Of Pantai Morib, Tanjung Sepat, Jenjarom

A long Hari Raya holiday, 4 consecutive days to be exact. How to spend the holidays wisely to get away and relax from the hectic working life? Of course it is travelling! My family decided to pay Morib and Tanjung Sepat a visit after listening many good reviews of those places. 

After passing through the small town of Banting, we arrived Morib. A very small town with its Pantai Morib as its main attraction. To our disappointment, there was nothing much to see there. It's just a beach with dirty shore. The haze from Indonesia doesn't help much on beautifying the area too. We moved on to the Gold Coast Morib Resort with a built-in mini water theme park. Unfortunately the mini water theme need additional entrance fee to enjoy the facility... Next.

Tanjung Sepat is about 15mins away from Morib, a small coastal village which is made famous with its Lover's Bridge, seaside seafood and few kind of locally-made food. Here's the Lover's Bridge, it is said to be built for the faithful wives of the fishermen, to wait there for the return of their next of kin. It started with a concrete span from the land into the sea, and a short wooden span merged out further into the sea. 

There were plenty of stalls nearby the Lover's Bridge, selling souvenirs, fresh fruit juice (blended passionfruit and dragonfruit!), pumpkin crackers and fishballs. Almost everyone who passed by bought 3 bottles (worth RM10) of fruit juices to quench their thirst in the hot day. 

Had a lunch in the restaurant directly next to the Lover's Bridge. It was so crowded it took me an hour to secure a table, another hour and a half to start satisfying our hunger. Never ever go to tourist attractions on a holiday, or else you time will be wasted on the road and also while waiting for food. Worse, the food was not delicious, the fried prawn mantis was one of the worst I've tried. We ate as fast as possible, as there were plenty more people waiting for a table too. 

I did some researches before visiting Tanjung Sepat, and discovered a famous bun-making store called 'Hai Yew Heng'. The name of the store is just one alphabet different than my father's name! Those who know what my surname is will know what's my father's name now!

The 'paos' generally costed around RM2 per 'pao'. The queue was insanely long, didn't want to join in the fun. We left without buying any 'pao'.

So, we explored Morib and Tanjung Sepat in just half a day. With plenty of time left, we decided to make a de tour to Jenjarom to visit Fo Guang Shan Dong Zen Temple, also known as 东禪寺. We heard plenty of good reviews about this place, where it will be decorated with plenty of lights and ornaments during Chinese New Year. A relaxing environment indeed. 

Many people were jogging here in the evening. With the lush green scenery, I feel like jogging there already!

It turned out that SKVE is just nearby the Dong Zen Temple, and it was a pretty nice highway which leads right to Cyberjaya. A smooth journey back home...

Dubai - Dubai Mall, Burj Khalifa

*This serves as the final post of my marvellous UK, Europe and Dubai trip. God knows when will this blog continues...*

Everyone wishes to be a fish swimming in a big sea, free to roam and free to do whatever we want. Being a fish in a big aquarium isn't that bad either I guess! Especially in this huge aquarium located at the centre of Dubai Mall! By the way, it is the 2nd largest aquarium in the world!

Fish... Fish everywhere! I heard there were sharks too, but I didn't get to see them. No worries, the sharks won't be able to penetrate the aquarium's glass walls even if you provoke them. 

 To get a glimpse at the Burj Khalifa skyscraper, we have to exit the Dubai Mall to its recreational park. Something like KLCC, where you'll have to exit Suria KLCC into the park to have a full look at the Twin Towers. Once we stepped out from the mall, catastrophe struck. The sun was blazing hot, our skin was like in contact all over with a hot kettle. However, we (must) endure, in order to take at least few photographs of the aluminium-clad skyscraper. 

I have an obsession with skyscrapers. At 829.8m tall, the Burj Khalifa is currently the tallest skyscraper in the world.  It's almost double the height of our very own KLCC (452m)! However, there's one quote from Tun Dr. Mahathir which I could never forget. He mentioned that we should still be proud with our KLCC because we have two towers! The combined height is still taller than the Burj Khalifa! 

Ooops, I'm shorter than Burj Khalifa!

Another very shiny building located opposite of the Burj Khalifa.

We quickly went back into the cooling mall after being 'assaulted' by the sun. With plenty of time left before our night flight back to Malaysia, we continued to explore the beautiful Dubai Mall. A nice man-made waterfall with sculptures of men jumping off the top of the waterfall. 

We went to check out the entrance fee of Burj Khalifa out of curiosity, and the curiosity killed us. Super expensive. Even a group photo on the ground (taken by professional though) with the Burj Khalifa costs a bomb. We rather take selfies! But we understand this is inevitable since it's a famous tourist destination. 

After having lunch in KFC, we walked around again and discovered there were plenty of chocolate shops in Dubai Mall. Godiva, Hershey's, Haagen-Dazs, you name it.

