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Saturday, December 02, 2006

Port Dickson

Port Dickson... Here we come!!!
This was our honeymoon destination. For me, it has been years since I last visited the Port Dickson beach. I have heard of many 'stories' about how dirty Port Dickson (PD) beach is, etc... In my mind, I could see oil sludge, dead carcasses, plastic bags, paper and what-not strewn all over the place.

I was wrong... Which is a very good thing for me. :)

There were many hotels to choose from. Among the ones we considered were Guoman, Avillion, Seri Malaysia and a few more that was listed in MariMari.com. But we finally settled for the Corus Paradise Resort.

This is what greeted us when we walked into the place. Wow... Looks quite posh.

Click to view high-res image
Even the beach looks really nice from the hotel...

Click to view high-res image
After checking in, we took a drive along the seaside. About 5 minutes drive heading South, we arrived at this beautiful place called Pantai Cahaya Negeri. It is a very lovely place, with trees, a playground and even a small bridge connecting to a... errr... very tiny 'island'.

Photo taken from the bridge

The bridge
There was a temple nearby which we visited as well. We passed by an Ostrich Farm but did not stop to go in. That will be for our next trip.

We saw lots of seafood restaurants along the beach. But both of us were vegetarians, so we did not stop to try the food. Anyway, we just wanted a place to relax and be alone. *ahem*

Unlike Gurney Road, the items sold in the shops along the beach is reasonable priced. Mineral water still cost about rm1.50 per 1.5l bottle. I was expecting it to cost something like rm3. Maggi Mee is about rm0.60. So if you decide to drop by PD for a short break, you don't really need pack any instant food and be worried that the food here will cost a bomb! During our drive around PD, we also saw KFC, Pizza Hut and even 7-11. But we didn't find any McDonald's though.

We decide we had enough sight-seeing around the area and went back to the hotel. We could not really walk on the beach since the hotel did not really have one (Errr, dunno how to really explain it -- I believe a recent ad on TV used this place).

I guess now I know why it's called Corus Paradise Resort and NOT 'Beach Resort'
From our hotel room (all the rooms are 'seaview' rooms), the view is really nice.

I like that white patch of light on the sea
We waited for the sunset. Romantic ma...

Sunset is always romantic
Unfortunately, that was the closest we got to a sunset that night. Sat down from 1730hrs onwards and waited for the sun to set. But dunno why we didn't get to catch it. One minute it was still there, the next minute... The sun was no longer there. Our trip to Langkawi last year was better. We got to see sunset on a yatch.

The next morning... We took a stroll along the 'beach' since it was low tide. Wah, we saw so many...

Crabs...!!!
We had a good time there, even though it was just for one day and it didn't involve the use of our passport. I guess it is who you are with that matters the most.

The newly wed couple

For me, the first thing I always do when I check into a hotel room is to take a look at what they provide for the bathroom.

Not bad... They even provide toothbrushes and lotion!

You can usually tell what to expect from the hotel by just looking at what kind of soap and shampoo they provide. I still remember one hotel I stayed in a few years ago. They didn't provide me with a toothbrush. When I requested for one, they charged me rm5 for it. And they had bought it from the shop next door!

Although Corus is rated four stars in Marimari.com, I have noticed that the room was not too big. And it was not as clean as I would have expected the room to be, considering that at rm180 per night, I could easily get a nice, clean and quite big room in KL.

Excuse me but there's a fly on the floor and noodle on my (toilet) bowl
But still... IWe enjoyed our honeymoon.

To get to Port Dickson from Kuala Lumpur, just take the North-South Highway and head South. Take the PD exit and follow the signboards to PD. The signboards should lead you to the PD highway. Here's something that I learnt from this trip. At the end of the PD highway, you will arrive at a crossroad with a set of traffic lights. Signboards will tell you to turn RIGHT to go to PD. Straight will take you to Telok Kemang.

My advice is to GO STRAIGHT to Telok Kemang as it is easier and faster to get to the beach (and most of the hotels). We took the right turn and it took us through the PD town (with lots of confusing roads).

Labels: me, wedding

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