My Trip to Tioman Island

First of all, let me start by apologizing for not posting in this blog sooner. Believe me, I have so many stories to tell, so many cool places to share, but haven’t got the time to really sit down and write. Oh well, let me make it all up by sharing to all of you about one of my latest traveling experience.

On 30th June 2008, I went to the Tioman Island for my honeymoon. Ops, did I say ‘honeymoon’? Yes, I did! I got married on the 28th June 2008. Anyway, after a thorough research, my wife and I decided to stay at the Panuba Inn. Keep in mind that Tioman has plenty of resorts and hotels for you to choose, depending on your preferences. There were the Genting group, Berjaya group which is the most expensive and luxurious one there I might add. And there was the Tekek Village and Salang beach. We happened to choose Panuba which we later found out is a lone small resort with its own jetty and private beach. Cool, eh?

The reservation process was a breeze. We simply called the Panuba Inn office and they helped us with the ferry tickets and other details, which is very good for amateurs like us when it comes to going to an island. The ferry return ticket cost RM70 per person and our room cost RM110 per night. We stayed for 2 nights. So, mainly our 3 days 2 nights honeymoon trip only costs us RM350!

View from the jetty

The ferry ride took about 2 hours and it stopped at each jetty in the Tioman Island. Panuba Inn was the second last stop. Our arrival at the Panuba jetty was greeted by turquoise colored sea water, SOOoo clear that you can see little tiny fishes swimming around the coral. There and then we already felt like we’re in heaven and we just couldn’t wait to jump into the water.

View from our room. This picture was taken after the rain.

We checked in to our Durian Room. At Panuba, there are Anggur Room which is the cheapest rooms, Belimbing Room which are the second cheap ones, Durian Room which are the second best and Super Durian Room which are the best rooms there. We took the Durian Room since the only different from our room with the Super Durian Room is the coffee and tea maker, and we decided that we could live without it for a few days.

After settling down, we went for a quick bite at the restaurant, which is the only restaurant available there. Thankfully they have almost everything from eastern to western foods with very reasonable price too. For our very first meal there, we ordered plain rice, Panuba cheese omelets and a bowl of chicken Tom Yam. Ok, honestly, the food wasn’t that impressive but it wasn’t bad either. And the view was a huge bonus because it was right in front of the beach. Believe me any meal would taste a thousand times better than it actually is if you’re eating it facing such lovely scenery.

The beach. It's almost like having your own private beach, I tell 'ya!

After our meal, we changed into our swimming attire and hit the beach. The water was a little cold since it rained a little bit while we changed. And there were a lot of corals and sea shells that we kept stepping on. Soon we realized that this isn’t the beach for light swim. Since it was already late by then, we decided to go back to our room and hit the beach again the next day with some gears. Still, we had a good time.

The next day we were prepared. We brought gear… Snorkeling gear! And boy, it was incredible. It was another world down there in the water. The fishes were so calm they don’t really care about you. They simply go about their businesses and once a while swim pass you. Good luck trying to touch them though because they have this subtle tactic to keep themselves out of reach. And stay alert I must say because it’s easy to lost track looking at the fishes and the coral, suddenly you’re miles away from the beach. Too bad we don't owned any underwater camera.

Breakfast by the beach with my lovely wife.

Waiting for the ferry. Going home.

Anyway, all and all our stay at the Panuba Inn was heavenly. Tioman Island was magnificent. The water was crystal like and the underwater world was enchanting. Before I forgot, don’t ever miss breakfast there because that’s when the high tide is in and the water almost reached the restaurant. Oh well, what am I saying, I can go on and on and on about how wonderful it was there be it breakfast time, lunch time or dinner time. It was just wonderful, period.

Goodbye mister crab!

My wife and I were so sad that we have to leave on the third day, we wish we could’ve stayed longer. But life must go on and we can’t possibly just drop everything and live there, can’t we? Maybe one day. But for now we promised each other to come back again, real soon. And up until today, weeks since we get back, we still have Panuba Inn so dearly in our heart.

My Trip to Teluk Sengat and Sungai Rengit

Since it's been awhile since the last time I went for a road trip. Well, the last time was about a month ago, which for me, that’s awhile! Anyway, I wanted to go to Kota Tinggi for lunch. Yeah… Breakfast in Skudai, lunch in Kota Tinggi, dinner in Perlis. Then in the future when I get to own a private jet, maybe I could actually do that outside Malaysia. Wouldn’t that be cool?

