Kuching and The Rainforest Music Festival

Back in July 2009, my trip back to Malaysia coincided with the Rainforest Music Festival in Sarawak.

With guests from Denmark and Sweden, I organized our month long trip and threw in almost a week in Sarawak. We flew with Air Asia from Kuala Lumpur to Kuching. The tickets costed about MYR300 each.

The first part of the trip was at Annah Rais. This followed by 3 nights at the Damai Laut Resort which  is located right next to the festival venue, The Sarawak Cultural Village. With Mount Santubong as the backdrop, both the resort and the venue are fantastic places to sit out and admire Borneo.

We bought two daily tickets out of the three available. This gave us a free day from the festival, either to take it easy at the resort or spend a day in Kuching city.

After a 45 monutes drive from Annah Rais, we arrived at the Damai laut resort around lunch time. Lunch by the pool at the resort was OK but the service was extremely slow. After lunch, we walked past the resort's chalets to the cultural village (10 minutes at most). Within the cultural village, there is a lake in the middle and surrounding it, various ethnic houses.  The crowd in the afternoon consisted mainly of event organisers and sales persons at the various booths. Some visitors were like us, checking out the place.

There were music workshops at the various ethnic houses. We bought a beer and went for the one with a workshop on wind instruments. Some wooden stairs brought us to a big airy hall. A line of musicians sat at the front of the hall. There were representatives from Kenya, Scotland, Australia, the US, Venezuela  and Malaysia. When this was finished, we headed towards another house where a local was playing the Sape, an instrument I like a lot.

As the day got too hot, we went back to the resort and took a swim at the pool. After a buffet dinner at the resort, we returned to the village for some concerts.

This year, the festival organizers built two stages to save time on performers rotation. The sound system was obviously not good enough for such a big open venue. Yet, the musicians were very good, albeit a weird mixture. There were performances from Canada/China, Malaysia, Hungary, Poland and France. It was kind of funny to see patches of whites in masses (masks due to H1N1). What can I say? We, Malaysians, are a paranoid and chicken bunch.

Behind the stages were the lush tropical trees and the bright shining moon. My special moment was when the chinese orchestra played in the tropical wind and the moon shone above.

Day two was spent mainly by the poolside at the resort. We found that there is a second, more private pool near our rooms. So we tanned, swam and drank by the pool for most of the day. Later in the afternoon, some of us took the coach and visited Kuching city.

Kuching, which literally means Cats, is a much more beautiful city than I anticipated. The sense of spaciousness and charm makes KL feel like the ugly sister.

People are very friendly and a lot more polite than KLites. This was consistent with my experience with East Malaysians as a whole. They seem so much more cultured. After a brief walk around the river (the esplanade), we spent some time at the Kuching Museum. Again, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the museum. And it was free! One wonders why our national museum is so much less attractive. Where has the money gone?

After the museum, we walked towards India Street and found many stalls opened. There were drinks, food and spices. When we were sitting by the esplanade and waiting for lunch to be served, my sister taught me the Japanese five finger poses. Very goofy but so fun! I am tempted to post the pictures but my life could be at stake!

Our final day in Sarawak was spent again, part at the festival and part at the resort. I can honestly recommend this resort as the best accommodation if one were to go for the festival. It's so so convenient.

I am currently reading a book titled "Sylvia: Queen of The Headhunters".

An interesting read which provides a good insight into olden days Kuching under the rule of the Rajah's (Brooke).

An Afternoon in Kay El : Sin Sze Yi Temple, Pasar Seni, Old Town

One of my favourite places to walk around in KL is around the old town where I get off an the Masjid Jamek LRT stop. The old colonial buildings of old KL still stand along the river delta. In fact, Masjid Jamek is located where KL's river splits into two. This is where the earliest development of Kuala Lumpur, the capital started. One of the men who contributed greatly to developing this city is a chinese labourer turned Kapitan, Yap Ah Loy. Despite his great contributions, Yap has not been given enough credit by the Malaysian government. He risks being omitted from Malaysian history in the near future.

