« Fairytale | Main | Yet Another Flash Flood... »
A Weekend In Putrajaya
Many many many weekends ago (3xmany because I procrastinated in writing this post...hehe...), hubby and I spent a night at Putrajaya Shangri-La. I had read two good reviews about that hotel, and we wanted to play around with our cameras, so it was really a case of killing two birds etc. etc. etc.
We arrived there at about 3.30pm, after lunch at La Bodega @ BSC. It didn't take us long to get there...about half an hour, and the place was really easy to find. Unfortunately, the guest parking was quite a distance from the lobby, so we had to unload our luggages (quite a lot cause we brought our cameras, tripods, etc.) at the lobby first. Hubby went off to park the car, while I headed to the reception to check in. The hotel looked very bright and cheery with lots of foliage, and instead of boring ol' walls, they had floor-to-ceiling glass panes instead. Two settee sets were placed on the right and left of the entrance for guests, and there were orchids placed strategically for decoration. Checking-in was fast, and we were given a complimentary glass of ice cold orange juice while waiting (I did read in the magazine that we could actually check-in in the room...but maybe that's only for the suites or something...us lowly people have to check-in at the reception...hehe...).
The hotel consists of two wings and four floors. The reception was on the 3rd floor and our room was also located on the same floor to the right of the entrance. The left wing consists of meeting rooms and such, while the right wing houses the guest rooms, spa, gym and pool. Azur, a restaurant which serves international cuisine, was also situated at the first floor, while the coffeehouse, Palm Hill Cafe was located at the ground floor.
We were shown into our rooms by the bell boy who proceeded to explain the facilities available in the room (free broadband...didn't bring my iBook though!). Our room had a good view of the surroundings as we were on top of a hill, but as the bay windows were facing the evening sun, the room was rather hot as the curtains were not drawn. After resting, or rather, roasting awhile, we left our room to explore the hotel surroundings. We made a quick stop at Azur to make a booking for dinner the same night, and took a peek at the coffee house where we will have our complimentary buffet breakfast the next morning. Finally, we ended up outside the spa center which was conveniently located beside the pool. Hubby was in a mood for a massage, so we booked their Zodiac special session at 5.30pm...one and a half hour of massage...bliss! =)
We lazed about in the room till 5.15pm, and made our way back to the spa. One of the staff showed me to the changing area...it was truly spacious...unfortunately, the locker they gave me did not have any bathrobes, so I had to make my way out again to exchange the key for another locker. The second locker had everything except the belt for the bathrobe, so I had to go out again to ask for one. Grr. The changing area also had a jacuzzi, steam room and sauna, but I was too lazy to use any of it so I just ended up pacing up and down...haha...=) I was soon shown to the massage room, named 'Chi' and hubby came in shortly after. The massage room was dimly lit, with the usual spa-like music playing. Luckily it wasn't too cold cause I really hate massage rooms that are cold!
First up...a foot bath. I liked this one cause it included a scrub! As for the massage...well, it was really nice! It is apparently tailored to suit your personal zodiac...how true, I don't know...but I enjoyed my tremendously. As usual, I drifted off to sleep halfway through the session and woke up only when it was time to turn over. The massage included a head and face massage too...very very relaxing.
Back in the room, we took a quick bath to wash off the massage oil before dressing and heading to Azur for dinner. We were shown to a table next to the floor-to-ceiling windows, but unfortunately, the night-view of Putrajaya was marred by the plants planted at the balcony. The menu was a fusion of all sorts of Asian and Western food, categorized by the country of origin. Hubby ordered the Fish and Seafood soup and Beef Tenderloin, while I had the Forest Mushroom Cappucino soup and Chicken Tandoori. We were served warm bread rolls...unfortunately, the butter was rather hard, and unsalted...there's just something wrong with unsalted butter. It's like eating lard. Sigh. The soup was served not long after we ordered...and boy, did it taste good! I stole some of hubby's soup too...it tasted abit curry-ish...but still nice! The main course was equally good...my briyani rice was lovely, but lacking raisins. The tandoori chicken was really tasty...and the portions were more than generous. Hubby liked his beef tenderloin as well, but the portion seemed abit insufficient and he ended up eating 2/3s of my main course!
We went back to our room after dinner to change before heading out to Putrajaya for a spot of photo-taking! Oh yeah...on the way back to our room, we saw a lovely pot of flowers near the reception and I decided to snap some photos of it. Just as I was focusing on my second shot, the hotel staff came over and told us that we were not permitted to take photos of the hotel property. What?!? Again?!? Put up some signs, people! Well, needless to say, lots of jokes ensued between the both of us about stealing the pot of flowers back to our room, etc...heheh...=)
The rest of the night was spent driving along Putrajaya taking lots and lots of photos. Hubby brought his SLR camera as well...he'd loaded it up with slides...so it was a case of my snapping away while he could only take one or two shots cause his costs money to develop...hehe...=) There weren't many cars or people around, so it was a perfect photo opportunity...we could even stop in the middle of the road if we'd wanted to! By the time we arrived back at the hotel, it was already past midnight!
The next morning, I dragged myself out of bed at 7am...we'd planned to go for an early breakfast to catch the morning light for more photo-taking. Breakfast was at Palm Hill Cafe...and it was a total disappointment. The spread looked good, but didn't taste very nice. The supposedly hot food was a tad on the cold side. The only thing I enjoyed was the homemade blueberry jam. Oh well.
After brekkie, We spent some time outside the hotel grounds taking photos of the surrounding area before walking to the nearby park. I love having a digital camera...it's snap snap snap, then erase if it doesn't look nice...heheh...=) We finished up at about 10.30am...by then, the sun was out in full force and I was darting in and out of the shade to avoid the UV rays...no more freckles!!
Checking out was as fast as checking in, and after stopping again to take some day-time shots of some of the buildings and bridges, we were on our way to Alamanda Shopping Center for a quick bite at The Coast, again (we went there the last time we came to Alamanda...good food!). Hubby ordered the Chicken and Mushroom soup, the Trio Platter consisting of buffalo wings, tortilla and quesallidas, Chocolate Banana milkshake while I had the Hawaiian Chicken sandwich. Tasty! I couldn't finish my portion, so ended up taking away half. We split the dessert...brownie with ice cream. Actually, we had planned to have the Mud Pie, which tasted divine the last time we tried it, but they didn't have any left...=( The brownie with ice-cream was ok....but not as nice as the mud pie.
After lunch, we took a leisurely drive back to KL (and got lost a few times cause we were searching for the exit to the N-S highway...didn't find it and ended up going through Puchong and Subang instead!). I fell asleep halfway throughout the journey...was so tired from sleeping late the night before and waking up early. And there you have it...a short and (rather) relaxing weekend trip...=)
PS: Hope I'll be able to get the photos up soon...Photos are up! Check it out here!
November 25, 2005 @ 04:00 PM