KL Trip - Day 1, Arrival and @ MINES Shopping Fair

What was supposed to be a R&R KL trip turned out to be a MAJOR Shopping trip. And to think, we, Tri and I purposely choose to put up at a hotel which is out of town and yet, we still managed to almost clear the malls!

On the way there, there was only just Tri, me and the driver on the coach. Which I must admit freaked us out a little. But no harm was done, we reached the hotel at about 1.30pm well ahead of schedule and we cannot even check in coz we were so early!

Hence, with rumbling tummies, we left our things at the concierge and we went off to search for food. Too hungry to walk and think, we settled for the first restaurant that caught our eyes.

Nando's.
They seriously were ALL over the place. With at least 1 outlet in every mall we went to and we hit a few malls within the few days that we were there.

Too hungry to even look at the menu much, we just settled for the Starters which includes a little of everything and is also our main meal. Part of the reason is also because, the minute the menu is opened, this huge ass picture of the starters just stare right back at us... hence, easiest to just get this and done with instead of still torturing my food deprived stomach and very tired brain.

Which comes with 4 different sauces and we can pick our own level of spiciness. I think the Garlic chili is by far the best.

But I do like the way the sauces are there available for your own tasting and mixing and to experiment which is the favorite.

The starters took some time to arrive and by then, our eyes were busy roving round the mall to see what and where we should start.

Of course trying to pick out some shops that looks more promising prove to be quite tough... coz we were seated by the internal river that leads straight into the MINES resort and all we could see was the river and a toy store or hmm.. was it SASA? I can't really remember now.

All I remembered was I was desperately hungry and wishing that food will come fast. Pronto.

Even drinks took a long time to be placed before us. =( And not even our cutlery was given to us. For a while, I really thought we got to eat with our bare hands! Thank God, the waitress finally realized we do not have cutlery and drinks and proceed to give us what we need.

After a wait that seems like eternity, our food finally finally arrived on the table. The starters which we took as our mains. Suits us just fine. We were really really that hungry, chicken wings, warm pita bread in bite size, kebabs and sausages for just RM $24.90. Worth every single penny!

And add on RM $9.90 each, we got a glass of soft drink and a dessert!

Strawberry on don't know what cake... but VERY good.

My only grouse was, they serve us the dessert TOGETHER with the starters.

So you can imagine, we were trying to eat our hot food before it turns cold and trying to eat our dessert before it melts.

The Irony. =/ But what to do? We have communication issues, she only speaks limited English and we're just too hungry to say anything else. Just eat whatever is on the table first!

Anyway, after a very satisfying lunch, we realized it was pouring. So, we were trapped inside the mall. Off we go to look at the shops. And before long, I walked out of a shop with a pair of shorts!We finally decided that we should head back to our hotel to check in and freshen up after doing a quick survey of the malls. There was a Chinese books exhibition going on in the exhibition area but there's an entry fee of RM $2 which we refused to pay... since in SG, we don't have to pay to go for books fare, hence we gave that a miss! So, we just head to Giant to get our water and go back to hotel.

Hotel is pretty normal I guess. A little small but I guess still acceptable.

I mean it's comfy enough for both of us with a sitting area and dresser, which I must add, we hardly use. We basically laze on bed after shower. And lay our purchases on bed to snap snap snap photos after the day.

Dresser and sitting area is hmm.... to put things.

Comes with a tiny bathtub too. But I did not really use the tub except to stand in it while showering. M'sia water is not suitable to make bubble baths at all!

Somehow, the bubbles just won't foam no matter how much it's added... unless, the WHOLE damn bottle is used. Anyway, I think M'sia waters are very drying on skin. I can feel the tightening effect every single time I on the tap.

View's not too bad. Can see the main hotel lobby and also all the way to the other end where the other hotel, Golden Horse is located, which is also part of the MINES Resort.

Just for the record, MINES Resort comprises of Golden Horse, Golf range, our hotel, the MINES Shopping Fair, Wonderland and Exhibition area I think.

Needless to say, the most frequented area of the MINES resort is the Shopping Fair.

Every SINGLE day, we will go to the Shopping Fair and every single time, we'll find something to buy.

Be it a top, a dress, a pair of shoes or snacks. There's ALWAYS just something to buy no matter how many times or how long we are inside the place!

We pass by the mall every single day and every time, we'll just get something. Sounds unbelievable right, so many damn things to buy?! I don't believe it myself. But it's absolutely true.

"Beach" is right below us. Only thing is, the beach's really tiny and not supposed to cross the strings of balls. =/

I don't really like the balcony walls, can see all the way through to your neighbors. I feel no privacy. But then again, in our 3 nights there, only once I saw my neighbor. So... I guess, nobody uses the balcony anyway.

But I was thinking, not very romantic for couples lor. Imagine being seen by all the neighbors. =( Not to mention being seen by the people in the lobby as well!

Hardly a nice place to get romantic at all. But I must say, despite all of it, it's still quite a nice place.

Can see far and many things at the same time.

So, after a short rest, putting away of things, a much needed shower and taken enough photos, we decided to head out to the mall again. First to see to our rumbling tummies once again. This time, we had Chinese herbal boiled soup!

My set is lotus with peanuts soup and all of these soups can come in a set which will consists of a bowl of rice and a plate of soya sauce chicken and veggies. All these for only RM $10.90!

Eat till full full some more! But I'm not used to the Malaysian way of cooking their food. It's either too sweet or too salty for my liking. But still acceptable.

But the people in this shop, especially the guy who took our orders is horrible. Service SUCKS big time. Damn grouchy as though we owe him a million RM! *Humph*

After dinner, our favorite past time... Shopping! This time, I walked out with 2 tops. My whole day of loots consists of 2 tops, a pair of shorts and panties.
Not bad at all for just a half day arrival thing, ya know! =)

Total expenses of food and shopping was about RM $270. Ok. Still not too bad. I think if I continue to keep my expenses this low, I should be able to survive within my budget , but of course, I burst it big time the next day. =(