Catching up with the Old Stuff

After all the statues, I’m coming back to Albania. Continuing from where I left off the last time… (These holiday photos are the easiest to post, hehe. Just a few photos, a little description, and off we go!)


Mesi Bridge, (no, not Messi, nor messy) on the outskirts of Shkodër, Albania. It’s called the Mesi Bridge because …it’s located in the village of Mes! …Duh (and you thought it was named after Lionel Messi??)

Anyway, we came down from Theth in the Accursed Mountains to the city of Shkodër (yes, an ‘e’ with an umlaut, but to make it easier for me to type, I’ll just (conveniently) drop the umlaut from here onwards). It’s a nice city. I think. Saw a couple of old stuff (like the Mesi Bridge and the old Rozafa castle), but didn’t actually linger inside the city itself. Drove thru all the main roads, looking for something, anything to eat, but in the end, ended up just going to the pharmacy to get some medical supplies, and went home (back to the ‘guesthouse’ I mean). The highlight of the trip to me was actually the guesthouse itself! We booked a ‘hotel’ called ‘Room with Private Garden’ and it was absolutely gorgeous! See for yourself!


More of the Mesi Bridge…


Honey, are you sure you can climb on that rock?? (It’s only the day before that she got 4 stitches on the knee!!)


Welcome to the ‘Room with Private Garden’! It’s only ONE room, built behind an office in a farming area, and true to what its name says, has a private garden! Complete with a patio, a small field, swings, flowering plants, berries that you could pluck and eat, ducks, pigeons, …I forgot whether there were chickens or not…






The Garden of the ‘Room with Private Garden’!


The room is behind this traditional craft shop, specializing in silver filigree ornaments… And the craft shop itself is behind a furniture store called Mobileri Ramadani, near Melgush Village, south of Shkoder, on the main trunk road connecting Shkoder to the rest of Albania. (And yes, that red car was our rented car)


The owner of the Room with Private Garden and the proprietor of the craft shop, Margjelo Filigran (I forgot her name… but she was a good host!)


Finally, here’s the Rozafa Castle, an old Venetian castle (yes, Venice used to be an independent republic, and it ruled parts of Albania, Greece, Croatia, …)


The road leading up to the castle… Honey, you sure you can walk up there with your stitches?!? She could. But in hindsight, maybe we shouldn’t have gone, coz from that time onwards, I’ve been getting flak for ‘torturing’ her… But Honey, you said you had no problem! Sigh, women…




The views from the Rozafa Castle, tucked between the rivers Drin and Bruna, Shkoder, Albania


Scary castle, huh? But wait till you hear the legend behind it? It’s been told that a woman, the wife of one of the builders, was immured (walled in) into the castle walls so that the castle would not fall… The type of story for a horror movie, huh? Go ahead, Google it!


The city of Shkodër, Albania, from Rozafa Castle, Aug 2023

That’s all for today.

Great Christ on Earth

Guess where the tallest statue of Jesus Christ is? Nope, it isn’t the famous Christ the Redeemer. This is it, Christ the Saviour, and it’s located in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country in the world! Believe it or not!

Moving from a Giant Buddha to a Giant Jesus Christ. Yup, another big statue coming up. 3 great statues in a row now, from 2024 to 2026. Will there be another?? Who knows? We’ve not planned so far ahead. We make up the plans as we go, focused mainly on our BUDGET!


Anyway, this is the statue of Christ in Sibea Bea, Lake Toba, Sumatera, Indonesia


Christ the Saviour blesses Sibea Bea on Lake Toba, as seen from Bukit Holbung, Sumatera, Jul 2026 (yes, this is a recent post, a mini adventure from our last overseas trip!)


Jesus Christ high over the village houses in Sibea Bea




While Indonesia is a majority Muslim country, Lake Toba’s native inhabitants are the Batak people who are predominantly Christian




The beautifully manicured gardens of Sibea Bea




It’s a little cloudy… (this is the rain forest after all), but it’s beautiful and not particularly hot. The hills and the lake look like something out of Europe!


I HEART SIBEA BEA


Bye-bye Sibea Bea! A view from the hill road near the Tele Observation Tower, North Sumatera, Indonesia, Jul 2026

A Home Trip with Extras

Longjing Restaurant, Sunway Carnival Mall, Butterworth, Malaysia, Jul 2026. Hazel queued for 3 FRIGGIN HOURS to get a seat here! Malaysians are just bonkers about food. (But it was their grand opening, and they were giving out special offers!!! So, why not?) It serves Zhejiang cuisine (we no longer classify Chinese food, as just Chinese food. Now, it’s on which Chinese province they’re from…) By the way, it’s good. Go, give it a try!

Here it is. Our recent home trip photos… (I went thru 8000+ friggin photos for this, OK? You think this is easy?)

We’re back to our mini adventure mode! This time home to Malaysia, we ‘transited’ …Thailand! Krabi, to be exact. Why? Because, it was cheaper (than flying direct to Malaysia. Besides, there’re currently no direct flights from Dubai to Penang, unlike before the war); and it was with a Dubai-based airlines, FlyDubai (just in case the other airlines cancelled their flights due to that silly war that Donald Trump started).

