Dari Malaysia ke Beirut, Lebanon

Hari pertama penerbangan dari KL terus ke Amman Jordan yang telah mengambil masa hampir 12 jam. Bertolak pada jam 10 malam waktu KL dan tiba di Amman jam 5.30 pagi waktu Amman. Setibanya di Amman, kami terus transit ke Beirut Int Airport dan mengambil masa hanya sejam.

Kami terus dibawa ke Deir El-Qamar dimana kami dapat ziarah istana Emir Bechir Chehab II. Lokasi yang berbukit bukau ini menempatkan masyarakat majmuk yang terdiri daripada masyarakat Muslim Sunni, Syiah dan Kristian. Kelihatan juga beberapa bangunan yang merupakan bekas peninggalan perang Lebanon Israel tahun 90-an. Kami dibawa ke gerai buah-buahan. 1 kilo anggur harganya hanya USD 1, bersamaan RM3 sahaja!

Selesai ziarah di Deir El-Qamar, kami terus dibawa ke bandar Beirut untuk check in di Hotel Napoleon sebelum makan malam di situ.

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Vacation: Kota Kinabalu Sabah, 3rd day

3rd day at Sabah.

After looking at several Mount Kinabalu packages, we manage to charter a mini bus that can fit 18 adults for only RM750 (8 hours including the tour guide). We did had several options such as a Totoya Hiace van that cost us RM400 per van. Or a bigger can like Nissan Urvan which cost RM700. The trip to Mount Kinabali will take about 2 to 3 hours so we decided to have the minibus, which was more comfortable since all of us were 11 adults, 2 children and 4 infants.

On the way to Mount Kinabalu, we stopped at Nabalu market to buy souviniors gift such as shirts, fridge magnets and key chains. We need to bargain to get good price and there are penty of choices for shirts compared to the Philiphines Markets. The price was a little bit higher compared to the Philiphines Markets.

hot spring, Mount Kinabalu

Nabalu Market

Canopy Walk entrance

not for the faint hearted

call this number for the minibus or other transportation at Sabah

the minibus that fits them all

We had our lunch at Sri Papar Restaurant, a Muslim own restaurant before making to the Hot Spring. The canopy walk and waterfall is located at the Hot Spring and it cost RM3 for locals to enter the place. The canopy walk was a 150 meter 'sky bridge' hanging from trees to trees and about more than 100 m in height. The canopy walk are not suitable for individuals with high blood pressure or heart attack.

Finally we went to Mount Kinabalu. We didn't actually go to the top but only at the bottom where there's an informative center on Mount Kinabalu. The scenerey was beautiful and thats why people would say, if you didn't visit the Mount Kinabalu, means you had never been to Sabah.

Muhammad bin Kamarulazizi

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Vacation: Kota Kinabalu Sabah, 2nd day

Second day at Sabah.

We went to the jetty next to Pasar Filipin (Philippines Market) and a local guy approach us and offer us a package to the islands. We had options from the van driver and brochures from the airport for the islands package. We decided to take the package offered by the local guys since the way he deals with us is quite convincing. The price wa good, RM40 per person including trips to any two islands, snorkelling set. with life jacket.

Previously I did survey a few packages during the Matta Fair and the cost perperson for trip to the islands are mostly RM100 - RM200. But some of the packages includes barbeque. For us it would better to bring our own foods and two dozens of mineral water and just pay RM40 per person for the trip to two islands.

the boat can fit 11 adults

crystal clear

everyone on board!

feeding the fish

We snorkeled at Mamutik Island. The blue sea and corals were beautiful! We even bought bread to feed the fish. There were no signage stating don't feed the fish at Mamutik Island so it didn't stop us to feed the fishes except for Manukan Island that people are not allowed to feed the fish. We stayed at the island from 10am till 2pm before hopping to Manukan Island for another hour just for photo shoots. We went back to the mainland luckily it started to rain just after we reach the hotel.

