I thought of treating my family to a 1 night cruise with Star Cruise Libra ship but it turned out to be a disappointment. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t board the ship yet. I was surveying the price on internet to see how much I needed to spend.

They have standing rates for adult, anyone above 12 and do not need a cabin. It costs $142 per person, all inclusive during low season. The cheapest cabin rates are $202, all in.

Strangely, they do not have children rates! Yes no children rates below 12. The management force you to take a cabin and the rates charged to children is the cabin rates. If 2A and 2C go, it will be $202 * 4! What a rip off!! Ooops, cannot be a rip off if I didn’t make a booking. Children rates are more expensive than adult rates. Only Star Cruise Libra does that.

I wonder why SC management do not provide any children rates? They do it for Star Cruise Pieces and for Star Cruise Virgo, children travel free. Maybe they just want adult on board.

I feedback this to Star Cruise and they hit around the bush. Lastly, they told me that’s what management gave. No valid reason.

I stayed for 3 days and New York was just beautiful. I went up to empire state building to watch the sunset. I also saw the rainbow too. Moments I will remember for a long time.

Once I was in US, I rented a car. I saw a big brush on the car seat and was perplexed why they would leave a brush in the car. I threw it to the backseat. Next day, my whole car was covered with snow then it occurred that the brush is for sweeping away the snow from the wind screens. I had to go searching for it.

At that time, I wished I had a honda snowblowers to clear the path. It was really cold when I was brushing off the snow and my feet were sinking into the snow too. It was quite an experience for me.

Yeap, one of the tires punctured. My hubby had to change it because the tire was really squashed and I don’t think it can move anymore. It was a car from the rental. I hope they have 5th wheel warranty.

All of us got out of the car for my hubby to change it. My children set by the side, as there were some flat stones for them to sit. They were occupying themselves with my iPhones games while papa changed the tire. I wonder if I am alone, do I know how to change it. I hope to learn to do it.

It is a great resort in Langkawi. I did enjoy my stay there for 3 nights without much problem. Before the trip, I did read some feedbacks on tripadvisor.com about the hotel. It was a mixed feeling. I was kind of confused why certain people gave lots of positive feedback and the others gave negative. Probably the negative ones didn’t get good rooms or they had high expectations.

I must say the kampung chalet does give me a feel that I am closer to nature. However the condition of the rooms does not portray a 5 stars hotel room for the value they charged. They do need some sort of refurbishing. The bathroom has a couple of stains, bottom of the bathtub is slightly cracked, TV is old, furniture is outdated and the resort facilities are limited.

The swimming pool is very wide. If they add in a slide for kids, it will be perfect. I kind of like the water wall by the side of the pool. There is a portion of the pool that provided some sort of Jacuzzi.

There are other activities available in the hotel like nature walk, water sports, beach play, swimming in the sea where they block off from water sports and lots of beach chair for a nice tan.

One more thing that may cause an inconvenient, some of the chalet are a distance from the lobby. You need to ride shuttle van to and from the room. However the wait is just 5-10 minutes. I am pleased that the chalet given to us is walking distance from the lobby.

The price of the rooms is a little steep if you asked me. I would go back if I still get the Berjaya Membership rates from my good friend. My family did enjoy the resort.

At their age, they only fancy theme parks, cartoon channel and a big swimming pool. That their dream vacation. You and I know, we don’t have to go far to do just that.

Oh I miss the Clam Chowder in Fisherman Wharf in San Francisco. Every time I go, I must have it. It is creamy and has lots of clam in it. I wonder anyone here make it as good as the one we get there. If yes, please let me know. I can have a few bowls of this. It goes well with the fried calamari too. Simply delicious!

If you know of any cost efficient way to get me there, I would love to know. It will certainly be a dream holiday for my family!

Most of the building has LCD screens like TV, flashing the ads. One building, pictures below was completely covered with LCD screen. Look for yourself!

First, it is so crowded like a night market. It is difficult for people to walk, not to mention hurling their big luggage around.
Secondly, it has only 1 lift to go down to the bus stations. Why can’t they build more or build extra escalators? The lift is small and very torn down.

Thirdly, the taxi station does not have enough taxis. When I got my ticket, the cashier told me I can wait for a long time. What can I do but wait. There is no other transport to my destination. Some taxi came by but didn’t stop. Some were parked near there fishing for people who can pay more. I can see some tourists were frustrated because a few taxi went passed him. He and his family were waiting, poor children must be hungry there.

Finally I got into one myself but the taxi driver was not very happy because the place I was going to is a congested area. Since it was a festive month, I gave him extra tip for the ride. That’s make him happier and it was the only time, I saw a smile in him.

Lastly, when I got down from the Air Asia bus at KL Sentral, there was a taxi ticketing counter. The cashier just told me “no taxi”. Wow! I got shock by her. However I saw a lot of taxi men fishing for customers asking for extra. This is so typical.

Secondly, I can download the renewal application form from their website. I remembered I used to queue for that form and also need to pay RM1 for it. It is also a waste of time because a number is given only after you filled up the form.

It only took me 30 minutes to get everything done. However it still takes 2-3 hours before I can collect the passport on the same day. I collected the next day instead.

Next is the US Visa application. The online form is driving me crazy. Imagine I filled up half of the form and it all vanished into thin air.

You can download the form here.

