#it’s just annoying being from the middle east in english-speaking areas

[mithliya]

still find it annoying that westerners on here saw me talk about being dark-skinned, sth i am deemed in my country & have been literally physically abused for in the past, and they were like hmmm this woman is saying she’s a dark-skinned black woman… no… i’m saying i’m dark-skinned, and mixed race. two separate things. black bahrainis & part black bahrainis don’t have a culture of “dark skin black” etc.. ur either dark skinned or ur not, regardless of racial heritage. and there’s no comparison among black bahrainis either bc we view skin colour & heritage as entirely separate things. like even the visibly black bahraini women ive known (who in my experience are all dark-skinned by our standards. not necessarily western or african ones but by bahraini standards) would consider me dark-skinned and we would bond over that experience & understand what that word means. but westerners love to think they know everything about everywhere and place their standards on everyone ever and refuse to actually understand that we also have our own standards ig so to them me talking about being dark-skinned led them to believe that i’m claiming to have the same experience as idk lupita nyong’o. despite me repeatedly vocally differentiating my experiences from dark-skinned black women in places like the US…

i can never even discuss my experiences on here and state what i mean bc they will intentionally misconstrue it to fit their standards instead of just. understanding lol

[bngtanah]

I'm (not) With The Band. | o1

summary: Adrienne is an indie producer who is hired to help co-produce BTS’ next album alongside their resident producer; Suga. Despite the initial opposition on both ends, the pair spend time together, share a few stories, dreams and aspirations and begin to hit it off really well. Wrapped up in the whirlwind of late nights and heated disagreements and reconciliations, Min Yoongi and Adrienne Rolle find themselves growing closer and closer. One night they decide to cross the barrier between personal and professional and do their best make a relationship work against all odds.

pairing: Min Yoongi  x Named OC

genre: drama, romance, smut

chapters: prologue| o1| o2| o3| o4| o5| o6| o7| o8| o9| 10| 11|

warning: light angst, smut, fluff, workplace relationship, slow burn, sexual themes, ambw, enemies to friends to lovers, developing relationship

a/n: still a fool. still re-uploading.

Shoulder’s back, big smile.

By now Adrienne had perfected this routine, putting up just enough of a front to hide the nervous jitters fluttering around in her stomach and the small wave of dread that made itself at home in her heart each time she met with a new music exec. Of course, the butterflies disappeared once she got comfortable but the initial fear always made her want to run in the opposite direction. It had been an extremely hectic fours months since she moved to Korea and Adrienne doubted if she was going to feel settled anytime soon. Between moving into a new apartment, her packed schedule of Korean lessons set up by her new company and the struggles of adapting to an entirely new culture, Adrienne didn't know whether she was coming or going. The worst part of it all was that she hadn't even started working on music yet and that was the sole reason for her being here.

To be fair, she understood that the need for her to learn the language took priority at the moment since she couldn't bring a translator with her everywhere she went. That knowledge didn't make the actual learning process any easier but at least she understood why she was learning how to  count again instead of making music like she wanted to. Today's meeting, hopefully, would change that since she was supposed to be meeting the group she'd be working with over the next few months. Starting from her first week in Korea Adrienne had been meeting with the founder of her new place of employment, Bang Si-Hyuk, and although communicating with him and other members of the staff was difficult at first Adrienne honestly felt like she made the right decision in coming to work for them. Currently, her Korean was nowhere near the level she wanted it to be in order to feel comfortable speaking but at the very least she was able to communicate and understand simple sentences. 

Hopefully everyone she met spoke really really slowly.

The petite brunette clutched the notebooks filled with music and lyrics in her arms closer to her chest as she lingered in a small room she wasn't familiar with, she was given a tour of the BigHit building when she visited the first time but this particular room with different kinds of trinkets and toys placed all about was definitely not a stop on that tour. Korea was a far cry from her hometown; common, similar and friendly people and places being replaced with the sharp, unfamiliar and often aloof scenery of the far east. It was…jarring to say the least when she’d first arrived in the city but after being here for a few months Adrienne was certain she would get used to it, eventually.

The sensation of her phone buzzing in her pocket made Adrienne jump and drop the notebooks she was clutching to her chest.

