Shangri-La Garden Wing Staycation With Baby Ong

We utilized one of our SRV and booked a staycation back in March. To be honest, it was quite a good deal and we were looking forward to our first staycation with Baby Ong in June when she will be ~6 months old. Unfortunately, we were slightly disappointed with the whole experience for a couple of reasons - poorly managed booking/reservation of facilities and Phase 2 HA dining restriction (no fault of theirs). Anyway, after deducting SRV and other Traveloka promo, the total damage was just $178.80 for a 1-night stay at Shangri-La Garden Wing Deluxe Room including breakfast and lunch at The Line. 

To put things into context, a buffet lunch at The Line typically cost $68++ to $98++ per pax depending on the day of the week. The plan was to have lunch (Thursday) before checking in and breakfast the next day (Friday) and the reservation was confirmed back in March shortly after the booking above was made. However, a few days before the staycation, one of the staff called and told us that The Line is only opened for lunch from Friday to Sunday now (I'm guessing it is due to Phase 2 HA) and we will have to change our reservation. With no other option, we changed it to Friday reluctantly because who in the right mind would want to eat 2 buffets on the same day, one after the other? 

During check-in, we asked if it was possible to issue a voucher for The Line instead of having it on the same day as our breakfast and was rejected. That's fine/understandable but what was disappointing was we were only given instructions on facilities reservation/booking during check-in and when we tried to do it, almost everything was fully booked already. The initial plan was to bring Baby Ong to Buds and Splash Zone but there was only 1 slot available for Buds at 6pm and no slot available for Splash Zone until the next day 12pm. Immediately, CZM went back to the counter and asked if we can do late checkout the next day as that was the only slot available for Splash Zone. The staff said they were fully booked and will not be able to provide late checkout but was somehow able to help us book a slot for Splash Zone at 6pm -.- Next, we tried to book our breakfast slot for the next day and guess what? The only slot available was 6:30am -.- Compared to our previous staycation at Andaz as well as other reviews I have read, the hotel would typically provide the instructions to book the facilities before the stay and let the guests plan beforehand instead of shocking them after checking-in.

CZM and Baby Ong at the other table

Anyway, we reached around 2pm to see if we could check-in earlier but unfortunately not. So we went to The Rose Veranda for high tea and it was really good! Much better than what we had in Andaz and the portion was huge too.

The high tea menu

The Rose Veranda Signature Sandwiches

My main - Parmesan Crusted Chicken

CZM had the Braised Short Ribs and with one hand carrying Baby Ong, there was no opportunity to take any photo.

A single serving of 3-Tiered Desserts

There should be 2 of every item you see above but the waitress had already split it by half and CZM had her own tiered desserts too. The damage was around $90 including GST and service charge.

We went back to our room and look at how happy and excited Baby Ong was as though she knew we are on staycation and she can have lots of fun! We put her to sleep shortly before heading out for more adventure. In the end, we decided to head to Buds instead of Splash Zone as it was late and we were worried it might be too cold for her. First money saving tip - remember to bring socks for everyone! We had to buy 3 socks at $5 each on the spot and I was scolded by CZM because we already have so many socks which I bought from Shopee for just 10 cents. Anyway, there are different sections within Buds and most were not suitable for her. You can refer to this article for more information.

We put her in the ball pit and she was distracted by the other/older kids. When one of them ran over, we could tell she got afraid and we carried her out.

While exploring the other areas, we saw this treasure chest and wanted to plant her inside to take some photos. I am sure you can tell from her face, it didn't go as plan. lol. We concluded that she might be frightened by the older kids so we went to the toddler zone. We wanted to put her on the swing but for whatever reason, it was removed :( 

We had the whole toddler zone briefly to ourselves and could tell she was having more fun/feeling less stress/afraid.

Baby Ong crawling towards the ball pit. I hit a few balls away because I thought she was going to put them into her mouth. We left the place after 20-30 minutes and went back to the room to settle her (bathe, feed and sleep). Another money saving tip - don't bring a 6 month old baby to Buds. To be honest, we felt that Baby Ong was still too young to enjoy them.

We used to bring Donald and Piglet out and take nice photos but with a baby now, these will be the kind of photos going forward. lol. 

Since we will not be visiting the Splash Zone, we let her swim/play in the tub before bathing her. The initial plan was to have dinner at either Shang Palace or NAMI but we decided to just order room service due to the dining restrictions.

