Johor: Day Trip to Kangkar Pulai Blue Lake

I'm back in action! Life has been rather happening and I forcefully stopped blogging for a while. Just got back from a work trip in Johor and I can't wait to share my experience and nice places that I found. The idea of sharing the nice places brought me back to this blog! 

I will start of with a hidden gem near Johor Bahru -- Kangkar Pulai blue lake! I wanted to visit this place since 2017 but it was closed at that time due to leptospirosis breakout at Gunung Pulai waterfall and also the land owner complained about the rubbish that was left on the trails. I was attracted by the stunning blue of the lake, which I would like to see it myself, if the colour is real or edited. 

On a Friday morning, I drove an hour from Simpang Renggam to Kangkar Pulai to search for this hidden gem with two of my colleagues! I studied a lot of blogs to check the location of the entrance. In fact, the entrance is searchable by Waze (search for Kangkar Pulai Lagoon) but I doubted myself a while when I reached. It doesn't really look like an entrance to a lagoon.

The rocky roads to walk towards the entrance of the blue lagoon

Basically, you will need to hike for about 10 minutes to reach the first viewpoint, which is the only hike that I did for this trip. I felt that this point is good enough for me to take good photos and sun was getting too hot that time. XD 

(Tips: Go earlier to avoid hot sun. I reached around 9.15am, which isn't too ideal)

This view definitely worth 10 minutes hike. Easy with good view!

The hike can be a bit steep. Just need to make sure you have a pair of shoes with good grips. My kampung adidas from Mr. DIY works pretty well! Thank goodness!

The blue lake was formed because of the iron ore quarry nearby. Copper sulphate is the mineral that is forming the blue colour. 

Yours truly with inappropriate outfit for hiking.

Never expect to hike during this work trip!

Life is too short! Don't wait and start exploring wonderful places now!

This is one of the landmark that you could confirm that you are walking towards the entrance. One of the blogs called it the "Big Tangki"

Tips: If you are unsure, look for cars and human beings! I confirmed that I was at the right place by noticing that there are a lot of cars stopping by the roadside. Then, we followed a couple who were also walking to the entrance. 

After hiking, it's time to search for good food! Yes, still need to feed the stomach although the hike was just 20 minutes in total with 1 hours plus of photo taking session. After googling, we found a stall that sells clam (la-la) noodles which seems quite interesting. The stall is located inside Restoran Atson. 

This looks like a fairly normal kopitiam. Can't wait to try local coffee here too!

I always like to try local coffees at local coffee shops as they usually surprise me.

Ta-daa!!! My fried noodle with clams (la-la) (RM7)

They served the noodles with very generous amount of clams. Yumssssss! 

The taste is satisfactory for me. =D The iced Cham (Coffee +Tea) that I ordered was decent.

This wrapped up my Kangkar Pulai blue lagoon exploration perfectly. 

Fed my eyes and cameras, then stomach! Weekend is always better if you do something different and indulge with good stuff. 

Address             : Restoran Aston
                                  1, Jalan Inang 1, Taman Nesa, Johor Bahru
Opening hours: 6am-1pm (closed on Thursdays)

2018 New Year Japan Trip Itinerary: Day 1 KL - Osaka

It is always my dream to travel to Japan. Never thought it would happen so soon and with a friend that I've never thought of. But well, it was a wonderful and memorable trip! Japan is really a beautiful country and rather huge to explore! Can't wait to visit Japan again!!! 

So I'll start with detailed daily itinerary and then a summary. =)

Day 1 (30th Dec): KL - Osaka

Departed to airport around 9.30am for afternoon flight to Osaka. Spared some time at airport to grab brunch and collect the wifi router from Travel Recommends counter. I would suggest to rent one wifi router as it is necessary and cheaper than getting SIM card in Japan. The one that I booked cost RM200 for 9 nights (RM100 per pax). This saved us from getting lost in Japan! XD 

View from the flight. This is so beautiful!

We reached Osaka airport around 9.45pm and started our adventure! We tried to grab a midnight train to Tokyo, which we couldn't managed to book online. Rushed to JR office to change our JR pass and tried to book the train. It was freezing cold! Unfortunately, it was fully reserved and we had no place to sleep at night =( Lesson learnt -- Don't try your luck especially during peak season like New Year.

So, we decided to go with Plan B, which is to find a place to stay in Osaka for the night and also to hunt for supper. Instead of wasting one day of our JR pass, we bought the train ticket to Osaka station, which costs us JPY 1190 (~RM45) each. The train took about 30 minutes to reach Osaka station, reached there around 12.30am.

