Fernweh 2017 - Bayou Lagoon Resort

"My personal hobbies are reading, listening to music, and silence" - Edith Sitwell

In the name of Allah, the Beneficient, the Most Merciful.

Hello everyone. Just some updates on a recent short vaccay with Airiel. I went to Bayou Lagoon Resort in Melaka. 

It was the cheapest on Hotels.com so I made a booking and off we went. Let me show you the pics:-

Nice spacious lobby with high ceilings









The room was nice and spacious. It has a kitchenette. Airiel and I bunked here.

The park was not bad and kept Airiel entertained. Of course Mama was forced to go up slides like 50 times. Huarghhh.

The breakfast was also not bad. Loved the porridge. 

Check out their deals. All deals include waterpark tickets and breakfast. There are 1,2,3 bedroom apartments too, so its perfect for families.

A worthwhile trip. Airiel is already pestering me for the next one. Hmmmnnn where should I take him? Any suggestions? Drop me a line. 

Much love from Airiel and I.

Peace and love to everyone.

Hilton Hotel, Kuching

"I suspected that what happens in hotel rooms rarely lasts outside of them. I suspected that when something was a beginning and an ending at the same time, that meant it could only exist in the present..." ~ Rachel Cohn

In the name of Allah, the Beneficient, the Almighty.

Time for me to update you guys on my recent working trip to Kuching.

I stayed at the Hilton hotel. I bought some vouchers and became part of their luxury thingymajig programme for the year and so far it has been very useful.

So back to the room.

I was given a room with a view to the river and the opposite village. The room had a bathtub and the bed was super comfy!

Everything was top notch. 

If there was one complaint, it was that Hilton does not give complimentary wifi. You either become a member of their group for free (and then you get the wifi) or you have to buy for daily use. Baffling if you ask me in this day and age where complimentary wifi is an expected standard in all hotels. I mean even my fave budget hotel has free wifi in Sg Siput.

Anyway, I bought the vouchers which include hotel discounts, hotel buffet discounts etc and for those who travel often, it is worth it totally! Plus she arranges my bookings and all for me. So it's so convenient.

Email me or pm to get details of the person I bought it from okay? You can buy it from her.

Until the next update. 

Much love from Airiel and I.

Peace and love to everyone.

Lets Get Lost 2017 - MU Hotel, Ipoh

"At some point, you have to stop running and turn around and face whoever that wants you dead. The hard thing is finding the courage to do it..." ~ Suzanne Collins 

Hi readers,

So for the long labour day weekend I was attending a cousin's wedding in Ipoh. We decided to stay at the Ibis Styles hotel that got renamed the MU Hotel.

I loved my room! 

So the room has a modern contemporary feel and it has a sliding door that closes the shower and the toilet based on where you slide it. You can't close both at the same time though.

This is the seating area near the lifts 

The hallway 

It has like an internet and workspace area... 

 The lobby is pretty cute!

I do love the feel and the design. No pool though and no porter. For a short stay it was nice. Located in the middle of town and 5 mins drive from Ipoh Parade.

Rates were reasonable.

My review of the hotel is somewhere on booking.com

Until further updates, much love from Airiel and I.

Peace and love to everyone. 

Weekie 2017 - Holiday Villa Subang

"It's like the people who believe they'll be happy if they go and live somewhere else, but who learn it doesn't work that way. Wherever you go, you take yourself with you, if you see what I mean..." 

~ Neil Gaiman

Hello readers,

Some updates on my previous weekie I had with my little family.

We went to Holiday Villa Subang, an old hotel in the Subang area.

The lobby was spacious and airy and really cozy. We got complimentary drinks!

 Airiel and I!

The bathroom was huge with a shower and a bathtub.

It had a sort of living room and couch in front of the bed and of course a working desk.

Couldn't beat the view too. Lovely

I loved how spacious the rooms are and despite it being an old hotel, they did a lovely job of refurbishing it.

The kids enjoyed the pool and the rooms itself, and had a fine time in the bathtub too!

I would definitely recommend this hotel to anyone looking for a weekend away.

Much love from Airiel and I. Peace and love to everyone.

Weekie 2016 - Grand Lexis Port Dickson

"And now I was older, and the wishful props of future selves had lost their comforts. I might always feel some form of this, a depression that did not lift but grew compact and familiar, a space occupied like the sad limbo of hotel rooms" ~ Emma Cline

Hello readers,

The only reason I am getting to update this today is because I am down with vertigo and is resting at home. It was only a matter of time before an attack hit, I literally felt it coming. And then boom.

Anyway, last year's end of the year weekie was awfully fun for Airiel and I. We went to Grand Lexis PD and it was simply awesome.

The villa comes with a pool which Airiel did not want to go into at first because he thought it was deep and he was afraid he would drown. Once he was comfortable though he basically refused to get out and forced me to stay in the pool with him! 

The bathroom and toilet was clean and was a separate space, although it was next to each other.

It had a nice lounge seating area. 

It had a working table which I used for work while Airiel played. 

The kitchen was a nice huge size with a microwave and basic essentials. 

The powder area is situated in front of the toilet/shower and was quite spacious as well.

The best part was of course the twin king beds. They were simply huge! Airiel and I was super comfortable.

This is one hotel that I have absolutely no complaints about. The staff was friendly, no request was too much for them and check in was fast, despite the crazy end of the year crowd.

The place was clean and all facilities were working.

I would recommend this place to anyone with kids and family. If you are aurat conscious opt for the villa with the pool that cannot be seen outside like mine. And then put your bikini on and jump in!!

