Guide to Eiffel Tower

Finally. On the third time in Paris, at last i took the plunge ( errr not so appropriate term there :p) . Anyway, they say if u dont go to eiffel tower you might as well dont say uve been to pahree.

You know usually I am most inclined to visit a place when the place holds some sort of meaning- like historically. With Eiffel tower i think it is kinda overrated. Paris itself is indeed the city of love but frankly there aint anything romantic about the eiffel tower specifically. I think there are gazillion other dreamy love boasting spots in Paris, but hey, different people have different views kan.

So why do i say eiffel tower tak romantic? To start with, the place is sooo touristy, ye lah every one who sets foot in paris mestilah nak visit. So you can just imagine the crowd, any given time of the day theres just sooo many people there. And the queue.. ooo my... don't get me started.

Waaayyyy too long!!!

Guess how long i had to stand on the queue before i reached the ticket counter??

T.H.R.E.E hours!! Yeap, u read me right. I kid you not the queue was long, and seriously memang its one in a lifetime thing cos tak larat nak queue lagi , ever!

Anyway, when i got nearer to the tix counter i noticed they do actually have separate queue for pre-book. I dont know though how or where can u book but i found this:

ticket.toureiffel.fr/index-css5-sete-pg1-lgen.html link

You can give it a go.

For lack of better tool, here goes the pix snapped with my phone.

Cherating onestop guide

Getting there
I took the bus since Mr Fluff already there with his car. Quite a number of buses plying the KL-Kuantan route (info here: ) , but I opted for Plusliner because my previous experience with Plusliner to Penang was very good. So Plusliner bus costed me only RM21.90. Plusliner buses stops at Kuantan's main Bus station Kompleks Terminal Makmur. Those interested to know which route the bus took:

View Larger Map

From there, we took the taxi to Legend hotel, which costs RM55. Its standard pricing, so no haggling is required nor allowed.

Legend Hotel
The hotel is nicely situated just about 100mtrs from mainroad, and has a sea frontage. The beach is not a private but part of the long long stretches of beach. It is no bother though, because the next hotel along that stretch is a good distance away. It is also quite a convenient hotel because you can just walk towards the mainroad and you will find a few restaurants there.

Eating out in Cherating
In the morning and afternoon I just went to the restaurants along the mainroad from the hotel. In the morning Paksu's restaurant serves roti canai, nasi dagang and the likes.
In the afternoon i tried D'Cherating restaurant, if you are ever there, please try the Mee Kari. It is yummy and reasonably priced at RM4.50.
For dinner, we actually tried two different restaurant. We first went to Restaurant Awang upon recommendation from Paksu Cherating. Food was ok, to me nothing to shout about. The way food is priced is based on the weight. So you select the fish/seafood you want, they'll weight it and then you just tell them what sort of dish you want (bakar only/sweetsour, black pepper etc). Not knowing how much it would cost (since we cant tell unless you so kiasuly calculate when they weight), we didnt go crazy but just take moderately. But when the bill came I thought the price was reasonable, we took - 1 x ikan pari, 2 pieces of ketam, about 2 pieces of sotong and a bit of udang, those together with kangkung goreng belacan , drinks and rice came up to only RM66.30. To get to restaurant Awang, from Legend hotel just drive on towards Kemaman, it is somewhere about 2-3 kms away on the left side.
Despite the dinner we just had, I didnt feel enough, so we thought we'd go for a drink at the other place we saw when we went boating. It is in Kampung Cherating, its right infront of Hafiz tourist center (GPS 4.126667, 103.391667) Its the red color shop, the last shop. Though the selection of fish and seafood is not as many as Awang's, it was still ok. Taste wise, i prefer this one, cos I think it is better, and price is also great. Imagine, a big serving of Lala is only RM4, kerang RM5 and sotong RM15. I also ordered mihun hailam, tamak punya pasal kan, but the serving was huge, i cant even finish half of it.

Activities
I was there for a really short trip. So didnt get to do much. But managed to get info from Paksu Cherating on whats available there.

River cruise
We went for river cruise. It costs RM20 per person (no pickup, need to get to there yourself) and the cruise takes about 2 hours. They'll take you to see some amazing mangroves, wildlife animals such as snake, bats, biawak, birds etc. Beautiful landscaped, and an insight of things you dont see everyday. Apparently the river where we cruised is like more than 25mtrs deep! No wonder the water look sooo dark. The standard take offs (for walk ins) are at 9AM and 4PM daily, however if you come in a group (boat can fit up to 6 persons), you can request for different departure time.

