Pavilion Archives - Escapes From The Little Red Dot

Kuala Lumpur 2017 Day 5 – Home Sweet Home

Posted on July 22, 2017February 4, 2018 by ziyi

The last day in KL started late at 930am, where everyone slept well into the morning. I must admit the huge comfortable bed was difficult to get out of.

K managed to squeeze 2 episodes of his favorite cartoon while his parents prepared for check out, having failed the attempt for a late check out. We left the room at 11 and checked out which was done quickly but had to wait for a while for the bellboy to take our luggage for storage. We went to visit the Westin Kids Club and K and I checked in the small area that had a mini playground, some toys and books, a PS3 and mega bloks, while mommy went on for her last minute shopping. It was a little expensive, costing RM30 for the first hour and subsequent ones at RM20 but it’s fine as K amused himself going around the play stuff in this room that was occupied by only us and another staff manning the place (another much older kid joined later as his mom left him there to play PS3). She made a balloon machine gun for K who coyly took it from her but didn’t play with it much afterwards.

Mommy came back at around 1225pm, some 5mins after I paid for the subsequent hours, having checked with the free public wifi that there weren’t any other playgrounds closed by and no other options if mommy hadn’t return. The staff was kind enough to return the RM20 and we were on our way to Pavilion for lunch.

We visited a Thai restaurant Celadon that was artistically designed place and served delicious pineapple rice and iced Thai green tea. Mommy wasn’t impressed with her Phad Thai and lemongrass but I thought it was alright and it came in a huge portion. K was moving about in the huge high back cushion seat having fun and being troublesome to manage while having his meals. The costs was around RM90+, expensive for meals in KL but expected for restaurants like this.

We dropped by the Padini concept store to buy some clothes for myself, having known that this local brand was really having low prices. Ended up spending RM120+ for 2 polo tees, one pair of berms and 5socks, a great deal. We returned to the hotel to pick up our luggage, changed K’s diapers and got a Grab, using the free public Wifi. It was a fixed rate of RM65 with RM5 off using promo code excluding tolls.

The silver vehicle that picked us up didn’t have enough boot space and the luggage had to go on the front seat which the driver complained about the wheels that were going to puncture his seat cushion. The rest of the journey was pretty much smooth with K falling asleep and myself dozing off. The driver also started chatting to avoid dozing off himself.

We arrived at 3ish and proceeded to check in at the SilkAir counter all the way at the end. It felt a little long for our counter as people were just moving on beside us. After luggage drop, we went through immigrations and took the train to the satellite gate, the train we were initially waiting had some technical fault and couldn’t alight the passengers and we had to take another one.

The last hour was spent buying goodies from the stores (local goodies were much more expensive) and having a cheese cake and some drinks at Old Malaya kopitiam before rushing to the gate for boarding.

Fountain within the airport satellite gate

The flight back was supposed to be a quick 45mins, with a rushed drinks service but because there was a backlog of planes trying to land, we hovered in the air for 15mins and queued on the ground for another 10mins before arriving at the gate 30mins late. Mommy then sent us to the wrong belt which we made us think that our luggage was lost and we didn’t buy insurance but thankfully we rechecked and it was found at another belt.

This trip was meant to celebrate mommy’s birthday and catered mostly for her shopping interest and therefore my babysitting K for most of the trip. The rooms that we stayed were mostly comfortable and other than dealing with K’s fussiness, the main objectives of keeping both of them happy were met.

Kuala Lumpur 2017 Day 4 – Sungei Wang, Berjaya Times Square and Indoor Theme Park

Posted on July 21, 2017February 4, 2018 by ziyi

After a nice nights rest on the super comfy bed, we woke up to Blaze on TV for K, had some bread that we bought from a bakery (no complimentary breakfast) and a pot of roast coffee that which wasn’t fantastic. After mommy was done with the lunch preparations, we left for the mall, first visiting the Sungei Wang mall and then Berjaya Times Square.

Westin separate entrance for executive apartments.

Sungei Wang mall was a mere 10mins walk away and by the time we arrived, not many shops were opened. Mommy did her shopping while I had the job of keeping K entertained with whatever I could think of, like stepping on certain colored tiles or playing with the interactive shop directory. Obviously, after a while, that didn’t cut it as entertaining and he asked to be brought to a playground.

