bookey's boogie days

Sauntering in Santhiya

2010-11-23T05:32:00.000-08:00

The speedboat that I was in came to a halt. The sea was rough, with choppy waves. I staggered out of the speedboat, assisted by the responsible, friendly boatmen. I was then escorted to the resort by a Japanese who speaks fluent English and Thai, how astonishing, to find a Japanese personnel here.

At the reception, I was served with welcome drink, which is my favourite, a Thai coconut, and a cold,wet towel. It was indeed refreshing. After all registration, hotel payment was made, my husband and I were then brought to our villa.

Our villa had the most unique entrance, a 2-panel wooden door covered with a wooden roof. On each wooden door, a carving of an attractive lady clad in traditional clothing was etched on. They seemed to welcome us with open arms. After pushing the door, we walked across a short wooden bridge that led to the door to the villa.

When we opened the door to the villa, I drew in a deep deep breath. The villa is humongous. It is made up of 5 sections or rooms. The first room is the actual bedroom with a king size bed in the middle, facing the magnificent sea. Thin, semi transparent, flowy white cloth falls casually from the ceiling all around the bed, instantly adding a romantic touch to the traditional yet classic villa. Between the bedroom and the living room is a corridor flanked by a long stretch of full height window covered with simple-designed curtains. The living room is equipped with a very traditional, comfortable wooden day bed and a wooden coffee table with intricate carvings all over it. One can enjoy a lazy afternoon gazing at the calm sea by sitting on the day bed that overlooks the vast ocean.

Any villa will not be complete without a balcony. Pushing the sliding door apart, I came across one of the biggest balconies that I have ever come across. It extended from the door to the villa to the living room. The resort has provided 2 lazy man chairs, one table with 2 chairs, just perfect for sun bathing or to catch up with your reading. Of course, not to forget, the awesome scenery that you can take in from the villa.

Back into the villa, the toilet is just amazing! It is almost like a standalone room all by itself. The moment I opened the door, I was greeted by a 2-person bathtub. The designers are creative enough to have a wall with beautiful carvings of animals and items that depict the traditional lifestyle of the local Thai right beside the bathtub. What a simple yet effective way to introduce the culture of Thailand to all holiday-makers. Moving a little deeper into the bathroom, I was astonished by the size of the bathroom. The designers try to induce some traditional flavour to the bathroom too without eliminating comfort and style from it. From afar, the bathroom looks like a little shack with its worn out roof top and wooden cabinet. On a closer look, you'd realize all the intricacies of the design, the strength and the beauty of the furniture or appliances provided.

Venturing out from the villa, we headed towards the restaurant. It's time to cure our tummies. The restaurant is perched at the perfect spot, high above sea level, overlooking the vast ocean, not missing a single section. Alfresco dining is a favourite among all the patrons but unfortunately, we were advised against it as they were expecting it to rain. We reluctantly sat indoor, near a window so as to be able to peek out of it to steal glances of the beautiful scenery. We were pleasantly surprised though as there were programmes lined up for diners that night. First, there would be a duo belting out wonderful songs, only with the accompaniment of a acoustic guitar. The duo was just dynamic! She has the voice of a nightingale, strong, powerful and melodious. He had his fingers running all over the guitar, not to forget his sweet voice too. They took on songs like Besame Mucho, Country Road, etc. You get the genre. :) They sang non stop for 1 hour! She certainly has the prowess and stamina. Her voice did not crack even after singing for 1 hour. I was totally awe-stricken. After 1 hour of nostalgic songs that tugged my heart strings, we were then entertained by Thai traditional dancers for another hour.

Some views and scenery from the restaurant, called Chantara Restaurant.

Ahh....It's just paradise, facing this magnificent view, with a perfect book in your hand, leaning your back against sturdy, woody chair.

Clouds are still hovering around, not releasing its grip on this monsoon-stricken island. The clouds actually added some serenity and gloom to the otherwise cheerful, sunny sea.

One thing that we would never miss is the spa. How can you leave out spa when you're in thailand? Thailand is famed for its ubiquitous and booming spa industry. I did not manage to capture the spa menu at Santhiya but it ranges from facial treatment to body scrub, bath, steam and massage. We ended up choosing the traditional thai massage and the milk bath+aromatherapy oil massage. I picked jasmine flavor as my choice of oil whereas my husband picked lavender oil. The masseurs were very sensitive towards our needs and requirements. We could highlight areas that we want them to focus on, also areas that we want them to avoid. Not only that, we could specify if we have undergone any operation, whether we've injured any part of our body etc. The traditional Thai massage was done "outdoors", facing the sea. We were almost buoyed and lullabied to sleep by the rhythmic crashes of the waves on the rocks. The masseurs were professional and strong. I could hear all my joints and bones cracking under her forceful arms. It was like releasing all the locks clamped on all the joints over my whole body. Of course, the process was not exactly very relaxing as I chose the strong option. But, it was good to relax all my tensed muscle.

The aromatherapy oil massage was totally different. This is purely for relaxation purpose. The presses done by the masseurs were not too strong. The aromatic scent of the jasmine oil still lingers in my senses till today. It was fresh, fragrant, sweet and light, just tingles your senses without weighing down on you. In fact, it was so attractive till all bugs started swarming towards me after I was done with the massage! They must have find the scent very very drawing. The soft melody that was played served very well in putting us to sleep, coupled with the soft touch of the masseurs, really paradise! I instantly felt rejuvenated after the massage. There were 5 types of oil to choose from, jasmine, lavender, rice, lemongrass and coconut. Each has different benefits on your skin. All in all, the spa was really a treat and splurge for me.

Othr than the activities above, we practically did nothing else except for walking along the beach. It is not one of the most beautiful beaches that I have encountered but it was acceptable, albeit a little dirty, with coconut husks, dog poop (what a turn-off), and gunny sacks. Some breathtaking scenery to share:

Visiting an island during monsoon season gave me a whole new concept and view. Usually beaches and island would be humid, sunny, with rowdy crowd, happening events and late night parties. However, a monsoon island is actually serene, peaceful, with a touch of melancholy but still mournfully beautiful. There was thick, heavy clouds hovering around at times. Some other time, the Sun actually showcased itself, wiping out all the glum and providing some cheer and smile. All in all, rain or shine, Santhiya certainly provides you to the maximum, meeting your every need without fail.

Come-Back

2010-09-28T02:41:00.000-07:00

Gosh, it's been one year. What can I say? I've been slacking! I've been procrastinating! I've been lazy! The truth is, I've been so caught up with all the events that have been unfolding in my life.

First, there was the preparation to move into my new abode. Physically tiring and taxing (all the cleaning, moving, arranging), mentally harrowing and disturbing (chasing after bank, going after lawyer, begging and pleading the seller), I finally pulled through. Now, I am happily living ever after in my new home :D Geez...sounds like a fairy tale hahaha...Anyway, I'd love to share photos of my new abode. I'd be uploading some photos later.

Next, there was my wedding. Yep! I am married!!! I myself cannot believe it. Who would have thought that me, smallbook, would settle down at the tender age of 27!!! Gosh, single ladies of my age have just started partying, enjoying night life, painting the whole town red. And, there I was, tying myself down, limiting varieties in my life. It was not a full-blown wedding ceremony. I kept it simple, easy and fast. I am not a big fan of wedding ceremonies, certainly no dreams of being snow white, cinderella or any of the Disney princesses.

Thirdly, what's next after settling down? Of course busy entertaining families of both sides. Instead of attending gatherings, events of 1 family, I have to split myself to attend gatherings and events of another family. I never knew it can be so overwhelming and time-consuming. Due to this too, I have cut down tonnes of my excursions, hiking and trips.

Of course, there is the ever ubiquitous work demand; both in office and at home. Do you think moving into a new abode means I am totally housechores-free? Well, not that lucky to employ a maid to do all the dirty jobs at home. While I still enjoy cleaning and dusting away while humming and singing, I had better carry on. A few years down the road, I'd grimace at the thought of cleaning.

Well, I really hope that I'd be able to travel again. Actually, I did cover a few places, Chiling Falls (yes, again), Gunung Datuk (a new destination). I am looking forward to my next trip, to Koh Samui, nothing adventurous, nothing exciting, just a relaxing getaway with my other half, to escape for the chaos, hubbub, hectic schedule here in KL. Till then......

Stopping at Perhentian Island

2009-06-09T22:09:00.000-07:00

It started off really bad. We were early at the Putra Bus station, all prepared to board the bus. 9.30pm came but still no sign of the bus. After questioning, we couldn't believe our ears, 12 midnight??!!! We had to wait for another 2.5 hours or more for the bus to arrive? Apparently, there was a very severe, major accident and all vehicles were stuck in a massive jam on the trunk road. To cut a long story short, not only did we wait till 12 midnight, we had to wait till 2am! When we caught sight of the bus with a huge "MAHLIGAI" word printed in front, we were practically jumping up and down ecstatically. I know we shouldn't complain as those who were stuck in the congestion suffered more as compared to us who could still have a drink or two at McDonald's or StarBucks while chit chatting.

When we arrived at Kuala Besut jetty, it was already 10am. Our boat would arrive at 10.30am to send us to Pulau Perhentian. We sneaked out for a very quick local breakfast made up of Nasi Kerabu and Nasi Lauk, the famous local delicacies. It was good, perhaps because of our grumbling tummies. In a jiffy, we were all strapped in our life jackets and on our way to the island.

The boat ride was rather smooth even though there were a few rough moments that required a good cushioning to absorb the shock due to choppy waves. It took us 45 minutes to arrive at Pulau Besar (Big Island) where we would put up at Coral View Resort, rated as the second best resort after Perhentian Resort that is situated beside Coral View.

The service we encountered in Coral View was a let down. Their staffs are friendly and helpful. However, they are extremely slow. Even though the check-in time is 12 noon but they told me that the rooms will only be available at 2pm as there was a lack of man power. We ended up having an early lunch in the restaurant while waiting for them to prepare our rooms. Don't expect the food to be cheap. One glass of fruit juice costs RM5-RM7 and a plate of fried rice costs around RM12. The quality is just alright. We eased ourselves and explored a bit. There are chairs and tables arranged on the sandy beach right beside the sea for those who prefer to eat alfresco style and closer to the sea.

I personally don't find the room too satisfactory. If it was due to the lack of staff this particular weekend then it can be dismissed but if it is always in this dire state, Coral View really do not deserver the second spot. We had altogether 3 rooms to accommodate all of us. Out of the 3, 2 smelt musty, wet and moist. The air-condition unit in one of the rooms was chugging along heavily trying to cool down the hot air as fast as possible. Another room has toilet covered with stains in the sink, on the floor. They could have done a better job cleaning the room. However, one of the room was satisfactory. The room was clean, cold and perfect. So, I guess it was just due to the lack of man power to clean and maintain the rooms properly.

Since everyone was still suffering from the horrendous bus ride and looking groggy, there was no activity in the afternoon. We were just lazing around by the beach staring into blank space or the vast sea ( that I am not sure ). When energy seeped back into our nerves, we started to look for a water taxi to ferry us over to Pulau Kecil, Small Island. The resort called a boat man for us who charged us RM10 one way to Pulau Kecil and double the price for one way after 7pm. Since we decided to have our dinner there, we would have to come back after 7pm hence a return journey costed us RM30 per head.

Everybody loves Long Beach on Pulau Kecil. The sand is extremely fine and smooth, the sea is crystal clear and the breeze caresses our faces as the boat docked. The girls removed the slippers and sat down on the beach whereas the guys immediately removed their t-shirts and jumped into the sea for a soak.

Strolling along Long beach was fun and relaxing. We walked aimlessly, merely hoping to cover more ground. There are lots of resorts along the beach. To name a few, there are Panorama, Matahari, Palm, Turtle Bay. All the resorts here do not allow any bookings to be placed during peak season, which is from May onwards as the crowd can get overwhelming. You can only try your luck by walking in and wait for other tourists to check out. That is why we didn't pick to put up at Pulau Kecil.

When our tummies started giving out signals and hints, we headed to Panorama Chalet. It is famous for its meals, reasonably priced yet tasty and delicious. There is a wide variety of food to choose from too, ranging from western to local dishes. We went there real early as the more crowd would come in later and we would have to wait long for the food to be served. Panorama Chalet is located right at the entrance to a short jungle trek to the other side of Pulau Kecil. A lot of tourists would trek along this path to travel between one side of Pulau Kecil to the other side. We were the first to place our orders. We ordered 2 pizzas, 2 grilled fish (barramundi and king fish), 1 vegetarian lasagne, 1 fried rice, 1 fried noodles with seafood, 1 tomyam seafood, 1 caesar salad, 1 plate of fried chicken wings and some others that i can't recall anymore. Everything was finger-licking good!! Even though they served quite slowly (again, they blamed it on the lack of man power), the quality of the food kept our mouth tightly sealed.

When we came out from the restaurant, we were awe-struck by the scenery. High above the vastness of sea and sand, there is a bright round sphere in the sky lending light to everything underneath. There is no trees, no sky-scrappers to hide the moon. It shone on proudly. Too bad I couldn't capture the beauty at the moment as I didn't have the proper equipment to do so. If you ever want to visit Pulau Perhentian, do remember to visit Long Beach at night.

The next day was spent snorkeling. We visited Shark Point, Turtle Point, Romantic Beach and some spots with beautiful corals and interesting school of fish. We were shown huge clam, sharks, and turtles. Romantic Beach was our last stop, where we showered using the freezing cold water from the mountain. It was refreshing indeed after soaking ourselves in salty sea water that left our skin sticky yet dry. Came dinner time, we tried out Water Colours Restaurant.

Sun, Sea and Sand

2009-06-03T20:38:00.001-07:00

After scouring highlands way above sea level, my next trip is to surf the sea and bask under the sun. I am counting down to the actual day of my trip to Pulau Perhentian, deemed as one of the most beautiful island in Malaysia where it's still very pristine and natural. This is just a sneak preview of what will take place end of this week. I will definitely share the coming experience with everyone and promote Pulau Perhentian as one fabulous getaway for city dwellers. Stay tuned!

