Tag: Malaysia

  • Penang Travel Diary

    Penang Travel Diary

    This is part two of my Malaysia travel diary. You can find part one from our time in Kuala Lumpur, here.

    We took the four hour drive from Kuala Lumpur to Penang on Friday afternoon. Most people make the journey by plane which only takes an hour, but what can I say, we’re wild. Anyway, our friends who live in Kuala Lumpur had visited multiple times before and so they knew exactly where to take us, and so on the Friday night after arriving, we headed to Red Garden Food Paradise. It’s basically like a foodcourt frequented by the locals, selling cheap beer, every type of food you can imagine and cheesy live entertainment. I really enjoyed it. As like with the rest of Penang, the vibe there was super chilled. That’s what I enjoyed most about our little weekend in Penang, how incredibly relaxed it was.

    I took a backpack as luggage for the weekend and basically ended up living in the same denim short and flip flops combination, with a change of top for the two and a half days we were there. Penang felt like the place where locals go on holiday. It was no frills and completely relaxed and that’s what I loved about it. We just got to have a fun weekend, hanging out with our friends, eating and drinking and chilling out.

    Samio x

    Penang Red Garden Food Paradise

    Red Garden Food Paradise Penang Malaysia

    Breakfast at China House Penang

    Chine House Penang Malaysia
    China House Penang
     
    China House Interior Penang
    China House Cakes Penang
     

    China House Cafe Penang Malaysia

    China House Breakfast Penang
    China House Penang Wall Art
     

    China House – I loved this quirky little spot. We went for brunch and Damien and I both went for the vegetarian nachos.

    Penang Street Shop
    Swee Hoe Pomar Traders Penang
     
    Penang Malaysia
    Street Art Penang Malaysia
    Penang Street Wall Art Malaysia
     
    Penang Malaysia Photo Diary
    Penang Clothes Store
     

    Sixth Sense – This clothing store was one of our favourite finds whilst wondering around the streets of Penang. There are actually two stores in Penang and over the two days we went into both, shopping for a lot longer than we’d expected whilst we left the guys outside.

    Sixth Sense Penang

    Sixth Sense Clothes Shop Penang
    Sixth Sense Clothing Store Penang
     
    Penang Street Art
    Penang Malaysia Wall Art
     
    Penang Bora Bora Beach Bar

    Bora Bora Beach Bar – We headed here on the Saturday for lunch and then ended up staying in this very spot all evening.

    Batu Ferringhi Penang
    Ferringhi Beach Penang
     
  • Kuala Lumpur Travel Diary

    Kuala Lumpur Travel Diary

    I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to get round to putting together this blog post. It’s crazy how it’s already nearly been six weeks since we returned home from our holiday in Malaysia. I shared a little bit about it in a previous post where I talked about ‘The Proposal Story’. If you haven’t read that one yet, you may want to have a little re-cap. You can go and check that one out here if you fancy.

    Our trip to Malaysia was purely a holiday and the first completely relaxed, work free vacation that Damien and I have had together in quite some time. I think part of the reason for me being so delayed in putting together this post is because for me it was quite a personal trip. I remember even after getting engaged I didn’t want to immediately announce it on social media because I was just enjoying being in the moment and having those days during and after just for us. I guess the same goes for the rest of the trip, it was nice to take time just for us, to relax and re-charge stress free with no obligation to share anything online. We got to spend quality time catching up with our friends who live over there and we had so much amazing food (seriously, I would go back to Malaysia just for the amount of good food they have on offer), we could have easily stayed for longer.

    I wanted to share a bit of a photo diary from our trip. I’m going to be splitting this post into two parts as we also spent a weekend in Penang in the middle of our trip, but that post will be up not too long after this one. Anyway, here’s some from our time in Kuala Lumpur, one of my favourite holiday’s yet.

    Samio x

    Kuala Lumpur Banyan Tree Hotel Room
    Samio Travel Blogger Kuala Lumpur Banyan Tree Hotel
     

    I really should have known when walking into this hotel that Damien had something special planned. We stayed at the Banyan Tree in Kuala Lumpur and the views from the room and the bathroom were amazing.

    Kuala Lumpur Banyan Tree Hotel Malaysia
    Banyan Tree Hotel Stay Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
     
    Banyan Tree Hotel Room View Kuala Lumpur Malaysia October
    Samio Malaysia holiday travel diary
     
    Kuala Lumpur City View at sunset from Banyan Tree
    Kuala Lumpur Banyan Tree Hotel Malaysia view and review
    Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Travel Guide
     
    Monkeys in Batu Cave Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
    Batu Caves Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
     
    Monkeys in Batu Cave Kuala Lumpur
    Batu Caves Monkey
     
    What its really like at Batu Caves Kuala Lumpur
    Batu Caves Tourists
     

    Batu Caves – The reality is that although a stunning temple monument, Batu Caves is over-run with tourists. It’s to be expected but what’s not to be expected and quite upsetting to see, is the amount of litter that is left. We saw everything from monkeys chewing on bottle caps to plastic bags. When we saw a group of people gathered around to take pictures of a woman who had let lots of pigeons land on her, we knew it was time to leave.

    Batu Cave litter

    View from the top of Batu Caves Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

    Colourful Steps Batu Caves Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Travel blogger

    Authentic Curry Banyan Tree Hotel Room View Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
    Great food Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
     

    Our friends took us to a super laid back, no thrills curry house called Kanna Curry House Bandar Menjalara. The food was served on sheets of banana leaf style paper and dished out in front of you and it all tasted amazing!

