Postcards from the Trail

It is happening again - The Slow Travel February Blogging. We did it last February and have decided to give it a try again this year. It is a great way to get to know more of the Slow Travel Bloggers.

I will be in Borneo half of the month so I'm not going to be able to do a full month. I hope to blog when I can from Borneo and maybe schedule a few posts for while I'm gone. Here is the list of the group. Add them to your blog reader or drop in from time to time and check out our posts.

A Journey of a Thousand...
A Winelover's Wanderings
Baked Alaska
Best Trip Ever
Candi's Corner: Wanderlust and Passions
Churches in Venice
Destination Anywhere
Eden's Wanderings and Wonderings
Follow My Bliss
Home is where my bed is
In and Out of the Garden
Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants!
Keep your Feet in the Street
Let us go then, you and I...
My Place in the Sun
Old Shoes - New Trip
Palmabella's Passions
Postcards from the Trail
shave ice & gelato
That's My Story...And I'm Stickin' To It!
The Trail's Our Thing
Trekcapri's Blog
Vagabond Artist
What I Really Think
Whistlestop Cafe Cooking

What a wonderful weekend. It was the third annual Slow Bowl - a get together of friends who have met online at Slow Talk - the forum for Slow Travel. We all love to travel slowly - staying in one place for a week at a time and getting to know an area in depth.

We have been organizing get togethers or GTGs as we call them since the forum started in 2001. In February 2007, Shannon thought it would be good to have a GTG in the Paso Robles area during Super Bowl weekend. We could spend Saturday visiting a few wineries and Sunday watching the Super Bowl. We had a tremendous turnout the first year and have held it for three years.

We gathered on Friday and had a lasagna smack-down. The winner - a gorgeous porcini goat milk lasagna with home made noodles. Saturday, we met at 11:30 at Midnight Cellars for our first tasting. From here, we moved on to Jada Winery. A smaller group moved on to Adelaida Cellars. My favorite - Adelaida Cellars hands down. Not only was the server very knowledgeable but the wines were excellent.

Sunday, a few went to our group favorite, Castoro. One of the other moderators and I went down to Montana de Oro State Park for a quick bluff walk before returning to watch the bowl game.

Monday, it was time to leave. I took a leisurely drive back on a small backroad that ran parallel to Hwy 101. Highway 25 wound along through the San Benito hills which were lovely spring green. The day was sunny and warm. I didn't want to leave.

I love spending the weekend getting to know my on-line friends. It is always great to take social networking 'off-line' and meet other Slow Travelers face to face. Friends, great food, wonderful wine, beautiful memories.

View of the wineries on the west side of Paso Robles

I checked the refrigerator after returning from my weekend in Paso Robles and immediately saw that I had half of a package of Chinese egg noodles. I dug around and noticed that I also had some snow peas. Hmmmm.. what to make.

I didn't want to make the chow mein again. I noticed that the oyster sauce contained MSG. I don't get specifically a head ache but I definitely felt a reaction. I felt pressure both at the top of my head and on my face. I didn't really like the feeling so I wanted to avoid MSG.

I searched around and found an interesting sounding recipe on Epicurious for Indonesian Fried Noodles also called Bahmi Goreng or Bami Goreng. I had most of the ingredients. It is similar but different from the Bihun Goreng which used rice noodles. I also liked the combination of soy sauce, fish sauce and sambal to flavor the noodles.

This one is a little more complicated and takes a bit more preparation time. I did vary the recipe. I substituted about 1/3 lbs of shrimp instead of tofu and cut the amount of onion and egg. Next time I will use the full amount of onion. They were very good. I also threw in a handful of cabbage. I also blanched the snow peas and green beans.

The shallot oil adds a lot to the flavor. I also browned the onions a bit and that also added to depth.

Indonesian Fried Noodles
Adapted from Epicurious

3 large shallots (6 ounces)
1/2 cup peanut or vegetable oil
1 pound fresh flat Chinese stir-fry egg noodles (not cooked)
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth or water
3 tablespoons ketjap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce) (I used dark Chinese soy sauce)
1 1/2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
1 tablespoon sambal oelek or Sriracha (Southeast Asian chile sauce), or to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 (14- to 16-ounce) package firm tofu (I used 1/3 lb - 1/2 lb shelled prawns)
4 large eggs
2 large onions, halved lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1/2-inch slices (4 cups)
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
1/4 teaspoon minced fresh red or green Thai or serrano chile, including seeds (I omitted these)
6 ounce snow peas, cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces (2 cups)
6 ounce Chinese long beans or haricots verts, cut crosswise into 2-inch pieces (1 1/2 cups)
2 scallions, cut diagonally into very thin slices

* Garnish: sliced cucumber; sliced tomatoes; lime wedges; sambal oelek or Sriracha (Southeast Asian chile sauce)

Preparation

Cut shallots crosswise into very thin slices (less than 1/8 inch thick).

Heat oil in wok over moderate heat until hot but not smoking. Add shallots and reduce heat to moderately low, then fry, stirring frequently, until golden brown, 8 to 12 minutes. Carefully pour shallot mixture through a fine-mesh sieve set over a heatproof bowl. Transfer shallots to paper towels to drain, reserving shallot oil. (Shallots will crisp as they cool.) Wipe wok clean with paper towels.

Cook noodles in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling unsalted water , stirring to separate, until just tender, 15 seconds to 1 minute. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water to stop cooking. Shake colander briskly to drain excess water, then drizzle noodles with 2 teaspoons reserved shallot oil and toss to coat.

Stir together broth, ketjap manis, fish sauce, sambal oelek, pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small bowl for sauce.

Cut tofu into 1-inch cubes and pat dry.

Beat together eggs and a pinch of salt. Heat 1 tablespoon reserved shallot oil in wok over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then add eggs, swirling in wok, and cook until barely set in center, about 2 minutes. Gently slide egg crêpe out onto a cutting board, then roll into a loose cylinder and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch strips (do not unroll). Keep warm, loosely covered with foil.

