It’s going to be a great holiday in this coming October 09 for my family. We’ll be going to Kuala Lumpur for 3 days 2 nights. Actually we don’t plan to have a holiday in Kuala Lumpur because usually at the end of every year our family will go to Penang. However, this unplanned holiday arises while I was checking for my ticket for next coming holiday in October (airasia website).

My academic calendar for upcoming semester (sem2) not yet released. But I can make a prediction by calculating the weeks of lecture plus weeks of mid semester holiday. Finally, I get the date in October. So I try to find a suitable date and time to come back home from shah alam to kota bharu. Log in to airasia website and start searching. Woo! The fare is really amazing. It costs you only rm6 for one-way from lcct to kota bharu. Then I searched for the date to come back to lcct. Woowoo! The same thing happened. It costs only rm9. I told my parents about the fare. For me, I booked the return ticket already.

After a while, a quick plan comes from my mom saying that how about we all ‘our family’ having a 3 days 2 nights holiday in Kuala Lumpur. I never thought of that as I am really concerned about my itinerary. After 1 hour discussion about the trip and finally our family will be flying to Kuala Lumpur by Airasia in October 09 with a low budget.

Where we are going to stay when we are there? My parents want to have a low budget expense during that trip. I start searching for hotels near the kl sentral but it costs extremely high per night (only 4 and 5 stars hotels near kl sentral). Suddenly, I remembered a hotel that is under airasia, Tune Hotel. So I search for that hotel. There are two Tune Hotel in KL, one near the lcct and the other one at Downtown KL. My family want to have a walk near KL and the best hotel is Tune Hotel at Downtown KL. This Tune Hotel costs rm185.75 for two nights which is really affordable especially in KL.

How to get there? I find the location in google maps and there it is. The best transportation from KL sentral is KL monorail. We will take monorail from kl sentral and stop at tuanku medan station.

Hopefully this next holiday will be the best holiday my family has ever had.

There is one problem that I would like to share with you. I have a problem in getting to lcct from shah alam. The bus service from seksyen 17 to lcct (plusliner) doesn’t allow people to book early ticket. I know there are less people taking bus from shah alam to lcct. So I cannot fully depend on that service. The only safe way to get to lcct is from kl sentral. It takes time for me from shah alam to kl sentral. The stops are so many (rapid KL and LRT comuter) and I cannot withstand with it. It can make you miss your flight too. Hopefully there will be a way to solve this problem..

The day before 5th June, I was having my leisure reading at the forum on those participants who hike before Mount Kinabalu. After reading one of it, immediately I rushed to purchase an extendable hiking stick. What a last minute!

On 5th June, together with the team, we departed from Penang airport at about 10.20am and reaching Kinabalu airport at 1pm and after that direct heading to Mesilau resort for a rest. Along the way, we stopped by at a Dairy Farm with the hope to approach closer to the cow to snap some photos. But to no avail, we arrived pretty late and were advised to make a visit next time. The greenery field was beautiful. If you were to snap a photo and show it to other people, they might think that it is New Zealand : )

On 6th June, that was the exciting moment everyone was waiting for. Getting our baggage to weigh and after that, go go go!! Our journey to Laban Rata started from Mesilau trail. We were told by our guide that the time taken to reach Laban Rata might be around 8 hours, later or earlier which depend on our ability. Looking at my watch and it was about 8.20am. My goodness, another 8 hours, it means my target time to reach was about 5pm. I can’t imagine how I would look like by that time. Pheww….

Walking up the trail for the first 15 minutes, it seems great as everyone walked pretty smoothly. By the time reaching the first signage indicating “KM0.5”, everyone was so excited at the number and posted for a photo. After that, everyone was counting the time when will the next signage be arrived. How come after walking for so long and yet the signage still hasn’t arrive yet…arghhhh. When hours passed by, it was a challenge not only to the physical but mental as well. For the first few KM, we rewarded ourselves by resting at each signage for photo capturing. When the distance went longer, the hike duration grew longer, the fatigue experienced grew greater. By that time, some walked faster, some walked slower. We were separated and became a smaller group.

The part I enjoyed the most along the Mesilau trail was the view. It is like a wonder world. If you watch “The Chronicles of Nardia” before, certain part of the forest is just like what I observed along the Mesilau trail. Once hiked until certain height, you will observe that the landscape is different. There is full of Bonzai a long the way. If you were to purchase a Bonzai locally, you will need to take care of it, trim and prune it. Just imagine, over the hill, it is full of Bonzai with different sizes being big and small, tall and short….and yet all of it is taken care by nature. That is the power of nature! I was amazed and appreciated the art of nature that shaping the trees to different sizes.

