Taroko National Park

A visit to the Taroko National Park (太魯閣國家公園) during the autumn is beautiful. It’s the closest experience with nature and its beauty. Water from deep mountains is so clean, so pure, you can really see that it’s blue…

In order to encourage more visitors, some paths are created for visitors to walk through. Due to this reason, you may experience some water dripping on top of your head, and in some areas, you may observe increased risk of getting hit by a rock.

There has been several cases of deaths due to falling rocks. So during typhoon or heavy rain, visitors are strongly discouraged from visiting this place. If it’s sunny after heavy rain the day before, please don’t even consider visiting this hazardous place. Nonetheless, nature is just fascinating and you can experience it all in Taroko Gorge and National Park.

Some aborigines here making business out of arts and harvests of the forest.

Somewhere at the swallow grotto (燕子口), we had to wear safety helmets for ‘some’ protection, cause even with safety helmets, it doesn’t deter larger rocks to crack your head like an egg. So some visitors chose not to wear them.

I think the most interesting part of Taroko gorge are the rock formations and the layered stones, some close approximate to the Grand Canyon in the US. View the photograph below with red-cyan anaglyph 3D glasses for best result.

This trip there may only be a one day trip, but the view up in the mountains was breath taking. I would want to spend more time there, and I’m definitely looking forward for a second visit.

Another unexpected gifts…

Ever since my ranting about some expensive stuffs in Hualien, someone brought some nice gifts all the way from Malaysia. Thank you so much. Didn’t expect so much love from everyone.

Has been so busy these few weeks… and I really hoped that I could find time to share some experience here with everyone…

Singapore: A Different Perspective

Went to Singapore for a few days and really enjoyed my time there. Went to a few places, some for free, some have to pay.

I think the most expensive ticket I paid was for the Singapore Flyer. Sky Park at the Marina Bay Sands is worth a visit as well.

Anyways, here are some of the photos taken during the trip.

Met a few friends in Singapore too!

Busy busy week ahead… Hopefully got time for updates… =D

A millionaire in Jakarta

Simple. Go to the money exchange, hand over RM 350, and be a millionaire in Jakarta.

Jakarta is one of the busiest cities (I’ve been so far), and the traffic jam is horrible.

You see motor and mobil (motorcycles and cars) going around, with the motorcycles weaving through the traffic. If you’re not competent riding a bike in Indonesia, don’t ride one. Nonetheless, travelling by motorcycle is the best way to go around town.

Instead of wearing a helmet, some others wear a cap or hoodie instead.

To be hemat (safe) when you cross the road, you can literally blindfold yourself when you cross. If you observe the traffic before you cross, it’s either you’ll never cross the road, or you’ll get knocked down by a vehicle. The drivers on the street evades pedestrians, not the other way round.

Less traffic lights on the streets means less traffic jam even though the place has high vehicle density. Giving an opportunity for the local people to earn some living.

You pay for parkir (parking) and you pay again for the person who lead you out from your parking slot. They even provided parking spots for ladies.

Lots of gratis (free) stuffs around to lure more people to purchase, and the advertisements on cigarettes filled the TV screen and the billboards along the road.

Shopping malls are grander than ours, with brands not even found in Malaysia and Singapore, and things may be dirt cheap as well. You can get a pirated DVDs as low as RM 1.80 each.

As usual, food here is good, and one of the most popular – masakan padang.

On the other side of the Jakarta Town, you’ll see a different group of people trying to survive on the streets. People who make a living by pushing carts around, selling all sorts of stuffs. Plus, because they can’t afford to buy a car, the carry all sorts of things on their motorbikes and push carts.

And again, because there are more motorcycles on the street, they have motorcycle wash all over the place.

They can’t use money to buy fancy stuffs, so they built them.

Some scenes you don’t see much in the big city of Jakarta…

Family coming together to enjoy.

People repairing motorcycles by the roadside.

Selling of colourful motorcycle seats.

Jaw dropping graffiti art…

And lastly, some other photos to share with everyone:

People here are survivors. They grow up working hard, learning all the street skills we didn’t learn in school. So you think that they’re weak? Think again.