damai beach resort kuching

Hello.....
this is the second night of my 3 day 2 nite stay in kuching.....
we had stayed in Damai Beach resort.... .. a very wonderful place.... sort of like you're staying in an island kinda feeling...... had booked a superior room..
and had a view of the swimming pool, the sea and part of the mountain of Santubong.. lucky eih...
sad that we had stayed for one night only.. wish we had stayed longer....
during the day .. there's a lot of activities here...
at night time... not much you can do.... we had our dinner at a nearby fishing village..... the food was superbly fresh...

two queen beds...

flat screen tv again.. heheh..

quite big... can fit 4-6 person in this room...

outside our room... the open sea....

infront of our room...... the swimming pool...

so serene....... so calm....

Where to eat in Kuching

HHMM.... where to eat in kuching...

My vacation was mainly about food..food.. and more food..
here in kuching the seafood is amazing... and cheap... hehe... so my blogging in this post will be about the foods and the activities we did...

on our arrival.. we were greeted with 'mee kolok' at batu 7 kuching ... jolly food court (i think that was the name..) ... a special kinda noodle found only in Sarawak.. yummy... sort of wantan mee.. but much more tastier.... the noodle is made by hand ...... ( not the instant one..)
and drenched in a special sauce.... huahuahua.. nyumm..nyum..

later that nite we head off to a place called TOP SPOT seafood....
yup.. the name is truly as it is... ...top notch !
when we arrived there .. we thought that is was just a simple food court.... but owh my..
the seafood presentation made our tummy rumble.... they had laid out the seafood in a speacial  arrangement... so much seafood........ fishes.. big and small....some dead some still alive... crabs.. LIVE one.. squids... prawns... lobsters.... all sorts of seafood that i could not name each one.. WOW....

this is the stall in front of us.... the best stall is beside it....

we had spend about half an hour just gazing at the fishes and live crabs....

the atmosphere was like a typical open aired food court.. a bit hot... and stuffy...
because i came on a Saturday nite and it was dinner time... there were so many people and it was jammed packed...
we ordered and after waiting like a lifetime.... our food arrive..
i was so hungry that after each food came we all just started to eat... hahahha...
but yes.... the food was marvelous..... not so much in the presentation department...
but hey.... who cares if the taste is totally a 'plate licking' dish.....
i must say... anyone travelling to Sarawak Kuching .. must give this place a try....

breakfast the next day was at Pak Amit's Restaurant....... the place was also packed with people.. good foods always attracts .. hehhehhehhe...
the famous "Mee Kolok' was served again....
nyum....
so now i know that each restaurant  has a different recipe in making the mee kolok....
for me it was so-so...

we had our lunch at a nearby restaurant.(on the was to Damai Beach resort)... tried 'nasi briyani'.... the plated served was full of briyani rice.. i did not finish this one.... so full.... burped !

then came nite time.... hhuhuh.. next was seafood at a nearby fishing village...
a shabby restaurant.. but they served a good varity of seafood.... all fresh....
unfortunately we came a bit late.. and nearly all the 'specialties' are finished.. i.e crabs... squid... so we ordered the typical fishes.... prawns.. vege.. and shellfish...
hubby frowned at this.. he wanted to eat crab so much.. hhmm..
however...
the food here was ok and nice...
(prefered Topspot...heheh)

next morning we had our breakfast at the hotel... damai beach resort.. satang cafe...
wide variety of food choices here... there even a waffle station... nice.... Belgium waffles..
i guess hotels food are almost the same every where.... hot dogs... baked beans... local delicacies... porridge.. cornflakes...

the day to go home has arrive.... so we took this time to try out mee kolok again....
OK.. this is the best mee kolok ever..... !!!
i loved the taste.... Hj. Salleh Mee Kolok... hihih
nyumm...

nyummm...

Riverside Majestic Kuching Sarawak Review

i had my Family vacation last weekend in kuching.... it was a short trip.... 3 days two nites only... but we manage to stay in two different hotels... tried a lot of different place to eat...

my family vacation theme was FOOD and BEACH....
so we had my friend ( a local from sarawak ) to hand us a helping hand in directing us to the best food in town...

i'm gonna break my reviews into a few section.... so that it will be easier for searching and reviewing...
one for the hotel (two hotels) and another for the activities and foods...
so for this section i'm gonna review the hotel that i had stayed for the first nite  ...
the riverside majestic...

Location ..location..location...

this hotel is right in the heart of kuching city and beside the kuching river.... there's a shopping complex beside it.. so anyone missing or forgetting a thing or two can find or buy anything here.. i did .... heheh... forgot my sunblock..... ATM is also here... there's also a cinema here! so this is truly a strategic hotel for me...

this is actually an old hotel.. they did a few renovation here and there.... i.e the lobby and the club floor....
at first glance outside it seems a bit odd because it has a very small lobby... but seems sophisticated enough since it was newly upgraded....the reception area was simple but nice.... and we was greeted warmly....
check in was ok.. not too much time consuming...
my room was on the 13th floor...... deluxe room..
once i got on the floor , we smelled old drenched odors along the hall......nope..so i guess this floor was not renovated... but still my room was clean and equipped with amenities.... plus.. for muslim travelers.. there's even a 'sejadah' ....
the room was spacious enough for my son to roam freely....
i got to take the pics below.. just before my son started to terrorized he room... hehehheh.. :-)

i had a room with a view....  very nice...
The Kuching River...

the bed was a king sized bed... very comfortable...

mind the messy room.. my son had terrorized the whole room into a war zone... but the LCD TV is behind him....

