Tanjung Sepat - Day Trip

Tanjung Sepat trip was organized to surprise me!
I love it.. Ever since I saw a few photos of the place I wanted to go there to take photographs!
At last at 19th March (Friday) I managed to go there for a photography trip!
It was an awesome day trip. I finally had a chance to use my Canon DSLR (D40X) which I had left in the corner of my room for about a year!
Left my apartment in Serdang at 10 in the morning, had some buns bought from a Petrol station to sustain us til we reached Tanjung Sepat for breakfast.
Arrived at Tanjung Sepat at 11am. Too early for lunch and way past breakfast, so we decided to go to the first location in our to-do list!
Managed to find the place after a long drive on rocky road.
Not everything went as plan though, in the itinerary we were suppose to go to a Longan Farm (One of my favourite fruits)

Not a very comfortable drive in a Perodua Viva. I felt sorry for the car!

Finally reached the destination after about a 5 minute drive from the main road. IT WAS CLOSED!!!!!
CLOSED
The farm is open only on weekends.. MY LONGANS~~!!!!

This was the closest I got to the longans, standing outside the aluminum gate, staring up onto one of the branches poking out. I had to zoom in with my camera! I did not get to touch any longans though. And it is not from lack of trying.. I would have climbed over the gate if it were shorter!
We then headed to our next destination. Indian Rojak! From Rahman's Restaurant. I guess it is different that the usual rojak in KL as it uses fried eggs rather than boiled! And the peanut sauce is nice too! Not the deadly sweetened type I sometimes try in mamaks (yuck). This one is YUMMY! They said that the Roti Tissue there is famous too, but I did not try it.. Wanna save tummy space for next meal!

Next, we drove around and looked at what the town provides and also look at scenery of the beach, LOVELY!

Did not actually get into the photography mode yet, but mostly driving around with some short stops around the beach.

Then we headed for our next meal (The rojak was pre-lunch) This is LUNCH!

It looks good, smells good. Taste like normal Curry Maggi. *Disappointment*
I am glad I tried it. But I am not impressed.
I could have cooked this at home with my microwave and a few fresh seafood. And it cost a BOMB! RM9 for this bowl of maggie.
It had A LOT of seafood though, Fish, Lala(Oyster), Prawn, Sotong(Squid), topped with crunchy Ikan Bilis (Fried Anchovies).

The location of the Seafood Maggi is right beside this temple. There were some posting on the internet showing some funny drawing on the temple walls, so we went to take a look.

Hahaha~! Batman Saves Boy from 30th Century!
Then we finally went to Tanjung Sepat - Lover's Bridge!


More photos in Tanjung Sepat- Lover's Bridge Jetty (Coming soon)
After spending about an hour or more at the Jetty, we decided it was time for TEA!
The famouse Tanjung Sepat - Hai Yew Heng Pao.
It was CLOSED! Hahaha.. talk bout bad luck.
Its usually opened 7 days a week, all year round. Its a family business. But since it was a school holiday, the parents took the day off to bring the children for a vacation.
They would be opened on Saturday! Haih...
Oh well, next round then.. and next time.. we're calling to make sure the shop is open first!

Closed.....
Grrrr.
Next location was a Mushroom farm... Hahahah.. MUSHROOM farm.. I don't know why, but I still find that funny. But honestly, I never been to one, I was quite curious.


Mushrooms were grown on shelves. They just pull out the top to harvest the mushrooms.
Bought a packet of Salty Mushroom Crackers... Nice! And also a jar of Tom Yum Mushrooms, can eat from the jar or with rice. Also quite tasty!
It is finally 5 o'clock.. Not even close to sun set.
So, had dinner while waiting for the sun to call it a day.
Had dinner right beside the Lover's Bridge - Ocen Seafood Restaurant (good reviews).


This dish is actually a mistake.. We did not mean to order it! REALLY..
Let's just call it Curry Fish.

Fried Kailan

Thai Sauce Fried Chicken.
Total for this 3 dishes is RM26. Not bad, I think.
Hung around the restaurant, until 7. The sun started to set!

Tanjung Sepat - Lover's Bridge Sunset

The water had risen as the sun went down, so the reflection of the sun on the water was magnificent!
I am opening another post for my sunset photos as there are too many to put in this post.
Tanjung Sepat - Sunset (Coming Soon)
Headed home, contented and happy!
Also terribly sunburned..
Its been one month! And I am still as dark as an over baked bun.
Advice: Bring sunblock & put alot of it! Apply fresh coats every 2 hours!
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FYI.
Photos in this blog was taken on a Canon DSLR D40x

Photo was edited in Photoshop CS3

Photoshop classes provided by WebWeaver Learning Centre
Resolution of the photos are at 300 pixels X 200 pixels for easy loading.

