SANGKAK SESAK

Its has been a while.
Since the book written in MALAY Language, I'll review in MALAY. Sorry English reading people, there's few blog still in writing process including my Road Trip to BANGKOK in March and following THE FULL PLEDGE MUNKEES to JAPAN. :)

Dari Wan Fahti Kamil, Hafiz Rashid dan Rayhan...

Aku tak pernah review buku2 orang nih... hehe tapi dah janji dgn Rayhan nak buat. Jadi... sila lah membacanya ye.

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Buku rilisan Pustaka Kolektif ni sebenarnya mempunya 2 cerita. Satu ditulis oleh Wan Fahti Kamil dan sahabatnya Hafiz Rashid... cerita diberi nama SANGKAK. Dan saru daripada Rayhan Ahmad diber tajuk SESAK.

Aku tak pasti relatif antara kedua2 ayat SANGKAK dan SESAK ni... pengajian bahasa aku cetek... hehe... yang pastinya pengalaman mengembara diorang ni best. Apa2 pun pengalaman mengembara... dari sapa2 pun best. Sebab yang pasti tak ada yang sama. 

Kedua2 tempat ni... VIENTIENE, BANDUNG, BALI, aku pernah pergi... seronok baca dan relate dgn pengalaman yang ada.

Aku baca buku ni sehari lepas aku dapat dari Rayhan dekat event Kawan Fest. habis baca sepanjang perjalanan naik bus balik ke JB... tapi sekarang baru nak review... hehe sorry ye Rayhan. :)

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SANGKAK
oleh Wan Fahti Kamil & Hafiz Rashid

Perjalanan 5 sekawan ni, dalam process pembikinan 'Puncak I Love You Too'... dah tgk 'Puncak I Love You'?... sila tgk kejap video dibawah...

Filem pendek arahan salah satu penulis Hafiz Rashid dalam buku SANGKAK SESAK nih... menarik kan? dengarnya hasil2 seterusnya ke TV9... aku jenis tak tengok TV... jadi terlepaslah.

Pengalaman pengambaran dan kembara 5 sekawan ni tak kurang menarik... dari rumah, ke lapangan terbang... sampai di Bandung... HUJAN. Mujur diorang charter VAN untuk kemana2... dengan driver lokal nama ADI.

Cerita diserang pencari2 rezeki di TANGKUBAN PERAHU dan hari terakhir shooting di landasan keretapi... tak dapat aku bayangkan perjalanan cerita yang diorang nak buat tu. Tapi yang pasti pengalaman yang tertulis sentiasa buatkan aku senyum.

Kemudian cerita PEDOT dirasuk hantu di BALI... huh. Aku tak ada cerita2 pelik pegi BALI... tapi sepanjang aku mengembara ke sana ada kawasan2 yang agak ANGKER. :) tapi kebiasaan aku pergi dengan lokal... cerita Kamil dengan HAfiz betul2 buatkan aku teringat akan BALI...

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SESAK

Oleh Rayhan Ahmad

Aku secara personal suka sangat2 land border crossing... dari Laos ke China... dari China ke Nepal... Nepal ke India.. Laos ke Vitnam... Laos ke Kemboja... Kemboja ke Vietnam atau ke Thailand... Thiland ke Malaysia... Mungkin sejak dari kecil aku dah di didik pegi balik Singapura - Johor Bahru. Setiap kali Eid_Ul-Fitr... setiap kali nak carik barang2 rare... setiap kali nak skate... dan setiap kali nak buat urusan2 music. Dah terbiasa mungkin... ATAU sengaja cari pengalaman BARU, kerana setiap border corssing mesti ada cerita2 tersendiri...

Ada pengembara tak berapa suka merentas sempadan nih... sebab makan masa, urusan VISA dan imigrasi tak lekang pula urusan kastam dan sekuriti yang kadang2 menyakit hati. Tapi bagi aku, itu satu pengalaman yang sentiasa ada dalam benak... sentiasa tersimpan dalam hati untuk diceritakan.

Masa aku muda2 dulu (sekarang masih muda)... selalu mengembara seorang diri. Indo-China memang tempat bermain dan bergurau senda. Secara jujur, cerita Rayhan ni buatkan aku terkenang aku dulu2. Menggarap setiap sempadan yang ada sampai ke selatan CHINA.

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Secara kasar perjalanan Rayhan terletak didalam peta diatas. :)

Mengembara seoarang diri ke tempat yang kite tak pasti keadaan keselamatannya, tempat tinggal atau pun makanan adalah satu pekerjaan yang mencabar. Tapi kalau dah terbiasa dia akan dadah... akan jadi satu kemestian.

