Malaysia: Cameron Highlands

Spontaneous trips are always full of excitement! Not knowing much of what to expect, every twists and turns are full of surprises. It was the the start of a long weekend, three of us sat at Carl's Junior nibbling on some fries, thinking of what we can do with that extra day of freedom, and decided that we'll head up to Cameron Highlands to enjoy a cool breeze! Because we arrived Cameron on a Sunday evening of a long weekend, decent accommodations were pretty much packed so we had to stay at a spacious but slightly run down place. They had a beautiful garden in the front yard though. The sunflowers made up for everything, ok well maybe not everything, but it did brighten my day :) 

We walked around Tanah Rata and booked a tour for the next day since none of us had a car and it was impossible to walk anywhere. Trust me; we thought we'd walk to the nearest night market after having steamboat for dinner since one of the locals told us that it was only about 30mins away, but after walking for what seemed like forever, the market was still nowhere in sight. We asked another worker in a shop and she starred at us oddly and told us it's about 30mins away from here. We eventually gave up on our after dinner "stroll," bought snacks and a pack of playing cards, before returning to our accommodation. 

A jeep came by to pick us up the next morning and soon enough, we were on our way towards the tea plantation! I loved driving by the plantation; seeing workers hard at work picking tea leaves, their wives putting out laundry and leaving shoes to dry off on the roofs, their children running after each other, couples lazing around the plantation... I do love people watching; it's a bliss seeing the liveliness and joy in people.

Besides visiting the tea plantation, the more interesting part of the tour which I was looking forward to, was the Mossy Forest! We went to the peak for a good view of the highland before heading to the forest. It was a nice trek, though I wish we had more time to explore the beaten paths. My shoes were soaked with mud by the time we got out.

We then headed to the butterfly farm, which had some interesting insects, but didn't really enjoy it as they seemed not very well taken cared of. Strawberry farm was next, but the strawberries were all picked by the time we got there so we had amazing fresh strawberry smoothies and ice-cream instead. We had some time to explore a nearby market before heading back to town. We had lunch (strawberry naan and all that) and walked around a little while longer before boarding the bus back to KL. We had a crazy bus driver who drove like crazy, obviously, but whom also drove in the opposite direction for an hour just to pick up some guy before driving back again. Sighs. Thankfully, I can sleep for hours while on the road.

Thailand: Koh Tao

READY?

SET...

DIVE!

Koh Tao, here we come! It was supposed to be a do-nothing-but-relax-on-the-beach kind of vacay, but somehow it turned into a dive trip! And the initial thought of doing a few fun dives eventually evolved into... let's do the Advanced Open Water course! I read up on the dive sites at Koh Tao and really wanted to visit two of the well known dive sites--Sail Rock and Chumpon Pinnacles! I tried not to keep my hopes high as I know most dive companies don't head out to Sail Rock often. But as it turns out, we got to dive at both sites during our short stay there! I was so pleased I couldn't help but smiled ear to ear! 

We flew in to Surat Thani, where we caught a bus to the jetty and a ferry to Koh Tao. We arrived around 7pm that night and met up with our instructor at Impian Diver. She briefed us through what we'd be doing over the next few days and walked us to our hotel. The place stank so much we had to go 7-11 to get a perfume to cover up the smell. Suppose I can't complain much since accommodation's free. We strolled around the area for a bit and decided to have dinner at Cafe del Sol. I'm glad we did as the pizza was amazing! I felt like a starved kid eating food for the first time in months! 

First day, off to Sail Rock! Our first dive was a deep dive and I chose underwater photography for the second dive. We saw huge school of fishies and the way they swam was absolutely adorable! Tried imitating the fishie ways but failed miserably. I fell asleep on our way back and the two hour boat ride gave me a ridiculous sun burn. We walked around Mae Haad again that evening and came across Whitening, which was on our to-dine list, so we happily decided to have dinner there. The tables were set on the beach, dimly lit by candles. An elderly couple sat in front of us decided that it was too dark for them to read the menu and hence brought forth their handy dandy torchlight, using it to make sure their food looked okay and helped a poor guy find his missing sandals, haha. They were too cute, though at one point I thought their light was gonna blind me. 

