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Friday, August 22, 2008
Mt Bromo, Indonesia
Where : East Java Place : Bromo When : Mid Aug 2008 Reaching to Mt Penanjakan from the hotel is not so easy. No cars can make it there. So i have to take the jeep. Driving on so much bend roads can make one felt nauseating and giddy. From my experience taking the long-winded road up to Cameron Highlands in Malaysia i prepared myself by eating sweets. Well, it helps. But these roads here are much more worst than Cameron Highlands. When I was in Bromo, the first day had to wake up 3am in the morning to catch the sunrise at Mt. Penanjakan (2750m). But thats Indonesia's time, so Spore time its 4am. No problem to me at all bcos i usually had to wake up that early for the past 3years for my work duties. :-) Reaching the top, waiting for the sunrise i must say that i did not have much luck bcos the sunrise wasn't as beautiful as I expected. I had seen more mesmerizing sunrise moments in Spore very own Changi Beach. *wink*wink*  Anyway, temperature is so cold in Bromo, esp during dawn. Temp can possibly dropped to less than 0 deg C. Don't worry for those who packed little clothing for your hols bcos thick sweater are available for rent at the foot of Mt Penanjakan at the price of 10,000 Rupiah. Next stop...Mt Bromo.  Isn't this view like in the postcard? Taken on my way from Mt Penanjakan to Mt Bromo. You can horse back riding or walk to the top of Mt Bromo. But the path is so dusty due to the lava sand, its advisable to go horse back riding. If i take a 2-way trip of horse riding, it'll cost 75,000 Rupiah. If I take 1-way it cost me 50,000 Rupiah.  See how dusty it is? For those who is afraid of horse back riding, don't worry. The owner of the horse will hold and guide the horse. He won't let the horse gallop unguided. So, it's safe even for children to ride on it. Reaching the foot of Mt Bromo, had to climb another 250 steps to reach the rim of the crater of the mountain.  But reaching the top of Mt Bromo...the view is so breathtaking!    I felt like i'm in Tibet. Wakhahahaaa!
++ quoth nessie at 2:39 AM Back to Top | Home Saturday, August 9, 2008
Ghostly encounter in Bukit Timah
Where : McRitchie Reservoir & Bukit Timah When : Jan 2008 I have hiked in McRitchie several times now, and have taken different trail. But the most memorable one that I had was during one of the night hike. Like always, i would ask around at my workplace who is interested to join for the hiking trip. And as always, initial number was big, but when the actual day arrives, the number of hikers drop. But I still proceed with the night walk. This time its only four of us : three ladies and a guy. So to say, what I am writing now is my second night walk. Starting point is McRitchie entering via Venus Drive and exiting via Bukit Timah. As usual our night hiking would start when the sun set. That day we entered Venus Drive during dusk (it was Maghrib - refers to Muslim prayer time where usu this time we are advisable by the elders to stay indoors). Usually if i enter or exit via Venus Drive, it wasn't so misty or gloomy, but that day it was. Well, probably it was dusk anyway. I try to put it off as my imagination and anyway its not Thursday nite. So we walk in McRitchie and as per normal, stopped at Jelutong Tower to enjoy the star gazing and the night breeze. It was a wonderful feeling esp when the sun is out. Spend roughly one hour or so at Jelutong and we proceed with our night hike. All decided to exit via Bukit Timah so that we can have supper before heading back home. Bukit Timah was more like a walk rather than hike cos we decided that since it has been raining in the morning that day, we better not take the forest route cos during rainy days high chances of fallen trees and we might have difficulties hurdling it over due to shortage of torchlight that we have that day. We exit McRitchie via Rifle Range Road and started to walk towards Bukit Timah.  It was such a long road Some roads are dimly lit but at some stretch, it was very very dark except lights coming from the nearby building. There was this one part of the road where we need to walk up a slope and when i looked up, i keep seeing a silhouette of a huge dark figure at the end of the road with a red light near it. But as i walked towards it, the silhouette disappear. Btw, we have to walk pass a bend road and there was this blind spot mirror. A friend of mine suddenly halt us, and said "wait", and she was staring at the blind spot mirror. I immediately knows that she saw something. So i dragged her to move on. My fren didn't say anything cos we four had made an agreement earlier that shud anyone of us saw, smelt or heard anything during the hike; don't ask around or say anything. All sighting and encounters shall only be discussed when we meet at work the next day. This is to avoid anyone getting scared unnecessarily and/or spoilt the mood to finish for the night