Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Yogyakarta, a Foolish Girl's Dream Come True

Do you know that feeling when you have  a crush on this person since the first time you've met (early 2013) making your knees weak and face flushed whenever you're in his presence? It took about some time to finally realize that these reactions were immature and down-right foolish. Hahaha.

And to top that foolishness, I also secretly harbored a dream to ride on a motorbike with him and explore mountains, beaches and waterfalls together. Yeahh.. my head is full of horse shit. How to behave myself around him with these thoughts in my head? LOL!

But as months past... (a whole year even!) and having traveled with many people sometimes alone with the opposite sex whom I trust my life and honor with and who became great friends, I suddenly garnered the courage to befriend my crush, minus the foolish thoughts. :)

So one fine day, when browsing for cheap airline tickets online, I chanced upon a cheap RM125 return tickets to Yogyakarta, Indonesia. My heart skipped a beat when I realized that the guy I secretly admire is currently staying there. I decided to test if I could come there by messaging him, asking if he was free to host me.

................ few anxious moments later.............

Friday, November 28, 2014

9 Countries in 17 Days (Full Itinerary with costs)

Lately, I've been receiving emails and questions on my previous trip to Russia and "other countries" which I didn't quite mention. Most of them requested an itinerary. Hehe. So to answer those inquisitive questions, I decided to answer it with a blogpost.

Day 1 : KLIA - Hanoi International Airport

26 September 2014 - via Vietnam Airlines to Hanoi on the 19:10pm flight. Flight took about 3 hours. I reached Hanoi at 21:15pm and slept at the airport. 

Airport transit time : almost 14 hours. T____T



Day 2 : Hanoi - Moscow, Russia

27 September 2014 - via Vietnam Airlines to Moscow on the 11:05am flight. Flight took about 9 hours. I reached Moscow at 17:55pm and made my way to Friday Hostel near Kitay Gorod Metro Station.


Day 3 : Moscow - St. Petersburg, Russia

28 September 2014 - via train 054Ч Grand Express at 23:30pm and arrive the next morning at 8:35am. Booking of this train ticket can be done here.
Places I covered : Free Walking Tour at 10.45 AM which covered : Varvarka Street, Romanovs Chambers, St. Basil’s Cathedral, Red Square, Lenin's Mausoleum, The Senate Palace, GUM, Kazan Cathedral, Moscow Hotel from the famous Stolichnaya Vodka cover, The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Ruins Grotto, The Kremlin.
After the tour, I entered the Kremlin and went shopping at Arbat Street before checking out from my hostel to catch my train. :)

Monday, November 24, 2014

What happened to my enthusiasm to blog?

"What happened to you, Jard? You used to blog a lot." Asked a once loyal blog reader of mine. I inhaled the polluted fumes of the big city... and let out a long sigh. I have some ideas but don't know how to put them into words. Hehe. When I was vigorously blogging back in 2010/2011, I had a DSLR, a desktop PC and was forever engaged in blogging related events.

I had pictures with Lisa Surihani, Fahrin Ahmad, Chef Wan, blah.. blah.. to name a few. I had movie invites, product launches invites and even food reviews to many hotels around Klang Valley (surprisingly, mostly during Ramadan month. Alhamdulillah. :P)

I even received a FREE HTC smartphone and won a Sony home entertainment theater system which costed RM3,500 from a blogging contest.

An event with fahrin Ahmad.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

To Moscow With Love

We have 24 hours per day and still people complain that they don't have enough time. But for me, I'll always find time to travel.But it gets annoying sometimes when people say it's because I have a lot of money when the reality is far from that.

All you have to do to travel are cutting costs and SAVE, SAVE and SAVE!

So it just happens.. that on the historic day, 21st of April 2014, which miraculously coincides with me receiving my salary and also "tunggakan dari Januari" for the increment in salary, that there was a Vietnam Airlines Sale on all international flights. There were flights to Paris, Amsterdam, Munich, Moscow.. etc for rates under RM2,000!!

Say what?? Return flight tickets to Moscow for RM1,948.00??!!! I almost screamed in delirium. And many finger-tapping-on-keyboard moments later, I secured the tickets.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Russian Embassy in Malaysia : What You Should Know

Thinking of heading to Russia? Well, to do that you must apply for a visa and it could be tricky. After three times visiting the Russian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur to process my visa and observing many applicants there, here are some "important"  things that you need to know.

The Russian Embassy is located on Ampang Road.you wont get into this gate. There'll be a door on the right side where you have to queue outside in the sun.

