Burgermbira

Teluk Chempedak, Kuantan. Those who buy burger at this stall are supposed to be happy.

Cruise Tasik Putrajaya

My mom, dad and eldest brother are having fun in Penang. My youngest brother is having fun in Singapore and JB. Me stuck in Subang Jaya. Tak boleh jadi ni. So yesterday after brunch, I had this crazy idea and suggested to Mr D - cruising at Putrajaya lake. Mr D, as usual, agreed to it so off we go to Putrajaya. 

 Frankly, this is my first time experience with this cruise tasik.. haha.. rumah tak jauh mana pun dari Putrajaya, pergi Putrajaya selalu, but never thought of it. Haish. We reached the counter at about 1pm, and we had to wait for the 2:15 cruise so we had plenty of time to pray zuhur first before boarding the cruise. The ticket was RM30 per pax. Nothing much lah the cruise, so nak paste gambar-gambar yang I've taken along the ride je lah.

Thai Food @ La Kasturi USJ 8

I just love Thai food. Luckily we can easily get it around KL, either in posh restaurants or just some stalls in the food court. But when it comes to stalls type of Thai food around Subang Jaya, I love this stall called La Kasturi, located at the food court behind the Metro Bus depot in USJ 8. A very simple stall, nonetheless the quality of the food is good considering the cheap price. I think Mr D and me visit this stall perhaps every week.

 The owner, as I understand it to be, is from Pattani. Hence, you can expect to have quite an authentic southern Thai taste served on your table. The owner and their children are very friendly, and they speak Thai to one another, though they speak in Kelantanese dialect with the customers. The service is quite fast, you can expect the food to be served on your table within 10-15 minutes if there's not many people around, unless you order something fancy like steamed fish and all.

La Kasturi has quite a number of varieties of method of cooking for fish, but, the picture above is our favorite - steamed seabass in lime juice - siakap stim limau. A very simple dish, with not many ingredients in, but very refreshing. I think siakap is the best selection of fish for this dish. It is hot, it is sour, it is sweet at the same time. Very simple yet very nice. Speaking of fish, I've tried ikan goreng halia but I think that's not their speciality - it was quite a disappointment then. So we better stick to Thai type of fish, but their sweet and sour is nice though.

 And this is another favorite of mine - seafood kerabu. I do sometimes order kerabu sotong as well. Very simple dish but it is one of the best simple kerabu I've ever tasted. I do sometimes ask for lime steamed squid as well, it tasted almost the same but I think the kerabu taste better. 

And this nasi goreng ladna is my favorite of all. I love nasi ladna but it is kind of difficult to find nice nasi ladna around. But for those who love nasi ladna, try to come to La Kasturi. To me, their nasi goreng  ladna is the best. Simple, yet the soup is very tasty. Mr D loves it as well. 

The other thing about La Kasturi is their vegetable selection. How many stalls around Klang Valley include asparagus and broccoli in their menu? La Kasturi, despite being a small simple stall, has that in their vegetable selection. I love asparagus with prawn, though the asparagus used is kind of baby in size.

But like all other stalls, there are probably some items which needs improvement. Its kailan ikan masin for example, to me, includes too much salted fish. Similarly, its 'pedas' selection e.g sotong / udang pedas, is kind of too oily though the taste is nice. I haven't tried their tomyam though, so I can't comment on that. 

Kuih Muih @ Tanjung Lumpur

Everytime I am in Kuantan, I must buy kuih-muih @ Tanjung Lumpur. The choices of kuih in Kuantan is of course not as much as what is offered in Kelantan, but in Kuantan, Tanjung Lumpur is the place if we want to buy East Coast's type of kuih. There are 2 stalls I normally visit if I go to Tanjung Lumpur for kuihs, that is Karipap Panas Peramu and Gerai Mokna.

Karipap panas Peramu

Karipap panas Peramu is famous for its karipap. This stall is located in Kampung Peramu. It is easy to find this stall, just drive from Kuantan, through the bridge to Tanjung Lumpur straight through until we can find U-turn where u U turn and can find the stall on your left. 

