Something to look forward at year end

I have a dream. I want to have a road trip across US. I know it's not impossible. A lot of people had done it even my parents had done it in early 80s. I know I can do this.

I told my traveling partner and he agreed. Yes! Just the two of us driving and venturing into the unknown world. Wow this will be the best honeymoon ever. I love traveling but the budget doesn't permit us to do it often. I know my traveling partner loves traveling too but he knows all the hard work always fall upon him. This time sayang, I'll work on my stamina and we will do the dirty work together, ok.

My plan would be at the end of this year. When I finish my master and before we go home. But it's in winter so we probably go in the southern part first. That would be just nice as I'm at the southern part of States.

Ah, can't wait for this. I need to start saving for this trip.

Ps: I do have good time here too you know. I know the posts have been very gloomy and always at the gray side of my personality but I tend to forgot to write happy stuff happening here. I promised I will write happy stuff too.

Awana Kijal trip

Last weekend we went to Awana Kijal, Terengganu to have a short break. We have to send Choki first to his birth place for 2 nights stay before having a lunch at a delicious restaurant, Leha Kelfood which is on the way to the Karak Highway, before you enter the highway to Genting I think. The ayam percik and ikan bakar was very nice and they have so many lauk-pauk to choose from.

The journey was roughly around 4 hours. After the east coast highway, we supposed to go to Kemaman but instead we turned to Jabor. Thank God for Zainal's GPS, we managed to find the way without the need to U-turn. But the thing about GPS is, it gives you the way regardless what road it is. Like that day, GPS led us through the one way Felda road which was unbelievably uneven and wavy. I felt like we were in a rally race. But it was interesting.

We arrived there around 5.30pm. Since we used timeshare, they gave us a 2-room apartment. It was nice apartment but a bit far from the main hotel (just across the parking lot lar). But just the 2 of us in that 2 rooms apartment is a waste la. But ape gunanya honeymoon jika invite orang lain in sharing apartement with us kan. What good about this hotel that, just outside the area, there's a row of shops and restaurant that you can try. So you don't have to fork out a lots of money to eat in the hotel. Hehe....

On Sunday we swam from morning to afternoon, rest for a while and continue in the evening. The hotel very big swimming pool with separate kids area and even has 2 jacuzzi area which was so wonderful to soak and be happy. Hehe. We planned to rent the ATV but fate not on our side when the ATV broke down after 7 minutes of riding it. I didn't have the chance to drove it. Jadi penumpang je.... So the operator gave back our money. At least we got to ride it for free. Actually we want to ride along the beach. This hotel has very long private beach and it was well taken off. However, being in the east coast, you know how the waves are, very rough and big. So we only managed to swim very near to the beach and after few minutes, my body hurt and become very tired fighting with the waves.

While waiting the operator to save us.... ambil la gambar dulu

What interesting was that I bought a water resistant camera bag - Aquapac few months ago. Actually bought that for Phuket trip but the trip was canceled so I never use it. So this time, we were like camera-whore. Every stunt in the water will be followed with a photo shoot. It was a good buy. After this, I don't have to worry about water ruining the camera. Furthermore, I don't need to buy the water-resistant camera just for this purpose. Isn't it wonderful? Hehe...

Makhluk air di dasar kolam

That night we booked a fireflies watching trip at a nearby village. We with few others Mat Salleh excitedly in the van when the driver received a call that there was thunderstorm and raining heavily at that village. As soon as he announced the trip was canceled, the rain started to pour heavily at the hotel. I guess that day wasn't a lucky day for us.

Disappointed can't watch the fireflies... so ambil gambar dengan lampu lobby hotel je la..

So on Monday we head back to our beloved home. But of course when you are in Terengganu what is the most important thing to buy? Keropok lekor. I bought a total of RM10 of it and 4 packets of keropok biasa tu... Wah... so happy to get Terengganu's keropok lekor.

2 happy bunnies

After arriving Kajang, we have durian feast. Memang best la... Wish we can go holiday like this often...

Honeymoon Trip to Bandung

A lot of people asked why we chose Bandung instead of Bali for honeymoon. Even the Bandung man himself. Well, Bali is so commercialized and next time I go to oceans, I want to dive. So we booked the package even before our solemnization date was confirmed.

We stayed at Arion Swiss Bel-hotel which is so wonderful. The staff are all very friendly and the room was okay and I think it was a wise choice. They even send us a fruit basket as our honeymoon gift. Even me forgot that I've mention that we are on honeymoon when I was booking.

In front of our boutique hotel

Lucky we have a supir (driver) who was good. He was very reliable and can be understood well. He knew where to go and suggested a beautiful restaurant which has the hillside overlooking Bandung city. He took us before sunset to experience the moment. Unfortunately we missed it as the day was cloudy. Anyway, the view was fantastic and the food was not bad. It was so cool and it was perfect setting for couple on honeymoon. 10 points for Irfan.

