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Friday, March 30, 2012

TRAVELHOLIC | Misi Suci, Misteri Sekinchan


Personal (konon) translation :
Holy Mission, Mysterious Sekinchan
(Hemmmm..... sounded farnie in English though, heheheh...)

Us travelholicawesome are going on a #roadtrip tomorrow (Saturday - 31 March), journey starts early in the morning. Well.... I lied, not that early, but early enough for Danny though. Hahhahha..... Oh yah! Danny will not be joining us, sob sob...... I guess it means there would be more pics for Janggel lar kot kan.... *wink*. So, as you can guess, it would not be the full group this time around.

Anyway, if you want to know more, wait for our Misi Suci, Misteri Sekinchan blog entry on Day 1/Part 1/ Episode 1 entry, coming soooooon!


Participating bloggers (hyperlinked) :

Others :
MasZuber is on traveling mode to India & Kashmir, Danny will be at ..... (secret), Byya checking into her office on Saturday.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Teaser | KeSUCIan Cinta

Curious?
What are they (#TravelholicAwesome) up to (again)!?
Apa lah pulak this time around ngan bebudak nih?
(Tatabahasa salah #badbm, cam na nak netul kan yek)

Watch this space tomorrow (30March) from 8pm onwards.


I hope the event/trip is successful with minimal hiccup. Else, I will just post my pics! Hhahahhaha....

Overland - My Next (Dream) Trip

This entry will be short, sweet and simple (I hope) and no pics.  Woo hooo!

I went out for dinner with Anna, Helen and the gang basically, to check on their latest small business venture. Kinda interesting (Anna is really money minded - kudos dearie!), I was also introduced to their friend Alex. While I was making small conversation with him during dinner on his "origin" (NO, he is not a Malaysian), I asked him about this place that I have always LONG to visit since 2-3 years ago but know no locals to help me.

Being his friendly and helpful self, he asked me where in particular... I tried hard to explain but to no avail (lupa nama tempat da...), I googled randomly and finally found it (after TWENTY MINUTES!!!). He said "Ahhh...... I know this place, I did photoshot here before and it's REALLY BEAUTIFUL, you should go visit". Ish! If local says it's nice, meaning it is a MUST go right!

This is the best part. He said, we can do a train trip (I love TRAIN TRIP!) and from HH, we can then drive to the destination. He even offers to call this beautiful place up to check on accommodation etc.... he said, I can tag along the next time he goes back  (balik kampung) and I said "Eerr.... end April?" (Giler apa, excited wooor, pucuk di cita ulam mendatag!) Get the whole gang as well ler kan - Anna, Helen, Richard, Chin Hean etc etc .... am soooo excited already. What to wear, how to post, pic composition, angle, framing.... ish..... I have it half planned already.

It's going to be a Train-Road-Overland-Trip...... I sooooo can't wait!!!

PS : If I actually get to go on this trip, it will mean that I will be visiting this country 3 times this year. Hahhahah.... (balas dendam sebab last year tak pegi ler kot).

PSS : Anyone dare to guess (specifically)???

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

I Am In "The China Daily"

Excited mode again, but this appeared in March 19 lar... kinda outdated dah. Anyway... Just for sharing for those caring folks, jangan ingat I riak lak... (but memang ada riak sedikit, sapa idak kan). Am sure there are more Otai yang more terror the merror (appeared everywhere and won awards etc) but as I said again earlier HERE, I nih kucimayung oni. Small matter like this, is big matter to moi :)

Thanks for your moral support, tanpa anda, siapa lah saya! LIHAT LAH DUNIA INI!
Hahhahahah.... ajaran sesat si Danny ler nih, kengkonon dah perasan #retis!

By the way, I am not that tech savvy, I don't know how to merge 2 print screen, ngong kui dak? Smaller font sebab malu...

