Funny Travel Stories 1 : Fart Fest in the Airport Loo

I have been thinking on adding another category or tag for my travel posts. This time around it is going to be about funny travel stories. I will try to compile some collections of hopefully really funny stories that I had been through and it could altogether be from really old stories that had happened ages ago to something of a recent funny story. I am not pretty good at making up stories, so I hope to churn out some really true, funny stories that I had either personally encountered or heard of throughout any travel journeys.

Let's begin with the Funny Travel Stories 1 : Fart Fest in the Airport Loo

Haha. This is too funny. My travelling partner and I had just went through a really long haul flight and we had to stop for probably about 2 hours of transit at Frankfurt Airport. As the norms of any type of air travel, you can easily get bloated while traveling because you will be rushing to get to the airport just in time for checking in and you may have skipped a meal and had to succumb for a late night meal on the plane. By then, you may have stomached some gas instead of real food. To top things up, you also decided to have coffee after your meals during your flight dinner and was offered with sweet, carbonated Cola throughout the flight which you simply can't resist from saying No.

All those things combined with trouble to even getting a decent nap throughout the 13hours butt aching flight, plus with a gassy stomach and you don't even feel like doing a 'number 2' during that multiple runs to the loo in the plane, it resulted into a pretty gassy, bloated stomach and you are just entitled to be cranky and wanky. Haha.

While waiting for that excruciatingly boring flight transit, the two of us decided to hit the loo because we really don't feel any good in the stomach. Wow, the restroom is pretty impressive really because it is huge and there are like rows and rows of empty cubicles of toilet seats. We kinda like have the whole restroom to ourselves so we picked a toilet cubicle next to each other and started to do our thing. Haha. I can still remember that the restroom is too huge that every single noise that we make begins to echos. Like damn it, I'm trying to do number 2 over here. Haha.

Due to the extreme silent in the restroom and I really can't do my 'thang' with another person next door hearing loud and clear to all the 'crap' I'm doing and the next thing we know it, I had a fart. My partner next door, started laughing and then we laughed and exchanged more farts because man, we were super duper bloated and right about the time we were going crazy high in our cubicle toilets, the main door to the restrooms opened, someone walked in and heard all the laugh and farts fest we were doing in our cubicles. That person didn't last even a minute in that restroom. She freaked out from our crazy noises and left the loo as quickly as she came.

The end result is, nobody had a dumb, we laughed like crazy all the way out of the restroom and it was a bit relieving to 'let go' a little bit of the gas out. Cranky, tired and bloated – the way things are sometimes when you are travelling a long haul flight. So just deal with it already.  :)

Photo Essay : Incredible India Travel

India is an incredibly diverse country. You need to travel to India with no expectation but one thing for sure you can always expect a day to day incredible adventure. Travelling to India is also like meddling in a love-hate relationship. You can love and hate it all at same time. It is tough trying to define what India is all about but this catchy T-shirt phrase simply nails it.

[caption id="attachment_2087" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Incredible India - Weird, Whacky,Wild & Wonderful"][/caption]

*T-Shirt by Tantra Tees.

So what is India all about? India is about an incredible country that is weird, whacky, wild and last but not least, absolutely wonderful that will beg for you to come back for more. Yes, you will want more of India after your first visit there.

When it comes to the weird stuffs, they have loads of them. For example these bananas :

[caption id="attachment_2080" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Long, big Bananas"][/caption]

They have extraordinarily big, extra long, yummy Bananas. Okay now, what are you thinking? Haha.

 

[caption id="attachment_2081" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Dark brown, chubby Bananas"][/caption]

.. and also a version which is brownish and chubby looking! * What are you thinking again? :)

 

[caption id="attachment_2082" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="'Kothe' Dumplings in a Chinese Restaurant Menu in India"][/caption]

They have Kothe Dumplings served in the menu at a Chinese Restaurant. If you must know, Kothe is literally translated in Malay as Penis. Haha. Imagine a Malaysian ordering, " One Kothe(Penis) Dumplings please" to the waiter. That sounds so wrong! Haha!

When it boils down to the incredibly wonderful, nothing beats the delicious Indian culinary cuisines. My ultimate favourite food has to be the delicious, authentic cuisines from Kerala. Their curry is definitely something to die for.



There you go, a little bit and pieces of the incredible India. There are obviously more to India than what I've pictured here. However, by far, these are the best simplest things that you can expect from Incredible India. :)

Round New Zealand Road Trip Starting Monday!

Hi peeps! I'll be leaving to Christchurch, New Zealand this Sunday morning. Woo hoo !  We will be travelling in a group of 6 people for the first 7 days and for the remaining 17 days onwards, the 3 of us will travel on our own. The main objective of this road trip is to discover the whole of New Zealand within 24 days from the starting point Christchurch at South Island and later on continuing up North to the North Island, New Zealand. It is going to be a travel adventure and mind you, this is no touristy holiday. Well I hope it won't be that way. :)

We had our basics routes plotted out on the map, no Garmin GPS what so ever involved here and there are just some basic ideas on activities we will be doing on a daily basis. The only bookings we've made thus far is our air ticket bookings and the minivan rental with JUCY Car Rental for Monday morning. Since we are arriving Christchurch about close to midnight on Sunday, we may be 'hanging around' the airport for a good couple of hours until sun is up. Haha. We are just going to go with the flow here, so anything is possible.

There are a couple of things that I will look forward to during this travel journey to New Zealand such as :

- Checking out Christchurch town on how things are looking since the quake last hit the city last February. I know people are recovering and some shops may not be fully operational, so I would love to find out if by any means there are ways for me to lend a hand or two on things.

- Checking out on the local farmer's market and have a taste of some fresh local produce - cheese, fruits, chocolates, etc.

- Trying out on one of those farm stays and if it is possible, I really would love to try working at the farm for a day. Milking New Zealand cows sounds like fun, don't you think?

- If I have enough adrenaline and basically just plain guts, I would love to do the bungee jump. At the thought of it now, my stomach is already tying into knots and yes, it scares the shit out of me already. Haha.

- Visiting the many beautiful places from the Fox Glaciers, Mount Cook, Milford Sound and lots more.

- I also would love to see the real deal Haka dance.

- Set out a camp and do some cycling and fishing. Although, I do know that someone in the groupie needs to at least have a quick run on a rented motorbike in New Zealand. Hehe.

Yeah, there are a lot to look forward to on this trip. I'm wishing that we will have a safe trip to and fro and most importantly I hope that we will discover, learn, enjoy ourselves and experience the whole journey with an open mind and heart. Also, if internet connection is available, I sure hope to do some quick post updates in here. Wish us the best for our New Zealand road trip peeps! :)

 

My Jogging Playlist - High BPM Tracks From The Matrix Reloaded Soundtrack

My jogging playlist is currently spinning some crazily high BPM (beats per minute) tracks from The Matrix Reloaded Soundtrack. The Matrix Reloaded Soundtrack Album consists of tunes by the following bands :

• Linkin Park


• Marilyn Manson


• Rob Zombie


• Rob Dougan


• Oakenfold


• Don Davis


• P.O.D


• Unloco


• Rage Against The Machine


• Juno Reactor

If you are into any of these genres above, you will love having added this whole Matrix Reloaded Soundtrack album in your jogging playlist. It is simply amazing on how energized you can get on every play of these awesomely high in energy music. Imagine yourself literally being transmitted with a sudden surge of energy at every vibrations of the BPM. You will tend to jog or run faster at every beat and yes, you will be amazed at how simply you can control your jogging or running momentum by having the correct type of jogging playlist pulsating as you jog.

To have a listen on the over the top, high grade BPM tracks from The Matrix Reloaded Soundtrack : The Album, click HERE. You will love them if energy is what you crave for in achieving that momentum in your jogging or running.

