Project Sun Tan Part III

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.