Back to Borneo: I let IS change my itinerary

Treetop Jungle Lodge, outside Miri

Its near to impossible to make travel plans  for Chinese New Year last minute. You'd be lucky to find an affordable flight, and the best accommodation will be booked. This requires careful planning and research months in advance. Knowing this I created my little central Javanese dream itinerary in October.

Unfortunately 2 weeks before my plane left to Jogjakarta,  IS bombed Jakarta (same island), targeting a Starbucks, killing a Canadian and six others. IS' Indonesian  leadership and support coincidentally comes from central Java (Solo) and some of their supporters are in the very cities I had planned to travel through (like Semerang).

If you know me, then you know I am not one to cower from an adventure. I volunteered teaching English in Sudan, spent a month in Kashmir and was caught in a middle of gun fire between a Pakistani separatist and Indian police. I traveled alone through Egypt for 5 months, India for 3. I (stupidly) hitched-hiked with a my friend from Barcelona to Amsterdam. And my daughter and I have traveled to Malaysia 5 or 6 times, Japan twice, Sumatra, Hong Kong and Thailand, which are safe enough places but its still no walk in the park traveling alone with a child, gender aside.

Niah Caves

 If I were alone I would so be on that plane to Java, but with my daughter, I am cautious. Traveling is my affirmation in the goodness of strangers and hopefully offering them an alternative (better) view of Americans, but I also want to be relaxed. The chances were nothing dire would of happened, we would have had another legendary exploit, but I didn't want to look at locals and suspect the worst. Maybe our taxi driver has an ISIS flag in his home or something.  ISIS also was targeting Borobudur, the 8th century Buddhist temple complex I simple had to see. Our hotel emailed me that they had stepped up security, and security at tourist places like Borobudur, but more men with guns  is hardly reassuring.

Treetop Home Stay, outside Miri. She caught 3 huge fish.

So I decided to return to Sarawak, but a different part. Sarawak is blessed with amazing national parks. There were a few on my list I still had to see and Miri was our logical base.We didn't stay in Miri the city, but 20 km south on the coast.  I probably could of axed 3 days in Miri, it didn't take long to explore the nearby region. In other words, we had a lot of non-connected to the outside world, jungle time; lounging in hammocks, fishing, lazily doing yoga or laundry. I got my adventure fix renting a standard car for 3 days of driving British style (opposite side of the road, driver sitting opposite side of the car) on the crazy roads of Borneo. People drove insanely fast and  passed one another by a hair's width. It was good bonding time with my daughter. The radio didn't work, so we talked and sang a lot.

Our home stay (Treetop Jungle Lodge) charged me 90 RM a day for using their car plus filling the tank. We stayed our first few nights in their deluxe double with hot shower (not that we needed it) and eventually migrated to the cheaper longhouse above the water. The expat Rhodesian owner, his wife and her sister made us feel well taken care of, which as I get older, I don't take for granted.

 My daughter didn't want to leave this place, and after 3 days on the road she was happy to return. There was not anything for her to do, which I suppose was the charm. Walking 10 minutes to the beach was the height of activity- if we even ventured that far. She caught 3 large fish, one Tilapia of which we ate and the other catfish I assumed they ate. My daughter was the only person to have ever caught anything and that place has been around for at least 15 years.

My first day with the car was a day trip to the nearby Lambir Hills National Park. It was kind of strange shifting gears with my left hand and the turn signals were on the opposite side too. After driving for a day I was confident I could do a longer road trip. It was empowering because my confidence in my driving was severely damaged after last years accident. We hiked to the waterfall which we had all to ourselves.

Lambir Hills National Park

The  Niah Caves were truly impressive. I was unprepared for the amount of walking and in hindsight should of brought more water. It was 3 km to the cave, after crossing a crocodile infested river (according to our boatman), 3 km back and I'd say 3-4 km exploring the caves.

 It was not an easy walk. The bat feces (guano) and dripping water made the pathway deathly slippery. Few tourists were inside, but one woman coming back slipped and just broke her wrist. She put the contorted bone in my face close to my flashlight so I could see it. Fortunately we met up with a Canadian woman at the ticket office and she  was an extra pair of helpful eyes, hands and light to help me with my kid from slipping into the abyss.  Nice single traveler, my age, we had some intimate chats, dinner and breakfast and I dropped her off at the bus stop the next morning.

