Krabi Trip - From KL-Penang-Hatyaai to Krabi

Day 1 : KL to Penang

I went to office as ussual but with extra back pack and my sister sent me there. A little bit of drama started to begin as I got a last minute job to do in the evening and I managed to escape from office only at 6.30pm. Crossed my finger, I really hope 1 hr is enough since I needed to collect the ticket at the counter 1st as what I had in hand was the printed online receipt only. Took taxi from Serdang to Sg Besi LRT, and reached LRT Plaza Rakyat around 7pm.

Once I descended down the escalator at the station, Luckily I saw a Plus Liner booth and quickly checked if I could redeem my ticket here and to my relief the answer was YES! It has been a long time since my last visit to Puduraya so I was afraid if I cannot find the Plus Liner counter inside there. The arrangement must be changed so I didn't want to waste my not so sufficient time looking for the counter.

Once got my ticket I quickly entered the Puduraya station and exactly to my expectation it has changed a lot. With an air conditioned waiting hall, however I cannot stayed here longer so I rushed to the platform and nearly fainted to find that my bus was not there. Am I missing my bus..?? I ran back to the information counter and my blood flowed back to my face when the staff told me that the bus actually waited for me outside the platform. Next to the main road near Ancasa Hotel.

Info : Plus Liner is actually operated at KTM KL. It's main office also at KTM KL, so no allocated platform at Puduraya for Plus Liner buses. The driver will just park the bus outside the puduraya for any pasenger who wants to embark and disembark from there.

Back to my story, I sprinted back down to the platform and had an explore race to the bus. Alhamdulillah luckily sempat. I seized a deep breath when I finally took the weight off my feet on the window seat. Once got my seat I called my mom for her blessing on my journey and slept along the way to Penang...

My instinct alarm woke me up nearly at 12am and I saw that I've reached JURU PLUS toll. Called Jenot and she picked me up at Sg. Nibong Station 1/2 an hour later. From the bus station to her apartment only took 10 mins by car. Not much things to do once we arrived there and since we needed to prepare for the next day journey, we went to bed straight away.




Day 2 : Sg.Nibong bus station, Penang to Hatyai

Walk up with a beautifull sunrise panorama greeted me in the morning from Jenot's apartment view

Penang bridge also visible from here

We had a breakfast at the nearby stall and took taxi to the bus station. Went into the counter and they asked us to wait for the bus outside the bus station (near the main road) and jotted down the bus no.QA 4229 SKA. The bus picked us at 10am. Bdw hey... it was not a bus, it was actually a 12 seats MPV. Quite spacious and comfort when we entered inside since it was only 4 passengers with us that time. Never that we knew that the MPV later stopped at Sg Petani and 2 others places to collect more passengers. Nevertheless, we really enjoyed the ride. We already sense the aura of Thai since the driver was a Siamese and he played the Thai traditional song video along our journey. What an experience!!




We stopped at R&R Chuping, Kedah last stop in Malaysia before headed to the border of Malaysia - Thailand.

Acara wajib di setiap persinggahan!

After about 2hours of journey, we finally reached at Bukit Kayu Hitam and the driver handed us the immigration pass to fill in and we went out to the Malaysian Immigration. Once cleared, we went back to our MPV and continued to the Thailand Immigration. It's not far from Malaysia Immigration to Thailand Immigration, roughly about 10-15 mins only.

Tu dia.... Excited!!

Once we reached there, we embarked from the MPV for the checking. We didn't fully understand about the processes as the direction from our driver was not very clear. He spoke minimal English and with his thick Siamese accent so what do you expect right. We just followed the crowd, brought only our hand carry to the immigration counter and waited the MPV to pick us back once the checking settled. Luckily not much hassle and quite systematic. Probably because it was not so crowded that time. I think I also paid an immigration fee (RM2) to the driver for Thai Immigration clearance. Well I did told you, kitaorg x berapa faham ape mamat tu ckp so bayar je la. What ever la janji lepaskan... :P

Once we got back into our seat and continued our journey, the view had started to change. As the first country I visited with different alphabet, I felt totally "illiterate" here. Been stupid as I cannot spell a word on their signage and I felt it was funny too. Just enjoyed looking at the writing on the signboards and the unique culture here. Didn't want to "work out" my brain to process all the words as this is the time to treat my brain by let it relax and rejuvenate.

