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THE ODD LIFE Blog

The odd life, Travel and Food

POST PANDEMIC TRAVEL NIGHTMARE + THE NEW GENTING HIGHLANDS

6/2/2022

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Update:
Our new merchandise is being progressively added to the store at www.hirojack.com/store
Please support our work and help us work towards our goal of doing a trip to New Zealand in remembrance of my late-father! 


We'll start with the super fun and light-hearted stuff first!


"Mama, I want to go to the place with all the games!". The two kids have been repeatedly asking to go back to Genting Highlands. We thought, why not? We didn't quite get enough time to see most of the massive new Genting. I grew up frequenting this place in the clouds and I must say it has transformed drastically. 

Fly with us on the Awana Skyway up to Genting here! The relatively new cable car system (newly completed in 2016) brought us through the clouds and the rainforest from the mid hills. Comfy, fast and offered amazing views. The station at the base is directly connected to the Genting Highlands Premium Outlets which offers a wide range of branded shops and eateries.  You can park your car there for the entire day for an affordable RM12. 
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Cooling place for retail therapy!
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There's chicken rice here too!
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Modern, spacious and clean toilets!
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We didn't experience any queues. Scan the pre-booked QR code and off we go!
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Don't look down if you're afraid of heights! I must say this system is a lot faster and a lot more stable!
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The last time we came, we had to take the old system because the new one was undergoing routine maintenance. They were both a felt a lot more safe with this new ride!
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Flying into the clouds...
We arrived in time for dinner. We were greeted by the amazing food street lined by restaurants, bubble tea shops and pubs that play live music on the weekends! It felt so nice to hear a live performance again! 
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I never understand the allure of bubble tea...but it makes them happy!
We had dinner at The Laughing Fish by Harry Ramsden. Fish and Chips was about 7/10. The cod can be a bit fishy for some. Our food came warm and we thought it would be nicer if they came out piping hot from the fryer. We shared a big portion of Fish and Chips, a bangers and mash and more chips! I had mushy peas all to myself because nobody seems to like it? Why?!

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A British pub feel!
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Complete with a bar counter
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Look up! Its like Banksy dropped by....
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The British say chips (french fries) and crisps (potato chips)
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The legendary sized cod (RM70) is about the length of my forearm!
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Bangers and Mash
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We enjoyed Genting Highlands a lot because you can find shops and food for every budget. You can find activities for every budget and risk appetite. It caters to the young and old. Everyone gets to enjoy the cool weather outside and amazing views. You don't have to be rich to enjoy this place. It is a stark difference from some resorts that are exclusive playgrounds for gamblers and the wealthy. 

The transformation still amazes me! The mall is spectacular with all the digital screens! Gives it a Tokyo/Times Square and Piccadilly Circus feel. You can do a zip-line from the mall across the indoor theme park, scream your hearts out on the "superman" roller coaster or just enjoy a relaxing kiddy ride. Amazingly, the arcades are still where they used to be when I was a kid! 
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Some exciting rides
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Some relaxing rides
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They got to play their "games" at the arcade!
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​Now for the nightmare
😱

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The pandemic has locked us in for more than 2 years. But it isn't done wrecking havoc in the travel industry. Crazy expensive Airfares, shortage of workers in the industry and a very dismal drop in service standards.

We've experienced our worst nightmare....AGAIN. If you've seen the previous time our trip got derailed , it pales in comparison to this nightmare. 

After a 7 hour drive from Cameron Highlands to Johor en-route back to Singapore to visit family, we decided to rest a night in an IHG branded hotel. The place was well renovated and had comfortable beds but as we lay down in bed ready to sleep, there was a COCKROACH on the wall. I flicked it onto the floor with a floor rag and ended it. Okay, we thought maybe it just came in from the outside. The next day, we returned to the room after a day outside, THERE WAS ANOTHER ONE DEAD ON THE CARPET?!

The staff was apologetic when I informed them at checkout. Got extra points as a service recovery. We thought the worst was over. 