What was exciting about this cave was we had already some experience caving in Sarawak, outside Kuching. The Fairy cave was quite magical. Niah was even more spectacular especially knowing that the oldest human skull (40,000 BC) in Asia was found here. They had it on display at the forgotten museum at the start of the trail. It was our mission to make it to the farthest cave, to see the cave paintings of burial boats that was disappearing from view. My daughter almost didn't make it, the wooden path was that greasy and perilous. Parts of the trek were in utter darkness, the handrails covered in bat shit. It was an experience to take to the grave. Literally we felt we were on a heroic journey to the Otherworld, the abyss. The ferryboat to the cave only added to this certainty. There were magic moments of coming out of the obscurity to see holes in the ceiling revealing the outer world, life, the rain forest piercing through. The camera could not completely replicate these moments of sunlight illuminating raindrops.

Painter's Cave: Burial ships

On our road trip we headed south to the Similajau National Park on the beach. Its located 4 hours south of Miri and 30 minutes north of Bintulu. We got lost on our way here and fortunately found it. It was weird checking in.Staff was on siesta so we had to wait at the gate office with a bunch of men for 2 hours and it felt uncomfortable being the only 2 females and foreign. Eventually I just we went to the cantina for some drinks and finished waiting there.

Similijau National Park

 The park is vast. The accommodation was at the beach with a bit of green, with trees and picnic tables separating the lodging from the beach. The sound of the waves was loud. There was absolutely no one but a group of men having a BBQ. So it felt kind of lonesome. We had a dorm room all to ourselves away from anyone and I didn't sleep well. A huge family of about 30 people checked into the dorm next to us around 9pm and it was reassuring to see women and children in the dark with their flashlights and laughter. It seemed so empty I found it unbelievable that all the beds were occupied for the weekend (which was the holiday Chinese New Year weekend.) Apparently we had the only remaining room for that night, yet the dorms and chalets between us and the cantina were like a ghost town. I assumed staff didn't want to clean those up. No one had swept our floor, but for 400 NT a night I wasn't complaining. We had running water and 4 comfortable beds and the sound of the ocean .

Similijau National Park

Eventually we left the security of Treetops and stayed our last night in Miri at a 3 star hotel (Mega Hotel) in the center of town which was a treat. They had a nice pool and across the street was an Indian restaurant. It was back to civilization. We hopped on a plane the next day to Kuala Lumpur and stayed at my friend's fancy condo with the most amazing views to the Petronas Towers. Sadly my friend had to bail back to the States to her mother's deathbed. so it was pensive and surreal sitting on her sofa, sleeping in her bed, enjoying her breathtaking view, texting each other and she wasn't there in person.

Our bedroom  window view

I had a plan of day trips we could do from KL that I still hadn't done on the several previous trips. The pools were so stunning and the condo such a luxury, my kid and I just vegged by the pool. She made friends with some of the kids and I could finish a book. After a few days we went to my other friend's apartment and pretty much did the same thing. She is leaving for Jordan in a couple of months so we definitely had to catch up while she was still in the SE Asian vicinity (a trip to Jordan is planned.)

We ate well in KL. Fancy juice shops, Indian and Middle Eastern, my kid and I had lamb for lunch and lamb for dinner. Ultimately my child grew bored of paradisaical swimming pools and perfect weather and when driving in our taxi back to Yilan  in pouring bitter rain and gloomy skies she was utterly happy to be back, she in fact missed the rain and cold. I on the other hand already missed the blue skies.

Beach, 10 min walk from Treetop Jungle Lodge

My Central Java Itinerary:

2/1- 2/3 Yogykarta  Phoenix Hotel (4,351 NT /Rp 1,936,000) 
 Mount Merapi for hiking and camping. Borobudur is a Buddhist stupa and temple complex in Central Java, Indonesia dating from the 8th century, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This is one of world's truly great ancient monuments, the single largest Buddhist structure anywhere on earth, and few who visit fail to be taken by both the scale of place, and the remarkable attention to detail that went into the construction. Set as it is in the heart of the verdant Kedu Plain, the backdrop of mighty active volcanoes only enhances the sense of awe and drama. 

2/3-2/4 Semerang Hotel Candiview Semarang (1,292 NT/ 575,000Rp) 
Semarang It takes less than 2 hours to drive from Semarang to Yogyakarta. Solo is also only a one and half hour drive from Semarang. From Semarang and Yogyakarta you can go by tourist car/rent car with 7 seaters vehicle like Central Java Transporter, ☎ (+62/0) (thejavatransporter@gmail.com),  who operates the car to Dieng Plateau.

