Ordinary people with extraordinary life

Kiama - the blow hole. What is that? See it yourself

2011-07-11T23:49:00.000-07:00

Another great destination in Great Ocean Road would be Kiama. Its name is derived from an aboriginal word, means 'where the sea makes noise'. What a great name?! Kiama Blow Hole is its main attraction, and it is well-signaged and we can just follow the signboards (without GPS) and found our way.

Good explanation on the formation of blow hole. Basically, large waves enter the mouth of Blowhole and compress the air within the inner cavity. The escaping air forces the trapped water up the blow hole with a loud 'whoopm'.

Beautiful mountain, strong winds, rapid current of sea water...

The blow hole is very big and the rocks are gigantic if compared to the visitors standing on top of it. Where is the blow hole?

Here you are.

Wow... speechless... something that must be seen with our own eyes

Some history about Kiama Blow Hole. It was first visited by a mat salleh about 300 years ago.

Kiama Light House- used to be very important during the old days

Other than the Kiama Blow Hole, another interesting place in Kiama is the Rock Pool. It is actually sea water, but it is a enclosed swimming area where visitors can swim or play around in a safer place. So, if you happen to visit Kiama, dont forget to bring along your swimming gears. If not, you may end up as regret as I was.

Planning to spend more times in Kiama, there are plenty of accomodation in Kiama. By the way, there is a public toilet, just adjacent to the rock pool. It has shower facilities too.

Overall, What an enjoyable day... I will come back again.... :)

For summary of our journey of the day:

we departed from Sydney around 11am ----> Bald Hills ---> SeaCliff Bridge---> Nam Tian Temple + lunch ---> Kiama Tourist Centre, just near to Kiama Blow Hole ---> Kiama Blow Hole ---> Wollongong ---> Reach Sydney around 7pm.

yummy food in Nan Tien Temple

2011-06-25T23:54:00.000-07:00

We had a enjoyable lunch in the DewDrop Tea House in Nan Tien Temple. The first thing that we love about it is its tranquility and simplity. We love thier food too. All food served are vegetarian and there are so delicious.

Curry Laksa - It is surprsingly delicious~~~ The best curry laksa that I had tasted in Australia. Really taste like Malaysian curry which is my favourite.

A closer look of this yummy curry laksa. Though it looked oily, but actually when we put it into my mouth, we didint feel the creasiness. MUST TRY!!!

Mushroom and Tofu Noodle Soup - it is another great choice. We ordered two type of noodles and both of them were delicious!!!

The food is not only tasty, it is also with some small surprises such as the big wooden spoon. Eating my noodle with the wooden chopsticks and the spoon, I felt as if I was back in ancient China. Haha..

Wollongong- Nan Tien Temple ( The largest temple in Sourthern Atmosphere)

2011-06-01T22:08:00.000-07:00

Nan Tien or The Southern Paradise Temple is the largest temple in the sourthern hemisphere. A buddhist temple in a western country... this really stir up my curiorisity and must go and witness it by my own eyes. After looking at thier official website (http://www.nantien.org.au/) and been there myself, only I got to know that Nan Tien Temple is not only a big temple for praying, but it only serves as an educational centre for meditation retreats, excursion, art classes and including a lodge too.

Driving there is not really tough because there are signage in most of the road.

This was temporary set up in conjuction of Buddha's birthday with the inspiration of the birth of Buddha in Lumbini. Miracally, after birth, the little Buddha stood up and walked 7 steps. As he walked, lotus flowers bloomed.

Wishing ponds - I guess this is one of the favourite of most people as we have lots of wishes and we hope that by throwing coins into the little wishing pond, our wishes would be granted. Well. I think the intention is good because as we pray whole heartedly and sincerely, I believe that we can attract the good thing. Law of attraction.

Beautiful architecture and each one of them has their own story and meaning. In order to know about Nan Tian Temple, we joined the guided tour which cost AUD 4 per person for 90 minutes tour. I think it worths every cent of it because it is really informative!!! If not mistaken, it is only conducted on weekends at 1pm.

Little guardians on the rooftop

Can you see the difference between these two 'lions'? Clue : one of them is female and the other one is a male. The one that holding a ball with its right leg is a 'HE' and 'SHE' is the one holding a baby with its left leg. All these information were given by our tour guide.

Pagoda - only the ground floor is open for public.

Walking up the hills and heading up to a special place

This is the special place - Nan Tien Gratitude Bell. It is to acknowledge the gratitude we have for our parents and ancestors. Filial piety is one of the virtues of marality and one of the most imprtant one too. As young, we were tought to always practice filial piety in respect of our parents. This is not a normal bell, but a bell which Filial Piety and Respect to Parents Sutra are inscripted on the bell. It is believed that we can send good wishes to our parents and family by sounding the bell.

Overlooking the beautiful view beneath the Gratitude Bell

The temple is very spacious and though it was full with tourist on that day, we still felt very calm and peaceful. Everything seem in a slower pace and relaxing. Another features of the temple is .... all these cute little monk in different posture. REally adorable.

Every pillar, flag and drums also has its own story. Our tour guide told us lots of information during our 90mintues tour. We also got to know that there is a lodge inside Nan Tien temple which is the Pilgrim Logde. If I have more time, it would be good to stay overnight and join their activities such as medication retreat.

This is interesting. Before we going out from the temple, we saw a chinese phrase on the door. The direct translation is : if you do something bad/wrong, but if turn back, you would back to shore or else you may face deep fierce sea in fron of you. Actually, it means if you make any mistakes, please stop doing that and you will be safe or will not trap deeper and deeper.

Wollongong - How I wish this is my house!!!

2011-05-30T15:41:00.000-07:00

Along the journey, we saw many beautiful beachside house. This is just one of them and it was for sale at the time.

Spacious deck at the back and overlooking the Pacific Ocean

Imagine this is what you see every morning, every afternoon, or 27/7.... a perfect holiday house

wollongong- A place that shouldnt be missed

2011-05-25T20:55:00.000-07:00

If you want to have a day trip or short trip away from Sydney, where would you go? Central Coast? Wollongong? My friends always tell me that Wollongong and the Grand Pacific Drive are very gorgeous and I should go there one day.

Wollongong is a seaside city in the Allawarra region of New South Wales and it is the 3rd largest city in NSW. The quickest way to go to Wollongong from Sdyney is via M1 and Princess Highway South. If you have a little longer time, I would highly recommend to go for the Grand Pacific Drive. It is a very scenic way to see more of Wollongong, the escarpment and the cliffs. Dont have GPS and worry may get lost? No worries. Grand Pacific Drive is well signaged.

Look for 'Wollongong' or the brown signage of 'Grand Pacific Drive' and it would lead you to all the interest spots of the journey, namely the Bald Hill, Sea Cliff Bridge and others. If you have more time, you can also drop by the National Park along the way.

A detailed signage explaining the geography and things to see or do along the Grand Pacific Highway. The tourism board really does a great job.

All the seaside cities... so beautiful..

It took us around 90 minutes to reach the first stop in our journey- The Bald Hill. Standing there, really relaxing and the view is really fantastic. The only downside is the wind is extremely strong, as if it may blow us away. The 'snaky' looking bridge down there is the famous Sea Cliff Bridge.

But the strong wind is what needed for tandem hanggliding. If you like to take changllenges and with extra cash in your pocket, you should try this out with about AUD 245 (weekend & public holidays) or AUD 220 (weekdays).

A view from Bald Hill. It is just so magnificient and put me off all my narrow perceptions because the world out there is so BIG. Acceptance....

From Bald Hill, we drove down to Sea Cliff Bridge. There are parkings before and after the bridge. Pedestrians are alllowed to walk on the bridge using the pedestrian path.

Love locks in Sea Cliff Bridge

So romantic

To be continued........

Buffet in Rosehill - All you can eat for AUD 12.90

2011-03-24T04:46:00.000-07:00

Buffet... should I love it or... hate it? Love it because there are plenty of great food and the price is reasonable. Hate it because I can only eat that much and it is not easy to maintain good body shape while fighting for the seduction of great food.

Anyway, I really like this buffet. Top Taste Buffet of Rosehill Bowling Club

All you can eat for less than AUD 15 and even cheaper if you are a member. Well, a bowl of Fried Noodle costs about AUD 10 in Parramatta, so, I think it is really worthy to eat here as we can eat all kind of food until we are very very full.

Really mouth-watering !!! Steak, chips, deep fried scallop, spring rolls

vegan? No worries. There are plenty of salad such as Mixed bean salad, Angel hair salad, Greek Salad, Coleslaw Salad.... Yum yum

Only like Asian food? Here you are. Salt and pepper Squid, Mussels with sweet chili source, honey chicken, omelette...

Here comes the desserts- cakes, puddings, fruits.....

Free flow of coffee and tea. If you want to have cold drinks or beers, then you can to pay for it.

What is this?? This is a self-service 'Mc-Donald-like' ice-cream machine. take as much as you can eat!!! wow....

Delicious...

Tasty....

so enjoyable...

Tired of chewing? Then, you can look out for the green or see the elderly playing balls outside. What a relaxing day?!

Top Taste Buffet, Rosehill Bowling Club
Location : Cnr James Ruse Drive & Hassell Street, Parramatta, NSW
Cuisines : Modern Australian & Chinese

Open for lunch and dinner 6 days a week ( closed on Monday)
Trading hours : Lunch - 11.30am to 2.15pm
Dinner- 5.30 pm to 9 pm ( Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday)
5.30 pm to 9.30 pm ( Friday and Saturday)

Cari makan- Ipoh Old Town : The Coffee

2011-03-02T23:33:00.000-08:00

Lots of people love coffee. Some of them even deeply in love with coffee until have to show up in the coffee shop two times a day. My dear father is one of them. Well. He is addicted with the coffee and everyday he would automatically takes his car and go to that coffee shop - in Ipoh Old Town.

The white coffee is very smooth, with great aroma and taste very very good. very gao + make you wanna have second cup

As the name implies, Ipoh old town is still with rows of old buildings. full with special old fashion feeling

Though there are some renovated new shops around that area. This row is mainly chinese shops, and the row of shops that is next to this are mainly Indian shops

food!!!!

Drinking coffee only cant fill up the stomach, got to have really good food too. The Hakka noodle is good. The choo cheong fun is very nice. Although it is simple, but the source is really special RM2.50

Lining up for money? Nope. For this roast pork. yum yum. To my surprise, the pork is quite expensive. RM5 for this small portion of roast pork.

Cari makan in Ipoh - Delicious Ipoh food

2011-02-12T06:41:00.000-08:00

Ipoh is famous for 3 things :
1. Beautiful hills ( Ipoh is also known as hill city)
2. Pretty girls ( Leng lui)
3. and yummy food

When I was still a student, my friends and I used to like to yumcha in a hawker centre ( or more precisely - a row of hawker stalls on a road) - the Tongshui Gai ( Dessert Street).

As usual, it is crowded with people and so happening. Lots of food, dessert.... mouth-watering.

wow~ mixed fruit Ice - lots of fruit ( grape, dragon fruit, watermelon...) RM4.50

Rojak - not too bad, but the portion is rather small RM 5

Where is it? It is just in front of the Sam Tet Primary School.

Pet expo in University of Sydney- what a day?