Laid-back Retreat

2009-05-31T18:54:00.000-07:00

Tuning myself for a slower-paced holiday, I retreated to Cameron Highlands for a laid-back excursion. It was a 2D1N short trip there. I had nothing much in mind, except to bring my parents to enjoy some common and widely-known specialties of Cameron Highlands.

We met up at the famous morning market in Cameron Highlands. We headed to the popular Sungai Palas Boh Tea plantation in Brinchang. The road leading into this tea plantation is very hidden. You really have to pay attention to sign boards in the surrounding area so as not to miss it. One prominent land mark would be the Bee Farm opposite the junction to the tea plantation. Anyway, Cameron Highlands has only 1 road running through it. If you miss it just do a U-turn and try to look for it again.

I always enjoy the drive into the tea plantation due to the vastness of the tea plantation. Seas of tea plants blanket the slopes and valleys. From afar, it looks like the whole mountain is covered by green carpets. The only risk while driving is bumping into the oncoming cars as the road is extremely narrow and winding. At the winding corners, you cannot even see the oncoming cars. Therefore, as you drive along with your windows screened down, you can hear blares of car honks here and there. And, if you hear one close enough to you, it means you have got to slow down and "negotiate" your way through. If given the chance, I would enjoy walking along this winding road rather than driving. With the cool chilled wind and fresh air, it will be a joy to do so. However, not many would be up for it as it is quite a distant from the junction to the tea plantation. For those who has plenty of time to spare, do take it slow and walk in while enjoying the scenery along the way. You definitely cannot miss 2 English Colonial style houses perched on the mountain slope facing the tea plantations. If you are walking, perhaps you can even find a way to get there and share with me more stories about that place. I have no idea if it is private property or an inn or some sort of attraction.

Sungai Palas Boh Tea Plantation lives up to its name. 6 years ago when I visited, there were tables and chairs placed on the plains right beside tea plants for us to sip tea and enjoy scones. Back then, it was very pristine, quiet, relaxing and calm. Even though there were other patrons but the fact that we were practically enveloped by tea plants all around made us lower our tone and respect nature. It was paradise. Fast forward to 6 years after, Boh company has built a glass-surrounded platform extended out from the edge of a slope. This platform allows you to fall into the arms of valleys and hills of tea plantations.

Since we were visiting a tea plantation, it would only be reasonable if we ordered tea. We had the earl grey with tangerine and scone, banana carrot cake, sandwiches, butter lemon cake to go with the tea. The scone didn't taste that wonderful. I have tried better scone elsewhere in Cameron Highlands, ie in Bala's Holiday Chalet in Brinchang. However, the butter lemon cake and sandwiches were tasty. If you are interested in finding out how tea leaves are produced, you can have a quick tour at the factory. The noise can be a tad deafening though.

Accommodation in Cameron Highlands is aplenty. You never run out of choices but they do run out of rooms during peak season like school holidays, public holidays. If you are planning a trip to Cameron Highlads, do plan well. For my family of 6, we rented a bungalow that is pet-friendly. It turned out to be a huge bungalow that has been renovated to accommodate more guests for business purpose. Imagine a large bungalow sub-divided into rooms so that these rooms can be rented out. But, i do not have complaints overall. Toilets are clean, so are the rooms.

Our next stop was MARDI short for Malaysian Agriculture Research and Development Institute, i think. MARDI is situated opposite the bungalow we rented. It is so near that we could just walk there without breaking into a sweat even though the bungalow is situated on a hill top. This park demands RM3 entrance fee for adults but students get to go in for free. The attraction over here is the beautiful landscape and also the vegetable, flower and fruit plantation. It did not awe me since I have visited my friend's own vegetable and flower plantation. The one in MARDI is very small scale since they concentrate more on research. We had a wonderful time snapping photos of the beautiful landscape though whereas my parents were so fascinated with all the flowers, herbs, fruits and vegetables planted there.

Not to be missed out is the Smokehouse Hotel. We weren't the patrons of this hotel but I just have to show my parents this colonial style hotel with perfect landscaping.

Our last destination was one of the best Strawberry Farms that i have been to. It is called Big Red Strawberry Farm located very near Brinchang town. This strawberry farm has hydroponic vegetables too and they sell a wide variety of strawberry snacks like strawberry sundae, strawberry with whipped cream, strawberry with honey and yoghurt etc. Besides that, you get to purchase 3 huge lettuces for RM5, a combination of green coral and butterhead. When you're done filling your tummies, you can take a peek at the cactus valley below the strawberry farm.

We have come to an end to my Cameron Highlands excursion. The trip didn't spell lots of excitement or adventure. It was more towards enjoying the chilled and fresh air up there.

End of Chapter

2009-05-11T17:14:00.000-07:00

After the eye-opening attempt to the peak under harsh condition, I was out of breath. Even though the trek wasn't steep but I put in a lot of attention as I didn't want to lose any footing along this treacherous stretch. However exhausted we were, there was no chance to rest as it was advisable to head down after breakfast.

When everyone had make it down to the hut, we packed our stuffs and went for a highly anticipated buffet breakfast (due to the hunger). We did not linger too long and left Laban Rata Restaurant at approximately 9.45am.

Surprisingly, I didn't feel heavy-hearted as I departed. That made me wonder, do I really dislike this place? It can't be, I enjoyed myself thoroughly, every single step I made, even though I went through lots of hardship. Perhaps it was a sense of accomplishment even though I didn't make it to the top.
Basically, this is the end of my Mount Kinabalu adventure. I will definitely return a second time to really make it to the peak. My dad has shown interest. It will be an honour to hike with my dad. I guess it is going to be the best and most awesome experience to be able to enjoy sunrise with my dad at the peak! Let me share some photos with you that I took on my way down. Of course, the trek down using Timbohon route (which is a few km shorter) is way faster. But, I suffered from muscle pain when I came back to KL. The steps along Timbohon are wide apart. I utilized a lot of my thigh muscle to cushion my feet. Perhaps running down without stopping would have been a better option but I have a weak heart and my heart is not up for adrenaline rush like that. I admit that I fare better going up hill than going down.

When we arrived at Timbohon gate, we had to take a bus to Kinabalu Park for our lunch. Well, anyone could have walked there, it's just another 4km away. Our lunch was served in Balsam Cafe in Kinabalu Park. I ate to my heart's content. Balsam Cafe is a quaint cottage with colourful flowers planted around it.

Summit, here I come

2009-05-07T05:22:00.000-07:00

There are few options for accommodation at Laban Rata, the most comfortable one being Laban Rata Hut. The only place for food will be at Laban Rata Restaurant. After finished sipping my pot of hot milo in Laban Rata Restaurant, I headed to Gunting Lagadan. It seemed pretty far away due to our lethargy. The route to Gunting Lagadan is quite steep too.

Seeing the entrance to Gunting Lagadan had me scurrying along the slope into Gunting Lagadan Hut. I couldn't wait to keep myself warm and to rest. Gunting Lagadan is pretty comfortable and cosy. You cannot expect much from a hostel at this height. What they offer is seriously satisfying enough. All 8 of s fitted into 1 hostel room with 8 bunk beds. At the moment, the bed looked extremely inviting. The toilets and bathrooms left me with no complaints too. It is definitely not 5-star 4-star rate but trust me, it is sufficient to fill your hearts' contend.

Dinner was served at 5.00pm. We had to walk all the way down to Laban Rata Restaurant, that is the only setback of Gunting Lagadan. It was buffet style dinner where rice, fried noodles, eggs, salad, chicken, beef, soup and fruits are served. Somehow, the food tasted just finger-licking good. It must be the weather, the environment and my tired body. Dinner over here is always early so that climbers get to retire earlier to bed to be fully prepared for the ascend to summit at 2.00am.

We arose at 1.30am. It was one of the hardest thing to do, to lift up your eye lids. I was so very reluctant to do so. Give me a break, I just completed a 6-hour hike non stop and now you want me to drag myself out of bed at the wee hours? Which human can do so. Irregardless of all the internal conflicts, grumbles and conflicts I had in me, I managed to wake up, so did the rest. However, there were some who opted not to attempt the ascend to the summit because of the fatigue from the hike the day before. Furthermore, the hike to the summit is known to be treacherous, scaling up steep rocky terrain. Any slip of foot will result to death!

The whole Hut was hustling and bustling with activities and noises. Everyone was very busy getting prepared for the final charge. All were dressed for the occasion with thick wind breaker and jackets, long comfortable pants, snow caps and shawls. Most had their ponchos and raincoats on too. The guide briefed us on how the track and trail would be. I was raring to go, how different from the sleepy head half an hour ago. We departed at 2.30am.

It was pitch black outside with the only light source coming from our headlamps. The leader went slow. I believe that is very crucial because the guide had warned us about dizzy spells and nausea feeling due to the lack of oxygen and probably altitude sickness. I really wanted to make sure that i went on a steady pace so that there was sufficient oxygen for my body to adapt to. The trail started off with rocky steps. Eventually, we came to the risky part of the trek.

It was foggy and misty. With our headlamps we could see drizzles of water spattering all around us. It is highly advisable to wear water-resistant or water-proof windbreaker as that will keep you dry. Those short-sighted will seriously have to consider wearing contact lense of if your power is not too high, just go without glasses since you only need to look at the next step ahead of you to ensure you can get going. I removed my glasses and it turned out better as the mist fogged my glasses till i could barely see a thing!

Away with rocky steps now came the rocky terrain. It became more like low level rock climbing. It was fairly easy. You only have to keep yourself low then you could scramble away like spider man. Some parts, it was necessary to hold onto the rope but most of the time, I merely bent myself lower and treaded across. It is a good thing that I couldn't see how high I was. Really, if anyone has phobia for heights, this is one great challenge to overcome your fear. On the journey up, it was still acceptable due to the darkness enveloping the whole mountain. But, after reaching the peak and enjoying the sun rise, you'd be down for a fear ride if you are afraid of heights.

Without realizing, we were ahead of the crowd as we went on a steady pace. The wind was getting stronger. Rain drops seemed to get heavier and bigger. I could never have withstood harsh weather, bleak surrounding and total darkness all by myself. It was comforting to know there was a leader and guides assisting us. However, in total darkness like that, I couldn't tell who's who. I only knew who was ahead of me and who was behind me. I only made sure I knew that I was following closely the person in front of me. What made it worse was the headlamp that gave up on me. It ran out of battery.

We made lots of stops and rests as we didn't want to reach the peak too early. Sitting still in the cold for 1 hour or so waiting for the sunrise sounded scary to me. Our guides had even advised us not to remain too long at the peak as the biting wind would penetrate our bones. Once that happened, we would find it extremely hard to descend due to the weak legs.

Seemed like God wasn't on our side and Lady luck didn't shine on us. The drizzle turned into a heavy downpour! Instantaneously, my toes went numb as my socks got soaking wet. My water-proof jacket could still keep my body dry but my hands were gone too. Rain water gushed into my gloves and with the embrace of the wind, my fingers "passed out" and lost consciousness. Wind got more and more vicious and rain didnt' just want to stop. It all looked so bleak and discouraging. I lost all my enthusiasm and zest. I had high hopes of enjoying sunrise at Low's Peak after hearing so much about it. Now, the rain washed away my hopes, and all my optimism flowed out of me with the rain.

We still continued a little bit more and at 1 km away from the peak, two guys actually came down with bad news : it's raining at the peak and they're heading down. It came as a blow to me. What? All this way and nothing to view at the peak? It was a tormenting moment for me. I was dying to view the sunrise but apparently under weather conditions like this, definitely no beautiful sun rise, probably just a smear of orange across grey sky. But, I was only 1km away from the peak. Should I just turn back? Wind wasn't forgiving, nor was the rain. I couldn't move my fingers, I couldn't feel my toes. In the end, I decided to go back to get some warmth. The only motivation for me was no longer there to entice me, encourage me. I didn't have the energy nor the drive to continue.

With teeth clattering and hands trembling, I could even feel my internal organs shivering, sending my whole body into shivers, I headed back down. Along our way down, we bumped into many others who were still groping in the dark, struggling to find their way to the peak. They seemed unperturbed by the somewhat less heavier rain. It was a great challenge descending. I had my poncho on, and with every blow of the wind, it practically blinded me from looking at the rocky terrain. I had to find ways to suppress it all the time. My advice: try your best to get water-proof or water-resistant wind breaker as poncho is really a nuisance. Besides that, my headlamp was already out but the fact that there were more people now as we descended, it got a bit brighter somehow. Not only that, now with my snow cap no longer on my head, I had hair strewn across my face, posing as such a irritation to me. So, to those who are interested, do take note of all these. Of course the hair part only applies to those who have long hair.

Frankly, I had no eyes for anything else on my way down but the steps. I couldn't wait to get back to the hut, to keep myself warm. However, as the sun began to rise and the rain began to stop, the journey became more bearable. I could actually enjoy the blurry scenery a little bit. Too bad that my hands were still numb so I was very reluctant to remove my gloves to grab my camera. The sky was bright even though it was after a shower. It was very cloudy and I could only see a smudge of orange surrounding the clouds at the horizon. According to those who had made it to the peak, that would be what I would see if I made it to the peak. It wasn't stunning. I want to see a fiery red ball rising slowly, extending its sun rays as though they are reaching for me. It was very peaceful, cool and fresh. I believe those who live here for long have found the elixir for eternal youth. Who would grow old with weather and surrounding like this. It's really a perfect spot for retirement.

When I saw signs of civilization (the roof of Gunting Lagadan hut), it was the most welcoming sight I have ever seen. Surprisingly, I didn't feel any ounce of regret even though i was only 1km away from the peak. I guess it's because my main and only objective is to enjoy sunrise view at Low's Peak. Without that, making it to the top just doesn't mean anything. It's the same concept in life. We work aimlessly trying to earn big bucks without knowing what our objectives are. By the time we reach the top, we feel lost, not knowing what we have achieved so far.

