Just a half life...

8D7N Trip to Coron - Day 1: Coron Town

2012-08-25T19:52:00.002+08:00

Same time last year, hubs and I was at Coron, a small fishing village that can be found on the southeast of the Busuanga Island. The island are part of the Calamian Group of Islands in northern Palawan, the Phillipines. Made famous by the local Phillipines rather than outsiders, Coron main industries are fishing and tourism, mainly for its beautiful aquatic views and popular diving locations of sunken Japanese warships which makes Coron Island listed in Forbes Traveler Magazine’s top 10 best scuba diving sites in the world.

The whole trip was initiated when we saw pictures from a friend's friend, who has just return from the trip. Seeing all the amazing photos and being a sucker for beautiful island with crystal clear water, we just have to set our foots there to experience it all ourselves. With that, the whole planning started!

With a little headstart information from the friend's friend, the whole planning was pretty much hassle-free and along with the most powerful source: Internet browsing and a Lonely Planet chapter of Palawan, we managed to get our trip planned out easily.

Our journey started from Penang-LCCT with Air Asia, then on Cebu Pacific Air from LCCT-Manila-Coron. It was a painstaking journey with so many hours wasted on transit, yet all those went away by the time we reached Coron. We touched down at Busuanga Airport and the only transport to Coron town is by van for the price of PHP150 per person per way. As we did not pre-book any accomodation for our night stay, the first thing we did upon reaching Coron town was to hunt for one. First stop was Krystal Lodge, to check on any available rooms as well as the price. To our surprise, we fell in love with the place. We took Cottage #11, the furthest and largest cottage standing above the sea with a great bargain for 5 nights.

After a little unpacking and rest, out we went to explore the small peaceful little town on rented motorcycle. The day ended with sampling of local foods from the streets, exploring night market and dinner at Kawayanan Grill which we ordered Danggit Fish that cames with yummy seagrapes seaweed, Pork Belly Sisig, Seafood Sisig and Lobsters: all those for PHP1335 (~RM100).

Flying with Cebu Pacific Air

Busuanga Airport

Krystal Lodge #11

Krystal Lodge #11 - an area to our own for the magnificient view

Magnificient view of Coron from our cottage

A tour around Coron town

Busy little town

Street foods

More street foods

Our favourite dinner place

Failed Once Again...

2012-08-17T18:12:00.000+08:00

I have failed once again to maintain this blog. This round my record of inactivity: 15 months (something that I'm not proud of).

Work has been weighing me down over the past one year. With 10 to 12 hours of work daily, all I wanted was to do NOTHING at the end of the day. A total shutdown and simply be a couch potato. Well, now that I have switched to another job role, I hope things will get slightly better and I will have the time for blogging again *smirk*.

Getting away and exploring new places was one of the activity that relaxes me. So being busy does not stop hubs and I from completing our annual travel trips. Of the few places that we went over the past one year, one destination captured my heart. Coron, Phillipines: a place that is so magnificient that I intentionally left my heart there. *smile*

I'll try to capture all the great experiences in my next post on Coron, Phillipines.

Penang: Hidden Gem

2011-05-27T19:43:00.002+08:00

I love Penang; that is something that I will not deny. Penang has great foods and I love good tasty foods. Penang has a handful of shopping complexes, which is good enough for an average spender like me. Penang has beaches surrounding it, though the water is not the crystal clear type that I would love to have. Penang is a metropolitan with a million over population yet Penang still have its greens with plenty of hiking trails for one to get away from the bustling city.

Recently, hubs and I went on to a new hiking trail at Sungai Ara area. We walked the scenic trail for at least 1.5 hours before we stumble upon this hidden gem. The place is still partially under construction; the swimming pool is in completion soon. I wonder whether this place will turned out to be a hidden getaways place for rentals.

Another trip to UK: Visit to Cardiff, Wales

2011-05-25T21:35:00.000+08:00

The busy week quickly went by and obvious enough, I was looking forward to my extended trip to visit Cardiff, Wales. I left for Cardiff early Saturday morning for an overnight trip before I was due back to home on Sunday night.

I didn’t do much really. The trip was more of slow and easy after the long busy week. My first stop was Cardiff Castle located right in the middle of Cardiff Central and just walking distance from the hotel I stayed. I got myself a guided tour ticket for some background history of the castle. The interior was not really what I was expecting for a castle. Everything looked too ‘new’ from the paint to sculptures, but perhaps the place was really well taken care of. Nevertheless, I did enjoy the brief history from our lady guide. I took another an hour or so to explore the surrounding area of the castle before I head on to next destination – Cardiff Market, a Victorian indoor market which offers variety of fresh produce, cooked food, various delicacies and durable goods. Then I went on to Mermaids Quay, just 20 minutes walk from city center for a glimpse of the Harbor with sunset view. The place was crowded with most people celebrating for whatever occasion they are celebrating on. I sat by one ice-cream shop enjoying the view of the Harbor. Despite the busy crowds around, somehow I enjoyed my own peaceful evening along with a scoop of Rum & Raisins ice-cream on a chilly evening.

Clock tower

The wall surrounding Cardiff Castle

Sunny day in Cardiff

Cardiff Castle

The Norman Keep

Stalls at Cardiff Market

Mermaid's Quay

Cardiff Bay

Merry-Go-Round

Pierhead Building

Wales Millenium Center, an art center

Wales Millenium Center - an artistic structure

A companion

Next morning came easily as I practically slept through the night till almost 10 in the morning. Thank goodness I packed my luggage before I went on to bed previous night. It was my last day in this stranger city. My train is scheduled to leave Cardiff at 4 o’clock in the evening to London Paddington then to Heathrow Airport for 10 o’clock night flight home. So, I still have plenty of time for some final stroll and shopping too.

Every Sunday morning from 10am to 2pm, farmers, butchers and cheese makers gathered together in the shadow of the Millennium Stadium for the Riverside Farmers’ Market by the River Taff. I figured this is something I would not want to miss, especially when I wanted to bring some fresh cheese home. I tried on a fresh baked Blueberries Broche for only £1 and yummy! As I savor on the yummy treat, I took a stroll along Bute Park that is now filled with colorful tulips. A look at my watch, I realized I had to move on. I went for a little souvenir shopping then stopped at Jamie’s Italian for lunch. Time finally chased up. I had to leave for home, sad but eager to reunite back with my loved ones at home. Well, the unfortunate occurred though *smile*

Bute Park - mini stonehenge with Cardiff Castel at the backdrop

Bute Park

Coffee in the park

Bright colored tulips

Aren't them all pretty?

