Myanmar Burma

Dear all, as you read this I am now currently in the ex-capital city
of Myanmar, Yangon. I have no idea if this is going to be posted as I
am sending this like a email because it's almost impossible for me to
login to my blogspot account to post anything. The gov blocks all
major websites and I only get to access my gmail. There's no
international roaming here and a sim card cost USD2500. Therefore I
can only be contacted by email. Please use xentria@gmail.com as I
can't even access my Yahoo Mail.

I will be going to Mandalay tomorrow then Bagan and lastly Inle Lake.
I will be flying off from Yangon to Bangkok as this is the only way to
get out of Myanmar. I will be in Myanmar for approximately 20 more
days and I don't think I can ever update my blog. So please do not
call the police to say that I have been kidnapped okay?

Till then. See you guys and take care.

My Second Sanctuary

3-7 Aug - After my rendezvous with Richard and Gwen, I set off to an arduous 8 hour journey across the scenic East West highway from KB to Sungai Petani in Kedah. Even though SP is not the capital city of Kedah, it is the busiest and one of the most developed city in the state.

The main reason why I came over here is to cross the border to Thailand even though crossing the border can be done over in KB. I just didn't want to risk doing it because I would have to go through Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani, the 3 most dangerous town in Southern Thailand at the moment because of the Islamic Separatist terrorist movement. During my stay in SP, terrorist sat off 3 bombs injuring innocent civilians and monks as well. Furthermore a visit to SP would also means tht I can pay my dad's best friend a visit as well.

Upon reaching SP, Uncle See Hua and his wife Auntie Siew Kee welcomed me at the bus station. They treated me to a sumptuous home cooked dinner at their home. After 1 month of traveling, having home cooked food for me beats having any "shan zhen hai wei" in 5 star restaurants. HAHA. With a huge koi pond, satellite TV, aircon room and hot shower, his house was my second sanctuary or should I say last one before I venture into Thailand.

On the next day, I followed uncle to Penang on his business trip. Auntie and I went sightseeing in Georgetown little india and I exchanged some Thai currency here as the exchange rate here is the best.

Uncle's daughter, Yee Ling came back from Ipoh in the evening along with yummy Ipoh food as well and for supper she brought me to have the famous prawn mee. She also brought me sightseeing SP at night and showed me a cool place in town where one can go for "prawning" (haha u know fishing for prawn), karaoke and chillin' out at a bar. Too bad I don't have my camera with me. It is a really nice place to hang out with friends.

The next day after yet another yummy pork noodle lunch, we went to Prai in Penang to have auntie's car serviced. While waiting we went for kuey teow chicken that's very famous in Prai as well. At night I went yum cha with Yee Ling and her friends.

On 6th, my real sightseeing in Kedah begins as Yee Ling, auntie and I drove our way up North to the capital of Kedah, Alor Setar. Along the way we stopped in Tupah trying to look for the legendary waterfall as recommended by Yee Ling's friend. Unfortunately we couldn't find it. HAHA Then we ventured further up onto Gunung Jerai (gunung = mountain) There's nothing much on the 1000m high mountain as it was under some major renovation when we arrive.

At last we arrived in the sleepy capital where we visited the revolving restaurant of Menara Alor Setar (menara = tower), ex-Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir's birthplace and the national mosque. Along the way we managed to squeeze in more food of course. My favorite was the Indian fried noodle by a Chinese. Funny isn't it? But it's really nice.

I left early next morning on a minivan to Hat Yai where I will begin my Thai journey. I am very touched with the kindness and warm reception I received from Uncle See Hua and family. It is the best way to put an end to my Malaysian journey.

The Cradle of Malay Culture

31 July-2 Aug - My next stop brought me to Kota Bahru, the capital city of Kelantan also known as the Islamic City of Malaysia. To me KB is one of the most intriguing cities in Malaysia. Why you may ask? Simply because this is the only state in Malaysia that has been governed by PAS (the opposition party) since forever and if you read the nation's newspaper about the "weird" laws that PAS has put in place, you will feel as curious as me to see what this is all about.

Coincidentally, Chee Ching aka Gwen, my fellow Pontian friend who works in Singapore was in KB on a business trip and I managed to persuade her to prolong her stay in KB illegally HAHA just so we could travel together over the weekend. Richard, another childhood friend of mine and future doctor studying in USM located in KB has also agreed to meet up. Meeting them in KB made my trip to this strange land seemed more friendly and welcoming.

Upon reaching KB through a 4 hours express bus from KT, I scouted around for a nice backpackers to stay. Unlike other smaller cities in Malaysia, KB is much more backpackers friendly and I had the luxury to compare prices and dormitory condition. Walking around town was not hard at all as people here are very willing to point you in the right direction with a big and warm smile too. At the end, I chose to stay in Zecks Travellers' Inn which is the furthest away from town but still within walking distance because of the superb environment, cleanliness and free WiFi. All this for just RM15 a night. Crazy rite?

