Onboard Superstar Virgo

For my 26th birthday, hubby and I decided to go for a weekend relaxing cruise getaway. We did the 3D2N cruise from friday to sunday, with a stopover at Kuala Lumpur, Port Klang. What not to love about the sea, doing nothing and lots of good free food?

On the way to board the cruise, feeling excited already. We used to go for cruise rides more often a couple of years back, but it has been almost 2 years since our last cruise.

Checking into our cabin-Oceanview stateroom with window.

 

The bathroom is pretty decent, albeit small. Left of the basin is the standing shower, and the right is the toilet.

After chilling in our room for a while, we went out for complimentary cocktail/wine, and to see the cruise set sail at the deck.

Cheers!

Bye Singapore!

We then went to have dinner. FYI, there are like 3 complimentary restaurants on board- the Mediterranean buffet, the Western fine dining and the Chinese. All are so gooood! And 5 meals per day. I think the Chinese serves the best quality food, but I love the Western for their fine dining ambiance, and buffet for supper because can seat outdoors to enjoy the night breeze.

The first meal we had! Chinese 6-course. Their double-boil soup is always so good! And you can ask for second servings! I want another bowl of the soup! Better than Lao Huo tang 老火汤.

To end off the first night, we went for the show in the theater. They have like singing performance, circus performance etc.

Woke up early the next morning to this beautiful view. So refreshing!

 

Ya I know, an awesome slide!

Decided to do some sun-tanning. Leisure!

Not long after, the cruise docked into Port Klang, KL. Because the cruise is stopping for quite a while (6-7 hrs), we decided to sign-up for one of their shopping trips (I think it was S$40 per pax) to pass time.

 In the coach, on the way to KL (Pavilion area, Sungei Wang plaza). The ride took about 45mins to an hour. And we only had like 3-4hrs to shop

Had lunch at this nice place-its like a foodcourt, and the food sold there all like famous!

Bought a pair of Gucci sunglasses. Satisfied liao. Didn’t buy any clothes. Hubby neither.

Cheaper than Singapore!

And we had 3-course fine dining that night.

I had pork chop for main, and tiramisu for dessert. I always like how they put effort into presentation despite having to feed so many people.

And for that night, we chill at the al fresco pub, with live band.

And the trip came to an end the next day.

Such an enjoyable weekend spent! Couldn’t ask for a better birthday!

xoxo,

Genting getaway must-know

It’s Genting again.

For Singaporeans and Malaysians, this is like the No.1 place we go everytime we need a dose of the cool crisp weather. It is near, hassle-free modes of getting there, something fun for all ages, and most importantly, worth the dime!

Hop on to a coach (popular ones like Five stars, Grassland, Konsortium, Transtar) and get wheeze off to Genting in just 6 hours comfortably, or, self-drive for 4-5 hours (assuming ~150 km/h on the north-south highway) if you are those who wants to throw in an adventurous food trail along the way up (be sure to bring a GPS with you).

Alternatively, take a 1-hour flight with any budget airlines (Jetstar, Air Asia or Tiger Airways), and hire a taxi to go from Kuala Lumpur (KL) to Genting. Mind you, if you manage to get a cheap deal on the air tickets (as low as $50 round-trip, all-in), the price is matchable to taking a coach and you can expedite your traveling time much. Furthermore, you will be spoilt with the wide choices of flight timings to suit your needs. Unlike coaches, where the departure is either at dawn (~7am) or late night (~10pm).

There is something for everyone there. Casinos, theme park, concerts/performance, numerous restaurants, chill-out pubs, arcade, shopping, KTV etc etc~~~ If you want to go theme park, avoid months like november: its the rainy season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are two main casinos currently: The one near First World hotel, and the one near Resort Hotel. And the First World one just got bigger. They recently barricade off a large portion which used to be shops, and reburbished it into a more $$-making cause: a larger casino. So, for people who are casino-craze and minded the squash.

At the casinos, you can do the table games (require more bravery), electronic ones (limited to大小, roulette and baccarat) and Jackpot. Table games require you to change your cash into chips at the tables through the bankers, for electronic ones, you just need to slip your notes into the $$-eating slot at each machine.

