My Travel Postcard in Lonely Planet Magazine Asia July-August 2010 Edition

There’s a reason to buy and get the latest edition of Lonely Planet Magazine Asia July-August 2010 Edition. My travel postcard was selected and published on page 10!

Click the image to read the story below.

This picture is taken at one of the days while traveling in Patagonia, Argentina. To be specific, it is near the El-Calafate region. Picture was taken while we were on the road in the car.

If you are wondering, do check out the original picture of the post card submission below.

Thank you Lonely Planet Magazine Asia for publishing my post card picture. I will submit more pictures in the future, thank you!

The Spectacular Marina Bay Sands Singapore Skypark: Pictures of the Breathtaking Infinity Pool, 24th June 2010

Thank you again Alice George and Marina Bay Sands Singapore for inviting me and Rachel for the official opening of the spectacular Marina Bay Sands Singapore Skypark. After a lovely night having fun at the Marina Bay Sands Casino yesterday, today we went up to check out the Skypark and we were the early dozens visitors of the world with such opportunities. The official opening for public was 2pm and we were there as early as 8 am.
After getting out from our hotel room in 31st floor, I couldn’t hide my excitement by pressing the 57th floor button. Yesterday I tried to sneak but there were security guards guarding the entrance so I was politely asked to leave. So as the lift reached 57th floor, we were welcomed by the staffs of the Marina Bay Sands.

The infinity pool with backdrop of the beautiful sunrise

The first impression of the Skypark was mind blowing. The 150-meter infinity swimming pool, the world’s largest outdoor pool at that height, open only to hotel guests.

Don’t you just love that pool?

As we thought we were early, there were already a couple swimming in the pool! The pool is not that deep, but it is long. It is one of the best infinity pool a hotel guest could ask for. With the view of the Singapore city from the pool, the experience is really priceless.

Read that: Shallow water, 1.2m.

Guests of Marina Bay Sands Singapore deserved such pampering moments

Trust me, I could sun bath here for hours

Check out the video of the pool in Full HD

Check out the World Class Dining at Marina Bay Sands Singapore Preview: Food Tasting session with Santi Santamaria, Guy Savoy, Tetsuya Wakuda, Daniel Boulud and Justin Quek HERE.

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Behind the Scenes of KLIA Ekspres: The Fastest and Greenest Way to KLIA

I always plan ahead my journey to KLIA, I loved being early at KLIA, checked in and book my preferred seating in the plane. When I’m travelling alone or with wife, Rachel, no mistake we would take the KLIA Ekspres.

A passenger getting into the check in counters with the purchased KLIA Ekspres ticket

The spacious and convenient KLIA Ekspres check in counters

I was invited to travel with KLIA Ekspres with style. Together with blogger Josh Lim, gorgeous Hanie Hidayah and Missy Cheerio and bubbly Mynjayz, we were given an in depth experience of the back scenes of KLIA Ekspres.

Dedicated Visa Wave Lane

The Greenest Way to KLIA: KLIA Ekspres

Few reasons I often travelled with KLIA Ekspres. It is cheaper than taking a taxi, its only RM 35 per person one dway, a taxi would cost me at least RM 70-80 from my home. It is the fastest way to KLIA, no matter how you argue about this, KLIA Ekspres took exactly approx 28 minutes to reach KLIA. Why would someone bother speeding to KLIA with potential traffic summons and also risking the lives in the car when traveling with KLIA Ekspres. is much easier? Check in from KL Sentral (also known as KL City Air Terminal) and the next thing you know, you will be in KLIA! The best part is you can check in at KLIA Ekspres counters at KL Sentral. Rather than queuing up in KLIA, just purchase theKLIA Ekspres. ticket and check in on the spot! Boarding pass will be issued in KL Sentral. It means, you can have the luxury of time when you check in at KL Sentral and take your time to shop around within the Duty Free area at KLIA. However currently only 4 airlines are collaborating with KLIA Express for the easy check in system;

Malaysian Airlines (MH), Cathay Pacific (CX), Emirates Air (EK) and Brunei Airlines (BI)
There will be more airlines participating in the near future.
There’s a question that I always wanted ask the representatives of KLIA Ekspres. How safe is our baggage in their possession?

