Morib is one of the fastest fastest beach to get to for those staying in KL or PJ. Its access is faster now with the SKVE and easier connection to Banting town. Morib and its public beach is a popular weekend day trip and weekend destination. After the rebranding of the stretch from Morib to Bagan Lalang as the Gold Coast, a number of new hotels have sprung up. There is the fabulous and luxurious Awani Sepang Gold Coast Resort in Bagan Lalang to the brutalist Morib Golf Club Hotel I stayed many years ago and was surprised to see it still around after so many years.
When I was in Seremban, I drove around the suburb town of Taman AST where I saw so many pubs, bars and nightclubs. Seemed like the capital of debauchery in Seremban.
Similarly, Kuala Lumpur has the Jalan P Ramlee area where gullible white male tourists fall n love with transvestite night workers and send a text to his mother the next day. “Mom, I fell in love with the girl of my dreams and may marry her” One Brit did.
.Anyway in the center of AST, I saw a huge building named Wisma CK or City Kingdom. I thought it was a Mega Church at first. Driving closer, I saw it advertising a convention hall and ballroom from outside but strangely there was no indication it is also a hotel – the Fame Hotel inside. We KLites know so little about hotels in Seremban because KL city is so near and we can drive home or drive to the beach hotels of Port Dickson or PD.
I have only stayed at the Seri Malaysia hotel in Seremban previously and it was moldy and aging .There was also the Allson Hotel that changed its name so many times I don’t know its name anymore. It is now the Klana Resort Seremban, as I was to find out. Many new hotels have came about since. Many are in the new satellite township of Seremban 2.
I wrote recently about Kota Kinabalu being the sunset capital of the world, particularly from the beaches of Tanjung Aru. On peninsular Malaysia, we have what may be the Sunrise Capital. The sunrise are consistently glorious. I am talking about the beaches of Cheating near Kuantan city. It faces the east and the South China Sea. I used to stay at the Hyatt Regency Kuantan which was on the Teluk Cempedak beach. Loved the sea facing dining terrace at the Hyatt Kuantan,
The sunrise view from there was great too. Many Malaysians know Cherating from Club Med located there. One day on this same day, around 13 years ago, and it was also Workers Day or Labour Day, also a public holiday then,
I took an impulse drive to Kuantan. Every hotel from luxury beach resorts to budget hotels were fully booked. Was grateful for the thoughtful hotels that placed a sign showing “full house” visible from the car. Grateful also for budget hotels that have their phone numbers on their lighted signboards. You will appreciative that too when you parked and ran in/out of lobbies like a million times.
Many hotel less people ended up sleeping in the car which presented two challenges. Option 1: Die of carbon monoxide poisoning if the car engine and air conditioning were kept running, Lower the windows and the car will host a buzzing mosquito party.
Option 2: You will die of Dengue and other mozzie carried diseases. Moral of the story: Book your hotel in advance as everyone has the same idea to visit a popular tourist destination on a public holiday.
Google was so primitive then and it even suggested Genting Highlands Resort as an alternative nearby hotel. I called up and expectedly they were full house too. Is like that all over the world. I recently wrote about the overcrowding at Yellowstone National Park in the US. Check availability ahead for hotels in Cherating, Kuantan and anywhere in the world via MyCen Hotels http://www.mycen.my/
Anyway, I parked and slept at the very dark car park of an unknown beach hotel in Cherating. With the full occupancy, the open air park was full too. Was lucky to get a space. Luckily my then travel partner and camera assistant Pooi-San was quite a tough and hardy girl. I walked groggily to the beach at around 6 am and soon saw the most beautiful sunrise. A just reward for all the hardship.
