Showing posts with label Malaysia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Malaysia. Show all posts

20 Nov - 27 Nov 2013 Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur
Downtown
Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman 316
Adequate and clean double room for MYR 40.60 or US$ 13.50 per night.
Helpful, friendly and competent young staff; very good English. 
Beer: 320-ml cans of ice-cold Tiger Beer (5 % alc./vol.) for MYR 4.99 or US$ 1.60 per regular can from the tried and tested Giant Supermarket +60326947622 in the basement of the opposite Maju Junction Mall.


Click below for an interactive road map of the Tune Hotel in downtown Kuala Lumpur which we would recommend and for directions:
N 03° 09.62' E 101° 41.81'









Coming together again and updating each other about our previous solo travels: (a) Matt about Korea, Japan and Kalimantan and, most excitingly, (b) Konni about Ontario where she was too busy (i) telling our grandkids Raoni, Tien and baby Ronja countless bedtime stories and travel tales about evil pirates, dangerous volcanoes, funny corals, deserted islands and wild animals, (ii) practising primitive skills and survival techniques with our grandsons during the Headwaters Gathering in the beautiful Beaver Valley thus being prepared to survive the upcoming events in Ontario, (iii) becoming a regular at the Art Gallery of Toronto (free entrance on Wednesday nights) and admiring Ken Thomson’s collection of Chinese snuff bottles, an exhibition of European ship models (many of them made from wood and bone with rigging of silk and human hair from the prisoners of the Napoleonic Wars) and Rubens’ rediscovered masterpiece The Massacre of the Innocents, (iv) tallying the storable winter apples from the garden by the bushel and processing the surplus of damaged ones into apple sauce, apple butter and syrup apples, and last, but not least, (v) experiencing her first and very magic Indian summer in the beautiful woods on the shores of Lake Simcoe, our new head quarters and summer residence.



Taking a trip down memory lane, wallowing in memories about our first winter in Malaysia and our first festive season in Kuala Lumpur in 2008 CE, exactly five years ago, and celebrating our wooden blogpacking anniversary for Southeast Asia.

Don't dwell on what
has passed away
or what is yet to be.
Ah, the wars they will
be fought again…
We asked for signs
the signs were sent:
the birth betrayed
the marriage spent…
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in…”
(Leonard Cohen)



Comparing our Asian snapshots of 2008 CE with 2013 CE, reflecting on travel photography in general and on our personal learning curves as amateur photographers and deciding to give some unsolicited advice about travel photography, according to our experiences:

(i) The Photographer’s State of Mind:
Get yourself into a resourceful, open-minded and relaxed state of mind, leave your hide-out and interact with the world. Use a silly hat, get drunk or apply any of those fancy “think-positive” techniques. Your own state of mind will spread to and infect your model.

(ii) The Photographer’s Intention:
Release the shutter with the deliberate intention of “I am producing a distinctive photograph right now”. Find your individual style by applying self-imposed technical constraints (e.g. of the subject, of the aspect ratio, of the techniques, of the lenses, of the composition); less is more.

(iii) The Photographer’s Waiver:
Decide if it’s better to give it a miss instead of taking a bad photo.
In the field, if there is a shred of doubt, don’t take this snap. It’s better to take a cerebral snapshot and to enjoy the situation. At your computer, if there is a shred of doubt, delete the image; it’s better to download a good image from the internet and to learn from it.

(iv) The Photographer’s Attitude:
Put your trust into the mind of the viewer of your photo. Your photo is just a trigger for the bigger and better internal picture (and psychological motion picture) inside the viewer’s mind. Allow the viewer’s mind to create interesting internal pictures and movies by offering images of (a) parts and details, (b) symbols and logos, (c) contrasts and contradictions. Co-operate with the viewer’s creative mind, keep the viewer’s mind busy and seduce your viewer to complete your photo, to improve your photo, to add (her or his) sense to your photo, to fantasise about your photo and to mentally exceed your photo.

(v) The Photographer’s Tools:
Remember the meaning of the word photography and master the light with your eye, with your camera and with your computer: (a) see the light, (b) harness the light and (c) bend the light. But, bear in mind, your shoes are your most important piece of equipment. Use them liberally to get closer or further away, to play with angles and to find your unique point of view. 



“The single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it.”

Laundering a 6-kg load of our joint dirty linen for MYR 5.- or US$ 1.55 (washed and dried) with the convenient DIY washing machine and tumble dryer in the Tune Hotel Downtown Kuala Lumpur.

