How to earn Air Asia Big Points with PointsMAX

Looks like there's another way of getting AA Big Points. I usually get my big points through tune hotels and flight tickets, but this time AA has given us another option, that is through agoda.com. I seldom use agoda.com to book hotels. I'm pretty much comfortable with booking.com, but I might just give it a try with agoda.

Just go to www.agoda.com to book hotels of your choice. Just type in destination, e.g : Kuala Lumpur, then list of hotels will come it with total AA Big Points, but not all rooms are eligible to get Big Points. Choose wisely.

Not sure how the point works, I've yet to try it myself.

Siem Reap - Part III - Cambodian Cultural Village

Cambodian Cultural Village

One of a must go to place in Siem Reap is Cambodian Cultural Village. A place where you can learn about the Cambodians way of living, their marriage ceremony, cultural dance, all in one roof. Entrance fee is USD15, so sila explore and tengok semua show yang ada dalam ni. Tickets, tuk-tuk driver yang belikan dari travel agent, mungkin dia dapat commission, tak kisahlah sebab sama je pun harga beli di counter. 

Show at Chinese Village

 Wax Museum.

This is one of the most entertaining show about the marriage of a Cambodian couple. They randomly picked a volunteer among the crowds to be the groom (the one in green attire), a Malaysian guy, could tell from his friends cheering.

Siem Reap - Part I

Siem Reap - Part II

Siem Reap - Part II

We stayed at Heart of Angkor Hotel for 4 days 3 Nights. Hotel terletak betul-betul di tengah-tengah town yang meriah waktu malam, dekat dengan Pub Street dan tak jauh dari Old Market, Hard Rock Cafe dan restoran-restoran halal. Seperti biasa booked through booking.com, secured by credit card, but this time i used debit card and paid cash upon check in. Masa booking, katanya ada breakfast, tapi actually tak ada pun, tapi ada air panas and free coffee and tea, boleh buat sendiri at the lobby. Ada free wifi jugak dan bilik not bad, okaylah just to stay in nak tidur ja kan. Tapi sebenarnya di area tu ada banyak sangat budget hotels dan hostels, kalau tak kisah nak redah je walk in pun boleh, am sure ada bilik, kalau tak ada banyak je small hotels dekat area-area lain. 

First day sampai, dah memang penat sangat, dengan cuaca yang sangat panas dan jalan yang berdebu sepanjang jalan, kalau sesiapa yang nak datang tu better bawak face mask sendiri. So, sampai hotel rest dan malam jalan-jalan di area pub street. One thing not to be missed kalau datang sini is to try their fruit shake or fruit juice, sedap and fresh only USD1, I had fruit shake everyday i was here.

 Pub Street- walking distance from the hotel. Malam-malam meriah, penuh dengan foreigners.

 Our hotel room

Fruti Juice/Shake stall - ada banyak macam ni, same concept, same price. 

Siem Reap - Part I

Arrived Siem Reap at 2.40 pm local time, luckily, we Malaysians tak payah apply visa, boleh terus ke Immigration, just make sure isi siap-siap arrival card and custom declarations atas flight. Cabin crew and distribute masa di departure hall di Malaysia lagi atau atas flight. Kalau minta kat immigration kat airport memang kena berletiaq, I've seen a few yang dah kena.

Anyways, sepatutnya ada pick-up tuk-tuk from hotel, tapi tak sampai-sampai, so beli simcard dulu and call hotel, nasib baik they realized their mistake and sent a tuk-tuk to pick us up. Dalam 20 minit jugak la tunggu, but I don't really mind sebab they apologized, that's good enough. The tuk-tuk yang hantar ke hotel tu pun dok promote suruh ambik dia untuk trips, tapi quite expensive so I decided to check on Safy Angkor Wat on FB, lepas ber whatsapp akhirnya setuju untuk hire dia.

 Departure Hall KLIA2

  Arrived Siem Reap - Small but beautiful traditional architecture.

