It does not feel right for us to let 2 months of school holiday go by without taking the kids somewhere nice (our hometown does not count). But the thing about last minute reservations is, they are always more expensive than early bookings. Like it or not, that’s the way it is. The small 2-bed room at Corus Paradise Resort in Port Dickson cost us around 300 ringgit for this Christmas eve trip.
Living further south in Semenyih, the journey to Port Dickson (PD) took us just slightly over an hour. The parking lot was crowded with tenants but we managed to squeeze into a parking spot. As I said the room was tiny, just enough to fit 2 queen-size beds, a couple of chairs and that’s it. Not ideal for our family of 5 but we had to make do. It’s the only hotel with a beachfront and swimming pool. We’ve looked at a few AirBNB place but none were actually right beside the beach or the ones that do is beyond our budget. After checking in, the kids did not waste time getting into the swimming pool. Later we had a little swim and dip in the sea just outside the hotel.
Port Dickson beach does not exactly offer sandy white beaches or crystal-clear water but the beach is relatively clean with the odd rubbish here and there. The water is mixed with darkish sediment but it is still swimmable. We frolicked around the beach until sunset before returning to our hotel room.
In the evening I took my wife out for dinner in PD town. There’s a few place to choose from but we ultimately settled for a regular tom yam restaurant near the PD waterfront area. The food not bad but not exactly stellar. On the way back we say a fun fair that looks pretty interesting to especially for the kids. However after some quick calculation, the rides are going to cost us at least 20 ringgit each, that’s over a hundred ringgit for all of us. Wish we had some money to burn but it is the week before the school reopens and you know how much that’s gonna cost. So we decided to skip it altogether. Perhaps another time.
The next day the kids went for another round of swimming and bathing in the swimming pool. As always, Linda and the girls took the free breakfast buffet while Adam and I drive around PD town looking for a breakfast place. There’s no way I’m going to pay 32 ringgit for a lousy hotel breakfast buffet. It would be a great dishonour for my asian values. We did found a decent restaurant just outside town and it cost half what the hotel charges.
Before going back, we stopped by the army museum along the main road going out of PD. You can’t miss it, it’s literally at the main junction between PD and Teluk Kemang. There was a steady stream of visitors to the museum, not exactly crowded but alive. There was no entry fee whatsoever which probably explains the poor upkeep of the place. Some of the exhibit rooms have no functioning air-conditioner or proper ventilation making them really hot and stuffy, not conducive to visiting at all. As a result, some visitors (ie me) would not want to spend too much time in the building as we quickly make our way out to find fresh air. Honestly I think people would be more than willing to pay a nominal fee to keep the place running better and more visitor-friendly. It’s a shame really because there’s much to learn from many of the historical and informative exhibits.
And that conclude our short holiday getaway to PD. To be honest, I will not be thrilled to visit the town again any time soon. There’s simply not much for us to do except bath in the sea water or swimming pool. Nothing much to do that do would not cost us an arm and a leg to be precise.
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