Batu Caves, Gombak, Kuala Lumpur

My niece and her friend from Australia dropped by for a visit in KL and wanted to see the famous Batu Caves in Gombak. My last visit to Batu Caves was 8 years ago and this time my little toddler tagged along.
Here are some random photos  of the famous tourist spot in KL...


Majestic Gold Statue of Lord Murugan at the steps leading to the caves. This is the tallest Lord Muruga statue in the world. It was drizzling when we started to climb up the 272 steps. I have to carry my little toddler half way up the steps. Gosh, I am a little bit out of shape liao! lol! It was a good morning exercise for me.

Finally, we reached the entrance of the caves.

Nice formation of lime stones and mineral deposits inside the caves...

One more round of steps to climb to reach the end section.....

Why did the chicken enter the cave?

 It was drizzling out side, so most of the monkeys went indoor into the caves.

Another monkey......The Malaysian Long Tail Macaque

An opening in the middle of the caves. A nice view up!

Have to carry my little toddler all the way down again. The steps are wet and a little slippery. I proceeded slowly down.
The dark cave is at the bottom of the steps. There is a counter at the entrance of this dark cave, in which you can register for guided dark cave exploration for a small fee. Look out for the Trap Door Spider here. My little toddler wanted to go in the dark cave but I guess he is still too small for dark cave expedition.

A Trip to Pantai Remis Fish Wholesale Warehouse - Fresh Daily Catch

After a hearthy breakfast at Star Orient Resort hotel, we drove to Pantai Remis to buy fish from the wholesaler there. We stopped by the wholesaler warehouse that we bought fishes from our previous trip but found that they do not have any fresh catch in stock. Therefore we just scout around the area to see which fishery have any leftover stock from the early morning catch. We found Sheng Hai Seng fishery and they have a few types of seafood to offer. Unfortunately they do not have any prawns! Anyway, we bought a huge Talang (Queenfish), treadfins, bawal cermin (a type of pomfret), mackerel (tenggiri), squid and another type of fish which I am not sure of its' name. We left the place with a whole ice box full of fish which would last us for at least 3 weeks! LOL! All these fishes cost RM120 which is the wholesaler price to us.

Not much to offer because the fishermen would only come in with their catch around 4pm in the evening.

The worker cleaning the Talang fish for us. Normally talang are used to make salted fish but it also taste good if cooked with Tau Cheo (fermented bean paste). This large talang cost us Rm38. (USD 12)

Ice box is full! Time to hit the road!

Map and address of Sheng Hai Seng Fishery, 93, Jalan Pelantar, Pekan Lama, 34900, Pantai Remis, Perak. Tel 05 6776573, Hand Phone 012 2522128

Chinese Restaurants Around Lumut Town (Jetty Area)

After having a light meal of Pizza at Capri Italian Pizza Restaurant in Lumut town, I took my son and daughter for a walk around town. Actually, I wanted to check out how many Chinese Restaurants there are in this area. Well I managed to find four Chinese Restaurants! One of it is next to Capri Italian Pizza Restaurant not far away from The Star Orient Hotel and the other three are located at Jalan Titi Panjang near the Chinese School.

SJK(C) Eng Ling Lumut is a very old school built by early Chinese settlers in Lumut! The building is made from wood!

Kari Kepala Ikan Restaurant (Fish Head Curry) is located right after the SJK (C) Eng Ling Lumut. I love to eat the Tuapan (Braised FLat rice Noodles) and Yin Yong (Braised Fried flat noodles with rice vermicelli) in this Chinese restaurant!

Time for second round of food! ha ha ha! I will post about the food I had here later.

