Bagan Lalang

I have been wanting to go to Bagan Lalang (also commercially known as Sepang Goldcoast) ever since I saw the road signs on my way going to Seremban from KLIA. I have also googled once or twice , and each time it returns with links for photos of the sunset there.

So today, I managed to book Rizal's time to take the road trip with me there.


We started at around 5.30pm from KL, taking the KL-Putrajaya highway. I didnt exactly know the direction to go there, and hoping to rely on the roadsigns. Lucky for us, there were enough signs to lead the way, and it was quite easy to find. All you need to do is keep a look out for the signs to Sepang Goldcoast or Hotel Seri Malaysia. However, for the benefit of others I am going to describe briefly how to get there.
-From wherever you are (KL, Subang, Kajang, etc) just take the route towards LCCT terminal. Just before you reach the Sepang F1 circuit, take the left turn (there are signs there for Sepang Goldcoast).
- After driving for about 2 minutes, you will reach a junction. Take a left.
- You will then be on the normal trunk road (no longer a dual carriageways) for about 5 mins (about 5-6 km), before reaching Sepang town.
- At the Sepang town, you will reach a T-junction, take a right, and just go on following the main road. From there it would be another 15km to reach the coast.
- Along the way you should see dragon fruit stalls, as there are quite a number of dragon fruit farms there. After about 10kms, you will reach another small town called Sg Pelik. If you need any necessities you can grab it here as this is the last town you'll see before reaching Bagan Lalang
- From Sg Pelik, its another 5 kms or so, and you'll reach the turning to Bagan Lalang after about 3 km
- The turning is at a housing area, I believe its called Pantai Sepang Putra, and from there its another 2-3 kms on a small road till you reach the Bagan Lalang beach.

Overall I think you should estimate the journey to take around an hour from KL (this is based on no traffic jams). So if you want to catch sunset like me, start as early as 5pm, so that you'll have enough time to setup your equipments.

Now that the directions and estimates of time to take for the journey is out of the way, lets see what you can find at Bagan Lalang or Sepang Goldcoast.

I first thought that this Bagan Lalang is one sleepy fishing village based on the photos that I have seen posted by others on web. So imagine my surprise when I reached there, the place was abuzz with activities and so full of people! There are like a whole area of those quick setup stalls selling all sorts of things, the traffic was bumper to bumper, and on the beachside, there are lines and lines of tents, and there are people everywhere! Everything is there, except the fishing boats and sleepy little village I was expecting.

I wasn't really disappointed with what I saw, but it has thrown my plan off a little bit cos I thought I would have the whole beach to myself. However, it didnt really stop me from taking some shots.

Overall I am quite happy for the results, though next time I would concentrate more during the few mins before sun goes down.

Click HERE to see the rest of album

Quick Guide on buying TV

Buying TV is not an activity that you do everyday. Therefore when buying one, you will need to find one that suits your need. I am no expert in this, but after a few trips to the various electrical stores, I learned a thing or two.

So here I am sharing what to consider when buying a new tv.. (an LCD one)

1. Size does matter - or at least matter in relevance to the space you have. The clarity of picture will depreciate the closer you get. Therefore if you have a small room, its best not to buy beyond 32", as you will ended up with unclear images. Basic rule of thumb, for a 32" TV, your viewing distance should be around

2. To HD or not to HD? It depends on what source you are gonna plug to your tv. If you are mostly gonna watch astro on the telly, then having HD is not worth the extra $$$, as our Astro does not support HD. Similarly, if you have a simple DVD player that does not support HD, then there is no point in having a Full-HD tv as you are not going to enjoy the crispy sharp images HD is supposed to relay. You are only going to get that sharp images when you connect using the HD port, and probably use blue-ray type of discs.

