We spend the weekend in the Cameron Highlands. The Cameron Highlands are a favourite weekend destination for people from Kuala Lumpur for various reasons. The main reason is obviously because it’s a highland (5000 ft above sea level), the temperatures are mild. During the day it rarely gets above 25 degrees and at night it sometimes cools down to below 15. Because of the nice climate, the area is perfect for growing many things, especially strawberries and tea. The whole Cameron Highlands therefore seem to look red, because every man and his dog is selling strawberries. The tea plantations are dominated by Boh Tea. And where there’s an over-kill in red strawberry balloons, strawberry pillows, strawberry umbrellas, strawberry lamps and most likely strawberry action-figures, you don’t really see a lot of tea related tourist junk along the way.

We stayed at The Cameron Highland Resort, which is probably the best accommodation in the whole Cameron Highlands. It really was a very nice weekend and I finally caught up on some sleep and rest. Great food, lovely tea and nice weather always makes for a nice holiday.

Rooms & Suites
Location & Setting
Staff & Service
Dining & Leisure
Value for Money

I haven’t had much time to post new stories on my blog lately. Actually, I haven’t had much time for anything since I returned to Kuala Lumpur in November 2009. So, while I spend most of my days in the office, life in Kuala Lumpur has been rather boring. But the last 2 weeks have been very exciting, with visits from friends and family from The Netherlands. Last 2 weeks I showed my side of Kuala Lumpur to Jimmy and Dafna (on 2 separate occasions). I hadn’t seen both of them for about 5 years and every time they travelled in Asia, I was either unavailable or travelling elsewhere myself. But this year, they both made it to Kuala Lumpur and I had the pleasure to show them different parts of my city. I took Jimmy out for a local dinner and Hoegaarden in Bangsar and I showed Dafna around in China Town (and most of the Golden Triangle shopping centres) and drinks at the Luna Bar. I believe both had a great time and I hope I was able to transfer a little of the “affection” I have for this great city. Both are familiar with Bangkok, but I still think Kuala Lumpur is a lot better to live and work in.

Now I have my mother visiting Kuala Lumpur. It’s a long weekend this weekend, with Chinese New Year festivities. So, apart from a one-day tour of the malls in the city, we haven’t done much else. Transportation in the city has improved quite a lot since that “horrible” long weekend experience we had in KL last year, while visiting from Singapore. There’s shuttle-buses from our condo to the malls in the area, the hop-on-hop-off bus seems to be a popular mode of transport for expats and tourists as well. Further more, there are several taxi-ticket counters throughout the city, so taxi-drivers can’t really rip you off as they like to do with tourists. So, at least my mother is mobile and can move around while I continue to be busy in the office. I have printed her a few maps of the city and added the bus stops and major landmarks for her orientation.

Read the rest of this entry »

I went to Kota Kinabalu for a few days between Christmas and New Years 2010 to relax and charge the batteries for the next year. We stayed in the beautiful Shangri-La Tanjung Aru Resort & Spa. Kota Kinabalu is busy trying to become a tourist mecca, but it surely isn’t yet. Apart from visiting the markets (general, poultry and fish), there’s really not a whole lot to do. Good thing that the restaurants in the hotel we very good.

Rooms & Suites
Location & Setting
Staff & Service
Dining & Leisure
Value for Money

It looks like I have secured a new apartment in the Suasana Sentral Loft condominium in Kuala Lumpur. It’s literally 1 minute away from the Cisco office (next door) and right next to KL Sentral station. It’s a great location, easy to reach from the airport with the KLIA Express and conveniently located near the end-station of the monorail and the central LRT station, which both quickly takes you into the city centre. It’s also closely located to Mid Valley Megamall and Bangsar area with another mall and great nightmarket and restaurants. The area is currently being developed into a buzzing centre with more offices and hotels. So, as you can see on the picture, more construction noise…

I have just paid a deposit, will sign the final papers in Saturday and will move in November 15th. It’s in the same condominium as some of my friends and former colleagues are living. It’s a 2 bedroom with study apartment, fully furnished and has everything you could wish for, including a great kitchen. It’s many times bigger than the Singapore apartment (with higher ceilings) and many times cheaper as well. I opted for a high floor with great views (until the construction starts and reaches that high in a few years time).

I have arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Staying with friends for a few nights. When I arrived, it looked like I actually moved in with them already, as my movers had left 25 boxes with my stuff from Singapore in their apartment. I guess it’s now up to me to find a place for my own soon, so that they can move around in their place again. So, I am viewing 5 condos in the same building this morning. With a bit of luck, I can have a new address next week already.