One of the buildings which will stand as Yap's memorial is the Sin Sze Yi Temple, a stone's throw away from Pasar Seni, KL's Central Market. Most tourists who visit the Central Market are not aware of this temple. In fact, it should not be missed simply for the ambience and its history. It is one of the oldest temples in KL which is still welcoming devotees today.

The crowd peaks on major chinese festivals especially Chinese New Year. On normal days, it is tranquil and one can hear the occasional ritual chanted by the caretakers for the odd devotees coming in.

As a child, I would follow my family to this temple on the morning of the first day of chinese new year. I waited anxiously for my grandma to summon me when she is done with the praying at the main alters. One of the gods she prays to is the Scholar God. My grandma would call out to us kids to walk under the alter table from one side to the other. Apparently, this was supposed to make us more obedient and brighter in our studies. I can testify that this ritual, as it is, has a 50% effectiveness rate.

This afternoon, I find myself sitting on the long bench I used to sit on together with my dad and grandpa. We were just waiting for grandma, my mum and my aunties to finish with their prayers. Yeps...in a chinese family, even the praying is outsourced to the women folk. With both dad and grandma gone, I find myself drifting into a sentimental mood. So I do what most chinese do. I got up and move on.

The next on my agenda was the Pasar Seni. I am not a big fan of this place but there is a shop I fancy. Pasar Seni is the typical tourist trap. All dressed up but not much substance. The non-adventurous tourist will find it easy but expensive. Most stalls sell their goods at a 100% mark up on average. The store I visited is one of its kind in the world.

I arrived shortly after lunch. Ferrelle's owners is a brother and sister team. The sister designs the shoes and handbags. They are made from batik. I will not say it's Malaysian batik lest my Indonesian friends be dismayed. Whatever it is, I love the shoes and bags here. The owners are very helpful and given its unique design, I am more willing to pay the price quoted.

From Pasar Seni, I ventured on further to China Town. In my opinion, China Town's main street has become like an overly dressed lady with too much red rouge on. The show is put up for foreigners by mostly foreigners. I get mistaken for a Japanese again. The scores of Bangladeshi stall keepers and some chinese boys yelling out Japanese to me.
"Konichiwa?" No answer. Two seconds silence and then "Toyota? Suzuki? Honda?". I walked on trying to hide my grin.

The reason why I came to China Town was to buy some chinese tea at Purple Cane. For those who fancy a meal cooked with tea, >Purple Cane also has a restaurant nearby. But for this afternoon, I headed for some sago gula melaka at Culture Street.

With more calories in my system, I walked back to the Pasar Seni LRT station. Next stop, KLCC.

Suria KLCC is the posh shopping mall below the Petronas Twin Towers. Most international brands are available here. I opted for the food court. It has a wide array of food, both local and international in one space. I miss the food court concept which is non-existent in Denmark. To top it all, the food court has a nice view over KLCC park and the surrounding skyscrappers. Another place to sit and have a coffee is right above the food court at the Kinokuniya bookshop. I love the abundance of English books, something I find lacking in Denmark.

I left KLCC just before the 5pm crowd. Another nice afternoon in KL.

Happy Deepavali Malaysia

Me in my Saree

Today is Deepavali or Diwali (the Festival of Light). There has been a lot of talk about 1Malaysia by the government politicians and a lot of criticism by ordinary Malaysians who think it's one of the government's empty promises. Well, my girlfriend Cheryl and I decided to do it our own way by getting to know our fellow Malaysians who celebrate Deepavali. Putting aside the politicians and the critics, I think 1Malaysia stand a better chance of success if ordinary Malaysians show more interest and understanding in our respective cultures. Malaysia is, afterall, malay and chinese and indian and iban and penan ...all the spectrum of backgrounds we bring with us to this land. On Thursday, I took the LRT and got off the Masjid Jamek stop. A short stroll down the river, I came to the Masjid India area, named after the mosque built there. Masjid India is an area dominated mainly my Indian muslims. My mission was to find a saree and experience some of the Deepavali atmosphere there. It didn't disappoint.

Shortly after crossing the river, I started to hear hindi music and smell the jasmine flowers which were made into colourful garlands. There were girls having their hands painted with henna.

