Back at Home..

My family checked into the Holiday Villa hotel (HVH) right after the ceremonies of the 50th Birthday Celebrations of his Highness Sultan of Kedah.

There was a stretch of nice cars at the front entrance (this hotel is a co-tenant of City Plaza and has no 'proper' covered porch) which caused a massive jam along Jalan Tunku Ibrahim. One wonders how could this be the top hotel in the city, when its basement car park can only handle like 20 cars, but then again, I'm not from around here.

The check-in was a breeze even though we were slapped an RM80 surcharge for the week being the Sultan's birthday. I was actually expecting a lot because that have put up HVH in the same category as Equatorial Penang, which in my opinion takes a lot of beating.

Anyway, the moment we stepped into the room, we knew who the winner was straight away. HVH, in all its desperation to lock in all the profits derived from the full-house public holiday week stretch, had forgot to check the refurbishments of the amenities in their rooms during the croom make- up process.

No info folder, room service menu, mini bar stuff, etc.

Did I mention it was RM310 for a really small Superior Room? No free internet service, lousy, lousy buffet breakfast, and stingy toiletries and vanity packs.

Now, I won't be saying this if it wasn't due to the exorbitant price. But again, Putra Palace in Kangar, at RM 195 a night, gave a lot more value than HVH, which in all honesty is a total rip-off.

The only good thing is the location, which is along StarWalk, and that gave us enough opportunities to try the Mihun Sup Utara and Laksa Kedah, which really did not dissapoint us one bit.

We were glad to check out the other day and left for Ipoh. The weather was a bit dodgy as it rained down half of the way there and looking for a place was a nightmare in the middle of the Ipoh peak hours traffic jam. We at last settled for Seri Malaysia, which at RM150 was the cheapest of the bunch, but as far as the value proposition is concerned rates higher than HVH in my eyes, just because it has the SAME breakfast spread as HVH PLUS free WiFi!!

The location is also not too bad as it only takes about 5 minutes driving to the 'City Centre' and we did that at 10.50 pm, looking for grub along Jalan Tawil Azar. We were pleasantly surprised to find a Damanasara Uptownesque environment, which also had its own flea market and bootleg peddlars. Fantastic!

After a notable cheap meal of Rojak Basah, Mihun Soto and Char Kuey Teow (shared with the wifey), we headed back to the hotel, got lost, and found our way back - no thanks to Ipoh's elaborate one-way street traffic system!

Northern States Eat Off!

I'm off to a 1-week long baby sitting tour as my wife completes her audit run of the Northern Region for her company.

We have since hit Penang and currently in Perlis where so far eating wise, it has been a heavenly experience, what more with my self imposed diet while I was in the States due to the limited number of halal food establishments in Michigan ex-Detroit.

We have sampled the fabled Line Clear Nasi Kandar off Lebuh Chulia as well as the famous Laksa and Ikan Terubuk Bakar of Kuala Perlis jetty. We should also be on our way to Alor Setar where again laksa and hopefully other dishes of worthy mention would grace our picky palates!

Not forgetting to mention are my collection of future reviews of the lodging places in the cities that we have visited, which means I should be very busy in the next couple of weeks compiling and editing my notes and snapshots which would need a LOT of help from my ever deteriorating memory..

Airport Codes

Just came back from the States..

Planning to go on a vacation with my family, and found out that there's no list for our airport codes. So here it is:


AOR - Alor Setar, Malaysia Sultan Abdul Halim
BKM - Bakalalan, Malaysia - Bakalalan Airport
BBN - Bario,Malaysia - Bario Airport
BLG - Belaga, Malaysia Airport
BTU - Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia Bintulu
IPH - Ipoh, Malaysia Ipoh
JHB - Johor Bahru, Malaysia Sultan Ismail International
KBR - Kota Bharu, Malaysia Sultan Ismail Petra
BKI - Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia Kota Kinabalu
KUL - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - KLIA Kuala Lumpur International
SZB - Kuala Lumpur - Subang, Malaysia
TGG - Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia Sultan Mahmood
KUA - Kuantan, Malaysia Padang Geroda
KCH - Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia Kuching
KUD - Kudat, Malaysia - Kudat Airport
LBU - Labuan, Sabah, Malaysia
LDU - Lahad Datu, Sabah, Malaysia Lahad Datu
LGK - Langkawi, Malaysia
LWY - Lawas, Sarawak, Malaysia Lawas
LMN - Limbang, Sarawak, Malaysia Limbang
LKH - Long Akah, Malaysia - Long Akah Airport
LBP - Long Banga, Malaysia - Long Banga Airport
LGL - Long Lellang, Malaysia - Long Lellang Airport
ODN - Long Seridan, Malaysia - Long Seridan Airport
MUR - Marudi, Malaysia - Marudi Airport
MYY - Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia Miri
MZV - Mulu, Malaysia Mulu Airport
PEN - Penang, Malaysia Penang International
SDK - Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia
SMM - Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia Semporna
SBW - Sibu, Sarawak, Malaysia Sibu
TMG - Tomanggong, Malaysia - Tomanggong Airport

So, go get those tickets and take your family on a break!