Fuiyo ari Sabtu pun budak2 sekolah!



View at Satun Town



Heavy load... Berselirat wayar elektrik dia and it's quite low. Kita punya wayar eletrik biasanya di pasang tinggi kan.

Approaching Hatyai town




The MPV didn't brought us straight to Krabi, but the driver stopped at his office at Hatyai town. We needed to change to another van that later brought us to Krabi. It was 2pm however Thailand time was one hour late than Malaysia, so I adjusted my watch to 1pm to meet the local time.

While waited for the next MPV to pick us up, the staff there name Sue asked us on our accommodation there. Since we also didn't book any hotel yet, we asked her to check for any available hotel and finally only 1 hotel that within our budget was available (it was school holiday so most of the hotel was fully booked). We went for Nong Eed Resort located at the heart of Aonang Street. The MPV will sent us directly there. Price was RM120/nite. Quite pricy for me but for the last minute plan like this of course we cannot complaint much. Redha aje la. We also bought returned ticket to Penang straight away on Sunday (10am), and we managed to negotiate for an Island hopping package at 900bhat/person (aprrox RM90). So everything settled, our MPV also arrived and we headed to Aonang Krabi...


Journey from Hatyai to Aonang was not pleasant. It was quite packed as the MPV was a bit small than the previous one we had but with more people. All were backpackers with huge packs. Ok dh nama backpackers kan. I kept counting time when to reach a rest stop. My back bones was in pain and I needed to stretch. 2 1/2 hrs later my misery ended when we reached the so called R&R at Trang. We had 1/2hr rest. Since Krabi is located at south Thailand, the population mostly are Muslims so to find a halal food was not very difficult here. But still we avoided to eat meat if no sign "Halal" provided and we just bought a cold coconut jelly. It was the BEST coconut jelly I ever had! Price was RM4 and we were so satisfied.

Nature call. Like I said acara wajib! Toilet was simple but clean!

Next we continued our journey and reached Krabi town at 6pm. Most of the backpackers disembarked here. I wondered where they staying since it was nothing at this town except a night market only.

Tgk gambar pun x menarikkan?

The most happening place at Krabi is at Aou Nang beach and there was our destination. Only me and Jenot left so we were a bit worried however the driver did sent us to our hotel at Aou Nang. Relieved!! Flatted once we got into our room, we had a short nap and took a bath. Imagined the journey we had been through. Penang to Hatyai : 4hrs, Hatyai to Krabi : 4.5hrs + Krabi town to Ao Nang 1/2hr = 9hrs. Bravo!! Almost one whole day on the road!!

I will continue on my xtvt at first night in Ao Nang on my next post. Post dah sendat so stay tuned OK!!

Overland Trip to Krabi Island - The Plan

It was end of year and as ussual my travel partner in crime, Jenot asked me on which destination we heading this time. Hmmmm, why it's always me to do the thinking. Last minute plan, definitely travel by plane is not a good option as the charge will for sure burst our budget.

The best idea came into my mind that time was to Hatyai. It was one of the place I dreamt to visit this year. Some more, I've never been to Thailand before. I love to have a stamp from Thailand immigration in my passport. So I started to Google all the information on travel to Hatyai via inland transportation and it was how it all started................ suddenly I changed my mind to go further to Krabi Island once I read that most of the traveller did that. What...KRABI??? Yeah, alang2 dh smpai Thailand, why not explore tempat yang best & jauh skitkan.


Excited, I called Jenot and glad to hear that she also had the same excitement and she volunteered to check and settle all the transportation matters. Since she is at Penang, it is easier for her to find a bus from there.

I quickly did my part, copied all the itinerary thanks to the traveholic bloggers as it were very helpfull and ease my task. Since it was a school holiday and most of the hotels were fully booked, I planned to just walk in and buy the package for island hopping there.
Note : There's a lot of hotel from luxury to budget, depends on your pockets. However advance booking is advisable during peak time to avoid limited choices and price normally higher than normal time.

