Beach in August!

I think it was in March of this year when my mom and I bought the voucher for Canyon Cove from Metrodeal. I didn’t want to get it at first because I thought it was too expensive and I didn’t think the beach would be anything special. But my mom insisted and so I gave in. It turned out to be a good thing because I really enjoyed the weekend we spent in Nasugbu.

Or, okay, I should clarify. We weren’t there for the weekend. We were there from Sunday to Monday, which is possible because of my semi-night shift schedule at work, and also most probably the reason I enjoyed our overnight trip so much. Because there weren’t too many people!

Canyon Cove Hotel & Spa in Nasugbu, Batangas is an okay enough resort. Clean and comfy albeit a bit old. Which is why I think it’s only worth it to go there if you have the voucher from Metrodeal. I wouldn’t pay full price for it, but I’m really not saying that it’s a bad place. I really like its beach because it’s great for swimming! Since it’s a cove, the waves aren’t that strong, And the sand is level so it’s not difficult/too dangerous to swim! Although, they do have a 6 p.m. curfew so you can only swim in the beach until that time. No worries, you can swim in the pool until 9 p.m.! Except, we didn’t really do that because naturally, after 6 p.m., everyone at the beach would head to the pool. And though the pool is big, it looks considerably smaller when most everyone in the resort is there. And this is quite a big resort, our room was the 29th on the 4th floor and that’s not even the top floor nor the last room in the building. So I expect that on a weekend, and in the summer, it wouldn’t be too much fun to come here since it’ll be crowded and noisy and their staff isn’t super helpful either. I mean, they’re adequate. But I will give them no rave reviews.

Another reason I had so much fun of course is because I was here with my parents! I love traveling with them because they love traveling, too. Remember at the beginning of this post where I talked about how it was my mom who convinced me to buy that Metrodeal voucher?

Anyway, on the way to and from Nasugbu we had our meals in Tagaytay (Rekados and Bag of Beans, respectively.) so even the eating part of our trip was lots of fun.

And now, pictures!

me and the beach, before sunset

sunset

mama and papa, during sunset

after the sunset

3 in 4: My Trip to Malaysia – Part 4

For part 1, click here: 3 in 4: My Trip to Malaysia – Part 1
For part 2, click here: 3 in 4: My Trip to Malaysia – Part 2
For part 3, click here: 3 in 4: My Trip to Malaysia – Part 3

We took a cab from T.B.S. in Kuala Lumpur to Sky Hotel Bukit Bintang. We got there around 6 p.m. so we were able to check-in to our room right away. We booked our rooms in all 3 hotels for the 3 nights we were staying in Malaysia in advance via Agoda.com so they were all reserved and paid for by the time we got there, and we only had to pay deposits (either RM50 or RM100) upon checking-in.  We were given a room on the 2nd floor, which is okay, although it was a little dark and stuffy.

I have to say, that after such a good experience in The Explorer Hotel in Malacca, we were really disappointed with Sky Hotel. The price of the rooms isn’t that high, but the all-around atmosphere in this hotel wasn’t very good. The receptionist was rude, the halls were poorly lit and when we asked for extra towels, they wouldn’t give us any, not even for an additional charge. It’s a good thing that my friend and I brought our own towels albeit they’re travel towels so they’re smaller and quite inconvenient.

The only thing that this hotel has going for it, in my opinion, is its location. It only took us a few steps from the lobby to a pretty good shopping mall where we decided to have dinner, Low Yat Plaza.

In the Low Yat Plaza food court, we found a Peranakan restaurant, which I think is lucky, because we missed out on Peranakan food in Malacca. We ordered so many dishes, I’m quite sure they were surprised that 4 little girls could eat that much. 😛 I’m really glad that my friends are adventurous when it comes to food. For me, eating local dishes is such a big part of traveling that I’m usually disappointed when we have to eat at McDonald’s and the like when we’re in a different place, especially a different country. Although I will acknowledge that it is necessary, as eating at McDonald’s is one of the easiest ways to save money when you’re traveling, and anyway, McDonald’s offers their food with a local twist so it can still be an experience to eat there.