One of the early bird stores that was opened

With that, I brought K to Berjaya Times Square first as there was a huge Indoor theme and park, and left mommy to her shopping. Walking out of Sungei Walk was difficult as there were many levels and I took a long time to find the route to the main entrance. Then it was a short walk but uncomfortable one in the hot and humid weather.

Once there, I tried to withdraw some money from the ATM as I was low on cash. But the machine was unable to dispense cash for my account when I choose both savings or Visa options (for the OCBC 365 account) and I gave up. Went to the 5th level and paid RM51 for the adult tickets using credit card whereas K entered for free, being under 3 years old. (was told re-entry was possible!). Then we proceeded to the 7th floor where the entire floor was catered for younger kids.

Sign showing the Berjaya Times Square indoor theme park

Entrance of the Berjaya Times Square Theme Park

The rides include a safari car and train that that goes around, a ferries wheel in the shape of a bus and a carousel that he wasn’t interested in. There was one mini pirate ship that he wanted to take but didn’t meet the height requirements and I couldn’t take it with him as it was purely for kids under the height of 140cm. After just a ride each, he asked to be brought to a playground. Thankfully, there was one there and he spent the big deal of time running around, with so many kids there. There was a kids theatre playing a cartoon show but empty and cold and K was too scared to go into. We were there till mommy called us to meet up for lunch.

Playground huge enough for the kids to run around

K was getting fussy likely due to exhaustion as he insisted to press the lift buttons and making a big fuss. We met with mommy and went to the basement level and sat in a Nyonya color cafe to eat curry noodles and Assam laksa while K had his pasta. Then as we walked back to the hotel, K fell asleep.

The rest of the afternoon was spent snoozing (not before fussing in bed for an hour because he woke up from his nap on my shoulder as I tried to lay him down) in bed for me and K while mommy prepared dinner before going to Pavilion mall for her shopping.

By the time K woke, it was almost 7pm and mommy also just returned. We left the room for dinner at a certain TG’s Nasi Kandar restaurant which was also high on TripAdvisor. It was quite a distance to walk and by the time we arrived at the crowded non-aircon eatery, we already broke into a sweat. The staff found us a table which was just outside a hostel entrance and we placed our orders of double Maggi goreng, mee goreng and one prata with egg and drinks of ice teh Tarik and carrot juice. The food was nice but not exceptional.

We finished our meals at almost 930pm but the night was still young for Kuala Lumpur, obvious for the crowded street that we had to walked through, one that had massage parlours lining the street with their staff loitering on the pavement trying to get customers in for massage. With K seated on my shoulder (his main mode of transport for the trip), I was asked if I want a massage which I thought was a worthless attempt.

We got back to the hotel after the passing through the streets brightly lit with huge commercial screens and lights and a short visit to a shop store Shoopen selling shoes ( I was doubtful of shoes not known for their comfort and later causing pain) but didn’t get any. Then night routine of Blaze and clean up and sleep.

Bright lights of Lot 10 at Bukit Bintang

Kuala Lumpur 2017 Day 3 – Sunway Pyramid and transfer to Kuala Lumpur downtown

Posted on July 20, 2017February 4, 2018 by ziyi

Last day at Sunway lagoon and with nothing planned for the day, we all woke up late but ended up at the buffet breakfast slightly earlier than it was yesterday, after we were done with the K’s lunch preparations. Similar to what we did the day before, we ate to our fills in a bid to save on lunch, at the same time trying out the other cuisines that we didn’t have morning before. Other than fruits that were slightly different, the rest was the same, even the same long queue for the omelette that I didn’t bother queuing for.

The rest of the morning was spent in front of the TV as K got familiar with the locally produced Boboiboy on Nickelodean channel while his parents packed the luggage for the move to KL in the afternoon. The check out time was 12 noon and we took to the last minutes to pack the lunch.

As we left, we were lucky to have the bellboy just at the corridor and he helped to bring the luggage to the left luggage while we went to the lobby. While at the left luggage, the staff handed over the luggage tag even before our luggage arrived, efficient!

