Jogging......

 

I am so excited to go for a adventure and jungle trekking to Kampung Semban and this is all paid trip hosted by Sarawak Tourism Board,Thank You STB and Thanks also to our Sarawak Bloggers Community founder & admin

CYRILDASON.COM.

  To reach Kampung Semban at 1000 feet above sea level, one takes a six-hours’ trek through jungle trails passing bamboo groves, paddy fields, pepper vines, rubber trees, durian orchards and umpteen bamboo bridges,say LinaSoo ..to read about her journey just log on to her blog

LINASOO

 

Technorati Tags: physical exercise,health

 

A six-hours’ trek through jungle trails ..am I ready for the task ?...I hope so. What I do now is to do my physical exercises so that I am fit to go on that six-hours trek....

I know to go to  Kampung Semban trail is not as what you see in the photos here...What you see here is the Sama Jaya Nature Reserve, near Tabuan Jaya  in Kuching.Entrance is RM0.50 per person. It's quite a nice place to exercise.

 

 

There were jogging tracks through the forest. It was a novelty for me to exercise amidst the forest setting and the trees provided shade.Yesterday ,the trail which I took was 1.6 km long, which took me about 10 minutes to complete. There was another shorter trail which was 1 km in length. The short trail was quite slippery yesterday after a downpour.

The Samajaya Forest Park is a mini-forest reserve at Tabuan Jaya - a large residential neighbourhood in Kuching. Covering an area of 18 hectares, the Park is very popular for jogging and other recreational activities.

Sibu Central Market gives the town its colourful character.

Technorati Tags: Market,Travel

I am the supporter of the firefly football team for the coming 'MSRC Inter Airline Cup 2011 held in Kuching by end of his month.All the best to fireflyz team and I understand that Dato Tony is on the player list for Air Asia Team..hahaha.

I want my friends from West Malaysia to know what to see and where to go in Sibu Town. I know most of them have booked the air ticket already...In case you haven’t seen the Sibu Central Market before, here I have few photos for your eyes and I bet they are as good as you visit Sibu yourself as firefly Airline have granted our wish from KLIA/SBW/KLIA which will commence on August 1,2011 for detail please visit

FIREFLYZ.COM.MY

 

Photo from Google

THE Sibu Central Market can be best described as the top tourist spot in town.This is not an exaggeration considering the fact that there are 1,100 hawker stalls in the market on week days and an additional 400 to 500 stalls on weekends when Ibans and Orang Ulus (minority people from the interior) jam the tamu (open-air market) section of this market with their exotic jungle food and fruits.Certainly the largest and best-managed market in Sarawak, Sibu Central Market is vying for the title of Largest Market In Malaysia in the Malaysia Book of Records.An adjacent multi-storey car park built by SMC provides shoppers peace of mind as far as their cars are concerned when they shop or dine at SCM

 

Photo from Google image..

The SCM market was divided into sections according to the goods sold by the hawkers.The main sections are the wet and dry areas where hawkers sell fish and other seafood, slaughtered chickens and ducks, bean curd and bean sprout At the dry section they sell all kinds of local and imported vegetables, fruits, dried fish and prawns, spices, handicraft, flowers and ornamental plants, sundry goods, drinks, homemade cakes, buns, titbits and other confectionery.

 

 

 

Photo credit to Suhaili.

Every weekend, SCM is overcrowded when the temporary stalls are set up to form the colourful and noisy tamu. It is set up on Saturday afternoon and closes at noon the following day. The natives display for a rainbow parade of jungle and farm products on the floor or low makeshift tables

 

 

Photo credit to Abang Abdul Khalid of ABANA Photo.

Hawkers selling live chickens and ducks at the dry section attract the most attention from tourists. It is the way they bundle the feathery creatures that make them popular and famous.Each bird is wrapped in newspaper, tied with nylon strings and displayed in neat lines for customers to choose from

Photo credit to Suhaili

They sell all kinds of local and imported vegetables, fruits, dried fish and prawns.

Visitors are mesmerised by the activities of the natives, the majority of whom are Ibans from longhouses in Sibu and surrounding districts.
Among the unusual stuff sold are live sago worms, frogs, kasam (preserved fish, pork or venison), fried insect larvae, wild jungle ferns, young palm shoots and wild fruits. One will feel the overwhelming hospitality that Sarawakian natives are justifiably famous for.Everyone is friendly and helpful, and if you ask for permission, they will certainly let you take photographs with them and even allow you to taste some of the exotic fruits.Many local and foreign visitors have made the acquaintance with these natives during their visits to the tamu.