Heat 3 tablespoons reserved shallot oil in wok over high heat until hot but not smoking, then stir-fry onions with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt until deep golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Add garlic and chile and stir-fry 1 minute, then add tofu (or shrimp) and stir-fry 3 minutes. Add snow peas and long beans and stir-fry until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Add sauce and bring to a boil, then add noodles and stir-fry (use 2 spatulas to stir if necessary) until noodles are hot. Transfer to a large platter and arrange egg over noodles. Sprinkle with scallions and half of shallots. Serve remaining shallots on the side.

Cooks' notes from Epicurious: ·Shallots can be fried 1 day ahead and cooled completely, then kept in an airtight container at room temperature.

Prepare the vegetables before starting

Stir frying the onions, cabbage and shrimp (note - that is not egg but shredded cabbage)

Finished dish

Carmel Bay from Cannery Point - Point Lobos California

I love the drive along California coast on Highway 1. Growing up in the California central valley, Monterey and Big Sur were just a few hours away and perfect for a quick weekend getaway. Asilomar was a popular place for school trips. Just a bit farther down the road is the wonderful Big Sur where we would go camping. In 1968, the summer of love, my parents and I drove along Hwy 1 to Long Beach to see my half sister. Her husband was in Vietnam. All along the way we passed hippies hitch hiking along the way.

I got off the plane last Friday and I could tell the weatherman was right. It was going to be a warm and sunny day. I couldn't resist a coastal road trip. I got my bag, rented my car and was on the road by 10am. It took about 1 hour to drive from San Jose to Monterey. I forgot to research where to eat in Monterey. I drove around downtown a bit and finally decided to just pick up a sandwich and picnic at Pt Lobos.

Pt Lobos is at the gateway to Big Sur. It is a landscape of rocks, headlands, craggy coves and meadows. Luckily Pt Lobos was acquired by an owner who had the foresight to protect it. It has been under the protection of the California state park system since 1933. The entrance fee is $10.00. The road curves around the headland with places to park and walk out to the headlands or along the cliffs.

First stop was at Whalers Cove. I sat at the picnic benches that were around the parking lot and watched the kayakers and divers. After I finished my sandwich, I took the trail up to headland above the parking lot to Cannery Point for views across Carmel Bay and back over Whalers Cove. There is a museum along the road but I didn't have time to stop.

I decided I only had time for one more short walk so I drove on towards China Cove. I made one quick stop at Weston Beach to see the lovely rocks that inspired the photography of Edward Weston and then on to the parking for Bird Island Trail. This goes a short distance to China Cove and then on to the headlands overlooking the cove. The cove is a lovely turquoise blue and stairs lead down to the beach. I decided to go on to the headlands above. I started noticing a glossy three leafed plant just starting to leaf out. Hmmm... sure looks like poison oak. It was all over. If you go here - be very careful and don't go off the trail. Those large bushes are filled with it.

Too quickly it was time to move on. I still had 90 miles to go to read Paso Robles and it was already 1pm.

View of Carmel Bay from Cannery Point - Pt Lobos

Pt Lobos - Bird Island Trail

View of China Cove - Pt Lobos

China Cove - Pt Lobos

China Cove - Pt Lobos

Poison Oak - Watch out!

Beach rocks at Weston Beach

I traveled south on Highway 1 after leaving Point Lobos. It is difficult to continue driving and not turn into every pullout. But I couldn't resist stopping at every pullout. I had copied several tips from A Guide to Big Sur website. It is very useful because it lists exactly the highway marker to look for while driving south. I had wanted to go to the Pfeiffer Beach that I visited in the '90s and McWay Falls.

But it was hard. I kept pulling out and snapping photos. Eventually I approached Big Sur and noticed the burned undersides of the trees. The eastern side of the highway was fenced off and closed.

It was tricky finding the turn off to Sycamore Canyon and Pfeiffer Beach. I had direction in relation to the post office which I never found because it was south of the road. I just kept looking for a road to the west after the main Big Sur area. It has a lot of warnings on it since it is one lane. I didn't realize that it was not part of the state park but in fact part of the National Forest. So I had to pay another $5.00 to park. I was kinda bummed because I had a National Passport which would have allowed me to park for free if I had brought it along. I had thought about it but didn't think I needed it.

The beach was nice but I was running out of time. It was already 2:30. So I decided to continue on with no more stops. Okay... just one or two. The hills sides around Lucia were scarred by the fire. This area of the highway is susceptible to slides. The road became more and more windy. I didn't remember it this windy! I did make Cambria by about 4:00pm and I was able to stop at Peachy Canyon at 4:30 to pick up a couple of wines for our tasting. It seemed to take much longer but in reality it is about 3 hours straight.

Garrapata State Park

Garrapata State Park

Bixby Creek Bridge

Pfeiffer Beach - Big Sur

Pfeiffer Beach - Big Sur

South of Big Sur - Burns North Vista Point

Near San Simeon

This week's PhotoHunt topic is bridge. The Oakland San Francisco Bay Bridge is one of my favorite bridges. Not the Golden Gate. I think it is because of all the great times I had traveling to "The City". It was my escape from the boredom of the valley. My excitement would start as we pulled up to the toll plaza and started up across to the magical city. Here is a photo of it taken from the the Ferry Building in San Francisco.

It is week 11 - of the Sunday Slow Soupers ~ a group of Slow Travel members cooking soup and blogging together every Sunday. This week's soup is Split Pea and Green Pea Soup with Dill selected by Marcia of Happy Trails for Us.

This is a great vegetarian soup. The fresh pea make it much lighter than a normal pea soup. We really enjoyed it. Thanks Marcia for a great selection.

Split Pea and Green Pea Soup with Fresh Dill
Yield: Makes 4-6 first-course servings

Ingredients

3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large leek (white and pale green parts only), chopped (about 1 and 1/2 cups)
1 bay leaf
1 cup green split peas, rinsed
5 1/2 cups vegetable broth, divided (can use chicken broth, too, or a ham bone for seasoning).

