Dantruong Travel & Tourism

I only have a one way ticket to Kota Kinabalu and am worried AsianAir will not let me board the plane, I did some googling and some people said they are quite strict on this nowadays, so i was worried sick. I intend to travel overland to Brunei and Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantan)and I don’t want to buy plane ticket when am not sure when I am ready to leave. At Manila(Clark) airport the guy on the check in desk did not ask for a RT or ticket out of Malaysia he is most concerned that I exceeded the 15 kgs weight limit for checked in luggage, mine clocked at 17.5 kg, I either have to pay up or lose the weight, so in front of everyone I started taking out things from the big pack, flip flops, towel, matt,deodorant, anything until it is below 16 kgs. then shoved them in to my day pack which is now full and pregnant, surprisingly enough they don’t weigh it(limit is 7kg).

Long wait the plane was half hour delayed, good thing Clark has wifi at the airport and was able to write to Borneo backpackers that I shall be delayed arriving to Kota
Mamutik
Mamutik
Kinabalu. The flight was smooth, full of Pinoys probably working in Malaysia and Brunei. At the immigration desk I did not realize i need to fill in an immigration form so I have to get back and queue up again whilst filling up the form. He took ages paging through my passport, at the back of my head he may be looking for an Israeli stamp though that should not put me into trouble but you never know, anyway he asked how long I will stay, 2 months maybe I said and he gave me 3 months! Captain from the hostel picked me up, they offer free airport pick ups, I first took money from the ATM , having no clue to the exchange rate I just guessed how much should be enough for now. KK looks modern and developed and lots of celebration because it’s Chinese New Year and Valentine’s day as well.

I went for a walk trying to look for dinner I found a nice eatery, paid about $4 for a decent meal of rice and veggies and fish and a big Tiger beer, I thought Philippines I could have had it for $2, yup Malaysia
beer nite out
beer nite out
is more expensive so i shall budget wisely.Went back to the hostel, bunch of Brits hanging out in the lounge a bit loud, told myself have to get used to backpackers again after a month of not meeting a single one in the south of the Philippines. Went out to look for dinner, there were a few fireworks celebrating Chinese New Year, I found a cheap eatery and had dinner there along with Tiger beer. Collapsed in bed very tired from the long trip from Manila.

Woke up, had a shower and asked for directions to get to Signal hill to get a good view of the city. i followed a trail behind Lucy’s GH which is just behind Borneo backpackers, the road splits up hill and went to the right then it splits up some more, I decided to turn left as it goes uphill thinking it will give me a good view of the city, it was a dead end and got barked at by nasty dogs, i tried to ignore them they followed me all the way up and down. Not about to give up I followed a winding road uphill past this taxi stand thing,
Bah Gut Teh
Bah Gut Teh
delish!!!
I found a set of steps that looks as if it’s not been used for awhile, dead leaves litter the stairs, i got up it and its another dead end, bummed I headed down quickly, and just gave up i could not find a way to the observatory, the GH did not give me a good direction. Back in the GH I spoke to Fee who just came from climbing Mt. Kinabalu and gave me tips and where to book it cheap. She walked with me near the office of the adventure company. I booked for 625 ringgit my trek up the mountain on Wednesday.

Having done that i checked out the waterfront, walked the promenade a bit then checked out the wet market, lots of fish and clams and sea snails, some were huge, then found the veggie and fruit stalls, I was so tempted to buy things but wasn’t sure if I can cook at the GH so better check with them first.
I walked around in the searing heat my intention is to see a few museums and the mosque but failed and i did not want to take the taxi, hungry i parked my bum
Huge tree behind Lucy’s backpackers
Huge tree behind Lucy’s backpackers
in one of the cheap eateries near Asia city. Back to the H to take a nap, in the eve walked to the Jesselton port to watch the sunset and bought some food, a tiger beer in cans is 7 ringgits!

The next day i decided to go island hopping, I left at 9am from hostel and bought water and snacks and lanzones fruits. Then walked to the Jesselton port, I saw Su my roommate and he is on his way out, he got overwhelmed by the number of people in queue he left, I persuaded him to come with me but refused. I struggled to find a company that would take me to 2 islands at least, Sapi and Manukan, they only do it if there are at least 2 persons, so i settled for just one, the guy recommended me Mamutik for excellent snorkelling, They were not really that helpful at the front desk, they don’t want to explain about the different islands, the guy said he has no time for that they are trying to get as much customers as possible and keeps hollering to people doing sale pitch and hardly listens to me, annoyed and
Signal Hill road
Signal Hill road
fed up i asked him to just book it! I have to pay 10 rinngits for the snorkel gear and 5 for some park fees.
I met my 2 other roomie from KL in the queue waiting for the boat, they go to Manukan, we ended up in the same boat, the wait was long, we dropped them off at Manukan first then us at Mamutik. it is really crowded wherever you go and I settled for an isolated nook on the right of the island. there is a diving school next to where I camped I left my things unattended and snorkelled, it was safe no one bothered me or even stole my things.

