Thursday, November 19, 2009

Cape Town lagi - Second Day


Pagi tu kami bangun awal..sebabnya daku tersangatlah excited nak tgk whale. sblum ni abg pernah cerita masa dia pegi trip dolphin watching, instead of watching dolphin, ikan paus pulak yang keluar. Jeles betul aku dengar..teringin sgt2 nk tgk ikan paus dgn mata sendiri. Itu yg masa kitorang jln2 kt V&A Waterfront on the first day, nampak saja offer utk whale watching, terus rembat walaupun tidakle semurah mana.tkpela..bukan senang nk tgk whale secara life kan.lgpun menurut pakcik2 yg jg booth kt situ, mmg sekrg ni musim ikan paus timbul. out of ten trips, cuma sekali dua diorang tk jumpe whale. Dengan itu kami dengan tekad dan yakin nya melabur wang yg bukan sedikit utk aktiviti meninjau ikan paus ni..

Awal pagi dlm kul 8 kitorang da terpacak kt jeti. Trip tu akan ambil masa dlm 3 jam jadi aku berharap sgt dlm 3 jam ni ade la ikan paus yg sudi timbul ke permukaan dgn memancutkan air dr kepala mcm dlm national geographic iteww. Kebetulan hari tu ade a group of iranians yg also join the trip. Kami ade juga bawak bekal sosej n buah utk isi perut time atas kapal nt.

Bergamba depan bot

Pengembaraan pun bermula..bot berlabuh dr jeti V&A waterfront menjauhi tanah cape town. semakin menjauh, semakin sayup view table mountain dan dr atas kapal juga boleh nampak stadium baru Cape Town yg dibina untuk World Cup tahun depan. Boat tu kira besar la jgk. Ada dua tingkat. Dibahagian atas, ada sorang ahli kapal dok tinjau2 ikan paus guna binocular. Biasanya kehadiran ikan paus boleh diketahui bila ternmpak pancutan air ikan paus. Kami mula menuju ke tgh laut berharap dpt melawat habitat terbesar hidupan laut ini. Sejam berlalu..ikan paus belum timbul tp ade sekor dua pinguin dok berenang2. comel sgt pinguin2..teringat citer kartun pingu pingu hehe..

muka org tgh excited nk terjah whale
Another stgh jam berlalu tetibe kapal mula bergegar skit.semua mula berjga2..org kapal bg warning mungkin da masuk area ikan paus so everybody kena stick together and stay inside the boat. aku masa ni da start pening2..da la cuaca panas terik, bot pulak terhuyung hayang.tp still excited wp rasa mcm berzman tunggu ikan paus ni..
Tunggu punya tunggu sabar punya sabar encik paus tak timbul2 jgk. Memandangkan da dua jam kt tgh laut, it was time to make a move back to shore. kecewanya aku hri tu.. sungguh! smpai hati kau ikan paus jual mahal ngn kitorang. Aku mengadap laut dekat sejam smpai hangus muka tunggu ikan ni, dpt tgk sekor pun jdla..tp nk buat camne tade rezki. pelik jgk yg si peninjau ikan ni senyap je dr td..aku suh abg gi tgk idup ke tidak lg orgnye..sekali gi tgk, dia tgh tdo!!!hampes punya pak itam..tah2 da baper banyk ikan timbul dia tk tgk. geramnya aku!!abg gi kejut mamat ni..terus bangun terperanjat sebb kantoi tdo time keje.bila da smpai darat aku tanya pasal second chance trip since yg first ni tak jumpe pun whale.mamat yg kantoi tdo ni terus bawak kitorang gi ofis utk get the voucher..elok2 da nak bg, mak itam kt ofis tu pulak buat onar tk nak bg voucher padahal ms nk beli punyala mulut manis janji macam2..dahla kitorang tgh bengang duit hangus mcm tu je..abg dengan selambe nya ugut that soon their action will scratch their own reputation.pastu dgn hati terbakar..kitorang blah terus dr situ.Lain kali aku da tak nak percaya dah dgn aktiviti2 nasib ni..mmg kasik spoil feeling betulla..
Kebetulan on the same day, pasaraya Pick 'n Pay ade buat upacara memasak Omelete secara besar-besaran di dataran berhampiran Jeti. Tujuan nya adalah utk buat rekod dlm Genius Book of Record. Besaaar sgt plate utk masak omelete yg berbentuk bulatan. Elok2 kitorang smpai tu omelete da siap utk di jamu. Dahla hati tgh panas, perut lapa pulak tu. Sib baik ade juge yg sudi bersedekah. Macam parti telur pulak aku rasa..boleh tahan sedap ommelete yg dibuat.