Perjalanan Rayhan bermula dari JOHOR BAHRU ke KUALA LUMPUR, singgah sebentar di IPOH dan berakhir di PENANG sebelum bergerak ke BUKIT KAYU HITAM. Bagus Rayhan nih... sebelum merentas sempadan seorang diri, jumpa kawan2 dulu... kalau aku dah tak sabor2 ke Thailand. :P

Rancangan awal naik kereta api ke BANGKOK bertukar dgn Bus ke HATYAI... kemudian baru kereta api. Kemudian ber kereta api lagi ke NONGKAI... Menjejak kan kaki di VIENTIENE kemudia mengubah perjalanannya ke selatan LAOS... PAKSE/PAKXE kemudian terpaksa berpatah balik ke VIENTIENE kerana tidak mahu melayan kerenah Imigrasi KEMBOJA.

Aku pernah masuk LAOS dgn duit yang sikit, tapi pengalaman keewangan Rayhan lagi melampau... hahaha... mujur nasib sentiasa menyebelahi Rayhan. Kalau tak mungkin Rayhan dah jadi rakyat LAOS...

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Apa yang menarik?
Pengalaman penulis unik... perjalanan beliau istimewa. Pengalaman beliau boleh dijadikan pengajaran untuk semua... kerana setiap perjalanan dari satu titik ke titik seterusnya sentiasa akan MENGAJAR kita erti kehidupan dan kemanusiaan.

Terima kasih Rayhan.

Cycling from UK to Malaysia

World adventure...
Cycling from UK to Malaysia in 17 months... what!
It's going to be sick and cool altogether. Congratulation guys... I wish I could do the same. However, the journey is far beyond normal expectation. The guys will be enduring relentless challenge upon challenge...

So readers please lend a hand. They need support morally and financially... check out their website at SICK SIDERS MALAYSIA. Or click at their link stated in my blog...

Or... email adib & azrulhan at 

sicksidersmalaysia@gmail.com

Or contact them at

+60182384959 (Adib)

+60127764297 (Azrulhan)

Or fax them at

+6073878518 (FAX)

Or any of links below

facebook/sicksidersmalaysia

instagram/sicksidersmalaysia

twitter/sicksidersmalaysia

@SICKSDRSMY

Visit them... talk to them... cheer their braveness 

not forgetting pray for their safety and success... 

Eid RoadTrip Part 01

Karak Highway - Pantai Timur Highway

It's the third day of Eid-Ul-Fitr on August 10, 2013. We woke up early, started our journey just after 6:00am. Visiting friend at KUANTAN and drive straight to SETIU, TERENGGANU on the same day. 

With two mountain bikes on the car roof, the car aerodynamics weaken. But the bikes is purely part of the journey... it's part of the adventure, It's something we can compensates. 

We couldn't get away with the festive season frantic traffic. But the journey consumes our needs to be out from the CITY... to be OUT from daily life.

It's our way to spend our quality time together. :)

Ethiopia everybody??

Hi patches. Starting from today I'll try to dig anything about you... your past, present and maybe future. I have only 9 days including flight from KUALA LUMPUR to ADDIS ABABA to experience anything you can offer. Hopefully I'm able to cross any neighboring countries and return back to MALAYSIA from there.

Based on my brief web crawling forum and such. 9 days is NOT enough to rummaged through you. I need to carefully arranged time and itinerary to ensure 9 days is sufficient to understand most of you. 

LALIBELA and AXUM at the north is a MUST since religion, history and extraordinary landscape is something that I always look for abroad. However, down south SHASHEMENE always intrigue me... if the RASTA community is still happening. So, a mix of north and south then...

THE PLAN

A - AXUM (axum to mek'ele is 191km)

B - MEK'ELE (mek'ele to lalibela is 290km)

C - LALIBELA (lalibela to addis ababa is 690km)

D - ADDIS ABABA (addis ababa to shashemene is 248km)

E - SHASHEMENE

note: kilometers length taken from Google Maps. The journey from one place to another may took a lot of hours since it going through a lot of mountains and possibly bad road conditions.