The so romantic restaurant -Sierra Cafe at Dago Paka

The shopping at Bandung is very bad for shopaholic coz it will make you go mad with shopping. There's a lot of factory outlet and there are all very very cheap. According to people all the items are original but maybe it has some defect that the factory send to the outlets. Can you imagine Louis Vuitton handbag at around RM200 only! I was going to buy it but at the end I bought LeSportSac instead coz I wanted it for so long. The LeSportSac that I saw in Malaysia was about RM200 but there I got it for RM70 only. I don't know what's the defect coz in my rough eyes, I can't find it. And I bought a lot of clothes. My regret was not buying more office shirts. I bought one only. Boleh tak. Irfan has brought us to very good FOs like Happening, Neutral. I also prefer Cascade and Heritage. Contrast to popular advices, Rumah Mode is happening but I didn't find anything I like there.

The happening Rumah Mode. Oh, that's not shopping bag from Rumah Mode.

The next day we went to Mount Tangkuban Perahu. We love the place but hate the people there. We were cheated big time. We spend almost RM300 at that place only after being cheated by these so called pity-us-we-are-just-farmers-trying-selling-something-to-support-our-family things. Irfan has warned us not to follow them but instead they were following us like vultures.

Anyway, at this place, this was the closest I've been to volcano crates. The smell was unbearable as it was smell of sulfur from the volcano. The last time the volcano erupted was in 1969 which was not long enough in my opinion. Takut jugak tetiba hari tu dier nak buat hal.

At Kawah Ratu. The biggest crate. Bahawa betul berdiri kat tepi tu...

On the way downhill of the Mount Tangkuban Perahu. Jauh okay...

Behind us is the 130C water from ground. Panas dan bau busuk plak tu..

We covered with mud that supposed to be good with the vultures being supergood to us before start selling overpriced items to us. The water at that area was around 20-30C only. Okay la... boleh celup kaki & tangan.

Oh, 1 thing in Bandung was that it has many J.Co outlet. Strangely that was the first time we ate J.Co donuts after the 1st attempt to eat it at Sunway Pyramid was failed after seeing long queues. There, it has not even has a queues. And I just found out that J.Co is an Indonesia product. No wonder Irfan was not impressed when we jakunly told him about J.Co.

The food at Bandung was quite cheap and not hard to find as it's population is majority Islam. Mosque is everywhere. You have to choose what to eat: Padang or Sundanese.

Of yes, there's another place that you should go, Pasar Baru. It's where you want to buy the traditional things in bandung - telekung, kebaya and lace. It's so cheap. I can imagine if I went with my mom. But this time I'm with a man, so the situation was different la. Oh, we were looking for cheap invitation cards for our reception when Irfan volunteer that he has a friend that do the printing job. He even gave us samples of cards to take home to choose from. It's beautiful and quite cheap. anybody interested, please call me. =)

The conclusion: the trip was great. It would be better if we can come back at later flight instead of morning flight on the 3rd day. Tak puas la... Next time I want to go again (especially when I want to change the whole wardrobe)

Travel tips - Perhentian Island

Perhentian Island is one of the many island in east coast of Malaysia in the state of Terengganu. It was divided into Perhentian Kecil (Small Perhentian) and Perhentian Besar (Big Perhentian). Both islands are next to each other and you can take boat to go there. There is no significant different between both island (according to me la) as both give you the clear blue water, white sandy beach and many snorkeling area.

Since I just come back from there, there's few tip I would like to share to those who likes to travel there with tight budget and at the same time enjoy every moment of your vacation.

Tips on traveling to Perhentian Island if you are a budget traveler:

