Tuesday 21 December 2010

Kebizian Bulan Terakhir 2010

November dan Disember saya sangat pack dgn aktiviti hujung minggu yang bertimpa2. Acara bercampur2 antara yang tak dapat dielak dan yang sendiri carik nahas hehe

16 Nov : Travel by KIA to Setiu for RayaHaji
17 Nov : 'IdulAdha - wholeday kt kg sampai malam
18 Nov : Flew over to KL for 4hrs transit before leaving for Krabi
21 Nov : Back in KL, ready for work until Fri
26 Nov : Travel by Myvi to Setiu with my siblings
27 Nov : My parents pindah, whole day event until semua pengsan
28 Nov : Drove back to KL
29 Nov : Rapunzel@WangsaWalk
03 Dis : Hannah caught tonsilitis, sleepless nights till next Tue
04 Dis : Aqiqah MatRayyan. Nursing Hannah. Skip CIL test
05 Dis : flat flat flat. domestic chores
07 Dis : We went somewhere but I forgot..urgh
11 Dis : CIL exam & re-sit test@UIAM
12 Dis : Putrajaya, YankeesHut@Bangi
13 Dis : Tugu Negara, KL Bird Park, Muzium Negara, Hosp. Selayang
14 Dis : School registration & fee
18 Dis : CIL@PJ, shopping-sis wedding@JlnTAR, TRON@WangsaWalk
19 Dis : Ping Pong coaching session@BNM, KL Tower, KLCC
21 Dis : Uptown DanauKota
23 Dis : Siti di Alam Fantasi@IB
25 Dis : Rumahku Sorgaku - psg frame & lampu
26 Dis : Final Piala Suzuki@BJ Stadium
27 Dis : SRAI SgChinChin - Jualan buku sekolah

Yet, we still owe the kids : Muzium Negara, Zoo Negara, Planetarium & Pusat Sains.

Die standing!!

Saturday 18 December 2010

Krab1 - The WhoWhatWhereWhen&How's

Krabi town itself has its own charm but Aonang town would be the best that Krab1 can offer. We didn't set our foot in Krabi town due to time contraint and traveller's review said it's ok to give it a pass. Still boleh pegi kalau larat nak pegi Tiger Temple, about 1200++ steps uphill !! Thanx, but no thanx...

[ TRANSPORT ]

Pesawat - AA op kos, the only direct flight KL-KBV. We bought at normal price coz the decision untuk berdating dibuat secara agak last menet. If you're alert enuff you can get as cheap as rm1 !! My colleague got hers@rm1 few weeks after mine, travel in May'11. Gitu kalu..1 kampung leh angkut kan ?

Bas - Kerana berdua2an, kami hanya backpack style. Almost all flights depart & land around the same time around 1- 2pm++, so the shuttle bus is scheduled to arrive and leave the airport based on flight schedule. 150B/person. Air-conditioned. Where : the moment you pass thru the Custom, u'll see the counter right in-front of you . Get the ticket & go find the bus outside of the entrance.


Terang2 counter Shuttle Bus lps Custom tuh.


Backpacking to Krabi in my CurveID :P

Going back to the airport is quite tricky if you want to use the bus. You MUST catch the bus according to its schedule attached together with ticket (see pic).


Tgk schedule kt kertas putih to know what time and where to catch the bus

Ticket can be bought from agent or just ask the hotel to arrange. We left the hotel around 9am, hubby dropped me at foodstalls. Dia pegi htr skuter and join me for b'fast. Just in time for the shuttle bus. Tpt kami makan ni mmg port shuttle bus berenti. Tapi end up lepak berjam2 kat airport. If you wanna spend more time in Aonang then opt for cab.


Tempat b'fast betul2 tmpt bus stop. They wait like 5-10min and leave on time so don't be late.

