Weekend at Pangkor Laut Resort (PLR)

Warning: Posts heavily laden with photos ahead

Day 1
We left KL early in the morning, at about 7.15am, stopping in Bidor for the famous Pun Chun herbal duck noodles. Can you believe that I’ve never had the duck noodles despite growing up in Bidor? Back then, we locals considered Pun Chun to be very expensive, as we knew their price was meant for the many tourists passing by Bidor. I only had it recently in Kota Kemuning, where they opened a branch early this year. Oppsss, sorry for the digression.

We arrived in Lumut just in time to catch the 11am ferry to PLR. The ferry took about an hour and we promptly checked into our beach villas upon arrival at the resort slightly after noon.

Entry point to PLR from the jetty

The PLR jetty

Our room @ Garden Villas

The picture perfect view from our adjoining villas

Yiu Yiu and Yihao couldn’t wait to get into the water so we quickly fill up the open air bath tub for them to splash around.

Refuelling their energy before heading to the beach

We then proceeded to the beach @ Emerald Bay at the other side of the island by taking the resort’s shuttle van.

The waves were pretty strong and Yiu Yiu was initially hesitant to get into the water. She was contented just building sand castles...



But eventually warmed up and started chasing the waves.

I love these shots of Yiu Yiu and Yihao...they looked so happy and carefree in these photos

We went back to the room about two hours later. We had wanted to order some room service for a late lunch but to our dismay, PLR does not offer room service. Luckily we brought fruits and other snacks so at least our tummy was filled. We tried getting the kids to have a nap before dinner but the two little monkeys just refused to sleep. As such, we took them for a walk around the resort, and spotted three huge monitor lizards, various birds and fishes, crabs and monkeys near the sea villas.

The Sea Villas

Having a jolly good time with Audrey che che

The moment we set our foot in Feast Village for dinner, both of them fell asleep! The staff promptly arranged some chairs so we could lay them on the chair to sleep.


I ordered the Cajun pasta, sis ordered a bibimbap while mum had nasi kandar.


Food is expensive in PLR and our dinner rang up a bill of RM225++. Luckily, our entourage is entitled to a 50% discount on all food and beverages upon check-out.

More photobooks

Few months ago, I completed my first photobook of my trip to Siem Reap last year. Over the last few months, I’ve been burning the midnight oil, as well as taking time off from work, to complete another five books:

a) Our wedding ceremony and dinners – this is a classic case of procrastination. My initial plan was to choose photos I like, and pass them to my photographer to create a wedding book (there was no DIY photobooking service back then). But somehow, something always got in the way, and the book never got done. Now that there’s DIY photobooking, I figured I might as well do it myself.

b) My trip to Europe in September last year

c) Our trip to Taiwan in January this year


d) Our trip to New Zealand in March/April this year

e) Our recent trip to Medan in August

This time around, the people at Photobook only gave me a 15% discount, a far cry from the 30% discount when I purchased my first book. Accordingly to them, that was the first and last time they offered such a big discount. Apparently they have not increased their price since their launch, even with the multiple increases in petrol price which affected their production cost as their papers are all imported from Europe. Furthermore, they claimed that they had also improved on the quality of their paper and cover material. Anyhow, since I’ve already completed all these books, I went ahead and purchased them, since they swear that 15% is the maximum they can give from now on. And I certainly don’t fancy the idea of re-doing these books using Pixart, as their software is not as user friendly.

I completed a small book using Pixart, as I don’t have enough photos for the 40-pages minimum with Photobook. Maybe when I have some time, I’ll write a post on the pros and cons of both softwares. Anyway, I sent that book for printing two weeks ago, and though they promised that the order will be processed within five working days, I've yet to receive any news from them to collect my book. Doesn't speak too well for their customer service, if you ask me.

My next project is to complete another three photobooks, for each year of Yiu Yiu's age. I had wanted to complete the 1st and 2nd year in time for her birthday early this month but there's just not enough time. Must strive to complete them before year end.

Going on a weekend getaway

We’re all packed up for our weekend getaway. It doesn’t take a genius to tell that we’ll be going to the beach, right?

Here’s the place we are heading to, wanna hazard a guess?

Photos from here.

We’re going to Pangkor Laut Resort, yippee!!!

I’ve heard so much about this place and had always wanted to go there but with that kind of price, we might as well travel overseas. I had also hoped that my company would organize some meetings there but no such luck as it’s considered too luxurious. The golden opportunity came when a colleague, Audrey, mentioned that she’s going, and looking for extra company. Audrey’s friend works in YTL and she can book up to four rooms at one go, and since they are only taking two rooms and have two extra rooms to spare, I quickly grabbed them. It’s a fantastic deal, at RM115 per room per night for the garden villas, whereas the rack rate is USD350++. Mum, younger sister and her children (Yihao and Xiaoyu) will be coming along. It’s going to be a blast for the kids, with the beach and the pool at their disposal.

My favourite present

When mummy asked me which presents I liked best from my birthday stash, I chose these. Actually hor, I had totally forgotten about this beauty.

