VVorld of Travels, Environment, Photography

The Silver Pavillion (Ginkaku-ji - 銀閣寺) of Kyoto

2012-01-21T18:51:00.000+08:00

The Silver Pavilion or better known as Ginkaku-ji (銀閣寺) is a Zen temple in Kyoto built in the year 1490. It was founded by the 8th shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa. The structure's design was built to emulate the Golven Pavillion (Kinkaku-ji) but no real silver is used for the construction. Similar to Kinkaku-ji, Ginkaku-ji was also built as a place of rest and solitude for the Shogun.

In addition to the temple's famous building, the are was featured with wooded grounds sovered with mosses. The Japanese Zen garden was designed by a famous landscaper artist name Soami. The sand garden which will be shown below is one of the best feature of Ginkaku-ji.

Enjoy the photos below!!

The Sand Garden greeting its visitors

The Kogetsudai, carefully formed pile of sand which is said to symbolize Mount Fuji


A landscape shot of the Sand Zen Garden. I wonder what will happen if it rains...Click to enlarge

As we further enter, here we go, the Silver pavillion with shots from different point of view

View from the Top of the hill..

Perfect Reflection on the calm pond

Money were thrown into this pond. It is said that if your coin could land on top of the 'stone', you will be lucky

Memorable New Year Experience in Nara, Japan

2012-01-04T14:21:00.001+08:00

Happy New Year 2012 to every of my blog visitors! May you all have a wonderful year ahead!

To start off with the year 2012, I would like to share my memorable new year experience with Japanese tradition. Thanks to my best friend's invitation, I was able to welcome the new year 2012 in Nara, Japan at the cool relaxing countryside of Yoshino.

As an introduction, Japanese New Year or term as Shogatsu (正月) is one of the most important celebration in Japan. Before the Meiji Era, the New Year was celebrated on the same date as Lunar New Year but somehow after the Meiji restoration the date was shifted to Gregorian calendar. Please don't ask me why...hehe

New Year's Eve (Omisoka)

The New Year eve or omisoka (大晦日) is the 2nd most important day because, it is the last day of the year. During this time, I helped my friend's family in spring cleaning their home and also decorating their house.

First is the Kadoumatsu, which is to welcome the ancestral spirits or kami (God) of the harvest. They are placed after Christmas until January 7 (or January 15 during the Edo period) and are considered temporary housing (shintai) for the kami. Designs for kadomatsu vary depending on region but are typically made of pine, bamboo, and sometimes ume tree sprigs which represent longevity, prosperity and steadfastness, respectively. "The fundamental function of the New Year ceremonies is to honor and receive the toshigami (deity), who will then bring a bountiful harvest for farmers and bestow the ancestors' blessing on everyone." After January 15 (or in many instances the 19th) the kadomatsu is burned to appease the kami or toshigami and release them. (wikipedia, 2012)

the Kadoumatsu Bamboo decoration and a waving cat to welcome good luck is placed at the front entrance of their home

A special rope (shimenawa) is hung over the door to symbolize purity. The design of this rope is of shrimp.


Their shrine has been prepared with decorations of white cut paper and an arrangement of two flattened pounded-rice balls (big and small) (kagami mochi) stacked on each other topped with an orange and tangerine (citrus fruit has many sections - symbolizing many generations to the family). The mochi are placed on pure white paper and surrounded by objects with auspicious meanings for the family.

Japanese Sake filled with white paper

And finally up to the shrine. sorry there will not be any photos of family shrine due to privacy

My lunch after morning cleanup

the night reunion dinner. The dinner is custom wrap of temaki roll..you can mix anything with rice and wrap it. Enjoy it with sake or beer.

During the New Year's eve, there will also be an important program which starts at 7:30 pm when public broadcaster NHK airs Kōhaku Uta Gassen ("Red vs White singing contest"), one of the country's most-watched television programs. Popular singers (and singing groups) split into two teams, women in the red team and men in the white, which then alternate while competing for the audience's heart throughout the evening. At around 11:30 pm, the final singer (or group) sings, and the audience and a panel of judges are asked to cast their votes to decide which team sang better. The winning team gets a trophy and "the winners' flag." The program ends at about 11:45 pm. Programming then switches to coverage of midnight celebrations around the country. (Wikipedia, 2012)

Just before the midnight, we ate soba noodle which is the most popular since it symbolizes longevity

New Year 2012

And here's new year!! Finally....we woke up in the morning and greeted everyone Happy New Year in Japanese. Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu. Kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu. (明けましておめでとうございます、今年もよろしくお願いします）The meaning is....please google it. :P

For starters, we will start the day with Osechi Ryori ((御節料理 ) or short form Osechi (お節料理)This consists of boiled seaweed (昆布 konbu), fish cakes (蒲鉾 kamaboko), mashed sweet potato with chestnut (栗きんとん kurikinton), simmered burdock root (金平牛蒡 kinpira gobo), sweetened black soybeans (黒豆 kuromame) and fish eggs. Many of these dishes are sweet, sour, or dried, so they can keep without refrigeration—the culinary traditions date to a time before households had refrigerators, when most stores closed for the holidays. In other words the mother make osechi enough for 3 days so that she will never have to cook for 3 days aka holiday for her. (Wikipedia, 2012)

There are also many variations of osechi, and some foods eaten in one region are not eaten in other places (or are considered unfortunate or even banned) on New Year's Day. In this case, my kind of osechi is from Nara prefecture.

fish eggs!!! i have never seen so many eggs in such a big chunk before.

Osechi are kept in beautiful bento boxes

Happy Family of 3 Generations!That is my host family for the New Year and my best friend, is at the right most of the photo.

Red packet/Angpow anything you call it, it's called otoshidama-bukuro (お年玉袋) in Japanese.

I love the way we have our dinner. Inside a heater table at the guest hall. Great experience!!!

In the evening of the day we had hot pot or steamboat or Nabe in Japanese with other relatives and family members.


Surprise! I also got an 'angpow' from my friend's father. 本真にありがとうございます！

Thank you very much for the wonderful experience. I really hope to meet everyone again in Nara.
正月は本真にめっちゃ楽しかった！。皆元気でね！

Global Headquarters of Nissan Motor, Yokohama, Japan

2011-11-24T19:41:00.001+08:00

In the first week of my arrival in Yokohama, I managed to visit the Global Headquarters of Nissan Motor Company Limited. As a proud IPoS Alumni (Intensive Program on Sustainability) sponsored by Nissan Science Foundation, I was delighted to have visited the showroom/museum situated at the ground floor of the building.

For your information, the Nissan HQ is situated adjacent to the Yokohama Station and the entrance is free. As seen in the photo below, that huge building is their new HQ since the year 2010. That building is owned by Nissan itself...The older HQ in Tokyo was rent out to other company.

Global Headquarters of Nissan Motor Company Ltd

Let's get into the showroom for a hell of a car ride!!

Panoramic Overview of one section of the Showroom

2nd Generation Skyline GTR 2000, year 1973

Nissan Silvia, 1965

Nissan Fairlady Z, 1969

Nissan CIMA, 1988

Nissan Figaro, designed with retro purposes in the year 1991

Latest Pure Drive version, Nissan Fuga Hybrid

The hybrid engine of Nissan Fuuga Hybrid

Latest Nissan X-Trail

Introducing the latest ZERO 0 % Emission car, The Nissan Leaf. This car only uses battery which needs a special adapter to charge the car. And yes! but no..this car only moves by using electricity and no back-up fuel compartment. Well it really serve the purpose of zero emission and Yokohama Authority are slowly setting and planning for electrical charging station.

And that's my friend test driving the Nissan Leaf...it is a really really quiet car. Wondered when will it arrive in Malaysia?

Next is animation meets Nissan. Fancy Evangelion? Here's a similiar version of evangelion robot design into the Nissan Juke.

This anime is titled Rinne no Lagrange: Flower Declaration of Your Heart and it is set to premier in the year 2012, month of January. I guess this car design is to advertise and promote this upcoming anime.

Lagrange meets Nissan

Following Animation..here's the main dish of this post. Introducing the latest Nissan GTR

Latest Nissan GTR 2012

That's how you open the door of Nissan GTR

Cool Steering Wheel with full control of the dashboard at your fingertip

Gearbox system and the music player system

Surround sound system at the passenger's seating

Test driving the car..well how I wish I could though..

