Posts Tagged ‘Travel’

Schwyz

Friday, April 3rd, 2009

Schwyz, a basically unknown place to people outside swiss….
A capital city for the canton of the same name, Canton Schwyz, in the central of Switzerland.

Canton Schwyz is one of the 3 original cantons that made up the Confederation of Switzerland.
As i try my very best to make Saturdays my traveling days, i decided to take a day trip to Schwyz…. on last Saturday. Train from Zug, takes only about 30 minutes to reach the “main station” of Schwyz. The trip there, the scenery is amazing… the train wind along the shore of Lake Zug, with these beautiful views… passing by quaint villages, mountains, hills, fields…….

Though for most of the cities in Switzerland, the train will bring you directly to the city centre, in Schwyz, this is not the case. Once arriving in Schwyz, one has to take a bus to Schwyz Post, which is the “city centre” or village center, call it as u like. There are lots of buses that goes to Schwyz Post, and the destinations are normally displayed on the bus. Else, just ask around. IT costs 3chf for a day card.

In Schwyz Post, you will then notice that it is indeed a very small city.. with only a handful of buildings… i felt kind of like Cameron Highlands, in Malaysia. This town is surrounded by mountains and hills… and it looks very natural, very relaxing, very quiet.


There are a few main sights not to be missed, like the gigantic Kollegiumskirche Schwyz, a church i think too big for this tiny city.


Then there is also “the oldest wood building” in Switzerland, as per claimed by the signboard

and also the centrally located St Martin’s church, at the main square…..


and then there is this townhouse…. fully covered by frescoes….

and thats about it… hehehehe… i said so..it is a city tht looks more like a village!


dont u think so?? noticed the snow-capped mountain… partially covered by clouds/mist??

Well there is also a musuem, which suppose to detailed the formation of the Switzerland… and has some national treasures… but i am just not really a museum guy…

So off i went… to a HUGE shopping centre… by swiss standard…

You could choose to walk or take a bus… but walking down hill from Schwyz Post to the MythenCenterstrasse is quite relaxing… and is not really too far… 10-15 minutes, i supposed.

See tht little chapel….?? what a scenery…

Mythencentre has 2 floors, and about 50 shops! awesome… look… they even have H&M, i guessed it means that it is happening! hehehehhehe

Opposite this giant shopping centre….pun intended… you will then see another giant grey building.

With a very very very very distinctive sign… a sign which means Switzerland, and Switzerland kind of centre around it… May i introduce to you (drum rollllll) the VICTORINOX factory. From this factory, swiss army knives are designed, produced and shipped to every corner of the world!

Isnt it amazing? For such a tiny little city-village, you will never expect that it is the birth place for the ever popular swiss army knife! It is such a contrast between the tiny and rural feel of the city, and the amazingly huge “industry” it has within its border.

The other amazing trip would be from here, take a train/bus to Brunnen, and they said they Brunnen is very beautiful and it is situated by the edge of Lake Luzern. From Brunnen, you can then take a cruise to Luzern City… with beautiful dramatic sceneries.. i will try to make the trip..

oh…and next week is easter…and i have 4 days off…including Sat and Sun… i will be going to the Top of Europe!! stay tuned

Tags:, , ,
Posted in Switzerland, Travel | 3 Comments »

Brunei

Monday, December 29th, 2008

Brunei, a tiny oil-rich country not known by many people, sandwiched by the Malaysian state of Sabah and Sarawak on the island of Borneo.

I have not been to Brunei before this, but i always have the thinking that Brunei is very rich, and i expect that everything in the city are mostly covered with gold or something of the same scale of extravaganza. But to my surprise it is not!

So finally i have my chance…an opportunity to step foot on this over-the-top country.

Once step down from the Royal Brunei Airline into the nation’s main airport, i was a little confused…. it is a very small international airport and it does sort of look like airports of the early 90’s.

In the taxi while on the way to the hotel…. everything looks pretty peaceful and serene. No traffic jams, low rise shops and buildings, though there were some awesome looking bungalows….

We stay in a supposely 5 star hotel…. but the room wasnt very spacious, and there are no fancy breakfast..just a simple buffet. But i must say that the service is good… very friendly, very courteous, very nice.

We had japanese food for dinner on the first night in a very popular restaurant… it is cheap, good and super crowded and being Malaysian, we never make advanced appointment. But after much pestering we were allowed 1hr 15mins to occupy one of the booked table and were told that we have to finish by then. What a rush for dinner.

The city look like a typical Malaysian town…in the early 90’s….. with the exception that all signboards have to be in bi-language, English+Arabian(Jawi), Malay+Arabian(Jawi)…..

