Bao Sheng Durian Farm

Location : Bao Sheng Durian Farm, Balik Pulau, Penang

Date of Visit : 19.6.2013

URL : www.durian.com.my

The Environment

 It takes about 30min. from George Town up in the hills at a more rural area of Penang, with winding roads and small towns along the way. There is a waterfall near by right before reaching destination. You will see the Bao Sheng wordings in chinese and the first thought was you'd be going off a cliff but don't worry, just turn in when you see the chinese wordings and you will have to go down a steep narrow road to reach the reception area.

They have only 3 home-stay rooms, 2 opposite of each other with a swimming pool in the middle and another isolated down below with a private pool. All pools are filled with cooling hill water so you can go for a relaxing dip at night. We took both the opposite ones and the rooms are quite cozy with air-cond, fan, TV and water heater showers. The only set back is the ants crawling all around the toilet bowl... and erm... just our luck... a snake in the room (will tell more on the story down below) The room on the left is oven warm during the afternoon though... but everything will be OK when night falls :) As a plus point, they are PET FRIENDLY too... You can bring your furkid along for the stay~ Just above the rooms you have the reception or actually it's the owners home and where people try out all the durians. While you enjoy your durian you can relax and feed your eye with the green hill scenery as well~

Tips : Mosquito comes out at about 7pm ~ 9pm (around that la... as told by the farm owner) so you'd probably wanna shut all doors and windows so they don't get a tasty meal while you sleep...

The Fun & Entertainment

Basically... eating Durians... they have many many varieties of delicious durians from different grades, but since you're at the "Durian Farm" I'd really high recommend  that you check their durian schedule on the website and go for the 4 star and 5 star grade durians... trust me... it's delicious!! take it from a person who usually hates durian smell (a.k.a ME - in case you're wondering why I went there, it's because my parents LOVE durians...) My favorite would be the Hor Lor which it taste a bit like wine~ Yummy!! 

They don't have any restaurants or food stall so you'd have to either bring your own food and drinking water or you can ask the owner a.k.a Durian Seng to help "dabao" dinner / breakfast for you if you're spending the night there. Or if you are going in group you can actually borrow BBQ tools from Durian Seng, but you'd have to inform them earlier to check availability and bring your own food and charcoal to BBQ la... 

They don't have Astro or Vision Four channels but they do provide plenty of movies in the hard disk which you can watch all night long! Or just chill and play some simple board game or card games for the night...

Tips : must ask for aluminium foil & bring your own net if possible cause their BBQ stove is very dirty and rusty

Summary 

The durian is definitely worth the trip but we didn't get to visit the farm itself, perhaps you'll need to make a booking with Durian Seng or arrive earlier (We arrived at about 3pm) We had about 5 durians all from 4 star and 5 star grade at only RM150 in total which you'd probably be paying hundreds in George town and yet not as tasty~ But if you're a city kinda person and are not really fond of nature (example : ants, insects, funny taste hill water...) It's probably best for you to stay in the town area and just go up to the farm for the durians... If you'd decided to stay over night, make sure you prepare enough water and some light snacks to get you through the night.

The Snake Story

The snake was hiding behind the extra mattresses laying against the wall in the room. While we walked in and out of the room the whole day no one bothered about those mattresses until night falls and my husband was looking for the TV remote when he saw this 3-4 feet long yellow snake laying quietly. He then walked out of the room calmly and told me "There is a snake in the  room..." I thought I heard him wrong but then he said it again. They then went looking for Durian Seng for help... After sometime, Durian Seng came with his wife with sticks and a big net and they started the catch. They eventually smashed the snake's head as they said the snake has a triangle shaped head which means it will bite people and could be poisonous... They then bagged the snake in a big grey plastic bag while it's still moving and I can still hear it struggling (goose bumps!!!!!) After all is done they cleaned the floor and changed all the bed sheets for us lo...

Durian Seng said the snake was probably there since last night as the tenant before left the door wide open at night while they went to sleep at the other isolated room with their friends... They apply sulfur around the area once in a while but sometimes it's hard to prevent due to the surroundings... 

Lesson taught :1. NEVER leave the door open when no one is around

2. Check everywhere, behind the mattress, under the bed before bringing down all your luggage

Trick Art Museum, I-City, Klang

Location : Trick Art Museum, I-City, Klang

Date of Visit : 12.2.2013, 5pm

Entrance Fee : RM5 per pax

Decided to check-out the Trick Art Museum in I-City with my family during Chinese New Year break. I have to say, it's really worth it!