TWITTER ID : lilyriani (add only if you like stalking my nonsense/chats, I did warn you)

Monday, March 26, 2012

#TweetUp With New Travel Blogger

How should I start this.... currently my brain idea juice is blank, like FLAT BLANK. No mood whatsoever, all I did was tweet whole weekend.... dasar pemalas (it's ok, weekend mah... forgiven). Bila tak ada idea, memang tak boleh nak merapu (by the way, was listening to radio while blogging and they were playing Anuar Zain's Ketulusan Hati. Hoping my mood datang and can blog - PLAN FAIL!).

Anywayssss, received a DM last Thursday from Amer from Tend To Travel | The Travelling Architect asking for a #tweetup with local travel blogger. As usual, I ok aja... We set date, time & venue... he tweet then I retweet - EASY PEASY (I did say I malas kaaaaan). SETTLED!

I don't know who else Amer tweeted or DM-ed to, all I know; my task is to RT to those travelholic with active twitter account (whom I know lar, bukan banyak sangat pun). Those that I missed, sorry ler yek, last minute... So far, from travelholic awesome gang (seriously, are we retaining this name guys?!? Ala ala riak...Hhahaha... apa-apalah labu), all were able to make it; EVEN cute little Aqilah (The Travel Todd I say) and Kak Anash Coco Chanel (Omputeh tuh nama I bagi - Coco Nutz). The rest, the normal gang - Danny (John/Helmi/etc from Kaki Berangan), Janggel (Shahrin/Rain from JanggelTrekker's Life) & Chawanna (Cawan, Na & Baby Aqilah from Chawanna). Biqque unable to make it (from Beauty in Darkness) - apparently kena kurung (so they say...wallahuallam).

Nih ler Adam & Farah

So we chatted and chatted and chatted, sometimes together gather, at times split into 2 groups... big group, long table; soooo tak on! Voice projection FAIL! Hahhah... Cam mana nak masuk The Voice nih. Anyways.... conclusion, it was great chance to meet up with new old new-found-old-travel-bloggers (make sense dak?). 

Farah from That So Farah was there (2nd time meet up, first was at #keretapisarong event), very nice travelholic-lawyer-blogger. Sorry if we were to chatty and noisy.... Hahhahah by the way... she travels solo and enjoys hiking/mountaineering (gempak ok!). Then there was DanArif from From Malaysia to the World, friendly and cam boleh giler giler, bila nak join we all? Of cause, Adam from Adam Eben.... love your blog dude, farnie and casual and light and... (ok, enough ampu-ing). Our new twitter buddy gayanye... thanks for layan-ing us travelholics. Next trip, must join tau! Then there Dian from Tourism Selangor - approachable and informative, your hp should be in our speed dial lah babe! Hehhehe...Next time, can lepak again, somewhere in Selangor!

Not forgetting Amer, Mr organizer himself! Nice guy (must ampu organizer kan) and friendly; writes beautiful stories of his travel experiences and buildings architecture, culture, food, etc etc... Thanks for organizing, really appreciate it. Us travelholic must plan a trip to London next... *wink wink*. Or perhaps you can join my Scandi trip next year? Or somewhere anywhere.... (knowing me, my plan can change at any point of time). We'll bring nasi lemak for you - PROMISE (iye ler tuh), hhahahhaha..... (by the way, I owe you RM3 change), halal yek.

Group pics. Should do this more often huh!




Thursday, March 22, 2012

Day 3 | Things To Do In Johor Bahru

I just found out that I have Ergophobia. It is very serious apparently, it hit me unexpectedly since Sunday and out of sudden too. Sometimes it is also intentionally lead by me and obviously I can't control it. But today, I tried hard to fight it, do remember it has no CURE (for me at least). Some might know this well (or too well) and for those who don't, I think it is only fair for you to know what is Ergophobia. Well... Ergophobia is actually FEAR OF WORK! Hhahahahhah.... for me (TODAY), it's work=work I feared (ie office work). And of cause blog work as well lar.... liat gilos!

