Day 2-27/03/2015: Meeting Australian Natives

No, we didn't go to the outback or cultural centre to meet the aboriginal people but its the animals! Since this is the first time I'm in Australia, of course meeting with kangaroos and Koalas are top priority. So, since a few months ago, I have been researching about where to see upclose these Australian native animals with the cheapest price and fairly satisfying experience. So Featherdale Wildlife Park and Taronga Zoo popped up when I asked the question in tripadvisor. Whats the difference between these two venues? Well, if you have budget for these kind of activity.. Taronga Zoo would be your choice, they have more animals including non native animals, they have better views surrounding the city, sky gondola ride going up to the hill, and world class zoo. So, they charge $53 for adults and mind that taking pictures with koalas would be $19. So, its obvious for me to opted for Featherdale because of the almost double price. Everything is in contrast for Featherdale, the main reason for the choice is definitely be the price even though it is a little bit out of the city.

So, that morning we landed at Sydney airport on schedule around 10am local Sydney time. Memang agak mengantukla sebab tidur2 ayam je dalam flight yang mengambil masa about 9 hours direct dari Kuala Lumpur ke Sydney. Sesampai je terus ke imigration cek up and inside the flight we were given entrance card to be filled and passed to the immigration counter. Masa berbaris nak ke imigration counter semua alatan electronic macam handphones, tablet, laptop semua tak boleh guna.. ingat! tak boleh!.. nanti kalau kena tangkap didenda (tak ingat berapa tapi kalau xsilap dalam $1000) so, takyahla nak cari nahas cek-cek phone ye. Declarelah siap2 barangan korang yang bawa tu including segala macam makanan, ubatan, peralatan berkaitan dan etc. Janganla nak selindung2 ke, malas ke because if you are found to bring those things without declaration, korang boleh kena denda atau kena tahan. At the immigration counter, I find the Australian immigration officers are very friendly and will chat with you like a friend, despite macam-macam orang kata dorg strictla apa. Yes, they are strict because you will have to check every single thing through extra procedures, check lagi then baru boleh keluar tapi immigration staff dia still mesra alam. That morning everything went well, even serunding daging & ayam plus coffee 3 in 1 Nasrul pun lepas. Seeloknya janganlah ikut kawan saya seorang ni ye.. sudah tahu dilarang tapi gamble je bawak. But nasib kami memanglah bagus..



Maka bermulalah perjalanan kami lepas semuanya melepasi immigration Sydney! Terus kami pusing-pusing airport cari toilet sebab lama kot masa nak proses imigresen. Ambik gambar sikit and terus cari arah ke train station yang very the easy nak cari, jalan je terus ke hujung sampai directly nampak counter train reception. Seorang pakcik berjanggut serupa macam pakcik Quaker Oat tu duduk situ melayan penumpang-penumpang nak beli tiket. Time kami sampai tak banyak orang pun, so kami terus tanya macam mana nak dapatkan kad multi daypass. Dia kata dia dia jual one way pass je and kalau nak kad2 lain ada jual kat bawah. Since, kami kurang familiar lagi dengan transport Sydney, kami redah je beli one way pass yang berharga $17.80 (termasuk bayaran untuk laluan airport $13). Kenapa ada extra charge ke dan dari airport? sebab the land where they build the railway is owned by someone else so, that person or company or whatsoever decided to charge every single one of people who utilize that route $13 per person. Lucrative bukan! Takyah keja dah, duduk sambil minum kopi dapat duit gitu je.

Train Sydney memang efficient, setiap 15 minit gitu dah ada train. Train dia dua tingkat semua tempat duduk tak macam train kita ada yang kena berdiri. Masa mula2 tu memang rasa jakun tengok seat train dia boleh pusing2 ikut korang nak dok macamana, Dalam 10-15 minit gitu, sampai dah Sydney Central station. Kira macam inilah tempat utama orang Sydney nak naik train, kira macam KL sentral la konsep dia. Ada dalam kurang 30 platform semuanya kat central ni termasuklah train yang keluar dari bandar Sydney. Sebagai panduan semua, kat sini WIFI free okay, jadi cepat2lah update media sosial bila dah sampai sini. Tapi, at first we didn't know about this and terus kitorang cari arah ke hostel untuk letak bag kat bilik dulu. Before arriving I have checked masa check in hostel and masa kitorang memang right on time sebab time tu dalam pukul 12 dah. But, sebelum jumpa hostel kitorang sesat kejap dalam usaha cari hostel kitorang. Punyalah jauh jalan kitorang sampai tanya2 kedai-kedai keliling semua rupa-rupanya hostel sangat dekat dengan central. jalan kurang 10 minit dah boleh sampai. Beberapa bulan sebelum travel date, kitorang dah book kat booking.com semua hostel and of course, harga paling murah menjadi keutamaan. Tapi, hostel ni memang berbaloi sebab harga dan location dia betul-betul seberang Paddy's Market tempat shopping souvenir paling berbaloi kat Sydney.

