Bandung, Indonesia (March 2009)

We went to Bandung recently. This was actually the first trip to Indonesia for hubby and me. Bandung is known for its shopping heaven and yes, the reason that we went there is to shop of course! :)

Our chosen hotel is the Arion Swiss-Belhotel (http://www.swiss-belhotel.com/index.html).We took the Air Asia holiday package which comes together with the flight ticket + accommodation. We heard quite a number of good reviews on Arion Swiss-Belhotel so we thought of giving it a try. Alhamdulillah, we made a good choice. The hotel is very comfortable, not too far away from the shopping places, good spread of food (buffet as well as ala carte), friendly and helpful staff, and has very good spa facilities too (but according to our 'supir', the best hotel in Bandung would be Aston, due to its location. Holiday Inn is not bad either).

In front of the hotel.

We hired a ‘supir’ through Total Car Rental. The supir that we got, Yayat, is very friendly and sporting guy. He really made our trip a memorable and a smooth one (if anyone wanted to hire Yayat as your ‘supir’ in Bandung, you can pm me at m2rs(at)yahoo(dot)com) to get his direct line instead of going through the rental service. I think it's gonna be cheaper).

The guy in the black t-shirt, well that's our guy, Yayat.

We spent 1 full day (and a half the next day, he he) at Pasar Baru. You can really go crazy here because there is lots of stuff like kain kebaya, telekung, blouses, etc. They are not just beautiful but VERY cheap as well. You have to pay cash at Pasar Baru so make sure you bring enough cash to shop. Roughly, budget for at least + - RM500 per woman for Pasar Baru.

Your visit wouldn’t be complete if you didn’t go to the hundreds of Factory Outlet they have there. If you love some branded goods like Polo, GAP, Esprit, Guess, then this is the place for you (most of those stuff are original. I bought the same clothes in Bandung that they have at the boutique here in KL BUT at a much cheaper price. How did I know? I went to check some Esprit shops in Malaysia after I’m back and saw them, no kidding). However, we didn’t buy goods like designer handbags or shoes, as most of them are imitations. We find that most of the F.O are selling about the same stuff so we end up didn’t go to all of them, just some selective ones. But in my personal opinion, if you are tired / lack of time, you can skip the rest but Pasar Baru and Rumah Mode is a MUST! (Btw, F.O accept credit cards so no need to worry about bringing enough cash for F.Os).

The beautiful setting of Rumah Mode.

Apart from going to the F.O and Pasar Baru, we also visited some of the shopping malls like Matahari Mall and Bandung Super Mall. Bought lots of stuff here as well since some of the branded stuff is not available in Malaysia. Plus at least we know that all of the stuff here are original, no need to worry about 'kena kelentong',.....he he :)

In terms of food, it’s quite hard for us as my sister and I are not into Minang and Padang food but Sundanese food is fine. So we end up keep on eating at only two Sundanese chic restaurants which is the Dapur Sangkuriang and (oh man…sorry, can’t remember the name of the other restaurant, but we ate there twice). Oh but once in a while we filled our tummy with McD so that’s how we survived :P. We didn't dare to try out the street hawkers as we are not too sure about the cleanliness as well as the 'Halal' status.

Dapur Sangkuriang.

We are supposed to visit Mount Tangkuban Perahu but my mom in law has been to the mount and she said nothing much to see there. So we decided to keep on shopping since we thought that we haven’t had enough (.....of excess baggage.....LoL!).

For those who just love to shop (especially for apparel and textile), you definitely need to give Bandung a visit one day. Even hubby who’s not into shopping did say that he wanted to go there again to shop for his office wear! So...need I say more…:)

A picture of us, compulsory for every posting :)

-The End-

Johor Bahru, Johor and Singapore (December 2008)

It was actually a last-minute trip. Hubby and his golf buddies wanted to play golf somewhere nice instead of their usual places so hubby suggested why don’t we drive to Johor Bahru and try out the golf course at the Pulai Spring Resort!

Pulai Spring Resort

There are many good things about the Pulai Spring Resort (to know more about it you can check out their website and see for yourself what they have to offer http://www.pulaisprings.com/pulai_springs_resort.htm.) We’ve been to this place twice and so far we’ve not been disappointed :)

View from our room.