To end this posting, here's a collection of miniature nissan transport in the showroom

Hope you will enjoy this post!

Yummy!! Ramen Museum of Japan (Showa Era)

2011-11-20T01:07:00.001+08:00

Ohayou!Konnichiwa!Konbanha! Finally I am back again with a post from Japan. This time it is all about food..well about the national food of Japan, Ramen! To document further on ramen, I visited the Raumen Museum thanks to my two Japanese friend.

TheRamen (Raumen) Museum was first established in the year 1994 and thus was thefirst food amusement park in the world. Well not quite an amusement centrethough. Situatedat near the Shin-Yokohama station, the museum opens daily including nationalholidays in Japan starting from 11.00am until 10.00pm.

Beforeentering the museum, here’s a little known story about the ever popular raumendish in Yokohama. Raumen as a local dish was speedily popularized fromYokohama, Hakodate and Japan’s other port cities to every corner of Japan duringthe Taisho and Showa eras (mostly during the 20^th century.Subsequently, raumen restaurants reproduced some of the recipes from the bigport cities and eventually ‘experimented’ with new local tastes and identities.Thus every local boasts its own unique style of raumen and raumen became thenational food of Japan.

This is the entrance of the Ramen Museum

Zoom up green bowls of Ramen Museum

That's the ticket I bought which costs me 300 yen (approx. RM12.00) and it could be reused to enter the museum again on the same day itself

The museum is consists of two sections. One is the present and another one is.....at the basement.

SCROLL DOWN~~~~ and the photos willbe explained through caption.

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As soon as you enter the basement…….voila!!

The magical and nostalgic mood of the good old days of Showa33 (1958) was recreated for the visitors.

Even the skies have been modified to fit the evening mood. Remember this is at the basement.

The museum is not just about Ramen but also about Japanese culture on the whole.

That is the search and ~~destroy~~ found station whereby if you lose your belongings, you can claim it back there. Invalid in the museum itself.

Train ticketing booth showing all the stops (stations) and prices as well. That was in the 50s. Heck their technology is so advanced.

Along the 'street' some people were enjoying ramen

An old tobacco/cigarette shop

An old mail box in front of an old house.

Clothes hanging in the older times

A poster ad about white snow brand (Shirayuki (白雪））

At the public bath aka Sentou (銭湯). Public bath was(still) popular in Japanese because of lack of space at home for bathroom except for toilet.

Old locker at the public bath

Visitors buying some sweets

That's me as a proof of my visit to the Ramen Museum

Night clubs in the olden times. Well just the front part. It is not accessible actually

And this is School for Adult （oto na no gakkou) well not really though, it is actually a 'school' for Adults only...well you know with the red cloth hanging there..

On the left, that's the undergarments well in front of a prostitution center and on the right, is an entrance to a club

A Japanese small guardian post for praying

making a 'phonecall' in the old telephone booth

An old Japanese Police Outpost (Koban)

An old Coca Cola Drink dispenser, could be in the 70s perhaps. I don't think it is also from the 50s but this machine is still working and as you can see, they are selling a bottle of coca cola for 200 yen (RM8.00)

An old red scooter, not sure if it's still working? Brand looks like Suzuki?

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And now entering the Ramen shop section.

Basicallyraumen or ramen is all about the soup and topping recipes. Soup recipes rangesfrom miso soup, soya sauce soup as well as tonkotsu. Toppings usually involvehard-boiled eggs, pork, seaweed, chicken and so forth. In this museum there are9 kinds of famous recipes (or styles) to be chosen; Toride (Tokyo), Taiho (Kurume),Ideshoten (Wakayama), Ganjya (Saitama), Komurasaki (Kumamoto), Eki (Sapporo),Ryushanhai (Yamagata), Shinasobaya (Yokohama) and last but not leastNidaimegenkotsuya (Tokyo).

Mostof the ramen restaurants in the museum are long established institutions fromdifferent region of Japan. For example ‘Ryushanhai’ was run by the same familyfor three generations (50 years) in Yamagata prefecture. .

How do you feel when looking at this photo? These are all in the basement. To make this trip more interesting, it is highly recommendedthat you visit the museum with Yukata.

Panoramic View of the Ramen outlets around

That's my big (largest) Bowl of Tonkotsu ramen from Komurasaki. This bowl cost me 800 yen (Approx RM32.00)

And we finished the whole bowl CLEAN! That was sooo delicious! おいしかった！！

That's the end of the Showa Era section of Ramen (Raumen) Museum. I would like to thank my two friends (Ramen King and Ramen Queen) who have brought me to this wonderful museum.

(本当にありがとうございました！）

Singapore Day n Night Safari

2011-10-20T13:47:00.000+08:00

This post marks the 100th post of HCVVorld of Travels, Environment and Photography. This is also the very first posting on my first trip to Singapore for the first time since 25 years ago. As promised in the previous post, I am going to post about the Safari of Singapore or widely known as Singapore Zoo. The Singapore Zoo followed the trend of displaying animals in naturalistic, 'open' exhibits with hidden barriers, with or without moats, and glass between the animals and visitors.But what fascinates me is the night safari show emphasizing on environmental education. That will be explained and shown throughout this post. Enjoy the pics then.

For starters, the visitors were greeted by a family of cotton-top tamarins. These species` life span in captivity has been as high as 25 years whereas life span in the wild is about 13–16 years. According to sources in Wikipedia, the wild population is estimated at about 6000, with 2000 adults. This species is critically endangered, having lost more than three-quarters of its original habitat to deforestation.

Next, are the more common ones which are the hard talking lively parrots

Pointed Nose Croc with its mouth half opened.

awww...the family of beavers are still sleeping...soo cuteee.. but i got to see them awake during the night safari session.

And here, I got the chance to see the white tiger again but at a less closer range. For photos of WHITE TIGER CUBS in South Africa, please click here.

And say hie to the hippo. Really huge eyee it have.

Say hie to Pumbaa and its girlfriend. Wanna find out where is Timon? here it is.

Two pythons curling together. Never seen the texture color before.

Back into the wild from the down under in Australia, here comes the kangaroo. Well it took me about 15 mins to wait for any of the kangaroo to start hopping but nah..they became too lazy here.

And through this glass, we can see the digging activities of the squirrels. and of coz grooming..very cute indeed.

WILD CATS a cousin of the Leopard and Cheetah

The lion king of the jungle and its two wives. For more lions of South Africa, please click here.

At leat 100 years old tortoise from Galapagos island?

Zebras and giraffes are also part of the Singapore Zoo

and also an orang utan imported from the Borneo Island

Here is something which is not common to me. The Gila Monster. It sounds like a `crazy monster` to me in my national language in Malaysia. The ~~crazy~~ Gila Monster is a species of venomous lizard native to the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. A heavy, slow-moving lizard, up to 60 cm (2.0 ft) long. What the heck? A venomous lizard? sounds crazy to me.

Next is the close relative of the Gila Monster. That:s it..the Komodo Dragon. The K-Dragon is the lage species of monitor lizards found mainly in the Indonesian region

Upon the end of the day touring in the Safari, next is the night safari which was the main course of the day.

The night was started with fiery performance from fire stuntmen. The photo above shows a kid inserting fire rod into the mouth of the performer. That kid is actually a spectator but was cool and brave enough to join the performance.

On the left we can see that the beavers have awaken and started swimming around and on the right side is the mousedeer.

The final performance of the day is the performance by the animals of the zoo. Truthfully, I expected some stunt shows by the animals but to my surprise and yes to my liking, they produced a show based on environmental education. And in this photo, it shows a squirrel performed solid waste separation for recycling purposes. Such is really good towards education fellow spectators on the importance of 3R and solid waste management.

Well that`s all for now. Next post will be up again soon on Yokohama which will be my place of residence for 6 months.

Asahiyama Zoo, the No.1 Zoo in Japan

2011-09-13T23:11:00.000+08:00

I'm back!! With an outdated bang.. been busy with various stuff. While there are still plenty of trips to be covered and posted on my blog but I would like to share this 4 years old trip of mine to the most famous zoo in Japan. It's the Asahiyama zoo in Hokkaido. Famous for the great yet cute performance by the animals, the Asahiyama zoo recorded an average number of 300000 visitors per month.

