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Impiana Resort Cherating

October 10th, 2007

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Since Cherating is nearby Kuantan, we decided to visit it as well. We put up at Impiana Resort Cherating, which is about 5 minutes from Club Med. We heard about Impiana from our visit to Matta Fair, and also recommended by Punita.

Impiana has a traditional wooden setting. Quite a nice and quaint place. However, I felt that the maintenance is not up to standard. The place has lots of potential. A clean-up, fresh paint, and friendlier-looking staff would improve the image a lot. The hot water also stalls at times.

However, this resort had Astro unlike Swiss Garden, so I didn’t mind the minor details. 🙂

We met two hornbills as we made our way to the room. I guess the birds are residents here since I saw them a few times after that. They seem quite used to human presence.

While at Cherating, we had problem getting food. Since it was fasting month, we found that many shops were closed during the day. We had to go to Kemaman which is a 10 minutes drive for food.

I liked the way they delivered the newspaper in the morning. Unique indeed!

While at Cherating, we visited Cherating Beach, Kemaman Town, the Turtle Sanctuary and also dropped by Thirumila’s place.

Saw the signboard below which is for a restaurant while at Cherating Beach:

The sunrise is splendid here. Since we at the west coast can view only sunset at the beach, this was a good opportunity to catch the sun rising over the ocean.

We left Cherating at lunch time, and reach KL around 5pm, bringing to an end our mini vacation.

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Posted in I Was Here, Personal

Visit to Kuantan

October 10th, 2007

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We went on a short trip around Kuantan town, just to get a feel of the place. Its same as other towns in Malaysia; hectic life, traffic jam at certain spots. Then took most of the pics from the car. Among the famous buildings are the Pillaiyar Temple and Blue Mosque. Not sure about the Fire Department though…

On our second trip to the town, we stopped for lunch at Mega Restaurant, opposite the Berjaya Megamall. Food was expensive, but not very tasty.

Oh ya, we also saw The Brave One at the Megamall.

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Posted in I Was Here, Personal

Tags: temples

Swiss Garden Resort and Spa Kuantan

October 7th, 2007

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We reach Swiss Garden at about 3.30pm, after a slow drive from Maran Temple. The hotel (resort?) is located along Jalan Beserah (linking Kuantan and Kemaman), near a place called Pantai Balok (Balok Beach). The place is quite nice, but unfortunately, I have few complaints. Firstly, our room was near to the pub and the noise was audible till about 1am. Changed to another room the next day, and the management gave a suite (two rooms and two TV) further away from the pub. Guess it pays to look as if you are honeymooning and want much more privacy and quietness. 🙂

The TV was another problem. They advertised that upgraded the channels, which sounded very promising. But when I flipped through it, the upgrade was RTM 1, RTM2, TV3, NTV7, CH9, 8TV, and in-house promotion, plus 2 music channels! Oh my…what happened to CNN, BBC, Star Movies, ESPN etc? No more Astro, but only local free channels? That’s a new definition of upgrade!!!!

Breakfast was nothing much to shout about. In fact, I would say slightly disappointing since there were not many choices.

The beach was inaccessible due to jellyfish threat, so we didn’t venture out to the beach much. We went to Kuantan in the evening. Went to Berjaya Megamall and caught The Brave One at the cinema.

We also took their Ramadan dinner buffet at RM48 each. There were about 60 people at the most, and the food finished very fast. That’s where we meet a familiar face, Thirumila. It was great to meet up an old friend after so long.

The resort had its spa packages under Samsara Spa. We took one of their packages. It was refreshing and really relaxing feeling after the treatment. Plus, their ginger tea was super!

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Posted in I Was Here, Personal

Tags: ISA Religion temples

Gardens At Midvalley

October 6th, 2007

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After spending about 30 minutes at the new Vios launch, we made our way to the new shopping centre at Midvalley, The Gardens. It is situated next to Midvalley Megamall. Shoppers have to cross the inner road to enter the Gardens.

The main attraction at The Gardens is the much touted return of The Robinsons. Other tenants include Marks & Spencer, Smithsonite, GSC Signature (CS), Cold Storage, Coffee Bean, Sushi Zen, MYoga, Boss Hugo Boss, Dockers, Thomas Pink, Samsonite, DKNY, CK, Lacoste, Gap, AX, etc.

We went around Robinsons and Cold Storage. We also caught a performance by the 3 man group belting out some oldies. We didn’t stay for long because the fresh paint smell was starting to give me a headache.

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Posted in I Was Here

Tags: BN

Toyota Vios Launch

October 6th, 2007

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We braved the Friday evening traffic to make our way to Midvalley Exhibition Center for the public launch of the new look Toyota Vios, which comes in 3 flavor instead of two previously. The new S type which has digital display and sports body kit.

We reached the hall at 5.30pm, unfortunately without my camera. Had to make do with Then’s PDA.

From our amateur view, the car looks shorter in the front. After comparing the old car’s brochure and the new one, I found that the new car is actually 15mm longer, 5mm wider, and 65mm taller than the older Vios. Its touted as a compact car by Toyota, and according to them the new car focuses on three aspects: comfort, style, and safety. The engine is still the same, but the car is developed on a newer platform and GOA. The exterior and interior design were overhauled.

Among the major highlights are electronic power steering, extra 17cm luggage area, 60/40 split foldable back seats, leather steering, and compartments to hold drinks.