Dining together in the room with Baby Ong sleeping on the bed

Simple food but it is the company that counts. The next morning, CZM woke up at 6:30 am but since Baby Ong was still sleeping, she went to have breakfast first. Baby Ong woke up around 7:30 am and I waited for CZM to return before heading down for breakfast. The staff flipped through several papers but could not find my reservation. Then I explained to her it was at 6:30 am and that we were taking turns to have breakfast as the baby was still sleeping, she let me in without much hassle. 

Ordering of the food can be done through the phone except for the drinks. The selections felt quite limited. Off my head, there were laska, nasi lemak, and roti prata too.

That was all I had for breakfast, did not want to eat too full as there will be a second round of buffet for lunch shortly. Both CZM and I were not impressed and felt that the breakfast we had in Andaz was better. CZM wanted to point out specifically that the waffle she ordered was not crispy. lol.

We played with Baby Ong in the room, brought her out to walk around the area and put her to sleep again. Before we knew it, it was almost time to checkout. Our lunch reservation was at 12:30 pm so we called the reception and asked if we could have a slightly late checkout at 12:30 pm after all it is easier to manage a baby in the room but was rejected again. Oh well.

So we checkout at 12 pm and went to The Line and sat there for 30 minutes before they are open/start serving.

That was all I had. Did not order too much because we were not very hungry.

Lunch was definitely much better than breakfast and there were a lot more options too. One thing I didn't like was the lack of ability to customize the selection e.g. the Sashimi Set would always come with tuna and octopus when all I want is salmon. It was also extremely challenging to eat with a baby when one of my hands was constantly pressing/preventing her from biting the baby chair. Needless to say, I did not really eat/finish those crabs.

When we reached home, Baby Ong was so tired that she took a 3-4 hours long nap in her yao lan/baby hammocks. We still have another $100 SRV, should we do another tiring staycation? lol. Any recommendation for things to do with a 10-12 month old baby?

On a side note, Futu's moomoo app has made their sign-up bonus even more attractive (one free Apple share + one free Nio share with 5 trades + other benefits) and it has been extended to 2nd August 2021! Take a look at the latest benefits here.

Do like any of the following for the latest update/post!
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Andaz Residence King Bed Suite Staycation

Yay, Donald and Piglet got to "travel" again this year! We still have a couple of RTW articles still in draft. Shall update and post them one day.

Anyway, we booked a staycation at Andaz Singapore as a celebration for CZM's birthday/wedding anniversary. There were so many options initially but by the time we finally decided to settle for one (CZM didn't want to waste the money but a staycation is the next best alternative right now), the best/better deals were already gone (e.g. Raffles Hotel Singapore – The Suite Life staycation (2 nights for $795+) and Andaz Studio Suite at an even lower rate than what we got ($245 nett with Amex promotion)). 

We wanted to book the Andaz Studio King Bed Suite ($370 nett) but it was already fully booked and we ended up paying an additional $20 more for the Andaz Residence King Bed Suite ($390 nett) which is of the same size (76 sq m/818 sq ft) but different layout. Fortunately, there was an Amex credit card promotion which allowed us to pay just $315 nett!

We received an email about 5 days before our stay providing more information including a link to book the swimming pool through their FB chatbot, Andy as shown above. Each booking is about an hour from 8am to 9pm and one can make multiple bookings (we book one in the evening 6-7pm and another one from 11am-12pm the next day). 

During our stay, the pool was never full (15 pax) and the staff was quite flexible in managing the access to the pool. We were not able to get a late check-out and went to the pool at 10am without any booking. The staff let us in after performing safe entry and informed us that we will have to leave once the majority of the guests with reservation arrived which was pretty reasonable.

The default/usual check-in time is 3pm. We tried our luck by calling Andaz in the morning (10am) to ask for early check-in on the basis that we would like to have it because CZM is pregnant and we would like to avoid the general crowd and longer waiting time. To be honest, we would have done it even if CZM wasn't pregnant. lol. Unfortunately, they could not confirm and we were told that they would call us once the option is available.

We went down to Bugis Junction for lunch and received a call around 1:30pm informing us that the room is ready. We walked over to the hotel, checked-in smoothly at level 1, and was assigned a room at level 28. From there, we had to first take a lift to level 25 before switching to another lift for hotel guests.