Sampai kat hostel, hasil dari research online and panduan travellers dari tripadvisor, Sydney City Hostels ni entrance dia susah nak nampak and dia nye signboard pun tersembunyi. Cuma ada signboard Mountbatten Hotel yang jelas kelihatan dari main road. Lepas settle hal-hal cek in, bomu kaunter pun bagi kami kunci sorang satu. Kami pun tanya sekali kalau nak simpan beg kat hostel lepas cek in sebab esoknya kitorang plan nak jenjalan lagi before pergi airport sebelah malamnya. Ada hostel yang bagi free kalau simpan sekejap, tapi hostel ni caj $2 setiap bag. Bilik hostel kitorang dekat tingkat atas nombor 5. Keadaan hostel agak baik, bilik mandi and toilet dia bersih lengkap dengan sabun free. Kitchen pun complete siap ada free coffee, tea, bread, garam semua just WIFI kena bayar kalau nak access dari alatan electronic sendiri. Kalau surf internet boleh guna PC yang disedia kat dining area dia. So, xpayah sebab memang nak ke Central je pun nak ke Featherdale lepas ni. Lepas rehat-rehat kejap and makan tengahari kat hostel, we walked back to Central to catch up with train to Blacktown stop. Memula memang kena tanya information kaunter kat central yang terletak kat tengah2 ruang utama foyer station Central ni. Lepas puas bertanya semua hal yang perlu kat makcik kaunter we decided tak nak ambik multi daypass and change to opal card. Opal card ni ala-ala ezylink singapore or touch'n'go boleh naik hampir semua public transport kat bandar Sydney termasuk ferry terpilih. Cuma perlu topup je bila dah nak habis. Kad ni boleh beli dari convenient store ala-ala 7eleven kat merata Sydney, top up pun kat situ jugak. Kalau bandingkan dengan multidaypass yang harganya $24 tapi opal kena topup ikut belanja korg. For day one ktorang spend around $20 on opal so, lebih jimat.

Back to our story, train time tu memang tengah tunggu penumpang kat platform dia and kitorang terus naik tingkat 2 for better view. Perjalanan ke Blacktown Station mengambil masa lebih kurang sejam macam tu. Dari Blacktown station pulak, kitorang kene naik bas nombor 725 ke Featherdale Wildlife Park. Masa kitorang pergi tu ada some other tourist sekali pergi so, kalau ragu-ragu boleh je tengok dorang stop kat mana. However lepas 10 minit perjalanan signboard Featherdale terpampang kat tepi sebuah kompaun di tengah-tengah kawasan perumahan. Bas berhenti betul-betul depan Featherdale so, very convenient for visitors who use public transport. Masa kitorang sampai sudah dalam pukul 2.30pm so, masih ada 2 setengah jam lagi untuk explore all the animals. Waktu operasi Featherdale Wildlife Park adalah pukul 9 pagi sampai 5 petang. Masuk-masuk kompaun Featherdale, kitorang terus berjalan melalui kawasan carpark ke aras kaunter tiket. Entrance fee $29 per adult but actually boleh dapat murah. Korang mesti rajin belek-belek free brochure kat airport sebab salah satu ada voucher discount 20% untuk setiap tiket. Kitorang yang terlebih excited masa landing xperasan ada voucher tu and bila nak balik Malaysia baru ternampak. Bummer!

Anyway, macam-macam binatang yang korang boleh temui dekat sini and mostly if not all are Australian native animals. Kebanyakannya burung-burung dari pelbagai spesis termasuk burung australia yang famous kookabura (nampak macam burung kingfisher). But of course, tak sah kalau tak berjumpa dengan kangaroo dan koala. Memang puas hati bila kat Featherdale ni kangaroo bertaburan sana sini melompat sini sana. Tapi yang bebas untuk tatapan pengunjung ni semua yang kecik-kecik sebab yang besar agak bahaya kalau dibiar face to face dengan pelawat. So, masa kat Featherdale kebanyakannya dihabiskan masa bermesra dengan haiwan ikonik Aussie, kangaroo. Trick untuk dekat dengan kangaroo ni korang kena beri makanan kat dorang and kangaroo akan datang dekat tanpa segan silu. Makanan untuk kangaroo disediakan dengan harga $1 dalam bentuk kon ice cream berisi rumput-rumput. Kalau malas nak bazir duit, amik je daun-daun dari pokok sekitar park ni, kangaroo pun makan jugak. Pengalaman lain yang berbaloi dekat Featherdale ni ialah bergambar secara dekat dan percuma dengan Koala. Yes, percuma. Tidak seperti Taronga zoo. Sangat berbaloi. Tapi dia ada time dia, and kebetulan masa kami  masuk area Koala tu memang time bergambar. Jadi, apa lagi wefie puas-puas dengan encik Koala! Selain binatang-binatang utama yang dah disebut ada jugak binatang lain seperti wombat, echidna, emu, walabi dan banyak lagi binatang-binatang lain. (Aku memang geek tentang hal2 binatang jadi semua binatang Aussie aku tau)

Selepas aktiviti pertama selesai, kitorang pun berangkat balik ke Circular quay sebaik pengumuman Featherdale nak tutup pukul 5pm. Jalan sama untuk balik, naik bas lepas tu ambik train ke arah city centre. By the time we reached Circular Quay, its already 6.30pm and nightlife at the quay seemed lifely sebab its Friday night. Duduk kat waterfront ni pun cukup menarik jugak, people watching konsepnya. Sambil menikmati permandangan ke arah Sydney bridge yang dilatari skyline bandaraya and Sydney Opera House di sisi satu lagi. dekat bawah Opera House ni ada deretan bar ala chic gitu, tempat locals and visitors alike lepak sambil menikmati keindahan bandar Sydney. For this first day, we decided to just lepak kat waterfront ni je. Tak pergi dekat dengan Opera House pun.. dari jauh je.. amik gambar je ambik view malam kat sini. Seperti tourist yang lain, kami pun ikut teruja ambil beratus-ratus gambar kat sini. Memang cantik view dia.. termasuk permandangan skyline Sydney dan Sydney bridge yang ikonik.

