I Think I Got Conned in Bangkok , Thailand!

                       BEWARE, IT HAPPENED IN BANGKOK!

Recently we have travelled to Thailand for our honeymoon and was expecting to have a great time there which we had. However on our last day in Thailand, we stayed in Bangkok near Khaosan ( a popular nightlife destination ) and it's near to numerous attractions too. We planned to walk to the Emerald Buddha which was like 20 minutes away and passed this little canal in the picture below. Not long after that, we came to a small temple which wasn't significant and was stopped by a man who was standing beside his van. He was very friendly and polite and could speak many languages. He approached us and asked if he could help us and told us that he was waiting for his mother who was meditating in the temple. We told him our intention but he told us to go to the temple of the 'NINE FACE BUDDHA' instead. ( never heard of it before )

 Okay, he looked quite nice and even told us that the rest of the temples weren't worth the hassle if compared to this nine face buddha and said it was only accessible by boat through a canal. We were taken by surprised as we didn't know the existence of this temple and he made it sound so irresistible so we heeded his advice. He was so ' friendly' to even tell us to go to a special port to get on to a 'LOCAL ONLY' longtail boat at a 'LOCAL PRICE' for THB1200 per person. It actually sounded quite expensive for an hour ride but he didn't leave any time for us to hesitate by telling us others pay THB3000 per person and that to take a TUK TUK there , it only cost THB20 and don't be fooled by the people. He even wrote down the name of everything. He was seriously friendly. We paid for the TUK TUK for the price of what he said and i was taken aback because I have never paid THB 20 for a 15 minute ride in Thailand! When I think back, I seriously think that they were working together to con us. Why I am saying I was conned? Well, when we got to the port which was unmaintained, we didn't have much THB left, they offered MONEY CHANGING facility. I really think we were quite stupid now as we both are travellers but still got conned.

 However, we got the whole boat for ourselves but for the price we paid, we were expecting for something nicer.

                                                       One of the houses by the canal.

                The 'FLOATING MARKET' which tried to 'slit our throat' with their super overpriced items.

Ta-da , the nine face buddha which is nothing to shout about. It was accessible by land too. There and then , I had actually realised that we had been conned but I didn't say or mention anything to my husband. I guess he will actually know it by now if he is reading this. SORRY HONEY!

LESSON LEARNT:

 * NOT TO TRUST ANYONE WHO APPROACHED YOU AND OFFERED ADVICE ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO CAN SPEAK NUMEROUS LANGUAGES

Haeundae Market @ Night

FOOD HUNTING AT HAEUNDAE BEACH 

 It was already quite late at night when we arrived at Haeundae Beach. All of us felt very hungry already so we went food hunting. We didn't know what to expect and just walked about and came to this Haeundae Market. It's called a market and sort of wet market too but we didn't expect a wet market to open till late night like this. It's worth a look!

                    It's a small street with stalls selling all sorts like greens, fruits, meat, clothes and etc.

                   Korean Street Food fried vegetables, meat, rice cakes and so on in batter

  I realised that Korean like to eat eels. There are tanks and tanks of eels outside the small restaurants in the market. I don't like the way the kill the eels.

                             This is the sort of seafood you find outside the restaurant!

                                                                         Octopus

 We ended up ordering seafood hotpot which cost KRW40,000.

Sunset at Batu Ferringhi / Ferringi Beach

 I have always like to see sunset so when I went to Penang during the last school holidays, I didn't miss the chance to go to Batu Ferringhi to see sunset. It took us about half an hour to get to Batu Ferringhi from Lebuh Chulia, Georgetown. The drive was smooth and we got there just in time to enjoy a few moments before the actual sunset time.

 This is how it looks when we got there. Not as many people as I would have expected but it left us with some space to enjoy the view and the beach alone.

 From left, my brother-in-law, two nephews on the horse, elder sister and my lovely mum. There are people leading the horses around asking if anyone would like to take pictures with the horses or even to have a ride on the horses for RM30. As technology and social media have advances, people start to take photos of everything just like my brother-in-law.