But a blogger have to do what a blogger have to do (especially us travelholic blogger, hahahah.... POYO!). So, here I am... forcing and sparing this little window of tiny opportunity that I have before my Ergophobia find it's way to me (yet again, GILER DRAMA). I shall continue to blog on my entry of Day 3 in Johor Bahru (macam ler gi Europe... Ek elllaaaa).

Dataran Bandaraya Johor Bahru located on Jalan Datuk (as if I know specifically, this is definitely with the help of Mr. Google ok!) and have 2 sports fields...in front; we passed by this area by accident and was fascinated with the bright yellow coloured tower againts the clear blue sky with coconut tree swinging to the music of Tebrau Straight breeze (amboi, over sentence nih). As usual, we stopped and took few snapshots. Happy blogger!

Sultan Abu Bakar State Mosque positioned between Jalan Abu Bakar/Jalan Masjid Abu Bakar/Jalan Gertak Merah, constructed from 1892 with Moors & Victorian/British touch. It set itself on a pristine hill facing the Tebrau Straight. Serious cantek....
It is open for public but this Sultan Abu Bakar State Mosque is not open for non-Muslim though, if I am not wrong it's operating hours for visitor is from 10am - 6pm from Saturday to Thursday except during prayers time. Having said this, do check prior to visiting.

Next... Johor Zoo. Obviously I AM MORE EXCITED then my nieces. Really...!!! Tak tipu! Hahhah..... I got us all the same theme shirts by the way.. Miss Sunshine & Mr Happy. Got it in Singapore the day before.
The zoo is not that big but ok lar for tourist like us. We didn't do the whole round but the girls rode the pony instead... I can't for very obvious reason, DON'T ASK!!! MENCI!

Seriously Fatin, the hourse aren't even galloping, drama giler mengejar.

Maira's turn for the ride....

Sultan Abu Bakar Royal Palace Museum and yes, this too was built in the 1800s. Till then, I never knew Johor have this many old buildings... and the best thing is that the government maintains it very very extremely well.

I honestly did not enter this museum as we kinda ran over time but I do and must revisit Johor again. Trust me!

As we were finding our way out, we found an abandon building and this unique tree, I am CLUELESS of the type, hence if you have any knowledge to share.... PLEASE DO.

This is the close up version. Pretty huh...

It bears fruit too... doubt it's edible... but still am curious. Aren't you?

Last building that we visited, this is an interesting piece as well; it's Johor's Sultan Ibrahim Building, it's the state government building. This too was build in good old days of 1940 thus the architecture is different yet again from other states government buildings in other states.

Then we decided we had enough and time constraint too (after all, it's a 4.5hours journey back to Kuala Lumpur), we call it a day in Johor and head back to Kuala Lumpur city centre. But but but......

Idowannagohome



Saturday, March 17, 2012

Day 2 | Bugis Junction Day Trip

We did our day trip to Singapore after a full tiring yet fun day in Johor yesterday. We picked Bugis Junction as we thought that was the most authentic place, we also visited the Chinatown and Orchard Road. Strangely I only have pics of Bugis Junction! Hahhahah.... perhaps I have visited these places so many a time that I let them enjoy the pic taking and me shopping for souvenirs (this is very likely what had happened).

Tina also had a chance to meet her darling baker blogger from Singapore, oh yah.... Tina is also a blogger guys; baking-domestic-blog. She's the one who baked the yummilicious Red Velvet Cupcake for us travelholic blogger trip to USS recently and the beautiful Rainbow Cupcake that I've blogged earlier. Promo lak tetiba.... ehehheh.... 

There wasn't much for me to share on ths day trip... so I'll let you layan my pics :)

Behind Bugis Junction Bazaar, follow the side right door 50 mtr after you entered.

Staircase to heaven?

Olskool.... 

Niuskool? heheheh.....ION Orchard Mall on Orchard Street.... Besau... me favourite. 

Spiderman Mothership?
Borders Bookshop, forgot the building's name. But no worries, I can take you there blindfolded!

