It’s our annual trip back to Tronoh, Perak for Ching Beng. This time is special. A new addition family member is following. Yep! She is my wife. First time this part of Perak State and never heard of Kellie Castle. So we decided to show her. After all it’s just along the way.

Kellie Castle is actually a big mansion build by Mr. Kellie early 20th century for his wife. The building was never complete as Mr. Kellie died while on a trip to Europe. The building was left in ruined until a few years ago the state government decided to turn it into a tourist attraction.

Kellie's castle, standing tall and pretty.

My wife is hot ;)

To go there, exit from North-south expressway from Gopeng and head towards Ipoh. Upon reaching Ipoh there is a junction which indicate Batu Gajah. Turn into that road and after about 15 minutes you will reach Kellie Castle which situated along a river bank by the road side. Sure to spot it. It’s the only half complete and big structure which also look Victorian or maybe Tudor. I am not so sure which is which. At least we have a castle even it is just a very big house.

Thanks to Yong for sharing his experience and also kind enough to provide directions for those who might want to head there after knowing about the place!

• Tour to Nantes, France
• Li Jiang, An Unforgetful Journey
• Mapper’s Framework
• Pin’s Jungle Book
• Map layering in Illustrator

It was a journey back to my hometown without to worry about rising petrol price and toll to pay. This off-the-beaten-road trip is going to give you more than what you want for a holiday. This is definitely the best way to get to know the Truly Malaysia! Travelers to Malaysia, read this…

First, fly with your bike. From the airport, head straight to Sepang, the small town which is located roughly 10km from the airport. From there, it is a pleasant ride from Sepang to Malacca which is roughly about 120km. You can make it a two days trip and stay a night at Port Dickson. You can put up a tent by the beautiful seaside. Malacca is the historical city which I’m sure you will like it a lot!

White sandy Port Dickson beach. You wish you have more days here with a nice book.

This is not Phuket for sure. The public beach is full of people, a scene only available during public holidays.

Along the trunk road, you will pass by many small town with forgotten old buildings.

Traditional malay house which you won’t find it in the city.

Rubber tree’s seed. There are more to see on the road!

From Malacca, make your ways to Muar and then Batu Pahat. Visit the Tanjung Emas and try this famous Ice Kacang and Rojak, nice!

• Li Jiang, An Unforgetful Journey
• Fellowship Across The Seas
• The Geographer Cafe Gathering
• Writers’ FAQ
• Missing Whiteboard

Last month, Yichin and the little-monster-packaging team were busy sending out the soft toy to the people who has helped in the a4trip project. Rumors came to us that some took a snap during their trip and cause some delay, while few naughty one was hidden at the Post Office and refused to surrender themselves to their new owner. Luckyly, no report of missing soft toy so far :)

“”Carropi” has arrived in Oregon in fine shape and there were four BEAUTIFUL postage stamps of Malaysia’s birds and plants on the outside of his box. THANK YOU so much! We are adding the stamps to our collection. That was a very thoughtful and fun gift. Carropi is hanging near my computer, so he can remind me that I should quit playing stupid computer games (I am addicted to “Zuma” and “Mah Jong Solitaire”) and do something better,” said Barbara

“The package wouldn’t fit into my mailbox, so the postman knocked on my door. My dear mum who’s wary of strangers didn’t want to answer the door, so it got sent back to the Kelana Jaya post office. I booked a cab and went to pick it up the next day. I went to at least three different counters, before I was sent into the bowels of the post office, where thousands of letters seemed to await their fate. There, a postal officer rummaged through some steel drawers before he found my package, which was quite ’safely’ hidden. Glad to report the toy’s now safe in its new home. My son Amir named his new friend Kashi,” said Adline

• A day in a4trip
• When All Rooms are Taken!
• Saving the Kopi
• Passion of Adrian, our proofreader
• Giggling at the Live Googling of Google?

If you are asked for your postal address from Yichin earlier, the little small monster are probably on their way to your house now, struggling their way by air, sea or land – here is a little hint of what would be knocking your doors soon. Thanks again to the gift-sending team for this little surprise.

