• MISC

    Loving ChikaPowWow

    July 4, 2012 /

    When I read updates on twitter on how my friends won their biddings, mostly on top current items, available at ChikaPowWow, I thought I give it a try.

    ChikaPowWow is an online bidding website, where user can buy CHIKAs (or commonly known as tokens) and Pow (commonly known as bid) for the items in the website. Prices of items we won are usually way lower than you can buy from other retailers. At ChikaPowWow, a win is a Wow!

    After registering for my account, I was given 5 free chikas. I pow on two lovely bags; Louis Vuitton Monogram Canvas (RM2750) and Crumpler Laptop Bag- Arnold Heist (RM450).

    I bought 25 chikas to get myself prepared for the powing but I did not win because I did not stay up to watch and pow. Hehe.  I have to be alert of the time, should’ve put my alarm clock on. Oh well, I try again next time, just gotta wait for items that I like.

    I like bags and I pow for those two up there because I could use both for my travelling. Crumpler laptop bag would have made a great buddy for my Toshiba Ultrabook and the LV bag would’ve made a perfect hand-carry bag, furthermore, I have never own a designers item before. I am not much of a person who spends a lot on luxurious bags but when I came across these bags in ChikaPowWow powing list, I thought I give it a try. Although I did not win, I keep track of how much saving I could get. For both bags above, closing powing was RM6.27 (99.75% off) and RM49.60 (89% off) respectively. See? How cheap is that?

    How It Works
    Register for a free account: It takes JUST A FEW MOMENTS to sign up. Registration is free. No credit card information required for registration. You must be over 18 years of age to participate. Verification code will be sent you your mobile phone and for that matter, register your account with correct information, real name, real telephone number.

    Start powing: Placing a pow costs a cent and each time, the timer increases by 20 secs and the price increases an amount that is already predetermined, 1 sen, 5 sen or 10 sen. If you are the last bidder when the time runs out, you will win the item for a ridiculously low price. If someone places a bid before the time runs out, you will have to place another bid to snipe the auction back.

    Purchase extra pows to continue bidding: If you have already used your free pows, you can top up your using payment options available on the list. Once you have purchased pows, they will appear in your account immediately. Pow packages are available in 25, 50, 100, 200, 300 and 500. You can also redeem your chikas by entering the coupon code. To get extra chikas you can also refer your friends.

    After you get a Wow:  After you win, you will be alerted via email. You can check by clicking on “My Page” and then on completed auction. Click on Buy Now and complete the payment using one of the payment methods provided via our payment gateway, Netbuilder. NOTE THAT THERE IS A DELIVERY FEE. It varies from size of item delivered and location of delivery. Once Payment it completed, expect to receive the product within 14 days.

    I LOVE the fact that at ChikaPowWow, we can get all kind of new and unavailable gadgets, for example, next week’s special item that will be on list is NIKE+ Fuelband, that cannot be found here in Malaysia. Only available in USA and Africa. Nike+ FuelBand tracks your activity like running, walking, etc and also syncs up with a motivational web and mobile experience.

    Other great gadgets include HTC One V Smart-phone, Apple iPod Nano, Apple iPhone 4s and many more.

    It is fun to buy gadgets on this site because we can get it at a bargain price and have the fun powing! Come join me.

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  • Family travel,  Kuala Lumpur,  Malaysia

    KL Forest Eco Park, Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve

    July 2, 2012 /

    My son was not around during the second week of last school holiday as he went for a trip to an island with his dad and brother (boys trip), but still, I have the itch to go somewhere. Having my sister’s kids with me, I told them to put on something sporty and follow me for a hill walk at Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve (re-branded as KL Forest Eco Park (Taman Eko Rimba KL), by the Forestry Department Peninsular Malaysia (FDPM) in November 2009.)