After all the walking, we head back to Johor and reached our Johor Bahru hotel at about 11ish at night... tired and jaded, I've asked Misha to give me a massage.... GUESS WHAT? She passed me this "promo chit"!... MY NIECE!!!

HHAHAHHAHAHHA......

YES!
I PAID HER!
SERVICES FULLY RENDERED.


Thursday, March 15, 2012

Day 1 | Johor's Danga Bay & Car Lift (Macam Jepun)

 
This was a 2009 trip, realised I have yet to blog on Johor, Malaysia. Was thinking of doing this before the Travelholic Blogger Trip to Singapore Universal Studio but abandon the idea as I was busy and lazy (more like lazy AND lazy).

Aside, would like to highlight that I do read all comments posted and I do read all your/other blogs just that I am too busy at least till end April plus the fact that I read/bloghop via iPhone hence it's abit difficult to comment and key in that tiny word varification. Sigh.... Once I have the time, I will reply and comment on every blog/comment I read.... you just wait for me yah... (revenge mode...ehehhehe). Please read this entry, every word as the first portion is super silly & funny & DARAT!

Back to Johor please!!! OK! My cousin called me one day and asked whether I'll be interested on a road trip with her 2 lovely daughters to Johor and Singapore. Knowing how travelholic I am, she knows I will jump on any stupid silly excuses to travel. Furthermore, the last time I explore Johor was when I was in Primary 3 or 4; I mean...what better chance/way to reminisce my childhood memory of Johor.

Off we start our journey to southern most state of Malaysia (the Peninsula Malaysia that is), it took us 4 hours or so to reach Johor Bahru, the capital of Johor. All went well, the journey was smooth... the highway was not as winding as going up north, chatty me kept the noise pollution on maximum API level, ahahhaha... but no one was complaining. It's either I entertain you with my chat or you... obviously I won hands-down. I might have exeggerated like crazy here, my cousin Tina helped alot with the pollution too. Hahhah.... There was 5 of us in this roadtrip, Tina, Fatin (my sis), Maira & Misha (Tina's lovely daughter) and of cause my cute self. Hhahahha...

We reached in there late afternoon, easily find the way to our hotel - JA Residence Johor Bahru located on Wong Ah Fook Road. This is where the surprise STARTS....

We arrived near the lobby, and the concierge asked us to park our car at the back, fine and well... Tina drove her car to the back of the building, there we were greeted by the car park attendant which directed us to drive into the building..... We did exactly that, BUT all we SAW was.... WALL!!!! WHERE IS THE PARKING BAY???? Serious!! It's not funny!???! What we saw was a HUGE LIFT!

The attendant ran and press the lift and asked us to drive when the door lift opens! We were like..."THE WHOLE CAR INTO THE LIFT!!! JUST LIKE IN JAPAN MOVIE!!!!!"

Giler DARAT!!!

In we go....

Fatin and myself decided to take pics of the whole experience so we stepped out.

Tina selected the floor... it functioned just like the human lift.

Just to show the lift size that fitted the car.

Arived at the dedicated floor, the door opens, Fatin holds the lift for us to dash out. 

Cepat LARIKSSS!

We laughed and laughed at the whole experience.... DARAT and FUN! Ini pun jadik mainan... cam bebudak. I bet not many Johorian knows this... RIGHT! Muahhahahah.... (perasan and evil laugh)

After freshen-up and all, we felt hungry and went hunting for food. We enquired from the hotel folks, and we told them we heard of Danga Bay... do they have eateries here? Yes, and they showed us the direction - off we go.

We then head to Danga Bay and what caught me us was the carnival (banyak nye surprise Johor nih), I screamed and said I wanted to ride and take pics..... CANTEK!!!!! Tina obediently turn in & park.... yeah! I bet she thinks I am childish! Hehheheh....I ran out (kid you not) and start jumping up & down asking them to speed up. Giler slow depa ni...

We saw rides upon rides upon rides upon rides..... yup!

Dumbo rides... 

Ferris wheel..... Colourful huh! 

Carousel... simply BEAUTIFUL!