We hope all of you will like it :)

• You Got Rabbit!
• Mappers’ talk
• They Come, They Play, They Go
• Riding West Coast Malaysia
• GrASS, It’s Green!

“Eh… why this jie jie looks like my mummy one… ”

“The smile looks so familiar … like the first comforting smile I saw… while my backside still aching from the slaps by some crazy peoples…it’s the same round little nose and nourishing cheeks that tickle my body after my bath!”

“Aww… why these two uncles opposite there so noisy, getting all attentions of my mum and jie jie… trying to act cute ah? grrr… … oh oh… so cold… don’t want that purple thing, papa… it’s cold cold… stomach cold”

“waawaaa..waaaa…waaaaa… protest! protest! waaaaaaa” Sean, 10 months old now, has burst into tears.

Kylie took out an empty bottle from the back of baby stroll and a warm milk bottle has produced in seconds. Perhaps every mother is gifted with this dexterity when her baby is crying. With a few seconds of milk feeding, hugging and comforting, the little cute Sean is back in action to spread his appeal to waitresses, sale representatives and pedestrians. None of them can help themselves to return a delighted smile with their fonded heart, screaming “ohhh so cute!!!”.

Finally, Sean was dancing happily now on Kylie’s lap. Moment ago, poor Sean was pouting his lip in the baby stroll while we discussing on the Hanoi guidebook.

Let’s Poll:

1. Our Jusco Photogenic Baby Winner looks cute also when he is sad, what you think?

2 Do you think Sean is correct? Does his Vicky “jie jie” as pretty as her mum?

• Featuring 2 Youngest a4friends
• Li Jiang, An Unforgetful Journey
• Batu Caves, The Shrine Along The Rocky River
• Elephant Sanctuary and Deerland
• LOST AND FOUND; Return of the Prodigal Elder

After zigzagging all the way from Dataran Prima, our well-known “little blue in the sky” has fetched its master Pin, the jet lagging Marcus and I, in nausea state, to the busiest spot in the city. It was our day out to Bukit Bintang for meeting up our little writer from Langkawi Island, Shirley. Her activeness in replying emails and passion in writing blog have gained our attention and motivation to invite her to join our big family.

From Shirley’s Facebook, I discovered that this young girl has the same birth date as me, and is 10 years younger. Always being cheerful in photos, she has the compelling smile that would stun anyone who is looking at her photo. Don’t believe me? Have a visit on her blog or facebook. Pin was stunned for more than 1 minute… hehe

The long awaiting meet up has come true when we approaching the main entrance of Bukit Bintang. With the afternoon sunbeam shinning from the background, Shirley has magnetized Pin to give his first remarkable handshake, symbolizing the strong tie between Pin’s determination in a4trip and Shirley’s enthusiasm in Langkawi writing.

We proceed to a Hong Kong style cafeteria and had a pleasant conversation. In this 45-minute conversation, Shirley had affirmed some new updates on Langkawi facts and developments. Some examples that elicited my desire to visit this lovely island are the size of Langkawi Island is actually much bigger than Penang Island and the island is not just burgeoned with hotels, but there are also a lot of new infrastructures like Starbuck, cinema, factories and shopping center. Regretfully, we failed to prolong the precious moment with Shirley as there was another meet up scheduled shortly after. .

Back to our guy’s talk during the journey back…
“ Hey, Shirley looks much prettier than her photo!”
“ Haha, I second…”
“ Yupe, let’s plan our Langkawi Island trip soon!”
“Cycling in Langkawi? Anyone?”
“…. …. …”
“ Aiya, you guys should buy a bicycle and join me…cycling is good for health… can enjoy natural view… .. it’s environment friendly….and also spare tyre free at your tummy….. ”
Zzzz… Marcus had fallen asleep due to his unbearable jet lag from England and I was back to my nausea state at the back of “little blue in the sky”.

• Pearly’s Malaysian Blog Award
• Choi from Korea
• Once upon a time, there’s a little girl named Shirley…
• Blog Tips for Your Guide Books
• The 3U’s- Unique, Updated and Useful

It was a fresh Tuesday morning with blue sky outside the office…

Wait, what is happening to our daily morning meeting? Looks like it could be not enough sleep last night, or run out of marketing ideas!