The snorkel was meager in front of the beach but once you get past the barrier ropes and went next to the rocks they have excellent corals there, brown, green oranges, different shapes and sizes and the fish are also incredible, lots of varieties some i have seen there for the 1st time, i saw a puffer fish, different types of angel fish, parrot fish and some barracudas and groupers. I was by myself in that area no on went there to snorkel! I
Signal hill view
Signal hill view
went back to the beach to have some snacks then had a go again when I had my fill I walked to the other end of the island and did some more snorkelling there, not as great as the other side but i get to feed the fish with oysters in the shallows. Among the rocks in the shallow part they have lots of oysters and I simply grabbed some rocks and start pounding at them and the fish came to eat the morsel I presented to them in big groups, i quite enjoyed different types of fish that come to eat my present to them, some green fish could not wait it tries to grab the morsels of oysters while I am still pounding the shell, i tried to shooe it so i dont accidentally hit it. Then 3pm came i have to go and get the boat back to KK.

At the hostel I rested and packed for Kinabalu hike, I hang out with Su and the 2 KL boys and exchanged travel experiences, had dinner with them and then off to bed. Funny thing I realized here is they use “boss” as an expression just like
Signal hill view
Signal hill view
in Philippines to address people say they don’t know your name. There are lots of Pinoys here and they don’t exactly have a good reputation sadly, and a lot had gone through the back door to get here, the farthest islands of the Philippines is not even 40 kms away from Sandakan and same goes on the top end, past few islands on the tip of Borneo and you are already in Palawan.

The best things in life are the things you work the hardest for. Langkawi Island, Malaysia proved that to us in abundance after we endured over 24 hours of uninterrupted travel. We arrived, exhausted, to an island paradise that seemed a million miles away from the chaos of Shanghai. Before I talk about paradise though let me explain Hell.

In the space of 27 hours we traveled thousands of miles in the pursuit of the perfect beach. The transit included a subway, a commuter train, a taxi, a plane, an overnight train, and finally a boat. Most of this was typically monotonous and boring, but a few things stood out. One highlight was the overnight train from Kuala Lumpur to Butterworth, where we had almost an entire train car to ourselves for the duration of the night. This allowed us to roll through the conservative Muslim countryside while drinking mixed vodka drinks. You would think this would make sleep easier but it still remained elusive in a 2nd class Malaysian Railways seat.

After our final scenic ferry ride we arrived and set off on a weekend of eating, drinking, and relaxing. For anyone who is a fan of Asian
Langkawi Cable Car
Langkawi Cable Car
Last picture taken before camera died.
food I would recommend an immediate culinary trip to Langkawi Island. Malaysian food is basically a hybrid of Indian and Thai so I myself was in heaven. This is because heaven is not only defined by the quality of the food but also the price you pay for it. On Langkawi you can get a full green curry chicken dinner with naan bread for around 6 ringgits ($2). Paul is our resident food enthusiast and I am fairly certain he climaxed several times during each meal.

Of course you need something to wash down the spicy Malaysian food and what better than Tiger Beer. On the island you can buy a Tiger for 2 ringgits ($0.70) so we were all once again in heaven. Langkawi is actually the cheapest place to booze in Malaysia because it is both a liberal outpost in a relatively conservative Malaysia, and also because there is no alcohol tax on the island. The issue though would not be getting a buzz, rather it would be finding people to share that buzz with.

Our hostel was situated directly on the beach, within walking distance of several restaurants, and directly beside a beachfront reggae bar.
Our Balcony
Our Balcony
Duncan is trying to stay jacked, but mostly failing. Also the place cost $8 each per night.
This place sold buckets (Literally kid’s beach buckets filled with a booze and juice mix) but was verrrrrry laid back. So much so that if Bob Marley were still alive he might get anxious at a bar like this. It was relaxing but in Curtis’ words, “It needs more party.” We tried a few other places but kept running into the same problem. Because it is not tourist season in Malaysia we had trouble finding like minded people to party with. This meant a lot of card games and a lot of male bonding.

