Category: nature

Sea Gypsy Boys//Bajau Laut Sabah

I took these photos at Semporna, Sabah, last year. These boys are Bajau Laut etnic people. I saw them playing under the jetty I was on. They were jumping off the 10 foot high jetty into the sea-urchin laden sea. In these photos you can see them on a foam-board. One of the boys found a pomelo’s skin and thought it would make a great hat!

More pictures can be found on my instagram @_travelcamera

written on 18th of May 2021

a window of opportunity

Date: (March 2020) A week before life as we knew it changed.

Location: On a ferry from Labuan to Sabah

Mid-March 2020, my grandfather celebrated his 71st birthday as he visited Labuan Federal Territory. This trip marked his completion of visiting all the 14 states of Malaysia. I’m very glad I got to do it with him.

Since that trip, I’ve only seen him once and even that was only for an overnight stay.

During our Labuan trip we knew the unavoidable was coming. The virus had already hit China and was rapidly spreading. It wouldn’t be long before it hit our country. However, what nobody could expect was the impact of the virus. Thus, nobody was prepared for it. I naively assumed it would be over in a few months, yet here we are in our third lockdown with thousands of cases daily. I still naively hope that we will be in the clear soon. My greatest wish of last year was to be able to spend Christmas with my family. It didn’t happen. Despite that, my greatest wish this year is still the same.

I frequently contact my grandparents through video chat but it’s just not the same as being in their arms.

I love looking back at photos from my previous trips. Even photos as insignificant as this window on a ferry, brings me back to a time where I could feel the sea breeze on my face and wrap my arms around my grandpa.

sunrise at the peak of Bukit Botak

Located at Sepanggar, Sabah, Butik Botak is a moderate hiking trail that is well known. It goes by many names such as Bukit Gundul, Bukit Gentisan and Bukit Bonduk (which is the name located on Google Maps). They all bring the meaning of ‘Bald Hill.’

We started our hike at 0500. We used the entrance near the tunnels. We had to make a U-turn to get to the other side. There’s no streetlights on this road, thus we couldn’t see the starting point until we were at the parking lot! Naturally, as the craziest people to be at 5AM on a Sunday, we were the pioneer hikers of that day.

There is no lights there obviously, so we brought our own headlamps. Very useful! I recommend to download a trail map beforehand. We had some trouble finding the starting point from the entrance. Later, we discovered we just had to follow the sticks that were marking the trail!

The trail is fairly easy. The track is frequently used. It is roughly 1.5km to the peak! Your biggest struggle may be the endurance or the steepness at certain parts. It’s nothing that is too difficult for a determined person to handle! As the track is made of clay, please do not try to hike after a night of rainfall as it will be too slippery.

Sabah is well known for it’s amazing sky. The atmosphere at dawn was peaceful.

And here we have the culprit of this hill’s name! There are markings along the trail every 250m. The summit can be seen from about 1250m. You’re near the top!

The last stretch is mostly uphill, so push through you’re nearly there! The scenery is grassy and looking down at KK you’ll see bright orange lights and lost of mist surrounding the town!

At 6AM we reached! The view is absolutely worth all the sweat and near-tears. The sun rises near Mount Kinabalu. This hill overlooks the port! The view is excellent. At the top you will find other trails leading to various locations! Feel free to try them. They go as far as 8km.

It was nice to have the hill to ourselves for a few minutes until other hikers started showing up after 6.

The trail down was much easier! Relaxing. I slipped and slid down the remaining 4 feet of one slope! My family and I burst into laughs. Visibility was obviously much better! And the sun was not too harsh. We passed A LOT hikers on our way down. We were grateful that we went early.

Bukit Botak was a great workout! Will definitely go again 🙂

first boat ride (24 Dec 2020)

I thought these would be nice pictures to start the blog off with this year!! Here is Taska’s first boat ride. As you can tell, she really enjoyed it. She absolutely loves to feel the wind on her face.

She sat very comfortably on the boat throughout the 5 minute journey on blue waters to the resort on the cove.

She also got a chance to set paw on the dive ship, which is much bigger than this small motorboat. The day following when this photo was taken, my family and I experienced open water diving for the first time (a story I will tell more about very soon). Taska, unfortunately, could not join us underwater but instead had to wait patiently on the boat in the middle of the South China Sea for us.