"Yeoboseyo!" Adrienne answered in an overly cheery voice.

"Andy?"

The sound of her sister's voice made Adrienne sigh in relief as she bent down to begin picking up the books she dropped.

"You've only been there for a couple months, have you already stopped speaking English?"

"Shut up, my tutor says that I should speak in Korean whenever I have the chance so I can get used to talking."

"Oh, that makes sense. Have you gotten any better since the last time we spoke?"

"I think it does too, and do you mean last week? No, I don't think I've gotten better since last week" Adrienne chortled and shuffled around the pages that fell out of her notebooks "I mean I understand the basics of pronunciation but it's the vocab and remembering how to structure my sentences that's really tripping me up."

"Right, right. Well just keep it up I know you'll get it soon."

"Thanks sis, did you just call to check up on my progress? I know this call is expensive for you."

"No, that's not all I wanted to hear how your meeting went! Were they nice to you? I don't need to fly over there and kick anyone's ass right?"

Adrienne giggled and shook her head even though Danielle couldn't see her "You know it's only a little after two o'clock here right? I haven't met anyone yet. I'm actually sitting on the floor in the middle of a computer room or something. I have no idea when they're going to show up."

***

Yoongi was tired. 

Actually, tired may not have been an accurate description for what he was feeling at the moment; exhausted, drained, depleted were all good words but still weren't quite enough to cover it. He had been up and on the road before the sun had risen that morning and his day was showing no signs of ending or slowing down anytime soon. The day started off with a fansign event in an area nearly three hours from their dorm which meant they had to get an early start if they were going to do the fansign and make it back to Seoul for the interviews they had lined up to begin promoting their upcoming album which they hadn't even started preparing yet. When his boss informed him that they were contracting an outside producer to co-produce their next body of work Yoongi assumed he meant someone from Korea, not an unknown person from a country Yoongi had never heard of, which meant that they'd have to teach them their language before they even began working together. He hoped that all the effort and expense the company was exerting was worth it for this one person, but being the slightly pessimistic person he was Yoongi highly doubted it.

He was only partially asleep when they pulled up to the BigHit building, he would never be able to restfully nap with all the noise Taehyung, Jimin and Jungkook made during their commutes. When they pulled up to the entrance Yoongi was jarred awake, accidentally, by a paper ball that was meant to hit Jimin, who was sitting next to him. 

"Who's throwing things?" Yoongi groaned and sat up, the sour look on his face making it obvious just how annoyed he was. Taehyung's eyes widened when he caught notice of this and he immediately turned around and faced forward.

"You have to get up anyway Yoongi-hyung" Namjoon spoke up from the front seat of the van "We only have a few minutes before our next interview so you have to talk to the new producer now."

Yoongi huffed but got up and quickly exited the van, well as quickly as he could move, he was not looking forward to this at all and that was apparent in his movements. The last thing he wanted to be doing was babysitting someone for the rest of the day on top of the photo shoots and interviews he and the rest of BTS had scheduled, he did enough babysitting with his group members. Unfortunately, the plans for the day were not up for Yoongi to decide so he found himself wandering through the halls of the BigHit building until he stopped in front of the room he, Namjoon and Hoseok spent the majority of their time in when they weren't practicing or on the road. As his hand moved to twist the doorknob he paused and leaned an ear against the frosted glass. He could hear a muffled voice inside that sounded very female and very foreign.

It took him a few seconds to form a gameplan, on the one hand, there was the possibility that the voice could belong to a sasaeng who managed to sneak past security and he'd be risking his safety to go in alone. There was also the possibility that the voice belonged to his new co-producer but that seemed less likely, surely his boss would have mentioned the person he would be working was female at least once. Yoongi realised he was wasting time he didn't have to spare just standing around doing nothing so against his better judgement he twisted the doorknob and walked through.  

The sight he was met with made him stop in his tracks and raise a confused eyebrow skyward; someone he didn't know was sitting on the floor surrounded by pages of sheet music while singing into a cellphone in a language he didn't understand but he guessed to be English.

"Uh-Can I help you?"

The woman's head whipped around and green eyes scanned over his face before meeting his own and Yoongi became frozen in place.

