Going South Part3: Johor Bahru

Welcome to my hometown.....Johor Bahru, The land of the South. Hanif and Anom have the chance for a special tour to "Tanjung Puteri" from me...that's what i called L U C K Y!hehe. This is a delayed blog entry due to hectic schedule and because i need to focus on my Miri and Mulu trip blog entry, i make this a short but memorable one ;)

Danga Bay

1st stop in JB is this place. Danga Bay or Teluk Danga is a premier waterfront development in the city. A very popular spot for relaxing, and on clear days, you can even catch a good view of Singapore. Many interesting events are held there especially during festive seasons. Due to the fact that we went there during weekdays night, so not much happening there. We just take a stroll along the bay and eat at my favorite spot in Danga Bay which is the " Rumah Limas". Its a area consist of 7 type Malay traditional house representing 7 region in the satte of Johor. really nice environment to eat nice Malay cuisine.

We choose to eat in Rumah Pontian.

Taman Diraja Johor and Sultan Abu Bakar Mosque

Taman Bunga Diraja Johor or Royal Garden of Sultan Johor is situated opposite the Tebrau Strait which Royal Abu Bakar Museum is situated. The Museum is a previous Sultan of Johor Palace and thats why the garden is gets is royal name. Ita a beautiful garden which is a jogging spot for JBians. Near the garden also situated the Sultan Abu Bakar mosque which is Johor's state mosque. It was constructed between 1892 and 1900, under the direction of Sultan Abu Bakar. The architecture of the mosque was largely based on Moorish styles, along with some Malay influence. BTW, Sultan Abu Bakar is called The father of modenization of Johor due to its contribution previously in developing Johor.

Royal Abu Bakar Museum...noticed the similarities between the mosque below???

In front of the Sultan Abu Bakar Mosque

Nusajaya

Is something like Putrajaya...administration center of Johor which is also under the Iskandar developmental region. It is currently under construction and only few buildings is completed. In future is will be a prime business and leisure center with construction of Puteri Harbour, 1st asia Legoland and also a Indoor theme park consist of Hello Kitty, Barney, Thomas& friend, Bob the builder etc. I heard they still negotiating on 3rd theme park which target adults. Go JB!

Legoland Malaysia..open in 2012The new administrative complex in Nusajaya

It's look like Al-Hambara, Spain

Tanjung Piai

It is a must stop who ever go south.Tanjung Piai is a cape in Johor which is the southernmost point of Peninsular Malaysia and thus the most southern point of mainland Asia. surronded the area is a mangrove forest. It is such a beautiful mangroves but full of rubbish. This is because Mangroves act as a rubbish traps for the sea. I also see some exotic mokey called Cikong!:) yeaa!! and also mudskipper! skip skip skip here and there!

A monument at Tanjung Piai: The southest tip of mainland Asia.

Starting my journey to the southest tip by walking through the mangrove forest.

Congratulation! Now we are at the southest tip of mainland Asia!!!

Pulau Kukup


Kukup, is a well-known fishing village with most of its houses built on stilts. It is famous for its fish farms and several restaurants, which serve the freshest seafood dishes, cooked in various delicious and tantalising styles. Pulau Kukup is a 5minute boat ride from Kukup town. If i'm not mistaken it is the biggest mangrove island in the world. It is totally made of mangrove forest which is a important habitat for alot of animals like monkeys, crabs, otter etc. Johor goverment are trying to preserved Kukup Island and make is a tourist spot....thus it will be closed for a year for upgrading.

The longest seed in the world..i think! hehe

Kukup Island jetty

At aFish Kelong....my first experience with spit fish. Spit water to make insect or food fall down into the water.

Frozen puffer fish

State Zapin Competition

Hanif and Anom are lucky to be in JB during the annual Zapin competition was held. Zapin is a Malay traditional dance uniquely in Johor. There is about 15 type of zapin. Oh my..they are really good and some of them are superb. Really entertaining! My favorite group is from a primary school in JB. They moved like Beyonce!!hehe By far Hanif favorite moment in JB! yeaaa!! Glad none-Johorean can appreciate Zapin.

The grand stage for Zapin competition

With my fovourite group of the night.

Nice Traditional pose!

A video showing My fovorite group. They used Zapin Dayung type.

"OMG..this is not short at all!sorry..."

Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha

Bergema takbir dan tahmit
Memuja kebesaran ilahi
Semoga aidil adha mengamit hati
Setiap insan dan insani

A week of adventure & volunteering

Off to Miri, Mulu and Long Bedian for a week. Some caving and "lovin mother nature" in Mulu and volunteering under MERCY in Long Bedian. Hope everything will be fun and fine. Wish us good luck.

Mulu cave with all of its glory


"c ya in a week"

Going South Part2: Singapore

Singapore@ Singapura is our south neighbor...just across the Tebrau Strait from Johor Bahru, my hometown. Hanif really wanted(@ jakun) to visit Singapore although for only a day trip. Thats why Anom drag me to the kiasu land;). I decide to drive to Singapore rather taking its public transport due to the fact i wanna try it!hehe. My first time driving in Singapore is awesome and interesting. Singapore is so small that you will never totally get loss. As usually, the hard part is to pass the Custom, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Complex of both country especially Singapore. Each foreign car that enter Singapore need a autopass which is equivalent to "touch&go" card. Our first destination is Singapore Zoo.

After passing CIQ...Welcome to Singapore!!

Singapore Zoo is a world class zoo and it is a model for "open zoo" concept around the world. The Zoo is beautiful and surrounded by forest. The animal have big space to roam around and the zoo staff are really friendly and helpful. They have a lot of animals and about 16% of it is endangered species. My favourite animals are the big white Polar bears and the macho white tigers. Malaysia Zoo please take note, especially Johor Zoo which is a animal prison rather than a zoo. We are so unlucky because it rains heavily at that day. We are trapped at the snakes house for hours and at last we decided to buy our self a green ugly poncho... but after 5minutes wearing it, the rain stop...Grrrrrrr!

At the main entrance of Singapore Zoo

The 3 beautiful female elephant...hungry for fruits!

The white tiger...they are huge!

Green ugly poncho!

With the non-talkative but nice looking parrots.

Next stop is Marina Bay which placed the famous Esplanade, Merlion statue etc. Its a artificial bay which situated at the end of singapore river. Marina bay become really popular due to the F1 Singapore grand prix which started last year. They bay is so beautiful with all the tall skyscraper and the durian inspired Esplanade. Esplanade is their world class theater which is equivalent to our Istana Budaya but with shopping complex inside it. Taking picture here is a must especially with the Merlion statue. The "make believed" creature is the trademark symbol of Singapore.

Marina Bay with Esplanade and eye of Singapore.
WTF moment in front of Esplanade..did you noticed the durian motif of it's dome.

Slurping water that came out from the Merlion..refreshing:)

After Marina bay, we drive around Singapore city. We go to the famous shopping area, the Orchard road and the Arab street. So many shopping complex around the Orchard road.which make me wonder who shops there cause what i know is Singaporean love to shop in Johor Bahru. Arab street is the place where you can see all the colonial heritage shop lot and famous for their fabric vendor.Both area is lively and interesting. I wish i got a lot of money to shop there!

Picture at the front of Hard Rock Singapore...Lazy to go out from the car!

Last destination is Singapore Night Safari. We decided to go there due to raving review about it. Initially we thought that the Night Safari will be Singapore Zoo at night, but its totally different. It situated next door to the Singapore Zoo. My favorite part of the Night Safari is the "Creature of the night show" starring the big bad wolf, the laughing hyenas, the cute otters, mighty lions and more. The show is entertaining and informative. What i like about Singapore Zoo and Night Safari is they always convey the message of saving mother nature and the animals live in it. We took the tram to go around night safari because we are damn tired and it is 40 hectare big!

At he entrance of Night Safari

The "Creature of the Night" show..a strong sexy lady holding a python!hehe

After enjoying the animals under the artificial moon lights, we say good bye to Singapore and heading back to JB. We have a quick Singapore trip and i personally enjoy it so much...Hoping the love birds too;)

"Uniquely Singapore...?"