Another Trip to UK: A disastrous one

2011-04-30T13:40:00.005+08:00

I returned to the same place I was same time last year. Although I knew this week long trip will be pretty hectic in schedule, but never crossed my mind that this was my worst experience ever!

It was a rough start. When the flight from home were cancelled and moved to the next available flight, this had caused the connecting flight to London to depart, sadly without me. The first point of disappointment when I was told that upon arrival to Kuala Lumpur, a staff will be available immediately to assist. Sadly, no one was there waiting. Worst when it took the airline staff 2 hours to get things sorted out and finally arranged my transfer for night lodging and booked me to the next morning flight. The nearest hotel they got me on was an hour away from KLIA as all nearby hotels were fully booked, no thanks to F1 race. I only managed to get some 3-hours sleep but still pleased to board the plane and practically slept the whole journey through. I was glad to arrived London although much later that I should be if the first flight would have waited for me.

Journey home was worst. I missed the flight home! I was at Cardiff for the weekend. The first train I boarded from Cardiff was cancelled after an hour due to a technical issue. When the next train arrived, we were told to get on that train but to our unfortunate, even this train was stuck for an hour due to the signaling damage caused by vandalism. Just when I wanted to get off for a taxi, the train attendant announced that the train will depart within the next 10 minutes. True enough, the train moved but not for long though. It just stopped middle of nowhere waiting for the signaling to continue. An hour in the middle of nowhere with no other way for any passenger to get in or even out, gosh we are practically all trapped! Resulted of that, my original 4.15pm train finally reached Paddington station 30 minutes before my flight, which obvious enough I will never make it for the flight. Still I took my chances and hop on Heathrow Express which cost me GBP 18, but that does not help much anymore. I was way too late for the flight. A normal 2.5 hours journey from Cardiff to Paddington now took me 5 hours had cost me a bomb - miss of flight, a night spent in the Airport, a new ticket back home (which thankfully the airline allowed for a ticket re-issue and only charged me for GBP45 as penalty, pheewwww!) and late for work! Boy, what an awful experience (lesson).

Albeit the rough journeys, everything else was lovely. The weather was perfect, greens are sprouting, flowers of all sorts were in full blooms and the people here are friendly as always.

*next post on trip to Cardiff

Jalan-Jalan Cari Makan Trip: Ipoh

2011-04-09T16:42:00.000+08:00

This was a long overdue post of one of our makan (eating) trip to Ipoh. Both hubby and I went down to Ipoh for a 2D1N trip mainly to purchase one of the home decoration for our home but a trip would not be complete without savoring good F-O-O-D wouldn't it?

So we did what we know best....hunt for something special to eat! Guess what we had in that two very days?

It started with dinner as we arrived Ipoh pretty late, so we went for a little early dinner at Kedai Makanan Rasa Lain in Bercham. We ordered their home-made fish balls, claypot crab tanghoon that is huge enough even for 4 pax and salted egg prawns.

The Hall of Fame

Claypot Crab with Tanghoon

Salted Egg Prawns

Home-made Fish Balls

The aftermath

Breakfast of the following day would be none of other than timsum at Foh San Dim Sum Ipoh. These are just some of the many dishes we had and also not forgetting to try on the special Double Layer Milk dessert and Mango Pudding.

We left back home slightly after lunch hours. As we are still full from the heavy breakfast, we stopped by at JJ-Cakes for some yummy swiss rolls to go.

On the way home, we en-route to Serdang to try on Fried Porridge at Sin Aik Kee Restaurant. We were a little too early when we arrived. The shop has just start to prepare so we took a stroll around the lake.

Just when the shop opened for business, we were those first few tables already having our dinner. We ordered the fried Porridge of course. But those who knew us well would know that a single dish would never be enough for us, so we add on 2 more side dish - Kerabu Mango and Cockles.

Fried Porridge

Cockles

Kerabu Mango

And that's the end of our Makan Trip!!

Beautiful Sunset to accompany home

Return to yesteryears: Batu Gajah (part 3)

2010-11-24T22:29:00.006+08:00

Batu Gajah has now become part of my parent’s daily life. They would be there almost every evening to relax and occasionally bump into one or two old friends from the neighborhood. Last Saturday, I went back to my parent’s and spent the whole evening at Batu Gajah with them. We were practically there spending some quality time chit-chatting away the whole 5-hours.

Being back to Batu Gajah has and will always bring back good childhood memories to me. It was our little hidden playground during the hot sunny days. Now more than 15 years later, I am glad to be back again. Though the place has changed tremendously lot, but the change has now turned it into a beautiful garden – undoubtedly a great little place to get away from the busy outside world.

Blue dragonfly

Growing wild mushroom after couple days rain

Bright yellow flower

Crawling plants

Fallen leaves

Picture (Left) - Daun Sirih; (Right) - An old vase

Picture (Left) - Wild plants; (Right) - Fern

Wild berries

My favorite spot

The other sight of the river

Serenity

Small fishes feeding on a piece of crackers

These bright colored ones were store bought and let to wild

Look carefully...notice anything?

Monkeys! I had no idea what species of the monkeys they were. They had greyish-black body with white eye ring and lips - so adorable!

5D4N Trip to Phuket – Aleenta Resort & Spa

2010-10-16T17:41:00.011+08:00

The second part of our journey was the long waited for. Obviously we are both all psyche knowing that we will have a villa with private pool to our own for the next two nights. This is by far the most expensive place we have ever stayed! *grin*

As day three started, we both rise early to head out to Aleenta Resort & Spa (http://www.aleenta.com/phuket/) located in Phang Nga which estimated to be an hour away. Good thing that we have packed our luggage the night before, so as soon as we were awake and showered, we both head down to the hotel lobby. I went straight on to proceed with the checkout procedure while hubby went across the road to return the rental motorbike and at the same time to hook up with a taxi to bring us to the next destination. Hubby managed to get us deal with a taxi driver to drive us all the way to Aleenta Resort & Spa and also to pick us up two nights later to airport for our flight home.

With Phuket further behind us, it is getting more exciting as we are now so much closer to the private villa. The taxi driver told us that this was his second time to Aleenta Resort & Spa; the first was with a honeymooner couple four years back and second, of course was with us now!

Our ride dropped us right in front of the resort lobby. The friendly driver gave hubby his name card and confirmed on the date and time to pick us two days later.