Ok, back to Kota Tinggi. At first I wanted to eat at the famous Kedai Basir for their delicious and unforgettable chicken rice. Situated in the middle of Kota Tinggi’s town, this is the specialty of Restoran Basir. Their chicken rice is well-known all over Johor, maybe even Malaysia. I’ve been there about three times and I could never get enough of it. But then, at the very last minute I decided to skip Kedai Basir to check out a Seafood Restaurant in Teluk Sengat which was recommended by a friend of my dad.

I didn’t know what expect in Teluk Sengat. I never had been there before. But when I reached the town, it was like being in a whole different state. I was so used to busy and noisy city, even the Kota Tinggi town wasn’t as cute as this one. Notice that I used the word ‘cute’. Teluk Sengat was a sleepy small town overseeing the calm, blue and windy sea. The seafood restaurant was easy to find, and after one a half hour of driving, I was starving. So, I get down to ordering as soon as I set my ass on the chair.

Imagine this, an open air restaurant, situated at the higher part of the town. Cooling sea breeze blowing softly on your hair. You could smell the ocean. It was incredible. And when the food arrived, I forgot all about the chicken rice during the first bite. Everything was perfect! The fish was soft, the squid was tasty and you could simply tell that everything was cooked with fresh ingredients. I ordered a meal that was enough to feed a whole family, but the two of us simply finished it all. And then, we washed it all down with herbal Chinese tea. Don’t get me wrong, Restoran Basir’s chicken rice will always have a place in my heart, but this seafood restaurant is simply make me feel like I was in heaven.

I even keep the receipt to show you how much it cost me. Ok, I admit it cost a lot, but it wasn't a surprise because seafood usually are a bit costly. And it's definitely worth every single cent too.

After exploring the Teluk Sengat’s town, which only took about 5 minutes (seriously, the town was micro) I decided to continue driving to the Sungai Rengit to check out the beach. At the Sugai Rengit town, I was greeted by a mutant metal lobster. I was so amazed by this lobster. It reminds me of Doctor Octopus from Spiderman 2. Quite an imposing structure.

I drove around aimlessly trying to find a nice beach to park and take pictures. A bolt turn brings me to heaven. Well, the seafood restaurant was a different kind of heaven, but this place is just drop dead gorgeous. I never thought my plan to skip Restoran Basir’s chicken rice today was actually the best plan I ever made in months!

The place is called Tanjung Kapal Beach Resort. It’s a very neat nicely designed and meticulously maintained resort. I don’t know how else to describe it except it’s the most cute and beautiful resort I ever seen. It wasn’t big, just nice for those who are looking for a quite escape from the busy city life.


This is the view from Tajung Kapal overseeing the ocean. I just love the fact that they build a nice chair and swings so you sit there and enjoy the sea. And below is the picture of the rooms. The rooms are facing the ocean. Just perfect.

I’m definitely in love with the place. Took a bunch of pictures and I would like to share some with everybody. I wish I could stay overnight and simply experience of waking up to the sound of the sea wave. How I wish I didn’t have to leave the place so soon. But I didn’t leave without asking for more information and contact numbers. And what I found is this resort offers standard rooms and the executive rooms. They’re all air-conditioned, complete with colored tv and water heater. For those who want to camp instead, they have the place for that too. Actually, Tanjung Kapal Beach Resort is pretty complete.

I promise I will come back soon and spend the night there. Then I will write to brag about how much fun I have. I bet my stay will be terrific! Oh, how I can’t wait!

Marché Restaurant vs the Norway Bakery Moments Café

My favourite activity whenever I go to Kuala Lumpur is to drive around and look for places to eat. And this time, there are 2 eating places that I want to talk about. One is called Marché and another one is the Norway Bakery Moments Café.

Marché Mövenpick Restaurant

Marché Mövenpick Restaurant is situated in the Curve, one of the newest shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur. From a friend's recommendation, I went there to check it out. Upon arriving, I was greeted by their two friendly staffs, handing me a piece of paper, which they called a passport. They explained that whenever I made an order inside, they will stamp the passport and I will have to hand the passport to the cashier after I finish dining. Sounds reasonable, so I took it and when inside to embrace my dining adventure!

Marché was more like a combination of a market and a buffet. Marché, which means market in French consists many stalls with variety of choices. There's home made pizza's stall, the deserts' stall, the steak and grill food's stall, the pasta's stall and many more. You can place your order in any of these stalls, get your passport stamped, and bring the food to the table.

I love the concept and it certainly is different from any other restaurant that I've been to. However, I'm extremely disappointed with the price. I do understand that western foods could be a little bit more expensive, but Marché was totally over charging it foods. I could get the same thing somewhere else with half their price!