Going South Part1: MELAKA

Last week i have the opportunity to take a short trip to Melaka the UNESCO World heritage city with 2 love birds;). Actually we are on our way to Johor Bahru for a short holiday in Singapore. Melaka has transform completely from the last time I'm there. Melaka town are more beautiful with all the landscape and all the heritage buildings are well preserved. My favourite is Jonker Street and Harmony street in Melaka town. Jonker street is full of character, heritage and culture. Harmony street quiet the same with Jonker street but it got its name because in the short street there is a mosque, a Hindu temple and a Buddha Temple. 3 different religious live harmoniously in one street. Other interesting places that we have is the red Christ Church area,the eye of Melaka, the rotating Taming Sari Tower, Dataran Pahlawan and last but not least the A'Famosa fort. Oh ya...the Melaka river cruise is great. The building and villages around the river is beautiful and soo "Vanice"(quoted from Hanif). Melaka have at least 6 museum and my favorite is the maritime museum situated inside a 1500 replica trading ship.Cool! If you have time, take a ride around Melaka with a beca@trishaw. The trishaw are so cute with all the flowers and accessories. Will definitely come back to this heritage city to fully experience it!

Jonker Street & Harmony Street:

The eye of Melaka:
The 1753 Church :
A'Famosa Fort:
Melaka river cruise: Maritime Museum:More picture *click here*

"Melaka bandar bersejarah"

Papadom & Pisau Cukur

PAPADOM

What i can conclude after watching the highly anticipated Papadom is.....a fairytale story which focus on father-daughter relationship! Its a sweet, funny and entertaining film. Again Afdlin is so adorable and funny while Lyana Jasmay is a sweet heart. Afdlin has increase his credibility as a director with this film but still a lot to improve. Selambakodok, you can do better!! Character and story built up is weak. eg: why suddenly the professor eat together with Afdlin in the garden? Sometimes it turns into Disneyish "high school musical" with introduction of the college and the cheerleaders. The finale in the lecture hall is so cliche and again disneyish. I didn't say that Disney film is bad but due to fact that this film wins Malaysia Film Festival, let me wonder...is this the best Malaysia can offer? too high expectation maybe. but nonetheless the film have good entertainment value with a lot of message. Personally i will watch it again. ;)

PISAU CUKUR aka gold digger!
A good romantic comedy/mystery/fashion genre from Bernard Chauly who give us Gol&Gincu before. Its so funny and "gedik" in "legally blond" way but yet we still fall in love with the character. The beautiful Fazura and Maya Karin surely play their role greatly as the gold digger with a "happy go lucky " attitude. Who can't remember; "oh my Dior! Oh my Jimmy Choo! oh my Diane Von Furstenberg!" etc every time OMG words need to be used by Fazura character. All actors suited their role perfectly especially the newcomer playing Faqir, Maya love interest. The interesting part is none of the scene were shoot inside a actually cruise ship! All is a set and CGI. Fantastic! The script is well written without any cheesy line and it was beautifully shoot in realizing the cruise atmosphere. For the girls, i think you will love all the props, cloth and accessories they used in this film. The only critic is if only the mystery and detective part in this film were given a little bit more spice and excitement... sure will be more entertaining. Go and watch this film and continue supporting Good Malaysian Film!

Panas!!

Hip Hip Hurrah!

To me-group

Congratulation to my group mates! 3rd place is great. I'm so proud doing my 1st research with those lovely guys. We have our ups and downs during conducting the research in Parit Buntar, Perak but surely become a sweet memory. Thanks to Nick for his fantastic and entertaining presentation. Hope that our research regarding Gestational Diabetes Mellitus will contribute to development of care for pregnant mothers in Malaysia. Also wanted to give a shout out to our twin, Group 4A for their 2nd place! Group 4 sure kick ass!!

To me-self

For passing my examination! Yea! Totally worth all the sweats that come out from my brain for the pass few weeks. Officially now I'm in Final med and hope it will be a great one. finger cross! Back to Medicine, Surgery and GP....back to be scolded by surgeon and doctors. haiiiyaaaaa...

hip hip hurrah!

"To acquire knowledge, one must study.To acquire wisdom one must observe"

A quick getaway.

L A N G K A W I

As you all know, last weekend i went to Langkawi Island with my friends after a long 3 weeks exam period. It's really a beautiful island with all the potential to be on the same par as Phuket and Bali...just need some tweaking here and there. White sandy beach, hot scorching sun, clear blue sea, lushes paddy field, magnificent mountains and variety flora fauna completed Langkawi as a perfect holiday destination.

