short break on pangkor island

bestnye- got to travel for free for 3 days last weekend to pangkor island. i think the last time i stepped foot on the island was in a secondary school's trip. and then no more.

80 kids went with us, 10 adults. so imagine our group. we went in 2 buses. departed at 11a.m. from bidor. the sole reason for the camp- to toughen them and build characters. yup, they were going to sleep in tents, but not me. phew!

arrived in lumut just as it was starting to rain. but the boat ride to the island had to wait for, it was time to fill the stomach first. almost everyone went to kfc. that was the thing that caught their attention as the buses reached the jetty.

and so we became luggage keepers while waiting for our take-away to come back. the queue was horrendous and some even waited for almost 30 minutes. poor thing.

arrived on pangkor at 3 plus. i had no recollection of what pangkor looked like previously, so it was a surprise to see the jetty so new. but don't look into the water around the area. rubbish is floating and bits and pieces of whatever you can make out is around the pier. we even saw a bloated bolster!

the white ones are ambulance ships to transfer chronic patients to the hospital in manjung. well, i did pay a visit to pangkor hospital. more to that later.

the antique school bus which transported us from the jetty to the campsite at pasir bogak. man, everyone was awed that such vehicle still exists.
time to set up camp. all d-i-y. but the tents nowadays are easier to put up. just make sure the rods go into the right whole and they click, then u are done. the weather was rather cloudy the 3 days we were there, so it was really a blessing.
however, it was the 13th day in the chinese lunar calendar, hence it was full moons three days in a row and that meant 3 hot days with minimal breeze.
those kids complained that they went to sleep soaking wet in their own sweat and woke up drenched in it. i told them, you did not pay for 5-star accomodation and the weather was not within our control. such whinies.


my accomodation for the weekend...err no....only for 1 night. it looks cosy huh? NOT! it was not well-maintained and we found 3 nests of ants at three different corners. eeeewwww....the campsite only had limited insect repellant. so it was the broom that swept all the ants out of the room. i brought my own pillow, bedsheet and sleeping bag. kiasu mah. they provided bedsheet but i still put another layer. haha.....luckily the room is air-conditioned. but the others who came without a pillow complained of cold. i would suffocate if the airconditioner was switched off. imagine putting 10 ladies in the room and switching off the air-conditioner. oh, another school joined us.

one of the activities you can do, but we did not climb the walls.

after the tents were set up and we settled in our room, we were brought to a hanging bridge outside the camp.
saw many hornbills along the way. this was feeding itself on rice lft by the locals on a pillar.

my favourite photo. the kids asked me- patung ah? when they saw the pic. the hornbill was just perching there, not moving and i had the dslr with me. brilliant i think.

some seafood restaurants at pasir bogak. i had supper here of fried mee sua. pangkor's mee sua is thicker than sitiawan's and it is yummy.

i think this is the poshest hotel here. perak's menteri besar had a function here the next day. i heard this hotel belongs to an ex-politician.

the destination for our hanging bridge walk.



well, it is just a short bridge.

aahh..the beautiful sunset. we strolled along the beach to get back to the campsite. the campsite is just located next to the beach, but we did not allow the kids to leave the camp unsupervised of course.

the next morning, all the monkeys seemed to have been informed of our arrival that they came to pay a visit. you have to see them to believe what they are capable of performing. if you have food in your tent, say goodbye to them. these monkeys know how to unzip tents and zip them back after finding what they want. they only leave a mess inside. gosh, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner were missing. food of course lah. so keeping food in the tent is definitely a No No.

my combat gear for the 90-min jungle trekking. pants in the socks, applied medicated oil on the legs, socks and shoes, and the arms and the neck. then i was ready. ;P no leech attack for sure.

off everyone went.

trying my hand at some micro-photography. well, just point and shoot only lah because i really dunno all the more advanced functions in the dslr camera.


a leech finally, not on my palm. this just dropped in and had not made any hole in the finger yet. so a little sprinkle of salt and off it disappeared. if there is no salt, try using your saliva or last resort- urine.

we exited to the beach from the jungle.
look carefully and you can see chalets on water. see them? that is pangkor laut resort. so near, yet so far.

attempt to capture wave breaking at the shore.

there was no crowd at this side of the beach in the morning. people only came out later in the noon, but the tide rose very fast when noon approached, so this part of the beach was really quiet.

the kids cooking.

and this is what they made- onde-onde. i only like them with a lot of gula melaka inside. unfortunately, the kids' onde-onde are very crunchy instead: with grains of sand!!! everyone ran to me asking me to try theirs. i stopped after 3 because i could not take in any more sand!