Muhammad bin Kamarulazizi

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Vacation: Kota Kinabalu Sabah, 1st day

My first time to Kota Kinabalu with my family and friends. About 11 adults, 2 children and 4 babies (5 family and 1 bachelor). Kota Kinabalu was our getaway after deciding from a few options on where to travel. The estimate cost to travel to Kota Kinabalu (flight and hotel only) for 2 adults and 1 baby is around RM700. Flights as usual we took Air Asia and for the accommodation we booked Cititel Express which cost us RM109 per night for a twin room (queen bed). Other expenses includes transportation, daily meals and shopping! Overall the total cost was around RM2000, depend on what you spend for shopping.

neat room

with LCD TV

The first day we reach Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) noon around 1pm. We chartered two 10 seater van (Hiace and Preggio) to send us to the hotel. It cost us RM50 per van which was quite ok for us. The van is available at the airport. We reached Cititel Express in half hour time and immediately check in. The hotel was nice and clean. But the room was so small, that can only fit a queen bed without any refrigerator. The bathroom was clean. Hot and cold water were available just next to the lift outside the room.

After check in, all the wives stayed at the hotel to clean up and prepare milks for the babies while the men went out to search for suitable places for dining and ground trip. We had agreed for the second day to go for the island trip to Pulau Manukan dan Mamutik. I'll share on the package that we had for the island trip on my next post.

seaweeds, yummy!

various types of seafood to choose for

the seafood stall

the seafood stall is on the right and the drink stall is on the left

For dinner, we went to the night market, just next to the Philippines Market. The night markets open at 4.30pm. We were looking for seafood off course! There's so many option and with about 10 stalls selling seafood. We had dinner at one of the stalls which looks clean and tempting. We took grouper fish (ikan kerapu), Jenahak, 2 sets of prawns, 2 sets of squids and seaweeds. It cost us RM129 which is quite reasonable for dinner for 11 adults!

We as tourist need to know, the seafood can be considered as cheap, but the drinks at the seafood stall are quite expensive. But we had options, just next to the seafood stall, you can get many types of drinks which are at the normal price. Ice blended juice fruit might only cost RM2.50 and teh tarik around RM1.50. So get your drinks at the opposite stall and its ok to bring the drinks together for dinner. If you would like to try the drinks at the seafood stall, it will cost you like RM5 and above for every drink even if you're only taking coca cola! And remember, when ever you're choosing the seafood, try to bargain for the price. Normally a lobster or big prawn may cost you RM35, but you can get it for RM15 if you're good in bargaining. Make sure you check the price before paying for the foods.

End of day one.

p/s You can contact Sadat (019-860 0204) to arrange for the transportation from the airport to the hotel. He can help arrange for tours as well.

Muhammad bin Kamarulazizi

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Tips for having a Good Vacation

Tips percutian sebelum menaiki kapal terbang

1- chewing gum
bawa sekali chewing gum dalam kapal terbang. Dengan mengunyah chewing gum, dapat mengelak dari mulut kering dan dahaga.

chwing gum yang mesti ada

2- bawak porch bag atau beg kecil
untuk melepasi bahagian check in atau imigresen di lapangan terbang, segala barang dalam poket perlu dikeluarkan. Adalah lebih baik sekiranya semua barang di dalam poket seperti kunci, duit syiling, telefon bimbit di simpan di dalam porch bag. Passport dan boarding pass juga boleh disimpan dalam porch bag.

membaca di dalam penerbangan

3- bawa bahan bacaan
Bahan bacaan seperti buku motivasi, novel atau majalah dapat dibaca semasa dalam kapal terbang. Penerbangan yang lama agak membosankan dan sebaiknya jika dapat diisi dengan membaca

4- mp3 atau ipod
Mp3 atau ipod juga berguna dengan "kill the time" semasa daam penerbangan. Mp3 ini boleh diisi dengan lagu-lagu kegemaran, ayat-ayat suci al-Quran atau ceramah-ceramah agama dan motivasi