Laban Rata Charge

2009-05-05T00:51:00.000-07:00

"Cock-a-doodle-doo, Cock-a-doodle-doo...." We were awaken by the crowing of a rooster. Wow, they even have rooster at such altitude and it actually woke us up on time! Little did we realize that it was the alarm tone set by my friend! And we were so awestruck by the service provided by Mesilau Resort. After a quick rinse and a final round of packing, we headed to the restaurant for our buffet breakfast.

It was such a crowd! You would never feel that everyone there was about to set out on a quest to hike Mount Kinabalu. Everyone was attacking the food as though it is his last breakfast. Next task was to hand over the luggage bags to be transferred to Timbohon gate with a charge of RM10 per bag as there is where we would descend to. The final gathering point will be with the guide who briefed us on some tips and crucial information that we should know. Those bags to be carried by porters were weighed too and i could proudly state that the shared bag by all 9 of us was lighter than the rest, talk about traveling light. We're the practical travelers!

Without further delay, we departed from the gate of Mesilau into heaven haha, of course not literally but you know what i mean. We weren't the first group to depart, hence there were many others ahead of us. I remained the first few to lead the group because of the lesson learnt: to enjoy better privileges, you always have to stay ahead, remember, early bird gets the worm. I have heard of horror stories whereby you don't get to shower with hot water if you arrive late, i definitely don't want to suffer that fate!

The hike was fairly easy. We took our own sweet time as I was advised to snap as many photos as possible along the way. Mesilau route is famed for its scenic beauty hence there are more and more climbers opting this route instead of Timbohon route that is way much shorter, 3km in fact.

Along the way, I stole glances at the many peaks surrounding Low's Peak. It was a very cool day and thin blankets of mist surrounded the peaks.

Even the plants and trees are different. They reminded me of giant bonsai plants magnified 10-50 times. For every 1km, there is an RnR stop for climbers to take a breather, fill up their dwindling water supply and to rest their aching legs. Hence, it was a great milestone achievement when we hit our first km. Everyone was cheering to give confidence to each other. It's amazing how people unite under harsh circumstances, that is the beauty of mankind.

As we gained more altitude, the air turned cooler and the wind got stronger. In fact, from time to time, we could hear the wind howling phase by phase, sounded exactly like waves crashing onto the shore and retreating back into the sea. At times, it sounded as though the rain was traveling towards us from afar, which turned out into false alarm. Imagine, being in the forest at such an altitude but you have beautiful lullaby that sounded like sea waves, how calming it is. Slowly, we were able to catch glimpses of Low's Peak and the barren, bleak stone wall.

The mountain peaks didn't look friendly and inviting at all. They seemed to exude this arrogance, challenging us to conquer them. They seemed ever so stony, grand and cold. We felt extremely minute and insignificant being surrounded by ruthless stony stares. The higher we got, the less shelter there was. This means the wind mercilessly attacked us, trying its very best to blow our enthusiasm, zest away. It even seemed as though the wind was coercing, persuading us to go back to where we came from.

You would tend to forget that you're still in Malaysia when you look at your surrounding. There are trees with brown reddish leaves, yellowish leaves and different shades of green. The trees are unique too, unlike the tropical, huge trees that we see normally in jungles in Malaysia. Some trees even arched above the trail as though they were saluting us to have reached so far.

Everywhere I turned, I was greeted with scatters of clouds and plains of green, red and yellow. I really felt out of the world. I was so immersed in the beauty. The absolute quiet made me hear the wind and the rustling of the leaves. They were singing a symphony, a symphony that sang the greatness of us arriving this far. For a moment, I stood there, engulfed by nature, soaked in the beauty so overwhelming.

After the stretch of bowing, saluting trees, we were greeted by steep steps. These steps went up and up and up and up. How encouraging!

We climbed, dragged our tired legs, pushed our heavy buttocks and panted profusely. The only encouragement is the peaks that started to look bigger. From a far spot to something discern.

After KM5, there is this most scenic RnR, perched very near the edge of the cliff overlooking the whole Sabah state. Wind was howling like mad. I had my hair all over my face. I turned 360 degrees and I was greeted by picturesque scenery. It would be heavenly to have a coffee shop serving hot brewed coffee here. Yumieeee, I dreamt on.

We were inching closer and closer to our destination. "Ain't no mountain high enough.." that song ran through my head. More and more steps, never ending steps, exhausting fleet of steps, when would the steps finally end?

After plowing across boring stretch of steps, I spotted the first sight of civilization! It appeared in the form of a roof! My heart skipped a beat, my eyes lit up and my steps turned lighter. This is it, after suffering for 6 hours plus, we were going to make it there soon!

Somehow, those last few meters seemed so dreadful, far and long. I wanted to speed up my pace but my legs just wasn't co-operating. They were very stubborn, plunged deep into the soil and every step I took I had to use great force to pull them out. After much determination and mental strength, we saw Laban Rata Restaurant. I could wait no more, barged into the restaurant and plopped onto the chair closest to the windows to enjoy a bird's eye view. I ordered a pot of hot Milo.

Dreaming of Laban Rata

2009-05-03T17:22:00.000-07:00

Finally, the day has come. The van arrived on the dot to pick us up and chauffeur us to Mesilau Resort in Kundasang. It was quite a long ride. I was extremely drowsy as i lacked sleep the night before. We booked a room in Akinabalu Youth Hostel and what i can say is, Sabahans are really healthy folks. They wake up real early to start their new day, approximately 4am. By 4.30am or so, i started hearing cars wheezing past the hostel. It was such a nightmare! If you want to totally give up sleeping, i believe you can just lie on your back and count the number of cars passing by. This is the room in Akinabalu Youth hostel. Even though the bed frames creak with your every move, squeaks with your every toss and turn, the rooms are clean.

Along the way to Kundasang, we drove past plains of plantations and forest. The greenery that greeted us was never ending. Waves after waves of forest flooded into our sight. I was struggling to keep my eyes open as the bumpy ride was like a lullaby to me, putting me to sleep. We were told that 2 tables had been reserved for us at Bayu Restaurant in Kundasang for our lunch.

Upon reaching Bayu Restaurant, we immediately placed our orders. All of us were starved. Bayu Restaurant is quite a cosy restaurant run in a small scale. It is trying very hard to provide variety to its menu.

Next stop after fulfilling our hunger pang was a cow farm! I admit that i was not excited at all about it. What is there to see in a cow farm, it sounded boring to me. How wrong was i. I was skipping all over the place squeezing to look at the cows waiting in line to be milked. The cows roamed free on the meadow grazing and relaxing. At the same time, some are queuing up to be milked by the machines. They are so obedient. It is either the lure of the food provided while milking process is carried out or they have been trained to rush in whenever the gates to the queue is opened.

A must-not-miss is buying fresh milk produced in this cow farm. We went over to the production line where machines were working very hard to sterilize, pasteurize and package the milk. A small box of milk, i think it's half the size of those normal cartons sold in supermarket, costs RM2.00 and RM2.50 for chocolate flavored.

We carried on with our journey to Mesilau Resort. The air was getting cooler and cooler as we are going higher and higher in altitude. It was such a relaxing, calm ride. The driver dropped us at the parking bay and we followed a park ranger who led us to our rooms. When we saw the slope leading to our rooms, we took a deep breath. It was such a steep slope! By the time we heaved and hoed our luggages and reached the top of the slope, we were out of breath, panting heavily. Gosh, how are we going to conquer South East Asia's highest peak when we couldn't even bring our luggage bags up this slope! We started to have second thoughts.

I headed straight to the shower room. The water was freezing cold. Just washing our hands under running tap water sent my fingers numb. I was very thankful for the hot water they provided. Unfortunately, those who were late were not fortunate enough to enjoy hot water. The lesson that i learnt was : always go for the bathroom for your shower in place like this, you never know when the hot water supply will run out.

We wandered around Mesilau Resort. The chill wind sent shivers down our spines. Air was so cool and fresh, the aroma of leaves and the flowers wafted through the air. It was so ever refreshing. If only we are able to smell natural fragrance like this in KL city. Our dinner was in the Restaurant in Mesilau Resort. The buffet style dinner really caught us by surprise! We never expected to be able to enjoy sumptuous dinner before our deadly climb the next day. Of course, we attacked the food like scavenges.

After sweeping in plates after plates of food into our mouths, we decided to give our tummies a rest. We headed back to our room. The atmosphere was serious for a moment when all of us pondered about the ascend the next day. All of us wanted to call it off and just enjoy the stay in Mesilau Resort. We were practically buoyed by all these worries and concerns to sleep.

Pre-KK symptoms

2009-04-26T22:17:00.000-07:00

1st May 2009, a very special date in my calendar. It is when one of my dreams will be fulfilled. Amidst the excitement exuded from my exterior, there is a lot of trepidation and concerns inside. Will my injured ankle fail me? It has been more than 1 month but my ankle has not fully recovered from the sprained ligament. Will my condition allow me to conquer Mount Kinabalu without hiccups?

Besides the adrenaline rush of scaling Mount Kinabalu that thrills me, it is the idea of going on another trip with my besties. Since schooling years till now, we have gone through a whole lot. Who wouldn't have when you've walked through around 10 years together. From the innocent, rebellious teenagers to the matured, wacky young adults. We witnessed the transformation of each and everyone. Gosh, no idea where the sudden nostalgia came from, *grins*.

Anyway, my heart has flown to Kota Kinabalu where the grand, serene highest peak awaits me. Do tune in for the details next week. There will be a great story to be told.

Nuang-Lolo Camp

2009-04-12T05:12:00.000-07:00

On one of our practice sessions for Mount Kinabalu, we picked Gunung Nuang, Selangor's highest peak. However, due to my injured ankle and due to my buddies' nature of enjoying instead of going through gruesome training, we decided to stop at Lolo Camp instead of heading to the summit. I know, i know, it defeats the purpose then but i would rather give my ankle a chance to recover than deteriorating it more. I need only 1 more week for it to fully recover, that is according to the doctor, let's pray that he is right.
We arrived at base at around 8.30am and started out on our hike at 8.50am. We had read from blogs that described thoroughly how the trek to the peak of Gunung Nuang is. The first stretch is purely steep muddy trail to Lolo Camp. There are no steps but slope all the way. In fact, if you have a 4x4, you can even drive to Lolo Camp. This slope is perfect for my ankle as climbing steps would be a tad too risky as I could land my foot on an uneven surface and twist it again since my ankle is very vulnerable at the moment.

The stretch seemed never-ending. Due to the rain the night before, most of the trail was muddy. That impaired our advance and slowed us down as we didn't want to have our shoes covered with mud. The trail went on and on and on. Most parts are steep and we had to toughen our calf muscle to ascend. The challenge here was more on mental strength as it could get really boring. Somehow, we survived :D.

Lolo Camp is dirty! We were greeted by rubbish dump and rubbish piles scattered everywhere. It really didn't make us feel like lingering long. We tried to look for a quieter spot away from the workers who were doing some construction work. We found an isolated spot right beside the waterfall. It was narrow but that's the best we could find.

Without further delay, we attacked the food we brought. You would never be able to guess what our main course was. KFC!! To go with KFC, there were tuna sandwich, watermelon, longan and lychee dessert and hard-boiled eggs. What a sumptuous feast right in the heart of nature.

After spending 2 hours by the waterfall, we headed back to civilization. Below are some photos along the way down.

Project Sun Tan Part IV

2009-04-06T04:42:00.000-07:00

As though 1 day of sun-tanning was not sufficient, we decided to go on another island-hopping tour. Well, what's an island trip if you do not soak yourself in sun rays?

Our first stop was Maya Island. This is the very famous island where the movie "The Beach" was filmed. I guess you know what movie this is. I have not watched it so nothing looked familiar to me. When you stand on Maya Beach overlooking the breathtaking sea, you feel as though you are out of the world. You have fine, white sand underneath your feet, sky blue glistening, glittering sea water calmly and gently rushing onto the shores and towering, gigantic mountains enclaving the crystal clear water and the sandy beach. It felt too much for me to take in, too hard for me to believe that this view was for real. How could there be such a view! Sadly, the throng of tourists and the noise pollution that ensued drew away most of its beauty.

We ventured into the heart of this small island only to find ourselves in a deep ravine. You would feel as though you were in a lost world with dense forest and strange-looking trees all around you.

After the brief stop at Maya Beach, we were brought to a lagoon where the water level will rise another 20meters during high tide.

For lunch, we had at Monkey Beach where there were supposed to be throngs of monkeys on that island. Too bad, due to the weather (it rained!!!), that plan was postponed. Instead, we headed to our next destination, Bamboo island. We were left with no choice due to the heavy rain. It was astonishing to experience heavy downpour in open sea. Due to its vastness you can spot clear sky on your left but surprising blurry view on your right due to the rain.
All in all, the only highlight of this island tour is Maya Beach where our breath was really taken away. The rest was quite a disappointment, sad to say.
The next day marked the last day in Krabi. We did not have much time to travel too far hence we opted for an elephant ride and another session of traditional thai massage.

Below is our dear elephant darling whose name is Moon. She is such a good girl, she would obey the instructors's every single instruction. Even though she would be curious and mischievous at times by being distracted by new plants or leaves, she would put it aside and carry on with her journey.

How comfortable would it be if we are always surrounded by greenery and mountains and clear blue sky. This is paradise!

Well, this marks the end of my krabi trip. It had been enjoyable. There are so many more attractions that we didn't manage to cover. It would be awesome to be able to go back one day to cover those areas!

Project Sun Tan Part III

2009-03-16T17:25:00.000-07:00

For the 3rd and 4th day, we opted to stay in Railay Beach, that is accessible only via long tail boats. Instead of going directly to Railay Beach, we went with our friend-cum-tourist guide called Buddy who would bring us visit Chicken Island, Poda Island, Tub Island and to Railay Beach ultimately. We started off at 9.30am.