We've decided to base ourselves in KL for a few weeks to plan the next leg of our Grand Tour since we've been away from the bustling city for more than 2 months! We booked a very premium looking Airbnb unit that was very near to KLCC in Kuala Lumpur after wrapping up our amazing time in the Cameron Highlands Mountains. 
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Looks proper right? You'll be surprised what you'll find in there...
If you frequent the Airbnb website often, you'll see that many listings have reviews from 2 years ago before the pandemic happened. It has becoming increasingly difficult to judge how good are these properties from photographs. This was what greeted us...
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Absolutely filthy toilet bowl
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Worn bedsheets that smelled
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Unknown stains on multiple beds
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Stains on the pillow
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What the heck?!
When informed the owner, he was pretty nonchalant about it. It didn't seemed to affect him and he wasn't too bothered. It seems that many Airbnb owners (in my experience its over 50% of them) are not too bothered what debilitated state their rental properties were in. Word of advice if you are travelling and booking an Airbnb:

1. Book with superhosts as much as possible
2. If you are unsure about anything, ASK before you book via "contact host" 
3. READ the reviews
4. Always have a back up plan, be aware of hotels or other units you can possibly go to at short notice. The customer service will leave you stranded!

The nightmare however didn't end there for us. The owner didn't suggest a solution for us and so I proposed that he refunded us fully. He immediately accepted. ZERO apology, not a word to express any tinge of regret of the horrible experience he has caused us. Not to mention, we were stranded AGAIN!

We managed to book a 4 star hotel after some research and a quick dinner around the area. Checked in and decided to use the toilet. Lo and behold....
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Hello prehistoric old friend....
As if after 400km of driving, cockroach the night before, a horrid Airbnb that left us stranded wasn't enough....I went to the lobby to meet the manager and showed him this picture. Thankfully he was very apologetic and immediately got us new rooms and upgraded us.

We hope KL will be kind to us as we look for another accommodation for the rest of our trip! We absolutely miss the weather in Cameron Highlands already!
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​That's all for our double issue for this week. 

Don't forget to visit:
Our store: www.hirojack.com/store
Photography Instagram page: www.instagram.com/the_odd_life_blog
Full directory of blog posts: https://www.hirojack.com/browse-by-category.html
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We drove 500km for this

5/26/2022

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We all love the tranquility, cool weather and epic landscape of Cameron highlands! But...after two weeks of not moving around, we all got really restless. I guess that is why we are living this Grand Tour as our lifestyle! 

If you know anything about the roads in Cameron Highlands, there are two ways into and out of the area. The road from Tapah was the original road the British built between 1926 and 1930. Opened in 1931, this road is EXTREMELY windy. If you are susceptible to carsickness/motion sickness, this will be hell for you. 
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Windy, steep, landslides and very bad road surface.
The road surfaces are very very bad on this route. The potholes are just patched over again and again until you have some sort of a patch work blanket that is as rough as the moon's surface. One lane for each direction and trucks heading up can crawl as slow as 10km/h if they are very heavily loaded. Throw in a heavy downpour and fog, this road can get pretty dangerous.

The terrain is so challenging, we can imagine how hard it would be to get large machinery to properly repave the roads. Thankfully a new road was constructed to enter Cameron Highlands from the northern side. Simlang Pulai exit is about 40km further up the North-South highway from Tapah exit if you are coming from KL or Singapore. But let me tell you, it is WAY BETTER to travel slightly longer on this route. You still get windy roads but the turns are a lot less acute and the road surface is a lot smoother. There are several sections with overtaking lanes for safe overtaking instead of having to drive in the opposite lanes when you encounter crawling trucks. 

And so we took off from Cameron Highlands and drove towards Penang on a day trip. 500km return trip. The kids slept and enjoyed the long drive. There is just something so calming about driving long distances and I love it! 