Lepas puas lepak kat Circular Quay, we walked back to the jetty where the ferries were, nearby the train station. So, carilah signboard ferry yang menuju ke Darling Harbour! Opal card boleh guna untuk ferry line ni. Malam pun dah gelap memang cantik permandangan Sydney bermandikan lampu berwarna warni dengan bangunan dia yang superb. From this jetty, the ferry will go on a less than ten minutes ride to Darling Harbour. Masa kat jetty, sebuah kapal pelancongan tengah docking kat tepi ferry kitorang. Memang besar dan luxurious kapal ni, kalau nak naik memang tak mampu lah kan. Anyway, ferry yang kami naiki terus gerak melalui bawah Sydney Bridge yang cantik itu dan menuju ke arah Luna Park, funfair paling tua dekat Sydney. Situ ferry stop kejap hantar ambik orang. Meriahlah funfair ni, lampu terang benderang, memang menarik orang ramai untuk datang ke sini tapi bukan dalam list untuk dilawati kami. Next, ferry jalan lagi melalui satu lagi cluster bangunan di pesisir quay di hadapan. Tak lama lepas itu, kami pun sampai kat Darling Harbour. Kat sini lagi banyak bar-bar dan restaurant sepanjang waterfront. Nampak semuanya agak high end punya area and tourist pun tak ramai berbanding circular quay.

So, malam pun dah semakin gelap dalam jam 9pm macam tu and premis-premis biasa pun banyak tutup melainkan bar, restaurant, convenient store and beberapa exceptional shops. Dekat Darling Harbour ni ada jugak tourist attraction dekat hujung baris bar tadi tu, ada Madame Tussauds, Aquarium and satu lagi tak ingat apa dia. Kalau family oklah kalau nak masuk but, tak termasuk dalam list kitorang jugak. So, we kept on walking sampai ada macam escalator below there's this bridge. Sampai kat atas rupa-rupanya ini Pyrmont Bridge, laluan pejalan kaki merentasi Darling Harbour yang kelihatan seperti mempunyai sejarah yang lama. I wasn't incharge for Sydney itinerary so, didn't do much research about this beautiful structure but cantekla. Jalan lagi turun dekat wharf kat bawah ada sebuah bangunan besar sekali lagi penuh dengan tempat makan dan bar-bar. Ada Hard Rock Cafe at one end of the building but as soon as we got near it was empty, only a few people inside. So Rock is dead, I guess. A few moments later lepas cukup melihat , both of us decided that we should get back to our hostel and get some proper rest sebab agak letih dan mengantuk since we both didnt have enough sleep. Immediately, we went to the signboard map at a corner and it shows that the nearest public transport would be lightrail and bus. We chose lightrail. We directly dash to where the directions shown where the lightrail stop supposed to be, but it was underconstruction!

No train station indicated nearby Pyrmont Bridge according to the signboard map. So, both of us decided to walk back ke jetty tempat kitorang sampai tadi.. memang jauh berjalan balik but seems like there were no other choice at this point tambah kitorang dah letih kot. But as we arrived kat jetty, the jetty was closed pulak!! Tetiba sunyi sepi jetty tu memang no doubt tutup. One by one tourist checked out the jetty, sama macam kitorang rasa hiba nak balik macamana. Lepas relax kejap kat tangga tepi jeti tu kitorang ternampakla kat signboard map jetty ni ada tunjuk train station terdekat sedangkan signboard kat Pyrmont Bridge tadi tak tunjuk! Kene jalan sikit ke arah York Street and station Wynyard terletak dekat tengah-tengah taman seberang Jalan York Street. Time dah nak dekat station susah sikit nak jumpa sebab dia underground, jadi pergilah kedai convenience store tanya locals. Masa kitorang cari station Wynyard kitorang tanya minah blonde ala model kat sebuah kedai ala-ala 7E tengah bayar barang, dia dengan baik hatinya berjalan ke station sama-sama untuk tunjuk station tu tapi sebenarnya dia memang nak pergi ke arah tu. LULZ. So, on the way turun bawah ternampak supermarket Sydney yang diura-urakan antara paling murah, Coles.. a floor or more before reaching Wynyard station platform. Tips kalau nak jimat habis, konsep bajet teruks, mesti ushar supermarket suatu tempat dulu. standardla roti bodoh akan jadi pilihan paling murahan! Sebelum pergi travel pun kalau boleh research harga standard lagi elok. For Australia, I didn't do any research on this tapi I did for New Zealand. Jadi, kalau harga benda makan lebih kurang baik xpayah la gigih bawa dari Malaysia, buat payah je.

Dekat Coles, kitorang beli sebuku roti bersaiz gardenia jumbo tu berharga 99c sahaja (lebih kurang RM2.85) which is lagi murah dari Gardenia (RM3.50). Air mineral pun kena beli sebab takde botol lagi and hostel takde water dispencer harga kalau xsilap lebih kurang $1 jugak mcm tu untuk saiz besar. So, selesai membeli barangan wajib, kitorang terus bertolak balik ke hostel. Dah lewat, dalam pukul 11 pun tak makan lagi kitorang time tu. Sampai je hostel lega rasanya! yelah malam ni baru boleh tidur dengan nyenyak compare to semalam tidur-tidur ayam dalam flight, tambah dengan letih berjalan hari ni. Tapi itu semua syok kot sebab letih-letih tapi puas hati sebab dapat tengok and experience new things kat negeri orang. Lepas ambik air panas dari kitchen di tingkat bawah, aku biar je maggi aku kat bilik tidur sambil aku keluar kejap nak ambik angin kat entrance hostel. Masa aku duduk kat steps entrance hostel, ada sorang mat saleh datang mendekati aku, "Mate, you have 50 cents?". Aku kehairanan, tak biasa dengan orang putih mintak sedekah dan rupa dia tak macam orang mintak sedekah pun. Bersih dan presentable to say the least.. okay, sedikit comot. Aku pun membalas, "No, I left my wallet at my room upstairs". "Oh, smart.. smart.. guy", dia balas. Kemudian dompet yang aku ingat aku tertinggal kat atas rupanya ada dalam poket aku tapi aku buat selamba je supaya mamat mintak sedekah ni tak perasan. Dia datang duduk sebelah aku. Aku pun seriously tak tau nak buat apa dalam situasi itu dan layan je lah mamat ni. Dalam setengah jam jugak aku borak ngan mamat ni sebab aku dapat tanya dia tentang plan nak pergi Blue mointain esok hari dan dengar macam-macam cerita dia. Tetiba aku teringat maggi yang aku biar dekat bilik tadi! Mamat ni pulak rancak bercerita, baik aku tunggu sekejap lagi. Selang masa berlalu aku  dah tak tahan, aku mencelah,
             "Umm.. I think I need to get back to have my dinner upstairs".
             "Oh, sorry mate! Its nice talking to you.. I'm Edward", balas Edward.
             "Ya, I'm EJ. see ya! bye", balas aku lega akhirnya dapat isi perut akhirnya.