Photo Essay: Seafood Heaven at Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

Are you looking for some yummy delicious seafood heaven? If your up for some awesome gastronomic seafood experience, you have to fly down to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah  a.k.a Borneo to enjoy absolutely the best in variety, the freshest and probably the cheapest if not, really reasonable seafood galore of your life. Your trip down to Sabah isn't complete, if you don't go ahead and enjoy those delicious seafood.

Enjoy the pictures below to catch a glimpse of the seafood frenzy that I went gorging down during two of my past trips to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

Eating a good variety of seafood at Gayang Seafood Restaurant, Tuaran which is about 30 minutes drive outside of Kota Kinabalu.

[caption id="attachment_2040" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Baby Lobster - Gayang Seafood Restaurant at Tuaran, Sabah"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2041" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Scallop - Gayang Seafood Restaurant at Tuaran,Sabah"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2042" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Fresh oysters top with wasabi - Gayang Seafood Restaurant"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2043" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Mangrove Crab - Gayang Seafood Restaurant"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2044" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Seafood madness for two person! Haha. The two of us ate all those yummy seafood with some rice and a plate of veg. Obviously, we don't bother much with the veg when you can have awesome seafood! Yum!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2045" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Fresh lokan ready to grill at roadside stall somewhere along Tuaran, Sabah"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2046" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Lokan Panggang - top with some sweet seasonings of garlic, chillie,ginger ( I think). Lokan tastes really rubbery if you overcook them like this one. Ouch!"][/caption]

Seafood dining at Filipino Market or Pasar Filipin right smack at the city center of Kota Kinabalu. This place is hot, jam packed with people, super cheap seafood and you will leave with a full stomach and charcoal smelled clothes. Haha.

[caption id="attachment_2048" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="The Filipino Market , Kota Kinabalu is an outdoor night market and yes, there sell super huge fish and seafood fresh from sea."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2049" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Rows of long table to dine at the Filipino Market Seafood Stalls"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2050" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="BBQ Seafood at the Filipino Market. Ranging from huge prawns, fish to squids"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2051" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The bbq fish varieties"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2052" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Last but not least, the fresh seaweed ... what? The style of eating here : eat BBQ seafood with rice, sambal belacan and uber salty seaweed. You might want to bite one small tiny 'ball' first. You may not like it as much. Haha."][/caption]

So there you go. More than enough reason for you to visit Sabah or narrowed down to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah not just for the beautiful beaches and islands at the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, the majestic Mount Kinabalu at Kundasang but also for the delicious arrays of fresh, cheap seafood heaven at Kota Kinabalu itself. On that note, probably I should just go to KK one of these days just to eat and by that I mean to eat really good seafood! :)

My Favourite Quote For Today - " To Love Unconditionally"

I live by with great quotes almost everyday because they set a deep, meaningful and strong definitions of life in general. They are also my constant, everyday motivational boost in order for me to work and make the most of each day. As for today, my favourite quote will be this - " To Love Unconditionally".

To Love Unconditionally is about understanding that you are connected to every person, plant and animal on this planet and we are to treat them all with unconditional love, kindness and respect.

Think about this quote for a minute and make an effort "To Love Unconditionally" because we all simply deserve it.

Fun things you should do during lights out or what we call it as Earth Hour!

A couple of  fun things you should do during lights out or what we seemed to be calling it as Earth Hour these days where it is a day, celebrated world wide, where you are suppose to turn off the lights and other unnecessary electrical appliances for a good one hour. If you are looking to have fun during this precious Earth hour, here are the fun things that you can do :

1. If you are with friends and family, pick up a guitar and play tunes you like and sing aloud with the group. If you have a piano, you guys can literally start a jamming session and it will be more fun if someone can bring along the drum sets, bass guitars, etc.

2. When I was a kid and that was back in the early 90's, there were many occasions of a total blackout for hours in Malaysia. Yes, lights out was a norm back then. So we kids always entertain ourselves under the 'dark hours' playing those shadow games, trying to make birds or any objects with our hands and started a role play. If you are an adult, it is still fun to play these hand shadow games because you can play around with some kinky 18SX shadow games with your partner and friends. Haha. Excellent idea right?

3. Make love. No need for further explanation on this one. :)

4. Get out of the house and start star gazing and look up at the sky. Check out if you can spot a plane, bats, the different signs of the dotted stars you can make out, provided there is a clear sky and no overcast.

5. I don't know lighting up lanterns and candles are a good idea because you are still burning little fumes out of those right? And we are talking about Earth Hour and aren't you suppose to pollute less of the Earth during this time? Hmm.. So instead, why don't you  try doing something crazy like have dinner in the dark. No candles, zero light. Pure darkness and see if you can really experience and savour those good tasting dish you have whipped up. It's about really tasting your food by the bite and enjoy them to bits.

6. You can start a pillow fight and play chase or truth or dare games. Aha, the truth or dare game sounds really interesting and fun. You never know what you are going to end up doing in the dark. :)

That's pretty much it on a couple of  fun things you can and should do during lights out - Earth Hour. If you are planning to celebrate Earth Hour like the rest of other people ( I know I'm not right now ...haha , it's 20 minutes in the Earth Hour in Malaysian now), what and how will you be doing  or celebrating during that 1 hour of darkness?

Animals Anecdotes 24 : Goodbye Doggies - Dogs No More

The last dog standing, Brownie is officially gone. We are not sure about her where about and I refuse to think about the worst that could have happened to her. In many ways, I believe it is a good thing that all of them have set apart and go on with their own ways. Moving away and starting out new as how things goes along even for ourselves, humans.

So here is a goodbye to all those lovely dogs we have always enjoyed having around with and you will forever be remembered. All those funny antiques of you doggies, you guys are really a pack of characters.Life goes on and hopefully with more wonderful, colorful, interesting and lovely things to look forward to.

Goodbye Doggies!

[caption id="attachment_2010" align="aligncenter" width="264" caption="Silver and Joe "][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2011" align="aligncenter" width="277" caption="Maggie and Brownie (front - back)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2012" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Blackie, Silver and Brownie (l-r)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2013" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Silver's four puppies that we gave away for adoption"][/caption]

How many holiday or travel trips do you take in a year?

People are roaming around a whole lot more today than we could ever imagine a century ago. Yes, we are a bunch of jet setters and at any opportunity, we just want to take off for another holiday or travel trip  just because we can and love doing so. The question now is, how many holiday or travel trips do you take in a year?

Do you have a trip for every other month of the year? That will be 12 trips in a year. Or do you travel on average of 3 weeks to 5 weeks a year?

Personally, I have been setting a little trend since the last couple of years. For at least once a year, I seem to be going for one major, big time travel trip. In my case it will be an adventure travel. Along the other months throughout the year, I will sprinkle a couple more of short weekend adventure trips just to go out there and do those things I always wanted to do with like-minded people who love doing it (adventure trips) as much as I do.

[caption id="attachment_2002" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Krabi Fishermen at Sunset"][/caption]

* photo by SuperSer

Up until now, I will have a major travel plan coming next month - April, nothing so far in May but who knows, a couple of trip/events in June and just probably another short trip ( I'm thinking any beach trips) somewhere before the end of year just to wrap things up before the coming of the new year. Haha. On average, that will be about 4 trips altogether that I take in a year. That is still minus those weekend crazy getaway or adventure trips to God knows where. I just love being spontaneous and sometimes I'll be going about for a crazy rampage of outdoor madness for a whole 4 weekends straight in a month or sometimes, I'll just be home for most weekends. Like I said, I'm spontaneous and most definitely unpredictable. Probably, all travellers are born with those characteristics, don't you think so?

Anyway, no matter how many holiday or travel trips that you take in a year, what matters most is that all those trips are not becoming a burden to you or they don't pose a major threat on your wallet. As long as you think you can afford it, go ahead and set yourself free. Go out there, travel, learn, explore and discover. I bet by the end of the day, you will come home with loads of experience at every single trips that you have set off to.

However, I am still curious. Just about how many holiday or travel trips do you  take throughout a year?

 

How to cure itching with some home remedy?

