Adventure Vacation Trip
type: channel
description: Off the Beaten Track Adventure Travel in Asia
date: 2013-12-30T02:33:22Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
generator agent: https://wordpress.org/
items: North Korea Trip (01 – Introduction & Trip Planning)
items: Gunung Pulai (Malaysia)
items: Gunung Nuang (Malaysia)
items: Sungai Rengit (Malaysia) – Day 2
items: Sungai Rengit (Malaysia) – Day 1
items: Standard Chartered Autoloan (GE Money) Review (Singapore)
items: Trips around Singapore
items: Walking across Singapore from East to West
items: Kluang and Kukup (Malaysia) – 4. Kukup and home
items: Kluang and Kukup (Malaysia) – 3. Kluang to Kukup
items: Kluang and Kukup (Malaysia) – 2. Arriving at Kluang
items: Kluang and Kukup (Malaysia) – 1. Introduction
items: Why you shouldn’t participate in voluntourism
items: Mt. Rinjani in Lombok, Indonesia – 7. Senggigi
items: Mt. Rinjani in Lombok, Indonesia – 6. Crater Rim 2 & Descent

North Korea Trip (01 – Introduction & Trip Planning)
type: item
creator: atticus
date: 2013-08-26T04:58:59Z
subject: North Korea
description: Introduction Mention North Korea as a tourist destination and you tend to get a myriad of responses. Are you sure we are allowed to visit North Korea? Is it safe? North Korea seems so grey. What’s there to see? Why … Continue reading →
encoded: Introduction Mention North Korea as a tourist destination and you tend to get a myriad of responses. Are you sure we are allowed to visit North Korea? Is it safe? North Korea seems so grey. What’s there to see? Why would I want to see a staged performance? And occasionally Sounds cool, tell me more about it! There are various reasons why one would want to visit North Korea. For me, every place can be interesting depending on your perspective. As long as you keep an open-mind, there is much to see, learn and understand. We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are – Talmud We have read a lot on the mass media about the Kim dynasty, the political and nuclear tensions, the improvished locals and the communist state control. But what exactly is the local vibe, what do the North Koreans want to show us, how much can we reconcile what we read about North Korea with what we actually see in North Korea? Getting into North Korea is not really a problem. Even Americans, North Korea’s arch enemy, are now allowed to visit the reclusive state. The key requirement for tourists is that they join a package tour. There are some do’s and dont’s which the tour company will advise. As long as you adhere to their rules and don’t do anything stupid (e.g. wandering off in the middle of the night without North Korean escorts, taking discriminating photos), North Korea is probably safer than many other tourist destinations. In this tightly controlled state with its highly discplined population, it is almost impossible for you to get scammed or have your pockets picked. Trip Planning With 5 like-minded friends, we started planning for our North Korea trip in September 2012 to coincide with the Arirang mass games and National Day. 2012 is also the 100th anniversary of the birth of DPRK President Kim Kim Il Sung. It’s hard to find a better time to visit. Coming from Singapore, we have basically three choices: Join a tour direct from Singapore Fly to Beijing and join a tour from ther…

Gunung Pulai (Malaysia)
type: item
creator: atticus
date: 2013-07-09T13:34:41Z
subject: Malaysia
subject: Mountain
description: Introduction Gunung Pulai is about the nearest mountain in Peninsular Malaysia which one can visit from Singapore. Standing at just 600m tall with a tarmac road trail, it’s an easy 3 hours workout. As I tracked the hike using my … Continue reading →
encoded: Introduction Gunung Pulai is about the nearest mountain in Peninsular Malaysia which one can visit from Singapore. Standing at just 600m tall with a tarmac road trail, it’s an easy 3 hours workout. As I tracked the hike using my Garmin GPS, if you need the route in GPX format, just post a comment and I will send the download link to your email. Gunung Pulai On a restless Saturday morning, I arranged to meet my Malaysian friend at his Johor home for a hike up Gunung Pulai. But before that, we drove to a nearby food center for breakfast. Along the way to the mountain, I learnt about the cost savings and practicalities of a car converted to use natural gas. Apparently, my friend used to work as a NGV salesman. It’s about an hour drive to the Gunung Pulai which is located near Pontian. The hike starts beyond the gate. Evidently, the mountain is popular with families. Scenery near the summit. We couldn’t really continue to the summit as there is a military base so that’s the end of the one-way 5km hike. On the return trip, we visited the streams and waterfall. Disclaimer: This trip was taken in May 2013. The information is provided ‘as is’ with no warranties and confers no rights. If you are interested to know more, please add a comment and I will update the post with more details.

