Nature trail in Penang

What was different for me in this travel was the way I let the travel take me. I didnt have a checklist of landmarks to visit and places definitely must see. Though I was aware of what must not be missed; I was fine if I couldn't visit those places. The travel was more of exploration and trying to get to talk to locals. This, I admit was new to me. I mean; earlier I used to feel so sad if I missed one of the "must-see" tourist attractions. However; something changed in me the past few travels that I dont rush to see all and check-mark all on the list. Instead; talking for few minutes to a local on the street is more satisfactory.

The second day at Penang; we took a bus to Penang National Park to trek for few hours. The bus ride was amazing riding on the coast along Andaman Sea. The entry to the park is free; there are 2 trails and various spots. The trail that we took was 2 hour one which ends in a secluded and clean beach of Kerachut. The trek is easy for fit people; but for folks like me it was not easy but not hard as well. Walking through the tropical rain forests once again was rewarding.

Nothing between you and the nature - those trees and vines that so alive and in turn provides life to many others, the non stop calls of the cicadas and the crickets; the occasional trickle of water, the breeze and of course the sweat on your brow! Its unexplained feeling.

The entrance to the park

Destination 2 km away

The trek at times touched the sea

At places; the feet were twisted and turned

Tilt your head - up, up, up

Life!

Walk, climb, pant, rest, walk, climb, rest....to end here

The sea is Andaman sea. Pristine blue waters; infested with jelly fishes. The grains of sand were big

The boat takes you back to the national park entrance for 80 MYR. If you are tired and cant trek back; this is the best option

In season; turtles lay eggs here

Met few guys who started off a conversation once they knew we were from India. Nice guys! 

:-)

Houses I think

Pearl of the Orient

I am back! Yet again!! 4 weeks of absence was due to my travel activities and boy! I am glad to be back on this space. I havent done justice to myself in the past on few travel journals in the past. But this time I am gonna jot all of them down.

Well, the travel this time was to Malaysia and Indonesia. At KL LCCT; I didnt meet the janitor about whom I wrote in my latest post. It was very unfortunate. Anyway; I would remember him and his kind deed until death. So diving into my travel! I've always wanted to explore Indonesia and of course! the older towns and cities of Malaysia. So started with Malaysia and then continued to the lap of Indonesia.

The first stop was Penang in Malaysia. I've heard/read of Penang along with plantation and Indian migrant workers during the colonial era. It has always been my interest to visit places as these and study how the migrant workers have adopted their new home, whats happened to their lineage and how the descendants are now.

Penang offers a lot on these lines. The flight out of KL LCCT to Penang was an hour or so and the transport from airport to Georgetown was easy. Rapid Penang the public bus service is so efficient and frequent.  The old city of Georgetown is where the wealth is. From historic buildings to concentration of Malaysian Tamils; the city by itself is a UNESCO world heritage site. The quaint streets with colonial buildings on either side, nestled among them the old mosques and chinese and hindu temples, the lovely people from different ethnicity and culture is a treat to the eyes.

Never was a feeling of animosity or getting cheated; it was a breezy experience. Getting to see the town was easy riding a bicycle. At 10 RM per day; it was economical and the best way to roam around the town. Few things that was pleasantly surprising was the Tamil diaspora. Getting inside Little India seemed as if somewhere in Tamil Nadu. I did not want to go there again! Not because anything bad occurred but I wanted to feel being outside India not in India. The second thing that amazed me was how helpful and sweet people were. Always smiling, stopping by to redirect you and answer your queries. Penang in my view was the perfect start for the vacation.

Day 1 was just roaming around Georgetown and taking in the atmosphere and the scenes. It was marveling to see the architecture being preserved.

Pinang Peranakan Mansion. Magnificent townhouse which was the former residence of Chinese Kapitan Chung Keng Kwee. Its filled with thousands of antiques and collectibles and shows how the Kapitan lived then. Its hard not to miss the Scottish iron works, English tiles and Chinese carved wood panels

One of the many stained glass windows

Work on Mother of Pearl

Trying to click a selfie

A wedding photoshoot was in progress

The Clock tower

World War Memorial at the Esplande

The Esplande

The City Hall

Fort Cornwallis build by Sir Francis Light who made Penang as British East India Company colony

Enjoying the view from the fort

The Town Hall on the Esplande

I didnt get enough of the old world architecture

Street food - Appams, curry, Rice....

View of Komtar - 65 floor skyscraper the tallest in Penang from the hotel room

A Dargah parallel to Little India

This was just Day 1!! :-)

Good Samaritan

Have you regretted not having thanked someone enough who helped you? It has happened to me a couple of times. Its not that I have been thankless; but the feeling of never been able to thank enough. The gesture or help may be small but at the right time; when needed the most magnifies the trivial help. I thought I need to share this incident here because such incidents restore the faith in humanity.