Next day, we did our buoyancy and navigation dive at Aou Lock, where we got to see loads of coral. It was a relaxing dive, which was probably a good thing, as we barely had rest on land before heading out for our final dive of the course---night dive at Three Rocks! We chilled at the boat for a bit, admiring the amazing sunset before heading underwater. I was slightly anxious, but it turned out to be a very calming experience! Because our vision was limited to the area of our torch, I was caught off guard a few times finding myself awfully close to the rocks. Most amazing experience was when the instructor told us to hide our lights, we saw little glowing organisms floating around as she waved her hand. It was as if we were floating in the sky, surrounded by twinkling stars. Ah, the wonders of life!

 

As mentioned earlier, I was hoping that we'd be able to visit Sail Rock and Chumpon Pinnacles during our stay here. The dive master we were in touch with couldn't promise both as it laregely depends on weather and other situational factors. We were thrilled to be able to dive at Sail Rock but even more so when we found out that they'll be sailing off to Chumpon Pinnacles the next day! My partner in crime treated me to an early birthday dive and yes I was, again, smiling ears to ears! I feel so blessed :)

Slightly embarrassed to mention, I was feeling unwell and had to throw up before we dove. When we descended, we saw a trigger fish attacking one of the instructors close to us. Trigger fishes are very territorial and can be defensive if you enter their V zone, so suppose they felt threatened by the instructor descending close to their homes. The young divemaster who was leading our dive diverted the trigger fish's attention and it started attacking his fins instead. It was well aggressive. The Belgium instructor in our group went and helped out while us three were instructed to swim further away from the zone. The trigger fish eventually dropped its attack and we breathed a sigh of relief. We started our dive and were hoping to see whale sharks, but unfortunately, we didn't. Even so, I really enjoyed our dive as I felt more in control of my buoyancy this time around (slowly getting the hang of it) and perhaps because of the attack earlier on, I felt like our dive group bonded real well, haha!

Our AOW dive buddy was heading home to Belgium after his long backpacking trip later that day so we bid adieu and headed to the busier part of the islalnd--Sairee Beach. We had dinner at Fizz that night. Love the green beanie and perfect view, though I wish there were less flies around so that I didnt't have to worry about them contaminating my food. Sticked around till after sunset and took a stroll along the main road. The area was really busy with huge buildings on tiny footpaths. We both decided that we liked Mae Haad better, a charming area with delicious nutella banana pancake and taxi drivers who just sit and chat in their little circle, occasionally shouting "taxi? taxi?" to passerbys. 

Last day in Koh Tao, we strolled along the same paths we've become accustomed to, explored side streets we've never set foot on, revisiting places we enjoyed, venturing places we've missed out. As we had lots of time before our night boat, we set out to visit all shops on the main streets. We listened to the waves by the beach, documented our trip, ate again and again at the places we loved (i.e. Cappuccino and Cafe del Sol). Half past eight, we slowly walked towards the jetty, ready to board our night boat. To our surprise, we got an upgrade to a VIP room! I went straight to sleep as the boat was really rocky when it left the jetty, but the journey was much better than I anticipated. We arrived around 5am the next day and got into this tiny truck that took us to a rest stop where we waited for another tiny truck to take us to the airport. That pretty much marked the end of our trip. 

I had an amazing time at Koh Tao and loved every little thing about our trip! Ah, how I long for the next vacay already!

Waking up before the sun to see it rise at Broga Hill

My friends and I decided to do a fun 10k walk/run/hike to watch the sunrise at Broga Hill! We left our house around 5:30am and slowly made our way to campus, to the highway, and eventually to the top of the hill. I led the way with a torch in my hand and it felt like we were going on a ghost hunting adventure! It was fun, but slightly scary at the same time. It was so dark I couldn't see things clearly and made a fool out of myself.

The view from above was breathtaking, as always. But because it was a weekend, the place was packed! People were smoking, leaving leftover food behind, shouting at each other... I prefer the place peacefully quiet. Despite the distractions, my attention was immediately captured by the flock of birds roaming the skies when I reached the first peak. I imagine the birds as artists; creating beautiful artwork in the sky as they fly, flapping their wings to sing tunes of joy. Ah, how blissful!

The two guys continued hiking to the third peak, while I found a cozy rock to sit and admire the amazing view. It was foggy and couldn't really see the sunrise, but I spied floating mountains and a few creatures throughout the day. 

