boon's log 2204.07
Canoeing
Saw this unique shaped cluster of clouds outside my room as I was blogging today.


Clouds

Well, canoeing is another intermittent hobby that I manage to cultivate and I thought I'd blog a little bit about my canoeing trip today. Nope, I did not take my Canon with me today - what a mistake! Will remember to do that the next time.

Anyways, something shocking(out of the ordinary) happened today as I parked my car at the Pusat Kegiatan Sukan Air Tanjung Bungah, Pulau Pinang. There were a bunch of people gathering at the nearby beach - also noticed a few of them carrying SLRs and wearing bush-jackets (yup, newspaper reporters). I carried on picking up my stuffs and headed off to the Admin. Office to register for my canoe. Asked the lady in the office what was happening down there and my heart sank when she told me that apparently the fishermen dragon boat racers found a body of a lady floating in the waters nearby.

What the?!

That was really some shocking news. I was quite tempted to go over and joined the rest of the folks and see for myself what was happening. Well, then again, I thought better not, cause I won't be able to help anyways and worst, I may just be be in their way or something like that. Gosh, God bless the lady's soul.

Sigh... It is indeed really sad, with the things that are happening around us these days. Everyday in the newspapers, you read about rape and abuse. And now, I am near the scene of a "found drwoned body". What is happening to the world? It is both sad and disgusting. Imagine how the rest of the world would think about Malaysia, when they read about all these things about Malaysia...

Back to canoeing. Had a great time canoeing and burning off those excess fat - trying to forget about that incident earlier. Anyways, for those who are interested, canoeing fees start at RM8 for single canoe and RM12 for twin canoe per hour. Today, there were also a few dragon boat teams practicing at the sport center. So, the beach was rather busy/lively with people in canoes and dragon boats everywhere.

There is going to be a canoe/dragon boat race on the 25th of July, so for those who are interested, can drop by and witness the exciting Penang's Annual Water Sports Carnival.

It is really nice to be able to canoe out into the open waters and just float there and enjoy the serenity, with the nice breeze blowing and caressing your face. A good way to get away from the busy-ness of life. Out there, it's just you and the sea (and sometimes the jelly fishes as well). Thoroughly enjoyed it.


Sunset at Batu Ferringhi

boon out...

boon's log 2204.01
Muka Head Part Two

Monkey Beach

The nature-fever rocks on in boon's spot! I went back to Muka Head with three of my colleagues last weekend, YamLo, Darmy and Bella. We took a shorter time to reach Monkey beach as compared to my last trip - 1.5hrs. Perhaps we have less people to take care off... 4 compared to, like, 20?

Anyway, this time, upon reaching Monkey Beach, we decided to go all the way up to the lighthouse, which I did not do the last time - due to my ignorance. Well, they say, you've never been to Muka Head if you did not visit the lighthouse. Well, I'll tell you, that is one great price to pay - the hike up to the lighthouse. It was a very steep hike and many steps - not for the faint hearted, definitely! We almost gave up half way. It took us almost >30 minutes just to get to the lighthouse - and find that the doors were closed! Apparently the caretaker went for a lunch break or something like that!

-waitaminute-

Care taker? Chan Yin Yin

Yeah, there is this guy who negotiates those endless steps and slopes everyday - actually a few times a day! Amazing... Anyway, manage to take some shots of the lighthouse from the outside...


Muka Head Lighthouse

Again, we did not hike back to Teluk Bahang (a.k.a. End of the World), especially after that life-ending hike up to the lighthouse. We were saying that someone should come up with a tee-shirt that says, "I Survived the Muka Head Hike!". So, we took a boat back.

This time, we found a different boatmen to take us home. His charges are cheaper and you do not have to bargain for a cheaper price - list price is RM5. Actually, if you have a company of 5 or more, it only costs you RM4 to get back to Teluk Bahang. Atan (the boatmen) also provides camping equipment and facilities around the premises in which he takes care of - i.e. A nights's camp only costs RM15 (inclusive of tents, pots&pans, to&fro from Teluk Bahang). Additional night? No problem, just add RM2! You just need to bring your own food food. The rest is taken care off. Fresh water and all (possibly the only fresh water source around Moneky Beach). Awesome, ain't it?



Actually, you can also check out these chalets which are situated along the way as you hike towards to Monkey Beach - that is, if they are not abandoned and ants-infested! What a waste...


Abandoned chalets

boon out...

boon's log 2404.05
Friends: Series Finale

Finally, after 10 years with Monica, Chandler, Rachel, Ross, Phoebe and Joey providing us with much laughter (and tears), about the lives of 6 closely knitted friends surviving in the big city of New York, the curtains for FRIENDS has finally drawn to a close. I managed to catch the series finale on DVD over here, as I do not think that the local tele or the satellite will air it so soon. IL managed to get it from Circuit City the day after the official date of the broadcast.

Well, for those Friends fans out there who hasn't watched it, I shall not spill too much on the story, but perhaps just to share a little bit on the actors/actresses themselves. During the entire 45minutes, you can actually sense a whole lot tension/sadness throughout, may have been contributed by actors/actresses realizing the fact that they may not be working on the same set anymore. Or perhaps it is just me...

