Polonnaruwa & Pidurangala Rock

Sigiriya is located in the Matale District in the Central Province of Sri Lanka, within the cultural triangle formed by Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Kandy, which includes five of the eight world heritage sites in Sri Lanka.

The night before, we had arrange with our lodge for a tuk tuk for a day hire to bring us to Polonnaruwa, 70Km away from where we were. For the whole day, it would cost us LKR5000. Our lodge also offered us the choice of taking their jeep for LKR6000 (an additional LKR1000) but since we are not doing any safaris. A tuk tuk will do. It took us about one and half hours to reach Polonnaruwa. Along the way, we pass by Minneriya National Park, famous for its wetlands, vast grasslands and large wild herds of elephants. We would surely love a visit if not for time constraint. On a side note, safaris can be organized with the guesthouse (and it is their own jeep!)

Yay setting off.

Block out dust attempt 1

Block out dust attempt 2

The ancient city of Polonnaruwa, declared a UNESCO World Heritage site was the island’s second great capital in the medieval era (11th-13th centuries A.D). The Cholas had shifted the capital from Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa after the invasion and destruction of Anuradhapura in 993. In 1070, when local leader King Vijayabahu I defeated the Cholas invaders, he retained Polonnaruwa as his capital city. Under the reign of Parakramabahu (AD 1153-1186), trade and agriculture flourished. The Polonnaruva era was regarded as the golden age of agriculture in Sri Lanka.

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Before heading into the ruins of the ancient city, you will need to purchase tickets at the counter which also houses the museum. The museum is a treasure house of priceless artifacts excavated from the medieval city of Polonnaruwa some dating back to early BC. It is a great place to start but i guess it would have been much more enriching if we visited at the end instead.

Our tuk tuk driver had told us there are about 25 sites to visit. I was like WHUT? 25? Thats too much for a day isnt it? but in the end we cleared everything within half a day. At the entrance into the ancient city, there will be guides selling their service for LKR800-1000. It would be useful but not necessary. the inscription plates were readable and in 3 languages, English, Sinhalese and Hindi. If you have been to Ang Kor Wat in Cambodia, the feeling is similar  whereby after a while everything looks pretty much the same. ಥ‿ಥ

One can also rent a bicycle to explore the ancient city since Polonnaruwa is so much more compact. But just make sure you drink loads and loads of water because the weather is scorching hot. It will feel the intense burn on your skin. Especially for tourists who are not used to the tropics, it can be challenging. It is crazy because i come from Singapore with sunny weather all year round and i too find it unbearable.

Under the shades of the trees

 

Royal Palace of King Parakrama Bahu the Great
The 1st set of ruins we came across used to be a grand palace fit for kings. It was constructed as a seven storied palace and accordingly to historical chronicles, had a thousand rooms, which seems unlikely. Only 2 stories remain today.

What’s left of the palace

From the side

Council Chambers
The royal court of King Parakaramabahu sits on 3 layer of stone. The bottommost layer had its border decorated with elephants, 2nd layer with lions, uppermost layer with Vanama, an avatar of Vishnu. The entrance is guarded by two beautiful stone lions and within the compound you can see 4 rows of 12 stone pillars.

Check out the cravings on each layers

Moonstone

Guarded by stone lions

Kumara Pokuna
Nearby the Palace is this royal bath which is an essential feature in the royal complex design. A long narrow flights of stairs leads you down to the pond. A changing room adjunct to the pond can be seen in ruins today.

Kumara Pokuna

Siva Devale No 1
Between the royal palace and the Sacred Quadrangle is this hindi shrine. The shrine was built according to South Indian architectural traditions. You have to take off your shoes to enter.

Looking in from the outside

 

Sacred Quadrangle

The Vatadage
The quadrangle is a sacred area containing several medieval buildings housed on a raised platform within walls. The Vatadage, a 12th century stupa takes the pride of the place being the most beautiful and impressive. One set of stairways lead to the middle level, and from there you can get to the top-level through 4 different doorways (North South East West) Four buddhas sits in the central dagaba. Kinda reminds me of the Four Faced god Phra Phrom.

The Vatadage

Most well-preserved moonstone!

One buddha sits facing each side

Thuparama Image House
One of the most intact building that survived the Polonnaruva era. Not much is known about this structure.

Under restoration

Sath Mahal Prasada
This unique type of brick structure is a special type of Dageba (Pagoda) that mirrors the stupa style of SE Asia countries such as Thailand or Cambodia therefore it could be assumed that Sri Lanka had cultural links with these countries during the period.

Pabalu Vehera
Was a monastery with an unusually shaped stupa with 9 image house.

Rankot Vihara
Largest stupa in Polonnaruwa and 4th largest in the country. Constructed by the King Nishanka Malla (AD.1187 to 1196). Th architecture is amazing.

Looking very majestic

How huge it is!

Lankathilaka image house
Another amazing structure is this gigantic brick-built Buddha image house.The Buddha statue stand tall at 41 ft and is also completely made out of clay bricks. Feels myself being so tiny just looking at it.