The big question of the day is how to cure itching with some home remedy? The symptoms I've been having for the past two days now is a  really crazy itching on both my palms and the soles under my feet. I don't know what sparks the itch because I woke up one morning and was having a sudden intense itch on both my palms and later on through out the day, under both my soles. There are not much of a visible rash or spots that can be seen but my fingers do feel a little bit numb especially after waking up in the morning. The itch under my right feet is specifically making things very uncomfortable.

So I've been researching around for some home remedy because the itch will come and go and I've seen some progress after all the home remedies that I have taken. Thus, it is safe to say at the moment, I don't need to run to the doctor just yet. Here goes some of the home remedy that you can take if you are facing some itching due to some allergy :

1. Drinking green tea.

2. Taking some lime with lukewarm water with a little bit of honey.

3. Taking some honey - those pure ones, not the processed ones.

4. Dipping the affected area with some nice hot bath and lather soothing calamine lotion or aloe vera gel at the affected area.

5. Eat a lot of fruits and vegetables because of the high Vitamin C content.

6. Eating garlic helps too because it is nature's antibiotic and help to assist mild infections.

7. If you really can't stand it, you can take some medicines from the pharmacist. In my case, I don't think it was doing much help.

All the remedies listed above should help you to ease the itchiness. If problem persists, always have a check with your doctor. In my case, it is rather mild and still bearable. I hope the itch will go away today. Wish me well. :)

30 Minutes Quick Lunch Recipe : Marinara Spaghetti (Yasz style)

This is one of those super quick, 30 minutes lunch recipe that I love to whip up every now and then. It's a simple, my very own version of the marinara spaghetti recipe. I am not quite sure if it can come close to anything of a marinara spaghetti but who cares as long as it is yummy. :)

A little insight about what is a marinara spaghetti - "Italians refer to marinara only in association with other recipes, and which usually contain seafood of some sort. For instance, spaghetti alla marinara literally translates to mariner's spaghetti or "sailor-style spaghetti" and would be a dish including seafood, possibly shellfish, and not necessarily containing tomatoes at all" - Wikipedia.

For my recipe here, I use some can mackerels because they are easy, fast and cheap. Haha. Let's have a look at my version of this marinara spaghetti recipe shall we :

1. Boil some water and throw in the spaghetti as per instructed at the spaghetti packet label. You can choose to have your spaghetti al dente (about 8 minutes of cooking time) or normal (about 12 minutes).

2. For the marinara sauce:

- I love making my own sauce because it's fresh unlike the one you buy ready made from the can  or tin. I can alse tweak on the kind of herbs that I like and of course it is cheaper and more personalized. For this marinara sauce, I quickly chopped and do the followings:

- diced some tomatoes, garlic, onions

- saute everything above with some good extra virgin olive oil a.k.a EVOO  (any vegetable oil will do if you don't have an EVOO laying around), toss some dry herbs (you can have a choice of your favs : Italian herbs or Basil) and add some tomato puree, salt, pepper for taste. If you want a little bit of heat, throw in a bit of cayenne pepper for that little boost of heat.

- finally, at that can mackerel or you can even use can tuna or salmon or anything fresh if you get your hands on any. Cook them well into the sauce and you are just about ready to eat.

Before serving, grate some cheese over the spaghetti and the marinara sauce and Bon Appetite!

Here is the end result of my version of the Marinara Spaghetti. I happen to have some bit of the Gouda cheese in the fridge, so that will still do as my grated cheese over the spaghetti. :)

[caption id="attachment_1989" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Spaghetti Marinara Yasz style"][/caption]

I hope you'll try out on the recipe or else, just drool over the picture yeah! :)

Looking back it was Easy | Easy by Groove Armada

My server for this blog is going to be down for a couple of hours by noon, I think ( Malaysian Time). Hence, I might as well get some writing done for now. It's nothing much really. Just want to share a video by Groove Armada because it is awesome shite! Haha.

Enjoy, Easy by Groove Armada.

This is a concert version of the song,Easy by Groove Armada at Glastonbury 2010.

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

http://www.enduromalaysianchapter.com/home

What actually makes me happy?

Out of the blue, I have this question popping out from my head. What actually makes me happy? I don't have to really think hard for this question because I am always happy and thankful for just about everything. Just in case you are curious to what makes me happy, let's check out the list below shall we. Hehe.

These list of things actually makes me happy, like really easily happy :

1. Being able to wake up in the morning and be thankful that I made it for yet another day in this life.

2. Breathing really fresh morning air and listening to little birds chirping noisily as they get ready for another day of living.

3. Random strangers giving me a big smile as I catch their eyes.

4. That little 'Thank you' and a smile.

5. The smell of the soil, plants, the greenery and the ocean.

6. Little babies and kids. They just know how to have fun everyday.

7. Listening to really good, happy, upbeat musics.

8. When random people come up and say really awesome things about you and they really mean it. I will be in awe and greatful.

9. When I unconsciously inspire others and being able to share the positivity around with random people.

10. I just need to force an ear to ear smile just to make myself feel better and most importantly happy.

So there you go, my little list of things that never fail to make me happy. It is a wonder that the little things that we always take for granted are the ones that can change the world for you. If today you are in deep sorrow and you are looking for just a bit of happiness, don't go searching far for it. Happiness comes easily  if you take the time now and learn to look  and appreciate at the little things in life. Alrighty, a big SMILE to everyone and Stay happy ya'll!

 

 

Should natural disaster stop you from continuing with your travel plan?

For all avid travellers out there, I'm pretty sure you are more than aware with all the natural disasters news going about since the beginning of the year. So the question is now, should natural disaster stop you from continuing with your travel plan? To answer this questions, you need to bare in mind the followings:

1. Keep yourself updated on the latest news about the place you will be travelling and contact embassies if necessary to find out on any safety issues for your travel. In short, you have to be aware and update yourself on all the latest news about the place that you have planned to travel to.

2. I would still think, it is fairly safe to continue with your travel plans if you are planning to visit the country probably 1-2 months from the date of the disaster. Well, it is still very highly necessary to take precautions on things but personally, I would say it will be fine to continue with your travel plan by then.

You may want to cancel things altogether if you are planning to travel on the same day or anytime from days/a week after the day of the disaster struck. That will be a bad choice to keep on continuing with the travel plans. Well that's what most rational and logical person will do.

3.  Always follow your guts or intuitions whether you need to continue or not for your travel. If you just feel confident that things are going to be okay and there are no doubt inside of you, then by all means, do continue on with your travel journey.

4. Good judgments and again, constantly updating yourself with the latest news on the country you are planning to visit is very important to decide on things. There are many ways to keep yourself updated online. One of the best things we can have right now is the to simply Google on the latest news. For example if you Google : Japan Earthquake, you'll get to view these links at the very top of the search result page:

The Google Crisis Response website - for news, media, maps and others related:

http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/japanquake2011.html

Pacific Tsunami Warning Center website :


http://ptwc.weather.gov/

And for updates on New Zealand :

http://canterburyearthquake.org.nz/
With all the information you can gather from the websites, live news and even contacting your embassies to find out details on the safety of your future travel, that should help you to decide on whether you should stop or continue with your travel plans. All in all, there are no certain answers to what should stop you from travelling. However, always make wise judgment and what's important is if you are going to continue with your travel plans, let's just take whatever that is going on on the country you are planning to visit as part of the extra adventure that should accompany you during your travel. Who knows, it could be a life changing experience for you and I'm definite that we all at the end of the day can learn so much from the things that had happened.

So, travel safely if you are leaving for Japan or New Zealand any time soon. :)

Photo Essay :The Best Food In The World - BBQ!

The best food in the world for me has to be a BBQ! Of course, you should never indulge in too much of the good, yummy food everyday because as we know it, too much of the good things are bad for you.