Resort Lobby

View from Lobby

The check-in was pretty easy and soon enough we were brought to our villa No. 202. The resort staff tours us around the one bedroom private and spacious pool villa before finally left us to enjoy. Courtesy from the management to celebration on our special occasion, there were flowers arrangement with two lovey-dovey swan on bed, box of heart shaped chocolate, a bouquet of rose flowers and a great bottle of Aleenta White wine for that special turndown/magical moment. I am all overjoyed with the great service and arrangements from the resort staffs along with the complimentary gifts for us.

Villa No. 202

Entrance to private luxury

Living room

Living Room

Bed decorations

Picture (Left) - Towel folded swan with rose petal decorations, bouquet of rose & heart shape chocolate; (Right) - iPod and iDock with preloaded music

Picture (Left) - Complimentary Aleenta white wine; (Right) - Free fresh daily fruits

Picture (Left) - Outdoor bathtub; (Right) - View of pool with bathtub

Private pool

Sundeck

View from sundeck

View from living room

Hubby and I rested for a while before plunge into the 180 sq. meter pool. After that we both squeezed in the outdoor bathtub while snipping away the white wine.

Perfect!

Just before the sun start setting, we both went for a short tour around the resort area. Not many guest during this time around, probably due to the low season. The resort has no public pool except for large garden with fish pond and fountain as all villas within the resort has its own private/sharing pool depending the type of villa available. The white sandy beach is free from rubbish and very well taken care of. There were many beach chairs for one to just sit back and relax while enjoying the cold breeze and the sound of waves. Now this is what I called a great getaway from all busy daily schedules.

Walkway heading to our villa

Walkway to resort garden

Picture (Left) Resort restaurant; (Right) - Resort garden

Resort restaurant overlooking to garden area

Resort bar area by the beach

Picture (Left & Right) - Surroundings of resort

Ocean View Loft, another type of villa with sharing pool

Ocean View Loft

Picture (Left) - Massage house just next to our villa; (Right) Rest area around massage house

Another of resort restaurant with guest chef to serve diners

White sandy beach with beach chairs

One can even request for romantic dinner by the beach

View of resort from the beach

Clean beach

Serene view

Sunset being blocked by thick clouds

As night fall, hubby and I head back for a quick shower. To my delight, our room was fragrantly smelled. Seems that the room service lady had dropped by our room while we were out touring the resort and lighted the aromatherapy burner. For dinner, since nothing much within the resort area (unless we took a taxi out) so we figured we try out one of the resort restaurant. That was when we had the most expensive fried glass noodle throughout our life.

Picture (Left) - Restaurant where we had our dinner at; (Right) Walkway to resort toilet

Our meal for the night

When dinner is done, it is time for our private swim…and when I said private I also meant going for unclothed swim. *grin*

The next morning, we rise early to enjoy the complimentary breakfast. Breakfast was served at the same restaurant where we had our dinner the night before. When the food arrived, I felt like a king (err, queen perhaps). The food came in a 3-tier stand but that still not include the main course yet. Main course were selections of many choices which includes porridge, omelet, udon and pancakes (well that was the least I can recall from the main course menu). When we were both all stuffed, we went for a short walk as our room was still being clean by ‘the maid’.

Breafast is served

The main courses

The room was all nice and cleaned after we returned. Then off we went into the pool again and not forgetting our stock of alcohol and Lays potato crisp which has been a must each time we were in Thailand *grin*. So that was it, the whole day activities was practically between the pool and bathtub, then chilled out at the living room with tower building games where hubby lost 9 straight games to me *grin*. Lunch and dinner was served in-room as well. We were both practically hidden in the villa for the whole day.

Maid in room

Special moment to celebrate

I can live like this forever!

Picture (Left & Right) - Perfect view from the bathtub

Our usual supply of alcohol

Board games to fill up some time

Hubs lost 9 straight game to me on this one

Our lunch in-room

...and dinner too!

As final day arrive, I was practically hesitant to leave but good times has to come to an end too. Hubby found a book with all the interesting stories of previous guest of villa no. 202 and figured I jot down our part of stories in this book too. We both went for final plunge before our ride came to pick us up at 12pm local time to head to airport on Phuket island.

Waving final goodbye to Phuket as we fly off on Fireflyz. This was definitely a trip to remember!

Goodbye Phuket

Trip to remember!!

5D4N Trip to Phuket – Around Phuket Island

2010-10-03T18:32:00.004+08:00

Soon (in just another month to be exact) will be our second wedding anniversary and like previous year, hubs and I planned for the usual getaway trip for just the two of us to spend some special and quiet time together. The same questions arises when comes to destinations. Where to? Well, we initially thought of exploring certain parts of China but we figured a weeklong of holiday may not seem sufficient for us to do that (of course with a couple reasons behind). As a result, we scope down to somewhere nearer to also save us from spending a bomb in getting there. So that was how we ended up with Phuket…

Map of Phuket

Due to our busy schedule, this trip was during the Merdeka holidays. Wondering why we went for such an early trip? Like I mentioned above, it was because of our busy schedule however another obvious reason was due to off peak season in Thailand. It is always best to travel in August-October during the off peak season to enjoy lowest rate on accommodation as well as to avoid getting into the crowds.

We never failed to fully utilize the usage of modern technology as this was where we got ourselves hooked up with two different hotels near Patong beach for the first two nights’ accommodation and one great private villa around Phang Nga for the remaining two nights along with our flight tickets home via Fireflyz. So Phuket, here we come….

As the day came, we hop on to the chartered van as early as 5am heading to Hatyai to switch to another van that brought us all the way to Phuket island. By the time we reached Phuket, it was 3pm local time. The whole journey took us almost 11 hours from Penang, but at least the van was rather comfortable this time. The van somehow stopped us somewhere in Phuket old town. Unfortunately we are still far from our hotel in Patong, so we had to pay extra for the van to drop us right to the front of hotel. We did anyway, probably were too tired from the journey and all we wanted was a nice cold shower to freshen up.

For the first night, we stayed in Courtyard Patong. Luck was on our side when we were given a free upgrade from deluxe to superior room.

Superior Room

Spacious with living room

Picture (Left) - Personalized greetings from hotel; (Right) - View from balcony, Hard Rock Cafe just right next to us

Roof top pool

View of Patong Beach from roof top

Roof top sun deck

View from the top - second pool

Picture (Left & Right) - View of second pool

After we had freshen up ourselves, we took a little stroll along the Patong beach and the many streets and streets of colorfully lighted shops of foods, souvenirs, pubs and many more. We walked and walked and walked till it our feet was aching and tummy started to growl.

Patong Beach

A little advertisement for Crocs shoes?

