Such a long time since I last sat down and type a post properly... blame it on procrastination, or perhaps sheer laziness.

Anyway, as usual, over such a long period of time, things are bound to happen (although half of my days are pretty boring). I'm going to post some photos,and with the help of these photos, I'll once again demonstrate my lousy story telling. ^^

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The Tanjung Piai trip




These are mangrove trees, and yes, Tanjung Piai is a mangrove swamp. I took part in a study trip to Tanjung Piai along with my friends. I used to think mangrove swamps are dirty, smelly and dusgusting, but it isn't so. It seems oddly tranquil.

Tanjung Piai is the southern most tip of mainland Asia. It's location is already in the Singapore region, that's why phones without roaming service couldn't function.

Tanjung Piai is one of Malaysia's wetland reserve and also serve as a agrotourism site (is it translated like that? Cause I learnt this term in Malay, not English) During some months of the year, there would be migratory birds coming here, therefore, Tanjung Piai is also a hotspot for bird watching.

A mangrove swamp wouldn't be a mangrove swamp without mudskippers. The mudskippers here are huge (giant mudskippers), but I don't think people will consider catching them for lunch or dinner. I manage to take a photo of a mudskipper, but it isn't very clear (than again, that mangrove picture up there is not clear either... my photography skills sucks), so I didn't post it. :p


There's a monkey in this picture, if you see close enough. It is really hard to capture a picture of a monkey, because they move quite fast. And the rainy weather is not helping either. I must say, at times animals are more clever than humans. While all of them had gone for shelter, we are still holding our cameras and following the guide in the drizzle. Everyone was drenched.


I like this phrase, I think some Portugese traveler used it. Anyway, Tanjung Piai faces the Malacca Straits (if I didn't remember wrongly), and it is one of the busiest straits, with lots of ships passing by everyday. This is, no doubt, a good sign in trading, but the strong waves created by the passing ships tend to erode the shores, therefore, barriers are built.


This is my favorite photo! It shows which direction the wind is blowing.


After the Tanjung Piai trip, we intend to go to a nearby island (which I forgot its name) with motor boat. But it was cancelled because of the lousy weather. We then visited a couple of 'museums' to watch all the cultural exhibit. Sorry to say, I'm quite bored about it. =0= Maybe because they are similar to all those pictures we have in our history textbooks.



This is one of the exhibit, a bottle collection. Not interesting, but I should salute to that person who makes an effort to preserve our culture (though I can't help to stop yawning).

My friend dressed up in one of the cultural costumes(is it the Bugis costume, I can't remember). She is supposingly dressed up as a groom. Looks quite funny. I promised that I won't post her photo as a groom on my blog (anyway, I didn't get my hands on it), but I can still mention it, isn't it (and it is not as if I'm telling it in detailed)?






We also stopped by a pineapple museum. I'm hoping for free canned pinapples (after all, Johor is one of the states that produce lots of pineapples, isn't it?), but there isn't. There's only pictures of various pineapple species, with the word 'baka' all over the place. 'Baka' in Malay means 'a kind of tree', but in Japanese, it means 'stupid', so my friends are laughing their heads off.

So the trip ends, it is not one of the most memorable ones, but it is the last school trip I'm having in secondary, so yeah, I'll just register in my mind and see how long it takes to fade away.

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This is a pig my father got from China. When you throw it really hard on the floor, it will go 'splat' and become a puddle of...er... greenish something. Reminds me of Flubber. Anyway, this thing is now spoil, the green substance is leaking out, so it is now just for display.

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This is a giant spider I see in my house. It is not the size of a tarantula, but it is huge compared to innocent house spiders that occasionally made their way to the house. My father killed it with a insect spray after I took this photo, but I heard from my sister it isn't dead...

Anyway, that time, my cousins from Cananda are around. They are... very different. Their thinking is quite open. For example, my cousin sister once said: 'this is a free country, I can say anything I want'. But in Malaysia is not exactly a free country. We are a democratic country, but we talk with certain boundaries. And of course, we blog with certain boundaries too. For and instance, I'm not suppose to blog about sensitive issues, and with that reason alone, I shall stop elaborating on this topic.

We (with my Canandian cousins) went to a kelong for fishing. It is quite interesting to see some fishes which can be caught without even using a bait, and some fishes which eat up the bait, but are not caught. I caught four fishes during my first attempt, than I caught none during the rest of the day.

Night, some are catching squid. Squid are milky white in the market, but transparent when they are just caught. And they do put up a struggle to survive, or at least make an attempt to dirty the catcher with their ink. Squids don't die immediately when they are out of the water, they die a slow death. Quite pitiful, actually.

And I should draw the structure of the Kelong, because now when I'm attempting to draw a city built on water, I can't, cause I don't know the structure. (Grumble grumble)

Some of the wood used to build the kelong is rotting, and my Canandian relatives (especially the females) are worried about the sturcture. I couldn't care less.

The condition at the kelong is not exactly first class. I think it's worst than the cheapest hotel, but it's a good experiance. There's no air-con, limited amount of fresh water, and everyone sleep in a place without dividers (no privacy), but it is very airy, although I'm sticky all over the place due to the sea breeze. Not a good destination for long holidays (the only thing we can do here is fishing) but a nice spot to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city (for those who are trying to get away from irritating calls from bosses, this is a good place - the line is not very good).

And of course, a haven for cats, there is lots of fish.

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I think this page will take a frustratingly long time to load in, due to the large amount of photos. ^0^ I wanted to type about Mid-autumn festival, but this will make the post even longer.

Hence, I hereby take my leave as a long winded story teller. Good day to all.