If you are a hard-core gambler or preparing to be one, my advice: join the Membership. It will give you perks like free rooms and restaurant promos. Also, if you accumulate enough points for the day, free meals will be given, and the free meals can be pretty fabulicious. So that you will be relieved to know, if you lose like a million bucks, your stomach will be still contended.

                              Casino food: nice nasi lemak (left) and teochew porridge (right)

The spending on food, if you prefer to dine mostly at restaurants, is comparable to Singapore. A meal for two would cost around $20-50 SGD. So, prepare to bring more cash. I recommend this restaurant “Restoran Good Friends” at Highlands hotel. Affordable yummy dim sum!

Their special must try cha shao bao (1st picture)

I’ve tried the Resort Hotel and Highlands Hotel buffet. The variety of spread should be applauded. The price is around $30-40 SGD for buffet dinner, and in my opinion, totally worth it, especially the one in Highlands.

Highlands hotel Buffet spread

Resort hotel Buffet spread

Ah, for the KTV, go for the dinner package (comes with a dinner course, drink and few hours of singing). Worth the bucks.

My favourite itinerary will be something like this: Breakfast set at Coffeebean (near resort hotel), shop around, teabreak at Old Town (near theme park), KTV (near resort hotel), chill over beer/wine at Patio (near first world) with live band and football broadcast, and, casino till the wee hours of the morning.. ahhh, this is life…

                                           Food for thought (photo) or Brek-O-day

                                          Nice Peppermint Mocha Frap and Hazelnut Frap

                                       Hazelnut white coffee & nice half-boiled eggs

                                       Beer and tidbits

For more to do in Genting and prices, feel free to leave a comment 🙂

xoxo,

A pleasant surprise: Malacca

My friends and I planned an impromptu self-drive trip up Malacca for one fine weekend. We drove up Friday night after work, and kudos to my friend’s excellent driving skills, we reached Malacca in less than 3 hr. And we came back Sunday afternoon, so it was a 2D2N thingy. Malacca is a UNESCO site, which explains the untouched historic streets and shophouses.

Please be warned, this is a post filled with Malacca street food. Initially, I wasn’t too thrilled about the destination, because I thought I have seen all of Malaysia. But wow, Malacca was a different experience, and I have to say, its partly because of the company 🙂

Since there were 5 of us, we decided to try for the Malacca Homestay Apartments. The one we went for has a kitchenette, a dining area, a living room, 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Pretty excessive for the 5 of us, but we love it! We stayed for the fri and sat nights, and paid about SGD$250-$300. It was homely, clean and spacious. Definitely suitable for groups and families. They have their own carpark too, but you have to pay per entry.

We reached around 11-12ish at night, and went for some supperrr. A must especially after a long drive.

This particular one was near to the apartment. It was so good, we had it as supper the next night as well.

Our night ended with plenty of booze, games and laughter. BTW we are playing “ring of fire“. A cool game with poker cards, friends and liquer in your body 🙂

We started the next day with… Chicken rice balls.

There is a famous one where you have to queue, near the Jonker Street, but this one was good too.

Yums. The black bean soup is a must-try.

The busy Jonker Street

One of the famous: gula melaka and durian dodol. This particular store want, is DIVINE. Esp the durian, so chewy and strong. Worth every penny.

This Nyonya is goood. It just melts in your mouth. I’m not a fan of these kuih actually, but Malacca street food also captured my heart.

So you can imagine the amount of walking and binge-eating. OMG

Never forgot about the chendol too. Esp in the hot weather.

Nice places to chill after the shopping and exhausive walking.

Nice river. Used to be colonised by the Dutch and Portuguese, the shop houses along the river has a tint of European feel.

The river lights at night. Dazzling.

Dinner. Just order and share the street food, including zi char, laksa, fried oyster etc. Not that we can eat anymore.

If you drop by Malacca, don’t forget to dine at this Nancy’s restaurant. It’s popular and authentic Nyonya cuisine.

Tried a few dishes recommended by the “Nyonya lady” in the clique.

And don’t forget to drop by the infamous “三叔公 Third uncle”, this huge store selling a wide variety of local delicacies. Their white coffee/milk tea, and many other cakes, biscuits, tarts and what not. Food-tasting is allowed, and everything is sooo good.

The before (left) and after (right) photos of our load shows how fulfilling this trip was.  :):)

xoxo,