East Coast Roadtrip

After a gruelling 1300 km's and nearly 20 hours spent in the car, I'm finally back from 3 states in the East Coast.

Day 1 - Started an early 8 hour drive to Kota Baru, Kelantan via the 'jungles' of Kuala Lipis and Gua Musang.

Spent 2 days in Kota Baru visiting Alvin's relatives and some of my friends there.

As you might have already know, Fridays & Saturdays are the weekends for the community in Kelantan & Terengganu. But from my observation, they close a street for muslim prayers on a Friday, people park haphazardly anywhere along the streets, they sleep the day through on saturdays and only a small group of shops (mainly Chinese owned ones) open on Sundays. In short, the people there literally "rest" for 3 days!

Day 2 - Attended City Revival Church located in town and met some really nice people that made our stay a memorable one. To my suprise, the indian guest pastor for the weekend spoke Mandarin really fluently.

The very hospitable Ong family with some other church members and youths.

While we were there, Raymond was very kind to ferry us, the guest pastor and some youths around town and to the seaside - Pantai Cahaya Bulan (PCB) to savour some keropok lekor, huge coconuts and sweetcorn.

L-R: Me, Sharon, Carmen & Alvin

Seen a TESCO outlet in Jawi characters? Now you have.

Pix with Ancy, Carmen, Chris, and Xien during a BBQ hangout at the Ong's residence.

Day 3 - We left early next morning for Kuala Terengganu which took us about 3 hours.

Fishermen boats parked at Shahbandar Jetty

Hainan Association in town and the town's main mosque at the back.

It's Visit Kelantan & Terengganu year.

Dataran Shahbandar; A stretch of seafront spot for everyone to hang out. Ferries and boats pass by this stretch of the waters to make their entry into the jetty.

Evening sun retreating into the horizon

Chinatown; Only in this street that you can find everything Chinese. A few eateries here which serves mediocre Chinese dishes somehow lacks the 'oomph' in taste.

Dinner at a riverside restaurant overlooking the bridge that connects the traffic to town.

Entrance of Dataran Shahbandar

Istana Maziah; Built in the 1800's; Located in the middle of town. Out of curiosity I've double checked for "extra" shadows in every window of this image and found nothing.

Day 4 - We took a 90 mins ferry ride from Shahbandar Jetty to Pulau Redang at 9 a.m the next day for a day tour around the island coz all the resorts in there were fully booked for the weekend.

Beautiful white sandy beaches await just as I expected...

Marine Park; Pulau Redang is the island at the back



Now the fun part; Snorkelling!

Snorkelling does not seem hard as some people might think `coz anyone from 7 to 70 yrs of age can do it.

For me it took `bout 10 mins to get used to the mask and breathing technique plus not forgetting the several mouthful of sea water that i 'drank' before I finally got the hang of it.

The beautiful corals and school of fishes that swam among us makes me feel I'm in the front seat of one of those National Geographic series. Live corals and colorful fishes in your face!

Snorkelled for an hour before we head over to Redang beach for a buffet luncheon and camwhored after that.

As usual, Alvin was up to his chick-spying tactics.. *lol.

Returned to K.T at about evening before going over to Chinatown again for dinner.

Day 5 - Next stop, Kuantan and back home.

The early sunrise awaken me with its strong beam through the large window panel of our hotel room which looks something like this:

Picked up some souvenirs before we hit the road again for another 3 hour drive down to Kuantan to meet up with Darren and have lunch at my favorite seafront McD at Teluk Cempedak.

Darren and I at Teluk Cempedak seaside.

Took us another 5 hour drive back to Seremban through the backroads due to the weekend jam.

Another roadtrip for me?..No thank you. =)

Malaysian Artistes For Unity

Over 52 of our homegrown artistes came together to spread a message to all of us Malaysians.

Forget about politics & racial stuff. This is what being a true Malaysian is all about; UNITY.

Do check out the video clip and spread the song around. It's FREE!

Here In My Home by Malaysian Artistes For Unity

Download the tune and video clip in various formats >here<

American Idol Season 7 Results

Short snippet on the results of American Idol Season 7

Watched the live telecast of the American Idol Results Finale on tv this morning and boy....it's disappointing to see David Archuleta lose to Mr. Crook by over 12 million votes!

Guess the votes from those hyper teen-boppers aint enough to get David Cook out of the show.

Anyway, I think here's one of the best songs that Archuleta sang in this competition; Imagine.

David Archuleta Sings With You

U've just gotta let this charming 17 year old win this year's American Idol !

Check out the video as David Archuleta sailed into the finals singing Chris Brown's 'With You'.



Way to go David! Browse through tons of info, forums and pix on his dedicated fan site.

the journey begins...

The long awaited journey is finally here as Alvin has been pestering to go on a roadtrip to KB since our college days...So, here we are..At last.

As you're reading this, I'm already on my way heading towards Kota Baru, Kelantan. We started our journey `bout 6 a.m to beat the city jam and OMG! thoughts of the 7-8 hrs drive kinda freaks me out.

Besides hangin' out in KB town, we'd be goin down to Kuala Terengganu on Saturday and off to Pulau Redang.

I can almost feel the sea breeze blowing on my face now. More updates if I manage to get access to the Internet while I'm there.

Till then,
*cheerios*... =)

for mom on Mothers' Day

It's the time of the year again where you are to express your love to your mom by showering her with gifts & etc.

Though my mom's not into this whole blogging & Facebook idea, it's wonderful for my mom to know that this post is dedicated to her and that she's being loved and cherished each day.

Well, there wouldn't be an existence of me without my mom and I'm thankful for all the years of love & care.

Happy Mothers' Day Mom!

The I Heart Revolution by Hillsong United

*takes a deep breath* ....

The I heart Revolution; With Hearts As One double cd album from Hillsong United.

*phew*..tis has gotta be THE longest album title ever..

This latest album of United features 28 live recorded songs from the band's tour around America, Africa, Europe, Asia & Africa. From Rwanda to Capetown, Buenos Aires to Mexico City, Los Angeles to Toronto, London to Budapest.. Shanghai to Sydney; this album is jam-packed with the sound of a generation across the earth singing praise and worship to our God.

I was a bit sceptical on this album initially, as the songs are quite dated due to the fact that it's been some years since the songs were released which has somehow turned into the 'resident tunes' in churches all over. But upon checking out this album in my jamming studio a.k.a my room, the live recorded stuff are so good that it got me to power up my synthesizer and jam along to the tunes.

A couple of minutes into this album and it dawned upon me that it's not about UNITED or even the songs, but it's about the heart cry of a generation consumed with their Maker which truly is the essence that completes this latest release.

Since music has the ability to cross borders and break down walls, and when it's purpose is putting voice to our reason for being alive, something powerful happens.. You realise you're a part of something that is happening all over the world; Something much bigger.. Personally I've been so encouraged in my faith just seeing and hearing the global Church declare the praises of God with hearts as one.. No doubt you will be too.

Watch the inspiring album trailer here. You are also welcome to pop by Attributes bookstore at City Harvest KL for a preview of this album.