Chapter 91 - 72 hours in Koh Lipe, Thailand

Glad that I had my first ever trip this year recently to Koh Lipe, Thailand. It was not in my plan to visit this island but well, peer pressure won this time. I was joined by another 7 of my friends including my bestie in this trip. 

It is really up to the individual on where they can board the ferry, be it from Langkawi or from Thailand. There is no direct flight to Koh Lipe, considering that it is a small island. Knowing nothing about this place, I leave it to my friends to take lead. We left Kuala Lumpur on Thursday evening and touched down in Langkawi at about 9++pm. Pretty much, Langkawi was just a transit for us to sleep in. When the sun rose, we checked out and headed to Telaga Harbour.

It was very early in the morning that we had to force ourselves to wake up. This is me, bringing my luggage to catch a taxi to drive us to the jetty. My breakfast at that time was just 2 slices of Gardenia bread while bestie had a bottle of Somersby ..Imao

A must wefie shot before we departed to Koh Lipe. Everyone was really excited to feast our eyes with clear blue water.

Pretty much, it took us a few hours from checking in all the way to waiting for the local immigration to open and board on the ferry. We literally wasted half a day to be transited to Koh Lipe. After touching down in Koh Lipe, we were greeted by the unfriendly immigration staff. We were waiting in a clueless state, hoping to collect our passports soon.

By the time we collected our passports, it was already past noon. Dragged ourselves to the hotel and rested a while before we headed for our late lunch. After lunch, we roamed around Koh Lipe and signed up for a snorkeling package the next day. 

The rest, I shall leave it to the photos to tell the story.. 

Upon arrival to Koh Lipe. We boarded a big ferry from Langkawi however, the big ferry couldn't stop us at the island itself. Hence, we were picked up by the famously Thai longboat to chauffeur us to the island itself. After that, we dipped our legs in the cool water and walked to the beach.

While waiting to get my passport, my eyes were also feasting to this beautiful scenic view. A calm and peaceful view despite that it was really really hot on that day.

A must-to-have drink in Koh Lipe. Thanks to the scorching sun, I was fortunate to at least have a coconut drink when I was in Koh Lipe. I still managed to source for a coconut on the first day in Koh Lipe. But after that, I couldn't find any from one restaurant to another. Apparently, it was sold out! So, bestie and I had no choice but to grab coconut drinks in bottle, sold at 7-11 to quench our thirst.

Wefie with bestie upon arrival. Barely able to open my eyes widely

Strolling along the beach while heading to Budhaya for a massage, I spotted some love stones. Pretty interesting and cool hence, I squatted to take a few shots of it. Here is my selfie post with the love stones.

Mandatory shot for a tourist to take photo with Thai longboat

Breakfast in Thailand was really simple. Not sure whether it applies in my hotel, San Pita or this is just the way their life is. It was my second day in Koh Lipe and I ensured that I had enough since we had snorkeling on that day where we were supposed to visit 10 islands.

A mandatory group shot when we visited the first island. All with sunnies, indicating how hot the weather is. In fact, before I left to Koh Lipe, I read NST and saw the news that the temparature in Thailand exceeded 40 degree celcius.

One of the shots that was taken during our island hopping and snorkeling session.

This is a very unique rock! The rock stands strongly albeit the roaring waves and strong wind - bear in mind, the upper rock is not glued to the bottom hence, can you imagine how does the upper rock balance itself?

 

Besides snorkeling, I had a very good massage session there. I literally used up my leisure time to get myself pampered and at the same time, suffered! Each day, I visited the Bundhaya Resort for massage such as foot massage, Thai massage, coconut oil massage and etc. It was not cheap compared to the massage session I had in Krabi and Phuket the last time. All massage rate is the same which is 300 baht and no bargain is allowed. Not sure whether is it because of a peak season.

Another shot with bestie on the final day in Koh Lipe before we bid farewell. In fact, this was actually after our Aloe Vera + Coconut Oil massage.

View from Bundhaya

Weather was freaking hot and it decided to leave a mark on me. It was just a day of snorkeling and look at what I got. Sunburn! The photo does not really show how bad my "burn" is but those who have seen me face-to-face would realize how tan I have been.

So, that pretty much sums up my Koh Lipe trip! Oh ya, not forgetting about the food - well, I still find that Malaysia food, be it Malaysia Thai food is still the best! The taste is more flavorful as compared to the food in Koh Lipe. 

When comes to night time, there is no particular night life here in comparison with Phuket. So, what you can do at night is simply have a bonding and chatting session with your friends at the beach while accompanied by the sound of waves. 

The next island that I would like to visit will be Khao Lak! :) Let's see when....

Regards,

Foodiestravel

Chapter 82 - Bath, London, United Kingdom (Day 2)

Holla! In Day 2, we went to another part of London that is Bath. Known as one of the world heritage sites, I personally look forward to it. Probably, that was due to the drama exposure by "Triumph in the Skies 2" where Captain Cool, Captain Tong and Holiday had wonderful moments in Bath. 

So, here's my journal in Day 2, London.

Enjoy reading :)

Woke up at 6am in London! Once I freshened up, I headed to the hotel's lobby. Woah-la! It was quiet yet cold along the street of London. So peace and calm...That's life...

 Breakfast in the hotel

It took us about 2 hours and 45 minutes to reach Bath. By that time we reached, it was already lunch time hence, we stopped by at Green Park Brasserie. 

Selfie in front of the restaurant.

 For lunch, we had mushroom soup, roast chicken and caramelized oranges - the oranges were really sweet but I didn't manage to take a shot of it - couldn't resist my temptation though

Buildings in Bath - it was brilliantly built and structured.

