Our Weekend - After settling down

Tweet A little more than 4 months have passed since me and my husband settled into KL, and so far, so good! With some of the basic things figured out, we can now move into other things "to do" in Malaysia.

I used to play golf when I was back in Manila. Not that I am a good golfer, just plain (very average) player who simply enjoys the green, the scent of mornings and being there with nature all around. The driving range can also help take out some stress, and can teach you a thing or two about patience & discipline. But I haven't taken up golf for a while now, with all the things happening in my life the past year. I often heard about how "great" it is in Malaysia for golfers... the golf stuff are cheap and the fees for playing/driving range are reasonable.

When I first introduced golf to hubby (while he was living in Singapore), he was immediately captured by this sport -- and wanted to buy a golf set. I think that is the immediate response in mind when you enjoy your first few driving range experience ... you want your own set! I stopped him from that impulsive purchase (we were in Suntec City in Singapore). With the green fees and having no car in that country, I know in my mind he will almost never, ever use that golf set.

Fast forward to 2007 and already settled in Malaysia, we drove around that weekend, simply to look for the Kelana Jaya LRT station. We wanted to know where that stop is, thinking it was near his Uptown office, maybe he could drop me off that station when I start working so I can be on my way to the heart of KL. To our discovery, it's not that near to Damansara Uptown. Scratch that idea.

So while driving around, we chanced upon a big banner stating "golf set discount". We stopped at the Golf & Fashion store (Taman Bukit Emas) and browsed through their items. The store supervisor (named Downey) is a nice guy. He entertained all my questions and queries, and even gave me tips on what to buy (and what not-to-buy). There were 2nd hand items in his store, and some brand new sets which were sold below the prices of golf shops found in shopping malls. The simple explanation will be they have lower rent compared to golf shops in mals, therefore they can give better prices. It seems also that from his explanation, golf stuff are not taxed in Malaysia -- which makes it affordable. He has customers from Japan and Korea who would come visit the store and would buy 3-4 golf sets to bring back home, since purchasing golf items in those countries will really cost you.

After 30 minutes of chatting and browsing, we settled on a set which is brand new. We paid a little over RM1,000 for it. It's actually a set for my husband. The store supervisor threw in a free golf glove for hubby, which I am quite happy about. Overall, it was good we waited until now to buy his set. I am positive that we will be able to put that set to good use in the days to come.

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We bought hubby's golf set on Saturday. After a nice pancake breakfast at Paddington Pancakes in Sri Hartamas Shopping Center (they open at 8am the whole month of April, with a promo on pancakes at RM.80 cents until 9am only), me and hubby decided to put that golf set to good use!

It was quite easy driving to the KGPA golf country club. If you know Eastin Hotel in PJ, well it's very near that place. To our delight, at the driving range, it was just RM10- per bucket, which had 100 balls. Quite reasonable at that price. Now that I experienced driving range in Malaysia, I noticed how great life is in Manila. Why? You go to any driving range in Manila, you park your car. Someone comes to carry your golf set. Then when you are ready to get into action, there's actually a person putting the balls on the right spot for you to drive out into the wide open. After your activity, this person actually takes the irons / clubs you used and clean it. They even clean your shoes. After which they carry the bag back to your car. Of course, you will need to tip the guy for doing all that. Still, it's a cheap price to pay for all that luxury! I miss Manila!

Basically, here in Malaysia (or in KGPA at least) you carry your own golf bag to the driving range. Then you put your own golf balls into position before you drive out. You clean you own set (at home). Maybe if I go to another driving range there will be a different kind of service... will find out soon enough once we get the ball rolling with this golf thing.

Hubby definitely enjoyed our morning at the driving range. We had a quick lunch at Raju (again, ha ha!). Then headed back home. He went out for the 1st time with his mountain bike (which he brought all the way from France), riding around the Damansara Perdana area. While I went off to yoga class.

It was a day full of activities which we quite enjoyed. Weekends in Malaysia are great, and still holds a bag-full of surprises in the days to come.

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Saturday night was spent on a food adventure with our friends at One Bangsar. We tried the Vietnamese restaurant along Jalan Ara and was not disappointed with our choice. It was a good dinner with great service. And we had the chance to try different dishes from the 3 regions of Vietnam. From the explanation of the guy who entertained us, they have 3 chefs in the house, with specialty from 3 different reshions of Vietnam. There were dishes with fire-flaming on the side. Cute & tasty appetizers. And strong Vietnamese coffee to end the interesting dinner. Our bill (for 4 person) ended up more than RM200-. Quite reasonable for a fine-dining Vietnamese place which gave us an insight to their dish (other than the Pho / noodle soup that I am used to). The server's name was Tom, and he was very friendly! I think he is a marketing guy by heart, and will surely go places with his kind of customer service.

Cungdinh Vietnam
Address: One Bangsar, Jalan Ara, Bangsar Baru 59100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +60 (3) 2283-5088