Pan's Journey

Kota Kinabalu, Sabah 沙巴

2010-10-31T01:43:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I traveled to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah with my mum and youngest sister. I cannot remember much about KK town although I went there after the PMR.

It takes 15 minutes car ride from KKIA to KK town and cost RM30 per way. We stay at Lavender Lodge. 3 pax in a room cost us RM85 per night. This hostel is very clean, staffs very friendly, free wifi and within walking distance to Jesselton Point , Warisan Square and others famous local restaurant. I highly recommend backpackers stay here as it is very convenient.

Below are the summary itinerary for our trip to KK:
Day 1

Arrived at KK at 4pm
Walk around Warisan Square, the water front, anjung selera
7pm, hostel owner fetch us to Luyang Seafood. Nice local seafood

Day 2

7am, eat famous chicken feet dry noodles just located around the corner of the hostel
8am head to KK park + Hot Spring
7pm reach hostel but raining, therefore have dinner at Sri Selera-Sedco Complex - Old village

Day 3

7am, eat local famous mee tuaran @ Seng Hing restaurant
8am, head to Jesselton Point - Sapi & Manukan Island
4pm, having famous 5 star chicken rice
7pm, having famous italy food @ little italy restaurant : Ground Floor, Hotel Capital, Jalan Haji Saman. They make Nice Lemonade!

Day 4

10.30am, having local breakfast
head to 1 Borneo Shopping Mall
6pm, having famous bakutah @ Yu kee
famous roti kahwin @ Fook Yuan : Gr Floor, Asia City Complex, Jalan Asia City

KK Street Map - you can take at KKIA. There's a tourist center just next to the TAXI counter

total bill RM72 @ Luyang Seafood

Famous Chicken Feet Dry noodles

Mount KK

Just pretend is the real "Raflesia" hohoho...by the way, just remember the maximum price you pay to see this real giant flower is RM10 only, some local charge RM30 then you can complain them at tourism board of Sabah

mini waterfall

Is FREE of charge~ Hot spring

Hot Spring

Old Village Seafood Restaurant

Sri Selera-Sedco Complex

Dinner RM72 for 2 pax

成兴茶餐室 @ Sinsuran 2
每日的营业时段，是从上午七时至下午二时三十分

Mee Tuaran RM6 @ Seng Hing Restaurant - Very nice

Tom Yam Seafood RM7 @ Seng Hing Restaurant - prawn just too FRESH. As what HK people describe "very tan gar"

After Sapi Island, we headed to Manukan Island. Well, I definitely disappointed by the environment, is polluted already. The corals dead. There is no fish swimming near the beach. I still remember 10 years ago the water is so crystal clear and you can even see the corals surrounding by the fish.

@Sapi Island

Beautiful Sapi Island

Yu Kee Bat Kut Teh @ Gaya Street

Total is RM31 for 3 pax

Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan

2010-09-18T06:58:00.000-07:00

From Taipei, we headed to Taichung and then took a cab to Sun Moon Lake.

Our train tickets

In front of Sun Moon Lake

View of Sun Moon Lake

Famous Egg - so many people line up for it

Very fast they sell these eggs

View of Sun Moon Lake

Got Malaysia Feel

Nice Decoration for the stall

taste not bad

Good for cooling the red tea

oily but taste not bad

famous temple in sun moon lake

Is our Lim teh time

Night view of sun moon lake

Entrance for the jiu zhu culture village

one of the village

these boats are so cool

I love my shooting

Having "ABC" inside the village food court

Having our lunch inside the village food court - not expensive. Don;t worry.

very nice garden inside the village

famous Taiwan drama "little princess" did their filming here

Puli Alcohol Factory

taste not so nice some more expensive

Add caption

清境 (Ching Jing Farm) , Taiwan

2010-09-18T05:03:00.000-07:00

From Sun Moon Lake, we continued our journey to Ching Jing Farm by taxi.

We stayed at 雲濛仙境 . A very beautiful hostel. The owner Miss Tan is a very helpful and cheerful person.

The Dining Room @ 雲濛仙境

Bathroom

Our double room @ 雲濛仙境 - for 2 person only. Big right the room =)

Having Our Breakfast @ 雲濛仙境

Our high Tea @ 雲濛仙境

来 come to MAMA ~~ "Darn these human"

Maple Leaves

Quite nice the ice-cream

Feeding a sheep is not an easy task when taking a picture. =P

I like its color.


After the show, get a chance to touch the	"fresh cut wool"

trying so hard to cheat the sheep to see the camera

pumpkin fried mee - to be honest taste "ma ma dei" only


famous pumpkin fried noodle

Every night I went to 7-11 bought these. Already addicted.

Can find at any 7-11. Very nice.

In front of Lavender shop.

淡水 (TanShui), Taiwan

2010-09-18T04:12:00.000-07:00

Bought some mister donuts to try out. really not bad as compare to JCO donuts

This is nice. We bought one to try out NT40 each.

