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Just when I thought that I could fly…
February 13th, 2010 | Author: gabriel

I can’t believe that I could have made such a HUGE stupid and dumb mistake… I actually missed my flight back to Ipoh for CNY!! I was waiting so desperately in SG to get back home for CNY…

Well, the story’s like this… A friend of mine offered to help us purchase flight tickets back to SG via firefly airlines back in November 2009. Well, of course we agreed and she was kind enough to help us make all the arrangements. All we need to do is to agree upon a date and pay the money.

Yee Weng and I wanted to fly back on Friday morning (12 Feb) but then we were told that we couldn’t get the Friday morning as there weren’t enough seats. So, we’re okay to go back on 13 Feb. There was a nice spreadsheet with all our details indicating that Yee Weng and I will be going back on the 13th. Was even told to make payment for Saturday morning flight tix.

Well, here’s the problem… The itinerary that was sent back to us.. indicated that our flight was 12 Feb morning.. To our careless-ness, we actually didn’t notice that until 12th Feb Night!! Imagine the shrewd panic that we felt… It was about 10pm already when we found out. In fact, I actually read the itinerary a few times but still could miss the date. Our mindset believed so greatly that we’re going back on Saturday, that we didn’t really ’see’ it in the itinerary. I only realized it when I was manually copying down the details on my phone in case the airport check-in counter needs it….

So of course, no point crying over spilled milk and straight away attempt to look for a solution to it.. YW and I made a phone calls to bus companies, checked flight schedules to get back home but it was fully booked. Well, kinda expected as it’s CNY after all… And finally, we decided to do the following:

  1. Quickly take a cab to Woodlands Customs
  2. Cross over to JB
  3. Take a cab from JB to KL
  4. Follow Yee Weng’s parents back from KL to Ipoh

Luckily Yee Weng’s parents were still in KL at that time and were about to leave to Ipoh. They were supposed to leave that night but agreed to wait for us to reach KL. YW and I didn’t know what to expect when we were in JB as we’ve never tried taking a cab back, crossing the state and all. And it’s JB in the middle of the night! By the time we reached JB, it was past 12am.

To God’s Grace, we managed to find a cab driver’s friend to drive us back from JB-KL for RM500 (after bargaining from RM600). We sat on a private car as it’s actually illegal for taxis to drive across states without a permit. We left JB at 1230am, and managed to reach KL at 430am, at Yee Weng’s house. Then from there on, his parents and us set off our journey back to Ipoh immediately after that. And guess what, we reached Ipoh at 730am!

And here I am, blogging from my bed… This is indeed a costly lesson to learn.. Anyway, here’s the kicker:
I have another friend whose flight is scheduled on 13 Feb morning, and she overslept and missed her flight… Not sure how’s she coming back…. Think still on standby in the airport for a flight back to KL..

Ah.. they say that Ox year is a bad year for Oxes… And Ox year is about to end… Can’t wait to start the new Tiger Year!

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[Grad Trip] Day 1 – Siam Reap
July 05th, 2009 | Author: gabriel

Spent the night at Soo Fan’s place to share a cab to LCCT at 6am. Met up with the rest of the people at the airport to begin our journey to Cambodia and Vietnam.
air-asia

The moment we stepped out from the airplane, we had nothing in mind – we don’t know where to go or where tos tart. The only thing we know is that we needed a transport to get to the heart of the town.

We were greeted in a friendly manner by our van driver (aka taxi) after we purchased our USD$10 transport to town for the 6 of us. There, he ‘offered’ to be our day-tour-guide where he’ll drive us around in his van. We didn’t know what to think or expect so we just agreed to listen to what he had to offer. After bringing us to a few guest houses and hotels, after which we stayed at a place called Angkor Voyage Villa for $7 per person, we told him of our planned itinerary. Little did we know the ‘mistake’ we’ve done by hiring a day tour guide. It’s damn expensive and the places he ‘recommends’ to us are not cheap at all. But what’s done is done and we hired him for two days at USD$40 per day.

  • Tonle Sap

    • It’s about 30min ride from Psaar Cha (the place we lived) to the Tonle Sap river. We ‘bargained’ to USD$10 for a 1.5 hours boat ride to see the fresh water lake which happens to provide Cambodia 80% of their source of protein.

    begin-tonle-sap

    It’s an eye opener for us to look at a civilization living in the river. Their houses, schools and shops are atop of boats where their mode of transportation is either swim or by a small motor boat. They do everything on this river, from washing food, plates, clothes, body to playing, pee and shit.

    row-boat wash-dish ibathe

    We rode through a fishing village first before heading out in the open at Tonle Sap lake. When out in the open, it seems like an endless sight of water. No obstacles, no buildings, no islands and very few boats within our line of sight. It’s like a wasteland of murky water.

    tonle-sap-lake

    We visited a few shops and dropped by in a school where tourists can make donations to buy stationaries and books for the children there.

    school-children

    Children in school

    shops

  • Artisan d’Angkor

    • We visited this place where workshops to restore the Angkor temples are at. The workers there are dumb and deaf and they carve very beautiful sculptures.