Fireflies
Another popular activity is Fireflies watching. Costs around RM15, and starts at 8PM. I didnt do the Fireflies - opted for makan instead. Mana tak gemuk kan. Anyway, makan wasnt the only reason I decided not to go (saja la excuse) but apparently the best time to go is when it is pitch dark, or when moon is not full. When we were there the moon was exceptionally full and bright, so the kelip2 would loose a bit of its lustre because of it. But next time, I would surely give it a go.

Turtle watching
Again, another big hit for our eastern coastal is of course tengok penyu. Didnt go as well, because Paksu (the tukang roti canai cum tourist guide) told me that his recommendations is to go around June. Sightings of turtle is actually possible between February to September (off moonsoon period). During early months between February to June you will get to see the big ones (egg-hatching mother turtles). And subsequently between June to September, they'd be letting go the lil' ones (hatched baby turtles) to the sea. So if you go around June, you'll have added advantage of seeing both the mothers and their babies returning to the sea. Mental note: To go again somewhere in June.
Oh by the way, turtle watching costs around only RM10, if you actually go to the site yourself. So if you are looking at a budget kind of visit, should just find your own way there instead of taking the excursions kind of trip which costs whole lot more.

Jungletrekking & waterfalls
Other activities around there is Jungle trekking and going to the waterfalls. There are two kind of trips. The common trip one is categorised as 'easy' and suitable for all ages. Just about 15-30 mins walk to reach waterfalls and on well used path. Whole trip will probably only take you about 2-3hours. But for those who wants more advanterous trip, there's also a whole day excursions which requires a serious trekking. Needless to say, I didnt go to either one since takde kasut... lame excuse ;)

So that pretty much sums up the Cherating trip. Sorry I dont have photos to accompany my post, since I no longer have a camera.. sob sob sob...
(but nantilah if I am rajin I will copy some from Akmal's camera since he brought his).

Till then peeps... Enjoy nature and be supportive of SAVING OUR EARTH!

So long Norge...

happy at last - home tweet home..

I have taken some photos, and will upload soon. Here is the preview - some of my favorites shots around Sandefjord town & harbor

From Norway

From Norway

From Norway

From Norway

From Norway

Oslo

Click to see bigger image.


My oslo guide.

I only spent one day there, and my short visit was cramped with all the places where I can take photos. The objective - to try see as much as possible and take as many as possible nice photos.


Btw I was there on a sunday so there was not much on the retail front - In a way it is a blessing on its own.. cos kalau tak rasanya tak sempat pegi banyak tempat ... gagaga

Anyway I took the earliest train from Sandefjord. The journey from Sandefjord to Oslo should actually take around an hour and half.

Arrived at Oslo Sentralstasjon [no(9) in map], and looked for the Information office. I grabbed Oslo Guide andfew brochures and planned my routes over coffee.

I decided to purchase the Oslo pass, with it I get free entry to most of the museums and take any of the public transportation. It is NOK230 for 24 hours - which I reckon is a good deal.

Armed with the map and Oslo pass, I started walking towards Akershus and Fortress & Castle - the one place that made me decide to visit Oslo. It is probably the oldest area of Oslo dated back to 1200. The medieval castle is amazing, and definitely is a must visit if you are in town. Around the area there are also the Army Museums, the fortress and when you look down towards the sea,, you'll see the largest ever made Ship docked just right there.

Digressing a bit, the ship is H.U.G.E, eight storey high, and probably bigger than the building where I worked at here in KL. I wished I had time to go on it, it shuttles every Thursday nights to Germany from Norway.

Back the Akershus area, I walked down thru Christiana torv to the City Hall. Nothing of interests there. Its like any other quey Ive seen so didnt spend much time there. Took the next boat going towards Bygdøy. I went down at the first stop and walked towards Norsk Folkemuseum. It was an uphill walk, very very tiring - I shouldhv waited for the bus but I was racing with time (it was already near noon, and I had only visited one place), so anyway, it took a good 15 mins walk UPHILL before reaching the Folkmuseum. It was totally worth the walk though - it was such a nice showcase of Norfolks houses and community in the olden days. Also a must visit to me.

By the way sebab dah penat when reached Folkmuseum I had short coffee break at the nice cafe - and studied the timetable for the buses. So I timed myself to finish off the folkmuseum in time to catch the bus outside.

Very smart move - cos just nice as I walked out, the bus arrived. Took the bus to the Viking Ship Museum. The Viking Museum is unique on its own, it houses three viking boats, which is pretty amazing. To see that those days they travel miles in that thing. Viking boat has a very unique characteristic, and can easily be recognised by its shape.

