Hi All,
Sorry for the long awaited updates.
Found out that putting up a diary blog might be to boring to some.
So a new concept comes to me!
Starting from 2008, joseph2one.blogspot.com will be a hotel and food review blog. Besides, I'll also share with u all some quick n easy guide to home cook food!So watch out as it'll be the lifestyle blog of Food and Hotels!
Cheers,
Joseph
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Port Dickson @ Avillion Water Chalet
After checking out from Hilton, we head straight to Port Dickson! On our way to PD, we had our lunch at a famous Noodle Restaurant. The food was awesome. We tried their Curry Chicken Kway Teow, Ipoh Lam Mee, and their famous home made Yong Tow Foo. 2 thumbs up!!
This is our Avillion Resort. The Resorts is actually above the water/sea! The room comes with a King size bed and a Queen size day bed! And since we're taking the premium chalet, we've unblocked view of the sea line! Yahoo!..
The large balcony overlooking the sea. Hmm...
Our bathroom with outdoor shower and Jacuzzi!... Big enuf for 2. Shower or a dip in the jacuzzi accompanied by the sound of waves is so soothing...
Dinner at a seafood restaurant nearby! We had a fish, 2 crabs, 2 plate of Di's favourite Lala, Veges, chicken and a tofu! All for less than RM120! Haha... food was pretty good too. Dining by the sea.
After that, we went shopping at a local shopping mall and bought alot of junk food and ice creams! We play poker card on our queen size day bed. Those who lose will need to gulp down 3 spoonful of the horrible ice cream! My sis and her partner sharing their spoonful. Haha...
After having our breakfast the next morning, we continue wif our poker games. But this time round, we did a picnic game in the seafront balcony! Lay our towels and our pillows... Nick is so in love with the place! With all the seabreeze and musics wif my portable speaker, Nick and my sis just can't stop cuddling there... haha...
Upon leaving, we went to redeem our welcome drinks which becomes our farewell drinks! Cheers!
This is our Avillion Resort. The Resorts is actually above the water/sea! The room comes with a King size bed and a Queen size day bed! And since we're taking the premium chalet, we've unblocked view of the sea line! Yahoo!..
The large balcony overlooking the sea. Hmm...
Our bathroom with outdoor shower and Jacuzzi!... Big enuf for 2. Shower or a dip in the jacuzzi accompanied by the sound of waves is so soothing...
Dinner at a seafood restaurant nearby! We had a fish, 2 crabs, 2 plate of Di's favourite Lala, Veges, chicken and a tofu! All for less than RM120! Haha... food was pretty good too. Dining by the sea.
After that, we went shopping at a local shopping mall and bought alot of junk food and ice creams! We play poker card on our queen size day bed. Those who lose will need to gulp down 3 spoonful of the horrible ice cream! My sis and her partner sharing their spoonful. Haha...
After having our breakfast the next morning, we continue wif our poker games. But this time round, we did a picnic game in the seafront balcony! Lay our towels and our pillows... Nick is so in love with the place! With all the seabreeze and musics wif my portable speaker, Nick and my sis just can't stop cuddling there... haha...
Upon leaving, we went to redeem our welcome drinks which becomes our farewell drinks! Cheers!
KL trip @ Hilton
We left Singapore for KL on a friday evening thus reach KL at 1am. When we reached, my sis and her partner actually brought us to a nearby 'Bak Kut Teh' stall. Price was pretty reasonable and it was good. There's lots of other eateries nearby even though it's late at nite. After that, we checked in to Cititell Express, a budget hotel in Chow Kit area that cost us RM68. Rate only available if booking made thru the internet.
We're pretty impressed by the quality of the hotel room. It's simple, clean, modern with warm colors combination. Since it's new, it's definitely better than others old 3 star hotels. Our standard room doesn't come with a fridge or coffee & tea facilities. But the other basics are more than one can ask for. Even the flush was pretty hi tech. Touch flush on the wall. Though the room has got no window, the room doesn't smell at all.