During the days we made time between gorging on the food to sample some of Langkawi’s tourist attractions. The best of these was probably bthe Langkawi Cable Car which takes you up to the highest peak on the island. The views were amazing, but unfortunately for you my camera died during the ride up to the top. For anyone interested in what these pictures might have looked like, I suggest you Google “Langkawi Cable Car” and then photoshop my face into the pictures. We also went to a crocodile farm where we witnessed a man put his hand into a crocodile’s mouth. Even better than
Ferry Entertainment = Avatar
Ferry Entertainment = Avatar
The ferry ride included a viewing of Avatar. I have not seen Avatar so this sounded great to me. However, the screen was 8 inches and there was no sound. Needless to say I still have not seen Avatar.
this was the fact that one of his pump up songs before his performance was Shania Twain’s, “Whose Bed have Your Boots Been Under.”

We reluctantly left Langkawi to travel back to Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur. Since I already mentioned Entrapment, I will pass on some more Malaysian movie trivia. The movie Zoolander is banned in Malaysia because it includes references to an assassination attempt on the Malaysian Prime Minister. I’m not kidding. This is why you will not see any Blue Steel poses in the pictures from this entry.

Larry and I here…we wanted to share our latest travels with you…our trip to Malaysia! We left on April 15th and were gone for 2 weeks! During this time, we had the opportunity to see a lot of different parts of the beautiful country – including Penang, Perhentian Kecil Island, Taman Negara (central rain forest), and of course, Kuala Lumpur! Here are some pictures and stories from our trip…

When we first arrived in Kuala Lumpur, we took another flight up to Penang, where we spent about 4 days and 4 nights. Penang was a nice place – a rather large island off the northwestern coast of Malaysia – known for its variety of cultures and diverse food! Needless to say, we enjoyed it! My favorite? The roti canai that was available EVERYWHERE and was oh-so-cheap! Roti canai is a type of flatbread popular in Malaysia and is best dipped in curry sauce. There are many kinds you can try as well – including garlic, butter, cheese, and even snickers for dessert!! My mouth is watering just writing about it… Although, I’d have to say the most memorable dinner we had in Penang was in Georgetown’s famous
Butterfy Farm
Butterfy Farm
E & O (Eastern & Oriental) Hotel – called “1885.” The atmosphere, service and food were all wonderful!

While in Penang we stayed at the Flamingo Hotel – a nice hotel right in between Batu Feringgi (the beach resort area) and Georgetown (the big city). This worked out quite well for us because we kind of got “The best of both worlds…” There was a local bus stop right in front of our hotel, and so for less than $0.75 / person we could get to both places quite easily. Our last night in Penang, our hotel gave us a free shuttle to the Batu Feringgi Night Market – where we had a really nice Arabic dinner and then did a little bargain shopping.

Some other things we did in Penang included a tour of Cheong Fatt Tze’s Mansion, let little birds free at a temple, went up to Penang Hill with a nice couple from Sudan, visited the old clan jetty, saw the Khoo Kongsi clan house (where the movie “Anna and the King” was filmed), and visited the Penang Butterfly Farm, among many other fun things. The weather was always SO hot and humid each and
Coral Bay Sunset
Coral Bay Sunset
every day, that usually by early afternoon we retreated either to an air-conditioned mall, restaurant, or our large and lovely hotel pool. The ‘Beach Bar’ – a water bar in our pool – was especially refreshing as they did a “Happy Hour” everyday.

After Penang, we got on a flight back to Kuala Lumpur (only 1 hour), and then another flight to the Terengganu region of Malaysia (also only about 1 hour) – where we soon hopped on a fast boat to get to the gorgeous Perhentian Island of Kecil. The Perhentian Islands are made up of two islands – Besar (being the larger of the two) and Kecil. We stayed on Kecil, and were so happy that we did! Not only was it totally remote – there were no roads on the island at all, only paths through the jungle – but it was also very cheap and GORGEOUS! We were actually told that this is what Thailand looked like about 20 years ago…before all of the tourism took over!!

We stayed in the Shari-La Resort on Coral Bay Beach (the smaller of the two beaches – the larger being Long Beach), and were in the only
Local Boy
Local Boy
He was playing with a live shrimp for fun.
hotel on this side of the island with air-conditioning! (And frankly, I don’t know how the hell anyone could possibly sleep there without it!) Anyhow, our resort was lovely, we had our own private little chalet, and it was only steps away from the BEAUTIFUL Romantic Beach! Paradise!

