Tunnel to the Twin Towers - Malaysia

My entry for:

and

Last Thursday, we drove through this tunnel to get us to...

KLCC Petronas Twin Towers - the second tallest twin towers in the world.

Kuching, Sarawak

A month after we got married, a friend invited us to Kuching, Sarawak, East Malaysia. Peter did some teachings and I tagged along and did a bit of teaching too. It was quite a good trip. That time, I didn't have my digital camera yet... so whatever photo I'm showing here is not mine. Our hots took us to Sarawak Cultural village where we saw a different culture compared to the West Malaysia culture. What interested me the most was when we were on our way to Sarawak Cultural village, we passed by Gunung Santubong and saw that spectacular view of a mountain.

I didn't know that it carried so much of legendary tales. Actually, when you are there, you can see an image of two women, with long hair, facing down (the image, which I googled, isn't showing justice to the image of a woman with long hair. next time I go there, I make sure to capture the real image. promise. :D). Legend has it that there were two princesses that lived in the heavenly kingdom Kayangan. The Crown Prince fell in love with both of them, but they refused to be joint wives. The King of Kayangan banished the princesses to earth, where they became Gunung Santubong and the nearby Gunung Seijinjang. Geographically, Gunung Santubong provides a spectacular backdrop to hotel resorts, local fishing villages, and the Sarawak Cultural Village. Its striking peak is visible from Kuching on most days.

Pancit Palabok

One of the Filipino dishes I miss eating is pancit palabok. My classmates and I (during college days) would go to Jet's Pop Garden to have it.

As we know noodle is introduced to Philippines by the Chinese. Filipinos took it and made dishes with ingredients available locally to them. Pancit Palabok is made of rice noodle with shrimp and pork or chicken sauce topped with what we call chicharon or pork crackling,hard boiled egg, smoke fish, boiled shrimp, spring onions and lemon. I haven't done pancit palabok yet. But if I can find a recipe for pnacit palabok, that would be great.

My Travel Personality - Adventurer

Your Travel Personality Is: The Adventurer

For you, travel is how you learn about the world. And you like to learn the stuff that's not in guidebooks. You truly have wanderlust. When you're not traveling, you're dreaming about where you'll go next. And your travels are truly legendary - they leave you with stories you'll be telling for the rest of your life!

What's Your Travel Personality?

Sentosa Island - Singapore

Sentosa Island, Singapore - November 2005
We celebrated our 2nd year wedding anniversary there 3 years ago. On the background is said to be the southernmost tip of Asia.

Alor Star from the 18th Floor

A view of Alor Star, from the 18th floor of Holiday Villa, Alor Star, Malaysia

My hubby and I flew to Alor Star for a meeting last week. Alor Star, formerly known as Alor Setar is the state capital of Kedah, Malaysia. It is also a distribution center for manufacturing and agricultural products such as paddy, and the royal seat of the Kedah state since the establishment of this city. It is also the birth place of a few famous personalities in Malaysia, including two former Prime Ministers, YTM Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia's first Prime Minister, and Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, Malaysia's fourth Prime Minister (image of his house is shown below). Alor Star was granted city status on 21 December 2003.

This was where Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, Malaysia's fourth Prime Minister, spent his growing up years...

Top 10 "Watery" Destinations

In line with my planning on the upcoming Golden Triangle trip, I started getting some information about some places that I'm planning to visit. When I flew by Air Asia, I was reading their magazine. We were not suppose to take it from there. But I so badly wanted a copy of it. What did we do? We stole it. Literally. But with a permission. We actually asked one of the crews if we could have one copy of the magazine. She said no, we're not allowed to take one. We pleaded. We begged. Until we came up with the idea. "Let us buy this magazine. How much would it cost to buy one?" So the crew left to ask the chief of the crew. She came back saying we could take one copy... but please, oh please, don't let anybody onboard know about it. So we kept the magazine. What's inside there that I really wanted to have it's copy? Its top 10 "watery beauty" destination in the region written by L Leavitte. I'm gonna list down what's in the list:

1. Li Jiang, Guilin, China - Guilin is just extraordinary. The town is literally surrounded by a fortress of limestone mountains. In fact, these awe inspiring limestone karsts stretch 100 kilometers along the river Li Jiang. This river experience often includes a stopover at Yangshuo, a smaller but no less picturesque town downstream from Guilin.

2. Perfume River, Hue, Vietnam - Spend a day walking through this historical city's splendid imperial tombs and you'd feel as if you have stumbled back in time to feudal China. Since these world heritage-listed monuments are easily accessed via the Perfume River, a day cruise along this famed waterway still provides the most leisurely option to explore the extravagant mausoleums.

3. Nam Song river at Van Vieng, Laos - About 3 hours from Vientienne, Van Vieng is known for its Nam Song river. Throughout the years, it has become a rite passage for Southeast Asian backpackers to travel to this sleepy village, rent an inflated tractor tire and float down the calm river.

4. Seminyak Beach, Bali, Indonesia - Seminyak is the new Kuta. It feels more exclusive - the nightlife is hip, the accommodation even more stylish and the beach is definitely less crowded. Since the opening of Ku De Ta, a breezy chic beach club a few years back, Seminyak has slowly risen to become the "it" beach of Bali. I have seen the beach and stayed at Seminyak Villas.