That's the main entrance to the zoo..well that's me 4 years ago

There are plenty of dragonflies around and they will just perch on your fingers, hat, clothes etc. Cool isn't it?

you can see some cute signs for male and female toilet

As mentioned earlier, the animals are trained to 'perform' cute expressions. Well let's see whether they look cute or not..:D

That's the capybara!! The largest rodent on Earth but very tame and is a vegan (herbivore)

it's smiling because of good life and climate in Hokkaido..

An octopus in the glass captive

Sea lions trained to perform by swimming up and down the pool

Penguins are trained to pose for cameras and swim as well

Lazy posing but one cute penguin

The emperor penguins getting ready to dive

and after the penguins..here's the cute Chipmunk...well sorry it's poster at its cage..as the real ones are sleeping at that time

How cute..the polar bears are trained to sleep and relax in a cute way...I'm sure violence on them is not the way to train them but i'm really mesmerized..haha

A bear relaxing in the pool..it's 'relaxing' expression.....priceless...just like the polar bear in adverts.

Every animal seems to be happy which includes this Rhino..it's smiling~~

The tiger and the lionness sleeping with a cute look..haha

Dusty Leaf Monkey looking at us

A deer resting

And this giraffe looks very proud..hmmph

Close-up proud face of the giraffe

Two different shots of the grizzly bear resting and playing around

And finally some not so interesting shots of the avion species

Ducks and Swans

Well that's all for now. Hope all of you enjoy it!

More updates soon on Singapore Safari!

Daisetsuzan Shirakabaso Youth Hostel

2011-06-29T00:26:00.002+08:00

A hostel review for the accommodation in the year 2007 during the trip in the post of Volcano and Caldera Lakes in the Daisetsuzan National Park.

This Youth Hostel was situated very nearby to the Daisetsuzan National Park. One of the first accommodation I had lived in Hokkaido, it was a pleasant experience. Amenities and facilities are perfect but before further reviewing, let's take a look at the photograph which might be a better proof. Well pictures paint thousands of words

The youth hostel and log cabin by the side..

One of the standard shared rooms in the hostel..nice and clean

And here's the Log Cabin, for the ladies of the group..

the living room of the log cabin

The ladder up to the 2nd floor..it's so purely log cabin..

One of the few bedrooms and..

the toilet fully automatic though it's a little narrow

and some of the food. This was my dinner served at that time.

Not only the internal are beautiful, the external are also very nature as well.

Nice cool streams

My most favourite shot for this post.

And that's me in front of the Youth Hostel.

Overall I would like to give Daisetsuzan Shirakabaso a rating of 5/5, for its great experience, courteous host, cleanliness, amenities and facilities (Free WiFi provided), as well as great natural onsen at the back of the hostel. Sorry no photos for the onsen as there were guests dipping in the pool at that time. Otherwise I would have taken some photos .

I will DEFINITELY return to this lodge again in my next visit.

For bookings, please contact them at this email: shirakabaso@ai.wakwak.com

Historical Osaka Castle

2011-06-14T00:26:00.000+08:00

A year 2008 single day trip to Osaka. It was during the cold winter month of January. Thanx to one of my Japanese buddy, I was able to explore Osaka for a day. The journey was about an hour from Kobe at the Hanshin Line (phew still remember a lil though). During this trip most of the trip was sightseeing which includes the Osaka Castle. Osaka castle trip took almost half day (+Sightseeing and photography)

Originally called Ozaka-jou, it is one of Japan's most famous castles, and played major roles in the unification of Japan during the 16th century war or better known as Sengoku jidai.

(Warring States Era)

The main tower of Osaka Castle is situated on a plot of land roughly one kilometer square. It is built on two raised platforms of landfill supported by sheer walls of cut rock, using a technique called Burdock piling, each overlooking a moat. The central castle building is five stories on the outside and eight stories on the inside, and built atop a tall stone foundation to protect its occupants from sword-bearing attackers. The Castle grounds, which cover approximately 60,000 square meters (15 acres)contain thirteen structures. (Source: Wikipedia, 2011)

First glance from a far, The Osaka Castle


Huge moat around the castle

More moats

Some birds swimming in the moat of the castle

Close up shot..anyone, any ideas what species are these bird from?

The Osaka Castle from another angle


That's me as a proof that I was there.

with trees as foreground

That's me again with two cosplayer..the guy with the eyefold, he's playing Masamune Date, a famous tactician in the Sengoku jidai, aka One-eyed Dragon... if I can still remember

One of my favourite angle

Sakuramon (Cherry Tree Gate)

This is the front gate of Honmaru (central citadel) which was called "Sakuramon" during the Toyotomi period. The existing gate was built in the year 1626 during the Tokugawa period but was burnt down in they 1868 civil-war and reconstructed in the year 1887.

Sakuramon Stone Square

Magnificent stone walls were built here to defend the front gate of hte central citadel. Scorch on the stone wall indicates the site of Sakuramon Daimon gate which was burnt down during the civil war in the year 1868. The stone in the facade was called "Takoishi" or better known as "Octopus Stone", is the largest stone in the castle. The surface area of the stone is about 60 meter square. Huge isn't it? and estimated weight of about 130 tonnes.

Passed by a museum but was closed on that day.

Kinmeisui Well and Roof

This well is about 33 meter deep above the surface of the water and lined with stone. Originally called Ogonsui (Golden Water). Regarded as the most important castle well (dunno the reason though), it was dug in the year 1624 and its roof was constructed in the year 1626.

A Signal Gun/Noon Marker

This is an ancient, muzzle-loading cannon with a length of about 348 cm, outer diameter of 40cm and 20cm for the internal, the base material of this cannon was probably from a bronze sort.

More Osaka Castle

Views from the Osaka castle at the 5th level.

The famous gold fish of Osaka Castle

Last but not least a dog driving a car bidding good and see you again!

Panoramic Kedah

2011-06-02T23:31:00.000+08:00

Well this posting will be mainly on panoramic photography on my one day trip to Kedah with my friends. We drove past a huge vast land of sugar cane farm. Coupled with HDR (High Dynamic Range) photos, I hope this would be an enjoyment for everyone until my next post on Osaka.

Non-HDR panoramic shot. Click to enlarge

HDR panoramic shot. Click to enlarge

Focused shot

Well that's all folks. The shortest post ever!

Port of Kobe: Nostalgic Night Scene

2011-05-26T23:44:00.001+08:00

A new post with an outdated photos of my stay in Hyogo Prefecture 3 years ago. During the 3 week stay for a training under the Youth Leadership Programme sponsored by JICA, I have the chance to visit several places of interest in the Kansai region of Japan for the very first time (at that time, year 2008). With a three weeks stay, definitely, I'm still having lots of photos to be blogged.

For starters, this post will mainly be about the visit to the Port of Kobe during the winter night of 2008.

The Kobe Port Tower, is a hyperboloid 108m structure in the port city of Kobe, Hyogo. With an observation deck, the tower completed in the year 1963 and is similiar to the Sydney tower. During the night, it is decorated with lights all over uniquely.

Below are the photos of Kobe Port Tower from different angle

Close-up 12x zoom, from here it looks like it's a miniature scaffolding of the tower, but it's not and it's for real :D

Side winder perspective

Meriken Park of Kobe

The Meriken Park consists of Kobe Port Tower, Kobe Maritime Museum, and a memorial to victims of the Great Hanshin earthquake.

A ferris wheel and A restaurant called Mosaic / or several restaurants with amusement parks. I went into one of the amusement center and I spent 5000 yen at that time (USD50) playing the catcha...crazy eh? and luckily I've got the adidas golden ball..At least it's worth it.

The whole area with reflections of beautiful lightings, too bad that the sea was not really calm at that time. Thus, no perfect reflection like this posting in Kyoto.

That's me on the right with my two great Malaysian friends, Pak Zam and Pak Raj aka bird lover. really 1 Malaysia.

That's one of the coolest hotel design in Kobe, the Oriental Hotel

A beautiful crystal chandelier inside the Oriental Hotel dedicated to my readers :D.

Be back for more :D

Zebra Crossing Lodge: Cape Town's Backpacker's Lodge

2011-05-22T02:26:00.002+08:00

First and foremost, this is actually a late posting by 2 years. I have always wanted to blog and review about the Zebra Crossing Lodge as it was the place I have stayed for 3 nights on my first visit to Cape Town. I have enjoyed the stay very much. Basically, I get to interact with many young foreign adventurer/tourist during my stay. You will not be able to experience such fun if you are staying in a standard hotel. The lodge are managed by two sweet ladies at that time, Ms Susan and Ms Stacey (I still hope that they are still in Zebra Crossing Lodge) and they have been a wonderful host for me such as arranging and planning tours around Cape Town. Too bad I did not have the chance for a picture with them.

