Collaborative post with Kendra Thornton

We are really excited that Kendra Thornton contacted us to be featured in our blog. In case you are not familiar with her, Kendra Thornton is a travel advocate, public relations businesswoman, proud wife and mother of 3. She was the former Orbitz Director of Communications, one of the United States’ largest travel agencies where she got to travel a great deal. She has also made special guest appearances on The Nate Show, Fine Living Network and The Tyra Banks Show.
Here’s Kendra Thornton on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFSMwpofTA8

To know more about here, please visit her website: http://www.thorntonpr.com/ and follow her on twitter: https://twitter.com/KendraThornton
We are featuring her post on Las Vegas and in exchange for her post, we will share with you the hidden gems of Malacca, Malaysia.

My Recommendations To Visit in Las Vegas (By Kendra Thornton)

To say that I love to travel would be an understatement. One of my top places to visit is Las Vegas. There is not enough time to explain in detail all the entertaining places and fantastic restaurants in the city. However, there is time for me to highlight four great experiences.

1. My Education with Dolphins
When I visited Las Vegas for the first time with my husband, he decided to take me to Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat. He did this so that I could receive dolphin training. When I began my education, I worked with Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins. I learned about projects that feature these amazing creatures. At the conclusion of my education, I felt like I was a marine biologist.

2. My Thing with Pink
Pink is one of my favorite colors. Therefore, my husband and I immediately signed up for Pink Jeep Tours. It is hard to describe the emotion I felt as a Pink Jeep drove up to our hotel. After we got in, the tour guide began to explain various sites in the city. The next time we are in Las Vegas, we will be taking a Pink Jeep all the way to the Grand Canyon.

3. Challenging Food Options
Eating is a way of life for many people. Las Vegas captures the challenge of food with various hotels having unique deals on meals. For example, the BRAND Steakhouse in the Monte Carlo features a steak that is 120 ounces. If an individual eats this steak that is named the “Ultimate Steak,” it will be free. Another food challenge at a different site highlights a humongous burger. These challenges make a trip in the city more exciting to me.

4. Musing Over Museums
I am a fan of culture, and I like to visit unique museums. One such museum in the city is the Neon Museum in downtown. It has unique artwork in the facility, and it features the neon legacy of Las Vegas. Another fun museum I hope to visit next time is the Discovery Children’s Museum. Although some people consider it as a place only for children, there are many things that adults would like.

Las Vegas is a city that truly is for everyone. Unique hotels along the strip and endless sites to see and things to do are what make Las Vegas great. Sites like Gogobot make it easy to plan your trip and read user reviews so you can be even more comfortable when you visit. Many activities and food options are at great prices. My previous experiences in the city inspire me to go back again and again.


5 Reasons Why You'll Love Malacca, Malaysia (By Globetrottertalks)

Malacca (Melaka in Malay language spelling) is one of two UNESCO World Heritage Cities at the Straits of Malacca which is also one of 13 states in Malaysia. It is well-known for its multicultural heritage. Back in the 15th to 18th century, it was famous for the trading activities between Europeans and Asians. The culture and landscaping of the town developed after the colonization of Portuguese, Dutch and the British.

Here are 5 reasons why you will not regret visiting to Malacca:
1. Philea Resort & Spa, the unique pine log resort in Malaysia
It is 123km to the South from KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport). Known as the largest pine log resort in the Malaysia Book of Records, everything is totally different the moment you step into the place! As if you are being in the forest in the middle of the busy city.

2. The Stadhuys & Portuguese Monument, A Famosa
The Stadhuys, which is also known as the Red Square is a historical structure built by the Dutch occupants back in the 17th century. The oldest remaining Dutch historical building is now the Museum of History and Ethnography. In the museum you can learn something on the history of the Dutch occupants during their settlement. Malaysia previously was being colonized by the British, Dutch and Portuguese which was a big struggle for our ancestors back then. Standing tall next to The Stadhuys is the A Famosa, a fortress built by the Portuguese in the 16th century. It is interesting to see different architecture of different culture (Dutch & Portuguese) in the same place! A Famosa means ‘The Famous’ in Portuguese language. If you are looking for souvenirs, worry not because you find plenty of stalls nearby selling little gifts to bring home!

