Perlis - CNY hellish traffic...

"Grandchildren fill a space in your heart that you never knew was empty..."

(Gua Kelam Perlis)

We braved the massive traffic jam of the Chinese New Year holiday.

We started our journey north after sending Ella to the KL Sentral. Ella is travelling to the UK to spend a week's holiday in London with Iwan who was already there for work.

We are babysitting Hana and Amir for a week. As it was also a school holiday, we decided to bring them to Perlis for a family reunion with the Truecolour Bikerz gang. We stayed a night in D'View Guesthouse and visited Gua Kelam, Wang Kelian and spent half a day in Padang Besar for a shopping spree.

On the way back to KL, we had to detour in and out of PLUS highway onto the old trunk road to avoid the massive traffic jam. It took us more than 13 hours to reach home.

What a tiring weekend!

(A brief visit to Malaysia/Thailand border at Wang Kelian)

(Another favorite shopping place at the border)

(A BBQ dinner at Mak Chun's)

Thailand - Above the clouds in Betong...

"When your head's in the cloud, keep your feet on the ground..."

(A new view point at Aiyoe Weng)

Thailand 2017: Betong 4x4 extended stay...

(14 -17 January 2017)

Distance: 1,000 km

There's a place where the sun breaks through

And the wind bites cold and hard

Stings my ears and tears my eyes

When the day starts to shout out loud

Stand tall and glide

When you're all alone in the crowd

Don't fall don't hide

When you walk above the clouds

(Cyndi Lauper)

(2,038 m above sea level)

(The map to the view point)

Next Overseas Trip: 2017 13th Umrah

Our Overseas Travelogue: munmus.blogspot.com

Old friends of Applied Sciences...

"True friendship multiplies the good in life and divides its evils..." 

(Applied Science Class 74/78)

We had lunch at Rama V today.

It was a small gathering among ITM friends from the School of Applied Sciences classes of Microbiology, Food Technology, Chemistry and Vet Science.

The food was delicious and the ambiance was great.

(Sumptuous Thai delicacies for entre)

Momento from South Africa

"Capturing the moments of today that will wow your hearts tomorrow..." 

(An Ostrich egg on a ceramic ornament)

The Ostrich Egg

We were in South Africa in November 1996 for business and leisure trip and to celebrate my 41st birthday.

We had the opportunity of visiting a beautiful mansion of a colleague in Johannesburg and were presented with an ostrich egg from his many egg collections.

Ostriches are native to Africa. The ostrich eggs are bone-white, strangely shiny, and of unbelievable girth. In fact, an ostrich yolk is the world's largest. Ostrich eggs make great conversation starters, if you can get beyond the uneasy impression that they are not the eggs of dinosaurs.

Yes, it's very tempting to become an ostrich egg owner. But once you have it, what do you do with it? Other than it being used to amaze and mystify my grandchildren of course... ha ha...

Hand-made ceramic

The authentic unique handmade and hand-painted ceramics are crafted from African Clay. The most famous world class ceramics is claimed to be from Africa! At Zizamele Ceramics in Cape Town, South Africa there is a team of artisanal women potters who are working together to create a range of handmade and hand-painted African ceramics. All members of the team are from the local community.

(Beautiful and colourful)

(Unique ceramic jugs)

The African Cannibal's Pots

There is evidence, both archaeological and genetic, that cannibalism has been practiced for hundreds of thousands of years by early Homo Sapiens and archaic hominins. Human bones that have been de-fleshed by other humans go back 600,000 years.

(African cannibal's pots)

Ritual murder and cannibalism in Africa were often related to sorcery. Headhunters and others often consumed bits of the bodies or heads of deceased enemies.

(Explorer in the pot)

We were in South Africa in November 1996 for business and leisure trip visiting Johannesburg and Cape Town.

1996 South Africa Trip:

Cape Town - The Cape of Good Hope...
Johannesburg - The City of Gold...

My Overseas Travel Blog: munmus.blogspot.com

2016: Q5 4-Nation Ride...

"No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow..." - Lin Yutang

(Riding the loop in 22 days)

2016 Q5 4-Nation Ride with the Truecolour Bikerz...

(27 November - 18 December 2016)

Route: Malaysia - Thailand - Cambodia - Laos

Total Distance: 7,650 km

(On top of Muang Kasi Plateau, Laos)

Earlier, we made plan for our 4-nation solo ride and plotted the detail routing covering Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos and coming back through different route. For the first 10 days we rode solo, just the two of us, crossing the Malaysia/Thailand border at Bukit Kayu Hitam, the Thailand/Cambodia border at Hat Lek and the Cambodia/Laos border at Dom Kralar thus completing our mission of our solo 4-nation ride for 2016.     

On day 10 in Thakhek, Laos we met up with the Truecolour Bikerz who crossed the Thailand/Laos border in Chong Mek. From then on we rode together doing the loop through Laos and Thailand back to Malaysia.

This ride was a relaxing journey covering a total distance of more than 7,650 km in 22 days. We enjoyed the freedom of riding the open road, absorbing the beautiful awesome scenery and exploring new places. I have compiled the 4-Nation Ride itinerary in our travelogue.

Every experience, good or bad, is priceless...

Day 01: K Lumpur - Hatyai

Day 02: Hatyai - Chumphon

Day 03: Chumphon - Chanthaburi

Day 04: Chanthaburi - Koh Kong

Day 05: Koh Kong - Phnom Penh

Day 06: Phnom Penh

Day 07: Phnom Penh - Stung Treng

Day 08: Stung Treng - Pakse

Day 09: Pakse - Thakhek

Day 10: Thakhek
Day 11: Thakhek - Vientiane

Day 12: Vientiane - Vang Vieng

Day 13: Vang Vieng - Luang Prabhang

Day 14: Luang Prabhang - Boten - Luang Namtha

Day 15: Luang Namtha - Golden Triangle - Mae Sai

Day 16: Mae Sai - Pai

Day 17: Pai - Mae Hong Son

Day 18: Mae Hong Son - Mae Sot

Day 19: Mae Sot - Kanchanaburi

Day 20: Kanchanaburi - Chumphon

Day 21: Chumphon - Danok

Day 22: Danok - K Lumpur

(Our faithful reliable KTM, otw to Thailand/Cambodia border )

(By the Mekong River in Phnom Penh, Cambodia)

(Just the two of us in Trat, Thailand)

(Thai Guest House in Kanchanaburi, Thailand)

(The Villa Thakhek, Laos)

(The Avalon Hotel in Vientiane, Laos)

The Truecolour Bikerz gang:

Mat Put, Nizam/Faiza, Mad Wan/Effa, Mus/Mun

Pok Deng/Aizan and their 3 kids (4x4)

Next Overseas Trip: Thailand 2017: Betong 4x4 extended stay...

Our Overseas Travelogue: munmus.blogspot.com