I took a few hours from my work to explore the city with my colleagues, we went to the national mosque…a huge complex with a golden dome… surrounded by man-made lake.. a nice place…
Mosque
then we went to “look” at the water village, where people lives in houses built on stilt on the river…. is by no mean a small village as there are 10 of thousands of people staying on the floating village completed with schools, mosques, halls, and etc.

We also took a scenic drive to pass-by the world’s largest residential palace belongs to the Sultan of Brunei… it is said that this palace has more than 1780 rooms in total… a really huge gigantic complex i would say…

then we ended our half day tour with a traditional dish of Brunei… AMBUYAT… ‘Ambuyat’ is Brunei’s ‘native’ food. Ambuyat is also known as ‘edible glue’. It is a sago ‘glue’ served with a piquant hot sauce which one has to twirl around a pair of conjoined bamboo sticks, dip in the sauce and swallow. The ‘trick’ to eating ‘ambuyat’ is not to chew but to allow the gob to slide down the throat. ‘Ambuyat’ eating requires practice and is only for those who dare to try new things when in a new country. The dish is an acquired taste and those who have tried it usually comeback for more.

People in the city are friendly and again very courteous, very polite and very civic minded!

Crime are relatively low or none… and i believe this is the place… the place where people lives happily ever after.

Tags:,
Posted in Travel, Work | 2 Comments »

G’day mate

Sunday, May 25th, 2008

G’day mate…..

fresh from my holiday, i feel like going for holiday again….
it is either i am too lazy to work… or i really love holiday… but who doesnt….
Gold Coast Gold Coast2
I like the name gold coast, my latest holiday desttination…
i love the name surfers paradise, the beach where my beach front apartment is located….

Gold Coast, a perfect place for you to relax…to chill out…
with over 70 kilometres of unspoilt beautiful beaches and coast line, gold coast is definitely the IT place for those who love water.

We had a fully furnished apartment overlooking the Surfers Paradise beach, the pacific ocean and that beautiful beach is just right on our door steps….
The view from my apartment was superb… amazing… wonderful…. beautiful… and breathtaking …. it is indeed worth all the money we paid…. in fact i believed it is a million dollar view.
Gold Coast 3
gold Coast 4
gold coast 5
I had a good deal from steve and simon at www.takeiteasy.com.au
They really went the extra mile to make my stay a memorable and a wonderful one….. very helpful and very friendly… Do check out the site if you are going off to Gold Coast, you will not regret it… trust me!

In comparison, Gold Coast is more like our own PD or Langkawi, a resort beach town.. but with far more attractions and places of interest…. In gold coast, there are Movie World, Sea World, Dream World, Wet’nWild World, and lots of other world world world class theme park and wild life park for kids and adults alike.

Movie World is a must if you grew up with Warner Bros movies and cartoons….
tweetyshrek
while if you are into dolphin, polar bear, dugong, then head to Sea World. Pig, the Dugong is definitely my favourite.
dolphin
There is this Currumbin Wildlife Sacntuary not far away from surfers which has extensive collections of all unique australian animals… from the cute koala bear to the ferocious tasmanian devils, from the flightless dull emu to the colorful rainbow-like lorikeet.
lorikeet

Gold Coast IS definitely a place where you can spend and spend and spend all your hard-earned $$$$$

Being to Australia without visiting Sydney is incomplete…. like a beach without babes, hotdog without mustard, salad without sauces or Fish without chips…..So i went to Sydney for another round. It seems like i just cant get enough of Sydney. We did the routine itineraries of Sydney, the harbour, the bondi beach, the bridge, the market, the blue mountains, the QVB, and etc. Lots of walking required…. and it was very tiring….as per commented by my friends
Opera House

Sydney

Definitely a great trip i would say… somehing that i waited since September2007….. now that 2008 OZ is done, i shall start planing for the 2009…
any recommendation?

Tags:, , , , , , , ,
Posted in Personal, Travel | 2 Comments »

Germany

Saturday, February 16th, 2008

Germany in february doesnt sounds good for travelling…

cold and grey… but am lucky enough to be here…..for a short trip.

Came during the 3rd day of chinese new year…. leaving all celebrations at home…
to this place alone on the cold february…
sounds exciting…. though, my frist trip to europe

The city that i am in now is called mannheim, nothing fancy, you might not heard about it as it is like an industrial town…smoething similiar to PJ back home.

