Lexis Hibiscus Port Dickson

We drove up to Lexis Hibiscus Port Dickson in December 2015 to have a short getaway since we didn't go anywhere far that year.

Our drive took us about 3hours - 3.5hours. We used our GPS and also google map to find our way there.

We arrived there at about 3 p.m. Our room was not ready so we went to eat at Roselle first. At 4p.m. , one of the rooms was ready while the other was not. So we all went to the room that was ready and only received the room for the other key at 5.35p.m. On a side note, if you arrive at the hotel before 2p.m. , you can check in if your room is ready.

Although we booked for the premium room, we were given the Panorama Pool Villa (Sea View). I guess it was to make up for our room not being ready. Do take note that not all rooms on this side of the resort is ready. Nonetheless, we were thrilled and the room was beautiful. The view was just majestic.

Each villa comes with a dip pool about 1.2m deep. Ulfa and Nuha had to use floats. We brought along the buoys for them as we had done our research earlier.

Our villa also comes with two king-sized beds and a huge bathroom. We had separate toilet and bath area. Since we were at the Panorama Pool Villa, we also had a huge bathtub with shower!

The kids were excited to plunge into the pool. So we lounged in the pool for a long while. We wanted to have dinner at Roselle but they were serving dinner buffet from 6.30 p.m. till 10.30p.m. Since we did not want to have the buffet dinner, we opted for in-room dining. Food was served to us within 30 minutes.

We enjoyed the night view for a while. The night was beautiful; dark but beautiful.

Next morning, we went for breakfast at around 7.20a.m. We asked the buggy drivers what the peak hours for breakfast was like and they told us between 8a.m. to 9a.m. so we made sure to avoid that time. Breakfast was alright - enough mix of local and western cuisines.

After breakfast, we returned to our rooms to get ready and then we drove up to KL (just because i wanted to do some shopping). We went to Kenanga Wholesale City. Took us about 1h 15min to get there and another 1h 15min to get back to Port Dickson.

We returned to the resort at around 4.30 p.m. Relaxed a bit more then went for our BBQ dinner buffet at 6.30pm. The bbq dinner buffet costs about RM98 for adults and RM49 for kids above 7 years old.

There was quite a selection of bbq dishes. I especially loved the roasted lamb with the acar-like sauce. It was a good mix of seafood and meat dishes. Do make a reservation for the bbq dinner as you might not get a seat during peak periods. Also, do prepare to call for buggy earlier as you might not get a buggy as quickly during peak periods like breakfast, dinner or check-in and check-out time. Our longest wait had to be 20mins while the shortest wait for buggy is about 5mins.

After dinner, there was a tribal dance show in front of Roselle at around 8p.m. Guests were also invited to join.

The next day, we prepared for check out. We had breakfast prior to that. This was where it didnt leave us with a very good impression of Lexis Hibiscus Port Dickson. That day, there happened to be lots of guests at breakfast. I guess they checked in the day before. Since we didnt come by that early, we were told to go to another restaurant serving the same breakfast. However, we were appalled when we were there. Food was already finishing but not topped up. I asked for butter coz there was nothing much to eat so I decided to go with the old bread with butter. They told me butter was in the bowl. It was butter though, but a slab of margarine placed in a bowl. Not even in packets, just a slab.

Well, all in all, would I visit Lexis Hibiscus Port Dickson again? Yes, I would. The buggy drivers are very nice and would answer all your questions with a smile. The indoor pool is a definite plus point. Waking up to the sea is really beautiful. Even my kids enjoy their stay there. I think it is a lovely place. I would just make sure that I come down at around 7 for breakfast. 

Day 3 Seoul

We woke up at 10 a.m. in the morning (yes, we missed the morning breakfast yet again). Had our own instant breakfast and then went out to Gyeongbokgung Palace.

Directions to Gyeongbokgung Palace from Myeongdong:

Take train from Myeongdong (line 4) to Chungmuro. Switch to Line 3 and stop at Gyeongbokgung. Use Exit 5.

I cannot actually remember which exit we took. We took the lift up and Gyeongbokgung Palace was just across the road.

We walked along the palace wall and reached the entrance of the palace. Took some photographs with the guards behind us (not allowed to touch or stand next to the guards). 

Went inside and paid the entrance fee. There was the guard-changing ceremony shortly and we were very lucky enough to get to watch it. You can check out Visit Korea website to find out more about the timing. Take note that the palace is closed on Tuesdays.

Guard-changing ceremony

We walked around some more and took more photographs. I would love to visit all the other palaces the next time I visit Seoul. 

