Family trip to Desaru (16 June to 18 June 2023)

We’re going to Desaru! Lexuan is very excited too! She is so excited until she has been telling everybody in school and our neighbours that she is going Malaysia! I’m so excited too as it is my first time to Desaru! 

We woke up 5am as our ferry is at 8.30am. Luckily, it was quite easy to get a cab early in the morning but it cost us $39. My parents were the first ones to reach. We had a quick coffee and breakfast (not so nice Siew Mai and kueh). My sis came then I realized we needed to get boarding pass. Hahaha. We thought can just scan the QR code. 

We didn’t have to wait long and we could board soon. We boarded around 8am and it’s so packed. Luckily, we got quite good seats as some have to sit outdoors in the sun. We were feeling sleepy but Lexuan doesn’t want to sleep. So, we didn’t get to sleep too. In the 1.5hrs, I went toilet 3 times. Hahaha. 

We reached Desaru Coast around 10am. Customs is considered quite fast I would say. We bought some snacks before we boarded the hotel shuttle bus to our hotel. The bus is so packed that people were standing on the bus. 

Since our rooms are not ready, we went to have early lunch at the beach bar. We were the only customers there. We ordered the beef burger (so-so), fish & chips, satay (which doesn’t taste like satay), club sandwich (not too bad), truffle fries (not bad), calamari (Lexuan’s favourite). The coconut shake with vanilla is nice that we ordered 3 of it!!

Then we went to buy ice cream from the nearby shop. 2 rooms are ready so we can finally rest in the room. We showered and Lexuan had a quick time in the bath tub. Jianhui and I napped for a short while while our girl is super energetic as usual. 

Jianhui went to lobby for a quick beer. It’s the most windy at the lobby there. Lexuan did hand painting at the kids’ corner. Her first drawing is a rainbow, then followed by unicorn and heart. 

We met up with the rest at 4.30pm. We walked over to Hard Rock Hotel which was very near. We happily bought a lot of snacks and some drinks at the cafe there. The big packet of twisties is so yummy as it is bigger, unlike the ones we have in Singapore. 

Then we called grab to go Nelayan seafood by the coast. Lexuan wanted to take the car with my sis they all. So, my parents, Jianhui and I reached first. At first they allocated a table for us inside the small air con room. But luckily Jianhui managed to get an outdoors table for us. 

It was one of my best seafood dinner in the longest time! The fish is big and yummy; cereals prawns are fresh and the crabs are yummy too! Totally a great dinner! And it only costs us MYR580, about SGD160+? 

It was a bit hot so Lexuan was a bit grouchy especially she is so tired. Jianhui brought her out to the beach then she feels much better. She was rushing us to finish our dinner. This place seems to be for Singaporean as we see a lot of Singapore cars at the car park. 

4 of them called grab and only Jianhui and Alan got the grab after waiting for quite sometime. Luckily, the place is quite near. It cost us MYR11 to go back for a 5 mins ride. 

We were so tired by the time we were back. We showered and all ready to sleep.

In the end, we slept around 9pm+. I had a good sleep and all the way to 7am, only waking up about 2 times. 

17 June 2023 

We woke up around 7am. By the time we got ready, Lexuan is up. My parents were having breakfast so we sent Lexuan to eat breakfast with them. We went for a short run/walk around the area. 

By the time we were back, the restaurant was packed. Lucky we didn’t have to wait long for our seats. By the time it was 9am, there’s a long queue outside. 

Overall, the breakfast is not bad, especially the egg Prata, nasi lemak, sunny side up and there’s teh tarik too! What a satisfying breakfast. I got to drink milk, orange juice, americano and milk! ☺️ It gets very hot outside though. 

Then we went back to the room, to get ready to go water adventure park. 

At around 10.30am, we walked over to the water adventure park. It cost MYR150 per pax. It was very fun! I myself had lots of fun! There was one green winding ride which is damn scary as I was feeling giddy the moment I was out of the ride. 

Lexuan had her own share of fun too! We also tried surfing. It was quite fun too… though my contact lens nearly dropped off with the waves against me. 

And of course I must buy the family photos! It’s quite worth it actually, 3 hard copies photos come with soft copies for all photos! All for MYR110s My sis they all bought Lexuan a cute daddy shark! 

We played until 1.30pm before we walked back to our hotel. We all showered and I made Maggie mee for lexuan. She didn’t really like it plain so she ate a bit only. Then we joined the rest at the restaurant downstairs. Lexuan did her hand painting again (rainbow popsicles) and we saw Ironman too! 

They ordered the laksa and it wasn’t nice. We ordered the tandoori chicken which was not bad and the margarita pizza was well-loved by everybody too! The mushroom soup was not bad too! 

Then we had fun playing table soccer, pool and carom too before we all went back room to rest. 

Lexuan, with all her energy, continued to play in bath tub while we rested.

Then we met up at 6.05pm at the lobby to go for dinner. We going back Nelayan seafood by the coast! It’s quite hard to catch grab. And when we finally got one, it’s the same grab we took last night and the driver sent my sis to Nelayan then came back to fetch us. Haha.

We ordered scallops, steam fish (which is damn good), kang kong, fish maw soup, prawns with silky egg and sambal lala! Today’s damage is more than expensive to our surprise. Then we had a hard time calling grab again. And once again, we had to rely on the same driver who sent my sis they all back to come and fetch us. Haha.

We were back around 8.30pm. It’s time to rest and relax. Lexuan was watching Sheng Siong until she fell asleep around 9.30pm. 

We slept around 10pm. We didn’t have a good sleep compared to previous night. 

18 June 2023 

We woke up to beautiful sunrise around 7am!

We went to the beach so Jianhui can go swimming while Lexuan was playing with the sand. 

Then we went back room to get ready for breakfast. My parents have finished breakfast when we saw them at the restaurant. 

Today I had porridge, sunny side up, yummy hash brown, orange juice, milk, Prata. Totally way too full. 

Jianhui continued to eat while I brought Lexuan up to the room to get changed. We’re going swimming. The swimming pool is nice to swim. Lexuan is very happy playing with her unicorn floaty, water spray and swimming board. 

We swarm till 10am+ then we went back room to shower. As usual, Lexuan was happily playing in bath tub. 

It started to rain heavily. Luckily, we were blessed with good weather when we first reached Desaru. Our driver messaged us around 11.50, so I am quite relieved as I am scared the driver goes MIA. 

Lexuan, being very focused, managed to do her hand painting and even got her to queue for a lollipop 🍭 balloon. 

Then off we made our journey back to Singapore! 

All good until we about to reach 2nd link. The jam started even though it’s 1.35pm. We reached customs at 2.20pm and reached Singapore customs at 2.40pm. We were so happy to be able to go toilet for a while! 

It was totally a great 3D2N family trip and I really had a great time. Such family trip is so precious and memorable. I am filled with lots of happy memories and happy thoughts this weekend. 

Looking forward to the next family trip! And maybe we can have a family tee too! 

Happy Father’s Day to all super daddies!