The World Behind The Viewfinder

Overall I spent about RM1050 for the trip, including everything and airfare (more on the airfare later). This is considered cheap if compared to some of my other trips. Some breakdown:

Airfare

• Our original plan is to fly from Kuala Lumpur to Solo and back. The round-trip ticket costs RM170 including taxes and fuel surcharges. But later when we were doing some research, we noticed that it is wasting time to travel back from Solo to Kuala Lumpur, as some of the locations that we've planned, like Mt. Bromo, is ~8hr bus trip from Solo. We later bought another one-way ticket from Surabaya to Kuala Lumpur, which costs RM170 too. So total airfare is RM340.

Entrance Fees

• Borobudur: USD 11

• Chandi Prambananl: USD10

• Mt. Bromo Entrance: Rp 25k

• Kawah Ijen: entrance fee is already included in the transportation package that we bought in Probolinggo (see below).

Hotel Rates (total 6 nights, another night in bus)

• Hotel Indonesia, Yogja (just off Malioboro): Rp45k, twin sharing, fan, double beds, cold showers, so so condition. Put up here 3 nights.

• Hotel Tampriato, Probolinggo - Rp 242k, quad sharing, A/C, has swimming pool but not properly maintained, and with breakfast too.

• Homestay, Sempol - Rp 50k per person, with breakfast.

• Hotel Padang, Surabaya - Rp 35k, twin sharing, fan, queen bed, tiny room.

Transportation Rates

• intercity bus: Rp2k, except in Surabaya, which is Rp3k

• Betcha: Rp5k~15k per trip. Need to bargain hard! and the betcha riders are stronger than they looked!

• Solo -> Chandi Prambanan (bus): Rp7k

• Yogja -> Probolinggo (bus): Rp50k [17:30~02:30 the next day, save one night of hotel charges!]

• Probolinggo -> Cewang Indah/Mt. Bromo (chartered minivan @ 2:30am): Rp150k/van, one-way

• Cewang Indah -> Probolinggo (shared minivan): Rp15k/person

• Probolinggo -> Surabaya (express bus): Rp40k (we got ripped off by agent, normal price is Rp30k. Just go straight up the bus and paid)

• Mt. Bromo Jeep Sharing: Rp75k/person. This includes transport from Cewang Indah up to Mt. Bromo sunrise viewpoint, and then back down to the foothill of Mt. Bromo, and back to Cewang Indah. From 4:15am to 8:30am.

• Horse ride at Mt. Bromo: Rp10k~20k one way. Some of the horses are really handsome: 

Tour Package Prices

• Kawah Ijen  transportation package: Rp250k/person. This includes transportation (Mitsubishi Panther) from Probolinggo to Cewang Indah and back.

• Borobudur + Dieng Plateau tour packag: Rp100k/person. Ex Yogja in early morning for sunrise view of Borobudur (spent 2+ hrs here), and the off to Dieng Plateau (~3hrs drive in undulating roads). Total ~12hrs package. Using Panther too.

Misc (food etc)

• food is relatively cheap, ranging from 10k~25k per person per meal. The cheapest one that I can remember is Nasi Pecel (white rice, some vege, a tofu, and loads of bubur Pecel) at Malioboro St., as breakfast at a road-side stall - Rp4500 for that and a nice cup of tea. And it was delicious!
• Mineral Water 1.5L:Rp2.2k ~ Rp4k. Supermarket sells the cheapest water.
• Cola: Rp2k~Rp4k.
• T-shirts at Malioboro: Rp12.5k each (list price: Rp25k). Sandals are around Rp10k. Bargain hard here.
• KFC: almost similar price as in Kuala Lumpur. Taste similar too.

Leaving from Malioboro Street, Yogja, we took city bus (Rp2k) to arrive at the city bus terminal. It was a long journey from Malioboro to the city bus terminal - it took us 45mins, and a few 'free bus entertainment' (if you know what I mean!). The city bus was cramped and crowded but I managed to reserve an extra seat for my backpack. An old lady starts to chat to me a little bit, and she was heading to bus terminal too to catch a bus back to Surabaya... (read more)

More photos from the trip at http://travelgaia.com/gallery/Java2007/content/

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Was at Sepang Circuit last Sunday for the Japan GT Racing leg #4. Entrance ticket costs RM150 for free-seating grandstand area, and we opted not to go for the pit walkabout which costs another RM100, and thus missing the chance to get up close (and personal) with the GT Girls . What an opportunity missed! We're there from 12noon till 4:30pm, and it was a really hot day - I am still recovering from sunburn as of this writing! Anyway just want to share some photos (some cars and some Japanese gals):

http://travelgaia.com/gallery/GT/

which requires Flash plug-in installed in browser. 

