Lost In Translation @ LAOS..part 2

Lets continue my journey...

Day 3
We begin our day cheerfully by having a good breakfast from near coffee house name Jomo…I had bagel wt cream cheese…some got Croissant spinach…local tuna sandwich..and its all good…only cost us about RM12 each with hot chocs and coffee and tea..Before bfast, I took the opportunity to witness the monk getting something from local. Its something I haven’t see in Malaysia so, why not..In the morning, its so cold..I bet around 18-20C..

Today the journey will get into boat and heading to Pak Ou cave. The boat fare is 250,000 kip per boat but its every hour. We don’t want to wait another 45 min for 9am boat , so we pay 300,000 kip per boat..only cost us 60,000kip each..

P/s : If you have more than 5 ppl in ur group, its worth it to book a whole boat. The boat can occupy up to 10 ppl..no need to book upfront, just go to the boat stand and buy ticket.

The boat journey took about 1 ½ hours, total 3 hours return. We stop at Wisky Village (well that’s what I heard he said) to actually look around..we end up buy stuff as well..heheheheh..not wisky of course. The place is something else…different village experience. Stop there to take picture.
Arrive cave few minutes later…climbing up the stairs….take photo along the way…go into the cave..(the cave is small….penat jugak naik tangga tu)..thats all activity at the cave. Entrance fee 20,000 kip.We spend about ½ n hour or maybe less…On the way back to LP town, all of us slept peacefully…Lunch, we choose the restaurant along the river, nice set up and good seafood n vege. As usual, everything finish…we tried the sweet n sour fish, fish soup (this is good),mix vege and squid..
After lunch, get some rest …continue to Kuangsi waterfall. They have bear Sanctuary there and the bear is cute….waterfall close at 5pm, we arrive there at 4pm…very nice scenery and swim about ½ n hour…facility to change is available. Around 4.45pm..we left from waterfall….arrive LP town, we have just enough time to climb Mount Phousi. It suppose to be up there to enjoy sunset but by the time we reach the summit..the sun all ready set..ppl starting come down but we keep climb up….by 6.30pm,already dark…we manage to get down before its totally dark….

Tonight we had dinner at local restaurant and had seafood noodle soup, seafood fries rice,Mekong fish fried noodle (its good) …. After dinner, continue shopping whatever we haven’t buy a day before. Oppsss..almost forgot, DO TRY FRUIT JUICE at the market. 5,000 kip per cup, you can mix and match your own fruit….its soooooo delicious..I had it every day..(unfortunately,only 2 days there) …

to be continue...

Lost In Translation @ LAOS..

My 2nd vacation of 2010...6 days LAOS

Day 1
My day starts as early as 4 am. Flight took off at 8.05am…..We arrive Vientiane 2 hours after that. The different between Laos and KL is 1 hour..(Laos is 1 hour behind). We had our itinerary earlier as usual but on the flight we did discuss on how to finish 4 places in 6 days considering all four places is far from each other.
Our early plan is taking bus to Luang Prabang (LP) on the day we arrive (evening bus) so we didn’t book any room ahead but by doing that we might not have enough time to complete all 4 places we are dying wanna go. So, here starts our adventure. By the way, minivan from airport to VT town is USD8 per minivan (up to 7 ppl).

We just landed our bag for a while in one of the guesthouse(GH), walk around to find the travel agency and room to rent..(surprisingly GH in Vientiane is full). Found travel agency, negotiate with them (it’s a skill we already acquire after several backpacking trip)…we finally got a minivan for 7 ppl (we are only 5), for 4 days trip..
Vientiane (VT) – Vang Vieng (VV) – Luang Prabang (LP) – Xieng Khuong (XK) – VT include gas and driver cum guide for USD440..only USD88 per person. Its actually consider cheap bcos bus VIP fare to LP only already USD30/pax. Ok..done with travel agency…now we need to find place to stay a night before start our 4 days journey. Look around, we finally found Samsethai GH, just in front of the travel agency..cost us USD7/pax/night with attach bathroom and AC also TV and fridge…the condition of the room .NOT BAD at all..