Fried Durian

Some bloggers introduce this place for nice crepe

星野銅鑼燒 - NT 35 each

淡水-阿香蝦捲．阿給

Danshui Fisherman's Wharf (淡水漁人碼頭)

Not sure which shop we tried this already. But we bought the 魚酥 from 許義的魚酥 and 合益魚酥

阿香蝦捲 - Must try

阿媽酸梅湯 NT25 per cup

阿婆鐵蛋 - she is the real "ah po". Each pack is NT100. Got 2 size packing small egg and big egg.

文化阿給 each NT25

We tried another as well after 阿媽酸梅湯, both taste almost the same but I like 阿媽酸梅湯 more.

BBQ Pork

Took the ferry to the 淡水漁人碼頭

List of food/drinks you should try out in TanShui :

阿婆鐵蛋 - Can try out
花枝の燒
阿香蝦捲 - A Must try !
阿媽酸梅湯
Grill Squid
滬尾豆花
合益魚酥
許義的魚酥
味來香
巨無霸冰淇淋 - 大支20元小支10元 we bought the mango flavor. For those don't like so sweet, you will like it.
阿嬤古早冰
烤鸟蛋
星野銅鑼燒 - I love the crepe as well. Bought mango flavor.
上軒手工牛軋糖
三協成餅舖 - traditional style biscuit, not for young people like us =P

Danshui Old Street 淡水老街
Getting Here: Turn left as you exit the MRT and then turn right along the river to get the DanShui Old Street

太魯閣國家公園 Taroko National Park, Taiwan

2010-09-17T20:28:00.000-07:00

After the Qin Jing Farm, we headed to Taroko National Park.

On the way to Taroko, very dangerous

The highest peak

Now that I realized Mr Lu asked us did a lot of posing >_<

Mr Lu's Idea as well. Funny

Qin Sui Cliff

We have booked the driver, Mr Lu to fetch us. If go to qin sui cliff he will charge additional NT500.

Here's his contact number : Mr. Lu Lai-fu - (0)928-569-081 886 928 569081

The main page for Taroko : www.taroko.gov.tw/english/

Suao Cold Spring, Taiwan

2010-09-16T07:35:00.000-07:00

Opps 18SX. >_< ....Our private room for cold spring

We took the train from Hua Lian --> New Suao --> Suao train station

Don;t worry if you travel with bags to here

Our lunch box. We bought near the suao station. Taste nice.

Cold Spring Public Pool

彈珠汽水 - Wow, I love this.

牛舌餅 -老元香本行. Famous biscuit in Suao. Really not bad. Quite cheap.

花蓮, Taiwan

2010-09-12T09:25:00.000-07:00

I love Hua Lian. It has beautiful landscape and most importantly it gathers a lot of nice food around in the town.

Below are the food that I tried in Hua Lian:

公正包子- MUST TRY
周家蒸餃
炸蛋葱油饼 - 蔥油餅得吃加蛋的才特別
液香扁食
美琪烤玉米- not so nice
戴記扁食
黑輪工坊
杨子莹- 招牌爱玉冰, 黑糖粉圆, 花生豆花, 芋圆汤

戴記扁食 - taste almost same as Malaysia Wantan Mee

Quite "hidden" this place =P, the red tea not bad

Hua Lian Street View

炸蛋葱油饼 - 蔥油餅得吃加蛋的才特別

炸蛋葱油饼 - MUST TRY!!!

美琪烤玉米 - taste not nice

杨子莹 - the dessert is "normal" only

the shop owner very handsome

公正包子 - one word "JENG"

公正 Dumpling - Nice and cheap RM0.30 each of it

Taken from http://www.hl-net.com.tw/

For those cannot read chinese, you may refer to this map http://www.hl-net.com.tw/map/hualienmap2.html

For more information about Hua Lian, you can visit the following links:

花蓮旅遊部落格 - 花蓮旅人誌 http://www.hl-net.com.tw/

Below are the suggestions food/souvenirs to bring back from Hua Lian.

名產-德利豆乾專賣
名產-豐興餅舖
名產-曾記麻糬- we bought a lot from here
名產-花蓮縣餅
名產-惠比須餅舖
名產-前山牛軋糖

Have a break, have a coffee.

2010-09-11T09:11:00.000-07:00

I was very busy with my job from Jan to Aug, 2010.
Really not much time to spend my time in front of the laptop just to share my travelling story with you guys.
This year 2010, I have been travelling to Gold Coast and Sydney, Australia, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, Penang Makan Trip and Port Dickson.
My next trip will be Miri, Kota Kinabalu and Krabi.
Anyway, I gonna save more "bullets" (money) for my next year trip to Harbin, China and Korea. That's really "hurt" !!!

