Twenty Thirteen : Some Reflections

Confession: I am no longer familiar with how to post pictures properly here. So here goes some random travel pictures that could be posted and not remain stubbornly stuck in the folder. My laptop revived itself (hurrah!) and I was pleasantly surprised everything is still intact (I think!). 

Hopefully I'll be in the mood to write more here. The only thing is ... my pictures are saved all over the place, here there and a little bit of everything everywhere else. Yupp - it's a holy mess. 

Highlights? Oh, there are so many!

El Nido.

Beautiful and peaceful.

Waters so clear they made me gasp at every turn.

Islands so gorgeous I wish I could buy one. I want to see you again.

Batanes for its heartbreaking natural beauty. 

Vivid, fresh, a burst of sunshine. Beautiful people.

Not forgetting super typhoon Usagi and C130.

Nepal, all its quirky unexpected charms.

Mountains and ranges that made me feel tiny, in awe of His creation.

Its people. Its villages. 

Oh Kathmandu, you hot, dusty, noisy, messy city! Do I love thee or hate thee? I am undecided but veering towards liking it, in some mad, strange way. I promised to return.

Myanmar, chaotic and romantic at the same time. There is orderliness that's hidden beneath the surface of seeming madness. It's fast becoming rather touristy, and there may no longer be too many less-travelled, unbeaten paths soon. I'd like to be wrong on this. 

Georgetown holds a special fort in my heart, for years I have fallen for its old town charm and heritage. My old soul settles into its vibes effortlessly. And the food! oh, I'd walk miles!

The like-minded people I've met along the way, who don't even blink hearing the funniest or weirdest travel experiences on the road. We laughed too much at seemingly unbelievable true stories. May your travels be safe with your guardian angels, and your journeys add to the beautiful memories.

I have been quite successful in travelling light I deserve a pat in the back (here you go). Less is more. 

A toast:

Here's to more stories soon!

and...

to more travels in 2014!

It's a lighthouse! Basco. 

Padaung ("long necks") weavers at Inle Lake. Fascinating how they preserve this culture.

Trying out winter woolies in Thamel. 

Le Maison Bleu, Georgetown. Finally here after years and years!

With a Llama girl, Rina at Patan Square, Kathmandu. 

If I had 30 million dollars I'd buy this island off El Nido. It already has a chapel and some buildings.

A Gorgeous day in Batanes! Fell in love with the place.

Reclining Buddha at the temple in Yangon. Cannot recall the name.

'Holy man' at the World Peace Pagoda, Pokhara. I huffed and puffed all the way up. The day was beautiful. 

Horse cart day in Bagan.  Bumpy and almost got thrown off a few times. We laughed but it was scary too.The next day we got on electric bikes on a grand day out all around town.

Sunset at the other side of Bagan's famous temple. We decided to avoid the crowd and spent time here in peace.

Obligatory shot - Le Maison Bleu, Georgetown. I love old tiles!

GONE GIRL - A Bucket List Update

I've been away because .... my laptop is broken and I haven't got it fixed. *bad bad me*

Anyway, Sunday morning - happy days because Arsenal won last night yippee! So I was energised to go online (when I am supposed to be doing some work on this borrowed laptop actually, haha) and do some updating to this list.

Will have to get my laptop fixed soon!

ORIGINAL LIST

1. Mabul. Sipadan. 15 dives to go before Sipadan.

2. Tawau. Sandakan. 

3. Learn to cook the perfect nasi lemak. DROPPED. I cook freestyle, no fast rules so perfection is out.

4. Read all Bryson. Have read all his travel books and others.

5. Touch the stones of Borobudur

6. Touch the stones of Angkor Wat

7. Thaipusam at Batu Caves

8. Jason Mraz LIVE!

9. Run a (half) marathon. Have ran in two events (11K and 10K) so far.

10. Travel solo.

11. Backpack travelling.

12. Learn a foreign language.

13. Get rid of credit card debt. 

14. Healthy Eating. Ongoing, with the occasional relapse :P

15. Get Fit. Ongoing, albeit rather slow, I have 1000 excuses sometimes.

16. Write a column. or a Book. I wrote a short advertorial and it came out in a magazine.  

17. RWMF, Kuching

18. Read daily. 50 books in a year. Didn't really keep track last year, so I am re-starting a new count for 2010.

20. Learn to play the guitar - at least one song! My ukulele needs to be hugged.

21. London 2012. Didn't happen. Maybe next year. B/F to next list.

22. Sew something. I think this may be too ambitious? DROPPED. I tried. I have no talent.

23. Grow own vegetables. 

24. Step foot in all Malaysian states. 1 left - Perlis!

25. Borneo overland trip. Done KK to Brunei via Lawas. Wanna do KK Kuching !

26. Volunteer. When? 

27. Go green - recycle. reduce. reuse. Trying.

28. Take one photograph a day. Some days more than one to make up for what I missed. Even if it's just my own face. Haha. 