However, the funny thing was hubby end up didn’t able to test out the golf course after all, he he. Actually since we wanted to go to JB, my MIL thought of asking us to drop her off at Singapore. One of her daughter + family is staying there. The traffic was bad at the custom complex (is there a moment where the custom complex is not congested? I don’t think so…). We know that we are going to arrive at Pulai Spring Resort very late in the evening so hubby told his golf buddies to proceed without him :( (It’s ok-lah hubby, next time we plan for another golf trip with the gang to JB again, ok?) At night we had a lovely dinner with everybody (ala, the dinner and socializing was so great, totally forgot to take pictures, aiseyman…)

Our 3 days 2 nights stay in JB have been filled in with wandering around shopping complexes, shopping, few games of bowling, hanging out at the Danga Bay, and cocooning in the room while watching dvds (yeah, JB seems to be our fav. holiday destination because there is where we can stock up our dvd collections, at a very cheap price. During this visit alone, we end up buying a collection worth of RM500++, no kidding, :D)

Danga Bay.

After JB, we went to Singapore to stay for a night at my SIL’s house. We heard so much about Singapore’s Night Safari and thought of giving it a try. It was a great experience, nothing compared to what I’ve experienced at Zoo Taiping Night Safari with my colleague, Noris quite a few years back. Probably our night safari lack of fund, support, and bad management, I don’t know but that may be the few things which explains why our version of night safari is not something that people talk about :(.

Hubby with his niece, Kamelia Jane.

Singapore Zoo Night Safari.

Looks like we don't have the chemistry. The wild cat wouldn't even want to look at me, bluh...:D

The two of us.

We also visited the Boat Quay. Well, it was just a short visit to Singapore. However, I would say a very compact and fun one.

Had Indian food for lunch at Khusbu, Boat Quay. The food? Superb!


The superb food I'm talking about.

New Zealand (June 2008)

We have been planning to go to New Zealand for quite some time but haven't had the opportunity to do so up until now. In June 2008, finally we are able to set foot in this country known for its breathtaking scenery. We went to both South Island and the North Island but spent most of our time in the South Island (only went to Auckland in the North). We did the right thing as most of the beautiful scenery and places are indeed in the South Island (Queenstown is so b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l and it is a must to visit this place if you are planning to go to New Zealand). We started off with Queenstown and drove towards Christchurch (We flew from KL to Auckland with MAS and from there took a domestic flight to Queenstown). On the way, we stopped at several towns and spent the night(s) at some of the towns as well.

The best thing is that it was a miracle that we are able to experience snow fall at Methven, as June is only the start of the winter season, so we didn't expect that there would be so much snow during our visit. I told hubby that I've played snow many times before but been wanting to experience snow fall so much. Guess what, not only we are able to experience the snow fall there, but it's been snowing heavily through out our journey from Methven to Christchurch! It was really a beautiful sight, Subhan'Allah...

From Christchurch, we took another domestic flight and flew to Auckland. Auckland is very much like Kuala Lumpur or Sydney, with lots of car moving around (and traffic jam :) ) But one good thing about a big city is that there are lots of shops that close late at night! (unlike most shops in the South Island which ended their business by 5pm in the evening, erk).

On the whole, the two weeks vacation was indeed fantastic!

From New Zealand with Love :)

Stunning view of Lake Wakatipu from our apartment

Oh Queenstown is so breathtaking...

Finally I'm able to experience snow fall! It's nothing at all like playing snow on the ground, it's even better!

It's nice to be able to play snow in a town for a change, without having to go to the mountains :)

(More pictures can be found in friendster)

-The End-

Singapore (April 2008)

The picture was taken at the Singapore Zoo.

Singapore (December 2007)

Arab's Street: a retail heaven

Queensland, Australia (February 2007)

Hubby got a conference to attend in Gold Coast so I'm just tagging along since I've never been to Queensland anyway. We landed in Brisbane and took a drive all the way to Gold Coast. The place is beautiful. It's not too busy and not too quiet either, just a perfect place for a holiday. We went to visit few places like Sea World, Movie World, Wild Park, etc. However it's not really a long stay so we didn't manage to really enjoy the trip. Nevertheless, the place is already in hubby's good book and he said he will definitely would want to come back to Gold Coast again in future, InsyaAllah.

Sea World, Gold Coast (there are two sea lions at the back)

Surfers Paradise

Singapore (January 2007)

Sentosa Island

Underwater World