I just came back from Golden Palm Tree resort with bff Lainey, I’m going to pasaut (c) Elaine Loh now so I’ll update tomorrow!
trip
Why drink and drive when you can indulge and fly?
I must admit, I usually go to the airport just in time to catch my flight. I never even notice most things there – it’s just a transit point for me to get to my destination.
I might grab a beer before the flight and I’ll definitely get cigarettes and alcohol if I’m flying international. That would be the extent of my airport experience. 
I was at Kota Kinabalu International Airport for an entire day last Saturday. I flew in on the first flight and flew out on the last flight back to KL. Here are my experiences while I was there:
This is the furthest I’ve ventured from the airport. The concept of this trip is supposed to be like The Terminal where you live inside an airport. I can definitely see that happening – there are toilets for your showers, food outlets for your dining needs, and perhaps you can even work part time. Heh!
If, for some reason a civil war broke out in your home country while you’re mid-flight and your passport isn’t recognized anymore, I can safely say that yes, you can survive and even enjoy living in an airport.
Anyway, enough about that. KKIA has more offerings that I ever thought existed…like this massage place called Ku Fong Therapy Center. I went there to check it out coz I’ve been running around the entire airport and it was pure bliss.
The herbal foot spa involves submerging your feet into water mixed with herbal powder and cleaning it. You’ll also get a full massage up to your thighs – very nice after a tiring day.
The foot scrub treatment is a pedicure of sorts. It lasts a full hour and it totally invigorated me for more exploration.
Stephanie was kind enough to offer me a complimentary back massage for 30 minutes but unfortunately I had to turn her down since I had a limited time to shop.
Shop? Huai Bin? Yes, you heard me right. There are a lot of duty free items that everyone can get – perfumes and chocolates are available for purchase even if you’re flying domestic.
Naturally, I went for liquor filled chocolates. I’m a huge fan of these things – they’re not chocolates per se but pralines. Mmm…
Perfumes and chocolates in duty free costs A LOT less than what you’ll find in retail. It’s a good reason to grab some when you’re at the airport. My friend asked me to buy a bottle of Chanel for her.
I headed over to get some food next – there’s some awesome coffee to be had at Jesselton Kopitiam at departures with a GREAT view of the runway.
That’s the best part – you’ll see if your plane has arrived just from that coffee shop.
Mr Kay was very kind – he noticed that I loved Kopi Tenom so much that he gave me some for my trip back!
It was good talking with him about how F&B in airports work and the clienteles’ different preferences in food.
The view of Kota Kinabalu from the terminal is breathtaking. I’ve been here twice – once to conquer Mt. Kinabalu and the other time just to relax at the islands.
Hey, if you find it appealing you can always head out one of their tours!
I bought quite a lot of stuff at the airport, including a jacket from Bonia that I thought looked really cool on me.
I also got chocolates (for myself) and perfumes for friends.
I really like this limited edition CK one/be that comes with built-in speakers (!!!).
The Malaysia Mega Sales is also running now so you get twice the bang for your buck! There will be additional rewards and prizes from now until the 16th of September. Spend a minimum RM 250 and get an entry to Indulge & Win Contest + a RM10 on the spot voucher which you can use immediately. If you’re a Mastercard holder you get double the chance to win (2 entry forms) in the Indulge & Win Contest. Spend RM 350 using MasterCard and get all those and an additional nifty Recycle and Indulge green bag! All purchases made using a Mastercard will get 20% off!
No worries if you’re not a Mastercard holder – you’ll still get the RM 10 voucher to spend as you like! Plus you get 15% off everything too!
The entry form is for the Indulge & Win contest which starts from now until 6th January 2011. Just spend RM 250 and above on anything at the airport (spas, shopping, dining) at KLIA, LCCT, PIA, KIA, KKIA or LIA and win fantastic prizes. You must submit the form with a maximum of 3 cumulative receipts totaling RM 250 on the same day. Mastercard owners will get twice the number of entries!
Now to the prizes!
They’re giving away 10 pairs of First Class Indulgent Holiday Packages comprising of:
– Two (2) first-class return air tickets to Cape Town, London or Sydney
– Three-nights complimentary stay at one of the following five-star hotels
– The Table Bay Hotel in Cape Town
– The Landmark Hotel in London
– The Blue Hotel in Sydney
– Top-of-the-range local holiday experience at any one of these destinations
– Full-day Safari at Fairy Glen, Cape Town
– Afternoon tea at Langham, London
– Seaplane tour of New South Wales Coastline
– Every package consist of indulging dining and spa experience
OMG! Wish me luck coz if I win I’m going to choose Cape Town! 🙂
Get more details about the Indulge & Win contest here.