Gunung Nuang (Malaysia)
type: item
creator: atticus
date: 2013-07-07T11:39:30Z
subject: Malaysia
subject: Mountain
description: Introduction Gunung Nuang is a 1,493m tall mountain bordering the state of Selangor and Pahang in Peninsular Malaysia. Because of its accessibility from Kuala Lumpur, it is a popular training ground for people who intend to tackle tougher hikes like … Continue reading →
encoded: Introduction Gunung Nuang is a 1,493m tall mountain bordering the state of Selangor and Pahang in Peninsular Malaysia. Because of its accessibility from Kuala Lumpur, it is a popular training ground for people who intend to tackle tougher hikes like Gunung Tahan. There are three hiking routes to the summit of Gunung Nuang. Kuala Pangsoon in Hulu Langat, Selangor Kampung Kemensah in Gombak, Selangor Bukit Tinggi in Bentong, Pahang From our research, the route at Kuala Pangsoon is more popular and well marked. As we don’t intend to hire a guide and wanted to simplify the transportation logistic, our plan is to hike up and down the same Kuala Pangsoon route. The estimated time needed for the entire hike is 10 hours. As my friends tracked the hike using their smartphone GPS, if you need the route and waypoints in GPX or KML formats, just post a comment and I will send the download link to your email. Courtesy of Tam Gunung Nuang We took an overnight coach from Golden Mile Tower in Singapore at 1158pm on a Friday. As I was quite tired, I managed to catch a few hours of sleep during the 5.5 hours journey. Usually, I can’t sleep well on a coach. We reached Berjaya Times Square at 530am where a prearranged coach picked us and drove us to Matahari Lodge near Petaling Street. After dropping stuffs which we do not need for the hike, we left for breakfast at 620am. Our driver dropped us at a coffeshop for nasi lemak, prata and teh tarik. We left at 7am and reached Gunung Nuang Hulu Langat entrance within an hour. There is a small carpark in the area. After some photo-taking and paying 1 MYR each for entrance, we officially started the hike at 8am. Seems like it’s the durian season. The beginning of the trail was an easy walk with some stream crossings to Lolo Camp. Watch out for such signs along the way. The trails got narrower and rougher as we went higher. Camp Pacat. Puncak Pengasih. The final stretch to the summit. The summit after a grueling five hours hike! No great views…

Sungai Rengit (Malaysia) – Day 2
type: item
creator: atticus
date: 2013-01-13T02:50:58Z
subject: Malaysia
description: Day 2 (Sungai Rengit back to Singapore) We woke up early to take some sunrise shots. Promoting my Nokia Lumia. 😀 There are a few other photograhers hanging around, waiting for the sun to be up. The sun graced us … Continue reading →
encoded: Day 2 (Sungai Rengit back to Singapore) We woke up early to take some sunrise shots. Promoting my Nokia Lumia. There are a few other photograhers hanging around, waiting for the sun to be up. The sun graced us with its appearance! After the photo taking, I went for a jog to burn some calories for more food. I remember thinking that if it’s just 30km from the ferry to Sungai Rengit, it’s possible to jog instead of cycling. After much musing and exploring the compact town, I headed back to the hotel for shower. And breakfast soon after that! I’m sure most of us have friends who like to fly home from a vacation in the evening so they can “maximise” their time overseas. I belong to the sort who prefer to reach home in the afternoon so I have enough time to unpack, meet up with friends to have a nice dinner and rest. And I always find that the mood on the last day of the vacation is often drag, even if you visit some places of interest, your mind is usually on the things that are waiting for you back home. So whenever possible, I would time the trip home in the late morning depending on the time needed for the return journey. No surpises that we decided to leave Sungai Rengit at around 9am. Passed by a mango farm which we did not visit. Riding speed of 16.7km/h That must be a huge lizard. J should refer to Jam, the malay word for hour. Back at Pengerang Ferry Terminal. The modus operandi is the same. You leave your passport to the counter and they will call you when the list of 12 people is full. Often, it’s quite a long wait. We waited for an hour. Well, goodbye Malaysia, till the next trip.

