Mini Escapism : Bagan Lalang, Malacca & Port Dickson

Lately we've been having free fancy 4☆+ hotel room offers - and I accepted all offers and went for the mini escapism even for just 1-night because I was not going to waste such a delightful expensive rooms that I'll probably not going to splurge on anytime soon :

• Avani Sepang GoldCoast Resort, Bagan Lalang
• Rosa Hotel, Malacca
• Avillion Port Dickson

All of the hotels are far above my budget when we go for our mini trips (RM 300+ per night) - because we usually splurge on other stuffs than accommodation. Plus, all of these trips happened in less than 2 months time (and for free) :p

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We went to Avani during Christmas, we got the 2-bedroom villa on water and spent 2 days with my dad, his wife, my siblings and Tokmak. The villa was spacious, there were 2 big rooms, a working room, a big living hall and verandah facing the sea.

We also got free Christmas dinner buffet paid for that night - I've never went to any buffets fancier that this. The foods were more than enough, the dessert section was colourful and huge, there were people singing Christmas carols from table to table, people were having fun and enjoying the presentation on the stage. Very fancy :F

My dad rented movie of the night during their stay (they stayed for 3 days) and so we watched 'Crazy Rich Asian' together that night.

The villa, christmas dinner and breakfast buffet costed around RM 1.5k+, and it was all paid for ! 

We can get a short trip to Bali for that price :F

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Just around a month later, my dad asked us to join them again for free trip that my aunty can't go to and she passed the room to my dad. A fully paid room at Rosa Malacca, a really nice boutique hotel that I already put on my wish list in Agoda some time ago. It would be a waste of a chance if I refused to go without any solid reason. So we all said yes.

Our siblings and even Af shared one room together. So we paid for an extra bed for Af and combined the 2 super single beds for us four. Imagine having 5 adults in one room, the snore competition was real that night :F I woke up super early and can't sleep afterwards.

Here are some pictures I took around the hotel :

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A few weeks later, my mom asked us to join her at Avillion Port Dickson when my uncle's family from Pekan came for a short stay during CNY holiday. I had to say yes - because again, I was free :F So we got a room at Avillion, another fancy hotel on water. My older sister also applied for a holiday so she was there with me as well. We stayed in a room with 2 single beds (for my aunt and mom) and a sleeping nook (for Aja and me).

We tried the hotel before around 1.5 years ago if I'm not mistaken - when I got a chance to get a fully paid room just for Af and me :F Rezeki jangan ditolak. I remember that they have an awesome breakfast buffet that we tried during our previous stay (but this time we didn't).

We also found spa & sauna section, private beaches (of left & right side of the hotel), fully functioning gym, public pool & adult's pool, and mini animal park when we had a short walk exploring the place in the next morning.  

That night we went for a big dinner at a seafood restaurant not far from our hotel at :

Af came in the next day to pick me up and we went on our own mini escapism in Port Dickson and Bagan Lalang afterwards.

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Maybe because I'm the kind of person who don't really splurge on expensive things so I never found any reasons to go to these places on whim. But these short trips have been eye-opening and somewhat interesting (to see how people actually spend their money on) - but not really relaxing (because it was too short). 

Anyway, it was fun nonetheless :D

Mini Escapism : Days in Melaka

We needed a short break from work.

I wanted to go to Ipoh but we only had 3 days because we had to attend my cousin's wedding on the weekend, so we decided to go to Melaka again (it is one of the nearest anyway).

But I went to Melaka so many times and just several months back, I stayed in Melaka for almost a week for the Melaka travelogue project. During that time, I tried so many stuffs, I went to so many places, I ate so many local foods. So, this trip wasn't as exciting as I anticipated :( We didn't really know what else to do other than beach-walk and eat !

Things we did in Melaka :

• walked in Dataran Pahlawan and Jonker Street area
• tried the Asam Pedas dish near Taming Sari Food court area 
• went to Mamee Museum for a nice Ais Kacang ❤
• window shopping in Dataran Pahlawan
• went to Coconut Shake in Batu Berendam ❤
• sat at the beach of Pantai Klebang ❤
• dinner at Umbai seafood
• walked in Jonker Street at night 

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Af compiled this video yesterday :

ESCAPISM #14 from Farik Karim on Vimeo.

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Here's a detailed post on places we went and foods we ate :

Mamee Jonker Street

Our main stop would be : Mamee Jonker Street. I think I've been here 3-4 times since Mrs Lim told us about this place. She brought us to several other places that you can find nice cendol/ice-kacang in Melaka and this is my favorite !

I love their ais kacang and cendol ❤

If you are like me : you like the taste of evaporated milk more than gula melaka, you will definitely like their cendol and ice-kacang :D The place is a bit underrated, because I'm pretty sure people hardly go to Mamee Jonker Street to try their cendol/ais kacang. I wouldn't, if Mrs Lim didn't tell us about the foods there.

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Coconut Shake in Batu Berendam

And instead of bringing Af to the famous coconut shake in Klebang Beach, I suggested to go to Batu Berendam instead (this is also Mrs. Lim's idea). I love their coconut shake special and the free-flow of coconut water. You can also try their Yong Tau Fu. 

Here's the map :



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Klebang Beach

We didn't do anything much. The weather was nice when we arrived. We sat around on our mat that we brought from home, taking videos and pictures before the rain came an hour later.

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Ikan Bakar Parameswara, Umbai

We went to Umbai Beach after we finished taking photos and videos in Klebang Beach (around 45 minutes drive). The weather was really bad, it was super windy and dark. We went here just for the seafood galore :D Instead of going to the famous Umbai Seafood, we went to the other seafood restaurant : Ikan Bakar Parameswara.

