Poring Hot Springs

Here we are at Poring Hot Springs. Yesterday we had a magic last day's birding at Mt Kinabalu, walking the entire Mempening trail - which ascends very steeply, and precariously in places and takes you through some very tall forest with mossy plants all through it. Where it had been quiet bird-wise the day before it was all happening yesterday and we got the much sought after 'Whitehead's Trogon'and another highlight was a family party of inquisitive Mountain Wren-babblers which delighted us for a good 10-15 minutes while Sunda Cuckoos were calling near to us too. This morning we transferred to Poring Hot Springs, 40kms on from Kinabalu NP. The temperature here is a decidedly hot and sweaty change and we arrived around mid morning not expecting much bird action until late afternoon when temperatures would drop but we'fe been bowled over by the bird action today - the much sought after Banded Kingfisher was almost our first bird and then we came upon a large, shady fruiting tree that was teeming with various frugivores in the midday sun. Back for a quick lunch break and then out again to the 'Tropical gardens' adding Malaysian Hawk Cuckoo, Banded Broadbill, Rufous Woodpecker and Cinereous Bulbul to our list. We finished the afternoon with a soak in the hot sulphurous tubs to ease our aching muscles and then across the road to a local eatery for a nice dinner. On the way to the resort today we stopped to look at a flowering rafflesia flower - advertised by locals on a roadside sign for a small fee to go see it. Tomorrow we've a hot and sweaty climb before us up the Langanan Waterfall trail to try for the Blue-banded Pitta amongst others and then back to KK to catch the evening flight home.

Mt Kinabalu HQ

We've been enjoying walking the forest trails here at KK HQ - Silau Silau, Liwagu and Mempening trails. Although not teeming with birds, the habitat is gorgeous and the cool montane temperature makes walking a pleasure. Yesterday a mist descended out of nowhere around mid afternoon and rather than clearing up, rain set in but this morning we awoke to a beautiful view of Mt Kinabalu in front of our lodge and the sun appeared and stayed most of today. Our pattern is to go for an early hike before breakfast then another long hike after that, returning to our accommodation around mid afternoon to chill out the rest of the day, letting the birds come to us and giving Tom chance to take photos. Only negative comment is the prices here have risen but the service has definately gone down. Breakfast runs from 7 to 11 but when Tom and I get there around 10am all that's left is usually lukewarm and today they'd run out of milk for coffee and they don't seem to care all that much so thumbs down from that point of view as it's a very expwnsive place to stay. Thankfully the scenery and the forest trails compensate. Best birds today were Bornean Forktail, Bornean Whistling Thrush and Short-tailed Green Magpies. Tomorrow will be more of the same and then onto Poring Hot Springs the day after.

Snorkelling and Tabon Scrubfowls

Jesselton Hotel where we're staying in KK is nicely placed in that it's only a 5-10 min stroll to Jesselton wharf. There's lots of eateries around and a particularly nice chinese bakers and coffee shop next door. On my first day before my diving intro I'd taken a boat and ferried across to the islands of Mamutik and Sapi to snorkel off the beaches. Both islands also have good jungle trails and I was thrilled on that first day to find 2 Tabon scrubfowl on Sapi Island. Tom and I had read that our best chance for them would be the jogging trail on Manukan Island. Anyhow I had a great time on the islands and when Tom arrived from the UK we headed over to Manukan to get the Tabon Scrubfowls for him as they can only be found on the offshore islands now. We booked the ferry to Sapi too as a backup in case we didn't see them on Manukan which turned out to be a good job as we dipped on the jogging trail and looked lik we would again that afternoon on Sapi but thankfully 10 minutes before the ferry left for the mainland the scrubfowls did make an appearance for Tom at the same spot I'd first seen them. It was my birthday and I found a lovely coral garden while snorkelling in a new spot on Sapi and had several new fish for me so it was a super day and finished up well with a nice meal back at Jesselton. Next stop Kinabalu Mountain!

