Banjaran Hot Spring Spa …. and A Wine Cellar to Mesmerise You

Nestled in the limestone hills surrounding Ipoh lies a delightful sanctuary where you can relax and pamper yourself. The Banjaran Hot Spring Spa is a 5-star retreat sanctuary consisting of 25 luxury villas offering holistic wellness and spa experiences, unequalled hospitality and distinctive Asian grace. Strategically located 15 minutes from the city of Ipoh, it is just 2 hours drive from Kuala Lumpur and 1.5 hours drive from Penang. It is situated on a 16.59 acre valley fringing a cluster of towering limestone hills and features an amalgamation of natural caves, pristine jungle, waterfalls and geothermal hot springs.

Geology

The thermal springs at The Banjaran are a natural and relatively rare phenomenon. Groundwater flows naturally at the base of the hills at a temperature of 65 to 70°, at a rate of about 3 millions liters per day (approximately 2,000 liters/minute). The water comes from a deep underground reservoir fed by rainwater that has slowly percolated downwards through the limestone hills and the underlying granite. As it makes its way down through the rocks, the water picks up minerals and dissolved ions.The water also warms up on its way downwards. Because of the heat radiation from the earth’s mantle, temperature increases with depth at a rate of about 3 to 4° per 100 meters, referred to as the geothermal gradient. Taking into consideration an average surface temperature of 25° and the fact that the water would have cooled down by about 10° on its way back upwards, groundwater would have reached a temperature of 80° at about 1,500 meters below the surface. Buoyed by dissolved gases and the higher pressure in the subsurface, groundwater eventually travels back to the surface as it encounters a fault or fractures in the rocks and comes out bubbling as a hot spring at the surface. Hot water is captured at The Banjaran to feed the steam room, a natural sauna, to fill the hot lake and to warm up the pool. The amount of carbon dioxide not produced by capturing and using naturally hot water at The Banjaran is roughly equivalent to the carbon sequestered by about 110,000 tree seedlings grown for 10 years.

Wining & Dining

At The Banjaran, only the freshest organic fruits and vegetables are used. The Pomelo restaurant serves the freshest premium seafood, meat and poultry that richly enhance the overall flavour and nutritional value of each meal.


Private Wine Cellar

Probably one of the most unique and mesmerising places at Banjaran is the private wine cellar which is located in a large 280 million year palaeozoic cave in one of the nearby limestone hills. Sealed with a large door and grill the entire cave has been air-conditioned and fitted with lights with piped music to create an incredible area for storing wine, hosting dinner parties or meeting at the bar …. all located within the cave. I use the word mesmerise as this was the exact phrase used by one of the waiters who guided us to this feature …. and he was not wrong! The private wine cellar belongs to Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah, the founder and chairman of the Sunway Group but is open in the evening for drinks or you can book dinner here.

Rice Bowl of Bali

With the rich and fertile volcanic soils and plentiful water, rice cultivation in Bali is of key agricultural importance and is well known worldwide for its unique and efficient use of irrigation water in the many terraced paddy fields.  One of the fundamental backbones of this rice production is the subak.  Subak is the name of water management or irrigation system for paddy fields in Bali. For Balinese, irrigation is not simply providing water for the rice plants, but water is used to construct a complex, artificial ecosystem. Paddy fields in Bali are built around water temples and the allocation of water is supervised by a priest.

The subak comprises many individual parts:

• a dam and collectively owned irrigation canals 
• the rice terraces within clearly defined subak boundaries 
• all the farmers who cultivate land within the subak  boundaries
• a religious unit consisting of rituals on the individual level, the subak level, and the inter- subak level
• a legal unit, with a clearly defined set of rules that regulates the rights and duties of its members

With the growth of tourism and urbanisation in Bali the subak is coming under increasing pressure. with farmers tempted to sell their rice fields and move into other more lucrative jobs such as construction or tourism. The highly productive arable land is unfortunately getting lost at an accelerated rate due to excessive building and tourist activities.

  

The Long & Winding Road to The Lakes

This is the undulating and winding road from that runs down from the Kirkstone Pass to Ambleside in the Lake District.

The Lake District, or The Lakes, is a mountainous region in Cumbria, North West England and is a popular holiday destination in UK. The majority of the area was designated as the Lake District National Park in 1951. It is the largest of the thirteen National Parks in England and Wales, and the second largest in the UK (after the Cairngorms). It lies entirely within the modern county of Cumbria, shared historically by the counties of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire. All the land in England higher than three thousand feet above sea level lies within the National Park, including Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in England. It also contains the deepest and longest lakes in England, Wastwater and Windermere, respectively.

Thirlmere

Only one of the lakes in the Lake District is called by that name, Bassenthwaite Lake. All the others such as Windermere, Coniston Water, Ullswater and Buttermere are meres, tarns and waters, with mere being the least common and water being the most common. The major lakes and reservoirs in the National Park are given below.

• Bassenthwaite Lake
• Brotherswater
• Buttermere
• Coniston Water
• Crummock Water
• Derwent Water
• Devoke Water
• Elter Water
• Ennerdale Water
• Esthwaite Water
• Grasmere
• Haweswater Reservoir
• Hayeswater
• Loweswater
• Rydal Water
• Thirlmere
• Ullswater
• Wast Water
• Windermere

Buttermere

Conniston Water

Steamer on Ullswater

Windermere

The Year of the Water Dragon

Gong Xi Fa Cai! .... or Happy Chinese New Year ..... the Year of the Water Dragon is upon us. 