Unfortunately, adventurous as we were, I can no longer remember the names of the dishes we ordered. But I was able to take a few pictures of them. And I remember that they were all delicious. 😀

After dinner, we decided to have coffee at OldTown White Coffee, a coffee shop franchise in Malaysia that we’d seen in all the cities we went to, but had only had time to try that night. I don’t need to tell you what drinks we ordered, we ordered different drinks each and they all tasted delicious, so I think it’s safe to say that their coffee is really good. 🙂 Also, the free WiFi in this cafe was faster than the WiFi in the hotel. So we actually stayed there for a bit.

On our last day in Malaysia, we woke up really really early (Jc woke up at 2:45AM!) so we could get to the Petronas Twin Towers before anyone else. We had the hotel’s service take us and we got to the twin towers at 5 AM. Everything was still closed so we hung out for a bit around the front of the building where the water fountains are. They were still off. To kill time, we took some photos.

We went there as early as we did because we knew that the line to get the tickets would be long. People started lining up at 6 AM even though they only opened the ticket window at 8 AM and the first group would be allowed to go up only at 9 AM. But we were already expecting this long wait so none of us complained or anything, and there was a convenient store nearby so my friends were able to get coffee.

Eventually the clock turned 9 and we were finally able to go up one of the towers and take photos on the bridge that connected the two buildings. We were also allowed on the 86th floor where there’s an observatory as well as a miniature of the towers and other kinds of displays that give information about this landmark. They were interesting to see and we were there for the maximum amount of time we were allowed to be there.

Before leaving, I bought a postcard for RM1 and a stamp for RM0.50. I was supposed to send it to my sister but after having lunch at KLCC and then shopping for souvenirs, I no longer had time to write on the postcard, let alone drop it in a post box. So, I still have that postcard to this day, and I guess it’ll function as my own souvenir. 😉

Speaking of KLCC, after having a quick lunch at the food court, we went to the grocery store Cold Storage and that’s where we bought most of our pasalubong for our families, other friends and officemates. It actually felt a bit strange because this was the first time that the four of us traveled together and we realized only then that it was the first time we didn’t have to buy souvenirs for the other three. 😛 Haha!

We bought chocolates, milk tea, coffee, and local snacks. We got back to Sky Hotel just in time to check-out at noon. (Well, 12:30. We were 30 mins late for check-out time. Sorry na! )

Our flight wasn’t until 6:30 PM so we actually had a bit of time left before we needed to go to the airport. We all agreed that there were still plenty of people in our lives we needed to buy pasalubong for so we decided to go to the mall Sungei Wang, which is also walking distance from our hotel. We were able to buy everything else we needed (keychains and the like) and actually made it to the airport with ample time to check-in to our flight. Getting to the gate, though, is another story.

Long story short: The plane almost left us. I blame it on the deliciousness of Baskin Robbins ice cream. Oh, well. I have no regrets. 😉

Our plane arrived on time in Manila and that’s it! Home!

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I really truly very much enjoyed my trip to Malaysia, not just because I loved all the places we went to and we were able to maximize the little time we had there (in my opinion), but also because we didn’t encounter many difficulties. I’m really happy that my first trip abroad with my best friends from when I was less than 10 years old (Seriously! Ji and I met in Kindergarten, Jz the year after that, and Jc, we became friends with in the 3rd grade) was a smashing success. 😀 We didn’t fight over where to go or what time to sleep and everyone was amiable the whole time. Although I always travel with friends or family, I know how much stress it is to travel with a group because different people want/like different things, so I’m very much grateful that I was blessed with positive, cheerful and extremely patient friends. Hopefully this will be the first of many trips we take, abroad or otherwise. 🙂

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Useful Links:

Sky Hotel Bukit Bintang – our accommodation in Kuala Lumpur
Petronas Twin Towers – for more information on this landmark
Sungei Wang Plaza – where we bought pasalubong

3 in 4: My Trip to Malaysia – Part 3

For part 1, click here: 3 in 4: My Trip to Malaysia – Part 1
For part 2, click here: 3 in 4: My Trip to Malaysia – Part 2

We arrived at Malacca late at night so we went straight to our hotel, which we booked on Agoda.com. You would not believe the amazing deal we were able to get because we booked our stay online and in advance. We got a 70% discount, so we only paid RM50 for our room. That’s Php665! And the best part: the hotel is really really great!