    KL Forest Eco Park is one of the oldest permanent forest reserve in the country.  It covers an area of approximately 11 hectares and is the only remaining tropical rainforest in the heart of the city of Kuala Lumpur. It was gazetted in 1906 and was formerly known as Bucket Weld Forest Reserve. In 1934, it was gazetted as a Wildlife Reserve and Bird Sanctuary. In 1950, a pristine section of about 5 hectares was gazetted as a Virgin Jungle Reserve. KL Forest Eco Park functions as a Green Lung as well as a recreational area for city dwellers. Here we can see the rich variety of flora that flourishes within the forest includes rare herbs, creepers, ferns, climbers and giant bamboo grasses. When you’re treading a forest, you should obviously buy ar 15 accessories

    For a city dweller who lives in KL/Selangor for 30 years, it was a shame that I have not made the effort to visit the forest earlier. If I made the effort in the 80s to visit the place, I would’ve the chance to take the cable car ride, to see the forest from bird’s eye view.

    Anyway, we took the Raja Chulan entrance, not knowing that there are actually another 3 entrances to the park; one at Jalan Ampang (after the junction to Sultan Ismail and Kg Baru; at Wariseni Gallery), one at KL Tower and another one at Jalan Bukit Nanas.

    Starting off at Jalan Raja Chulan main entrance, we took the Sindora Track where it leads to forest trails, camping site, KL Tower and Wariseni Gallery. There’s a tiled steps as well as old steps. If you wear hiking boots, you can take the old steps but for safety reason, we took the tiled one. Right before we climbed up the steps, we visited the Herb Garden and Wild Orchid House; there was not much to see  here. The Wild Orchid House was locked and we could not enter to see the orchids.


    Sindora Track.

    Along the walk, we got ourself educated with tree names. There’s Kelat, Meraga, Petaling and many more. I assume that Petaling Jaya or Petaling Street were both named after Petaling tree. Petaling tree is considered commercial as the the timber is used house posts and other heavy construction purposes such as bridge bearers for logging roads and railways, foundation piles, fence posts, flooring and tool handles. Other than that it can be utilised for pallets, boxes, and crates. The bark is used medicinally and the seeds are edible.


    Trees at KL Forest Eco Park.

    Petaling fruit.

    After about 20 minutes-walk up the steps, we saw the entrance from KL Tower. We took a few minutes rest to catch out breath. Well, it was more me catching my breath. The two kids were quite fit.


    KL Tower entrance to the park.

    After that we walked along one of the forest trails; Penarahan Trail that leads to Hopea Track. The Penarahan Trail measures at 150m and took us about 15 to 20 minutes. Along the trail we got to see more trees that we haven’t seen before. Here are some photos I took along the walk at Penarahan Trail and Hopea Track.

    We walked about another 150m along Hopea Track before reaching Bamboo Walk and a secret garden!

    My nephew, Danial, posing at giant bamboo trees at Bamboo Walk.

    The secret garden!

    Well, the secret garden is actually a camping site called Dataran Hijau. It is a garden decorated with gazebos, garden tables and seats, flowers, not to mention more trees! I think this is a good place where you can bring your family for a picnic. Not sure whether picnicking is allow here; a question that I will ask the Forestry Department later.

    Later we walked along the Shorea Track to discover a Par Course. A good place where you can stretch your muscles after a long walk.

    The Shorea Track took us about 30 minutes (about 300m walk) before reaching the end of the park that leads to Wariseni Gallery (MTC Timber Gallery) at Jalan Ampang.

    Canopy of trees. I did not forget to look up.

    It was a tiring but overall, a good walk. I think we walked about 2 to 3 hours. We skipped a lot of trails; namely Arboretum Trail, Jelutong Trail and Merbau Trail. Below is my walking map that I drew myself based on the map near the Information Center.:

    Click to see larger image.

    Here are some information about the park:

    Visiting hours: 7.00am to 6.00pm daily including weekends and public holidays.
    Entrance Fee: Free
    Contact: Forestry Department, KL Lot 240, Bukit Nanas, Jalan Raja Chulan 50250 Kuala Lumpur.
    Tel : 03-20706342

    Bibliography:
    http://www.mtc.com.my/info/images/stories/pdf/tm-vol-16-4.pdf
    http://www.nre.gov.my/English/Ecotourism/Pages/BukitNenasForestReserve.aspx
    http://www.worldagroforestry.org/sea/Products/AFDbases/af/asp/SpeciesInfo.asp?SpID=18160

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