Ticket for the last train to Osaka station from airport! 

Suit up to combat the cold weather for the night! Don't know where to sleep yet XD

As we were starving that time, we decided to grab a bowl of ramen as supper before we hunt for a place to rest. Hence, Ichiran Ramen @ Umeda which opens for 24 hours was our first food stop in Japan. My friends have been telling me how great it is. So excited to have it as my first meal. =D

Guess what, there were people queuing at midnight for ramen!

Once we got into the restaurant with our huge luggage, the waiters helped us to store the luggage aside. Then, we ordered our ramen using the machine. Once you paid, the machine will give out a receipt. After that, proceed to the seating place to wait for a seat. You will then pass your order to the kitchen for ramen preparation once you are seated. The procedure is so systematic and the ramen was served quite soon that day.  

Ta-daa! Ramen served with soft boiled egg (JPY 1020 = ~RM38). You can choose the flavour of the soup and also with toppings. So individualized! And, they also have individual seating. I love the concept so much! Eating alone wouldn't be awkward anymore! 

After our supper, we went to hunt for place to stay. Found a kind-of-weird hotel and rested for 3 hours before we catch the 6am Shinkansen to Tokyo. That 3 hours stayed cost us JPY 8000, which was the cheapest that we could find. 

Less than RM1800! Hanoi 5D4N Itinerary Part II with Budget Breakdown

****Day 4****

4th day in Hanoi and we finally get to tour the city! First stop -- Tran Quoc Pagoda. We called for Grab to pick us up from hotel and it costs us about RM5 for a trip. It wasn't too far of a distance but traffic is really bad in Hanoi. If you have the energy, some attraction places are actually walk-able. 

Arrived at Tran Quoc Pagoda 

Tran Quoc Pagoda is the oldest Buddhist temple in Hanoi, dated back to the 6th century. It was originally located on banks of Red River and was relocated to an islet within West Lake in 1615 due to the river's encroachment. The main pagoda is made up of 11 levels and surrounded by an incense burning house and a museum housing historic relics. 

Entrance: Free

Opening hour: 7.30am-6pm

Attire: Suggest to wear conservatively

A huge tree near the incense building

Next stop: Ho Chi Minh Museum

Tourist photo right in front of the museum =)

After exploring the pagoda, we took another Grab ride to Ho Chi Minh Museum. It is located in the Ho Chi Minh complex where you can visit the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, One Pillar Pagoda, Ba Dinh Square and the War Memorial all together. The museum is an elaborate description of Ho Chi Minh's life with collections of artifacts, miniatures and various gifts gathered nationally or internationally. The museum was huge and you might need to spend a morning here to really explore the history. We did not manage to read all in details but glanced through quickly in 1-2 hours.

Entrance Fee: VND 10,000 (~RM2)

Opening hours: Everyday except Mon and Fri - 8 - 11.30am and 2 - 4.30pm

Next: One Pillar Pagoda

This pagoda attracted me the most from its name. XD The pagoda rising from one pillar in the centre of a lotus pond and it is said to represent a lotus flower growing up out of the water. It was built between 1028-1054 during the Ly Dynasty. The little temple is constructed based on a single stone pillar crafted into the shape of a lotus blossom. The shrine inside the pagoda is dedicated to the Vietnamese Buddhist deity Quan Am.  

Entrance Fee: FREE

Opening hour: Daily 8am-5pm

Next stop: Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

This is the final resting place for Vietnamese Revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi. It is a large building located in the centre of the Ba Dinh Square. You can visit the mausoleum but we did not check it out as we were rushing to the market. And it was too tiring for grandma to walk around the HCM complex already. 

After a few photos, we decided to check out Dong Xuen market. Heard there a lots of things to buy!

Next Stop: Dong Xuan Market

Dong Xuen Market is the largest, four-storey Soviet-style, indoor market in Hanoi. Here you can find wholesale traders selling everything from clothes to food. Being a wholesale market, you need to bear in mind that it would be packed with people and you will be offered cheaper price when you buy in bulk. For us who are just checking things out, it is a little messy for us to shop. I would think it is much nicer to shop in Ben Thanh market in HCM. 

Crowded market - the clothing area. 

We managed to shop for some dried fruits and lotus seeds to bring home. Then we gave up jamming in the crowd and went out to check out interesting stuff.