Our time in Dubai passed rapidly, and we took the train, which was surprisingly far from Dubai Mall and packed to its brim in a weekday, back to our hotel. After reclaimed our luggage, we travelled to Dubai International Airport to catch our flight. 

Dubai International Airport at night...

Most of my friends doesn't enjoy the Dubai trip because other than the 4x4 desert ride, other activities were quite boring. Nevertheless, we've experience walking in a desert. We've seen the tallest skyscraper in the world. I'm glad that I'm able to travel with them, they are such a joy to travel around with. I'm sure everyone will never forget all the laughters and fond moments we shared from the start of UK (in Malaysia too!) right up to the end in Dubai. Like what I've told my Dubai hotel-mates, the only thing I regret is that I know them too late. Missed out all the fun before the time I know them. 

Let's end the 45th post with a poem...

Six thousand miles away from home,

Travelled all the way from UK to Rome.

Ended our journey in Dubai at night,

Returned to Malaysia, a familiar sight. 

Dubai - of Museum, Burj Al Arab & Atlantis, The Palm

Before we head on to see modern side of Dubai, we learnt more about its past in the Dubai Museum. Built in the precinct of Al Fahidi Fort, the museum has a medieval outlook which we can really call it a 'museum', unlike most museums around the world which are built with modern building design. 

This is what people in the 50's lived in, a house made of sticks with a tall chimney which acts as a ventilation system, essential as the temperature in Dubai can reach higher than 40 degrees celcius!

A view of Dubai and the shape of its gulf. Civilisation flocked the river side so that it is easier when it comes to agriculture, maritime transport and fishing, becoming the Dubai Creek.

Looks like herb and spice shops were popular in Dubai last time!

Burj Al Arab hotel, the tallest hotel built on a man-made island. I've been very fascinated with Dubai ever since the hotel is built. The silhouette is unmistakable. Overall shape is inspired by the sail of a ship, and has become an icon of Dubai ever since. It is also the building which intro-ed me to Dubai years ago. Our tour van stopped us on a beach far away from the Burj Al Arab, claiming that the location is the best to capture the 'stunning' angle of the 7-star hotel. 

Thumbs up for the Burj Al Arab as well as the bikini-clad woman. We were dumbfounded that this area of beach allows visitors to wear skimpy attire eventhough Dubai is an Islamic country while ours don't. 

A very short beach area. Is it man-made? The sun was too hot for us to investigate further. We couldn't spend more than 5 mins outside of a shaded area, or else we feel our skin is burning. The sun in Dubai was no doubt more scorching than in Malaysia!

We quickly hopped back into our van and continued our journey into Palm Jumeirah, a cluster of islands made into the shape of a palm tree! Of course, we didn't have a helicopter to fetch us high up into the sky to snap the magnificent photo of the Palm Jumeirah from high up. From the ground, you'll won't feel that you've entered an island at all. 

After travelling parallel with the monorail track for a distance, the Atlantis The Palm is in sight. The 5-star resort is like a wall from far, with an arch opening at the center of the building. We circled the Atlantis to its front entrance to get a better shot of it with our back facing the big sea. After a satisfying photo session, we hopped on back into our van to move on to the last stop on our half-day Dubai city tour... Dubai Mall.

NEXT - Burj Khalifa

Dubai - 4x4 Desert Safari !

*Warning: This is a long-winded post!*

The unmistakable skyline. The warm and humid weather akin to Malaysia's, possibly warmer. We arrived at one of the driest places on the planet, with the scorching sun welcomed us once we got off from the plane. Puzzled, while searching for signs of the tour agency in the airport that is bound to bring us around the wealthy nation. Fortunately we found it and we were brought to the hotel in a long van, with a towed mini caravan at the back to accommodate our luggages. 

It was pretty dangerous as the heavy load laden at the back might cause the van go out of control if it sways too much, no thanks to all the damages that we've done in the UK, Europe and Scotland. The acceleration of our van clearly showed that we were straining its engine to its limit. Finally after passing through the city of Dubai, we arrived at our hotel.

A 3-person room was allocated for me and 2 of my friends. Guess what was the first thing we did upon entering the room? We blasted the air-cond to its maximum! The hot temperature in Dubai is not conducive for those chocolates that we bought in the UK and also Belgium and Swits chocolates! Thankfully, they did not melt as we thought they would be!

A while later, few Land Cruisers showed up at our hotel's doorstep to pick us up for 4x4 desert safari! I kind of admire the civil planning of Dubai, vast land without many building cramped together, wide and multiple nicely tarred lanes highway eventhough the amount of cars on the road were not abundant. Travelling in the Land Cruiser makes the journey even more comfortable, can barely feel the car is actually travelling at 3-digit speed. The car that I was travelling on has a speed limit warning set at 120km/h, so I guess it's the official maximum speed limit on Dubai highway. 