You know you want to join. How can you resist?
Vietnamese Coffee
Hanoi does not have a coffee drinking culture, at least not in the Old Quarter. The people congregate and have communion over unsweetened iced tea instead. However, there are cafes around which serves coffee though I would hazard to say that tea vastly trumps coffee over here.
I have walked around the various streets and I’ve never seen the complicated Vietnam drip coffee contraption – except in high end (by Vietnamese standards) cafes. I choose to go where the locals go instead. This is a form of pride, I must admit – I shun all touristy places and eat and drink where the locals go to get a dose of their culture.
I am a very firm believer that when you go somewhere, you should do as they do, not go on some guided tour. Be a traveller, not a tourist and go about it yourself. I am a travel snob when it comes to this. I can never figure out why people come to eat…steak or drink beers which are available at their home. *snob
Anyway, back to Vietnamese coffee, they don’t put the drip contraption at your table coz there are no tables.
You sit on the ubiquitous stools that are available while you enjoy your coffee. It’s served black with sugar over ice but you can also opt for condensed milk. The people there don’t speak much English so I pointed at a guy opposite me and said I wanted that. The coffee here is really good – rich and strong.
It’s a very refreshing drink on a hot day. I paid VND 20,000 (RM 3) for this and I saw the guy opposite me paying VND 10,000. I called them on it and they said it’s a different drink. How can it be a different drink when I specifically pointed and said I wanted the same drink? 
Some places put a “foreigner surcharge” so I purposely waited until the guy paid since there are no menus or price lists over here. I guess they felt bad coz when I was about to leave they called me and gave me VND 10,000.
*thumbs up*
Posted: 7:00 pm Hanoi time
Nem Cua Be
I discovered this delicious morsel of a snack while wondering the alleys of the Old Quarter in Hanoi earlier today. I had 1 hour to kill before the acclaimed Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre so I was just wondering around and stumbled upon this hole-in-the-wall eating establishment.
I just wanted a beer but I saw they sell Nem Cua Be for 8,000 VND (about RM 1.20) and I asked what it was. It turns out to be beef and vegetables in a sort of spring roll. It’s deep fried before serving but that’s not that best thing.
The dipping sauce (the ubiquitous fish sauce in Vietnam) is hot (as in warm) so it made the entire thing tastes really good. They had some meat floss action going in there too.
Best enjoyed with a Bia Ha Noi.
Posted: 12:26 am Hanoi time
Chao ban from Hanoi!
Chao ban! I’m in Hanoi right now, staying smack dab in the middle of the Old Quarter. Yes, that is what I see when I walk out of the reception.
Meet Chanh – she’s the receptionist over here, and she’s only 21 (!). Chanh is still in uni and doing this part time. She’s terribly friendly and she’s quite good looking too. Her personality – very bubbly.
Okay let me show you my dong before I go out.
Posted: 11:17 am Hanoi time
Fraser’s Hill travel report
It took me this long to finally write the full Fraser’s Hill trip report (not that kind of trip) but I swear to God, I’m going to get it done today! Fraser’s Hill has a very interesting history behind it. It was named after a Scotsman who had dealings with opium but after falling off the face of the Earth it was turned into a colonial hill resort.
There are basically three hill resorts within reasonable driving distance in Klang Valley. The most popular one would be Genting Highlands, where fortunes are won or lost at a roll of a dice (as the saying goes). I got rather bored of the place, I can’t remember how often I’m been to the Amusement Park alone. Also, I’m still sore about the RM 35k loss.
Cameron Highlands is more family friendly with it’s strawberry plucking and tea plantations but I’ve been there about a year or so back and found it crowded and over commercialized while I’ve never been to Fraser’s Hill.
(or so I thought)
My dad told me that we went to Fraser’s Hill on one of our family vacations when I was a kid and even stayed at the same place – Ye Olde Smokehouse!
I had doubts about Ye Old Smokehouse at Fraser’s Hill due to reports about noise (true), ants (didn’t see any) and general non-maintenance (not sure about this one). I found the place nice, rustic with an old English charm. The room we got is spacious, with a living room, a large bed and even a fake electric fireplace.
Charming!
There is not much to do in Fraser’s Hill – it’s a chill out place for sure, but make sure you:
1. Visit the Fraser’s Hill Clock Tower
2. Take a dip in the freezing Jeriau Waterfalls
3. Have Devonshire tea
It’s primarily a destination for people into hiking and bird-watching. We managed to see several (old) Caucasian people with binoculars and books titled “Species of birds” at the resort we stayed at.