Friday, September 12, 2014

The Disease That Almost Stopped Me From Travelling

Just a few weeks before I was bound to embark on another overseas solo trip, that things started to get terribly wrong. Small clear and insanely itchy blisters started to appear on my palms. Since I never did have any skin related disease history apart from acne, I didn't take it too seriously and decided to leave it be without using any medical treatment.

[Warning : Pictures may be too graphic for some. Too much skin! Hehe!]

What are these? huhu

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Less Than 60 Days

This is another of those trips where I have to plan months before with limited resources (by this I mean money), depending wholly on my monthly salary (as I didn't save much) and no travel-mate to share the planning tasks. There was one guy, however who wanted to join but I decided to do this solo for reasons unbeknownst to everyone but me. *sorryyy*

Created using Photoscape. 
Less than 60 days and I have yet to do the following (on hold as I currently don't have the money. Haha)  :
  1. Train ticket within Russia (to be bought from here -- http://pass.rzd.ru/ ).
  2. Invitation letter from Russia (could be done here)
  3. Russia Visa Application (need to visit the Russian Embassy in KL)
  4. Travel Insurance (planning to buy this one -- ace travel insurance) 
  5. Figuring all the transportation from airports to city (this is gonna be tricky)
  6. Have to deal with a lot of currencies -- Russian rubles, Euros, Danish Krones, Norwegian Krones, Swedish Krones, British Pounds, Polish Zloty.
  7. Figuring out where to STAY at all the cities though I haven't started looking for couchsurfing hosts. Maybe 2 weeks before flying? :)
  8. Bring ENOUGH CASH as I still don't have a credit card. :P
  9. Last but not the least.... APPLY LEAVE FROM THE OFFICE!! Holy molly! Haven't applied yet! 
With all that in mind, I don't know how to concentrate on work. Hahaha. *sorry boss*

And so I finally updated my blog. Phew!!


Thursday, July 3, 2014

From Thailand to Laos on a Sleeper Train

I rested a few days at home after my HK-China-Macau trip before flying off again. This time it was to fulfill my dream to visit Laos as I had to cancel my trip last year due to work.

My friend was heading to Laos too so I decided to join him even-though his trip will only end up to Vientiane while I'd be traveling to Luang Prabang on my own. Direct flight to Vientiane from Kuala Lumpur was pricey during that time, so I opted to fly in to Bangkok where I'll meetup with my travel mate. It was planned that I'd buy the sleeper train tickets to Nong Khai from Dom Meaung Bangkok train station. And from Nong Khai we'll cross the friendship bridge into Laos. Double passport stamps!

Annoying travel-mate with our main transport in Vientiane. 
Annoying how?

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

A Roadtrip to West Sumatera - Part 2

Continuing from my previous post on Padang here... We just left Bukittinggi and headed to Batu Sangkar to visit the iconic Pagaruyung Palace.

My travelmates in front of the grandest Mingakabau palace - the Pagaruyuang.
Pagaruyung Palace

Rumah gadang, or also known as a grand palace is an icon of West Sumatera and can be found in many parts of the province. They are solid wooden structures, beautifully carved and has sweeping roofs with pointed ends. This is also known as the Minangkabau style.

Thursday, June 12, 2014

A Roadtrip to West Sumatera - Part 1

I woke up around 3:30 am, miraculously still being able to feel my feet after all the hiking and climbing the day before. My small group of friends have planned to start early today for Sumbar roadtrip. Yayan purposely rented a car for us and he'll be driving.

We enjoyed sunrise from the car as we rode into an orange horizon lit day. Having to navigate around West Sumatera depending wholly on Yayan's mental map, all we could do was enjoy the view! Haha! Our first stop that day was Puncak Lawang. A famous viewpoint where we can see a panoramic view of Maninjau Lake. To get there, we had to go up 44 road turns that was unbelievably nerve-wrecking! This part of the journey is called Kelok 44.

Kelok 44

To get to Bukittinggi from Padang, one has to go through the famous Kelok 44. Why is it called that way? Well, because there are exactly 44 road turns with splendid view of the lake. Each turning point will be denoted with a signboard stating the current number of the turns.

How Kelok 44 looks from above. Pic taken from here. 
We actually made a short stop while going up Kelok 44. Guess where?

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Hidden Gem - Sarasah Waterfalls of Padang, Indonesia

After hiking two hills in the morning, I slumped happily onto the mattress on the floor. Tired, I was hoping for a quick nap before lunch. But my host had different plans for us.

