Day 2 Krabi

It is best for one to know that it is always never enough to go travelling out of a country for only 3 days and 2 nights. There are a lot of extreme sports to do in Krabi and we could only choose to go one that is not easy to find in Malaysia, so snorkelling is out of the question.

First, we had breakfast that was delivered to the table outside our room. Lousy food but the thought that it was sent over was out of ordinary.

Lousy American Breakfast sent to our room

At 8:30 Malaysian time, we went on a half hour journey to reach Bor Thor for Sea Cave Kayaking. It was tiring but worth every minute of it. Jimmy was extremely tired after the trip because he was rowing like a mad man throughout while I relaxed in front and took photographs. LOL

Beautiful view as we were coming out of a cave





Jimmy was super tired



After that, we went to a rather dirty river for a dip. Didn't take any photos there because it was really just a dirty river (although the water flows from underground).

Then, we went for an elephant jungle trekking ride. It was the most AMAZING experience ever. And it will definitely be my first and last experience! The female elephant which took us around was really nice but imagine you are about 2 storey-high up with only one rope tied across the bench you are sitting on. Not too bad, heh? And then your elephant actually had to climb up steep slopes and GO DOWN! Gosh, I was chanting Namo Amitabha almost throughout the ride! And worse was that it was raining, so the muddy trail seemed even less safe! We were dangling about 60degrees facing the ground twice when the elephant came down some slopes! After that ride, Jimmy and I thanked the elephant for getting us safely back! Hahaha...well, that's what you get for choosing something that you won't get anywhere else in the world! :)

Rewarding the elephant that got us safely up and down the muddy trail

I think if we ever go to Krabi again, we will just try to be safe and go for the white-water rafting package. :)

Krabi Day One

Once we touched down in Krabi, fellow passengers started congratulating us. It was too bad that Jimmy was too nervous that he did not ask someone to take photographs or video of the situation. Nevertheless, it will always be ingrained in my memory. :)

On the way to the taxi, when the both of us had calmed down, Jimmy started to recount the things that he had memorized prior to the proposal (something along the lines of "we have been together for more than two years now and would you give me the honour of being my wife"). And then I complained that he had actually thrown the box at me. Hehehe...

Once we reached the hotel, the receptionists were whispering to each other. When we entered the room, it was decorated as shown in the previous post, in case the bouquet couldn't be sent on board. That was when Jimmy went down on one knee and proposed in Mandarin. Awww...



Another angle of the deco on the bed.



After a short rest, we went to hunt for food near the hotel that we stayed at. We had the most delicious Seafood Tom Yam that we had in our short trip to Thailand in a nearby Dutch restaurant (the area that we stayed in catered mostly to Caucasians).



The very good Tom Yam and so-so Green Curry



After that, we wanted to explore the Ao Nang beach which is about 15 minutes' walk. The place was previously partially destroyed by the 2001 tsunami. They have rebuilt it and the place looks really good now. Along the way, these two lazy fat bums decided to rent a scooter (eventhough neither of us have a license although Jimmy used to ride a motorcycle in his Uni days). The scooter rental was only 200 baht for 24 hours! Cheap!



At Ao Nang beach



Thank goodness for this scooter!



At night, as we were walking along the touristy area, a couple from the Air Asia flight recognised Jimmy. Haha...and the lady was like, isn't he the fella who proposed on the airplane? :)

The night was still young, so I went to have cheap manicure and pedicure done. At around 8, we decided to have seafood for dinner. We chose a restaurant which looked quite good. The food and service were disappointing. The only thing good was its ambience and the dessert.



Mango with glutinous rice and coconut milk.



Love is in Air Asia

"Ladies and gentlemen, there is a special announcement." The voice of the head steward on the flight to Krabi woke me and other passengers from our naps. We must be nearing our destination now. Hmm..Jimmy was not at his seat.