Moving on from the Viking Museum, I went to the Frammuseet. Again, the museum housed a ship - this time it is the Polar Ship FRAM - which is the very first ship that had crossed the Antarctic waters. You can go into the ships and see the cabins and all. It is surprising to see how compact it is but I guess voyages like that werent really meant for holiday goers, more for people who make histories ;) There are three museet altogether there, the Fram, Kon-tiki and Norsk Maritime. I didnt bother with Norsk maritime, and Kon-tiki to me is nothing spectacular, maybe because I was in such awe with FRAM and Viking museums.

From there I took the boat back to City Center. The last must-see on my list is Vigeland Sculpture Park (Vigelandsparken) [F3 on the map]. I took the tram which is great transportation for tourist like me. It was kinda crowded on the tram. But my oh my, nothing had me prepared for the MASSIVE crowd I see at the park. At first, I was thinking to myself, so here is where all the Norwegian people - they flock the park on weekends. But my thoughts were quickly re-aligned when I see that there is actually some kind of event happening there. What a bummer. With soooo many people there I couldnt get nice shots, in fact I didnt even bother going close to the pole.

Didnt spent much time there since nothing much I can do. Decided to go back to city center and exploring the City hall, Royal Palace and Johans Gate area. City Hall as mentioned earlier was nothing to shout about. Royal Palace looked nice, but I was already quite tired by then so only glimpse of it from Karl Street, which is a nice place to be if you are in town. This is the happening part of the town with swanky restaurants and bars like HRC. Though it was only early evening, I could tell the place is a popular spot for tourists and locals as well perhaps.

Leading away towards the Oslo SentralStasjon is Johans Gate - where retail lovers could be spending chunks of their time. Sadly it was a sunday, no shops were not opened. I still could not comprehend why would shops be closed on what could potentially be the most lucrative day of the week... sigh..

With the shops closed, I covered Johans gate pretty fast which is a shame. All is not totally lost though, since one or two souvenir shops are still operating - and selling wayyy cheaper things than in Sanderford.

Last stop of the day - from there I hunted the nearest halal food outlet (which is quite a number and it is listed in the Oslo Guide), to have my dosage of meat. How heavenly... :))

There goes my Day trip to Oslo. Overall I think I covered a fair good amount of places and I was happy that I made the effort to go to Oslo. Certainly wasnt disappointing !

My beautiful country

I have been dragging feet to update this blog, and now is as good time as any, since I am at this god forsaken place, with SERIOUSLY nothing to do.

So, lets start with some photos I took during my short trip to Kerteh recently.

From kerteh

From kerteh

From kerteh

From kerteh

From kerteh

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE WHOLE ALBUM

Concise travel guide to Abu Dhabi

Now please take what you read as a rough reference and double check the info, as Abu Dhabi is a rapidly developing City, (and I meant ferrari-fast-kind-of-RAPID), so what you find in here may not be all that relevant at the time of your travel.

I gotta to also say that this is my first visit to this part of the world - the middle east and therefore what I have here is from a first timers eyes.

First off, lets trash out the important stuff;

Electricity - They are operating with 220 - 240V, similar to malaysia. And they are also using the UK type plug point. So there is no need for converters as such

Currency - They use UAE dirham. I suggest you take the time to scout for the money exchange, especially if you dont intend to change much. I had difficulties trying to exhange their money here in KL, and even when I manage to do so, it is in big nomination - like 1000UAE. Small change is really hard to come by. While we are on the topic of money their money is in denominations of 1000, 500, 200, 100, 50, 20, 10 and coins of 50c and UAE1. Though - I am sure they have something bigger than 1000, but of course I am not in any way in a position to acquire such $$$ and UAE1000 is about the limit I have. (but really, for a week travel it was more than enough for me -I'll talk more in the and ya all can math up ur estimates)

ATMs & Credit Card - They have limited international banks. Most bankers are local to Abu Dhabi. No issues on Visa or Master.

Weather - Winter is the best time to go. Very pleasant weather ranging from 23-25C during the day and 14-18C at night. During the time I go, you'll get daylight from around 7AM to 5:30PM.

Clothings - Abu Dhabi is pretty liberal, but it is still advisable to dress moderately.

Phone Coverage - Roaming is not a problem. While I was there I was with a carrier called DU ... will update later on the rates

Shopping

Coming from KL where just about all (popular) merchants be it from east or west are available, Abu Dhabi malls are nothing new. We pretty much have everything that they have to offer there. You know how it is, shopping malls are shopping malls anyway. One is as good as another. In fact I have learned that most of the times, it is indeed cheaper to get it in Malaysia, especially during sale. Having said that, I still bought few things while I was there :p

Anyway, I was more interested to find local goods but could not really find much there. The only old and popular local shop is Madinat Zayed (and surrounding), where you can find Abaya's and Shela's in every imaginable design and cuts. There is also a Gold souq next to it as well, but I didnt go there cos we've been to the gold souq in Dubai.

