Staycation - DoubleTree by Hilton Johor Bahru

Johor Bahru, our closest neighbour across the river has always been known as "dirty" and "dangerous" but to be honest it can be pretty enjoyable if you know where to go and what to do.

My wife and I visit Johor Bahru pretty often to watch movies, do our nails and even our hair. For the obvious reason because it's cheaper. When I 1st started visiting JB almost 2 years ago, the exchange rate was $2.34 and now it is actually $2.55! 

Double Tree by Hilton

As often as I visit JB, it's actually the first time I went to Johor Bahru for a stay over vacation. And I'm telling you, it does not feels like the "dangerous and dirty" Johor Bahru at all! 

Super pretty or what? Actually this is not my 1st experience with Double Tree by Hilton. My 1st experience was actually with Double Tree By Hilton KL during OCBC Cycle. I didn't really remember the name because I'm never the attentive one but something reminded me. 

Their signature cookie! And of course, that friendly smile. :D 

The hotel was really clean and really nice and everyone was so friendly. After staying there for just a few days almost everyone of them could recognised us. That friendly human touch was really appreciated! 

The cosy room!

My sexy wife!

Who Stole The Cookie? 

I was there not just to have fun and slack around but I was there to help solve the mysterious case of the missing cookie. I've visited many hotels as well as part of many hotel media tours but this is actually the 1st time that we are doing it with a game. 

Typical hotel tours will bring you around the hotels and we will go "ya dar ya dar, this is this, that is this and this is how cool this place is" but the good people from Dbl Tree by Hilton actually created a fun game for us. Like they always say, there is no way better way to learn than exploring it yourself! 

So the games comes in a few stations a little like the popular korean #RunningMan Tv Show which needed us to complete different games in order to collect clues for the next station. 

 Me using the gym as part of the game. The best part of this gym that it is actually 24hours!

Me picking up a girl at the bar. :x

Their bar was really nice and it's a full bar within the hotel. Not like a small bar top and calling it a bar.

Me playing golf in the hotel like a boss. Hole in one yo!

And business centre for business man and business conferences are available too!

Funny story: there's a mission that we were needed to write a post card for our friends back at home. I did one for my dog brover and guess what?

I didn't know we need to write the address on the card itself. I thought I will be given an envelop. #Fail.

One of my favourite picture! And yes, very nice milk shake.

And yeah, my wife went with me to this trip too!

Sorry, this is also part of the game. Not like i made this for my wife. haha.

Me 60secs of presentation. Pretty impressive storyline but....

of course, with me in the team.. we got 1st.... runner up.. And there's only 2 teams.. So.. erm.. you get the drift. LOL.

And now everyone!

After a long day of fun and activities we really didn't want to go anywhere else in the next morning and we had our in room dining. Best thing ever! Impressive display and good food at your door step. Wrong, on your bed! SHIOKKKK! 

#HappyWifeHappyLife

So I hope this post gives you a good idea on where to stay in JB because I actually have a friend who stayed at hilton after seeing my post of DblTree on Instagram!! And now you know JB is not that scary or dirty right!!

P.S. So with me at the event was also many many chio bu.

No proper storyline to link it up but I just wanted to upload this. LOL.

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My Weird Traveling Habits

We always talk about how traveling can bend or break a relationship and it is the best way to test either relationship or friendship. Not too sure about you but that is definitely true for me because I do have some very weird travel habits. Have you encountered any of these or do you have any of these habits?

Do Not Disturb -

I love to keep my own place clean but when it comes to the hotel room I like it in a mess. I will throw things all over the place and I will live like a skunk. Despite having house cleaning I really like to live in a mess. It's not always that you get to live it very dirty and someone will clean it at the end of the day. Maybe also because I hate it when people come into my room when I'm not around.

 The Fridge IS the Safe

Putting a new meaning to the word "freezing your assets". I have this crazy idea about the safest place is always the most dangerous one. If all your important staff are in the safe, where will I look for it if I am a bulgar? You will not expect to look into a fridge and find money right? 

 Watching Local Television

We all say how much we hate local TV or do not watch TV at all when we are home but I have this habit to tune into our local shows if available despite the fact that the hotel offers us cable and hundreds of channels to watch. It makes me feel more at home?

 There is something in that air vent

I can't remember which movie I watched but I remember seeing them hiding weapons or drugs in that air vent and apparently every hotel room have that! I will have the habit of climbing up and look into it to see if I can find anything. Yes, I am always up for an adventure!

The Gym

Despite a long day or a overloaded bag I will always bring my gym gear wherever I travel. It's not like I am a gym rat and I must go to the gym daily when I'm at home but I just love to wake up early and use the facility. Not just that but also to make sure I do not check in too much excess weight during holidays. One of the best experience was actually the morning jog i did along Boracay's beach where not only did I get to see a very beautiful morning view but also many hangover "deadbodies" along the beach.

So here's my list of weird traveling habits. What about you?

Photos taken at my recent stay at DoubleTree JB. Will do a review soon!

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OCBC Cycle Malaysia 2014

History of me and cycling.

Cycling has never been my favourite sports considering the fact that I only managed to cycle without the "4 Wheel" drive system at the age of 12. I was and still am a late boomer when it comes to anything sporty. Although I am pretty active these days, I grew up as a clumsy little fat boy and my mum never liked it that I go out and play because i will always come home with bruises and what not all over me.

That's what I do when I was younger.