"Love is in the air," the steward, Mr. Afif, continued. "We have a special proposal here from Mr. Jimmy to his girlfriend, Ms. Jiawen."

Oh. My. God.



There was a round of applause as Jimmy walked towards me (from behind the head steward) with a bouquet of flowers and a ring in his hand. I couldn't believe it! Jimmy, who is the most un-romantic guy I've ever dated, was proposing to me in front of so many people?! People craned their necks to see who the lucky girl was as Jimmy quickly sat next to me giggling nervously.



The bouquet of flowers and ring Jimmy gave me on the plane



I couldn't believe it. My hands shook as I opened the box with the diamond ring inside. Jimmy took it and slipped it into my ring finger (he forgot to ask the all-important question). There was another round of applause as the head steward congratulated the "future Mr. and Mrs. Tan".



He slipped the ring into my finger before asking the Question.





So, that is making a long story short. LOL...

Jimmy's plan started a few weeks earlier with him asking Air Asia's help to bring up the bouquet of flowers that he got from Mid Valley (and was sent to LCCT in a taxi). At first, his request was rejected. Then, a Mr. Jonathan from the Customer Care picked up his case and agreed to help.

On the day when we were supposed to leave for Krabi, Jimmy got a phone call from his boss and numerous calls which he did not pick up. I did not think much of it as it was a Thursday. When we reached the airport, Jimmy's parents decided to park the car and wait with us. I did not think much of it also as I thought the parents wanted to have lunch with us. Jimmy went off to look for a clean toilet as he told me he had a stomachache. We waited for half an hour and I got angry because we had to check in soon.

After we had checked in, Jimmy claimed that his sub-contractor had come to LCCT to meet him as he had some urgent documents for him to sign. I believed him as his phone did not stop ringing the entire morning. So, that was how he had managed to pass the bouquet of flowers to Mr. Jonathan, who brought it into the plane, without alerting me. :)

Jimmy's original plan was for Mr. Afif to hide the bouquet of flowers in his cart and push it to us as we were nearing Krabi but he did not have a chance to tell him that before we boarded the plane. When Mr. Afif approached Jimmy and asked if he had ordered a meal, Jimmy answered "no", to which Mr. Afif tried another tactic and said that there must had been a mistake and insisted Jimmy to follow him to the front. As Jimmy realised what was going on, he became extremely nervous. Looking at the almost full plane, he forgot all his plans and all the things that he was supposed to say to me. So, when Mr. Afif asked Jimmy how he wanted him to help, Jimmy was totally blank. That was why Mr. Afif took it upon himself to announce the proposal and Jimmy forgot to ask me the question. :)

Well, it would have been a big YES anyway. But it was truly a memorable proposal. THANK YOU AIR ASIA, especially to Mr. Jonathan (from Customer Care) and Mr. Mohd. Afif (the head steward on the AK 804 flight to Krabi on 17th March 2011).

Special arrangements made by Jimmy at the hotel for Proposal Plan B.

 P/S: Jimmy went down on one knee and popped the question when we reached the hotel afterwards.  :)

Do you have any proposal stories to share? :)

My laptop still works!

Phew...it has been two months plus since my last post. And today, I finally sat in front of the laptop and turned it on. A lot of work has got to be done by tonight (after I update myself with the going-ons at Facebook, other people's blogs and finish reading my e-mail).

The past two months have been rather relaxed. Spending time with my family has been great, and I appreciate the time with my parents even more now. My grandmother who is 92 suffered from a mild stroke two months ago. It is sad to see a proud woman like her being treated like a toddler because she can no longer move around. Sigh...live the day as though there is no tomorrow. I need to spend as much time with my family as possible. That's my resolution.

Taking our parents out on a trip to Cameron Highlands. Major sponsors: sister and bro-in-law. My role? Menyibuk-ing. :P

Bangkok Shopping Tips

Dear friends,

Sorry for another late post. The caged bird got to go Bangkok with her mother and her friend for 6 days at the end of last month. Between the Singapore trip, the moving back home, the wallowing in self-pity and the trip, I have had the busiest time! So, anyway, before I forget the details of the Bangkok trip, let me give you (and myself) some tips to having an affordable and enjoyable shopping trip to Bangkok.