A Decorated Kolam

I found my saree in one of the shops. The shop owner was a lady with a very fine saree on. She smiled and made some comments about me to the shopkeeper in tamil. He then smiled at me. I guess it was something nice they said? She picked a size 34 top for me. I put it on and it was tight. She assured me that that is the wya it's supposed to be. I dared not argue. I then asked her what time would be best to visit the temple the next day. Happy with my new saree, I strolled further down the street. There were a lot of people. Many were sitting in the bright gold jewellery shops. Chennai Jewellery, Bombay Jewellery and so forth. Many stared at me as I squeezed through the crowd. I thought "hopefully in a generation or two, this will be a norm i.e.chinese Malaysians celebrating Deepavali".

I stopped at one of the stalls where I bought some gold and turqoise bangles. Next to it, I stopped and got myself some murukku. I left Masjid India two hours later and moved on back to the Masjid Jamek area.

Clad in our sarees, Cheryl and I joined the Indian crowd at the Sri Mariamman temple this morning. Obviously, we were drawing a lot of attention. I was happy to find two other chinese young men who were there to shoot some photos. I thought to myself that when I move back to Malaysia, photography will be a good way to learn more about this country.

Cheryl turned out to be the perfect companion for this experience. Not only is she a great yoga teacher, but her interest in Indian culture and philosophy brings her to India for her personal pilgrimages. At the temple, I simply follow her lead.

First, we took off our shoes and then we washed our feet. We started with the main prayer hall where the chief deity Sri Maha Mariamman is in the middle. There were devotees lined up on either side of the centre space. Two priests held silver trays in their hands. On the trays were an oil lamp, some flowers and red powder. Cheryl guided me when we stood in line to receive blessings from the priests.

I placed some donation money on the tray and placed my hands close to the litted lamp. The priest dropped some red powder on my palms. I then used to powder to dot my forehead. Blessed am I!

We proceeded to the smaller halls, each time bending down to touch the floor before we enter. Cheryl explained to me that this is how we pay respect to the ground we were stepping into. As we watch the devotees pray and chant, Cheryl explained how the rotation of the lamp in their hand symbolizes different things. Clockwise for the Gods and anti-clockwise for those who have passed away.

On one of the prayer halls, devotees circled the middle alter of jasmine flowers and oil lamps. I was told that one could circle it 9 times or 108 times as they chant. holding an oil lamp. I followed those who clasp their palms together when one of the devotees waved at me to join in. The moist and scent of jasmine was really hypnotising. I glanced up once and saw the chart on the wall showing the position of the nine planets within the hall. One of the devotees in front of me poked a hole into his counting paper each time he completed a circle.

As I completed the nine circles, a chinese man took photographs of me. It was quite hillarious as he whispered "I'm such a bad photographer!" each time I hear the click on his camera.

We left the hall into the open space when a group of indian boys asked us to take some pictures with them. Strange, isn't it? It was harmless fun, I guess.

We stayed a little longer discussing why there are no guided tours for such things in Malaysia. I know many of my foreigner friends would be interested in seeing this side of Malaysia rather than just going to a tourist spot to snap pictures. Well, the more cultured of my friends anyway.

All in all, we left quite happy. Hinduism is truly an open religion. It is not money focussed. It is open to everyone. I felt very welcomed at Sri Mariamman today. I would recommend any visitor to Malaysia this special opportunity to share the experience of The Festival Of Light.

A Good Sunday

It's been a week since I landed in Malaysia. Unlike last Sunday, my body was not consumed by lack of sleep. I decided to join my family for the hike up Broga Hill. I have seen many beautiful pictures and saw friends' comments on how nice it is.

We left KL at 6am and arrived at Broga about 45 minutes later. There were already so many cars. There is simply no way to escape a crowd. That is KL. Whenever there is a place which becomes popular, half the city's population gathers there..until it is no longer fashionable.

The climb is quite easy and should take about 30 minutes to the top. Nothing tough compared to Preikestolen, for example. >Broga encourages climbers by having 3 peaks. The first is a little flat at the top. Climbers arriving here can cast their sight on the others heading further up in a green hill above. Not that it makes one want to burst into "The hills are alive....." especially given the 30 degree celcius climate. There is a Malaysian flag at the top. I think it was weird. This was not the moon.

