【爱大自然。Love Nature】天堂鸟。Bird of Paradise

当我第一次看到它的时候，我觉得这花好特别，好像很漂亮的飞行恐龙，所以我就叫它恐龙。后来，我的朋友告诉我它的名字，我才知道它是天堂鸟。好特别的一种花。

能在2017年的最后一天认识你，是我的荣幸。:)

When I first saw it, I felt this flower is very special as it looks like a beautiful flying dinasour. Therefore, I called it a dragon. It was then my friend told me about its name that I only knew it is a Bird of Paradise. A very special flower indeed.

It was my honor to get to know you in the last day of year 2017. :)

【爱大自然。Love Nature】树下的Mamak。Mamak Under The Tree

如果你来到芙蓉要吃早餐，可以考虑来这间躲在树底下坐落在小溪边的mamak 。吃roti canai喝teh tarik的同时，也可以听听浠水声，听听鸟叫声，还有享受阵阵风吹。

它的名字叫Restoren Mydin。没错，和那连锁商场的名字一样。这家mamak已有至少20年历史。可能两个的创办人都那么巧有同样的名字吧？不晓得。

它的roti canai有一定的水准，teh tarik也是。没有太多的花样，保留了mamak食物的原始。现今社会，很多食物都搞创新，把原始的食物变来变去。有时会怀念一下食物最原始的味道。:)

也因为有至少20年的历史，所以它也成为当地的爱好吹水地方，时不时会看到一班年已迈老的auntie uncle在这儿聊天，好歇意。很有人间风情。

有空来这儿吃个早餐吧。

If you come Seremban and are looking for food, you can consider to have your breakfast at this hidden mamak under a big tree and beside the water stream. While you're eating roti canai and drinking teh tarik, you can listen to the sound of flowing water, listen to the  sound of bird and enjoy the morning breeze. 

The name of the restaurant is Restoran Mydin. Yes, it has the same name as the Malaysia chain of hypermart. This restaurant has a history of at least 20years. It might be both founder name are so coincidentally the same? Maybe. 

Both it's roti canai and teh tarik have standard. The food is very genuine without much innovative modification. It is good that at least there is still this kind of restaurant keeping the origin of the food, when there are many food out there born out of innovative idea on the original food making. 

Because it has at least 20 years history, it has become a gathering place for the local. One can sometimes spotted aging uncles aunties sitting in the restaurant chitchatting. The scene is very cultural, feel nice.

【旅行趣想。Travel Things Thinks】汗拿山。Hallasan

汗拿山有五个爬山路径，觀音寺探訪路(Gwaneumsa Trail)是其中一个。这路径估计来回需要八到九个小时。网搜成绩都显示这路径是最具挑战的但却最漂亮的。网上的汗拿山照片都好漂亮，所以好期待。

爬了以后，发现原来网上分享的漂亮景色都在山顶才能看得到。基于时间的关系，我们只是去到了离海平面1500米的山间，一路走的都是森林。我们没有看到一望无际的山顶风景，但是从离海平面1500米的山间看着离海平面1950米的山顶也是不赖。

依据南韩旅行指南网站，Eurimok Trail和Yeongshil Trail是最短的路径。它们只需要两小时至两小时班的时间就完成了。Google搜索显示这两条路径都有好漂亮的山景。如果赶时间的话，可以选择这两条路径。:)

There are 5 trails in Hallasan, Gwaneumsa Trail is one of them. It is estimated that it will need 8-9 hours to go back and forth for this trail. Internet surfing results show that this trail is the most challenging one but is with the most beautiful scenic views. The pictures in internet are really beautiful and therefore very excited to see it.

After the hike, it was realized that those beautiful scenic views are only view-able on top of the mountain. Due to lack of time, we were only able to reach the rest house located at 1500m above sea level. We went through trail in the jungle to reach there. We were not able to see the mountain view but the view of the mountain top from this 1500m above sea level spot was remarkable as well.