Feels like a dwarf looking at it

Kiri Vehera
This stupa is the second biggest stupa in Polonnaruwa today. Also it is the only stupa to survive the 900 years of forces of nature and still is in the original condition.

Water drains out of this crocodile head

Gal Vihara
A rock temple in the middle of the ancient city. The colossal rock cute buddha images at Gal Vihara is the most celebrated site in Polonnaruva.

Good they made a shelter. Crazy hot weather that day.

 

This standing image is different from the rest of the buddhas as it has its arms folded and eyes closed.

 

Nelum Pokuna (Lotus Pond)

Recommend Attire

Since some sites are scared, you will only be allowed to enter if you are wearing clothes that covers your shoulders and knees. A scarf can also be used to cover it up. Some sites you will also need to remove your shoes. Hence wear comfortable footwear.

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After finishing most of the ancient ruins sites (some were not accessible as restoration works is in progress), we are so hungry. My friend wanted local food again! On our tuk tuk recommendation, we came to this family restaurant which serve buffet. It was down a small dirt path. There was no signboard on the way in either. There were a variety of different curries and meats. We had our food in a wooden shed overlooking the farm and the food was simply yummylicioius. The owners were so friendly, they even gave us a tour of the kitchen!  Every dish was cooked the traditional way with charcoal and firewood. Amazing.

Farm Lunch

Enjoying the view

Kitchen tour – Cook using traditional firewood!

With our tummies filled, it is time to move on to our next destination!

Pidurangala Rock

Pidurangala Rock is closely related to the Sigiriya Rock Fortress.

The Sigiriya Rock is where King Kasyapa ( AD477-495) built his palace. He also built a massive gatehouse in form of a lion to guard the entrance to his palace on top of the rocks. Hence this place is also known as the Lion Rock.

Pidurangala came into prominence when King Kasyapa ( AD477-495) relocated the buddhist monks who were then living at Sigiriya in order to make room for his palace. He compensated them by constructing new dwellings and contributed to the development of the temple and monastery.

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Why did we choose Pidurangala over Sigiriya Rock? Partly because we refused to pay the extortionate price of USD35 entrance fee for the lion rock as compared to Pidurangala which is only LRK500. Sigiriya rock is so crowded that you have queue to climb up the stairs. There was almost no others when we reach the foot of Pidurangala Rock. But if we have the time and cash to spare, we would probably climb both since Sigiriya Rock has an important place in history and the ancient ruins of the palace is known to be exquisitely beautiful.

You drop off at the main road and climb up a flight of nicely constructed stairs to reach the entrance. There, the monks will come on out to collect the entrance fees of LKR500 per person. A few steps up and you come to the Pidurangala cave temple which was constructed into the Pidurangala Rock.

Cave Temple

Flights of steps

Climbing Pidurangala is definitely not easy especially the 2nd leg of the climb. On the right of the Cave Temple, you will find a flight of stone steps that takes you upwards. Irregular and steep, it is a well-marked but strenuous trail. You should be able to reach the beautiful Giant Reclining Buddha under a large rock in about half an hour. This is where things start to get a little harder but you are almost reaching the summit!

Things are gonna get tough after passing here.

Reclining Buddha

Please also beware of low hanging branches. On our way down, we pass a lady who knocked into one! Her cut was quite deep and a patch of her hair was gone! omgosh. We pass on some of our medicated supplies to them too. Therefore, i must stress it is always important to bring along first aid on trips like this. Basics like Betadine, alcohol swipes, antiseptic cream etc.

Beware low branches.

After passing the reclining Buddha, there is no clearly defined path nor route. We were lucky to have our tuk tuk driver with us who so happily guide us through. I definitely would not recommend elderly or the disabled at attempting this. Right before the summit, you will come to this messy collection of boulders stacked on top of each other. You will need to scale this huge boulder and then crawl and creep through these tight crevices between the boulder to emerge victorious, from the other side.

Once you have come through, you will be greeted with a spectacular view of the surrounding with Sirigiya Rock standing tall in a distance.

Doggie came up to enjoy the breeze too.

Breathtaking

Us with our friendly guide

Top of Pidurangala is a gentle sloped plateau

HELPPPPP!

 

After getting down from Pidurangala, our tuk tuk driver drove us somewhere across a huge lake where we can view both rocks unobstructed. The view was amazing. And most shocking thing of all was, people were happy bathing in the lake and they could still point excitedly to me… The crocodile perched in a distance across the lake.  (☉_☉)

Pidurangala & Sigiriya

Sun bathing Croc

A Naga Buddha statue near Pidurangala. This is interesting because i have always thought snakes were depicted as evil in mythologies and folklore yet here, it is protecting the Buddha from rain and storm.

Back to our lodge

Cost for the day

Tuk tuk hire for the day
LKR5000

Polonnaruwa Admission
USD25 per pax

Priyamali Gedara (Lunch)
No. 1595 Bendiwewa, Jayanthipura, Polonnaruwa
 +94 071 7216480
LKR800 per pax.