On Perhentian Island Kecil we finally were able to relax a bit…for those who know us, especially when in a new place, we don’t really know how to sit still! We did, however, get to go on an AMAZING snorkeling trip to about 5 different points around the islands with another really nice couple from England – Lisa and Raeph. It was so much fun and the things we saw were, without a doubt, the best we’d ever seen snorkeling…we even saw some sharks, sting rays, and giant sea turtles!! I wanted to go back another day to see the turtles again, but unfortunately my butt was so burnt from our first trip – the one place you don’t think to put suntan lotion – that we had to avoid the sun a bit on our last day! Some other great memories of this island are delicious & cheap meals at
Melanie acting silly.
Melanie acting silly.
Amelia’s and Mama’s Cafe everyday, drinking Monkey Juice at night with our $6 fresh seafood buffet dinners, and catching glimpses of monitor lizards on the beach!

Well, we have two more Malaysian destinations to write about – Taman Negara and Kuala Lumpur – so hopefully you’ll check back soon!

On the morning of Saturday the 27th we got the 10.30am bus to Tanah Rata, a 4 and a half hour journey up windy narrow hillside roads to the Cameron Highlands. The driver must have had a death wish because he took the corners really tight and scraped the wheels of the bus off the hillside rocks with us sitting on the right hand side of the bus and overlooking a 1000ft drop down the side of the mountain – very scary!. We even met an overturned truck at one of the bends but luckily it was being cleared at that stage, but it definitely was not the best road to be driving carelessly on. We arrived at Father’s Guesthouse, as recommended by ‘The Book’ early in the afternoon and were shown to our room in a damp Nissan bunker down the garden but we couldn’t really complain at a rate of 6 euro per night. After a short walk down to Tanah Rata village we called into a tourist office for information and to plan Sundays activities. We decided we were going to get a local bus up to a tea plantation rather than go on one
Us at The Tea Plantation
Us at The Tea Plantation
of the expensive organised tours. On Sunday we got the chugging rattler up the highway as far as we could and then walked the few kms into Sungan Palas Tea Estate and Boh Tea Centre. After a visit to the old tea factory for a short tour we sat down for a nice cuppa before heading back towards the highway. Two locals must have felt sorry for us on the windy road and picked us up in their landrover truck and we gladly jumped into the back for the short spin down to the main road. The highway was lined with strawberry farms, bee hive centres, butterfly farms and cactus nurseries and since there was no guarauntee of us getting a bus the 8km back to Tanah Rata we decided to walk and visit a few of these places on the way. We called into the beehive centre and along the way had the most delicious strawberry sundae and strawberry waffles in the Big Red Strawberry Farm – yum yum. Monday we decided to go and do a hike as there were many trails around the mountains in the area, some shorter than others and some much more difficult. We
Beetle Buzz
Beetle Buzz
chose to do track 8 as it looked short enough around 2km but it turned out to be very steep and took us around 3 hours to go up and back, we found out later it was one of the toughest trails in the area and to top it off there wasn’t much of a view when we got to the top. We didn’t see any animals along the way but spotted a few nasty looking bugs. All in all it was good for the legs though. On the way back down the track we passed a farm with some very tempting strawberries just over the fence and Diarmuid borrowed a few for the road.
That evening we booked the trip to Taman Negara for the morning and were looking forward to the boat trip from Timbelling Jetty to Kuala Tahan village.
So on Tuesday morning we found out that the boat trip wasn’t going and that we would have to get a mini-bus to Gua Musang and a bus to Kuala Tahan, an 8 hour journey altogether. There was only 4 of us on the 38 seater bus from Gua Musang so it was like a VIP ride and
Tea Thieving
Tea Thieving
very comfortable. We arrived at Kuala Tahan, the main village at Taman Negara around 6.30pm and it typically started raining. Luckily it didn’t last long though and the Tahan Guesthouse where we were staying was just a few minutes away. The guesthouse was a nice place with colourful murals on the walls, mosquito nets over the beds and we had our own balcony. That evening we had a quick look around the village as it was getting dark, there were a number of guesthouses around, an overpriced internet cafe, some locals offering laundry services and an array of restaurant boats down on the river. It seemed like a nice quiet place to stay for a few days and we were looking forward to it. Wednesday we got a river taxi across to the park headquarters to pick up our entry and camera permits and then took to the jungle trails of Taman Negara or as Lonely Planet describes it, ‘A buzzing, leach-infested mass of primary forest’ . We trekked up to the canopy walkway and up to the viewpoint at Burit Teresek. The view over the river and Mt Tahan was lovely. The hike itself was tough, although only 1.7km