Masa lalu depan hotel tiba2 bas berenti lagi, rupa2nya hotel owner alerted the driver kata ada passanger nak naik. Dia berdiri tepi jln and bgtau kata kami dh ada kat atas bas...very the personal touch gituuu

Motorbike - if you're a biker, go rent cute scooter for 150B/day. Minimum petrol re-fuel 50B. They will keep your passport tho (klu x konfiden xyah la). Do wear your helmet, ramai tak pakai tapi nasib tak baik terbang 400-500B bagi kat abg polis. Ask the hotel whether it's safe or not to park overnight at their compound. My hotel no issue sbb park betul2 depan counter which is open 27hrs. Where : Aku rekomen tempat ni.


Towards beach, on your right. Near Irish bar sumthing


Helmet kura2ku yg jatuh gedebuk atas jln sbb clip longgar

Tut-tut motor- klu kaki dh cramp or terlebih shopping x larat nk balik hotel, leh la bayar tut-tut motosikal utk 20B/head. Leh naik 4 org saiz sederhana sebenarnya. Ada yg dah di'pimp'kan dgn speaker & lampu liplap bagai. Tak snap plak gambornya. Where : Everywhere

Tut-tut van - ni yang ala2 original version. Leh naik kalau nak gi Krab1 town. tambang tak sure la plak.

Taxi - dari airport they will charge you 500-800B/cab. Klu maleh nak tunggu bus, leh la ambik cab nih.

Hotel-arranged shuttle - would be the least hassle option. Ada hotel bagi free, ada hotel charge. So lookaround for the best one

[ HOTEL ]

Tak terbilang banyaknya. Tinggal nak pilih yang ikut kemampuan $$$. Disebabkan kami plan to travel on budget. So we we decided to pick the best B&B in town, A0nang Goodwill Hotel. Based on TripAdvisor review, even cheap hotels are good & clean. We paid rm340++ for 4D3N, and that's during high season. Low season can go much2 lower. We booked via http://www.agoda.com/ sbb dia punya offer lower than what the hotel offered via direct email. Online always cheaper,right?

Hotel facilities ? More than enough. Bathtub, safebox, mini bar, daily free drinking water, free umbrella, mat & snorkel gear, books to read, free wi-fi in room. Standard hotel facilities for the price of B&B. Breakfast in hotel ? Not recommended.

Our hotel is quite far from the busy parts of A0nang. Not recommended if you have kids coz there's no lift!! The area's not stroller-friendly unless you push it on the road. Go get beachfront hotels, higher floors will definitely grant you the sunset view from your room balcony. And it's so much closer to reach when you have too many shopping bags to drag along !! Keyword : Low season, cheap hotel.

Or...............spend quite nights at Railey Bay [next trip yuhuuuu]. Go google. If I'm not mistaken, almost all hotels in Railey serve halal food as the operators are Muslim. Again, go during low season as it can cost you a bomb to stay there during peak. We cancelled our plan to stay there for 1 night coz it's rm300++/night

Aku browse Sawadee website utk tgk location, info & price. Dari sini ko leh bajet nak dok mana. Banyak lagi hotel yang tak listed kat situ, so Googlelah lagi kat mana2. Aku rekomen location yang in between WannasPlace & G0ldenBeachResort. Bazar & halal stalls, along the road dari Wannas tu sampai CliffBeach Resort...


From on our way to the beach. Happening sgt

[ FOOD ]

Aku rasa Malaysian always worry about food while travelling. Termasuklah moi. Now, what we learned is : try to find as many info as we can and just make do with what we can find over there. Tak matinya klu tak makan nasik hari-hari. Tapi klu gi Thai x mkn nasik mcm pelik la kan hehe.

Halaal food is in abundance over there but not in big restaurants. Adala a few halal seafood restaurants but based on review, it's not recommended, mahal & not that good. When I googled halal food aonang, results that popped up : in front of McD.