3. Melaka Bird Park
Melaka Bird Park has the largest collection of Malaysia bird species that is nearly 700 species! Apart from Malaysia’s birds, it is also the home to birds South America, Asia, Australia and Africa. I was so excited to experience such beautiful creation coming from all over the world. Even more exciting is their canopy walk in the forest which was serene and relaxing. You would never want to miss experiencing nature beauty at its best in this charming environment and scenery!

4. River Cruise along Malacca River
Malacca River has a boat tour that takes about 45 minutes to an hour going around the city of Malacca for sight-seeing. It is active the whole day from morning till late night. There will be a tour guide highlighting the interesting places as you are passing by them. Nevertheless, it is good to inquire the tourist office first hand regarding the river cruise’s operation since they will be up only during high tide.

Trishaw is know as 'Beca'. A lot of decorative trishaws to bring you around the city of Malacca.

Casa del Rio, one of the finest hotel in Malacca. A member of Concorde Hotel.

 

 

Ticketing counter before you hop in to the river cruise

5. Shopping Paradise, Jonker Street
Jonker Street is the heart of the town. It is the busiest street at nights especially during the weekends with hawker stalls that are selling scrumptious local delicacies! The most interesting experience was the live street performance in the middle of the street. Performances can be seen on Saturday nights.

 

Gunung Angsi: Of bee stings, leeches and precautionary measures!

A couple of friends made a plan yesterday to hike up Gunung Angsi which is located in Negeri Sembilan. It was quite an experience for me; an astonishing one.

We started our hiking not so early, it was around 9 a.m. The trail was wet because it was raining heavily a day before. After 20-25 minutes (fast steps) of hiking, most of my friends got stung by the bees including me too! It was pretty hard to notice the presence of bees in front of the trail earlier. Bees’ bites caused a little pain but since they were not very harmful that moment, we decided to continue our journey to the summit. After another 20 minutes of hiking, one of my friends who got stung by the bee complained that he felt numbness on his face and his whole body started to get really itchy. I was panicked and our team was a bit worried about his condition hence we decided to stop immediately and gave him plenty of water. We then asked him to get some rest and we hoped he would feel better. Unfortunately, he could not calm himself; his heartbeat increased rapidly that he felt painful and difficult to breathe. In addition, there was no phone signal (reception) to call the registration office for help. We were in such a critical situation; there was no choice – one of our team members started to run towards the base to seek for help. Meanwhile, my friends and I stayed to look after the other friend who was in pain. Sadly he was getting worst because his face & hand was swollen and he was getting much more difficult to breathe and kept vomiting. Don’t ask us why we didn’t carry him down; the condition of his body did not allow us to plus we did not have much experience as well (I guess I need to start enrolling in paramedic classes).

After a while, he started to move slowly and bearing with the pain. Along the way, we bumped into a few groups of people and most of them said that they were also got stung by the bees. While we were walking back returning to the base, we passed by the “bees attacking point” with an alternative small path close to a waterfall. At this point, we met a big group of hikers and the leader offered some medicine to my friend. Thanks for his help but it had worsened my poor friend’s situation. My friend who ran to the base earlier, managed to get help from the personnel of Civil Defence Department (Jabatan Pertahan Awam) and we met them on our way to the base. They started to assist my friend until we reached the base (in 10 minutes we got to the base). They didn’t provide any medicine because they mentioned that our friend was suffering from allergic reaction and could not simply gave him any medication. Right after, we rushed him to the nearest clinic. Again…again we were so unlucky that the doctor in the clinic said, “He is in trauma, you need to immediately rush him to the hospital.” We straight away brought him to Seremban General Hospital (GH) and the doctors quickly admitted him to the emergency room and treated him. He was stable 2 hours later and slowly recovering.

