Mesilau, Malaysia // 2014

10 - 16 November

A friend of mine and her husband (J&J), decided to retire far far away from the busy KL city, to this beautiful place called Mesilau. 

This is not J&J's house. This picture was taken near their friend's house.

MonkeyFacts: Mesilau is an area situated at approximately 2000m above sea level on the East Ridge of Mount Kinabalu. Mesilau derived its name from the small stream of yellow waterfall which the locals there claimed to have been originally yellow in colour (‘Silou’ is Dusun for yellow. They spell it ‘Mesilou’ in some area around the kampung). Mesilau is practically the highest point accessible to automobiles; it is surrounded by hills.
(Source: Wikipedia, Sabah Tourism Board)

J&J moved in to their newly built house this year, so I took the opportunity to visit their new place. Malaysian for 34 years, first time going to East Malaysia, the Borneo island. *excitedssssss!!!*

MonkeyTips: West Malaysians visiting East Malaysia is almost like going to another country. We are given a 90 days social visit pass. Even though a passport is not compulsory, but with just a Malaysian identity card, you will be required to fill up a form at the immigration, and you must present the form when you leave the state. You’ll need to lodge a police report in the event you lose the form. Or, you can use your Malaysian passport. You’ll get your social visit pass stamped on. I happily used my passport because (1) I hate filling up forms (2) not like I can use up all my passport pages before it expires, more stamps makes my passport looks cooler :p

View from the house. How awesome.

This is a very different holiday for me. It’s like I’m there to experience retirement life. Most of the time I just spent enjoying the view around the area. Besides the awesome view, basically there are only J&J’s house, their farmer neighbour and a Buddhist meditation hall - construction in progress, and the the construction workers' Kongsi. Nothing else within walking distance. 

Oh, and my U Mobile line was super pathetic. The best internet I could get was just Whatsapp text messages, not even a 15kb image sent over Whatsapp. Just text, sometimes delayed.

J&J named these 2 dogs Hachiko and Lady. And that's the farmer neighbour's house.

There are 2 chubby cute puppies living underneath the Kongsi. Their mother is super super protective over the pups. Whenever people go near the pups, the mother will usher them to go into hiding. Apparently this is so because all her previous pups we just as cute and people kept taking them away.

There's a lot of pegaga (pennywort) growing wild all over the place. This picture was taken within the Mount Kinabalu Golf Course area. Reminds me of my aunt's nasi ulam! *slurps*.

We cook every meal. Simple but satisfying. And because the weather is cold, we get hungry very fast. So there's always tea time.

A local vegetable and tofu. I actually like the veg a lot. It's some sort of spring onion.

Baked banana with cinnamon powder and sesame seed, served with hot ginger tea. Just perfect for the cold weather.

Colourful parrotfish you'll usually see while snorkeling or diving. Fishes are very cheap and fresh from the local tamu at Kundasang. So fresh all we did was baking it with some salt, and it tastes so good.

A local delicacy bought from the tamu. They call it besou or pekasam ikan sungai, which means preseved river fish. It has bamboo shoots and chilli and it tastes sourish. 

I certainly felt very at home throughout my stay. J&J are both originally from Kulim and Penang, and so we speak the same hokkien dialect. And when we visit their friend, the couple is from Penang too! And apparently the hardware store's boss's uncle is from Sungai Petani. *LOL*

There are still no government electricity at J&J's area. Electricity is from the generator for the construction site, so we only get it a few hours in a day. There's also no treated water source. Water we use at home are from the mountain, and rain water. 

Morning dew

Morning dew x spider web

The children of Kampung Mesilau. Children who doesn't need to play with iPad to have fun and be happy. They saw me taking pictures and were so happy posing for it. The next time I go there, I'll print this picture and give it to them.  

A sea of clouds in the morning. This was around 5:30am. The sun rises very early here.

Mount Kinabalu. A very famous hiking place. It's so popular that apparently you'll need to book the adventure like 6 months in advance. I'm pretty sure I'll never get up there. The last time I hiked Bukit Jambul, took me about 40 minutes to get to the summit (some people can do it in 20 mins), and I had to sit still and rest for an hour before I could do anything else - like just stand up to view the scenery. Hiking is NOT my thing.

I left this place knowing for sure I will return again. 

Pulau Langkawi, Malaysia // 2014

21 - 23 October

I suddenly craved for another beach holiday. And lucky me, managed to get cheap flight tickets! *yay*jumps up and down*

So, I landed in Pulau Langkawi for just a short, 3 days vacation. 

That golden hour, the golden girl @ Pantai Cenang.

Siem Reap, Cambodia // 2014

11 - 18 August

After struggling through 1 year in a job that I hated didn't like, I knew I had to do something. It was the first time I'm feeling as such. I was depressed almost everyday at work - so I quit, to live a happier life. At the same time, I thought this would be the best time for me to take a break and go somewhere. 

I decided on Siem Reap.

Traveled solo. No, this was not a 'soul-searching-trying-to-find-myself' kinda crap. I just wanted to go on a chill and relax trip, enjoy the moment, and do whatever I want at my own pace. 

There was some party happening up on the rooftop of the building across the road from the hostel I was staying at.

I stayed at The Siem Reap Hostel. A really nice place for backpackers/budget travelers. Many other guests in the hostel traveled solo, so it was easy to make some friends.

I went for a 1-day temple visits with 2 new friends.

MonkeyTips: If you intend to only spend 1 day visiting the temples, go buy your 1-day pass a day before in the late afternoon (around 4.30pm). They will issue you your pass for the next day, but with the same pass, they will allow you to enter and wander around and watch sunset. 

