There are lots of seafood restaurant located in Kuala Selangor. However, my favorite one is the one located next to the river. The view is very nice and the price is not very expensive. You can enjoy the nice view while waiting for your food. The afternoon breeze is refreshing and the dusk view is very very nice from the river.

Other than getting seafood, there are lots of shop selling seafood products and the price is cheaper compared, say in Kuala Lumpur. In the morning, the fisherman will coming back from the sea and you can get some good bargain at the fresh fish there.

Here is some photo that I manage to take during my last visit.

p/s: All the sunset photo is taken inside the restaurant itself… nice view is it

Compared to last year ceremony, I think there are more people that join it this year… I manage to snap some photo to share.. This year, I mange to take more photo because my batteries is full…

Btw,  there are some Klong Yao (long drum) team that head the march. they will play the klong Yao and sing. Some people will join them and dance… seem like they all have a good time enjoying themself.

The loy kratong ceremony is very grand in Thailand. However, from what I have heard, this year the celebration is not as grand as years ago as this year the sister of the King passed away and people is mouring over the loss.

Hopefully next time I will be able to visit the celebration in Thailand and share the photo with all of you here.

I manage to take some photo, but not all of the functions today.

However, before I go further, some of you may not aware of what is katina ceremony is, I get this information from the net and it describe what is katina:

Katina Ceremony
By Ven Panditha M. Dhammagavesi

First of all I would like to draw your attention to the history of observing VAS (rainy) retreat. Secondly, about the Kathina ceremony and finally, the benefits of performing it.

For the first twenty years of establishment of The Order of the Sangha (Sangha community) the Buddha did not have to lay down any kind of disciplinary rules for monks, because the Sangha community was not so large, they were not too old in the Order and also their main intention was to eradicate defilements to lead a pure life. With the increasing of the Sangha community some of them entered The Order with the intention of obtaining material gains. Some of them did not know what they should or should not to do for their spiritual upliftment. Therefore, there was a need to implement some rules to correct them and show them the right way to practice for their welfare and also for the welfare of those who would enter in to the order.

Most of the monks did not stay in one place for a long time. They would travel from place to place, from village to village, from suburb to suburb practicing meditation, preaching and teaching, encouraging and stimulating people to engage in Dhamma. They did not stop travelling even during the rainy period of the year. During that time there were some other religious groups as well. One of them was Nighanta natha puthta and his disciples. They went to the extreme of practicing Ahimsa.i.e. they considered even grass as a living being and therefore did not walk about on grass for fear of killing them. They stayed indoors during the rainy season without walking anywhere so that they would not cause death or harm to any living thing. Under these circumstances Buddha and his disciples were accused of travelling during the period of rainy months. Taking into consideration this accusation and recollecting the actions of previous Buddhas, he advised monks to go into retreat during the rainy season starting from the day after the July Full moon.. Those who could not commence the retreat on this particular day due to unavoidable circumstances were advised to commence it following the August full moon. Each and every higher ordained monk is supposed to observe rainy retreat whether they were invited to do so or not by lay people and no matter where they live. The rainy period usually lasted for three months.

Monks are not allowed to use more than three robes during the Katina retreat.(The three robes are the inner robe, the outer robe and the double robe) When they get more robes they should be kept in the store.

On one occasion Vishakha Maha Upasika (The chief lay lady disciple) expressed her desire to offer a special piece of cloth to each monk and invite monks for Vas observation. Buddha accepted her invitation. Since then we have been following that custom. That is why people these days too invite monks to go into retreat and this is called Vas Aradana. This is done by offering a special piece of cloth at the beginning of the rainy period. From the beginning up to the end of this period monks are provided with food, domestic facilities, medicine and so on. These three months are very important for both monks and lay people because they could do more and more meritorious activities such as participate in dhamma sermons, dhamma discussions, meditation programs and Pirith chantings.

During Lord Buddha’s time a group of thirty monks went away from the place of retreat where The Buddha was to spend three months. At the conclusion of the retreat they returned to visit the Buddha. On the way they had to face heavy rains. They were in trouble. One of them got extremely wet. It was a very hard time for him. Some how they visited the Buddha. Seeing the monk whose robes were very wet the Buddha advised them to accept an extra robe as a KATHINA. The extra robe was always given to the one who needed it. (There are some rules to be observed by monks when using the kathina robe) If devotees offer a piece of cloth to monks in the name of kathina, the monks have to make a robe with that cloth on the same day. Lay people could do it as well. Offering of Kathina robe is considered as one of the greatest meritorious activities. Also whatever is offered on Kathina day, the same merit could be obtained by donors. That is why people make various types of
offerings on the day of the Kathina.

One of the stanzas chanted during Kathina glorifies the greatness of merit which one gets from performing Kathina. Even this solid Earth, or a solid rock or a piece of diamond could tremble, shake and break at times. However. the merit obtained by offering of kathina robe could not be nullified by any thing until one achieve the ultimate goal Nibbana. That is why

it is called KATINA. One of the disciples called NAGITHA expressed the glory of doing it. As a result of offering kathina robe to the MAHASANGA he was never been born in lower places (like the spirit world and the animal realm) and for the last thirty eons or KALPA he had been born in higher and blissful realms like the divine or human. The merit thus obtained was very helpful for him to realize the ultimate truth.