At the top, Broga offers a nice view and some breeze. I won't get into much detail here since you get a whole lot of information if you google >Broga Hill. Overall, it is a spot frequented only by locals since you can only reach it by car.

At the "entrance" to the foot of the hill, you have to pass rows of oil palm trees and some rubber trees as well. There are a few vendors selling fruits and fresh coconuts.

Overall, I had a good time. I shall try to arrive earlier next week to watch the sunrise. Hopefully, there'll be less crowd. :-)

After Broga Hill, we headed to the old market near Jalan Imbi. We had breakfast here, ordering various dishes from the different stalls to have a bit of everything. For five people, the grand sum of a breakfast? RM20 (DKK30).

The Sunday progressed to some authentic Thai Massage. I swear I heard my bone break. Let's just say it was not the kind of massage one can sleep through soundly. After all the awkward positions the masseure tried to put me into, a sudden hope built inside me. I could perhaps be good for the Kamasutra.

What could make this Sunday even more beautiful? Durians! Free durians from the neighbour. Hmmm...

Ah well...maybe it was all supposed to mean something

It's 19:07 Copenhagen time or 20:07 local time. I am at the Manama Airport in Bahrain.

After my 15 minutes anger fit, I sat down in quiet Stansted Airport for a coffee. I was looking at all the young people sleeping on the floor and some brought sleeping bags too. In my uni days, I would never hesitate to do the same. But I guess, it's sign that I have aged. Now, I simply demand more. I checked the prices at the Radisson hotel close-by. GBP125 for the night. That's a thousand DKK! OK...maybe I demand much more but am too cheapskate to pay.

As I was contemplating my options, a lady with a tudung said "Hi". She's obviously Malaysian malay. We began to chat. She was very nice and very wise. Her husband joined us and we had a good chat. He said to me "maybe you will find soemthing good out of this situation". I wish there were more people who could meet muslims like them. Then people would not be so quick to judge.   

It made me cognited how easy it is for hot tempered me to be brought down emotionally. I realized that my "predicament" should not bring me down further. So I got online and found a few options. Isn't it great to have choices? And good choices at that! Ok...so I lost DKK2000 but things could have been worse.

The option which was most tempting at 4:00 in the morning was to take a bus to Cambridge and spend a day sight seeing with my friend Kell then catch the 18:00 flight from Stansted. But then where would I spend the night sleeping? Another option would be to find an earliest flight to KL.

I called my aunt in KL. Lo and behold, she found me a flight! I rushed to the ticket counter to catch the 5:30 coach to Heathrow. It was cold outside at the bus station. No 21 was yet to be seen. I sought warmth at the waiting area. Tried to get a cup of tea but no credit cards accepted. Boo hoo.

Good thing the bus came promptly at 5:15. The journey was surprisingly pleasant. I dozed off occasionally but wake up from a bump. Had my iPod on playing some soothing music. It was during this trip that I started to wonder if this whole "predicament" is supposed to mean something. Not that I wished for any plane crashes. It is just that I actually enjoyed the morning ride in the bus to Heathrow. I saw the sunset from the bus.

Heathrow was filled with people at 7:00 when I arrived. It was a piece of cake checking in at the Gulf Air counter. I love their "I Dream Of Jeannie" costumes on the stewardesses. Part kinky, part funny.  :-D I had forgotten how old Heathrow Airport is. It was ike back to the 70s. I had two hours waiting time before boarding. I was so sleepy by then that I slept with my arms locked around my handbag and my legs grasped the hand luggage tightly. I woke up when the boarding announcement was made. It must've been an hour or so. I was surprised to see the crowd whom I was about to share the flight with.

I was awake enough for my curiosity to return. I started to wonder who owns Gulf Air? Since the destination is named Bahrain, I thought it was a capital of a country in the gulf. But which one? I was ashamed to know so little about the place and its people. The crowd before me was looking and dressing very Indian but some were speaking an Arabic like language. My curiosity was like an itch I could not wait to scratch. I was just checking for WiFi when it was time to board.