We planned to visit the Penang Hill and ride the funicular but upon arriving, IT WAS CLOSED FOR MAINTENANCE?! GOOGLE MAPS WASN'T UPDATED!!!! What else do you do in Penang? EAT!
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Dim Sum saved the day!
We decide to enjoy some famous Dim Sum at Tai Tong Restaurant! (Non-Halal)
Here are some details:

Address: 45, Lebuh Cintra, George Town, 10100 George Town, Pulau Pinang
Opens Tuesday to Sundays from 630am to 2pm AND 6pm to 10pm. 


They are closed on Mondays and everyday between 2pm to 6pm so do take note!
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Nothing fancy about the shop decor or furniture. But the food....

​I just love these restaurants in old shop houses. The charm is in their focus on just making and selling delicious food. No fuss and fancy decor involved. 

When you get there, find yourself a table and the staff will give you a restaurant menu and two ordering cards. One card is for the restaurant menu and the other is for Dim Sum. Don't be silly like us. We sat there confused and wondering where in the world is the Dim Sum menu?! There is none!

This is how you get your Dim Sum:


1. Walk towards the staff on the left (Refer to picture above). She has stacks and stacks of steamed dim sum on her trolley. Ask her what there is, and tell her what you want. She will mark on the dim sum card what you've ordered and pass you the dishes. 

2. See the big sign in the middle? That's the second station where you get other fried dim sum or larger dishes like Chee Cheong Fun and Lo Mai Gai and Baos. Tell the staff what you want and she'll mark your card and pass you the dishes. 

3. You'll grab the dishes and bring it back to your table. Only things on the restaurant menu and tea/drinks are served to your table. 

4. Pay at the counter with both your marked cards once you're done eating. 
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Chee Cheong Fun comes with prawn or bbq pork. Oh the chili on top is just incredible
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Soft succulent chicken and moist sticky rice. A little dollop of the chili inside makes the whole dish pop!
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I couldn't eat this because it had prawns but Matthias says the wrapping was thin and the prawns were sweet and fresh!
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FRIED YAM!!! This is just from another universe. I love it because the outside was so crispy and the insides were warm, and juicy with some kind of meat gravy and pork bits. Mind-blowing!
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The spread....
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Happy wife
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He said the chili burned his lips but it was tasty. That's the start boy, you'll love it more as you grow up!
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This picky eater became bao devouring monster and ate so many of these Liu Sha Baos. I supposed that means they are really awesome?
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Empty plates, full tummies and happy faces!
This meal alone was worth the 500km of driving. 

Debra and I were commenting on how this is better than Swee Choon in Singapore. What are your thoughts? Well, the bill was definitely better in terms of value. We paid only RM80++. We spent the evening walking off the calories at a mall. It reminded us a little bit of Melaka ​because many shop spaces remained empty. The effects of the pandemic are still profoundly felt. 
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Back to the mainland through this mighty bridge.

​We took the ride back in darkness and climbed 5000ft back to Cameron Highlands via the Simpang Pulai route which meant we made good progress quickly. We miss the dim sum already...

This little short trip still reminded us of how much the city has to offer. Perhaps this will influence our decision on where else to go to on our Grand Tour....
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Trip update + This mistake almost killed me

5/23/2022

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Dream big, live simply, laugh often and love a lot!

That's what we've been doing on this Grand Tour. We've been driving across the states of Johor, Melaka, Negri Sembilan, Selangor, Perak, Pahang, Penang and Kedah, soaking in the sights, food and culture. You can read our entire Malaysia series here!

Dream Big
We've been dreaming big! I've decided I would like to co-author a book, do up photography, video content of road trip through North and South Island New Zealand in a camper van in honour of my dad. I know he would have loved it so much to go on a trip like that. It is more than travelling on his behalf, it is making that last thing we shared come to life. 