 
This stall is famous for its karipap. It sells variety of karipap like Karipap Daging, Karipap Ayam and such. The size is slightly bigger than the normal size we can find here in Kuala Lumpur, but is is sold at 50 cent per piece. The karipap is nice, though don't expect to find meat in your karipap though the name suggests it. I think the portion of the meat perhaps is so insignificant that I never find it in the karipap all the time. I can only see potato. 

There are quite a number of other varieties of fried items sold here as well, ikan celup tepung, goreng pisang and all. And if we thought of eating something heavier, nasi lemak, mee goreng and nasi minyak is available as well.

 Gerai Mokna

This is another place I will visit if I want to find fried items or East Coast type of kuihs. There are variety of kuih choices we can find here, from cik mek molek to kuih bakar to akok and all. The akok is not as nice as what is sold in Restoran Molek in Shah Alam though. Perhaps because that is pure Kelantanese one.

There are also fried items sold here.. with a more variety of choices because it covers from the goreng pisang, to fried balls, to fried seafood items. I like fried seafood items no matter where it is sold. Here in Gerai Mokna, we can find fried sotong, fried crab, fried prawn on top of the fried fish. And the best part of it is the kerak lah kan... kerak tu yg kalo makan tak sedar dah makan sepiring. Very dangerous indeed!

Mee Calong Beserah

I always heard about mee calong from my brother and my sister-in-law, my brother loves it very much. Mee calong is supposedly very famous in Kuantan, especially in Beserah area. But the fact remains, I didn't know how mee calong looks like despite the fact that I am married to a 'Kuantan'ese. Not for a week, not for a month, but we will be celebrating our 10th year anniversary very soon! And when I suggested to Mr D to visit any mee calong stall last weekend when we were in Kuantan, he admitted that he didn't know what mee calong is. Even my mother-in-law never tasted mee calong her whole life. 

So to satisfy my curiosity, we googled, and found a direction to go to one of the stalls selling mee calong in Beserah. It is called Joe Warung Mee Calong & Keropok Beserah. This stall is located at Kg Alur Tuan Haji, not far from Petronas at KM8 Kuantan - Kemaman. This stall is just a simple stall, and apart from mee calong, it also sells keropok lekor and nasi kukus as well. There's an option for mee calong, either you want it with the yellow stick noodle, or the normal meehoon or vermicelli.

We reached the stall in the morning, it was about 10am then. I haven't had any breakfast, so it became our brunch that day. So what I can say about mee calong, it is like mee soup, but with an addition of fish balls, keropok lekor and stuffed tofu. It is eaten with special chilli sauce, soy sauce and pepper. But I think makan dengan sambal kicap lagi best kot. I think the soup is made of maybe fish or prawn stock. Taste wise, yeah, I like it because I love clear soup. But it is not so fantastic to make me dream of it the way my brother feel.

Milford Sound at a glance

I did some cleaning to the files in my netbook, and found this video which was taken at Milford Sound, during my last visit to New Zealand a year ago. I blogged about it in here.

Though the weather wasn't really nice back then [it was wet and dim], this video still captures the uniqueness of Milford Sound. The uniqueness of the fjord formed by the glaciers, the uniqueness of the long white cloud which looks like it is just above our head and the beauty of the waterfalls surrounding it. The view should have been better if the weather is good.

I remember taking a couple of videos during the  same trip of dolphin jumping around our cruise but can't find where I saved it!

Wordless Wednesday - Mencari Rezeki

Istana Kenangan Kuala Kangsar

We stopped by briefly at Istana Kenangan, Kuala Kangsar during our short  visit to Kuala Kangsar last week. Istana Kenangan is located not far behind Istana Iskandariah, Bukit Chandan and currently used as the Royal Museum. Too bad, it was closed for renovation that day, otherwise I would love to enter the palace and see how it is like. The palace is quite unique, and I like the way the roof was designed.

This palace was built in 1926, and used as a temporary palace for Sultan Iskandar between 1931 to 1933 while waiting for the Istana Iskandariah to be completed. Seriously, I want to visit this palace again one day to see how the Sultan lives once upon a time. Does it look like what is normally portray in the Malay film?

