December 7th, Day 2 -- A Day for Culture, and Mosquitoes

We were supposed to be up at 5 to catch the Sunrise at 6 (so says the lady hotel owner) but the website said 6:30 so we said we would be up at 6. And then the elder & BF was a little hard to wake (which made the younger a bit sulky), and so we missed the sunrise.

We took a stroll, still, along one of the many paths around the lake. The main attraction of the path is the C.K.S. harbour, which used to be the harbour on which President Cheong and his wife would take boat rides from to enjoy the scenery on the lake. The harbour was exclusive, and is no longer in operation. But the lanterns that decked the dock were still there, and we could still see a couple of fishing boats about (to which I wonder what use they are for).

In the morning, the lake is extremely calm, mirror-like, even. As an internal lake, the waters are only broken by the operations of tour boats, which do not start till after 8. We were quite happy to have a look at the lake before "life came to it" (as they put it, or if I had my say "money touches it"), and enjoyed the brief stroll, before heading back to a breakfast shop near the hotel for the first meal.

The breakfast consists of several hits and misses at the breakfast shop, and we found out halfway through waiting for our order that breakfast is actually provided at the hotel where we were staying with (never the less, on the next day when we honoured our "rights", we did not regret at least having tried breakfast outside). I'm particularly drawn to the Onion pancake I ordered, pictured on the right, which was served with a bit of pepper and crowned the Taiwanese Roti Canai. It was crispy, and the spring onion provided a bit of sweetness and a little fragrance.

After breakfast, we promptly went to the bus stop to wait for a bus to the Formosa Aboriginal Village (as the cable car from Itatsao is closed for monthly maintenance). I wrote home a postcard while squatting on the side of the road waiting for the bus, which I posted the next morning.

The Formosa Aboriginal Village, quite like the cultural villages in Kuching and Melacca, aims to educate the visitors about life of the aboriginal people of Taiwan. I'm not much of a Geographer, nor a Historian; so I'm only quite interested to look, but now could not remember any specifics. One thing comes to mind, though, and for that I would ask you to take a close look at the photograph on the left. The poem on the plate in the middle (written in orange) translate roughly to:

The God of Wieners, champion of men, its characteristics are mild, harden upon sight of colour, for romantic men, it's roots of all trouble, to yield new generations, you are hopeless without me, men and women without children, please look to this gentleman. (The last two 6-word phrases are too high level for my comprehension)


More evidences of such abruptness (or shall I say honesty?) were reflected in the lives of the aboriginal people in the photographs below (both carvings near the main door to their huts) show that they are not ashamed of this issue at all.

The village also had a theme park and a 3D theater so we took a few rides and watched a movie (of the One Piece Animation). We took a couple of trains: one fake and one real. And I got stung by a million mosquitoes. We left the village about four something in the afternoon, fully intending to take the bus, but a cab driver outside begged so much we took a cab instead. He was willing to take us for a much lower price because it's sunset soon and he didn't want to go back downhill with an empty cab (which equals empty profit).

Back to the hotel, we had another rest and then out again for dinner and walk. We picked a smaller shop selling noodles that night, and ordered one of a few things and had a relay dinner as we passed the food around, each sampling a few bites of each dish. It was overall quite satisfactory, and much cheaper than the full table dinner we had last night. We walked a little further after dinner that night, to places that escaped my memory. But I totally remember stopping by 7-11 supper shopping before we were back for shower and bed.

December 6th, Day 1 -- Air, Land and Water Transport

We arrived Kota Kinabalu, Land below the wind, late last night; only because we're leaving again at six in the morning again. Sleeping in an air-conditioned room, I woke up with an extremely dry throat.

We got to the airport only to be refused entry to boarding hall because it was too early and they have not started working yet. And when they tell me they are not open, they ignored me when I asked what time do they open then. *shrug*

After much hum-drum, the flight took approximately three hours to arrive Taoyuan International Airport. Because it was too early, almost all of us ordered breakfast from the airline. I had the panda pillow biscuit: super yummy. Ma was afraid I wouldn't be satiated, so she gave me one of her sandwiches (typical Ma). Anyway, I hate airline food, just because it's expensive.

Upon arrival at Taoyuan International Airport, we laughed a bit at the English signs. And then took a bus to the High Speed Rail Station. At the HSR Station, we had our second breakfast as the elder & BF spotted their favourite Singaporean burger joint: Mos Burger. The younger's never had Mos Burger before so she made faces for me to snap (while almost insisting that it was nothing special). After the meal, we board the HSR towards Taichung, and got tickets for a bus to Sun Moon Lake.