As breakfast was not provided, we gets to explore the local area for local breakfast. There's lots of markets, kopitiams, and market nearby selling lots of local malay food. We ended up in a local chinese food market. Had wan ton, chee cheong fun, Malaysia Pork noodles and You Char Kway! Yum! All for less than $6!!
After checking out, we went to KL Sentral and had lunch with my friend. We had secret recipe and i had the most amazing "Sugar Free Chocolate Cake!". Sinfully guilt free! He also helped me to get corporate rate for the Hilton Hotel! Only RM380nett w/o abf. Haha... Thank u Brandon!
Here's the walkway just after u open the door. The full mirror wardrobe and bathroom door is on the left.
Tadah! Here's our room! It's big! It's Huge! It's 42sqm in total! And it comes with a 42' LCD TV! Everything u ever need. The bathroom amenities was awesome. There's 2 different shower in the bathroom, the ceiling mounted rainshower was pretty impressive especially when u hav a seat in the shower room! There's even a small LCD tv in the vanity counter for u to watch tv when brushing ur teeth or taking a shower! Heavenly! Every details in the furnishing was top notch! My Di was so happy wif the room! And i'm so happy to see him happy! Hehe..
Look at the view from our room! Our room is located on the 24th floor. So It's overlooking the greens and the National Museum!
My sis, Me and my Di.
We went to 1 Utama at PJ for shopping and get our haircuts. Did some shopping and went over to SS2 to look for my sis partner then head for the Pasar Malam (Night Market)! Had lots of good street foods there as it's my Di first time visit to pasar malam! Hed lots of funny food like Apom (Thin Pan fried coconut cake), Penang laksa, Chwee Kueh, Fried Char Siew, Ai Yu Bing, Salt Baked Chicken, Chen Dui (Mua Chee alike), Otah, fried cuttlefish,...etc. Yum!
After that, we head back to the hotel to rest. Went over to '69' bar at 12.30 and realize that they close at 1. In the end, we went to chinatown for supper! Had the Claypot 'lao shu fen/ bee tai bak', fried Roasted crispy pork and my Di's favourite, Fried Lala!! Haha...
Proceed home with a happy stomach and went to bed. Woke up the next day and bought macdonalds and starbucks for breakfast by our window overlooking the greenery... Mmm... After that, we head down to the swimming pool and had a great 007 game wif my sis and her partner.
We're pretty impressed by the quality of the hotel room. It's simple, clean, modern with warm colors combination. Since it's new, it's definitely better than others old 3 star hotels. Our standard room doesn't come with a fridge or coffee & tea facilities. But the other basics are more than one can ask for. Even the flush was pretty hi tech. Touch flush on the wall. Though the room has got no window, the room doesn't smell at all.
As breakfast was not provided, we gets to explore the local area for local breakfast. There's lots of markets, kopitiams, and market nearby selling lots of local malay food. We ended up in a local chinese food market. Had wan ton, chee cheong fun, Malaysia Pork noodles and You Char Kway! Yum! All for less than $6!!
After checking out, we went to KL Sentral and had lunch with my friend. We had secret recipe and i had the most amazing "Sugar Free Chocolate Cake!". Sinfully guilt free! He also helped me to get corporate rate for the Hilton Hotel! Only RM380nett w/o abf. Haha... Thank u Brandon!
Here's the walkway just after u open the door. The full mirror wardrobe and bathroom door is on the left.
Tadah! Here's our room! It's big! It's Huge! It's 42sqm in total! And it comes with a 42' LCD TV! Everything u ever need. The bathroom amenities was awesome. There's 2 different shower in the bathroom, the ceiling mounted rainshower was pretty impressive especially when u hav a seat in the shower room! There's even a small LCD tv in the vanity counter for u to watch tv when brushing ur teeth or taking a shower! Heavenly! Every details in the furnishing was top notch! My Di was so happy wif the room! And i'm so happy to see him happy! Hehe..