    statue-kneel

    statue-carvings

    statue-naked

    We had a tour guide bringing us around the different places in the workshop and how the statues are being made. From the stones, to the drawings, the patterns, carvings, painting and then the finishing. Beautiful works they have there.

    pattern-sketch

    stone-carve

    statues-making

  • Sunset at Phnom Bakheng

    • We purchased our one-day Angkor Pass for USD$20 in the evening and right after that, our driver took us to see the sun set at Phnom Bakheng.

    sunset-bakheng

    Phnom Bakheng is a temple sitting on top of a mountain and was built at the end of the 9th century. It was a 20-min climb to the top of the hill. While climbing up, we saw alot of ruins left by the Angkorians.

    ruins

    For me, it’s a sad sight as much of the carvings have faded and the monuments ‘deteriorating’. The carvings are shallower and there are many statues not in its place. Anyhow, the top is quite a grand sight and we waited there for the sunset…

    phnom-bakheng

That’s the end of our first day. We ate at a local cafe where food is USD$1. Our first ‘cheap’ place to eat where the menu doesn’t have english words. Have to rely on our driver to order for us.

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Weekend Getaway to Phuket Island
July 03rd, 2009 | Author: gabriel

It’s a good thing I went to Langkawi a few days before going to Phuket. It kinda ’seasoned’ my body to be more resistant to the sun. The sun was scorching hot when I was at the different islands as part of an island hopping tour.

I reached Phuket on Saturday afternoon, on the sixth day of June. Got delayed at the Immigration for about an hour cause there were a lot of people and the immigration people were very slow. And once I came out from the immigration, there was another delay at the 150 baht minivan to Patong Beach as they wanted to fill up the seats. It took me more than 2 hours to rendezvous with my parents and my sis at Patong Swiss Hotel.

Patong Beach

Patong Beach

I spent the remaining of the day with a delicious Thai cuisine. Food was quite good. My first taste of real ‘authentic’ Thai food in Thailand itself.

Green Curry

Green Curry

Tomyam

Tomyam

Pad Thai

Pad Thai

After dinner, we walked around Jung Ceylong Shopping Mall.. Saw some cultural performances but we just took a quick glance.

cult-perf

Slept relatively early cause well, we can’t find anything to do. haha

The next morning, woke up at 730am for breakfast before our main events.

My parents and I went Island Hopping! Sat on a large and comfortable speed boat heading towards the different islands near Phuket. The first island we went to is Phi Phi Island.

It has beautiful sand; very soft and powder-like sand.. Has a very nice scenic too!
Phi-phi-island

The beach itself is very small and imagine such small beach with so many people there. It was very crowded.
phi-phi-beach

After that, the boat took us to Bilik Lagun (Lagoon Room). It’s just a lagoon where they let us take a dip in the ocean for ‘warming up’ before we start snorkeling. It was a refreshing swim for me and my mum. Then, it’s snorkeling time!

snorkeling

There weren’t many fishes there though and the water’s a bit murky. But many just attempt to look at fishes. There are some.. just not that many.

Our following stop is “monkey island”. It’s just an island filled with monkeys. They can just put it in the programme and it would seem like a ‘big thing’. The only thing people do there is throw bananas to monkey and watch them eat. And of course, the usual making monkey faces to the monkeys..

monkey-island

We then went to Similan Island for lunch. It was an island hit by the tsunami last time. You can see many trees that has lost its bark but the root is still there.
similan

Our last stop is Khai Island. My parents just chilled by the beach. Taking naps in the sea breeze.
relax-on-beach

I roamed around the island.. At the back of the island, there’s this very beautiful rock formations.
rock-formations

rocks-ocean

When we went back, we were pretty tired. Not to mention sun burn for me. My second round of sunburn after the first one from Langkawi. We ate Thai food again for dinner. The quality is pretty standard there. Good food.

For the final day next morning, I went out with my mum and sis to buy souvenirs and scarfs. We even went for Thai massage! They stretched us real good.. My first authentic Thai massage. haha.. Anyway, trip was good. Had a 3 hour transit to Singapore at LCCT when I reached KL. Needed to shift to my new house the following day

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Langkawi Island
June 05th, 2009 | Author: gabriel

I spent two nights in Langkawi as a holiday trip together with my girlfriend. I’ve never actually been there before and I heard a lot of stories about super cheap booze and nice corals. As I don’t really have lots of time to blog about it, let me categorize the things I do instead of doing it chronologically.

Accommodation
We stayed at this place called Zackry Guesthouse. It’s a very friendly and decent place where it’s mainly for backpackers. Lots of Caucasians hanging around there and it’s at Pantai Tengah. The people there are very friendly.

zackry_guesthouse

Activities As we only have like two days there, the things that we can do are quite limited.

