Bits and Pieces of Life…

Was staying in Kemaman for one night after a day trip to Tasik Chini (~80km from Kuantan), in mid June 2010. Not much accommodation choices in Kemaman, with most of them along or near Jalan Sulamani. Learnt from the locals that there are a few food joints worth checking out. This is the first time that I really explore this town, the last few times were just bypassing it and didn’t give it wink.

First off, dinner at Tong Juan Restaurant, the shop that made ‘stuffed crab’ famous in Kamaman – many shops have since opened up to sell the same thing.

• Restaurant Name: Tong Juan Restaurant (东源酿蟹)
• Location: K117, Jalan Sulaimani, Kemaman, Terengganu, Malaysia.
• GPS: 4.231271, 103.428479

Tong Juan Restaurant - full house all the time!

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I haven’t learned about the GSM roaming availability onboard Airasia until I overheard the conversation between a cabin crew telling a passenger so. That was during my recent flight back from Ho Chi Minh City to Kuala Lumpur on 21 July 2010 evening. Curious (and bored), I switched my Nokia 5800 out of its offline mode (i.e. flight mode), and not before long, it connects to OnAir:

GSM Roaming in Airasia flight via OnAir service. It is total coincidence that the song I was listening to at that time was "Fly me to the moon". I was flying back to KL.

Tried sent a couple of sms’es and able to deliver, and able to receive incoming sms’es too. Did not have any noticeable lag. Did not try to call out though – pretty sure it will work, and more sure that it will cost me a bomb. No idea how much the outgoing sms will cost me, but there will be no charges for the incoming sms. No related mobile roaming information is found in the seat pocket.

Googling the OnAir service brings me to their homepage FAQ: http://www.onair.aero/faqs, which is an interesting read. Airasia is listed as one of its customers using the Mobile OnAir GSM roaming technology, where there is a picocell installed onboard for mobile phones’ radio interfacing, and then signals are routed to ground servers via satellite. There is also an onboard channel selector to prevent the mobile phones from connecting to the ground mobile networks directly. The Mobile OnAir supports only GSM/GPRS but not 3G – good enough for calls and sms’es, as well as basic internet browsing.

Cabin crew reminds that the mobile phones need to be turned off during take off and landing, so other than these periods, the mobile phones can be switched on and connected – as long as your mobile service operator has roaming deal with OnAir. Mine, Maxis, does.

The problem that might arise from this is the ignorant phone users that always speak loudly when on mobile phone, think China passengers, for example. That will be really irritating.

The OnAir has another service too: Internet OnAir – that works via RJ45 connection or Wifi. I didn’t try out the Wifi connectivity (because I didn’t even think about it at all then) but this just-posted Bernama article confirms that Airasia signs up only the Mobile OnAir service from OnAir. So probably no high speed internet browsing for now onboard Airasia, but I will find out soon enough during my next trip in August!

Well I have had some really bad dives that I wish I am back in the office...

Taking advantage of season-opening Early Bird Promotion (see another post here), I visited Redang Island again from 28~30 March 2009. No diving this time, only signing up for the standard 3D2N snorkeling package, but nevertheless as tired if not more.

Redang Island, a beautiful tropical island retreat, is located 45km off the coast of Terengganu state, about 400km from Kuala Lumpur. It can be reached either by air (http://www.airasia.com, http://www.malaysiaairlines.com) or by road. Either way, you will en route Kuala Terengganu, the state capital of Terengganu. Besides that. Berjaya Air operates Dash 7 flights directly touching down on the island from Subang Airport, Kuala Lumpur.

Sharing some of the transportation details from my March 2009 Redang 3D2N trip:

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Redang Holiday Beach Villa - Seaview Semi-D Bungalow

Visited Redang again last weekend, 28~30 March 2009 to be exact. No diving this time, just 3D2N snorkeling pacakge. This write up is not really about the trip as a whole, but just about the resort we were staying during the trip – Redang Holiday Beach Villa.