a dead jelly fish washed ashore. i saw quite a few in the water. that is why it is advised to enter water not in shorts.

aaahh......the kids were cooking, i was enjoying the cloudy day and breeze. this is life!

at noon, we had flying-fox. the tower was about 3-storey high and it was quiet scary when you first accelerate down the line. or maybe because i am a coward.

last activity before twilight, kayaking and water confidence. ok, this was taken a few seconds before the wave hit my kayak and i tumbled out. hehe....no photo. i left the photography duty to someone else who is scared of water.

in the evening, 3 other friends and i rented motorbikes to go sight-seeing.


can you guess the name of the petrol station? there is still such petrol station in malaysia huh. well, i think this is shell.

well, we did not get far on the island because we went back to the jetty and stopped at a shop selling local seafood products. apa lagi, shop lah!!! we were worried that we would have no time to shop the next day. hehe...typical kiasu syndrome. anchovies, fish maw, dried squid, satay fish, fish cracker, etc......so many varieties of each kind to choose from. pening!

we returned to the campsite at 8 plus and that was when we were told one of the girls had very high fever. a car was on its way to fetch her to the hospital and i went along. another girl with mild fever also followed. gosh. how a serene evening could just change in a few seconds.

well, told you i was going to sleep in the dorm for one night. this was my bed on the second night. the girl was admitted because her temperature reached 40 C!!! the other one with the milder fever only reached 38 C and she also wanted to stay in the hospital. apalah!!! the doctor only admitted one but 3 ended up staying in the small ward with only 4 beds.

the girl was put on 3 packs of drip- sodiom chloride and she was improving as soon as the first pack reached half. phew!

only returned to the camp the next morning and all our things were already packed by then. hehe....no packing to do!

finished the closing ceremony and brunch, it was back to the jetty. but before boarding the boat, we let the kids loose to do some shopping.





the shop where we shopped.

together for the camera! everyone satisfied with their purchase and making the till ring.

all in all, it was a good break, despite having to spend one night at the hospital. i missed the night walk but it was ok. felt so tired on sunday night but after a good night's sleep. i was rejuvenated.
i will definitely go again if there is another time.

miscellanous post

okok....have to post something to appease pn kok ;P
hehehe....she has turned to be the no 1 fan of this blog. she told me that this is one of her must visit websites when she goes online. and today, she just learnt how to use pin yin on google. what a lady. and she is getting so advanced with technology since her retirement.

well, this is just a miscellanous post ya. will do a proper one tomorrow. i think i will have the time to do so in the afternoon. gosh, work is pilling up and it is not getting less.

anyway, today is perak sultan's birthday so holiday!!! took the opportunity to go home since i did not go back last weekend. brought the blanket and bedsheets back with me. blanket to be sunned and bedsheets to be washed. it was soo soo soo hot that everything was dried in 2 hours.

and when i got home, the only thing i did was facing the computer hahaha.....cafe world lah apa lagi. so many missions to complete. i wonder how i will cope for 2 weeks without it when i go for the europe holidays. less stress i guess.

so does home akin durian? i also dunno leh. mom told me there was durian in the fridge but then dad brought back a fresh one which he exchanged for a bad one he got in the last purchase. the advantage of staying in a small town and knowing everyone, including your durian supplier.

this here was my lunch and dinner....it lasted till dinner. i only had 2/5 of the durian. it was huge! the pulp was as long as my hand. i can still feel the durian in my tummy now. but it was really really good leh. it is almost the end of the season now, so durian meals will not come often then. my sis is going to curse me for posting such photos here. hehehe....come back lah.

back home, there are new additions of rails for grandma and granpa's convenience. there are 3 more in the bathroom, on 3 sides of the wall. my youngest uncle fixed this. he is the handiest.
but i did not see grandma or grandpa holding it when they walked to the kitchen. well, one never knows.

introducing apple g4...the generation before all those macbook. so kinda antique also lah. i think this is 8 years old. it is running on panther while the new macbook now is running on leopard. so panther is slower than leopard lah? gosh, it can't even detect the broadband modem because it is running on mac os 10.3. my broadband needs at least 10.4. sob sob, so what is the use of me getting this out of the workplace's store?
oh, my current notebook now is back to OK. am keeping my fingers crossed that this situation will last.
that g4 weighs a ton but the screen is damn big. well, dun think i will be using it. most probably returning it to the store tomorrow.

time to sleep. it rained heavily earlier....can't wait to get onto bed between freshly washed sheets. good night!!!