Look at the view from our room! Our room is located on the 24th floor. So It's overlooking the greens and the National Museum!
My sis, Me and my Di.
We went to 1 Utama at PJ for shopping and get our haircuts. Did some shopping and went over to SS2 to look for my sis partner then head for the Pasar Malam (Night Market)! Had lots of good street foods there as it's my Di first time visit to pasar malam! Hed lots of funny food like Apom (Thin Pan fried coconut cake), Penang laksa, Chwee Kueh, Fried Char Siew, Ai Yu Bing, Salt Baked Chicken, Chen Dui (Mua Chee alike), Otah, fried cuttlefish,...etc. Yum!
After that, we head back to the hotel to rest. Went over to '69' bar at 12.30 and realize that they close at 1. In the end, we went to chinatown for supper! Had the Claypot 'lao shu fen/ bee tai bak', fried Roasted crispy pork and my Di's favourite, Fried Lala!! Haha...
Proceed home with a happy stomach and went to bed. Woke up the next day and bought macdonalds and starbucks for breakfast by our window overlooking the greenery... Mmm... After that, we head down to the swimming pool and had a great 007 game wif my sis and her partner.
Krabi Day Three.
Well, after all the sun & sea and adventures, we finally come to a day of relaxation. No more heart attack. As it was raining cats and dogs in the morning, we actually called up the tour agency to cancel our tour. But was told that the rain will stop by the time we reach our destinations. So we just carry on wif our Tiger cave, Jungle trekking, Emerald pool and Hotspring tour!
First, we went to the Tiger Cave Temple. There's two staircases wind up the limestone cliffs, the first one with 1,200 steps to the top of the mountain offering a superb 360 degree view of Krabi. Reaching the top will reward you with an incredible view and a huge sitting Buddha, a golden pagoda and few other small constructions. But pity we dun hav enuf time and energy. In the end, we only ended up wif climbing up the second one (only 130 steps!) which leads into a valley where the monks live in simple huts.
This is the gigantic fallen tree in the forest. The tree fall was due to the storm!
Then we proceed to the nearby 'Guan Yin Temple'. There's alot of monkeys hanging around the temple.
After that, we went to the Emerald pool. But to get to the pool, we will have to jungle track thru an 8km forest. That is where Michelle dropped her camera and broken the LCD screen. So from then on, there'll be no pictures to show... Sob... Sob... The jungle trekking wasn't very fantastic since it rained in the morning, the whole forest was very muddy!
Upon reaching the emerald pool, we're pretty dissapointed cos it's flooded wif the locals and the pool was dirty looking... Still we swam there... hehe... After 30 mins in the emerald pool, we proceed to lunch then to the Hot Spring. We're only allowed to dip ourselves in the hot spring for 20mins. So the fun was pretty short. The hot spring was very relaxing and there's a mini waterfall wif hot water. Bout 42C. Awesome...
We took a nap on our way back in the van as the journey is about 2hrs to Ao Nang. As usual, we had dinner at the hawker centre and went for another massage to end the night.
The very next day, we took our own sweet time waking up late. Had our breakfast then stayed in the room playing poker cards. Then we head out for lunch and head back to our resorts to continue our cards game and prepare ourselves to check out in the afternoon.... =)
First, we went to the Tiger Cave Temple. There's two staircases wind up the limestone cliffs, the first one with 1,200 steps to the top of the mountain offering a superb 360 degree view of Krabi. Reaching the top will reward you with an incredible view and a huge sitting Buddha, a golden pagoda and few other small constructions. But pity we dun hav enuf time and energy. In the end, we only ended up wif climbing up the second one (only 130 steps!) which leads into a valley where the monks live in simple huts.
This is the gigantic fallen tree in the forest. The tree fall was due to the storm!
Then we proceed to the nearby 'Guan Yin Temple'. There's alot of monkeys hanging around the temple.
