Pampering at Sheraton Langkawi

Hehe... just back from Langkawi with Ken. Just feel like putting up a post on the hotel we're staying in. I myself particularly like this resort as their service is nice, staff is friendly and they really treat you well and make you feel like you are on vacations.

Upon checked in, we're seated at the lobby and served the welcoming drink as well as a cold towel. This indeed was a little surprise for us as we never expect to get this kind of treatment, ken finished the drink so fast and asked me how they blend the ice, was suspecting he will request me to make the same drink for him next time (hehe... first time check in a 5-star hotel by myself) Our luggage were taken care of at the entrance with our room-tag on it. After enjoying the fruit punch, we're transported to our room with the shuttle bus, forgot to snap the pic of the shuttle bus but it looks like the truck used for the safari ride.

Just like typical small kids, we're so excited to check out the room. The most interesting design is their bath tub, they have this window, only covered with blinder to separate the bedroom with the bathtub, i think it's especially designed for holiday makers to catch some movie while soaking themselves in the bath tub. Of coz they have door for the toilet and the bathroom lar! HHmm... ken told me he wants to have this design in our room next time. Knew he wants this so that he won't miss any football match only.

"Yeah... got star sport channel...." hahaha For ken, what would be more interesting than that.....

On the next day, we managed to snap some photos around the resort during our evening stroll.
At night, we're relaxing at the balcony, looking at ppl passing by, chit-chatting and enjoying the super cheap beer..... Overall, the resort is clean and comfortable.....

Langkawi Holiday

Langkawi, we were looking forward to the trip since we started planning it in March. We confirmed everything since May and we were finally in Langkawi.
Day 1
We flew in using Air Asia. We booked a Kancil to travel around the island, and our first destination was Underwater World Langkawi. We looked through the map, figured our way round and we arrived in about 20 minutes. The map that Vans got from the airport was useful after all :)

We spent a good 2 hours going through the maze in Underwater World, caught glimpses of rare fishes, and other animals. The rockhopper penguin was realy cute, the closest one can get to their famous cousin. The fish, shark, turtles anad all were huge, i mean really huge (about 5-10 feet). We even had enough time to sneak in to the 3D theatre to catch a short 3D movie before we left for the Duty Free shops right beside the Underwater World where we bought some beer and stuff.

We then checked in at the Sheraton Langkawi Beach Resort, checked our room and then left for the Oriental Village. I had a crazy idea of driving across from one end of the island to the other end, where Kuah town was, just to catch dinner, and we did. We ended up in Arts Cafe, and we saw a Billion Supermarket there.It was a long day, after all the fun and food, we hit back to the resort to rest.

Day 2
I booked us an Island Hopping trip. After the buffet breakfast in the hotel, we headed to AB Motel, our pick-up point. While waiting for pickup, I even managed to sneak in to the internet cafe to catch some football news and check some mails. Too bad couldn't sneak in a post in the blog. The van finally arrived, took us to the jetty and we boarded the speedboat. First up, Pulau Dayang Bunting, we were made hike up almost 1km to reach a beautiful lake. Many took the opportunity to snap away with their cameras, and so did we. While others hit the waters, we just sat there admiring the landscape of the island, said to depict a pregnant woman. The second island was the feeding ground for eagles, Pulau Singa Besar. The third island, Pulau Beras Basah had a sandy beach, ideal for swimmers and beach lovers. We saw the ang mos hitting the water again, and just laying themselves flat out to soak in as much sunlight as possible, while we hide under the cover of trees and hut. That was the last of the islands and we headed back to the jetty. Well, I survived the speedboat experience through 3 islands and live to tell all about it.

We drove back to the Duty Free shop we visited the day before, this time grabbing chocolates, a Jack Daniels and a Chivas Regal. KFC was for lunch, so it was another drive to Kuah town, and we bought a bucket, enough for lunch, AND dinner. So we completed our agenda and went back to the resort to devour our meatarian lunch. It was time to hit the beach when evening came, but we didn't swim, unlike the beaches in the islands that we visited earlier, the beach here is not crystal clear. After dinner, we took out some beer and shandy, had a nice chat at the balcony of the room with some romantic music in the background. It was a wonderful nite. The island hopping had taken its toll on us, so Vans went to bed early while I caught up with some football action on TV.

Day 3
There was nothing much on our agenda today, accept to have breakfast, pack up and head for the airport to catch our flight back to KLIA. Our legs were sore from the 1km hike up the mountain from the previous day. Driving in Langkawi is stress free, and we could just stop, sometimes in the middle of the road, and snap some photos of the scenic surroundings. We made it in time to Langkawi airport and returned the car before we boarded our 1 hour flight back to KL. We still manage to make it through the day in one piece, arriving home at about 4:35 local time.

