Anyway, my family - Daddy, Mummy, Me, Jeravan & Jerina - went for a holiday in Ipoh, Malaysia! :) Our 3 day trip is from 22nd - 25th June 2011 :) I had to take 3 days leave....Oh well, who needs leave when I've got tons of offs?? :D Oops....haha!
Since this took place so long ago, I'd have to rely on the pictures to refresh my memory so I can narrate our little vacation :D
Me, Jeravan, Daddy & Jerina at the budget terminal! :)
This time, we didn't take Singapore Airlines or some other mainstream airline...we took budget airline!! Looks like the 3 of us started sucking up our family's budget....haha.
Yup, I didn't know that budget airlines have another budget terminal! I thought they were mixed with T1 - T3 at Changi Airport...Haha! Sua ku sia!
We took bus and walked to the budget terminal because unlike Terminals 1 - 3, the budget terminal did not have direct bus or train access...The nearest and only bus stop was a good 10minute walk away from the budget terminal.
We survived the 10min walk in civilian FBO (our massive luggages...HAHA!) and we were all like "Whoa, what is this Malaysia airport doing in Singapore?" HAHA!
It really looked like some Giant supermarket in Malaysia with a McDonald's at one side and the counters in one whole row and a few other shops littered along the perimeter of the structure.
The budget airline we were taking is "Firefly", a subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines. Its company name doesn't sound like "Singapore Airlines" or "British Airways"...
Their airline name is FlyFirefly Sdn Bhd. -___-" Wows. Haha! I was like "Huh?" Sdn. Bhd.? Pte. Ltd.? Sounds like some car repair company like "Ah Huat Car Services Pte Ltd" kinda thing? HAHA!
Ok, enough of the "Singapore-imperialist-complex" comments. Haha. The plane was really cute. It was small and had 2 big rotors...
Me with the cutesy Firefly airplane! :) See the big fat rotor behind me?
In order of height, the four of us posing with the plane...Ok it wasn't really a pose if you look carefully at our faces...HAHAHA!
The flight took around around 1.5 hours...It really is slow...A normal Boeing plane would've took around 45minutes. Haha. Oh well, it's budget. And there was quite a lot of turbulence when the plane flew through what seemed like a never ending cloud...Haha!
The first thing you do upon arrival is always this...Admit it...I know you do it too.......
Me & Jerina savouring the beds...haha
Hotel beds always seem better than our own home beds...Just like the grass is always greener, the bed is always softer, whiter and more inviting.
The truth is, it's 20x dirtier than our beds at home...because you don't know how many thousands of people have laid on the bed sheets without bathing, drool on it, vomit on it, pee on it, menstruate on it, ejaculate on it....Ok...that's enough. Haha. I think I just permanently spoilt my imperssion of hotel beds already...Haha!
The first day was mainly spent on shopping. The nearest shopping centre was a 10minute walk from our hotel. Awesome! :)
On the way there we stopped by a chinese zi char stall...haha. The food was good...Somewhat like Singapore food...But the best part is...It's 50% cheaper!! :D Whoo hoo! HAHA! We Singaporeans see everything with a 50% discount spectacles in M'sia. Haha.
Yup, bought a nice, tight-fitting polo-T and a nice white T-shirt with the motif "Live without limits" by Jeep...again...HAHA!
Yup, that was the first day...eating and shopping...we window shopped more than shop actually. Haha.
On the second day, my dad rented a car. So off we went to one of the most famous attractions around there..."The Lost World of Tambun"
The entrance...before you get lost...in Tambun...HAHA! Ok, that's was pretty...erm...cold...haha.
Still at the entrance...posing with the Egyptian cats...haha...and no that isn't a flamingo...it's my brother...practicing his ballet moves...HAHA!
If you're still wondering what the "Lost world of Tambun" is, it's a water-theme park...Something like "The Big Splash" kinda thing? Only 3 to 4 times bigger and 2 times cheaper. HAHA!
