TECHNIP's Annual Dinner @ Grand Lexis

The management at the office dad works in had arranged for an annual dinner at Grand Lexis Resort in Port Dickson for the entire Electrical Department staffs where everyone is allowed to bring their family. It was a 2 days and 1 night trip. Despite the short time, the four of us decided to have fun as much as we can like we always do.

As usual, dad drove us from our house to the destination. It took us several hours though to reach as we missed the road to the location. After long drive, we reached at the hotel where we have to register and will be given the key to our chalet. At the hotel lobby, dad gathered with his colleagues and introduced us. They were so friendly and the jovial type. Then, our ride was a golf cart that brought us straight to the doorstep of our chalet. I was so moved by their hospitality and excited too as it was my first time riding on a golf cart.

The fascinating part of it all was that, the chalet was built right above the sea. As we entered the chalet, I literally was jumping up and down in complete excitement. There was a solid glass panel on the floor in the middle of the room allowing us to view the sea below. The best part of all was that, each unit of the chalet came with A PRIVATE POOL! How cool does that sound? My brother and I were going crazy seeing it all. My brother and I changed quickly into our shirt and pants and got into the pool right away being the crazies we were.

Solid glass panel that allows us to SEE THE SEA! :p lol 

My brother and I were BUSY! :D 

We swam for hours and even before we knew it was evening already which means, IT'S DINNER TIME! So we got into our respective attires and waited for the cart to come and fetch us again. My dad's colleagues were all so wonderful and humble despite the positions they were in. I was much privileged to have met them all. They had door gifts, lucky draw and singing and dancing sessions along with tons of food. And after the dinner was over, we were so full that we could barely walk to the lobby. I think we would have crawled if we were to walk back to the chalet after all those good foods. Thank god there was a golf cart that brought us back safe and sound. 

It was taken several years back! My baby brother is tall and skinny now! :( 

Upon returning back to the room, my brother and I did not settle down! Instead, we went on a second round of swimming. We made use of it as much as we could so that we would not have any regrets when we leave the place! 

It was past midnight and we were yet swimming as it’s a private pool and you will not be questioned. It was nearly 1.30 in the morning before my brother and I decided that we had enough of swimming. We were happy and exhausted at the same time. We went to bed around 2 a.m. after changing and were quite upset with the fact that we had to leave in the afternoon.

We got up at 7 a.m. for a buffet breakfast and again had a good eating time with the breakfast served by the hotel. At 12pm, we checked out of the hotel, saying bye to the place where we had built another bundles of memory.

Facts about Dolphins!

Dolphins are highly intelligent marine mammals and are part of the family of toothed whales that includes orcas and pilot whales. They are found worldwide, mostly in shallow seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating fish and squid. Dolphin shade varies from one another, but they are generally gray in color with darker backs than the rest of their bodies. There are however facts about them that makes them one of the most beautiful creatures in the water.

I. Dolphins are well known for their agility and playful behavior, making them a favorite of wildlife watchers. Many species will leap out of the water, spy-hop (rise vertically out of the water to view their surroundings) and follow ships, often synchronizing their movements with one another. Scientists believe that dolphins conserve energy by swimming alongside ships, a practice known as bow-riding.

Dolphins live in social groups of five to several hundred. They use echolocation to find prey and often hunt together by surrounding a school of fish, trapping them and taking turns swimming through the school and catching fish. Dolphins will also follow seabirds, other whales and fishing boats to feed opportunistically on the fish they scare up or discard.

II. Unlike a fish, which moves its tale from side to side, a dolphin swims by moving its tale (made up of flukes) up and down. And a dolphin carries more oxygen in its blood than a fish and can swim longer than a fish. Hence, dolphins are better adapted to the sea than are any fish.

III. Dolphins don’t breathe automatically, rather it is always consciously done. An interesting consequence of the fact that they need to be conscious to control their breathing is that they can never be truly unconscious, even when they sleep.  However, being mammals, their brains do need to enter a type of unconscious state every now and again in order to continue to function properly.  How dolphins handle this is to put one half of their brain to sleep, while the other half is still conscious and functioning.  They then alternate which side is sleeping periodically.  They stay in this state for approximately eight hours a day.  Doing this allows them to be conscious enough to control their breathing and periodically swim to the surface and get air, while still giving their brain the rest it needs.