After done all that..its already 2.30pm. We went to Buddha Park (which is close at 5pm) and we have to rush to Talat Sao (it’s a must go market) which also close at 5pm. From VT to Buddha Park, we took minivan (oh gosh ..I forgot how much we pay but its cheap), entrance fee only USD1. (Buddha Park is a place to go if you go to VT. Vientiane is not so much to see unless you appreciate those Wat which we don’t really do.) From there, we go straight to Talat Sao…Arrive there, we got confuse…its not a market, the place like Ocean supermarket or The Store..still , we look around, the stuff in there is expensive, we walk n walk n walk n finally we found the market behind the store…there u go..the market is behind the store…so we started looking for what we want such as silk (I didn’t buy bcos its expensive),silver stuff (its good bargain) and I suddenly realize…OMG!!! Where is my camera??!!...not in the bag,not around my neck like I usually do….YES..I left my camera inside the minivan. I pray to Allah to help me to get my camera back…Pray hard I should say…we didn’t go straight away to the place we got the minivan but we continue do some shopping..I keep calm at that time and believing that if the camera is meant for me..its meant for me…Insyaallah..

At 5pm, we go back to the place we took our minivan….there were guys lepaking under the tree…we approach them and just told them that I left my camera in the minivan and if possible to contact the driver. Without wasting any second, one of them straight away called the driver and ask us to wait …. We wait and praying for the best…after about 10-15 min, the driver arrived, smiled at me and handed me the Camera…Alhamdullilah…I was so impress by their trustworthy, very helpful. Have no intention to condemn my own citizen but if it happen in KL, its very unlikely to get my camera back. It was Lost and Found…in Here most probably Lost Never Found…Again..Alhamdullilah..

Next, we continue our visit. Went to famous Wat around the town, and end up at Patuxai (Champ de Lysse look a like). Its already dark by then. Had our dinner at Fatima restaurant (one of Halal restaurant in town,in front of Mekong River)..I had noodle soup, my frens had fried rice..all together cost us USD20. After dinner, we stroll along Mekong River, checking out the Pasar Malam, bought some souvenirs but not so much choices…so we decided to continue shopping in LP the next day….

And that’s the End of day 1. Get a good rest for tomorrow adventure.

p/s : their currency is KIP. They accept KIP, Thai Bath and USD. 1 USD ~ 8500 KIP. Its advisable to have in hand KIP. Use it especially for tuk tuk and shopping. You can change your USD in any money changer around town.

Day 2
Today will be a long day. 2 hrs to Vang Vieng followed by 5 hours to LP. We don’t want to expect anything but we know something new waiting for us ahead. Wake up at 6.00am, the van will pick us up at 7.00am. The GH doesn’t come with bfast so we eat our own food. I started my day with hot chocs and instant noodle (I only do this during my backpacker trip). While having my breakfast outside the GH..we actually sit by the road side….a group of Monk walking in line…they looked confused…hahahahhahaha..

Our van and driver arrived…another nightmares…the driver cum guide doesn’t know English .. not even a WORD !!!. What else to do…body language then and many funny things comes along when we try to explain things to him. Along the way, we learned toilet is Hong Nam (well, how do u want to do body gesture for toilet..hmmm..) … thanks is Kop Chai…hello is Sabaidee..and that’s all..hahahahahahah…other than that, just write down and do some body gesture. Another funny things is, his boss can speak English but can only translate via phone. So everytime Yai (our driver’s name) want to ask us on where we wanna go or where is our GH and what time need to pick us up…he will call his boss and pass the handphone to me…. J..(do not expect good English but at least the communication is there)

The road to VV not so good but the journey not soo bad either. 2 hrs on snaking road still can take it. Arrive VV at about 9am, straight to the cave…the driver just drop us there, tell us where Hong Nam is, then just pointing to one direction and off we go….(pandai2 korang lah nak pergi mana and buat apa)..something like that…hehehheheheh…

P/S : Do Not Worry about the Condition of the toilet in LAOS, its extremely clean with water and tissue regardless of how rural the place is…I am Not exaggerated here…iTS TRUE..
In fact, I have been to most of Asean Country and it’s a shame to us becos Malaysia toilet is the worst…

