Vacation at the Land below the Wind

My Weekend Vacation at the Sutera Harbour, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

Recently, I had the opportunity to stay the weekend over at the Sutera Harbour Hotel, Kota Kinabalu. The place is fantastic for a quiet weekend with love ones, plus the abundance of many good and fresh seafood.

Sabah is the 2nd largest state in Malaysia, situated at the northern part of the island of Borneo, the 3rd largest island in the world. Known as "The Land Below the Wind", the state is rich in natural beauty and resources and also the cultural diversity and heritage of its people.

a) 5 star accommodation at the Pacific Sutera Hotel. Recommended, although the Magellan Sutera would seemed a better choice.

There is a beautify golf course just fronting the hotel. Good for golf enthusiast to play a round.


For the night, it is better to walk a short distance over to the lounge at the Magellan Sutera Harbour hotel where the ambience and music by 3 young local men is much better to the crowd.


The Pool facilities are also excellent, just next to the harbour.


The beautiful harbour was filled with many yatch, perhaps reflecting many rich locals.


b) Shopping is very convenient, just hopping onto the hourly shuttle from the hotel to the business center in less than 5 minutes.




Beachfront at the town centre.



Shopping Malls are big and plenty to shop. Good amenities at shopping malls, crowded at most places.


At the Central Market, one can find a lot of the local product at cheap prices.


After a tiring long walk and shopping, this is an appropriate place to stop to relax the body and your leg. A good massage at reasonable price.


C) When it comes to food, there is so much of fresh seafood to choose from. There are also many restaurants, apart from local ones, quite a number are branded eateries brought to the local.


A good restaurant to find fresh seafood










Cultural performance is also provided in one of the better class restaurant


Hope you can experience some of the above.

Posted by
Ivan

Beautiful Scenes in China

Holiday in China - Wuzhen, Henan and Shanghai




Wuzhen is a scenic town, part of Thongxiang in northern Zhejiang Province, China. It lies within the triangle formed by Hanzhou, Suzhou and Shanghai.

In Chinese, wu means crow or dark, and zhen means a small town. Wuzhen's population is 6,000 and its area is 46.5 square kilometers.

Located in the center of the six ancient towns south of Yangtze River, 17 kilometers (10.56 miles) north of the city of Tongxiang, Wuzhen displays its two thousand year history in its ancient stone bridges floating on mild water, its stone pathways between the mottled walls and its delicate wood cravings. Also, setting it apart from other towns, it gives a unique experience through its profound cultural background.



Wuzhen's uniqueness lies in its layout, being 2 kilometers (1.24 miles) long and divided into six districts - i.e Traditional Workshops District, Traditional Local-Styled Dwelling Houses District, Traditional Culture District, Traditional Food and Beverage District, Traditional Shops and Stores District, and Water Township Customs and Life District. Wandering along the east-west-east circuit created by these 6 districts, tourisst can enjoy the atmosphere of the traditional cultures and the original ancient features of the town that have been preserved intact.

Henan, is a province of the China, located in the central part of the country. The name Henan means "south of the Yellow River".


With nearly 100 million people, Henan is the most populous province of China by residency. It borders Hebei to the north, Shandong to the northeast, Anhui to the souteast. Hubei to the south, Shaanxi to the west, and Shanxi to the northwest.


Henan is often called Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou, literally "central plains" or "midland", this name is also broadly applied to the entire North China Plain. Henan is traditinally regarded as the cradle of Chinese civilization.

Shanghai is the largest city in China in terms of population and one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world, with over 20 million people. Located on China's central eastern coast at the mouth of the Yangtze River, the city is administered as a municipality of the People's Republic of China with province level status.


Originally a fishing and textile town, Shanghai grew to importance in the 19th century due to its favourable port location and as one of the cities opened to foreign trade by the 1842 Treaty of Nanking. The city flourished as a center of commerce between east and west, and became a multinational buy of finance and business by the 1930s. However, Shanghai's prosperity was interrupted after the 1949 Communist takeover and the subsequent cessation of foreign investment. Economic reforms in 1990 resulted in intense development and financing in Shanghai, and in 2005 Shanghai became the world's largest cargo port.