5. Tonle Sap Lake, Siem Reap, Cambodia - the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia, Tonle Sap makes a refreshing day trip from the city Siem Reapafter days of temple-hopping. Here you can observe water villages, mangrove forests and rare birds such as the milky stork and spot-billed pelican. But what's amazing is that during the wet season, from May to October, the lake swells to more than 5 times its size.

6. Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia - Just a short drive from Melbourne, the Great Ocean Road hugs the contour of Victoria's rugged Southwest coast. It is Australia's best road trip, which affords unobstructive views of dramatic cliffs and the ocean. However, many travellers only have one thing in mind - the collosal rock stacks known as the Twelve Apostles, that rise to the southern ocean at Port Campbell. Little do people know that this coast also harbours some very challenging surf beaches, such as Bells beaches and Apollo Bay.

7. Chao Phraya River, Bangkok, Thailand - If you can pry yourself from Bangkok's throbbing nightlife and and irresistible shopping, you'd discover a part of Bangkok that feels like the Asian equivalent of Venice. The Chao Phraya river is buzzing with life and many Bangkok landmarks, such as Wat po and Wat Arun, are located along this river. - I remember attending a friend's wedding (he's from Norway, she's Thai) that had a wedding reception in a cruise along this river. We saw these two Wats. But I always feel motion sickness. So when we reached the pier, I run outside to throw out the food I ate. ewww... that was unforgettable.

8. Upper Rejang River, Sarawak, Malaysia - To experience the real Saraway, travel to the upper reaches of Rejang River to discover the side of Borneo not commonly portrayed in travel brochures. All you need to do is fly to Sibu, take the express boat to Kapit, stock up and hop on a boat into the many tributaries along the river. - I have only been to Kuching, Sarawak. I am hoping to go to Sibu to enjoy the Upper Rejang river.

9. Victoria Harbor, Hong Kong - The waterway between Hong Kong island and the Kowloon Peninsula, Victoria Harbor, is one of the most photographed landmarks in the world. Yes, the skyscrapers on Hong Kong island is a stunning view during the day but when night falls the night turns euphoric. The Tsim Sha tsui waterfront is the best vantage point in Hong Kong. You can also hop on a nostalgic Star Ferry, which has been crossing the harbor since 1800s.

10. Perhentian Kecil Island, Terengganu, Malaysia - The Perhentian Islands is the perfect spot for an amazing tropical island getaway. The beach is white and sandy, the water is cool and crystal clear, and the green foliage complements the perpetually gorgeous blue sky. My sister-in-law is from Terengganu and we've been planning to visit the place since ages ago. I heard that they have the 2nd most beautiful beach in the world. Will have to go and see. It is when that I don't know yet. Sounds like I have so many places to go and yet too little budget to do. Will have to do more paid blogging to be able to do it.

So, this is the region's 10 must-see waterways. I have been to two out of ten. I have 8 more to go. I don't have photos to post. I would want to post my own photos for this one. Which means, I have to update this post once I have gone to the places mentioned.

Bali, Indonesia

I had a chance to go with hubby in one of the meetings he had which was organized in Bali, Indonesia. We left our boy with my parents-in-law. It was a 6 day trip. We stayed in Seminyak Hotel in Bali. Seminyak is a mixed tourist / residential area on the west coast of Bali just north of Kuta and Legian. Originally a separate township, this is now just another suburb of Kuta. Plenty of luxury villas & spas and hotels abound. Owing to its high density of high end shopping, combined with the clustering of many fine eating establishments, it has rapidly become one of the most well known tourist areas on the island.

One thing I loved about Bali was the souvenirs were so cheap. I got trinkets for like 3RM each. I also got a black sequined dress for 15RM (about 3US$). But of course, we had to have a local taking us to cheap souvenir shops. But another thing about Bali was that there were lots of beggars around. They were ethnic people coming down to Bali to beg for money and they even used babies/children so people would give them money. I tried giving 1,000Rupiah to one of them. One by one, beggars came and asked me if I could give them too. A friend quickly took us to a different place and warned us not to do it again, otherwise we would run out of money as they wouldn't stop begging until you leave. Well, I guess it's normal and universal.

Anyway... our trip to Bali was a very "fruitful" and a memorable one. 9 months after the trip, Samantha was born. Go figure. LOL.

First World Hotel

My World #2

First World Hotel, Genting Highlands, Malaysia

First World Hotel is the second largest hotel in the world by rooms. It comprises Tower 1 and Tower 2, each with 23 floors, and has a total of 6,118 rooms. It is one of the five hotels located in Genting Highlands, Pahang, Malaysia, along with Genting Hotel, Theme Park Hotel, Highlands Hotel and Resort Hotel.

The hotel is managed by First World Hotel and Resorts Sdn. Bhd, one of two major companies operating at Genting Highlands resort (the other is Resorts World Bhd). The resort can be reached by the Genting Skyway, which is the world's fastest (and Southeast Asia's longest) cable car, which travels at 6 metres per second.

You can see more of beautiful scenes from all over the world by clicking the images below:

posted by: janet