__________________________________________________________

Please respect that this blog is written on my own opinion
and any rude comments WILL NEVER see the light of day, here.
You may post it on your own space if you absolutely need to.

Kuala Terengganu - Pulau Redang

This is an old trip for last year, August 15th 2009. ^^

This trip is taken on a compact camera, naturally not as good as a 550 Alpha DSLR, but it was ok.

I was actually afraid of accidentally sacrificing my DSLR to the sea.

This trip was RM400 per person for a 3Day 2Night stay, including transportation & food (including 1 Seaside BBQ meal). I thought it was not bad.

RM300 for the room, RM80 for bus tickets(To and fro) and RM20 for Van ride to the jetty, plus a boat ride. I thought it was not bad.

Left Kuala Lumpur by night ride on the 10pm bus from Putra Bus Station on. It was my birthday! But due to rushing of time, celebrated in MacDonalds.

Reached at 5am in the morning.

My aunt in Terengganu kindly picked us up and brought us to her house to freshen up after the long night ride.



Went back to the bus station at 6.30 to take a ride on a van sent by the Resort to drive us to the jetty.

We did not go straight to the jetty but hung out at Kampung Cina for til 8, so had breakfast there.

And bought half a kg or DUKU~~!! My fav.

It was a 30 minutes drive to Merang Jetty, where we got there at about 9. Waited for another half an hour til the boat came to pick us up.

It was a nice jetty, manage to take some nice photos.

The boat was acceptable too. Not as luxurious as the Laguna Redang Resort boat, but it was comfortable & safe.

Reached the island at last. The resort had its own cove, and a private beach at the back! It is nice. It provided free Breakfast, Lunch,Tea & Dinner, so I did not need to bring any food. The buffet style meals are quite well prepared & has a large variety!



The rooms are nice too.

It is simple with all the necessary necessities, aircon, water heater, nice bed, private toilet. It is not a 5 star hotel, but it was good.





We could have our meals overlooking the water on a deck above the water.. it was wonderful to just sit there in the morning and wait for the sunrise! It was really a nice place.

I liked that it wasn't too "happening" either, though it had its own karaoke at night for a while. But I guess if you want more night life instead of relaxation, Laguna Redang Resort would be the place to be. It had a beach side dancing party till wee hours of the morning with bon fires, loud music and everything. I could hear it from my room, but luckily it was not loud enough to disturb my sleep.



The package even included 3 free snorkeling trips (excluding snorkeling mask & jacket - additional RM10) However, the snorkeling was not as good as I remembered it.. The corals was indeed dying. Brown and lifeless the sea as become. But not the fishes though! The fishes scared me! Just put a bread in front of you and you won't be able to see your hands! The fishes were scary!



I think the best snorkeling spot was actually right in front of our resort. I understood then why it was called Redang Reef Resort. It had a beautiful coral reef right in front of it! Much more colorful than the snorkeling spots we were brought to.



I played in the water, on the sand, by the rocks, on the rocks whole day! It was awesome! I had a sunburn after that, ON MY SCALP!

Below is the photo of the Laguna Redang Resort. It looks impressive, it is right beside our resort, over a small hill, there was not beach to walk directly there, so a bridge is built to enable people to walk to that part of the beach.







Saw some wildlife other than fishes, too. This was a funny monkey..

Poor thing was tied up, but it was friendly enough to allow tourist to carry it & take photos.



View from The Redang Reef Resort, walking across the bridge towards Laguna Redang Resort.



These were some interesting doodles drawn by the divers.



A map of snorkeling & diving sites is shown at the lobby of the Resort.



I did manage to capture some photos of the sunrise, but it just did not seem nice enough(the red hue contrast did not come out - everything looked dark & dull). Photoshop could not save it. Probably my setting problem.

I guess I know to take a proper camera for these kind of trip next time.

Got back to Terengganu early in the morning, and the bus ride back was at night. So I decided to visit my grandparents.

Introduced them to my boyfriend. My grandmother was happy :)

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FYI.
Photos in this blog was taken on a Sony Cybershot DSC 750

Photo was edited in Photoshop CS3

Photoshop classes provided by WebWeaver Learning Centre
Resolution of the photos are at 300 pixels X 200 pixels for easy loading.

__________________________________________________________

Please respect that this blog is written on my own opinion
and any rude comments WILL NEVER see the light of day, here.
You may post it on your own space if you absolutely need to.

Cameron Highlands - Day Two

Trip to Cameron Highlands

Itinerary for Day 2

Woke up again before the sun, at 6.00am. Saw that it was raining, and went back to sleep.

Woke up again at 7.00am and was 1 hour behind schedule. But it was ok. The weather was good, the sunlight was awesome for photography.