The city centre is laid out in quadrat….in suqare, this make navigation in the city centre easy.
the masterpiece of the city is the watertower…wasserturm

Am not sure if it does contained water… but am pretty sure that it does look beautiful.
wasserturm

Initially planned to be here after training for own holiday, to tour around this part of germany…
but have now decided to be home early…

this is a very nice place… but the problem is i dont speak german..
so in this small city, almost everything is not in english…this is really challenging for me
ordering food was difficult… lots of guessing but managed to stay alive.

people here eat lots of pork, pork knuckle, pork chop, pork snadwich, pork sausage, bacon, pork pizza, pork bagel, pork etc….porky porky porky….

i have always love those plazza, those open air cafe of european city…
cafe
i like the atmosphere, the settings, the whole package of it… watching the world goes by.

medieval towns have a special place in my heart.
i always love the idea of medieval towns,castle on top of hill, small winding cobblestone lane, beautiful buildings, lovely plaza, amazing cathedral…. upon knowing there is one nearby the place i am, i waste no time and immediately make a visit there.

i reached the castle when the sun sets…
a cold and quiet 14-Feb night
superb, beautiful view from the top..lovely castle…with the beautiful medieval town of heidelberg at the foothill… the view is just magical… lovely, romantic….. perfect setting for valentines day..
view from castlecastle garden

i took a slow walk down the hill from the castle…to the old town of heidelberg…
perfect….church, cobblestone street, lovely lane, beautiful building… the only thing i need now is just a girlfriend…a warm hand to hold in the cold night…walking down together on the cobblestone street, exploring the many lanes and corners…
old town
church
well…if only….

Anyhow, I am going back to this place again tomorrow…to absorb as much as i could before coming home….i am sure it will be totally different during the day time

long story cut short, i abandoned my plan to travel around for a few days…and i am coming back on sunday…

to save some money as sydney opera house is waving to me now…

auf wiedersehen….

updates on pics from heidelberg
bridgeplazza
churchcastle
main streetcastle+river
heidelberg

Tags:, , ,
Posted in Travel, Work | 2 Comments »

Annyeong Haseyeo

Saturday, January 26th, 2008

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to be in Korea…
korea was never in my list before…but well…i was wrong
Korea, a land of beauty…. beautiful culture, beautiful scenery, beautiful people (if you like bae young jun and lee young ae)

First impression was pleasant enough, as i flew in with Korean Airlines.
I must say that the korean airstewardess has very evry beautiful and artistic uniforms…
i love them a lot….unlike malaysia airlines, theirs are very modern.

I saw my first snow in the airport…on the tarmac, there was a pile of dirty snow…
though it is not a sight to behold, but i was damn excited…simply because it is a pile of snow!

Seoul is really a huge city, a city of 14 millions pople….
Basically Seoul city is divided by the majestic Han River….with streets and lots of tiny little lanes which at time look messy and confusing,
buildings and houses were built on hills overlapping each other…every turn, every corner, there is something to be discovered.

We did the usual…
a visit to korea isnt complete without visiting the dae jung gum movie studio, where all the palaces, the rooms , the houses used for the movies are ‘preserved’ to rip the tourist off.
But that place does look good… picture from it does have resemblance of those palaces in china…

Then we were given a change to catch a glimpse of what North Korea looks like through the Dora Observatory Deck…it was barrened and appeared to be without trees, from where i stand. In the observatory complex, we were shown some videos which explained the complicated relationship of North and South Korea, the only remaining sign of Cold War in the world.

There were some sign of life…. apparently the north korean buildt some showcased village along the border to tell the world that they are doing fine too.

So much about the history and war, is time to enjoy when we were brought to Samsung Everland Resort… a theme park… which ranked the 4th in the world after disnelyand florida,paris,tokyo.
Step aside Genting, as everland is really a place to be for the young and young at heart.
The atmosphere and the whole surrounding is amazing, fairytale like….with cute background musics, colourful costume, shops and excellent scarry rides.

Leaving Everland, we then proceed to YangJi Ski Resort….where i gonna try to ski for the first time in my life.
The sight of the ski field, ski runway, ski ground was a sight to behold…almost shed tears…
as i have never see such a scene before. I have always wanted to see snow, to see what it feels like when it is snowing, to feel snows when it hit your face, to taste the fresh snow….

Skiing is difficult…at least for me…the boots are heavy…and with the ski blades on, you are basically immobile.
i falled a few times…damaged 2 sets of ski blades, got fed-up and decided to play snow-fights and to build snowman. Snowfight was much fun, but there is no way i could buildt a life-size snowman…. just wondering how you folks in the northern hemisphere did that.

Love and like the ski sessions…..and the fact that is snows for the whole day does make this the highlight of my entire korea trip.

Shoppings in Korea made Starhill in KL, Orchard Road in Singapore, Nanjing Road in Shanghai, Pitt St Mall in Sydney a kids play.For expensive designer labels, one heads to Myeongdong Shopping Street,

for more local korean street wears, Dongdaemun(Great East gate) shouldnt be missed, Shopping complexes in Dongdaemun opened until 5am everyday.

while for those who like something more locals… do try out namdaemun(great south gate) market.

Thank god for all young koreans are fit,slim…there were bascially no shirt, jeans or shoes that i could fit in… else i would have to be declared bankruptcy upon returning to KL.

