More Thoughts on Philea

After the trip to the pool, we went out - via a buggy pick-up to the reception - for a spot of dinner. We decided to try the buffet.

The one opened is called Carvo Carvo. A local and Western diner, which offer a buffet spread - take this, for RM 68 ++. And the spread was really disappointing. It was embarrassing to be honest, both in terms of quality and quantity. They really could do with a new chef. Even their local dessert - ironically sago gula Melaka, you can't get any more local than that - was bad!

I ended up eating my boys a la carte items, which was a lot better. So, don't make the mistake of paying for the expensive buffet. It was not worth it. Go for the a la carte order instead.

The place was nice and peaceful at night. We walked towards the children crèche to see what was on offer. Nothing much. It was meant for toddlers really. But a nice walk by the pool none the less.

At night, the pool and waterfall were lit by floodlights to different colours. There were also a 24 hours room service of you fancy that, as well as free wifi in the compound. Unfortunately, since our room was at the opposite end of the resort, no wifi for us. The Celcom coverage was also on an Edge network. No high speed Internet for us unfortunately.

Saturday night was football night. And football does not know holidays. The room does not have Astro Sports Channels believe it or not, although the bar does. No Internet. No football. I went to bed by 10 pm. And it was Saturday evening!

Mini Malaysia

We started the day early today. Irfan woke us all up and insisted that we head for breakfast. Initially after checking out we wanted to go for the river cruise. But the weather was too warm. It was already hot by the time we reached the jetty. Although the boys were keen, Puan Anita decided otherwise. The trip was to last 45 minutes going up Sungai Melaka, passing by a few landmarks. The boat was open-aired with no air conditioning.

Time to leaveAt the jetty for the River CruiseLeaving Bandar Melaka, we headed straight to Ayer Keroh. There were many attractions there, from zoo, butterfly park, botanical gardens to cultural centers. We initially wanted to go to the botanical garden and 'Pekan Buku'. We were not sure what to expect, but it turned out that the 'Pekan Buku' was a boot camp from what we saw. We were not allowed in since it was taken for the weekend for a corporate event. We turned back, stopped at a couple of stalls to get some cencaluk and belacan for my mother-in-law, then went to Mini Malaysia. I remembered visiting the place back in 1986 as part of my school trip. Unfortunately I can’t remember much about anything else. The park was opened back in July 1986. It was a cultural center where houses themed after all the states in Malaysia were featured. These are full-seized house we were talking about, complete with ornaments and bits that differentiated the states. It used to be a spectacle and at one point it was extended to include houses from all the ASEAN nations. Unfortunately that part of the exhibit was closed today. The houses were also in need of renovation as I was sure the foundation must be almost 25 years-old by now. After a few houses, the boys got bored as they had to take off their shoes to enter the houses. A few of the houses looked unique. The biggest being Selangor and Sabah. Sarawak featured a long house, and it was being renovated. Kedah I thought had the most unique house with four rooms, well planned into compartments.

WelcomeRumah Pulau PinangThe cultural dancesAt 2 pm, a group of dancers performed on an open air stage in the middle of the compound. They danced away for 20 minutes featuring the mainly joget and some basic dances. Nothing special. There were not much of a crowd either, as it was just a week after the school holidays. According to one of the stall operator, it was havoc the week before. After a quick drink, we then drove away onto the highway, stopping again at a rest-stop along the highway for more food. We finally reached KL just after six. I had to clean the car and get around to the bank teller to pick up some cash. The boys will be back to school tomorrow and they were still talking about the trishaw ride when we went to bed.

The slideshow for the trip is linked here