11 posts tagged “travel”
This post is about how i waste my time when i went back to the old country for a week off earlier this month. What i am trying to tell you is i will bored you to death with this super cheesy titled post. so here it goes....
Most of the time was spent rebonding with my favourite people in the world (...and the award goes to the 5 nieces and 4 nephews), and the least favourite part: spending a weekend (approximately 30+ hours of suffering) catching up with old associates and nemesis alike for some long overdue hi-5vers.
and unfortunately, on that fateful weekend a game of futsal friendly was organised by my former classmates (aka a lame excuse for a mini reunion), and at the end of the match it is safe to say that our opponent was not harmed...maybe due to some cantilevered bellies and/or weak bones since most of us will hit 60 soon
Meet-up with Joen, Idora and Miss Aina that morning. We rode a big steel junkyard that ferries vehicles and innocent people to the island.
They call em ferry.,,then had brunch at a place that does not serve curry
a short but fulfilling road trip indeed
Thanx to Amir, Scott, Joeneng, Idora and Miss Aina for your all around RAD-ness
credit roll
1. futsal pix courtesy of Hisham Talib's FB
2. additional penang pix courtesy of the trigger-happy snaps of scott and joeneng
3. huge kudos to Amir for pimping the ride and accommodation
and a big hug for sending me off at KLIA...u guys definitely in my good books with great grades
btw, did i tell you earlier in the post that i will bored you to death?
Thanx to Sil-puh C and Niterider Sapphire for informing me that my semi-naked pic here was featured on the VOX front homepage.
The nice people behind VOX certainly has a poor taste =)
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...A few hours later, woke-up for the second time
There is nothing more magnificient than indulging your appetite for morning breakfast under the whole setting
...and to make matters worse, we are so damn hungry
(caution: watchout for jos' sparkling teeth) after those 6 stomachs were satisfied; Scott, Jos and me decided to go for a morning walkabout while Sedi, Kechique and Joker taunt us from the room balcony
Continue the ride and arrived at Ubud, our penultimate destination for the day almost 2 hours later. Anyone who has a soft spot on anything artsy, this is a must-go for you.
The only place on this trip where we spent 2 nights in succession.
Impressive setting and I-D. Certainly a great place to have a chat on anything from the longlasting influence of Samy Vellu to the intimacy of Barry Prima and Ziela Jalil inside the jungle.
Unfortunately, we only managed to enjoy only a hatful of songs (3 songs if i'm not mistaken). Apparently, there is a 'unique' ruling in Ubud that any live performance should not exceed beyond 10.30pm, as 'not to disrupt the public order'. Damn...
...which bring us to the closure of a long, tiring but intimidating day 5.
The Balinese are renowned for their artistic and craft skills on jewellery. We made our first stop at Celuk, the jewel capital of Bali where a stretch of gold and silversmiths showrooms were scattered all along the main road.
The last stop before our ultimate destiny today is Gunung Kawi, a complex of pavilions and rock-cut shrines carved into the hillsides constructed along a river in the 11th century. This place of worship is surrounded by rushing waters and terraced rice fields, and u have to go down almost 1000 steps to reach down (yep, i exaggerate the step bit)
Actually Joker, Rehot and me were here in our 2005 trip so we are quite familiar with the place. in fact, today we plan to stay at the same losmen we checked-in back in '05 down the danau.
We gotta fill 6 empty stomach first...found one and only Warung Jawa...sedia halal...jalan terosss
while waiting for the food, one particular person turned on his inner demonish kanak-kanak riang mode...he try to practice a prehistoric stretching
exercise of ancient travellers such as Alex the Great, Christopher Columbus, Gengis Khan and Herman Tino (Ipoh-KL
by foot back in the 80s)
1200x675
Check-in at Astra Dana Homestay at Kedisan Village after lunch. This might sound cliche' but we got a room with a view
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nite
This place is far down the map so nothing much to do but talk crap all nite long. Meanwhile, somebody on the right was having so much fun with science and technology>
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and of course i wont sleep well if i didnt perform one near the danau
Apparently it is not everyday that you got the opportunity to watch soccer games involving great clubs such as Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal. So last weekend Pica, Joneng, Yoyos, Joker and me hit the road down the Parameswara Kingdom to xperience the Champions Youth Cup held there. Since Hang Tuah was busy having an illicit affair, the venue for the matches was switched to Stadium Hang Jebat featuring 2 games:
match 1: FC Porto vs Inter Milan match 2: M.U The Great vs Boca Juniors
vs
meet-up with my colleague, Rashidi and Joker's cousin from Spore, Bro Zai and 2 of his friends...the first match between porto and inter just underway as we entered the stadium..and inter got an early lead which proved to be decisive (the game finished 1-0 to the joy of 2 inter posers.)
when halftime arrived, we looked for some food to buy..and found some fried banana...i'm not so sure of this, BUT THIS MIGHT BE THE FIRST TIME IN HUMAN CIVILISATION THAT PEOPLE EAT GORENG PISANG DURING EUROPEAN FOOTBALL MATCHES
match 2 between MU and Boca proved to be an epic battle.
this people came all the way down to Melake to watch football or posing for cameras?
