Revision of treat points earnings from Maybank

Hey guys, many of you all should know about the revision of treat points earnings and also the 5% cash back changes.

Some of this news wasn't new as Maybank had reduced their 5% cash back to only weekend dining starting 1st August 2015.

This is the snapshot from Maybank website and shows that currently the 5% only applicable to Weekend Dining Cashback.

That's not all guys, starting 15th April 2016 Maybank will revise some of their treat points earnings. This is mainly affected Maybank 2 Card users as some of their items will revise to only 1x points instead of the usual 5x points on American Express card.

Maybank 2 Gold Card
Maybank 2 Platinum Card

You can click on both links to check out the changes and you might want rethink about your credit card usage for these items.

2 days 1 night trip to Batam

Hey guys,

It has been some time since the last time i wrote in this blog. Just wanted to wish everybody Happy New Year. It was a rough year in 2015 as I have changed 2 jobs and moved to a new country. Currently I am in a small island just beside Malaysia, know where is it? :)

During Christmas, my girlfriend came over to visit me in the small island. Therefore, out of bored we decided to pay our nearby place BATAM a visit. all this was planned in a very short time as it is a last min decision. we are going for a 2 days 1 night trip to BATAM.

first step is our accommodation, we search for a good accommodation and goes down to 2. Harris Hotel Batam or Turi Beach Resort. The difference between this 2 place is 1 is near the town, another is near the beach. At last we decided to go with the beach.

GROUPON is our next best friend cause most of the hotel in Batam you can have a great deal from Groupon. I picked up the deal for Turi Beach Resort together with return ferry ticket from Tanah Merah Terminal to Nongsapura Terminal. Please take note there are 2 terminal who goes to Batam in Singapore; HarbourFront and Tanah Merah. It all depends where you want to reach in Batam; Batam Centre or Nongsapura.

Everything was booked by communicating with the hotel representative together with our ferry ticket. We are good to go. Please refer to the ferry schedule and plan your trip properly. Remember you can only check in your hotel at 3pm and Batam is on GMT +7 (which is 1 hour slower).
A quick snapshot of what we did during our stay in Batam.

	Day 1	Day 2
Morning	Arrived Batam	Return back to Singapore
Afternoon	Massage and Supermarket
Night	Pedicure and BBQ dinner
Where we stayed	Turi Beach Resort

we booked a driver through the hotel to take us around in Batam. it cost us 400,000 rupiah (approx. S$40) and it is mainly only for half day. If you have 4 people I think it is very reasonable. Since we have very limited time, we decided to go Nagoya hill and do shopping together with massage there. But if you have more time, you can always opt to go to cultural tour, mosque and temple visit and sports activity at Turi Beach.

Sorry didn't have much photo in Batam but hopefully this would give you a good idea of what to do in Batam. According to some people, there are only 4 things to do in Batam.

1) Massage (300,000 rupiah each)
2) Medi/Pedicure (150,000 rupiah)
3) Supermarket (??? rupiah) specially indomee
4) A&W rootbeer (less than 50,000 rupiah)

After you have done all those you are good to go or just find a cafe and chill. Just a word of advise, if you wanted to buy branded stuff in Batam, think before you do. Sometimes when it is too good to be true, it is really too good to be true.

If you want to know more please leave a comment. Till next time~

If you missed my Korea itinerary, please refer to 7 days 6 night Korea trip
If you missed my Hong Kong itinerary, please refer to 5 days 4 night Hong Kong trip

Hong Kong for 5 days 4 nights

"Lei Dei Hou" (how do you do in Cantonese)

Just came back from an island we call Hong Kong during the long weekend here in Malaysia. In case you were wondering, it is actually the May 1st (Labour day) to May 4th (replacement of Wesak day) holiday together with one day of annual leave. 

Really sorry cause was busy with my new job so didn't really update much for my blog. However I am back for more! 