Anyways, this particular BBQ is yet another best BBQ that we have from time to time. BBQs for us are usually reserved during days of cravings or festive seasons. :)

 

[caption id="attachment_1963" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="The BBQ pit"][/caption]

The BBQ pit is actually a cut off, used oil drum. You can look for used oil drum from the junk shop near your place and request to have it cut into half. BBQ is way better with these drums because the pit is kind of deep, so your food won't be charred but instead it will be cooked almost like they are smoked.

 

[caption id="attachment_1964" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Let is smoke or rather BBQ-ed!"][/caption]

This meal is for 3 person.

 

[caption id="attachment_1965" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Yum! This is a sirloin cut I think. Medium rare."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1966" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The fish looking good to eat by now."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1967" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="And other stuffs on the menu - Freshly caught Tilapias! They taste super sweet!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1968" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="We are Asians so we have to eat those stuffs with a sambal - bird chillies,soy sauce,shrimp paste mashed with mortar and pastel"][/caption]

There you go, The Best Food In The World which is a BBQ! Well, at least for me any type of BBQ with fresh ingredients got to be the best meal ever. Are you drooling just yet by looking at the pictures? If you are not, you are so not fit for a BBQ with me. Haha.

Why Do I Need to Stay Fit & Healthy now?

Funny that at this age we are now at, we needed to be reminded to stay fit and healthy. Choosing to stay fit and healthy have become more of a choice rather than a necessity to keep life going. Probably we are too caught up with the daily work grind that makes us  neglect and also allow our health to take the backseat which in my opinion is a recipe for a health disaster for your life.

You may want to sit back and ask yourself now, why do I need to stay fit and healthy? I am asking this question to myself too and here are my 5 reasons to why I need to stay fit and healthy now and I mean it right now, today :

1. I realize that I'm getting older everyday, although it doesn't really shows out on the surface. Haha. The many hidden strands of graying hair are my constant reminder that I can't turn back the clock and stay young forever. I don't know how far of a health risk that (graying hair) shall impose to me. However, I just hope it is more of a hereditary thing. The realization that I ain't going to get any younger by the seconds is more than enough reason for me to continue taking care after my overall fitness and health. I want to be able to be healthy to do so many other things life have in store for me.

2. At * cough, 27 going 28 later this year (gosh, am I really that old?) and of course I'm still seeing myself in the future as married with a kid or two and only God knows when that is coming yeah, so it is absolutely vital for me to stay super healthy, eating good healthy food, exercising constantly in the sole hope that I can lower down my biological age to the range of mid 20's as I go through my close to 30 technical age. The whole point here, I just want to be able to have kids at a later age (30ish) provided that my biological age at that time says I'm still in my 20ish. Hahaha.

3. I need to stay fit and healthy always and forever because I want to be able to travel the world and explore life as I grow older. I want to be able to travel constantly because guess what, we are born as explorers. So let's explore to discover, so that you'll learn and grow.

4. Okay, I have to admit this... I have always been a health freak! Haha. I grew up playing too much sports and I just can't help it but learning about keeping up with the healthy diet regime and exercising routine because that is how we should lead an ideal, balance lifestyle.

5. By staying fit and healthy, I am a happier, positive, cheerful and a successful person. I want to be able to bring out all the good, healthy energy from me and vibrate the good vibes to other people because that will hopefully make life a better place to live in. It is wonderful on how powerful our human body is. Learning to stay healthy and fit makes you want discover more of what potentials your body have and what it can really do and all that can be achieved easily by fixing the basis and in my case, to stay fit and healthy.

So there you go, the 5 ultimate reasons to why I need to stay fit and healthy now.

Do you think you need to stay fit and healthy as well? What do you think?

Best Parkour Athlete In The World - Ryan Doyle

Parkour really entices me. I love the feeling of being weightless, light and springy. Check out this awesome video bouncing on roof tops parkour by the Best Parkour Athlete In The World - Ryan Doyle.



p.s: I haven't done parkour before but yeah, I'm drawn to it. Gotta love this if you love a little boost of adrenaline once in a while.

Groove Armada - The Girls Says

Groove Armada -The Girls Say... you simply gotta love it ...Enjoy it because it is going to be a long night tonight! :)

The Girls Say from YouTube:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1hbptM8_FA

For more songs by Groove Armada, check out the Groove Armada Greatest Hits Album below :

 

 

Check Out What Dr.Oz Got to Say About Your Daily Sugar Intake

Yes, I have to admit. I am a bit of a health freak. I want to be able to eat healthy and stay healthy for a long time. Why you may ask? The reason is simple. I want to be able to take care of myself the proper way. Little that we realized that we are unintentionally helping to destroy our own body from the food that we take everyday. Yes, we do that every single day without realizing it.  We forget about that or rather choose to stay ignorant on the food that we eat because we never take the time to think,  bother, find out and even consider the health benefits from all that we eat.

For starters right now, I want to help myself by cutting down a little bit on my daily sugar intake. I have tried swapping from white sugar to brown sugar or even to honey. But did you know that your fruit juice, yogurt, fruits like bananas or pineapple and even  your favourite tomato ketchup or chilly sauce have way too much sugar than the recommended daily sugar intake?

Have you ever wonder why you have a huge belly regardless on how much sit ups or exercising that you do? It all boils down to the food that you take and the biggest culprit comes from SUGAR! If you want to know more on how much sugar you think you are taking in daily and what you should or should not eat in a day to reach that recommended level of sugar intake per day, do check out this short clip by Dr. Oz as he explains what you need to know about sugar.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAHgChvUwh8

Do you still want to eat like how you are eating today? Think about it and let's make a change now for a better, healthy you!

Animals Anecdotes 23 : Nothing lasts forever. May you rest in peace.

I've been delaying on writing up this post because it is not a happy news. However, it needs to be written as a tribute for all the memories and companionship we have received. Also, no living things deserves to be forgotten and this post is dedicated for Joe, the sole male dog in the pack and to the little puppy from a happy, cheerful mother (Brownie) whom we were just about to name him, Sky.

Both dog and puppy (Joe and Sky) didn't make it long enough to roam and guard around anymore. Joe's passing was a tragedy and that was the saddest thing to know. As for Sky, he just didn't make it past 4 weeks old probably because of the nature of the surrounding he was located at or it could be anything.Whatever the reason is, we never got to know Sky and I don't know if giving him the name Sky is a bad indication altogether because yeah, he is in better place now, somewhere up above.

As for Joe - he was always the one with  full of character. He had temperaments and can be moody at times. If he's on his best mood, he is the definitely the man (or THE dog!), running and escorting tirelessly around places , making sure things are okay in his own doggy way.  Having him around by our side,  you just can't help but being safe.

So right now, we are left with only Brownie. I don't know how far she can survive living solo and we shall see about that. Yeah, nothing lasts forever but no one deserves to be forgotten. For Joe and little baby Sky, May you both rest in peace.

 

Photo Essay : Let's Check Out The Sky and Look Up Now!

Let's check out the sky and look up now!

Here are some  pictures of the beautiful blue sky taken on different timing in this sequence : afternoon, sunset and sunrise . Always take the time to look around you. For starters, you can start by looking at the sky. You won't know what you will miss out if you don't take the time to LOOK!

Let's check out the sky and look now!

[caption id="attachment_1921" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Overcast and spotlight emerging from the sky"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1922" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Clouds and the Sun!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1923" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Sunset and dark clouds. It's going to rain anytime now!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1047" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Sunrise in blue"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1924" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="It is early morning and you can still see the moon and a shooting star? Nah, it's a plane!"][/caption]

Is it a must to buy travel souvenirs during your travel?

I have a question for you travellers today. Is it a must to buy travel souvenirs during your travel? How necessary are travel souvenirs to you when you are travellling? Personally, I am not a fan of those travel souvenirs. However, I got to admit I did go all crazy over collecting travel souvenirs back then when I was a travelling teenager.

Why don't I buy travel souvenirs anymore and why do I think it is an unnecessary piece of memento to bring back home? Here are the reasons why I don't want to buy or collect no more travel souvenirs :

1. I have come to realized that some, if not most of the travel souvenirs I have bought (either from local travel or abroad) can be easily found from the local street market selling arts and souvenirs ranging with a huge bargain if you know how to haggle your way through things.