My Working Days @ Ventiane Laos

2008-10-10T07:54:00.000-07:00

Day1 - 9/10/2008

------------------------
After arriving at the Ventiane airport, we followed the driver to the Bank. It just 15 minutes journey to Bank. Along the way, I saw a lot of temples. However, the shape , design , color almost same. That's make not much different to me. When reached the bank, "Oh My God~ as expected we need to climb up 3 floors to reach our hostel." Ya~ we are staying in the hostel just above the working area. Surprisingly, the air-conditioner is big. The room also very big. When is lunch time, they brought us to the nearby food restaurant. Each dishes cost around 13000 until 45000 KIP, where RM1 is around 2488KIP. I love the coconut drink here. But I love the Tom Yum Kong more than that. Is really nice~~ but my dai lo said the prawn is not so fresh. After that, we went to Phat Luong. Is really huge with golden color painted on it. I wonder why South East Asia people like GOLD so much~~~ rich and prosperity~~ I GUESS. So sad I didn't bring camera out. WASTED!!! At night, we had dinner near Mekong River. Really nice the pat rai fried noodles. After that, we went to see the Mekong River. Very calming night view river.

Day 2 - 10/10/2008
---------------------------
Morning, we walked to the right from JDB Bank. As what they told us, morning usually no people open stalls. This town is really peaceful. Already 730am, but still not much cars around. We had banquet (France bread) and hot coffee. It costs 34000 KIP for 2 person. That's expensive.

Lunch, we had pork rice (cantonese "Mun Chu Kiot" Fan). Taste really good. Just like the taste in MBK, Bangkok food court. Moreover, we had the Bitter Guard Soup also. Nice~~~

Night, we had mee or soup mee. Is actually like wantan mee in Malaysia. However, it taste different abit.Day 3 - 11/10/2008
----------------------
Early morning, we went to Morning Market and shopping mall to have breakfast.
It costs 8000KIP for the mee and 4000 KIP for the tea and coffee. Price is similar to Malaysia but the coffee I think really expensive. =P.

Day 4 -12/10/2008
---------------------

Morning, we had breakfast ar JOMA Cafe which is abit like Starbucks Cafe. But price also ain't cheap.

After that, we went to Patuxai.

After bath, around 4pm we walked out again.

Day 7 - 15/10/2008
----------------------
Today is public holiday in LAOS, which is boat racing day.
As usual, i still wake up , breakfast , work.
Lunch time, I go out alone to find restorant nearby Mekong River while can see how's the boat racing event.
I passed by the Wat Prakeo and Wat Sisaket. Feeling so bad if I not going in to have a look. hahahaahahah....SO.....I turned back to Wat Prakeo. Entrance fee for foreigner is cheap only 5000 KIP = RM2. Then I walked to Wat Sisaket as well which is just opposite of it. Entrance fee also 5000KIP. Please note that there is a break between 12pm-1pm for these 2 temples.

Day 8 - 16/10/2008
----------------------
We went to famous noodle house in Laos.

Day 9 - 17/10/2008
----------------------
Nothing special. What a tiring day!!!! I hate socket!!! wahahahaah

My favourite drinks in Laos.

Avocado drinks in indonesia still the BEST!!!

Day 11 - 19/10/2008
-----------------------


Patuxay

Day 12 - 20/10/2008
-----------------------
Laos local food which you cannot find by the roadside.

This actually taste like small prawn. I did try few. Kinda like it. They said is very expensive and hard to find.

Well, before I back to Malaysia. I was invited to house warming by the one of the staff. They cooked some "duck blood" meals. According to the staff, is not easy to prepare this meal and not much people know how to cook this nicely.

My favourite Beer Lao -the cheapest you can get is USD1. But usually is USD1.5-2.5

Lao Salad

Duck Blood Dishes


Wow ~ nice food

List of interesting places in Vientiane:
1. That Luong

2. Patuxay - center of the town

3. Wat Prakeo - nearby president hall

4. President Hall - center of the town

5. Buddha Park - far from town need a car to go

Sleeping Buddha - very elegant

6. Wat Sisaket - opposite of Wat Prakeo

entrance fee to wat sisaket and wat prakeo is around RM2 only

Bali, Indonesia 6D5N ~ Relaxing by the beach

2008-08-09T22:00:00.000-07:00

Day 1 - 9/8/2008 Saturday
When reach Bali airport is already 2pm. We stay at Green Bali Hotel, Kuta. It provides pick up service from airport to the hotel. We have booked our driver for 3 days. Each day cost us RM130. After checked in, our driver comes to fetch us at around 3.30pm.
First day journey : Garuda Wisnu Temple -> Uluwatu Temple -> Kecak Dance -> Jimbaran Seafood.
Garuda Wisnu entrance fee is RP15,000 pax and car RP5000.
Uluwatu Temple entrance fee is RP3000 pax
Kecak Dance Rp50,000 pax

Heard a lot friends said Kecak Dance not nice, very boring bla bla bla. OK! I admit is a bit boring in the middle of the show. However, the show are unique because it does not required any instruments but using human voice "cak cak cak" and is enjoyable because they do jokes on audience after chak chak chak sounds for around 20 minutes.

