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Showing posts with label Sabah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sabah. Show all posts

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Portview Seafood Village

For dinner on our 1st night in KK, we went to Portview Seafood Village in town. This restaurant was one recommended by fellow blogger, Dinah, who comes from KK.

The restaurant is quite large and a wall of live seafood in tanks greets you as you walk in. There were numerous varieties of seafood to choose from - lobster, prawns, oysters, abalone, fishes like coral trout, tilapia as well as shellfish like clams, and scallops. Chris' eyes lit up when he saw the variety and he was already selecting what he wanted.
We had a funny moment, before dinner started. I had asked to be seated inside in air-conditioned comfort because I knew Caitlin had difficulty adjusting to the heat and humidity. At the same time, another tour group from Taiwan had booked the tables inside for a dinner and karaoke. The speakers were blaring Taiwanese music quite loudly but tolerable. I asked my family if they wanted to move outside, but they were settled in the cool environment. The next minute, they turn up the volume and the music was now unbearable.. You could not even hear yourself think! We quickly jumped out of our chairs and went to look for table outside, deciding that it was easier to take the heat and humidity then the awful sound coming from the speakers.

Back to food...the prices were really cheap e.g. 2 small fresh abalones steamed for RM16 (less than AUD6). It was easy to get carried away, but we were only a small group, so we had tiger prawns steamed with garlic; stir-fry scallops with ginger and shallots; steamed coral trout with ginger and shallots; steamed abalone with garlic and two non seafood dishes - chicken and fried noodles. I forgot to take a photo of the steamed abalone (too busy eating!)
Scallops

Coral Trout

Chicken with Onion Rings

Steamed Prawns with Garlic
Service was attentive and quick. The food arrived promptly at our table, despite the restaurant being so busy. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal, even Ash and Cait. I found the food was well seasoned and not too salty. As we ate, we were also entertained by various cultural dances which our two girls enjoyed.


All in all, a satisfying meal at RM321 (AUD 115), which is really cheap when you compare to an equivalent in Sydney will set us back about AUD 400.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Thursday, October 6, 2011

The Magellan, Sutera Harbour Resort

Our long waited family holiday to KK finally arrived. During our stay in KK, we stayed in two different resorts. The first five nights we spent at the Magellan Sutera Harbour Resort. This was where Jolene and Andrew held their wedding dinner.

The resort is huge, spacious and lovely, with a large open lobby area decorated in dark teak furniture and beautiful tropical orchids. Check-in was a little slow due to some confusion. From that experience, we realised that time moves slower in KK. It took us a while to adjust and slow down our pace, as we were use to rushing from one place to another or one task to another.

We had a room with a beautiful sea view at the Marina Wing. The room was a reasonable size with a large bathroom with bathtub and separate shower area. On closer inspection, the rooms seem dated and in need of refurbishment. There were some stains on the carpet which should have been changed or cleaned up. The TV set was also the CRT version where most hotels have LCDs or other flat screens. The good thing about that it deterred the family from watching too much tv.

The resort had lovely grounds and were separated into three main areas - Magellan, Marina and Country Club plus the third section The Pacific Sutera. There were also four pools for guests to choose from including a 25m lap pool at the Country Club. The Marina Wing is situated closer to the Marina and Country Club, so we usually spent the mornings at the Marina pool with slides and the afternoons at the Magellan pool (tough life!). Staff were friendly, but slow (see there is a trend here). There is a small beach at the Magellan, the sand is quite pebbly and rough. The amazing thing about the beach is the number of fishes that you can see as you wade into knee-deep water. The fishes seem friendly and oblivious to humans. The staff gave my girls some bread to feed the fishes, and it was fun to see the fishes 'jump' to eat the bread.

Our days at the resort started with a scrumptious breakfast buffet at the Five Sails Cafe. There was a wide selection of food to choose from Western to local dishes like nasi lemak, roti canai, fried beehoon and rice porridge. Then it was on to the Marina pool for half the day before heading back to the room for a rest from the hot afternoon sun. After a siesta, it was back to the pool again to cool down and chill out before dinner. The resort had free wi-fi access in the lobby area and sometimes by the pools. I spend much of my time, reading books that I had download onto my Kindle before our travels. Pure bliss..raising the flag sometimes to order cocktails at happy hour. Girls had an awesome time swimming, riding the slides and mucking around in the water. Chris spent most of his time getting a tan. In the evenings, we would spend at the lobby lounge enjoying the music and sea breeze. It was a tough life, I tell you.

There is also a Little Magellan Kids Club, which we did not have time to check out. Girls were happy to be with us all the time. The resort is a family-friendly place for a relaxing holiday. It would be even better once the rooms have been refurbished.





Location:Kota Kinabalu