Weekend in Kerteh

The common question that comes from people for us who are working in Kerteh is that, "What do you do during weekends?" First thing is to laugh. lol

Usually, I will just say nothing you can do except eat, sleep, movie and drama series. Then, I thought alright it's time to tell the world Kerteh is not just about eat sleep movie drama. lol 

Kerteh is located in South Terengganu, nearing to Kuantan, Pahang not in the north towards Thailand border. Just in case you have no idea where Kerteh is because people do ask me that haha

Anyway, one of the weekend activities that you can do, hike/jog at Bukit Bauk, Dungun. It is two towns away from Kerteh, only 45 minutes drive away. 

Although it is not a big mountain to hike but it could be quite challenging as the hill is really steep all the way up. You barely go up and down. It is always up and up lol For those who hike, you know going downhill is not an easy task as well. So, you will be going down and down steep hills. For UTP-ians, a good benchmark is Bukit Keledang, only difference is the steepness which doubled.

Overall, it is still a good hike or jog if you want. Advisable to go as early as possible to get nice morning breeze. Not too sure about watching sunrise, not that I know of. Don't expect spectacular scenery on the top, not to discourage  you but it's still a good morning hike you can do during weekends here :) 

We were quite tired by the time we reached the top so we hang around there before coming down and of course taking photos as our energizer! haha

This kind of trip works best with friends together as we get chatty along the way and enjoy the hike. View from the top is simple but I guess reaching the peak is a great achievement with that steepness :D

Dungun is also famous for its 'Megi Ketam'. Basically, maggie with crab. Who doesn't love maggie? haha Unfortunately, it is only open in the evening and we didn't get to drop by for some. Will be back again.

Certified PADI Diver Now

*time to post out of my draft box.

Finally did my Open Water Dive Course and got my PADI certification. Such a great achievement lol Been wanting to do it since when I was in UTP and just excuses after excuses, I got to nowhere. Now that the island has been "brought" nearer to me, I've got no excuses to give haha Wonder if that's the reason I got posted to East Coast.

So, one of the weekend when I knew there's a Malaysia Day holiday, I straight away took a leave on Sunday (yeah..I'm working on a Sunday) and signed up a 4 days diving course at Pulau Perhentian.

Was recommended by people, Panorama Diver is a great diving shop to start out. It was quite a last minute thing, and we thought ok, if we can't book a place then we'll just go next time. But of course, when you hope for something, it turned out something else haha

Off we went on a Friday, totally excited! Woke up super early and starts our journey about 5am. It was my second time to Pulau Perhentian. The last was at Perhentian Besar Coral Bay which I finds it too boring and small. Perhentian just didnt give me any great impression.

But when I arrived at Long Beach Perhentian Kecil, it was totally different. The scene is almost like Redang although not as beautiful. Then, I realised it was an 'ang mo' island :) Anyway, first thing you will see is Panorama Diver shop itself which is great, you don't have to search for it.

The place was decorated nicely which makes you feel welcomed and excited for the holiday. They made the environment seems fun. There you see Panorama Diver and panorama Chalets & Restaurant. Please do not be confused as both is two different entity.

We checked in and met some dive instructors. It was quite a free and easy kind of schedule. They arranged our dive schedule according to our preference and time. It was quite relaxing and enjoyable. First day, was more like theory, watching videos about diving fundamentals. We did it together with another two Germany girls who came and decided they want to take the diving license spontaneously. How awesome.

Kinda like I'm the Panorama girl. lol Since first day has nothing much, we just hang around the beach and thank God for all the 4 days we were there, it was not even raining at all despite the rainy season. There are lots of things you can do there. You can even sign up for yoga class by the beach.



We had our first dive on the second day. Like Yay! the fun part finally arrived. Our dive instructor was Pablo and he gave us a short briefing on our first dive. He was such a great instructor, funny, witty and friendly. Diving was made easy by him.

First very important lesson to learn is to breathe continuously in water and stay calm. I did have some difficulty in equalizing the pressure in my body and hence got disturbed by it during the first dive. But the next one onwards, I actually manage to master the equalizing part and voila! Everything else became amazing underwater.

We have to check and fix our own diving stuff after being taught. That's still fine. The only thing I hate is to carry that heavy tank to the boat. The first time I carried it, maybe they fix it the wrong height, it hurts my back badly. I remember how I hate carrying my own ski when go skiing at the mountains too. It's heavy and troublesome lol

This is the after diving moments, cleaning equipment and keeping it the correct way. Not something you would like to do after diving haha But in any case this diveshop made it very organized and neat. There are specific bins for BCDs, fins, goggles and appropriate area for hanging.

The area is cosy for hang out and not to mention the people there are awesome. What we do every morning is we ordered the food from the restaurant and eat it at the diveshop while the instructor explained our next dive mission. Ok mission sounds like a big plan haha

Too bad we don't have a waterproof camera to capture all those creatures underwater. The only creature we manage to capture is that sea cucumber lol Will make sure the next round we get someone with GoPro cam =P

Well, couldn't express how awesome underwater life is until you experience it yourself, really. As a beginner, the deepest we could go is 18m and the deepest we managed to go is 16.9m. Best creature seen is Jenkins' Whirpray Stingray and Porcupine fish. Porcupine fish is my all time favourite since a kid, am always amazed by its bloated body haha But sadly during that time it did not bloat. Still, it's great I finally see it underwater myself.

  

The one I saw is the one on the left. The one I wanted to see is the one on the right. 

After the fourth day of diving, we wanted to try an adventure dive at Sugar Wreck where there are thousands of fishes around the sunken boat/ship. Sounds like a mermaid fairytale already lol It seems scary at first but I think it's worth exploring. Anyhow, we just have to go back because it was a working day the next day. We will be back for this for sure.