Shopping Hours

The local souq operates as early as 9AM i believe and they take a break at 3:00PM to 4:30PM. During this break time, all the shops are closed. They open again at 4:30PM up till 10:00 at night. So you really do have plenty of time to shop. We didnt know that the shop closes at 3 so we were quite perplexed to see one after one other shop closes and were left going around literally 'window shopping'

Btw, the Azan (call for prayers) are heard everywhere in the mall and souq, so dont worry about missing your prayers. And I believe the break time is a siesta time to probably beat off the heat in summer and also to allow merchants to do their prayers

Souvenir shopping

Not easy to come by. Actually it is non existent. Except for this one shop called 'Gift Tower' which is located behind the Hamdan Mall.

Work hours

According to Rizal, the Emiratis work from 7AM to 3PM. I didnt go there for work so I dont exactly know.

Transportation

City Buses are available but I did not try it. The bus stops did not offer enough information on the buses that pass though it , so i wasnt sure if the bus would take me where I wanted to be. But I noticed that mostly goes to the place called Tourist Club, which I believe is one part of the town.

Anyway Taxis are plenty and very reliable and uses meter. They are not dirt cheap but its affordable because we were pretty much still within the city center anyway. If I am not wrong the rates are like - a one off service charge is UAE3 and UAE1 dirham for every 750m for distance below 50km.

Okay. I think I pretty much have covered the important stuff so lets take a ride on the trip.

As I said this is my first time going to middle east so I was not prepared to see what lays aforehead of me.

I knew that they are desertlike, but I wasnt expecting the WHOLE country is like that. I mean in my previuos travels the deserts that Ive seen are usually far from the sea so I was expecting more greens where its closer to the seaside. But nay.

How amazing to see a land so barren, with a sea so blue. So beautiful.

And the culture... Mashaallah.. As a muslim, of course I am familiar with muslims ways of life. But still I was in awe. To see men walking around in their Ghutra (the red white checkered headscarf) and Kandura (the white robe). And the ladies in their Abaya (the black robe or jubah as we call it in malay) and Shela (the headscarf).

From Abu Dhabi

I could not resist to buy one or two. And in fact when I was there, I was enjoying wearing the Abaya's around. The simplicity. Its unbelievable! All I need to do is drape myself in one and voila, I am ready. So hassle free and so easy. No need to think about mix and match. No need to wonder if I am dressing up or down (after all, one abaya is as good as another...its all black, and its all with the same look and design). And come prayers time, all i need is a pair of socks (if I ahve not worn it already) and I am ready. No need to lug telekung around. Gosh. It made me wish that its like that in Malaysia too.

Anyway, one thing that I discovered when purchasing Abaya there, they actually do fittings (its a free service btw) after you purchase it. I have always envied all the middle easterners, I always thought that their abaya is well suited and looks amazing on them, and now I know the trick. WHich then makes me have a new mission - I definitely am going to take all my other abayas (bought prior to this trip) to a tailor to be fitted for me.

As I mentioned earlier, when the time comes for prayer, the sound of Azan heard in every corner. Its not loud, certainly not intruding but you can just hear where ever you are. I guess it is becasue there is a surau just about every corner of it.

And being there, where people speaking arabic, be it a foreigner or locals just sounded soo beautiful. And people recites the verses of Allah like a song. Such serenity and humbling. How far and behind I felt.

Another thing that I have come to notice is that roads in Abu Dhabi are very very smooth. Not even once did I came across a pothole. And Minimum 3 lanes a side everywhere. Imagine this, at the time of my travel, they are in the midst of developing Saadiyat Island to become one of the cultural attraction (where Lourve and Guggheinham will be ). There is nothing there yet, not a building in sight yet, but you know what - the road , well , actually not a road but an 8 lanes highway is already been built and operating . No tolls ok, F-O-C. I was thinking to myself, how this is such a stark contrast to malaysia, where we have the whole neighborhood with thousands and thousand s of houses being built but no proper roads.

I am no politician so I dont know what difficulties our government face but really. One cant help but to compare.

And by the way while we were on the subject of development, I was also told that foreigners are not eligible to buy houses in UAE. The houses / land are only for the Emiraties. Not sure if neighboring nationals like Omanis or Arabis are allowed to buy or not. But I think they have same rulings in Oman as well. So all foreigners that are there have to rent.

