Grand Centara Resort @ Krabi Vacation 2016

It was just a recent holiday that we've been to which was still fresh from my memory.

We chose Krabi as our destination for 3 nights because we previously experienced Hua Hin and we totally loved the atmosphere and serenity of the resort.

The resort we chose this time was the Grand Centara Resort, which was quite a pretty huge resort compared to the rest we've been.

We had to take Tiger Air to Krabi airport because there were not many airlines that were offering such route. Upon arrival, we flagged a cab for THB 600 baht which would bring us to Noppharatara pier where there were complimentary speedboat transfer to the resort itself. Do reach out for the timetable which was provided from the resort when you book.

~ Noppharatara Pier ~

~ Riding the speedboat ~

After 15 min, we reached the entrance to the resort, which was isolated in an island.

~ Grand Entrance ~

Finally reached!!!

I'll break this down into the most important factors for looking into the resort, in case anyone would like to book the same in the future.

1.) Location

It's not the most convenient location as the only way to reach the resort is via a boat which we have to take from the pier. 

In order to travel to Ao Nang or Krabi Town area, you'll have to take the boat again to the pier and make your way out from there.

Since it is isolated in an island, it also means that it's very difficult to reach a supermarket to grab drinks or snacks and there are a number of limited restaurants for you to take your meal inside the resort.

2.) Beach & Nature of Resort

The resort is an absolute stunning nature lovers. 

There are plenty of butterflies, lizards and monkeys flying around the resort, and the resort sparks a very open and friendly environment towards nature.

The beach is amazingly huge and was very child friendly as the water is clear and the sand is soft on the touch.

It was Oscar first experience playing by the beach and he absolutely loved it to the core, especially when the wave starts to spill over to the sandcastle we were building in vain.

Throughout our stay, the weather was absolutely great and it was sunny hot throughout, which sparks a great number of tourists to lie down tanning on the beach and the pool area.

Delight Play With The Sand

Beach

~ Oscar @ Krabi ~

~ Daddy B 3Fs ~

3.) Accommodation

We chose the Ocean Suites Luxury which was located on the 3rd floor.

There is no elevator or lift, so you'll have to exercise up and down. We did that throughout and were flat tired everytime.

The room were huge, similar to what we have back at Hua Hin. However, they were a few tad signs of aging and I had very much preferred the one we have at Hua Hin.

There were a balcony overseeing the ocean and there were bath-up outside. We used them quite a bit and my son totally love it. You can see from his expression that he was genuinely excited when the water fills up.

~ Room ~

Bath Time!!!

4.) Facilities

The resort was very huge and there were plenty of facilities that we are able to use during the stay.

There is the spa club, which I stupidly signed up on the first day to try on a 4 hands massage since I was longing for massage for the longest time.

There is also the fitness center, which we went in a few times to enjoy the aircon... hahaha.

There is the recreation club where you can play xbox or playstation, and there is also a table tennis table which I played a few rounds with my wife.

~ Recreation Club ~

There is also the kids indoor playground which we brought our son to play inside. There were not too much crowd since everyone is hanging out by the beach and pool area so he has all the toys and games to himself.

~ Indoor Playground ~

The swimming pool is huge. And the view is amazing as it oversees the mountain and the ocean.

There were also not much crowd as most people were sun-tanning when we went so we had the pool almost all to ourselves. It was a very enjoyable swim.

~ Swimming Pool ~

5.) Service

I had to include this in the review as I believe it is one of the most important factor.

The service was not the best as compared to the one we stayed at Hua Hin but it was decent overall. We had experienced much worse elsewhere.

There were a few times when we had to remind for housekeeping and call for service but I guess because of the huge size of the resort they couldn't accommodate all the guests' request.

Still, I will rate the service as only decent as I had much expected better from a 5 star resort.

Overall

There were some great and misses throughout our stay but the overall stay was great.

It is definitely something which I do not regret choosing to go for a staycation for a chill and relax and the money spent is definitely worth it.

P.S: The review is purely based on my own experience and I do not receive any compensation for writing this review.

Novena Peranakan Cuisine - Review

We have been wanting to try the peranakan food for a very long time now but each and every time another temptation came to distract our appetite away. This time, we were determined to try the peranakan cuisine located near our home since we managed to get some time away when little Oscar was taking his afternoon nap.

The shop itself wasn't very big and we were the first customer to arrive for lunch.

