Tag: swimming pool

Phuket

Deevana Patong Resort & Spa, Phuket, Thailand

Post author By Ronald Tan
Post date June 24, 2012
No Comments on Deevana Patong Resort & Spa, Phuket, Thailand

Our choice of accommodation (Superior Double Room Garden Wing) during our trip to Phuket was Deevana Patong Resort & Spa, which we made the reservations directly through their website at THB 2,500 nett per room per night. There was a promotion package going on and for our 3 nights stay, we are entitled to the following.

3-4 Nights Paid (A&B)

*A) Airport round trip transfer

*B) Choice of ONE Free Selection:

B1) 1 hour Thai Massage.
B2) Afternoon tea & snacks.
B3) Free late check-out till 05:00 p.m.

We chose B3 as our flight departing Phuket is 2205hrs so that we do not need to hang out outside too long. Deevana Patong Resort & Spa do have wireless internet access available for all areas in hotel free of charge but I was told that some rooms in the Garden Wing may have slightly weaker signals.

Hotel Lobby at Deevana Patong Resort & Spa. The resort is conveniently located in Patong and it only takes a 10mins walk to the beach as well as nearby amenities. If you don’t want to walk to Patong Beach (and possibly other places of interests), please do check out the shuttle bus service timings at the lobby. We only knew about it on our last day in Phuket. 🙁

The Balcony at Deevana Patong Resort & Spa to redeem our free welcome drink. During our check-in, we were also given discount voucher for 10% off on food and beverages.

Our welcome drink at Deevana Patong Resort & Spa. It was really nice and refreshing!

View of the pool from The Balcony. Note the rooms with balconies? These are the Spa Wing rooms.

View of the The Garden Restaurant from The Balcony.

If you chose the 1 hour Thai Massage from the promotion package, I believe you will be treated to a relaxing massage here at Deevana Spa.

We booked for a Superior Double Room (Garden Wing) but when we arrived it was already fully occupied. Hence, our room was upgraded to Superior Double Room (Spa Wing)! Yay!

Superior Double Room (Spa Wing) – TV and make-up table area. The small fridge below the TV is for me to keep all my beers! Wahahaha!

Toilet at Superior Double Room (Spa Wing). Do note that you can open the window and look out (watch TV or chat with friends) while you do your big business!

Shower area at Superior Double Room (Spa Wing). It was clean but the water drainage clogs up after a shower!

Our balcony area at Superior Double Room (Spa Wing) – Good for having a cool beer, chit-chatting or just relaxing around! It also a great place to hang out our wet clothes after any water sports or Songkran session.

Pool view from Superior Double Room (Spa Wing). It’s still early and no one is swimming yet!

View of The Garden Restaurant from our room. Our room rates include daily breakfast!

Breakfast time! You can see that’s lots of people during breakfast but not after that. I believe all of them went out to have fun!

View of swimming pool from The Garden Restaurant.

American buffet breakfast. Eat all you can! LOL

We also took a walk around Deevana Patong Resort & Spa and it was pretty huge! I believe the above should be the Superior Double Room Garden Wing that we booked for. 🙂

We think it should be the Garden Wing… because it faces a garden…errm…

There was another pool in the resort too!

Front view of the garden wing rooms.

This the other pool which is nearer to our room, which is always happening with hot music! Check out the pool bar for some cool drinks too!

Yeah, it rained when I was in Phuket but it was short and definitely didn’t dampened anyone’s mood!

Night scene at the resort.

Front view of the resort during the night, just after a rain which made it cooling.

Just outside of Deevana Patong Resort & Spa are some shops catering to the neccessary stuffs for tourists, e.g. Internet, car rental, taxi service, restaurants, pubs, minimarts, etc. Personally, I didn’t visit any as my stay was pretty short and I was always out and about.

Overall, the stay at Deevana Patong Resort & Spa was positive and comes with thumbs-up from my partner. Having said that, we are sure to return again!