After that we decided to skip Insandong and go to Itaewon to eat Halal Korean food instead. When in Korea, eat Korean food!

So we took the train from Gyeongbokgung to Yaksu. Switched to Line 6 and stopped at Itaewon.

When we reached Itaewon, we did not know which exit to take. So we took the one that says to Itaewon market. When we got out, again, we did not know which direction it was to Seoul Central Mosque (we wanted to eat at Murree, a restaurant that sells Halal Korean food), so we just turned right at the junction as we saw quite a number of people there. We went straight, saw a sign to turn left for the church. Incidentally, the mosque was also on the same street. So we went up the road and saw Murree Restaurant to the right of the road leading to the mosque. 

When we entered Murree, there was a guy there and another family eating. We ordered Dak DoRi Tang (spicy braised chicken with potatoes) and Galbi Tang (Korean short rib soup). These two dishes comes as a set with rice, kimchi, seaweed, spicy anchovies and another dish which i have no idea what it is (Ulfa loves it though). We also ordered the Ramyun, extra plain rice, Chaei (coffee), lemon tea and 2 glasses of strawberry juice. All in all in cost us KRW 55000. 

Hubby, Auni and I loved the Dak DoRi Tang. It is spicy and so perfect for winter. The Galbi Tang was nice, non-spicy, and good enough for the kids. The Ramyun was alright. Just like instant noodles but a little bit more springy.

I have never tried eating seaweed with rice. But after trying it out, I am a convert. We bought loads of seaweed to bring back with us to Singapore (as if Singapore has no seaweed, heh) to accompany our meals.

While we were eating, another family came in. Very friendly. While we were leaving, we found out that they were from Singapore too. They shared with us some places we can check out, like the Express Bus Terminal, for kids' clothes. They visit Korea yearly and told them that Summer is a good time to get clothes that we can wear for the weather in Singapore.

After we left Murree, we walked around Itaewon a little bit more. Bought some souvenirs for our family and then headed back to Myeongdong. At Myeongdong, we bought 3 haversacks for KRW 10000 each. Hubby bought two pairs of Nike shoes. 

Did I mention that Koreans love kids? From the elders who will smile lovingly at your children, pat their heads and help them put on their hoods (coz they are afraid that the kids will get too cold), to the younger generation, who will wave at the kids, play with them, carry them and offer them sweets and chocolates. Oh yes, they do love kids. And my kids were loving all that attention, of course. I did remind my kids that if the elders were to tell them to cover up and put on the hoods, they need to do so as it is only polite and a form of respect to the elders who were just looking out for them.

Over at Myeongdong, our flimsy, cheap, thirty-dollar stroller gave way. It did not manage to last us the whole trip. We bought it just for this trip with the intention of throwing it away at the end of the trip as we have another big, sturdy stroller at home. So we had to spend the last 4 days in Korea stroller-less.

Day 2 Seoul

We woke up at around 10 a.m. (which was late by my definition). We missed the hotel breakfast as it was from 7 a.m. till 10 a.m. So we had instant campbell soup (the powdered kind which we bought from Mustafa Centre in Singapore) and bread with Nutella (bought the Nutella from Hong Kong) for breakfast.

Our itinerary for the day was to Bukchon Hanok Village. Well, initially, we planned to go to Gyeongbokgung Palace and then to Bukchon Hanok Village. However, we changed our plans as we were walking with 3 cold kids. We had the heat pads that we bought from Expo during the Winter Sale but it was not working well enough for us. 

Directions to Bukchon Hanok Village from Myeongdong:

From Myeongdong Station (Line 4), take the train to Chungmuro (one stop away) and switch to Line 3. Take the train to Anguk. 

I cannot remember which exit we took but when we exited, we saw Dunkin Donuts. We sat there for a short break. We headed down the nice road towards Hanok Information Centre. Along the way there was this Information centre (small one). The person there gave us a map to Bukchon Hanok Village. We spotted some Persimmon trees along the way to Bukchon Hanok. A friendly mummy and daughter duo spoke to us asking us where we were from (well, the mother instructed her daughter to ask us since she could not converse in English). They were very excited over my 3 girls and kept on touching them and patting them lovingly.

Persimmon trees

Walking towards Bukchon Hanok Village

Altogether Bukchon Hanok Village is about 400m - 500m from Anguk Station. 

We explored the lovely Buchon Hanok Village and took photographs after photographs. Do remember to be quiet over there as there are people living in the houses.