2/4- 2/8 Karimunjawa Cocohuts Hotel  (4046NT/ 1,800,000 Rp)
Mon 2/8 Return Ferry Karimunjawa to Jepara (Express 7am- 9am) Jepara to Semerang

2/8-2/12  Semerang to Purwokerto (5USD 5x daily, 5 hours via Nusantara) + Taxi (5USD) to Baturaden

 Green Valley Resort Batu Raden Purwokerto address: Jalan Raya Baturraden KM 8, 53151 Baturaden tell: (4091 NT/ 1,820,000 Rp) f

2/12-2/13 Yogykarta: DusunJogja Village Inn (2,000 NT)

2/14 Retrun to Taipei

Hello 40! Return to the Land Below the Wind

Sunset at the Waterfront, KK Tourist trap indeed

The birthday adventures continue. For my 40th I wanted to do something special for myself, because if I don't, who will right? Its like Christmases, all the presents under the tree are not for me, but for my daughter and every year those are becoming less because we are blessed all throughout the year. Anyways, 40. yipee! I'm excited, my 30's were great, definitely not easy years, raising a daughter alone, but help is most often at hand.

It's grand to be 40!

My daughter and I went to Malaysia 5 times, as of now 3 times to Borneo, two of those to the state of Sabah. Taipei has direct flights to KK (Kota Kinabalu) via Air Asia and often there are specials. For 3 people we paid 15,000NT return, including taxes and fees.

We left the morning of my birthday for a much overdue, much awaited 4 day weekend. As for plans as always I was informed and open. On our previous 2011 trip we pretty much did everything on my list but diving. (See, "Land Below the Wind"). We did the Proboscis Monkey River and Firefly Cruise, island hopping at the nearby Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, went to the local zoo/botanic Gardens, Lok Kawai Wildlife Park, we hit the markets and malls and absolutely explored the rest of Sabah including having a up close and personal orangutan experience and seeing the rare Raflessia flowers in bloom in the wild.

It would be hard to top that, especially in 4 days.


I did have some ideas for what I wanted to do this time around. I had been in contact with Borneo Divers, the oldest diving company in town, and knew I was going to have my daughter do her PADI Bubble Dive with them. I also made a dinner reservation for my special night at the Le Meridian AJ's treat. They were the best place in town, indeed one of the most expensive. The buffet was fresh, amazing, using organic produce, having western, Malay, Middle Eastern and Sabahan specialties.

Noni trees on the beach

Day 1: We arrived took a taxi to our place in the Api Api Center's Promenade Service Apartments. It was across from the Waterfront, a block from the Meridian and had lots of those 24 hour curry cafes. Unfortunately it was run-down, there were prostitutes at night, security guards and police posts, which later proved quite a dramatic ending on our last night.

Our first afternoon we walked down the Waterfront though the Philippine market admiring the fruit and spices and walked to Gaya Street where all the tattoo artists, travel shops and tourist info was. We quickly made plans in stone for island hopping day 2, diving day 3 and tattoos in between. All that was left was hunching down into a lascivious birthday dinner where we took modest amounts of almost everything. I had seconds on the arugula salad, it was addicting and ended it with the best coffee I ever had, which I later regretted when I couldn't sleep.

Day 2: Beaches, Island Hopping and ziplining

Roti Cobra

After a breakfast of  tey tarik (pulled tea) with Roti Canai and different Indian condiments, our ride picked us up and took us to the Jesselton Jetty where we went to our first island, Sapi.  We did a little snorkling, but I found it too cold, it was overcast and really the visibility under the water was poor. My daughter was having some problems, getting comfortable with her snorkle, and my suitor AJ patiently stayed with her until she felt comfortable and confident. I fretted that maybe I would have to cancel her diving trip (non refundable) if she didn't have a little breakthrough, and under his care, she did.

For kicks Z and I decided to zipline on the Coral Flyer, the world's longest island to island zipline between Sapi and a nearby island. Although people think I am some adventure seeker, in reality I am deathly afraid of heights. I can climb anything, but if I have to climb down or look down forget about it! It was unmistakably a frightening experience to lift my feet off and zip down with my kid strapped between my legs, stories above the shallow water. I thought I would scream for sure, but while up there the view was lovely and it was calm. Slowing down was scarier and louder.

Here we go!

Made it safely!