The bus dropped us off on the roadside a stone throw away from the hotel we were staying. We were received by a very enthusiastic lady owner, who told us that we would have to rush, rush, rush if we want to enjoy to the maximum (time is very valuable, and you would soon learn why). We dropped bags in our room and went out, shopped for some bread to skip lunch, but ended up missing the 2:30 boat anyway. So, we hung around the Shuise harbour eating bread while waiting for the next boat ride, at 3:15. The elder & BF, worried that Pa did not have enough to eat, went back to the 7-11 store we passed to get a pot of Guandong zhu (various fish/seafood/flour/soy frozen products boiled in soup) which we later shared.

The boat ride to Itatsao was scenic, and the boat owner was funny. At Itatsao, we took the cable car and looked over the beautiful Sun Moon Lake from high up. At the top, we hung around a little bit for potty breaks and asked the younger a bit about Formosa Aboriginal Village (which was just next door) and made her rather cross for having to repeat things many times. We took the cable car back down and took a stroll along the little township trying out some food and drinks, including Double sausages and A Sa Mu red tea.

Back at the harbour, it's another boat ride to Xuanguang harbour. We hopped off to walk up a little and tasted the famous Ahpo Iron Egg, and took a brief look at the Xuanguang temple, where it was said that the first Shelizi brought back by Tangzeng from the West was positioned. About half an hour later from when we hopped off, we were back at the harbour for the last boat back to Shuise harbour. From there (at approximately 4:30 in the afternoon), we felt the sun set (The picture below was taken at about 5:00). No wonder we were warned that time is of the essence?

Upon arrival at Shuise harbour, it is already almost dark. We decided to rest our feet at the hotel before dinner (and also because the elder said she preferred to bath before dinner). About an hour later, we went back out to have dinner at a shop near the harbour because it seemed to be the most popular shop.

After dinner, we strolled briefly around the area and bought some specialty biscuits. And then we stopped by 7-11 and got junk food (TARO CHIPS!!!) and a can of Taiwan beer for supper (the young ones, Ma and Pa wouldn't play a part in it). Ended up hitting the sack near midnight.

August 30th, Day 1 - A graduation vacation: Beginning to an end

This is the day a group of friends came together to celebrate my thesis submission (Ahem... Maybe I was the only celebrating that). Let's see if I remember enough to log everything here.

I remember waking up an hour before the supposed gathering time (7:00AM). And, I remember having a Kit-Kat and two Chipsmores as breakfast as I look forward to the promised breakfast in Bidor -- Duck Noodle Soup. Thirty minutes to gathering time, I diligently unlocked the door and the car, threw my bag into the boot, locked the door, unlocked the gate, reversed the car out, locked the gate and drove to Taman Sri Langat, the default gathering spot for many outings grouping the same few friends.

On the way, I stopped at the brother's house because it only came to me then that I'd be the only person passing that route and could offer him a ride. Parked at the stair to his apartment, I texted both him and MP, who lived just nearby if they would like me to give them a ride. Both replied with an imagined sleepy voice (of course I imagined it as it came in text), that thanks, but no thanks they'd make their own way there.

I arrived at Taman Sri Langat at 5 minutes to. The house is dark, there're no sign of life within (Yeah, I imagined that as well. How was I supposed to know if anything is moving inside when I'm guess-spying from more than 5 meters away?). Locked out of the house for about 15 minutes later, I spy the sliding door opened. So I got out of the car and went to the gate to scream: "Is anybody going to let me in?". That got me in, eventually (once those who heard but had not the key went to find someone who has a key). The house was just stirring, nobody's had breakfast. It was then clear that I'd gotten the schedule wrong and was early by a complete 30 minutes. So, I flipped newspapers and watched whatever was on TV half-heartedly, wondering how late everybody would be.

7:30AM ticked pass, but we were still waiting for MP. I remember a vague discussion about Jessie J, because she was on TV. I remember myself commenting that the music video for "Price Tag" was cute. Some time after that, we some how decided it was too late. I called MP and told her we would be picking her up instead of waiting for her to come. Thereafter, a lot of action involving throwing of bags and moving of legs went on. I got my brother, Star, and Miss J in my car. CY had a full car and went ahead, while my vessel were to get MP, who later confirmed that she woke up late, and had only started to pack since waking up. She was crowned the least reliable then and there. Many times in the following days, she was poked as the one who would rise latest.

It was almost 11AM when we arrived Bidor (if my memory serves me correctly). Duck Noodle Soup was sold out! So, it was decided that breakfast would be skipped and we would proceed to lunch in Ipoh. I had been craving Rice Noodle Soup (Ipoh Sha Hor Fun) since the writing period and between CY and I, we made it a motivation for me to finish writing up as soon as possible. Some time at noon, a hot bowl of it was served to me, and I was incredibly grateful for it! There were Rice Flour Cake (Ju Cheong Fun) and Stuffed Tofu (Yong Tau Fu) as side dishes, and we found out many do not take leek, spring onions and such. I belonged to those who enjoyed picking them up (picked out by those who avoid them) and stuffing into my mouth.

