Air Asia Promotion

Saw another Air Asia promotion to Taipei, did a search summary and found that the price was even lower than the one they did in June.

The lowest priced combination for KL-TPE-KL we could get it for just RM230 x 2 + RM200 (taxes etc.) =RM640. Alas, Ping2 has not applied for her passport yet so I had to let this go. Fingers crossed they would do another one for the Feb-May 2012 travel period again and at a good price.

Thoughts: I think I really rather travel in groups of 2-3 where decisions can be made quickly.

Bingo

My pretty girl who is also the best dog in the world because she catches mice, kills cobras and takes down anything who runs in our garden. Definitely a domesticated wolf.

Shinjuku Restaurant with MyDeal coupon

After the 5-hr hike in the morning, both of us were exhausted. For dinner, we went to this Shinjuku Restaurant where I had bought the voucher months ago. Was looking forward to a nice Japanese meal BUT....

Shinjuku Restaurant, located at Jalan Chow Thye

It actually looks quite cozy from the outside, but when I saw wooden statues of elephants at the entrance, I was like hmm....??

The interior was nothing Japanese-like... and I really don't like the table cloth

I looked at their menu, and then looked at the pictures of the Thai King on the wall: it confirmed my thoughts - the owner must be a Thai and this restaurant does Thai, Malaysian, Chinese and Japanese food. Uh-oh...not a good feeling...

We amused ourselves by taking random pictures

Since I bought the voucher, the dinner was pre-set. We're supposed to get a total of 13 items (which I don't remember now), including the green tea. Although I was pleasantly surprised at the sake (because I don't remember what I should be getting!), it tasted rather bland. The chawanmushi was ok, ALL of the sushi were terrible though - the rice was cold and hard and tasteless. The yakitori was too sweet, the shisamo and unagi tofu (both not pictured) was not good, even Ping2 who never complains about food said they were bad.

Our nabeyaki ramen (kimuchi soup) tasted nothing like kimchi...

All in all, this was THE worst experience I've ever had with food where EVERY dish failed! It was a very disappointing evening for us, but especially for me because I had been looking forward to it for a while. DO NOT recommend this restaurant. I think they tried to do too many different cuisines but ended up having none of them outstanding. Money wasted.

Moon Gate to Penang Hill - June 26 2011

Ping2 managed to invite a friend who brought a couple more friends along so we had a party of 5 people hiking together this time. We were glad for the extra company; it gets lonely with just the two of us...=(

Trail 2 from the book: starting from Moon Gate, Route A then to Station 84. We couldn't find Route B while we were in the woods. We've done the Jeep Road to 84 before.

Pleasantly surprised to find Starbucks collaborates with the local nature groups.

Our starting point - the Moon Gate

Station 5, also a tea kiosk with some gym equipment

Walking through the woods, took us about 1.5 hours to get to 84. At one point we thought we got lost because we had been walking for so long..

Finally we heard sounds of motorbikes and came out to the Jeep Road to see Station 84. Ping2 had not plan to go up Penang Hill but the guys were enthusiastic so up we went!

Grace Dieu Bungalow - I need to find out if we can visit or if it's a private residence..

Finally we arrived at Penang Hill!

See the blue backdrop? It has all three types of cable cars on it: the left one is the oldest one, the right one is the one I took when I was young, and the middle one is the newest, hi-tech one which I haven't tried.

The old cable car looks like this

Now they have this take-a-picture-with-a-snake attraction.. I pity the snake..


Bukit Bendera - literal translation is "Flag Hill", aka Penang Hill

The entrance/exit to the cable cars

The cable car tracks

The entrance/exit to the Hill - lots of tourists that day

We had a second breakfast at the tiny food court and took the same route going back.

Trees grow tall in the woods.. loving the blue sky

Our beloved city, still a little smoggy

In total, it took us about 5 hours taking the nature trail up to Penang Hill and back. Good thing there was no wild boar encounter again..

Our lunch, Wan Ton Mee

Penang's Nature Trails

Our goal for the rest of the year – to attempt all nature trails listed in the excellent Selected Nature Trails of Penang Island. There are a total of 18 trails in the book. If we attempt one trail every week, we should be able to finish all in 4 ½ months. Wish us luck! =D

Bkt Jambul （北笑山）- June 19 2011

I've never hiked here before even though the college I went to was just around the corner. It was still kinda dark when we got there at 7am.


A tar road leads up for maybe 200m and then we were in the woods. There were some lamp posts but none of the bulbs worked.

A spot where light shone in through the opening. Steps and more steps, just like Mt K.

Looking back...spooky!

And then suddenly we came out in the open...(hike was only 15 mins??)

...with a view of the northwest of Penang and Pulau Jerejak in the distance (~Ping2)

All hiking places have a tea kiosk and gym equipment

This one even has big mirrors (though broken) and posters of Bruce Lee - motivation??

Very old (and abandoned?) tea kiosk. It looked like it was once a popular gathering spot for local hikers. There were pictures of hiking expeditions all over the walls - Mt K, Nuang and other places I didn't recognize. I wonder how old and where these people are now...

Another foggy morning, Penang Bridge in the distance

We hung for quite a while up here, chatting and taking pictures. Then we took another route going down, "and that has made all the difference".

I've seen this before but I never knew what they are

Deep into the woods we go...

...chanced upon a durian tree (spot the durians??)

Rubber tree! Yes I'm a city girl, haven't seen a real rubber tree up close

Rubber trees are tapped by cutting into the bark and collecting the white latex in a cup

An old tree that is not tapped anymore

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood... (~Ping2)

...on and on, we felt like we were getting lost coz there was no one in front or behind us (but we weren't too worried)

...got distracted by mushrooms...

Then we heard voices and saw some people and an exit sign! (~Ping2)

So now we know there're two paths leading up. This was the one we took going up.

Let sleeping dogs lie...

Headed to Supertanker for breakfast. My roti canai - curry fail

Ping2's Loh Mee - ok

Aki Pancake - the one and only tattooed pancake man in Penang, and IMO, the best pancake

Husband and wife team, operates in the mornings on weekends and at night on weekdays

My furkids