Kapitan Lodge, Port Dickson :: Wonderful Family Vacation Spot

*Click on pictures to enlarge*

Kapitan Lodge

This year, both my two beloved sisters were back from the UK for raya, so we decided on a little family vacation. The specifications were:

1. An all out family BBQ where we get to taste my brothers exquisite kambing cooking skills
2. A place where the kids could swim because a holiday with no water is no holiday
3. Handicap access for our dearest mom; and
4. Not too far from Bangi because she can't travel too long in the car. 

We found the perfect holiday destination. We loved it so much I am sharing the whole experience with anyone who loves to travel with big families.

Kapitan Lodge--the place we stayed-- has 5 comfortable really cold air-conditioned bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms and a huge dining and living area with a big flat-screen TV subscribed to Astro Kids. It is a colorful old wooden kampung house on stilts with one huge bedroom and en-suite toilet located on the ground floor which was just perfect for our mother who needs wheelchair access. The remaining rooms were upstairs. 

Zahir's room

Living room

Our parents room downstairs

My room

Shaza & Jah's room

Living room 2nd angle

The kitchen and dining area was also on the ground floor, open-air, and faces the courtyard and sea, with enough tables and chairs for all 24 of us and just a wonderful place to chitter-chatter and eat a hearty family meal. At around 8pm there was an open fire show for the beach-goers right in front of our lodge which the children thoroughly enjoyed. I am told the show runs on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

Luke with fire-dancer

Spitting out fire yowl

Dining area

Dining area 2nd angle

Preparing mushroom soup and
salad in the kitchen

The lodge faces the sea but is enclosed by a brick wall so the children can run freely in the area without us having to worry. Within the property, there are benches under the trees and hens and baby chicks running wild that lives in two little hen-houses at the far-left corner. On the opposite side is the BBQ pit right next to a gazebo. A little gate at the end of the compound would take us right out onto the white sandy beaches which is unusually quiet - - probably because the guests at Lexis Hibiscus have their own little private swimming pools. I forgot to mention that the beach was exactly facing the row of Lexis hotels sitting on the water, complete with water fountain to match. It was like we had our own private beach complete with beach chairs and gigantic umbrellas. We were in the water before sunset and right after sunrise. It was awesome.

We found a boat! you can see our lodge in the background

Five happy sisters

Family pic with Lexis Hibiscus in the background

For me, the best thing about the property was the privacy we get as a family and the cleanliness of the place. The toilets were modern and superbly clean-- given the traditional setting of the place, and the sheets were white and cozy. Three workers living on the property ensured everything was up to par and responded to all our requests in a friendly manner. They even help set up the BBQ pit and then later, moved the spotlight and chairs so that we can take a family picture after our dinner.

Say cheeesee!!

Row of eateries just outside our lodge
So you don't have to cook if you don't want to!

There were a row of restaurants right by the sea about 30 m from our lodge but we brought and cooked our own dinner and breakfast. For the big-family holidaymaker like us, here's a helpful to-bring list:

Home-made BBQ dinner:

• 5 kg marinated lamb
• 3 marinated chickens (potong 10)
• 3 packets of hotdogs
• Salad raita/coleslaw
• Garlic bread and mushroom soup
• Made-from-scratch mashed potatoes
• Condiments (chilli sauce, mayo, mustard etc)

The BBQ cookers

The hungry kids. Back from fire show and waiting
for dinner!!

My mother waiting for dinner!!

Breakfast:

• Three loaves of bread and filling of choice for sandwiches (we had scrambled eggs)
• Croissants, butter, assorted jams (ordered a box of croissants from Aryzta for RM49)
• Beras 2kg, santan, pandan, halia, sambal bilis siap masak dari rumah, fried anchovies, cucumbers and hardboiled eggs
• Coffee & milk and carafe for the coffee
• Don't forget sugar & salt.