Tags deevana patong resort & spa, deevana spa, food, lobby, patong, phuket, swimming pool, thailand, the balcony, the garden restaurant, toilet, travel, welcome drink

Life in Singapore

Sands SkyPark at Marina Bay Sands

Post author By Ronald Tan
Post date May 17, 2011
6 Comments on Sands SkyPark at Marina Bay Sands

Recently, my friends were staying at Marina Bay Sands and we were invited to visit Sands Skypark (340m-long and a 150m swimming pool, set on top of the world’s largest public cantilevered platform on 57th floor) since it will be free if we tag along with hotel guests. For members of public who wants to feast their eyes on the panorama view of Singapore, you can purchase tickets at Sands SkyPark ticketing counter located at Basement 1. Tickers holder will be only allowed to visit SkyPark Observation Deck as well as a portion swimming pool deck adjacent to the observation deck. The above photo was taken from the SkyPark Observation Deck.

SkyBar by Ku De Ta – Marina Bay Sands Skypark.

Poolside Terrace by Ku De Ta. The use of the swimming pool is only for hotel guests.

Such spectacular views of Singapore from Marina Bay Sands swimming pool.

You can swim and have fun while having a breathtaking experience at such high level. I should have brought along my swimming attire to swim… 🙁

The swimming pool is quite a long stretch – naturally, since it’s one of the largest cantilevers in the worlds. Wondering how’s the view is in the day?

Next, we took the lift down to level 55 to visit Banyan Tree Fitness Club Marina Bay Sands.

An area where you can rest after the workout and it is overlooking Gardens by The Bay, which is estimated to be completed by end of 2011.

Time to hit the gymnasium for some weights exercise.

Or you prefer cardio exercise while having great views of Singapore skyline?

To get back down to 1st level, we have to go back to level 57 first to take the lift down. This time we walk along the opposite stretch from the swimming pool.

Passing by one of the several jacuzzi pools, where you can order some drinks while relaxing in the pool and checking out the view. Although it’s a short time, it was an interesting experience and most importantly, it gives me a feeling wanting to come back again in the future to experience it further. Maybe I can come and stay at Marina Bay Sands during a special occasion? That’s a nice plan! 🙂

Tags banyan tree fitness club marina bay sands, casino, gymnasium, jacuzzi, ku de ta, kudeta, marina bay sands, poolside terrace, sands skypark, singapore, skybar, skyPark observation deck, swimming pool

Batam

3 Days 2 Nights Trip at Harris Resort Batam

Post author By Ronald Tan
Post date November 5, 2010
No Comments on 3 Days 2 Nights Trip at Harris Resort Batam

This short trip to Batam was made on 10th Sept 2010 (during the long weekend of Hari Raya Puasa), together with the same gang of friends that went to Malaysia (See “A Day in Kuala Lumpur 2” and “A Day in Malacca“). Our package at Harris Resort Batam is as below. It’s slightly more expensive than usual due to the holiday peak period.

It Is Good Deal @ Harris Funky Room (Old Wing Room)
Adult twin sharing: $127.00 per person
Child without bed: $36.00
Infant: $18.00

Package price includes:
– 2 way ferry tickets
– 2 way land transfers
– 2 nights stay with daily breakfasts
– FREE one time lunch or dinner for paying adults and children.
– FREE one time 30mins bicycle ride for two per room per stay.
– FREE one game of bowling for two per room per stay
– FREE access to sauna, cold plunge pool at H Spa & fitness.
– FREE access to Wi-Fi internet within hotel premises.
– FREE one time two-way shuttle services to Nagoya Hill for all paxs.
*Depart hotel 1100hrs & 1400hrs (Batam Time)
*Depart Nagoya Hill timing 1430hrs & 1730hrs (Batam Time)
*FCFS basis, guests MUST register at bell counter soonest or at least 02hrs before departing time.

Package excludes:
– Singapore terminal tax $20.00 per person pay at Harbourfront Centre
– Batam terminal tax $7.00 per person pay at Waterfront City Batam Terminal

The ferry ride was rather fast and we reached Waterfront City Batam Terminal in less than an hour but getting through the immigration took some time due to the bulk of travelers. Above shows a shop selling variety of products, just as you walk out of the immigration. We bought tons of food, snacks, beer, etc here!

Land transfer from Harris Resort Batam. It was only a few minutes drive from the ferry terminal.

We were given twin rooms despite requesting for double bed rooms during our reservation. I think those who took the first ferry out from Singapore manage to get the limited double bed rooms as there were lots of travelers checking in. We checked-in to our rooms and then took a walk around Harris Resort Batam (mostly pool area). Then, we went to the restaurant to have a small bite as we missed lunch and it almost nearing dinner time (4pm).

