Author archive
7 January 2011
Good morning Medan. As it was raining, I opted for the easy solution to my transport requirements. The hardy solution would have involved crossing the busy street using the overhead bridge with my pack, to either the taxi company … or to catch a minivan to the long distance bus station. Thanks to some guy […]
6 January 2011
After a morning in the very nice Penang museum, I had lunch with an old flatmate from my Wellington days. It was very nice to catch up over a delicious lunch. I took an evening flight at 1835 across the Straits of Malacca to land at Polonia Airport (you’d think it was in Poland) at […]
5 January 2011
Around Old Georgetown Penang is nearly the western-most state of Malaysia. So with the whole country in one timezone, the sun rises late and sets late too. Just like daylight-saving time in some parts of the world. Perfect for early morning exploration and also sightseeing at dusk. I started early by taking the free bus […]
4 January 2011
Today, I took a very cheap 2 hour flight from Kuching to Penang, departing at 1220. My 1day/2night stay there would be the first of three stays as I use the island as a hub for other travel … thanks to cheap airfares and cheap accommodation (at the Tune Hotel, costing quarter cent Euro per […]
30 December 2010
I got invited by a friend Rashidah to join her extended family for a little hike on Gunung Serapi which locals also refer to as the Matang mountain. It was news to me that the short sweaty hike would take us to Sarawak’s oldest Hindu temple. A temple was supposed to have been built here […]
29 December 2010
Today I paid a visit to a farm owned and operated by my old school friend Patrick. It’s possibly the only farm in Sarawak that employs considerable mechanisation. To make it more special, it is at the base of the karst mountain that hosts the Fairy Cave … a beautiful setting indeed. It’s about a […]
22 December 2010
I had to go renew my passport today. 5 years ago, it was a 1-day service. Now it is a 1 hour service … the fine print is that it is 1 hour from payment. The reality is that there is a bit of waiting before you get to make your payment. I had to […]
21 December 2010
Today I flew with Malaysia Airlines, departing Kota Kinabalu at 1000 to my hometown of Kuching. Malaysia Airlines surprised me with a gorgeous prawn sambal nasi lemak on the 1h20min flight. They’ve changed their catering spec, finally. It used to be a (singular) mini filled roll or croissant … with next to no filling. That […]
20 December 2010
I took an excursion out to Klias River today, near Beaufort (2 hours each way) to see the fireflies at night. It was a pricey excursion but there wasn’t much of a choice apart from not doing it! The programme included more than just the fireflies … there was afternoon tea, boat-safari to view the […]
19 December 2010
I woke early to take the public transport (shared minivan taxi) to Kota Belud for its famous Sunday market. It’s the stuff that childhood dreams are made of, influenced by those tourism posters eg. Bajau horsemen, markets selling jungle produce, water buffaloes being traded … all against the backdrop of SE Asia’s highest peak, Mount […]