Animals Anecdotes 18 : Strictly Crocs and Crocodiles

Reptiles are not exactly my favorite animal. However that does not mean I won't be interested to 'check on' them whenever there is a chance. Below is going to be a series of strictly crocs pictures that I have encountered during my visit to a Crocodile Farm at Tuaran, Sabah. From petting a croc to almost being eaten 'alive' by them crocodiles. It must have been the most terrifying animal visit I have ever done in my life - petting a live, baby croc that is; not the eaten 'alive' part though.

Enjoy the pictures and yeah, never ever try to mess around with a crocodile, either the one found in a crocodile farm or the one of those  in the wild.

[caption id="attachment_1664" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Salt water crocodile[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1665" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Bujang Sukau the croc killed a man[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1666" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Crocodiles roaming around, chilling just before feeding time[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1667" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Crocodiles feeding on a lot of chicken. I doubt the chickens are organic. Haha[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1668" align="aligncenter" width="300"] I am MEAN! Don't mess with a chalky looking croc![/caption]

2011 Travel List : Where should I go?

2011 is coming up in a about a day or so, depending on where your coordinate is on the map. Hehe. I still don't have much thought on my 2011 travel list. Actually come to think of it, there are a lot of places that I have pre-planned to go but it all boils down to timing and money. Hmm...

Nevertheless, I do hope I can make my annual visit to Borneo possible again for the third time in a row(starting from 2009) with my awesome travel buddy FF. Oh FF should have a website of her own dot com coming up this new year and I'm pretty excited to see what she'll have in store at her blog soon.

Oh well, I have the whole year of next year to think about places I should be visiting and traveling so yeah, I'm not going to come up with a travel list just yet. On the other hand, do you have a bucket list of travel places that you have in mind for next year, 2011? If so, where are going?

How to prepare Cardamom Tea or Elaichi Tea?

Cardamom tea or Elaichi Tea isn't something you get to drink often unless if you have been introduced to a true Indian culture and cuisine. In my case, I fall in love with cardamom tea while I was in India. The version that I drink often was something pressed automatically from the machine like so:

[caption id="attachment_1653" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Cardamom tea from the Lipton machine"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1654" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Have a hot sip with cardamom tea!"][/caption]

Drinking tea is a part of a lifestyle for Indians. They drink a whole lot of tea through out the day. However, at each time they will drink up in small portions and no, they don't drink tea in mugs like us drinking coffee in one. Haha.

Anyhow, cardamom tea definitely has an acquired taste but it is an awesome acquired taste. The one that I used to drink from the machine is rich in spice, milky, sweet and I usually take more than a cup  at one time. The cup is like super tiny almost like a shot drink, so 2 shots is my preferred way to drink it.

After coming back from India, I didn't get to drink Cardamom tea for a very long time because I didn't know how to make one myself until I started drinking cardamom tea again while I was at the Tea Shop, Cameron Highlands. I really like the idea of having a zing of spice in my drinks and cardamom tea really nails it. So right now, if I am at home, my version for preparing Cardamom Tea or Elaichi Tea ( in Telegu) is like this:

Cardamom Tea Recipe:

- I have pre-blend a handful or so of cardamom until it becomes powdered cardamom and kept them in a jar.

- I boil some water in the electric kettle ( the traditional way is to boil some water in a pot over a stove).

-Pour the boiled water into a teapot, put probably 2 teaspoon of cardamom powder, a bag of tea or loose tea of your choice, pour some milk and sugar. Alternatively you can use condensed milk for this, hence you don't need to add on sugar.

- Let the tea seep for 3-4 minutes, stir well, sift and serve.

There are other ways of preparing and making cardamom tea and I must note that, the way I prepare my cardamom tea is very different from the usual way, probably because I'm thinking I want to have my tea like right away and ASAP that I don't really want to bother boiling the water in the pot and all. Although I do think boiling cardamom, tea and water over the pot will intensify the flavour of the drink.

To learn on how to prepare your cardamom tea or elachi tea with a bit of ginger in it using the common way, do check out the video below:

Ginger Cardamom Chai

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyhs1zJM3Co

Best Yoga DVD 2010: Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown

I am a big time yoga lover! Yes, I love it because it is easy to do, doesn't need all those fancy big equipments in the gym and best of all you will get about the same result working and toning as you do in the gym. I have to admit that I don't do yoga all the time but I can see that yoga helps a lot in toning out your figure and building up your muscles if you do it right, which is not that difficult at all.

