Top 5 Best Moments of our China Vacation 2010

Here are my Top 5 Best Moments of our China Vacation 2010...

#1 Solat Asar in Masjid Huaisheng (Day 1)

Masjid Huaisheng, the oldest masjid in China, is also one of the oldest masjid in the world. Built by the uncle of Nabi Muhammad s.a.w., Saad ibn Abi Waqqas around 627 A.D. (5H).

Our arrival was welcomed by the Imam himself.













We then performed the Asar prayer. I felt peace.













It was a serene and tranquil place. For the peace we found there, definitely it was the best experience we had throughout our vacation.


#2 Hong Kong Disneyland (Day 4)

Finally we left today and entered the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy!!













The reason we came down to Hong Kong from Guangzhou was Disneyland. I've planned this for the kids to enjoy. But at the end of the day, me and Atiz enjoyed it too. It was like a dream come true.













The Greatest Moment in Disneyland was the "Disney in the Stars" fireworks finale. The synchronized lighting, fireworks and pyrotechnics were coordinated to orchestrated classic Disney music.













The other great moment here was the "It's a Small World" boat ride featuring brightly costumed audio-animatronic dolls in the style of children of the world, frolicking in a spirit of international unity and singing the ride's title track , which has a theme of global peace.


#3 Panda (Day 2)

We wanted to meet the real Po, the Kung Fu Panda. Where else to see the great giant Panda if not in the Chimelong Xiangjiang Safari Park in Panyu District, the largest animal park in all of China.













There were 10 Pandas here, the most Pandas you can see in a place. The Pandas were well kept and protected. These Pandas were actually the survivors of the 2008 earthquake in Xichuan Wolong Reserve.













Besides Pandas, there were more than 460 species here including more than 100 White Tigers, that is almost half of the total global population.


#4 Pearl River Night Cruise (Day 1)

We took a one-and-half hour night cruise along the Zhujiang River (Pearl River) from Tianzi Pier. We were captivated by the beautiful night scenery and cool breeze. The lights from the buildings, bridges and river bank were so fascinating, with jade-coloured water and coloured lights on shore.













Helmi said: "Ma, look! That's our hotel....(translated la!)"


#5 The Symphony of Light (Day 3)

Last but not least, my fifth pick was the spectacular night scenery along the Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong, especially during The Symphony of Light show, a synchronized building exterior decorative light and laser multimedia display, featuring 44 buildings on both sides of Victoria Harbour, accompanied by music.














Besides my Top 5 Best Moments above, I also need to mention the delicious muslim Uighur food. The best was seeing how they make your pull noodle by hand in front of you and then cooked them.













The best restaurant we had dinner was the Abdullah Qinghai in Sanyuanli. Over half of the patrons were Malay tourist groups! Other recommended are Nurbostan in Guangta Lu and Halid in Renmin Nan Lu.

Jalan-jalan di China... (dan Hong Kong)

For this year vacation, we were not physically prepared for long walk. We were not able to jog at FRIM park prior to the trip due to the recent heat wave (ala alasan jer tu...).

In the wee morning of March 16, we flew to Guangzhou, China.

This time, we walked a lot. Our option for public transport was limited. Taxi - we spoke no Cantonese or Mandarin. Local bus - all destinations were written in Chinese. So our option was left only to the Metro (subway train) which we used a lot. Although it was very efficient, the Metro network does not cover all places. So we walked, and walked, and pengsan......... aduh penat nye!!

In total we have walked some 53.3 km !!!


