Dubai - Desert 4X4 Adventure!

Sun, sea, sand and skyscrapers - the things that make Dubai a wonderful city. It has the world's tallest skyscraper (Burj Khalifa), the world's first hotel on a man-made island (Burj Al Arab) and reclaimed land which is shaped like a palm tree (Palm Jumeirah). Dubai is also famous for its desert, where 4x4 dune bashing, quad biking, camel riding and BBQ dinner can be done there.

Being the first time on a desert, I admit that me and my friends were a little jakun during our trip in Dubai. Hopped into a Toyota Land Cruiser and the local fetched us to experience the desert safari near sunset time. We were flabbergasted about how fine the desert sand is. The desert was not as hot as we imagined, probably because the sun was setting and we were constantly pampered in the well air-conditioned Land Cruiser. 

Before exploring the desert further, the SUVs' tyres pressure have to be lowered in order to gain more traction with flatter tyres on the fine sand. Then the adventure began! Dune bashing in a SUV is fun, drifting and descending the dunes are like roller coaster ride, minus the 360 degree upside down turn though. All the SUVs are fitted with roll cage, in case they turn turtle while descending the steep dunes. 

A short video recorded in the midst of all the fun! Believe me, experiencing the ride yourself is much more extreme than what the video suggest!

Oh the sun...... Like an egg yolk. What a surreal scene. The dunes with fine sand are hard to climb up!

A rare picture of me (strong wind messed up my hair) appearing in my blog!

Land Cruiser and Nissan Patrol sighted. They are some really good offroaders!

The night ended with camel riding and a buffet dinner on the desert by the stage filled with Arabian performances! Some dancers managed to turn 360 degrees non-stop for more than 3 minutes. Try doing the same without puking! 

It is highly recommended to go for a desert safari tour if you happen to visit Dubai one day! Make sure to bring your sunblock because the sun was scorching hot!

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Of exotic & rare cars !

I had the opportunity to bump into plenty of expensive, classic and exotic cars in the UK after spending 3 months there. I'm going to let the pictures to do the talking, largely because I have no idea what most of the classic cars' name!

For instance, I have no idea what's the name of the car below. Anyone would like to enlighten me?

A rather weird colour for a Lincoln limousine!

A red London double decker bus with a human-paddled car? They were enjoying their drinks while paddling happily on the road!

Super-expensive Rolls Royce Phantom! Its design is still contemporary even after a decade of sales!

Time for some classic cars! All displayed in their full glory!

Mini Coopersssss!!!

Ooopss, this classic car does not worth 1 Pound!

Body is constructed using Sheffield's famous stainless steel!

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Classic wedding car !

A classic wedding car parked outside of Sheffield City Council building. Joyous family members gathered around the entrance together with the newly wed couple, wishing them all the best and live happily ever after......

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Laman Pesona (明河园) @ Cheroh, Pahang !

A getaway from the hectic life in the city for a vacation in the outskirt is pretty much of what's going on in every working people's mind. Laman Pesona Resort & Spa (明河园) at Cheroh, Pahang suits the profile.

Green scenery, tranquil and soothing environment, Laman Pesona is a nice place to spend a weekend with your family members. Here you can have your meal, have some water activites in the shallow stream or swimming pool, barbeque and stay a night on the hillside.

 Every chalet is built on the slope of a hill, where you will feel the cooling breeze in a nice weather day. It was cooling enough not to on the air-cond at night, claimed by one of my relatives who stayed there for a night recently.

 A chalet like the one below consists of two rooms, each with its own TV, air-cond and bathroom. To get to your room, you can walk up the hill by using the stairs, or hitchhike a jeep up (suitable for the elderly).

 Price is RM150 per night for one room. You can check out some photos of the accomodation in its official website.

Overlooking the town of Cheroh...

Recreational spot for families.

 If you happen to pass by Cheroh or looking for a place to stay, Laman Pesona is definitely a recommended spot to spend a night, or even few!

