Pulau Ketam

Had a weekend break to Pulau Ketam for the fourth time. It is by far my favorite day trip spot in west Malaysia for seafood, cycling and my new hobby, photo shooting. Unfortunately, we have chosen a lousy restaurant this time and the seafood was not up to expectation as it always does. Anyway, had fun with the girls cycle around the fish village, snapshot of everyone's happy face ^_^

Useful Information:

How to get there?

- Take KTM Sentul - Klang line. Head towards Klang direction and get out at the last stop named Pelabuhan Klang.

- Short walk to the "Jetty to Pulau Ketam". Here you can choose to take air-conditioned ferry or open air big boat. Return ticket cost around RM15. (Ferry is faster but I prefer the open air big boat where you can feel the breeze while enjoy the scenery along the journey)

Getting around the place:

As this is a fish village where houses and shop lots are build on stilt, there are only 2 ways to explore the village: - walk or cycle. Bicycle rental is easily found. RM5 per day and you may bargain if you rent in group.

Malacca Historical + Gastronomy Trip

Had a weekend break to Malacca last week. Though this is my second visit, I found it more exciting thanks to the companion of our Malaccan friends, who tell us interesting story about the town and brought us for a lot good food.

It was a sunny day. We visited most of the attractions, walked around the narrow roads, and not forgetting our informative guide who gave us explanation of every interesting spot under the hot sun.

The happy tourists ^_^

What’s new in Malacca?

Eye on Malaysia (ferris wheel) and the Menara Taming Sari (360 degree panoramic view tower)

The town is decorated with neon lights in conjunction with the opening of panoramic view tower.

Musical fountain

Have a glance of what good food we had:

Famous "和记" 粒粒鸡饭

Refreshing Nyonya Cendol

Must eat Satay Celup (before cook)

Ready to eat

Tempting Nyonya Laksa

Thanks to our dearest Malaccan, Joanne and Shirleen for the memorable breakaway.

International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta '09

The 1st ever international hot air balloon festival has been held over the weekend from 19 - 22 March at Putrajaya. Balloonist from different part of the world have came to join the fun! I have personally tried flying on hot air balloon once not long ago, and this time I got even more excited seeing so many balloons at a time.  

preparing 1...

preparing 2...

"purple+red+white hot air balloon" from Belgium

"orange+yellow hot air balloon" from Japan

this is actually an orange from Belgium but she was to shy to take picture 

"blue hot air balloon" from France

"colourful hot air balloon" from unknown

"basketLESS hot air balloon" from Malaysia

Look closely! their feet are hanging in the air

"yellow hot air balloon" from unknown

"giant nescafe mug hot air balloon" from New Zealand

"ele-pig hot air balloon" (elephant ear + pig nose) from Belgium

"sad clown hot air balloon" from Belgium

*life is wonderful, remember to smile*

Kundasang

Had an family outing/ mum's classmates gathering to national park during the weekend. How great my mum still keep good contact with her high school friends after so many years they have graduated. We stayed in Celyn Resort Kinabalu with a group of 24 persons. Most of them were husband & wife and only few families brought their children along. And I guess I was the oldest "child" there. =(

The row of white buildings are the hotel rooms we were staying

With a long balcony outside where the uncles and aunties had late night talks

And the best part is, our hotel rooms are overlooking Mount Kinabalu!

Surrounding the resort is full of mountain ranges, flora and fauna. I am not sure how high we were exactly but I am sure we were higher than the clouds. haha...

I woke up very early to catch the stunning sunrise. And that is also the best time to see clear Mt. Kinabalu before it got covered by the cloud.

Some random shots when I was too boring there

Dad and I cannot tahan the boredom and we went and visit Sabah tea farm

My favourite shot of tea leaves and the blue sky

White water rafting @ Kampar river, Perak

Aha. You should have an idea of WWR by now if you read my earlier post. So as promised, we gonna raft across the South China Sea from Sabah to Perak this time. 

I didn't actually plan for the trip, in fact it was a prize won by my friend in a photo competition and he was given a 2 days/1 night stay for 4 persons in Adeline's Rest House. Well, we knew it isn't a fancy 5-stars resort with mouth-watering cuisine but what interest us was the water rafting activity located just 5 minutes walking distance from the rest house. 

Oh yea, this is the photo that he won us the trip by the way. I was the "so-called" model. hahaa...

Bus ride from Pudu bus station to Medan Gopeng took about 2.5 - 3 hours and we were later transferred by Hilux to the inner land. Another 30 minutes more on the narrow and stony road before we arrive. 

See, rest house also got reception, don't play play....somemore hand-written one, so artistic. It was still acceptable until Adeline, the founder/ lau ban niang/ receptionist/ the cook showed us our room after check-in. We were half fainted when we see this.

Open air big room with tilamss berlipat-lipat at one corner. Not even a proper bed. 

This is how our little "cute" bamboo hut looks from outside. The lower part is the dining area and the upper part is the bedroom. Oh wait, should I call it a bedroom because it looks more like an empty room storing recycle tilams to me. ahhaa...Anyway, according to Adeline the concept of the rest house was purposely built based on Orang Asli style, enabling the guests to experience kampung life.

Okay, forget the bad part and I really love the first lunch provided. Maybe we were hungry too, the chicken wings are delicious! And we were told by Adeline there is a spa we can enjoy after lunch. So my friend and I went and check it out.

O...kay.... so this is the natural spa Adeline was talking about. Freaking cold water spraying out from the pipe. I tried to put my hand in and I can feel my body freezing already. 

Undeniable, air is so much fresher there and the quiet surrounding making it a good place to escape from the noisy and polluted city.

Since it was a 2D/ 1N package we were thinking to have water rafting on the first day unfortunately it was a heavy rain day. We had a cold night in the "bedroom" and I was so happy I brought my super giant size scarf because I don't feel like covering myself with the blanket they provided. I am afraid they never wash it and I can smell the body scent of the last person who used it. 

Luckily it's a sunny day the next morning (at least something to woo our day) and we can finally go ahead with the activity we have been looking forward.  

 

Yea, this is the rafting river I mentioned earlier, just 5 mins walk from the rest house. There is a bridge actually, if you wonder how the bus cross the river. Water level gone really high due to the heavy rain the night before. 

This is our embarkation point. The water here seems clearer and more like a white water comparing the milo colour one in Sabah. And this time I have pictures while we were rafting. It was taken by one of the raft master.

I am sitting in the middle with pinky shorts

Paddle hard! Our raft master, Kevin looks so cool behind.

We all look so nerdy with the helmet on. hahaha...

I enjoyed the trip overall except the accommodation as you can read. But if you are someone who likes to enjoy back to nature life, that would defnitely be a heaven to you. However, if you're a city boy/ girl like me, the rest house is a no no. You can choose to stay in Gopeng town and join a day trip to water rafting. Nah, my second cert. for chanllenging the Kampar river. 

Oh by the way, Riverbug is really profesional in rafting. Check out http://traversetours.com