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Travel Smart with iTalkWhoa.com

Social networking is very important in our life. Few of the most popular social networking platforms today are Facebook and Twitter. It’s undeniable that most people start their work checking their email, then checking on their Facebook or updating on Twitter.

By opening many windows, one tends to slowed down the internet bandwidth. Not forgetting also the hassle of remembering multiple usernames, email addresses and passwords.

Since the introduction of iTalk Whoa, my life is never been easier.  It can manage multiple emails, and the best part is SMS via web.

Despite having 2 lovely mobile phones, sms using my mobile is never a great idea to me. Buttons are just too small and it’s hard to sms quick. I don’t blame the phones but it seems to be harder to sms by phone when you can sms on your laptop or PC.

The real scenario will be location. I travel quite a bit this year to a few countries and I always carry my laptop around. Despite having the luxury of mobile phone with IDD calls, SMS back home is really expensive. Sms ranging from RM 1.50 and above, a post paid user like me will never know how much I actually spent on my sms, only to realize it on my phone bill. To be safe, I would rather use iTalkWhoa to sms back home, reliable, easy and safe!

There’s no doubt I save more money on my sms but don’t forget, I can also use iTalkwhoa for calls as well! What calls? Well, another thing that I found out about iTalkwhoa.com is the IDD call rates from Malaysia. My younger brother is working in Los Angeles, USA. I often call him on my mobile and it’s not cheap. Guess how much iTalkWhoa.com is charging, 14 sen per minute. It’s even cheaper than making a local call! Seriously, I can chat with him on my headphone in front of my laptop without even carrying my mobile! My other usual call list would be Australia which is around 30 sen per minute and Thailand which is around 32 sen per minute.

Should I really tell you more? Discover it yourself now at iTalkwhoa.com

My Articles on Malay Mail newspaper, Malaysia

Malay Mail is one of the oldest newspaper companies in Malaysia. Established in 1896, it is the first daily newspaper in Federal Malay States, now Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The newspaper is available FREE in Klang Valley only with a circulation of 100,000 copies daily.

I would like to offer my sincere gratitude to them for publishing my articles on their newspaper. It was published on 4^th of May, 2010 and it was a 3 full pages coverage. My humble articles are as below.

Stepping Into The Home Of Gods: My 2 weeks adventure in Patagonia, Argentina

Livin’ La Vida Loca at La Boca: An unforgetable experience in La Boca, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Check out the online version of Stepping Into The Home Of Gods, HERE.

Check out the online version of Livin’ La Vida Loca at La Boca, HERE.

Thanks for reading!

Marina Bay Sands Singapore Opening Launch, 27th April 2010

Yesterday I was invited to go for the opening of the Marina Bay Sands Singapore. Joined by our local Malaysian media and also hundreds of other foreign media, we were given a taste of one of the most spectacular destination in the world. The whole property itself cost a whooping U$ 5.5 billion!

Marina Bay Sands will be the Asia’s leading destination for business, leisure and entertainment delivering once in a lifetime experiences.
We were given a media tour in the morning with medias from Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam and we were nevertheless nothing less than impressed.

The shopping at Marina Bay Sands will have 800,000 square feet of retail and dining space. Luxury and high end brands such as Cartier, Chanel, Ferragamo, Frank Muller, Gucci, Patek Philippe, Prada and many more will be coming to Marina Bay Sands. On top of that, the interesting part will be the new brands such as Anne Fontaine, Henry Cotton’s, Paul & Shark, Stefano Ricci, Wolford, Marisfrolg, Moiselle and Rabeanco.

Some of the brands that is so exclusive it will be only available in Singapore in the Asia region. Not even in Tokyo, Japan or Hong Kong. It will be one of the hottest shopping destination in Asia!

For the expo and conventions, I was very impressed on the size of it. The Sands Expo and Convention Center has 1.3 million square feet of flexible convention and exhibition space. It features Southeast Asia’s biggest ballroom that can accommodate 6,600 people for a banquet! That will be 660 tables for a wedding! On top of that, there will be junior ballroom for 1,000 people and below. In fact, on this Saturday, Marina Bay Sands will hold 3 separate weddings altogether!

Then, we were brought to the casino area. For the first time in my life, I had the luxury of taking pictures in an actual casino. With more than 600 table games and more than 1,500 slot machines, the design, the setting and the ambience of the casino was nevertheless breathtaking.