We got in touch on Facebook Group with the hiking experts and those who often hike on some queries - What is the best approach to handle this kind of situation (bee stings)? How can we prevent from getting sucked by leeches? The area has a lot of them especially after it rained. We are very grateful that they were helpful in giving several advices and tips. Thank you guys! :)

To sum it up here are the things that you need to consider bringing along when you are coming over to Gunung Angsi or on any other adventurous activities:

1. First aid kit with Prednisone steroid, antihistamine, Prednisolone, Cetirizin, or Polaramine

• Prednisone: It is used to treat certain inflammatory diseases (such as moderate allergic reactions)
• Antihistamines: Work well to relieve symptoms of different types of allergies (More info)
• Prednisolon: Used to treat many different conditions such as allergic disorders (More info)
• Cetirizine: An antihistamine used in the treatment of hay fever and allergies
• Polaramine (dexchlorpheniramine): Used to treat sneezing; runny nose; itching, watery eyes; hives; rashes; itching; and other symptoms of allergies and the common cold (More info)

2. To ease bee sting symptoms are toothpaste and ice
3. Bite & sting extractor kit --> More info
4. For leeches, wear leech socks --> More info

Safety has to come first in mind, nature lovers! :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hikers, trekkers, nature lovers; you got to come here - Gunung Telapak Buruk, Negeri Sembilan.

It was a jumpsuit plan. We did not get to plan much earlier but we were glad it went well. At the very last minute, our team decided to visit the mountain where few years ago there was an aircraft crash. The area is situated at Gunung Telapak Buruk, in Negeri Sembilan. From the Seremban exit, you need to look for Kuala Klawang and you will be on the right route.

We managed to do some research before our trip even it was not a thorough one. Make sure to do some survey before deciding on your trip. It's important to know what the place is like, what amenities do they have, what you will expect when you're there etc. In shorter words, always be prepared. We're started our adventure from the main road junction and it took us 3 hours walk to reach telecommunication tower (about 12km from the place we parked our car). Generally you can reach the telecommucation tower by car (preferable 4WD since the road is not so even for normal cars and you never want to damage your cars) but since our friend requested for a tough trip, we decided to walk. Along the walk, we did not know the distance to the telecommunication tower and we could not imagine how far it was going to be. Hihi.. There was a huge group came after us to visit the airplane crash area too and we met them at the telecommunication tower.

We had some discussion before we continued our journey to the crash area. We had to walk for about another 1 hour 30 minutes to reach the airplane crash area. (It was a little slow since we spent some time taking photos, looked around and also because of my slow steps ). After our first stop, ee continued our steps further ~1.5 hours before we made a U-turn to the telecommunication tower. Finally we were back to the initial starting point, which was the telecommunication tower at around 5p.m. It was our lucky day, the team which we met earlier was still hanging around and we followed them to reach the main road by a 4WD. Our team completed around 28.5km (20km - up the mountain and coming down around 8.5km - just a rough estimation). It was pretty good exercise for us.

Just some advice for beginners or first timers to this place:
1. It is good to wear track suit and long sleeve t-shirts. Along the way, there is a lot of plants with thorns
2. Watch out your steps because the track is not as clear as the famous mountains'
3. Always stick with your group or team members. During our hiking, only 3 of us were there in the mid of the jungle! We did not see anyone except at the telecommunication tower. Probably it might be due to less visitos at that time but we were not quite sure either.
4. Drinking water supply is important. Make sure to bring sufficient water because we were already out of water towards the end of the journey.

There is no dedicated signage saying 'Gunung Telapak Buruk'. Once you observe this signboard, if you are from Seremban, you need to make a right turn.
 

Distance is about 12km from the signage you'll see earlier. You may opt to walk but it is highly recommended to drive up to this communication tower.
 

 

Meeting and making new friends! Outdoor activity is another way of creating good network.

 

 

 

 

'Hutan Simpanan Kekal' translated to 'Reserved Forest' in English.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

It was in 1945 that we lost them.

 

Bits and pieces from the airplane crash.

 

 

Mount Kinabalu, Malaysia - Conquered!

