Log Percutian: Langkawi Retreats - The Westin Resort & Spa

Papan tanda ni kau orang akan jumpe before sampai di lobi hotel untuk registration. Tempat dia memang secluded sket, tu yang buat syiok tu..Kalau kau orang drive, pegi arah Pekan Kuah dan amik arah Jetty, dan lepas Jetty tu straight je then jumpe tempat ni. 

Tempat lepak sementara tunggu gua check in.

Lobby counters.

Gambaran yang lebih luas lobby area.

Lepak-lepak di sofa. Ada drink free flow disediakan sementara tunggu diaorang buat keje.

Perkhidmatan agak cemerlang di sini, standard hotel mahal-mahal la..gua sampai terus drive pegi main lobby, dia ade dua lobby..lobby lagi satu tu macam takde function. Park depan lobby terus keluar kereta, concierge guy (bahasa melayu apa eh, kalau tanya google translate dia kata pekerja rencam, rencam pun gua tatau jadah apa) dia tau la nak buat apa..dia akan angkutkan sume beg-beg dan parkkan kereta tu. Rase cam bos. Every time nak keluar dan balik, brader-brader ni yang akan parkkan kete dan amik kete untuk kau. Masa check in, hotel receptionist tu akan briefly explain la the surroundings; pools, bar, restaurants etc.

Jom tengok bilik yang gua stay for 3 days 2 nights. Deluxe room with partial ocean view. Kalau ada anak baik amik double bed. Itu adalah oversized single bed. Besar dari biasa. So dua adults tu bole lagi la nak tido sekatil. 

Baby cot tu no charges.

The flat screen can barely see right?

Itu je sofa yang disediakan

Ada verandah, boleh lepak dekat luar tu. Disediakan a pair of chair and small coffee table.

Closet.

One of the bed. Sini dia famous dengan 'Heavenly Bed...' motto.

Amacam? Nice ke tak? ke nampak macam biasa je? Tapi gua tak puas ati sket sebab thermostat untuk aircond and controller kipas tu rosak. Yela, dah baya mahal-mahal, diaorang bukan nak check dulu bilik tu ok ke tak. Lepas complaint, diaorang dispatch technician untuk fix the problem. Macam palat jugak rasa. Orang nak rilek-rilek letih travel tadi, ada plak gangguan dalam bilik. 

Tak cukup dengan thermostat, kapasitor air-cond pun bole rosak daa..celaka sungguh!

Thermostat control and kipas controller. 

Lepas tu bukannya nak mintak maaf ke apa, dah la spend more than one hour dalam bilik tu..pastu diaorang spent lagi one hour nak tuka kapasitor masa kitaorang keluar untuk dinner. Bab ni pihak hotel memang tak professional langsung jaga kebajikan customer. Dah la, gua pun tanak amik ati sangat..

Biasa kalu gua pegi bercuti kat hotel-hotel ni, gua selalu jadikan Pangkor Laut Resort sebagai benchmark gua. Resort tu memang terbaek la setakat ni, takde lagi yang boleh chalen. Kebiasaannya breakfast. Pangkor Laut punya memang champion. Kalau dekat The Westin ni, bagi aku biasa je..gua rasa Holiday Inn pun lagi best. Dah la tempat tu tak spacious sangat kalau nak dibandingkan dengan jumlah guest, lebih-lebih lagi time peak macam minggu gua pegi ni. Sampai kene tunggu kejap la nak duduk sebab full house. Bukan gua je, ada la jugak dua tiga family pun kene..Patutnya improvise la sket kan..Improvise ikut suka la macam mana. 

Robot tu sampai Langkawi dia angkut ke hulu ke hilir.

Kejap yea, ibu tengah amik foods.

Itu je la yang gua berselera nak makan.

Youtube Transformer avid viewer.

Ini je la yang gua snap. Busy sangat uruskan anak-anak untuk breakfast. Tapi roti canai die memang legend. Best.  

Walaupun breakfast tak mengancam sangat, tapi ambient die mengancam. Dekat resort ni ada tiga pools. I mean swimming pool. Kalau kau orang ada anak-anak kecil macam gua ni, biasa satu pool tu je la yang kau orang akan melekat. Children pool. 

Overlooking Infinity Pool. Tak dalam sangat pun. Tak sabar nak mandi la tu.

Gambaran yang lebih jelas.

Children's pool. Gua abeskan masa dekat sini mandi manda. Takat buku lali je.