Breakfast: Charcoal grilled chicken served with white rice, tomato slices, pickled vegetables, soup and iced tea. We asked our tuk-tuk driver to take us to where he would usually have his breakfast, and he brought us here. It was a good breakfast. Chicken was tasty and have some nice char.

The magnificent Angkor Wat. We didn't make it to see the sunrise, because 5am is just too early to get up from bed. Well, we saw sunset the day before... so it's ok. (Luckily my 2 new friends were not eager to wake up for sunrise too, phewww!)

Bayon Temple was so much less crowded compared to Angkor Wat, so I liked it here more.

There were some nice spots at Bayon Temple where I could just sit there for the whole day, and read a book.

MonkeyTips: When visiting the temples, wear clothing that covers your shoulders and pants/skirt that covers till below your knees. Otherwise, you will be denied entry to certain areas. Some places, they allow you to use a scarf to cover your shoulder if wearing sleeveless top, but some are more strict, scarfs will not do.

On other days, I just spend time reading by the pool, and explore other places in Siem Reap by myself.

Watched the whole process of how silk was made. From the worms mating, lay eggs, produce tiny strands of silk to how it was made into colourful silk and weaved into beautiful pieces of fabric.

MonkeyTips: Angkor Silk Farm is about 16km away from town. If you don't want to take a tuk-tuk, you can take a free shuttle from Artisans D'Angkor in town (departs at 9:30 am or 1:00pm).

A push cart stall selling shaved ice dessert and other cold drinks by the roadside outside the hospital. The manual ice shaver is as old skool as it gets.

Beautiful lotus flowers for offerings, sold outside a temple.

It was a very hot and sunny day. I just strolled along the riverside. This is Siem Reap river.

The West Baray is a reservoir located just about 4km away from the airport. This is where the locals usually go to for a swim and picnic with friends and family. 

Colourful fabrics as shades.

 Kids going for a swim on a hot hot day. Watching them having fun in the water is pleasantly entertaining.

There are tyre tubes for rent so you can go floating on the water.

West Baray is also an excellent place to watch sunset. It's amazing how the sky just changes colours.... one of the best sunset I've seen so far.

Doesn't this looks like a painting?

Such a magical sunset...this is a colourful world!

These are not alcohol. This is where tuk-tuks get their petrol refill.

Taipei :: Kenting :: Kaohsiung, Taiwan // 2014

17 - 24 May

Every year, in May, we go for a trip to celebrate our wedding anniversary. This year's destination - Taiwan. I actually lost some photos when my laptop went cuckoo recently and had to reformat it *cries*. 

// Taipei //

In Taipei, we went to this famous breakfast place that sells soy milk and flatbread and fritters and etc etc. Probably the longest queue for food you'll ever find in Taiwan. The queue goes all the way from the stall on 2nd floor of the building, down the staircase, to the outside... and around the building. Really. No kidding.

The queue ... is crazy.

Fu-Hang Dou Jiang 
2nd Flr, Huashan Market Building. Open 5:30am - 12:30nn. Close on Mondays.
By MRT, take the Blue Line to Shandao Temple Station. At Exit 5, the Huashan Market building is on the right. 

After a very full breakfast, we walked about 500m to explore the Huashan 1914 Creative Park. It's a very nice place full of artsy-fartsy stuff. Good place to spend a couple of hours while waiting for food to digest.

Huashan 1914 Creative Park 
No.1, Section 1, Bade Road. Open 9:00am - 10:00pm. Close on Mondays. Free Entrance.

Next, to the original Din Tai Fung shop for some xiao long bao goodness. Not disappointed. Service at the shop was just excellent.

Somewhere on the road, we bumped into cute little oink oink.

Din Tai Fung 

194, Sec.2, Xinyi Road. Open 10:00am - 9:00pm (Mon - Fri), 9:00am - 9:00pm (Weekends, Holidays)

By MRT, take Exit 5 at Dongmen Station.

// Hengchun // Kenting //

We took express train from Taipei to Kaohsiung, then to Kenting by minivan arranged with the guesthouse. Taking train in Taiwan is so easy, convenient, comfortable and they're very punctual. 

MonkeyTips: I purchased our tickets online and enjoyed a 5% discount on the fare. For travelling on HSR (Taiwan High Speed Rail), you can get up to 20% early bird discount when you buy early.

Eating 'bian dang' is a fun thing to do while travelling on a train in Taiwan :)

The best way to enjoy Kenting is definitely on a scooter. We didn't have a fixed plan... just ride along and stopped at wherever and whenever we feel like. 

I especially love the ride along the beautiful coastline with fresh air and breathtaking views.

We chanced upon this quiet and beautiful spot in the evening. No tourist. We could enjoy the view all to ourselves.

Honestly, the view was very amazing. I don't think this picture actually do justice to the actual view.

  

// Kaohsiung //

In Kaohsiung, we went to buy the award-winning bread from Wu Pao Chun Bakery. IMHO, I didn't think the bread is that great-lah. It's just huge and somewhat expensive.

Us, and the award-winning bread, outside the bakery. See, the bread is as big as hubby's head.

Wu Pao Chun Bakery
19 Swei Road. Open 10:00am - 9:30pm.

In Kaohsiung, we stayed at this lovely guesthouse with rustic feel. Somehow, the common area of the guesthouse has this smell that reminds me of my grandparents' place back in the kampung.

These are not ketchup and mayonnaise. These are shampoo and shower gel provided in the bathroom.

Old Taiwan (Liouhe) Hostel
No.8, Lane 6, Zili 1st Road, Xinxing District. 
oldtaiwanhostel@gmail.com

We rented bicycles near the Pier-2 Art Centre, cycle around the area and took the ferry over to Cijin Island. You can bring the bicycle over on the ferry. Otherwise, there are also bicycles for hire on the island itself.

So, that was our trip to Taiwan in May.