We were very excited because this was the nicest hotel room we will be staying at. We usually looked for cheap accommodation (3 stars hotel or Airbnb preferably less than $100 a night) when travelling overseas although we flew in First/Business Class.

Our room - 2814 (4D anyone?)

The room is huge and simply gorgeous! When we opened the door, the curtains automatically open up to let the natural light in which was pretty cool. 

The living room with freebies/souvenirs 

The same living from another angle

The king-size bed and the TV that was never switched on

CZM on the rocking chair with the gorgeous pool view/scenary

Bathroom with rain shower and bathtub

Double sink vanities in the bathroom

There is also a walk-in wardrobe between the bedroom and the bathroom which didn't look too fanciful, hence no photo. Other things worth mentioning:

Complimentary minibar with snacks

"Stolen from Andaz" slippers - To steal or not to steal. lol

Dyson hairdryer

Once we were done exploring the room and taking photos/videos, we headed down to Alley on 25 (at level 25) for high tea. There is an ongoing 1 for 1 promotion at $48++  using HSBC credit card and do remember to make a reservation! We did not make one and it was full, waited for about 15-20 mins before the staff gave us a seat.

Just for show/photo

You can look at the high tea menu here. There are a total of 10 items - a mixture of savory and sweet pastries in 5 tingkat + free flow beverages. Shortly after we finished the high tea, CZM's parents and brother arrived. Yes, you are allowed to have visitors in the day (2 registered guests + 3 visitors in your room during your stay. Visitors would be required to leave the room by 10PM). We showed them the Suite, the facilities, and went to Bugis to shop/walk walk. 

Guess where we went for dinner? Alley on 25! There was a 25% off as part of the staycation deal so we treated our family to a nice meal. You can find the dinner menu here.

Pizza Salmon - 28++

Linguine Gamberetti - $25++

Braised Lamb Shank - $35++

The Pizza Salmon was pretty normal, could not really taste the caviar as it was covered by the salmon. Our favorite pizza is still the Garlic Snowing Pizza from Mad for Garlic. The Braised Lamb Shank was not as good as what we had in New Zealand Pedro's House Of Lamb and the serving is slightly small for the price. Can't comment on the Linguine Gamberetti as I did not get to try it. 

After dinner, we went back to our room and everyone was trying to capture the night view of the city. lol. At one point in time, we even switched off all the lights in the room. They left before 10 pm and paid just $3.75 per entry (on weekends) for the parking at the DUO Tower.

Guess where we went for breakfast? Alley on 25! You can find the menu here. 

Egg Benedict, Guacamole Toast and Omelette with sides

Auntie's Laksa

Kaya Toast Set

Steamed Dim Sum

Vanilla Waffles

Egg Benedict and Guacamole Toast are probably our favorites. Auntie's Laksa isn't too bad but Queensway laksa is better. Will recommend skipping the Steamed Dim Sum and Kaya Toast Set (Yakun kaya toast is the best). Generally, we loved their breakfast menu (maybe because it was free and buffet-style). 

After breakfast, we tried to ask for a late check-out but was rejected. The usual check-out time is 12pm which wasn't ideal because our pool booking was from 11am to 12pm. So we went down to the pool at 10am without a booking and fortunately, was allowed to swim as mentioned above.

This is our first time doing a staycation and honestly, the experience was not too bad. It was pretty relaxing and there is no need to do any household chores! Having said that, I am pretty sure we will not be spending money on a staycation if we were allowed to travel. Oh well, part of the new normal.

Do like any of the following for the latest update/post!
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3. Click here to subscribe using email :)
4. Instagram - KPO_and_CZM (Did you see those delicious food photos to the right --> Unfortunately, you can't see it on mobile.)

Kuala Lumpur Food Trail - 4 Days 3 Nights

I always loved the food in Malaysia, hence when I chanced upon a cheap Jetstar getaway promotion to Kuala Lumpur sometime in April, we booked it right away. The total cost of our flight was S$130+ for two pax, all-inclusive.

Before I start on my food trail, the first thing people need to know about Malaysia and its food is that Malaysia has a huge variety of cuisines due to its melting pot of cultures, and Malaysians are extremely passionate about their food. As such, you can easily find good quality food by word-of-mouth and online reviews.  As we have a ton of food we wanted to eat, we decided that a four-day trip will be just nice for this food trail. Not kidding but we really flew there just to eat and eat!