I haven't had time to upload the photos yet, come back later to check out the photos in Langkawi :)

Weekend with Parents

Since we told her about our plans to get married next year, Vans mum have been very thoughtful and encouraging. She had a discussion with us last friday about what to expect in the future after we get married. She talked about sharing the load around the house and looking after each other. Well Vans & I have had talked about all these before, but that was between the both of us, her mum might not have realised that.

Anyway she also brought along some invitation cards and wedding favours for us as samples. Although it was not quite what we expect to use for our wedding, we appreciate her thoughtfulness and effort. We didn't expect her to do that.

We also arranged a dinner with my mum, and both set of parents met for dinner on sunday. It was a bit awkward though, both my parents are not chinese educated, but my mum can speak a bit of mandarin.

We have more or less set the date for the wedding, just have to book the venues in KL and Kuching before we finally announce it here to everyone. We still have a lot of planning and preparation to do, but Vans and I will be retreating to Langkawi this weekend for a short break to rest and relax. I am looking forward to the beach, and all the travel

Sprinkles of Love

I tried to put in a flash file, but it didn't work, so I experimented with animated gifs instead. But the file size is quite large, about 250kb.

Future mother in law is here in Kajang, lots of happenings. Will post the happenings on monday or tuesday :)

My Thoughts

What is going through my mind now:-

1) Wedding Date - still waiting to set the actual date for the wedding. It should be somewhere Sept/Oct 2006. But that period is actually a good period so there will be loads of chinese getting married then, perhaps that will be a potential reasons for people not to come, coz they have other weddings to attend. But If I keep my list to close friends and colleagues, it should be fine - I can force them to come :)

2) Have backup plans - September / October period is in the rainy season, somehow rain always affect the wedding no matter where you have it, indoor or outdoor. So i'll pray hard that we'll have good weather on that day. Not forgetting to make some backup plans in case it rains.

3) Budgeting is real hard - There are things that one could afford to exclude from the wedding, but there are some that you just can't do without. Drawing the line between the need and the want is not something simple. If you add another limitation as in money available for each item, that makes it all the more harder. Well I guess this is the first step towards FAMILY PLANNING, as it not only involves planning the future of the family, but also managing both our finances.

4) Delegating task - Will be looking through my list of things to do and try to enlist a few friends to help me tackle some of the task. I know they will be more than happy to extend a favour when asked upon, provided I give them ample notice and specific instructions on what I want, or the effect desired. Of course I will involve family members for some major tasks but I guess Vans & I will still take on major roles for most of the planning.

5) Its me getting married !!!
Its both so surreal and exciting. Moving on to a different stage in life, having more responsibilities, more relatives, and obviously more expenses.

Vans have delegated the task of setting the wedding date, according to the Chinese Calendar to her dad and sis in Kuching, so we'll know exactly whic day is chosen latest by end of the week.
Its so hard to plan not knowing the actual date :)

Merdeka, Merdeka, Merdeka!

Well, for anyone that has been working for a few years, you'll always look forward to a public holiday and we were no exception. We decided to put the holiday to good use. The whole of last week Vans have been emailing some hotels in Kuching to get some quotations on wedding reception there. We got some pretty prompt replies. The file that I promised Vans that I would to file up all the quotations was still missing, so she had to make do with her own file. She managed to print out the 3 quotations we got from Merdeka Palace, Hilton Kuching and Holiday Inn Kuching and we went through it.

I for one am pretty impressed with the price and package that were available, as oppose to what is given here in KL. The price, the service, the freebies, and other accompaniments were indeed a more or less the same, but the price variations is pretty huge. We now have some idea how much it would cost for the reception in Kuching, so its down to details and decision by mother-in-law- to be.

While our attention was focused on the reception, Yen kept telling us that she has been thinking of which plant to contribute to us from her huge plant collection, in view of our CONCRETE environment (coz there is not an inch of grass in our house compound).

In the evening, while driving Vans back to Adeline's place, we stopped by at Cavenzi. There has been a lot of advertisement in the papers about the attractive bedroom, dining and living furniture packages, so we decided to check out their latest promotions to see if we are able to fit those to our budget. Vans eyed 5 piece bedroom set and a glass coffee table. I wanted a reclining sofa for TV.. hehe... (actually for football, but then again, I'll be sitting at the edge of the seat for most of the match). Those interested to check out Cavenzi's collection can click here.

Couldn't find the picture of the set we wanted, but this is another 5 piece set.

Having counted down with Vans and Yen, then managing the quotations, and sneaking in to catch a glimpse of some furnitures, it was a good holiday. But back to work on thursday and friday. Vans mum will be here in KL from 3rd September onwards, so perhaps we can work out some details with her :)