In fact, the casino section is only 15,000 square meters which is less than 3 percent of the gross floor area of the whole property.

The picture shows the beautiful ceiling of the casino and the Lotus (car) for the lucky winner of the slot machine.

There will be a wide variety of popular table games including Roulette, Blackjack, Baccarat and Sic Bo available at the casino.

Inside the casino, it holds one of the world’s largest Crystal Chandelier. Made with 132,000 Swarovski crystals, the impressive Chandelier suspended 40 meters up in the heart of the casino’s ceiling. Wonder how much it weighs? 7.1 tonnes!

Intan and I couldn’t help ourselves taking pictures in the beautiful casino.

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Tup Island, Krabi – Unseen Thailand

Tup Island is the first island of the 4 islands tour in Krabi, Thailand. Krabi is on the southern west part of Thailand and Phuket Island is within its province. The tour was inclusive of Tup Island, Chicken Island, Poda Island and Phra Nang Cave. Most of the local tour companies offer this tour.

The wooden type of boat we chartered, cheap and reliable but slow.

We pre-arranged our tour from Malaysia. Well, we sort of regretted it as it was cheaper and very easy to book it in Krabi, not much a hassle. The tour van picked us up early in the morning and sent us to the nearby jetty.

Our boat docking at the beach side, my friend Yvonne is getting ready to get down from the boat.
From there, we boarded the wooden type boat to the beautiful Andaman sea. Though it was wooden, it was cheap and reliable, but just a little bit too slow.

Tup Island is one of the most popular islands off Krabi, Thailand and it is also known as “Unseen Thailand”. It is not just white sandy beaches with clear turquoise water.

A girl walks across the island on the beach pathway.

The highlights of the island would be the connecting beach pathway in between the island. Yes, we can walk from one side to another one through the connecting beach pathway with clear turquoise water on both sides.

The clear turquoise water near Tup Island.

The view was like from the postcards. It was beautiful. We stayed in the island for an hour before we went to the other island.

The island was packed with tourists but rest assured, there were places for sunbathing.

Wife Rachel, a friend and Yvonne enjoying the view.

We loved the island, clear sky, clear water and breathtaking view. Nothing to complain, highly recommended!
How to get to Tup Island:
Go to the local tour companies (mostly speaks English) and ask for the 4 islands tour. The tour was inclusive of Tup Island, Chicken Island, Poda Island and Phra Nang Cave. The cheapest rate was around 1,200 baht (around US 40) per person. Travel by speed boat will be more expensive. The rates are based on Dec 2009.

Meeting Ian Wright : Out Of Bounds, Discovery Travel & Living

I had the chance of many people would craved for. A meet and dine session with celebrity traveler, Ian Wright. Me and my wife started watching Ian when he was doing the Globe Trekker and to the recent America the Wright way.

Unique and different than the rest, we loved his show due to his wacky, fun and spontaneous character. This can be confirmed as we met him yesterday at Delicious, Dua Annexe, Kuala Lumpur.

We were joined by other winners of Ian Wright: Out of Bounds contest. We had a chat some of them who even drove all the way from Melaka for the dinner. As we checked the menu, the dinner was out of bounds!

Out Of Bounds Dinner Menu

Appertizer

Syrian Babaghanoush with Lebanese Bread

Starter

Okinawa Chicken Yakitori, Sri Lankan Dry Fried Shrimp

Soup

Siberian Borsht Soup

Mains

Cuban Pulled Beef, Venezuelan Pan Fried Fish with Peppers

Accompaniments

Okinawa Cucumber Wakame Salad, Sri Lankan Pilaff Rice, Venezuelan Pasticho of Eggplant, Syrian Flat Bread, Siberian Cheremsha Sping Onion Salad, Cuban Black Bean

Dessert

Syrian Baklava , Okinawa Green Tea Truffles, Siberian Sweet Blinis

We enjoyed the varieties of the dinner. It was really different and out of bounds. I loved the Okinawa Green Tea Truffles and Venezuelan Pasticho Eggplant. Ian then shared some of his moments of his next series, Out Of Bounds.

Lastly, he had an autographed session and also photo opportunities with all of us. It was a very entertaining evening and it was great to meet Ian Wright in person.