Posing with one of the pools
Hot springs! I think it's more than 43 degree celsius man...Dipped my hand in and I thought I was gonna be a one-armed swordsman...HAHA! Pardon my lameness...
At the entrance of the petting zoo :D
They really put effort in their signboards...not just some roadside signboard...haha.
RACCOON! :) SUPER CUTE!!
Climbing up...
Reached it's destination...It's pole-dancing now....Haha.
All of us admiring the cuteness and amazing beauty of God's creation...The raccoon :)
Rabbits...also really cute...I thought they'd be quite used to us touching them since it's a petting zoo...but the moment you stroke it, it hurries off...haha
Guinea pigs! :) SUPER CUTE TOO!
One thing I learnt about guinea pigs...They're more than cute...They're also really horny and liberal with their PDA (Public Display of Affection)....see below...
R21!! HAHA!
Skunks! Super cute too...They react to my high pitched yelp...Whenever I yelp "yyeeaaoohhh!" they'll get frightened and jerk in a real cute way...HAHAHA! Really cute...
Water snake!! It swims real fast on the water surface man...Don't play play...
Bird Paradise! :)
The bird paradise was by far the scariest...The birds were SOOOOO friendly!! When we reached the entrance of the huge cage...All the birds flew toward us and perched on the door!! WHOA! I thought I was in a Angry Birds game! HAHAHA!
We went in and next thing we knew, they just started flying on us and landed on our shoulders, bags and all!!! We had to shoo them away like houseflies man! HAHAHA!
The birds were soooo friendly! Aiyooo! Super cute also la...but scared they peck out my eyeballs or something man...hahaha.
Only my dad was interacting well with the Ipoh Airforce...haha.
Birds feeding off Daddy's handful of seeds.
Still bird-feeding...That pigeon is twice the size of those in Singapore! Overgrown pigeons are scary man.
Taking a picture with the parrots...OH were they noisy and piercing! Their shrieks are like 5X sharper and louder than mine man! I've lost! HAHA!
We then continued walking around the whole complex...The awesome thing about this Lost World of Tambun is...It's boundaries are marked by mountains...Take Singapore Zoo for example, it is fenced up by human structures...This Lost World is fenced up by mountains! Really serene place...
Daddy & Mummy with a stump in the background...haha.
I really don't know what's so nice about that vertical piece of rock but since my mum aimed the camera at us, we just smiled. Haha.
Bridge over water...or river...
In the cave...
When we walked in the cave, I was wondering why the cave was so cooling...The afternoon was sweltering hot. My first logical deduction was "Oh ya, caves are meant to be cooling."
Next thing I saw were two big aircons...The huge stand-fan kinda aircon...HAHA! So much for being intellectual...LOLS!
Next up were the carnival rides...which were entirely empty because it is in the hottest period of the day...Haha. We simply went around and took pictures :)
Mummy & Me posing with the train + Daddy in the background...haha
Nope, that's not my ambition next time...haha
Jerina & myself :D
Stuffed-toys! :D
Water playground! :)
Next, we all changed into our swimwear and engaged all their water slides and playgrounds...It is after all the main attraction of this place.
Our float...
If you're wondering what this float is for, it is basically for us to lie on and float around the perimeter of the whole water arena. The water slides and playgrounds are all surrounded by a moat. So you can just take your float and go round the whole compound.
Here's one of the many entrances to the "moat"...
Me & Jeravan :)
It was at this location where Jeravan dropped his spectacles... -__-" We spent like 10minutes searching for it before my dad finally found it. Haha. What a great way to start our "moat" journey...LOLS.
Water slide!! :)
The product of too much office work...HAHA!
Yup, played around, swam around and took all the slides there is before leaving "The Lost World of Tambun".
Oh and I forgot to mention, we collected back our food from the counter...Haha. This is what happened...We knew we're gonna play in there and not have time to sit down and have our lunch. So, we ta-paoed breakfast!
