Our Vacation update on K.K.

Very long-winded post so i had to break them up into parts.....

PART 1

How does the idea of going to K.K. came about for the family? Blame it on 'itu' datuk tonyF from the budget airline lar...... always 'fish' us with all those 'zero' fares offer!! And we being one of the many 'water fish' has managed to secure the so-called zero fee airfares but after adding the tax charges, admin fee, surcharges & etc etc....total bill for 4 pax to K.K. cost approx.ly RM550. Okayla not too damaged comparing to 'those days' kan??

It was Mar-08 when we booked these tickets not knowing that there will be another trip (to HK) to be made just 2 days apart upon returning from K.K. Business trip is always last minute so....

16 - 18 Jun = KK

2 days to unpack from K.K. and re-pack for HK

21 - 26 = HK

16/6 - Monday

It wasn't the boys' first time experiencing with airasia but the last time was rather a while ago, so that could be the reason why the boys weren't as excited as previously in that small plane. The departure journey was such an embarassing & torturous one. Scot was the culprit. He was restless, demanding & just couldn't calm himself down.... making our journey such an unpleasant one. From climbing in & out of their seat so often to demanding for that blardy expensive cup of maggi mee, he wasn't contended despite us fulfilling all his demand. This monkey even has the nerve to demand for the 'vehicle souvenir set' which was sold at abt RM40 (i think). This time he really challenged my patience & i frankly can't tolerate him anymore. All sort of remedies were used, from soft persuasion, negotiation to pinching & smacking him....nothing worked! The worst part was he kept yearning, whinning & screaming with loud cries while kicking the front seats ......what a shame!! The whole struggles finally triggered the annoyed faces from the 2 beast & bitch sitting in front of us! I seriously had no idea what to do besides letting him cried & cried & cried while i just pretended to shut my eyes. That whole ordeal lasted for 45 minutes until that fella got tired & felt asleep..... phew........that was such a relief !! After this experience, i vowed that should there be available sleeping pill for kids out there, i'll be the first to grab it & force it upon my monkey if we ever stuck in such a long journey again (well.......it's not that long actually, 3 1/2 hour) !!!

After checking into Imperial Int'nal hotel about noon, we were just too tired to continue with further exploration......A pretty new hotel with good value.

We had chosen this hotel right in the capital city of KK bcoz it is so convenient, just right beside the wawasan square, the newly built shopping avenue which featured quite a number of well-known brands of shops (eg. esprit, the face shop), cafes (star bucks), restaurants (secret recipe, & HK char chan theng type) & etc etc. At least don't feel so 'ulu' right...... Filled up our hungry stomach at a HK style restaurant which surprised us with very good food until we returned again the next day. Then it was merely a stroll of walk in wawasan square as it was too late to plan for any outing. By the time we were done, it was time for an evening nap.

You see the 2 boys on the red lazy chair? It was meant to be a chair for lazying but bcoz it could be spinned, the poor chair was subjected to "spinning" & "spinning" stunt by the monkeys! My rough boys spinned the chair until it toppled front & back, left & right....making both of us 'faint' i tell u !! But we were just too tired to bother, so both huby & I just carried on with our plan & arrangement for the next day's outing.

After having sufficient rest, we took turn to freshen ourselves with a quickie shower. Then, it was time to GO OUT & not lock ourselves in the hotel room. So we just walked across to the sea side for some breeze air, nice view before proceeding with dinner.

It was a very nice & happening place it seemed....

Here is where we had our big feast.....Port View Seafood Village !!

We knew that this is the place for tourist which means it's a place for slaughtering but bcoz it was also a place where you will be entertained while dining, we don't mind lar....

" A very authentic traditional performance "

Then, here is the highlight of the dishes

Unfortunately, the boys were still too young to appreciate them. 'Susah-susah' the dady cut the lobster meat into smaller bite for them, they spit them out from their mouth as they couldn't handle the chewing task properly yet!!

The rest of the dish.

Overall, Good food....huby said d price was not really cheap but it was still cheaper than in d peninsular!

After dinner, we took the boys through the row of pubs & lounges along the sea sides. Then, we went back to prepare for the next day adventure!