2010-12-30T17:41:00.000-08:00

University of Sydney is huge. With the help of map and road sign, we managed to get to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. The two big balloons on the roof are very eye-catching and promoting their 24 hours service.

oh~ FREE vet checks by the vets of this faculty. haha. this dog really had an enjoyable time and so do the owner because he can easily save up to AUD 50 of consultation fees.

As usual, pet expo is full with dogs- all kind of macho, cute, or 'colourful' dogs. Generally, they are really well-behaved.

Big event like this is more lively with a mascot. The Shepherd dog is so lovely.

Usually, dogs & cats are enemies and it is seldom for us to see dogs and cats to be in a same event in Malaysia. But, for this pet event, other than doggy activities, they also had a cat show on that day. The handsome guy that holding a cat is the famous vet celebrity- Dr Chris Brown from Bondi Vet ( A famous TV show in Australia). The lady above is a judge that judging on the cats for cat beauty contest.

This cat is so feminine and photogenic

dodgy- looking kitty

kids love petting zoo. It is a rather unusual zoo as they have ducks, sheeps, guinea pigs and even a Piggy!!!

Top 3 precious scene of the day- Cat on leash and walking happily!!! ( most of the cats hate leash) . Piggy walking around the petting zoo and the last is chicken on the shoulder of a boy - with a leash!!!

Besides dogs and cats welfare society, there are exotic and small animal welfare societies in Australia which promotes cares and loves to these small animals such as ferrets, hamsters, rabbits and others.

University of Sydney- oPen Day

2010-12-23T16:14:00.000-08:00

University of Sydney- one of the best Uni in Australia and everyone is dying & fighting to get into was having an open day. It was a big event of the year and full with students, families, and visitors (sticky beak- and i am one of them).

It is huge, with big, sophisticated-looking building and also..

rather old-styled building.... ( crowded with visitors as they were busy gather information regarding the courses that they are interested to)

wow~~~ it is soOOOooooo........ ancient & magnificent

Open day would attract a good crowd of people and people = blood and it is wise that red cross australia had a blood donation campaign there. For more info, please visit donateblood.com.au

balloons, freebies, information booths, some other activities ( solar viewing using a special stethoscope and good explanation by professional) .... it is indeed a interesting day

beside open day of University of Sydney, Faculty of Veterinary Science also organised their Pet fun day which is really enjoyable.

Loy Krathong Festival

2010-12-02T18:40:00.000-08:00

The main event of the day is floating 'krathong' and make a wish beside the Parramatta river. Due to it was dark (night time) and inadequacy of my camera, the river was cant be seen from the pic. But, the main focus of this pic is the number of staffs that help in the security and safety of the visitors. They really made sure everybody following the rules and take care of themselves and not to fall into the river.

Heaps of performances & dances. Dramas in Thai too. Too bad that I cant understand that, but lots of audiences really enjoyed themselves and laughed & claps too. They are Thais.

Delicious food and the price is considerably cheap

Thai roti. yum yum

The making of Thai roti. seem simple

Thais in their costumes during the ceremony

Arent them pretty? They are Miss Thailand.

Thai Festival- Loi Krathong in Australia

2010-11-25T13:04:00.000-08:00

This was the first time I was surrounded by so many Thais ( except when I was in Thailand) in Australia. Thais, Thai food, Thai handicraft.... all were presented in the Loi Krathong Festival that was held in Parramatta River, Parramatta recently.

According to the organizer, Loi Krathong Festival is held exactly on the full moon night of the 12th lunar month. This is where the adults often take children to float a krathong on the river to apologize to and ask for a blessing from Phra Mae Khongkha, the Goddness of the River. Thais also believe that by doing so, they can float all theri suffering, sadness, disease and other bad things in the life down the river.

Besides floating the krathong, there was also Nang Nopphamas Beauty Contest that is a symbol of the Loi Krathong tradition.

Visitors were enjoying themselves with the food, performances and the view...

Krathong.... waiting to be floated

Full wiith people , not only Thais, but all races..... Indians, Chinese, Asians, Europeans...

Fresh flowers? Look closely... Actually, they are made from cloth.

Amazing work!!!

Another Thai handicraft made from plastic flowers

All those 'flowers' are made from fruit or vegetables!!! Great work by this lady!!! Bravo

This young man was busy colouring the small statue. Great demo to show the public the culture and handicraft of Thailand

More reviews in next blog.

How much do you know about your car's tyre? Is it safe???

2010-11-19T04:26:00.000-08:00

My dream car...

I came across a car magazine and it talks about some very important facts and tips of maintaining the tyres. Shockingly, there are more than 200 people in Britain were killed or seriously injured in year 2009 in crashes where illegal, defective or under0inflated tyres were judged to be a contributory factor in the accidents.

1. Tyres can lose 7 to 14 kpa (1-2 psi) on average per month through natural permeation of air through the tyre.
2. About 90% of vehicles have at least one under-inflated tyre.

3. An under-inflated tyre can reduce tyre life by 50%, reduce braking by 20% and increase fuel consumption by 5%.
4. Drivers should regularly check tyre pressure, at least once a month or once every couple of days when driving for long distances.

5. Remember to use the correct tyres because fitting the wrong tyres on your car would lead to loss of vehicle performance and your speedometer might shown incorrect speed.
6. Wheel alignment- make sure tread wear is even by giving your car a wheel alignment at least every 6 months or 10,000km. ( But, if you feel your steering isnt straight or your car pulls to one side, you should have the wheel alignment checked asap)

7. Pot holes, road irregularities, speed bumps and others may knock your wheels out of alignment. Poor wheel alignment can make the car pull to one side and increase the rate of tyre wear.
8. Rotate your car's tyres regularly ( perhaps every 5000 to 8000km) for better handling, performance and prolonged tyre life. Anyway, this task is best left to your local service centre.

9. Dont forget to check your spare tyre and you may need it one day.
10. Always use tyre valve caps as they assit in maintaining air pressure and keep dirt and moisture out of the valve core. ( oh~ Now only I know their importance, but I think I have lost them and I thought it is easier without them because it is easier for me to inflate my tyres )

Those are some of the facts that I got from the magazine, but for more accurate and suitable car maintainance ways, we should always consult our car service centres.

Safe tyres = safe journey
Take care ...... :P

Malaysian food in Campsie!!

2010-11-13T21:02:00.000-08:00

Born as Malaysian, no matter what, still prefer Malaysian food. This is a rather small restaurant in Campsie, but the food is definitely GREAT and the price is reasonable.

Mouth-watering.... heaps of great food. Sambal petai.... yum yum

As usual, the food portion are large. We ordered 3 dishes. We think the best one would be the wan tan hor. really delicious.

Busy.busy. full with customers

Perhaps it was due to the power of these kitty cats? :P

Malaysian food. thumbs up!!!

Canberra: What to see? Australian War Memorial

2010-10-17T09:04:00.000-07:00

Australian War Memorial is Australian's national memorial to its military forces that have died or participated in the wars of the Commonwealth of Australia. This is where and how the Australians show their appreciation and gratitude to those participated in the war.

Statues outside the hall

If you would like to know about WAR - world war 1 and 2, you should really come and spend some times here. It has detail information about war, how did the soldiers fight for their countries, aircrafts, cars...

Opening hours : 10 am -5pm daily ( except Christmas Day)
Admission : FREE
Location : Trelor Crescent, Campbell, ACT ( very near to the Parliament House)

Visit Canberra- What to see? Parliament House

2010-10-07T03:10:00.000-07:00

Visiting Parliament House? Is it boring? Well. One should never give it a miss. Why? Australia spent over AUD 1.1 billion for the construction and it was the most expensive building in the Southern Hemisphere at the time of construction. Got to go and look why is it so expensive!!!

It has a giant spire with a super large Australia flag on top of the main building. It is so huge and basically, we can see it from anywhere of Canberra

Can you see it? Actually, the ground level of the building illustrate of boomerang shaped design. besides that, there are a big flat nice grass on the rooftop. Visitors are allowed to go to the rooftop to take picture and see gorgeous view from there too.

That is it. (From outside)

The Parliament House is very huge. This is the entrance.

There is a small gallery of pictures of the former Prime Minister of Australia. Obviously, she is not the PM, who is she?? Queen.

National Parliament House
Time : 9am to 5pm
Admission : Free

Malaysia Embassy. Since we were in Canberra, we should visit all the embassies, to look at their architecture.

Indonesian Embassy- Balinese style.

Black Mountain Tower ( Previously known as Telstra Tower or Telecom Tower) -is situated above the summit of Black Mountain. It is not only a telecommunication tower, but also a landmark of Canberra, Great tourist spot where tourist can witness the panoramic view of the city from the indoor & outdoor observation deck, and it also has a restaurant. ( sound familiar... KL Tower)

Visit Canberra

2010-10-03T03:33:00.000-07:00

Perhaps a lot of people would think that the capital city of Australia is Sydney or Melbourne. I think Canberra is a very low profile, simple and humble city which is obviously overshadowed by Opera House of Sydney or The Great Ocean Road of Melbourne.

Why Canberra?? Well. These is a story behind that. In 1901, when the British colonies in Australia federated to form the Commonwealth of Australia, Melbourne and Sydney were the two largest cities in the country, but the long history of rivalry between them meant that neither of them could become the national capital. Section 125 of Constitution of Australia therefore provided that : The seat of Government of the Commonwealth shall be determined by the Parliament, and shall be within territory which shall have been granted to or acquired by Commonwealth, and shall be vested in and belong to the Commonwealth, and shall be in the State of New South Wales, and be distant not less than one hundred miles from Sydney. After a long long discussion and 'argument', the Parliament decided that the new capital would be in the southern part of New South Wales, on the site which is now Canberra in year 1909.

Canberra is surrounded by mountains and river. Lots of green. Fresh air and cooler air and something even freezing air. The temperature is usually lower than Sydney.

Canberra at 360 degree from Mountain Ainslie.
yup. This is Canberra.

Floriade of Canberra- Imagination...

2010-09-28T23:01:00.000-07:00

Floriade is back!!!

I think Canberra is really a special and unique city. Why? Because basically it is not really special or as beautiful as Sydney or Melbourne, but it is the capital city of Australia!!! There are many ways to go to Canberra, either drive or by flight. By car, it is not too far, only 3-4 hours drive with the maximum speed of 110km/hour. Speeding?? Better dont do it in Australia because traffic police are very hardworking and more than happy to fine you. They are everywhere and anytime ( This is the slogan of the anti-speeding campaign). Not only police, but also cameras that are watching you 24/7. ok. back to Canberra. The road trip was quite interesting. mountains, forest.... serenity & peaceful.

The biggest event in Canberra- Floriade with the exciting theme of Imagination : Where will yours take you? Wow. In year 2010, it is in its 23rd year and the event has grown to become Australia's premier spring festival.

The Floriade garden bed designs have been inspired by the imagination. Above is the garden bed with the title of Dancing ballerinas. But, anyway, we cant really appreciate unless we stand on a higher ground, such as on the ferris wheel.

It was really an enjoyable time. Great view and flowers for my eyes. The flowers really smell good and relaxing. Not to forget about birds chirping and the musics played by a street organ.

This is not a display board, but it is a organ which plays really great music!!!

Tulips

All kinds of tulips

Tulips & tulips again .... really made me fallen in love with tulips

Floriade is only about Flowers, but also with green- the bonsai.

