My Turkey travelbook is completed!

I have not had much time to travel due to work commitments, and since i got hooked onto photography, I thought it would be good to start on a second travelbook (a book of my travels!), finally... after about 4 months of compiling, editing and procrastination, my Turkey travelbook is completed, and even up for sale!

The link to its preview is available here:

Türkiye by bentse | Make Your Own Book

Enjoy!

Or better yet, buy a copy!

ben

Daytrip to Kukup - Officially tried hitchhiking!

It was 10 September 2010. I'd made a spontaneous trip to Kukup, a small fishing village in the state of Johor in Malaysia with Shoohong to have a look at rural living and to try some seafood.

Kukup is a popular day trip for Singaporeans via tourist agents. It is popular for its chalets and seafood, built on stilts over marshlands.

I took the "hard" way of getting there by myself, taking the MRT from town to Kranji (35min), getting a bus through to Johor Bahru (45min, including customs clearance), followed by switching a bus at Larkin bus station to Pontian (1hr), and finally a cab from Pontian to Kukup (30min).

It's in these parts of the world, where you really have to take things slow and easy, especially when it was a public holiday (Hari Raya Puasa). People don't give clear directions, and inform you that the bus service is unpredictable and does not follow its schedule. The taxi we took from Pontian to Kukup was a piece of machinery from the 80s... it was really nice to feel as though we stepped back in time - faux leather seats, spoilt speedometers, no air con, gear stick from the steering wheel, paper calendar with the classic mini fan sticking out of the dashboard!

Arriving in Kukup, we found out everything we needed to know in an hour, walking along the main street, and then hopping onto a fish farm tour (for MYR 5):
- Kukup is a small fish farming village along the coast of Johor, and is excellent for fish farming because of a small island which cuts out large waves
- around 75 fish farms around Kukup, and considered the 2nd largest fish farming area in the world (so the kid at the kelong said)
- the best seafood is located near the terminal (Causeway (Chang Di) and another which I cannot remember the name)
- many guest chalets available for rent - things to do include karaoke, fishing, barbecue, letting off fireworks, shopping at the few local produce stalls and eating.

We ended the evening with a seafood dinner by the sea. Unfortunately it was cloudy and no good sunset was available.

The next adventure actually began after dinner. The bus schedule in Pontian stated that the last bus from Pontian to Larkin was at 9pm. However, it was 8pm and and there were no cabs in sight to get ourselves back to Pontian. We hit the bus station to find it closed, and a shopkeeper had told us that we had missed the last bus for the day (at 730pm), and most tourists would spend the night in the town.

We were looking out for cabs along the street to bring us back to Johor Bahru (hefty fee included) but instead found a bus which just arrived at the bus terminus, and it was to our great fortune that it was there to pick up 1 passenger before heading back to Singapore. We asked if we could join the ride for a fee, but the driver just told us that the bus was not full anyway, and told us to hop on. Lucky break of the day!

Not a big deal the way it turned out, but I think this does qualify as hitchhiking... worthy of being in the list of travel stories.

Travel summary (including waiting time):

Time taken to get to Kukup - 3.5hrs

Time spent at Kukup - 2.5hrs

Time taken to return to Singapore - 2.5hrs

Taking the bus in Singapore

This blog has been really quiet, so I thought I'd add a short story.
It's about a bus ride I took in my home country actually, but since I was moving from one place to another, I'll consider this a travel story. Here it goes:

Back home in Singapore, I've been working ridiculously long hours, averaging a good 12-16hrs in the office each day. It was a day where I had slept just 2 hours the night before, and had gotten on the 0615hrs bus to reach office by 0700hrs.

I was really tired and I just took the first available seat on the first level of the double decker bus. 10 seconds after I sat down, I felt the most foul smell invade my nostrils... I must say this is unusual as I have a perpetually blocked nose and my sense of smell is not the most sensitive.

I looked at the other passengers in the bus (not many, about 5 or so... it was early), and they seemed to be behaing normally. The first thought that came to my mind was whether I had stepped on some dogpoo on the way to the bus stop, and wondering if the other passengers were experiencing the stench... I looked around the bus this time and to my amusement, there was this f*#ing ginormous pile of shit on the floor 3m from where I was seated, at the standing area!!!

I went straight up the stairs to the second deck, and realised I was now wide awake despite my fatigue from lack of sleep.

The following thoughts then flashed across my mind:

1. How does it get SO BIG (animals are not allowed on buses in Singapore)?

2. How did it get there so early in the morning?

Early morning mystery to start the day... a lot better than thinking about the stresses of work when I alight from this ride.

Visits from around the world..

It's been a while since I've updated the blog, and it's mainly because of my return to Singapore, which has greatly reduced my opportunities for travel, due to the limited funding and more significantly a more hectic worklife.

I have returned to Singapore since 3 July 2009, and I have been thinking about the number of people that I have been acquiainted with during my travels, and how they have been kind enough to think of me and look me up as they passed through Singaporean shores on their way around South East Asia and the Pacific.

The list of people as follows, in no chronological order:
1. Jordi and Carla from the Netherlands (met on the journey to the Sahara)
2. Kirsti and Lars from Oslo, Norway
3. Linda from Helsinki, Finland
4. Asad from London (met in a Marakkesh hostel)
5. Romy from Zurich, Switzerland
6. Roar from Oslo, Norway
7. Shuyi, the Singaporean from Frankfurt (met in the same Marakkesh hostel as Asad)
8. Serap, from Istanbul, Turkey
9. Jin, from Daegu, Korea (met in Granada, Spain in Summer'08)
10. Viestarts, from Oslo, Norway (colleague from KPMG Oslo)
11. Martin and Gunilla, from Oslo, Norway (colleague from KPMG Oslo)
12. Laura, from Barcelona/Bali (met in Myanmar and Bali)
13. Raiza, from Spain (met in Mallorca after missing out in Pamplona)
14. Tapio, from .... everywhere (including, Finland, Norway, Solomon Islands etc)!!

It's only been xx months, and I know the list grows longer...

NICE!