I was inspired by the author of this blog to do something lovingly fun! I'm not the most optimistic person in the world, but why not turn negative energies into positive ones? Because of my lack of creativity, I decided to do something simple. I picked up some dried leaves from a park near my place, cut them up into heart shapes, and left some love at Broga, hoping that it'll cheer up someone's day :) 

The way back wasn't half as fun since we were starving, worn out, and did not have shadows to play with. My shadow and I had so much fun swimming our way to Broga (mmhmm, I'm much better with water), but now that the sun is out, my shadow has left me to my own doom.

But thankfully, after a long run, I got to indulge in my favorite orange food! YUM! I love Japanese buffets! nom nom nom...

What I love about KK

Gorgeous bird's eye view of the city,

colorful rooftops,

candy floss clouds (yum!),

creative food (care to try some banana sticky rice wrapped in a leaf or fried pork with grape sauce?), 

white flowers on green grass,

pretty silhouettes of happy yachts resting by the harbor,

and amazing sunsets.

What's not to love? :)

Singapore, Round 6!

My family and I spent Chinese New Year at Singapore this year. 

I enjoyed being fun and silly with the kiddos,

jumping kazillion times and laughing like there's no tomorrow,

being amazed by lively and vibrant sea creatures,

being pampered with amazing sceneries, 

delicious food, 

and love. 

Most importantly, spending time with my family before they left for Hawaii. 

I'll miss you,

my loves. 

Malaysia: Langkawi

The best thing to do during a long weekend is to go on a spontaneous trip! We had a few destinations in mind and did a quick search on tripadvisor. I came across this charming villa in Langkawi and immediately fell in love with the place. My heart was set. We swiftly booked a room online and were on our way up north by evening. We were planning to catch an overnight train but because it's a long weekend, all trains were fully booked, so we had to take a 5h bus to Alor Setar, a taxi to the jetty, and catch the earliest ferry to Langkawi. On our journey there, we got a call from the hotel saying that there was an error with their booking system and all rooms were taken. Disappointed, but thankfully the owner found a place for us when we arrived.

Day one, we had a huge American breakfast at Cupid before settling into our hotel quite comfortably, I must say, as I ended up having a long nap before heading out towards Cenang Beach during the evening. We had a quick snack at La Chocolatine on our walk there and spent the evening relaxing by the beach. The area we were sat wasn't the greatest as it was a parasailing site. Those in charge were frantically shouting instructions to parasailers who can't seem to land properly. Instead of relaxing and admiring the sunset, I was more distracted by the sounds of the roaring engines, shouts of instructions, and my worries for safety of the parasailers. We had a mini water fight, took a stroll along the main road, and ended the day with a satisfying meal at Red Tomato.

The next day, we decided to rent a car to drive around the island. Again, because it's a public holiday, the island was packed with tourists and all automatic small-sized cars were taken. We even took a taxi to the airport in hopes of getting a car there, but failed. We ended up renting a manual car with tons of dead ants flying out from the AC but it was worth it. Driving around the island was definitely more of an experience than walking along the main street catered for and filled with tourists. We got to see a different side of Langkawi during the drive.

We stopped by the observatory during the evening to catch the sunset and saw a mischievous little monkey jumping from branch to branch. Sunset wasn't the greatest (love admiring the sunset at KK and Oia best thus far!) but the mountainous view was absolutely adorable! We returned the car shortly after and had a nice Western dinner by the beach that night. 

Last day at Langkawi, we booked a mangrove tour with Dev's adventure. We visited a bat cave before kayaking towards the mangrove. I was ever so excited to kayak for the first time! Kayaking into the mangrove was like entering a mystical world hidden in plain sight. When our guide told us not to place our hands in the water as we don't know what's under, I felt like we were in a scene from... mm... Peter Pan just popped in my mind. Besides the mangrove, we got to see a few eagles soaring the skies and I even received a "Welcome to Thailand" text message from a Thai phone provider when we kayaked near the border of Thailand, hah. We kayaked back to the fish farm, where we got to feed sting rays and witness some ferocious fishies fighting over food, before having lunch. We planted a few mangrove seeds on our way back and that pretty much summed up our short but fun-filled trip at Langkawi!