Sugar Wreck at Perhentian Island. Credits to this youtuber.

Our diving package + accommodation sums up to RM1050. Rating wise, diving shop is great but accommodation sucks to the max. Advisable to stay somewhere else but dive at Panorama Divers :)

Yay! Next diving spot will be Pulau Tenggol. Looking forward to it next year! More to come hopefully. Life in Kerteh not so bad after all.

Austria, reliving once more.

This could be a long lost post about my travels in Europe. I had a great time in Europe during my internship; did it in a small cosy town, Wels, Austria. I thought it will be good to jot down the places that I've been and the little memoirs I had at all of the little places I dropped by. It has been a year plus since I came back from Europe haha but somehow most of the fond memories are still kind of fresh in my head. I still wish I could relive that moment once more. Definitely, want to visit Europe again in times to come.

So, here goes the diary of my travel. I'll start off with Austria itself as it is a wonderful country although small in its size, it gives you the best mountain side scenery. I love how Austria being the centre of the Europe surrounded by different countries where I find it convenient to travel about; either to the East or to the West. 

I live in a small town called Wels. I love how everything is accessible by walking distance. The supermarkets and shopping area are just 10 - 15 mins away from where I stay. You tend to meet your friends on the way and most of all, the weather is cool enough even during summer that you don't sweat while walking. damn Malaysians. lol

 During summer, you get to dip into the river and sunbathe by the river which is a usual hangout spot for the Europeans during this season. The water will still be cold even though it is summer and there is a nice traun (river in German) right behind my hostel. During the weekends, other than volleyball we will head for the river for some sunbathing. It is never nice to stay in the room during weekends because it is so hot inside there's no fan or aircond, you just need to get out and have fun :P

Ducks may also appear along the river, dipping together under the sun. They will disappear or maybe a proper word to describe is migrate to another area during winter since the water is icy cold. It is my first time getting this near to nature which I never do in Malaysia. haha

Most people own a floating boat which they will row along the river or just relax floating on the river. This is how clean and serene the place is. You can practically just do anything you can think of during summer. I mean there's hardly any restriction what you can do to the river as long as you keep it clean and legal. lol

Yes, cycling is part of the culture here. You either own a car or a bike or both. Bike is essential which get you anywhere quickly in town and apart from that, leisure where you can even get your bike on the train and head to another city to cycle. I have yet to try this sports as I have no bike. I will want to try one day. I think it's awesome you don't need to have a car to bring your bike to another city to explore. Just ride to the nearest train station and off you go as far as you can go.

During some weekends, I will go for a stroll with my friends in the small little wood beside the river. Just being with the nature you know haha I always get excited whenever we're having such plans. It feels good after a whole week of stress in the office. Usually, after the strolling we'll drop by some cafe or crash somebody's place to hang out and have a good chat. There are these few people whom we can get along, like have a good talk and laugh which I feel great after meeting them.

There's this place by the river that has good cocktails and drinks. Don't really remember the name but it is kind of obvious if you walk along the river itself. It only opens during summer as it is an open-spaced restaurant. So, it is closed during winter. 

You get to sip some cocktails or juices and enjoy the serene environment =) 

Another good place for kebap and pizzas is the Palace. If you're familiar with Europe, kebaps are kind of common in most places. When I said kebap, it is not the typical Malaysian kebap haha It is somewhat like the Subway but in a round burger shape instead. Too bad I have no pictures of it. In fact, there's two types of kebap, a burger shaped kebap and a wrap (like McD's twister). But I always prefer the round ones. 

These are the pizzas at the Palace. There are variety of flavours and they are seriously good. Must try when you're at Wels :D And it's a halal place actually as it is opened by the Turkeys. This was the first place I learned my German for food lol It is a good place to learn actually because the menus are filled with ingredients of the pizza which forces you to learn if you want to avoid certain ingredient lol 

The best part about Europe is the ice-cream lol They called it Eis in German. I never fail to get an ice-cream every week after work especially on Friday. haha Il Gelato serves superb ice-cream or maybe the only one in town I guess because I didn't see any other ice-cream shops. It only cost 1 Euro for a scoop. A big scoop actually and it is equivalent to Baskin Robbins here >.< 

My all time favourite is the Pistachio Mint and the Strawberries one (with real strawberries in it). Any flavours taste good actually and they're very rich which totally fulfilled your taste buds :))

Lastly, the thing that I always wanted to do most when I'm in Europe is to lie down on the park's grass land. lol Maybe we get to do it here also lar but then the feel is different with the environment so clean and peaceful, with the garden flowers so fresh and all. I love to drop by this garden called Burggarten in Wels. It is on my way back home. Sometimes, when I feel like it, I just drop by and turn one round before heading back haha Sometimes during weekends, I'll drop by, sit on the bench while watching people around or read a novel or something. It's really nice to have that feeling. Even the teenagers had picnics and hang out there which was surprising it was not the shopping malls they headed. 

During winter the ice skating rink (Kunsteisbahn in German) will open and swimming pool turns indoor with warm pool available. Outdoor restaurants all turned indoor and everything turns indoor lol At some place, you still get to skate outdoor which is awesome too with the lightings around usually nearing Christmas with the Christmasy feel :)

In fact, the ice rink here uses real ice according to my friend because she felt funny when I mentioned that we also have an ice skating rink in a shopping mall. She was curious how to have ice skating rink when there is no snow in Malaysia. lol The ice there is much drier also which makes me tend to fall off. Maybe I'm just not a good skater too lol 

Ahh, how I miss that small little town and friends. =')