1. Get cheap air tickets

- My mom and I had decided to go to Bangkok since last year. We booked the AirAsia tickets last November for only RM 6. Of course airport tax and fuel surcharge and what-nots came up to RM 270 per person...but the RM 270 is for a two way ticket. When I thought I couldn't go with my mom last April, I had wanted to book the same flights for my sis (as the tickets are non-transferable) and it would have cost us RM 600++. So, book the tickets early!

2. Travel by taxi (even to and from the airport)

- Yup, most of us would think that taking the tuk-tuk would be cheaper, but in actual fact, the taxi is often the cheaper option. The Thai taxis are almost all very comfortable and trustworthy. The starting price is at 35 baht which is about RM 3.50. A helpful fellow Malaysian told me to go to the 4th floor of the airport (the departure hall) and take a taxi from there. This is because most taxis at the departure hall are waiting for customers to go back to the city and would charge slightly cheaper and according to the meter compared to the ones waiting at the arrival hall (which I read somewhere on the internet that you have to buy tickets or coupons to board). Maybe those taxis waiting at the arrival hall are those limousines or minivans (?). Don't bother asking for directions from the officers in the airport because they will direct you to the coupon-ed taxis. Just go to the 4th floor and walk out of the airport. You will see lots of taxis waiting there. The taxi fare from the airport to the city inclusive of toll is about 200-250 baht. The taxi fare from the city to airport might set you back at between 300 to 500 baht because most taxis do not want to go there.

Taking the metered taxis around the city from shopping mall to shopping mall will be less than 100 baht at all times. The tuk-tuk will charge you at least 50 baht per person even for short distances. Don't be lured by touts who charge 10 baht per person to any shopping malls because they will first drive you to jewellery or silk factories that will give them coupons and benefits for bringing in customers. Always, ALWAYS, flag down taxis with a red light on as this will signal that they are using the meter and also that they are available.

3. Get a hotel near the shopping area

- My father's friend recommended Bangkok Palace. We got a Deluxe Room which is about RM 250 per night. But you can actually get it cheaper over the internet. The hotel is only a 10 minutes walk to the Pratunam shopping district where we did most of our shopping.

4. Exercise

- This is to prep you up for a lot of walking in Bangkok. Bangkok utilizes its spaces so well that a shopping mall half the size of MidValley Megamall may have up to 3000 stalls/shops. And they have many, many malls in concentrated areas.

5. Plan to spend a weekend there

- The Chatuchak or Jatujak Weekend Market is a must-go for all! From pets to kitchen ware to toys, you name it, they have it! But get there early (preferably Saturday morning) to avoid the afternoon crowd and the price hike by some of the sellers.

6. Bring lots of money

- Shopaholics will die happily there! You have so much to choose from that no wonder it is a shopping haven if not THE shopping haven in South East Asia. The things are even cheaper than the things in China! And the sellers are not so rude too!

So, a summary of the places that I went to:

- I booked an 10 o'clock flight so that by the time we reached the city, it would be just nice to check into the hotel at 2. After a short rest, we went to Pratunam market. Pratunam area is a wholesale area. They have stuffy backlanes and dark alleys where tiny shops and stalls line the way selling mostly clothes. The market is sectioned so you will find clothes and only clothes in one area, tailors in another area, and shoes and bags and accessories in another area. Don't be fooled by the prices there though. Not so organized environment does not mean that they sell their goods at the lowest prices. If you are looking for things at a reasonable price and a more comfortable shopping experience there is a small shopping centre called Indra right next to the Pratunam market. You will find a food court there too.