Panoramic view of the beach.

There are a lot of water activities in Batu Ferringhi. Swimming, sailing and boating just to name a few. One of the most favourite activities is Parasailing or Parascending where a person is towed behind a boat while attached to a 'parachute'. Some enthusiasts choose to view the sunset while being off the land ; more romantic maybe?

The golden colour sky always melts my heart. The sunset view from Batu Ferringhi is one of the prettiest that I have seen. So wait no more if you are visiting Penang, spend some time there! It's worth it!


What I personally think about the downside of Batu Ferringhi:

1)  The sand is not as fine as some other popular beaches.
2)  A little rubbish was seen strewn along the beach.
3)  Be extra careful of your own personal belongings as I spotted a few 'foreigners' eyeing up the bags that were left on the beach.

YOUNIQ Hotel Experience

 This is the first time I am writing about a hotel which I had stayed in. I had to drop my partner off to the airport early in the morning so we both think it's wise to just stay at a hotel near the airport (KLIA). At the very last minute, we booked this hotel YOUNIQ HOTEL from booking.com. There were a few choices so we chose the more luxury one for an extra RM20 for a window. My partner thought it was a change/cool to stay in a colourful  hotel while I was not so impressed as the colour looks rather strange. But after awhile, I sort of got used to the colour and started to like it but not love it.

 Upom entering the lobby, we were served by a lady at the counter whom was not very friendly, didn't smile like she couldn't care less.

            This is the corridor to our room on the second floor (R207). What do you think about it?

 There is a few jelly bean 'sofas' to sit and have a chat near the lift but I don't think it's a good idea as it may disturb the occupants whose rooms are right there.

 This is how the room looks like. We were quite impressed by the size of the room but after trying out the bed, it's not a good bed. Springy bed makes my body ache and I didn't sleep well.

                                                The bathroom is in good condition and clean.

                                                    The power shower is a plus to this hotel.

 What do I think of this hotel (HONEST REVIEW):
1)  The colour is a bit strange but the location makes it worthwhile as it's only about 15 minutes to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
2)  The bed is not that comfortable but I guess this is what you get for the sort of money you pay.
3) We got the room with window and it wasn't a good choice as the room faces the main road to KLIA. The non-stop traffic and the noises made by the vehicles made it a nightmare to sleep in. It's also definitely not sound proof too. I constantly awakened by the opening and closing doors of the rooms with footsteps of walking guests and we could hear the showers from both sides of the rooms. 
4)  My partner slept through most of the noises and only awakened by a car which was speeding so maybe it's not so suitable for light sleepers like me.

Naughty Nuri's Warung Pork Ribs

Before we left for home, we had to have the famous 'Naughty Nuri's Warung' spare ribs in Ubud. So many people had been talking about it especially Jess. So, we just had to go with her and it was indeed one of the best ribs I have had so far. I remember it's not very near from Kuta beach but it's worth going all the way for the scrumptious ribs. 

The advertisement board which is not to be missed and I must take a picture of it.

It was full of people when we got there and we had to wait for a while to get a seat.

The board for the food and drinks' price lists. They are not very cheap but the this is the average fare in restaurants in Bali so do not be put off. (about RM30 or USD9 per serving of the ribs)

EAT , PAY , LEAVE.. Basically this was not exactly what we did. We 'WAITED , SAT , ORDERED' before 'eat pay leave'.

How can you not have a pig in the kitchen when you are selling pork ribs? Here we found a little piglet figurine welcoming us beside the sink!

The ribs are grilled / barbequed after being marinated in Indonesian sauce.

So, what is so special about these signature ribs? Well, by just looking at it has already made me feel hungry. I thought I couldn't finish the huge serving but I did !! The marinating sauce goes so well with the pork and it is so tender when biting into it that you do not need other sauce to dip in.