Shortly after boarding, I fell asleep. I guess I was more sleepy than I was curious! When I awoke, I didn't know how long we have flown and what time it was. I spent some time trying to derive the answers to these questions. I left London at....it is now 2 hours to Bahrain....

We landed at about 18:30 local time. It was 32 degrees celcius. I followed the scores of people into the airport terminal. It was no doubt I had landed in an Arab country. Most women were covered from head to toe. Most men stared at me. I was wearing my black high boots with a body hugging black dress. I tried to cover myself up with my jeans jacket. Still, I was the outsider. The only chinese looking person.

With some time to kill, I zig-zagged through the crowd and went into the nearest toilet. The Manama Airport is very small and the toilets were small too. I could not find enough space to change so I threw open my suitcase in the open toilet space by the sink. Great. I had a long summer dress and some flip flops. I began to undress to change when I saw all the other women literally staring at me. Then, I heard something in Indonesian. Two of the girls were making remarks about my semi.nudity in front of them. They concluded that I was Korean and therefore shameless. I hurried and got back out to the airport crowd.

Less people stared. Whew. I then did what most women would do in an airport. I checked out the Duty-Free shop. The prices of things were shocking. They put Copenhagen Airport prices to shame. Without any good bargains, I headed for the boarding gate.

There were many young Malaysians - a group of malay boys who were probably IT guys and some chinese guys who were probably hard labour, in Bahrain to make some quick money. I was still standing out like a sore thumb. The chinese guys discussed if I were Japanese. I understood every word since they spoke my mother tongue, cantonese.

The flight was about 8 hours. I kept myself occupied with some chick flick and more sleep. The guy sitting next to me was reading a Deloitte staff manual. "A fresh graduate", I thought to myself.

24 hours after boarding the plane at Copenhagen's Kastrup airport, I finally arrived home in KL.

Maybe the day that was was supposed to mean something? Well, at the very least, I now know where Bahrain is, what sort of country it is and it is 5 hours behind Malaysia in time and 9 hours flight away.




 

Stuck in Stansted

It’s 1:12am London time and I will be spending the night here in Stansted airport. All thanks to the great co-operation of the evil allied forces – EasyJet, AirAsia and Stansted airport customs.


I had a good experience with AirAsia, the last time I flew to KL. EasyJet is a big No-No for me and is the culprit for my current predicament. It is by far the worst airline in the world. The staff is rude and it is unreliable. But in order to save RM1200, I decided to fly AirAsia and the only airline connecting Stansted and Copenhagen is Easy Sleezy Jet. I am paying for this lack of good judgement right now.

So obviously, I will never ever fly EasyJet again. Here is why. If you watch the TV programme featuring EasyJet, you will be smiling in empathy already. It is true. EasyJet is not a value for money airline. It is a cheap airline with low standards, poor boarding procedures and you cannot count on it to take you where you want to go on time. If you cannot afford anything else, by all means, go for them. If you’re trying to save some money, it better be a lot of savings. You see, for most airlines, a handbag or a pouch is NOT a hand luggage. But at EasyJet, it is. Worse still is the fact that depending on which EasyJet staff you deal with, this rule may or may not apply.

When we flew from Copenhagen to Stansted the last time, I was allowed to carry my handbag without charge. Naturally, this was the same way we returned to Stansted to fly to Copenhagen. But this time, the handbag was a hand luggage so I was forced to check in the suitcase or the handbag. We paid RM550 or DKK800 for that extra weight. This, my friends, is how EasyJet earns its money. Sleezy.

Tonight, my flight was delayed 45 minutes. But EasyJet alone did not do the job of screwing me. The customs check at Stansted airport at 11:45pm took an hour. There are a few staff members hanging around chatting but not helping. You see old people standing for an hour, crying babies and people on crutches. We all stood there for an hour. I could not get the customs lady to come over and tell her we may miss our flight. After an hour, I took my pre-printed AirAsia boarding pass and went to the gate. There were already four girls at the gate. We were all refused entry. The piece of paper we all held in our hands, printed from the AirAsia website with the title BOARDING PASS, was not a boarding pass, we were told. Plus, all the counters at the airport have closed.