- The second day, we went to the city. Bangkok authorities are very forward thinking in that they have a walkway called the Skywalk which stretches at least 4 kms in the directions that the Skytrain goes and connects ALL major shopping complexes in the city! The shopping complexes in the city are for those who are looking for more high-end products such as Jimmy Choo (ironic that he does not own an exclusive shop here), Ferragamo, Coach etc etc. Although you may not want to buy any of these things, it is worth a walk. Of course, being in the city we also went to the famed four-faced buddha in front of another shopping complex to offer some very expensive flowers. My advice, the Buddha will know your sincerity even if you don't offer the flowers sold at exorbitant prices outside.

The best thing about these seemingly expensive shopping malls is that they have huge supermarket and they sell so many different brands of things from so many countries that you would just wonder why you were so impressed by the things they have in Cold Storage at the Gardens. And they sell the things at reasonable prices too. The aunty bought a bag of 1kg glutinous rice (don't ask me why) and 2 guavas for less than RM 6!! The food court there may cost a bit more though.

Since we were not very interested in high-end products, we walked to a shopping mall called MBK (Moh Boon Krong or something like that). It is similar to Times Square but has more stalls in a smaller area. Things there are quite reasonably priced.

- On the third day, the aunty and I went to Pratunam area again but to a shopping mall called Platunum Mall. It is also a wholesale area but you can buy things separately or mix things up and get the wholesale price. Very worth the visit. Too bad I went with the Aunty who did not look very interested in the things that I was looking at and made me feel guilty for dragging her along for almost 4 hours before we sat down to have something to eat. (Shopaholics would understand the special energy that flows through their body when they see lots of good stuff at low prices that they do not need to sit, go to the toilet or eat =P)

At night, we went to a touristy area at the other side of the town called Suan Lum Night Market. If you are looking for the touristy stuff, you can go there from 6 p.m. til daybreak. But as in all touristy area, this place sells things at a high price and it is up to you to slash the price. I won't recommend that place though...

- On the fourth day, which is a Saturday, we went to the Chatuchak Weekend Market. They open from 8am to 6pm only on Saturdays and Sundays (GMT +7). You can spend the whole day and all your money there. Shirts as cheap as RM 5 or 50 baht and shorts of good quality only at 100 baht! CRAZZEEEEEE!!!

- Mom, Aunty and I went to Indra Mall again on Sunday because we didn't want to go too far and because I didn't want to (couldn't) buy anything anymore because our bags were full to the brim and might be overweight! Haha...imagine, I only brought 3 change of shirts and a jeans to Bangkok and my bag was filled with nearly 40 pieces of clothings and 5 pairs of sandals on the trip home!

- On the last day, book an afternoon flight so that you can do some last minute packing and leave for the airport at around the check out time. The airport's name is Suvarnabhumi but pronounced as SuwarnaPUNG.

I took some photos of the stuff that I got but, you know me...I hate to upload photos, so maybe in the distant future, I might post them here. Hehehe...have fun!

Practising to be a babysitter

Hello everybody...greetings from Singapore! Yup, I've been exported to our neighhbouring country along with my mom to be temporary babysitters/maid. It was just a phone call on Saturday afternoon and less than 24 hours later, my mom and I were on our way to the rescue.

Having helped my sister take care of her elder son for a day and a half almost all by myself (my mom accidentally had some sweet stuff to eat and was tired the whole day), I cannot imagine how a mother can live a normal life! What more a working mother! I think I learnt to look at a mother's life from a different perspective after watching this reality tv show called "Crash Test Mommy" on Discovery Home and Health. One thing I've learnt is that your house can never be as clean or as tidy as you wish it to be when you have kids (unless of course you have a maid to clean up the mess the whole time).

Another thing is that children are so full of energy that you someties wish that you could change their batteries from Energizer to some imitation brand batteries! I was worn out by the end of the first day. And Sean is already much easier to take care of these days!