2. Most of the souvenirs sold at the souvenir stalls are typically made in China or India items. Well at least some of them are. Haha. So when it comes to buying something totally original from the country of origin where you happen to travel at the moment, the whole point is all lost altogether there. It is never going to be a 100% authentic souvenirs from that particular country you are travelling at.

3. My so called 'prized' souvenirs especially some drawings I've collected or bought from various countries have never found themselves framed up and hooked on the walls of my room. Unfortunately, they are all been stashed away in the closet in the same wrapping it was bought and seriously, I have no idea when they are ever going to be found displaying beautifully on any picture frame at my home. Not that they are ugly drawings or anything, I am just plain lazy to make the effort to frame things up. Haha.

4. Collecting lots of little souvenirs acquire space in my living which I don't really have at the moment. As to my current ideal life of living as a minimalist, I can do away with living without that many souvenirs displaying on my table although I still hang on to still a couple of  favourite souvenirs that I have collected a long time ago.

Then again, that is personally what I feel about why I don't buy travel souvenirs during my travel. Unless and only unless if it is something of a real value that I can never find ever again anywhere else in the world, probably I will get that one valuable travel souvenir to bring home. Hey, you got to at least buy something that is totally worth it to really identify something as a true travel souvenir, am I right?:)

Is is a must for you to buy travel souvenirs during your travel? If it is yes, why is that?

Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2011 Early Bird Registration Ending Soon!

Have you been looking forward to participate for the first time in your life to run in the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2011? Have you? Well at least for me, I have  been looking forward for it for a such a long time already now. Haha.  The early bird registration for the Standard Chartered KL Marathon has started since January 17 2011 and the last chance for you to grab the early bird, cheaper registration fee ends this February 28, 2011.

The early bird price for the each categories are as the following :

Full Marathon (42KM) - RM60

Half Marathon (21KM) - RM55

10KM - RM50

5KM Fun Run - RM40

*These fees rate are applicable for Malaysians. Different fees rate applies for other nationalities.

You may want to know when is the KL Marathon 2011 starting? The Standard Chartered KL Marathon is starting in exactly 120 days to go , that's about 4 months left on the 26th June 2011, Sunday. That should be probably enough time for you to begin your marathon training session now. I'm thinking to join up the 10KM run and no, I have never ran a marathon ever in my life. However, I was a bit of a runner back then during my teenage years. So yeah, it still takes lots of practice to get back to the groove.

If you are serious about joining up a marathon this year, Standard Chartered KL Marathon will be a good place for you to get started on your first ever marathon. So, go and grab the early bird registration fees now and all the best in your marathon training. For registrations (all registrations must be done online and only online payments are accepted), go to this Standard Chartered KL Marathon Registration page here. For KL Marathon Registration Fees details, click here.

Fast, Easy and Yummy To Fix Omelette Recipe for Breakfast

I don't know about you guys, but I love waking up early in the morning because I will be so hungry that I need to really hearty breakfast to kick start the day. One of the best thing to have for breakfast ( a hearty and healthy one) is a fast, easy and yummy to fix omelette. My stomach is making noises now ( it's 7 am and I bloody need my breakfast! haha) , so I'm going to scribble a quick, way too good and healthy omelette recipe that I would love for you to make yourself for breakfast. Here goes:

Fast, Easy and Yummy to Fix Omelette Recipe ( for breakfast or even dinner - which ever way you like it) :

- beat 2 eggs , preferably the one labelled with Omega 3 thingy on the box.

- I like to add a bit of milk on my eggs because I think I saw chefs do it this way. Haha. You can also add some water to substitute the milk if you are out of milk in the morning. Ouch!

- I also like to add some herbs in everything that I cook. Food tastes much better with add on herbs or spices. I usually use some Italian Herbs for my omelette. Any type of herbs that you think you would like to have , you can just throw it in the eggs you have beaten.

- Next some pepper and I don't usually use salt because the eggs,milk, and herbs combination are just too good to be spoiled with some sodium. Well it is up to you about the salt.

- Heat your pan, oil it a little with some good extra virgin olive oil ( good for your heart), wait until the pan gets really hot and pour in your eggs, milk, herbs, pepper mix. Spin the pan a little so that you will get a nice round omelette on the pan. Next, add your choice of vegs.

- I really need to eat more vegs, so the the best fix for this omelette will be to add on some onions, button mushrooms and baby spinach all in the pan. I've even tried putting some left over grilled salmon from last night's dinner and it was a really awesome thing to top on your omelette.

- Omelette ready, eat it over with some brown bread toasts, coffee/tea and some juice. Absolutely healthy and yummy.

Hope you guys will try out this recipe now and man, gotta run and make my own awesome omelette now. :)

Bukit Tabur : Things you need to know about Tabur

Updated 24 Jan 2014 :

VERY IMPORTANT UPDATE ON BUKIT TABUR:

Due to several life threatening incidents occuring at Bukit Tabur, currently you:

- MUST get a PERMIT from Pejabat Hutan Daerah Selangor Tengah, Cheras before entering Bukit Tabur.
- Visiting hour is only ALLOWED on Saturday & Sunday from 7am-5pm.
- A fee of RM 5 per person is incurred.
- You will be considered as trespassing if permit is not obtained.
- Some people has managed to get a monthly pass to enter Bukit Tabur, so that’s good news.

* For more updates and info, it’s advisable to join this FB PAGE : The Trekkers

http://www.facebook.com/groups/bukittabur/

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THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BUKIT TABUR

Finally, I got the chance to hike up Bukit Tabur and many thanks to our hiking 'kakis' (inclusive of meeting 2 readers from this blog)  and  guides for making it possible.  No doubt the hike will be nearly impossible if I were to just go alone with my partner, FF like how we used to do go hiking just the two of us at Broga Hill. If you are a first timer to Bukit Tabur or simply Tabur, there are a few important things you may need to know about this hike. Whatever listed below is subjected solely to my own personal opinion and my first time experience at Bukit Tabur.

[caption id="attachment_1896" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Bukit Tabur lake view. Looking a bit hazy no?[/caption]

Here goes the list of things that you need to know about Bukit Tabur / Tabur :

- Bukit Tabur is located at Taman Melawati and if you don't know your way like all first timers, you are for sure to get lost. Haha. Don't bother asking the people near the little town of Taman Melawati for directions because most of them will be plain clueless about the place. Oh wait, if you ask the wrong type of people, probably they just don't know about a quartz hill somewhere in Melawati.

- Get your exact directions checked with people who have been to Bukit Tabur before to avoid getting lost. You have to go through the hilly housing area with big houses and coming down to a narrow path to get to this place. Puncak Niaga should be a good landmark to ask around for directions from the locals.

- Bukit Tabur is a combination of a short uphill hike from the start and then the rock climbing sections and a little bit of relaxing hike (nothing really crazy uphill hike like Broga Hill) to get you to the peak with the Malaysian flag. I lost count of the number of peaks you have to go through but it is kinda a LOT! About 4 at least.

- Bukit Tabur is NOT a suitable and safe training ground if you are thinking to train for Mt.Kinabalu. It gets a little bit dangerous when you are climbing the rocks at Tabur and in case you don't know this, Mt.Kinabalu does not need rock climbing abilities to get you to the top. It is funny to claim that, a couple of us were thinking that Bukit Tabur is way tougher than climbing Mt.Kinabalu ( we went up Mt. Kinabalu last year). Haha.

