Showing posts with label waterfall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label waterfall. Show all posts

Saturday, November 17, 2012


To have more "feel" of living in the realm of nature, 
you may stream and play this song while
reading this post... 
*just my humble opinion*


Casey Abrams - Simple Life


This getaway is what we call the "Simple Life" 
where there is no TV.. hps.. and yes, 
"GADGETS OFF, BOSS!"

It's a trip that ET has arranged for us when he's at Qatar.
There are supposed to be more people.
Alicia and Eunice last minute fly airplane.

Facts about this place:-

Location : 
Serendah (exit NKVE Rawang), Selangor

About : 
A 50-acres privately owned tropical rainforest. 
A total of 7 sheds (comprises of warehouse, glass, mud and timber shed).
Each shed is as per it's description and is kept simple and provides only the basic.

Rates : 
We booked Timber Shed 2 and it is RM700 per night. 
It can accommodate up to 6 pax but the 5th and 6th pax is chargeable of RM50 each.
(no one will know if there are 10 ppl sneaking into the shed, no check-in / check-out required)

Bedrooms : 
There are two rooms in our shed. Two queen sized beds, two single beds. 
Enough for 6 pax. Don't know why the 5th and 6th is chargeable though.
Do not expect for air-conditioned rooms. 
There are ceiling fans which is cooling enough in that environment.

Kitchen :
Basic utensils, pots and pans, kettle, fridge, stove, BBQ pit is ready to be used.
Would advise to bring own pots and pans though.
They provide only small ones and kinda dirty.

Bathrooms and toilets : 
Timber shed bathrooms and toilets are open concept. 
Do not freak out yet. There are FOUR WALLS covering up the naked butt.
BUT.. there are no ceiling. So you gonna shiver when it's windy. 
And if it's raining, no mandi time.
Oh ya, the wall is not tall enough to deter people from stretching up their hands 
to take a candid snapshot of your sexy arses.

Meals : 
Good setting for BBQ dinner. 
Do prepare own ingredients and the caretaker can help to prepare the charcoal with charges imposed.
Those who are lazy to go out to the town for meals, or to cook,
may get the caretaker to prepare meals. 
When we were there, we had Indian rice consist of rice, chicken, vege curry, eggs, and papadam,
which is surprisingly TASTY! 
Dinner was RM20 per pax.
Breakfast is available too - choices of roti canai or nasi lemak.
Options may vary.

Programs : 
NIL. 
You gotta self entertain here. 
Coz there is no TV, no network coverage to make phone calls / online.
The only thing they have, is a 4-feet swimming pool. 
If you are there not prepared, you'll end up only enjoying 
the orchestra or crickets, frogs and who knows what's out there in the jungle.
For a group of only 4, we entertained ourselves with movies, and yes, Russell Peters!

Side notes :
Bring your own toiletries e.g towels, shampoo, body wash, toothpaste etc.
Toilet rolls, tissue boxes and mosquito coil provided.
And if it's not enough, there is mosquito net for every bed.
Plan for BBQ, bring some poker cards, but not mahjong-lahh.. 
It's quiet and peaceful out there.. so keep it that way. 
Bottom line - to enjoy oneself here, the more the merrier!

Verdict:
Some may find this place pretty boring.
But that is why we picked this place as our holiday destination.
To get away from hustle and bustle of the city life.
To retreat to nature.
To relax and have a peaceful time.
To do nothing, and buat bodoh aje.
I appreciate the greeneries there.
The simple place to stay.
The chirping birds and crickets, 
the sound of leaves being blown slowly by the wind.
All these actually calm me down alot.
But in the end, we are all looking at our phones 
to play games, listen to music, watch Russell Peters etc. 
It's pretty hard to get by without technologies and gadgets.
We are all indeed city boys and girls. 


Website : http://www.serendah.com

-------------------------------------

Photos of our trip on 27th - 28th October 2012 to share.