Jenot called me the next day and she had bought tickets to Krabi from Sg. Nibong Bus Station, Penang on 11th Nov (Saturday) at 9.30am. Price was RM55 one way/person. Guess what... We just planned it 3days before departure with just one thing confirm in hand - Transportation. Nevertheless we really looked forward for this trip. The flaws and challenges added an excitement in our adventure. It was an experience that money can't buy! Very precious.

Thanks also for the technology as I could comfortably bought a PLUS LINER (NICE Express) ticket to Penang online at Friday 8.00pm. Ticket price was RM38.50 one way/person. I didn't have time to go to Puduraya (we plan all this 3 days b4 departure remember..) I already printed the confirmation of payment and will redeem the ticket at the counter before departure. As simple as that!

So that was it, prelude on my trip to Krabi. A very less preparation but with a huge expectation. Read my full trip experience on next post. Till then.

CAVE EXPLORATION - GUA TEMPURUNG

It was a start for the year 2013 when Diya popped out an idea to visit Gua Tempurung at Perak. At first I thought it was just like a normal caving exploration, you know go inside the cave... walk through the platform, probably a bit of stairs involved and admiring the beauty of nature inside. Never did I expected when Fizah & hubby (Fairul) decided to join, they suggested us to take the most challenging amongst the other tours. There are 4 tours into Gua Tempurung depending on its difficulty levels. You may read about them HERE. THE GRAND TOUR, which is the hardest and strenuous will take about 3.5hrs to complete and the fee is RM22/adult. Dry and wet on the same time, it is such a challenge that we're looking for. Excited and anticipated, this is our story...........................


Gua Tempurung, Perak

Last Saturday on the 5th Jan, Diya & me departed from office around 7.15am using the PLUS highway to the north. We met up Fizah, Fairul and Diya's brother at R&R Sg Buloh around 8am. Had a quick breakfast then continued our journey to Gua Tempurung. Easy drive, not too much of a traffic however there were 2 things that made me a bit nervous that time. 1st was the time as we needed to reach there before the registration close which at 11am. Speed up a little bit (my speed indicator already reached 140km/hr). The other thing which was my greatest worry .... the weather.

It was raining all the way started from we left Sg Buloh and it's getting heavier once we exited at Gopeng. It's quite easy to locate the place from here as the signs were adequate. We reached Gua Tempurung successfully at 10am (as per our estimated time) however a bit frustrated as the rain still didn't show any sign to subside.

Holding to our "moto" that day, Alang2 menyeluk pekasam, biar sampai ke pangkal lengan.. we tried our luck. We went to the registration counter and asked the staff there on the possibility to enter the cave in heavy rain. A bit upset when they told us to wait as it all depends on the rain condition. Malu la dgn kawan2 lain yg tau kami nak gi sini klau x jadi masuk gua. Nevertheless, nothing much we can do except pray for our luck..

At the counter..



Gua tempurung map on the left. Right : Others xtvt available here and fees



After about 1/2 an hour of waiting finally the guide called and gave us both good and bad news. The good news was we were granted to enter the cave for the 4th level challenge, however it would be a little bit detour on the route as we cannot go to the lower part of the cave. The river was in high tide so it's quite dangerous takut2 ade yg lemas. Supposed there will be a crawling xtvt at the bottom of the cave, but since its already drown by water we will have a bit of climbing plak. Katanya lagi mencabar... so we'll wait and see ok.

Proceed.... We had a short brief given by the guard. Oh ya all the valuable items needed to be kept inside the locker. Camera was not advisable to bring, tp klau degil gak nak bwk, it's under your own risk ok!
Nampakkan arus sungai laju macam teh tarik kaler dia.



Bismillahirahmanirrahim, so we entered the cave.............
There were many many stairs, they looked kinda intimidating and some seemed to go on forever . But don’t worry, you may get a little out of breath but you don’t have to be superfit for this as the guide provide ample time for rest and catching your breath.



We saw various stalactites and stalagmites. The guard informed us on how precious these are – Its grow an inch in a hundred years and took million years to form entire cave. That is why it is important for us to preserve it... Our precious, our treasure. Imagine if it's been destroyed, we have to wait for another million years to get a new formation. That if we can wait that long, even this galaxy has it's time limit ok....

