Magellan Sutera Harbour, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

Wow, I am back in Sabah. What a pleasant surprise, never thought i'll step back to KK so soon, with #keflinursulhi just turned 8 months, it's really hard to tell. Cause travelling with infants requires a lot of preparation and detail planning such as if the location is suitable for infant, accomodation ? Logistics?

This time around because i was going for work purposes the date did not collide with school break. Thus my sister decline my offer and mom didn't want to tag along cause my youngest brother ( her cheperon) is currently pursuing his MA at Taylor's and it's not term break either.

So that's sorted. I asked my husband 2 months prior to this trip if he would take up the challenge and follow me to Sabah. I have to attend to some work matters there and didn't want to leave the kids behind. It will be too rush to make it a day trip plus it would be a waste to not take the opportunity to visit Sabah since i'm already there. His challege is to babysit the kids, no maid, no grandma and no me ! Just him and Kefli and

Our first time in KLIA 2 and we missed our flight. So if you are flying from KLIA 2 just a heads up, be there early , they close the counter 1 hour before departure time, regardless if you web check in or not.

We paid RM 300 and got on the next flight. At the airport, our reactions bila missed flight, as you can see Kaseh looks really happy, don't think she knows what happened.

Kaseh. Kefli is a handful and he is really attached to me, so handling him takes plenty of patience and perseverence.

Kefli's first time on a plane !

Kota Kinabalu was hot and sunny, a much welcome change from the hazy and rainy KL. We hired a car as soon as we touch down KK international airport. KK is relatively small and we suggest you rent a car, makes it easier to travel around. For RM 120 a day, you should be able to rent a MyVi.

Magellan Sutra Harbour is simply breath taking. Checking in was a breeze and the staffs was really friendly.

Checked out the crystal clear water, memang best!

We got a room in the purple zone - 4th floor. Very far from the pool are and lobby. And the nearest lift is very far away, request for a room closer to the pool #tips or you ll have to ferry your kids up and down the stairs.

One of the reason why i choose to stay in Sutra Harbour is because they have plenty of activities for the kids. Kid's club, a playground and a huge pool will keep them busy.

Kaseh enjoying the kid's pool.

A work trip which then turned into a family holiday . I was in Kolej Yayasan Sabah for an audition,brought my kids with me.

The next day , we made a trip to Pulau Mamutik. Take a boat from Jesselton Point , rm 28 per adult , to and fro.

There are three islands that you can visit at the Tengku Abdul Rahman Marine Park - Mamutik , Manukan and Sapi Island.

Skipping back to the hotel, i must say that it 's one of the best hotel we've stayed in. Value for money and the rooms are tastefully decorated. Huge bathroom and a big tub for the kids to bath in. I would definitely come back .

And when we do come back we would like to complete the following:
1. Northern Borneo Train
2. Trip to Manukan Island
3. Kundasang
4. Visit the upside down house

Till we meet again Sabah !

Family #selfie

Gambang Safari & Hyatt Kuantan Trip

Helooooooo, it's been really tough to blog now that I am a mother of two, it's really really challenging. I don't know how those blogger moms does it , this blog post took plenty of will power and loads of delay and hurdles. Alhamdulilah, I manage to steal some time now, they are all asleep. Here goes.....

Ok last school break , we visited Kuantan again ! Well with Kefli who only turned 6 months recently , i am a little nervous taking him to places. My sons suffers from motion sickness, naik kereta jea nangis , just a short trip to the shop pun nangis, apatah lagi 3 hours to Kuantan. Tapi i gagah kan jugak, tak kan nak dok rumah jea kan ?

So we booked Kuantan Hyatt for our 3D/2N rendevous. I was really looking forward to the sea.
It's been 2 years now since our last dive in Tioman. I miss the white sandy beaches and the crystal blue water of our dive destinations. Ada hati nak ke Redang, but with lil Kefli, we thought we'll wait till he's a bit older. Although Kuantan beach may not be crystal blue, but tak pe, beach jugak.