Sungai Rengit (Malaysia) – Day 1
type: item
creator: atticus
date: 2013-01-12T05:11:50Z
subject: Malaysia
description: Introduction Sungai Rengit is a town in Pengerang located at the southeastern trip of Johor. Just 35km south of Desaru, Sungai Rengit is an unassuming place with a few good seafood restaurants and small hotels. For this trip, our plan … Continue reading →
encoded: Introduction Sungai Rengit is a town in Pengerang located at the southeastern trip of Johor. Just 35km south of Desaru, Sungai Rengit is an unassuming place with a few good seafood restaurants and small hotels. For this trip, our plan is to take a bum boat from Singapore to Pengerang and cycle to Sungai Rengit for seafood lunch before heading back to Singapore. FH and I however decided to spend a night at Sungai Rengit to explore the area a little more. I brought along a GPS receiver and managed to track the route and waypoints shown below. If you would like a copy of the file in Garmin GDB format, just post a comment and I will send the download link to your email. Day 1 (Singapore to Sungai Rengit) We arrived early at Changi Village for breakfast and to rent bicycles. Originally, we wanted to rent our bicycles from Tristan Park in Pengerang who would pick us up from Pengerang ferry terminal to their place for bicycles. But they have recently stopped this service so we had to rent from Changi Village. Anyway, as the bicycle shops at Changi Village do not open that early, it’s advisable to make arrangements with the shops if you intend to set off before 9am. We rented our bikes from Mr. Bikes Enterprise from Blk 1, #01-250, Changi Village Road, Singapore 500001 (Tel 65420529). It cost SGD 10 per day of rental of one bike. After checking our bicycles for road worthiness, we headed to Changi Point Ferry Terminal (not to be confused with Changi Ferry Terminal). There are no fixed schedules for the bumboats making the rounds between Singapore and Pengerang. The bumboats will leave when there are 12 passengers or you can pay for the missing passengers. It cost S$11 for each passenger for the one way trip. Bringing along a bicycle cost an additional S$2. The earliest ferry leaves at around 7am. We left our passports at the operating desk to join the queue for the bumboats. We ended waiting quite a fair bit of time. It’s probably wise to come earlier or make up a big group…

Standard Chartered Autoloan (GE Money) Review (Singapore)
type: item
creator: atticus
date: 2013-01-08T02:35:18Z
subject: Life
description: My experience with Standard Chartered Autoloan: 28/11/2012 I sent my car loan application (on a weekday) via my dealer to Standard Chartered unaware about the weekend $100 petrol voucher promotion. 30/11/2012 Learnt about the weekend $100 petrol voucher promotion. Called … Continue reading →
encoded: My experience with Standard Chartered Autoloan: 28/11/2012 I sent my car loan application (on a weekday) via my dealer to Standard Chartered unaware about the weekend $100 petrol voucher promotion. 30/11/2012 Learnt about the weekend $100 petrol voucher promotion. Called Standard Chartered and asked if it’s possible to cancel the application and resubmit over the weekend to enjoy the promotion. I was given the affirmative. 01/12/2012 Thought it’s quite silly to cancel and resubmit so I explained my case to Standard Chartered via the online mailbox. A couple of days later, a lady called and told me they would be happy to give me the petrol vouchers once my loan is confirmed. A couple of days later, my loan was confirmed. 08/01/2012 It’s been one month and I already paid my first installation but I have yet to receive the petrol vouchers (which I read will be sent in one month). So I dropped another message to Standard Chartered via the online mailbox. A guy soon called and informed me that there is no record that I would be given the petrol vouchers. And as I am unable to give them the name of the lady who called me, they cannot check for me. This time, I asked for the guy’s name. He is Lucas. He claimed that according to their records, they do not have a person from their department (GE Money?) who called me in early Dec. He added that the lady might be somebody outside their department. And he is unable to check. (I have no idea who besides his department has the authority to call customers for such requests and how I can help him check.) When I asked if I can have an official email response from them, I was given the negative. So while my memory is fresh, I decided to write out the factual events that happened. From this whole episode, this is what I learnt: – Standard Chartered Auto Loan’s willingness to be flexible and provide good will to customers – Standard Chartered Auto Loan is unable to carry out its offer for various reasons – Standard Chartered either ha…