Took me 3 weeks to review the place.
Unbelievably busy recently. 
Slept at 4am yesterday and I'm still awake now. 
Getting old by a year in two days time and I'm acting like a teen?!!


nature retreat
entrance to our timber shed (enter from back)

nature retreat
Barry and I
nature retreat
Watching Lorax coz we are darn bored

nature retreat
the ceiling with natural lighting

nature retreat
wall not plastered, just basic bricks built up, ceiling fan (no air-con) and mosquito net for every beds

nature retreat
traditional window engraving

nature retreat
the kitchen that may look simple, but it has all the basic stuffs u need

nature retreat


the walkway with wired chairs


Sung Sung, Barry, ET and Joyce
My brother, my best bud, my mentor, my caretaker, my friend, my love, my everything for the past 8 years.
nature retreat
The simple bedroom. Comfy enough to sleep.

nature retreat

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Brought Domo along.. shhh.. he escaped from the RM50 additional pax charge :)

nature retreat
even their comment card is so simple.. and yes, do be eco friendly and save the water & energy

nature retreat
smiling happily behind bars

nature retreat
... and that's Sung Sung in the bathroom!

nature retreat
we were all looking for the bathrooms and toilets, was surprised to find that this is it.. 

nature retreat
as simple as a shower rose, and a shampoo stand..
behind that wall is the car park... imagine how insecure it feels..
and when it's windy / raining, no way you gonna take your bath...

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mandi kerbau that day... :P

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the toilet

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open concept toilet nature
Timber shed open concept, this is what I mean!
(this is the view when you stretch your hands up high against the brick wall from the car park)


traditional tap
the simple water tap which is made by just a rounded stone?

nature retreat
front view of the timber shed

nature retreat

nature retreat
it's great to have you along with us! :)

nature retreat


nature retreat

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I'm like a bird version 2.0

nature retreat

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scary and dark for jungle treking here.. 

nature retreat
the 4-feet swimming pool
nature retreat


indian rice dinner set
our dinner! considered a lavish one despite being in a jungle.. 

indian curry chicken
dry curry chicken

indian vege curry
dry vege curry

eggs
fried eggs

indian curry rice set
the RM20 is worth it cause it's a big portion and simply yummylicious!

watching Russell Peters before going out to the town

morning breakfast : mum's famous mihun siam - heated up by Chef Barry
dirty waterfall - nothing to shout about - forget about coming here!

OMG it's 3am!!! Sleeping time!!!




Friday, July 6, 2012

It's the durian season!!!!!

This time around, we made a special family trip back home to Penang for durians!

On our first day upon arriving, we drove directly to Genting Cafe @ Island Glades where they serve the BEST Penang style chee cheong fun!!! If you ever get the chance to visit this kopitiam, do NOT forget to order their asam laksa (taste like the famous Ayer Itam asam laksa because the owner's son opened another stall here), the sar hor fun and duck egg char kuey teow too. Fourquare tips on this place that promotes very highly on their curry mee and pork knuckle rice. I hope to try these in my next trip.



One of the reason I go back to Penang

Finishing the asam laksa till the last drop!

3-ee "Kon cheng jor"

Was enjoying our food half way till we recalled about taking photographs

After a satisfying lunch, we head to Balik Pulau for durian and came across a place called Bao Sheng Yuan . The place is kind of secluded and the only thing that attracted us is the huge signage.

Don't miss this HUGE signage!

We have options to go for durian buffet which is RM55 p/pax or to pick various durian with different prices. We were too full to have durian buffet. So Sunny chose 3 huge durians namely Ang Heh (red prawn), Che Phooi (green skin) and Lin Feng Jiao (name of an actress). Indeed the durian named Lin Feng Jiao is bitter because she have always acted in bitter movies. It taste good anyway - cause dad says true durian lovers will appreciate the bitterness in durians. While Ang Heh and Che Phooi has this thick flavorful durian that just makes you close your eyes and go "yuhhhmmm" everytime u takes a bite.


Jaga sikit blood pressure tu!

No, we did not eat this much! Took this from another table..


Bao Sheng Yuan also offers stay at their chalet with private swimming pool. Staying at this place you may expect to hear the durian dropping from the tree as it's surrounded by durian trees on top of the hill. Looking at their brochure, it seemed like a nice relaxing place to stay - except for being abit secluded and one may have trouble finding food at nearby area.

If you would like to go to Bao Sheng Yuan, use the road from Balik Pulau to Teluk Bahang. You will see the huge signage on the left hand side right after the Titi Kerawang waterfalls.

More info here http://www.durian.com.my/contact-us.html.
Imagine how good the durian will be if this place can secure the domain http://www.durian.com.my/!!!

