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Showing posts from 2013

Bukit Tabur - Tabur East

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The East Tabur hike has always been the topic of conversation during my ‘yumcha’ session. I have done several times to the West Tabur (as many does) and thinking of trying out another hiking trail in Bukit Tabur. Prior to hiking, we were aware of the difficulties posed in this trail. It is going to be steep and at some point, you are going to use both hand to support yourself above the rock. Thanks to the web bloggers for their hard work in sharing the information. The entrance to Tabur east. The hiking started at 7am. It was raining in the night before. We were lucky enough to have a good bright day on Saturday morning. Along the trek, we greeted many people who shared the same passion, some in a big group of 10 and there is one foreigner coming with his local guide (I guess). In total there were three check points before the summit. We actually realized that we have missed the first two signboards before spotting the last, ‘ending of tabur east’. City jungle.

Gunung Irau - Mossy Forest

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Gunung Irau, the 9 th highest mountain in Peninsula Malaysia. It is situated in Brinchang town of Cameron Highlands. We have planned the Irau hike for almost half a year since everyone is busy with work after out of college. The hiking was planned on date 15 th June 2013. A group of 6 departed from Kuala Lumpur at 1am and reached the Brinchang town at 6am. After some light breakfast in a Malay restaurant, we headed to the entrance of Gunung Irau. The driving experience in Cameroon Highlands was different and way challenging than I had in previous hike indeed. Welcome !!! We started the hike at 7am. Everyone was soon fall in love with the place. Nothing beats the strong breeze and cool air in a morning. The trail was fairly easy at first, everyone was so excited of snapping photos around.  We entered the mossy forest at last. Everything in the forest is wet, muddy, and slippery. All of us had to be extra cautious checking on muddy traps and slippery grass roots.

The Penang Heritage Visit 2013

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After the  PBIM , the day had just started. We reached the apartment at 11am. Every single of us was so tired and fall into bed right after cleaning. The trip to Penang wouldn’t be a complete one without a visit to the famous street art in Georgetown. Kids on bicycle, motorcyclist with helmet, and wall painting, it was amazed to know that everyone has to queue for the photo session with these pieces of wall art. Sadly we cannot cover another tourist spot, the Chew Jetty in our plan due to time constraint. The Chew Jetty can be reached from Street Art Road by walking. A street art map from  here  Wall art - Marking Georgetown Diminishing Arts… Hidden between small narrow paths. Lee Jetty Spotted opposite car park Next, we headed to Gurney drive for dinner. The food is definitely better than the one we had in previous day. As usual, the lobak, oyster, char kuey tiow, steamed flour roll (chu cheong fun), curry mee, ais kacang and asam laksa were

Penang Bridge International Marathon 2013 Race Report

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The very first visit to Penang after my secondary school graduation trip was indeed a memorable one. A place rich of heritage, cultures and people, not to mention the good food in Penang (we have tasted them and some of them are not to be missed). Besides, this is the land where I have completed my first Full Marathon in life. It is pain, tough, challenging but worth the sweat. On 16 th November, we (friends and family trip) started the journey heading north at 5am in 2 cars. After stopped by Ipoh town for dim sum, we reached Penang at 12pm. Checking in the apartment located at Air Hitam, we headed to our first tourist spot, Kek Lok Si temple. Driving distance from our apartment to the destination was 10 minutes approx. After some photo session in temple, we had a not too great dinner at Penang famous hawker stall located along the UMNO building and row of museums/ art galleries. The crowd, pricey food and congested environment made up a fast dinner for the night. Rest

Surabaya - Bromo - Ijen

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After having some freaking cold time at  Ijen , we left for Surabaya, another 6hours in the car @.@ In fact, Ijen is quite near to Bali, so maybe can consider having some Balinese spa at Bali before flying back to KL lol :P So here is the summary of our 4d3n Surabaya-Bromo-Ijen trip :) Day 1 Kuala Lumpur - Surabaya - Pass by  Vegetable farm  -  Hotel Bromo Permai 1   Day 2 Sunrise at Mount Bromo  -  Crater of Mount Bromo  - Having breakfast & checked out hotel -  Madakaripura Waterfall  - Depart to Ijen - Checked in to Arabika Homestay Day 3 Ijen Sulfur Lake  - Depart to Surabaya - Dinner at Plaza Surabaya Day 4 Juanda International Airport - LCCT Malaysia On the way to Hotel Bromo Permai Volcanoes view from Hotel Bromo Permai Sunrise at Mount Bromo Crater of Mount Bromo Madakaripura Waterfall Sulfur lake at Ijen  Local food as dinner at Plaza Surabaya   Another unknown local cuisine @.@ Ai

Surabaya - Ijen Sulfur Lake

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After visiting the beyond awesome  Madakaripura Waterfall , we travelled from Bromo to Ijen by car. Took us around 6hours to reach Ijen @.@ Arrived and checked in to Arabika Homestay. It was around 7 at night and the surrounding is so dark. Arabika Homestay, without doubt, the place is surrounded by coffee bean plantations! We slept around 10pm that night and being wake up by the guide at 12am in the midnight @.@ Morning call by knocking the hostel door again... By 1am, we are ready at the starting point to hike up to Kawah Ijen. We spent 2hours for the 3km distance, due to the super low temperature and steep path @.@ We hike in dark, with the help of our headlamps :) From Wikipedia: "West of Gunung Merapi is the Ijen volcano which has a one-kilometer-wide turquoise-colour acid crater lake. The lake is the site of a labor-intensive sulfur mining operation, in which sulfur-laden baskets are carried by hand from the crater floor." We are going for the