​Some background:
I've sat with my dad on countless occasions along hospital corridors, in the clinics and by his bed side for hours in the two years he battled the cancer. Those times gave me an insight I never had of my old man. I still remember the day he showed me the channels he subscribed to on Youtube vividly. We sat waiting for his number to be called in the Haematology Department at Singapore General Hospital. He whipped out his iPad as usual and went: "I'm watching this ang moh build their own container house". It was the "Life uncontained" channel on Youtube! I've never seen him so excited! Mind you, he had a rare blood cancer that sucked the life out of him.
We would discuss the progress of the renovation every week and when they missed a scheduled upload, we'd comment about it. It was something special between us! I still watch it weekly. I wish he was here to see the completed house. 

After showing me the "Life uncontained" stuff, h
e went on to say "You see this van, they can cook, got toilet and he drive all over and travel". I was in absolute shock because I WATCH VAN LIFE VIDEOS TOO!? and I'm also crazy about living out in the nature and HGTV/renovations. His eyes sparkled and I could tell he was so excited about it. We watched several episodes from the Chinese van life channel. He would occasionally say "How good can travel everywhere and do this...Singapore don't allow, they should allow this". New Zealand was also the last place we planned to go as a whole family just before the pandemic hit. My heart aches as I'm writing about this now. 

(I did New Zealand for my honeymoon and you can read about it here!)
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His last birthday cake-cutting with my little greedy one!
I'm so glad we've come up with a meaningful way to memorialise my dad. We miss him terribly. The only issue is....we can't make the trip. Airfares alone are $8000-$9000 for all of us. Camper rental would cost another $6000 for a month. That's not including camp sites, fuel, food and attraction costs. We estimate that a trip for a month to properly cover the North and South Island would cost more than $20,000 cash. It didn't cost this much pre-pandemic! The costs have doubled!  
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We are determined to make this work and at the same time we would love to continue travelling long-term. We've come up with a series of products that we are excited to launch very soon. We hope to get your strong support so that we could make this plan work in the near future! If you'd like to support our dreams, we welcome sponsorships, advertising or even donations. Click the red button and we are happy to chat about it!

Living Simply
We've been living simply and enjoying the simple pleasures of life: Food! There is where I made the MISTAKE THAT ALMOST KILLED ME. It was a regular evening, we were happy to visit a cafe near our apartment to enjoy a good meal after a good day of homeschool and content creation. I was excited to see a delicious chicken burger picture on the menu....
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Great ambiance, good service and they serve amazing food.
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Yes, we've been taking gluten-cheat-days because who can resist a scone and an awesome croissant?!
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Most cafes in Cameron Highlands serve scones! It is like a tradition they from the colonial times when the Brits used to sip their tea and ate scones in the tea rooms here.
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hmmmmmm.....
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The queen of the house must have her coffee!
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Babyccino! It is warm milk with cinnamon or cocoa powder, without coffee. The kids licked it dry!
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They love fish and chips. Oh they would love the crazy amazing ones Debra and I had in the UK..
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This was the amazing chicken burger! Notice the ring on top?
Chicken burger and a golden ring on top. What would you assume it is? An onion ring right?! Lo and behold, I put the WHOLE THING into my mouth and it tasted nothing like an onion ring. It was a calamari! I spat it out immediately but it was too late.

I’m dangerously allergic to calamari/squid/shellfish/Molluscs.

I experienced TWO episodes of anaphylaxis over the years after I ate steamboat and fried food contaminated with squid/shellfish. Had swelling all over, couldn't breathe properly, very very high heart rate + crash after that and had a whole body of rash. Ended in emergency to get jabs that didn’t help much. Each time it took two weeks of medical leave to recover from it. 

Debra was immediately alarmed, she witnessed it first hand the previous time it happened. (Sorry I scared the crap out of you!)

I drank my coffee and assumed it would wash it down fine. After all, I didn't swallow the calamari. I only felt a little tired which I assumed was normal post-meal tiredness. We went to the supermarket to get some groceries and that was when the serious reaction started.

The little tiredness became extreme exhaustion and I gradually felt more and more confused + brain fog. I stood in the supermarket thinking "buy toilet paper" and I did walk to the aisle. When I arrived at the row, I stood there staring at the toilet paper in a daze. I completely forgot where I was and why I was there. My body was reacting to the "toxins" and I think my blood pressure fell. We managed to get back safely and I collapsed in bed. I slept/concussed for an entire 12 hours. Thank God I'm okay now!