Well, that's a past, but I have some great photos to shared with my friends and other future Cape Town tourists with hope that it will promote the lodge even more :D

That's the Zebra stripe gate greeting you...Nice and simple :D

On the left, and right, the main entrance with proper locking system

And a fruit tree at the garden, is that lemon tree or tangerine?

Nevertheless, let's get over first hall. A nice and cosy place whereby you can enjoy some novel reading or even play the piano.

and here's the 2nd hall whereby I still remembered that I sat here enjoying the FIFA Confederation Cup Match between Italy and USA in the year 2009.

And this was my cosy bedroom at an affordable cost (sorry that I have forgotten how much is the cost for this room though)

And if you're hungry, you can make yourself a meal at the kitchen or you can even order some food at the cafetaria.

And that's my bowl of flakes in the morning before my departure back to Pretoria. And I have been picked-up by another nice Indian ethnic guy (sorry dude, I have forgotten your name)

Overall I would like to give Zebra Crossing Lodge a rating 5/5, for it's affordability, great backpacker's experience, courteous host, cleanliness, amenities and facilities (Free WiFi provided) and great location.

I will DEFINITELY return to this lodge again in my next visit.

It is a highly recommended place for a budget traveler who loves to experience social communication with other travelers.

However, if you are expecting some luxurious experience or if you are a very private person, this place is not for you.

Cheers! and Dankie!

First Time in Hatyai: Khlong Hai Floating Market

2011-05-15T17:37:00.000+08:00

4 months blog post hiatus, 8 months 'travel-less' life, a meagre 2 days trip to Hatyai, the nearest possible out of Malaysia location which I myself did not even considered it a trip. Even so, that's the first time I managed to visit Hatyai, Songkhla Province, in my 28 years of life on Earth even though I have been to other places in Thailand (I was in Bangkok for 2 years though). Well complains aside, I would like to connect back my travelogue by sharing about the short 'survey' of the Khlong Hai Floating Market in Hatyai.

The Khlong Hai Floating Market..the feeling itself in the evening after heavy downpour

Varieties of Foods to be tasted and enjoyed

Very colorful foods

Some steamboat stuff

Since we're near the border of Malaysia, most of the Thai here are Muslim Thai, they can be identified by their dressings though sometimes they are mistaken as a Malaysian. (One of my friend accidentally spoken Malay to them which left them puzzled.)

A baby elephant performing for us..

That's all for now!! Goodbye and I will be back soon for more..well hopefully more..

The Forbidden City of China: Neverending Tales

2011-01-23T15:50:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year 2011!!...I guess I'm a lil late this time....After 2 months hiatus (my longest record) of not posting, here's my first posting of the year continuing from the previous blog post on the Forbidden City of China. In this part I will be covering the final part of the Forbidden city of China as well as the exterior and a long panoramic photo of the Forbidden City.Without further ado, let's go for the final palace ride.

Since this is a year of weddings and good luck, I would like to show you the wedding room of the emperor during the good ol' days. The glasses were a lil blur but these are the best shot I could get from outside.

After the wedding room we're about to come to the exit...the tablet at this gate shows (天一门）which literally means Sky Gate or something like that....direct translation means heaven one gate (Tian Yi Men)..sounds weird huh.

Artistic Rock which is quite huge..been a while since..I couldn't remember what the heck is this anymore..

Under the roof top of another 'resting' area before the exit, nice classic dragon wood craft..priceless..if I had such rooftop at home..it would be cool :P

And here we are, in front of the exit gate..well that's not the end yet though it's an exit gate..there's still one more part to go.

Across the road there's another section in which you must not miss it. Yea, you will need to pay for this section again and you will need to climb up for about 10mins? perhaps

As you reach the so called pinnacle of the temple, you will be able to spectate one of the most majestic, if not spectacular view of the Forbidden City...

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Not wide enough? Here's the wide version with two contrast section because of the cloud blocking the other half.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

This is the back of the temple. I guess that's the final section of the Forbidden City complex

Now, back again to the exit and around the moat of the palace complex...

Since it was still Spring at that time, I was able to enjoy another species of Cherry blossom planted along the moat..

And a beautiful guard post..watch out for the HDR version at HDR Memento

A bride posing for bridal photography before her marriage by the guardpost...love this one the most. HDR version to be ready soon as well at HDR Memento.

Till here for now..

Happy Chinese New Year !!

The Forbidden City of China: The Mid

2010-11-05T17:19:00.004+08:00

Welcome back and I'm back! and sorry for the 2 weeks hiatus..welcoming the business and corporate world into my student life! And here we are back into the part 2 of the Forbidden City. In this section we're gonna look into the museum and some weapons used by the previous Emperor of China as well as several halls where the Emperor presided for meeting and 'conference' with several Royal 'slogans' in every hall. Well 'nuff said..let's get down to the photos

Continuation from the previous part, I would like to focus on the granite grounds, battered for centuries and uneven...be careful when you move around as you might sprained your ankle accidentally..hehe

A rifle used by the Emperor Qianlong for his game hunting activity.

On the left, a royal hunting spear, on the right, Emperor Qianlong's Golden horseback cover

Jade Handle of a Horse Whip

Golden Royal Horn

Upclose on the Golden Dragon Headed Horn

The Emperor's Parade Knife numbered as "the first from heaven" (天下第一）

As I headed out of the museum again, here we are at the very first hall..

The first hall..by the name 太和殿 (tai he dian) aka Hall of Supreme Harmony. There's one very amazing experience from this first hall. It was sunny and cloudy day; and thus it was a quite warm Spring on that day. But as I lent my hand into the hall, I felt that my hand just got through a magical temperature barrier. It was so cooling inside and yet the heat from the outside did not dissipate into the hall..interesting and amazing, that's a good energy flow within the hall of the Emperor..call me superstitious, but not everyone has the luck to be an Emperor.

The 4 words 'you sui ji jian' written and 'certified' by Emperor Qianlong himself..the meaning, very abstract, it's something about the strength of a government through initiative? Any better word for that?

Three tier walkway with carvings all over..huge and majestic

The name of this hall in Chinese from right could be read as Yun Zhi Jue Zhong..which means something like dedication.

In this section literally from right, it's read as huang jian you ji, which basically means, the Emperor is the stronghold/base of the country..

Left: Longest Stone carvings in the world, Right: Bronze Lion

zheng da guang ming..steadfast in action..

The final part means wu wei, basically means without reasoning or you would say no questions asked...

End of part 2 and the final part will be posted very soon!...Hopefully ;)

The Forbidden City of China: The Beginning

2010-10-17T22:00:00.000+08:00

It's been nearly a month since my last posting. This time we're back to Beijing....on the Forbidden City of China. Built in the year between 1406 and 1420, the Forbidden City housed several Emperor from the Ming Dynasty throughout until the end of Qing Dynasty. According to a source from wikipedia, the complex consists of 980 buildings with more than 9000 bays (many claimed that it has 9999 rooms) and covers 7.8 million square feet!! Several famous Emperor of China namely Emperor Qian Long, Emperor Kang Xi and Emperor Yong Le have resided in the palace complex. Without further ado, let's take a ride into the 'city' with panoramas to be shared.

That's the main gate of the Forbidden City

From here, we're able to sight the photo of Chairman Mao and the bridge which the sentry was standing on, is called the Outer Golden Water Bridge. There are 7 stone bridges spanning the outer Golden River and they were constructed in the year 1420. (not sure if it's really golden in color or not XD)

A Sentry Guard aka Red Guard??

That's me in front of the entrance as a proof that I was there. :D

As you enter, you will be greeted by the huge granite/concrete gate

This is not the entrance into the Palace Museum yet.

One of the sentry tower

That's me again 'camwhoring'..

The tablet in Chinese Character Wu Men, literally means Meridian Gate

A Panoramic shot of the Meridian Gate. Click for the big panorama viewing..

The Meridian Gate is the formal entrance to the Forbidden City which was popularly known as Five Phoenix Turrets (Wufeng Lou). It is the largest of the four gates in the complex.