3. Ports - You would want to find out what kind of ports that is available on the telly. At the very least, you should be looking at one that has minimum 2 video-in ports, probably S video in and HD (for your future investments, cos HD type of equipment is still quite rare here). Most of the times you will be connecting you DVD player and astro. If you have a PS-2 then its probably wise to find telly that has more than 2 video in. Accesibility wise for these ports, for me its not really a big issue, as due to its slim size, its much much easier to reach compared to those ol CRT tvs

4. Sound of music - I am quite particular when it comes to the sound that comes from the telly. Therefore, I made sure that the TV sound is good. This is often overlooked, as most people would focus on the image displayed, and most shops would only show images, and no sound. At best, you should find one that comes with surround sound and has few preselected sound such as movie, music, etc

5. Other litle things to look for and consider are how easy to navigate the menus, with or without the remote.

6. One last factor that should also be on your list is durability. Know where the parts of your telly came from. Generally tvs that are manufactured in Japan is most desirable, whilst manufacturers coming from Taiwan or China should be avoided.

Hot Air Balloon

I went to Putrajaya to capture the hot air balloon, which is a rare sight here in Malaysia.

Unfortunately for me, the weather was not very good that morning, the skies were grey. I am sure if it was my lack of skills as well too that contributed to the not-so-nice photos. Anyway, here goes.

From Hot Air Balloon Fiesta

From Hot Air Balloon Fiesta

From Hot Air Balloon Fiesta

Click HERE to see rest

Cameron Highland Take Three

Last weekend we went up to Cameron Highlands, just to relax since it was a long weekend. The trip wasnt really a planned one, it was just something we thought about on saturday. At first we were going to go on saturday night itself, but it was pouring heavily and it was already getting late, so we decided to go on the following morning instead.
It was a good decision, as on sunday morning, the sky is clear and the day was beautiful.
We started our journey around 11 (at Jalan Duta) and made a short pitstop at Tapah R&R. While there we decided to take the old route to Cameron Highland, so that we could stop by at the waterfalls to eat. Mama Cheras made us bekal of yummy meehon goreng, so picnic was definitely a good idea.
Arrived at Lata Iskandar waterfalls at around .... noon. I did not pack myself swimwear, so that was quite a bummer. Anyway, we walked up the stairs to the highest point possible, and had our lunch. The waterfalls was just heavenly and irresistable, so just went in the water with my jeans and tshirt!
After about an hour or so there, the sky started to look grey so we made a move back to the car to continue our climb to Tanah Rata.
The old road is a lot more windy, and has lots of sharp turns compared to the Simpang Pulai route, and half way through I started to feel dizzy. After what seemed like gazillion years, we finally reached Ringlet. At Ringlet Rizal made a stop by the roadside - I went down, and threw up. So no more jalan lama for me.
After I threw up, I felt a lot better, maybe because there was nothing left in my stomach. From Ringlet it was quite a short distance to Tanah Rata (or was it because I felt better?) anyway we were in Tanah Rata in no time. Once there, we started to look for place to stay. The past two times we were in Camerons we stayed at Century Pines, but this time around since we have time and all, we decided to also checkout other places. Went to Heritage hotel, which is on top of the hills, near Convent School, and asked the reception to rates, and asked if we could view the room. The staff was friendly and very nice and one of them showed us the room. The room is quite okay, basic and of a standard size, but toilet has no bathtub. Rate quoted to us was RM 328 for the triplet room, which include breakfast for three. We decided to go look at others, and said our thank yous to the nice girl who showed us the room.
Next we went to the hotel in Tanah Rata which was called CoolPoint. We had looked at their room the last time we came, and I remember that I didnt like it as it was quite dampish, so we headed towards Brinchang. On our way to Brinchang, just about 300 metres from Tanah Rata town, we saw the sign to Bala's Chalet. While we were in Tanah Rata we were talking about this place, cos Rizal saw good reviews of it in Escapade magazine. This hotel is a really nice place, with old building structure, I think the building is more than 100 years or so, and decoration inside it was really nice too.From the reviews I read, this place is apparently serves one of the best scones in town. Anyway, we asked to look at the room from this one guy - presumably Mr Bala itself, and he showed us the room which is located on a separate building than the main building. The room is quite small, and the toilet is also quite small - with only a sink and a loo, and no shower room. It is a nice place, very simple, and the rate is not too bad at RM220 for three (no breakfast). However, since the room is a bit small, a We knew what Century Pines looked like, so no need to check it out, went around and on the hand, Rizal needed to do work, so it was not suitable for us for this time. Maybe next time.
Continuing the search, we then stopped at Casa DeLa Rosa.

