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Saturday 21 September 2024

New Gear Day: DJI Action 5 Pro!

New Gear Day!

In the week after returning from Melaka we had acquired a brand new camera.

I received an email yesterday from DJI about their new Action 5 Pro, which boasted that "Our new sensor captures your best. From city nights to dramatic sunrises, get crystal-clear images with a 4nm chip. Experience vibrant imagery with 2.4 Ξm pixels and 13.5 stops of dynamic range, rivaling pro cameras."

Excited, I then texted my regular camera guy, CM over at Altech Camera who confirmed the availability of the DJI Action 5 Pro. I made an appointment to see him today to pick it up.

We left our condo at eleven in the morning and due to a sudden illness I was in no shape to make the walk to the Medan Tuanku Monorail station, we hailed a Grab car for a fare of RM11.00 (approximately USD/EUR2) to Berjaya Times Square. Before seeing CM I thought I would visit the local clinic on the 7th floor, Klinik Mediviron. Alas the clinic was closed on weekends, so while waiting to see CM at 11:30 Cat decided to thread her eyebrows at a salon on the 5th floor.

At the appointment time we walked over to Altech Camera where we were greeted by CM and his motley crew, and were attended to by Eric. After a quick look over we paid for the camera, I then changed a few settings before we set off for a proper field test. With the new DJI Action 5 Pro perched on my chest harness we walked back to Imbi Monorail station. 

For a fare of RM2.70 (approximately USD0.60/EUR0.50) the train then took us to the KL Sentral Monorail station. The first thing we did when we arrived was to visit another clinic, Poliklinik NU Sentral on the Concourse level. With no other patients around I was quickly able to see the doctor about the severe sore throat, body ache and slight fever.

I was prescribed several medication and we then walked across to UNIQLO to run an errand. We then headed down to the ground floor in search of lunch. With my throat mightily sore we settled on noodles at Homie Recipe and ordered the:

  • Fishball Pan Mee Soup
  • Seaweed Noodle Soup
  • Hot Soya Barley
  • Cold Herbal Tea

for a grand total of RM36.80 (approximately USD8/EUR7).

After lunch we headed up to Mr DIY before coming back down to Don Don Donki to run a few errands. We finally got bagful of pastries for dinner from Sam's Groceria before hailing another Grab car for a fare of RM11.00 (approximately USD/EUR2) back to our condo.

Our first impression of the new DJI Action 5 Pro? After almost nine months of using the DJI Action 4 (in fact I have 2 units) I can say with no uncertain terms that the new DJI Action 5 Pro has plenty of potential! We certainly can't wait to take it out for a spin at night, to truly test its mettle. 

The following day with the weather gorgeous and sunny we perched both the DJI Action 5 Pro and  DJI Action 4 on tripods and performed a simple and unscientific side-by-side comparison of footage shot in various modes.

With nothing left to say, we'll let our footage paint the words for us.

Stay tuned as we test the "Super Night" feature in a foreign land (hint hint 😜)!

Do visit our YouTube Channel Have Perut Will Travel)

📍 Location:
KL Sentral Monorail station - https://maps.app.goo.gl/RLQjs4EhdKwZfgtR6

Monday 16 September 2024

MELAKA to KL: OBR Ayer Keroh

Going home!

We arose at half past eight this morning and got ourselves ready. We left the homestay, deposited our bags in BiBi and returned the keycard to the mailbox at a quarter past nine.

We then drove out of Melaka and eventually past the Air Keroh before deciding to have breakfast at the Overhead Bridge Rest Area.

Our breakfast of plain Nasi Lemak and a round of drinks came to RM13.90 (approximately USD/EUR3).

After a potty break we e hopped back into BiBi at a quarter past ten and seeing as traffic along the NSE was building up we plotted a course to divert the rest of our drive via the LEKAS Highway. We continued along the NSE for another half an hour before exiting at the Port Dickson Toll Plaza.

We continued driving along Seremban's Middle Ring Road before arriving at the Setul Toll Plaza, which marked the beginning of the LEKAS Highway. We drove on for another forty-five minutes before exiting at the South Kajang Toll Plaza.

