Or, unwittingly receive a durian with your open palms the first time you see it, not realizing that it is covered with thorns. Poor poor Val.
Continuing with his series of unfortunate and painful events, Val got stung by an anemone on his lower back and got horribly sunburnt on his whole back. For my part, I got sunburnt on my shoulders as well (right where the straps of the backpack rests, thank you Perhentian sun) and cut myself on some barnacles while trying to get into the sea via a rocky route. Real smart. I'll spare you the gory details, but basically there are bits of me floating in the South China Sea right now.
A lot of sweat and blood (mostly mine) and dead epidermis (mostly Val's) were involved, but did we enjoy ourselves?
Hell YEAH!!! =D
OK. Long post ahead, to make up for lost time. Since the last post, we've been to Malacca, Putrajaya, Semenyih, Taman Negara, the Perhentian Islands and Kota Bharu. That's a lot of ground to cover, and a lot of stinky laundry at the end of the week. Can you believe how hot Malaysia actually is?? I mean I've always suspected, us being tropical and all, but now I know. I am so brown right now, which is kinda cool, if my shoulders aren't burning so badly. My tan lines are ridiculously obvious. Pain.
So. Places and stories.
Malacca (5/7 - 6/7)
We went to D'Paradise Tropical Fruits World, near Alor Gajah. It's not very well-maintained but we got to drive the electricity-powered buggy which was good fun.
In Malacca, we stayed at Mr. Yee's place for a night. True blue Malaysian Hospitality - they cooked dinner for us, really good food with prawns and shellfish and all, and Mr. Yee even fried some extra tofu and veges just for Val. Then after dinner, he took us for a walk down Jonker Street, where Val was "caught" by the local Medicine Man who made him hold a coconut for about half an hour, while he busied himself with selling his medicine, busker style. He is able to poke a hole in a coconut, with his bare finger. That is to demonstrate the special healing powers of his medicine. Val got a bottle of the magic potion for his efforts. Good stuff.
Then later we sat by the riverside and got entertained with live music by a few Malay blokes, who were apparently doing it for free and because they enjoyed it. There was this single Indian uncle who was dancing to the music, quirkily good at it and totally absorbed. He danced and danced, and when he had to leave he continued dancing further and further away, till a point when he walked off normally. It was mesmerizing, and he was adorable =D
And we saw him the second day when we had breakfast at the Restoran Amituofo, where food is provided for free, or you put a sum of money as you see fit into the donation box. Val and I both donated some.
Then we left Malacca.
Putrajaya (6/7)
Putrajaya was empty. As usual. We decided to walk into the gorgeous red mosque but it was coincidentally closed. Too bad.
Semenyih (6/7)
Then we went to Semenyih to meet Asa. Took Val to see the Nirvana Chinese graveyard, where he was understandably impressed by the huge dragon they have, to put people's ashes in. Do you know - and I've never known - that Nirvana even has a pet graveyard?? The gravestones are cute animal statues. Very interesting. On to less morbid attractions, we went to the Semenyih Dam for its beautiful scenery, and stopped by the roadside for Val to feed the monkeys with coconut biscuits.
I've never seen someone so happy to see monkeys. Val says that the monkeys are definitely the highlight of his trip. Not even the Medicine Man could beat that.
Then we went to the waterfalls of Sungai Tekala, where we enjoyed a good bath and encountered two different groups of moronic boys who kept taunting Val with gibberish he couldn't understand. Unfortunately I could (first time in Mandarin, second time in Hokkien). Imbeciles.
12:30am already. Lazy to go on, maybe later. Although we had lots of fun, I am glad to be back. A little more than a week till Singapore engulfs me. Before I become emo again I shall close this post.
Showing posts with label Malacca. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Malacca. Show all posts
Intense Travelling 18/6/2008 - 15/7/2008
Subtitled: Or, why I am butt poor.
I can only handle so much decision-making in a morning.
I emailed all the guesthouses that me and Asa will stay in in Thailand, i.e.
1. Suk11 Hostel, Sukhumvit, Bangkok - 650Baht for a twin room, airconditioned
2. Sam's River Rafthouse, Kanchanaburi - 400 Baht for a twin room, airconditioned
3. Bann Kun-Pra Guesthouse, Ayutthaya - 600 Baht for a double room/two queensized bed room, no aircondition I think.
Waiting for them to get back to us. All in all I expect to spend like 1800baht (per pax) for 6 nights of accommodation, which isn't too bad I suppose. RM30 for one night. I do hope that the bookings will go through though.
Our tentative plan is
Then, 27/6/2008 - 30/6/2008 is reserved for LL who's gonna be back from Brisbane for a short vacation.
Val reaches on 1/7/2008.
The package that I'm taking to Taman Negara and Perhentian, if anyone's interested, is from NKS Travel.
The cost, per pax is:
RM370 - Taman Negara full board + activities package (ex-KL)
RM25 - Transfer to Kuala Besut jetty
RM440 - Perhentian package, staying in Flora Bay Resort
RM60 - One night extra accommodation in Perhentian
RM6 - Local bus transfer to Kota Bharu
RM76 - Flight from Kota Bharu back to KLIA
RM35 - one-way KLIA Express from KLIA back KL Sentral
And the total cost, for 5 nights' accommodation, food and transport is, *dang dang dang dang*
RM1007.
Aiyak. Just past RM1k.