• DAY 00 - Fly from KUALA LUMPUR towards (D) ADDIS ABABA via BANGKOK. Cost per person for Economy around MYR4K. The trip would be around 7 hours.
• DAY 01 - Hangout at (D) ADDIS ABABA for a day... prepare to fly towards (A) AXUM for the next day.
• DAY 02 - Flight from (D) ADDIS ABABA to (A) AXUM. Cost about MYR1K per person. The journey is around 1 hour. Arrived at (A) AXUM check-in and plan tour for the next day.
• DAY 03 - (A) AXUM
• DAY 04 - Land travel from (A) AXUM to (B) MEK'ELE... 191km. took about 7 hours land. Possible journey starts morning after breakfast. Arrived.. check-in and discover (B) MEK'ELE. Plan for next day trip to (C) LALIBELA. note: travel journey hours are NOT confirm yet.
• DAY 05 - Land travel from (B) MEK'ELE to (D) LALIBELA. 290km 10 hours drive... note: travel journey hours are NOT confirm yet.
• DAY 06 - (D) LALIBELA
• DAY 07 - Land from (D) LALIBELA to (D) ADDIS ABABA... 674km... it took around 2 days via KOMBOLCHA.
• DAY 08 - KOMBOLCHA to (D) ADDIS ABABA...
• DAY 09 - (D) ADDIS ABABA return back to KUALA LUMPUR. MYR4K for 7 hours.

yikes... I missed SHASHEMENE. Need to read and study more about the terrain and travel time. Till then... 

ETHIOPIA awaits.

Thailand Road Trip Day06 & 07.

December 29, 2012 | Saturday

I think, I've wrongly arrange our day tour. Supposed setting up the up the unpopular tour during weekends and the popular ones during weekdays. Nah... done this before, but trying to get the most outstanding travel experience for wifey...

Today we took speed boat towards the beautiful island. Most people visit KRABI and PHUKET will do the same. I can say it's the most popular tour at KRABI. See the scenic limestone island, crystal clear water, tropical fish and corals (personally I prefer PULAU PERHENTIAN/PERHENTIAN ISLAND)...

There's lots and lots of people around. But as always I'll find and excuse to do what I do best... observing people. ;) and this time I'm NOT doing it alone. I'm traveling with my wife... I have someone to talk too.

Our rides around PHI PHI ISLANDs

Since, the price of having a normal boat and speed boat NOT that much a different. We took the fastest one... hehe. FAST = MORE ISLAND... maybe. Quarter from our boat passenger are occupied by indonesian graduate student from BANDUNG, Indonesia. It is nice to know that they backpacking all around SEA heading back to KL the next day and fly back to Indonesia. I wish during my early days backpacking I have lots of friends tag along and having the same interest. :P It looks pretty fun...

Bamboo Island

Our first stop is the Bamboo Island. Clear crystal blue water... white sandy beaches and LOTS OF PEOPLE!... hahahaha... it's hard to point your lens trying to portray barren beach with NO people inside. There's always people in every corner. :P nothing much to do here... me and wifey just walk along the beach... observing people. :P

Towards MAYA BEACH

Then we heading to MAYA BEACH. Ever remember the beautiful scenery in LEONARDO DiCAPRIO THE BEACH Movie... yes.. actually this is a man made heaven. They carefully planting all the trees and make route towards the small beach between a limestone carst. Nowadays, there's only sand... :(

I think most Island hew in PHI PHI LEH is under Thailand National park management. 

My previous experience here... there's small beach coming from that hole

The gem of MAYA BAY... the clear water... 

 I know what I need to do here in MAYA BAY... taking lots and lots of pictures. Since, wifey want to rest and hangout at the boat. I run towards the little beach for a snap or two or more... again there's a lots of people around.

The tour at MAYA BAY ended less than an hour. Then we headed for lunch at PHI PHI DON... I believe the biggest Island among all PHI PHI Islands. Then there's a snorkeling activities... jumping from the speed boats. Corals and fishes...

Lunch

We headed back to KRABI burn out and tired. At night we just packed most of our things for a long drive towards MALAYSIA on SUNDAY and sleep early.

Going back to KRABI

December 30, 2012 | Sunday

We started our journey almost afternoon. Heading straight towards HATYAI... the drive was very pleasant. With a little rain and less vehicles. Arrived in HATYAI 6 hours later... having our lunch and decided to drive straight towards BUKTI KAYU HITAM... by the time we reached there it was 7pm.

Going out from THAILAND is straight fowards. We need to declare our the car and return the documents and before we know it... we're in MALAYSIA border. :)

It has been more than 9 hours drive... both of us are worn out. So, I decided to stop at TAIPING R&R hotel and call it a day...

So there you have it... the overall journey of our SOUTHERN THAILAND ROAD TRIP... if you have the time & money try to do the same thing... and share your experience.