That's my ticket, Approx. at RM30 bought at the Noon Gate

Worn out granite floors..it's uneven

As you enter, you will be able to see a very magnificent view and that hallway you see is the first hallway..and the name, it will be published in the next post.

One of the Dragon Carvings on the bridge. It looks like it's a marble carvings though as it's cooling..but somehow

The base of the bridge, looks like they were made from marbles..super luxurious..

And here's the bronze Gilded Lion at the Hall

Carvings and architecture

Looking down one of the many dragon and phoenix carvings, not clear anymore due to weather upbeats.

And here's the Panoramic View of the first Hall..please click for larger view.

I'm hoping that everyone will enjoy this post and the part 2 will be up soon. More to come!!

1000 years old Ginkgo Tree in Kamakura

2010-09-22T11:47:00.005+08:00

Here's the continuation of one of my previous in Kamakura Heritage City. In this posting, I will be story telling about the way up to the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine. As one of the famous UNESCO World Heritage Site, the shrine is the most important Shinto Shrine in Kanagawa Prefecture. Originally built in Zaimokuza in 1063 by Minamoto no Yoriyoshi, it was moved to its present location by the founder of the Kamakura shogunate. During a celebration, many visitors and worshipers will be flocking this city. During in the year 2007 and 2008, I was here for a program in which we were supposed to assess the traffic situation and present a solution to this issue in Kamakura Heritage City. Anyway FYI, photos dated 2007 are photos taken with Sony DSC H-1 while the year 2008 are photos snapped using the Nikon D-60. Enjoy the ride :)

Above the 3 photos were the Danzakura walkway of 1.8 km sandō (参道) which extends all the way from the ocean to the crossway of the Hachimangu Shrine. The walkway divides the two main road and imagine that, the whole 1.8 km walkway are planted with cherry blossom trees. Imagine during the Spring season, the whole 1.8 km walkway are filled with Cherry Blossoms..heavenly..

Too bad I was there for 2 consecutive winter and I'm hoping that I will be able to visit there in the Spring 2011..fingers crossed!

That's where we will end up walking for 1.8 km which is the main entrance.

You will come across this bridge after the entrance. The arched bridge was called Akabashi (Red Bridge), and was reserved only to the shogun while the commoners at that time had to use the flat road.

Mandarin ducks swimming in the pond

During the winter year of 2007, I managed to captured some sleeks instead of snow but from there it looks snowing effect..anyway, I still love it..

Here stood a 1000-year old ginkgo tree which was full of history. It was said that an assassin hid behind this tree and killed the shogun Under heavy snow on the evening of February 12, 1219. In the early hours of March 10, 2010, it was uprooted by a storm. The photo of the uprooted tree could be seen here at Wikipedia.

That's me in a photo with that tree for 2 winter years in a row as a proof. :)

And that's the Hachimangu Tsurugaoka Shrine..not huge but rich with history.

And that's all from me now..hope you're enjoying this post!

DD escape to Pangkor Island

2010-09-12T15:04:00.000+08:00

DD here doesn't mean Dead line or D-day..hehe..it just means double day, yea double day escape to Pangkor Island...Yet another cuti-cuti Malaysia for 2nd consecutive weeks..just for relaxation with families and relatives. and yes it's one of the most looking forward activities with my cousins and aunties and uncles. We stayed at the Pangkor Island Beach Resort, which turned out to be quite cool! To get to the Pangkor Island, you need to drive for about 2.5-3 hours until you've reached Lumut harbour and then take a boat to the Island which took us about 30mins. A small tram will be at the harbour to pick you up (3 mins) until the hotel.

Reviews and VIEWs of the beach and hotel are as below..:)..Enjoy!!

The lobby of the hotel

One of the night lounge by the beach as well

That's the room I stayed viewing the beach (not exactly in-front but there are chalet just on top of the beach for honeymoon couples.

The view by the coffee house..I would say that the good nature landscaping influenced the atmosphere here

The view from my room's balcony

Following below is the beach and activities for the 2 days

We rented 2 catamarans but it brokedown halfway, YES it brokedown..

That's me on the left and me, my uncle and my cousin sis on the right..

I really love the blue skies and cloud formations during that day.it enabled me to create a dramatic HDR photos which could be accessed here.

some crazy fellas including me waving in the middle of the high wavy sea..and luckily it's very shallow and we roamed quite far away.but sure it's fun to go 'against' the wave..

and to my surprise, there were many hornbills flying around

When the dawn is breaking, we had our buffett dinner by the beach and poolside accompanied with song performances

Enjoying the sunset while having dinner..

WANT MORE of those sunsets? Check my HDR quality sunsets here

Overall I would rate this hotel

4.5 out of 5 for the facilities,

5/5 for the foods

and

4/5 for the room as it was a little heaty at night

=ENDZ=

Malacca Heritage: St Paul's Church

2010-08-31T00:51:00.005+08:00

My first local holiday since 6 years ago. This time to Malacca (Melaka) Historical City as well as one of the two UNESCO Heritage Site in Malaysia besides the city of Georgetown in Penang. This is my very first time in Malacca since I was born..hehe..I've always wanted to visit Malacca but there's no chance...Well here we are with my first blog post on Malacca's St Paul Church. The St Paul's Church was originally a small chapel built by a Portuguese Captain called Duarto Coelho in the year 1521 (about 10 years after the victory of Portugal against the Malacca Sultanate - 1511). The tower was added in the year 1590. When the Dutch took over Malacca, that's the year when this name St Paul's Church was used which lasted for about 112 years until the Christ Church was completed in the year 1753.

At the entrance of the Church

Interior sections of the Church

Different view perspectives

Old tombstones inside the ruins is the resting place for several Dutch and Portuguese nationals. The St Paul's Church ruins were gazetted as an old monument and historical site under the Antiquities Act No. 168/1976 on 12th May 1977.

Several Tombstones around..can anyone read Portuguese?

That's me as a proof I was there..

If you are interested in history, perhaps you would search for Frau van Riebeck or John van Riebeck. Well I did! :) Actually John van Riebeck is spelled as Jan van Riebeeck and he was the founder of Cape Town, South Africa. He's the first Commander of Cape Town and he's the one who ordered the Fort of Good Hope to be built at the Cape of Good Hope. I've seen this fort personally at the Cape of Good Hope (Click the link if you're interested to know more and to view more photos of my visit)

more tombstones inside the Church

This was what could be seen on some tombstones

Another excavated tombstone

and money's being thrown into the excavated tomb....

External wall..very old indeed and eroded by time and weather..

Another perspective viewing up.

Well, that's all for now..hope everyone will enjoy some history shots here.

The Great Buddha (Daibutsu) of Kamakura

2010-08-10T18:10:00.001+08:00

The Great Buddha statue in Kamakura is located at Kotoku-in Temple in the Ancient Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture.The bronze statue probably dated at 1252 during the Kamakura period was preceded by a giant wooden Buddha which was completed in the year 1243. It has been destroyed several times by natural disasters such as floods, tsunami and earthquake but since the last washaway in the year 1498, it has withstood natural disaster until now except for some damages in the base during the Great Kanto Earthquake in the year 1923.

Below are some of the stats of the statue taken from Wikipedia:

Weight; 93 tons
Height; 13.35m
Length of Face; 2.35m
Length of Eye; 1.0m
Length of Mouth; 0.82m
Length of Ear; 1.90m
Length from knee to knee; 9.10m
Circumference of thumb; 0.85m

Below are the photos from the year 2007 and 2008 during my Nissan Workshop visit: The year dated 2007 are the photos from the Sony DSC H-1 while the photos dated 2008 are from Nikon D60.

So enjoy!

That's the Great Buddha Statue in the winter 2008..it was only 4pm and it has turned dark and rain started to drizzle but from here it looks like it's snowing..maybe sleek perhaps

With lighting at 'night'..

That's me as a proof I was there in the year 2007 winter.

and here we are, during the year 2008 winter, it was sunny in the afternoon lucky for me..

Different point of view of the Great Buddha Statue

A close-up shot of the Buddha

love the cloud effects all over and I was lucky that the skies were very blue at that time

Inside the Buddha's statue and the hollow that you see is the head of the Buddha itself..and you just pay a mere 5 yen to enter..

and that's me again as a proof that I was there in the year 2008 winter..

Well that's all for now for the first Kamakura Heritage Series..more to come soon..