During my latest trip to Brunei; I had to transit via Kuala Lumpur. I was flying low cost carrier and hence the terminal was LCCT, KL. It so happens that most international flights arrive by mid night and the onward flights are not until dawn. Since its LCCT; you are required to walk almost a km to the arrival hall and if not having a direct connectivity; you will have to pass through immigration. The walk to the arrivals is tiring in the middle of the night for someone who doesnt stay awake late night. With luggages its more tiresome.

The queue at the clearance was long and by the time I got the stamping it was post 12:30 AM. My onward flight to Brunei was at 6 AM and its that time when you dont need anything else other than sleep. I was walking by to find an empty chair but none. I tried and tried and gave up. Every chair was occupied; people sleeping and waiting for onward flights like me. I didnt know this; else would not have opted for low cost carrier. Seriously thats what I thought.

I saw few people sleeping on the floor and the idea didnt seem bad. I found a corner near the counters and lied down. It was awkward; lone woman with no shawl to spread even. The floor was cold and I was finding it difficult; trying hard not to invite any attention. It was hardly 10 mins past when a janitor walked by. He asked me something in Malay; I gestured I didnt understand. Then he spoke in bit of English he knew. I said I was from India; waiting for my next flight which was at 6 AM. He asked me to follow him. I didnt know what to do; but just got up and walked behind him. He went near a luggage bubble wrap counter that was cordoned off. There was no one; the shop was shut. There was a cozy chair and a table. He asked me to rest there. He snapped off the ribbon; allowed me in. At first I was hesitant. You never know. But I just trust him and thanked him. Left my bag and luggage nearby. Used the table to rest my head and tried to sleep. I did notice that the man was sitting by for a while and could hear him chat with others.

I didnt realize that I had good sleep. I woke up once in between and noticed him standing at a distance. I remembered to thank him again for his great help once I wake up. I woke up just after at 4 when the bubble wrap shop in charge person walked by to open for the day. It was time to get my boarding pass as well. I searched for the janitor but didnt find him. His cart was also missing. Maybe his shift started or it ended. I never saw him. I felt that I should have thanked him more .

I am again flying to KL this Friday. I will be surely searching for this person and if I find him; remind him of his help and thank him profusely. These things really makes your day; isnt it?

And now; I am off to Malaysia and Indonesia for 15 days starting Friday. Vacation yeah! 

Read and Travel

These days I've been having my WHY days? Lotta questions - at work, personal or otherwise. One of them that constantly bothers me - Why are people so ignorant?

I know of people who dont read a book, who have not traveled, who dont talk to others who could share different knowledge; talk about different topics. But talk to such people for a while and they would behave as if they know everything. Sadly, I have a couple of them as my close friends. Its difficult to adjust with them when talking about something they think they know better and sadly; everything they claim as true will be not.

Read. Period. Your perspective of the world and the people will change. It improves your vocabulary. And of course; you get to enrich your ideas and knowledge. There is never like "I've read too much". I started reading because I liked it. I loved the fact that I could learn by just reading few pages. I didn't know then what a great gift I have. I feel pity on people who dont read. How else would you know that there exists a country called Vanuatu? Or that Da Vinci designed a humanoid robot in the 15th century?

Some of my guy friends say reading is a girl thing. Hell what? But none of the women I know read; the way reading should happen. People read those fictions and novels; and God! these days everyone is an author and its terrible. But yeah! who am I to comment? I would be worse than most who have at least attempted a fiction :-D

There's a proverb in Kannada. It roughly translates to "Travel around the world or at the least read books". Yeah, but I think both are important. Traveling opens a whole new world. Its so rich; its so very rewarding. You gather so much of experience. You get to know the way people live, their culture, their practice, their habits. You get to interact with them, try understanding them.

You develop that understanding, that adjusting behavior. You will learn to give in, to let go, to prepare for the unexpected, to not be surprised. You learn to co-exist with the dogs, the raccoons, the cockroaches. You learn to appreciate even the minutest of help. You learn to trust, you develop trust. You learn to make that extra effort; in everything and everyone.

You learn to appreciate everything and anything; and learn to pause and savor the most mundane of moments. You will not pick on mistakes and you'll learn to forgive and forget. More importantly; you learn to love - truly.

So read and travel.

Lots to Write

Lots to Write.....

But

Lost to Write....

I dont know why logging into my blog and writing does not attract me anymore. Is it because I have become lazy or finding it tired with all the work around or simply started to be indifferent towards my blog. 

When I was at peak in posting on my blog; I used to wonder at few of my fellow bloggers who went from infrequent to not writing mode. How could they do that? Now, here I am. 

