We made a trip down to St. Kilda beach to catch some of the summer breeze.

On Christmas night, we invited some friends over to our place for a get-together-drink-all-you-can party.

My dearest Leanne received loads of presents.

We also did dinner at Long Grain Thai Fusion Restaurant, with some friends from Adelaide and the newly wed couple.

A day trip to Ballarat was fun. There we headed to Ballarat Wildlife Park. A splendid place for the kids.

Less than 5 minutes away from the Ballarat Wildlife Park, is the Sovereign Hill, a gold mine with no more gold Now a tourist spot.

And so, we were invited for a 4 days 3 nights rejuvenating getaway to Khao Yai, about 3 hours drive away from Bangkok, Thailand.

Khao Yai is probably more famously known as a National Park, which is the third largest in Thailand, and the oldest of all.

Along the way, we visited Farm ChokChai. This 8,000 acres farm is perhaps the largest livestock farm in Thailand. I do reckon that they serve good steaks here, at ChokChai Steakhut.

Leanne’s first trip to Thailand.

This facility uses high-tech equipments to milk the cows. Here, they suck them dry

Demonstration of milking a cow. Mooooo… !

This farm adopts the ways of the Wild Wild West. Horses and carriages are still in use.

A cowboy demonstrating the way to caught a cow, with a rope.

At night, we headed to the famous Banmai Resort & Restaurant for dinner.

This restaurant is famous and unique for its antique collection of various junks. You could not possibly imagine the variety of junks they have here.

They even have a miniature of a ‘mamak‘ stall on display.

The olden days where bicycles were used to transport Coca-Cola.

An old statue of Mickey Mouse. We had a chat with the owner and were told that he started collecting all these junks 30 over years ago. I could not imagine how much his collections would worth in the market these days.

Another great place to visit at Khao Yai National Park is its vineyard. PB Valley is owned by Thailand’s Singha Beer Group, and this winery is 1,000 acres big.

Family photo at the reception area.

A guided tour to its grape plantation.

The processing facility is open for visit as well.

Here we see all different equipments to process the harvested grapes.

And also their storage facility. The best way to get sober is by entering this storage room. Sniffing alone is sufficient to get sober

We were invited by one of the largest Korean trading corporation to visit the a steel mill facility at Dangjin district in South Chung Cheong Province. I was amazed by its newly built, first in the world, indoor dome sized iron ore storage facility. 1 dome storage facility is estimated 2 times the size of a soccer field.

Part of our planned 4 days 3 nights itinerary by the local Korean business partners, we visited the famous Chang Deok Gung Palace, which was originally secondary to Gyeong Bok Gung Palace, served as the residence for many kings. Both palaces were destroyed by fire during the Japanese invasion in 1592. Gyeong Bok Gung Palace was not rebuilt but instead Chang Deok Gung Palace was restored in 1610 and served as the main palace for the next 258 years, until Gyeong Bok Gung Palace was finally rebuilt in 1868 during King Gojong’s reign.

The main gate of Chang Deok Gung, built with imposing dignity. This main gate or known as Danhwamun, was built in 1412 during King Taejong’s reign. Danhwamun was burned down during the Japanese invasion in 1592 and was restored in 1608.

Passing through the Injeongmun, another gate located after Danhwamun, leads to Injeongjeon, which is the throne hall of Chang Deok Gung Palace. Major state affairs, including the coronation of a new king and receiving foreign envoys, took place in this hall.

Ceremonies were held in the courtyard out front; to the rear, a terraced garden rose up towards Maebong Peak.

From the outside, Injeongjeon appears to have two stories, but inside it is a single space with a high, beautiful adorned ceiling.

Me looking tired from the 6 hours flight.

Autumn is the best season to witness beautiful colourful trees.

On the path that leads to the Secret Garden of Chang Deok Gung Palace.

This area lies in the heart of the Secret Garden, a backdrop for leisure and relaxation of the royal family. The two-story Juhamnu Pavillion was built in 1776. The first floor, Gyujanggak served as the royal library and a research institute to develop policies in support of the King’s reforms, whilst the second floor, was used as a reading area.