Aku terus naik atas cepat-cepat, forsure maggi dah kembang habis dah ni. Masa balik jalan malam tadi ada 2-3 orang roommates dah masuk tido kat bilik, so aku decide nak pergi makan dinner kat kitchen bawah je supaya tak ganggu diorang tido and ada meja besar kat bawah. Nasrul pulak aku tak nampak dalam bilik.. maybe masih dalam bilik mandi. Kat bilik ada satu end table je, kerusi pun ada satu. Hostel pun dah sunyi sepi time ni, semua orang dah masuk tido la kot. Sesampai kat kitchen, ada sorang mamat Asian tengah buat keje kat laptop dia kat meja dinner. Aku selambe jerla makan 3 kerusi dari dia. Dua orang dalam satu bilik, aku tak selesa lalu aku terus direct cakap kat mamat tu, "You're from room no. 5?", tanya aku sebab aku nampak buku Korean dia kat katil seberang katil kitorang.
           "Yes!", balas Korean tu.
           "We're roommate and I saw your book in the room this morning"
So, borak-borak pendek sekejap kat kitchen dengan Korean ni dapatlah kenal-kenal and dengar cerita dia sikit. Korean standardla, english dia kurang fasih sikit. Jadi chit chat kitorang diringi bahasa isyarat dan yang sewaktu dengannya. Macam tu la kat hostel, kengkadang kita kena start conversation with other travellers sebab everyone's in the same shoes. Tapi ikut memasingla, everyone ada personaliti masing-masing jugak.. ada yang berminat nak bercakap.. ada yang kekwat.. ada yang malu.. macam-macam ada! One of my target list travel kali ni ialah to get to know other people from all over the world.. because before this aku dah pernah backpacking pergi Europe for 2 weeks, but it never crossed my mind to get to know other travellers. Maybe because I was young, I travelled with my friends so, its nothing that I thought of. Thinking back about it, memang I should have done it. And yes, I got the opportunity this time, so concept mesra alam harus dipraktikkan with other travellers.



Day one done! Ikuti entry seterusnya!

Day 1-26/03/2015: Flight to Sydney

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FLIGHT TO SYDNEY

DAY 1: 26/03/2015

Right after my half day workshift, I hurried back home to pick up my bag before leaving for Kuala Lumpur as early as possible. However, I stopped by a computer store to purchase a power bank for my handphone as it might highly possibly be very handy considering our tight travelling schedule. I immediately rushed to Penang International airport on a public bus as it is ten times cheaper compared to a taxi ride (RM20 for taxi and around RM2-3 for bus). However, I reached the airport fairly early and terus check in kat self-check in machine yang terdekat. After one thing done, I took a quick munch sambil charge phone yang dah setengah bateri kat one of the kiosk at airport. Nak cari tempat ada plug, just p ground floor ada byk. Masa berlalu cepat, sedar tak sedar time for me to get on board to Kuala Lumpur at 515pm delayed around an hour. Gitulah konsep travel with airlines, datang awal kat airport kalau xnak kena charge sebab lambat atau lagi teruk, tertinggal flight. Dua-dua pun EJ pernah lalui and perlu diingatkan cek in airasia for local flight is 45 minutes before boarding time and rasanya 2 hours for international flight. Airasia punya amalan biasa.. kalau lambat, org d kaunter akan caj RM10 sebagai denda lambat tp kalau lambat sgt dlm 10-15 mins dorang xkasi masuk terus eventhough aircraft masih lg loading. So, I board that one hour flight to Kuala Lumpur with enthusiastic spirit for New Zealand and Sydney. Memang xsabar rasanya!

Late lunch at KLIA2 as soon as landed, Uncle K

Touch down at KLIA2 went smoothly and I reached late at 6pm. Ada enam jam lagi untuk flight seterusnya ke Sydney. Late aku tak kisah kot sebab memang aku rancang in between ni extra time.. just in case. Just nice for me to get a full lunch and just have a quick review before my travelling. Dalam 2 jam kemudian, Nasrul sampai airport dalam keadaan gelabah tak tukar lagi duit sepenuhnya. So, dia pun tukar je kat airport sebab tak ada stok New Zealand dollar kat city area. At the time I change my money pun the money changer have to order first sebab takda stok katanya.. so, I had to wait one day but, I changed my money a week before the travelling date so it was fine. Australian Dollar on the other hand senang nak dapat. Bila tukar duit ke matawang yang lebih besar nilainya memang dapat nipis je lepas tukar tapi jangan risau kalau dah buat jangkaan perbelanjaan secara teliti. Kalau rasa tak cukup jugak siap-siaplah bawa credit card and set international atm withdrawal dari bank korang. Sekarang senang sebab boleh buat secara hotline atau online setting international withdrawal. Tu pun EJ dah buat seminggu sebelum travel date.