Map showing the location of Capri Restaurant Lumut, Chinese Restaurants around Lumut, SJK (C) Eng Ling, The Star Orient Resort Hotel, Guang Fu Kong Chinese Temple and Lumut Jetty. (Note : Kari Kepala Ikan restaurant is right after the Chinese School)

Ahhhh, Nothing Beats A Relaxing Breakfast by The Seaside

I took my family to Lumut again during the recent school holidays and we stayed at The Star Orient Hotel. I always like to have a relaxing breakfast while holidaying, especially if the hotel is by the beach. My favourite choice of food are baked beans, bacon (unfortunately they don't have this), sausage (have to settle for this), baked potato, tomato, toast, salad, half boiled eggs and fruits. After a hearthy breakfast, I would get myself a cup of hot coffee. It is great to slowly sipping the coffee while enjoying the morning fresh air by the seaside.

Ahhhhh, this is life! Time to go fishing......stay tune!

Genting Strawberry Leisure Park

Genting Leisure Strawberry Park is located near the roundabout to the Genting Cable Car station. This is where I bought the Monkey Head Mushroom to cook Monkey Head Mushroom Chick Kut Teh. Visitors to this stawberry farm can pick their own strawberry and pay according to the weight at the exit counter. Kids would love this type of activities and experience. Once you entered the main gate, you will have to walk through the long maze around the farm till the exit where there are stalls selling various types of curious. I love the mushroom section. There are many types of mushroom planted here; lingzhi, oyster mushroom......and ahhhhh....of course my favourite, the Monkey Head Mushroom! The monkey head mushroom that I bought to cook Chick Kut Teh! Good for steamboat too!

Map to Genting Strawberry Leisure Farm

Kuala Gandah Deerland, Pahang

After visiting Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary we dropped by at Deerland. After paying the entrance fee, we moved on to see the various animals and birds at this park. Visitors are allowed to go into the deer enclosure to have a closer look and also feed them. It was really interesting to see the deer chasing after the visitors who have food in their hand. Most of the kids were a little shocked when the see a whole pack of deers rushing after them to eat the food. Here are some photos I took....... The entrance view from the side road....

Many deers around and you get to go into the enclosure to feed them! Deers and cute Malaysian Black Honey Bear (Sun Bear, Helarctos malayanus)......

There are also various types of birds, iguana, cats, civet cats, snakes, rabbits and etc on display!

Map to Deerland, Kuala Gandah, Pahang.

Kuala Gandah, Temerloh Pahang Elephant Sanctuary

The new complex in front of the entrance and the elephant viewing area. I think they should expand the elephant shed and viewing area instead of a new building. There was no one selling food for the elephants. .....can get extra $$$$$ for the conservation program! A newly wed couple choose to have their wedding day photo with the elephants here. This is one friendly elephant! The Kuala Gandah elephant sanctuary is nestled in the middle of the Pahang jungle. This is the only centre in Malaysia for elephant conservation program and it was started by the Malaysian Department of Wildlife and National Park in 1989. Although, this sanctuary do not have that many elephants or as large scale operation as our neighbour, Thailand’s Elephant Camp, it is a good effort by the authority to protect this wonderful but endangered animals. Since it was a school holiday, we took the kid for an outdoor outing to this sanctuary. My little toddler kept on wanting to go near the elephants. Some of the elephants are tame but some are just caught from the wild. So, you better ask the caretaker before going near any one on them. Apart from getting a close look at the elephants, there are also other activities to do such as jungle walking and swimming. Entrance to this elephant camp is free. You will not find Kuala Gandah Elephant Camp in Google map. To go there, just follow the East Coast highway after Genting Sempah towards Kuantan. Turn out at the Lanchang exit. At the T junction turn right and drive towards the end of the road. The Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary is located here. We drop by in Deerland which is located before the Elephant sanctuary on our way back. Post to follow.