The stop at Ipoh lasted for not more than an hour. We got back into the car and pooled towards Taiping as soon as lunch was out of the way. The 90 minutes (approx.) drive was quiet. Miss J was almost knocked entirely out the whole trip while MP phased in and out of consciousness. Star was incredibly dedicated, tuning the radio once in a while when it sounds staticky, because my car hasn't got a CD player (unlike the other more popular car) and rely completely on the radio for entertainment.

It must've been about three o'clock when we arrived Taiping and found our way to the rest house. Bags were removed from the cars into the house, and about a ten minutes later we piled into the cars again. Points of interest for that afternoon included a Mangroove forest, charcoal factories and the zoo. That would set us up till very much after sun down.

The Mangroove forest was green, and reddish. There was sometimes smell of salt in the wet air. The park was badly maintained, where foot paths consisting of wooden bridges were often broken. We threaded carefully while enjoying the green forest and the blue sky, cameras clicking away...

The charcoal factories were adjacent, probably because the charcoal were made from Mangroove trees. Here, the air was dry, and carried a smokey flavour. We got dirty pretty quick, with bits of ashes attaching to our bodies readily. Many of the photographs taken here were toned black and whites, because I felt that it belonged that way. There were other visitors, but we seemed to linger much longer at every spot. That seemed to have amused a certain worker there. So we put on our friendly mood and asked questions. He was amused enough to explain the production process and schedule.

We then drove to a town called Sepetang, where the first train station (Portweld) was built. We had a foodie-break, and had ABC and Prawn Cakes (Har Beng). Then, we loitered around the fishing village and little town waiting for dinner time. Most seafood restaurants were out of fish by the time we thought it was time. When we decided to leave town, however, the restaurant near where we parked our car seemed to just stir. After a little enquiry we sat to wait for our dinner. I don't remember exactly how long it was, but we managed to have gone through most of the photographs that we've taken for the day, and finished 2-3 rounds of tea. When dinner finally came, we were hungry enough to wolf it down without much chatter.

We drove straight to the Night Safari after dinner. It was too dark to see anything, and not many of the animals were nocturnal. We tried our best to spot animals on the tram that was going too fast. The tram let us of at the last stop where the elephants were (I think), and we walked around the zoo a bit, trying to spot the animals that we missed on the tram. I remember that the highlight was on a discussion regarding differentiating orangutans, chimpanzees and gorillas, and relating back to the movie we recently saw -- Rise of the planet of the apes (which is a mouthful to say, and infused some laughter). Anyway, nobody remembered the differences after we left the zoo, or so I believe.

It must have been near mid-night when we arrived back at the rest house. Everybody took turn cleaning up and I must have collapse into slumber before everybody else, for I don't remember much of anything that happened that night.

30th April, 2011 - Back to the basics?

It's been a long time since I wrote non-academically. And so, after such rare opportunity to spend some time with a few friends, I thought I'd write about it.

The day started early, at 6:45, with my brother's text message arriving 15 minutes prior to the logical time for my phone alarm to beep me up. He was badly sick, and would have to skip the fun with us. I managed to tap a reply asking the sickly man why he would want to torture a girl by texting her 15 minutes before she was supposed to wake up. Come to think of it, it was highly inappropriate, wasn't it?

Anyway, I managed to arrive at the first meeting point before the agreed time. A few minutes were spent watching people get ready around me: make-up, hair, hat-trials, shoes... and finally, we set off to Klang for Bak-kut-teh breakfast. Before breakfast, we stopped by Miss Chin's place for a change of stallion. She probably does not trust that her ~20-yo 4556 can take a >50km challenge well. We met her parents, and they had Miss Chin bring some tealeaves for our breakfast. Apparently Bak-kut-teh places in Klang sell tea at a price (or quality) many thought better if they brought their own.

I was starving! But there were many who rose earlier and had their first breakfast. The Bak-kut-teh shop owner was ignorant, probably because she was extremely busy, although the shop wasn't really full so I see no reason for her constant need to rush and offer of rude acknowledgements. "We have not Yaw-zar-kuai, Yaw-coy, something, something else, some other thing else also we don't have." She threw that snappily at us sideways when Miss Lim waved her down to ask for the all time favourite side to Bak-kut-teh. She also threw intestines into out pot when she specifically confirmed that we do not want any internal organs. Miss Lim's explaination for her poise was stated above, much to the disagreement of most at the table. Overall, though, it was an edible and (not-overly) filling meal if we simply adopt the ways of the Buddha and pardon the rudeness with great karma. Mr. Wong ended up having mostly only tea, but he really doesn't eat much usually anyway so I don't believe he minds.