***

“Can I help you?” The sound of a male voice pulled Adrienne from her acapella and made her head snap to the direction it came from, her eyes bouncing all over the boy's features. It took her a second to recognise the face but once she did Adrienne smiled and moved to stand up.

"Dani, I'll call you back" Adrienne whispered into the receiver before disconnecting her phone call and putting her cell phone into her pocket. "You're Suga, right? It's nice to finally meet you! I'm Adrienne" She spoke slowly and carefully even she had this introduction practically memorised by now, all she needed to do was insert someone's name.

Yoongi was still standing in his place near the front door while Adrienne introduced herself, it wasn't until she bowed and moved closer that he remembered they were on borrowed time and he didn't have the luxury of gawking. 

"Yeah, I'm Suga" He croaked then cleared his throat "What did you say your name was?"

"Adrie- Call me Andy if that's easier. Um, I'm the co-producer? We were supposed to meet today?"

"Seriously?" Yoongi blurted out.

"Yes, I guess no one told you I was a woman....or black." Adrienne chuckled nervously.

"Oh, n-no that's not," Yoongi exhaled and opened his mouth to speak again before his phone began buzzing; it was a message from Namjoon asking what was taking so long. "We have to go now," He said to Adrienne as he gestured toward the door.

"Go? I thought...what about the music?" She asked and gestured toward her notebooks.

"No time," Yoongi answered in halted English "We talk on way."

On the way to where? Adrienne wanted to ask but considering the fact that her partner was already halfway out the door she knew she wouldn't have to time to question everything. So she quickly scooped up her notebooks off the floor and scurried after him before she lost his trail. He was quiet as he led them back out to the van where everyone else was waiting and they made sure to let Yoongi know that they had been waiting for him by berating him loudly and incessantly when the van door slid open. That is until they caught sight of the small girl trailing behind him and the complaints slowed to a halt while their attention focused in on Adrienne as she climbed into the van after Yoongi did and took the empty seat next to his since she assumed that what she was supposed to do.

"Hello," she waved and spoke softly from the back of the van. The driver began to pull off but everyone's eyes were still trained on her, "I'm Andy, the new producer?"

"Oooh," they all sighed collectively and nodded in acknowledgment. 

"Your hair is pretty" Adrienne heard the boy with a deep voice compliment her from the middle row and she smiled timidly as the two boys on the side of him playfully punched his shoulders and chastised him.

"Thank you" She answered through her chuckles as she twirled one of her braids around her fingers. "I'm really excited to start working with all of you," Adrienne spoke up again as she felt Yoongi grumble and sink down into the seat, his beanie being pulled down over his face in a way that signified he had no desire to talk at that moment. 

Which was fine by Adrienne, she wanted to get to know the people she would be making music for anyway. Something told her she was going to enjoy that process more than anything else.

[poignantpulchritude]

Silly Pleasures-Chapter 4

“Hey! I thought we agreed, switch off each song? You’re taking advantage of the aux,” Dallas grumbled down by my side.

“Just one more, I need to hear High Horse again to lift my spirits,” I responded, snarling at the dull pain on my hip. I heard Dallas’s mumbled complaints, but he allowed me to play the Kacey Musgraves song to completion. When he heard the beginnings of a Jimi Hendrix guitar riff, I could practically feel his shoulders relax. “You’re so annoying,” I griped. 

“If you’re not careful this tiger will end up looking like the outline of Brazil.” I rolled my eyes and gritted my teeth at his words. Though the pain was subtler than the burning I felt when getting my foot tattooed, the tiger (Cecelia) that was getting inked on my skin was quadruple its size. I could only take the constant pain for so long before I started getting snippy. 

“The outline is done, so I’ll head out for a smoke, and then we’ll finish this baby,” Dallas told me fifteen minutes later, finishing the last few lines as he spoke. To signal break time, he slapped me hard on my thigh, near my burning hip.

“I fucking hate you,” I shuddered, looking straight into his eyes. Dallas laughed and made his way around the bed to his cigarettes resting on the counter.

“You still not smoking?” he asked, his Texan drawl coming through.

“Nope, not letting these Europeans have their way with me yet.”