Lemak Cili Padi Udang Galah

I found my favourite udang galah (fresh water prawn) at SS15 market the other day, which cost RM35 per kg. Not bad, it is of medium size.

So back from the market, I was thinking of what to do with the prawn. Since my brother is coming that night, so I thought of cooking masak lemak cili padi, since to me, udang galah is best cooked that way. 

Being a true blue N9ian, my life has never been far from masak lemak cili padi. Not all masak lemak cili padi is nice, but to me, masak lemak cili padi udang galah is just perfect. And it is easy to cook as well.

 I learned various way to cook masak lemak cili padi. My mom's version will add sliced shallots with garlic. But the elder generation of Negeri Sembilan cook it without any shallot or garlic. And I later learn that less is more... masak lemak cili padi is nicer without shallots and garlic. So I cook this prawn without any garlic or shallot.. easy peasy.

Ingredients

600gm of udang galah / other types of prawn

10-15 bird eyes chillies (to blend)

2 inches fresh tumeric root (to blend)

3 stalks lemongrass (pounded)

2 tumeric leaves

fresh coconut milk from 1 medium size coconut

salt & seasoning to taste

Method

Mix birds eyes chillies, fresh tumeric, lemongrass, coconut milk and tumeric leaves in a pot and bring it to boil. The coconut milk is very sensitive, so make sure we stir it well while it is on the stove to preserve the texture and taste of the gravy. My mom's tip is to put in the salt and seasoning at the early stage of cooking to control the gravy. Once the gravy is almost cooked, put in the prawn and bring it to boil once again. The prawn is added later to avoid from it being overcooked. Slow the fire and let it simmer for a while until it is fully cooked. 

** To maintain the sweetness of the prawn, do not go overboard with the chillies. Prawn will lost its sweetness if we put too much chillies in it.

Whittakers @ The Zon Bukit Kayu Hitam

I don't normally have things in mind to shop at the duty free zone, except, the fact that I am crazy about Whittakers chocolate. So duty free zone to me is associated with Whittakers. It is not easy to find Whittakers in Subang Jaya, though I do sometimes find it in Cold Storage / Empire in Subang Jaya. But the price in Subang Jaya is crazily expensive. The packet of 3 Peanuts Slab can cost you RM16!

 So I took the opportunity to drop by at The Zon duty free on our way back from Songkhla to Malaysia. If we are coming from Malaysia, the duty free zone is located right after Malaysian immigration checkpoint at Bukit Kayu Hitam, before we reach Thailand immigration checkpoint. The other day I was searching for the dark chocolate Peanuts Slab, but didn't manage to find it. So I satisfied myself with the normal Peanuts Slab. The price was not as cheap as what I found in Langkawi the other day, but it is cheap enough compared to what we can find in Subang Jaya. It costs RM9.90 per pack of 3 Peanuts Slab, and was sold at special price of RM7.90 per pack of 3 the day I was there. 

I bought 12 packs - ready to be distributed to my subordinates in office and kept some to be consumed in the fridge. Heaven!

De Hotel, Ipoh

We dropped by at Ipoh on the way back from Songkhla to Subang Jaya. Mr D wanted to just visit his old school, Malay College Kuala Kangsar. So we stayed in Ipoh for the night. 

As it will only be a short stay, so we didn't want to spend too much on hotel. Mr D booked a simple room from De Hotel at the price of RM118. This hotel is located near Fatimah Hospital, and close to other amenities like banks and places to eat. A rather convenient choice.

 De Hotel is located at a shop lot, sharing a building with Courts. It has a small reception at the ground floor and all its rooms are located at 2nd floor. It has more than 40 rooms, and I understand it has many types of rooms available. 

 We didn't expect much initially.. I mean with RM118 you sure won't expect much. Mr D chose to book this hotel due to the good review it has in tripadvisor. We will only be spending the night so it doesn't matter that much. But we were surprised when we enter the room... it was so nice and cosy. The room size was very small, but it is comfortable enough for two people sharing a room. 

 The interior decoration of the room is modern and stylish. It has all you need. Kettle to boil the water, coffee, complete toiletries, hot shower, telephone and TV. I can see that the iron board is located outside the room so people can share it. It has Wi-Fi service but it was very-very slow to the point of useless so we didn't use it.

