Dive sites closure
Several dive sites in three states in Peninsular Malaysia have been temporary closed due to coral bleaching, a phenomenon caused by global warming that has increased sea water temperature. According to the Department of Marine Park, Malaysia has more than 80 dive sites.
The closure period is from July 2 until October 31, 2010 and the affected areas are listed below:
A Hundred Years in Ipoh
Being married to a man from Perak, it was inevitable that as I learned to love this person, I also had to learn to love his home state. Fortunately, neither task was too difficult to accomplish!
Perak has been fantasised, romanticised and idealised by all sorts of people from all walks of life throughout Malaysian history. In the days when tin prices were sky high, the Kinta Valley in Perak, possessing the world’s richest alluvial tin deposits, held promise of great fortunes for already-wealthy businessmen, small-time speculators and the average dreamer.
In Batu Gajah, about a half hour’s drive from Ipoh, the capital city of modern Perak, a visionary Scottish planter dreamed up a palace (with facilities such as an underground cellar, a rooftop tennis court, a large kitchen, a moat, an elevator and secret tunnels) for his beloved wife at the perfect location – on a little hill by the banks of Sungai Raya – before his untimely demise rendered the project incomplete. Today, a century later, Kellie’s Castle stands as a lonesome yet still beautiful relic of a once tragic romance.
Ancient wonders of Niah
It is pitch black, cold… and eerily scary.
Brrr…gives me the goosebumps. No wonder bats like to live here.
Eeeeekkk!!!!
What was that?!
Arrgh…flying insects…
I was trying my best to walk as slowly as possible on the slippery plank walk, with trusty headlamps lighting the way. It was a torture, especially with guano– bat dung ‘perfume' on the ground everywhere, its smell hanging heavily in the air.
The silence around me was eerily spooky.
Diving in Malaysia
Malaysia is a diving haven just waiting to be explored. Among the renowned diving destinations are Pulau Tioman, Pulau Redang, Pulau Perhentian, Pulau Tenggol, Pulau Layang Layang and Pulau Sipadan.
Pulau Tioman is said to be a real treasure as it has colourful coral reefs and marine life such as anemones, starfish, limpets and thorny sea urchins. There are more than 20 diving spots around the island; among the best are Pulau Tulai and Pulau Renggis.
Here, in vast gardens of hard corals, cuttlefish, angelfish, barracuda and turtles await divers. Deep diving enthusiasts will love Pulau Chebeh, the site of several giant manta sightings.