Pretty sunset view from Patong Beach

A Japanese couple self captured the magical moment

That's me...searching for treasure *grin*

Jungceylon shopping complex

The center of attraction of Jungceylon

Fountain show

Picture (Left & Right) - The many shops and stalls in Jungceylon

Dinner

A meal that cost us less than THB500 for two

Day two was pretty much easier when hubs decided to go on with rented motorbike. Through the many experiences, we realized that getting from one place to another while traveling to Thailand is so much hassle free with motorbike. The day started with us switching to another hotel, Mercure Patong that was just 5 minutes walk from Courtyard Patong. Then it was the mini Honda that brought us to Phuket old town where we had a very much localized lunch. Then we drove down south to Big Buddha which was still under construction. Nothing much to see yet (as still under construction) but the view along the journey up was awesome. We stopped by a stall halfway down the hill for some fresh coconut drinks before continue on the journey.

Lunch in old towm

Our lunch that cost us less than THB250 for two pax

Big Buddha statue

Chimes for luck

View from Big Buddha

View from halfway down the hill

Next stop was Promthep Cape, which was regarded by many as one of the most beautiful spots in Phuket and more breathtaking during sunset. The sun was still shining bright and hot when we arrived but that does not stop us from climbing down the dirt track to the promontory to the farthest south end of Phuket. It worth all the muscle and sweats as the view where the breakers crash against the rocks below was magnificent!

Surroundings of Promthep Cape

Island

Picture (Left & Right) - Promthep cape

Halfway down the dirt road

Picture (Left & Right) - Halfway to go

Great view

Picture (Left & Right) - Look at the waves crashing the rocks

From the other end of where we was earlier

And, with still little day light left, we continued our journey up north to stop over at a small beach, which unfortunately I have forgotten the name of the beach. Then finally, traveling through Nai Harn Beach to Kata Beach to Karon Beach before our arrival to Patong Beach, where that ends our adventure of traveling around Phuket island.

A small beach which I have forgotten the name *shy*

Love the view

Rocky surface

For the second part of our journey in Phuket, continue read in next post

Off to the peak of Gunung Jerai

2010-09-07T20:52:00.004+08:00

I have not been diligent enough to update my blog lately. As much as I wanted to finish up the long overdue post and get up-to-date with the places I have been recently, yet I seems to always be in that ‘no writing mood’. Perhaps it was because of work and the busy schedule. But then, that is probably just some lame excuses for my own. I guess it is just merely me of being lazy!

Enough said…Let’s get on to this long outdated post. After all, hubby has been asking when I am going to start writing about our impromptu trip to Gunung Jerai, occurred on the Labour Day which has passed many months ago *shy*

Like mentioned above, it was our impromptu trip to head up to Gunung Jerai. Well, that is us! We always do the spontaneous stuffs. For this round, it happened so coincidentally when both of us were thinking of having a ‘Just-for-Two-BBQ’. Then hubby came out with this nice little getaway plan. So with practically nothing at home that can be use for the barbecuing, both of us head out for a last minute shopping spree. We got ourselves a small BBQ stove, tiny pack of charcoal, disposable plates/cutleries and assorted meats to marinate in Lea & Perrins along with honey and butter for the barbecuing later on. Of course, not forgotten are packets of junks and drinks too.

As morning came, we packed the marinated frozen meats in a big Styrofoam box along with all other stuffs bought the night before. Then, our little expedition begins…

First stop was to fill up our empty stomach and nothing else is in the menu other than our usual, Tim Sum. With tummy filled, the journey continues and we make no other stops until we reached the destination, top of Gunung Jerai.

As we approached the peak of hill, we saw familiar faces waved at us from the roadside. To my amazed, my in-laws were there too! Neither of us ever mentioned of the trip, but such a coincident that all of us are there at the same time. We chatted for a while before parted to separate directions.

Then hubby and I went to check on room availability, but to our unfortunate the chalets were all fully booked. Never did we anticipate that the place would be packed and full of visitors! Now, with no rooms for the night, we need a chance of plan. Where to for a BBQ with just the two of us? Discard the thought of BBQ for that moment; now that we are at the top of the hill, we might as well explore a little of the newly refurbished area.

While we were about to leave after a delightful lunch at the restaurant, thick white clouds seems to surround the area then started to pour heavily. As we were stuck without an umbrella to shade us back to our car, we stood by under the building shade to enjoy the magnificent view. Pouring rain and a beautiful garden, what else could be better? Well, it was until about 3 in the evening that we finally left back to home. As for the BBQ, we still had our BBQ for two but by the beach and it was for supper!

Here are some of the pictures taken on that day...Cheers!

The Finale: Cirencester & Cotswold

2010-08-06T17:38:00.002+08:00

This is the final place I visited before I head back home. The girls from work were nice enough to bring me out for a scenic walk around Cotswold then to a small town called Cirencester for dinner. It was nice of them to bring me to this peaceful little town after a hard day at work. Cheers~

Cirencester

Busy City of London: Day 3

2010-07-08T22:23:00.001+08:00

After the extreme exploration the day before, I decided to sleep in a little. By the time I woke up it was nearly 10:00am. For my last day in London, I planned only to visit Buckingham Palace for the changing guard ceremony then to Harrods for window shopping and perhaps if time permits, just a walk along the many parks or gardens that London has, before taking the train back to Swindon again.

Picture (Left) - Wellington Arch; (Right) - Constitution Hill leading to Buckingham Palace

Green Park by the Constitution Hill

Picture (Left) - Changing guards ceremony; (Right) - Crowds witnessing the ceremony

Guard on horse

Picture (Left & Right) - Harrods Egyption style stairway

Harrods, luxury department store

Souvenirs from Harrods Arcade

Mouth watering desserts

Beautiful day for walk in park

Flowers are blooming too

Picture (Left & Right) - Blooming tulips

Speaker Corner at Hyde Park

The many activities at Hyde Park

What a beautiful day for outing...

Busy City of London: Day 2

2010-07-08T21:33:00.003+08:00

Day two started with quick breakfast then straight on to the busy Oxford St. where I purchased myself a hop-on hop-off sightseeing bus. The Big Bus Tours not only covers sightseeing tours from the open top double decked bus but it also include free walking tours and river cruises. Certainly a great way to discover the big city for few attractions I had listed out: London Eye, Tower Bridge (known more by London Bridge), Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, St Paul’s Cathedral, Hyde Park, Harrods….opps, my list seems to be getting longer.

As soon as the bus in motion, my hands and camera had been busy throughout the whole sightseeing journey. Started from the Marble Arch to along the Regent Street then passing trough Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, London Eye, St Paul’s Cathedral and across the London Bridge to Tower Bridge before I decided to hop-off at the stop in front of Tower of London.