	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5
Morning		Australis Dairy Company	Tim Hou Wan	Disneyland	Crystal Jade
Afternoon	Flew into Hong Kong	Central	Citygate	Disneyland	Flew back to Malaysia
Night	Walked around causeway bay	Avenue of Star	The peak	Dim Dim Sum
Where we stayed	Mira Moon Hotel	Mira Moon Hotel	Mira Moon Hotel	Mira Moon Hotel

Unlike Korea, we did not switch too many hotel this time. Just stayed at Mira Moon Hotel @ Causeway Bay for the whole trip. Was actually wondering should we stay at Disneyland hotel for the last night but at last was too lazy to shift around and pack together with unpack.

This view would be very familiar to you if you would have stayed in Mira Moon. If you are wondering, this is Causeway Bay. 

The hotel is about 10-15 min walk from Causeway Bay station exit C. It is a tall building but don't expect to see a huge building as there are only 4 rooms in every room. So you can imagine how the building would looks like. Once you get into the building you will see these red beautiful chairs welcoming you. There is also a usher opening the door for you and lead you to level 5 for the lobby.

The room that i opt for is New Moon Studio as the other rooms are actually out of my budget. However this is how your room would looks like with your bed, bathroom, toilet. You will also have a TV, a working table and a chair.

One this that impressed me is that they will refill your complementary drinks everyday. This means that water together with other soda drinks will be refilled everyday. For people that don't drink much water, this means that you don't really need to buy water from 7-11!

They even have coffee capsule for coffee lovers and chinese tea for tea lovers. Do take note that only non-alcohol drinks are complementary; however there are charges for alcohol drinks such as beers and whiskey that you saw in the pictures above.

Over all, our stay at Mira Moon Hotel is good as the service is really good. They provide different type of pillows if the one you having don't suit your sleeping style. *like for that*

Follow my blog for details of what have we done in Hong Kong!

If you missed my Korea itinerary, please refer to 7 days 6 night Korea trip

Driving around in Jeju Island

I have been talking a lot about my time in Jeju Island, but it is not possible if we did not rent a car to drive around there.

Prior to going over to Korea, I did my homework in searching for the best deal for car renting in Jeju Island. There are plenty of companies dealing with car renting in Jeju island e.g. Hertz and Avis. It is a well known Sime Derby subsidiary company call Hertz. 

But after doing some homework I realized to go ahead with KT Kumho as the rate is reasonable together with their cars are really new. Don't really have a full picture of our rented car but manage to find one of it as below:-

I can really say that I am very satisfied with what we got which is Hyundai Avante. Total damage is 94,600 KRW which includes 65% of insurance for our 3 days 2 night stay. 

There are a couple of things if you would like to drive in Jeju Island. There are plenty of speed track along the highway. Do take note that speed limit is about 80km/h over there unlike in Malaysia we even complained about 110km/h. 

Something to take note about during car rental in Korea is that some of the car rental services only provide Korean GPS. Not to worry about that cause the Korean GPS is designed easy to be used even by people like us. By just clicking a few buttons, you are able to key in the last 7 digit of the destination and it will lead you directly to there.

Below is a compilation of some of the famous destination in Jeju Island. Please use it at your own risk as some of it have not been verified.

Manjanggul Lava Cave: 7834818

Gimnyeong (also spelt as Kimnyeong) Maze Park: 7829266

Yeomiji Botanic Garden: 7351100

Jusangjeolri (Jungmun and Daepo Coast – Columnar Jointed Lava or called Jungmun Cliffs): 7381521

Mount Sanbang: 7942940

Oedolgae Rock: 7328027

Chocolate Land: 7381197

Chocolate Museum: 7923121

Teddy Bear Museum: 7387600

Teddy Bear Safari: 7994820 (this is NOT the Jungmun Resort Teddy Bear Museum – it is nearer to Jeju City)