I'm a little ashamed because I tell my students  this all the time! READ, DON'T ASSUME! But I did exactly that and it almost killed me. It is so important for people will allergies to READ, ASK and CONFIRM that they aren't any allergens in food they purchase outside of home. It is a matter of life and death. You don't always come back from an episode like that.


​I woke up a few hours after collapsing in bed to this magnificent night sky. I grabbed the Leica with whatever energy I had and snapped these shots. Living simply took on a whole new meaning. This sky reminded how I first fell in love with photography. It showed me how small I was and I was in a place that made me feel so alive. 
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I've never seen this many stars right out of the window frame in my whole life.
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The amount of stars I could see with my naked eye despite some light pollution
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This is already mind-blowing.
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I cannot imagine how I would feel if I saw the northern-lights or night sky in a dark sky reserve....

Laugh often and love a lot 
Travelling slowly has given us so much time to look beyond the shopping and attractions. It has given me time to look beyond our homeschool schedule or work demands. It has given me more time to enjoy our children. It has dawned upon me that every day that passes is one less day I can put them to bed and kiss them goodnight. It is one day less I could tickle their tummies and have a little monkey on my back. 
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I found this post on Instagram and it is like that life-saving model you drew for your problem sums that enlightened you! 
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​It is wise to number our days and understand we don't have a lot of time left. It could be a blood cancer or just a calamari ring. 

Dream big, live simply, laugh often and love a lot!

p.s: Updates from our whirlwind drive to Penang for finger licking good Dim sum coming this 
Thursday! 
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Here's why you should travel slowly...

5/19/2022

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It always scares me when I see ads on the newspapers promoting package tours that list 4 to 6 European cities for a 10 to 12 day trip. You'll spend an entire day on the plane and another day jet-lagging while they drag you across more than 1000kms in the coach. I'm not sure if that's a $5000 holiday or paid torture. 

Here are 4 reasons why you should travel slowly!

1. Travelling slowly helps you relax (and maybe make a baby :p)
Have you ever got back from a vacation and wished you had another to catch up on rest? We've been there and we hated it. Packing less in a day helps you enjoy the lull moments sitting by the pool or taking a stroll around a picturesque nature reserve. It helps us unwind from the stresses of having to meet schedules and answer millions of emails right from the time we wake up. It is a great opportunity to not set an alarm for the morning! It gives you the opportunity to spend quality time with your loved ones and come back feeling recharged! 

I'm not joking about the baby part! We all know someone who is stressed out with trying to conceive. After years of not being able to conceive in the midst of their hectic stressful lives, BOOM! A good slow relaxing trip and congratulations! They are pregnant! We can attest this worked for us! 



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4 city people in the mountains getting all amazed by the low lying clouds, REALLY COLD rain and crazy refreshing air. It is remarkable what sitting outside, just looking at nature in daylight + 19 celcius can do for your mental health.

​I cannot emphasise what wonders this slow trip has done for our mental health as a family. We can focus better when we need to. We have that bandwidth to write blogs, take photographs, write a book, draw and design! The kids are more willing to do their school work, focus on reading and enjoy countless hours of open ended play. 


​2. Travelling slowly saves you $$$
Long stays on Airbnb are almost always cheaper. You also can ask for better rates when you stay longer with a hotel too! Less commuting = less costs! You save time and energy packing and unpacking again and again. 

Settling longer in a place also means we are more willing to cook/make simple meals, make our own cup of tea and coffee. Instead of eating at touristy places, we use Google Maps and look for great local reviews for awesome food. We've been able to find many food options throughout our trip that cost between 50 to 70RM (About S$15.80 to S$22) for the entire family. 