Sign Entrance

There was a little touches on how Singapore has evolved from their independence to where they are today. The photos below showed the transition into a modern world over the years. This all while we were waiting for our food to come.

Photos from the 1960s

The menu was simple to read and the prices were decent. They even had a small/medium portion for those who are coming with only 2 person like us. We heard about a couple of rave reviews regarding some of their recommendation so we decided to try and order the Ngo Hiang, Ayam Buah Keluak and Assam Fish.

Menu

I wasn't a big fan of Ngo Hiang but this one is really good and is something for once that I like. The outside texture of the skin is crispy and the inside is filled with many various components of meats, vegetables and mushroom with minced pork and century egg. The sauce was extremely teasing as well as it provides a succinct taste of sweetness but not overly so. It gives a great companion taste to the Ngo Hiang.

1st Dish - Ngo Hiang

The next dish to come was the Ayam Buah Keluak.

For those who are not sure what this dish is, it is essentially a peranakan chicken dish cooked with nuts from the Pangium edule (black thing) which made the sauce a little curry black. The taste of the dish was pretty decent, and the broth has a bit of thick but sweetness curry attached to it. I would have liked it if the broth tastes a little more spicy but it was overall a nice decent authentic peranakan cuisine.

2nd Dish - Ayam Buah Keluak

The Assam Fish / Fish Head is the peranakan speciality dish and we came there to witness and savour the dish.

To my expectation, the dish stood out because I had actually liked it more than I imagined to be. The broth tasted sourly spicy but with a thinning of sweetness to it. They also included some of the toppings like lady finger, brinjal and pineapple to add to the overall presentation of the dish.

This was excellent, I mixed the broth to my plate of rice and finished them in quick.

3rd Dish - Assam Fish

While I was in the restaurant, I overheard the owner speaking to another customer saying that he is looking for a buyer to take over the restaurant. He was looking for around $200K to take over his restaurant which would include the brand name and also the capacity of the owner who would stay for 1 year as a consultant to give advise to running the business and recipe.

It was a decent dining overall, I would come back one day to eat their Assam Fish again.

Angry Bird Theme Park @ Komtar JBCC

The Angry Bird Theme Park is something which caught our eyes on when we heard the reviews.

Not far away located at Komtar JBCC (just beside Citysquare mall), we proceeded to go there from Singapore via the Woodland customs and soon we've arrived at location just within an hour.

At the entrance

We happened to wear the same family shirt which we bought in Hua Hin.

The place is huge and it was divided into several sections.

We headed to the toddler's section first as it appears there wasn't that many people yet, until a few minutes later when a whole lot of kindergarten children were entering the premise. Under the toddler's section, there were a range of activities to choose from:

The slides was extremely popular because it appears that it was the only slides for the toddlers while they have a much bigger slides for the slightly more adult kids. A pity we were not able to play that yet at this point due to his young age.

There is also a small cave Cinemine which they are playing the Angry Bird video inside. A couple of kids are glued right to the screen watching them. Typical small children :)

Just beside the Cinemine, there is also activities for the young for creativity to assemble and disassemble the soft yet firm handles. A lot of kids are bashing one another with this so do caution and watch out for running kids.

Oscar having fun @ The Toddler's Section

After a few while, we changed and proceeded to the Bike Lagoon area where there are ample of space for kids to try onto the bicycle where they can learn and fall safely, under the supervision of the parents. It was fun because Oscar has never really tried on moving around with a bicycle so it was a totally new experience for him.

For the more experienced, there was also challenges like the slope below which we attempted but fall. Oh well.

Bicycle lesson 101

Moving next, we saw a field where kids were running around playing football. Intrigued by a moving ball, Oscar went in to play together with the kids. It was mostly just chasing around because the older kids were much faster and experience. Poor boy, he became he running monkey that day.

Playing Soccer running around

One of the highlight of the theme park is the Go Kart where kids can ride onto a kart and move around the premise competing with one another.

We had to queue this for about 20 minutes and upon our turn when our names are called, we were excited and raring to go. A pity towards the ride that Oscar refused to ride with us because it would have been fun. Urghh, at the end we had to give it a miss.

Go-Kart

The other highlight of the theme park was a huge trampoline space where kids can jump and bounce around the area. We enjoyed spending our time here the most because it's an area where the kid can roam around playing with the other kids. 

You can also see how my wife was attempting to balance herself like an expert but failed miserably. Not qualified of course... Tetttt :)

Overall, it was a very fun theme park compared across the others we've been to.