Address:
Laman Pesona Resort & Spa
Lot 3 & 4, Seksyen 4,
Kampung Baru Cheroh,
27620 Raub,
Pahang Darul Makmur

Website: Laman Pesona

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Driving in Singapore !

Getting a chance to drive in a foreign country is an eye-opener experience, especially in Singapore, a country where almost every driver obey strictly to the laws of the road. Once you arrive in Singapore, the first thing you'll notice is how smooth the road is. I'm talking about the surface of the road, not the traffic condition. After driving in Singapore for 3 days, I failed..... Failed to locate a pothole, which is. Even the bridge joint and sewage holes on the road are flush to the road surfaces. Moreover, the road surfaces are smooth and intrude lesser road noise into the car's cabin. Frankly I have to say that the eleven years old car I drove into Singapore felt like brand new on Singapore roads!

There are plenty of luxury and sports cars around but no one is speeding, not even at midnight from what I've observed! This is because there are traffic cameras around (with sufficient signboard warning of the camera ahead, something like Malaysia's AES) and the drivers are educated to adhere to the law greatly.

If you are used to driving in Malaysia, one thing to be noted is drivers have to allow pedestrians to cross the road in Singapore first before cars can proceed. Even if you are at a traffic light junction where you are about the make a turn when the light is green, you'll still have to give way to the pedestrians (where their road crossing light is also green) to cross the road first before you proceed. If a car hit a pedestrian, it's the car's fault!

If it's your first time driving into Singapore, make sure you buy an Autopass at Singapore's custom. Autopass is used to pay for shopping car park and ERP (highway toll which only opeartes on certain time of a day, free on Sunday). Next would be a cashcard, which can be bought in 7-Eleven. Based on my experience, some shopping mall's car park require Autopass while some require Cashcard, which can be a little confusing for first timer like me. Parking coupon is also needed for daytime and overnight car park at public place, or else prepare to receive a fine. 

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Want Some Bird Nest?

Everyone knows that bird nest (I'm talking about Swallow's bird nest that is expensive and can be eaten!) is a precious and nutritious food product. Now, bird nests are no longer available only in caves, where the process of extracting the bird nests are dangerous and requires skill.


Have you ever seen a building like this? It's big, 2-3 stories high and without exterior paint. Actually the building is used to attract the Swallows by emitting 'Swallow's noise'. Then Swallows will stay in that building and build its nest (bird nest!!). After a period of time, people will enter the building and collect the nests.


See the big hole? It's for the swallows to go into the building! There was only one small door for people to enter the building from the ground. Trust me, with so many concrete were used, the cost of building this thing does not come cheap.

*** *** ***

Remember the 'crop formation' spotted in one of my previous posts?


Later on I discovered the same logo on the newspaper as well! The answer to this mysterious phenomenon is unveiled - KOLONY! KOLONY ))K(( is an SMS-based social network that connects you to your friends. To get started, just send KOLONY to 25333. (You just need to have an Xpax, U.O.X., S.O.X. or Celcom mobile number to join!)

After you get your nickname, check out some of the ways you can socialize on Kolony:

• DING – Ding your buddies and leave them a message to cheer them up.

Send KDING to 25333

• BOMM – Have an update to share? BOMM it away to all your FRENs!

Send KBOMM to 25333

• FREN - FREN for life? Make as many as you can in Kolony!

Send KFREN to 25333

• POPP – Get to comment on what your buddies say!

Send KPOPP to 25333

You will need KOINZ to perform the activities mentioned above in Kolony. But how do you get KOINZ? All you need is make calls on the all NEW XPAX PLAN! Every single call you make on the NEW XPAX PLAN will earn you FREE KOINZ! Best of all, you'll only need a normal mobile phone, regardless it's a smartphone or with data or internet plan, you can use KOLONY!


With the all new XPAX plan, you can enjoy calls at only 28cents for 10 minutes to Celcom network or 5 minutes to other networks. Also, 1cent for a sms to Celcom network while 5cents to other networks! Now will you excuse me, I want to visit the nearest Celcom branch to get one now!

Check out www.kolony.com.my for more details!

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