Marble Arch

Every girls' heaven

Picture (Left) - Shopping along Regent Street; (Right) - Trafalgar Square

Picture (Left) - Busy street of London; (Right) - St. Paul's Cathedral

Picture (Left) - London Eye; (Right) - Big Ben

The Big Ben with House of Parliament

Tower Bridge

Tower of London

After a little stroll along the famous attractions, I hop-on the river cruise along River Thames passing by some of the famous bridges to the finally stop at the Westminster Pier for the ride up in the London Eye.

Tower Bridge from River Thames

City Hall building that were made to look like a cyclist helmet

HMS Belfast, the Royal Navy light cruiser that served during the Second World War and Korean War, now a ship museum

Millennium Footbridge a.k.a Wobbly Bridge by the Londoners

London Eye and London Aquarium by the River Thames

Picture (Left) - London Eye by the River Thames; (Right) - At the peak in the eye bubble

And finally…I hop-on the tour bus for other attractions that London has to offer.

Wesminster Abbey

Cute 'couple' Double Decker bus

Busy City of London: Day 1

2010-07-07T22:31:00.004+08:00

It has been more than two months since I return from my trip to UK, yet I am still far from completing my updates of this solo trip...

Into the second weekend of the voyage…where I had it all planned out from the start. I am heading to London for the weekend. I am all psyche of being in a city that I have heard about from a very young age. Perhaps it was made famous by the nursery rhyme/song “London Bridge is Falling Down”.

So, I left Swindon on Friday evening conveniently via First Great Western train. The journey that took an hour fifteen minutes arrived in the heart of London at Paddington Station. My accommodation for the next two nights is just walking distance from the train station. Hence I took out the little map of the city and started walking towards the direction of my hotel.

I was so proud of myself when I managed to locate the hotel and I went straight on to the reception counter to check-in. But to my astonishment, I was told that my reservation was not to be found and I left my reservation confirmation number in Swindon. To make the matter worst, it was the weekend of madness for the closing of British airways due to the ash formed from the eruption of volcano Eyjafjallajoekull in Iceland. Hotels were fully booked with most extending their stays. Oh no, what am I supposed to do now? I gave them the every possible names that my reservation could be mix up with, but still to no avail. After nearly an hour of panic, a nice lady from the hotel came to assist, and then checked me in with new reservation. Phewww….what a relief!

I rested a while before I head out to start exploring this busy city. I had a few places in mind but that will be for the day after. So I spend the night with little shopping spree along Oxford St. not far from the hotel and called it day for an early start the next day.

Picture (Left & Right) - Path along Kensington Garden heading to Hyde Park

Greeted with serene beauty along the walk towards Oxford St.

Blooming Cherry Blossom

Busy street along Oxford St. - greast place for shopping spree before calling it a day!

City of Bath: Aquae Sulis

2010-06-08T22:22:00.015+08:00

Aquae Sulis ("the waters of Sulis"), the Latin name of a city that was first established by the Roman as a spa resort. This small town was located in the Roman province of Britannia, but today, it is known more as Bath, located in the English county of Somerset.

That was where I headed to, on the Sunday of my first week in this stranger country. As I have bought the train tickets the day earlier, I went straight on for my ride via the First Great Western train, a direct stop from Swindon to BathSpa.

Like always, I did some studies of the place I am visiting just couple days before and even managed to print out a little map of the city with some of famous attractions pointed out for my walking tours. Bath is just a small town and walking by far is the best option to enjoy the beautiful sceneries that this little town has to offer.

Directions for self guided walking tour

Upon arrival, I was welcome with a gorgeous sight of cherry blossom flowers. As the wind blows, tiny pinkish flower petals are scattered all over the walk way, making this the most composed image I have ever seen!

Picture (All Below) - Pretty sights of the cherry blossom flowers

As I walk along, I was greeted with more and more beautiful and colorful flowers accompanied with astonishing building architecture. The weather was a little chilly but somehow I enjoyed the cold wind blowing straight to my face throughout the whole walking trip.

A public art called "King Bladud's Pigs in Bath"

Side view of Bath Abbey

Picture (Left) - Main entrance of Bath Abbey; (Right) - River Avon

The Circus - the best I could do for a 'panorama' view

The Royal Cresent - that's the furthest I can go to get this shot

Picture (Left) - Back alley; (Right) - Wild flowers by the wall fence

Again, time caught up with me without realizing especially when I was busy taking pictures at almost every corner of the town. My can feel my feet begin to sore and started to sense some hunger but I wanted to keep my tummy for tea time later, for a famous bun. So what is so special with this bun? Well, I had no clue either but all I know is that in all travel books I read, it is said that the visit to Bath is never complete without experiencing the world famous bun by Sally Lunn. Of course I would hate to miss the chance of tasting a famous bun!

Bath's oldest house c.1482 - Home of the World famous Sally Lunn Bath Bun

Hence, I was in the hunt for something light to fill my hunger till I came across a small store selling tempting ice-creams. Oh….they all looks yummy. I definitely love to give this a try! And out I came with a two-scoop ice-cream wafer of Rasberry Pavlova and Turkish Delight flavor. They were extremely delicious but my delight was not for long. The wafer was so crispy that I somehow crushed them to pieces with just tiny squeeze and off they went down to ground *sob sob* There was a nice stranger that even offered to buy me a new cone, but I guessed I was too disappointed for a new one at that time. So all I did was to watch the pigeons enjoying my slowly melted ice-cream on the ground. The pigeons seems to be enjoying their dessert!

From David Thayer Ice-Cream shop

Ended to the ground

Enjoying some street performance while enjoying my ice-cream (not for long)

Still feeling a little down, I went on for the tour to Roman Bath Museum and it was an excellent choice that I never regretted. I did not anticipate such a small place from outside would end up with such massive remains from the Romans down below the ground. All I could say is I was really impressed!

