The planet Mars

Is Mars dirty? Isit filthy? Messy? Mouldy? Unkempt?

Cuz if Men are from Mars, I think that a part of the planet would be like the above.

Goodness, I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO thankful (*shuly falls down on her knees and clasp her hands together*) that the Martians that I know in Cardiff are NICE NEAT & PROPER. Really. I think I prefer Cardiff to where I am now. I feel stressed, moody, irritable....not good aura.

So, here's to the guys I know in Cardiff who's for sure are a neat and tidy bunch! - Seer! WK! ZL! Alan (possibly!) Alan L

I felt like submitting an article into a local newspapers regarding my insights on tourism in Malaysia - from a girl who has seen a bit of Europe and has not been home for 2 years, yearning for good food and like all other students, travelling. However, by doing so, I would be publishing my name into the newspapers and might get unwanted attention. Gawd, cuz during this summer break, a few people have commented to me on the BRATs advert, even my dentist in her 50s!

So, here, with the few who visits my blog, I shall pen down my thoughts - with little editing and minimal conscious of any grammatical error and lack of apt vocabulary that there might be.

There were 2 significant places that I went - yes, i wish i had been more and done better - but that's another day's story. The first being to Gua Tempurung with my coursemates from UK. We went in a car - 5 people. 4 of us were with the intention of visiting Perak. There was nothing much in Ipoh and the best nearest place Lav and I could think of to bring Kate and Aicha was Gua Tempurung. Ok, so we went. I took the earliest bus from Tapah to Ipoh. What was usually a 40 mins drive, ended up to be a 90 minute bus ride. OK, nevermind. Buses are slower (half the speed!). But it was rude shock that I encountered which left me in despair. I enquired for the bus destination, as there were no boards on the bus saying so, and the route that it would be taking. I asked if it went to Medan Gopeng, because it was where i wanted to go. I got a mumble from the old Malay pakcik driver and yells from the indian lady conductor going, "Duduk! Duduk!, Aiya, duduk!" Ok, so I sat. The bus moved with me having no knowledge of where it might go. After it has cornered out of the dirty bus station, the auntie conductor came to me and went, "Aa, mana mau pigi?" =.=' OMG rite?!?!?!?! Well, sometimes, conductors don't even ask and expect you to know how much to pay!

Fast fwd: reach ipoh, met up with the others, took the car to Gua Tempurung (GT).

At GT, we wanted to do something more challenging. At least something more fun for our british coursemates to remember and enjoy their stay in Malaysia. But our local people just had to leave us in disappointment again. The minimum number of people for the cave exploring involving water was 8. A freaking EIGHT. If foreign tourists were to come, they wouldn't be in a group of EIGHT la people. These are backpackers dude..go do more research for tourism lah. They travel alone, or at most as a pair. Geez* Even a car can only fit max of 5 people. We told the lady at the counter selling the tickets, and she said she can't do anything about it. So meh have to pay lor. 4 people paying for 8 tickets. So much for tourism in Malaysia. It's daylight robbery. As much as I would stand by my principles to boycott them, my principles also told me to just suck it up and pay for it, because this is for my friends who flew thousands of miles from a faraway continent. Geez. There weren't many people there at all. In fact, there were only about 4 others besides us wanting to enter the cave in the hour that we had to wait for the 'scheduled' tour. Duhhhh...the guides were doing nothing, smoking and chatting just to wait for the 'scheduled' tour of 10.10am. We eventually started at 10.20am. What a shameful picture to portray to our guests!

I believe that my friends did not have a good time in Malaysia. You could see it in their faces. When they show photos of Thailand, you'd know the huge difference. And reading from their blogs about what they did in Singapore and Australia after that, it's really like Malaysia was just a "Ok, i've been there" country to visit.

Next Up:
Fraser's Hill.

I've talked a bit about Fraser's, so here's a short summary of it all. Food places: 2. One chinese, one malay. Souvenir shop opened at 8pm. Tourist information centre with leaflets of OTHER places/destinations. But the BIGGEST BIGGEST catch of all is .....the MAP! No wonder those Tapah boys got lost in the Bishop's Trail. The MAP WAS NOT DRAWN ACCORDING TO SCALE! Besar Besar they plaster the map billboard size at a few place. And it was so deceiving. Unclear. Gosh. We learnt Kajian Tempatan, followed by Geography in primary and secondary school respectively. There is definitely a failure in our education system. And i'm guessing that the people who has to approve the map must have some kind of qualifications. Perhaps they graduated in industri pemakanan.

Visitor's attraction were not up to par. Suffice to say, compare the below:

In Malaysia:




















Not in Malaysia.















Damn, this msian tourism so fake la. They've manipulated untouched beauty and left dirty prints all over. urgh*