Yeah so after doing my thing in the Philippines wanted to
head to Borneo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borneo Lombok and maybe East Timor while in
that region of the world! But while shopping around for tickets found out I
didn’t have enuf time left on passport b4 it expired as needed 6 months
validity according to international airlines rules! But fuk my passport expired
on Oct 1, 2013 so needed to buy and get my flying done by Apr 1 (not sure how
got ticket on JAL to return to Canada in late April, lol)
So could buy a ticket
to Borneo http://wikitravel.org/en/Borneo to check out Sarawak & Sabah both
states of Malaysia (but would have to bypass Kalimantan the Indonesian part of Borneo
island that would have liked to see but next time & Brunei an oil rich
country would bypass too as nothing to see but rich peep! ) but couldn’t go to
Lombok or East Timor (parts of Indonesia but another set of islands) which
fuking sucked!
Anyway had to return to Club Changi in Singapore for a night
again unfortunately! It was the same drill as when I stayed going to the
Philippines however when I tried to score a free shower (only free for Singapore
airlines pax) in the morning the dude caught me and charged me $5!
So anyway decided to fly Air Asia from Singapore to Borneo
cuz well Air Asia is based out of KL so going on Air Asia should be
cheaper as it'd be a domestic flight! However that meant flying thru Kuala Lumpur (KL)
as that’s where Air Asia is based similar to Tiger Airways is based in
Singapore so have to fly thru Singapore!
My Air Asia flight was to Kuching (which is the word for Cat in Malay so I was told) http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/5f/80/0f/caption.jpg
in Sarawak (state of Borneo part of Malaysia) even tho
planned to also check out Sabah the other Malaysian state of Borneo!
I had done researched some more couch surfing and scored a place to stay in
Kuching in Sarawak and also a place in Kuta Kinabalu in Sabah after CSing for a week in Baguio
in the Philippines!! Well the CSing gig I scored in Kuching was with Franky
in Kuching who also offered to pick me up at the airport! So wtf who was I to
refuse that offer so when arrived in Kuching well next thing I knew I was
wisked away to a cool little place by Franky! Cuz found out that she actually
ran a sort of guest house / hostel called The Nook where the first 3 nights
would be free for couch surfing!! Wasn’t too pleased that Franky used CSing as
a means to score new peep to stay at her place!! But wtf I was no angel and
while traveling if I could score even 1 free night well awesome!!
The main thing I wanted to see in Borneo and first thing
wanted to do was check out the orangutans
(http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/orangutan/) which was
the main reason I wanted to go to Borneo! So wanted to ensure that I saw the
orangutans in their natural environment so decided it would be best to check
them out in a nature reserve so went to see them with a couple of Germany dudes
to the Semenggoh Nature Reserve to make sure that would actually see an orangutan rather
than tramping thru the jungle!
It was awesome as they fed the orangutans twice a day at 11
and 3 pm so we got there and checked out the various places and went to see the
orangutans being fed as we walked out into the jungle to a platform for the
orangutans to be fed! The worker there left a bunch of bananas on the platform
and whistle for them as we waited for maybe 5 mins! The orangutans were natural
show-offs for audiences as they would swing from a tall tree down on the ropes
strung out for the orangutans! What impressed me was how they would swing by
hanging by their arms and legs and reach down to scoop up a banana with their
free arm!! I did take some pictures finally with my new camera that scored at
duty free at the Singapore airport Club Changi! However realize that my
photography skills still need some work but wtf have a look
https://www.facebook.com/FreeSpiritGuy/media_set?set=a.10152677950440527.1073741825.751750526&type=3
Wow that trip to view the orangutans was probably one of the
highlights of my trip to the SE Asia area along with my adventure to search and
find Feng-Od the 93 year young tattoo artist in northern Philippines!
Also had flight on Air Asia to fly Kuching, Sarawak to Kota
Kinabalu, Sabah return both on Borneo as the reason I flew is I didn’t have
much time as had to do all my flying before April 1 cuz after that date my
passport would have less than 6 months b4 it expired!
So flew to Kota Kinabalu http://www.google.ca/search?q=kota+kinabalu+sabah+malaysia&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=-2AlUqG5O8abiALctoDwAQ&ved=0CEMQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=542 in Sabah which is in the northern
part of Borneo. I was accepted to be hosted by a CSing dude in Kota Kinabalu
but after he emailed me saying yeah will host me well he didn’t give me his
phone number and I couldn’t get a hold of him! So hell just stayed at the
Borneo Global Backpackers hostel!
I wanted to go to Kinabalu Park & hot springs but it was
closed or go on a farm stay for a
couple days to hopefully find out how the locals lived however they had cancelled
them for a few weeks! So decided to take a day trip to the Lokawi Wildlife Park
to check out the wildlife animals of Borneo! But fuk was really disappointed
visiting this wildlife park cuz tho there were signs saying plz keep talking to
a minimum so not to scare the animals espec. the orangutans (didn’t spend time
watching them as saw them b4 in Sarawak) but still a lot of the peep also visiting
were talking so loud which is friggin loud as is their custom & their
language which is really annoying! Hell they came to visit in groups of 10 or
so peep and a person could hear them talking from a 100 meters!
So fuk checking out things in Sabah was a dud so decided to
hike up Mt Kinabalu! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Kinabalu
However after further checking found out it costs like about
$1000 (equivalent in Malaysian
Ringgits) with guide and stuff which was a bit expensive for my tastes cuz it’s
not that hadn’t climb a mtn b4 as did Mt Kilamanjaro in Tanzania! But thought
I’d go to the base and check out the mtn however as stupid as it sounds well
was given the wrong directions to the bus station to go to Mt Kinabalu! So
finally caught the bus a bit late which was probably a blessing in disguise!