 

Sri Lanka, 2016

Sri Lanka, also known as the Jewel of Indian Ocean undoubtedly deserves its spot on Lonely Planet 10 Top destination to visit in 2016. Home to a diverse and multicultural population, blessed with stunning scenery and well preserved cultural sites, a history that spans 3000 years with evidence of pre-historic human settlements dating back to at least 125,000 years. This little island nation fascinates me and has greatly exceeded my expectations! Warm and friendly Sri Lankan and surprisingly clean, small in size yet big in what it has to offer. Vast range of activities for the action packed adrenaline seekers to one who just like to laze around rest and relax. I spend 10 days in this magical place, feeling as safe as i was at home. I guaranteed, Sri Lanka will charm you as it did with me and it will be one trip that you will never forget.

Polonnaruwa and Pidurangala Rock
Kandy
3D2N Trekking in Knuckles Mountain Range
Nuruwa Eliya
Horton Plains
Ella
Yala National Park
Columbo

After 9 months of planning, the day has finally arrived! We arrived 10am on an SQ flight (only 4 hours from Singapore) to Bandaranaike International Airport. We can already smell adventure in the air.

From the plane

First thing is to get ourselves equipped with local SIM cards, a few choices for one to pick from. Dialog, Mobitel, Estisalat, Airtel and Hutch (seems to be very popular with the middle eastern tourists) all have their own booths and you cannot miss it. Dialog was the highly recommend one online and naturally the queue was the longest. Personally i feel Mobitel has a better offer than Dialog (and no queues) – 1000 LKR for 8GB data. Dialog, on the other hand had a strange combination – 1000 LKR for 9GB data (Split into 4 GB for day use & 5 GB for night use, 12am to 8am).

We decided to go with Dialog which proved to be a good choice. During our 3D2N trek deep in the Knuckle Mountains, i was so amazed at being able to instagram from our remote campsite at altitude of 1800M. Our guide was also to answer calls! He is using dialog as well. Clearly their Telco coverage surpassed our own where we can have no service in Puala Ubin.

We need to get to Sigiriya which is about 5 hours away. Deciding between taking local bus or taxi. We had quotes between LKR 10000 to 120000. Managed to haggle a ride down to LKR 7000 for 3 of us.

Seems like a pretty good deal. Though it was only the 3 of us to a car, turns out we had unknowingly carpooled with another guy (and we did not even realized that until the guy got off at his destination, we thought he was a friend of the driver) so we 3 were squeezed at the back.

By the time we reached Sigiriya, the sun was almost setting! The sun sets at about 6pm and it could be pitch dark by 7pm. Obviously, we was not aware. Still want to go out for dinner.

We had a hard time locating our lodge as it was not on the main road. Sri Lankans were the most helpful people. Strangers can have long conversations, averaging 10 mins with one another because our driver literally ask every single person on the road (there was not many) how to get to our lodge. In Singapore, when someone ask you for directions, you probably finish the whole conversation in 5 secs or less. We are that efficient.

This is where i learned my first Sinhalese word!

Hari Hari. It is such a versatile word that can be use in any situations. I think it means OK but can also be use for thank you, can, sure, no problem. Rest of the trip, i ended up amusing everyone with my “hari-hari”

Our lodge

Looking comfy

Dont understant why they place the plug so high. They aint very tall either. LOL

Dinner for the night

 

Lovely family owned guesthouse, fantastic location, owner even prepared takeaway breakfast sandwiches on our last day because we are catching the 630am bus to Kandy.

Sinhagiri Villa
Nawanagaraya, Thalkotta Rd, Sigiriya 21120, Sri Lanka
 +94 66 2 286601
http://www.sinhagirivilla.com/
We stayed USD98 for 2 nights, triple room inclusive of breakfast.

Taiwan_August 2013_DAY ONE

Taiwan_August 2013_DAY ONE
Taiwan_August 2013_DAY TWO_Hualian // Taroke Gorge
Taiwan_August 2013_DAY THREE_Pingxi // Shifen
Taiwan_August 2013_DAY FOUR
Taiwan_August 2013_DAY FIVE_Danshui
Taiwan_August 2013_DAY SIX

Finally its the day of our taiwan trip!! Was really excited cuz taiwan is one of my favourite country! Friendly kind taiwanese, awesomeeee food, cheap stuff. You dont have to worry about getting caught up in some tourist scam or trap. Prices will not be ridiculously marked up at tourist spots. This is already my 3rd time going to the heart of asia! Check out these 28 reasons to visit Taiwan here!

Oh the sea of fluffy clouds makes me happy

We landed in taoyuan airport at airport at 12noon. It was raining quite heavily! Weather forecasted that it will rain the entire 6 days we are there. Cry in one corner ah.. The airport changed alot since I was last here 5, 6 years ago! They had built a new terminal!

Brand new airport!

