Showing posts with label architecture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label architecture. Show all posts

Sunday, 2 March 2014

Art of getting tan (Part I)

With one random remark from my daddy, off we go to the sunny island of Langkawi in Malaysia. As Langkawi is a pretty small island, our itinerary is pretty simple.

Day 1: Arrival in Langkawi (10pm)
From a close friend of mine, I was able to get reliable car rental local personnel for our car rental.  It's super cheap. I know because i have a friend who went before and the price is barely half! *whee* As our flight arrives at around 10pm, we were pretty worried that any conventional car rental company may be already closed. Furthermore, as our flight was slightly delayed, I was also very worried that Kelvin (our rental) would have left since we’re late. But thank god, he was very patient and waited until we land. *wheee*

So we just took out our GPS and off to our hotel!

Day 2: Cable Car
We left for the cable car at around 10am after we had the breakfast in hotel. The drive to the cable car station in the oriental village was about 35 minutes, though it should be shorter (because we took our time on our way to admire the scenery)

A yatch club along the way


Finally! The Oriental Village!




This place is quite a picturesque place. However, as it is a tourist attraction nonetheless, the things sold here are what you will expect: touristy stuff. We arrived at about 12pm to a horrendous long queue to buy the tickets, under the hot sun! To double that horror, one of the attraction known as Sky Bridge is closed. *dang dang dang*

The sky bridge is down. :(

They offered a package to top up about 50MYR for an express queue but it costs more than double since the cable car ride only costs us about 30MYR. Since we have loads of time, we decided to queue for the cable car.

But the queue was so damn long. We ended up queuing for about an hour. And UP WE GO!


The view is really breathtaking. Hard to believe this is Malaysia, Truely Asia.....

Who can resist some Ramly Burger!
The beautiful Sky Bridge that closed on us. Pmpft!

Even my dad agrees that the wait was all worthwhile when we reached the peak. The weather was totally different, all cool and windy, unlike the cruel sun nearer to home.


And it is super windy!!

Since we are in Langkawi, we have to visit the beach isn’t it! (I think)



I think one great thing about Langkawi is that their beaches were all actually very clean. Comparable to those in Phuket and Krabi to be honest. Now don’t be deceived by these white sand and blue sand. The sand is SCORCHING HOT! THEY BURN! Really. We ran into the water to prevent our small feet from getting burned.

Day 3: Mangrove tour
We booked our Mangrove tour the previous day from a random group we saw at the beach. And yes, it was rather impromptu. We spent about 300MYR to charter a boat (which I think it’s so damn cheap) and they come and pick us up at our resort (sort of). But because the deal seemed too good to be true, I kept worrying that they do not turn up. But luckily they did!!


Bat Cave
Outside bat cave
The baby monkeys are soooooo cute. But the adult monkeys are all so aggressive I don't dare to go any closer. 

They brought us out into the open sea and I think that wasn’t supposed to be part of the package since only our boat went out. *so much win!!!*


Aw the scorching sun!! It's really really hot if not for the breeze on the boat. 


Eagle Feeding


I really thought we were gonna feed the eagles until i realised they are just throwing chunks of fish meat into the water to bring the eagles down. But it was really damn awesome. I have never see so  much eagles in the sky before. 


The monkey cove* or something. The guide was saying something I couldn't make out. But there's really loads of monkeys as well. This one's super close to our boat. He could almost jump right in. 

Floating village*

Kelong*


At the end of the tour was a short break at the floating village where you can have lunch and look at some of the marine collection* they have. This one is a 20kg ray kept in captivity. I have to say I'm surprised they keep these animals.

Ever since I heard my friend’s story about a pink dolphin rescuing her in the water around here I was so obsessed and was hoping so much that a dolphin will appear. And dolphins are supposed to be rare in these water.

Open sea overlooking the Kilim Geoforest Park

When I came back I saw news that there was a cluster of dolphins swimming through the Penang bridge. Fml.

We came back and went for spa and high tea! Such good life.

The standard tourist photo at the Eagle Square!

                                    
    Some other really nice architectures near the Eagle Square


Day 4: Depart from Langkawi

And we have to say goodbye..

 

PS: we lived right next to the airport, about 10 min drive. So it's really centralised and near to everywhere!

Sunday, 26 January 2014

A day in Teotihuacan

Another UNESCO heritage site situated in Mexico, housing the Temple of Quetzalcoatl and the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon is also known as the city of gods, Teotihuacan is the largest Pre-Columbian city in the Americas.
Pyramid of the Sun
Don't let the sun fool you. It was pretty cooling the day we went.
I even regretted slightly i did not bring my jacket along with me. 

Really magnificent architectural that is
 Well, it’s a beautiful place if you love some fine monuments and pyramids. I love this place because despite the ever blue skies, the weather is constantly at 20+/- degC which is a very good weather for scaling all those heights. In my honest opinion, if I were warm and sweaty by the end of the trip I probably wouldn’t feel that this trip was as good as it had been. Not to be vain, but it feels all comfortable and breezy after you scale the top is really one of my nicest experience. 



The entrance
The first sight you will see when you enter the premises.
Peak of the Pyramid. (See small reflector near feet)
It's not exactly long way down.
And you can see craved steps and handrails. They are really safe.
It was not tough to scale the peaks.
This little boy is proof.



Here and there will be some locals selling souvenirs and handicrafts.
There are some stalls around the premises as well.
Vendors selling souvenirs & handicrafts
Some fun facts about these pyramids in Teotihuacan.

1. It was mysteriously abandon in 700A.D.
2. The Pyramid of the Sun is exactly half as tall as the Pyramid of Giza
3. Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the Moon, and the Temple of Quetzalcoatl are in the same layout as Orion’s Belt