It was 12:55am and the flight was scheduled to leave at 1:25am. All the security check people told us was “It was your responsibility to get here on time”.

Let me explain. The idea was to arrive at 10:45pm and have 1 hour and 45 minutes to go through customs and security. After all, I had the freaking boarding pass in hand. Did AirAsia care to state that this was indeed a fake document?

Now, if I were in Amsterdam or Heathrow airport, I could at least go to a lounge and catch some sleep or take the next flight. But in lousy Stansted airport, there is ONE flight leaving for Kuala Lumpur offered by AirAsia. Malaysia Boleh!

Next time I am going to Malaysia, I will fly KLM or SAS or Swiss Air. The cheap airlines are cheap not because they let you choose what to have and what not to have. It is because they are run by incompetent people.

Now, I will go join the bunch of people who all missed this flight. I swear if there was another flight, I would have taken it and forever avoid the EasyJet, AirAsia and Stansted Airport combination of an experience.

I know what will happen. They will all point fingers at each other. It is really not worth it.

Around Norway in The Summer

Together with a friend, I took a short driving trip around Norway for four days. We took the daily overnight ferry from Copenhagen to Oslo, offered by DFDS. Prior to that, we stocked up the car boot with food from Copenhagen. Durables such as snack sausages, crackers and biscuits, and Swedish bread and some drinks. We boarded the ferry in the car about 16:00. The ferry left Copenhagen at 17:00 sharp.

Our cabin was a double bunk bed cabin with no windows but an attached shower and toilet. Basic but extremely comfortable for a night.

DFDS offers packages throughout the year which comes with the cabin, car parking, and four buffet meals (2 breakfasts and 2 dinners). The food was very impressive. In Denmark, we would never have gotten so much food, especially seafood, in a buffet. Night entertainment consisted of movies for kids, the piano bar, slot machines and a C-grade karaoke.

The ferry docked in Oslo shortly after breakfast at about 10:00. As our car was not a registered car in Denmark or Norway, we were subjected to a long check by the Norwegian customs. My ability to speak danish with them and sufficient documentation got us out of the checking area in about 30 minutes.

The Norwegians are extremely nice and relaxed people. Even though they, in essence, speak a similar language as the Danes, they smile and laugh a lot more! We navigated by a Tom Tom GPS. Each little curve of the roads were reflected on the GPS. It was amazing what oil money can buy. The Norwegian roads and tunnels (and general infrastructure) is the highest class I have seen in all my travels.

We had not planned the details of our travel route. Nor had we booked any accommodation. So the plan was to book a "hytte" (a hut) in the afternoon and have that for the night.

We did this every day without failing.

Our route was from Oslo, we head north west and gradually to the fjords on the west coast. We aimed to reach Stavanger two days before and allocate the last day for intense driving back to Oslo to catch the ferry back to Copenhagen.

The first day, we simply aimed for lunch at Geilo, stopping along the way whenever we wanted to frolic in the cold lake waters. With the snow capped mountains behind and green fields all around, coupled with the very hot sun, it was pure natural bliss.

Geilo was the venue of the 1980 Winter Paralympics. It is a ski resort town. It was 30 degree celcius but people were skiing. It had a nice view over the town. Very cosy indeed. We took the lunch break opportunity to call some camping and huts operators to book something for the night. It was very easy to ask the café owner or the ski resort receptionist. Norwegians are sooo friendly.

After lunch, we moved on further to Voss, which was recommended by the friendly Norwegian custom officers. The main attraction in Voss is Voringfossen, a waterwall which is 183m at the top.  A hotel cum restaurant stands at the top where you can opt to spend the night or simply have coffee, like we did.

Leaving Voss in the late afternoon, we arrived in a quiet town called Norheimsund where we booked a hut. The hut was god for a family of four and was very basic. Two double bunk beds and a square table in a hut with a verandah. There were other tourists and permanent residents in the surrounding huts. I enjoyed sitting in the verandah listening to some of their travelling stories. Not bad for a NOK350 per night deal.

