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| Sunday, 23-Apr-2006 12:00 |
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Prambanan
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The journey from Borobudur to Prambanan, however, was a different story. On our way to Prambanan, the heavens opened up and mounted a coup de main on our convoy. It was pouring profusely and we had to stop somewhere to don our ‘jas hujans’ provided by our ‘supirs’. We didn't wait for the rain to stop and continued the journey coz we were pressed for time. During the ride in the rain, we had to deal with rain droplets bombarding our faces, it felt like stinging pinpricks, thousands of them. I took shelter behind my ‘supir’, occasionally stealing a glance over his shoulder at the road ahead. The scenery was stunningly beautiful. We were weaving through the Indonesian countryside passing ‘kampung’ style houses and countless paddy fields along the way. Some stacked on top of each other creating a terrace, others span as far as the eye can see reflecting the rolling hills and the dull sky above. The mist then started moving in, blanketing the land, taking its role in this beautiful orchestra of sights. We spent the last leg of the journey zigzagging, dodging or hitting potholes that pepper the road. There were no signs of the ‘supirs’ slowing down though, which I admit was a bit worrying –slippery road, two wheeler zigzagging, do the math-. Looming in the distance was the unmistakable silhouette of Prambanan Temple shrouded in mist. It was a truly awe inspiring and tear-jerking sight to behold. After more than an hour hunching on our motorbikes, we reached the Prambanan complex parking lot safely with a sore bum, drenched clothes and soggy undies –hahhah, telebih informasi skek-. But that didn’t dampen our spirits. In fact we were dying to see this UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Without any further contemplation, we decided to hang on to our ‘jas hujans’ and ‘helmets’ for fear of the unpredictable sky. We scurried and stormed through the glass doors of the ‘Visitor Entrance’ only to be escorted to the ‘Local Entrance’ which was way less classy. Before being shown to the other gate, I distinctly remembered a European tourist –omputih– saying “Kalau masuk disini kene bayar lebih, jadi terpulang pada kamu mahu bayar lebih atau kurang” in perfect Bahasa Indonesia which stumped me and my brother. Anyhow it was a good thing that we got in through the latter, because we got in at a fraction of the price that a foreigner has to pay –I told you we could pass for WNI didn’t I, Foreigner= USD12/RM48, Foreign Students= USD6/RM24, WNI= IDR8000/RM3.20-. We more or less, got in Borobudur the same way. We toured the complex for the rest of the day with a guide –Mr. Toto who knows Japanese, Korean, English and of course Bahasa Indonesia-, and turned the guy into an instant photographer and model, kes kes kes. What’s amazing about the Prambanan temples is that the main sturcture -without the intricate carvings- was built first before it was adorned with exquisite carvings that we see today. Furthermore there were 99 of them towering temples that were built in this fashion. Amazing right, heheh.
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| Saturday, 22-Apr-2006 12:00 |
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Ello Yogya
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| Friday, 21-Apr-2006 12:00 |
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Indonesia
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It was 10am and we were about to make landfall on the city of Jakarta, the Indonesian capital. I wasn’t really expecting a trip this soon a few months ago, but my brother managed to scrape two return tickets, out of the two million that Air Asia was giving away for free. This was my first Indonesian trip and I expected everything to go well, given the reason that this is the land where I could easily pass for a local unless I talk too much –I find it hard to master the art of speaking Bahasa Indonesia– even though our languages are alike in certain ways. And I start my journey the way I usually do… from the train station.
Gambir is the main train station here in Jakarta. From here me and my brother embarked on a journey eastward, traversing one of the main arteries that connect Jakarta to the East of Java. Some of the things you need beforehand when traveling, are a little bit of cash and a solid plan to make it work, or so we thought. The plan was simple enough, get a train to Yogya, visit the two monuments on day number one, and make our way to Selo and start climbing Merapi around midnight. The plans for day two, was a wild card, either take a breather from the tiring hike or take a stroll along Malioboro if we could muster enough strength. Day three, visit Yogya’s places of interest free and easy.
