Im sorry ...

Sorry for the long idle ( about 3 months of no updates ) ... my life is going through a roller coaster ride. I will update all my latest adventure ASAP.

To all my friends and readers, Selamat menyambut bulan Ramadhan.

Island of Legends

Another island trip. This time to Langkawi Island in Kedah, and again THREE is involve.

DAY01
We took a bus from Puduraya to Kuala Perlis, a double decker konsortium bus cost us RM32.90 per person. Our bus leaves at 11:30pm and reached Kuala Perlis around 06:00am. Once we reached the Kuala Perlis bus station, we bought our return ticket right away. From here to the ferry station, it just about 10 minutes walking distance. RM15 per way per person from Kuala Perlis to Kuah jetty. We took the first boat available, which is at 07:00am. Hungry? Don't worry. There is a stall just in front of the jetty that serves hot nasi lemak for breakfast.
About an hour after, we reached the Island of Legends..
Dataran Lang, where the big eagle monument was, is just outside of the jetty. The panorama was excellent. A nice point facing the open sea. We look around, while waiting for another friend to settle our transportation matters. We were given a car for our whole trip. U can find lots of rent-a-car booth outside the jetty.
From Kuah, I drove to Pantai Cenang, where we check-in at Malibest resort. The resort price ranging from RM100 - RM250 per night. They have a tree house facing the beautiful sea. We just check-in to their normal cute chalet. The surrounding area was full with shops. Souvenirs, spas, grocery can be found here. All within walking distance from our resort.
After taking a rest, and a quick stroll outside, we drove to Langkawi Underwater World - 5 minutes drive from Malibest. The price is the same as Aquaria KLCC ( be sure to bring along your myKad ) but it worth the visit. Lots of penguin, big gigantic stingray, sharks and many more. They even have a 3D virtual reality show.
From there, we drove to the airport. The nearest ATM machine from Pantai Chenang. Im broke, and I need to withdraw some cash. Beautiful sunset by the airport road. We had our dinner at one of the restaurant near the airport.
DAY02
Another beautiful day at the beach. We start out journey by heading to pekan Kuah for shopping. We bought lots of thing. Batik, chocolates, flavor cigarettes, and some other souvenirs. There is one laksa stall by the street. The laksa was a huge disappointment for me. From Kuah, next destination is the Mahsuri's tomb.
Outside of the Mahsuri complex was a dataran Mahsuri. More souvenirs and gamat product can be found here.
Last time I remembered it was free admission to the Mahsuri's tomb. But since the government came out with a new idea - they built a huge complex, Mahsuri's Town, all visitor will be charge upon entering. If you reached here by 3:00pm, there is a chance of catching a play - Lagenda Mahsuri in one of the building in the complex. And yes, the tomb had been given a new touched, with gated entrance. Somehow the authorities forget to lock the gate and we sneaked inside to take a closer picture of the tomb.
Next destination is the cable car at Mount Cincang, our main purpose of visiting Langkawi. It was suppose to be very near Pantai Chenang, but somehow I make a big round. Technically, we just made one big round across Langkawi. Luckily the cable car closes at 7:30pm on weekends. For myKad holders, it cost you RM15 per person. You can either take a break at the 1st point, or just go ahead to the final point. The highest peak, was 710 meters above sea level. On a bright sunny day, we can watch a beautiful sunset at the Andaman Sea. Weather was not on our side, it was misty and very windy (seriously cold!! ) when we reached the top.
DAY03
As early as 10:00am, we check-out and head to Kuah to catch a ferry at 11:00am. Our bus from Kuala Perlis is departing at 1:00pm. This time, we hop on a normal bus with 2+1 seater. The ticket is about RM27.90.
8:00pm, all of us reached Puduraya safely...
Another trip success!!!