When it was getting dark, we headed back to Myeongdong. At Myeongdong, we walked around. Spotted a cute police station.

Cute Police Station at Myeongdong

We went to Lotte Departmental Store. For dinner, we went across Lotte Departmental Store to Ibis Ambassador Myeongdong Hotel. At the lobby of this hotel, there is a halal restaurant called The Saffron.

Lotte Departmental Store

We went over to The Saffron for dinner. They serve Indian and Arabian food. The setting itself is very luxurious and the food is on the pricey side. We ordered Lamb Shank Biryani, chicken in some yoghurt sauce (which was very nice) and naan. The food was good. If you don't mind the price then you should try this out.

Our order

The Saffron

After that we headed back to our hotel. 

Day 1 Seoul

From Hong Kong, I booked a flight to Incheon Airport, South Korea.

We took the Hong Kong Express flight, which is a budget flight. We only paid S$835 for all 5 of us. This is inclusive of 40kg check-in baggage. Hong Kong Express does not offer online seat selection so we made sure that we reached the counter at least 2 hours before departure (we arrived 2hrs 30mins before departure) as we wanted to ensure that we got to sit together (since we were travelling with small children). We saw 2 other couples before us. Thankfully we were early as shortly after, the queue started to get really long with other passengers checking-in.

We got our preferred seats. It was a small plane. During check-in, the staff asked us whether we had a return ticket back to our home country as it is their policy to ensure that we have that. So we showed them the itinerary for our AirAsiaX flight back to Singapore from Seoul. The staff then took down the details.

Although checking-in was at Terminal 2, our departure gate was at Terminal 1. So we took the shuttle to Terminal 1. You can only do so at 7 a.m. as it is closed before that.

Our flight with Hong Kong Express went on without delay and we reached our destination on time. The travel time was around 3h 20min. It was overall a pleasant flight.

At the departure gate

We reached Incheon Airport around 0935. At Incheon Airport, once you arrive, you have to take a series of escalators followed by shuttle train to reach the immigration counter. 

Upon arrival at Incheon, we spotted the snow covered ground as it was snowing the day before our arrival.

After collecting our baggage, we went to Dunkin Donuts to get some doughnuts as we were starving.

There are many modes of transportation from Incheon Airport to Seoul. Since we were with kids  and had quite a number of luggages with us, we opted for the Airport Call Van Service. It is located between Exit 12 and 13 (near Dunkin Donuts). We checked with the person at the counter and agreed on the fare of KRW78 000 to Pacific Hotel, Seoul.

Welcome to Seoul

Our hotel of choice was Pacific Hotel and it is conveniently located at Myeongdong area, extremely near Myeongdong subway station. We did contemplate on getting an apartment but the apartments near Myeongdong station were mostly fully booked. We did not want to get one further as it was winter and we were not sure if the kids could take long hours out bracing the winter cold. 

Once we reached the hotel, we checked into the hotel. Since we came from the high-end luxuries of The Mira (Hong Kong), the minute we stepped into the room in Pacific Hotel, our mood was slightly dampened. It looked a little run-down. We had them replace a chair as it was rather wobbly. But soon, we settled in just fine. We booked the deluxe twin room with breakfast. Our room had one double and one single bed. The room was also big enough to accommodate all five of us. I am really glad that we booked Pacific Hotel as it was very very near the Myeongdong Station and the shopping area of Myeongdong itself.

We took a short nap as I was rather dizzy from my travel sickness (yes, I have travel sickness). I did not take any medication as I was travelling with my kids and I needed to be fully awake to attend to their needs. When you are a parent, your child's needs come before yours.

When I woke up, we got our down jackets on and explored Myeongdong. My kids were immediately excited over the fact that there were mists formed when we spoke. 

We were soon dazzled by Seoul. Myeongdong at night was filled with lights. It was a shopping heaven. Hubby bought 2 pairs of Adidas shoes as they were rather cheap. We ate some street food. We had Hotteok, somewhat like a fried pancake with cinnamon, brown sugar and nuts as filling. My girls also ate this crepe where they spread nutella on and put banana and strawberry and cornflakes and then folded it. We also had some grilled octopus.

The streets of Myeongdong

Crepe with Nutella, banana, strawberry and cornflakes

grilled octopus

On the way back to our hotel, we grabbed the must-try-if-in-korea banana milk. 

Banana Milk

In our hotel room, we had the heater on when it was too cold. At night, we slept with the windows slightly opened to allow the cold winter air in to cool the room.

We were already loving our first night in Seoul.