Tu dia THE famous McD. Gerai2 open for all day food galore


Closer look at it @ night

True enough...come makan time, we just stroll along the road for the best stalls. You think all Thais serve good Tomyam ? Trettttttt. WRONG. Go hunt for one that suits your tastebud. Nak jumpa yang sedap kena la makan banyak jenis & banyak tempat. burp! burp! burp! Tapi yang wajib makan adalah snacknya : [oily] pancake & fruitshake. Pancake tu mcm roti canai kita cuma dia ada byk filling. Korang tgklah sendiri varietynya.


Korang pilih je nak pancake apa, fruitshake apa. Rambang mata


The last dinner that we had, the best esp the s'berry fruitshake & tom yum gung


Siang mlm pancake, b'fast teh tarik delicious tp gelas ciput, so kna order 2 la

Setiap kali makan aku order pancake, always banana+choc sbb baca review, lain2 flavor nggak enak. Aku kan x adventurous bab makan.


The worst pineapple fried rice we ever tasted. Nasik goreng cina tambah nenas, aci ?


Fried seafood kat stall tepi2 pantai, best

Keyword utk food : Klu yang masak or pelayan pakai tudung, konpem halal.

[ TOUR PACKAGES ]

Always buy over there, cheaper and you can always bargain. Try to buy late at night for trip next day, you may get cheaper price. Since pakej skali ngan lunch, jgn lopa karakan kepada ejen itu mau lunch halaal. It's cheaper klu beli few packages in 1 shot tapi since we decided this would be a laid-back kinda trip, kitorang beli satu2 [end up mmg pegi 1 trip je]. Klu rasa larat, pegi, klu tak lepak jalan-jalan, makan-makan.

Yang standard/glamer adalah 4-islands, 5-island, PhiPhi island, Emerald pool, Kayak and Elephant ride. Rambang mata nak pilih, so go with the flow. Attractions sangaaaaaaaaaaaaaatla banyak. Pandai2la buat pilihan ye. Jangan terkonpius pulak. Depa ni sat pakai nama Thai sat pakai nama Inggerish padahal tempat yg sama.

Kalau malas nak cari, soh je hotel arrangekan, harga beza tak byk pun cuma jgn lupa pesan pasal food tu.

[ PAKAIAN ]

Summer-themed dress code all the way, light & flowy dresses with flip-flop. Bikini jangan lopa :). Mataharinya sgt terik, sila pakai pengadang-matahari.

Thursday 16 December 2010

When There's No Kids, We Call It Honeymoon..

Mana : : Krab1,

Bila : : 18 - 21 Nov 2010

Siapa : : Berdua2an

Our trip started from kampung. On 2nd Raya Haji, my bro & mum sent us with 2 backpack to KT airport (the viewdeck was closed for viewing, new airport suda kaputkah ?). 1 thing we tried to avoid happened, Hannah & Adan followed us there. Aiyooo making it so hard to board the plane. Mula2 naik asik pandang bawah jek..


We landed at LCCTee almost the same time my mom sampai rumah. So fast gitu. We had long break there, hubby grabbed some breakfast and I got myself a huge sandwich from setar*buck for lunch. I didn't order any in-flight meal, hubby did so he just watched me gobbling down the yummy food.

Dont know due to what reason but we almost missed the flight. Huhu We passed thru the security when it's supposed to be boarding time. Fuhh...imagine us running thru all the way, thankGod there's autogate and we're done in seconds. We had about 5min before leaving the terminal. Good weather until we got closer, air turbulance...quite bad I would say, coz the plane was shaking a few times and seatbelt light was always on.


We safely landed in KBV, immediately took our transport to AoNang. Sila lihat bas di blakang incik Hazman, ala2 bas HBR Changlun-Sintok. Nasib kami kureng baik, masa menunggu, no aircond, bapak gila panasss... ketiak ku menangis


But then, all cured bila dapat sambutan manja cik gajah kat bilik. Gila manja towel ni pose, sayang rasa nak bukak. Kang ada aku mintak towel ekstra...namanya hotel Aonang G0odwill.