....and we had a LCD 32 inch screen TV ... lovely... hihih...

overall stay was OK...
yes... i would come to this hotel again..... but i do hoope that the management would do something about the smell...

i did a review in tripadvisor alsoif you wanna check it out...

not much pics though because hubby misplace the pictures file.. dunno where they are in the computer.. must be somewhere.... will upload it when i retrieved it back...

anyway... enjoy the review...
next will be Damai Beach Resort...

Family Vacation - Travel Plan

today family vacation seems like a norm ...... everyone taking a trip here and there....
just imagine...the cost it can take up .... yes... mind you... traveling do take cost.. even if it's only the petrol/gas....
flights... accommodation .. transport... not to mention the foods and drinks and all sorts of other stuff.. this and that....
yes... when we say vacation... it means $$$ ding!...


so before you head off on a family vacation.. do a little research..... who knows you might find vacation deals.. hotels promotion... i always do..! ;-)

I've compile some list of things to consider before packing those bags..

my ideal vacation.... lazy.. sunny day...

1. Duration of the vacation
Seven days is the max...... especially when you have kids... they seems to get bored if you go away very long.. and it will alter their normal schedule.... seven days or a week should be comfortable... so that you can have a good pace.

2. ensure that everyone's needs are met and happy
this vacation main focus is getting everyone to be happy ...therefore..include everyone needs in the planning...kids, adults, elderly...
consider the likes and dislikes of the members.

3. Pace
My family and i enjoys taking time by the beach... strolling ... some might enjoy a mountain hike... action based... these should be considered also....

4. Mode of transport
if you have options... take time in evaluating the options like where to get on a bus/ car ride/ flights.... who will drive.. taxi /cabs to the airports/ stations ....or is the bus nearby....

5. age appropriateness
if elderly are also in the trip..... consider the activities that you are proposing.... whether it is ok or not .

6. MONEY...
last but not least... money...... you cant go anywhere without paying ..LOL.... unless if it a free trip .. huhuhu

so .. there..... some of the many consideration before planning a family vacation...
hope you have fun .....

vacation to kuantan

kuantan has been a regular spot for me and my family as my in-laws are nearby there. Ok..Ok... not so near.. but it is along the same route.....

Till now now i'm not sure how many times i've been there.... but so far my vacation to kuantan has always been a pleasant one....

I'm hook with the seafood there... much cheaper and fresher than in Kuala Lumpur....
the best place to dine......... would be Tanjung Lumpur.... it has lots of small shoplots that offers a variety of seafoods....
The most common seafood type here .....Grilled Fishes with special dipping sauce.....
but my best bet woulsd be 'Mail Ikan Bakar' and 'Ana Ikan Bakar" ...
mind you .. but everyone has different tastebuds... some might prefer other .. and this is preference...
Totally in love with it... :-)

wished i'd took picture of the food so that i can post it here... but it seems the foods're always disappearing before you could snap it .. Dang!! ... heheheh

The best thing to do in Kuantan is of course heading to the beaches..  Kuantan has a lot of nice and lovely beaches... ( mainly it's location is beside the sea.. huhu)

hubby and son by the sea....

Swiss Garden Pool Side at night...

I'm kind'da a private gal.... who loves some peace and quite... and not the hassle and bustle of people during my vacations....
so i usually head out to a few place which has less visitor.. but still are lovely....
Where???  and How ????

First .. i always avoid school holiday.... the beaches here would be pack... especially the weekends.. and public holidays of course ..
Second ... i always head to hotels with private beaches...(and it's clean) ( ok some might be soooo.. expensive ...i.e Hyatt Kuantan) but actually you can find good deals of various hotels in Kuantan...
my choice would be Swiss Garden Resort & Spa..... heheh.. my ... well it ticks off all may requirement boxes... a bit pricy .. but i like it here... and since my in-law in in a wheel chair ... this hotel is what you called in Malaysia "OKU Friendly" which means this hotel offers some (not all) facilities for disable people example,  the ramp is every where.... except the sandy area of course...

i've stayed in a few hotels in kuantan before which does not sit to my liking....  you can see a few of my reviews in TripAdvisor.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g298296-d308086-r108280529-Swiss_Garden_Resort_Spa-Kuantan_Pahang.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g298296-d627848-r108282776-Duta_Village_Beach_Resort-Kuantan_Pahang.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT

reviews of hotels are for sharing purposes.

i'll be heading to sarawak this weekend .... so next week i'll be reviewing and sharing my experiences with this blog sooon..

A new blog to retreat

Halllo ...

i've always wanted to blog about my travels and tours and of course... FOOD..... and so on.... not that i want to brag... some might say ..... but actually to share my experinces... ;-)

i love travelling.... holidays and vacations.....FOOD.. and cooking...... for me .. it's a short retreat from my daily hectic life.......

taking 'a short retreat' here and there ..away from the stressful scene...and sharing the thoughts and reviews (i've been doing it on tripadvisor... dang !)....  it's not sinful... just voicing out... huhu...

feel free to comment on anything....

serendipity !!