Picture (Left) - Roman Bath from
the outside; (Right) - A man from the Aquae Sulis, Roman Bath, lived and died nearly 2000 years ago. The tombstone shows him as he wished to be remembered, holding a scroll which reflect his learning and status in life

A light show on the ruins to recreate back the full picture of the olden days of Roman

The glittering in the pool are actually coins, the Romans makes wishes and threw coins and have their wish granted

Natural hot thermal out from the ground

The sacred pool used by the Romans

Ruins from the original building structure

After the tour, it was just the perfect time for tea break and none other than Sally Lunn I would want to be. I ordered the Sally Lunn's two course High Tea which comes with a thin round of Sally Lunn Bun topped with finest Scottish Smoked Salmon and half a toasted & buttered Sally Lunn Bun served with Tiptree Strawberry Jam and lots of local Clotted Cream, followed by world famous Sally Lunn Cream Tea…and mark my words, they were the best buns I ever tasted though I am not really the fans for the English version of cream tea (still prefer our Malaysian version of milk tea a.k.a teh tarik)

Sally Lunn Bun topped with finest Scottish Smoked Salmon

Sally Lunn Bun served with Tiptree Strawberry Jam and lots of local Clotted Cream

Cozy little place for dining

Sally Lunn's Museum with the original kitchen with its faggot oven, Georgian range and old baking utensils

With tummy filled, I took a stroll by the park namely Parade Garden overlooking to Pulteney Bridge that that crosses the River Avon. It is one of the most beautiful bridges with only four in the world lined by shops on both sides. Spectacular view!

Pulteney Bridge

Parade Garden

Finally, I ended my day trip to Bath with many great pictures and astonishing insight of the great Romans. What an experience!

Oxford: A dreaming spirals

2010-05-17T21:26:00.006+08:00

Weekend came rather quick even I was pretty much lonely in this stranger little town…

I was pretty much occupied during the weekdays and had little time to plan for my weekend activities. But I figured that one of the many places not to be missed during my stay here are visits to Oxford and Bath. After all, these are the places that received many good compliments and are beautifully described by the locals.

I was told that getting to Oxford and Bath from my temporary home of 2-weeks can be easily reached via the train service, First Great Western that connected almost every city in UK. So, Oxford went onto my top list of places to visit while Bath was my next destination the day followed.

It was a lovely day on Saturday morning as I head on to the train station in Swindon. I went straight to the ticket counter for train tickets to Oxford as well as next day ticket to Bath. Journey from Swindon to Oxford required transit at Didcot Parkway. However, to my unfortunate the train at Didcot Parkway was an hour delayed. It was then that I met 3 friendly Philippines but currently residing in UK. They are first time visitors to Oxford as I am too and somehow, we clique at almost instantly.

When the train finally came, we are all excited that we can continue our journey. We stick on together for a while before went on separate ways for our own sightseeing journey in Oxford, but promising to meet up again before we leave Oxford.

After separated with the 3 new found friends, I continued on my exploration alone.

Picture (Left) - Carfax Tower, the church clock is adorned by two "quarter boys", who hit the bells at every "quarter" of the hour; (Right) - Statue lady that look so real or should I say 'fake'?

Picture (Left) - Great day for a nice walk at the park; (Right) - The weather was nicely at 16°C that everyone is out to enjoy

At the entrance of Christ Church Meadows

View of Merton College from accross Christ Church Meadows

Picture (Left) - Entrance to Christ Church, one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England; (Right) - Christ Church Cathedral, the chapel of Christ Church which is also the largest college of the University of Oxford

Dead Man's Walk, the wall that separated Christ Church Meadow and Merton College

Picture (Left) - Christ Church Cathedral; (Right) Sundial

Picture (Left and Right) - Interior of Christ Church Cathedral

Stained glass window of Christ Church Cathedral

Choir busy practising for some event in the evening

Picture (Left) - Back lane of Merton College; (Right) - Merton Street

Busy street of High Street

Fascinated with the building structures and sceneries accompanied with the lovely weather, I walk and walk and snap (pictures) and snap without realizing that it was past the lunch hours, up until my stomach started growling. As I walked around hunting for a nice place to rest and also to fill my growling tummy, I stumbled upon an Italian restaurant. I actually passed by this same restaurant twice, but it still does not hit me till I stood there thinking if I should try out some Italian food. Then I finally realized that this is Jamie’s Italian by Jamie Oliver, the famous Naked Chef. Oh my….he has always been my idol! Of course I loved to try his food in one of his restaurant. So in I went…to fill my empty tummy and rest my aching feet.

Picture (Left) - Superly yummy mushroom ravioli at Jamie's Italian; (Right) - Nothing beats a nice cup of hot cappucino after the long walk

Satisfied with the meal, I continued on my exploration to few more landmarks before ending the day trip in Oxford for a little shopping spree. Again, I met up with the 3 friendly mates, joining them in their shopping before we finally wave goodbye. It was definitely an experience and a great day trip!

Picture (Left) - St. Mary the Virgin Church; (Right) - Spiral staircase to St. Mary the Virgin tower

The pathway only fits one at a time. I had to stand at the little space by the window while waiting for others to head down before I can go up!

Picture (Left) - Most photographed building in Oxford, Radcliff Camera; (Right) - Short from St. Mary the Virgin tower

Beautiful landscape from above

All Souls College, part of the scenes in Harry Potter movie

View of Oxford City

The Divinity School - the first purpose built lecture hall dated almost 500 years ago. Two scenes from Harry Potter were shot in this hall: Hogwarts Infirmary (The Philosopher's Stone) and the ballroom dancing class (The Goblet's of Fire)

Amazing isn't it?

Museum of History of Science

Entrance to Oxford Castle Unlocked

Hill of Oxford Castle Unlocked

Trip to UK: Spring in Swindon

2010-04-23T18:14:00.010+08:00

My trip to UK has finally come to an end after two weeks of fun and exciting yet rather tiring exploration.

The solo journey started in Swindon, a scenic town of Wiltshire. It was the beginning of spring this time around. I am happy to see little green leaves slowly sprouting through the naked tree while bright colorful flowers are blooming wildly almost everywhere. Even the birds are chirping happily too.

The weather during my two weeks in this stranger country was lovely. The sun is always out playing while the cold breeze joins in to just balance up the temperature.

On my first day of arrival, I decided to explore this little town on-foot. I got myself a free little map from my hotel reception, then head-on to one of the famous shopping center, Swindon Designer Outlet three miles away from where my hotel located. I have to admit that walking at this distant is not something I would do back at home country but with such a nice weather and a new place to explore; it would be a total waste if I did not give it a try. I am glad that I had this walk as it was an astonishing walk through the residential areas, parks and churches surrounded with daffodils and wild flowers blossoming at almost every corner.

The one thing that I noticed most of Swindon is the amount of roundabouts that they have, either big or small. It is as though they are in-love with roundabouts. The one roundabout that stands out among the rest is of course the famous roundabouts named Magic Roundabout. This roundabout gained the magical title because of its uniqueness for having 5 mini-roundabouts circling one big roundabout. Madness! I stood by the roundabout to observe, but still not able to figure how the actual flow works. So I gave up. I suppose just like the locals said when driving through this unique roundabout, “Just close your eyes and hope for the best”. Fascinating isn’t it?