What more to say about it? The picture below tells you how delicious it is. Now you see, now you don't! It's so 'FINGERS LICKING GOOD!'

                                     Naughty Nuri's Warung
                                Add : Jalan Raya Sanginggan
                                         UBUD

                               Opening times: Daily 11am-10pm

                  What to beware:
                  1) There are a few restaurants (warungs) around in UBUD serving ribs too.
                  2) There is a 10% tax on top of the price too.
                  3) Avoid dinner time as it is always packed.
                 4) DO NOT SHARE your ribs with others because you will end up having another  serving.

Tegalalang Rice Terrace - Ubud & Bali

Stopping in Bali without visiting Tegalalang paddy fields is a not-so-clever thing to do. It's only about a few minutes drive from UBUD MARKET if the traffic is flowing smoothly and it's worth to stop there for a few minutes to have a glance at the beauty of the this well known rice terrace. It took us around 40 minutes to arrive due to the congested traffic.

It was in January when we went to Bali and I wondered why didn't I see the ripened paddy.. It was all still growing. Even though no golden grains to greet us but we were welcomed by the picturesque view from the top. Most importantly, we don't get charged watching this greenery plants.

Apart from eye-soothing views, the surrounding is also packed with people selling goods and souvenirs such as woodwork, scarves, paintings as in below and etc. Bear in mind that you would be swarmed by the sellers.. not one, not two but half a dozen or even more asking you to buy , buy and buy.

By the way, most of the tourists driven there by guides would be taken to restaurants of their choice. The reason being is they get free meals in exchange for business. So, we were taken to this Warung Ceking Babi Guling ( babi guling stands for roast pork ).

I don't know if it was our taste buds or there had been discounts on salt.. The entire meal was salty and unfortunately we did not enjoy the food. Sorry buddies. Maybe you should try some other restaurants??

I went to Japan!

On the 5th-15th of September 2012, I went to Japan. It was one of my best trip ever and I shall blog about it in a later time. We arrived to Osaka and proceed almost directly to Kyoto for 2 nights. Then we went to Tokyo for a night and to Morioka the next day for a night as well. Yudanaka was our next destination before heading to Hiroshima and lastly back to Osaka. We spent two nights in Hiroshima as well as in Osaka. If one is to spend more than a week in Japan and is planning to go around Japan, it's best to get yourself a Japan Rail Pass. It costs 28,300yen for a week and it allows us to travel the whole Japan on most of its Shinkansen (bullet train). One can go as far as Sapporo with this rail pass too. By the way, August and September is not the best time to visit Japan from my own experience. It is very hot and humid, we got very sticky and drained within a matter of minutes. We at first thought it was Autumn in September but it isn't. Go in the month of March if you want to witness the beauty of Sakura , the month of July if you want to see the lavender, visit in the month of October if you want to see the beautiful autumn colours and the month of December if you would like to touch the snow and experience the cold weather.

Mount Batur , Lake Batur - Kintamani @ Bali

After having visited Tampak Siring Spring , we continued our journey to Kintamani. Kintamani is a highland area in the east of Bali. I have forgotten how long it took us to get there. It was an easy ride for us as the road directly took us to the top where we could view Mt Batur. It was quite windy at the top of the viewing deck located at the roadside. Mount Batur which is in Kintamani is an active volcano located at the north west of Mount Agung. Mount Agung is the highest possible point in Bali island. According to the locals, this volcano has been constantly spitting a small amount of lava. 

 The weather was not on our side as you can see from the picture above. Mount Batur was covered by a huge piece of fluffy cloud. It was hazy and we could not see the mountain tip. What a shame. We stood there for quite some time waiting for the cloud to shift itself but nope.. it was stubborn and decided to stay stationary at its comfortable spot. But that didn't stop many other tourists from standing and snapping photos. 

