Hong Kong - Disneyland!

This trip was not only spontaneous but also a bit special to me. I can still see myself sitting on the deck back home before I left for Korea chatting about all of the potential places I could visit in Asia during my time working in Korea. It was then that I googled a list of all the Disneylands in the world. I knew there was one in Japan, but I didn't know of the park in Hong Kong. I felt that going to the one in Japan was likely, as I considered Japan as a long weekend trip. I sat there and joked about how I would also maybe go to Disneyland in Hong Kong, in that moment feeling amazed about the opportunities ahead of me, but not truly believing that going to Disneyland in Hong Kong would be something very realistic. Everything in that moment, those thoughts of possibilities, felt more like dreams that wouldn't be able to be attained, but were welcomed fantasies.

Fast forward a year from then and I am sitting in a cafe in Korea with Mel with the intention of working on our online open water scuba diving course for our then upcoming trip to Malaysia. We order coffee and cake and get to chatting. The next thing you know we are looking for flights to Hong Kong and within the next hour flights are booked and tickets to Disneyland are purchased. Our course on the other hand, neglected. Oops.

Fast forward a month and a half and I am anticipating the end of my last class so that I can grab my bag, slip out of work and book it to the airport bus stop to catch my flight! How cool.

Mel and I booked flights Friday night, return Sunday evening. All week we had debated the best way to get to the airport as we were both off at 5:30pm and our flight was at 9:00pm, not entirely a lot of leeway there. In the end we decided that we would both catch the airport bus that was closest to each of our respective work places. So I headed to the bus stop from work, a bit nervous about making the flight in time if traffic turned out to be bad that Friday. Mel (who lives a bit further) had already gotten on the bus, but I was still waiting for mine to come. A half hour after the digital sign said that it was arriving soon, it did arrive. I walked on the bus to find who else, but Mel! Turns out the bus by her is the same one that runs by where I live. This worked out perfectly as we didn't have to worry about finding each other at the airport and we got to enjoy the 1.5 hour ride (usually only one hour) to the airport. We arrived at the airport at 7:30pm and were flying by 9pm.

The trip was already starting off amazingly as the immigration officer at Incheon allowed us to stamp our own passports. I was giggling with excitement and not ashamed to admit it.

Now keep in mind this was only about two weeks after being home from Malaysia and we were very accustom to the budget airline which is Air Asia - no pillow, no blanket, no food, no drinks, no entertainment and a very cold cabin. So when we boarded onto the Ethiopian Airlines flight, stocked with snacks and sweaters, we were blown away to find a pillow, blanket and our own mini screen at our seats! I felt entirely spoiled. We did not get seats next to each other, but I did end up getting the whole row to myself which was so nice. I decided to watch Winters Tale, and while I was watching that, they came around with dinner and drinks! It just kept getting better. I was feeling pretty content with my Friday night at that point.

When we landed in Hong Kong it was a little disappointing as they did not stamp our passports - and let's be honest, we all live for the stamps - apparently they have stopped doing this and instead you are given a paper about the size of a third of your credit card that you are supposed to keep with you the entire time and not lose. It was a bit bizarre to us and doesn't seem as efficient. As we arrived after midnight, we took a taxi to our hostel. It took a second after the taxi stopped for my door to be opened by someone on the other side and we were bombarded with people offering rates to their different hotels. We stayed in a building called Chungking Mansions, which is home to several floors and different blocks of stores and living spaces. We didn't quite know about the different blocks until we went up the elevator to the wrong block and a helpful man from another hostel directed us the right way. One thing that was interesting is that their elevators are based on floors. So each block has two elevators, one for the even floors and one for odd floors. Of course, we were the elevator that seemed to always have the most people going up and down it. At one point we stood in a line at the bottom of the elevator of people waiting to go up. We also learned that it was faster to go into an elevator that was going up just to go all the back to the bottom floor to get where you wanted to go. That night we quickly headed to bed, eager for Disneyland the next day.

The extent of our room aside from a small bathroom.

Saturday morning we were woken up at 6am to what I initially thought was Mel's obnoxious alarm on her phone. Turns out it was the fire alarm. Some will say that this is a sign we have been in Korea "too long" but I will just leave it at saying it is bad when you think "ah I'm sure there isn't really a fire" and roll over to try and fall back asleep. But the alarm kept ringing, and ringing, and ringing. So we got up and peaked out our door. A few other guests were up checking out the situation as well. Turns out there was just a faulty alarm in our corridor. We went back to sleep for another hour before getting ready for the day listening to a Disney playlist. 