Pukul 1150pm flight ke Sydney, Australia right on schedule, no delay whatsoever. Sebaik selepas cek in 2 jam before flight kitorang plan nak get some drinks while waiting for our travel time but we decided to just head straight to the departure counter dulu. Nasib baik gak la masa beratur ambik tiket pun dah ambik masa agak lama sebab ada problem ngan VISA bila cek ngan staff cek in. Rupanya, nama kat VISA and passport tak sama, salah satu ada 'BIN'. Dia kata, "..kalau nanti ada problem kat Australia nanti just drop the 'BIN'". First time experience something like this and how much a small difference can affect my check in. Risau jugak masa dia cek but it end up solved. Then, considering dalam departure hall maybe jauh nak pergi departure gate, we went through the immigration check and scoot to the gate. On the way ke departure gate memang agak jauh, naik turun escalator bagai, jalan jauh lagi. Suddenly, I sense cam I can't find my ticket, "F**k!" i yelled in my head. Memang gelabah gabanla bila cari semua poket, celah semua memang confirm takde. Luckily, Nasrul cek in online as well so, dia pun ada print the online cek in copy. Tapi itu tak boleh pastikan aku boleh lepas kat departure gate! Pasrah je boleh buat masa ini. Semakin dekat kat pintu berlepas, orang airport yang naik machine beroda lalu, announce our flight tengah boarding and akan berlepas. Makin laju kami berlari-lari anak sambil aku risau pasal tiket yang lesap itu. Mungkin jatuh lepas immigration cek tadi, bisik aku dalam hati. Sampai kat departure gate kitorang last in the line. Aku pass tiket copy kat minah jaga kaunter. Dia tengok tiket aku. She paused. "Bang, tiket ni boleh pass ke?", dia tanya kat senior dia kat sebelah sambil dia cek in database dia. Aku mula gelabah dalam hati. BUAT MUKA SELAMBA! "OK!" Dia kata sambil senyum dan aku pon of course senyum sampai ke telinga! hahahaha!.. Selamat.

Bali Trip Throwback 3

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CLIMBING DAY

DAY 3: 02/06/2012

Our third day in Bali started a bit later than our first 2 days as our main highlight of the day in the itinerary is during the sunset, the Kecak Dance. First in our itinerary today is watersports activities at Nusa Dua located not really far from our hotel. They offered some packages of activities consisting of all sort which we ended up taking the paragliding, flying buoy thing (similar to they banana boat but more extreme) and snorkelling (which was actually diving because we had to carry oxygen tank). It comes with a bottle of mineral drinks and a packet of bread. The bread is not as snacks but to feed the fish! Overall, I'd recommend this activities to people who enjoy this kinda stuff but some people may not be able to enjoy this because of the thrills. In comparison to the other activities that we had in Bali however, this is the most pricey so far but it is still cheap compared to paragliding say, in Penang though. After the exhausting and 'dizzy-ing' morning, we stopped by a nearby padang restaurant on our way back to the town area. The restaurant is a really humble premise and exceptionally clean. They serve Padang food, originating from the island of Sumatera in Indonesia. You can see Padang restaurant all over Indonesia and in Bali itself Padang restaurants can be found in town areas. As we sat for the meal, the waiters started loading our table with multiple selection of dishes served with white rice. It was the best lunch we ever had in Bali, seriously! It was Minang food at its best even though we were in Bali.

Delicioso Minang lunch

That 'hole' or 'cliff'

After the satisfying lunch, we found ourselves back on the road going to Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park (GWK). But before we make our way there, Pak Supir brought us to a public park somewhere at a luxury hotel cluster was located which I forgot the name of it. He wanted to show us a cliff that was eroded by the ocean waves that created a small 'hole or cliff' (?) which was quite cool. Nothing much to see around the area so we continued our journey to GWK. The park is located amongst the limestone hills surrounding the area. At first glance one might thought that the park is a historical place because the sculptures and buildings were as if one of Balinese temple buildings but as we got closer to the complex it is obvious that this park is new and created as a tourist attraction. After the gateway, we arrived at an open plaza with some shops and restaurants in the area. Beyond the plaza, we entered a walkway with giant limestone at both our side standing as tall as a 3 storey building. It leads us towards another open plaza with nothing much inside. 

On the left side of the plaza, a staircase heading towards a Garuda head is located on an upper ground venue. Still tired from the morning activity, all of us struggled climbing the giant stairs to reach the Garuda. Obviously the garuda was still in progress as the remaining parts were sort of under construction. Another stairs leads up to another sculpture of Vishnu which was also under construction. After reaching the top most location of the park, we were rewarded with a beautiful panorama of Bali and it was worth climbing up the never ending stairs. To get back to the main plaza we need to go down another stairs on the other side.

Pecatu Beach

So far our third day in Bali was the most tiring and there were still activities ahead of us as Pak Supir drove us an isolated location near a seaside. The location looks like a new tourist area with small country-side road leading towards it. Pak Supir mentioned that since Julia Roberts shot a few scene at this beach in 'Eat, Pray, Love', people came flocking by the beach everyday ever since. In order to get to the beach, we need to climb down a series of stairs passing by a small cave and finally to the sandy shores of Pecatu Beach. Some local business stalls greeted us at the beach selling mostly tropical beach wear. A bunch of people getting their sun bath by the beach and others walk around just enjoying the place. Pecatu Beach is a short beach with stone cliffs at some of the water edges, which I can imagine might be a nice place before it was famous because of its mysterious, secret beach location but now its crowded with tourist!