It was a fun ride on the long tail boat. The speed was not even close to the speed of a speed boat but it allowed us to enjoy the view in more detail at a slower pace. What's the point of rushing to every destination exactly in the same manner as we rush for work? The whole idea of going on a vacation is to slow things down. We were amazed by the half-island-half-rock formations that are scattered all around the sea. They are extremely grand and pompous. You can't keep your eyes off them as they make such a grand sight. It made us feel so minute in this infinity vast sea with humongous rock formations towering over us.

Our first stop was Tub Island. It is quite a unique island, rather small but without sandy beach surrounding it. Instead, there is a sandy pathway that spreads on the sea surface extending to another part of the island.
The boats would dock along this sandy path and tourists would sun bathe, snorkel around. This is also where i cut my feet and leg on dead corals. It certainly hurt. Too bad i don't have any photos of the wound to share. Due to the injury, my snorkeling adventure was cut short. Instead, i merely soaked myself in the sea water, hoping to sterilize my wounds.

The next destination was Chicken Island. Chicken Island is named after its "look". Yep, you guessed it right, it looks like a chicken. We merely went around it to have a full view of the island. Somebody commented though, that if the Thais know about Loch Ness, this island would have been called Loch Ness Island instead.

We headed next to Poda Island. From afar, it looked like paradise, with its white sandy beach and wooden huts. However, when we explored the area, there was nothing much for us to do except to sun bathe. I do not mind being exposed to the sun during vacation but i still shun away sun bathing as it takes ages for me to remove my tan.

After answering nature's call, we decided to check in to our hotel in Railay Bay. Along the way, we immersed ourselves in the gorgeous scenery all around the sea.

Railay is separated into Railay East and Railay West. Railay West is deemed to be more secluded and quieter as compared to Railay East. Buddy dropped us at Railay East even though our hotel is in Railay West. You see, east and west is separated by a short distance that can be covered by foot. It is really interesting. The jetty at Railay East is odd. There is practically no beach at all. The boats can stop right in front of the pathway that is buzzing with people.

We hopped down and bade farewell to dear Buddy. Taking cue from the signboards, we went on our search for our next accommodation. We were lucky to bump into a buggy driver of the hotel called Railay Bay Resort and Spa. It turned out that the moment we stepped down from the boat and walked a few steps ahead, we were already in the vicinity of Railay Bay Resort and Spa, talk about how close the jetty is to the hotel. However, it was sure a long long way to the reception. The buggy driver drove us to the reception counter. Under normal circumstances, i would walk with no qualms as I love moving around on foot. But, at that moment i had my luggage with me, i had a bad cut on the dead corals hence the buggy ride was a welcome!

We weaved through all sorts of rooms provided by Railay Bay Resort and finally arrived at the reception counter. After checking into our rooms, we explored Railay West to hunt for food. The restaurants in Railay surely costed a bomb. It is equivalent to the price of food in restaurants in KL. That is explainable since almost 95% of patrons are Caucasians and all food supply be it raw or processed have to be brought in via boats.

Our itinerary for the evening was to visit Phranang Cave and Phranang Bay. We had to walk through Railay East to get there. It was a unique walk as we saw lots of climbing enthusiasts with their equipment since Railay is extremely renown for rock climbing activity. Further down the narrow walk way that separates the rocky hills and the resorts, there was a signboard that says Lagoon View Point. And, it was pointing up! Sigh, too bad i injured my foot if not i would have loved to hike.

There is nothing special about Phranang Bay and Phranang Cave except that they are more exclusive as compared to Railay West, much smaller too. Well, i did kayaking at Phranang Bay and it was fun!

Project Sun Tan Part II

2009-03-12T17:33:00.001-07:00

After a tiring first day in Krabi, we decided to take it easy on the second day. This time, we'll explore the beaches in Krabi since it is well-known for that. We took a Thai taxi to Ao Nang at 50Baht per person. Having no specific plan in mind, we wandered around Ao Nang.

You would never believe that you're in Thailand once you arrive at Ao Nang. Anywhere you turn your head, you'll be greeted by Caucasians, not just one or two of them but a whole group. You'll hear a mixture of languages from Italian, English and god-knows-what language.
To cover more ground, we decided to rent motorcycles and ride around. We found a really cute-looking scooter for 200Baht a day and we took it.

Along Ao Nang beach, the long tail boats and speed boats "parked" by the beach stretched across the whole beach. Boatmen and tourists were seen tangled in a haggling process. Boatmen were shouting out to tourists to take up their best price for boat rides.

Our first destination was Noparatthara beach ( i hope i get the spelling correct). It has very shallow beach that extends a great deal into the sea. This part Ao Nang has more locals as compared to Ao Nang beach. We quickly moved on to our next destination, Klong Moung beach.

To reach Klong Moung beach, it was quite a long ride. We rode along trunk roads, rode past shop lots, villages, plantations etc. We stopped by a catfish farm that had around 5 ponds teemed with gigantic catfish. It gave me the shivers when i saw the school of catfishes. I could only see their whiskers and the gasping mouth right at the surface of the water. It was extremely gory and disgusting. They are so used to being fed by tourists till they thronged towards you following your every step. Even now when i thought about it, i would cringe! Sorry, no photos of disgusting creatures to share with you. Let's move on.

Klong Moung beach was surprisingly quiet and empty. Even the shops seemed to be shut. At this time around, we were already hunting for restaurants to fill our tummies. They looked too commercialized for our liking hence we persevered. We trespassed into one of the private beaches of the resorts but it was too glaring and scorching hot to enjoy the moment and to snap any photos. Hopped back onto our scooters and we headed up north to Tup Kaek beach. That would be the last accessible beach for us. Anything further up north would be too far.

Tup Kaek beach was not teeming with life either. It had rows of resorts, very exclusive, very expensive. It would be a great spot of honeymooners and families if what you want is just a get-away from the hustle and bustle of city. After Tup Kaek we headed back to Klong Moung to hunt for food. We found a restaurant called Tup Kaek thai restaurant that is situated right beside the beach. We wanted somewhere that we could eat while enjoying the sea breeze. There was not a single patron except for the waiters and waitresses. Skeptical as we were, we had no other choices.

We picked the spot on the sandy beach and ordered. I again had my thai coconut, as usual. What is a beach holiday without coconut drinks? The beach was extremely peaceful and quiet. We spotted an elderly Caucasian couple drinking by the beach. It was just so relaxing and calming. We sat down and yakked over our drink and food. After we got tired of chatting, we stared into the vast sea and enjoy the sea breeze, savoured the view. To tell you the truth, my holiday plans are always packed with activities. This is my first attempt on such a slow-paced, laid-back holiday. It isn't too bad to indulge in holidays like this once in a while, but definitely not all the time and the company makes a whole lot of difference. Boredom can come kicking in and seeping in very easily.
When the merciless sun finally showed some mercy, we hopped onto our bike and continued our journey.

By afternoon 4pm we arrived back at Ao Nang feeling all sweaty and dirty. We unanimously agreed to go for a massage after a whole day ride on bike. We randomly walked into one of the spa centers that was recommended in the map and turned out pretty good. You would never be able to find a massage with that price in Malaysia! We then rushed to the beach to view the sunset.

Project Sun Tan Part 1

2009-03-05T02:36:00.000-08:00

Having sun tanning in mind, i headed off to Krabi Thailand. Famed for its throng of Mat Sallehs, sandy beaches and sunny skies, Krabi certainly lived up to its expectation. The itinerary i planned was simple enough, 2 nights in Krabi town, 2 nights in Railay West and 1 night in Ao Nang.

First day activity is rather easy as we just touched down hence we didn't want to do anything too tiring. We hopped onto a long tail boat at Chao Fa Pier, the pier in the smack of town and went on a short tour to visit the landmark of Krabi, Khao Kanap Nam. It is two stone hills carving an arch above the river and you can visit the cave in one of the hills. There are stalactites and stalagmites in the cave. Of course those are nothing compared to Pancing Cave in Lembing, if you read my previous blog entry.

Having a few hours more to spend before dinner time, we decided to visit Tiger Cave. Our long tail boatman Buddy recommended his friend Minai to bring us there with his taxi. After bargaining a price we deemed not exorbitant, we hopped onto his taxi to Tiger Cave.
It was a very peaceful and quiet place. No tourist crowds, no blaring of honks or loud murmuring of voices. This is what I prefer, to blend in. Definitely no problem for me as i can pass anytime as a local Thai with my tanned skin. We went for a swift visit in the smaller cave at the foot of the hill. After that, we headed towards the staircase, altogether 1372 of them!
We started off lightly but slowly, we started to feel the strain on us. We huffed and puffed, dragged our legs along with us. This was not even half or quarter of the whole journey! How are we going to complete this?? Along the way, we did bump into other avid climbers. It was a good mix of local Thais and foreigners. Some even took off their sandals, even though i have no idea why. The surface of the steps certainly isn't smooth. I wouldn't want to have any abrasions on my feet.
Beautiful scenery as we hiked up.

Look at the amount of steps we have to conquer!

Some parts the steps are so steep and narrow that we had to ascend sideways. It gave me the shivers when i thought about my trip down. I have always preferred uphill as i do not need to look downwards, perhaps i have a slight phobia of height. Gosh....we really felt like giving up. It seemed forever to us. When there were questions raised about how many more steps, i didn't dare to disclose that we were able to know by reading the carvings on the steps itself that identify the number of steps that had been conquered. It definitely wouldn't serve as an encouragement!
To cut all the hardship short, we finally arrived at the peak gasping for air. However, the moment we lay our eyes on the scenery all around us, we knew that all the turmoil we went through was too minute and trivial. It was paradise!

The wind blew away all our tiredness, the setting sun recharged us with its last calming, soothing sun rays. The fresh, cool air refilled our lungs that were so deprived of oxygen. In the middle of the plateau sits the huge sitting buddha statue. We were so busy checking out every angle of the scenery as the place is huge till we forgot that the sun is setting and as night falls, it will be hard for us to snap photos!
Throughout our conquest to the peak, not only did we find peace and beauty, we found friendship too. They certainly aided us a lot during our ascend, deepest gratitude to Vern, Rossana and her family. How ironic that different nationalities would bond under weird circumstances.
By the time we headed down, it was already dark. Oh yes, the sun sets earlier as compared to Malaysia, by 5.30pm you will notice that the sun is setting and by 6pm it is dark. The trip down hill is surprisingly relaxing and quick. Amidst chats and laughter with our new found friends, we got down in a jiffy. After bidding farewells and exchanging email addresses, we parted ways.
We went back to town to serve our growling tummies. Recommended by the taxi driver, we tried our luck in a simple-looking local thai restaurant. We didn't want anything commercialized, we wanted the most authentic thai food that locals would consume. It turned out well. I had my thai coconut drink yummy yummy. It was so sweet and tasty! It puzzled me why all the coconuts in Thailand are sweet whereas the ones we have here in Malaysia just taste plain. With a big burp, we left back for our hotel and called it a day.

Basel

2009-02-05T22:21:00.000-08:00

Basel is one of the most disobedient, cheeky and mischievous being i have ever met. He would dare you to run after him for his disobedience, lure you into chasing after him to give him a good spanking. Not only that, he is very busy-body, inquisitive and curious. He would poke his nose into anything that you are busy with. He would take a look at what you are cooking, pushed you aside to be able to get a view of what you are occupied with and squeezed himself through to be part of the crowd. On top of that, he loves company. He would cry and whine if you ever leave him out of any outings, beg and plea if you do not entertain him and snuggle and nuzzle up to you for warmth.

You will find it so hard to push him away. He melts your heart even though he drives you up the wall at times. He stole my mom's heart, that's for sure.

Kelantan Bali

2009-02-03T16:04:00.000-08:00

Don't be surprised that Malaysia has its own Bali, not called Pulau Bali but it's called Tok Bali, nested in a small town in Kelantan. It is one of my favourite spots whenever i am back in my hometown. I love it for its serenity, peacefulness, calmness and isolation, of course complemented by its beauty.
Who would have thought that there would be such a hidden gem in Kelantan. I would prefer it to remain unknown so that it maintains its pristine.

Tok Bali is close to the border between Kelantan and Terengganu. It is even nearer to the jetty to Pulau Perhentian, the reknowned island that is the pride of all Malaysians. In fact, from the Kuala Besut jetty to Pulau Perhentian, you can catch a glimpse of Tok Bali. To explore Tok Bali, you merely have to walk along piles and piles of gigantic rocks extended out to the sea. The rocks are really huge, you can hop from one rock to another until the end of the rock bridge. This is a favourite spot of anglers as there are many fishes among the gap of the rocks.
This is a rough idea of how big the rocks look like.

Of course there is a sandy beach beside this rock bridge where waves would come caressing. However, if you want more excitement, go till the end where it is deeper hence you get waves crashing onto the rocks. If you sit or lie low enough, you will be drenched watered by the waves. It is a great place to just lie down on the rocks, away from the sun mind you, listening to the sounds of the waves, catching glimpses of fisherman boats returning from or going to sea and staring into bright blue sky with soft flurries of clouds.

After a stressful life in the city, this is really the best place to unwind and slow down. The sea is so vast, sky is so blue, you will feel that life is beautiful! You would forget your worries, your problems and just enjoy the moment you have here with nature.

If any of you happen to drop by Kelantan, do consider visiting this spot. Try going in the evening, approximately 6pm when the sun is not too scorching but the night is not creeping up on you. This way, you will get to enjoy both soft sunlight but sufficient brightness to take in the scenery.

Thai Oddyssey

2009-01-05T16:04:00.001-08:00

For a change of menu and also one of the rare occasions, I had my taste buds fulfilled with thai food. I rarely do so in KL because of the exorbitant price they charge over here as compared to my hometown, Kota Bharu. I would usually collect all the cravings and leash it once and for all back in my hometown. You can even read about the Thai restaurants i visited when i was back in my hometown in my older posts.

This restaurant i visited is called Nong and Jimmy, quite a friendly name that takes to everybody. It is located in Ampang. For starters we ordered grilled cockles, well i think they're cockles. Pardon me if i am wrong because i am no fan of anything with shells hence i didn't touch a single one but i heard from them that this is one of their signature dish. AND, it gets sold out really fast. If you want to catch this dish, make sure you visit the restaurant early, around 6.30pm to 7pm.

