The Mines Wellness Hotel

annyeong haseyo...it's the 22nd day of raya but the raya heat is still on...am still craving for those lemang & ketupat...gonna have a couple of raya open houses this weekend...can't wait for those lemang & rendang ayam...

about a couple of weeks ago, me & my wife put up the two weekend nights at The Mines Wellness Hotel...we actually utilized our complimentary 3 days 2 night stay at Palace Vacation Club's home base resort upon signing up for their membership last year...our membership has almost been 1 year and only now we were able to utilize it...chose The Mines Wellness Hotel coz it's near to us...so need to worry about transportation...

checked in at the hotel on Friday 8.30 pm after work...we were actually entitled for 2 standard rooms so I invited my ex-housemate, Hazrin as he's already married...so no problem that he can also bring his wife along...when we entered the room it was surprisingly big...it exceeds our expectations as we thought it was just some normal hotel rooms...plus the bathroom was also big with a bath tub in it....only downfall was the tv as it wasn't an LCD tv...but who cares...

The Mines Wellness Hotel is actually meant for those going for the Chinese medicine therapy under the branding Mines TCM Wellness...u can go there for checkup conducted using Chinese method...also can go there for treatment under traditional Chinese medicine...when talking about traditional Chinese medicine, u can expect pulse reading, traditional Chinese cupping,  acupuncture, foot bath, and much more...

apart from that, there is also Ayurveda which is an age old Indian system of alternative therapy...this Mines Wellness seems to be a one-stop center for all types of therapies & medical treatment...also, there is a spa center fully equipped with sauna, steam sauna, jacuzzi and of course, spa itself...last but not least, the uniqueness of this hotel is that it has it's very own man made beach which is quite something to be wowed about...plus overlooking a lake (which was actually previously a mining site :P) that makes the hotel something to stand out for...and because of the lake, the hotel offers water sport there...with these features said, it really stands out compared to the other hotels in the Klang Valley...it's uniqueness something worth to check it out...

on saturday, we had some other programs which includes raya open house while Hazrin and his wife enjoyed their stay at the hotel and took a stroll at the Mines Shopping Fair...and on Sunday, before checking out, me & my wife managed to explore the hotel although we didn't managed to locate the spa center :P...overall, would give 4 out of 5 stars for this hotel...for more info on The Mines Wellness Hotel, u can check it out from their website...http://mineswellnesshotel.com.my/

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Happy Merdeka

annyeong-haseyo...it's been a week after eid mubarak & almost a week after the independence day, only now was i able to wish at here...happy eid mubarak & happy independence day....

this year's raya celebration is my wife's sides turn, plus my parents were coming down to KL on Friday...so this year we camped at my mother-in-law's home starting from monday up till friday...was working on monday but working from home at my mother-in-law's home while my wife helped her mother with the cooking...

1st day raya, after the raya aidilfitri prayers, we head to hulu langat first which was my uncle's house...at there, my other uncle from kajang was there too and later was joined by my cousin as all the members around in Klang Valley gathered there...1st day raya had nasi lemak there, felt like the old days when we celebrated raya at my grandma's house at Tapah...

next stop was Wangsa Maju, my wife's relative's place...at there we had nasi beriyani...a few of her relatives were there as normally that's the place they will gather for raya every year...after the Zuhur prayers, off next to Gombak, another relative of wife's...and after Gombak, it's time to wrap up for the day...

2nd day raya, we head to Batu Pahat, Johor to continue with the raya celebration....a few of my wife's relatives are located in Batu Pahat which is why we went there, plus this year was my first time celebrating & visiting my wife's relatives for raya celebration...the highway traffic was smooth when going, while coming back from Batu Pahat to KL, there was quite a jam at around Seremban exit area...all in all, we did managed to reach back at KL before Maghrib...was quite a tiring but a nice raya celebration this year...no pics for this time's entry as we didn't brought along our camera :P...anyway, selamat hari raya aidilfitri again to all muslims out there...

