3D2N Island Escapade: Tioman Island

Assalamualaikum.

It's almost 2 months since my last post. Obviously, I been a bit off the blogging track lately. Gonna blame all of those never ending Korean drama marathon, ngehehe! It's going to be a super long post so bear with me hokey!

Alhamdullillah, ticked off another must do from my 2016 list; Island Escapade. This year we went to Tioman Island at dog-cheap price. This Island escape wasn't as smooth as past Island escape tho. Too much obstacles that frustrated and freaking us.

On the day we begin our journey i.e on 31/3/2016, we found out that our travel agent (Flywind Holidays Sdn Bhd) failed to secure our booking with our resort of choice (Dumba Bay Resort). We were going to take 9.45pm bus from KL to Kluang that night! Imagine how panic &  frustrated we were. Bad mood terus the whole day! Luckily, by 4pm that day, the resort gave us solution though not the best solution because we end up staying at different resort. Feel relief but wasn't as excited anymore. Bad and unprofessional service from a so-called good travel agent whom not only depressing us but also leaving us solving the problem caused by them till the end, hmmm...

By 8.30pm, when I was on my way to nearby LRT station (Bandar Puteri), received text from Just & Lin, notifying me about train service disruption to Sri Petaling, meaning me too cannot go to TBS station by LRT. Oh my..Another obstacles! After weaving thru the traffics before the Sunway plaza tol, manage to arrive at TBS at 9.15pm. Thanks hubby for being my supir. Just and Lin also manage to arrive just on time, phew!! By 10pm, our bus took off and safely arrived at Kluang around 1am on 1st April. Oh ya, we opted to transit at Kluang and stayed at Lin's home (thank you Lin's mom for having us) instead of taking bus directly to Mersing because we think it was more safe. Bahaya malam2 lalu tu Jalan Mersing dorang cakap (><).

Before we go to Kluang bus terminal, sempat lagi we drop by at The Original Kluang Station Coffee situated in the heart of Kluang Town and tapau those must try Kluang roti Bakar. Sedap tu roti bakar makan panas-panas. Our bus scheduled to depart at 10.30am but unfortunately the bus was having air-cond problem and we have to wait for replacement bus which arrived after an hour and half later. Betul-betul dugaan..

Above: In front of Lin's house at Kluang
Below: At The Original Kluang Station Coffee

We reached Mersing bus terminal around 1pm and rushed to Kluang Jetty because we want to catch the 2pm ferry, hah! The distance from Mersing bus terminal is quite far. Under the scorching sun, it took us 15min to reach the jetty. Belum sampai pulau, tanned suda kami, ahaha! At the Jetty, our travel agent representative just passed us our ferry return tickets and resort sticker and we have to do all other stuff (queuing up for boarding pass and paying up the marine park ) by ourselves. How inconvenient was that!! Finally we departed to Tioman Island at 3pm.

Pic At Mersing Jetty waiting for our turn to board the Ferry, Inside The Ferry & Sticker of our supposedly Resort 

Around 5pm, we reached  our destination at Kg Genting, Tioman Island. Staff from Dumba Bay was waiting to transport their customer's luggage/bags. Since we were gonna stay at different resort, we have to register at Dumba Bay Resort 1st then checked in to Marina Bay Resort. We were not comfortable and feel like alienated. We even argued but given cold shoulder by the staff. They said that was their best solution, hurmmmm baiklah.. The room we got at Marina Bay Resort located  and we have numbers of bad memories of this room, grrrr!

We were here!

I was here!

After resting a bit, we wandered to the beach area in front of Marina Bay resort for some picture then to Dumba Bay for our dinner. We had our BBQ dinner buffet prepared by Dumba Staff that night. Food choices was limited tapi bikin kenyang juga la. We hang out at Dumba Bay lobby until 11pm before returning to our '5min along dark and eerie route' room, hehehe! Oh ya, they have karoake session after dinner.

Tioman's Sunset Wefie :)

Some of wefie took on our 1st night at Tioman. 

The next day (2nd April), at 9am we gathered at the jetty for snorkeling session. There were 3 spot; 1st at Pulau Renggis then at Marine Park (where we had our pre-packed lunch) . I forgot the last snorkeling spot name  tho, haha! I was having a great and amazing snorkeling session at Pulau Renggis and marine park because unlike Redang and Pangkor, I saw lots of marine life here in Tioman. It was so amazing experience to be surrounded by various kind of marine life! I wish we have those underwater camera to capture the moment with all of those marine life! We stopped by at Kg Tekek  to visit the duty free shop, where I bought some chocolates as souvenir for my kiddos before depart to the last snorkeling spot (I didn't snorkel there due to the strong waves). By 2pm we were back at Kg Genting.

