As the title mentioned, I spent my Labour Day weekend at Koh Lipe (Lipe Island) in Thailand. Never heard of it?

Koh Lipe is a small island in the Southern part of the Thai Andaman Sea and it is very near to our Langkawi island.

Koh Lipe is vastly known among the foreigners (read: Caucasians) and the locals. Malaysians hardly knew about this deserted island and I, for one, had to find out about Koh Lipe from a friend who googled about it.

I know many of you will ask ‘How do you get there?’ or ‘Is there a direct flight to Koh Lipe?’ and so on.

The quickest way from Malaysia is through Langkawi Island, the cheapest via Pak Barra. During the low season, Koh Lipe can only be reached from Pak Barra.

From November until May there are several ferries a day from Langkawi to Koh Lipe. Click here to find out for the ferries time table. However, most ferry companies use a different port on Langkawi Island. I took the boat from Telaga Harbour Park which is about 10-15 min drive from Langkawi International Airport.

The boat ride to Koh Lipe takes less than 1 hour. When you arrive on Koh Lipe you will have to go through the immigration first. The captain of the boat will give you the instructions of what to do and where to wait.

There is no pier on Koh Lipe. Local Chao Ley (Sea Gypsies) will come with their longtail boats to pick you up from the ferry.

They will take you to any beach on the island for 50 Baht (not included in your ferry ticket!). Please do not wear sneakers when you are at this point. You wouldn’t want your shoes to be drenched in salt water upon reaching the shores.

Once you reached the shore, do not stare at the beach first.  Remember to pick up your passports from the immigration counter.

Koh Lipe is known as “Maldives of Thailand” and I strongly recommend you to visit this island before it is flocked by overcrowding tourists like the ones in Phuket.

There are 3 main beaches on Koh Lipe: Pattaya Beach, Sunset Beach and Sunrise Beach.

The most popular one will be Pattaya Beach.

There are dozens of resorts and places to stay all over the island, and because of Koh Lipe’s small size, it’s easy to stay anywhere and go to any beach in less than 15 minutes.

Sita Beach Resort is one of the best resorts available in Koh Lipe, providing the best facilities like swimming pool, water heater showers, complimentary wireless Internet and many more.

With the stunning spectacular view of the open sea, I believe you will hardly spend time in the room.

Like me, most of the time you will be staring at the aquamarine waters and the white sandy beach. But be careful; do not overcook your skin under the sun. Be sure to apply sunblock before you get out of your room.

You may also hop onto the longtail boat and the local gypsy will take you to nearby islands for Snorkelling. If you go on a group, it cost about 550Baht per person. But during the low season (May – September), there will be no group outings. Hence, you need to rent a private longtail boat for 2000Baht and you will be the boss of the boat.

The local gypsy will take you to known spots for snorkeling and enjoy the colorful life in the sea.

Before you leave this island, take a stroll across the island to Sunset Beach and fall in love with the sunset here.

Koh Lipe is no doubt the perfect choice for a relaxing getaway. All you need to do is to save up about RM1,400 for the entire cost of the trip.

Guess what? Unlike Phuket or Krabi, Koh Lipe is NOT that commercialized and you can enjoy the every bit of the island in awe.

Princes Square to Porchester Gardens, London

The wintry chill in London is completely different as compared to the winter I experienced in Amsterdam or Madrid. I could survive on a pair of jeans without thermal wear as long as I’m covered with 2 layers of jackets and I naively assumed it would be similar in London. I was totally wrong. It is even more miserably chilly when it rains. Not to even mention that temperate drops dramatically when the sun sets by 4:45pm during winter months.

Family outing at Queen’s Walk, along the Thames River

I’ve to wrap myself up like a dumpling, layers after layers, warm coats and woolly scarves, hats and gloves to ensure I won’t stay vulnerable to the icy winds. Oh, I definitely have to keep my hood up to prevent loss of heat from my head.

The black cab of London

I believe one of the best ways to beat the winter blues is to get outside and get the blood pumping. Londoners walk a lot and I mean, A LOT! I am serious, they walk more than anyone else in the country. With such efficient transport system of the tubes and buses in London, who needs the black cab? Unless you have 2 or more suitcases which could be quite tedious to carry them by yourself.