Trips around Singapore
type: item
creator: atticus
date: 2012-12-30T06:50:08Z
subject: Singapore
description: Some people complained Singapore of being artifical and stale. While the island does not really have much to offer in terms of nature sights due to its geographical makeout, it is not exactly a place without some pleasant surprises. There … Continue reading →
encoded: Some people complained Singapore of being artifical and stale. While the island does not really have much to offer in terms of nature sights due to its geographical makeout, it is not exactly a place without some pleasant surprises. There are still interesting places to visit and interesting things to do in the tiny state of Singapore. On this page, I would list out some of them. Hopefully, you would find it useful. Will update it over time. A Walk from East to West Pulau Semakau Bukit Brown Syonan Jinja Kranji Farms Pulau Ubin Kayaking Out of place restaurants Ulu Ulu Cafe Lounge The Coastal Settlement Bollywood Veggies Bistro at Gardenasia Hill Top Japanese Restaurant at Jurong Hill Blue Bali

Walking across Singapore from East to West
type: item
creator: atticus
date: 2012-12-23T03:47:21Z
subject: Singapore
description: Who knows why we do the things we do. It came to me one night during my 6 month job gap. I put some stuff into my backpack and caught a late train to Pasir Ris. And started walking home … Continue reading →
encoded: Who knows why we do the things we do. It came to me one night during my 6 month job gap. I put some stuff into my backpack and caught a late train to Pasir Ris. And started walking home to Boon Lay where I stay. My route (in yellow). Pasir Ris Station, the start of the journey. Interesting fact (from wiki): The first reference to a village of Pasir Ris, Passier Reis, appeared in 1853. There has been conjecture that perhaps this is a contraction of Pasir Hiris (pasir is “sand” and hiris means “to shred” in Malay). Tampines Station Interesting fact (from wiki): The name Tampines goes back to the Franklin & Jackson map of 1828. It is named after Sungei Tampenus, which in turn got its name from the tampines trees (Sloctia siderozylon) which are said to be growing there. Simei Station Interesting fact (from wiki): The name Simei is pinyin for “four beauties” in Chinese. Initially, the roads in this area was named after the four great beauties in Chinese history (Xishi, Wang Zhaojun, Diao Chan and Yang Guifei). However, due to difficulties in pronouncing these street names by the non-Chinese ethnicities, the roads were renamed Simei Streets 1 to 4. Good use of the land beneath the train tracks. Tanah Merah Station Tanah Merah was one of my most frequented MRT stations as I used to serve in the nearby military camp. I still go to the station from time to time when I take the public transport to Changi airport. Interesting fact (from wiki): The station is the only interchange station not to be part of two or more lines, due to it being an interchange between the main East West Line and the Changi Airport Branch Line. The station is also the only MRT interchange station to have only one alphanumeric symbol (as opposed to other interchange stations, which have at least two). Bedok Station Interesting fact (from wiki): The Malay word bedoh refers to a type of slit drum made from a large hollowed log for calling people to a mosque for prayers or to sound the alarm in the days b…