Spotted a stall selling local dessert/snacks (looks like our Malaysia's kuih). I decided to buy 2 to try but totally can't understand what the lady tried to explain to me. I bought two which looks safer and I was trying to relate them to any of our kuih. Well, pretty much similar! Hoho.. But I guess the fillings wrongly. XD

Their bikes can sell everything! From desserts to flowers to pots. I was really amazed!

After getting kuih without understanding what we bought, we went to a fruit stall to check out if they have any local fruits. Amazingly, we bought a fruit that we are clueless but it costs RM12 for a piece. Wonder what is that? Continue reading this post and it will be shown towards the end!

After buying from the fruit stall, we were tired of having language barriers and our stomachs were growling. Lunch time! We took Grab to a restaurant that I found, which seems to be very popular among the tourists -- Quan An Ngon.

It is a restaurant with street-stall style within the garden courtyard and interior of an imposing French colonial villa. It serves authentic Vietnamese cuisines and we decided to order 5 dishes to try!

Spring Roll -  is a must!

Banh Xeo Tom Thit - Fried pancake with pork and shrimp

Fried Rice and Pork Chop with rice

Chao Tom - Grilled shrimp on sugarcane

The whole meal costs us around RM120 for 4 persons. And we ordered fruit juices each! I would say it is cheap and nice!

Was too bored waiting for the driver and mom decided to take a photo of me at the restaurant's front gate XD

Next Stop: Temple of Literature

After lunch, we proceeded to Temple of Literature (文庙), the temple of Confucius. This temple hosts the Vietnam's first national university -- Imperial Academy. The compound is huge and surrounded by greenery. It is definitely a nice place to study. When we reached there, there were lots of people taking graduation photos. It is a good experience for us to observe how they dress for graduation. 

Less than RM1800! Hanoi 5D4N Itinerary Part I

It was a random decision to go Hanoi with my family and surprisingly we managed to grab cheap tickets even though it is kind of last minute! It usually cost around RM600 for AirAsia but I managed to book it at around RM380+. Great deal 😉 So, it was a 5D4N short and sweet getaway with parents and grandma to Vietnam. Seriously, I miss the scenery and Vietnam coffee now! 

****Day 1****

We took a noon flight to Hanoi and it was close to 3pm when we arrived. Not a great timing as we spent most of the day waiting and traveling. Too exhaustive. Suggest to book an earlier flight so that we could rest and have more time to explore the town.

I know this is repetitive. But I really love the cotton candy-like clouds. They are so cute!

Upon arrival at the airport, we went to a travel agency to book our transport to the hotel at Old Quarters. They quoted us USD 41 for return trip and we decided to take it. To be honest, I didn't do much research before the trip and have no clue how much it should cost. But less than RM200 for airport transfer for 4 pax, I think that's fair enough. And, we got a huge van! It is so comfy. =)

It took us about an hour to reach the hotel. As I booked with rather cheap price, I don't have high expectation and from outside, it looks really small. HOWEVER, the room was huge and the service was superb! Never judge a book by its cover. So I would strongly recommend you if you are looking for a comfortable place, but don't have to be classy, this hotel could be your choice. I booked a family room at RM360 per night and it includes breakfast! The staffs were very nice to us and helped us to book restaurants/tickets which resolved our problems of language barrier. Oops... I haven't mention the name of the hotel ---Golden Legend Diamond Hotel Hanoi. There are a lot of hotels in Hanoi with similar names, which makes us confused when we arrived as there is one called Golden Legend Hotel just down the road. XD

Our family room! I literally enjoy my sleep here as the bed is so my type! 

We settled down and quickly went out to hunt for food. We only had breakfast for the day. Felt so guilty for being such a bad planner.

We went to this famous Bun Cha stall for our first meal -- Bun Cha Dac Kim. 

We were clueless on how to order and how to eat actually. I just simply ordered 4 sets of meats with some fried spring rolls. 

This is our first meal! I think my parents and grandma were a little shocked with the amount of vegetables that they served. The bowl of meat was seriously a big one and I like those lean ones. It took me a while to digest them. But the spring roll here was too oily, which is not my liking.

After dinner, we walked to the Hoan Kiem Lake for night view and also to check out the walking street. They blocked the roads during weekend evening to allow for people to walk around Hoan Kiem Lake and also the night market. I felt so safe to walk here as compared to the rest of the days which I have to risk my life to cross the street.  

Me being a tourist, as usual.