Konni: Deciding to stay behind in Kuala Lumpur for my long overdue and very complex dental treatment thus laying solid and affordable foundations for great natural smiles in an unknown future.
“Wer lacht, zeigt Zähne.”
(René Steinberg)

Matt: Taking the yellow Aerobus shuttle coach (c. 70 km, 1 ¼ hours, a whopping MYR 10.- per person) from KL Sentral straight to Kuala Lumpur’s KLIA-LCCT, flying with Air Asia X (“Now Everyone Can Fly Xtra Long”) in a red Airbus A 330-300 from Kuala Lumpur’s KLIA-LCCT to Taipei’s Taoyuan International Airport, formerly Chiang Kai-Shek International Airport, for MYR 477.- or US$ 154.50 per person, one way, all inclusive, without changing my watch from Malaysia Standard Time (GMT/UTC + 8:00 hours) to Taiwan’s National Standard Time (GMT/UTC + 8:00 hours), being issued with a 90-day-visit permit to the Republic of China on arrival, free of charge, and taking thereafter an uberefficient and ubercomfortable Ubus +88800241560 overnight coach (340 km including the smooth north-to-south crossing of the Tropic of Cancer near Chiayi City, 4 ½ hours, TWD 420.- or US$ 14.20 per person) from Taipei's international airport straight into the city centre of Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s second largest city and known as the Harbour Capital (港都) of Taiwan.


Click below for more blog posts about entertaining medical/dental issues

Click below for a summary of this year's travels


Recommended products - click below for your Amazon order from Canada:
For Amazon schnaeppchens from Germany, please click here
For Amazon bargains from the United States, please click here
For Amazon bargains from the United Kingdom, please click here


From the 2013 Moral Travel Compass for Our Grand Children's Journey of Life: 
It’s bad to do unto others as you would not have done unto you;
It’s good to embrace the idea of a free and liberal civic society.
 Keep your bearings!

01 Sep - 03 Sep 2013 Serian

Flawed-Democratic Federation of Malaysia
Malaysian Borneo
Sarawak aka Land of the Hornbills
Serian
Steven’s Guesthouse +60148856262
Small, basic and rugged single/double fan room (no. 9) with shared bak mandi for MYR 25.- or US$ 7.60 per night. Friendly enough Hokkien Chinese owner; good English, lah.
Beer: Three-packs with 330-ml cans of chilled Chinese Kingway (max. 4.0 % alc./vol.) for MYR 10.- per pack from the beer loving owner of the guesthouse.


Click below for an interactive road map of Steven's Guesthouse in Serian and for directions:
N 01° 09.96' E 110° 33.93'










Matt: Shopping for fresh veggies at Serian’s lively Bidayuh-majority fresh-produce market which dominates the centre of this busy and chaotic one-horse country town, chatting with friendly Bidayuh and Iban market women about their distinctive jungle products such as (i) stink beans aka petai beans, which make one’s urine stink but are good for your health, (ii) mildly toxic but delicious dog fruit aka jering, (iii) Chinese mustard aka sawi pahit, (iv) crisp winged beans aka kacang botol and (v) sweet jicama aka kacang sengkuang which is best eaten with salt, lime juice and chilies, learning about the miraculous cancer-curing power of Sabah snake grass aka clinathatus, semantically damned close to snake oil but supposedly very different and more powerful, and later, back in the guesthouse, creating together with my Chinese friends Peter and Steven new salad variations, always with loads of sambal belacan, which all went down quite well with a few Kingways and Tigers as lubricants, cheers!

 
"And she feeds you tea and oranges
That come all the way from China
And just when you mean to tell her
That you have no love to give her
Then she gets you on her wavelength
And she lets the river answer
That you've always been her lover
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that she will trust you
For you've touched her perfect body with your mind..."


Matt: Learning about the fact that the local Chinese community had invested millions of ringgit into their new and colourful, 2009 CE Tai Pak Kung temple and burning some hell money in the temple’s chimney in order to get the full support of the Mysterious Supreme Emperor of Heaven for my upcoming trip into Kalimantan’s heart of darkness.