Kluang and Kukup (Malaysia) – 4. Kukup and home
type: item
creator: atticus
date: 2012-12-15T08:53:51Z
subject: Malaysia
description: Day 3 – Kukup and home The original plan for the morning was to visit Kukup Island National Park. But lazing around seem like a pretty good alternative. 😀 So here I was, reading Aravind Adiga‘s Between the Assassinations. The … Continue reading →
encoded: Day 3 – Kukup and home The original plan for the morning was to visit Kukup Island National Park. But lazing around seem like a pretty good alternative. So here I was, reading Aravind Adiga‘s Between the Assassinations. The assassinations refer to Indira Gandhi’s death in 1984 and that of her son, Rajiv Gandhi, in 1991. Took a few shots of the surrounding Kelongs. In case you are wondering, Kelong is a malay word for house built on water. The tide is rising. Some of our fishing neighbours caught a pufferfish. This is a fish of many names as taken from wikipedia – pufferfish, puffers, balloonfish, blowfish, bubblefish, globefish, swellfish, toadfish, toadies, honey toads, sugar toads, and sea squab. By late morning, we were packed and took a ferry for some sight-seeing. The fish farms. That’s Pulau Kukup National Park. Pulau is the malay word for island. A guided tour at a fish farm. Our tour guide was feeling the blues. But he soon recovered and delivered a well practised oratory of the fish farm and the sea creatures. Idyllic surroundings. Our lunch was arranged at Restoran High King. We only have to inform the staff that we can from Ah Lin. There must be a well-established system in place here. Food came fast despite the crowds. After lunch, our coach arrived and drove us back to Singapore, again to our individual homes. It’s been a nice short getaway trip!

Kluang and Kukup (Malaysia) – 3. Kluang to Kukup
type: item
creator: atticus
date: 2012-12-08T23:42:07Z
subject: Malaysia
description: Day 2 – Kluang to Kukup We arranged with one of the cab drivers who sent us back yesterday to pick us up this morning to Gunung Lambak. We bought some breakfast at the entrance of Gunung Lambak. With this … Continue reading →
encoded: Day 2 – Kluang to Kukup We arranged with one of the cab drivers who sent us back yesterday to pick us up this morning to Gunung Lambak. We bought some breakfast at the entrance of Gunung Lambak. With this second hike of Gunung Lambak, I came to realise that the routes up Gunung Lambak are in the shape of the figure 8. At the bottom of the mountain, there are two ways up to the midpoint near a pavilion. The path on the left (facing the mountain) nearer to the resorts is easier than the path on the right. Then from the pavilion, there are another two routes up to the summit. The path on the left (facing the mountain) is a steeper hike than the path on the right which passes through a “Selamat Datang Ke Gunung Lambak” gate. Midpoint of the hike, going a little further brings us to the pavilion. The pavilion where we took a short break. (Reusing a photo from an earlier Gunung Lambak trip) We took the easier path on the right beyond the huge sign below. Go straight until you hit a cross junction and take the left turn. Continue straight all the way to the summit. The 510m Gunung Lambak summit! Some flowers at the summit. Didn’t take much photos of the scenery as we spent much time taking jump shots. Started noticing the mushrooms during the descent. After the good morning workout, twe took the same cabs back to the hotel to wash up and check out. Our driver arrived at the appointed time and drove us to Kukup, not before stopping by Pontian town for lunch. Arrival at Kukup! Ah Lin’s friend directed us to the chalet. Seems like a nice place! With four rooms of various sizes, the place can easily accomodate 20 people. The living room with Mahjong table, lcd television and karaoke system. There is a table tennis table outside as well. Tour of the kitchen. Water, kettle, soft drinks, instant beverages.. basically very well provisioned. There are only squat toilets. What goes through the hole goes directly to the sea. Seems better to do your business during high tide. The back…

