Travel – Page 16 – w w w . x e .s . c x

Kota Kinabalu Part II: KK -> Poring Hot Springs -> Kundasang -> Kinabalu National Park -> KK

Continued from here

We stopped by Pine Resort at Kundasang, a countryside town located at the foothill of Mount Kinabalu. Pine Resort is located up a hill hence it’s a good place to check out the scenery. Many climbers stay in Kundasang before they embark on their journey to Mount Kinabalu. Perhaps the notable bit of Kundasang is the War Memorial, which was built to remember the 2,000 plus Australians and British prisoners who died during World War II.

After lunch, we stooped by the Kinabalu National Park. We drove to the entrance where everyone would enter to climb Mount Kinabalu.

What a name..

At that time, many people had just finished their climb to the peak of Mt Kinabalu. Most people looked extremely exhausted.

We took some pictures and walked some trails before heading home.

Best record so far – 2 hours 39 minutes to reach the peak of Mount Kinabalu!

“Snake Hill” Trail.

Took this picture while standing on a cliff. Can you see a waterfall?
We stopped by a coffee shop for a break. The shop is divided into two parts, one part being the convenient store and the other part being the coffee shop.

Place your cover charge to enter the toilet on the left box.

I spotted one pastry by the name “Biskut Pising” that they were selling. It’s made of banana and it’s green! I tried it. It tasted like crap. Too sweet and too dry.

An hour later, we reached KK City. A one day trip is indeed tiring. Nevertheless, I would highly recommend that one especially photographers drive out of KK City to experience the nature.

On a bridge – the river is almost covering the bridge!

Rock Climbing in Perlis

End of this year, I’ll be off to Raileh Beach, Krabi, Thailand again to climb. I can’t wait!
400km from Kuala Lumpur, the state of Perlis was never known for their rock climbing activities. But last year, the Mammut expedition team set up climbing routes at Bukit Keteri and Gua Kelam. A video of the process can be seen below.

My palms!! My feeet!! They’re all wet!!
Related Links
Rock Trip, Keteri, Perlis 31 Aug-2 Sept 2007 | ARC IIUM Website
Rock Climbing Routes: Asia/Malaysia/Perlis/Bukit Keteri

Kota Kinabalu Part II: KK -> Poring Hot Springs -> Kundasang -> Kinabalu National Park -> KK

The journey to Poring Hot Spring is a long and tedious one. As I’ve said earlier, we had to go narrow and windy 2 lanes roads to get to these places.

We also had to go through

Bad visibility,

Slow lorries,

Accidents,

The road was probably built up on a mountain as most of the time we can see a ravine next to us. Further, throughout the journey, Mount Kinabalu is visible.

Poring Hot Spring, as the name suggest, is a hot spring located 3 hours away from KK. I read from somewhere that it was once a Japanese styled hot tubs during the Second World War.

I was looking forward to it as I’ve never been to a hot spring in Malaysia before. The one I visited in Japan was quite interesting and I presumed that it would be the same in Malaysia.

Throughout our journey, we passed by many local villages. The interesting bit is that almost each corner there is a church serving these villages. And all the signboards are identical – except for the name of the church.

Amitaa…aaa Haleluyaaahh

The other common sight is dogs – they are everywhere! Cats are pretty rare as they are eaten by dogs for breakfast.

We stopped by one place by the name Pekan Nabalu for a break. It’s a small town with stalls lined along the streets and even have a section for local handicrafts. We bought some pineapples and bananas. The pineapples look like hand grenades. Perhaps in the future, those who drop by, please purchase something from them to keep the villagers businesses alive.

Mt Kinabalu in the background!

Banana & “Salak”

Hand grenades

After an hour, we arrived at our first destination, Poring Hot Springs! I got off the car feeling excited – my first visit to a hot spring in Malaysia.

We crossed a river vide a suspension bridge. It was indeed a suspense before I step into the place.

But the place is like a bloody Disneyland! The place was filled with kids running around and many of the hot tubs were filled with kids. I bet they peed into the hot tub!