My sis nak jugak naik... 

I don't know what this is called but we had fun playing this.... howling screaming.... 

Oh yah! We saw thing Rumah Kampung (village houses) that is so beautiful and also bump into folks having kenduri kahwin (wedding reception)... love the feel.... (memang boleh masuk).

OK! Somewhere in between we had our dinner obviously...
 Tak kan main jek tul dak... b ut tak da gambo makan as usual ler kan.

The 3 kiddos in the trip! 



Hyperlink credits : Wikipedia, Mari Mari


Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Day 1 | Parambanan Temple & Parangtritis Beach (Resort)

Snippet from my earlier/old entry (Italic).

It started with my colleague telling me that I “SHOULD” visit Borobudur few months back after the earthquake in Jogjakarta, incase if there’s another earthquake. Since I am absolutely crazy about Wonders of the Worlds (my quest) or any of the UNESCO site. I feel there’s a “NEED” for me to visit the mystical place of worship. Suckers aren’t I….. Anyway; thus, my trip to Jogja in May07.


Checked Air Asia, asked my friend Anna whether she will be interested, YES the answer, same goes for my sis. YEAY! I went ahead and book - 3D2N according to my colleague advice (it's good enough if you are not a shoppaholic), he even gave me a travel agent he used for his trip - Lengga. No regret here, she was informative, good, and responsible and go to great length on my weirdest request. Thanks too google on this, I seem to want to visit all the places I read and she was ever so helpful.

We packed light for this trip since it going to be 3D2N, what is there to see right. As usual - WRONG! Hahaha….. This is ok as I ABSOLUTELY IN LOVE with historical sights. I did some “research”, and found a few places that I MUST MUST MUST go (note the MUST in cap). Parambanan Temple, Parangritis Beach, Taman Sari, Secret Passage, Maliaboro, Mendut Temple and ofcos the famous Borobudur Temple.


Lengga picked us up from Solo as during this time AA doesn’t fly directly to Jogja. We were shocked upon arrival at the Solo airport; it was an old old small airport of which the immigration counter was 10mtr from the entrance. This is light, you get down from airplane, walked for about 50mtr, reach the main entrance of the airport and immediately you queue for 10mtr to get your passport stamp. And next to us was the baggage lane where you can see the mover loading our bag to out begin the immigration (all this within your eye-view). We burst out laughing! This is yet the smallest old airport I have ever been and I thought Vietnam airport that I went few years back was bad. This is definitely starting of a new adventure for us.

Lengga telling me the history of Parambanan Temple.
 
Apparently, Parambanan Temple is the largest Hindu candi (temple) in ancient Java, it was build in circa 850CE.

Snippet from Wikipedia.

The present name Prambanan, was derived from the name of Prambanan village where the temple stood, this name probably being the corrupted Javanese pronunciation of "Para Brahman" ("of the brahmins"), doubtless an echo its heyday when the temple was filled with great numbers of brahmins.


Awat tetiba educative information lak nih! Hahhahah.....

Anyway, when we arrived here, it was super hot... no words can describe. But since Lengga our tour guide was so enthusiastic telling us the story and history (seriously, it is interesting; kid you not), we didn't realised the scorching hot sun. To our benefit Hahhahah....

We have learnt that Parambanan temple was badly effected after the earthquake that the compound have to be close for public worrying that it might endanger the them.

The ruins....

 
I got to know that most of the bricks (can I call them bricks?) are stacked. Like stack, ie STACK.... Hemmm.... Anyone who knows more, do comment and advice me yah.

Umbrelllllllaaaa..... HOOOOT!!! 

One for the road. And many more to come, feast your eyes....

The lounge area... it's sadden me to see something so beautiful and authenthic was badly impacted by the earthquake. Understood during my visit that the owner is closing it down for a year or so to do some maintenance and repairwork. Below was from my entry previously.

