Selasa, 5 April 2011

Jalan Jalan Perth

Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim,



Cover of our Journal, berangan je lebih, isi2 penting dalam journal tak pernah sempat tulis pun.

All the time, throughout my Adelaide journey, im grateful that i have Liyana around. Eventhough sometimes we really annoyed with each other and sometimes we didnt even talk because there are nothing much to talk about. But, Ms Liyana is one of my coolest friend ever. Kami pernah menjadi Dave Grohl bersama :)


Kah3....tengok balik gambar ni, lenguh perut gelak. Dave Grohls.

We went out for several trips together, just the two of us with my super duper Hebat camera and the flimsy tripod. We even planned to write up a Journal recording our life journey in Adelaide. In the end, biasalah, cover jer yang sempat buat. So, i am writing down our trips around Australia in this blog as part of the memories to cherish. And this time, is on our trip to Perth.

We went to Perth by train. Why? we like it that way. Its an experience, eventhough, ehem...it took us two days to arrive in Perth. Hah! mandi dalam train, gerak2, terjoget2 masa mandi. Air shower macam segan2 jer nak keluar. In Australia, as students, we'll get discount for almost everything. Even beli air pun dapat diskaun. So, the tickets were quite expensive because, travelling by train is an exclusive accommodation. But not for students, i remember that we bought the tix for quite a fair price that includes several journeys within a period of time. We had even use the same train tix to Melbourne.




Keadaan dalam train, ini kira kelas paling murah, towel kuning tergantung adalah towel travel hebat punye, kering dlm masa sepuloh minit.

Backpacking

 
Arrived in Cook

There are two stops between Adelaide and Perth. Our first stop was a small town called Cook. Not really a town lah, a village kot? ....the most interesting fact about Cook is that there are only 4 residents living here. So, it is officially a ghost town.

Cook exists in South Australia due to the need of having stop for diesel refuelling within the long stretch between Ooldea and Loongana. It is the longest straight railway stretch in the whole world which is about 478km. Previously there was a township here. They have a hospital, a school, police station and i remember we saw some kind of a removable toilet that they call prison.  



Takut kan?

Dapat cert lagi...

5 people? meaning, dah ada sorang giveup pindah tempat lain, atau die dah.....
Lalat lg ramai dari orang.

The prison

The Indian Pacific train

Leaving Cook

The view all the way to Perth

Our next stop, Kalgoorlie. Kalgoorlie located at 595km from the city of Perth. It is also known as the Golden Mile. Why? they have a Super Pit in Kalgoorlie. Super Pit is an open-cut gold mine which is still in use till today. Here, most of the building surroundings are still in its original Architectural state. The most prominent one is the Post Office building. We arrive here quite late, around 12 midnight. And we stopped by for few hours while waiting for the train to refuel. So, apa lagi...jalan2 merayau la tgh malam di dalam bandar mati. Sunyi sepi, tak ada langsung aktiviti.

The Exchange Hotel

Posing di belakang pakcik gendong air dalam handbag

Air minum okeyh.....

The city of Perth urbanised alongside The Swan River to the West and East, which historically being used as means of transportation for the city and with the Kings Park in the centre. Believe it or not, migrations of Malaysia born are the third highest which was recorded at 18939 people in 2006. Ramai giler! I prefer Perth rather than Melbourne or Sydney. Migrating to Perth is not really a bad idea after all. Friendly city people and laid back lifestyle.

We love to walk. We can walk throughout Adelaide city in 45 minutes from end to end. In perth, we walked around the city without any plans (..as usual). That is how we explore places. It can be good, can even be a very bad idea. Obviously, we are not organise as most other travellers are. And to us, that is the actual fun. What we did before coming to Perth was to book a room in a budget hostel, and then off we go. We didn’t study what are the interesting places, tourist attractions whatsoever. What we know is, every big city, they have the Hop On Hop Off bus. So we are safe there. Hehehe.

We bought a 24 hours Hop On Hop Off bus tickets to go around the City of Perth. Since this was only a two days trip, we only manage to explore the city centre.


Walking through the city, enable us to find things like the above. Stupidity....







Kebab. As muslims we have never worried not to find any halal food in any places, any country.

We can even ride tram with the same bus ticket. How wonderful!...going around Kings Park


The Swan Bells




I love this photo!

Malay Mee Kari

...and Nasi Ayam.

Posing comel is one of my greatest ability.

Perth Mosque. The courtyard.


Midnight desert

Perth Mosque, William St.


BankWest Tower

Lake Monger?


On our Favorite Bus!


