Blogs from Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia, Asia - page 2

Gaharu is known as the Wood of God. It is also known as Aloeswood, Agarwood, Eaglewood, Oud and even Jinko. It is the most expensive wood ever grown on this world. It produces resins after the mature age of over twenty years. It has medicinal value. Gaharu leaves contain high levels of anti-aging, anti-cancer properties. Traditionally used for strengthening the heart, reducing blood sugar, lowering blood pressure and stabilizing the nervous system. Also helps to improve sleep, anti-aging, promotes beauty, eliminate flatulence and expels oils. The resins are commonly used for burning of incense and made perfume. This is commonly used by the Middle East, The Chinese and The Indians. The price for unpolished resins is RM20,000 per kilogramme, RM100,000 after manufactured. Gaharu Tea Valley of Gopeng has about 300,000 hectares of land, carpeting at least ... read more

Welcome to Asia! Where the people are friendly and the beers are cheap(er). We started in Singapore, the state of many rules. A night in the cells for spitting on the street seemed to me to be a little extreme, but then I was warned. We spent our time here in what was an awesome hostel, apparently in asia things are done for you. For example the free breakfast toast was toasted by the receptionist, the pool table in the bar paid for and racked by the bar maid, the hawker stalls get a water out of the fridge for you, the list goes on! We also splashed some cash in an outdoor 50m pool, one whole singapore dollar. Singapore as a whole is pretty clean, and the centre in particular is ridiculous. Think upside-down sydney ... read more

David here... We set off from our wonderful Hanoi hotel at 05:20 and made our way to the Vietnam Airlines office where the $2 bus to the airport departed from. This was much more preferable then spending $15 on a taxi to the airport. We are on a budget after all. We arrived at 06:45 and checked in successfully and bought a a few things to use up our last remaining Dong as you are not allowed to take Vietnam currency out of the country. The flight left about 20 minutes late, but it was no big deal. The flight lasted 5 hours but felt much shorter than that and was quite comfortable. I felt quite sad about leaving Vietnam. It wasn't because I had loved it so much and didn't want to leave. In reality ... read more

In Ipoh habe ich mich mit einer weiteren Gruppe von Couchsurfern getroffen. Drunter waren vier chinesische Malaysier. Ich habe übrigens den Eindruck, dass unter den einheimischen Couchsurfern überdurchschnittlich viele Chinesen sind. Anscheinend sind diese oft die fortschrittlichsten Malaysier. Chinesen tragen beispielsweise häufig moderne, westliche Kleidung, während bei den Malaien die Männer häufig die islamische Kutte und/oder die dazugehörige Köpfbedeckung tragen. Malaiische Frauen tragen fast immer einen etwa hüftlangen Schleiber bzw. Kopftuch, das allerdings das Gesicht frei lässt und in verschiedenen Farben vorkommt. Indische Frauen tragen meist Sari und haben einen Punkt auf der Stirn. Letzteres teilweise auch die Männer. Chinesen tendieren bei der Sprache auch eher dazu Englisch zu verwenden und sprechen dieses auch besser als viele Malaien (das, nachdem die Chinesen in der VR ... read more

Hi all, We got the bus from Kuala Lumpor into the Cameron highlands. The trip took us about 5 hours and we had to change buses on the way as I dont think the first bus we were on would have made it up the hills. The Cameron highlands is a mountainous area in the centre of the Malaysian peninsula. It's much cooler up here, around 20 degrees C and is such a relief to the 30+ degrees C everywhere else! We stayed in the Cameron highlands for 3 days. Theres a lot to do and see there. Me, Steve, our guide and 2 other Brits went on a 3 hr hike into the rainforest. We stopped off in a village and had a go at shooting a blow pipe. It was suprisingly accurate and easy ... read more