YAY!!! What a satisfying pit stop!

The next day 4-ku brought us for a boat ride to Pulau Aman for the freshest seafood ever! This by far, already is my MOST fruitful trip back to Penang. Didn't know it's gonna get better!!!


** Excited **

...with the old boys, sexy mama, and best chefs in the family!


Having a blast on the speed boat!


Here we are.. the floating restaurant of Pulau Aman


During our 1-2 hours stop at this place, many fishing boat came to drop off their catch - varies from fish, prawns, crabs and mantis prawns - ALL FRESH FROM THE SEA!


fishing boat with their catch of the day!

I was in awe looking at these giant mantis prawns

my favourite.. fresh prawns!


4-ku ordered huge portion of prawns, two different type of crabs, mantis prawns, mee udang istimewa, and fried mee hun, which are all accompanied by fresh prawns too. No enhancement of sauce is needed when you are eating these freshly steam seafood as you would enjoy the taste of freshness and sweetness.





We had a total of 3 plates of the crabs

Mee hun goreng with big prawns

Mee udang istimewa a must try at Restaurant Terapung Pulau Aman - very spicy!


Enjoying to the max!
 
What can I say.. "uh-la-laaa"

The boat trip + seafood for 10 pax cost us a total of RM400. It's considered cheap for the quality of the food we get, and of course, the THRILL we experienced!!!

The thrill does not end here, as 4-ku brought us to the very much anticipated trip up to the durian orchard at Sungai Ara. The orchard is located uphill where there is only one way up and down for cars to pass by. Sitting in Sunny's car, he even have to give way for the motorcycle to pass by while transporting big basket of durians! So we were wondering how if there's another car on the way down???!!

When we arrived, there are many durian seller picking their durians and brushing the leafs away from the durian with a comb before transporting it down hill . There are alot of durian to choose from, but I didn't hear any of the Ang Heh or other famous durian.

4-ku friend who own the orchard picked a few durian for us. To our dismay, the durian unfortunately is up not to our expectation as it's mostly durian kampung. The seed is huge and the flesh is thin. Some might prefer durian kampung as it's heard that these durian is original without any chemical. But still, I prefer my Ang Heh., Che Phooi  and Lin Feng Jiao compared to durian kampung.

Lelong lelong!!!

Behind me are all the durian tree belongs to the orchard owner - u can bet he's filthy rich!

Just beside the orchard located a waterfall. 4-ku have already reminded all of us to bring extra clothings in case we want to get into the water. It is at this place where I saw the child side of my parents - they were soooo happy and was enjoying the waterfall. I had fun just by looking at them, capturing their act on camera and video. I'll just share some here..


This durian dropped from the tree and we took it to the waterfall. Mum was enjoying it while considering if she should join 3-ee and dad in the waterfall as she has forgotten to bring extra "inner clothings".

Finally gave up to the temptation and decided to go down. Dad was being such a gentleman for bringing mum in. So sweet...

At first dad float, secondly he swim, freestyle, then backstroke.. in a waterfall!

Then he did the most sexiest pose found in a waterfall!

Introducing the mastermind of all the evil plans to make me fat! My 4-ku!!!

After the waterfall session, we decided to MAKAN AGAIN and have a light dinner before calling it a day. The light dinner turned out to be NOTHING LIGHT at all!!! Look at what Sunny and daddy has ordered...


Fried mantis prawns, fried oyster, yong tau foo, ikan bakar, jiu hu eng chai (sotong kangkong), and fresh oyster

Penang loh mee, hokkien mee, asam laksa, char kuey teow and a photo of 10 plates of food for 5 person!

The hawker stall serves averagely good Penang food. And since it's jsut average, nothing to hoo-haa about.. I'll just forget the name of the food court. Haha!

We then went to Straits Quay to have a breeze walk while admiring lines of boats berthed at the marina and window shopping at the street bazaar. Took a final stop at Dome for coffee and chit chat before we headed home for a good night sleep.


My smiley face cappuccino

At the entrance of Straits Quay Penang

So that's our entire Penang trip! It's an exciting one because I get to try new things, and brought to new places.

Am definitely going back to Pulau Aman and Bao Sheng Yuan soon!

Yummylicious!