Gold On The Rise

annyeong-haseyo...decided to blog since i have the spare time (this rarely happens)...am quite free & relax this week as most of the task has been done and no new incoming task came in...a good oppurtunity to blog :P ...

after lingering for about a couple of weeks, i decided that i need to act fast and luckily Wednesday last week, i did managed to open a Gold Account at the Kuwait Finance House in Shah Alam...Wednesday last week, gold price was RM174.31/gram...and today it's already RM186.31/gram...that's RM12 increment in less than a week!!!...fortunately i didn't delayed any longer, otherwise it will be a loss then...what i regretted was that i didn't act fast enough...during early of the month, it was only about RM159/gram...

recently i bought several ebooks and one of them is about Gold investment...from there, i learned that gold is something that is inflation proof...unlike currency, it does not depreciate...and in fact, it appreciates in accordance to time...just browse at google to see how much it has appreciate throughout the few years back...and based on history, Gold appreciates about 40% each year...in other words, if we invest in Gold, we will get a return profit of 40% each year...

here are a couple of facts that will make u think to invest in gold right now...from 18th july 2011 till 4th of august 2011, the increase was already 6%....it has been reported that federal banks in several countries are ramping up gold holdings lately...and for the first time in 10 years, South Korea has bought gold valued at $1.24 billion...

with these being said, it would be a wise choice to start diverse our investment especially in Gold investment...till date, there are 7 banks in Malaysia that offers Gold Account investment namely Maybank, Public Bank, UOB, Standard Chartered, CIMB, Kuwait Finance House and the latest Al-Rajhi Bank...for muslims, we now have 2 choices which are Kuwait Finance House & Al-Rajhi Bank where both are Syariah compliance for a piece of mind...

as for me, i opt for Kuwait Finance House as they have more branches which is more convenient for more rather than Al-Rajhi bank...if i'm not mistaken, Al-Rajhi Gold Investment Account can only be opened at the main branch whereby for Kuwait Finance House, u can head to any of their branch to open the Gold Investment Account...the product name of Kuwait Finance House gold investment is called Gold Account-i...before opening the account, there are a few requirements or terms and conditions that has to be met...for more info, u may check at their website....

http://www.kfh.com.my/kfhmb/ep/kfhContentView.do?contentTypeId=3000&channelId=-8148&displayPage=%2Fep%2Fcontent%2Fkfh_editorial_content.jsp&programId=8687&pageTypeId=8683&contentId=11048

so, what r u waiting for?...head to ur nearest Kuwait Finance House branch to start invest in Gold...for non-muslims ofcourse, u have a wider range of choices :P ...act fast!...act now!...GOLD IS ON THE RISE!!!...

PIKOM Digital Lifestyle & Laser Warzone Lasertag

annyeong-haseyo...probably it's too late since it's already the 21st day of Ramadhan but still would like to wish happy berpuasa to all muslims out there...been a bit busy & lazy lately :P....puasa this year felt time flew very fast...in about a week, it's gonna be raya already...

recently the weekend before puasa starts, went to KLCC with one of my ex-housemate, Jaar to visit the PIKOM Digital Lifestyle Expo 2011...haven't went for this so this was the first time...the expo wasn't that hype and big as PIKOM PC Fair but was quite okay...one of the fun things over there was they have a Treasure Hunt game where visitors or participants need to get the stamp cop from the selected participating booths...and after 10 stamp cop has been collected, one will need to submit the collected stamps to the submission counter to participate in the lucky draw...and guess what, i won myself a logitech mouse in the lucky draw :P...on top of that, got myself a Zyxel Media Streamer for RM99 only (been looking for a media streamer for quite a while and this was the cheapest found so far) and also a Zyxel thumb drive that has an application in it to watch tv channels & listen to radio stations around the globe...can't really remember what it is called but got it for RM30++ becoz i bought the media streamer...original price was RM79...while my friend Jaar got himself a Zyxel Media Streamer too and a Zyxel NAS enclosure...becoz he bought two items, he got the Zyxel thumb drive for free :P ...

next, off to Shah Alam to have a taste of a Lasertag game...out of 10 person that should participate, only 3 (including me & Jaar) turned up for the game...luckily we got 1 substitute for that, so that makes the 4 of us...since we were only 4, we joined with another group for the lasertag game...basically Lasertag game is similar to a Paintball game...instead of  the physical ammunition paintball, laser is the medium of ammunition...the voucher that we bought consists of 3 games or 3 battles...1st battle was individual battle where your enemy is everyone...u shoot to gain points...2nd game is a team battle...u need to shoot down the opponent teams to gain points individually and for your team...3rd battle is also a team battle but with an additional objective...u need to shoot the opponent's base sensor in order to gain points for your team...

