being in Selangor we are entitled to 4 working days every week for december month. every friday is a public holiday starting with sultan's birthday on 11th, awal muharram on 18th and this week's 25th christmas eve.
as everyone would have planned for Cuti-cuti Malaysia, so did we. not us in per se but hubby's family. infact this impromtu trip was suggested by less than 24hrs before friday, the day when kak ngah and ateh (hubby's sisters) arrived from Pahang. they were thrilled to spend 4 days holiday at northern Malaysia and had Langkawi best in mind. alas the plan wasnt at hubby's interest due to limited budget, so they opted for Bukit Merah Lake Town Resort, Bukit Bendera Penang and Cameron Highland.
started packing on friday morning, off to Perak in late afternoon and arrived Taiping at 10pm. yeah, that long when you have 3 cars convoy with 4-5 stops. searched high and low for a place to stay and guess what, the only room available was the motel happened to be next to KFC where we sat for Wifi, vigorously searching for a hotel. i was ready to vision myself sleeping in a car or at any surau/masjid when kak ngah fingerpointed the old building with funny name - Aun Tong. the outlook itself was terrifying, nevertheless we went up to see the room and good gracious, the room is something that i would never think of getting into, it's creepy and filthy! at such juncture, rashdan - ateh's hubby agreed to stay and spent as little as 50 bucks for 3 queen sized beds. just imagine 9 adults and 5kids in one room, i'd prefer sleeping in the car or KFC for that matter, really. and dont ask how i slept with my jeans on, and tudung too. the worst time in my life i bet!
anyway, after 5hrs of uncomfortable sleep, right after subuh prayer we were all ready to go Bukit Merah Laketown Resort, unbathed. this time ateh and family took a bold move to book the hotel as soon as we arrived the resort. lesson learnt indeed? not. Suria Hotel it was, the last and only choice of one room with one bed. plus convertible sleeper sofa as if it helps. at 10am saturday, we splash and splosh like there's no tomorrow and stopped only at 6.30pm. after a hefty dinner of barbequed cockles, yong tau foo, nasi goreng paprik and laicikang at Taiping, (yes, we went down Taiping for Night Safari but by the time we finished our dinner, it's already 11.30pm, approximately 30mins before close time so we passed), hubby and i were dog-tired and slept as soon as we hit the pillow. (despite sleeping on the floor covered with only 2 bedsheets, pathetic!)
and the next day to Penang was cheered for shopping. took a 10mins ferry ride to Penang Island and ate the famous Nasi Kandar for lunch. mine was plain rice with fishroe as thick as 2 thumbs, fish curry and salty egg. yummy! hubby took fried chicken thigh with mixed gravy 5 in 1, that's actually how Nasi Kandar is supposed to be eaten, i was told so. anis had her usual roti canai (flying bread) with sugar. had our prayer at the state mosque and headed right to Bukit Bendera (Penang Hill) for the train ride. again the lady luck happened to smile on us when we managed to get tickets for the last train ride, scheduled to depart at 7.30pm. we had like an hour and the half to do shopping and off we rushed to lug fruit pickles, especially nutmeg and 'buah kana' at nearby street market.
slightly before 7.30pm we were ready to board the train, and by sunset we didnt get to see the spectacular view down the steep track anymore. we reached the top of the hill dark and all the restaurants were already closed. was disgusted at the fact that i didnt get to taste the delicious laksa penang, so we promptly took pictures, bought souvinier and took the train down.
had dinner (char kue tiow, laicikang, fried crab, rojak mamak, bihun tomyam) at Padang Kota Lama before we again travelled back to Taiping for a night stop. thank God it was Sunday night so all the hotel wasnt fully occupied even though the school break aint over. this time we stayed at Kamalodge, chalet-like with cute mini waterpark. the room was smaller than the one at Suria so again it was wadded with good 14 people.
woke up tomorrow morning, fresh and ready for the last trip. this time to Cameron Highland. stopped along the highway for lunch, big juicy pamelos, durians and petai (stink beans), and uncounted nature calls so by the time we reached Cameron, it was already 6pm. *chuckles* didnt get to visit the tea farm as it's closed on Monday, so we tried Strawberry farm instead. done the prayer at the small mosque at Berinchang and as usual i cringed at the water coldness. spent 2-3 hrs at Pasar Tani Berinchang looking for fresh vege, honey and dried strawberries. that was the final shopping for our trip so at the end everyone was spotted with 2-3 plastic bags full of groceries and whatnot.
on the way down snake-like route Cameron-Tapah, poor hubby fell sick and threw up! thank God adik (hubby's younger brother) was there to take the wheel and drive back home. reached PJ at 3am Tuesday morning and hubby went straight to the clinic for medical leave. we all were dead tired and woke up only at 12pm the next day. *grins*
such pain in the ass journey, literally but overall we had fun. am looking for more trip and travel in the future and of course before anything, gonna book the hotel!