[n[ew b[ow[le[r[

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
[[[
[[[excu[se all t[hese wei[rd [s[ymb[[ols coming up.[ i [am get[tin[g v[ery very frustrated too.....

so....what do you think of when u see the bag?? another bag[?{ haha..an[d she s[aid she was goin[g to sav[e so[[[[ome money for[ her eu[rope[ trip{???[
[

[[we[ll, i am getting the bag,[ bu[t it[ is a gif[t [fr[om d[ear cousin atticus from[ down under. [i got[ an[ mms t[oda[y [from him,[ and[[ coin[cidently[, i was at the compu[ter[[[, [so[ [i[ wen[t straigh[t to the webs[it[e t[o re[tr[i[eve the photo. you see, atticus is on iphone, so i won't be able to get wh[a[tever p[icture he[ send[s me.

he is getting the bag for me because he remembers i like adidas original.[[ l[urve him[!!![[

i don't[ have a [baby blu[[[e bowler bag. so yippeee!!!! he did not answer my question whether he will be coming back soon. but i heard that he might be coming back at the end o[f [the month. can someo[ne verify this in[formatio[n[???

ok....so now....what is wrong with m[y typ[ing???

my[ ty[ping is ok....it [is t[he damn keybo[ar[d on t[he not[ebook!!! t[hey [[[[[[[[[[[[key s[eem[s [to [b[e stu[ck, bu[t[ i have ripp[ed it[ out[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[ an[d then disassemble the [whole thing and t[he symbol st[ill comes out. so in t[he end, i just[ put[ it[ back and t[ry[ to reduce typing[ on t[he notebook lah.. aaaa!!! i want to[ bash it!!!!

luckily[ it[did not go berserk[ when i was filling in my income [tax form [online. gosh. thank god. it knows how and w[hen to behave[.[ so the in[come ta[x form is done. phew! one worry out of my min[d.

have you done yours[??{?[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[

be careful of what you wished for

there was once an athlete who was chosen to represent the district for long jump.
it had always been his dream to be chosen and in his final year in secondary school, he was chosen. his jumps had improved from year to year and it was right that he was chosen. reaching 6m and above had always been a dream and this year, he did managed to surpass that length. in fact, he was one of the medal contenders in the state championship.

however, when the letter came for district level centralised training, he started complaining of this and that. he could not take the accommodation they have arranged for athletes because it was cramped and hot and dirty. his teacher had to listen to his complaints every time she saw her to ask about the progress of his training.

tearing her hair because of the complaints, the teacher could not stand it anymore and gave him a final ultimatum- either you go and stay there with the whole district contingent for the training, or you don't take part in the state championship at all.

that shut him up and he went for the centralised training and stayed there with the team. of course the teacher still had to listen to some complaints after he came back from the one night stay at the hostel, but training was over by then, it was acceptable.

then yesterday, was the day the contingent check-in for the championship which was to start today. the teacher texted the student asking him the time and date of his event so she could go to the stadium and give him support. the message which came back: i did not go.

WTH??!!! another sms- i hurt my back. i slipped when my sister mopped the floor in the house.

the teacher was speechless. her dream of seeing one gold medal from one highly-potential athlete was dashed in a freak accident at home. she wondered whether the athlete felt as bad as she did.

the lesson of the day? be careful of what you wished for. you will never know when god is listening.
always be grateful for the chances that you have got instead and rejoice in the experience that comes with it.

booking and surfing. productive days

all my bones are tingling. i am feeling excited about the trip to europe.
have had 2 productive days of surfing and booking stuff online. i am glad to do all the booking because that will mean smoother travelling when we are there.

isn't the group lucky to have me? yes ME, who does all the surfing, comparison and booking. all with my credit card. the others, worry about credit card issue, have no time to surf, etc. geramnya!!!

first up, paris via http://paris.conciergerie.com/
i have booked tickets to watch moulin rouge 9p.m. on 30/5. then i have got train tickets to go to versailles and tickets to see the fountain show in versailles. i have also got us 3 days combo pass premium which includes all the public transport in paris, some museum passes, free seine river cruise and free french lesson online for 30 days.

then on national rail, uk website, i have got return tickets to go to oxford from london paddington station. that will be on 6/6. advanced tickets only costs me 4GBP one way. that means only 8GBP return. cheap. however, there are no seats allocated. hope the train is not crowded. will have to go and collect my ticket at the station through the ticket machine.