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PART 2
17/6 - Tuesday

We basically only left with 1 full day of exposure, so after browsing over the options, we decided on Garama Wetland, Beaufort that we deemed most suitable for us, which took approximately 3 hours of drive to get there.

"It was a leisurely boat cruise along the Garama River to look out for the curious-looking Proboscis Monkey with its over-sized nose and pot belly. They usually hang out in small groups that consist of a dominant male and four or five females. Feeding on leaves and seeds, they go from tree to tree and are best sighted during the day or late afternoons. These animals are only found on the island of Borneo."

On a usual account, i was not the type that would go for these type of activities. Mount Kinabalu & our National Rainforest/Taman Negara are the last 2 places that i will consider visiting. But being in such a place so rich in nature plus not much of better options available, i had better agree to going to this place so as not to dissapoint the rest. So it was indeed a very unique & natural encounter for not just myself but also the twins! We joined the local tour service guided by a local native. The package cost about RM500-600 for all included transport, the 1&1/2 hour river cruise, a dinner meal & fire fly watching session!! The tour started at 2pm, finished & reached the hotel at 9pm.

Walking excitedly for about 10 mins to reach the river bank. Notice i wrapped the boys up in fear of the mosquitos, hahaha

Below was the resort cum village type restaurant which also offer accomodation. A nice place to dine fronting a large piece of green land & blue sky! Meal was only simple buffet resembled our mix economy rice!

Before the cruise starts, the boys were seen testing out their veneculars! They were excited.

Cheeky smiles....

Despite an ordinary Tuesday, the place was quite pack.....just take a look at the river....at least 5 boats were filling it up with lots of japanese/ taiwanese/ chinese & westerner !!

The main attraction of the cruise was to catch a glimpse of this special specie called the Proboscis Monkey. There were not really many around and even when we spotted them, they tend to shy away. The distance made it more tough to have a good look over their unique faces. See their 'white' tail....we'd been waited for them to turn around but they just refused to...sigh !!

According to the tour guide, below was the home of the " only " family left surviving on this river bank.

On our way back, we even spotted the below water buffalos.

It was a beautiful sunset enjoyed by all......

After our quick meal, we proceeded to watch the firefly. We managed to have a close watch of the fire flies but had to leave very soon coz the mosquitoes were intolerable !!!
It was a fruitful day out & we retired feeling so fulfilled!

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PART 3 finale

18/6 - Wednesday

We started the next morning with a breakfast at the hotel which had a good view of the sea.

Our flight was at 2pm, we got all our luggages packed & since it was still early we headed to check out on the newly development at ONE BORNEO mall approx.ly 30 mins drive from K.K. It was one of the project that huby has involved in so he was very much proud of this vast development of K.K. It was nothing special for us city folk as it is no different from our 1U, Mid Valley or KLCC.....still very new. We got so bored as below was the only activities for the boys.....hai !!!

Oh ya, btw 'latuk' tonyF was so aggresive in K.K......diversifying into the departmental store business. Its' very first outlet there : TUNE departmental store. Next to 1Borneo is the TUNE hotel.

When it was times up, we catched the taxi back to hotel & checked out. Btw, i can't believe that the taxi in K.K. charge flat rate of minimum RM10 for single trip irrespective of how short the journey could be. Mean "naik teksi saja, kena bayar 10 ringgit". Some of our journey easily cost us RM20 per trip. And apparently, the people there said it was "the practice" which i'm so doubted. Taxi driver in K.K. must be darn rich heh......???

Then the worst part of the trip sank in.......while on d taxi to the airport, we received the fu*king sms from airasia informing of the delay of our flight (for 2 freaking hours)...........damn it, the last thing that anyone would wish to happen! No way we could turn back as we had already checked out from the hotel..........needless to say, the rest of the waiting period in that lousy airport......u can imagine!!

Warning : please do not buy below "frozen" seafood at the airport........hahaha, coz we bought it with much regret as they were super not fresh at all......sigh sigh sigh !!

Didn't managed to catch up with papaj & jppmom coz huby 'shy' lar.....
And we Bid farewell to K.K.