Ritz Carlton, Majestic Hotel Stay and Mandarin Oriental Visit

In 2017, I embarked on a series of hotel testing. it was one of the amazing and crazy short few days trip in KL. First I tried Ritz Carlton. Well it is amazing ramarkable fantastic superb and any good adjective would do well explaining this wonderful. Comfy bed, I slept so well, the couch is comfortable and they would sent you a brownie every night around 7pm-8pm. (If you do know why there is a freebies, kindly leave a comment below.

There is a separate room for shower and toilet. The ceramic finish on the walls and floor puts you in a trance of being in a kingdom washroom. The toiletries has a XX London XX brand of it. I have forgotten.

I took a dip at the pool here. It is quite secluded as many people do not prefer to swim i guess. the pool is in a elongated shape with water outlet pouring in. I took an free apple before the swim

Amazing food and I usually asked the waiter for a hot choc and lemon water while they guide me to my seat.

 There is several section: Asian, Noodles station, Indian, Bread and Western, Salads and Cold starters, and a fridge full of fruit drinks.

I left for full belly everyime and then had a walk at the Suria park watching water fountain during the night performance

I went to a friends room in Mandarin Hotel to take a shoot of the twins towers. Apparently my friend told me there is always soft music played while you are in the bathroom. The room size is definitely smaller than mine, but the price is expensive due to close proximity to the twin tower .

I then moved to Majestic Hotel for a stay and it was a transformed old railway station into a hotel during the British Colonial era. it preserved the architecture and you can still feel that setting while entering the hotel, but renovation on walls, floor and surface has makes it into a amazing renovated hotel. I heard it is a famous place for photo shoot.

A colonial dress guard, the bellboy can be seen.

Food is amazing, there are sections on salads, porridge, indian, asians, yogurt and drink ( I loved the blend juice combo). I do felt it is slightly below par 9 a bit) compared to Ritz.

Room is spacious, you will fell like staying in a suite. If you're lucky, you get a corner lot room which is even bigger. bathroom, not in picture, beside the bed area though, is big and spacious. I remembered a TV in front of bathub which is why I spent hours for bath. One weird feature is the pillars around the bed frame. i wonder what is that for ?

I have a walk around bukit bintang and the X'mas tree was setup in front Sungai Wang Plazza

KL Icons, Heritage Walk and Chinatown

In the end of Dec 2017, I finally had chance to visit KL for a few days around Petalling Street towards Pandang Merdeka under the old city walk pathway

I went to Central Market, Lots of shops on Local Products, Handicraft, Artwork, Snacks, Drinks and Foods, Clothes and Apparel. I remember I bought a 1990s National Geographic at one of the stalls, RM5. How rare is that. There is a food centre at the 2nd floor.

Free entrance to Sri Maha Mariamman Temple. You have to take off you shoes and visit.

One of the icons of Chinatown with Bruce Lee

The Main entrance front of Chinatown. Form there, it branches into t-junctions and at most days, it is a crowded walk with many stalls selling all sorts of stuff.

One of the area In Chinatown - Petalling Street - food centre with lots of varieties to choose from

Family Mart Green Tea Ice Cream

                Sin Sze Si Ya Temple, 1864 with many people and narrow alley and limited parking

I also get to visit the Exspo KL which showcases lots of technolgical advancement, culture heritage, sciences, local products, rainforests, energy economy, etc to bring awareness to locals about the future technolgical ideas

The trip from Central market to the old streets and towards Padang Merdeka can be easily completed on foot with views and foods to accompany you to explore around in 1 day.

Ba'kelalan Trip

On 30th April 2018, I took a solo trip to experience the life in the highlands and Borneo secluded mountain village of Bakelalan, or som named Ba'kelalan.

There are 2 ways to get there. By twin otter, 16 seater from Miri/Lawas, or by 4WD drive from Lawas, 4 hours.

I was supposed to go there in 2017 but the plane had to U-turn back due to bad weather. You have to transit at Lawas if you flew in from Miri. It took me another year to visit this place and I never regretted this joutney. Looking back, it is probably one of the most memorable 2 nights stay.

ba'kelalan was separated from other towns due to its valley position in the highlands. The tribe of Lum Bawang lived there and is closely related to the Kelabits in Bario. Due to the geographical limitation and forestation, despite being 30mins plane ride distance (from take off and arrival), it will take at least 6 days by foot to travel.

There are primary schools there and the people there are friendly. People rarely do visit this place is less renowned than the Bario counterpart. Nonetheless, it share distinct culture heritage: The Atan Rice, Salt Well, Local Delicacy and Food, Paddy fields, Monoliths and others. Most of their history can be traced from books with information documented from the seniors. I remembered about their history is traced to a far valley but they left that place due to plague and diseases.