No matter you are flower lovers or not, you should really must come and see this festival yourself, because it is really gorgeous and 'wow'. The weather was very nice that day with around 17 C, so it was so comfortable walking around the park, unlike in Malaysia that we would be exhausted or sweat as if showering.

Venue : Commonwealth Park, Canberra
Period : 11 September - 10 October 2010
Time : 9am -5pm ( weekdays)
9am-5.30pm (weekends & public holidays)

Cabramatta Part 2- Buddhist temple in Australia??

2010-09-18T04:56:00.000-07:00

Besides Vietnamese food, Cabramatta also well-known for its fruit juice especially DURIAN shake!!! We dont dare to taste that, so we chose mixed fruit shake. Very refreshing!!!

A great variety of fruits for your to choose : Guava, watermelon, winter melon, banana, pear....

and the famous The king of all fruit - DURIAN

A glance of the price

Tummy was full. It was time to go 'Jalan-jalan' and do some sightseeing.

What a surprise to see such a typical buddhist temple here. ps: right in the middle of the township, next to houses.

Another buddhist temple just cross the road of the previous temple. Amitabha, Kuan Yin.

This is my first time to see everything written in Vietnames language. The names, notices....

What to eat in Cabramatta?? Definately... it is Vietnamese Food

2010-09-07T23:15:00.000-07:00

Discover Cabramatta - A taste of Asia!!!

This is the slogan of tourist board of Cabramatta. But, is it really Asia?? Lots of Asian faces, Asian Food, Asian stalls..... but to be more accurate, i think should be mainly Vietnam.

Look.. Vietnam signboard

Vietnamese ladies in traditional dress - Ao Dai

Anyway, there are plenty of Chinese words too. Cabramatta' most famous dish is the Vietnamese soup Pho. We had eaten Beef noodle many many times already, hence, this time, we decided to go for Duck soup with noodle ( AUD 12).

Egg noodle with bakchoy
Plus .....

...... Mouth-watering Duck soup

... and not forgeting the evergreen of Vietnamese food - bean sprout. The food portion was very big and definately two of us can share it and still felt full. Other than Duck soup noodle, other dishes in this restaurant are great too. ps: free tea

After got our mouth and stomach full, it was time to experience Asian shopping. Walking on street, realy felt like i was in Malaysia or China ( except Malaysia is much hotter)

Now, it is end of winter. so, price reduction !!! Now, the Ao Dai costs AUD 55, 2 light brown jacket AUD 45, Grey jacket AUD 20. I was so shocked when i saw the socks that i bought from a shopping complex for 3 pair for AUD 10, only selling for AUD 1 for a pair!!!

Perhaps we can see this in Asian market.

The World is for us to share and to respect. well. The cake is so big, and there would be enough to feed everyone ... if none of the people is too greedy

Cabramatta is really coloured with Asia touch.

Haha.... these pigs are so cute. They are standing happily in the middle of a road. These statues was sponsored by some companies. Curiously, why did they choose pigs?? Anyway, they are definetly CUTE. If they are born in my place, sure they cant smile, cos they would be on chopping board.

What is this?? Ha~~~ must try to do it yourself

2010-09-02T23:23:00.000-07:00

What is this??? Any ideas?? Fan?

Don't know? Another view of it. ps: it is on a dining table

The answer is... Spring Roll Rice Paper. Consumable paper.
Method to turn this hard paper-like spring roll paper into gentle soft yummy spring roll skin is: Soak the 'paper' in a warm water for about 30secs. pretty easy.

Ingredients of the spring roll: bean sprouts, cabbage, basil ........

and special vietnamese noodle

The tricky part is to wrap all the ingredients into the spring roll paper. The skin is so thin, and easily 'torn' or the spring roll may end up... instead of roll, it becomes pillow-shape or some other rather creative shapes.

This is a rather 'simple' dish that i think we can learn to make. believe if or not, we dont have to always buy the food, but we can do it ourselves. ( provided that we can get those ingredients in Malaysia..... never really pay any attentions to that. do we know that?)

FOOD DIY.

Australia Election --->> Hung Parliament?

2010-08-26T05:09:00.000-07:00

21 August 2010 was a special day for Australians. It is Australia election day and the first Australian Election that i had seen. The way the political parties run their campaign are differ from in Malaysia. If it is in Malaysia, we can see most of the streets would be nicely decorated with posters and flags. In Australia, posters can only be seen at election centres and only a handful of them. Australia is really an open country and they can openly 'discuss' about another party in television commercial.

Julia Owens from Labour Party with the slogan of working for you

The first female Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard with her slogan of Let's move Australia Forward

Charles Camenzuli from the Liberal Party and below him is Tony Abbot, the head of Liberal Party. As you can see, really not many poster were displayed there.

Candidate from Green Party

voters were queuing up. No flags. NO posters. i think it is kind of boring compared to Malaysia's election.

Crowds of people were queuing up too

Me and Tony Abbot. His poster is really nice, so, i took a pic with him. NO other intention.

What would be the future of Australia after the election?
Australia is going to form a first Hung Parliament. Hung parliament occurs when neither major political party ( Liberal and Labour) has an absolute majority of seats in the parliament. Both of the party leaders are busy negotiating with the independent in order to gain their supports. or, re-election??

No matter what is going to happen, hope that everything would be great for the future of Australia!!!
cheers :)

My temporary 'HOME' in Australia

2010-08-23T21:56:00.000-07:00

We are so fortunate that we have a place to stay. Nope. It is not FOC, but we have to pay rental and it is not cheap. ONLY AUD 480 for a house. ( But, our friend rents out a room for us).

In Malaysia, we would ask how much is your rental per MONTH? but, in Australia, the rental is paid per WEEK. So, i think you can image that it is not cheap. But, it is a nice house and with good location. The only negative thing is the "hyperactive" neighbour that love to play musics and listening to song with its highest volume. ( They are doing it now) HOpefully one day, they would change that. pray for me ya... :)

here, please have a look at the house.

Welcome to my house. Oops. Wrong pic. This is one of my dream houses.

Here you are. My house is the single-storey red brick house at the back. Here, it is very common to see a house that is built behind another house, such as my house. It is because before this, the land of my house ( not really my house, but the place where i stay) belonged to the same owner of the white house in the front. Australian houses are usually with big elongated land, where at the front, they built a house, and they reserve a big land for their backyard. They built another house at the backyard and sell it.

A closer look of the house

The porch?

a decent kitchen with white-theme cabinet

Dining area

washroom

we have bath tub

Living room

We have orange tree!!! Have you seen orange on orange tree before?? That was my first time.

Sydney : Candy... i love STICKY candy- Must eat & Must see!!!

2010-08-18T04:49:00.000-07:00

What is this? It is not a toy, but a candy or to be more precise, the sticky fruit- orange candy from STICKY. It is hand-made and the best part is... we can even see how this candy is born ( i mean the hand-made candy-making process).

When i walked around the Rock, Sydney, i found this store which is full with bottles and colourful candies. Indeed very special. Really wish to bring all of them home. They are so CUTE. It is Sticky Fruit- Cherry ( with smiley face)

Sticky Word Rock- I Love You (Up) ; Sticky Fruit- Banana (Down)

Rainbow rock (Up) ; Raspberry rock ( Down)

Sticky Fruit - lemon (Up) ; Sticky Pillows- Raspberry/Lemonade (Down). This is only some of their candies. They have a variety of candies and some are with words such as ' Thank you' and you can even request to put your name or write anything on the candy for wedding and anything.

Another special feature of this shop is... Free Show. The Sticky Masters do their candy openly in his open kitchen and anyone is welcomed to see the 'show'.

oops... i was late for the show and i missed the earlier part. I only saw the girl wrap a orange-colour skin on the big roll. Then, she rolled and rolled and ...( X many many times)

Then, they pulled the roll and 'magic' happened. The big roll was pulled into smaller rolls and cut shorter as shown on the table.

Can you see that? This was how she pulled the candy roll. Amazing

He rolled & rolled the 'mini' candy rolls.

Then, something happened. All the audience also couldnt believe their eyes because he put a small spade to chop the candy rolls into smaller pieces. It was very hard to explain and you should see it yourself.

Happy time. They gave free sampling and all the audience were thrilled. The Sticky Fruit- Orange really tasted like orange and it was hot when we took it from the bowl. Yummy

Tips bowl made from candy. No wonder they got quite a good sum of tips.

Candy by Sticky ( Traditional hand made yummy)
Sydney
Shop 10, The Rocks Centre,
Kendall Lane,
The Rocks
NSW

Singapore
6 Eu Tong Sen Street,
#B1-54/55 The Central,
Singapore 059818

and not forgetting Sticky-Malaysia
LG 213 Lower Ground Floor,
1 Utama Shopping Centre,
1, Lebuh Bandar Utama,
Bandar Utama,
47800 Petaling Jaya.

Sydney Where to go - Sdyney Wildlife World

2010-08-16T05:19:00.000-07:00

I really have to say this : Australians are very creative. I really like the design of the logo of Sydney Wildlife World. Can you see that? a kangaroo, a reptile, some dots and the aboriginal-feeling. It truly shows the identity of Australia Culture & wildlife.

We still not yet go in and explore the Wildlife World. No time & no money YET. Anyway, we managed to take a few pics with Ms Kangaroo.

What are you doing? Where do you put your hand??? OH My Goodness!!!

I thought I was in China instead of Australia

2010-08-12T23:00:00.000-07:00

Where was i? I thought I was in China. I was surrounded by Chinese. They spoke Mandarin. They were very fashionable, wearing nice jackets and high boots. But, i can see lots of Mat Salleh too.

Welcome to the China Town of Sydney

Singapore BBQ Pork in China Town, Sydney

Chinese stuff with chinese name

Chinese Food Court ( even in Chinese name)- who would think that it was in Sydney?

Chinese noodle & rice- very big portion!!! AIUD 10

You can get any chinese food there

China Town, Chinese face

Have you tried Xinjiang before? Anyway, not really my cup of tea.

The weather was so good. It was a best time to have a walk around Sydney city especially Darling Harbour and Circular Quay.

Obviously everyone also shared the same thinking and Sydney was packed with HUMAN. Actually it is really a great leisure to walk in cool weather especially there is not sweating and not hot.

Gorgeous blue sky & small fountain

What a relaxing place..

Other than Sydney Aquarium, Sydney Wildlife World also located in Darling Harbour. We have not visited them because the tickets look like pretty expensive. Single entry to Wildlife world for adult is $34.99( about RM 105). But, Sydney Wildlife World really seem very interesting. It has 3 levels and exhibits more than 130 different species of Australian animals. wow..... Maybe next time.

In order to attract more visitors to most of the 'educational' places, there come out with a promo which are :
Explore 4 Combo Pass ( $ 49.99)

for Single entry to Sydney Aquarium, Sydney Wildlife World, Sdyney Tower and Oceanworld Manly
valid for 3 months

Unlimited Adventure Pass ( $ 59.99)

Same as above except it is not single entry, but unlimited entry to those 4 places until 30th June 2011. (wow~ what a great deal)

Annual Adventure Pass ( $ 69.99)

12 months unlimited entry to those 4 places

For more information, please log on to : http://sydneywildlifeworld.myfun.com.au/Ticket-Info/Ticket-Prices.htm

Yummy...Yummy.. Vietnamese food in Parramatta, Australia

2010-08-08T17:18:00.000-07:00

Australia is a multicultural country with a variety of food, such as Vietnamese, Lebanan, Korean, Chinese, Indian ....