This is Lake Batur. It is the largest lake in Bali and is crescent in shape. I think the water in the lake should be quite cold as the surrounding temperature is quite cold too.According to the locals, it is also a sacred lake as they mainly survive on agriculture and fishing. This is the best picture I could find from my collection. I know not much to see but at least you guys know that there is a magnificent lake just beside the magnificent Mt Batur. 

As I have mentioned earlier, the small communities living in this area survive on agriculture thanks to the black lava flowing out from this volcano. Its constant flow of lava has enriched the soil with minerals and is ideal for the folks to earn a living from it. Tourism has increased dramatically in this area and has caused a slight jam on the way up.

Things to note from my own experience:

1) Although the weather is cool , don't forget the shades as the sun can still be peeping at us.

2) Be prepared to expect a bad weather with overcast like us. We couldn't have a proper look of the mountain.

3) Due to this spot being increasingly popular among tourist, goods or souvenir sellers are popping like mushrooms after the rain. Firstly, one would approach you to see if you wanted to buy something and then a big group would follow. They would pester you till you gave in. DO NOT ask for the price here is you have NO intention in buying! Please bear in mind! We really had a very bad experience in this incident.

4) Another thing to remember is always to check the things which you have bought. These sellers would show you a nicely carved ornament and packed a chipped one in the bag.

5) I bought some mangosteens thinking that I could have some tropical fruits along the journey. Bought a kilogramme of it and only got 8 mangosteens! Do not trust these guys here in Kintamani... always check before leaving!

Tampak Siring Temple Holy Spring- Bali , Indonesia

 Bali is very famous for temples, the locals pay tribute to their Gods every day. So we decided to include a few temples in our itinerary while in Bali. The first temple we went to was Tampak Siring Temple or known as Tirta Empul. It is located in Tampak Siring Village and it's probably about 45minutes - 1hour drive from Denpasar. It is a holy spring water temple and it has an interesting history or fable behind it. Let me give you some idea of what the fable is all the about. See the picture below? You will see this once you enter the temple. This is the statue of (I think) God Indra.Once there was a very powerful king who could disappear suddenly called Bedahulu or Mayadenawa. Because of his power, he became very arrogant and claimed he was a god. He also had a very cruel assistant. God Indra somehow fought against this king and a battle occurred in this area. Mayadenawa poisoned the troops with toxic water in a drinking pond and all the soldiers died. Upon knowing this, God Indra poked into the ground and holy water emerged and revived the dead soldiers - well, of course God Indra won the battle.

There is an altar in front of a big tree where people pay their tribute to the tree. People believe there are tree spirits in all big trees.

I have seen Indians with pots and pans on their heads but never once seen people with combs of bananas on their heads. These two women were trying to sell us ONE banana for A DOLLAR. They probably thought we had never seen a banana before.. (just joking).

Before entering the pool, all of the people would offer something with lit incense sticks.

This is how it looks like from the top. According to the locals, the water emerges from this land could be drunk without the fear of abdominal pain. Will you try?

It looks so clean and clear that I wanted to jump in but was not allowed because we didn't have appropriate clothing with us plus we didn't bring anything to pay tribute to the holy land.

 We were very lucky to visit on that day as they were having some sort of celebration. Men, women and children dressed up nicely in white costumes.

 This is the place where the spring water emerges from the ground. It is situated at the top and can you spot the black spots? It is where the spring water comes out from. I don't know if others noticed it but I am sure I saw the spots moving around in the pool.

Things to note :
 1)  There is an entrance fee of IDR 15,000 per person.
 2)  Before entering the central complex of the temple, visitors must take off their shoes as a respect.
 3)  Not allowed to wear short pants but sarongs could be borrowed free of charge to cover up our legs.
 4)  Ladies are advised to stay away during menstruation.
 5)  Do not climb on the holy building.
 6)  Bring extra clothing if you want to have a dip in the water.
 7)  Ask your tour guide on what to bring if you want to pay tribute to the god. ( I was quite disappointed     when my guide didn't tell us about that... I would love to do that!