Gardens and Roses

2010-07-28T20:33:00.000+08:00

As for continuation of the previous post on the Temple of Heaven, I would like to share on some photos of the gardens and flower around the Temple of Heaven. Without further a do, enjoy!

That's pink Cherry Blossoms and not sure about the Yellow flowers though..love the whole stretch

There are some roses around and certainly it's really huge

Beautiful Pink Rose

Macro close-up shot of the Rose

Close-up macro of Yellow Rose

Beautiful, adorable and angelic white rose

Lush green grasses...ah..it's so nice to rest on this type of grass

looks like lavender but it's not..and it's fenced up

Close-up shot of the purplish flower..anyone knows the name?

Well that's all for this posting. Hope that everyone will enjoy the roses and gardens. Up Next could be back on Japan travelogue again..byeeee

The Temple of Heaven

2010-07-22T00:40:00.005+08:00

The Temple of Heaven (天坛) is a famous temple complex of Taoist buildings in the Chongwen District. Previously visited by the Emperors of Ming and Qing dynasty for prayers of good harvest, it was constructed between 1406 and 1420 during the reign of Emperor Yong Le who was also responsible for the construction of the Forbidden City. It has been listed as one of the many UNESCO World Heritage Site and was described as "a masterpiece of architecture and landscape which illustrates an evolution of one of the world's great civilization. For more information Beijing travel or even other places of interests, you can visit this site for more travel tips.

Overview of the Temple of Heaven main prayer hall

Circular mold around the main shrine

In front of the temple and on the left the tablet inscripted with the chinese character (Qi Nian Dian) which means Annual Praying Hall.

Inside the Annual Prayer Hall, which is the hall the emperor ascend and pray for good harvest. It means Heavenly Emperor Ascending (Huang Tian Shang Di). correct me if I'm wrong..

Close-up architectural design of the roof of the Temple of Heaven

As time does not permit, I did not visit further to the other two praying hall..instead I walked around the complex and was delighted to came across many senior citizens with various types of activities.

It's really fun to see them kicking and playing shuttlecocks, one of their traditional games

Ribbon dancing

An old lady performing a dance and a sketch

chacha dancing class for everyone..

and even tai chi classes, calligraphy writing and much more..it's very nice for me to watch especially in the early cool spring in the morning and the old generations are really taking time to relax and enjoy their life.

The next post would be up on about the gardens and some beautiful flowers in the Temple of Heaven.

Travel Avids could visit the following site for more travel tips on China.

Qianmen Shopping Square: Old vs New Buildings

2010-07-05T18:32:00.000+08:00

From the continuation of the previous post, Qianmen Shopping Square, if you look properly at every building, you will be able to see a photo of old times 'pasted' on that building itself

Below are some of the photos that I took to share with..

Stabucks: Old vs New

Zara: Old vs New

China Construction Bank: Old vs New

A bookshop? (unknown shop: it says Zhong Guo * *): Old vs New

Tissot: Old vs New

If you live before that era and when you look into that photos, for sure you will feel nostalgic

Qianmen Shopping Square

2010-07-03T20:00:00.001+08:00

Qian Men, an old square renovated and refurbished into a shopping square have been a hit among foreign and local tourists. Situated at the Tiananmen Square area..it's within walking distance from the Forbidden City and could be reached at Qianmen Station. Around these Square you will be able to view the old (but new) hutong shop houses selling local and foreign brands. Without further ado, I think it's better to view the photos below. Pictures paint thousands of words.

As usual, that's the so called main gate which looks like other China Town

Along the shopping square, and you can see a tram railroad..and yes it's still operational but for tourism purposes

That's the Starbucks of China..cool isn't it?

The interior of the Starbucks Coffee house..Chinese influence..

On the left: Swatch Shop

On the right: a tea shop.. the tea sold in this shop are cheap and of high quality

On the left: triple storey Haagen Daz ice cream shop

On the right: a souvenir shop

Huge Chinese Restaurant

and Uni Qlo from Japan is also available in Beijing, but the price's a little expensive compare to Japan

If you roam into the side walkways of the shops you will be able to find more shops with good bargains (fake and original)

That's the tram I mentioned just now

A clock tower of Rolex

and not forget to mention, that public toilets are everywhere and it's free, you don't need to pay to use it

and a Chinese drum shaped garbage bin

here's the KFC of China, with a drawing of Chinese Opera theme, it's finger lickin' good

During the night, you will be able to spectate beautiful lights..

Water fountain following the rhythm of musics

Starbucks at night. Beautiful right?

Haagen Daz at night

Well that's all for the first part, and on the next part I will be presenting on Old vs New Buildings of Qianmen in which you will be able to see a comparison of each buildings

The Finale of Summer Palace

2010-06-18T14:55:00.006+08:00

Here's the finale of the Summer Palace. Loaded with more photos and captions. In this posting we will be heading to the 17 Arch Bridge as well as some pavilion and the chance to see the statue of Dragon King.

Another Suzhou road on the way to the bridge..it's a long walk to that bridge unless you want to take a boat ride..but it was very windy that day.

And on the way I came across one of the Emperor's hall..well this photo was taken from outside..no one is allowed to get inside. This hall is called The Hall of Jade Ripples (Yulan Tang). These area were living quarters for Emperor Guangxu.This room was used to read submissions to the throne and conduct court affairs in the central room. These table was made from red sandalwood inlaid with eaglewood, glass screens decorated with landscape paintings, and fans made with emerald green feathers - which are the symbols of imperial power.

and this is Wenchang Tower (Wenchang Ge) the largest of of the six gate forts in the Summer Palace garden. It was first built in the year 1750 and rebuilt under the Emperor Guangxu after it was burned down by the Anglo-French Allied Forces burned down in 1860. A bronze statue of the god, Wenchang, and statues of two followers, the celestial boy, and the bronze steed, were placed in the double story pavilion.

This is the Zhichun Ting (Heralding Spring Pavilion) This small pavilion was built on a small island in front of the Hall of Jade Ripples, beside Kunming Lake's east bank. With good feng shui, the pavilion backs on a hill and to the South it faces the Sun. This position permits a privilege view of Spring's arrival and provides the best overall view of Longevity Lake and Kunming Lake.

Strong wind around the Kunming Lake..

A view of the temple from the pavillion

The 17 Arch Bridge

The Seventeen-Arch Bridge (十七孔桥) was built in the 1750 during the Emperor Qianlong's reign. This 150m meter long bridge links the East Bank and South Lake Island. It is the longest bridge in any Imperial Chinese garden. Over 50 stone lions in different positions and poses were carved on the posts of the bridge railings.

across the bridge you will be able the statue of the Dragon King

A beautiful view from the 17 arch bridge

The Bronze Ox (同牛） was cast during the Emperor Qianlong's reign. As it looks like a lifelike bearing, it was placed here and was said to control floods. The eighty word ode entitled "Inscriptions on the Golden Ox" was written by Emperor Qianlong in traditional "seal" style calligraphy

The seal style calligraphy by Emperor Qianlong..anyone knows how to read and interpret this?

That's the end of the 4 Summer Palace Series..hope you enjoy this posting

For those who have missed the previous 3 series, you can check it out by clicking on the links below:

Shopping in Magical Suzhou

The 4 Great Regions in the Summer Palace

Escape to Summer Palace 3

Escape to Summer Palace 3

2010-06-10T16:54:00.000+08:00

The part 3 of the Summer Palace Series shall cover about the Tower of Buddhist Incense (佛香阁）。 It was originally built during the reign of Emperor Qianlong but was unfortunately burned down by the Anglo-French Allied Forces in 1860. From then it was rebuilt again to it original design and style during the Emperor Guangxu's reign )1875-1908). The tower itself gas 3 storers with four layered eaves, standing tall at 36.44 meter. On a 20 meter high stone foundation, it constitues the center of the Summer Palace landscapes.

Inside this pagoda tower resides the Thousand Hand Guanyin Buddha (千手观音）。Cast in 1574, this statue was originally named the "Statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva". The five meter high bronze figure gilded with head of four tiers each completed with 3 faces (total 12 faces and 24 arms). As expected the statue sits on a lotus seat of nine layers (999 petals). Cast with superb workmanship, the grand

The tower from near and the Thousand Hand Quanyin, sorry for the bad shot as I had to do it fast..no photos allowed actually but everyone seems to enjoying taking the photos.