We had some food from the boot for dinner. What I came to enjoy even more was the shared showers. I had to plan my shower! As you ladies can imagine, at NOK10 for four minutes of warm water, I had to have a strategy. That was quite fun.  :-)

The next morning, we gobbled down some breakfast from the hytte café. Very simple Norwegian breakfast of bread and coffee. We then paid up and moved on. That's the thing I noticed about the Norwegian way. You stay there for a night. No one checks on you. They simply trust you to pay up the next day, instead of running off with a free night's stay.

A little before noon, we arrived in Norway's financial capital - Bergen. I like Bergen a lot more than Oslo. It is spacious and very pretty. The combination of the mountains, walking streets and a port is very charming. Dating back to 1070, its modernity misleads one from its age.

We parked the car in the centre and walked around and towards the port. At the port, there was an open market where there were many tourists. You can buy sweaters and Norwegian handicrafts. There is also a food and seafood market. The seafood was so fresh so we decided to buy some and have some beers for lunch. I have to say, Norway's whaling policy and the whale meat on sale did put me off quite a bit.  So I settled for shrimps instead.

After lunch, we went to Bergen's tourist information office which was very well organized and big. The guides were friendly and there were many borchures and leaflets to help plan the rest of our trip. Again, we took the opportunity here to book our accommodation for the night. We told the owners of Wathne Huts that we would arrive by 21:00 that same day.

Flipping through pages of brochures, we had a discussion on where to go next. My friend saw a very nice postcard of a fjord. So we decided to go to the place in the postcard - The Preacher's Chair or Preikestolen in Norwegian. Ah...a little spontaneity. :-) My friend commented that we should not buy the postcard though. It was too touched up, he said.

Afterwards, we took the cable car called Ulriksbanen up to Mount Ulriken.  Up here, you get a very nice view of Bergen city. The big crusie ships docking here seemed so small. The café there offers very nice cakes so we stopped for afternoon tea.

The last thing we did in Bergen was to go buy me a pair of good hiking shoes. The shopping mall was small but the prices were very high. Norway is a very very expensive country.

We left Bergen at about 16:00 and headed south. This drive down south alongside the fjords is one of the most dramatic and beautiful journey. We drove through mountains in tunnels, getting the occasional majestic views of the fjords opposite. There were tunnels which were engineering marvels. We drove on some amazing suspension bridges connecting the fjords. At some point, we drove into a tunnel which reached 233m below sea level within 2km and then 2km to return to above sea-level.

To reach Stavanger, we also had to maneuver through little islands along the fjords and to take a ferry from Stavanger to Tau, meaning "witch craft" in old Norse. When we arrived in Stavanger, we had missed the ferry. The next was to come an hour and a half later. As it was, we were 2 hours delayed. So I called the owner named Ellen, at Wathne to inform her. I was a little worried we may not be able to "check-in" so late.

Ellen simply laughed and said, "Arrive when you arrive. I will come with the keys." That was nice.

Around midnight, we arrived on Tau and the GPS indicated the drive to our hut would take another hour! Once again, I called Ellen. She told me not to worry. She described which of the huts was ours and told us to get the keys under the door mat.

We got to the hut really late. The hut had a kitchen, sitting area, a bathroom and two bedrooms. It costed NOK500 a night. The next morning, I woke up and was so impressed by what was before my eyes that I did not talk for a whole 10 minutes!

There was a lake near our hut. The hut is surrounded by fields of green. We had breakfast at the "restaurant" where we met Ellen and her husband in person. They were so nice and welcoming. Again, we were only required to pay when we check-out.

We were briefed about Preikestolen and how to get there. So took the car and drove towards the base of Preikestolen, which is also called Pulpit Rock.

It took 2 hours to go up (I am an average woman on small build, not athletic). It took me about 2.5 hours to come down.

Do not be mislead by the tarred road you see at the beginning. There is NO specific walking path after that. There are stretches of the journey where you may have to climb small rocks to move up.


