KL Trip (5): KLCC

Date: Monday, 19 May 2008
Location: KLCC Park, Suria KLCC

On our last day in Kuala Lumpur, after having breakfast at the hotel, we went to Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) again, particularly the Suria KLCC shopping mall and the KLCC Park nearby, with stunning view of the Petronas Twin Towers.

We walked around the park and took quite a lot of pictures. The park is quite nice and it's equipped with wading pool for kids to have a dip and a big playground area. We also had a quick stroll around the Suria KLCC shopping mall before having lunch with Iko and Hera's family at Sushi King, which is located on the second floor of the shopping mall.

(Still to be continued...)

KL Trip (4): Second Day in KL

Date: Sunday, 18 May 2008
Location: Crown Princess Hotel, Pavilion KL, Bukit Bintang Walk, Berjaya Times Square, Fatty Crab Mines

On our second day in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, after having breakfast at the hotel, we went to Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, the newest shopping mall along Bukit Bintang.

Pavilion KL is comparable to Senayan City in Jakarta, with luxurious boutiques and shops with Parkson and Tangs as the anchor department stores. There's also Indonesian-based J.Co Donuts and Coffee stall there, and the queue is, as usual, long.

We also walked along the famous Bintang Walk strip before boarding the KL monorail at Bukit Bintang station, which is located just in front of Lot 10 shopping mall. Our destination is Berjaya Times Square shopping mall, which is located next to Imbi station, which is one station away.

While shopping is my wife's main purpose there, the main destination for the kids would be Cosmo's World, the biggest indoor theme park in KL which is located within the mall's vicinity. Inka and Irza really had fun there, although Inka could not take as much rides as her little brother due to maximum heights limitation on certain rides. Yes, she's much taller (and older) now compared to the last time we visited the theme park couple of years back.

We also had lunch at Hartz Chicken Buffet restaurant, which is located on the 3rd floor of the giant shopping mall, before taking the monorail back to Bukit Bintang and pick up our car parked at Pavilion KL (it was quite a long walk from the monorail station to Pavilion KL, by the way) and drive back to the hotel.

In the evening, we went to Mines Resort area in Serdang, south of Kuala Lumpur since we had dinner appointment with some of my friends from the Indo-Sing community, Muda Ikhsan and Emir Faisal's family at Fatty Crab restaurant there. Unfortunately, Bonnie, Teta and Zia couldn't make it to the dinner, so only Emir himself represents his family during the dinner. :)

KL Trip (3): Dinner at Hokkaido and Visiting Eye on Malaysia

Date: Saturday, 17 May 2008
Location: Hokkaido seafood restaurant and Eye on Malaysia

After visiting PetroSains, we went back to the hotel and took a rest for a while, since we had a dinner appointment with Iko and Hera's family in the evening. Yes, what a busy day we had at that time...

We met Iko, Hera, Abhy and Kanaya at the hotel lobby, and then together we went to a seafood restaurant called Restoran Hokkaido. This restaurant is recommended by Hera and it's located along Jalan Lumut, opposite Vistana Hotel, only around 15 minutes drive from our hotel. The food is nice and the price is quite reasonable. Inka took this opportunity to order her favourite dish, shark fin soup, while Irza, Abhy and Kanaya spent their time playing UNO while waiting for the food to be served.

After dinner, we proceeded to Titiwangsa Lake Park to visit the new KL landmark, Eye on Malaysia. This ferris wheel, measuring 60 meters in height, is not as big as the 165 meters tall Singapore Flyer, but at least it gives nice night view of Kuala Lumpur and the surroundings. And again, its reasonable price (compared to the hefty expensive Singapore Flyer) makes it quite worth value for money.

Other pictures at Eye on Malaysia can also be found here.

KL Trip (2): Petrosains at KLCC

Date: Saturday, 17 May 2008
Location: Petrosains, Suria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur

After leaving our luggage at the hotel's concierge, we then headed to Suria KLCC, one of the biggest shopping malls in KL, which is located just below the Petronas Twin Towers.

Our destination is PetroSains, a science discovery centre which is comparable to Singapore's Science Centre and Discovery Centre.

There are a lot of things for kids to learn and play, which includes a "dark" ride on an oil-shaped vehicle, helicopter simulator and journey to an "offshore" oil platform. Considering the low entrance fee, RM12 for adults and RM4 for kids, it's quite worth value for money. Highly recommended.

Other pictures at PetroSains can also be found here.

(To be continued)

KL Trip (1): Journey to Kuala Lumpur

Date: Saturday, 17 May 2008
Location: From Singapore to Kuala Lumpur via Putrajaya

Tempted by invitation from Iko and Hera for us to have a short driving holiday to Kuala Lumpur (KL) together during the long Vesak Day holiday weekend, we left Singapore for KL in the morning at around 7am. Iko's family themselves has left Singapore for KL the night before.