IV. “Killer Whales”, or Orcas, are actually dolphins.  In fact, they are the largest member of the dolphin family, Delphinidae. Now strictly speaking, whales are marine animals of the order of Cetacea and occasionally Cetacea is used to refer to not just whales, but also porpoises and dolphins.  However, it generally excludes these latter marine animals, which belong to the sub-order Odontoceti.  So, depending on who you talk to, dolphins, including the Orca, may be considered whales and dolphins or may be considered a separate marine animal from other whales.  But in either case, Orcas are one of the 35 species in the oceanic dolphin family, with its closest relative being the Irrawaddy dolphin.

All in all, I’d say that dolphins are one of the genuine creatures of waters. If you surf the web, there will be dozens of occasions where you’ll read news about them having helped humans in one way or another. Beautiful gentle ones they are indeed. 

A trip to Cameron Highland

Dad had planned a short getaway for us to Cameron Highlands during Hari Raya holidays since it has been some time since the four of us went out together especially now that I’m pursuing my studies in UPSI while staying in hostel.  We spent 3 days and 2 nights in Cameron. Dad drove from our house to Cameron and it took us about 1 and half hour before we reached Tapah. The traffic flow was smooth as we left the house early in the morning around 5.45. As we stopped by at Tapah rest area to have our breakfast, dad told us that my eldest cousin brother and his family would be joining us but they will be coming on a 2 days 1 night trip only. My brother and I were so eager to hear that as it would be double the fun for us as our nephews will be there too and so we continued our journey to the Highland on road.

And we're of to Cameron! :D 

I slept through the remaining journey to the top and woke up to a breath-taking view when we reached at the Bharat Tea Plantation. Despite having been there three times previously, that view still made my day. Been there thrice, yet we never actually tried walking down along the plantation so we decided to give it a try this time. The entrance was free back then but now, they charge RM2 per person. Children of specific age group are allowed in for free though. The view as you walk down the plantation was remarkable as we got to see different types of plants and birds chirping on nearby trees. There were even pathways for four-wheel drive but it is strictly for the plantation workers only for them to transport the tea leaves in and out of the place. 

The view of the Tea Plantation

After exploring the tea plantation, we had lunch at a nearby vegetarian restaurant and then headed to check into our respective hotels to take rest before we head to the night market nearby where we can get strawberries and vegetables for reasonable price. Around 6.30pm, we met at the market and by that time, the cars were caught in a massive traffic as more people were coming in from all over the states as it was a holiday season. The market was so crowded that you can find people of all ethnicities, not to forget that Cameron is also one of the most popular tourism places in Malaysia. We walked around the market surveying things being sold this time around. My cousin brother bought vegetables though as they will be leaving the next day. We however went on a food hunt and ended up buying ‘Nasi Lemak Cameron’, Nasi Tomato’ and deep fried vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower and so on so forth. It was like a mini food fiesta in our hotel room.

The next morning, we got up early and went to the Cameron Lavender Garden after having our breakfast at a nearby mamak restaurant. It was so beautiful that I can’t seem to find words to describe it. As we went on the path, there were more flowers than just lavenders. They even had a small strawberry farm where you can pluck your own strawberries but not for free of course. Two people can go in for RM15 and once you are done plucking the strawberries, you will have to make the payment at the counter located before the exit of the strawberry farm. It was so much fun that my mom and I, we plucked about 20 huge strawberries and the experience was so much worth the money. Almost a day went just like that in a blink of an eye and my cousin brother and his family left around 4 after lunch. We then returned to our room around 5pm to freshen up before we head to the night market again. This time, I got myself a huge cotton candy in blue that I had my eyes on ever since I noticed it. It was freshly made and the smell was heavenly. We bought a bit of vegetables. Speaking of vegetables, you can get varieties of it worth the money. Say about seven vegetables for RM10 ONLY!!!! Exhausted, we decided to sleep in longer the next day. 

Can't deny the fact that we were good as a team at finding huge strawberries! XD

The last but not the least thing we ever did in the morning the next day was to go for a huge roadside morning market. It is about half an hour drive to 45 minutes’ drive to that place and it is situated by the road. The price there was even cheaper than the night market. We again didn’t miss the chance of buying sweet corns, sweet potatoes and many more. Being the typical tourist that I am, I bought a t-shirt as a souvenir for myself and some key chains for my brother and mother. My dad said he didn’t want anything though as he was not feeling well as he got wet in the rain. And so we left Cameron after creating memory lanes to look back at once again.

P/S ~ This is the link for a tour guide around Cameron. 
http://www.cameronhighlands.com/