I remember coming here before, but as I remember it, it was very expensive, but we just decided to have a look. The girl at the counter is very nice, I think her name is Sanghita, and she kindly showed us the room for three. The room is conviniently located just on the driveway, and it is huge. It has a raised platform for the Big Bed area complete with a cute curtain. The bathroom is also very big, And it has a bathtub. However, again, this room has no working/study table for Rizal to do his work. The rate for three is RM406 (for that huge room) and include breakfast for three.
Still with time, we decided to check out other places in Brinchang town before deciding, In the meantime, while on the way to Brinchang we called Century Pines (luckily Akmal has the door access card which had the numbers printed there) to ask if the room had study table. Unfortunately, Century Pines only had rooms with single beds. We could request to add an additional bed, but it was at an additional RM60. Total up, it came up to RM 328 (RM268 + RM60).
Upon hearing that Century Pines had very few rooms left, we decided that to make the bookings soon since it seem like the rooms are going quite fast. We called back Casa De La Rosa to ask them to hold the room for us. We also thought since Casa Dela Rosa has wifi, it would be ideal
We then went back to Casa De La Rosa, and requested to look at the other room that has a study table. The other room that was available is the Supreme or something like that, with the Golf Club view. This room is also very spacious, and fitted with a King Size bed, and a huge balcony. Between the two, we decided to take the lower ground room, since its easier to access and we could park the car right in front.
Once checked in, we washed up a bit, pray and then we went out again to Brinchang town. At Brinchang, the traffic was slow, as there is pasar malam there. There were lots of things there, from fresh vegetables, fruits and stalls selling food. We felt that the price at the Pasar Malam is cheaper than the prices at the shops, so bought most of our vegetables from the pasar malam. The pasar malam also sells corn in a cup, i bought one, and the corn is just so delicious! very sweet and fresh! Another thing that surprised me was that they also have goreng stuff like udang goreng, ketam goreng and sotong goreng, and they are all going for just RM5! yummy. We also bought honey, bought a variety, the honeycomb type for RM15, Honey tua for RM10 per small bottle and RM25 for the big bottle of Honey muda?.
Once done with our shopping, we were going to Tanah Rata for dinner, but the traffic was bad, it was almost not moving that we decided to jalan2 to the other side of Brinchang first. Nothing much to see, since most shops are closed, so we just make a round and headed back towards Brinchang town. Traffic was flowing better this time, so thats good. About 10 minutes later we were already in Tanah Rata. Decided to eat at the gerai2 after seeing the steamboat place was quite empty. We wanted to order yong tay foo, but the guy told us that it would take about 1 and half hour before we could get our order, cos there are lots of other waiting. Decided to just order from the shop (gerai Hjh Halijah) instead, I ordered sup ayam, but after awhile, they said that they dont have soup ayam, but they have tomyam. So I said okay, the service was quite slow, maybe they are not prepared for the kind of crowd. My tomyam was surprisingly nice, so thats good.
After dinner, we walked for a bit, then we head back to the hotel to eat my Ketam and Udang goreng bought from pasar malam. At Casa Dela Rosa they have lepak place, where there is a hut near a small garden.


No more activities for the night except some tv and then zzzz.

DAY TWO
Woke up around 9AM, and went for breakfast. It was quite disappointing, most food almost finished, and it was not replenished. It was only 9.30AM and there were more people coming in for breakfast, so I thought the hotel could do a better job at it, since they can be considered as 5star.
After breakfast, I took a bath, which was great. After that we packed up, to start our jalan2 session. Unfortunately it had started dizzling, and the traffic leading to Mount Brinchang was really jammed. Took us nearly one and half hour just to past the shops selling vegetables. Went past, and stopped at the Cameron Valley Tea Shop. Compared to Boh Tea, this place has a lot of catching up to do, but considering that this was easier to access, I guess lot of people still dont stopping here.
It was raining all the way our journey down, and the traffic was also quite slow. We took the Simpang Pulai route this time.