beberapa tukang masak dgn gigihnya tgh menggomol ommelete utk masuk dlm buku rekod

Tidak mahu lgi mengenang kekecewaan dek encik paus, aku n abg menuju ke destinasi seterusnya, Haut Bay. Haut Bay ni agak terpencil dr bandar..tp tetap anggun dgn keindahan semula jdi. Paling famous kt sini is it's 'Fish 'n Chips'. Tapi nanti dulu..sblum kitorang membedal Fish 'n Chip tu, mari kita menjelajah Seal Island terlebih dahulu.
Seal Island terletak kira2 20 minit perjalanan boat dr jeti Haut Bay. Aku memula da tawar hati takut fail jumpe singa laut pulak.. Tp Abg kata yg ni mmg konfem ada. nak ambik bela kt umah pun boleh huhu..
Dan mmg betul..ada baaaaaanyak sgt singa laut dok bersantai bertenggek berjemur berenang kt pulau tu...hehe kecik aje rupenye pulau ni. Seronok sgt tgk aksi kaum Sea lion..boat kami berhenti agak dekat ngn pulau so boleh nmpk singa2 laut ni secara dekat.Ade sekor tu mmg saje beraksi manja bergesel2 kt batu.kurang2 terubat jua hatiku yg pedih dihiris encik paus...selain tgk singa laut yg comel2..bot kami juga melalui sebuah kapal karam. den tk tahu la pulak sejarah kapal karam tu sekadar tgk2 aje..then ade juga tgk persembahan org feeding singa laut. Boleh tahan hebat singa laut boleh lompat utk capai ikan kt mulut pakcik tu..nasib baik ngan pakcik tu sekali tak di'ngap' nya..

Selamat datang ke Seal Island

Hi comel kan saya..

muka ceria selepas kecEwa

lompat pun lompatlah janji dpt ikan pree..

After having fun menonton aksi Seal dan menaiki bot laju yg mcm roller coster, kami kemudiannya menjamu selera dgn Fish n chip yg pling femes kt Haut Bay tu. Em mmg enak ikan fresh yg digoreng rangup dgn tepung. Walaupun hanya makan berlapikkan kertas dalam suasana angin yg mcm ribut, keenakan Fish n Chips yg dirasai mengatasi segala-galanya..cewah mcm dlm iklan pulak..


Si pelahap ikan

Hari nampaknya masih awal utk kami pulang berehat2. Rugi klu gi travel tp asyik nk berehat je. Jd kami teruskan lagi sesi penjelajahan Cape Town dgn menuju ke tempat yg kita semua pernah belajar time sejarah dulu iaitu to the Cape of Golden Hope (Tanjung pengharapan). Kalau korang lupa meh aku igtkan balik..
"Akhirnya musuh musuh Islam mendapat satu jalan baru untuk mengepung kekuasaan Islam yang amat berpengaruh di Turki dan Asia Barat dengan jalan baru iaitu melalui Tanjung Pengharapan di Selatan Benua Afrika untuk menuju dan menakluki negara-negara sebelah Timur. Maka muncullah tokoh tokoh penjajah seperti Vasco Da Gama, Marco Polo, Raffles dan Kapten Light. Mereka terpaksa berlayar di dalam jarak yang sangat jauh dan menempuh jalan yang merbahaya kerana takutkan kekuatan umat Islam. Kenyataan sejarah ini telah diputar belitkan oleh buku-buku sejarah karangan mereka atau tulisan anak-anak murid mereka yang kononnya pemergian bangsa Eropah jauh ke Timur hanyalah untuk perdagangan dan mendapatkan rempah semata-mata.
Sebenarnya kedatangan bangsa Eropah ke dunia Timur adalah di dalam usaha untuk melumpuhkan kekuasaan Islam dengan menjajah dan memeras ugut rakyat peribumi. Mereka datang melalui Tanjung Pengharapan adalah untuk menghalang pengaruh Islam, menyerang pusat kekuasaan Islam di Turki dan semenanjung Arab dari belakang. Mereka telah berjaya menawan beberapa pusat agama Islam di Asia Tenggara seperti kesultanan Melaka di Semenanjung Tanah Melayu, Kerajaan Islam Aceh di Kepulauan Sumatera dan Kerajaan Mataram di Kepulauan Jawa."
Sumber: Google hehe