Dongmun Market: 7523001

Jeju NANTA theatre: 7238878

Hello Kitty Museum: 7926114

Loveland: 7126988

Mysterious Road: 7103314 (This number is NOT accurate – to get to the road – key in the number for Loveland: 7126988 and then when you are nearing Loveland, follow road signages saying Mysterious Road and follow big tour buses and vans – they will likely be going there)

Sangumburi Crater: 7839900

Hallim Park: 7960001

Jeju Folk Village: 7874501

Jeju Glass Castle: 7727777

Cheonjiyeon Waterfall (often misspelled as Cheongjiyeon Waterfall – this is the waterfall near Seogwipo City): 7331528

Jeongbang Waterfall: 7331530

Cheonjeyeon Waterfall (often misspelled as Cheongjeyeon Waterfall – this is the waterfall at Jungmun resort): 7381529

Alive Museum (a version of Trick Art Museum at Jungmun Resort): 8050888

Black Pork BBQ place (popular among locals): 7628588

Recommended Ginseng Chicken place near Feliz Telcon Hotel: 7623319

Yongduam Rock (Dragon Head Rock): 7283918

Black Pork BBQ Street: 7217869

Raw Fish Street: 7583945

Pork Ramen Street: 7277056

Seongsan Ilchulbong (Sunrise Peak): 7830959 or 7107923

Recommended Lunch Place near Seongsan Ilchubong (Black Pork Tofu Kimchi Hotpot): 7841794

~ciao~

Driving around in Jeju Island - Day 1

During our stay in Korea, we also had the chance to Jeju Island one of Korea most popular vacation spot for both Koreans and foreigners. It also known as the "Island of the Gods" and remains one of the top honeymoon destinations for Korean newlyweds.

Sorry for the blur picture but however this is the full map of Jeju Island

There are 3 airlines that fly into Jeju from Seoul mainly Eastar Jet, Jeju Air and Air Busan. While for me we manage to get Air Busan as we wanted to fly in on a certain timing. We flew in at 7.00 am as due to our tight schedules we would not want to waste so much time just for traveling. Flight to Jeju Island will depart from Gimpo Airport so please make the correct arrange with your taxi driver or your hotel arrangement as you don't want to miss your flight.

Even before we depart for Korea, we already made all the arrange for our rental car. Please read my post on our car rental experience during our stay in Jeju. First in our itinerary is Manjanggul Lava Tube. 

Manjanggul Lava Tube

Gimnyeong (also spelt as Kimnyeong) Maze Park
Next is the nearby Gimnyeong (also spelt as Kimnyeong) Maze Park. This is the smaller maze park in Jeju as compared to the one filmed by running man - Maze Park. There are a couple more other maze in Jeju but we think this is sufficient as we just want to have a feel of how maze looks like.

 Getting ready to enter the maze.

 An overview of how the maze would look like. The brushes are of course taller than you.

Our main aim of the whole maze. To "ring" that bell.

Sangumburi Crater A big crater created 12,000 years ago. You can see beatiful scenery around.  During fall, you can also see magnicficent silver grasses all over this place.   A very unique designed bench of the name of the place Sungsan Sunrise Peak The day is getting colder and colder as night is approaching. Next, we went to Sungsan Sunrise Peak. A peak formed by volcanic eruption 100,000 years ago. One of the 7 wonders of nature. One of the best attractions in Jejudo. I am sure you all have some how saw the volcano picture, it was even on the advertisement for World Cup Japan & Korea. I think most of us saw before this picture right? Although this is a sunrise peak. But you can never miss a beautiful sunset.

Jeju Nanta
You will never want to miss this show in Korea. There are a few it showing around Korea, both in Seoul and Jeju Island. Because we find that we have more time in Jeju, therefore we decided to watch it in Jeju instead.Please always pre book your tickets through their official website Nanta Jeju and do check out if there are any promotions that are ongoing. I bought my tickets with a 10% discount due to early bird.