If you have been frequenting my blog, you would have known by now that I post a lot of yoga articles like the Shirsha Asana/Yoga Headstand that you can easily follow them for free from YouTube. However if you are looking for something serious and to get a proper yoga workout, you really have to get your hands on what I claim as the Best Yoga DVD this 2010 by America's Toughest Trainer - Jillian Michaels with her Jillian Michaels: Yoga Meltdown DVD.

Jillian Michaels : Yoga Meltdown Level 1


httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hwPmKdu1-g

The dvd comes with 2 complete 3o minutes yoga meltdown workout and 2 different level of intensity. Note of caution though, you will have to get ready to get ripped and watch out for that major calorie burn. It is no doubt a whole new total body workout that you must do for your body and your health.

You know what, don't take my word for it. You have to see this short video preview and try it out a little bit on your own and you tell me if those workout has gotten your whole body working or not.

Jillian Michaels : Yoga Meltdown Level 2

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfYHAtn-GP0

Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown is a definite must have and I would say The Best Yoga DVD this 2010. You can find out more about Jillian Michaels: Yoga Meltdown DVD by clicking the link here. Jillian has other sets of DVDS with more intense and awesome workout which you can check them out as well from the link below.


I really love Jillian and I think she is the best trainer ever and the Yoga Meltdown DVD just couldn't get any better than that.

Top 5 Things You Must Do In Cameron Highlands With Your Family or Friends

This post is way too long overdue because all the pictures I'm going to post here happened last year. Whatever it is here goes for the Top 5 Things You Must Do In Cameron Highlands either if you are going alone (most unlikely but quite possibly) or with your family or with your bunch of friends :

1. Visit all Four Tea Estate/Plantation in Cameron Highlands.

[caption id="attachment_1627" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Hills of Tea, Tea Estate at Cameron Highlands"][/caption]

The four tea estates are in this sequence if you are coming from the Highway Exit 137 - Simpang Pulai:

- Cameron Bharat Tea Plantation located along Ringlet/Tanah Rata Road

- Sungai Palas Boh Tea Estate, Gunung Brinchang Road

- Another Cameron Bharat Tea Plantation somewhere around KM10 after Tanah Rata.

- Boh Tea Estate, Habu, Ringlet



[caption id="attachment_1626" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Fresh, hand-picked tea leaves in a basket"][/caption]



Visits to all three tea estates will only be completed if you actually take the time and effort to walk down or up through the maze of tea plants. If you drop buy in the morning, you will get to see the tea pickers cutting out the tea leaves and bundling up the leaves on a big rattan basket. Take time to pick up those loose tea leaves dropped on the ground and smell it. You'll be amazed that fresh tea leaf actually smells sweet! Also, I wouldn't recommend you to go picking on the tea leaves. I doubt that you are allowed to do that.

[caption id="attachment_1628" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Stairs to the top of Boh Tea Estate at Habu"][/caption]

Other than that, you have to pay a visit at the Tea Factory and Tea Shop to learn about tea processing and buying a couple of packets of tea as well. If you are visiting Boh Tea Estate at Habu, take sometime to hike up a steep flight of stairs that will lead you to the highest point of the estate (I think). From there you get to see a beautiful bird's eye view of the Boh plantation. It will be worth the long hike up the stairs, that's for sure!

2. Drink all kind of tea at all  tea estate's cafes.

You must have a try at those different varieties of flavoured tea from the cafes. I love flavoured tea but my ultimate favourite has to be the Cardamom Tea. Make sure you have a go at it if drinking tea with a little bit of spice is your cup of tea. However, if you haven't actually tried ever on drinking spiced tea, the tea estate's cafes is a great place to challenge your palette.

3. Visit common touristy places like everybody else! Haha. However there is this one place you MUST have to visit and snap lots of photos. It is non other than the famous "Ye Olde Smokehouse" located near the golf course at Brinchang.

The Ye Olde Smokehouse is a beautiful and well maintained Mock-Tudor hotel and restaurant. I think right before the hotel, you can spot the common red British phone box and that is also yet another place you have to pose and camwhore about at this place. This is something you shouldn't miss out!