- If you are a shortie (like yours truly) you may have a bit of trouble descending with the rope at the rocks. The reason being :  you can't see the next landing point ( a safe rocky surface to land your feet)while you are descending and you need people from below to guide on your steps , since you can't really reach your feet further down - the next best thing to do is to lower down your body by hanging on the rope with both hands and lower your body to reach the next step at the rocks. This part of the descent can be challenging ( only for short people, haha) because you have to trust yourself that you can hang on to the rope strong enough and of course trust on the rope too! Take your time during these rocky downhill descent with the ropes, stay focus and don't even think about panicking. :)

- The lake view at the top of the rocks should be really beautiful and it is a great place to fiddle around with your cameras  if and only if, you depart from the starting point really early. Let say depart while it is still dark so that you can catch the sunrise. In our case, we departed while most people have already left. Ouch!

- The returning route was fairly easy. We went through a downhill track towards the durian orchard. Don't worry, there will be no more rocks to ascend and descend on this route if you have been totally traumatized by the whole rock climbing experience earlier. As of the basic rule of any hiking, bring a lot of water, food and drink a lot of them water. If you are experiencing cramps and light headed, it is a sign that you need to drink more water. I would say a good 1.5liter of water is what you need to be carrying for this hike.

- The whole gang clocked a pretty good timing about 3.5 hours (is that good timing?) for the whole hike (up and down) but I'm pretty sure it will take longer time if we decided to come down the same way the came up ( the rocky hills) or continue forward towards the East side ( I think it is East, I may be wrong about this).

In conclusion, I'm saying Yay! I've done Bukit Tabur and will I go there again? I need to think about that first. I would like to think that I can upped my endurance and stamina with a safer training ground on other hills instead. Whatever the verdict is, Bukit Tabur is definitely challenging thanks to the rock climbing experience and it is something different from what you will expect from a typical hill jungle trekking.

My Top 10 Favourite Travel Quotes

I would like to share with you My Top 10 Favourite Travel Quotes that hopefully will inspire you to travel and explore more of this world. There are obviously more than 10 Best Travel Quotes that anyone can list down. However, by far these ten has got to be my favourite and best travel quotes to live by with as I head for my next travel destination.

My Top 10 Favourite Travel Quotes are :

1. “The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are.” – Samuel Johnson

2. "The traveler sees what he sees.  The tourist sees what he has come to see."  - G.K. Chesterton

3. "We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment."  - Hilaire Belloc

4. "Half the fun of the travel is the esthetic of lostness." - Ray Bradbury

5. "To get away from one's working environment is, in a sense, to get away from one's self; and this is often the chief advantage of travel and change."  - Charles Horton Cooley

6. "Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe. " - Anatole France

7. "The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page."  - St. Augustine

8. "A traveler without observation is a bird without wings." –  Moslih Eddin Saadi

9. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

10. “If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” –  James Michener

Which one is your favourite travel quotes? Care to share them with me?

Langkawi Island : Langkawi Island Hopping

[caption id="attachment_1877" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Dataran Lang, Langkawi, Gunung Mat Cincang"][/caption]

Langkawi Island is quite possibly one of the best and beautiful island to visit in Malaysia. The first time I visited Langkawi Island with my family was way back in the 90's where Langkawi is just about beginning to bloom as a hot tourist spot in Malaysia.  I went back to Langkawi again in 2009 and wow, Langkawi has changed a lot - for the better that is. One of my main reason to come back was to go on a Langkawi Island Hopping trip besides checking out other cool, new places around the island as well.

We went with a group of 4 and thanks to some promotion with AirAsia, we got to fly straight into the island inclusive of staying for 3 days 2 nights at Awana Porto Malai Resort with total cost per person (air tix + hotel) for about RM300. That was like super cheap and a real bargain.  For the Langkawi island hopping trip we bought our tickets from one of the tour operators booth along Pantai Cenang. I think we paid around RM 35 or was it RM40 (can't really remember)/pax for the and the standard three islands hop : Pulau Beras Basah , Tasik Dayang Bunting and Pulau Singa Besar. The tour is inclusive of transport from your hotel to the jetty which is located just beside the Awana Porto Malai Resort.

I don't know if July is an off season for Langkawi and probably it is because throughout the whole day of our Langkawi Island hopping trip, it was raining really heavily. The tour guide was even asking us if we wanted to skip the trip and do it tomorrow instead because of the weather and we were like, " Hey it is more fun to go on a boat ride while it is raining heavily, right? " . So we hopped on the boat with a couple of crazy tourists who probably are just about as adrenaline junkie as us and man, that must have been the best boat ride I have even been to.

The whole boat ride was bumpy and at some point it started to rain really heavily and all of us in the boat were drenched in rain with the chilly wind and waves. It was just the coolest boat ride ever. Haha. Thankfully, no one got thrown out of the boat and we reached our first destination Tasik Dayang Bunting. Since we were already wet from head to toe, we decided to jump into the lake for a swim and who cares if it was raining. The lake is surprisingly warm and it was a good dip to get out from the cold. However, the lake is really dark green in colour and God knows what are sitting at the bottom of the lake. Overall, Dayang Bunting Lake is really beautiful and it is good a place to snap great picture and we would have done that if not for the rain.

Next, everyone hopped back on the boat and we went to the second island which was Pulau Singa Besar.  This is where the boat driver started to throw some food, I think it was bread to those huge eagles. Yet again, this place is a great spot for picture snapping.

Finally, the last of the island hop ended at Pulau Beras Basah. I was literally 'basah' or wet and began shivering the moment we stepped on the beach of the island. A couple of us from the boat had to knock on the door of the one and only coffee shop at the island so that they can start making coffee or anything hot for all of us to drink. I guess I wasn't the only one feeling the cold. It was still drizzling by the time we got at Pulau Beras Basah and we were just hanging out, drinking hot drinks and checking out fish at the jetty.

Soon after, everyone boarded the boat yet again and we headed back to the jetty that we had departed from. You can purchase some souvenirs with your photos stuck on it - some kind of a plate picture frame thingy, which we bought because we look good and candid in the pictures and off we went back for lunch at our hotel.

The whole trip was incredibly fun, adventurous thanks to the rain and bumpy boat ride and yeah, it was a fun trip altogether. If you must visit Langkawi Island in the future, it is a must for you to do the Langkawi island hopping trip. Also, don't bother pre-booking the island hopping trip from websites online because it is usually cost a whole lot less or cheaper if you buy the tickets directly from the tour booths along Pantai Cenang. And yeah, you can bargain for the price too if you are good at it. :) All in all, Langkawi Island hopping really rock on!

* Note: The pricing for the Langkawi Island hopping trip mentioned here (RM35-Rm40) was the pricing for 2009. The price may have gone up for 2011.

Animals Anecdotes 22 : Brownie and her few weeks old puppy

Ever since the puppy is born , Brownie the first time mama has been doing a pretty good job at nursing her one and only puppy. Her little baby should be about 3 weeks or so old by now and we first saw a glimpse of this little guy ( a male puppy) just a couple of days back.

I can't really capture a proper picture of this little fella because he is still only playing around under the dark sandy area of the cabin. However, we are so glad to see how healthy he has turned out to be. The little puppy is well fed by Brownie and he is so chubby and round with the the same light brown skin colour as his mother, Brownie. Currently, he is wobbling his way through while walking. He still has one eye closed with the other one only half open but man, the little guy can make a loud but cute yelp when we started calling him. Haha.

Overall, it is pleased to say that Brownie's few weeks old little puppy is in a pink of health and we hope that he will grow up healthy and a chirpy, smart and happy puppy just like his mother. :)

Bicycle Touring Trip : Sitiawan - Lumut

I am blessed to grow up in a bit of an outdoor crazy family and we had a good share of a crazy family adventure by going on a bicycle touring trip last week. After going for a round island cycling trip at Pangkor Island years ago, we had always thought of planning for a cycling road trip and thank god, my brother finally got the bicycles fixed. We only had three remaining bicycles out of probably about five bicycles which are the ones we used back in the 90's to travel to school everyday. I must say they are all  still in good running conditions after some tires fix and oiling. The oldest bike has to be my dad's Shimano's racing bike. God knows from which era the bike comes from. It either should be around circa late 70's or early 80's. Gosh, that is ancient!