Not so much thing to do in VV unless you wanna do kayaking, tubing or rock climbing. We didn’t opt for that activity, so we just go to the river, take photo and having lunch on the floating hut…food as usual fish and vege…our lunch in VV was GOOD. The grill fish is different and they kept the fish alive in the river before grill it..So u get very fresh fish grill….there is entrance fee to the cave and crossing the river but very cheap….5,000 kip per entrance (about RM2).. After lunch, at about 12 noon , we continue our journey to LP…Again the road is zigzag but this time it took 5 hours….its horrible and yet different…. We try to sleep all the way becos everytime we open our eyes, its feels dizzy, woozy…all sort of that category…another option is…keep eating junk food…Along the way , we stop for Hong Nam once…

P/S : I would recommend to those want to go to LP and have extra budget, flight is the best option (USD80 for 45 min journey)…minivan is 2nd option…third option is VIP bus (took 10 hours on winding road)..(we met A Romanian couple who took VIP bus, they said its absolutely terrible..They went back to VT by flight)

However, when arrived at LP at about 5.00pm, all pening2 and loya2 is worth it. The place is a beautiful pekan koboi. Its different, its authentic…..and its UNESCO World Heritage…Upon arrival, go to the GH we book …. Vilay GH and Tanoy GH (we book at Vilay via website but the room at Tanoy..it opposite to each other and same owner who got an adorable little girl name Suria).. cost us USD14 for 2 nights per person. No AC needed….fan just enough. Attach bathroom, no TV, got fridge..hot water (important as weather in LP is weird…32 C at day time…can drop to 13-20 C at night and early morning..) get some rest and a cup of instant noodle while waiting for dinner time. 1st night at LP, dinner at Nazim restaurant (an Indian Halal restaurant). The food in big portion…we had briani,squid fried rice and kind of bread, forgot the name..go shopping at night market (bigger than VT) so much choices…and Rambang mata..hehehhehehe…the souvenir like magnet or short glass not in the list of choices. No short glass at all and few magnet..I consider it expensive for magnet…RM4 for a piece of magnet and I bought 6…J..some of my frens bought silk scarf,good price for that, some handicraft also good bargain and I got my mum cushion cover and tissue box cover.. there were 2 rows…I finish 1 row, will check out 2nd row tomorrow..At about 11pm….ZZZzzzzzzZZZZ…. will continue day 3 onwards...

When u...

When u pick ur first word

mummy give u a kiss

When u take ur first step

mummy give u a hug

When u start climbing stairs

mummy get so worried

to see u fell down

mummy has tears falling her cheek

And NOw...

from a word u became a debater

from a step u became a traveller

U r now climbs up success ladder

mummy still has tears in her eyes

just for different reason than before

she now proud of you...

HOw do you measure ROMANTIC??

Lets talk about being Romantic today...What is romantic in your perception?

1. Being so lovely to each other
2. Remember and celebrate all important date such as birthday, anniversary etc...
3. Say good morning..good night, I love u everyday
4. HUgs and kiss each other everyday
5. Be sensitive to each other feeling
6. Calling each other pet name (provided a good one)
7. Have Surprise event or gift...

Those are the things we always heard from everyone when we talk about being Romantic.. To me, my personal opinion about being Romantic is..can be an additonal of the above list....

a) A husband able to be an Imam for a wife and kids. After every solat, a wife kiss a hubby hand....thats romantic..
b) Aplogise to each other everyday before nights fall to make sure if we die that night, we have forgive each other wrong doing. Thats romantic...
c) When you wakes each other to perform solat at night..thats romantic
d) Helping each other of housework...cooking, houskeeping,taking care of kids...thats romantic
e) Taking care of each other either in good shape of health or worst shape of health..thats truly romantic
f) Be in touch every time far apart...
g) Be truthful of yourself and your partner...love each other unconditionally till the end...