Queensway Road, heading towards Bayswater underground station

I actually have to be grateful for I did not have to come a week earlier. Most places in Britain were buried with inches of snow due to the cold snap of Arctic wind. In fact, my friend said I was fortunate enough to get a warmer week whereby the rain washed the snow away. If not, I will be definitely sticking my bottom lip out, trying to balance myself on the icy and slippery roads. Thank you, God!

Walking along the riverbank of Thames

Thank you God for the sunshine! For the very first time, I appreciate sunshine (as you know how hot and sunny Malaysia will be).

In front of Buckingham Palace

And darn, just as I thanked God for the beautiful weather, I had to run off after this shot due to drizzling. LOL!

So much for the wintry moments in London, stay tuned for more entries.

I have heard of this city since I was in primary school. And here I am, placing my first ever footprints in Melbourne.

Friends are moving here one by one. The latest friend to join in the migration crowd is Kim.

It was more than a trip of work and play for me in Melbourne even though it lasted approximately 72 hours only. There’s so many eating outlets and I would love to try them all. No particular Aussie dish as the community is kinda dilluted. Not to mention the influx of Asian immigrants here. What I enjoy most would be the Italian cuisine.

It was just simply enticing and mouth-watering.

With such a short period, I definitely could not discover more. I will probably come back with my own savings. Save, save, save! I have yet to experience the Koalas and Kangaroos, Mt Bhuller, Great Ocean Road and et cetera.

Nevertheless, the added advantage of this trip was being able to catch up with friends I don’t see frequently.

This trip also allowed me to experience Planetshakers’ church which is located at Dallas Brooks Centre.

I grew up listening to both Hillsong and Planetshakers, and being able to experience how a usual Sunday service goes, was definitely enriching. Going to share a 1.5-minute video of the first song during the praise & worship with you through this youtube below:-

The last time I attended a PS Conference was back in Dec 2006 and the team did drop by at City Church KL for a visiting Sunday in April 2008. Gosh, that was so long ago. Most of all, I was more than glad to tag Kim along, and a liberating moment came when Kim re-dedicated her life to God.

Hmm, thanks to Sunny, he took me for a quick tour around La Trobe University.

Sounds familiar?

Well, that’s my university which I never had a chance to study here, but to complete the degree from this university at Nilai campus.

My heart sort of like melted when I saw the scenic landscape around the institution. The question kept popping in and out of my head “Why didn’t I have the chance to experience the education here?”. Oh, things do happen for a reason. Not by coincidence, not by human chance or luck. It’s already pre-destined by our heavenly Father. Well, maybe I will have a chance to further my studies in near future. I’ll never know what is in store for me.

Truth to be told, I just can’t get enough of the eclectic Melbourne.

How can 72 hours be enough for such a beautiful place? The chilly weather is simply revivifying for me. I have always been in awe of temperatures between 8 – 18 degrees Celcius. Oh well, the grass is always greener on the other side. Isn’t it?

As I mentioned, I have yet to touch and see real Koalas or Kangaroos.

Thus, I will be back, no doubt.

Convention + catching up with a childhood friend, Kim Ong, who is well-known among us in blogosphere and celebrity world.

Here we are at the South bank area, looking for a place to dine and catch up. The last time I met Kim was during her wedding in late June.

Decided to have an Italian moment with La Camera.

I ordered a Gnocchi Amatriciana, sprinkled with lots of parmesan cheese over it.

Kim settled with Antipasti Misto which serves for two. A big appetite allowed her to indulge all by herself. I salute her elastic tummy!

And wait, this is what I found before I went for my convention. I managed to capture this little shot on Flinders Street.

Yeah, it’s not about all play in this trip. Need to do some work too!!

I was giggling when I picked up this book in my hands. The book says “We Need to Talk About Kevin“.

Hmm, which Kevin? My Kevin?

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I love road trips.

Recently, I visited Bukit Melawati located in Kuala Selangor, which is about an hour drive away from the heart of the capital (KL).

It will be a perfect place for those who enjoy hiking up the hill and enjoy mother nature at the same time.