There is a separate stall there that sells fried chinese cake, yau char kuai. This is definitely common as it can be found anywhere but the slight twist here is that they serve it with pandan kaya dip! I really enjoyed this dish. However, it will be even better if the chinese cakes are fried even crispier.
Something more up close.

For main courses we ordered mango kerabu, steamed fish thai style and kangkung belacan. I would say the kangkung belacan was a let down. I couldn't taste the aroma of belacan at all. It was very bland and plain. Probably Thais just don't really know how to cook kangkung belacan. The other two dishes, mango kerabu and steamed fish thai style turned out pretty ok. However, the dishes have been "localized" a lot. Those whipped up in my hometown definitely tastes more authentic and exotic.

A picture of mango kerabu, young, green mango slices with onions, peanuts and some light dressing.
I didn't take any photos of the steamed fish because it looks normal, just like any steamed fish you can find in other restaurants. It is vital though to pick fresh fish as the one we had was fresh.

All in all, for thai food that is not too authentic for your tastebuds, with a price that is easily affordable, i would recommend Nong and Jimmy. Just be sure to arrive early if not you will have to wait for tables and seats.

Eating trail

2008-12-29T21:02:00.000-08:00

Fuyoh......it has been so long since i accessed this page till it doesn't even contain the browsing history in my firefox mozilla anymore. Again, my chance has come to leave some marks in this page. Destination this time is Kuantan. It has never been famous as a food haven unlike Penang and Malacca. However, we did manage to find some pleasures n thrills here and there. We were all there to attend a buddy's wedding, a resplendent and colourful one.

We arrived on Christmas Day itself, starved from the 3-hour drive. We stopped by Kemaman Kopitiam, rumoured to be the top kopitiam stall in Kuantan where nightlife was brought back to life upon its existence. Hmmmm.....their food is similar to all other kopitiams, nothing special, no wow factor. But, they do serve huge curry puffs where you can't get in other kopitiams that i have tried. For a late dinner, we stopped by Lemongrass thai restaurant. This was a total let down. They didn't have thai coconut (imagine a thai restaurant not serving thai coconut), they ran out of oranges, left us with only apple or carrot juice. The variety of dishes was limited. All in all, it was a total waste of money. I won't even bother sharing with you what we ordered. Remember, if you're ever in Kuantan, don't ever step foot in Lemongrass restaurant.

The next day, we wanted to try out curry noodles and nasi lemak. Unfortunately, the shop was closed, perhaps still celebrating the year-end holiday. We ended up strolling along Teluk Cempedak beach after a quick lunch at McDonald's. Do not mock or laugh, that was the only choice we had as we were famished. I enjoyed the beach walk along a wooden bridge that winds around the hills near the beach.

There were lots of rocks formation at the other end of the beach, with monkeys hiding from the heat of the scorching afternoon sun by nestling underneath a pile of rocks.

After a half-an-hour walk, we adjourned our journey to fill up our tummy again. It was crazy, my McDonald's burger wasn't even digested but we were already hunting for more food! We were told that the dry bak kut teh in Kuantan is good. Ironically, the restaurant we went to is called Yat Heng (KLANG) Bak Kut Teh. Hmm perhaps you can just try the main/branch in Klang. We ordered dry bak kut teh, normal soupy bak kut teh, lettuce and loh bak kut teh.

Of all, i enjoyed the dry and the loh bak kut teh. The loh bak kut teh tasted even better with a tinge of spiciness from the dried chillies used. Yummieee.....The normal bak kut teh however could be given a pass. The rice was cooked differently, not the normal plain white rice. But then, bak kut teh with yam rice is still the best, only to be found in Malacca so far that i know of.

After bak kut teh, we seriously needed some rest, oops i mean our tummies were dying for a break. However, they were anxiously waiting for the next call or rumble by the tummy and it is food again that we seek. We tried out cendol stall in Kuantan, one of the good ones apparently. It was indeed delicious and savoury. I always enjoy dessert so it was really a timely refresher. We even packed back famous curry puffs from a stall near another beach in Kuantan. Do forgive me, as i wasn't the driver and i was almost knocked out from the amount of food in my tummy, i didn't bother finding out the beach or name of the stalls.

The following day, we finally got the chance to savour the famed curry noodles and nasi lemak, chinese style. I enjoyed my kon lo (dried sauce) noodles with curry soup. The noodles were soft and springy and the curry soup was just perfect, not too concentrated and thick. So much for our food search, the last stop was at vistana hotel for my buddy's wedding. I didn't snap any photos of the food but there were a few dishes that i like. For example, the fish and the vegetables. At least there was a twist to the normal 8-course dinner.

Rakuzen

2008-11-16T16:14:00.000-08:00

I was so excited over the plan to lunch at Rakuzen. The last time i feasted over there was 1 year ago! Taking a look at the menu, i don't think much has changed. However, taking a look at the platters served on the table, i think even Rakuzen is jumping onto the bandwagon to cut cost. Sighhhhh which industry isn't affected by the global financial turmoil?

My friend were already there before me so they had started ordering and eating. There was grilled salmon, assorted sashimi platter, shishamu (pregnant fish). Without further delay, i ordered sashimi salad, unagi kabayaki, 2 more plates of grilled salmon, spicy salmon maki, salmon sashimi, hotplate unagi with egg and gravy, unagi sushi slices, soft shell crab and hot green tea. That was my first round of order, of course, i devoured those on the table as well :D .

Rakuzen serves ala-carte, ordered buffet every sunday from 12noon till 3pm. This ensures that the sashimi slices are fresh instead of those normal buffet where the sashimi slices have been placed on the tray for aeon years (ok, i am exaggerating here). Service was considerably good, taking into the factor that it was a full house and i think there were limited waitresses and waiters around as whenever we pressed the button for them, the similar 2 would serve us. Even though they looked exhausted and distraught, they maintained their smile, and even apologized for their slow response. Kudos to the workers in Rakuzen for their sterling, excellent attitude.

Dishes were served pretty fast. However, they did miss out a few orders but it was all right because we were stuffed to our throats! No harm missing out a few dishes. In between, we even intertwined some desserts before going on for our second batch of orders. For dessert, we were not spoilt for choices, there was only matcha ice cream and fresh fruit platter.

Our second attempt included beef sukiyaki, more sashimi, more unagi, tempura, adegashi tofu, assorted maki etc. We had to give up finally even before 3pm. Rakuzen doesn't offer loads of variety in their maki for the buffet spread but the sashimi is extremely fresh. However, the once sought-after soft shell crab has somehow gone down the drain. It certainly didn't taste how it used to be last time. Thousand apologies for not a single photos taken. I didn't have time for photos, not to mention that i totally forgot about taking photos the moment i saw the food spread :D For Rm55++, i think it's worth giving Rakuzen a try.

Port Dickson

2008-11-11T20:58:00.000-08:00

It feels as though it has been one whole year since i last hiked and trekked. This weekend i missed it again. In exchange of scaling peaks, i went for a sun-soaked, salt-filled weekend in Port Dickson. It was no relaxing, laid-back weekend, the trip to Port Dickson was laden with activities non-stop, breaking only for meals and sleep.

Our company booked the 5-star Avilion for all. Avilion takes pride in its 5-star water chalets and villas. We arrived greeted by the scorching afternoon sun. The sun was merciless as it extends its rays all over the place. I was dying for a glass of refreshing cold juice to prevent myself from dehydration.

It was a rather long walk to our chalets. We walked pass swimming pools, restaurants, tennis court, lush greenery and finally we arrived at our water chalets. The concept was pretty cool. The chalets are built on pillars erected from the sea bed. The chalet is huge. We got a double bed instead of twin bed. Beside the king-size double bed, there is a day bed where you can laze about to hide from the sweltering heat. The best part is their washroom/toilet. It is an open-air concept washroom whereby you get to shower under the sun ie roofless. Rain or shine you will accept nature's course and rejoice with nature when you shower. It does take some getting-use to when it comes to shower. The bath tub however is "secured". The bathroom itself is almost as large as the bedroom. I love the bathroom.

In the evening,you could view sun set from your verandah or you can go to the nearest private beach to laze at the lazyman chair.

These breath-taking views were taken by my colleague Tay, donning his 7.1MegaPixel Canon camera. Very good shot i would say. All the water chalets are interlinked with bridges built with wooden planks. At times you do feel a tad worried whether the wooden planks can support the weight of everyone walking in and out. However, after staying there for 3 days, there wasn't any unfortunate incidents.

Besides the 24-hour infinity pool that is only open for residents of the water chalets, there is a kiddy pool and a public pool near the restaurants. The tennis court is just a stone's throw away from our water chalets. The walk through the whole village is enjoyable because of all the plants on your left and right. There is even a petting farm where you can play around with roosters, rabbits, peacocks. The animals there even have names! Evening comes and you will see loads of children and kids fooling around with the animals under the watchful eyes of an attendant.

The food at avilion was a letdown. With the price paid, the food should be of better quality. Service too was horrendous. During dinner, i asked for warm water but the waiter merely told me that they do not have warm water, period. This is not acceptable at a 5-star resort. The dinner food spread was meagre too. Not to mention the PA system provided by the resort was barely functional. The meals are mostly oriental. Breakfast consisted of pancakes, roti canai, salad, hash brown, omelette, fried bihun or fried noodles, nasi lemak. Lunch included salad ( the similar spread of salad used for breakfast), main courses that vary slightly from day to day, and dessert (almost similar daily). For dinner, we had 1 night of bbq dinner. I wouldn't say it is really bbq because they had only bbq lamb, beef and satay. The rest are again cooked food. Avilion should really improve on their food quality.

The atmosphere at night at avilion is serene, calm and peaceful, the only disruption and noise pollution would be from us, with squeal of laughters and murmuring voices scattered all over the place. It's a very good way to de-stress just by walking along the wooden bridge linking all the water chalets. You get to listen to crashing waves underneath you and enjoy the vastness of the sea. The only thing lacking would be the caress of the sea breeze. The air was very still throughout my stay over there. After some wandering around, you just wanted to hit the sack as the room is very inviting. I had lullaby on both nights, listening to the waves crashing onto the pillars and the shore. It is the best lullaby i have ever listened to.

Mundane serious weeks

2008-10-15T03:18:00.000-07:00

It has been very quiet yet eventful days for me recently. Quiet in the sense that no hiking or trekking, no food hunting. Eventful in the sense that I had lots of other serious matters to attend to.

Last weekend took a drive up to Penang to visit my grandma and my cutie pies : my cousins Stanley and Gillian. It has been 2 long years since i last met up with them. Boy have they grown! I spent loads and tonnes of time fooling around with them, playing with them, baking with them. It was so heartbreaking to bid farewell to them. Gillian cried and howled when i walked out of the door, Stanley sulked slightly but tried to be a gallant boy by forcing a sad smile and a bye to me. My heart was shattered into pieces as i walked into the car but every meet-up will have to end with a bye.

Upon arriving in KL, i rushed to Sunway Medical Center to visit my uncle who just underwent a colon operation. He looked so thin, pale and tired. The operation took a huge toll on him. He hasn't eaten for 5 days and he was on drips. Even so, he was jovial, chatty and positive. I admire his spirit, his attitude. It made me wonder if i would be able to remain positive and cheerful during times of bleak. He was lucky enough to detect 2 malign growths in his colon that has not turned cancerous. Immediately, an operation was carried out to remove the growths before they caused any problems. He would have to slowly adapt to sitting upright before progressing to walking. It will be a long tough learning curve for him. I sincerely hope that things will go smoothly for him.

Ninja Birthday

2008-10-07T17:09:00.000-07:00

Japanese food, a must for this special day. Thought of trying out a new restaurant, being adventurous instead of going back to familiar restaurants even though the quality of the food in new restaurants is still under doubt. It was very convenient, just walk across the overhead bridge from Midvalley shopping mall.

Upon reaching the entrance, the waitress greeted us and pressed a button to open the door to the "cave". I love the door, made me feel as though i am some secret agent, entering a secret dungeon to receive my next instructions ( a bit carried off haha). The restaurant is dimly lit. We were led upstairs as we gave teppanyaki a pass.

The menu was pretty extensive. However, they do not have individual platters of sushi. It is best to go in a group to enjoy most of the food there. We ordered caterpillar roll, spicy yaki salmon, unagi kabayaki, dynamite roll and salmon sashimi salad.

Salmon sashimi salad with wasabi dressing was not too bad. The only down side is that there were only 4 slices of salmon sashimi. With that price, approximately Rm20++, they could have easily given more slices of sashimi. The vegetable used was normal lettuce. Dressing was enjoyable and tasty. Photo session was left out but the decor on the plate was nothing to shout about.

Next served was salmon spicy yaki. This was a total let down. It was so salty! I even wondered if they accidentally put too much salt or marinated the salmon with too much salt. The spicy sauce shouldn't have been this salty. But the texture of the grilled salmon was fine and smooth. What a disappointment.
After that, it was unagi kabayaki. Ooh, just the look of this plate gave me the drools. The unagi was fleshy, succulent, soft and tender. They definitely didn't stinge on the size of unagi, what not when it is priced at RM38. Sauce was perfect and after finishing it, it left me wanting for more. That's what good yummy food should do, leave you with more cravings. I have to apologize for the poor quality photos as i relied only on my handphone and the surrounding was really dark, with a small yellow spotlight slightly behind me.

Yes, my rolls. I really love rolls as they are more elaborated than sushi and they contain everything that i want in a sushi. The caterpillar roll was decorated like a caterpillar, with feelers on the first roll. It looked really cute. In it was stuffed with unagi slices, and the top was layered with avocado and small dollops of cream. I like it.
Not having enough of rolls, i ordered another one, dynamite roll. This one was stuffed with spicy tuna, salmon slices and one side of it was covered with tempura bits while the other side of the roll was layered with fish roe. It wasn't too bad.
All in all, Ninja Jones is overrated and overpriced. You could easily get better or food of equivalent quality at a lower price elsewhere. For example, Yuzu, Sushi Zanmai, Rakuzen. In Ninja Jones, i would say that we're paying for the decor and ambience.