SCM’s upper floor is occupied by food and drink stalls and also stalls that sell fashion and tailor-made items and shoes.

The food and drink stalls are no less attractive, with many of them offering the best kampua (Foochow noodle) Chou Chai Hung Kan (rice vermicelli) Kong Bian (Foochow bagel) Yew Hu Eng Chai (squid with tou fu and kang kong), Wu Wei Tang (five-herbs drink) and Chia Luk (a concoction of jelly, red beans, sago pearls and coconut milk) to name just a few. Prices are competitive here because of the lower rent.

See you in Sibu Town, Cheers.

Serikin Town-More Photo here...

Technorati Tags: Photography

I have a ton of photos from my DSLR ,compact camera & my phone camera ,as you can imagine,but seeing as how I still have not posted photos from my holiday trip and photographing outing.I am going to ease my way into posting starting of from my previous outing to Serikin village in Bau.

Oh!! NO not Serikin again..that what people would think.....

Street vendor in Serikin :Do whatever it takes to bring in some income .

In my opinion, one of the most important components of good photography is perspective.

There is no traffic law here..do whatever you like...

A good say from the PRO ;

I have lots of people that will tell me, “you just have such an eye for things”. I don’t always know exactly what they’re getting at with that. I mean… they have eyes too. But, what I think they are saying is that the perspective that I capture in an image made them stop and think. It drew them in. Perhaps they have never really seen a child from that angle before.

Serikin Village high temperatures which peak at more than 30'c /86'f  related directly to its equatorial setting.Hot sunny weather is quite common in this village.To go here don't forget to bring your umbrella.

I prefer not bring along small children to this village...now the child is crying .

Source & article from

FRIDAY PHOTOGRAPHY INSIGHTS

Almost anyone can get the right camera… purchase the right lens to affix to it… learn the right formula to shoot in full-manual. But, to truly create art… To capture moments that make you stop and think… To show the world in ways that we don’t always think of it… that takes thinking about perspective.

To survive, they involve themselves in all sorts of jobs and trades.

Another good say from the PRO.Regardless of what the popular idea of the day may be in the world of photography… artistic imagery is not simply a photo that is properly manipulated in Photoshop and cleverly overlaid with a grungy texture. The true artistic expression comes from the perspective you take when photographing an image in order to tell a story.

One of the reasons that I love to shoot is because I feel like it aids me well in singling a certain part of the photo out to tell a story.

Cheers..

Serikin Border Market here I come again....

 

My friend, when you scratch my back it feels like you're saying 'I hate you, I hate you, I hate you' over and over again.

On any Saturday and Sunday you'll see as if the whole of Kuching converge on the tiny town of Serikin, an hour drive from Kuching city centre .

 

Where you from Madam ? Sengkawang village in Pontianak & I'm selling 'Tikar Rottan'...I did  not hear she mention about 'Tikar Sarawak'...Here local visitors and tourists from West Malaysia, Sabah and even Brunei flocked to shop for items that are produced from people across the Indonesian border. Serikin is a border town on Malaysian soil and is enjoying brisk business by allowing traders from the Indonesian border to sell their products and wares to Malaysian citizens and foreign visitors along its narrow and crowded singular street. I would estimate the total length of the street at 300 meters and on both sides are erected hundreds of makeshift stalls and tiny shops that sell anything from antiques, textiles, leather, glass wares, rattan mats, souvenirs from diverse range of materials like bamboo, rattan, wood, beads, silver etc.,

 

 

This rottan mat come from our neighbouring village across the border ..So how come you call this  "Tikar Sarawak'.However the most popular item seemed to be the rattan mats that come in various sizes, colours and patterns. An average rattan mat size of say 6'x9' would fetch a prize of about RM 110- 150 depending on quality of workmanship and type of rattan used.

 

Do they have music school in small town Serikin ???most budget music lover come here to buy Guitar.It's cheap here I guess.....To be at Serikin is to experience a totally different kind of shopping. It's not the sleek and air-conditioned shopping malls that are prevalent in cities. Here people walk the street in hot weather and bargaining is a must. Well, it's never too late to try and polish your bargaining skills here.

 

Camera store in small town Serikin ?...The antique store selling this film camera to me at price of Rm500..Sorry friend,,not for me try look for someone else who  really love vintage gadget and know the value...

Looking for fancy printed T-Shirt....

Technorati Tags: Border Market

Firefly Airline : Johor Bahru to Kuching.