Cherating

It was a short notice road trip. Four of us in my car, with other four cars following, all heading to Cherating.
There will be another paintball war in Cherating, located in Mercu Resort ( nice comfy resort by the beach with a big waste land ). So, we set up our battlefield, ensemble all our paintball equipment and waited for the participants to arrive. As usual, I'll be Reuters in the middle of the battlefield. Start off with capture the flag, with all four coloured flags in the middle of the battlefield. Next game - capture enemy flag as many as you could. Last but not least, a battle with bandits to capture all four colour flags. It was awesome!!!
The next morning woke up early as the sun rising beautifully in the East. It was a breathtaking view. A solitude moment to spare. Just me and mother nature...
The beach was clean, though the water are not as crystal in Perhentian Island. If I had brought along my wet shorts, definitely I would have jump right in, regardless of everyone. As the time pass by, me and a friend of mine decided to go to Kemaman for some shopping and dining...
Kemaman is about 30km from our place, which is much nearer than Kuantan. In less than 30 minutes, we'd reach our shopping destination. The pekan is well-developed. Nice, small little pekan of Kemaman. I bought 2 pair of Thai Silk linen that will be made into a baju kurung, and a pair of kain pelikat for my dad, for his Father's Day present. The time is limited, because according to plan we are suppose to leave for Kuala Lumpur at 2pm.
Since I did not found any nasi dagang stalls, so I wanted some of the famous Terengganu keropok to bring back home. We did stop by few stalls. My first time to eat Sata, which is much better than otak-otak. Bought some keropok lekor and keropok ikan. Finally, we start heading back to Mercu to check-out at 2pm.
Pack all our things and stuff it into the back of my car. We will be starting our 5 hours journey back to Kuala Lumpur. Thank you Mercu Resorts for it good hospitality, and bye bye Cherating Beach...
From Cherating, we head down to Kuantan and enter the Pantai Timur Expressway. This is the only road trip so far, that I haven't been doing much driving... And another success road trip to Cherating, a place I've never been before...
more pictures at : http://www.flickr.com/photos/lartz/601486986/

Phuket Escape

Just after two weeks back from Perhentian Island, Im off to Phuket, Thailand...for REAL!

DAY 01
By right, our flight was supposed to be at 15:00, but it was delayed to 16:00 (yerp, its Airasia definitely). My dad sent us (me and Ikha) to LCCT using the new open Dengkil - Sepang freeway. We reached there around 1pm, yerp very early since my dad have some other important things to do. Around 3pm, others colleague of Ikha's finally arrived. We check in and wait for our Airbus to arrive.

I called Bard and let her know that I am about to board into my flight, and she swing by to send me off. By the window, and near the wing is my favorite seat. The flight is about 1 hour 15 minutes, much shorter than flying to Kuching. Oh ya, Phuket is one time zone behind Kuala Lumpur. I did fall asleep awhile, when I woke up there's this small little islands scatter below us.
Upon arriving, all foreigners need to fill in the visiting form. We walked straight to the van shuttle service. Eight of us gets a ride and we stopped by a tour agency and I think all of us were being ripped off by the tour agency. As decided, 6 of them will go on snorkelling in Phi Phi Island, while me and Ikha will be going to Phang Nga National Park, on a canoe trip.We requested the driver to bring us to one of the best spot for some new dining experience, i mean the special mouth-watering hot tomyam and the delicious seafood variety. So, we arrived at a restaurant, forget-the-name, but it was located by the sea and beside a fishing village somewhere in Phuket town. The food was ok, but not as expected. Tomyam, green curry, black pepper crab, sweet and sour fish for a price about 4000Baht.
Finally we hit the road again, and this time to Royal Paradise Hotel in Patong. Check-in, cleaned myself and and take a stroll outside with everyone...
DAY 02
Woke-up at 06:15am due to my phone daily alarm, which was 7:15 according to Kuala Lumpur. Still early, kill my alarm and get back to sleep. Around 07:00 we wake up and get ready for breakfast. At 08:00 a van will swing by and pick us up for a whole day canoe trip in Phang Nga. From my room, I could see half of the Patong area, since my room is on the 21st floor. From the lift, I could see the whole Patong Beach area...
1 hour after, we reached the jetty where the big boats (more like a tongkang)with inflatable canoe in it await us. First destination is about 40minutes journey, Koh Phanak. It was a huge limestone island. At this moment I can only think of "it would be fun if I could some climbing here!" The rocks was a beauty. We stop infront of a small cave entrance and they start to unload all the inflatable canoe in the water. Each canoe can accomodate 2-3 person including our canoe boys. Hon, a person with a sweet smile is our canoe boy for the entire trip. Somehow, he resembles Mat Yue (Perhentian Beach Boy). The cave was dark and full with bats. We paddle through the darkness and water keep on dripping onto us. The exit was very low. All of us need to lie down flat on our back to get through. It was a huge lagoon, with green clear water, some monkeys and beautiful limestone creation.
Next point is the Ko Hong, 15 minutes from Ko Phanak. More beautiful scenery can be seen here. There are some cameramans sitting by the shore taking your pictures with its famous landmark (picture below) and you can bought it for 200Baht once you reach the jetty.
30 minutes from Ko Hong, we reach the famous James Bond Island. Here, there is a lot of stalls selling dried sea product, and lots lots of souvenirs. Bargain as much as you can here , if not you'll definitely be ripped off! Our last point is the Lawa Island, for a dipped. This is where Hon really make fun of us... Hahahah, it was really fun having Hon as our guide for the entire trip, though he only talk very simple english.
Reach our hotel at around 18:30, and we quickly get ready for next axtivity, Simon Show (cabaret show by beautiful men). The ticket cost 600Baht/person. A must-see show in your list. Overall performance by these beautiful men was awesome.
Note : Don't take pictures with them, cost its gonna cause you your wallet. Just take pictures of them, NOT with them, unless you are willing to spend more...

