Farewell Dinner at Figs&Olive

One of the staff is leaving for Edinburgh to continue with her Part 2 degree in architecture (did you know that architecture students have 2 degrees altogether?!) So, one of the colleague suggested Figs & Olive at Sunway Pyramid and it turn out to be a good choice. The interior is basically infused with basic Mediterranean decor, and it is comfortable enough for family with young children. And with 20 of us, it seems like we are conquering most of the space  ;)

Anyway, the food was incredibly delicious and the portion was relatively sizeable..love it! but unfortunately, I couldn't get the coffee at the end of the meals since their coffee machine broke-down that nite  :( 

group photo

entrance feature wall

Kota Kinabalu: Day 3

We finally come to our last day in Kota Kinabalu. I think a brief 3 days were not sufficient to cover the magnificent Sabah, let alone Kota Kinabalu. We have yet to venture into those museums, do some snorkelling or island hoping and enjoy the sunset!  as the conclusion - we shall return to get the feel of more places!! Till then, thank you for such warmth welcome!! We did enjoy our stay!!

Kota Kinabalu: Day 2

We decided to choose Mount Kinabalu instead of the islands tour. So, when we finally woke up at 6am in the morning, it is way too bright!! The sun streak notoriously bright into our rooms once the curtains lifted. OMG!We have forgotten the fact that daylight in Sabah is actually comes almost an hour earlier than Peninsular Malaysia. So 6am here is already as bright as 8am in Kuala Lumpur!

We finally leave KK city centre around 9am and head for Mount Kinabalu Park. Of course we wouldn't dream of climbing up the mountain so getting as close as to its lower plateu would be as similar honour!  ;)   The journey was smooth as the weather was quite pleasant. Eventhough for certain stretch, the road was quite wind-up, but it wasn't that bad, plus the view of the mountain range which most of the time were on our left drive is astonishingly awesome!

When we finally managed to take a glimpse of the Mount Kinabalu' s peak, the feelings were so overwhelming! We are so at awe at the magnificent height beyond our eyes!! Gorgeous!! We thank God for creating such magical place! But, the peak seems to shy away from us as the cloud keep on hovering around it which made it harder for us to capture the mountainscape on camera.

When we reach Mount Kinabalu Park, it was already around 11am but the sun was striking the heat  and the temperate cilmate was leaaving us with basic humidity of the tropic. Hey, we didnt know that there's place to stay here at the foot of Mount Kinabalu! Imagine what it would be like at this place really early in the morning - woww!!

the chalet at Mount Kinabalu Park

we trail the track to upper levels of the Kinabalu Park halfway through by car

Mount Kinabalu seen from the road to Kundasang

After awhile in Kinabalu Park,  we decided to continue the journey to Poring Hot Spring which is located near Ranau, which basically going to take us another hour journey to the place. On our way, we pass by awesome place known by the name Kundasang.

sunset facing the South China Sea

Sunset  along Jalan Tun Fuad Stephens

Sunset in Kota Kinabalu

seafood galore for dinner

Kundasang

When we pass through Kundasang, we were so taken by the breathtaking view of the town which basically situated within a valley. The green-scape of the hills (range of hills actually) that lies before our eyes, and those clouds  wrapping  up Mount Kinabalu which stood prominently as the town's background with the cool temperate climate being some few thousands feet above sea level is totally awesome. There is nothing much to adore to the town if you are looking for high-end development as it don't even have a proper petrol station like the one we had in big town and the only commercial lots would be the one row of shops next to its main road, but you will not miss anything of such when you are here as the landscape is so stunningly heaven!!

range of hills of Kundasang valley

Mount Kinabalu as the background..

the only Petrol Station in Kundasang

trust your own instinct!

Ithink I should have trusted my own instinct at the first place, now it resulted 'a missing luggage' situation.. aiyayayyy!! 

it's already 10pm and we haven't received any news of the whereabout of that particular luggage...is this part of the risk of taking a low-cost carrier?? haiihhhh

Kota Kinabalu: Day 1

Leaving the Kota Kinabalu International Airport in a rented car, we made our way through the traffic to locate our hotel-Imperial Boutec which is located within the Plaza Warisan along Fuad-Stephen Road. Did not expect that it would be on 7th floor and within a mixed development complex but it's practically an ideal location given to the facts that it is only a walking distance to all the 'markets' and there're more retails and eateries outlet on the lower level which would enable us for a quick getaway if we need to.

