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Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Guadeloupe Carnival

Tuesday 
14/03/17

Harini kak ton free sket so boleh la update blog yg dh berkurun tak update ni. Cite ni pasal CARNAVAL bulan lps bukan sahaja dekat Guadeloupe tp mostly Caribbean islands. 


Ok, kak ton google history sket sbb aku pun tak tau carnaval ni celebrate apa. Celebration basically sebulan in February pastu end of the month 2 hari public holiday sambut besar-besaran gitu. So sebulan ni, semua org in festive mood, nk Christmas pun tak camni feeling dia. Every weekend, different city host a carnaval. Traffic jammed toksah cerita la, tu blom lagi budak2 bukak tol create jammed smpai 12km. Sentap je sbb weekend kita nk pegi beach pastu sangkut jammed, jalan plak takde jln lain, tu je la satu2nye jln nk ke pantai tu.






Carnival (see other spellings and names) is a Western Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent.[2] The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typically involves a public celebration and/or parade combining some elements of a circus, masks, and a public street party. People wear masks and costumes during many such celebrations, allowing them to lose their everyday individuality and experience a heightened sense of social unity.[3] Excessive consumption of alcohol,[4]meat, and other foods proscribed during Lent is extremely common. Other common features of carnival include mock battles such as food fights; social satire and mockery of authorities; the grotesque body displaying exaggerated features, especially large noses, bellies, mouths, and phalli, or elements of animal bodies; abusive language and degrading acts; depictions of disease and gleeful death; and a general reversal of everyday rules and norms
(SUMBER MOKCIK WIKIPEDIA)

Carnaval yg kak ton n laki pegi adalah carnaval yg dekat umah kitaorg ni, tak yah bawak kete, jalan kaki je. Umat manusia tak tau la nk cakap, dh siap picnic tepi jalan. Kalau boleh bawak bantal n tilam confirm bawak. Rata2, org bawak kerusi lipat tu sbb carnaval ni start dr kol 3 petang smpai kesubuh esok hari. lebih kurang la sbb kak ton dh tido pun dgr dumdam2 bunyi gendang dipalu. Masa carnaval dekat umah kak ton ni, kira dh besar gak la kot sbb dh pakai costume, yg besar masa cuti Mardi Gras tu kitaorg tak pi sbb tak kuasa nk hadap traffic. Kebetulan pulak cuti kan, masa tu la kitaorg pegi La Desirade, adik bongsu pulau Guadeloupe. 

Penonton dikiri-kanan jalan. Yg parking kete kat sini ko tggu la smpai jln bukak baru boleh balik. kete tak kena calar pun dh cukup baik dah. 

Yg lelaki keje dia main musical instrument, yg pompuan joget la. 

Pesen baju ada macam2 tp kak ton tak amik gambar byk sbb diaorg dok berjalan kan, gambar tak cantik. 




Carnaval ni tak terhad kepada org dewasa, bdk2 kecik pun join jugak. Biasanye hari jumaat diaorg buat parade utk bdk2 ni. Sekolah will participate anto anak murid dia kinja. Kak ton tak tgk yg bdk2 ni tp cukup la dgr cite jalan pun traffic jammed jugak. So tu je la pengalaman first kak ton tgk carnaval. Thn dpn tak kuasa nk tgk dh kot sbb aku "Jom Heboh" Sure Heboh" pun aku xpernah pegi, tak kuasa, maklum la dh tua. 


Wednesday, January 25, 2017

East Coast Barbados

28th DEC 2016

We had a fight today and i don't remember why. Owh wait, i remember. We went to the bank to change money and did some shopping since barbados just open back to business after 4 days holiday and while im having fun shopping nico said we have to go or we wont have time to check everything. 

Nico wanted to go to St. Nicolas Abbey and thats why he urge me to leave, but unfortunately, he didnt check the timing, so by the time we headed there, the abbey is almost closed. We went directly to Bathsheba instead in the east coast and it was a long way to get there. The road was not in a good condition too. 

