Numbers 11 and 12, Respectively.

The week before Christmas I made a short trip to KL and managed to squeeze day trips to Seremban and Ipoh.

Remember I wanted to conquer all 14 states in Malaysia? So, a day-trippin' I went to two more states - Negri Sembilan, and Perak.

Remember also that I do not own a camera? (Still considering, that.) These limited pics were taken using my Nokia :D Sufficient-lah hor, to prove that I've stepped foot there. I felt silly trying to snap myself with my handphone so no vain, at-arm's-length self portrait here, folks! :P

Ini Stesen Keretapi Seremban. Tiket KTM Komuter dari KL Sentral berharga hanya RM6 untuk perjalanan selama 1 jam 20 minit, departs every hour. Or was it every half-hour, I can't recall.

Ini Padang Dataran Seremban (something like that), kira di tengah bandar lah. Saya berjalan kaki dari stesen keretapi, took the left. Jauh juga lah berjalan pada hari tersebut.

Ini Bangunan Dewan Undangan Negeri. Cantik-kan senibina Minangkabau? Ia terletak di atas sebuah bukit kecil, kena jalan sikit lah baru boleh nampak.

Church of the Visitation, also di tengah bandar.

Batu Peringatan untuk 'perwira2 kita yang telah gugor' during the wars. Terletak di atas bukit, tepi bulatan depan Bangunan Secretariat (gaya senibina kolonial) yang lama.

Ini dia bangunan kolonial tersebut. Sekarang apparently it's the Library. Tapi the time I went was Hari Ahad so it was closed. Not sure if it's in operations anyway since it was quite sunyi.

Berdepan dengan roundabout atas bukit itu, ini salah satu dari pintu pagar Istana Hinggap (macam istana transit lah). Surely a palace with all those gilded gates.

Masjid Negeri, letaknya kawasan bukit juga, berdepan dengan Seremban Lake Gardens.

On the way down the hill, kelihatan kuil Hindu yang kira agak besar jugalah compared to the KK ones. Ini di sebelah kompleks Seremban Parade, di mana terletaknya Parkson Grand, di mana saya telah sempat meluangkan masa rehat-rehat dan erm, membeli-belah. Sebab tengah ada sale :P

Disebabkan ada masa lagi, saya sempat menaiki bas ke pekan diraja Seri Menanti yang mengambil masa lebih kurang 45 minit dengan tambang RM3.50. Malangnya, istana dan muzium Seri Menanti terletak jauh terpelosok 7 km dari simpang jalan utama. Jadi niat saya terpaksa dibatalkan. Kira ambil gambar ini sajalah. Boleh lah kan. Menariknya perjalanan bas ini, I got to see the 'countryside' and villages. I also noted a few signboards for 'megalithic sites', where a few small obelisk-like stones can be seen (not to be compared with Asterix's). Tentunya ada archaeological value, tapi sayangnya kurang maklumat.

On another day I made the Ipoh trip :

Ini pula Stesen Keretapi Ipoh, sebuah bangunan lama. I took the ETS dengan tiket berharga RM30 sehala, untuk perjalanan 2 jam 13 minit (according to the announcement la). Keretapi ETS ini sangat selesa, bersih dan masih bau plastik. Maklumlah brand new (launched in August), and probably sebab tiket mahal sikit banyak.

Bangunan Ipoh City Hall, berdepan dengan stesen keretapi. There was a small park in between, sadly not scoring high on the maintenance.

Ipoh got its name from a tree, did you know that? I didn't (what's new). Anyway, inilah pokok Ipoh.

Sebuah Batu Peringatan for our fallen warriors during the wars. I did not expect to see these kind of monuments in Seremban and Ipoh.

This is St Michael's Institution. It looked very very grand I tell you, complete with a beautiful green padang, boleh main cricket. Or maybe even croquet (?). Apparently Dato' Michelle Yeoh went to this school.

I forgot the name of this church. Lokasinya dekat Perpustakaan. A kind contractor undertaking the upgrading works gave me pedestrian directions to go to the city centre.

Saya rasa, restoran makanan segera ini sangat cantik facade-nya. Not sure about the inside.

Bas publik(?) awam di Ipoh mengingatkan saya kepada bas PUT atau TUT atau Luen Thung di KK. Yang besar jenis lama tu.

