Holiday Plans 2015/6

We were informed by my MIL that our family holiday plans for 2016 have been made, and partially paid for. In sha Allah. 2016! It sounds like a long time to go, right? Lots of prayers required here.

Now that 2016 is planned for, we looked into shorter term plans for 2015 *chuckles*

Our August 2015 plans have also been confirmed and paid for. In sha Allah, we will hunt for organic farms and let the kids ride in a tractor. It is about time they learn about sustainable food source and the science behind it all (without the confines of a laboratory of a formal school!).

The summer holiday is relatively long so we have slotted in a beach holiday too; so let's pray for good weather. Hopefully the kids will be excited to put some effort into turtles conservation come September 2015. The Little Girl was very happy to add Peninsula Malaysia East Coast as one of the places to visit.

In sha Allah, December 2015 is going to be a "repeat" holiday like December 2014, and we hope to improvise on the "weaknesses" from 2014. Innovative parents, with unoriginal ideas of where to go, much. Last week, we asked The Little Girl where she would like to go this December 2015 and she chose a local theme park destination, bless her!

Key points:

1. Instead of a long drive, we will break the journey into shorter sprints with fun overnight stays in between cities. Port Dickson and Malacca both seem sensible as en route points to and fro Johor Bahru. We are keen to try out Grand Lexis at Port Dickson or YTL Malacca. 

2. Instead of 2 connecting rooms, we paid for a 2 bedroom suite. I will be the happiest mum if the washer/dryer at Doubletree Johor Bahru works so that we can pack our suitcases home without any wet clothes from the waterpark at LEGOLAND Malaysia Resort! I will also be sure to order a delicious bowl of laksa Johor before 11pm!

3. Instead of single entry one day park tickets, we bought a two day park and water play with option of multiple exit and re-entry. It is going to be a matter of time we opt for annual tickets for cost savings.

Wish us luck!

Do you also pre-plan annual holidays, my lovelies? Or are you an impromptu/last minute traveller? Please do share!

Johor Premium Outlets

This is our first trip to Johor Premium Outlet.

Firstly, bravo on the fly traps! Pesky flies are hardly seen.

Secondly, the trees have grown more shady, thus protecting shoppers from the blazing heat. We noted that the landscape management company and/or proprietor could have selected even more shady greens, like the tiered types you see at The Gardens and along Mahameru (who remembers the new road name?).

Thirdly, we are so glad to see eateries other than the food court. Options like Absolute Thai and Kampachi are helping us to extend our leg hours beyond dinner rush hour. The dinner service and food at Kampachi was excellent. The lunch service and food at Dome's left much room for improvement. Crispy Crepe provided us with good snacks, and we especially enjoyed the peanut butter with banana as well as chocolate with banana crepes. 

You guessed it, we were there twice! Every premium/designer outlet begets multiple visits from us, old habits die hard! We would usually mark what we would like to buy and think it over, preventing impulse purchase. As a result of this, we bought almost nothing! The Other Half credits this to The Flat being too close to boutiques at KLCC that we are already immune to the word "Sales",

"Markdown" and "70% off". I concur.

Although we were not thrilled about the limited brands present, we were glad to see the usual suspects on discount. Surprisingly, supermarket and high street mall labels make up 75% of the shops there. Our haul this time is comparatively much smaller than last summer at York Designer Outlets.

If you are a big fan of Burberry, Aigner, Oroton, Furla, Sacoor Bros, Kate Spade, DVF, Salvatore Ferragamo, Coach, Michael Kors and Polo Ralph Lauren then there are some gems waiting for you to mine. We spotted DKNY, Armani Exchange and Boss too.

 

My best purchase was Akemi Super King Silk Sateen Fitted Sheets. Very makcik good purchase. In fact, I would be silly enough to return just for this sole purpose.

The playground area is not shaded/covered. Let's hope that is room for improvement too. During our first visit, the playground was wet from the rain. The sun was scorching hot on the second day. My kids were disappointed on both days, regrettably. The grass must find a way to grow too.

On the bright side, baby change rooms and family toilets are available. Let's hope they will add some nursing rooms in future, as I personally do not feed inside bathrooms (simple hygiene logic - would you eat inside a toilet?). Thank you for taking this into account when you are looking for ways to improve your property, Genting Simon Sdn. Bhd. 

In conclusion, this place is worth a look-see. See you again next time, Johor Premium Outlets!

Last Minute Plans

The week is whizzing past a tad too quickly, my lovelies.

Well, it looks like Allah swt is blessing us with a short getaway to the southern tip of our country where more interlocking plastic bricks and discounted/end of season/especially-produced-for-premium-outlets goods can be purchased.

You must already know how much my little family loves designer outlets from reading about our 3x visits in York last summer? Alhamdulillah children are growing and outgrowing their stash of "stock". I hope JPO has enough rides and playground to occupy them while I get to "work".

This mini getaway is a last minute decision. We were pleasantly surprised that The Big School has complete sets of books, uniforms and sports attire so after the visit on Wednesday this week, we need not visit until next year when the academic year starts for The Little Girl. Alhamdulillah for this ease! We have canvas shoes, liquid chalk to whiten canvas shoes and socks too. All that is left to hunt down is a few pairs of black tights.

As usual, our hotel bookings and theme park tickets were completed online (what isn't these days? I wonder if agents still have much to do?). 

I still wish The Other Half would agree to bring along the car registration card and our passports so that we can drive across the Second Link. I have between now and our departure time to convince him. Impromptu drives? Knowing that shops are aplenty along Orchard? The Other Half smells a rat! He would rather spend RM than SGD considering how weak the RM is at the moment. Such loyal subjects we are.

Having said that, I know he has a good head on his shoulders. After all he appointed me as the chief holiday planner and chief luggage packer (I am not printing a list this time, just to try packing for 4D3N by memory). This is a lifetime irrevocable designation. I have my job cut out for me *unless I forget to pack stuff due to laziness and not printing the packing list*

Happy blessed holidays, my lovelies!