3. Travelling slowly allows you to find hidden gems!


Travelling deeply and slowly, you get to fully immerse yourself and enjoy a place. That's exactly what we've been doing! We found places other explorers mark as "Great View" on google maps in Cameron Highlands and roamed the around on foot to find our favourite satay man in Tana Rata. He sold a satay for 1RM and cooked them over coal... (See pictures in this post)

Because we get to spend more time at a place, we tend to go exploring the area beyond what the travel guides point us to. We go beyond what Google Maps recommends! That was also how we found these eateries when we explored Ipoh...
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Get there early! The queue starts around 6pm and gets crazy by 7pm!
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Price and portions were very reasonable
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We still think about the taste...
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We cannot think of an equivalent in Singapore. It tasted so good we keep talking about going back for more!
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They weren't stingy with the ingredients!
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She had the fish noodles that smelled a tad too fishy for me but she thoroughly enjoyed herself
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We chanced upon Dekori Premium Cafe in Ipoh while searching for ice cream. We actually found another shop but didn't like what they offered and decided to walk around the streets. Found this just across the road and it was amazing!
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Very nice ambience and the seats were comfy!
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Wow...this was decadent and the chocolate tasted incredible!
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The kids had this milk-based ice dessert with fresh strawberries, kiwi, almond, cashews and corn flakes.
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Just look at the focus and smile....no words needed on how they feel!
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Look at the size of this shaved ice dessert!?
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Debra loved this! It's really cute too. You get to fill the teddy's bath with milk!

​4. Travelling slowly gives you unexpected adventures
​(my favourite reason for travelling slowly!)


We've seen most of the places we could in Cameron Highlands and decided to explore the surrounding areas in Perak (Ipoh). Mossy forest and Parit falls in Cameron Highlands were closed when we wanted to access them because of landslide and maintenance.

I chanced upon this cave on google maps while looking at the terrain layer. (Please try this, it is most amusing for those who enjoy seeing 3D maps!). The interesting "T" shape caught my eye and you won't believe what we found....
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Gua Tempurung (Tempurung Cave) is just about 30 minutes by car from Ipoh.
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You are in for some adventure if you choose tour 3 & 4! You'll put on a helmet and really go crawling and climbing through the cave. We opted for tour 1 because we had two little ones with us!
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Gwyn got a little bit scared having to enter a hole in the rock. She overcame her fear and has been asking us to go back to the cave!
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This cave is of epic proportions! In fact its the largest you'll find in Peninsular Malaysia!
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The cave was humongous and that meant we had to climb quite bit of stairs. It was cool but very humid inside. It was a good workout!
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We took it slow so we had time to pose for fun pictures!
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Look up and appreciate the textured formations! We even found some bird's nests and bats (too dark to catch a shot)
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We were just amazed that we live in such a beautiful world.
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It was the first time the kids ever got into a cave. No rush! We just soaked in the majestic rock/mineral formations. The kids are now hungry for more adventure!
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There's always light at the end of the tunnel right?
Next time you travel, try travelling slowly! Hope you'll find it as rewarding as us! 
If you've found other amazing food, scenery or relaxing places around Malaysia, please share them with us!

​Click the red chat button or any of these social icons and we'd love to connect!
P.S, We just got on the TikTok bandwagon! Follow us here

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The GranD Tour and His last words...

5/16/2022

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Thanks for following along our Grand Tour of Malaysia! We've done, Genting, Cameron Highlands and Melaka over the past 34 days! If you are curious as to why we've chosen to travel so slowly, you can read it here!

This blog post's inspiration came most dramatically on a starry starry night as I enjoyed the cool 18 celcius night breeze with several bugs as company in the balcony. Cameron Highlands rarely has clear skies at night. That special night, the clouds cleared, the massive full moon shone and the stars appeared. I sat there in awe of that indescribable beauty. Most unexpectedly....
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A shooting star suddenly cut across the night sky
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A starry starry night...
I made a wish. I wished that our Grand Tour will never come to an end. I wished that we would be able to make travelling our way of life. I wished that I could live out my dad's last words.

I know of so many people who would have these thoughts...

