Being a typical city gal, I've never been particularly fond of forests and mountains (I've never even been on a camping trip -_-), not to mention these places are full of creepy crawlies n biting insects that scare the crap out of me... One day, my hubby suggested a short forest getaway - as an escape from our usual busy city life. After much persuasion, I agreed to give it a try since this would be a 'new' experience for me. We searched online and decided on Seremban coz it's not too far away, ideal for a weekend retreat.
There are 3 different resorts with such concept within the same area: The Shorea, The Dusun and Awanmulan. Speaking of which, the first 2 are in the 28 Best Places To Stay At In Malaysia's Most Loved Holiday Destinations. I looked through and chose The Shorea as the architecture of the resort and the pool appealed to me the most. The journey to this secluded resort took about 30 minutes from the Seremban city. Finding it was a bit of a challenge as there was no clear signboard pointing to the entrance. We actually missed the junction and went to Awanmulan. After making a u-turn, we stopped and asked some people after seeing a few cars waiting in front of a big wooden gate. We were told that was the entrance, and apparently The Dusun also uses the same entrance. There was no procedure to check in, we just had to call an Indian lady who came to meet us at the entrance and took us to the resort on a motorbike.
Being right next to the Berembun Forest Reserve, this is as close to nature as we can get - spectacular view of the rainforest, fresh air, and serene/tranquil atmosphere. For those who are interested, you can also arrange to go for jungle trekking (comes with a fee) or visit the nearby waterfall. As I mentioned earlier, I'm not really a fan of these activities, so I opted not to go.
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| If you are looking for tranquility, this is the place. |
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| Perfect for couples. |
We stayed at Villa Kemboja, which is located at the highest point of the resort. The view from the balcony was amazing as it was directly facing the infinity pool and the lush forest. The room comes with a private kitchenette with basic cooking facilities (A sink, fridge, double-stove and some utensils), a toilet with outdoor rain shower and a barbeque area within an enclosed dining courtyard.
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| View from the balcony |
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| The room |
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| The room |
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| Toilet with outdoor rain shower |
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| The kitchenette |
Guests are welcomed to do their own cooking in the villa's kitchenette, but if you want to cook something more fancy, you can always head down to the common kitchen area which has items like the oven, fryer, a range of herbs and spices etc. Meals can also be catered upon room reservation. We chose to bring our own ingredients for a BBQ dinner :)
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| Common kitchen area. |
The weather was a little hot and stuffy in the afternoon. There was no aircon, only a ceiling fan which didn't really help. Oh well, this is nature I guess, lol. We sat down on the balcony and enjoyed the famous Seremban siew pao with some tea, while admiring the calm and green surroundings.
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| Yumzzz |
Taking a dip in the plunge pool was the best. The chilly salt water was easy and gentle to eyes and skin, unlike the chlorinated pools. The swimming pool, with its infinity view, made us felt as if nothing stood between us and the nature.
At 6pm, we were informed by the staff that they had setup the table and barbeque pit for us, just in time as we were starting to feel hungry. So we brought all the ingredients and started cooking away!
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| The table setting they prepared for us |
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| Some of the food |
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| Some of the food |
Halfway through, a lady staff came over to check and see if we needed anything else. We had a little chat and offered her some food coz we had prepared a wee bit too much for the 2 of us. Hehe. Since the resort has a strict policy on noise and partying at night, we were able to chit chat and have dinner peacefully, while enjoying the cooler night breeze. Absolutely fantastic! Of course, there were some mosquito kisses here and there, but that was expected.
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| As if time stood still... |
Feeling blissful, we headed to bed with crickets singing lullaby for us in the background... only to be waken up by some rustling sound from the kitchenette in the middle of the night! We took a peep and saw a cat digging through the dustbin. I'm guessing it was the same cat we saw lurking around earlier when we were BBQ-ing >.<
We woke up to the sound of staffs preparing breakfast in the common kitchen area the next morning. The sun shone through the glass door and warmed the room when we opened the curtains. Stepping out to the balcony, I took a deep breath. Ahh, fresh air... This is probably something we don't get to do often when we are living in the city. Breakfast was served (included in the room rate) when the staff saw that we were up. It was Nasi Lemak with some cut fruits.
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| Very tasty indeed! |
Overall, this is a perfect place to spend a night or two, to relax the mind & body and be alone with the nature. The room and amenities were great, the staffs were friendly and helpful, but, would I choose to visit again? Probably not. Once is enough for me. :P
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