Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Apply Malaysia Passport through KIPPAS 20 June 2011

It is my first pleasant experience applying a passport here. It merely took an hour and 10 minutes. !!

Bring old passport, one recent passport size photograph, cash (RM300 for 5 years), and a photocopy of your IC.
Enter KIPPAS centre at the ground floor ( Damansara branch). Take the envelope.
Go to the machine and follow its instruction.  

Some useful information and instructions.

There wasn't much crowd on Thursday 10am. It will take about 5 minutes to complete the transaction but it took me 10minutes with En Hui wanted to try on the machine. Keep the receipt.

Go for breakfast at Mc Donald's. An hour later, go to second floor counter 17, exchange a queue number with your receipt. Redeem the new passport at the next counter, number 18.

You could also take your passport photograph at the shop next to KIPPAS, which only takes 2 minutes to be ready. :))))

Kellie's Castle, Batu Gajah, Perak 19 June 2011

En loves this place. The first time we visited this castle was about two years ago. As we drove to Papan, En requested to stop by Kellie's Castle again. I was suprised that she remember the places pretty well.   

 RM4 for adult. RM3 for children.

You could exit Gopeng or Simpang Pulai to get to Batu Gajah.

Sybil Kathigasu's clinic, Papan, Perak 19 June 2011

Sybil Kathigasu's Clinic at 74 Main Road, Old Papan.
Make an appointment before you visit. Call Law Siak Hong 017 506 1875

Some of the photos I took.








I could somehow feel the wartime moment, being seated inside the clinic, chatted with Hong and finding out about Sybil. The only thing I regretted was not reading up much about the war heroin, so I would be more prepared with questions to ask.

Read more on Sybil Kathigasu.

Raja Bilah Rumah Besar, Papan, Perak 19 June 2011

Raja Bilah Rumah Besar, a private property, located behind Sybil Kathigasu's clinic.

It was just a short stop and peek at this huge home, imagining what this place was like before.

The entrance with the old-fashioned sliding wooden door.

More info on Rumah Besar

Papan, Perak 19 June 2011



Papan, a century-old mining town,  is one of the pioneer town of Perak. It's about 25minutes drive from Gopeng town. After checking out from Earth Camp, we came by to visit World War II Heroine, Sybil Kathigasu's clinic. The town is quiet and consists of two short rows of shophouses. Some are abandoned.


The old-fashioned sliding wooden door still exists at some of the shophouses.

A sneak peak at one of the home.
En Hui were awed by the condition of the home.

Old but trusted bicycles parked by one of the two coffeeshops in town.

Coffee and tea were prepared overly sweet for our taste buds. They were served by a woman with a few finger stumps due to a factory accident that crushed her fingers years ago in a biscuit factory where she worked. I enjoyed spending the quiet and calm moment at Papan. Hmmm is this the sign of getting old?

Direction,
At Gopeng town, get on the old trunk road to Ipoh, turn off to Batu Gajah. From this junction, you'll pass Kellie's Castle after 8 minutes of driving at 60 kmph. Go straight till you are at the fly past (over the railway line) in Batu Gajah, make a sharp turn (6 o'clock), then left at the T-junction, go straight, passing the old Batu Gajah railway station. Here, you are a mere 7km from Papan. Follow Pusing signage. At Pusing town, you will arrive at a T-junction, turn right. Look for the sign to Papan.

Earth Camp, Gopeng, Perak 18 June 2011

Saturday 9am
Our second trip to Earth Camp, one of EnHui's favourite place despite living in minimum comfort.

Read up First Trip 

This time around we were assigned to treehouse no. 11 and 12.
Only treehouse 11& 12 and 13&14 are connected. 

Treehouse no 11 and 12 is bit smaller.

Ring the bell for assistance!

The single unit treehouse has a trunk pierced through the treehouse.

It fits two mattresses at the left and right side of the trunk.

EnHui built this with dad's help.

And this as well.

Dad brought EnHui to Gopeng town for cendol and returned with durian. Gopeng durian season is over. The next one is in August. These durians came from Kuala Kangsar.

The little kitten that EnHui played with.

En, like climbing trees and had a rope to play along.

She tied the cloths line and washed and hang her clothes and shoes up.

Lots of woodens planks for campfire.

En stacked up a bench with some.

The sarong was meant to cover the gap on the bathroom door but En wore it as a long skirt!!

Lunch

BBQ satay and burnt chicken for dinner.
RM55 per person which include lunch, dinner and breakfast.

Read up First Trip

Monday, June 20, 2011

White water rafting with Nomad Adventure, Gopeng 18 June2011

En was eager to start rafting and watching the river guide loaded the gears. 

After a safety briefing on the gear, she wore the life vest and helmet.
The life vest has an expiry date, just like those on board the airplane. On top of that, this life vest comes with a flap that protects the neck while in the water.

One of the position you should take if you fall into the river.

Paddling instructions were given by the river guide, as well as actions that the rafters (us) should do when we hear instructions like forward, backward, work harder, position, hold, boom-boom, etc.. at various part of the river rapid.

Carried raft to the river.
The starting point is at the Kampar River which  is 2 minutes walk from Adeline Rest house.

The kayak went down first. It tagged along our raft and served as an extra guide that followed us for safety precaution

En walked towards the side for the water confidence test.

Is an activity to acclimatise the participants with the idea of floating in the river and being carried by the current, in case of falling out from the raft.

Rafts and kayaks parked at the river bank after the curve, waiting for participants to swim over after being carried over by the river current.

Water confidence test, where participant need to float on his/her back.
En at 7 years old and being the only child there, floated on her back with the river guide, Arepex

She went down the rapid.

En took her position, seated in the middle row.

The river guide on the left, teased her by pouring water on her head! En was being a sport about it.

She waved goodbye and happily rowed away.

En kept waving at me, while I watched till the boat dissapeared.

She as usual although seems like not paying attention during the briefing, remembers very well on what to do when Arepex shouted out the instructions. At the rapids, on a few occasions, the raft were tilting and seemed to tip over, she kept her composure and reacted with agility. She enjoyed the paddling, she enjoyed the thrill when the raft were doing turnings, were going sideways, reverse and diagonally. When the raft reached its end destination, she asked if we can go further. Arepex replied if we go any further, we will be pushing the boat more than paddling, the water level were simply too low to go any further.


When she returned , she said "It was fun and I like to do it again!"
White water rafting at RM150 per person. Nomad Adventure