The only thing that I could do to lower the cost is to set up the Perhentian itinerary on my own, which, according to some educated guesstimation would be like the following:
Fastboat - RM60 return
Accom - RM50 per night since it's high season, i.e. RM150(estimated)
Food - RM30 per day, i.e. RM90
Snorkelling trips with equipment - RM30 per trip for two trips: RM60
Perhentian trip cost: RM360, instead of RM500 like taking the package. But the accommodation would probably be more basic and I would have to go through all the hassle of booking and figuring stuff out. A source with some ideas of DIY Perhentian: *click*
The budget of the entire trip with Val I hope to keep it below RM1500, with Cameron and Malacca factored in.
The crazy back-to-backness of my plans is exhilarating yet faintly disturbing because it does look quite packed on paper. Aiya don't care lah. Calling NKS to book the crazy package now, and then have to install my scanner to scan some form that IRD NZ needs to refund my tax.
Guess how much they're giving me back? NZD83!!! For all that money they'd got from me, I get a dodgy NZD83 back! Sai hei.
I can only handle so much decision-making in a morning.
I emailed all the guesthouses that me and Asa will stay in in Thailand, i.e.
1. Suk11 Hostel, Sukhumvit, Bangkok - 650Baht for a twin room, airconditioned
2. Sam's River Rafthouse, Kanchanaburi - 400 Baht for a twin room, airconditioned
3. Bann Kun-Pra Guesthouse, Ayutthaya - 600 Baht for a double room/two queensized bed room, no aircondition I think.
Waiting for them to get back to us. All in all I expect to spend like 1800baht (per pax) for 6 nights of accommodation, which isn't too bad I suppose. RM30 for one night. I do hope that the bookings will go through though.
Our tentative plan is
- 18/6/2008 - Reach Bangkok in the evening.
- 19/6/2008 - Take a train to Kanchanaburi for the Death Railway and surrounding museums, spend the night at Kanchanaburi
- 20/6/2008 - Go to the Erawan National Park for its beautiful waterfalls. Take a bus back to BKK.
- 21/6/2008 - Bangkok shopping
- 22/6/2008 - Bangkok shopping =D
- 23/6/2008 - Take a train to Ayutthaya, potter around for the day, stay for the night.
- 24/6/2008 - Leave Ayutthaya by train, be in time for the train back to Butterworth. Night in train.
- 25/6/2008 - Reach Butterworth, go to Penang, stuff face.
- 26/6/2008 - Leave Penang back to KL.
Then, 27/6/2008 - 30/6/2008 is reserved for LL who's gonna be back from Brisbane for a short vacation.
Val reaches on 1/7/2008.
- 1/7/2008 - Arrival, meander about, maybe watch a movie or something.
- 2/7/2008 - Take a bus to Cameron Highlands.
- 3/7/2008 - Maybe do a tour or some trails in Cameron
- 4/7/2008 - Back to KL, can use my mum's car 'coz it's weekend already, drive to Malacca, maybe without using the highway. We'll see what time we set off.
- 5/7/2008 - Malacca walk around, Jonker Street at night
- 6/7/2008 - Make way back to KL, passing through Putrajaya, Semenyih dam etc.
- 7/7/2008 - Crazy Package starts! - Leave KL in the morning to Taman Negara, pass by Jerantut and Kuala Tembeling, take boat at 2pm from Kuala Tembeling, reach Taman Negara by 5pm, do some jungle walks at night.
- 8/7/2008 - Trek up Bukit Teresek, go for canopy walkway, shoot rapids, meet orang asli, all in a day's work - optional night safari.
- 9/7/2008 - Leave Taman Negara at 8am, reach Jerantut at 10, take a bus and reach Kuala Besut at 5pm. Speedboat to Perhentian Islands. All transport connections arranged by tour agent.
- 10/7/2008 - Start Perhentian Islands package. Do island stuff, snorkelling, lazing by the beach, etc.
- 11/7/2008 - Island stuff.
- 12/7/2008 - Reach Kota Bharu by 2-3pm to check in for flight at 4 something. Reach KL in the evening.
- 13/7/2008 - Drive around somewhere. Weekend again woot!!
- 14/7/2008 - KL City Centre Public Transport Day Tour.
- 15/7/2008 - Val departs at noon.
The package that I'm taking to Taman Negara and Perhentian, if anyone's interested, is from NKS Travel.
The cost, per pax is:
RM370 - Taman Negara full board + activities package (ex-KL)
RM25 - Transfer to Kuala Besut jetty
RM440 - Perhentian package, staying in Flora Bay Resort
RM60 - One night extra accommodation in Perhentian
RM6 - Local bus transfer to Kota Bharu
RM76 - Flight from Kota Bharu back to KLIA
RM35 - one-way KLIA Express from KLIA back KL Sentral
And the total cost, for 5 nights' accommodation, food and transport is, *dang dang dang dang*
RM1007.
Aiyak. Just past RM1k.
The only thing that I could do to lower the cost is to set up the Perhentian itinerary on my own, which, according to some educated guesstimation would be like the following:
Fastboat - RM60 return
Accom - RM50 per night since it's high season, i.e. RM150(estimated)
Food - RM30 per day, i.e. RM90
Snorkelling trips with equipment - RM30 per trip for two trips: RM60
Perhentian trip cost: RM360, instead of RM500 like taking the package. But the accommodation would probably be more basic and I would have to go through all the hassle of booking and figuring stuff out. A source with some ideas of DIY Perhentian: *click*
The budget of the entire trip with Val I hope to keep it below RM1500, with Cameron and Malacca factored in.
The crazy back-to-backness of my plans is exhilarating yet faintly disturbing because it does look quite packed on paper. Aiya don't care lah. Calling NKS to book the crazy package now, and then have to install my scanner to scan some form that IRD NZ needs to refund my tax.
Guess how much they're giving me back? NZD83!!! For all that money they'd got from me, I get a dodgy NZD83 back! Sai hei.
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