But still, ada jugak some uneducated people who just stupid enough to left their "marks" on the wall cave. The kind of people who didn't know how to value the nature. What they did was just bullshit even there were lots of notice and even warning from the guide to not scratching the wall...

Pathetic was it??
See, dustbin was available so do not litter!!



Some photos of the formation...



The lighting add colours to the rocks and its look so amazing!



This is where your imagination is highly required. The guide will show you a lots of formation that bears some resemblance to animals (fish, horse's leg, turtle) and even foods (bowl of ice kacang, drumstick etc ). We were like "owhh... ya...nampak..!!". Sometime I saw it, sometime my brain cannot process to imagine the thing. I tried to take some pics however it was dark and my little camera was just not powerful enough to capture the image also.

Can you spot a woman face below?? Looks scary rite? That was the best and clear photo I managed to take.

Our group gathered here, tried to see what is the hidden images under this nature caused. In the darkness on the platform I cannot imagined how far we were from the bottom of the cave. All I knew that we were pretty high, top of the world as the package called it, anyone who fall will definitely got no chance to survive.

Now, the next part of our adventure was the moments that I've waited for! This was when all of us will get wet and dirty.... muahahahah!



We skipped the stairs & platform and started to walk and clambered over muddy paths until at one place we stop. Jeng....jeng....jeng...
Guess what waited us there...????? AN ALMOST 45deg SLIDE uolssss !!!



We were lucky as together with us was one group of college students (boys of course) in this trip. They helped the guide during the slide to hold our feet once we reached the end of the slope coz we might fell as it was quite high. Then, another guide also came to support us which made we have 2 guides already. Personally I don't think 1 guide was enough as what we encountered was really challenging and maybe because it was raining so the track was a bit difficult than ussual.

I passed the slide easily, ceh berlagak tp kesian dgn adik college yg nk kena menyambut kat bawah slide. Nasib baik x patah tgn support my weight yg "ringan" ini. Hahahahaha....

We continued to climb, crawled over rocky holes and slid down slippery stones on a physical. Kuar masuk lobang yg muat2 one man size until we saw a ray of light. Means that we already came to the end of the cave. Alhamdulillah....

But was it really the end. Estimated time of our tour said to be 3.5hrs.... we just been there about 1.5hrs. Were we that fast??? Hmmmm lets took a break first.



Now you see why we cannot go to the bottom of the cave. The water level was high, and imagine if we have to crawl... we will absolutely 100% drown in the water.



More photo...



After about half an hour, we were called to continue our expedition.

Us...



Ok, I thought our journey back was passing through this path inside the forest... How wrong was I as we actually went back to the cave for more adventure!!!

Honestly I had enough with all the climbing and sliding xtvt. Plus my pants actually already torn at the back (so beware girls, xtvt sliding bole menipiskan seluar anda jd advisable to wear thicker pants).

We just climbed and slid in the cave which looks to be forever. Squatting along the path was really tiring and nearly got my leg cramp. More slopes that needed to pass through with others help, plus our wet condition and permukaan tanah yg licin, I fell few times. There was one unforgettable moment when I suddenly slipped at the edge of the cave while climbing and one of the guard quickly came in rescue and grabbed my hand. However due to the slippy muddy surface, he also fell. Luckily the second guard managed to pull us together. Imagine that time both of us dah berguling kat situ mcm cite hindustan. Cuma klau hindustan happy ending, my story tragic ending la jawabnya.

Dah penat2 panjat....

Kena slide balik pulak.... But the last one was the most fun of all. Slide smpai bawah sakit gak la my ass bila terhentak kt tanah tu... This time xde sape sambut2, gelongsor la smpai terlajak mana pun. Huhuhuhu.

Alhamdulillah, finally we were back to the stairs and climbed up to exit using the same route we entered the cave before which for me was just a relief.

By the time we went out, everybody was extremely wet, dirty and errr should I put.... STINK! Very glad to see the light at the end of the tunnel hehe.

Finally went out from the cave at 2.30pm. They will lock the cave everyday after the tour finished. We quickly took several photos before they closed the gate.



We went to clean ourselves and change our clothes... (Jenuh gile bilas baju n badan sbb lumpur tebal).
Then we took final photo at the signboard and replica of Gua Tempurung.