"Jard, get up! We're going to the waterfalls! Lunch first!" My roomie, Siti Nur shouted from outside our door. I was just about to close my eyes! +___+

I hastily put on my hijab and went out to the dining hall to see if it was true. I've noticed that Yayan has definitely came back from his exams and there was another guy at the dining table. He turned around as I approached and introduced himself as Syahrial, Yayan's friend from work. Going to the waterfalls required two motorbikes as there were four of us. Yayan will bring his and Syah's his, while the girls will ride at the back. :P

"You can't wear shoes. It will get wet" Yayan suddenly told me as I was putting on my shoes,
"I didn't bring any slippers" I told him.
"Wear mine." He showed me two kinds of sandals, signaling me to choose. Geez, this is my third time borrowing men sandals! Hahaha! First was Helga's in Jakarta (blogged here), second was Alid's in Vientiane and now here in Padang. This is a testimony that I have REALLY BIG FEET! Uwaaa!

Biting back the embarrassment that he noticed I had big feet, I diligently chose a sandal that had back straps on it. I also borrowed his backpack to put in water bottles as there'll be some jungle trekking to be done. After awhile, off we went! Siti Nur on Yayan's motorbike and myself on Syah's bike.

The ride to the forest where the waterfalls were located wasn't a smooth one. We had to drive over big rocks, upheaval dirt roads with big holes in them and endless bumps on the way. We finally came upon a small stream and parked near the area. Having to ask around, the locals pointed us to the correct way to the falls and so the trekking began.

The trail into the woods seemed endless... there wasn't even any sound of water splashing, almost dampening our spirits. After a half an hour or so, we came upon a wider stream over massive rocks. We decided to follow the stream upwards, with hope to find the waterfalls. It was from this point on-wards that we started to get wet. Very wet. Jumping and sliding into the water from time to time to get through. Hehe.

And voilla...

Look at how untouched it is. Haha. *ignore Yayan at the far right of the picture* 
I had no intention in bathing in the falls as no extra clothes were brought. But having to go through hell just to get here made it irresistible for us NOT to jump in!

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Padang, an Earth-quake and Tsunami Prone Town

Just finished a working paper on a RM7.5 mill project. Right after I emailed it to my boss, I inserted the original soundtrack of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty onto my PC rom and started to blog away. :)

Padang... a town of a thousand tremors. Tremors why? Yayan (our host) said that he has experienced more than two hundred small earth quakes since he last moved there last October. Surrounded by active volcanoes and mountains, and also so close to the Indian ocean, I now could see why Padang is prone to earthquakes.
Padang, big wide ocean on one side and mountains on the other side. Earthquake and tsunami prone!
I suddenly remembered the headlines in 2009, where more than 1000 people died in Sumatera due to a massive earthquake. Having a local recalling the events in detail to me was horrifying. Yayan showed me the part of Padang which is now known as 'kota mati', translated as dead town. Buildings were left empty as they shifted to higher ground, inland. Yayan also showed me the hotels that were greatly devastated by the earthquake, claiming more lives of tourists than locals during that fateful day. Some of the hotels were quickly rebuilt and changed names to bury the dreadful past, but the locals will always remember.

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Drama at KLIA2

The minutes hand on my watch showed an hour before departure time. I was on edge. Waiting for almost more than an hour for my other three travelmates to arrive... tapi batang hidung pun tak nampak! 

45 minutes before boarding, (I was already in Gate L2, ready to board), I tried contacting them via our messenger group on my ipod... one claims to be STILL DRIVING to the airport, another on the KLIA express and fourth person already in the area but his printed flight tickets were with the guy who was STILL DRIVING. (Emphasizing the words in BOLD letters to indicate my annoyance. haha)

Can you see the dilemma and stress that I was in?

I've planned everything from the purchasing of tickets (recommending the time and prices which they'll buy themselves), the destination, car rental with driver and hotels. Each person had to give me RM150 to cover all the hotel and transportation costs except ferry transport and entrance fees.

And suddenly I was facing this sh*t of a possibility that they might not be on the plane with me to Medan and I'll be alone with the driver... along with RM450 of my travel-mates' money. It wasn't entirely a terrible thought though. Hahaha.

Seated in the plane, my mind kept wondering what happened to them. Did they make it? Did they beg their way into the plane?

Were they even HERE at the airport yet? At this point, I didn't bother to check my iPod for new updates from the group. Whatever will be will be. In local terms... "ah lantaklahhhh!!"