Shopping at Sunway Pyramid mall was the activity till lunch time, at least for mommy while I brought K around to see the ice rink, the arcade where he took a kiddy ride and played a water game and then back to the T&T Kidz park the day earlier. After spending some time at the playground where K was found annoying an older girl and frustrating her, we went over to the T&T Kidz park and took the drift cars of lightning McQueen, which I initially thought was too fast for K but it was ok after a single round of drift and K was not afraid (we sat together). But it costed RM15 for both of us. Then we paid RM6.50 to catch a fish where we won a small hand fan and followed by a last ride of the buggy car.

Machine shows 30, which is a small prize

Mommy met us there and we went up to the top level where there was a Snowflake dessert store and we ate desserts while K had his lunch of porridge. After that, we returned to the hotel to pick up the luggage and call a Grabcar to Westin KL. It costed about RM23 plus about RM6.5 of toll and he made a detour to pump gas but it was alright as K fell asleep.

We got ourselves a 1bedroom apartment in Westin and there was a separate lift for us to get the 12 floor. The nice thing about this was that the entire apartment had the feel of a hotel but came with a kitchenette. Another plus was that there many bottles of complimentary mineral water supplied for our stay (no complimentary minibar supply though). However, we had an issue with the stove not warming up and a lack of detergent which was fixed quickly with a call away. The view was not good though.

After lazing for a while, we got K to continue his afternoon nap and only woke up at 630pm. Took a bath in the tub and then we first left for Pavilion Mercato supermarket to get some sweet corn that mommy forgot to buy before walking to Jalan Perak BBQ nights for dinner, some 15mins walk away.

Brightly lighted facade of Pavilion Mall

The restaurant was crowded and I didn’t knew what was the big deal about this well regarded TripAdvisor restaurant until I tried the softest and tastiest BBQ fish and chicken in my life! Even as I was feeling a little sore in my throat, the food there was the smoothest, even though they were BBQ! Thoroughly amazed by the quality. The waiting and the costs were expected, almost 20mins of waiting, and about RM95 for 2 juices and 2 BBQ meals but it was all worth it. Even K loved the naan which he chomped down.

We walked the 15mins back to Pavilion and found the almost extinct DVD shop called Speedy Video at the basement. It was a huge store and there we found Blaze and the Monster Machines dvds for just RM19.9, the cheapest available in the market! There were a massive selection of kids cartoons including Dora and Paw patrol and even the Boboiboy which K said he wanted. The Blurays were expensive though. We only left as the store almost lowered the shutters.

Returning back to the room, K immediately watched 3 episodes of Blaze in the bedroom (DVD players available) while the parents washed up and prepared for bed.

Escape to Kuala Lumpur July 2017

Posted on July 17, 2017June 23, 2020 by ziyi

A brief summary on the itinerary

Escape Plan to Kuala Lumpur 2017:

Total duration 5D4N
Kuala Lumpur is in the same timezone as Singapore. Flight time is 1hr on Silkair from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. Return is 1hr on Silkair from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore.

Flight from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur at 1015am, arriving at 1115am in Kuala Lumpur. Return flight from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore is at 510pm and touching down in Singapore at 610pm.

Day 1 – Arrival in Kuala Lumpur and Sunway Pyramid Mall
Day 2 – Sunway Lagoon theme park and the Parenthood
Day 3 – Sunway Pyramid and transfer to Kuala Lumpur downtown
Day 4 – Sungei Wang, Berjaya Times Square and Indoor Theme Park
Day 5 – Home Sweet Home

This trip was planned as a getaway birthday trip for mommy. We didn’t plan anything other than a visit to the Sunway Lagoon theme park. The rest of the trip was based on ad hoc shopping and just on impulse visits.

Budget – Quite affordable other than the accommodation.

Everything was quite affordable comparable to Singapore, especially with the currency of 1:3.1 now, effectively reducing the costs of living by a third. With free wifi at airports and hotels, Grab and its promos reduce the costs of transport as well. The accommodation was expensive but it was chosen for the purpose of comfort, and was worth it in my opinion.

Complexity – Easy with Grab

We didn’t go many places and for transfers, Grab was a good choice. For the visits around the area, walking was our choice and it was quite easy since everywhere was within 15mins walking distance.

