Sands Sky Park, Singapore

Here are some of the day view from the Sands Sky Park of Marina Bay Sands.

Instead of getting the ticket for the Sky Park at $20 for each adult, we went for an afternoon drink and snacks at Ku De Ta, Tower 3 Level 57. Diners are allowed into the Sky Park Observation Deck without an admission ticket.

cranberry juice

shoe-string fries and complimentary wasabi chips

Savouring the view with light snack on a sunny afternoon

Gardens by the Bay from the 57th floor

ArtScience Museum

I'm sure the night view will be fantastic as well!~ 

Road trip to Sekinchan

Made a detour through the coastal roads on the way back from hometown to drop by at Sekinchan for a half day trip. The weather was perfect, blue skies and fluffy white clouds. Very sunny, indeed.

Sekinchan was made popular to tourists and city folks after the local Chinese drama 'The Seeds of Life'. The large green 'field', sometimes golden brown when it is near harvesting and blue sky are perfect for photography.

the grains

the big yellow machine - harvesting machine

yellow machine in a distant

the tractor and the harvesting machine 

aqueduct in the paddy field

 9 Emperor God temple which appear in the drama

From the main road, after the signboard of Sekinchan, you can make a left turn (coming from the North), or if you're coming from KL then it's right turn after seeing Site B, or Jalan Tali Air 5. You'll come into these paddy fields and can drive next to it.

If you like to visit the paddy processing plants or buy some pearl rice, go ahead on Jalan Tali Air 5 to a paddy processing factory, PLS Marketing. It's hard to miss with the tour buses which frequents the place.

I stopped by for lunch at Restoran Guan Seng Long at Bagan Sekinchan. Bagan Sekinchan is on the other side of the road, opposite the place where you turn in for paddy fields. Look out for signboard for Jalan Bagan Sekinchan. There are a lot of eateries down the road of Jalan Bagan Sekinchan.

sotong with curry powder (RM11)

 

shark meat soup (RM12)

 mantis shrimp with salted egg yolk (RM11)

Vegetables (RM6)

All these with drinks and rice for only RM47.60. I don't think I can get any dishes like this in KL for that price. Yummy and cheap!

After lunch, we drove down Jalan Bagan Sekinchan to the fishing villages.

fishing village at Sekinchan

fishing boats of the men

calm village after the busy hours

The next attraction at Sekinchan is the Redang beach. Went there at about 4-5pm, and it was low-tide, so no pretty beach for me. I'll be back next time to see the beautiful sunset.

Drive along the way and pass through the fishing villages and a chinese temple, the left turn to Redang beach is before a Malay eatery, and you'll see a sign which says Pantai Redang.

tree houses at the beach

low tide beach

sunset view at Redang beach (source from www.sekinchan.org)

Sekinchan make a good day trip for city folks like us, to just leave behind the hustle bustle of the city. :)

Spa Village experience at Cameron Highlands Resort

As I have previously booked for my Signature Spa session, I check in at the Spa Village soon after my afternoon-tea. Always pre-book your spa session as they're quite full at times, and do check in early at the reception so that you can fully enjoy your session. :) :)

me at the spa reception

warm towel and tea

outside the treatment room

the room for resting after the tea-bath before you adjourn to the 2nd step of your session

wet evening at the Spa Village

In Spa Village Cameron Highlands Resort, tea is the foundation for all their experiences. All guests enjoys a signature tea-bath before their treatment (50minutes and above treatment). I went for the 2 hours Signature Spa and I chose the Strawberry Escapade. Strawberries are believed to bring relief from depression and helps you to relax, apart from its well known healing properties.

You'll need to change into their 'sarong' before the session. My tea bath was prepared using tea leaves and fresh strawberry. There are three different scrubs for you during the tea bath - scrub for your body, a separate scrub for your face and lime slices for your elbow and knee. There is also two round tea bags to be placed on your eyes to relieve stress.

Once you immersed yourself in the tub full of this tea goodness, you know you're in for relaxation. If you wish to enjoy some soft music, there is a headphone next to the tub. Heavenly~

While I was having my dip, the rain is pouring outside and I felt so grateful to be indoors, in the warm water tub. My elbow and knee immediately felt softer after scrubbing, with the lime slices. I shall try this at home occasionally. 

After the tea bath, I was told to rest at a resting room with a heart-shaped warmer, either to be place on your chest or tummy. 

