Malaysia's Excess and Coming Out Party: Putrajaya

Unknown May 21, 2007

In 1999, Malaysia transfered its seat of government from its capital city, Kuala Lumpur to Putrajaya, a planned city that currently holds a number of federal administrative buildings of Malaysia. Putrajaya was built from scratch and was transformed into a mammoth city it is today. It has since become one of the three Federal Territories of Malaysia along with Kuala Lumpur and Labuan.

Putrajaya Read more

Genting Highlands, Malaysia

Unknown May 20, 2007

From Kuala Lumpur we went to Genting Highland, a place on top of a mountain that was developed starting in the 1970's by one of the richest man in Malaysia. Fast forward to today, it is the site of the First World Hotel, renowned for being the second largest hotel in the world, a casino, a theme park, a mall and a nearby residential village.

To go there you need to take a bus from KL Central Station, you can either go there by car or a bus that will have a stop at a place that will offer visitors to ride on a cable car. Riding the cable car seems more exciting as it gives you a wonderful view of the surrounding mountains.

It is said to be the longest cable car in Asia and about a kilometer long if my distance estimate is correct. It was also my first time to ride the cable car.

The highlight of the place was the location of course, the weather is cool, just a bit less colder than in Baguio (we went there during summertime in the month of May), the theme park which has an attraction called "Genting Sky Venture" a free fall simulator, a casino, a waterplash pool, a big mall among others.

It's a place that will be much appreciated by travelers coming with their own family, the kids will surely enjoy the place more than ordinary backpackers who prefers the beaches more than the comforts of hotels and themed attractions.

Anyway, It is a nice little side trip for our Kuala Lumpur tour. Anybody planning going here, should make sure to check out First World Hotel as I remember it has one of the cheapest rates compared to other hotels and I'm sure the kids will enjoy the themed park and the oldies might want to try their luck in the casinos. We didn't took our chances though :)

Malaysia Read more

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Unknown May 18, 2007

This trip was my very first trip out of the Philippines. Sending my gratitude to budget airlines such as Air Asia, blokes like me can now easily afford to travel in the South East Asian region and Kuala Lumpur presented the opportunity itself for me to experience out-of-the-country travel.

I traveled with my older brother who I shared a zest for traveling. We booked Kuala Lumpur Hotels on Traveloka two months advance and also fixed our itinerary by researching on the Internet. We ended up choosing Swiss Garden Hotel which is located right in the heart of Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur (Petaling Street). For about 5 thousand pesos, we managed to book a twin sharing room for 3 nights, making it a really great deal (also includes breakfast buffet for two).

We arrived at Kuala Lumpur airport (which is about an hour drive from the city) in the afternoon, upon arriving at the hotel we were greeted by a friendly hotel staff who processed our reservation. After resting for a while, we then explored the city afterward. First things first as we were already starving, we stopped by to eat at this Chinese hawker stall by the sidewalk. We ordered some Chinese dishes and yang chow fried rice, all in all it costed us 50 Malaysian Ringgit (about 7oo pesos ouch).

We took their LRT and went to our first stop on our short itinerary, the Petronas twin towers.

Going there during nighttime seems like a good idea as the lights and the skies put more emphasis on the towering Petronas dominated skyline of Kuala Lumpur. Next day, we started walking around Kuala Lumpur right after we got done with our breakfast. Places like Masjid Jamek, Dataran Merdeka, National Museum, Little India, Sri Mahamariamman Temple, KL Tower and then some are just some of the places we visited.

the Sri Mahamariamman Temple

On the viewing deck of the KL tower, one will see a bird’s eye view of the whole city including a close up of the nearby Petronas Towers.

the KL Tower

It was fun just walking around a new city, Kuala Lumpur seems much cleaner than most cities, I read somewhere – and It shows, there seems to be a sense of order in the way commuter busses and other motorists use their roads, pedestrians can walk better along a spacious sidewalks with nary a single sidewalk vendor.

Along the way you’ll meet people of different races as Malaysian population consist of the Malay race, Chinese and Indian nationals, probably because in the early part of their history both Malaysia and India along with Singapore are all under British rule, thus the interchanges of their own people on this three countries.

Off to our next stop: Genting Highlands

cimg0359

Sri Mahamariamman Read more

Pagudpud, Ilocos

Unknown May 16, 2007

Summer 0f 2007 was the first time I was able to visit Ilocos province, before that all I know about the place aside from being the home province of former President Ferdinand Marcos was that it’s about a 12 hour ride away from Manila. And with some friends, we ended up on Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte.

Pagudpud is a coastal town located in Ilocos Norte and one of the farthest places north of Luzon. It is the site of one of the most beautiful stretches of white sand beaches in the Philippines. It is also fast becoming a tourist haven for both local and foreign tourists alike. A few days before Holyweek I joined Kate, Roland and some new friends on a journey more than 200 miles to Pagudpud. The trip took us more than 16 hours (including stops at Vigan, Gasoline stations, Mila the dog’s pit stop and a radiator repair shop).

Along the way we passed by the scenic white windmills ( Sydney Sheldon’s “Windmills of the Gods” comes to mind) along the shores, the famous lighthouse which dates back to the Spanish colonial era, the sinking Bell Tower and lots of wonderful coastal town sceneries. We settled into a resort called Blue Lagoon, yeah a 14 year old Brooke Shields comes to mind. The place was surrounded by hills and an eerie peace reigns over suitable for those escaping the mad jungles of Manila.

Here are some photographs that I took:

Lobsters, crabs sells for like 250.00 per kilo. Remember at SM its about 600.00/kilo. I bought 2 kilos of lobster which we ate up in like an hour the first night after I got home.

I would not mind taking another road trip to this place, I know it aint easy sitting on your butt for 10 hours, but the stopovers on interesting places along the way plus the destination itself make it all worthwhile coming back again.

We stayed at Blue Lagoon – a place where there’s a few houses that rents rooms for visitors. We took one room and the rest including me camped out in a tent for the night. The next morning I got up just in time to see the wonderful sunrise and we all had a quick breakfast and went out to swim in the beach.

wow Philippines Read more

Vigan

Unknown May 15, 2007

On our way to Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte we stopped over at Vigan, Ilocos Sur to attend a mas (fyi: I got to mass once in every 5 years), eat some empanada and of course visit the heritage village at Calle Crisologo which is included in the list of the United Nation’s World Heritage Sites.

100-2967

Walking along Calle Crisologo – seeing those antique shops and old houses that dates back to Spanish colonial era kind of gives you a slight picture of how life was lived back in the old days.

100-2981

Around the area you’ll see the Ilocos Sur capitol hall and the nearby park.

100-3142

Vigan is a great place to visit on the way further North of Luzon, either by pit stop or the main point of your destination. There’s a nice inn near Calle Crisologo where visitors can stay.
What a way to have a fine food trip (Empanada, but many says Batac’s Empanada is the best of em all) go down a historic tour of the old colonial houses at the heritage village in Calle Crisologo or stroll around town riding one of those horse carriages parked besides the church.
All that and then some.

100-2993