If staying in Hyatt with kids, I really think that Village 1 has got the best view and location. We will only go for these rooms facing the sea and on the ground floor. On this trip we were allocated room 1006 and 1007. It s really easy for the kids to run around and the pool is just next to the room. Saves you the time and troubles to get in and out of the lift to the pool. The view is just breath taking too !

Plenty of eateries around Teluk Cempedak , there s this ayam penyek stall just by the corner of Hyatt entrance which is pretty good. Otherwise, TC is populated by mainly fast food restaurants. Your usual Colonel Sanders, King of burgers and Mr Ronald is there too !

We made a trip to Gambang Safari the next day, my sister who took the Gambang resort package recently, had plenty of good reviews and recomended that we visit the Safari. And we did!

Gambang Safari is huge ! You can spend the whole day there, they have a Zoo concept and a Safari concept. The entrance fee is rm 28 per adult with Mycard and free for kids under 3 years old.

As you can see from this photo , just behind my husband is the Safari bus. There's a long queue tho and probably about 20 people can fit the bus at one time. Remember , if you are bringing along your aging parents , it's advisable to request for a wheel chair, it's a long way up to the Safari check point.

I couldn't snap any photos of the animals cause Kefli hated the bus ride and he was wailing all the way #stress jugak lah . I was so glad that the whole 30 mins journey was finally over. If your kid suffers motion sickness like Kefli, you are better off spending time at the Zoo.

Ok one one family #selfie. This is just after the bus ride.

Back to the hotel later that night, Kefli terus demam , oh dear , cuti -cuti pulak nak deman. Ini lah cabaran menjadi ibu bapa. That's why we must respect and take care of our parents, we sacrifice so much and do all we can for our kids. I only realised this when i became a parent. So that night , 2am his tempeture rose, we took him to a nearby clinic.

The next day was spent leisurely on the beach. Thank god, Kefli got better. We couldn't swim due to the strong tide, tapi hang out kat beach pun macam dah best. Do visit around June when the water is calmer and clearer.

We bought a paper kite and look, Mommy managed to keep it flying high up in the sky !

This is one of our favourite holiday destination. With a baby and a toddler, this is manageable for us. It's not so much a holiday for us , sebenarnya penat gak lah nak melayan kerenah depa so depa lah yang holiday sebenarnya. I always believe that time invested with the family and your children is time and money well invested. If you don't spend time with them now , don't expect them to do the same bila kita dah tua nanti.

We'll definitely return to Hyatt , Kuantan.

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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.

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Sup Ikan Merah Hua Hin ( Red Snapper Soup)

So what else did i cook during my holiday in Hua Hin ? Well while at Chat Chai market we couldn't resist looking at how fresh the fishes are. Talapias, ikan parang, tenggiri , kembung they were all so fresh and they can even fry the fish on the spot if you wanted to eat instantly .

Red snapper or ikan merah has always been our old time favourite. The soft while flesh of the fish makes it a great combination with steamy white rice , kicap ( soy sauce) and sambal belacan ( pounded chili with shrimp paste), yummy , just by blogging this makes me want to
fry a red snapper right away .

So back to my sup ikan , why soup ? Well i'm on holiday remember ? So my resources are very limited , plus if you buy really fresh fish like these , making soup is one of th best option cause it won't have the fishy smell . So using the remaining condiments from my udang masak lemak , here s how to make really super easy, fast and simple fish soup while on travel:

- lightly pounded garlic
- lightly pounded ginger
- lightly pounded lemon grass
- bird eye chillies
- salt to taste
- red snapper cut into 5 pieces

Throw everything at once into the rice cooker with boiling water and let it simmer.

Tip 1 : simmer it max of 5 mins only , do not over cook the fish or it will turn to feel and taste like rubber .

Tip 2: eat it with white steamy rice with a dash of soy sauce, lime and cili padi,

Was so into the fish soup that i only manage to snap a photo of the finished product just before we finish the last piece.