The Environment

The museum is basically about 2 double-story shop lot with lots of partition and paintings on the wall that you can actually "interact" with. They have modern, Egyptian, animals, movies theme and so on. The lighting is dim inside so a good camera is recommended so you'll be able to avoid blurred pictures (as flash will ruin the photo) The paint on the paintings are wearing off at some part due to people posing and touching the same spot over and over but since you're going to do just about the same it's not a big problem. Hopefully the management would touch up or renew the paintings when things go worse in time...

Oh ya... the staircase to second floor is VERY steep and every step is higher than usual staircase (I guess due to space saving issue) so if you're bringing the elderly with knee or walking difficulty, this would definitely be a very difficult part for them. Plus, the exit is at second floor... so is most of the paintings... So be aware of this...

The Fun & Entertainment

Shoot photos!! That's basically all you do there... take many many weird and creative photos with the paintings as you can. They have a photo beside each painting showing you how to pose with the painting but you can always let your mind go wild and make up better ones! Try using "props" like your umbrella, water bottle, jackets or what ever you feel "usable" to interact with the painting, you'll be surprised with the outcome~ Or if you really hate taking photos, then enjoy watching people around you making funny pose~ it could be fun and hilarious too~

Summary
If you happen to be in Klang, I'd definitely recommend visiting I-City~! But if you'd really want to take some nice photos that looks "real" you'll probably want to visit the museum at odd hours or odd days so there won't be many people around ruining your stunt (like people standing over the "hole" while you walk the "plank") Perhaps on weekdays mornings (Do check with I-City on what time they open) as I-City is normally crowded in the evening and weekends... So... just bring along your friends / family and your CAMERA and have lots and lots of fun~! :D

  

How bout that... I'm an Angel~!

Everyone is happy to see the croc... 

I can climb!!!

Yay~ I broke the glass~~~

Hey... where you think you're going!!

Run for your lives!!!! 

Waiting to be rescued is so boring...

Genting Snow World 2013

Location : Snow World @ Genting First World
Date of Visit : 1.1.2013

After a long wait while they renovate, I'd finally got a chance to visit in Snow World~!

The Environment 
The temperature is lower (-7 degree) compared to Snow Walk in I-City, Shah Alam. But if you ask me, I prefer the Snow World as it is more spacious and more lively as the place looks like a little corner of a little town where as Snow Walk is just like walking in a huge freezer. Locker, Jackets, Gloves and Boots are provided but we came well prepared with extra hats, ear muffs & scarfs~ (Some girls were wearing shorts! But we'd rather be safe and make sure not to catch cold~)

Was looking forward to playing with snow and snow falls but the snow only falls for like a few seconds and very little (a bit of a disappointment) snow on the floor was not as thick as I imagined too... and you'd gotta watch your steps as the place where snow is less it will be ice at the bottom, hence super slippery!

The Fun & Entertainment Besides experiencing the winter freezing cold, you get to slide down on a rubber tube, you'll have to drag the tube up the stairs on your own (it's a bit wee heavy so if you have kids you'll just have to carry it for them) But despite the hard work, I personally loved it very much and went on the ride twice~! 

Other than playing & experiencing, it's then all about photo shooting! Although you were not allowed to bring in your camera (one of the reason is you might risk freezing your cameras which may just spoils it) but they don't really check you on it and although they have staff going around showing you a sign that camera is not allowed, they don't really force you to delete the photo anyway... so people are snapping off with their handphone inside... But for us, we followed the rules and there are photographers inside to take photo for you, anywhere you like~ just call on one of them to follow you~ My advice - shoot as many as possible as in the end they will have a package for you to take all the photo home in a CD~! In my case, it was RM175 for all 20 photos in a CD with no print outs (Print outs was about RM50 each so... I'd rather print them myself with the CD in hand)

Summary

40 min. may sound very long but time flies inside while you have fun~! So enjoy every bit of it and shoot photo quickly~! If you can't stand the cold, you can always take a break in the warm house or simply just walk out for a few min... It's definitely a nice place to experience winter cold before setting off to a winter country~ ^_^ 

^ Get your boots & gloves here~ 

Jackets are right after you enter so grab 'em quick before your size runs out

^ We came well prepared~! Wahahaha~ 

^ Slide down the slope in a tube is fun! 

