The A’Fomasa Resort has three theme parks – namely the Safari Wonderland, the Water Theme Park and Old West. There is also Freeport A’Fomase Outlet – a factory outlet. There is also a golf course, a club house in the resort.
When we booked the resort, we, or rather, I had no idea that the resort was so far away from town. I thought it was part of the attractions in the town of Malacca.
As we were driven further and further out to nowhere, two distinct thoughts surfaced. Literally translated, the Chinese maxims meant – ‘We have boarded a pirate ship’, meaning we have been conned, and ‘Birds don’t lay eggs here’, meaning the place is in a corner of nowhere.’
At the check-in office, we learned that the check in time was four pm. It was about one pm when we arrived, so our villa was not ready yet. The receptionist then spent some considerable time telling us where everything is, and how to go about in the resort, and she suggested some things we can do while we wait for our villa to be ready.
The resort is rather big. To go anywhere, we need to call the receptionist to arrange a pick up time, and there will be a vehicle to pick us up, to send us to wherever we want to go. To come back to the villa, we do the same thing – call them to arrange a pick up time and they will be there to pick us up. All transport is provided by the resort. There is no private transport, and it is too far to walk anywhere.
Since our villa wasn’t ready, we decided that we will go and have a look at the Safari Wonderland, and to have something to eat as it was lunch time.
After the Safari, we went back to the check-in office to collect our belongings to go to our villa. Along the way, there were abandoned villas, villas in stages of decay, and our expectations of our villa dived a notch south. Finally, we were there, at the villa which will be our home for the next 2 days. Looking at the facade, we felt a little better, but we still had our reservations. It was only when we went in, had an inspection that we told ourselves the villa wasn’t so bad after all. It was clean, spacious, and all the basic amenities were there.
After settling in, some wanted to go to the Old West theme park, and some wanted to check out the Freeport outlet. Of course, we could all go our own ways, but the minority decided to go with the majority. The Freeport outlet won. We spent more time at the outlet then intended. I supposed it was inevitable when there were eight of us, and there were so many outlets – not to mention there were some very good bargains. So, I guess we all got a bit carried away shopping, and window shopping. Some fair bit of time was spent looking, waiting for each other.
At the mall, we took the opportunity to load up supplies for the next two evenings – things like snacks, water and beers. Back at the villa, it was barbecue time. (This was part of the package of the tour.) Someone started the barbecue pit and food was on its way. Unfortunately, the food had been in the fridge, and we had forgotten to give it some time to thaw. The result was, it was all cooked on the outside but still cold on the inside. The fire was too big too. So, we had to microwaved the food as well. The barbecue night became barbecue and microwave night. Luckily, we all survived the dinner without adverse effects.
It was bonding time while we ate, and have a couple of beers. There was a great deal of reminiscence, laughter, and merry making. It was way past midnight when we called it a night. And so ended the first day of our tour, with all agreeing that it had been a great day despite our reservations.
We were caged and taken on a tour of the Safari to let the wild animals have a look at the curious humans.
The tigers were rather lean and didn't look well fed.
We were set free, to walk around, to mingle, and visit with the residents of the Safari. Here are some of them.
There are also elephant rides. We couldn't bear to work the elephants.
The same goes for this sad looking animal.
Some monkeys. I have no idea what family they belong to.
There was a ‘Wild Wild West’ show in the Safari Wonderland. The significance of the show escaped me. I supposed it was more for the children. Anyway, it was painful to watch, and we didn’t stay to finish watching the show.
The visit to the Safari Wonderland was pleasant enough, but nothing extraordinary. If it had not been our villa was not ready for check in, I don't think any of us would have wanted to go.
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