Day 1

- Miru Dessert Cafe
- Restaurant Oversea Imbi, Kuala Lumpur

The moment we touched down at KLIA airport at 2pm, we immediately called Restaurant Oversea to pre-book the char siew and homemade tofu for dinner that night. The last time we went, the char siew was completely sold out even though the restaurant just opened its doors for business at night! Hence, we learnt our lesson this time by booking in advance.

We decided to check in our hotel at the new Parkroyal Serviced Suites Kuala Lumpur which is strategically located near Pavilion Mall. We booked the lavish studio suite which is standing at around 54 sqm at S$100 per night. We also managed to get 1 night free from our hotel.com 10 night free 1 night stay

Parkroyal Serviced Suites Kuala Lumpur, Studio Suite, 1 King Bed

Since the restaurant only starts at 5:30pm for its dinner seating, we decided to visit the Miru Dessert Cafe for some afternoon tea first. Miru is located within Pavilion Mall itself. Similar to After You cafe in Bangkok, it sells the Shibuya Honey Toast which we absolutely love!

Shibuya Honey Toast for RM 20.05

We noticed that there was a Eureka stall outside the Miru and bought A LOT of popcorn (bought 9 big packets and were given 2 medium and 3 small packets for free). Kaisu Singaporeans!

9 big packets of Eureka for RM 122.70

We were already half full by then, but it was time for our char siew! We walked to the Restaurant Oversea Imbi which is located 550m away from the shopping mall. We ordered the medium-sized char siew and 8 pcs of homemade tofu. Perhaps we were too full at that point in time, I find the char siew a bit underwhelming and too gelat for my liking as it was too sticky and fattening. The tofu, on the other hand, was fabulous. The tofu was smooth, silky and taste simply like beancurd. I will let the photos do the talking!

This meal costs RM 123

Day 2

- Sze Ngan Chye Roast Duck and Century egg lean meat porridge

- Sum Hou Bak Kut Teh

- Haagen Dazs @ One Utama

- The Beato Steakhouse, Bangsar

The next morning, we decided to have roast duck for breakfast. I know it's a bit too heavy for breakfast, but we don't exactly have a choice as the Sze Ngan Chye (四眼仔) Roast Duck, which is located on Jalan Petaling/KL's Chinatown, opens at 6am and closes at 1pm daily (and probably sells out much earlier than that).

The Sze Ngan Chye Roast Duck operates in a pushcart stall along the Chinatown. You can order half or whole duck and the duck meat is wrapped with a layer of plastic bag and newspaper. It comes with a packet of dipping sauce. As it only allows for takeaways, we bought a half duck from there and a packet of porridge from a nearby stall to bring back to the hotel. The roast duck was so so so good. The meat is tender and succulent and the skin has a light crisp. Everything about it was spot on!

Sze Ngan Chye (四眼仔) Half a Roast Duck for RM 30

Our next venue was the Sum Hou Bak Kut Teh located at Desa Sri Hartamas. This shop sells the herbal (black) Bak Ku Teh which KPO and I prefer. You can order the type of meat and vegetables to be added to the soup and also side dishes to go with the rice. Overall, it was a pleasant experience though slightly pricey in my opinion.

This meal cost RM 82.50 

I will skip the review on Haagen Dazs. The reason we visited the One Utama mall because we needed to walk after all the eating...but we ended up in a Haagen Dazs cafe to eat again! Goodness.

Häagen-Dazs Paradise for RM 46.10

We reserved a spot at The Beato Steakhouse, Bangsar for dinner. Both KPO and I are beef lovers, so when our relative recommended us this place which sells dry aged beef at just one-third of Fat Cow's price, we jumped at it immediately. We ordered the 300g wagyu ribeye steak which was absolutely amazing. The meat is well marbled, tender and juicy and the service staff was also attentive to details. Highly recommend this place to people visiting the area!