We chose to go through Woodlands checkpoint and despite the long queue starting from the end of the BKE, we managed to clear immigration on both sides of the causeway within one hour.

We initially planned to have breakfast at Johor Bahru, but since we had some stocks of food such as bread and snacks accompanying us during the morning journey, we skipped breakfast and drove all the way towards the Klang Valley, with only a brief stop at Pagoh rest area for toilet break.

It was lunch time when we passed Seremban, so we decided to have a quick detour to Putrajaya for us to have our lunch at Rasa food court, which is located at Alamanda shopping centre.

We then left Putrajaya for KL and we headed directly to Crown Princess hotel for us to check in. The hotel is strategically located at Jalan Tun Razak near the intersection with Jalan Ampang, not far from the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) and the Petronas Twin Towers.

When we reached the hotel, we were told that the room was not ready yet, so they gave us free welcome drink while we were waiting at the lobby lounge for the room to be ready. However, after waited for 30 minutes, the room was still not ready so we decided to put our luggage at the concierge and started our own tour around KL without first checking into the hotel room.

(To be continued)

Anastasia's Birthday

Date: Sunday, 11 May 2008
Location: Freesia Woods, Clementi, Singapore

On the same day as Dante's birthday party, Inka also attended her classmate Anastasia's birthday party. Luckily the location of the two birthday parties are near to each other (Ulu Pandan and Sunset Way).

So the four of us went to Ridgewood to attend Dante's birthday party (although we missed the candle blowing ceremony), then I took Inka to her classmate's party at Freesia Woods and drop her there, had a small bite and then came back to Ridgewood. Then I picked up Inka and brought her back to Ridgewood.

These are the pictures taken at Anastasia's birthday party. Inka spent much of her time talking (and gossiping?) with one of her best friends, Jia Yen.

Pictures taken at Dante's birthday party can be found here.

Dante's Birthday

Date: Sunday, 11 May 2008.
Location: Aci and Mia's residence, Ridgewood Condo, Ulu Pandan, Singapore

Last Sunday, we went to Dante's birthday party, located at Aci and Mia's residence at Ridgewood condominium, Ulu Pandan, Singapore. The birthday party was conducted at their house, and then moved to the BBQ pit for satay grilling. Braddell satay is, again, becoming the signature dish for the BBQ. :)

Irza took the opportunity to swim at the swimming pool there with his friends, while Inka had to attend another birthday party, her classmate's, at Freesia Woods, which is located nearby.

HSBC Treetop Walk at MacRitchie

Date: Saturday, 10 May 2008.
Location: HSBC Treetop Walk, Central Catchment Reserve, MacRitchie, Singapore.

Earlier this morning, as part of my so-called "effort" to keep fit and reduce some weight :), I took Inka and Irza for a walk along the MacRitchie trail in the forested Central Catchment Nature Reserve to the HSBC Treetop Walk, a suspension bridge which provide a bird's eye view of the forest.

We started our journey from the Venus Drive carpark located off Upper Thomson Road, where I parked my car. From there, we walk several kilometres along the Treetop trail, past the Singapore Island Country Club (SICC) and going via the Terentang trail, past the Ranger Station and climb up the hill to the entrance of the suspension bridge.

It turns out to be quite a long walk, around 2.5 km and 1 hour walk, from the Venus Drive carpark to the entrance of the Treetop Walk. Luckily the kids didn't complain, they really enjoyed their morning walk through the forest. Wondering whether it is possible to park our car at the carpark inside the SICC, that would greatly help in cutting down the walking time to the Treetop Walk.

The view from the suspension bridge is spectacular. The kids were also enjoying the view and had fun. Unfortunately, the bridge is quite narrow and it's a one-way traffic flow so we couldn't spend much time on the bridge, otherwise we will block people behind. Nevertheless, I managed to take some pictures of the kids while we were crossing the bridge.

Since it's a one-way traffic, we had to move on and follow the Petaling trail to go back to the Ranger Station and further back to the carpark. This is quite a long detour via Petaling Hut and then follow Sime track eastward back to the Ranger Station, adding around 30-45 minutes of journey time. The total length of journey from Venus Drive carpark to Treetop Walk and then back to carpark via Petaling hut is more than 7km, so it might not be suitable for certain kids, especially younger ones. Irza and Inka also started to complain that they're tired when we just left Petaling hut for the Ranger Station, and that was still a long journey back to the carpark. :) Fortunately, they made it. :) :)