it was really an interesting and fun game...was amazed by myself that i came 1st place for the 1st & 3rd battle although this was my first taste of lasertag (sorry for the bragging :P )...would recommend anyone to try it be it guys or ladies, or even children as it is not a game of physical contact and there is no pain involved....the only thing that u will probably feel is muscle strain after the game due to stand, crawl & squat pose during the game...all in all, it is a suitable event for team building, company event, or even just a weekend leisure activity....a must try game...for more info, here's their website...http://www.laserwarzone.com/

 

Pug Gets New Wheels

after using more than 2 years, it's time to change the 2 front Goodyear tyres which has been rotated from the rear to the front from my last visit to the tyre shop...the vibration & shaking from the tyres was felt obviously on the steering wheel...plus the sound coming from the worn off tyres is more visible while on the road & the alignment & balancing was totally out...so, was a must to head to the tyre shop...

this time, went to a different shop instead of my usual preferred tyre shop...but it's also located around here...decided to go for Michelin as Ammar, a friend of mine recommended it...unfortunately, stock was out...so moved on to my 2nd choice which was Continental...after looking at the list of tyres available, decided to go for the ContiContactComfort CC5...RM188 per piece...this was my 1st time going for Continental tyres...from survey on the internet, the verdict was quite good...so my choices went like this - Michelin, Continental, Falken...other than that, it's a NO for me...so, a continental taste for my pug...

after using it for a week, i would say that I was very satisfied with the performance and silence of the tyre...would go for Continental again next time...more details on the tyre:

http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/my/en/continental/automobile/themes/pcar/comfortcontact-5/comfortcontact-5.html

Mini Vac : Swiss Garden Resort Damai Laut, Lumut

annyeong-haseyo...been a little bit busy & lazy lately...hence the lack of updating this blog...sorry on that :P...but as promised, i here bring the much delayed Mini Vac : Swiss Garden Resort Damai Laut...

pushed off from office on Friday at about 3pm as Lumut was quite far...the journey took around 4 hours plus and at almost 8pm, we finally reached Swiss Garden Damai Laut...as we reached, we straight went to the reception to check in...after that, we then headed to our room...the resort was quite nice at first sight, but because we arrived at night, so can't really tell how it really looks like...room was quite okay too...

a little bit about how we got this Mini Vac invitation...there was one day, a consultant from the Swiss Garden International Vacation Club (SGIVC) called me saying that my name has been selected by AmBank to attend a tour at Swiss Garden Resort Damai Laut and to listen about the product which is the SGIVC as I'm a credit card holder of AmBank and that my payments are prompt (yeahhh right~... :P)...in order to attend the tour & to listen to their product, they are giving a free 3D2N stay at the Swiss Garden Resort Damai Laut...not bad since they are giving out free stay, even Palace Vacation Club (PVC) did not gave the free night stay to attend their tour, although they did gave a complimentary voucher to stay at Palace of The Golden Horses but can only be utilized during weekdays unless u sign up as a member...so that's how I got the free 3D2N stay at the Swiss Garden Resort Damai Laut...

the next day morning at 9am, we then headed to the Swiss Garden Apartment which is nearby the resort...actually the whole area belongs to Swiss Garden and the piece of land consist of Swiss Garden Resort, Swiss Garden Apartments, Swiss Villas and there is also a golf couse in there...so u can imagine how huge the area is...the SGIVC office is located at the Swiss Garden Apartments and at there, the SGIVC consultants were waiting for us and the others who also received the invitation...1st activity was to tour the whole resort area of Swiss Garden...we rode on a mini train but was running on tyres on road ofcourse :P...first was to the golf course, then headed to a boat pier which belongs to Swiss Garden Damai Laut too...the view there was quite nice...next was Swiss Garden Resort & Swiss Villas...then we head back to the Swiss Garden Apartments to listen to their product briefing which was SGIVC...

the list of resorts under SGIVC was quite good and impressive...pricing was much cheaper than PVC...and the method of payment was really flexible...too bad that we're already members of PVC...however the manager of SGIVC told that we can cancel our PVC membership, so we enrolled and joined the SGIVC membership...unfortunately, when we were back in KL, i called up PVC and they informed that i can cancel my membership but then the payment released by the bank to PVC will not be refund to the bank and that i would have to settle the payment...so what's the point of cancelling my membership if i still have to pay to the bank...so no choice but to cancel my SGIVC membership which luckily was still within the cooling off period...so all payment made will be refunded...