Day 4 Hong Kong

We decided to return to Harbour City as we did not explore much of it previously. So we walked from The Mira Hotel to Harbour City.

There are lots of high-end boutiques at Harbour City. These are all the authentic boutiques of course. We walked around and shopped. We stopped by a cafe for coffee. The cafe was overlooking the harbour and we saw Superstar Virgo docking. It was a beautiful sight. 

Beautiful view

Then we shopped some more. We returned to our area along Nathan Road and explored the shopping centres around there. Thereafter we returned to our hotel.

We really wanted to try halal Hong Kong food. Afterall, if you are in a country, you have to try their food. We saw that Ma's Restaurant was located between Prince Edward Station and Sham Shui Po Station. To go there, we need to take the MTR and it is about 3 stations away. But after searching some more, we discovered that there is a 2nd Ma's Restaurant branch in Tsim Sha Tsui itself! And this was just a short walking distance. It is at H8 Building, on the 8th Floor. The address is: H8, 8F, Hau Fook Street, Tsim Sha Tsui. We called to confirm that it was opened and indeed it was. Ma's Restaurant is a halal-certified restaurant.

We had a delicious and satisfying meal. We were so glad to have found this gem!

How to get to Ma's Restaurant at Tsim Sha Tsui:
From Nathan Road, enter Granville Road. As you walk down, you will pass by Carnarvon Road (do not enter this road). Walk a little bit down. You will then spot Cotton On on your right. Walk into the alley next to Cotton On.

Walk down the alley and you will come to this:

H8 building is just behind me as I took this picture. In other words, I am standing in front of H8 Building where Ma's Restaurant is.

Go to H8 Building and take the lift to the 8th floor. There is a security guard at the lobby. The minute he saw us, he told us : "8th floor". Haha, I guess that must be the only halal restaurant in that building.

So go up to the 8th floor. The door will open up to this:

And you are at Ma's Restaurant! They have all the halal certificates and newspaper articles displayed. The waitresses and the chef are very nice people indeed.

The restaurant layout

Our orders:

We really enjoyed eating at Ma's Restaurant. In fact, Auni and hubby requested to return to this restaurant again.
p/s: They have baby seats too ;)

Day 2 & Day 3 Hong Kong

Day 2

We planned to meet up with my brother's ex-maid who is now working in Hong Kong. It was her day off and she really wanted to meet up with us. She came over to Mira Hotel with her friend and was so excited to see us.

She took us to Kowloon Park. It is a big park. There is an area where you can view birds. There is also a children's playground. We saw a swimming pool there but it was closed for construction. Anyway, December is too cold for swimming.

After that we walked to the Star Ferry Pier to have a look at that area and take photos there.

Later on we went to Harbour City. I love Harbour City! It has all the big brand names. So we shopped. Not much though since we had company. We swore that we were going to return to Harbour City to shop again.

We then returned to our area and proceeded to the same Mediterranean Restaurant at Chungking Mansion to have our dinner.

Day 3

We woke up early to go to Hong Kong Disneyland. 

We purchased the On-Loan Octopus Card from the counter at Tsim Sha Tsui station for 2 kids and 2 adults. Ulfa is already 4 so she needs a card too.

Adult - HKD150

Child - HKD 70

Each card holds a deposit of HKD50 which will be refunded to you along with the unused amount minus an admin fee of HKD9. The amout above is inclusive of the deposit. So initial stored value for adult is HKD100 and HKD20 for child.

We took the MTR from Tsim Sha Tsui, stopped at Lai King and switched to the Tung Chung Line. We stopped at Sunny Bay and took the special Disneyland train.

Cute Disneyland train

When we reached Disneyland, we took some obligatory photos at the entrance. Then we proceeded to purchase the tickets. We paid for 2 adults (HKD499 each) and 2 kids (HKD355 each). Nuha gets free entry as she is below 3 years of age.

It started drizzling then and some people rushed to get umbrellas and ponchos. My kids and I were wearing hooded jackets thus we were undeterred by the slight drizzle. We saw Mickey and Minnie and a whole lot of people lining up to take photographs with them.

We ate here. This is Explorer's Club at Mystic Point.

There are two halal restaurants at Disneyland. One at Mystic Point and the other is Tahitian Terrace at Adventureland. We ate at Explorer's Club at Mystic Point. Japanese, Indonesia, Korean and Southeast Asian cuisines are served at Explorer's Club.

We got on the rides at Disneyland. Ulfa enjoyed the "It's a Small World' boat ride at Fantasyland the most while Auni enjoyed the Mystic Manor. Nuha enjoyed everything of course, though she did say that she was a little afraid at Mystic Manor. 