It is clearly mentioned in Buddhism that if one commits a GARUKA KAMMA which means serious unwholesome deeds such as:

1) Matricide
2) Patrricide
3) the Murder of an Arahant
4) the Wounding of Buddha
5) the Creation of Schism in the Sangha,

one has to undergo the unpleasant results during this life or in the next life immediately after death.

Even the merit of offering of Kthina robe cannot help such a person to avoid the suffering or bad karma. However the merit, the positive power of offering Kathina could reduce the negative effects of other minor bad deeds. Furthermore, one could be blessed with happiness, long life, good health, a good complexion, physical strength, and wisdom in this life and in the continuing lives in the cycle of rebirth until we achieve Nibbana.

Here is some photo that is taken during the ceremony:

Some of the ropes that the devotee donate to the temple

The chief monk starting the ceremony

Katina Tree. It made from banana tree and the devotee donate money and stick the donation money to the ‘tree’

Another view of the Katina tree

The devotee praying

The environment is very nice, there are lots of large trees in this park, the waterfall is beautiful/impressive and the river is very nice and cool. lots of kids (and adults too) bath in the river and the waterfall.

I think this is a must visit for someone that stay in Kuala Lumpur area, sinceit is very near to the city center. If you drive, I think it will take about 30 minute from the city and it maytake a little longer if you take public transport like buses. Some of the buses that you can take to go to this place is Metro bus no 43. This buses will go to Rawang, but it will pass by the place. You can inform the bus driver that you want to go to Kanching and he should able to let you know when to take off the buses.

Kanching recreational forest is actually part of 478 hecter of Kanching Forest Reserved. It is located very near (and I think physically next) to FRIM, Templer Park and also Commenwelth Forest Reserved. This place located 7 km from Rawang city center and 23km from Kuala Lumpur.

Some of the activities that you can do here is camping, picnicking, tracking (or jogging – in the morning), bathing or just relaxing.

I found that the most interesting part about Kanching Recreational Forest is that it have 7 ‘layer’ of waterfall and each of them will have their own pond which visitor can take a bath in it… the water also crystal clear and very cool.

Some facilities in this place is the bathroom (20 cent per entry), a ‘resort’(just open, you can call to 03-55132000 or 012-284 3956 for enquiries) and spacious parking lots. The payment to enter this park is RM1.00 per person (above 12 years old) and parking fees is RM2.00 per entry.

Few weeks back I drive through road from Rawang town toward Batang berjuntai. When you use this route, you will passed by the Selangor Fruits Valley, a ‘park’ which is full of tropical fruits and trees. It belong to the state and it cover a large area. The Valley contain of 809 hectare of land which 101 hectare is starfruits plantation. If i m not mistake this is the largest starfruits farm in the world.

The Selangor Fruit Valley is open to public and we can visit the place and also shooping for some tropical fruits during the seasons. Unfortunately, it is only open during week days and will close during week end.

If you want to visit Selangor Fruits Valley, do bring along some bread, on the way to this place, there are reserved forest and lots of monkey live there. The monkey is very tame as it is used to be feed by the passer by. It is fund to see them and the greenary of this place.

There are lots of people that went there. Each of them will bring the kratong to ‘release’ it in the nearby lake, the Taman Tasik Jaya.

The ceremony start with the chanting by the monk and followed by the loy kratong ceremony. I manage to take some photo but not much of it as my camera is out of battery

I heard that tomorrow, there are one more ceremony which will be organize by PESILA at a lake in Kepong area (a lake nearby MRR2).

There are many belief about the loy kratong ceremony. Some people believed that it is a way to avoid bad luck, some belief that this ceremony is to make a respect for the river while some other belief that it is to show a respect for Buddha.

Here is some photo that I take during the visit:

The canopy walk will only operate from 9.30am to 2.30pm. It is not everyday that they open (I forget which day is their rest day, sorry..) but they will operate during weekend, except if the weather is not good or they do some maintainence work.

Based on one of the instructor at the entry point, they just do some maintenance in the fasting month this year, where they change some cable and also repair the third ‘rest station’.

I would like to share the photo to all of you here. Enjoy!

I visit the place about noon and there are not many people if compared to morning. But, I will have to wait for about 30-40 minute. It is school holiday, so many school will bring their student here.

At the entrance of the canopy walk, there are some map and information about the trails. The payment to enter this canopy can be made here as there are some instructor at the entrance to tech you how to walk. She will cover about the space that each person have to take, how many person that each ‘rest station’. By the way, the ‘rest station’ is actually a platform that they do on top of a big trees. It is only a small platform and you will still feel it moving when the wind coming to you.