With talents all over the pitch, the game produced a thriller. Boca players were more skillful but technically-gifted MU squad got the edge, winning the tie 3-2 ( both match 1 & 2 report here). Boca No 10 looks a future star while the MU leftwing-leftback combo produced the goods for them
these Argies minority sportingly pose for my cam...which irritates an army of MUFC supporters seating directly behind them..typical MU..for me the only good thing about MU is Wayne Rooney's handsomeness.
so after the dust has been settled, Hang Jebat produced his Keris and told us to get off.
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kinda hungry and the goreng pisangs had sold out... Mr Yoyos got a brilliant idea: 'jom belasah seafood/ikan bakar kat Kampung Sungai Baru near Tanjung Bidara'...apalaga..cergas jgn ckp byk
thanx to Pica, Joneng, Yoyos and Joker for their all around rad-ness...and Bobo too for buying the advance tickets
i'm not sure why but people do get hungry after such a long rest. Anybody got an analogy on this phenomena? Furthermore, nowadays people eat accompanied by some eyecandy entertainment at the side..as proven by those six guilty above who determined to fill their stomach with all sorts of caffeine, cholestrol, oil and sugar while watching nonsense indon tv morning program.
immediately after breakfast we check out the nearby Padang-Padang Beach...so eager to hit it yesterday but no time..the ocean is just in front of our place but you have to step down a cliff (joker here will direct you)
stepped down and walla..seriously magnifico..a short and secluded beach..and for all our concern a private beach for us..for a day at least
magnetic force?
those childrens were xtremely happy... they berendam for a good 2 hours..this after-rendam picture of sedi and jos proves it
climbed back to our room to pack and continue our journey today..but wait...lets rewind the scene an hour before breakfast.
actually i got up early today and went down the beach...as u can see the sun was not yet in its full potential...encountered a few surfers who determine to master the early morning waves...but this particular surferkid was a bit kiasu...just sit around doing nothing
so back to the future now, after everybody was ready to rocknroll
destination today: Sanur
took approximately an hour drive from Padang-Padang, Uluwatu to Sanur. Melantak lunch at one of the nasi padang restaurant along the highway.
seriously the travelling bible (refer 1st pic) gave us a lot of info on Bali inside out ..including recommended place to stay...so the winning losmen today is Yulia Homestay, located right in the center of Sanur only a five-minute walk to the beach. All rooms have terraces with furniture to sit out overlooking balinese garden
looks like the ceiling-roomkey team will make new friends with the hat-shoe duo for a nite
after a short rest, a member of the homestay staff drove us for a short sightseeing tour of the Sanur town. Then, he left us stranded at the beach
there was a 6-sense telephatic connection among the mouth of ours..they informed us they wanted to munch something
we kill the evening by checking out the whole stretch of the beach from one end to another..Quiet and relatively laid back, Sanur has a certain flair about it that appeals to just about everyone from a typical mat sallehs to President of Mawi Fan Club.
"cari apa mas?"......."errr...saya nak tengok tengok je..."
Walked back to our place, playing a traditional game called 'lets guess which way back to the homestay"
on the way, stumbled upon this...
should i sue 'em?
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Nite
after a short rest and a quick shower (no no..we do not shower together..all 6 of us are straight...or bi? not sure) the homestay staff suggested we visit this big nite market at the nearby Denpasar (Bali capital)..
so off we went...millions of local people were there buying all sort of stuffs.. even a concert was going on...kinda circus atmosphere there
..and seriously i started to get a headache
we spent just a short time there..why? 1.Havoc 2.Hungry Solution? Nasi Padang
checkout the writing on the T
harharhar....laughter is the best appetizer...
after dinner we went back to Sanur and wind down at Sanur Jazz Cafe'
the above pic shows a variety of healthy activities which can be done while waiting for the band to hit the stage
this is a jazzy place..so normally people expect some jazz/latino/fusion type of music. but this band played the usual hey-lets-play-shitty-top-40-radio-friendly-songs. I think Feminin and 4U2C should do a reunion and save this club.
