Crossing the Malaysian-Thai Border via Sungai Golok

Posted on February 22, 2012 by jipp

One of the things that I had been most curious about in Kelantan is how it is like at the border of Malaysia-Thailand so I allocated my last day there to drive over to the border and see it for myself.

I learned from the people with whom I had worked on my job assignment in Kota Bharu that Thailand could be accessed from Kelantan by getting on a ferry at Pengkalan Kubor or crossing over the Golok River on a bridge at Rantau Panjang. I thought maybe it would be more adventurous going there on a ferry but Sungai Golok was badly flooded when I was there and the ferry service was temporarily halted so I had to go for the bridge. Continue reading →

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Fulfilling My Craving for A River in KIULU, Sabah

Posted on February 20, 2012 by jipp

So, I was back in Sabah to attend a friend’s wedding last week. Attending a friend’s wedding can be quite expensive now that I’m staying in KL but if you may ask, while the wedding itself is already important, meeting up with old friends who are there to attend it is certainly just as important, if not more. 😛

So, before I boarded the plane, there was something that kept coming into my head, something of a longing for swimming, and it came with the image of a river. Then I realized how much I missed swimming in a river and I suddenly knew how I was going to spend my first day in Sabah.

Continue reading →

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Traversing Through the Dark Era of Cambodia at The Killing Field

Posted on February 12, 2012 by jipp

Previously on my trip to Cambodia, I started off the day by visiting the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and see for myself how Pol Pot had turned a school into a prison and used it as the torturing camp for those who had the slightest sign of treachery against him.

Bear in mind that most of the killings in the infamous genocide didn’t happen there. Instead, they were committed in a place 17 km south of Phnom Penh, in a place that is now known as The Killing Field. That was where we were heading to next. Continue reading →

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Attending Thaipusam in Batu Caves

Posted on February 9, 2012 by jipp

So, I attended Thaipusam at Batu Caves for the second time in a row after daring the crowd for the first time last year. As usual, the challenges began at the train station when I had to push my way in with all my might and let myself be sandwiched in the super-crowded train at least until it reached the intended destination – the world renown Batu Caves on the outskirt of Kuala Lumpur.I wouldn’t have wanted to go through all the rough experiences if it wasn’t for Thaipusam – a festival that for me the only ‘real festival’ here in Malaysia. Drawing hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world to commemorate the occasion when Parvati gave Murugan a vel “spear” so he could vanquish the evil demon Soorapadam, it was certainly a celebration worth getting sandwiched for. 😀 Continue reading →

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Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum: The World According to Pol Pot

Posted on February 6, 2012 by jipp

It would be our first day in Phnom Penh so the excitement was sky-rocketing. We had arranged with the hostel to arrange a Tuk Tuk for a one day tour to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and Choeung Ek (The Killing Field) for which we’d pay USD15.

Our Tuk Tuk driver was a stocky man probably in his late 30’s and although he didn’t speak much English, he seemed to understand every word that we said.

The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum that we found out wasn’t really far from the hostel. In fact, it was located very much within the city so we arrived there much sooner that we had expected. We even arrived there just in time to catch the movie show.

Oh well, it wasn’t really the kind of movie that I had expected from something like Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. It was more like a love story written/narrated based on a stack of correspondent letters between a man who was sent to serve for the Pol Pot and a lady whom he left back in the village to suffer the oppression. Continue reading →

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