1. Bathsheba
- This picture was taken at Atlantis hotel at Tent bay. We had lunch here and every wednesday they have buffet lunch for BB70 per pax. The food was ok, not much choices for buffet i think. But i came from Malaysia, our buffet can last for 3 night lol. The view was amazing in Bathsheba but its just to feast your eyes since the current at east coast barbados is strong and its dangerous for swimming. 




2. Hunte's Garden
- If you check tripadvisor, huntes garden is no.2 things to do in Barbados. We went there because we didnt know where else to go. The garden is small but dense with plants and flowers. Entrance fee is at BB30 per pax and there's a board in the middle of the garden to know what kind of plant they have. As i am coming from Malaysia, we shared similar tropical flowers and plants, therefore it wasnt interest me much. But it was nice in the garden since its cool inside away from the heat. You will meet the owner too at the end of your visit for a drink and small chat.




I dont know what plant is this but its interesting to see plant in this plant. 


the owner told me this orchird came from brasil. 





Barbados South Coast Beaches

27th DEC 2016

Our 4th day since we arrived in Barbados. And today we decided to check south coast beach since we saw almost all west Coast beaches.

1. Dover Beach
- Our first stop for morning dip. The beach already full when we arrived but we manage to find some spot under the tree since we didn't plan to stay long. Families like to come here since both adult & kids can enjoy playing in the water. It was calm with waves at some area.



2. Worthing Beach/Sandy Beach/Carib Beach
- We were looking for sandy beach & carib beach but we couldn't find it. The only beach that we found at the area was Worthing beach. There's plenty of carpark here and not many people too. I keep on checking my guide book, cracking my head thinking where to find Sandy beach before i realize that the picture in the book look exactly like the view right in front of me. So this long stretch of beach might share the same sand and water with different names at different area. Worth to come since not many people around. 



3. Accra Beach
- We bought KFC and bring with us to Accra for lunch. We didint bother to go to restaurant today so we could spend more time at the beach. Accra beach might be the most famous and the most crowded beach in Barbados. Unfortunately i didnt have picture and we didnt stay long here. 

4. Carlisle Bay
- Carlisle bay consist of few beaches running from Bridgetown to Hilton Hotel. The view here is breathtakingly beautiful especially when u arrived around mid day. Beach chair renting is all over the beach and during our visit, the beach was full. Water is calm and perfect for swimming. These picture that i have probably at bayshore beach. We rent beach chair here and spend the whole afternoon swimming, reading and sleeping. 


tag for beach chair customer 






Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Hard Not To LOVE Barbados ~ West Coast Beaches


I was begging Nico to go to New York for Christmas and new year holidays but unfortunately its complicated for me to get my visa done from Guadeloupe. Disappointed, i told him we can go anywhere but i didn't feel like going back to France since we just went back home 4 months ago. So we start checking all the Caribbean islands and having a hard time choosing. The first came to mind is visa free islands and English speaking countries. I don't want to be in french territory for this holiday. 

After so many consideration we are down to 3 islands, all nearby and easily connected. Its Antigua, St Lucia & Barbados. And since Barbados came as the top traveler choices everywhere we checked, we decided to choose Barbados.

Barbados from the plane 


Everything was pre-booked. We are budget traveler and we only have one week in Barbados. Time and money is important. We rent a car for a week (nico manage to find cheap rental car company), we stayed at Airbnb (we love airbnb, the good way to see and experience local life,)  bought simcard for BB18 and used waze to go around.

Barbados is beautiful, definitely better beaches than Guadeloupe. We roughly visited 3-4 beaches per day, depending on the time we have. Since we couldnt get any Barbados guide before hand, we took a copy of "Barbados in a Nutshell" at the airport and practically followed all the suggestions inside.