Before breakfast & snorkeling session 

Wa

The only pic of me in the sea..LOL

That evening, before Maghrib, we went to the souvenirs shop in front of the Jetty to buy FM and taking pictures again. Oh ya, FM at duty free shop is more expensive..

More pictures taking after simple dinner that night.

And more pictures taking on our last day (3rd April) before we check out from our room.

Us in front of our room at Marina Bay Resort

Must do at beach: Lompatan Kanak2 Riang, LOL!

The staff inform us to stand by at the Jetty by 1pm or earlier for the 2pm ferry. Hurmm, at 3pm after fetching people from 2 stop then only the ferry finally depart to Mersing Jetty.

Our tiresome face, hehehe

Arrived at Jetty around 5pm and once again rushed to the bus terminal only to find out that last direct bus from Mersing-KL already departed. Lucikly there was another option i.e from Mersing to Kluang then to KL, phew!!! We transitted at Kluang around 8pm and around 12pm we arrived at TBS. 

Mission accomplished!

Despite all the complaint and whining along this island escape, I still enjoyed the whole trip. The lesson I have learnt will be useful for future trips/travels. Just and Lin said they might not visit Tioman again but to me, In Sha Allah kalau ada rezeki, I will come again because I think Tioman still have more to offer.

That's all from my point of view. You may head to Just's blog (Tioman Part 1, Tioman Part 2, Tioman Behind The Scene) for more detailed review, ngehehe!

Update: If anyone want to know how much we spent for this 3D2N Island escapade, please head to 

              Tioman: Expenses by Just. 

Family Day At Pengkalan Balak, Melaka

Assalamualaikum wbt.

Just want to share about family day (Mister family) that we attended last month before the draft become stale. Mister's sibling has been planning this family day/trip after the wedding of mister's brother on March. Although I am not part of their whatsapp group, my sis-in-law(SIL) always keep me on tabs on important news such as place selection, the date of execution and the theme for our family day. Pening ba saya ratus2 message come all in once bila on data/wifi. 

Our 1st choice was Desa Balqis Beach Resort but it was full on 29th and 30th August. So we opted for 2nd choice which is Pengkalan Balak and we choose to stay at Seraya Chalet. We all agreed to the blue theme and I am glad that my SIL heed my suggestion over using 'family day 2015' instead of 'family reunion 2015' on our blue-theme t-shirt. The T-shirt was cheap and I really like the material; soft and cool. It only costed RM68.80 for mister, me and kiddos T-shirt.

We drove from Puchong around 9.00am after having light breakfast of buns and milo and reached pengkalan Balak around 10.30am. Since the other family members just started their journey, we drove round and round looking for good stall/restaurant and choose this owned by an old man and have our lunch there. We ordered 6 plate of rice, 2 bowls of yummy asam pedas  ikan kembung (kuah is refillable), veges, fried chickens and 6 different beverage and it only costed us RM32. Super cheap and the food is delicious! Unfortunately I forgot the name of this stall (*sighed). 

The only pic I took at that time, LOL!

Around 2pm, the others arrived and we checked in to our room at Seraya Chalet. We booked 8 rooms in total at RM100/room which I considered cheap since it was peak season. We didn't start any games until 5.30pm because we were waiting for mister's eldest sister from Johor to arrive. Moreover it was scorching hot and  bit hazy that noon, jadi kami lepak-lepak, borak-borak sambil makan (lagi) makanan yang MIL masak dari rumah.

We are lucky because the beach was less crowded that we have the space to do all of those games created by SIL a.k.a the organizer. It was fun and hilarious games where we were divided into 4 group (adult+kids mixed). The guys cheated most of time (LOL) that the ultimate judge (MIL) find it hard to determine who is the winner. In the end, group who showed good cooperation won. Not much pic taken (by me) during games because I was busy having fun, hehehe!