Muke happy.

Muke confius.

Kali ni tak payah nak ikut ke hulu ke hilir sebab tak dalam sangat.

Lagi satu pool dia, dengan dengan beach. Apa tah nama dia.

Ini macam natural sket la..ada boulders bagai.

Second day morning swim.

Best kan surrounding dia. Memang bagus lepak-lepak. Air pool dia agak sejuk jugak. Kalau dekat The Legend Water Village, now known as The Grand Lexis, dia punya air swimming pool dia warm sket, tapi pool still tak boleh chalen sini la. 

Jom tengok gambar lain pulak. 

Tempat-tempat lepak yang available dkat situ.

One of the restaurant. Twice a week ada BBQ kat sini. Tepi pantai ni. Ingat nak try aritu tapi kekenyangan makan di Hole In The Wall Restaurant, so tak jadi.

Ada few massage hut.

Beach takde orang mandi, macam ada something going on like pembaik pulihan.

Villa area.

Apa lagi nak cerita, gua pun tatau. Masa gua bercuti ni, Datuk Farid Ridzuan pun ada sekali dengan family dia. Ala bekas CEO TV3 tu, sekarang dah jadi pegawai media Najib Razak.

Hotel ni ada provide kereta sewa. Mini Cooper. Mahal nak mampus sehari beratus-ratus. Tak logik langsung. Banyak lagi kereta sewa kat Langkawi tu.

Bergambar dulu before balik. Breeze Bar, lobby area.

Damage gua seperti di bawah:

Deluxe Partial Ocean View - MYR 1,057.00 nett per room per night, inclusive of daily buffet breakfast for 2 persons

Rooms have a partial ocean view from the spacious private balcony, coffee table & two-seaters sofa, separate bath & shower. Total room size - 52 square meters.

So darab dua la MYR 2114 untuk 3 hari 2 malam. Biasa rate dia murah sket, tapi sebab peak, cuti sekolah bagai. Mendapat la. 

Log Percutian: Langkawi Retreats - The Journey

Lepas je gua balik dari Saudi, terus gua set dengan orang rumah untuk bercuti raya nanti. Bincang punya bincang kami sepakat nak gi Langkawi. So masa kat opis bulan pose aritu, masa yang ada gua gunakan untuk survey-survey tempat kat Langkawi. Baca blog tu, baca blog ni, bukak website tu, bukak website ni. 

Bile gua pegi? - 12th hingga 14th August 2013.

Setelah diskas-diskas, gua buat tempahan hotel, The Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa. Nanti gua olah pasal resort ni kat entry lain. Transportation gua pilih Malaysia Airline untuk perjalanan pegi dan balik Kuala Lumpur - Langkawi. Masa gua beli tiket, mahal lebih kurang sama dengan Air Asia, so gua amik MAS. Damage untuk flight MYR 1522; 2 dewasa, 1 kanak-kanak dan 1 baby 11 bulan. 

Memula gua ingat nak drive pegi KLIA dan park kete dekat situ, gua cek dia offer MYR 129 untuk minimum 3 hari. Gua punye percutian tak sampai 3 hari, 2 hari lebih je pastu kene baya full amount plak. Kalau naik taxi kene baya MYR 65 one way. Bawak kereta minyak lagi, tol lagi. Tak berbaloi, baik naik taxi je. 

Long term parking space at KLIA. Caj MYR 43/day untuk minimum 3 hari. 

Pukul 0700am dah gerak dari rumah kat Bukit Mahkota dengan Airport Limo - Waja. Walaupun flight pukul 0950am, sampai cepat sikit takpe, breakfast kat airport lepas siap-siap check in. Biasa domestic flight musim cuti sekolah ni ramai orang. Kitaorang makan kat restoran apa tah nama dia, depan Famous Amos before KFC tu. 

Tu makan dia, nak sangat makan dekat airport. MYR 42.60.

1 Teh ais, 1 Milo ais dan 2 nasi lemak satu lauk ayam goreng lagi satu lauk daging rendang. Bapak mahal. Tax kaw-kaw punye. 

Muke happy nak gi bercuti. Perut pun dah kenyang.

Kitaorang punye transportation. B737-800

Camwhoring dalam flight before take off. Dah take off sume membuta. 