After that, I went to meet Richard in town and I called Gwen to check out where she is staying. To my surprise, she was just staying opposite my place so we immediately went to look for her. How small world is huh!

We spent the rest of the day in the "Starbucks" of Kelantan chatting and "onlining" as Gwen is supposed to be still at work. HAHA. At night, we joined Gwen's local colleague for dinner and they even bought Nasi Dagang (famous local rice in Kelantan) for us. We spent a lot of time talking about politics as it turns out tht Gwen's colleague (a Chinese man) is the chairman of PAS backbencher's club. I was amazed by how open minded he is and his insight into Malaysian politics really opened my eyes.

The next day, Gwen and I woke up early to take a bus to Richard's university. Richard rented a car from his business minded uni friend for half a day so that we can go sightseeing around KB. One thing worth mentioning is that I can still drive a Manual car with no power steering. HAHA.

As Richard has been staying in KB for more than 5 years now, he naturally became our tourist guide. Our first stop was to go sightseeing in Pengkalan Kubor. Ironically, Kelantan which has the most number of Muslims is also home to some of the biggest and nicest Buddhist temples in Malaysia. The sleeping Buddha in one of the many temples here is also touted as the biggest sleeping Buddha in South East Asia. Most of the temples here are inspired from Thailand because of the close proximity to Thai.

Besides the architecture of the temples, the food in Kelantan generally are quite similar to Thai as well. For lunch, we had Thai coconut as well as Nasi Kerabu, another famous local rice dish. It is actually plain rice mixed with various type of minced vegetables and it is served with thin slices of fish. I don't quite like the taste of it because of the funny minty vegetables used in many Thai dishes but I gave it a try anyway. We also stopped by at the duty free market in Pengkalan Kubor but there wasn't much things to buy.

After visiting the 5 temples, our half day rental was almost up. We made one last stop at the Pantai Cahaya Bulan, a local beach area overlooking the South China Sea which is about 15km away from KB town. This is similar to Teluk Chempedak of Kuantan but it's nowhere near it as there's nothing much you can do here except for flying kites.

The next morning, we went to the famous central market (Pasar Besar Siti Khatijah) which is always featured in Cuti-Cuti Malaysia's (Tourism Malaysia) advertisements and postcards. After breakfast we parted ways as Gwen was heading for Tanah Merah, another town in Kelantan for work while I ventured alone to the Gelanggang Seni for free cultural shows. Here all visitors are treated to Gong performance, Silat demonstration, Top spinning, Kite making and Batik painting. If you are interested, you can also have a go at any of the activities as well. The concept of the Gelanggang Seni is commendable but the organization of each shows was in a mess and before everything ends, 3 quarter of the tourist had already left.

Overall my trip to Kelantan turned out really well because I had a great tourist guide and crazy friends and it quashed whatever misconceptions I have with Kelantan before this.

Extension of my Journey

I couldn't resist not telling you guys. AirAsia is giving away 1 million free tickets from now till 31 August and NO! Airasia is not paying me to promote for them, I just did it because I managed to book my FREE TICKET and I am so happie... 

YES. I have booked a return ticket to Hangzhou from Kuala Lumpur. I will be departing on 19th June 2009 and coming back on the 29th. The 5 hour journey inclusive of all the taxes, surcharges, meals, drinks, insurance, and baggage allowance cost me RM633.00 

I will be there for approximately 11 days. I guess by that time, I should be back at work, that's why I can't book for a longer time. :( I will be travelling to Shanghai from there as well. So if any of you are interested to join me, do make the same booking as well and I wish you good luck.(you need loads of them) Hurry up seats are limited... 

Now I need to go get my Lonely Planet China. HAHA.. 

Terengganu Darul Iman

Hah. after bringing you all forward for the last 2 post, let's backtrack a little to the point where I was in Kuala Terengganu after my more more teeing adventure in Redang.


27-28 July - Kuala Terengganu, the capital city of Terengganu. If you follow closely with my blog, you would have noticed that I came back and forth to KT a few times in between my trips to Tanjong Jara, Pulau Redang and now I am back to do some real sightseeing in the richest state of Malaysia.

Being declared as a city in January 2008, KT to me was one of the "nicest" cities I have ever set foot on in Malaysia. Nice not in terms of people or culture but infrastructure. As Terengganu is the only state in Peninsular Malaysia that has oil reserves, they have all the money in the world to spend. And they have really spend a lot in making "Nice" stuff. The domestic airport which only has flight to and fro Kuala Lumpur is one such example of elaborate spending.