Then suddenly.............
....minutes before the stewardess in red closed the door, in walked down the aisle were my travel-mates, one by one. All with a smug face.

=_______="

I didn't know whether to be thankful or scold them for giving me a near heart-attack. But alas... the trip become an extraordinary one. :)

Miraculously, we survived a second trip together. This time to Medan. 
Funny that in my previous blogpost on our trip to China, some of us didn't want to travel with each other any-more. Guess, that didn't keep us from having a second trip together... and perhaps a third one too (Turkey jomm!) :P

Happy travelling peeps!! 

ps: Padang posts coming up next. Sorry for the delay. Hikss!




Tuesday, May 20, 2014

My First Unforgettable Day in Padang, Indonesia


Yayan, a guy I met during my trip to India in May last year has been transferred to Padang (which is actually his hometown) from Batam just last October. Us, having the same hobby which is traveling, have often kept contact since then to share itineraries or interesting places to visit. I was supposed to visit Sumatera last year during the fasting month but had to cancel my plans due to work restrictions.

Only just recently I was able to visit Padang which was during the Wesak holidays. YES!

FINALLY!

Dream come true!!

Having met Yayan on the few accounts in India and at the airport in KL, I was surprised that he offered to host me during my visit to Padang. (I actually don't know him that much! Haha!) Letting me stay at his sister's room at his parents' home. Wow! Thanks Yayan! He even allowed me to bring one of my girl friends with me! Now that's what I call hospitality at its finest! :P

Discussing our plans in Padang via FB chat, we actually didn't work out a solid itinerary. In the end it was going with the flow. The plan was my friend and I will fly into Padang on a Saturday afternoon, explore Padang ourselves on Sunday as Yayan was busy with his school exams and rent a car to Bukittinggi on Monday. The thing is, this kind-hearted host of ours had taken leave from work just to spend Monday with us!!! *terharu mau nangis*

So what happened when I first stepped my foot on Sumbar land? (Sumbar stands for Sumatera Barat as in West Sumatera). After I passed through the immigration and the customs, I was greeted by a guy in uniform, "Hey Jard, where's Siti Nur?". I looked up and was shocked to see that Yayan has grown slimmer than the last time we met!!

Want to see the difference?

Last year in India. Yayan is on the far left, looking chubby. Hehe. From the left is Mukhlis, Suntea and Alid.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

The Unnamed Hill in Danau Singkarak

I'm still in the post-travel depression mode. Haha.

I was asked an interesting question during my most recent to Indonesia. I was asked which place in Indonesia that I've visited has moved me the most? The one place that gave me the deepest, long lasting impression (what-ever that means. Haha!) My first answer was Papuma Beach but after finishing my West Sumatera trip, I suddenly had a change of heart. :)

I flew to Padang without any itinerary in mind. Accommodation was settled and I was open to anything my Indonesians friends had in mind. This time, my friend from Palembang, Siti Nur was joining me.

Fast forward to the end of our third day there....

After an early ride to Kelok 44 (started our day at 4am in the morning!)...
... from there to Puncak Lawang.....
... and then to Danau Maninjau
....to Jam Gadang at Bukittinggi
... to Ngarai Sianok..
... to Istana Pagaruyuang...
... and ended our roadtrip at Danau Singkarak to enjoy a sunset.

The funny thing about this spot we have chosen is that there's no permanent trail to get there. Yayan (our host in Padang) had specifically researched this place and there was only one other group who has been here. We would be the second group. :P

A no man's land. We were attempting to climb this small hill to view sunset over Singkarak Lake.
Yayan had to ask at a road side stall selling noodle cups on where to start the climb. Later he led us the way, followed by me, then Siti Nur and last by Syahrial (Yayan's friend).

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Hong Kong - Shenzhen - Guangzhou - Macau Backpacking Trip at a Glance

Something new.

I was traveling with fresh faces. Some new to the term backpacking but has traveled before and I had relied wholly on my new backpacking buddies to create an itinerary and research for accommodations. My only part in it was to be with them from starting to end, allowing me to observe and improve as a traveler.  :)

The Anak Gajah Gang - From  left, Wan, Dayah, Aiman and then me. :)
There were way too many hiccups on this trip. The one who planned the itinerary ended up not going. Accommodations booked weren't researched with routes on how to get there. Haha. And our timing was pretty bad as traveling in China was full of unexpected surprises.Thus leading us limited time to enjoy Macau and too much time spent in Guang Zhou. We actually missed a lot of attractions on our wishlist.