More photos of the journey below:

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An overview of the whole area of the Summer Palace from the Tower..well this is just 70% of the area..

A walkway down

The tower from below (HDR photo)

Considered as the front gate overlooking the Kunming Lake

Pagoda Tower from the front gate..I just love the view from here

Some vertical shooting in HDR edits

And not to forget Cherry Blossoms at the Summer Palace blooming during the Spring Season

and some 'serabut' stone carvings below..I do not know how to appreciate this kind of art though.

4 Great Regions in the Summer Palace

2010-06-05T00:13:00.004+08:00

Back to the 2nd series of the Summer Palace..well this part is going to be the 4 Great Regions in the Summer Palace. These 4 Great Regions were built during the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1736-1795). As you can see the buildings below, it's of Tibetan Buddhism style. The 4 regions were given the name Jambudvipa, Uttarakara, Purvavidewa and Aparagodahiya. The meaning of these Sanskrit name are basically names of continents. Most of the structures were burnt down during the Anglo-French Allied Forces and were rebuilt to the original design in the year 1980.

Perspective shot of the staircase

As you ascend the stairs you will see an old Chinese gate..and opps..forgot the entrance though

One of the 'Great' Regions

Tibetan Pagoda

Rooftop design of Double Dragon

Just from a photography's POV...

Two watch towers

Another perspective view of the staircase in between the two watchtower

After getting through the watch tower, you will come across a temple with many Buddha carvings..which is similar to the Pagoda of Ten Thousan Buddhas in Kek Lok Si

That's the end for the Part 2 of Summer Palace Series. The Part 3 and Part 4 will be the main course of this series up next...Enjoy the long weekend!

Shopping in Magical Suzhou

2010-06-01T01:02:00.009+08:00

The part 1 of the Summer Palace Series in Beijing. It's one of the largest historical area I've ever been so far...The area's bloody huge and I took approx. 3 hours to tour the whole palace complex. The first part of the summer palace is the so called Suzhou Street..well Suzhou Street in Beijing? You must be kiddin me! But yes.. this mock Suzhou Street was a shopping street built in the Summer Palace with typical street scene in the lower Yangtze Valley. During the Qing Dynasty period, this street was built for the empress and concubines for leisure and stroll. The palace officials will act as traders in the shops around at that time along this 300 metres long street.

The entrance to the Summer Palace

and here we go!

That's where we got down to the street

A video clip of the surrounding...Watch it!!! You're gonna like it

Today the street looks exactly what it was in the early days with the 18th century mood in China..everything was preserved and restored very well and is thronged by tourists who come for souvenirs.

Weeping willow by the small river and you could enjoy the relaxing scenery on the boat as well as musics from Chinese flute around..

Lion's head on the bridge made from high quality stones

one of the many bridges made from marbles and stones

Love the scenery here, it would be a romantic place to be with your love ones

Upnext....part 2 of the Summer Palace series!

Airasia X: My Love/Hate Relationship

2010-05-21T01:54:00.008+08:00

This is the first time I'm gonna elaborate on my love/hate relationship with Airasia X after been flying on that airlines for more than 20 times since the year 2006. OKAY..this is the first time I'm on Airasia X but many times on the normal conventional Airasia..I like to admit it..because of Airasia X, I managed to save more money and yeah for the first time I managed to fly to Tianjin and then to Beijing by Bullet Train. Basically I'm gonna write a short review of my Airasia Xperience with some photos of course.

The flight code D7 2612 on the 2nd of May at the LCCT terminal

The huge and new(after refurbished) Airbus A330 with the lie-flat bed in the 'Business Class' seating

The 3-3-3 seating configuration of with no in-flight entertainment systems in-tact but the seat is recline-able. Sorry no photos of the 'Business Class' seating as I don't get to experience it myself yet..so no point showing it here..

With this new Airbus A330, you need to purchase to use the in-flight entertainment system for about RM30 and will be given an entertainment set. (of coz you need to return it later)
I did not purchase it as I'm took the time in the whole flight for my sleep..guess what, I slept very well in the duration of the flight due to the comfortableness of the seat.

Upon returning from Tianjin, well as usual I got faced with yet another flight delay in the Tianjin International Airport..but that's not the issue..

My returning flight was greeted with an earlier model of the Airbus A330.

The unexpected cool black leather seats but could not be recline. I heard from many complaints of Airasia flight customers that these seats are not comfortable at all BUT..
I would like to refute that claim. Not to say that I'm 'bodek-king' AAX or Tony Fernandes or expecting some reward.
As a very frequent traveller/flyer, I can sleep very well with this seat without any suffering from any backpain. For the critiques (no offense) out there, these seats are already reclined at the first place. I know what is a definition of 'Good Seats'..

Intact in-flight Xcite entertainment system..you need to fork out RM30 as well..
Too lazy to try it out though but I did the survey on the screen and surprisingly, it's a touch screen system..I've always love touch screen system..easier navigation...

To my surprise, it's equipped with a USB port..what I needed the most to charge my Iphone..that's the rare part of an inflight entertainment system in which I couldn't find it in other airlines of economy flight except for the Airbus A380 of S'pore Airlines (SIA).

Yet another surprise, due to the flight delay, I get to see one of the most beautiful sunset a blessing in disguise.

Food wise, I found it very satisfied with the taste..no complain at all..just that I'm a little disappointed that I'm unable to enjoy the Pak Nasser's nasi lemak on the flight to Tianjin.

In-flight shopping wise, there's huge improvement in terms of selections..but WHY???? Why did AA took out the 'DKNY Delicious' perfume? I'm planning to purchase it on this flight..oh well too bad..

Overall satisfaction and rating, I would like to give a rating of 4.5/5 due to delayed flight.

Recommended season to visit Tianjin/Beijing: Spring/Summer as there are more seats available and you could grab 3 seats in the plane..hehehe

IN SHORT, I WILL FLY WITH AIRASIA X AGAIN IN THE FUTURE

The Great Wall of China XP

2010-05-15T18:08:00.011+08:00

The Great Wall of China, or literally known as Chang Cheng (长城) as we already is one of the 7 Wonders of the World. During the trip to Beijing, the section that we visited was the Badaling section. To reach the Badaling section, take the subway train Line 2 to Ji Shui Tan （积水谭）. From there, exit the station and turn left. Walk for about 5 minutes to the bus station and take a ride on the bus 919. It cost you only 12 yuan (RM6) for a ride. The journey will take about 40-60minutes depending on the traffic. As you reach there, you can choose to take a cable car ride or walk up ( I suggest that you walk up)..hehe

That's the ticket I bought to walk up aka mini hiking. It cost us 45 yuan (RM22.50) as the entrance fees.

Plum Blossom trees all over the mountains at the entrance

An easy walk up at the beginning..

Lovely view isn't it with the plum blossoms around..luckily it's still Spring.
Unfortunately, it was very foggy on that day.

One of the solitary watchtower

One World One Dream! Beijing Olympic 2008..
Personally I do not think it is a good idea to erect this up by the Great Wall of China as it will affect the aesthetical value of the surrounding of the Great Wall of China.

We need to walk up the stairs to some of the section of the Great Wall

That's me touching the millennial years old wall

Half way up..love the view!

Steep stairway

One of the watchtower

Lots of visitors daily. I was considered lucky as I visited it on the normal weekday

That's the gold plate I bought after reaching the 888m of the Badaling section

BELOW Will be more of my photographic view of the Great Wall of China
ENJOY!

And remember to take this sliding car down to the base of the Great Wall..you will have the sensation of riding a roller coaster down there

That's all for now...Check out for the next post on Summer Palace!

First Bullet Train Experience: Tianjin-Beijing

2010-05-12T21:21:00.011+08:00

Finally, the chance for me to experience a ride on the bullet train came to life..nevermind the Shinkansen of Japan, behold the China Railway High-speed (中國鐵路高速). The CRH could speed up to 330km/h which took only 30mins from Tianjin Train Station to Beijing South Railway Station. To get to the station, take a bus shuttle from the Tianjin Airport (Exit no.2) to the Tianjin Railway Station, then get inside and the ticket counter is at the left side..mind you, it's all in Chinese (Mandarin)..so you need to know some keywords. As soon as you arrived at Beijing South Railway, you will be able to navigate around as they station is part of the subway system of Beijing.

a look into the CRH

As I took an Airasia X flight from Kuala Lumpur to Tianjin, I need to commute from Tianjin to Beijing by a bullet train..

with a mere 59 yuan (approx rm30), you could purchase a 2nd class ticket..however the seating is not definite you might need to stand for 30 minutes

That's the 2nd class seating

And here's the 1st class ticket..it's only RM35 (70 yuan)

That's the configuration of first class seating..totally different for an extra RM5

Nice seating with audio system and tray for reading etc..FYI, outside foods are allowed..you can get a McD meal and eat it inside as well

That's the top speed of the CRH 330km/h (+/- 1km/h)

That's me as a proof that I was on the bullet train

Bullet Train Ride from Tianjin-Beijing..see how fast is the speed..