The kitchen has a gas stove, a traditional kettle and a huge refrigerator but we pretty much brought all our own cooking utensils including the Noxxa, serving plates, knife and chopping board, disposable plates and cups and spoons. The children were also on a Coca Cola high for the weekend because Shaza my doctor sister bought a whole carton of 1.5l coke which they splurged on, probably for the first time in their lives. It was either that or Sarsi she said. 

Early in the morning..

View from our rooms.
You can see the lifeguard tower and Lexis hotel flag

I had made the booking on https://www.booking.com and the rate was RM1100/night. I always make my hotel bookings at booking because they don't ask for credit card details to reserve a room and you can always cancel for free before a pre-set date. For anybody wishing to book the place, I recommend looking up the dates early as it seems Kapitan Lodge are already booked most weekends. We loved the place and we would love for you to enjoy it too!! Family friendly, private, open air, very clean, beach, sand and sea. The perfect family holiday getaway! 

TQ to my dedicated cameraman for the pictures!

Kapitan Lodge, Port Dickson

Cleanliness: A  

Food: Of course A, masak sendiri kan...

Price: Very affordable

Satisfaction Level: A

Service: A

Atmosphere: A

Suraya Thai Cuisine, Bandar Baru Bangi

18, Jalan 7/7a, Seksyen 7 Bandar Baru Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia,  +60 3-8920 2181 

Suraya Thai Cuisines latest customers..

I have not written for so long, but this little restaurant simply propels me to! It was such a good bukak puasa (break fast) experience, I think I owe it to the community to let them know of it's existence.

The plan was to eat out on Father's Day because it was the only excuse I can come up with. I had called Cibiuk Bangi -- Full, Ocean Hauz -- Full, Red Wok -- Line Busy, gave up after 5 tries, and finally Suraya Thai. Suraya Thai crossed my mind because we had tried to break fast there once without booking in advance and they literally shooed us away. This squished little restaurant had to park half of its ravenous customers in front of the closed tire shop next door and all over the parking lot.

You may have read my old entry on Suraya @ Kpg Baru, I have a feeling this is the Bangi sister shop. It's on the same block as Pustaka Rakyat, Bangi's biggest bookstore, just across from Mydin Seksyen 7, so all you sub-urban people can skip the its-too-far- and-I-can't-stand-the-jams-in-KL excuse to get there, Its in Bangi and it serves the Kpg Baru menu, among them -- fresh grated Som Tam and pulut mangga. Wowww..says Luqman, the latest addition to the family that has stopped me from blogging these past 2 years, what's thiss??? --latest favourite words.

To cut it short, here is what we ordered:

1. Rice for 6 people (they served it in a big rice bowl with lid)
2. Ikan siakap 3 rasa (rated A++, finger licking good)
3. Sotong goreng tepung (rated B+ -- sauce was nice, serving was small however)
4. Som Tam (rated A - one of the best ever)
5. Tom Yam Pok Tek (rated B+, first time I had it so can't compare. It had Lala and squid in it)
6. Big glass asam boi, teh o ais and jug of fresh orange.
7. Pulut mangga x 2 (rated B+, really nice but the pulut could stay a bit longer in cooker, but that's just me, I prefer pulut lembik).
8. Total price: RM120.

Siakap 3 rasa, Big size, (enough for 5)

Tom Yam Pok Tek (enough for 4)

Som Tam (enough for 5)

Sotong goreng tepung (enough for me only!)

For 6 people, which includes one really messy individual who throws food around and makes our bibik pull her hair in despair everyday and mops the floors twice daily, it is a very very reasonable price. I had called in to book the table at 3 pm and selected the menu by looking up some google images and advice from helpful comments. The general rating online from FB, 4square etc is about 3.6 but I would definitely give it a 3.999999 ~ 4 rating. Those who pull down the average probably had to sit in front of the corner tire shop. (Request for table inside. Say you're sensitive to rain or something.)

Enjoy the pictures. Selamat berbuka puasa!

Pulut Mangga

Suraya Thai, Seksyen 7, BBB 

Cleanliness: B
Food: A-
Price: A
Satisfaction Level: A
Service: A
Atmosphere: A

p/s Special TQ to Mr Hubs who bought us all baju raya yesterday~