As I was saying, I met Han He in Pulau Redang who coincidentally will be spending a few nights in a friend's house in KT and he has invited me to go sightseeing with him in Terengganu town and the best of all, he has a car to do all that. How cool is dat? So upon checking in to my dorm, he came to pick me up at the guesthouse. Our first stop, Taman Tamadun Islam (Islamic Civilization Park) and the Crystal Mosque. The 300 million ringgit project which comprises of an Islamic civilization theme park and a real mosque is situated on a man-maid island called Pulau Wan Man (Wan Man Island) in the huge Terengganu River.

All over KT town you will see advertisement of this so called man-made wonder initiated by our current Prime Minister as it's the latest addition to Visit Terengganu Year 2008. Upon reaching, we visited the crystal mosque, but to my disappointment, the mosque was just a small mosque that is made by glass panel despite having the name of a Crystal Mosque. Not many muslims uses this mosque for prayers though but you will see truckloads of school children visiting this place.

Next, we paid RM10 to enter the 3/4 done Islamic Civilization Edutainment Theme Park. As the name suggest, this theme park is actually made up of 21 small sized replicas of famous and influential mosque around the world. 4 out of the 21 has a small theater which explains its importance to the Islamic civilization through video but it's only available in Malay. We rented a bicycle to cycle around the park because it's just too hot to walk around as the park has no covered walkways and trees. Overall the place is not a bad place to visit if you are in town but the 300 million ringgit price tag it has is definitely too much.

Then we drove to Pulau Duyong, about 10 minutes away from Pulau Wan Man. This island is home to the HeritageBay marina and resort which currently only holds the Monsoon Cup, a 5 day international sailing competition that takes place in November every year. For that, Malaysian government has again spent over 300 million ringgit since 2005. Since it's not the monsoon season yet, the resort and marina was almost completely deserted when we arrive. It's sad to see how much taxpayers money has been dumped onto elaborate projects such as these by our dearest government that do not benefit the public at all.

Our last stop of the day was the museum, unfortunately we arrived too late and it was already closed by the time we reach. Han He fetched me back to my guesthouse and after bidding farewell to him, I ventured alone to the waterfront city and Chinatown of KT about 15 minutes walk from where I stayed. The waterfront is nice to explore in the evenings as you can see amazing sunset. It's also interesting to notice that even though the modern bridges have been built across the Terengganu river, many locals still choose to travel by river taxis at the waterfront.

I would like to thank Han He for everything. If not for him, I would not have see Terengganu as much as I would like to. It's meeting people like him that makes my whole journey worthwhile.

I AM FINE !

Hello all. Thanks for all your concern through my blog and email. I am truly blessed to have such good family members and friends and I realized even more of it after I started my journey.

I am now in Koh Tao, about 40 kilometers off the coast of Chumpon and I am doing my advanced scuba diving course here. At first I was not very sure of doing it because I have already lost so much money but after thinking about it, I said to myself "What he heck? I am already in the number 1 scuba diving training island of South East Asia, if I don't do it when will I be able to come back here again." So I proceeded with my 8000 Baht course.

After my first dive today, I realized that I have made an absolutely correct choice for diving here. The corals and fishes here are so amazing and it made me realize how big the world is and how wonderful it is to be living each day to see all these stuff.. It totally made me forget about all my worries. To be able to live one more day and see all these great things is already a gift for me. Imagine how many people are suffering and dying while I am living my dream here in Thailand. What more can I ask for?

Throughout my journey, I have also met many many interesting and great friends along the way. And their concern for me as a total stranger after knowing my plight is beyond words could express. I would have never been able to meet them if not for this trip and if God wanted me to trade all this with a camera, handphone and cash? I have absolutely no problem with that.

Since I made my choice of becoming a backpacker, I have already anticipated something like this to happen therefore I am prepared for it. I just hope that I would never ever make the same mistake again and it truly is a lesson learnt in life. It's all part of the journey...

Latest Update

Dear all, this is the latest update from me in Thailand. I am now in the island of Koh Phangan appoximately 50km from the coast of SuratThani. When I arrived the on the island I went on a party with a Mexican guy I met and am currently sharing a room with. I drank too much at the party and lost my bag which contains my camera, wallet, handphone and passport. It was not stolen or snatched by me. I just simply left it on the table and left the party without the bag. When I woke up the next day, I went straight back to the place and it was too late. Immediately I cancelled all my cards and went straight to the police station and guess what? I found my bag along with my passport and wallet (with all my ATM and credit cards). All the cash I have inside the bag together with my camera and handphone were gone. All in all I think I lost around RM4000.

I am currently still in Koh Phangan and will be leaving the island tomorrow. I still have some cash with me and a credit card that still works. So don't worry about me. I will be however getting my replacement cards when I reach Bangkok in a few days time. In the meantime if you wish to contact me, I will still be reachable through email.

I am fine now and I vowed never to get drunk ever again for the rest of my trip. I will continue with my journey once I get back on track and will keep updating about my adventure.