It was about 16 degree celsius that time. I really enjoy the weather there. 

Note to self: travel to Vietnam end of the year

After walking around the lake, I brought my family, forcefully, to try out egg coffee with me at an old cafe -- Giang Cafe.It was about a 10 minutes walk from the lake. It was founded in 1946! According to their website, egg coffee was found in the days when milk was scarce in Vietnam, where they use egg yolks to replace milk. However, the current recipe includes egg yolk, coffee powder, sweetened condensed milk, butter and cheese. 

The egg coffees! They were served in a bowl of hot water to keep its temperature. 

The taste was really special where you can taste the egg and the strong Vietnamese coffee as background taste. Love it! Worth having insomnia after drinking -- but in fact I slept like as if I was coma that night. =P

The seats were rather cute!

After that we went to check out the walking street a.k.a night market

There are a lot of bars and eateries around.

Look at the crowd!

We were full and hence just walked around and decided to rest early for the Halong Bay tour the next day.

****Day 2****

I booked a 2D1N Halong Bay Tour with V'Spirit Cruise 1-2 months before my trip. I wanted to book other cruise initially but they were all sold out! If you want to book those famous cruises, I would suggest you to book it 3-4 months before. I chose this cruise because I randomly saw my friend posted about it on Instagram and the price was rather cheap. It costs about RM580 per pax for a 2D1N tour, which includes pick up from hotel, tour guide, meals and of course the room on the cruise. I find it very worthy, although the cruise was not fancy.

At the port. Was really excited to check out Halong Bay! It is my dream place and it will still be 💗

We had to take a small boat to board the cruise, which I don't get quite understand as we could walked from the port and reach the cruise as well. But anyway, looks more fancy, maybe?

We got two connecting double rooms. 

When you are on cruise and got nothing to do, try out Halong Beer XD

Chilling with stunning view of Halong Bay.

Too bad it was cloudy. If not I believe it would be more beautiful.

Halong Bay cruise is not just about staying on the cruise for a night.. They will stop by a few stops for us to go down and explore. The first stop was my favorite spot -- Sung Sot Cave aka Surprise Cave. 

It was a long climb before you reach the cave and it was really challenging for granny. The stairs was quite steep and I was really amazed by grandma's stamina. But it was all worth it when we reached the cave. You will know why in a second.

The first glance into the cave.... 

Really a surprise 

With daddy

Loving the colorful limestones

Then we were sent back to the cruise and those who were keen to go for the second stop were invited to board the small boat after 10 minutes rest. Second stop was Titov island where you can climb up for a panoramic view of halong bay and also have a swim at the beach. However, when we reached there around 4.30pm, it was about sunset as it was winter. We only managed to climb half of it to snap a few photos of the bay and then waited for the boat to fetch us back. 

This is my best photo of the bay, unfortunately. It was too cloudy plus sunset. 

While waiting for the boat to fetch us back. It was so windy and there was no place for us to hide except a statue XD

After that, we had dinner on the cruise and they gave us some board game to play with. We also had chance to try to fish squid! It was so windy and it really needs patience. None of us got squid but managed to pull up a plastic bag. Haha! Helped to clean the ocean.

****Day 3****

I tried waking up early to catch the sunrise but it was raining in the morning. :( It was really disappointing! So hard to get up from bed early in the morning! 

After breakfast, they have a kayak session but it was raining. I opted out as I didn't want to be wet and can't enjoy the view much anyway. So we chilled on the cruise until check out time at 1pm. Then we took another 3.5 hours in the car to reach back Hanoi.

Initially I was planning to go 4P's for pizza but the hotel staff recommended me to try the restaurant right in front of the hotel -- Madame Hien. It is a fusion restaurant and the environment is really nice. Romantic I would say. We randomly picked some recommended dishes to share and ordered two glasses of white. 

                                           

                                             The Vietnamese style Chee Cheong Fun

Our dishes of the night with romantic lighting. 

After dinner, we walked around the town and headed for dessert because I wanted to try. xP sorry for being demanding. It was quite a distance from our hotel and luckily Google map didn't fail me. The dessert shop is really a hidden gem and it looks really traditional. The desserts they served were really special to me as they served shaved ice separately which is different from our usual ice kacang back in Malaysia. 

I personally prefer the banana coconut milk dessert, which is the one on the right of this photo 

It was really tiring as we had too much traveling in the day though not much physical activity. We rested early and stay tuned for Day 4 & 5 details! :D

****To be continue****