Percutian singkat ke Shorea.

Date: 1-2 January 2015 (2D1N)
Type: Luxurious Getaway


2015 is a big year for my uni bff or as i called them, My Squad. We have 2 weddings and 1 baby coming this year. We decided to have a weekend getaway just for us girls at the beginning of the year before 2 of the members got married and give birth. We have few choices lying in hand - we opt for a retreat that is close to KL. Its the only place we feel best to gather since all of us are pretty much scattered around Malaysia and the world.

We looked into Awan Mulan, Tanah Aina, The Dusun, Sekeping Serendah (and other Sekepings). In the end, we chose The Shorea due to the sheer amount of The Squad members - 8 of us. Awan Mulan was fully booked and we unanimously decide to go to Shorea.

How to Book

You can email The Shorea team directly. Elaine was the person I dealt with and she is very friendly and very helpful. Price range are stated in the website. I remembered that we pay a 50% deposit for booking and then pay the rest around a week before we arrive.

Price Range

Ha! I mentioned this is a luxurious type getaway. The price is inclusive of home cooked breakfast and it depends on the type of villa you booked.

We decide to have a BBQ that night - the staff kindly set the pit for us. We stopped by Tesco to buy chicken, lamb, beef and some seafood for grilling.

The Shorea is located off Seremban. It is further from the city and getting there itself is a challenge. You have to go through a "kampung road" for 1-3 kilometres. It is a ONE WAY road with few hidden corners. So, be careful when you drive and it is not advisable to drive there when its dark. Too dangerous.

When you reached there, the gates are close and you need to call the gatekeeper to guide you in. The Shorea is a big estate and you can get lost. Here, you will climb the hills to get to the villas. In Shorea, there are 5 villas catered for different amount of occupants and facilities.

We chose Villa Shorea and Halia which can fit 12 person - the biggest one in the estate. Our villa is 3 storeys high with Villa Shorea at the bottom, the living room and deck on the Ground Floor and the bedrooms on the third. The Villa are constructed to a traditional malay house theme with a very modern twist. In each room, they will have daybeds by the window and a queen bed. I picked the daybed by the window and I soon regret my decision - I will told that story later.

The bridge over the pool. they have 3 pools.

Our deck is connected to the small portion of the big pool and next to the common kitchen. Shorea is really easy on the eyes. Before we jumped in the infinity pool, we marinade the raw BBQ ingredients we bought and kept them in the fridge.

The staff set up the BBQ pit, we clean ourselves and learn about the No Noise Policy after 10pm from the staff-yikes. There's no TV, but they have some board games and congkak to play with. We utilise the congkak while having some heart to heart talk - tears were shed I tell you.

This is our villa on the right.

We took turns of firing the BBQ and the others set up the table. It was nice to have all of us sat on the same table for dinner. It was not easy to round us all up like this. Since this is a Bachelorette+Baby Shower, we bought some head pieces to the girls to wear. We laughed, talk, eat and it was the best time we had for years now.

Girls preparing the BBQ in the common kitchen.

Our private deck (part of it)

We go to bed with 2 girls sleeping at Halia ( lucky them they have their own bathroom) and the others sleep in the main house (we shared 1 bathroom). We continue to have Late Night Talk and then went to bed. We cut our talk short because on of the staff warned us to stay quiet since we laughed pretty hard that night. hehe. Since it was a kampung, it was cold that night and unfortunately I can't sleep well because of my daybed. They have some holes for draught and I hear some insects and worst a lizard on to of my head. I tossed and turn all night.

The next morning we find the staff prepared Nasi Lemak on the deck for breakfast. We ate, jumped in the pool and prepare for our photoshoot. We wear all whites and the photo turned up very nice indeed! We take turns for the bathroom - nightmare when you have 8 girls. We said goodbye to Shorea and we went for lunch before we separate ways.