Disneyland was amazing - as always. Depsite being to a few different parks now, there is something still so magical to me about Disneyland and I still get just as excited each time I go. I love it. 

View from the subway heading to Disneyland

Hong Kong! aka Kong Hong

We made it!! Happiest place on earth!

In front of Cinderella's castle - honestly compared to the one in Orlando and the one in Japan, this castle was a bit sad. It was so small comparatively and not very well kept. I think that would be my only criticism of this park. 

I forget what this ride was called, but I legit had to drive the car which was so cool and it really made me miss driving!

Mickey Pizza!

Mickey & Minnie <3 ... Mickey checked us out which is a tad creepy

Goofy!

Hanging out in Tarzan's home

View from Tarzan's home

Gorgeous right?!

Mel and I were dying in the heat as we waited for the parade to begin. It was almost 40 degrees that day, our butts were burning sitting on the pavement. 

It was so hot, my 80 SPF waterproof sunscreen was melting off my body - but still no sunburn!

My favourite "land" at this park, that I have not seen at others was Toy Story Land. It was really well done in terms of decorations and theme. 

Disneyland was an absolute blast. We went on almost every ride, my favourite was Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars. It is a big wooden roller-coaster that takes you backwards for part of the ride. Ooo and Space Mountain! 

By the time the sun was setting we were ready to head out and do some exploring in Hong Kong. My main goal for Hong Kong was to do Disneyland, anything on top of that was going to be bonus. I could have left on an airplane that moment and still would have felt completely happy. Do check out my other Disney/HongKong/Malaysia photos on Facebook as they are all posted now! 

<3

Malaysia - The Final Day in KL

Saturday morning we flew back Kuala Lumpur and made it back to Reggae Mansion for our final night. We were hoping to arrive a bit earlier than we did to go out of the city and see something but we didn't get in until after 3 which would make it too late by the time we got anywhere. Besides, I was completely exhausted and could have slept for the rest of the night! But since it was our last, I did not to sleep. Instead, we met a guy named Sandro and the three of us headed to the nearby market as Mel was still on the hunt for a patch and I was on the hunt for a shot glass. We did some shopping and also went to another market with super cheap knock offs. I'm not one for collecting too much "stuff" these days so I found my shot glass and didn't buy anything else for myself.  We headed back to the hostel after shopping as Sandro informed us that there was a BBQ being held at the hostel so we took part in that.

Old and new

All this for $6!!

Again, it was like Sandro was our personal guide for the night, he told us about a sky bar so we went and checked that out. There wasn't a table fee which was great, but there was a huge wait for a table beside the window so we settled for a different table. The drinks were more expensive compared to other places, but the prices were on par with what you would pay in Vancouver for a cocktail so really it wasn't that bad. The place was really cool, had a pool and great music. We enjoyed a cocktail, enjoyed the view, enjoyed the music then head back to Reggae Mansion to check our their rooftop party. 

Fountain show along the way

Inside the sky bar

Mel, myself and Sandro

View from the sky bar

Petronas Towers from the sky bar

We enjoyed another drink at the rooftop bar at Reggae Mansion before calling it an night and heading to bed. Like every other day of the trip we had to be up early again, this time to catch our flight back to Seoul. Again, although we asked, they didn't end up arranging a cab for us, but we managed to work it out anyways. I was feeling really sick for this entire day. I splurged and rented a blanket on the airplane but nothing else too exciting happened, other than the fact that there wasn't anyone next to me so I took up two seats! It was nice to get home but also a bit sad. I was so tired from travelling and still not feeling well, so it was a bit sad to come home to no one as I would have done anything to have had someone make me food when I got in. But I sucked it up, made myself some chicken noodle soup and went to bed to be ready for work the next day. 

The vacation was incredible though. Obviously diving was my favourite part, but the whole thing was awesome. Looking back the only big thing I would change would have been the fact that we spent every single night in a new spot (aside from the two nights on Mabul). Sleeping in a different place every night definitely took its toll but we were trying to get in as much as we could in the week that we had off. Also, I set a new record for myself, 5 flights in 10 days! 

