A look back at my 2012 travels

Hello everyone,

I’m back home in Sabah for the holiday. My parents cancelled the house’s broadband service so I am stuck with using 3G on my phone. This means no aimless Youtube surfing or blogging.

Luckily, I’m now in a hotel lobby that has Wi-Fi so I can publish this post. My mom and I are in a 2-day roadtrip to Kudat.

Anyway, it’s the last week of 2012 so I want to bring you back to the different trips that I made this year. (A full recap of the towns I’ve been to later this week.)

First and last trip of 2012
First: I was travelling with D to Negeri Sembilan’s Seremban on New Year’s eve. We continued to Port Dickson the next day so that I could wash my feet in the ocean. (It’s a tradition for me.)

Last: I’m back home for the December break! I guess the Kudat trip I’m in now counts as the last trip for the year.

Best and worst Malaysian state this year
I haven’t been visiting as many Malaysian states as I promised myself last year. If I have to pick a favorite state (or town) this year, it would be Ipoh, Perak. Ipoh has lovely food and even one (kind of) historical ruin.

I’ve liked all the states which I visited but I totally hate the 13-hour bus ride–including 6+ hours of post-holiday traffic jam–that spanned from Kedah to Kuala Lumpur.

Longest bus ride
Related to the above, the longest bus ride I took was from Alor Setar to Kuala Lumpur. It caused enough travel trauma that I didn’t travel since then. (Kidding, I haven’t travelled in November because I’m trying to save more money.)

Longest flight
Tokyo to San Franciso: 9h, 30m, 8,224 km.

I took Delta for my business trip to the USA. The flight was better than I expected because they serve Coca Cola in cans. Gulp gulp gulp.

Unexpectedly nice and not-so-nice city
San Francisco was more awesome than I thought it would be: the buildings, the museums, the shows, the sea. Plus, lavender is planted as street plants there. I am sold!

Unfortunately, Jakarta wasn’t as exciting as I hoped it would be. The food wasn’t as fantastic as Yogyakrta.

Best and worst paid accommodation
I’m leaving out hotels that I stayed in as part of my business trip because it’s not fair to compare heaven with earth.

The best place I’ve stayed in this year is Manohara Hotel when D and I were in Yogyakarta. Well, the price is correlated to how great the beds are. The second place goes to Tune Hotel Asoke which was really 5-star hotel for 1-star price.

As for the worse accommodation. The Port Dickson room had thin walls and a common shower with only cold water. It was next to a night market which blasted music till 3 a.m.. The other guest had a kid who was screaming in the morning. But…the worst hotel award should go to the hotels in Yogyakarta where D and I caught bed bugs.

Funniest and least funny memory
Funniest: In Prambanan city, a random man called out to D and I from his stall: “AJINOMOTO!” It’s like a man shouting at two random white persons: “COCA COLA!”

Least funny: Being chat up by a hobo-like person on the San Francisco bus. I had to switch my seats to the front so I was sitting near the driver. The kind lady sitting at the front made up for the weird chat.

Yummiest and most disgusting meal when travelling
Cannot choose. TOO MUCH GOOD FOOD during the year.

As for worse meal: supermarket sushi.

Most and least productive trip
My weekend in Bangkok was really well planned, if I do say so myself. I’ll share the itinerary one day.

The least productive trip is either the Kuching trip or the Jakarta trip. I think Kuching might top the list because it was my second time there.

Well, that is all with the recap! I have to go. My people need me!

How has your year of travelling been?