Palau Tioman part 3

The day we went on the boat trip and we visited the main part of the island there was a wedding. We saw a banner announcing the wedding date and we even got invited.

Apparently everybody on the island was invited to that wedding and they even got a ferry to bring the friends and relatives from the peninsula. I was curious to see a traditional wedding but unfortunately we were in a group and we didn't have enough time to go and check the wedding out. There was no other way to go back to the resort than by boat and we decided to stay with the group.

Tioman is a very traditional and unspoiled island. Simple and relaxing. The locals are muslim and very kind. We saw a local woman with her two little kids sitting on a bench by the sea. They were happy to be photographed.

I made new friends on the boat. Meet Akin and Tashya from Johor Baru.

They were shy at first but after a while they forgot about the shyness and practiced their English with me. They even showed me their talents - the little boy sang me a song and the girl drew a little picture of me - so cute!

We returned to Genting to have a big seafood barbeque. It was awesome. The last day I went for a swim and after that I took a few photos around Genting.

Every shop you walk in and the breakfast area of our resort were shoe free areas.

Not sure what sport this was exactly but kudos to the locals for being active!

Pisang goreng (fried banana) in the making.

I guess my final thoughts are for all the readers that are interested in visiting Tioman to have the chance to do so. You can easily go about without shoes/phone/watch but don't forget to bring your camera, sunscreen and mosquito repellent. And try the pisang goreng. Available only at lunchtime.

Palau Tioman part 2

Cool thing about Malaysian beaches is that they never seem to be very busy because it is summer pretty much all year round and there is always an island that is in season. As far as I understand when it's monsoon season on the west side the east side would be dry season and vice versa. Pretty cool.

We stayed at the beach until the sunset and then had dinner - simple local food.

The following day we went on a boat trip around Tioman and the smaller islands surrounding it.

We did snorkeling and saw some very beautiful colourful corals and fish.

Found nemo too.

We then had lunch at a little beach with white sand and got on the boat once again to see the main part of the island. We went for a stroll and got some fresh coconut.

After we had the coconut water the coconut man halved the coconuts and made little spoons from them so we can enjoy the coconut flesh - awesome!

tbc

Palau Tioman part 1

Tioman island is the second Malaysian island that I had the pleasure to visit. Much smaller than Langkawi, Tioman island is accessible by air and sea. We went there by car from KL to Mersing and then we reached the island by ferry.

It was a long journey but aboslutely worth it. Big parts of the main highways in Malaysia are lit and that meant we could easily leave in the early hours of the night to arrive at Tioman as early as possible. Malaysia is very green and we drove though palm plantations and by fruit orchards too (not sure if they are called orchards in this part of the world) - it was interesting to see the rambutan trees covered in the bright red or yellow fruits. Along the way there were many places where you could stop and buy fruit and of course we did. Locally sourced and seasonal fruits are the best! We had mangosteens, kilos of rambutan and we also tried custard apples.

The ferry ride takes approximately an hour and it's in a big air conditioned ferry boat so having something to cover yourself up with is a good idea.

As soon as we arrived we got off the ferry in Genting and made our way to the little resort we stayed at. Genting is large village along the west coast of Tioman island and offers budget hotels and local restaurants along the beachfront. We stayed in a little bungalow up on a hill from which we could see the sea. It was clean but one definitely needs a stong mosquito repellent for the evenings and nights.

We checked in and went to the beach.

Life without music is no life at all

I cannot imagine life without music. And I don't mean those hits that you hear over and over everywhere you go. They might be catchy and enjoyable for a while but after all they only exist to turn profits in for whoever is behind them as an artist or I guess mainly as the label company. I am talking about music recorded with real instruments and by really talented musicians and artists. My preferences go to instrumentals and to songs in languages I don't understand.

Some of favourite songs are instrumentals, because I like to listen to the different instruments, to the rhythm, to the beat, to all the different layers of sounds and to ultimately interpret them as I want to, to enjoy them either as I go about my activities or as I get lost in my thoughts.

I particularly enjoy listening to my favourite songs in foreign languages because on top the music I like, the artists' voices carry a vibe, that is like vibe you get off when you meet someone that doesn't speak any of the languages you speak. I believe that because you cannot communicate verbally, you just get a "feeling" about them. You sense and it almost always represents the way that person is. So those songs in foreign languages are very genuine, a way of sharing an emotion, a feeling, a much more powerful way of sharing emotions rather than using lyrics.

Of course it goes without saying that there are many songs with very deep lyrics, lyrics that make you think and that make you ask yourself questions. I like it when I get to hear and understand something new about a lyrical song I like. It's like discovering its full meaning.

The other great thing about music is that it can take you back to a period of your life that you associate with a certain song or album or playlist. It is fascinating how it brings back not only memories but also feelings about that particular period of your life.

And music is also great because of its diversity to suit your mood.