Untuk perjalananan ke tanjung tersebut, Abg suggest kitorang melalui Chapman's Peak Drive. Situated on the Atlantic Coast, at the south-western tip of South Africa, it is one of the most spectacular marine drives anywhere in the world. Perjalanan kami melalui lereng2 bukit dgn dihiasi pemandangan pantai dan laut biru saujana mata memandang. Dan semestinya perlu bayar Tol juga!

Chapman's Peak Drive yg indah

Punya la gigih engineer yg cipta highway ni smpaikan batu pun ditebuknya utk dijadikan jalan.

Melihat Haut Bay dr kejauhan..MasyaAllah cantiknyaa alam cipataanMu..


Agak lewat juga masa kami sampai ke destinasi tp masih ada masa 2jam sblum ia ditutup. sekali lagi kena bayar entrance fee dlm R75 sorang (huh semua tmpt pun kena bayar mahal). setibenya di Tanjung Pengharapan, angin dari laut atlantic kuat sangat smpai aku sendiri rasa mcm nk melayang. Takde ape yg menarik pun kt situ tp tetap bangga sebb da berjaya menjejakkan kaki di tempat paling Selatan di Benua Afrika!

Tanjung Pengharapan

Berhampiran dengan Tanjung Pengharapan, terdapat lighthouse yg terletak tinggi atas bukit yg dinamakan Cape Point. Rumah Api ni mengadap Atlantic Ocean. Terdapat dua lighthouses..lighthouse pertama yg asalnya hanya menggunakan kuasa lilin, dibina dipuncak bukit tetapi akibat situasi yg selalu berkabus menyebabkan ia sometimes invisible to shipping, dahla pakai lilin je. satu lg reason, is because it could be seen 'too early' by ships rounding the point towards the east, causing them to approach too closely. Dengan itu terbinalah lighthouse baru yg terletak di peak lebih bawah n lebih dekat dengan laut.


Ini gamba Google utk memberi gambaran sebenar Cape Point. Lighhouse putih tu lighthouse pertama yg dibina. Yang kedua terletak lebih hadapan.


Sewaktu kami menikmati view dr lighthouse smbil berperang dgn kuasa angin yg kuat, sekali aku terpandang ada couple kt seblah aku ni, si boifren tetibe melutut depan gilfren lalu melafazkan kata2 cinta melamar si gadis..huhuuu sweetnyeee..

mendaki puncak Cape Point smbil menahan godaan angin kuat

FUh sampai akhirnya

Disinilah penghujung Benua Afrika selepas Tanjung Pengharapan

Nampaknya hari sudah lewat petang, memndangkan kami belum smayang asar lg, kami pun bergerak pulang ke Cape Town..oTw balik singgah masjid di Simon's Town utk sembahyang dan meneruskan perjalanan ke destinasi terakhir utk second day (fuh bayk rupenye tmpt aku smpt pegi ritu).

The Sunset - Kadang2 kita tidak sedar dan tiada masa utk menghayati betapa indahnya kejadian Alam ciptaan Tuhan wp setiap hari ia berlaku di depan mata kita..