Day 1

We arrive in Langkawi around 4.30pm after 1hour 30min uncomfortable boat ride from Kuala Kedah. We go straight to Langkawi cable car by a van that we rented. Our driver for the day is Gamat...crazy little engineer from Segamat. The Oriental Village in the upper northwest of Langkawi Island, near Kok beach, is the entrance for the cable-car ride, which takes visitors all the way up to Mount Mat Cincang, Langkawi’s second highest peak. Malaysian only pay RM15 while non-malaysian Rm30 which worth every penny. After the cable car started to ascend i can feel my heart racing(like before riding a roller coaster). Its crazily high and very steep. If wind blow, we can feel the cabin rawking gently with it. On the very top stations, we can enjoy 360 degree view of the legendary island. My favourite part of it is the skyline bridge...a bridge suspension between 2 mountains. We enjoy our first Langkawi's sunset at the very tip of Mat Cincang..indeed beautiful and breathtaking! After the cable car, we check in at Sri Kijang Resort at Chenang Beach. Its a 4/5 star resort under Bank Negara Malaysia. Thanks to Syaza's sisters for the opportunity to stay a night there.

At the skyline suspension bridge...fazrin is terrified!

The Skyline bridge! cool huh??!!


Enjoying sunset at the very top of Mount Mat Cincang.

Day 2

We spent the whole day in Payar Island. It is famous for its beautiful corals, sharks and scuba diving. It takes about one hour to reach it from Langkawi by big boat. We go there under Coral Island and pay about RM140 each. The sad thing is hundreds of people flocking to this island every day which definitely effecting its pristine conditions especially the corals. Actually the corals is a little bit disappointing but the fish is cute and abundant. We pay extra Rm25 to snorkel in the diver site which need to take a 5minute boat ride from the jetty. Its really a great site full with colourful live corals and creatures like puffer fish, eels, starfish, lobster, sea snakes etc.The highlight of the trip is the sharks feeding session. At around 1pm,black tip sharks started to roaming around the beach. The sharks is harmless and ranging in size from size of our both palm to as big as a small dining table.

At least 6 sharks in this picture...crazy but cool!

Shark feeding session..we are not allowed to get near or touch the sharks...it can bite!!

9 of us at Payar Island.

Danial.Yana.Fazrin.Nizam.Katod.Kamarul.Gbam.Gamat.Kak Linda.

That evening we spent the rest of the day at Pantai Chenang. We ride the banana boat and it is fun(my 1st experience). Sunset there is superbly stunning. Along the Chenang street, numerous hotels, shops, restaurants, spas, the zone shopping complex and underwater world Langkawi. Chenang Beach is really lively and beautiful which live up to its status as the main beach in Langkawi.

Jumping in front of Chenang beautiful sunset.

Day 3

At the last day, we take a 4 hours island hopping boat ride to 3 places which is the Beras Basar Island, eagles feeding in Singa Island and Pulau Dayang Bunting. Beras Basah Island as a beautiful white sandy beach with crystal clear water. We take a dip for a while and buried fazrin to make mermaid sand sculpture. SEXY!haha! Next is the eagles feeding in Singa Island. We also see few eagles roaming around the mangroves, unluckily the boatman said that the eagles are full due to the morning feeding sessions. Langkawi gets its name from eagles(heLANG) and kawi rocks. Pulau Dayang Bunting is the last stop. Its famous for its fresh water lake which have its mystical tale...by swimming in it, can help those women who wanted to get pregnant. Around the platform, you can see alot of cat fish and you can have a free fish spa when you dip your leg into it. Eww!haha Beware of the monkeys cause they are fierce and will try to grab anything on your hands. After a refreshing swims in the lake, its time to head back to jetty and end our island hoping. After a quick change of cloth in the jetty, we walk to Dataran Lang to take a picture with the magnificent statue of a Eagles which symbolized Langkawi.

The pristine Bera Basah beach.

The sexy mermaid.....nope!

Going crazy in the Dayang Bunting Lake..hoping to increase our fertilily ability!hehe!

Fish spa..the catfish style! Geeeliiii!!

Noticed the pregnant maiden??

This is totally a stress releasing holiday...thanks to the lovely Langkawi and adoring friends that makwe this a memorable one. Can't wait to go to another trip with you guys. Someday, definately will go again to Langkawi but BYE BYE for now my dear Legendary Island!

Our last pic...with the Helang statue at Dataran Lang.

"Paradise is where I am"