Matt: Taking a well-worn Sarawak Transport Co. Bhd. bus no. S19 from Serian’s central bus station straight to the Malaysian/Indonesian border checkpoint at Tebedu/Entikong (a scenic drive of c. 45 km on a bituminous road through thick, seemingly impenetrable rainforest with lush banana plants, terraced pepper gardens und well-tended rice paddies on both sides of the road, 1 ¼ hours, MYR 4.- per person), changing my watch from to Malaysia Standard Time (GMT + 8 hours) to Indonesia Western Time (GMT + 7 hours), leaving sultan-free Sarawak (53 % ethnic Dayak, 24 % ethnic Chinese, 23 % ethnic Malay), which shares my first place in being the most liberal and liveable among Malaysia’s states alongside Penang (46 % ethnic Chinese, 44 % ethnic Malay, 10 % ethnic Indian), crossing uneventfully in two-heel drive the relaxed land border between Malaysia, a country of endless possibilities, and wonderful Indonesia (“…every exit is an entry somewhere else...”, according to Tom Stoppard), negotiating the first ojek ride of this trip right from the border post to Entikong proper and its messy bus station (c. 8 km, ¼ hours, MYR 3.- for the unhelmeted pillion ride with the Malaysian ringgit being an accepted and appreciated parallel currency in West Kalimantan) and thereafter taking a very rugged ABM rust bucket all the way (c. 290 bouncy kilometres, 8 hours, IDR 85,000.- or US$ 7.60 per person) to the coastal town of Singkawang aka China Town of Indonesia, an unexplored backwater which is also known as Amoy City, referring to the many pretty Hakka girls who attract men from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore who allegedly employ agents/brokers to offer the families with suitably aged (!) daughters roughly IDR 5,000,000.- for each bride; no money-back guarantee, but still a steal for just 500 bucks…



Click below for a summary of this year's travels

Recommended books - click below for your Amazon order from Germany:
For Amazon deals from the United States, please click here
For Amazon deals from Canada, please click here
For Amazon deals from the United Kingdom, please click here


From the 2013 Moral Travel Compass for Our Grand Children's Journey of Life:
It’s bad to be politically correct;
It’s good to laugh at the naked emperor.
Keep your bearings!

11 Jul - 01 Sep 2013 Kuching

Flawed-Democratic Federation of Malaysia
Malaysian Borneo
Sarawak aka Land of the Hornbills
Kuching
Jalan Tabuan 30
B&B Inn +6082237366 bnbswk@streamyx.com
Clean, spacious and well-lit a/c standard twin room (no. 10) with shared bathroom and free wifi for MYR 189.- or US$ 57.50 per week. Fully equipped communal kitchen with fridge; home away from home. Very friendly, knowledgeable and helpful staff; good English, lah.
Some patriotic noise pollution from the high-school's p/a system across the road.
Beer: Three-packs with 330-ml cans of chilled Foster’s (c. 4.9 % alc./vol.) for MYR 10.- per pack from the reception or from the agent on duty; alternatively, three-packs with 330-ml cans of chilled Warsteiner's Premium German Beer (fritzactly 4.8 % alc./vol.) for MYR 10.- per pack at/from John’s Place.


Click below for an interactive road map of the B&B Inn in Kuching, which we would highly recommend, and for directions:
N 01° 33.26' E 110° 20.91'










Matt: Arriving at the beginning of Ramadan in the predominantly Malaysian Chinese city of Kuching, where business is as easy-going as usual, re-re-discovering the wonders and amenities of Borneo’s most stylish and sophisticated city, a place which Konni and I had previously visited together in 2009 CE [1], [2], [3], regaining trust in the Chinese-led world economy (every analyst on Economics: "...fuck this shift...") since the prices for beer haven’t changed a tiny weeny bit in Sarawak (obviously, there are still places on this planet with zero inflation: three-packs with ice-cold 330-ml cans of Foster’s, Beck’s or even Warsteiner's from any of the rugged Chinese kopitiam in town for still the same MYR 10.- or just US$ 3.10 per pack as it was four years ago; cheers and ganbei!), and overhearing a politically not-so-correct pub joke from next table: 
A cannibal headhunter was walking through the Sarawak rainforest and came upon a restaurant operated by a fellow cannibal headhunter. Feeling somewhat hungry, the ogre sat down and looked over the menu: (i) dried Australian backpacker head for RM 8.- per head, (ii) boiled Korean missionary head for RM 10.- per head, (iii) fried Canadian explorer head for RM 12.- per head, and, last but not least, (iv) baked European volunteer head for RM 99.- per head. - The cannibal headhunter called the waiter over and asked: “Why such a big price difference for the volunteer’s head?” The cook came and replied: “Have you ever tried to clean one? They're so full of shit, it takes all morning to prepare it!”


Matt: Paying tribute to the oriental parts in our three German-Seffrican-Chinese-Canadian grandchildren [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7] and shaking fortune sticks out of bamboo cylinders at three different Chinese temples: (i) for Raoni, at the centrally located 1770 CE Tua Pek Kong Temple, the headquarters of the Earth Deity which is supposed to be able to make people rich, (ii) for Tien, at the much frequented 1863 CE (Teochew) Hiang Thian Siang Temple where I teamed up for photo shoots with my Kuchingite friend Davy from Kaki Filem Studio +060128096393, and (iii) for Ronja, at the delicate and most beautiful 1848 CE (Hokkien) Hong San Si Temple with its colourful outlook and superior, almost jewellery-like stone carving.