Technorati Tags: Airline,Budget Airline

The big ticket items in most trips involve airfares, accommodations and ground transportation. These things can be very expensive, but budget travellers can shop on the Internet for the best deals on these and other high cost expenses.Airfares rise and fall like stock prices. Buy at the right time and you can save a lot of money. Know the rules, find the Web sites with last-minute deals, use your credit cards or debit cards to snag free air travel and be certain your baggage doesn't cost you more money.In Malaysia for example try log on to fireflyz website 

FIREFLYZ.COM

Making Senai Airport a hub may also help spur the airport and the Iskandar Malaysia region.

The media & social media was invited @ Inaugural Flight KCH/KLIA/KCH on 15 January 2011.

Photo by Justin KC YAP media from The Borneo Post.

The three social media (blogger) invited ,in blue shirt Kuching's Daily Photo,with white T is

A Delicious Trip and black T is the founder of Sarawak Blogger Community CYRILDASON.com

Thank You to fireflyz.com and also

Tourism Malaysia  and as a social media we are very happy indeed to support our local low cost carrier and to promote Malaysia as tourist attraction..

 

 

Airline Firefly launches new hub in Iskandar Malaysia region

Malaysian local airline Firefly has banked on the Iskandar Development Region, launching a fifth hub in Senai. The area was currently an “ugly duckling” that would soon blossom, and is far cheaper than having a base at Singapore’s Changi airport, said the company’s managing director Eddy Leong.

Firefly aims to have nine aircraft flying by the end of 2011, including seven 737-800 and two 737-400 aircraft, the latter to be based at the new Senai hub. Leong stressed that his company didn’t intend to use Senai to compete with Changi, but to complement it. Transport services along the Singapore-Johor Bahru corridor are expected to improve in future, making Senai a practical alternative to low cost carriers.

Firefly also announced new flights from Johor Bahru to Kuching and Kota Kinabalu to begin in May/June, and is applying to operate flights even further afield to Bangkok and Jakarta, Surabaya and Bandung. The airline plans to carry 3.5 million passengers this year from Senai and its four existing hubs at Kota Kinabalu, Subang, Kuala Lumpur International Airport and Penang.

The Senai segment of the Iskandar Malaysia special economic region is growing fast, and within five years it should see mega projects constructed such as a new private hospital operated by Columbia Asia, a branch of the UK’s Marlborough College Malaysia, plus shopping malls and theme parks.

source & article: The Edge Malaysia

My first flight with fireflyz was on the 15th January 2011 from Kuching to Kuala Lumpur.Only a short month, firefly has proven  as a successful business model that has achieved many important milestones in the aviation industry.A new milestone add new route from Johor Bahru to Kuching (JHB/KCH/JHB) starting 19th of May,2011 for fireflyz.

Johor Bahru was once merely a conduit and brief stopover for tourists travelling to or exiting out of Singapore. Today, however, it offers a cornucopia of attractions of its own, luring sand, sea and sun-seekers, eco and agro-adventurers, shoppers, golf-crazies and, last but not least, the dining and drinking crowd. This fortuitous transformation occurred only recently, in the 1980s and 1990s, and coincided with the intensive development of its natural allurement and the growing disparity between the value of the Malaysian ringgit and the Singapore dollar.Johor Bahru sits right next to the national boundary between two inseparably linked countries and has all the blessings and blemishes to show for it. Nowhere else in Malaysia better displays the differences between two intertwining streams of history. Today, the city becomes known as a 'half-price bazaar' for everything from groceries to golf to thousands of Singaporeans, enriched by a strong currency.

My last trip to Johor Bahru was in the year 2009 and  I'm yet to explore many tourist spot in JB to name a few let us go to Sultan Abu Bakar Mosque

"Perched upon a hill-top, the mosque combines the neo-classical Western and Islamic architecture, and is regarded as one of the most beautiful mosques in Malaysia."

The Sultan Abu Bakar Mosque is regarded as one of the most beautiful mosques in Malaysia, with its amazing combination of Western neo-classical and Islamic architecture. 

This mosque can accommodate about 2,000 worshippers at any one time. The mosque is strategically located on top of a hill on Jalan Abu Bakar, overlooking the Straits of Tebrau.

Sultan Abu Bakar mosque was named after the late Sultan Abu Bakar, the "Father of Modern Johor", who laid the foundation stone in 1892. Construction of the mosque was completed in 1900, a few years after his death. Today, the Sultan Abu Bakar Mosque is listed as a protected heritage monument by the Department of Museums and Antiquities.

