First Interstate Travel Since Covid-19 Movement Control Order - Bentong Pahang

Ever since the lifting of the MCO (Movement Control Order) we were allowed to travel interstate but within the country, going oversea for a travel is still a big no no for Malaysian. Jason has organised a trip to Bentong, Pahang for a weekend and I decided to join them at the last moment. Let's cuti-cuti Malaysia !

Jason and Kenny met me at Setiawangsa LRT Station where we started our drive to Bentong from there. Our first stop was at Kg. Bukit Tinggi and the car was parked at the commercial area at Kampong Bukit Tinggi. Unfolded our Brompton bikes and took a loop into the village to visit this river called Sg. Tanglir

A Chinese primary school in the village where the majority people living here are of the Kwong Sai dialect and Bentong ginger is widely planted in this area.

Thanks to the developer who took the extra effort to beautify and maintain the river. A spot not many many people is aware of it.

The weather was cooling probably in the region of 25°C and enjoying the fresh air and lovely countryside of the village. After completing the loop we settled down at a kopitiam for a bowl of wan tan noodle before proceeding to Bentong town.

A clip of the loop we did within the village of Bukit Tinggi.

The traffic into Bentong Town on a Saturday morning was rather heavy, it seems that every weekend one can expect such traffic jam into the town.

Kwong Fook Temple sited along the main road Jalan Loke Yew with a GPS : 3.522843, 101.909695 with a bold red paint on the building that one could miss the sight of this temple.

There are many documents on the wall like pictures of the early leaders and strong linkage with Sin Sze Si Ya Temple from Kuala Lumpur. Loke Yew was the one responsible in the making of Bentong with the tin mining industry and also rubber plantation.

Guess these are the Menshen or threshold guardian - divine guardians of doors and gates in Chinese folk ... 尉迟恭

As we were very close to Cafe Kow Po, the famous ice cream or ice kacang shop we just could not say no to its ABC. Ais Batu Kacang was good and situated at GPS : 3.522296, 101.910817, don't miss it whenever you are in Bentong.

Glad to have a local Brommie accompanying us and it was indeed an excellent way to know Bentong better.

We were able to "kidnapped" Kokhway to show us around linking the routes from one Chinese Village to another, it was really a big Chinese village community which were built during the time of Malayan Emergency under the Briggs Plan to cut off communication from the Chinese people and the communist guerrillas.

Lemang To'Ki Bentong is an extra ordinary place, never in my life I have never seen a lemang seller so popular. Thanks to Kokhway for leading us to the place, it's located at the junction between the main road Jalan Tras heading to Raub and a kampong road called Jalan Permai with a GSP ref: 3.545283, 101.899523

The crowd was overwhelming and we did not bother to eat but just to see the amazing eatery.

The last stop was a hidden shed and apparently the favourite place of our Bentong buddies.

"Anchor" is popular in Bentong and cheers to our cold beer before we check into our homestay in Bentong. Photo credit : Jason Leong.

As recommended by Jason a tilapia fish done in two ways steamed on one side and the other was deep fried. Unique and tasty.

Sinful soy sauce pork belly cut in a sinful size just nice to be mouthed.

A delicious dish of tofu with nice fried eggs, it looks simple but the taste was awesome. Besides these dishes we had giant kangkung merely stir fried but another great dish.

Nothing like a simple and delicious dinner with the company of wonderful friends. 

Place of dinner was at GPS :  3.522071, 101.906724 among a cluster of food stalls next to a covered basketball court and a stream behind the stalls.   

Porto Barcelona Day 27 - Sixth & Final Day in Barcelona

Our final day in Barcelona with a light and easy plan to cover more places of interest, for the start we decided to visit Recinte Modernista de Sant Pau and with a metro connection to Sant Pau | Dos de Maig.

Recinte Modernista de Sant Pau or the old San Pau Hospital is located at Carrer de Sant Antoni Maria Claret, GPS : 41.411364, 2.174302. 

