School is Back

So, the boys were back to school today. We managed to get them to bed by 9 pm last night and when they woke up, both of them were super eager. Idlan was more eager than Adik though. He was singing in the minivan all the way to school.

Today would be the first day in the new school year for the International stream. Idlan being in the UPSR stream started his final term now. Most of his friends just came back from their holidays, so they were trading stories when we arrived. Adik's good friend, Fatima just returned from Nigeria after a month break.

The assembly today was extra long since the new International students were given a brief introduction. New classes were also assigned and it looked like Idlan may be changing class for the final term.

Idlan was eager while Irfan was more subduedI noticed plenty of parents were around as well, mainly for the new intakes. Mostly foreigners, with apprehensive children, and Dad all smiles carrying their dSLR and shooting away :) Mum obviously asking the teachers a thousand and one questions.

The assembly went on and onWhile the new parents listenedAnita was still with Idlan's class teacher at the moment I was drafting this while Irfan was busy running around with his classmates. Look like both were OK since during the holidays, they tended to go to bed well past midnight sometimes. Happy Schooling!

Park Avenue, Sg Petani

Yes, the name itself conjoured an image that one is in New York. Alas, the hotel was in Sungai Petani, and it was no where near as posh. That was the hotel we stayed in during our four nights stay at for our balik kampung.

Initially Puan Anita wanted to stay in Batu Feringghi on the island itself but since my Mum was staying at my sister’s in Sungai Petani, we decided otherwise. It turned out to be a blessing since the Penang Bridge was closed for a couple of hours due to an electrical fire, causing a huge tailback on the day we arrived up North. Traffic to Sungai Petani was smooth instead.

The hotel itself was strategically located, right next to the Sungai Petani (South) exit o the PLUS highway. Apart from the queue to settle the toll at the exit, getting in was a breeze. Thank God for Smart Tag! The hotel was previously own by the late mogul Tan Sri Eric Chia. According to one of my Uncle, the Tan Sri actually passed away here during his long illness. While he was around, the hotel used to be the premier in Sungai Petani. Since then, things has as they said …… been different.

The room that we ordered was one of the Senior Suite. It was very nicely laid out, comfortable furnitures, nice lightings, sensible decors. The room have a separate study by the entrance - where I wrote the draft for this entry. There as a couple of toilets, a living area and bedroom. The main bath have a separate shower and bath, and a huge area for changing and Puan Anita putting her make-up - a very important requirement.

The room has free wifi! A big bonus! Did I mention free? Hotels were stingy when it comes to wifi, but not Park Avenue. The speed was in access of 20Kb/sec. O it was not lightning fast, but more than adequate. Parking was straight forward as well at the basement. The only problem was the lift did not go to the basement. Had to take the stairs down there instead, but still not a major problem. The room included free breakfast and newspaper. Both Idlan and Irfan really enjoyed the room. We initially planned to stay for three nights, but extended as my sister arrived from Melaka, and we wanted to spend an extra day for the kids.

The hotel also had a nice pool on the third floor with generous space for deck chairs. There was a separate waddling pool for the kids. Apparently there was also gym and spa, but I couldn’t be bothered to check them out. The hotel also had a huge lobby, and three separate food joints - main bistro where breakfast and dinner were served. There was also a bar and a Japanese restaurant - yes, you heard it right!

The main lobbyNice wood paneling on the floor lobby leading to our roomThose were the plusses - and considering you are now 500 words in on the review, there were a quite a few of them! The negatives were plenty as well I am afraid. Even thought the room was nice, maintenance was a bit lacking. There were only a single TV in the suite with limited Astro channels. We had to go to my auntie’s house to watch United drew with Everton on the first night. There was no children channel, we were served with terrestrial, Discovery and a few news channels. There was Movie Max. There were no DVD player provided in the rooms as well. There was a fridge but it was connected to the mains rather than a dedicated outlet. So, when you leave the room, the power were cut off and the ice melted! There was no iron provided. We had to call for one, with an ironing board missing a leg. 10 minutes later, we got a call with housekeeping coming back to pick the iron away since they did not have enough of them.

The breakfast area packed in the morning

The main entranceAnd now for the food. Allegedly there was room service to order, a separate menu until 10pm and a simple microwave list after that. The food took a solid hour to arrive at our room when we ordered upon checking in. The second night when we ordered for a late meal, apparently nothing was left. We were talking about a simple microwave pizza here, not a full meal of steak and the likes. The funny thing was, the order went through, and five minutes later, the phone rang to say that they were out of even noodles! Funny! Oh, did I mention that the kettle was dirty? 

All in all, it was a mixed bag. With a good manager, the hotel definitely will come good as the rooms were very nice. Would I recommend it to everyone? Yes. Make sure you ask for government servant rate if you are one. The rate for the master suite that we stayed in was around RM300 per night which I think was reasonable. If only the support service was much better. WIll we come here again? Maybe, I will try other hotels here before I make our mind up to answer that one!

The hotel website is linked here.E-1 Jalan Indah Dua, Taman Sejati Indah, 08000 Sungai Petani, Kedah. Tel : 04-431 7777 Fax : 04-431 8777

Return to Padang Kota

After Carnivall, Julia decided to travel to Penang to visit our Grandmother, and we brought the whole troupe round. We reached there just before the traffic jam and had a quick stop at Pahang Road. Before Maghrib, we went to Padang Kota for a spot of laksa.