 

 

Photo credit to http://www.johortourism.com.my

I have listed places of interest in JB in my list: Danga Bay, Abu Bakar Mosque, Johor Zoo, Sultan Abu Bakar Royal Museum, Johor Bahru Chinese Temple, Sultan Ibrahim Building and City Square (a shopping center)..Danga Bay, around 8 km away from city center, might be a good place to spend a night- hawker center, restaurants, Marine Club (left and middle), circus, Danga Bay Cruise and amusement park, most of them start operation at night.

Source & article: Credit to http://bettyandlingshing.blogspot.com/2010/09/johor-bharu.html

Kuching to Johor Bahru by fireflyz log in to this website 

fireflyz.com

Fireflyz to Miri and Sibu.

Technorati Tags: Low cost carrier,Airline,Budget Airline,Malaysia

 

Latest from fireflyz Must fly with Fifty-five! Check out the promo fares for new routes KLIA to Miri and Sibu as well as JB to KK and Kuching. Booking period: now to March 7, 2011. Travel period: March 5 to Aug 24, 2011! For details visit fireflyz.com.my.

When you plan your overseas holiday or travel by air locally you require to plan it correctly in order to get the maximum out of it. Because you invest a fair slice of your expenditure on the air tickets, it is a very good idea to book cheap flights to conserve money. It is not a challenging job to find cheap flights these days in Malaysia for example we have 'Community Airline that is Firefly Airline' and 'Now everyone can fly for AirAsia' both provide budget airfare in order to attract a lot more passengers to keep their airline companies afloat. The purpose is that due to fierce competition most of the airlines the world over run just on the border line between losses and profits.

SIBU TOWN.......

Photo credit to Ministry of

Tourism & Heritage Sarawak

Before choosing on your flight, you require to compare cheap flights offered by various airlines. When you go online flights could be checked quickly. This way you could find cheap flights to any destination. When you do so you can use the money saved to enjoy your vacation. It is of immense use understanding international airline booking program when it comes to finding cheap flights from anywhere.
There is also a new breed of airlines that charge rock bottom rates referred to as the low cost airlines. You can find cheap flights with these airlines also. They have reduce down costs by abolishing the on board food and drinks. You get a whole lot of these flights between Asian nations. For instance, you can buy a ticket to Jakarta,Surabaya,Bandung,Singapore,Koh Samui and Phuket for half the cost you pay for a typical airline

MIRI CITY...photo credit to Ministry of Tourism & Heritage Sarawak.

 

Firefly airline is a new Malaysian no-frills airline(they call themselve a'Community Airline"),which started flight in April 2007.The only and other Malaysian Low-cost carrier is AirAsia.There was some controversy over the choice of the name Firefly, with some feeling a better brand-name could have been chosen. A Malaysian Airlines employee said on an internet forum that the name Firefly was meant to be "evocative,emotive and unique" and on their website firefly airline describe a firefly as being 'Agile,Brilliant,charm and Fun".

Check out the promo fares for new routes KLIA to MIRI and SIBU as well as JOHOR BAHRU to KUCHING & KOTA KINABALU.

fireflyz.com.my

Sarawak Malay Culture: Bergendang,Bermukun or Nopeng.

Technorati Tags: Culture

When the drum beat, rhythmic dance begins, the poem by women drummers(Si-Gendang) with the male dancer(Nopeng).

 

This Malay culture commonly known as 'burmukun'.
''There is a saying that this show, bermukun or nopeng  are usually held in wedding ceremonies and welcomed the arrival of dignitaries at the villages.
bermukun only involves two people or a pair of men dancing (berjoget) in front of woman drummer who is call si-gendang.

In old days women dancer is not justified at all,but after entering the modern era.people began to be given the opportunity to expand the culture of bermukun and we can see women also dance (bertandak).

I have my own experience attending this bermukun that was during year 70's and those day i found the youth dancing(bertandak) simultaneously.This function normally held in a Malay village house and the dance floor is limited causing the situation looks crowded.If you want to join the bertandak you must have the ability to reply and respond the poem from si-gendang to cut the line of other dancer (Nopeng).
The nearby village youth will join the ceremony and this will last till dawn..well,you know those days there is no restriction.The best part is when the organiser(tenant of the house)will serve you coffee or tea and the cookies 'Roti Keben' and  'roti krekers' type of salted crackers...
However this culture bermukun in the Sarawak village progressively lost in time and people this day at the wedding feast they prefer mini concert or karaoke.

To day if you want to experience the 'berjoget' come to Kuching waterfront and join them every first Saturday and Sunday of every month.