There we go again climbing up the stairs to get back to our car as we need to get to Pura Uluwatu on time for the Kecak Dance. The performance will start at 6 pm and we need to get there as early as possible to get a good seat. We reached Pura Uluwatu just at the right time as Pak Supir guided us towards the a pathway that leads to a 10 minutes walk, up dan down the stairs until we reached a garden where they sell the performance tickets. Along the way, we enjoyed the seaside view of the Pura itself which is located atop a high cliff on the other side of the pathway. There were monkeys lurking along the pathway as well, looking for opportunity to steal any shiny stuff that you have including glasses and mineral drinks bottle. There were already tonnes of people waiting to be seated in the hall when we arrived. One third of the seat have been taken, leaving us with plenty of seat options. We chose the middle row to get the best view of the whole performance. A few minutes later, the performance started and the audience kept coming into the hall, getting seated at any corners they could get. The performance was a combination of dance and acting telling stories of the Monkey god, Hanuman from the Hindhu mythology. There were fire flying around, a lot of group shouting "KECAK", Hanuman jumping in and out of the audience seat and dancing princesses. The show was good but I still prefer the Barongan dance for its Balinese originality.

Amazing view to the cliff at Pura Uluwatu

Don't play with fire, don't play with monkey either.

After a day of climbing stairs, Pak Supir has planned for us a nice dinner at fancy tourist restaurant somewhere at a beach side which if I am not mistaken was in Nusa Dua. As a local, surely he had find us a fairly good restaurant with the best deals and we were right. It was a nice ending to the tiring day and we had the nicest dinner in paradise before we head back to our hotel.

Bali Trip Throwback 2

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ROYALNESS

DAY 2: 01/06/2012

Pura Taman Ayun's construction was sponsored by the Royal family

Our second day in Bali started with a breakfast meal at the hotel with view towards the construction site outside the hotel compound. Good way to start the day eyh? Pak Supir waited for us at the hotel lobby while we rushed to finish our first meal of the day. The first destination for today is a royal public temple, Pura Taman Ayun located at Mengwi district. As we arrived at the the carpark area, the pathway directly leads to an ancient looking bridge over a flowing small river. Over on the other side of the gateway, a stone pathway heads to a majestic gateway blocking views towards whatever on the other side of the brick fence wall. The front part of the temple complex is decorated with an open landscape garden with kemboja trees along the way. As we reached the inner temple gateway, we followed a pathway leading at side of the fence wall, towards the main temple area. Tourist aren't allowed to enter the temple so, we circled around the temple area which is surrounding with a shorter brick fence wall. The area consists of a few pagoda-like buildings or hut with each one standing as tall as around 10 feet high.
              

The wall seaparating outsiders from the main compound

The bridge and gateway

Finished with our first destination, we head off to Lake Bratan where Pura Ulun Danu is located. Our journey to Lake Bratan took quite a long ride on the road passing through villages and as we reach a scenic town along the way, our tour guide (more like driver actually) points out that the temperature outside is getting colder as we get even higher to the mountain top as he lowered down his window. We passed through a wonderful town at the side of a lake which looks totally amazing. Further uphill, we reached a place which obviously quite touristy. Apparently, as we reached there were some religious event taking place at the temple complex. There were girls dressing up in traditional performing costumes, local families walking around in traditional outfits and women carrying offerings on their head. We went in the complex with our eyes still gazing around the crowd observing their daily ritual activities. As we got closer to the temple, we can't help to notice Lake Bratan at the background. Its so enchanting that we didn't really paying attention to the Pura itself at the edge of the lake. Just off the edge of the water, a pagoda-like structure stands in the lake which personally got my attention more than the main building complex.

We spent quite a while at Lake Bratan as there where some other places around the temple complex which include a walkway with a small jetty, a recreational garden and a bigger garden at the front. As we were walking back to the parking area, I overheard a family with familiar language. I listen even more carefully as I was curious what I heard was right and it seemed clear to me they were  conversing in Iban language, one of the ethnic groups from Borneo. "what a small world", I said in my head as we continued passing by a row of shops. The driver brought us to a local farmer's market on our way to the next destination where the locals sell local produce in abundance, mostly fruits like strawberries, avocado, salak fruit, and many more (some I never seen before). We bought a box of strawberries and munched some during our journey. 

 

Next we went for a quick stop at one of the nicest view looking towards Lake Bragan from a higher ground and Bali never seemed to stop impressing us. Few photo session as remembrance of the captivating scene, we were off again on the road for our next stop. After a few minutes on the road going downhill, we stopped by for lunch at a restaurant overlooking an amazing scenery, and yes its a miles and miles away stunning paddy terrace. This one is more spectacular then the one we'd seen yesterday, As for the food, slightly better than yesterday and thanks to the panoramic view, it was a nice lunch. 

 

As usual, Pak Supir didn't join us for lunch and he waits patiently at the parking lot ready to get to the next stop. He planned all the itinerary for us as we mentioned where we intended to go and he will try his best to make it as efficient as possible. We drove all the way from the hillside to another temple at a seaside location. It is the iconic Pura Tanah Lot, also known as the snake temple. The temple building is located atop a giant natural stone facing the sea but before we reached our main target of the day, a Balinese gateway greats us that leads to a local craft and tourist market that stretch all the way towards the beach. We bought quite a number of souvenirs here which are mostly modern framed paintings for gifts and home decoration. Our tour guide earlier mentioned that its advisable that if the shopkeeper offered to roll the drawing for easier baggage handling, just say no. These paintings are not as high quality as the expensive ones, so they were probably made from low quality paint and may crack if rolled. He also mentioned that the paintings won't last as long because of this but guess what my painting at home has been hanging there for 2 years and it looks just as new! After a long picking and bargaining session at some of the shops, we quickly walked to the seaside.