Fortunately, there are some private hot tubs for hire. Perfect place to do naug…I mean relax.

Other than hot springs, the other attraction of Poring is the Poring Canopy Walk. The walkway is around 40 metres off the ground and it’s identical to the one at Taman Negara Pahang. It turned my legs into jelly.

Perhaps the most acceptable hot springs tub is the tub for feet. My feet are dirty hence it doesn’t matter whether it gets dirtier or not. The temperature of the water is adjustable. All you need to do is to turn on the respective taps.

To be continued..

Kota Kinabalu Part II: Kedai Kopi Fook Yuen

Kedai Kopi Fook Yuen (Fook Yuen Coffeeshop) is located in a centralised hawker centre. Each shop has their own area and this can be seen from the colour of the chairs. Once you step into the centre, you’ll find yourself being tugged (verbally) by waitresses to sit on their area. Nevertheless, you can order food from other restaurants and have it on your table but you’ll find it being packed for takeaway.

After hearing so much about Fook Yuen’s roti kahwin, I finally I got to try this coffee shop. Roti Kahwin is a combination of two toasted bread with cold butter and kaya squeezed in between the toasted bread. It’s commonly available in KK and some parts of Malaysia. Some places plainly call it Roti Bakar (Toasted Bread).

However, I didn’t try their Roti Kahwin. Instead I had their normal bread with a thick slice of cold butter and also kaya squeezed in between. The bread is soft and perfectly moist. I must say it is extremely delicious until I wanted to have it everyday!! YUMMYY!! I THINK THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST THAT I’VE TRIED!!

The other main but undiscovered attraction is Teh Madras. When I first heard about it, I thought it was some Indian spice tea. The last time I had a tea which sounded Indian i.e. Masala tea @ Mumbai tasted like curry. But the appearance of Madras Tea is pretty intriguing. It has three layers, the bottom, which is also the substantial part, is white (milk), the layer thereafter is brown (tea) and on top, foam. It’s like latte with tea. I tasted extremely well and not sweet at all! Unfortunately, it’s not widely available at Chinese restaurants.

Fried Dumplings (gyoza) is quite popular in KK. But the one at Damai is so-so.

Map

Damai Plaza PH
4 Jalan Damai
Luyang, Kota Kinabalu
Tel: 088-232.794
Opens 7 a.m. – 1.30 a.m
Closed on Mondays

Sailing Adventure @ Langkawi – Kuah Town

This will be my last entry on Langkawi Sailing Adventure.

On our last day, we dropped by Kuah Town, the district capital of Langkawi, to get some duty free stuff.

In every part of Kuah Town, there is a duty free shop selling all sorts of stuff which includes chocolate, alcohol, electrical items, kitchen appliances and clothing.

Alcohol comes in all sorts of variety. Some colourful and some in weird bottles or packaging.

Berlin, Germany – Last day

I thought I should post all my entries on Germany before I embark on the KK trip post.
On my last day in Berlin, I took the opportunity to visit 2 museums, Checkpoint Charlie Museum and the Jewish Museum. Checkpoint Charlie Museum is dedicated to the Berlin Wall and is located few steps away from the replica of a guardhouse of Checkpoint Charlie, which was a checkpoint for visitors from the West Berlin to East Berlin.

Stuff that you can purchase around Checkpoint Charlie
The museum is easily accessible by bus and train and there is an admission fee of 12.50 Euro. This museum is a must-go for all visitors as it has many stories on escapades by East Berliners to West Berlin. It also contains all sorts of items used by escapees to escape from East Berlin.

Plenty of photographs to see in Checkpoint Charlie Museum

I’ve no idea why they are kissing

Continue reading Berlin, Germany – Last day

Berlin, Germany – Taxi

[Note: I cant blog in KK, hence Im posting this entry which I prepared some time back :P]

On our first few days, we had to travel by taxi as we were not familiar with Berlin. Each journey costs us RM50 and after a while, we decided to save by walking or taking public transport. The train system is pretty efficient. However, no one monitors the train stations and one can take the train for free (illegally).

Mercedes cars are used as taxis in Berlin.

