A night at Awana Kijal...

I always consider Awana Kijal as one of my favourite hotels in Malaysia. The other one's in Penang, the Northam. The first time I came here was after I got married in 1997 or was it in 1998? It was supposed to be our honeymoon?!! But actually it wasn't because my husband got work in Kerteh...cheh?!! So, I've never had a 'proper' honeymoon...sob, sob. With three kids in tow, I could kiss 'honeymoon' goodbye, forever...hehehe

When I first went to Kijal, I was amazed by the personal jacuzzi inside the room...hehehe. I'm still fascinated by jacuzzi nowadays...hehehe. But the surrounding area was still not developed. It was difficult to find food and Kerteh was just a 'cowboy town!'. I spent my time in the only bookstore if I'm not mistaken. Now, they even have a mall! I could see that they even have a toys'r'us store, now.

Over the years, I've been to Awana several times, but normally on company trip (if my husband got work in Kerteh for example) because it's quite expensive. I knew that they have a beautiful swimming pool and very suitable for children because we've been here when Aliah was small and even when Hadi was small. The only one haven't been there was Amir. So, that means we've never been to Awana for at least 3 years! Hehehe

We arrived at Awana around maghrib and we sat in the car while my husband went up the stairs to enquire about available rooms. I could see from the way he got back to us that he got something up his sleeve...hehehe. His eyes were shining when he informed me that there's no connecting room left, but he got us a suite instead. The kids were hopping with excitement! Hehehe...

It looked like it's going to rain soon, so we just grabbed what we needed for the night to the room. It was on the first floor. Quite a big room, with a kitchenette, dining area and a living area with sofa bed...Yep, really nice! The kids were happy to be able to spend the night in a 'fancy' hotel...until they discovered the huge 'jacuzzi' outside! They were ecstatic to say the least!

Hadi started to take off his pants when we heard all the kids screamed and rushed inside...hehehe. There was a frog inside the jacuzzi and my kids were 'allergic' to any slimy animals...hehehe. I tried 'helping' the frog out with a hanger and a basket, mind you... but the frog was insistent that he should remain in the tub...sigh. My husband?!! He was worse than the kids...hehehe. You have to remember that he's a city boy!

We finally had help from the hotel staff and after cleaning the tub, the kids went in and played with bubbles in the jacuzzi. They called it many names...jakazu, jakazi etc...hehehe. Did the parents managed to get our time in the jacuzzi, of course we did... just not at the same time because the kids kept on 'monitoring' our movements...hehehe...

They were also happy because the hotel got disney channel. We had a relaxing night because it was raining outside and we just had room-service for the kids. It was just a real treat for everyone, a wonderful end to our holiday. Thank you, husband!

The next day, we made full use of the time by playing in the swimming pool and jacuzzi. We left the hotel around 12 p.m, satisfied. As usual, after half an hour, I took over driving the car while the others slept. We stopped at Genting Sempah for lunch and solat and arrived home around 5 pm. (Oh yes, we had a pit-stop when Amir was 'car-sick' just before Genting Sempah...sigh). I straightaway sent all the laundry to the laundrette as my husband's going back on Friday. Nearly 80 percent of the car's content was dirty laundry...hehehe... 8 days worth of laundry for a family of five!