Saya berjalan-jalan tanpa arah tujuan tapi tidaklah sesat sebab agak mudah mengikuti jalanraya utama. And I realised that Ipoh has very interesting shop signboards like the above. Masih ada lagikah orang yang menggunakan perkataan 'saudagar'?? Not since I last read our history book in school tentang Kesultanan Melaka.

What about this one? Direct to the point. (No equivalent phrase in Malay) :D Yang pasti, itulah merchandise yang dijual oleh kedai tersebut.

Saya ingin berkongsi gambar ini dengan Ms TutyFabregas. Rasanya kedai ini tidak membayar apa-apa jenis royalti kepada kelab tersebut :)

Setelah penat menapak perimeter bandar Ipoh, saya singgah di kedai Lou Wong untuk mencuba sajian ini; iaitu Ipoh Hor Fun (the chicken broth was superb unlike the one in that franchise kopitiam) dan tauge gemuk Ipoh yang terkenal itu. Tauge tersebut hanya dicelur and tossed in sesame oil and soya sauce. Kuantitinya terlalu banyak untuk satu orang, dan saya bukanlah peminat tauge, jadi saya tidak pun menghabiskannya (wasteful I know). Harga keseluruhan amat murah, mata saya terbeliak dan saya hampir terjatuh dari kerusi. Untuk dua sajian ini saya bayar RM4.50, dan untuk minuman air mata kucing ais hanya RM1.30.

Dengan dua lawatan ini, dapatlah saya menutup tirai perjalanan saya untuk tahun 2010, dengan jayanya I must say. Terima kasih kepada kawan-kawan yang memberi informasi yang membantu saya in all my travels :)

So, tinggal dua negeri lagi untuk ditawan, iaitu Kedah (technically already-lah if you count Langkawi but I want to step foot on the mainland) dan Perlis. Belum tahu lagi bila, tapi surely dalam perancangan.

You two just wait - I do you next :)

Happy New Year, lovelies! Selamat Tahun Baru!

Nota Kaki :

(i) Inspirasi untuk memblog dalam semi-BM ini datangnya dari mendengar ulasan perlawanan bola sepak semalam di TV1 (Tahniah, Harimau Muda Malaysia!). Buat pertama kalinya saya mendengar istilah 'hantaran lintang' dan 'hantaran pancang'(?) dan lain-lain. I have no idea though, I had to think for a while. Terima kasih kepada guru BM saya di sekolah, usaha cikgu tidak sia-sia jugalah sebab saya rasa saya masih boleh ambil kertas SPM dan lulus dengan distinction, paling teruk pun C3 rasanya :P

(ii) Blog ini ditulis tanpa bantuan Google Translate, okay :)

Don't Let It Be Nothing.

And this : life is the train, not the train station. - P. Coelho.

Live High, Live Mighty.

Hey :D

December is flying by so quickly, don't you think? Appraisals, closings, holidays, Xmas, New Year etc etc all cramped into the final month. How ever the year has turned out for you so far, let's all pray that the coming 2011 will be a better one for us in many many ways.

Anyway, dearies, my simple wish for you this season :

Have yourself a

Merry Little Christmas

&

Happy Holidays,

and

Let's welcome the New Year with

Love, Hope and Good Intentions.

AudJMx

Wet and Wild in Tabin Wildlife Reserve - Part Deux

I managed to salvage these from my camera's memory card, and some are from my handphone camera :

View half way towards Tabin on a gravel road - my kidneys and their friends had a smashing good time.

Fresh elephant droppings/shit/dung just that morning - which was why Stephen said we have to go out for 'elephant-hunt' the same day.

Seladang footprints, or should that be hoof prints? We didn't see any though.

My favourite tree - the majestic, elegant Kompassia Excelsa - or locally known as the Menggaris, a.k.a. the honey tree / tualang / tapang.

Carved tree-trunks serve as pillars in the reception building.

My River Lodge. Mine was the furthest from the rest; all the units to the left and right were unoccupied.

Super-cozy room. Loved it!

View from my balcony at the back. The lodges are nicely spaced away from each other.