After the show, me and Ikha decided to walk around Bangla Road for the night life once again this time with cameras and DVD-camera. Definitely a different sight from Kuala Lumpur. We discover a 100Baht t-shirt store. The cheapest you can get around Patong. Of course Im spending my money here. Phuket, provocative, and more others wierd design are available here.. from XS to XXL in many different colours.
Day 03
Our final day in Phuket. Had our breakfast at the coffee house and head outside. Since the nightlife here ends about 4am in the morning, most of the stalls are open for business after 11am (including the money changer).
We walked trough Bangla Road heading towards the famous Patong Beach. There was a tsunami evacuation route and warning signs everywhere. We take more photos here, just a good feeling to hear the sound of the waves, while sand between your toes... Yes baby! Im in Patong Beach!!!
Last minute shopping, when we realized we are broke! No more Baht money.. Hehehhe, so we change more RM to Baht. A local we met during yesterday canoe trip did tell us where to shop (forget the place - again). The bazaar is about 10 minutes from our hotel.
We decide to have a look at the 100Baht store for more t-shirt. This is the 100Baht store Im talking about. Good luck in finding the store.. We have 1000Baht left, and the store was closed!!! So sad...
At 1pm, our ride arrive taking us back to the Phuket International Airport, 45 minutes away from Patong. 17:30 Kuala Lumpur time, we reached LCCT. It was indeed a short and enjoyable trip.
"What ever happens in Phuket, just leave it in Phuket..."

my Flickr site : http://www.flickr.com/photos/lartz/510225309/

Perhentian Escape

Pardon me for my super late post ...
DAY 01
Three of us arrived at the Besut jetty around 9am. With helped from Pak Din, a local, we manage to get a ride on the first speedboat to Perhentian Island. Round trip ticket will cost you RM60 for half an hour trip ride. Our destination is the Long Beach, Small Perhentian. As most people will say, that is the most happening and beautiful beach with approximately 1km of white sand beach. For Long Beach, we need to hitch a ride on the water taxi as there is no jetty available there (RM2 per person).
Our next mission upon arriving is to get a room for ourselves. Since its was a public holiday season, there arent any vacant rooms in Long Beach. There, we met with Mesour and Mat Yue who helped us find a room. Note : 90% of chalet/resorts on Long Beach is based on walk-ins, no booking here.
After about an hour searching, and pull some tricks, we did get a room. Better say its a RM20 per bed dormitory with a balcony sea view. Its was my 1st 3rd time in Coral Bay Beach. We stayed in Senja Bay Resort for the next 2 night. Settled ourself, take a nap after 8 hours journey from Kuala Lumpur to Besut due to the rain. Later that evening, we decide to dip our skins into the clear crystal water. We rent a canoe for an hour (RM5 per hour). The sea was clam as this beach is facing the mainland. We picked a wrong season, jellyfish season. Everywhere you could see them and unfortunately, Ida was stung. Luckily the resort staff have traditional remedies to cure it.
As the sun sets down, we can only think of SEAFOOD BBQ!!! Oh ya, the view from our room during sunsets was magnificent. After maghrib, we walked by the beach heading to a restaurant, Amelia, located about 500m from our resort. We ordered 3 different sets - kingfish, squid and crab. Each sets cost RM16 comes together with rice, baked potatoed, salad, desert and selected sauce. This restaurant serves about everything, and they do have night movies for the guest to eat and watch. As we waited for our food, we played some cards game to fill up the time...
DAY 02
Woke up to the sound of waves splashing ... Took light breakfast which we brought along, and get ready to hit the beach, Long Beach. To get onto the other side, we need to walked through a pathway about 5 minutes from Coral Bay. Along the way, there is more resort under construction. We are suppose to meet Mat Yue at 11am for snorkeling trip, but somehow we are late by an hour. Basically we missed the trip and just had our time playing on Long Beach. And again, Im in lurve with its super crystal clear water and the white sand beach.
Whole day was spent by playing in the water, and eats at Ameen's Restaurant while playing more cards game. Beside Ameen's there is a row of souvenir shops. We walked into one of it and bought some stuff with bargain price. Thank to Ikha for her Kelantanis dialect that saves us! Around 5pm, Messour arrives and took us on his boat for short snorkeling trips. We stopped at 2 point - turtle point and shark point. Unlucky for us, there is no turtle by the time we reach, but we did spot a coral shark. We head back around 6.30pm just before its start pouring heavily.
Messour drop us on Long Beach, and we walked back to our resorts. By 8pm, the rain stops. Mat Yue came knocking on our door and we head to Amelina's for dinner. We start ordering and play some cards, again!! Tonight, not many people around, due to the rain before.
DAY 03
Woke up and get ready to go for another snorkeling trip with Messour. As we waited by the beach, we spotted a cast-away diver, named Mohammed from New York City. He do resembles Tom Hank in Cast Away.. Hehehe, we chat with his friend, which in return persuading us to stay for another day just to go for a dive. Impossible, since all our cash had run out.
Messour arrived, and we are on with some other locals and foreigners on the boat. We stopped by at coral point where the coral here was very beautiful. If only my Nikon D70 have its underwater casing. While snorkeling, we saw some jellyfish in our way. Just before we went back, Messour drop the other tourist at Kampung Pasir Hantu for lunch, and we head back to Senja Bay resorts.
Packed our things, say goodbye to the other divers and Mat Yue. We took the 4pm ride back to Besut. It was a very bumpy ride as the tide are getting higher. Afternoon rides are much comfy and safe. Before heading back to Kuala Lumpur, we express our gratitude to Pak Din for helping us, shops some last minute souvenirs and bought some keropok ikan... 7pm we leave Besut and reach home at 2am.