Ulu Yam

2008-10-02T18:01:00.000-07:00

Second destination in our list, Ulu Yam, famed for its "loh mee", which is noodles with stewed thick sauce. I had tried it once and i have to say, it is the best loh mee i've ever tasted. I am not so much of a fan of loh mee but i was excited to go again. We went for the usuals : loh mee, hokkien char (stir-fried thick noodles with black sauce), dried chilli mantis prawn. On top of those, we were at luck, there was supply for frog! We opted for ginger onion frog.
The restaurant was crowded! It was so busy, nestled in this small quiet peaceful town of Ulu Yam. If you do not know your way around, you won't even realize there is so much hubbub right in the middle of this serenity.
First to be brought out was their well-known loh mee. Sad to say, probably due to the crowd, it wasn't as tasty as it was. It was rather bland and tasteless. It used to be so delicious. I was disappointed. This was definitely not the loh mee i tasted the first time.
The ginger onion frog was a consolation. It was fresh, we even spotted the live and hopping frogs in the kitchen. We were all snatching for the little drumstick of the frog. The flesh was springy, juicy and tender. In fact, it didn't even require any sauce or gravy to go with it as the flesh was sweet enough to be taken by its own. (Sounds like Gardenia's advertisement).
Mantis prawn was also a hit when i first tried it. However, i was again disappointed with its quality this time. Moral of the story, do not visit a famous restaurant during festive season or long holidays when there's bound to be large crowds. They will sacrifice quality for speed. The deep fried mantis prawn wasn't crispy and the gravy was tasteless.
Hokkien mee, or hokkien char, one of my favourite noodles. The thick noodles will be stir fried with lots of crispy deep fried pork-fat cubes and pork oil. This brings out the aroma of the dish. Pork slices and a few leaves of vegetables will be tossed in too. Simple as it sounds, not everybody can produce yummy hokkien char. Most restaurants will fry it soaked in oil or you'll feel as though you're eating chunks and chunks of huge noodles rare. Again, i was disappointed as there was a tinge of burnt taste and smell in the noodles this time. The chef must have left it on the fire for too long while busy preparing something else for the next dish. What a let down.
Not having enough of the tasty frog, we ordered another dish of frog, this time steamed frog. This dish allowed us to taste the succulent sweet flesh of the frog without any other sauce overpowering it. It left us smacking our lips after this dish. At least the food outing ended on a high note.

Food adventure

2008-10-02T06:51:00.000-07:00

Following the craving of my tummy, we went out on a series of food adventure. First visited was Lau Heong seafood restaurant at Sentul. It is renowned for its deep fried pork knuckle. On our order list were: claypot curry fish, pork knuckle, sizzling pan squid and prawn, ginger garlic steamed fish, baby french beans, and deep fried chicken wings. Even though we had placed our booking since morning, the wait was excruciating and long but it whetted our appetite.

The deep fried pork knuckle is served with creamy satay-like sauce and slices of cucumbers. The pork knuckle is really crispy, too bad it is a tad too small to satisfy our huge appetite. Within 5 minutes it was wiped out clean and we were all sucking on the bones, not leaving any remnants at all.
Next being served was the claypot curry fish. The size was just humongous. Instead of coconut milk, the curry was cooked with milk, with generous helping of brinjal, long beans, lady's fingers, tau hu pok (crisp beancurd) and of course fish. The fish was tender and soft but the curry was slightly too oily. We had to forgo the curry gravy for our health's sake. The pork knuckle was too little for us but this bowl of curry was too much for us to handle. The wait for our next dish was timely as we needed time to digest the so-creamy and so-rich curry.
The third dish was the squid and prawn with creamy sauce. I actually love the sauce, if only we were not stuffed with the curry fish, all of us would have enjoyed this dish. The squid and prawns were served on banana leaves that were placed on a hot plate. It was not sizzling when it was served though. I have to admit that i only took a pinch of the sauce to taste it as i was not too much into squid and prawns. Yes, it is a bit too overwhelming with so many creamy dishes. It was such a test for all of us.
Being ambitious, we had another dish of fish in our order list. This time it's steamed sting ray with garlic and ginger. We were lucky to get sting ray that didn't stink. There's nothing much to shout about for this dish. I'll just give it a pass even though fish's one of my favourites.
The other dishes are pretty normal hence there were no photos taken. Their deep fried chicken wings were done pretty well too, coated with shrimp paste batter before deep frying. They're worth a try. Even I who do not eat chicken wings took a bit and was hooked. :) All in all, you can visit this restaurant to try out their pork knuckle, chicken wings and a small claypot curry fish.

Pisang Falls

2008-09-21T17:09:00.000-07:00

Finally we managed to find the entrance to the Jungle Lodge along old Jalan Gombak. It is really easy to miss the entrance, slow down after the hospital and look out for a sign on the right that points to The Jungle Lodge.
Parked the car by the side of the narrow road, we crossed the river. After that, we followed a narrow trail. The trail actually brings you along the river. Along the way, we were cut and slashed by the grass and plants and shrubs that spill over onto the trek. Eventually, we arrived at two huge tunnels right at the bottom of Karak highway. You can hear the vehicles whizzing past above us along Karak highway.In we went through the tunnel to travel through time.
After the tunnel, more narrow trails and plants and rivers. The trail was damp, and full of leeches. Not a single person was spared this time. We came across a unique huge rock, very vertical and smooth.
After hiking for around 45 minutes ( our photo crazy friend stopped to snap photos every now and then), we arrived at Pisang Falls!

We saw many small rocks arranged in anti-gravity-way. It's really unique. Of course, we couldn't be left out and and we created another one. :D

There are two falls, one leads directly to the flowing river the other one falls into a pool.
There's a trail where you can climb up to a camping site. From there, the view of the waterfall is just so majestic.
The upper portion of the falls that is hidden if you do not climb up the trail. Looks like a small little paradise.

We didn't linger too long, just relaxed around, took photos, enjoyed the scenery and the breeze. It was quite a good, short getaway. Before we left, we took a group photo. Under my friend's skillful hand and not-to-be-dismissed camera, he produced a really amazing shot. You can visit his link for more superb photos of the falls: fox's Pisang Falls photos
Another shot that i just have to share it with everyone, beautifully taken by my friend, fox. This really depicts the beauty of Pisang Falls.
At approximately 10.15am, we headed back with cuts all over our legs.

Sumptuous Feast

2008-09-18T19:03:00.001-07:00

By chance, i could dine in KLCC Convention Center, a Ramadan Buka Puasa Buffet. Held in one of the halls in KLCC Convention Center, there were approximately 50 round tables arranged in front of a stage where traditional musicians serenaded us with traditional music.

Smoke and aroma from all the grilling done in the hall wafted through the air, exciting murmurs echoed through the hall, a myriad of colours flashed across my very eyes, what an overwhelming experience. I was welcomed by an extensive variety of food from appetizer, main course, to dessert. Without wasting any time, i went on a tour to check out what they had to offer.

Murtabak - Flour patties stuffed with chicken and beef pan fried on a special flat heated surface. I really love the Murtabak, crisp and savoury. The dahl is very tasty too. They are really generous in the amount of vegetable used in the dahl. I was practically drinking the dahl even after i have finished eating the murtabak.
Kebab - This originates from Turkey but it is certainly a hit in Malaysia. The chef would slice the chicken meat wrapped around a rotating heated rod encased in an oven-like enclosure. She then stuffed the chicken slices in a wrap with vegetables and you can consume it with some sauces.
Satay - Marinated chunks of chicken and beef pierced through wooden skewers were grilled to perfection with slightly burnt sides. The peanut sauce that accompanied the satay complements it.

Roti John - John's bread is definitely one of my favourites. Having spent 1 year of my study life in Malacca, i easily fell in love with it. Bread stuffed with tomatoes, cucumbers, chicken, topped with mayonaise, tartar sauce, pan fried till crispy. I didn't miss this one out for sure and it satisfied my craving after bidding it farewell 8 years ago.
Kuih-muih - Ahh, desserts, my best friend. I suffer from a very serious illness of sweet tooth. I can't resist anything sweet, being such a sweet and nice person. This buffet featured a lot of our local Malay dessert.

Grilled section - Grilled lamb, grilled venison were in the most-wanted list of everyone. I have to apologize though that they certainly don't resemble their kind when they were alive, first one is lamb that looked like turkey to me and the second photo is a whole deer.

Eventless Week

2008-09-14T22:00:00.000-07:00

It is one weekend without any interesting or exciting activities. No hiking or trekking, no food hunting. It was one of those lazy weekends where you would just love to laze around at home not doing anything. I better engage my gear and rev up a little. Being lazy certainly is addictive; you tend to fall back to the lazy trend once you've tasted it once. No way!!!! I am not falling into that trap. I will definitely cook up something this weekend so do wait for my next post for more adventures!

Home Sweet Home Part 2

2008-09-09T01:20:00.001-07:00

After conquering Bankok, we targeted Chiangmai the following night. Talk about traveling. Of course i am not referring to the actual Chiangmai and Bangkok in Thailand. I am referring to the very popular thai restaurants in Kelantan.

Chiangmai looks a little bit more posh with neon light bulbs decorating the roof. This time around, we ordered "bek sak hu", mixed vegetables with sambal, pat ki mau (again yes), phat phet chicken.

Bek sak hu is steamed fish that is spicy and sweet. The fish is covered with sliced cabbage and serai is used to steam it. It is as addictive as tom yam soup, a great appetizer to any meal. My family prefers this to kheng som fish because kheng som steamed style is too sourish for my dad and the taste of spices is too strong. This is milder.

Mixed vegetables with sambal is quite commonly found in other chinese restaurants but the one served here is really spicy with lots of chillie padi used. My family couldn't help but to take breather now and then to cool down before taking the next bites. It was a challenge to complete all dishes served because all dishes are spicy! :)

Yes, the same tofu dish that we ordered one day before in Ban kok. This however allowed us to do comparison between these 2 restaurants. The one in Chiengmai has more original flavours of thai cuisine and herbs whereas the one in Bankok is already more localized. Again, very spicy indeed.

Phat phet chicken is really tasty. Usually, the eel will be served phat phet style but my brother decided to try it out on chicken and it turned out just superb. It is hard to describe how it is being cooked because i am no expert in thai cooking but as usual, a lot of thai herbs and leaves are used, mostly basil i believe. Other than that, plentiful of chillie used very generously. All in all, the meals have been the most satisfying. Best of all, in both days for a total of 9 dishes, 5 on the first day and 4 on the second day, with on average 2 drinks per person, we spent only a total of RM150 max for 5 pax. There is no where else that you can find good food at this price. If anyone were to visit Kelantan, do visit these two restaurants, they're worth all the effort, time and sweat. Take my word for it. Oh yea, a word of advice though, if you're not up for spicy food, don't challenge yourself. :)

Home Sweet Home

2008-09-08T01:32:00.000-07:00

I am going home, i am going home, i am going home.... i couldn't stop reciting this phrase as the plane touched down at Sultan Ismail Petra Airport in Kota Bharu. Do forgive me, i only go back twice a year; once during Chinese New Year and another time any other time of the year. How can i not be excited? Even a few days before, i was all geared up to go back, with food and goodies for my family members back there.

What is so great about Kota Bharu? Nothing actually. There is nothing to promote in Kota Bharu except for the food, laid back lifestyle and the border. But, it means more than that to me. It is where i grew up, where i spent my childhood, where i fell, scratched myself, climbed up etc. Of course, there are attractions to me like cheap tasty thai food, yummie malay kuih and finger-licking nasi dagang. These are musts to me whenever i go back.

The first night itself we went to Bankok for thai food. We already have our to-order list : thai otak-otak, deep fried kangkung, pat ki mau, mixed seafood tom yam soup, curry leaf stir-fried chicken.

Their thai otak-otak is very different from any other otak-otak. Fish fillets, prawns, squids are thrown into a thai coconut with heaps of chinese cabbage leaves and eggs. The coconut is then put over fire with all the goodies boiling in it. The result is an aromatic darkened coconut with fresh coconut flesh and a bowl of mixed seafood with creamy sauce in it.

Pat Ki Mau is the thai phrase for this tofu dish. The tofu is cooked with herbs, vegetables like long beans, asparagus, cauliflower and sawi. It has a tinge of spiciness from the small chilies that are used. This is my brother's favourite dish.

The deep fried kangkung is indeed very interesting. The vegetable is coated with batter and deep fried till light and crispy. It is then topped with spicy gravy with minced pork and chillies. Yummmmmmmmiieeeee, just the right amount of sweetness and spiciness in this dish. Not to forget the crisp of the kangkung when you lay your mouth on it.

Their tom yam is very refreshing too. What an enlightenment to me as i have been fed with MSG-filled tom yam all this while. The sourish taste that first greeted me demanded all my attention to it and it was followed by the aromatic scent and taste of all the herbs used. Drinking it made me addicted.

Lastly, the curry leave stir-fried chicken is pretty normal. You can order this dish in any other chinese restaurants. The one made by the thais though was a bit different. You get more taste of the herbs used and less of the MSG.

Ooooh, not to forget is the forever aromatic sweet thai coconut drink. The thai coconuts in Kelantan are different from the ones in KL. Firstly the size itself is different. The thai coconuts found in KL or being exported to KL are very tiny. Secondly, the ones in Kelantan are far more natural as compared to the ones in KL. Those in KL seem to be more processed because they are very sweet. The ones in Kelantan taste very fresh and you can even see them plucking off the coconut trees before serving you. That is the beauty of living in small rural area.

