Travel Nights

Posted By: Kimberly

I often say my favourite time of day is the night. When it's mostly quieter, the lighting usually less harsh (save for the random careless flash of torchlight), and most of the creepy crawlies are scurrying or flittering around in near-invisibility. Hey, what you can't see won't hurt as much, right?

This is the time when I settle down for that last dash along a bustling market street, after-dinner drinks or disco, if I'm somewhere urban... or toss the dishes aside in a plastic bag, stomp on the dying coals and start peering for starlight, if I'm not.

Among my most memorable nights overseas, right up there at the top of the list, is a night I spent at Noordin Beach. On that little island just north of the Singapore mainland, P. Ubin. (Take ferry = over sea already ok?)

As my party set up shop for the night, eyeing the tangle of lightsticks set up by an over enthu fishing party just a few feet away, I had no idea the disco-type lighting was the least of my ambience-disrupting worries. At least that lot was decent enough to keep their satay fanning and rokmuzik to themselves. So my party did our thing, they did theirs, we all bunged along and rolled up for the night in relative harmony.

And then it came. *thumpthumpthumpthumpthump* My sleeping skills are renowned for lasting through earthquakes and thunderstorms, mind you. But this overseas party was totally on another scale. It wasn't even taking place in the country I was in! Some amazing Malaysian nightspot was whanging along suddenly at the ungodly hours (seriously. all the way to almost dawn i swear) and the waves and wind of the Straits were more than happy to channel it all our way. I would *hate* to be in the nightspot. Especially when I can feel the vibe literally kilometers away. Yeeesh.

Yup. Memorable night top spot. Not a romantic encounter, or weird hoodoo, nuh uh.

  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS
Read Comments

Once In A Lifetime

Posted By: Kimberly

So I got to thinking randomly about the plans, and I don't know if it's going to be just Japan now with air ticket prices swirling downwards. I mean, it'd save us more, in a way, but I'd still want to visit Taiwan some day. And go back to Hong Kong, or drop by Shenzhen. Even in the region there's no shortage of places to be visiting :)

There was a time I thought I would plan all my trips so that I could cover everything about the country that I wanted, so I wouldn't have a reason to go back and could keep my feet moving onwards into new territory. And then there was that trip to NZ. We did everything we wanted to and more. Discovered the Real Reason for the sneaky little charity-purposed candy dispensers in every single town and village we visited (seriously, they were EVERYWHERE), stared down vacant-eyed seals and whooped our way northwards with ease, hating Wellington along the way. That's when I found that I wanted to go back. Though I won't, without a good reason. I'll not find the same kind of fun and laughter I had, not with a different group, at a different time, in places that seem the same but can't be.

To me, the sharing is as much of the journey as the little process that I go through inside of myself. I couldn't generate enough lame jokes or spastic commentary for me. It's like trying to tickle yourself. It's just as important, who you go with, as where you go, perhaps even more so. I recall the tale of a young lady I met at Selingan, who recounted how her trip of a lifetime nearly turned into a nightmare, with her ex-best-friend (whom she'd known all her life) gradually transformed into an abusive prat as the trip wore on, to the point where the lady despaired and decided to split from the planned itinerary to get away from that freakish beast she once called friend.

I hope I never have to do that, nor any of the people who've ever travelled with me ;)

  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS
Read Comments