Sofia Waterfall Kuala Lumpur

 

Note : This tour is suitable for guests that do not have time to go  overnight tours to the National Parks and rainforest resorts. Though is it is not a primary rainforests, the characteristics are almost similar.

Located behind the Kuala Lumpur National Zoo - a close proximity with the Klang Gate Dam. The area will be gazetted as the Selangor State Park in the near future. Pick up at 9.00 am from a designated pick up point. A 30 minutes drive to the drop off point. Briefing and one hour hike through old timber trails and river bank. Spot the squirrels and birds along the trail. At the falls, take a dip in its cool clear waters. Explore the upper/lower parts of the river. Further up river the Orang Asli (Aborigine) trail would take a fit person 4 days in order to reach the source of the river - a food for thought! At 12.30 hours commence trekking to the parked vehicle and you will the taken to a short tour of an Aborigine Settlement. The tour ends with the guest being sent back to individual hotel. 

The trek to the waterfalls, passes through secondary forests with lots of undergrowths, climbers, tall trees, bamboos etc. Occasionally, you will have to climb over fallen tree trunks. There is a lot of interesting flora that you can see along the route.

Duration	: Approx. 5 hours
Departure	: 0900 Hours Daily at Swiss Inn Hotel
Pick-up	: Between 0830 Hours from major hotels in Kuala Lumpur

Useful Tips

• The weather is generally hot and humid all year round. Temperatures ranges from 25 - 33 degrees Celsius.
• Rainy season is between mid December to mid January.
• Most appropriate clothing for the jungle are loose fitting cotton long sleeved shirts and long pants to help keep  insects at bay.
• Wear comfortable boots or sneakers
• Helpful to bring along a first aid kit, torchlight and an insect repellent
• Visitors are requested to help the Department of Wild Life preserve nature' beauty by keeping litter and noise pollution to the minimum.

      What to do if you got lost.........

• If you are lost, back track and check your bearings before continuing.
• Stay put because it would be easier for the rescue teams to locate you than if you were to wander around aimlessly.
• Listen to the sounds of water, either stream of river. Follow it down stream until it leads you back to civilizations.
• Always think of self-preservation and never take unnecessary risks.
• Try to leave some sort of mark along your path by systematically slashing leaves or tree barks so that you can find your way back if necessary. 

Putrajaya Garden City

Despite having visited the federal administrative centre of Malaysia for many times, I never stop feeling amaze with the architecture and beauty of buildings and landscapes in Putrajaya.

Last week I spent a few hours in Putrajaya giving a short tour of the planned city to my kakak-kakak and abang from Indonesia who has been part of my family for the last couple of years. They never been to Putrajaya and after few times of rescheduling, I finally fulfilled my promise to bring them around. 

We started at the Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin Mosque or better known as Masjid Besi or Steel Mosque. 

 

 

Interesting facts: built from 6, 000 tones of steel. Environmental friendly design, and does not require fans or air-conditioners. Cost – RM 200 million.

 

Very nice design.

 

 

Very calming feeling

 

Not many mosques have this view!

 

 

Putrajaya is a beautiful place for walking and street photo shooting, unfortunately the weather was too hot on that day and I decided to do street shooting on some other days, hence the shoot-while-driving tour action. 

 

 

Perdana Putra, PM’s office.

 

The Putra Mosque, or Masjid Putra, the principal mosque of Putrajaya, Malaysia. One of Putrajaya’s biggest tourist magnet. 

 

Dataran Putra – currently under renovation.

 

Putra Mosque from different views.

 

 

 

Wifi in Mosque compund but no phones in the Praying Hall please.

 

credit azuanzahdi

The Kancing Waterfall

The Kanching Waterfalls. Located between Selayang and Rawang, this is a hidden gem for nature lovers visiting Selangor. It has 7 layers of waterfalls with the lowest 3 levels being easily accessed by families with kids. The higher levels are a bit challenging and require a bit of hiking skills and good pair of shoes.

We ended up at the third tier and had some time enjoying the nature.

 

One little suggestion for Tourism Selangor is to employ a lifeguard cum security guard at each tier of the falls for two reasons. One is obviously for the safety of the visitors and another reason is to deter the visitors from simply polluting the beautiful waterfalls.It’s so sad that we are at the stage where “Jangan Menbuang Sampah” signs mean nothing and people still leave their picnic leftovers behind. By having someone monitoring (or even issuing on-the-spot summonses, hopefully we can keep the beauty of Kanching for our next generation to enjoy)
Beautiful sights.

 

We had packed lunch in Kanching with some un-invited guest. Another reason to take your leftovers with you.

 

Someone didn’t finish his/her coleslaw and threw it away. The monkey discovered the unopened coleslaw, opened it, and threw it back. A double insult to some Colonel in the US. hehehe

credit to azuanzahdi

ATV @ Kemensah Waterfall

After backpacking to Singapore, horse-riding in Bukit Tinggi and numerous other lil adventures, my friend and I decided to give this ATV (all-terrain-vehicle) thing a try. I know about this place through an article on an Expatriate magazine as well as another article in The Star recently.