On our way back, we transited Singapore which is, you guessed it, also cheaper. Yup, flying to and from Singapore back to Dubai is cheaper than via Kuala Lumpur, would you believe it? People just love Malaysia, I guess. That explains why the flights to Malaysia are so friggin expensive. Also, and more importantly, Justin and Jason’s family is there!

Anyway, here’s the recap in pictures.


We’ve reached Krabi! At the Tiger Cave Temple (Wat Tham Seua), Krabi, Thailand, Jul 2026. Our stop in Thailand was for only one night, because we had to get to Penang urgently, for a scholarship interview for Jayden (which, by the way, he PASSED!!! CONGRATULATIONS Jayden!)


The next day, sunrise over Phang Nga Bay, near Phuket, Thailand, from the Samet Nangshe Viewpoint. Phuket is the main aviation hub here in southern Thailand, but for some strange reasons, FlyDubai (which is the low-cost airlines arm of Emirates) flies to Krabi instead of Phuket (or Penang, for that matter). But never mind, we (or more like, I) don’t mind that at all. Let it come, those small, strange airports that nobody’s heard of. We’ll take them on (as long as it’s cheap, haha). Krabi is about 150km from Phuket, where our flight to Penang was from, so it’s another road trip, yoohoo!


We’re home! Fancy some cendol?? At the Kafe Empat Sekawan, Bayan Lepas in Penang, Malaysia


Malaysia’s all about food! Dimsum at our regular dimsum joint with the family at home, Thong Sum Restaurant, Butterworth, Malaysia


What’s a Malaysia visit without a trip to an island on the East Coast?? (Last year we didn’t visit one. So, we have to make up for that, right?) Swimming with the fish, Pulau Redang, Terengganu, Jul 2026


On the way back, we spent a night at a ummm… semi-hill station, Colmar Tropicale, modeled after the French town of the same name (Colmar) but with tropical features (as you can see, from the name, duh.) We actually visited Colmar Tropicale also last year… on a day trip! (OK, OK, I’ll make a post of that soon …er or later, ahem)


We’re in my hometown, Ipoh! Visiting the old folks. Tuapek (dad’s eldest brother), lu ho bo? Tuapek is 91 years old! At the Moonlight Old Folks Home, Canning Garden, Ipoh


Hello Tuakor (dad’s eldest sister), ciak pa boei? Tuakor is even older, 92 years old. This time, only Tuakor, and her grandson (my cousin’s son) were at home… Pasir Pinji, Ipoh


And this is my mother’s side, cousin sister Ah Yi and her family. Ah Yi’s father (second from left) is my mother’s youngest brother. We last met him in 2022. He still stays in his old home in Taman Merdeka (which we call the House of Dogs… The dogs have all died, by the way). The kids are all growing up. Ah Yi’s son, Eugene, (at the back, on the right) is now taller than both his parents! And Ginny (their daughter, middle) is not far behind. At the Kok Thai Restaurant, Tasek, Ipoh


This is the first time we visited Ah Yi’s home! (They usually visit our home in Canning Garden). In Taman Tawas Mewah, Ipoh


Another mini-adventure! Welcome to Lake Toba! At Bukit Holbung, Lake Toba, Sumatera, Indonesia, Jul 2026. Since we’ve done most of the stuff that we went home to do, we decided to skip over to Sumatera, Indonesia for a few days! Medan is a short (and affordable) flight away from Penang, and it opens up a whole new world of adventures, and it’s, …how do you say it, budget-friendly, really! Lake Toba brings back fond memories. It was the first ever overseas trip of my life! Dad brought me here in 1986 (40 years ago) when I was a teenager (it was only my dad and I; mom had passed away the year before…)


Back in Penang. Time to say goodbye to the family! Take care Dad. Take care Hazel. Thanks for everything! Penang International Airport


Next stop, Singapore! Hello Justin, Jason, Li Fang and Stacey! At Changi International Airport, Singapore


Jayden will soon be joining his koko, Justin and cousin, Stacey in Singapore! The three of them at Serangoon, Singapore – outside the Better Scoop Ice Cream Shop, Aug 2026. See ya!

Mission Leshan

Leshan Giant Buddha, Sichuan, China, Aug 2025

I’ve finally downloaded the photos of our recent home trip from the phones. There are only a few thousand photos to sort thru. (8 friggin thousand actually! No kidding.) Should be just a breeze …if I have days on end to just sit down and look at photos. Unfortunately, I don’t. (I dunno how the missus does it, she can Facebook ‘em on the day of the trip itself! Maybe, that’s how you’re supposed to do it. But I just can’t get myself to look at photos right after taking ‘em… I’d rather plan out our next day’s adventures!)

Anyway, to cut the story short, it’ll take me days. Nope, make that weeks. To go thru them, to come up with my home trip post. So, here’s something to tide over the gap. Since we’re on statues, here’s another big statue, in another big country! From one of our mini adventures last year – to Leshan, China.