    I didn’t take pictures of half of the amazing dishes we had whilst in Malaysia (mainly because I was tucking into them quicker than you can say ‘bon appétit’), but oh my was the food good. In fact I don’t think we had one bad or even mediocre dish in the whole time that we were there. One thing I will say though, is service in Malaysia is slooooowww. The concept of fast food does not exist and you’ll be lucky if your meal comes out at the same time as everyone else’s on your table, but once you get used to that, you’ll just be happy that you get to constantly tuck into tasty meals.

    Kuala Lumpur Night Markets Malaysia
    Kuala Lumpur Night Markets Malaysia Travel Diary
     

    The night markets.

    Chocha Foodstore Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
    Chocha Foodstore interior Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
     

    Chocha Foodstore – It’s a hard one to call but I think this may have been my favourite place that we ate whilst in Kuala Lumpur. Okay, I’m torn, it’s a toss up between here and Kanna Curry House Bandar Menjalara but it’s a close call. Loved the food at both but Chocha Foodstore wins on aesthetic and the curry house wins on affordability/great value for money.

    Chocha Foodstore Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Malaysian restaurant

    Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

    Samio Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Travel Diary
    Samio travel blogger in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
     

    We stayed at our friend’s apartment for the rest of our time whilst in Kuala Lumpur. Their pool area was amazing and we definitely made the most of it.

    Samio Travel blogger Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
    pool view Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
     
    Samio fashion blogger bikini Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Travel Diary
    Samio British travel blogger Kuala Lumpur Malaysia review
     
    Samio travel blogger Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Travel Diary
  • A Big Little Life Update – The Proposal Story

    A Big Little Life Update – The Proposal Story

    As we stepped out of the doors of Kuala Lumpur Airport, I felt the warm, sticky heat hit me and I knew I had finally arrived on our long awaited holiday.

    I was somewhat inappropriately dressed for the weather. Having just stepped off the second flight in what had been around a 16 hour journey in total, I wore sweat pants and a cosy jumper, which felt less cosy and more suffocating in the morning heat.

    We took an hour long taxi ride to the centre of Kuala Lumpur, where we finally arrived at our hotel for the night.

    As we stepped into the foyer of our hotel and took the lift up to the reception, I immediately felt underdressed. I knew Damien had booked us into a nice hotel for the night but this place was quite a bit fancier than I had expected.

    We had an early check in into our room (thank goodness!) and as we stepped inside I was instantly wowed by the views, not only from our room but also from the bathroom, as the bathtub was host to the most incredible views of the city.

    I was impressed, to say the least…and yet I was still completely oblivious of what was yet to come. You see, we’d planned our trip to Malaysia to go and stay with Damien’s best friend who lives out there. It had initially been my idea for us to get a hotel one night to stay in the city, and so when Damien said he’d gone ahead and booked us somewhere, I had no suspicions whatsoever.

    Damien had told me he’d booked us in at the restaurant on the top floor for dinner that evening, and I was more than happy to spend the night at the hotel as I wanted to make the most of it.

    At dinner Damien mentioned wanting to go outside to take photos from the roof terrace after we’d eaten. Then after we’d finished our meal he brought up wanting to go outside again. I was nursing a large glass of red wine at this point and didn’t quite understand why he was being so persistent. I could see he was eager to go outside and supposedly get a shot of the view, so whilst I was slowly enjoying my wine, I suggested he go on without me. He was insistent that I go outside with him and he then said he wanted me to come out with him so that I could take a photo of him in front of the view. This was unusual for Damien as he never asks for photos but I didn’t think much of it (as the views were amazing), and so I gulped down the last of my wine and we headed outside onto the roof terrace.

    The views of the city were even more incredible at night. We were completely alone outside and so it was nice to just take in the views together. I finally took that picture of Damien that he’d insisted we come outside for and then he offered to take a photo of me. We switched positions and as Damien began to take some photos of me he got down very low and at this point I was thinking ‘why is he taking a picture at such a ridiculously low angle when he’s meant to be getting the view in the background’. In that moment he put down the camera and produced a little box from his pocket, which he then opened and presented to me as he said the words ‘will you marry me’…

    I was completely taken by surprise. And of course, my answer was yes. I think for the next hour or so I was in a daze. I kept looking down at the ring and couldn’t quite believe we had just got engaged. I’d never even looked at engagement rings before so it felt strange to now be wearing one. It couldn’t be more perfect though and I honestly mean it. Apparently he’d been planning it for months and I’d been completely unaware. I won’t go into every little detail but he had the ring custom made and every little thought that went into it made it perfect.

    And now we’re engaged. It’s now one whole month since that magical night in Malaysia and I’m still getting my head around whether it’s best to say fiancé, boyfriend or partner. I’ve never been someone who’s longed for their wedding day or been eager to get a ring on their finger. I’d just always thought since meeting Damien that we’d be together and that was it, and that is how it’s been, thus far. Being with someone who’s company you never tire of and you have such fun with means the time really does fly. Some may say it’s long overdue but I say it’s worth the wait as it’s just another chapter in our ever growing story and I couldn’t be happier.

    Samio x

    Samio Endless Rose Polka Dot Dress
    Endless Rose Polka Dot Dress Samio Fashion Blogger
     
    Kuala Lumpur View From Banyan Tree Hotel
    Night in Kuala Lumpur
    Banyan Tree Horizon Grill Kuala Lumpur Hotel Restaurant
     

    kuala lumpur city view at night

    Travel Bloggers Kuala Lumpur
    Banyan Tree Rooftop Kuala Lumpur
     
    Kuala Lumpur City Banyan Tree Hotel Rooftop View
    Engagement In Kuala Lumpur
     

    Engagement story