Map to Kuala Gandah Temerloh, Pahang Elephant Sanctuary

Vegetarian Chap Fan (Economy Rice) at Jalan Ipoh Kuan Yin (Goddess of Mercy) Temple

I have passed by and stopped to pray at this Kuan Yin (Goddess of Mercy) Temple in Jalan Ipoh many times but didn’t have a chance to try out the vegetarian economy rice from this stall. I was there early during lunch time two weeks ago and managed to try out the vegetarian food. This vegetarian food stall is packed with people from nearby offices during lunch time. It operates only during lunch time and is located within the Kuan Yin temple ground. Parking is free and aplenty but a little full during lunch time. As you can see from the photo, I flooded my rice with the nice creamy vegetarian curry. I also added some stir fried Romaine Lettuce and a roll of vegetarian yam lobak (wrapped in beancurd sheets). The yam lobak might look a little dark but it is very tasty. The savoury and creamy vegetarian curry is nice and spicy. Mmmmmm, I had a good healthy vegetarian lunch under the shady and cool Bodhi tree!

Map to Vegetarian Chap Fan (Economy Rice) at Jalan Ipoh Kuan Yin (Goddess of Mercy) Temple

A Round Family Trip to Empangan Batu (Sg Tua), Ulu Yam, Batang Kali and Rawang (Bak Kut Teh)

It was a beautiful sunny Sunday morning and I decided to take my family for an outing. I have not been back to Empangan Batu (Batu Dam, built during the colonial days) in Sg Tua for quite some time already. The water in this dam flows from the Titiwangsa Mountain Range. My last trip there many years ago was to hunt for Toman fish. There are lots of Toman in this Dam that provides water supply to residents in the Klang Valley. Unfortunately they are quite smart and it is not easy to catch them. The toman fish over populated and adapted well in this dam. The number of carps and other fish population dropped drastically. Most of them especially juvenile fishes fell prey to the aggresive toman. First stop at Empangan Batu. It is nice to enjoy the peaceful and serene scenic atmosphere around the dam. I saw some mountain bikers had just finished their expedition and were relaxing at the stop area at the dam. This is a nice rest area. Sadly, very typical of Malaysian public places; the toilet is in bad shape and need major repairs. Next, we stopped by a fruit stall near Ulu Yam. We ended up buying banana, coconut, guava, pineapple and rambutans.

We were very hungry by the time we reached Rawang town. I was looking for the chicken rice coffee shop ( Hock Tong Hong) but unfortunately they were no longer around. I wonder where they have moved to? Therefore we just hop in to Restaurant Try To Eat at Rawang main road near Bintang Supermarket for a quick meal of Bak Kut Teh. We must have been very hungry because the simple bak kut teh (all pai kuat, pork ribs) with rice tasted so good. LOL!

Here is the map of our round trip to Empangan Batu (Sg Tua), Ulu Yam, Batang Kali and Rawang (Bak Kut Teh)

Soon Beng Longan (Mata Kucing) Trading Orchard, Gadong Estate, Tanjung Sepat, Selangor

After a hearty lunch at Hock Heng Huat, Tg Sepat, we headed towards Banting direction and made a right turn from the main road into Soon Beng Longan orchard at Gadong Estate, Tg Sepat. The owner began planting longan trees many years back and it is now one of the most successful longan orchards in Malaysia. Actually longan doesn’t really grow very well in our climate and soil but this orchard managed to produce good quality longan. I have been visiting this orchard for many years. The medium size longan is very sweet. I would normally buy the fresh longan (RM5) and sometime dried ones as well. Apart from longan, there are also other produce for sales such as fresh vegetables, dragon fruit, coconut, bananas, sweet potatoes, guava, rose apple, melons and many more. There are loads of buses and cars going into this plantation during weekend and school holidays. This is more of an educational trip for my children. Town children seldom get to see how fruits and vegetables are grown. We sat down there, enjoyed some pandan coconut drinks and local fruits.

Address

Soon Beng Longan Trading, Gadong Estate 42800 Tanjung Sepat 25 minutes from Banting town and 5 minute dirt road drive into the orchard

Telephone number : 03-31481018 H/P: 019-2392369

Map of our round trip