Kara's Party Ideas

I am planning for my daughter and son's upcoming birthday party in August. They were both born in August and their age are only a year apart. I am a little obsessed with my children's birthday parties that I normally plan for months. This time I would love to throw them a circus birthday party as I know I would be able to create a wonderful atmosphere at the party with red and blue as the theme color and organise some fun carnival games.

Most of my party inspirations come from a few of my favorite blogs including Kara's Party Ideas. When I found out that Kara's Party Ideas is having a giveaway for a circus party pack worth $150, I became so excited and how I wish I could win the giveaway.

Kamalodge Resort Taiping

If people asked me where to stay in Taiping, I would definitely suggest they check-in Kamalodge Resort located near the oldest gardens in Malaysia, Taiping Lake Gardens. It's an affordable place to stay and the beautiful resort is just a walking distance from some tourist attractions like Maxwell Hil (Bukit Larut), Taiping Zoo, Commonwealth War Memorial and Perak Museum. Eventhough we stayed for one night at the resort when we visited our relatives in Taping in 2010, we had a good time there especially my children as they enjoy the pool facility at the resort. In front of one of the chalet    Our unit - double-storey suite At the coffee house waiting for breakfast to be served The pool My daughter & son had a blast at the pool

Taman Negara Penang... the smallest national park

On our second day of trip to Penang, we explore the smallest national park of Malaysia (probably the smallest national park in the world), the Penang National Park. The park has wetlands, mangroves, mudflats, turtle nesting beaches and the only meromictic lake in Peninsular Malaysia.

From the jetty, we chartered a boat to a nearby beach for a canopy walk. (the boat ride save our time for about 30 minutes of walking from the national park entrance to the canopy entry point). Then, the boat brought us to our next destination, Pantai Kerachut (the round trip boat ride cost us RM180). The key attraction of Pantai Kerachut is the meromictic lake that contains a mixture of fresh and sea water. There are only 19 meromictic lakes in the world.

We had our quiet and privacy swimming at the sandy beach of Pantai Kerachut as there was not many visitors there. The only way to get to the beach is by either walking through the jungle for about an hour or by taking a boat.

War Museum... "Welcome back to Malaya"

We had a great weekend as my family hits Penang Island for a short vacation. Penang has so many things to do that we simply couldn’t fit everything in a short weekend.

We visited the War Museum on Saturday afternoon and later get lazy on the beach that is just a walking distance from our resort. The next day we went for a nature walk at the smallest national park, Penang National Park. The food in Penang are just great and we really enjoy the authentic “nasi kandar” at the famous heritage restaurant, Line Clear.

We were enthralled by our historical visit to the War Museum. The museum is a military fortress built in 1930s on a 20-acre of land by the British to protect the island from the enemies. The fort has underground military tunnels, intelligence and logistic center, halls, offices, quarters and canon firing bays.

Before we enter the museum, the caretaker greeted us with “Welcome back to Malaya”. Yes, the place really brought us back to Malaya and the war time in the 1940s.  My son still talks about the war, soldiers and the museum and wants to have another visit to the war museum the next time we visit Penang.



The tunnel inside the command centre



Underground room, the command centre

The tunnel to the underground room

The quarters



Exhibition, the prisoners of war

 

The exhibition

 

The torture room (by the Japanese)

  



General Tomoyuki Yamashita Gallow (replica)

 



Replica of the British Administration office

 

Qaisara inside the secret tunnel

Qistina inside the secret tunnel

National Park, Taman Negara

Yesterday, a colleague asked me about our holiday trip to Taman Negara that he saw on my facebook. He plans to have a back to nature holiday trip with his friends and would like to know more about our family trip to Taman Negara. 

At Taman Negara we stayed in Mutiara Taman Negara Resort (no tv or radio in the chalet, probably they want us to enjoy the sound of nature at night). My children had their first time experience walking in a jungle and river boating which they really enjoyed. So after our visit to Taman Negara, whenever we go to a place that looks like a jungle, my children would call it Taman Negara. For them, any jungle or orchard or woods means “Taman Negara”. Even the woods behind my uncle’s house they call "Taman Negara".

Here’s the itinerary of our 2 day,1 night vacation at Taman Negara –

Day 1

Orang Asli Visit

Boating - Rapid Shooting

Swimming at Kuala Tahan river

Day 2

Jungle Trekking

Canopy Walk

What we missed during the trip?

- Jungle night walk

- Fishing trip

- Bird watching trip

- Caving

Since we’ve missed a number of activities, definitely we will come back to Taman Negara for another back to nature experience.





The entry point

 



At the jetty

On our way to a floating restaurant

Our chalet at Mutiara Taman Negara Resort



Rapid shooting trip



Rapid shooting ahead



Swimming at Kuala Tahan river



Orang Asli Village

Mother and daughter - Orang Asli Village

Jungle trekking

Canopy walk

Kuala Tahan River