After i have not been diving for a while, here's my another night dive in Talang-talang island....went to dive site quite late.....however just the right time cause the darkness just approached....as usual other divers and I prepared ourselves.....get ready with the equipments......just BOOM! SPLASH!......in the water now.....of course bring along our underwater torchlight....this time I saw two nurse sharks playing hide and seek with me......one of them sneaked its head in and out from the big burrow trying to peek at me and Iwaited there to watch its curiosity behaviour.....the other one was hidden inside the corals' gap by merely showing its tail.....managed to encounter some nudibranches, a sleeping parrotfish, and etc.....and not forgotten I found a community of unknwon species crab to me....which they looked like arrow crabs........one male and the rest are female hanging in a big seafan.....they were so colorful under the shine of torchlight.....

Once we finisheed our night dive......returned to the mainland and stayed overnight at the nearest chalet.....had BBQ and chit chat till early morning bout 2am....

Next morning we had breakfast in Sematan and then we continued our dives for today.....humid and hot today....but suitable for diving.....my buddy, Maurice, and I went to dive together......we managed to encounter lots of stuff and fantastic underwater sceneries.......it's mating season for nudibranches......on the next dive of the day, I went snorkelling instead of diving....wow! the top view was different from the front view.....pretty nice.....however our boat's engine was jam when we wanted to leave the site......waited and some of them played 'diving' from the boat.....oh,no! I dragged by the divers and threw me into the water.....well, I'm wet again.....and joined them for the game till other boat came and dragged our boat back to the jetty......

Batman Wall.....huge natural limestone overhang.....suitable for rock climbing activity.....completely shaded and cool sitting place for tired legs.....for me, I just went there to shoot some pics.....


Fairy Cave....not far away from Batman Wall.....located in Mount Kapur, Bau......believed to be the home of fairies and legendary stone people.....and for the Chinese, they believe that the cave is the home of Goddes as lots of burning of joss sticks and offerings in the cave nowadays......the entrance of the cave is above the base of the cliff.....and beautiful view can be seen up from the entrance of the cave.........there is a trail to the chamber....my friends and I went in....actually not suppose to.....lots of stalagmites and satactites stay in the darkness.....broken wooden planks lead to the hilltop of Mount Kapur where a view of surrounding forests can be seen through a tunnel.....

Wind Cave.....surrounded by forests and a river running alongside......wooden planks lead to the main cave and two underground tunnels in the darkness......lots of small continuous tunnels.....I was once stepped into one of the tunnels' entrance.....first thing I felt was.....is it raining?.....and I looked up the tunnel....wow!.....those guanos were dropping from the top like heavy rain.....fortunately I didn't have any of those in my body.....what a nightmare!.....also encountered bats in a closer distances in the cave.....

Photographer : Johnny

Borneo Tour

Part 3

Miri

After spending more than one week in north Borneo, now we headed back to north Sarawak, Miri city......not much to do here as well......managed to pay a visit to Miri's crocodile farm and mini zoo......situated far away from the city......lots of crocodiles ranging from babies to adults generations......varies kind of snakes, porccupines, monkeys and etc(pics below)......also took a short city tour and Curtin University local campus......visited oil well no.1 'Grand Old Lady'(pic on the right).....located on top of Canada Hill.....the first oil well in Malaysia which represents the history of petroleum.....night scenery on top of the hill was quite amazing.....after few days in the city, we moved on to Bintulu town......but before that, we stopped by at Batu Niah town for one of the famous national park in Sarawak......



Niah National Park
The park was gazetted as National Historic Monument....The main attractions in this national park are the caves......Painted Cave(pics above and on the right).....the famous cave paintings on the wall fenced-off burial site and the place where 'death-ship' were found but has been transfered to the museum......a fantastic scene can be viewed from the cave.....

Trader's Cave(pic on the left).....an extended rock overhang.....where birds nest and quano traders conduct their business here.....

Great Cave(pic on the right)......one of the most spectacular cave entrance in the world leading to an even biggger chamber within......archaeological site can be seen from cave mouth......when we were inside the chamber......definitely can heard somekind of sounds.....besides the birds and bats.......something dropping on the floor.......hahaha.....that's birds and bats' shits or we shall called them 'quano'.......hence the floor fully covered with quano.......slippery, smelly and of course dirty......but it was all right cause we were in the darkness.......merely using torchlight to view the chamber.......ignored those quano.....

Bintulu

This town is relative small......we managed to arrive in the evening from Niah national park.....tired....had our dinner and straight back to the hotel for one night....on the next morning decided to go to Similajau national park situated away from the town.....initially we lost our way.....ended up somewhere in Similajau rural industrial area....fortunately we found the right way to the route of national park after that cause such a small signboard nowhere in the middle of the road.....