Sim card boleh dibeli di luar airport sebelah kanan. I bought the 5USD, 3GB package, tak guna habis pun sebab kat hotel pun ada wifi. Calls guna untuk call tuk-tuk driver saja. Masa nak balance ada balance banyak lagi.

Luar airport tengah tunggu tuk-tuk. Panas sangat cuaca hari tu.

A Trip to Siam Reap, Finally!

Finally, a trip i've been longing to go SIEM REAP, feels like screaming my lungs out. Tickets were purchased 6 months ago. Got it for RM150/Pax KUL-SIEM REAP-KUL via AA. I've been searching for the best ,cheap and nice hotels. Best as in located in town area, so that I don't have to take the tuk-tuk to walk around and cheap and nice since I'm not gonna stay all day long in the hotel room.

Our PEN-KUL-PEN flights were bought 1 month before our departure date. Got if for RM100.12/Pax (without baggage).

 

So, selepas buat research, as in baca dalam blog and baca reviews, I decided to book Heart of Angkor Hotel via Booking.com. Since all expenses in Siem Reap kena bayar guna USD, I tried to search for ways to reduce my expenses there, and so happened, this hotel provide free shuttle from airport to the hotel, so masa book hotel tu request for free shuttle, and after a week the hotel sent an email asking for my arrival time.

To be continued..

Travel Insurance, perlu ke?

I've learned my lesson well pasal travel insurance ni sebenarnya. Kisah passport, purse, cash, credit hilang di London dulu memang betul-betul an eye opener. Lepas kejadian tu, memang everytime travel, will make sure ambik insurance be it masa book flight tickets tak kisah la dengan MAS atau Air Asia atau dengan insurance company.

Ada banyak insurance company yang offer travel insurance ni, kena rajin buat research, rajin membaca dan banyak bertanya. In my case, tengok dalam internet dan juga comments dalam FB group backpackers dan lepas tu compare lah dengan few companies and finally, dah berapa kali travel memang akan guna  AXA Insurance je lah.

Why AXA?

First, sebab paling senang boleh beli ja online dan bila beli online ada discount 25%, setakat ni dah purchase insurance untuk ke Seoul, Vietnam, Australia dan Jakarta. and next to Siem Reap.

Setakat ni travel dalam Area 1 saja which covers  Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China (excluding Mongolia, Nepal & Tibet), Hong Kong, Macau, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam only, dan normally akan beli SMART TRAVELLER VIP sebab harga pun still murah as compared dengan insurance dengan airlines.

Kalau beli individual cuma RM26.25 (kalau beli offline RM35 kalau tak silap) dan make sure kalau nak beli untuk child below 18, pilih family, sebab below 18 tak boleh purchase under individual, mesti kena dengan parents (dah terkena sekali). Kalau under family RM66/family.

Insurance ni penting, tapi kita tak kan rasa kepentingannya kecuali apabila di timpa musibah.

Jakarta, INDONESIA Part II

The next day, after breakfast, we took a cab to Pasar Baru. It has been years since I last came to Jakarta and I would like to re-visit the place to see how much it has changed. We were there way too early, the shops were still closed. My advise is dont come too early, most of the shops open around 10 am.

Remember I said about this is not a shopping trip?..Yeah, so we had to visit MONAS or National Monument, and we did just that. I guess it's a must go place if you're a tourist. Click here if you would like to know more MONAS. Located in Central Jakarta, it was quite near to our hotel, the area was really huge and we had to walk from the main gate to the entrance. I couldn't remember the entry price but the line was insane, we almost gave up. There were only one lift up and there were hundreds of people infront and behind us waiting to get into the lift. My advise is, do not come on weekends or public holidays. 

Jakarta, INDONESIA Part I

To be continued...

Trip to Mekong

Oleh kerana the first 2 trips datang ke HCM, tak melawat Mekong, this time kena try jugak lah. So, we decided to take a trip to Mekong on the 3rd day. Baca dalam blog memang banyak sangat package dan macam-macam harga, ada yang mahal, ada yang murah depending on the package.