Chill out at Chiling Falls

2008-08-30T20:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, here's the Selangor Dam. It was glistening under the sun rays, so serene and beautiful. This is a rather huge dam, we had to keep a look out after this dam for the entrance to Chiling Falls. We had travelled quite a bit, from KL to Ulu Yam, to Kuala Kubu Bharu and now we're on the route to Fraser Hill. After the dam, we passed by a narrow hanging metal bridge. Immediately after that, there was a right turn to Kampung Pertak. "It doesn't look like an entrance to a waterfall", we discussed. However, to be save, we stopped by a small stall set up by the road side to find out. Apparently, the entrance is further ahead. True enough, immediately after the stall, there is a tiny entrance to Chiling Falls, with a sign saying Chiling Sanctuary ( or perhaps it is different, i can't really recall, i only remember there are words like Chiling, Sanctuary, Fishery department). After parking our cars by the road side, we went on by foot as no cars are allowed to drive into the sanctuary.

After registering ourselves at the counter and paying up RM0.50 each to use the toilet, we crossed the bridge, which was also the first river crossing. There will be altogether 6 river crossings to arrive at the destination. After crossing the river, we took the left turn. The whole trek was wet and damp. We trampled through mud, small stream formed by the heavy rain 1 night ago and soft soil. I was so thankful that i came with my flip flop. Even though it could get a bit tricky if the path got tougher but i can never picture myself wading through all those in my hiking shoes. The shoes would be in such a sad state. Other than trying to avoid yucky, sticky, and slimy stretches, the trek was rather easy as we were trekking along flat land.

As none of us knew the way, we trekked armed with the piece of advice given by En. Nordin who is in charged at the registration counter : Follow the main river, don't stray away from the main river and you will reach the destination. It was such an adventure as we were almost like blinds groping in the dark, finding our own way based on our instinct. After trekking for around half an hour, we came across the second river crossing. There was indication by the river bank showing where is the best spot to cross the river. We took a gulp when we saw the raging river. The current was fast, it was no little small stream whistling and humming along, it was a fast raging bull charging downstream. The guys took the lead to gauge the depth of the river and also to path way, followed by the girls. A step at a time, we had to be careful because we could barely see the bottom of the river due to its current and the depth. We had to find the correct footing among rocks and sand. The river bed is mostly covered with lose sand, that made it even harder to walk as with every step we made, our feet would sink into the lose sand. We had to balance ourselves in the sand and also pit ourselves against the current. No easy job.

Before we could enjoy the sweet joy of crossing the river, we were reminded to check our feet for any friendly leeches who just love to cling onto our feet. True enough, 2 of them got a friendly visit from the leeches. In fact, one of the leeches was already so comfortable and full it was already the size of my little finger. Ewwwwww, so grosss!!!! Thank goodness it was easy for me to look out for leeches as i was wearing flip flop. We carried on and very soon there was the 3rd river that we had to cross. Again, gushing fast-flowing current couldn't deter us. We used the same technique to cross but halfway through, one of our team members lost footing and fell! She was immediately washed off but thanks to rocks surrounding us, she was stopped. I could merely shout as I definitely was in no position to help her. I myself was not confident enough to get myself across, what more assisting someone else. 2 gentlemen plunged in to rescue her. She was assisted her onto her feet and they then guided her across the river. Times like this will display the true human nature. It is very heart-warming to see everyone helping everyone out even though we are from all walks of life. People tend to bond more easily and faster at times of need. It was a close encounter but everyone was safe, only a bruise on an ankle was suffered.

We crossed altogether 5 rivers including the one using the bridge. We skipped the last one because we wanted to go to the peak of the waterfall. Instead, we hiked up a very steep high slope with steps formed using roots of the trees. We drew in a deep breath when we saw the slope, too bad i didn't capture it to be shared with everyone.

At the end of the slope, we were rewarded for our determination. The main attraction was the 7-storey high gushing waterfall that falls straight into a pool that churns a mini whirlpool. It was really a grand scene. We continued on as we wanted to go somewhere we could camp and picnic.

Post Lembing

2008-08-28T19:29:00.000-07:00

We spent around 2 hours at the waterfall frolicking in the water, posing for photographs, munching on snacks, sunbathing to keep warm. When the crowd started coming in, we opted to leave as the place was not big enough to accommodate all comfortably. We were a little heavy hearted to part with this beauty but every event always has to come to an end.

Atmosphere was slightly solemn as we began our descend. However, things began to change as we hopped onto the lorry. It was going to be another bumpy tough joy ride. This time, we were taken in for a better surprise. As the lorry was "cruising" along, we swayed to the left as the tyre went into a pot hole. We thought it was going to overturn but thank goodness it just stopped at that angle. Our happiness was short-lived when we realized that we were stuck! The lorry couldn't budge no matter how his foot hit on the accelerator. We were stuck right in the middle of a puddle of mud. The guys volunteered to help push the lorry while the driver navigated it. We girls were ordered to remain on the other side of the lorry hoping that our weight would be able to assist them too. They pushed and pushed and the lorry went "vroom vroom" but we remained stuck. We tried all sorts of methods, jumping on the lorry while they guys pushed, getting off the lorry to reduce weight, all of us including the guys jumping in the lorry but to no avail. In the end, we could merely enjoy basking in the sun while waiting for saviour.

We were finishing up our remaining food when we heard the purring of an engine approaching. Yippie, here comes our chance. It was a jeep. Even though we were skeptical but we had to give it a try. The guys tied the rope between the jeep and our lorry. The jeep then revved its engine with full force but the lorry just wouldn't move. The mud didn't want to release its grip on the tyre. This jeep was too small, we needed something bigger, something meaner and voila, a hilux came along to our rescue when the jeep was still trying in vain to pull the lorry out.

The jeep excused itself as he realized that there was nothing he could do. We thanked them profusely. Now, all attention was turned to hilux. Can he live up to our expectation? Can he pull us out from the ditch? We watched in trepidation ( of course only the girls can stand aside and watch, the guys had to do hands on to assist :D ). The first attempt failed when the rope broke. All the guys were immersed in mud to push the lorry while the hilux pulled it. With a final shove from the guys and a final tug from hilux, lorry finally surfaced! It was such a memorable, touching, joyous and victorious moment for all of us. You could feel the harmony and beauty in human beings. The kindness shown by those people who lent a helping hand in times of need, the team work and good spirit exhibited by all the guys stuck in this predicament goes on to prove that human beings are angels in nature. There is still goodness in human. At that moment, all strangers are friends. It didn't matter that they did not know us in person, it didn't matter that they were on their way to enjoy their picnic at the waterfall, they still stopped by to help us out. Kindness is very scarce in our very competitive society but if only everyone slows down a little bit to show some kindness here and there, the world will be such a beautiful place. Oops, going off track a little. Haha. Anyway, we carried on with our journey and arrived physically in one piece but at the same time torn into pieces because of fatigue.

Lembing Trip Part 3

2008-08-26T22:02:00.000-07:00

After descending from Pancing Cave, oh yea it is also called Charas Cave if you follow the signboard along the road, we started to feel the toll of lembing hill and pancing cave on us. It is now time to hunt for food, of course after cleaning ourselves up.

For dinner, we had planned to try out Hover Restaurant famed for its frog, tomato noodles and chinese-style steamed chicken. Too bad there was no frog for us, we had to settle with Mango fish (deep-fried african fish), tofu with brown gravy, kangkung 2 plates, tomato noodles and chicken. We were really waiting eagerly for the food because we were all famished! What not, with so many activities in a day, imagine the amount of calories burnt. I didn't bother wasting time taking photos of the food, the only thing i could think of when food arrived was to gobble them up.

The tomato noodles was good, it's really something different as we don't get dish like this over here. The steamed chicken was soft and tender and the chili sauce, garlic sauce that were served with it went well with the chicken, yummy. Even the plate of kangkung was too small for us, we ordered a second plate, the amount of belacan used was just perfect, there is the tantalizing taste and aroma of it but not too strong till it covered the taste of the fresh kangkung. The dinner was just finger-licking good, left us lip-smacking.

After dinner, we went around hunting for more food, typical us. We stopped by to purchase the popular and talked-about coconut biscuit. We got to try it before we decided to buy. They have very delicious kaya puff as well. I think we just made the owners very delighted with our purchase. Not to forget is the main star of this trip, roast pork. Even though we were informed that the family will only start their business at 9pm, we still went there earlier just in case there was a long queue. Surprisingly, when we arrived at 8.10pm, there were already other customers there queuing up! The lady before us almost bought 1 whole pig! We weren't that ambitious, we merely wanted to satisfy our taste bud. The total amount we bought was even less than 1kg.

We retired for the day early as the journey to Rainbow Waterfall starts very early the next day.

We woke up to the banging of the room door, this is their morning call service, it was only 4.30am. We gathered at the lorry that will be ferrying us to the waterfall. We had a quick but satisfying breakfast of lembing noodles and yong tau foo again. After that, off we went to Rainbow Waterfall. We had been warned that the road would be bumpy and rough but we were not prepared at all for what we were about to go through.

There was no sight of sunlight at all, we could even barely see the track ahead of us. What we could do was just to hang on to our dear lives, either by holding onto the cushioned seat (specially padded to absorb all the bumps) or by holding on to rope tied across from one side of the lorry to the other side. Not only that, we had to look out for twigs, branches, leaves along the sides as you might just get slapped right in the face by these obstacles. To avoid those, we had to dock, bend down, lean towards the right/left and move them aside using our hands (this is not advisable though as some branches or leaves are sharp and contain thorns). Thank goodness we had a "conductor" seated right in the 1st row who would shout out instructions as to where the coming "obstacles" would be, middle, left or right so that everyone behind were prepared to duck. It was an unforgettable ride. The lorry had to go through muddy pot holes, rivers, stones, rocks etc. The ride carried on in the total darkness for around 1 hour before we saw the break of dawn.

We stopped for a pee break and i believe it was more for a break for the driver as the literary uphill task was going to be a tough one. How is the lorry going to rev up the slope with 12 of us in it? I took a big gulp as i thought about the task. The driver instructed us to move towards the end of the lorry for this stretch of slope to ease the process. We obediently obeyed his instruction. At the same time, we prepared ourselves mentally, physically for the worst. As the engine was revved up, gear was engaged, we held onto our breath. The lorry went for the plunge, the driver stepped on the accelerator as though he was stepping on the face of the most despised man in his life. Not only did he have to ensure the lorry could lunge forward without sliding back, he had to also avoid huge rocks or stones or potholes along the way. Luckily the tough stretch lasted for only 5 or 10 minutes. All of us, including the lorry heaved a sigh of relief before we carried on with our journey. We eventually eased into our original seating.

Just as we thought that the ride was never-ending, the lorry jerked to a halt suddenly. We have arrived, the driver, Loh announced enthusiastically. We were so glad to give our aching buttocks a break and let our legs do some work. The first obstacle was to cross a very shallow river. You just have to beware of slippery huge flat-surfaced rocks, instead opt for small stones or sandy bed to avoid slipping. He warned us of leeches, always inspect your ankles, legs and toes for any sign of them. That was enough to make me alert. And lucky me, they spotted 3 on my leg. Thank goodness they weren't fat and juicy when spotted and it was easy to yank them off. The trek was really slipper, mainly due to the heavy downpour the night before. My slippers didn't make it any easier as it was so easy to slip out of your slipper or lose your grip. There were a few incidents where i almost sprained my ankle too. It is advisable to wear strapped sandals instead of flip flops for better grip and comfort.

After slugging along in mud, water and leeches, with the only encouragement coming from Loh who never failed to lift our spirits up when it started to look really bleak, we arrived at our destination. By feasting our eyes on the waterfall, whatever that we went through dissipated into thin air. Who would even remember the leeches , the mud, the sticky cobwebs when you rest your eyes on world's miracle and magic? The waterfall was vertically tall with a slow fall of water cascading off its cliff. This creates an illusion that there is a piece of thin lace cloth covering the rocky surface. I used to be very awed by powerful, gushing waterfall but this one totally took my breath away. It is so subtle, quiet and demure compared to those loud waterfalls. At the bottom of the waterfall, there is a lake that holds the water and channels it down to lower ground by a stream. Where we stood were stony ground with shrubs and grass here and there. Surrounding us was rocky terrain with small plants and short grass.

The water was really cold, it sent shivers down our spine. My friends attacked the food we carried all the way up here. Trust me, it was no fun to carry plastic bags of food when you were trying your very best to balance yourself. I gathered my courage and warmth to swim across the lake to the bottom of the waterfall. Teeth clattering, body shivering, i crawled out of the water to feel the droplets of waterfall beating on me. Brrrr this is really really cold.

Of course, the best was yet to come. We were waiting for the rainbow, yes ,the rainbow that would spread across the rock behind the waterfall. As the sun slowly rose, we started spotting the splatter of 7 colours. It started off weak, barely noticeable but as the sun gained more strength, the rainbow became more and more visible. This is just so awesome. You can even sit down to view the rainbow growing longer and longer, and slowly arching itself.

Lembing Trip Part 2

2008-08-26T17:35:00.000-07:00

Feeling refreshed and energized after some carb intake and "mental-awakening" shower, my friends finally gave in to my pleas and beg and request to explore Gua Pancing. Who would want to miss out any attraction after driving for 3 hours to Sungai Lembing, they must be out of their minds!

To arrive at Pancing Cave, we had to drive out of Sungai Lembing and went towards Pancing district. It was a 20 minute drive. We went through palm oil plantations, winding trunk roads and voila, we came to the end of the road greeted by an empty flat land with a flight of staircase. The parking fee was RM2 per car.

There are two routes for you to take, one consists of 170 steps whereas the other one consists of 135 steps. Being the lazy bums they are, my friends unanimously decided on the route with 135 steps. Half way through the ascend, we passed by a cave, enclosed one and there is a flight of steps leading down into the cave. It looked really adventurous as the cave was dark but we could see that the cave was inhabited. Not to miss out anything, we walked down the stairs. There was an indian monk in the cave and the cave was fully decorated with both indian and chinese deities. The monk convinced us to follow him deeper into the cave as there was a lot more that he wanted to show us. Intrigued, we followed him.