Packed, checked out & headed further up the highlands towards Boh Tea Plantation at Sungai Pulas.

Breathtaking view all the way! I love the place. Sadly though, the destruction of God's rainforest can be such an awesome sight.

Walked up to the tea centre, where they served tea and some breakfast.. They had just harvested (just just chopped off) the trees beside the walking route up to the centre, so it was not fun taking photos there..

Decided to have breakfast first before stopping somewhere on the way down to take some nice photos.

I had a boring sausage bun, as the mushroom soup I ordered was finished & I am not a big fan of strawberry. Processed strawberry, actually.

Strawberry Cake.. Delicious! with a cup of Hot Boh Tea. Even for a girl who does not usually like strawberry flavored food, this cake is good.

Took tons of photos on the plantation & I really do not want to jam up this blog with low resolution photos.
MORE PHOTOS OF THE BOH TEA PLANTATION IN MY UP COMING POST: Cameron Highlands - Boh Tea Plantation

Visited the Butterfly Farm next, AWESOME!!!!!
I think my favourite place of visit so far.. It is a photographer's heaven!

Again, I took too many photos to have them all posted here. So I am going to put it in another post called Cameron Highlands - Butterfly Farm

I forgot to take a photo of the Signboard though, but it is hard to miss, near the KEA Market. towards Boh Tea Plantation, it would be on your left. Entrance is RM5.. But it is so much better than the butterfly farm in Zoo Negara.

Visited Kea Market, bought some more food & fresh corn to bring back home.

Went back to Brinchang town to buy flowers.. LOVELY flowers! Bought 16 red roses & 10 Large Sunflowers for RM15.

Wanted to wait till the Night Market again... but decided not to.

So before going back, wanted to give the Strawberry farm another try.
Visited the BIG RED STRAWBERRY FARM. After the previous disappointment, this one was wonderful! I immediately liked the FREE ADMISSION on signboard!

Went in and took loads of photos again.
For this, I am gonna gratefully give them some free advertisement by posting the photos I took in Cameron Highlands - BIG RED STRAWBERRY FARM

The place was beautifully decorated and they had a cafe with a large variety of strawberry desserts! My mouth was watering as a stood in line waiting to place my order. Had Strawberry Waffles. Not bad at all. Did not take a photo of it though, forgot! Haha.

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Finished with day two..

Sad. The trip is officially over.

It started drizzling and so it was best to drive back before it started raining badly. Took the old road back going through Ringlet and Tapah.
The road was much narrower than that from Simpang Pulai, but it is quite nice. Passed by some Orang Asli houses & an overflowing river. Lots of rainforest as well.

Had to stop at a rest-stop for bout half an hour along the North-South Highway, due to the rain being too heavy to see the roads clearly.

Reached KL again at 9.30pm.

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FYI.
Photos in this blog was taken on a Sony Alpha DLSR 550 (Kit Lens)

Camera on loan from Tan Electronics, Sony Centre.
Photo was edited in Photoshop CS3
Photoshop classes provided by WebWeaver Learning Centre
Resolution of the photos are at 300 pixels X 200 pixels for easy loading.

__________________________________________________________

Please respect that this blog is written on my own opinion
and any rude comments WILL NEVER see the light of day, here.
You may post it on your own space if you absolutely need to.

Cameron Highlands - Day One

Trip to Cameron Highlands

Itinerary for Day 1

Woke up at 6.00am. Tired but geared up for a weekend of FUN!

Left the house in my Perodua Myvi & drove towards Cameron Highlands at 6.30am, using the reviewed, easier way through Simpang Pulai.

Used the North-South Highway and headed all the way following the Ipoh Signboard.

Stopped at Bidor at 8.30 for the famous Duck Drumstick Noodles! Or Herbal Duck Noodle Soup.

At 9.30 we set off again towards our Highland destination. Exiting Bidor and going all the way straight on the highway till we came to the Simpang Pulai exit.

It took about 1 hour 30 minutes to reach Brinchang Town, where I booked a hotel room. I had surveyed before the trip & decided on Kowloon Hotel as it seemed cheap, accessible and was reviewed to be clean & stay-able.

It was Okay. Here are some photos of the hotel in case you want to stay there.

I found it hard to find the Kowloon Hotel room photos as there were none at any hotel booking sites. So I made it a resolution to take & upload the photos.

The room cost RM128 (peak season) It is considered cheap, it seems.. I am not sure.

They put us on the 3rd floor, though. The rest had been occupied. Climbing up 3 flights of stairs is not easy for someone who is out of shape! I was panting by the time I reached the top.

There is no air-cons, but the air at night is cold enough. There's water heater in the bathroom though, so it was good enough for me.

