Malaysia Capital, Putrajaya, Malaysia

Putrajaya is a new capital of Malaysia. After the completion of Putrajaya around 1998 (yes it survived Asean Financial Crisis), all the government office move here from Kuala Lumpur. Kuala Lumpur is still commercial and business city for Malaysia.

Putrajaya location is about 30km from Kuala Lumpur and 15km from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). Beside taxi, you can use high speed rail (ERL) from KL Sentral to Putrajaya station. From there you can either use taxi or natural gas powered public buses.

Touted as smart city of Malaysia, the eco friendly city is surrounded by world class facilities and smart building. The wetland surrounding the city act as a habitat for flora and fauna as well as natural filter for sewage. 

In term of facilities, the city equipped with 7 public swimming pools as well as indoor, outdoor and water recreational facilities. The usage of swimming pool is as low as RM5 (USD2.00) per entry while the sauna and steam room is priced RM15 (USD5.00) per entry.

Kawah Putih, Bandung, Java Island, Indonesia.

 

One of the website tagged Indonesia as dangerously beautiful. The basis of the claim is Indonesia located on the Ring of Fire. Dotted with hundreds of volcano, it crafted Indonesian mountain in a beautiful and scenic place.

One of the place is Kawah Putih or "White Crater". It is an inactive volcano crater filled with water. It is located about 40km from Bandung. If you are from Bandung, it is advisable to start you journey as early as 7.00 AM to avoid road congestion espeacially if you are travelling on weekend. The place is popular among local and foreign tourist.

Unlike Tangkuban Perahu (http://investandtravel.blogspot.com/2008/09/tangkuban-perahu-bandung.html), there is less street vendor and there should less probability you will duped by them as most of them are licensed by Park Ranger.

The air toward the crater is fresh. But as soon as you arrive at the crater, the strong smell of sulfur will suffocated you. It is advisable to wear mask and drink a lot of plain water to neutralize the effect of sulfur.

Pasar Baru, Bandung, Java Island, Indonesia

Your visit to Bandung, Indonesia is not complete if you not visit Pasar Baru.
Pasat Baru or "New Market" is literally a centre of everything you could buy from Bandung.
Located at the heart of Bandung city, Pasar Baru is easily accessible by taxi, mini bus as well as trishaw.

Pasar Baru had 7th floor shpping areas. Opening time is between 8am to 5pm only. There is also a number of money changer operated inside the building

But to get a good bargain, you must knew the trick and you have some volume to justified your offer.
As a simple rule, the start of the bargaining is 1/3 of the price and you could easily achieved 3/4 from the offered price. But it can drop as low as 40% if you buy in bulk.

Popular item including leather product, imitation goods, silk and clothing.

As reminded by my driver, always wear your backpack on the front. Don't put your wallet at the back of your pants. Be extra careful if you shopping outside the mall areas.

Bon Appetite at Toronto, Canada

Finding Halal food is not a problem in Toronto. There is a plenty of Arabic food outlet such as Mediterranean, Babooz and Medina.

Most of the Arabic restaurants are located along Gerard street near the Eaton Chelsea hotel. Fortunately most of the food court in the large shopping mall such as at Toronto Premium Outlet and Eaton Centre have at least one halal food outlets.

Alternatively you can also choose seafood restaurant such as the red lobster or Indian vegetarian food. But I feel that the Indian vegetarian food the taste had been modified to suit westerners taste buds. It is not as spicy as in Malaysia. Seafood on the other hand the taste is great and the portion is a lot bigger for Asian.

Bon appetite!!!