Once we are in the arrival hall, we immediately look to purchase a 3G prepaid SIM card. Cant live without google map these days and trying to figure out the old school map is such a chore.. Turn right as you enter the arrival hall and you see the major telecoms counters. Most of them carry 3-days, 5-days and 7-days unlimited data plans. Because we are here for 6 days, we decided to get the 7-days plan and Chunghwa telecom has the best package. It cost us 500NT, 450NT is paid for the unlimited data and 50NT for the airtime. On top of which they gave us extra 100NT worth of airtime! So all in all we get unlimited data plus 150NT of airtime! We never manage to utilize all even though we did alot of calling.. But Chunghwa is abit cui as the 3G hangs all the time! Not sure if its the network or the phone :-[

After settling our telecommunications, we were so hungry so we decided to have some oden from hi-life.

Nomz. 鴨血 Duck Blood

Now its time to take a bus into the city! Go down the travellator from the arrival hall and you will see rows of bus counters.

Various bus counters going into the city

(The signboards at the airport are very clear, its hard to get lost) The hostel we booked gave us very specific “how to get there instructions” and that’s to take the Ubus to city hall bus terminal. Ubus stops at taipei main station as well! Most people will usually go with Freego bus to get into the city. The ride into the city will take about 1 hour!

Ubus seats. Nice and comfy

From city hall station, we had to walk about 15 mins to get to our hostel. Actually its not really far but the 1st time always feels longer and furthermore its raining. Tugging the luggage on uneven ground is no joke. Am so used to going places carrying a backpack leh.. Why do we book a hostel leh.. cuz bo luei lo.. NO MOOLAHS TT.TT last time, i stayed at TS hotel next to ximending, it cost me about 200 SGD for 7 nights. Now with the same amount, if i can get 3 nights at any hotel, i should probably thank Guan Yin Ma already. The prices have increase so drastically over the years that we can only afford to stay in a hostel. Bye bye bathtub~~ this time round, to know that the room comes with an attached bath makes us happy as hell! The hostel we booked is called citybear and its located deep within the residental areas, hidden in the corner of this dogey looking alley.

The alley into our hostel. Spot our hostel.

REACHED!

Getting there has given me a rough idea of how taiwan people gets their unit no. Supposedly a bear theme, the only bear I saw was the one next to the stairs. Haha.. the place is really tiny and cosy! The owner converted the residental building and sublet the rooms out to travellers. There were 3 floors, 7 tiny rooms in total including one room converted into a common area with free usage of washing machine, microwave, kettle, computer and fridge! There is also an eating area. How cool is that! Wifi signal is strong and aircon was a blast. (thats cuz the room is small as well). You can book it on hostelworld.com

Messages left by previous travellers

Our tatami bed in the tiny tiny room

Decent toilet. Ok passed!

After settling down, we decided to go explore our neighbourhood! We discover a supermarket, A mart near our place! I am a big fan of supermarkets! And even before going, I googled for the whole list of supermarkets in taipei. I even made a note to make a trip to RT mart, one of their local supermarket. But the nearest one from our place is 2.5km away according to this app, taiwanease which is the taiwan equivalent of whats nearby. This app also shows you the various location of youbikes rentals if you are planning on a riding one!

Favourite hangout! Hahahaha

Glorious oh instant noodle

Next up, we went to ximending! Wanna bring mascot who has never been to taipei (his virgin trip yays!) to try the ever popular (but seriously overrated) Ah Zhong Mian Xian!

So cute still! their metro ticket.

Ximending hasnt change much in years! I can still recognize many of the shops from long ago! Ah zhong mian xian is not too difficult to spot. As you walk into ximending, turn right on the 1st alley. Its nicely tucked away at a corner. You will see the crowd before you see the shopfront.

The reverent bowl of mian xian.

Mascot found his favourite – Smelly Tofu

But it wasnt smelly enough for him.

The sun goes down, its time for the night markets aka ye shi!! Our taiwanese friend suggested that we go to this lan ji chang (blue airport? Blue chicken farm? South chicken farm?) A night market which the locals frequent but information on it was scarce as it wasnt a tourist hotspot, we had no idea how to get there so we decided to stick with the original plan and stay mainstream. 😦

Shilin night market was our 1st stop.
Getting to Shilin night market – Take the Danshui Line ( Red line ) to Jiantan station.

Even though it was the largest night market,  the place was crowded with people, overcrowded,  mostly mainland tourists. You can hear their very distinctive accent everywhere. Shilin is no longer what it used to be! They have built a new aircon underground food street – fully aircon – and the entire place was bursting with china tourists. It was so crowded that you simply get pushed along..

Its wasnt long before we decided to take a cab to Raohe night market which we spent the rest of our night. Food was good for us even though our taiwanese friend told us that Raohe has the worst food ever some days later. Mmm… i see a different level of expectations here. According to mascot, this is much closer to what he was expecting of a night market. He was slightly disappointed by how Shilin night market turns out to be actually.. hahaha..

Raohe Night Market

Sausages on the roll

So many flavours! NT35 for one!