After checking in at 11.00 am, I scouted around & took the photos of the hotel then left for our first destination in Camerons.

LUNCH!

The hotel is very near alot of restaurant. So I picked on with the best name.

OK TUCK!

We had fried toufu with mince meat, not bad. I kinda liked it.

And also Kam Heong Pork. Should have probably ordered vegetables since Camerons are famous for fresh vegs, but I doubt that it would taste much different after being fried.

The meal was pleasant enough. ALOT of flies! But I heard that it is normal over there since there is so many farms around. The meal cost RM26 or so, including 1 pot of chinese tea. I was warned that food in Brinchang is terribly expensive, so I went prepared to be shocked. Not cheap, but not too pricey, I think.

The next stop after energizing myself with food was Tanah Rata! I wanted to go to a waterfall to test out the new camera that I was temporary sponsored to use by Tan Electronics, Sony Centre.

So I headed for Robinson Waterfalls.

This place is very near MARDI and hidden in plain sight!!! Driving around, you will NEVER find it. As this is the ONLY signboard I saw.

I would never have found it if it were not for the locals pointing the way. If you're finding this spot though. A tip is that it is very near MARDI.

I am only uploading a few photos to show the gist of the place.

MORE PHOTOS OF THIS WATERFALL WILL BE UPLOADED IN ANOTHER POST: Cameron Highlands-Robinson Waterfalls

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It was such a LONG walk.. and I did not even get to go near to the waterfall!!! Everything was from a distance. Got a few nice close-ups for the flora and insects though. And I manage to see Blackberries along the way into the waterfall. A person had a quaint little house with blackberry plants along the path & sells blackberry jam. I wanted to buy one bottle as I saw about 5 signboards before reaching that house. But it was sold out.. Bummer.

Walked till 3.30pm.. and then decided that I had enough..

Actually, saw a big scary looking spider that fell off its web. Scared me silly, so decided to get out of the place asap!

Decided to stop by a Strawberry farm, I did some research and found out most Strawberry farm was the same & Healthy Strawberry Farm was not bad..

NOT TRUE!!! Healthy strawberry farm was horrible! They did not have anything! fenced up all the strawberry and insisted on RM20 for me to enter to take photos (RM20 is for 1kg of strawberries) I did not want to buy strawberries, I wanted to take pics! They did not allow it.

Just posting one photo here, my advice: Do Not Go There.

Next was TEA time! I read a lot bout the love tea cafes available in Tanah Rata. So I chose one with the best reviews. T-Cafe. Also or soon to be known as The Lord's Cafe.

Nice enough place. I guess. It was a bad time when I went there. Someone was having a diarrhea or something... TERRIBLE smell. Had to visit the toilet after that person came out. Not a good experience, the toilet would not flush! But when I told the owner, she thanked me for telling her & quickly solved the problem .

I do not want to give this place a bad review or anything.. But I did not find it as enjoyable as the other people who have been there.

Strawberry scones. Usual ones would put strawberry jams with whipped cream, instead of baking it together, so its a specialty even in Camerons. Review for this from a strawberry lover. Mediocre. Had it with hot Cameron Highland grown tea & fresh milk.

I had Chicken Pie & Iced Teh-Tarik. NICE. I think..

Or maybe I was hungry. But good enough overall.This meal cost RM14.

The atmosphere of the place is quite nice. Did not take any photos of the interior though. I was too disturbed by the toilet at that time.

Left the Cafe at about 5.30pm and thought that it was best to head back to the hotel before the famous Pasar Malam (Cameron Highlands Night Market, at Brinchang Town) jam started.

Rested in hotel room for a while, then promptly fell asleep. Too tired from the waterfall hike, I suppose. Woke up at 7.30pm and walked to the Night Market which was about 200 meters away from Kowloon Hotel.

Had loads of food!!!

Fried Oyster Mushrooms, Fried Needle Mushrooms, Steamed Corn, Strawberry Milkshake, Strawberries, Cherry Tomatoes, etc etc...

Too busy shopping and eating to take any photos of the Night Market though.. But it really worth visiting! Should have tried taking night photos with the camera (regretting!!!!) I wonder how it would have turned out..

Coming up tomorrow is Cameron Highlands - Day Two.

Awesome stuff, I promise

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FYI.

Photos in this blog was taken on a Sony Alpha DLSR 550 (Kit Lens)

Camera
Photo was edited in Photoshop CS3

Photoshop classes provided by WebWeaver Learning Centre

Resolution of the photos are at 300 pixels X 200 pixels for easy loading.

__________________________________________________________

Please respect that this blog is written on my own opinion
and any rude comments WILL NEVER see the light of day, here.
You may post it on your own space if you absolutely need to.