Cameron Highland Revisited

Cameron Highland resort always appeal to me for its natural beauty, scenic landscape and cool weather. This vacation brought my family to visit the highland again since the last trip in 2006. The journey from the foot of the highland to the hill top is both long and winding. Drove up to the Highland last weekend and put up a night stay at one of the private 3 rooms fully furnished apartment at Tanah Rata, the main town of Cameron Highland. The room rate is quite reasonable at RM180 per day. The kitchen is also fully equipped with cooking utensils and the living room and bedrooms are generously spacious.

The highland cool weather is condusive for the planting of strawberry,flowers and vegatables which you cannot grow in the low land of Malaysia .Among the many fruits farm we went was the Strawberry farm where for a sum of RM20 you can pluck the fruits on your own pace but limited to 500 gram per plate.At night went to the Pasar malam ( night market ) at Brinchang, a small town just a few kilometre away from Tanah Rata. There you can find a variety of local fruits and vegetables displayed at the market. Fruits like strawberry and corns are popular to the local tourists. Later have steamboat for dinner at one of the Chinese restaurant at Tanah Rata.

Next morning visited the famous Boh Tea plantation and have breakfast at their scenic restaurant before driving back to Kuala Lumpur. It was an enjoyable and memorable trip for my family.

Vacation in Malaysia and Singapore

Vegetarian lunch in Malacca with parents and mother in law

In front of Resort World Sentosa attractions
In front of the Singapore Merlion at Sentosa

In front of Sentosa casino entrance

With Richard at one of the leading hotel in Sentosa

Dinner gathering with parents and sister's family

Reunion gathering of old school mates at Kota Laksama,Malacca.

Qing Ming Qie at Cheng, Malacca with parent and brother.

Was back in Malaysia last month for the annual Chinese Qing Ming festival. It was home sweet home after 6 months away in Abu Dhabi. During the first week went over to Singapore with my family for vacation. Visited the Resort World in Sentosa island where the Genting casino and the Universal studio are located. The casino was opened on the first day of the lunar Chinese New Year 2010 and the Universal studio started business later on the 18th of March 2010. The studio was not fully completed. Singaporean need to pay $100 entrance fees to the casino to discourage the local from gambling. Later took the cab to Orchard road where most of the established Shopping Malls in Singapore are located.
The second week was spent in KL and Malacca. Joined my parent and brother for the Qing Ming Festival in Cheng and Bukit Jelutong in Malacca. Qing Ming Festival or Qing Ming Qie in Chinese means Grave Sweeping Day.Managed to catch up with friends and some old school mates in Malacca and KL and have dinner gatherings with relatives before flying back to Abu Dhabi.

Visit to Ibn Battuta Mall

In front of the Chinese section.

Indian section at Ibn Battuta

In front of Egyptian section at Ibn Battuta Shopping Mall

Standing in front of Ibn Battuta Mall

Inside Dubai Metro train on the way to Ibn Battuta

Extensively designed teak wood ceiling finishes at Burjuman Shopping Mall

Burjuman lobby attractions.

Standing in front of Mahatma Gandhi potrait displayed at Burjuman

Burj Khalifa view from the Abu Dhabi-Dubai highway

Went to the much talked about Ibn Battuta shopping mall with Yap last month. We boarded the early bus from Abu Dhabi and disembarked at Burjuman shopping mall, an exclusive elite mall in Dubai. You can find many shops offering high end branded products. The internal decoration of the mall was awe inspiring particularly on the ceiling finishes. So much teak have been used in the mall to create a cosy enviroment.
Later took the Metro train to Ibn Battuta Shopping Mall. The fares was reasonable at only 11 dirham for return journey. It will easily cost you a bomb at about 80 dirham 1 way if you take the cab as taxi fares in Dubai is much more expensive compared to Abu Dhabi.Ibn Battuta Shopping Mall is a collection of all the major country visited by the traveller.The shopping was extensively decorated to reflect the architecture beauty of that particular nation.
On the way back on the train managed to catch the picture of the just completed Burj Khalifa,currently the highest building in the world, standing at 828m high.

Winter updates from UAE

Sunset in Burj Khalifa, Dubai UAE

Sunrise in Abu Dhabi, UAE

Seaview of Reem Island, Abu Dhabi UAE

In front of Deira City Center, Dubai, UAE

Mould making demonstration at Abu Dhabi Mall.

Moroccon dancer on stage performing in Abu Dhabi Mall

Abu Dhabi Police motorbike on display at Marina Mall

Aid Mubarak display at Abu Dhabi Mall

Time passed really fast and now I have spent my second winter in Abu Dhabi.Life is quite routine except for ocassional trips to Dubai and weekend shopping in the malls of Abu Dhabi.Taken some nice shots of interesting places and scenery for your viewing pleasure.

