JUST TO SHARE (Lau Tai Onn): March 2021

My wife Soh Ai and I went for a 3D2N stay from Thursday, March 25^th 2021 to Saturday, March 27^th 2021 at Dorsett Hotel, No. 172, Jalan Imbi, KL, sponsored by my children ahead of their mother’s 57^th birthday on Sunday, March 28^th 2021.

This was the first time I stayed at a KL hotel in my life, because being a KL boy myself, I never fancied or keen to stay in a KL local hotel as any destination in town is easily accessible from where I stay and there is no need to waste money in staying in any hotel. It is the filial offer by my children that I couldn’t decline and hence treated it as a new experience since we can’t travel outstation or abroad in view of Covid-19 pandemic and CMCO.

Dorsett Kuala Lumpur is located in the heart of KL's Golden Triangle, a stone's throw away from the city’s finest shopping malls, eateries, tourist and entertainment spots. A short 5 minutes' walk is required to be taken to the doorstep of Pavilion, Starhill Gallery, Fahrenheit 88, Lot 10, Sungai Wang, Berjaya Times Square and Low Yat Plaza. The KL Convention Centre and Petronas Twin Towers are also within walking distance from the hotel through an air-conditioned link bridge.

My eldest son Wai Kit booked and paid Dorsett KL’s 1 room x 2 night (breakfast included) for MYR 336.43 (Promotional Price included 29% discount). Our 2 other children chipped in respectively to sponsor our stay.

Day 1 (Thu. 25/3/2021)

Soh Ai and I left our home at 1.30pm to Dorsett KL by taking a Grab taxi (fare RM26.00 + toll RM1.30). We reached Dorsett at 2.20pm and checked in ahead of the stipulated check-in time of 3.00pm.

We left at 4.15pm for Lot 10 to visit Don Don Donki at Lot 10, Bukit Bintang which is reputed to be Japan's biggest discount chain store, newly opened its first store in Malaysia only last Friday 19/3/2021.

It is noted that this huge chain store with its iconic blue penguin mascot has over 160 stores across Japan, all of which are stocked with shelves and shelves of Japanese snacks, wide-variety of food items, clothing, groceries, beauty products, clothing, and all sorts of merchandise.

A long queue of people was found as we arrived at Don Don Donki at about 4.25pm, lining up from Ground floor to 2^nd floor. I thought of giving up the waiting in the queue and planned to visit the next day. Just as I was taking some photos near the entrance to the store, a young Indian Donki staff asked us if we wanted to enter. As senior citizens, we were allowed to enter without having to queue. What a considerate act on the part of Donki store!

I bought a variety of Japanese snacks, confectioneries, Japanese Rame and etc. Total 17 no. of items costing RM230.40. There was a service counter after paying where all items were packed by their staff into the carrying bag brought by us.

After shopping at Don Don Donki store, we walked to Lot 10 Hutong Food Court at LG floor for dinner. We were asked to download Hutong Apps and fill up details to obtain two RM10 cash vouchers. We ordered 2 sets of beef ball noodles for RM27.60 and paid only RM7.60 after redeeming the cash vouchers.

As we walked along Jln Bukit Bintang, we stopped by the road-side cafe Connoisseurs Corner and took 1 slice of chocolate cake treat and 1 cup of hot cappuccino for RM19.00 + SST RM1.15, enjoying the view of the busy Golden Triangle area.

Finally, we watched the much-acclaimed 3D animation bull show on a giant LED screen at Pavilion Elite.. This is said to be the first of its kind in Malaysia and this video show has already gone viral on social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook under Pavilion KL’s Chinese New Year celebrations this year, themed “Blessings of Prosperity.”.

Basically, the bull is seen getting spray-painted a glimmering gold before it charges and “jumps” through the screen, a symbolic gesture of chasing away the Covid-19 blues and bringing wealth and health to the nation. This show seems to be intermittently screened day and night throughout the day. Shoppers and pedestrians can catch the best view from Pavilion KL’s Crystal Fountain.

Dorsett Hotel Room No. 906

Main entrance (not so grand) to Dorsett Hotel

Entrance to Don Don Donki store (one of the three floors)

Long queue of customers

Free cash voucher for dine-in at Lot 10 Hutong Food Court

Beef noodle stall

Road-side cafe Connoisseurs Corner

3D bull show time

Giant LED screen

Items bought from Don Don Donki store

VIDEOS TAKEN IN FRONT OF PAVILION KL ON 25/3/2021:

Day 2 (Fri. 26/3/2021)

We went to 1^st floor of the hotel to have our buffet breakfast at about 8.30am. I found out later if the breakfast is not included in our room booking, the walk-in price is RM20 per person. The food provided has not many varieties and included nasi lemak, Rendang chicken rice, noodles, porridge, steamed pau, egg omelet, coffee, tea and hot milk.

I went for a swim at the 4^th floor pool at 10.00am with a prior appointment made with the lobby reception staff. There were only 2 young Malay girls taking pictures in the pool instead of swimming, and my wife sitting on the bench. I was the only swimmer and swam a total of 10 laps.

We left the hotel at 11.15am and walked to KLCC through the link bridge from Pavilion Connection.