1 cup frozen petite green peas, thawed
4 Tablespoons chopped fresh dill, divided

Salt
Pepper
Shredded Parmesan for garnish

Preparation

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium high heat. Add leak and bay leaf. Saute until leek wilts, about three minutes. Add split peas and stir to coat. Add 5 cups broth; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until split peas are just tender, about 35 minutes. Remove from heat. Transfer 1 cup soup solids, bay leaf and remaining 1/2 cup broth to blender. Add petite peas and 3 Tablespoons dill. Puree until smooth. Return puree to soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls. Sprinkle with remaining 1 Tablespoon dill and shredded Parmesan for garnish.

(If you like the idea of whole green peas in your soup, then only puree half of the petite green peas, add the other half to the soup).

Your Travel Profile:

You Are Very Well Traveled in the Midwestern United States (75%) You Are Very Well Traveled in New Zealand (67%) You Are Very Well Traveled in the Western United States (63%) You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in Southern Europe (40%) You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in Australia (38%) You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in Western Europe (29%) You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in the Northeastern United States (29%) You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in Africa (25%) You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in the United Kingdom (25%) You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in the Southern United States (23%) You Are Mostly Untraveled in Canada (20%) You Are Mostly Untraveled in Latin America (13%) You Are Mostly Untraveled in Asia (4%) You Are Untraveled in Eastern Europe (0%) You Are Untraveled in Scandinavia (0%) You Are Untraveled in the Middle East (0%)

I found this on Girosoli's blog. I thought it was pretty interesting. I'm sorry about some of the questions on Asia. I've been to Singapore and heading to Borneo. But neither would help my score. Bummer.

I also can't believe I'm so well traveled in the mid-west. It only comes because of travel for work - not for pleasure. Interesting poll.

Our bags are packed and we're trying to relax before the big flight day. I'm so excited/stressed. I hope I'll be able to sleep tonight.

I made some last minute plans. I read on Flyer Talk that we could get a free tour of Seoul from Asiana. I called to make a reservation. I found out that we did have a hotel reserved courtesy of Asiana because we had a 12 hour layover. Sleep - or see Seoul? Seoul won out. We switched it to the Day Tour. It will be a chance to do a quick siteseeing tour. I'll have to call to confirm from Malaysia. I should have done it earlier.

I've also spend some time on Google Earth trying to get familiar with the sights.

Just one last note before we leave. I will try to blog from time to time. I have a couple of posts scheduled for while we are away that will tell you where we are and Flickr picture that is available for sharing. You'll know a little bit about what we are doing even if we can't make it to an internet cafe.

Selamat tinggal

Kota Kinabalu City Center
Originally uploaded by thienzieyung

Our first stop is the city of Kota Kinabalu. It is the capital of the Malaysian state of Sabah. It is a large modern city serving as the jump off point for Mount Kinabalu and the several tropical islands near by.

Arriving late, we will only have one day to check out the city. It will be our chore day taking care of going to the visitor center, getting money, going to Borneo Books. I suspect it will take a lot to get us out of the bookstore. We're hoping to be able to also post from an internet cafe.

We are sitting here listening to a bird chattering on the forest edge. It almost sounds digital. We are at Magic Mountain Inn.

We arrived safely after just a slight delay in take off from SeaTac. Both flights went fine. Incheon airport in Seoul is amazing. We arrived in Kota Kinabalu at about 11pm quickly got through customs and on our way in a taxi to our hotel. It felt somewhat similar to other tropical cities. Bright Sodium lighting along the broad road from the highway.

Our room was not too bad for $40US. On the 12 floor with a broad view over the water. It was a little musty and our airconditioner leaked resulting a wet carpet. We didn't sleep much but did a lot walking in the humidity to get on the time zone. Did our chores (Atm, information, etc). KK town is small. We saw most of it in about 2 hours. We crashed a bit in the afternoon before going back out to the wonderful filipino BBQ. We sat a long tables at night and had giant prawns with spicy dipping sauce.

Today we had our buffet Malay breakfast at the hotel with noodles and curry before checking out. Our car was delivered and we were off.

First stop Orchid D'ville. It was an adventure to find it. We went to a suburb of KK and then headed into the small villages before turning off to go about 6 Km down an extremely bumpy gravel road. It is a working nursery growing cut orchids for the KK area along with lots of species orchids from Borneo. The guide took us on windy paths through the hill to see the ones in bloom, many very tiny in size.

Back to the main road we got stuck in traffic for about 1/2 hour due to a broken traffic light. I was very stressed. Then we start up the main road to KK. They drive on the left. Fortunately, we have an automatic Yeah! The road is steep and the car has no power. We got the cheapest one. I still had to pass many slow commercial trucks. We saw Mt. Kinabalu once but mostly it has been cloaked in clouds. It is much cool up here at 6,000ft.

We arrived and was able to find the Inn which is in the forest off a golf course. Very strange to have a golf course carved out of jungle. I've hard that many of the greens are waterlogged.

Our host is very nice. We are sitting and having a beer on the deck before she starts dinner of a steamed fish. She just showed us a large beautiful mushroom that she will steam the fish with. Yum...

The owner is so kind to let me user her computer and internet connection.

Dinner was wonderful as expected. We had a great steamed fish with ginger, tofu, and a vegetable similar to spinach except with more firm stems. She sauted it in garlic. It was so yummy.

We also got to try some wonderful tropical fruit - snakeskin fruit and fresh jackfruit. The snake skin was very good. It is large about the size of a plum but in a tear drop shape. We also have some mangosteen but haven't tried them yet.

But after the drive and with the cooler weather, both George and I were very sleepy after dinner and we had to say good night early. We fell asleep right away to the sounds of the wind in the trees. We do want to stay up a bit more tonight to be able to see the fireflies.

This morning it was very clear and beautiful. We could see Mt. Kinabalu. You couldn't ask for a more perfect morning. We had a good breakfast of eggs and fresh baked bread. They make their own bread here because it is so much better than what is in the stores. They even make sour dough. We also had muesli and fresh yogurt. They have mostly western visitors at this homestay and the husband is Austrian. He is away at work currently but his wife Lily is the perfect hostest.

