Sri Lanka & Maldives - Day 2

Hari kedua dimulakan dengan brekfast yang amat banyak dan menyelerakan di hotel Kingsbury Colombo. Kemudian kami pun memulakan our simple city tour :p

Tempat pertama yang kami lawat ialah Independence Memorial Hall:

Pastu pusing-pusing tengok penjara, rumah presiden, stadium kriket. Malas nak turun sebab panas sangat masa tu dan sebab nak kejar masa. Kejar masa pergi mana? Pergi shopping kat Fashion world. haha. Takde lah besar mana pun tempat dia ni tapi oklah, banyak juga barang2 rare yang takde kat KL. Yg famous kat sini linen dia lah kan. Memang murah la kalau nak compare kat KL. Ingat nak beli tapi relax dulu, nanti2 lah. Pastu langsung tak pergi tempat ni lagi sebab busy.

Lepas Fashion world, kami pergi ke Negombo untuk inspect hotel Jetwing Lagoon. Hotel ni beza lah konsep dia dengan Kingsbury. Hotel ni lebih resort like while Kingsbury lebih macam city hotel. 4 star resort dan agak sunyi dan relaxing. Ramailah omputeh tinggal sini.

Swimming pool dia memang panjang. Boleh kurus kalau selalu swim disini

Actually, on the actual date of traveling with group, kitorang ambil hotel ni sebab lebih tenang dan private kalau dibandingkan dengan Kingsbury Hotel yang agak padat dan sesak. Makanan dihotel ni pun agak sedap juga. Breakfast spreadnya juga banyak tapi tak sebanyak dan semewah Kingsbury.

Lunch. Dap dap

Lepas inspection di hotel Jetwing Lagoon, kami check out another hotel yang under Jetwing punya chain juga iaitu hotel Jetwing Beach. Bila sampai sana, entah ah, saya dapat rasa vibe Phuket. Maybe sebab dia punya hotel deco kot. hehe

Cantik juga kan? Pada pendapat saya, hotel ini sesuai untuk anak2 muda sebab concept dia lebih happening. Agak luas juga kawasan dia. Hopefully dapat stay dihotel ini bila kami ke Sri Lanka lagi satu hari nanti :)

Kalau anda mencari ketenangan semasa bercuti, kami cadangkan anda ambil hotel di area Negombo ni sebab tak sepadat Colombo. Kalau nak compare dia lebih kurang macam, Melaka lah while Colombo tu KL. Jarak perjalanan dia pun lebih kurang sama l sejam setengah macam tu.

Sri Lanka dan Maldives 2015 - Day 1

Maldives. Siapa tak nak pergi Maldives kan?
Alhamdulillah tahun ni kami berkesempatan untuk ke Maldives sebanyak 2 kali. Pertama kali ialah semasa recce process iaitu pada bulan April 2015 dan kali kedua bersama group pada May 2015.

Ada dua penerbangan ke Maldives dari Malaysia. Pertama ialah direct flight dari KL via Air Asia (masa kami pergi, sebenarnya ada MAS dengan Sri lankan airlines je tapi MAS dah tutup route dan AA ambik alih) dan kedua ialah dengan menaiki Sri Lanka Airlines. Tapi kalau naik SLA atau UL mesti kena transit di Colombo. Transit pun tak lama sangat. Ok ok lah tapi untuk flight balik kami nasihatkan supaya ambik transit yang lama sikit (3 - 6 jam) sebab flight kat Male airport selalu delay. Kami dah terkena. Ambik yg 1 jam punya transit pastu boom delay kat Male sejam. Sampai je Colombo, flight dah balik Malaysia. adoi.

Okay, so hari pertama recce kami kena pergi Sri Lanka dulu sebab itinerary kami memang 3 malam di Sri Lanka dan 2 malam di Maldives. So kami naik flight awal UL untuk ke Colombo. Pada pendapat saya, Sri Lanka airline ialah penerbangan yang terbaik yang pernah saya naik (buat masa sekarang.hehe). Seat luas, kapal terbang baru, makanan pun ok. Layanan pramugari dan pramugara biasa je lah kalau nak compare dengan Malaysian hospitality.