The first spot that came to our eyes as we walked through a tunnel beneath the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centrehe was Aquaria KLCC. Soh Ai told me she had visited this oceanarium before with her friends and suggested I paid for a visit alone. The ticket for local (MyKad) senior citizen is RM39.00. And so I went at 11.56am

Featuring 60,000 square feet (5,600 m2) in two levels with a 90-metre (300 ft) underwater tunnel, Aquaria KLCC houses over 250 different species and over 5,000 land and aquatic animals from Malaysia and around the world.

Aquaria KLCC is based on the journey of water from the land to the sea. The journey starts in the misty highlands, down through rivers, through the rainforest and mangroves to the coral reefs into the deep blue sea.

The star marine life species include tiger sharks, sea turtles, sea snakes, flying stingrays, coral fish, seahorses and others. There are also an array of unique exhibits such as Touch Pool, Evolution Zone, Jewels of the Jungle and etc.

A walk through the 90-metre transparent underwater tunnel was most exciting and feeding shows of an underwater diver feeding fishes could be viewed in close distance.

I noticed there was quite plenty visitors mostly Malays with family members and small children. But it took me only about half an hour to finish the tour after taking photos here and there.

Soh Ai and I by mistake went to the ground floor of KL Convention Centre (instead of using the underground linkway) and had to walk a distance under the hot sun to Suria KLCC passing by the KLCC Park .

Soh Ai had a bowl of prawn mee at the Medan Selera Rasa Food Arena, Suria KLCC while I had a cup of iced lemon tea as I was not hungry.

We visited Isetan and bought a packet of mixed fruits for RM10.90 at the supermarket for consumption at night.

Before we walked back to Pavilion through the underground linkway, we tried the mint chocolate waffle ice-cream (RM24.80).

We returned to the hotel at about 4.00pm for a rest as both of us were tired after much walking.

We were surprised to find our room not tidied up at all. No new bath towels and complimentary mineral water bottles (supposed to be one bottle per person per day) were replenished.

I was quite upset and doubted this hotel claiming to be a 4-star hotel providing 5-star hospitality, and yet the hotel cleaner didn’t even make up rooms for guests!

We left the hotel at 6.30pm to visit Pavilion Elite where we dined at 7.20pm in Nanyang Cafe at 7^th floor for prawn & wanton noodle (Soh Ai) and special pork knuckle noodle (myself) and cham (coffee-tea). Total cost was RM42.70. My pork knuckle was full of bone with little meat.

After dinner, we went to Level 1 Food Republic @ Pavilion and had classic cendol and bubur cha cha (each RM6.00).

There was really nothing much to see any more around that area and we returned to the hotel at about 8.00pm. I wanted to book for swimming in the next day and was told to walk in tomorrow and tried my luck for availability.

Level 4 hotel restaurant

My buffet breakfast food

Dorsett swimming pool at 4th floor

A pose at the 4th floor swimming pool

Pavilion Connection

Aquaria KLCC entrance

Inside oceanarium

Surrounded by majestic ocean creatures at the 90-meter transparent tunnel

Souvenir shop before exit

Soh Ai waiting for me outside Aquaria

KLCC Park

Suria KLCC

Suria KLCC

Ice-cream stall

Dorsett lobby

Jalan Bukit Bintang

3D bull charging

Pavilion Elite

Pavilion Connection

Pork knuckle noodle

Prawn & wanton noodle

Classic cendol and bubur cha-cha

Dorsett room keys and buffet breakfast vouchers

VIDEOS TAKEN INSIDE AQUARIA KLCC ON 26/3/2021:

Day 3 (Sat. 27/3/2021)

We went for buffet breakfast at 8.30am and the food was exactly the same as the previous day.

As we were returning to our room, I met the hotel cleaner Rohimi (the same guy I met yesterday morning) at the corridor and complained to him about our room not being tidied up yesterday. He pointed out to me it was because I had accidentally pressed the indicator showing no cleaning was necessary.

So it was my mistake after all. I actually didn’t understand the buttons at the wall inside the room and mistook that particular button for turning on and off lights in the room..

At 9.30am, I went to 4^th floor swimming pool and found it full of swimmers. No point waiting as time was tight.

We checked out from the hotel at about 10.30am (half an hour earlier than the stipulated check-out time of 11.00am) and left our luggage at the hotel storage room and went for last minute shopping at Don Don Donki store at Lot 10.

When we reached Lot 10 at about 10.45am, we found a long queue of people even before the main entrance. Again, we tried our luck and requested Donki staff to let us in because of senior citizen status. It worked again after showing my IC to prove my age.

This time we just concentrated on the purchase of sushi and beef including: Fresh salmon aburi (3 pcs @ RM35.90 each), Teriyaki Kani stick (RM13.90), Beef Shabu Shabu 200 pcs (RM18.80), Japanese Wagyu (2.989kg @ RM38/100g, total RM113.60), ChuckRoll steak 250g pcs (RM16.80), Roasted Teriyaki Chi (RM9.90), ChuckRoll Yakiniku 2 pcs (RM16.80), Beef Sitrfry (RM18..80) and etc. Total RM317.30. We finished shopping at 11.00am.

We returned to Dorsett and collected our luggage. I called a Grab taxi at about 11.30am and returned home at 12.00pm.