Tremor

For the first time in Singapore, I felt a tremor. I was sitting in my office in Punggol when I sensed a bit of left-right shift. A bit of giddiness was also felt. I started looking at the time on my computer, it was 6:19 pm. While many reports were filed on tremors, this is the first time I can feel it. I suppose it must be a hugh earthquake in Indonesia.

Shahzan Inn Room

A view of the standard room ......

and the toilet (without long bath).

and the yellow pillow.

Shahzan Inn Kuantan

Shahzhan Inn was probably a 2-3 star hotel. It was probably built in 70s or 80s as the furnishing was quite old. When I stepped into the room at the Inn, it was a separate experience althogether. The room had a paint smell within it. Good thing is that the window is fully openable and once in a while, I have to flush out the stale air. Likewise the pillow case was yellow probably due to many times of washing.

It is important to ask from the reception for a high floor. I was staying at 11th storey and was able to enjoy the spectacular scenery from the windows. This was the only consolation out of a hotel that was priced closed to RM160 per night. It was raining on the night of stay and due to festival, there was nothing for entertainment, other than the constant fire cracker noise from local residents beyond midnight.

Swiss Garden Resort & Spa Kuantan

A picture of what a standard room looks like.....



and how it looks from the balcony . (The sea can be seen from the far right corner beyond the trees)

Kuantan 18 - 20 Sep 09

It costed me RM247 a night at the resort. It is in a class on its own. When entering the room, I noticed a sweet scene. The room was spacious although it was not a sea view one. It was not a problem because the beach is just in front of the resort. The trip from Kuantan airport to Swiss Gardnen should cost between RM45 to RM50 and would take about 20 minutes.

Swiss Garden Resort & Spa, at the point of my visit, had complimentary shuttle bus service that bring guest from the resort to Kuantan town (Berjaya Megamall) at 11am and 2pm, and returning by 4pm. In my opinion, the 5 hours trip to town was defintely sufficient, if the aim was to see what the town could offer. I had asked the receptionist the charge for booking a taxi from the Resort to Kuantan Town and was informed that it would be RM60. I suppose that amount would include the resort commission.

The water at Balok Beach was murky and not exactly clean. This was because further down the beach, there was small river that was presumably taking discharge from villages in the vincinity. It was as murky as the one in Vung Tau, Vietnam. The sand from the sea was also dark coloured. Nonetheless, there was a swimming pool for guest in the hotel.

Breakfast was reasonable and of the same standard as any other Swiss Garden Hotel. As I did not venture to road side restaurants, I went to the chinese restaurant within the hotel for dinner. A plate of fried rice and duck meat with satay sauce cost RM42 (including tax and service charge). The strength of Wi-Fi in the restaurant was stronger than in the room.

Overall, the experience at Swiss Garden Resort & Spa at Kuantan was pleasant.

Kuantan ~ 18 to 20 Sep 09

The flight took off from Changi Budget Terminal at 12:25pm and reach there Kuantan Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport in 1 hour. It costs about S$202 for to and fro flight. The plane from Firefly, ATR72-500 had a twin propeller. The cruising height was 17,000 feet at speed of 480 km/hr. The trip from Singapore to Kuantan was quite bumpy due to cloudy sky, but the trip back was fine due to good weather. A good thing about Firefly is that it serves passengers a small cup of juice and a small piece of cake even for a hour flight, somthing you don't find Tiger Airlines. This was not the first time I travelled in a propeller airplane.