Many of us have a preconceived mindset when it comes traveling. It usually involves places that appear in travel brochures, postcards, or even TV programs; then there’s the airport code, bus/taxi rides, and most likely resorts or hotels.

You then visit places of interests, the museums, monuments, art galleries, several shopping places, and perhaps even a famous eatery or two.

from various trips to Krabi, Melbourne, Mabul, Tokyo, Bangkok, Redang

There’s nothing wrong with a typical traveling experience like this, I’ve done plenty myself, and will continue to do more. But there’s a bit of a downside, unless you’re heading to somewhere you have a friend (like when I went to Melbourne and Tokyo, you’re most likely going to behave and get treated like a tourist.

Then there’s Homestay.

Homestay is inherently different from your normal traveling experience, instead of following a tour guide, you stay with a host family and truly experience life as it lived day to day in the particular place. This includes participating in the local activities, culture, and of course, tasting traditional food.

To participate in a homestay right here in Malaysia, there’s our very own go2homestay portal. The portal offers contacts to homestay programs at every state in this country.

homestay activities at Kampung Sungai Haji Dorani, Selangor

Take homestay of the month, Kampung Sungai Haji Dorani. Located a mere 1.5 hours away but a totally different world from Kuala Lumpur. Instead of the concrete jungle with shopping malls and fast food chains, it is a place with lush green paddy fields full of natural and cultural treasures to be discovered.

Instead of visiting museums and tugu negara, you get to experience the life as a paddy field farmer, try your luck in hand fishing, learn to make kite, batik, and get a taste of the local delicacy – nasi ambeng Haji Dorani (this would probably be my favorite)

To participate in homestay at Haji Dorani (or any location listed) is fairly simple. Get the contact via this list of homestay venues that have been registered with Ministry of Tourism Malaysia and just contact the person in charge. Each homestay has their individual rates and packages.

This is actually a pretty interesting concept, and something quite new to me personally, I should give it a go hopefully soon. Check out go2homestay.com for more information.

Tags:  homestay,  lunch money,  Travel

Posted by KY | 19 Comments »

After the 6 dives at Mabul, Kapalai, and Sipadan islands, we decided to take day 4 easy and not go for any extra diving sessions.

We checked rather early at 8am, had some breakfast and went for a short snorkeling trip instead.

Uncle Chang’s Sipadan Mabul dive lodge

At Uncle Chang’s, a 3-dive package is priced at RM 560 for Sipadan and RM 260 for Mabul/Kapalai. Extra dive at Mabul is priced at RM 150, and snorkeling at Mabul is free of charge if you’re staying there.

Rental per day for snorkel and mask is at RM 15, and there’s another RM 15 for fins too. It is important to have both items for snorkeling, as Gun found out the hard way by over estimating his ability to swim without fins. We had to cut short our expedition due to tiredness as the dude did not wear a life jacket either.

giant blue clams, star fish, and lotsa neon colored fish, Jen & Lynn

After diving, snorkeling can be a bit disappointing. While it is still beautiful, the variety of fish at shallow depth tend to be a lot lesser, and we are limited to one breath per short dive to the bottom to get a closer look.

around Mabul island, a beautiful mess

After coming back to Uncle Chang’s, we still had 3-4 hours to kill before the boat ride out of Mabul. Irene, Lynn, and I decided to walk over to the other side of the island to get some souvenirs.

On the island, you really do see the way hardcore poor of Borneo lives. Kids below schooling age normally doesn’t even wear anything, and they seem quite content to be running around naked and be peeing whenever they feel like, even in front of you. Houses here often consist of only one room, with a window that can’t really be shut and a frame that doesn’t’ really have a proper door.

Oh, they do have electricity, but only at night.

Nemo Island Shell Fish Shop

To support local economy, we went to Nemo Island Shell Fish Shop to get some souvenirs. As the name suggests, they sell mainly seashells here, anything from RM 5 for a big one to RM 20-30 for those that are more intricate. The lady gave us discounts without us asking first, probably cos we look like really nice people.