My first dinner in Australia- Vietnamese Restaurant in Parramatta.

YumYum...

Vietnamese Beef Noodle - AUD 11. Very very big portion of noodle with lots of noodle, beef, delicious bean sprout and Basil ( My fauvourite!!!). This noodle is definitely too much for me. if continue to eat big portion of food like this, i am sure that my size will double up too. scary...

Fresh + Hot spring rolls - AUD 11. Thats all? See below...

It is not only a simple fried spring rolls. This spring rolls also served with a big cabbage, bean sprout and vegetables. Indeed a healthy food.

wow~~~ When we took a bite on the wrap spring roll, it was so juicy, refreshing and delicious!!!!

Pho Pasteur in Parramatta

ps: Two of us are such a small-eaters and we took away half of the spring rolls. We were charged extra AUD 0.50 for a plastic container. Should have prepare my own container... but would it seem very 'kiam siap'???

hELLo... SyDEY!!!

2010-08-03T17:50:00.000-07:00

Arrived in Sydney Airport- Nothing is FREE. Wanna use luggage trolley? Pay AUD 4 first.

No money? No talk. No luggage trolley. Kindly take ALL your luggage yourself.

Don't simply park your car at the roadside. There is a public pick-up area in the airport.

Big signboard showing the location of the public pick-up area. More information of dropping off and picking-up passengers is available in http://www.sydneyairport.com.au/Sacl/Dropping-Off-and-Picking-Up.html

Public pick-up area with 10 minutes free parking only. More than that, then you have to pay for the parking fare.

Wow~ Boats, blue sky & sea... so beautiful !!!

Sitting on Mrs Macquarie's Chair . It is a rock that cut into the shape of a bench. Mrs Macquarie was the wife of Major-General Lachlan Macquarie ( one of the Governor of New South Wales). Mrs Macquarie used to sit on the rock and watch for British ships sailing into the harbour.

Mrs Macquaries Point is a popular lookout position for the view to the north-west of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. I went there in the evening, hence, the quality of the pic is not good. should go to this place in the morning.

Day 1 { SYDNEY } Sunny { 15C }

OMG!!! Im in Sydney...not yet.. still in Gold Coast

2010-07-28T18:33:00.000-07:00

This pic is taken by me. Not downloaded. Here, come the proof.

Tata. Standing in front of the Sydney Opera House. It looked sunny, but it was cold and windy that day. (ps: Please ignore my auntie's jacket)

My favorite -The Habour Bridge

Do you know that MAS is the only airlines that provides direct flight from Kuala Lumpur to Sydeny? Due to overwhelming response of this flight during mid of July, most of the airtickets were sold out and the only available are the expensive airtickets, which cost about RM5000 per ticket, it is not return ticket, only a ONE-WAY ticket.

Without choice, I had to look for alternatives flights to Sydney, and chose to fly to Gold Coast, then from there, fly to Sydney. Anyway, the tickets only cost me about RM1300. But, night flight is really tough and i couldnt sleep at all, sitting there from 10pm until the next day of 7am. So tiring.

Gold Coast Airport is rather ... simple and not gigantic as i thought it would. Only 1 straight corridor from front to end and that it is. shopping? it is only a small shopping area at the departure hall. food? only a few cafe and restaurants. i really cant believe it. Or i miss something there????

It was only 8.30am after i came out from the custom. My next flight was 1pm. OMG. I was too tired and no place to go, but to sit and try to take some sleep on that chair and at the same time, holding my luggages (total 3 of them).

My lunch - Hungry Jack for AUD 5. This dining area is awesome!!! sitting there, i can see the great view of mountains, planes and also......... handsome tall guys. haha

Staying in Gold Coast for only 6 hours, then i got on JetStar and flew to Sydney

Koh Samui OR Bali?

2010-07-25T08:41:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how much fun can be packed into just three days. But, if for comparison, i still prefer Bali. For me, Bali just have its magical touch, combined with shopping, great natural views and temples.

Anyway, here are some of the pics taken at the beach nearby my hotel.

Hardly anyone can miss this eye-catchy signboard at the middle of the beach. The cafe staffs are so creative.

One of the drink of my free buffet breakfast - smiley face latte. It was not only look 'sweet', but the taste was great too.

No coconut tree at the beach? No problem. Here you are. White coconut trees.

Can you imagine yourself lying there? It must be very .... relaxing.

After 3 days of enjoyment, it was time for us to say Goodbye and back to the 'warm tropical' airport. The airport looks great except... most people also feel very 'HOT'.

The custom dog strikes & refuses to walk due to the heat too.

Mu Koh Angthong Natinal Marine Park- GOOD!!!

2010-07-22T09:38:00.000-07:00

4.Mu Koh Angthong Natinal Marine Park
it is an archipelago in the Gulf of Siam and consisting of 42 islands. i chose this tour because the the pic in the brochure really attracted me.

Itinerary
730am Pick up from hotel and go to jetty
800am Depart to Marine park. light breakfast is served.
10am arrive Wua Ta Lap Island. It is a big island where there are so many activities can be done there, eg: snorkeling, swimming, climb up to view point to see magnificent view, and if you want, you can even stay overnight there or you can just do nothing and sitting under coconuts and enjoy breezes (hot).

Facilities that available are : personal belongings taking care (FREE), nice toilet where you can shower after swimming or snorkeling ( very very important!!!), restaurant...

ps: For this tour, we only stopped at two islands, and only THIS island has all these facilities. The next island which is Mea Koh Island is not as developed as the previous island where there is no restaurant, but there has toilet, but the toilet is not allowed to shower. hence, if you swim or snorkeling there, you have to get wet all the way back to the land. this was what i did. Imagine, wet hair, water dripping, salty smell, sticky body... sitting in a ferry for almost 2 hours. This is the experience that i would NOT like to 'enjoy' again.

Moral of the story : Do more research before take a tour. It would be good if we go to Mae Koh Island , then only we go to Wu Ta Lap Island. Some of the tours provide this package. or at least, we were informed by tour guide first that we should swim/snorkeling in the first island because the second island doesnt have shower facilities. But, anyway, i really enjoy the trip and i can see the underwater world while snorkeling. fantastic experience and i began to understand why people would spend thousands just to dive into the sea. It is because it is really so........ Gorgeous and great experience.

If you are energetic, you MUST climb up a nature trail to see the impressive picturesque panorama of all the neighboring islands. There are total of 4 view platforms, and since im not energetic & adventurous, i only able to make it to the first view platform, because the way is very very steeply and i was wearing my slippers. According to peoples that managed to make it to the top, the view is really ....... breathtaking.

Picture take from the first view point. The beach is so beautiful.

Can you see that?! Crystal clear water. Gorgeous~~~

At about 12pm, we back to our ferry and enjoy Thai buffet lunch. Initially, looking at the food, it was really not appetizing. The Thai buffet was really simple - fried chicken, green curry and onion. but, to my surprise, actually the food was good, even better than my romantic seaside expensive dinner the night before.

After lunch, we dropped by the Mae Koh Island to see the gorgeous "Talay Nai' ( Lagoon). This is the reason i chose this tour. The emerald lagoon really attracts me.

Good things never come easily. Before i can see the lagoon with my own eyes, i had to climb up steep staircase, up & down, down & up. kind of scary too. Without a good & healthy body, can one come here?i wonder. better enjoy when you are young & at least keep yourself very fit & healthy, so that, you can see so many nice thing.

The water is really so green!!! looks like emerald. "Talay Nai" is a sink-hole lagoon 200m wide and 250 m long. It has emerald green water totally surronded by limestone bluffs, connected to the sea only by an underwater tunnel. It is presumed that it forms when land collapses into underground tunnels and cave systems.

It is very big and i cant believe that it is not sea, but lagoon. Someone told me that Lake Toba is even bigger than this. i wish i can go and have a look too.

There is a view point on top of the island. The view is very very nice too.

This was the ferry that took us for the trip - with food, drinks, toilet and wooden chairs. Can you see me snorkeling there? So nice!!! but too bad that my mum refused to join me because she doesnt want to get all the wet back to KOh Samui cos there is not showering facilities in this island.

whole day tour - 1700 baht per person ( include hotel pick-up, light breakfast, lunch, kayaking)

It is really a good experience!!!

Touring in Koh Samui

2010-07-15T05:43:00.000-07:00

Before i went to Koh Samui, I really dont know what are the activities that can be done there except the Full Moon Party and water sports. But, when i reached there, as usual, i would visit the local tourist centre and find out more from them. To my surprise, actually there are so many activities that can be done there and how i wish that i can have stay a few more days. Some of the tours are :

1. Boat tour around Koh Samui ( but, it is only limit to certain days of the week)
itenerary:
9am pick up from hotel lobby ----> departure Big Buddha Beach ---> arrive on 'Green Peach Island' Snorkeling & Swimming---> have lunch at Koh Tan - sunbathing, relaxation and sightseeing ---> visit 'The Swallows Nest Island' ---> 4.30pm get back to Nathon Pier & transfer by bus back to hotel.

2. Namuang Safari Park

elephant trekking or cable ride
big buddha (15 meters tall)
Mummified monk
elephant show
monkey show
crocodile show
snake & scorpion show ( wondering what would scorpion performs??)
bird show
mini zoo
Namuang waterfall

------> seem very attractive and adventurous

3. Koh Nangyuan & Koh Tao
These wonderful islands are really breathtaking- white sand & blue sky. if i have extra time, i definitely will leave my footprints there.

activities includes : snorkeling, sightseeing. according to the brochure, dont miss View Point at Koh Nangyuan because the view are really spectacular. I am totally agree with them by looking at the pic. One of my friend took that tour, and she only gave me one response : Thumb up!!

4.Mu Koh Angthong Natinal Marine Park
it is an archipelago in the Gulf of Siam and consisting of 42 islands. i chose this tour because the the pic in the brochure really attracted me.

--- To be continued---

where can i get good food in Koh Samui?

2010-07-13T06:26:00.000-07:00

This is the our first lunch in Koh Samui. Ninja Crepes was recommended by our hotel's staff and it is on a few blocks away from Chaba Samui Resort. Noodle, Omelette Fried Rice, 2 fruit juice. Our lunch costed us 180Baht. i think the price was reasonable since we were in a middle of the tourist centre.

For dinner, we chose to have it on the beach with candle lights.... sounded so romantic. well. sounded only. because the drinks were not really our cup of 'tea'. the mint banana cocktail tasted like ..... cockroach smell. OHM~~~

The fish with tomato paste and the local fried rice were really ........ not tasty. My mum is a better cook than them.

anyway, we got to pay a really big damage for the dinner - 1000 baht.

We dont really where to have good food, so, we just trust our instinct and walked into any restaurant that look 'good'.

Chaba Samui Resort of Koh Samui

2010-07-08T00:42:00.000-07:00

Standing outside Chaba Samui Resort- the place where we were going to spend our 2-day-3-nights stay in Koh Samui. Grand or luxurious are not the description for him. but, it is rather laid back and looks..... comfortable & friendly. It claims to be a 4-star hotel, located in the centre of Chaweng Beach. It is the busier road in Koh Samui. Great location where food & shopping are just of walking distance.