Kluang and Kukup (Malaysia) – 2. Arriving at Kluang
type: item
creator: atticus
date: 2012-12-02T04:36:17Z
subject: Malaysia
description: Day 1 – Arriving at Kluang The driver arrived at my place 8am sharp and we went about picking the rest from 5 separate destinations with almost military precision. It’s nice to travel with punctual people. 🙂 By 9am, we … Continue reading →
encoded: Day 1 – Arriving at Kluang The driver arrived at my place 8am sharp and we went about picking the rest from 5 separate destinations with almost military precision. It’s nice to travel with punctual people. By 9am, we were at the causeway. It can get slightly busy to be crossing the borders at this hour to Malaysia. But I figured that it’s a good balance between waking up too early and avoiding the busiest hours. As our ride was a Malaysian registered commercial coach, we had to alight from the vehicle, go through the customs and board the vehicle again. Using a private vehicle would allow us to cross the customs without getting off the vehicle. However, a private vehicle need to use the private vehicle lanes versus the dedicated bus lane. The private vehicle lanes are usually more busy and can come to a near standstill when returning on Sundays. So there are pros and cons on the use of different type of vehicles. Another consideration was the use of the causeway versus the second link. The second link is slightly further with higher fees but is usually not as crowded as the causeway. I did checked with the driver when making the arrangement and he told me he would be using the causeway. I respected his choice and did not question further. After clearing the customs, we stopped by Queen Park Restoran for breakfast. Most of us had the Laksa Yong Tau Foo. And a side dish of egg tarts. And some herbal You Tiao. Know why the compact discs are hanging above the food? Apparently, the houseflies are scared of their own reflections. Zen Xin Organic Farm is located along Jalan Batu Pahat towards the direction of Kluang town. I had made pre-arrangements with Zen Xin for a farm tour package. The knowledgeable guide brought us around and explained a lot of things. Unfortunately, I have forgotten most of them. Admittedly, I wasn’t paying a lot of attention. Guess what we are making? Curry puffs! From the shapes, it’s probably obvious they were self-made. After a steamboat lunch a…

Kluang and Kukup (Malaysia) – 1. Introduction
type: item
creator: atticus
date: 2012-11-18T06:13:19Z
subject: Malaysia
description: Introduction Looking to get out of Singapore for the upcoming Hari Raya long weekend, my friends (ex-colleagues) and I decided on a trip to Malaysia. Even though I have been to many short trips to Malaysia, this would be the … Continue reading →
encoded: Introduction Looking to get out of Singapore for the upcoming Hari Raya long weekend, my friends (ex-colleagues) and I decided on a trip to Malaysia. Even though I have been to many short trips to Malaysia, this would be the first time I am organising one. The main goal of the trip is to have a fun and relaxing time. My friends are not keen hikers but I figured that a variety of activities including an easy summit like Gunung Lambak in Kluang would be interesting. Zenxin farm visit and local walkabout are other planned activities for Kluang. We would be spending the night at the highly-rated Rail Hotel. After Kluang, the next stop would be Kukup. Known for its rustic kelong life and excellent seafood, Kukup has always been a popular tourist destination among Singaporeans. But somehow, most of my friends and I had never visited Kukup. So why not during this trip? As with most trips, there were a slew of problems to settle. First off is transport. I originally wanted us to take the train from Woodlands to Kluang for the experience. However, when I tried to purchase the train tickets in advance, I realised that for such short distances, we are not allowed to buy train tickets until the day before the journey. It made sense because KTM need to cater to the popular route from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. Usually, unless there are last minute cancellations, there wouldn’t be any tickets left for the short journeys. I did found a workaround which is to buy an advance ticket to the nearest allowed destination (Segamat) and just alight at Kluang. It definitely cost more but that’s not the only issue. As it’s Hari Raya weekend and I didn’t manage to consolidate all passport information early enough, there weren’t enough train tickets left. So I was left with the easy choice of getting a chartered coach. I sent out a few emails to the transport operators we have used before for quotes. While waiting for the transport operators to get back, I tried looking for a kelong at Kukup. …