I thought that was a good policy. Buy then again, they are not multi-racial so that kinda makes sense. Just like in Malaysia I guess, only Malaysian can buy land (leaseholds).

But I was told that they building what they call Foreigner Island - a reclaim island where the houses are available for foreigners to buy. I guess they are following the footstep of their brother city - Dubai. If Dubai has Palm Island, I wonder what this foreigner island is gonna look like. Liek a date tree?? Lol.

UAE Rulers

UAE actually stands for United of Arab Emirates - meaning the unification of 7 emirates ( Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah, Umm Al Quwain) . I was told that different families rule each area which each one has one ruler which is like the King of the emirate. For Abu Dhabi the current ruler is Sheikh Khalifa. In terms of law, I believe they practise Syariah law. And apparently Abu Dhabi is so safe. Their crime rate is almost none. No one steals. I wonder if it is because everyone there is rich. Perhaps :)

OK, enough of all those documentary stuff. Now lets talk about the attractions in Abu Dhabi...

The Grand Mosque.

This mosque (at time of writing) is the 3rd largest mosque in the world. It is seriously majestically beautiful with all the white domes. If I am not mistaken the mosque is with more than 80 domes, and has 1000 columns. The mosque can fit more than 45000 muslimin and muslimat at one time. You know, the carpet that is in the mosque was said to be the largest handwoven Persian carpet and it took 1200 artisans to actually make it. Anyway you can read more about it here: http://www.visitabudhabi.ae/en/what.to.do/mosques.and.other.places.of.worship/sh.zayed.mosque.aspx

From Abu Dhabi

From Abu Dhabi

From Abu Dhabi

The ferrarri World

Yes this place is expensive, but hey its the only one IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD, and youve come this far. Just go and you will not regret it. There is nothing more I can say, the ferrari world is indeed the largest indoor theme park and it also hosts the fastest coaster in the world. You will see history of Ferrari and i guess it feels a bit like Italy in there too. Food is expensive there so stuff yourself before you go and bring lotsa cash for food. I dont think outside food is allowed too. We were lucky cos we bought our tix from our Hotel (Al-Rawda) cos they have some sort of affiliation with Ferrari world, and we got Premium tickets for normal price. And seriously, it is worth it to pay the extra if you are the kind who likes to try or go on the rides repeatedly.

From Abu Dhabi

The Emirate Palace

This place is just majestic. The good thing is, unlike those expensive hotels in Dubai like the Burj where you need to pay to enter, here it is free.

When I was there, they were showcasing the-most-expensively-decorated Christmas tree ever in the world there (i know, the irony of it huh). But seriously, this tree is adorning things that I could only dream to own (agaknya to get to pegang those jewels pun almost impossible...)

From Abu Dhabi

Marina Bay Area

As the name suggests you'll see a marina. There is a mall there and beautiful yatchs and see around it. I think the mall is just so so, but the area is nice. If you like seaside and yatchs.

From Abu Dhabi

From Abu Dhabi

Heritage Village

This one is a must go. To learn about the culture and its heritage. You could find a camel and also goat there. So tak dapat tengok Camel in the desert kat make-believe desert also will do lah.

They have tents too, in which each tribes have different characteristic. (Digressing a bit, I was at the same was also reading Jean Sasson's book - Love in a torn land. So it kinda helps me picture what was depicted in the book.. )

anyway, the heritage village also tells you Abu Dhabi history where it was originally just a fishing village. It is actually a fairly new city with only 39 years gaining independence. Abu Dhabi has just discovered oil in the 70s, so it is you know roughly just about my age..

From Abu Dhabi

While I managed to see all that is in Abu Dhabi, there are still a few things that I had missed.

What I wish I had done -

1. I didnt get to go to the desert. Apparently it is not like a day excursion kind of thing. You have to choose between a Desert Safari or Desert Challenge (which btw is an annual sports). The trip to the desert requires one to be very fit as it is quite an adventure activity. Knowing that I do get motion sickness Rizal thinks I am not fit to go for desert as the sand can be very unpredictable and you may ended up going up and down.

I have seen many pictures of the sand dunes and stuff and would like to capture it but I guess I'd have to toughen up before I could go on such trip. Nevertheless, I managed to curi a picture which actually is exhibited at the Museum. .hehhe

2. I didnt get to go to Al-Ain to see the Oasis.

According to Rizal, this is actually where the Emiratis really live. They dont live in Abu Dhabi. And according to some, Al Ain is really beautiful, totally different than Abu Dhabi's skyscrapers

3. I didnt see the leaning tower building. I saw it from far - which truly look senget but didnt have the time to go to the building.