Langkawi

Officially known as Langkawi, the Jewel of Kedah, the beautiful island has a lot to offer. It is only an hour flight away from KL which makes it a perfect weekend getaway for those who live there. There are flights from KL to Langkawi daily and at various hours which makes it very convenient to get to. The airport is also located very close to the coast and the beach that we went to called Cenang. We stayed at an interesting homestay place located near Cenang. They offered bikes for rent which was the perfect way to go around. After we checked in and had a tasty breakfast on the deck we hopped on the bikes and went to the beach in front of Babylon (a really cool bar on Cenang). We spent the whole day at the beach, enjoying the sun, eating local rambutan, swimming and relaxing.

Towards the end of the day my friend got stung by something in the water and we had to go to the hospital, luckily there was a local to help us get there. After a few shots she said she felt better and that she was hungry so we made it back to Babylon for a tasty dinner.

We tried barbecued fish, prawns and satay and for those that don’t enjoy very spicy food a piece of advice is to ask for the chilli sauce on the side. After dinner we biked back to the homestay place and after chilling a bit on the terrace by the sea listening to the waves and to the chillout music played on the speakers and enjoying the sea breeze.

The following morning we had breakfast and then returned to the rooms to chill because it was drizzling on and off. I found the rain relaxing and went around the place we stayed at to take a few photos.

We relaxed until lunch and then the rain stopped so I got on the bike to explore. I went as far as the main road by the beach went and then left the bike and continued walking. Wide beach, clean and surrounded by a lot of vegetation. Like a little piece of heaven.

Langkawi is a place I would return to and I would like to see more of, I know about the cable cars that take you up to the peak of GunungMat Chinchang, where the Langkawi Sky Bridge is located. And they also offer craft workshops and I read about its museums. Hopefully I will be able to stay there for longer next time and tell you more about it.

Rambutan

The third tropical fruit to feature in my blog is the rambutan. It originates from Malaysia and Indonesia and its name comes from the word rambut which in Malay means hair. No wonder why.

They told me to select the red ones as they are sweeter.

I wasn’t sure how to peel it and I wanted to check online, but I did not have internet so I just tried to press and cracked it open. Because of how we got used with technology my first thought was to check how to do it online. I am not against technology, on the contrary, I think it is fantastic how many things you can see, learn and understand online, but I don’t think we should 100% rely on technology and the internet. For example it is great to have a sat nav, especially if you are somewhere for the first time, but don’t listen to it blindly, follow the road, learn it so you don’t have to use it next time and don’t even bother using it in your city – learn your city streets! Anyway back to rambutan. Wild looking tropical fruit.

Once you crack it open 

you can easily peel the skin 

and get to this -

It is a sweet lychee like fruit with a small stone.

Very interesting seasonal fruit from this part of the world so I will enjoy it while I can. Definitely worth trying.

Mangoes!

12 weeks into my Asian adventure and approximately 87 mangoes later I decided to finally share some facts and my love for that sweet juicy fruit.

What prompted me to write this is a fun fact shared with me the other day - more mangoes are eaten fresh than any other fruit in the world.

That is more than apples and more than bananas - how cool is that? Native to southeast Asia and India mango trees are also grown in Latin America and Africa and the fruit itself distributed worldwide.

There are over a thousand varieties of mango and most of them are grown in India. At the convenient for me store there are usually about 4 or 5 types of mango, and my favourite is the Elephant Tusk.

They look like this:

When ripe its light yellow flesh has a silky smooth taste, very refreshing and sweet. It is my fruit of choice to add to a tasty breakfast.

The other type I have tried is the Water Lily mango. They look like this:

Also very tasty and very easy for peeling when ripe.

The other type is called Indian mango. They look like this:

Much rounder than the fisrt two types, it has a very different taste, it has a sweet, rich and highly fragrant. Probably too fragrant for me to have often.

The other type is Phoenix. Mangoes looks like this:

This one is much bigger that the rest and I have not tried yet.

For me mango is a tasty tropical way to have my oats in the morning and it's also an essential ingredient of one of the best desserts I've tried here - the mango sticky rice. It's a Thai thing, sticky rice topped with coconut milk and served with a fresh mango. Yum.

And not only they are tasty, mangoes also help to lower cholesterol. the fiber content makes it a wonderful digestive and they are rich in the vitamins A and C.

In Kevin Grise's words and voice - cooool aaaaaazzz.

Tuk Tuk

Tuk Tuk is a village on an island, in a lake, on an island. The bigger island is called Sumatra.

Sumatra is the largest island that is entirely in Indonesia and the 6th largest island in the world.

We got there by air to the airport in the biggest city on it called Medan, then grabbed a cab to the bus station. I was stunned by the traffic - loads of cars, bikes, a kind of taxi bikes called becaks:

And loads of bikes and smaller vehicles driving on the each side of the road going against the traffic - a little mad to drive there I guess.