next, i have got cars to drive when i am in england! gonna drive from heathrow to bath and will return the car at heathrow again when i settle in london for one week.

such a small picture here. it is a citroen, picasso. i hope it is enough for 4 of us and our luggage. i paid rm207 per day, not inclusive of gps navigator and additional driver charge. this car will bring me to stonehenge and mulberry factory outlet in milton keynes. hehehe

next car, from london to bicester factory outlet. yes, we need a car to put all our shopping bags! plus, it is definitely cheaper renting a car to go there. yes, i have compared the rail tickets.
will be picking up the above car, vauxhall corsa 1.2 from kensington and returning it on the same day.

then i wanted to book a walking tour in oxford city but i could not because they do not take such advance booking. i think they only take one week advance booking. hence, i will have to call to book when i reach england i guess.

i have also got yun's help to book parliament building tour on the saturday i am leaving london. they do guided tours on saturdays in summer. my luck. i asked her to help because i don't want to pay extra charges for the tickets to be sent to malaysia. quite expensive lah. anyway, the tour ticket is 15pounds each.

phew...what else do i need to book or to see????
i know i know, i have to go to the money changer. anyone comingback from england or europe????

i am exhausted already after all these bookings.

got something to cheer me up yesterday.

a little gesture from one of the kids. i did not expect he would give me something. it is so thoughtful of him and he waited till everyone had left to give it to me. not a case of infatuation gua. like the yellow twirling motif in the heart. now, where shall i hang this charm??

life is not a bed of roses as well though. i am quite upset with the way the older kids are behaving
in front of me. it seems that the friendlier you are with them, the more brash they are becoming. the notion of having some courtesy has disappeared when they are talking to me. they will be shouting and raising their voices and forget their p's and q's, just like when they are talking with their friends.

just because i am approachable and can think along the same wavelength doesn't mean that i don't deserve any respect. one of these days i am going to blow my top and scold them right in the face. but before that happens, i better think of some ways to put it in a gentler manner and cause less damage on the ego and the rapport i am sharing.

forgot to post this loaf of bread. From the loaf, the most expensive in their menu i think. Costs twenty five ringgit. Interested? A whole chunk of cream cheese can be found in it and some dried fruits. Is it worth the price? Well, i won't pay for it. Can't really accept paying so much for a chunk of cream cheese

another cheese cake

got this request from mom to post this photo on the blog for aunt to see. Well i guess i was wrong about mom not making another cake. But i bet she is also making it because she is going to visit her parents@ graveyards tomorrow with my uncle, mom's brother and his family. Mom used a larger baking tray this time hence the cake did not balloon so high. I suggested using cup cake sizes next time. Will see how that goes. Anyway, my breakfast tomorrow is settled and i still have some bread karen brought back from the loaf. Breakfast is no doubt my favourite meal of the day.

a call, and harcourt is mine for the week

aaahhh!! i feel like screaming now!
just made a call to london, all the way to the property agency i am renting from come this june.
in my head, i wanted to scold the guy, but i also told myself to calm down and be polite and courteous and friendly at the same time.
you don't want to start on the wrong foot with the agent who is going to hand you the keys to the apartment you will be staying for one week.

i have actually waited for almost two freaking weeks for hims reply on the status of our booking. money was transferred when i was holidaying in indonesia and i have scanned copies of signed license agreement then. then the looong wait began!!!! i have mailed him few times after that asking if the money was transferred successfully. no reply!

i could not take it anymore. because of this anxiety and uncertainty, i put the rest of my plannings on hold. geramnya!!!!

and i finished my conversation with him in only 2 mins. yes yes yes, he knew who i was and even had to cheek to repeat that i was waiting to get an official confirmation reply. he would send it to me and he even asked me if i needed a map. uuurrrgghhh!!!

so i guess now, i can breathe a sigh of relief lah. and of course i discovered that calling is a faster way to sort things out with him. he does not sound like any old man who is slow in responses, but rather like an annoyed young man in a hurry.

so come june, i hope i will be settling down in london comfortably for a week at harcourt terrace without any glitches.

exploring malioboro

ok...continuing with my yogjakarta post.
anyway, there is nothing to post about my life right now. the same old routine but just working in scorching condition nowadays.

jalan malioboro or malioboro street is one street you do not want to miss when you are in yogjakarta. bring your shopping list here and you can find all the souvenirs and batik you need.
this is the south of the road, this is where it begins. i did not even walk till the end. so i have no idea how long the road is, but i can tell you, it is LONG. we walked there for almost 3 hours and we did not reach the end.....but i think we should be almost reaching the end already. but we got too tired and hungry that filling our stomachs was more important then. and oh, money was running out as well.