Perjalanan mengambil masa selama 55 minit, kami sampai on time seperti yang dijadualkan. Syukur, sebab time pegi kene la on-time, kalau balik nak delay takpe..nanti lari plak itinerary yang dah disetkan dalam kepala otak ni. Kereta sewa pun sampai kat airport on-time jugak..memang terbaek. Sampai-sampai je, kereta dah ada dekat parking bay. Wifey yang uruskan kereta sewa, memula sewa Toyota Vios tapi alih-alih dapat Volkswagen Polo Sedan pada harga yang sama. Wifey baya MYR 200 for the car. Rental for 2 days, walaupun lebih few hours tapi takde extra charges. 

Plastik seat pun tak cabut lagi. Gua isi MYR 50 untuk minyak. Masa pulangkan tu banyak lebih lagi. Untung diaorang.

First activity, gua tuju ke Telaga Harbour Park - Perdana Quay untuk makan lunch. Ade few options but some of them closed on that day. So kami bersantap di The Loaf. Gua dengar The Loaf ni Mahathir punya, tatau la btol ke tak..Kalau btol gua dah menkayakan orang dah memang kaya raya. 

Spagetthi Carbonara - untuk anak gua dan wife. Lazat jugak.

Authentic Laksa Utara - Rasa laksa la, rasa apa lagi ek..tapi pedas sket. Gua makan separuh then wifey sapu abes.

Yang ni terbaek dari ladang. Banana Alforno ke apa tah nama dia. 

Kalau korang baca entry gua yang Madam Kwan's tu, dessert yang gua tunggu tu ni la dia. Memang best, banana goreng tanpa tepung letak air gula kot pastu topped dengan vanilla ice cream. Kalau gua gi mana-mana restaurant yang ada dessert ni, gua akan order.

Appetizer gua, croissont choc dengan apa tah, ada sosej lam roti tu.

Air yang diorder. Ice Chocolate, Teh O ais dan Orange juice.

Jom tengok ambient dia plak macam mana kat keliling The Loaf ni.

Dalam restoran.

Depan restoran. Sapa ada yacht ke boat ke bole parking depan tu nak datang makan kat Telaga Harbour ni.

Sebahagian view Perdana Quay.

Orang umah.

Yours truly and the youngest.

Makan dekat situ lebih kurang macam makan dekat Madam Kwan's. Gua abes dalam MYR 76 untuk semua hidangan di atas. 

Abes makan ingat nak pegi jalan-jalan dekat Oriental Village, tapi bila sampai sana, mashaallah punye la ramai manusia. Tak jadi singgah. Terus menuju ke Pekan Kuah tapi lalu Pantai Cenang nak cuci mata tengok apa ada kat situ. 

Thoughts From the Field

First day at office after a long holiday for eid celebration with family in Malaysia. It was two weeks off! Now I'm ready to serving my company to the field of god knows where. Reading some thoughts of one Technical Director of my company, Mr. Rodney Janssen based in Jeannette, to one of his staff who has retired recently. Mr. Kevin Smelser, he was a Senior Field Service Technician retired after 38 years with the company. I cannot imagine how one could work that long in one place. Must be something that make him/her to keep loyal to the company. 

Rodney first met Kevin on July 4th 1989 at the Campbell Soup Plant in Napoleon, Ohio. Rodney was new to Elliott that time, dispatched to train with Kevin on repairs to three pinion PAPs installed at the plant. 

Elliott's three pinion PAPs motor driven air compressor I worked on before I join Elliott. This product is no longer in Elliott-Ebara production. It had been sold to China company and later to be call FS-Elliott. 

According to Rodney, like many in field service, Kevin missed countless birthdays, holidays, weddings and funerals while doing his job for Elliott. He recall one December when they shipped a 46M gas compressor to China and then enjoyed a wonderful Christmas holiday. Meanwhile Kevin was 9,000 miles away on an emergency shutdown in China and his family spent Christmas without him. Elliott's field service teams are often on the road 200 days a year but they rarely complain about missing the special events which most of others take for granted.

I am truly grateful that I was able to celebrate a wonderful eidulfitri with family this year. So far on my 9th year of career, I still never miss to celebrate eidulfitri with my family. Hopefully I still can on next year and years after. Finger crossed! On my line of duty, I cannot put the hope up so high, I don't know where and when they will send me. Just hope for the best. 