For our last year’s Malaysia home trip, we decided to transit thru China. Why? Because the Chinese flights have resumed flying to Dubai (after God-damn COVID), and they’re cheaper, and better (umm… maybe not, depends how you look at it, but which other airlines lets you check-in 46kg per person?!??) Anyway, on our return leg of the journey, from Malaysia to Dubai, we had a long stopover in Chengdu – like 12 hours, if I’m not mistaken, from 6am till the evening. What better way to spend this time than to go out exploring, woohoo!


And so, here we are, at Chengdu Tianfu Airport. That ‘sculpture’ if you could call it that, is completely made up of porcelain ware tied up together – plates, cups, bowls, you name it! Chengdu is the panda capital of the world, but since the missus ain’t a fan of zoos or animal reserves (o, c’mon, who doesn’t wanna see a panda?), we decided to skip over to Leshan instead, to see the Giant Buddha! (By the way, if you wanna see pandas in Chengdu, do book in advance, a week before the visit …like how it is with the Forbidden City, I guess)


The Chinese version of McDonald’s! At Tianfu Airport. It was 6am-ish, and so we wasted our sweet time, toileting, photo-posting (not me, the missus, that explains the Facebook, huh?), eating breakfast at McD… Before we knew it, it was 9am! Quick, we should’ve left at 6.30am, to beat the crowds (see, told you I never f@#*ing learn!) It’s 160km from the airport to Leshan and it takes 2 hours! And we have to get back by umm… 3-ish!

We Didi-ed (taxi) our way to Leshan through highways and roads flanked by lush green forests – nice, quiet roads, so why can’t the car go faster? I supposed it’s the pesky traffic cameras that are all over the place. This is China, speed cameras must be a dime a dozen. Most of the Didi drivers have these speed radar detectors that continue blurting out warnings of cameras ahead, in Chinese. I don’t even know why they bother, as the entire journey would be filled only with announcements! Luckily for us, the taxi that we took to Leshan (and back – we made a deal on a return trip) made do without the detector!


We reached! This is the main entrance square where you buy tickets to enter (yes, also the ferry tickets). It’s a huge square, just east of the Minjiangyi Bridge. You won’t miss it if you’re nearby. No, don’t bother using Google Maps. It doesn’t work in China. Use one of the Chinese maps app instead, like A-Map (but you gotta know a little Chinese, bcoz it’s completely in Chinese. It’s fun, Chinese, it’s like trying to crack a code!)

Oh My God… look at the people! Where do we even go from here? And we’re like really late! It’s 11:15am, and we should leave by umm…1:30pm! How can we even make it? And we’d have wasted hundreds of bucks of taxi fare… and Anu’s visa fees for nothing. There’re 2 ways to visit – walking, or by ferry. The faster way is by ferry, coz it’s a long way to walk, and you’d have to climb up and down long and steep staircases (and remember, there’re lots of people.) There’re so many queues at the entrance, full of people. We queued at the wrong one which led to the ferry terminal, but then found out that we’d have to first get tickets!!! At the other building! And there’re so many people. Inch by inch, foot by foot, I finally got the tickets! (I left Anu and Jayden at the ferry terminal to wait for me). When I entered the ferry terminal with the tickets, the officer there gave us numbers showing our boarding sequence. And by gosh, there’re hundreds of places to go, before our turn! I estimated that our turn would come up after 1pm. OK, I had no choice, I’d try to talk my way thru (in Chinese). No luck, the officer guarding the terminal couldn’t make an exception, and told us to wait, and none of the other tourists I spoke to would exchange tickets (no, they weren’t unfriendly, it’s just that their numbers wouldn’t really give us a good boost up the queue). Then, a change of shift, and a change of luck. I spoke to the new officer in charge, and he just waved us thru, as the last of the lot that was to board next… before deciding otherwise, and tried calling us back. But by then, we had already joined the group in front, and he just relented. Whew! My years of working in a Chinese company (and by extension, having to learn to speak Chinese to communicate with some of my Chinese colleagues) finally paid off! Thank God!


More waiting! The ferry boarding jetty (it looks like a ferry, but it’s only for waiting and boarding)


Off we go! On the Minjiang (Min River), Leshan, Sichuan, China, Aug 2025


A bridge on the Min River (I think it’s the Haotu Bridge) near the Giant Buddha


Leshan Giant Buddha… How peaceful it’d be, if it wasn’t for the people


Voila! The ferries!


This is what your photos would look like, ahem. With life jackets, loads of ferries, and people… What the heck! Just go with the flow, and enjoy!


Time to go, on the Min River


The park between the ticketing complex and Giant Buddha. The ferries’ dropping point is different from the boarding point (it’s further south), so you’d have to walk back to the main entrance square


A bell at the Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area


Back at the main entrance square. What are these Ashoka Pillars doing in China??! (That’s the National Emblem of India, isn’t it?) Well, the pillars of Ashoka were first and foremost symbols of Buddhism, which is why a place like the Giant Buddha has these…

Whew, we made it back on time! Mission Leshan accomplished, thank You, God.