  • Island Hopping
    We purchased the island hopping package at Kuala Kedah itself through an agent there. They charged us like RM45/pax for it only to find out I can easily get it for RM35/pax from the guest house itself.
    The island hopping includes a boat ride to three different islands.
    First is Pulau Beras Basah

    beras_basah

    We are given 1 hour to do our own things there.
    People there just hang around on the beach
    hang_around

    Sun Bathe
    suntan

    Ride on the Banana Boat
    banana_boat

    Or if you’re really that bored, you can find a group of people and carry rocks
    carry_rocks

    Then, the next place they bring us is Pulau Singa to see Eagles feed on fishes
    pulau_singa

    eagle

    Lastly, to Pulau Dayang Bunting where the shape of the island resembles a pregnant maiden
    pulau_dayang_bunting

    They took us to the lake within the island. The scenery at the jetty was beautiful.
    dyng_bunting

    Then at the lake itself, people just chill there. You can even swim in the lake. And to my surprise, the water is not sea water. It’s not salty at all. When it enters my eyes, I don’t feel a thing. Oh, and legend says that if a girl who finds difficulty in getting pregnant drinks water from the lake, they can get pregnant easier. Or something like that. haha
    lake

    Then, there’s a small location where you can dip your feet into the ‘mini pond’ and feed the catfish! haha.. It feasts on your deadskin but to me, it feels like they’re having fun tickling our feet with its whiskers.
    catfish_therapy

  • Pulau Payar
    Paid RM140/pax for a return trip to Pulau Payar, lunch, Snorkeling and shark feeding. It was not as great as what people hyped about it. Compared to the islands that I’ve been in Sabah, the water is a bit green and ‘commercialized’. In Sabah, the water is crystal clear and the marine life are actually in the ‘wild’. The fishes in Pulau Payar to me are like reared. But because the fishes are ‘bred’, there are more concentrated.

    pulau_payar

    The density of fishes is very high. Especially when you feed it bread, you can see the fishes swarming towards it. So there are a few times where the workers managed to ‘bully’ yin sin. She was snorkeling near the jetty when the workers threw bread near her. Then, the fishes all swim towards her scaring her away. And as she fled, more bread landed around her and wherever she goes there are always fishes swarming towards her and biting her. haha..

    Then, the corals are quite nice as well. But can only be found deeper in the ocean. There’s also the shark feeding session. The workers lure the baby sharks near the shore with dead fishes and feed it to them.

    shark_feeding
    baby_shark

  • Tanjung Rhu
    This is the place where you can walk from one island to another island in the ocean. Too bad, by the time we went there, it was high tide and wasn’t safe to walk in the sea. But at least, we get to see the sunset there.

    sunset_tjg_rhu

Transportation and Island Exploration
We rented a scooter from the guesthouse at RM30 for 24 hours (A car costs RM70 per day). Started the rental from 2000hrs. We went to Kuah town for dinner and some alcohol + chocolate shopping. The beers are dirt cheap. Can get a 6 pack carlsberg for only RM9.90. A bottle of Chivas is RM68.

alcohol bottles

Renting the scooter is a very good idea. Rental is cheap and petrol is cheap. We rode from one end to another, taking a few wrong turns. One good thing about Langkawi is that you won’t get lost cause no matter where you go, it’s just round the island.

Eateries
We ate fried rice at Kuah town and Ramly burger at a roadside on the way back from Tanjung Rhu. And of course, the usual tuna bread, cup noodles and junk food. =)

The trip is quite enjoyable especially if with the right company. Only bad thing is, i got sun burnt real bad… =(

note: For a great selection of places to stay with discount prices visit Langkawi Hotels for more information

Category: holidays, photography, travel  | Tags: , , ,  | 2 Comments
Alor Setar – The land of Paddy Fields
June 04th, 2009 | Author: gabriel

yes.. there are lots of paddy fields around here. The first thing I did when I reached alor setar, is to see a paddy field nearby yinsin’s house. But I must say, it’s really very nice. Like those korean dramas where they have paddy field as their setting.

paddy1

paddy_field

paddy2

For a city as a whole, I think that Alor Setar is like Ipoh; 10 years ago. Very laid back, very safe.. Not that many cars and still many stalls by the road side. Think they only have one main mall and I think that’s it. =P Of course, it has its few landmarks.

There’s the Telekom Tower

telekom_tower

From up there, you can see the cityscape of Alor Setar.

alor-setar

Then, there’s the Zahir State Mosque

masjid_zahir

A nice fountain

fountain

A clock tower

clock_tower

And an unknown monument

scene

There’s that for sight seeing. On the personal note, yinsin’s parents are real nice. Although a bit shy, they take the effort to strike up conversations. A bit tough for my side also as mandarin isn’t my first language but I think kinda pulled it through. haha. Her younger brother is damn funny. On the net (when I chat online with him), he seems like the kind of person who talks a lot and who always bully the sister. But it turns out otherwise. He didn’t talk much. He just eats a lot. haha. He also became our driver who fetched me and yinsin everywhere to sight see. =)

Overall, I guess the trip to Alor Setar is quite fun. Get to meet her family and it’s my first time in Kedah (and most-north of Malaysia that I’ve been). Get to see so many nice paddy fields. haha.. A nice laid-back city.

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