Why?! Of all dreams, you dream to live a life on the road?

​Why not dream of owning an expensive property on prime land or an expensive car?

​Gold? silver? stocks and bonds?

Why won't you choose stability for your family? Why can't you be like everyone else?

​I did. I chose the Singaporean way of life back then. I studied hard for 16-17 years and had a career I loved. The stress of raising a young family and growing a small business had a significant impact. For many years, my health was poor and my mental health was dismal. 

I lived vicariously (& precariously) through others and their dreams. I watched countless films, followed many YouTubers and read blogs. But these people inspired me! Their hopes and dreams showed me that there was something more. These 3 teams/people were the MOST impactful:

1. Tim Slessor and team (1955) The First Overland from London to Singapore in two Land Rovers. Back in 1955, you don't have highways and the first generation Land Rovers were far less comfortable than a regular hatchback today. That spirit of adventure gets me SO excited. This trip also inspired the Last Overland. The dream of making a similar trip consumes me! 

2. Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman. Two men on their motorcycles riding 3 epic journeys. (Long way down, Long way round, Long way up) I have special respect for people who take journeys on two wheels. You are exposed to the relentless elements and the terrain is very often unkind to bikes. The camaraderie, the open minds and the tenacity in these guys inspire me the most. 

3. 7 years ago while I slipped down this rabbit hole, I found out about Juvena Huang, a Singaporean lady who rode to Europe from Singapore on her old Vespa, ALONE! A regular person with a big dream, she has given me so much inspiration and courage to overcome our fears of the unknown. 
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That is why we have been on our own little Grand Tour experiencing epic wonders
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I wish he was here to see this spectacle
On a stormy night in December 2021, daddy breathed his last in the ICU. Just a week before that he sent his last WhatsApp message to us...

“尽量享受人生,感恩。” (Enjoy life as much as possible, be grateful)

I spent many nights thinking about my life. Am I really living my life like I'm enjoying it? Did he say those words from the hospital bed tinged with regret?

I still feel an immense guilt that we couldn't make a last trip together. The pandemic didn't let us have our way. 
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We walk through the tea plantations and talk about how daddy would have loved it. He would have had so much fun filming on his video camera! We have scones, cakes, coffee and tea thinking about daddy’s smile if he were having it with us. We walk through the Parksons emporium and thinking about how happy he would be shopping there.
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We think about how he would beam with joy holding these two AND travelling.
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We are taking small steps toward the epic.

We travel in honour of a man who worked 40 years of his life, always loved his family tremendously and didn't spare any expense taking us across the world on amazing trips. He infected us with this love for the journey and travel. 

To be brutally honest, we cannot afford any of the trips taken by the 3 inspiring people/teams mentioned above. Looking at the airfares, accommodation and transport costs scare me. We are cracking our brains on how and where we should go next.

We are working hard on new merchandise on our store, remodelling it so we can work remotely from anywhere.

We are working on our story-telling, photography, art so we can create value and perhaps raise the funds we need for a life changing journey. 
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I'm immensely grateful that Debra loves the journey as much as I do. Her support, her art and her love keeps us all going.
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We are also very grateful Mr satay man along Jalan Besar in Tana Rata has been providing fuel for our hungry tummies....
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1RM per stick. They taste phenomenal.
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VERY FRESH fruits and veggies...
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Cakes, strawberries and chocolate make amazing fuel too...
Help fuel our journeys! As we go on this journey, we hope you can be there for us and support us!

Help share our posts, like them if you enjoyed reading it!
Drop us a comment or a word of encouragement (we need lots of it!).
Link us up with sponsors or other inspiring people who can give us a boost in this journey. 

We are in the midst of creating content of our journeys through Ipoh, caves and also visiting some gentle giants. Stay tuned for Thursday's and next week's editions! 

This is our story, this is our Grand Tour. 
​What's yours? What inspires you to travel?

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    Vincent & Debra Kwan, Founders of Hiro & Jack and stay-at-home parents with the odd life. 

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