My dad will call my mum more than 3 times a day everytime they are apart...
My dad will always makes sure my mum happy all the time...If my mum in sad mode, he will gone crazy and start calling me for advice...heheheheh..how sweet.
They have pet name for each other..
They go to the mosque together every maghrib and have supper on the way home or they will perform solat together at home..lovely
My dad doesnt know how to give surprise party or gift but he never forget the important date.
My dad doesnt know how to express his love by hugs n kisses or even 'I love you' every day but he always comes home for lunch and dinner...Always bring something for my mum if he has to go for busisness lunch or dinner.
My dad never forget a souvenir for my mum every single time he go out of town.
You wont get 'A Congrats' if u did good in your exam or anything but without fail he will bring you out to celebrate or buy you a gift.
My dad doesnt help much in cooking,housekeeping and he doesnt even know how to operate washing machine (its true, I am not exxagerate here) but he always appreciate my mum by finish off all the meal she cooked,never complain the way my mum iron his clothes,drive my mum to anywhere my mum wants to go,buy everything my mum needs and he will make sure to have a vacation at least once a year to the place my mum wants to be...(and I usually will become their travel agent)
My dad is excellant in preparing Nasi Beriani singapore style with Ayam Masak Merah...
The most important is ...
My dad always be there whenever you need him....

So , do u think my dad is romantic?...I think my dad is a truly romantic person .....
As human being, we cannot expect to have it all....to have some of it which fit our needs in daily life is good enough... :-)

Just Few things...

1. Traffic so bad lately..any idea why? obviously the number of cars suddenly increased.. due to..
a) so many singles out there..so many cars wt only a driver inside
b) even married couples, cannot share car due to diff place of work...diff direction and timing
c) nowadays students drive to school, college, university
d) perhaps...many guy practise polygamy, hence all wives owns car .. :-)

2. How to get rid of a person u had enough??
a) tell him/her direct to his/her face...not so many ppl have courage to do so..as malays always put.."tak sampai hatilah"
b) ignore the person untill he/she understand..(well, it may take long time if the person kind of Lembab species)
c) just keep quiet when he/she talk to u..do not response or maybe response a bit but not too interested kind of response
d) i can't think of anything else..Any idea reader?

3. I am Single..yes..some people just love jump into conclusion..and some of it soooooo pathetic..
a) kenapa TAK NAK kahwin?? hello..who says I Dont Want To get married..Of course I WANT...sigh
b) U tak nak ada anak ke?..sigh, I am normal women who were born with natural mother instinct..they just cannot see it...
c) The most outrageous question I ever had....
Are u a Lesbian??? Subhanallah...Usually I answer it with smile and if women were asking me,'why, are u interested in me?' if a guy..'are u a gay?'
Yes... I watched homo movie, read homo book,appreciate women beauty, holding hands with my girlfriends,hugs and kisses with them, it doesnt mean I'm homo myself....from my very own experience, a person who declare she/he homophobic is the person who are actually homosexual but they are just afraid to come out and reluctant to come back to the right path...may Allah guide all these species...
I watched FBI movie, read FBI book but I'm an engineer...

4. Do u try to correct someone who got wrong perception about you?
a) if it strangers...dont care, they dont even know who are
(stranger as my definition : relatives i dont like, frens who i consider just fren which their opinion doesnt bother me at all)
b) if it comes from close family n frens....need to be taken care of..

we stop here for today...will be back for new issue.. ;-)

My first week of my temporary Detox diet

Dear my lovely blog,

Today is the second day I have become Vegan...no animal meal. Sounds so cannibal isnt it? ahahhahahah...I am temporary vegan ..no meat,no chicken, no seafood,no eggs... I startes my detox diet on sunday night. Had a smooties of banana + starfruit + orange. It was good..yummy.

Yesterday I had Mashed sweet potato for lunch, carrot stick for snack,Vege soup for dinner and ginger tea after meal. This morning, I had juice of carrot+apple+orange...and I cook my own recipe of spaghetti for my lunch...check below photo... :-)

looks good right??....taste all right too but its hot a bit. I have to find name for my 1st ever recipe. What I put as an ingredient? 1. Spaghetti 2. garlic 3. olive oil 4. dried chili 5. grinde black pepper 6. button mushroom 7. it suppose to be corriander leave but I was confuse with the smell and looks of the leave....but it turns out ok too..

What am I going to have for dinner tonight?..well, grilled potato and sweet corn + orange juice.