The city is an emerging tourist destination renowned for its historical landmarks such as the Bund and Xintiandi, its modern and ever-expanding Pudong skyline including the Oriental Pearl Tower, and its new reputation as a cosmopolitan center of culture and design. Today, Shanghai is the largest center of commerce and finance in mainland China, and has been described as the "showpiece" of the world's fastest growing economy.






Posted by
Ivan

Genting Highland Resorts

Genting Highland Holiday is where excitement is at its Peak.
How aptly put, this tagline by Genting Highland is truly reflection of what one will get while holidaying in the Genting Highland Resort.

It is sometimes informally known as the Las Vegas of Malaysia, dubbed the "City of Entertainment" as it is the only legal land-based casino in Malaysia, run by Resorts World Bhd, a sub-company of Genting Group. The resort, Genting Highlands Resort, also features many hotels owned by Genting subsidiaries including Awana Genting, First World Hotel, Genting Hotel, Highlands Hotel, Resort Hotel and Theme Park Hotel. Facilities in this resort include two theme parks, a Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum, a wind-turbine sky diving simulator, golf courses and shopping malls.



Recently, I went up to stay a couple of nights over the weekend. The Genting Highland Resorts have developed and advanced so much that it truly has everything to meet the taste of everyone, the old , young and the kids. The in-door games as well as the outdoor theme park, rides are those that rank in par with the world's best. Come when there is holdiay or festival season, the highland holiday resorts is packed all the way from the ride from downhill until you reach the top.









The resort is extremely big, but the crowd is equally swarming, and that one has to queue and rush for everything, the food, the rides and machine games.





Pack into the casino, the casino is really big, that span across a wide area and down elevators.

If you are in Malaysia, you must set aside some time to visit this highland resort. Try to avoid the festival season, that is when there are local public holiday for festival season. My advice is to avoid the clash, come on different day and enjoy the weather, the hotel, the food and the excitement.

Genting Highlands enjoys a spring-like climate, with temperatures no higher than 25°C and rarely falling below 14°C yearly. The temperature in Genting Highlands ranges from 16°C to 24°C all year round.

For me, it truly meets its tagline, where Excitement is at its Peak.

Posted by
Ivan

To Ho Chi Minh City

Sightseeing Ho Chi Minh City

My recent 2 days stop-over at Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam has also uncover many interest spots. Unlike Hanoi, landing into Saigon is liked stepping back into history, maybe 10 – 20 years although the city center is very much modern and with the highest building Saigon Trade Center rising some 33 floors. Similarly, the City has many things to offer, the sites, the food and the entertainment.

Ho Chi Minh City is the largest city in Vietnam. Under the name Saigon (Vietnamese: Sài Gòn; it was the capital of the French colony of Cochinchina and later of the independent state of South Vietnam from 1954 to 1975. In 1976, Saigon merged with the surrounding province of Gia Định and was officially renamed Hồ Chí Minh City (although the name Sài Gòn - formally known as District 1 - is still commonly used.
The city center is situated on the banks of the Saigon River, 60 kilometers from the South China Sea.

The metropolitan area, which consists of Hồ Chí Minh City metro area, and surrounding towns, is populated by more than 9 million people, making it the most populous metropolitan area in Vietnam. The Greater Ho Chi Minh city Metropolitan Area have an area of 30,000 square kilometers will have a population of 20 million inhabitants by 2020.



11040 – Somerset Chancellor Court, quite near to city center and convenient to get around with Cab.


11039/41 – Busy Day-time Traffic rush



11045/47 – Lunch at Quan An Ngan, lots of variety from the well organised stalls











11048/49/50/53/55 – View of Saigon City from the 33rd Floor , Saigon Trade Center, present tallest building in Vietnam



11056 – Bar Area for Dine/Wine – PANORAMA 33 at 334d Floor

11064 – Saigon City by night

11065 – Top Brand and Fine Shopping, a favourite for the ladies.

11066 – Wine /Dine and light entertainment & variety of restaurants/accommodations

11067 – High Class Sheraton Saigon right in city center

11062 – Tu yet Lan, Dong Khoi St – A boutique ship with massage at the top floor

11063 Plenty of quality shopping along the brightly lit streets

11069 – Another spot for dining seafood, Ngoc Suong Seafood Restaurent at Le Quy Don-Quam 3

Posted by
Ivan