 

I decided that we would take a package that would cost not more than USD12, staff hotel ada offer package to Mekong for USD25/Pax, okay..wayyy to expensive. We decided to walk around the area and cari travel agencies and compare prices, and we took a package with Candy Travel for USD12/ RM53/Pax/ VND270,000 ( pakej ni dia provide non-halal food, and since we do not want to take lunch, they would change with fruits), as usual wajib minta diskaun, so she gave us VND250,00/Pax.  So, agent ni akan pick up kat hotel dengan coach dan transfer untuk naik bas di office dia orang. So ramai la passengers lain, kebetulan our group ramai jugak Malaysians.

On the way bus akan stop di so called R&R for toilet stops and makan. Top picture yang depan tu our guide (tak ingat pulak namanya apa).

Atas bot di Sungai Mekong. Trip Mekong ni  memang banyak kali turun naik bot, sampai naik pening.

Melawat tempat jualan madu kelulut, sebelum tu dijamu dengan makanan yang di sebelah kiri sekali tu. 5 botol madu kelulut = RM100 dapat free 1, maknanya dapat 6 botol. 

Below Middle : Ada persembahan nyanyian, lepas habis persembahan, sila bagi tips ya..jangan kedekut ,nampak tu ada bakul merah atas meja.hehehe..

Below Right : Boleh makan buah-buahan tempatan sambil dengar persembahan nyanyian.

 Kami di bawa melawat ke bengkel membuat coconut candy, bau memang sedap, rasa tak sure pulak sebab tak rasa pun.....Boleh beli yang dah packing siap. 

It was a really tiring trip. We arrived HCM around 5.30 pm and the bus dropped us at Ben Tanh Market area and we walked back to our hotel. Okay, for my next trip to HCM (not sure when), I would consider a trip to Chu Chi Tunnel. 

Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM Part I 

Re-visit Ho Chi Minh City

12-15 September 2015

It has been almost one year since i last stepped foot in Saigon. I'm back here again just for shopping and to experience Mekong. Our flight from Penang was at 10.45 am and we arrived in Saigon at around 3.45 pm (local time). We used our national carrier MAS as the tickets were much cheaper from AA.  Since there were 5 of us, I decided to book Blessing 1 Hotel, Saigon as it is nearer to the market, but seriously i do not recommend this hotel, will write about this later. 

Once we arrived at Tan Shon Nhat Airport, cleared immigrations and collected our bags, we searched for counters to buy sim cards. We found few counters that offer almost the same package, but i thought the price was quite pricey since we were gonna be there for only 4 days, and since the hotel provided free wifi, we were gonna use the card only for emergencies. The original price was VND 290,00 for 3GB of internet and calls, but since we wanted to use only the internet, they gave us a VND190,00 for 3GB and local calls, that's good enough. We also booked our ride to the hotel at this counter for VND200,000 (I know it's expensive).

Once we arrived at the hotel, checked in, and decided to rest for a while and went out to the  night market just outside our hotel. Mungkin sekarang ni rainy season, hujan sepanjang malam, kami berjalan pakai raincoat yang dibeli di kedai bawah hotel. RM2/piece. 

Tak ada yang menarik, balik hotel dan tidur, penat dah satu hari berjalan. The next morning, terus ke Ben Tanh Market which is sangat dekat dengan hotel, jalan kaki saja. Market ni dikelilingi oleh hotel dan ada banyak pintu, so memang banyak hotel-hotel budget di area ni. So, first day, cari kedai untuk buat kemeja (main reason i came here), kedai yang buat kemeja ni memang banyak, pilih je lah yang mana satu, kalau nasib baik, dapatlah kedai yang okay, nasib tak baik, dapatlah yang tak okay. 

