Welcome to the Second Half of 2015

It's July! Which means that we are already halfway done with the year. Pretty soon, we'll be bidding 2015 goodbye and welcoming 2016.

So, how was your first half of the year? Where did you guys go for holidays? Did you visit any new places or were you exploring and discovering new sights on familiar cities?

As for me, the first half of the year was rather slow, travel-wise. Work and study took most of my times away. However, I still managed to go for 2 vacations. The first was back in January when I went to Boracay, Philippines.

Pristine white beach in Boracay, Philippines

It was supposed to be trip with another travel blogger but she had to bail out due to family commitment. I'm not much of a beach person so the most I can spend are 4 days by the beach doing nothing. However, Boracay is more of a "since I'm here, might as well" for the main highlight for me is the Ati-Atihan Festival in Kalibo. What a colourful and lively festival it is.

Colourful parade of the Ati-Atihan Festival

The second one was my South Korea adventure in April with my friends. I was amazed and fascinated with the country, what with the constant import of Korean cultures in Malaysia, and I came back in love with it. The food, the people, the heritage, everything is just a delight. Plus, we went during spring, which means being surrounded with the lovely sakuras all the times. What a perfect way to spend my birthday.

Sakura trees everywhere

Street foods are aplenty in Seoul

Table full of Korean delights

I'm looking forward to the remaining half of the year, with tentatively 3 more trips to go. I say tentatively because these 3 trips are already all locked up and ready to launch and I'm considering another one during Christmas break. Let's see how it goes on that one.

Visit Malaysia Year 2014 - 6th International Putrajaya Hot Air Balloon Fiesta, Putrajaya

To support Visit Malaysia Year 2014, I will be writing on various tourist attractions in the country. Let us work together to bring in tourists to our lovely Malaysia.

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It had been a long day of waiting. My enthusiasm was running thin as I watched the hot air balloons being inflated then deflated, inflated and deflated, for countless times, in the launching pad. I had been waiting patiently to see hot air balloons dominating the sky view but it remained clear all afternoon. 

One of the hot air balloon flying high up

Then, something changed. Slowly, one by one, the balloons began to inflate and rise. The crowd too noticed it as the sound of cameras clicking rapidly surrounded me. As the hot air balloons slowly elevated itself up in the air, so too were the thousands of cameras that followed behind. My wish had finally came true.

These hot air balloons - many of them are in various shapes and sizes - are the main attraction here in the International Putrajaya Hot Air Balloon Festival, the sixth edition coming next week, starting from 27th until 30th March 2014. An extravagant affair, this yearly event becomes hot property, one not to be missed.

Things to do in the fiesta besides the hot air balloons

The highlight of the day, besides seeing these hot air balloons taking up the sky, is the night glow, scheduled on Saturday night. These hot air balloons are transformed into light bulbs as the balloonists ignite their burners, creating a breath taking light show. Synchronized with pumping music, this is an experience worth waiting for.  

Night glow

Info Box

6th International Putrajaya Hot Air Balloon Fiesta,
Monumen Alaf Baru, Presint 2, Putrajaya.
The event begins at 7 a.m. onward. Hot air balloons freeflying shows are scheduled at 7.30 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. while night glow is scheduled at 9.00 p.m. on 29th March 2014.
There is no entrance fee. However, certain activities require tickets such as tethered hot air balloon rides and so on.
For more information, click here to visit the official website.

Visit Malaysia Year 2014 - Kek Lok Si Temple, Penang

To support Visit Malaysia Year 2014, I will be writing on various tourist attractions in the country. Let us work together to bring in tourists to our lovely Malaysia.

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Happy Chinese New Year! Wishing everyone a prosperous year and that in this Year of Horse, good fortune and longevity loom over all of you.

With this weekend being a long holiday, why not take this opportunity to explore Malaysia and where better than in Georgetown, Penang, to join in the grand celebration of Chinese New Year? As I had wrote here in Virtual Malaysia, during this festive season, Kek Lok Si Temple can be quite a sight at night, what with the red and yellow lanterns decorating the temple.

However, even in the daylight, you can still explore the temple and absorb the atmosphere. It will definitely be crowded with the locals paying their respects to the deities.

I'll just share some of the photos here and maybe once I manage to get myself to Penang during the season, I'll upload more night photos. As of now, the photos will be of those taken during my university years.

In the morning (taken last year):

At night (taken back in 2010 with my Canon Ixus 100):

Info Box

Kek Lok Si Temple,

1, Tokong Kek Lok Si, 11500 Georgetown, Penang.

Opens daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. During Chinese New Year, the temple opens until 10 p.m.

No entrance fee. However, there is a RM 2 charge per person for the Sky Lift which takes you to the hillside above the pagoda. 

Putrajaya - 4th Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2012

I'll stop my Langkawi post for a quick detour to the 4th International Putrajaya Hot Air Balloon Fiesta which was on the 15th - 18th March 2012. Two words that were constantly playing in my mind throughout the whole time were disappointed and overrated. However, if someone were to ask me to go again next year, I might still consider it. Contradicting, isn't it? Well, I'll explain it in details.

Hot air balloon