shops and stalls along the corridor. your eyes go all fuzzy after a while because most of the things on display are almost the same.

the only mall along this road- malioboro mall. they have shops like body shop, athlete's foot, a supermarket, mcdonalds, pizza hut, j& co donuts, etc here. i think the bigger malls in yogjakarta are along the road from the airport into the city. i saw a carrefour there.

our 'exploration' brought us to a first storey store selling factory outlet good and i found my pair of crocs here.
ta-da. have been looking around for a while after seeing a friend wore it. i got it for around rm80. the shop also sold nice fit-flop slippers which are sooo sooo soo comfortable that i felt like i was floating walking in them. really nice and it was selling for around rm110 only. you will never get this price in malaysia. unfortunately i am not a slipper person.


besides beca, another common form of transport here is horse carriage.

this was dinner for us that day. nobody felt like taking in anymore indonesian food so we settled for something familiar.

we don't have this pizza in malaysia right??? it was good. love the dough.

bliss in phoenix hotel

welcome to phoenix hotel, yogjakarta. situated right in the middle of the city but you don't know it because you are housed in this glamorous colonial style building that is almost 100 years old.

aahh...i did not really feel like venturing out once i had entered. i am sure many expats call this hotel their 'home'.

it is just 5 mins walk to the famous malioboro street famous for its shopping for both tourists and locals alike. so there is nothing more i can ask for.
cars going into the compound will be checked for bombs. yup, then ran a scan under our van.

see that vintage car? well, it can still be used and is up for rent.

all the beautiful gowns lining the hotel in-house boutique. exquisite fabric. i want!

check-in desk

my favourite place of this hotel- the swimming pool. see all those balconies facing the pool. unfortunately, my balcony did not face this side ;( but i did have a dip there in the morning and there were only 2 of us. bliss.

the courtyard separating the old and new buildings. my block is new. the old buildings are those facing the main road.

the lobby

restaurant area where i had my buffet on my last night. was too lazy to go out because the streets were wet. see, i told you i refused to get out of this hotel.

outside the entrances of the ball room.

buah salak to welcome the guests. i think it is a local fruit in this part of indonesia.

every room comes equip with a weighing scale. hmmh....to see how much you have put on during your stay there??

deluxe king room. we slept 3 on the bed and the room was very spacious. every room comes with a balcony. forgot to take a picture.
the other 4 of my travel mates were in double room and theirs were quite small, there was nothing to shout about. i love my room.

they provide you a bath robe and this batik robe too.

so in short, i had a good stay in this hotel. i miss it!

on the way to yogja city

bye bye borobudur at 9a.m. and off we went to yogjakarta city.

since we woke up at 4a.m. for sunrise tour and finished our breakfast by 8.30a.m. there was nothing much to do there.

so we checked-out and got the driver to drive us to the city.

candi mendut, seen on the way out to the city. i heard from the video seen in the hotel that pilgrims stopped here before reaching borobudur for their homage.

the smoking merapi- smoking all year round.

the driver stopped us at a batik house for some batik shopping. gosh, the batik pieces were really gorgeous and exquisite. when my hands touched the cotton and i saw the vibrant colours, i was in love. unfortunately the price was not right. hahaha.....i don't want to make skirts or kebaya with them, i want to make baju kurung. but to make baju kurung, you need to pieces of batik (2m each). then price was quite high and it was difficult to find two similar pieces because each piece was uniquely made. save $$$
i love the white and blue piece. it would make elegant kebaya bottom right? you just have to get another piece of material of that blue colour for the top. Anggun.

anyway, i helped a friend get a kaftan here. she said those in malaysia are very short for her and i found this long one.

tada, i also found something for myself here. a tie-dye shirt. haha...guess how much??? only rm7!!! woo, what a bargain! i like.

everyone was satisfied after that batik shopping trip. it was then time to have some lunch.
they driver brought us to a buffet place....i think tours bring tourists here often. saw many tables were reserved for tour groups.

the food here was quite authentic and good, so we did not complain. there was quite a variety too. the satay was good.

the above dish is gudeg, traditional food of yogja. it is young jackfruit (nangka) boiled with coconut milk and palm sugar. we did not quite like the taste. i guess we were just not used to the taste. palm sugar is quite a favourite in this place i think. the hotel's welcome drink is also made of palm sugar with a piece of lemon grass. not my cup of tea as well.