Nevertheless, all in all it was a wonderful trip... and .. do enjoy the photos taken from the trip here

signs pun lain :)

From Abu Dhabi

Here is map of Abu Dhabi, if you need to get a rough bearing. This is taken from the Abu Dhabi tourist booklet which you can get at the airport anyway.

Map of Abu Dhabi City Center:

Ipoh PART II

Though it was such a short trip, tak sangka there are a lot to share here. Hence the additional post on Ipoh, PART II. This a continuation from Ipoh PART I

Anyway, sambung cerita Ipoh, after we left Kellie's Castle we headed back towards Route 1 southbound to get to Gua Tempurung. It was not difficult to find the entrance to Gua Tempurung as there are many signs a long the way. Roughly only about 20mins drive from Kellie's Castle I think.

Sampai kat Tempurung Cave, I wore my snickers siap2, cos tamau la masuk cave with Heeled Sandals. Tak pasal2 jatuh pulak. We went straight to the ticketing counter to get more information and leaflets, while makan at the gerai there.

So here is the leaflet (click on it for bigger image):

Tanya2 kat org tu, he said, it is best to go for option 3. Option 1, which is just a quick tour around the cave apparently is nothing much. So... we decided that we wont do Tempurung Cave today, but will come back soon some other weekend. Lagipun tak fun kalau tak dapat masuk2 sungai all that.

I didnt snap any photos around there, cos I will do that when we go for the actual Tempurung Cave trip.

Along the way we passed many many of these ex-mining lake, some of which were just fantastic, especially the ones with lots of lotus plant. Unfortunately I didnt get any shot of those ones. I only managed to get this one, which is also turned into a fishing/recreational lake.


After that, off we went - headed for Tapah to get back to the highway. Then... adala pulak sign to Lata Kinjang!! Apa lagi... I asked Rizal to make the turn. It is about 8km from the main route (route 1), and it is quite easy to access. The road actually take you all the way to the foot of the waterfall.

Parking are available, and there are also gerai and basic amnenities.

As it was the weekend, so the place was a bit crowded, especially at the lower side. He hiked up a bit, there are concrete steps and all, so no need to worry. The steps are not all the way to the top though. It stops there where there is a hangning bridge. We took a dip at the topmost accessible area. There were still a lot people, but at least not as crowded as at the base.

While here, I remembered my Trolak days, I remember coming to this waterfall with Farah, Gunn, Siti and Dura. But those days we actually went all the way to the top, like the top most area past the concrete stairs and all the way up to where the pump station is. That trip was somewhat memorable, because when we were happily taking our dips, Siti was swept away by the strong water. Punyala pucat all of us. Nasib baik she fell into one of the water pool. Until today I could still hear my heart beating faster thinking about it. Anyway, maybe because of that traumatic experience, I dare not to be too adventurous when I was there last weekend, especially since I have to be on my own in the water (cos Rizal has to take care of our belongings).

In all honesty I think this waterfall is too strong and too high to my likings, I think I prefer Lata Iskandar much better.

Macamanapun.. after taking our dips, its time to go. Also took the opportunity to take some shots. The verdict: I still am not so good at capturing waterfalls.. but I think it is a bit improvement than last time

From Ipoh quick getaway

Ipoh maliiii.....

With no more movies to watch at the cinema, and nothing else much to do over the weekend, we decided to go for a quick getaway last weekend.

It was kinda of an impromptu decision, and only decided on it late on Saturday evening - after we have done a few errands here and there.

Since dah lambat, not much options are there. I wanted to go to Bukit Larut aka Maxwell Hill, but there are no shuttle service going up to the hills after 6pm, so this one is out. That leaves us with just Ipoh, or Melaka.

Having seen and visited Melaka quite a number of times, I opted for Ipoh instead. I have always wanted to explore this sleepy town, especially after passing through it everytime we are going and coming back from Penang. I have read a number of good pleasing reviews about hidden gems of Ipoh too and thought it would be a good chance to explore it.

So, we left KL around 9, after dinner. Before leaving I made a few calls to book our accomodation. Initially we thought of staying at Railway station hotel (so that I could snap photos of this ol building) but after looking at the actual room photos on the web, we were both like... errr... takpe la kot. I then googled other hotels and started making the calls. And guess what, I was so so surprised to find that ALL of the hotels I called were fully booked! I mean WHAT is there in Ipoh???? Out of options, I called Railway hotel - which is actually called and run by Majestic Hotel and as fate would have it, they have one last room available. Since dah takde choice, we just took it.

