Articles from this Category
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 […]
18 December 2010
We opted for a yum char (dim sum) breakfast … it seems wrong to do anything else in Hong Kong, seeing that it’s the home of this wonderful breakfast/ brunch grazing tradition. Interestingly, some of the accompanying traditions don’t make it out of here. I watched as diners poured their hot tea from the pot […]
17 December 2010
With a 0615 arrival in to Hong Kong, it made sense for us to recharge with a couple of hours sleep … followed by a rejuvenating cheap massage, before hitting the markets to do some Xmas shopping in the afternoon. We had dinner with my old schoolfriend Rosalind, and finally got to meet her husband […]