After that, we went to the Emerald pool. But to get to the pool, we will have to jungle track thru an 8km forest. That is where Michelle dropped her camera and broken the LCD screen. So from then on, there'll be no pictures to show... Sob... Sob... The jungle trekking wasn't very fantastic since it rained in the morning, the whole forest was very muddy!
Upon reaching the emerald pool, we're pretty dissapointed cos it's flooded wif the locals and the pool was dirty looking... Still we swam there... hehe... After 30 mins in the emerald pool, we proceed to lunch then to the Hot Spring. We're only allowed to dip ourselves in the hot spring for 20mins. So the fun was pretty short. The hot spring was very relaxing and there's a mini waterfall wif hot water. Bout 42C. Awesome...
We took a nap on our way back in the van as the journey is about 2hrs to Ao Nang. As usual, we had dinner at the hawker centre and went for another massage to end the night.
The very next day, we took our own sweet time waking up late. Had our breakfast then stayed in the room playing poker cards. Then we head out for lunch and head back to our resorts to continue our cards game and prepare ourselves to check out in the afternoon.... =)
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Krabi Day Two.
The 2nd day in krabi is our most exciting day. Waking up to the hotels personal home cooked breakfast was great! Tho the variety was not much. But the quality of the local food was great. Especially, the vermicelli with green curry! Yum!
Our first stop is the cave temple. With an entrance featuring the heaven and earth sculptures. See the demons on top? 4 in total! Haha... We also visited the caves which a few buddhist shrine was being built inside the caves.
After that, we went to take the elephant ride. It was super thrilling! The night before it rains so the grounds are very wet n slippery. And we actually ride thru the forest along the river n waterfalls. All the slopes and uphills were extremely thrilling as the grounds are wet and space are limited. At some point, I caught Di closing his eyes! Haha... After that, we get to feed the elephants!
Here's the 'Queen of the Forest'! The throne was made by the tour guide specially for Michelle. (Think he was actually flirting wif her. Hehe...) Before our lunch, we went to do a quick dip at the nearby waterfall! We even jump down from a 3 storey height cliff into the water! That was so shiok as the water was extremely cold! Ice cold! And it was drizzling...
The rafting was okie. Not much thrill as there's not much waves. We didn't even captize. But it was my first time so it's fun for me! haha...
My first 'Da Tou Zhao'! Like those doggie pixs taken by our art director Michelle...
At night, we went to the night market at Norparathara Beach. Private transfer provided by our resort! Had lots of junk food there. They even has fried pigeon! Yum. But the most surprising feast was the Durians! A big durian which weight around 4kg only cost us 35Bath!! Only S$1.60! Good enuff for 4 of us! The flesh was even better than D24! Bitter sweet.... Yum. Durians is my Di favourite so he gobbles it like crazy... Haha...
We left the night market lost as we dunno how we can go back to Aonang town as there's no Tuk Tuk available. Stranded for a while till some good hearted locals hightlighted to us that we can take their shutlle tuk tuk that'll pass by the night market every 15 mins. After that, we went for gelato and head for a foot massage... Mmmm...
Our first stop is the cave temple. With an entrance featuring the heaven and earth sculptures. See the demons on top? 4 in total! Haha... We also visited the caves which a few buddhist shrine was being built inside the caves.
After that, we went to take the elephant ride. It was super thrilling! The night before it rains so the grounds are very wet n slippery. And we actually ride thru the forest along the river n waterfalls. All the slopes and uphills were extremely thrilling as the grounds are wet and space are limited. At some point, I caught Di closing his eyes! Haha... After that, we get to feed the elephants!
Here's the 'Queen of the Forest'! The throne was made by the tour guide specially for Michelle. (Think he was actually flirting wif her. Hehe...) Before our lunch, we went to do a quick dip at the nearby waterfall! We even jump down from a 3 storey height cliff into the water! That was so shiok as the water was extremely cold! Ice cold! And it was drizzling...
The rafting was okie. Not much thrill as there's not much waves. We didn't even captize. But it was my first time so it's fun for me! haha...
