Continuation - Southwestern Adventure - Port Dickson

Our journey continued and after bidding farewell to both Seanette and Agnes at Rider's Lodge, we headed north. Our plan was to stop at Malacca city for "Asam Pedas" lunch at Gerai 35. As we exited Ayer Keroh toll, we got stuck in the traffic and it took us more than one hour to reach the city centre. Since there were just too many people, we just grabbed our lunch at Gerai 22. The Asam Pedas daging tetel and ikan parang are just awesome. Berbaloi lah walaupun terpaksa mengharungi kesesakan yang dahsyat! If you're looking for parking at this area, turn right at Flora De La Mar and park at the riverside....perfect! After taking some shots around Bandar Hilir, we headed straight to Port Dickson.

We reached Legend Water Chalet (www. legendwaterchalets.com.my) around 6pm and checked into the Premium Waterchalet since that was the only room available as the smaller ones have been fully booked months ago! The promotional rate was RM575++ against the published rate of RM1,300. We were lucky since that room could accommodate four adults. It was enough for the five of us. It was a beautiful room with private balcony and has two solid glass panels for viewing the sea beneath the floor. The bathroom is huge with triangle bath tub and standing shower with air well, so you could see the beautiful blue sky while having shower (provided it doesn't rain!).

Since it was almost dark, there's nothing much we could do....just enjoying the rising tide from the balcony when out of a sudden we saw 2 turtles...we were so excited!!! I didn't know that PD has turtles (probably the turtles were saying thank you for sponsoring their conservation programs). After having dinner at one of the tomyam stall outside, we went back to the hotel and rented a karaoke room. Yang beriya menyanyi of courselah ibu and abah, anak2 jadi audience. The room, choice of songs and the charges were not bad at all...perhaps the best karaoke room in PD!

The next morning, after breakfast, we rented bicycles for the kids and a fishing rod for the dad. Trying our luck, kut2 boleh dapat ikan sekor dua...unfortunately none at all! The kids went for a ride around the hotel and the hotel next door, Legend International Water Homes (http://www.legendiwh.com.my/). They came back and told us that the all the rooms at the other hotel come with a private swimming pool. Wow...tak pernah pulak dengar hotel yang macam ni. So while they were swimming, I decided to go for a walk to find out about the hotel next door.

It's true, all the rooms comes with a private pool, nice but of course more expensive. They just opened in November 2009. I checked with the front office and they told me that there still have rooms available, but only the Executive Pool Villa. The published rate is RM2,100 but the promotional rates for 2009 was RM690 but it comes with 2 King Size Beds! Enough for all of us and perhaps cheaper than renting 2 rooms! The room also has a small kitchenette and a solid glass panel to view the sea. If you want the room to be facing the sea, there is a surcharge of RM150! So, we checked out from Water Chalet at 12 noon and checked in at Water Homes and carried all our luggage to the car as the room was available only at 3pm.

We headed to PD town and stopped at Restoran Deen Berjaya - Kari kepala Ikan Deen. It's popular for fish head curry. Memang sedap dan mengancam bila tambah sotong goreng and ayam goreng! Then, we went down memory lane when we passed by my old school, SK Port Dickson (formely known as Government English Primary School). I was there in 1980 for only a year...but a year that left lots of fond memories.

Around 3pm, we checked in at the Water Homes...and IQ met his SDAR friend (who had just arrived with his family from Kelantan). It was a long way from the hotel lobby to the room (sometimes we just hop on the electric buggy!!). By the time we reached there, we were already exhausted! But the room was just lovely overlooking the sea and the kids just couldn't wait to jump into the pool. It was really cool!!! Since the pool is inside the room, all of us just jumped in!!!! That night we scouted for dinner along the beach and settled for Papa Grill Mama Chop. The food was okay just to fill up the stomach. That night, we tried again our luck with fishing....lesson learnt is that, use a bell at the the end of the rod when you're fishing at night!
The next morning, the kids jumped inside the pool after breakfast. IQ went to visit the PD Power Plant next door. I took the chance to rest and watch TV. Just before 12 noon, we packed our stuff and left Water Homes.

We were very impressed with the 2 new hotels in PD and I'm sure we will come again...probably the best hotel in PD now. The whole trip was enjoyable and fun. It was a good break for all of us.