Still a snorkelling devotee - the jury's still out on scuba diving

Some moments were indeed wondrous, some were traumatic and others, just uncomfortable. I didn't take to diving like a 'duck to water' but I think I'd get there with more practise. Here's a pic of my teacher 'Nelson' (a good sea-faring name). The traumatic and uncomfortable bits begin with the weights and the oxygen cannister attached to the jacket - I knew if I'd just needed to bend down to adjust my fins I could never have straightened up again from the knees. The next challenge was sitting and falling backwards from the side of the boat and trying to remember all the instructions about using 3 fingers to hold the regulator in place and 2 to hold the mask in position and use the other hand at the back of your head to keep the mask on. It takes a lot to let go of being in control and just to fall backwards off a boat. Next bit was my 3 lessons to be learned in the water - breathing thru the regulator, losing my regulator and learning how to retrieve it then rid it of water while underwater, Third lesson is having your mask fill up with water and learning how to expel the water while underwater. I had to fight a small panic attack forming as I adapted to the mass of air bubbles that form around your face as you expel breath and that then multiply in line with your panic as you breath faster and harder. At this point I wanted to give up and tried to prepare Nelson by saying 'it really doesn't matter if I don't dive today Nelson!' nustering up as much dignity as I could, but we settled for taking things nice and slowly and giving me time to get used to the regulator and calm my breathing. Nelson explained the underwater signals we would use like 'I'm ok' and 'I'm in trouble' but he responded in the nagative to my question of whether there might be one we could use for 'I'm sorta ok I just need more time' which was a shame. Anyhow, I'm proud to say I passed lessons 2 and 3 with flying colours and so wentook my first dive - going down 9-10 metres, having to equalise by popping my ears asnwe descended. Nelson had suggested 45 mins for the first dive but he'd spooked me again by the fact that I couldn't just surface at will as we'd need to surface gradually and equalise to the pressure so we settled on 30 mins and then ascend so I could digest it all. I'm afraid I'm one of these people that have to understand the theory too. All went well and I really enjoyed the dive a lot - we surfaced and I had an hour before dive 2 which I anticipated with pleasure. For dive 2 we took the boat out to more open waters which didn't have the calming influence of the bay and the waves were strong so as Nelson briefed me on our next dive while we were treading water and explained to me the inflation mechanism and how to release it as we descended straight down the waves were washing over my mouth and nose and so at that point it all just felt too much too soon and I decided 'enough for one day' and that i'd opt for 'living to fight another day'. And so it turns out it's not as easy as all that now I've tried it - I'm glad I did and I'll have another go in Sulawesi when I'm there in August!

Brunei and Kota Kinabalu

Had a good flight, touching down in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei at around 5.30pm. My connecting flight to KK wasn't for another 4 hours so I took a two hour tour bus of the city where we stopped at the 'Jami Asr Hassanal Bolkiah' Mosque and the 'istana Nurul Iman', the largest palace in the world and the official residence of the Sultan of Brunei - talk about OSTENTATION!!! Our last stop was the night markets where I got to enjoy some local food and finally the shopping mall. Back at the airport for the 1 hour flight to KK which landed just before 11pm and a short cab ride to the Jesselton Hotel. Good job I had some cash on me donated by mum and Linda and leftover from our Malaysian trip in March because nothing was open at the airport and there were no ATMs. Enjoyed a good night's sleep and have found my SIMCARD from March still works and so have been able to get on line relatively easy. I'm off soon for a stroll and to get my bearings. Will head for the jetty and see best way to get to the islands today.

Sally suspects things Afoot!

What's this? Cases being pulled out from cupboards and things being packed! What's going to happen to me?

Seeing Linda off back to England

Our trip was over and we waved Linda off first as her flight left before ours.  Mum and I had several hours to kill before we could check in but the time flew by and we finally boarded our flight home too arriving back in Australia early Saturday morning.

