Super Kampung Style

 

Of all the Gangnam Style vids I’ve watched, I love this Malaysian parody best.

Are you part of the Gangnam fever yet?

Diving in Bidong Island

My last dive trip in 2011 was made to the forgotten island of Mini Saigon called Pulau Bidong.

Before embarking on the journey, I was quite apprehensive about the trip after having done some search about this little deserted island. Pulau Bidong used to be a UNHCR refugee camp post Vietnam war in the 1970s for about 20 years before it was declared as a restricted zone and closed from the public in 1991 ever since.

 

 

The small stretch of  beach on the island was in pristine condition, sea water was amazingly blue and crystal clear. But the 3 nights stay wasn't easy for most of us, certainly not yours truly. Amenities on the island were bare and rustic with limited food, electricity and water supply. But the divers say we’ll do whatever it takes to grab hold of this rare opportunity to get access into this new dive site.

One day we took a tour to check out the poignant remains of the once bustling refugee camp at the other side of the island, and I think all of us were quite mortified by the sight of it.

 

It looked like a badly rotten shack with no maintenance, there was a what it seemed like a temple and a church that has been destroyed and vandalised but some of relics still remain standing.

 

 

There was also a mass grave near the jetty commemorating those Vietnamese boat people who were drowned in the sea, and I also sighted some rusty kitchen utensils among the wild bush. Imagine that. It was beyond our imagination to think how on earth could this place used to house 40,000 refugees at one point.

 

As for marine life, some of the dive sites were quite pretty but we weren't blessed with good vis unfortunately. Well it's the end season afterall. The underwater gallery (first in Malaysia!) was pretty cool and so was the bus and excavator wreck. I'm happy to say that I'm now a ADD! (almost advance diver :P)

 

If you have not heard of Pulau Bidong, here's a little read.
http://www.terengganutourism.com/pulau_bidong.htm

Josephine

Nice cozy restaurant in Ipoh. A btl of house red rm70 onwards, coffee starting from rm11. Not sure about the food there though, I have heard mixed reviews according to my hometown friends. This cafe is conveniently located along the main road towards Ipoh Garden East.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Redang

  

Finally had time to post this up. Went to Redang Island in July… beach quality there was superb. Redang is a popular tourist/ diving spot among locals and foreigners and shame on me,  it was my very first visit despite being a Malaysian. Seriously, Malaysia is a country that has one of (or many) the most beautiful tropical beaches in the world, not to mention they are affordable too.

 

It was a relaxing leisure dive trip with my fellow diver friends from Ipoh.

Sleep… Dive… Eat…

for 4 days and 3 nights.

 

We stayed at the quieter area of Redang… it’s a diver hangout joint

Chalets at Pelangi Redang Resort

 

Divers chilling in between surface intervals

  

Logged some very interesting dives this time around. First checkout dive was nothing but strong currents and jellyfishes. Second and third dive our group attracted a huge barracuda! Check out the video below! Oh I also did a night dive too… but it gave me bad migraine :( 

The more fanciful and touristic area of Redang is called the Laguna Beach

 

 

While reminiscing the good times I had in Redang… I’m missing compressed air already. Can’t wait for the next dive trip in 2 weeks!

Kuala Sepetang, Tepi Sungai Seafood Restaurant

In a recent trip back to my hometown of Ipoh which I sometimes also call it a dead town, as the number of hangout and exploratory places are always so limited. Boy was I wrong. A trip to Kuala Sepetang was somewhat an eye-opener as I never knew there was such a great place existed in Perak!  Traditionally this a river port for local fishermen to offload their catch, well I think it still is today. Eating at this place guarantees the freshest seafood you can find, not to mention its tranquil and beautiful river mangrove scene which I find almost therapeutic.

nice view while enjoying our lunch

Kuala Sepetang is about 45 mins to an hour drive from Ipoh town. I say it makes a great day out on a lazy Sunday, where you get to enjoy the river view and fresh seafood. I will definitely revisit this place again.

Sungai (RT Weld Restaurant)
No 150 Tepi Sungai, Kuala Sepetang, 34650 Taiping
Tel : 05 8581169
Business Hour : 11am - 9.30pm
GPS Coordinates : N04 50.150 E100 37.620

Cordon Bleu, Jalan Kuala Kangsar

One of the best Hainanese Chicken Chop I’ve ever had actually, besides the ones that my mum makes of course. Chicken was pan-fried to perfection, served with fried egg and coselaw.   

