It was year-end and hubby was just itching to test drive his new car. He initially wanted to go for a short weekend getaway in Penang but it was fully booked so he asked me to find a place that was not too near from our place. After doing some research, we settled for Lake Kenyir Resort in Terengganu. It was at least 6-hours drive away and room rate was quite cheap considering the time of the year and our last minute booking, which was around RM 250 per room per night. It was also suitable for nature lover, not like myself but like my hubby. =p
Hubby wanted to go on a Friday but I went ahead and took leave on Monday so we went 28th - 30th December 2013, Sat - Mon. We started our journey around 10-ish from Bangi and met with hubby's friend near Sungai Besi tol. Arrived just in time for lunch in Temerloh, where we had ikan patin masak tempoyak and ikan patin goreng. Yummm. Just after Jabor tol, hubby followed google map's direction and was lead to use the inside road (instead of the beachside road). It was a trunk road so it was bumpy and slow whenever we couldn't over take the vehicle in front of us. Arrived at the resort around 6-ish and by that time, everyone was clearly very tired from the journey already. We had to park our car in the parking lot area, which was quite a distance to the reception and a shuttle car took us inside to the lobby and to our rooms. Luckily the room was not bad at all. It was quite nice considering how "kampung" the surrounding area was. We paid slightly extra (around RM40) to get rooms facing the lake and I would say the view from our rooms was very serene.
Dinner was not bad. We had rice with some lauk and our friend's son had chicken chop. It costed us around RM 200, which we think was quite okay. After dinner, we went back and slept comfortably in our own beds.
The next morning, we went for breakfast separately. Our friends took their son to play at the swimming pool before breakfast but hubby and I slept in as Tricia was having her on and off fever that time so we were awake almost half of the night. After breakfast, we went for a boat ride, which was really fun!
During the boat ride tour, we stopped at a water fall area i.e. Air Terjun Sauk. Because it was monsoon season, the waterfall was very dangerous due to high water volume so it was not advisable to go for a dip that time. It was a beautiful place nevertheless. The journey up towards the waterfall area was quite a climb for me especially in my condition of 6.5 months pregnant but I made it. Haha.
After that, we jumped into our boat and went to a herb garden. We were shown different local herbs like Tongkat Ali, Kacip Fatimah and don't remember the name of the last one =p, Mahkota Dewa or something like that, which was supposed to be good for your heart and other organs. The guy who took care of the garden offered me a handful of the kacip fatimah herb, which was supposed to be good for delivery and after birth. No cost charged, just give what you feel like giving. One: I don't take herbs. I have nothing against it, just too lazy to prepare all this stuff. Two: I have no benchmark how much to give so I didn't take it.
The reception area and swimming pool
Our friends went back to their room after the ride but we went out to the nearest Klinik Kesihatan at Kampung Tengkawang, which was about 15-20 minutes away because we ran out of fever medicine for Tricia. Even though I knew the fact before, I was still very impressed and excited when was told that the service and medical charge was only RM1. The doctor tested Tricia's temperature using a mercury thermometer under her arms but she dropped it and the thermometer broke. Lucky we didn't have to pay extra charge for that. Ehehe.
We bought some nasi goreng and keropok lekor on the way back and ate with our friends. Hubby and his friend went out in the evening but since it was drizzling and Tricia was not well, we stayed in and enjoy the nice view from our balcony.
That night we went to the lobby area and had drinks there while having some fun playing carom and scrabble. Tricia wanted to feed the fish in the pond in front of the lobby area like she did in the afternoon. Although we kept telling her the fishes were sleeping, she didn't believe us. So we went to the pond and threw fish food into the pond. True enough, no fish came out to eat the food. Then only she believed us the fishes really went to sleep.
The next morning, we walked to the breakfast area. The thing about this place is... you need to climb quite a reasonable flight of stairs. Not suitable for people with knee problem/wheelchair bound. But of course, you can always call the shuttle service to pick you up. Like I said earlier, very suitable for nature lovers.
After breakfast, we went back to clean ourselves and pack. Checked out. And had lunch at Kuala Terengganu. Saw this super cool parking system. This time, we took the beach road back. Had a drink at Pantai Kemasek before splitting our way after Jabor tol. All-in-all, we had fun. Hubby was a bit disappointed that we couldn't visit the Kelah sanctuary because it was monsoon season. Maybe we will come back again but maybe next time, we will rent the boat house instead? Who knows.
