Nostalgia 2008

My friend, Marlina is going to Gua Tempurung next week. She asked me about it. I wrote about it in my old personal blog, and lucky i still have the archive... So, here u go. Enjoy!

Strenuous & Challenging - Gua Tempurung in memory

Its 8.03am Monday morning. the memories is still fresh in my mind. I am missing the moments so much. here's the story.

my Saturday starts as early as 5am. as AjK memasak, i need to prepare sandwich and cekodok. Mak helped me out. i love MAK!! Around 6.30am, all is complete. so, i rushed upstairs to get ready. around 7am, i am out from the house.

at 7.30am, everyone has gathered and off we go. i thot of asking Irfan to drive, but he said he is not ready. ;( cait! then, in the car, he broke the news that he woke up late and thus is feeling a bit blur on everything. haha. apa lah. we made a stop at Juru to pick up Nando and Ruby. then around 8am, off we go! Base on my F1 driving skill (ecewah), we reached Gua Tempurung around 10am. The first impression is some sort similar of Bukit Larut. without hesitation, led by BB fazz, we found our tour guide and heads in.

our guide, zairul, is a bit strange to me. sometimes he talk to himself (complain about something), he got a poker face and also moves like lipas kudung(very impressive). Once we enter, the first thing, we need to do is wade thru water. We all loved it! The water is very cool and clear as well. Let me keep the journey short as pics speak a 1000 words. i dun have the pic yet, but will post it once i have it yeah.

along the way, bb emme and my shoe's tapak started to peel off. haha. (we bought the same shoe just a few days before, its cheap(Rm25) and made of rubber) . lucky, we have bb zleenz who brought rubber band(along with benang, jarum etc-what a preparation). once fix, the shoe is as good as new. =P

before we went, i've heard fiza's stories on the sliding and lubang jamban thing. the sliding sounds horrorful. we need to wait a few metres a way when another group is doing it. we can hear screams, claps and laughter. its a scary wait i tell you. when it is our turn, it does looks scary. people keep telling me its 90degrees turn. but NO it is not. its a bit slanting. our group is matched with a primary school scouts group. and we need to let them go first. so, while helping the kids, i guess my tremor is uplifted little by little. =) and my slide goes well. yeay!
next was lubang jamban. being tall, its actually quite easy for me. YAB rash stayed to grab our legs and ensure our safety. BRAVO YAB rash!

the most impressive and best momemts is when we need to climb the stairs up to the peak. i thank my gym days as i managed to pull myself thru.yeay!the step down have a very magnifcent + awesome + fantastic + fantasyical view. its like walking in a mystic forest in one of the lord of the rings movies. or like walking under the sea passing by a wrecked pirate ship. seriously!!!

the walk out is relaxing. we made a few stops for photos. and lastlyyyyyyyy... before the exit, we stopped at a pool and have our last berendam session.

i think its about 3pm when we walked out. mandi, tukar baju, solat, makan beger, makan jagung and then heads off to our camp.

part 2- to be continue...........................

more pixxie

as promised. here u go.

Part 2 – Camping and Berendam.

Erm. I wonder if anybody took the sungai pic? I am regretting that I don’t take the pic now. ;(

So, once we reached the camp site, we started to unpack and choose our tents. There’s a bit confusion at start on which tent shud be given to gals n guys. =P in the end, gals take the exact opposite tent.

Once settled, we had a quick tea break before we head off for a volleyball match, as what BB zleenz dreamt. The fitnessfirst team vs the nonfitness, and guess what, we lost all the 3 games. Hahahahahaha. Oh well, being fit does not mean u are great at volleyball. =P although, we do have historical moments when Bulat did some cool shots!

Once done with games, off we head to the sungai! It’s a very wide one with strong cool currents. Gals choose the front spot while guys heads off to the back. I think its about 7pm when we came up and took another bath at the shower. It brings back memory of hostel life, mandi kolah! Once prim and proper we head to a pondok cum surau and solat berjemaah with Bulat as imam. Due to a big group, we need to split into two, and the next one is with Johnny as imam.

Before heading off to dinner, we calibrate on the night activity and all agreed to have a game. Ape ntah nama game tu yg org buat aksi lepas tu kita teka apa benda yg digambarkan. Hikhik.
Dinner was ayam masak kurma and sayur kacang panjang. Then, came a few rangers(I think). They brought durian and horror stories. Hahaha. Only half of the group stayed for the stories while the rest heads off to pondok waiting for the game to start.

Sessi game lasted for hrs, we try not too laugh too hard as its already late nite(~10pm). Kuakuakua. The highlighted moments is when the other group wanted to kenakan Johnny by giving him the song entitled “Sexy Notty Bitch”. He tried hard to portray a bitchy character but we only get to guess the Sexy word. =P Around 11pm, me and Melly already sleepy. So off we went to bed while the rest continue the game.

Part 3 – Durian Durian…coming up.

Part 3 – Durian Durian…- FINALE

Woke up at 6am for Subuh berjemaah. Again we split into two groups with the two identified imams. Once done, we head off to pondok only to found that banyak gileeeeeeeer durian luruh malam tadi. Oh, did I forget to mention that our camp is in dusun durian? It’s a bit scary also as takut durian jatuh atas kepala. Tapi Alhamdulillah, none of that happen.