My Flickr site : http://www.flickr.com/photos/lartz/481513874/

santai @ morib

16 of us convoy to Morib ( two raksaksa and 1 wira ), initial plan was to invade Bagan Lalang. Due to pesta air event in Bagan Lalang, we diverted our destination to Morib instead. The distance from my place to our exact location was proximately 55KM.
As promised I waited the others at Petronas Dengkil, before continue our journey. From pekan Dengkil, take right at the only traffic light there. From here on, just follow the road until you reach pekan Banting. Once you are here, be sure to open your eyes and look for the signboard "Pantai Morib". It is about few kilometres from Banting. This is jalan kampung, so be sure to be extra careful when driving [one lane road, big lorry + trucks ]
Reached our port at 12.30pm. It was a nice spot, white sand, pokok rhu and of course coconut tree. The two 4wD park with just enough space for us to tie about four hammock to it. The trees there are too far apart for our hammock.
Then, its time to cook. Nasi lemak was already prepared before. The wind was so breezy making it difficult for us to start fire. After a few attempt, we finally had our fire light up. Chicken wing and lamb shoulder black pepper BBQ. Cook some butter mushroom and karipap. Everything was worth the wait. Our drinks, Coke and RootBeer with rocks! All of us was sugar high - that explained the hyper energetic old ribena kids jumping around.
Perut dah kenyang ... and its time to relax by the beach. Some climb into hammock and have a good nap, while some played the mind-bugging game, the sudoku ... Even some keep on jumping around. heheheh. It was fun and hilarious. Surprisingly, despite of our hot weather, some of Malaysian just dipped their skin under the burning sun. For me, the water here is a bit murky ... Not for me to dip my skin in it.
After a few scene of photography session, we start clearing to go home. However, unfortunate events occur. Abg Wan 4WD was stuck in the soft delicate white sand. Just need a boost and the monster will be on its way. Thought the jinx ended here... Then, Abg Man's 4WD having problem with the ignition. Even jump-start do nothing to the black monster. Oh yeah, I realize abg Man did some upgrading to his 4WD. Now comes with cd player!! No more boring rides next time.
Final solution, they used my hammock static rope to towed the 4WD, and finally get it running. The knot was extremely tight due to the heavy tension ( how much tan's do these babies weight? ). But hey, my rope save the day!!!
By 7.15pm, all of us on our way home ... and I reached my home sweet home at 8.30pm.. feeling very tired