We got home at quarter to one. 

Stay tuned as we leave Kuala Lumpur on a jet plane in approximately two weeks, headed to a capital city renowned for its  iconic mosques,  cultural richness, local crafts shopping, metropolitan vibes, and scrumptious dishes!

Do visit our YouTube Channel Have Perut Will Travel)

📍 Location:

Sunday 15 September 2024

LU YEH YEN Again!

Old favourite!

Our last night in Melaka and we only had one place on our minds. Our previous video of two years ago generated a lot of interest so we thought it was time to pay them another visit.

We left the homestay at a quarter past six in the evening and as always walked along Lorong Haji Bachee headed west. At the end of the road we walked across Jalan Bendahara onto Jalan Bunga Raya Pantai and continued south for a few hundred meters.

Lu Yeh Yen is on the left of the street, and nothing about it has changed. We perused the diminutive and concise menu before settling on:

  • Ginger & Onion Fried Pork
  • Lemon Chicken
  • Salted Vegetable Soup
  • Plain Omelette
  • 2 Iced Chinese Tea

Our savoury dinner came to RM50.00 (approximately USD11/EUR10), an absolute steal by KL standards.

We then made our way back to the homestay to begin packing, for tomorrow we’re driving back to Kuala Lumpur!

Do visit our YouTube Channel Have Perut Will Travel)

📍 Location:

Epic MELAKA Walkabout!

Lazy Sunday?

With nothing planned we slept in and woke up at around nine in the morning. Brendan's sophomore performance went well, although we didn't watch it in person. Hopefully, someone has shared it online somewhere.

Brendan and his bandmates were due to return to Kuala Lumpur today, while Cat and I were only checking out of the homestay tomorrow. A heavy downpour put paid our plans to go out for breakfast, so we ordered in.

An hour later a Grab rider delivered our Crispy Chicken & Scrambled Egg Sandwich Breakfast Meal.

It was still overcast at noon, so we decided to take advantage of the cool weather to go on a walkabout.

We walked out of The Apple Residence headed west along Lorong Haji Bachee before walking across Jalan Bendahara onto Jalan Bunga Raya Pantai before walking across Jalan Munshi Abdullah and rejoining Jalan Bendahara.

This took us past Little India, and we continued south onto Jalan Laksamana which was closed to traffic to create a car-free zone and ultimately ended up at The Stadthuys.

We continued onto Jalan Kota before eventually arriving at A Famosa. We took the customary photo then continued along Jalan Kota onto Jalan Parameswara before turning left onto Jalan Chan Koon Cheng.

We walked past St Francis Primary School onto Lorong Chan Koon Cheng and continued onto Lorong Bukit Cina continued onwards to Jalan Bukit Cina.

Here we came across a nondescript and diminutive food stall, so we stopped for lunch. We ordered the:

  • Mee Hoon (Rice Vermicelli) Laksa
  • Wantan Mee (Springy Egg Noodles)
  • 2 Sugarless Iced Tea

for a respectable total of RM18.00 (approximately USD/EUR4).

We then resumed the final leg of our walkabout along Jalan Bukit Cina, walking across Jalan Munshi Abdullah.

Thus ended our epic five-kilometre walkabout in cool weather. Stay tuned as we have dinner at an old favourite food court.

Do visit our YouTube Channel Have Perut Will Travel)

📍 Location:

Saturday 14 September 2024

Day Trip to MUAR: Mee Bandung Abu Bakar Hanipah • Muar Street Art

Muar!

Determined to feature the state of Johore at least once on our channel we woke up early this morning. We got ready and by the time we hopped into BiBi it was 8:30am.

Once we left Melaka’s city limits traffic thinned and within the hour we arrived in the Royal town of Muar, known as Bandar Maharani or Empress Town. 