It’s quite comfortable and their meters are of state of the art. It’s embedded on their rear mirror!

I found this magazine “Taxi Aktuell” in one of the taxis I took. I wonder if it’s a magazine available only in taxis or it’s a magazine for an association of taxi drivers. It would be extremely cool if it’s a magazine for passengers.

Anyone wants to start one in Malaysia with me?

Berlin, Germany – Via Condotti @ Berlin

Our concierge recommended us one Italian restaurant nearby our hotel. It’s said that it serves authentic Italian food. Without any hesitation, we headed to Via Condotti.

We were greeted by a man wearing a red Ferrari cap. I think he’s the manager of the place cause he kept scolding a waiter. The waiters were all Italian, and they kept speaking Italian to us. -_-

The highlight of this restaurant, for me, must be their spaghetti with black truffles. The unique thing about this dish is the way that it was served. The manager brought an additional table with a huge slab of cheese on top. A box of black truffles is placed next to it.

Thereafter, the manager started scrubbing the top part of the cheese and set it on fire!

Spaghetti was thereafter thrown into the fire hence extinguishing it.

Seconds later, the spaghetti was served with sliced truffles on top. It tasted extremely goooddddd 😀

Anyone knows where I can get something like this in KL? (minus the truffles of course)

Address:
Fasanenstr, 73 – 10719 Berlin
Tel: (030) 88 67 78 97
Fax: (030) 88 67 78 99
Website: www.viacondotti-berlin.de
Related link
Boo.com Review

Berlin, Germany – Kurfürstendamm and its surroundings

We stayed at Concorde Hotel which is a street away from Kurfürstendamm, a very long boulevard housing many famous designer brands like LV, Gucci and Bvlgari. Things are extremely expensive there. However, there are couple of souvenir shops that are worth looking at. The souvenirs all around Berlin are pretty much identical – fridge magnets, postcards and so called fragments of the Berlin wall.

Along the street of Kurfürstendamm, there were many impressive glass displays featuring all sorts of clothing and wares.

Mercedes Benz display in front of Mercedes Benz store

When I first saw them, I wondered why these glass displays were never vandalised. But soon I found one glass display with a cracked display. I guess someone tried to break into it.

We saw a number of people walking their dogs along Kurfürstendamm. Some responsible owner would pick up the dogs’ poo and disposed them. Some just leave them as it is. But some rich ones dispose them off at one of the ‘poo deposit machines’.

Check out the lookout point on top of the train station

Further down Kurfürstendamm, we can see…

Chinese restaurant

The Chinese restaurant looks like its being squashed by the building on top.

F*ckfashion anyone?? (see the word below the word “xes” in the watermark)

Berlin, Germany – Copy Print

One of the things I’ve learn from my Berlin trip is to have enough business cards. Once you run out of business cards, you would have a lot of explanations to do and probably lose some good contacts. It’s the ultimate weapon to establish contacts.
But life being life, things are always unexpected. You may run out of it while on your business trip or worst of all, you forgot to bring it along.
You could always explain to your contact that you forget your card but you’ll email him your contact later. In such event, the chances of them replying to your email is slim and most likely they have forgotten about you. Further, you’ll be left out of their option when they go through their business cards to see what contacts they have to pass work to.
If anyone encountered any of the aforesaid problems, one of the solutions is to get your name cards printed.
Just next to Schweinske, lies a printing shop which could duplicate business cards. It’s quite impressive but it’s also very expensive. All we need to provide is a copy of the name card or even a soft copy of the name card. For a hard copy of a name card, the shop can duplicate the business card even it’s in someone else’s name! As for the soft copy, always keep a copy online so it’s accessible when it needs to get printed.

It only takes couple of hours to get the business cards printed. However, the quality of the paper may differ from the original one.
I ran out of business cards on my 2nd last day. I had to resort to using my colleague’s business card. I had my name written next to his. It wasn’t a good solution as my writing resembles a bunch of worms mixed up together. But being poor and desperate, I had no choice.
Related Link
http://www.copyprint.de/ (in German)