4. Go Jungle Trekking / Jungle Walks



[caption id="attachment_1629" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Jungle walk no. 9, Cameron Highlands. Distance 2.57KM"][/caption]



There are quite a number of interesting treks in Cameron Highlands. There are pretty safe and fun for the whole family/friends too. One of the best and easiest walks will be Path 9A. Starting points starts right after the Mardi building.

[caption id="attachment_1631" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Robinson waterfall, Cameron Highlands along Path 9"][/caption]

This Path 9A is a pleasant downhill walk where you will get to see Robinson Waterfall a couple of minutes through the hike. If you continue on further for the next 45 minutes - an hour, the path will lead you to the Boh Estate at Habu. From there you can go check out the Boh Estate, probably have a cup of tea at the Tea Shop and walk back through the path again to get back to town. Alternatively, you can catch a bus from Habu to get yourself back to Tanah Rata town.

5. Climb both Gunung Brinchang (2000m) and Gunung Irau(2090m).

The climb for both mountains is totally game on for avid mountain trekkers. I haven't done it myself yet but there are groups like MOTHS who organize a trekking trip to these mountains. You can also get in touch with local tour operators (mostly located along the street of Tanah Rata town) to arrange the hike for you.

There you go, a list of the Top 5 Things You Must Do In Cameron Highlands either with Your Family or Friends. I've done them all except the mountain climbing part and I think I should and will pretty soon. I must warn you though, these top 5 things listed are a must-do things strictly for the fit, adventurous and for anyone who loves the nature. Cameron Highlands really have got a lot to offer specially for outdoor lovers and please, go ahead with everything on the list if you haven't already!

Good or Bad ? What's your pick?

Sometimes it is much easier to let pictures do all the writing and talking. Hence this is what happening now :

[caption id="attachment_1620" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Yours truly with dirty boots, sitting on the car roof with the WWF - For A Living Planet car sticker"][/caption]

Being good, keeping focus and disciplined, becoming successful and winning require a lot of hard work and yes it was never meant to be easy. On the other hand, being lazy, unmotivated, cheating, losing and being plain evil & bad are all easy. Make your pick now, which do you choose to be (Good or Bad) and how (Hard or Easy) are you going to have it be?

Have a merry happy holidays everyone!

I know I haven't been blogging for a couple of days now...more like a week I think. I was actually down with cold-cough-sore throat-body ache and I am getting much better today, yay! Thank God!

Anyway, just want to have a quick shout out to everyone to have a Merry Happy Holidays and have a safe journey if you are traveling. Until more posts to come, hopefully...:)

Can You Ever Travel Super Light? I Know I Can't!

Can you ever travel super light? I know I can't but I always try my very best to bring less because if you haven't already realized, how many times do you actually used up all your clean clothing in your pack during your travel? Most of the time you'll ended up recycling most of the clothes you are already wearing, am I right? Yeah I know, I'm spot on on this!

Regardless if you can ever travel super light, I know of one guy who can really accomplish that. I came across this No Baggage Challenge guy who goes around the world only with his clothes on his back. Definitely pushing the super light travel to the ultimate extreme.

Okay so let's picture the situation of the No Baggage Challenge guy. Firstly, he's a guy and  most guys just don't need to pack so much anyway, so going with zero baggage may seem easy enough and feasible for most guys. However if you are a girl, it got me wondering if any girl has ever tried on a no baggage challenge ever. Probably it is possible for a girl to travel with no luggage but I sure think it will get a little uncomfortable after a couple of days throughout the travel. I don't know, I'm just not so optimistic about this no baggage challenge idea after all.

Anyhow, if you MUST check out and want to figure out how on earth do you go travel around the world with ZERO Baggage on your back, you must check this video out : No Baggage Challenge : Going around the world with ZERO luggage!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYHfOodheTI

So can you ever travel super light or lighter or with no baggage at all? Can you?