A live performance for visitors to Chang Deok Gung. The above shows the Crown Prince and its royal bodyguards awaiting for the arrival of the King in front of Yeonhwadang. The performance tells the story of the Crown Prince discussing routine state affairs with the King and a high official.

Jess with a safety helmet at the steel mill facility. The entire factory visit took 2 hours more or less.

Piles of slabs made from scraps / iron ore and ready to roll according to specifications. This steel facility has its own cargo port, which could accommodate up to 9 cargo vessels at the same time.

An unplanned mountain trekking / walking in the morning at the northern edge of Seoul city.

My apparel was unsuitable for what was planned by the Korean guys. I have never in my entire miserable life, woke up so early in the morning for mountain walking / trekking. It was nevertheless, a very good experience.

We only walked for 2 kilometers out of 8. It was tougher than I thought it would be. Local elders tend to mountain walk / trek at this area, especially on weekends.

Seriously, Jess and I have been planning a getaway for ages. Taking into consideration of the recent H1N1 epidemic, it was a better option to travel domestically instead. Adventurously, we drove all the way from KL to Lumut on a normal working Thursday morning. The journey took about 3 hours or less at an average cruising speed of 155 km/hr.

Arrived at the Pangkor Jetty to board to the scheduled 2.00 pm ferry to YTL’s private resort island. We even had a little extra time to wander around the busy jetty. The jetty itself is not impressive, at least not to me.

Somehow, to realize the fun of traveling domestically was part of the whole getaway. The boat journey to Pangkor Laut Resort takes approximately 20 minutes from the Pangkor Jetty. The boat ride was undeniably refreshing. Pangkor Laut Resort’s private jetty is too private perhaps. The medium sized yacht is known as the YTL Lady, catered for private cruising, so we were told.

The 4 days 3 nights package we signed up for, is RM1,000 per night on a hill villa. This package includes a 3 course meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner at certain restaurants. The view from our hill villa balcony was magnificent. The design is similar to the contemporary unique Malay architectural. On need to know basis, Pangkor Laut Resort is a luxury resort owned by YTL. This resort is a 300-acre private island with its own unpolluted beach. Unlike any other tourists-filled beaches and islands in Malaysia, this island only accommodates up to a certain number of guests per stay. For the level of luxury and service, it’s just superb and excellent for couples and families.

Average pricing at any restaurants here for a 3 course meal is RM300 excluding beverages. For me, it’s always seafood for appetizer. Drinks can easily cost up to RM100 per meal. Therefore, 3 meals per day at an average of RM400 per meal including beverages would cost up to RM1,200 or more. At this charging rate, one would certainly have high expectations, and I’m glad to say that the food they serve is worthy of the price.

In the morning, you could enjoy an International Buffet Style Breakfast at the Feast Village Restaurant. Find yourself a good table spot with a decent view of the private jetty and the beach, whilst enjoying your breakfast. Getting around the island is easy. A shuttle van is provided to drive you to your desired destination within the island. It’s just that convenient.

Some say beaches keep them alive. I have to add that it’s true. This is the unpolluted private beach at Pangkor Laut Resort, known as the Emerald Bay.

Suntan and cocktail / beer blends really well. You could probably stay there all day long.

It was truly an awesome experience for us to do ‘Lunch By The Beach’ at Chapman’s Bar. Seen it lots of times on television. The feeling was great.

If Emerald Bay is not your place, then you could always head to the Spa Village for a nice massage. Spa package cost RM450 per pax. First your therapist make you bath in super cold water pool known as the Malay Bath. Then you clean yourself in the shower room and head to the Onsen Bath, Japanese Hot Spring Bath. Later, your therapist will lead you to an open-spaced area for a Shanghai Scrub on your back.  The entire bath process takes approximately 45 minutes and the best things is, you get undivided attention from the therapist.

After the various bathings, you could relax at the comfortable pillow-filled hut. Enjoying a cup of ginger tea, wearing nothing else but a ‘sarong’, is GREAT ! Once you’re done your cup of ginger tea, a masseur will lead you to a room where you’ll get 80 minutes of rejuvenating Malay style massage. An additional option of the package is to choose between a coconut milk hair treatment and a neck & head massage.