This meal costs RM 276.60

Day 3

- The Mansion Tea Stall - Roti Canai

- Ikan Bakar Seri Melaka

- The Sushi Teh

- Nitro Cold brew Peach tea at The Coffee Bean

- SS2 Pasar Malam + Durian

The Mansion Tea Stall was a place which sells Roti Canai (aka Roti Prata in SG context) and I saw it first on Youtube from a food vlogger Mark Wiens. Unlike the local Roti Prata where the curry is served separate from the flatbread, the Roti Canai (tsunami) is an Indian-influenced dish where the flatbread is mixed with the curry, sambal chili and two half boiled eggs. I can understand why it is called the tsunami. It is a complete mess, but it tastes so good, especially the sambal which adds a savory spiciness to the food. KPO thinks the Roti Canai at The Mansion Tea is better than our local Roti Prata. Don't expect it to be a clean fancy place though.

2 Roti Canai (tsunami) + 2 Tea for RM 11

Similarly, the Ikan Bakar Seri Melaka was introduced by Mark Wiens in his video. The Ikan Bakar (directly translated as burned fish) is a grilled fish dipped in sambal sauce. The Ikan Bakar place recommended in the video was located at some ulu location and we had to Grab there for it. However, the food was rather disappointing as the fish, sotong and stingray which we ordered were a little overcooked/dry. Will not recommend this place.

This meal costs RM 43

I will skip the Sushi Teh (#salmonbelly) and Coffee Bean because obviously there's nothing too special about the food. We just ate there because it's cheaper than in Singapore.

Our last venue for the day is SS2 Pasar Malam and durian feast. SS2 is in fact no longer part of Kuala Lumpur, but not too far away from where we stayed. We took a train down to SS2 as this place is famous for the night market aka Pasar Malam and the durians. Since it's the durian season, how can we miss this?! We ordered some street food in the Pasar Malam such as the must-eat fried carrot cake, char kuey tiao, etc but making sure that our tummies are not completely filled so that we have room for the durians!

The durians are actually not cheap... The Mao Shan Wang durian costs around RM55/kg. That's almost the same as what we can get in Singapore, but it certainly lives up to its name! The durian flesh is dry, fleshy and bitter. Simply delicious!

Overall, KPO and I felt that the food in SS2 is just so-so. Perhaps we did not manage to buy from the right stalls. However, it is still a good experience as the Pasar Malam is so huge and there are many things to see and buy. For those who intend to visit the Pasar Malam, remember that the SS2 Pasar Malam is only open on Mondays.

Day 4

- Nasi Lemak from Antarabangsa (Grab Food)

- Feeka Coffee + Eggs Benedict

- Restoran Char Siew Yoong

- Plaza Premium Lounge

On our last day, we woke up with a sudden realization that we have not had Nasi Lemak in Malaysia! How can we?! Hence, we decided to order it via Grab Food from Nasi Lemak Antarabangsa. It was a let down though. Our Nasi Lemak looked like an absolute disaster when it came. The meat was also dry and the sambal was too little. Oh well.

Nasi Lemak for RM 6.90 with a delivery fee of RM 5

As the food was simply too unsatisfactory, we googled and realized that there was a well-rated cafe near our hotel - Feeka Coffee Roasters. We decided to have our brunch there and ordered the cappuccino and Eggs Benedict. The coffee was good, Eggs Benedict was so-so but still cheap after exchange rate conversion.

This meal costs RM 47.70

Before we head to the airport, our friend who saw our photos on Instagram and realized that we were in Kuala Lumpur, texted us to try the char siew at Char Siew Yoong. We decided to give it a go and this was the best decision ever. The char siew was much better than the Restaurant Oversea. Every piece of the meat has a balanced amount of fats and lean meat and was well charred. By the time we left the place at 1pm, all the char siew and siew yok were completely sold out. So thankful that we managed to reach in time. For people who intend to visit the place, highly recommend you to call and pre-order the char siew to avoid disappointment.

This meal costs RM 29.80

After that, we decided to head down to the Plaza Premium Lounge at the KLIA2 airport since we had some time to spare. The variety was a little limited to be honest, but we noticed that it serves chicken rice there and the rice was surprisingly good. KPO had two servings of the chicken rice even after eating so much in Kuala Lumpur!

In total, we spent SGD $914 with food being the highest category!

That's all that we had in KL *burp*. Do let us know if you have any food recommendations at KL in the comments section below so that we can visit in our next trip. Till then.

Do like any of the following for the latest update/post!
1. FB Page - KPO and CZM
2. Twitter - KPO and CZM
3. Click here to subscribe using email :)
4. Instagram - KPO_and_CZM (Did you see those delicious food photos to the right --> Unfortunately, you can't see it on mobile.)