Thanks for reading my blog
Happy travel. :)

Thailand Road Trip Day05

December 28, 2012

If you're looking for recent post about RoadTrip Southern Thailand... click here.
Thailand Road Trip Day01
Thailand Road Trip Day02

Actually it's our 3rd DAY in KRABI and 5th day since we left AMPANG, KL... if you guys wan to know.

Both of us love cycling so much, it would NOT be complete if there's NO cycling in KRABI right. So, we found a very good day-tour company that can help us with that. The activity started a little bit outskirts from KRABI. Again we waited for VAN to took us there. Since, we put all of our bicycle gear inside the car (helmet & gloove) we just bring them along. :)

Mr. fish got dried. :P

I wish I bring my bike along... but they provided very decent bike for you to cycle with. :) most of them TREKs. The good thing about this trip is there will be a support vehicle if you don't feel like cycle along the way... or suddenly you got sick or didn't have the stamina to do it... but the downside from that, they will go to any single track or technical terrain that most MTB rider are looking for. Since, all members may NOT an avid rider or have a different level of stamina... support vehicle seems to be right. :) If you dream to have that kind of adventure... I have the guide numbers and he can bring you to see DINOSAURS!... nah riders... pack your bags.. load your bike and drive to KRABI and experience yourselves. :)

I like the tour very much despite we ride mildly towards waterfall... the guide give a talk about the plantation and terrain the history and everything. It's like being in a safari + museum with a friendly narrator. :) if you ever wondering what is it felt like cycling here... it's like cycling in PLENTONG during dry season. Sometimes flat sometimes hilly... and sometimes you need to cycle on a HOT open track.

Kesian isteri saya kayuh panas... tapi dia tak sentuh pun itu support vehicle. Sangat2 proud pada itu orang.

Even though it was a VERY HOT day... riding along southern thai people villages always intrigues me. Not only thai people villages, any villages will always intrigues me... hehehe... everyone on the journey set their mind towards HUAI WATERFALLS out last pit stop... some of us quit cycle and sit in the comfortable support vehicle. But wifey keep on going regardless all the tortured... climb + HOT day. I really2 proud of her... I really2 do.

Aishh... paham aku kan. :P

After a couple of hours cycle we arrived at KHAO PHANOMBENCHA National Park. You're NOT allowed to bring your bike to the waterfall. The national park is properly manage and the entrance was huge... you could find mostly anything you need here. Camp... rangers... but it is quite here. Less tourist.

Most of us went straight towards HUAI waterfall. Taking a plunge would be the ultimate thing to do after cycle for hours under the blazing heat sun.

Huay Waterfall

Taking pictures before heading back to our VAN.
Tired, sunbrun... sore leg... headache... backache... day well spent. hahaha...

Do you know there're 80% ~ 90% muslims in KRABI. HALAL food is NOT an issue. :)

Thailand Road Trip Day04

December 27, 2012

We do everything steady in KRABI. One activity per DAY. :) today me and wifey decided to do KAYAKING... they have plenty KAYAKING activity here in KRABI. One towards RAILAY, AO THALANE and BOR THOR they have great scenic sea KAYAK adventure. Most of our adventure being was arrange by a day-travel agency below our hostel/hotel. :)

A tuk tuk took us from KRABI towards AO THALANE with other guest... less than an hour I guess. :P the journey took us out from KRABI main center... passing by limestone towards AO THALANE.

The jetty

KRABI is famous for its limestone casting out from the sea. If you been to HALONG BAY in VIETNAM the scenery is a little bit similar. At first we paddle out to an open sea towards a mongrove forest. The water have less current to fight with... so, if you're a beginner it should be a problem. And everybody in the team took care of each other. An it was a very HOT day... :P

Itu dia isteri saye

We paddle fast behind the guide before enter the mongrove... hehehe so maybe if we are tired, we can eat/drink while waiting for others. hahaha. The first leg of the tour was paddling through narrow mongrove trees. Once in a while you'll be paddling beside a limestones as high as your eyes can see. The only animal that we accounter was the good old MONKEY. I'm hoping to see crocs, but realizing you're few inches from the water and your wife are with it;s NOT a good idea. :P hahaha

Previously this is a crocodile nest. :P

Before we go out to the open sea, the tour going trough a really high limestone felt like you are paddling down a gorge. It's a surreal feeling. It was really2 beautiful.

It took us around 3~4 hours to complete the course. We're really fight the current while at the open sea... struggling towards the jetty. Funny it became a race towards jetty amongst the guest... hahaha at least I did. Paddling hard to get to the jetty first. Ended up 2nd... duh. :P but we tried our best..