Last day and airport

Had a very enjoyable last morning. After breakfast I headed back to the Central Market to look through the stalls, intending to also get another fish foot spa on my last day while mum opted to look around Chinatown one last time and Linda joined her. Arriving at the Central market I discovered that they are late to open, probably because stalls stay open into the night so with time to kill I wandered down streets I hadn't ventured before and came upon a really good fabric shop that was selling material for half the normal price. We'd been looking for some nice material all the time we'd been in Chinatown without too much success - I sprinted back to Chinatown in search of Linda and mum and found them both enjoying their great discovery of the last morning - a chinese wet market selling fish, meat and fresh vegetables along a narrow aisle located behind the shop fronts. We all headed to the fabric shop and spent the next 45 minutes engrossed in selecting materials for dresses that we are hoping Aunty Vera will make into dresses for us from a copy of a dress I already have. After that we all split up again and I headed to Central Market and bought half a dozen of my favourite portuguese egg tarts for the flight home and then booked into a half hour fish foot spa and got talked into a further 30 minutes of foot massage to follow (not that I needed much persuading mind) Back to the hotel with only minutes to spare to check out and we caught a taxi to the airport - Linda's flight is some hours before ours so after having coffee together we've now waved Linda off through the gates and mum and I are going to potter around while we wait to check into our own flight home. In fact we've just checked our watches and see that Linda's flight is probably just taking off this very minute!

The last night's 'Food Festival'

I decided to forgo my breakfast this morning so I could go back to the hide at dawn and see what final birding I could get in and was rewarded with great views of 3 Hill Mynas flying in and perching in an exposed tree top. Also saw a large family of long-tailed macaques, enjoying their antics as they crossed the grassy area. By 9am we were all in the boat heading back to Temberling Jetty and Linda picked out Oriental Pied Hornbill's and a very large water Monitor sunbathing on an exposed, overhanging branch. Also nice views of a Crested Serpent Eagle. The sun was behind us as we cruised downstream giving us a lovely light. Arrived at the jetty by 11am and after some lunch and a short wait we boarded the bus for KL but our hearts sank when we saw it was the same bus driver - a really nice man but an awful driver. The tour agent stepped onto the bus to bid all of us passengers a farewell and informed us the ride back to KL would take 4 hours but we all agreed that that was just because he didn't know the driver, who we were sure would make the distance in just 2 hours judging by our previous experience of him. Heading back we passed many rubber plantations and saw how the trees had been tapped and the cups were collecting the rubber. Two very nice surprises have marked this trip - one being that 1 hour into the boat ride to Temberling I realised I'd forgotten to get my RM200 key deposit from Mutiara Resort at Taman Negara and didn't hold out too much hope of seeing it again but on arrival at the jetty found out the Resort had phoned ahead and made arrangements for me to be reimbursed at Temberling Jetty. On a second, earlier occasion I left my purse with my money in the internet cafe in Chinatown and didn't hold out much hope there either but on returning some hours later and enquiring was handed it back without any drama. Tonight was our last dinner together and so we've visited 3 food outlets and feasted on fried fish (Tilapia and Gumbo) BBQ'd in a marinade of chilli, ginger, and coconut creamm; 2nd outlet we got chicken sate sticks and peanut sauce and the 3rd outlet we got singapore noodles with shrimp and lilly pad vegetables. We'll have a final morning of activities tomorrow before heading to the airport.

A great day at Taman Negara

As planned I was up earlier than both Linda and mum and I had breakfast and headed off for the trail I remembered from my last time here that had led to the swim hole, Rentis Simpon. Two hundred metres along it and the first bird I got was a male Great Argus! It's hard birding in the rainforests here as so many birds stick to the canopy but along this same trail I also got Maroon Woodpecker and Green-winged Pigeon very well. The best birdng today was enjoyed from the 'Tahan' hide though as I enjoyed great views to the canopy and amongst the birds I got there were Lesser Green Leafbird, Scaly-breasted Bulbul, Thick-billed Green Pigeon and Little Green Pigeon and many others. The weather has been good today and managed to get only three leeches on me and even mum got one too. Other critters incuded a visit last night from a Slow Loris in the rafters between the roof and the rattan ceiling sheets (apparently a regular occurance in our bungalows) and another unidentified critter that ate into a guava we'd left out on the counter in the room last night. Dinner tonight was a bit later, since we held off until all the floating restaurants had lit up and looked inviting across the river before we took the boat over and had Ginger Fish, Ginger Chicken, and Sweet and Sour Chicken and for dessert - fried bananas. Tomorrow we have to catch the 9am boat back to Temberling sadly and then back to KL for our last night in Malaysia.