Well, I got to go now. I think my charge has awaken from his nap. Haha..wish me luck! =)

Supposedly photo-filled post about Redang

Ok, so I finally got the time to go and get these photos from Woon who lives downstairs. Hehe...yup, I am still in denial and living in Cheras. I was just talking to her just now and we agreed that we will be living with our families again, cooped up like we used to be once we get posted. *Cross our fingers* Hope that we still may have our social life once we are back at home. Thinking now, most of my classmates are either first-borns or the youngest. The first-borns set a precedent to their younger siblings - still living at home with mom and dad, and probably still have a curfew at the age of 24; and the youngest (like myself) well, our parents just don't want to let go of their youngest "baby" so soon because they have no other children to hang on to by now.

Hmm..I am guilt-ridden. I miss my family and wish I could spend more time with my mom because she is so lonely. On the other hand, I can't give up my freedom - just yet. Besides, I don't have a room to myself at home still. It's not like I'm trying to get rid of my sister but now that her husband works the night shift, it means that I could not even use what used to be my room too in the afternoons! Ahh..the dilemma of a young chick who has somewhat learnt to fly but is still stuck (or going to be stuck) in the nest for the next few years!

Well, we all have our problems. But, let us not dwell too much into it and enjoy these wacky photos my friends and I took in Redang. You can actually rent the cameras with water-proof casings at the reception. And it's quite cheap too. RM 35 for 50 photos, Rm 45 for 80 photos and RM 60 for 130 photos. They also give you a CD and a free folder of professionally taken photos of the underwater world.

*Ok, I've tried uploading the photos so many times and failed that I give up! So, no photos this time. Wait for the next post or when I have a better internet connection. =)

Redang, Kuala Terengganu, Dungun Day 3

Ok, back in Redang...the third day we didn't do much. Brian and I decided to go take photographs and just walk around after breakfast. Laguna Beach Resort is really a nice place, I bet the price is nice too. =P

Laguna Beach Resort...nice.

Here is the famous MoMoCha Cafe. I never did finish watching the movie because I dislike Sammi Cheng's acting (although the movies that she was in all have rather nice plot).

A couple of jumping photos before we left:

We left Redang Island at around 9:30 a.m. in a speedboat which took us only half an hour to reach the mainland. Compare that to an almost 2 hour journey to reach Redang Island on the ferry! Brian's GPS showed that the speedboat was only going at 60km/hour. It was a rather bumpy ride but I enjoyed every moment of it. MeiJu didn't know that sitting at the front of the boat meant that it would be a bumpier ride and happily sat across from Brian and I. Haha...she was "faint boat" for a while (haha..classic translation from YiLoon to mean sea sick).

Meiju feeling "faint boat"

What is a journey to Redang without souvenirs? We went on a shopping spree at the jetty. Advice: Never buy things on the island itself because it would cost more. MeiJu and I bought a cuddly turtle each.

On the way to Woon's house in Dungun, we stopped by in Kuala Terengganu for lunch. We had steamed lekors (which didn't taste too good).

On the way to Dungun from Kuala Terengganu, we stopped by one of the many stalls by the roadside to buy satar. It tastes a little like otak-otak but it has some glutinous rice and very spicy chilli padi in it. We also bought corns. At the stalls, I wanted to try air nira kelapa which I've not heard of and bought a bottle. MeiJu warned me that its taste needs some getting used to. The moment I opened the bottle, I regretted my purchase. It smelled like the ammonia stuff hairstylists put on your head when you go for a perm. Drinking the air nira wasn't too bad. It just leaves a weird after taste. I gave the bottle to SinYuan who seemed to enjoy it when we stopped at Rantau Abang beach.

Satar

Corn, satar and air nira at Rantau Abang

After that it was an hour journey to Woon's house. We settled in and took a rest before going out for dinner with Woon's family at a Chinese restaurant. You would think that we would have stopped eating after dinner, but no, we went on to eat lekor and drink fruit juice for supper. Oohh..and nangka juice is not as bad as it sounds. It is actually very good. Do try it if you find a stall which sells it. It was only after that that we said enough and went to Woon's house for a good night's rest. Talk about eating non-stop!