Day 3: Diving

Foremost, for my birthday I wanted to go scuba diving with my daughter. Since being a mom I only went diving one weekend in Kenting when she was 3 and it wasn't a very pleasant experience (post typhoon, poor visibility, rough shore dive with ankle breaking coral, I lost a fin). When I was single and carefree I learned to dive at Utila Island, Honduras. I got my PADI Adv open water and we dove 3 times everyday for a month. My buddy stayed and got her DM (Dive Master). I then dove in Thailand, the Read Sea, living temporarily in Dahab, Egypt for 5 months diving for basically free (diving friends are friends indeed). I also dove off of Palawan, the Philippines in 2001. I always felt super blessed when I was diving. I wanted to share this with my kid on my special day.

On Saturday, the diving driver picked me up from my hotel and instead of driving to the local jetty we headed a few km out of town (but longer in traffic) to the 5 star resort where we chartered our own boat for ourselves, coming back when we wished. It was such a better day to be in the water, yesterday it was borderline cold for me, an overcast sky. Today the sun was out, the visibility in the water was good.

Z checking her gear

I was a little nervous going through my refresher, through my skills check. My DM gave me a verbal lowdown and I didnt quite get what he was saying, but once in the water it all came back. The coral itself was nothing special, nothing I hadn't seen before in technicolor like in Utila or the Red Sea, no turtles or sharks like Tioman, but it was nice to be weightless, to try and see my daughter submerged, flailing her limbs around like a newby. There were lots of anemones and clown fish and I did see something I have never seen before, a honey comb eel that my DM  Jonathan didn't spot. He was bored, he had been spoiled taking tourists diving off their resort in Sipadan, this was nothing for him here.

Borneo Divers, Mamutik Island

On our down time, Z and I chilaxed and watched the local wildlife- Giant Water Monitor Lizards and French tourists lounging on the white sand. We saw those little dragons on all the islands.



Our diving people had three wooden decks covered by tent  tarps right on the beach, they kept to one near the equipment and Z and I had the whole place to ourselves. I did some sun salutations and standing vinyasas before our first dive. We had lunch there when my daughter was ready to eat. Everything was gloriously insouciant the way diving and divers usually are. There was no rush or hurry. I was bummed AJ wasn't with us, it was so much better a beach, vibe and snorkeling for him than yesterday.  Little did I know he was in KK having a very Tarantino-esque tattoo adventure.

All is not Paradise though. On our last night we had a bit of a scare.  First before dinner, my ATM card got eaten by a local machine, which was annoying and inconvenient, but harmless. I'd prefer that experience to the next ordeal. It was about 6:30 pm we were walking back, well fed from our Middle Eastern dinner and were going to a market to buy tea as gifts. It was dark, the sidewalk was not well lit and we were just across from the Api Api building when I heard the foreboding sound of many feet running towards us, threatening voices, the crackling sound of shattered glass, something malignant was upon us.  The oncoming shadows were many and we were three. I looked right at the oncoming traffic, the road was clear and I pushed my kid into the street and told her to run for it. More sinister sounds of crackling something broke behind my shoulder, we ducked instinctively and suddenly we were surrounded by a group of young thugs. Were they running to us or from someone?  Its a confused mix of both. All I know is my whole being went into flight mode. AJ sort of stayed back, I bolted with my kid like a reflex, all the hairs on the back of my head standing up, no time to confer. He sensed the danger only after he saw us running from the crazy one and his first thought was we were targeted for being westerners.

Evidence of our snacking between dives

There was one ampethamine crazed, drunk fiend who scared us the most. He came to us like a magnet. I pushed my kid into a reflexology shop and told them to bolt the door while I tried to lock the door in vain. When the owner was asking me questions, a young lady was calming down my daughter, when the the crazed one came in and ran toward the young woman who screamed and ran up the stairs and he grabbed her, both of them falling. I pushed Z out and ran back behind the building, and when I heard his raving voice there too, we cut through the middle through a kitchen of an all night curry place and I pushed Z into the bathroom stall and told her to wait. We could hear commotion outside. I told her to lock it, I'd be back, but she begged me not to go,  that's when AJ called for me outside and reassured me that the police had the guy.  We saw several police taking him away. It took a good 20 minutes to calm my kid down for bed, and it all seemed so unreal when it was over. We came to find out he knew that girl and it was just a matter of us being at the wrong place at the wrong time, hiding in the wrong shop. I was just relieved he didn't have a knife. 

