Awana Kijal, 18th-23rd Sept 2006

Had a holiday coming, so we took advantage of the 888 promotion from Genting and booked the room for RM188 per night. The main reason we chose this place was for the golf course.

After slightly more than 3 hours of driving from KL, I checked into the room as shown below. It looks great and had a great view of the beach and the golf course.






A great feature. You could look out from the bath tub. However the shower is actually separated from the tub. It is also very difficult to get a proper water temperature....it really fluctuates between scalding hot and icy cold before careful twitching of the knob corrects it.






Overall, it was a great holiday. The hotel, however, could had been better.....they are all nice and friendly but lacks that zip that makes a hotel great. Things only get fixed when asked, as if the room conditions were never checked.

Breakfast was good if you are staying for not more than 2 days....then it really gets boring. I really enjoyed the Roti Canai but it seems that dish is the one they rotate throughout the week...and not that stack untouched beef bacon.

The gym also has only one tread mill...I have seen lesser hotels have more.

One of the bright spot was the Chinese restaurant we discovered just outside of Awana. There are also 2 Korean restaurants, a Malay restaurant and also KFC at that same area. Dishes are of course much cheaper than eating in the hotel and it's within walking distance. Thank goodness my colleague brought me there before, otherwise our hotel bill would have doubled.

Overall, it's a good place if you really need to play golf, get away from the city and don't mind the location.

Taking off at an airport near you soon....

Got this pictures of the A380 off some circulated email. I guess SIA would get theirs first before MAS.

SM Mall of Asia, 30th June 2006

Sunset at Manila Bay

"The SM Mall of Asia is the largest shopping mall in the Philippines and the 3rd largest shopping mall in the world. In terms of gross floor size, it is next to the Golden Resources Mall in China and the West Edmonton Mall in Canada). It opened on May 21, 2006^[1]."
- Wikipedia

Ok, this place is huge. I walked in from one entrance and after dinner, didn't know where it was. There's even IMAX within that complex and a waterfront area looking into Manila Bay.

Around Melbourne, 1st May 2005

Got up late and decided to shelf the plans to go on the Great Ocean Road trip.

Instead, I visited the Melbourne Zoo.

Meerkats


Penguins

"Penguins are ideally shaped for swimming. They have torpedo-like bodies and small, stiff wings which they use like flippers to fly through the water, steering with their legs and tail. Penguins spend a lot of time preening their feathers to keep them well oiled and waterproof.

In the late afternoon, Little Penguins gather at the sea in groups (or rafts) of up to 300, breaking into smaller groups as they near the shore. They usually come ashore in the same place each night and take the same path back to their burrows." - taken from zoo signboard.


The japanese garden.


There are the seals with a few tricks up their flippers...but didn't get any good photos of those cause they were just moving too quickly.


And the resident zoo polar bear...waking up to see what the fuss is all about.



MANED WOLF
Chrysocyon brachyurus
These wild South American wild dogs look like wolves with their mane of hair across the shoulders. They hunt in the tall prairie grass on their long, stilt-like legs for small mammals. They also eat fruit and insects. Although solitary, they seek a mate to raise a litter of 2 - 5 pups. Their habitat is being lost to farming and they are classified as vulnerable.


...more photos to come later.

Around Melbourne, 30 April 2005

It was a cold Saturday but the air was fresh and a clear day. Perfect for a walk around Melbourne. Wasn't in a rush and armed with a map, just headed out the hotel to see what's available.

First stop, Federation Square...




Then, the Melbourne Aquarium...





Finishing off at the Rialto Towers