The pizza looks great but we didn’t eat it as the portion is rather big and we were going to have dinner pretty soon. Our dinner will be using the “FREE one time lunch or dinner for paying adults and children” which is included in the package. The free dinner was …. 🙁

Harris Resort Batam – Old Wing (we are staying here).

Harris Resort Batam – This is the new wing and it will cost a tad more than the old wing. We had a sneak peek at one of the rooms (during housekeeping) on the ground floor and it seems smaller than the old wing rooms.

We went to the bowling centre to play the “FREE one game of bowling for two per room per stay” in our package. You have to rent the bowling shoes but it doesn’t comes with any socks!

Nice swimming pool at Harris Resort Batam.

If you are early, you can grab one of these sheltered seats. How nice it would be to relax here (with beers)!

Lobby area of Harris Resort Batam. The lifts that we used daily! Hehe…

Beach area near Harris Resort Batam.

Small yacht berthing at nearby dock near Harris Resort Batam.

We took the free one-time return shuttle services from Harris Resort to Nagoya Hill for shopping. We had made the reservation for the shuttle service one day earlier.

We wanted to try the original Ayam Penyet Ria but it was closed. By the way, there is a Ayam Penyet Ria in Lucky Plaza (Singapore)!

Food street at Nagoya Hill. Lots of food for you to choose!

77 Es Teler – We tried one of the desserts which is very much like Ice Kacang. There is also a Es Teler in Singapore too! It’s at Far East Plaza Singapore.

Our bedroom at Harris Resort Batam, we wasn’t able to get the double bed room so we improvised on our own. Haha!

The rest of the area in our bedroom at Harris Resort Batam.

Bathroom at Harris Resort Batam. It’s clean but the hot water is pretty inconsistent, sometimes it’s hot and most of the time it’s cold! Wahaha!

The sun is setting soon. Taken at a seafood restaurant near to the Waterfront City Batam Terminal.

Dinner at a kelong-style seafood restaurant near to the Waterfront City Batam Terminal. I can’t seem to remember the name…

Fried chicken and Sambal Kang Kong.

Chilli crabs.

Hot Plate Tofu.

Black pepper crabs.

Daily breakfast at Harris Resort Batam was rather lacking but not entirely not consumable.

A pet monkey at a restaurant beside Harris Resort Batam.

The restaurant beside Harris Resort Batam, where we had our lunch, before leaving for our ferry back to Singapore. We had actually requested for early ferry departure in the morning but it was already full so have to settle for the afternoon one.

Fried Chicken Rice Special.

One of the ferry at Waterfront City Batam Terminal where we were waiting to board our ferry back to Singapore. The trip went by without a lot of photo taking as there wasn’t really much to shoot! Also, we didn’t venture far away from Harris Resort Batam to engage in other activities as we were traveling with children. It’s really a “getaway”! Haha!

Malacca

A Day in Malacca

Continuing from “A Day in Kuala Lumpur 2“, we decided to check out from the hotel early (immediately after breakfast) so that we can visit Malacca on our way back to Singapore. We spotted Philea Resort and Spa when we exited the expressway and went in to have a look. 🙂

Philea Resort and Spa, seems like a quiet place to rest and relax.

Close-up view of the accommodation at Philea Resort and Spa. Think the ambiance at night will be great!

Swimming pool at Philea Resort and Spa. There wasn’t much guests around when we were there, think they might have checked out…

It was almost time for lunch and we were already hungry so we stop by Restoran Famosa Chicken Rice Ball.

The interior of Restoran Famosa – comes with air-conditioning. A relief to the hot weather!

Chicken Rice Ball at Restoran Famosa. According to their website, the rice balls are moulded by machine so it’s hygienic.

Dumpling Soup at Restoran Famosa.

Fish Ball Soup at Restoran Famosa.

Roasted Chicken at Restoran Famosa.

Choy Sum & Roasted Pork at Restoran Famosa.

Steamed Chicken at Restoran Famosa.

Then after our lunch, we took a short stroll to the nearby “Tan Kim Hock Product Centre” to buy Dodol durian.