after the tour & product briefing, me & my wife then headed to Manjung town to have our brunch...we had our brunch at the chicken rice shop at Tesco and bought a few more things there...after that, head back to the resort...we juz chilled at the room at then at about 6pm, i went out to have a walk around the resort while my wife stayed at the room to relax...the resort was really nice as it has a swimming pool, a pool for water polo and they even have a private beach which was quite nice...after a stroll at the beach, i then headed back to the room...we then juz watched tv and then went to bed to call off for the day...

the next day morning, we had breakfast at one of the hotel's restaurant where it was a buffet breakfast...the line of cuisines was not bad and has quite a wide of variety...after breakfast, went back to the room and then checked out from our hotel room...it's then time to head back to KL...

BERSIH 2.0 from a different perspective

annyeong-haseyo...it's been 2 weeks already that i haven't updated this blog...wow, really that long...been quite bz at the moment (plus lazy :P)...i've mentioned that i will be posting about our short vacation trip to Swiss Garden Damai Laut...that will be arriving shortly after this post...

it's been 2 days already BERSIH 2.0 rally has passed, yet was still the hottest topic talked about for the past couple of days...and i bet will still be the hottest topic in Malaysia thru out this whole week...during the BERSIH 2.0 rally day, it is advisable to stay home instead or go places that were not affected by the BERSIH 2.0 wave...as for me & my wife, we went for a spa massage at Slimming Sanctuary Puchong...luckily the traffic has not spread Puchong yet at that time...by the way, we bought a voucher each at ilovediscount for the spa massage at RM38...was really a good deal...

let's talk a bit about BERSIH 2.0...different people will have different points of view towards the BERSIH 2.0 rally...each person has their own perspective of the BERSIH 2.0 rally...be it against it, or support it, or just keep a blind eye on it...whatever it is, we shouldn't condemn other person's view especially using bad or vulgar words...although we have a different view than others, we should respect them the way they are...if everyone has the same view & perspective, there wouldn't exist opposition parties, be it PAS, DAP or PKR...and the existance of these such parties makes the politic world in Malaysia more interesting...

as per the aftermath of the BERSIH 2.0, this part is the most interesting and will be the hottest topic spoken this whole week...we can see many versions, many reviews of them, especially in the TV3's Buletin Utama & the Berita Harian newspaper...those are the media that condemns the BERSIH 2.0...and yesterday, TV3 has already came out with their advertisement condemning BERSIH 2.0...it was that fast...hahahahhaa~...however, the pro & supporters of the BERSIH 2.0 has their own media as well...they have the tv selangor, Facebook & twitter...they are going online not only in Malaysia, but thru out the whole world...so it's tv/newspaper VS internet...who will prevail?...we'll just see...

as from my point of view, we should be looking on the bright side of something that happens...in malay they say "ada hikmah di sebalik setiap kejadian"...we should turn something negative to positive, turn something bad to good, bring out the best out of the worse, look on the other side of the coin and look on the bright side of what has happened...so, lets take a look at what we have gained from the BERSIH 2.0 rally a couple of days ago...

1-PDRM (the police) were fully utilized and were all out that day.
2-Petrol & toll saved due to no need to go into KL that day.
3-Most citizens had a good rest at home that day due to curfew by PDRM.
4-Girls/Ladies/Womens get to save a few hundred ringgits that day due to unable to go shopping.
5-Most KL roads were cleaned by the water spray by the PDRM.
6-KL less poluted that day due to ultra minimal road traffic.
7-Electricity saved as PDRM limited LRT's services.
8-KL Bus & taxi drivers gets a day off that day.
9-Workers & staffs at Midvalley, Pavillion & KLCC had an easy day at work although it was a Saturday.
10-Bersih 2.0, UMNO youth & PERKASA participants had a good exercise by rallying KL that day.
11-Got to see Datuk A. Samad Said walking in Chinatown and being interviewed.
12-Malaysia was famous thru out the whole world that day.
13-Facebook & Twitter was merrier than ever.

next will be my mini-vac to Swiss Garden Damai Laut, Lumut...stay tuned...