So I shifted out away from my mum 2 X'mas ago into Punggol where it's the best place in town to cycle because of the view and nice wide roads. I started cycling together with my wife but we are no road riders or one of those guys who cycle in big group. We are just two humble "PCN (Park Connectors) Riders"

One of those nights and my wife looks like a human canon ball.

I always knew about OCBC Cycle and how fun it could be but being a noob cyclist, joining a cycling event never ever crossed my mind cause I was really worried that I get stampede all over.

Yes, I imagine I'm Simba.

But guess what? I DID IT!

The Day Before The Ride

It's funny how I started my 1st cycling event at KL Malaysia instead of Singapore but nonetheless the experience was superb. The group met early and we got our bikes transported over to Malaysia. But 1st I need to thanks my cousin who woke up early and help us send our bike from Punggol to the meeting point early on a Saturday morning.

The power of Honda Fit. Fitting two Mountain bikes into one.

And before we know it we were at KL! And making this trip even more awesome are the companions we had.

We are glad to be accompanied by season riders like Kevin, Weili, Siva and Airani as well as #TeamNoob that consist of me, my wife, my grumpy sports partner - Jac and Jon who is also an Ice cream man. 

We always ask ourselves why we do this to ourselves. We did Zumba, Mizuno Run, Roller Blading and now cycling together.

This is the ice cream man. Just when I thought I'm talkative, I've found myself a match. LOL.

On the 1st day of arrival, we were brought to watch this Ultimate Foldies race where riders lap around in very very high speed. I swear I was a little worried thinking that this will be the same for the community ride and I might just lose my life from the race. Which obviously ain't gonna happen. In case you are curious about the different type of races;

There is something for everyone!

And one of my favourite chart off their site was this one. The one that explains what type of bike can enter which races.

And sorry guys, no unicycles are allowed.

Oh oh, and we also saw the Men's open Criterium flag off as well as the winner. Man, these guys are fast!

There are 3 things that he did there that I can't:

1. Cycle that fast
2. Salute, bike moving forward with no hands on it and
3. fit into the super hero looking suit.

All the watching is over and it's about time we get some action ourselves!

#MessyHairIsMessy

We woke up early and cycled ourselves to the starting point from the hotel! Even the ride from hotel to starting point was pretty exciting!

All the 48km guys getting ready to start!

What does it means when the 48km guys are done? It means it's our turn to start! I'm not really a very good cyclist so I can't do any selfies while I was cycling so all we did was before the race got started. Which anyway not like you guys really like my selfies. HAHA

Enough is enough, I promise.

If you noticed on the pic above, we were wearing a Dux Helm. Dux helm is super cool cause you can wear it with or without the visor on! yes, they are one of the only helmet with in-built visors. You can actually get them at Bikes N Bites in Singapore.

The Ride

The ride was superb. I get to cycle around KL and look at KL like I never did before. We all know KL is one of the busiest city in the world and it is no joke for any noob for me to be cycling around KL on a usual day so I am very glad we are given this chance with the road closed and all. The route was pretty challenging especially for peeps who ain't used to cycling as there were around 4 climbs and you really need to engage the right gear and also some power to get yourself up. During the community ride, you can see many of the bikes stopping and pushing their bike up. I am very proud of the wife as she didn't do that! Although she was a little slower than usual because of the slopes, she still managed to get it done! We spent around an hours to complete the 1st 12km and I spent around another 30ish min for my 2nd lap. But I was feeling like this on the final slope during the 2nd lap:

Me summoning my inner nine tails chakra!

Being a very competitive person, the whole event mood did push me to finish faster than I usually could have done. The adrenaline rushed was so good and I feel like I could have done more! In fact I regret I didn't go for the 48km Challenge! Although it was a community ride and not a race, the feeling of overtaking someone is just sweeet. #MaleEgo

5 Noob Tips For Noob cyclists.

So if you are planning to join the OCBC Cycle Singapore 2014 and you are very worry because you are noob like me, here are some tips from another noob who just finished the Malaysia ride.  

1. Identify the "indecisive" riders and avoid them. They are the cyclist who cannot make up their mind to cut or go straight. Those are the people who cause "traffic accidents"

2. Always watch where you are riding and be prepared to stop because you do not know when the person in front of you choose to stop or there's holes on the road (applied to MY mainly, I don't think there's much holes in SG's road.)

3. Sunglasses/Visor is very important, even if you are not afraid of the sun, the dust on the road can be pretty bad. Especially if you are wearing contact lenses like me and going on for 24km or 48km on the road in that kinda speed is no joke.

4. Don't dismount and push. This one is something I feel personally, it might be different for others. The idea is that pushing and walking is actually more tiring and slower.

5. Always engage the right gear! This is very important. I use to be one of those BMX Fixie cyclist and using gears seems to be such a chore to me. (especially when you have the habit of driving auto car) Changing gears will save your live really!

More pictures that I want to post but I've no more story to tell. 

The very hospitable representative from OCBC! She kept calling me "One of Singapore Top Blogger" *SHY*

We did it!

The man (yes, man) who made it all possible - @motorman

I always knew my back view looked better.

Still can't believe she actually did this with me! Thank you!

And the classic jump shot.

 And also...

Here is a very cool video by Kevin! I thought the idea of video-ing himself thru the mirror and the road at the same time is pure genius. I wish I've such gadget too! So much good memories watching this!



Now I just can't wait for OCBC Singapore!

Mr.Smith, No Helmet No Ride!

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