Val and I are back from Cameron Highlands. Since he spent most of last night puking his guts out and having diarrhea, we decided to stay in KL for one night for him to recuperate, and move on to Malacca only tomorrow.
It really is unfortunate that food poisoning had to mar the brilliant trip we have had so far. I am having so much fun pointing stuff out and pretending to be streetwise in front of him, haha! (No thanks to my mum blowing my cover when I introduced the hockey stadium at Jalan Duta as a football stadium *cringe* - Han Solo, this is my bimbo moment for you)
And food wise Val has enjoyed everything we've fed him ("We" as in Malaysia =D), so it really is too bad that we might have to be a little bit more careful now on what we order, though we didn't have hawker stuff and the suspected culprit is the Indian food served at one of the restaurants in Tanah Rata. Since Val's vegan, Indian food's convenient because they always have vegetarian options with no eggs or dairy products.
This trip has been so laid back that I've taken like five pictures, which I somehow can't copy into this machine! I don't know why =_= but it's just as well that I didn't take shitloads of pictures and can't use them at the end. I didn't even take the Boh Tea plantation because it was raining and I didn't bring my camera along for the half day tour we had in Cameron.
We were on the tour with a French couple, Laura and Fabien. The first stop was the Butterfly Farm, where I held a live scorpion on my palm for a while, just for the heck of it (since we had no camera and couldn't take pictures). Initially I thought that they had removed the venom from the scorpion, but when it was on my palm (it was as long as my palm actually, the scorpion) the guide said that it was still poisonous. o_O But it wouldn't sting you if you didn't attack him at the abdomen. And the sting wouldn't kill you, it would just hurt a bit like if a bee stung you.
Having held the scorpion I had the bragging rights for the day, such as when we were climbing the Gunung Brinchang watch tower and I was concerned about the rungs being slippery, and Val was like "don't be a wuss", I went, "Oh well, I held a live scorpion today, so who's Da Man now??" Damn right. I am. The Frenchman, Fabien, was so afraid of snakes and scorpions and the like, that he and Laura skipped the Butterfly Farm altogether, waiting outside. I was of the opinion that Europeans are wimps (no offense - I do think it's only wise to be wary about creatures you don't know - they could potentially kill, infect or tickle you) and Val concurs.
We also visited the Mossy Forest, quite an interesting experience trekking through a wet mess of moss and mud and dead leaves. But since it was raining we didn't see much, not as much as I would've wanted to anyway. Val and I were dressed in mere t-shirts and shorts, as opposed to Fabien and Laura's heavy pants and raincoats, but we turned out alright. I'm glad I didn't wear my long pants since I'd get mud all over them and the cold wasn't that unbearable, even though Gunung Brinchang is 6,666ft high and it was raining all afternoon.
I wanted to post a picture of a bonfire they had in Kang Traveller's Lodge (will do a review after the entire trip), but you'd have to use your imagination instead - that Val and I sat in front of, chatting at length about life during NZ, life beyond NZ and evil people who didn't bother to text.
In fact, for the four days that Val's been here, we've just been talking our heads off. In front of the bonfire, while enjoying 100% fresh mango juice, while taking a walk to Parit Falls, while stalking a kid who was quite agitated at two strangers tailing him. Sharing our different culture, learning new words (I now know how to say "You can touch my feet" in German) and cringing over downright disgusting dirty jokes involving glass eyes, eughh.
Oh yeah. Our bus crashed into another bus while on the way to Tapah from Cameron today. We didn't fall into a ravine or anything. I also have a picture of that, so you can use your imagination again.
Annnnd, this subject would come up somehow - I have to pack now. For one night in Malacca, and we're going to do couchsurfing. I'm really curious about how it's like in Malaysia. We're going to visit D'Paradise Tropical Fruit World and will buy some fruits for Mr. Yee in Malacca who has kindly agreed to host us.
Here's Val's post on what's happened so far, and he has even got a label "I-Love-Malaysia", how sweet is that =D
Showing posts with label Pahang. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pahang. 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.
Reviews and whatnot
There's something about picture-extensive posts - they cut the flow of my thoughts and I don't like my thoughts being cut, therefore I have decided to abandon the draft which I've been working on for the past two days, with the photos inside. Maybe later. But now I'm just going to type happily =)
As I type here I am also buying air tickets online, Malaysia Airlines ticket from Kota Bharu to KLIA. It costs RM76 nett. The same flight, for Airasia costs RM42 and I have this compelling urge to give my middle finger to Airasia. I don't see the need for the unhealthy competition, and Airasia is doing what we say in chinese, 以本伤人, which roughly translates into "using its capital to hurt other people", and it's a lose-lose situation. And that's not sportsmanship. Sokong Malaysia Airlines!!!