Other then Dodol durian, there are also many snacks and food products for sale. Some of them are really nostalgic – products that we used to have in Singapore!

Old historical scene of Malacca.

Passing by a Chinese temple.

YSL (Yue Sang Loong) selling Chinese raw medicine.

Old style coffee shop – we still have something similar back home in Singapore but it’s getting less and hard to find. Maybe I should go take photos and blog about it before it’s gone…

Provision shop at Malacca.

Antique wares at Malacca.

Heard that this is the famous Chicken Rice stall at Jonker Walk…but we already had our fill. Hehe! Next time!

Spotted San Shu Gong (三叔公) so we went in to buy food products. Heard there is one San Shu Gong at Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3 too!

Interior of San Shu Gong – there was a lot of people inside buying stuffs and it was pretty hot as the air-conditioning is not working. This photo shows the quiet corner as I didn’t want to jostle with the shoppers. Haha!

We couldn’t stand the stuffiness so we quickly bought our stuffs and left. There is a Lao Qian Ice Cafe near the entrance of San Shu Gong.

Walking down Jonker Street in search of famous Chendol to eat.

I didn’t have a gook look but think the stall is probably selling Ding Ding Candy…

Passing by a stall that sells ice cream shaped like an egg.

Hokkien Huay Kuan at Malacca.

Grilled cuttlefish – you can smell it from a distance away… 😛

Finally reached our destination for Chendol – Jonker Dessert 88.

Interior of Jonker Dessert 88 and it’s actually a cafe museum. Love the old nostalgic setting!

In the shelves, there are many exhibits such as old currency notes, pots, artifacts, etc but I think majority of the patrons are concentrating on the food only!

Waiting for our orders to be prepared. 🙂

Cendol from Jonker Dessert 88. Nice! Think it’s because of the superb Gula Melaka.

Ice Kacang from Jonker Dessert 88. My friend had this!

After the dessert, we went back to our car and continue our journey home to Singapore. We met with a massive jam at Johor Bahru (all the Singapore cars are going back!) and the vehicles were practically not moving at all. Then, we decided to break away from the jam to go for dinner first and hope that the traffic jam have eased. We were thinking too positively – the jam was worse after our dinner! We then decided to try going back by Tuas Checkpoint instead of Woodlands Checkpoint and to our surprise, there wasn’t any jam at all and it was so smooth. Lesson learned, next time just whack straight back from Tuas Checkpoint if we go to Malaysia during long weekends in Singapore, I think traffic will not be as bad as Johor Bahru even there is a jam! But crap happens too and you can be never too sure!

Kuala Lumpur

A Day in Kuala Lumpur 2

Hiya, this is a long overdue blog post! The Kuala Lumpur trip was made during the long weekend of 7th to 9th August 2010 where Singapore was celebrating it’s National Day and it’s a holiday on 9th August 2010. We (a group of 6 adults and 2 children) took the opportunity to go for a last-minute short trip and the hotels was almost full (well, they did jack up the prices though!). It was a self-drive journey and there was jams along the way (especially at immigration) as many Singaporeans also had the same idea of relaxing out of Singapore! Anyway, the photo above show my lunch (Fish Ball Kway Teow Soup) at Yong Peng Rest Stop.

By the time we reached our hotel (The Gardens Hotel) at Mid Valley, it was already around 6pm. There was a queue at the front desk and we got our rooms separated on different floors even though we have made requests.

The Gardens Hotel – Nice room with comfortable-looking bed.

The Gardens Hotel – Large desk area for those who are going to do work or surf internet.

The Gardens Hotel – Vanity area.

The Gardens Hotel – the bathroom comes with a selection between using the normal shower head or the rain shower function. You can also take a soak in the bath tub too!

The Gardens Hotel – Separated dry toilet for you to take a dump without getting your feet wet! 😛

The Gardens Hotel – View from our room.

The Gardens Hotel – Comes with a mini-fridge and complimentary tea/coffee/drinking water.

The Gardens Hotel – Outside of the hotel where you can valet park your vehicle. For hotel guests, it is much more economical to valet then to park on your own.

The Gardens Hotel – Sofas at the lobby area where we always use as a meeting place. 🙂

Taking a walk at Mid Valley Megamall.

Having our dinner at Little Penang Kafe at Mid Valley Megamall.