A word of advice, please do sit at the center side as you might have a chance to be called up stage and join in the performance. =)

And let the show begin

Black Pork Street
Jeju Island is famous of it's black pork. There is a street of it together with many many shops selling black pork BBQ. I not sure of which restaurant is the best because they all seems alike to me. At last we chose the shop with the most award and media interview.

 The street title. *translate as black pork street*

 The sizzling sound of black pork 

This ends our first day in Jeju. Stay tune for the next post on the second day together with other tips about traveling in Jeju Island.

~ciao~

Manjanggul Lava Tube - 2,000 won per entry
Gimnyeong (also spelt as Kimnyeong) Maze Park - 3,300 won per entry
Sangumburi Crater - 6,000 won per entry
Sungsan Sunrise Peak - 2,000 won per entry
Jeju Nanta - 60,000 won (VIP seats) & 50,000 (regular seats)

Things to get prepared for my Korea trip.

Well if you wanted to have a smooth trip of course you need to do some preparation before flying over to a foreign land. Well I here have a few tips on what should you do in making preparation for a trip.

1. Get your accommodations sorted. As what I repeating mentioned in the previously post is that you need get your accommodations arranged and booked before going over. I do know a few friends of mine traveled around without doing any booking. Merely backpack. But my advise is if you are going to a land where you can't speak their language. I think it's wiser to just book before hand. My Korea Trip posted on our accommodation when we are in Korea. Please refer to sites such as Agoda, Hotel, Booking and etc. for reviews and even blogs such as mine. =)

2. Purchase sufficient check-in luggage just in case you over pack. This is only applicable if you are traveling with budget airlines. It's better to have some buffer than end up having to throw some stuff during in airport right? For me and my girlfriend we actually estimated wrongly on how much we would be bringing over there. I bought 30kg of luggage for both of us. But ended up both our bags actually weighted 34kg. The excess they told me is RM50 per kg. MUST BE CRAZY! So what we did was we took out our thick clothes and holding them in our hands. PROBLEM SOLVED.

3. Have a brief itinerary on what you all want to do or where to go or even what to eat. A quick google on places to go to together with how to get there would be helpful cause I am sure you don't want spend time going round searching for it. Also always remember when you reached your destination, you must be hungry or at least would wanted a place to rest. A quick check on restaurant or food court near you hotel/homestay would be beneficial for you. Take a look also my post about us renting a car in Jeju Island.

4. Pack sufficient clothes and even according to the season. Of course PLEASE follow your season and understand approximately the temperature over there as you don't want to wear too thin for cold season and too thick for summer days. Sufficient clothes is good as you would be out whole day which means that there is no time for "1 set afternoon, 1 set night, 1 set supper."

5. Remember always to travel comfortably.

 



These 2 items are one of the most important things for those who are in budget long haul flights. You need get some sleep so that even the first day you won't feel all worn out and sleepy. Sleep to ensure that you don't mess up your plans.

6. This is the MOST important thing. Your PASSPORT and MONEY. You don't want go anywhere without your own identity. Even some taxi drivers do remind us about our passport before leaving from the house. Wonder what can we do if we forgot our passport? Perhaps NOTHING.

Okie I think that's about it. Let me summarize on what have I listed as our check-list for traveling.

1. Accommodation booked
2. Check-In luggage bought
3.  Itinerary arranged
4. Sufficient clothes packed
5. Sleeping mask and neck rest packed
6. Passport and money packed

I think you are more than ready for your wonderful trip. Do let me know if you think I missed out something important to consider and prepare or pack before going for a trip.

~ciao~

Korea 7 days 6 nights trip!

Annyeonghaseyo,

It has been some time since the last post I wrote about Gua Niah. It is a very beautiful cave in Miri where I am so fortunate to visit. For those who missed the post, please refer to the below link to have a read on it.

