Mangrove Garden (Lumut)

One of our crazy weekends and a run up to the North of the country. Stopped over at a Mangrove Swamp Park. A raised walkway had been constructed to allow visitors to enter the mangrove and not get their feet wet and muddy.



Information signboard on the importance of mangrove forest/swamp.




Always on the lookout for these colourful fiddler crabs down the mud below.







Hmmm... under-developed claw?




This is how you get closeups of the fiddler crabs from the walkway. Hold on to something, lean over the edge as far as you can and try not to fall down!




Another use of the mangrove tree ....




A Charcoal Kiln .... that will be another story...

Over the Buaya Sangkut Waterfalls

Buaya Sangkut (local language meaning Stuck Crocodile) is one of the attractions of the Endau-Rompin National Park. Consists of five steps or tiers, this is one of the largest waterfalls in Malaysia.

I have visited this waterfall way back in 1995 and it was a hard 3-4 hour trek to reach from Kuala Jasin.









This is Kuala Jasin, where the Jasin river flows into the Endau river.







We made an emergency landing after low clouds rolled in fast just after we had left Kampung Peta. Had the low-cloud condition persists, we would have to spend the night here.

Tioman - Season Ender

It should have been the monsoon by this time but weather these days are unpredictable due to the climate changes as a result of global "developments". Oft we get a rather startled response when informed that we would be going to Tioman near year end. There's an impression most folks have that monsoon means never ending downpours and floods. It might be so but there are beautiful days of good weather as well. Boils down to one's luck I'd reckon.

We had 3 days of beautiful weather although there were some showers nearby, the sea was calm (flat actually) with gentle breeze blowing.




Beautiful contrast of the fishing boats against the shower.




Make no mistake though, the monsoon can play it rough as the remains of this boat testifies to the storm Tioman experienced a few days before our arrival. It was smashed against the rocks and this is all that remains of this fibre-glass boat. No casualties except to one's pocket.

Tioman - Season Ender (Underwater)

Divesite: Chebeh (Tioman Island)

Not just a Cushion starfish but look closely and you are likely to find macro creatures living on the starfish. Compare the size of the shrimp with that of my thumb (on the bottom left of picture).




Not sure which but it is either a Starfish Shrimp (Periclimenes soror) or Emperor Shrimp (Periclimenes imperator)



"Blue dragon" Pteraeolidia ianthina Nudibranch.
Some info provided on an earlier post - Recent Tioman Dive - Nudis


Goby on a hard coral.


Anemone clownfish or now very commonly referred to as "Nemos".




Batu Malang or Rock of Misfortune. Great site for both snorkeling and diving.
For this trip, we skipped the dive at this site and snorkeled for a change. It was lovely!



Beneath the surface.



Lots of hard corals...



Sunbeams dance around to light the world beneath...



Colourful coral fishes go around their daily business...



Its great to see the fishes just swimming around you...



Oops... the speedboat.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong, population approx 6.9 million people in 1,104 sq km. The region was first incorporated into Imperial China in the Qin Dynasty, and served as a trading post and naval base during the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty. Contact with the United Kingdom was established after the British East India Company founded a trading post in the nearby city of Canton.



First occupied by British forces in 1841, and then formally ceded from China under the Treaty of Nanjing at the end of the war. The British established a Crown Colony with the founding of Victoria City the following year. In 1860, after China's defeat in the Second Opium War, the Kowloon Peninsula south of Boundary Street and Stonecutter's Island were ceded to Britain in perpetuity under the Convention of Peking. In 1898, Britain obtained a 99-year lease of the adjacent northern lands and Lantau Island, which became known as the New Territories.

Hong Kong was a crown colony of the United Kingdom from 1842 until the transfer of its sovereignty to the People's Republic of China in 1997. The Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law of Hong Kong stipulate that Hong Kong operates with a high degree of autonomy until at least 2047, fifty years after the transfer. Under the policy of "one country, two systems", the Central People's Government is responsible for the territory's defence and foreign affairs, while Hong Kong maintains its own legal system, police force, monetary system, customs policy, immigration policy, and delegates to international organisations and events.


Now on to the scenes:

View from Victoria Peak. A bit hazy so can't see very far into Kowloon across the harbour.




Currently 3rd tallest building in the world, the Two-IFC (International Finance Centre) building is 88 Storeys standing at 420 meters.
One-IFC (39 storeys at 210m) is towards the left, the one with the identical roof design.

Hong Kong - Structures

The Two-IFC building from worm's eye view.




Tsing Ma Bridge - World Longest Road and Rail suspension bridge - 6 lanes of roadway (upper) 2 MTR rail lines, 2 lanes of roadway (lower). It has a main span of 1,377 metres (4,518 ft) (more than the famous Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco) and a height of 206 metres (676 ft).




New & Old Guardians - CTVs monitors the entrance to this bank while the Stone Lions wait to pounce on would-be-robbers (heh, I'm just kidding about the stone lions).




Bank of China on the left, not sure about the one on the right and in the foreground is the Legislative Council of Hong Kong that was built during the early British colonial days.




The buildings look impressive and very nice at night. The lights are actually part of Symphony of Lights, a spectacular light and laser show synchronized to music and staged every night at 8:00pm. Recognized by the Guinness World Records as the world's "Largest Permanent Light and Sound Show".




A number of old buildings survived and are preserved.




The former police headquarters. Still undecided what to do with it. News is that it will be turned into a museum.




Pier to the iconic Star-ferry that plies between Hong Kong and Kowloon.

Hong Kong - Tsim Sha Tsui

Hong Kong's version of Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Avenue of the Stars celebrates the icons of Hong Kong cinemas past century. The seaside promenade offers fantastic day and night views of the Hong Kong harbour and skyline.




Avenue of Stars against the Hong Kong skyline.




My foot posing with Jackie Chan's Star.




Statue of Bruce Lee.

Hong Kong - Streets

Kowloon - Mong Kok

Streets are narrow and crowded. Here you have various shops and should be prepared for lots of walking. Shoppers paradise.








Hong Kong Island - Central

Near the financial & commercial towers, roads are wider and not so crowded. Besides the usual buses, another option is the electric tram for transport.




Other places are the familiar narrow roads. These are the lower part of the slopes at the foot of Victoria Peak.




Overhead pedestrian walkways connect a large number of buildings.



A breeze to walk over the vehicle traffic and convenient in the event of wet weather.




Lan Kwai Fong, entertainment and "happening" night life place.