I have booked online through Air Asia to fly to Kota Kinabalu (KK) from 20th to 22nd June 2008. It is on a Friday to Sunday where there is less work. I did try to check out malaysianairlines.com of MAS Zero Fare advertised in the press now but found that it was about RM100 more expensive with transit in KL. With Air Asia, I can fly direct from Penang’s airport to KK in Sabah. The the cost? For 2 persons return is RM814 including taxes and RM3 per bag to check in per person. After I have gone to KK, I would have been to all states in Malaysia. I was in Bintulu, Sarawak in late 2006 and early this year, I went to Terengganu by car. I have been to Kelantan many times for business previously. And I have also been to all the other states in the west coast from Johor to Perlis. I have also stayed in a local hotel in Johor some time back, also for business.

Since I hate walking, I don’t plan to hike up Mount Kinabalu which will take at least 3 days. My plan for the trip is purely for holidays with my boyfriend. What I have heard about Mt. Kinabalu is that it is about two times higher than Penang Hill and the path there is not as steep and difficult compared to Penang Hill. So, next time I can boast to my grandchildren that I have hiked up Penang Hill by foot. Because of the MAS zero fare, my youngest sister and her church friends plan to hike up Mount Kinabalu sometime in November. And you can book online until 19th of this month of May.

I was in KL for 3 days 2 nights with my boss for some business venture. We stayed at the rented condominium in Subang Jaya and also went down to Melaka, and exit via the Ayer Keroh Toll. It was a visit to a factory there for a sports project. My boss measured the sports court to confirm the size for the pending project. The next day, we visited an old friend and potential client in Star Bucks cafe in The Submit, which is just a stone’s throw away from our rented condo. Hopefully the project in Terengganu will materialise giving out workers constant jobs to support their families. It is very relaxing to see all the greenery, the oil palm estates and hills on the way to KL and back. There are a few rest areas such as Tapah where we go often during out outstation trips.

I stayed in Grand Continental Hotel in Kuala Terengganu 2 days ago. My boss drove us from Penang to Kulim, then to Baling, Gerik in Perak, Jeli, Machang in Kelantan and then down to Kuala Terengganu which is about 2 hours’ drive from Machang. It was a fruitful trip and we secured the business deal. It was my first trip to Terengganu which is nearer to drive from Penang rather than Karak Highway in KL. All in all the journey took about 7 hours by car moving at 80-100km per hour. Below are the photos I took during the trip there.

This photo was shot just behind the registration counter in Grand Continental Hotel which incidentally was located by the beautiful beach.

Here is the lobby with lifts leading to the hotel rooms. Further in the photo is the restaurant serving buffet and ala carte food.

This is my hotel room with twin single beds.

A rather beautiful view from my hotel room of the blue seas and some atap roof houses of the Malay ‘kampung’ (village)

My simple buffet breakfast of sausages, curry chicken, French toast, etc.

A bill board next to the lifts.

Today is the last day for the year 2007. It brings many happy memories for me in terms of making money and as well as some tragic news like the unlikely assasination of Benazir Bhutto on 27th Dec. She died a martyr. She was full of confidence and victory in the election just minutes before her death by a suicide bomber in Rawalpindi. There is just no explanation to all these terrorists acts.

Also today, I just came back from RHB Bank in Jalan Teh Ewe Lim, near my house. I managed to cash out RM367.59 from my Google Adsense via Western Union for the first time after one and a half years. The bank exchange rate was 3.30 today in RHB. And this month alone, I watched a few movies too like Alvin and the Chipmunks, National Treasure and Golden Compass. As I have promised in my previous post, here are the many photos taken in Genting Highlands during my trip from 21st to 23rd of December.

Genting’s very own Statue of Liberty in First World Plaza.

Stage in First World Plaza in preparation for Christmas.

Giant Santa Claus.

Santa Claus sitting on a bench in maroon velvet costume.

Genting Walk in brightly lit neon lights.

Many decorations and items for sale in Genting Highlands.

Eiffel Tower in Genting Highlands. This was taken in First World Plaza, the happening place to be in Genting where most attractions and fun rides are abound everywhere.

Christmas decorations and water fountain outside Genting Hotel.

Chrysanthemum flowers grow abundantly outside Genting Hotel.

First World hotel, the largest hotel in the world with 6118 rooms. This was where we stayed.

Escalator decorated with pots of geniune poinsettias and christmas trees.

The two elephants remind me of my recent trip to Bangkok and Pattaya. They are part of the interior decoration of Genting Hotel where we roamed about.

This is one of the entrance to a casino. We were not allowed to go in as I was holding a camera in my hand while my boyfriend was holding newspapers. Since we don’t gamble, we did not attempt to go in again and instead enjoyed the cool mountain air in our room.

Christmas House.

Happy New Year 2008 to all and Good Bye 2007. Let’s hope 2008 will be another year full of excitement, enjoyment, food, travels and making more money.

I came back from KL last night after 4 days staying in Subang Jaya for business and also to attend my friend’s niece’s wedding dinner in 5-star Nikko Hotel in Ampang, near to KLCC. Below are some of the beautiful photos taken during the trip.