Well, travelling around has been fun except some minor gripes on accommodation, which I will talk about more extensively below, and that I wish I had more time to spend in Terengganu. Do you know that Terengganu has this really professional-looking tourism website? *click*
We just spent like two hours in Kuala Terengganu. Didn't really have time to walk around the bazaar at the lake front, and missed the supposedly biggest museum in Malaysia, but I did take some pictures of the floating mosque. And KT has a really nice Chinatown! It's small but well-maintained, with the buildings newly painted and there's a nice archway typical to most Chinatowns around. Also it's pretty clean.
Accommodation! Since there are so little information on hostels online, I decided to contribute my reviews here for people who may be interested. I actually trawled blogs to get reviews as well. Here comes the horror stories:
1. Banana New Guesthouse, Penang: Briefly reviewed here. Also after comparison, I feel that you could do much worse than it, actually. It's clean, cheap, safe, airconditioned. Only gripe was the noise at night, but that was just our room which was near the road. We stayed in a triple room hence did not try out the dorms.
2. Ideal Traveller's House, Kota Bharu: Location is pretty good, close to the Siti Khatijah market and most other attractions. Food's available within walking distance. The price is RM40 per triple room per night, with a double bed and a single bed. From outside it looks dilapidated, but inside's alright although it is a bit dark upstairs. Currently there's construction work being done right opposite the guest house, but they don't work at night so there's minimal noises. Attached bathroom was huge (shower and toilet bowl occupying the far end, the rest of the space is for you to dance in the nude if you so feel inclined), there was a balcony attached as well, and the room is not airconditioned. Gripe: There were bed bugs!!!! I got at least 53 bites on me (yes I counted), they weren't itchy and did not hurt, just left red spots all over me. That was rather irritating.
3. Cherating Bayview Resort, Cherating: This was the fourth place that we checked in Cherating and chose. This was our last night in the trip, and we decided to splurge a bit hence increased our budget to RM150 instead of the usual RM50 per night. A room with two double beds facing the sea cost RM135. The place is airconditioned, relatively clean, very near the beach. AT FIRST GLANCE (more later). Briefly, the places that we checked before choosing Cherating Bayview:
a) Ranting Beach Resort: God the place was rundown. We were shown a chalet which cost RM130, the floor was sandy, the bathroom was poorly lit. We decided to give it a pass.
b) Payung Guesthouse: This was Lonely Planet's editor's pick. The rooms were not airconditioned, RM35 for one chalet with a double bed in it. Because there were three of us we had to take two chalets. Cleanliness-wise it looked alright, but we decided to look further to see if there were any other place where we could share a room.
c) A place right opposite Payung I think, it is connected with a bistro, I can't remember the name: A family room cost RM100, 5 people can sleep in it with its bunk bed (two people at the bottom, one person at the top) and double bed. The place looked rather rundown, mattresses were thin and there was this huge ass mirror facing the double bed. Moving on.
For Cherating Bayview, Lonely Planet's review was that it was "particularly clean and almost obsessively neat". Well, I don't have anything against the bedroom nor the beds, but the TOILET!!! Got larva-like maggot-like worms inside!!! Being a resort (and not a lowly hostel or guesthouse), this is an unpardonable offense. Dikenakan Lonely Planet, yet again. Not only that hundreds of wriggling creatures were on the floor, the shower had very low water pressure (comparable to Auckland's Pentlands), so you are forced to shower in a very slow pace, your toes curled in, half tip-toeing as not to step on the half-drowning creatures on the ground... Luckily we were there for only a night, and I tried my best not to go into the bathroom. Additional gripe: The flush toilet takes ages to refill as well.
Hmm. More on my trips (and hopefully some photos) coming up. I realized just recently that I only have one month to bum around, then comes frantic travelling with Asa and Val, then comes a new life in Singapore. Shopping in Bangkok!!! Chatuchak!!! I've been having good dreams about it since reading about it from Pinkpau's blog (here) and I can't wait till Asa and I go there and do some major shopping. Since I'm right now surviving on the paltry number of t-shirts which were staples in my luggage while traipsing around NZ.
Will end post truncating non-stop rambling.
