Nature Travelling: 2014

Thursday, May 1, 2014

TiTi Jelebu Negeri Sembilan

How to go to Titi town near Jelebu Negeri Sembilan? You cannot find Titi in the Google map. I have tried it before, Google cannot locate it!

There are few routes you can take to go to Titi town and they are as follows:

Route 1 : From Pheonix Plaze Cheras go pass the toll at Cheras Bt 9. Take a left turn until you reach the Police Station at the traffic light junction. Then take left turn and drive straight until you reach the traffic light junction with a mosque at the left. Take a right turn to Jalan Sungai Tekalik and then just follow the long and winding road to Titi. It is about 27 KM and along the hill road, you will pass by the Semenyih dam.

Route 2 : From Semenyih town take the route to Nirvana Memorial Park and pass the Semenyih dam. It is about 25KM and will go through the long and winding road like route 1 to reach Titi.

Route 2: From Semenyih town go pass Broga town then to Lenggeng town. At the junction take left turn to Klawang direction until you reach Jelebu town. Titi is just about 6 KM from Jelebu Town.

Personally, I suggest route 1 or 2 because they are the faster.

Titi is a very small town and predominately Chinese Hakka community. There only two main streets in this little town. The main street is Jalan Besar. Here are the activities you can do it Titi.

1) Take pictures of the wall paintings

2) Buy Titi local made biscuit

3) Try the traditional Hakka style home made Kuih. This is the best one!

4) Explore the Titi Eco farm (Need to pay entrance fee of RM30 per pax)
5) Try Hakka Style Cooking!

Along the road to Titi we you can see a lot cyclists which I don't why. Probably because this place has less vehicles on the road and better safety for cyclists.

Titi is good for a day trip and you can visit nearby Jelebu town and waterfall if time allows.

Can't find pineapple here in Titi!

Old Chinese temple.

Wall painting.

Wall painting - Grandmother and son

At shop No. 115A, Jalan Besar, you will find local made Titi Biscuit.

Ratan furniture shop

Old Chinese medicine shop

Clean road!

Titi Latex Company. I like old building.

I can't believe it. The drain is clean and no smell. Can't find this in KL!!

Family photos?

Yes, hope.

The sign is rather unique.

Typical pre-war building.

Nice plants.

Must buy the Kuih Muih from this shop!

Start selling at 11am till finish

Mouth watering!

The Taukeh busy is selling Nasi lemak and Noodles

We were quite late to explore the Titi Market. Most of the stalls were closed when we reached there.

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Sigiriya Sri Lanka - The Lion Rock

My first visit to Sri Lanka was 12 years ago on a business trip. During that time, the civil war was still on and army carrying guns were everywhere in the Colombo city. Every 50m, there was a check point and the soldier checked every vehicle entering and leaving the city.

The airport was heavily guarded and security check was mind blogging. Literally they would open your luggage and check every damm thing inside! You need to be at the airport at least 3 hours ahead because of the tight security check.

Situation is better now after the war and everyone is flocking to Sri Lanka, an island of mystery and best known as the Tear Drop of India (The shape of Sri Lanka is like a tear drop if you look carefully on the map)

Two years ago, I made a trip back to Sri Lanka again and took the opportunity to visit the World Herriatge site of Sigiriya - The Lion Rock! I was a bit worry to go there because of the wasp attack. There was an incident that a Malaysian tourist was killed because of wasp. Lucky for me, I survived!

Lion Rock is rich in story. You can read the story in the Google. After visited the site, I am convinced that many great buildings or architectures were built by insane rulers to protect their power! Like the Great Wall of China, Castle of King Ludwig in Munich and many more....

From Colombo to Lion Rock was about 3 hours drive and road condition was not too bad but just slow. We stopped at one restaurant and tried the typical Sri Lanka food, egg hoppers and amused by the "tree man", see photo below.

I couldn't remember the entrance fees to the Lion Rock but foreigner need to pay higher fees. There were tour guides outside the entrance and you could easily get one. The place was huge and you need to walk a fair bit before you reached the toe of the mountain. Then you you need to take stairs up to the peak and on the way you could see precious old wall paintings.

The peak was flat and you could see a small pool that never get dried. The King used to take bath in this pool. From the peak, you could also see a white Buddha statue standing far away. The locals believe the statue was build as landmark so people will not get lost.