• Family travel,  Malaysia,  Perak,  TRAVEL/HOLIDAYS

    Gua Tempurung, Perak

    During our road trip to Kedah early this year, my husband decided to take the exit at Tanjung Malim (Exit 121) and drive along the trunk road (Federal Route 1) as the expressway was quite jammish. We don’t mind the long and winding road as the sight is better than the expressway. There’s actually a lot to see. And so, when we saw signages and directions to Gua Tempurung, a well-known limestone cave in Gopeng, we decided to just drop by and visit the cave.


    Part of Gua Tempurung has been developed as a show cave with electric lighting and walkways and there are a range of tours of different lengths and difficulty. Knowing that I am not that fit, my husband bought tickets for the shortest tour. Tickets are very cheap; RM6 for an adult and RM2.50 for children. The tour we took was Tour 1: Golden Flowstone. Tour is about 40 minutes and starts every half an hour from 9am to 4pm.

    Yassin and his dad admiring the cave.

    I was pretty impressive with a speleotherm that looks like ‘Monalisa’ .

    Gua Tempurung (Tempurung Cave) existed since early 8000 B.C. The cave measures 1.9 km in length and 120 metres in height and situated inside Gunung Tempurung that stands 497 meters high. The mountain is an erosional remnant near an ancient coastline. Years of mineralisation of the limestone rocks yielded deposits of tin, with some tungsten minerals and other minor ores.

    Gua Tempurung is made up of five huge domes, each of them has different formations of stalagmites and stalactites as well as different temperatures, water level, content of limestone and marble. Concealed within this limestone massif is an intricate system of caves honeycombed inside the limestone hills. These caves are actually a breathtaking gallery of super geological wonders that can only be found in this part of the world.


    For more information about the cave and tour, visit Gua Tempurung website.

  • sketch,  Travel illo,  TRAVEL/HOLIDAYS

    6 steps on how to sketch people when travelling

    I like to sketch people on the go. But my problem has always been I am not a fast sketcher. I take my sweet time, studying an object before sketching. People are always on the go – walking, talking – and they would disappear into thin air before I could finish. To solve this problem, I always capture them on camera and transfer the photo to my laptop later, so I can refer to it and draw easily.

    My husband moves a lot. I captured him on camera and later draw him.

    Of course drawing people sitting, drinking coffee, or sleeping is much easier because they hardly move, and even if they do, they somehow go back to the same position.

    This painter sat still, the only body part that was moving was the right hand. Made it easier for me to sketch live on location.

    If you’re a (slow) sketcher like me, here are some tips on drawing people when you travel:

    1. As I already mentioned earlier – if you want to draw people walking, take a picture. Transfer the image to your laptop so you can refer to it from there while you sketch. You can also refer to the image directly from your camera if you want, if the battery is up to it.

    2. Go to places where people sit: café’s, trains, bus stops, etc…

    3. Draw a rough outline first. Work on the details later.

    4. Try not to rub as much.

    5. Practice to draw faster. You’ll sketch faster if you always practice.

    6. Just remember: It’s a sketch. Don’t try too hard. Let it come naturally and enjoy the process.