Saturday, April 21, 2007

Taman Tasik Taiping - Taiping Lake Garden


Located near to Malaysia oldest town and being the most beautiful lake garden in Malaysia, Taiping Lake Garden. The tranquility, beautiful lake view and misty mountain scenery are something that you will never forget. Taiping Lake is easily accessible from North-South Highway of Peninsula Malaysia and can be reached by following the road signs exiting before Ipoh town if you are coming from north.
The oldest lake gardens in the country, this park sprawls over 62 hectares at the foot of the hill resort of Bukit Larut. Magnificently sculptured out of the natural environment, these picture-postcard gardens present a serene and panoramic landscape with their lush greenery, lovely lakes and a profusion of colorful flowers and plants. The unforgettable sight here is the huge, ancient angsana trees with their drooping branches that seem to defy the law of gravity.

I'll try to post more picture on this lake.

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Teluk Batik Beach




Looking for a great picnic ground for the weekend? About 6.5 kilometres from Lumut lies Teluk Batik, a favourite spot for campers, picnickers, swimmers and sun-lovers.

We’ve been there once and found it was so suitable for family picnic. Facilities such as chalets, toilet, restaurants and souvenir centre are provided to make your stay an enjoyable and fun-filled experience. The most important for me there is a toilet. No toilet means no enjoy.



For your information each year in August, the Pesta Laut Lumut (Lumut Sea Festival) is held here. It is an event that is filled with sea sports competitions, cultural shows and fun-and-food fairs for the young and the old to enjoy. Please check with the Perak Tourist information Centre for the actual date of Pesta Laut Lumut.

How can we get there. Tourists can take a coach or taxi from Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur or Butterworth to Lumut. Alternatively, they can take a train to Ipoh, from where they can transfer to a bus or taxi to Lumut. For Malaysian just drive follow the signboard to Lumut and you will find the beach.



Monday, October 09, 2006

Orang Utan


Had you ever touched “Orang Utan” ,if you wish to do so, come and visit the Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre situated only 20 minutes by road from Sandakan (25 km.This world-famous Sanctuary enables visitors to come in close contact with the remarkable "Orang Utan" which means "man of the forest" in Malaysian. Orang-utans have brown and rust-coloured shaggy fur. They weigh an average of 50 kg (110 lb) and can weigh over 90 kg (200 lb). The orang-utan lives in tropical, swamp and mountain forests, where it eats mostly fruit, leaves and insects. The red-haired Orang Utans are amust-see, when you bring a visit to Sabah. Here, in the Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre, young orphaned or captive orang utans are taught survival skills so that they may return to their natural habitat. After that, they are released into the forest.

Visiting Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary was one of the best highlights of my gap year around Malaysia. The Rehabilitation Centre is set in 43 square kilometers of beautiful virgin rainforest . The centre does an excellent job of rehabilitating orphaned Orang Utan's and returning them to the wild. Without places like Sepilok these amazing animals would be lost from our planet forever.

A wooden walkway takes you through some of Sabah's most beautiful rainforests to the feeding station in the heart of the sanctuary. We were advised not to expect to see many, if not any, Orang Utans coming back to feed. Twice a day food is put out for the Orang Utans to suppliment their wild diets.

We were thrilled when the trees started to rustle and three fully grown females swung in. They were closely followed by five more, including some smaller, 'teenage' Orang Utans.


One particular male stopped to give us a cheeky show of tricks before heading for the platform to feed. They are fasinating creatures to observe. We were so lucky to see ten in total that afternoon. But theres only two of it that i can had a picture of it, because of my camera problem.

These large red apes - man's closest relative- are astonishingly gentle and highly intelligent, gazing at visitors with almost disconcerting frankness.
To avoid the spread of disease, touching the animals is not permitted inside the Rehabilitation Centre. However, it is usually possible to meet and photograph a couple of the mature females, who are so fond of human company that they refuse to go back to the wild, just outside the Registration Centre.

The Sanctuary also houses a couple of highly endangered Sumatran rhinos, and occasionally other animals such as elephants. There is an Information Nature Education Centre, and a mini-theater where a documentary video about the work of the Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary is shown. Visitors are advised to arrive about one hour in advance to register and enjoy activities prior to the feeding. It is possible to take a taxi to Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre and have it wait for your return. There are also infrequent buses marked "Sepilok" leaving from the station near the Central Market. All tour operators offer guided tours which include transport.

There's also a Mangrove Forest Trail. This trail in the Sepilok Centre and takes about 2-3 hours walking one way. Interesting features include a scenic stream, water-holes, transitional forest, pristine lowland rain forest, boardwalks into the mangrove forest and wildlife tracks.



Any trip to Sabah would not be complete without a visit here.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Kota Tinggi Waterfall




The Kota Tinggi park was made famous by the river and the waterfall. It is the focal point of the days outing. This is one waterfall that is southernmost and near to urban Singapore. The Kota Tinggi Waterfall is located 62km away from Johor Bahru, and 16km away from Kota Tinggi. One of Johor's noted natural attraction, it is a great favourite among the locals.Originating from the top of Gunung Panti, the waterfall cascades down a rock face some 34 metres into a small pool below.
The area of the park itself is relatively small by our standard. It has a gigantic car park, almost half the area of the park. From the car park to the main waterfall area is a beeline line along the bank of the river. This distance is approximately just below a kilometer.

I think the best part of the trip, is to witness an authentic waterfall. made by nature. Of course, the river that flows down from the low hills of Muntahak 634m high cannot be big. Likewise the volume of water through the waterfall was not dramatic at the time this picture was taken.




This is a good place to bring your children out for the weekends. More appropriate for most urban family who could not find time for more exotic destination. As for plans of having picnic, just have something very simple. But the problem is you could not find suitable place to enjoy that day off and justifying the long journey here. Of course within that small space and the large crowd, cannot expect a very conducive ambience. But I think, after swimming at the base of the waterfall you can forget all of that problem .