The good this is that, before taking us to see the beach itself, Lengga took us to this trunk road (rugged track more like it) and ofcos we did get panic at this point as we were in this so called “jungle”. She kept saying “usah risau” not to worry, I will take you see this resort on a cliff. We were thinking, on a cliff??…hemmm… Biar betul! BUUUUT, what we saw before our eyes were…..*and still speechless till now*. A quaint 17 room resort located on a cliff over looking Parangtritis beach AND the vast Indian Ocean. We ran all over the resort to take pictures. We found out that it has been close for awhile after the earthquake and they plan to reopen in 2008. It was badly damage *sob sob*.

The decor by the pool, well; actually it's the shower area before one jumps in the pool. Artistic huh

The lawn of the resort....

This is the magnificant view from the resort overlooking Parangtritis beach and India Ocean.

 
The moment Lengga took us to the beach area, we saw the horse cart, knowing the price.... we creamed that we wanted to ride the cart. Hell, no wild horses can't drag me away from this ride. Haahahahah.... It was so much fun. Do give it a try. 

 
This was what I put in my earlier entry.... after revisiting the entry. I will keep it as it is....

We rode to the resort foot cliff and back, stopover at the warungs (stalls) for a coconut drink. If only a hammock was there….plus an acapella singer strumming his guitar…..sigh…. The horse ride? Rupiah 10k ONLY.

Honestly speaking, I did bare minimal research on Jogjakarta as my only aim at that point of time is Borobudur and Borobudur and Borobudur... I think you know what I am trying to hint here. So, to make my life easier (one way of saying - I am SUPER LAZY); I asked my Indonesian relative Farhan whom is studying here in UIA on what to see and where to go (he studied in sekolah pondok in Jogja for a looooong while, his family is base in Pekan Baru, Indonesia).... he recommended Parangtritis. So, in my sms to Lengga, I said I wanted to cover this area loh. Easy peasy!

It is not a “swimming beach however, it has a errr… local legends says that visitors here (or perhaps anyone) should not wear anything green in colour, or the Queen [Ratu Kidul's] will entice the wearer into the ocean to drown them. Hemm…. Luckily none of us were in green that day*phew*.
 
We told the horseman to take us closer to the cliff resort as we wanted to see from the beach. Obidiently he insturct his beautiful horse to take us there...

The horseman took us to the foot of the cliff resort (I still unable to remember what the resort is called, Sorry!) where we were at a moment ago. Cam nih rupanye dari bawah yek...

Enjoying the breeze despite the story we heard on the legend was kinda eerie but then... the horse, the breeze, the... EVERYTHING... we don't care! Layar...
The ride took us from the stall area where we parked out van to the end, near to where the resort are. The horseman will stop and give us the opportunity to envoy the scenery, snap few pics with the horses, cart etc. Meanwhile, the horses will take a break (must be tired carrying chus me! Hahhahah....) to enjoy his drink by the spring (ceh waaah... spring gitus!).

 
We love the ride so much, the places, that we kept snapping pics non stop especially of ourselves. To a point it was sooooo hard to select a scenery pic as there was almost NONE! Goodness!!

Ni adalah kanak kanak Ribena yang mempunyai masalah berkuda. Hhahahaa.... Sorry Anna, we had great fun huh!

 

One of my favourite pics! You know what? I love them all despite that my Canon camera (HP camera performed better, and no noise!!) didn't do justice but care I not! The mood was there, the company was great, the weather in perfect harmony with nature... I am blessed.

While waiting for our coconut being served, Anna and I lazed around enjoying the Parangtritis wind while watching the local kids playing own invented toy or game. Envious lots we were.
 
Live within your means, play within your means. We were so creative when we were young, when our parents had nothing, with cans and kitchen utensils we will have a drumset, with just chairs lining up we will have school bus or with pebbles and stones we;ll have batu serembat. Sigh.... the good old days! Life was simpler (Awat tetiba drama, berjangkit kat John).

Jom main batu serembat kat Redang nanti! Heheheh....

My favourite pic of us.
 
 
 
Hyperlink credits : Wikipedia