We headed up to Meslau (spelling is wrong). We should have done a bit more research to know at what times the guided tours of the Nepenthes Gardens were held. We missed the morning one. We decided to head up the main trail which we also planned on doing and come back to do the garden trail later with a guide.

The trail is relentless. It starts climbing right away. Lots of stairs. I didn't get in good enough shape I'm sad to say. But we hadn't gone a 1/2 KM and George spotted a nepenthes. We are also seeing small tiny orchids and tropical rhododendrons along the way. We also had gorgeous view of the mountain in clearning but you could see a few clouds starting to gather at the top. I was exhausted so I decided to stay at a hut and George went on for a while more. He found several other nepenthes. I did get a little anxious waiting for him (he was gone about 30 minutes) but nothing happened. :)

The way back down was much faster but still difficult for me. Some of the stairs are quite large. It took us about 2 hours to go 1Km up and 1 hour to go back down. George could tell that I was pretty tired so we went to talk to the 'ranger' about the Nepenthes trail. By now it was cloudy and windy. He said it was as difficult as what I had just done and he suggested that we come back in the morning. So we will. We are rearranging a few plans and should be able to do it instead. IWe plan to go at 9am tomorrow. If we don't see everything we will just come back.

Lily is working on dinner now. She has baked some more fresh bread and we are going to be having pesto pasta. The pesto is home made and I think so is the pasta. We will be good and hungry.

pitcher plant on kinabalu
Originally uploaded by bluefuton

This is our goal of the trip - pitcher plants of Borneo. The area around Mt. Kinabalu is a great place to see them. We plan to spend some time hiking along the Mesilau Trail which is an alternate trail to the top. There are also several day hike trails that you can do to specifically see the Nepenthes or Pitcher Plants.

Check out the variety of plants that can be seen in the area - Jeremiah Harris's Nephenthes Trip report.

We will have three night at Magic Mountain Country Inn to explore around the area.

We are walking on cloud 9 tonight. This morning we were able do a guided tour to see the Rajah Nepenthes - the largest pitcher plant.

We started our day with another hardy breakfast. Today I was able to try the homemade bacon Peter, the owner, makes. It was so good. George, Mr. Vegetarian, had to settle for a couple of fried eggs. And wonderful home made bread. (sorry no pictures).

Last night I woke up around 4am and I thought I heard it raining. I tried not to panic. I really was not looking forward to hiking in the rain. Plus I doubt if they would do a guided tour in the rain. But when we got up, it was not raining. The clouds were high up so it was not going to be too bad of a day. Not as spectacular as the day before but still a very good day to be plant hunting.

We drove 10 minutes up to the Masilau Nature Center. Today there was a large group of tourists preparing for a summit climb. They were all in the road taking pictures. We had to honk to get them to move their buses.

When we got to the nature center, the woman said that the nepenthes trail was at 11:30 not 9am. We asked if the ranger could make an exception especially since he said we could come back at 9am. She asked him and he agreed. Yeah! There were no other people around. Very few people come to this area except with guides.

The trail would take about 2hours. The ranger was extremely knowledgeable. He told us that Masilau means yellow. The soil on the hillside where the nepenthes grow is yellow and very poor in nutrients. This is why they have developed as carniverous plants to get nitrogen from the insects they capture since they can not get this from the soil. The soil is also serpentine which means it is high in nickel. We are familiar with this type of soil from Washington State.

Along the way, he pointed out many interesting plants such as ginger, rattan, palms. The trail goes down on the west slope of the river. There is a locked gate at supension bridge to keep people from accessing the plant area. Once on the other side, it was much less lush, the soil was yellow and there were fewer trees. Perfect for these plants. First we found Nepenthes burbidgeae which I think is very beautiful with red stripes on chartruse pitchers. Also along the hillside were rhododendrons and bamboo orchids.

The trail climbed steeply. There had been a washout so the stairs were quite open without railing. It was a little scary. But shortly afterwords, we found what we had come to Borneo for - the Rajah. The pitchers were 15-18 inches and held 2-3 liters of liquid. Sometimes mice will fall in and drown but mostly it was small insects such as ants. I got a chance to hold one - it was like holding a baby.

We continued climbing seeing many plants. We also saw a paphilopedium orchid (lady slipper) that we did not think we would be able to see. We felt so honored to see it.

We climbed almost to the top of the east slope - maybe 300 meters up. We had a lovely view of the dipterocarp forest along the slopes of the mountain. The clouds were opening and closing with views of the Mountain. Our guide told us that sometimes painters would come up to paint the views. It was a cloud forest as seen in films at about 6,000Ft. The weather was mild and fortunately not rainy. In fact since it was so open and exposed - it was very good that we had done it today instead of yesterday when the sun would have beated down on us. I would not have been a happy camper.

We returned and thanked our wonderful guide. We came back to the Inn and Lily made us some great Mee gorang (fried noodles) for lunch and some bananna fritters. She splits a bananna open like a hand and then puts it in the batter before frying. We also had some more fruit.

After lunch, we headed to the main Mt. Kinabalu headquarters about 20 minutes away. Much much more crowded. Tour buses and many foreign tourists. We were in time to go to the Botanical Garden where we saw many interesting plants and a few orchids in bloom. While in the garden we met an English couple and talked a bit about our travels. They had been to Poring and said that they were able to see Rafflesia - our other holy grail for this trip. We are heading there tomorrow. It is the largest flower in the world and we were not certain if one would be blooming so it looks like luck continues to be on our side.

We will head back to KK after Poring tomorrow. The following day we will head to Danum Valley so I will probably be off line for a while.

Thanks everyone for your comments and interest in our wild and crazy plant hunting.

Misty Road
Originally uploaded by robstephaustralia

Next we head out to Danum Valley where we will spend two nights in the remote jungle at the Borneo Rainforest Lodge. We will reach it by a 2 hour drive down a bumpy logging road from Lahtu Datu. Once there, we will have the opportunity to see plants and wildlife. There is no guarantee on seeing any wildlife so we will hope for good luck.