Chinese New Year is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. In China, it is known as "Spring Festival," the literal translation of the Chinese name 春節, since the spring season in Chinese calendar starts with lichun, the first solar term in a Chinese calendar year. It marks the end of the winter season, analogous to the Western carnival. The festival begins on the first day of the first month in the traditional Chinese calendar and ends with Lantern Festival which is on the 15th day. Chinese New Year's Eve, a day where Chinese families gather for their annual reunion dinner, is known as Chúxī (除夕) or "Eve of the Passing Year." Because the Chinese calendar is lunisolar, the Chinese New Year is often referred to as the "Lunar New Year".

Chinese New Year is the longest and most important festivity in the Chinese calendar. The origin of Chinese New Year is itself centuries old and gains significance because of several myths and traditions. Chinese New Year is celebrated in countries and territories with significant Chinese populations, such as Mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and also in Chinatowns elsewhere. Chinese New Year is considered a major holiday for the Chinese and has had influence on the lunar new year celebrations of its geographic neighbors. These include Korean (Seollal), Bhutanese (Losar), and Vietnamese cultures.

Within China, regional customs and traditions concerning the celebration of the Chinese new year vary widely. People will pour out their money to buy presents, decoration, material, food, and clothing. It is also the tradition that every family thoroughly cleans the house to sweep away any ill-fortune in hopes to make way for good incoming luck. Windows and doors will be decorated with red colour paper-cuts and couplets with popular themes of "good fortune" or "happiness", "wealth", and "longevity". On the Eve of Chinese New Year, supper is a feast with families. Food will include such items as pigs, ducks, chicken and sweet delicacies. The family will end the night with firecrackers. Early the next morning, children will greet their parents by wishing them a healthy and happy new year, and receive money in red paper envelopes. The Chinese New Year tradition is to reconcile, forget all grudges and sincerely wish peace and happiness for everyone.

Although the Chinese calendar traditionally does not use continuously numbered years, outside China its years are often numbered from the reign of the Yellow Emperor. But at least three different years numbered 1 are now used by various scholars, making the year beginning in AD 2012 the "Chinese Year" 4710, 4709, or 4649.

Tirtha Empul Temple

Tirtha Empul Temple was built in 926 A.D. during the Warmadewa dynasty (from the 10th to 14th centuries), at a site where there was a large water spring.

On the left side of the temple is a modern villa on the hill. built for President Sukarno's visit in 1954, which is now used as a rest house for important guests.

More than a thousand years ago a powerful King named Mayadenawa ruled over a vast area which included Bali. Mayadenawa possessed the spiritual power to transform himself into anything he desired. Unfortunately he misused his powers and became a cruel, black magician.

A priest named Sang Kulputih appealed to Indra to come to earth to kill Mayadenawa.Because he had many spies, Mayadenawa learned about the upcoming attack in time and managed to organize his defenses. However Lord Indra's forces were superior and therefore victorious. Most of King Mayadenawa troops fled, leaving him almost without defense.

Then the war was interrupted by nightfall. When Indra's forces slept, Mayadenawa stole into Indra's camp, walking on the sides of his feet as to leave no foot prints, and created a pool of poisoned water. This way of walking gave Tampaksiring its name, for tampak siring is Balinese for 'without imprints'. He left as he came and when Indra's forces woke up the next morning and discovered the water pool, they drank from it and became violently sick.

When Indra found out what happened, he created a large spring of fresh water by stabbing his flag pole to the ground.The clear water was able to cure the sickness of his army. The spring was called Tirtha Empul, which means bubbling spring.

Mayadenawa fled, chased by the forces of Indra. During his flight he transformed himself a number of times, but he couldn't trick Indra with his disguises. When he had transformed himself into a stone, he was shot by Indra with an arrow. A stream of blood flowed from the stone, forming the river Petanu. And for a thousand years this river would be cursed. Rice fields irrigated with its water would make the rice grow fast, but once harvested, blood would come out of it and it would smell bad.

The death of King Mayadenawa is symbolic for the victory of good (dharma) over evil (adharma). The day of Mayadenawa's death is still celebrated, every 210 days according to the Balinese Pawukon calendar, and this day is generally known as Galungan Day.

Combination Auto Sprinkler and Standpipe

This is a common sight in New York City buildings although something we probably do not pay much attention to. A standpipe is a fire hydrant for an individual building and is a rigid pipe which can provide water at high pressure to a water supply or sprinklers at higher floors since it is usually not feasible to run hoses from the street up stairwells in high rise buildings. With a standpipe system water is fed from the street up the vertical standpipe in the building with hoses attached from outlets at each floor.

Canal Boat

This scene, shot on one one of the canals in central Amsterdam, almost looked like an oil painting with the murky canal water, the floating leaves and the run-down boat with the peeling paintwork. The photo comprised of 3-bracketed shots and was post-processed in Nik Software's HDR Efex Pro.

Stirling Falls, Milford Sound

Milford Sound in the South Island of New Zealand runs 15 kilometres inland from the Tasman Sea at Dale Point - the mouth of the fiord - and is surrounded by sheer rock faces that rise 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) or more on either side. Among the peaks are The Elephant at 1,517 metres (4,977 ft), said to resemble an elephant's head, and The Lion, 1,302 metres (4,272 ft), in the shape of a crouching lion. Lush rain forests cling precariously to these cliffs, while seals, penguins, and dolphins frequent the waters and whales can be seen sometimes.

Milford Sound sports two permanent waterfalls all year round, Lady Bowen Falls and Stirling Falls. After heavy rain however, many hundreds of temporary waterfalls can be seen running down the steep sided rock faces that line the fiord. They are fed by rain water drenched moss and will last a few days at most once the rain stops.

West Lake Sunset

Now I'm not much of a sunset photographer .... but here's one from the beautiful West lake in Hangzhou, China. I got lucky and also captured the bird in mid-flight with its wings matching the v-shaped hills in the background.