We took one slow leisurely drive and reached Ipoh (S) toll around 11.30PM. Not knowing where exactly is this Majestic hotel, we just followed signs and luckily, they do have signs of 'Stesyen Keretapi' along the way. To get there from the highway, we had to pass through Ipoh town, seriously memang dead city - except for the petaling street like road somewhere in the middle of the town.
Though we managed to find the hotel quite easily, getting to it was another story. Ipoh ni full of one way street... so pusingla satu Ipoh again before we could actually get to the train station entrance - which in actual fact a blessing in disguise, cos we got a peek of all those heritage buildings of Ipoh. Kinda keep me excited :)

Majestic hotel as expected was nothing much. After all it is only RM88 per night. But I have to say it was quite good for whats offered. Of course it is just basic, but it is extremely clean, and the room and toilet are of ample size. If only they put a more classy curtains and bedsheets, I think it would have done wonders.

I didnt waste any time but started snapping here and there that night itself. Sadly though, not much turned out nice. Nevertheless enjoy..







The next morning, more photos taken...











After check out, we went around Ipoh town again to snap more photos..

The St Michael's Institution - one of the premier school in Ipoh - built in 1912.

from wiki: St Michael


After seeing a bit of Ipoh, we made a move towards Gopeng, where the Tempurug Cave is. We passed through several suburbs like Tg Rambutan... Sg Kinding (where they are selling land 45000sqft + bungalow house for RM3++k - amazing huh?), IGB industrial area, some place called Klebang... etc... After going on about an hour or so... You know what?? we ended up back in Ipoh town. It turned out we took wrong turning somwhere and actually have been just going around Ipoh town.... so... last last.. masuk highway balik nak pergi Batu Gajah... hehehe

We exited at Simpang Pulai, and took route 1. By this time, I already acquired the Petak map, so ada la guidance sikit.


About 10 minutes from the Simpang Pulai exit, we passed through this Cave temple. I don't what is the name of this temple, but apparently it has been for a long time, even when Rizal was still small, cos he remembers it as one of the landmark he'd see on his trips to KL (dulukan takde highway). Sadly the bottom of this at the entrance they built shoplots but it was deserted, and became an eyesore instead. Rizal said it wasnt like this last time , I feel that they should have just destroy it since no one is actually occupying. There are also no more pomelo gerais like it used to be before.. so sad..


Anyway, on the map, there was also indicators of Tourist attractions. One of which is Kellie's Castle. Having read about it in travel columns some time back, I have always wanted to see it and so asked Rizal to make a quick detour to see it for myself.

I was happy we did cos Kellie's Castle is a really nice place. See some of the photos I took...










you should read the history of this place at wiki - more about Kellie's_Castle


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I wanted to complete this post in one go, but my head is refusing to co-operate. So I guess I will just have to continue the rest of my journey in PART II

Till then... ta

Taman Negara (2)

From Taman Negara

This is a continuation of my Taman Negara post.

In this post, I would be blogging mostly about the activities we did while we were there.

Day One
When we arrived Taman Negara, it was already noon. After asking the guides there and after looking through the pamphlet we decided to check out Lubuk Simpon, which is just 20 mins walk from Mutiara. Lubuk Simpon is up along the river towards Lata Berkoh which just about 800m from Taman Negara entrance. It is quite nice and accessible easily if you want to have a quick dip in the water. The water is quite shallow at the side, but, be careful if you are swimming to the other side of the river. As it is a flowing river, and a lubok (hole) no less, the current may pull you back.

From Taman Negara

That night while we were walking to the hotel's restaurant, we sighted wild boars for the first time :) (though at that time, rasa takut gak)..

Day Two
We decided to go for Canopy walk in the morning and do Lata Berkoh in the afternoon. The Canopy walk can be accesible through the river or through walking along the jungle trek. We opted for the jungle trek since it wasnt that far. As soon as we had our breakfast we started towards the entrance of the canopy walk which was quite near our chalets. The jungle walk is about 1.5km, which was about 40mins walk. It was quite okay, BUT.... nearing to the canopy, you'll have to climb the stairs to go up to the Canopy post. According to the signs, it is only 100m, but gosh, I felt like it was thousand miles away!
And you know what, after ALL that climb, we were told that our turn would be like another 3 hours!! We deliberated for a bit but finally decided to just give it a pass. So off we went back down without actually go on the Canopy. A bit about the Canopy walk, it is the world's longest, strung up to 40 metres above the sea level. That is equivalent to 13 storey high! Unfortunately we were not able to experience it. But hey, that would just mean that we have to go back some day :)
Btw, you'll need to pay a small fee of RM5 to go on the Canopy. So if ur going, dun forget to bring a bit of cash, and go early.