Norway Bakery Moments Café

Let's move on to the Norway Bakery Moments Café which is on the third floor of the Berjaya Time Square Mall. Actually, this is my second visit to this café. I came here before, fell in love with the sandwiches that they offered and I came back. Anyway, I added the word Norway because they put a Norway flag on their signboard. It is actually a Norwegian bakery chain. Here, this is an article from the star that will explain it all.

Unlike Marché, here things are more straight forward. You pick, you pay, and you eat. No passport, no stamps. Norway Bakery Moments however does not sell any heavy cuisine such as pizza or pasta, but they do have many choices of sandwiches, puffs and buns. The sandwiches are juicy, the buns are chocolaty and the puffs are yummy! Not to mention that the price is right! It was a bakery heaven!

Some of their heavenly selections

Their delicious looking sandwich

This café also offers variety of delicious coffees. I'm a big fan of coffee, so any café that has good coffee will surely see me again and again. Too bad they don't have this café back in Johor Bahru, because it will definitely be my favourite hang out.

Go to Marché if you're looking for a different environment as long you don't mind being overcharge. Like I said, the concept was lovely if you can look past the price. The Norway Bakery Moments however was more laid back and down to earth with heavenly choices of foods!

Crystal Crown Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

This time during my visit to Kuala Lumpur, I stayed at the new Crystal Crown Hotel. Situated in Kepong, they're a bit far from the city so it will take a while if you want to go to the main shopping complexes. Actually, I didn't realize that it was a new hotel until I read the brochure when I checked in. The reason I choose this hotel on the first place is because of the internet promotion rate, which claimed that if you make your reservation through the net you'll get the RM115 per night, compare to the real rate which is RM145 per night.

I wasn't really happy during my check in process because they mixed up my stay period. I made reservation for 2 nights, instead they only booked me for one night. Typical Malaysia online system, they always screw up. And the front desk staffs need attitude training. Not that they were rude, just need to be improve. But they redeemed themselves by working out the mixed up.

The room however was decent, clean and comfortable. There was a glitch with the wiring but it was solved quickly by the maintenance crew. It wasn't an exactly smooth 'settling down' process but they are new, so I cut them some slack.

The rest of my stay was fine, not terrific, but fine. The breakfast buffet was average and the room service was helpful. There's always room for improvement however. The checking out process was slow, because they screwed up with another costumer's bill, which doesn't concern me, but they left me hanging there for 10 minutes to work on the matter. And, despite the promotional rate that they offered, they charged me RM135 per night anyway.

I've come to conclusion that this hotel offers a nice and comfortable place to accommodate your stay, sure, if that's all you're looking for. But if you want a nice, warm and cozy staffs, go somewhere else. However, I give them all credit for at least being generous with their smiles.

Looking down from Kuala Lumpur Tower…

Another place that I got a chance to visit while I was in Kuala Lumpur is the Kuala Lumpur Tower. When I first thought about going there, I thought this wasn’t going to be too hard. But for me, that wasn’t the case. You know, you’d think finding a tower 421 metres high would be intuitive, but boy it was not! I had to make many turns and going around the same place over and over again. There weren’t many signboards, and when you actually follow those few signboards, it has a tendency to disappear just when you need them the most! Many of Kuala Lumpur’s signboards are like that, so beware! I’m obviously not from Kuala Lumpur, so I was fuming trying to find the way. And finally when I did get to the entrance, the signboard there was small too and nothing to look at.

Pic: The Kuala Lumpur Tower looks beautiful and imposing from down here.

Enough of that. Finally, I found my way to the Kuala Lumpur Tower. I am told that the 421 metre tower is the highest communications tower in Southeast Asia, and apparently, the top of the tower had its design inspired from a pineapple, due to the tower’s location in Bukit Nanas or “Pineapple Hill” (literally translated). Yes, the tower looks more imposing in real life. The staff working there are very helpful, and they lead me to the counter where we can buy tickets to get up the tower. After getting my ticket, I boarded the elevator which will take me to the viewing area. The elevator ride took about a minute or so, and soon we were at the viewing area.

Pic: (Top) We're having a good time at the Observation Deck.
(Bottom) What a hazy day huh? We were at the Eye on Malaysia earlier!