Log Makan-Makan: Madam Kwan's @ Pavillion

Gua rasa ini kali ke dua gua makan dekat Madam Kwan's. First time was a long time ago dekat cawangan di Mid Valley kalau tak silap. Tak ingat bila. So ini berlaku on 4th Syawal, bila dah pulang dari kampung at Kempas so we decided to do some shopping for our getaway to Langkawi at Pavillion. When first arrived, we browse through all the restaurant nak mentekedarah for lunch dan akhirnya Madam Kwan's menjadi pilihan hati. Di first floor kedai dia sebelah Tony Romas.

Nasi Bojari yang gua belasah time tu. Picture courtesy Trip Advisor. 

Wife gua belasah mushroom chicken rice. Picture ni pun courtesy some dude's flickr.

Great foods however suck services and I think over-priced.

Wife gua ada order dessert and she asked the dessert to be served after the meal. Diaorang memang ada banyak ample time untuk buat itu dessert. Bila dah abes mentekedarah, gua mintak pelayan dia serve kan dessert yang kami order. 

Pelayan diaorang ni pun satu, memang susah tul nak serve, dari time nak amik order sampai la nak ke bayar. Gua ada order appetizer, dumpling goreng. kalau goreng-goreng ni gua memang suka cicah dengan cili sos. So gua panggil pelayan dia (after few rounds of hail the waiters), gua tanya "Sini ada cili sos tak?", dia replied "Ada!" dan terus berlalu pergi. Gua ingat dia nak pergi amikkan gua cili sos. Tapi haram..penutup botol cili sos pun gua tak nampak. Table lain ada je gua nampak cili sos. Maybe dia ingat gua just tanya je kot..sebab gua pun bertanya je bukan mintakkan. 

So berbalik pada dessert tadi, after 15 minutes, dengan anak meragam lagi, dessert tu tak sampai-sampai jugak. Panggil lagi waiter dia remind. So macam orang bodo tunggu lagi dekat situ maybe this time only 10 minutes. Tak sampai jugak. Third time gua panggil waiter cakap kalu tak buat lagi kensel and bagi bil. 

Gua tunggu 2, 3 minutes terus gua pegi counter mintak bil and bayar. Waiter tu cakap dia dah cancel gua punye dessert. Sebab angin sangat gua tak cek pun bil tu. 

Gua bayar MYR 86.50 untuk dua hidangan atas tu, satu milky bandung, satu ice chocolate, satu teh ais and satu pinggan dumpling goreng (ada 4 ketul). 

Gua harap kedai tu bertukar jadi kedai Wong Solo lagi bagus. 

Log Makan-Makan: Restaurant Hua Mui

Hua Mui is a pioneer of western colonial hainanese food, even when you ask around at Johor Bahru for hainanese food, they will direct you to this restaurant - This was based on some forumer feedback about this restaurant. Former state minister of Johor also, Ghani Othman had dining here. I could tell by the picture hanging on the wall of the restaurant. 

I went there with family and the rest of in laws on 3rd Syawal, after been invited by the FIL - father in law. He was regular once there 10 years ago and before. When we arrived 15 minutes before 1pm, the place was full with diners for lunch. It is a two storey restaurant, we had to wait for less than 5 minutes before we were allowed to be seated at the second floor. The owner is Chinese, the customers are multi-races. 

The sign board - restaurant is situated at Jalan Trus.

The big menu board you can see inside the restaurant at the ground level.

Physically there is nothing remotely modern about the restaurant, just a regular hainanese restaurant in the British era. Based on FIL, it's the western food that Hua Mui is best known for, which is probably the regulars keep returning. But we were not ordered that. Because we've been told that it could take long times for the western foods. So I had fried kuew tiau, the rest were having hailam noodles and hua mui fried rice. I could not remember what wifey had for the lunch though - Some spicy fried rice I guess. Our meals arrived after almost 1 hour.

Some appetizer - Nothing special about the Roti Bakar. It just delicious like in other kopitiams. 

My cuisine. I had better than this. The fried egg is a must additional.

Hua Mui Fried Rice. 

Wifey meal which I forgot the name. I believe it could be spicy.

Hailam Noodles

I didn't taste the other foods, but according to FIL, the taste is different compared to his last meal 10 years ago. I quite amazed he could still remember the taste from 10 years ago. Judging by the numbers of people in the restaurant, I believe it still making profit. Next time if I come, I will try the western foods. I still cannot understand why people keep returning to this restaurant for dining option. 

Actually we were there the night before but it was closed and we returned again the next day for lunch. 

