Grand Lexis

For our third vacation of the year (it's either I do it a lot, or I don't), we went to Grand Lexis Port Dickson. It was kind of a spur of the moment - we decided to go because of the private pools they have in each room. When we were first contemplating PD, this hotel was out because it was too pricey.

Because I booked through Agoda, we got a garden chalet (built safely on the ground). The ones in this pic are the water chalets, and more expensive.

We spent a lot of time in the pool, in the evenings and night. The water was too cold for us in the mornings. Rather than entering the pool through the door, we used the huge windows (not shown on the right side) to enter. 

I couldn't get a nice enough angle of the windows and pool, so I print screen this from the Grand Lexis official website.

Enough for three! Beds were super comfy and I spent a lot of time on it. Instead of soaking up the scenery and the fact we paid 1,038 bucks for it, I slept in the afternoon on Day 2. Total waste of money. There weren't many entertaining channels too, except for AXN.

We have a pantry too, but didn't use much of it. We used the kettle to boil water, but the result was a very weird tasting water. Not sure if it's the chlorine from the tap water, or the kettle itself.

After the pantry is the washroom area. There's a sink, the door to the toilet and the bathroom on the right. We thoroughly enjoyed the hot water, especially after our night swims.

Again, I cropped this out of Instagram. Breakfast was okay, but somehow I didn't really enjoyed it as much as Cyberview. Maybe because they didn't have hash browns. But I loved the salad. We went out for dinner, first night at a place called Seaview. Their seafood was pricey, but nice. We ordered fish, tofu and greens which came up to 82 bucks. Then, we wanted dessert at McD's because we had seen the signboard as we approached Seaview. Got lost, and ended up at Iceroom.

My Blueberry shaved ice at Iceroom. Unlike those served at coffeeshops, this is pure shaved ice. It is so soft, it literally melts before you swallow it in. Worth every penny. Oh, and it serves western food too.

We had another round of seafood the next day, but at a cheaper rate and finally found McD's after asking the owner of the seafood shop for directions.

Last shot of the water chalets in the morning. Overall, we had a good stay here. Also, it helps if you got a car to drive around. But are we coming back soon? Maybe not, unless they hike up our salaries.

Cyberview Lodge

This is a very backdated post, which is why I can't recall when this vacay took place. *I think it was in May*. This is Cyberview Lodge Resort & Spa. We paid 500 bucks for a 3 day 2 night stay, which was a super bargain because it is a 5 star resort, or so they gave themselves. All thanks to MBF rewards.

I could care less about the location of our vacation, because it meant we would spend less on transportation and getting lost. A holiday is still a holiday, we say. This is me on a hammock (for the very first time!) beside the pool.

Our room! I used the candlelight effect while taking this shot using my phone (gone are the days we use digital cameras) because the normal mode made the photo dull. 

Bed was smaller than the one at Avillion, but maybe because they weren't anticipating 3 people in a room. I am super proud of this photo because it looks like something right out of a Home Decor magazine =)

Bathroom! (the sink is on the right) The hot shower stopped working on Day 2, and I thought blowing myself with the hair dryer would keep me a little warmer, boy was I wrong.

The balcony which served as a drying area for our pool towels and laundry. Yes, we washed our clothes because we didn't want it to reek of sweat (from the gym) and chlorine (from the pool). We didn't try the spa, though.

Wading pool.

A tiny waterfall separating the wading pool from the main pool.

Main pool on the left and kids pool on the right.

Early morning view from the bed. Unlike some, our vacation consists of eating and chilling in the room. They had a lot of good Astro channels, MTV, Disney, Star World, HBO (or was it FMP, can't remember) etc and we spent Day 2 downloading TV series and playing Taboo. In the hotel book provided in each room, it claimed that there were board and card games we could rent but no one had any idea what it was, including those at the front desks. So we created our own Taboo game before discovering we could play online too.

I cropped this out of Instagram after realizing I deleted it off the phone. Breakfast was included in the 500 bucks, so we rammed in food as much as we could. I had a couple of Danish pastries, cherry tomatoes, salami, chicken slices, hash browns, sauteed mushrooms, bacon, buttermilk pancakes and porridge. No way I was going for nasi lemak - I usually have them at work. Dinner was on our own, so Day 1 we went to Alamanda Putrajaya (and got a little lost) and Day 2 we went to a shop in Seri Kembangan.

So this wraps up our 3 day 2 night stay. We're in the midst of planning another trip here again =)

3 weeks only

Home for the past 3 weeks
To all of my 3 (yes, 3) readers, hope you had a blast watching the Olympics, and not just that badminton men's singles gold medal match. This photo pretty much explains my disappearance from this place since, well, my last post. So, for the last 3 weeks I had the opportunity to switch my job title to director *pumps fist*, and now I'm demoted to my regular job *face palm*. 

*starts ranting*In the early hours of July 18 (so dramatic, right?) I was told that I needn't to come to work tonight because I was one of the ten who were chosen to handle the Olympics *boo yeah!* with another department that regularly handles live events (Euro, BPL etc). 2 seconds later I realized I had already promised 3 other colleagues months earlier to cover for them while they were on leave.

Long story short, I spent a good 15 minutes pleading to be taken off (yes, taken off the Olympics team) and the entire day calling and texting other colleagues to take over my OTs to no avail. And my phone bill wasn't pretty either at the end of the month.

All these crap went on until I got the working schedule for the Olympics. Despite what the supervisor said about not allowing us to work in 2 departments, well, that went out the window. So on my off days, I went back to my old place for OTs. 

Yep, but my dedication to work and keeping my promises better be noticed. *hmmmpphrhrhhrr*

But it's the Olympics!, so forget about leave and OTs. All in all, it was the best 3 weeks I've had in recent times and secretly wished it was Olympics everyday. People might not be able to handle my fascination with the Games because I, for one, do not play sports, but it is what it is and if only I could write "2012 Olympics team" on my forehead everytime I go to work.

Yep, life is good.

Pageant Predictions: Miss Teen USA 2012

Miss Teen USA 2012 is a couple of days away, and since pageantry get the most traffic here while I am still not bored of it yet, here are my favorite teens for the 2012 crown. 

Alabama - Peyton Brown

Arizona - Alexa Zellers

Maine - Molly Fitzpatrick

Minnesota - Kendra Berger

Mississippi - Jessica Carter

Nebraska - Sarah Summers

New York - Sabrina Mastrangelo

Texas - Madison Lee

Source - Miss Alabama USA, Miss Arizona USA, Tess J Photography, Miss Minnesota USA, Miss Nebraska USA, Miss New York Teen USA Facebook, Miss Texas USA

I've moved!

My new room! So much brighter and airy than my former place, mainly because the window panels were rusty and creaky and I thought I'd break it if I forced it open. So I was living in a cooped up room for the past one year without opening windows.

Here, I can open the windows, I feel like I've got more freedom to walk around, I've got the air cond and a fridge =) The down side is crappy internet and Digi connection and I've got ants in the room! Not huge ants, but irritating enough because I've found some on the bed. *smacks forehead*. And I sleep on the floor! I seriously have to move the bed to another side.

See mom? I've kept my word to have healthy food whenever I got the time - instant oatmeal with apples and blueberries (I've never had blueberries before!). And I actually found time too to cut oranges and take them to work. 

Honestly I've still got one more box and a luggage to unpack. The first week I wasn't around, and then I was at work 4 days and this is the only day I've got to unwind before working again. So when I've got the day off, the only thing I can actually do is sit and do nothing.