Oh yeah.. one other thing. There are lots of leeches in the jungle. I suspect that I'll get bit once or twice. It is going to be gross. We'll have to get leech socks to help protect us.

Wow! What can I say. I did not think I would be able to see the Rafflessia plant - the largest plant in the world. I remember long ago seeing a segment of "Secret Life of Plants" with David Attenborough standing next to a Rafflessia. Never did I dream that one day I would be able to do almost the same thing.

We started the day by having to say good bye to Lily our wonderful host at the Magic Mountain B&B. She made us feel so welcome and we left feeling like we had a good new friend. We headed out to Poring about 40 minutes away. We dropped down to more of the lower forest and it became hot.

We were nearing Poring when we saw the sign - Rafflessia in Bloom. We drove a bit further to make certain it was the one that the couple had told us about. It was - we turned around and went back. It was just a short distance away from the road. It had been in bloom for 4 days and was still in wonderful shape. They last about 7 days before they start to turn brown/black on the edges and really stink. They are pollanized by flies which were swirling around it. It is marroon and beign in color - similar to meat and smells about the same althought this one wasn't too bad.

They charged us 15RM (about 5 US) which is pretty expensive but since it only blooms for a short while - it is a good source of extra income. They do keep it fenced off so we couldn't get right up to it but close enough.

We snapped our pictures and that was it. We headed up to Poring with is one other tourist area of Mt. Kinabalu. It has several hot springs. We decided that we didn't want to go in them so we headed for the orchid house. It had some cool orchids in bloom including the rare Rothchild's lady slipper. We also went through the tropical forest walk which was kinda depressing. It was kinda a zoo with several empty cages. The few that had animals were raptors - eagles - that would have been better free. We did get to see some local deer.

It was time to return to KK. The drive was about 3 hours. Along the way it rained - a downpour. Perfect place actually for it to rain - while we were on the road. By time we got to KK it was sunny. Luck continued with us and we got a parking place next to the hotel and called for the rental car to be picked up.

We had an early evening since we had a 7am flight. We found a 24 hour street cafe that served several Malay dishes. George had sambal shrimp - good but messy and I had fried broad rice noodles with seafood. Yumm...

The sounds of the jungle is amazing - crickets and cicades clicking and humming. In the distance hooting or screeching of monkeys and hornbills. The stream near by rushing the base and background. So peaceful.

The 7am flight was right on time. It was a tiny prop plane and it took 55 minutes to get across the north of Sabah. We could wave at Mt. Kinabalu one more time. Landing, the airport looked so similar to those on the Carribean side of Guatamala. Low single buildings, exit onto the tarmac and get blasted by the heat and humidity.

The driver met us at the airport. Another couple from Finland is also going to the resort. We make a quick stop at the office and then we were off. It is 83 KM to the lodge in Danum Valley. The first 13 or so is paved. The rest is dirt - long wet muddy yellow dirt. The car is a 4 wheel drive Landcruiser. I ask if he needs the 4wheel drive and he said yes. Boy did we. Most of the way is on a logging road. It is in pretty good shape although a couple of place, the road is starting to slide. This part is kept up frequently. After we turned off and entered the primary (original forest), the road go really bad. It had rained a lot last week and my god, the ruts were up to the floor boards. The driver is wonderful. It takes us about 2 1/2 - 3 hours to go only 83 km.

But it is worth it. The lodge is wonderful. We are greeted with cold washclothes before being taken to our rooms. You walk on raised platforms between the cabins. Our large room has a deck with a out door tub and you can open the door on the shower if you want. It is amazing that you can find this good of accomodating in the middle of the jungle.

We start with lunch and then go on a nature walk. After relaxing a bit, we have dinner and then after dinner a night drive. We didn't have much luck seeing animals but it was amazing being in the jungle.

Today, we got up early for a canopy walk. The jungle was just waking up and it looked just like the picture I posted on Danum Valley. We climbed up and watched the forest come awake before returning for breakfast.

Then our next adventure started. We walked up to the other side of the river to a view down to the lodge. It was very muddy and slippery and lots of roots. Did I mention it was hot. I was sweaty and sticky. But NO LEECHES. Yeah!

But the best was yet to come. We went back down a short distance to see a burial cave. And suddenly on the cliff just a few feet away was an large male orangutan. Amazing to be able to see them in the wild and close by. I had stayed back a bit so they called me to go up and I was able to see but he was moving on so I didn't get too many pictures. But still amazed to see such a large and shy creature.

We returned down the hillside and went for a swim in a large pool fed by a waterfall. Very cool and refreshing. In the middle of the jungle swimming.

We returned for lunch and said good bye to our adventure partners from Finland. They only stayed one night. Later today, we are going for a river walk and a night walk after dinner.

But to be able to see the orangutan in the wild and so close - Amazing.

We have returned to KK and civilization. The stay at Danum was very special. We did not see too many more animals. We did have a couple of close encounters with bugs and reptiles. It started to rain while we were on our afternoon walk. Boy was I glad I had the leech socks. They were everywhere. Okay, not that bad but we did see several on our shoes and got them in time before they found the skin. They react to the rain like earthworm - rise up to the surface. Then they search out heat. George laid down his hiking stick and on jumped right on. They are thin - kinda like a wet piece of spaghetti and about 1-2 inches long. They go back and forth with their head/snout looking for animals to hook on. But fortunately no bites.

The lodge has been so peaceful. We sat on the deck after our afternoon walk and just listened to the sounds. Right at sunset everything erupted in noise. After dinner, we went on a night walk which was somewhat spooky. It is so dark in the forest. And after we returned from the walk, we took advantage of the outdoor tub to soak in the dark.

The next morning I decided not to do the morning walk. I was pretty exhausted after 4 walks especially the walk to the lookout. I've checked out my pictures and I didn't get too good of picture of the Orangutan. He seemed slow but was actually pretty fast at moving away from us. So far all of our walks have been with our guide. I think I'd get to spooked if I was alone with just George. There is so much life out there.