I suggest you do not visit this place after 10am, as the sunshine will be at its peak. Even the trees will not be enough to give you the shade or coolness.

There is also a “Muzium Permainan Tradisional” on the hill. A museum to portray the traditional games of Malaysians such as Congkak, Sepak Takraw and etc.

It takes about 10 minutes hike to reach this point whereby you can see the Straits of Malacca in a wide horizon.

But wait…

There are a lot of….

MONKEYS when you reach this point.  They even have stalls to sell “Food for Monkeys”.

Wherever you stand, you will see monkeys everywhere.

And they will be mischievous enough to steal my mum’s ice cream! Are they plain nasty or cute? Hmmm…

Some are brown in colour, some are in grey or black.

And I proudly present you the line up of monkey statues. Oh no, they are real. It just so happened they were ironically sitting there like statues!

lLook at this picture above, the tail must be really strong to sway from branch to branch!

This monkey’s face is classic. Somehow it reminded me of a child being confused about something. xD

I would like to conclude that Bukit Melawati is now a sanctuary for the monkeys apart from being a recreational place.

Just remember, if you are visiting this place after 10am, please bring your cap, shades and umbrella.

Somehow my mum was smart enough to bring a big shawl to cover up like the picture above! LOL!

I’ve always thought that paddy is planted in the Northern region of the country.

Not that I am not contented with my own digital Camera, I wished I have a DSLR to bring out the details of the pictures I have taken.

I guess the pictures below are kinda self-explanatory. I do need to yakk much about them as we all learned the process of paddy –> rice in school!

Look at the mountain of grains!

Before the grains are being processed.

Oh yes, this is my very first time stepping my feet onto the paddy soil.

Hmm, I guess our geography textbooks didn’t really reveal much of paddy images. Just bug your geography teachers to send you to a paddy field to experience this.

Koh Rok is located 47 kilometers (45 minutes journey on a speedboat) from Koh Lanta Yai, is a small island surrounded by emerald green water which you feel like diving in anytime.

With its crescent shaped bay featuring cliffs, white powdery sandy beach and a stand of banyan trees inland, Koh Rok is extraordinarily magnificent. Camping is permitted on the island.

Koh Rok is being regulated to preserve the heritage of the island.

When diving offshore, you will be amazed by the abundant sea life. Did you see the fishes in the image above?

You can snorkel from here and share the water with many different species of fish.

Snorkeling equipment and life jackets are provided for those who do not know how to swim.

And I really hate to wear this! I really looked weird!

Hate the life jacket as well.  Initially, I acted like a hero, jumping into the Andaman Sea without snorkeling equipment and life jacket (this is extremely uncomfortable when you feel like swimming in the sea).

However, it  is very tiring to tread in the waters for a long time.

Thus, I gave in to the life jacket for the convenience of floating without any leg movements!!

I could even float effortlessly, facing towards the blue sky for a moment of relaxation.

Our dearest Kev bear was searching for fish for his dinner!

In Koh Rok, you get to snorkel in 3 different places and capture a view of different coral reef and sea life.

After hours of snorkeling and swimming in the deep blue sea, you definitely wanna embrace the sea breeze on the 45-minute way back to Koh Lanta.

Koh Rok is worth every Thai Baht you pay. Do not miss Koh Rok when you are at Krabi or Ko Lanta.

I will definitely be back, Koh Rok! You are simply magnificent!

I can’t wait to dip my dirty feet in the waters of Andaman Sea later.

Ko Lanta – The most beautiful island of Andaman Sea

Just off Thailand’s south western coastal town of Krabi, on the east side of Phang Nga Bay, exists a unique, unspoiled tropical island: Ko Lanta Yai (Lanta Island).

With clear, cool waters and superb white sand beaches stretching along a 27 kilometer coastline, its paradisiacal appeal remains unmarred by mass tourism. The Lanta island, which reaches a height of almost 500 meters at its extreme end, also boasts a mountain range covered with rain forest.

Can’t wait to be there! Can’t wait to be there!!!

Alright, I will be blogging more when I reach Koh Lanta.