Our train, slated for a 5.00 pm departure from Gambir, left later than anticipated, one of many hiccups that we encountered along the journey. The ride took 8 hours and it was around 1.30 am when we pulled-in Yogya’s Tugu Train Station. There in front of the station, there were a lot of ‘becak’ and motorcycle ‘supirs’ around to choose from and we hired two of them 'supir sepeda' to take us to our hotel which we haven’t yet decided. They then brought us to see several budget hotels around Yogya before we made up our minds.
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| Tuesday, 21-Mar-2006 12:00 |
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Kundasang
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| Saturday, 18-Mar-2006 12:00 |
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Kundasang War Memorial
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Wasn't doing anything productive at home lately. Since boredom crept in sooner than I tot it would, i decided that i really need to get away and take a break from the monotony of my mundane life and unwind... but where the heck is this, i'm confused 
Actually tempat nih kat sabah jek, kat kundasang, its a 'War Memorial' for SANZAC punye POW yang kene march dari sandakan sampai ke ranau ... ramai giler yg mati dlm march tuh ..
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| Wednesday, 15-Mar-2006 12:00 |
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Lepak² kat tepi sungai ....
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| Sunday, 12-Feb-2006 12:00 |
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Ta ta Thailand ... Hek Hek (From Krabi to Hatyai to Sadao)
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Well this is it, this is the end; this is where we bid adieu to Thailand  ... Reflecting on what we have been through, it has been a wonderful experience. Wading through water, plodding through mud, gazing at sunsets, clambering endless flights of stairs, swim in azure waters down to sipping coconut milk in a very busy city, it had all been wonderful.... throughout my journeys I've seen a lot of Thailand but I must admit, there sure are lots more that I haven’t seen, that Thailand has to offer...
I vividly remember my first trip to Thailand last year, a trip that happened by chance... Before this I basically didn’t think much about Thailand as a tourist destination, even my friends were wondering why Thailand?  It was partly because I stumbled upon cheap tickets (RM 116 return and that’s RM 58 one-way) too good to pass, and in addition, stories my Pak Su told about his travels in Thailand piqued my interest... My foray into Thailand began in Bangkok and from this sprawling city, me and my buddy (Fet Fet, bukan name sebenar) cut through the middle of Thailand to its frontier, to a small town called Maesai ... Maesai is a small town comparable to Tapah (my kampung), and it sits at the cusp of Thailand’s northernmost region neighboring Tachileik of Myanmar... The trip didn’t turn out as planned, but I’d say it was a success... Initially we were planning to go to Lao instead of Burma, but things didn’t roll as it should’ve... the plan was to book a guided trip from Chiang Mai to Maesai, and that trip included Lao in its itinerary. To our dismay the agent however booked a jungle trekking trip, pfft! (siap ade rafting lagik) ... disappointed, we insisted on a refund and scrambled to the bus station only to find that the next ride will not be for another 3 hours ... the 7-hour ride to Maesai was daunting, not knowing whether there would be a place to stay in Maesai or not, and not knowing whether there will be a bus for us to get back to Chiang Mai made us writhe with anxiety  . To make things worse, the express bus that we were on, turned into a service bus right after Chiang Rai, moving and stopping from bus-stop to bus-stop, picking up and dropping off passengers as well as school kids along the way and it was getting dark pretty fast, pelted with ‘What Ifs’ in my head I only hoped for the best (bear in mind that all of this was unplanned)... having a ride back to Chiang Mai was crucial because if there were no busses or if we timed it wrongly we would miss our 14-hour train ride back to Bangkok and if that happened, we would probably miss our flight back to Malaysia ... but our gamble paid-off and we pulled through just fine, and the misadventures were just the right thing to make our trip much more enriching and memorable… I got in and out of Myanmar without a hitch… I can’t say the same for my friend though, he was thoroughly searched by immigration officers on both sides (Thai and Myanmar), and he got me worried for a while back then… Maybe he looks like a terrorist kot, coz the same thing happened when we made the trip to Singapore dulu… hehehe ( oit Fet, jangan marah aku memain jek) ….  
