Plenitude Penang World Music Festival is this Weekend!

Date: 30th March to 1st April 2012 
Venue: Quarry Park, Penang Botanic Gardens

Time: Workshop : 2pm- 5pm

Night Concert:  6.30pm – 12 midnight

Ticket: RM90 per day ADULTS, RM 45 for Children (BUY 1 FREE 1)

With music genre ranging from blues to salsa and reggae, the upcoming Plenitude Penang World Music Festival 2012 is definitely not an event to be missed. Organized by Penang’s State Tourism Development and Culture Office, PWMF 2012 promises to be an exciting event to look out for this year!

To be staged at the picturesque Quarry Recreational Park, Botanic Gardens from March 30 to April 1, 2012, the upcoming festival will feature musicians from all corners of the world from places like Africa, Australia, Philippines, Colombia, South Korea, Russia, Mongolia and Bali.  Together with the local Malaysian bands, they will orchestrate a world beat that will definitely rock the Pearl of the Orient.

Among the 18 bands to perform at the festival include Maite Hontele from Colombia, Kalja Riddim Klan (Vanuatu), Gus Teja World Music (Bali), Beoga (Ireland), Tori Ensemble (South Korea) and Wild Marmalade (Australia), Loyko (Russia), Altan Urag (Mongolia), Guinee Percussions (Africa), Phong Nguyen Ensemble (Vietnam), Griff Trio (Belgium), Will Crummers and the Rarotongans (New Zealand) and Grace Nono and Bob Aves Group (Philippines).  They will be joined by Malaysian own bands with the like of Aseana Percussion Unit, Didit Dinai, Penang Dhol Blasters, Kumpulan Minang Moh and Geng Wak Long.

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Desaru Beach

Desaru has amongst the best beaches in Johor. Many return visitors have agreed that its white sandy beaches are a sight to behold.
The beaches are clean, lined with casuarina trees and stretches 25 kilometres long.

Visitors can enjoy fun-filled activities such as fishing, boating, swimming, hiking as well as other outdoor activities.

Take the opportunity to also relax or get a much needed tan under the sun, whilst listening to the rushing waves and enjoying the cool breeze.
Opt to stay at the numerous hotels, resort and chalets dotting the area.

How to get there 

Car

From Johor Bahru, use the Johor Bharu - Kota Tinggi trunk road (45km). From Mersing town, use Mersing - Kota Tinggi trunk road. From the North - South Expressway, exit at Pasir Gudang interchange (Exit 256). Kota Tinggi town, it is another 57km to Desaru.

Who to contact

Tourism Malaysia Johor,
L3-26 Aras 3, Bangunan JOTIC, 2 Jalan Ayer Molek, Johor Bahru 80000, Johor

Phone: +607-222 3590 / 3591
Fax: +607-223 5502

Email: mtpbjhb@tourism.gov.my

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Dayang Bunting Lake

The island, which is about 20 kilometres from Kuah town, is modestly populated on one side and virtually unihabited on the other where the lake is situated.
Legend of Tasik Dayang Bunting - The favorite bathing pool of a celestial princess named Mambang Sari was said to be Tasik Dayang Bunting (lake of the pregnant maiden). A prince, Mat Teja, fell madly in love with her and tricked her into marrying him.
Sadly, their child died from a mysterious illness at the age of seven days. Distraught, the grieving Mambang Sari left the child's body in the lake and returned to her heavenly abode. Today, some believe barren women who bathe in this lake will be endowed with a child. Many have claimed to be successful.