We arrived in Barbados on 24th Dec and thank god we manage to get our grocery done. Everything was closed for 4 days due to Christmas holiday, so if u plan to go during christmas, plan it well so you wont go hungry. 

Barbadian Dollar
Bridgetown 
Christmas day

We stayed in Bridgetown and Calisle Bay was only 20mins walk from our place but we decided to go to the one further first. Our first day was utterly disaster since no one bother to check and plan where to go (our host throw a christmas party the night before, thats the reason why actually). Its easy to missed the beach here since the sign and the path to the beach was small. Some don't even have any signage and parking is another problem.

SURVIVAL TIPS :

  • Look up to know your beach, All the beach is practically closer to each other and on the same route.
  • You can rent beach chair for BB40. (*we plan to use our beach towel but its feel so weird to lay down in between people who sits on the beach chair. Feels like there's a class different on the beach lol) Renting is for as long as you want to stay. 
  • There's not many beach which has tree to take up cover in barbados, And its freaking hot.
  • Barbadian dollar can be change at the bank, just make sure you have you id with you. 

25th DEC 2016
WEST COAST BEACH
1. Batts Rock Beach
- This beach is practically deserted and i dont understand why. Its probably because there's no hotels nearby. There'a an area with calm water for swimming and the view is amazing.



2. Sandy Lane Beach
- We are actually looking for Payne bay but missed it. So we end up at Sandy Lane beach. The beach was crowded with hotel guests, its a long stretch of beach and calm water for swimming. Rihanna house should be nearby but Nico didnt bother to look lol. 



 3. Reeds Bay
- Reeds bay is a beach near to the church. Water is calm, not many people and there's beach chair for rental. And i only have one picture here..why????

4. Mullins Bay 
- This beach is crowded, probably because of hotels guests who didn't bother to go anywhere else and stay here. I dont know why, im not a fan of this beach. Water is calm and good for swimming. 


5. Speightstown Beach
- We love picnic at the beach ad it is so Guadeloupeen style. So we did the same on our first day in Barbados. We are lucky to find shade and this is the view we had. We did swimming here too. Calm water mostly everywhere in the West Coast. 



 6. Animal flower cave
- Since we already came this far, we decided to go up north to the animal flower cave. It was closed due to christmas holiday but we still get to roam around and see the cliff. This is the northernmost part of the island. Beautiful and scary at the same time. Please dont slipped and fall. 





26th DEC 2016

7. Brandon Beach
- We start late and was tired from the day before. We heading to the West coast again since there's still plenty of beach to check. Brandon beach is famous with cruise ship passenger since this is the closes beach from the port. Its a long stretch of sandy beach with beautiful turquoise water. Unfortunately we didnt stay long since nico doesnt like the feeling of the sea floor, its feel mushy he said.





8. Fitts Village
- I dont have any photo at Fitts Village :( The beach was small but equally beautiful. Definitely not crowded since everybody come to take picture and left.

9. Folkestone Marine Reserve.
- Our next stop since we haven't do any snorkeling yet. Its was cloudy and light rain when we did our snorkeling, the water wasnt so clear and no turtles seen. But it wasnt bad i guess. 





10. Juma's Restaurant
- Lunch for today. Its a french/asian restaurant in Speightstown. We were seated at the first floor with lovely view. After so much snorkeling we were so hungry and was happy that we didnt waited too long for the food. There's few other table that came before us and still didnt get their food and some even get upset and left. oh no....

Thai Green Curry 
Nico took flying fish, Barbados specialty 


11. Paynes Bay
- My favorite beach in Barbados. Because this is where we saw turtles right from the beach. The water was deep, you definitely cant stand but its calm. And while swimming, turtles might be just at your back taking a gulp of air. When we did out snorkeling here, the water visibility was bad, maybe because its right at the beach but even that we manage to see 2 turtles. So if u go further you might get better view. We spent the rest of the day here, just swim, read and sleep. Its soooo good.