There are many corner of the canopy walk. The photo below is the first corner. If you are a first timer, you may feel a bit nervous as it will be ‘moving’ when you reach this point. However, the tip is down look down (it is high.. if you afraid of high, you might not able to move on if you look down)

On the ‘resting point’ platform, there will be an information board about what kind of animals some might able to see from the platform. But during my visit, I didn’t see anything special though

The photo below show some people are resting on the platform. There are limitation of the number of people that can use the platform at one time. The first platform can hold 4 person, the second which is the largest platform can hold 8 people and the last platform can hold 4 person.

The photo below show the view of the third platform, this is actually the lowest platform, compared to the first two.

What you can do here?

There are many activities that you can do here in FRIM. One of the activities is to relax. The environment here very nice, the air is very fresh and the scene is very green. It is not very hot and in a windy days, you will feel very fresh. It is a good place to release, you can forget about the busy life of the city and just relax here.

I also found that this place is a good place, actually a beautiful place to take wedding photography. During my visit, actually saw some wedding photography session is taking place… some photographer also will bring their model here to take the photo.

Jungle tracking is also one of the activities that you can do here. I think if someone is from Kuala Lumpur city and would like to experiance a good jungle tracking, FRIM is one of the best place to do so. The jungle track here will be sufficient for most of the jungle trackker and there are lots of beautiful flora and fauna can be seen here. If you are lucky you might able to see some of the animals like monkeys, deers, lizards and many more.

I heard a lots about Ulu Yam previously but I haven’t had any chances to visit this place. This is the first time I visit this place and it is worth visit (btw, I am a person that like nature, trees, waterfall, and greenaries)

There are a Dam in Ulu Yam. The dam is Batu Dam, a very beautiful place where you can sit down and watch amazing scenery. Here, you will feel the like you are at a beautiful ocean, where there are lots of water, surround by hilly and green scenary.

Other than the Batu Dam, Ulu Yam also a home of lots of crystal clear water fall which you can take a bath. It is a very good place to relax, picnic, conduct team meeting/team building, camping or even study natures.

How to go there

Well, I think there are not many option if you want to visit this place. It is either you drive your own car or hire a taxi or take a tour package. Ulu yam is a place that only jungle and not many people that stay near this place. The road that passed this area will go further until the hilly area up to Genting Highland.

What can you/do when you visit this place

well, other than bathing, relaxing or other activities that I share ealier. There are some other interesting activities that you can see at this area. One of the activities that, at some place, you can see lots of people sit on the roadside… no their are not begger, they actually go there to take the minerals water that flow from the mountain in the area… sometimes there are lots of people and they need to queue up and take turn to fill the water into their water container that they bring.

Waterfall in Ulu Yam

Path to go to the river

You will use this to cross the river

View of a river in Ulu Yam

Do you know that bamboo also have flower? You can see it here in Ulu Yam… above is the bamboo flower.

Other than that, during my visit, I also saw some people practise their motocross at this place. Seem like they conduct the training every days… the interesting part of it is that at that time I saw some kids riding the bikes. the kids that I saw most probably only 3-4 years old… it is cute to see those kids do the practise session.

The Kids look cute… I guess he is only about 3-4 years old.

Batu caves is one of the must visit if you come to Malaysia- Selangor especially. There are many Hindus temple, however the main one is inside the caves – The Batu Caves! The cave entrance is located a bit fruther up. You need to climb up a steep flight of 272 steps to reach the entrance.

During the hindus festival which will be conduct every year around January (the date will varry from year to year) which they called Thaipussam, there are thousand of Hindus devotees come to this place. Some of them carry kavadi, a metal frame attaching to the body, dancing in worshipping to their gods.

How to go there

The easiest way is by Taxi. Just take any taxi from your hotel or anywhere in Kuala Lumpur and inform the driver that you want to visit Batu caves. Every taxi driver will know this place as this place is very famous and it exist very long time ago.

I saw some buses passed by this place. However, I am not sure it is from where or how much is the fare.

What you can do here

Batu Caves contain lots of Hindus temple. therefore, you will able to see lots of temple buildings and figures at this place. All of them is unique to Hindus religion. I found that it is very attractive and beautiful.

The cave here is also very nice. There are lots of beautiful scenery that you can see in this cave. Btw, if you visit Batu cave and you don’t mind a bit tracking, you can try to visit Gua Gelap (Dark Caves). the price for a tour guides is RM35, which will take about 20 minute to finish exploring the caves. It is said that the rock formation is this cave aged up to thousand of years! The entrance to Gua Gelap (Dark Caves). The entrance of this cave is in the middle of the 272 steps that you need to take to visit Batu Caves.

During my visit, there are a fortune teller which use ring neck parakeet to pick to ‘topic’ for you. I try it and it cost RM3.00 per times the parrots pick the card for you.

There are many indian restaurant in this place. I didn’t try any of the food but one thing that attract me is the restaurant that sell fresh coconut. It cost RM2.00 per coconut. The worker that cut the coconut for you (to drink) have a very good skilled. It is fascinating to see him cut the coconut.