My days in this peaceful little town ended with perfect orange sky and sore feet *grin*

Flickr Photo Featured in Other's Website

2010-02-27T15:23:00.005+08:00

I was browsing through the Internet search engine and was surprised to stumbled to the below websites.

So what's with these websites? Well, probably it's not something to really go hu-ha all about, but I guess it does consider something big to me. My Flickr photos are featured in three different websites and I did not realized till I was going through the search engine.

First site is in the official Atomium's website http://www.atomium.be/Photos.aspx

A picture of my visit to Atomium in Brussels, Belgium was chosen to be part of newly setup website.

Second is some of the pictures from my recent visit to Hat Yai, Thailand. I came to realized there is a website featuring my flickr picture.

http://www.thailander.com/thailandpictures/boat_trip_by_floating_market_hatyai_flickr_image_by_aliza_tan/

Last but not least, is a picture of my home-made wedding topper of a bride and groom sitting on a 3-tier cupcakes stand.
http://customcaketoppers.net/page/2/

Yaay! I am all excited about it!

CNY 3D2N Trip to Hatyai: First day

2010-02-23T23:35:00.012+08:00

CNY this year is celebrated in Hatyai.

That is right! The whole family left for Hatyai on the new year morning but of course after we distributed ang pows to those that are still single. The journey up north was rather smooth, probably many still celebrating ther first day of lunar at home. By the time we arrived our hotel in Hatyai, it was already noon in Thai local time. Immediately we check-in to our rooms and out again to start hunting for foods as everyone were pretty much hungry after a light breakfast at home earlier.

My first stop obviously and a-must to have is the coconut ice-cream! It has sticky rice, sweet potatoes and peanuts. One cup is never enough for me….yumms!

Ice-cream seller

After lunch, we went on for little walk around the town area before we head on to Klonghae Floating Market for sightseeing. Little that we know, the Floating Market is full of stalls and boats selling many types of foods at reasonable price.

Mugs to go with drinks

(selling at THB20 for small, THB25 for medium)

Rows of boats selling many types of foods

Foods on boat

Lady on boat

Colorful foods

The first stall that attracted our attention is the many types of fried worms, grasshopper and other exotic foods. Being curious, Uncle bought a packet with mixture of 3 sizes worms at THB20. Not wanting to miss out the fun, of course I gave a bite to the smallest worm. Well, the taste not as bad as I thought it would be, but I doubt that I will give another try again. *LOL*

Dare for a try?

Large worms

What we bought for THB20

As we walk further, we discovered more exotic foods and some real tasty foods. My new found favorite food is called Yam Ya Ma Ma (or that how it should at least sound in Thai). It is a bowl of seafood noodle with extreme tangy and spicy soup. Thinking of it now makes me salivate.

Ants larvae - one that we dare not try

Super delicious Yam Ya Ma Ma

Feeling hot and sweaty, we decided to take a boat ride at THB20 per person for a trip along the river. Just look at the beautiful scenery offered to us!

Great view from boat ride

Reflection

The view is simply breathtaking

An elderly is trying to catch fish but stopped to wave at us

Our first day in Hatyai ended with one last place, Night Market. We practically bought nothing much except for more Yam Ya Tung Sen (glass noodle).

Night market foods

Night market shopping

Return to yesteryears: Batu Gajah (part 2)

2010-02-18T11:06:00.002+08:00

After the first visit, I was somehow fascinated with the calm and cooling surroundings of Batu Gajah. With the weather around CNY month goes up to the extreme and unbearable (well, at least that’s what I felt), I knew this is just the right place to be.

I persuaded my parents and a cousin to join me for a plunge into the cooling water whiles the sun still burning hot. My mom cooked some instant meals for us to feast over there and off we went.

Plenty of flora and fauna

Wild flowers

White rounded brinjals

Ahhh…..now this is what I call heaven!

CNY 2010: A Day Away

2010-02-13T00:46:00.002+08:00

Chinese New Year is just a day away. Like many years before, CNY is always about gatherings, celebrations and foods; and there is no exceptional for this year too.

This will be my second year to spend CNY at my in-laws and this is also the second time I will celebrate CNY at a neighboring country, Thailand. Yes, the whole family will be going to HatYai for a 3 days 2 nights trip. No doubt I am pretty excited with the trip, but I will definitely missed the gatherings (which normally happen on the 2nd day of CNY) at my mom's eldest sister place.

Though we won't be home for another 3-4 days, I thought it would still be nice to decorate our space with some CNY stuffs. After all, CNY is a celebration of 15 days.

Here, a little corner of our room is decorated with oranges or known as 'kam' in Cantonese which actually represent 'gold'. This with hope that it will always bring us abundance fortune and wealth throughout the year(s).

What is CNY if without any CNY plant?

Happy Chinese New Year and Gong Xi Fa Cai!!

Return to yesteryears: Batu Gajah

2010-02-08T22:19:00.011+08:00

I return to the place where as a child, I would spend most of my evenings there with my two elder brothers and a bunch of friends from the same neighborhood.

Locally known as Batu Gajah, our so-called playground is within the jungle forest of Tanjung Bunga. A 10-minutes walk from our home would lead us to a very shady area by the hilly rocks and a chilly stream at almost 6-ft deep. Of course, there was a shallow area for a young child like me (then) to play around too *grin*

Looking back, I could not recall how we ever plan of the meet up time, but somehow or rather we would end up in a large group leading to the same direction. Perhaps I was too young to remember all that. But I certainly recall clearly that almost every evening with the sun still shining on us, we would plunge into the chilly stream to cool down. The place is secluded with no one else is there to bug us (except of mosquitoes!).

When I went back to the same place after around 15 years later, the place has changed tremendously lot. The stream is no longer 6-ft deep and not as shady as before but I all can say is that this place is still a serene place to just unwind and cool down. The hilly rocks still remains the same just the stream is now merely 3-ft deep.

Standing there brings me back to my childhood times when there were no worries and all we do is just have fun and play all night long! We owned no computers, hand phones or any high-tech gadgets, but we had lots of fun times exploring the nature!

Some of the pictures taken from my recent visit...