There were a couple low quality t-shirts for sale too, with one printed “KLCC”.. heh.

Mabul island to Uncle Chang’s dive lodge

After we went back to Uncle Chang’s with our purchase, Lynn and I went on the island one more time to kill another hour or so, this time soaking our legs on another private resort’s swimming pool. No one came to disturb us, I guess we really did look like nice people.

I took a video on the way from Mabul to Uncle Chang’s, the few jokers: Lynn, Irene, Jen, Gun, and Chan appeared in this short video. I wanna go back there, now!

Tags:  irene,  lynn,  mabul,  sabah,  snorkeling,  Travel

Posted by KY | 14 Comments »

I didn’t know I was going on my 3rd diving trip this 2-6 February until about a month ago.

It was Irene who mentioned that she’s going to Mabul/Sipadan with her sisters and 2 other guys, since she sounds like a crazy person who is fun to hang out with, I decided to tag along despite not having met anyone face to face prior to this trip, Irene including.

rather refreshing to be flying a non-budget airline for once

So I logged into both AirAsia and MAS for flights to Tawau and decided to take the non-budget route since the price difference was not more than 10% in this case.

RM 434 paid for the return fare, including 20kg luggage allowance, pretty delicious meal (the nasi lemak is just as good as those served on Air Asia, and comes with Ferrero Roche too).

Tawau to Semporna, at Dragon Inn

When I reached Tawau at 11+ in the morning, Irene, Lynn, Jen, Chan, and Gun had already been waiting there for some three hours after flying from KK. We chartered a van (RM 250 both ways) to our destination for the day – Semporna.

The 90+ km journey from Tawau (nearest airport) to Semporna took just over an hour. Instead of lush pristine Borneo jungle that I had envisioned, it we were greeted with rows upon rows of palm trees with the occasional village houses instead. Not a whole lot of visual treatment going on.

Semporna, at the lion’s lower jaw

Semporna is often the stopover town for divers and travelers alike heading to Mabul/Sipadan islands. Located at the southeastern corner of Sabah (the lion’s lower jaw), Semporna has a population just over 100k, with a rather tiny town center that isn’t even as big as SS2 in PJ. You could walk the whole downtown area in 15 minutes or so.

the view from Dragon Inn Floating Resort

We checked into Dragon Inn Floating Resort to spend the night. Since there were 6 of us, we chose the dormitory style accommodation for the night to give everyone a chance to chill together. At RM 20 per person per night it was really cheap, but unfortunately the lack of air conditioning proved to be a major problem not for being too warm, but for having too many mosquitos making a feast of us.

Speaking of mosquitos, here’s quiz from Lynn (answer at the bottom of the page): What’s the difference between a mosquito and a fly?

Umai – a traditional Sarawakian delight

Irene brought a packet of Umai all the way from Kuching for me (thank you very much!).

Umai is a traditional Sawarakian food that is best described as a sort of raw fish salad. A packet of raw fish (white fish) that is pre-marinated with lime juice and onion that is served by mixing with red chili, fresh lime juice, and probably some salt and pepper.

Give it a few tosses ala yee sang style and you’re ready to roll. It was actually quite refreshing, kinda like the cross of Japanese salad and Chinese yee sang but with a heavy lime juice taste and a hint of spiciness. I liked it and would try a fresh version when I find myself at Sarawak next time.

dinner at the restaurant by the bridge

For dinner, we took a short walk from the resort and settled upon the little restaurant by the bridge that connects town center and the resort. The vegetable was okay, spicy squid rather tasty, and the venison somewhat tough and forgettable.

We sat under the sky with a gentle breeze brushing our hair, waiting for the next day’s diving excursion at Mabul and couldn’t care less if dinner wasn’t exactly impressive. It was less than RM10 per pax anyway.

Next up – Mabul island.

Answer to Lynn’s quiz: A mosquito can fly but a fly cannot mosquito!