The staffs are also very friendly. They made effort to talk to us and recognise who comes in and comes out.

The minus point will be its parking. Considering it is a small hotel, the car park is located at the side of the hotel facing the residential area. I kind of worry of its safety, but alhamdulillah, nothing happened.

Do I recommend this hotel? Yes, very much. If size does not matter, and you want a simple basic hotel, this hotel is it.

BP Samila Beach Resort

This time around we didn't book any accommodation for our stay in Songkhla province. Mr D thought it would be easy to find one in either Hat Yai, Danok, or by Samila beach. As he deferred his visit to Malaysian Consulate to our second day in Songkhla, therefore it was just logical to find an accommodation near Samila beach, which is where the Malaysian Consulate is located.

We then just stopped by at BP Samila Beach Resort, located within walking distance from the Malaysian Consulate. The best part of this hotel is its location, it is just stone throw away from the beach, very suitable if relaxing is what you are up to.

We were there on Thursday, so the crowd is lesser. We booked a deluxe room facing the beach at 30% discount, paying 1,750 baht instead of the original price of 2,500 baht. 

 

The above picture is how our room looks like on the second day. In a mess huh? We were about to leave for breakfast then and I was so lazy to at least make the bed presentable. The room was OK, though, like most hotels around Songkhla, a bit run down. You can smell something 'old' even in the lift. It is clean enough though. The space is also spacious for 2 people occupancy.

But there are a number of things I think this hotel should improve to make it more comfortable for people to stay :

1.  The TV is ancient. Really. And for a foreigner, I seriously do not know which channel I should watch. I don't understand a single thing. More English channels please!
2. There's no kettle or coffee provided in the room. What kind of hotel is that? This is the first time I come across a hotel of that standard which do not provide that facility. And being a loyal coffee drinker Mr D is, this have a huge impact on him. Not being able to boil water in the room to drink coffee? BP Samila Beach certainly lost points there.
3. There's no wifi in the room. The internet connection is available at the lobby for the price of 90baht per hour. Are you kidding me? 90 baht per hour? 
4. I was misled by the bell boy. He told me that 2 bottles of mineral water from the fridge is complimentary. But upon check out, I was charged for 40 baht for those two. Should I call you a liar? Or should I assume the bell boy was misinformed?
5.  The breakfast spread is just OK. Not bad, it is edible. I don't know whether the spread is halal. I was told it is. But just to be on the safe side, I just consumed the safe items like bread and such. 

 

But I think the best part of this hotel is if you opt for a sea view unit, the scenery from the balcony is actually pretty breathtaking. Mr D spent quite some time at the balcony enjoying the view. Simply relaxing!

Pinky's Experience Crossing Over Malaysia - Thailand

Okay, this is one experience I have to write in this blog.It is about how I brought my little dear cute car, "Pinky" to cross over the Malaysia - Thailand boarder the other day - Pinky's longest journey ever. I hope to share this experience in case there are others who wish to also bring their car to cross over, but found the lack of information at the boarder on what to do and how to do it.

I have been to Thailand quite a number of times, but never with our own car. We normally either fly to Hat Yai or Mr D's Thai business partner will wait for us at the boarder. This is the first time we thought of driving ourselves to Southern Thailand because Mr D wanted to have a little freedom going around as he has a number of things to settle for his business. Pinky was chosen because of its small size, with the hope to make it easier for us to park in the crowded Hat Yai.

We drove from Subang Jaya, but stopped by at Penang for the night before crossing over from Bukit Kayu Hitam to Sadao the next day. We started our journey from Penang at about 8am, but managed to cross over to Sadao only at about 12pm, though the journey from Penang to Bukit Kayu Hitam took less than 2 hours. The delay was due to the difficulty we faced with regards to Pinky. 

