THE MIRABILIA OF MAYLASIA

So we headed our from our apartment and took the KCR from Hong Kong to Shenzhen China. It usually takes about 50 minutes on the train and to clear customs. BUT when we got on the platform pictured below is the scene we were faced with.

Panic shuddered through our bodies as we still had an hour long taxi ride to the Airport. And to add to the pressure, because we booked an uber-cheap vacation package on a discount airline, if we missed the plane we would have to pay for another flight or say "bye-bye" to our money and vacation hopes.

But we made it and were soon basking in one of the poshest 5 star hotels we've ever stayed at. The grounds were beautiful, they turned down our bed at night and I "stole" some of the most comfy slippers I've ever worn.

Postcard perfect grounds at the Nexus Resort on the Borneo side of Malaysia.

Our package included breakfast and this "Snake-Skin" fruit was delicious. You can equate the taste to a combination of strawberries and grapes with a bit of a chalky aftertaste.

Yummy

So we sat around the pool for a day or two before Jenn said "STOP taking my picture" and headed into the town of Kota Kinabalu.

Now, this was the first place we have been with a massive population of Muslims in the traditional clothing.

It was a little strange at first to order my Grande Latte at Starbucks or haggling down the price of souvenirs from a 15 year old girl wearing a Hijab .

We found a small handicraft market full of "stuff". The "stuff" was the same as one finds in most South East Asian markets but we were so surprised at how little touting there was in Malaysia.

After watching the pro chess players on the street, it was time to play on the massive outdoor chessboard back at the resort.

As you may have heard, Duncan is now the proud owner of a Canon 40D, which means he is not hogging "Jenn and Duncan's" camera the WHOLE time on vacation. In fact Jenn purchased her very own camera bag and gets to use her digital SLR full-time. Even in the rain if she so chooses.

So we set up the tripods and took some cool sunset shots.

The sunsets were very purple and blue. Perhaps it is the time of the year, but the tumultuous weather set up some cool clouds for our shots.

The 17mm wide angle worked a treat to capture the clouds and sea rolling in. With a long shutter speed, this shot shows a silky smooth ocean.

Only at the very end of the light could we get the orange and red sunset hues.

There was actually next to no available light in the shot below, which is why the ocean looks so flat and smooth. I think the shutter was open for more than 10 seconds.

This shot was shot in near darkness too. I love how the dark clouds look so foreboding. If you're wondering what that red smudge is, it is a buoy to show the safe swimming boundary .

So after driving into Kota Kinabalu and seeing some very cool mosques, we hired a taxi driver for 3 hours to drive us around so we could take picture. Jenn caught the attention of some local boys (as usual).

Once they knew what she was shooting, they all started doing crazy stuff like this chap jumping backwards into the water almost landing on his buddy.

There were a few Mosques we saw earlier so when the taxi driver went in the opposite direction to the Mosques we wanted to shoot, we wondered what was going on. The driver wanted to show us the State Mosque and I was really happy that he did. The architecture was very cool.

So after we left the State Mosque we headed to the City Mosque and asked the driver to drop us off so we could shoot the Mosque across the water.

Jenn took this cool shot through the concrete wall that surrounded the moat that surrounded the white and blue City Mosque.

Again the weather was threatening to storm all afternoon but held off. Very cool skies though.

Here is our "evidence of location" shot. Look Mum, we were in Malaysia and I didn't download this photos from iPhoto.

One night the sunset was so surreal I'm sure most people would think I used Photoshop magic to insert the skies, but I did not. The light had an eery feeling, similar to the hour or so before a tornado when the sky turns a yellowish colour.

Here Jenn is looking for a water monitor that liked to swim by our belcony. She is also wishing she had a 100mm Macro lens to take shot of flowers and insects.

When we first saw this sign we thought is was a joke...

... but it wasn't.

The resort also had these folks dress up and play instruments ...

and dance. I'm not sure how authentic the dances, music and garments were but it was entertaining.

So our vacation came to an end sadly and we had to fly back to China (on Air Asia discount airlines) and then grab a train back to Hong Kong

The Duct Tape shows just how DISCOUNT the airline was and needless to say we will not be saving any money on discount airlines in the near future.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Absolutely gorgeous pics !

I'm not exactly sure what a Mosque is (I assume it's a building?), so I'll just wait until you come home for X-mas and tell us me about your trip : )

Love ya, T
xoxoxox