Farmstay in Bentong, Pahang

I was scouting for a farmstay holiday the past month and after much reading online I decided to contact a permaculture farm in Lenggong, Perak named Ladang Teh Lenggong (Lenggong Tea Plantation). Apparently it used to be a tea plantation until it shut down in the 80s.

Plan had a change after a friend informed me about a farm in Bentong. I attended their talk in town and turns out they just launched a 'mini land lease' scheme. For a small fee which includes ten 2D1N stay one gets to rent a tiny piece of land to farm on. 

So off we went on Saturday, November 8th for Bentong (slightly over 80km away). Traffic was light and we drove at a somewhat leisurely speed. We reached the farm, GY Happy Farm about 2.30pm and the coolness was a welcome reprieve from the humidity and pollution back home. This is what 'greeted' us. Looking good so far.

I like!

 Gorgeous Nicole and Lavenders

Papaya Trees

Drip Agri System

Next we drove out to the Chamang waterfall about 5km away to hook up with Pastor Caleb and the main party. The site is a popular haunt for both locals and out of town folks too.

Check-in time into the little chalet. Spartan but it will suffice. Next to the canteen for a welcome and introduction to the farm's vision. The owner, Mr Gan's vision is to emulate the Israeli kibbutz way of life - sounds like a plan from my heart. Well the way prices of daily necessities are rising there may come a day not too long where a communal farm is the wiser option. Brings to mind a 70s song that goes, "a piece of bread could buy a bag of gold".

Day Two and I slept well. We got up at six am and gathered at 7 am to take a 15 or so minute trek up to the Prayer  Mountain. The view from up here was awesome. We stood in the clouds. Worship began soon after and Pastor Phillip and entourage from Kuala Lumpur arrived bringing with them half a dozen shofars and banners. Far out!

Next agenda - the goat farm. The farm enquired and were gifted forty Boer (South African) goats by our Agri Dept. The children had a blast playing with the baby goat. 

 (above) Specimen from prawn farm (below) Red Tilapias

Nic planting a Roselle sapling

Overall we had a great time. Granted that the owners are newbie farmers I think they are on the right track. I dream of the day the kibbutz becomes reality. I shall return. Hopefully very soon.

I'm city born but I love the country life

Kuala Selangor Revisited

We decided to take a slow drive to the coastal town after a lapse of six years - our last visit was July 5, 2008 when Nicole was just 4.

First stop was Hai Ung Seafood Restaurant. The last visit was to the popular River View but we found the taste to be a bit average. We enjoyed our meal this time especially the crabs cooked in salted egg. Fantastic! Sorry no pics as we were famished.

Next we bought some bread and long beans to feed the Silver Leaf monkeys and long-tailed macaques, the ever popular residents of the area. Six years ago Nic was afraid to feed the primates but this time she had a wonderful time. The Silver-Leaf monkeys were a joy to behold. They are ever so gentle. The timid ones would just sit back and hope we'd spot them but the brave ones would just stand in front of us and gently nudge us for food. Absolutely fabulous! I can't believe we skipped this spot for six years. I think we should make it an annual affair.

Above video is when a one-armed bandit macaque pinched a tourist's Coke. The clever monkey held the cup with its foot and gulped down the cola.

Classmates Over for Class Project

Nic had three classmates come over to work on a class project. It was more like twenty minutes working on the laptop and the rest was fun.

LEEDS! LEEDS! LEEDS!

Today we attended the Merdeka Viewing party featuring Leeds versus QPR courtesy of Tan Sri Tony Fernandes at SOULed OUT cafe in Sri Hartamas. One of our Leeds member 'tweeted' if we could attend and the reply was - "Bring it on Peacocks". 

Unlike my previous Leeds United gatherings this time Susan and Nicole were present. Here we are in LUFC shirts! Nic had wanted to have her pic taken with Tony and up until now we'd never known she was a fan which had everything to do with the recenlty concluded television reality series The Apprentice Asia.

I had my apprehensions about Tony but after tobight I'd say he is a regular bloke on the inside. He cam dressed casually, obliged every photo session and even came over to our table after that.

Twelve of us were present as a few other guys were out of town. Needless to say we were outnumbered by the QPR fans although I am sure many were not real fans. I must say we did make a good account of ourselves with our lively rendition of the Leeds anthem. We hooked up with five new Leeds fans - Azura, Andrew, Patrick, Elaine and Lakbir. I had a feeling I'd seen Patrick and Elaine before and realised I had seen their wedding video (below) last year. Pat is Leeds-born and has been in Malaysia since 2008.

For the record, Leeds were abysmal and lost 0-1 at home but we made new friends and had a blast. MOT!