Becareful when inside uluwatu temple, alot monkeys. I nearly hurted by the monkey when it tried to grab my kippling key chain. Warau neh ... scare neh ... I shouted so loud...

Jimbaran seafood is damn expensive. The dinner for 2 already costs us RP 319000 including prawns, fish and vege.

Pic: Uluwatu Temple

Pic: Kuta Beach

Pic: Jimbaran Seafood

Pic: The food we ordered at Jimbaran Seafood

Day2 - 10/8/2008 Sunday
After having breakfast, our driver comes fetch us at around 8am. We straight away head to Pura Taman Ayun -> Pacung -> Jatiluwih -> Bedugul ->Pura Ulun Danu Temple -> Tanah Lot.

Entrance Fee for Pura Taman Ayun is Rp3000 pax, Ulun Danu Temple Rp10000 pax, tanah Lot Rp10000.

On the way, down from pura ulun danu temple, we stop by a restaurant by the road side to have our lunch, which is babi guling. Cost each around Rp10,000 only. Is cheap. However, not sure whether you can stand for the hygiene of the restaurant.

Dinner at Warung Made. We tried out the famous nasi campur. However, it does not taste so good as other website said. Furthermore, the price is expensive than it should be.

Pic: Babi Guling

Pic: Green Garden Hotel

Pic: Me at Tanah Lot

Pic : Ulun Danu Temple

Pic: Pacung

Pic: Pura Taman Ayun Temple

Pic: Tanah Lot

Day 3 - 11/8/2008 Monday
Weather not so good today. Keep on raining. Bad weather.
We first headed to Goa Gajah -> Tampaksiring -> Kintamani (lunch) -> Besakih Temple.
Along the way to Goa Gajah, we stopped by some shops. I bought batik RP200,000. A bit expensive I think but quality is ok.
Entrance to Goa Gajah RP6000 pax, Tampaksiring RP 6000, Kintamani RP10000 with car, Besakih RP 25000 with car.
Please notice that when go to Besakih Temple, you need to wear sarung. If you don't have one, you can buy before enter to the temple. It costs around RP20000.

At night, we had our dinner at the famous Mexican restaurant, TJ's Mexican. The food very nice. Especially the one I had, Chicken Fagitas RP55,000 together with Mango Tango RP12,000. Really enjoy the dinner. The environment of the restaurant also not bad. Even not having dinner, you can come for drinks.Pic : At Goa Gajah

Pic: At Besakih Temple

Pic: Kintamani Volcano

Pic : Tampaksiring

Day 4 - 12/8/2008 Tuesday
After check out, we moved to Ubud area. This time we stayed at Waka Namya. Its location is a bit far from the ubud town. However, it provides shuttle service down to the down. The hotel is very quiet.

We had lunch at Ibu Oka. You shouldn't miss this when come to Ubud. Is actually "Shao Zhu - 烧猪" in chinese dishes. But then the difference is the babi guling skin is softer than in Malaysia only and chruncy too. Yum Yum. Another must try is the Es Jeruk (mandarin orange juice). Eating babi guling while drinking es jeruk . OMG ~~~ mo tak tan ar .....
I must said, I really tried out all the famous restaurants in Ubud area. After checked in, we walked around the town and stopped by each of the restaurant to test the best recommended dishes of theirs.

We stopped by Tutmak Cafe for the famous coffee. Then we ate the killing chocolate cake at Wayan Cafe. I wondered who said so nice about the chocolate cake. Is a bit hard and very choco. However, I still think not as nice as other website describe. Feeling kena cheated. Damn, is not cheap also. Then we passed by very cute shop which sells tikar bags. I spend around RM90 there for 3 bags. After that, continue to makan journey. Stopped at Lotus Restaurant. Enjoying our drinks at the lotus plant pool side. The girls next to me seems very enjoy the waffle with ice-cream. She ordered 2 for herself. I wondered was is so nice. Maybe you can order when you go there next time.

We walked back to the hotel ourselves. Then had dinner at Warung Murni. The environment is splendid. It has several level for dining. We chose the lower dining area where you can see the river. However, be aware that a lot small insects when night comes. Nice food.

Pic: Tutmak famous coffee cost us RP40000++

Pic: Ibu Oka famous Babi Guling with Es Jeruk

Pic: Ibu Oka Restaurant

Pic: Morning Padi Fields behind Hotel

Pic: Lotus RestaurantPic: Pineapple Pie, Wayan Cafe

Pic: Famous Chocolate Killing Cake, Wayan CafePic : The chicken cook for 8 hours. Must try! Warung Murni.Pic: Even Western food, they serve very good also at Warung Murni

Pic: Waka Namya Hotel

Day 5 - 13/8/2008 Wednesday
We joined the hotel early morning activity to Padi fields and villages. After check out, head to Bebek Bengil "dirty duck" restaurant (MUST TRY). Each set is Rp63000. Boon ordered Ice Bebek Putih Jambul also. It looks like ais kacang in Malaysia but the size is more big and the taste a bit difference. Chilling.

