Happy Birthday at Tioman

The resort we stayed at on Tioman island

It was my buddy Vaughn's birthday this past weekend and his wife managed to throw him a surprise weekend away on Tioman island just off the east coast of peninsular Malaysia.  There were a total of 6 of us that made the trek.  I had to really restrain myself from accidentally saying anything to him over the past few weeks, I don't know how his wife managed it. 

The resort we stayed at was actually pretty nice.  My room was spacious and reasonably comfortable.

My cabin

The price was decent since we split the cost of two rooms between four of us.  

view from my cabin

Food on the island was just ok as far as I was concerned.  Some places were expensive and some were cheap. 

The beach is decent, but apparently there are a lot of sand flies.  That's ok because the water is amazing.

clear waters of Salang Bay, Tioman

It's kind of hard to see here, but the water is crystal clear.  When you go out from the beach you don't have to go far before the fish are swimming around you, checking you out.  I've always found it a surreal experience when fish come up to you and are clearly looking at you to see what you are about.  I think that's the biggest part of why I like Salang Bay on Tioman.  The snorkeling is amazing and I'm told the scuba diving is every bit as good as you will find anywhere else in the world.  

There are quite a few resorts on Salang Bay, most of which are very hard to get ahold of.  The island mentality definitely holds sway here.  I really like the laid back atmosphere, but it can get a little tiring when you are in need of service.

Path up to a deserted resort

The area itself has some very nice spots.

There is even some wildlife on the island.

this cat seemed to like me

 There are so many cats living around this resort it's ridiculous. 

crabs in the river

this was a little monitor lizard.  there were a couple of pretty big ones as well

It was a great weekend visiting with old and new friends.  I don't get to visit with people all that often and when it is done in an environment like this, it is a special thing.  Here's to doing this again and more often then just once a year.

Hari Raya in Langkawi 2015

In this year of travel I have picked several places to go to that I have never been.  I went to Indonesia for the first time earlier this and had a very nice weekend vacation.  Then, for the mid year break, I went to Japan, but instead of going to the same old places I decided to try and find places I've never seen.  Mission accomplished!  My new years resolution was to travel when I wasn't working.  I have done that with a vengeance so far.

My most recent trip was to a location inside Malaysia.  I went to Langkawi.  This is a very famous place and everyone goes there, sometimes often.  This was my first time and I really enjoyed it.  I didn't really go for any site seeing.  I went for the relaxation around a pool, which I got in spades.

Aseania resort is a very nice place.  I could have stayed there the entire time without leaving and been happy, but I did make it out of the resort a couple of times.  Went to a couple of restaurants and the food was great.  I'm not much of a food connoisseur, but the food at all three of the restaurants we went to were really good.

This was at "The Little Mexican".  Probably the cleanest restaurant I've been to in Malaysia.  That's not saying much in Malaysia, but this place was comparable to restaurants in the west and the food tasted as good as I've had in my time in Malaysia.  Staff was very nice and the kitchen looked well taken care of as well.

We ate at a couple of other restaurants while there.  Our first night we stopped at the "Red Tomato"(must be said in the British style Tomaato).  Can't remember what I had but I do remember thinking it was quite good.  This place had been recommended by a couple of people.  It closed for the next two days due to the Hari Raya holiday, which was probably a good thing since we might have only eaten there if it had been open.  The next night we went to an Arabic restaurant called "Yasmine".  The food was awesome here but the service not as good.  I have no idea what I ate here.  The next night we met some friends staying at another hotel and went to a place called "The Yellow Beach Cafe".  Short staffed due to the holidays, but they did a pretty nice job of serving considering.  Food was really good to.  I would recommend this place if you are in Langkawi.  The rest of the food was all at the resort.  Decent, but quite slow service, especially if you are on the wrong side of the pool.

You might have noticed I said "we" a couple of time there.  I was with a couple of my work friends.

These ladies know how to enjoy themselves.

I of course burnt myself silly.  I always seem to forget that my shins need sun block too and when you spend an entire day lounging by the pool the sun is going to get you, and it got me good.  Wish I had taken a photo of them before the redness dimmed.  I was red everywhere, but only my shins hurt.  Hopefully I will remember next time, NOT LIKELY!

Here are a couple more pictures that I took of the resort.

I will be going to Krabi, Thailand and India before I finally head off to Canada again.  I will be sure to post about them as soon as I'm done the trips.

TTYL.

Went to Japan Again

Went to Japan Again

June has come again and I had two weeks of time off to use.   My decision was to go to Japan again.  My goal on this visit was to see some friends and go to a couple of places I haven't yet seen in Japan.  The itinerary was to go straight to Tsuyama and spend Saturday evening and Sunday with my good friends Nikki and Logan.  Satomi was there Saturday night as well.  She helped arrange an amazing meal at a local Bar and Grill, Ryo's Tenpan Grill (if ever in Tsuyama try it out, the food is amazing!)

Satomi, Nikki, Logan and Me

After this I went to Kyoto to meet up with one of the first people I met in Japan.  I was able to catch up with him and meet his girlfriend.  We had a great evening of playing board games and talking.  It was nice meeting up with them.

Next, I had a full day on my own in Kyoto, so I went to see Toji Temple, one of my favorite places in Kyoto.

Garden Entrance

If you can go here at the beginning of May it is much nicer when the flowers are freshly blooming.  After the gardens I went into the shrine/temple area.  There is some nice things to look at here, but they don't allow pictures to be taken.  As you can see, I took some anyways.

Exit gate

Next I went to the aquarium.  I didn't even know Kyoto had an aquarium.  