Animals Anecdotes 15 : The Ultimate Cats Series 2010

It has been a long time since I last make a post about Animals Anecdotes. I figure that it will be nice to finally post some pictures of cats that I happened to have in my pictures folder but some of them never got the chance to be published in this blog. So here goes The Ultimate Cats Series 2010 under Animals Anecdotes! Enjoy! :)

[caption id="attachment_1584" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="My name is "budak kecik" a.k.a small guy"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1585" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="I'm a stray and they call me Tiger because I happen to eat on the Save The Tiger WWF poster. Other than that, I'm glad that I got fed."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1586" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="I'm the mama cat and that's my kittens. They are cold and hungry but this house is perfect for the kids to have shelter. Oh, I'm somehow related to Tiger the cat on the previous picture or am I, Tiger already growned up and becoming a Mama? "][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1587" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Our mama is tired. See here lying at the corner. So we decided to play a little bit before feeding time."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1588" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="That's me a scared and wet kitten stuck between the car rims. I went on a panic attack because I got chased but I later figured hiding in the rim is an awful idea. Thank God I did get out soon after."][/caption]

The joy of a minimalist!

A couple of days ago, I was browsing through my Google Reader , skimming through the long list of unread blog posts from the many websites that I've subscribed to and I came across an article about living a life as a minimalist. I took the time to read the blog and even the excerpt of the best selling minimalist book - "The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide". It turns out to be something that I never knew that it is what I am today - a slight minimalist. Haha.

I must highlight that I am slightly a minimalist and a little bit frugal sometimes because I always believe in the philosophy that  "less is more" and "simplicity should be the way of life". I also always like the idea of having an open space, open windows, open doors because in someways I feel free and unsuffocated when I am in a surrounding where things are open,airy and spacey.

There is also this concept which I believe on that you should start making space in your life in order for you to receive something that you wanted in return. So in the case of if you have so much stuff already around you and if you are expecting for something new to come in your life, if you just don't make some space for that something to come, in reality it just won't come to you. It is as simple as that.

Another great thing about  being a minimalist is that you tend to be frugal and guess what, you get to save more money in the bank because you won't be having debts or loans to pay for. However, it is not to say that being a minimalist means it is okay for you to be poor. Heck no. It just means that you have a much better sense of your financial, you know how to manage your money and in most cases you know very well on how to grow the money that you already have in hand. At most times, I will go with the principal of  "only spend money when you have the cash and don't spend your money when you don't have the cash, i.e never allow yourself to live on credit. "

Oh well, living life as a minimalist probably just sound a little bit of a constraint and a bit too hard to handle for some. Whatever it is, if you think you would like to make a change in your life right now for you to be able to have a better life, I must say that you should try living a life as a minimalist by going for it bit by bit. I certainly think life is more worthwhile if you lead a simple, no fuss about getting too much 'stuffs'  lifestyle. Oh man, I really can't tell how much joy there is to be a minimalist. If by any means, I do inspire you to explore more of a life as a minimalist, you should get your hands on this awesome book by "Francine Jay, the author of the best selling book "The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide: How to Declutter, Organize, and Simplify Your Life".

Photo Essay : You don't get to see this sign that often

[caption id="attachment_1567" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Do you want to go 'Rabbit' or 'Tortoise'?"][/caption]

You see...how often do you see signs like this?

Let's choose if you want to go as fast as a Rabbit or as slow as a Tortoise that eventually goes to a Stop. I would prefer to be a Rabbit at most time please. :)

If only all automobiles transmission comes with a super easy to understand and obviously easy to operate transmission(gearbox) like the picture above. It is pretty straight forward and probably a little bit  'comical'  too, no? :)

By any chance at all, if you are given a choice to have a manual or automatic or Rabbit & Tortoise transmission for your gearbox, which one will be your pick?

Looking for hostels for your travel? Try Hostelworld!

Are you looking for hostels or plain good accommodation for your upcoming travel? If you are looking for one, you should try having a look at www.hostelworld.com . HostelWorld is claimed to be the world's no.1 hostel booking website with over 25K hostels listings from 180 countries worldwide.

I even tried searching for budget hostels or accommodation randomly in Amsterdam and Tokyo. The results I get are really great. The best part about searching from HostelWorld is that you get to pre-book your stay, get reviews on the hostels along with the pricing making budget traveling easy and manageable.

By far, I've never came across of anything more convenient than HostelWorld and really if you are crazily looking for hassle-free place to stay for your travel, this is the site to visit. From the search query I made for Amsterdam, the lowest price for a really shoe-string hostel budget is as low as 15euro/nite and I think that's a real catch if budget traveling is the way you travel of course.

