Sabah: the best trip ever?

Yes. This was the highlight of my year. I first flew to Kota Kinabalu, a small town dominated by Chinese. Because it was Chinese New Year (Gong Xi Fa Cai!!!!), there were red lanterns all over the place and a stage set up for old Chinese men to sing music Karaoke-style. You can imagine, I left KK immediately. Well, not before flirting with the idea of buying a puppy at the outdoor market...yeah they sell dogs in open-air markets close to the fresh produce and touristy trinkets. I didn't end up buying one and instead took an all-night bus to Semporna to catch a boat to Pulau Sipidan. The all-night bus featured a movie "the White Ghost": this takes place in the 70s or 80s in Vietnam. A former army soldier marries a Vietnamese woman and lives in the jungle. Then, American military try to find him and so do the Vietnamese. He paints his face white, and everything starts blowing up. Vietnamese dudes, Americans...its great. Reminded me of my time in Langkawi with my bro (see previous post). Note: if you haven't seen this movie, please never ever see it. Its the worst movie in the history of cinema...really.

So I arrived at 4.30am in Semporna, ate some Nasi Goreng (fried rice) at the only restaurant open. Then, I slept on a dock for a few hours til the boat arrived. I finally boarded the speed boat and jetted to the oil rig-converted tourist destination that was to be my home for 3 nights and 4 days. It was a pretty sweet setup: good food, diving all day, some ping pong, and some time to read (In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is a good book). The diving at Pulau Sipidan is first class. On the first dive, my guide tapped her air tank to get everyone's attention. She then put her two fists on her head and started squealing. She saw a Hammerhead Shark! I missed the head (it was fortunately swimming away from the reef), but I saw a massive body and tail roughly 3 meters long. It was a really frightening and exhilarating moment. On subsequent dives, I saw so many turtles (swimming 2 feet from them was pretty righteous...totally), 3 devil rays gliding around, many white tip and grey reef sharks (small but really cool), lionfish, a school of barracuda, a crocodile fish, cuttlefish, a small octopus, some jack fish, bat fish, eels...this was some really incredible diving--I had such a blast.

After diving, I went back up to KK (!?!?!?!) but this time not to engage in the cultural festivities but to climb Mount Kinabalu, a world heritage site thats half the height of Everest, apparently. Anyway, I went from 25-30 meters underwater one day to 4000 meters above sea level the next two days. The air got thin but I was able to complete the hike. My friend and I hiked up half of it in one day, then woke up at 2.45am the next day to hike to the summit for the the sunrise (a lot of camaraderie cuz many tourists do the two-day trek). I have never seen such a beautiful night sky--the stars were bright, clear sky...really incredible. The sunrise was a'ight--nothin mind-blowing. But the top of the mountain was so cold--not snowing, but if I had stayed up there a minute longer, I would've frozen to death...really.

I've included some pics of the oil rig where I stayed, and then some pics of the mountain. Enjoy!

Only in Asia...

A few weeks ago, after a brief Sunday hiking excursion, I returned to my apt. to chill. Two or three days later, I woke up with an intolerable rash. Ok, it wasn't that bad...but it got real pretty quick. At first, an annoying case of poison ivy. Then, it spread from my arms to my neck to my legs to my abs...yes even to my abs. Naturally, I went to the clinic. I got some cortizone cream and oral steroids and started working out...I mean...started treating myself. And as expected in Asia, I did not get any better, rather worse. Ok so I decided this was bad enough to go to the hospital to see a specialist. I drove Dicky to the hospital, and on my way, my hands exploded....literally! The tops of my hands started itching like crazy and I noticed bumps all over the tops of my hands...microscopic bugs probably attacked me from the recesses of my old steering wheel cover. Dicky Tan!!!! Brutal. I walked into the hospital feverishly itching my hands...got some more steroidal cream and pills and instead of driving Dicky home---cuz he gave the disease to me in the first place---I got a taxi. No problem..crisis averted. My hands would just look like I had arthritis for the next few days and I would have some discomfort.
Well three or four days later, I returned to the hospital to retrieve Dicky Tan. Upon arriving, I realized my severe mistake. I left the windows down and parked under a tree, home to thousands of Penang birds. Hmmm....yes. My car was covered in bird poop. Fortunately, these birds must've been blind because the inside of my car was virtually untainted. But the outside was ridiculous...an asbolutely horrid sight. Also, someone had managed to root through all of my valuables in the car--used steering wheel cover: 1 ringgit; febreeze: 17 ringgit; Dicky's dignity: priceless--and stole the febreeze. I mean, honestly. I had like a rubberband, some pennies, and a sideview mirror in the middle compartment, and the thief had the audacity to steal my febreeze. Does common grace not extend that far? Don't you think you would say, "Hey, this car is really crappy. The owner doesn't have any valuables, he's parked at a hospital, the car is covered in bird poop, and the windows are down. Maybe I'll look for another car to rob." Not in Asia. They even take your friggin febreeze. Can you sense my bitterness?
Anyway, I healed up and my rash has subsided, though I'm still not %100. Nevertheless, I'm headed to Sabah in Malaysian Borneo on Saturday to scuba dive and hike Mt. Kinabalu. In Sipadan (the diving place), I'm staying on an oil rig redesigned to accommodate scuba divers. Pretty sweet and its the cheapest option...hmmm I hope I don't get some weird rash. Pics to follow:-)

