So here goes ...
If 2013 was an incredible year for me, 2014 was a year of travel.
Here is a list of places that I visited in 2014:
1) Gunung Mulu National Park, Malaysia
When the clock struck 12 midnight on 1 January 2014, I was already partying away in the jungles of the Gunung Mulu World Heritage Park.
Deer Cave where a colony of bats fly out at dusk daily to look for food. Visitors sit at a distance to witness this marvellous act of nature.
2) Koh Lipe, Thailand
In that same month, I travelled to the lovely island of Koh Lipe for a short getaway.
This was the first time I travelled to a foreign country by sea. And the first time staying in two separate resorts on the same trip: Mali Resort and Idyllic Concept Resort.
The view from our room at Idyllic Concept Resort :-) I remember the winds on Sunrise Beach were strong and constantly blowing in my face 24-hours a day.
3) Annapurna Base Camp, Nepal
At 4,130m, trekking to Annapurna Base Camp is one of the biggest physical feat I've ever completed so far.
The Annupurna Circuit boasts of magnificent landscapes of snow covered mountain tops.
Whilst we were in Nepal, we also took the opportunity to visit the village of Kiureni in Gorkha for a homestay experience which you can read here.
4) Myanmar
Due to a lack of time, we only managed to visit Yangon and Bagan (for its temples).
Nope that's not a fairytale castle, but Mount Popa in Bagan. I wonder how they built the temple on top of the steep mountain.
5) Singapore
My main aim of visiting Singapore was to visit Celia whom I've not met for a long time. She brought me to some of the interesting spots in Singapore like Singapore Museum, St Theresa's Roman Catholic Church, Tiong Bahru and her fav bookstore, Books Actually.
I was totally fascinated when Celia brought me to the building of the Freemasons in Singapore. I never knew they exists in Singapore!
Books Actually in Thiong Baru is Celia's favourite bookstore. I like the deco :-)
6) Chiang Mai, Thailand
This was an unplanned trip. LvH was travelling to Chiang Mai and I tagged along.
Despite being to Chiang Mai before and to Thailand numerous times, this was the first time I went for a live muay thai match.
Wat Chedi Luang looks exactly the same as how I first saw it couple of years ago on my first solo backpacking trip.
7) Jakarta, Indonesia
This was my first time to Jakarta and all the horror stories about the city's traffic is totally untrue. But that's because I travelled on a weekend :-)
Skyline of Jakarta as seen from the Magnum Cafe in Grand Indonesia mall.
So what are my travel plans in 2015?
A trip to Raja Ampat islands in Indonesia is in the plans early February. I may also travel to Queensland, Australia for my sister's graduation towards the end of the year.
There will be many long weekends in Malaysia this year, so who knows what the future holds for travelling. Something may just come up at the last minute.