This is my early birthday present from mummy and papa. We went shopping for this baby in some bicycle shops in Subang last month. Actually, I’ve got on this baby several times in the evenings and weekends, when mummy is free to let me cycle to the playground near our house. I absolutely love this cute, pink bicycle, and will ask mummy to let me cycle to the playground, even on days when she gets home from work at night. But she tells me that I can only go cycling when the sun is up, otherwise, bad guys may come and catch us in the playground.


The first few times on this pink baby, I don’t actually know how to cycle. I will simply put my feet on the pedals and asked mummy to push me. Mummy kept telling me to move my feet up and down, up and down, but I keep telling her that I’m not strong enough. The last few outings, however, mummy was so happy coz I finally could move the bicycle on my own, following her up and down, up and down rhythm. I can also climb onto and down from the bicycle myself, and no longer need mummy to carry me. Boy oh boy, this is indeed my best birthday present.

Buffet lunch at Jogoya

We had team lunch at Jogoya Japanese Buffet @ Starhill last Monday. I didn’t even know of its existence, the “katak bawah tempurung” that I am, but I found out later that it has been the talk of the town since it’s inception in January 2006. The restaurant is really huge, with various seating halls arranged around the various buffet stations – it’s like a maze so it can be quite confusing at first. The atmosphere of the restaurant is casual, relaxed and elegant.

The buffet spread was impressive, with a wide selection of sushi & sashimi, teppanyaki, tempura, soup, shabu-shabu, BBQ, deep fried, cooked local, Western and Japanese cuisines, dessert, beverages, and several more which I can’t quite remember. Beverages are free flow, and include fruits juices, fragrant coconuts, and even a small selection of wine and liquor. But what caught my eyes was the ice-cream bar – Haagen-Dazs, no less. And there were 16 flavours to choose from, so you will be spoilt for choice.

There were 16 of us and we booked a private room. A chef came in and cooked grilled mini lobster with cream sauce for us in the room shortly after we arrived. We then proceeded to sample buffet line. For food that needs cooking, each customer is given a clip with the table number to pass to the chef, and the food will be brought to your table once done. That saves a lot of waiting time. Each table also has several mini-stoves that are used for cooking soup and food in stone pots. Quality wise, some food were really good, while some were rather mediocre.

Food clip with table number, and a selection of sushi, sashimi and cold dishes

Mini stove for soups, shabu-shabu and self-cooked dishes

It costs RM78++ for lunch (11:30-13:40), RM68++ for late lunch (13:40-16:20), RM88++ for dinner (17:00-21:30) and RM78++ for supper (21:30-01:00). It’s actually quite pricey as many of the food items are fusion and Oriental, rather than pure Japanese food. But but, sit tight – they are having their 3rd anniversary promotion from 13 October - 19 December 2008. There’s a 50% discount for ladies all day long from Monday – Thursday, while for Friday, it’s only valid for lunch and late lunch. Another promotion is the senior citizens promotion – 50% discount all day long from Monday – Thursday on every third week of the month. The flyer says valid for senior citizens aged 60 years and above for four adult guests, so I guess it means one senior citizen can bring up to four guests? Call them at 03-21421268 to find out if you are planning to give your parents a treat. Will see if mum is up to it, coz she’s not a fan of Japanese food.

Short-sightedness

No one in my family has short-sightedness, and I’m the only odd one out. I grew up with perfect eye sight but I started noticing that I needed to strain my eyes to read when I was in university. A test at the nearby optical shop confirmed it – my power was not that high though, it was only 200 and 100, respectively in my right and left eye. I started wearing eyeglasses from then on. I dare not use contact lenses until much later, the thought of poking something into my eyes turned me off.

When I started working in my present company, my job involved a fair amount of driving and it was a great hassle getting in and out of the car as my glasses would get all fogged up. It was then that I decided to try out contact lenses. I started with the permanent lenses which needed cleansing and soaking with multipurpose solution daily, and the weekly routine of soaking the lenses in protein solution to remove deposits on the lenses. When disposable lenses became more affordable, I switched to monthly disposable lenses. My power has now increased to 525 on the right eye and 400 on the left eye.

I still use eyeglasses at night and when I’m at home. Which is why The Clark Howard Show, the popular U.S. nationally syndicated consumer advocate program on radio caught my attention when they recommended eyeglasses from this website that has a huge selection of frames, with single vision lens, sunsensor (potochromic) lens, tinted sunglasses lens, bifocal lens and progressive lens.

I wouldn’t mind having this cool pair of glasses, would you?

Terrible customer service

I needed to take Yiu Yiu to take a passport sized photograph as Juara Cerdik needs two passport sized photos upon submission of the enrolment form. After work just now, I took her to this Foto Zoom outlet in SS2.


Me: I want to take passport sized photos. How much is it?
Shop assistant: RM12 for four.
Me (mentioned casually, with a smile): Wah! So expensive ah? (Knowing that most shops charge only RM10 for four).
Shop assistant (became defensive): That’s the price the company fixed. If you think it’s expensive, then no need to take la. Nobody is forcing you to take!