All in all, it is a good mixture of bittersweet moments and also funny moments throughout the entire episode. At some points, you might just find yourself sniffing and your eyes may just become slightly damped. ;)

For those who follow the series, I guess the ultimate question for the series finale is, "Will Rachel and Ross end up together?"

Well, it is time now to get the entire 10-season DVD set (currently until Season 7) and then re-run the entire thing again (and again... and again...and again...). Well, it's time to move on...

boon out...

boon's log 2104.04
About Hooch
... my uncle's dog. He (my unc) was up in Langkawi for a conference and left his Jack Russell under our care for a few days. The dog was really something - a really intelligent dog. It really kinda tempted us into getting one as well. Anyway, thought I feature "him" here in my blog. Hooch was really pampered when he was at our place. He did not want to take the doggie biscuits coz my mom kept on feeding him Char Siu Fan (Chinese BBQ Pork with rice)...



My colleague, TY, and I were just talking about a dog's life. How lucky can some dogs get. Especially those dogs that are in the US. Some even have a better life than a human being. Imagine, they drink mineral water, they have their own cushion bed, they get their bath and have their teeth brushed and not to mention their meals cost a bomb! Recently, IL and my colleague (TY) were out in Oregon for the doggy dash - to witness the lifestyle of the Rich and Famous, the Bold and the Beautiful - a dog's life.

To a certain extent, I think we are already adapting that culture. I've heard of "dog hotels" which cost about RM20 to RM30 a day - a place where your dog can put up for the night when the master is on a holiday! The package comes with a daily shower and 2 meals a day. Can you imagine that? That is like the price we pay for a night's stay in Y.M.C.A.!

Anyways, here are some of the photographs from the OR Doggy Dash 2004.









boon out...

boon's log 2104.02
Comic Monday (delayed edition)


Tech Support

boon out...

boon's log 2104.01: Pantai Kerachut

There is a sudden influx of interest in hiking-cum-jungle-trekking. Possibly because of the fact that the northern part of Penang has been declared as part of the Malaysian National Park... Another possibility is that I bought this really nice and cheap hiking shoes from our very own Bata shoppe! "Belilah barangan buatan Malaysia" :)

Four of us trekked for about an hour from "End of the World" to Pantai Kerachut. Yeah, it was a shorter hike compared to the Muka Head one (~2hrs). Less physical challenges as compared to the Muka Head trail as well. It was a "brisk walk through the jungle" compared to that. :P

Pantai Kerachut has better facilities as well; with fresh water and the toilets are really (surprisingly, may I add) clean. There is also a Patrol Guard stationed there to make sure that everything is safe. The beach is slightly cleaner than Muka Head. Only thing is that there are a lot of steps/stairs which is quite bad for the knee on the way down.

Seems like that there are a lot of money being dumped into making this National Park a success, most of which are not yet materialized (or at least visible). Hopefully the plan sustains and will bring in more "ringgits" into Penang.


The journey begins from the "End of the World"


Lake by Pantai Kerachut


Pantai Kerachut


Fern shadow along the way


Flora and fauna


Peek-thru with "End of the World" fishermen village at the background


Waves at Pantai Kerachut

boon out...

boon's log 1904.04
Tulip Gardens
IL was in the 19th Annual Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival, OR a few weeks ago. Every year in April, here in OR, near Woodburn, the Oregonians "celebrate" the Tulip Festival, almost like a sign of welcoming Spring. Every year, over 18 acres of tulips and daffodils are arranged differently in new patterns of color as they rotate the tulip fields to a new location. This is really a breathtaking sight to behold. Tulips as far as the eyes can see, and in many different colours.


Purple Tulip


As far as the eyes can see

boon out...

boon's log 1904.03: Muka Head

boonspot's revival and re-construction is still on-going. As you can see, most of the images on the main page has been re-stored.

recognition:
Many thanks to Q, who has generously offered some help with his abundant storage space! Most excellent, dude!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Well, from my previoius blog, it was really a great stretch of holidays last weekend - perhaps the longest ever for a very long time... the last one that I remembered must have been when Chinese New Year clashed with Hari Raya Puasa (Muslim celebration to mark the end of the month of Ramadhan). It was excellent, totally! (Yeah, I re-watched "Finding Nemo" again last weekend - if you can tell...) Totally, dude! ;)

Hiked up Muka Head on Monday with my home cell group members. The hike was excellent! (occurence of the word "excellent"= 3). All in all, it took us about 2hrs to reach Muka Head from the starting point.

DID YOU KNOW...
that Muka Head has been declared as Penang's National Park?



... well, neither did I.

Anyways, the hike was interesting indeed. It was quite some hike and here are some quick pointers:
1. not really recommended for those that are faint at heart
2. if this is your first time hiking, you might want to take someone who has hiked before with you
3. and of course, don't hike alone

There are some parts of the hike which are quite physical (i.e. climbing and repelling)

Here are some photographs of some interesting sights during the hike, worth sharing.


Reflections at Muka Head


I want the beach minus the Sun, please


Moss-ed bridge


Splashing dudes


"Do Not Dirty Our Beaches"

There are actually two routes to get to Muka Head - 1. Hike and 2. Boat ride. You can still enoy the beauty of Muka Head without endearing the 1.5hrs to 2.0hrs of tiresome, blood-donation(mosquito) hike. We took the boat back to starting point, named "End of the World" - a name not unknown to the locals.

Had a great time, don't mind doing it again...

boon out...