Sharing some spots to visit in Pahang... 1. Ride the Skyway to Genting Highlands Resort 2 way ride: 12 myr
Genting Skyway
Cool view from the top, cold!
The outdoor theme park is still under construction so there's not so much to see in the resort. I heard it will be finished by 2016, let's wait and see. For the meantime, you can enjoy the cafes, casino and indoor theme park.
2. Drop by Strawberry farm where you can experience strawberry picking or just enjoy the lavender, daisies, and other colorful flowers.
Strawberries
Surrounded by the beautiful flowers
Lavenders
Rubber boots are made into pots
3. Make a quick stop at the Chocolate Factory for some free treats and take advantage of their promos. I recommend the green tea and tiramisu with almond flavored chocolates.
4. From Gotong Jaya (where the Chocolate Factory is), catch a taxi going to Chin Swee Caves (be careful of rip off taxi drivers, they shouldn't charge you more than 15 myr).
Tip: if you are in Genting Highlands Resort, get the free shuttle from Resorts World it will take you directly to the temple. Try their vegetarian restaurant at the 11th floor.
The ten chambers or hell
5. You can travel another 40km to Bukit Tinngi where you can visit a very beautiful French Village, the Colmar Tropicale. Before going inside the village, take the shuttle bus going to the Japanese Garden where you can enjoy the cold breezy weather while taking a walk along the botanical garden.
Entrance ticket to Colmar Tropicale including Japanese Garden @ 12 myr.
Japanese Village & Botanical Garden
Japanese Tea Garden ~ Bukit Tinngi
Don't miss the 12:00 show of the beautiful Russian ladies at the center of the French Village.
After the show you can go around the village to take a close look at the French inspired structures.
Kuah!!! The shopping haven of Langkawi because of its Duty Free Shops scattered all over the place. After a 2 day holiday spent in Cenang, our final day in Langkawi was originally planned for window shopping and some "actual" purchasing but we visited in a time where most Muslim businessmen and women are on a holiday because it's the Hari Raya Aidil Fitri- the day that marks the end of the Ramadan, the end of their fasting, which means it's like the New Year for them where they get to celebrate it with their loved ones. So, as much as we want to explore the different shops and restaurants, we just contented ourselves dining in Mc Donald's, coffee at Starbucks, window shopping in the limited Duty Free Shops opened, visited the Lagenda Park and the Eagle Square.
If ever you visit Malaysia on a holiday and you can't dine anywhere because it's closed, run to the nearest Mc Donalds, I assure you they are open.
The Langkawi Fair
One of the many shops inside the biggest Duty Free shops in Langkawi where I bought a ring to be added to my collection.
The Lagenda Park
The Lagenda Park is a nice quiet park if only not for the scorching heat. I heard they charge 5 MYR for the entrance but when we got there, the ticket counter was closed but the gate was opened. So we just entered and had a look of what's inside.
This is the entrance of Lagenda Park where you can see a big map of the many islands of MY.
The park has four man-made lakes where Kois freely swim. Further up a hill is a big statue of a hand as if it just break its way out of the ground.
The Clasped Giant Hands
This has an interesting legend which I read somewhere, let me share it with you...
"This one represents the story of the two giants Mat Cincang and Mat Raya who were once best of friends. But during the wedding of one's son with the daughter of the other, they got involved into a fierce fight with each other when a lighting suddenly struck from the sky turning them into stones. The sculpture of clasped hands signifies that Mat Raya is trying to fend off Mat Cincang."
Just around 500 meters away from the Lagenda Park is the Eagle Square where the emblem of Langkawi stands at 12m high, a huge reddish brown eagle (Brahminy Kite Eagle) where they got the name of Langkawi. From 2 Malay words: "helang" ~ eagle and kawi: brown.
The Eagle Square
If ever you plan on having a shopping galore in Kuah, don't go on a holiday like this, or else you'd be disappointed.
And, if you wanna walk under the scorching heat, get ready to be toasted especially if you do it in the middle of the day.
An hour Jetty ride away is the town of Kuala Perlis where you can catch the bus going back to KL. If you still have time, while waiting for your bus, you can visit the Muslim Mosque just near the Jetty port. It's a unique one since it is built on water.
Masjid Al-Hussain- Kuala Perlis (Masjid Terapung)
Fishing in Kuala Perlis
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Travel Itinerary for Merdeka Holiday!
August 31-September 1 2014
August 31
8:00 AM: ride the bus at One Utama going to Genting Skyway.
Fare: 10.60 MYR
ONE UTAMA
GENTING EXPRESS BUS SERVICE Ticketing Office:Lot BT3, Bus Terminal (Dataran Open Air Car Park, One Utama Shopping Centre) No.1 Lebuh Bandar Utama, Bandar Utama, 47800 Petaling Jaya. Tel: (603) 7725 8211
DEPART ONE UTAMA
DEPART GENTING SKYWAY LOWER STATION (B4)
8.00am
9.30am
10.00am
11.30am
11.30am
1.00pm
12.30pm
3.00pm
1.30pm
4.00pm
3.30pm
5.00pm
5.30pm
7.00pm
7.00pm
8.30pm
9:30 AM: ETD wait for Jonah then we ride the Genting Skyway Cable.