Redang Day 2

The 2nd day in Redang cannot be just narrated with words. You have to look at the photos, which of course has not been uploaded yet. Hehe...I will, I will...

So anyway, the snorkelling session for the 2nd day started at 9 a.m. We headed off to the marine park for this session. I was a little disappointed with the marine park condition as there are not many live corals there anymore. Too many tourists shh shhing there perhaps? Hehe...but Brian and I had fun looking at swordfish swimming among snorkellers who did not notice that the fish was around them because they kept looking down instead of near the surface where this fish is normally found.

After about an hour, we headed back to Redang Beach Resort for lunch. Brian left the lifevest that we rented on a bench at the beach while we went snorkelling (Oh, I didn't mention that Brian can float?). When we came to take it, someone had mistakenly taken the lifevest and left his own, which is boldly marked BRBR for Berjaya Redang Beach Resort. Grrr...talk about being blur! So, after asking the resort people for advice of what to do next, we took the much smaller vest and headed back. On the way back to the hotel, the "captain" of the boat suddenly stopped his engine in the middle of nowhere. We thought that there was something wrong with the boat when one person pointed into the sea and said "turtle"! Everyone rushed to one side of the boat to take a look that the boat was not balanced for a while. Haha...great luck that we could see turtle in the clear waters though.

About Brian floating, I believe his father has done a great job at training his children to be good swimmers since they were young. Brian and his sister can float in deep waters without the need of a life jacket. FuSeng, who is a capable swimmer himself tried to imitate Brian's "floating style" insead of treading water (because it is very tiring treading water for a long time), nearly drowned. Hahaha...Brian just has to kick occasionally to stay afloat. I tried that too but in a faster pace and I too nearly drowned (all the swimming lessons gone to waste as I did not think of treading when I was panicking).

After a good lunch, Brian and I went snorkelling in the areas that he missed out the day before. We saw three baby sharks and many many other beautiful fishes. After that, we went snorkelling in another spot in the deep sea. The spot on the second day is more beautiful than the place where we snorkelled on the first day. There were many corals but not too many fishes. Brian dove a couple of times to collect rubbish from the seabed. He attached them to the back of my life jacket which fell off during my attempt to do "stunts" and take underwater photographs. Haha...

A full day out in the sun. We headed back to Redang Beach Resort and went to the baby-shark-infested area. Hehe...we took a couple of photos and went back to clean up. Dinner that night was not good. SiawHui's skin has begun to react to the sunblock that she is allergic to. The girls had to take her to see a doctor. Brian dragged me to the beach for a moon-tan and I insisted on buying a can of beer. While happily sipping on the beer, Brian came up with a box and voila! a diamond ring for the full second year anniversary of our real date. Awww...is the diamond ring real? Well, that's for me to know and for you to wonder! ;)

Sunburnt but happy.

Diamond ring. Real McCoy or fake?

Love you sweetheart!

Redang Day 1

So, right after our final paper, when everyone (almost everyone) cried their eyes out, 6 chinese girls were gleefully laughing away at the excitement of going to Redang some time very soon. Yup, the 6 girls were myself, Woon, HwaCheat, Meiju, SinYuan and Siaw Hui. As our peers bid tearful goodbyes, we were smiling and saying "see you on Wednesday!!". Haha...

Brian, FuSeng, Woon and I started our journey from Cheras at 11 p.m. Tuesday night, the others were taking a flight straight to Kuala Terengganu the next morning. So anyway, we left Cheras at 11 p.m. and reached FuSeng's house in Dungun at 4 a.m. That was Brian driving after a full day's work. So, we took a nap at FuSeng's house and left for Kuala Terengganu at 6 a.m. because we didn't know the way to the Merang Jetty. I valiantly fought sleepiness from KL to Dungun because I know how drowsy it would make the driver feel if all the passengers in the car were asleep but I could fight it off no longer and left Brian to fight fatigue on his own from Dungun to Kuala Terengganu (of which I got an earful of complaint after that). The bus was crawling and we only reached the jetty at 9a.m., the same time as SiawHui and the gang arrived.