I was like, what the F@CK! What kind of customer service is this??!! I don’t think I deserved such a brusque reply for that very casual remark. Without saying another word, I walked out of the shop. I wouldn’t have mind paying the extra RM2 – after all, what can you get with RM2 these days but I simply refused to give my business to this shop with such lousy customer service. There are 1001 ways to respond in a nicer way but the shop assistant chose not to do so. On the way out, Yiu Yiu asked “Why we are not taking photo?” I replied loudly “We are going to another shop, the kor-kor is so lan see (arrogant)!” I don’t know whether he heard it as we were already near the main entrance, but I hope he did.

I braved the Friday night traffic on LDP to Damansara Utama, to another shop which I go to once in a while. True enough, it was only RM10 for four. As it was almost 9pm and they have shut down their machines, the shop assistant apologised that I had to go back tomorrow to collect the photos – now that’s customer service!

Presents galore

These are Yiu Yiu’s presents from her birthday party, which we unwrapped the following day.

Before unwrapping

The presents in all their naked glory

I asked Yiu Yiu to pick out five presents she likes best, and here they are:

Winnie the Pooh trolley bag, Barney hanging board, Barney cutlery set, marine creatures jigsaw puzzle, felt pad with alphabets/numbers/pictures

And here are my favourites:

Winnie the Pooh trolley bag, Barney bento box and cutlery set, educational CD

Only four, as I don’t have the same level of emotional attachment to the other presents as I have with these. My reason for choosing these is really simple – practicality. Except for the educational CD, these are exactly what I need to buy for Yiu Yiu in preparation for her starting kindy next year.

Yiu Yiu turned three

Yiu Yiu turned three on Saturday. We marked the occasion with a small birthday party for her with family members, relatives, babysitter and her family, and close friends. This was the invitation card that went out two weeks ago.

I asked Yiu Yiu few weeks ago what cake would she like for her birthday and Barney was still her choice. I started the hunt for her birthday cake two weeks ago and contacted Angeleyes. I knew it was a long shot as Angeleyes is most likely not in KL. True enough, she’s in Penang but she kindly gave me the contact number of another home-based baker in KL. With Angeleyes' consent, I borrowed the cupcake design below and asked the baker to use Barney theme instead of Sesame Street.


The cake turned out mighty fine, appearance wise – far better than the disappointment last year. BJ and Baby Bop looked so real, and she painstakingly recreates all tiny details such as the shoe laces, and spots on their bodies. Simply amazing, she must have spent hours perfecting the figurines. Taste wise, it was rather ordinary, compared to the one last year which tasted really good.




The children loved the cake, and were screaming their heads off after the birthday song, asking me to cut up the figurines. I, of course didn’t oblige – they were just too beautiful to annihilate!

Left: Mummy helping the birthday girl to cut the cake; Top right: Singing birthday song; Bottom right: The children shouting "Cut Barney, cut Baby Bop, cut BJ"

Yiu Yiu fell asleep on my shoulders shortly after cutting the cake but woke up a short while later. The last guests left at about 5pm, leaving hubby and I to clean and tidy up the house. Later that evening, we went out for dinner with MIL and several relatives who came down from Kuantan. Yiu Yiu ate her dinner enthusiastically, as she hardly ate anything, except for a cupcake, throughout the afternoon. She was so tired that she fell asleep on our way home. That was a good end to her special day.

Visit to Juara Cerdik

Juara Cerdik doesn’t offer any trial classes so I could only bring Yiu Yiu there for a visit. I took leave on Tuesday to do so, and we spent about 45 minutes in the centre - with Yiu Yiu admiring the colourful and cheerful interior, and mummy observing the way teachers handle the children. Generally I quite like what I see – the teachers are patient, and most children are well-behaved, surely a reflection of the teaching that takes place within the four walls.

I mentioned about checking whether the main entrance is locked at all times – it is indeed!

We also witnessed the school dismissal taking place. The teacher will get the children to arrange their chairs neatly before forming a line and head towards the main entrance. Security was tight with all children kept within the school building and several teachers at the entrance. Any car picking up a child has a cardboard on the dashboard with the child’s name, class and teacher’s name boldly printed. I thought that was a good measure to ensure the child will only be picked up by an authorized adult. When the car reaches the main entrance, a teacher will announce the name of the children, etc and the child will be brought to the fore. Very systematic indeed.

So what’s my little girl verdict of the school?

Mummy: Yiu Yiu, do you like the school?
Yiu Yiu: Yes. I like it very much.
Mummy: So next year you go to this school, OK?
Yiu Yiu: No, I don’t want to go to school!
Mummy: Oh oh!

Anyway, she keeps changing her mind – sometimes she’ll say she wants to go to school, sometimes she’ll say she doesn’t want to go to school. I hope and pray that things will go well, and she’ll quickly adjust to kindy life once she’s enrolled.