Sampai dah agak petang hari, pastu baru merayap and 1st thing we did was catching the sunset. It's a must. Since Thai is -1hr from KL, you have to be there around 6pm. Lucky we did it coz we didn't have another nice sunset view for the next few days.


Some shots taken that day. From Aonang beachfront. Takyah berebut spot sbb mmg sepanjang beachfront tu seshuai untuk pacak tripod masing2. Kalau pegi monsson season bersedia dgn raincoat sbb weather can change in a matter of seconds.


After sunset, hungry lash wei...hunted for the best thai food but our choices quite limited coz there's not so many good restaurant which are halal. Abundant of warung tho. Everyone said go find stalls in front of McD but we found NONE (2nd day baru perasan, seml m tu Raya ke-2, cuti maa) So just try your luck. Sebelum balik cari pakej for next day. Kalau malas suruh je hotel book. Decided not to do KohPhiPhi tour coz it seems like 'tiring'. You need fresh mood & body for honeymoon, if you know what I mean..4IslandTour (Poda, Tup, Chicken Islands + PhraNang) seems the best

The operator will pickup from hotel to waiting area = Aonang beachfront. Senang citer, everything happens at aonang beachfront. Here our boatmate Q-ing for our long-tail boat. Silalah bawak makanan ringan sendiri kerana bila dah main air, agak kebulur jugak nak tggu lunch. Mineral water provided

Why Krabi / Phuket attracted so many people ? They have a lot of these...small islands...pulau batu kapur yang berceracak sana sini with unique features. We do not have it here except in L'kawi.

Me posing while the boat stopped for more penompang at Railey Beach (another spot in Krabi apart from Aonang). for hustlebustle & nitelife = Aonang, for quite nite=Railey (pick westside for sunsetview)

Klu pegi jln berdua, susah yg amat nk bergambor. Malu la plak asik nak suruh org snap ekekeke aii nak pose ala selebriti pun x jadi tauu. End up ambik typical pose yg ala2 artis time depa buat keje x senonoh tapi x nak ngaku gambar sendiri. Hasilnya : berlambak shots yg nampak lengan sendiri bersama muka sendiri tapi saiz XXL.

Hensem boy with the boatman, Bik. Going to Koh Poda. Sila maklum, koh = fulau ye..

O H - M Y - G O D - S P E C T A C U L A R - A W E S O M E - V I E W

Mengabadikan selipar tulang ikan ku yg baru dibeli di bazar aonang :) tiba2 tingat kat cik ikan

Xtvt di sana ? Tido dalam pondok buloh (yang di charge 100B dang tourist trap) karna tiada perasaan mau mandi, sila lihat gambar atas...pulau & air superb tapiii pasirnya tidaklah ala2 white sandy beach...byk kotoran sama ranting pokok bagai. Sebab kami penah pegi beach yang nicer, maka rasa hilang semangat nak mandi disitu walopon mat saleh berebut2 nak jadik udang bakar di tepian pantai itu...

Next ? Snorkeling before the next islands. Hubby turun ambik syarat tapi apalah maknanya snorkeling untuk seorang diver kan? Eh..sape yang ambik gambar ni ? Dia tak turun snorkel sama ke ?

See, caya tak when I said pepasiran dia tak lawa. We stopped for lunch kat 3 small islands yg bercantum by beting pasir. When the water recedes around noon, all 3 are accessible on foot. Menu lunch = green chicken curry, telur dadar. Aku duduk & makan di atas tanah yang macam kat kampung, bukan pulau. Pasir kat sini much better than earlier, agak halus..bersih.

Awan itu memang begitu, bukan menggunakan sebarang tektik fotografi yg canggih manggih. Disclaimer : Awek bikini pink bukan aku

While waiting for the boat to leave, lepak di bawah teduhan pohon nan rimbun. nampak tak manusia berderet macam semuat di hujung sana..yee mereka sedang meng'cross' pulau ke pulau. Satu ke kiri, satu ke kanan. Yang kanan dah terang2 leh nampak beting timbul.


