Percutian Keluarga Hj Ma'arof @ Sentosa Villa, Taiping - Day 1

We wanted to go on a holiday together with Tok Abah, Tok Mama, Pak Su, Pak Ngah, Pak Lang and Pak Teh families, but because of work and other commitment that each one of us has, that intention was hard to materialize. Somewhere in March 2010, we finally decided on a date and the ball started rolling since then.

We subsequently agreed on 5 to 7 June 2010, the first week of the school holiday and after much discussions on the venue, we finally settled for Taiping, a small historical town with a lot of attractions to offer. Sentosa Villa seems to be the perfect place to accommodate us with its serene surrounding and relaxing ambience. They have 10 nice chalets that could fit about 50 to 60 people at any one time.

We occupied almost all the chalets and actually got the place all to ourselves. The family suite is the place where we gathered, ate and had our activities since it has a big open air area and a small kitchen. Tok Abah’s and Pak Ngah’s families occupied this chalet since it has two rooms upstairs. There is a small stream that runs next to the family chalet where you could hear sounds of waterfall and feel the cool air.

We started our journey from KL early morning and stopped at Kuala Kangsar for lunch. On our way to Taiping through the old road, we stopped at Bukit Gantang to buy fresh soyabean and the famous Laksa Buyong. That was when we were joined by the rest from Kuala Krai coming through the East West highway to Kuala Kangsar . We reached Sentosa Villa and checked in into our respective chalets about 2pm. At 3pm, everyone gathered at the Family Chalet for a briefing. As usual, Ibu took the hailer and briefed everyone what to expect in the next 3 days. Everyone received a door gift and the kids got themselves a party pack each!

After the briefing and tea, everyone had their own free time, the kids jumped into the natural pool and the adults enjoyed the fresh air and the beautiful surrounding. The boyz and men got together for a soccer match....it was the World Cup fever! Although the field was a small uneven open space, the game went on and on... everyone enjoyed themselves, had lots of sweat and no injuries. Faiz and Thaqif were tasked as goal keepers while Naif and Atif were the Ronaldo and Torres! After the game, all the boyz jumped into the pool!!!!

The first programme on the day of arrival was the visit to Taiping Night Safari. At around 8pm, we left for the Night Safari in 8 cars. The tickets cost us around RM400 (Adult RM16 and Child RM10). Since it was the beginning of the school holiday, the place was really packed and the queue for the tram was long and winding! Some of us decided not to wait for the tram and started walking whilst some with small children or just lazy to walk waited for the tram. The place was so crowded and you can hardly see the animals except the big ones! It has deteriorated since the last time we visited them a few years ago! The place has a long way to go if they want to be as good as the Singapore Night Safari. We were a bit disappointed and left the place around 11pm but we did not let that experience spoilt the whole fun. We bounced back the next day...

To be continued…Day 2