P1: The Departure

This post backdates about a week, and so any events described here would have since then disappeared into the echelons of time, and remain only as memories etched into the mind of one, solitary, reminiscient person.

I shall exclude my departure from KLIA as I would prefer it to remain personal. Instead, I will tell you a little about my SIX BLOODY HOURS of transit in Dubai airport. "Why Dubai?" you may ask. Well, it's simply because our choice of airline to take us to London was Emirates, which places all it's passengers in Dubai for the oddest number of hours they can think of. In fact, I spent so many vacant hours stuck at the airport's transit area, Dubai Duty Free, that I actually learnt how to read Arabic. For example, the writing in the picture below says: "Pepsi".I bet you didn't know that.

But seriously, it's an open secret that Dubai is a filthy rich country; and that is probably what allows its people to be so unbelievably kitchy in their decor. I mean come on, there are UFO's and artificial palm trees within their airport!In fact, the people there are so excessively wealthy that it does not suffice for them to have dozens of artificial palm trees indoors, but they have to take it the extra mile by ensuring that all these palm trees are entirely made up of gold bars! Don't believe me? Witness this then:

If only they would have consulted me prior to incorporating such bizzare features into the frontlines of their country, I would have better advised them to invest the money instead on real, living greens in order to add a little more colour to the actual landscape. However, as they did not do so, this is the image that greets all travellers when flying over this famous, oil-rich country.

Now compare that to an aerial shot of London!

It's a tad cloudy, so the picture isn't too clear. The contrast between the 2, however, is crystal.

Oh, and speaking of London, that post's coming up in due time, so bear with me!

Wetlands Park

As my esteemed colleague Mr Loh has already informed most of you, last Tuesday, the 10th of July, 12 of us took a drive down south to Taman Wetlands in Putrajaya to get away from our hectic and busy.. eh wait. I'm on holiday. Forget that. So anyway, we took a drive down south to chill some chill and indulge in some kayaking.

First off, allow me to introduce you to Taman Wetlands:

There are many things one can do in Taman Wetlands. For example, one could emo..
One could also crossdress and pose.. However, the more normal visitors can opt for bread-spread royalty and go kayaking.An added bonus is that Badawi will be personally watching you from his bedroom window!

Contrary to popular belief, kayaking is not all about paddling a boat from point A to point B to point XYZ. No, its real purpose is to diversify those Nikon Moments* you have grown to love. On a kayak, you can simply take it easy and relax..
Or you can choose to have a splashing good time..Optionally, you can sit around and worry about losing your spectacles in the water.. And if you're just plain weird, then you may find that the kayak is the ideal place for you to party like a rockstar.! But first you have to learn how to use your oar the right way..Once you've mastered that, you can combine 2 kayaks and call yourselves..

THE OARSOME FOURSOME!!

By now I'm sure you'll have realised that kayaking is extremely enjoyable.. but be warned! Spending too much time under the sun can lead to heatstroke, and you looking like this.

Therefore, the best course of action to follow thereafter is to find a shady and serene spot suitable for a picnic.

The kind of food you bring does not matter. Whether you're consuming a weird nacho sandwich or a keeyuntjin, just make sure it's something you enjoy.

.
.
.

.
.
.
.

.

.
.
.

If you're worried about the calories, try working it off through some gravity defying stunts!

.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.

.

.

.

.

.

And if that tires you out, you can just laze around with your loved one, enjoying the cool breeze and laughing at the antics of those lamers you call friends.

Such was our day.

for more pictures: tap.

.
*all images captured on kayaks are from KhooWeiJinn's Panasonic Lumix

Malacca

Radio blaring the end of an advertisement in the background: ".. so guys! Take your chicks to all the cool places around Malaysia, because Malaysia is.... Chuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunnnn! "

Having been, in all probability, brainwashed by said advertisement, Sarah and I decided to take a drive down to Malacca for a day, just because.

Malacca's pretty much the same, still hot, still cheap, but with less green and more mall - anyone remember the old Bullock Cart ride on the padang? Well it's gone. In it's place? Dataran Pahlawan Digital and IT Mall. Woohoo for the preservation of our culture and history!

So hennyway, the reason most people locals pop into Malacca is for the food. In that spirit, we decided to be as touristy as possible in our day and scout out the best of its popular food.

Lunch was Malacca's infamous Chicken Rice Balls of course - really good, with the only minor complaint being that the chicken was cut very irregularly, though that didn't affect the taste whatsoever. I kind of missed the name of the place, but it's a corner shoplot immediately on your right upon crossing the bridge, opposite OCBC Bank. You can't possibly miss it.

Of course, supposing you're still thirsty after your meal, Malacca's even got places where you can get drinks for free! With a few conditions of course..

Who says sexism no longer exists?

In Malacca, there are two ways to burn off the calories from lunch- letting the sun melt it away and the classic "walking". The most efficient way is to combine the two, which is what we then did, combined with some Nikon Moments of course.









A not-to-be-missed place for those Nikon Moments is definitely the Church of St. Paul, with its windy path up, gorgeous green grass, ancient architecture and historical history, it's what your camera's been dreaming about since it was nothing more than a little lump of metal in the ground. It also provides sweet relief from the heat with a cool breeze constantly blowing into the shade.

After some time wandering around, you'll start to notice that the heat is getting quite hot. When such a time does come, and it will, there are a selection of things one can do to cool down. You can opt to..

cool off by a fountain..

or have an ice cream. (you can even use the stick for weird camwhoring!)

Now one thing I realised about Malacca is that many of it's buildings and shops are extremely creatively designed. You have..

.
The Orang Utan House, which is basically a shop selling artwork and t-shirts featuring the designs of one Charles Cham. You have to admit, it's intriguing isn't it? Almost reason enough on it's own to persuade you to patronise the shop.

.

.

The doors of a tattoo parlour.

.
.
.
.

.

.
And of course there's Capitol Satay Restaurant, where we procured our evening meal-

My first taste of satay celup.

Now, no touristy trip down to Malacca would be complete without being chauffered around town in a trishaw by a 22 year old electrical engineering student called Carl, and so in order to complete our trip, that's what we did.

Not long after, we took our leave of Malaysia's most historic state, keeping in mind the wisdom we had discovered that day.. wisom which I shall now pass unto you.

So bear in mind, always, that when you are in Malacca, you absolutely must

Cameron Highlands: A Recollection

As the events of the following day unfolded, my camera became my memory..
and so it shall do the talking.
.
Feeling the urge to hike again, and seeing as we had such beautiful weather, we proceeded to scale Gunung Brinchang yet again - in much more relaxed spirits than during the previous attempt.

I'd have to say the reward at the end was well worth it.

Mt. Irau in the background.

Even the telco towers were scenic.

It was a quick lunch after, then off to Robinson's Falls

.

.

to relax a little..

to camwhore a little..

and to just be a little bit funny.

All in all I'd have to say..

..it was a pretty fruitful trip.

.

for more pictures, tap.