The theme park would be best suited for young children at the age of above 5 but below 12 as there are more activities that they can play.

Please also note that the theme park charges not per children like what we are used to in Singapore but by per accompanying adults. Child below the age of 2 gets in for free.

Thanks for reading ^^

Fun Activities At The Little Big Club Theme Park

This is a follow up post from the weekend staycation we had last week at Johor Bahru (Link Here).

We proceeded to Puteri Harbour where there are two main theme parks destination for the kid. In the end, we decided to go for the Little Big Club Theme Park since it's an obvious choice for the boy. We heard some good reviews before we enter so there were high expectations about the theme park.

The mommy took this chance to take a quick snapshot as we walked past since we will not be entering the Hello Kitty Land this time round.

Snapshot @ Hello Kitty and Barney

Upon entering, we were greeted by Barney who was right in front of us. Sadly, Oscar was too afraid to take a picture with the big character so we forgo taking the picture together. Still, he was excited to run around the Barney premise which I have to chase him around safeguarding his safety. The Angeline ballerina was empty when we went since they only had shows in the afternoon.

Barney and Angeline premise

Wait for Daddy.....!!!

Shortly after we were playing around, there was Bob The Builder show with most kids running towards the scene. Not knowing what happen, we followed everyone at scene. It turned out to be a very interesting interaction amongst the kids because the staff would made them sing and dance along to the theme song. Oscar started out scared initially but grow to like them as the show goes on.

Bob The Builder Show

After the show, we visited the premise for Bob The Builder and their amazing maze for the kids. He has fun running around and taking the long slide down and even assume his position as a truck driver. Get to work big boy...

I'm trapped inside the maze...

Trucking time... Get to work

The best part of the theme park is at the level 2 where they had the Wheels on the Bus, Thomas Train, Helicopters and Ferris Wheel. Oscar had the Wheels on the Bus and Thomas Train and loved it to pieces. Singing along the theme song, he finally had the chance to take both the bus and train together.

He was perhaps a little apprehended after taking the two that he refused to take the helicopter ride. So we had to forgo it.

Wheels on the bus goes round and round....

We spent about 3 hours inside before we left for lunch. Last shot at the nice Puteri Harbour scenery.

Puteri Harbor scenery

Weekend Staycation at Legoland Hotel, Johor Bahru

We just had a fantastic short staycation at Legoland Malaysia in the past weekend which went beyond my expectations. The idea was to celebrate Oscar's 2nd birthday so I invited the grandparents as well and it turned out to be such a great family bonding session at the end. My son loved it so much that he actually cried when we had to go back to Singapore. For all parents who wishes to bring their kids there, you have been warned.

I'll split the post into separate parts since we visited quite a bit of places, mainly a few indoor theme park in the area.

We booked a cab straight from our home in Singapore and arrived pretty quickly for just under an hour since there was little jam in the morning on Friday.

When we arrived at the hotel, Oscar's eyes immediately lighted up to see the indifference in the hotel decorations. This was unlike the other hotels he has stayed, normal and ordinary. This was his hotel, his world. 

While I was proceeding to check in, he rushed to play and pick up some of the lego bricks and wasted no time any further. You can see how we immediately explored the area since we were told that we can only check in the evening at 4pm. Any early check in would require an additional RM300 which I don't think is worth it at all. I think this is the only downside of this hotel check-in.

The Brick family restaurant was where we had our breakfast for the 2 days. The spread of the buffet was amazing and it was extremely child friendly. You can get almost all kind of food you want at the spread - Malay, Indian, Chinese, Kids, Yogurt, anything. We ate to our delight and had no room left for lunch.

We checked into the room pretty late after we had our dinner and was exhausted by the daily activities we did. When we entered the room, we were all fascinated by the decorations of the room. Oscar had a loud "Whoa" sound when he entered and immediately I knew this was the kind of hotel he was happy staying at, forever perpetually.

The room was separated into one main king bed and a bunker bed in the other room which can sleep 3 person. This was a perfect gateaway opportunity should you want to spend some family bonding together.

There was lego bricks provided in the room for the kid to play and kept him busy during the staycation. There is also a puzzle to solve which there will be rewards if you managed to crack them. Unfortunately, Oscar was too young to participate so it ends up with the adults trying to rack our brains. We had to spend quite a while before we actually figured it out. Shame shame on us.