Pics while doing games at the beach

Beside the games, I took the opportunity to do the banana boat rides with my sis-in-law and bro-in-law. The fee is cheap; RM10/pax with min 6pax per ride (approximately 15min). I was laughing hard for the whole ride because of my SIL keep screaming and 'swearing' every time we shouted 'fly' and 'terbalik' to the boat operator, hahahaha! Elan and Daniel also want to ride but mister didn't allow them to do so despite of green light from me. Hurmmm, kesian, nanti kamu besar sikit la baru main kio anak2.

Banana Boat ride

Incomplete 'us' - 2 is missing in action (sibuk mandi laut)

Mister's family

That night after Solat Maghrib and Isyak, we went for dinner hunting but end up with restaurant with terrible service and expensive with so-so foods, grrrrrr! We waited for almost 20min before the waitress took our order and have to wait for almost an hour before getting our food! Their excuses; short of staff. Duh, kasi tau awal-awal la ba kan. Lost appetite terus tu malam, grrrr!

Forced smile - Warning; Don't dine out at this restaurant!

After those horrible dinner, we continued with our family bonding time; random quizzes for kids, gift exchange for adults and lastly souvenirs/hampers for all of us. We keep chit-chatting after that and the others still chatting when I went to bed at 1am. Banyak betul gosip dorang, tidak terlayan saya mo dengar, kihkihkih!

Enjoying the night

The kids being asked random question about the family

Woke up early the next morning and have breakfast at nearby stall while kids went to play at the beach again. 3 bungkus nasi lemak kena bedal sebab terlampau lapar. By the time we checked out from Seraya Chalet, the haze was pretty bad so my family went back to Puchong while the others follow my MIL to her friend's kenduri. 

Overall, this family day was so fun and I think they will make this annual activity from now and hopefully will able to join it again (*finger crossed).

Family pic before bound back to Puchong + compulsory 'mikirayou' pose ;P

I heart this pic (^^) V

Oh well, hopefully this long post won't bore you all to death. Glad that finally I am able to publish this before my laziness strike. Until next post, peace!

3D2N At Nipah Bay Vila, Pangkor Island

Finally, made it to Pangkor Island 2 weeks ago after a month of planning with my girlfriends a.k.a Just, Lin and Lia. Happy? Of course because managed to tick off one of my "Island must visit In Malaysia" list, Ngehehehe! But frankly, it was not worth at all and as my friend Just said, "Indah khabar dari rupa"..hurmmm.

We were supposed to ride with Lia but due to some unexpected issue, Just, Lin and me have to go by ourselves 1st (Lia will arrived the next day). So, we took a bus from KL to Lumut this journey took almost 4.5 hours then another 30min boat ride from Lumut Jetty to Pangkor Jetty. From Pangkor Jetty, we took a pink taxi/bus to our hotel; Nipah Bay Villa. Check-in was smooth; no deposit required but any other special request such as kettle or hair-dryer or iron needed RM50 deposit. However the hotel we booked was such a disappointment! The floor is sandy and sticky, no sound proof and it's a bit isolated! Tambah kecewa bila nampak banyak lagi hotel/chalet yang more decent yang sama harga or maybe cheaper with Nipah Bay Villa, GRRRRR! Hoop to Lin if you curious of the pink taxi or Just blog to see what our hotel interior/exterior look like since I didn't took any pic of it, hahaha!

3 of us at Lumut Jetty before depart to Pangkor and 5 of us before going back to KL

Wefie in front of our hotel

DAY 1 (FRIDAY)

We spent our time food hunting, walking around the area and also have our share of experience feeding the hornbills.

berlakon seja tu macam kasi makan tu burung, hehe!

DAY 2 (SATURDAY)

Woke up early and went to the beach nearby taking lots of pics (selfie and wefie especially). Tambah teruk juling air saya bila tengok balik tu gambar-gambar. Terlampau banyak!!! Lol! We also managed to get good bargain of Island hopping + Snorkelling. RM15 seja, murah kan... BUT not worth at all because we did not snorkel at all! The only thing I can see was 'gamat'. No fish or coral at all and the water is so dirty and gross!  Bukan niat mau hina tapi it's a fact. I thought of taking my kiddos here this June but not anymore la..After Lia arrived, we chartered a taxi/bus to take us around the Island and visit local attraction such as Dutch Fort, Foo Lin Kong Temple-The Mini Great Wall Of China and a new open gallery where they display interesting stuff/relic  to public.

Island hopping

Me at Dutch Fort and Galleria

Me again, hahaha!