Eight seemed to be my lucky number for the day. I was seated 8F on the aircraft, given lodge No. 8, and joined a group of 8 people for the weekend :-) Niiiicceee! (okay not including the camera incident)

Boardwalks join the river lodges, the Sunbird Cafe and the Hill Lodges on the other end.

Reminder.

View of the river and the Otter Deck from the cafe. Apparently the river otters don't come out during the rainy season. But they showed us a short video where the otters were soooooo adorable!

This leads to the Hill Lodges. Where ever you are in the resort, the bustling river can be heard. Very peaceful.

Green Initiative.

Short briefing from Stephen before our safari starts!

The very last picture from my camera :-) At least it was a happy one! And off we go!

After the heavy rain, before discovering my camera was soaked. That's why I was still smiling. Taken using my Nokia.

I don't remember what we were stalking here - maybe it was the bearded pigs.

At the Lipad mud volcano pit - the earth spouting some mud out. Not much. It has no smell and is not hot.

Morning walk and birdwatching on our last day.

Can you tell I'm still on a high a week after Tabin?

:)

Wet and Wild in Tabin Wildlife Reserve

Hey :)

*Haha, please don't conclude anything based on the title above :P *

I've been trying to muster the inspiration to blog for the past few days but alas, my muse is missing in action.

Anyway, before this weekend looms I'd better get it done a.s.a.p. This trip almost did not materialise but thankfully, thanks to the graciousness and kindness of friends I made it there. Thank you thank you thank you from the bottom of my little heart.

Well - I can sum up the weekend in one word - FABULOUS. Totally above my expectations. Despite the weather (what's a rainforest without the rain?), we had the most amazing wildlife experience that made me think twice that perhaps, I may be needing more of this Jungle Jane adventures in order not to be too excited! (Note to self : More jungles, please)

Oh. My camera died on me after getting soaked in the rain. That's the short story. So some of these pics are courtesy of my fellow travellers in the same group :-) They're a really fun bunch and know how to have a good time! Some pics are too big to fit in, I need to resize them later.

After check-in, briefing, lunch, settling-in, and afternoon tea, we started our safari right up till dinner time.

The next day, we had a very early start to head towards the Lipad Mud Volcano, followed by a trek to the Lipad Waterfall. Got our certificate hand-printing session in the afternoon, followed by another night safari after dinner. The following morning was also an early call as we went birdwatching.

Yupp, we had a full schedule.

Pacat-check : clear.

About to start our trek towards the mud volcano.

Stephen, our guide, is a walking jungle encyclopedia. He was spouting common and scientific names for trees!! There are so many interesting things in the jungle! (And I thought I already knew enough. Obviously a delusion :P) Pic : RAA

View of the mud volcano from the fifth level of the observation tower. The spouts were small, apparently it depends how much mud that the earth wants to spout out.

I did not jump in :( so I just did a facial spa :))) It did feel smoother later. We filled some bottles to bring back :) Everyone had dirty muddy hands hence not many pictures were captured here.

Just before jumping into the river after the mud volcano. Pacat-check : clear. The water was so refreshingly cold!

Group photo with Stephen. Pic : RQ.

My cert with mud hand print. Eh, Dato' Michelle Yeoh was also here before (last year?). Her cert is displayed at the reception.

View from my bed. The room was superbly cozy I did not feel like getting out of bed while it rained :)

View from my balcony - directly overlooking a river! Love love love the sound of the flowing waters. This was taken during the rain.

After the rain the river looks almost perfect for white-water rafting! And yeah, it's always teh-tarik brown.

Our premium sighting - a Bornean Pygmy Elephant :))))))) right at the resort entrance. Pic : RAA.

Later, his family - altogether 5 of them - decided to join him. The little one was so cute!! Pic : RAA.

The Flying Lemur aka Colugo. It did not fly though as it was starting to rain. Pic : RAA.

Those are the highlights of wildlife we saw - oh, we also saw the Sun Bears!!! However we were so excited and the bears were too, no one managed to capture a decent picture. We also saw black gibbons, leopard cats, civets, mousedeers (greater and lesser), various birds, butterflies and of course insects.

I really had a wonderful time in Tabin - it's the perfect weekend getaway. One day I will return for another jungle session - hmm, this time with a waterproof camera.

I Love Tabin! :)