Danang, Vietnam

Visited Danang in January, weather was ok and lucky it did not rain. Danang is a well-developed city not that congested compared to Hanoi.  Danang is famous for beaches.  Among the trip, I love Hoi An Ancient town.

I booked my private tour from Sunway Travel (http://www.sunway.travel). Our English speaking guide known as Le was very helpful. He caters to our last minute request.

My itinery are as follows :

DAY 1: DANANG – HUE               

Our flight delayed one hour, upon arrival we went for a cold noodle famous in Danang known as Quang Noodles. Then we drove to Hue.  Hue was the capital of Vietnam, from 1744 until 1945, when the last emperor abdicated.

Overnight at Park View Hotel.

 

DAY 2: HUE – HOIAN   

Morning, enjoy city tour to visit the Imperial Citadel – first built by King Gia Long in 1805. Here you will visit Ngo Mon Gate, Thai Hoa Palace, The Mieu Temple, and the Nine Dynastic Urns and Khai Dinh tomb _ It is the result of the interminglement of many architectural trends: European and Asian, as well as ancient and modern.

Afternoon, take a boat cruise along the Perfume River. Enjoy this romantic cruise and visit the Minh Mang Tomb. Finish up at Thien Mu Pagoda, one of the oldest ancient architectural structures for religious worship in Hue.

Late afternoon, depart Hue for Hoi An via Hai Van Pass for whole view of Pacific Ocean and famous Long Co fishing village. Hoian ancient town _ lies on the banks of the Thu Bon River. Hoian was one of the major trading centers of Southeast Asia in the 16th century and was declared a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999. 

Overnight at Hoi An Beach Resort 

 

Hoi An Beach Resort

DAY 3: HOIAN  - MYSON - DANANG  

Morning, meet our guide at hotel and transfer to visit My Son - Vietnam's most important Cham’s site. My son becomes a religious center in the late 4th century and lasts till 13th century – a longest period of development of any monument in Southeast Asia.

 

We had our lunch at Morning Glory at Hoi An Ancient Town, it was a last minute request.

Afternoon, continue to visit Hoian ancient town - one of the major trading centers of Southeast Asia in the 16th century and was declared a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999. There are  plenty to see in this delightful town, some of which are  the famous Japanese Covered Bridges, the Pottery Museum, the 200 years old Tamky House, the Chua Ong Pagoda. Transfer to Danang city - the fourth largest city in Vietnam

Overnight at Sandy Beach Resort

day 4: Danang - departure                             

Morning, take time to visit the Cham Museum_ The world's foremost collection of the sculpture of the ancient King-dom of Champa, the China Beach and the Marble Mountain, whose peaks represent the five elements of the universe.

We visited the Han Market at Danang.

Overall the trip was great, we had great fun. We did not able to see the night view of Hoi An ancient town due to our tight schedule.  I will definitely visit Hoi An again.

 

 

Sekinchan

We tried to explore the new highway to Sekinchan instead of using the Sungai Buloh road to Kuala Selangor.  Unfortunately we still need to use Sungai Buloh and exit to Ijok. Sigh!! 

We only found the highway after we returned from Sekinchan which is exit from Rawang and there is a turning to left to Kuala Selangor. To reached Kuala Selangor only half an hour.

Sekinchan is famous for padi fields.

We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant, we waited for more than one and half hour due to one of the chef had a minor accident.  Sorry can’t recall the name. It was a famous restaurant for locals.

Mostly home cooked food. We ordered shark meat soup, fried shrimps, fried brinjal, stewed cat fish, fried stingray and their famous deep fried squid  (apparently this squid is with hard bone and no cholesterol according to the chef)  It was worth waiting for the food.  

Fried Shrimps

 

Stewed cat fish

 

Stir fried stingray

 

 

Boiled shark meat and fish ball soup

Deep fried brinjal

 

"Similar to Squid" but with hard bone

 

 The end result from the squid - "deep fried squid"

After lunch, we visited the beach front. We bought a kite at RM15 and the wind was so strong that the kite can easily fly.   There is an old tree house where you can seat at the hammock to relax.

 

On our way back, we stopped by the Cendol Bakar near Ijok.   We always passed by and were curious what is this cendol bakar.  There is a drive thru lane for you to take-away the cendol.  We tried the normal cendol bakar and durian cendol. The durian cendol is a lot better.

What do you mean by cendol bakar? It is the gula Melaka@sugar which was roasted to give better aroma and taste.

 

 

Feel free to explore Sekinchan. Day trip should be sufficient.

 

Happy New Year 2013

Time flies…ending of 2012 and soon we will usher the New Year. Every year we will look back and we will questioned ourselves, what did we achieve this year?? Isn’t it a common question?