BBQ shitake

Trying his luck at game stations

We were done by 11 and wanted to head back early as we needed to wake up early for Taroke tomorrow. With google map in hand, we walked back to our hostel, at the same time exploring more of the area we stayed in. Like always, the 1st time feels like a damn long walk frequently stopping to check if we are heading in the right direction.. The subsequent times only took us 10 mins lol.

Good nights. Next up is our day trip to Taroke Gorge in Hualian!

PHUKET_DAY FOUR

Last day. Basically, its a nua nua day. After many episodes of sickness, we just wanna be a slime. haha.

 

Bye bye Phuket. We probably wont be back. *wink*

PHUKET_DAY THREE_PHI PHI ISLAND HOPS // July 2013

Remember how we enjoyed the local’s mookata last night? Never try local style food with a weak stomach. You will have to endure the pain that comes after the pleasure of enjoyment. The pain of diarrhea and pukes. IT WAS A TOTAL DAY-MARE. Our resort package came together with the island hopping tour. However, our friend gotten theirs from Groupon. Package like this were selling like hotcakes at the point of time. They got it for close to 60bucks. However, i would still advise you to book with their local tour agency (they are everywhere) when you are there. Much cheaper and makes it easier to bargain when you book them all together.

Early in the morning, a shuttle came to pick us up to bring us to the jetty. The ride is about 1 hour.

Arriving at the jetty on the minibus

Thats when Mascot starts feeling the discomfort in the stomach. After that we were given a sticker and boarded the ferry. Ours is a huge ferry, you know those kind with 3 levels. If you wanna get a cool looking sunburn, you can jolly well stay on the top. Its a open deck.

Middle deck

Mascot looking stoned

We opt for the lowest deck as mascot gets seasick on top of already being sick. Choose your seats wisely i say. This indian lady beside us started puking the moment the ship sets sail. and for the rest of 3 hours, i can only see her hair and her plastic bag. Sucks to be her. Mascot on the other hand was not any better off. Frequent trips to the loo has made him a walking corpse.  The fishes must be thanking him for the buffet spread.

Fast forward 3 hours later, we finally made it to the many islands! Everyone was rushing up out to the decks. Poor mascot was in no appetite for an eye feast.  The sights are so pretty! But the waters so clear yet i spot trash. WHYYY! :[ The huge ferry has to stop really far from shore. Because there is no way a elephant can enter a small door. As i admire from afar, i noticed the shoreline were packed with speedboats, crowded with tourists. Oh man, isn’t low season now? A mere 10 mins and we set off to our next destination or activities. Everything was so rushed. We felt like sheeps being rounded up and herded up as we transfer to another smaller boat for out snorkeling. One that could bring us closer to the shallow waters.

Herded into the waters

Fins can be rented at 10 Baht per pair. The mask and the snorkel were given and it look kinda gross. ew.. dont thing they clean it. You have to sign in and sign out with it.  The waters were not as clear as i thought to be. An visibility of perhaps 10m. Most of the corals were dead probably due to the high volume of human traffic (or sheeps).

A fish (or two) and dead corals

Not wanting to miss out on the highlight of the day, Mascot dragged himself  into the waters. Wow. how surprised i am.

YAY!! Our first snorkeling together

After some 45 minutes, we were rounded up from the waters and herded back to the mothership. They took us to phi phi island. FINALLY!! we stepped foot on the island. There was some maintenance and entrance fees we had to pay.

Tickets to Phi Phi Island

Then i smell it. WHAT IS THIS SMELL OF TRASH?! Our guide brought us to our lunch place where we bumped into our friends yay! and mascot discover that he was not alone!

3 sick kiddos

There isnt anywhere we can go with mascot feeling like shit. So we board the ferry rather early and awaits another 4 hours of painful journey back to our resort.

PHUKET_DAY TWO_WHITE WATER RAFTING // July 2013

ITS DAY TWO!!! WATER RAFTING DAY!! Woke up hyped and refreshed!

~(^▽^~) (~^▽^)~ (ノ/^ω^)ノ /  \ヘ(^ω^\ヘ)

Ytd sleep was good! The main highlight of the trip is probably this – DA WHITE WATER RAFTING. *･゜ﾟ･*\(^O^)/*･゜ﾟ･* Not my first time but i always enjoy my WWR trips immensely. This was mascot’s virgin trip! Booked this trip together with the Simon Cabaret yesterday. Always book your tours when you reach phuket! There are many tour operators, very competitive hence its much cheaper. Never ever booked online. Prices online for 5KM starts from 1300B up but was quoted less than 900B when we were there.

The lady quoted us
Rafting 5KM ->> 900B
ATV half hour ->> + 500B
Elephant trekking ->> + 500B

I initially planned on rafting 9KM but due to food poisoning, i was quite worried that its might be too xiong ( taxing ) for me (╥_╥) but yet I did not want to miss out on it! So i settled on the 5KM hoping that it will rain in the morning ( Raining increase the water level and the speed of the river flow making it more exciting). Our friends took up rafting + half an hour of ATV so it cost them 1400B each. We  were told that we probably spending more time in the waterfall while our friends went ATV but it wasnt how it went!!! Felt kinda cheated!