Trip to Gua Niah

Every year I made an effort to at least visit a place or country that I have yet gone before. This enables me to mingle about people with different culture and lifestyle. Students like to put this phrase inside their essay, "ALLWALKS OF LIFE".In addition to relax and get away from the busy town of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

This year the beautiful country I managed to visit just before the year ends is, "DANG DANG DANG DANG!!!"

KOREA

Now you understands why do I started this post with annyeonghaseyo? It means "hello" in Korean. This time my trip is made up of 2 couples, me and my girl together with my colleague and her boyfriend. Just to update that Korea is GMT+9 which means is 1 hour ahead of us here in Malaysia.

The happy us in Incheon airport (Seoul, South Korea) having still unaware of the cold weather there. During our 7 days 6 nights trip there, the temperature is about 14 degree Celsius in the day time and about 8 degree during the night.

This is just the beginning, stay tune for next posts on things we did in Korea and approximately how much we spent there. Here is a brief summary of our itinerary during our stay in Korea. (credit to Xin Wei for preparing and arranging everything)

	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5	Day 6	Day 7
Where	Seoul	Seoul	Seoul	Jeju Island	Jeju Island	Seoul	Seoul
Morning		Nami Island		Jeju Island Day 1	Jeju Island Day 2
Afternoon		Nami Island		Jeju Island Day 1	Jeju Island Day 2
Evening				Jeju Island Day 1	Jeju Island Day 2
Stay	Kimchee Dongdaemun Guesthouse	Kimchee Dongdaemun Guesthouse	Kimchee Dongdaemun Guesthouse	December Hotel	December Hotel	Lee's Garden Guesthouse	Lee's Garden Guesthouse

Stay tune for the more information on the places we went! Can't wait for the updates? Like and follow my blog in order to get the latest updates on the trip!

However, let's settle and strike off something from our wishing list. Accommodation!

Yes yes we all know that accommodation would be an issue as you want to get something that is value for money. Well a big shout out for the 3 places that we stayed and am going to review them individually.Don't worry if you don't know Korean because MOST of the signs have English subtitle.

First of all! Our very first guesthouse in Seoul, Kimchee Dongdarmun Guesthouse. This Guesthouse is just walking distance from Jongro-5-go station Exit 4. Just a short direction on how to reach the guesthouse. From the station, walk straight until you reach the first traffic light, you will see a pharmacy on your left. Turn left into the street next to the pharmacy and keep walking until you see a first alley. Left left and a signboard for Kimchee Dongdarmun Guesthouse will be seen.

This is a photo stolen from their website. Sorry I forgot to take a picture of the guesthouse even my room to post in the blog. The guesthouse have a weekly Friday gathering aka party at the rooftop where you have beer and musics and people from all over the world sharing stories and meeting new friends. I think it is a very good place to know people and make friends. Whereas for us, we were too tired for the mini gathering therefore we decided to sleep. HAHA! This guestroom also offers baggage storage and even early check-in if you reach before 12pm. You can even put your luggage there when you going to Jeju. No need to carry along all your "战利品" which means your shoppings!

Kah-Ching! KRW55,000 per night here for a deluxe double room. Cheap Cheap!

Next up! December Hotel at Jeju Island. This is the most specious place we ever stayed during our entire trip. I mean among the 3 accommodations. How to get there you asked? Actually we not very sure on how we got there. In Jeju the public transportation is not as advance as Seoul, therefore we rented a car and drove us around there. Please refer to my blog about the car we rented.

Kah-Ching! RM160 per night here for standard double room and just to bare in mind the room is huge! You can practically roll-around and it can fit like 10 people in a room! HUGE!!

Last but not least is Lee's Garden Guesthouse. It is situated in Myeongdong Station and is surrounded with shops and restaurants! This is one of the advantage in staying here. It is also somehow of Korean lifestyle guesthouse as one of the room we rented, we need to put tilam and sleep on the floor. Do also check out other guesthouse at Myeongdong area and it is packed with them!

That's all for the most important bucket list. Till next time on our itineraries! See ya!