Day 1 : Distance walked - 7.8 km

Walked along Zhujiang Riverbank to Tianzi Wharf
Walked around Haizhu Square
Walked along Guangta Lu to Masjid Huaisheng

Day 2 : Distance walked - 11.3 km

Walked around Xiangjiang Safari Park
Walked around Zhujiang New Town
Walked around CITIC Plaza and Guangzhou East Railway Station

@ Xiangjiang Safari Park

Day 3 : Distance walked - 6.3 km

Walked around Tsim Sha Tsui
Walked along Avenue of Stars
Walked along Tung Choi Street

@ Mong Kok Ladies Market

Day 4 : Distance walked - 7.3 km

Walked around Hong Kong Disneyland

@ HK Disneyland Entrance

Day 5 : Distance walked - 5.4 km

Walked along Beijing Lu

Day 6 : Distance walked - 13.2 km

Walked along Yide Lu
Walked along Shangxiajiu Lu and Dishifu Lu
Walked from Guangzhou Railway Station to Shanyuanli
Walked along Beijing Lu












@ Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street

Day 7 : Distance walked - 2.0 km

The Most Expensive Cendol... NOT?

Went to Sg. Gadut near Seremban last weekend to the famous cendol of Leman Dawi. Location: N 2° 39.744' E102° 0.322'. You can see the Novice Food Review by Atiz over here.

It's not expensive isn't it. You can 'tambah' or 'tapau' unlimited for free. Why did I say it is the most espensive? Hmmm...















All six of us had one bowl each, some with 'jagung', 'kacang merah' or plain. The total cost was RM8.50 only. But...

Petrol for my MPV travelling 227km for the return trip = RM51.00

Toll for the trip = RM21.50

Thus, price per bowl approximately @ RM13.50 each.















Pak Cik Leman Dawi preparing the cendol for 'tambah'















So was it worth a trip. A big YES!!! Will come back again for the 'pulut' that we missed....















After Cendol session, kids playground next to the shop.

Ikan Bakar

My best ever "ikan bakar" experience was at Jimbaran Bay in Indonesia. A great variety of delicious live or fresh fish, squid, crabs, king prawns and lobsters prepared on the open grill of burning coconut husks. Dining on the sandy beachfront a few feet from the water with romantic candlelight and live music. The damage for us was close to Rp1.5 million though.

Back home in Malaysia, my favourite "ikan bakar" spot always be the Restoran Sri Tanjung at Tanjung Lumpur, Kuantan (103° 20' 28.2"E, 3° 48' 22.2"N). Since my buddy Zahurin, a local Kuantan guy introduced this place to me back in 1998, I never missed to patronise them whenever I stay overnight there (Mind you they only open after Isya' till midnight).

Yesterday, I was there and here are our menu...
















Grilled Giant Crabs (Ketam Bakar)
















Grilled Cockles (Kerang Bakar)
















Grilled Garoupa (Kerapu Bakar)

Chili King Prawns (Udang Besar Bercili)

Chili Giant Crabs (Ketam Bercili)
















Chili Lala Clams (Lala Bercili)
















Chili Mussels (Kepah Bercili)

Quest for A Pillar

What Pillar? It is the Pillar of Malay States located somewhere near the Buckingham Palace in London. Been there 4 or 5 times but never known the existence of this pillar until one day I bumped into this website.

May be I've passed by the pillar in the previous visits but never notice it. Of course this pillar is significant to me because I am a Malay, hehehe. (and also it was the name of Malaysia before the independence).

On Saturday morning, June 13th, I've set on a mini quest to look for the Pillar. I took the Circle Line to St. James's Park station. Once arrived at the station, I saw so many people walking fast towards the park. The roads around the park were all closed. Policemen were everywhere. Oh man, what's going on?

Then I heard thumping marching beat in a distant. So I walked towards the sound like everybody else. When I arrived at The Mall, there were more people but nothing was happening.

All access were barricaded, either by fences or by the crowd . "There goes my mini quest", I thought.

I sat back and waited a while to see what was going on. Then came a group of German-speaking teenagers around me. I asked the girl who sat next to me about the event. Ahah! It was the official celebration of Queen's birthday. What a lucky day for me. May be can see the Queen in person!
















The Queen's Guard
















And here come the Queen...
