Muar, town, and port on the southwestern coast of Peninsular (West) Malaysia. It lies along the strait of Malacca, at the mouth of the Muar River. An old town, it was occupied by the end of the 14th century by Parameswara, founder of the Malay kingdom of Malacca (Melaka). Naval battles involving neighbouring sultanates and kingdoms were fought at Muar in 1517, 1615, and 1616. The present town of Muar was founded by Sultan Abu Bakar and named as Bandar Maharani in 1887. Local industries produce food products, beverages, oils and fats, chemical products, paper, and transport equipment. It has a population of approximately 100,000.

Our first time here, we drove around for a while before we eventually parked in the vicinity of Mee Bandung Abu Bakar Hanipah. We naturally had our breakfast there, and had:

  • 2 bowls of Mee Bandung with Beef
  • Iced Lime drink
  • Hot Coffee

that came to RM19.20 (approximately USD/EUR4).

At ten in the morning we began our exploration of Muar town on foot. We soon found ourselves at a lane designated as Muar Street Art. After spending some time checking out the murals by different artists here we continued onto Jalan Sayang before turning left onto Jalan Maharani headed west before we walked across to the Muar - Maharani Bus Terminal.

We then walked into the food court here and got a seat by the river as we had drinks. We then headed back to BiBi and made the short drive to Tanjung Ketapang. We spent some time here enjoying the refreshing sea breeze before hopping back into BiBi to make our way back to Melaka.

Our first impressions of Muar? It’s a small town with plenty of charm, steeped in history and with all the amenities to live comfortably. Would we consider retiring here? It's in our top five at least.

With our day trip to Muar in the bag  we can now say in no uncertain terms that we have featured all 13 states of our beautiful country Malaysia on our channel. "To Know Malaysia Is To Love Malaysia" sang our legendary crooner Sudirman. So we can now use our passports finally free of guilt or shame!

Be sure to catch our next video when we go out in the blazing sun in search of light refreshments.

(Do visit our YouTube Channel Have Perut Will Travel)

📍 Location:
Restoran Mee Bandung Abu Bakar Hanipah
Muar - Maharani Bus Terminal - https://maps.app.goo.gl/VWaehjMruyBJeqRR9

Friday 13 September 2024

River Walk: To The Stadthuys and Back!

Melaka River Walk!

We picked you up again as we left the homestay at 6:00pm to take an evening stroll along the Melaka river. We walked along Lorong Haji Bachee due west and across Jalan Bendehara onto Jalan Bunga Raya Pantai.

We were feeling a little hungry and paid Seri Sahabat a visit. A round of drinks and toast bread later and we were eager to begin our evening walkabout in earnest. At the Ruins of Ermida de Rosario we continued our stroll onto the Melaka River Walk.

We walked past The Shore Hotel & Residences and then past the Panggung Bangsawan Melaka, a historic performance venue. We then continued on past several bridges steeped in history, name the Jambatan Pasar, Jambatan Kampung Jawa and Jambatan Chan Koon Cheng. 

We exited the Melaka River Walk at The Stadthuys and stopped to take in the sights and take photos. We sat to enjoy the car-free zone that includes major thoroughfares such as Jalan Istana, Jalan Mahkamah, Jalan Gereja, Lorong Gereja, Jalan Laksamana, and parts of Jalan Tun Khalil Yaakob and Jalan Merdeka, ensuring that Melaka’s historic charm can be enjoyed without the interruption of vehicles.

We then resumed our walkabout headed in the opposite direction but instead of strolling along the river we took the opportunity to walk along Jalan Laksamana. We then continued onto Jalan Bunga Raya headed north before walking across Jalan Munshi Abdullah and continuing along Jalan Bendehara still headed north.

We stopped at a KK Mart to get some drinking water, but the cashier was too busy counting her money to serve us. We managed to get our drinking water from Bendahara Choice Shop nearby.

We continued walking north along Jalan Bendehara and ended up at Wong Kok Food Court. Here we had a simple dinner of:

  • White Radish Soup with Rice
  • Water Cress Soup with Rice
  • 2 glasses of Herbal Tea

for a splendid low price of only RM23.00 (approximately USD/EUR5).