Much love from Airiel and I.

Peace and love to everyone.

Top 5 booking websites I use to book hotels

"Since the Industrial Revolution, we've treated our world like it was a hotel room and

we were rock stars" ~ Blake Crouch

Hello readers.

Some of you readers have asked me where do I book my rooms for my travels.

This post hopefully answers that question for you guys. Just to inform you that for most of my travels to other continents, depending on  the safety issues involved I would take a tour. 

But for familiar south east asian destinations, I book my rooms on these websites and it starts from the bottom to the top:-

5. AirBnb

I have honestly only used this service once before. But that's because of my preference for hotels I think. I would rather have the 'inclusive of breakfast' and 'free wifi' things thrown in when I book for a place. But you would be surprised at how much these extras cost and thats why most rooms in AirBnb is cheaper than the hotels. Plus some owners now offer free wifi.  AirBnb does not currently partner with Shopback or Milkadeal cashback and that makes it less popular for me. If you want to know what I mean by cashback go to my earlier post on getting more value for the money you spend here. On the plus side, some really awesome but hidden getaways can be found only on AirBnb like the Twinkle Villa and this awesome Private Resort and we are only scratching the surface of Selangor here. It's therefore worth to surf and to give it a try. The very real and honest reviews from the users also help immensely in making your choice.

4. Expedia

Expedia partners with Shopback and Milkadeal although you would have to check the rates on which sites offers you the most cashback. At the moment Shopback is offering 9% of the value of your booking while Milkadeal 6%. I used this site for my bookings in Melaka earlier this year. The plus side for expedia is you can opt to book flights as well so it kind of doubles as an all useful travel agent hahaha. If you click on the last minute deals icon on the site it tells you the lowest deal flights to certain destinations that you can book last minute and more flights plus hotels package at some really good prices. I have one quip about this site though, and that would be its annoying habit to change its prices to a slightly higher rate when you are ready to book after perusing for a while and would  like to  make payment. I would rather they stick to the prices they quote initially but it depends on your luck!

3. Agoda

It partners with both Shopback and Milkadeal usually at the same rate so thats a definite plus. It also has depending on the day some of the best value hotel rooms I have ever come across. The catch? Most of the greatest deals like really cheap ones must be paid up front in full and is non refundable so you must make sure that your travel plans are confirmed because cancelling is a no go. Certain deals also come with complimentary enrich miles points so you are getting a cashback + enrich miles which can both be redeemed later. Thats just super awesome! On top of that agoda has its own credit system which can be redeemed to offset against any later bookings, although you must reach certain amounts of credits before it can be used.

2. Hotels.com

This website is currently moving fast up my favourites list. What I love about it? When you book 10 nights you get one night free equivalent to the average amount per night you have spent on the 10. So lets say you have a free night equivalent to RM250? book a hotel room at RM300 and pay only RM50 being the difference.  This site also partners with shopback and milkadeal so its cashback + free nights! 

1. Booking

I am a veteran on booking. I use this for almost all my hotel bookings as most hotels agree to not charge up front and I can opt to make payment only upon check in at the hotel. Most of the time I do not have to pay extra to get that, unlike Agoda where cancellation up to a certain date or paying only upon check in will result in you paying higher rates. It partners with both milkadeal and shopback, although it does not currently offer anything else as a bonus compared to the other websites above. That being said, as my family travel plans can change drastically I usually opt for this website for family bookings (we tend to book an average of 5 rooms per trip, phewwww). 

Tip : When you want to do bookings, open all these websites at once and compare the prices before deciding. Good luck and happy travels!

Much love from Airiel and I. 

Peace and love to everyone.

Weekie 2016 - Quayside Hotel

"See that day as I remember it. A day in June, River Severn rolling to the sea, diamonded with sunlight, gulls gliding over the quays on a mild breeze that lifted the Red Dragon standard over Camelot. A quiet enough day for the end of my world..." ~ Parke Godwin

In the name of Allah the Beneficent, the most Merciful

Hello readers.

Another update on my weekie in Melaka.

I stayed at another hotel after checking out of the Shore. Decided to stay closer to the old town area so I can walk and experience all the sights on foot.

I decided on the Quayshore hotel. I was told by the friendly staff that quayside hotel was previously a warehouse, and the owners decided to stick with the theme when they remodeled it into a hotel.

The tables were converted from those huge wheelie things where they wrapped cables and ropes and stuff. God knows what they are called.

Look at the awesome staircase 

The hotel consists of 2 floors and is completely open 

 Love this lamp and the room was pretty cozy.

 The bathroom was sufficient

Remainder of the pics of the room 

Look at those chandeliers and couches. Its such a quirky and cozy place. I absolutely loved the interior design.

The hotel is located opposite the balai polis and a short 2 minute walk from the places where you find the trishaws. So its centrally located. Parking is on a first come first serve basis so it depends pretty much on luck. There is plenty of parking after the peak hours so you may have to park at the melaka cruise place behind the hotel and customs museum and change it later after traffic has died down.

I have to say though, the mattress and the pillows here was one of the most uncomfortable ones I have ever come across in any hotel I have stayed at so far, and I have stayed at a lot of hotels. So after a long day of walking, it was quite disappointing to lie down on such hard pillows and substandard mattresses.

All in all, if you want to stay at a hotel near to all the historical locations, it doesnt get any better  than this (but the pillows and mattress can be so much better please!). So give it a try.

Much love from Airiel and I.

Peace and love to everyone.