After that, we stopped by Sukawati Market. Here, you can get cheaper price for souvenir. Don;t buy at Ubud Market. It "Tong" tourist like mad. The girl wanna sell me the dress tag for Rp25000. However, I got it from Sukawati for RP3000. So you can see the difference. And most the things you see at Ubud Market also can get from Sukawati. Ask your driver bring you to there if you are in Ubud.Pic: Bebek Bengil

We had our dinner at Hard Rock Cafe. Cost us around RP 220,000. Must try the Avocado Shake RP 35,000. Just like eating ice-cream.

Pic: Hard Rock Cafe

Pic: Having Avocado (Alpukat) drinks , Yummy~~~

Day 6 - 14/8/2008 Thursday
Morning, we had delicious buffet breakfast at Hard Rock. Damn, they serve baccon. Lotsa tiny bread and things to eat. I love it.
After that, we went for swimming.
Checked out at 12pm sharp and headed to airport.

Total Expenses (for each after divided by 2):
Bus to LCCT Return RM18
Meals inside Flight RM20
AirAsia Flight Return RM320
Hotel RM600
Driver RM300
Miscellanous RM400

Around RM1700.

Catch Up with Final 4 Dancers - So You Think You Can dance II

2008-07-26T05:25:00.000-07:00

Accidentally, saw them at Sungei Wang. Wow, so nice to see them on the stage. CC is so so beautiful. Hong is cute. Black is so handsome. Sim also not bad, she is a bit shy. I think Sim dance gracefully and very confident. I like to watch her dancing. Like very enjoying.

穷忙族

2008-07-20T21:43:00.000-07:00

昨天，翻开报子就被这个字眼吸引住了。”穷忙族“ - 感觉好贴却。
这三年来，所用得精力，时间，根本就不相等于拿到的薪水。
有时还会觉得，需要那么卖命去做好每一件事吗？
还是大家都在走着同样的步伐？
我希望握有多一点时间陪伴家人。

最好的事~回家冲凉吃饭看电视剧。就这样间单。

My First Bon Odori ~ 2008

2008-07-13T21:50:00.000-07:00

Dilemma

2008-06-01T18:23:00.000-07:00

Finally, I realized one thing...... LEAVES is the biggest issue for my traveling plan ~~ not the money~~~ CIS
Left not much leaves for my next big plan~~~

Support Malaysian Artistes for Unity

2008-05-26T21:42:00.000-07:00

Download their very nice songs~~~ Nice~~

IPOH 3D2N ~ Team Building

2008-04-27T21:39:00.000-07:00

Pic: Banana Flower???

Pic: Garden at San Pao Tong

Pic : Delicious and most expensive duck in Ipoh. Cost RM34 each.

Pic : Udang Galah??? Meat like chicken taste.

Pic : Before in the plate~~~

Pic : In front of Kellie's Castle

Pic : Our room in Ipoh.

Bali 6D5N

2008-04-10T17:30:00.000-07:00

Coming Soon in August ~~~~ =P

Sapa 3Days 4Nights

2008-04-01T22:32:00.000-07:00

We took the train from Hanoi to Lao Cai. The train started at 915pm. We were lucky because they upgraded our room from VIP soft sleeper to Deluxe soft sleeper. The journey takes about 8 hours. Nothing can do in the train except sleeping. But it is tough to sleep inside the train as it shakes too much. The most challenging part is when you go pee or poo. When you pee you need to sit very tight else your bottom will get off from the toilet bowl. Some more, is more challenging for girls especially we do not sit but squad down. Imagine when you poo~~~~the chocolate cake not aiming into the bowl~~ =P~~~ Lagi TOUGH man!!!! Luckily I did not poo that time ~~ really cannot imagine~~ Hiew~~

"Oh Man~~" many people in the train station when we reached. "Kelam Kabut" , I kept on filtering those white A4 papers with name on it. "Deng~~~, cannot see my name on any of the A4 paper" Suddenly, a man with white jacket came to me with a full name list. I thought to ignore at first, but thinking it might has my name on it because the 2 foreigners next to me pointed on the paper and said "Ya ... ". Quickly, I glanced through it. "Yeah~~baby there's my name" The guy didn't speak much.... but with broken english he said "YOU, wait here .... wait here ...Don't Go." Then he showed us to a bus. It takes around an hour to reach Sapa Town. Along the road, we see nothing but heavy cold haze like white paper. Boon tried to open the window. Cold wind blows ~~ made me shaking ~~ really cold ~~~

After reaching the royal sapa hotel, we are given coupon for breakfast. Then met our lovely trek guide. Her name is Moon. Sounds romantic to me.

