Trip to Kuantan- Day 4

Time always flies by when you're having fun. Before we knew it, it was time to go home!

We spent our last morning in Kuantan taking a walk down the beach, right up to the end where there were these huge rocks and a wooden platform. There were many monkeys roaming the area, so we decided against walking up onto the platform, since we had 2 toddlers with us. The long walk down the beach was tiring enough anyway, since No.2 refused to walk on her own and wanted to be carried. For some strange reason, she developed a dislike for sand. Only a couple of months ago when we went to Putrajaya, she loved the sand!

After one last dip in the pool, it was time to pack up and head home! Goodbye Kuantan.. we shall certainly see you again!

Trip to Kuantan- Day 3

Our 3rd day in Kuantan was also my birthday, and it was nice celebrating it while on holiday. We had breakfast at the famous Restoran Hoi Yin just outside the hotel- the curry laksa was really delicious! After that we went to a shopping mall to hang out for a bit; although there wasn't that much to see.

We had dinner at the hotel's Italian Bistro, since that was more convenient. I can't remember exactly how the food tasted, mainly because I had to wolf it down (that's always the case when we dine with the kids), although I did recall my main course was a little on the salty side. The soup, which I ordered for the kids, was actually quite nice, but it was difficult to get No.1 to eat it because it had all kinds of bits inside (which is a no-no for him).

I also received a lovely surprise from Hyatt Kuantan. What happened was this- earlier on when I was still planning this trip, my friend (who has business dealings with the hotel) put me in touch with Diana- the Marketing Communication Manager, to see if she could offer special rates for my room booking. I recall mentioning to her that I would be celebrating my birthday during my stay at the hotel. In the end, it turned out that the rates offered were the same as what I could get online, so in the end I made my booking directly with the Reservations person that she linked me up with, instead of going through her (Diana is based in KL, by the way).

And guess what- Diana actually remembered that it was my birthday- she sent me an sms wishing me happy birthday, and presented me with a yummy birthday cake, with compliments from the hotel! What a lovely touch. I was most impressed by this wonderful display of hospitality. The funny thing was nobody mentioned the huge box sitting on the table; and it was only later at dinner when everyone started asking each other- 'Did you see that big box in the room? What was that? Did you buy a cake? No, did you?' Hubby went back to the room to check, and found out that it was a cake indeed! Hilarious.

There were 3 guys seated at the next table, and they presented me with a 'gift' as well. One of them asked the kitchen for some oranges, and proceeded to perform a juggling act! He was actually really good as well, haha!

What a memorable birthday indeed! :)

Trip to Kuantan- Day 2

We spent the whole of our 2nd day at the hotel. Mum and mum-in-law went gallivanting about town for almost the entire day, although they did manage to make a pit stop at the hotel to bring us some food for lunch and tea.     For some reason, despite all the time we spent at the hotel, we ended up spending very little time at the beach. Maybe an hour in the morning, and another hour in the evening, I think.

Going to the beach with toddlers is really tiring! It's so hot, and cleaning up the kids and their toys afterwards is always so messy. Sand and more sand everywhere.

We didn't even leave the room for dinner; we mainly ate leftovers from lunch/tea.. now what did the children eat? Hmm I can't recall... heh. Hubby did manage to go out for supper at the famous Satay Zul, and brought back some satay for us.

:)

Trip to Kuantan- Day 1

We were all set to make a trip to Kuantan in April; but due to the whole fiasco with the maid, we were not sure whether it was still a good idea to go (i.e. without a maid to help out). Thank God we were fortunate enough to find someone who was available immediately (although it did cost us a lot of money). My mum is the kids' primary caregiver, and she insisted that she needed help to manage, so we went ahead to hire another maid, even though we were quite prepared to manage without one. 

Anyway, back to the Kuantan trip. And so, with God's providence, the trip was back on! 6 adults and 2 children- hehe. The drive there wasn't too bad, although certain parts of the highway had very windy roads and that was rather scary. The kids managed to get some sleep during the journey, and later when they finally reached their restless and cranky 'threshold', we arrived at our destination. Phew. 

Our 'home' for the next few days was the beautiful Hyatt Regency Kuantan. I decided to upgrade to a Seaview room, and wow, that was a really great decision. Check out the views from our balcony! We also got a good discount, since I re-booked one room under my mum-in-law's name (thus earning us a senior citizen's discount), and another room under my mum's name (apparently government pensioners get special rates too); so that was a nice surprise! The downside was we had to wait for AGES for the check-in to be sorted out, but since there was potential to save $$$; I waited really patiently...

Dinner that evening was at the famous Pak Su Seafood. The food was nice, but the whole experience left a really bitter taste in our mouth, as we were unceremoniously ripped off. My mum ordered a fish; we were told it would be 2.4 kg, and at RM150 per kg, that's already a whopping RM360- and that's just for the fish! When she went to pay the bill, she was told that the fish turned out to be 3.6kg, and so of course she protested! We should have been informed what the final weight of the fish was, BEFORE they went ahead to cook it. It was certainly unethical of them to do what they did- after all, having already eaten the fish, who could argue with them exactly how heavy it was to begin with?!?

Anyway, I happened to see my mum at the counter (she snuck off to pay the bill) and went to see what was going on; and when I found out what happened, I joined in to support her by kicking up an even bigger fuss (my mum was actually quite prepared to relent after a while). The culprit offered an RM30 discount; I said no and told him that I wanted to speak to the boss. He disappeared for a while, and then came back out, offering RM80; and I said no, round it up to RM100, which was the final discount we got in the end. On hindsight, I probably should have roped my Dad in for the 'fight' as well; we probably could have gotten a bigger discount!

Lesson learnt- ALWAYS verify the weight of fresh seafood before you commit to your order. As for Pak Su Seafood- NEVER AGAIN! >.<