Gua Tempurung , Kellie's Castle and Ipoh

Another last minute decision on visiting Gua Tempurung in Gopeng.

I have been to Mulu Caves in Sarawak and found it rather nice although can't remember much but I know I enjoyed the trip there.

Since my kids have never been to a cave, I thought they would be fascinated with Gua Tempurung. If you are a first timer to a cave, you would be quite fascinated about the cave. In my case since I have seen something better, it wasn't so awesome..still I enjoy the trip.


Entrance to Gua Tempurung

We took the Level 2 tour - Top Of The World which brings us to the Top Of The cave. Initially I only wanted to do Tour 1 because after the Langkawi Skybridge experience I was worried I have no stamina to do this. However there were no tour guides ( which I learnt only for Tour 3 & 4 which is a wet tour) , so we took our time. Unfortunately there were no information in the cave itself to tell us what we are seeing. We were supposed to see all types of Cavern - Giant, Tin Mine, Universe, FallenWarrior,  Battlefield etc etc. We weren't able to identify those stuffs so we just enjoyed the weird looking formation of stalactite and stalagmites in the cave.   All in all we have suppositely climb 640 steps.

Our camera was not powerful enough to capture the interior of the cave ..so this is the best we can do.  Some samples

 

Oops...I actually am not sure if I got the pictures in the correct position. The water in the cave is so cool, clear and refreshing. If you ever do visit this place, do bring a pair of disposable gloves because the hand railing is wet and smelly. Won't be posting too many pictures so you can all go there and see for yourselves. Don't want to be spoiler ok?


Next we went to Kellie's Castle.

This is supposed to be a 'haunted balcony'.

Again, going here for the sake of my kids since they have not seen a real castle. I have seen many in Scotland, so this is pale in comparison to the real thing.

The next day, we went to Ipoh. As usual, we booked a budget room at the last minute. Again, the room exceeds our expectation. The Shamrock Guest House II is new, clean, lots of hooks for you to hang your clothing besides a nice queen bed, and a single bed and a solid bunk bed. We paid RM233 and the other day I checked , the price is RM299 for the same room. Besides, the location is near all the makan places.

In Ipoh, besides making sure we go to all the makan places that was recommended i.e Lou Wong chicken rice with their fatty taugeh (eh, why they don't serve soup wan hah?),  Funny mountain soya bean and michael jackson, Kong Heng ( chee cheong fun, satay, asam laksa closed that day !!) . Wanted to go Dai Shu Geok but it was closed that day. And of course everyone showing this (octopus below) in their blog, how can I not go.....

The octopus is nice and I love it but because everyone praise sky high on this dish, so my expectation was very high...thought it would taste heavenly but fall short lor.

Visited the 'Hor Yan Ho' museum. I don't normally 'appreciate' museums but this was not bad. Saw a very dedicated mom who took her broods there and each of them have an exercise book which they used to copy down name of herbs etc etc.

The kuali that they used in the olden days to fry the tea leaves.

We also visited the Trick Art Museum which I think was a waste of money for us because my boys were so shy to pose for photos, moi included. I used to see people posting very interesting pictures from Trick Art Museum , so I thought it would be fun but for not so sporting family like us...go one time enough already!

My boys wouldn't want me to show their faces so I put mine lor!

We also wanted to visit the 'Qin Xin Ling Leisure and Cultural Village' , unfortuntely it was closed till further notice. Maybe they are renovating.

That sums up our 2 days in Ipoh.

Langkawi Dec 9- Dec 12

It was a very last minute decision to go Langkawi , so glad we did. I took the AirAsia package with hotel that cost us abt RM2600 ( tickets for 4 + hotel).

Of course with this cheap package, one can't expect much out of the hotel ...right? We put up with 4 days 3 nights at Cactus Inn. Each time when someone asked..where we stayed, I think their jaw dropped when they heard the name and some goes " What is that?".

I read the review though it is classified as 2 stars, it is definitely not. For 4 of us, we were given a small apartment like with 2 rooms, 2 baths and a living room. Very clean, well equiped and practical. When kids were small, we go for good hotels, but now that they are big, the facilites at the hotels are no longer important....after all we have swimming pools right downstairs of our condo. And with 2 teenage boys, we always have to book family rooms (read more expensive).
The boys loved the place, the two of them shared a room with a pullout bed.

When we first arrived, my boy was a little shocked. Looked like some 'pengemis' area he said. Actually, looks a bit like public toilet. ha!ha! But inside is very nice lah. Can google for their interior.

We rented this tiny  Kia Picanto for RM240 for the entire 4 days trip. It is so nice to drive in Langkawi, very few cars and definitely no 'jam'.

So the very next day, off we went to Langkawi Cable Car or Skycab.  It was a very nice and windy ride.  The view is definitely a lot better compared to Genting. We went early but not that early either, thank goodness the queue was bearable.

(photo taken from internet).

Both me and my older boy adjourned to skybridge after that.  Actually, it was my older kid that wanted to go, the rest of us wanted to go for the next event. You can actually take the glider to the skybridge but I was too 'kedekut' to pay RM15 for the glider...so we took the stairs.

The glider....looks very fun actually.

The view was very nice from the skybridge. On the way back, it was pretty steep to climb the stairs , I almost pengsan!!! I just realised how unfit I was. I was almost breathless, my legs were wobbly and my head was spinning. Luckily, managed to come back in one piece!

Apart from Skycab, we were also ushered into Skydome. The tickets that we purchased is actually a package consisting of skycab, skydome and skyrex. Actually, I asked for the 6D cinema as well, don't know how in the middle of the transaction, my hubby ended up with the package without the 6D. So gerammmmm......

