New Year Eve at Nilai Square

We head for a picnic, on the eve of new year at Nilai Square - it was a moderate celebration. Actually it was not a celebration at all, we were actually enjoying ourselves, spending time together with cousins-nieces-nephews-aunts and uncles!

Another trip home from Kuantan

What else can I do, other than giving full concentration to the drive? traveling alone bores me at times, when I have running out of songs to listen to or when I have gotten bored with all these monochromatic grey lanes..and when the temperature was up to 42degrees and I don't feel like making any pit-stop, so this is what I do to keep me awake and focus!! sight seeing..

rays of light through the cumulus

rays of light through the cumulus

it's scorching hot!

passing by the rays of light ..

A day-trip to Pelangai

It's Pelangai not pelangi as in rainbows..a unique name for a place 130km away from KL city centre, right in the middle of Pahang (I think!) You would have to exit through Karak from East Cost Hiway, and although it was roughly a 40km away from the town of Karak,  it actually took you more than one hour to get to the place as the road was so narrow and crooked with bad road-surface and landslide at certain part of the roads..the fastest you can go was a mere 40-50km/hr!!

However, since you can't drive fast through your journey, you can enjoy the greens, undisturbed lush of jungle on your left and right, and quite a stretch of durians orchard along the road.. (unluckily it wasn't the season)

And, why do I have to take all the trouble going through such journey? It's part of my job!
Oh, if you have the chance, get yourself to Karak town for good 'nasi lemak' - location: right opposite of Caltex Station and next to Bomba Office! nothing fancy but a good one!!

And, guess what - I was actually driving with an expired driving license - luckily there's a post office where I can immediately get it renewed! phewww..

right in the centre of Karak town

Karak - view from side mirror

where I update my driving licence

Enjoying 'taufufah' at Funny Mountain

'Taufufah" is actually a delicacy - a soy based jelly-like dessert. However, don't be fooled, we ain't climbing any 'mountain' to have a taste of this smooth dessert, it is just a name of the stall-FUNNY MOUNTAIN, famously serving the silky smooth dessert in the middle of Ipoh City! Nice!!


And, owh..it's also available as a 'drive-thru'!!

I missed the Lunar Eclipse of Dec 21!

The moon was so bright and appears bigger than usual, I thought I'm gonna be able to catch the eclipse, but apparently I missed it - it is not visible along Malaysia path and were only clearly visible in California..auwww..I have to wait for June 15th, 2011 for another total lunar eclipse which is due to be visible along asia..hopefully, I can remember the date by then!

Revolving tower

We had a great time at KL tower today - lunch treat at the revolving restaurant !

The revolving tour starts at 330pm and we are lucky to have KLCC as a view to start with. By the end of the course - which exactly about 530pm, we were delivered back to the same spot of KLCC view! Nice!!

View of KLCC from the revolving restaurant

I missed the Geminid Meteor Shower

Photo of a Geminid meteor falling through the sky over Mont Aigoual in the south of France on Dec. 14.

I missed the opportunity! It was long, long time ago since the last time I saw a meteor..and I missed the peak season of it this year...

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/1215/Geminid-meteor-shower-gets-rave-reviews-as-best-of-2010

Getting to know the highway to Kuantan

For the past 3 years, for the record, I think I have been traveling back-and-forth KL-Kuantan for a record that has surpassed my hubby whom was once a Kuantan denizen! Of course the hiway is not as good as NKVE catering KL-Ipoh route, but it's still better than 10 years ago where it takes almost 5hrs to reach KL (now, I usually make it around 2hrs - toll to toll) Hey, for a 250km journey, I'm not really speeding my way, but occasionally I have to speed up to avoid monotonous boredom of driving alone.

Catch the Geminid Meteor Streak Between 12-14 Dec

The 2010 Geminid meteor shower, peaking the week of December 12-18, should be a good one. Why? The time when the most meteors can be seen should coincide with the time the moon is at the opposite side of the sky and in the process of dipping below the horizon. The less moon, the darker the skies; the darker the sky, the brighter the shooting stars!

The Geminids, created by the embers of a disintegrating asteroid, seem to be blasting out of the constellation Gemini (hence their name) just to the left of Orion, in the southwestern night sky.
Since this time of year Orion and Gemini are seen in the skies of the Northern Hemisphere, the Southern Hemisphere gets short-changed on this one. The Geminids begin to be seen in early December at the rate of one or two an hour. But things gradually pick up. Scientists point out December 13-14 is not the end of the Geminids, however, and more could be seen on in the next few nights after the peak.

If the weather doesn’t cooperate for you, or you just can’t get to a good viewing spot, you can actually watch this year’s Geminids on your computer! NASA says it will feature live webcams this year of the Geminids. Go to www.nasa.gov on the evening of Dec. 13 to log on.

http://www.bashewa.com/wxmeteor-showers.php?shower=Geminids
http://www.meteorblog.com/2010/12/december-meteor-shower-schedule/
http://jerrygarrett.wordpress.com/2010/12/03/where-amp-when-to-watch-december-2010s-geminids-meteor-shower/
http://www.bashewa.com/showers/geminids.jpg

East Coast (3rd Day): Besut

7:00am: It started drizzling again in the morning - really hope it won't turn big so that I can attend the meeting and Site Inspection as schedule.

Well, it still rains even in Besut and the program has be to be re-schedule to later date (ouch)

Anyway, we are making our way back home and here's the weather update:
061210 10am: Besut - raining
061210 12 noon: Merang to K.Tganu - bright and sunny, with dark clouds building up, temp 32deg
061210 6pm: we reach Kuantan and looking for place to have dinner. Opt for a place call Marina at Tanjung Lumpur and had the best crab dish - yummy!! but the fried squid is a failure.. after dinner he head straight to KL and again it rain all the way through the nite!

East Coast (2nd Day): Kuala Terengganu

The morning starts with a light drizzle, but we pray hard that it would still allow us to explore Terengganu. We chose Kuala Terengganu for a start.
Went to the State Museum, the majority of the exhibit was still the same as those that I have been in the year 2000 and the whole complex was in serious need of periodic maintenance - pity.
Then we had lunch before we make our way to the Crystal Mosque. And on the way back, we stop by at Kampung Losong to get some 'Keropok Lekor' (fish fritters)
PITY: every place I went in Terengganu are lacking of good periodical maintenance!

East Coast During Monsoon Season

dark clouds hovering over us through out the journey

Journal of the journey to eastcost during monsoon:
041210 10:30am: Subang, Gombak, Karak - cloudy, Temerloh, Gambang - drizzle, temp 25deg
041210 1:30pm: Kemaman, Kerteh, Paka - drizzle, temp 24deg
041210 3:30pm : Dungun,Rantau Abang - drizzle, Marang-heavy rain, temp 23deg041210 6:30pm: Kuala T'ganu, Merang-Setiu - raining, been travelling thru a very 'wet' day..

BUGGED!

OMG! apparently my blog has been bugged!!
need to take off every single entry from public in order to rectify the matter...