The cave is really huge! Compared to the cave that i visited in China, this is really comparable, who said Malaysia doesn't have "award-winning" natural scenery? He showed us some formation in the cave that resembles some deity, fish, elephant, rooster etc. I would say the resemblance was really there and only people who live in the cave would be able to spot all those. I have no exact measurement of the cave but it is gigantic but i believe it is nothing compared to caves in Sarawak, which will be my next destination some time in the future :)

After an ethereal story-telling session, we went back on to our ascend. Who would have thought that at the peak of this hill, there is another open-air cave awaiting us. It was really awesome. Because it is at the top and it is open, it is very breezy. There are all sorts rocks and stones in this cavern. The feeling of being in this cave is indescribable, you feel as though you have conquered the world, you're indestructible, you're invincible. I threw all my worries, my trouble away. I just wanted to feel my every breath, feel every breeze that caressed me, feel the world under my feet. We lingered around that area, reluctant to leave. No photos taken can capture the real ambience, feel and the beauty of this cave. You have to be there personally to inhale it.

If not for the impending rain, we would have stayed on longer. From atop, we could see dark gray clouds drifting towards us, not to mention the rain too. We hurried down as i don't think it is a pleasant experience to weather the rain in the cave.

Lembing Trip Part 1

2008-08-24T19:56:00.000-07:00

After planning for 2 weeks, we embarked on our maiden journey to Sungai Lembing in Pahang. We started very early, gathered at Gombak Shell station at 5.30am and shot off to Karak highway. We exited at Kuantan at around 8am and turned off to Sungai Lembing, you can never miss the signboard. The road along this way has very dangerous, sharp curve and turn. So, it is best to remain alert.

It was only 8.30am when we arrived. Even though it was too late to catch the sunrise at Lembing Hill, we didn't want to miss out any attraction over here. All of us were raring to go. It was already scorching hot when we started our ascend. Any hope of catching the view of the serene sea of cloud was gone. However, that did not deter us. We huffed and puffed, dragged along our heavy, flabby legs while pushing to the limits of our stamina. The steps are really steep, it was indeed a good workout for us. At that hour, the only thing that greeted our eyes were the whole Lembing town at the bottom of our feet. I can imagine how mystical and misty it would feel in the wee hours of the day. It is a favourite spot for avid photographers to capture the breathtaking sunrise. I did not keep track of the time as one the whole idea of escaping the hustle and bustle of the city is to forget about time. The peak is small, with a small booth for you to rest and enjoy the scenery. After taking group photo, we headed back down.

Our tummies were already growling and seeking attention. It was only a stone throw away from the foot of the hill to the morning market. Having done prior research and study before this trip, we know Lembing is famous for its noodles, coconut biscuit and tofu/beancurd. For breakfast, a rather late one i have to admit, we decided to go for the noodles and the tofu. We decided upon Sister Ah Fong's noodle stall in the market.

The noodles is indeed different. It tastes so light and fresh and definitely very yummy, well, maybe because we were all very extremely tired and famished. The noodles is served with yong tau foo and you get to have your noodles with curry soup, clear herbal soup or with brown gravy. I opted for curry and i think the curry is a tad too salty for my liking. It left me really thirsty. Other than that, the noodles and the yong tau foo are just perfect. Not to forget is the famous tofu. We ordered one each and it really lived up to its name. The beancurd is so soft and smooth it can practically melt in your mouth. To add some twist to their beancurd, a small minced pork ball is inserted in the tofu. The dish is then topped with a simple yet tasty gravy that completes the dish. It is unimaginable how something so simple can taste so good. First, it is definitely hand made and second, it is done with loads of care and attention. All in all, breakfast was good and best of all, it is very cheap. A bowl of noodle with approximately 10 pieces of yong tau foo costs only around RM5.

It got hotter and hotter and we were yearning for a good, refreshing bath to remove the dirt, sweat, stench and our tiredness. We drove towards Lembing Court, where we have booked 1 night. In a small place like Sungai Lembing obviously you don't expect to get posh glamorous hotels. This Lembing court is rather huge. It has a big field right in front of their karaoke bistro lounge. Beside the lounge area is the lobby, which actually is just a wooden hut with a receptionist there. Sandwiched between the lounge and the lobby is the toilet. It is clean, that is extremely important. We weren't allowed to check in yet but we could use the toilet to shower and freshen up ourselves. That was the best shower i have ever had.

Having time to kill, we visited the musuem and the remains of the tin mine. The tin mine is worth visiting as you would never imagine the small dark entrance that leads you into the heart of the hill also leads you to a mega grand structure underground. Even more astonishing is the fact that this was built in the early 1900s! Who would have thought that Malaysians were already exploring so deep underneath the ground and dig so deep into the heart of hills at that era (with the technology from Britain).

All the activities started to take a toll on our mortal bodies. Following our body clock again, we went onto a quest to look for elixir. Recommended by a local to try out their most popular hang out kopitiam, we almost barged into the coffee shop under the tight scrutiny of other locals gathered in the shop. We rummaged every table as this coffee shop placed snacks like cakes, buns on the tables with price tag on them. There was also the famous tomato noodles but this one here was prepacked. We devoured whatever we could find like scavengers: char siew bun, tomato noodles, cakes and gulped down a minimum of 2 glasses of drinks each. If we were all dressed up in shabby clothes, we could easily pass as starved famished refugees. All the snacks were pretty tasty, unlike the snacks sold in coffee shops in KL, expensive and tasteless.

Dragon-i am not

2008-08-18T00:07:00.000-07:00

Loitering around Sunway Pyramid not knowing what to eat, I forced my parents to decide. Choices are abundant, western, italian, japanese, oriental, local etc. Finally, after much coercing and forcing, they made up their minds : Dragon-i.

With hunger already gnawing in my tummy, i unwillingly queued up to wait for our turn. Thank goodness there were only 2 families ahead of us. The restaurant was hustling with activities: waiters and waitresses rushing around taking and delivering orders, chefs delicately shaping the famous and most sought after little dumpling bun ( xiao long bao ) and patrons unashamedly wolfed down yummies and delicacies served on their tables. The scene made my tummy grumbled even louder.

Come on, come on, move on, I thought to myself. After the two families took their seats, we got ours too in no time. Poring through the menus; there are so many choices of noodles, rice, dishes, we came to a unanimous decision to order our all-time favourites : soupy noodles and pan-fried noodles. This time my dad chose the vegetable-dumping soupy la men and my mom selected the black-pepper pan fried la men. The black-pepper pan fried la men is my brother's favourite, guess my mom got the bug from him. My sister ordered her favourite carbohydrate: rice, pork-rib fried rice. I topped it up with their sauteed fish fillet with brinjal. Also, not to forget is the small tiny dumpling bun, which is a must for my family. Too bad my brother can't join us this time around, if not we would order 8 pieces of those instead of 4.

Xiao Long Bao arrived the first. Gently picking it up onto my spoon, topped it with some ginger, I gingerly bit the tip of the bun while quickly sipping in the gravy that oozed out. This is heavenly. You should never waste a single drop of the gravy as that's the essence of the dish. My brother would always leave the bun to the last, following well the phrase : save the best for last. The rest of us on the other hand will always consume while it's steaming hot.

Next to arrive was the soupy la men. Simple yet tasty, that's how i will summarize this dish. The vegetable dumplings are soft and tasty. If you want more ooomph to the dish, you can always have it with the sambal. Not long after, the pan fried la men arrived. The amount of black pepper used was just alright, you can taste the fragrance and it wasn't spicy. I would have gone for something different as i love to try new dishes but my parents were craving for it. The pork-rib rice and sauteed fish fillet arrived simultaneously. I personally don't like rice so i won't comment on the dish but i have to say the fish is extremely good!!! The slight tinge of wine lingers in your mouth while the fish slices melt. Brinjal goes well with the fish and the wine. Everybody loved it. Probably the fish isn't too extremely fresh but it was fried so the flaw was covered and hidden.

All in all, it was a good meal with my parents. Pork rib fried rice, sauteed fish slices with brinjal, vegetable dumpling la men, black pepper pan fried la men and xiao long bao, all for RM85++. Oh, i got a 10% discount too with my MayFlower VIP card but it's only valid till December this year, too bad. Even without the discount, i think it's money well spent for food of fine quality. Go try our yourselves and give your verdict, it's really worth giving a try.

Bukit Tabur

2008-08-11T17:41:00.000-07:00

Getting tired of FRIM, I decided to try out a new venue : Bukit Tabur. It is located at Taman Melawati. Arrived at 8am and started our hike at 8.10am. We started out on a trek with moist soil. You can tell from the trek that it is still very pristine, not many have trampled on this trek. It got slightly tougher as the trek got steeper. "Where is the rocky terrain?" I wondered.

Huffed and puffed as we dragged ourselves along the trail, stretching our legs, exerting our calves. This is so much better than FRIM, I thought out loud. Soon, we started bumping into more crowd that consisted of both male and female. There were even some who were trekking alone with just a waist pouch. There were 2 girls too trying it out by themselves with just ipod and pouches. This is a very interesting crowd. Slowly, i started spotting rocks here and there as the landscape evolved.

From time to time, you can take a breather while admiring the scenery. On one side you get to see KL town at bird's eye view, on the other side, you oversee the very peaceful and still dam. When the sun rays hit on the surface of the dam, it creates a glistening and shimmery coating on the water surface, very beautiful indeed. Too bad it was a tad scorching on the rocky terrain hence I didn't spend too much time taking in the breathtaking, awesome scenery. I was desperately looking for a shady spot to rest.

We came across many avid photographers too, with tripod placed at dangerous-looking corners and cliffs while trying to capture the elusive sunrise. There were both youngsters and those in their mid-life, even crossed path with an aunty who is around 50 years old, i assume.

The rocky terrain became more and more challenging. I took the safer option by using all fours to both ascend and descend. Some rocks towered above me vertically and I had to climb, this is really rock climbing! There is one particular sport that I love, it's breezy, windy and shady. It overlooks Taman Melawati and of course you get to see the miniature KLCC. You'll feel so at peace when you inhale the fresh cool breeze and put aside all the hustle and bustle of your hectic city life. You will realize there is so much more to life, to living than just your work and goals.

The best part is where you need to abseil slightly to get down a 90-degree rock. There was a lot of hubbub going on as everyone was discussing how to get down. It was interesting to see that everyone had his way to descend and they handled the situation with very different mannerism. After trekking, climbing, trudging along, we reached the peak of the hill!!! Yes, the peak that is covered with shrubs and small trees. Imagine being at the top of the hill, it's almost like at the top of the world as everything else is below your feet. That moment was short-lived though as we started to descend. You get two options to get out : either continue going on where you'll go through muddy treks and orchards and flat land or you can turn back and go through all the rocky terrain to relive the excitement and adrenaline rush. We opted to go through the orchard to check out how the treks are like.

Well, that's almost the end of the adventure as the remaining trek was pretty simple, almost ran all the way down. Bukit Tabur, you will be expecting me again after 2 weeks.

Mushroom Soup & Garlic Bread

2008-08-07T21:26:00.000-07:00

Hmmm, too much milk he said. More broth then as it continued to gurgle, boil and simmer. In went the thyme, salt, pepper and other herbs, adding greenery to the milky white texture. How ironic, imagine the milky yellowish texture as your life, sometimes peaceful and calm, sometimes a bubble will form and burst. It can get real rocky and choppy if stirred, if not it will return to its original calmness. You can have spots of colours here and there, now and then. Some remain evergreen whereas some just dissolve and disappear.

"Hmmm, more milk probably?", he asked. In flowed more milk, turning it into a more creamy texture this time. In life, you don't always get to undo your mistakes. Once a decision is made, an action is carried out, there is no turning back. Sometimes, there is no right or wrong but have you ever wondered where you would be if you had chosen decision B over decision A at that point of time? Do you regret the outcome of taking decision A? Yea, you can continue pondering over it, dwelling in it but you will not get to take a glimpse of your life now if you had taken decision B, unfair isn't it? Won't it be great if there is a device that can help us decide by projecting the outcome of each choice we have? Life will be perfect, nobody would make mistakes, nobody would make the wrong moves, ain't it blissful?

Judgment time : not bad, he said, especially with the garlic bread. Human can never lead a solitary life, just take a look at these phrases : it takes 2 to tango, you complete me, you are the sunshine of my life. That is why mushroom soup has to go with garlic bread? :)

2 cents about 50-cent-coffee

2008-08-07T01:58:00.000-07:00

10 years ago, if anyone mentioned 50-cent-coffee, there wouldn't be any oohs aahhhs followed by where, when etc etc. But today, it is such a rare scene to be able to purchase anything at that price, RM0.50!!!!

Being the cheapskate, kiasu, stingy Malaysian, I definitely cannot be left out to get a sip of this 50-cent-coffee. Even in kopitiam, traditional or contemporary, you can't even smell the aroma of the coffee bean for that price.
Rushed and barged in proudly to grab a seat slightly before 6pm, yes, there is condition to enjoy your 50-cent-coffee, it has to be ordered between 3pm to 6pm on weekdays only, see, cheap things don't come easy nowadays, tsk tsk tsk.

Instead of hiding in one corner trying to keep a low profile, took the limelight by sitting right in the middle of the restaurant. Not wasting any second as the clock was ticking, tick tock, tick tock, flagged down a waitress desperately while deciding whether to order hot chocolate or caffeine-infused drinks. Ended up having the hot chocolate, being a hot chocolate lover i am. Phew...can finally heave a sigh of relieve as i managed to beat the 6pm time limit, which means i need to pay only 50 cents for my drink!!!

The drinks finally arrived among drumming fingers and splashing saliva accompanied by non-stop yakking. WHAT??!! Almost choked myself as i took my first big gulp with trepidation. Excuse me, i think i ordered hot chocolate, not milk-cocoa or milo. "Anyway, it is only 50 cents, what do you expect?", I was told. True, thanks to 50-cent-coffee, we have got an excuse to gather and gossip, what else would i ask for. Reiterating my point, cheap things don't come easy.