Snakeskin fruit "Salacca"

Not to end on a sour note, we had a peachy flight back-- I actually slept and we had a whole Sunday afternoon to recover. I found some mangosteen in my backpack as souvenirs. I couldn't get enough of the fruit and that says a lot coming from Taiwan and the year round abundance of fruit  that Taiwan grows. Yet in Sabah there were heaps of rambutan and mangosteen. I bought a few kilos for our island and diving snacks and discovered a fruit I had never seen before, "Salacca" and they looked like scaly, dragon eggs and tasted like bitter sweet white lima beans.

mangosteens galore

Rambutan coming out of our eyes

Life thus far has been a congenial feat, a fated fete. However I may stall, I venture towards my destined dream speculation, a guest in a banquet of passing shadows, vanquishers and defenders, a heroine in my daughter's dream. Coming to what cusp, commencement, time will tell.

Resources:

Sabah Fruits

Sabah Eats

Island Hopping Off the Coast of Borneo

The land below the wind

During Chinese New Year, Z and I spent 12 nights and 13 days in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.  It was all such a gift, such a blessing to get away from familiar Taiwan for a while, to spend some time just with Z, to share the magical adventure of experiencing a new, unfamiliar, country together. People were wonderful, from helpful locals, to lovely travelers offering advice and encouragement. Its such a confirmation to hear mere strangers verbalize out loud what I have been thinking to myself in private about the hopeful confidence I have that me and Z do and will have a good life. This trip also reconfirmed for me that I am a creative person and the past few years I have undervalued that significant part of myself and of the creative process which is Holy.

To travel is like having an enhanced, supra-condensed form of everyday life. There are moments of being alone and moments of sweet companionship, everything is magnified. Every conversation, every moment of doing nothing, lying in a hammock, or on some ferry or shared taxi, life seems to be pointing something at me, a destination, a new dream, direction. One veil is lifted from my eyes, one moment at a time. I am given vision, my past, with all its hurts and disappointments, the stark reality of where I am Now, standing on the cusp of what will be and its all working in the background for me, for my good. During one of my first nights in Kota Kinabalu, I had one of those dreams. Sometimes I dream of people I have psychic connections with. Usually its my mom or a brother, an old friend or lover, and I truly believe we contact each other, like an intergalactic, space-time telepathic Skype, they receive me and have the same dream time in their time. This time, I contacted Z’s father and I told him, “listen I guess I’ve been alone these 5 years because secretly I’ve been waiting for you to come around. She has been asking about you and you ought to contact her, you know where to find me. As for me, I’m not waiting around for you anymore.” A lot of psychic baggage was lifted off my shoulders.

Sometimes these cosmic messages get lost in the everyday grind of routine. Its hard to be in a place of undeniable vulnerability when every moment of every day is accounted for, even moments of rest are penciled in. My blood needs to be stirred, I need to be launched out of my comfort zone, maybe I need a little bit of danger, definitely high adventure and I am then so aware of how I am loved, loved by God, the Universe, THE higher power, Christ consciousness, whatever you call It. At these moments when He has my absolute attention (I say ‘He’ because I am in this divine relationship, the Beloved) and I say, “God you have my attention, I am listening”, and then I am wooed, the Universe literally sings me a love song.  Not just any love song, but a particular song that once had a special significance to me that I forgot about throughout the years (in this case a song from my Barcelona days that I never told a soul about). And then it becomes more meaningful and personal. Like when we were abandoned by our dodgy driver in Kota Belud, we are saved by angels or stuck in Sipilok from the absence of local transport, we were blessed with personal encounters with endangered animals (in this case an orangutan). What are the “chances” of seeing the rare Rafflesia flower in bloom? So casually my beautifully made, indigenous driver pulls over and the flowers were not even intentioned destination, just by chance, on the way to something also equally wonderful.

There is no good or bad luck, when I am ready to take the chance to buy that ticket, to take the journey, I am truly transported, divinely escorted. In the case of my Borneo experience, my cup truly ran over and I didn’t need to do anything but be there in the position of receiving. It all increased my faith that Z and I are loved and looked after, no need to worry about absolutely anything.

How am I integrating this into my daily life now that I have returned to work, to cleaning my house and rushing to get to work on time? I am not stressing on my floors, no more everyday, 2 times a day, the laundry can wait, and so what if I am late! And if I don’t make it into the gym at lunch, I will survive. In fact I’ve returned with this determination, actually this victory of mind over portion control, in fact I am already always satisfied, satiated. I don’t mind being single nor am I worried about Z being “fatherless”. Her father is Divine and He has given her this ability to re-translate, to be the Alchemist who transforms lead into pure gold. Before the trip I was already content, but I returned with a deeper understanding of content-ness, a fresh experience of Grace that is priceless. So now you see why my trip was such a gift.

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