5- kasut
Pastikan kasut yang dipakai adalah selesa seperti sandals atau lofer. Bagi saya, kasut sarung seperti lofer amat selesa kerana boleh ditanggalkan semasa dalam penerbangan

6- minyak wangi
Semasa berada di lapangan terbang, biasanya saya akan terus ke kedai bebas cukai yang menjual perfume, atau minyak wangi. Minyak wangi yang dibawa biasanya tidak boleh dibawa sebagai hand luggage. Oleh itu, di kedai minyak wangi bebas cukai, kita boleh sembur minyak wangi kegemaran menggunakan botol tester dibaju dan lengan.

7- air mineral dan makanan
Air mineral boleh dibeli di boarding area. Sebaiknya beli sebotol air mineral supaya dapat diminum semasa dalam kapal terbang. Bagi makanan pula, saya biasa bawa burger yang dibeli di McDonalds atau burger KFC dan disimpan di dalam porch bag. Setiap kali check in atau bahagian imigresen tidak membawa sebarang masalah untuk dibawa dalampenerbangan.

p/s tips ini hanyalah idea semata-mata dan mungkin tidak dapat diaplikasikan di semua penerbangan.

Muhammad bin Kamarulazizi

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My 1st Bali Trip Part II

Trip: 27 Feb - 2 March 2011

Location: Bali ( Denpasar - Kuta - Tanah Lot - Kintamani - Sanur - Jimbaran - Ulukatu )

Exchange Rate Currency: RM345 = IDR 1 Million

Accomodation: Holiday Villa Wina (RM150 perday, duluxe room)

Our 2nd day trip, we went to Kintamani to see the only volcano at Bali. On the way to the place, we stop by a coffee farm. It was a nice scenery uphill and we were offered to try taste a few hot drinks such as the ginger tea, ginger choc, Balinese coffee, lemon tea and plain chocolate. Its taste really good especially for the Balinese coffee. We also tried Luwak Coffee, which cost us IDR100k (RM35) per cup, but personally, I would prefer the Balinese coffee compared to the Luwak coffee.

from left, ginger tea, ginger choco, Balinese coffee, choco, and lemon tea

trying out Luwak coffee

What is Luwak Coffee? According to Wikipedia

Kopi luwak (Luak Coffee), or civet coffee, is one of the world's most expensive and low-production coffee. It is made from the beans of coffee berries which have been eaten by the Asian Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) and other related civets, then passed through its digestive tract. A civet eats the berries for their fleshy pulp. In its stomach, proteolytic enzymes seep into the beans, making shorter peptides and more free amino acids. Passing through a civet's intestines the beans are then defecated, keeping their shape. After gathering, thorough washing, sun drying, light roasting and brewing, these beans yield an aromatic coffee with much less bitterness, widely noted as the most expensive coffee in the world.

Its sound a little bit disgusting, but its one of the most expensie coffee in the world! We continued our trip to Kintamani to see the great view of the volcano. We had option either to have a buffet lunch that cost from IDR80k to IDR100k and one of the restaurant offered halal food. How do we know its halal? One is the halal logo from the Majlis Ulama Indonesia, and another one, normally a Muslim restaurant, they will have a Musollah (surau) in it as well.

paddy field (padi huma)

Batur Volcano view at Kintamani

Market at Ubud

Monkey Temple at Ulukatu

Then we went down to see the paddy field (padi huma) before arriving at Ubud. You can experience the kampung lifestyles at Ubud and many spa and massage packages there. We went to visit another pura (temple) which requires us to wear the sarong as if we need to 'tutup aurat'. Most of the places in Bali will have their god's statue, almost 90% of the place have statues.

Nasi Padang

From Ubud, we went down south to Ulukatu to visit the Monkey Temple. The Monkey Temple is on a cliff with a nice view of the ocean. We were lucky that most of our trip didn't rain and we had the opportunity to visit many places. On the way back to Denpasar, we went to have dinner at a Nasi Padang restaurant before going back to KL the next morning. The nasi padang is unique. They will serve you all the foods on the table, and they will charge you on food that you eat only.