For those thinking of crossing over, below are what you need to do in order to be allowed to cross over with your car :

1.  Don't forget to bring your car's ownership paper. It will be needed at the boarder. Without the car ownership paper, you won't be able to cross over with the car. And the car should be either under your name, or with some evidence that you are authorised to drive the car by the legal owner.
2.  Make sure the road tax renewal are updated at the back of the ownership paper. My ownership paper wasn't updated because I renewed the road tax via internet. Luckily the custom officer released it after I explained that to her and showed the road tax pasted on Pinky.
3. Settle our passport / boarder pass at the passport control and then move to the custom with the car ownership paper. The letter as per below will be issued. This will have to be kept and returned back to the custom at the boarder before crossing back to Malaysia later. The next custom officer will check the information before releasing it.
4. We didn't know that we have to buy Thai insurance for the car so we thought it was done. Halfway through the town of Danok, Mr D's business partner called him and ask him how things are. It was then that we know we have to buy the insurance.. so Mr D turned back, and ask around on where to buy the insurance. The insurance can be purchased in Changlun, before we cross over. Or it can be purchased at the premises selling insurance in Danok, right after the boarder. So Mr D purchased a 9 day insurance which was sold at 150 baht (RM15).
5. Upon returning back to Malaysia, the above paper will have to be returned to the Custom after we are done with our passport. The Custom will ask to sign in a book,the signature similar to the one we signed in the above paper. This will be the prove that we already bring our car back to Malaysia.

 The situation was a bit kelam-kabut for us, simply because we didn't know what to do next and didn't know what to expect. There was no instructions displayed (or perhaps there are, but we didn't understand as it was written in Thai) . So if you think of bringing your car in, remember the above ya!

Room Service Deliveries

There are many ways people turn something to become a business opportunity. Buka kedai makan tu memang biasa, tapi ada juga yg menjadikan service tukang tapau makanan as a business opportunity. At my office dulu memang one thing a must is order for delivery, sebab bila dah balik tengah malam harus lah kena dinner kat ofis kan, harus kena order sebab tak ada siapa nak keluar tengah-tengah busy ni. Tapi kalau nak order for delivery ni, bosan kalau asyik-asyik pizza, McDonald etc. Boleh naik muntah kalau hari-hari makan fast food for dinner.

So apart from having the fast food delivery as an option, selalu lah kami guna Room Service ni kalau terasa taknak makan fast food. Click kat the link tu, it is directed to its website. Konsep Room Service ni, is they have a number of participating restaurants we can order from, all we need to do is to order it from either Room Service's website, or can call Room Service directly using the number displayed in their website and they will deliver it to us. Diorang ni bukan hanya operate di Malaysia, but also kat Singapore and Indonesia.

I normally just order through their website, senang sebab dah register.. so just click here and there to order from the menu, wait for their call within 5 minutes to confirm the order, and just wait for them to send me the order 1 hour later. Senangkan?

Hari ni saya tak pergi kerja.. walaupun tak pergi kerja, angin malas tetap melanda. Jadi hari ni decide nak order guna Room Service je, senang cerita. Ada banyak restaurant we can choose from, nak nyonya ada (e.g Penang Village), nak western ada (e.g Chilli's, Kenny Rogers, TGI Friday), nak melayu ada (e.g Kelantan Delights), nak arabic ada (e.g Tarbush).. pendek kata, tepuk dada tanya selera. 


Hari ni saya order from Kelantan Delights. Tak pernah makan kat sini, though selalu nampak the restaurant located at Wisma Consplant. Terasa nak makan kelantanese food hari ni, so order Nasi Gulai Kawah dan Nasi Kerabu Ayam Percik.


Oh.. tapi semua service ada chargenya kan? The charge for Room Service's delivery range from RM12-RM20 per delivery, depending on location. Mahal ke? Kalo masa rajin dia jadi mahal, tapi kalo masa malas, reasonable lah charge tu :)

Animals Don't Talk on Wednesday

Plan B : Will it be Melbourne or Still New Zealand?

Since Air Asia announced the suspension of Christchurch route on Monday, I haven't made any decision with regards to the tickets I currently hold. I hold 5 tickets in September, supposedly to bring my parents for vacation as a present.

I certainly can't bring forward the date from September to an earlier one, because my sister-in-law, who is supposed to also join the trip, is currently pregnant. September would be perfect since the baby would have been delivered by then. 