After 4 to 5 hours of hiking, I started to realize that the hiking stick was my best companion in the world! Never had I felt so contented that the decision I made to purchase it was perfectly right even though it was a last minute decision. Now I really understand the usage of it to support me not only up hill, but down hill as well. Wow…I just love it so much. Together with my teammate, we floundered with the stick and managed to reach Laban Rata at about 5.10pm which took us about 8.5 hours. Without the hiking stick, I am sure we will stretch even longer to reach. What a super tiring journey. What’s more I can do in Laban Rata but to rest, rest & rest to recuperate my fitness. Although I experienced slight headache, Panadol did a great job!

At 2am morning the next day, we were ready. Chockfull of energy bars were loaded into our smaller bag for half-way re-fuel. We started the next mission at 2.30am headed up. Weather was pretty great with windy but was advised again if there were to rain, we will need to revert back to the camp for safety purposes. God bless that the no rain pelted down and we moved on slow and steady with multiple stop to rest. Some of my teams managed to reach earlier. As for me, I took my own sweet time to rest and hike. Well, I was happy that I managed to reach about 6.15am morning. Cool…a small platform with signage indicating altitude 4095.2m from sea level, a platform that most people wanted to take photo with. Yeah, together we took a group photo which will engrave in my mind for very long time to come. Standing on the peak viewing down, it was like heaven. The view was awesome and I was very happy that I made it to the peak.

Life is about journey and not a destination. Same goes to hiking, I am very happy to reach the peak. But I felt even greater by having the opportunity to view what nature had endowed us along the journey which I enjoyed very much. We were very lucky that during our journey from bottom to the top, no rain pelted down that hindering our journey. By the time descending down the hill, it was the most challenging moment as compared to hiking up. My leg was so tired but to endure the pain going down via Timpohon trail. Pheww…thanks to my hiking stick that supported me to brace through the impact. Together with some of my teammates, we reached safely at 3.50pm via Timpohon station and headed back to Kinabalu Park for a rest and certificate purchased.

Well, the hike was no easy for sure. It was pretty challenging on certain area that needed the rope to hike at a steep angle. It was a wonderful experience after all. With normal training, I am sure everyone who wishes to conquer Mount Kinabalu is not an issue at all. Overall, we had an enjoyable trip after the hike where we rested our self in Poring and enjoyed a dip in the hot spring relaxing our muscles before a night stay in KK town.

Well, I waited for this moment and the moment waited for me.
I just wanted to shout that “YES….I MADE IT FINALLY!!”

Have a nice day!

I took a short trip to Penang last May, flying from KL and arrived ten minutes earlier than its scheduled time. I haven’t been to Penang for awhile and it was great to be there again. Besides, all the good food beckons. How could I resist?

This Penang trip also marked my first experience staying with any Tune Hotel and was glad to choose the newly opened Penang one as my choice of accommodation there. I booked online for a Twin Sharing Room with 12-hour air-conditioning (additional of RM13.49 to the hotel room price). I only paid RM44 a night for the room.

Check-in is at 2pm but I arrived early and the room was already available. Check-out is at 10am - or else 30 minutes after, everything in your room will shut down automatically. Yes, I’ve tested, just out of curiosity.

Check-in was quick: just hand in the print-out of the reservation and my ID/passport to the reception. Since I opted for toiletries and towel rental, I had to pay RM5 for rental charges and a RM10 refundable deposit.

The room was rather small but still cozy, thanks to its nice warm color scheme (though a dash of summery tones would probably make things look cheerful). No windows, just a large mirror to give the illusion of a bigger room. My friend, whom I shared the room with, was a bit claustrophobic at first (then again, most people who stays in budget hotel like this one usually spends most of their time outside the room anyway) but fell in love with the comfort of the bed.

Seriously, the bed is superb. Even the pillow is much better than the typical pillows one usually get at hotels (and that includes those 5-star hotels too) - the kind that flattens after 15 minutes you lay your head on it and gives you neck pain the next day. I don’t know about anyone else, but I like a good bed to sleep in after a long day of sight-seeing and to wake up refreshed. So thumbs up for Tune Hotels for knowing what’s important.

The room is very well lit. It has a small bedside table and a collapsible desk, one clothing rack mounted on the wall with 2 hangers, a full-length mirror (other than the large mirror mentioned earlier), a baby fan unit and the air-con, which you can use if you paid for it. But the baby fan alone works fine since it's a small room and it cools up fast.

The bathroom, which I am happy to say, is decently spacious. I've been in so-called hotel bathrooms smaller than this - like the size of a standing supermarket fridge for fruit juices (am not kidding here)! So yeah, I'm pleased. Plus, I like the rain shower and the bathroom's clean. The pay-to-use hairdryer is in there.

Service-wise, the staff are friendly and helpful. I had some problem with the air-conditioning due to settings issue and the staff came up to the room to check what's wrong. Other than that, everything was peachy.