Many women and kids have to come out from the villages to sapa town, just to sell the souvenirs, or following the people who are going for trekking for 5-7km, just to sell RM10-12 handicraft. However, they are not as poor as we think. They have color television and satellite TV shows (just like our astro). They whole family like to sit together before dinner for films and tv shows.

Don't feel strange or weird when you see their neighbours are coming in and out from their houses. Is normal for them to have a nap at neighbours house or even meals together.

In Sapa, you will see a lot of black pigs, fat dogs and cats. It was quite pity when I heard the dogs and cats will be on the table in winter. They feed them very nice until the cats and dogs so fat. So cute. But at the end, they cook them during winter time. Because dog meat will make their body feel warm.

Trekking in Sapa is really a great experience. You can see thousands small padi fields, clean and clear river, feel the windy breeze and more .

For the first day, we trekked down from Sapa town to Ta Van Village which we are going to over night there for the first night. It is around 10 km. I still feel energetic for the first day, but when come to second day, my legs already pain.

Moon prepared those delicious meals. We ate together with the home stay owner and her family.
We slept at 10pm. Actually, we played cards for at least 4 hours as nothing much to do there.

Next morning, we continue to trek down to Ban Ho village which is 13km. The most challenging part was when passing through the bamboo forest. Because the land quite muddy.

When reached Ban Ho, we went for hot spring. But the hot spring is not "hot" at all. It costs us each RM2. Then when back to home stay, we took fast bath because at night no electricity. Damn. So unlucky. We have "candle light" dinner. Romantic right?

Then we played the turtle king game for the whole night just using the candle light.

On the 3rd morning, we have to walked up the mountain to where we have our lunch and van picks up back to Sapa town. At night, we back again to Hanoi using the train.

Pic : Hanoi train station to Sapa

Pic : Relax at Ta Van village

Pic : Passing through river

Pic : The Hmong girl which followed us on the journey to Ta Van village.

Pic : She is very cute right?

Pic : Cute boy before head to Ban Ho village

Pic : Beautiful cabbage flowers

Pic : Our homestay kitchen in Ban Ho

Pic : Our homestay room in Ban Ho

Pic : Second day homestay at Ban Ho

Pic : Ban Ho Village

Pic : Red Dao Women

Pic : Together with homestay owner and her family

Pic : Sapa River

Pic : My lovely trek guide, Moon.

Pic : Our trek map in Sapa

Pic : Behind is whole picture of Ban Ho village

Hanoi City

2008-04-01T21:45:00.000-07:00

We went a lot nice places for lunch and dinner. Summary as below:
1. Little Hanoi - cost us US $ 32 , ordered fresh spring roll and crunchy spring roll, sweet and sour chicken,2 baguette with ham, egg and pho beef. The spring roll here is very nice especially the fresh spring roll. Each roll has 4 prawns and covered with vege and of course the rice paper. 4 black coffee, so bitter need to add in a lot of sugar and milk.

2. 69 Restaurant
3. Mediterranean Restaurant
4. Roadside food - Pho chicken and "yau zha guei" for breakfast
5. Brother Buffet - cost each of us USD16
6. Cha Cha Va Long - cost each of us VND90,000 (RM18) excluding the drinks
7. Peperonnis Pizza - cost each of us VND80,000 (RM16). It has very nice sets of pizza and pasta mix.
8. Pho Co Cafe - I wonder why they said NICE.
9. Fanny Ice-cream - Nice, different flavours ice-cream, I love coconut the most.

We queued up for 3 hours together with local people just to see Ho Chi Minh's 遗容. Deng!!! 3 hours wow~~~ the longest queue I ever queued for my whole life.

They say is lucky if you can see the turtle in the Ho Kiem Lake. Damn, we for sure were lucky. Because when we walked along the lake, Boon saw the turtle first. Then suddenly everyone was rushing to see the turtle (attention : those are local people) including those cycling a long the roadside. They all were following the bumble on the surface just wanted to see the turtle again)

Puppet shows was not so nice. I slept twice during the show. =P.

Pic: Pho Co Cafe

Pic : Our Ordered Cafe, Yogurt Coffee, Egg Coffee (Yucks) =P

Pic : Me in front of Ho Chi Minh's House

Pic: In front of Ho Chi Minh's museum

Pic : In front of Ho Kiem Lake entrance

Pic: Day view of Ho Kiem Lake

Pic : Night view of Ho Kiem Lake

Pic : Looks like somewhere in Hong Kong right?

Pic : Boon and I in front of St Joseph Cathedral

Pic : Beautiful Lamp shop

Pic : kalaptop = "假“laptop (fake laptop if pronounce in Cantonese)

Pic : Me in front Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum

Pic : Choco fountain at famous ice-cream shop, Fanny Ice-Cream.