It was then Ammie came to office together her ‘Super-A’ roses all the way from Cameron Highland.

Roses in vase? Courtesy of Ammie’s Le Fiores online florist. You would love to see one in your office’s table, order now.

Well, it is not always you get present made-in-sweden. Jian, gout’ed, still make his way to visit us in the office with some swedish alcohol and chocolate. Jian Alcohol lights us up :)

Chailee and Weikey completed their internship training and both are leaving us soon becoming mappers now. Mixed feeling! True is, we miss them both, but we also enjoy the KFC – compare this picture with the one taken during morning meeting and you will know what I am trying to say :)

Two sets for three?

We are going to miss Chailee much after she back to school. Hurry up, everyone taking picture in turns. Starts from Jian, Nic and Weikiat…

Yong, my sister Lynn and Chailee

Hungry look #1…

Hungry look #2…

Champion of the day, Weikey

Back to default mode, eat!

Pin and his new-found personal assistant, Agnes.

3.30pm, picture taken in front of Kill & Fry Chicken. Get back to work :)

• BBQ
• Miss World Pageant
• Night Shift
• Fellowship Across The Seas
• You Got Rabbit!

Sam was excited. With a pair of teary eyes shining vividly amid brownish furs, he was pacing behind Lina impatiently. Waging its tail, he stretched both of his back leg muscles, welcoming me a warm hug to his home, a sweet, lovely home indeed.

“Sam, you are too friendly” Lina winked to Sam, gesturing him to clam down, while she pushed open the door, inviting me to begin my most memorable tour in Kluang… …

I got to know Lina through a4trip when Pin, the founder of a4trip, told me that I am going to work with a very talented graphic designer. We were assigned to complete the first a4trip Siem Reap guidebook. The task was challenging. I am going to strategize the best guidebook content for a4trip guidebook while Lina would illustrate the color theme and map design template.

Weeks over weeks, after several researches, plus continuous comments from Pin and supports from Lina, we have finally outlined the content structure of a4trip guidebook. The experience was like hatching an unlimited potential golden goose egg, which will determine the future of a4trip. Three objectives of a4trip guidebooks are defined, which are Compact Structured, Customer Oriented and Charity Basis.

These 3Cs objectives have finally won us an honored testimonial from a traveler using a4trip Siem Reap guidebook. She quoted that “A4trip Guidebook is best guidebook in Siem Reap and this is a good guidebook should be.”

With the overwhelming positive feedbacks received over the months, we are confident to expand our a4trip guidebook project to all of the destinations in South East Asia by inviting writers and graphic illustrators to join our triumphed force.

7 June 2008, it was about half a year ago later since I have worked with Lina on three guidebooks. I have been hearing about her workplace in Kluang and her lovely dogs. I always wonder about her workplace while typing each character from my laptop over the online messenger. How her work place is in order to supply her on endless creative designs and remarkable masterpieces. Would it be a messy workplace like mine packed with books and manuscripts? Or would it be a funky spotlighted workplace with colorful drawings with rock music playing at the background?

Guess no more and have a second look in the photo. It’s a neat, modern and Swedish designed workplace. An ideal workplace designed by designers for a designer.

• Blog Tips for Your Guide Books
• Writers’ FAQ
• Improving a4trip for You
• The Geographer Cafe Gathering
• Elephant Sanctuary and Deerland

• A day in a4trip
• Choi from Korea
• Gathering at The Curve
• Our Kumomo Cambodia Trip
• Missing Whiteboard

Dinner with Shenling (Beijing writer), her husband, Peter (thanks for coming all the way from Seri Kembangan), Yowchuan, Ammie (Yowchuan girlfriend), Jingkai, Henny, Marcus, Chinseng and Pin, near The Curve! Nice meeting Shenling, she has done an amazing job, the 25 pages guides are so impressive!

Another big things, we have just done a major infra upgrade! :)

• Mappers’ talk
• Peter and Pulau Pangkor
• Giggling at the Live Googling of Google?
• New born member
• BBQ