TAnpa menghiraukan rasa penat, kami singgah pula di CAnal Walk. Dalam 2 jam jgkla baru smpai situ plus tersilap jalan sekali. Canal Walk ni kire shopping mall paling besar dekat Africa. Struktur dia lebih kurang mcm Mines kt mesia, ada theme park, ada canal mengelilingi kawasan tu, ada shopping mall yg tersangatlah besar adanya..mungkin lebih besar dari 1utama, dan banyk lg yg kitorang tak sempat explore. memndangkan tade mende pun nk beli and time tu pun mlm n masing2 pun da penat gile, aku n Abg just jln2 window shopping n tangkap gamba sekeping dua.

muka org yg sudah penat berposing
Akhirnya kami pun pulang semula ke sangkar Armia Loft...Zzzzzzz

Monday, November 09, 2009

Cape Town Trip!

Y'ello..here I come again..ima's hubby. ima and i made a deal that we'll be taking turns to update the blog...ima tgh sibuk kat belakang iron baju...i update blog sambil2 tgk tennis federer vs djokovic atp masters basel..just now, we just had ima's first nasi tomato she'd ever made..hehe..boleh tahan sedap..sepanjang duduk sini, wifey had tried quite a number of new recipes, among others nasi kerabu, ikan masak stim, nasi tomato, roti canai, karipap..alhamdulilah laki dia tolong makan jer..hehe..rezeki badan...
so today, i am writing about our cape town trip few weeks back...actually we'd planned this trip for quite sometime..rasa2 sebulan lebih kot in advance..yela, nak make sure we get the best deals and make the trip as economical as possible while still enjoying the stay in Cape Town..last2 after several weeks of planning, we finally finalised the itinerary..'ting' our budget for vacation approved..hehe..the trip cost us approximately rand 5500 (rm 2200) in total..this includes air fare (rand 1890), self catering lodge (rand 1100), car rental (rand 400)..yang lain2 utk di spend for entrance tickets, makan, souvenir sikit2...but i have to say that it is worthwhile to be in Cape Town..it is among the most beautiful cities i have ever been to...the mother city, as it is nicknamed here..the city of cape town itself is located on a piece of flat land facing the atlantic seaboard with a magnificent granite mountain called Table Mountain on its background..

yuhuu excitednye nk gi Cape Town!

so on the 9th of October morning at 750 am, we took mango airlines flight to Cape Town from durban..the flight took approx. 2 hours...cape town is about 1800 km from durban..dulu i pernah drove down one time when my parents visited me..it took us 3 days to reach cape town, but of course with several stops along the route..but this time, we arrived on the same day at about 950 am and immediately got to the car rental booth..we didn't have to wait for our bags as all luggage were hand carried...we used 1st car rental and were lucky to get the cheapest car available i.e. the chevrolet spark...but still, i think the car did its job very well...get us to places on time with minimal fuel consumption...from the airport, we took N2 south to cape town and arrived at the city in 20 minutes..from the city centre, we headed to the sea point where we'll be staying for the next couple of days...
we booked ourselves at a self catering lodge called the armia loft...very warm and cozy place with breathtaking views of the atlantic ocean and also table mountain at our back...sampai2 kat the lodge around 1100 am, our room is still not ready..so we just sat down at the lounge and had a chat with the owner...rupa2nyer armia loft is just a single room b&b, the owner stays downstairs and lets one of the room on top...tapi the room was luxurily decorated with expensive appliances and bed...so mmg very2 comfortable la...sesuai sgt utk org2 yang still dlm honeymoon mood nih..ehem ehem..hehe...


bilik kami mengadap 'kepala singa' dan juga pantai yg sgt indah! this lion head is also famous after Table Mountain.

at 1130 am, though the room was still not ready, disebabkan tak tahan kelaparan, we went upstairs and took out our lunch..'ketam masak merah!'..made by head chef fatimah the day before...wah time tu mmg terliur betul dgn bau ketam...walaupun segan kat tuan rumah takut bau hanyir, tapi disebabkan dah terlampau lapar, belasah je lah..haha..wifey mmg dah mempertajamkan ilmu masak memasak ni sejak sampai sini..hehe..we had our lunch outside the balcony of the room with lovely view of the atlantic seaboard and the lion's head peak at our back..view mmg cantik..susah nak digambarkan...sape2 yang baca nih, i suggest that you go to cape town yourself to appreciate what i am talking about...dgn angin2 sepoi2 bahasa dari lautan atlantic and quite a chilly weather around 12oC, we had our ketam masak merah dgn nasi...yum yum...mmg sedap!

