Lunch and tour of Vistana Hotel, Kuantan with General Manager, Wayne Lee

This lunchtime we had the pleasure of visiting Vistana Hotel in Kuantan for lunch and a tour of the hotel.

General Manager, Wayne Lee, accompanied us throughout our visit to Vistana Hotel, Kuantan.

We were also joined by Sales Director, Nurul Raffar for lunch, and later by another Nurul from the Front Desk for the tour of the hotel.

Wayne Lee is young, up-to-date, and passionate about his job. He makes for nice company at Vistana Hotel, where guests are made to feel that the staff are part of a large family at this neat and clean hotel in Kuantan.

The highlight of lunch was the huge ABC (some sort of ice dessert popular in Malaysia) that my wife ordered. As we saw it coming I remember thinking "What the hell is that?!" Anyway, Fie enjoyed it!

Sivabalan served us our food and drinks with a constant smile and is a lovely man who works at the restaurant there. Very impressed with him. In fact, Vistana Hotel belongs to YTL Hotels group, and prides itself on excellent customer service. Make sure you check out the link to that fantastic YTL Hotels website!

Wayne Lee previously worked at JW Marriott Hotel, which also comes under YTL Hotels, and upholds superb standards of service and excellence.

The rooms at Vistana Hotel Kuantan, as with the hotel itself, are simple, clean and attractive, following a contemporary style of design. The main target customers are those coming here on business. 

There is a 'Suite' on each floor. Here is what it looks like:

Lauren modelling on a corner sofa in another room

All hotels in Malaysia are required to have some local batik art on display which goes towards the star rating of the hotel. Here is an example of Vistana Hotel Kuantan's batik art collection:

Here are a few images of the swimming pool at Vistana Hotel Kuantan, which is open from 7am - 7pm daily...

Vistana Hotel Kuantan is a beautiful hotel located near the heart of Kuantan town, and just 10 minutes drive from the famous Teluk Chempedak beach. The staff there are very welcoming, friendly and helpful, and the hotel is simple, clean and attractive.

With the same beds that are used by JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton Hotels, consisting of many layers in a thick mattress, Vistana Hotel could just offer the best night's sleep in Kuantan.

We are very much looking forward to staying there for a night soon!

CPB members, vote for my photos here

Kuantan Government Hospital (HTAA) Replied my Letter of Complaint!

Those of you who have been following my blog closely will remember the letter of complaint I composed regarding the poor service we received in the Kuantan Government Hospital (HTAA).

Unfortunately, I didn't receive any reply for 3 months. Last week I decided to email the letter again. I sent it to HTAA, the Ministry of Health (MOH) and to the office of the Prime Minister.

I received an email reply from the office of the Prime Minister a few days later, which looked like this:

Sir/Madam,

LETTER OF COMPLAINT

I hereby refer to your complaint as stated above.

2.      First and foremost, Ministry of Health (MOH) would like to express our utmost gratitude for your concern in bringing up this matter.

 
3.      MOH has been looking forward to hearing more of the public insights and opinion especially on matters that would help us to improve our service quality.

4.      Therefore, MOH will conduct an immediate inquiries as well as in-depth investigation to find the best way in resolving the issue.

Thank you.

HARTINI HASHIM

Public Relations Officer

Corporate Communication Unit

Ministry of Health Malaysia

It was great to get this reply and to finally see that something was being done. Yesterday I received a phone call from a matron at HTAA, who wanted to set up an appointment with me so that I could present my case to them.

Today four matrons from HTAA arrived at our house at 11am. We had a good discussion about my letter of complaint as I retold the events of those few days we spent at the hospital. 

They apologised numerous times for the poor service we endured and they informed me that action has already been taken over the negligent nurse who failed to check my wife's blood pressure. Other problems were openly discussed and shared between us and they will send me the final report on the matter when they return it to the MOH.

I feel a great sense of justice and I'm very happy that action has been taken so that the hospital can make the necessary improvements to change for the better, especially for its patients. We were thanked for sending the letter of complaint to them and Matron Zaida commented this morning, "If you don't tell us, we don't know."

Thank you to matrons Lee, Zaida, Sara and Tan who came to our house in response to my letter of complaint, apologised, and built new friendships with us. Your time and effort to resolve these issues is very much appreciated and accepted!

CPB members, vote for my photos here

Horne Family Blog

Today I'm sharing our new family blog with you.

We used to have a free website about our family but that has been outdated with content that we can't remove. So we figured a blog would be much better to interact with our friends, family and followers in an easier way.

Our family blog can be found at 

www.duncfiehorne.blogspot.com

Here we'll be sharing all the things about our family and the growth of our children. You can also learn more about how we met, our engagement and wedding, and our life so far by clicking on the relevant pages just below the header.

Go over and have a look! 

There you'll be updated with the progress of our daughters and other family matters.

Thanks, and have a great Tuesday, whatever you're doing!

CPB members, vote for my photos here

Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall (Wan Fo Tien Temple) @ Pahang Buddhist Association

The Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall (Wan Fo Tien Temple) is part of the Pahang Buddhist Association in Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia.

This temple is a beautiful place with cool breezes wafting through the hall, and peaceful serenity within the compound. Visitors are welcome to enjoy the quietness of the place, as long as they are respectful and mindful that this is a holy place and should be treated as such.

Removing one's shoes and refraining from loud speech are a couple of the regulations.

The reason this temple is named "The Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall" is because the inner walls of the temple are covered with 15,743 little tiles with the image of Buddha intricately carved into each piece, from top to bottom.

A fat Buddha awaits at the front entrance of The Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall, almost as if he is guarding the temple. Beyond him, inside the hall itself, sits a giant white jade Buddha statue.

Time spent inside The Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall is peaceful because of it's silence. You can't help but feel in awe, just because of the quiet atmosphere. Occasionally a person came in, bowed himself to the floor for a few moments, and then left, satisfied with his devotional prayers.

A panorama of The Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall

One cannot appreciate The Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall in Kuantan without noticing the beautiful gardens which lie beside it. Trees, plants and flowers adorn the area, along with a green lake where you can feed the fish, with a stunning cliff face backdrop.

I was fortunate enough to be accompanied by the most beautiful weather during my visit to The Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall. Blistering sunshine, deep blue skies, the occasional white fluffy cloud, and a gentle breeze. The sunlight really brought the pictures to life.

I love the deep blue of the sky as it contrasts with the orange roof and the white cloud

KUANTAN BLOG TOUR: Fancy a trip to the beach? Come on then!

Need to cut the tour short? Return to My Journey to Kuantan - Part 5 here

Blog Flashbacks

Welcome to another round of blog flashbacks for this weekend. It's the first day of October, the month of my birth, and I'm getting older. I'm not too excited about that but I guess with each year that passes, I store more and more flashbacks to look back on and find joy!

First up is my visit to the Sri Sithi Vinayagar Temple in Kuantan town a year ago. It's a colourful hindu temple and I had a great conversation with an Indian lady there about religion.

Sri Sithi Vinayagar Temple, 2010

In 2009 we witnessed a stunning Bonsai exhibition at East Coast Mall on a Saturday morning, followed by a Mooncake Festival at Teluk Chempedak beach later that night. A great Saturday indeed!

Bonsai Trees, 2009

And finally, here is September's most-viewed post. I was quite surprised that this was top of the list, but people are reading it, so why don't you?!

Religion, Cleanliness and Litter

September's top posts

CPB members, vote for my photos here

Have a beautiful weekend and create some flashback moments for future years!