We then got on a bus - a really wild old bus that would take us to Parapat which is on the edge of the lake we wanted to go to.

Bus ride was really wild, people were smoking inside the bus, we kept stopping to let more people on board and to me it looked it was full from the start, but they always found a way to squeeze another person in. It is almost as if we didn't stop to let the passengers get on the bus, rather we would slow down let them hop in and then go fast again. Crazy ride. Of course there was no AC, and it was a hot and sticky and tiring ride.

We made it to Parapat so we were just a ferry away from our destination. Decided to grab a bite before we get on the ferry. He had egg fried rice which was decent, I ordered some veggies and they were not bad if only they didn't put on them the mini dried prawns - that kind that you feed to your water turtle pet or to your fish.

The ferry took us across lake Toba, the ride was very pleasant, relaxing and cooling after the wild bus ride.

We finally arrived at the Tuk Tuk village, and checked in a little bungalow right by the water. It was so peaceful and relaxing to stay on the little veranda and look into the horizon.

We woke up the next morning to this beautiful view:

It was time to explore. After breakfast (we tried an amazing ginseng coffee) we headed towards the waterfall. On the way all locals would smile and greet us when we passed by their houses - very genuinely. The weather was nice so they had taken crops out in front of their houses to dry them.

We asked for directions and a few locals told us we couldn't get there, but we didn't give up, we kept walking and kept asking. Finally three local boys decided to show us the way so off we went. At first it was going through a forest and it gradually became steeper and steeper. We were walking on rocks and it was getting more and more humid, we could hear the waterfall and after the next turn there it was. We thought we had reached our goal when the locals told us that us that we can go further up. I did not see a way up. They all took their shoes off and started climbing, grabbing onto the roots of the trees. So we followed. It was a very steep and I wouldn't have even thought of going there if it wasn't for the locals, they showed us how and lead the way. It was a really nice challenge, climbing up to the waterfall by holding onto the roots and digging your toes into the soil. It was surreal, the adrenaline rush was incredible. I could not believe how high we have gone. The view was absolutely worth it.

We took the most refreshing shower ever. And then just stayed on the rocks to enjoy the view...

Going down was not easy at all - my feet were like cooked spaghetti from the adrenaline. We stopped for a break in the forest before we returned to the village. There the locals picked some wild jungle fruits for us to try. They are called salak and look like this:

They are also called snake fruit for obvious reasons. The skin is prickly and rough, once you peel it the fruit inside consists of three parts, the biggest one of which contains a large inedible seed. The fuit is fleshy with a bitter sweet flavour.

Tired from the adventure we returned to the village and went to grab a bite. Interesting thing about the Tuk Tuk village is that most locals open their houses for business. Whether it will be a restaurant, a cafe, a convenience store, laudry services, a tourist information place etc. So you literally would enter into a house sit down in the living room, order and the locals would prepare a meal in their kitchen - the menu is based around the ingredients that every household has in stock - free range eggs (there are chickens around the streets of the village), potatoes, tomatoes, fresh vegetables, avocados, fresh fruits etc. We tried a very tasty kind of bread they have with a spread of avocados (much like guacamole), had some really tasty soups and tried their smoothies. Then on the way back to the bungalow we tried a local treat - pisang goreng or fried banana. Cooked on the street and hot when we got it, it was a simple and nice local treat.

The third day we took a long walk by the lake, barefoot, had breakfast at a really nice little place with a veranda and enjoyed the peace and quiet the village has to offer before we headed back to the airport in Medan.

 

Lovely little village retreat, really enjoyed the time spent there, totally enjoyed the hike to the waterfall! A little village on a little island, on a lake, on an island worth visiting.

Asian elevators

Obviously this thing with posting weekly didn't work out. 

I have recently moved to Asia, and a couple of things here made me wonder/think so I decided to share them!

First post from this part of the world is about elevators. I am residing in a 30-something storey building and working on the 19th floor of an office building. Obviously that means a lot of elevator buttons. Here is a photo of a building's elevator buttons:

Do you notice anything peculiar? 

There is no number 4 on those buttons. Why? The answer is tetraphobia (from Greek tetras - four and phobos - fear).  

Tetraphobia is the fear of number 4. It is a superstition most common in East Asian and Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia, Singapore, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Korea and Japan.

The reason behind that is that the word for 4 in Chinese sounds quite similar to the word for death.

Similarly 14, 24, 34, 42 etc. are also to be avoided due to the presence of the digit 4 in these numbers.

In Malaysia so far I have seen replacement of the digit 4 (example 3A, 13A and 23A are respectively the 4th, 14th and 24th floors) and from what I've gathered in China they would just skip the feared digit and by simply looking at the elevator's buttons (unaware of tetraphobia) you might think that those floors are missing.