I went there primarily to chill and get some R&R. We went up quite late and Ye Old Smokehouse was kind enough to let us check out very late too (5 pm). You’ll need your own car and food is quite limited around Fraser’s Hill. We ate at Puncak Restaurant where the food courts are.
The food is alright but nothing to write home about. Be careful of the puzzling entrance to the food courts!
Ye Olde Smokehouse serves a complimentary breakfast which is pretty good. However the best part of the trip for me is soaking in the tub for hours and hours until our skin shrivelled while talking, drinking vodka and smoking cigarettes with my friend.
I don’t think Dr M would approve though.
The reports about Ye Olde Smokehouse not having soundproofing is true. We woke up the second day hearing soft conversations and spoons being dropped in the dining room. Imagine how many families we kept awake with our excessively loud and raucous lovemaking at 3 am in the morning! FOL.
Fraser’s Hill is awesome if you want a place that isn’t crowded or over commercialized – a cool, relaxing weekend break in an old English style hilltop resort. Go there if you want to get away from the stress in the city and take in the cool weather and slow pace of life.
Jeriau Waterfalls @ Fraser’s Hill
Jeriau Waterfalls is an incredible experience – imagine the cold hill resort temperature combined with the wind chill factor and a natural waterfall that isn’t heated (obviously). Intense. I couldn’t stop shivering. 🙂
It’s on the GPS but don’t follow that – ask your resort concierge instead. I brought my Sony Cyber-shot TX-5 along coz it’s waterproof. It’s just a 15 minute drive from Ye Olde Smokehouse where we stayed and the GPS will attempt to take you down a road that you shouldn’t access. It’s a feeder road.
Stop at the Jeriau Waterfalls gate (there are lots of cars parked so you won’t miss it) and it’s a 5 minute walk to the falls. Wikitravel says it’ a 15 minute walk but by my account it’s 5 minutes and we stopped to take interesting photos…
…like this hut which has an ecosystem of itself on top of the roof. My travel companion spotted this one. Perhaps the company was good so it seemed shorter so YMMV (pun intended) but be careful coz some spots are slippery. >.<
Jeriau Waterfalls is fucking cold. There is no other adjective to describe it. It’s as cold as a frigid bitch brimming with hatred, carrying enough emotional baggage that would cause even AirAsia to decline her wishes to pay 100 times the excess baggage fee.
Did I put you off?
Don’t be, coz it’s worth the trip. Sure, the water isn’t clean. FML I swallowed a mouthful of water and I nearly puked. The spray from the waterfall, the wind chill and the mist at Fraser’s Hill – it’s unforgettable.
It’s tonic for the soul!
Yup, I just had to do the traditional sixthseal.com pose. I can’t help myself, my psychiatrist says I need therapy.
Yangshuo beer fish
Yangshuo is famous for beer fish – a local specialty that is cooked with lots of chillis, garlic, peppers and of course BEER! The fish is called Li River fish (another must-try if you go to Guilin) although I don’t know exactly what type of fish that is.
I went to a rather touristy place to sample this awesome dish so I can’t vouch for the authenticity of it. The view is great though and we were each given a RMB 50 coupon to dine on. I was the only person traveling alone in that Li River cruise tour and this girl Kiko who was there with her mom and dad was kind enough to wave me over to share their table.
WHY DO THE MENUS ONLY HAVE CHINESE CHARACTERS?
I left the ordering to them since I can’t read anything but I managed to order beer fish and beer to go along with it (it’s the perfect combo). It is obvious I didn’t do the ordering coz here you have tofu. REAL TOFU. As in the kind that comes without anything to somewhat mask the inherent tastelessness of tofu.
This is a vegetable dish cooked with chicken. It consists primarily of shoots and it’s not too bad but I’m not a huge fan of vegetables.
Now this is an interesting one – it’s a local fern gathered in Yangshuo by the locals. It tasted bitter but I found it quite interesting and ate quite a bit of this. I think the fact that it’s indigenous to Yangshuo made me go against my vegetable principals.
This is Kiko. She’s with an MNC and was based in Malaysia for a bit.
I always leave the best for the last so here I present to you the famous Yangshuo Beer Fish!
You can actually taste the malt and hops from the beer fish and it surprisingly adds a lot to the taste of the tender and succulent Li River fish. The gravy was so good I drizzled it over my rice, which apparently is not compliant with the etiquette of Chinese dining, along with my propensity for sticking my chopsticks into the rice bowl.
I can’t remember how much the bill was but we had to top up about RMB 100 (about RM 50). I offered to pay since I was the only one who ordered beer (although Kiko and her dad drank it too) but they won’t have anything to do with that. I had to literally force my Yuan into the hands of the waitress, to the protests of the family and a lot of back and forth before I escorted the waitress away with my Yuan.