Tags:  irene,  sabah,  semporna,  Travel,  umai

Posted by KY | 33 Comments »

By the time you read this, I should be well on my way to the Paradise for a diving trip that is long overdue. For the next few days I’ll be going from KL – Tawau – Semporna – Mabul Island – Sipadan, and should be back by Saturday with a whole lot of smile and hopefully many pretty photos.

all my gears are packed and I’m ready to roll (off the boat)

The gears that I’ve packed (and this is post also serves as my check list):

• wet suit (not in the photo) – last used at Redang, 2005
• snorkel & diving mask – last used by suan & horng at Kerabi, 2009
• diving booties – last used at Krabi and Phuket, 2008
• water proof bag – bought at Phuket, 2008, unused
• Ikelite underwater casing for my canon S90 – just bought a few days ago for too much money
• Seiko orange monster - bought in 2008, never used for diving
• PADI Advanced Open Water Diver’s license

Getting to Paradise in 3 easy steps

Who said you have to go to a place of worship to get to paradise?

Paradise is just a 2.45 hours from KL via air to Tawau, another hour’s cab ride to Semporna, 45 mins boat ride to Mabul, and from there, a further 15 mins speed boat ride. Paradise is also known as Sipadan island, a place guardian.co.uk rated as one of the top 10 dive sites in the world.

This is my first trip there, and lets hope it’ll be a good one. My dive buddy will be the crazy Irene from Kuching, and this is the first time I’m meeting her, I heard she’s not entirely sane, but my life will be literally dependent on her when we’re underwater. Wish me luck!

I’ll be meeting her with four other travel buddies at Tawau in a few hours’ time. Can’t wait!

Tags:  diving,  sipadan,  Travel

Posted by KY | 38 Comments »

Last weekend we went for a really super awesome trip up to Belum Rainforest Resort. For the uninitiated, the resort sits on Pulau Banting, an island formed from the creation of lake Temengor in Gerik, Northern Perak.

The trip was a showcase of modern Diesel technology with the combination of BMW’s Efficient Dynamics and the Dynamic Diesel from Petronas. Here are the 10 things I learn from the unforgettable 2-day trip.

1. Diesel cars are super efficient

Lost in the big woohaa last September when the government made the switch from RON 92 to RON 95 petrol (with price adjustment, of course), was that the country also adopted the Euro 2M standard for Diesel fuel. Euro 2M Diesel has less than 50ppm sulphur, and are much cleaner for the environment.

With the new standard we can now take advantage of modern Diesel cars, such as the BMW 320d and BMW 520d that we used for this trip. None of the diesel powered 3 and 5 series we drove required a refuel for the entire trip, some 800 km in total. This is fuel efficiency I’ve never imagined, almost twice lower than my Toyota MR2.

2. Police escort is the awesomsauce

It was my first time driving with police escort, felt like a real VIP. From KLCC to Mutiara Damansara, we were bullying our way through traffic, breezed through red lights and intersections. The cops were really pro and exhibited some awesome “standing on the bike and yell at drivers” as well as “cornering and pointing at cars” mad skills.

The escort service even managed to split the traffic jam at TTDI, everyone was looking at us with envy, it was priceless

3. Ivan Khong has 3 arms and 4 eyes

Our lead car driver, Mr. Ivan Kong, must have at least 2 more eyes and an extra arm. This certified BMW instructor, who is also a former rally car driver was able to:

• lead a convoy of 6 pairs of noob drivers
• operate 2 walkie talkies
• report all incoming traffic in details (eg: a green Suzuki Vitara coming, he’s wearing a songkok, don’t overtake now)
• communicate with the support & sweeper car
• looked at our every moves (eg: car 4 and 5, stop playing with each other)
• and drive in excess of 120-180km on trunk roads

When I grow up, I want to drive like him. Thank you Mr. Ivan Kong for leading us on this amazing journey

4. Indulgence at Ipoh serves good food (mostly)

We stopped by Ipoh for lunch on the way from KL to Belum and back, on both occasions we went to Indulgence Restaurant, one of the classiest eatery you could find in this city.  The place is quite posh, and food was served in big plates with pretty garnish.