The hotel was kind enough to give a complimentary cake knowing that it was Oscar's birthday. It was a simple cake which was beautifully designed and we get to sing a birthday song and take a family picture together, which is priceless. I am not sure if he knows what's happening but I hope it'll be a memorable moment for him when he gets older in the years ahead.

It was a very pleasant stay overall and the money is totally worth your kid's happiness if you are planning to work some activities out for the family. We hope to be able to come back at some point in the future.

And on my way back, I saw a quote from facebook which says "Present is the moment, tomorrow is another day. Make everyday counts for your loved ones"

Kids Amaze Indoor Playground @ Safra Toa Payoh

We made our trip down to Safra Toa Payoh this past weekend to check out the indoor playground they had since we heard some good rave reviews about it.

The entrance fee was very affordable especially if you are a Kids Amaze or Safra member. Even if you are not, the entrance for a single kid is only at $18 during weekends. This is much lower comparatively than the other indoor playground around the malls.

The playground was huge and they are separated into two parts - one for the toddler area and another for the older adults. We played both :)

Little O played in the toddler area for about 15 minutes and he kinda liked it at first, after sort of climbing and crawling around, made a friend or two but felt bored thereafter because it's all too easy for him. Suddenly, I feel like he has grown up from a young baby to a big toddler now.

There is an area where all the kids would run to and lie on the center as they had a machine which sucked all the balls and dropped it right into the center to those kids excitement. I think this is the main highlight of the playground because there are so many kids getting excited and you can see the balls lying around on the floor after rounds of throwing around.

The climbing area was huge and I played my part in the exercise when I had to chase after little O running around for at least an hour. There was also a long slide towards the top which was slightly shorter than the one we had at Amazonia bu was still amazing.

6 Days 5 Nights in Hongkong Travel With A Kid

We traveled to Hongkong recently from the 22nd to 27th Feb for a 6 days 5 nights trip. Even though this was not the first time I visited HK, going there with our kids gave us a totally different expectations and anticipation.

Weather in HK was absolutely great. It was cooling ranging from 13 to 16 degrees for most of the day and we really love the weather because it was just the right sort of temperature that we want.

We traveled via Cathay Pacific airline when they had the promo offer not long ago and it was going for SGD 248 / person. I also realized later on that Singapore airline is having a similar promo that goes for around SGD 250 / person. Oh well, I still think Singapore Airline is better after comparing the two experience.

Upon reaching HK, we took a cab to our nearby hotel which I had purposefully booked for our 5 nights stay at Novotel, Citygate. The check-in was easy and it was 5 min ride from the airport so it was very convenient going to and from the airport. The hotel is also connected to the Citygate mall at TungChung, where branded outlet was located.

Exploring around bedroom

Toilet room

TV Channel 

As most of the trip was kid's planned itinery, our trip was slow and easy.

There is a huge kid play park on the top floor of the Times Square and my boy enjoyed the place so much. We also bought home a few books which we couldn't find in Singapore.

Pony Ride

Busy entertaining himself :)

What!!! Mama lesson again!!??

Hmm, this is more fun :)

Ngong Ping 360

On our second day, we chose to go to the nearby Ngong Ping and Big Buddha since we get to ride the cable car which was fantastic experience for baby O. He was as amazed when the cable car came and he got excited.

Anxiously Waiting...

Wow, Crystal Clear Cabin!!!

Getting Started...

The view was amazing

Reached Finally

Disneyland

Disney was a dreamland for the children and our trip this time round was to include this as part of the itinery.

Tickets were going for about HKD530 and they had increased since the last time I was here a couple years ago. Still, with Disney Shanghai opening in the 2nd half of this year, it looks like there will be competition from then on. There were also many changes to the HK Disneyland which I was very impressed with and looking very different from when I went years ago. Thumbs up to Disney.

There were some which my boy was apparently scared of like the carousel ride and the small small world boat. Now that I think back, it does look like perhaps it's too young for a kid to endure such thing which can be scary.

Entrance of Disneyland ~ Here we come!!!

The Happiest Place on Earth

Creatively Looking Disney MTR

Heya Mickey!!!

Carousell Ride :)

This is the new jungle area where I've never been to

The trip was fun overall.

It wasn't overwhelming filled with rush mad to visit anything and all itinery went according to plan.

Hk is also an easy place for toddlers as most restaurant served dimsum, porridge and soup which is a vital criteria for my baby's meal.

Until next time HK :)