Taman Negara

Arrived at Taman Negara after a bit of a hair-raising van ride as the driver had a real lead foot and road conditions were wet. At Temberling jetty we needed to purchase our Entry Permits to the national park and then had a lovely lunch at a local eatery while we waited for the boat. The boat ride was two and a half hours long and we finally arrived around 4pm and settled into our accommodation at the Mutiara Resort. The rainy conditions eased and then cleared so we caught a river taxi over to the floating restaurants and had dinner. Tomorrow I'll be up early and off to bird the trails while mum and Linda have opted to do a bit of exploring including across the river and around the Kampung. We'll all meet up again around midday and most likely have a dip in the river. We've already had a visit by a local - a rather greedy, overly confident but cute 'wild' boar around our bungalow who also visited next door for a wallow in a dust bath under their bungalow which like ours, is raised on stumps. While I type this I think I'm hearing an owl calling outside which is pretty torturous as I've not got a torch with me. We're thinking about going on a guided jungle walk tomorrow night.

Back together again and Lin's caught up with her blog updates

Here we are moved into the Swiss Inn Hotel in Chinatown just across the road from the 5 Elements Hotel where the coach departs in the morning at 8.15am for Taman Negara. Linda has typed up her blog for the last 3 days when she and mum were in KL so just refer down to the next 3 blogs for hers and mum's update. All the fruit is what the Cheaws gave me to bring back to KL for mum and Lin to try. Tonight we're all looking forward to eating out from the stalls in Chinatown.

Heritage walk in KL

Weather sunny then wet. We caught another train to Pani Seni for our free heritage walk. Absolutely excellent. We had to wear a headscarf and long coat to walk around the Mosque, Masjid Jemak and we learnt about Islam, which means 'Peace'. Went through Indian money lenders area, and visited a Chettinad food restaurant - all food fresh ingredients, and served on a bannana leaf. This is food from South India and you eat it with your fingers. We went to a chinese Taoist temple, and it was explained to us that the temple's purpose is mainly for teaching, money from donations are given to poor people as a bursary for education for those poor people and they have to apply for it every year. After the heritage walk we spent time looking around Central Market, which was the old wet market in years gone by, We had ginger chicken with rice and mum had seafood goreng, from the 'Little Wok'. Tomorrow our 'Mum' is back, but we did manage with not too many difficulties. A wonderful day.

Lazat cooking class

Picked up by the transportation at 9.10a.m. and taken to the cooking class, We met lovely Ana and Syriad. We cooked Prawn Fritters, then Beef Rendang, Cucumber Salad and Keuh Koci for dessert and had an absolutely super time. It rained all day so a good day to do it. Finished at 2.00 pm so back to the hotel for a rest, before we braved the rail system to go to a night market at Kampung Bharu. A bit daunting as no tourists around at all, but we managed to find it; it is a very kocal market. I recognised turmeric leaves from cooking this morning, so I bought some, but whether they let me take them through customs is another matter. Lovely old wooden malay houses to see, everyone eats out in Malaysia. Apparently a lot of people don't know how to cook. Back on the train again and we took a walk through the park before heading back to the hotel. Very pleased we managed to buy the tickets electronically and got on the right direction home. All in all a very good day.