Rupanya pulau yang boleh cross tadi, klu kita pusing dgn bot..kat situ la ChickenIsland nye. Why Chicken ? Macam kapla ayam (more like turkey to me). Masa ni aku mcm dh x minat nak ambik gambar dah walopon ni salah 1 highlights of the package sbbnya mata aku dah focus katBik yang tgh potong al-nanasi yg very juicy...fresh fruits served on boat...nenas disana = must try hehe

Btw, on our way to the last stop, kitorang dh x larat duk dlm boat., pening + limited view nak snap gambar. Dengan brutalnya panjat bumbung boat. Berdua2an di atas bumbung itu adalah nikmat...masa ni patut pakai bikini, pastu rambut panjang gerbang2, pakai spek gucc1..wakaka terverangan hot babe la plak..

Last stop, PhraNangBay...some passengers opted to stay here for the sunset. So they have to pay another long-tail boat to return to AoNang. Here hubby pose dibawah stalaktaitmait segala.

Believe your eyes, this is another highlights of the package...some ritual dewadewi place kononnya got to do with fertility. Yang dah kawen sure dh dpt tangkap what all those batangs are...opps did i say batang ? Sorry, it's just a stick...j0ystick :P

Just when we were about to leave, our boatman called everyone to board as we have to race to the mainland. The weather suddenly changed from blue sky into this. Nasib la geng2 yg konon nak tunggu sunset tadi. Quite scary coz it came with lashing winds which created higher waves. We hit the shore in time when it started to drizzle. We have our waterproof pack (spot the yellow pack from few pix) to secure our stuffs (Must buy item, 10ltr pack for 320B, kat KL 5ltr selling more than rm70, same brand)

Itu sahaja acara siang, malamnya browsing the bazaar for souvenirs and stuffs. Not buying too much coz we have 2 more days to go. After the experience with island hopping we decided not to proceed with PhiPhi altogether. So day 3 : We rented a motorbike to venture around. Disini saya telah memaksa si dia pose kerana nak tunjukkan the sea & island in the morning. Tempat ni namanya NopparatTharaBeach. Worth going ? Mmm another NOPE, I would say but if you want to feel how it's like walking on a seabed then do come here later of the day when the water recedes.

Maka merempitlah kami ke sana kemari. Konon2 mencari monument tsunami hingga terjebak berpuluh2 km tapi patah balik sbb tempat yg nak pegi mcm x kunjung tiba. Signboard sana cuma ada arah sahaja takde berapa km nak bajet sampai ke destinasi. Kat sini memang muslim community ramai, kat bawah ni gambar pondok agama sebelah masjid, true sense of pondok

Klu tak kerana satelit dish yang terpacak sana sini, aku rasa macam kat Kelantan & Kedah daaa..makcik2 berkain batik bertudung bawal pakcik2 berserban putih berkain pelikat. Ada skalik kami nak mkn ketam goreng, duk sokseksoksek 'agak2 dia panaskan ke tak blabla'..tiba2 adik tu tanya, 'orang kedah ka?' Kehkehkeh, ghopanya depa duk L'kawi 15tahun, slang Kedah habihla, teruih makan disitu dgn konfidennya

Pasar malam kat area situ pun macam pasar malam kampung aku dulu2. Bleh beli food & makan dgn konfidennya. Lupa plak hari apa tapi few times a week la. Tapi bila adik kedai tu habaq kata takdak apa sgt pon kak, barang dapoq, makanan..lecak plak tu klu ujan. Hehe terus kensel...klu Dd mat saleh suka la kan nak tgk culture tapi aku gave it a passlah.

Mosques yg tersergam menyambut kedatangan korang di pekan AoNang, tak siap lg sbb it is built from donation. Aku sedikit hangin kat sana sbb rasa susah sgt nak ambik shot dicelah bedah wayar letrik yg berselirat sana sini. Kacau angle betulla..