With so much media exposure and word-of-mouth marketing, this place located in Kemensah Waterfall Hulu Klang is quite famous. It is advisable to call and make reservations in advance to avoid disappointment. Numbers are available on the article or via its website www.atvmalaysia.com

Getting there is not an issue although in my opinion a nice compact car would be a better choice. Drive through Zoo Negara entrance, parking A and parking b and continue futher down about 3km and you’lll start to see yellow signs of “ATV for RENTAL�?.



My buddy and I got there quite early (we were excited!) so we had a nice morning jog walk around the area and had breakfast in a nice small ‘gerai’. If you’re not keen on the ATV ride, there are places where you can have picnics with friends and families around the area.
What a way to start a day..

 

Anyway the ride cost me RM100 for a 2.5 hours adventure. I believe its worth the money considering the location close to KL (its in KL!) and it includes a short briefing & training, full guide, a bike, 40 minutes ride into a multi-tier private waterfall, 30 minutes waterfall fun, 30 minutes ride home, sandwiches and a bottle of water. Not bad at all.

The ATV bikes are mostly manual bikes. Initially I was scared since I never ride a bike except as passenger and I can’t even drive manual cars. But the briefing and training by the friendly owners help boost my confidence and within minutes I’m changing gears like I own the bike (I wish I own one!)

 

The ride into the waterfall is an uphill ride with few challenging trails. It’s challenging but not extremely-difficult. Enough to keep you on your feet and feel good about yourself although you never do any crazy things like bungee jumping or diving or something like that.
Me…enjoying the ride…

The waterfall is really cool. It’s FUN FUN FUN! No trace of other people except the 7 of us (the whole team for each trip) and no rubbish and the water is clean enough to actually drink it (although I’m not the adventurous)

 

It’s a family business…the son is also one of the experienced and expert marshall.

 
All in all it was a great 2.5 hours time. Give it a try if you’re looking for some nature fun near KL. Some tips:
1) Travel-light…refreshment provided
2) Whatever happens don’t put down your legs
3) Leave Fear at home
4) Respect Nature
5) Leech is not that bad….wear socks next time! Haha
A little souvenir for me for not checking my shoes before wearing it and not wearing socks…

 

credit to azuanzahdi

Laser Warzone @ iCity Shah Alam

It’s HOT, it’s HAPPENING! Come experience the hottest and fast growing new sport in Malaysia, the Laser Tag challenge! Laser tag is a simulated war game similar to paintball (minus the ‘pain’) where you are either the hunter or the hunted. You strap on a vest with censors then go into the game arena to find and shoot the other team hiding in between the maze.

I had my first Laser Tag experience few months back in Mid Valley (click here to read) and I find that Laser Tag is an interesting and affordable healthy activity to take up as an exercise. Not only it is fun, it also burn calories so in a way it’s a 2-in-1 kind of activity. The only setback was the distance between the lase r tag arena in Mid Valley from Shah Alam making it difficult to go on weeknights.
Distance and lack of arena are no longer an issue starting May 2011 as a new company and a new arena are now up and running in iCity Shah Alam, a very short 5 minute drive from my house! Introducing the brand new Laser Warzone: The Ultimate Lasertag Challenge.

After one of blog readers alerted about this new place, I went to check it out with my usual laser tag buddies. Located at the majestic i-City MSC Shah Alam , the arena provides another form of entertainment to the technology centre. iCity is now more than just LED lights!

The exact address is Unit K-14-1, Jalan Multimedia 7/AH,Citypark, I-City Shah Alam and do look for this huge LED Xmas Tree look-alike as a landmark.

About 50 metres away, the Laser Warzone!

Laser Warzone was born from the collective brainchild of several veteran Laser Tag marshal and owners. These people are not new and they know the game well so visitors can expect quality gameplay and professional marshals for new and seasoned visitors.

Pricing is as competitive as the one in Mid Valley and to me it’s a bit cheaper as it’s near to my house! Interesting to note that they have special price for students, a nice strategy knowing that Shah Alam has a HUGE population of students!

For members, not only they are given special rate but also this ‘dog tag’ with a chip in it to track scores of each game.

At the time of our visit, the function area was still not 100% ready but there are plenty of space for functions like birthday, corporate events and team building.

Visitors can also chill out looking at the CCTV showing all the action inside the arena.

It was then time for us to suit up and check out the arena and the gameplay.

But first, the briefing!

All set, free for all gameplay!

I like the arena setup, it’s wide with plenty of corners and obstacles to take cover. It’s single level making it very fair as that creates a lower probability of a sniper hiding at higher floor!
We had 2 rounds of game before I went in to the arena to join another group and take these photos.

Mr Eliminator aka me! Hehehe

Exchanged cards, paid for our games, presented the manager with AzuanZahdi.com’s keychain as a thank you gift and we left the area satisfied with Laser Warzone!

Also check out http://www.laserwarzone.com

credit azuanzahdi