The minibus picked us up from our hotel at 8:30am, took an hour to bring us to the Suwankuha Temple (Monkey Cave), part of the itinerary. Your can get bananas or nuts from the street vendors and fed them to the monkeys but beware the monkeys are quite aggressive and will snatch whatever food there is from the people. They sure can tell why are you hiding the yummies.

Outside the temple. Admission Fee is required to enter!

The monkey climbed up the guy to grab the food in his hand.

Mascot with his distant relative. hahaha~

After the Monkey Cave, we took another 20 mins ride to the ATV place where those peepos who took up ATV in their package have their ride here. Being the only ones who didnt get the ATV, we were told to wait for the rest of them at the place. Why didnt Mascot and i do ATV? Thats because we did it at other places previously ( mine in bintan and his in korea ) and we kinda find it boring. Haha. ┐(- ヮ. -)┌  Wells, where was the extra time in the waterfall?

Drav & Rach with their ride

Getting all ready to vrrroooom away!

They were actually very well organised. At the ATC ‘reception’, hangs a board that documents the no of people at various timeslot and when the people at the designated slots arrive , they will strike it off the list. It was an hour long wait. There was absolutely nothing to do over there! The people there treated us to a whole bag of Chiku chiku and rambutans! They kept peeling and offered it to us. Super grateful!! No wonder Thais are known for their hospitality and generosity. The rambutans came fresh from the trees!! It was still warm when we had it ( hot sunny day ). Our driver actually went into the forest and emerged with a whole plastic bag of rambutans soon after.

Enjoying our cornetto~

After the ATV is done, those that have taken up elephant trekking will proceed to do it while the rest were brought to the white rafting location to have our lunch. There was this wooden bridge, suspended on cables we had to cross before reaching the place. It was really scary and fun at the same time cuz it sway really hard and you couldnt keep your balance on it. Lunch was simple, kampong style. We dined next to the river which we will be rafting in later.

Having fun swaying~

NOW COMES THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY!!
We were given lockers to deposit our stuff in. After which, we were briefed on the safety, what to do and not to during rafting. I heard from my friend who went phuket and rafted complain that they was not allowed to raft and it was only done by the guides. Such is further confirm when we saw people paddle-less in the raft going down the river during our lunch. Therefore i had no expectation that i will be paddling so imagine my surprise when they hand us our paddles. WEEET! We get to do it afterall! The ride was really fun! It would be more exciting if it had rained in the morning 😦 Nevertheless, we enjoyed it tremendously! Even mascot who was quite reluctant to do it in the beginning was grinning from ear to ear. Nobody says no to rafting! The whole rafting took about 30 – 45 mins.

All set to get wet!

One shot before we sets off

YAYS TO RAFTING!!

Midpoint pitstop

Happy faces with our guide!

Love all the expressions here. Bought this photo at 200B per piece. They have professional photographer station at various points to snap us!

Packing up to head back! Dunno how they stack all the rafts up.

All happy people onboard!

This pretty house makes the picture looks so sweet.

After rafting, we proceed to trek to a nearby mini waterfall. The trek took mmm.. 5mins? It was really quick and we reached the waterfall. It was not spectacular but still beautiful! We went for a dip in the water! Water’s quite murky tho.

Waterfall dip.

It was end of the day tour and we were brought back to our hotel! On the ride back, we made friends with 2 Singaporean guys who introduced us to a place where they had my favourite Thai steamboat aka mookata buffet in Patong! We swear we would be there for dinner. Always wanted to try out the authentic Thai mookata. Trial and error, with a map in hand, we tried to figured out our way there. All we know is that it is located opposite a fire station. While it feels like a repeat of yesterday, we managed to get there in half an hour! Quite a feat. Saw the boys from earlier during the tour there as well! A thing to note is not to bring the Singaporean habit of kiasu-ness. you will be charge for food wasteage.. 100 baht per kg!

Map we use to navigate! Red cross is the fire station!

Fire station directly opposite.

The airy settingFreeflow meat ❤

One can make your own mango salad at the table!

The sauces garden.

Mascot figuring out what to have~

Lets dig in!

Be warned., A strong stomach is needed to stomach the food. Cost us 199B per pax. Drinks additional charges. Place opens from 5pm till 2am. The dinner was good. I finally got appetite for food! However, after this meal, horrors awaits the 3 of them. The 3 of them were unwell after the meal and me, who have been lining my stomach with a protective layer of charcoal from the past 2 days was perfectly fine!