We headed back to KL around 4pm. Starving... we stopped at Tapah for lunch+tea, pray and straight home afterward.

Smpai rumah, baju tudung, seluar ngan underwear2 skali suma kena buang sbb even the stain dh hilang but the smell still ade. Ape2 pun no regret at all. Relief and satisfied as one of my target this year has been accomplished. Hope to involve in more adventure xtvt after this. Insyaallah. Till then, see ya in next post. BYE.

Lawak Ke Der 2 pulokss..!

Geng Concert (Lina, Kayrie and me of course) had watched the Lawak Ke Der Concert last year (LKD). Read HERE. So when we read about the LKD II was going to hit Istana Budaya once again, we got all excited and started to plan for it.

This time, LKD II featured Harith Iskander, JOZAN, Nabil & BOBOI. We were pretty excited as last time we didn't watch JOZAN (we went for OSBON instead), so probably ade kelainan skit this time.

Bought the tixs straight away as soon as it was available via tickets2u.biz. As ussual we took the cheapest one (cheapskate huh!!) at RM43. The seats ade skit berterabur since this show was a hit so ramai org dh book earlier than us.

Oh ya, mcm biasa juga we went for the Friday night show on 28th Sep 2012 and our theme that night was FISH. Yes....u read it right. A FISH. Why fish...? Saje cipta kelainan. Actually last time when we watched LKD1, we met this one lady so daring with her island T-shirt. U know when we went to Pulau Pangkor ke, Redang ke ade byk tcet2 print gambar ikan kan. So that was what she wore. Since she was so proud and looked cool pkai t-shirt mcm tu, we came out with that idea suggested initially by Kayrie. Well, we never miss to set a theme each time we went somewhere. Tema itu penting ya uolsss.. Baru meriahkan.

Back to the show, We arrived at IB a bit late since we were stuck in the traffic. Well what do you expect on Friday night kan.... :P As it was nearly 15 minutes left before the show started, we quickly queued to redeem the tickets and straight went up to the upper circle (nasib baik dh hafal selok belok IB nie :D)

Once got our seats, we were so ready to laugh! :))

The opening act presented by Nabil, and he did a great job that night! If in LKD1 Nabil introduced the show with "I am Sexy and I know it" song - this time he chosed "Gangnam Style" as his opening song. Haha! Comel okeh :P

The show started with BOBOI, ya with new member, Nabil. Their first slot was a scene in a cheap flight - Redha Air and the 2nd was Datin Seekers. To me, their performances in both slot were so-so compared to their performance in LKD1. Afdlin & Harun Salim Bachik already lost their touch and already out of idea. Maybe we already familiar with their direction of jokes so we could predict all the punch lines. Nabil appearance helps a bit but since he's still new in the group, chemistry blum berapa nak ade. Imagine pnya bosan smpai Lina pun bole tertido. Kikikiki......

Jozan kicked off the 2nd show with a scene with three character Nazmi, Nazman and Nazmida (played by both Johan and Zizan alternately). Although the whole story took more time than the other slot, it was the best. Jozan successfully made the audience laughing non-stop! There were times we laughed not because of their dialogue but because of their actions. I loved when they did the lawak spontaneously to cover up things that accidentally happened (e.g: when Zizan suddenly tripped while dancing that he fell off the sofa or when he accidentally wore the tudung the wrong side). It was hilarious! :))

However, there were some acts that I found in-appropriate. Ye la, we have kids and VIP guess.... so ade certain benda yg nk kena cover skit ye. Terutama aksi2 "panas", double meaning language and etc.

Harith came in on the 3rd slot with his stand-up comedy. He was good! I knew I can always look forward for his show :) His stand-up comedy in both LKD and LKD II were equally entertaining. Just love the part he shared 5 things men should know about women in a relationship. Mmg kdg2 kena batang hidung sendiri!!

The show ended at about 11pm. As the previous LKD show, the handsome Hans Isaac made an appearance together with the rest of the cast on stage for the closing.

Overall, we were a bit frustrated as it was not as good as the first LKD and lets say if there is a sequel after this, we will think twice to watch it. Cukup, cukup sudah, cukup smpai di sini saja.... Fair x my review. Hehehehhehe..........