*Hugs*

Nothing beats the chilly weather in the Northern hemisphere with 4 seasons as compared to the all-year summer filled with monsoon rain in Malaysia. At times I do wish there is at least an autumn here. I am not asking for white snow during the winter days. At least there’s a drop in temperature like Hong Kong.

At 4:31pm on 24th November 2008, the temperature in central Spain was about 2.5degrees Celcius only. I’m not asking for 2 degrees in Malaysia.

Give me a temperature of 14degrees in KL and I will stop complaining right now!

Am I asking too much?

Here I am in Avila. Another city under UNESCO world heritage’s list due to its rich culture and history.

Look at the amount of towers surrounding the city. I wonder why the Spaniards build so many towers centuries ago. How long did they take to build them? I do wonder.

My first encounter with 0 degrees Celcius in Spain. This was captured at 5:40pm on 24th November, when I was on my way to Salamanca from Avila.

As I have mentioned previously, this is my virgin trip to Europe and nonetheless, words are beyond my description to describe how exhilarating I felt. Indescribable, uncontainable….

Do you know how badly I yearn to return to Europe?

According to Kevin, this picture reminded him of some ‘Heroes’ promo poster or something similar to that.

What to do? It’s not like we can visit Europe anytime as we wish. We have to take every minute every second given to us to capture as many pictures as we can.

Besides shooting panoramic or scenic views only, we have to be part-time models too.

Here I am in Salamanca. One of the most important moments in Salamanca’s history was the year 1218, when Alfonso IX created the University of Salamanca. Soon it became one of the most significant and prestigious academic centres in Europe.

Salamanca is also known as the Oxford of Spain.

The old Romanesque cathedral was founded in the 12th century. The dome that covers its crossing springs from a double arcade that is daringly pierced with windows, a distant reflection of Hagia Sophia.

House of Seashells is a tourist spot in Salamanca. I was told that there are more than 400 seashells decorated on the walls.

Valley of the Fallen is situated 20 minutes drive from El Escorial, and about one hour’s drive from Madrid.

The most significant moment of the day would be the SNOW!

Yes, it snowed on that day and my heart was jumping with joy! It was my first time watching snow flakes falling from the sky.

Known as the Valle de los Caidos in Spanish, it took more than 15 years to complete. It consists of a concrete cross nearly 150 m (nearly 500 ft) high, built on top of a huge crypt tunneled out of solid granite inside the mountain itself.

The gigantic cross were erected specifically to honor the deaths of people who died ‘for Spain’ during General Franco’s reign.

The Aqueduct of Segovia, typically the most recognized and famous symbol of Segovia, terminates at the entrance of the historic section.

Segovia is situated north of Madrid, and can be reached by bullet train in 35 minutes from Madrid. Another UNESCO World Heritage city which is rich in mixed history of Roman and Moorish rule.

Alright, I get it. You must be bored with the history lessons I am providing here.  I get it. I get it.

Let me say again. I am missing Spain a lot!

I miss the cold weather. I miss the scenic view. I miss the Spanish breeze.

Can someone be a good Samaritan and bring me to Spain again? After all, I have not been to Barcelona….

Recently on the 29th December, I have visited the Chilling River which is located at Kuala Kubu Baru. If you are planning to drive, it takes about an hour or so to reach there.

The water is surprisingly clean and yes, it’s really chilly. No wonder it’s called Chilling River. *Giggles*

Rocks and boulders are aplenty in this river. Do be extra careful as there are some slippery ones. You need to be extra bold like the guy in red.

I seriously felt superbly awesome to be surrounded by nature once a while; unike the hustle and bustle of the metropolis where I will be choked with either traffic jams or air pollution from the exhaust pipes of the millions of vehicles on the road.

Nature is definitely a therapy for me.

Not a relaxing therapy for me when I have a mischievous sibling that kept splashing water till I was completely drenched!!

The best part is to hug someone who is still dry when you’re wet. See what I have done to Kevin. (*Laughing with an evil grin*)

And of course, the other option is to keep splashing at each other.

Now, Gerald, isn’t it great to have splash each other especially with my mum?

Happy Splashing if you’re visiting any river or waterfalls!!

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On the other note, I am still puzzled at Tony Fernandez’s idea of building KLIA-East at Labu which is a freaking 22km away from the current KLIA.