PHUKET_DAY ONE // July 2013

TRAVELOGUE // PHUKET_DAY ONE

PHUKET_DAY ONE
PHUKET_DAY TWO_WHITE WATER RAFTING
PHUKET_DAY THREE_PHIPHI ISLAND
PHUKET_DAY FOUR

This is our 1st time to Phuket. We had grab our flight when the fare was on sale for $90! I think its quite cheap! But the worst had to happen just hours before the flight. I was hit by food poisoning and it was horrid. I was running for the toilet 4x and had puke like 3x. It was really really bad. I went all weak and sore from all the purging. I swear I clear out like 8L of water. Amazing.. where did all the water came from?
The flight was at 8am but I was kept awake by the cramps the entire night. There is no way I could cancel the trip when everythin is all paid for! I dragged my body to the airport, up the plane, down it and once my feet touches the soil of phuket, my spirits suddenly lifted! And so were my body. I attributed the numbing of pain to adrendaline.  Haha! Before entering the arrival hall, there were maps for you to grab and you can also get a thai SIM card free provided you top up the value of minimum 100baht. we gotten 2, 1 for each couple so that its easier to keep in touch since we aint staying at the same resort.
Previously we gotten a package from our hotel which includes airport transfer. Initially I thought it was gonna be a small car but turns out its a 12 pax minibus. LOL kinda too big for just the two of us.. our friends whose hotel is just next door at patong paragon hopped on to our ride and paid for 200B per pax. If not there will be many cab drivers trying to get you on their cab and the cheap airport minibus transfer is also within sight.

45mins ride from the airport and we reach the resort, Sea Sun Sand Resort and Spa. OMGGGG! The resort is yippeeee aweeesomeee!! I was prancing around the room squeeeing at the amazing view from our room! We had booked a room with a garden view as we didnt think that a sea view (which cost more) was needed since we will be out of the hotel most of the time. But they were so nice to give us the one on the highest floor so it came with a partial seaview. Hahaha.. I am in heaven 😀

Whoop whoop!! The sea!

Me (looking not so bad afterall) and mascot

Spacious balcony

Bigger than huge bed.

FAVOURITE! HUGE BATHTUB. (can watch mascot do situps while i bath)

They even prepared umbrellas for us! In case it rains.. And in the cupboard was beach towels and bathrobes.

They have a gym, a games room, table tennis room (darts too) as well.

Our resort location is really ideal for us as we wanted come peace and quiet without being far out up in the hills. It is located at the far end of Patong beach (3 mins walk to the beach), away but a 15 mins walk from the bustling soi bangala road. Massage palours are everywhere, you can find a family mart, 7-11, pharmarcies every few metres down the road.

We had our lunch nearby at this No.9 resturant. They served western and thai cuisine. It wasnt too bad! But i got no appetite and all food looks disgusting to me.

TOM YUM OF THE DAY!!

Popped by family mart for some of our necessity.. they have this huge bottle of betagen (similar to vitagen ) for only 25B!! Thats really cheap! You should drink it everyday!

Betagen aka Thai Vitagen .. Source

Booked our tour ( water rafting and the Simon Cabaret show ) for the days after. Never ever book online! Its much cheaper to do it there as there are so many tour agencies around and they are very competitive! After our lunch we stroll along the Patong beach. Well, it wasnt as huge as I thought it would be! Comparing it to bali beaches, it was a narrow strip of sand. You see spot many surfers riding the strong waves.

Enjoying the water in our feet

That’s us and the beach!

Then, my scumbag brain decided to make this stupid suggestion of walking to Jungceylon shopping mall, not knowing how far it was. ITS DAMN FREAKING FAR. Not to mention the sun was bloody cooking us alive ( Damn weather forecast, you were so wrong about having thunderstorm ). We never been there before, we had no idea where it is or how is looks like. All my muscles and joints were still aching BAD, it’s worst than fever. After dragging my body around for 20 mins, we have finally arrived with me half dead.

Finally reaching Jungceylon!!

Told my friends they could go walk around, i just need somewhere to sit. Set our sights on MacDonald the Safe-house, we went in. Mac in phuket is a total ripoff. WHAT?! a 6pcs nugget meal cost some $8SGD. Thats so expensive!

Very expensive mac and you can spot my palette of charcoal pills.

After a mere half an hour, i decided i couldnt take it anymore. My muscles were so sore and i felt so dehydrated. I need a bed. Call up my friends and turn out they were tired too and we took a tuk tuk back. Tuk tuk cost 200Baht to get to any locations in Patong and it goes by per tuk tuk. So if u go in a group of 8, it will still cost you 200B~ which makes it more worthwhile!

Tuk tuk ride back to hotel

Spend the remaining hours sleeping on the comfy bed until its time for the ah gua (transvestite) show – the Simon Cabaret show. Its the glitz and glamour of the prettiest katoeys aka ladyboy. Our ticket cost us 500B includes land transfers.

