Bishop's Trail

*I was on the this trail back in September 2016*

Anita had been nagging me to taken her on a hiking trail when we were at Frasers Hill. I wasn't confident that she could make it judging from our times in England when I used to do a lot of walking around the Yorkshire Dales in the early summer mornings. She always refused to get up.

But clearly she was excited this time around.

This marked the entrance, but you can enter from the opposite side as wellThen a sharp drop ....Best to follow the instructions ....

It was just after breakfast and she was up and ready. Off we went.

The Bishop's Trail was 1.7km long with a couple of slopes. It was an L-shaped route where you could walk back to the entrance via a normal road.

Apparently there were other trails interconnecting with Bishop, but that has since been closed ...The trek took us half an hour to complete with a couple of stops en route. Nothing much to see apart from greenery when you were in there although it might help if we had a pair of binocular with us. The place was famous for bird watching.

In could imagine that the trek could be slippery when it rained. Luckily there were plenty of hand railings and the steps were leveled up for better footing. Certainly the trail were safe for beginners. The signs were clear enough and there were plenty of people around using the trek at the same time from both directions.

This way. And that.Then it was a bit of a climb after the halfway point ...Some obstacle to negotiate ...Finally we were out ...I got my Fenix on me, so there were very little risk of getting lost.

I would certainly recommend this route to those visiting Frasers Hill. Slightly more challenging than the pedestrian Hemmant Trail and enough to get the juice flowing. Best to avoid after the brain though as footing may be tricky.

Decided on Me Time

Enough was enough and I decided to devote my Sunday .... to me. Good thing that Anita was out with her friends, I went into town, had some biryani lunch at Masjid India. Took my camera out and walk around town.

Catching my ride from my parking spot, KL SentralFirst stop would be to get some biryaniThe biryani here at Restoran Shahira is not bad at all. A hidden gem!Managed to catch an exhibit or two, before sitting down for a long lunch. For the last 6 straight Sundays I had been at the hospital and it was high time that I stayed away for once. I also had a few days leave lined up from next weekend, so I decided to switch off.

Seeing what's cooking in the bazaar ...Plenty of people coming and going ....Before I walk across to Medan Pasar ....The weather was nice for a walkabout, and I used the time to get myself acquainted with my new camera bag. Yesterday I put a couple of camera bodies in them and it felt a tad too heavy. It had better balance with just one, plus an iPad and some dongles. That was better. And I didn't have to worry about my wallet as well. Everything was in the bag. I only wished that the sides were a bit more sturdy and it tended to lose its shape if I didn't put the content the right way.

Off to Suria for some coffeeThat escalated to some bite ....And a bit of blogging ....So, I planned to enjoy another couple of hours to myself and hopefully there won't be anybody ringing. Happy Sunday!

Day Trip to Melaka

We reached Melaka just before 11, stopping for breakfast in Nilai R&R and was treated to some delightful nasi lemak at one of the stalls. We didn’t realise how gorgeous it was. Traffic was a breeze and we could’ve reached Dataran Pahlawan much earlier if not for the crazy number of traffic lights between Ayer Keroh and Bandar Melaka. It was borderline ridiculous!

Parked our car, and then walked to Jonker Street. Anita was more interested to explore the nice little hotels and B&B they had scattered around the area. None of which actually offered much parking spot! I snapped the photos away and the weather was really great. In fact it was too warm and we decided to have an early lunch and rehydrate ourselves.

We couldn’t find many outlets around there that we were sure as Halal, so we settled for the comfort of Hard Rock Cafe. While we were dining and enjoying the drinks, we heard some thunder coming from outside.

We couldn’t believe it! It was raining cats and dogs. And that went on until about 2 pm. It was still drizzling after that. We had a choice to make then. Should we brave the drizzle and go deeper into Jonker Street taking the risk that it may be raining heavier later. Or head back to the car and enjoy a quiet drive back to KL.

We decided for the latter, and drove past Sungai Udang - towards the entrance of Kem Terendak. We stopped at Klebang along the way for a touch of coconut shake. No time to break at Sungai Udang as Idlan had called my handphone as soon as arrived home!

The traffic coming back was heavier as it started raining when we reached Sungai Besi. A nice outing, but shame about the rain though. We could’ve spend a bit more time looking at stuffs for the apartment .... May be next time!

Breakfast at The Smokehouse

This entry was originally written in September 2016

Breakfast at Smokehouse had always been an enjoyable experience. But gone were the days when you woke yourself up to the aroma of freshly baked croissant.

The breakfast now was a more sedated affair. I remembered back in 2009 when the place had a proper cook, the smell really perked you up, and you could even order some leftover scones from the day before.

The English breakfast was also a full plated, kept you full for the rest of the day affair. Now, it was nothing more than just some sausages and a piece of bacon. Even the fresh fruits were just some melon. It used to fill a whole plate. Then came the croissant which were really supermarket level being heated in an oven.

I ordered some omelette but it turned to be just some glorified fried eggs. A sad affair.

It just reflected the decline of this once great place...

Patchi Price Hike

Everybody in the household loved Patchi. But they were not exactly cheap. And since the 1st of January, there was a price hike of almost 40%!

I learned it the hard way after I made my order and was about to pay. I had to double check the price. It was certainly a steep climb. That was the effect of our Ringgit falling I was sure ....