11:00 AM: we will ride the Express Bus at First World Hotel (free shuttle) going to Cheen Swee Cave, 10 km away from Genting.
12:00 PM: there's a vegetable restaurant in the temple where we can eat lunch
Budget: 20myr
1:00-2:00 (depends on our pace)~ stroll around the temple.
around 3PM: walk to Genting View Resort about 1.9 km away.
Check in and go around the place.
6:00 PM Dinner: 20 myr
----------------------------------------------
September 1:
7:00-9:00 Breakfast and prep
9:00 AM:Travel to Bukit Tingi, we can take a taxi to drive us there, just prepare 30 myr each for the fare.
10:00AM> visit the Colmar Tropicale French Village
> Japanese Village
> Botanical Garden, etc
Lunch: 20-30 myr
3:00 PM Head to the shuttle bus going back to KL (Berjaya Times Square)
Daily shuttle transfer services from Colmar Tropicale, Berjaya Hills to Berjaya Times Square, Kuala Lumpur is available at 11.30am, 3.00pm and 6.30pm. Shuttle rate: One-way transfer for RM35.00nett (adults) & RM30.00nett (child) per persono for 1 way transfer and Return transfer for RM55.00nett (adults) & RM50.00nett (child)per person.
Cycling is always
cheaper, healthier and fun (ner?). Did a couple of travelling by bike but
this one is quite different. Why? Because I did it from 7:30 in the
morning and finished at 10:00 PM! That is like almost 13 hours on the road.
Let me share my
adventure and misadventure in Langkawi on two wheels. I went with my friend
Kellani and met another biker Shoichi, a Japanese. We tagged him along and
explored Langkawi all the way!!!
We woke up early on
July 27th2014, rented a bike
from our lodge and started pedalling to the cable car station which is around 21
km from our lodge in Cenang via the airport.
Cows grazing along the way
This sight of the cows reminds me of a place in my city called the Ambuklao Road where cows freely walks the national highway and you have to honk your car to drive them away from the middle of the road, these ones though are more tamed they don't bother to go out from the fence.
I enjoyed this whole stretch near the airport because the air is so cool and relaxing
Short stop-over to enjoy the view
After almost an hour and a half, we reached a beautiful marina, the Telaga Harbor which used to be a fishing village. This is also where you can find the the Perdana Quay, a shopping complex where you can find upscale boutiques and restaurants. It is a nice place to stop-over and enjoy the beautiful view of the park.
Telaga Harbor
After refreshing
ourselves, we continued our way towards Pantai Kok where the air becomes cooler
as we ascend the hills towards the cable car station. Monkeys were
welcoming us along the way at the entrance of the Oriental Village.
The Oriental Village
The cable car station
is inside the Oriental Village, this village is another shopping complex which
sells different sorts of souvenirs and food as well but since we arrived early
most shops are not yet opened.
Top station at 700m above sea level
We bought the cable car ticket at 35 MYR per pax. We were lucky enough because the queue is not that long and we got to ride immediately. The Langkawi Cable Car has 2 stop-overs, the middle station where you can enjoy a view of the Skybridge, a huge bridge suspended at about 100m high above the ground, unfortunately for safety reasons, it is closed and only open for public viewing from the middle or top station. You are already at 700m above sea level if you reach the top station which is the last station. It’s around 2km cable car ride and it takes around 20 minutes excluding of course the stop over, picture taking, and sight seeing.
Langkawi Skybridge
Cable Car Langkawi
Riding on the Cable Car
We didn’t stay so long
there since we want to cover a lot so we went back, had our lunch at the exit
of the Oriental Village and continued our way to the Seven Wells Stable and
Telagah Tuju Waterfalls which is just nearby. We had to walk up the
stairs going up the waterfalls. I had to see this since it is known to be
the most beautiful falls in Langkawi. I can say yes in some point since
you can see a clear view of the Machinchang Mountain, believed to be 500 years
old and partly no because there’s not so much water coming from the falls when
we were there. I enjoyed dipping in the water though, it gave me a quick
relief just bathing under the sun.
Before we left, bought and shared Buko (coconut) from one of the stores
below the stairs. Electrolytes charged
from its juice so it’s time to roll.
Overlooking the 500 million years old Machinchang Mountain
Dipping in Telagah Tuju
Telagaj Tuju Waterfalls
"are we lost???"