[caption id="attachment_1864" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="My trusty old bike. Lost the rear reflector thingy during this trip. "][/caption]

So with 3 persons (my siblings and I) on the bicycles while my parents were happily riding on the escort motorbike - the notoriously 'powerful' Honda Cub, haha, we kicked off from our home in Sitiawan heading towards Lumut. We prefer to use short cuts and back roads because there will be less traffic and more to venture around to.

Below is the list of  places that we went along the way on our bicycles kicking off from Sitiawan to reach our destination Lumut and back home again to Sitiawan:

• Sitiwan (Home) - back road Jln Kg. Bintang heading to Maybank Manjung -  Manjung Stadium

• From the Stadium, push on straight through the housing areas in Manjung and at one turning take right heading to Teluk Rubiah

• We somehow went through Kg. Dato Seri Kamaruddin and was awestruck when we saw a really huge, new school in Manjung which is the SMK Kg. Dato Seri Kamaruddin. I must say the kids who go to school there are a lucky bunch because that school is so huge and new. I bet the facilities are great too.

• From the school, we kind of lost our way and went through a row of houses that leads to a dead end. Made a turn around and went on another wrong turn into a palm oil plantation. We got back on track by going straight through the dirt road with lots of holes ( a good one for mountain bikes), got chased for a while by a super territorial dog, saw two men on a kapchai trying to catch a beautiful blue bird near the bushes and we came up to a corner junction towards TNB Manjung Power Plant. We didn't go further up to the power plant ( we went only up until the power plant signboard, haha) and along the way we past by the Teluk Rubiah PLKN camp. There were no kids at the camp at that time.

• As we couldn't find a road from Manjung to exit at a housing area opposite the Tamil school at Pundut, we had to make a u-turn, head back to the main Manjung intersection near the Manjung Mosque.

• Took a left turn and cycled straight all the way to Lumut, cycling along the Jln Iskandar Shah road. At one of the traffic lights ahead near the quarry area, there was an accident but no one was injured. There was also a lorry load of the lion dance team with drumming away playfully on the lorry.

A couple of stops later and with a sore bottom by now, we reached the little hilly road at Lumut. At that time there was a bit of a commotion going about with my sister and my brother. The next thing that I knew, I zoomed past them, I was ahead alone and saw my sister sitting as a pillion rider on the Honda Cub whilst my mum took over the bicycle instead. Haha. The story is my sister hit a huge rock with the bike because she was trying to avoid from hitting the rear end of my brother's bike. Gosh!

• A quick cooling and eating pit stop at KFC Lumut. Rested for about 40 minutes and went back to Sitiawan cycling along the Lumut Esplanade and the yatch club. Snapped some pictures and it was almost noon by then so we stopped less and cycled more.


• We pushed forward and took a left turn at the Manjung - Teluk Batik intersection, cycling along towards the Taman Paya Bakau Lumut (Lumut Mangrove Swamp Park) - Taman Samudera Manjung - Billion - Manjung Mosque - joining back to the road we came earlier (that will be the road around the Fasa something? housing area, haha)


• Cycled through the highway (some sort of a highway) that leads straight to Kg. Koh , stopped at a plant nursery along the road (haha) and finally took a left to Jln Kg. Bintang and to Home!

All in all the total duration and distance for our little Sitiawan-Manjung-Teluk Rubiah-Lumut-Manjung-Sitiawan Bicycle Touring Trip are:

Duration : Sitiawan - Manjung - Teluk Rubiah -Lumut : 1.47 hour (lots of breaks and about 47 min stop at KFC)

Lumut - Manjung - Sitiawan: 1.06 hour (not much stops, only stop for quick drinks)

Total duration undertaken : 3.35hour (inclusive of rests and stops)

Total distance undertaken : A rough estimation of about 30KM. It could be less.

Outcome gained from the Bicycle Touring Trip : Is a healthy, fun family cycling activity. Need to adjust the height of the seat to avoid sore legs and need to change all seats for a wider, more comfy versions to minimize sore bottoms. Haha.

Will we do this often soon? Yeah, we probably will next time around. :)

I can go high on Groove Armada baby!

I just feel like sharing this, it is something that I really enjoy listening and can go high on! Besides the endless songs from anything Dance, Club, Electronica and Rock by  bands like Tiesto , Oakenfold, Prodigy, Chemical Brothers and many more and if you are into these kind of genre, you have and got to love , yeah it is a necessity to love Groove Armada , alright! :)

I listened to way too much of their Greatest Hits - Groove Armada album and I love every single tracks in them. You just can never go wrong with genres like Electronica, Big Beat, Trip Hop ...whatever they call them. Haha.

So yeah, enjoy a little bit of Groove Armada here from YouTube because I just want to share with you some really awesome vibrating, energetic, real music okay! Enjoy!

Get Down - Groove Armada & Stush (YouTube)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLVoS-kgDaM

To listen more of the Greatest Hits Album by Groove Armada from Amazon.com click here.

Places you should avoid travelling to during the festive holiday season

Festivities celebration is most likely equivalent to holidays and there will be a pretty good chance that it will be a long holiday as well. For most people it is a huge opportunity to go some place, some where to wind down, relax and have a much needed break away from work. One of the best tips that is worth noting while you are traveling for your holidays during the festive season is to block out and avoid a couple of places away from your getaway holiday.

Places you should avoid travelling to during the festive holiday season are:

- The beaches

- Islands with beaches

- Highland resorts

- Anywhere labeled as a hot tourist spot

Haha! I know this sounds almost ridiculous to totally block out the normal places that people go to for a getaway, but believe me, it is just so much worth it to strictly follow by these guideline. But why should you really avoid the places listed above?

The reason is simple. Those places are crowded, jam-packed and there will be a gazillion of people trying to go to the same place as you do. Imagine going to an island, hoping to laze around under the sun on the beautiful beach only to be overwhelmed by throng of people  and if you are even lucky, you may get a spot at the beach. So for all the reason that it is going to be crazy and fully loaded with way too many human beings, you ought to might as well skip going to all those places (beaches, islands,highland resorts,tourist hot spot) during any festive seasons at all time.

Hence, the places that I suggest you to go instead are :

To stay around the city and go to tourist hot spots around the city instead. This is because all the city dwellers are hoarding the outskirts and suburbs, so yeah, it is a great chance for you to roam around town with less people around to rub shoulders with. Haha. Some suggestions on city tourist hot spot  will be the parks, exhibition centers, art galleries, theaters, the zoo, museums and you can even enjoy some outdoor fun like jungle trekkings around the vicinity area of the city and the lists are endless.

Another next best thing to do and quite possibly the best way to keep you stress free from the traffic IS to just stay in and have a lovely bbq and fun 'eating and games' session at home with your family. What a better way to spend a quality time (which we don't often get to do) with the people you love and want to have more time around with. So go crazy and have a great party with lots of fun and laughter. That will surely do the trick for a much relaxing and much needed getaway.

And...if you really must go to some beach just so you can wind down, travel abroad to places like Bali or Phuket and enjoy the beaches there instead. Hopefully you won't be bumping around on too many local people from where you are coming from. :)

Don't you agree with me that you should just simply avoid travelling to hot tourist areas during the festive holidays? Those places are just too crazy and hectic to be around with. So yeah, staying in and sticking around the city by far are the best things you can do during the festive holiday season, or unless you have a better suggestions on places we can go to minus the crazy crowd, then do share your thoughts at the comments below. Would love to hear it out and make some pointers out of that too!

Animals Anecdotes 21 : Morning greetings from little doggies

What a wonderful way to start your day when you are greeted by really lovely, cheerful, happy animals!  Besides the endless chirping of the birds ( a real noisy bunch of them little birdies) sometime around 7 am in the morning or during the first light of the day, the friendly neighbourhood dogs are a great morning greeters too!

