Balik Kampung - Hainan Island

In Dec 2007, we visited Hainan Island.

My hubby’s 2nd uncle is staying at the ancestral’s home on that island. This trip was ‘2 birds with 1 stone’ as beside being our annual year end holiday, it was also an opportunity for us to know paternal roots.

Our flight with Hainan Airlines left KLIA at 4 am and arrived Hainan Island at 7am. After breakfast of delicious congee/yau char kuai and other stuffs , we ‘balik kampung’ with a pre-arranged MPV.

The drive was less than 2 hours, on very good conditions highway, and we did not see any toll booths. 2nd uncle met us at the junction of main road to show the way as the houses are located about 2-3 km away off the main artilleries.

My daughter’s remarks on the way in was ‘ this is like going jungle trekking’.

Entrance to the main courtyard, where the homes are located within the same perimeter

This is authentic 'leen koh', to welcome us home

Uncle preparing thank giving prayers

(bamboo ladder on extreme left is used to climb up to place the joss-sticks at the ancestral memorial tablets)

Ancestral Memorial Tablet

(high up on the ceiling)

Communal Praying Temple

(located about 200m away from the house, is a communal praying temple, where offerings are made on the main festivals ie. Chinese New Year, Moon Cake Festival etc)

this was the well that was built using $ sent home by Grandpa in the 60s. It dried up and they covered it up to prevent accident.

Now the underground water is drawn from this well, using a electrical pump. This water source is shared between the Goh and Lim villages.

Neighbouring houses in the Village

They still used fire woods found aplenty nearby

lychee trees, which fruit during July/August

the route to ??

authentic Hainam chickens

Going 'jungle trekking'
to do land surveying

Organic banana & papaya trees

Rubber tree saplings, which uncle will replant

Paddy field and coconut plantation

as far as eyes can see

2 years old rubber trees

Pangkor Laut Resort

Our company’s trip in 2008 was to Pangkor Laut. We stayed at the YTL Pangkor Laut Resort for 3 Days/2 Nights.

Lucky me was given the Pavarotti Suite for the 4 of us. Named after the world-renowned tenor who fell in love with Pangkor Laut, this is an elegant two-bedroom suite set high on the hill in the rainforest.

On the ground floor, is the spacious and luxurious living room, dining hall, kitchen (complete with utensils and ready to drink from coffee machine), TV room with plasma screen. The 1st floor housed the two bedrooms, with a reading corner, an enormous open-roofed bathroom and balcony with breathtaking views of the sea and tropical rainforest

It was a bit spooky on the first night for me, because there were potraits of the 'deceased' Mr Pavarotti, and I felt that his eyes were staring down at me. Maybe because the villa was situated at the rainforest, the sound of the forest at night was kind of scary..ok loh..call me scary cat if you want to.

So on the first night, I tumpang room with my two girls as hubby could only joined us on the 2nd night due to work commitment.

Below some photos of this lovely resort.

Living Room


Dining Area

Fully Equipped Kitchen

TV Room (with plasma screen)

Spiral staircase to Level 1

Reading Corner (1st floor)

Bedroom

comfy sofa

Bathroom (come with jacuzzi)

Outside at the Villa us at the Patio / Balcony

with a view

Visitors whom gate crashed

Mr Peacock

Ms Mona Liza

(swimming at the water chalets)

Sunrise view from Restaurant

sea chalets

When A Woman Lies

One day, when a seamstress was sewing while sitting close to a river, her thimble fell into the river. When she cried out, the Lord appeared and asked, 'My dear child, why are you crying?' The seamstress replied that her thimble had fallen into the water and that she needed it to help her husband in making a living for their family.

The Lord dipped His hand into the water and pulled up a golden thimble set with sapphires.

'Is this your thimble?' the Lord asked .

The seamstress replied, 'No.'

The Lord again dipped into the river. He held out a golden thimble studded with rubies.

'Is this your thimble?' the Lord asked. Again, the seamstress replied, 'No.'

The Lord reached down again and came up with a leather thimble.

'Is this your thimble ?' the Lord asked. The seamstress replied, 'Yes.' The Lord was pleased with the woman's honesty and gave her all three thimbles to keep, and the seamstress went home happy.

Some years later, the seamstress was walking with her husband along the riverbank, and her husband fell into the river and disappeared under the water. When she cried out, the Lord again appeared and asked her, 'Why are you crying?'


'Oh Lord, my husband has fallen into the river!'

The Lord went down into the water and came up with George Clooney.

Is this your husband?' the Lord asked.

'Yes,' cried the seamstress.



The Lord was furious. 'You lied! That is an untruth!'




The seamstress replied, 'Oh, forgive me, my Lord. It is a misunderstanding.


You see, if I had said 'no' to George Clooney, you would have come up with Brad Pitt.

Then if I said 'no' to him, you would have come up with my husband. Had I then said 'yes,' you would have given me all three. Lord, I'm not in the best of health and would not be able to take care of all three husbands, so THAT'S why I said 'yes' to George Clooney.

And so the Lord let her keep him.



The moral of this story is:



Whenever a woman lies, it's for a good and honourable reason, and in the best interest of others. That's our story, and we're sticking to it.



Signed,



All Us Women

Euros ??

having an exciting week as I am hosting a German young lady at my house till 23/03/09.

It's nice to have her at our house as we get to learn each other cultures. details..

Some facts I've learnt from her

in Germany, you have to pay Euro 3,000/- to obtain a driving licence..in Malaysia - RM1,000/-

McDonald's value meal set costs Euro 10/set, in Malaysia RM10/set..



Personal Income Tax is 40%-45%

A meals consisting of pan cake and hot drink (think roti canai and teh tarik) about Euro 10.00. That about RM47/- ..can go eat until puke roti canai & pee teh tarik.

Made me glad that I am a MALAYSIAN

Full House

This is a restaurant located at NXZ in Ara Damansara. At the entrance is Mini Copper car. On the ground floor, there is a hall, complete with settees, dainty cupboards, lovely cutleries and other nice cute stuffs.

Upstairs, you will find a small boutique, selling clothes and furnitures, which you can browse through while waiting for food to be served.

Meals are served either indoor or at the ‘outdoor garden'.