At Citygate Outlet. Nuha having fun with the
Minnie Mouse Trolley Bag we got for her at Disneyland.

We spent about half a day there since Hong Kong Disneyland is pretty small.

After Disneyland, we went to the Citygate Outlet which was very near Disneyland. From Disneyland, we took the train back to Sunny Bay. Then switched to the Tung Chung Line and stopped at the next stop - Tung Chung.

We did some shopping. Bought stuff from Kate Spade and Guess. By then it was nighttime and we headed back to the hotel.

Day 1 Hong Kong

For the trip to Hong Kong, I booked a flight with Scoot. The flight was scheduled at 0155 HOURS. However, about 6 hours before the departure time, I received an SMS and an e-mail that the flight was delayed. The flight was now due to depart at 0520 HOURS from Singapore and will arrive in Hong Kong at 0900 HOURS. We did not fret much about that as it worked to our advantage. Our original flight was to reach Hong Kong at 0535 HOURS. What were we supposed to do in Hong Kong that early?

Anyway, I prefer night flight or early morning flight when travelling with the kids they will fall asleep during the flight. Whenever we take the aeroplane, I normally have lollipops with me. I will give them to the kids during take-off. I will also bring extra just in case their ears get blocked during the flight. When that happens, I will offer them the lollipops again.

Fluffy white clouds

When we arrived at Hong Kong Airport, we took the maps and the brochures just past the immigration. Mira Hotel provides shuttle service from the airport to their hotel but it was rather expensive. There are many ways to get from the airport to your hotel.  You can take the Airport Express, the airport bus service or the taxi. You can find out more about all these on this TripAdvisor site (click here). 

We chose to take the taxi instead and proceeded to the taxi waiting area. There are staff there to guide you if you are unsure on which taxi to take. In Hong Kong, there are 3 types of taxi to choose from. Which one to take will depend on the area that you choose to go to. 

Red taxisRed taxis operate throughout most of Hong Kong, except for Tung Chung Road on Lantau Island and on the entire south side of Lantau Island.

Green taxisGreen taxis only service the New Territories.

Blue taxisBlue taxis only operate on Lantau Island.
Source: http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/plan-your-trip/practicalities/transport/getting-around/taxi.jsp#ixzz3MGY2kuwQ

View of Hong Kong taken in the cab

We took the Red Taxi (Urban Taxi) as Mira Hotel is situated Tsim Sha Tsui. The total cost of our cab fare is HKD 260. Do ask for a receipt (as informed by the airport staff). Our room was not ready yet when we arrive and check-in is only at 3 p.m. So we left our luggages with the bellhop as was told that our luggages will be placed in our room when it is ready. 

We then walked around our area a little. Mira Hotel is located along Nathan Road, next to Miramar Shopping Mall and Mira Mall. It is very near Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station. Mira Hotel is surrounded by shopping malls. You can also walk to Harbour City from Mira.

Opposite of The Mira

We walked around to search for halal restaurants. Heard that there is a lot around the area but we could not find any. Finally saw a sign for a halal Indian restaurant and we settled for that. However, the food was pretty disappointing. We explored the area a bit more. By then it was 2.30 p.m. We returned to Mira Hotel and our room was ready. Our luggages had already been placed in the room when we entered.

We love Mira Hotel so much. We opted for a room with two twin beds. The room comes with a Samsung Handy smartphone. You can make FREE international and local calls with it. It comes with unlimited 3G data connectivity. So we used the Handy around Hong Kong, accessed Google Map, checked out restaurants and promotions and made calls to Singapore with it.

Didn't take a picture of our room but it looked like this. We opted for 2 twin beds.
Source: http://www.themirahotel.com

The room also has a 40 inch LCD TV which you can also use to access the internet. The minibar was free for us. There is a separate bathtub and shower area. I also loved the fact that the sink is outside the washroom!

Since our hotel room was fun, we spent some time in it. Later in the evening, we went out again. Met a guy who gave us a brochure for a halal Western and Mediterranean food. So we checked out the place. It is at Chungking Mansion, the building next to the mosque. There will be someone standing nearby to key in the passcode for you to enter. The restaurant is at level 2. Can't remember the restaurant name thought. Was it Al-Maedah? The waitresses are Filipinos. Very nice ladies. The food was awesome. We had Chicken Pizza and lamb rice. We packed the food back since our girls were already asleep.

So that was the end of our Day 1. Pretty uneventful.