If you asked, 4 Days 3 Nights at Pangkor Laut Resort is just sufficient and nice for a domestic holiday.

Journey to Cameron Highlands took approximately 5 hours from Kuala Lumpur. Our transport, a 10 seater ‘Bas Persiaran‘ van, was going within the speed limit, hence the longer period of arrival.

The company rented a villa with 8 rooms near ‘Tanah Rata‘, 3 minutes drive from the golf course.  The guests stayed at YTL’s Cameron Highlands Resort, while Jess and I only shifted to the hotel on the second night.

This hotel gives an old 20th century English feeling. This feeling is almost antique. It makes you just want to stay longer, despite the expensive room rate per night, which is about RM500 – RM600, if not mistaken.

Next day, the golfers were all geared up and ready to show their swings. Tee-off time was at 8.00 am. It is a public course, hence no booking required. It’s only less than 2 minutes walk from the hotel main entrance towards the golf course. No buggy available. It’s a walking course. But thank goodness there are caddies. The caddies may seem a little young, aged between 15 to 18 years old, but they are capable of carrying the golf bags throughout the 18 holes course.

After a terrific game, we rested a while and headed to the nearby strawberry farm. The kids were all excited about plucking strawberries. I was one of them. It’s quite a huge farm, with not only strawberries but cactus and all sorts of flowers like roses. Plucking strawberries is free, provided that the content does not exceed the size of the plastic container.

Dinner time, we went to this fancy Old Cottage style restaurant for dinner. Here they serve western food, from sirloin steak to lamb chop. This restaurant is called De Olde Smokehouse, located 2 minutes away from YTL Cameron Highlands Resort. It’s just another plain restaurant, with many years of establishment in history.

Our long lost ‘chinese relatives’ were courteous all the way throughout our stay. And of course, we had to show respect to our long-dead ancestors by contributing offerings and ritual ceremony.

Somehow, these relatives of mine managed to hire the famous local ‘Beatles’ boy band with their erhus, to play during the ceremony. They came all the way from the village across the mountains, probably crossed a few rivers too on their way, so I heard.

To these villagers, distance is never an issue. It seemed ironic when they convinced us that their definition of short walking distance is actually more than 30 minutes. Geez, I can’t even run on the treadmill for 30 minutes.

In the Fujian Province, ‘tulou‘ is a very popular traditional residential architectural structure. It can accommodate up to over 20 families in one average sized ‘tulou‘ itself with average of 4-5 members in one family. Amazingly, some could last for over hundreds of years. History has it. They were mostly built between 12th and 20th centuries. Because ‘tulou‘ were built of a composite of earth, sand, and lime, therefore mostly couldn’t withstand heavy rains and floods.

Local villagers mostly depend on paddy plantations for survival. This village in particular is famous for persimmon plantation in the Fujian Province. Lifestyle in the village is very ordinary and peaceful. One can expect no form of entertainment or such here.

And the ceremony began, with lots of food offerings. Aside, the local boy band kept us entertained with their musical instruments.

Using live chicken blood to ‘decorate’ the grave is not a common practise for us Malaysian Chinese. But for the locals, the more blood the better it is. In the village, it seems that women are more hardworking than the men. Female villagers do the farming, fruits & paddies harvesting, while men stay at home, puffing away their cigarettes whilst enjoying cups of tea.

A common tradition for the villagers to present firecrackers to others on any occasions. However, in return for their gifts, it is necessary to treat them a meal, be it lunch or dinner. Another common practise is to decorate the grave with firecrackers. So I heard, there were 55 packs of firecrackers, presented as gifts from other villagers.

Over my stay, I had the privilege to visit a fish breeding farm. Fish breeding requires no license in China. Invest a few thousands in equipments and the place is yours. Raft is the only form of transportation from the mainland to each breeding spots. Self-made raft cost nothing more than RM200.

Fish breeders stay in such floating houses. Usually in very poor condition. However, some are equipped with satellite television. They consider the only form of entertainment around.

Throughout the days of living the lifestyle of poor villagers, makes you realize how much we have taken most things for granted in our daily lives.