The Explorer Hotel in Malacca is the best hotel we stayed at during our trip in Malaysia (and we stayed at 3 hotels so I think that says something). Their lobby and rooms are well-lit (lighting is very important to me), the beds are clean, the staff is friendly, the WiFi connection was stable, the breakfast was delicious and it’s located near all the must-see places in the city. I really have nothing bad to say about this hotel. I read in some reviews that they found the rooms too small, but I personally think that this isn’t such a bad thing. I have stayed at hotels that have smaller rooms but are way more expensive.

I highly recommend The Explorer Hotel if you’re ever going to Malacca. Unless you’re interested in a place that’s really fancy, in which case, the Holiday Inn is right next-door.

Anyway, we started our 3rd day in Malaysia with going to Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall, which was just across the street from our hotel, because we needed to exchange some money. There are two Foreign Exchange facilities in this mall, and it wasn’t too difficult to locate one of them. After that quick stop, we started exploring the city.

Our first stop was the A’Famosa (because it was also the first one we found, it’s right behind the Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall), which is the remnants of a fort that was built in 1511. It made for many great photos and there is a path behind it that leads to St. Paul’s Hill, where you can see a breathtaking view of the city, and find the ruins of St. Paul’s Church. Beside the A’Famosa is the Melaka Sultanate Palace, which is now a museum, and the admission fee is only RM2 per adult.

Inside the Melaka Sultanate Palace are life-size dioramas depicting different scenes from Malacca’s history, as well as some displays of traditional Malaysian weaponry and clothes. I like learning about other countries’ history and culture so I really enjoyed this museum. I would say that it was my favorite of all that we visited in Malacca.

The next sites we went to were a bit farther from our hotel, but were easy to reach by walking as well. Or somewhat easy, as it was a really hot day (34˚C!) when we were there and we were too lazy/cheap to bring/buy umbrellas/hats.

We went to the Christ Church, passed by the Dutch Square and The Stadthuys in front of it, and then we went inside the St. Francis Xavier’s Church to pray. Afterwards, we headed to Jonker Street, and lined up at one of the restaurants to eat chicken rice balls.

Delicious for cheap: We paid only RM29 for all this food! (And 2 iced teas!) 😀

We thought about taking the river cruise, but since it was for at least 40 minutes and we still had to walk a bit to get to where you take the boats from, we decided to skip it and just continue to walk (and shop!) along Jonker Street. It really is a brilliant street. There are many shops that sell interesting and artistic things. I bought a bag (on sale!) from a shop that sells items from Jonker Gallery.  My friends bought some magnets.

We walked along the river and passed by the Maritime Museum of Malacca. We wanted to go inside, but it would cost us at least RM15 each and we really didn’t have time anymore so we just took pictures outside the museum.

Top: view from St. Paul’s Hill; Middle left: in front of Christ Church Melaka; Middle right: outside the Maritime Museum; Bottom: on the bridge across Malacca River

We headed back to the hotel to pick up our things and took a cab (which the receptionist of the hotel called for us) to the Melaka Sentral bus station. We boarded a Delima Express bus at 4:30 PM and were then on our way to the last city we were to visit in Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.

Read about our experience in Kuala Lumpur in Part 4!

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Useful Links:

Malacca Attractions
BusOnlineTicket – where we booked our bus tickets (Malacca to Kuala Lumpur)
The Explorer Hotel – our accommodation in Malacca