It was time to check out and head back. The road was just as bad as before. It is a long long 3 hours on the bumpy muddy rutted road. We did have one surprise - a 2 meter long snake was crossing the road. We stopped to check him out. We don't know what type but it may have been a gliding snake.

Our flight was fine and we are back at the King. We broke down and had western food today - pizza. Not too bad. The salad was arugula which I was pretty surprised to see. Tomorrow on to Kuching.

We had our first travel snafu today. We got to the airport at 8am for our 9am flight to only find out that it had been canceled. Fortunately, the next flight was just a short wait (2hours). It was on a smaller plane and we got to see the port city of Binatulu.

We have booked a wide variety of different styles of accommodations. Business hotel in KK, Homestay/B&B in Mt. Kinabalu, 4 star resort in Danum and now a backpacker hostel. It is very spartan but very clean. We have a single room - not a dorm and it has hot water and air conditioning. Both extremely important! (And a fast internet connection).

But we don't plan to stay much in the room. We headed right out after arriving 3 hours later than planned. We made the information center just before closing so we could get details on buses for our trips the next 3 days. Next we headed for the Sunday Market which actually starts Saturday Afternoon. What an amazing market. So much better than KK. I'm feeling very comfortable here. The market was about 6 blocks long. All the vendors set up Easy-ups and tables. It is much more open than the wet market in KK. And what a variety of food especially the vegetables and fruit.

After returning to the hotel for a quick shower, we headed out for dinner at the Top Spot Hawker food court. It is located on top of a cement 4 story parking lot. The fish is beautifully laid out for you along with the vegetables. You select your vendor and then select your fish, how you want it prepared and any other dishes. We had a BBQ fish steak. I didn't quite catch what it was. Stir fried Noodles in tomato with fish (Tomato Mee) and midin - stir fried jungle fern. We both loved the fern. It was so tasty - like a good stir fried green. They stir fry it with chili and shrimp paste (anchovy) to give it a really great taste. All this for only 46RM or less that $15US.

Tomorrow we hope to get up and try the local Laksa. We found the restaurant where Anthony B. had his dish. It isn't far from the place we are staying. After breakfast, we'll head for the orchid and pitcher plant nursery. We'll have to go by local bus. We checked them out today. This is going to be one interesting transportation adventure.

Oh yeah - Why cat city? Kuching is the local word for cat.

Last night wasn't too bad. The hostel/Inn is at a busy intersection just a block from the waterfront and there is a large Chinese temple overlooking the intersection. There is a large urn burning incense most of the day - hopefully bringing us good fortune. As expected there is some street noise - brrrr of motorcycles and occasional sirens. The room has no windows other than one high up near the loft. The lighting isn't the best either. We've resorted to reading by flashlight. But it is part of the adventure. Maybe my second childhood since I never got a chance to backpack the world when I was young.

We got up early and walked to the Laksa place. It was great. The kopi (coffee shop) had three booths in the front, one selling mee (noodles), one selling laksa (spicy soup) and I can't remember what else was being sold. We sat down and ordered kopi and laksa. The kopi came hot, milky and caramel sweet. It was either from the gula (palm sugar) or condensed milk. We paid 3.6 RM or 1US. Next came our bowl of hot soup. She cooks the rice noodles in a pot of hot water and the covers them with a spicy broth. I could taste chile, cumin, coriander and a bit of anise. No turmeric. It was topped with slices of fried egg, boiled chicken and prawns and some bean sprouts. It was served with a half of a small lime similar to mexican limes and a dab of hot chile paste. Oh so good. It was better than what I made - less coconut milk and ginger.

That got us going. Then it was off to try to catch the bus. We got there 15 minutes early but didn't see the bus. We finally noticed the ticket hut and went over and realized the schedule that we got from the tourist bureau might be wrong. We hung our for about 30 more minutes before I got real cranky. We walked back to the tourist office to check about getting a taxi because the schedule said we had just missed the bus and it wouldn't come for another 2 hours.

The bus would have been about 3 RM. The taxi was 30RM, but the driver was very nice and talkative. We walked about Kuching and the economy. The Malaysians are being affected by the economy also. He said that there had not been as many visitors or locals going out because of the economy. Many malaysians have been encouraged and hopeful that Obama can bring change. They are as excited as Americans for a change.

We arrived at the orchid and pitcher plant garden in padawan just a small suburb of Kuching. It was very interesting with lots of pitcher plants and orchids in bloom but rather small. We finished in about an hour and thought we might take the bus back. We saw it pulling away just as we walked out of the garden. Rats. We went over to wait. It was probably going to be another 2 hours. grumble.... But we had luck and a minivan bus pulled up. These vans run routes between different locations. They are kinda like a taxi van that pickups people along they way. He was heading to Kuching and had room. It was only 3 RM. Perfect! He made a couple of stops along the way to drop off and pick up more people. It was a great different experience.

I'm back at the hostel and relaxing before we go out for dinner. We're not certain but it may be a restaurant called Bla...Bla.. Bla. Funny name. They do fusion dishes. It will be expensive but sounds fun.

Tomorrow we have a pickup to go to see the Orangutan Refuge. They have a feeding at 9am and we can get picked up at the Hostel. Should be interesting.

Kuching has also been very interesting to visit. The town has an old colonial feel. There is also a big Chinese influence locally near our Inn. We have been seeing many Chinese temples and cemeteries. It is also along the river and there is a wonderful promenade - very western. Across from the promenade are a wide variety of shops which are fronted by covered sidewalks. These are the same type that I saw in Singapore. They provide nice shade from the equatorial sun. There are women selling a local coconut cake that is brightly colored in strips. I had a taste but it was too sweet. There are also other trinkets along the street. Lots of bright colors along with mildewy stucco that you see in the tropics. We've also seen a very cool Hindu temple close to where we had breakfast and the large gold domed Mosque. More evidence to the wide variety of different cultures which make up Malaysia today.