I napped again on the ferry and got another earful of complaint from Brian because having been knocked out meant that he had to stay awake to watch over our belongings. Hmmm...

OOh...the fun part about Redang jetty is that it is a mobile one! And it stops halfway so you would have to step into water to get to the hotel! Fun right? Good thing Woon told us or we would be all wet in our jeans!

We stayed at Redang Beach Resort which is a very nice place at a very reasonable price of RM 300 per person. The way the cafeteria is runned reminds me of a camp site. You know, bread available all day, Meal time from what time to what time, self-service and clean up after your own mess kind of thing. But the food was superb. So, after munching on a bit of bread and attending a short briefing, we checked in into our rooms and prepared to go for our first snorkelling session.

Having an energy-giving ice-cream before going for a snorkel.

Snorkelling was fun. Hmm..the photos of the snorkelling session are not in the computer yet. I'll upload them in a post later. After about an hour of snorkelling, we went back, took a rest and had BBQ dinner. Yum yum...Brian threw a tantrum because of lack of sleep that day. Haha...but all is well during dinner after he had a nap after the snorkelling session while I went snorkelling at the beach with FuSeng, Woon, MeiJu and YiLoon. Hehe... I may sound like a horrible girlfriend but you spend the amount of money to have fun, right? After all, he was cranky because of lack of sleep ma, so let him sleep la while I have fun for the both of us. :P Love you, sweetheart!

Before getting a sun tan, on our way to the deep-sea snorkelling spot.

The location for our snorkelling activity that day. Beautiful place. Too bad my camera couldn't capture the different shades of blue and green of the water.

More in the next post!

Kedah - Day 5

Day 5 of Kedah trip started with all of us moaning about being tired. But there was not a moment to be wasted! Early in the morning that day, we set out for Penang! And it was the first time for me that Penang meant that we were travelling south!! But before that...how can we forget breakfast? Hehe..and breakfast was northern style prawn mee!

Northern style Prawn Mee which is very different from what you find in KL.

Our first stop in Penang was the obligatory Snake Temple which has lost its charm from many years ago. There were a few small snakes in the temple whose owners were trying to get us to take photographs for a charge of RM 25! Cut throat o! There wasn't much of a scenery to take photos there too. So, after using the toilet and going one round, we left to find the famous Penang Cendol in one of the alleyways. It tastes special because they add a bit of Tuak in it. DE-LICIOUS!

Very good Cendol!

What is a trip to Penang without having the famous Char Koay Teow. We had to wait for almost 45 minutes for the famous Char Koay Teow even though not many were there. But...our expectations must be too high coz it was not as good as we expected it to be.

Waiting for the Char Kuay Teow took so long that it made the stuffed us sleepy!

Then, we went to Kek Lok Si temple. Much has been improved since the last I went with my schoolmates back in '96. There is even a cablecar-elevator thingy now!

Posers!

In the elevator-cable car thing.

After Kek Lok Si temple, we went to eat Asam Laksa! It was good but I think the one that my mom makes is better. :P

The famous Asam Laksa.

By then, the sky has turned slightly dark. So, off we went to Gurney Plaza for a walk before setting out to Gurney Drive to eat again. I was actually a little disappointed with the lack of good food that day. The only delicious food we had there was fried chicken skin. The others were mediocre.

With a full belly, we went for a walk along Gurney Drive.

Aduh! Sakit kepala!

And after that, we headed back to Kedah.

On the ferry to get back to the mainland.

Tired. But still want to gamble. Hahaha...