Here is a nice Christmas house with trees in Sunway Pyramid shopping mall in Subang Jaya. You can hardly find such beautiful decorations in Penang.

Another view of the attractive Christmas tree with presents and golden baubles.

Lights lighted up during the night for Christmas season in Sunway Pyramid.

A Christmas Snowman.

More Christmas window shopping.

More Christmas trees.

Attended a wedding dinner of Marcus and Sze Wen, my friend’s niece in the grand 5-star Nikko Hotel, owned by the Japanese. Here is a photo of me, my boyfriend and his nieces who are both medical doctors, Sze Ann (youngest) and Sze Hui, the eldest of 3 girls.

This is a giant Christmas tree of lights in the lobby of Nikko Hotel.

On our way back from Nikko Hotel, I took the liberty to snap this photo of Petronas Twin Towers at night in KLCC which was very near to the Hotel.

That’s me para-sailing in Pattaya. The tour guide took this shot for me. It was like clock work with the para-sailing guides lifting one tourist after another.

Landed safely and got rid of the parasailing gear. It was some experience being lifted up to the skies and viewing the seas below. See the queue on my right side waiting to be lifted up in motor boats.

Pattaya has very beautiful unpolluted blue seas and long stretch of white fine sands on the beaches. It is a tourists’ haven. See how many speed boats there are here. I also went for a speed boat ride with my youngest sister with a guide behind us showing how to use the speed boat.

Came back after sea walking (in earlier post) to the white sandy beaches, all wet but very satisfied participating in the many water activities.

In Nong Nooch Tropical Garden. See the sculpted hedges, trees and gardens.

Long almost-langciau-like cacti in the background. Beware, this prick will be ouch! Got the red collared shirt from China with Beijing Olympics 2008 logo in August 2007. It complements the green background and stands out clearly in all my photos.

Big round cacti. This time you don’t see them in little small plastic pots.

A different desert plant. This one is rather spikey like a Christmas tree.

With my youngest sister in sunglasses. Notice how vast the gardens are.

We stayed in 4-star Prince Palace Hotel in Bangkok. Here is a view of the room with intricate wall paper design and cosy beds. The clothes wholesaler are located around this hotel. So, if you want to buy clothes at wholesale price, you know where to get next time.

This is a very cosy ambience of Prince Palace Hotel that I took in the evening when the chandeliers are lighted up.

Behind me is the Wat Arun temple in Bangkok. For only 50 bahts (5 ringgit) per person, you can rent costume of various colors to snap with Wat Arun. Here is yours truly in Bangkok.

My youngest sister in blue and me in pink. This is the national Thai costume.

You will never be short of ideas of what to do in Bangkok. You can go for an elephant ride. Ouch, my bottom hurts…. The ride took about 10 minutes balancing the seat on the elephant’s back, but good for a lifetime experience.

Or go for a horse ride with a cart. Less bumpy than the elephant ride.

Or see dolphine show in Safari World.

Take photo of the beluga in Safari World.

Go to the loo to relieve ourselves. See how colorful the doors are!

Next on the item is Thai kick boxing or muay Thai as part of the cultural show. More photos next post!

Just watch the video above of a funny elephant massage on the lying man’s private parts. The elephants are revered animals in Thailand and have been trained to paint trees and flowers, carry tourists on their backs, do a bicycle ride, play soccer, play basketball, bowling and almost just anything that humans can do. Here is a recorded video in Nong Nooch Tropical Garden from my trip to Pattaya recently.

Here is a undersea photo of me doing sea walking and exploration. Sea Walker is offered only in 3 countries, namely USA, Japan and Thailand. As you go down to the sea from the deck, they put a mask fed with oxygen over your head and once that is put in place, you are lifted down about 20 feet deep to the bottom of the sea bed. It is like a lift that transports me all the way down. It is like scuba diving, but you walk on the sea instead.

For photo’s sake, I am holding an empty giant clam shell from the sea. See how big it is.

Here is the life one. Be careful not to put your fingers in the clam, otherwise it will immediately snap shut with force. I also got to feel the life corals and in fact got some mild rashes on my left hand (a small patch) after feeling the black sea urchins or the prickly ‘rambutans’ in the sea.

More beautiful corals.

With my youngest sister.

Blue Sea Diving in another side of the sea with different corals.

Watch the video here taken under the sea.

The trip to Bangkok and Pattaya was well worth the money spent. I enjoyed this vacation very much and took many photos back home.

From tomorrow onwards, I will be in Bangkok and Pattaya for 4 days, 3 nights and back on Sunday. I will be going by Air Asia with my youngest sister taking flight FD3542 departing Penang for Bangkok at 10:35am and back to Penang from Bangkok at 4:55pm on Sunday using flight FD3545.

On day 2, we will cruise Chao Phraya River, visit Wat Arun, Safari World and Marine Park.

On day 3, we will see Coral Island by speed boat, visit Nang Noorch Village and watch elephant show.

There will also be shopping to gem factory, leather factory, bee’s product and more. In Bangkok, we will stay in Prince Palace Hotel for 1 nights and 2 nights in Baiyoke Pattaya Hotel. In the mean time, there will be no blogging until I come back.