Zorbing - Look Ma, I'm a Hamster!

Zorbing @ Titiwangsa along the road right behind the Istana Budaya. Wow! What a experience! There was 2 types of downhill rides, dry one where they just roll you down and another wet one where they add a bit of water inside the ball. I went there on the day it was my bday and they added a few extra perks for me :P My roll down the hill took alot longer to stop and my wet ride was filled with freaking cold water! It wasnt so dizzy actually, it was a lot of fun. Especially that wet one....dang the water splashing around leaving you with barely enough time to breathe, Gushes of cold water slapping you awake. DANGGGG. What a day!
Dry ride - RM15
Wet ride - RM20
Official site : http://firstinmalaysia.com/

Gunung Irau @ Cameron

Located near Brinchang town in Cameron Highlands, the mossy forest, Gunung Irau. Green carpets of moss dot the entire jungle, the cool, gray mist shrouds it in a veil of mystique. These combined with the soft cushion-like ground makes Irau a fantasy world come to life. But do not be fooled, this is a very difficult hike. When i first stepped on the mountain, i am already amazed. The trek starts with a wooden bridge, giving a false sense of tameness. The view from the bridge was breath taking enough, but when the bridge ends, a new world begins. The simplest way to describe it would be, it was like stepping into the pages of Lord Of The Rings.

Gollum!

As I take a few more steps, I notice one of the problems with Irau, the legendary mud. It wasnt raining but most of the ground is muddy. Very muddy. It will suck your shoe of your foot muddy. So if you want to avoid these mud traps you will have to look for roots that you can step on. I did just that and in the end i had really sore feet balancing on those roots. It took me around 3hours+ to reach baby Irau. The peak they(other hikers) say its around 2 more hours of hiking. Since it was already around 1pm I couldnt continue or risk having to hike after sundown. So i had lunch and started the hike down. Just 20mins into the hike back it started to rain! To be honest it was quite interesting hiking in the rain. Its my first time doing this and it was kinda fun. It felt really like an adventure, trekking through the jungle with rain falling around. Man vs Wild! But of course the rain really made things harder, there were more mud, everything was slippery. It took me a little more than 2hours to get back. I feel if you dont mind the mud, and you just walk right into the mudholes you can make much better time. In fact when i was hiking up i was overtaken by a lady wearing just pink slippers! Of course she was nonchalantly dipping her legs into the mudholes like it was just a spa.


All in all it was a interesting hike, but really challenging. Would I come back? hmm.. i would definitely consider. The Baby Irau peak isnt really motivating me there, just wasnt anything there. No view, just rubbish everywhere. For me its always nicer to have something at the end of the hike that was worth hiking all the way. A great view, waterfall etc. This one doesnt look to me like it has any. But the journey in the jungle itself was definitely worth experiencing.

After the hike, we were suppose to stay at something called the MNS hostel which was rm10 per pax and I've heard very rave reviews about it. Unfortunately we couldnt stay there as there was a huge traffic jam. We ended up turning around and staying at a friend's house at Batu Gajah. Would love to try staying here. They say is freaking super freezing cold at night but there's supposedly a Gunung Cantik to hike nearby. The sungai palas tea cafe was another place i'd love to visit.

Gunung Datuk @ Rembau

Located near rembau town. To get there go on north-south and take the pedas/linggi exit. After the toll turn left, at next traffic light turn right. Go straight on (keep left if there is a branch in the road) till you see the signboard to Taman Rekreasi Gunung Datok. From there it will be small roads straight on about 7km till you see a small sign indicating you should turn left. This will lead you to a plantation i guess. There is a branch in the road, just take left. Soon after you will see the taman.


The hike is pretty steep, took us about 1 and a half hours at moderate speeds. At approximately the midpoint you will reach a checkpoint, sort of a clearing you can rest. From then on the trail is less steep but is abit further than the 1st part. At the top there is another big clearing that if you go on you will see these famous ladders on the rocks.

The ladders are abit scary, its shaky and looks unreliable. But its secure and the view beyond it is worth the hike. Cool breeze and almost 360degrees of breath taking view.

(Shit my hair look like AstroBoy)

Las Vacas @ SS5, PJ

Las Vacas

Excellent place! Perfect place for good steak.

This gem hidden within PJ is a butchery that doubles as a simple restaurant serving excellent quality steaks.

No frills, nothing fancy...just walk over to the meat counter, pick a good quality cut of meat and just wait to eat.

Price is absolutely fair and I would definitely, absolutely, really love to comeback again to try the wagyu!

Turns out a wagyu topside(rm27, 270g, pic below) is cheaper than a grass fed premium ribeye(rm44, 250g, pic above).

Not much marbling on this wagyu cut but the taste of beef is still very much richer.

Owhhh and not to forget these absolutely lovely beef wraps. Nice succulent beef oozing with cheese. Heaven.

Address

23, Jalan SS5A/ 11, Kelana Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

8.30am to 7.30pm For more information, call 03-7874-0711 or fax 603-7874-0655.

Bukit Apek @ Cheras

Went here on 5th July, now only post. So lazy.

This place is in Cheras near Persiaran Awana and the entrance to the trail is at the end of Jalan Awana 25. (I think la) There is another trail that does not lead to this waterfall. Also known as Bukit Saga. There is apparently a Gunung Datuk but that is at Seremban somewhere. Dont confuse them.

It was a 1 hour + hike to the falls. It was a nice trek not too hard or too easy. But the waterfall isnt that nice. Very small and quite low.

Attaining enlightenment.

Broga Hill

We wanted to catch the sunrise so I had to leave my house at 4am :(

Pick the others and headed off to Broga. The drive took around 1 hour +.