Family Trip!!!
Wahooo!!! My family finally arrived---and I was totally stoked. This was the longest time I've spent away from home so it was so great to see them. Pulling up to the airport with Dave in my car, I really couldn't help but smile in anticipation and upon seeing them. After some hugs and talking, we headed out to begin our journey. Their trip of Penang can be seen at www.malaysianmayhem.blogspot.com. After a few days in Penang, we headed out to Bangkok for some city touring. We saw the Royal Palace, the Temple of the Rising Sun, and some other historic sites as well as some more touristy stuff. We went to a movie theater with sweet recliner seats, blankets, and a complimentary drink and watched 'Night at the Museum' which was a good family movie:-) We checked out a tailor so my dad could get his long-awaited-for cape, and my bro and I could get some pants and shirts. It was an altogether great experience. We next headed to Chiang Mai for some eco-tourism. We got to ride elephants, see some traditional villages, went to a night bazaare, and went to an elephant nature park where we learned about the dangers to elephants in Asia. There, we even got into the water with these huge elephants and washed them. It was a lot of fun! After Chiang Mai (which was the unanimous highlight of the trip for the fam) we went to beautiful Ko Phi Phi, an island in the south of Thailand. Although the weather on first day or two was kinda rainy, we enjoyed some massages, sudoku (my dad is a sudoku fiend), and reading. The weather cleared and we fit in some snorkelling (I went on one dive as well) and saw some beautiful fish in the clear water. Similar to Sarawak, there were also wooden pols on the sides of some cliffs to collect birds' nests to make the famous Chinese soup. Enjoy the pics and as always I love to hear from you!

Battle Royale: Matthews Brothers vs. drunken, skinny Malay (at Reggae Bar)
This Christmas/New Years, my family came to visit. I was super-stoked as my time in Malaysia has been the longest period of time I've gone without seeing them. Before my parents arrived, I took my brother to Langkawi (as a little Christmas present for him). We had fun driving around the island on motorbikes, seeing sites, and chillin on the beach. It was a great time to have some serious convos, hang out, and generally to get reacquainted with the smells of brotherhood. One night, we both decided to hit up the Reggae bar. We had been biking around a lot and we thought some time to sit back and listen to some fine music was in order. We had fun dancing and met some cool and not so cool people. After dancing with some African friends we had met (who were studying in Kuala Lumpur), we confronted a Malay guy who was getting a bit too familiar. He was a bit out of it and after an unsuccessful attempt to get him to chill out, things got real. Dave's version: This Malay guy was trying to shimmy up to some of our African friends and Dave laid down the law...just making sure the Malay dude knew that the girls did not want to dance with him and were just there to enjoy themselves with friends. After sensing a primordial and territorial male rage, the Malay dude picked a fight. Dave, wanting to be a peacemaker, threw up his arms and did not engage but apologized instead. After subsequent attempts to fight, Dave and I decided to leave. We made our way to our motorbike but of course, he followed us and blocked the exit leading to the main road. I was driving with Dave sitting on the back of the bike and we whizzed past this guy just as his friend couldn't hold him back. He took a swing at Dave (just grazing his back) and the bike wobbled to the left then to the right. I cut both feet, almost losing balance and having a total wipe-out, but was able to keep the bike in control and safely get away. I had deep gashes on my left and right big toes for the next two or three weeks--pretty brutal. Andrew's version*: Dave was getting his groove-thang on, mad peeps diggin his vibe. Checkin out the scene, I scopes some trouble brewin. "Dave, we best be leavin," I say. But Dave found his niche; he was unstoppable. This mini-Malay (Dave guessed 14 years old; I think he was probably 16) gets too familiar with some of our newly-met friends. Dave, reaffirming his earlier-established alpha-male status (with the exception of my superior status), taps the dude on the head. "Step off," Dave says.** Things got outta control fast. Malay guys started pouring out of the walls with bow staffs and knives. Dave sticks a napkin in a bottle and lights it on fire, throwing it only to see a huge mushroom cloud of flame ascend into through the bar. Ninjas were flyin all over, reggae gangsters were firing gats, and Dave, our African friends, and I were ducking to get to the exit. Mini Malay blocked the road with flaming tires and as we raced out on my bike, he bit my leg. We safely got away and for some reason Dave couldn't stop talking about fighting for the rest of the trip. It got kind of annoying (seriously Dave, I'm just saying...) but we had fun laughing about the experience.