Monday, May 5, 2014

8 Things I'll Miss About LCCT : A Tribute

LCCT - Low Cost Carrier Terminal will officially end its operations on the 9th of May 2014. Moving all its operations to the newly built KLIA2 which I have yet to experience. I might have a taste of it, the soonest this Saturday *coughs*.


After my plane AK 5115 landed yesterday (4th May 2014) afternoon at 1:45pm, on LCCT's runway from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, a rush of tears evaded my eyelids. My younger sister who was flying with me rolled her eyes and scolded me for being too emotional. Hahaha! She didn't know that currently at the moment, I was revisiting all the fond memories I had of LCCT during all my recent trips, both local and international in my mind. It came in flashes of emotions. It's no secret that I've been frequently flying with AirAsia since the beginning of time. Well, since the time LCCT didn't have running belts for the luggage at least. :p

So before I shed another tear reminiscing my time at LCCT, let me share my top 8 memories of it. :)

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

A French Themed Village in Pahang, Malaysia

Colmar Tropicale is inspired by the 16th Century Colmar Village in Alsace, France. It spans over 16,000 acres of rugged hills and mountains and located 3,000 feet above sea level. Being up that high, I really didn't feel cold when I was there. :(

I planned on going here days after my Laos trip after knowing from my travel-mate that there were public transport available to this place. I never knew about it. Haha. So I managed to lure a friend to follow me on a weekend trip to Bukit Tinggi and thus booked via booking.com a room at Colmar Tropicale for one night.

The thing that I love about booking.com is that I never need to pay money upfront. *smiles*

However, bus tickets were another matter. I thought I could book the bus tickets via online but when I called the ticket counter situated in Berjaya Times Square, they advised me to pay for the tickets a day or two in advance. Unfortunately their office opens at 9am until 5pm. There was no way I had time to go there to buy the tickets but determination got to me. Haha. I got out from my office during lunch hour on Friday, the day before our night in Tropicale and got myself two return bus tickets.

They almost had no seats at 10am but after they reconfirmed with the driver (his name is Rashid btw..), I finally got the tickets!

Shuttle Transfer Services Time Schedule

  • Daily departure from KL to Tropicale at 10:00am, 1:00pm & 5:00pm,
  • Daily departures Tropicale to KL at 11:3-am, 3:00pm & 6:30pm
1-way = RM25 nett/pax and 2-way = RM55 nett/pax


This is how the shuttle looks like. Guess seats are pretty limited. It takes only approximate an hour to get to Tropicale. 

Friday, March 28, 2014

Backpacking to Georgetown, Penang

March was a no action month for me. My newly acquainted travel partner whom I enjoyed hitch hiking to Gua Tempurung last month was busy with her new job and had no time to travel with me anymore. I tried inviting her several times to go on a weekend trip to Penang but was refused everytime.

I got depressed. *lebih-lebih pula. hahaha

Until one fine day....

Georgetown of Penang has many beautiful places to take creative pictures. hehe.

I was wasting my life away behind stacks of work at the office when suddenly my usually very SILENT iPod was pinging loudly (just to show that I'm not a socially person on social media nowadays. haha). Oh my, some-one sent me a message via facebook. Wondering of the sudden ping, I replied.

Translation soon to follow below. hehe
Translation:
Helga : Girl *gives a bouquet of flowers
Me : Yes Hel? What devil on earth has possessed you?
Helga : *laughs* Let's go to Penang next week!

And so I did. It was as if god answered my silent prayer!!! Two days before the following Friday, I bought a transnational bus ticket to Penang from Puduraya. The bus was expected to leave by 5:30pm on Friday which means I had a lot of explaining to my boss so that he'll allow me to leave the office early. :)

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

A Non-Honeymooner Trip to Maldives

I was sitting with two men who were above 50 years old during tea time at my office. One of them began questioning me on my travels abroad. One of the questions that tickled my fancy started like below.

Uncle: So you went overseas alone to Maldives?
Me : Yes, sir.
Uncle : Heee'ehhh! If you're my daughter, I'd shackle your ankles and lock you in the house!
Me : =___="

Suddenly the other uncle chirped in after being quiet all the while.
Second uncle : I'll get her married instead!

And they both laughed out loud. Inside my head at that very moment... "Thank god my father isn't like these two uncles." Hahahahaha! (Ps: I love you dad. )

So Maldives ah? I went there before AirAsia terminated the route effective 1st of March 2014. I had some money left over after a friend paid his debt and mindlessly bought return tickets to Maldives, two weeks before it's route termination.