It was a rather secluded area after Cheras and Kajang if your coming from KL.

If you approach the main road Jalan Semenyih from the North, take a left after you see a Petronas station. (Look out for signs to Rabbit Fun Land as the trail is right opposite it.) After the left turn, go straight on till you see Rabbit Fun Land. You will pass by Nottingham University on your left. opposite Rabbit Fun Land will be a trail amongst the palm oil plantations. There is where the trek up begins. You can turn in to the trail to park.

It is quite exciting hiking in the wee hours of the morning completely in the dark.

One thing to note about the trail is, when you come to a fork you should take the right trail which is rockier and is heading upwards. We sesat to the left one following some noobs and ended up at a dead end :(

I think the hike averages around 1 hour. There are several peaks at Broga but we stopped at the 1st.

Things to prepare :

Mosquito Repellant

Long pants because many lalang there

Torch light

On that road where you pass Nottingham and Rabbit Fun Land, if you go on straight till the end you will see a temple which they say is quite famous "Shi Na Tok" temple. Pretty nice there. One thing you will notice is there are many fruit trees around. Durian, cempedak(nangka? dunno), rambutan, pomelo just growing along the roads.

Now there is another hidden gem at Broga, it is a quaint little lake side restoran serving barbequed fish-in-foils. At the entrance of the temple, turn left into a small road. Go straight on until you reach a bend with a red gate to its left. Turn in there and you will see a nice little kampung feeling lake side restoran. No frills just good ole kampung ambience and good food. Try the extra hot chilli padi fish..syok ohhhhh.

Too bad no pics adi, camera ran out of space. :((

Chilling Falls @ KKB

My 2nd time in Chilling Falls, KKB. Ahhh so nice and peaceful. (Also did last mth, now baru post. Summore so dam short. Lazyyy)

SkyTrex @ Bukit Cahaya!

Woohoooooooo adventure in the high trees! SkyTrex in Taman Pertanian Bukit Cahaya (or Taman Botani adi now). 

Super syok...after that we even had BBQ there.

Got loads of stuff to do around Bukit Cahaya can go cycling, swimming, four season something and many more I didnt get to try. No time la. But overall it was a wonderful outing.

(So lazy to post la in blog. Simply rite short short one enuff adi. This one I did last mth now baru post :P )

Philippines - Food Oh Glorious Food!

One of the greatest indulgences when going to another country is none other than the explosion of taste that foreign cuisine brings. When wonderful new flavors fill your mouth, there is just simply no denying , food is man's greatest luxury. For so many cultures and countries in this world, there are even more variations of flavors and cuisines. 

Philippines (PH) truly offers alot of amazing food. And here are some that I have tried :

Garlic Rice - Ever present in PH eateries.

Ihaw-ihaw or mix grill platter

What a feast! The bangus or milk fish was very nice and unique. Dont think i've ever seen it before here in Malaysia.

Bulalo - juicy steak!

Sisig - another extremely delicious dish. Made from little pieces of organs and unwanted parts like cheeks or ears.Throw in some crispy pieces of fried pork lard. And you have this wonderful sizzling crispy delight. 

I really love how they creatively use fried pork lard in their dishes. Here is another one:

Palabok Fiesta - from Jollibee

Jollibee is the most ubiquitous fast food chain in PH. Its a local chain which also includes ChowKing, GreenWich and Red Ribbon. Easily spotted anywhere in Manila.

This palabok fiesta is this noodles that are sort of like 'tang hoon' with a sauce that i think is prawn based littered with fine fried pork lard. You can taste the pork lard obviously in every inch of the sauce. Completely wonderful.

Balut - the infamous duck fetus!

Geli! Duck fetus that is almost fully formed is cooked while in the egg. Looks really disgusting. Too bad no clear photos here (need to get my own camera so dont have to rely on noobs :P ). It has this sauce when you first crack it open, that tastes pretty good. The rest of it tastes pretty much like a meatier egg.

Dinuguan - food of the vampires! blood stew!

The texture is abit grainy. Taste-wise its nice. And you eat it with small sweet glutinous rice balls. Abit too thick to drink like soup.

Mechado - beef stew

Arguably the best food i had. Strong nice flavor, tomato-ish. With melt in your mouth beef pieces. Excellente!

Seafood - insanely nice!

The seafood market/restaurant concept here is pretty cool. First you go along the stretch of seafood market. Buy the seafood you want. Then walk over to the adjacent restaurants and ask them to cook the seafood for you.

The most incredible thing i saw was this!!!

Giant crab claws! And they sell only the claws!!!! Wah lau..syokkkkkkkkkkk!!!!!

CNY Mission : Meet Heng Tais In Penang

29 Jan

My return to Penang started with a trip to Teluk Tempoyak. Beautiful place for some fresh malay ikan bakar. It's a small food court by the sea that has this simple pier that stretches out into the sea.

And of course also got chance to do some posing.

30 Jan

The next morning I took a long 3 hour hike up to Penang Hill from moongate. Wah damn tiring.But when I finally reached the top, it was worth it. Just enjoying the view, relaxing reading a book while enjoying the cool highland breeze.

Halfway rest stop

Overall it was a nice day. Of course no day is complete without some wonderful food. Koay chiap and some tomyam oh chien.

31 Jan

Today is zhi mui day. Spend whole day with zhi muis go see houses. See Oo Oo house, see show house, see Oo Oo fren house, see tan tan house and see tan tan sister house. Then finally yam cha wif tailou, heah heah n tan tan.

Finally at the end of the day get to meet all heng tais. CNY mission complete!