29. See Jason LIVE again. What I'd give for this! 

BUCKET LIST PART DEUX 

1. Up close and personal with endangered animals - Bornean elephant, orang utan and Sumatra rhinoceros. DONE, Christmas 2011.

2. Helicopter ride. DONE, Christmas 2011. 

3. Float in the Dead Sea. DONE. July 2010.

4. Taj Mahal. DONE, July 2011.

5. Parasailing.

6. Paragliding. DONE. Pokhara, August 2013.

7. Rock Climbing. Technically DONE, April 2013. But I need to do this again outdoors.

8. Open Water Diving Certification - DONE DONE DONE, yeay! So proud of myself! November 2013.

9. Palawan - DONE. July 2013.

10. Nepal - DONE. August 2013. I will be back, I know :) I left my heart there.

11. Turkiye. Istanbul. - DONE. Nov 2012

12. Morocco.

13. Barcelona.

14. Kimchi country. Eat authentic bibimbap. (planning)

15. One foreign run. Singapore does not count, too near. Istanbul Marathon (category : 16km) Nov 2012.

16. A full marathon. A medal. A finisher tee - this almost killed me! :) DONE. PBIM 2012.

17. London. I'll throw in Dublin for Guinness.

18. Eat at a Michelin rated place - Tim Ho Wan, Hong Kong. July 2012.

19. Hot air balloon - Cappadocia, Turkey. Nov 2012.

NEW ADDITIONS 2013

1. Trail Run.

2. Sri Lanka; Ceylon; Serendip. Adam's Peak. Train ride. (planning)

3. Mount Fuji. (planning)

4. Train from BKK to CNX. (planning)

5. Amsterdam and happy herbs. Haha!

6. The North Face Run. At least one.

7. Batanes. DONE, September 2013. What an AWESOME place! Superstorm Usagi and a ride on c130 thrown in. 

8. The Holy Land. Jerusalem.

9. River Cottage.

10. Sabbatical - 2 months backpacking Europe. Or anywhere, really. I'm opting for a flexible plan.

11. Fruit picking vacation ! Just for the fun of it.

12. Egypt. (why did I not have this on the list before?)

13. Machu Picchu. Galapagos. Christ The Redeemer. oh, too many places in South and Central America.

14. Myanmar. DONE, unexpectedly October 2013.

DREAMS 2014 - TRAVEL

1. Makassar

2. Flores, Timor Leste.

3. Somewhere in China, not the cities.

4. Bhutan, Tibet.

5. Kolkata and onwards, India.

6. PEARL JAM CONCERT. Oh God, Eddie please come to Asia somewhere!

7. Trans-Siberian Railway. Mongolia. Beijing. Big dream this one.

8. Santiago de Compostela. yes.

Turkiye - an album. unsorted.

Finally.

Yes. I finally transferred some of my travel pictures from my camera. Another camera to go, maybe er, much later. I'm quite free for a while hence this post :)

Some of my favourite pictures, in no particular order. I don't know how to arrange the pictures anymore :p

Traditional Turkish Coffee at Ethem Tezcakar, Grand Bazaar. This was after spending hours happily getting lost in the market.

Fried mussels. So yummy! I love this stuff.

Beautiful mosaic in the AyaSofya. 

This is a super cat. Nuff said.

Pamukkale. Amidst the mist and steam. 

The medal was so big! I was so so tired after the run. 

The bestest Turkish delight - we tried quite a lot. Mhhhmmmmmm, I can imagine munching them now.. 

Up Up Up! Cappadocia was such an experience. 

I walked back to the Galata Bridge to eat this again - balik ekmek or fish sandwich. My last lunch in Istanbul.  

Tram on Istiklal Street - didn't manage to ride this. Too busy looking and watching. 

This sight greeted me every day as I return from the tram stop. Breathtaking.

New friends and fellow travellers, happy hour at Selcuk- Ben and Massimo from Milan, working in London. And Dave from New York. He escaped Sandy.

Selcuk morning - beautiful beautiful skies! 

Ilhara Valley - this place humbled me even more. 

A Weed You Have Become

One year from now.

I hope I've made up my mind properly and rationally, and have a grand plan in place for a sabbatical.

At least a month. Ideally two months. Three would be great, or maybe too much?

"A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill 

except for learning how to grow in rows." - Doug Larson 

My lappy is broken, just as I feel like blogging again.

This is how the Universe is testing me. 

Oh, really?

x

A weed.

Pamukkale Dreaming

It's Saturday, and I was having a short siesta after spending most of the morning reading.

I awoke to the thought of a sauna bath (!), probably because in the last chapter of the travel book that I was reading, the author was describing her experiences in Pamukkale.

November 2012 - I remember arriving Pamukkale on a cold, wet morning on the overnight bus from Cappadoccia. Arriving at the travel agency to get some information, there was an annoying and quite entertaining trio from Mumbai who  could not seem to decide what they want to do. The lady especially couldn't stop yakking. Pahh - woman!