The former Hospital de Sant Pau (Hospital of the Holy Cross and Saint Paul) is in the neighborhood of El Guinardó. 

It is also a visit to discover one of the works of Lluís Domènech i Montaner, a leading architect of Catalan Modernisme.

The hospital was still functioning until June 2009 when a new hospital was then opened next to it. It went through a restoration work to become a museum and cultural center which was then opened in 2014.

The former hospital buildings also house an art school  known as Escola Massana and the National Library of Catalonia (Biblioteca de Catalunya) .

The building was built between 1901 and 1930 and together with Palau de la Música Catalana and has been recognised as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Leaving the old San Pau Hospital with a leisure walk along a wide pedestrian walkway called Avinguda de Gaudí and did some shopping along the walk.

A sculpture at the junction between Carrer de los Castillejos and Avinguda de Gaudí, GPS : 41.409626, 2.174200

Along the Avinguda de Gaudí there are several of these lamp posts seen at the intersections.

Visiting La Sagrada Familia for the last time as we were going to the Metro Station for our next agenda.

Time to go down town again for more sight seeing, taking the Metro from Sagrada Familia Station

We disembarked at Metro Paral·lel Station at Carrer Nou de la Rambla, GPS : 41.375180, 2.170198 and continued our walking exploration.

A moment later from the exit from the metro station we found this drinking fountain with a statue of Raquel Meller. She was an international star in singing & acting during the 1920s and 1930s where she appeared in several films and have toured to Europe and America.

The Palau Güell or in English is Güell Palace is a mansion designed by the architect Antoni Gaudí for the industrial tycoon Eusebi Güell and it was built between 1886 and 1888. It is located at Carrer Nou de la Rambla, GPS : 41.378935, 2.174113

 It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site under "Works of Antoni Gaudí". 
Opening hours as at March 2020
Open: Tuesday to Sunday.
Summer opening hours (1st April to 31th October): 10:00 am to 8:00 pm (ticket windows close at 7.00 pm)
Winter opening hours (1st November to 31th March): 10:00 am to 5:30 pm (ticket windows close at 4:30 pm)
Closed: Mondays, except public holidays, 25th and 26th December, 1st January and Third week of January (for maintenance).

The Güell Palace was a milestone of European architecture in its time and it may be considered one of the pioneering buildings of the Art Nouveau movement, standing out above all for its innovative conception of space and light. In this building, Gaudí applied a set of highly diverse solutions based on very personal approaches, and he used his imagination to create some exceptionally expressive forms, working with high-quality traditional materials (stone, wood, wrought iron, ceramics, glass, etc).

In 2004 it was closed for visit due to a renovation works as some of the stone used in the original construction was found not stable and had cracks causing structural weakness. It was repaired and reopened for visit in April 2011.

Still within the vicinity of Güell Palace we were back to La Rambla Walk for one last time, this time we wanted to check out the Royal Plaza.

Also known as Plaça Reial locally is a square, it is a popular tourist attraction especially during the night. There are many restaurants and famous nightclubs such as Sidecar, Jamboree, Karma and Nou Pipa Club. 

The elegant ambiance of the Plaça Reial by the fountain at the centre with elegant streetlamps and distinguished palm trees. These lamp posts were designed by Antoni Gaudí.

Around 1835, many of the city's religious buildings were vanished due to the confiscation of such properties. This was the case with this former Capuchin convent which was torn down and Plaça Reial was built.

The original design was supposed to have a statue of King Ferdinand VII on a horse back at the centre of the plaza but it did not materialise. The fountain "The Three Graces" was built instead.

The square in broad daylight but one should visit during the night to witness the vibrant nightlife of the Royal Plaza.

Time for a lunch and it should be our last lunch in Spain, our favourite wine would not to be missed and always found on the table. Cheers!

One more seafood paella please, we will not miss it when we are back to Kuala Lumpur.

Dishes of squid and salmon too were good and yummy.

