Monday, January 9, 2012

Day 1: Dinner @ the Secret Cliff Restaurant, Karon,Phuket

We spent the whole of the first day exploring the resort. The Secret Hill Restaurant was on the recommended list of the tourist brochures. In addition the resort also has an Italian Pizzeria. There is also the 'Non-Tree' Spa - offering a wide range of therapies at quite reasonable fees.
the Coco Pizza Restaurant
the Non-Tree Spa

the Secret Cliff Restaurant
Raena and pakdokter's partner treated themselves to an hour of massage at the Non-Tree Spa after which pakdokter joined yhem for dinner at the Secret Hill Restaurant. We tried out their selection of Thai dishes.
this fried glass noodle dish came with large grilled prawns
pakdokter's partner's dish of Pad Thai also came with grilled prawns
this helping of a pineapple fried rice had generous portions
of cuttlefish and prawns.....
and the deep-fried garoupa was crispy on the outside
yet tender in the flesh....

Day 1: The Secret Cliff Resort, Karon, Phuket

5th January 2012
Raena came home for a 2-week vacation from work in Edinburgh. We spent the New Year's weekend in Melaka. She also wished for a sunny sea-side holiday to make up for the cold, rainy and snowy winter of Scotland. Pakdokter found this lovely resort in Phuket from on-line searches and booked a family suite for a 5-night weekend in Phuket.
The Secret Cliff Resort is sited along the road connecting Patong to Karon. Perched on a steep slope, the resort a somewhat of a less luxurious Datai of Langkawi and of course came with a more affordable price. Although we arrived quite early that morning ( around 10 am) - our suite was already available for us to move in. From the balcony we had a panorama of the Andaman Sea with the Karon Beach to the left. Being made up of villas built on rather steep slopes - this resort would pose a problem for the elderlies and the physically unfit as the walk to from the the reception area was quite an effort.


the Andaman Sea from our balcony
the comfortable family suite..

villas perched on steep slopes...


the infinity pool overlooking the Andaman Sea
the pool is a bit too small, though....

the steep tracks from the reception to the sea was good for stamina training..


Karon Beach....

Sunday, January 1, 2012

New Year's Eve Dinner@Majestic Hotel, Melaka

Pakdokter's daughter, Raena, came home for a 2-week vacation, from Edinburgh, and we had planned to celebrate the New Year in the historical city of Melaka. During our earlier trip there with Rastam ( who came home for holidays from Tokyo) - we had checked out YTL's Hotel Majestic and decided to book some rooms there. Our regular travelling friends, Ravi and Siti and Dillip and Jess ( from Perth) joined us for the weekend. Raena's friend from Edinburgh - Mia and her family - joined us for the New Year Party as well.

the luxurious YTL Majestic Hotel @ Melaka.
view of Melaka River and Kg Morten from the hotel room
dinner@Majestic Hotel on the 30th

Melaka River @night
bridge across Melaka River connecting the hotel to Kg Morten
the Malay House Museum@ Kg Morten

Melaka River and Kg Morten in the morning
@Nyonya Restaurant on Hereen Street
Jonker Street all decorated to usher in the New Year

bogeying into the New Year....

A Short Retreat to Jogjakarta

A friend of pakdokter finally completed his 'villa' which he had been working on for the past 2 or 3 years on the slopes of Mt Kidul in Jogjakarta. This project was designed by a team of a Malaysian and an Indonesian architect and the folks of the nearby village gained because as many as 170 of them were given employment during the construction of the project. Currently a team of 8 staff - all folks from the village - are employed and given living quarters at the resort.
The resort is not run as a hotel - it is a private holiday home - its owner spends half his time in Malaysia and the other half in this lovely retreat. Pakdokter was fortunate to have been invited to spend a few days at this 'villa' and to be able to explore areas in Jogja which pakdokter had not discovered in the past. We were taken to a beautiful 'glass factory' where beautiful glass crafts were made and exported to Italy. We also discovered a beautiful batik workshop not normally taken in the regular tourist itinerary.
The villa is made up of a main living quarters with a dining hall and a reading/TV room at one end of the central swimming pool and two seperate guest villas on two other sides of the pool. Another building housed the open kitchen and dining area. The picture above is taken from the open kitchen/dining area with a guest villa across the pool.
the cabana at one end of the pool was built according to Lombok design
the second guest villa a the far end behind te cabana..
view from the master villa with the open kitchen @ the far right
one of the many water features decorating the garden

these tiles on the floor of the Joglo were retrieved from the Keraton
after a part of the Keraton was damaged in a fire.
the "Joglo" is the arrival hall ( Balai Menunggu) where guests wait and are received
as in the 'tradition' of the Jogja Kraton ( Royal Palace)
the staff living quarters seen from the Joglo
as one drives into the porch of the sprawling villa grounds,
one is received at the 'Joglo'....

Dinner@Ravi's


Tuesday, 27th December 2011
Dillip Sharma and Jaz, pakdokter's friends from Perth were in town, on their way home to Perth after visiting Dillip's mother in New Delhi. Dillip and Jaz had travelled with pakdokter on the Palace on Wheels holidays some 2 years ago. This was a reunion of some sort and fellow travellers, Ravi and Siti, Phaik Choo and John and Dollah and Sandra were invited for dinner at Ravi's residence in Subang Jaya.