The Capital of the Silver State

Albeit the fact that I'm in the same country, there are times when this interstate travelling can feel rather foreign. Not this time though. This time I had to literally run through the low-cost terminal to catch my bus home. Am grateful I'll be flying MH back later next week.

pokok Ipoh

I know everyone says Ipoh is a retirees' town, despite all the efforts well-meaning people put into to promote the city. I reckon it's a good family place with good schools for kids to go to. Mediocre extravagance and distractions, that kind of thing. But going back Home to Ipoh is a wondrous experience. Family, friends, FOOD.

Festive Season :)

Best Chinese New Year I've ever had.

xo Li Ying

p/s: if you ever drop by in Indulgence, you should try Clamsy (in the 'weird' pasta section) and Warm Round Cup with ice cream.

The Corridor of Life

One thing I've learnt about the challenges of my work is being in the field regardless of weather conditions. Kinabatangan River is massive, in my opinion, and teeming with wildlife, especially when you go further downstream. Thing is, we had to go on boat rides, and you never have any say on your choice of boats. And just so you know, Kinabatangan is notorious for man-eating buayas (crocodiles). That pretty much spiked the anxiety level *albeit my secret curiousity to actually catch a glimpse of them*.

You see, the boats are usually those small-outboards, not too high on the sides, and them boatmen seem to fancy going near to the banks. River banks are, like, the favoured hangouts of buayas. I always had this thought that the crocs will leap out of the water and snap at our DO-meters.

We didn't see any although we were on boats for half of our trip there. The rain was more harrowing.

Kg. Bilit, situated somewhere mid-stream of the river, is where WWF once had the HABITAT project (which is still ongoing now, but taken over by the village's corporation). You get to choose a tree in the nursery to plant (for free, tsk stingy) which is actually a conservation effort to replenish the habitat of orangutans in that area. And if you are lucky enough, this is also where you get to see elephants crossing the river.

Sukau, downstream of Kinabatangan, is where you get to see all our primate friends, especially the nasalis larvatus -- proboscis monkey. Oddly enough, we didn't see any. Not even the very common (and annoying) macaques. The closest to wildlife we had was a baby bird and a deer outside my window.


Four days of wilderness. Returning to civilisation will be great, flying home for the festive season will be AWESOME.

xo Li Ying

To Recap

I've been in Sabah since mid-2005 when I first set foot here to do my undergraduate degree. With that over and done, I am now continuing my masters degree and thus having a couple more extra years to completely discover this place. All my previous escapades were recorded in my old Multiply blog . Seeing as it is a new year and a new chapter of my life (with a lot of other major changes), I thought I'd move over to Blogspot and do more journalistic approach entries instead of the 'deep' crap involving emotions schemotions.

Within the past three years I've done most of the 'typical' activities in the westcoast of Sabah, them being:
- climbing Mount Kinabalu
- whitewater rafting in Padas
- driven to Kudat, the tip of Borneo
- visited the 'cold country' Kundasang
- island hopped the three islands close to Kota Kinabalu - Manukan, Mamutik, Sapi
- got my diver's license
- stayed a night in the Gunung Mas Treehouse
- saw the (in)famous parasitic flower, the Rafflesia

And then, of course, there are the not-so-typical places such as the abandoned Copper Mine in Mamut, the mangrove reserves of Sulaman Lake, the oil palm plantations in Sandakan, numerous small villages/towns that are scattered all over the interior of the state.

That said, I've yet to make my way to three major spots: Danum Valley, Maliau Basin and the island of Sipadan.

Next two entries will be about Kinabatangan and HOME.

xo Li Ying