Little Penang Kafe serves the best of Penang cuisine and seems to get a fair bit of press write-ups!

Assam Laksa at Little Penang Kafe.

Prawn Mee at Little Penang Kafe.

After our dinner, we continue to take a walk around Mid Valley Megamall.

After several grueling hours of shopping, we head off to T.G.I. Friday’s to have a drink and light supper. It was already 10.30pm!

T.G.I. Friday’s – Long Island Tea for my partner and I had Erdinger.

Our simple supper at T.G.I. Friday’s.

T.G.I. Friday’s – The interior of the restaurant. Love the “Kitchen” signage!

T.G.I. Friday’s – Guitars and photos of singers are hung on the wall. Not sure why but it sure gives me a feeling that I am in Hard Rock Cafe…

Forward to the next morning, we had our free buffet breakfast within The Gardens Hotel.

Breakfast time at The Gardens Hotel was having long queues at the reception to wait for tables. Believe that lot of the tourists are Singaporeans!

After breakfast, we went to the swimming pool to have a look even though we were not planning to swim. Nice looking pool!

The view from the swimming pool at The Gardens Hotel.

After our tour at the swimming pool, we went to Suria KLCC and it’s shopping time for the ladies. Huge crowd here even though it was early morning!

Interesting roof architecture at Suria KLCC.

Our wives getting all frenzied up with Vincci shoes… It was so packed that there is virtually no air-conditioning in the shop… haha!

Went outdoors to take a photo of Petronas Twin Tower.

Open area in front of Suria KLCC. We didn’t hang around for long as it’s really warm outside!

We went back indoors and then to Olio Dome Café to take a break from our tired legs.

My drink at Olio Dome Café, think it was Passion Fruit Berries or something like that… hehe!

Wanted to have Bak Kut Teh but it was not open yet so we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant at the corner of Jalan Alor. My partner having chicken noodles.

I am having Wonton noodles. Decent meal.

The outside of the restaurant. Think most people might be familiar with this location.

After our meal, my friend decided that we should have durians for dessert and went to buy a couple of them. We brought them into the restaurant to eat after seeking the staff’s approval. Damn, these durians are good!

Next, we went to Pavilion Mall to walk around. Basically, this trip is more of hanging around and shopping rather than like my usual of exploring the less-traveled areas. It’s good for a change but not too often as I do get bored at shopping centers! Haha!

The next morning, we will be leaving Kuala Lumpur and back to Singapore, but before so, we will stop by Malacca for a couple of hours to buy food stuffs and eat Cendol! 🙂

Bali

A Day in Bali

Hi all, how are you doing? Guess where I am? 😛

I am at Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 1 waiting for the 1905hr Jetstar Asia flight to Bali, Indonesia. For this trip, there will be a change as it not just me and my partner; my friends (another couple) will be joining as well.

Stop by DFS (Duty free shop) and bought 1 bottle of Cape Mentelle (red wine) S$30, 1 bottle of Larrikin Barro (white wine) S$32 and 1 bottle of Absolut Berri Vodka S$26.10 so that we can consume it while in Bali.

The flight took around 2hours 30mins and it around 2205hr when we reached. Walking out from Ngurah Rai Airport (Denpasar, Bali).

Then we went to queue at the Taxi Service counter (right side after you get out of the entrance) to get our voucher (Rp 50,000) to Kuta Beach Club.

Taxi ride took around 20mins due to the traffic and we finally reached our hotel – Kuta Beach Club.

After we checked-in, I walk around the lobby and snap the entrance view of Kuta Beach Club. I have made reservation for double bed but was given twin bed as the hotel was running full. This was rather disappointing as the reservation was made on 22nd March 2010, about 4 months from our check in date.

Welcome drink at the lobby of Kuta Beach Club, Bali.

First Bintang beer of the trip! Think it was the most expensive I had of the trip too (Rp 45, 000 for 1 large Bintang)!

Had our snacks at this nice-looking restaurant where the food was anything but good. It was rather expensive (see beer price above) as well and clearly a tourist trap. Haha! After the dinner, we went back to the hotel to have some Vodka before going to bed.

The next morning, we had breakfast buffet (inclusive) at Kuta Beach Club. Decent but nothing to shout about…

Nice view of lobby of Kuta Beach Club in the day. We went to the reception after breakfast to request for a change of room to double bed – managed to get 1 room changed and was promised the other change the following day.

