Sunday, June 30, 2013

一人一日行

Took the night train frm JB sentral to KL Sentral. Going over the Causeway at 9pm was a breeze by bus, I was at jb waiting for the friend in thirty minutes time. No sweat.

AT brought me to Roost cafe for juice. The joy of having friends from other countries, even if its just JB.


Drop me back at JB sentral for my 11.35pm train. Bought the RM38 upper deck sleeper class and it was quite pleasant. But there were times where I feel a bit sick from all the swaying and jerking.

Note: Bring a plastic bag whenever on sleeper journey.

The train left at close to 12am and arrive on time at 6.30am. I went to the washroom to freshen up. Mouth rinse and slap on some bb cream for protection as well as to cover up those unsightly pimples who sprang up over night. Left the station by LRT and alight at the wrong stop as my research was not correct. Instead of walking to the other KL Sentral to take the direct monorail to Bukit Bintang I board the LRT to Dang Wangi thinking that I can do a transfer to monorail Bukit Nana - Bukit Bintang. This could be done but I need to come out from the underground station, cross the overhead bridge and walk another 100m to my left before arriving at the monorail station. Luckily it was early and not too hot but boy was it humid.

Note: Route should be to stop at Masjid Jamek change to Heng Tnah before changing to Bukit Bintang.

Finally arrive at Bukit Bintang. Followed the directions on Google map and I reach my destination at 7.40am. Pasar bukit bintang!! Found the hainenese coffee everyone is talking about and ordered my breakfast.


The coffee+tea=cheam was thick, smooth, creamy and a instant wake me up. The kaya bun has a crispy crust and soft warm inside. Check out the generous amount of butter.


I had wanted to try the chee cheong fun, curry noodles, wantan mee, egg tarts and poppia but after the coffee set I was too full for anything else.

So I walk back to bukit bintang and have a cup of coffee at my fav coffee place while waiting for the shops to open.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Day 6-7 in Jeju 2011

Woke up, check out and ask for directions to the accommodation I book the previous night. After researching for accommodations in the East of Jeju I finally decided on this. Reason being I was there for the sunrise and reviews have it that its peaceful with a nice and friendly owner.

The motel recept told me to go to the main street and get a cab to the bus terminal then bus for 30mins to the stop and call for the owner of the hostel to pick me up. He wrote down the locations in Korean for me to show the driver and this helped very much. I set on my way and without much difficulty arrived at the accommodation for the night. It was a 30mins walk from the bus stop. But I have sea views. After choosing my bed I went out for a walk in search of lunch+dinner. The nearest eatery is 20mins walk away. But with scenery like this, I enjoyed the walk. Just that the winds were too strong for my liking.



Reached the seafood resturant and pointed at one of the picture.

The ajuma brought the fish over then proceeded to put on disposable plastic gloves. ..

And she deboned the fish for me!


It was good. Tender and juicy. But the price was way more than I expected. Reckon this is the standard price for fresh seafood in Korea.

I slowly walk back and the owner made me a cup of freshly grind hand dripped coffee. I drank it black. It taste too acidic for my liking but I still finished the whole cup. I saw the skies changing colour and went out to have a better view.



The owner then suggested driving to the nearby town for dinner. Four of us, him, his helper, Ci han who house-sit the place and take care of the female only-second floor in exchange for free lodging, food and guitar lessons, another guest who hike around jeju and me went for a bbq dinner. The gents were not able to express themselves well in English while I did not attempt to master Korean so it was all down to Ci han to be the translator for the night. I know it was tiring for her as she need to think for the correct words and I was grateful that never did she sound frustrated or unwilling to help translate something. We finished dinner and the owner went to buy back fried chicken. I learned that korean men have 2 stomachs, one for chicken+ soju/beer and one for everything else.

Second round with the nation favorite sport. Someone did tried to explain but im just not talented enough to understand this completely.


The hiker showed me some of the pictures he took around Jeju and I come to understand that he is a Blogger who blogs about hiking trails around Korea in Korean. He does has very nice pictures taken by his iphone. Although he is close to 50yo he looks like he is in his late thirties only. Thats what fresh air and ample exercise do for you. Mr Hiker asked me what will I be doing the following day and I replied I don't know. I have not make up my mind if I will want to stay here for another day or move on to the next area. He asked me to take the ferry to Udo island and said I will enjoy the scenery there. I thought why not and perhaps I will do just that.

I guess this is the part where I love most on free and easy travels and hostel accommodations. You choose where you want to go and get to hear about places that are popular only to the locals. It feel like you have learned a big secret within the circle of trust.

I set my alarm after checking for the timing for sunrise and went to bed.

Day 7.
Loves what greeted me that morning but wish the house in the foreground will vanished as if not for it I will be able to see the sun rising from the horizon.


I went back for another nap before waking at 8+ to prepare for my day trip to Udo island.

A lady who was also staying there offered to drive me to the ferry terminal which is a 20mins drive away. She has been staying here for a week and is looking for a place to open a shop. Lucky her!

I went to buy the ticket for the next ferry and went to the nearest cafe for coffee and breakfast.

The background is the famous sunrise peak where thousand of tourists will visit daily. I decided to just admire from afar.


Upon reaching Udo island, one has 4 options to choose from on how to explore this small island. By foot, bicycle, ATV or their local tour bus. I choose the last as I wasn't confident with driving my own ATV on unfamiliar grounds with a map in Korean after remembering that my one and only ATV experience included a mild accident of losing control and driving off road while ahem..speeding. So, local tour bus it was. I took to stalking two young girls as im not sure what was the given time at each stop.

Udo island is known as cow island because from Jeju this island looks like a cow. Simple as that. It can easily be explored on ATV within 2 hrs and half a day on bike.


The bus ferry us to the more famous location and honestly I have no clue at where I was at. Just enjoy the views and do a bit of people watching.




We were brought back to the ferry terminal and board the ferry back to jeju-do. I went back to the cafe to tap on their wifi as I do not know how to go back to my accommodation. It seems like a situation to panic on but truthfully speaking I kinda like the feeling of being lost or supposedly lost. Heh.. After all, how lost can one be in a place with internet connecyion and people and taxis.

I found the bus stop and board the bus back to my accommodation. Stop at the seafood resturant and bought the fish back for dinner as it was too early for dinner yet.

That night, the owner went to Seoul and along with another guest, the 3 of us had the fish, omelette cooked by Ci han and the ever present chicken for dinner while watching some English movie on the large projector screen.

Weekends

Weekends are days where you have ownership of your whole 24hrs, at least for me. I do not have to wake up to the alarm clock and follow my weekday routine from 7am to 7pm only then to spend the next 5hrs de-stressing for bedtime. I wake up as I want to and do what I feel like.

But I guess that I have not been putting my weekends to good use. I spend too much time in bed and in front of the tv. Yes, I rest my old body and gave my brain a break but resulted in becoming more lethargic when Monday comes. So, what should I be doing then? If I draw up a timetable will I follow? If I follow will I enjoy?

Perhaps I should come up with a list of to-dos for my remaining 20+ weekends...

What do I want? ???

2 cups of teh-cino penz at 11pm is not an ideal way of spending Saturday night

Wednesday, June 05, 2013

本想进藏但找不到便宜机票就KIV吧