Experiment 1 - Roti Jala

Roti Jala has always been one of my favorite food, but so hard to find here in KL. So today, after looking at the recipe to make roti jala, I decided to make it myself.

The recipe looks easy enough, all I need is:
3 cups of flour
1 egg
2.5 cups of fresh milk
2.5 big spoon of oil
1 teaspoon of garam
a bit of tumeric powder

Just mix all those together, until it became the roti jala batter. Looks easy huh. Anyway, after making it, I think the menjala part is the most challenging part. Quite susah , in my case the batter kept getting stuck on the roti jala thingy, apparently we are supposed to poke the holes. So next time i'll try that.

All in all, I think the roti jala still taste quite nice, so I think I just need to brush up my menjala skill. Anyway.... here is the end result
To accompany it, I made kari daging - since ada daging je. I think chicken curry would have been nicer tapi takpela.. anything goes...

Steam Fish Thai style

Today I am so proud of myself, I managed to cook the steamfish the Thai style.
I have been wanting to eat the steamfish for a few days, and this morning I got up early to go to the market.
It was the first time I was that early at the market, and I was quite surprised to find that there were lots more fish and fresher food .. tee hee hee.

Anyhoot, I managed to buy a siakap fish. It was slightly above 0.5 kg, costs me RM11. I then hunted for the other ingredieant such as ginger, lemongrass etc etc..

There is this other crucial ingredient that I have been looking for high and low, and could not find it, which was the Asam pickle. I was just thinking of substistuting it with something else since I could not find it. But today, I just thought as a final check, I just looked at Mercato Pavillion in case they have it, and Lucky Me, I found it there.

So, since I would like to ensure my future venture of cooking this Steamfish be as successful, i am going to write the recipe down (unfortunately, no photos.. semua dah abis)

The Market List
1 Ikan Siakap
4 pieces of Pickle asam
1 red chilli
10 Cili Padi
1 tomato
1 Limau nipis
1 bawang besar
4 garlic
1 inch Ginger (halia muda)
2 stalks of lemongrass
coriander leaves
salt, fish sauce, whitepepper & cuka to taste
5 pinkspoon corn flour


1. Preparing the fish
Clean the fish with salt and lemon
Once clean put in the wok

2. Preparing the ingredients
->Slice thinly the following:
- garlic
- cili
- lemongrass
- ginger
- red chilli
-> ketuk cilipadi
-> slice tomato to 6 slices

The way to cook:
1. Put the fish and all ingredients (ingredients no 2. above + the asam) into the wok








2. Add water, with some of the water mixed with corn flour.
The water level should cover the fish







3. Bring it to boil, with the lid on

4. Once boiling, add salt, fish sauce, cuka and perahan limau to taste

5. After about 5 mins, turn the fish over

6. When it is almost cooked, at white pepper

7. To serve, put the Coriander leaves on top

Akmal's School Ceremony

Last saturday we were at Akmal's school, to attend the school's Majlis Penyampaian Hadiah. The ceremony was held by Akmal's primary school Sekolah Kebangsaan Seri Bintang Selatan to award students for the year 2008.
Akmal was in his uniform - secondary uniform, and he looked so grown up already. How time flies, it felt like it was just yesterday he was in Standard one...

Badminton Master Series

Singapore

This is actually a belated entry on the Singapore trip.

Went to Singapore during christmas holidays... Took the 9AM bus from Puduraya and arrive Singapore around 3pm. The bus stopped at one of the bus stand, and we have to take the MRT to get to our hotels.

It was not a good timing, while carrying our luggage, we had to squeeze in in that pack train.
Anyhow, after a long tiring journey, we finally arrived at our hotel.

That night we went to Orchard street, and I bought meself a pair of jeans. Yes i think it was more expensive there but since Levis KL does not carry size 30 above so ithought just buy it..


Anyway, once after lepak at Orchard street we went to find a place to eat. Called my friend Tan, and he suggested someplace in Arab street. So off we went and surprise surprise.. the place is deserted and most shops are closed! and it was only 12 mdnight. Obviously teh tarik sessions and night caps are not the norm here.

