Photos uploaded

The photos are up in the previous post. If you would like to see more of it, click here .

Uploaded them at Jessie's place last night while staying over.
What blissful life we have.
The last time a holiday felt this good was during the break after SPM.

Bali Baby

Got back from Bali 2 days ago. Fred (my traveling bud cum porter boy) and I were there for 12 days and we ended up traveling almost the whole island and also a tiny island known as Nusa Lembongan next to it.

Overview:

Day 1:

Kuta was a good starting point for our trip. The place launched us into travelers mode instantly. It was a nice place to shop, party, eat, drink Bintang (a local beer brand) until pickled, meet people, watch good looking young men and women and be flattered by the attention of lecherous young local boys and old men.

We were asked for what seemed like a hundred times or more to buy something once we got on the beach. Despite the touristy mess, it was the cheapest place to live and eat while we were there. So, I quite like that place.


Day 3:

We left the crowd behind to Nusa Lembongan island. A 1.5 hour boat ride to the east of Bali. Rented a bike to go around the island. Both Fred and I agree that Nusa Lembongan was the best part of the trip. The place was really mellow, laidback and has this take-it-as-it-comes sort of vibe. A perfect place for a holiday hideaway.


Seaweed that is seen here, being dried on the ground is the main source of income for the villagers are sold for a merely RM0.70 per kg. Considering how lightweight they are, a kg is made up by a large bulk of algae. Through skincare companies, their value will then be increased by hundredfolds.

Day 5:

Ubud. We rented a bike and went to the outskirt of Ubud, passing through villages which offered breathtaking panoramic views of mountains and paddy fields and visited numberous temples along the way.

Day 8:

Toya Bungkah. A little quiet town at the foot of Mount Bator with a cinematoscopic view of mountains, a blue lake with black sand. The weather was really cool, a pleasant change from the hot and humid weather in Ubud, Kuta and Nusa.




Day 9:

Back to Kuta to soak up the sun.

The food
Was dirt cheap, if you avoid touristy places

- Missing my daily double doses of avocado juice with chocolate syrup terribly
- Babi guling in Ubud

- Roadside 40 cents cendol which I thought was really good although Fred ended up having diarrhoea the following day

- The romantic seafood dinner during sunset at Jimbaran Bay


Slurping on chicken curry mee on the streets of Ubud.

The sceneries
- Sunsets and sunrises.

- Conquering Mount Bator and looking over the surrounding mountains, lakes, across the valley and Lombok island.

- Sceneries in Ubud.
- The pristine unspoilt blue water of Nusa Lembongan amid a brilliant blue sky.


A monkey during sunrise at Mount Batur.


Risherman boat coming back to Nusa Lembongan at sunset.

The activities
Not wanting to miss anything, we had an early start almost every morning. Other than sight seeing (many, many temples) and eating, the main highlights were

- white water rafting in Sungai Ayong in Ubud

- watching Kecak dance (a traditional Balinese dance) at sunset on Uluwatu

- Fred getting haircut in Ubud that offers "Pucuk Massage" -if ya noe wat dat means.


- Strenuous ascent to Mount Batur at 3 am to catch the sunrise


- Diving in Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Penida

- Surfing on Kuta Beach


- dipping in sulfurous hot springs at Toya Bungkah on a cold breezy night for USD5

The accommodation
In Kuta: Massa Inn, Komala Indah 1
In Nusa: Lembongan: Mainski Inn, Pondok Baruna
In Ubud: Ayu Bungalow
In Toya Bungkah: Arlina's Bungalow

(Non dingy room for as low as RM 24 per night)

The people
Balinese are generally warm and friendly, with many of them possessing great talent in woodcarving, painting, sewing, dancing and music. Hinduism is very strong. Even the poorest village has a temple built from the villagers’ hard earned money.

Balinese ladies can do wonders with their amazingly strong neck, carrying baskets of fruit or blocks of brick on their head.