Just and Me

Lin and me

3 of us

Wefie again, lol!

5 of us

DAY 3 (SUNDAY)

Accompany Lia and her son to play at the beach before checking out from our hotel. This time we ride with Lia, so sempat singgah di Leaning Tower of Teluk Intan. Thought of jalan-jalan cari  makan at Teluk Intan but most of those recommended stall/restaurant was closed and we end up having late lunch at Mamak restaurant instead, hihihi. Arrived at KL around 8pm and I reached home around 10.30pm after having dinner with my family. 

Us, in front of the leaning Tower, Teluk Intan.

I heart this pic so much! Thank you Just for snapping this :D

The trip was a disappointment but still I cherished the times and moments I spent alone with my friends since I rarely hang out with them nowadays. Regarding Pangkor Island, I wish they can do something to restore the beauty it once had. I know that it was a beautiful island once that attracted lot of tourist but without preservation and conservation it become what it look like now (*sigh).

Alright, that's all about our trip to Pangkor Island. Have a good day and week ahead you all!

Cuti-Cuti Malaysia: Kuala Terengganu

Hello hello blogging world!

How's your day so far? The haze problem here in Puchong is quite bad today :( My kids especially my 2nd son and daughter is facing a breathing problem  a.k.a asthma and it's made me worried :(  I even deterred my eldest son from participating in his sport day. Hopefully this air pollution will be solved soonest before it caused further damage (*sigh). As promised, I am going to share a bit here and there about my family short vacation during school holiday early June.

3 week ago on 31st May until 2nd June, we went to Terengganu for short vacation and.. Si mama malar berjalan, main bujang2 so it was kiddos turn to have fun and at the same time to visit their relatives from their father's side.

We stayed at Saudagar Beach Resort (located  for 2 night that costed me RM160 per night for family room, a spacious room with 3 queen-size mattress and a small but clean bathroom. Actually the normal rates is RM110 for family room but since it was peak season (school holiday), the price has been increased. The room was okay but I couldn't stand the noise of people talking or even poo-pooing from the room next door.. Buli kamu bayangkan apa perasaan saya bila dengar bunyi kentut yang teramat kuat dari bilik sebelah? Gross but funny as well.. Hahaha! I choose this resort not only because it was the only hotel that have vacant room for that weekend but also because it have a very nice beach where you can let you kids swim and play with the sand. I love beach, so did my kids :)

At Pantai Kemasik

Where we stayed

Interior of our room

Visiting kids' father kampung

We spent most of our 1st day at kids' father kampung and only went back to our hotel at night. On the 2nd day, we spent half of our day at the beach just behind Saudagar Beach Resort and the kids were having fun playing with sand but no swimming on that day because of the wild waves. In the afternoon, we went to Bukit Puteri, Turtle Alley, Chinatown and also the famous Pasar Payang.

Enjoying the morning sea breeze

Can't let the kids swim but didn't mean they can't play with the bubbly waves :P

Look at them...

Eldest son, engrossed with his project

2nd son, playing in the wavy water..

The daughter trying to build a castle

My youngest !

Haha, yoga yg x jadi! :P

Inside Pasar Payang

Classic Parking meter

At Bukit Puteri

Ini anak minta snap pic of him with the cannon

Turtle Alley - Nice spot for photoshoot

Peace from Tunung Family :P

WEIIII!

On the wall

Peace People!

My youngest feeling naik penyu.. haha!

Chinatown

It started raining before we can visit the crystal mosque and other places, so we cancelled our plan. Well, next time we will go to that place..We dropped by to kids' father kampung again that evening before went back to our hotel. On the 3rd day, we spent our time at the beach again before checking out and bound back to Puchong. This time the sea was calm and clear and we took our time to enjoy swimming.

I am enjoying the water and the morning sun :P

My boys...Err, where was my daughter? She was waiting for het turn untuk didukung oleh mamanya :P

I love Beaches!

Our journey back to Puchong took about 10 hours because of the heavy traffic from Genting Highland towards Gombak but that was okay since we arrived home safe and sound! Overall, it was a fun holiday and importantly it was my quality time with my kids.

Okay, that's a bit sharing of my vacation with kiddos. Thanks for reading and Happy Sunday people!

“My soul is full of longing
for the secret of the sea,
and the heart of the great ocean
sends a thrilling pulse through me.”
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow