PLUS Highway Speed Trap

Was made aware of this by the Wifey in regards to speed traps on the highway.
So just to share it out for those frequent travellers out there.

PLUS North Bound (ke Utara)
*Under a bridge at about 456km, Sg Buloh junction.
*Under a bridge at about 459km, Bukit Lanjan interchange.
*Under the overhead restaurant at Sg Buloh.
*Under the last bridge before Sg Besi toll at 309.2km.
*Under the bridge at 296.5km, Bangi junction.
*Under the newly constructed bridge at 289.0km, after Nilai North junction.
*Under the bridge at 286.5km, Nilai North junction.

PLUS South Bound (ke Selatan)
*Below signboard at about 454.6km and 455.2km, Sg Buloh layby.
*Under the bridge after Subang junction at 11.3km.
*Under the bridge at 22km, Bukit Lanjan junction.
*Under the bridge before Mint hotel, Sg Besi Toll. 80km/h only!
*Under the bridge at 302.8km, Kajang junction.
*About 1km south of Bangi junction, both south and north bound outer lanes
*At 296.5km and 297km, Bangi junction.
*Under the newly constructed bridge at 289.0km, before Nilai North junction.
*At 285.5km and 285.8km, Nilai North junction.
*On center divider at 251.8km and 253km after Senawang junction.
*After Alor Gajah junction at 213.9km, next to water theme park.
*Behind the right hand crash barrier at 198.4km.

Elite Central Link East/North Bound
*On left hand side at 4.8km after Batu Tiga/Shah Alam exit
*Under the overhead restaurant at USJ/Hicom junction about 8.5km. 90km/h zone!
*Below the bridge before USJ/Hicom junction at 10.5km.

Elite Central Link West/South Bound
*Under the overhead restaurant at USJ/Hicom junction about 8.5km. 90km/h zone!
*Below the bridge before USJ/Hicom junction at 10.5km.
*After exit from KLIA toll to the airport, below Jalan Pekeliling flyover.90km/h

NKVE East/North Bound
*300m before Jalan Duta toll, 60km/h!
*Behind crash barrier on the left when going towards Jalan Duta toll, at 24.9km, 80km/h!
*Below bridge at Damansara Junction, 17.5km

NKVE West/South Bound
*Behind crash barrier on the left when leaving Jalan Duta toll from KL, at 25.3km and 25.7km, 80km/h!
*From Jln Duta, below the bridge, 23km, 80km/h zone!
*From Jln Duta, at the underpass at Sg Buloh Y-junction, 22km.
*Behind crash barrier at Damansara Junction, 17.7km and 16.8km
*Below railway bridge at 11.2km
*Under the bridge at Shah Alam junction.

Kesas East Bound
*Under the bridge at 44.8km, downhill run after Puchong junction.

Kesas West Bound
*At Sg Besi side of East Bound Toll. Kuala LumpurCity
*Jalan Duta; below the flyover at the Damansara junction, 70km/h zone.

Klang
*Dual carriageway between Klang and Port Klang. Towards Klang direction, at about 13km mile stone. 70km/h only!

East Coast
*Road sign at Karak highway is inadequate especially at Y junction; if you are unfamilar, go slow.
*East bound, downhill run after Raub junction.
*Maran, 60km/h zone.
*Paya Bungor, 70km/h zone.

SPEED TRAPS IN JOHOR
South Bound
*Tangkak junction.
*Under the bridge after Yong Peng

North junction
*at 97.3km.
*Ayer Hitam junction.
*Sedenak junction.

SPEED TRAPS IN PERLIS, KEDAH AND PENANG

North Bound
*Around Ayer Hitam in 60km/h zone.
*Before Perwaja Steel.
*Sg Petani junction.
*Between Seberang Jaya junction and Sg Dua Toll.
*PenangBridge at island end. Speed limit 80km/h.

South Bound
*Penang Bridge Island end. Speed limit 80km/h.
*About 2km before Juru Toll Speed limit 90km/h.

SPEED TRAPS IN PERAK

North Bound
*Under the bridge at 197.1km and 198.8km, after Kamunting Junction.
*Under the bridge at 204.3km, after Kamunting Junction.
*Under the bridge at 208km, before Kamunting Junction.
*Under the bridge at 214.8km, before Kamunting Junction.
*Ipoh Vista Point at about 263km. Speed limit 80km/h.
*Under the bridge at 271km, Ipoh North Junction.
*Under the bridge at 274.4km, Ipoh South Junction.
*Under the bridge at 286.9km, Simpang Pulai Junction.
*Under the bridge at 296km, Gopeng Junction.
*Under the bridge at 352.6km, after Sungkai Junction.
*Under the bridge at 353km, Sungkai Junction.
*Under the bridge at 373km, Slim River Junction.

South Bound
*Under the bridge at 199km, before Kamunting junction.
*Under the bridge at 241.9km, at Kalau Kangsar junction.
*Under the sign post at 296.1km, before Gopeng junction.
*Under the bridge at 297km, at Gopeng junction.
*Under the bridge at 300km, after Gopeng junction.
*Under the bridge at 308.6km, after Gopeng junction.
*Under the bridge at 372.6km, at Slim River junction.

Kampung Warisan (Heritage Village), Muzium Sabah

I would say that if you only have time to visit ONE heritage site at Kota Kinabalu, Muzium Sabah would be the place to go.

Built in 1985, the museum complex is cited where the then British North Borneo Governor's Istana was once located. The Museum consists of the Main Building, Science and Education Centre, Heritage Village, Sabah Art Gallery and Museum of Islamic Civilization.

You are not allowed to take pictures inside the museum galery. I was stopped by the guard the moment I went into the building since I had the typical tourist posture with the camera hanging over my neck.

Personally, the most interesting part of the museum is the Heritage Village (in which I shall be blogging today).

At the Heritage Village, one can sample the various type of traditional houses of the various indigenous groups of Sabah.

I must say that as you walk along the footpath, one can't help but be amazed by the serenity of the park and its surroundings.

One of my favourite of the whole village. A man made lake surrounded by heritage buildings

Same place but different angle

Another different angle of the same place

Guess you are getting bored of the same scene huh? :P

Self Explanatory

Rungus Longhouse or "vinatang" (in Rungus Language)

As the name suggest, the Rungus Longhouse is indigenous to the Rungus people. They are a subgroup of the KadazanDusun community.

Each Rungus Longhouse (vinatang) measures 3 meters by 15 meters and comprises a long gallery or corridor (langsang sid apad), where socializing and community activities takes place, as well as several family 'apartments' (valai) each with own sleeping unit (tingkang sid ongkob), areas for cooking and working (langsang sid ongkob) and an attic (abai sid ongkob) and (abai sid apad). each family has its own valai. A typical longhouse has about ten valai, but larger ones may have fifteen or more.

Rumah Cina (Chinese Farm House)

Sulap Bangkawan (Skull Hut)

Another interesting place to visit is the Skull Hut which was a culture left behind when headhunters still roamed Borneo.

A "Bangkawan" hanging at the ceiling of the hut

A bangkawan is a collection of human skulls which is used to be suspended from the rafters of a Kadazandusun house in the old days. Sometimes sea-shells and animal boned were added to it.

This is a relic of the headhunting days, when the owners believed that hanging the skulls in the house would bring good fortune to the household.

A feast called magang would be held every five years to appease the spirits of the skulls. The ceremony carried out by bobohizans or priestesses involved invocations to drive away evil spirits and would last for seven days.

Brunei House

Can't remember what this house is called but i love the observatory tower.

So if you are visiting Kota Kinabalu for the first time, do not forget to give this place a visit.

Pulau Sapi, Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, Sabah

My first stop during my Kota Kinabalu trip was Pulau Sapi which is one of the 5 islands in Tunku Abdul Rahman (TAR) Marine Park. The island is about 15 minutes by boat from the Sutera Harbour marina (I was stayed at Pacific Sutera - a stone throw away from the jetty).

The Tunku Abdul Rahman Park consist of 5 islands namely, Gaya, Sapi, Manukan, Mamutik and Suluk. Arguably, Manukan island is suppose to be the most popular among the 5 islands. However, since I was planning to do the underwater walking, I went to Sapi instead.

This is actually the second time that I've been to Pulau Sapi. My last visit was almost 3 years ago. The island didn't look as clean as it used to be.

Did a bit of snorkeling and as expected, although there is still plenty of fish, the corals seems to be dying off. I was a sad sight. I asked the guide about the state of the islands and was told that the corals are indeed dying from overpopulation of tourist.

Makes me wonder what would happen in the next 5 years.


Slightly disappointed from the snorkeling, I headed off for some underwater walking adventure. The last time I came I didn't go for the underwater walking cause i felt that it was blardy expensive. This time though (still blardy expensive) i somehow manage to part with RM180 for a 20 minute underwater experience.

We were taken by boat to this platform

The headgear that keeps us alive and breathing while walking 8 feet under

Once we reached the floating platform, we were instructed to wear a pair of rubber shoes that was provided for us. We were then asked to climb down a ladder (see the girl with her butt facing you? That's where we climbed down).

Here's a short clip of me downthere.

Short Break

Its 3.47am,

Just finished packing.


I'll be off for a short vacation.


My pick up will be here in roughly 30-40 minutes time.


Shall be taking a slow drive to LCCT for my 9am flight.


Will be back Monday night.

Vacation

Planning my next short trip in August. Can anyone guess where this place is??

I'll give you a candy for the right answer =))

Great Wisdom Temple, Hat Yai

The Great Wisdom Temple was one of the most rewarding stops of my whole sightseeing trip in Hat Yai. Rewarding in a sense that I was pretty happy with most of the pictures taken there. It was only a brief 20 minute stop since we were due to check-in at the Lee Garden Plaza Hotel at 2pm and we wanted to have a quick look around Songkla on the same day.

I was greeted with two of this situated at both sides of the arch as we enter the temple

I did not have time to get to know the history of the temple since I was pretty much busy snapping pictures with the limited time I had but from what I was told, the temple is actually a learning center for Buddhist teaching.

Most Thai believes that all man must become a monk when they reach the age of 20 (or when they feel that they are at a right age). This act is said to enable their mothers to be blessed and move on to heaven. However the duration of which they remain as a monk may vary from a few weeks to even years (the former being the most common). This revelation explains why monks are a very respectable group of people in Thailand.

The 8 storey pagoda stands out prominently as you enter the Buddhist Park

The temple itself consist of a couple of administrative buildings and the main Buddhist Park situating an 8 storey pagoda and various statues scattered prominently all over the park. I was pretty impressed with the set up and the fact that they have a computer lab on a separate building. Monks nowadays are really tech savvy.

One of the statues at the Buddhist Park

The laughing Buddha chilling out at the park

The last 3 pictures is my favourite among all the pictures taken here. The first one being the fire symbol located at the top of the arch (at the entrance) and the Buddhist burial ground of some sort which I took in a rush since everyone was already rushing towards the bus.

The fire carrying lotus

Love this pic, feels so serene

Buddhist monk statues

To those going to Hat Yai, the Great Wisdom Temple is certainly one of the places you would want to see.

The Infamous Hat Yai Bazaar

Update: Thanks to Sz, I finally found out that the bazaar is called Hat Yai Plaza

A trip to Hat Yai would not be complete if you have not visited the "infamous" Hat Yai Bazaar. I have no idea what this bazaar is called (anyone can tell me?) but just tell the Tut Tut driver that you want to go to the market/bazaar and they will drop you off here.

Oh yeah, for those coming to Hat Yai, the current rate for Tut Tut is 20 bhat per person if your traveling within town. You should not be paying anything more then that.

The bazaar consist of narrow alleyways packed with rows after rows of stalls selling items ranging from local food products, clothing's, kitchenware to bags and shoes. You can find many fake branded items here cheap and of reasonable quality.

Be sure to bargain when your here. A good start off point would be 50% lower then the asking price. Do not hesitate to bargain lower or you will be paying a lot more then what the item is worth.

I bought a collar shirt at 150 baht, the offer price was 480 baht (I tend to bargain shamelessly).

To say that the bazaar is a huge maze is no understatement. I lost my way a few times trying to locate the shop that I wanted to go back to a few times.

This picture is taken from the shop I got my 3 pairs of shoes for RM130
Its called the "2nd row shoe shop". Stupid me forgot to take a picture of the signboard.

To be continued......

Hat Yai Trip : Part 1

Say hello to my bus. I said my bus because we chartered the 26 seater bus for this trip. We wanted free and easy so it made sense chartering a bus for the trip. I got a pleasant surprise when Lily told me the price would include a local guide that would be joining us when we reach Sadao (the thai side of the border that we shall be passing through).

The bus we chartered

I must say, despite the looks, the seat was really comfortable

We started our journey at around 1am and reached Bukit Kayu Hitam which is the transit point to Thailand at around 6am. Since we were pretty early, there was hardly any queue. While queuing to have my border pass stamped, I happily took a few pictures only to be stopped later on by an immigration officer. Apparently we are not allowed to take pictures. I was a bit puzzled to be honest since I don't see why we are not allowed to do so.

It was after this shot that I heard a shout "hei! tak boleh ambil gambar disini!!"

And what do you do the first thing you are at the immigration centre? Duty free shop!

I ended up not buying any booze since I could not bring them back tax free due to my short stay there.

Once we pass the Thai immigration point, we met Ah Sun, our Thai tour guide. He is a middle aged Thai Chinese that speaks fluent Cantonese.

We were asked what we wanted to have for breakfast and out of a sudden Lily shouted Bah Kut Teh. I was wondering to myself, "why Bah Kut Teh, I want TOM YAM!". Anyways, Bah Kut Teh it was for our breakfast. That's what I like about personalized tour like this, we decide what to do and the guide just brings us there.

The "no name" Bah Kut Teh shop

As you shall be seeing later on in my blog, I realised that many coffee shops type eateries do not have signboards in Hat Yai. But instead you see banners of all sorts hung all over.

I am not sure if it was due to hunger but the Bah Kut Teh was excellent. Its very mild compared to our Bah Kut Teh's back home in the sense that you don't have as much herbal taste in them. They come in a choice of 2 type of rice, plain white rice or "wu tau" race (yam rice). We also had "Mui Choi Kao Yoke" and Curry Fish. The curry fish was really good and somehow the taste reminisce "Rempah Nanas" (an Indonesian curry fish dish).

Bah Kut Teh

Yam Rice

"Mui Choi Kao Yoke" - That's Cantonese by the way, not Thai

Curry Fish that costs us RM80. They use the expensive "bawal" fish (Tau Tai). So after hearing that I wasn't too shocked from the bill given to us

Thai Teh Ais, taste the same as the one in Malaysia =))

To be continued...............

I AM Officially Back!

Returned from Hay Yai yesterday night.

It was a good break. I think I gained weight as I went on an eating spree but I didn't manage to eat everything that I had in mind.

Shopping was cheap.

Behold my bargaining power.... 3 pairs of leather shoes for RM130 only!!

Oh yeah, got bruised while I had my full body massage (The girls was skinny but damn strong).

More to come when I manage to edit the pictures and write on them.

Istana Iskandariah, Kuala Kangsar

As blogged before, I went for a short trip to Istana Iskandariah, Kuala Kangsar a few days back. We had about 30 students from Gujarat, India visiting and one of the highlights of their trip to town was a short tour around the Istana compound. Normally outsiders are not allowed to enter palace grounds except for official functions but we manage to get consent from the palace authorities.


Kuala Kangsar is the royal town of Perak. This is where the Istana Iskandariah is situated.

Istana Iskandariah is the official residence of all the Sultans of Perak who have been installed since its completion in 1933.The palace is named after Sultan Iskandar Shah (1918-1938) who initiated its construction.



Istana Iskandariah is located at Bukit Chandan on the left bank of Sungai Perak upstream from Hilir Perak on the site of the former Istana Negara which was built in 1895 by Almarhum Sultan Idris Murshidul'adzam Shah (the late Sultan (in 1887-1916). It occupies an area of 10,435 square meters.


The design of the palace is based on the architecture of West Asia which is famous for its pointed arches and onion-shaped domes. The building is rectangular in shape and faces the sunrise and the river.

The roof is designed with one main dome in the centre and four subsidiary domes, one on each of the palace.

The palace is of there storey. The ground floor houses The Royal Dining Room, two Audience Halls, Reception Area, the Royal Rest Chambers, Ladies' Cloak Room, Aide-de-Camp's Office, Music Hall and the Royal Council Chamber.

Next time your on your way up to Penang, you might want to just drop into Kuala Kangsar for a half day trip.

Pangkor Island

For the third year, me and my entourage of 20+ strong aunties, uncle, cousins and maids spent CNY at Pangkor Island. This is our yearly family get together for god knows how many years.

Anyways, for those that have not heard of the island, Pangkor is an island off the coast of Perak. To get there, you will need to head to the town of Lumut and take a forty minutes ferry ride to the island.

For the past 3 years, we lodged at Sea View Hotel which is located at Pasir Bogak. Its a cozy little chalet type resort owned by the once great badminton player Dato' Tan Yee Kan. There is nothing really fancy here, just your basic room with air-conditioning.

To be honest, there is not much you can do in the island. There are some sights to see around the island such as the Dutch Fort at Teluk Gudang and the Fu Lin Kong Temple (you can see the mini Great Wall of China there). You can either rent a bicycle or a motorbike as if you want to explore the island.

But since this is our 3rd year here, we virtually spent the whole 3 nights and 4 days at the hotel. The aunties would be playing mahjong or just lazing around and us cousins would spend most of the time at the pool. Me on the other hand spent most of my time playing Big 2 with my cousins.

At approx. 6pm (daily), chopped papaya's would be place at the front of the beach front restaurant for the hornbills. This has been the second year running that they have started this "tourist attraction". Apparently the owner found a group of hornbills feeding at the garbage that they threw away at the backyard and decided to use it as a way to attract more business.

To be honest, the beaches here is nothing to shout about. Its not very clean and don't expect to see anything if you do plan to swim. I would recommend the pool instead.

If you are interested in watersports, one can also do some canoeing, banana boat and jetsky at the beach. I didn't bother doing any of them this time round since I was busy trying to make some pocket money on Big 2.

Oh yeah, for those wondering whats the island that you are looking at now? Thats Pangkor Laut Resort, a private island owned by YTL. A very good place to go for couples in my opinion.