Hiu and myself made a trip down to Tioman Island off Pahang coast on Thursday morning. It was a rush planning - we decided to get away for a couple of days and go diving. Tioman is the obvious choice since I've just got back from Redang on late May. Tioman will be different than the Redang/Perhentian Island area, we reckoned. (Read More)

Some photos from the trip:

1. Above Water - http://travelgaia.com/gallery/Tioman2007_Above/

2. Under Water - http://travelgaia.com/gallery/Tioman2007_Under/

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Tioman Island used to be named one of the top 10 most beautiful islands in the world, but that was like 10 years ago. Me and my diving buddy Hiu just got back from a short 3D2N trip to Tioman Island (we stayed at Teluk Air Batang, or dubbed ABC), and we know the island needs some serious help.

The State Govt. is having so many projects at Kampung Tekek and surrouding areas, like widening the river bed just beside the beach, the marina project etc. that have put off tourists - who wants to see tractors going about the front of their chalet while having vacation?

It is also having littering everywhere near Kampung Tekek, not to mention the pocket of dirty and smelly water patches along the construction areas. More importantly the marine ecosystem will be damaged or out right destroyed by all these projects at the beach front.

In fact we've seen so many of the chalets being discarded along the road from Tekek leading the ABC, it is just an eye sore. Even the Marine Park's Headquater - a elegent white & blue painted big buliding blocks, but really out-of-place here - near ABC beach, is having its drainage directly flow to the marine reservation park beach just in front of it! The waste water can be seen forming while bubbles at the marine park beach shallow water near the rocky area . What are you thinking, the Marine Park Officer?

The locals are unhappy with the constructions that have been going on but there is little that they can do. At least they managed to stop the State Govt. to widening the existing cement road - at least for now.

The Tioman beaches are already inheritedly not as good as those in Redang Island or Perhentian Island which are renowned for their fine white long pristine beach and crystal clear water. The least the State Govt. can do is to not further destroying the island. The tourists are not here to see a modern township or the construction work-in-progress, it is the rich variety of coral reefs and fishes (and of course, some really cool wrecks) that attracted the tourists and divers around the world to Tioman Island. WWF ran 2 articles on concern on Tioman Island's projects on 2004:
1. Controversial marina project threatens Malaysia's Pulau Tioman Marine Park
2. WWF-Malaysia Position Statement on Proposed Airport And Marina Projects In Pulau Tioman

and so did CDNN Eco News:

It is useless trying to attract tourists by making the island a tax-free heaven if the constructions are still going on and the marine life are being threaten or destroyed. Tioman needs help! And it needs it fast!

It was May, and it is almost a crime to not visit the one of islands of East Coast Malaysia. This is the best time of the year to enjoy the sunny beach and calm South China Sea.

We've been talking about this trip since Feb and I really can't wait anymore. Arriving the island on 25th May (Friday), I was put off by the throng of tourists (and almost all are Malaysian Chinese, go figure) on the Pasir Panjang but hey, I couldn't care less as long as I can get my diving doses.

I've visited Redang Island once 1.5 years ago and was staying at Berjaya Beach Resort, which is very nice but secluded in its own lagoon. This time around, we will be staying at the ever popular and crowded Pasir Panjng (pic) for a change... (read more)

See mome photos (mostly underwater) here: http://travelgaia.com/gallery/redang_2007/

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It was after our first dive at Mak Cantik that the dive master Jan Shir was asking, "Do you guys wanna see something different?" and let us think about it during the surface interval. The 'different' site is called just 'Sandy Bottom' (and I heard the divemaster calling it 'Twilight Zone' but I might be wrong) and there will be no corals and no big fishes, but he guarantees we will be seeing something different. Even though Redang is not known for great muck diving site, Bill and me are all game and we want to see something different than the coral reefs.

We started to get prepared for this special dive after our lunch at Redang Pelangi. Our friend Gan didn't show up on time at the dive shop so after a bit of waiting and briefing we start our journey to the dive site. JanShir talked about the normal stuff but put emphasis on lost buddy as well as underwater navigation. In this type of terrain (Sandy Bottom) navigation can be assisted by observing the sand pattern, the current flow direction (coolness on the left side or right side, if any), and the sun orientation (sun over left shoulder or right shoulder). Well I was like, aye aye, and can't wait to get to the dive site. (More)

Expenses

Transnational Bus: RM60/pax for 2-way KL->KT, 33-seater, comfortable reclining seats. Do wear long shirts/pants or a jacket as the night journey can be very cold as the aircon is quite strong. It is recommended to buy bus tickets (2ways) few weeks ahead at Putra Bus Station.