The tuk tuk took us back to KRABI main center... and we walk along the beach towards food stall for LUNCH. It is KRABI street food at its best!... large portion, delicious and most importantly CHEAP... hehe..

We get back  and spend the rest of the sunlight at our hotel. My arms are killing me... :P hehehe
Then at night we caught ourselves looking for a decent REGGAE bar. :) 

Thailand Road Trip Day03

December 26, 2012 | 4:45pm
La Casa Restaurant, Ao Nang Beach, Krabi, THAILAND

La Casa Restaurant

Walk in towards HOSTEL/HOTEL is just as adventurous as the journey... we just need to wait almost 5 hours to check in. Luckily there's room to accommodate us while almost every traveler flooding over AO NANG beach for NEW YEARS CELEBRATION. So, I'm killing the time with writing... :)

We started our journey from HATYAI around 7am... having our breakfast along THANON PHETKASEM road. Again it was a simple muslim restaurant... having a ROTI PRATA in THAILAND is a new thing for me. :P never heard siamese people flipping ROTI before.... for me ROTI will always be a INDIAN cuisine. Surprisingly, the ROTI was very soft and delicious. hehehe... we consume 3 pieces each... and a small coffee'..

Breakfast before heading towards Krabi

Heading towards AO NANG Krabi will fill my curiosity about the road condition... will it be 2 lane highway like we experience since we enter THAILAND from BUKIT KAYU HITAM?

From HATYAI we drove towards PHATTALUNG... not more than 100 clicks... the road condition is marvelous. It was a 2 way highway... passing by small villages. Before reaching PHATTALUNG there's a intersection towards TRANG... turning left towards TRANG is another 60 clicks. The road become much more smaller... however, the road shoulder is still wide for motorcyclist or cyclist. So, again... cyclist tourer... your call.. trees will accompany you along the way. Whenever the weather is too challenging... the ride should be very pleasant.

Driving towards Phattalung then Trang

Just after TRANG wildlife sanctuary... the road shrink to a single-two-way road. Crossing mountains... winding roads NOT more than 20 clicks before it became flat again. Right before reaching TRANG the road became 2 way highway back until reach KRABI...

crossing the mountains from Phattalung (East) to Trang (West)

Make a quick stop at KRABI for lunch and a short visit at WAT KAEW TEMPLE... and ask for direction towards AO NANG. LONELY PLANET have few information about driving towards AO NANG from KRABI... our maps doesn't have AO NANG in it. :P hehehe...

Lunch at KRABI

Wat Kaew Temple

We drove towards PHANG-NGA... right after exiting KRABI there's junction towards PHANG-NGA, PHUKET and SURAT THANI... turn back towards KRABI... check out junction on the right few kilometer ahead for AO NANG...

........ check in. :)

Bali & Java Island Part 01

Meet our travel maskot. KAMBIN'. ;) at TABANAN, BALI

INDONESIA is always my favorite place to travel. Lots of close friends & family... great familiar culture and customs. I always felt at ease whenever I step into this land. Not forgetting endless good food. :)

My travel desires always flicking during Chinese New Year... there's always some places to be, some places to discover and re-discover. 

We started our journey from the colorful BALI, then flew to YOGYAKARTA... took train and hangout with our close friends at BANDUNG and ended our journey and meeting friends at JAKARTA. 

9 days... :)

Walking towards YOGYAKARTA train station. 

Thailand Road Trip Day02

December 25, 2012 | 9:00pm
V.L. HATYAI HOTEL, HatYai, Songkhla, THAILAND

The Hotel

AIN is NOT feeling well today. So, I decided to stay in HATYAI another day. Need to make sure she feeling well before continue the journey. Ao Nang Mueang is 4 hours drive from HATYAI (taken from the google maps) we'll need the energy to pursue the journey. 

I consecutively going to 7ELEVEN for smoke and buying food during her rest. Luckily she recover afternoon... having shrimps tomyam noodle cup... rest and go walking around the streets. Again having our late lunch at on of the muslim restaurant... simple with tasty food. 

Wondering around the markets and ended up buying 9 palazzo pants for RM120. :) awesome.. then a tie dye shirt and mc hammer pants :P. hehehe... then we return to our hotel.

RM120 for 9... :P

Later when it's was dark... we went out again buying some street stall food and went back again. 

That's all for the day... :)
Tomorrow Ao Nang Mueang... hehehe