Close-up
















After the progression ended, the police started to open up some of the barricades. Yeah, I can proceed my mission. But where to start. It was still difficult to move around, people are everywhere.

I have to search strategically. Using my 370mm zoom lenses, I figured out there were 3 main pillars; Canadian Gate, South & West African Gate and Australian Gate. So I decided to check out around the Australian Gate first.
















Bingo!! My first guess was correct. It is located next to the Australian Gate, the main left entrance to the Palace. And yes, I have passed by this pillar every times I went there...
















Mission accomplish!!

Australian Vacation 2009 : Day 2

We started our day 2 excursion straight away after breakfast to Sea World theme park which located about 5 mins drive from our apartment. We reached the main entrance around 10.30am.

At the Sea World main entrance.

Our first ride, the Sky High Skyway.

View from the Skyway gondola looking down at the dolphin nursery.

Captain Cook's Endeavour.

The new main ride, Jet Rescue coaster flying and twisting past pristine rock pools and dark cave at an exhilarating 70km/h. Atiz & Fadhli took the first ride as in this pics, 2nd row. I took the next ride alone coz Helmi said that his stomach was not ready for this.

Next, we went to the Sesame Street Beach where a lot of kids' rides can be found.

Fira & Jimi flew with Atiz on a helicopter.





















Then, on an aeroplane...





















...and a truck. This time Fadhli became the next victim.





















Eh?! Not so small kids?

On a carousel. This reminds me our first carousel ride during the Nottingham's Bonfire Nights, 16 years ago.

Atiz wanted to catch the rays for pari asam pedas...





















...and starfish asam pedas???

At the Shark Bay. Oh man, the sharks were so huge. Please don't make us your asam pedas okay...

The stingrays Babylon 5's flight.





















Sharks, sharks everywhere...





















Funny looking shark. We called it Spiderman Shark.





















Inside the Sea World's monorail.

It passed 2pm and everybody was hungry. We took a monorail back to the main building for big lunch. Unfortunately, both halal restaurants there, Paradise Room and Broadwater Cafe, were closed for unknown reason. Instead of big lunch, Atiz & the kids just had donuts at the Donut Factory next door. Me? Since I don't like donut, I ordered a cappucino but their coffee machine broke down. So, I just had a plain hot water... huhuhu.

Fira & Jimi with Mr. Sea Lion.

The Buddy & Clawde Fish Detectives Sea Lion Show.

A Pandanus tree at the entrance of the sea lion show.

Believe it or not, this Pandanus tree or 'Pokok Pandan' is a common feature in Gold Coast. Since nobody took its leaves for 'Nasi Lemak', the tree can grow into 20m canopy with a solid trunk. They have no chance in Malaysia.

After the sea lion show, I was starving but no time for lunch. We had to rush for the 3.30pm dolphin show. Luckily, on the way to the Dolphin Cove, there was a halal Plaza Food Court. The menu looked so yummy but due to the time constraint, I only had a few bites of chips to neutralize my gastric acid.

At the entrance of the Imagine Dolphin Cove.





















The flying dolphins.





















Surfing on the dolphins.





















Four dolphins propelled 2 guys into the air.





















The dolphins somersaults.





















The grand finale where all six dolphins flew.





















What a show!! It's worth coming over 6,500km to see this!

A Sacred Ibis bird (Threskiornis aethiopicus) is everywhere in Gold Coast and can be a nuisance sometimes.

The final show of the day, Waterski WipeOut.





















Ehmmm...





















In this shot, the guy on the right had a bad landing and fell.





















Closing act at 5pm.





















At night, we went to Surfers Paradise's Night Market located along the Esplanade between Hanlan St to Elkhorn Ave.





















There were over 120 market stalls offering locally made gift ideas ranging from accessories, crafts, artworks, beauty products, homewares, jewellery and music.





















We ended the day by Persian dinner at the Shiraz Nights.


To be continue in the upcoming post... Day 3