walk. Okie...so we continue to walk on the road. And as we walked I have started to feel eerie esp when the four of us run out of topic to talk and we go silent. To overcome that feeling, we talked and talked and laughed and laughed; just to break the silence and quietness of the surrounding. Soon, we came to a map and two of us was looking at it and deciding where shud we head for. I was looking around and my other girl friend was sitting down on the ground tying her shoelace. When i turned around towards the two who was looking at the map, i saw pontianak standing behind one of my fren who was looking at the map (his back was facing the pontianak). i was shocked and don't know what to do. Then, either I was stupid or I was brave...i asked my friend "so where are we going? Walk inside (forest route) or outside (road)?". And we started to talk about the way out from the map direction. I then realised that the pontianak wasn't behind my friend anymore. But at the corner of my eyes, I could see that "she" have shifted into the forest area cos I saw the whitish image of it there. After we are done with the discussion and was making our way, one of my friend keep turning back and looking into the forest area. I knew that she was looking for the pontianak. Let her keep looking, im not turning my head back man! Our next remaining walk in Bukit Timah, i don't feel comfortable at all. And we somehow missed our exit point and ended up elsewhere. We are so sure that we took the correct and usual path, but mysteriously that night we lost our way and took the wrong exit. Luckily if we exit the wrong point, we can always walk down towards the main road and ends up at the MAKAN place! We had our supper like nothing happen at all just a moment ago. Only God knows how scared I was then. Anyway, when we met at work the next day..that's when all out to share and compare experiences. And yes, all four of us saw that pontianak. Its not our imagination. Earlier i told you at one point of time one of my friend stopped us in front of the blind spot mirror right? She said she saw five person instead of four in the mirror. Twice she looked at it, and twice she saw five figures there. If you ask me now or anytime; night hiking again? My answer : Of course! When? Labels: local, macritchie, rambling
++ quoth nessie at 11:12 AM Back to Top | Home Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve
Where : Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve When : Feb 2007  Sungei Buloh Wetland entrance How to get there : Take SMRT Bus 925 from either Woodlands MRT Station or Kranji MRT Station. This bus stops at the Wetland Reserve entrance on Sundays and Public Holidays. On weekdays and Saturdays, alight at the Kranji Reservoir Carpark for a 20-minute walk to the Wetland Reserve. Opening hours : Weekdays : 7.30am to 7.00pm Sundays & Public Holidays : 7.00am to 7.00pm Admission : Free entry except on Saturdays, Sundays, Public Holidays and School Holidays. $1.00 per adult $0.50 per child / student / senior citizen Theatrette show screenings: Mondays to Saturdays - 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm & 5pm Sundays and Public Holidays - Hourly 9am to 5pm  Map to getting around in the reserve The Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve is a nature reserve located in the Northwest area of S'pore. It is the first wetlands reserve to be gazetted in S'pore in the year 2002, and the global importance as a stop-over point for migratory birds. This is my first visit to the wetland, and i forgot to bring along my camera, but that doesn't stop me from taking pictures of some of the living things that i see here. It was low tide that day, but i can see the water keeps gushing in constantly for the high tide to be in anytime soon. There's so much mudskippers of all sizes seen on the mangroves. The mudskippers are so cute esp when it's eyes rolled up. khehehee...its like saying "watever!!".  Mangroves Walking the nature trail, always got to look out for spider webs. Its all over and the spiders are so huge in size! I always almost walk thru it because I was busy admiring whats on my left/right view rather than whats in front of me. Too bad my camera phone unable to capture these spiders. I also spotted a crocodile. Try to look for it behind these trees...  See the crocodile? See its head?  Now, that's the tail of the crocodile. These are some of the living things that i came across during the nature walk :  Did u see anything in the above picture? It camouflage well with its surroundings.  Spotted so many of this (above) during the walk. It keeps crossing across the path that we walked. But it disappear as quickly as it appears.    Due to its inaccessibility during weekdays, i've only been here once to date. Awww...I missed Sungei Buloh Wetland!! Anyone interested to go? E-mail me! What to bring on your visit :
Labels: local, mangrove, rambling, sungei buloh, wetland
