heze shandong, peonies

a date with peonies at Heze, Shandong

“Let’s go to Shandong for the peonies!” was a statement uttered out of excitement by my good friend May over dinner one fine evening late last year but was one that we took very seriously.  And with that earnestness, we put things into motion this year and by late April we saw ourselves heading to…

sukau kinabatangan, wildlife, proboscis monkeys

“wildest” dreams fulfilled

Going to Sukau along the Kinabatangan River in the east coast of Sabah, North Borneo was one of my two main back-to-the-nature domestic trips for last year. The first one to Tabin Wildlife Nature Reserve in Lahad Datu materialised in early May 2016 and it was an amazing trip to remember (you can read it here).…

into the wild

My travelling plan this year as I have been telling everyone is to do “cuti-cuti Sabah”, meaning holidaying in and around Sabah — domestic travelling!  Being in the hospitality industry sometimes I do feel slightly embarrassed that I have been to less places in my home state than many of the tourists from around the…

an unexpected adventure

It all started with a conversation over dinner. The 2-day/1-night weekend trip to James’ resort, The Village at Mesilau up at Mt. Kinabalu for the alumni in the tourism industry was conceptualised and subsequently confirmed by Serena, the president of our alumni association and two fellow alumni James and Roger. I was initially not interested…

mangroves, sunset, fireflies

A trip to see the fireflies had been on my to-do list for many years until last Saturday that I eventually got to tick the box for this particular item and officially take it off the list! I was blessed with a hosted trip by a local travel agent (thank you Luke of Borneo Legend…

a lost underground city on the Silk Road – Jiaohe Ruins 絲路上沉默的地下古城 – 交河故城

(Distant Xinjiang – Part 6 of 6) – Part 5 of 6 here 9 August 2015After our visit to The Grape Valley of Turpan (葡萄溝, 吐魯番) and due to time constraint, we were asked to choose between Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves (柏孜克里千佛洞) and the ruins of ancient city Jiaohe (交河故城) as our next destination, and after…