So, here we are at 7am in the morning, makan durian! Never in history of my life. But BB zleenz was sure happy as can be for she is the Queen of the King of fruits. =P

Lepas makan durian, sessi seterusnya ialah makan bihun dan cok keria. The hospitality showed by Atok and family warmed our heart. Esp the 3 kids, amin, ayap and ayi. So cute, chubby and good kids, although hyperactive of coz.

Lepas makan bihun, lepak2 jap…then apa lagiiii…..mandi sungaiiiiiiiii! This time around, the guys showed us their secret spot and findings. It turns out; their sport is waaay great as got pasir2, so tak le sakit kaki… then, ada satu kayu ni..bila kita bergayut and let ourself loose with the current, wahhhh…the feeling is so awesome! Best best. lepas tu main splash2 air…and tuju batu kat kayu. Best betul rasa cam budak2.

Then, mandi, lepak2 jap, packing, makan nasi n lauk gulai, and off we go after bersalam2 dgn Atok and family. The next stop is Taiping rumah kak ilah. Once we enter Taiping, it brings back memory of Trip Taiping. Hmmm…really nostalgic. I think Taiping is going to be on of the place in my heart. Its really a calm and serene city. Macam biasa, hujan turun dgn lebatnye di Taiping. Dan, sajian dirumah kak ilah ialah pulut dan durian! Dan mencatat sejarah sebagai hari paling banyak makan durian dalam hidupku. 2 times tambah pulut and countless biji durian, we are done. Sambil lepak2, kami main dgn udang peliharaan family kak ilah. Sorry yeah. Me too bz forget to take pics. Dalam kul 4.30pm, we depart off.

Dan kenangan ini akan terus terpahat disanubariku. =)

Jakarta..... recap

Accomodation.

• I strongly recommend Hotel Ibis or any Hotel around this area. It is a really strategic place. Here is my own version of Google Map. :P All of this place is walking distance.
  When booking online, make sure you print everything that was emailed to you. Just like our case, miscommunications happens.
  
  

Transportation

• If you can, avoid taking flights with arrival at peak time, which is after 4pm, as the traffic is normally bad a.k.a macet.
• From Airport to our destination, we took Avanza from the SilverBird counter, you can see it before you exit the Arrival Gate. It is at fix rate which is IDR 150k. On the way back, we took Blue Bird taxi which cost IDR 106.6. It really depends on the traffic to determine which options is better. The fix rate is not that expensive anyway. Not to mentioned, it might be quite tricky to get BlueBird taxi upon arrival.

Food

• Gudeg Jogya, D'cost, Steak Abuba, Natrabu, the foodcourt at Tanah Abang & Thamrin City & many more! All at affordable price.
• The best Jus Apolkat is the one at Jaya Agung. However, i have to warn you that Jaya Agung is an open eatery. Thus, there will be street performers or beggars. You need to give some money to ensure they move on. However, the more you give, the more will come. ;(

Shopping

• USD is not accepted at most money changer, especially not those old serial number or notes that looks old/folded. So, make sure you have IDR. You can also bring extra RM & exchange it incase you overshoot ur budget. ;P
• Most shops at Tanah Abang/Thamrin City open at 9/10am and close at 4/5pm. If you have the time, go visit both!

Tanah Abang

Thamrin City

Flights

• The departure gate is quite far from check in. So, make sure you go in early as it will be hard to attempt any amazing race here.

I guess that's all.

Will i go to Jakarta for the 3rd time? YES. :P

But before the 3rd visit to Jakarta, i hope to go Bandung. Hihi. After Korea, of course.

Steak Abuba

Next to Thamrin City is Grand Indonesia. Next to Grand Indonesia is Plaza Indonesia.

Ada sales....

My colleague recommended Sour Sally, so we tried it. It is really SOUR.

Price.....

Checking the currency exchange....

Muka bahagia....

Up close and personal

That night we had dinner at Steak Abuba...just around our hotel.

As usual, Jus Apolkat! Review on this place: Really recommended!

Dessert must have!

Muka bahagia sekali lagi. :P

Thamrin City

This is Thamrin City. Thanks to Aini for recommending us to visit it. I thought there is only Tanah Abang in Jakarta. ;P Of course, there is also Mangga Dua, but they don't really have as wide variety of Muslimah clothing there. Anyway, i felt that Thamrin City offered cheaper price. And somehow, i can find most of the clothes that i look for here. Probably it's just luck or maybe Tanah Abang is quite crowded with so many levels, that we did not get to see all. Oh well...whatever it is, i am loving Thamrin City. :P

It also have a nice food court. The price range is also cheaper than Tanah Abang.

Our choice




One word. Manissssssssssss.

Baso.


Posing time.

After that, we went shopping. But, i am so busy shopping that i don't take any pictures. :P

Another plus point for Thamrin City is this restaurant called D'Cost. Aligned with it's name, it is really cost savvy.

Gurame Masak Pedas


Sotong Goreng Tepung.
Maaf. dah makan baru tangkap gambar. :P



Kacang Panjang...
Juga sudah masuk perut.



Tauhu.
Juga sudah masuk perut.


The menu.... murah murah....

The proof.

Bukti kelazatan....

The bill for 4 persons.

Murah murah.

:P

Group photo. <3>