Cuz found out instead of $1000 it would cost about $10 for going ½ way up the
mtn which was cool for me as that would cost me a lot lot less!!
So I did that as could afford it so paid to go ½ up the mtn
of about 2000 meters which didn’t mind! As it
was the hike up to ½ only took me only about 2 ½ hrs each way to hike the mtn but when I
got up to ½ way I was starting to feel the symptoms of altitude sickness (so it
seemed it affected me earlier than maybe most peep) which I definitely felt on
Mt Kilamanjaro!
It was still enjoyable and the fact that did the hike which
wasn’t that difficult! Some Pics with my camera - https://www.facebook.com/FreeSpiritGuy/media_set?set=a.10152691517620527.1073741826.751750526&type=3
So after my hike up the mtn well took flight back to Kuching
in Sarawak and stayed again at The Nook where Franky operated as there were a
couple of CSing activities were organized!
There was a sort of Pot Luck dinner arranged the day I
returned which was cool as met a few CSers both travellers and locals!
Then the next day decided to go to Bako park to do a jungle
trek! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qMI1Qp5v88 A lot of peep stay overnight and return the next day however I just wanted to
do an one day hike in the jungle! The odd thing is we had to take a bus to the
ocean and have at least 4 peep to take the boat as the owners of the boats only
wanted to take 4 peep as they charged a set price regardless of the number on
the boat cuz of such a demand for their services! I had organized another
couple but couldn’t find a 4th person! The trek was very different
than an trek I had done cuz it was after all a jungle, hot and humid but like a
fool I only took a single small bottle of water and it was gone after doing ½
the walk and I was gone for about 4 hrs as did various trails unlike many peep
who only did 1 trail for about 2 hrs! Hell met a couple where the guy was doing
it in flip flops plus his wife or whoever she was said he had diabetes and needed
to eat and water quite often! So I shared some of my water and a bag of trail mix I was
carrying! So all in all the jungle walks in Bako Park was well worth it even
tho I was debating whether I wanted to do it due to time!
https://www.facebook.com/FreeSpiritGuy/media_set?set=a.10152699439715527.1073741828.751750526&type=3
Then there was an Asian International Film Festival
happening at the Sarawak Cultural Village in Kuching for overnight! So a bunch
of CSing peep went to the Cultural Village and watched movies! Well maybe most peep
watched the films but I only watched about ½ of 1 film as fell asleep cuz well
the movies were in Malay, Chinese or some foreign language to me plus the
subjects of the movies weren’t very exciting! But what I really enjoyed was
checking out the Cultural Village and the things about Sarawak as think spent
all my time seeing and talking to the various peep from the tribes who had
buildings in the Village!
But shit had a good time cuz about midnight a bunch of us met
down by ocean to hang out, eat, etc. Most of us fell asleep on this one stage
where a movie was happening! I just happened to have my sleeping bag with me so
crawled in and slept till morning! It was fun and met a lot of local Chinese
and Malays plus a couple Indians! Tho the majority of peep in Sarawak were of
Chinese descent with of course a lot of Malays but few Indians! One thing odd
was met a younger Indian female doctor who wanted to smoke some weed so being a
stoner well never say no to a smoke!! LOL
One of the guys I met was a Chinese Malay named King Kong
cuz think he said his name in Chinese translated to a name like King Kong (sorry
but can’t remember his real name as he didn’t use his real name but his nick
name & couldn’t understand him too well but he was really nice so couldn’t
help but like him) but think we’re FB friends but not sure what his name is on
FB! Think his sister’s name sounds like something like Ping Pong or something
lol! Anyway the dude was such a nice guy even tho his English sucked and of
course I don’t speak anything but English! Anyway he was a Mandarin language
teacher who wanted to be a backpacker! LOL The way he spoke was so funny and he
always wanted to pay for everything which I have a bit of problem as don’t like
someone to pay my meals, etc as like to pay for my own things! Shit the night
at the Film Festival hell he organized a meal outside the Village as we drove
to this Chinese restaurant he knew as he ordered all this seafood which I’m
sure was expensive! Well I don’t mind fish but not big on shell fish food cuz fuk
have to crack and shell my food as just like to pop my food in my mouth! So
didn’t eat too much cuz most was cooked in black bean sauce or some sweet sauce as
think I’ve had enuf of those sauces in my Life so not into it much anymore as
also wasn’t very hungry as had eaten at the Cultural Village! But was talked
into joining them cuz for some reason most of the peep liked to talk to me cuz
guess I was very outspoken and different than most of them! But they were all
very nice and friendly so I tried to be too lol!
So the last day or so b4 I left Kuching and Sarawak well
King Kong and his Malay friend who didn’t speak much English took an English
guy and I out for Indian Roti Canai http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roti_canai which tho tasty is a bit fattening if that is an issue with U! Fuk have to find
a place in Vancouver which sells them as believe the Banana Leaf restaurant
sells them!
So all in all have to say really thought Borneo was awesome
and totally enjoyed myself similar to Philippines! So one day will return to
Borneo to see the rest of the island like Kalimantan the Indonesian part of Borneo island
as will return to Philippines too! Insha'allah
So caught my Air Asian flight back to KL just b4 April 1 the
drop dead date for me to me to flight as my passport would be within the 6
months time limit b4 expiring!
No comments:
Post a Comment