Part I here

Muhammad bin Kamarulazizi

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My 1st Bali Trip

Trip: 27 Feb - 2 March 2011

Location: Bali ( Denpasar - Kuta - Tanah Lot - Kintamani - Sanur - Jimbaran - Ulukatu )

Exchange Rate Currency: RM345 = IDR 1 Million

Accomodation: Holiday Villa Wina (RM150 perday, duluxe room)

It was my first trip to Bali with some old friends. We did get some good offer from Air Asia as we had booked our ticket about last 3 month back. The tickets cost us RM285 return perperson including airport tax at the LCCT. We arrived at Ngurah Rai International Airport at 9pm and went straight to the hotel. One of the hotel staff had greeted us at the airport.

For accomodation, we manage to get a good offer from a friend who is working as the GM for Holiday Villa Wina at Kuta. RM150 for duluxe room perday including breakfast (buffet). And the good part was the meal at Holiday Villa Wina is certified Halal by Majlis Ulama Indonesia! So no problem to get food for breakfast as we had heavy breakfast each day before starting our trip.

at LCCT Airport

at Kuta Beach

floating temple at Tanah Lot

The 2nd day after breakfast we went to Kuta Beach. The wave was strong but not as strong as the one in Bondi Beach (Australia) but still ok for surfing. By comparing the beach in Kuta and in Batu Feringghi in Penang, I could say that the beach in Batu Feringghi Penang is better and cleaner. Only you can't get strong wave in Penang compared to Kuta Beach. One of the local people approach us and offered us to go surfing. They allowed us to rent their surf board which is IDR1.2 million (RM40) for 2 hours. I wish I could go surfing for the first time, but we already had plans to go to Tanah Lot and Jimbaran by today afternoon. After a while at the beach, we went back to the hotel to ride the free shuttle to Legion.

At Legion we went to get some souvenir like shirts, keychain and fridge magnet. Even the same thing, the price varies from IDR10k to IDR50k. So its better to survey and get the best price out of it. We manage to hire a supir (driver), Mas Choki. It cost about IDR400k including an MPV and petrol. It was quite a good bargain. The MPV was the Suzuki APV which is quite spacious and the driver was a Muslim. So we didn't had much problem on getting halal food over there. 

We started our jouney to Tanah Lot to visit the floating temple or the called it Pura (temple). It was quite unique as the temple is only reachable when the sea level is low. Then we went to Jimbaran to experience the sun set. We were thinking of having dinner at Jimbaran, but the food was too expensive to us. We realized that the place of meant for tourist, so we ask Mas Choki to get us to a local food stall. We arrived back at ur hotel at 9pm and rest for our next trip tomorrow to Kintamani.

Part II here.

Muhammad bin Kamarulazizi

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Work Trip To Bandung part 5

Final day, we went to Tangkuban Parahu, its a dead volcano and the only place in Indonesia where tourist are allowed to visit such place. The scenery was awesome! We went down to Kawah Domas to experience the hot spring and mud massage. It took about half and hour jungle tracking from the car park to the Kawah Domas. I bought the volcano mud and also sulfur and manage to bring it back to Malaysia without any problem at the airport custom!

can smell the sulfur

boiling spring water

mud massage

at the gate of Kawah Domas

arriving at Tangkuban Parahu

you can see the different after I 'boiled' my leg

tracking to Kawah Domas

Muhammad bin Kamarulazizi

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Work Trip To Bandung part 4

Our fourth day we had went to Nasi Bancakan for lunch. It looks like a kedai nasi kandar, but Indonesia style where you just need to pick any food you want. The food is unic where you can also get ox colon, those siput sedut which is quite different to the Malaysian one and many more.

Nasi Bancakan Restaurant

the siput sedut

honeydew, taste great!

plenty to choose

enjoying the meal

Muhammad bin Kamarulazizi

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