Pic : Brother Restaurant

Pic : BBQ stall at Brother Restaurant

Pic : Brother Buffet Area

Pic: Mediterranean Restaurant

Pic : Famous Cha Cha Va Long (Fish cook with vege)

Pic : Inside One Pillar Pagoda
Pic : One Pillar Pagoda

Pic : Paper rice in 69 Restaurant

Pic : Hanoi Old Quarters

Pic : Hanoi Old Quarters

Pic : Silk bags in Hanoi Town

Pic : Spring Roll in Little Hanoi Restaurant

This vietnam trip is the most enjoyable and satisfied trip I ever have so far. I used different transportation including air plane, boat, sampan, bus, bicycle, car and "11" bus (my feet).

4 of us went there on 22/3/2008 Saturday morning and back on 30/3/2008 Sunday morning. So it makes 9Days 8 Nights. We slept 3 nights in the hostel, 2 nights in the train, 2 nights at home stay and 1 night on boat in Halong Bay.

I spent around Rm1400 for this trip including hostel, packages, expenses in Malaysia before boarding and some souvenirs at Hanoi airport. Based on what I have seen so far, the chocolate sells at Malaysia airport is much more expensive than Hanoi airport. I managed to get the "Messi" Chocolate which has 8 different kinds of flavor for RM17. While at Malaysia airport it sells for RM19.

Expenses Details as below:

Hostel USD14

Air Fare RM358

Package to Sapa USD92

Package to Halong Bay USD57

Package to Tam Coc USD17

Puppet Show VND 40,000

and other miscellaneous

Bear in mind, in Hanoi city, they sell a lot of handicraft, silk bags, teddy bears in silk and etc.

I managed to get the vietnam traditional costume magnet for RM1 each which is the lowest price I asked so far. Other stalls they offered USD1 for 2, some even USD1 for 1. Damn expensive. I also managed to get fish looking small bag for RM4 each. Heard people say the green bean is very famous so each box I bought is around RM3-5. A small silk bag for RM5. A lucky chain for RM0.80. And a pencil case for RM12 (which I bought from sapa little girl as she helped me a lot during trekking )

Be careful when you take taxi/cab in Vietnam, some of the taxi drivers they have "fixed" the taxi meter which it runs so fast as you heart beats. Some taxi , they start the price at RM3 for the first 2KM.

Anyway, I would like to break down my journey into 4 parts, which are Hanoi city, Halong Bay, Sapa and Tam Coc-Hoa Lu.

Halong Bay 2D1N

2008-04-01T21:30:00.000-07:00

Halong Bay package is slimming package for me. Because very stingy and calculative. The people calculate the total spring rolls for each table. Like my table , we had 6 people, each only can take 2 spring rolls. Then no more. The foreigner seems still hungry, then he asked for more, the guy just said "No More!!!"

Please bring some biscuits along with you, if you are the type who eat a lot. By the way, is a trapped. The drinks in the boat for each can of coke cost USD1.50 which beer costs USD2. If you bring your own drink except water, you need to pay extra services for that. Fainted !!!

Pic : If pronouce in cantonese will be rude word~~

Pic: Halong Bay

Pic : From the cave view
Pic : Morning at Halong Bay
Pic : At the top of the moutain, Halong Bay

Pic : She is so cute. But I love the doggy more. hehehehe

Tam Coc - Hoa Lu 1 Day Trip

2008-04-01T21:00:00.000-07:00

Heard from tour guide it is ancient time main city where the king lives. However, they switched to Hanoi because the King saw a dragon flying on the sky towards the area where is today hanoi city. Therefore they switch to there.

In Hoa Lu city, you will find there are 2 temples where the king prayed at. For me, i think is just like in china. Then the outlook of the temple is nothing so impress but when you get into the temple. You definitely impressed by the architecture of the building and design.

I didn't go for the 2nd temple because I choose to cycle bicycle to Tam Coc City in one hour and the journey is around 11 KM. Man, is is not free, I need to pay USD7 to rent the bicycle.
"The most expensive bicycle I have rented for" ~ Deng~~

Cycling besides the padi fields was great experience! We cycled through small houses, padi fields, saw buffalo soaking themselves in the river because TOO HOT. Damn, I also nearly die of thirsty.
When reach tam coc, we first headed for lunch. It was a buffet lunch, but the food is really bad taste. The fried nice is the most "难吃" (hard to swallow) for all my life time.
Malaysia food still taste the BEST. ReallyMiss Nasi Lemak, Bakuteh very much ~~

After lunch, tour guide brought us to the jetty for "sampan" (small boat). Becareful when you choose sampan there, is better to have one people rather have two people to paddle. Because another one will start to sell you bags, handicraft and etc in the half way back.Is was very annoying. By the way, if you do not wish to buy.She will start grumbling like "sumpah" (cursing) you. Although you do not understand what she meant but you can feel that she is scolding you. How can I buy la ~~ for a t-shirt with vietnam printed word for RM20. My friend's boat aunty only sells RM10 for a t-shirt.