Our last day were a real blessing for it snows the whole day in Seoul…. the dry naked trees are all covered by thick snows…the sight was really amazing and beautiful

So thats my korea trip in a nutshell…post ….and i think i will be back for more in the future.

Kamsah Hamnidah (Thank You)!

Tags:, , , ,
Posted in Personal, Travel | No Comments »

Shanghai

Monday, July 9th, 2007

Shanghai can best described using all the superlatives we learnt in school…
the highest, the biggest, the largest, the fastest, the longest, the deepest, and etc….
and being the biggest and most cosmopolitan city of China, it does look appropriate….

this is not an ordinary city… but a metropolis of at least 17 millions inhabitants at any one time and it balloned to at least 20 millions in peak seasons. Peoples every corner and road…. every section of the city looks like a city by itself….

it is a contrast of old and new,
the world’s fastest magnet levitation train glide through the city alongside the traditional bicycles,
Mc’D are situated beside the ever popular “shanghai xiao long bao” and traditional ramen,
old single story farmers house neighbouring the sky-reaching Jinmao Tower….

this trip is truly an eye opener for me…
it totally changed my perspective of china…
for the china i knew 10 years ago from my previous trip didn’t look anything near to what i saw in this trip…

with the 2008 summer olympic games peeking around the corner, i believed China is in full force now to showcase to the world what it had to offer….

Shanghai… truly a great city.
Nanjing Road
PudongLujiazuiStarbucksYu GardenPudong at nightThe Bund

Tags:, , , ,
Posted in Travel, Work | 1 Comment »

Kingdom of Cambodia

Friday, May 18th, 2007

To me, the name Kingdom of Cambodia itself sound exotic, even the first time i heard about it.

For others, may be it sounds “poor, dirty, undeveloped”….

Specially for this trip, i never research or took par in any planning as i try to go along with the flow… which is really not me, as normally i will try to research and make sure i know better about the places before i visitted. I really have no expectation on this trip as i couldt imagine how it will look like.

Well, for my first trip here to this country, it doesnt start of good…in fact it was very bad. I flew Air Asia to Phnom Penh on an unlucky rainy afternoon.

Upon reaching Pochentong International Airport, Phnom Penh, to my disgust my bags were soaking wet. Almost all my belongings includings undies and socks are socking wet….aka TOTAL LOST. Not only me, all my friends had the same fate. We were very angry, agitated, and tired.

So how will the rest of my trip be like?

Will the friendly khmer people, the jaw-dropping sights, the lively cities, the lovely and adorable kids change my perceptions on this country?

Or will the dusty and dirty roads, cramped buses, or hot weather add salt to my wounds?

Wait for my coming post……..

Tags:, , ,
Posted in Travel | 2 Comments »

langkawi…again

Saturday, January 27th, 2007

Langkawi again,
this time went there for my so called company trip,
actually a combination or “company trip” + annual meeting + team building.

Not a bad trip except that it was too short and too hectic….
Team building activity was fun…
people from different department were group together as a team and we are needed to perform several tasks, indoor, outdoor…. ala “Amazing Race”
All tasks are very challenging and needed to use the brains….
everybody were giving ideas, and nobody were listening…
quite some minor disagreement, but nevertheless, it was all fun…

some of the memorable activities that i enjoyed….
some nature talk high-up on the suspension bridge on Mount Mat Chincang by one of Malaysia’s most reknowned naturalis/conservationist.
His name is Irshad.
irshad
“..He arrived in Langkawi about fifteen years ago, fell in love with its natural beauty and knew that conservation and education was the only way to insure it is protected for the future. There has been no turning back since then.

He has since been involved in a weekly radio show, assisted and appeared in several television documentaries including National Geographic (“Hutan: Mysteries of the Malaysian Rainforest”).

The most recent a short docu-ad that was aired on Discovery Channel (“The Wedding Ceremony of the White Bellied Sea Eagle”). This docu-ad recently won an international award for best script. A second docu-ad was recently shown on CNN.

Irshad had also attended a short stint at the British Muzium of Natural History under the tutelage of Prof. Bernard D’Abrera…”

I really enjoy the talk by Irshad. It is very educating and entertaining…
i love every minute of it…

The other activity that i enjoyed is that of the horse riding…
each team members must complete a round before given the next clue.

The horse riding doesnt look as easy as on TV….it looks cool and easy..
but when you are actually on it, it is quite bad…
first you sit high up…the height of the horse is more than 7ft…
then of course the swaying movement of it…
but thank god, i sat on it while a caretaker was guiding the horse…
lovely… and that was my first time on horse as well… so i really enjoyed it.

of course all those came with a price…
i had high ..super high fever…40 degree…

Tags:,
Posted in Travel, Work | No Comments »