From Telagah Tuju, we
checked on our maps, saw and think that another falls is nearby, the Temurun
Falls but this I say, the way it looks on the map is really really deceiving, it’s
like another 20 kilometer further, and not a flat road but hills up and down,
oh man! We wanted to just leave it and turn around but maybe it’s already near
so we kept cycling and cycling.
further down is the falls
We stopped to this park but thought there was nothing in there and it was where we met our new Japanese friend Shoichi who is also looking for the same waterfalls, we actually saw him in Telagah Tuju but we didn’t realize he was also on a bike trip. So, we decided to go further together until we were near towards the end of the road in Datai Bay but still no falls in sight, met a car and asked him for directions, he said we should go back coz we already passed by it. We went back and realized, that was the bare park and we needed to go down the stairs for the falls. So we did and voila, the tiny falls right in our face, so what else to do but dive in and recharge!
But monkeys are really
everywhere, see when we finally got Shoichi to join us in the water, the monkeys
tried to steal his bag and run away with it hahaha and when we were going back
they literally tried to grab Kel’s snack, one monkey so persistent even
slapped her butt when she didn’t let go of the goodies. Just when we were ready to continue riding
back, I couldn’t find the key for the
bike lock and we had both bikes connected together, some group of friends tried
to help us unlock it but the lock was really hard to break, after about 20
minutes the caretaker of the park came with some tools and finally was able to
disintegrate it.
Finally! Temurun Falls!!!
Biking shouldn’t be
this hard if not for the heat which burns our skin and dehydrate us, feeling
thirsty all the time our water bottles went empty and no shops nearby to get
some supplies. Thankfully, before our
last long leg, we were able to rehydrate at Crocodile Island and brought some
water, soda and popsicles, oh really spells heaven!
After resting, we are ready to go back coz it’s already getting late, we passed by mosques, beaches, the famous centre for buying souvenirs which is the Langkawi Kraft Complex but sorry to say, since it’s the Raya Holiday, most shops are closed including this. We were searching for Black Sand beach and we met a kind guy in a motorcycle who led us to it, we passed by the back streets so we were able to see the kampongs (villages) and yeah, finally sunset in Black Sand beach.
Cycling through the back streets and kampongs
Black Sand Beach
Sunset in Black Sand Beach
Seriously, we need to
be going back and we’re kinda lost we even had to go back to some parts where
we came from and back again just to realize we are taking the long route when
we dropped by for some water in a local store and ask the guy selling how many
kilometers more before we reach Cenang, he stared at us with a sorry look on his face and said that it’s like 25 kilometers
more and we learned that we were in Ayer Hangat, estimated it and it will
take us about another 2 hours on the road and it’s already dark. Imagine this situation, dark, no flashlights,
no helmet, GPS and cellphone signal so poor, no local transportation for back
up, tired, dehydrated.
TIRED! LOST! HUNGRY!
We really had no
choice but to brace ourselves for the long ride, so we planned that, since my
bag has a little reflector, maybe it would help if I go last, Shoichi goes first
and Kel in the middle. We just depended
on the lamp posts for lights but sometimes we got to an area where it’s pitch
dark I’ve to brush morbid thoughts out of my mind and a lot of "what ifs". What if some car hit us and
just leaves us on the road, what if we get robbed or God knows worse! And it
really gave me the creeps when some guys on motorcycle, directed their lights
on me and tried to cut me, twice! Not only that, I was worried about some
firecrackers which can accidentally hit us since fireworks are everywhere
because of the Raya, it’s like New Year to the Muslims. My face slowly started to lit up when I saw
some road signs, and lots of light and streets becoming busier… is this a sign
we are near our destination? I guess it is! Yes, finally saw a sign, "4 km to
Cenang", but why so long to get there??? So near yet so far. Suddenly saw some familiar shops and
buildings and yes oh yes we are in Cenang!!! Finally!!! Destination completed,
just one more thing to do to wrap it all up, celebrate by rewarding ourselves
with a sumptuous dinner at Orkid Ria, a Chinese Seafood Restaurant!
TIME TO CELEBRATE! WE'VE DONE IT! LANGKAWI 100!!!
Yes, we did it! Proud that we were able to survive more than 100km Langkawi
Island by bike, burned, hungered, threatened, got paranoid but we pulled it
through, another check mark on my bucket list!
I’ve some advice though for peeps who want to try this biking
adventure:
1. Biking under the sun
can really toast you up so I suggest you go early in the morning before the sun
comes out 2. Yeah I know it
sometimes gets so eeeky but putting on sun block every after 2 hours is a must. 3. A cap and sunglasses
can help somehow. 4. Hydrate yourself
before the trip, during the trip and after the trip. 5. As much as possible
wear on proper gears like helmet, footwear and you might want to pad your butt
coz you’re gonna be on the sadle for hours. 6. Always check on your
brake pads before setting off, make sure it’s enough to last that long winding
road. 7. Study the map before
doing the adventure, really and I say really, it can deceive you! GPS is not
always accurate and working especially if a signal is so poor! 8. No matter what, have
fun! Budget
for this Cycling Adventure:
1.Bike Rental: 15 MYR
2.Cable Car: 30 MYR
3. Food and refreshment:
mine is around a hundred but it really depends on you on how much you’re gonna
spend on it.