Hostel Review: Lianlian Templeside Hutong Guesthouse

2010-05-10T12:31:00.007+08:00

During my trip to Beijing, part of my wonderful stay was in this wonderful guesthouse aka hostel. A guesthouse run by a family with two young and friendly English speaking receptionist, the Lianlian Templeside Hutong Guesthouse is highly recommended for backpackers and seasoned traveler. Starting from about USD 10 per night for mixed dorm bedroom, it's one of the most affordable guesthouse I've ever been. Do not expect breakfast to be included but you can order some continental breakfast. The cleanliness is perfect.

As you entered the guesthouse, you will experience the feeling of staying in an ancient Chinese area. Let's take a look more on the photos below.

The entrance to the Hostel

One of the roommate in the mixed dorm I stayed

The hutong of An Ping which the hostel is situated at

and here we go..
inside the hostel, fancy those decorations of red lanterns, bamboo chairs and the oriental experience

a rooftop area for relaxation and tea drinking activity

Under a shady tree with overlooking old rooftops..priceless experience

Well I'm not going to elaborate on the rooms as it's not some kind of old mattresses and bed..it's of normal bed but it's very comfortable and gave you a good night sleep. Besides wifi and internet services are also provided free of charge with 24 hours security. Very affordable travel packages could be planned and prepared by them.

I would like to give this hostel a rating of 4.5 out of 5 as the location is a little far from the subway station of (Xisi or Fuchengmen) of approximately 15 minutes walk plus looking for the location..it might be a little complicated for non Chinese speaking tourist, but it's a good experience to get to know more about the roads and streets of Beijing. Anyway, this hostel is actually situated in the middle of the city. To make reservations, you could visit the Hostelworld website.

Giant Bird's Nest of China

2010-05-09T22:46:00.006+08:00

It's a been a while since the last posting..and yea..this time it's a post from my first trip to Beijing, China. On this first posting I will be posting on the Olympic Stadium aka the Bird's Nest. Located at the Olympic Green subway station the stadium cost $ 423 million. The design originated from the study of Chinese ceramics, steel beams were implemented to hide the retractable rooftop and thus given the name Bird's nest. Ai Weiwei was the artistic consultant of the project. The cost of the ticket to enter the stadium is 50 yuan (approx. RM25). Let's get to the photos below!

The stadium from afar.

That's me with the stadium and the water cube

Architectural designs

The five mascots, Beibei, Jingjing and forgot the other 3 names :P

The interior of the stadium..it's hugeee

The right side..sorry no panoramic for this stadium

The left side

The seats

AND The night shots

Up close in the evening

That's the water cube..looks like a firecube though

The olympic tower with the five rings

Of Cherry Blossoms and Sakuras

2010-04-08T23:32:00.010+08:00

6th time in Japan, 5th time in Tokyo, 1st time experiencing Spring season aka Sakura season..but a lil not so lucky as I did not get to experience the full bloom as I had to go back to Penang earlier due to Cheng Beng (Qing Ming) and research + teachings. Nevertheless I believe that I will have the real chance again next year..Weathers are weird, in some parts it snowed in Spring and early blooming of Sakuras although it snowed. (Warmer temperatures are needed for Sakura to bloom)

Anyway let's enjoy some of the sakuras that I got to spectate.

Just glad to have noticed the first bloom of Sakura in the University of Tokyo (Toudai).

At a closer shot

and here's some more at the Ueno Park..thanx to my friend, Siew Fong who brought me there..

that's some of the Sakura Trees ..no blooming yet for this one

And here you could see some buds already started to open up.imagine when it's full bloom..blissful right?

Here are some sakuras, half bloom

finally spotted some

Closer shots for you

Beautiful pink sakuras

White Sakuras

that's all for now..will be posting on the landscapes of the University of Tokyo in the next post...Be sure to keep track of it. :D Any questions or queries, could be forwarded to my email

Part 2: The Kruger National Park

2010-03-30T01:09:00.010+08:00

hoho! Finally I'm back after my very first spring in Japan..and now the conclusion of the Kruger National Park. This post will be more on landscapes and some 'fine' animals as well. For the first version please visit the Part 1 Kruger National Park.

And now the concluding photos..please enjoy them :D

The Head office of the National Park inside...

CLICK TO ENLARGE..I LOVE THIS ONE

2 deers crossing the road

Hippos resting by the lake..and oh yea..together with the crocs..
CLICK TO ENLARGE...

and The CROCs are resting by themselves here..guess most of them are freaked-off the hippos

Stork searching for some fishes..

And here we are..some huge family of baboons conquering the road

A mum and its young..cute eh

And I think this guy's the boss..

This guy's late

Some monkeys hanging around the tree

and here we are..some long neck giraffes...

Busy eating some leaves

aww..it's hiding its head

and finally we get to see it's loongggg neck..click to enlarge :D

WELL THAT'S ALL FOR NOW...WILL BE POSTING ON SOMETHING ELSE SOON..SEE YA!

The Kruger National Park

2010-03-12T13:14:00.011+08:00

I'm back! It's been few weeks since I've updated on my blog..well this time will be on the long awaited Kruger National Park Series. It is one of the largest in the African Continent extending from about 350km North to South and 60km from East to West. That's 1/4 of Peninsular Malaysia..imagine the vast area. The Kruger National Park is situated on the Eastern side of South African and it covers Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces while bordering with Zimbabwe on the North and Mozambique on the East. As the area is huge, the park is diverse wild life as well as floras and other ecosystems. These include the "Big 5" which are the elephants, lions, cheetahs, buffalos and rhinoceros. I have the chance to catch 4 out of the 5 (I missed out the Cheetahs as they are very hard to get sighted.)
Well enough of stories, pictures paint more words. For extra information google 'Kruger National Park'

Love the silhouette

It was very early in the morning, at a temperature of about zero degrees and we're at the one of the main gates of Kruger National ParK

General landscapes of the National Park

First catch! Deer species sighted

Monkeys playing around in the morning

Elephants SPOTTED!

A 'BULL' elephant (very old aka veteran elephant) showing its ass..could you see the long tusk?

Another group of elephants showing their asses..wth??

No more asses..this time spotted the mother and the calf..lovely isn't it? The calf looks like its smiling at us :D

And some adult elephants around.eating some plants?

2 Buffalos showing their asses again..come on..look at the main road! Another big 5 spotted!

Next BIRDS!

Birdlovers..mind telling me what species is that?

Hornbills...remember Zazu of the Lion King series? That's the African Hornbills

The fearless blue chested bird...why are they fearless??

They dare to get near humans..could you see that in Malaysia? even the tamest doves aka merpati would flew away at that distance.

And now let me introduce Pumba..

Pumba running alone..where's Timon? oh well he got captured in here

Impala spotted

Looks and sounds like an 'open' dam..

That's me as a proof I was there with Orpen Dam as the background..

Deers crossing the road..

And a zebra as well..this fella's late for appointment

We managed to drive up to the top of a hill of about 700m above sea level and here what we could see....

The plains are SUPER BLOODY HUGE...it's VAST as far as the eye can see..of you could click on this picture and take a closer look..the small vegetations on the ground are actually huge grown-up trees..if you can successfully imagine it..well done..otherwise come over to visit the Kruger National Park..you will feel the greatness of this Pride Lands..

and the final part of the 2 part postings...

Lucky sightings of the Lions..

Two lioness with their prey, Zebra..could be that Zebra just now..

Waiting for the Lion King to have its zebra meal

A closer look

and finally get to capture it's sharp teeth while it's yawning..luckily not roaring..

Well that's all for now..will be trying my best to upload the part 2 before I head to Tokyo again for Spring Sakura Season..hopeso!

zzzENDzzz