Nak amik gamba pun x excited. Unlike LKD1, this time xde sesi bertemu peminat. So we just took few photos only :

With Kayrie. Ikan dia tertutup kat perut.

Kali ni Lina yg ngelat. Just wore a fish earing. X aci....!!

Rasanya Im the one who committed bab2 menepati tema ni. Sanggup pkai tcet Pulau Tioman tu. BDW semangat Kayrie yg sanggup survey Wangsa Walk cari t-cet ikan pun harus di puji. Well done gals!!

Ok, the story isn't finished yet. It was 28th, so by the time we had a late dinner+supper at nearby stall I was been surprised by a birthday present from Lina & Kayrie. No wonder tiba2 Lina nk amik brg kt keta. Amik hadiah rupanya. One day earlier from my birthday (dh masuk 29th time tu), I was overwhelmed as I never expected that. Nevertheless, I really love the gift. A silk shawl, so elegant and mak datin. Thank u olsss....!!!




-LOVELEEN-

Back form Hiatus

Finally, we are reaching the end of the YEAR 2012. Phew! God, this blog has been quiet for ages. Kept promising myself to post but keep failing. This is a problem when the "LAZY" virus attacked. It's not that I haven't been productive, infact there are a lots of places I went, many activities I did during this year. Lots of story to share indeed. Lost of interest?? I don't think so as the first thing came in my mind everytime I completed my holiday or xtvt was to update my beloved blog. Certainly that was it, and still is... L to the a to the Z the Y syndrome. And to add one more excuse, B-U-S-Y. Yes I was busy almost throughout this year. Went back home very late from office, exhausted...... I can't narrate even one sentence of story. :(

So this is my new year's target. To update my blog as much as I can. And of course, complete all my pending posts. (Yeah I have bad habit in completing my post. Redang, PD trip.. are among my posts that still "hanging"). Oh my, that's not included the trip for this year. All waiting in line to be published. Xpe2, take it slowly... Chaiyo2!

Below are the list of post that I need to update. Wish I can get the spirit to active back in writing. Pray for me ya...


To complete
i) Redang Trip Post with Serayans (2010)
ii) PD Trip Post with SWG (2011)

New Post
iii) Futsal Tournament @ Kuantan, Pahang (end 2011)
iv) Singapore with GLem (end 2011)
v) New Year Dinner @ Istana Hotel with SWG (2012)
vi) Fraser Hill trip with SWG (2012)
v) Ella & Awie concert with Geng Concert @ IB (2012)
vi) Singapore USS with family (2012)
vii) NAZA carnival with Geng Gedik (2012)
viii)Lawak Ke Der II with Geng Concert (2012)
ix)Krabi Trip with GLem (2012)


Till then thanks for reading my blog and Happy New Year for all of you. Hope this coming year will bring you prosperity and joy!!!

-LOVELeen-

Ahlan Wasahlan Ya Ramadhan

ASSALAMUALAIKUM WARAHMATULLAH..............

It's been quite a while since we have our last Ramadhan and now my FAV month of the year is BACK!! To all Muslim in the world, I wish you Salam Ramadhan Al-Mubarak. Minimize any behavior/xtvt that can leads to sins and not only optimize, but MAXIMIZE our ibadah to achieve as much rewards (pahala) as we can during this holy month. It's the only month which full of blessing from Allah and any good deeds that we made will be guaranteed a double rewards from HIM. It's like when there's offer from any Shopping Mall to give discount/harga runtuh or what so ever, we all will rush to grab the offer. So the same like Ramadhan, offer "pahala" from The Mercifull Allah....... of course it is something that we really cannot miss!!

Coz sharing is caring, to all my relatives MUSLIM..... I attached herewith lafaz niat puasa and berbuka, and a nice image on Do and Don't on Ramadhan as a reminder for us. Hopefully this comes as helpfull especially for those who might be forgotten. Ye la pose setahun sekali kan... :P

Take it as my little social responsibility to encourage people and together we strengthen our "Iman" and improve ourself to be a better muslim/muslimah. Insyaallah......

Before I end my post, I pray that all of us will be blessed by Allah S.W.T and may this Ramadhan give more blessing and better than previous year! AMEEN.........