Paintball at Sungai Pisang

It is war! The Spartan ( soo in the 300 mood that moment ) versus the Hebat ( yeah, mmg hebat ). The environment not at any padang, not with any bunker ... in fact in the jungle with a stream of river, mud, trees and not forgetting the blood sucking creature - the Leeches.
12 of us divided into two different groups. We start off with a safety briefing and how to use 'em speeches. Then, its time for warming up. Loose those joint and firm up those muscles. Get into our safety gear, and walk to our base for some brainstorming strategy.
5 second .. 3 .. 2 .. priiiiiT!!!! And the game starts. Run across the stream, take cover behind a huge tree trunk, merangkak on the ground, and trying our best to blend with the environment. After finishing each game, there will be a 10 minutes break ( time to makan2 and minum2 ). Yeah, we did bring along our foods - there was a bihun goreng, sandwiches, ubi goreng and more kuih...
The 1st game - we need to capture a flag position in the middle of the arena.
The 2nd and 3rd game - we need to capture the flag from our enemy base.
The 4th and 5th game - collect as much pendant in 10 minutes.

Total of 5 game, with about 2 hours of extreme fun. Hebat team took control of the game with 3 victory. Pictures are taken by Lipass, since myself are having lotssa fun!
After the game, all of us jump into sungai pisang for a cool-off ...

Weekend in the East culture

Friday evening was madness. I got a 9:30pm bus to catch at the Putra station, nearby the PWTC - heading East this week. My dad was kind enough to give me a ride to Putra station, it was 8:30pm when I left my house. The road was clear, and I thought I have plenty of time by the time I reach Putra station. "Hujan ditengahari" never underestimate KL roads. Im caught in a massive traffic jams near Dataran Merdeka (they closed the Dataran Merdeka road!) It was 9.10pm when I decided to walk to Masjid Jamek LRT Station instead off praying for the traffic to clear - which was truly IMPOSSIBLE! Paid my tickets, hop on the train and reach Putra station on time. I was the last passenger to go on board. For the first time in my life, I had a nausea - until the bus stopped just before Gua Musang.

6am Saturday morning, Im in Kota Bahru. Back to Ika's place and clean up ourselves before start my endless day touring Kota Bahru (picking up Watt and Dr.Muazz) and Pengkalan Kubor. Oh, I did stop by KBMall. Hehehehe...

We had our lunch at one of the famous tourist spot, Kota Bahru culture centre where we had our nasi ulam. The place was beautifully design. The food was, off course different from KL. Thank you Dr.Muazz for treating us lunch. Now, off to Pengkalan Kubor...
On our way to Pengkalan Kubor, we pass through some of the big Buddha statues by the road. Only one I manage to capture, I missed the others because Im too busy talking to Watt (while Ika busy talking with Dr.Muazz.. hehehe). Later we passed through a police roadblock and we finally reached Pengkalan Kubor - duty free area.
The weather was extremely hot (yeah, maybe I did exegerate a bit). With two mission in my head, Im off hunting. A few camping stuff and a t-shirt with a cool design. Sadly, I only completed one mission. There was not a single t-shirt that caught my attention. Looks like I have to order one from Tini, only she knows where she bought my "Zildjian" t-shirt. In one of those stalls, there is an oversized stuffed FROG. It is so big, XXXL. If I have one of those .. I'll be sure to cuddle it through the night.
Make ur choices right, and bargain all you can here in Pengkalan Kubor.
Time for some fresh air (it was kinda stuffy in Pengkalan Kubor). We stopped by Pantai Sri Tujoh, not far from Pengkalan Kubor. It was breezy, calm and beautiful. We walked along the beach with sand between our toes, and take a few nice beautiful pictures of us.
One of the all time agenda of the day... eat, eat, eat ... Its time for some good old satay ikan by the beach. RM1 for 10 stick! One thing that I did notice about this, is it sauce colour. Back then it was pinkish but now it is reddish... We are back home by 8pm. It was indeed a very tiring day. Washed myself and get ready to bed. The last thing that echo in my ears was Ika's voice talking to Dr.Muazz ... and Im in my own LAlalaLAND.

Beautiful Sunny Sunday Morning at 8am. Get ready to drive back to Kuala Lumpur. Thank GOD that Im not taking the bus home. Had our breakfast, check our list and the car one last time before heading back. Ika had her hands on the wheels at first. Stop by her grandmother's house on the way. We switched drivers just before reaching Gua Musang. It was one hella-funny story, not to mention here...
More stop... Gua Musang then Raub, visiting Ika's other grandmother - our last stop. From Raub, Ika take the turn to drive straight to KL. We enter Bentong highway heading Gombak. Massive traffic jam due to the highway upgrading. Once we reached Gombak, everything was fine when again stuck in MRR2 near Pandah Indah.

Reached home at 10pm ... and of all, I can only think of my bed and pillows. Fun, adventurous and tiring trip!!