little miss may

And so I thought I should start writing about my little adventures, no matter how short or long they are.

I’ve visited many places in the last couple of years which I haven’t kept track of, and I’m starting to forget what we did. Might as well put down a few thoughts on them before I can’t recall them completely.

The trip to Phuket was a bit of a spontaneous one - an invitation and 4 weeks later I was on a plane heading north to the island Southwest of Thailand.

Phuket was as I had remembered it to be since my last visit about 6 years ago - busy, a little dusty, humid, lots of ‘farangs’ (foreigners) including myself, and mopeds, mopeds and more mopeds everywhere. Food was abundant in almost every street corner, as were souvenirs and ladies calling out, “Welcome! Massage?”

It was amusing how the locals couldn’t guess where I’d come from. “Philippino? Indonesian? Thai?” My darker-than-average skin didn’t let on that I was none of the above; explaining how I was a Chinese born in Malaysia and living in Australia seemed to confuse them even more. Eventually I answered, “a little bit Australian” and they’ll disbelievingly say, “Australia? No-o-o! You Asian!”

Instead of taking tuk-tuks, bikes were the way to go around town and the island. Renting one is THB200 per day, which came up to less than AUD8. There were bigger bikes to choose from but having just passed my MOST test for an auto, I thought it better to stick to what I was familiar with. The Honda Scoopy was a pretty light and fast one, the pickup was quick and at times I wondered if my own Sachs Amici was too heavy to ride around.

Riding on the roads could be unnerving at times, with big trucks zooming past, and other times with mopeds crowding around the traffic lights trying to be the first one to break away. Somehow or other, everyone finds their rhythm and expertly navigates through traffic without skipping a beat.

What I found amusing was that fuel was sold by the bottles - similar to the size of a tall beer bottle - by roadsides for THB40 a pop. I suppose with the thousands of mopeds cruising around town with really small tanks, anyone could run out of gas at any time so a pitstop in the middle of nowhere is quite handy.

I must make a special mention of Mr. Udi and his wife who cooked a delicious lunch on afternoon, along one of the beaches. Yum!

Two days in Phuket and it was time to take the boat to Tonsai, what enthusiasts would call the “climbing capital of Thailand”. Again, it’s been a good few years since I’ve done my pilgrimage to scale the many beautiful limestone walls, and as the boat took us past Tonsai, West Railay and finally resting at East Railay, memories started trickling back to mind.

The fantastic thing about this trip was the people - eager climbers and adventurers, young and old, gathered around the walls for a hard day’s climb, and came together on beaches and a the pubs for a merry time. They made a real difference to the trip in injecting fun and laughter, and a sense of belonging even though each person came from different corners of the world. It was the best “campfire” of all time, sitting in a circle singing “it’s a good, good day”.

It wasn’t all just climbing; the sea kayaking was just as fun, paddling out to islands of rocks where one could do deep water soloing. Stalactites, overhangs and smooth, coloured limestone faces beckon to climbers, luring them with hidden pockets of positive holds and the hope to get as high as possible before jumping into the warm, inviting waters.

We even took time to do yoga every morning before hitting the walls. It started out with a guy offering to do a class for free to a couple of newly-met friends, and from 2 people it grew to a crowd of 7. Funnily enough, there were paid classes being offered in one of the lodgings but stretching out on the deck with a few good mates seemed like a better idea!

All too soon in was time to say goodbye, and it was one of those holidays where you wished it would go on for just a few more days… or weeks. Riding on the back of a tuk-tuk and later in a taxi van, speeding as fast as it could towards the airport via Thalang province, was a bit of a nervous experience (I thought I was getting kidnapped when we took a detour through villages instead of the main road). Thanks to the skilled taxi driver I made it just in time for the flight home.

Many thanks to all of you whom I’ve met on this trip - Oliver, Luca, Lisa, Elan, Al, Ryan, Anna, Wibke, Victor, and those whom I’ve spoken to briefly but didn’t get a chance to know you better - it was unforgettable, and you have made it so much more memorable with your smiles, laughter and friendship.

And thank you Mat, for letting me share a part of your holiday. Happy birthday.

I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like

After months of wanting two wheels again, I finally made the investment in a brand new Trek 7.3FX WSD bike. It’s quite a beauty, with its matt gold finish and cool girly decals. I must say that I preferred a black one, but that would’ve set me back and extra 600 bucks which I wasn’t prepared to fork out for. But no matter - gold is good, eh?

My two girlfriends - Thao and Linda - and I went West to the Sydney Olympic Park for a ride a couple of Sundays ago. We got there extra early before the crowds rolled in, and a good thing we did too ‘cos the weather wasn’t behaving and rained later in the day.

The Parklands Circuit was where we rode around, following the bike path to wherever it would take us. It was pretty scenic if you didn’t mind the awful smell from the mangroves. There were even lookout towers where you could climb up, have a look at the surroundings, and spot the unmistakable Ikea building in the not-so-far distance.

The circuit was a cool sight with ducks, fishes and all, but I think I dig the UFO-looking fountain opposite the ANZ stadium the best. You could literally ride through (under) it if you want, and get soaking wet. Thao and Linda did, but because I had a camera strapped onto my bike (plus, I didn’t wanna get my new wheels wet!), I decided to give it a miss.

