.: ShaolinTiger – Kung-Fu Geekery :.

It's been a while since my last Sabah post (Sepilok Jungle Resort - Checking in And Relaxing & Review), but seen as though I went recently it's spurned me to continue.

Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary is somewhere everyone should visit at some point in their life, people come from all over the World to see it and alongside probably Sipadan, it's one of the places that puts Malaysia on the map globally.

Now if you live in peninsular Malaysia and you haven't been there it's a bit of a shame right?

The Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre was set up in 1964 to rehabilitate orphaned baby Orang Utan and at the time we visited there was about 80 in total living in the Sanctuary. Some in the wilder part and some still under rehabilitation.

The Orang Utans are fed twice a day at 10am and 3pm and you can go for either or both, if you're a photographer I'd recommend the morning viewing as the light is slightly better. The light isn't ideal at either time as it's rather harsh and the feeding area is in shadow, so a fast telephoto would help (300mm f/2.8 please!).

You can expect it to be pretty busy at either feeding time. You can go in a little earlier (which the guide will recommend) to watch the introductory video. Entrance fee is RM5 for MyKad holders (locals) and RM30 for johnny foreigner (me). Cameras are charged at RM10 per camera.

You can expect them apes to come flying out quit promptly about 5 minutes before the scheduled feeding time.

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Sometimes I go back through the pictures I haven't uploaded or processing and yesterday I discovered these from a trip to Jakarta back in 2007.

The people there were incredibly friendly and even though it was a hardcore poor area (like a slum) I felt safe at all times.

Everyone was really happy to have their picture taken and most posed willingly. It was quite an experience, I was staying around the Ciputra area in Jakarta.

There are of course the Indonesian versions of the venerable Thai tuk-tuk known as a 'bajaj'.

And this industrious fella on his bike fully loaded up.

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Like free holidays? Want a free holiday? Want to be on TV as well at the same time - bonus right.

Well now you can, there's an open audition for contestants on a new 8TV program called Discover Smile Zoom Malaysia - a travel reality game show. Some simple tasks need to be completed in each of the local destinations (no International travel involved - promote Malaysia, Malaysia boleh!).

It's for pairs (not bf/gf or husband wife) and looking for more guy/guy partnerships as so far there have been a lot of girl/girls.

So bring your partner!

The open audition will be held on Saturday 2nd May 2009 from 2.00pm till 6.00pm at 8TV, Bandar Utama, PJ (ignore the date on the above video, that was last weeks audition).

If you are interested or have any questions, please call the producer - Azmi at 012-344 0292 and let him know you read about it here.

After A Walk Down To Weld Quay and Chew Jetty and some rest it was time to head to Batu Ferringhi Beach for the sunset.

We reached just before 6pm (quite difficult to find parking!) then setup on the beach for some sunset photography, there was still a lot of activity and it was quite busy with people banana boating, parasailing, jet skiing and horse riding.

Jet Skiing is fun! Good way to get sunburn though (I found the hard way).

Horse Riding on the beach? Unless you know how to gallop or at least canter - I can't see it being much fun. Anyway horseriding is not for people who have testicles!

The kids of course love playing on the beach.

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So after our Walk Around Georgetown Heritage Trail - Penang, we walked on down to Weld Quay where the clan jetties are in Penang.

Just before we left the foodcourt for the jetty I spotted this jolly old fella who made me think of a Chinese Popeye!

After that we visited the Chew Jetty, they even have a Homestay program!

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So after our trip to Sepetang Charcoal Factory we had some totally awesome Mee Udang Banjir then headed onto Penang.

We took a rest for a while and had a BBQ in the evening to celebrate Shutter Asia's 2nd anniversary.

Next morning it was up bright and early for a breakfast of Roti Canai at Transfer Road (superb and cheap!).

After that it was off to the Penang Heritage Trail, it was a beautiful sunny day.

The first stop was Masjid Kapitan Keling (Kapitan Keling Mosque).

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For the Shutter Asia 2nd Anniversary we decided to head down to Penang, with a stop on the way at Kuala Sepetang to visit a charcoal factory.

We arrived there at about 10am, leaving KL about 7.45am - not too bad. We were met with some majestic scenes with lightrays, dust and a lot of hard walking folks.

There was quite a group with members converging in Kuala Sepetang from both KL and Penang, just under 30 I think.

This is Mr Tan our gracious guide who took some time to explain to us each step in the charcoal making process and the timescales and temperatures involved.

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Ah back from Penang, it was raining all the way back and Jammed but it was worth it for the splendidly sunny 2+ days in Penang. Plus the food of course, and the heritage trail was interesting and photogenic.

I hope to get some pics up soon, but for now here's a sunset shot from Ferringhi beach.

Larger here.

We made a trip to a charcoal factory on the way there too near Simpang, which was fascinating.

More coming soon!

We set off early in the morning to meet at around 8.30am for breakfast, we took our time and ended up leaving nearer to 10am - off we went on the highway stopping off at Tapah services for some Baskin Robbins.

After that it was time to turn off and start the winding journey up the old road to Cameron Highlands! It's actually the first time I've been there, I've been meaning to go for ages but didn't have chance yet.

Anyway there was 3 cars with Me, Kim, Suan, KY, Mellissa, Fireangel, Rachel, Horny and Carol!

Horny drove quite steadily all the way up the highway, but as soon as we reached the windy road he shot off like Michael Schumacher. We caught him up a while later and carried on up the hill when an unfortunate incident occured. Some mini-van drive cut into our lane on a blind corner (rushing some middle-eastern tourists back down the hill to KL) and Horny banged into the side of the van causing some irrevocable damage to his power steering hose.

As we couldn't get up the hill with all the luggage and all the people we had to have a makeshift picnic at the side of the road whilst we awaited the tow-truck guys (bear in mind it was now about 1pm and we were ready for lunch!). All we were armed with was some mineral water, a Chinese language newspaper and 5 umbrellas!

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Just got back, it was a short trip but a nice one. It's always good to spend time with friends away from the city, away from all the needless distractions.

Even though there was a minor mishap on the way up, it all worked out in the end.

The above was the view when eating our scones.

Update more soon!

Hope you all enjoyed your long weekend, and bad luck for those that didn't get one.