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First Ray of Light on St. John's Peak, Mt. Kinabalu

Date: Mid Oct 2005, 5:57am

Location: Summit of Mt. Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

The Story: 2nd time is much easier. I was not the first ones to reach the Summit of Mt. Kinabalu that day, but at least I have enough time to capture the moment of the ray of light hits the mountain. A few climbers already sitting down, chilling out (literally). The sun gets out from the thick clouds, paints the left side of St. John’s Peak with orange color. The magic moment is short-lived, though – the sky turns bright soon and before long, the orange color is gone, replaced by blinding glare.

Sipadan Island - Tiny but Famed

It’s been a while – 6 months to be exact – since I came back from my Sipadan trip, but it is just like yesterday, that I can still remember details of the trip. I had my best dives, not saying a lot as I have just over 50 in total, but the memories of this trip will not go away for a very long time. Because the trip is very special to me.

So, I am obligated to write down some notes about this trip, on one hand to record down my memories, but on the other hand promote our own little Malaysian islands – Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai – to the rest of the travelers and divers. Not that these famed islands still need any more promotion, though.

Some trip information for my 5D4N Sipadan trip last August (8/82008 ~ 12/8/2008):

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Great Barracuda, length of 1.5m or so

Date: 11th August, 2008; ~1pm

Location: one of Kapalai’s dive sites

Equipment: Canon Powershot A620 in Canon WP-DC90 waterproof housing, Inon Z240 single strobe

It was almost 50 minutes into our 2nd dive of the day, at Kapalai (near Sipadan, Sabah, Malaysia). 6 of us together with our dive master ascended to ~7m, getting ready to do the safety stop and call it an end to another great dive. Thus far, the dive is excellent – among other sightings, I saw my first ribbon eels – 2 adults in blue and yellow colors, and one pitch black juvenile. I spent quite some time with one of the adult ribbon eels, trying to get a good shot of it but not really successful. My buddy Bill was not helping at all in that regard, but that is another story.

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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…

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:

Government-backed marina project will destroy Malaysia's Tioman marine park

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. Read more…

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. Read 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.

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/
 

We took some photos in the padi field while waiting for the sun to go down. The rice is not riped yet and it is just endless sea of green. The cloud was quite thick and the metering is tricky due to the huge dynamic range. The 100mm F2.8 Macro lens, like usual, didn't disappoint. It is really a sweet lens to use but I just wish the autofocus is faster. We later went to the fishing village trying to catch some of the 'magic light' of the dawn. People here are very friendly and it is just having a very nice setting around the fishing village. Well the photos turn out to be pretty good in my opinion . We spent some time to walk around the village and take photos until it is too dark to do so. The return trip to Damansara tool only 1 hr and 15 mins but some stretches of the road were really dark. Overall a very enjoyable day trip and we had great time exploring this little town.

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

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 ->

It was a short 3D2N trip to Perhentian Island, and the journey was tough – we drove instead of taking flight, but the trip was fun and more importantly, quenched our thirst of diving. I’ve served my ‘surface time’ for over 4 months since last dive in Bali, I need some fix!

4 of us (Hiu, Bill, Kenny and myself) started off from Hiu’s house just over 10pm using this route:

KL -> Karak Highway -> Kuantan -> Dungun -> Kuala Terengganu -> Kuala Besut

This probably is not the closest road but the beach roads from Kuantan to Kuala Besut is straight and in good condition. We reached Dungun at 2:30am and stayed at Mayang Resort , which is just beside the beach road and situated about 5km from UITM Dungun.

The resort offers either rooms or one of the many houses (one house consists of 4 rooms, a living room and a bathroom). We rented 2 rooms in house#6 and cost us RM140 (including a simple Mee Goreng + coffee/tea breakfast). Rooms are equipped with air-con and 2 single beds. Some rooms having attached bathroom (master bedroom in the house), and some others will have to share another bathroom in the house. Overall the room is spacious and relatively clean, and we couldn’t complaint – it was already 2:30am and we desperately need a place to get some rest!

See More photos from the trip here: http://travelgaia.com/gallery/perhentian_html