Sungai Sedim day trip

2009-10-30T10:23:00.004+08:00

Sungai Sedim, a recreational forest located in the northeast of Kulim, Kedah is popular for its treetop walkway (of reinforced steel) recognized to be the world’s longest at the spans of 950 meter above the lush green rainforest trees and also white-water rafting to those that is adventurous enough. The park also offers packages for teambuilding activities which include paint ball, flying fox, jungle trekking, down the river tubing and many more. For those who are simply nature lover or even photography enthusiast, Sungai Sedim is certainly complete with natural beauty of flora and fauna for one to explore and experience.

Having heard of Sungai Sedim since the recreational park open its door to visitors many years ago, five crazy friends planned for a trip to visit the park for the first time (actually it was their first but already my second as my first was with company teambuilding). Excited over the short trip, the five of us squeezed into a small car headed to Sungai Sedim via Kulim Hi-Tech Park. By the time we arrived, it is almost noon and still very few visitors at that time. We went straight on to experience the famed treetop walkway. Entrance fees is RM10 for adult while RM5 for children, opens from 8:30am to 5:30pm every day. Sigh...I have to say that I actually felt the price is a little too expensive for a squared walkway. Anyhow, we tried to enjoy the beauty of nature from the top of walkway.

Before walkway entrance

Starting point of the walkway

Excellent view from the above

Several educational signage along the path

Steel walkway

At the highest point

Rainforrest surrounding the walkway

Of course, plenty of flora

Though the sun is not shining directly on us, but the weather is still humid and hot. We were all soaked in sweats by the time we reached the end of trail. Hmmm….what else would be the next fun thing to do other than soaking our butts in the cool running stream of Sungai Sedim. We went back to our car to pack our clothes and snacks for our mini picnic. By then, the riverside started to get a little over crowded with visitors in groups of families and friends. But lucky us, we found a secluded area for just the five of us to enjoy ourselves and splashing water at each other like little kids without feeling shy of being seen by others.

Unfortunate that my Nikon SLR is with repairer. Pictures taken with my old Canon Ixus 700

Mr. Toad that won't budge though we kept disturbing him

Almost an hour or more later, we decided it was time to start our journey home. Once again I was disappointed with the level of maintenance of the area. To enter the public toilet cum shower, each had to pay 30 cents (which is still alright). However upon entering, I was let down by dirty dark toilets and worst when there are no water in the shower rooms. In the end, we just change our wet clothes without any shower.

On our way home, we stopped by Kemunting Lake View Restaurant at Sungai Kob, Mahang for our early dinner. The restaurant is on a floating platform above man-made lake full of reared fresh water fish swimming around. Obvious enough that the restaurant served all kinds of fresh water fish dishes.

Entrance

The restaurant area

Man-made lake

Fresh water fishes

We ordered almost all of the famous dishes recommended by the staff there - 3-Flavours Talapia Fish, Deep fried Patin fish on light soy sauce, Steam Pak-Su-Gong with ginger, Stir Fried Deer Meat, Sambal KangKung (Stir Fried Water Spinach with chili) and Salted Fish Beans’ Sprout.

Dishes we ordered...I forgot to snap picture of Salted Fish Beans' Sprout dish

The aftermath

All of that plus a jug of Luo Han Guo (fruit of Siraitia Grosvenori) drink totaled up to RM208. For a meal of five person, I guess the price was pretty much alright!

Private Spa

2009-10-21T16:28:00.005+08:00

Sunday morning (10/11)

…we woke up with practically nothing much interesting to do at home. The weekend will go away just like most of the boring days we had. Hence, it was an ad-hoc decision to go hiking at Penang’s Taman Negara, pretty much up to our so-called ‘private spa’ location. By the time we left the house, it was already noon and as usual, Tim Sum is always in the menu for breakfast. It was merely 2pm that we finally started our journey heading to the mini pool of fresh cold water. The 50 minutes journey brought us through the jungle of many fallen trees and muddy path from the rain, before we reached to main destination….our own fresh water pool.

Mini pool -- just for us

Fresh & cooling water

Some flora...

...and fauna

We rested in the cold water for an hour or more before we started our journey home.

4D3N Trip to Samui - Day 3 & Final

2009-09-30T18:33:00.041+08:00

The day started with a quick jump into the pool (again)…That was the first thing I did the minute I opened my eyes (of course after a quick shower). I just could not resist the clear water viewed through the glass windows from bed. What I loved most is the warm temperature of the pool water. Not sure if there is any temperature control to maintain level of heat, but the water is perfect be it during day or night time swim.

The room were provided with free breakfast served at the hotel’s restaurant, 4K which is pronounced as Fork…a very creative name indeed! The breakfast came with three selection of main dishes: (1) Asian – with choice of seafood/chicken porridge and 5 other side dishes like salted egg with pickled vegetables, fried egg, Thai sausage, stir fried vegetable and stir fried assorted mushrooms; (2) European – omelet, sausages, kidney beans, fruits; (3) Thai – several choices of fried noodle/rice Thai style. On top of that, there were buffet lines with assorted breads, cereals + nuts, salads, yogurts, cold cut fruits, juices, tea and coffee. Of course we had a very satisfying meal to start our day…at the pool!

4K Restaurant

Morning view from the restaurant

It was till 5pm that we finally drag ourselves out from the pool to get ready for dinner. Since free ride from X2 to Chaweng is part of the services given to all X2’s customers, we decided to head back to Chaweng to hunt for nice restaurant for a romantic dinner together. By 6pm, our ride left for Chaweng and dropped us at the Central of the busy street. Our chauffeur would come to pick us back to X2 by 10pm, so we got ourselves sufficient time for dinner and foot massage. We took a little stroll along the many shops and restaurant before finally decided on Monkey Bay Beach restaurant with tables on candle light right on the beach.

Candle light dinner

Neon lights coconut tree

Thai Spring Rolls

Local Thai delights

It is absolutely nice to feel the sand on your feet while enjoying dinner with your loved ones. When the dinner is done, we went for an hour long foot massage at only 250 Baht each.

By the time we were done with the relaxing massage, it is almost time for us to catch the ride back to hotel. Our last night spent at Villa No. 03 ended with more dip in the private pool and bubble bath!

Morning came and we had to take early ride from Koh Samui back to Penang. The journey home got us stuck middle of nowhere when the bus that carried us broke down. It was till nearly two hours later that a replacement bus came to bring us all the way to Hatyai. Unfortunately we were half an hour too late to catch the last ride, hence were forced to stay overnight at Hatyai for the next day ride to Penang.

Verdict: Excellent hotel room and great foods! But I do have to stress on one thing though...X2 rooms is only for 'licensed' couple, not suitable for friends. Reason? The whole villa is all glass and therefore see-through when one in shower or even when answering the 'nature-calls'. Enjoy!