Malaysian GP

Lately, the Formula 1 hadn't been catching my imagination. Maybe it was more to do with my age rather than anything else. I hardly knew the new faces, let alone learned about their driving styles. But this being the Malaysian Gp and all, I decided to take notice and was in front of the TV all afternoon explaining to Idlan what Formula 1 was all about. Of course we were sharing the macaroons while we were discussing it.

I also noticed that the stands were pretty empty compadre to the years gone past. Which is a worry as the GP used to be one of the crowning sporting event locally, at least when I was still in the UK. I was also perplexed with the fact that both the Malaysian Open Golf and the GP took place on the same weekend. Somebody may have messed up on the planning I thought ...... They didn't get the memo possibly.

The race turned out to be quite interesting, especially now in the closing few laps, I just saw teammates Vettel and Weber going at each other trying to snatch the lead. Imagine if there were contact between the two, one taking another out. The team meeting would be rather interesting ........

Irfan was not Happy

I made Irfan clean the room after he made a mess right after returning from school. Suffices to say he was not happy with it. So, on come the protest notice pasted on the door ....

"Only Irfan Idlan Mama no Dady". Bless his cotton socks. He still to brush up on his grammar and spelling.

The Cool Room

So, then pool was the main attraction to the chalet. But the room as a whole was not bad either. It had a couple of queen-sized bed - enough for all of us without me needing to sleep on the couch. It had all the TV channels - the football was on, but only one Disney channel for the boys. My boys were fascinated by a couple of things about the room.

First was the fact that there was a hole right in the middle of the room floor overseeing into the sea below. They could see the gentle waves coming. And the natural light from there lighting up the room.

The sitting area where we had dinner indoorsThe room from the kitchenetteThe pool at nightThe second was the ornamental lighting in the room. The tables and side desk seemed to glow from the inside. These were part of the room decorations, and plus the LED downlights by the kitchenette, it created a nice aura in the evening. Which explained why it took them past midnight before they finally settled down to sleep.

Free WiFi was included - not exactly blazing fast but adequate. It also has a kitchenette complete with microwave and freezer, plus a seating area for drinking both inside and by the pool. It seemed that even though the resort provided restaurants and took service, they understood that many of the patron there would be bringing in family. Therefore, catering food for everybody may not be possible, and it was OK to bring in some food and use the microwave and kitchenette, as well as the plates and to prepare them. It suited us fine, even though we tended to go for room service. Next time, should we arrived earlier, we may venture into town to visit the pasar malam. We then might bring in some food.

The cosy kitchenette The ornamental lightingWorkout .... anyone?The most important book in the room .... that's where the menu wasThere were a couple of showers at the room. One in the toilet - which was pretty big size-wise and another next to the pool. The pressure and hot water was good, hence should the pool be too cold, we just hit the shower.

Room service, although pretty basic menu-wise was actually better than we expected. The service was also pretty quick, and the main thing was, they got all the orders right, which was a challenge to some other resort this size usually. I ordered a sirloin for dinner last night and it ended up in Idlan's tummy. It was that succulent. My salad was fine as well. Anita's 1Malaysia Fried Rice was a disappointment. Irfan ordered pizza which was nice. It was home made and was still piping hot when it arrived at our door.

I tended to judge the quality of the food by how nice the evening hot chocolate was. Unfortunately, Lexis do not have that on the menu. Sigh! Even Idlan knew I was disappointed.

From the pool peering out

The cool room set us back quite a bit. We also paid form the room from my own pocket this time - last time we came here as part of a weekend event by a Pharmaceutical company. The price was not fixed and it fluctuate depending on the time of year. It was "medium"-priced according to the booking officer when we signed up. So, I would expect to pay more during school holidays and festivities.

Slideshow for the whole stay here

PDGCC to KL

The last times I was at PDGCC - Port Dickson Golf & Country Club - must be some time before I joined SJ. It had been a while. We used to go there for breakfast and also Saturday lunch since they would serve banana leaf meals in the afternoon. Sunday used to be just standard lunch before we head back to KL.

We did the similar thing earlier after checking out from Grand Lexis. The place was crowded since there was a golf tournament going on on the day. Weather was hot, and it looked like the pool had been redone. It appeared neat and clean. We were too tired to venture in as we had enough of swimming for the weekend.

We set off back to KL right after driving around Telok Kemang while the lunch settled down into the tummy. Teluk Kemang was crowded as usual on a Sunday afternoon. We decided against stopping, as the weather was too hot.

We arrived back in KL just before five. At six, there was a prospective buyer coming over to see our Cemerlang house, so we had to return early. Both the boys were asleep in the car by the time we reached home.

The link to the slideshow is here.

The Cool Pool

The hotel used to be called Legend Water Chalet. We once stayed at the apartment - which still has an indoor swimming pool in the room. Form this trip, we picked the chalet on the sea instead. A slight difference although in terms of comfort, they were comparable.

The room we had was one of the bigger ones, a ground floor unit, halfway to the sea. From what I could remember, it may be slightly longer than the apartment, but narrower. Being in the sea, we were charged premium for it of course. But the indoor swimming pool more than made up for that.

As I mentioned, we arrived at PD late. An hour before we arrived, the hotel reception called us to confirm if we had changed our minds. Then late arrival also meant that we did not have to queue at the front desk. Since we booked in agreed of time, all they needed was my signature. By the time that was done, a buggy was already waiting for us to intake us to our chalet.

Off came the clothes and the boys were already in the pool in double quick time. 4 feet deep. No problem for Idlan, but Irfan had to tip toe as the water level was at his chin. That didn't deter them a bit, even though the water was freezing ......

Anita then ordered some snacks and drinks, and they enjoyed that while still dipped in the pool, splashes everywhere.

There was also an outdoor shower next to then pool which was convenient since we wanted then to dry up before getting back into the room. And the room was something else .......

The slideshow for the weekend is here