^ Yeah~!! Oppa Snow World Style~!

A'famosa Melacca

Date of Visit : 20 August 2011

Hotel : A'Famosa Resort

We bought a set of Groupon vouchers from the internet with offer to a family suite & entrance to all 3 park in A'Famosa late July 2011 and so decided to visit in August.

For the basics, the hotel room was clean & comfy. Not to mention we got the deal for a family suit that could fit up to 5 person comfortably but there was only 2 of us so the space is more than we could use. The hotel was located within the premises so access to all the parks is easy but would still need a car...

The Safari in A'famosa I would say it's better than Zoo Negara in a sense that they have more animal around the area in quantity and we could see them close up in from inside the Safari truck. After the safari ride you can also watch some of their shows and visit part of the parks & animals by foot. You'd probably want to bring along an umbrella & fan to cope with the heat and just in case of rain. Although it's an animal safari, the place is well kept and there were no foul smell (well, at least not till the level that it would be un-comfort of). You can have an elephant ride for RM10 per pax but if you purchase from the souvenir shop beside at a certain amount, you can get free rides so watch out for the signs~

There is this place called the Monkey Island in the safari that you shouldn't miss! Take a short boat ride over to the island and you will find yourself surrounded by little monkeys jumping around you. It's truly fun to play with but you have to be careful of your belongings though... The little monkeys tend to pull & tug... They'll even peak into your plastic bags to see if there's any food inside! You can buy some food there & feed them, they will happily jump on your shoulder & head to make sure they're the first to get the food. It's also a quiet & relaxing small island where you can just sit around and relax...

The Water park is not as thrilling though... unless you're a nuts for extreme water slides! The slides are their main attraction there and there is a wave pool of course, but that's just about it... Would recommend Sunway Lagoon though if you just wish to have fun in the waters.

At night, it's time for the cowboy town~ Imagine yourself in the wild wild west in the town & have a romantic dinner if you may~ Then go on to the carnival and enjoy the show! There will be animals, lights, dancing, mascots and fire works! A perfect way to end the day with a fairy tale blast~ ^_^

Food stalls are everywhere so you won't have to worry about starving... The price is fairly reasonable too~ The staff would take photos of you & your family with or without your request then display them at a corner of each park so you can see & decide if you'd like to bring them home or not @ RM18 each. Well... The photo quality is not exactly the best but hey... the choice is all your's ^_^

Overall~ we had fun ^_^ The staffs were fairly friendly & the food is nice... If you're looking for a relaxing day out, this can be in your list of consideration~ ^_^

Cameron Highland

Date of visit : 25 June 2011

Hotel : The Bala's Chalet (http://www.balaschalet.com/)

We took the new road up the hill and thankfully it's not as twist & turn as the old one! So I had a nice 2D1N stay without having headache~ The hill is filled with Strawberry Farms, Bee Farms, Cactus Farms, Rose Garden & Tea Plantations...

The night market was quite popular too as the road was flooded with people and we had trouble moving our car. But if you're out there at night, do bring along a jacket & a shawl to keep you warm, especially if it's raining. Cameron may not be as cold as before but on a rainy day it's still chilly at night.

If you're looking for a stay that's a little more than just a room, do check out the Bala's Chalet... We took the Raffles Suite which cost us RM300 on weekend Saturday but I'd say it's much more worth it than having to stay in a classy hotel. The Bala's offers an environment that resembles England Cottage. If you're a photography fan, this place will bring smiles to your face :) Don't expect a high class service though, because there are no lift & you'll just have to walk your way up the stairs to your room carrying your own luggage :p While you're there at the Bala's you can try out their dinner too... the price is reasonable & in very pleasing proportion! Definitely will ease your hunger to the fullest! The only down side we found was the water heater... they're using gas and the heat is not constant... but the owner is considering to change them all to electrical...

If you're leaving on Sunday, would be advisable to take the old road back because the new one will most probably be jammed up and being jammed half way on a hill is torturing for your car & your nose (break & clutch smell are terrible!) Taking the old road home you'll come across a water fall. You can take a break, get some snacks and shoot some photos there too ^_^