Similajau National Park

This national park offers natural beauty of beaches.......with golden sandy and rocky beaches facing the South China Sea(pic on the left).... and varies kind of flora......the park was once said that can encounter crocodiles, horseshoe crabs and different types of fishes.....but I don't think so.....nowadays the park is not as good as past time because no more maintenance on jungle trails.....fallen trees and broken branches block the trails.....no more snails and horseshoe crabs on the shore.....merely few hermitcrabs.....the sea has no fish or other marinelife......crocodiles do not exist anymore although 'Beware of Crocodile' signboard still exists cause the staff said that now merely left some baby crocodiles in the river far away in the jungle.....we tried to go to Turtle beach and Golden beach where we might encounter turtles and whole beach in yellow colors just like gold.....however too many fallen trees blocked our way.....ended up somewhere in the seashore.....very disappointed.....I dare to say that only few of us in the park......so quiet like an abandoned forest.....somehow the beaches are still in good conditions with tiny golden sand......

Sibu

Return to this small town again for my favourite local dishes.....crabs and pork leg.....I brought the others to Hong Fu restaurant for this popular dishes....cheap and yummy! yummy!.....no one else and no where else other than this restaurant in this town offers such a low price for those dishes.....we managed to eat 2kg of crabs.....on the next day....visited the market for local food.....then we headed back to Kuching city after had our breakfast.....

Photographer : Johnny, Peter, Jui, Clement and Gary

Borneo Tour

Part 2

Labuan

After few days in Kota Kinabalu city, we return to Labuan island by ferry.....and of course some of us scared get into ferry anymore cause the journey is bored and frustrated due to the rough sea condition.....and as usual....not feeling good bout that.....this time we guaranteed have a place to stay cause Peter's friend already booked in advance.....local people said that we can travel around the island just in 2hrs by land transportations......I myself initially do not believe that....."Is that true?" keeps on playing in my mind.....until our friend's boyfriend took us to travel one round of the island by car at night.....and after that 'Yeah, it is true." .......so the next morning we visited some of interest places by using Clement's aunt's car who live in Labuan......managed to go to Bird Park where a large variety of tropical birds exhibited.....that's one thing very interesting bout this park......all the birds live together in few very huge cages where we have to go inside as well to watch the birds which means that we had direct contacts with the birds.......fewer parks in the world have this kind of attraction for tourists......it's pretty cool.....Recreational Park....with old trees and some spectacular landscaping......however very poor in the maintenance such that no repairing and cleaning has done.....we also found a house tree in the park(pic on the right).......World War II Memorial......Malaysia's largest war grave......Peace Park......built as memorial and renunciation of the horrors of war.......Labuan Marine Museum.......exhibits a variety of marine life and sections on fishing and scuba diving.......Chimnney(pic on the left).....most well-known landmark in the island but the actual prupose of the chimney is still a mystery.......besides that, took a shourt tour in town.....visited a chinese temple......passed by some of the beaches, Surrender Point, Labuan Square, Financial Park and etc......as I mentioned just now......this island is small and thus we travelled the island just for overnight.......

Brunei Darussalam

So now we return to Brunei where we stayed for another day.......once we arrived......checked in into same hotel that we stayed before, Traders Inn......evening is approaching.....decided to check out Jerutong Park.......once a popular and attractive themepark with free entries and offered lots of games facilities......now becomes quiet and poor maintenance themepark with no more free entries and less games facilities since they changed the management there......however we managed to play some and had fun till midnight.....went for few rides in somekind of water-ride where definitely get wet in the themepark.....frankly speaking, really dissappointed with that.....nothing much to do here......before we leave the city, we went shopping for a while.....and headed back to north Sarawak, Miri city.......

Photographer : Johnny, Peter, Jui, Clement and Gary

Borneo Tour

Part 1

Travel around Borneo island.....five members in a group by a car and ferry.....for bout two weeks time.....

Clement, Peter, Gary, Jui and I (pic above : starting from left to the right) were traveling from town to town in Borneo island.....in the beginning, merely four of us started the journey from Kuching city in the morning straight to Bintulu town at night.....stayed overnight and continued our road trip to Miri city in the next morning......met up with Peter in Miri ......and now five of us together moving on to Brunei Darussalam on the same day.....