Leanne is an Australia born Malaysian. So in order for the Malaysian Government to recognize her status, both of us as parents had to make trip to the High Commission of Malaysia to submit the applications in person for Malaysia Birth Certificate and Passport in Canberra. For some reasons, the High Commission no longer accept applications by mail. Even so, we can expect to get things done on the same day, which I reckon to worth the hassle.

A day prior to submission, we had to stop by the police station to get Leanne’s passport and birth certificate applications certified along with the thumbprints. Police officer Constable James was very helpful in certifying our documents. Throughout his years as a police officer, this was the first time to thumbprint a 3.5 weeks old infant. According to Constable James, the youngest person he has ever thumbprinted was an 18 year old crime offender. Ironic, Leanne’s first time to leave the the house since birth was to a police station.

The next day, we departed on a day trip to Canberra, the Nation’s Capital. With cheap fares from Virgin Blue Airlines, we took the earliest flight possible, at 7.30 am. Short domestic flights do not offer variety of food onboard. After all, it’s only an hour flight from Melbourne to Canberra.

Upon arrival, we had to take a cab to the High Commission of Malaysia at Yarralumla, which is 10 minutes away from the airport, depending on daily traffic conditions.

Welcome to the High Commission of Malaysia, Canberra. The architectural structure itself, portrays very much of a typical Malaysian village. At the Consular section, things went pretty much out of hand for them. There were just too many application submissions to handle at the same time. Their messed up processes caused a lot of inconvenience and confusion for us Malaysians at the High Commission. Anyhow, we were told to collect the documents between 3.30 pm and 5.00 pm later on that evening.

Later, we headed down to the city for brunch. It was such a nuisance to catch a cab in Canberra. Cabs are nowhere to be seen when you needed them most. Completely unfamiliar, we requested the cab driver to drop us at the nearest shopping mall, which we ended up at the Canberra Centre, hoping to kill our hunger with some nice food.

Despite the the earlier unpleasant experience at the Consular section, our documents were handed to us right on time. We then rushed to the airport, to catch the next flight back to Melbourne, departing at 5.00 pm.

Unfortunately, a Virgin Blue ground staff at the counter informed us that they were unable to amend our 8.00 pm scheduled flight to 5.00 pm flight. Such amendment would cost AUD$300 per pax. So at last, we decided to wait 4 hours at the airport instead for our initial scheduled flight.

A day trip to Canberra sure was tiring to say the least.

This is the first time Jess and I are officially on a holiday trip since marriage. This getaway is not deemed to be our honeymoon. Likely to be a break from work. And so we departed for Taipei, Taiwan. We stayed at Han She Business Hotel at Ximen for the entire trip, except for a day at XinBeiTou. Of course, shopping was inevitable on the first day.

Ximen is a well-known hotspot for youngsters. Here, you could find the latest and weirdest fashion apparels. Competitive pricing applies at Ximen fashion outlets. Some may even cheaper than in Malaysia. Though fashion apparels may seem cheap, but fruits considered otherwise. A packet of guava could easily cost up to RM10.

Apart from all the shopping at Ximen, Taipei GuGong or The National Palace Museum of Taipei is also worth a visit.  Taipei GuGong or The National Palace Museum of Taipei, features a large collection of Chinese historical artifacts. The museum itself showcase various chinas from different dynasties, Imperial Scrolls that feature the original handwritings of famous Emperors, and et cetera. The main artistic masterpiece showcased in Taipei GuGong is the famous Jade Cabbage. The distance to Taipei GuGong is approximately 30 minutes by MRT and bus from Ximen.

Next, we headed to DanShui. DanShui is famous for its local flea market. Here, local street performers gather to entertain visitors to DanShui. The flea market is just right next to the DanShui station. Also, you may spot a few stalls offering creative portrait drawings. The price for a drawing varies from stall to stall. On average is about RM40 per drawing. Apart from the flea market, local shops also offer variety of goods to attract tourists.

Beware. These scooters rule the streets of Taiwan. The major thing to lookout for when crossing the road. They are dangerous and they are everywhere.

