will i am's delayed diary

Believe it or not, KH and I woke up at 2:30 AM to have sex . Our slumber was interrupted by a power outage! Pitch black, except for the lights from the motorcycle of the maintenance guy. We went out to the patio to take a look, and were rewarded with a sky full of stars. KH's smartphone did a better job of capturing the night sky. In half an hour, the power was back on, and we went back to the warmth of the bed, and each other bodies.  Actually, our room booking was inclusive of breakfast, but KH kinda missed that detail. Still in our jammies ( not tanktop and jockstrap la ), we walked out the main entrance to a few shops that were located on the other side of the access road. The Poring Station Restaurant served breakfast to the staff at the Poring Hot Springs. We had a delicious plate of fried noodles with a piece of fried chicken. The local coffee was Sabah standard ( read: diluted ).  KH and I decided that we weren't going to soak in the hot springs. For one, the tubs were

With no concrete plan for the day, we headed to Mount Rosary on a whim. Took a short hike in the blazing hot sun. Along the trail were wooden crosses used by pilgrims as a prayer stop. In the end, we were greeted by a locked gate. The locals suggested that we try the main entrance, but that was locked too. Disappointed, and drained, we headed to Ranau. Looked around the Church of St. Peter Claver ( lively youth group here ), and then headed for lunch at the  Ranau Hakka Food Court . Super popular judging by the crowd and the chaotic traffic and parking situation. Not impressed by the food and the price though. The Mee Tuaran was disappointing and the guy from Gerai Abang Sado was not  sado  lorrr. Sabah Tea Resort is the poor cousin of West Malaysia's Boh Tea Plantation. Our arrival was greeted with the deafening sound of cicadas, much louder than what I experienced in Hokkaido during the summer. The parking lot was vacant, but at least the cafe was open. The cafe gave a view of th

Woke up before 6AM to catch the sunrise. Had to be dragged from beneath the covers. Our room had a balcony with an amazing view, but the horizon wasn't very clear. We weren't the only ones up and about, our PRC neighbours were also awake. And some fella was already banging away, starting on renovations ( the horror! ). Once we were satisfied with our photos, we freshened up and made some coffee. Took a short tour around the grounds after that. When it was time for some proper exploring, I realized that the rear tyre of our rental was kind of flat! Gosh. Drove down to the Shell station at Pekan Kundasang to get it inflated before hunting for a place to get it patched. It was a Sunday, so we had to pray hard.  Made a stop at Kinabalu Park, paid the conservation fee, and pretended that I was there to climb Mt. Kinabalu. Circled the grounds on foot, and surprisingly KH was not in the mood to explore the mini trails found along the way. At the main entrance, a whole bunch of hikers

In early March, the general populace was still very cautious about traveling although most COVID restrictions had been loosened. KH jumped on the opportunity and got us a couple of flight tickets to Sabah. A mere RM300 for MAS return tickets. At the boarding gate, I realized something strange~ our fellow passengers were lugging around large plastic bags of bread! Did a quick check on Google and this headline popped up:  "Did You Know Gardenia Products are Sold For Almost 3x the Price in Sabah and Sarawak?"  No wonder. But still, I didn't verify this fact while I was in Sabah. While boarding, a Sabahan made small talk with a tourist who was planning to explore the whole state in 3 weeks. She was obviously amused. We cleared immigration using our NRIC. I stuffed the white immigration slip deep into my wallet because losing it is a big hassle. KKIA was pretty quiet, and some areas of the arrival hall wasn't well-lit. The first thing we had to do was collect our car from

If memory serves, I went to Tun M's Hari Raya open house at Sri Perdana in the final year of his premiership. For some reason, the Hari Raya open house shifted to PWTC starting Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Najib followed suit. A very basic affair, with no 'wet' food. Usually lemang with serunding , and biscuits and cakes for dessert. Probably to avoid oily stains on the carpet. But then, memang potong stim . So for years and years, I didn't attend the federal government's open houses. Partly cause it's BN and partly cause of the sucky food. With the birth of Malaysia Baru, Tun M's first open house was held at Sri Perdana! Full circle. Who would want to miss such a historic moment? Hehe. Mum, SK, SK's ex-colleague ( who is having a mid-life sexuality crisis ), and I arrived there before 10 AM. Thank goodness we managed to park not too far from the main entrance. Being the prime minister's official residence, the place was under the jurisdiction o

Sapporo was just a short drive from Otaru, under an hour. Like most of the cities in Japan, very block-ish in design, hence contains a barrage of traffic lights and cross-junctions. Parked our car at one of many public parking spots ( the one we parked at had a clamp at the bottom that only released after paying the bill ) and went on foot. Spent most of our time there shopping really. So many drug stores with Chinese-speaking staff. However, with the Payke app, you can get most English product information just by scanning the barcode. In addition to drug stores, we also went treasure hunting at Donki ( amazing selection of sex toys ), Daiso, Book-off, etc. We had our lunch at Ginza Lion beer hall. Great place for Western food. At around 3:00 PM, we left Sapporo for Chitose. Dropped mum and Sis off at the AirBnB, while Bro and I went to pump petrol and return the rental. FYI, some petrol stations in Japan have the service and self-service pumps. Unknowingly, I stopped at the sel

The journey from Hakodate to Otaru took us another four hours in a north-easterly direction. I must say that Otaru was the hottest in our whole trip. The sun was blazing and we all dumped our jackets in the car. Like Hakodate, Otaru is also a port city with a long history. The pride of the city is the Otaru Canal. Tourists often take cruises on the canal to admire the old warehouses and merchant building lined along it. One look at a bunch Korean ladies baking in the sun deterred us from trying the same. Our tummies were growling after a short walk in the scorching sun, and we quickly went to find food. A PRC working at the tourist information center pointed us to Otaru Denuki Koji , a collection of twenty small restaurants in a heritage building. The place has a whimsical design, like a building out of Miyazaki's onsen town in "Spirited Away". Within a small courtyard was a statue of Udatsu Kozo, a statue with round-rim glasses holding a skewer  dango . Not al