That’s Chinese culture for you. Heh! Anyway, the family is not from around here too – they’re visiting from Guangzhou and their family was kind enough to ask me to visit anytime and they’ll be my tour guide (and a place to stay). w00t! I’ll be going after my Melbourne trip. 🙂
How I got duped in China
a.k.a. Monks with psychology degrees
Okay, I knew it was a tourist trap since it was one of the stops of the Li River Cruise. I wasn’t going to buy any of that crap anyway but since I was in a holiday mood and in high spirits (pun intended – was carrying a bottle of their Sweet Osmanthus Wine) I went in anyway.
I picked one of them joss sticks (apparently they have this ritual where guys use their right hands but girls use their left hands) and it was tabulated against a book of sorts where I was given a piece of paper.
That paper, according to the people behind and ahead of me was Very Good (TM).
Personally, I think the monk who attended to me is Excellent (TM). He must have a doctorate in Psychology from some Ivy League school. That or he’s just one of those who’s good in profiling people (NSA would do well to hire from this temple).
He just asked me how old I am and what I wanted to know. I answered career and romantic relationships (in that order).
He looked at me and said:
I am a very ambitious person
I do not like to work for people
I abhor authority
It would be good for me to strike out on my own this year
I am not ready to settle down
I want marriage but cannot find someone that I can really connect with
Settle my career and the relationships would come along
I was a bit taken aback by all this profiling but I after a bit of thought it’s a no brainer:
I came alone to China – rules out relationships
My age and demeanour – obviously I am working and most people resent having to answer to a boss (I know everyone has a boss yadda yadda)
Striking out on your own – that’s what everyone wants, he’s just telling you what you WANT to hear
Since I was nodding at all the right times, he rightly profiled me as a sucker and led me to a donation box. I was asked to donate RMB 300 at least. It’s either RMB 300, RMB 600 or RMB 900. I said no, but as a gesture of goodwill, I will give RMB 200 (which is about RM 100). I did that not just to go against the numbers but he has also said some things about me that I didn’t reveal and I’m still trying to figure out how he managed to profile that. 
He gave me this doohickey that I’m supposed to keep in my wallet for 3 days before taking it out. I forgot all about it and only remembered when I saw the imprint on my wallet.
Well, guess what? Right after I took it out, I lost RM 35,000. Lucky year my ass.
Disclaimer: I do not believe in organized religion. I would call myself an agnostic but one with ties to Christianity subtype Protestant genus Methodist. That is the official denomination of my family but I’m the only one who does not believe in a God per se. You know how it goes, using religion as a crutch. As the Scottish proverb goes “Danger past, God forgotten“. 😉
Hello God? Is that you speaking to me? I’m going to have to ask you to speak louder coz I can’t hear what you’re saying.
Eating snake meat
The slithery one who tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden is served in a course of sorts in China. It’s like Peking duck, the entire snake is prepared and consumed. Your epicurean journey starts with picking the snake you want (snakes are generally quite expensive even by Malaysian standards).
The live snake is killed before your eyes (making it dead – call me King of Stating the Obvious) and the expert chef stems the flow of blood from the decapitation of the reptilian by some kung fu application to certain veins and arteries.
The snake blood is the first course of the meal.
Next comes the snake gall served in a glass of high proof alcohol.
The snake is de-scaled and the snake skin is served as a tasty appetizer.
You can also opt to have a snake head wine at this point.
However, I’m going to get into the meat of the post (pun intended) by describing the main course – snake meat. It’s cooked to perfection, Guilin style. I chose the cooking method that is recommended by the chef, a Guilin resident.
How does snake meat taste like? Well, I’ve had python before – that was tough and rather dry. However, this tiny little snake makes for a delicious main meal. There are bones but a surprising amount of meat attached to it as well.
I found snake meat to be juicy and while I’ll like to say that it tastes like chicken, it does not. 
Snake meat has a very distinctive taste. Words will not do justice to it (you have to try it for yourself, just like the Matrix). It’s tender and juicy, adjectives I would never expect to describe snake meat with, based on past experience.
It’s a little bit on the sweet side too. If I was forced at gunpoint to describe how it tastes like, I’ll say it tastes like the breast meat of chicken crossed with veal. The texture is a little like eel (but not really) – it’s hard to describe, it’s kinda like that but has more of a meat mouthfeel.
I thoroughly enjoyed the meal and finished the entire Snake Experience (TM). It is really good stuff. Do not miss the chance to taste snake meat if you come across a live one. It’s just that good!