As I type here I am also buying air tickets online, Malaysia Airlines ticket from Kota Bharu to KLIA. It costs RM76 nett. The same flight, for Airasia costs RM42 and I have this compelling urge to give my middle finger to Airasia. I don't see the need for the unhealthy competition, and Airasia is doing what we say in chinese, 以本伤人, which roughly translates into "using its capital to hurt other people", and it's a lose-lose situation. And that's not sportsmanship. Sokong Malaysia Airlines!!!
Well, travelling around has been fun except some minor gripes on accommodation, which I will talk about more extensively below, and that I wish I had more time to spend in Terengganu. Do you know that Terengganu has this really professional-looking tourism website? *click*
We just spent like two hours in Kuala Terengganu. Didn't really have time to walk around the bazaar at the lake front, and missed the supposedly biggest museum in Malaysia, but I did take some pictures of the floating mosque. And KT has a really nice Chinatown! It's small but well-maintained, with the buildings newly painted and there's a nice archway typical to most Chinatowns around. Also it's pretty clean.
Accommodation! Since there are so little information on hostels online, I decided to contribute my reviews here for people who may be interested. I actually trawled blogs to get reviews as well. Here comes the horror stories:
1. Banana New Guesthouse, Penang: Briefly reviewed here. Also after comparison, I feel that you could do much worse than it, actually. It's clean, cheap, safe, airconditioned. Only gripe was the noise at night, but that was just our room which was near the road. We stayed in a triple room hence did not try out the dorms.
2. Ideal Traveller's House, Kota Bharu: Location is pretty good, close to the Siti Khatijah market and most other attractions. Food's available within walking distance. The price is RM40 per triple room per night, with a double bed and a single bed. From outside it looks dilapidated, but inside's alright although it is a bit dark upstairs. Currently there's construction work being done right opposite the guest house, but they don't work at night so there's minimal noises. Attached bathroom was huge (shower and toilet bowl occupying the far end, the rest of the space is for you to dance in the nude if you so feel inclined), there was a balcony attached as well, and the room is not airconditioned. Gripe: There were bed bugs!!!! I got at least 53 bites on me (yes I counted), they weren't itchy and did not hurt, just left red spots all over me. That was rather irritating.
3. Cherating Bayview Resort, Cherating: This was the fourth place that we checked in Cherating and chose. This was our last night in the trip, and we decided to splurge a bit hence increased our budget to RM150 instead of the usual RM50 per night. A room with two double beds facing the sea cost RM135. The place is airconditioned, relatively clean, very near the beach. AT FIRST GLANCE (more later). Briefly, the places that we checked before choosing Cherating Bayview:
a) Ranting Beach Resort: God the place was rundown. We were shown a chalet which cost RM130, the floor was sandy, the bathroom was poorly lit. We decided to give it a pass.
b) Payung Guesthouse: This was Lonely Planet's editor's pick. The rooms were not airconditioned, RM35 for one chalet with a double bed in it. Because there were three of us we had to take two chalets. Cleanliness-wise it looked alright, but we decided to look further to see if there were any other place where we could share a room.
c) A place right opposite Payung I think, it is connected with a bistro, I can't remember the name: A family room cost RM100, 5 people can sleep in it with its bunk bed (two people at the bottom, one person at the top) and double bed. The place looked rather rundown, mattresses were thin and there was this huge ass mirror facing the double bed. Moving on.
For Cherating Bayview, Lonely Planet's review was that it was "particularly clean and almost obsessively neat". Well, I don't have anything against the bedroom nor the beds, but the TOILET!!! Got larva-like maggot-like worms inside!!! Being a resort (and not a lowly hostel or guesthouse), this is an unpardonable offense. Dikenakan Lonely Planet, yet again. Not only that hundreds of wriggling creatures were on the floor, the shower had very low water pressure (comparable to Auckland's Pentlands), so you are forced to shower in a very slow pace, your toes curled in, half tip-toeing as not to step on the half-drowning creatures on the ground... Luckily we were there for only a night, and I tried my best not to go into the bathroom. Additional gripe: The flush toilet takes ages to refill as well.
Hmm. More on my trips (and hopefully some photos) coming up. I realized just recently that I only have one month to bum around, then comes frantic travelling with Asa and Val, then comes a new life in Singapore. Shopping in Bangkok!!! Chatuchak!!! I've been having good dreams about it since reading about it from Pinkpau's blog (here) and I can't wait till Asa and I go there and do some major shopping. Since I'm right now surviving on the paltry number of t-shirts which were staples in my luggage while traipsing around NZ.
Will end post truncating non-stop rambling.
Labels:
Cherating,
Ipoh,
Kelantan,
Kota Bharu,
Malaysia,
Pahang,
Perak,
travelling
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