When we arrived there, the place was full of people, mostly tourist and some local prayers. Stretches of golden sandy beach with stone cliffs and some huge stone on the seaside, people were standing there looking upwards at Pura Tanah Lot. Outsiders are not allowed to go to the temple on the stone instead, there were a small cave-ish enclave under the stone where locals pray to the snake deity that was said protecting Pura Tanah Lot. Some tourist lined up with the locals to be blessed at the entrance which also located next to the stairs heading up to the temple. We spent the evening until sunset at the seaside, enjoying the breathtaking view of Pura Tanah Lot with the sea as its background.

Bali Trip Throwback1

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ARRIVAL & BARONGAN BREAKFAST

DAY 1: 29/05/2012- 30/05/2012

Bali is one of everyone's favourite place to spend their vacation for obvious reasons; the amazing people and culture, breathtaking views, cheap tourist-friendly attractions, and the list just goes on and on and on. With the recent movie at that time played by Julia Roberts in Eat, Pray, Love potraying this mysthical island, it multiplied your reason not to miss the opportunity to visit this paradise. As we learnt in our first holiday in Bangkok, 3 days is not enough for you to experience the local atmosphere and soaking every moments of your travel time. So, this time we have decided to double up the time to 6 days in Bali and it was a delightful time to roam this majestic place. There are a lot of hotels and hostel choices in Bali according to your preference. As for us, we have booked the hotel earlier before at a somewhat pleasant deal. We stayed at Grand Kuta Hotels and Residences which is known better to the locals as Aston Kuta, its old name. Apparently it was under the Aston Hotel Group before and you can see the hotel accessories such as tissue and toiletries with the name dashed out or covered with marker ink. It was a bit far from major attractions but it was a good deal and we have booked some local tourist guide (which is really cheap!) so, transport is not the issue.

     

So the next morning we start the day with a Barongan dance at one of the local dance schools. The stage itself was impressive; with the iconic Balinese gateway as the background and full traditional orchestra team at one corner under a Balinese hut. The show goes on for about an hour telling local folklore thru dance with the infuse of Hindu mythologies accompanied with impressive costumes. Even though we didn't get the full understanding of the whole story but the performance itself kept me mesmerized. My friends however were not so keen of the scary masks which I thought was really artistic, Next we embarked on our next stop which is the famous rice paddy terrace at one of the foothills in Bali. On our way there, we stopped by a local Art Gallery where the local artists sell their beautiful paintings but the price tag were quite expensive for my pocket. As we continued our journey to the paddy terrace, the scenery along the way was beautiful as well; the traditional local buildings, the small roads, hindu and buddha sculptures along the road and we even stumbled upon a local wedding ceremony march as well.

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When we reached the paddy terrace, it was already almost lunchtime. Our driver parked the car at the side of a small road heading to an uphill location. After spending sometime at the paddy terrace and savoring the view. we decided to head to the next location, restaurant to get some food! After a few kilometres drive, we arrived at a restaurant on the hill overlooking a breathtaking valley which i didn't remember the name. Even though the food were not that great, but the splendid view was enough to substitute the flavours. After we had finished our meal, we head to our car as some local aunties start to gather around us and tourists selling some so-called touristy items. That is normal as this is a third world country and they'd do anything to survive. However, their faces seem to be sort of similar like red indians because they had red-ish skin, high nose (red-indian like nose) and most probably the way they dressed up as well or maybe it was just something wrong with my eyes.

The next location is the Luwak Coffee plantation and factory along the way back to Kuta. For anyone who never heard of luwak coffee, Luwak is a type of civet. Why would someone call a coffee based on a civet? Go figure! The front part of the plantation were a small botanical/ herb garden with some local plants to display an introductory crash course to the tourist. Nothing new for someone from the neighboring country. Deeper in the compound was a small hut which obviously just for showing the process of producing the famous expensive luwak coffee from A to Z. Around the hut they had some luwak taking sleep in the broad daylight. A few steps downhill, we arrived at a nice small cafe where they gave some samples of coffee choices with a tea and a chocolate tester as well. This venue also was overlooking a nice valley (not as beautiful as the first one) full of bamboo plant and coffee trees below its canopy.

We end up getting some luwak coffee from the store as gifts which I end up drinking them myself few months later because most people around me don't drink coffee. Next destination is the Tirtha Empul Temple, one of the iconic temple in Bali known for its beauty and history. The president of Indonesia, Soekarno even had a palace at the side of this temple which is located at a higher ground. Before entering the complex, everyone must cover their legs with sarong and sleeveless shirts are usually not allowed. So, I had a sarong i bought earlier from one of the shops at the paddy terrace (I found out it was priced higher somewhere else!) while everyone else wore purple sarongs from the temple entrance. The temple started with an open area which leads towards a gateway, typical of Balinese premises. In the temple compound, there were a few hut-like structures with one of them was used as a religious ceremonial hall. Through the other exit out of the temple were some pools, some as landscaping feature and one for religious bath, meant to cleanse the sins of its devout followers.

After a few walks around the complex exploring the parks around Tirtha Empul, we found ourselves strolling around the local hawker market selling some tourist items and gifts. We decided that we should head back to the hotel and get some good rest after the light shopping session before exploring more of Bali at night!