Standing tall in the East Malaysian state of Sabah, Mount Kinabalu is the highest peak in Borneo and the 20th most prominent mountain in the world. We were very lucky to have the opportunity hiking up 4.095km and conquered the peak! The summit plateau, Low’s Peak is named after Hugh Low in March 1851. It takes about 2 days to climb up and it is not necessary to have previous experience in mountain climbing. Nevertheless, it is advised to be physically as well as mentally fit to push through lethargy throughout the hike. Above animated pictures show the trail map of Mount Kinabalu. There are two ways to reach summit trail which are Timpohon Gate and Mesilau Gate.

The distance from Timpohon gate is shorter by 2km compared with Mesilau track which is 6km. Eventhough Timpohon track is shorter but it is considered as the toughest track with steep path as compared with Mesilau. Hikers who love the natural view would prefer to take Mesilau track to enjoy the mind blowing natural view.

This picture was taken once our team arrived at Kinabalu park.  From here, we took a van to Mesilau Nature Resort.
 

Day 1

We spent a night at Mesilau Nature Resort. The place is very clean, comfortable and there was a good service by friendly resort staff.

Room view from outside.

Such a pleasant environment

Restaurant is placed just a few metres away from our room and dinner serving time is 6.30p.m.

After our heavy dinner, we walked around the restaurant area to enjoy the nice cool weather and views. Since our mobile signal coverage in the room is very poor, we decided to settle all calls at the restaurant area. Nevertheless, do not be worried because during your hiking period you can still bring your mobile phone - along the way to Summit, the mobile line coverage is good.

Above picture is the Mersilau track starting point and every hiker needs to register themselves in the morning before start their journey. A group of 1-5 persons will have one guide and this guide will give you a short briefing before the journey. The guide will follow the slowest member in a team and they can also help you to carry your bags but you will be charged based on the weight of your bag.

This are our recommendation during hiking:

- Do not carry heavy bag unless you are used to it. (preferably, the weight is less than 5KG)

Tips to reduce weight of your bag:

- If you are carrying a backpack, you can refer to their arrangement techniques in the internet

- Sharing is caring (you don't need to bring everything by yourself, align with your   friends who to bring what)

- Always stick to your group. If you have a big group, you may split into several groups. (for our case, we were divided into two groups; Fast and Slow ;-) )

- For beginners, you need to be slow and steady. Just walk slowly while enjoy seeing the beautiful scenery. You can have a short break at every checkpoint.

- Be careful with your steps and do not push yourself too hard. We recommend hikers to use small steps in order to save energy.

These are the necessities needed to be prepared beforehand:

(Some sources are from Climb Mt. Kinabalu)

Clothing

Waterproof jacket or a ponco (high chances for it to rain in the evening

Warm, lightweight jumper and warm, lightweight pants

Spare socks and under garments

Beanie or wool-knitted hat

Fleece or wool-knitted gloves

Miscellaneous

Snacks (granola bars are the best option, banana as your source of energy) for the climb

Water bottles (at least one litre, preferably in small bottles)

Sunscreen cream

Small first aid kit

Whistle (in case of emergency in bad weather and visibility)

Head-lamps with spare batteries
Oral Rehydration salts

Fully charged cell phone

Lodging

If you choose to stay in or near the park on the night before you climb, there are a number of options, ranging from basic to luxury.

1. Kinabalu Pine Resort is located in the foothills near Kundasang, 10 minutes from the national park. Price for a standard room starts from RM100 per night. Package inclusive of breakfast and dinner are also available.

2. Kinabalu Rose Cabin is near Kundasang. Similar to the Pine Resort, rooms start from RM70 per night in the normal season.

 Magnificent view from Low's peak with cottony clouds as the background.

 

That's the other peak seen from Low's peak. The surface is granite and it is such an amazingly inspiring scenery.

 Hikers on the way to Laban Rata; known also as the summit trail.

 Sunset from Laban Rata. One in a million view.

Through the trees, a waterfall draws a breathtaking scene perfectly. It was relaxing just sitting here and looking around before resuming our journey to the peak.

At the Low's peak you may find this sign board. As a symbol of the achievement, we recommend hikers to get some photo shots at this point. Good Luck!