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From Cameron Highlands to Orangeville... I mean Georgetown

We arrived in Tanah Rata in the Cameron Highlands on a cool and rainy evening. We walked a short distance to our hostel, only about 2 minutes from the main street, and settled our things into our room. We walked into town for dinner and sat down at a Chinese restaurant for a traditional Chinese style fondue. This meal is very popular with the locals and is known as The Steamboat. The broth is brought to the table hot and placed over a single burner to keep it hot and to help cook the raw ingredients. The broth is flavoured with vegetables and spices and from there you are able to create your own soup. Along with the broth you are served four plates overloaded with ingredients. The first plate includes vegetables such as bok choy, mushrooms, cabbage, carrots, green beans and snow peas. The next two plates are made up of the proteins such as tofu, chicken and beef. The last plate has two varieties of noodles and two raw eggs. We were both a little too excited for such a feast and decided that the best way to handle it was to throw everything in at once. After a slight overflow and having to re-light the burner we were on our way to an awesome meal! The dinner was fabulous and we were both full to the brim, by far one of the best fondues either of us ever had. The following day started early at 7:30am with a strange fried egg sandwich and instant coffee. We set out for our full day Cameron Highlands tour that began with a visit to one of the

largest tea farms in Southeast Asia. We learned about tea harvesting, which leaves to pick, and how long to steep the perfect cup of tea (3 minutes). We then made our way up to the highest point in the Cameron Highlands accessible by car for a beautiful view over the tea fields and some amazing pictures. We made our way down to the factory for a brief tour of the tea processing and then sat down for a perfect cup of tea. Next we headed out for a jungle trek through the Cameron Highland's forests and learned about various plants and trees native to the area, and how they were once used by locals for medicinal and health purposes. Next we drove to a local butterfly conservatory, home to hundreds of local insects, reptiles and animals. We saw massive beetles, huge snakes, stick bugs, king grasshoppers, leaf frogs, turtles, butterflies, tarantulas, and scorpion, which Jess was brave enough to hold! The last half of the afternoon was quiet with a visit to the local museum known as "The Time Tunnel", a strawberry farm and a local fruit and flower market. The museum was by far the weirdest place either of us has been. This place was like a warped view back on the history of consumerism and was eerily similar to an episode of Hoarders: City Edition. Not much else to say about that, other than we are glad it was free. The strawberry farm was small and cute. We looked around and then bought some fresh strawberries before heading to the market. We headed back to the main city street that night for a quick bite to eat and then a good night sleep.
The next morning we grabbed a five hour bus to Butterworth and then got on the ferry to Georgetown where we are currently staying. We made our way to our hostel and relaxed for a bit before showering and heading for dinner. Today we spent our time wandering the streets of Georgetown taking in the sites and checking out the markets. We had an amazing Indian lunch at Gem Restaurant just inside Little India. The meal reminded us both of Bollywood Bistro in Guelph, with excellent flavours and friendly tons of variety. We each got a tomato based curry rice with a refreshing lemon iced tea to drink. After the meal we rolled ourselves across to the waterfront where we hired a trishaw (this is a two person cart on the front of a bicycle that is operated by a local for a tour of the city). The trishaw driver took us to several different areas of the city including the Clan Jetties, a collection of houses built on wooden docks on the water's edge. The houses are long and narrow allowing for extended families to live together for generations. It was a fascinating place and difficult to describe...we will upload pictures of the area soon. We walked back to our hostel and rested for a while out of the humidity and sun. We are about to head out for dinner and a few drinks and then rest for our 16 hour bus ride tomorrow. We are heading to Ko Phangan, an island off of the southeast coast of Thailand where we will be for the infamous Full Moon Party and five days of much needed beach time.
We will be uploading some more pictures soon so keep an eye out for those!
Missing and loving you all lots,

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Photo of the Week: Tengger Caldera

There's something very surreal about this photo of the Tengger Caldera, a series of five overlapping volcanoes on the island of Java, Indonesia.
Maybe it's the grainy, pink hue of the sky at dawn. Or maybe it's the bed of clouds in the foreground, echoed by the white smoke rising from Mount Bromo (bottom left).
Either way, it's a stunning picture, taken by jpmerckx.

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My European Adventure

Hi and welcome to My European Adventure. I hope you enjoy traveling along with me as I make my way across Europe and throughout the Greek islands.
Check out my itinerary page to see where I am planning to be. If you want to be advised automatically when I have posted a new entry, please leave me a message and I will add you to my auto-update list.

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