Brunei Darussalam

Once we crossed the border through international custom......something unexpected happened on the way to Bandar Seri Begawan......one of the car tyres punctured.....the only choice we had on that moment was.....change the tyre under humid, hot sun......luckily managed to find tyres workshop within half an hour.....did some checking and tyre replacement......no damage....no panic.....we moving on.......reached the city bout two hours later.....struggled to search for an accommodation cause darkness is approaching.....not easy cause the rates are too expensive......however we managed to get transportation to the international jetty for next morning and reasonable rate for our accommodation, Traders Inn......on the same night we went to one of the luxurious shopping mall in Brunei, The Mall (pic on the right) and night market nearby which housing more than 50 stalls selling local food such nasi katok, local desserts, and etc...... just one night in Brunei for the moment and we took a ferry to Kota Kinabalu city in Sabah through Labuan island on the following day.....

Kota Kinabalu

Reached in the late noon....after a long journey on ferry trip.....some of us felt dizzy and uncomfortable because of the ferry was facing strong waves.......once arrive, checked in Capital hotel located in the center of the city......took a short snap and we went for dinner in seafood foodstalls.....a simple but costly dinner.....merely short tour in the city cause midnight is approaching......the next morning we rent a car......quick tour in the city.....to Sabah museum (pic on the left) which consists documents and galleries of history of Sabah state.....Heritage Villages (pic on the right) which housing different kind of accommodations of different cultures .......Signal Hill Observatory where the view of the city can be seen here (pic above)......we also took a short tour in Sutera Harbour Resort and Tanjung Aru Resort cause their luxurious resorts are excellent in terms of interior designs, regular maintenances and offer lots of facilities.....Australian Place where merely two rows of shophouses which consist majority of backpacker hostels......and one more thing.....we had dim sum as breakfast (pic on the left) for two days in a row in Asia City Complex cause the dim sum are sold at reasonable prices and of course delicious......I just like those for my breakfast......finally at last but not least......handicraft market opens daily especially for tourists to grab some local souvenirs......

Photographer : Johnny, Peter, Jui, Clement and Gary

Another water sport I have never experience before....my very first kayaking in Bau for 3 hours.....buddy with Teresa, who at least had experience in kayaking before......requires proper skills to paddle especially through the rapids....if not, ready to get wet then.....hahaha!....we managed to get through all the rapids except the very first one.....wonderful experience......our kayak upside down when battling against first rapid and hence resulting in the water.....sounds funny but a very exciting and unforgettable moment though...

Photographer : Ivy

Cameron Highlands.....known as the largest and most famous hill resort in the country.....nowadays the highland still retains the charm of an English village.....with its agricultural domain.....there's lots of vegetables and fruits farms.....and amazing sights of flowers and cactus.....

Rose Valley.....one of the lovely sight to spot different kind of flowers and cactus..... colourful and such a amazing flowers and cactus gardens......refreshing and so cooling inside the gardens with the combination of its low temperature here......

Stingray flower.....first time discovered this type of flower.....it's gorgeous.....

With its nature shape.....it really looks like stingray.....somehow the white patches in the middle form the eyes and those tiny curly parts at the bottom form a tail......

Awesome! what an unique flower can be spotted here......

Boh Plantation.....we did not miss this great opportunity to have a view of tea plantation......surrounding by all the greens.....definitely felt...so relaxing.....away from busy city......and we also visited the factory as well to determine on how they process those tea.....after that we had a drink there.....wow! those tea that they sold.....100% good in quality......the freshness of tea produced a very strong smell and perfect to drink without sugar added while enjoying the fantastic scenery......

We had our lunch quite late.....at one of the steamboat restaurants in Brinchang.....needed hot food....hot soup....hot tea.....everything has to be hot.....cause we felt cold.....going to freeze soon....hahaha....

Then we had a walk in Tanah Rata for a while.....and we had another light meal.....cream scone......somekind of cookie bread served with cream, strawberry jam and butter.....very nice....with a cup of hot tea....

We returned to the resort till the night began....

For our dinner, Terence brought us to German Swiss Restaurant in Tanah Rata.....the very first time for the rest of us......German food.....

Most of us ordered.....A Butcher Plate (pic on the right)......consists of ham, knuckles, sausage and pork legs served with mash potatoes and salad......everything is pork.....and each portion is huge.....definitely suitable for pork lovers.....

Looks great....and of course we had a wonderful meal on that night.....especially those porks served with the right sauce......somekind of garlic mushrooom sauce.....Eu Min took his own sweet times to finish his meal.....

Then we headed to the night market in Brinchang......and we went down to Kg. Raja for another great view of night sceneries there.....merely the lights from the farms in the darkness......

Not forgotten.....here's where we stayed.....Bala's Resort situated between Brinchang and Tanah Rata..... decorated with lovely unique designs....full of greens.....and of course a comfort place to spend overnight......

On the next morning, before we headed back to Ipoh......I bought a lot of strawberries and cherry tomaotes in the open air market......Eugene bought some flowers.....

Photographer : Johnny