Half day fun at DanShui is probably sufficient, so again we took the MRT and headed to XinBeiTou. XinBeiTou is a mountainous region famous for hot springs. Visitors should stay for a night or two to fully enjoy its hot spring bath.

Nearby BeiTou hot spring hotels is the famous YangMingShan mountain, also a famous spot for local and foreign tourists. Distance to YangMingShan takes approximately 30 minutes by local bus from the XinBeiTou station. Then walk for another 20 minutes including thousands flights of stairs to get to the top.

Next, stopping at RueiFang station, hop onto a local bus. It’s about 15 minutes bus ride to JiouFen. JiouFen is one of the famous tourist spots in Taipei. The alley of shops. People come all the way here just to shop and eat. Cheap stuff. Good food. Desserts especially.

After a ‘wonderful’ stop at JiouFen, explore its famous local night market, what we Malaysians termed as ‘pasar malam’. ShiLin Market is definitely the place you should explore. To get to ShiLin Market, take the MRT from Taipei Main Station to JianTan station. Only 10 minutes ride from there. This famous market is crowded every night especially Fridays and weekends. If you wanna shop, try avoid going on these days. We spent 2 nights shopping at ShiLin Market alone. Definitely shopped a lot, ate a lot, and had our baggages full of goodies.

Onboard the Airbus 320-200, I was pretty amazed by this narrow body aircraft, which is a descendant of Airbus 319. Looking out the tiny window, it may seem that the sunset is more beautiful and closer than ever, as if you could almost reach it. Smooth ride all the way, despite a bit of turbulence here and there.

Suvarnabhumi Airport, the capital’s new airport is an incredible architectural structure. Simple design yet magnificent combination of steel, cement and glass.

Desperately in need of food, we had dinner at the nearest mall. Later that evening, we took the ‘Tuk-Tuk’ to Suan Lum Night Bazaar for some warm-up, before the real shopping begins. ‘Tuk-Tuk’ could be a real rip off should you not bargain for the fare. Some may unbelievably increase the fare as high as 100 Baht for a short distance.

All of us were exhausted from the Suan Lum Bazaar late night shopping, yet we tried so hard to wake up as early as we could for breakfast.

The girls eventually informed us that there isn’t a minute to waste. Of course they meant to spend more time at the next destination. It was a weekend, so Chatuchak Weekend Market was the best place to explore.

Chatuchak Weekend Market is about 30 minutes by cab from Siam Paragon. The market is huge itself and it would be best to navigate with a map. Chatuchak offer tourists fairly reasonable prices compared with Suan Lum Night Bazaar. It’s unreasonably hot and stuffy inside the market. Non-alcoholic wet wipes would come in handy in a place like this. When you’re tired, you find yourself a good spot to chill. One of the best desserts to order is mango with sticky rice. The price to pay is about 25 Baht to 50 Baht.  A day trip shopping at Chatuchak, you can barely walk straight end of the day.

So the next best thing to do is to freshen up and go get a good traditional Thai foot massage. If 250 Baht is too much to pay for, you could just exercise some simple leg stretching in your hotel room.

Siam Paragon, an exclusive shopping mall with all the famous expensive branded apparels, is just 15 minutes walk from our hotel. If you deduct the VAT Tax Refund for tourists, still you are likely to pay a bit more than anywhere else in the region.

We weren’t interested in shopping at Siam Paragon, but we did enjoyed taking photos there.

Creative poses were simply limitless. As weird it may seemed, they actually pretended to look like dumb lost tourists. Eventually a security guard had to prohibit us from carrying on.

One of the many things you could try while in Bangkok is dropping by to one of the hair salons for a hair wash.

Getting a hair wash here cost about 250 Baht or less. It was reasonable priced that even Sam went to the extent of getting his hair rebonded for 2,000 Baht. He added that it was good experience, even though it ended looking as if he was wearing a wig.

The whole trip was even more memorable when we decided to celebrated Sam’s birthday at local Thai cuisine restaurant. Fancy Thai restaurants do not come cheap either.

To summarize the whole trip, we really had lots of FUN. Speaking in Thai attempts, shopping sprees, cheap bargain huntings and hell lots more would definitely motivate us for the next return to this wonderful city.