KL->KT: We bought the night bus on Thursday night 11pm and bus arrived at KT on 5:30am. 1 stop at Chenor.

KT->KL: Sunday 2pm starts but the bus was damn slow and arriving at Putra Station, KL at 10pm. 2 stops, one at Chenor and another at Termerloh R&R.

Redang Holiday 2D1N Package: RM180/pax (including 2-way boat transfer from Merang<->Redang Island). 2 Stars.

Redang Pelangi 2D1N Package: RM120/pax. 2 Stars.

Taxi from KT -> Merang: RM40/car (i.e. RM10/pax)

Bus ride from Merang -> KT: RM10/pax (see item#1 below)

Diving package @ Redang Pelangi: RM200 for 3 dives. Normal pricing is RM50/dive w/o equipment rental. Equipment rental is RM25/dive, and flat rate RM50 for 2 or more dives. Nice people here (our dive master is Jan Shir).

Total Cost for the trip: ~RM600, which I think is pretty reasonable considering this is the super peak season (starting of school holiday and at weekend). A few other friends booked Laguna Redang Resort and that set them back almost the same amount like us, but they were snorkelling package (3 snorkelling trips) while ours included 3 dives and we sneaked in a snorkelling trip as well. Of course, Laguna is more luxurious.

General Information 

1: if you don't have pre-arrangement (well, just like us :p), just go to the end of the Merang Jeti area where you can spot many tour buses stopping on roadside waiting for pre-booking clients. The drivers mostly will be having tea and 'lepak' at the gerai there. Approach any of them for a bus ride back to KT, it should set you back for RM10/person.

2. Most of the Redang resorts offer 3D2N package, which includes all the 3 meals plus a tea break, 2-3 snorkelling trips and 2-way boat transfers (Merang <-> Redang). Snorkelling gear rental normally is not included in the package price and it ranges from RM20-30 per set. Fin is not recommended to be used especially for shore snorkellings to avoid damage to the coral reef. There is no discount to the package price even if you opt to not go for the snorkelling trips (well you will save the equipment rental cost, of course). Most tourists have booked tour package before coming to Redang. 4 of us probably were the only ones that didn't have any packages and do walk-in.

Just want to post the link of photos from my Sapa trip early May 2007. Sapa is a small town in northern Vietnam, ~8hrs train ride from Hanoi. The attraction here is the ethnic minority groups (H'mong, Dzao, Red H'mong, Flower H'mong etc) and the trekkings to the villages. 

Photos are here: 

http://travelgaia.com/gallery/Sapa/

Will update this again once I am back from Redang Island trip (11pm tonight!)

Had a very short trip - 5 hours including the driving time - with Hiu to Sekinchang, a small fishing village just about 20km away from Kuala Selangor. Sekinchang is renowned for its fishing village and padi fields, and the sole purpose of our trip here is - what else? - to capture some photos during the dawn. It is always pleasing to be able to get out of town and breath some fresher air, and better yet, I don't have to drive (Hiu is the driver for the trip)!!

A drive from Damansara to Sekinchang almost took us 2 hours on a Saturday afternoon. We went thru Damansara toll and then headed to Sungei Buluh and followed the Kuala Selangor sign board, and upon arriving K. Selangor, followed the Serbak Bernam direction for another 20km we arrived Sekinchang. It is impossible to miss - you will be seeing the seas of padi fields at the right side of the road while approaching the town center.

More photos from the trip is here: http://travelgaia.com/gallery/sekinchang/
 

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Yet another fashion show in mall, this time around at The Curve, themed 'Vivaciously Red'. It is kind of the 'in' thing to do now for the malls in town to have fashion show featuring the latest outfits from the tenants. To match the theme of the show, the walkway and some decoration rectangular window frames are in red colors. I was there for one show on Saturday (12th May), and stayed whole day on Sunday (13th May).

The shows include brand names like Uluwatu (didn't even know this has presence in Malaysia, saw tons of this shop in Bali), Elements, Key Ng, Calvin Klein Jeans, Schwarzkopf (hair salon) and some others that I can't recall. Most of the shows are quite short in duration, probably about 10mins only. The Fashion On 1 felt more classy than Vivaciously Red, but the Vivaciously Red allowed a close up photos on the models (at least on Saturday; Sunday was crowded and security chain was in place). Model wise, V.Red mostly were having locals while the Fashion On 1 has mostly non-locals. And this is my favorite model, she just has something that works for me: --->

Another revelation is actually the Canon 100mm F2.8 Macro. I switched from 70-200mm F4L to 100mm F2.8 on one instance and the photos came out from the 100mm, even at max aperture of F2.8, are really sharp -- probably too sharp for portraits, but it is really a pleasant surprise. Furthermore, I was able to use ISO400 while using the 100mm lens whereas the 70-200mm F4 required ISO800 to be bright enough.

