Articles from this Category
9 January 2011
I woke and found the guesthouse reception and restaurant closed. On the street, it seemed rather quiet. Shops that were open were unattended. Then I realised it was Sunday and most people were either at church or recovering from the night before. It’s hard to imagine that Samosir island some decades ago was home to […]
8 January 2011
I had planned on cycling to various sights around the island but it seemed a lot easier to go on a motorbike with Alfred (my German taxi-mate from Medan, and now neighbour in the guesthouse). It turned out to be a seven hour jouney with three coffee stops and a sightseeing stop too. We circumabulated […]
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 […]