Kepenatan after the climb

From Taman Negara

The trek...

From Taman Negara

When we came back, we rested for a bit. We wanted to go to Lata Berkoh but unfortunately there were no boats left. Rizal and I decided to go to seberang to find availabe boat and lucky for us, Uda (the boatman that took us to seberang) said he knows someone. Lata Berkoh was not an option anymore since it was past 3, so we asked for Rapid Shooting.

Rapid shooting was a lot of fun. I loved it. Its actually just a boatride through the rapids (duh!), but it was our first time up on the river, and the view was just astonishing. Beware though, when going for rapid shooting you will get wet, so dun carry camera or any other electronic devices with you. Rapid shooting costs RM120 per boat of 6 (about RM20 per person).

Day Three
As booked previous day, we went to Lata Berkoh the following morning. Lata Berkoh is nice, but to me the boatride going to the lata was the highlight. It is so mesmerizing I never knew we had such beautiful forest and beautiful river. So untouched, and water was cold eventhough its a scorching hot day.

Same goes with the forest. Though the sun is glaring down at us, in the woods it was cool, with only hints of sunlight peeking through. I now appreciate the mother nature even more and more. The trees makes such big difference, it plays a major role in making our planet cooler and at the same time absorbs all those toxic monoxide we produce.

Back to Lata Berkoh story, take note that you still need to walk about 700m from where the boat stops. So dont carry too much with you, as the walk goes up and down a bit.

Boat parking..

From Taman Negara

One more thing, if you were going to Lata Berkoh, you might wanna combine the trip together with trip to Kelah Sanctuary as the latter is just few mins away from Lata Berkoh. (We didnt go, cos didnt know it was near there and didnt make the arrangement).

Came back from Lata Berkoh we didnt do much, except that lepaking at the floating restaurant. We waited for sunset there, and then went back up to Mutiara for dinner. After dinner, Rizal, Akmal and I went to Night Fishing.

Night fishing was quite an experience. Rizal had asked me earlier if I wanted to go with him and Akmal or to just stay at the chalet. It wasnt very difficult to choose, as I would have been even more scared staying by myself at the chalet. huhuhu.

Anyway, we set out on the boat at around 10pm, which was already pitch dark. It was quite eerie, and being on the boat, without lights, was really a scary but amazing but experience. Imagine manouvering through the river with only the moonlight and the riverbanks as your guide. The only consolation thought was that all of us are together, and if anything we'd be by each others side.

While the daytime boatride was exhilarating, the night boatride was beautiful (once you get past fear of course). Looking up, the skies was just filled with gazillions stars. Masyaallah, I could not explain it, for it was simply just magical. To think, how much we've missed Allah's creation being out there in the city where all you get to see and breath is dust..

Nothing spectacular about the fishing part though (cos I didnt exactly fish hehe), but I think Akmal enjoyed himself and we were glad to have taken him out on an experience like this.

me, finding the best spot to lie down

From Taman Negara

Akmal and Saiful (our guide)

From Taman Negara

All in all, I'd say hats off to Perhilitan, the organisation that is managing Taman Negara. One thing commendable, it is very well kept and I hope all visitors will keep it that way. Of course there are still odd rubbish here and there but generally our Taman Negara is much much cleaner than some places Ive been to locally.

Day Four
As they say, all good things come to an end, same goes with our trip. As much as I enjoyed my days there, we all have jobs and home to back to. Not wanting to say goodbye just yet, we had asked Asri to take us for one last boatride and a quick swim. This time I had the opportunity to take all the beautiful photos of the river as the sun was high up and the boat trip was not a wet one (rupa2 nya boleh request taknak kasi basah2...hehe)

one of my fav shot

From Taman Negara

That afternoon, after checking out, we left Taman Negara with heavy heart.

All is not lost though, while we were there we met up with good people, really nice people. One of the boatman, Asri (can catch him at 017.9244.202 if you want his service) who took us for ride on his boat up the river.

He kindly let Akmal have a go at driving his boat too..

From Taman Negara

Saiful - totally supermulti purpose guy - he can be your boatman, your fishing guide or even your Mountain Climbing guide. You name it, he's done it. He can be reached at 012.9453.502 though I cant guarantee that he keeps his phone charged all the time ;)

From Taman Negara

And not forgetting Uda, the smiley chap who tirelessly shuttles visitors from one side to the other side of the river

From Taman Negara

oh and btw , while we were there, we didnt find even one single leech.. rupa2nya leech ni ada masa rainy seasons only, i think?