it’s a jungle out there
If you truly love Nature, you will find beauty everywhere. — Vincent Van Gogh, painter
Finally, my personal travel drought has come to an end as the 2-year pandemic becomes endemic…
colours of historic city Melaka
I was planning my solo trip to Thailand when I found out my friend Vivian from home was going to be posted to the city of Melaka (English: Malacca). Without much persuasion, I decided to change course and head south instead of going up north. The historic city Melaka is only 1.5 – 2 hours’…
experiencing fishing village life at Kukup, Johor
It was 5:30am and still dark when friends Ellen and Max came to pick me up. After a simple breakfast with roti canai and teh tarik at a 24-hour mamak store (Indian coffee shop), we were ready for our 4-hour southbound journey. Our destination was Kukup (龜咯), a fishing town at the south-western tip of…
a month in London
in the beginning… I knew I was going to London for a special work assignment to help take over a small hotel for my boss at one point but I just was not quite sure when it would be. The first trip in November last year was called off in the very last minute as…
reaching out, changing lives!
The list of information we received just short of a week before we were due for our weekend medical mission trip was brief. All we got was — electricity by generator set (still under repair), bring torch, sleeping bag and mosquito net, weather can be cold so bring something warm… then there was the assignment…
on top of Mount Tai, Shandong
Mount Tai/Taishan (泰山), one of the 5 sacred mountains in China is considered the greatest (五嶽之首) as its location in the east is regarded as a sacred direction with the sun and the moon rise. In history, it was said that there had been as many as 72 emperors including Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇) who…
endless gates, ancient trees and Confucianism at Qufu, Shandong
After a tour of the peony garden in Heze (菏澤) (a date with peonies), we continued our journey and headed to Qufu (曲阜), the birthplace of the old Chinese sage Confucius for some literary exposure. After a good night’s rest, we woke up to a pleasant sunny day on 27 April with temperature at around…
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…
“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).…
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…
Colourful Threads of Life 