Highlights of 2019

This is my customary look back at what happened to me in the past year.


1) Citizen Action for Tiger (CAT) Walk at Sungai Yu in February

I wanted to do some environmental and awareness work at the beginning of the year.

Since tigers are at the brink of extinction in Malaysia, I decided to join this walk to learn more about efforts by the authorities and NGOs to save these magnificent creatures from extinction.

Click here if you wish to learn more about this programme.

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2) South Korea in May

I flew into Seoul and did a considerable amount of shopping. Then I took the bus to Busan and stayed at Haeundae beach for a change from the hustle and bustle of Seoul.

I wrote a short note about my South Korea trip which you can read here.

South Korea was a milestone because it was my thirtieth country. This means I had completed one of my bucketlist to visit at least thirty countries.

I stayed at Haeundae Beach when I was in Busan.

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3) Travelled to the island of Koh Rong, Cambodia in June

Tickets from Kuala Lumpur to Sihanoukville (entry point to Koh Rong) were bloody cheap. Like most things in life that comes cheap, there was a reason for the cheapness and it was because June was the monsoon season in Koh Rong. It rained almost everyday. However there were times when the weather was lovely and we could walk to Saracen Bay and enjoy a swim.

I remember the time when a thunder storm at night caused a blackout whilst I was in the shower. I pulled on a towel, came out to look for my mobile phone, switched on the torch feature and continued my shower. Life is too short to mope in the dark.

Another thing I need to add here is that the town of Sihanoukville was a mess. The place looked like a mini China as casinos were built all over the place catering to the Chinese crowd.

There was construction work going on in almost every corner which stirred up dust whenever vehicles passed by. Rubbish, especially plastic blottles and wrappers were everywhere. The island of Koh Rong was clean and relaxing, but Sihanoukville was bad.

Pristine Koh Rong.

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4) Ran my first 21km in July

I participated in this race as a ghost runner because the venue was changed to near my house at the last minute. The initial venue was miles away and I couldn't be arsed to travel so far just to run a race at the break of dawn.

My mistake was running too fast at the beginning. Naturally I couldn't maintain the pace and fell short of breathe and energy by the eleventh kilometre. In the end I completed the race in an unimpressive three hours.

I've signed up for my first official half marathon in 2020. It's going to be held in March at Dataran Merdeka. This time I hope to be more prepared and wiser.

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5) East Europe in October

I had initially wanted to do Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Albania. But flights to Kiev (Ukraine) were pretty expensive when I looked at it. Moreover there were at least two transits which were long and painful.

Then one fine day British Airways had a sale and a return tic from Kuala Lumpur to Prague (via Heathrow) was going for RM2,100. It would have been a sin not to buy it.

My journey began in Prague, followed by Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and Ljubljana in that order.

Amongst all the cities on that trip, my fav was Budapest. The city had a certain vibrancy to it, and not to mention the weather was almost perfect. Our hostel was located near the stunning St Stephen's Basilica and I spent a good many hours in it looking at the interiors, attending Mass and also a concert.

My only regret is that we should have spent more time in Budapest. Three nights was certainly not enough. Well, there's another excuse to visit Budapest again.

Upon completion of this trip, I had completed 35 countries.

The colours of fall was very pretty in Cesky Krumlov. We made a day trip there from Prague.

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6) A year of attending concerts

I attended six concerts this year, an unusual number compared to previous years.

Concert 1: Euphrasia - the Musical @ KL Performing Arts Centre (April)

Concert 2: Phantom of the Opera @ Istana Budaya (June)

Concert 3: Haydn and Handle Orgn Concertos @ Dewan Filharmonik Petronas (October)

Concert 4: U2 - The Joshua Tree Tour @ Singapore National Stadium (December)

Concert 5: Madagascar: The Musical @ KL Convention Centre (December)

(no pics - hehehe)

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Today is the last day of the first decade of the new millenium. I'm thankful to have come this far and look forward to another decade of hope and love.