We have made a tradition of taking time out to do a staycation (which refers to staying at a local hotel, not staying at home) twice a year in addition to our yearly overseas trips (Melbourne last year and Frankfurt and Paris this year) and our shorter trips like to Hat Yai about a month ago.
You could say that travelling is our passion in life. 🙂
It’s actually a lot of fun and you get to experience the city where you live from a visitor’s perspective!
This time around, we stayed at Hotel Royal in Kuala Lumpur and basically:
1. Ate a lot of food
2. Caught a musical
3. Enjoyed each other’s company.
I’ll write more tomorrow, part of the purpose of having a staycation is to get away from the daily things you do and not do anything remotely work related. 
Posted: 10:38 pm Kuala Lumpur time
It looks like a great time! 🙂
Thanks Linda! 🙂
Yup, it was great fun! We did a lot of things we normally wouldn’t (hardly go to KL CBD nowadays coz it’s so far away and it’s so congested) so that was a nice change. Good quality time spent together, all in all.
Nice!!! Though I just got back from my vacation, I still thinking of a staycation with my family. Probably nearby at Desaru …
That sounds good mate! 🙂
It’s fun to bring the family along too. We did that in Langkawi last year:
http://sixthseal.com/2013/08/family-trip-to-langkawi-day-1/
…though it’s technically not a staycation since it’s quite far away. We go with the kids sometimes and sometimes it’s just us, it’s nice to strike a balance. I enjoy doing it either way. Have fun!
Oooooo…I saw Mamma Mia many years ago in Singapore and enjoyed it so much….especially the finale when everyone got off their seats and sang along and danced!!!
That time, it was supposed to be staged in KL but it was banned by “those people” based on the fact that in the story, the woman did not know which of the three men was the girl’s father – and the holier-than-thou people were unhappy with that. Tsk! Tsk! It’s just a story, mere entertainment! As if one, after watching the movie, would go out and sleep with three men or more and have a kid and not know who the father is. Absurd!!! Absolutely ridiculous.
Now that they’ve made the movie, a worldwide hit, and it was screened here too, now only do they allow the musical to be staged in KL. Rules then and rules now different meh? Stupid!!! That is why we are always way way way behind others – the reason is obvious!
Nice! I enjoyed it very much too! 🙂
I was riveted by the incredible performance by Sara Poyzer playing Donna Sheridan while singing/narrating The Winner Takes It All to Sam. Emotional, gut wrenching and heart breaking, it’s perfect and I’ll go for that rendition alone.
I caught Mamma Mia in London too! This is supposed to be the cast from London but I think they’re the secondary/backup cast. I remember clearly from my program that Dianne Pilkington was playing Donna in West End.
Yeah, I totally know what you mean buddy!
1. Tardiness and no shut door policy
The performance in KL was soooo unregulated, in London, Australia and Singapore, if you’re late, you can’t go in until the intermission coz you’ll disturb other patrons. I was surprised to see the ushers let in a Malay family 5 minutes AFTER the show started and they had to pass in front of us. This happened a lot of times, after intermission too.
In better countries e.g. London, Australia, Singapore, you don’t get in, PERIOD, no matter who you are, if you’re late. You wait till the intermission e.g. in The Lion King, people were held up coz it was a prop heavy production and they had to move in, so some people were stuck outside but only let in after a pause in the musical even though it was not their fault:
http://sixthseal.com/2011/05/i-just-cant-wait-to-be-king/
2. Censorship
The scene where Rosie was about to have sex with Bill in the taverna (after The Winner Takes It All scene) was modified from the original West End production – to pacify the TENDER SENSIBILITIES of “those people” no doubt.
It’s so funny how fragile and afraid they are – it’s like they think the population doesn’t have much education (which is actually true) and due to the culture accepts anything being said as truth.
I was reading a book called “Service: A Navy SEAL at War” by Marcus Luttrell and he said the same thing about those Muslim terrorists in Iraq. They easily did “bait ops” where they would broadcast insults like “Quit hiding behind your women and fight” and some stuff about their religion and they’ll stupidly come out with their AK-47s to be shot by the SEALs.