Catch Ian Wright: Out of Bounds at Discovery Travel n Living (Astro Channel 707) premiering May 20^th, every Thursday 9pm!

Travel Tips for Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

I just came back from Angkor Wat a few days ago. Like many first timers, I booked my tour online before I reached Siam Reap. Well, sadly the tour that I had book, was exclusive of Angkor Wat. The reason being was I didn’t do much information about Angkor Wat.

The Real Angkor Wat?
There are more than dozens of temples in Siem Reap and Angkor Wat circuit. Be exact, book Angkor Wat (temple) tour rather than the big circuit tour which inclusive of many temples except Angkor Wat. There’s only one Angkor Wat and many other temples in Angkor Wat circuit.

Entrance Fee

The entrance fee for a day is US 20 and a 3 days pass would be US 40. Get the 3 days pass, 1 day is never enough for Angkor Wat, trust me! The front counter will print the pass with your picture and please make sure you keep your pass with you. There will be people checking your passes in front of all temples in Angkor Wat region. No pass, no entry.

Sunrise Tour

Make sure you catch the Angkor Wat sunrise tour. You should leave your hotel for the tour as early as 4.30 am, reached Angkor Wat around 5 am. There will be lots of people in front of Angkor Wat waiting for the best photo opportunities. Make sure you sit in front of the small lake, the reflections of the temple and the sunrise on the lake is priceless.
Prepare yourself around 2 to 3 hours to venture Angkor Wat. To climb up to the highest tower, please wait until 8 am.

They built brand new wooden stairs, no more steep steps going up. It’s around 72 wooden steps to go up to the highest tower, not much efforts needed. The highest tower open from 8 am to 5 pm.
Dress Code

Do dress in decent, get a scarf or something if you wear a singlet or something that bares your skin. Do not wear a skirt or a mini skirt, if you intended to climb up the highest tower in Angkor Wat. Just wear something decent and do respect this holy site. Knee length shorts are allowed.
Tour Guide Fee
In April 2010, the fee for an English speaking guide is around US 25 per day (with limited hours). The tuk tuk fee should be around US 12 per day (with limited hours). Tour companies will have different rates depending on transportation and how many temples you going to cover.
Another thing that I found that was quite annoying. Many young children will bug you whenever you walk around Angkor Wat circuit. They will never accept an answer “no” and they are everywhere! They will keep on persuading you to buy the books, the bracelets, the post cards, the pricey cold drinks or the many T-shirts of Angkor Wat. Regardless how many times you purchased something from them, they will always keep on coming bugging you. I bought a nice travel guide and a set of post cards from them.

I loved the sunrise tour even though we overslept and almost missed it. The Angkor Wat is a beauty and it worth every penny spent going there.

Thanks for reading!

Lolei, Siem Reap Roluos Northernmost Temple, CAMBODIA

For the last few days, I visited 15 temples in Siem Reap. It was fun but tiring, I took heaps of pictures of the temples. It’s time to share it now. The first temple of the 15 temples I’m going to introduce, the Lolei.

Lolei is one of the 3 Roluos’ group of temples. It is built in late 9th century, and the remaining 2 temples of the Roluos group will be Preah Ko and Bakong.

Lolei is not one of the most popular temples to visit in Siem Reap. It is consider the second or third tier temples to visit.

The beautiful carvings on top of the door of the structure

The highlights of Lolei would be the structure itself was built using red bricks.

Inscriptions carved on the side wall of the door, still remained visible…

The lintels and blind doors are also one of the highlights of the temple. Please do note the usage of lime mortar mouldings similar to plasters on the structure.

Beautiful carvings on the wall…

Built in the 9th century and its carvings are still intact and good condition. This is 1100 years old!

Other parts of Lolei can be seen collapsed.

Lolei is an island temple itself, isolated from the other 2 Rolous group temples.

Lolei is rather a small temple. It will take around 15-20 min to venture the whole temple. The location of Lolei is rather isolated than the rest. There are a few local houses built near Lolei.

My advice on this, visit the important temples first then only visit this if you have time.

How to get to Lolei:

There are special tours offering Roluos group of temple of 3, either via tour company or tuk tuk.

Most tour guides knows about this place.