The abnormally bended thumb of Wayan, the woodcarver at Batu Kawi.

Balinese kids love to be photographed, anytime. Taken at Tampak Siring Temple.

The few drawbacks:

The beach bums offering surfing lessons and renting out boards were bronzed gigolos and perverts (well, almost all).

The tour guide that was bringing us to Toya Bungkah was a blatant liar that changes his terms and conditions on the way. Both of us were extremely pissed off. Bloody oath. He totally spoilt our day.

Having arrived in Toya Bungkah during the low season, we were swarmed by peddlers demanding us to buy paintings, necklaces and bracelets. Restaurateur trying to rip us off during a simple meal.

And this particular girl, age about 10 with a basket of sweets and chewing gums on her head was following us persistently, flashing her large sad eyes while mumbling in English, "Please buy something. We no money. No money no food. Cannot eat. Cannot go to school. Cannot buy book. Please buy something. We no money. No money .....(repeated)..."
Okay, so I did not get anything from her.

People of all ages seemed to be hammering us. We got out of Toya Bungkah the very next day.

Overall, it is still great:

I am just grateful that the weather was lovely the whole time while we were there, allowing us to make full use of our time in Bali.

I am all tanned and happy.

130 Million-Year-Old Taman Negara

So I went off to Taman Negara last Thursday after hearing so much about that place from my non Malaysian friends. It's always embarassing when that happened. Being the adventurous me, I wanted to do the rustic trips like hiking up Gunung Tahan or staying overnight in the cave. But then I decided to go subtle and opted for a more "relaxing" trip. With the chinese new year around the corner, I couldn't afford fresh wounds or scars when everyone else are looking their best...*grin* (I'm so vain.. God damnit!) I even asked Jessie to join me, which is rather unusual if you know me as I love travelling on my own. I'm such a loner I tell ya.

The trip was run by NKS . We left KL at 8 am on a comfy 24 seater couch and arrived in Jerantut for lunch before proceeding to Kuala Tembeling jetty for a 3 hours long boat trip up north to Taman Negara.


The view at Sungai Tembeling Jetty. Noticed the long boats with zinc roof. Those were similar to the one we used for our 3 hours trip.

The boat ride journey was great, going upriver passing through scenic views and natives villages ... although it only kept Jessie and I awake for a good 1 hour before we both passed out. Mind you, the boat was about 15 metres in length and 1.5 metres in width. Nothing of luxury but we managed to sleep for a good 2 hours with our butt totally numb. Upon arrival, we were greeted by the company tour guides which were made up of some malay and chinese guys with heavy put on english accent. Among the visitors, we were the only Malaysians. Suprise suprise!

So we checked in, freshened up and took a nap (again!) while waiting for dinner at 7.30pm


The chalet that we stayed. This place is called Ekoton Village located across the river from Taman Negara.


It was a RM20 per person a/c dorm with attached bathroom that can fit 5 person. Since it wasn't the peak season, we got the whole room to ourselves!!!!



Jessie trying to say that dinner was not bad at all.


*burp* That's my "very satisfied" look.

After dinner we went for a night walk in the jungle hoping to catch sight of wildlife and insects. While all the Mat Sallehs (caucasians) when aahh- ooohh-- at the sight of scorpions, big spiders, praying mantis and moth, we were both yawning and grinning from ear to ear knowing that all these were so common and found back home in our house! The tour guide, Sharif was pretty cool though. He knew we were pretty amused by the whole trip. Sharif is a real peace out dude who was knowledgable in his field but had a tendency to joke by bullshitting in between the lines. We realised that we were the only one laughing because all the others were taking what he said as facts. Those poor people. But we did managed to see 12 barking deers and mousedeer.... now, everybody say"OOoooohHHHh".

Day 2 was more interesting because that was when all the action kicked in. We did jungle trekking up to Bukit Teresek.

Taking 5 for photo.


We were lucky as it was a clear day and we got a good view of the Gunung Tahan -the highest peak in peninsular Malaysia.