According to South Korea Travel Guide, there are two short trails. They are Eurimok Trail and Yeongshil Trail. Both only need about 2-2.5hours  to finish the trail. From the google result, both trails have beautiful mountain view from bottom of the mountain. If you are rush of time, you may consider to choose either one of these routes. :)

汗拿山 觀音寺 探訪路
Hallasan Gwaneumsa Trail

汗拿山 觀音寺 探訪路

Hallasan Gwaneumsa Trail

沿着觀音寺探訪路的河

The river where Hallasan Gwaneumsa Trail follows

觀音寺探訪路

Gwaneumsa Trail

夏天的开始
The starting of autumn

高高瘦瘦的树
Tall skinny trees

漂亮的阳光
Beautiful sunlight

在离海平面1500米的高度看到的汗拿山山顶
The peak viewing from 1500m above sea level

http://www.thesouthkoreatravelguide.com/hiking/hallasan_national_park.html

【旅行趣想 Travel Things Thinks】古时理发屋 Barber's Shop

I was visiting a residential flat in Padang Tembak. I parked my car by the roadside as what the residents would do. Out of my car and walked into the market which was just surrounding the 16th-floor elevator-equipped flat. The flat is comprised of few buildings, I lost count as there are many of them.

My first feeling was how convenient it is to stay there. Whenever you need food or anything, you could just take the elevator to ground floor and you would find what you need out of the elevator. How convenient! You seldom get this convenience in modern properties including flat and condo.

Second feeling was that the neighborhood bonding is quite strong here.  I bet all the stall owners are from this flat or this area, opening stall to earn some living. Walking pass the market, I could see few old folks sitting here and there having tea and chit-chatting together. How relax.

This barber's shop is one of the hang-around place for these uncles. It was a corner commercial lot of the flat located under a big tree. When I passed by this barber's shop, I couldn't help it but took a picture of it. There are the heritage barber's shop chairs and heritage barber's shop design with simple big mirror. Yeah, these are the necessaries and so not as special.

So, what are so special that it caught my eyes? Do you realize this is a open-concept barber shop? Two sides of the shop are wide-opened which allow natural cool wind to blow in especially when it is shedded under a big tree. The wind acts as the "air-cond" for this barber's shop. I bet no customer would ever complain about how hot they are sitting in there. Second, do you see there is a set of home sofa in the shop? It feels very homey for me, it feels like a living room. The feeling is stronger when there were uncles sitting there chit-chatting.

This flat and this barber's shop definitely is a heritage to Penang Island. I hope this place could continue to exist and maybe has its surrounding improved/repaired/beautified enough to be sustained as a heritage location. Really love this barber's shop!

[Garden] Taman Saujana Hijau @ Putrajaya

Our plan to cycle in KL city during Sunday morning had to be postponed because of work, but we had free time on Monday. Then, we found this public garden located within Presint 11 of Putrajaya which is apparently famous for cycling as well. So, on Monday, we set off to this garden.

This garden is surprisingly beautiful and well-maintained. It is "hanging" on a hill, like a garden in the sky. Since it is on the hill, the views are spectacular with Puchong city view, Serdang city view, Putrajaya view and the residency views surround this hill. The experience is quite like standing on the Mount Eden at Auckland, New Zealand looking at the surrounding cities. [NOTE: Stay tune for update on Mount Eden @ Auckland]

It felt like we were in New Zealand when we were in this garden. The walking, jogging or cycling path is in perfect conditions, smooth and clear of weeds. There are pine trees, cypress trees, beautiful flowers and other attractive plants planted along the path. Each plants is labelled to educate the visitors about who they are, it is very educational. Pines and cypresses, those could be few reasons why we felt like in New Zealand.

Aside from walking, cycling and jogging, visitors can also do some simple hike with readily made wooden staircases. Starting from the bottom of the hill, with some walking distance and then to the top of the hill. Then, enjoy the city views at the top of the hill as well as the European garden. 

There are simple seats available in few spots with beautiful plants as background for visitors to enjoy the views and the breeze. There are also special rest stops with fresh flowers/plants as decoration. Couples can come here for nice memory photos or even for wedding photos.

There are three themed garden here. Europe, English and Oriental. People can choose to come here for a leisure picnic with one of those as their choice. It would be a different experience in this unique garden. People will definitely love it. Totally envy people who lives nearby who get to enjoy this garden as often as they want. 

English themed garden

Oriental themed garden

Taman Saujana Hijau