After breakfast, we stopped by Miss Lim's place because she forgot her ID card. We met her mother, who looked as if she knew everyone of us when Miss Lim made the introductions. It seemed to me that Miss Lim has had a lot to say about us to her mother. I would not say I've said much about my friends to my parents. They probably would not know the difference between a friend and an acquaintance of mine. I wondered for a moment if it is better this way.

At that, we began the long drive towards Sekinchan. It took about an hour or more, but I enjoyed the ride with Mr. Lee and Mr. Wong probing the limits of Doris's patience with questions, comments and suggestions for her private affairs. I tried hard (but naturally) to stay very much out of it, only contributing giggles when appropriate. I would imagine it was a torturing ride for Doris, although I chose not to let my pity for her run over the brim and say something to her rescue only to bring the arrows to myself. I would pretty much say I've been a selfish brat the entire drive. But, honestly, I don't think it's that bad. No physical harm was inflicted, and people who knew Mr. Lee and Mr. Wong would've gotten used to it already.

The exploration of Sekinchan started with a fishing village, which looked much more attractive and interesting later when we were on the beach. The trail was short, and not much could be seen. People minded their own business and did not mind the group of us walking and taking pictures. Fishing boats were much more colourful than I had imagined. There was a boat in building at the very end, and I had some degree of interest in watching people weave or repair fishing nets. But, all in all, I would say nothing held my interest longer than the discovery that each house on the trail had a "Poh-Tsu" calligraphy inked over red paper hung above their door. I wondered aloud and Mr. Wong (who I've always respected for his broad knowledge in the fields that I know not much of) said that it's probably a name for the village their ancestors come from.

Shortly after, we found our way, after a fair amount of inquisitions, to the Redang beach. This particular beach is laden not with sand but with shells. Shells were abundant and most of them were still perfect, so I don't think they were naturally swept in by the waves. I was strolling with Mr. Wong when I had wondered this aloud, so he offered his opinion that it would most likely be discarded by fishing boats on their way back. As mentioned before, the fishing village looked nicer from the beach, probably because it had a nice viewing angle from the river-mouth, so our gaze could follow the river in parallel towards a horizon with boats and jetties lining both banks of the river. The beach was lined with huts and tree houses made of leftover wood and fishing nets. They thought it artistic and different, so here the first cam-whoring session begins, where group photographs were taken under the sun as well as the shades.

It was a surprise that Mr. Lee announced his hunger at this time, as it would be his third meal of the day. But it was already 14:30 and lunch is way overdue. Lunch at a local shop was the best-tasting meal of the day, with generous exchange of fun and laughter. We ate and then sat a little longer to wait for Mr. Ng and wife. Later, because they were stuck in a jam somewhere and because we seems to be the only customers left at the shop, we left for the paddy field and Miss Chin sent them GPS coordinates so they could meet us there instead.

The paddy field was the highlight of the day's events. Here, the cameras clicked till some were drained. The great contrast between the blue of the sky and the green of the crops drove many to the edge. I could not put much of the feeling in words, but we did enjoy ourselves very very much. It was also very nice to meet Mrs. Ng again, and see that she still do enjoy our company as much as she had in the past.

I think we must've spent at least two hours at the fields. My shoulders were getting reddish and some parts are probably even stinging a little without my noticing it. It was time for dinner again. We were to have seafood in Kuala Selangor, and we did. Dinner was disappointing, although I think Mr. Khoo and Mr. Wong had claimed to have eaten there before. Sadly, I couldn't remember what we had except for crabs with a sauce a little too runny and a Wan-tan-mee taste-alike Hokkien-fried-mee. The Wan-tan-mee taste-alike was entirely me, I believe, as nobody seem to agree.

After dinner, the immediate destination was Firefly resort, though there were some getting lost involved in the process of getting there. As usual, this dedicated GPS sometimes malfunction a little at night. We paid an unfair price for entrance, boat ticket included. The fireflies reminded me of Owl City, but not very much of my childhood, as those I saw back then were much bigger as I recall. I think I thought so sometime in the middle of the boat ride: "This is Nature's gift to us. And it should've been free. What happened to the world? So that now every gift of Nature are costing us?". And then I felt a little sad, as I know for a fact that it's not as easy for me to see fireflies back at home as it used to be before.

It was near 22:00 by the time we got out of the Firefly resort, but more than half claim to still have energy and are interested to go to i-City. So, we went. It's seems a little ironic, to me, to leave a sight of lights prepared by nature and head for a sight of artificial light. And of course when we got there I didn't think it was at all comparable, but that probably was due to the fact that I'm not one of the still-energetic half of the group.

We finally arrive at the initial meeting point at 01:00 of the other day. And although I thought I would bath and sleep immediately, I had enough energy to work through the uploading of photos up on Facebook. And that, ended a day that gave me mixed feelings about many many things.