No clear winner was decided, but Dave and I were pretty confident of what would've happened had things progressed:-)

*this version did not happen
**Dave never said this

Sarawak
Recently I travelled to Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo to do some hiking. I had heard of the wildlife and great hikes in Sarawak so I decided to make this trip more of the eco-tourism kind. I went to Bako, Gunung Gading, Similajau, and Niah Caves national parks. Along the way, I saw a wild baby crocodile (squint your eyes at above pic:-), some beautiful views, cave drawings, birds' nest scaffolding (explanation to follow), proboscis and macaque monkeys, bearded pigs (the most hideous animal on the planet), a few caves (Fairy, Wind, and Niah caves), a beautiful sunset, and in the process almost killed myself while hiking....seriously.
The trail was well-marked but the map wasn't. Any three trails could've been the one I was looking for. Then again, my friends never let me forget that I've gotten lost plenty of times. Anyway, I was resting on my hike and decided to walk off the trail a bit and up a slippery creek, complete with rushing water, rocks, and loose roots. A perfect place to sidehike. Inevitably, I slipped and (mom, stop reading here) smacked my face on a rock (the pic above is actually a cut from a tree on a different hike). I sat up and just chilled for a second to check whether I was ok. A few cuts but nothing major...I decided to have lunch and it was pretty good :-)
Sarawak was my first trip alone--i.e. I wasn't going with or meeting someone--and it went pretty well. I was really able to relax by the middle of the trip (after I wasn't so concerned about seeing everything) and the hiking was really a great way to chill out. In some of the parks, the trails were not well-maintained--fallen trees, fallen bridges, ambiguous trail markings--which meant for probably the most rigorous hiking I've done. From what I've heard, Sabah (the other Malaysian state on Borneo) has a bit more to offer (I go there in February to climb Mt. Kinabalu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Kinabalu) and to scuba dive), but from my experiences, Sarawak offered exactly what I needed after sitting in my apt. planning my family trip to Thailand for two weeks (look for upcoming entry). Enjoy the pics and as always, I love to hear from you!

Also, I never saw the woman posted below. I merely sent the picture to my parents to get them excited for Thailand:-P

Have you seen this woman?

Singapura
In November (yeah a long time ago), I went to Singapore for a long weekend to see the city-state and hang out with Chrissy Malvasi, a friend from Pton who's working at Ngee Ann Polytechnic teaching creative writing and other disciplines. It was a great time hanging out around the city and catching up with Chrissy. In 3 days, I really felt that I did most of Singapore. I saw the zoo, went to a few museums, went to Arab Street (the middle-eastern section of the city), to little India, and went out to a chic bar with Chrissy and her friends one night.
Some highlights of the trip: I saw some orangutans in the zoo, saw thousands and thousands of indian dudes who were enjoying little India on a sunday night (their day off from work--and really, it was all dudes), stayed in an Apple Martini-themed bedroom one night (see picture above), got some Arabic food, and had a good time away from Penang. Enjoy the pics!