and rice. If you want ulam and kuah lemak you must request.

The price is fairly reasonable. We had
1 pari bakar
1 terubuk bakar
2 kembung asam pedas
1 pari asam pedas
3 plates of rice
2 teh o ais
3 bowls of soup
3 bowls of asam cicah
And all thay costs us RM 53.

It would have costs me the same if i bought fish from the market and cook. We are happy and full , head home and took a half hour afternoon nap. What a bliss.

Warning - the ikan bakar meal might cause drowsiness, thus eat moderately and not highly recommended if you have a meeting or presentation after.

Opening time : Monday to Saturday 11am to 3pm only.

Read my travel adventures over the CNY break. Definitely the most unplanned and most budget but yet comfortable of all our breaks . I am looking forward to it , but a lil nervous, cause i don't know what to expect with this impromtu holidays.

Thanks for reading XOXO.

Posted via DraftCraft app

Katerina Hotel @ Batu Pahat, Johor.

Whenever we visit Batu Pahat , we always stay at Katerina Hotel. I read reviews in trip advisor that this hotel stands at no. 3 hotel to stay in BP with B&S boutique hotel ranked at #1. Well i have never stayed in B&S hotel before , but with the new refurbishment recently done at Katerina Hotel , i seriously think this hotel is worth staying in, pleasant and affordable and i think it should be the first choice hotel for anyone intending to stay in BP, it's in perfect location too !

The main lobby of the hotel , this hotel quite popular in Batu Pahat, but whenever we check in , it's very fast and we never have to wait in long queues unlike KS Hotel and resort in JB.

Although this hotel have been getting mix reactions from it's customers and was in the spot light for all the wrong reasons - some of you may recall the X rated video of Chua Soi Lek? Katerina Hotel deserves a chance before being judge. No lah no one paid me to write a review that is pro to this hotel, it's really my honest honest opinion. It's a nice hotel.

This is the newly refurbished room , rate at RM220 per night . You can opt or the older rooms which is ok lah , not too bad at RM 175 pernight.

Tip 1: when booking this hotel , be sure to ask for corporate rate, government rate or senior citizen rate , they would normally give those eligible up to 20% discount.

Tip 2 : i think i have mentioned this over and over again , ask for the king bed if you have young children with you, up to 2 adults and 2 young children can sleep on the bed!

The room offers basic facilities such as tea making facilities, hair dryer and a bath tub which i find covinient for Kaseh, as she loves soaking in the tub.

The newly refurbihed lift entrance that leads to the corridor to the rooms.

You may read a few reviews in Tripadvisor or may hear people say that this hotel is a bit spooky. Some reviewers also claimed that they have encountered some unexplainable experiences.

Well, this came to a shock to me , because i have stayed here many times and Alhamdulilah all my experiences was pleasant. I would be the most particular person when it comes to this, because when you travel with young children you need to ensure the security and the credibility of the hotel is tip top - that it is safe from all form of harm, even the unexpainable ones, if you get what i mean :).

Tip 3: when traveling with young children investigate and do a back ground check of the hotel . Avoid doggy areas and those areas that is known to be notoriously "keras". If you have no choice be prepared with surah and ayats from the Quran, download them to your phone or your lap top. Insya allah , Allah will protect you.

I love checking into hotels in Johor because you will get access to channels from Singapore and Indonesia, like this one.

We also ordered room service for Kaseh's dinner that night , i always make sure Kaseh eats her meals on time, even when we are travelling. It's ok for us adults to skip meals or delay meals time, please ensure your children have 3 proper meals a day.

Tip 4 : Kaseh's room service choice is the Kueh Teow Kung Fu at RM 15 per plate.

The pool side, relatively a small pool, the down side is that this hotel does not have kid's pool.

You can lepak and chill by the pool side.

I love working out at this hotel's gym. Usually there's no one there and i normally do 20 mins on the treadmill and another 10 mins of endurance work out. It's small but it's enough for me.

It's definitely not a hotel for your weekend getaway, not for honey mooners too. If you are on a business trip of visiting BP for some events like weddings, carnivals or even visiting relatives, this hotel will serve you well. My only complain is the that the buffet breakfast is nothing to shout about.

Tip 5:The buffet breakfast is not fantastic, thus if you don't mind letting it go, BP is a melting pot and there's plenty of breakfast food to look out for.

Tip 6: Book in advance, as this hotel is usually fully booked especially during weekends.

Another long weekend is coming, i dah gatal tangan to book my next travel. We've been doing a lot of travelling this month and Feb turns out to be a lil tight for us . The challenge is to travel on a budget, is it possible ? We'll be sure to check my blog over the CNY to see what budget travel we have planned for . Apa yang penting ? Jalan - jalan!

Thanks for reading! XOXO.

Posted via DraftCraft app