Some of the photos hanging on the wall - some famous faces and events organized there.

Very old Coca Cola advertisement, I like that. It was just 5¢ back then.

Antique cash register machine - I bet it not functional anymore.

Damage untuk lunch, unknown sebab FIL yang bayar. 

Log Makan-Makan: Serai @ Shaftbury

Last day in Ramadhan, gua dekat umah parents in law. Gua yang tadinya mengantuk skang dah tak boleh nak tido dah. Anak-anak pun tengah tido, orang umah tengah tolong-tolong kat dapur tu, mengacau ke memasak ke tatau la tu. Di atas kesempatan ini, gua ambil keputusan nak mem-blog. 

On 26th Ramadhan, gua sepakat ngan orang umah nak iftar dekat luar. So kami pilih Restaurant Serai @ Shaftbury di Cyberjaya. Lagi satu premis restaurant ni terletak di Empire Shopping Gallery. Actually gua yang nak makan kat situ, sebab tak pnah lagi jejak kaki ke situ, wifey on the other hand dah kerap kali melantak kat situ. 

Gambar ni gua cilok kat blog lain. 

Lepas suh wifey buat tempahan meja, kul 1820hrs kitaorang gerak dari umah di Bukit Mahkota. Sebab macam dah lambat, gua pecut sket takut lambat pulak sampai, lambat la order foods untuk iftar. Dekat sini takde buffet. 5 minutes before 1900hrs, kitaorg dah duduk dekat meja. Dah few minutes duduk takde orang nak serve bagi menu ke apa ke, aku suh wifey panggil pelayan dia. Puk pak puk pak, siap order sume, so tunggu waktu maghrib plak sambil amek gamba dan camwhoring..huhu.

Buah kurma disediakan atas dasar complimentary bulan Ramadhan.

Wifey and Emil. Yang second tak bawak sekali sebab too young to enjoy the foods.

Setelah almost one hour menunggu, foods kami pun sampai di meja. Menurut wifey selaku pengunjung setia kedai ni, kalau waktu-waktu biasa, foods tu cepat je diserve. Maybe jugak sebab bulan puasa, orang ramai datang serentak dan order serentak. Sempat la gua menunaikan solat maghrib dulu before menjamah makanan. 

So apa yang gua order untuk iftar aritu:

Ini nama dia, "Deepfried Salted Egg Squid".

Memang ada rasa telur masin. Boleh tahan jugak, lain dari yang lain. Not so crispy. In fact not crispy at all la walaupun deepfried. Gua bagi 3 out of 5 stars untuk juadah ni. Sebab expectation gua nak makan sotong goreng tepung, tapi rase lain. 

Untuk sayuran, gua pilih "deepfried crispy brinjal with serai spice".

Sayur eggplant ni kalau goreng tepung memang favorite gua. Masa kitaorang menetap kat Putrajaya dulu, kerap kali gua suruh wife gua masak juadah ni. Tapi dekat sini dia ada tambah perisa lagi, ada rasa manis-manis sos tu. And gua memang suka manis-manis. So hidangan ni boleh dapat 4 stars dari gua. Bila dah 4 stars maknanya boleh repeat next time. 

Dia punye main course, gua pilih "Steamed fish with lime sauce".

Bagi gua, gua agak kecewa dengan hidangan ni, gua tatau mana kurang dia tapi gua rasa lagi best makan steamed fish kat restoran-restoran seafood yang gua pernah pegi. Yang gua rasa cuma lime je. So untuk kali ni, gua boleh bagi 2 stars je.

Untuk drinks gua pilih milky bandung, wifey pulak air limau dan Emil Ice Chocolate untuk gantikan milo yang tak dijual di Serai. Oh, wifey tambah lagi satu drink, teh ais.

Semua hidangan kat atas tu kami makan dengan nasi putih. 

With her drink.

With mine.

Sambil duduk-duduk gua jenguk Foursquare nak tengok ada tak tips-tips yang berguna. Gua dapat satu tips suruh try dia punya Pavlova. Dia kata sedap. So gua order satu.

Memang berbaloi-baloi. Ini hidangan yang paling best malam tu.

Pendapat-pendapat kat atas ni cuma pendapat peribadi gua je. Lain orang lain rasanya. Or maybe kalau pegi bukan bulan Ramadhan lain plak rasanya kan. 

Oh semua sekali damage dalam MYR 166.80.