Penguins are awesome

A dolphin just messing around until the show starts

These things are hilarious, always smiling

Fake waterfall outside the aquarium

Kyoto Aquarium was a nice place.  Maybe not the best I've been to, but pretty good.  The dolphin show was interesting, but some of the things the trainers had the dolphins doing was pretty lame.  I like dolphins (who doesn't?) so it could have been better.  

That was my time in Kyoto.  Next up on the itinerary was Nikko.  I had been interested in going to this place for many years, but as is the case, I just never made the time to go while I lived in Japan.  The Toshogu Shrine is a world heritage site and as far as Japanese shrines/temples go, fairly unusual.  There is a lot of color at this temple and the surrounding ones, unfortunately the main gate was being restored so I couldn't get any pictures of it.  Here are a few of the other attractions in the area.

I highly recommend going to Nikko.  Even though it is a tourist trap, the temples and shrines are very beautiful and worth the cost of entrance.  After looking around here we went to Chuzenji Lake.  There is a waterfall close to the bus station.

only a 5min walk from the bus station

Chuzenji Lake is the highest lake in Japan.

All of the scenery in this area is amazing.  The forest is old growth forest that reminded me of being at the lake in Canada.

These pictures don't do the forest justice, but you can get an idea.  The hostel we stayed in was really nice, just out of the town, very homey and comfortable.  Most of the people there speak English.

The town of Nikko is also very scenic.  It's located up in the mountains where everything is beautiful and worth contemplating.

Love the clouds piling up on the mountains

My friend Noriko

As you can see in most of my pictures it is cloudy.  Rainy season started just before I got to Japan, but I was just fine with that.  The temperatures were perfect for me and I had a really nice and relaxing time while in Japan.  It was great catching up with everyone I was able to meet and I wish I could have seen everyone.  I am making plans and hopefully I will be back in Japan in the near future.

If you want to see all my pictures of Japan please go to my facebook page and check them out.  Here is a link: https://www.facebook.com/turrdle/photos_albums  

Quick Weekender

Went to Yogyakarta 

(I don't know how to say it correctly.  I think JoeJakarta might be right)

This greets you on the end of a runway when you land

My friend asked me if I would join her on a weekend getaway a couple of months ago.  I, of course, said yes.  I have never been to Indonesia, but I do know someone from there, so I figured it would be worth the trip.

My friend booked the hotel and I'm happy to say that she picked a great hotel.  Staff were super nice and helpful. The rooms were really clean and nice.

Our hotel entrance

It looks as nice on the outside as the inside.

As seems to be the norm, there was controversy in meeting up with my friend.  She was coming from Thailand and I was coming from Malaysia.  She couldn't get on her connecting flight, so I had to spend the first night alone.  Not the best way to start a short vacation, but I've learned a valuable lesson from my travels.  The first thing you do is get a SIM card for your phone so you can communicate.  Because I did this, I didn't spend a lot of time wandering around the airport waiting uselessly.

The next morning she made it and we started planning what we would do.  Our first order of business was to rent a car with a driver.  He would then take us to Mt. Merapi, an active volcano, for sunset.  I thought this would be a super exciting excursion.

my friend and me

As you can see, not much of a sunset.  The ride up to the top of the mountain (I'm assuming this was the top) was an adventure in itself.  Once you get there you then have to rent a Jeep and get driven up to the top.  The roads are really rough, but lots of fun if you are into off-roading.

I think the lava from the volcano came this way.

The remains of the settlements after the volcano was done.

A local rock quarry

A lot of devastation was left in the wake of the volcano but there was also a lot of nice scenery.

There was a small museum on the way to the top

Alien Head rock.  I c an sort of see it.

Here's our transport to the top.

Off-roading in a Toyota Landcruiser disguised as a Jeep Renegade

After a rough ride around the top of Mt. Merapi we made it home safe and sound.  Once back to the hotel we immediately had to go to bed because we were going to do the sunrise trip to Borobudur Temple.  It left at 3:30am.  I wasn't to excited about it, but sunrises are usually pretty nice, so I was in.

Sunrise

As you can see, sunrise was about as successful as sunset was the day before.  Having said that, there was certainly some nice scenery to be seen around here.

The walk up to the top of this hill wasn't to hard, but by the time I got to the top I was completely soaked with sweat.  This country is very humid.

After the sun rose we went to Borobudur Temple to look around.  This is a really old Buddhist temple, and it is actually a nice looking monument.

Path to the temple

Borobudur from a distance

Yes, I was really there.

We got there nice and early, so there wasn't to many people wandering around.  It didn't take long though, for school tours to come and that means trouble for foreigners.

Picture Please!

It's a good thing my friend is very attractive, they always wanted pictures with her and not me.

Replacement Head

Nice looking park

Once we were done with that we got back to the hotel around 11am.  What to do with the rest of the day?  We went to the Water Palace.  Stupid me thought, hey it's only a 45min walk by way of google maps.  We went to at least two different places before we finally found it two hours later.

underground passage 

It's a pretty nice looking place.  Lots of work to get to unless you take one of the bike taxi's.  It only took about 15mins to get back to the hotel.

That night we just relaxed and took it easy.  Had some good eats at a guesthouse restaurant nearby.  Food was really good and filling.

I ate all of this, except the salad's

The next day we both went to the airport and traveled back to our respective homes.  I had a five hour layover in Kuala Lumpur and I had made arrangements with Hertz rentals to leave my car keys where I could get them, but of course they forgot.  I had to wait about an hour and a half for someone to come and give me the keys to my car, but I finally made it home safe and sound.  As tiring as the trip was it was exactly what I needed to feel a little work stress relief.  It was well worth it all and I would do it again, especially when you consider I only spent about $500.00 for everything.  One of the cheapest vacations I've ever been on.