Opting for a refund doesn't seem cost effective either.  I bought the tickets at quite a very cheap price, at about RM700 per pax return. So if I can move it to another long haul destination, it would be better. But to move the destination will need quite a careful consideration. Am bringing my parents, so location is important to ensure they are not sick and tired. New Zealand was earlier considered because I visited that country before and I know it is kind of comfortable for old people, and campervan is available to give them comfort along the journey. 


Am now considering 2 options, either to:


MELBOURNE
The capital city of Victoria in Australia. 

 (picture credit to foundation of CARI Forum)


I haven't visited Melbourne yet. I haven't done any research yet as to whether Melbourne will be suitable to bring my parents for vacation, guess I have to start doing the research now. 

NEW ZEALAND
To stick to the earlier plan, New Zealand. I might re-route the ticket to Melbourne, and then find other flight from Melbourne to Christchurch / Auckland. There are plenty of airlines operating Melbourne - New Zealand. 

 

I still can't take my mind off New Zealand for the vacation this time thinking of how comfortable it will be to move my parents around and am sure they would love New Zealand the way I do - the quietness, the peacefulness and all. And plus, I have already booked a campervan and cancelling it would be a messy business.

So what will my decision be? Am not quite sure yet. But I think I will just re-route the ticket to Melbourne, and think of whether I will take the connecting flight to New Zealand later on.

Airplane and Ears

I thought of writing this after we landed in LCCT back from Langkawi the other day, but never had time to really write it until today. Something happened during the journey that made me thought of writing this. There was a baby with his parents sitting near us, and the baby looks like a happy little baby throughout the journey. But he cried loudly both during ascend and descend, which makes me think, was it because of his uncomfortable ears - painful perhaps?

I think everybody who ever board a plane would know what would normally happen to our ears when an airplane ascend or descend. This does not only happen when we board a plane, but also to those involve in diving. The rapid changes in the air pressure during that process, causes extraneous discomfort in our ears because our eustachian tube does not react as quick. I can imagine how this will impact the tiny ears of a baby or a toddler. So it is important for parents to come prepared when traveling with their kids in an airplane. Don't take this lightly because it is normal for children to develop ear infection post airplane ride.

I don't know how you guys treat your airplane ear problem during ascend or descend, but I do normally have chewing gum or sweets or drinks or whatever in my bag ready for take off and landing. This helps to manage the air pressure and reduce the pain. The act of swallowing is what helps it. So for babies, perhaps parents should be prepared with a bottle of milk or to just breastfeed the baby during take off or landing. That perhaps is the easiest solution, of course there's ear plug that can help managing this as well which can be bought if you want to (though am not sure whether it is suitable for babies).

Take it seriously guys.. pity your poor little baby.  If it is painful to our tough big ears, think of what it will do to that little fragile ears of your baby. And plus, it helps other passengers too, an environment free from the sound of baby crying is certainly a better environment.. hehe.




 

Not So Wordless Wednesday

Air Asia X Suspended KL-Christchurch Route!!

OK.. Bad news.. got an email today from Air Asia notifying the suspension of Air Asia X service Kuala Lumpur - Christchurch effective 1st June 2012.

I have a trip with AAX to Christchurch on 10th September 2012. Repeating my trip last year, this time I thought am going to bring my parents to visit solely South Island. I've already booked Kea Campervan and have partially paid for it. And am seriously numb now to think which flight I should book for that trip.

Options available :

• Get a refund from AAX
• Travel to / from Christchurch before the suspension date i.e before 1st June 2012
• Travel to any destination in Australia / any AAX destination

Now I am numb and do not know what to do!

Langkawi : Duty Free and My Whittakers!!

I guess for some people, Langkawi is the right place to shop for certain items. I didn't have that intention during my recent trip, simply because both me and Mr D are lazy creatures.. we hate to carry things. When I booked the flight with Air Asia, I didn't even buy any checked baggage. We just rely on the 7kg hand luggage allocation. So, even when we stayed at Bayview Hotel which is very convenient for shopping given its location, we didn't do much shopping, except - chocolates!!!



