My son will be having his year end holidays soon and we always try to plan a holiday destination to go to. At first, my hubby suggested Pulau Pangkor. So I surfed the web and came out with Pangkor Island Beach Resort. The rates are :
Garden wing - RM190 per night
Pacific wing - RM230 to RM280 per night
Ocean wing - RM280 to RM350 per night
All the prices quoted are without breakfast. Why is it that all the hotels and resorts in Malaysia are quite pricey (to me at least) ? One would have to fork out a couple of hundred RMs to get a decent hotel. I was almost on the verge of booking my accomodation when my friend asked "What are you going to do in Pangkor?" I said "Uhhh, the beach ?" My friend started laughing and said "There is no shopping to be done in Pulau Pangkor." You see, I'm a city girl who loves everything a city can offer - shopping, sales, entertainment, good food, etc.
Hmmm, I then thought why not go to Singapore : D. I can go shopping and also follow the family to Sentosa Island. Heehee, kill 2 birds with 1 stone. As usual, I surfed the web to search for the best deals and promotions (a typical bargainhunter - goes with the territory of being a shopaholic). I found the official website for tourist information on Singapore. For being a Malaysian, you get some good deals, like you stay the 1st night at the normal rate and get the 2nd night at 50% off. The hotels offering these deals are Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, M Hotel, Orchard Hotel and Copthorne King's Hotel. I immediately opted for Orchard Hotel (wink wink... shopping). I emailed my enquiry and found out I have to pay $357 (RM800++) for 2 nights including breakfast. My friends say "cheap, cheap". I started calculating the total cost for the Singapore trip :
Accomodation RM880
Sentosa Island RM1,200 (according to a friend, she spent $200/person on the rides and entrance fees)
Aeroline bus fare RM500++
Food RM500 ???
Shopping RM1,000 ?????
OMG !!!!! I have to spend like RM4,000++ just visiting my neighbouring country !!!
Bye ! Bye ! Orchard Road (boo hoo hoo)
Sentosa Island Beach
Water Show on Sentosa Island
I don't think we want to spend so much money, considering the fact that I have not gotten a bonus for the past 2 years and already a direct hint from the boss that we are not getting any either this coming year end (so very sad : ( So, nothing to look forward to this year end.
My hubby then suggested, Penang. I said, "Huh, Penang again ! This will be the 3rd time in 2 years." My 8 year old son heard and said "Yes ! Yesssss! Penang !! I want to stay in Holiday Inn again." Ok, I then booked ourselves into Holiday Inn, Penang again for 2 nights costing me RM600++. It's quite ok I suppose, we get the beach, sun, shopping, food, some sight seeing (temples and whatelse ?) and support our local tourism.
Yum Yum
PENANG, HERE WE COME AGAIN !!!!!