Kuala Lumpur 2013 Day 1 – Pavilion Shopping

Posted on November 2, 2013September 26, 2019 by ziyi

The Airasia flight to KL was at 1210pm which I mistakenly thought it to be 1240pm and realized a little late. As we waited for a frustratingly long time for a cab and when it did finally arrive, the cab somehow went to the customers waiting behind us when we were standing in front begin the earliest people there. Didn’t make a fuss over it since it was their Deepavali after all and quickly made a call to book a cab after fumbling with the app unsuccessfully. The cab arrived soon after at about 1050am and by the time we reached row 13 for Airasia check in at about 1115am, there weren’t any queues and luckily, it wasn’t closed. Hoped things get better.

Went to look for disposable underwear since I didn’t bring any, and managed to find a packet at Watsons that costed me Sgd5, more expensive that what it would cost in town. After a some window shopping, boarded the plane amongst the earliest in order to secure luggage storage space (since usually people bring carryon luggages). Flight was smooth and arrived earlier than planned.

It was my first time flying Airasia and it landed at LCCT International Airport instead of the more familiar KLIA which I mistakenly thought to be. The airport looked like a bigger size bus terminal where people gotten walk pretty long distance to the immigration counters, in non-air-conditioned sheltered walkways. There were many passengers trudging their luggages along the way and as expected, queues were long. Took almost an hour to clear immigration, with the occasional inefficiencies due to officers chatting and ignoring the passengers.

Once out, we booked the taxi to town at the counter just before exiting the arrivals. Pleasantly surprised that there were any queues, unlike the previous time I visited KL where booking a taxi required queuing too. Took the budget option for about Sgd30 that was ok when I took it at KLIA.

Our buying and eating trip started just outside the airport where we had our lunch at Oldtown cafe. Made and paid the order at the cashier and soon the yummy Malaysian cuisine was served to us in the non-air-conditioned eating area. I had dry Mee Siam and my wife had Curry Mee. Portion was ok and tasted ok too. Coffee was good as expected.

After lunch, walked further away towards Coffee Bean for the taxi. Had to cross the road towards a “Budget Taxi” signage and gave the ticket to the dispatcher and we got into a red coloured vintage looking taxi. We realized this was not a good idea then about taking the budget option because the aircon wasn’t cold enough and the heat was coming in thru the windows, making the taxi felt like a sauna. It only got better when we were about to reach town, some 1hr from the airport.

Our hotel Royale Bintang sits on the extremely busy, usually jam packed street of Jalan Bukit Bintang. The Indian taxi driver then started his complaints about the jam and such and we had a amusing conversation for a while till we got off the taxi, after some squeezing thru traffic with more cars-then-lanes experience.

Bath tub with a toilet bowl with a water nozzle spray.

Check in took awhile as there was already a guest before us. We had booked the Deluxe Club room due to the 30% discounts with an additional 7% with Maybank Agoda deal and on top of the points we had, the price was shaved to about Sgd90 per night. The room was at 17th floor just 1 floor below the Club Lounge where breakfast was to be served for Club room guests.

Our first impression of the room wasn’t good, there was a salted fish smell once we stepped in and we saw an opened bottle of water and a hand towel on the sink. It seemed like either someone has used the room or it wasn’t made up before our arrival. Then we saw the water in the toilet bowl was yellowish and flushed it, that’s when the smell subsidied. To think that we paid more for a better room, what about the rest of the normal deluxe rooms we wondered.

Furthermore, we were promised a combined bed rather than a separated twin beds and this was not given in the room, which said so much about their service. There was however complimentary wifi with login and password required and so we surfed awhile and charged up the handphone for a while before heading out to Pavilion Mall, 10mins walk away.

It was a huge ass of a mall (thought it was comparable our Singapore Ion) with lotsa variety of shops from luxury goods to popular clothing labels to departmental stores. Difference was the space and although there were many people, it wasn’t squeezy like Ion. After window shopping, we sat down for some desserts at Taiwanese style cafe.

Continued to window shop around. It wasn’t sale season so there weren’t great offers for purchase. And then it was dinner time. We were meeting up with friends whom had moved back to KL for dinner and were introduced to Grandmama’s for some good Malaysian cuisine. Ate and caught up what’s going on around till it was 9ish that we decided to call it a day. They offered to fetch us back to our hotel and there we experienced the jam again. By the time we arrived, it was already 10pm. We probably could have reached earlier if we walked.

The lingering smell of saltiness was still there and again the water looked abit yellowish. I guess the toilet system was the culprit for this smell. Saturday night was football night, and luckily there was Fox Sports and I had managed to catch my team’s match and retire for the night.