Searching for Ents in Cameron Highlands (Part 1)

Deep in the Mossy Forest of Cameron Highlands lives a creature that looks like an Ent from the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) movie trilogy.

We stumbled upon this magnificent creature in 2008 as we were hiking up Mount Brinchang.

It was tall, green in colour and in a hurry to go somewhere. Just look at its long legs and powerful strides.

Here's a photo of an Ent from LOTR in case you don't know:

Image source

This weekend we will be hiking our way to Mossy Forest again where we spotted the Ent. And hopefully our paths will cross again.

Will we succeed or not? Stay tune for more news next week.

(Click here for Part 2)

Discovering Magical Ma'aloula

Ma'aloula is one of Syria's best kept secret. We have never heard about it until a shopkeeper in Souq Hamidiyyah recommended we visit it.

Ma'aloula is located about 50 km from Damascus, and is the only place on earth where the people speak Aramic - the language that Jesus Christ spoke. Cool, huh?

Our visit to Ma'aloula began at the Greek Catholic Convent of St Sergius:

The Greek Catholic Church of St Sergius was built in the 4th Century, making it one of the oldest churches in Christendom. Even typing it out makes me feel tingly and all.

Photos are not allowed inside the church, so I'll show you the courtyard instead:

Courtyard in the middle of the convent.

There is also a cafe and souvenir shop to quench your thirst, fill your tummies and satisfy your shopping addiction:

I went to the back of the convent and couldn't resist snapping this shot because I like the sun rays piercing from the sky:

Like God sending a message to the people :-)

After the convent, we walked down the road and I snapped this magnificent shot:

This shot is one of my fav travel photo of all time.

Then we reached a signage in the road:

... and we stopped by the Temple of the Sun which was built in 175 BC. Ma'aloula is full of super historical buildings and monuments! But alas, the Temple of the Sun was just a small, dark cave with graffiti on the wall. I thought they were uninteresting and therefore didn't take any photos. I thought these berry-like fruits in front of the temple were much more interesting:

Can eat or not?

Next, we saw an old man who pointed to an iron door that led into the rock crevices. We thought that was the proper path to follow and so a walking we went. Soon we found ourselves in a place that looked like the set of Star Wars:

This part of Ma'aloula was an exciting surprise, not mentioned in the guidebooks at all. Thank you old man for showing us the way.

We were worried that we were lost, but after seeing other locals and travellers using the path, we felt more comfortable. And true enough, soon we arrived at the other church that Ma'aloula is famous for - The Greek Orthodox Convent of St Takla.

Entrance to Convent of Saint Takla.

Here is another shot of the convent from a different angle:

Please ignore the aluminium can in the front of the photo. Didn't realise it's there until a Facebook friend pointed it out.

Like St Sergius, the Convent of St Takla has a beautiful courtyard in the middle:

That's Aud exploring the convent.

A flight of stairs lead to St Takla's shrine:

Sorry folks, but photos are not allowed in the shrine.

The convent also boasts of religious icons like these:

Who is that carrying whose head?

I love these too:

Not too sure what are these, but I think the one on the right is a holy water fount.

Even the various doors in the convent looked interesting to me:

3 Doors Down?

We spent so much time exploring the nooks and crannies of St Takla that we didn't realise it was late and had to cancel our onward trip to Seidnaya.

I didn't even have the chance to grab hold of some old lady and demand she speak Aramic because I really wanted to hear how the language sounds like. Could this be another reason to visit Syria again?

So we headed back to Damascus and I managed to snap a photo of the village from the car:

Goodbye Ma'aloula, never in my wildest dream did I know you were this exciting!

Looking for a Ping Pong Show in Phuket

I've always wanted to see a Ping Pong Show after hearing the stunts those girls could do with their pelvic muscles a.k.a. vagina.

When I was in Phuket last month, I made it a point to look for a Ping Pong Show, and found it on Bangla Road where the nightlife of Phuket is.

This is Bangla Road in the daytime. At night it turns into this:

Girls rubbing themselves on poles, much to the delight of male customers ;-)

We saw many guys standing along the road holding laminated A4 paper with a list of shows available. We approached one of them and he brought us to a nightclub that looked like this:

The place was dark when we entered. There were a mix of men and women in the audience who were seated around the stage. Some were seated on cocktail tables a little towards the back. A few girls were performing completely naked on stage.

We took our seats, paid the entry fee of THB 800 which includes one drink, and I was excited!

I wish I could show you photos but photography is strictly prohibited in the area. My travel partner whipped out her camera to snap a photo of our drinks and the bouncer immediately told her to put it away.

Soon the real performers came on stage and the show began.

Unlike the previous performers who performed in extremely tiny bikinis or in the nude, these Ping Pong Show performers were fully clothed. They wore sleeveless tight fighting tops with a wrap around mini, mini skirt with nothing underneath of course. And when they performed, you can't see their privates, unless maybe if you're sitting at the foot of the stage where you have a visual advantage.

The stunts they could do with their pelvic muscles includes:
(a) blowing a dart from a straw to burst a balloon.
(b) pulling a string of razor blades out from it; and
(c) shooting a ball into the air.

Makes me think that the vagina is indeed an underestimated body part.

During the show, a few guests were called on stage to assist the performers. All of them cringed when asked to touch items that have made contact with these ladies' vaginas. I couldn't help laughing!

So I returned from Phuket with another "been there, done that" ticked off my list.