Fountains

This is the first day without our Mum (Bobby) to guide us through the transport system, so we stayed locally around the hotel district. We thought we would try the Petronas Towers, but when we got there at 9.00 am after it opened, all the tickets had gone for the day. We shopped at KLCC shopping centre and I bought a nice pair of shoes. Mum had her photo taken with 3 japanese girls. We looked around a budhist temple and their kitchens; they serve vegetarian food to all and sundry for only RM2.50 per bowl, that's 50 pence!! We got caught in a tropical storm and sheltered until it was over. We had sweet and sour chicken for our dinner and then watched the lovely fountains in KLCC park when it got dark.

Kinta Park near Ipoh and Oriental Cuckoo

This morning we birded close to Ipoh as I needed to be back for pick up by Shirly for the clogging class at midday. Kinta Park is located alongside the Kinta River and adjacent to deep freshwater pools that are the legacy of the old tin mining industry that Ipoh built it's wealth on. I have to say that the biggest thrill for me today was 3 separate sightings of otters, 2 of them large family groups and watching them catch and eat fish. That was closely followed by another unexpected thrill - great views of an Oriental Cuckoo perched in a big Rain Tree. Other sightings today included Baya Weavers, Black-crowned Night Herons, both Purple and Grey Herons, Yellow Bitterns and Blue-tailed Rainbow Bea-eaters amongst other birds. It was a terrific birding location and I'd love to come back some time. Todays' culinary treat from the Cheaws is called 'Kaya' a pastry snack - it was delicious. They also pointed out a place we passed called 'Bata Gajah' (which means 'Elephant Rock') which has a memorial to British soldiers and is visited annually by old soldiers. Got back in time for Shirley's class which again, was just great fun and I enjoyed dancing with all the Ipoh cloggers and workshopping a current Austalian routine we do with them. After the class we all, as is normal routine for them, went out to eat and have a cool drink together. I enjoyed fried noodles with shrimps and egg, some glutinous rice flour desserts and starfruit juice with a salted plum in it. Am back in the hotel now getting cleaned up ready for a night out with friends of the Cheaws (fellow birders) and a meal together (16 of us) at a Thai Restaurant as the guests are Thais and have been birding in Malaysia but by now, according to the cheaws must be hanging out for some spicy Thai food. My last evening here in Ipoh. The hospitality and generousity of everyone I've met here has really blown me away.

Mossy Rhododendrum forests and pitcher plants

This morning the Cheaws picked me up from the hotel at 7.15am and we set off for the Cameron Highlands and in particular for birding in the upper montane area. En route we stopped to buy Pork steamed buns for breakfast and after driving through some of the more touristy parts of the Cameron Highlands we reached the beautiful mossy forests of Gunung Brinchang at 6666 feet/2031 metres where rhododendrums, pitcher plants and orchids abounded and the trees were moss encrusted. Bird highlights included White-tailed Robins, Snowy-browed flycatchers, Golden-throated Barbet, Golden Babbler, Mountain Leaf Warbler, Orange-bellied Leafbirds, Mountain and Chestnut-winged Fulvettas and Mugimake Flycatcher amongst others. The bird waves are amazing and head-spinning when they happen. We stopped at the top and Kuan Yaow cooked us up some some Ipoh 'white coffee' which is roasted quite differently and has a taste all of its own. On the trip down we called in at the Lutheran Mission Bungalow area to look for Slaty-backed Forktail and dipped there, but had Black and Crimson Oriel and Barred Cuckoo Dove here. A final try at Parit Falls Recreation Forest at Tanah Ratah got us several of the Forktails flying along the watercourse and perching on the rocks. We finished up at he 'Boh' Tea Plantation enjoying a selection of teas and cakes for a late afternoon tea and headed back to Ipoh arriving back around 7pm. Tomorrow we'll head off again early and bird locally as I have to be back by midday for Shirly Teh's Sunday dance class. Called Linda and mum to catch up on their news and they have both had a great day in Kl at the Malaysian cooking class.