Anyone care to join my new regime of diet??? hahahahahaha.....

Krabi ..I come, I stay , I enjoy

Krabi is the first vacation of year 2010. But hey, as usual, we did plan this trip 2-3 months ahead…I think around Oct (at first we wanna go a week b4 xmas but the ticket price just too high…so, Jan we are).

1st day :

Arrive Krabi Airport, we took minibus as they said (take outside airport..just in front of airport entrance)…THB600 for a whole car from Krabi Airport to Aonang Pier … Aonang pier, we took long tail boat to go to our final destination…Railey ..THB70/pax. Where we stay? A very far up hill backpacker accommodation type called Railey Cabana…to find the place, we are actually did some hiking..no kidding..plus lost a bit, confuse, lost,confuse and we finally get there. Its very cheap though..THB400/pax/2 nights(for those who can compromise on luxury of accommodation, can choose this place…very basic but we love it) like our kampong…all our neighbours were Orang Putih..(well, we are the only ASEAN on that particular period).
After Maghrib..heading to the beach where all the happenings thing going on…looking for nice place to have dinner…found this restaurant..(alamak tak ingat nama pulak) good food…price reasonable. Trekking to our Railey CAbana

Finally

this is our pondok

TIPS : don’t bother to find the cheapest price cos all place about the same price and just look for nice ambient to enjoy..the food somehow will not be disappointing) Dinner for 4 roughly about RM100-RM120..with fish,vege, rice,8 drinks (yeah we are thirsty), beef/chicken..everything is HALAL here..No Worries.

relax on bamboo stage

What are you going to do after dinner? Look around for tomorrow trip. Phi phi island a day trip plus lunch plus free flow mineral water n coke, price range from THB1800 can go down to THB900 per pax..depending on where you book and how good your nego skill…its for speed boat( highly recommended to take speed boat). We were thrill to get THB1300/pax before knowing that there is THB900/pax offered in other tour agent….hehehhe..nevermind..Having coffee or tea while lay down on bamboo kind of stage..looking to the ocean eventho its dark…with the soft wind blow to ur face..musics and the best of all…observe people passing by…hot stuff some of them…hahahahahaha..

2nd day :

Speed boat

Starts as early as 7am…(its 8am Malaysia time)…get our breakfast at one of the reastaurant…its pricey I should say. THB225/pax for big American breakfast exclude drink..by 9.00am..ready for phi phi island trip. The trip includes snorkeling at not remember where,swim at Maya Bay (The Beach location),the beach so fantastic, the water soooo inviting, u will be swimming without u even realize it...lunch at Phi Phi Island,buffet, food Ok… and another snorkeling(its in the middle of the ocean and I’ve being attacked by jelly fish..its like a fire burning..so painful, however its getting ok in 2 hours, not always happen..i’m just the lucky one..Am I?)…it’s a full day trip…arrive railey west at about 3.30pm.

Maya Bay

Landed at Railey beach…straight to our room/pondok….rest while freshen up..get ready for nite life on 2nd nite. Before dinner, we enjoy sunset moment.We had dinner at different place but as I said earlier, the price about the same any where…we had prawn, fish, papaya salad, 4 drinks, rice., beef/chicken…after dinner, its heavy rain out of sudden. We just drop into massage parlour nearby , get a good 1 hour massage while waiting for the rain to stop…finish massage…rain stop..Thai massage THB250/1 hour..absolutely superb. DO NOT MISS IT. We book 4 island trip for tomorrow activity.. Only THB700/pax. This activity can up to THB1200/pax…we saw advert of Muay Thai..(Thai kickboxing ) earlier. Need to grab a seat by 9.30pm before its full..so here we are, at Bamboo pub where the ring is ready, the fighter no where can be seen. Ordered mango juices and a sisha..THB250 for sisha. While waiting for the show , we enjoy our sisha till 2 of us almost Knock Out (KO without fighting in the ring)….we didn’t know what’s in Sisha but later we found out (really later..after we come back to KL)it’s include Ganja..hahahahahah..no wonder 2 of my frens ting tong…experienced that’s count..heheheheh
By 12mdnite…no fighter turns up, crowd begin to make their way including us….need to sleep for tomorrow trip..and need to be on bed before my frens cannot walk back…hahahahahah…