Next, we went back to room to change and head off to the swimming pool. Yeah!

Photo taken with DiCAPac WP610 Waterproof Underwater Case for LX3. Click on link to read the review of the case.

Sunken pool bar where you can order drinks while swimming but it doesn’t start business till around 11am.

Around the pool area, there is facilities for playing table tennis (free) if you like to.

Following the swim, we showered, got changed and then went out to walk around to grab lunch as well as sightsee.

Rip Curl shop in Kuta. My friend got a pair of slippers here.

Passing by Hard Rock.

Then we went to Kuta Beach to walk around. What a nice beach!

Along Kuta Beach, there are many peddlers around selling sarongs, drinks, tempoaray tattoo, massage, surfing lessons, etc.

Lunch at Salvador which is along Kuta Beach. They offer water pipe (Sisha) smoking too!

Giant Beach Burger Rp 37,000. Yummy! We also had 3 large Bintang beer at Rp 29,000 each.

Cheese Burger Rp 25,000.

Spaghetti Marinara Rp 32,000. It was tasty though I would prefer it a bit more wet.

My friend bought a coconut from this stall along Kuta Beach but he said it wasn’t nice…and threw it away…

Mercure Kuta Bali – The hotel is just along the beach and it looks fantastic! I had initially considered to book this hotel but as we are not going to hang around too much in the hotel/beach, I thought it is more appropriate to go for a hotel which costs lower and of reasonable location away.

It’s a hot day so we went to Matahari to walk around and also to enjoy the air-con. There is a supermarket in Matahari as well so please get your drinking water, snacks, beer, etc here as the prices are generally much lower than other retail shops.

You can try the Fish Spa Therapy at Matahari at Rp 100, 000 for 20 minutes.

Bali Hai beer at Rp 15,500, bought from the mini mart beside our hotel (Kuta Beach Club).

Also got Bintang Beer at Rp 17,000.

Around evening time, we stroll beach to Kuta Beach. Bali is truly nice beach holiday destination!

It’s almost sunset and many people are already gathering around to see it. Kuta beach is known for it’s fantastic sunset view!

Enjoying the sunset view at Kuta Beach.

Another sunset view at Kuta Beach.

The sun is almost gone…

Went back to Kuta Beach Club to freshen up. Above photo shows the area where we had our breakfast in the morning.

There is also a pool table beside the swimming pool. I know it’s chargeable but I can’t remember the rates.

Out on the streets again.. this time for our dinner at Made’s Warung Kuta.

Horse carriage for rental. Remember to negotiate if you like to go for a spin…ermm…horse ride.

Dinner at the famous Made’s Warung at Kuta. There was already a long queue when we reached!

The interior of Made’s Warung. I wanted to sit upstairs as it’s not so crowded but my friend retorted that it might be warm and I told him that there are windows/fans upstairs. Nevertheless, we still got a table downstairs (courtesy of my friend) just in front of the entrance – with the company of many waiting customers behind us and the free smell of carbon monoxide from the vehicles that whizzes by. Now this is hot (& smelly)!

Made’s Warung – view from the 2nd storey.

Made’s Warung – Lumpia Udang (Shrimp Spring Roll) Rp 25,000.

Made’s Warung – Sate Chicken Rp 30,000.

Made’s Warung – Curry Chicken (comes with rice) Rp 65,000. This is very good!

Made’s Warung – Caesar Salad Rp 40,000.

Made’s Warung – Gado Gado Rp 25, 000.

Made’s Warung – Nasi Campur Special Rp 55,000. Total bill came up to Rp 306, 000 for 4 persons, other then those dishes mention above, we also had 1 Aqua Rp 7,000, 2 Banana Honey Juice Rp 30,000, 1 Mango Juice Rp 15,000 and 2 Nasi Putih Rp 14,000.

Walking back to Kuta Beach Club and passing by Hard Rock again.

Going to have an early night we have booked a driver to bring us around for the whole day tomorrow. The itinerary will be

Ubud
Tegallalang Rice Terrace
Kintamani Volcano
Coffee Plantation
Uluwatu Temple
Jimbaran Bay (Seafood)

Check back again!