Entrance of Lake wing

Chaba Samui is divided to 2 blocks by Chaweng Road into Lake wing & Ocean wing. My room was at the lake wing, honestly, i cant really appreciate the lake. Anyway, for the ocean wing, i really doubt whether one can see any beach from their room. But, i would say the room was certainly clean & neat & the staffs are really friendly too. For more information of the resort, please go to : http://www.chabanet.com/ss_home.htm

The entrance of Ocean wing room.

A rather small but well-designed swimming pool. Mostly, i saw lots of elephant statues for most of the hotels, but it is good to see that this pool has a few dolphins. cute..

A rather quiet cafe of the resort- great place for someone that wish to have a peaceful afternoon.

Once open our room, we were welcomed by two elephants, to be more precise, towel elephants. what a pleasant surprise and i really like it. but, for people that dont know how to appreciate them, would just say that it is waste of energy to fold them like that, and put flowers on them and worry that it may be unhygienic to use those towels.

A closer look of the elephant. It even has eyes!!! so sweet

A special complement of the hotel- 2 mandarin oranges & bananas. it is nicely decorated too :)

RM599 for a nice room for 2 nights ( with breakfast), airport pickup and also the airticket----- i would say it is a good deal!!!

Koh Samui Airport is truly a tropical airport

2010-06-14T05:37:00.001-07:00

The airport is really awesome!!! full of greens. Koh Samui welcomes us with their tropical airport.

I have been to many airports, but Koh Samui Airport really impressed me. It is not a huge gigantic building, but it is really show its identity- island. All the buildings are single-storey & i would say that it is really environmental friendly ( too much??- i think) where most of the halls are without air-conditioners. HOT! HOT! and really HOT.

but, we managed to get a very cooling area in the airport .... so comfortable standing inside. umm.. if i worked there, i think most probably i will spend most of my time there. but, it is not a pleasant place to stay too long because it is the TOILET!!!

But, i really have to give credits to the design of the toilets. really great, comfortable and cooling. this is the first toilet that i would actually want to stay inside and do my 'business' slowly and leisurely.

another surprise to me is : although the landing area of plane is far away from the hall, passengers dont have to walk under the hot sun or rain because there are lots of shuttle buses waiting there to fetch us to the hall. unlike in our local budget airports, we have to 'exercise'.

anyway, i really pity all the staffs in airport because they have to work under the hot weather all days. one of the staffs kept on fanning herself and the make-up seem like going to melt.

After settle everything in airport, we headed to our resort with the handsome driver from Chaba Samui Resort.

Koh Samui, here I am!!!

2010-06-12T21:24:00.000-07:00

Really want to take a break..... but dont have a fix destination where i really want to go. Macau? EGYPT?? (really dream to go there, but it is too expensive... for me at the moment). Tibet? Krabi? Taiwan?or Koh Samui??? Really had a tough decision to make when i was in the MATTA fair.

wait.. something yellowish caught my attention. Not DIGI, but

it is another budget airlines of Malaysia, other than Air Asia. Their booth in Matta was very crowded and seem like all the flight+hotel packages selling like hot cakes. i enquired information regarding Koh Samui trip, then i moved on to another booths to look for other tour packages, but before i left, the staff warned me to make my decision faster cos their tour packages really in hot sell.

i walked around the hall. really really crowded. is the tour package really that cheap?? There are so many places that i wanted to go. Lake Toba, Cambodia, Vietnam.... But, at the end of day, i found myself sitting in front of FireFly booth and book a package to Koh Samui. but, most of the dates of the tours are sold off, i had limited choices but i managed to get one. well. firstly, i never been there and friends around me told me that it is a nice island for relaxing. Secondly, the price is.. my cup of tea. Thirdly, the price really seem cheaper than i booked online myself with my flight tickets and hotel stay for 3D2N.

This tour costs me RM 599 for 3D2N stay in a 3 stars hotel ( Chaba Samui Hotel).( i dont know whether the hotel is good or not, but the location is good which is located at the busiest street of Koh Samui- the Chaweng bay. ), return airflights and 2 days breakfasts.

Haha....... here i am...... in Koh Samui. Let's prepare for sunscreen, umbrella and handkerchief .....

Looking at Koh Samui, i understand something. i finally understand the meaning of Crystal clear water. the sea water is so clear that i can see the bottom of the sea and really have a strong urge to jump into the crystal clear water.

They can do alot of things... elephant

2010-05-22T20:59:00.000-07:00

This place is really fantastic and adventurous!!! Really have a great day there. elephant ride, ox cart, elephant show and then bamboo rafting.

Dancing elephants

2010-04-13T07:01:00.000-07:00

has this elephant taken ecstasy pill? Dancing elephant. haha. it is just so much fun

These elephants not only can dance, they are do lots of stunts. They are terrific!!! wondering how do the trainers train them up??? How???

Elephants are even more obedient than my dog!!!

2010-03-27T07:37:00.000-07:00

We joined another tour. really had a good time and enjoyed myself on that day. I had lots of 'first time' in that one day. It was a sunny day, and we headed to Mae Taeng Elephant Park. We reached there about 9am, but we were sent for elephant ride.

That was my first time to be surrounded by so many elephants. They are certainly very adorable especially baby elephants. But, i wondered what if and what if these elephants went mad and lost control, then what will happen to me or us?? Obviously, i think too much.

This is the first elephant that i was in Mae Taeng Elephant Park. It was so clean and CUTE.

2 person per elephant and the trainer would sit in front to take control of the elephants. It was adventurous and scary. Sitting up there was really not a smooth ride, especially going up and down the hills. sometimes, it would depend on lucks too. if the elephant decides to go on a strike or run or play with water, then sorry. by the way, before we went there, we were worry that we may have to sit on top of the elephants and it may be not comfortable. Actually, we sat on a cushion seat with safety bar around it, to protect us from falling down.

While we were going on tour on elephants, up and down the hill, cross river and up to jungle, this small elephants also followed us. Beside he/she, there are some other young elephants followed their adult. Perhaps it was a pre-training for them before these babies get on to their work when they grow up.

along the river, there are resorts. It looked so serene there,only if you hold your breath. Because it was so smelly. due to our dear friends, elephants. well, elephants are big, they eat a lot , so they shit a lot too. they would shit anyway, on the ground, or while walking crossing the river.

After elephant ride, we were sent back to the main building by ox cart.

interested to buy some traditional souvenirs?

There are 2 elephant shows per day. if i am not mistaken, the shows are on 10 and 11 am daily. It is a MUST see event of the day. These elephants are well-trained and basically, they can do anything. Play basketball, dancing, and even DRAWING. seriously, i really have no idea how to they train these elephants. Elephants are so huge and strong, how to make them to listen to the trainer? well, honestly, when i looked at them, i cant help but think of my lovely dog, Muffin who misbehave and refuse to listen to commands. These elephants are more obedient than my dog. sigh~~~

Each of the elephants has their own names. In the picture is the artist- SUDA. She can draw. Cant believe that? i have proof.

She drew this picture- a small elephant. Haha. An elephant drew a picture of an elephant. Still refuse to believe that? No problem.

Suda was holding a brush and drawing herself flower. She is such a genius. Actually, there was two elephant drawing there at the same time, but everyone only focus on Suda, because she can draw very well and fast too. Another bigger elephant took a long time to draw, and the elephant that drew by it was..... so artistic and can only be memorized by certain people.

Gorgeous elephant. So handsome. i meant the elephant.

Handsome elephant showing off his white big tusk

After the show, all the elephants stood beside the bar for 3 reasons: saying goodbye, photo section and money taking time by using their trunk.

Gallergy sells paintings. All painted by elephants , mainly by the genius SUDA.

Bamboo rafting- this was how we got to the downstream.

A very unusual experience. But, it took us hours to reach our destination and it was a hot day. Basically, most of us just wondered why cant the raft goes faster or why not just shorthen the journey. Anyway, we also had some interesting experience there. Thirsty? Dont worrry. There was a mobile boat there and he sold all kind of drinks, eg: coconut, soft drinks...

Mae Taeng Elephant Park is definately a great place and i would go there again!!!

we were not in the hotel every night... we were in night bazaar

2010-03-18T06:22:00.000-07:00

Though Shangri-La Hotel is marvelous, but we did not really have time to enjoy their great facilities. We spent most of the time in the meeting room, from after my breakfast in the hotel, until around 6 pm.

Hehe... what did we do after that? our free time. We will go for somewhere that is really... a heaven. Shopping heaven.

By the way, the location of Shangri-la Hotel is considered to be good. walking distance to the night bazaar. Dont have to worry of hunger or no place to shop. You need anything, just take your walet and then walk.

Shangri-la is located at Chang Klan Road. but, there are other hotels that are nearer to the night market, such as Le Meridien. the night market just down the street. very very convenient, definitely great for shopaholic like me..

The night market is very very big. It includes stalls besides the roads, shops, open market. It has everything that you can think of. There, we can see lots of tourist. It is a heaven for tourist. They have great food with reasonable price, shopping, massage....

i wonder why we dont have such place in Malaysia.

Beautiful wood carving.... why i didnt buy any of you??? My friends bought a lot of wood carving with very good price.

colourful paper light

Women in their traditional costumes can be seen in the market- selling their handicraft.

cant be seen anyway else other than Chiang Mai.

When i walked pass this stall, i smell something sweet and special. real flower? nope. actually these flowers made from soup. They really look like real flower. That guy was doing flower carving next to his stall.

wow.. elephants again. all handmade. i cant take my eyes off them.

Traditional mini begs, with all kinds of designs. it is my heaven here cos i am a big fan of traditional handicraft.

lovely key chains... the little furry balls are so adorable.

3 for 50 baht

Wooden key chain and book mark
1 for 10 baht
buy 5 , free 1. but the quality is.... so so only

This is definitely the best souvenir that i bought. i love it so much. the pattern is nice, and the handwork is good. although there are so other similar begs with much cheaper price, but i still chose this beg, i think it worth it.

350 baht

another colourful pouch that i bought. the pattern is different from the earlier. because they come from different tribes. each tribe with their own patterns, colours and personality.

80 baht

A traditional dress for my niece

120 baht

basically, there are two night bazaar in ChiangMai city. one is near to my hotel which opens daily and more cater to tourist. another one is open during weekends, and it more suit to local people. price? according to the hotel attendant, he said the price in the local bazaar is cheaper, but i think it is similar. well. i think it depens of how good can we bargain.

but, i would say Thailand is a shopping heaven!!!

i stay in Shangri-La Chiang Mai !!!

2010-03-08T04:34:00.000-08:00

Wow~ Shangri-La is really ' shangri-la' . It looks huge and i feel really 'peaceful' standing outside. Elephants could be seen everywhere, including here. 4 huge and gorgeous elephants!!!

Smiley elephant standing in front of the hotel welcoming all the guests 24/7 and all year round. so cute!!!

The receptiont corner
the theme colour of the hotel is gold and metal. The sophisicated designs are really impressive.

golden peacock!!! wondering how much doest it cost?!

A very quiet swimming pool. very relaxing landscaping. Elephants are guarding the swimming pool.

3 cute white elephants are playing water with their short little trunks

The back view of Shangri-La hotel. sitting there was reallly relaxing

This external view of my room. Every corner of this hotel is tastefully designed.