The Land Cruisers' tyres must have their tyre pressure reduced. Why? It is because under-inflated tyres will provide larger contact area to the ground, thus more traction on loose grounds like the dunes. Trust me, traction is essential when travelling on steep dunes because it will decide between live and death! 

By putting our fate entirely on our driver, we entered the desert with rapidly pumping hearts. Anxious and excited at the same time, our driver allowed us to take our first step out on the desert while he reduces the tyre pressure. "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind". Neil Armstrong's quote reminded me of my feeling when I first stepped on the desert sand. Very fine sand indeed, totally different compared to those we can find on the seaside. One deep sand will send millions of sand particles into your shoe, of course, all of our shoes were covered and filled with desert sand at the end of the trip. 

That was just the beginning of the 4x4 desert safari. Having a ride in a large SUV while watching the sunset is a beautiful moment, but the moment started to become horrifying once you see the steep drop from the top of the dune appearing at the edge of the bonnet! It was like witnessing the car travelling off a cliff! 

Soon, we found out that this was not an entirely fun ride after all. We were glad that the Land Cruisers were fitted with interior roll cage so that the roof won't cave in if an unfortunate roll-over event happens when ascending or descending the dunes. The skilful driver made his way through the dunes as if he has done it for years, perhaps he can navigate it blindfolded. Upon watching our high confidence driver manoeuvring up and down the dunes with ease, not to mention some drifting too, we know we were in good hands! 

Thankfully I was sitting in the 2nd row or else, I might have to throw up in the car. The 3rd row is unavoidably more bumpy than the front rows. Here's a catch: throw up in the car and you'll have to pay a certain amount of penalty! Lucky we didn't had our meal right before the ride! 

After many twists and turns, we arrived at a photo point where we were given a short period of time to catch our breath from the adrenalin-pumping ride have a photo session with the desert! For the first time, we climbed up to the top of a dune, literally climbed up with our hands and feet because the sand were so fine. It's hard to imagine how come those heavy Land Cruisers didn't get stuck in the sand. Maybe there are techniques to avoid being so.

"夕阳无限好，只是近黄昏。。。"

Catched the 'egg yolk' before dusk is over! The wind was strong, my hair was all over the place, thankfully the flatten shirt of mine didn't show out the outline of my tummy! Eventhough the wind was blowing strongly, the desert sand doesn't seems to be blown along with it...

Yeah, we had the time of our lives. Enjoyed every moment together in foreign countries to the max! This might be the only time we visit a desert, so why not have a run on a desert, or perhaps roll ourselves down the dune??!! 

After all the calories-burning activities, no wonder our stomach were growling. It's time to head to the dinner place where we can have buffet style dinner while watching live dance performances! Before that, see how dangerous (and fun) it is travelling down the dune!

Where there is desert, there is camel. It's like the things that will come to your mind when it comes to desert are camels and cactus. We can have a free 2-person ride on the camel for a short distance. However, the camels looked pity and exhausted because they were forced to entertain the tourists, I feel sympathy to them... 

The sun was then nowhere in sight, left us with a dark sky and slightly cooler temperature (but still hot) in the desert. What installed for us were spin dancing, fire dancing and belly dancing! The spin dancing below (Ok, I really don't know what's the correct name of the dance) started with a guy in something like a skirt, and then spun 360 degrees repeatedly with the accompany of music, causing the skirt to levitate up into the shape of a 'roti canai'.

Guess what? The skirt is multi-layered, and the dancer removed the top layer and spun it over his head like... erm... making a 'roti canai'. Don't get me wrong, the dance was impressive! We were flabbergasted with how the dancer maintained his stability even after spinning his whole body for so many times! 

The pyro guy was up next, a dangerous stunt.

Belly dancing! The dance was highly anticipated by us, but it was a little of letdown. The dance was not as good as we thought it would be...

Lastly, there was another round of spin dancing! This time more contemporary, with LEDs on their skirts!

While the food we had were not completely digested, we were put through another round (but milder) 4x4 desert ride! This time the driver drove in the dark desert without his lights on! We were completely surprised with his action, and he seems to have a night vision goggle with him as he managed to manoeuvre the desert road with near perfection! The tyres pressure was refilled back to normal level before heading back to our hotel. *A properly inflated tyre can help to improve the fuel economy of a car*. 

After we reached the hotel, the night was still young for us! We went out for a night walk around the precinct of our hotel, but immediately found that it is not as comfortable walking in Dubai as in the Europe countries because the warm weather here reminded us of Malaysia! I basically didn't spend much in Dubai (souvenirs here were overpriced), only exchanged 5 Pounds into AED (Dubai's currency). Just enough for me to have a supper ice cream in McD and lunch at KFC on the next day. 

NEXT - Dubai city.