I enjoyed Malaysia and diving so much, that I have already booked tickets to go back during my Christmas vacation! I can not wait and my sister will be joining me which will make it extra special :)

<3

Malaysia - Sepilok

Wednesday morning we took the transfer boat from Mabul back to Semporna. Here we made arrangements for a bus to take us to Sepilok, where we would spend the next portion of our trip. The boat ride back was wet! We kept getting sprayed by water. At first, we both thought the driver was doing this on purpose then we came to terms with the fact that the water was just really choppy and he was truly trying to avoid big waves which meant us getting drenched! We arrived in Semporna and had to change head to toe which was unfortunate as we both had new, dry clothes on. Which by this point of the trip was getting rare and our clothes were not drying even when laid outside. This was another outfit that we would not get to wear for the rest of the trip now - into the wet bag!

On the boat back to Semporna 

We had a few hours to kill before our bus was departing, so we ended up back at the Divers Lodge Restaurant/Bar, at the same table we were at a few nights earlier and grabbed lunch. With the little map provided, we made our way to the bus depot. I think it was then that I really felt like a traveller, wearing my travel backpack, trying to decipher a hand drawn map, winding through streets and loads of people and cars. Of course getting the usual attention from the locals. I'm sure we were a pretty funny site. Made it to the bus though.

The bus was an interesting adventure. I honestly expected to be piled on to an open bus like the one I experienced in the Philippines, but this one had real seats, windows, aircon, a bathroom and movies for us to watch! Although it was a bit confusing at one point because we stopped and had to transfer to another bus. We didn't really know what was going on, but a kind boy told us to move buses. As a bus, we watched a super edited version of Spiderman and a really awful Jackie Chan movie - sorry for any fans out there. Other fun facts about the drive: it ended being about 6 or 7 hours long, one road basically through the jungle. A child across from us vomited, that was lovely. But generally the children on the bus were quiet and well behaved. Here are some pictures from the drive:

We arrived in Sepilok after dark, and were dropped off on the side of the highway kind of in the middle of nowhere. It was dark, there was one street lamp. We didn't know where we were going really, for the past half hour there was lightning in the sky so we were just waiting for the thunder and rainfall. Not the most ideal situation, but luckily there were two other foreigners on the other side of the road. (Unfortunately for them, they had been waiting an hour already at that point for the bus to come along and pick them up going the other way. Ahhh the life of riding buses in other countries, so unpredictable.) Their "taxi" driver, and by that I mean a man with a truck, was still there so we asked for a ride. He didn't speak English but we pointed to the sign for the resort we were staying at that night. He ended up calling the place for us to have their driver come and get us. Apparently they could get there in about 10 minutes so we waited and the "taxi" driver waited with us. Another guy came out of the truck, the nephew of the other man, and they decided that they would just drive us since no one else had shown up yet. So, half reluctantly, we jumped into the truck. Just as we were about to pull away, the van from our resort pulled up, so we got out switched and headed on our way. 

This whole night ended up being a bit bumpy. We arrived at Sepilok Jungle Resort and checked it. We booked at 4 person shared room. Two people were already staying in the room so they had the key and they only give out one key per room. That meant we were left standing for a bit until the maintenance guy was found to come unlock our door for us. Starving, we dropped our bags and went to get food. Unfortunately the only table available was near a massive group of loud British teens and after a long bus drive, and being hungry, it was quite annoying. Not to mention that the service was lacking, we had to keep getting a waiter and they didn't bring everything we ordered. Brush it off right? As we did. We headed back to our room to shower and settle into bed only to find that our roomies were not in the room yet, so again, we could not get into the room. Apparently it did not occur to them that we wouldn't know these other two people - not to mention we hadn't even seen/met them yet so wouldn't even be able to go find them for the key. So after some begging, they gave us their last spare key for the room. But really, how can they expect 4 strangers to share one key?! The power ends up going out after we both shower - no big deal but at this point it we were both sitting on our beds, staring at each other, both depressed, wondering why we were there and not still on Mabul Island diving. 

Just then, we hear a loud bang and shortly after two girls run into our room. Turns out it began raining so hard the roof in the dining area collapsed ... on top of a bunch of people. No one was hurt, thank goodness, but what?! How does the roof collapse?! I have a feeling it rains hard there, a lot, how is that not something this place is prepared for?! Our room-mates were super nice though, both from Holland and had also just done their OW diving course. We chatted then all fell asleep. Honestly I'm sure the place was really great, but we just had a series of bad incidents so we didn't care for the place, and wouldn't go back. I didn't even take pictures of the place.