I stayed in this hotel in Jan 2010 on my business trip to Santa Rosa. However my stay wasn’t that pleasant. It had a bad start and finish. I booked the hotel through my company travel agent and it was suppose to come with a free breakfast and Wifi. I was very sure of it because I checked before I booked it.

On the day of arrival, the front desk told me no complimentary breakfast or Wifi. I should have printed out the reservation info. Anyway I went online with paid Wifi to verify and call the front desk. The front desk verified again but he said I can have the free Wifi but no complimentary breakfast.

I stayed there for 4 nights and on the second day, I received a notice from the General Manager with an email address. I wrote to him with regards to my complimentary breakfast. He told me to go ahead and order the breakfast, he will have it waive off my bill. Pretty cool.

I worked late for a few nights and in the morning, I called room service for breakfast so that I do not have to make a rush.

At the end of my stay, the bill came but the breakfast was charged. I told the checkout person but he told me that room service was not part of the deal. He also explained to me that I should get the complimentary breakfast vouchers upon check-in and have my meal in the restaurant. I wasn’t given those vouchers upon check in and the GM didn’t say I could not call room service for breakfast. I just didn’t like the way the checkout guy talk to me. Anyhow, he settled it with his GM.

Another upsetting part was I went for dinner at Brasserie Restaurant, I wasn’t given a menu for ordering. I had to get the menu myself. On top of it, the waitress who saw me didn’t bother to come and take my order. I had to go to another part of the dining area and a waiter serving that area served me right away.

On the last day, there was a fire drill but there wasn’t any notice given. All the doors were closed. I took the stairs but it led to a lock door. If really there was a fire, I will be dead. I climb back up the stairs. The drill was over when I came out of my room but no one bothers to open back the doors. Ooh there was also a door for the elevator. Elevator was not working too. I had to walk a couple of rounds to get to the exit. Imagine dragging my bags here and there. It was really frustrating.

There wasn’t any DIY laundry service and I have to go to Marriott Hotel next door to do my laundry. The front desk lady was kind enough to do a electronic key for me to get into the laundry room and provided free WiFi while I waited for the laundry to be done.

I will not ever stay there again! Of all the Hyatt hotel I stayed, this was the poorest customer service ever!

Cleanliness:

Service:

Facilities:

Overall:

Today I booked AA flights and realized they don’t charge if I pay by debit from my CIMB account. It also applies to Maybank, Public Bank, Ambank and Bank Rakyat. Just click Debit on the payment page.

Don’t let them charged you the costly convenience fee unless you don’t know where to use your money. Be Smart!

It will be good if they can extend it to US and include orlando timeshare. I always wanted to go to US Disney World and other theme parks in Orlando.

She told be that she will be travelling on a long hours flights. She was afraid that she couldn’t sleep on the plane. I told her that wouldn’t that be dangerous. Imagine popping a sleeping pill, snoring your way through the journey, if any emergency, it will be difficult to wake up. Wouldn’t it be? I wouldn’t know.

I asked her to read the reviews of sleeping pills before taking any for health reason.

It is in SEASON!!! Yeah it is one of my favorite fruit. Some countries may not have this fruit, it is really too bad for them.

The fruit is purple outside but the edible part is white. It is juicy, sweet and very nutritious. I heard now they have pure juice extract from mangosteen. I wonder how many mangosteen to make a bottle of juice.

Do you know that if you look at the bottom of the fruit, you can tell how many edible white parts in the fruit? Example the one in the picture has 7 petals which mean it has 7 white parts in the fruit. I love choosing more petals. Simply delicious, if your country does not have this fruit and you are in Malaysia, you have to try it.

Motor home is good way to travel around the country without worrying about hotel bills. I really admire those countries that provide facility to park the motor homes. Maybe when I retire, I will go get one of these.

I like the Toronto hotels especially the elegance Le Meridien King Edward. It has a very traditional look but provides a modern sensibility. It is located centrally and link up to the major highways.

For more details on hotels, do check out the TorontoHotels.Ca. Lots of information there.

I always got lost coming back from TheCurve. I got on the highway and never know which road to take because there are plenty of options. One of it go through 2 toll booths, one of it goes through 1 toll booth but drive a very long distance and the option I need is to avoid all tolls. All options go to KL, so never follow sign board that says KL.

Let me show you what I mean:

Finally some kind soul pointed out to me, when I got out from TheCurve to the highway, I go pass the first right exit, take the second exit and take the right most lane to make a U turn. Who would have known?

I think I will need a GPS next time I drive in KL. It has been too long staying away from KL.

Many asked me where are the good food in Penang. Well, good food is everywhere. I believed everywhere you go, there are hawker stalls. Most hawker stalls have asam laksa, chow kuew tiew, Penang G cheong fun with dark prawn paste and others.

I always passed by the Sg Pinang Food Court when I am on the Jelutong Highway and I decided to drop by for some good food. I must say that there are a lot of varieties of food there. If you are here, you should go. It is not hard to find if you go on the Jelutong Highway heading to town. You have to go early to get a place to sit, it is always filled with people.

One special store is the BBQ seafood stall. Many varieties of seafood that you can bbq to eat. I ordered the special bbq brinjal. It is the most expensive brinjal I ever eaten. It cost me RM8. From a local point of view, it is costly.

You must try this place if you are visiting Penang. It is not very hard to find.