I have mentioned about the little furry, really big round eyes dog called Jojo back in the first of these Animals Anecdotes series. At the moment, Jojo who is a she, the well known friendly neighbourhood dog, is accompanied by another few weeks old puppy. I am really bad at identifying dog breeds but the most I can tell you about this puppy is, it is a male, has long ears and he is light brown with some dark brown patches. I think that's how he looks like. Haha.

Anyway, both Jojo and the puppy were being all friendly this morning. Wagging tails in front of our front gate and all they wanted is to play and say Hi! I guess. It is really amazing on how little things like in this case, little doggies coming around and being all too cute and just plain happy to make you happy and make you crack a little smile, all that in the early hour of the day.

That was by far amongst one of the best things anyone could ever asked for to kick start the day and yes, all animals are most welcome to our home - be it dogs, birds, squirrel, butterflies, cats, frogs, ants, snails and etc. Until more morning greetings to come from Jojo and the puppy. Oh, I should remember to have my handphone around as well to snap some pictures of these two. :)

Man, it's Monday and you gotta love this : Voodoo Child by Jimi Hendrix

Oh Man! It is MONDAY!

and ...

I need to put up something quick so let's check out something fun and awesome today shall we! If you love music and your choice of an instrument is the guitar, you gotta love this by Jimi Hendrix. Introducing my all time favourite : Voodoo Child by Jimi Hendrix.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoAXW30mMAg

I really don't care anything about the lyrics. I care solely for the beat and rhythms of the guitar. Hope you'll enjoy this song too and yeah, Happy Monday everyone!

Happy Chinese New Year and Happy Holidays like again!

I just want to do a quick shout out to everyone: Have a Happy Chinese New Year celebration and I hope you had a great reunion dinner tonight with your families. I bet the food must have been awesome. And for everybody else, Happy Holidays like yet again! Gosh, this country got to stop having too many holidays. Haha.

Okay, the holiday is up, so are you traveling anywhere this holiday? If you are, where are you going?

Hope everyone will have a safe and happy awesome time. Happy Chinese New Year again ya'll!

Photo Essay: Introducing Meine Kleine Plant!

I just thought and feel that having a little bit of green around as a house plant won't hurt anyone. It is going to be a win-win situation for the both of us, I do hope so, yes! So yeah, I would like to introduce to you  'Meine Kleine' Plant. Enjoy the pictures!

[caption id="attachment_1798" align="aligncenter" width="302" caption="Meine Kleine Silhouette"][/caption]

I am not particular sure of the family name of this plant. I doubt that it is  from the same family as Pothos because Pothos can grow and 'crawl' all over the place. I don't think this one can. Which ever family it comes from, I sure love the dark green colour of its leaf. A true rich green. That's what they are.

[caption id="attachment_1801" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Meine kleine pictured with two little turtles - courtesy of the WWF 2010 Annual Review Highlights booklet"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1802" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="'Lil gnomey' und meine kleine 'plant'!"][/caption]

Oh yeah, I shall be on a lookout for some nice colourful pot for this plant. Something bright should be fun!

[caption id="attachment_1803" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="'Meine kleine plant' on Sepia mode and with shadows"][/caption]

Oh just in case you don't know Deutsch, Meine Kleine is translated as My Little!

What would have been your favourite travel memories?

By far these are the things that happened during my travels and all of them are certainly unforgettable memories. They are something that I can find myself talking over and over again and laugh out loud just thinking and sharing about it. :)

1. Running a couple of blocks away at night to catch our bus where it is the rule of this country that it is illegal to jaywalking. We crossed the roads illegally anyways and got honked and cursed at I think. All the while, we kept running and laughed way too hard. Haha.

2. Running again under extremely heavy rain at night yet again to catch a bus and because it was a sudden heavy rain, the place started to get flash flood and the only shelter to get out of the rain was to huddle with another friend with all drenched up clothes, no umbrella of course, haha, standing pathetically in front of a close, gated little temple.We still got wet anyway.

3.  Getting told off by a super concerned taxi driver because I was struggling to reverse a manual transmission car. Damn it. He specifically told me not to drive around because it can be dangerous for everybody.  Haha. The best part of all, while I was struggling to even get things into gear in that darn car, one person out of nowhere offered to help me reverse the car and people around there are so so nice and extremely helpful. May God bless them all!

4. Complaining about a new place out loud during transit, all the while speaking in English in a country that doesn't really speak one or so we thought they don't. Since it had been a long journey, we were feeling tired, smelly, crappy, bloaty or simply put it as extremely exhausted that we started to whine and fidget and talk shit. Haha. Only seconds later during our deep in 'trash talking' conversation, we heard a couple next to us, out of the blue, switching language from their native language to English. Like oh dang it! They caught us trash talking about their country. Hahaha.

5. Being told off rather stupidly by a stern looking guard at some palace somewhere. It was dumb and embarrassing. But yeah, I can laugh about it now though.

6. Getting caught in a path with a bunch of really loud Americans. You tell me if there are any Americans who are not loud and vocal? Lol! With thick deep ascent, one of them went, " Let's follow this path!". Not so funny here right, but the thing is, we thought it will be great to talk like they do and went on a full fledged repeat of 'Let's follow this path' in thick American slang like over and over again. It drives everyone nuts!

7. Got flirted with a mountain guide. Haha. Okay as long as you are cute, so who cares. I'll smile back at you which is something I don't do at all if you are a stranger and trying to do some lame pickup line. But when you are up the mountain, I think the fresh air will get at you. High places actually makes you happy. Hence, it might make some sense if everyone feels the same way too and also I guess it is just alright if some people just want to go a little bit crazily happy as well. :)

8. Eating (more like being a glutton and stuffing up my face) super cheap and delicious seafood and thanks to that, I went on a full board bad diarrhea with constant vomiting right until an hour before boarding our plane home. I was literally eating until I was sick. Lol! Been there, done that and lesson learned. I am so not going to stuff my face ever again no matter how good or cheap that food is.

9. Falling off a bicycle on a slippery iced tarmac. Me bum went all sore right after that.

10. Hanging on to dear life by gripping the iron rod until my hands went all white while on a mad, adrenaline ride of an auto ( a three wheeler motorbike taxi) and I really thought we were going to crash and hit other motorists on the road.

and the list goes on and on...

Traveling is no doubt about experiencing the whole journey and yeah, little eventful things during your travel will ingrained lots of memories for the rest of your life. If you want to explore and discover, go ahead and travel!

Listening to something old skool : Creed- Higher (YouTube)

What is not to like from Creed and their song never gets old. Higher by Creed got to be one of my favorite tracks ages ago and I still do love it until forever. What is not to like from a deep, hoarsey voice and those insanely beautiful tune from the electric guitars. Also not to forget the super awesome lyrics  by this song too :
"Higher- Creed Lyrics"

When dreaming I'm guided to another world
Time and time again
At sunrise I fight to stay asleep
'Cause I don't want to leave the comfort of this place
'Cause there's a hunger, a longing to escape
From the life I live when I'm awake
So let's go there
Let's make our escape
Come on, let's go there
Let's ask can we stay?

Can you take me Higher?
To a place where blind men see
Can you take me Higher?
To a place with golden streets

Although I would like our world to change
It helps me to appreciate
Those nights and those dreams
But, my friend, I'd sacrifice all those nights
If I could make the Earth and my dreams the same
The only difference is
To let love replace all our hate
So let's go there
Let's make our escape
Come on, let's go there
Let's ask can we stay?

Can you take me Higher?
To a place where blind men see
Can you take me Higher?
To a place with golden streets

So lets go there, lets go there,
Come on, lets go there
Lets ask can we stay?

Up high I feel like I'm alive for the very first time
Set up high I'm strong enough to take these dreams
And make them mine
Set up high I'm strong enough to take these dreams
And make them mine

Can you take me Higher?
To a place where blind men see
Can you take me Higher?
To a place with golden streets

Can you take me Higher?
To a place where blind men see
Can you take me Higher?
To a place with golden streets

In short, Creed rocks and they will always be. Do enjoy the song :

Higher by Creed

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecXL_W2ZgWA