The tapas as seen at the counter .... looking good right, we will be going to miss these tapas encounter when we get back home.

Our walk continued and the next destination was Picassso Museum.

Half way through we stumbled into a Gothic-style church, Catholic Barcelona or locally known as Església de Sant Jaume. It founded in 1391 and was built between 1394 -1500. 

A peep into the interior of Església de Sant Jaume.

Formerly it was a monastic church and currently a parish church located at Ferran Street GPS : 41.381372, 2.175443

Attractive mural such as this one attracting tourists and taking picture of it. We had one together with her.

Thank God it's Friday, this street really is flowing towards iconic places, I guess mostly are tourists and some are locals.

Graffitised bollard tops along la Princesa Street GPS : 41.386089, 2.181402 as we maneuvered our way to the museum.

A few bars seen at a square called Placa de Jaume Sabartes named after a Catalan Spanish artist, poet and writer. He was a close friend of Pablo Picasso and was his secretary/administrator.  He died in Paris in 12 February 1968. The small square is located at Flassaders Street in honour of this artist, GPS : 41.385793, 2.181482

Arched passage into Montcada Street at the neighbourhood of Picasso Museum. GPS : 41.385238, 2.180738

Another little known art spot, European Museum of Modern Art, Museu Europeu d’Art Modern aka “MEAM” found in the same neighbourhood for contemporary artists to display their works.

It’s housed in an 18th-century palace next to Picasso Museum, showcasing 20th to 21st century contemporary figurative paintings and sculptures.

Fenn has already bought herself a few Spanish aprons and shops of such have always attracted her to stop by.

At last we found the Museu Picasso (Picasso Museum) which houses one of the most extensive collections of Pablo Picasso's artworks. With 4,251 works exhibited in the museum making it a complete and permanent collections of Picasso's works. 

Books on the works by Picasso are also on display in the Museum. Over here you can find out his relationship with the city of Barcelona, a relationship that was shaped in his youth and adolescence and continued until his death.

The museum found within five adjoining medieval palaces in the Old City at Montcada Street. Formerly it was a prestigious street for the home of the wealthy merchants and nobility. It was opened to the public in 9 March 1963, the first museum dedicated to Picasso's work.

Some of the merchandises sold in the musuem.

Pablo Picasso is incredibly talented, his creations have broken the cultural conventions of the time and established new aesthetic paradigms that marked a turning point in the name of art.

Picasso started young to master the techniques of great painting. And over the years through the process and experiments he has created an astonishing and revolutionary style of his own that made him world famous.

The Palau Aguilar was the first building occupied by the museum. The building was built during the 13th century but has underwent significant alterations between the 15th and 18th centuries. 

At the entrance of the museum.

Seeing endless wall graffiti as we wandered around in the streets of the Old City.

Plaza del Rey which mean the "King's Square" is a 14th-century medieval public square with King Martin's watchtower as we got closer to the City Hall.

Another day of protest in front of City Hall,
Ajuntament de Barcelona. A sign of freedom of expression by the local folks.

After 5 nights in Primavera Hostel, it was truly our home in Barcelona, we were gladly satisfied with the place. It is absolutely clean, friendly and location wise it is good with a couple of interesting places to visit, be it by walking, cycling or taking the metro trains.

Some of the images of Primavera for our remembrance whenever we browse into this page again.

The postcards, notes, compliments and the open kitchen space.

Goodbye Primavera as we stepped out of the nest.

One for the album with our super friendly staff of Primavera and we hope to see you again.

Our luggage awaiting for our taxi to the airport.

Thank you Emirates for the smooth journey.

Feeling good to be going back after a long holiday and just couldn't wait to taste our Malaysian food upon landing on home land.

A transit at Dubai for for 3 hours.

The food and drink from Emirates.

That's all folks and that was our 27 days in Portugal and Spain. It is another indeed a memorable and wonderful trip. Till then we hope to travel again to more places and will share our experience with you. Cheers and hope to see you soon !