Took tons of cheese, egg and tuna sandwiches and muffins and wrapped them in the hotel serviettes. Haha. Upon entry to the "lost world", they said we couldn't bring food in -__-" So they safe-kept the food for us...Lols.
Yup, upon exit, we collected our lunch. Lols.
The next day we headed out to see a few more attractions in Ipoh...The caves.
Us standing at the entrance to the cave...
When we arrived at the site, we were told that they were on "Simbayan" or something like that. Don't know how to spell it...haha.
Basically all the people running the attraction went for their Friday prayers... -__-" Haha.
I now know how Singapore can win a war against Malaysia, attack them on a Friday afternoon. Win. Haha!
Anyway, if you've been wondering how we got around, my dad rented a car. Duh...haha. Here it is...
Standard car around there...No one knew we were Singaporeans...until we opened our mouths...Haha.
Our next stop? The next attraction! Kellie's Castle. Historical site...And I don't know what's so memorable about the castle...ahaha. I remember reading those tourist information board about the castle...It was saying this is some love castle or something...Haha.
Yup, as usual, take photo and we're off on the road again...Haha.
In order of height...Yes my brother has outgrown me...Haha.
The bright coloured people...Haha.
Yup, next place we went to...The ferry terminal...Haha. I was kinda reluctant because...I visit the ferry terminal everyday! I take the ferry everyday! I manage the ferries in Tekong! Haha.
I am the sea ferry I/C. And here I am, visiting another ferry terminal. Oh well, it'll be cool to know how up-there are we in our management of our sea ferry service. Haha.
Me, Jeravan & Daddy.
Well, it says "Pulau Pangkor" not "Pulau Tekong"...haha
This is such a "sea ferry I/C" pose. Haha!
Shopping near the ferry terminal
After that, we drove down to Woolley Food Centre. There they serve awesome zi char food. Very much like Singapore. Only oilier, less hygienic and 50% cheaper. Haha.
Makan-ing...
After our "outfield" adventure...we returned back to bunk...only to play Monopoly Deal...Haha! During the game Jerina cheated by snatching and looking at my cards. She won...a hollow victory. From there, we nicknamed her "hollow". HAHA!
Monopoly Deal-ing :)
Monopoly Deal-ing with Daddy after bathing...Ok, only I bathed...the rest didn't as you can see from the shirts we're wearing from the previous pic...Haha.
Yup, that was our last day of "outfield". The next day...was breakfast, shopping and a hearty lunch before flying off...
Buffet breakfast :D
Last few pictures here...haha.
The self-cook noodle section
The toast section...Don't know why Mummy wants to take all these...Haha.
Yes, our awesome lunch. We came to this place where they specialized in noodle soup. I ate drunken-prawn noodles, the rest ate meat ball noodle soup la, pork noodle soup la, etc...haha. Basically, it was awesome. Super tasty.
Jeravan & Myself with our bowls :)
Goodbye Ipoh! :)
All in all, Ipoh is a nice place with nothing much. Haha! Ok, they have a few malls here and there and a few caves and historical sites here and there and of course, their water-theme park called "The Lost World of Tambun".
The good thing about Ipoh is, it is Chinese-predominant. Everywhere you go is Chinese people. That's why there is so much good food around there.
The thing about Ipoh is, if you're looking for Ipoh hor fun, you won't find it! Because all their hor fun is Ipoh hor fun. Haha.
Like what my parents said "Tourists from other countries come to Singapore to eat 'Singapore Noodle' but they won't be able to find it. Because all the noodles are Singapore noodles." Haha. Yup, that's quite true. Haha.
What made this trip memorable to me is the shopping! And the monopoly deal-ing. Haha. The water slides and all are no doubt fun, but somehow, it didn't rank no. 1 in my nostalgic feeling. Haha.
Hope to go to a more exciting holiday location soon :)