They have their own theater and its kinda like those musical theaters, huge and comfortable. The various stage designs were so impressive! The ladyboys dressed in flamboyant costumes with sequins and feathers. We were seated on the 2nd level, we prefer that though as we got a full unblocked view of the stage and not being so close to the ah gua. Those seated on level one will be in for a surprise. While the stage is being set, some big fat ah gua will be waiting to rub your face in between her boobs or to steal a big fat kiss from you. Initially, mascot wasnt so interested but subsequently we were so captivated by the props, sets and costumes that we couldnt take our eyes off the stage. Instead it was our couple friend who fell asleep instead. HAHAHA! At the end of the show, the girls will line up at the entrance of the building. They will lure/invite you to have a picture with them. They will ask for a 100B after you took a picture with them. Sometimes they will sneak up more performers in the picture and you end up paying for all of them!

Luring you in for a picture~

Dinner was at a beach side restaurant, Baan Kalim Seafood Resturant near our place. No energy for cruising through bangala road  today. My appetite  is slowing recovering although i still couldnt eat a cow yet. We had our dinner while enjoying the gentle breeze and sound of the waves. The ambience excellent! There was a live band but poor girl, she had to sing without a mike!

The view from where we were seating!

Outdoor patio

From top left: Menu, Cashew Chicken, Fish Portion ( fishballs in fact =.= ), Pineapple Rice, Green Curry, Phad Thai

Bornga // City Square

On my frequent visits to City Square in JB, I always walk pass this Korean restaurant at the corner and my eyes will sparkle at the smoke chimneys hanging from the ceiling. While i was away for summer school in Korea, you will NEVER find one up there good ones BBQ restaurant without the smoke chimneys cuz its an essential, like an statement. Its kinda like only atas place serve scones with clotted cream. I have been been many kbbq buffets in Singapore which just didnt have the authenticity and atmosphere like the ones i had in Korea. Its more ‘rojak’ in the sense. Most of the time I would be too full from eating other stuff ( like the stone grill tomyam at the basement ) or you know how most of the times where you got sidetracked halfway. Dont get how it always happen either. :((

BUT but finally we manage to made it there this time! imagine my growling stomach as i navigate through the tempting small eats. so enticed, i had to chant the koreanbbq mantra to get me there. LOL

Established in 2002 in Korea, BORNGA is the brainchild of Jong Won Paik, a successful celebrity chef in Korea. BORNGA has 33 branches in Korea.

Bornga Shop Front : Look! Hanging Chimneys

Interior

Because i went with mascot, brother and le gf, ALL THREE OF THEM ARE NON BEEF EATERS! OH GOD WHY~~ TT.TT no beef for me too. D:

Traditional Korean meals are noted for the number of Banchan (side dishes) that the start of very meal. Kimchi is served often and sometimes at every meal. The raw veggies were served, nicely arranged on a long tray. Which we will used to wrap the meat with later with! Aesthetically pleasing with so much variety of greens. They even added some orange (carrots) to the colour scheme! Sadly they do not have darling mascot favourite piece of peppermint looking veggie.

Tray of veggies

And they uses real charcoal to cook the meat not electric!

We ordered some Samgyeopsal (Unseasoned pork belly), Dak Galbi (Pork Ribs) and Dwaji Bulgogi (Pork marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, sugar, green onions and black pepper). We order Budae jjigae (army stew) but the waitress came back to let us know that it is cook using beef stock. (( Read how we make our own army stew using chicken stock here! )) Oh mannnn… there goes my army stew, had it changed to Kimchi jjigae instead. Kimchi Tofu soup… D;

Confused at the various food names? Here is to familiarizing korean food!

Varieties of banchan they served.

Waiting for our meat to be cooked. Ohh~ Chimneys (HAHA)

The waitress will be there to bbq the meat for you so i didnt managed to get any hands on. That is one downside, i remembered I had much joys doing it myself in Korea.

Our tofu kimchi soup

Meanwhile, we were happily sipping our tofu soup. The broth is really thick and strong with kimchi taste. Just like the ones i had in Korea! We cleaned it out so much so that i dont think they have to wash the bowl already. HAHA. Its that yummy.

So brother and le gf are new to korean cuisine. Gosh.. they dont know what they have been missing out! So we tried our best to educate them on the steps to enjoying your korean BBQ.

Steps to enjoying korean bbq

Finally, It is time for….

*drum rolls*

the moment we all have been waiting for… to stuff the entire ball into your mouth and let the flavours explode inside! Totally unglam yes i know but one cant enjoy your food while being classy yea. The meat was really favourful and well marinated. We kept having one after another.

Brother trying it out. Click to see GIF

Aww. Mascot stole a loving glance at me right after i dump the ball in (must be wanting to laugh my unglamness)
Click to see GIF

To ends it all, Bornga serve a complimentry Omija ( 5 Flavoured Tea ) to be drank after the meal before you leave.  It is a kind of Korean traditional drink made of fruit herbs. Opps, the only omija i know is by skinfood and i used it for whitening. 😡

It taste mmm.. healthy and refreshing. And we all know how healthy food taste like. Didnt really like it very much. Not my cup of tea literally.

*rubs tummy* Happiness in my tummy now. XD

ADDRESS:
BornGa Korean Restaurant
City Square Level 3
#MF-23