My first 'Da Tou Zhao'! Like those doggie pixs taken by our art director Michelle...
At night, we went to the night market at Norparathara Beach. Private transfer provided by our resort! Had lots of junk food there. They even has fried pigeon! Yum. But the most surprising feast was the Durians! A big durian which weight around 4kg only cost us 35Bath!! Only S$1.60! Good enuff for 4 of us! The flesh was even better than D24! Bitter sweet.... Yum. Durians is my Di favourite so he gobbles it like crazy... Haha...
We left the night market lost as we dunno how we can go back to Aonang town as there's no Tuk Tuk available. Stranded for a while till some good hearted locals hightlighted to us that we can take their shutlle tuk tuk that'll pass by the night market every 15 mins. After that, we went for gelato and head for a foot massage... Mmmm...
Krabi Day One.
This is actually my 2nd visit to Krabi. Still very excited bout the activies that we're going to take. Well by the time we reached and checked in to the hotel, it was pretty late. We left the hotel for our dinner around 9pm. Since the hotel provides free private transfer by car, it is so convenient for us to travel to Ao Nang town!
We had hawker food for dinner! Since Di is so mad over Lalas, we actually 'sapu' all the lalas available at the selected store. It was the biggest plate of lala i've ever eaten. Overall, the food was good except for the soups.
Morning has broken! Here's how our resorts look like. It's Tropical Herbal Spa Resorts secluded in the midst of a hill and forest setting. Totally awesome. Pretty private as there's only 9 villas in the resort. The only letdown was the open air bathroom. Tho it comes wif an outdoor giant bath, but due to rainy seasons, it wasn't very well mantained.
Took the private transfer to Norparathara Beach to start our first tour. 4 island tour! Alighted at the beach to transfer to the island by speed boat.
First we alighted at the Railay Beach to pick up some passengers and visited this 'Shrine' with the Goddess that the locals pray wif penises sculptures and carvings. The locals belief that if they want to hav a child, this is the goddess for them to pray.
Chicken Island! But we think it looks more like a turkey...
Snorkelling! Di is so afraid of fishes that me & hui min so love to disturb him by throwing breads at him to attracts more fishes to his side. Haha...
When we're back on the boat, we were give ice cold bottled Coke! So refreshing! Especially with all the sea breeze and fantastic view of the blue sea, islands and cliffs!
2 beauties on the beach! And a dead crab on my Di's shoulder. At first, Di was frightened by the crab. But once he learn that the crab is dead, he starts to play wif it... (-_-'')
Picture perfect of me and my di! The sunny boys!
After all the sun and the sea and nemos. We're all very tired. Took a nap at the resorts and went for dinner and ends the day wif a massage.... Cheap & Good. Only bout 250-300Bath for an hour of heavenly full body oil massage...
We had hawker food for dinner! Since Di is so mad over Lalas, we actually 'sapu' all the lalas available at the selected store. It was the biggest plate of lala i've ever eaten. Overall, the food was good except for the soups.
Morning has broken! Here's how our resorts look like. It's Tropical Herbal Spa Resorts secluded in the midst of a hill and forest setting. Totally awesome. Pretty private as there's only 9 villas in the resort. The only letdown was the open air bathroom. Tho it comes wif an outdoor giant bath, but due to rainy seasons, it wasn't very well mantained.
Took the private transfer to Norparathara Beach to start our first tour. 4 island tour! Alighted at the beach to transfer to the island by speed boat.
First we alighted at the Railay Beach to pick up some passengers and visited this 'Shrine' with the Goddess that the locals pray wif penises sculptures and carvings. The locals belief that if they want to hav a child, this is the goddess for them to pray.
Chicken Island! But we think it looks more like a turkey...
Snorkelling! Di is so afraid of fishes that me & hui min so love to disturb him by throwing breads at him to attracts more fishes to his side. Haha...