It was a brief checked-in and we immediately head-out to Monsopiad Cultural Village in Penampang which is roughly about 15km away from our hotel. The entrance fee is RM55 for each adult and children under 12 is free. We join in the aerlier group for the guided tour and the whole experience has been very educational. We now have a better understanding of particular culture of Kadazan tribe in Sabah. We are lucky that our arrival has coincide with the time-slot of the cultural show, which basically a composition of traditional dance accompany by live music of traditional instrument. It is so interestingly colourful!

We spent almost 2 hours at the village and when we reach the city centre it was already 6pm. We decided to head for the craft market or locally known as the Filipino Market where we get to buy some souvenirs, and enjoy a refreshment of coconut drinks at the nearest market.

sunset reflection

sunset view of South China Sea

Jesselton-here I come!!

My family and I are taking a leave from our routine activity and made our way through the South China Sea to Kota Kinabalu (of course it didnt mean we swim through but we fly over it!! ;)

Check-in was smooth, boarding was smooth, flight with slight turbulance..but most of it was smooth.. So, hopefully everything gonna turn out smooth for the 3days-2night stay, here in Jesselton!

'killing' 3 route in a time

I managed to lump everything and make it into one journey and in just one day - the route to Raub, Benta and Lipis!! Damn exhausted!

Darkest Nite of 100 Years!

 

Photograph by Aamir Qureshi, AFP/Getty Images ( skies over Islamabad, Pakistan, on June 16th, 2011)

Photograph by Nikhil Sharma, My Shot

Subhanallah!! It's awesome!! and most important of all - I MISSED THE OPPORTUNITY TO VIEW IT WITH MY OWN EYES!!
The weather was fine but the skies was covered with clouds and out of desperation I literally  tried to the extent of blowing away the clouds!!! (what am i thinking??!) but the skies was so clear the night before!! so frustuated that I decided to hit the sack instead of keeping on waiting for the clouds to make way and litlle did pass through my brain that the whole process could be view via live video-streaming on the net!!

Anyway, you can read more through this link  http://pinkgoodness.blogspot.com/2011/06/gerhana-bulan-penuh-16-june-2011.html  or any other link which is already on the net.

During a total lunar eclipse, Earth blocks the pure white, direct light from the sun, but some indirect light passing through Earth's atmosphere still manages to reach the moon. The rusty orange hue of an almost fully eclipsed moon were due to atmospheric condition. That's because the light we see coming from the moon is actually reflected sunlight and since dust and gases in Earth's atmosphere filter blue wavelengths from sunlight, the remaining light is reddened. The moon will therefore appear to change from brilliant silver to between bright orange and blood red during a lunar eclipse.

Kuantan again..and feel the time wasted!!

Again, I dont understand why certain people didnt get their brain sorted out and have their itenerary planned ahead.

The schedule was already there for the rest of the people to adhere, what gives these people the advantage of simply not following the schedule? Was it just becaused, they're what we called 'the officers in charge'??

Punctuality is the main theme where it should be because it involves with other people's time and it also involved a long-journey travel!! If the schedule clearly stated that the programme would start at 10am, so WTH other people wasting their time waiting for certain people who only arrived 2 hours later?? we are not talking about 20 minutes later nor any 12 minutes, but 2 hours???!!!

So, here I am, in Kuantan.. having my time wasted on waiting!! GRRR...

A date to Ipoh

It has been a long while since the last time we travel, physically as a couple. We are leaving Klang Valley for Kinta Valley and there'll be only  US- through out the journey! Our darling 'babies' were already enjoying themselves with their grandparents!!

chaotic arrangement!!

How do you feel if, you didn't received any notice of meeting and suddenly you were being slammed for not distributing the information to others?? WTH..
And, would you feel as confusing as myself when, these people can call you up, a day before the suppose-date-to-be (and it was already way into the second half of the day) asking you to make an arrangement for them to get to the place of the meeting?? Hello?? they ARE the one who did issued the notice of meeting at the first place, and they have not contacted us for confirmation of issuance of that particular notice but at the end of the day, they have somehow managed to get our numbers?? errr...??? WTH

At this particular moment, I have a HUGE question mark in my head, " why does goverment have to employ such ..err can I say IDIOT?? "