The staff then picked me up for my next session which is the Strawberry Body Polish. The body buff is made of fresh strawberries, yoghurt and crushed oatmeal. This body polish session can help to soften and refine skin texture. After scrubbing, I was wrapped in a warm foil for a few minutes. The long strokes used by the staff during the polish/scrub session was really relaxing. I was then told to take a warm bath before my massage. The staff in Spa Village totally makes you feel comfortable throughout the session and the treatment rooms come well equipped with a bathroom and a toilet.

If you book in for other ala carte treatments, you're even allowed to test out the aroma oil and choose the one you like most for your massage. Mine is fix though, but I didn't mind it a bit. The staff there did showed it to me prior to my treatment, so if you don't like the smell, I'm sure they're willing to do some changes.

The Strawberry Aroma Massage uses long strokes and massage techniques which blends touch and aroma to create a sense of soothing pleasure. It was so relaxing that I felt asleep halfway through the massage. My skin felt rehydrated after the massage session. I was told to leave on the oils and the staff suggested that I should only bath an hour after.

Upon completion of the spa session, I was back at the spa reception for some hot tea. I get to choose the tea flavour I want, it was then serve with some cookies and strawberry jam. Everything there has strawberry in it..~ :)

after my pampering session

                                           Tea of your choice, and cookies with strawberry jam

Ah.. so relaxing and blissful!~~ 

Address:

Spa Village Cameron Highlands,

39000 Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands.

Telephone: +605-4911100

Email : spavillagech@ytlhotels.com.my

A short getaway at Cameron Highlands Resort

I have been waiting to have my getaway, somewhere not too far to be able to fit in the busy schedule, relaxing and most importantly with reasonably good service. So, I immediately thought of a YTL resort, Tanjung Jara is abit far-off and since I'll be going back Taiping for Cheng Ming festival, I can easily drop by Cameron Highlands. With their delightful spa menu, it is a must to indulge in a pampering session :) else, you won't forgive youself for missing out on such a treat. :P

Cameron Highlands is one of the hills retreat in Malaysia which is surrounded by lush greenery. The temperature there is pleasant, at about 23-25C, however during the rainy season you may encounter rain throughout the day.

This is exactly what happened during my recent visit. It rained throughout the afternoon, lucky for me the Spa Village has taken care of my gloomy afternoon.

Upon arrival, checking in was a breeze, we were being served hot tea and given a warm towel to refresh ourselves. Before I can even have second sip of my tea, a staff came to bring me to my room (at least wait till I finish my tea, or offer to bring it to my room..sigh need improvements). Some rose petals spells 'Welcome Back' and an elephant (made of towel, don't ask me why elephant, I have no idea LOL) on the four poster bed greeted me when I enter the room. I did casually mentioned about the last PLR trip during booking, so that explains the 'Welcome Back' :). Little details like this made up my day.

rainy afternoon 

rose petals and an elephant

complimentary fruit basket

We checked in on a Monday, and all Sundays through Thursdays stays comes with a complimentary Afternoon Tea at the Jim Thompson Tea Room.

Afternoon tea for 2 at RM60++

Check out my review on the afternoon tea here. 

the library area

the fire place

Jim Thompson tea room

the reception area

I had my spa session in the afternoon after my afternoon tea and had a perfect afternoon despite the rain.

Check out my spa experience here :)

It was still raining after my spa, and we felt lazy to drive out for dinner, so we settled for shabu shabu and teppanyaki dinner at Gonbei restaurant. It was a semi-buffet style, lookout for my review here (not updated yet).

Cameron Highlands Resort offers trail excursions and one of their in-house trail is the Jim Thompson Mystery Trail which departs every morning at 10am. I did not managed to join as I did not bring any proper walking shoes.

me having some kiddie-time at the balcony overlooking the golf course.

I woke up early to have my breakfast at The Dining Room the next morning, and not long after it was raining again. Many of the attractions in Cameron Highlands were closed on Tuesday, we managed to grab some sweet corns and vegetables from the market stalls, before heading back to Kuala Lumpur. 

A fully rejuvenated trip, I'm all energised again and looking forward to my next trip. :)

Will post about the afternoon tea and dinner at CHR soon, do check back :)



Website: http://www.cameronhighlandsresort.com/
Reservations: +60 3 2783 1000