Day 2: The Brekkie, The Japanese Garden and The Animal Park at Colmar Tropicale

After our first well-rested night at Colmar, I prepared myself for a long day ahead. I woke up early, excited, not of the activities of the day but because of the breakfast. 

We were guided by the staff to the buffet breakfast and I can say, for the hungry, it's a food haven. So many choices that I could not decide what to eat first. 

Needless to say, I stood for my second serving! I'm full already but I can't seem to stop eating!

Pasimple lang getting my second serving.... 

After that well-deserved brekkie, we strolled the village again while waiting for the van that will take us to the Japanese Garden. 

The view from the lobby while waiting for the shuttle van

The shuttle van

For RM12, you get to enter the French village, Japanese Garden and Botanical Garden. It's build to mimic how a garden will look like in Japan, nice for photos and you can rent a kimono for RM20. Other than that, nothing much. It's just a garden on top of a hill. Oh, and there's a lot of uphill walking.

After we check out of the resort, since the check-out time is 11 a.m., we left our bags at the safety of the lobby staff before we went to see the Animal Park. It's almost noon but we've managed to take time to go see it. Well, the brochure said "animal park" so we expect to see animals, as in lots of them and in numbers. But imagine our disappointment, Steph, Jen Mitch and myself, that there's only a couple of deer and rabbits on the site! OMG, I should have just rented Bambi and watch it in my room, or I should have just buy a rabbit's foot for luck! In which case, well, photo op is a must since we're already there!

Disappointed in the the animal park but I enjoyed the swing like a kid!

But overall, our two days in Colmar is amazing. It's normal to be disappointed sometimes because that's life. No travel is ever perfect and there will always be bumps along the way. 

See you soon, Colmar! Now it's time for us to go down Kuala Lumpur.

Happy travels!

Day 1: Colmar Tropicale, Berjaya Hills, Malaysia 2014

Hello, Malaysia! It's a breezy February night when we arrived at KLIA. This is my first time travelling with my office mates Jen, Steph and Mitch and I've organized the trip so I'm a bit nervous about that. It's the beginning of our one-week, three-country backpacking adventure. First stop: Colmar Tropicale, Berjaya Hills, Kuala Lumpur.

The facade of the village from the entrance.

Inside Colmar...

Colmar Tropicale is a French-themed village replica of the original one in France. It is 2,700 feet above sea level amidst 80 acres of rainforest with its medieval and picturesque surroundings that brings you back to an era steeped in culture and romance. We opted to stay for two days to give ourselves ample time to check out the place and have as much photo op as we like.

Our room was awesome! We've avail their two-room en suite with bath tub and a nice view with it! 

After a much-needed rest from our midnight flight and almost two hours of land travel (mind you, there are so many zigzag roads to reach it!) we went to check out the whole village.

On travels like this, after sightseeing and so many photo ops, we're hungry. So we dined out at the L' Orient, one of the five restaurants inside the village.

It's a very great first day for us! After dinner, we'll take our leave and be awed at the comfort of our room as we sleep the night away. Tomorrow will be another awesome day at Colmar Tropicale!

Happy travels!

Day 3: 24 Hours in Singapore 2014

Second destination for our 2014 "one-week, three-country itinerary" is Singapore. Why I'm writing our time in SG now rather than our first destination beats me. Haha, it's safe to say that we only have a day in SG and it's less typing time because it's less activities. Anyhoo, after this I'm writing about the first destination which is Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The floral replica of a Russian church and Russian nesting doll at Terminal 1 lobby of Changi Airport

MTR system... getting familiar.

To be honest, this is my second time in Singapore but it's my first time to visit Haw Par Villa. I'm really amazed with SG's MTR system because it's so conveniently accessible. Haw Par Villa is a free-entrance fee park so we've had our time to check out every nook and cranny this park has to offer.

Weird enough? That's because Haw Par Villa is a park for the weird and unusual. The best known attraction here is the Ten Courts of Hell, which features gruesome depictions of hell in Chinese mythology and Buddhism. 

And since we only have 24 hours in SG, we took time to see Marina Bay Sands even if it's 10 pm already!

Even though it's only a day, we enjoyed our time in Singapore. But the third destination will surely top our list, hopefully, because it's the real adventure... in the jungle.