Med Cruise to Greek Islands

 Thira Port.

I have always dreamt of cruising the Mediterranean Sea; basking under the sun, enjoying the deep blue water and embracing the Greek islands. That would be a perfect holiday for me.

Last year I have gotten an opportunity to visit Greece and embarked on a mini adventure to 2 of world’s famous Greek islands, Santorini & Mykonos. The journey starts from Athinios Port in Santorini to Mykonos and then back to Athens.

Most Med Cruises cover many Aegean and Ionian islands, where one will experience breathtaking sceneries and be overwhelmed by Greek mythology and culture.

Oia town to view the famous caldera.

The blue dome church of Oia, Santorini

Santorini’s caldera was formed approximately 3,500 years ago due to a volcanic eruption which molded this beautiful island and its unique architecture, this also led to the famous myth – the Lost City of Atlantis. One place not to be missed in Santorini is Oia, which is voted to be the best place in the world to view sunset. It is renowned for its white churches with blue domes setting against deep blue Aegean Sea and perfected it with clear bright blue sky.

Most cruises take you to the island of white washed cube houses and narrow cobble stone alleyways; Mykonos. There are 3 key highlights for travelers and holiday makers alike; Petros the Pelican, a Mykonos mascot found in 1954. The Mykonos windmills, built by the Venetians in the 16th and is use to mill wheat. Last but not least the Little Venice; a place where you wind down as dusk sets in.

Petros the pelican.

Windmill of Mykonos.

Mykonos's Little Venice

There are other Greek Islands and Islets that you can visit while you are there, among them are Cretes, Rhodes, Paros to name a few. If you wish to experience a Mediterranean holiday, you can check out Med Cruises for more info.



Kembara Prihatin ke Kampot, Cambodia (Bahasa Malaysia)

Apabila saya mendapat tahu Adam telah menjadi tetamu blog (guest blogger) Eyriqass, saya pun apa lagi; terkinja kinja hendak mengikut jejak langkah dia (stalker tuh). Dengan muka tidak tahu malu, saya pun bertanya kepada Eyriqass boleh tak sekira nya, saya menjadi tetamu blog yang pemes & fofular nih. Melihat kesungguhan saya menempek mecalonkan diri sendiri, akhirnye Eyriqass pun bersetuju.

Apa yang saya ingin kongsikan disini adalah berkenaan kembara saya yang terkini mengikuti Pergerakan Puteri Islam Malaysia (PPIM) ke Kampung Kes yang terletak di Kampot; Phnom Penh, bumi Cambodia. Objektif misi Kembara Prihatin ini adalah untuk membantu penduduk miskin beragama Islam di pendalaman Phnom Penh; aktiviti yang dijalankan adalah :

1. Kem Medik

2. Pembaikpulihan Masjid

3. Kelas Menjahit

4. Kelas Solat

5. Kelas Bahasa

6. Pembinaan telaga dan pam air

Dengan harapan misi ini dapat menolong penduduk kampung berdikari dan membantu kaum keluarga.

Air kolah yang digunakan di masjid.

Kelas bahasa.

Kelas menjahit.

Sepanjang beradanya saya disana, terdapat beberapa perkara yang saya amati;

1. Kurang kesedaran kebersihan

2. Kurang pemahamam kesihatan

3. Kurang batuan dari segi wang ringgit atau barangan; dan akhir sekali

4. Kurang didikan pengetahuan seperti buku pembelajaran atau buka cerita di dalam bahasa Malaysia atau Inggeris

Kehadiran kami adalah untuk cuba sedaya upaya membantu penduduk Kampung Kes sepanjang kehadiran kami disana. Mereka yang turut membantu dalam misi ini terdiri daripada guru sekolah merangkap ahli PPIM, penuntut UNIKL dan juga UiTM serta doktor dari HUSM. Dengan itu, kami dengan berbesar hati mengharap bantuan yang sedikit ini dapat membuka peluang serta menolong penduduk keluar dari kemelut kemiskinan ini.

Kem medik.

Pembaikpulih masjid.

Anggota PPIM yang memasak lauk kawah untuk penduduk tempatan.

Madrasah yang PPIM bantu

Telaga & pam air.

Kanak-kanak kamoung Kes di Kampot.

Selama ini, kembara saya ke segenap pelusuk negara adalah untuk melihat keindahan alam, kota-kota lama, adat dan adab masyarakat serta tidak lupa juga kesan peninggalan sejarah. Tapi atas pelawaan makcik saya, hati saya terbuka dan merasakan perlu adanya keseimbangan hidup dalam pemilihan tempat lawatan saya dimasa depan. Tak kan nak seronok-seronok saja kan. Setelah melihatan kedaifan mereka, terasa insaf untuk lebih menghargai kehidupan dan pemberian tuhan.

Sepatah kata mak cik saya…

Kepayang tumbuh di batu,

Tumbuh di hutan mencelah-celah,

Ketitir melompat jatuh ke pasir;

Yang di rancang belumlah tentu,

Kita di bawah perintah ALLAH,

TADBIR tak dapat mengatasi TAKDIR.

Rencana ini boleh juga di dapati di blog Eyriqazz - Great Teacher Onizuka.



Day 2a | Things To Do In Taiping - Charcoal Factory, Kuala Sepetang (Part 3)

Strange. I know! How a 2D1N trip can come up to 4 blog entries right? (Yeah! This is not the last one and I guarantee that the last one will be even better, the pics actually). 

Earlier entry :
Day 1 | Things To Do In Taiping - Taiping Lake Garden (Part 1) 
Day 1b | Things To Do In Taiping - Matang Mangrove, Kuala Sepetang (Part 2)

On the 2nd day, Biqque's dad excitedly shared with us the chacoal factory and how it is being made. We felt like school kids on field trip day (lawatan sambil belajar). All geared up (with cameras I meant, not the attire) we headed to Kuala Sepetang (near the Matang Mangrove).

We found out from Pak Ian that this is the only Malay owned charcoal factory (I forgot his name), certainly very impressive.

After glancing over Mr. Wiki, I think the technic used here are besically the below. To know more, please feel free to click here.

Extruded charcoal is made by extruding either raw ground wood or carbonized wood into logs without the use of a binder. The heat and pressure of the extruding process hold the charcoal together. If the extrusion is made from raw wood material, the extruded logs are then subsequently carbonized.

Do advice me if I get it wrong, till now; am still confuse.

The small boats are being used to carry logs back to the factory. 

Charcoal kiln.

The logs take approximately 1 month to complete it's process in the kiln. The pics shown above are of us human checking out the place, and not us being converted to be charcoals 1 month later. Doubt we will be of any value to this factory owner. Hhahahhaha...

This is how the whole place looks like. 

This our ORGANIZER a.k.a Biqque. Kudos Biqque for this fantastic trip and food.

The Great Wall of Bricks pose? 

Remindered me of silvergrass field in Hakone. 

My favourite prop on this trip. 

Pak Ian briefing us on the factory and processes. 

After spending 2 hours or so, we headed back to our guesthouse.

Passed by this murky river where the process starts.

Konon nye gambar nih nak tunjuk dept lar... cam tak kesampaian jek.