Frantic to find some hosts to take me in via Couchsurfing but to no avail, I decided to contact my friend who resides there whom I met during my 11 days training in India in 2012. He replied in good spirit that his sister can host me. So I looked forward to my Maldives trip with soaring spirits.

Until.....

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Gua Jomblang - In Eternal Darkness, You'll Find Light

The hell Jard, why does your blog's title sounds so cryptic? - monologue

I didn't had a good rest the night before. The guestroom I slept in was a simple bare room with two metal double decker bunk beds, a wooden drawer, air purifier and an adjoining bathroom. There wasn't much decorations in the room as it was newly furbished with the simple furniture it holds. I shared it with two other guys and a girl. (Yeah, here's my first, sleeping in mixed dormitories!) My night was restless because the sounds of the rounded belly white guy who slept across me, going to the bathroom kept me up.

But hey no worries, I got to wake up early to hop on the pre-booked ojek (or also known as taxi-like motorist) to Giwangan Bus Station, located 15 minutes away. My friend from Jombang will be waiting for me there as we'll be heading to the outskirts of Yogyakarta to a district named Wonosari via bus. It is here where I'll experience my first time caving!

This caving trip involves two caves. the Jomblang cave which is a vertical cave with a forest manifestation covering a diameter of 60 meters and the Grubug cave where in eternal darkness you get to see rays of light. Read on to understand what I mean.

Giwangan Bus Station. These are inter-cities buses. You can catch a bus to any part of East Jawa here. 
The day wasn't exactly a clear beautiful day. It was cloudy with signs of rainfall. We waited for another friend to join before we boarded the mini bus to our destination. The ride costed us Rp10,000 each, a cheaper method of going there compared to renting a whole car which would cost us Rp450,000 (excluding fuel).

Friday, February 7, 2014

My Traveling Backpack

At first, I was invited to join this blogging contest held by a famous Indonesian Travel Blogger, but later on found out it was open for Indonesians only. Haha. So to feed the curiosity of the person who invited me about my backpack, I decided to blog about it. For him. Ehem. (#prett I know)

Anybody who has ever traveled with me or chanced upon me during my travels, you might have noticed that I always, and I mean ALWAYS bring a pink backpack with me. It has somewhat become my identity and also the identity of my blog. (Refer to the header of this blog, created by my best buddy @helgaindra)

Picture taken during my FIRST BACKPACKING trip to Thailand in 2012.
I have a bigger bag to fit in my 4 to 10 days of daily clothes and toiletries but this pink backpack dates way back to 2007. I bought it in Midvalley for a price nearing RM 300. So it has been with me for almost six years and still counting. :)

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

A Weekend Trip to Pulau Pangkor

Lumut, the port where you'll need to get to to be able to get onboard a ferry to and fro Pulau Pangkor is just a three hours drive from Kuala Lumpur city center. I wouldn't say that this Island is as exotic as the islands of Mabul and Sipadan but it do has it's own charms. :)

Pink minivans, at your service!
Visitors can enjoy a day-trip around Pangkor by using one of these charming PINK minivans seen above. It's the only public transport around Pangkor unless if you prefer to rent a motorbike or car. With a price that you can bargain (normal prices starts at RM80 per round day trip tour), the driver will take you around the top attractions of the island.

Friday, January 24, 2014

Myanmar Now Compared to a Year Ago

Over the past two years, I've been traveling with various people who has various travel styles. And during that phase, I've begin adopting styles that I was most comfortable with. Mostly it were things that I learnt about myself. Here are the things :

1. Traveling between cities during daytime wastes a lot of time. Unless of course you have no other option than to travel during daytime. Nowadays, I opt to take overnight bus/train rides which in turn saves lots of money on accommodations and of course time. It also helps me to cover a whole lot of places!  :)

2. The usage of a backpack is very convenient. It enables me to move from one place to another with less hassle. And not forgetting that I still have a strong back, muscular legs (blerghh!) and "kudrat", I'll continue to travel with this style until it breaks. I might start using a trolley bag when I'm 40 but then again my favorite traveler, Ms Naked Traveler whom I suspect is above 40 still uses a backpack. :P

This is thus far the most beautiful sunset ever experienced this year!! At Upain bridge of Mandalay! 
That being said, I again traveled to Myanmar last week with these adopted travel styles thus gained more local experience and hardships than last year! Haha!