Kuching View
Originally uploaded by YeeJen

Now we move on to the state of Sarawak and the town of Kuching. Kuching means Cat and the city has many cat statues. We will spend several days exploring the town and the surrounding areas. Of course we will look for orchid gardens. Other items to explore are the orangutan sanctuary and the Sarawak Cultural Center.

We had a good dinner last night. We opted for Western food again. We headed to Bla..bla..bla.. There are actually 3 restaurants close together that have the same owner; Junk which has a decor of antiques, Bla... which has a Bali decor and in between the two, The Living Room. This has a lot of nice couches and opens into a garden. They also have long house style sitting which is similar to the short tables and pillows you find in a japanese restaurant. I've been pretty stiff and sore so I decided not to sit at the low tables but a standard table that looked out onto the garden area. You could have anything on either menu from Junk or Bla.bla.bla. Junk is western and Bla is chinese. We opted for Pizza again. I had lamb and George a vegetarian. It hit the spot. Western food is pretty expensive. It was 109RM with beer.

We slept much better last night and woke up somewhat early. Sunrise and sunset does not vary when you are on the equator. It comes up at 6:30 and goes down at 6:30. We had the continental breakfast the hostel provides (toast, lime juice and coffee). At 8:00, we were picked up and taken to the Orangutan Wildlife Center at Semenggoh. It was a minivan and was 25rm. They feed the oranguatan on platforms at two different locations. They put a bunch of fruit and it is possible for the Orangutans to show up for the free food. They are free in the large center so there is no guarantee that any of the 18 Orangutans will show up.

But one just gave birth 9 days ago. She was there with her baby. The mother loved eating the small banannas. I don't blame her - they are one of my favorites. She came down onto the lawn area also so we were able to get about 5 feet away. The caretakers are there at all times to keep the tourists in check. Two other young orangutans also showed up. They gave one a whole coconut which he took up into the trees to crack and drink. Did you know that Orangutan's DNA is about 97% similar to humans?

You only get to stay about 1 hour. The center wants to minimize the exposure to humans. We were back in Kuching by 11. Lunch time. We headed to the chinese hawker center for some noodles. Prawn Mee for George and Kolo Mee for me. The noodles are very similar to ramen noodles. They plonge them into hot water/broth to cook and top with bean sprouts and meat of choice. George had prawns. I had ground pork, wonton dumplings, chicken, bbq pork and something that I didn't know what it was. It was either a slice of tofu or fish cake. I think it was fish cake. I didn't feel like eating it. You also get a little dish of soyu sauce and sliced hot hot fresh red chilis. We poured this over the noodles. Perfect.

Next we headed to the museum. It is part natural history. This part was a little sad. A bunch of old cases with stuffed animals. The lights were not working so it was difficult to see. There were collections of shells also. Upstairs was a really nice longhouse display. We will not be going to a real long house. We hope to go to the cultural museum but it would have been nice to do a longhouse. Next time. We also went to the Islamic Museum which was interesting.

We are resting again and repacking our gear for Bako. We head out in the morning. We'll take a bus (hopefully) and then a boat to the peninsula. We will stay in a very basic one room chalet. I've heard it is very spartan and the bathrooms ... well let's just say not the best. It will only be for one night. We will do hiking to see more nepenthes and the proboscis monkey.

After that we will return and move to the sister hotel of where we are staying currently. It is out of Kuching. We want to relax a bit before heading back. Two weeks have gone so fast. I'll write more when we return from Bako if I have internet connection.

Long-nose monkey relaxes
Originally uploaded by Erwin Bolwidt (El Rabbit)

Just outside of Kuching is Bako National Park. This park has trails and is a great place to see Long-nose monkeys like this one. We will stay one night in the park lodge. This will probably be the roughest place we will be staying.

It will also be an adventure to get to - We have to take a bumpy bus ride to the dock and the hire a private boat to take us up to the park. There is no dock at the park so we will have to wade ashore.

Just a quick post. We are back from Bako and waiting our shuttle to our next hotel. I am dying for a shower. Bako was very interesting. Transportation wise everything went well. We got to the bus stop at about 7am and the bus didn't leave until 7:25. We met up with a great couple from Holland who is doing a 1 year Gap round the world trip. They are on their 6th month. Another woman from England was also waiting which made up 5 people to share the boat. The bus was a long bumpy ride on a very old bus. We got off and did out paper work. It turns out that we just made it in time to get a boat because the tide was out. Oh goodie, we get to walk in. Then the ranger gives us the lecture about stingrays and jelly fish. What have I gotten myself into??

The boat trip is quick - about 20 minutes. We had a little difficulty getting over a shoal and he had to stop a pretty far distance from the beach. George jumped off first and his feet sink into some shoe sucking mud so we all decide to go barefooted. The water came up to our knees. We just sloshed our feet a bit before putting them down to scar off the water critters. It wasn't really that far to walk before we got out of the water area and on to low tide mud. Definitely made for an interesting arrival.

We arrived about 9am and it was too early to check in. So we reorganized our packs and stored one. But we heard that there were monkeys right near the checkin so we headed out. We got to see the proboscus monkey right off. A group of several - male, female and lots of teenagers were hanging out along with gray monkeys. We spent time watching before heading back for some basic lunch.

We reorganized our packs and headed off to the Lintang trail. It followed the boardwalk across the mangrove swamp. We saw more monkeys in the trees and scampering across the mud flats. We also saw big claw crabs and mudskippers.

The boardwalk ended and then the climbing started. Roots, rocks and more roots. I was grumbling big time. It was about 1/2 mile before we reached the plateau and the keranga, a limestone plateau with low shruby trees. Right away we saw the nepenthes we were looking for - two more species that we had been looking for. They were everywhere. It was also hot as hades. We continued across the open area and then entered jungle again. Roots, rocks and more roots. We continued for about 2 km before I got really cranky and we turned back. It was a good thing. It got really hot since the clouds moved off. It was like walking in a sunny sauna.