Fenat & fanas sbb sampai sudah tak jumpa itu tsunami monument, kami patah balik ke AoNang dan bersedia untuk menjejak GastropodFossil. Sgt excited mengisi petrol kerana berdasarkan peta kelihatannya sedikit jauh. Lihat contoh signboard yg hanya tunjuk ' Sini ye cik....' or 'Sana ye bang..' tapi x mo bgtau how far would it be, kan dah membazir isi minyak lebih2 , x sampai 15min dh sampai pastu takde tempat sgt nak merayap nak ngabihkan minyak.

Disebabkan dah rempit ke sana sampai jatuh helmet kura2 pinkku ditengah jalan, we had no choice but to pay 200B/person to see this batu bata merekah !!



100% tourist trap unless you're geologist wannabe. At first we thought it's worth it coz there are stalls selling pearls and shell-crafts next to it until we found out that it's accessible without paying dang dang dang. 1 thing i loike, they captured & framed our pic taken at the entrance. Just like island hopping L'kawi or MakamMahsuri. Yang local tu ditepek on cheap white plastic plate while this one a nice solid wood frame goes at 120B.

When the water recedes, u can see a rock formation like kolam or ladam kuda. far far away at the back are the islands that we visited day before. Can see kepala ayam terjongos disitu.

Nilah dia motor kami nan cute, rented at 150B/day (operator will keep ur passport). Mulanya nak ambik yg pink super cute honda tapi kesian la cik abang macho ni hehe. Motor baru gila, meter = 0 km.

Merayap balik ke pekan Aonang, menyusuri pantai sebelah kiri pulak, nice resorts and spas. During off-peak season sure murah, I mean the hotels facing the sea. The spa & massage always cheap as low as 200B sahaja untuk 1hr punya massage. Klu verani sila ambik yg open view, ada langsir putih nipis ala dlm brochure, dimana semua org boleh melihat anda dilipat & diluku oleh masseur yg berunipom.

Nampak tak signboard Evacuation Route kat bawah ni, it's everywhere. I'm sure the world still remember the tsunami tragedy that hit Phuhet & Krabi very badly. They learned the lesson. They now have warning tower which will be activated to warn the people that there's a possibility of tsunami. Hotel kami safe route, bukan dalam laluan kejam si tsunami. Nanti dlm next entry ku tunjuk dimana tempatnya

It started to rain so we had to rush back to our hotel (alasan sebenarnya). Sebelum hari gelap, kami merempit lagi ke Nopparat sbb nak experience this

Walking on a seabed...all the way to the island shown in my earlier picture. About few hundred metres ahead. The beach is on the left side of this pic (below).

On our way back, I stumbled upon the tsunami monument which we failed to locate earlier. We passed thru it so many times without realising it's there. Behind the bushes, unkept, vandalised and abandoned. No more monument so don't go looking for it. The creator died recently. I'm a bit sad, but to locals , no used crying over sad episode. They're not very keen on the monument which was originally planned for PhiPhi.

The last sunset shot that I managed to get, as I said not a good weather, awan tebal mendung pasti mengecewakan kaki menembak. Right after this shot..hujaaann yg turun bagaikan mutiara...jadi 'terpaksa' lah aku pegi shopping lagi. Haha terpaksanyaaaaa

How it looks at night, the road leading to the beach. Full with restaurant, bar, roadside halal stalls and many more...this one was shot in front of McD, the best spot to hunt for halal delicious food. Wajib : Pancake and fruitshake. Tips: Test & trial. We only found the best tom yum gung and fruitshake on our last nite..cheh nyesal tak pick the stalls earlier..

Sebelum balik bilik beli tiket bas ke airport from travel kiosk. Balik bilik packing packing packing.

So no PhiPhi, no Koh Lanta, no Emerald Pool, no elephant riding, no kayaking, no Tiger Temple no Made in Krabi baby for us this time around.

Till then, KhapKhunKha/p Krabi...we may venture there again, with kids in tow and Railey would be the best bet.