I had the cod on the first day, and lamb loin on the next. The cod was good, and the lamb loin was really one of the best lamb I’ve ever tasted. However, Gareth and Suan’s chicken on the first day was a let down, and so was Kim’s salmon on the second day. The scallop was a bit overcooked too, but the tiger prawn and the pohpiah appetizer were brilliant.

Indulgence is at 14, Jln Raja Dihilir, 30350, Ipoh. Tel: 05-255 7051

5. the beemers’ handling is phenomenal

Not that anyone should try this, but we were doing in excess of 130 km/h around the bend on the road to Gerik, both the 3 and 5 series were fitted with Sports package and handled real well. The traction control came on a few times when we “tickle the throttle” a little too much, but it felt safe and it was exhilarating.

The photo of speedometer above, was taken by me when my partner in crime Cheesie was driving. Can I have a beemer please pretty please?

6. Belum Rainforest Resort is nice

Situated on the island of Pulau Banting overlooking Temengor lake, Belum Raiforest Resort is nice, the room were big and nicely decorated. Bed’s a bit hard but I guess that’s just up to your personal preference. It’s a perfect blend of nature and comfort. The staff were helpful and friendly too. I would love to go back there again.

7. Bamboo rafting is a tiring affair

The first thing we did on the next day was bamboo rafting. Now bamboo rafting is not very different from rowing a dragon boat, which was something I did during my high school days (we won 2nd place twice on state level, tqvm), but bamboo rafting with a hangover was quite a bit different.

Luckily lake Temengor’s water wasn’t too cold that particular morning. We had loads of fun and got sober up for the long drive back to KL ahead of us.

8. Aaron is a very good photographer

The photographer commissioned by BMW on this event, Aaron, was really professional and efficient. He worked tirelessly to get us all these awesome shots for two days, and we got all the photos in a tidy little 4 GB thumb drive at the 2nd last leg of the drive.

I managed to take a photo of him while he was taking that particular photo of me in car number 5.

9. People at BMW held the best events I’ve attended

The level of luxury and attention to details throughout the entire event was nothing I’ve ever experienced. From the first day when our bags were tagged till we reluctantly bid goodbye on the second evening, nothing was left out, we had zero complain even if we try.

There was good food, awesome driving experience, good companionship, and even a few surprises thrown in (after dinner there were gifts left in all our rooms – external hdd and solar charger). It was amazing, I want to really thank BMW and Petronas for inviting us, especially Sashi who first contacted me.

10. Jenga is still the best party game there is

We had one of the best times at Belum Rainforest Resort, Gareth, Kim, Huai Bin, Robb, Michael, Sashi, Nadia, and I decided to play Jenga, the best party game. The person who causes the wooden tower to fall finishes a glass of drinks. Robb, as you can clearly see, didn’t do particularly well on that night and threw sick all over the balcony. Kim wasn’t in the picture cos she too, was completely knocked out after 2 glasses of champagne.

Other participant’s posts:

The BMW Eco Drive Experience – Diesel Rocks!
how a bimmer saved my life… twice
Tickling The Throttle (and other lessons learnt at the BMW Drive)
Eco-Bloggers Diesel Drive 2009 – The Diesel Myths
BMW EfficientDynamics – Day 1
Breakfast @ Mandarin Oriental and a police escort

Xpax Advert:

At Belum Rainforest Resort, Celcom/Xpax’s network service was still working very fine despite it being a rather remote location. A certain telco, however, did not provide data service at that area, but those of us who are with Celcom/Xpax still managed to continue updating our tweets. As a reminder, you have until the end of December to enjoy Xpax’s double bonus (up to 16%) when you reload, check it out here.

Tags:  bmw,  diesel,  efficientdynamics,  gareth,  huai bin,  kimberly,  petronas,  sashi,  Travel

Posted by KY | 39 Comments »