Thursday 

We set off early in the morning in the wrong direction to the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. After going the wrong way, and then double backing, we finally made it to the centre. The centre opened in 1964 and has been rehabilitating orangutans and returning them into the jungle since. We arrived just before one of their feedings which allowed for some great viewing of these cool animals! 

This one came up out of the bushes I was standing next to

What was really cool about the centre was that nothing was allowed in. No bags, no water, nothing. This allows them to keep the habit clean and free of garbage and anything that could contaminate the environment. We also had to use hand sanitizer before entering. We were allowed to bring in our cameras, but of course there was a fee for that. We watched the orangutans eat until they all disappeared back into the greenery. I learned that there are other types of monkeys living in the centre who have arrived their on their own over the fences who choose to live there. There are supposed to be walking paths throughout the whole centre, but on that day they were closed. There is a type of bear which is unique to this part of the world, the sun bear. There is a sun bear centre next door, and that week one of the bears got loose and they still have not found it. So all paths in the centres are closed until the bear is brought back. It was too bad, but also a bit funny. 

Afterwards we sat in a cafe until we were picked up by the Uncle Tan's van as we booked a jungle stay with them. While in the cafe we met a guy who after explaining about our long bus ride, informed us that we could take a flight back to Tawau from Sandankan (which was a bit more north). Amazing news! We really didn't want to deal with another long bus back to Tawau if we didn't have to. So once we arrived at the base for Uncle Tan's we booked flights for Friday back to Tawau! Yay - Malaysia Airlines! 

At Uncle Tan's we were debriefed on what our stay in the jungle would be like, then eventually we got into vans and took the hour long ride to the river. At the river we split up into groups and jumped in small boats that would take us another hour down the river to Uncle Tan's camp in the jungle. During our ride on the Kinabatangan River we saw so many macaques (grey monkeys) and a crocodile! 

The Kinabatangan River

 Mr. Crocodile

Approaching camp!

Standing outside the dining area

This is what all of the walkways looked like - on stilts above swampy jungle ground

We had a three walled, open cabin to spend the night in. It had a mattress pad on the ground, and we were give a thin blanket and of course it had a mosquito net. It was really cool to fall asleep to the sounds of the animals in the jungle. 

We had some time before we went on our night boat ride, so with the our room-mates here we headed to the dining area to play a card game. We roomed with MJ, a fellow teacher from Seoul (the first one we met on the entire trip), as well as three people from France. We played a French card game called Love Letter. I was happy to remember enough French to be able to read the basic rules. It was a fun game that I would like to try and find to play again. After dinner we went out on the boat again to try and find some animals! We saw different types of birds, a baby crocodile and a few Civets (the animal that digests and gets rid of coffee beans that we then turn into really expensive coffee). 

Friday

We were up early at 6:30am for another boat ride. We saw a lizard, many macaques, and a gibbon. We had breakfast before Mel and I headed back to the base as we were only doing the one night stay. I tried fried bananas for the first time and they were delicious. We were back at Uncle Tan's Ops Base by lunch, so enjoyed lunch there then waited for our taxi to take us to the Sandakan airport to catch our flight back to Tawau. The flight was 45mins and went smoothly. Honestly, with everything that has happened with Malaysia Airlines in the past month it was a bit unsettling flying with them but it was okay. For the record, all of our other flights were with Air Asia. When we landed in Tawau, we took a taxi to our hotel for the night. I think the best part was the huge dead rat outside the entrance. Aside from that, the place was clean but not entirely helpful or friendly. When we asked for a recommendation for dinner, the man behind the counter just said "anywhere down the road" - you don't want to know where we ended up! When we got back we just settled in and went to bed as we would be up early again to catch our flight back to Kuala Lumpur. We had asked them to arrange a taxi for us in the morning, but that didn't happen either. Friday was just a travel day, honestly staying in the jungle was cool but I would have been content without this part of the trip. I expected to see more than we did and I was craving for some more dive time. No regrets though, we made some awesome memories and met MJ who we have since met up with and hung out with in Seoul!

And some awesome shots courtesy of MJ from our morning boat ride/river cruise:

White Crane

Gibbon

Macaques

Lizard

Hornbill

Sunrise on the Kinabatangan River

<3