Mauritius

Last October, I got the opportunity for a business trip to Mauritius.

As this is my first time to a country-so-near-Africa, I was kinda excited...(and worried about work at the same time)

But well, despite geographically near to that big continent, this country is no where similar to those African countries as its population are mostly Asians - Indian & Chinese who migrated over to this small island during the British/French colonialism. Basically it's just like our beloved country, multi-race & multi-religion.

My flight was supposedly scheduled at noon but has been delayed until 9pm plus...A few more hours for me to spend at home before bidding goodbye :-)

Initially the Air Mauritius flight would stopover in Changi, but due to the delay, it was vice versa, meaning, it stopped at Changi first before KLIA.

Besides Mauritians, Singaporeans and Malaysians, the passengers onboard were also from the Bangla land....

yea, the Bangladeshi involve largely in their textile industry!

Before arrival, the forms that required to fill up

the onboard meal - tiramisu, shrimp with macaroni salad, buns, biscuit, and the main meal of potatoes, fish in tomato sauce, capsicum, carrots etc

Landed in 'Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport' in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Took the cab to our hotel located in Moka, which is about 40 - 50 minutes drive on a dark road.

When we reached the hotel, the door was locked and no one at sight. The receptionist only came to unlock the glassdoor upon seeing us. Me and colleague were really sleepy as we did not sleep well in the plane *the Bangladeshi were too noisy

After a quick check-in, we went to our respective room to continue with zZzzZZZzz

luckily it was a Sunday, otherwise no chance to steal a few hours of sleep.

The Voila Hotel is a V-shape building with only 3-stories high. My room is located at the 2nd floor. Quite decent room with basic amenities, such as shower area, toilet, a queen size bed, wardrobe, safety box.

Open concept - The toilet is transparent, and so does the shower room

the room view at night

working desk

Another view from different corner. I like the huge glass window, it provides natural lighting to the room during the daytime as well as spectacular sunset view in the evening.

the room is of moderate size, can't expect much as it is paid by our client.

I slept thru the nite and woke up to a very bright morning...and I thought i hav overslept and missed the breakfast. Luckily the breakfast was until 11, and I quickly freshen up myself to have my brunch. My first meal in Mauritius is a western style breakfast...ok, this was from the hotel daily breakfast buffet.

was having my brunch alone as my colleague has taken it earlier

After the heavy brunch, gotta 'gambate' to continue my work before meeting client on Monday.



Team Building @ Eagle Ranch Resort, Port Dickson - Dinner

When the nite falls, we had an outdoor barbeque dinner by the pool...

Well, the pool isn't that near to our dining place, but it is visible within a distant.

The stage has been set up with loudspeakers and mic, all ready for us to sing our heart out - Karaoke session!

Dinner starts at 7pm, but some were already sitting there eating even before 7!

*early bird gets the fat worms

anyway, since yours truly is not an early bird, I only got down around 7:15pm.

The staffs were still busy grilling, but most dishes/grilled meats have been served on the tray. We only took the food from the buffet tray since we dun have to do the grilling.

Whats on my plate - spaghetti, cold sausages, coleslaw, salads, grilled chicken wing, grilled sausage, corns, mashed potatoes.

and for my second round - creamy mushroom soup, grilled lamb, prawns, another grilled sausage, grilled fish (wrapped in aluminium foil), coleslaw.

There are various gravy and sauces for the grilled meat, but I prefer mine with mushroom sauce & black pepper sauce.

*Skies getting darker, hence my picture unclear

after some desserts, I couldn't fit in anymore food.

There were prize giving ceremony (for the team building) after the dinner. Yours truly got AEON voucher as condolence prize...

After then, the karaoke session for those who has the gut to sing on stage!

as for those who don't sing, they can only compete in finishing the beers

The nite was warm, I spent my nite enjoyin' the 'terrible singings' and the outdoor view while some of my colleagues drove to the nearby beach and town for some breeze & more exciting entertainment.