Dim Sum and clogging

I enjoyed the train ride to Ipoh and was delighted that the train made a stop at KL's old heritage railway station too. There was much less evidence of palm oil plantations on the northern route and we passed lots of crops being harvested alongside the tracks - looked like small tea plantations - the leaves of the shrubs were being picked and also field crops being harvested manually by local farmers in chinese style shade hats. Many more birds were evident too with many on the wires and in virtually every other tree and shrub we passed at 142kms/hour making it impossble to identify them. We passed wetlands and I saw herons and raptors and all sorts I could only wish to see better. Arrived at Ipoh bang on schedule to be met by the Cheaws who proceeded to give me a tour of the town and took me to visit the limestone temples that Ipoh is famed for where we also had great views of Crimson Sunbird, Blue Rock Thrush, Blue Whistling Thrush and Black-thighed Falcon. They also pointed out all the Durian and Rhambutan trees growing in the kampung areas around the temples and we stopped at a store and bought a local speciality, Pomelos, guava, mangoes ( 2 varieties they introduced me to are called 'water lilly' and 'elephant tusk'), Roast Apples and budhas fingers - I've to give them all a try and take some back to KL with me for mum and Linda to try too. For lunch we went to the locally famed 'Foh San' restaurant for Dim Sum and it was just out of this world as a culinary experience. Back to the hotel for a brief rest before Shirly Teh picked me up for her clogging class at 6pm. I had an absolute ball with the other dancers and am so glad to have met them. The next class is Sunday and Shirly has asked me to share with them 2 dances that we do at the Brisbane clubs so a bit nervous about that but looking forward to it too. After clogging a group of us went out to eat at an open air market place with stalls of hot food and I enjoyed their great company and got introduced to some more local cuisine, this time claypot chicken and rice, chicken satay and peanut sauce and chicken noodle soup. Tomorrow Hong Ming and Kuan Yaow are picking me up at 7.15am and we're off to Cameron Highlands birding for the day.

A brief visit to Seremban for old times sake

Up to the lighthouse for one last time this morning before checking out from Ilham Resort at midday. I met up with a birding friend of the Cheaw's, Ng Kit Wan who was great company and other birders there were happy to share their knowledge of other good birding spots in and around KL and also recommended 'Pencil Hill' in Thailand as another great raptor migration viewing spot each October. At midday we all checked out and caught a taxi back to Seremban where we made a beeline for my favourite bakery, buying up custard tarts, curry puffs and other delights and then walked along several streets window shopping before heading back to Seremban Rail station to eat lunch and catch the local commuter train back to KL for RM6 each and then our usual LRT train onto KLCC and back to the Corus Hotel. We've settled back in now and caught up with the news on TV and are shocked and saddened by the extent of the tragedy in Japan that's unfolding. I've prepared my bags for tomorrow ready to catch an early train to Ipoh for the next 3 days and Linda and mum are organising their plans for the next three days in KL which will include the Malaysian cooking class and a early start tomorrow too to get in the queue early for crossing the bridge at the Petrona Towers.

More of the same activities today

I was up before breakfast again birding the forest trails - my favourite forest birds today were White-rumped Shama and Black-winged Flycatcher Shrike and also a Coppersmith Barbet in the resort grounds. Returned back to meet mum and Linda for breakfast and we had some rain for an hour or so but when it cleared by mid morning we all set off up to the lighthouse at the top of the trail to watch the raptors migrating. From the lighthouse we had expansive views of the straits and I enjoyed watching 2 very large green turtles swimming in the waters below before we headed back for a swim in the sea. Today we 've enjoyed watching some family parties of monkeys frolick along the power cables - something they clearly do regularly. Tomorrow we've booked the nice taxi driver that drove us to Port Dixon yesterday to come pick us up at midday when we check out and take us to Seremban where we'll take a walk around the town looking at the shops and, in particular, visit the Seremban bakers (something I've dreamed of doing since last years visit as they make the best portuguese custard tarts ever to be found). Then it's back to KL for one night before I'll head off to Ipoh for 3 days to catch up with birding friends Cheaw Hon Ming and Poon Kuan Yaow and also get to 'clog' with the Ipoh dance club. Linda and mum have made plans too for their 3 days in KL and Linda is going to update the blog with their news for that period.