Skydome offers a 360 degrees panoramic view to its audiences and offers 3D image projections covering the wide perspective while watching animation films. When we were there, we are supposed to be on a rollercoaster. It was so fun especially for those who are scared of sitting on real rollercoasters, this is a good alternative.

Another interesting activity that we visited was Skyrex.  We were seated on a tram styled simulator and took on a 5 minutes fun filled journey that assaults that senses-physical platform drops, dynamic motion, blasts of air, water spray, vibrations, dramatic lighting, surround sound and 3D film projected to the front and both sides of the tram, combines to give the most realistic experience possible.

Skyrex. 5 minutes is just too short. If you visit Langkawi , then this place is a 'MUST' to visit.


The other less interesting place we visited were

Dataran Lang...the magnificent Eagle that someone wanted to abolish!!!!

Makam Mahsuri and some of the exhibits. Only my eldest went in as the rest of us were not interested...especially must pay somemore!

Beras Terbakar...sorry I forgot the actual story. We went looking for this place expecting a big field of burnt padi only to find this small spot.

We also visited the famous Nasi Dagang Pak Malau. So many people , we have to wait for our seats.

 The padi was so green and nice looking....at the Pak Malau's eatery.

We also visited their pasar malam ...their ayam percik is so delicious.

And finally, the Cenang beach.

The sand is so white and the beach is clean.

We should have stayed a day longer as we did not have time to visit the Klimforest or do island hopping.

And when we came back, my poor plant(birthday gift by my boy) did not survived. I was supposed to pump more water before I leave but I forgot!  Have to get the 'vendor' to 'replant' for me but they are too busy with new year's orders.

Last Week Of December 2015

After a long holiday...it takes tremendous effort for me to sit down and blog before ushering into 2016.

After the November Chiang Mai trip, we went to Thistle, Port Dickson for a few days.
Then MIL came and stay with us. Lots of adjustment and getting used to for me and my kids.

Then the dreaded pt3 exam results were announced and both my boy and I were pleasantly surprised with his results. Seeing a big smile on his teacher's face, I then knew it must be ok. So glad that it is done and over with now.

Dec 19th, I volunteer to mend a booth at UM ERASE charity run. My role together with  my new found friends is to introduce the super water IZUMIO to the participants. Basically, we want to create awareness to the public on what IZUMIO can do. This is my 1st experience in participating in a charity run...errr not as a runner though. We gave out free Izumio packs to some lucky participants ....about 70 of them. One of the feedback that I got was...."it is refreshing, better than 100 plus...."

 Next I also visited a childhood friend who is a super host for the first time. She is one capable lady that makes open house to be easy peasy.  Just some of the goodies that she dished out that night.

olio aglio

Extremely tasty barbeque chicken wings with some great wine.

We also had yummy potato salad, salad, beer chicken, and some great wine. I also met another childhood friend that I lost contact when she moved to Australia some 30 years ago. There were also other reunions with my ex-boss. Gosh...it has been so long since I left the workforce.

Went back hometown ( Sitiawan) and bought lots of kompiang for my friends. Since they are taking up space in my refrigerator , I have to quickly disposed them off.   As a result there were more first time for me....driving to two other friend's place by myself. Used to drag hubby along...decided time for me to be independent...after all there is this thing called gps. I often get lost with it but managed to get back on track anyway. Without hubby tagging along, me and my friends can yak till the cows come home.....to a bunch of hungry kids and adults!!!!

We also watched STAR WARS at AEON and being a small kampong, the cinema is almost empty. We hardly go for movies and I think up till now ( my older boy is 15), we probably visited the cinema not more than 5 times!!!! For my boys, this is their first STAR WAR series.

I also brought my older kid to a new Chiropractor centre which is near my house and is so delighted to know that I can transfer my boy's case from Subang over. That would have saved so much time and petrol on my end.


And finally, my first time dishing out fish maw because I was given no choice. MIL brought some fish maw and after attempts of asking her how to cook , I decided to google for recipe and am surprised that it turned out so well. There were many ingredients I could not produce but it still taste good.



 That pretty much wrapped up my December activities and now bracing for a new year.

Happy New Year and May 2016 be a better year in all aspects.

Chiang Mai (Nov 8 - 12th 2015)

This is my boys' first overseas trip. We did a one day elephant safari and Karen Long Neck village.
I think if you are here you should not miss this tour.  It is truly an experience of a lifetime especially the elephant ride.

It was so scary. The elephants have to climb on the uneven terrains and the path is so narrow. We have to hang on to our dear life. After completing the ride, you will be so glad you went on it. ...amazing experience.

To get to the safari , we need to cross this slightly wobbly bridge.

Elephant ride. May not look scary from the pictures but it is truly scary.

Elephant massaging a sporty audience. She uses her trunk then her foot!!!!

 

Elephant show : Elephant playing basketball.

Elephant playing harmonica

Elephant dancing to the tune of gangnam style.

The pictures there were painted by the elephants. Selling for 500 baht.

Elephant poo paper making factory .

Ready made paper to be sun dried.

Karen Long Neck Village....one of the long neck tribes. The place that they stay is so basic. A school is just an open hall. No fan and they use wood to start fire.

 

We also visited the orchid and butterfly farm.

There were a few more activities i.e ox-cart riding, bamboo rafting which was quite fun too. More activities during the elephant show is also not depicted here i.e elephant cycling

One thing about doing these activities is , you got to tip the driver/guide/mahmood for each and every activity. Wish they have bundled in together with the cost....cos it can be quite annoying to keep giving tips.

We also visited the famous Sunday Market at Tae Pae Gate which was so big and long. Besides Sunday market we also visited almost every market that was nearby!!!!!!

Food is so so.............though. 

Now back to the grind...................................................................