Why you shouldn’t participate in voluntourism
type: item
creator: atticus
date: 2012-11-14T12:21:25Z
subject: General
description: Thought this is a good article to share. NOBODY DECIDES to travel halfway around the world to spend weeks or months of their life undermining a local community. But voluntourism – like that famous quote about the paving on the … Continue reading →
encoded: Thought this is a good article to share. NOBODY DECIDES to travel halfway around the world to spend weeks or months of their life undermining a local community. But voluntourism – like that famous quote about the paving on the road to hell – often comes close. The debate about the practice, like most things in life, is far more ethically nuanced than many organisations facilitating such experiences often let on. Voluntourism has gained an appeal amongst travelers with a wide range of motivations, time, and skills, from volunteers in organised groups such as the Kiva Fellows to handfuls of backpackers stopping off for a week in Siem Reap. The appeal of wanting to get involved in ‘making things better’ for local groups, orphanages, schools or other projects is the glue that holds many different strains of voluntourism together. And the ground on which fierce debates have raged for a few years already on whether particular flavours of voluntourism are helpful, ethically bankrupt, or simply benign. If you are intending to do some good on your next journey abroad, you have a responsibility to be aware of some of the practical and ethical questions that you are likely to confront on the way. Although, in the end, how and where you decide to volunteer is ultimately going to be up to you, if you have some degree of dedication to the idea of doing good (you are volunteering after all), then these questions matter. Let’s start from the top. I want to volunteer at an orphanage… If your prospective NGO/local partner tells you about going to an orphanage and hugging/playing/otherwise interacting with local children, walk away. Orphanage love programs, while fantastic for pulling at the heart strings of travelers, positively overflow with ethical and practical problems. In the first instance – and particularly in areas of extreme poverty – foreigners paying money either to operators or to orphanages directly for the privilege of interacting actually serves to create a market for …

Mt. Rinjani in Lombok, Indonesia – 7. Senggigi
type: item
creator: atticus
date: 2012-10-28T06:51:10Z
subject: Indonesia
subject: Mountain
description: Journey Day 5 (Senggigi) I woke up very early at 5am and washed my dirty boots and backpack. At 630am, I went for a walk and a long breakfast. Even though we have some time in the morning and early … Continue reading →
encoded: Journey Day 5 (Senggigi) I woke up very early at 5am and washed my dirty boots and backpack. At 630am, I went for a walk and a long breakfast. Even though we have some time in the morning and early afternoon, we just lazed around the hotel. I spent much of the early afternoon watching the fishermen. At 230pm, we left the hotel and visited a local restaurant recommended by our tour company. The lunch cost us 360k. We selected quite a few unique dishes. After lunch, we headed to the airport and the flight left on time. That’s all folks, until the next trip. And thanks to Bob for organising the trip!

Mt. Rinjani in Lombok, Indonesia – 6. Crater Rim 2 & Descent
type: item
creator: atticus
date: 2012-10-28T06:36:47Z
subject: Indonesia
subject: Mountain
description: Journey Day 4 (Crater Rim 2 & Descent) Woke up at 630am to a breakfast of banana fritters, french toast and the usual pineapples. A video of the crater lake in the morning: The tour company provide and carry more … Continue reading →
encoded: Journey Day 4 (Crater Rim 2 & Descent) Woke up at 630am to a breakfast of banana fritters, french toast and the usual pineapples. A video of the crater lake in the morning: The tour company provide and carry more than enough water for us so there is no need to carry additional water on our own. Some fellow Singaporeans were also camping by the lake. It’s always fun to meet fellow countrymen and countrywomen on foreign soils. We exchanged our Rinjani experience and took a group photo together. We finally left at 720am. But not before Abdul received a Singapore flag as souvenir from the other Singaporeans we met. It’s Singapore’s national day and they brought along our flag to plant at Rinjani’s summit. Another shot of the beautiful caldera lake. Up we go towards Plawangan 1 Senaru Crater Rim (2,461m) to explore the views of the lake from the other side. We reached Plawangan 1 Senaru Crater Rim just before 12pm. We took a lot of photos with the fluffy clouds. Now that I think about clouds, I find that I am often mesmerized by the different cloud formations and how little I know about them. A good read over at Wikipedia. Descend again. We reached a rest point at 1230pm. After a short rest, I decided to do a run down with Abdul for Pos 3. Leaving the rest point at 1245pm, we finished the trail in just 20 minutes. Normal walking would have taken an hour. I found the run to be exhilarating. As it’s a steep and winding downward slope, you have to keep your gravity low and place your step carefully to prevent “overruns”. I wonder if this is how trail running feels like. I should do it more often. Pos 3 was pretty crowded as a common stop point for meals. We had gado-gado. With the same few basic ingredients, the cooks still managed to dish out a variety of meals every time. By this time, most of us were tired after these few days of walking. We were basically just looking forward to reaching the next Pos and completing our journey. Here are some of the timings I took for th…