TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

Or in the Philippines. Or in any other developing (2nd and 3rd world) countries. Because I cannot trust my life with the local bus drivers and detest being ripped off by ruthless taxi drivers. From Singapore, my parents and I took the Delima bus to Malacca. Singapore and Malaysia are divided by water and connected to each other by this massive long bridge. Immigration was surprisingly a no nonsense procedure. You get off the bus to go through immigration and the bus will then wait for you at the other side. They do ask you to bring your luggage with you through security check though. The bus was very comfortable and the drive was fine. The bridge connecting  Singapore and Malaysia. Toilet stops =) Malaysia has highway tolls. Going back we took the same bus company but had a horrible experience. Firstly, we almost missed the bus to Singapore because we did not have a printed copy of our booking and the bus company at the terminal in Malacca is not digitally ...

This hotel reminds me of the USA, of my hotel stays in Las Vegas and Boston. Hotels annexed to malls with big parking spaces. The imperative word here is BIG and I don’t know its just the ambiance really, all the marble in the lobby and the styling of the hotel brings me back to North America. It’s hard to put a finger to it but when you have been to those places and those kinds of 5-star chain hotels fastened to shopping malls, you’d understand what I mean. The hotel is the big brown building in the middle. Sunway Putra Hotel KL Website: Sunway Putra Hotel Sunway however was undergoing a hotel and mall renovation when we were there, unfortunately, they gave us the not yet renovated old room. The room was actually okay, and except for the flat screen TV you have the feeling that you got stuck in the 1980s. We would have loved it if we had a huge window and not some box window overlooking to the next door neighbour’s windows. The outdoor pool though is nice with a majestic ...

At our hotel in Kuala Lumpur ( Sunway Putra Hotel ), there were free shuttle buses going to Bukit Bintang. It piqued my interest because what is there to see and do in Bukit Bintang? Then I realised—SHOPPING MALLS. Bukit Bintang is Shopping When I am travelling I tend to shy away from shopping malls unless (a) I need to go there to buy something I really need. (b) I am going to a place where incidentally is located in a shopping mall such as during my trip to Tallinn, Estonia, this cool Komeet Café with a nice view and terrace is located inside a shopping mall, and well, I ended up shopping as well. (c) the place doesn’t have any other attraction, but then again, I probably wouldn’t have come in the first place. But the truth and fact remains that shopping is a big tourist activity. So anyway, we decided to join forces and swing by for an afternoon tea and coffee. My mom wanted to shop a little bit as well and we have time so might as well indeed visit Bukit Bintang. ...

Does your mom love flowers? Mine does and I guess most mothers out there. In Kuala Lumpur we took a little trip to the KL Lakes to visit an Orchid Garden. The park is located in the western part of the city. We thought it would be nice to get away from the crowds and the concrete jungle and enjoy the beauty of nature. Orchid Garden (Taman Orkid) Location: KL Lake Gardens  |  Free Entrance Kuala Lumpur’s Lake Garden which is also known as the Perdana Lake Gardens is a tropical oasis in the city. It is big and the Orchid Garden is just one of the many attractions here. However, in order to visit these attractions and because this is a very large lake garden estate, you would need to take a taxi to come here and then further take a shuttle bus (from the park and they are not free) or one of those taxis parked. This is actually one of my disappointments in coming here because the park attractions are not easily accessible on foot. The attractions as well may be located ...