Colmar Part II

For today, as we arrived just after 1 pm, we headed straight for lunch. There was a the main hotel restaurant which did a buffet spread, which we decided to give a miss. The next choice was a slightly more up-market restaurant which only had set menu for lunch. Nope to that as well. Fret not. There were at least four more cafes which did a la cart dining. We took our lunch at a French-Italian restaurant, and ordered pizza, pasta and salad. The food was surprisingly good, although price was a bit on the expensive side. There were entertainers coming to our table, singing Mamma Mia for Idlan and Irfan. Unfortunately, Irfan freaked out to that!

The singers were singing ...... and Irfan don't want to have anything to do with it ....We spend the next couple of hours exploring the main hotel area. The boys stopped for some games at the play nursery, before running around with the clowns who were on hand to dish them some balloon sword. One was blue and one was green of course, being Obi-Wan and Anakin. After his sword pierced, Idlan asked for a red one and turned into Darth Maul. How appropriate. We then walked around to the swimming pool and fed the swan.

Unfortunately it soon started to drizzle, and stopped by at a boulangerie for coffee. The boys wanted to stay for the night, but we did not bring our clothes with us. Even though I volunteered to drive back to pick them up, with the rain and all, we decided otherwise. The rain also meant that we were not able to visit the botanical and Japanese gardens, or the rabbit farm. A good excuse to return I think. Idlan wanted to ride the pony, and I wanted to try some target practice using a paintball rifle. I can see myself reading a book in the room with the windows open letting the time pass by. I can’t really comment about the rooms or the hotel lodgings at the moment. I will hope to be able to do so one day should we spend an night here. So far, the ambiance and the food has been good

Throughout the afternoon, I can see the place as a popular spot for couples to have their wedding portrait done. We sow at least four groups doing that, despite the overcast weather. There were many enthusiast with their dSLR lugged around as well, myself included. A good chance to take out my new lens for a spin. Yes, the photos were sharp as advertised - all the photos on this entry was from my EOD 7D and the new Canon EF-S 17-55mm f2.8 IS. The IS definitely helped the indoor pics, and the 7D seemed to be handling the high ISO very well if needed. 

All in all, it was a grand day out. Yes, the food may be expensive and with a big crowd, it may not be as comfortable, but for a quick day out, it was not bad at all. We wished that the weather was better. Even though the drive up was windy at times, it was well worth it. After all, it was only 45 minutes from home. Please click here for more information about the place.

Colmar Part I

Irfan ready to go with his hoody!We were grumpy as a group all morning. The boys wanted to go out. I wanted to go out after the fall I had during my jog this morning. Thankfully it was just cuts and bruises. My iPhone was banged up pretty badly, but luckily it was in a case. The cover was scratched real good! Suffice to say, we needed to get out of the house.

My banged-up iPhoneI told you it was cloudy ....Puan Anita decided maybe some fresh air would be great. We headed for Bukit Tinggi. Colmar Tropicale, just 45 minutes drive from our house, driving toward Karak on the Highway, taking the Bukit Tinggi exit. I remembered being there back in 2004 when Anita was pregnant with Idlan. We were there again the next year when Idlan was barely a year-old. Irfan have never been there. So why not.

The drive there was longer than I remembered. How I wished that we had an MPV rather than our saloon. More room for the boys to maneuver. The weather was unfortunately rather overcast by the time we reached the top, threatening to rain. Five years back, they were still building a convention center next to the main hotel. It was ready now, and that was where we had to park. I remembered paying more than the RM12 per adult we did today. I guess some price came down. The car park was only a 5-minutes walk to the main entrance to Colmar.

For the uninitiated, Colmar Tropicale is a tourist destination built by the Berjaya Group based on a French theme. There were French restaurants here - well, plenty of pasta and pizza from what we saw. It housed a hotel, complete with suites and swimming pool, a piazza with shops and cafe, all in the nice cool surrounding of Bukit Tinggi, high up on the mountains. I might be wrong, but it was at least as high as Genting Highlands, but less hectic. From the main hotel, there were surrounding attractions for activities and sight seeing. There were pony rides, botanical gardens, a Japanese tea garden with a Japanese restaurant - at the botanical garden, which was separate to the tea garden. There was also a rabbit park, team-building facilities for the corporate-types to organise events, with top-notch convention facilities. 

The place was definitely family-friendly with, many activities for children. The boys enjoyed the day with a play area, kiddy playgrounds and clowns walking around the place entertaining them. All for the RM12 per adults and I think RM8 for kids - both my boys got in free of charge. We did enquire about lodgings. There were suites and hotel room going at a reasonable price. Young couple might be concerned about lack of activities in the evening - definitely so compared to Genting Highland proper. But for a family like us, the cool weather would have been enough to keep us going. I promised the boys in the end to take them for a couple of nights stay later in the year.

To be continued in Part II tomorrow.