Up Gunung Jerai (a.k.a Kedah Peak)

If one drives along the North-South Highway en route to Alor Setar, chances are that one will catch the glimpse of this isolated rocky mountains from Gurun with some coomunication towers on the peak... well, the curiosity gets the better of me and so I booked a night at the Regency Jerai Hill Resort at the false summit of the Jerai Hills.

A view from above the barren clifts at 1000 M above sea level.

Basically the hotel is very basic for the price and being the only hotel up there, there isn't really any choice for food, which was very average as far as hotel goes....the route up was surprisingly easy and hassle free (if you are used to bends and curves on the road). As we were there during the dryer part of the year, even at 1000 m above sea level, it was basically quite warm - and the fact that the rooms only has ceiling fans was not very convenient not comfortable. 

The actual reason I went up for the trip was for a quick survey of the insect fauna - helas a disappointment with very little activities. The forest is basically dry, barren and the flowering plants do not have many butterflies on them.

Came across a flock of 5 Orange-Bellied Trogons on the way up to the tower.

and this Red Billed Malkoha on the side of the tarmac (there were 2 of them together)...

Lepidoptera activities was not very forthcoming for such an iconic collection locality in the past...

 Above - the striking day flying moth Milonia brassolis visiting Lantana

 a female Glassy Tiger fluttered by...

Another moth came to the flowers

The Common Earl, Tanaecia julii xiphiones was the "commonest" butterfly around the trail up the peak...

gnarled trees on the wind-swept clifts

view of the peak from Padang Tok Sheikh

 Above the bloom of the Bromheadia orchid...

 Moss and lichen abound near the peak

The red-trunked Eugenia is common...

Cameron Highlands during a break in the wet season 2016

Cameron Highlands is basically not far from Raub and it is a good under 2 hour drive from Raub town. We usually spend a few days there every end-of-the -year holidays and this year was no exception. However, these are from a day trip done on a whim - to Habu because of a break in the gloomy weather but surprises - it was windy and exceptionally cold at around 14-15 degrees celsius in the day time...

 At the teashop - as we were still early, the tourist horde has yet to arrive and we were scrambling to look for a shielded spot from the cold wind...normally at 15 degrees celsius it shouldn't be cold but the moisture in the fresh air made it so.

Above views taken from above the small tea hill at Habu Boh Estate.

Blast from the Past (3 - 2): adventures in the port city of La Rochelle on the French Atlantic Coasts

The protected harbour turned into a mirror on the morning after the snow shower - first time in 11 years according to the locals.

Persisting snow on the grass patch...

Blast from the Past (3 - 1): adventures in the port city of La Rochelle on the French Atlantic Coasts

My first experience of France, not counting stepping foot out of the airport through Paris to the next destination, was in the windy port city of La Rochelle. We arrived at the beginning of autumn and it was an unexpected adventure for me, first time in a temperate country. La Rochelle is an old port city on the western coasts (Atlantic Coast) of France and is part of the region called Poitou-Charentes which is basically an agricultural region. La Rochelle is situated on the department of Charente-Maritime and is a principal holiday destination for French tourist escaping Paris in summer.

The old port of La Rochelle, once flourished as an important trading post in France during the age of colonialisation is now a leasure boat marina...

The two towers served as sentry points and entrance into the old port of La Rochelle

Well, Indonesia was figured in a shop along the old port...

The city was in the past a Protestant stronghold in a Catholic country and had seen very bloody history during the reign of Louis XIII under the then Cardinal Richelieu. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_La_Rochelle