Team Building @ Eagle Ranch Resort, Port Dickson

Sometime last month, we had a company team building involving all staffs...

Various physical and sports activities were planned for the day. Me and colleague hav our breakfast first before we departed to PD.

Clear porky soup with dark soy sauce noodles

After 1:15 hour journey, we reached there on time for registration! 

the resort adapts the 'Cowboy town' theme

u'll see wooden barrel lining along the alleys, some are garbage bins!

and wooden buildings which are the convenience-cum-souvenir-store and restaurants

our first activity was the Go Kart!

*That green cart is just for illustration purpose only. Real cart doesn't look like this!

we spent the entire morning just for the Go Karting...coz we have about 8 teams where everyone in the team has to be involved...

After then, it was time for lunch!

Simple buffet-style lunch, not much of variety, but is enough to feed our hungry stomachs

The salad/greens section

desserts - consists of kuih, cakes, pudding, fruits

salads....colorful ones

my plate(s) of foods....

the dining hall is huge enough to accommodate 100+ diners

following our lunch, it's time to 'check-in' to our rooms

yea, it is a 2D1N stay in Eagle Ranch Resort...

I did not stay overnite, but still proceed with check-in coz I need the bathroom for shower

There are a variety of room types in this resort, however the committee has already arranged the rooms for us and thus we did not get to choose.

Due to limited rooms for certain types, it was mix of different types for us...

Some got the bandwagon style room. It looks attractive from the outside, but unfortunately the housekeeping was so bad plus terrible air ventilation (due to lacking windows). Luckily I did not get this!

I got the Log Cabin style...It is a semi-detached unit, and yes, we (me & roommate) have a neighbour!

basically all our 'neighbours' were mostly us, although there were some from other companies (which had their team building there too)

 the Log Cabin is much better than the bandwagon, at least it has windows and an outdoor shower

yea, this is the outdoor shower - u can shower while enjoyin' the stars coz it is roof-less

the interior - u will be greeted with this wall painting of a lone ranger upon entering the room

this door connects to our neighbour...It can be locked from both sides

the windows and the walk-in-closet (at the right)

 

 here's our neighbour unit...different wall painting

twin beds for us, whereas it is single queen size bed next door - 'my bed' on the right...which I rested for an hour only 

the tea set

and the verandah...too hot to sit here during the daytime....

After checking in, we hav more field activities which only ended by 5.

Then, it was free-and-easy....so I ventured around and saw this horse carriage. Real horse, but gotta pay if u wanna ride.

the pools and the open air dining area with stage

pool and kampong house

the double-storey kampong house

I visited one of the kampong house that my colleague stayed, she got the pool view from her room

where u can stalk people swimming ;-)

but the room is slightly warm due to direct facing the sunset

if the weather is good, this would make a perfect place to enjoy the pool view  while sipping a fruit punch, wuahahaha!

further away, there is a horse ranch but there was only a horse at sight....

hello lonely horse, dun turn ur back towards me, ok?

 since the horse was so unfriendly, I moved on to get some cold drinks from the convenient store. It also sells souvenirs besides junk foods. 

There are a few restaurants in this resort, other than its own cafeteria (where we had our lunch earlier on). But since our dinner was also pre-arranged, I got no chance to try out any of them.

to be continued...





Ramen Village

Another outlet which has just opened in IOI City Mall is the Ramen Village, just beside the Peranakan Place.

It offers a variety of halal ramen. If u r looking for 'char shiu' ramen, then u can jst forget about this place....

 Like any other food outlet in this mall, the interior is tastefully designed...but I tink the theme looks more 'Peranakan' than 'Japanese'....don't u think so?

 here's my shio ramen (chicken ramen) at RM16.90

After 10% service charge & 6% GST, the price is RM19.70

 tastewise, ok ler....

I put lotsa chili flakes and chili oil to enhance the soup base, coz personally I think it was rather bland.