++ quoth nessie at 1:12 AM Back to Top | Home Monday, August 4, 2008
HSBC TreeTop Walk
Where : McRitchie Reservoir Place : HSBC Treetop Walk When : 2007 It has been almost one year now that i last visited the HSBC Treetop Walk. Do i missed the walk there? Of course. Even tho in 2007 I have walked the canopy walk few times, i never grew tired of it. Anyway, since im rather free now i just wanna write a short article on my hiking trip to the TreeTop Walk.  McRitchie Reservoir I have heard of the treetop canopy walk constructed in McRitche when it was first open in July 2004, but didnt make a trip there coz I've never hike before and had no friend who love nature walk as much as i do. So, finally when a friend mentioned about going hiking in McRitchie back then in 2007, i'm so excited to go. I didn't know what to bring, what to expect during the hike. So i did little homework and surf the net to get some tips. It turn out that McRitchie terrain is not difficult at all. A group of nine of us gathered for the hike. In the group, there's two who have had hike in McRitchie before, so that muster some confidence in me shud we encounter any mishap, at least someone knows what to do. For a first timer, i must say that it wasn't difficult or challenging to walk up those slopes and walk on those nature trails. But walking on the canopy walk is rather scary esp those who's afraid of height.  HSBC TreeTop Walk The walkway is at 25m above the ground. It is a one-way traffic system on the Tree Top Walk. That is, visitors can only enter from the Bukit Peirce entrance (via Peirce Track). Walking towards Bukit Kalang, visitors will exit along the Petaling Trail. This system is to allow visitors a more enjoyable visit. The walkway is narrow and the number of people that can be on the walkway at the same time is limited to 30 persons. NParks rangers will also on hand at the site to assist visitors. The TreeTop Walk is open from : Tue to Fri: 9am-5pm Sat, Sun and Public Holidays: 8.30am-5pm. Closed on Mondays except public holidays for maintenance and research. Admission is free. Labels: hiking, local, macritchie, rambling, treetop
++ quoth nessie at 12:35 AM Back to Top | Home Sunday, August 3, 2008
Sunday dine-in : PIZZA!
I'm not paid for the promotion of the company or the item mentioned in this blog of mine. This is just purely my favourite kind. It started with a day of being don't know what to cook and nothing special to eat and its someone's birthday today. Its my second sista b'day... So i started to think and think what to eat. Finally, i decided to have pizza! There have been growing number of pizza company obtaining the 'HALAL' certification but not all i have tried out. But one particular company that i have been placing my order with, and still loved it so much for the past few years. Its 'Canadian Pizza'.
 SINGAPURA SPECIAL : Spicy Chicken, Garlic, Capsicum, Red Chilli  SHAWARMA PIZZA (This is new on the menu) : Chicken Shawarma, Lettuce, Onions, Doner Kebab Sauce, Mozzarella & Edam Cheese  CHEESY TURKEY : Cheesy Turkey Sausage, Turkey Bacon, Capsicum & Fresh Tomatoes  MEAT LOVER : Spiced Minced Beef, Beef Pepperoni, Turkey Ham, Beef Salami & Italian Sausage During festive sason, you can expect special menu of pizza topping. At other times, the company will come out with new recipes and menus. Visit Canadian Pizza website for the whole menus and side orders. Canadian Pizza Homepage My comment : My all-time fav is SINGAPURA SPECIAL cos of its spiciness. For those who does not eat chicken and cannot stand spicy food, try MEAT LOVER. This is my first time trying SHAWARMA PIZZA. Its tomato based, not spicy and had generous topping of chicken. I will surely order it again in future, but will add lots of chilli flakes for add-on spiciness! kheheeee... I stayed in the East and my sis stayed in the West. The topping that my sister and myself got, varies with the location of the outlet which did our pizzas. What i observed is that in the East, i will get more topping comparing to my sister. Labels: food
++ quoth nessie at 6:53 PM Back to Top | Home Friday, August 1, 2008
Charcoal BBQ chicken at home
   But tadaaa...feel sian no more! *wink*wink* Now i do it at the comfort of my own home. But of course, minus the beach, the seawater smell, the sand, the sun and the children playing by the beach. Even tho i missed all those, but i killed my craving. Kheheheee... For those who wants the recipe of the marination, pls visit my blog issue Recipe : Spicy BBQ Chicken marination Labels: BBQ, recipes, recipes-chicken
++ quoth nessie at 12:55 PM
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My first Dirtbike ride!
Once again...1N in KL
Yogyakarta F&E Summarised!
Gemia Island, Trengganu Malaysia
hi 2011, the "Rabbit" year!
An addition to the family - FT2!
Hari Raya 10 Sept 2010
Rawa Island Safaris
A dreadful 5days experience in Jakarta, Puncak, Ba...
Stranded at Polonia, Medan Airport!
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