• We can take boats to Perhentian Island at Kuala Besut jetty. How to get to Kuala Besut. If by air, take flight to Kota Bharu. From Kota Bharu, take taxi to Kuala Besut. Usually it’s around 1 hour and cost from RM50-RM60. By bus, you have two options. There’s a bus company called Mahligai that take you direct to Kuala Besut. It’s usually departs from Putra Bus Station, Kuala Lumpur at 9-9.30 pm and arrives at 5.30am. There are many other bus company but they only take you to Jerteh. From Jerteh to Kuala Besut takes about 20-30 minutes. You can take taxi (cost around Rm12-15 per cab in daytime. Not sure if it’s different on the wee hours) or bus (cost you only RM1.50 per person but the schedule is very unreliable).
• Use backpack as your luggage. This is because between the jetty to your resort in Perhentian Island, you need to change to smaller boat. May resort doesn’t have jetty and you are force to cross over the boats in the middle on the ocean. It is wise to bring backpack as it is easier. Imagine you bring the rectangular plastic luggage that have wheels, it’s heavy and you need to balance yourself with your beg at one hand to cross over the boats. Hmmm… dangerous. But don’t worry, the boatmen are very nice people, they will help you.
• The first boat departs from Kuala Besut usually at 9am and the last one at 5pm. But there’s one travel agency, Kuala Besut Travel Agency, their boats depart at 7.30 am. And their people will wait for you when you arrive at Kuala Besut at the bus stop even at 5.30am. Other travel agency only open at 8am. Including mine. Sigh.
• Don’t be afraid if you arrive at 5am coz there’s few restaurants that already open and you can hang out there. And there’s surau nearby. And there’s also parking lot that charged you on day-to-day basis. Suitable for those for drive to Kuala Besut.
• There’s a lot of resort / chalet there on the island, from the most expensive (Perhentian Island Resort) to RM 20 per night chalet. Depending on your budget, you can choose these varieties of chalet at various locations on Perhentian Kecil and Besar. The backpackers’ chalet usually is a walk-in basis with no booking service. Some resort reserves some chalet for walk-in and doesn’t open to travel agency to book. You can check out this website: www.pulauperhentian.com.my. & www.perhentianisland.com.my.
• I’ve been here twice and both trip I stayed in Flora Bay Resort which situated in Teluk Dalam, Perhentian Besar. Likes is very subjective. Some might not like it but I like this resort. First trip was 10 years ago but last month I went there, the place was still the same. Same white sandy beach. Clear blue water. What I like that the waves are not so big, very calm and you can even see a school of ikan bilis swimming by the beach. They provide many hammocks under the trees and you just can sleep by the sea in the afternoon without fearing of sunburn. The people they are friendly and they don’t disturb you.
• The thing about Teluk Dalam beach is there are many other resorts such as Everfresh, Fauna, Samudera and Arwana. So you can choose the variety of food at different restaurants. I’ve taste Flora Bay and Fauna and both are delicious. These resorts also have their own dive centre fro those who wants to scuba dive.
• Where sun screen / sun block. It’s not about getting tan or scared to get tan but to protect from sunburn. There’s one guy in our snorkeling trip got sunburn on the first trip and can’t join for the second trip. Rugi jer.
• For snorkeling trip, there are many prices on what I observed. My travel agency (Anjung Holidays Travel Agency) charged RM 35 per person per trip but at Flora Bay Resort, they charged RM45 per person per trip. However, I already checked area of the trip cover and both showed the same place, which is marine park, turtle area, shark area and spring water. I think 1 trip would be not enough especially if you go in the evening coz the turtle couldn’t be seen. I went twice and both trips were at different place and time except the shark area. The evening trip usually at 2pm and the morning trip at 10am.
• Make sure that your boatman (aka tour guide) showed you the exact place. My boatman actually swam together and brought us to the exact place to see the sharks. And some other area in the marine park where you can see a school of big fishes (a kind that size of more that half of your body). It would be a waste if he just drop you at a place without you knowing what to expect. You might end up seeing the same species of that small fish at every stop.
• To make your snorkeling fun, bring a loaf of bread. Fishes will surround you to eat the bread. The second trip we were lucky to bring the bread coz then only I felt like a part of nature. Even bigger size of fish (a size of 2 palm hands) came to enjoy your bread. They are very gentle creature. Except 1 fish, the others never bite you. Ok, maybe they might confuse your hand with the bread once a while but it was not painful. The best part is that they will stay with you for a while even after the bread finish.
• If you have the water resistant camera, this is the time to utilize it to the maximum. The view under the water was breathtaking. If you don’t have, don’t worry. You can always buy the instant camera (the one that come with the film & once finished, you can’t refill the film). It’s around RM37-40 for 27 shots. Ok lah… The pictures were acceptable la. (For example: You can see my previous post where there’s picture of swimming with fishes. That pictures were using that camera.)
• It’s advisable to bought your mineral water before going to island. The price was twice than normal. The large mineral water (1.5L) is enough la per person to carry & drink at least for 1 and half day. Bring biscuits & snacks coz everything there was expensive.
• However, the food there was not very expensive. Not the certain point of too expensive that it’s not acceptable. The range was ok and asked for seafood coz their seafood was fresh.
• Don’t go to Kuala Besut and Jerteh on Friday. All shops closed except grocery shop. Enough said.
• Lastly, just enjoy the every moment. Life might not as exciting as in the city but it’s very relaxing and calm. The people over there are very friendly and they did everything is no rush manner. (That’s explains the unreliable bus schedule). After 3 days there, I was also infected with that no rush symptoms. It was nice to live in place where you don’t have to rush from one place to another place. (And it’s good for your heart too. Hehe)

Can’t think of anything to add. If there are any more tips, I will update it. Btw, those who has any tips on Perhentian Island, please add at the comment.

Note: Instead of just describing of fun I have and what I did, it’s better for me to do this travel tips thingy right. At least can give some points to those who interested of going that place.