Matt: Watching the staged re-enactment of the current government’s official interpretation of Sarawak’s modern history, quite a silly affair and a crude propaganda show, at least with some sexy Dayak and Malay maidens hired to represent the tribal diversity of Sarawak, attempting to make sense of the official slogan of “50 Years Sarawak Independence within Malaysia” and trying to decide if this political rally was about Sarawak’s independence from its British colonial masters or about its backstage incorporation into Malaysia, and finally wondering if the Brookes today would have rolled over in their graves or just benevolently smiled at their friendly subjects who, in this day and age, are tuning in more and more frequently to the alternative Radio Free Sarawak.



Matt: Deepening my knowledge about the distinctive Iban headhunting rites, rituals and beliefs in the first-rate ethnographic section of the Sarawak Museum (free admission for both Malaysian and non-Malaysian/non-Bumiputera visitors), comparing the museum’s full-size but untenanted Iban longhouse, which is essentially an entire village under one seemingly interminable roof, with the real ones, which Konni and I had visited in 1Sarawak in 2009 CE [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], and thereafter studying the comprehensive collection of rare and unique artefacts of their cranium-nabbing ancestors in Suri & Jerry’s exquisite gallery Unika Borneo +6082416857.



Matt: Responding to the call of the rainforest, taking Rapid Kuching bus no. 1 from the Jalan Masjid bus stop in Kuching to Kampung Bako aka Bako Bazaar (c. 30 km, 1 hour, MYR 3.50 per person), sharing a motorboat with four other travellers (MYR 94.- or US$ 29.- for the boat ride, return, plus the single-entry pass to the Bako National Park for MYR 20.- per non-Malaysian adult) to the park’s Telom Assam jetty and spending all day in the Lintang trail’s mangroves, lowland dipterocarp forest and heath forest aka kerangas thus spotting (i) a harem of proboscis monkeys (Nasalis larvatus), which also go by the Malay name monyet/orang belanda, as Indonesians remarked that the Dutch colonisers often had similarly large bellies and noses, (ii) the usual suspects, criminal gangs of long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis), and (iii) a sleeping, indulgent Malayan flying lemur (Galeopterus variegatus), which can glide, if awake, over a distance of 100 m with a loss of less than 10 m in elevation, and, along the way, looking down with the utmost contempt at all these carnivorous monkey cups aka nepenthes that trap insects and some small mammals in its juglike protuberances; once a vegetarian always a vegetarian (albeit still with a pescetarian blot, agh).



Matt: Joining a group of drugged, obese, noisy, perfumed, pierced, tattooed and heavily armed human primates (Homo sapiens sapiens) and watching a shrewdness of semi-wild, non-religious Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) watch their daily freak show, with a few bananas thrown in for good measure, at the Semenggoh Wildlife Centre (entrance: MYR 10.- per non-Malaysian adult; City Public Link bus no. 6K from Kuching’s Jalan Masjid bus stop to Semenggoh: c. 25 km, ¾ hours, MYR 3.- per person, one way): “...any person visiting Semenggoh Wildlife Centre shall enter the centre at his/her own risk; the Sarawak Government shall not be responsible for any physical, mental or emotional injury…”



Matt: Wandering aimlessly and soaking up the relaxed vibe and charming cityscapes of areas such as Kuching’s Chinatown, Little India and Kampung Boyan and taking a shot at some typically Sarawakian fares, over and over again: (i) Kuching’s signature dish for breakfast, lunch and dinner, the delicious, nutritious and spicy Sarawak laksa (give or take MYR 4.- per regular bowl), a local noodle soup made with coconut milk/gravy, lemon grass, prawns, omelette strips, tofu, beansprouts, garlic, galangal, sour tamarind, fiery shrimp-paste sauce aka sambal belacan and with fresh lime juice squeezed on top (my favourite place for laksa: Kok Boon Café, MYR 5.- per large bowl), (ii) Sarawak’s answer to Japan’s sashimi, Sweden’s surströmming and to Peru’s ceviche, the Melanau raw-fish salad aka umai ikan which is made from fresh red snapper fillet or from dory fish, cut into small pieces, and marinated with lime juice, tiny green chilies, turmeric leaves, lemon grass, shallots and wild ginger (my favourite place for umai ikan: Rohaniey’s Kiosk Umei Ikan +60128561793, MYR 10.- per plate) and (iii) the whole gamut of Borneo’s jungle veggies straight from of the rainforest, e.g. sweet leaf aka sayur manis, midin and paku fern (my favourite: the friendly Bidayuh Aroma Café +6082417163, famous for its traditional Sarawak longhouse food, MYR 10.- per plate for steamed rice with crispy jungle veggies).