I bought the day trip package as well as the bus ticket onward to Selcuk, as did most of us who were travelling that day. The Mumbai trio was indecisive, in the end we all chipped in and suggested they go stay in Ephesus instead. We smiled knowingly like conspirators, we could do without them - too noisy :-)

Anyway, we headed on to Karahayit (the hot spring water tasted like blood. Metallic. Heavy on the tongue), then to Necropolis and Hierapolis, then we braved the rain and cold breeze to walk down the grey-white cotton castles to our lunch venue. Oh, had I mentioned it was drizzling the whole time?

The grey-white cliffs were amazing. I could not describe it. It seems to be this huge white hillside cauldron out of nowhere. Coupled with the mist and the steam from the hot spring water gushing from the earth, it was magical. Truly surreal.

If I had fallen asleep and woken up to the sight of the hill I'd say it's a dream.

At the restaurant, lunch was devoured first in silence - as all of us were starving after being exposed to the cold. Then we picked up pace and ate and ate; the food was lovely and comforting, and a few dishes were already familiar. I really liked some of the stews and soups.

Returning to the hotel later, I was half soaked, and requested to use the washroom to change. Although I was not a guest, they were so kind to direct me to the hot sauna room, which I happily used all on my own. After a relaxing hot bath later, I was nice and warm in dry clothes, ready for our onward bus. I slept most of the journey.

I was woken up as it got dark and we were almost in Selcuk. I did not have any reservations or a solid plan.

I was going to wing it again. Hey, far more fun than having everything in place :)

Hello ! The Bucket List Rises Again

The cobwebs must be thick and all over the place on this little blog of mine :-) 

I was reading some stuff over the past weekends and felt inspired enough to update The Bucket List. Perhaps, I might even bring myself to blog again soon.

ORIGINAL LIST

1. Mabul. Sipadan. 

2. Tawau. Sandakan. 

3. Learn to cook the perfect nasi lemak.

4. Read all Bryson. Have read all his travel books and others.

5. Touch the stones of Borobudur

6. Touch the stones of Angkor Wat

7. Thaipusam at Batu Caves

8. Jason Mraz LIVE!

9. Run a (half) marathon. Have ran in two events (11K and 10K) so far.

10. Travel solo.

11. Backpack travelling.

12. Learn a foreign language.

13. Get rid of credit card debt. 

14. Healthy Eating. Ongoing, with the occasional relapse :P

15. Get Fit. Ongoing, albeit rather slow, I have 1000 excuses sometimes.

16. Write a column. or a Book. I wrote a short advertorial and it came out in a magazine.  

17. RWMF, Kuching

18. Read daily. 50 books in a year. Didn't really keep track last year, so I am re-starting a new count for 2010.

20. Learn to play the guitar - at least one song! My ukulele needs to be hugged.

21. London 2012. Didn't happen. Maybe next year.

22. Sew something. I think this may be too ambitious?

23. Grow own vegetables. 

24. Step foot in all Malaysian states. 1 left - Perlis!

25. Borneo overland trip. Done KK to Brunei via Lawas. 

26. Volunteer. When? 

27. Go green - recycle. reduce. reuse. Trying.

28. Take one photograph a day. Some days more than one to make up for what I missed. Even if it's just my own face. Haha. 

29. See Jason LIVE again. What I'd give for this! 

BUCKET LIST PART DEUX 

1. Up close and personal with endangered animals - Bornean elephant, orang utan and Sumatra rhinoceros. DONE, Christmas of 2011.

2. Helicopter ride. DONE, Christmas of 2011. 

3. Float in the Dead Sea. DONE. July 2010.

4. Taj Mahal. DONE, July 2011.

5. Parasailing.

6. Paragliding.

7. Rock Climbing.

8. OW diving - Did Discover Scuba Dive in Semporna Dec, 2012. No OWC yet!

9. Palawan - soon.

10. Nepal - soon.

11. Turkiye. Istanbul. - DONE, Nov 2012

12. Morocco.

13. Barcelona.

14. Kimchi country. Eat authentic bibimbap.

15. One foreign run. Singapore does not count, too near. Istanbul Marathon (category : 16km) Nov 2012.

16. A full marathon. A medal. A finisher tee - this almost killed me! :) DONE. PBIM 2012.

17. London again. maybe.

18. Eat at a Michelin rated place - Tim Ho Wan, Hong Kong. July 2012.

19. Hot air balloon - Cappadocia, Turkey. Nov 2012.

NEW ADDITIONS 2013

1. Trail Run.

2. Sri Lanka; Ceylon; Serendip. Adam's Peak. Train ride.

3. Mount Fuji.

4. Train from BKK to CNX.

5. Amsterdam and happy herbs. Haha!

6. The North Face Run. At least one.

7. Batanes.

8. The Holy Land. Jerusalem.

9. River Cottage.

10. Sabbatical - 2 months backpacking Europe.

11. Fruit picking vacation ! :-)

12. Egypt. (why did I not have this on the list before?)

13. Machu Picchu. Galapagos. Christ The Redeemer. oh, too many places in South and Latin America.