We ordered for nasi lemak (AF), kerang rebus and sotong celup tepung because we weren't that hungry after our short stop at Coconut Shake Batu Berendam just few hours before. I think I like the foods in Kedah & Bagan Lalang much better.

We also found this man-made long wooden boardwalks near the restaurant :

Here's the map :



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From the look-out point on the highway
(if you like to do random stops) :



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This trip felt so short because we went out on the afternoon and arrived in Melaka around 3 pm on that Thursday and went back home on the afternoon of Saturday. If I count by the hour, it was just a 48 hours visit in Melaka. 

Hopefully we can plan more mini escapisms soon.

Mini Escapism : Melaka

I got a 5 days fully sponsored trip to Melaka by Lejen Komik & Tourim Melaka - for my next freelance project this year *which I'm currently working on. I don't want to spoil the story-telling and energy in writing it all down in this blog :F  Let's just wait for the book shall we ♥

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Mini Escapism : Melaka 3

Things I love in Melaka : Jonker Walk area

I was lost in this area, originally I planned to walk through the Jonker Street but decided to walk farther. It was a really hot day, I was squinting my eyes, trying to walk pass cars in the small lane. I arrived at rows of old shops, marked with the year it was built on the top of the building. Small temples, countless hostels and guest houses, bars too early to be opened, little personal factories, and little bookstore that sold old comics and second hand books. 

Precious roads, a walk that gave my face two-tone colours, to really signify the hot afternoon walk.

So, I didn't even went pass Jonker Street that day. 

I was lost in between, and found my way out.

:)

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Things I love in Melaka : Holy Places

Enchanting colours, beautiful cravings, and positive energy.

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Mini Escapism : Melaka 2

Things I love in Melaka : Old Buildings

I think I yearned for old buildings in my every journey. I feel like I've been living a thousand years, repeating in loops. I tried to remember any encounters from my previous lives but failed. But I know, I know certain things inside me are scraps from the past.

Here is to the famous Portuguese fortress in Melaka, A Famosa - 'the famous'. 

Reach the highest level of Taming Sari and create your own version of the history, because it's actually there in front of you. You can see the river, the fortress on the hill, how strategic it was at that time, imagine the plan and attack - if you play Command & Conquer, you'll know what I mean. It just makes sense.

And touch those wall & huge bricks !

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Mini Escapism : Melaka

I lingered through the old city, trying to find something new that I've never seen before. It was a hot day, sweat dampened the back of my shirt. I held my iPhone on my left hand while my right hand touched the texture of the wall. Mosses dried up on the wall, holding names of the passerby. 

I wanted the experience, I needed to feel something to be inspired. 

Two hours in the bus to Melaka from TBS with the return ticket that I bought the day before and another half an hour to Bandar Hilir from Melaka Central by the local bus - that they called Panorama, looked exactly like our Rapid KL. 

The crowd was over-whelming, maybe because of the school holiday, or maybe the old city was never really empty from the tourist. I walked and walked on the familiar route, sometimes I stop to take photos and sometimes just to be there and feel. I am not sure how other people feel when they go to places, do they experience it like I do ? Do they listen to the wind and old trees ? Do they touch those textures ? Do they watch the people ? Do they get lost and find new routes ?

I guess people should go to each place several times. The first time is to see everything - this would be fast, we hardly notice little things, the second and several more times are much slower, to repeat things that they like to do while they are there and to walk around, and more than that is by purpose , to be completely aware of the surrounding, to find new things to learn, to explore and feel inspired.

I knew Bandar Melaka, I visited the place every year. 

Being there feels like saying hello to an old friend that we know well.

It was a beautiful day, ended with heavy rain right when I was about to come back home. I fell asleep in the bus despite the cold air-cond, next to a stranger that lend me his shoulder and woke up when the sky painted orange and purple. Other than the guy in front of me spitting his phlegm every 5 minutes and snorted, everything else was perfect. Perfect. 

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Another mini escapism please.

PS : My mom would never agree to this.

So please don't tell her :D

Travel : Melaka 3

Don't forget current gift-aways!

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Hello!

This is my final post on my Melaka trip, I promise! I took a lot of photos that I love and putting it up in my blog is one of the way to keep it fresh in my mind. It is like a public diary of my living years. I do go through my blog every now and then. Just to have a taste of my past and reminding myself on how much I grew up and learned these past years. It is also a way for me to share my stories with my families and people who care. 

I am not much of a people person - to be in real live situation and share my thoughts and stories. So this is how much I can participate with people.

I hope these picturous posts didn't take so much time to load, I've resized all of them and they load as fast as hummingbird's wings on my browser *at least most of the time, of course. 

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I drew this while waiting for my colleague to arrive.

This was taken when we just arrived at Johan Hotel

At Umbai, while waiting for Iftar time

I ate as much seafoods as I want !

In Jonker Streets' small shop

A' Famosa

Random photo of me, through the looking glass.

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Pictures were taken by using :

IPhone 4S + Instagram

I  hate watermarks, 

so please be informed that all this pictures are mine, 

thank you.

Travel : Melaka 2

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Hello !

On our second day in Melaka, we walked around the historical town by feet. From our hotel, all the way to Jonker Street again. We ignored the fact that we were slightly exhausted and thirsty, we kept on walking. I took gazillion photos while we were walking around. I tried to search for tiny details that were left behind by history. Beautiful old buildings, beca, people lining up for cold drinks, old antique shops, dreamcatchers, museums, making my walking hours worth while.

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Museums :

The Last Supper, ha!

Reminds me of Hitler, ha!

I saw a faceless lady in this painting, reminds me of Amelie.

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Pictures were taken by using :

Lumix LX 3

I  hate watermarks, 

so please be informed that all this pictures are mine, 

thank you.