Matt: Encountering together with multitalented Robyn (painter, photographer and model) the Indian colours of the Sarawakian kaleidoskope of cultures at (i) the very gay and just refurbished Hindu Sri Srinivasagar Kaliamman Temple and (ii) the more sombre Sikh temple Gurdwara Sahib where the gentle, strong and mostly pot-bellied giants of the Sikh religion regularly feed the Guru Granth Sahib, their sacred book, with oh-so sweet parshad which contains at least one third of one of my most despised addictive substances … sugar!



Matt: Changing into market gear and discovering some obscure Bornean foods at Kuching’s tarted-up Kubah Ria Weekend Market (complete with well-maintained ATMs, a sweet kafeteria and cleanly segregated mosques aka surau wanita/lelaki): (i) delicious custard apples aka buah nona, (ii) therapeutic Sarawakian pitcher plants and (iii) disgusting but high-protein live sago worms.



Matt: Being guided into the right way by the Happy Cow and becoming a regular at my favourite vegetarian eateries: (i) simple but delicious and cheap vegetarian noodle snacks (e.g. kolo mee, kueh chap, kueh kiaw; each for MYR 3.- or MYR 4.- per large plate) from the Kopitiam Sin Wei Tong where cockroaches parade unmolested, (ii) the vegan buffet-lunch selection with fresh veggies at friendly and clean Zhun San Yen Vegetarian ("Makanan Sayur Sayuran") +6082230068 and (iii) a variety of unsettling but delicious mock meat dishes at Zhen Xiang Zhai Vegetarian +60198293389, albeit with valiumised service.



Matt: Sharing the guesthouse with a number of adipose, Nutella-spooning and kek-lapis scoffing backpacker girls from the Western welfare states, and witnessing, whilst preparing my own food in the communal kitchen (...if you won't peel it, boil it or cook it - just cut it and make crudités from it), a funny dialogue between an older but very fit long-term traveller, not me, and one of the young chubbies: "You're a big lass, aren't you," he broke silence. - "Tell me something I don't know," she replied with a tear in her eye. - "Salad tastes very nice!"



Matt: Compensating for Konni’s temporary absence with a bouquet of Asian flowers thus having stimulating encounters and photo shoots (i) with the spruced-up finalists of Sarawak’s 2013 CE Alluring Moms Contest, all dressed to kill, (ii) with charming Rani, the entrepreneurial founder and boss of Bollywood Pro (“For the Star in You”) +600123665098, listening to her uncompromising Indian quality concept of Made in New York, and (iii) with local Muslimas of varying persuasions in order to celebrate together with them, and always being a good boy, together with their respected husbands, the end of the fasting month Ramadan with traditional sweet titbits, thus hoping for the best that the ladies stop falling prey to the temptations of the sugar industry which uses, in Borneo, similarly cynical ads (e.g. F&N’s “Healthy Living Made Easy”) for addictive soft drinks which the tobacco industry had used in order to sell cigarettes (“Torches of Freedom”) in the 1990s and earlier.



Matt: Struggling through the Chinese, Malay and English operating instructions and managing to launder safely a few 4-kg loads of dirty linen at a nearby brand-new coin laundry (washing for MYR 6.- and drying for MYR 5.- per load, plus MYR 1.- for the dhobi dust).

Matt: Breaking away from Kuching’s friendly company (many thanks to Helda, Robyn, Jeremy ["Rupert"], Chan and Sasha for being great buddies), its cheap eateries and ice-cold beers and, still single-handedly, taking the City Public Link +6082239178 bus no. K3 from the Jalan Masjid bus stop in Kuching to the predominantly Bidayuh country town of Serian (56 km, 1 ¼ hours, MYR 5.- per person), famous for its hot pepper plantations.




Click below for more blog posts about orangutans
26 Sep - 04 Oct 2013 Sintang
  
Click below for a summary of this year's travels


Recommended books - click below for your Amazon order from the United States:
For Amazon schnaeppchens from Germany, please click here
For Amazon deals from Canada, please click here
For Amazon deals from the United Kingdom, please click here


From the 2013 Moral Travel Compass for Our Grand Children's Journey of Life:
It’s bad to accept limits;
It’s good to question the system.
Keep your bearings!