nateniale's travels

Sabah is a place that I've always wanted to go - the idea of the sea and mountains, a place to go diving and hiking. Then there's Sandakan and around the area with wildlife and orang utan sanctuary.  We suddenly found a space in our schedule and managed to squeeze in a trip to Sabah, Malaysia in July 2019, with 2 children, Ed 2 years old and Em 4 years old. We could not include all the places in Sabah, but managed to include Kota Kinabalu and Kundasang where Mount Kinabalu is.  5 days 4 nights 1 country - Malaysia 2 cities - Kota Kinabalu, Kundasang  1 UNESCO World Heritage Site - Kinabalu Park 1 timezone - GMT+8 1 currency - Malaysian ringgit (RM) Day 1 | Flight to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah Flight to Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia took about 2.5 hours from Singapore, and we went straight to the hotel in Kota Kinabalu. We stayed in a nondescript hotel in the city but there are many resorts to choose from if you would like a more luxurious hotel instead.  We took a walk ...

Here's the second part of the Travel Tips series for Penang. I will continuously update this list, so do come back often to check. Do start with What to do in Penang, Malaysia if you have not done so. This is a list of recommended places to eat in Penang - most are my favourite places, while some are recommended by others. This is by no means the full list. Explore the city yourself, and start your own list! Do remember to eat without expectations, as some food may have the same name as those found in other parts of Malaysia and Singapore, but they will be different!  Hawker Centres { Gurney Drive Hawker Centre, Gurney Drive } Lots of choices, with some good food even though it may be packed with tourists. Prices may be a little steeper than other places. Lots of laksa stalls (walk around, and try to sniff for the best stall!), char koay teow (look for the one with long queue), ‘jiu hu eng chai’ (Cuttlefish Salad with Kangkung), rojak (Ah Chye’s Rojak). Only at night. ...

Here's a short simple guide on things to do and places to go in Penang. They include some of my favourite places to go whenever I am back home in Penang. Check out this page for the list of places to eat . Recommended places to go for a heritage feel { Heritage sites around Armenian Street }  Spot all the street art around the area! Old shophouses with charming shops. { Visit the clan temples } Khoo Kongsi, Cheah Kongsi, Yap Kongsi and many more. { Walk the planks of the clan jetties }  Tan Jetty has nice long plank-y walk out to the sea. Be careful! { Visit the Pinang Peranakan Mansion } At 29 Church Street. Baba and Nyonya architecture, furniture and antiques. { Around Light St and Beach St (Lebuh Pantai) }  Beach Street is also known locally as “Bank Street” with many colonial style buildings. Light Street has the Victoria Clock Tower, Fort Cornwallis, Town Hall, City Hall, etc. Recommended places to go for a spiritual feel (and foo...

One of the many wall art that has been cropping up in Penang!  Can't wait to be back in Penang for Chinese New Year,  and take a walk around the city spotting those wall art!

I may have travelled to many places in the world, but I still find the best food when I am back home in Penang, Malaysia. After leaving my hometown for 14 years, I still crave for Penang food after awhile! p/s When I'm in Singapore, my favourite place to have Penang food is at the Penang Road Cafe . 

coconut @ abu siti lane, penang

dinner at chong tian hotel , penang

sun setting behind penang island

cactus in cameron highlands

happy dragon year!

image by harriotc   Off to Cameron Highlands for Chinese New Year! This is probably the first time that my family has planned a trip away from home on Chinese New Year. Could this be a start of a new travel ritual? Wishing everyone a prosperous year of the Dragon!  Happy Chinese New Year! This is a scheduled post. Cut off from the virtual world for a week! 

What I love about travelling is experiencing the rich culture and meeting the locals and what better way to do that than to join the locals to celebrate one of their biggest festivals. Carnival of Venice in Italy, La Tomatina in Spain, Oktoberfest in Germany and Songkran in Thailand–tourists often flock to these countries to celebrate with the locals. Now, if there is one festival in my hometown in Penang, Malaysia that I recommend to be included in that list, it would be the Chinese New Year (CNY) celebration. I have left Penang for more than ten years but never failed to travel home every year for CNY celebration, along with other ‘Penangites’ who study and work in other states and countries. There are many events and activities held around Penang during the celebration in January which are free for all to participate. The celebration CNY celebration used to be a family affair, where most people will spend time at home with family or visit relatives and friends. These days, m...

On 1 July 2011, another chapter in the Malaysia-Singapore history was closed. The Tanjong Pagar Railway Station was officially closed after 79 years of operation. On the weekend before it closed, we visited the station hoping to capture what we could before it became another well-preserved but non-operational national monument. The one and only time that I had ever taken a train out from Singapore to Malaysia was about 10 years ago. It was also the first time I had ever taken a train on the Malaysian railway -  KTM . The journey was over the night and it felt long as I could not sleep, but we reached Kuala Lumpur bright and early the next morning. My experience would be extremely insignificant if compared to some of the memories of the people who worked there and taken countless of trains from the railway station. Like the man I captured in my previous post , and all those who had loved and enjoyed a taste of Malaysia in the bustling food area. And this says it all... ...

  Or, rather, what used to be the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station. After 79 years in operation and countless of disputes between Singapore and Malaysia, the railway station was officially closed on 1 July 2011. This photo was taken the weekend before it was closed, and what struck me when taking the photo was the nostalgia that he must be feeling amidst the throngs of visitors who wanted to have one last look of the station before it closed. What memories he may have had of the railway station. being nostalgic, - nateniale -

If you know anyone from Penang, Malaysia, I'm pretty sure he or she would be pretty passionate about food. Most of us Penangites are, and it is not easy to find good Penang food away from Penang. There are a few around, but the quality is usually below the standard in Penang. We went to a relatively new restaurant called Penang Road Cafe in Novena, with open minds. Excited to be having Penang food, and yet, wary that it would probably not be up to standard. We ordered four dishes to be shared among the two of us - Laksa, Hokkien Mee, Char Koay Teow and Chendol. And, we love it!  Hokkien Mee - It is pretty authentic, we could taste the shells of the prawns used to cook the soup - something which the ones in Singapore failed to have.  Laksa - It is probably the best I have tasted in Singapore, though the noodles used are not really the same as the ones in Penang and the soup can be tastier.  Char Koay Teow - With prawns, cockles, Chinese sausages and bean sprout,...

Penang's Traditional Joss Stick Maker Next to the oldest temple in Penang, the Goddess of Mercy (or Kuan Yin) Temple, resides Mr Lee, a traditional joss stick maker. He makes joss sticks by hand, which is a disappearing craft as most joss sticks are now machine-made. Penang's status as a UNESCO's World Heritage Site would not mean as much without people like him and that's what I love about my hometown. No matter how long I have been away, there are things that still remained the same after all these years. missing home, - nateniale - { Click here for other posts on Penang and a list of my travelogues }

Note to self: Do not buy morning flight when you're not a morning person! (or just stay up all night until your flight) Missed my flight. I had to buy new tickets.  And now, I'll have less than two and a half days in Penang. { Photo is from We Heart It }

I had two very different beach holiday over the past two months.  The first was a drive up from Singapore to Peninsular Malaysia's East Coast. We managed to cover quite a distance and visited a few small towns within three days. And last weekend, we went to Bintan Resort which was less than an hour ferry ride from Singapore. It is in the Indonesian Bintan Island but mainly targeted for Singapore tourist. We basically did nothing but walked around the beach and soaked in the sun.  Both had been interesting in its own ways, and I promise that I'll write about both soon! { Click here for a list of my travelogues }