There's also the 30-minute free Internet facility at the lobby (2nd floor) for guests. All I need was to show my key card at the reception and get the access details (username and password) to login. Any usage beyond the 30-minute limit requires a fee.

My friend and I stayed there for two nights. First night was kind of noisy - noise from other guests outside our room and the couple in the room next door (we shared a door to our adjoining rooms and the couple had the radio on loud and was chattering all night). The following night was peaceful.

We had a pleasant sleep though, thanks to the nice bedding. Since there are no windows in our room, and no idea if it was day or night, the room felt like a cozy cave, a nice environment to cocoon self in bed all day. Very tempting but I had to resist doing that. I was in Penang afterall: food haven. Hybernation can wait.

Tune Hotel Penang is located at downtown of George Town. The hotel itself has this little Ole Cafe on the lobby floor. Asia Mart (for magazines, knick-knacks and printing facility) is also on the same floor but outside the lobby. Passage Thru Asia is an Asian cuisine cafe on the Ground Floor, across from the CIMB money changer. 7-Eleven is by the entrance on the Ground Floor. Taxis are available there as well.

No worries about food here. New World Park, an open concept food and shopping spot, is just next door. And all along Burmah Road, there are a number of hawker coffee shops and quaint little cafes. Needless to say, I ate many bowls of Har Mee (Prawn Noodle, which is famous in Penang) and sufficiently stuffed myself throughout the trip with various other delicious local dishes around this area, and then some. The local food here generally cost RM2.50 per bowl/plate. Cheap and tasty – what more could any foodie ask for?

The only annoying bit is that there's no ATM facility near the hotel. So if you do need that, you may need to walk a little further for it (There's a Hong Leong Bank down the road on your left from the hotel entrance).

Overall, I had a good comfortable stay at Tune Hotel Penang. So thumbs up from me and my claustrophobic friend, who is still in love with the bed and actually said goodbye to it when we left. I don't know about the other Tune Hotels around, but this one at downtown Penang is recommended. And yes, I would stay there again when I go to Penang next time.

I can't agree more with the saying 'NOW EVERYONE CAN FLY'..

it was just a month ago, that i get to fly with AirAsia from the LCCT in KL to Penang...
the flight was smooth and very descent, with the helpful Cabin Crew, as always...

Although it was not my first time flying, but I was still a little scared and all that..
=.=

I actually paid RM 35.50 for my flight which included the fair for the bus from the KL central to LCCT...it was exactly the same price as the price i would have to pay if i were to take a bus back, but the duration of the journey is basically half of that duration by bus... plus, if i were to take bus, my mom would be there on the phone, asking the usual question with that chinese ascent of hers "Boy ar, the bus drive drive very fast or not? Try to find a seat in the middle so you won't puke ya..Try to sleep in the bus la, if not you'll have nothing much to do also ma.."
But, thanks to the flight, she just called me early in the morning to remind me of the flight and all..
*whew*

My flight was scheduled at 1.40 pm local time, and the gate actually popped open just in time...While queueing up to get myself checked through the final gate, there they were, the 'lady in red' smiling and welcoming...
aww...

anyway, if I were to take bus, I would sure to have missed out all the great services that i would have got in the plane..All the friendly and helpful (yet informative of course) flight attendant basically answered lots of my question pertaining their career and some random questions...

My flight was scheduled at 1.40 pm local time, and the gate actually popped open just in time...

Guess what, the plane landed exactly on time, and walla, when i walked out of the check points..
there was mom, giving me a big warm hug, with the usual, kisses =.=

This few days I really felt homesick especially during this CNY celebration. I can’t even concentrate in lectures and doing things well. I really wanted to celebrate together with my family in Sibu eagerly. Early in the morning, I on my laptop and started to access to the flight pages to check available cheap flight during the festival after my first opening of eyes. Yet, I failed to do so...

Haiz… feeling rather sad.I could only blame and regret for not booking the flight earlier and now it’s price already been rose so highly. The flight company have to take these festivals’ opportunities in order to earn more so the flight fare is so costly. It's so good if flight company could consider to give special offer for the undergraduates. The undergraduate like me from oversea (South China Sea), Sarawak which is currently studying in Penang is unaffordable to pay the costly flight during festival since many of the undergraduates just taking Ptptn or a tightly spendable scholarship yet can't have financial support from family since mostly not come from rich family.

Another thing, we noticed that whatever flights to Sibu always more expensive than to the other places and I just don’t know why it is so. It costs us 1000++ for a trip from Penang to my hometown for just a week time. Come on, the money definitely can be used maybe for almost one and a half months of life expenses as a student. I wonder there must be a lot of students like me. They must have been sobbing quietly and thinking of their family so much during the festival of being unable to go back. (read more...)