:)

Jumaat, 1 April 2011

Jalan Jalan Gua Tempurung

Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim,



Im in a very serious mood. When im serious, I’ll write in English. So, this entry will entirely be in English. English is serious and this entry will be very serious. Okay, now it starts to sound anomalous. Hah! I know what Anomalous is! Clap2. *grin*. Anyway, these few weeks, i felt a bit unhappy and lonely. Went to the office in an unhappy mode. Went for shopping with straight face. Glaring at people with curiosity as if, everyone is trying to steal my precious 60 ringgit bag. Duhh..., yup, I’m having major problem which I don’t even know how to mend. What I’m doing best is just...to let it be. And now, it’s stealing the cheery side of me.

Luckily, the serious mode got its break for a while with a trip to Gopeng. Min, Kak Shila and serious me went for spelunking in Gua Tempurung. It was a join trip with another group of friends from UPM. Gua Tempurung is massive and seriously Beautiful.

Gua Tempurung located about 25km from the city of Ipoh. The cave is part of Gunung Tempurung which can be seen from North South Highway and stands proud over 497 metres high. It is being called Gua Tempurung which means hemisphere shell (Tempurung) cave. Does that make sense? J From what ive heard, the cave has a total of 5 domes that resemble coconut shell which in Bahasa we call as ‘Tempurung Kelapa’. Now, that’s more like it. The 5 domes mentioned are ‘The Golden Flowstone’ cavern (its so Goldy...i mean, the lights), Giant Cavern (...really massive with high ceiling), Tin Mine cavern (..where there is a mark made by the tin miners in 1959 and their tools lying around), Fallen Warrior (this part is interesting, there is a shape of a German soldier~ if im not mistaken, lay down defeated, wearing helmet and spectacle with sharp nose, hmm..quite good looking too :D) and Battlefield cavern (ok...i assume this is the part where we have to battle for our lives...nah lah, this is actually the part where we have to slide and crawl...to survive...cewahhh).  

Reminds me of Jijet, the vandalist..on our way into..

Entrance to the Dark Cave

Our first climb

According to Encik Mustafa, most of the formations of stalactite and stalagmite in Gua Tempurung resemble the form of animals, human...and, believe me, even food too, oh, and my favourite, “..monyet drives Mercedes.” J

The Golden Flowstone Cavern

....its an Obor Obor

...believe it or not, its Osama b Laden, well...on top of the pillar does seem like a form of a person wearing turban.

Our way to Giant Cavern

To the Tin Mines Cavern

Hah! Chicken Drumstick!...and a Kancil car at the bottom :)

The tin mine Cavern is way 621 steps below


They call this area The Top of The World ~ low ceiling

621 steps down? am not sure whether the number is correct.

Top of the World!

Can you find hands clapping through holes? geezz...a bit scary though

...sunlight!

Towards highway view



...well, Guna and Sumathi from KL was here...

"Lepak"kings before we started our journey to Battlefield Cavern

My favourite spot was the Battlefield Cavern; this is the place where most of the activities start to take place. We were advised not to bring cameras, especially the ones that look like Machine Guns. But being me, what is the point of EXPLORING WITHOUT A CAMERA? No matter how difficult it is, my dear camera will stick with me, no matter what. So the Gua Tempurung guys was just smiling as if, yeahhh...right.

So, yess..the exploration did give me shudders. I actually wrapped my camera with plastic bags and borrowed min’s sling bag so that I can crawl by sling out my camera around my neck. Sounds difficult? Ahahhaha. Can’t imagine it myself. And there it is, the reason why I don’t have photos around Battlefield Cavern. We went through a 5 meters slide down, then through a small hole, just enough for a person to creep into. Down under, we went through some kind of a river. Crawl and stand up, crawl, stand up, and crawl....until we came upon an area with no holes. Okay, that sounds a bit like the epic of Alice in Wonderland.


...at last! out of the holesss....
Remarkable.

Our way out. All wet.

Way in and way out.

The river flows right out.

Victory!!!..and busukness

....and LATER,

DURIANness


Lovely! smells good

After got wet and so Busuk, we went for Durian Tepi Jalan. One of the best thing i enjoys about Malaysia. Durianness, eating durian by the roadside while inhaling asap kereta. Lovely. After having two Durians, we packed some to KL. It’s quite cheap, about RM7-8 each. Then, head out to Batu Gajah for some Nasi Lauk Kampung...hmmm...Gulai Tempoyak and Ikan Keli Salai. Hehe.


Before heading home, we went for Kellie’s Castle. This was actually my first time to the castle, eventhough it was my hundredthmmph times passed by the castle. Haha.


Kellie's Castle from the bridge

Repunzel Tower

Its a frame, i like the window shape

The kunun2 haunted Alley



So, there it is, the Magnificent Gua Tempurung. The best time to go to Gua Tempurung is during October, November and December as Encik Mustafa told us that there will be waterfalls inside the Gua Tempurung. Obviously, no Machine Guns camera unless it is waterproof. J