Even then, we didn't buy many chocolates, except, our favorite Whittakers. Both of us are crazy about Whittakers. When we were in New Zealand, that's what we consumed day in and day out. Especially its dark chocolate. Whittakers is originated from New Zealand, but we can sometimes find it in KL, but it is damn expensive in KL. I remember buying the peanut slab (not the normal gold whittakers) which of course in small package, at the price of RM16 per pack of 3. In New Zealand it costs around NZD3. And guess what is the price in Langkawi? RM6.50!! I ended up buying 16packs altogether - in all variety : dark chocolate peanut slab, the normal chocolate peanut slab and peanut and raisins. The gold Whittakers bar is sold at about RM10 per bar. Isn't that cheap? It costs around NZD3.50 in some parts of New Zealand, and can be as high as NZD5 per bar.



I compared prices in a number of duty free shops around Kuah, and noted the price is not that different between one another. Mr D is of course happy with his Ghana Mint, also a variety of Whittakers, which I also like because the slight bitterness from the dark chocolate is combined with the refreshing minty taste.




I visited the duty free shops around Bayview Langkawi, which are within walking distance. Zeno and Haji Ismail Group are located opposite each other. There's not much difference when it come to prices.



I also visited Idaman Suri, which needs about 5 minutes drive from Bayview Hotel. In terms of arrangement, I think Idaman Suri probably is better. And for those who love Corelle and stuffs, they might like it. But price wise, Haji Ismail Group probably beats it.



*hampa nak beli pinggan mangkuk ka? Mai lahh Langkawi

Langkawi : Of Minor Attractions

On our final day in Langkawi, we just wanted to take a slow drive around the island, while waiting for our flight which was scheduled at 8:50pm that night. Langkawi is not big, so the attractions are located not too far from one another. Plus, it is so easy to get from one place to another, you don't even need a GPS.



We started our slow drive from Telaga Tujuh, located at Gunung Mat Chincang near the cable car, which is actually a waterfall. One will need to do a little climbing about 10-15 minutes to reach the place from the base.



The next destination was Wildlife and Bird Park, where it houses a number of wild life and bird species like the Bird Park we have here in Kuala Lumpur. We can buy food at the entrance to feed the animals at the price of RM6 per set, which consists of food to be given to the parrots, various birds, fish and rabbit. The entrance fee is RM12 per pax for adult and RM8 per pax for children. I think children will enjoy this park very much.



I kind of like the information displayed at every cage in the park. I like the way the information is presented, it is kind of brief, and funny. That's the kind of thing I think will be glued in my head for long - short and funny information. Am sure kids will love the information too.



We then head to Durian Perangin, another waterfall in Langkawi located at Gunung Raya. There are 14 tiers of the waterfall, but I understand it is seasonal. During the rainy season, the water flow will be heavier. This waterfall is quite 'mini' in my opinion, maybe because we visited this place in February. The fact that we have to climb up quite far to the 'peak', it is not worth it.



And perhaps because it is so 'mini', it looks so run down. The bridges are old and looks like it can collapse any time. Perhaps something could be done to preserve the facilities. Notwithstanding the fact that it is so mini, it can be an attraction to the jungle trackers especially those who love the flora and fauna around the waterfall.



Mr D said he wanted to visit the glass blowing place, which is located within the compound of the Langkawi Craft Complex. The complex itself is full of craft items and exhibition like batik painting, mengkuang etc. But this place is kind of quiet, Malaysians probably do not find this interesting, but for tourists, this is something worth looking at.



The only problem with the exhibition is, there's no explanation given to the visitors. It is just showing how things done. Perhaps it is better to give visitors information of how things are done. Then it will be more interesting.



We then went to the back to where the glass blowing activity was done at Faizy Crystal Glass Blowing. This gallery cum workshop is opened for public daily except on Friday. Here we will be able to see how crystal items are done, in the workshop behind the gallery. They are working in a room full of heat, and looking at the way they blow the crystal, no wonder the price is so expensive. We can also buy crystal items at the gallery.



Done with our visit at the craft centre, we head down to the Telaga Ayer Hangat. It is now not only housing the hot spring, but also a spa. Nothing much to be done there, but if you want to soak your feet in the warm water, you can do so. Just that I found the place quite smelly from the mould and all, perhaps something need to be done?