New Year's Day

We began the day with a drive to the Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman area in Kuala Lumpur city. Our target - Chilly Pan Mee at Restoran Kin Kin. Before today I had never even heard of this place.

The shop is located along Jalan Dewan Sultan Sulaiman 1 which is a less glamorous or somewhat dinghy part of the city. Most of the people we saw were foreigners, Indons, Banglas and Myanmars but as soon as we near the shop you see it packed with mostly Chinese and a few Caucasians. We ordered two bowls of their signature 'dry' pan noodles and it was very tasty. The poached egg and dried chilly flakes were simply great. Definitely will come back for more.

Next stop was the famous Petaling Street and Central Market (aka Pasar Seni). Susan and Nic managed to purchase a few knock-offs, a handbag and a couple of purses. Our next destination was the old Central Market. It began as an open air wet market in 1888. The facade (below) was only built in the 1930s and remained a major market in the city until it was closed in the late 1970s. It went through a refurbishment and has since been converted into a fully air-conditioned mall specializing in handicrafts, gifts and souvenirs.

We browsed the many outlets inside and spent over two hours. Our best experience was the Doctor Fish spa. For RM5 you get 10 minutes of rib-tickling fun as hundreds of the fish named Garra rufa nibbles on your feet. It was hilarious and I must have a lot of dead skin as I attracted most of them.

What a kaleidoscope of colors!

Our last stop was the old Lai Foong coffee shop on Jalan Tun H.S. Lee and Tun Tan Cheng Lock. It is famous for beef noodles and dates back to 1956. I swear it tasted better when I first tasted it in the 1980s but it was still eons better than anything else around. 

All in a very satisfying day where food is concerned.

Beauty and the Beast musical at Sunway Lagoon

We enjoyed another entertaining performance tonight. Nicole definitely loved it most as she was totally engaged.

Outside Sunway Resort Hotel before the show.

Seems the Gangnam fever has also found its way into the musical - and it was hilarious.

Playtime at Kidzania

I took Nic to Kidzania at The Curve today and was she excited. This children entertainment franchise began in Mexico and currently is found in eleven cities worldwide. Malaysia is one of three outlets in Asia, the other two in Jakarta and Seoul.

In a nutshell, it is a gigantic play center where kids get to act out careers/jobs that we adults dread doing. Hah, what a way to milk people of their cash! However if looked at positively I'd say it kinda allows kids to experience what real people do everyday - minus the 'office politics and backstabbing'.

They cleverly incorporated real corporations names into the 'town' like CIMB bank, Air Asia, Honda to name a few. What a smart way to brainwash kids into accepting the brands. So it costs RM55 (USD18.00) a kid gets to enjoy a maximum of five hours in this wonder land. Thanks Sarah Lee for the complimentary tic!

Nic played cashier at the minimart, beautician at the salon, line chef at Ayam Brands (better known as  A. Clouet) kitchen and painter with Nippon Paint. The kids either earn Kidzos play money if they are working or spend them if they are customers.

LEGOLAND Malaysia

LEGOLAND opened its first theme park in Asia in the state of Johor last month. Nic was excited when she learned that we were going on Saturday.

We left home early at about 6.15am and traffic was light. Getting there was easy as road signs were well-placed. We arrived and parking lot was just maybe 20% filled. Sad thing is the car park is pathetic. They cut corners (and cost) by just tarring the roads and leaving the actual parking bays in gravel. It was a blazing hot day and we still had another 300 meters to walk to the entrance. The Medini mall with shopping and F & B shops is located just outside the park's entrance.

By now Nic was ecstatic to know that we were minutes from entering the park. There was a sizeable crowd qeueing for tickets but we already had ours and after taking a few snapshots at the entrance we headed in.

As the park was still less than two months old, the trees were too young to provide us with any relief from the scorching sun. Did I mention Nic can really scream? Well see or listen for yourself. Yep, she's the only kid screaming. The kid you hear crying was beside me. Crying cos he was too short to qualify and had to endure watching his brother (second from left) on the ride.

After a few more rides (Lost Kingdom of Adventure, Rescue Academy) the heat had taken its toll on us. After ninety minutes we left to check into Tune Hotel (no frills budget joint) in Danga Bay about 20km away. We had lunch and rested a bit before heading back to the park.

We reached the park around 3pm and the weather had by now turned quite the opposite. It was cool with light raindrops falling but all this soon changed into a heavy shower. We managed to enjoy the Miniworld and Remote Control Boat game before we were forced to seek shelter in The Big Shop - Legoland's own souvenir/gift shop.