went back to our place to call it a nite. Sorry i dont have any picture of us sleeping
end of day 3
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by the way, this morning at the Padang-Padang Beach, manage to manifacture an out-of-the-ocean tribute shot in honour of Ursula Andress in 'Dr No' and Halle Berry in 'Die Another Day' of the James Bond film franchised
woke up and was informed by the reception guy that Joker, Jos and Kechique (in the other room) had gone out earlier to the beach. damn!...kene tinggal siott!...so latebirds sedi,scott and me followed suit to find 'em to no avail. as u can see...the beach was already full of people
walk towards one end of the beach, where a famous western propaganda-franchised hotel is located
Head back to our room. Apparently the other guys has started packing. After a quick goat-shower later, all of us had brunch at the same place we ate dinner last nite.
Our journey today bring us to Uluwatu, the southern most-tip of the island where we xperienced the Dreamland Beach, Padang-Padang and Uluwatu Cliff Temple had to offer
approximately after an-hour drive, we arrived at our first stop
we must go down from a hill to reach the beach, through cliffs, houses and chalets (some still under construction).... but when you are there, you will never regret it.
very nice and hot...so some cold drinks up the terrace is an obvious move
Continue our journey to the nearby Padang-Padang, where we check-in at the newly-opened 'Guna Mandala Inn' [check out the brand-new rooms...not bad for a RM60 per room per nite ...(RM20 if you divide for 3 person per room)]
our final stop of the day...which proved to be spectacular.
The view of the cliff is simple breathtaking, looking at the tiredless waves throwing themselves at the rock and the sweet smell of fresh air sweep in from the vast Indian Ocean.
We manage to arrive just before sunset, just in time to watch the Kecak Dance (aka Kecak Ramayana & Fire Dance). They say that every visitor to Bali should see at least one dance and if you plan to see only one then this should be it.
The dance consists of 5 set of acts, a combination of ancient ritual, dance & drama accompanied by a choir of chanting and singing men and women (..does it sounds like 'Sandiwara Semasa' show u've seen on TV? :) check out the short clip of the dance (note: for smooth viewing, pls let it buffer till end and then replay) While the crowd was enjoying the whole proceedings, somebody detected a babe...(no..not me...i'm innocent) The chance to take photos with Uluwatu Temple celebrities will not come to you everyday, so an aftermath chaotic pix session ensured... ........and the Oscar for 'Most Versatile Actor' goes to......................The Monkey So it was a fitting end to the day...drove back to our rooms in Padang-Padang and had dinner at a nearby restaurant. end of day 2
this trip was planned early this year when 6 of us (joker, sedi, jos, kechique, scott and me) decided to make Tony Fernandez richer and fly to bali for a 7 day backpacking rendezvous.
Only air ticket were bought...and since bali is known as a backpackers' heaven, we'll gamble on the accomodation based on our previous xperience there (i've been to bali 2 times and joker...errr...3x)..cheap RM40-60 per nite 'Losmen' (local term for budget rooms) are scattered all around Bali.
But 2 days before the journey, we heard news of a 'very high threat of terrorist attack' in Indonesia, in particular Bali..making us re-evaluating our intention...after some shallow thinking we all agreed that the rocknroll must go on as planned.
from LCCT, we board a flight at 1640. Arrived at Ngurah Rai International Aiport 3 hours later at 1940...We then grabbed 2 taxis and head to Kuta, the central tourist-oriented urban area..Our destination- the 'Losmen' alley of Poppies Lane...and manage to check-in at one of the most recommended place the 'Puri Agung'
Halal food is scarce here since 80% of Balinese are Hindus (Babi Guling/Babi Goreng/Bistick Babi are the order of the day...more on that later)... the routine of Muslim here is Nasi Padang..thankfully there's one stall nearby...so we dine the first of many thousands of Nasi Padang along this trip...
its already latenite when we arrive/checkin/dinner.. we just walkaround the nearby Jalan Legian and nothing more (maybe becoz of jetlag?heh)..wondering along the Bali Memorial (scene of Sari Club bombing in 2002 where 202 people were killed..btw Nordin Mat Top Dr Azahari is R.I.P but Dr Azahari Nordin Mat Top is still at large)
maybe we are tired and sleepy, but u cant take away our naughtiness (especially scott and jos...;D). lame sangat lepak kat sofa sampai cewek boutique tu pun pandang semacammm je...hahaha
End of day 1
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