It felt good to pedal as fast as I could and feel the wind on my face again. Made me miss my mountain biking days back in KL, though I must admit I now prefer the “cleaner” rides i.e. no mud splatters up my arse compared to having to wash my bike down after every trail trip.

Yep, I think I’ll stick to bike paths and roads now.

We had a bit of a royal treatment last Sunday when two “Queens” came to town. The grand Cunard ocean liners, RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 and MS Queen Victoria were on Australian waters, together for the first (and maybe the last?) time.

I was pretty excited when I heard about the Royal Rendezvous. As a kid, I used to watch in awe as my elder brother built an Airfix version of the Queen Elizabeth II ocean liner, painstakingly gluing the tiniest parts together and painting it over with a fine brush. He pieced an RMS Queen Mary 2 ship as well, but that was destroyed in one angry bash by my second brother in an argument… *sigh!* Boys will be boys. I miss those ships. Don’t know where the QE II is now either.

Anyway.

Those ships were quite a sight — taller than some buildings, longer than 8-car city trains and wider than 3 elephants put together (obviously!). I read in the papers the other day that going on a 23-day cruise costs close to $8,000… waaaaa!! That’s half the cost of a small, brand new car here! A couple of business class trips on the Airbus A380 even. It sure does look majestic on the inside in photos, though. Think you can “tahan” 23 days on a ship like this? Or would you feel claustrophobic?

The two ladies have long sailed off now. This morning I saw another ocean liner at the Quay — the Sea Princess. She may be larger and taller than the two Queens, but somehow I think the sisters have an elegant air about them. Maybe it’s their names. Maybe it’s the red funnels that make them look more regal. Whatever it is, it would be a sure pleasure to get on board one of them for a trip ’round the world!

*looks for Sugar Daddy to sponsor passage*

*toot* *toot* *toooot…*

Funny how an email could lead you to such beautiful photos.

And how they tugged at my heartstrings.

Which lead me to ask myself, “what am I doing in front of the computer, slapping and poking people on Facebook, while there are so many more things out there that I could be doing to enrich my life?” And helping the economy by spending more moolah as well, of course.

Some years ago, I embarked on a gung-ho plan to explore the underwater world. My first dive experience was at the Pulau Payar Marine Park, onboard the Langkawi Coral. I was struck with awe at the beauty of the creatures that lived in the depths below, especially the 6-foot giant barracuda that was out swimming in the early morning hunting for food.

Since then I had dived at least once a year, though not as fervently as some of my friends, and certainly not as much as Eric (the photographer of most of these pictures you see here). He’s an old adventure buddy of mine — rock climbing, hiking, mountain biking, camping, diving — you name it. Ahhh, how I miss those days.

Then came the digital camera — yes, the same one that I have right now — bought especially for the best trip I’ve had so far, and that was to Sipadan back in 2004. My photos weren’t all that great since I didn’t have the proper lighting equipment, but they were good enough to pass of as an amateur’s luck behind the lens. I would’ve put some up here, but as (bad) luck would have it, I left that CD full of my Sipadan dive photos behind in KL… *sigh*

And just a month ago, when cheepeeone and angchai embarked on a new project of keeping a marine aquarium, I was transported back to those days when pygmy seahorses, nudibranches and cleaner shrimps were the “in thing” for macro photography. How to resist all those pretty little creatures, you tell me? How?

When I saw these photos of the underwater world a couple of days ago, I just had to do it — I started searching for dive trips in Sydney like crazy on the Internet. Found one that’s not too far from the city, and they’re open over the Christmas break too. Woo-hoo! Time to get my Mares regulator and octopus serviced. And my very old Suunto dive computer badly needs a battery change. I guess lugging bits of my gear and the underwater housing for my camera all the way here wasn’t such a bad idea after all, eh? Time to put them into good use again!

Watch out lil’ fishies, I’m gonna come get ya!

*bloop* *bloop* *bloop*
*feeeesssshhhh…*

It’s been a pretty busy week, with some of my family members a-visiting. Didn’t leave much time to wallow in homesick depression, which was a good thing. Too many interruptions.

On Saturday, it was Major Tourist Day™ for us! Mom, brother, sister-in-law and I trooped up to the Blue Mountains for a bit of sight-seeing, but not before we stopped by the Featherdale Wildlife Park to visit some some Oz “natives”. There were the usual suspects — kangaroo, koala, kookaburra, wombat and many more — which was quite a delightful change from the concrete jungle of 2-legged beings. I didn’t hug a koala (since they don’t encourage it much these days), but I did at least give one a pat on the back. Oh, and fed some really lazy kangaroos that were basking in the sun.

We stopped at a town called Leura, which is very popular for its Legacy Garden Festivals. We were a month too early for the blooms, but we did catch a glimpse of the first cherry blossoms along some roads. Early lunch at the Stock Market was a spread of utterly delicious gourmet pies (I had a Moroccan lamb), sandwiches, and latte… heaven, oh heaven!

The Blue Mountains was pleasant — cool air, bright sunshine, and a scene that took our breaths away. Truly spectacular. You have to see it for yourself; can’t really describe it. You absolutely have to go on the steepest train ride too, you’ll feel like you’re almost vertical as the car goes zooming down to the bottom!

That was two days ago…
They left Monday morning; I’m home alone once more.
Time to get used to the peace and quiet again.
Just me, myself, the TV, my tunes, and Facebook.
I vacuumed the unit in my undies and camisole.
How liberating!