Back to Sunshine in Mirissa, Sri Lanka

Posted on March 1, 2015 by jipp

The highlands of Sri Lanka were so beautiful but there were times when I really missed the brightness of the tropical sun that I was so accustomed to back in my country Malaysia. Of course, being a Tropical island itself, Sri Lanka is nothing short of the hot tropical sun but of course it can only be fully acquired in the coastal areas.

Coming down to the coastal areas of Sri Lanka from our last stop in the highlands (check out my post on Ella) was not easy. We took an air-cond-less public bus so it stopped like every now and then to drop off and take in passengers along the way. It was quiet empty in the beginning but it became heavier and heavier as more and more passengers came on board. In the end it was fully loaded so many of the passengers had remain standing for hours on end.

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It might only be around 5 hours – and I’ve been on much longer bus rides before – but somehow it felt like forever. Thanks God I was seated on the front row so it was probably less shaky compared to those at the back rows. I had a nice chat with a local Sri Lankan who was so eager to know what I thought of his country. Like most of the passengers on board of the bus, he was coming down from his village in the highlands to one of the coastal towns where he was working in. Continue reading →

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That Place called ELLA

Posted on February 13, 2015 by jipp

Ella was one of the places that my travel buddy Audrey had suggested us to go when we were touring the beautiful highlands of Sri Lanka. To tell the truth, I had never heard about it before Audrey mentioned it to me but of course anything with mountains and tea plantations turned me on so I was quite excited.  We went there by train after hiking across the beautiful grassland of Horton’s Plains and I could never get enough of the beautiful scenery that we were served with while cruising on the fast-moving (or slow-moving, depends on your expectation) train. I mean, seriously, the beauty of Sri Lankan highlands really took me by surprise. The train ride itself was very exciting. Every now and then the train would cut right through a hill in an underground tunnel and the screeching sound of the rails was deafening but of course it was part of the excitement.trainride (Copy)

Ella that I found out was more like a village which was about to turn into a small town. It was far from developed but the tourism industry seemed quite promising with more and more tourists coming in. A cab took us to a beautiful guesthouse which was very much strategically located on the side of a hill. The view from the veranda was just so breath-taking I really couldn’t get enough of it. It was quite unfortunate for us to be there during a long drought when Ella was not at its best look. I was told that it had not been raining for the last 6 months so the whole area was quite dry and dusty. A waterfall was supposed to be seen streaming down the hill and made it such a perfect picture for a postcard but still it was breath taking even without the waterfall. Continue reading →

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Sandakan – The Mecca for Foodies

Posted on February 13, 2015 by jipp

Nobody comes to Sandakan without feeding himself with seafood. Sandakan is said to have the best seafood in the State – and probably in Malaysia – as told to me by some seafood enthusiasts. They told me how seafood in Sandakan is better than those in Tawau or Semporna – the other two major seafood-producing towns in Sabah. I’m not quite sure what they mean by good or how exactly they do the comparison but I know for sure that seafood is a thing of luxury back in KL so I had to go all out savoring myself with it (seafood) while I had the chance.

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The famous Nasi Kuning at Taman Rimba to begin my food adventure in Sandakan with..

Of course one of the things that I still can’t find anywhere else is seafood Bah Ku Teh. I know at least two restaurants that serve good Seafood Bah Ku Teh in Sandakan. One is Nah Chai Restaurant in Tanah Merah and the other is called J4 (or something) at Batu 4. I had the impression that they were related to each other, that the one in Batu 4 was a branch to the one at Tanah Merah but I was told that they were actually not (related). Of course the one at Tanah Merah was the pioneer so I knew I had to go there first. Continue reading →

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