The tour guide said why is tam coc, because tam = 3 , then there are 3 caves which we will pass through. Actually, the journey along the river is BORING. Some people admire the beauty of nature. For sure, is good nature view, but seems like the view is the same for every caves. And it takes 2 hours to finish the journey, which is very tedious because we just sat there until my "pek pek" sakit betul (bottom pain) .

In conclusion, this trip to tam coc is a "Sui Yu" (slang in cantonese, 水鱼, which means being cheated) trip. The boat is "Sui Yu" boat, and we are the "Sui Yu" who being "Tong" like hell. The aunty even forced us to buy her drinks. Guess what, when we said no then she refused to paddle. Then just stop there for around 10 minutes. In the end, boon got her drinks, but she chooses BEER. Shit her~~~ It costs us RM6 , man not worth at all.......

Pic : Cycling along padi fields.

Pic : Tam Coc

Pic : Before boarding to sampan.

Pic : Interior design in the temple at Hoa Lu

Pic : Outside the temple

Thoughts after journey back from Vietnam

2008-04-01T20:00:00.000-07:00

During the time in vietnam, it was like no time / date in my mind.
People here speak soft and they way they treat/greet people in much more better than Malaysian.
You can see that country is really in developing progress, a lot of houses , shops, building.
Firstly, I thought there shouldn't be any branded shops around in the city. But I was wrong. I saw many shops like CK Jeans, Clinique, LV, Burberry and etc.

During the time in Sapa, I felt that we are lucky as we born with no worry of basic living.

"Be grateful for eveything you have"

Malacca One Day Trip - Lotsa ~ Eat & Drink

2008-01-12T22:02:00.000-08:00

wow~~seems like every year I must have visited Malacca with different friends and colleagues.

Yesterday just went there with one if my former colleagues and 3 current colleagues.

We first went to have Dim Sum at Sri Petaling, After that head to Malacca. Before entering to Town (Pusat Bandar Bersejarah), we went to visit Bee Small Farm. Got the Apple Vinegar Honey 1L for RM35. It taste very good somemore can clean toxic and most importantly ="REDUCE FAT"= ^-^

OK. Then we reached Mahkota Parade (shopping mall). Around itself, it changes a lot. Got new malls, and Carefour as well. Then Hong suggested to have Nyonya Food for lunch. However, he told us to look for "Michael Restaurant" . 4 of us kept searching for "Michael Restaurant" . End up 4 of us pengsan by the road side when he said "Yes we reached already" . What the $$@#$^%amp;**&~~~ we all can't see any "Michael Restaurant Shop Tag" Then he pointed as in the picture. "Michael mar~~~" Really feel like give him some bloody hell knock (please see the title clearly is MAKKO directly translate from cantonese. Really pengsan.

pic : Nyonya Restaurant - Makko

pic : pineapple fish

Anyway, the pineapple fish really Sedap but cost Rm45 for that. Damn expensive. The cendol ais there also good. Do not order the cuttle fish sweet and sour - not really nice. Overall, it costs Rm92.92 for 5 person lunch.

After Lunch, hong's car kena saman because of didn;t put the car ticket. So guys, next time please pay for car coupon. Fine Rm30.

After went to jogger street , having chicken rice, cendol ais and etc. Taking pictures at Red House. We went to eat Roti John. RM5 for sebatang. Really NICE~~~ then went for "o jian" also very nice RM10 ~~ CHEAP~~~

All felt tired already around 10pm then head to Seremban 2 to buy "siu bao" ~~~

Slept in the car till reached my house~~ already 12.15am.

Damn tired.

But overall, this trip I did try new dishes. Thank you guys~~~

Really happy to be with you guys in this trip~~~ =P

AirAsia - Prambanan Promotion Photo is Mine

2008-01-03T17:06:00.000-08:00

Hey, quite shocking when I surfed through the airasia website yesterday. They use my photo in Prambanan, Yogjakarta for their recently new flight to yogjakarta city. Nice~~
Quickly download as pdf and image. As proof as below: =P very "38" right????

Anyway, still very happy although no prizes at all ...... Yeah....at least got some people appreciate the photo.

Singapore 3D2N

2007-12-16T03:25:00.000-08:00

Haha~~Just went to Singapore to celebrate Christmas last week. Shop crazily, but quite tired because WALK TOO MUCH~~~~This is the most comfortable journey I have so far. Woke up at 8am slept at 11pm. Main purpose down to Singapore just to EAT and SHOP.

At least, I grabbed 4 pants which are Royal Robbins Pants cost $50 for each after discount and 2 bossini pants cost $23.40 after discount. I managed to get myself a Kippling shoulder bag for $49.5o after 50% discount as well. Quite worth , luckily that pattern never sold in Malaysia. ehehehhehe.....

Pic : Very nice "Dao Xiao Mee" from Food Republic, Vivo City.

Pic : At Vivo City
Pic : At Nee Ann City with Boon .... :)
Pic : On the way to Raffles Place

Pic : Suntec City Night View