DAY TWO

Started the morning with breakfast - courtesy of Dina and Co.. ;)
We then headed to the bus stop...took the doubledeck bus..

So Harbour view is the stop.. to catch the train to Sentosa Island we went to Vivo City.. Queue was quite long.. and we also had lunch at Vivo before going to the island.

Sentosa Island
Sentosa Island was really hot.. I cant stand the heat, it feels like as if we are in the desert. All in all, not much there. The only that I enjoyed was the Lugi ride. COol :)


Back from Sentosa, rest for a while and went out again. This time, we decided to checkout the nearby Foodcourt - Newton Circus Foodcourt. We ordered some seafood, and murtabak Singapore. The seafood was quite good, but murtabak was a disappointment.

That night we went to Raffles City area, where Suntec and Marina Square is located. Vaguely remember the last time we went. Anyway, I ahve been wanting to get on the Eye of Singapore thingy, and we manage to spot it from Marina Bay area. Unfortunately the service was suspended due to some malfunctions just couple of weeks back :(

As we were walking to the Esplanade, I started to get tummy ache. Ouch. Didnt feel like going anywhere else, so we just went back to our hotel..

Day THREE

In the morning, we went back to Orchard road... and ... bought me a Nikon tripod. I dontknow if it is cheap or not, but apparently it was on sale, so I got it at S$45. Had a quick brunch at Burger King after berpusing2 looking for it. Anyway, done with all that so we went back to the hotel to check out.

We then went to lunch with Uncle Bet's friend, he took us to this pandan leaves restaurant. Honestly that was the first time I was in one, so I am not a good judge on the food. Plus i was already quite full from the lunch.

Once had our lunch, we went back to the hotel to get our bags, and Uncle Bet's friends kindly dropped us off at the Mall where we are supposed to take our bus.

The place was a Sports mall some sort.. so didnt do much there, I just sat reading my books while others went jalan2.

At 6PM... our bus came... First Coach..

Sayonara Singapore.... So long..

I have finally decided to take my beloved ol' keyboard to my Pod

You see this keyboard and me has gone a long way. Long long way. This was the very first luxurious thing I bought with my first pay. It has costed me around AUD800, and of course at that time 0.8K is a big deal. To me at least.

So there I was, visiting that little shop located on the 1st floor of that building facing QVB, almost each week. I used to go there and play with the pianos, keyboards and organs that they have displayed. I have missed playing my old trusty yahama organ from back home.

Finally when I have saved enough money, I think about two months after I started my industrial training - I became the proud owner of the Technic SX-KN750 (er was it the other way round, nvm..)

When I came back here, naturally I brought along my baby, and it has graced my rented apartment in USJ. Until, I bought myself a secondhand piano. WHich then went kaput

Anyway to cut the long story short - now its back with me. But sadly my fingers arent what it used to be. I have forgotten my notes.
BTW, there is a reason for this entry - I want to have it recorded somewhere the method to reset the keyboard to its factory setting, which is by pressing the Transpose up (^) and down and exit button simultaneously while powering it on. For some reason when I take the keyboard travelling, it decides to go mute, and this step is required to restore order.

INTRODUCING... RENDANG TOK... edisi Uwan

INTRODUCING... RENDANG TOK... edisi Uwan

Ingredient

1. Daging 1 kilo [Potong sebesar 4cm x 4cm]

2. Santan 2 biji

3. Garam Secukup rasa (preferably garam kasar)

4. Gula 1 sudu kecil

5. Kunyit 2 sudu kecil

6. Daun kunyit 3 helai [Buang batangnya, dan ikat daun]

7. Bawang merah kecil 15 biji [hiris]

8. Halia sebesar ibu jari [hiris]

9. Lengkuas sebesar 2x ibu jari [hiris]

10. Bawang putih 5 biji [hiris]

11. Serai 4 batang [hiris halus]

12. Cili padi 15 biji [potong kecil2]

13. Cili Kering 15 tangkai [potong2 dan rendam]

Cara memasak

1. Blend Halia (item 8), lengkuas (item 9), bawang putih (item 10), serai (item 11), cili padi (item 12) dan cili kering (item 13) dengan sedikit air

2. Masukkan Daging dan bahan yg diblend ke dalam kuali dengan api sederhana

3. Masukkan garam

4. Biarkan hingga almost kering

5. Bila almost kering, masukkan santan. Kuatkan api

6. Bila menggelegak, masukkan bawang merah yang dihiris (item 7) dan daun kunyit yang telah diikat (item 6)

7. Masukkan gula

8. Kacau hingga kering

Whats there in Temerloh???