Having lunch smbil menikmati keindahan alam

at 1230, lepas makan n solat and lepak2 jap , looking at the very nice weather and calm wind, we jumped into our small little car heading to our first destination i.e. the table mountain....from the lodge, it only took us approx. 15 minutes to get to the table mountain cable car station. tickets cost us rand 160 each to go up to the summit and return...

at the bottom of the Table Mountain. Ketinggian gunung mencecah lebih 1000 meter.

yang ni acah2 aje

cable car trip ni mmg scary sikit, very very steep..it runs from about 400 m above sea level to 1080 m to the submit at about 75 degrees slope..yang bestnyer cable car nih, dia boleh pusing...so on the way up, the cable car pusing 360 degrees giving everybody on board the chance to get good view of the city, the sea and the mountain..sampai2 atas, huhu...the view...it's subliming...just look at the photos...



TInggiiiii sgt atas ni tp sgt berbaloi baloiii

after spending about 2 hours on top of the mountain, as the weather was very cold around 10oC, we decided to get a break with some hot chocolate at the coffee shop..mmg best menghirup hot choco dlm cuaca sejuk camtu..hehe...then sempat jugak kitorang singgah kat souvenir shop..

Banyk tumbuhan pelik2 kt sini. From here also we could see the meeting of Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean.

Hot Chocolate to warm ourselves.

at 330 pm, we got down the mountain and immediately headed to signal hill passing the lion's head...there are actually 2 peaks at each side of the table moutain, one of them is the lion's head and the other one is called the devil's peak...at signal hill, we can get good photos of the table mountain and its peak..so that is why we went to there...


The view of the Table Mountain

lps puas tangkap gambar, we then jumped back into the car heading to our third destination i.e. the V&A waterfront...on the way there, we stopped by Bo-kaap...Bo-kaap is actually the original malay settlement sejak 1600s...dulu, hamba2 mostly dari indon dibawa oleh belanda to cape town..cewah, belajar sejarah pulak kita..dgr cite, most of the malays brought to cape town were royalties..so diorang ni mmg highly skilled..that is why most of them managed to get out of slavery and built the settlement...even now, malay in cape town or the cape malays as they are called here are very successful in business...kat Bo-kaap ni kita boleh nampak beautiful and colorful malay houses built in rows...


Kawasan perkampungan Cape-Malay

Finally at 430 pm we arrived at V&A waterfront...previously, this waterfront was warehouses at cape town port..but in the 90s, it was converted into shopping malls...mmg besar.adela lebih kurang besar KLCC kot...all of the branded clothing, souvenirs etc are sold here...myself and wife jalan2, window shopping jer..nak beli, mahal mahal semua barang, so tgk je la...wifey ade gakla beli souvenir...we spent the whole evening jalan2 kat shopping mall, beli a 'wrap-it' utk alas perut, then just walking around ikut kaki around the watefront..sekali ntah mcm mana ntah, kitorang tersangkut kat booth whale watching...mamat tu offer r350 per person..normal fee is around r400 pp..hari tu kat st lucia r700 pp...so disebabkan kesian tgk muka wifey, last2 kitorang agree la nak gi tgk whale watching, though the plan was actually to go cape point the next morning...'ting' r700 melayang for whale watching...

V&A Waterfront was previously among the famous harbour in the world. Dr sini pun boleh nmpak view Table Mountain yg indah..

about 800 pm, lepas penat jalan2 kat waterfront, we saw an offer at one of the restaurant..1 kg prawn for r99...wah dinner prawn la kitorang malam tu..we tapau and immediate headed back to hotel at 830pm...malam ni we had 'candlelight' dinner with 1 kg of prawns...

for the 2nd day events, fatimah will update the blog...