EUROPE COMPANY TRIP: DAY 1-21/12/2013

The early morning alarm woke me up as I set it at 6 am and my stuffs are not yet fully packed for my Europe company trip. I finished my packing as I finished my shower, reminding of the important things I need to bring along for the free trip. What can I say beggars cannot be choosers, when my bosses say that we are going to Europe this year I single minded-ly say I’d love to join. So, as I completed my luggage, reminding once more and checking through one more round, a friend of mine call me up telling me they are downstairs to give me a lift to the airport. As I dashed off to the lift, my mind keeps on rewinding the memories I had in Europe a few years earlier, thinking how nice the experience was with my fellow university friends as we planned together everything for the trip from hostel bookings to Disneyland tickets. But none of that is involved in this trip because it’s a tour agency trip. Not much adventure but fewer headaches. So, we reached the airport at around seven, 2 hours before our flight. Yes friend, 2 hours at least for check in for international flights so make sure you are at least 2 hours before your departure time! As we reached the airport, the tour agent arranges everything from there. As usual, when you reach the airport this early find a seat at some restaurant and get a cup of coffee. When the time to board the flight everyone got to their seats, chat for a while and doze off for the next 1 hour plus, but not me. I’ll watch some inflight documentaries and movies until I got bored and dozed off 2 hours before landing.

We landed at Suvarnabumi (as they call in Thai, swarnaphum) airport at circa 10.30am. This is our transit city, Bangkok Thailand. We immediately transfer to our hotel for the day here at Centara Hotel Bangkok as our flight to Italy will be at 1 am. As we reach our hotel, everyone got their rooms and we head to our hotel as soon as we checked in. At 10 or so, we went out to walk around Bangkok for some sightseeing and perhaps shopping. Just few days before our stop in Bangkok, the political situation was in a hoax where demonstrators were on the streets protesting but lucky for us none were seen in the street as during that time, the date for election was just announced and the king just mentioned that there shall be no havoc on the street few days before we came (little that we know few weeks later the condition got worse). Anyway, we went to central world for a intro walk which is very near to our hotel. Not really what I want to see in Bangkok because it’s just another shopping mall. But, I just follow along as I have been in Bangkok before. Then,  we head off to platinum mall by taxi where the so-called one of Bangkok’s shopping heaven. For me however, im not really keen on shopping here as the items weren’t the kind of things I would buy. I mean most of it are for the ladies so, ladies next time you come to Bangkok Platinum is one of the place for you. I’d prefer Chatuchak market as the things there are more suiting for me to purchase. After few rounds of repeating ladies shops, we decided to go back to our hotel for some refreshment.

The hotel package comes with buffet lunch and dinner and the food is awesome. All range of food from sushi to pastas, selection of food here is very impressive and most importantly its delicioso! After our dinner, it’s time to take some rest and shower before we make the move to the airport. The journey to airport is around an hour and at least 2 hours before check in therefore we departed from the hotel at 9 pm. The same as any other major airport, Suvarnabhumi airport is huge so, as we finish checking in to the flight and send our luggage everyone spread out in groups to explore the airport before our boarding time which is at 12 am.

2010 resolutions fulfilled??

As usual, last year's resolution is always something that u will be ashamed of, not because of the content is embarrassing, but because you just failed to achieve most of it. Mine?

1- getting fit. i'm not fat. just a belly problem but that will be taken care of. i'll take a gym membership and eat healthily for the physical thing and also health.

2- get employed. getting employed is not really hard in my profession. i might also think of getting active doing part time job too so i can get extra income. also will join competitions like comics thingy or logo design etc. (won't involve in architectural competition because too much fuss)

3- save money. i spent too much on food. i am not that fussy about food but i have the tendency to eat 'luxury foods' especially if i have friends around. i don't spent too much on appearance just because i don't think thats a necesity for the time being. but if i have my own money, i might be carelessly buy new things but just leave that to 'future-eusof' to handle.

4- appearance upgrade. i dress up lazily. i think. its just an ok level i guess. this year i'm planning to give a wardrobe makeover to stuff it with new clothes. that is after i get employed. maybe get some consultation of how to look more presentable infront of people from some 'experts'.

5- improve social and life-survival skills. as a start, moving to penang seems to be a good move since my sister lives there. therefore, i can learn how to adjust in a totally different environment and at the same time still have a support system (that is my sis). planning to move to KL but maybe in 2 years (or more) time when i'm fully ready. oh.. and smile more. some of my friends told me that i looked a little cold especially to people i just met.

6- gain working experience. i'm ready for work. i'm even psyched now actually.. maybe more like challenged. ignore those negative inner self telling myself that i'm not good enough.

7- prove to mum and dad that i can be independent. planning to give some money to parents when i started working. staying in kuching will make me even more spoilt. mum tries to lure me to work there by offering a 'vios' or 'city' but i declined the offer, instead taking the risk of venturing elsewhere but kuching.

8- be a better friend. i used to feel that my hands are tied, unable to comment freely to facebook accounts since i had a girlfriend but now that i'm free, i want to get out there and catch up with old friends and possibly make new friends. now, i should have a book on "becoming a good friend for dummies".not planning to be in a relationship for the time being.*singing all the single lads*

9- backpackaking!!!!! my ultimate resolution. i missed backpacking throughout europe. all those bittersweet memories are just awesome. where should we go next??... korea? japan? australia? morocco? china? US? germany?... anyone wanna join?

10- less listening, more talking. i'm seriously getting bored of being a good listener. its a good thing for a good-talker-friend to have a good-listener-friend but its really tiring sometimes because my own perspectives and emotions are thrown at the corner without anyone noticing it. even if they notice it, they will just pretend to hear you and seconds later, they most probably will continue to tell their story, ignoring yours.

Okay, to start with.. I still have this belly. but the bright side is, i got 5 out of 10 done, number 2,4,5,6 and 7. got employed. improved appearance. improved social skills and life-survival skills. gained working experience (even though very slow). prove to mum and dad that i can be independent. I'm still working on number 1, 3, 8 and 9. went to gym (diligently). been an okay friend, i guess. planning on a short trip to Bangkok in June!! (can't wait!).

And last but not least, less listening and more talking. seems to not going to happen anytime soon, i mean like soon as in forever. huh! maybe its just my personality, or maybe time will tell. people change.