We got back and got checked into our room - if you can call it that. A half of a house with two single beds - no sheets and I had a stinky pillow. Yech. The shower and toilet were together = nothing but cold water and it took 15 minutes for the toilet to fill. No toilet paper - no soap but we did have a dusty fan mounted on the ceiling. Thank god it was only one night.

We opened a couple of windows and then the naughty monkeys appeared. They gathered in front of our house - about 15 little monkeys. They started crawling on the front and tried to get into the windows. We had to shoo them away. Next they laid down and started grooming each other on the sidewalk. You'd think they owned the place - they do!

We went and had a beer at the canteen and ran into the Dutch couple. She pulled out her cookies and offered us one. And in a flash a monkey jumped on the table and snatched the package away from her and ran off. You can't fight them or they will bite. The staff comes out with a slingshot to keep them away during lunch.

We relaxed for a while and the had a basic cafeteria dinner. We gathered at 7:30 for a night walk. Saw a few insects.

Today, we tried another short hike. I couldn't make it to the beach. I was sweating like crazy. We went back and walked along the beach instead since the tide was out.

The boat was able to make it closer and we waded just a bit. The ride was quick. The bus came shortly after that but the ride was still long hot and bumpy.

The trip is coming to a close. It has been great. I'll write again if they have internet at the Village house - otherwise when we return.

Ah now this is the life. The Village House on Santubong Peninsula is so much better - perfect place for us to wind down after our adventures. The minibus took us through the suburbs of Kuching and on to the Peninsula. I'm a little surprised at the modern houses in the suburb. They are an upscale track home - most in stucco with overhanging metal roofs. They remind me a bit of houses around Auckland NZ. Soon we have entered a low growing palm jungle. There is also a resemblance to Kauai. The large jungle covered Mt. Santubong is in the distance over low houses and palm. There is even a bit of red dirt in the distance.

We were greeted with a cool drink and a cold cloth. The owner tells us a bit about the property. There are two rows of rooms build up like a Malay building on stilts. The face a wonderful long wading pool. Underneath is wonderful artwork and places to sit. We order dinner for 7 and make our choices - a fish in malaysian sauce and chicken curry for me. The food is served next to the pool. We are pretty tired from the hot day in Bako so we have an early night.

They encourage you to relax and enjoy the premises so we decide to do just that. It rained hard last night and started a bit again this morning so we let the rain tell us to slow down. It does stop and we go down to the beach. The tide is out so we can walk about 1km down the beach to the village. The tide goes out an amazing distance - it looks like almost 1/2 km out. George of course has to go out and investigate as far as he can. I stick around closer and take pictures. It has been hard to take pictures because of the overcast and UV light. I'm hoping some come out.

After meandering along the beach, we come to the village. It is a well kept brightly colored village. We get there just after noon and all the kids are getting out of school. They all greet us with Hello and a few giggles when we reply.

We stop in the store for a cool drink and they ask were we are from. They are always a little surprised that we are Americans. They always guess UK, or Australia, or Canada before US. They also almost always remark about the recession in US. We did have also have a conversation with a woman talking about the Bush administration's actions in Iraq. They have some hope for Obama but wonder what he can really do to change.

The rest of this afternoon has been spent playing cards, swimming and relaxing by reading or doing sudoko. Dinner will be soon. I think I'll follow Jerry's lead and have a Lychee Martini tonight. I've checked my mail and we haven't received any messages so I don't think our flight back to KK has been cancelled. I've been a little worried after they cancelled Saturday's flight. We are on the return portion of that same plane.

If all goes well, we will be home soon. I can't decide if I am ready to leave or not. I was after Bako. George was not. But the more cushy accomodations have changed my view. I think I could just stay another day in paradise.

We are half way through our return travel marathon at the airport in Seoul. We started the day by sleeping in and having a relaxing breakfast at the Village House. We hung around playing cards until about 12 noon before taking a taxi to the airport. We were about 2 hours early so we stopped by to have a latte at Starbucks. Yep, there is even a Starbuck's in Borneo with a picture of the original Pike Place store on the wall. It was a little freaky. I also picked up a few last minute food items like Laksa mix.

We arrived in KK and took a taxi back to the King Park Hotel for a couple of hours. We decided to get it for a night so we could relax and shower before the next leg. We had to make a few more last minute book purchases. George couldn't stay away from the plant books at Borneo Books. We also decided to have pizza again for dinner.

The plane for Seoul left at midnight. I hate sitting in the back of Airbus planes. It feels weird like back of the plane is fishtailing. We might have slept a bit but it was pretty uncomfortable. I don't remember the movie so I must have slept a bit. We arrived in Seoul at 6am.

We decided to take the City Tour. Asiana provides it for free. We could have gotten a free hotel room but this was so much more interesting. The airport (Incheon) is about 60km from downtown Seoul and it is on an island. The bridge that connects it is pretty amazing. There are 50 million in Korea and 10 million live in Seoul. You can definitely tell where they all live. The river is lined with 20 story high rise apartment buildings.

But what amazed us more is to go from the rich dense green jungle of Malaysia to the barren brown winter of Korea. Nothing is green at all but a few random evergreens. We are used to some green even in the winter on the west coast. This is very prairie brown stark and 34 degrees. Quite the contrast from 90 degrees with 80% humidity which we left 5 hours ago.

It takes about 1hour by bus to get to Seoul. The first stop was a Buddhist temple but on the way we went by the President's house which is called the Blue House. We saw tons of security police for blocks around it and could not stop. The temple was beautiful. Inside are three large gold Buddhas. A worship was going on and the temple was filled with about 100 people changing and praying. It was very moving. We had 15 minutes to walk around and take pictures before moving on. Next stop was recovered stream through the financial district that has been renovated with cement steps and a waterfall.

Next was lunch which was a lot of fun. We sat at low tables and had beef Buglogi (spelling) and of course hot Kimchi. George had a vegetarian rice bowl.

Last stop was of course for souvenirs. We bought nothing but it was very interesting area with nightclubs and sport stores.

3 more hours and then our last 9 hour leg home.