Oh ya, the buildings are not made by bricks but are made by limestone

As we strolled along the street, we stopped for a few seconds to take a wefie shot. 

Temperature on that day was quite cold too - if I remember correctly, it was at 6 to 7 degree Celcius

Our first official stop in Bath was at Royal Crescent! As we came out from the coach, we were welcomed by a sudden gust of cold wind. 

Greetings from Royal Crescent, Bath, United Kingdom

Next, we went to The Circus.

It is an example of Georgian architecture where the "circus" means a ring, oval or a circle.

 A 2-seconds stop for a photo as we were walking to Roman Baths

Roman Baths which are built around thermal spring.

You can spend more time here to learn the lifestyle of Roman 

Shots inside Roman Baths

After Roman Baths, we went to the magnificent Bath Abbey, an Anglican parish church and a former Benedictine monastery

Check out the architectural of Bath Abbey

By that time we completed our tour at Bath Abbey, it was already 430pm.

London gets dark at about 5pm so that means we had to leave to the city by then.

 See the amazing view of Bath, London

Traffic was really bad and we reached to the city at 830pm.

We finished all the food within minutes - it was either due to the nice food or we were just too hungry.

Lady luck was not with us on that day. As the coach operator cannot afford to be on the road for more than 12 hours, he left us behind. That said, we boarded the London tube back to the hotel and thankfully, it was super convenient. Initially, we thought of going to somewhere else but we were quite tired by the time we reached hotel hence, we called it off a day after refreshing ourselves.

After all, Day 3 would be another busy yet exciting day.

Regards,

Foodiestravel

Chapter 80 – Date at Nadeje, Sunway Giza, Kota Damansara

After working tirelessly on an assignment, hunger kicked in. Bestie, being the lovely bestie, tagged me to have a proper dinner as well as dessert. Off we went to Kota Damansara where it is known with a number of good food.

We had the char kueh teow as well as a plate of fried rice in one of the Chinese stalls. They are delicious despite that they are slightly oily. Oh well, good food are usually oily, just like fast food. Once we were done with our dinner, we went to Nadeje, Sunway Giza which is just a distance away.

Lady luck was not with us as there were only 4 types of cakes for us to choose from. My favorite, Tiramisu, was not available yet, we refused to leave the outlet, leaving our tummy empty since a proper meal must conclude with dessert J

So, we ordered 4 slices of the cakes while killing our time at the first floor, playing our favorite game on our devices and at the same time, catching up with one another on work, family, personal matter and many more.

 Original Slice – RM 12.60

You will never go wrong with the original flavor as it is the safest bet to go at all time. Neither sweet nor creamy, we somehow love this flavor compared to the rest.

Royal Milk Tea – RM 12.60

This cake tastes as if you are having a cup of Teh Tarik. Initially, it was a bit hard for us to accept it but once the taste conquered our mouth, we went with the flow. Something unique and special but I did not fancy it much.

Chocolate Slice – RM 12.60

Not sure whether is it me, the one who feel it but I feel the taste of the chocolate slice seems rather weird. Hahaha. Probably, it is just not my cup of tea, I guess.

Strawberry Slice – RM 12.60

Besides original flavor, my second best option for that day was the strawberry slice. The strawberries are fresh and sweet in taste – complementing with the cake, it gives a refreshing taste not only to the mouth and taste buds but also, to the individual himself/herself (after gulping 3 different cakes).

Oh ya, I have my new spectacles. Do I look good in it? Hahaha.

Regards,

Foodiestravel

Chapter 72 - 30 Hours Famine, Bentong Trip.......Reminisce Taiwan moment

August 2015 has been treating me good thus far - a number of events had took place, a myriad of food offerings that I sampled which makes me look rounder, a number of places I went though it was a short one and what's more important when I spent my golden time with my loved ones.

1. 30 Hours Famine at Stadium Petaling Jaya

This was probably my third time volunteering myself for this event. Glad that Deric brought me in as the volunteer the last time and I can proudly said that I truly enjoyed every single hour although hunger strike especially when we were given some free and easy time for three consecutive years. This year, I volunteered myself in the media team (like always). Others might envied us as we got to see the Famine Ambassador at a closer look and this time, it was Penny Tai, Malaysian actress who is currently based in Taiwan.

However, I was not really taken away by the celebrities, to be frank but more on the activities as well as the spirit of togetherness in braving through the hunger for 30 hours. Not 1 person joined you for this good cause but more than 18, 000 people sat in the stadium and hold their hunger despite staying under the roaring sun and rain.

2.  One Day Trip to Bentong

I was quite fortunate as I had the opportunity to visit Bentong town...not for once but for three times this year. Each time I went to Bentong, I would surely come back with my tummy filled with tons of durians as well as bringing along some good durians like Musang King and D24 to my family. 

On my third visit to Bentong, I went there together with a group of my colleagues - we danced around, played some games, immersed ourselves in the cold river, indulged in some signature Bentong food like chee cheong fun, fu chuk and ice kacang and last but not least, had the best durian spread ever. 

In fact, I had the most durians this year - no wonder my body size is going side way now..Oh no!!!

3.  Awww...how I missed my Taiwan trip

Until today, I still go through my photo album to rejoice the moments when I was in Taiwan. Life was really good back then -  putting on my tourist cap, all I wanted to do was just strolling along and witnessed the beauty of sea and mountain.

Should I make a visit back to Taiwan anytime soon? Hmmmm....

Time to check out the flight rate now.. Oh ya, AirAsia recently launched the RM3 campaign so, there could be something for me.

Till then, adios..... Time to plan for my next getaway...

Regards,

Foodiestravel