Great Company

I didn't go out for berbuka that much this year - at least compared to before. It was more convenient to break my fast at home, there wasn't a need to dash into traffic late on and then fight for food at the buffet tables. At home, things were more organised, plus I sometimes only reach home late after work and didn't have time to organise things.

Luckily our maid had been a great help, sorting out the berbuka and sahur for us and the boys.

But once a year, I would be joining the staffs at Cellsafe for their own berbuka event. This year it was at Park Royal, near Bukit Bintang At an outlet called Chatz Brasseries. Surprisingly driving in and out of there was easy for us coming from Bangsar - plus the fact that Anita insisted on us leaving early.

This should be borderline illegal!Gout-inducing I was sure ...Some fresh fishSatay. Straight from the grill.The food there was awesome! Definitely better than the meal I had at KL Hilton a few weeks back. And the crowd there - even though it was close to full house - was very civilised. It helped that the management did not fill the restaurant up to the brim!

The food choice was excellent and they were very generous when it came to drinks. I counted that there were at least 8 different kinds free for us to choose. And my favourite - the Chef Recommendation - was called "Janda Pulang". Now, don't get me wrong, although there was innuendo there, but it was basically a combination of coconut juice and "gula melaka", a special kind of sugar syrup. Dynamite!

This drink was gorgeousThey even have cencalok!For a more traditional selectionDone with dinner ....The grills were nice with plenty of fresh seafood. We had a great time chatting on until it was almost 10 pm with some teh tarik on hand of course. And was after numerous trips to the buffet table for top-ups. A place I would definitely recommend.

The Many Paths

One thing I noticed about Tanjung Rhu Resort was the many paths they had between the buildings. Most of them would be snaking along the beach. But those were really hot especially at noon.

During the night, the paths were well lit up, which was just as well as otherwise we would be struggling to find our way around. The problem was the renovation work right in between the main hotel rooms and the main restaurants.

Leaving Tanjung Rhu

I must say that I was pretty impressed. And it was not just because we were the only Malaysian there.

The hotel had been under renovation for the last four years and for the last couple there were hardly any work going on. According to the staffs, since the hotel was doing OK despite the reduced number of beds, it didn't make much sense to disrupt business and cause problem with the guests of the renovation was going on.

So, a substantial portion of the hotel remained closed but the essentials were running well. And the number of staffs were more than I thought and they seemed to have time for us whenever we went for drinks, swim or dinner.

Our suite was definitely a delight. We felt like just sitting in the room enjoying the stay - in fact we decided to have dinner in the room last night and the staff actually came to ready the table, and served us.

The boys also had their breakfast in the room yesterday. The staff came complete with a toaster! We also enjoyed a boat ride, feeding fish, looking at eagles and mangroves. All organised by the able staff members.

And did I mention the food? More than adequate and the sight and ambiance was really great. Even our boys were impressed - those little divas!

It was kind of sad to leave today but unfortunately the school will be opened tomorrow and I have a six hour drive ahead of me. We shall be doing a bit of shopping at Pekan Kuah later as the last couple of days we had just been sitting around the resort. Time to return to reality I supposed.

Checking out soon...

The Langham

Now, The Langham is a great hotel. Full of tradition, and somewhere I wouldn't otherwise could afford to stay in. This was where I was put up in Hong Kong and also where the conference was held. And it was snack in the middle of the posh shopping district. A mall sat quite literally next door. If only Ringgit was strong ...

The hotel had pedigree. A sign of the colonial past, which reminded me of E&O in Penang. I was told that the Peninsular in town was even more a pedigree, but I don't think that this hotel was that far off.

The famous lobby

The lobby was small and the pool sat right on the top floor - unfortunately I didn't even have the time to have a peek at the pool. It was supposed to be grand. What the lobby lacked in size was more than made up by its sheer elegance. There was a cafe by the reception with the main eatery where breakfast and lunch were served sat on the other end. The lobby cafe was famous for its English afternoon tea - served on a specially designed Wedgewood.

There was also a two Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant on the first floor plus another two more American-themed joint located in the basement. The reception dinner was held at the Bostonian - where I had Halal ribs - and right next door to that was an American cafe called Main Street. Wished I had time to have a look at that.

For breakfast ...My room was a standard one on the seventh floor. Nothing much in terms of view from my window but the room was spacious and cosy, great amenities and the in-room dining - I had some salad on the night I arrived - was superb. They had a full movie and sports - alas no football - channels as well as pay-to-view and the internet was free. I had the 30Mb speed courtesy of the conference.

Breakfast was a mixture of continental and Eastern food. They knew how to make a decent omelet there, and I have Halal meals especially prepared for me for lunch.

The service was top notch. The staffs spoke perfect English and knew how to make the visitors welcomed. Transfers to and from airport took around 30 minutes. There was a metro station right next door.

Don't think I could ever afford to stay here again, and the place was certainly up there when it came to opulence.

More write-up on the trip here.

Thistle PD

Thistle PD had always been one of our favorite stop when we were in PD, usually for a quick lunch or afternoon tea. It used to be called Guomon, and famous for its golf link. But we were there mostly to chill.

We went there this time for a quick lunch and the food was still fine. Not a fan for staying there since it doesn't have a good beach, the apartment was way better for that ....

We were rushing to go home this time around and wasn't able to have a good look around. It must've been a couple of years since I last stopped at the place.