So what’s your new year’s resolution for 2013? Everyone must stay healthy and fit. Money can’t buy health. Also learn to take a break when you know that you are too stressed from work. Work is not everything in life. Spend some time with your loves ones and families.

Yeap, I have not been travelling much this year due to my tight schedule in work.

No worries, I will start planning my holidays and will definitely update with exciting travel information.

Wishing everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Langkawi , September 2012

We took firefly to Langkawi and at least they will sms you one month before departure to let u know about the flight delay schedule.  Guess everyone is so use with Airasia concept, when the stewardess was giving out complimentary snacks and dirnks, one of the customer ask "how much?". The stewardess said no need, is complimentary. Ha! Ha!

We rent our car at the airport and maybe because is a low period on weekdays, we rented Nissan Sentra for RM220 for 4 days.   We bought Pulau Payar snorkelling trip from Groupon and it was RM90 but at the airport is only RM80.

We stayed at Holiday Villa Beach Resort at Pantai Tengah. All the rooms are non-smoking but when we entered it was so smoky, we request to change room.  We are paying RM370 per nite for tripple shared. The room is not cheap and kinda dissapointed with the services.   The concierge staff are friendly and helpful.

 As usual, most of the hotel room will give you mineral water, coffee and tea bags. Guess what, the so-called 4 star hotel only gives the guest one set of tea bags and coffee for ONE TIME ONLY.   No Mineral Water in the room.  The hotel really cutting cost.

Refer to the below standee at the room which states "Special package for steam sauna & gym at only RM15 per person , only for house guest". The management is trying to adopt "no-frills concept" similar to Air Asia. Ha! Ha! I thought I was staying at Tune Hotel.

 

 

We drove to Kuah town to look for food, finally we found a thai restaurant. The food was ok.   The restaurant is near City Bayview and after dinner you can just shop at the duty free shop.

We woke up at 6am in the morning as the pick up to Pulau Payar is at 8am. We took the ferry to Pulau Payar island and journey is around 1 hour. Please remember to bring a shawl or cardigan as it is freezing inside the ferry. There can't lower the temperature. Everyone was freezing!! Even the guys got to cover with towels or even their girl friends shawl..ha!ha!

We arrived at Pulau Payar, at the jetty you can see school of fishes. Then at the beach front, you can see baby shark.  They are no lockers - the so called "lockers" is basket where the crew will look after the basket at the cost of RM20.   Is very nice place and you can just snorkel or just seat around the beach front, you can see the baby shark and fishes.

We visited the Langkawi Aquaria, the entrance fees is at RM28. Worth visiting. We able to see african penguins, rock hopper penguins and lots more.

We decided to go for hotel hopping. So we visited Four Seasons Hotel and had lunch there. Is really beautiful beach at Four Seasons Hotel.

Beach at Four Season Hotel

Pizza - yummy!!

Roast spring chicken with assorted vegetables

 Then we drove to Berjaya hotel and decided to have dinner at Paan Thai Restaurant situated inside Berjaya.   The food was great, the staff was friendly and really nice view.

Paan Thai Restaurant - advance booking is require

We had steamed fish, fried asparagus with prawns, chicken basil leaves soup and steamed seafood with coconut mousse.  The bill came up to RM150.  High recommend this restaurant.

Steamed fish

Chicken soup with basil leaves

Fried asparagus with prawns

 

Steamed seafood with coconut mousse - highly recommend dish

Performance by Strollers

 



We finally had our lunch at Wan Thai Restaurant. It is located near Kuah Town, the shop lot is behind KFC.  After you see Hotel Langkasuka on your right hand side, then at traffic light you will see KFC. The restaurant is same row as JJ Bakery. The food was great and the price was reasonable.

Location 80-82, Langkawi Mall, Dundung, Jalan Kelibang,
07000 Kuah, Langkawi.Enquires & Reservations
Please Call: 04-9661214 & H/P: 012-4308014Fax: 04-9671214

Overall, we had a great trip besides the hotel experience.

Sunway C'haya Raya Foursquare Check-in contest

Find this contest quite interesting. Just need to check-in using Foursquare at Sunway Resort City. The location to check-in is at the Rainforest fountain opposite Sunway Resort Hotel and Spa. This is the first time company is using foursquare to organize the contest. Something different!!


At the same time, with min spends of RM100 at hotel, shopping mall and lagoon, you get to participate in the contest and win attractive prizes...30 days, 30 winners. Will I be one of the lucky winners??

For more info, can visit to http://www.sunway.com.my and their fanclub is sunwayworld



Beautiful Street Lighting at Sunway Resort City

Do check out the beautiful show lights at Sunway Resort City. This year show lights features Moroccan theme. You will see vibrant Moroccan lamps and striking six petal desert flowers.

Worth visiting!!

For more info, do check out http://www.sunway.com.my/