Can you see it? I can see my bed from the washroom.... through the glass. one can watch tv while resting in the bath tub. Privacy... no problem, just close the sliding door.

All are mine..

A spacious room. everything is fine... except this room has lots of mirrors. washroom full with mirrors. entrance with mirrors. behind the bed with mirrors. kind of scary for me.

The room rate is about 3300 baht per night, including breakfast.

Old Chiang Mai City

2010-03-05T06:54:00.000-08:00

According to the tour guide, Chiang Mai has a very long history. OLD Chiang Mai is even older than it. When we first saw these buildings, we were astonished by their architecture.

This shining golden temple reminds me of the Bangkok's Grand Palace. Smaller in size, but it is certainly attractive in its own way.

This Buddhist 's style temple looks old but for me, it looks very peaceful. Thanks to all the little Buddhas of the temple. This is my first time to see something like this.

Amitabha. wish that everything would be fine and .... GOOD. Happy Year 2010

There are 4 'guard animal' at the 4 corners of the temple. Friendly is not their principal. They just really serve their purpose. GUARDing the temple.

Hello. If you want to pass through here, ask me first.

Shiny Golden 'Palace'?

This certainly looks 'Gorgeous' for me... Cant really look into its eyes....

Our trip costs about 1700 Baht per person. It included:

airport pick-up, then go to Doi Inthanon with a very comfortable van
Ticket to enter Doi Inthanon national park
lunch
mineral water
english speaking tour guide ( a good and funny lady)

We reach our hotel at about 6.30 pm. Day was still early. We had other plans.

What is so special about Doi Inthanon?

2010-03-03T06:06:00.000-08:00

Reason 5 :

I am on top of the mountain- the highest spot in Thailand.

I dont have a thermometer, but i know the lowest temperature of that day was 6 degree Celsius. I can tell that by sensing it with my skin....
Haha. There is a temperature record board there. The maximum and minimum temperature of the day are recorded.

Doi Inthanon was cool and freezing ( for me). Well. That time was cooling season and we were on the highest spot in Thailand. COLD. COLD. COLD. Remember to bring jacket or shawl.

At the end of trip, we went to another special place. A really great place. The old ChiangMai city.

What is so special about Doi Inthanon, ChiangMai?

2010-02-26T00:35:00.000-08:00

Reason 4:

The most important reason that i like Doi Inthanon:

Can you see it?
The Chedi on the hilltop. Sitting in our van, we couldnt wait to see the temples. It looks gorgeous from far away.

Doi Inthanon is the highest mountain in Thailand. I think it is a brilliant idea to build a memorial chedi on top of the mountain, which make it stands high and nothing is higher than it, other than the sky.

These temples were built in honor of the King and Queen in 1987 and 1992 respectively for the celebration of their 60th birthday.

The King's Chedi on the highest mountain in Thailand

Opposite the King's Chedi is the Queen's Chedi. Looking at each others. For me, it sounds Romantic. It just remind me of Taj Mahal- the symbol of love of the king to his wife.

What is inside the Chedi?
Both of the chedi also has buddha statues inside them and nice picture on the wall. We have to remove our shoes when we get into the chedi ( as show our respect), i did not wear socks, so my bare foot directly touching on the marble floor. It is ........terrific!! Haha.... very very cold. syiok!!!

The authority is very considerate. They reserved a corner as the smoking area. It is good both for the smokers and non-smokers. Smokers - they have a place that they can 'enjoy' smoking openly while for non-smokers, this is even better, because they can enjoy the view or sitting down in the garden without 'sharing' smoking with the smokers.

What is so special about Doi Inthanon-ChiangMai?

2010-02-22T20:10:00.000-08:00

Reason 3:

a wonderful project- Royal Project Station

Beside the main road of Doi Inthanon, near to the hawker and market place, we can see some farms which are covered by transparent plastic ( in order to protect the crop).

It is the Royal Project which was initiated in 1979 by His Majesty the King in his great effort to help the hilltribes to cultivate crops other than OPIUM and also introduce them to modern agriculture techniques.

It is really a good project because the hilltribe has been planting opium for ages, the relevant authority did not just prohibit them from planting opium, but instead they give the hilltribe another greater skills and support to plant other crops such as strawberry, cabbage.... It is a really great job!!!

Bravo!!!

This is a rather unusual market.

MARKET, should be a place that is noisy and dirty ( This is what i can think of) or a place that is quiet but with rather not fresh goods. But, this is a quiet market where the vegetables and fruits look fresh and attractive. The stall attendants are good and not pushy. just felt very relax when walking in the market. By the way, the market is very clean. Hope that it will maintain to be in this way.

I love strawberry. A big beg of strawberry costs about 200 baht. yum.yum...

For our trip, lunch was included.
Lets have a look at our lunch.

Coconut White Curry Soup

First time i tried that, thumb up.

Sweet & sour pork

The taste was good. But, it was different from what i usually eat in Malaysia. Usually, in Malaysia, this dish is deep fried , then sweet & sour source is pour ontop of it.

There was another vegetable. A simple lunch with 1 meat, 1 vegetable and 1 soup. I would say simple but nice lunch.

After having lunch in the hawker centre, i went to washroom. I would have to say luckily i went to the washroom. Lucky not because the washroom is great or i fortunate to pick up any gold or money in the washroom.

BUT, the view behind the washroom was just great!!! wow...

What is so special about Doi Inthanon-ChiengMai?

2010-02-20T18:46:00.000-08:00

Reason 2 :

In this tribe, white dress is for single lady, those who are marry, will wear another colour of dress. Well. It is a good way for guys to know whether that particular lady that he likes is still single & available or not.

Chance to see and get to know the local natives

Before i went to Chiang Mai, i had a misconception that it is just a cooling place with nice flower. After i came there, Chiang Mai really fascinated me. It not only has a well-conserved national park, great shopping heaven, delicious and reasonable price food and it has a very colourful culture with many tribes, such as Lisu, Lahu, Hmong and others. Each tribe also with with own culture and attire . By looking at their attire and product (purse, handicraft), one can tell that they are from which tribe.

I had a total different experience when i was there, compared to bangkok. umm... for me, Bangkok is coloured with Thai, and Chiang Mai is beatifully coloured with a variety of tribes. Each of the city is with their own sense of attraction.

This is a peaceful village inside the national park. By standing in the village, i really feel very relax. Everything seem like go slowly, no traffic jam....

Their houses are very simple. According to the tour guide, some of the houses dont have lights in the living room/bedroom, cos it is meant for resting.

Two married women ( can tell by looking at their attire) are busy making cloth by hands. All the product in that room are handmade, take weeks to months to be completed. Good quality. The good thing about this village is they are not pushy and didnt begged for selling their product.

Shawl, table cloth... and other handicraft that made by them. 100% handmade.

Coffee station- selling their special local coffee.

Can you guess what did i see under their house???
A pig!!! yes. Black PIG.
That pig was tied up there. quite smelly. Meant for food?? companion???

Back to the question of my tour guide.
Which city has the longest name in Thailand?
The winner is: BANGKOK

Its full name in Thai is:

Krungthepmathanakhon Amornrattanekosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharat
Ratchathaniburirom Udomratchaniwetmahasathan Amonphiman Awathansathit
Sakkathattiyawitsanukamprasit

which translates to English as:

The City of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city ( of Ayutthaya) of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated God, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn.

Haha.... i was speechlessly impressed by their creativity. Thailand, you are the BEST!!

What is so special about Doi Inthanon, ChiengMai?

2010-02-17T01:42:00.000-08:00

Chiangmai- a city that i dream to go long long time ago and at last i had a chance to leave my footprints and money( shopping) in that marvelous city.

When i think of 'Chiangmai', i would automatically relate it to a cooling+chilling place ALL YEAR ROUND, somewhere like our Genting Highlands or Cameron Highlands. After i went there, only then i realize that was not 100% correct.

According to our tour guide, actually Chiangmai has 3 seasons, which are cool ( November - early February), hot season ( March-May) and rainy season (June to October). The best visiting season is cool season especially November where there are flower festivals and the climate is good and comfortable. During the hot season, the temperature may goes up to 36 oC!!! wow!!! Sauna!!!

One of my friend happened to be the 'victim' because he went to ChiengMai with his family( parents and 2 children who are less than 5 years old), and all of them also cant stand the hot weather. It was not an enjoyable trip for them. It is important for us to check the season or climate before we go for a trip.

Climate definitely play a vital role whether it is a unforgettable sweet memory or disastrous memory.

During my first day in ChiengMai, we joined a guided tour of Doi Inthanon. It is one of the national parks. This national park is very big where it has 2 waterfalls, villages, markets, restaurants,guest house .... Entrance ticket is required in order to go into the national park.

i like Doi Inthanon for a few reasons:

Reason 1 :

The whitish and silky waterfall ( Vachiratharn Waterfall)
The height is 90metres( according to my tour guide)
Very relaxing when looking at the waterfall. A can see but cant swim waterfall because a lot of rocks.

After climbing up and down the staircases to look at the waterfall from different angles, perhaps one is hungry. NO worry. there are restaurant just beside the waterfall. yum.yum.

another waterfall in Doi Inthanon (Sirithan Waterfall)
the height is only 40 metres
a different kind of waterfall from the first one. sorry because busy looking around and totally forgot to take the picture of the waterfall. quite a distance of road has to be walked before reaching the view point of the waterfall. well. a good pair of shoes is very important.

During the trip, the tour guide asked us a question.
Which city of Thailand has the longest name in Thai?

Thailand - The land of Smiles (Chiang Mai)

2010-02-15T21:01:00.000-08:00

Just came back from the marvelous ChiangMai, Thailand. Truly a great place where we should be there at least once a life time.

will talk about the trip very very soon...

Happy Chinese New Year!!! Gong Xi Fa Cai!!!

more pics of canberra, OZ

2009-10-30T07:34:00.000-07:00

serious. Floridae is a nice place. standing there, everyone would be amazed by the flowers. i personally think that these photos are very very nice, and i really want to share it out.

haha. without a high tech camera, but with these wonderful model ( flowers), shooting great photo is not a dream.

amazing canberra...

2009-10-24T08:04:00.000-07:00

the floriade was really amazing. besides flowers, there are lots of other attraction. imagine sitting in the Marry-go-round and seeing all the flowers under your legs. not to forget the cooling air blowing softly onto your face... such a day!!!
Lake Burley Griffin of canberra. so relaxing and everything was seem so nice if you look at this pic, but the fact is....... it was so cool, not only cool, but actually freezing!!! almost zero degree. but, it is really worthy to be able to stand and witness the view. dont think we would have a chance to see that in malaysia. by the way, Lake Burley Griffin actually is an artificial lake.

birds.... it was so cold, and all the birds were resting at home. so, a few bird statues are hired to do 'part time' just to make sure the lake is not lonely.

wow~ surrounded by flowers in Canberra, Australia

2009-10-18T06:20:00.000-07:00

Australia~ when i think of 'Australia', i will automatically imagine of Opera House & Harbour Bridge of Sydney, the beaches of Gold Coast, the Melbourne... but the capital of Australia- the Canberra had never been in my mind. but, from today onwards, i will always remember it as the beautiful city of flowers. whenever i see flowers, i will think of Canberra.

every year, a lot of people are waiting for the right time to go to Canberra, to see, to smell, to experience the beauty of Canberra. This year, Floriade is on from 12 Sept to 11 Oct 2009, at the Commonwealth Park of Canberra.