All in it was good we started early or else the rain would have made this trip a total washout. It is the Southwest monsoon for the west coast states in peninsular Malaysia so I guess that's why Legoland gave out complimentary tickets. Entrance fees (One Day tickets) are RM140 (ages 12-59) and RM110 (ages 3-11) but Malaysian citizens do get a rebate of RM30. Also you get a 25% discount if you booked online. There is also an Annual Pass which grants you access on all days of regular park operation including weekends, public and school holidays at LEGOLAND Malaysia for a full 12 months. Go to LEGOLAND Malaysia's site for more info.

We checked out of the hotel the next day and headed to Johor Bahru city in search of lunch. We didn't have a clue as to where to go and stumbled into an old restaurant named SEKEE. At the entrance a lady with a bandana as headdress was busy preparing food. The shop served just one dish, Kway Teow Soup (flat rice noodles soup) - good stuff too. It came with sliced pork meat, liver and kidney - something I have not tasted in a while. For a review on this please go to JohorKaki's blog

Time to hit the road for home. It rained most of the way so we decided to stop in Muar town in search of otak-otak (Susan loves it) - this town is synonymous with the dish. There were many stalls selling the famous finger food on Jalan Haji Abu - aptly named Glutton's Square. We walked into Yong Kee Restaurant and the place was buzzing at 3.30pm

Aidil Fitri

Lovely smiles from Shania, Nicole and Shane.

Shrek The Musical

When you look at the world through the eyes of a child, life becomes a whole lot sweeter. Nic was ecstatic to know that not only were we going to another musical but we'd be riding the Light Rail Transit (LRT) - yippee! I think we had taken her on thr train twice before but for a child it is always a treat.

The trip to the city was a bit of a rush as we hopped on the train at 2.15pm. We got off at the KLCC stop thirty minutes later and walked real fast to the Plenary Hall abour 800 meters away. Right on time 3.00pm just before show time.

The show was great, superb costumes, special effects and of course wonderful singing. I enjoyed so many of the characters, Lord Farquaad (played by Merritt David Janes) was hilarious, as was Shrek (Lukas Poost) and Donkey (Jeremy Gaston) is some sort of machine gun mouth. I sneaked a short video of the finale on my cell like so many other patrons. It was a rousing rendition of the old Monkees hit - I'm a Believer.

Note of Encouragement

Holiday Camp

Each day the kids receive a note from the teachers. It is a nice touch indeed.

New Friends

We met the kids about two weeks ago at the playground  near grandma's house. Turned out they are all Puay Chai school students too.

From left; Soon Zheng (age 9), Amelia (age 9), Nic and Julian (age 7).

They get along great playing badminton, the swing or any dog that happens to be around like 'Patches' (pic), an adorable Beagle.

Julian shouted 'I Love You' to Nic the first day they met and has been repeating it at school every time they meet. He's a cheeky one.

Can't Wait to Drive

Something about automobiles that even a child wants to be able to drive. 

It's a Holiday!

Today is a holiday but Susan has to work as her employers decided not to observe it. Nic and I headed to the mall which was packed with folks shopping for the coming festival. We had lunch at Kluang Station - famous for their coffee.

Outta my way you road-hoggers! (center pic)

Nic trying her hand at diorama painting for a  Tamiya Kleines Kettenkraftrad 1/35 model (foreground).

Latest Mall in Town

Empire Subang Mall

Nic really wanted to ride on the tallest indoor spiral slide but we said no. RM12 for barely 10 seconds of thrill. I think it spans five levels of the mall.

My Teddy

Susan's old friend Mui Lan came to PJ during the recent school holidays and asked if Nicole could go over to play with her 7-year old son, Teddy. It was September 8 (over two weeks ago) and I just got a couple of pics in my email.

It was a work day (Wednesday) and I sent Nic over at around 10.00 am and we picked her up almost 12 hours later.

And one minor point I missed - Nic told Aunty Mui Lan she wants to marry Teddy!

Nic likes Teddy a lot as you can tell from the photos - young love?

Hari Raya Visit to Uncle Saidi and Aunty Haniza's

Nic with May May, the attention-seeking Siberian Husky - what a beautiful animal!

Saturday: Nicole had the time of her life playing with the pets during our visit - five dogs and two cats I think. She liked Lassie (abpve) most - an adorable sheepdog.

We had a lovely dinner too - nasi dagang (must have been a few years I last had this) , satay, serunding and lemang (good stuff).

Hari Raya Visit

We visited my old buddy Rohaizie or Zie for short at his home in Taman Medan. Nic had a gala time as she had half dozen of cats and hamsters to play with there. This poor little critter (see pic) had to endure the most 'abuse' and as we were about to leave Nic even tried to take the kiity into the car. What can I say, she loves animals.

Lantern Festival

Nic and Ashleigh had their fun playing with lanterns. I prefer the traditional paper lanterns with the candles and not the battery operated inflatables. Definitely more fun lighting up the lanterns. As a kid I used to enjoy burning the lanterns more than playing with them.