Oh, I'm not getting any commission promoting HostelWorld. So yeah, do have a go at their site to check out for your travel stay. :)

Reasons why you should keep fit with Zumba Fitness

Zumba Fitness is a must try fitness routine if you are looking for a new twist from your mundane fitness regime. Zumba Fitness is a fun and energetic dance fitness program that uses Latin as well as International music throughout the dance routine. Right now, you  are able to pick up the Zumba Fitness by following through a set of Zumba routine right for the cd like the Zumba Fitness Total Body Transformation System DVD set.

Zumba Fitness Total Body Transformation System DVD Set is divided into 5 major Zumba fitness options that you can choose from. There are :

1. The Basics Workout

2. Cardio Party

3. Flat Abs workout

4. 20 minute express if you are on the go but need to have your daily workout intake somehow

5. Zumba Live!

Have a go at the Zumba Fitness basics steps and see how well you can keep up with the routines. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsSrq3HBa7A

[caption id="attachment_1550" align="aligncenter" width="160" caption="Zumba fitness total body transformation system dvd set"][/caption]

The Zumba Fitness DVD Set is great for anyone who wants to try their hands on Zumba at the comfort of your own home. So there's no hassle to sign up for zumba classes out there. Personally, I've followed a couple of Zumba routine and I feel that it is so much fun to workout while dancing and the dance moves are easy to follow too. Also by the end of each routine, I was sweating and I do feel like I was burning a good portion of calories for the day. If you love dancing like who doesn't right, you really should have a go at Zumba Fitness. It is like the most 'in' dance fitness program that is really worth a try. Getting fit while having fun with all the cool dance moves couldn't get any better than that.

To pick up your own Zumba Fitness Total Body Transformation System DVD set and try it out at home with a couple of friends perhaps, click here.

Scrambling to finish up a list of to-dos before the year ends

Yep, I am scrambling to finish up a long list of things that I should have done since early this year before the calendar changes again in a couple of weeks. Finishing up with the list means a great deal to me and usually the things that I don't really feel like doing the most turns out to be the most valuable thing ever because almost 99% of the time, the results of those "I don't feel like doing because I feel 'lazy' and 'uninspired' but I do it somehow" are amazing, incredible and churns out the best of all outcomes. So next time around if you feel so lazy and uninspired although you have a gut feeling that shouts you have to do that 'something' somehow, you better get it over and done with. Believe me that the amount of time spent to do those things you don't like doing are so worth the effort.

That is why just before the new year resumes again soon, if you are like me and have a lot of pending work to do, please get on with it and check it out from the list. You'll be satisfied they are all done with and let's start the new year fresh with more bright and great ideas ahead.

Until then, I should get it done with already. :)

Freestyle Motocross :RedBull X-Fighters and the Best of FMX

Freestyle motocross is yet another favorite extreme sports that I enjoy watching since like forever. I love the fact that it is possible to go against gravity and fly in style with a motorbike. It is also about making the impossible, possible. If you have never watched a freestyle motocross ever on the Sports Channel, then you should now.

I'm sharing here some videos on quite possibly the best of freestyle motocross tricks ever. To check out more on freestyle motocross, simple go search on YouTube for Freestyle Motocross FMX or Redbull X-Fighters. It will get you hooked if you are an adrenaline junkie of course. Enjoy the videos ya'll!

RedBull X-Fighters 2010 London Highlights:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8HijMRrjvk

Best of Freestyle Motocross:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3VkXT76gho

Lata Kinjang Waterfall, Perak

Craving for a cold water dip from a waterfall? Hmm...most probably not since it is the raining season and the weather is a little bit chilly in the morning. However on another thought, it still get crazily hot during most part of the day so if you can have a chance to enjoy a waterfall, you really MUST have a go at Lata Kinjang, Perak.

Have no idea where is Lata Kinjang?

If you are a frequent traveler from KL (south) to Penang (north of Peninsular Malaysia), you will definitely notice a huge waterfall coming down from the mountain as you are approaching towards Ipoh. You can't really miss this waterfall because the highway literally leads go through between  mountains or is it a mere hill on both sides of the road. The Lata Kinjang waterfall can be seen clearly on the right side of the highway if you are coming from KL.

Anyways, you can find your way to Lata Kinjang from Google Map and I'm not going to do all the directional writings for now. Haha. Just want to share some pictures of this awesome waterfall with you lot. Enjoy!

[gallery]