Island hopping was our theme on this trip, and it was the first time I did more than two in a single day which proved to be marvelously exhausting  , but there is nothing that ‘S. Watt Po’ (a massage parlor) can’t fix when it comes to crampy muscles eh, I think my Pak Su and Mak Su can testify to that hehehe  … I also found out that I like long tail boats rather than speed boats... Speed boats are bumpy and those with sensitive posteriors are not advised to use em’ speed boats, try the long tails instead, they move at a very relaxing pace and much gentler on your tooshies, even watching them plying the waters can be pretty relaxing... Kayaking on the other hand was just good fun and having the lagoon at Koh Hong all to ourselves, was simply magnificent…
However when I got to Koh Phi Phi, I was reminded by the very real threat of Tsunamis after seeing a mark on a wall with”Water Level on December 26th 2004” scribbled beside it.. When you look at the postcards and the real thing, you can see the appalling differences… beaches that was once lined with shady palms are now sparse and the island that was once clad in greenery are now bare… I imagine it must’ve been harrowing for the victims… this serves as a sobering reminder that us humans are helpless when it comes to higher power… but it was good to see that life on this island has returned to normal state…err! almost normal
To sum things up I’d have to say that Thailand never fails to surprise me whenever I’m there... there is always something new to explore… the people here are terribly friendly and amazingly helpful, and you’d be surprised how they warm up to you once you break the ice… I got two bottles of free drinking water from a restaurant owner in Maesai on my first trip, and we got a whole meal for ‘four’ free of charge in Nue Klong on the second trip… I also learned that it doesn’t hurt to learn a few Thai words  , a few words gets you a long way when you’re hungry or even when making friends… In instances where Thais don’t speak or understand English, I speak Malay. Either way it’s the same, they don’t understand you and eventually you’ll get through to them by gestures (how do you say half-boiled egg using gestures, I bet it would be funny if you tried) , lucky I knew how to say half-boiled egg in Thai…Now that’s Thailand for you from my eyes, I guess it really is ‘The Land of the Smiles’ afterall… 
Past Misadventures:
  
  
1. Whisked to Chiang Mai (frm Bangkok)
2. Maesai Rush
3. Border Cross
4. Back to Chiang Mai (frm Maesai)
5. Chiang Mai Charms
6. Relaxin' Ride to Bankok
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| Saturday, 11-Feb-2006 12:00 |
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Hollywood Ket-Hao .... 200 Baht, What do you think ?
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Tempat nih 200 Baht je (lebey kurang RM 20) semalam, kitorang dok kat sinih maser kat krabi, bilik nih tade tandas ngan bilek mandi sendiri so kalo nak mandi ke ape ke, kene lah pegi common bathroom die kat tingkat atas ... bilek mandi ngan tandas die agak bersih soo no complaints there ... kire ok gak aa tempat nih ... sesuai utk bajet traveller like me ... bajet jek .. hahahaha
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| Friday, 10-Feb-2006 23:40 |
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We survived 1237 steps (Wat Tham Suueeeeeaaaaa) ............
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Panoramic View of Krabi
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| Thursday, 9-Feb-2006 12:00 |
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Bansangduan...
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Before I lay down other posts .. i really have to get this out ... Thai cooking is simply the bestesttesttest ever,with its bold concoction of sweet, sour, salty, and spiciness its really a treat for your palate ... and of all my trip to thailand, ill have to say that none make 'em better than Bansangduan (kat phuket), so good in fact that they were on Buletin 1.30 last week ... just writing about this place makes me drool .. since ive sampled a lot of Thai quisine, i have a public obligation to admonish ppl about the suppah spiciness of Thai's local dishes ... my advice is to equip ureself with an important (veri the veri important) phrase, 'mai phet', sounds a bit like my name ,'mat pet', but it has no relations to me in any way or form (obviously la kan), now armed with this you could save yourselves a lot of trouble ....but if you do find your tounge ablaze, theres not much to do except to sit it out coz no amount of water could douse the flame quickly.. repeat after me guys 'mai phet' .. 
sorri theres no pics of the food,coz i didnt take any .. was too bz enjoying it 
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gamba baru mana dong... 