so how's your holiday? i hope you enjoyed yours.
as everyone would have planned for Cuti-cuti Malaysia, so did we. not us in per se but hubby's family. infact this impromtu trip was suggested by less than 24hrs before friday, the day when kak ngah and ateh (hubby's sisters) arrived from Pahang. they were thrilled to spend 4 days holiday at northern Malaysia and had Langkawi best in mind. alas the plan wasnt at hubby's interest due to limited budget, so they opted for Bukit Merah Lake Town Resort, Bukit Bendera Penang and Cameron Highland.
started packing on friday morning, off to Perak in late afternoon and arrived Taiping at 10pm. yeah, that long when you have 3 cars convoy with 4-5 stops. searched high and low for a place to stay and guess what, the only room available was the motel happened to be next to KFC where we sat for Wifi, vigorously searching for a hotel. i was ready to vision myself sleeping in a car or at any surau/masjid when kak ngah fingerpointed the old building with funny name - Aun Tong. the outlook itself was terrifying, nevertheless we went up to see the room and good gracious, the room is something that i would never think of getting into, it's creepy and filthy! at such juncture, rashdan - ateh's hubby agreed to stay and spent as little as 50 bucks for 3 queen sized beds. just imagine 9 adults and 5kids in one room, i'd prefer sleeping in the car or KFC for that matter, really. and dont ask how i slept with my jeans on, and tudung too. the worst time in my life i bet!
anyway, after 5hrs of uncomfortable sleep, right after subuh prayer we were all ready to go Bukit Merah Laketown Resort, unbathed. this time ateh and family took a bold move to book the hotel as soon as we arrived the resort. lesson learnt indeed? not. Suria Hotel it was, the last and only choice of one room with one bed. plus convertible sleeper sofa as if it helps. at 10am saturday, we splash and splosh like there's no tomorrow and stopped only at 6.30pm. after a hefty dinner of barbequed cockles, yong tau foo, nasi goreng paprik and laicikang at Taiping, (yes, we went down Taiping for Night Safari but by the time we finished our dinner, it's already 11.30pm, approximately 30mins before close time so we passed), hubby and i were dog-tired and slept as soon as we hit the pillow. (despite sleeping on the floor covered with only 2 bedsheets, pathetic!)
and the next day to Penang was cheered for shopping. took a 10mins ferry ride to Penang Island and ate the famous Nasi Kandar for lunch. mine was plain rice with fishroe as thick as 2 thumbs, fish curry and salty egg. yummy! hubby took fried chicken thigh with mixed gravy 5 in 1, that's actually how Nasi Kandar is supposed to be eaten, i was told so. anis had her usual roti canai (flying bread) with sugar. had our prayer at the state mosque and headed right to Bukit Bendera (Penang Hill) for the train ride. again the lady luck happened to smile on us when we managed to get tickets for the last train ride, scheduled to depart at 7.30pm. we had like an hour and the half to do shopping and off we rushed to lug fruit pickles, especially nutmeg and 'buah kana' at nearby street market.
slightly before 7.30pm we were ready to board the train, and by sunset we didnt get to see the spectacular view down the steep track anymore. we reached the top of the hill dark and all the restaurants were already closed. was disgusted at the fact that i didnt get to taste the delicious laksa penang, so we promptly took pictures, bought souvinier and took the train down.
had dinner (char kue tiow, laicikang, fried crab, rojak mamak, bihun tomyam) at Padang Kota Lama before we again travelled back to Taiping for a night stop. thank God it was Sunday night so all the hotel wasnt fully occupied even though the school break aint over. this time we stayed at Kamalodge, chalet-like with cute mini waterpark. the room was smaller than the one at Suria so again it was wadded with good 14 people.
woke up tomorrow morning, fresh and ready for the last trip. this time to Cameron Highland. stopped along the highway for lunch, big juicy pamelos, durians and petai (stink beans), and uncounted nature calls so by the time we reached Cameron, it was already 6pm. *chuckles* didnt get to visit the tea farm as it's closed on Monday, so we tried Strawberry farm instead. done the prayer at the small mosque at Berinchang and as usual i cringed at the water coldness. spent 2-3 hrs at Pasar Tani Berinchang looking for fresh vege, honey and dried strawberries. that was the final shopping for our trip so at the end everyone was spotted with 2-3 plastic bags full of groceries and whatnot.
on the way down snake-like route Cameron-Tapah, poor hubby fell sick and threw up! thank God adik (hubby's younger brother) was there to take the wheel and drive back home. reached PJ at 3am Tuesday morning and hubby went straight to the clinic for medical leave. we all were dead tired and woke up only at 12pm the next day. *grins*
such pain in the ass journey, literally but overall we had fun. am looking for more trip and travel in the future and of course before anything, gonna book the hotel!
so how's your holiday? i hope you enjoyed yours.