Floriade is the biggest flower festival in Australia. can you imagine yourself being surrounded by flowers? everything is so serene, peaceful...

the flowers ( tulips) are so gorgeous. we should go there and see it by our own eyes.

along the highway... scary... exciting.. memories

2009-10-06T05:16:00.000-07:00

After we have the service of PLUS highway, i dont have have the chance to use village road. still can remember that long long time ago, we used to stuck in jam in a single-lane village road on our way to Kuala Lumpur. but with the highway, i can go northern and sourthen easily, fast and safe( safer if compared to winding road). Although the tol price goes up and up again, but still have to thanks for giving us a highway, but really hope that the price will be stagnant but the service will be improving.

i never been to Segamat, a town in Johor before. To my surprise, there is no highway directly link to Segamat from Kuala Lumpur. well. cant deny that i'm a 'katak di bawah tempurung' ( frog in the well means someone who is in a confinement and doesnt know what is going out there).

now, let me show you how to go to Segamat from UPM, Serdang. Basically, we just went straight the highway and follow the signboard directing to Melaka. all along the road, we can see palm oil platation and not to forget the big signboard that stood in front of the platation.

here it is. Sime Darby Platation!!! wow..... Sime Darby is so rich. the highway is surrounded by their plantation from Serdang till............. not sure where, but i know it is a very long distance. besides plantation, USJ , Putra Heights are developed by Sime Darby too.

ok. back to the journey. We exit the tol at Simpang Empat ( if you want to go to A Famosa, you can exit through here too.), then follow the signboard to Muar. then, go straight and go and go....... go through all the village places. 'S' shaped roads. long time did not use this kind of road already, remind me of my childhood. haha.

After many many 's' shaped road, we finally reach Segamat after 1 hours drive in the winding road. We spent some time in Segamat, then we went back to kl the next day.

We decided to try another road to go back to KL. From Segamat, we went through Jementah and Tangkat , then entered PLUS tol. but, the journey was very veyr 'exciting'!!! why? the road was even more winding than from Simpang empat way.

luckily, i was not the driver. if not, throughout the journey, my adrenaline would flush to maximum and extremely tense up. please excuse me for being so 'katak di bawah tempurung', i really never see so many road signs in a road in my life.serious. so many roadsigns.

mother ( big) signboard with its children signboard.
these signboards serve their purpose very well and alert all the road users to be extra careful

not kidding. the road is really like a snake....
dont speed. slow and steady. berhati-hati di jalan raya. besides that, there are a lot of big sign boards stood beside the roadside saying 'kawasan kemalangan'....

hehe. not all the palm oil plantations are owned by Sime Darby. i can see IOI property too.

baby palm oil....

5 years later... oil palm... money.. money....
long long ago, we can see rubber tree along the road, and now we can see palm oil along the road. from here, we can see that, the trend will change, and we must always keep upgrading ourselves to keep our competatives!!!

angel or devil?

2009-09-02T07:08:00.000-07:00

who is she?

Name : Muffin a.k.a. naughty girl ( kuai kuai) / shui poh
D.O.B : year 2008 ( some day around Chinese New Year)
Birth place : somewhere in a garden of a house
BW : 1.8kg
Hobbies : eat ( she can eat anything. just put anything into the mouth), but at the same time, she can just choosy on her main course. rather starving, then eat other brand of dog biscuits. of coz, she is just like all others child in the world. never say 'no' to junk food.

another hobbies is barking. when you open the door, she barks. when you eat, she barks. when you walk around her, she barks. Muffin, shut up!!!

she loves exercise alot. run, and run whenever she got a chance. she can run faster than me.serious. although she is skinny, and with short legs, but she can run real fast, like a horse, should be like a wild horse.

she is quite smart, but stubborn. she knows simple commands and when we put up our hand, she will slowly sit down, and wait........ and wait......... for the reward. she is really adorable, other than the most important thing, which is hygiene. 'bomb' my house and 'flood' my floor whenever she likes. when will she learn to take care of her hygiene??!!!!!

little muffin.......... with innocent face.

jakarta... what am i doing in jakarta!

2009-07-11T07:19:00.000-07:00

jakarta.. jakarta.. jakarta..

i never thought of going to Jakarta. to be frank, i never think of traveling to Jakarta and it should be at the bottom of my travel list. anything special there?!!i know that Bali is a great place with breathtaking views; lake toba with its famous lake and what about jakarta? i wonder.

anyway, i was so fortunate to have a chance to go for a company training in jakarta. first thing that i noticed in jakarta is........... the traffic jam. it was about 11pm when we reaced the city, but the traffic was so bad!! almost forget to mention that, actually we used the highway ( Rp 5500) but we still stuck in traffic jam. but, i was really amazed by the tough and hardy indonesian. when i looked at them, i just thought wow, they do have business minds and they can do anything. without the determinations and strong body, who can stand the heat, air pollution?

busy preparing food beside a busy road. the weather is killing us, wondering how they can stand there whole day? by the way, is it hyegenic? and any customers buying from them?

selling wooden statue in a busy road. walking in between the busy road. umm.... it is not easy to earn a living here.

this is jakarta!!! only part of it. this is the ordinary jakarta. it does have the luxury side which is comparative to our KLCC.

traffic jam again.....

why thai food is so delicious??!

2009-05-25T05:28:00.000-07:00

thai food is really very special and delicious. it seems like wherever we go, there would be tasty food waiting for us.

there are lots of food stalls along the roadside, which selling all kinds of food such as cakes, fish, rice, soya bean...... the price is reasonable too. dont ever miss the local food!!!

my breakfast- the thai style omelette with mushroom served with a very nice strawberry plate and sky juice. 250 baht.

our breakfast... yum yum.. the pork rice with vegetables is very yummy. 250 baht too.

this is the stall. simple but serves great food. although it is just located next to a busy road, but sitting there, we dont really annoyed by the polluted air. anyway, dont really notice that too.

buffet lunch in a conference room. food is once again great and well-presented too. cant wait to eat again!!!

food + shopping = thailand

half day shopping in JJ market, bangkok...... all bout pets

2009-05-15T01:02:00.000-07:00

in Thailand, their pets and related products are sold much cheaper than in Malaysia. the price of a purebreed dog costs half compared Malaysia.but, please don't smuggle dogs into Malaysia to prevent unwanted infectious diseases. a very interesting but questionable(?) practice in the market that we can observed is all the pet stalls are located nearby and all the pets are in close contact with each others, dont they worry of spreading of infectious diseases????

all kind of food............................... yum yum.....

food again........ collar and leash.......... all with very reasonable price

can you see the small tiny creatures on her hands??they are squirrels, i think. they were tied up and didnt have the chance to jump or run.

royal asia lodge , bangkok

2009-05-07T19:21:00.000-07:00

during my 4-day-3-nights stay in bangkok, i stay in the Royal Asia Lodge where it is situated off Sukhumvit Road on Soi 8. Sukhumvit Road is a very busy road with its own attraction. the most important thing is transportant is very convenient. our lodge is about 10 minutes walking distance from the Nana station.

free shuttle tuk tuk service is provided 24 hours by the lodge to and go from the lodge. actually, many hotels also provide tuk tuk service. by the way, the tuk tuk driver is very nice. if go to thailand, must try tuk tuk at least once. the feeling is different from taking taxi or car.

the room is 1000 baht per night. although it looks that it has gone through a lot ( or in short, look old), but it is with basic facilities, clean ( most important) and the service is good.

shopping in chatucak market, bangkok

2009-05-03T00:35:00.000-07:00

sa wa dee ka....... >_<>

as i always say, the world is very small. i never thought that i would meet one of my friend in the air plane and he was going to bangkok for business trip. thanks to him, i had free ride to my hotel. that day was totaly a dramatic day as the hotel was booked by my boss and i was told that all the payment was done. guess what ? the receptionist said no payment was done and credit card details was taken just to comfirm the room reservation. so, i sent a message to my superior and no response from them. being a extremly thrifty person, i only messaged them and dint make a call, because calling back to malaysia will cost me RM 3/ min.

wait and wait..... and still waiting for their reply. of course, i will not just sit there and wait.i put my luggage in my friend's hotel room and we out for our very important mission.

heading to chatuchak weekend market!!!

it was a very hot day and with the bad ventilation there, we had heat stress and cant enjoy our shopping to 100%, if not, i think we can shop till we drop. but, at first , we planned to shop till 6 pm, but at about 4 pm, we already felt very tired+ hot+sticky body. so, we went back and rest in the hotel. my friends bought a lot of shirts and it only 80 bath per piece!! very nice shirts and maybe it would cost at least RM15 in malaysia.

thai just loves spice.we can always see a combination of spice /flavoring on the food table

fried rice in JJ market. 25 baht

fried noodle in JJ market. 30 baht

shopping! shopping! we can can anything here. shirts, key chains, lanterns, animal products, food, drinks....... price are reasonable too provided that you bargain.

more about chatuchak weekend market
it is not open everyday.

wed & thur ( plants & flowers only) 6am -6pm
fri ( wholesale day ) 6am-6pm
sat & sun ( miscellaneous ) 6am -6pm

how to get there? ( remember to take a map at the airport)
sky train BTS at the mochit station ( for me, as we stay at nana station, it costed us 40 baht)
besides that, we can go there by bus too.

bangkok, here i come....

2009-04-25T09:09:00.000-07:00

Victory monument

i thought that i am not going to be able to go to bangkok to attend a scientific congress due to the political unstable situation of bangkok for the pass few weeks. really worry when i saw all the news from bangkok. BANG + BOOM + FIGHT.... luckily, finally the situation is back to normal at the moment..... yeah.. and i can start packing my luggage and go overseas to attend my first international congress.

this is a very meaningful trip for me because:

first time to attend international congress
can learn some new info from the congress and at the same time can go shopping!!! yes!!! JJ market
can take a few days off from work and breath in the thai air
i'll go there by my own/ alone without frens with me.... ( wow.nervous.will i ended up in somewhere else? Paris? haha) challenging...
the trip is partially sponsored by my boss... thanks boss >_<

our dear friends...

2009-04-17T09:06:00.000-07:00

my brother just downloaded a marvelous photo-editing program which really make my life much more easier. before this, if i wanted to edit any photo, i have to use photo shop or other programs which was really time consuming especially for me who is computer illiterate. but, now, with the right tool, everything is so easy.

hehe. these are some of my 'master piece'....

leopard cat- she is so cute with the innocent eyes, but the truth is........ she is with her wild instinct

a pair of rhino who were kept in the centre for breeding purpose but, i think they still dont have any offspring till now

sepilok orang utan reservation centre is really a good place to have a closer look on our wildlife friends. do visit them if you drop by sandakan.

sabah : my name is SUN BEAR!!!

2009-04-10T08:45:00.000-07:00

i am using darlie toothpaste... hehe.. white and shining...

maybe we would wonder what are sun bears doing in the sepilok orang utan rehabilitation centre. well, although orang utans are the main spotlight in the centre, the centre also houses other wildlifes such as sun bears, rhino....

sun bear is the smallest member in the bear families. the most special features of sun bear is the yellow crescent mark on its chest and it looks like a rising sun. thats's where the sun bear get its name.

sitting in the cage. waiting for food... waiting for shower.... wait and wait...

i may look cute and friendly, but dont simply touch me because i am may 'hurt' you

no admittance!!!