Diarmuid at the bunkers
Diarmuid at the bunkers
the heat was unreal and made it difficult. We didn’t see much in the jungle besides lizards and bugs but we were more so looking forward to seeing and hearing it come alive in the night time. On the trail back we stopped off in at Lubok Simpson Swimming Pool, which was a fresh water pool in the small Sungai Tahan river. We saw the most amazing dragonflies of various colours – purple, red, pink and orange and spent a while trying to photograph them. Thursday morning we prepared ourselves for a night in one of the jungle hides, we booked the boat for 2.15pm to take us down river to within 1km of Bumbun Yong hide. We got there early with enough time to familiarize ourselves with our surroundings and scout the hide for bugs and wait for dusk. There was a guestbook in the hide full up with comments from other peoples visits over the last year and probably a huge mistake for us to read. Most comments referred to a huge spider living in the hide – “Watch out for the huge black spider that lives in the toilet”, “While sleeping I felt a huge spider crawling
Ready for a hike
Ready for a hike
inside my sleeping bag”. To top that off while we were in the hide a French couple came in, the guy had long black bushy hair in a ponytail and looked a little distraught, they told us they had just been to a hide nearby called Bumbun Blau where a huge terrantula jumped down from the beam and clung to the guys hair. He said he felt something realy heavy on his neck and turned around quickly and when he swung his hair the beast went flying onto the floor and scuttled off. We knew then that the night ahead would be very very interesting….We searched the hide for a while but just found a couple of geckos near the bunks. The hide itself just consisted of 12 solid wood bare bunks, flimsy shutters on some of the windows, one disgusting looking toilet and an open viewing window overlooking the salt lick 100 metres below. There were also blood splatters all over the ground, we can only presume from when people burned or pulled leeches off themselves and then squashed them. We sat still for a while and waited and watched a mouse deer as he approached from the side
Taking to the trails
Taking to the trails
of the salt lick, looking for the little drops of water still on the surface of the drying mud pool. Then there was nothing much, it got dark and the fun began. The insects started chirping, branches started breaking, the geckos in the hide started calling and the fire flies came out in force. It was an unusual experience, peaceful at times and we now understand why the sounds of the jungle are often described as a symphony. It was also one of the scariest experiences but thankfully Diarmuid stayed up all night on guard against the dreaded arachnids. We spotted a second deer during the night but then 8am came and went but no more animals were to be seen at dawn. We felt lucky to have survived our night in the jungle and on a huge adrenalin rush we trekked up to Gua Telinga Cave. Surrounded by cobwebs and bugs we crawled through the guano stenching tunnel for what felt like hours. Suffering then from a mild case of post traumatic stress we headed back towards Kuala Tahan but taking the wrong path ended up in a Orang Asli village by accident before turning back and reaching the
View from Burit Teresek
View from Burit Teresek
swimming pool for a long and welcome soak. We chilled out then for the rest of the day and planned our route to Palau Perhentian on Saturday. We are ready and willing to say goodbye to the jungle and looking forward to some beach relaxation..sea and sand here we come…

The Majority of our time in Malaysia was spent watching the Formula 1 GP! Our initial tickets were not that good so we upgraded them for another 20 pounds (even though the ticket office staff there were useless – surprise, suprise!). the view was fantastic as we could see multiple corners and a bit of straight too. After the first few laps when all the cars of bunched together, there are then always cars coming round, the sound is defening! It was a fantastic experience, the atmosphere around the track was very good too, as there were people from all nationalities there! The hotel we stayed at in KL was next to a very vibrant area. It was very busy during the day and was always buzzing. We were next to the Times Square building which is a 10 story shopping mall. We also went to see the Petronas towers which are very impressive, but we couldn’t go up as they are closed on Mondays.

After KL, we went to Penang, which is an island on the North west coast. It was such a contrast to KL, as it was very Laid back and a slower pace of life. The
Sepang circuit
Sepang circuit
Island is Full of Colonial buildings which are nice, but the main feature was the amount of food stalls which were there. There was a night market where the stalls sell all sorts of South east Asian dishes. We decided to go to Penang as it broke up our journey to Thailand, but it was a good experience being there! Malaysia will be remembered though for the F1 GP! Incredible!