A Family Outing to Pulau Aman

You might not have heard of this little known small island, Pulau Aman (Island of Peace) unless you are a local resident. It is located off the west cost of mainland Penan, or south east of Penang Island at approximately N05° 16.110' E100° 23.513' geographic coordinates.

Visitors could get to the island on one of the boats at Batu Kawan Jetty, which ferries passengers to the island for a fare of RM6 (for adults) and RM4 (for children). On normal days, there are 4 trips between 10 am and 7 pm. with additional trips to cater to the weekend crowds.

         Boat Departure Schedule

Departure Time from Batu Kawan Jetty	Departure Time from  Pulau Aman Jetty
10 am	8 pm
1 pm	12 noon
4 pm	3 pm
7 pm	6 pm

Awaiting for the boat ride at Batu Kawan Jetty

For my family of foodies, and photographers, an afternoon of fresh sea breezes, merriment, laughter and sumptuous Mee Udang was the draw.

Scenery of Mainland taken from Batu Kawan Jetty, I love this picture

For your safety, there are life jackets are kept above the captain of the boat.

The boat came, we got on. 
See....so many cameras

View from Pulau Aman Jetty, as we alight

The Restoran Terapung, Mee Udang Istimewa

Upon arrival, as it is way past our usual lunch time, with our stomachs growling we headed straight for the Restoran Terapung Mee Udang Istimewa.

To spice up lunch, our choice of some very fresh prawns, and on the right....the prawns just cooked in a simple boil to retain its original exquisite flavour and freshness. Below, and behold.....can you see the freshness glistering through its shell?

Mee Goreng Udang

For comparision, prawns sold at RM34/kg.(I paid RM12.40 for only 8 prawns) from the Alor Setar Market. We paid RM40/kg at Pulau Aman.


The infamous Pulau Aman's signature dish, the Mee Udang Istimewa, they have it in the wet form / in gravy too (Mee Rebus).

You could have your pick of fresh prawns, mantis prawn, squids or flower crabs. All very fresh, some are still alive. We pick some flower crabs to take home, they are slightly more expensive than your local market, but ...they do taste ....so very nice.

I enjoyed the fried rice, it has the flavour of seafoods

Some interesting sights to visit, if you have time

The Village

Beautiful and tranquil....

The many Breadfruit trees (Sukun) trees seemed native to the island

Beautiful and tranquil....

That's my 'big' brother and me

End of the path

End of the path

Fishing boats at Pulau Aman

View of the Penang 2nd Bridge Link in the background View of the Penang 2nd Bridge Link in the background

Our boat back to the mainland

All To Get On Board, if you missed this, hop on the next one in 3 hrs

Pulau Aman, is a quiet, peaceful island, whose inhabitants are mostly fishermen, it is good for a get away outing from the hustle and bustle of city life. You get some sun, relax, enjoy the serene air of  tranquility, fresh sea breezes and nice food. A great family outing indeed.

I had so much fun and yes, I would like to go again. It is the people that you are with that makes any outing so very special, isn't it?

My Canon IXUS 220 HS

I found out that knowing the features of a camera is one thing, when it comes to shopping for one, the experience can be very different from what you expected.

I went around a few shops to check out a few cameras. But I made a mistake of not getting the sales personnel to demonstrate to me the scale and scope of each. I feel uncomfortable to ask to be shown the full function of the cameras, since I am only checking out and was not sure if I would end up purchasing from them. After all there were a few shops.

Since I have not been fiddling with a camera for the past 2 years, and I find checking out the specifications on the cameras was quite daunting, especially since the buttons and menus are slightly different on each brand of camera.

Luckily for me, I was able to call up my ‘Big’ brother who has a keen interest in cameras and photography to help me decide for one.

beautiful, isn't it?

I am glad I finally settled on a Canon IXUS 220 HS (just found out that the HS stands for high-sensitivity sensor) for RM799 (within my budget and light enough for me to carry around) on Sunday evening, which I now suspect was the reason they would not bring down the price. Another is I have been to that shop for the third time. I bought from them because the nice young man was more helpful than the rest and because what better place to buy a Canon camera than a Canon Concept Store.  Not the right time to buy, I was at another shop before the Canon Concept Store and this salesman was showing me 2 cameras, and telling me the 2^nd one takes a much better picture, (without telling me why) when to my inexperienced eye, they both looked the same.

My advice……….look at cameras long before you decide on getting one. Get to know them well before you decide to go hunting for one. Nothing beats going to the shop and pretending that you are going to get one that day, just do not go to every shop in the same block. Another thing is paying more does not necessarily mean you get a better one when it comes to cameras.

Camera Fairs are a good place to visit to improve your know-how even after you have bought one.:-)

These are 2 websites I like, there are many that you could look at. Do note that there are variations to the names of the range of cameras available for different countries.

I have added a few links below for your further reading pleasure.

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/how-to-buy-a-digital-camera

http://www.consumerreports.org                      

http://www.pointandshootshutterbug.com

Basically, this is what my Canon IXUS 220 HS has:

• HS SYSTEM with 12.1 MP high-sensitivity CMOS sensor
• 24mm, 5 X Zoom lens with Optical IS
• Hi-speed Burst & Super Slow Motion Movie
•  Creative shooting modes
•  Full HD movies recording
• Stylish stainless steel body finish