People would wake up early in the morning to go for prayer under a SIB church. A similar culture in Bario of morning prayer.

You can finish touring the main village (nearest to the airport) Buduk Nur in half a day by foot. People lived in these sort of houses and depends on Diesel Genset for electricity at night. Some does not afford to have Diesel Genset so they slept early. A common culture in these villages is that usually youngster left the village for work, either in far away village or towns eg: Lawas or Miri. The old have to take care of their own. 

There are some teachers, army and border patrol guards in ba'kelalan vicinity (clustered village) and they loves Badminton, i joined in for game.

I was met an Old lady who told me his son works as a Army at a different village. She lived alone and took care of her life. She invited me in to have a chat, showed me their family photo and it felt so heart warmed. She even offered me a bag of Atan Rice before I left but I didn't felt nice to take. 

There are many villages, some being hours and hours away from Buduk Nur. I followed this trail to hike the Pa Sarui Viewpoint of sort (next to Buduk Nur ) to have this valley view of the area.

VIDEO

Overlooking the paddy fields, the main economy generator.

Little Puppy is so attracted to me that she followed me for a 50mins hike up and another 30mins down and also as I explored the next village Long Langai to see the local primary school.

The wild wild west setting of Long Langai with my guide and puppy dog from Buduk Nur. It took 1 hour plus by foot to reach this "cowboy" town setting

Some innovative locals build this Petrol Station with metering flow to supply to locals and adjacent villages from Indonesia (Long Bawan). These days usually Long Bawans Indonesian prefer to drive to Lawas after Road Condition improved.

The primary school in Long Langai is the focal for most of the other villages focal for early education.

Apple used to be very famous and abundant in Ba'kelalan but climate change changes 

A local waterfall by 50mins hike which supplies water and hydroelectric to the selected houses in Ba'kelalan. Those who are related and have status or some monetary status enjoyed this. 

Dinner was prepared by the homestay aunty with my favourite bamboo shoot. I searched for the homestay upon arrival at the village. I did not booked in advance which was pretty spontaneous of me when I planned this journey. I lived in Pak Yudan Homestay. He is the village head for Ba'kelalan. There is also the choices of Julia Sang Homestay (She's a teacher), Owl House Homestay (favourite choices for bird lovers though the homestay is few mins away from the main Buduk Nur), and Apple Farm homestay, the nearest to the ariport. I remembered I didnt choose that as I was not ok with that rate.

I took a few hours walk the next day to the Border of Long Bawan as I stepped one foot in Malaysia, one foot in Indonesia. I didnt even have my passport that time too. The border patrol rotate every few months to be stationed here. In fact, some relatives are separated due to the border line draw up and during the early days of  Contfrontation between Both country. 

A cat who is so friendly and ran towards me to play. A city cat would be too proud to show, but this cat is beyond adorable.

A local dish that the Lum Bawang believed to be a cancer prevention (Please drop down the comment if you know the name)

The walkway towards Long Langai, you can enjoy the mist in early morning, a feature not available once the weathers gets hotter due to Climate Change.

Drop me a comment if you need to know more information about Ba'kelalan

Action Do It, You won't regret it.

Ben Nemtim shared his theory in life on how to accomplish things. He is featured in Matt D’avella Video on “ watch this video before you die”. He did his bucket list challenge and accomplish it by writing it down and execute it. What people don’t realize is that by writing down your goals and share it with people, your friends, family, etc, you will be more likely (42%) to achieve it. The is an important tip.

In life, day to day as it passes, It buries your desire, time pass by and what you want to accomplish, your personal goals never get done. You get trapped by your other goals, credit card to pay, work dateline, Job commitment, etc. All the dates forces you to procrastinate your personal goals. So, you should get started writing down your personal goals and set a target.

                                 

When you are at a crossroad or your personal goals and other targets, which road would you take, surely it is a difficult situation you are in. But, think and imagine if you are at near death, what would you do ? Death is life’s best teacher, as people at their death bed would think back and regret the things they missed in life. I should have done this, I should have done that . Hear that a lot ? the regrets ? Yes, the journey towards your personal goals is hard, you would have to sacrifice a lot, endure hardship, work in an uncomfortable situation, faces sleepless night, many more would have question your decision, you would sometimes question that yourself. But the results that you have earned would make you feel proud and pale those negatives.

Setting goals is important to be realistic. You do not say I want an adventure, You do not say I want to travel the world. You have to be specific, what , where,  when, that way you put your goals to be realistically possible. Remember to set your SMART goals. Check it out SMART if you have not heard of it. During that process, do not forget to seek help, advice from the right person. He might help you too, you can help him too to achieve his goals. The world might be better by sharing.

                       

One decision, a shift in perspective, all that you need to change your life. You can do it !