Sunset at Railley

Sisha time...
3rd day :
Again, 7am is our wake up call, need to pack and check out. We are heading to Aonang in the evening…breakfast today we choose buffet at one of the resort, THB250/pax. Its consider cheap bcos u can eat variety of food. From cereal to fried rice..pan cake..juices and coffee..bread n butter n jam..fruits..After breakfast , we wait for our boat at the RAiley West beach..(our kampong at Railey East..just 10 min walk btwn two railey). The boat women came….’4 ppl for 4 island’ she shouted..we know its gonna be us but she refuse to agree and keep checking..she said need to confirm..well then, we can wait….after 10 min, YES, its confirm…we are 4 ppl she looking for…hehheheheheh..(our sticker is apparently diff from others..no wonder)..
And what is this 4 island?...Phra Nang beach…nice place to swim and photo session of course, snorkeling spot which soooo beautiful but high current (the wave pull and push u, end up u r at the big rock)lunch at Chicken Island…it has this route connecting two island..got to cross it to get to the boat..(others took 10 min to cross it but we took about 30 min due to high tendency to be a model…every step is a photo session…) the ocean is like big swimming pool..can’t take my eyes out of you….its just not enough no matter how many pic u snap…after an hour, proceed to Poda Island…nice place to take a nap, really. Slept here about 20 min…had jagung bakar…by the time we are about to swim…its time to get on board…sigh..(the first topless I saw is here…I mean women, all men are topless, kids naked with cap)

Arrive railey beach at about 2pm….since we had checked out and still want to swim ..we just continue swim and sunbathing at Railey West beach….by about 4pm, we had hi-tea…(pizza n drink at tea time…hahhahaah)…relax a bit, cool down after hot sunny sun bathing..took longtail boat to Aonang at about 5pm. Only 10 min ride, arrive Aonang…looking for KL Aonang hotel,we decided to take tuk tuk instead of walking..cost us THB100 for a tuk tuk, its wise decision cos that hotel is far enough to walk with 9kg bagpack…settle down…freshen up..feels like back to urban life. KL Aonang is apparently one of budget hotel recommended by Air Asia. About THB350 double fan room…nice, clean, comfy.

When night come, we stroll along the road to find HALAL food. In Aonang , need toask bcos they do serve Non Halal…we got one place, seat, ordered almost same menu plus crab and grilled Giant Prawn…good food with good price. After dinner, window shopping time, looking for massage place which is a lot…choosing massage place,..have a wonderful aloe vera massage…walk back to the hotel…sleeppppp….

4th day :
Today we are going home…..eventho I enjoyed Krabi, I am more happy of the idea coming home..Home sweet home…
But before that, we rent 2 bikes to merempit at Aonang. I haven’t ride a bike for quite some time but I do have a license..so still acceptable. Another rider, only know how to ride without knowing how to start a bike, where is the break , how to open the seat to get to the fuel tank..worst case, not sure how to turn…well good luck to us.

Its just a scooter but its big enough for me…being petite not easy to stand the bike but above all…..we managed to ride,stop, ride,stop, take photo successfully without any harm…Bravo..Last beach of the vacation is Natharat Pharat beach….not so beautiful but still better view than PD and Feringgi…Bike rent is for a day..THB200 exclude fuel..we just add THB40 for 1 liter fuel..expensive. the bike given to u with 1 liter fuel and its actually enough for 20km maybe…but being us, we prefer to refill than stop without fuel on the road…When we return the bike, the fuel is almost half tank ( we rent about 3 hours only , got plane to catch)

By 12, airport pick up all ready waiting for us, we just arrive our hotel, final packing…half an hour later, off we go to the airport….
Everything went smoothly till we almost landing. KL weather so bad, heavy rain…we experience air pocket 2 times, heavy turbulence….the flight decending and suddenly go up again …feel like roller coster in the air..we are unable to land, we are going to hang around for a while…the pilot said. There you go, free tour in the air above Sepang…after 20min, 2nd attempt to land..finally at about 5pm, we safely landed at LCCT…Big hand everyone….