It was then a short walk back to The Apple Residences. Be sure to watch our next video where we go on a day trip to Muar, a nearby town in the neighbouring state of Johore!

(Do visit our YouTube Channel Have Perut Will Travel)

📍 Location:
Ruins of Ermida de Rosario - https://maps.app.goo.gl/N8FU6WfiUt7qru5L9

Homestay: The Apple Melaka

The Apple Melaka!

We picked you up again as we hopped back into BiBi to make a short drive to our homestay along Lorong Haji Bachee in the area of Bukit Cina.

This was what Booking.com had to say:

"The Apple Premier Suites Melaka offers accommodations in Malacca, 1.9 miles from St. John's Fort and 3 miles from Melaka Straits Mosque. The property is around 1.2 miles from Menara Taming Sari, a 15-minute walk from Cheng Hoon Teng Temple, and one mile from Porta de Santiago. The apartment offers rooms with air conditioning, free private parking, and free Wi-Fi.

Rooms are fitted with a kettle and a private bathroom with a walk-in shower and slippers, while selected rooms also feature a fully equipped kitchenette. At the apartment complex, units are fitted with bed linen and towels.

The apartment also provides an infinity pool and a fitness room for guests to relax in. For guests with children, The Apple Premier Suites Melaka features kids pool and outdoor play equipment.

Popular points of interest near the accommodation include The Stadthuys, Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum, and Straits Chinese Jewellery Museum Malacca. The nearest airport is Melaka International Airport, 3.7 miles from The Apple Premier Suites Melaka." 

It was a fairly new condo located close to our old favourite hotel, the Ramada Plaza Melaka. The check-in process was quite straight-forward as we collected the key card to the unit and made our way up to the 9th floor. The unit was well appointed and had everything we needed. We’ll let our footage paint a picture of the unit, including the infinity pool and gym on the 24th (labelled as Level 23A?).

For RM249.43 a night (approximately USD53/EUR49) we thought it was fair value given its strategic and nostalgic location, within walking distance to our favourite attractions.

We settled in and had an afternoon siesta. Be sure to catch our next video as we went on a river walk to The Stadthuys!

(Do visit our YouTube Channel Have Perut Will Travel)

📍 Location:

KL to Melaka: Dataran Pahlawan

Melaka!

A month after our epic trip to Kota Kinabalu we were itching to travel again. This time around it was a short two-hour drive to Melaka, our spiritual hometown. We could not believe that it has been a year since we last visited so we were eager to re-acquaint ourselves with this cosy city.

Brendan too was headed to Melaka but for entirely different reasons. His self-styled Screamo band, Sauriel, My Beloved [https://linktr.ee/SaurielMyBeloved] was having its sophomore performance in Melaka, and he was driving Puteh to meet up with his bandmates there.

That means this time around we would be on a couples' trip.

We hopped into BiBi and  left our condo at nine in the morning, making our way to the Sungai Besi Toll Plaza. Approximately an hour and a half later we drove past the Air Keroh Toll Plaza, we had arrived in Melaka! We then headed to Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall and parked at its basement.

We had brunch at Black Canyon Dataran Pahlawan. Our first time here we took our time perusing the menu before finally settling on:

  • Pad Kra Pao set*
  • Pad Kra Mao set*
  • Iced Black Coffee
  • Thai Iced Tea
*with mini-Tom Yam soup

Our first meal in Melaka came to RM57.80 (approximately USD13/EUR12), a very reasonable price considering its location in a mall.

To while away the time we then went for a foot massage at Shu Xin Reflexology. We both opt ed for the 90-minute foot and shoulder massage that all came to only RM138.00 (approximately USD29/EUR27).

By the time we were done it was almost time for us to check into our homestay. Be sure to catch our next video on The Apple Residences!

(Do visit our YouTube Channel Have Perut Will Travel)

📍 Location:
Sungai Besi Toll Plaza [southbound]
Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall
Black Canyon Dataran Pahlawan - https://maps.app.goo.gl/fyh4JwaM8R5gxt6F8