When we're back on the boat, we were give ice cold bottled Coke! So refreshing! Especially with all the sea breeze and fantastic view of the blue sea, islands and cliffs!
2 beauties on the beach! And a dead crab on my Di's shoulder. At first, Di was frightened by the crab. But once he learn that the crab is dead, he starts to play wif it... (-_-'')
Picture perfect of me and my di! The sunny boys!
After all the sun and the sea and nemos. We're all very tired. Took a nap at the resorts and went for dinner and ends the day wif a massage.... Cheap & Good. Only bout 250-300Bath for an hour of heavenly full body oil massage...
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
My first visit to Batam!
Batam is just about an hour away by sea from Singapore. We took the ferry from harbourfront in the morning at 8. Reached Holiday Inn Batam around 10am (indonesia time). And to our surprise, we're allowed an early check in! The hotel is an all suite hotel. So our unit contist of 1 bedroom, pantry, living room, bathroom n a balcony. Tho my request for highfloor was granted, but the view was not impressive. At first was given a ground floor unit but requested for high floor unit. Regret regret... The ground floor rooms coms wif a small garden and easy access to the pool! But it's okie, we'll go again. Package only cost $98 per pax with ferry and accommodation with abf. Cheap! Better than spending time in Sg hotel paying more.
This is our room! Nice? Haha... very clean and comfortable.
Picture of mi n di! Taken on our sofa in the room while he was watching tv. He's a tv magnet. ;-p
We also went to a nearby shopping mall by private taxi that cost us $28 for 2 way. Only takes us bout 30mins to reach. Offers a great variety of indonesian food! Also available is a big supermarket like carrefour and a departmental store offering some cheap local brand tshirt. Good quality. Had our lunch there and bought about 2 dozens of instant popcorn for our friends from the shopping centre. Cheese popcon, spicy popcorn, marshmallow popcorn, butterlicious... etc.
One of the spicy popcorn. Just need to put into the microwave and in 3 mins, you'll have urself a pipping hot big bag of popcorns! Yum!
We had BBQ buffet at night by the pool! Food variety was good and my Di took 3 bbq crabs in total! He can definitely eat alot more than dat. But i stopped him 'as usual' to control his cholestrol level. Haha... Had a fullfilling meal of fish, beef, seafoods, lots of crabs, cooked food, pasta, desserts...etc. Morning, we went for a swim play the slides! Yes, the one for kids... Hehe... Had fun chilling out by the pool but didn't get much tan as the sun is so-so only.
Overall, it's a great weekend getaway. And i'm looking forward for a lot more of these! And next time, i'll request for the ground floor with my little garden and pond with mini bridge! Haha...
This is our room! Nice? Haha... very clean and comfortable.
Picture of mi n di! Taken on our sofa in the room while he was watching tv. He's a tv magnet. ;-p
We also went to a nearby shopping mall by private taxi that cost us $28 for 2 way. Only takes us bout 30mins to reach. Offers a great variety of indonesian food! Also available is a big supermarket like carrefour and a departmental store offering some cheap local brand tshirt. Good quality. Had our lunch there and bought about 2 dozens of instant popcorn for our friends from the shopping centre. Cheese popcon, spicy popcorn, marshmallow popcorn, butterlicious... etc.
One of the spicy popcorn. Just need to put into the microwave and in 3 mins, you'll have urself a pipping hot big bag of popcorns! Yum!
We had BBQ buffet at night by the pool! Food variety was good and my Di took 3 bbq crabs in total! He can definitely eat alot more than dat. But i stopped him 'as usual' to control his cholestrol level. Haha... Had a fullfilling meal of fish, beef, seafoods, lots of crabs, cooked food, pasta, desserts...etc. Morning, we went for a swim play the slides! Yes, the one for kids... Hehe... Had fun chilling out by the pool but didn't get much tan as the sun is so-so only.
Overall, it's a great weekend getaway. And i'm looking forward for a lot more of these! And next time, i'll request for the ground floor with my little garden and pond with mini bridge! Haha...
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