Over the weekend, with full anticipation I went with Hubby to his friend's wedding in Temerloh. With high hopes I brought along my camera, dreaming of capturing amazing photos along the way, or Temerloh town. Sadly, I didnt take any shot of Temerloh at all. For one thing, we did not detour or go anywhere there is attraction in Temerloh. Pressed by time, we only went to the wedding and back. Secondly, it was stinkin hot, that I could not be bothered to be outside of the comfortable zone of the car. So,.. in the end, there was just one worthy shot I took, which was taken on the Lancang R&R (eastbound). It was a shot of Jambu batu at one of the stalls (see accompanied photo)
All in all, the trip wasnt really eventful, except that it marked my first time to the district of Temerloh.
Hopefully our next roadtrip to Penang is more exciting.

Laguna Redang

Last weekend (10-12 May) we went to Redang for my Departmental trip. It was the standard Redang package, room, full board food, and 3 snorkeling trip..
so few days before the trip I got me a brand new Snorkels from Jusco.. RM69.90.. glass Mask TUSA brand. I dont really know much about snorkels and masks; but since its a Glass mask with decent price, I just took it. Here what it looks like


Apart from the snorkels, I also wanted a zoom lens. Btw I recently have became a proud owner of a DSLR.. not that I am such a good photographer but since I had to buy new one, might as well upgrade meself... ANyway, so I bought a D60, which came with the standard kit lense 18-55mm. It wasnt such as good range, considering I had 10x zoom on my prosumer. Definitely missing the capability to zoom. So.. Tada... the new addition to the family..


Done with the pre-shopping... lets start the journey..

We started our trip at around 3:00AM, and arrived around 8:15AM at Merang Jetty.
For those who wants to go to Redang here is the simple trip guide:
Your place --> Gombak /Karak Entry point (toll RM6.50)
Karak --> ECE East Coast Expressway E8 (another toll at Bentong cant remember how much)
ECE --> ends at Jabor (RM21)
Jabor --> Cherating --> kemaman --> KT
KT --> Merang
Anyway we wanted to take a different route after ECE ends, which is inland route (route 14) but somehow we missed the turn and ended up on the coastal road anyway.
Anyhoot, it was a really really fast drive so we still made it in good time.

Arrived Laguna safely on their painstakingly slow boat. The brochures said that it takes 45mins, but really, its actually about 1.5 hours trip.

anyway we had a nice break, weather was fair, sometimes a bit gloomy, so not too good for photos, but still it was very pleasant trip altogether.




On the way back, we stopped by the Taman Tamadun Islam where the Crystal Mosque is.


We then decided to also look for the inland route, to avoid the construction work going on around Kerteh and also to avoid the day traffic. We managed to find it, quite easily, it was actually towards the direction of the taman Tamadun Islam if coming from the bridge. The landmark is Mydin, turn right and then look for signs to Kuala Berang. It was quite busy, until Ajil, but after that, it was quite OK. There are number of lorries, but overall it was ok. Took about 3 hrs to reach Jabur the beginning of ECE.

At the ECE, Me drove pulak... quite mengantuk as it was quite hot, plus the road was just straight with boring surroundings... Past by a group of Bikers... and finally at around 4.30pm we reached the beginning of Karak..
Initially we planned to stop by at Genting Sempah for lunch/tea but just before reaching BuKit Tinggi, somebody decided to go up there instead..
nothing much there, we just had some pasta at the restaurants, took some photos, go see entrance of Japanese park (since its already closed). Quite rugi cnsidering we paid RM16 each for entrance fees.

Neway.. around 6-ish we headed back to KL and reached home around after maghrib.