Setibanya di Bandranaike, Kami pun terus buat buat Visa kami disana. Buat on arrival je tapi kalau nak jimat boleh buat online. Murah USD5 kalau tak silap. Proses visa sekejap je sebab tak ramai orang dan kemudian kami pun cepat2 keluar sebab dah excited nak tengok Colombo. Process immigration dan beg berjalan lancar dan kami pun disambut oleh driver kami di sesampainya diarrival hall. Time kat sini kena hati2 sikit la, ramai orang akan ambil kesempatan kat kita. Saya boleh terkena pulak. haha. Ada mamat ni nak tolong2 angkat luggage pastu entah kenapa jadi kelam kabut masa tu and dia mintak duit and tunjuk warna hijau (kot) dan saya terbayar la pulak. Driver tu bila dah pergi baru cakap yang mahal sangat saya bayar. hek eleh. Patut takyah cakap la kan. Buat spoil mood je.

Sesampainya masa tu memang tengah waktu peak diorang so agak jammed la traffic. Kami dibawa menuju ofis partner kami di Colombo. Setelah meredah jammed dan sampai di sana, kami berbual dengan host kami En Barshaan untuk berbincang tentang aktiviti kami sepanjang berada di Colombo dan terus menuju ke hotel untuk check in. Hotel yang kami duduk ialah Kingsbury hotel. Gempak hotel ni. Lawa gila. Bilik dia kecik je and takde balcony tapi barang2 dia memang berkualiti. Bayangkan lah, syampu dan sabun mandi daripada Bvlgari kot. haha

Actually, ada banyak jugak gambar hotel sebenarnya tapi hilang entah ke mana. Sedih betul.

Lepas check in hotel kami pun pergi mencari makan. Maybe dah malam sikit pastu kedai tak banyak bukak. Kalau tak silap berdektan dengan hotel tu ada Chilis ke TGI tapi malas la nak makan sebab was was. So, kami pun ambik tuk tuk dan pergi mencari makan ikut driver tuktuk tu punya suggestion.

Nama restoran tu Dine-mon. Biasa2 lah lauk dia. Siap ada nasi goreng singapore lagi. haha

Lepas dinner, balik tidur lah sebab esok banyak aktiviti nak buat. See you tomorrow.

Bali Cruise

Bali cruise was our highlight during our 5d4n recce in Bali. We were there on June 2015. The weather is so nice, sunny but the wind is cooling as the wind from Aussie (which is in winter) affect the weather there.
We departed from our hotel in Legian, around 0745. We need to be at the jetty around 0830.
After registration (no worries, we can pre-register for group) and took picture infront of the ship, we were warmly greeted by the captain and crew and they assist us in finding our reserved seat. Few minutes after, the ship crew came in and provide us breakfast. We were served with free flow of coffee and tea with few selection of delicious pastries at our table.

The journey took about 1 hour plus but fret not as they provide us entertainment onboard. They have live band playing at the sundeck and they provide kids with coloring books for them to occupy themselves too. Usually you will get seasick if you stay indoor hence they provide seasick pills during registration and you can take it if you are prone to seasick. To avoid seasick, you can choose to stay outside at the open deck. There are 3 areas in the ship and for all the areas, there are covered areas if you dont want to get sunburn.

After the trip, we went to sunbathing and have our fix of cappucino at the beach. We saw other participants enjoying themselves with unlimited ride of banana boat, kayaking, playing volleyball and also snorkeling there.

Lunch is served at 12 noon and they served halal food. They do served beer and other alcohol beverages tho but it is under participant own account. There are variety of food to choose ranging from Indo food, satay, spagethi, kuih muih etc. They also provide unlimited coffee, tea and plain water for lunch.

After lunch, around 1330 they have activities for kids. There are few kids join their treasure hunt and we decided to go for the Semi-Submersible Coral Viewer.

Around 1500 we went back to the pontoon, and ready to board the cruise to go back to Tanjung Benoa

Nusa lembongan is really beautiful. I strongly suggest you to try Bali Cruise if you go to Bali. It's really fun. Nusa Lembongan is so beautiful. You can't find this view in Kuta, Legian or any beach at the mainland. Go and see it for yourself ;)