It seems to be their culture – Luttrell (a former Navy SEAL who was captured and got free in Afghanistan in Operation Redwing) calls the Muslims there as having “fragile egos” and wanting to send the rest of the world back to the Dark Ages and I couldn’t agree more – so stupid, afraid that a little scene would cause people to actually have sex. *rolls eyes*
3. No interaction
It’s my experience in London and Australia, especially at the awesome world premiere of Strictly Ballroom: The Musical that the people watching the show would stand up and dance and sing along and there was even a conga line of dancing with the crew and cast up to the stage:
http://sixthseal.com/2014/06/a-whimsical-review-of-strictly-ballroom-the-musical-at-sydney-lyric/
There’s no such thing here. I thought Singaporeans are conservative, but they’re actually not, at least not in musicals as I saw people singing along as well at The Lion King. Australians are quite a rowdy bunch and it was a lot of fun singing along to Strictly Ballroom. However, Malaysians, especially certain conservative groups, just politely clap and I was the only one singing along during the encore.
There was NO calls for encore too, which I thought was rude as the cast did a great job. I think Malaysians in general have very limited exposure to musicals, it’s sad that so many are uncultured.
You’re right, there’s a reason the country is being run to ground, what with the increasingly intolerant groups e.g. PERKASA tearing down a Christmas banner and the seizure of hymn books. I’ll be seriously thinking about migrating to Australia or even Singapore with my better half and kids and dad if things gets worse here, or come back to Sarawak.
I like the word staycation.. Ever since having kids, let alone staycation, we don’t really go out anymore, except to hypermarkets and also to the mil’s place.. Kids get restless pretty fast, so we can’t stay long.. We eat fast, shop fast, walk fast.. I think when they are bigger, then life would be easier for me..
You can have one with your other half though! 🙂
I’ve always thought it’s good to have a balance, maybe coz that’s how I was raised. Both my parents are working so I was left with my grandma and by myself as I got older. I took the bus to school at 13 years old and went to New Zealand with my sister to study at 15 years old.
My parents have always wanted us to be independent and I think that’s a good thing. We do have holidays with the kids and we spend most of the week with the kids but sometimes it’s good to have time alone e.g. just the two of you too!
It keeps the romance alive and that’s very important in a relationship e.g. in other countries, couples with very young kids would drop their kids off at babysitters and go out on a date or a short weekend together. We do it here too, except the babies are usually dropped off at a relative’s place (at least I was, slept with my grandma when my parents were off together).
Try it out, maybe take 2 nights out alone per month or take a short 1 night staycation with your husband at first, and leave the kids with relatives or a babysitter. It helps the kids develop independence and important coping skills and it helps you have a better relationship with your husband too.
All the relationship books I’ve read has stressed this. Haha! I just do it coz I like it.
I’m just suggesting it coz you sound stressed out and that’s not good so sometimes a break is a very good thing for you and your other half to recharge and come back to the young kids again. Take care and all the best!
The best part was to eat at the same place for the past 3 days without getting bored.Probably there are so many choices of food and I don’t mind eating for the fourth day..ahahha. Oohh and getting a new pair of shoes. Thanks dear..
I love this post as you made it sound fun and funny to tickle ribs. I like that photo of your splitting images inside one room. I always took pains to do that shots in my FB.
The only local hotels I slept in Klang Valley were Saujana Country Club Hotel & Cyberview Lodge which both offered real retreat relaxation. I might follow your style and live inside the city!
the staycation is a great idea, but i would feel weird coz being a local KL, i could jst drive back home and sleep at my own sweet bed rather than sleeping in hotel. Unless if it is some company team building activity and the room is sponsored by company, then is different story 😉
Wooaahh.. love your idea of doing the staycation.. and both of you have so many vacationssssssss already.. jealous !!
Great times to spend together. A getaway eventhough within the town itself.
What a brilliant idea to do this. Makes life so much more interesting!
Hi Hi, does Hotel Royal has its own car park? Is it free? I’m thinking of staying there this weekend. Heard that most hotels in Bkt Bintang do not have car park. Thanks.