Whenever I want to write something; a thought strikes. Hundreds are writing about this and thousand others already know; so why should I be writing about the same stuff again? Want to share anecdotes but not getting that motivation. Then again; from whom or from where should I be getting motivation from? Why cant I find it within myself the way I used to couple of years ago. 

I need to change man! for sure. Change in my way of thinking and my behavior towards this blog. Writing has always de-stressed me; so I dont fathom why I am not making use of this anymore. Hereon; I will make sure I will write something once in a week at the least; even if it means just scribbling. 

These days; I have done lot of traveling. October I spent a week in the country of Brunei. Brunei! I know! of all the places. But my close friend lives there and so I just grabbed the opportunity of visiting a country I wouldnt visit otherwise. The experience was different. 

Then in 2nd week of November spent 6 days visiting Jaipur, Ajmer, Udaipur and around. Wow! I want more! The places, the people..phew! Now; in December; I am going to spent 3 weeks traveling around mainland Malaysia and Indonesia :-D 

J? Hmm.. 

Travel is one thing that keeps me sane; with all the pressure at work. And yeah; someone please give me a job in travel sector! I can compromise on the money I make as long as I get to travel. 

 Any which ways; in few years I am gonna quit the corporate job and take up travel as my full time task or do vacation volunteering or something of the kind. 

These are best case scenarios. In my real world, Gypsy turned 1. He has been getting lot of complements like Handsome and all that. He keeps me busy; naughty and always needs attention. Would not leave my side until I stroke his ears and caress him. Here are his birthday pics. 

Write...Now!

Write...
But what, about? my dear
Crib about the state of affairs...
Critics abound doin 'em 
Suggest a word or two to 'em?
What would be left for the experts?

You may say...
There are other things.
Travel? I do 'em much..
Guilty of trumpeting about
Photos and captions?
Isn't that what I've been doin'?

Write...Now..
But 'bout what?
Stories?
No! not good at 'em
Articles?
No! not with half baked knowledge

Yet what to write
Now? Here?
Do I write about my day to day stuff?
Nah! pretty mundane to garner any interest
Poems? Ah! Yes!
So here is one

In response to Makk's Write Here Now comment

Straight Thoughts

I was in deep sleep last night. I couldn't call it deep sleep since my mind keeps thinking something or the other. I don't know what time it was but then a sudden thought.

Why is a straight line straight?

Don't ask me what got my mind thinking. I didn't have any discussions related to Geometry with anybody recently. I quit them all after college. Nor was I working on anything related but this question popped up. And then thats it. Went back to sleep. But I did make a mental note to research and write about this. I didn't do any research yet. Thinking about it; I have just one question that I probably didn't realize it at school. Even if I did; wouldn't have dared asked my teachers.

Who concluded the definition of straight. Ah! I do remember the equation of straight line and how its of zero curvature and shortest distance between two points and line traveling in constant direction and all that. Yet! who said straight means this. Why not something else?

These are not straight thoughts after all, aren't they? My mind just went bonkers.

Anyway, these crazy things or rather off the track stuff keeps happening. A friend of mine messaged with few lines of poem. He writes good verses. And I responded with few more lines continuing at where he left. I mean, it just fell into place. I thought I will give it a name. Fusion poetry maybe? The thoughts here again are not straight; mind you. But they nice; here they are.

Tales, dreams or just passing thoughts,
with every passing touch of time
I feel assured more & more ..
somebody will feel sad when I get buried...

Sad of all the moments lost....
Waiting and contemplating, 
Was it meant to be? 
Maybe, maybe not, 
Live the moment, live the thought.

I went off to an event this Sunday; kind of a hippie themed flea market. Cutting out the shopping; the ambiance and the music was good with a live band and crazy folks. And yeah I am not saying what crazy stuff I did ;-)

Oh! and these days I've been clicking snaps with my phone camera and it doesn't cease to amaze me at the clarity, speed and zoom capability. Here are few ones.

A different kind of ant.

Not so common butterfly came into the living room the other night

A common house fly - I mean check the details the phone camera has captured

Say Hi to Gypsy. All grown up, naughty and hyper. Here he is making up a sad face to gain sympathy.

Travels lined up here after. Next weekend off to Brunei to meet my bestest friend. I wanted to go to Kota Kinabalu from there for few days to hike Mount Kinabalu and get lost in the rain forest. But with my friend not accompanying; the thought of going out there alone kinda didn't appeal.

Later in November; off to Rajasthan with Neha and Akhil. They are awesome company and we had good time when we went to Aurangabad. Come December; it could be Malaysia and Indonesia or Philippines and Indonesia. Yieppie!!!