2009-04-06T21:07:00.000-07:00

the entrance of Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre

some of my friends asked me that is all the tourists are allowed to hug the orangutan? well. the answer is nope. we were allowed to be in the wildlife clinic because we were volunteers. basically, tourists are not permitted in this area.

interested to know about the rehabilitation process? below are the information that i got from the brochure produced by wildlife department in year 1994 ( quite old already, maybe there are some changes?). first, all animals are given a health examination then followed by a quarantine period of 3-6 months. a series of medication exams will be done too.

after that, young orangutan (1-3 years old) will be in the nursery school to learn all the wildlife skills because captive orangutans that are deprived of their mothers are unable to find food, build nests or climb properly. but, for those that are out from quarantine and ready for more challenging life, they will be sent to platform A ( outward bound school) where the food and emotional supports of the rehabilitation station is gradually reduced. they are given more freedom and learn to survive in the jungle.

if the orangutan has gradually adapted itself to the wildlife and shows signs of independence, it is gradually moved deeper into the forest and further away from the center and at the platform B. then, they eventually become a member of the sepilok's wild orangutan population.

then, mission accomplished. what a long process?!! that why actually wildlife department is doing a great job for our closest friend, the big apes.

enjoying themselves while waiting to be brought out to jalan jalan

cute cute baby orang utan in Sabah

2009-03-31T00:51:00.000-07:00

exercise time. 1,2,3....

i think i am very fortunate because i have the chance to travel and have a lots of unforgettable and 'intimate' experience with animals.

in year 2005( that time , i was a fourth year vet student), my coursemates and i were accepted to do our practical in Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre, Sandakan. The Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre was established in year 1964 to return orphaned apes back to the wild.The centre has a reception centre, information centre, offices for wildlife staff, an animal clinic, quarantine area and enclosures for various animals such as the rhinoceros and sun bears.

basically, what we did during our practical were be a good baby sitter for cute baby orang utans. haha. bottle-feeding them with milk, changing napkins, preparing food for older orang utans.when we were free, we would bring babies out for climbing practice. putting them on rope and let them climbing in order to make their arms stronger and prepare to let them back to nature.

feels very warm with him in my arm

yummy yummy time

comfortably sitting in a hammock prepared by the lovely staff

haha... bringing them out to jalan jalan makan angin

look at them. they are so innocent. but, they lost their homes and mothers and got to stay in orphan home. we can do something for them. if you go to Sabah, do pay a visit to Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre. for more details, please visit http://www.orangutan-appeal.org.uk/

hard rock hotel

2009-03-02T17:33:00.000-08:00

after an enjoyable day, we met up with our friends who stayed in Hard Rock Cafe Hotel at the Kuta beach. it is really a great place. comfortable and convenient. there are restaurant, shops around that area. the beach is just in front of the hotel.

this was our last day in Bali and we not yet had a chance to try out the famous Balinese massage. haha. this is really a new experience for me. whole body massage and facial wash. it costed me about Rp 300,000. the massage centre is located far from kuta and transport was provided by the centre. honestly, the decoration of the centre is not really very very special and the massaging was .... so so only. but till now i still remember the facial wash. not because it is very good but because it is very very 'special'. special until i wanna scream for help. the massage lady scrub and scrub my face till i felt like my face is going to peel off. i wonder is it the way they do facial? another friend of mine also had the same experience as me.

wanna see more of the famous Hard Rock Hotel??

there is a temple inside Hard Rock Hotel

the swimming pool

Bali is really a very nice place. if have chance, i will go there again and now i am back to malaysia and have my ordinary life.

where will i go for my next trip??

amazing Tanah Lot temple of Bali..

2009-02-26T04:56:00.000-08:00

Bali is really a amazing and photogenic place. most of our photo taken in Bali are quite good. (hehe. i personally think that. ) we are not using any professional camera but with normal ordinary digital camera, but surprising most of the photo turned out to be.......... as in postcard... well. this is the magic of Bali. umm... it is a nice place to take wedding photo. any one getting marry soon, do consider Bali a great nice for wedding photo shoting or for honeymoon.

mUst see them in BALi !!!

2009-02-18T22:00:00.000-08:00

today was our second last day in Bali and it was definitely a wonderful day.

we joined a guided tour and we really enjoyed the trip. because :

-the places that we visited are very very beautiful
-the experienced tour guide really gave us a detailed guided tour that made us really know Bali a further more
-last but not least, that was our second last day in Bali, of course we wanted to enjoyed it to the top

our first stop : Taman Ayun Temple
it is the royal family temple of King Mengwi that was built in Year 1634. it is one of the largest temple in Bali.

entrance ticket : Rp 3,ooo

this is the door to get into the main temple. only the royal family have the privilege to go inside for praying.

this is how the main temple look like.

2nd stop : Bedugul
we went up and up over 1000 meters above sea level to Bedugul. another cooling places and with strong sunlight where most of the people here also with tan skin and brush cheeks. due to sun burn , i guess.

here, we encountered a breathtaking temple which is the nevertheless floating Ulun Danu Temple. why floating? it is because the temple is built on the Lake Bratan. very very relaxing...

the temple is in sea. how to go there? by boat?swim?? it is definitely a task to go for the praying. is it to show the sincerity?

the floating temple....

3rd stop : Tanah Lot temple
wow~

this is my first impression when i see her!!! it is definitely gorgeous. this is the MUST go spot in Bali. sitting there, i wondering how Balinese managed to build this temple? it is a wonderful job.

at about 6pm, the moment that all of us waiting for finally arrived. THE SUNSET. after the sunset, the tides started flooding onto the rocks that we were standing on and gradually the temple becomes an island. it is really hard to explain it by words.

before the tides, tourist can walk on the rock towards the temple. but after the tides, we have to swim.haha~

tour fees : Rp 230,000 each ppl
experience : priceless

are we going to sleep on the street in Bali?

2009-02-12T05:53:00.000-08:00

got to sleep with this doberman by the roadside???

we reached Kuta at about 8pm. guess what. we didnt have any room reservation and we thought that we can just drop into any guest house and get ourselves a room to stay for overnight.

BUT......... we were totally wrong!!! July and August are the super peak season and all the hotels were full!!!! all full!!! we walked and walked around that area to look for a shelter. hehe. we were not alone, and there were a few groups of tourist that didnt have a room too.

1 august 2008 was a disaster for both of us. we were tired, exhousted and i was sick with very very painful sore throat, headache and we didnt have a room for that night!!! when i think of that, i really wanna cry~~

anyway, we managed to get ourselves a room finally at about 9pm. it was located in a very secluded area. i got to say this. the room was in a very very bad condition. not so clean bed sheet. slightly dirty bathroom that has no shower tap ( until i dont want to take my bath).

anyway, i were really grateful that we had a room and the room was only Rp 100,000 per night with breakfast.

we learnt a lesson. planning is important. it is good to do room reservation ahead. some even give better price if book earlier.

bali...bali..

2009-02-10T16:45:00.000-08:00

31th july 2008 is our third day in Bali, we did a lot of travelling,spending most of the day on the road. from Ubud-Bekasih temple-Justice Hall- Sukawati-Kuta.

Sukawati is known as the Bali Art Market and there have all kind of handicrafts and textiles. of course, we did not come back empty handed.

haha...

i love this slipper very much. they come with a variety of colours and designs.
Rp 10,000 ( RM 3.5) per pair

aromatic set as sourvenirs.
Rp 35,000 for 4 set

a very cool pant. i think.
Rp 20,ooo

our car rental ( included driver ) of the day = Rp 320,000 ( RM 115.20 / USD 32) and last about 8 hours.

in Bali, there are many travel booths and travel packages or charter cars. tourist can pick up loads of brochures and do some comparison of the service and the price.

we chose to charter a car, so that our trip is more flexible and we can go wherever we wanna go, and can stop there for as long as we like. by the way, when u take a taxi, or some something, please dont forget to bargain.

below are some references :
6 hours USD 30
8 hours USD 35
10hours USD 40
12 hours USD 45

usually, these are four wheels drive that can accommodate 5 pax and includes petrol, some include a tour guide.

ps :during our 5 days trip there, we tried out taking package or charter our own car. our conclusion is......... try to get a good tour guide and he/she will definitely make your Bali trip a wonderful one because they will tell you information of the place, their culture, religion.... or else, they would just sit there and say nothing and we all blur blur and walk around and take picture and thats it.

Igede Kesena.... a very nice, friendly and hardworking tour guide that we met in Bali. if anyone out there that is looking for a tour guide and just contact him. his hp is 081 239 63519, or send him a e mail : de_kasena@yahoo.com

What is so special about Hall of Justice?painting???

2009-02-02T05:39:00.000-08:00

There is a hut with painted ceiling. It is not ordinary painting, but it is painting that is derived from Balinese teaching. Every painting also have their story and moral behind them. At first, two of us just looked at the painting and took some pics and don’t really appreciate them. But, after listening to the explanations of a tour guide ( not our tour guide. Our tour guide was sitting in his car), it really opened up our eyes. He is really good and telling stories of each of the painting. Thanks!!!

closer view of the picture. there are really fascinating, but too bad they are just exposed to the hot weather, busy traffic as the hut is just stood beside a road. just the top and no covering of the hut as shown in the second pic. plz conserve these treasure

Mothers out there, we better start breast-feeding our baby. If not………….

Entrance ticket: Rp 10,000

jom... lets climb up to the mother temple of BALI

2009-01-31T08:35:00.000-08:00

after our lunch, we headed to the biggest temple in Bali which is also known as the mother temple of Bali - the Besakih temple. the journey to the temple actually is quite long as the temple is located quite from other places. but, of course it has its own attractions- the unique architecture, the breathtaking view from the temple as this temple is situated high up the mountain which is over 900meters up to the slopes of Mt Agung as the highest volcano in Bali. Thats why there is a long way of walking uphill and many many staircases for us to walk before reaching the top of the temple. man...... it is tiring..

Bali really looks nice in the photo. standing at the top of the temple is really relaxing. as we can see that there were many villagers spending their time in the temple, chit-chatting, picnic... (umm... that was a thursday afternoon, dont they have to work??? )

if not due to that bad experience, i think we should can enjoy ourselves better. we were forced to give extra charges for the tour guide!!! actually, we have to pay for entrance fees for most of the temples Bali. for Besakih temple, the ticket is Rp 10,000. we should pay for that, no problem. we also have to pay for the entrance ticket for our driver which is Rp 5,000 . Fine, its ok.

BUT, at the entrance, there were many so-called 'tour guides' kept on sticking with us and told us that we were not allowed to enter the temple without them!!! but, i thought we already pay for the entrance fees??? they followed us all the journey up to top of the temple and we hold on with our principle and did not pay them.( anyway, that time, we were almost broke and no extra money to give them :[ ). well, many tourists were also annoyed by them. but, there were also tourists that pay for their services. but, is it necessary?? our driver asked us to pay them, but not too much. some people said that we shouldnt pay them as this will lead to laziness and there is no rules saying that we must pay them.

after a quick snap of photo, we continued with our journey and went see the famous painted ceiling at the Justice Hall in Klungkung.