Malaysia

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Moving on the the cuisine capital

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 […]

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Sarawak’s oldest Hindu temple

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 […]

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On a farm in the country

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 […]

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Technology takes us a full circle

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 […]

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Santa wears a Muslim headscarf

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 […]

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Dutchmen, Lizards and Fireflies

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 […]

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Places from one’s childhood dreams

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 […]

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Resting up for the night flight

I departed Banda Aceh for Kuala Lumpur at 1245.  On the way to Banda Aceh airport I noticed a woman with a very short skirt on her motorbike.  I queried the taxi driver if she would get in trouble … he replied to the negative, as she was Chinese and not a Muslim.  While the extreme […]

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Killing a day after a near-sleepless night flight

My AUD32 flight (plus AUD67 of airport taxes and a little airline fees, making a grand total of AUD99) departed Melbourne on time at 0045.  AirAsia and AirAsia X, being really cheap airlines attract first time flyers and people who are travelling internationally for the first time. I overheard the man in front of me […]

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Motorcycle Grand Prix

We had a late night departure tonight from Kuala Lumpur to Perth at 2350.  It was going to be another day of lazy gluttony when Kim found out that the Motorcycle Grand Prix was on at nearby Sepang racetrack.  Wow!  Just the sheer chance of that!  And the fact that we got our hotel room […]

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