Eid Mubarak in Dubai

During the recent Aid Holidays, went over to Dubai for vacation with my wife. Visited some interesting places like the Dhow Cruise, Deira City centre, Mall of the Emirates and Atlantis. Took the luxury bus service from Abu Dhabi to Dubai which cost only AED15.Upon reaching Dubai bus station, took the boat ride across the river to old Dubai. There will walk to the Dubai Chinatown where we had our lunch at one of the Chinese shop situated in Dubai Chinese Association building popularly known as Shoe City.

Joined the Dhow Cruise Dinner in the floating restaurant where Continental and Arabic buffet were served with some light music and entertainment. It was a memorable evening as the boat cruised along Dubai Creek by moonlight.

The next day took the Dubai Metro train to The Mall of the Emirates for breakfast before boarding a cab to Atlantis at Palm Jumeirah. Paid AED100 for entry to the Lost Chambers of Atlantis. It was an unforgettable themed marine experience in Ambassador Lagoon at the heart of Atlantis, 11.5 million litres of water and home to 65,000 marine animals in 22 different displays and habitats. It was really an awe-inspiring showcases of underwater world. During the construction of the resort, a complex series of passages was discovered, thought to have been buried thousands of years ago by the waters of the Arabian Gulf.

One Year in Abu Dhabi

Visit to Dubai Gold Souk with Yap and Yong early this month.

Drinking with friends in one of the pub in a popular hotel in Abu Dhabi

Playing badminton in one of the badminton hall in Abu Dhabi

In front of Burj Al Arab , last August , the most expensive hotel in the world.

Time passed really fast and I have spent a year in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Started to get used to the country,the people,the food and the weather here. Have learned the tough way of life away from the family and the comfort of home and nice home-cooked meal.This is the short term sacrifice we need to make for the long term financial need which we can hardly survive in Malaysia.

Just remembered vividly when I touched down in Abu Dhabi on the night of 15th July last year. It was a hot and humid summer and started work immediately the next day.It was tough. On the second day I was already faced with the accomodation problem but with the support of my colleague who managed to pool enough money to settle for the upfront of AED60,000 payment needed. In UAE you need to pay for the whole 12 months rental before you can move in.And rental of room here is extremely high. Here I pay for a little studio of 200 square feet for AED5,000 per month and in Malaysia you can get a nice luxury bungalow for that price.

Gradually I learned to be independent.I learned cooking and ironing in Abu Dhabi.Now I can prepare simple dish mostly steamed stuff whenever I cooked my rice. Transport is another problem in Abu Dhabi. Parking space is hard to find. To resolve my transport here, I invested in a bicycle for my short distant journey to the mall to do my shopping. Taxis here is hard to get during peak hour.Sometimes I take the bus service which is quite reliable and economical for my long distant journey.

I look forward after work to chat with my wife via Windows Live Messenger everyday.I try not to miss a single day communicating with her. Technology really bring me closer to my family. Just imagine we are away 7 hours by flight but we can see and hear each other so clearly. That's the beauty of technology. To pass my time after work, I subscribed to the local E-Vision channel to get the latest news and movies.

Weekend here is Friday and most Thursday night I will be drinking with my friends in one of the popular pubs in town.Most of my shopping are done on Friday, my off day. Sometimes we will travelled to Dubai for shopping and try some of the Chinese food over there for a change.

Managed to join a group of Malaysian playing badminton in one of the international school hall in Abu Dhabi. There are 4 courts in the hall and we played on Wednesday and Sunday night. Most of the Malaysian are in the construction industry but some are working as pilots in the local airline company. There is even a Malaysian embassy staff playing with us.

Chinese New Year Celebration in Malaysia

P Posing in front of the hotel during our CNY stay in Malacca

2nd day of CNY at one of the leading hotel in Malacca with my angels

With my 3 angels at the St Paul Hill, Malacca

On top of the St Paul Hill with a local Eurasian guitarist performing oldies song to the tourist daily

In front of the historical A Famosa in Malacca with my angels

Friends and relatives CNY gathering at my apartment

Dinner gathering with my Condominium residents association members in KL

After a long 6 months stay in Abu Dhabi, fly back Malaysia to celebrate Chinese New Year with family members. Reached KL on the 16th January 2009 and on the next day went back Malacca to visit parents.The next day have a dinner gathering with my Condominium Resident association members.On the eve of CNY went back Malacca again to have the traditional reunion dinner with the parents and relatives.Visited the historical A Famosa and the St Paul Hill in Malacca on the 2nd day of CNY.Managed to catch up with most friends and relatives during the 2 weeks vacation in Malaysia.