Later that afternoon, we went to see the Basek hill tribes (orang asli/"sakai" people). A little dissapointed upon seeing how civilized they already were.

Trying my hands on blowpipe. I got bull's eye which sent everyone applauding. I was stunned myself but you know what, I'll be worried if I didn't because I'm from Sarawak and blowpipe is our toy...NOT!!!!


Firestarting by the orang asli using a tree bark and a rattan. I could do that too .. just give me 3 days to work that out.


Notice that his digital wrist watch was far more advanced than mine.

Then we did the canopy walk -the world's tallest (50m off the ground) and longest canopy walk hanging on very tall trees.



It was a bit scary at first as I AM afraid of heights and was worried that the "bridge" might just break. I was walking really carefully and stopping to gasp for air but after awhile, I got used to it and started to enjoy the view around me. For the first time I saw how feminine Jessie was while walking. She was just as chicken shit as me but towards the middle we started taking photos and cracking stupid jokes again -and walking pretty fast.

After the "tight-rope-walking", we did the rapid shooting. No photos taken because all our stuffs had to be sealed in a plastic bags. We only had life jackets on. It was fun although not as scary as I expected more adrenaline rush. But it left us all drenched to the skin. We stopped by to have a swim in the clay coloured river. I know why now that we always read about kids swept away and drowned while playing in the river. The current was flowing really fast in this river and it was really deep.

So on Saturday, it was our last day. Took the 3 hours boat ride although we didn't managed to sleep quite as soundly as we did before because it was drizzling and freaking cold. But during the 3 hours bus ride from Jerantut to KL, I slept all the way. Upon reaching Petaling Street (Chinatown), I looked out of the window and saw the massive jams, rushing traffic, high rise buildings and when I got down from the bus, it was so noisy with cars honking, chinese new year songs blaring from one corner to another, street peddlers shouting making my head spinning for awhile. It all seemed so familiar to me, yet not quite there.

I felt like an orang asli who just got out from the jungle, and it's only been 3 days.

****Footnote:

I paid RM 370 for a fullboard package which is inclusive of all meals, accomodation, guided activities, return transfer from KL and also souvenirs ( a tee worth RM 15 and a cheap looking pen ). Buddy up with the tour guides like what we did and we got free mineral water 1.5L bottle everyday and also free drinks at night during their drinking session. Only if you dig Tiger beer which unfortunately, I do not.


A living proof that I've been there and I would do it all over again anytime.

Singapore Loar

I went off to Singapore last Friday for the weekend and came back on Monday, the country where prostitution is legal and chewing gum is banned. How odd.

I was with Sophia, Jessie and her sis, Jenny1. We stayed at Rick and Jenny2's place, a lovely couple with a fine home at Pasir Ris.
When the sun goes down, Singapore skyline taken during car ride. Had plentiful gastronomic experiences, shopped a bit, laughed a lot, drank wine, had fun, chilled out and relaxed. Didn't spent a lot because most things were taken care of *evil grin*.

Anyway, Singaporeans are generally cool and friendly lot. Contrary to popular belief that it is strict and boring, I found this country resembles a mini dynamite. Abundance of amazing things were going on in this lil island. It's funny how I used to think hotchicks galore in S'pore but them chicks now were not quite as stunning as I remembered them to be during my first trip to S'pore -6 years ago. Being 17 and very "suaku/naive/sakai" and a real geek. (I am STILL geeky though, but not as bad hehehe)

Well, I wouldn't recommend this place for vacation. To me, it's really just another Kuala Lumpur -only cleaner, perhaps. Big cities do not tickle my fancy, although I must admit that Sydney quite did it with her BONDI BEACH (!!). I miss the hip bohemian feeling of that place. Damn.

Ancient monuments, national parks, beaches & islands, off the beaten tracks, roughing it out, getting it down and dirty
-now, that's what I call a vacation.

Enough of singlish.