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 : Video Compilation ❤

This is a compilation of our trip to Pantai Air Leleh in Pahang, 5 days trip in Sabah and a short weekend escapade in Port Dickson by Af :

ESCAPISM ep. 15 from Farik Karim on Vimeo.

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Mini Escapism : Avillion PD + Ma's Birthday

4 days after we got home from Sabah, we got another mini escapism planned out for Ma's birthday in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan. We were obviously still catching up with workloads and other stuffs after spending 5 days in Sabah, so that week felt so short. 

We spent 2-days at Avillion Port Dickson, a super fancy-mancy water villa. By far, this is the most expensive place we've ever stayed (for a budget traveller like us) . This was a sponsored short holiday for us, so we accepted it with open hands ❤

The trip started with :

1. Lunch at Burger Byte, Seremban
People suggested this place, so we went here for a lunch when we first arrived in Port Dickson. They cater most western foods specifically burgers. We ordered several different dishes, I shared with Aja because I was worried the potion might be too big for me. We ordered for a combo set of 2 patties (chicken & beef), mashed potato with 2  small broccoli pieces + 2 small cauliflower pieces ( for their price, I think they should have be more generous with their vegetable potion). Their patties and mashed potatoes were great ♥

2. Avillion Beach Resort

From the lunch stop, we headed to our hotel and it took an hour ride. Our hotel check-in time was around 2pm (it was also a full weekend - I guess it was school holiday season?). We never went to a 5-stars fancy beach hotel, so we were a bit 'jakun'. 

We got 2 villas (one with a huge king-sized bed and another one with 2 single beds) - my siblings and ma got the one with the one big bed + extra bed at the Pangkin for 2, and Af + me got ourself the other villa ★★★★ It was beautiful and huge ! There's a door to the open sky bathroom with bathtub, huge rain shower and a small toilet. There's also a sliding door to my own private balcony so you can have a view of the sea or even fishing.

My favorite part was the huge rain shower, but it was a bit uncomfortable to take a shower in a open sky area with no ceiling :F 

Extra stuffs : Pet farm, 2 pools (one for everyone another one for adult only), karaoke lounge, children room & playhouse, spas, fully equipped gym, tennis courts, several lookout points, nature walk, steam & sauna, peacocks walking around the area. Faaaancy. 

3. Embok Village Steamboat
For dinner that night, we went to Embok for a steamboat and grilled fish (but unfortunately it was full house for an event), so we decided to order some seafoods. We just got back from seafood galore in Sabah the weekend before, so for me, this wasn't the best seafood I tasted this month. It took around an hour to get our food, Ma was already feeling sleepy (so it wasn't the best place to eat out during the weekend night).

Food for 6-7 people costed : RM 160

4. Late night birthday celebration at the hotel's 24-hours restaurant

After our dinner, we went back to our hotel and waited for Ma's birthday. We ordered for 2 juices and spent the time there chatting until 12 am. My brother made a 2-tier birthday carrot cake in purple (Ma's favorite colour) with fresh flowers. We ate our cake, passed our birthday gifts and we went back to our villas back.

5. Next morning super-big Breakfast Buffet

I love breakfast buffet (because the food isn't as heavy as other buffet). If I was not mistaken, the morning buffet costed around RM 40 per person (which was way expensive for us) but we got 50% discount using special passes. I think I ate until my stomach can't process anymore, this wasn't my proudest moment. My favorite were hash potatoes (not salty, not too mashed), camembert cheese slices, several types of ham slices, and fishes. 

6. Walking at the beach

By the time we wanted to walk on the beach after our big breakfast, it was around 11 am and it was  already painfully hot. The glare was too much for my eyes, I couldn't even open my eyes properly. I borrowed Ma's sunglasses and walked along with the others. Af wanted to shoot a short videos but I couldn't participate,  I was the first one to go back to my room and I hid in the darken room where I pull down all the blinder. The sun was never my best friend and I need to do something with the condition of my eyes.

Finally, we checked out at 12 pm and our short stay at PD ended 😩 

Personal thoughts :
This is definitely a nice honeymoon spot ! You'll get a great view of the sea, everything was so beautiful with thoughtful tiny details, personal space with everything oh-so-fancy and romantic. We are very grateful for this chance ❤❤❤