Just my luck, when I got up the tower, I realized that today is one of those hazy days. But I still got the best out of my trip. You can really see the entire town from here, this is one of the best places to absorb the view of Kuala Lumpur (wonder how things look like on the top of KLCC). You can make use of the binoculars up on the viewing area to take a closer look at places or even people, and there are also souvenir shops there. If you’re feeling hungry, there’s also a fancy restaurant at the top floor of the tower. What a very cool and romantic setting to have a dinner there. I didn’t go there though, because the price is also rather “fancy” for my tastes, haha. Before leaving, the staff gave me a survey form for me to fill, gauging my whole experience. Generally, I’m very happy and satisfied with the whole experience, I only wish it was easier to find the tower in the first place! After that, I took some more pictures and left with a smile on my face. Many more places to go.

Taking a spin in the Eye on Malaysia

Hi everybody! I know, it’s been quite a while since I last posted here, but honestly, I’ve been swamped with work! Need to get the money some way to go traveling around, right? Anyway, during the past month, I did manage to go to Kuala Lumpur, just to take a break and visit an old friend. While there, I managed to go to some interesting places and one of them is the Eye on Malaysia, located in Taman Tasik Titiwangsa.

Pic: Wow, couldn't wait to get in it!

It may be a glorified ferris wheel, but ferris wheel rides are always fun. Besides, girls love it (guys take note, they almost never say ‘no’ to it)! Anyway, I went there on a weekday, so there are no huge crowds in sight, and I went during the day too. Just wanted to get a good view of the skyline while I’m at it. Arriving at the site, I thought “what a big ferris wheel..”. Not as big as I’d imagine, but big nonetheless. It was a weekday and about 2pm, so there was only a handful of people. Getting tickets was easy enough. It cost me RM15 for one ticket, and there is a more expensive VIP booth, but I thought that would be overkill. So after waiting for a couple of minutes, I was seated in my booth. It had air-conditioning and the windscreen was tinted, so everything was comfortable. Soon enough, we started spinning.

Pic: Took this picture from inside my booth, nice view eh?

The view from up there was great. I can see the entire Kuala Lumpur skyline clearly. Everything from the Istana Budaya to the KLCC and KL Tower, even some old houses can be identified from up here. Took the opportunity to take the pictures you see here. After the ride is over, I was feeling kinda thirsty, so I decided to get some coffee. There were several cafes near the Eye on Malaysia where you can relax and enjoy a cup of coffee. I just decided to get some from a mobile café truck since I had other places to visit.

Pic: One last parting shot before we got on our way...

Oh, at night, there is a “sound and light” display and even fireworks shows there. So it depends on your preference, whether you like the view at night or during the day. All-in-all it was a fun ride, especially if you go together with your friends and family. Though I hope the ticket price could be a little cheaper, that would surely attract more people to take a spin. Getting there is not much of a problem. Just find your way to Jalan Titiwangsa or the Istana Budaya, from there, you can find signboards pointing you to the Eye on Malaysia.

Johor Bahru's Kopitiam

Being a coffee addict, among my common hang out place around Johor is the coffee shops, or what the local usually call the "Kopitiam". Actually, you may find Kopitiam all over Malaysia. However, since Johor Bahru is my hometown, and i spend most of my life here, I would like to introduce to all of you two of my favourite Kopitiam.

Pic: Kopitiam Kim in Taman Pelangi

Kopitiam Kim, situated in Taman Pelangi, Taman Molek and Pontian offers the strongest coffee that will keep your adrenaline pumping. Although their coffee recipe remain secret, I personally could taste a hint of chocolate in it that makes it unique. Along with their friendly treatment, I come here at least twice a week. Kim's opens everyday, except the first Monday of the month and closses at 6pm everyday.

Pic: JB Station Kopitiam

Another favourite Kopitiam of mine is the JB Station Kopitiam, situated in the Danga Festive Street Mall, Danga Bay. Notice from the picture above, JB station offers a cozy environments, devide into smoking and non-smoking area. What I love the most here, is the toast bread. Served hot, crunchy, spread with coconut jam and butter.

Pic: JB Station's toast bread, iced tea and hot coffee

Along with toast breads, coffee and other drinks, JB Station also offers fries, Malaysian style burgers, and many other local foods. More than often, i come over here at night since JB Station opens until midnight.

Last but not least, another coffee shop that tops any other Kopitiam around Johor Bahru. It's the Kluang Railway Kopitiam. Started in Kluang, this kopitiam became so famous, thanks to it heavenly coffee and toast bun, this Kopitiam now opens in Johor Bahru and Malacca. I must confess, I come to Kluang Railway Kopitiam almost everyday.

I would like to also share you my personal rule whenever I make my stop at any new kopitiam in town. I would be sure to try their coffee, be it hot or cold, and their toast bread or toast bun. That's how I judge their quality and whether or not it is worth coming there again.

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