Tips:

1.Bring a small bottle of water or coffee. some people actually got a one time BBQ kit up there! Make sure you eat before as there is no store, no kiosk selling food anywhere.
2.Wear shoes with good grip and preferably light.
3.Bring a sweater even though it may look very warm.
4.Bring a good camera because it is a place worth lots of pictures.
5.If you're up to it, on the way, there is a lake where you can swim in. Clear water but a little cold.
6. Be careful on your way down. It is actually easier to be injured
7. For the dainty ladies, you may want to wear some cotton gloves to help grip and climb.

Once you reach the top, you will understand why it is one of the most beautiful spot in the world. The flat part of the fjord stretches out to its edge and at 90 degrees, it goes into the sea for 600m. There is no barricade between you and the sea. Everything is natural as can be.

I am glad our last full day was spent at Preikestolen. If I lived in Norway, I would definitely come here more often. Those who were in the cruise ships looking up the fjords would not see the beauty of this place. The top gives the best and most rewarding view.







 We got back to the hut in the afternoon and decided to take a swim in the lake. The air felt warm but when I got into the water, I realized my body is designed for tropical Malaysia and not cold cold Norway. I felt my body turning numb. Yet, the scenery before me made me warm and fuzzy inside.

Dinner was a simple spaghetti meal cooked in the hut from the supplies we stocked up from Copenhagen.

We started the last day late in the morning. After checking out from Wathne, we drove east wards to Oslo. We arrived in Oslo just in time to catch the ferry back to Copenhagen.

Now, as I sit from my work desk facing the port where this same ferry takes off, I know some lucky people will be enjoying Norway.

Easy Cruise or Cheesy Cruise?

Last summer, my mum, sister and aunt came to visit. Since they took the 15 hours flight to Europe, I decided we should get out of little Denmark and see more.

My mum hinted on a cruise. But everytime I think about cruising, I think about lots of old people in a big ship or lots of sleezy love affairs like on the Love Boat. Not that I have a problem with the latter but that, combined with mum on board simply will not work.

After some good hours of googling, I found a small cruise called easyCruise. What attracted me to them was the concept that the ship is smaller and the price range means that younger people can afford it. In addition, the ship docks in a new island on the Aegean sea every morning after breakfast and travel when the guests are sleeping. Guests have the whole day and night on each island.

The ship was to leave the Piraeus port in Athens and then cover Kalymnos, Bodrum, Kos, Paros, Delos, Mykonos and Syros during the 7 days cruise. I have a fascination with Greece. That made this cruise even more attractive to me.

We flew from Copenhagen into Athens. We had 2 hours to get from the airport to the port.

The directions at the port, on how to get on board the ship, were very poor.

We were asked to hurry to the bus which took us to the ship. There, we were asked to turn back to check-in. I started to get nervous that that was how the organisation of the cruise was to be. Kept this to myself to not get my mum into a panic.

We were shown to our cabin which was very basic but had its own bathroom. We always had hot showers and the cleaning service was good. We also opted for a cabin with a window. It was small and as we came to find out, we did not need it since we hardly spent time in the cabin.

The cruise ship was relatively small but neat. There is a small pool which is not conducive if one intends to swim. The two open jacuzzi on the top deck were more popular.

When we were on board, we went to have a drink at the top deck. The ship left the port and the cruise started! We watched the sunset from the deck and wondered what to do for the evening. I had never went on a cruise before! We had dinner and spent the rest of the evening checking out the ship. There was an orientation session conducted by the host. That was a good chance to say Hello to some of the other cruisers. Some were couples and a few young families. And then some students. Overall, a good mix of people.

We also had the choice of whether to sign up for guided excursions on the greek islands or to go about on our own. I opted for the first since I didn't want to spend time organising. :-)

After a good night's sleep, we woke up when there was an announcement on the speakers. We had arrived in Kalymnos. It has about 16,000 residents and is one of the wealthiest of the Greek islands. Known for sponge diving, Kalymnos is a tourist favourite in the summer months.

Our excursion was centered around Pothia, the capital of the island. The first destination of the excursion was Agios Savvas Monastery. The monastry is located on a hill with a nice view over the port. It is dedicated to the patron saint of Kalymnos, Savvas The New.

For a panoromic view of Agios Savvas, click here.