Tip 3 : after about an hour of soaking in the pool , this hot fish soup is just what you and the kids need.

And after all that masak campak campak jea style ( throw everything in cooking style) , i got this foot massage from dearest Kaseh , so sweet !

Family time is best time in the world and everything else does not matter at all , don't you agree? Bliss !

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The secret garden @ The Sea Cret

Hey , masih lagi di Hua Hin and i am still no over how beautiful this hotel is . We ve walked around and along the beach and checked out other hotels and i am fully satisfied with The Sea Cret , location and facilities wise .

Apart from the fatantic rooms, ambience and decor , this hotel have one of the cutest and cosiest garden around .

Plenty of swings like this to relax, read , talk and just chill.

The gate opens to the path way to the beach .

Kaseh s favourite spot and she made friends with these three local thai girls.

Ducks pots greets you as you walk into the garden .

It s really refeshing to wake up to this , Kaseh enjoy the garden very much and when she's done with the garden , we spend our time on the beach and by the pool and of course shopping !

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Escape to Hua Hin - Part 1

And so today is the day that i have been waiting or weeks ! I booked and made arrangements almost a month ago , and if you ve been reading my blog , i ve been packing and preparing since 3 days ago. Pack and unpacking , hantar Abu to my brother s house, hantar Karimah (my maid ) to my mom s house and etc, with all that preparation , it reduces the stress and kelam kabutness of the travelling. Stress sikit lah pagi tadi , Sol and Kaseh bangun lambat . Tapi under control , phew . Mama jugak yang kena hambat semua orang and buat bekal before we leave.

We got to the airport via taxi, checked in and managed to grab breakfast.


I am blogging this dalam flight , and the travel time to Hua Hin is approximately 2 1/2 hours. This is probably the longest flight Kaseh have taken so far , we flew to Tioman and Langkawi before, so i am a bit nervous with the journey. Will she be bored ? Will she throw tantrums?

Tip 1 : prepare enough games, videos and distractions for your toddler , so dia tak mengamuk dalam flight . In my case , i downloaded the Play Tube apps and cached all her favourite Upin and Ipin episodes, and some Pada Zaman Dahulu . Carry a box of colour pencils , bila dia bosan tengok Upin , kita boleh main lukis lukis.

Kaseh keeping herself occupied.

The 3 hours journey was bearable, Berjaya Air do have in flight entertainment, but it s a shared one , even though they have individua l screens at each seat , but the programming is communal , meaning you can't choose what to watch .

The snack box provided was a huge surprise , i expected a cup of orange juice and a Kaya bun perhaps , but we were given these:

So Kaseh missed her usual nap time , cause telebih excited tengok plane. I had the opportunity to speak to the kakak-kakak stewardess, and they said that Hua Hin is a very clean and cosy town , suitable for young families like mine. Tetapi , 100% of the air craft passages are adults , Kaseh is the only child in this plane . The kakak told me that Hua Hin is famous for it s golf resorts , and most Malaysian visits HH to play golf. Oh ok , i am nevertheless , still kept an open mind about this beach resort.

We could have gone to Phuket, Krabi or Samui, but since Berjaya Air just opens this route to Hua Hin last Nov 2012 , i decided to venture before the ticket fare naik mencacak . We current paid rm 700 per pax for this flight . Phuket was at rm1200 with Air Asia for the same date the last i checked.

We landed at Hua Hin Airport almost 12.45 noon , Thailand time .

The view from the plane approaching Hua Hin Airport.

It s a small airport , not particularly busy

But the queue is kind off lama , with only 2 counters operating . Unfortunately they are not child friendly , thus we and Kaseh had to wait at the usual adult queue. Some airports give priorities if you are travelling with young children , this one doesn t.

The taxi fare from the airport was 400 bath, for a 15 minutes journey , mahal lah but what do you expect kan ? Airport taxi :)

Can t wait to discover Hua Hin , in my next blog will tell you bout the hotel, beach and where to get halal food in Hua Hin. See ya soon !

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