This place is definitely a Ipoh hidden gem, it takes more than a local to know about the restaurant. Here’s a more detailed review with directions to get there:

http://ipohchai.com/chicken-chop-rice.php

Citrus, Ipoh

Most people (non-locals) who visit Ipoh will not think of going for steaks when the city is famous for local delicacies. I remember Piffs asked me a while back about fine dining restaurants in Ipoh, I was scratching my head hard. There’s one big boy in town starts with D but that’s pretty much it.  Now I found another good one, it’s called CITRUS.

We had their sampling menu for RM80/ per pax

Trio appetizer – Salad, Prawn and Scallop

 

Choice of either tenderloin beef or 2-way Cod. I opted for the latter and it was so good I didn’t have a chance to take a picture of it

 

Warm chocolate pudding with oozing hot sauce served with ice-cream and Rasberry sauce

Overall, food was good, price wise was slightly on the steep side and service was a tad slow. 
CITRUS WINE & DINE
No 38-46, Laluan Ipoh Perdana,
31400 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.
Telephone : 605-5451010
Business hours : 11.30am – 3.00pm, 6.30pm – 11.00pm.
Closed on Mondays.

Diving in Perhentian Kecil

About three weeks ago, I ran away from the city to this beautiful island for a weekend getaway. Pulau Perhentian is a little gem located in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia where it offers fine sandy white beach and beautiful marine world. Exactly what I needed for a little breather.

 

First time in Pulau Perhentian and my second dive trip of the year.

Quality fine sand beach and the weather was beautiful throughout the weekend.

 

Stayed at Bubu Resort. It’s the best resort on the island, or at least I was told. 
Overall it wasn’t too bad, at least it’s hygenic. But paying for a 5 star hotel rate but resort condition is an average 3 star hotel you get in the city, I’m not sure if it’s exactly value for money. (RM400 incl tax per night during peak season)

The dive centre called “Turtle Bay” where I hung out at most of the time. Logged in 5 dives on that weekend itself. Spotted a bamboo shark, lion fish, loads of colourful nudi branches and angel fishes, variety of big ass sting rays among others. Oh the sugar wreck dive was absolutely awesome too!

 

Lazing around at the dive centre during surface interval.

Watching sunset while enjoying alfresco dinner by the beach.

It was a very short break where I got to practiced buoyancy a little better and also learnt how to fight against current in the water.

Can’t wait for the next holiday already… counting down the days now!

Diving at Tioman

Despite all the skepticism I had earlier about diving, I'm so glad I actually went for it. Saturday was a nightmare and so much hardwork was entailed, our final exam finished at 1am and this morning I had a scary experience of drowning but guess what, it doesn't matter now coz I'm a certified PADI Open Water Diver! ;) When they told me it's a totally different world in the sea and that I would love it, I didn't believe it until today. Breathing compressed air makes you a little “high” and all the marine lives you see takes away all the worry in mind. No wonder divers often say “ Turn me a fish. I don’t want to go back to reality.” I understand why now :)

Tonight, I am stargazing at the sky and saw the Orien Belt shining from up above, couldn't help but feeling abit sentimental... Hmmmm

That's yours truly chiling out at the resort while her mates have gone for the night dive...

Road Trip to Penang

Had an awesome 3 days 2 nights trip to Penang over the Wesak long weekend break. Imagine this, 5 to 6 meals a day… Basically we were eating non-stop! I definitely need a tank size stomach for this sort of trip lol. Will let pictures tell the story.

 Gurney Drive

  

Every morning I woke the boys up at 7am to religiously work our lards off  and get rid of the food guilt.

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When it comes to food…

Lorong Seratus Curry Mee.

I didn’t enjoy the black pudding but the curry soup was good.

 

Balik Pulau Lemak Laksa.

Definitely the bestest Laksa I’ve ever had!

Check out how many servings did we manage to whack?!

Island Glade Chee Cheong Fun and Popiah

 

I was hoping to get the Sisters Char Kuey Teow but friends said it’s overrated and overly priced, so I had it at Island Glades instead. 

 

Last day, we had dinner at Hooi Boey Seafood restaurant. Seafood there was super fresh… the clams and crabs there were my favourite dishes among all.

p/s: Pictures you see were courtesy of John Heng, using a Nikon D90 with a combination of 10.5mm FishEye and WideAngle lens.