Kedah - Day 4

Day four in Kedah was still in Langkawi. This time, we woke up early in the morning and went on the island hopping package we signed up for. First up was to Pulau Bunting, where we stopped for an hour at the freshwater lake in the middle of the island. We decided to go "cycling" in the water. Brian and I were so heavy that we had to paddle two times harder than the others to go the same distance. :D

Before setting off for our island hopping trip.

Beautiful lake in Pulau Bunting which we paddled on.

The others reached the jetty way before us and went in for a dip.

Continued our island hopping looking at eagle-feeding area. It was a very awe-inspiring sight.

Eagles coming in to feed.

We ended the island hopping trip at the Bras Basah beach. The water was so shallow that you can actually walk to the nearest island! And the water was crystal clear too!

Reluctantly we had to end our island hopping and head back to the hotel to check out. Alas! we had an adventure when we realised that the van keys were lost!! Haha...just kidding, we just sat around at a stall and waited for the man to come with the replacement keys. Back to the hotel for a quick shower and off we went to the Mahsuri's Museum. That I thought was another rather sad gimmick to cheat tourists of their money. It wasn't very bad, just that it needed more attractions.

Then, it was time for us to leave the island for the mainland. By then, we were famished and quite tired. We practically wolfed down our dinner prepared by MeiJu's grandmother atMeiJu's house when we reached at around ten that night. But then again, what was a little starvation when you are with your friends enjoying yourself?

Kedah Trip - Day 3

Sorry for not updating for so long. I have been busy teaching part time and travelling around and... hmm..what else arr? I dunno lah but my holidays had seem to be very busy and I haven't had enough time to rest and do all the things that I had wanted to do.

So anyway, before I digress further. This is about Day Three of the Kedah trip: We went to Langkawi.

We left Sungai Petani at around 6 in the morning so as to be able to catch the first ferry to Langkawi. We were able to reach the jetty around 630 in the morning, in time to catch the first ferry. When we reached Langkawi Island, we rented a van and went to a hotspring. There we were snapping photographs happily...

Sharing is caring

After the hotspring, we went to the Black Sand Beach which seemed to us looked very dirty and sad. But we snapped photographs anyway...hehe...

Give me your hand!

After a rather pathetic lunch we went to the cultural village in Langkawi Island to go on the cable car. We brought rain everywhere with us and we could not see much of the view.

When the sun came out of hiding again, we went to a waterfall and took many nice photographs there.

Beautiful day, beautiful girls...and a guy. :P

After that, we went on a hike of 400+ steps to take a look at the famed Tujuh Telaga. I nearly fainted halfway through because Brian wanted to keep going. I ended up climbing up the torturous stairs with Hwa Cheat and her mother. We persevered and forced ourselves to take another step. We felt triumphant when we finally reached the "top". And what a surprise when we were there! There was not a well to be seen!!! We were supposed to look at the "whirlpool-like" things under the running river! To me as a tourist, I felt cheated! VERY cheated! But what the heck, take photographs only! :P

600+ steps altogether.

Me nearly dying half-way up to see Tujuh Telaga.

See what? Where? Never mind...take photograph anywhere only...

When we finally hiked back down, we were all quite exhausted. So we checked in to our hotel (I forget the name) and rested for a while. Brian and I decided that we would go to the beach and when we saw MeiJu and YiLoon take a swim in the sea, we jumped in too.

I love doing the twist in the beach.

After that very refreshing rest, we went to hunt for food. Glorious seafood! Didn't take any photographs because we were famished and couldn't be bothered! Haha... What is a visit to Langkawi without shopping at the duty free shops? We shopped ourselves broke and still wanted to buy some more. Hehehe...

Then, it was the obligatory visit to the Eagle Square which was great if my camera could take better photographs at night. After a long night, we were all mentally and physically tired. So off to the beach we went for a beer and some chips. Ahhh...that was life... Reluctantly, we returned to the room and got some sleep to prepare for another full day tomorrow...