Nasib baik kedai yang kami masuk tu okayla jugak..so buat kemeja 3 pasang, harga RM70/sepasang, oleh sebab dah tau memang nak buat kemeja, so bawak sample baju, so bagi je sample dia ikut sebiji macam tu (tapi turned out tak jadi sama jugak), dan juga sepasang suit (coat dan seluar), harga RM240/sepasang, kalau buat coat saja RM170, dan seluar RM70. Siap in one day, dan kedai tu akan hantar terus ke hotel, so tak payah susah payah, pening kepala nak usung bawak balik.

 Random pictures : Kopi susu sangat sedap, tiap2 hari minum, ada banyak seller bermotor macam ni - harga RM3 atau VND20,000

 Top : One of the entrance to Ben Tanh Market

Below Left : Penjual dekat area hotel

Below Right : Inside-Ben Tanh Market

Top : The area where we stayed, banyak hotel dan restoran makanan halal
Below left & right : Hotels nearby Ben Tanh Market.

Our hotel 

We stayed for 4 days 3 nights at Blessing 1 Hotel, Saigon. As usual, bookings were made through booking.com and seriously i would never go back to this hotel. My first impression, the receptionist was arrogant and snobbish. We booked two rooms and she placed us in 2 separate levels, 1 room at level 3 and another at level 5. Our room was so hot and the there were not enough lights, so gelap macam dok dalam gua, and they didnt even bother to do something about it. We requested so that both of our rooms are on the same level, and they keep saying, yes tomorrow after peopled checked out, and evertime we asked, we get the same answer, the available rooms.

On the last day, when we wanted to check out, the arrogant, snobbish receptionist charged us for something we did not do, she said they could not clean a towel and a pillow case, which she claimed was so dirty, and we did not remember dirtying the towel and pillow case, and the towel she showed us looked so dirty and looked like it was used to wipe the floor. Memang nak maki sangat..memang dia orang ni..memang dasar ... and she would not release our passports until we paid for the stupid towel and pillow case. We had not choice but to pay VND250,00 for the stupid pillow case and towel. okay, banyak sangat perkataan stupid di situ...geram sangat. So, I guest that's the reason why they asked for our passport when we checked in. So next time tak payah stay hotel ni, berlambak lagi hotel lain kat situ.

Jakarta after 5 long years

6-9 August 2015

This is actually my third time in Jakarta. Last time was about 4-5 years ago, lama sangat dah kot..kinda missed this macet city. This trip was kinda ad-hoc, I mean the time, we've planned Jakarta for quite a while but never had the right dates, ticket prices and time to go. But this time we managed to grab kinda cheap ticket (since we were departing form Penang). Normally, when it comes to buying flight tickets, I would first search MAS, then AA, and if there is a slight difference in price, I would choose MAS.

Our flight was a 2.45 pm, and we reached Jakarta around 7 pm (local time) and by time we were done with our luggages and immigrations, looking for cabs and everything, we arrived at the hotel at 9+ pm (we've already informed the hotel that we were gonna arrive late in the evening) + the cab driver was not sure of the hotel, since it is a new hotel.

We stayed at Max One Hotel@Sabang and as usual reservations were made through booking.com. I read in someone's blog the location is quite near to eateries and walking distance to Sarinah. My first impression was, I loved the artsy look of the exterior, although I wanted to stay at Artotel (it was fully booked), I thought this hotel more or less should be like Artotel.

 

The room that we booked come together with breakfasts. My review about the hotel : Nice hotel, strategic location, simple breakfast menu but since I don't really take heavy breakfast, the menu was good enough for me. Hotel staff were helpful and nice except for one thing that put us off. They couldn't fulfill, the one thing that we asked since the first day we arrived, iron a.k.a seterika. I wonder if they only have one iron in the hotel, everytime we asked for it the would say, ada orang guna belum pulangkan, and we needed to iron our tudung bawal and baju, for goodness sake..adoiii.. terus bad review tak dapat iron..but overall not bad, okay lah.

We didn't actually plan our trip here, we just wanted to eat, walk and walk and no shopping. Through enough we didn't really shop, except for sepasang kain for myself and shawl saja. Other than that, I just wanted to see the city.

To be continued....