For some reason, the laksa was rather poor that evening. Maybe we ordered at the wrong stall. Even the pasembor was a bit off. But with all their cousins around, my boys were rather occupied with playing and never complained. A lot have changed at Padang Kota. It used to be a more open and happening place with food stalls lining up the streets. With Penang status as a Unicef Heritage City, there had to ‘clean their act’ so to speak and off went the hawkers. Instead, they were placed in purpose-built eatery, with the non-halal stalls occupying the front and prime end. A few years back, there were pickets going on, but it was quickly squashed by the politicians. The Malay politicians were busy filling up their own coffers I’m afraid rather than looking after the locals. Sad to say in it? I guess it was down to the pressure of getting more tourists in. The Mat Salleh of course like their drink.

However, the place has been much cleaner than I remembered although a lot more could have been done. A new pavement, more parking slots, cleaner toilets for a start I supposed. The boys spent the time at the playground until they were tired. It was not bad going considering they had been at the water park all day earlier.

Carnivall

After extending my stay in Sungai Petani and extra day with Julia joining us, we spent the day at a water park near Kelab Cinta Sayang, Carnivall. Yes, it was spelt with two Ls. It was a adventure park with two parts - a dry park called ‘Land of Excitement’ and the said water park - ‘Water of Excitement’, located next to each other. The water park represented a real value for money, with RM18 per adult entrance during weekdays - we were there on a Tuesday. It includes snacks and drinks - so remember to redeem them with your entrance ticket! A combined ticket will set you back RM30.

The main entranceOne of the side attractions at the entrance - Meteor ImpakLet’s see what’s on offer. There were a few separate area to the water park, but the one we played in was the children wading pool, complete with waterslides and fountains - great fun. There was also a deeper pool forming a canal around the smaller pools where children can stay on floats while the parents paddle away and push them around. Good stuff as well. There was also a bigger - adult-only I supposed - slide three stories tall. Didn’t get to try that one. Puan Anita wouldn’t let me.

The children - all five of them - Idlan, Irfan, Imran, Nana and Aliya spent about a couple of hours in and out of the pool, taking chips and drinks in between. It was great fun. The whole park was clean and well-maintained. The changing area was spacious and children friendly. They could do however with more food vendors as the queue for the free food was rather long, and it was not a particularly busy day. I wonder how they cope during peak times. Maybe they have more staffs on the day.

Imran and his Dad, Salleh, trying out the canal and flotsThe beachfrontFood time!The wading pool was children-friendly although I would advice supervision as there was no dedicated lifeguard at this particular area. There were plenty of seating areas in huts around the pools. On the day, there was also a clown going around entertaining children and organising water games for the teenagers. We will definitely head there again with the children the next time we go balik kampung in Sungai Petani.

Grand Riverview

In the numerous occasion we been to visit Kota Bharu, we stayed at Perdana and Renaissance. This was the second time we stayed at Grand Riverview. The reason? They do a nice suite with a connecting door to the maids’ room. Solved a lot of the hassle. In terms of service, Perdana won hands down. In terms of food, definitely Renaissance - the do a grand breakfast spread and the Chinese restaurant, Four Seasons was not half bad, albeit on the expensive side. Apparently Perdana has been under renovation for the best part of a couple of years now. The last time we stayed there was back in 2005. Therefore the decision on where to stay was pretty straight forward.

The front facadeThe main sitting areaUnfortunately, apart from the generous room, the amenities were pretty basic. Room service menu were spelt out on a single sheet of paper. They have three main food joints - a lounge, a buffet restaurant (where breakfast was served) and a Chinese restaurant, which was a far cry from Four Seasons - yes, we ate there the evening before we left. My Dad-in-law invited his family for a meal. Suffice to say we were a tad disappointed.

From the bedroom, looking into the living room, then straight on onto the maid's roomIrfan with his tea - biscuits and honey - posh boy!Idlan by the sink the spacious bathroomBreakfast and buffet spread was adequate - if you know what I mean. They have a swimming pool, with a separate wading pool for children. There was a also gym - don’t expect me to check them out. But enough of the negativity. The room was very comfortable. The suite we had has a small dining area, a sitting area, connected to the room next door, where our maids stayed. Then there was the bedroom and a comfortable bathroom. The bedroom only had a king’s bed, which mean I’ll be either sleeping on the floor or the sitting room. TV channels - the usual terrestrials, plus ESPN and movie channel. There were also a couple of vision4 channels. Broadband? Apparently there are wifi, but I can’t get them to work on my Mac. Therefore I use my E71 as a wifi base station instead.

TV timeOrdering in some sweets - sea coconut and loghan in syrupIrfan doing some art. I ended up completing it for him.Location? The hotel is actually within walking distance from Pasar Buluh Kubu - as I will mention later on my bit about the walk about town. It was located as the name suggests by the Kelantan River Bank. Unfortunately, the river was being dredged and therefore was orange and dirty. As the rooms were facing the river to the west, the sunset were quite brilliant. Apparently there are occasional barbecue by the pool with the patron enjoying the sunset. Unfortunately that did not happen during our stay. The room fees include breakfast for two. Will we come hear again? If the room were maintained to the current standard, most definitely. You can always enjoy the food outside. After all, this is Kelantan, where the food were gorgeous if you know where to look. 

The picture will not be complete without the two boys running around in the lobbyIrfan enjoying some down time by the poolThe hotel is located Jalan Post Office Lama,  Kota Bharu, Kelantan. Tel: 609-743 9988. Website: http://www.grh.com.my/