More photos here: http://travelgaia.com/gallery/V/content/index.html

Well this is my first fashion show photos, and it happened at One Utama Shopping Complex New Wing. MS told me about this event few days back and I was thinking whether to go take some photos, but decided against it initially as I hated the always-packed car park during the weekend. While I was driving back home after the Saturday morning workout at Fitness First (The Curve), Tiew called and said he was at One Utama and asked me to join him. OK OK... so I made a U Turn at Taman Megah and zoomed back to OneU, and I am glad that I brought my camera gear along (it is almost always in my car!). I am happy that I went to there as I got another chance to practise the indoor shooting and to get familiar with the photographers crowd. In fact it was so fun that I went back again on the next day (Sunday).

The show starts hourly for about 10-15mins from 1pm (up to 8pm I think), showcasing fashions from different shops in 1U (Padini, Elle, Phemomenal, Island Shop etc), as well as eye wears (Better Vision, Focus Point).

Much more photos for the event: http://travelgaia.com/gallery/FashionOn1/

All of the photos taken were using Canon 70-200mm F4L in M mode, handheld, 1/200s, with 430EX and mostly ISO800 (only a few taken at ISO400 and they were a bit underexposed). F-stop ranging from F4-7.1, but mainly F5.6 and F6.3. I was tempted to use F4.0 more but last week's bad experience (i.e. relatively unsharp photos at F4.0) at Sepang F1 track made me think twice. Well to be fair to the lens (and to me), I have a couple of fashion show photos that are tack sharp at F4.

The event continues to next weekend actually, so for those of you that want to see the fashion show, head to 1U on 21st and 22nd Apr'07!

Alonso's 2 Thumbs Up - Catch me if you can	Denso's Lucy-Liu Look-alike

My buddy Hiu got 2 Mall Area tickets at Ruby section for RM150 each on Saturday and off we went to F1 Sepang just before 2:30pm. The qualifying was already going on since 2pm and we managed to catch the actions of the 2nd half of the hour. We were happy to see Massa grabbed the pole position, trailed by Alonso, Raikkonen and Hamilton, and thought Ferrari will have a great Sunday. How wrong can we be!

F1 Sepang 2007 Photos (included some Miss F1 photos took place on 5th Apr at Berjaya Times Square):
http://travelgaia.com/gallery/F1_LR/
 

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I joined the company treasure hunt with 3 other guys (Gan, CW, KP), it was a no-brainer decision as it costs only RM50/person for the event, which includes the treasure hunt (from PJ to Simpang Pulai R&R Area), a night at Equatorial Cameron Highlands (twin sharing), a dinner and a breakfast. It was my car again for the trip. I've just done the 20k km service and changed the 2 rear tyres 2 days ago (costs me RM1140 ) as both tyres are getting 'botak'.

More photos from Cameron Highlands: http://travelgaia.com/gallery/Cameron/

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Breakdown of Cost of the trip: (I've wanted to do this for all my trips but laziness managed to fail me everytime. I am gonna pick up the slack from now on and get my act together... I hope!)

• Petrol: ~RM150 (from Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Besut and back)

• Toll : ~RM40 (Genting Toll, Kuantan Highway Toll)

• Overnight at Dungun (Mayang Resort, 5km from UITM): RM140 for 2 rooms

• Kuala Besut Parking (3D2N, with cover): RM15

• Boat to Perhentian Island: RM60/person, 2 way.

• D'Ayumni House on Perhentian Besar: RM160/room for 2 nights - 2 double beds, aircond and shower but electricity runs only at night.

• Dive with Universal Diver: RM250 for 4 dives (I did 5, Hiu did 3, so all balanced out)

• A super-duper expensive dinner at the New Coconut Hut: RM107!

• And some drinks/breakfast/lunch at Nia Cafe: ~RM50-100 for 4 persons total

• A BBQ dinner by Universal Diver: Free (thanks guys)

That's about it. Averaged out about RM470/person for the whole trip - probably one of the cheapest trips that I've had! And we all have great fun! And lastly, borrowing a phrase from MasterCard,

A Dive Trip with a few buddies on Perhentian Island: Priceless.

More trip photos:

HTML: http://travelgaia.com/gallery/perhentian_html/
Flash: http://travelgaia.com/gallery/perhentian/

This is Ayumni, the cute little girl of D'Ayumni House ->