“Be back here in fifteen,” he replied, ignoring my last statement to walk out the back door of the tattoo parlor. I shimmied off the bed, moving slow, making sure not aggravate my hip. The t-shirt dress I was wearing was long enough to leave the shop in and not look like I was only half dressed. I slipped on my yellow checkered vans, looking suspiciously like a girl from a Metro Station music video, and hobbled my way out the front of the shop. Union Jack was a small parlor, nestled between a barber shop and a conveyor belt sushi restaurant in the middle of Shoreditch. Beyond the incredible curry found in the area, the neighborhood also had my favorite assortment of sex shops whenever I needed to pick up some new accessories for work. 

I made my way inside the little sushi house, ordered my simple spicy tuna roll, devoured it in minutes, and trekked a whole 10 meters to get back inside Union Jack. It was a new personal record. Despite how short the journey was to me, it seemed that, in my absence, the entire atmosphere of the shop had changed. Dallas’s co-worker, Angie, was speaking excitedly to two young men facing away from me as I walked in. I identified one of them instantly. 

The shorter of the duo turned around to see who entered, giving me a polite smile before turning around to Angie again. While I attempted to maneuver around to Dallas’s alcove without alerting Harry, the back door slammed forcefully. The slam was followed by a typical Dallas yell. “Jeanne baby get your ass back in here, let’s demolish this tiger!” 

I felt my neck heat up and chest flush red. As soon as Dallas rounded the corner to the main room, he paused, looking both alarmed and confused. “Oh, hey,” he started. “Mates,” I closed my eyes in irritation. “Sorry about the noise,” he chuckled awkwardly, considerably quieter than moments before. To make things even worse, he attempted to motion to me, covertly, to return to his side. Being subtle, however, was never Dallas’s strong suit. 

“No worries, good to know the place is so lively,” Harry’s friend spoke, looking strangely like the lovechild of Ed Sheeran and Chris from series three of Love Island. It was at this point that Harry decided to turn around to look and see who Dallas was motioning to. He found me. I could see the usual, polite smile start to form on his face and then the shift happened. Once he grasped who he was looking at, his smile went from that of a man sitting in a press conference to a straight line-not from anger, but from confusion. And then again, another second passed and it changed, his eyebrows rose and a genuine smile appeared on his face. I scurried towards Dallas before I could see anymore. 

“Hey!” Harry exclaimed, halting me right before I could fully get to Dallas’s room. I did not mean to be rude, but considering my overly flirtatious last meeting with him, I felt incredibly awkward.

“Hi,” I turned around, pretending that I did not notice it was him before I tried to run away. “It’s nice to see you again,” I said, clenching my teeth tightly to form an uncomfortable smile. I silently cursed myself at my assumption, as well, not sure if he wanted to pretend like we had not met previously. 

“Fantastic to see you,” he smiled. I just stood in front of Dallas as silence started to creep over the room. “Are you getting a tattoo?” Harry asked to break the stillness, though I got the feeling that I was the only one who found the silence difficult.

“In the process, would you like to see the style?” Dallas quickly asked, taking over the conversation. He turned me to the side and lifted the bottom of my shirt to reveal the giant tiger on the side of my left hip. Basically, my butt. Out. In front of Harry Styles.

A startled yelp left my throat along with a, “What the fuck,” I whisper sharply to Dallas. I hesitated, deciding not to shove down my shirt again in case that made the entire situation even more uncomfortable.

“You see, I usually do traditional style, but she’s one of my favorite clients to test out new stuff on so I went a bit into east Asia for line inspiration,” Dallas spouted out. I could see instantly what he was doing, using this time to try to sell his tattoo skills to Harry. Hoping, no doubt, for a famous client to bring in more money and visitors. 

“Amazing,” Harry responded, not really looking at my tattoo and instead attempting to make eye contact with me. My brown eyes were looking in every direction except his. “So, how are you? I haven’t seen you around much.” I wanted to respond sarcastically, asking in what universe would he just ‘casually’ see me around, but I held it in. Dallas also took this time to let go of my shirt, catching on that Harry was not really interested in his technical skills.

“Well, London is a big town.”

“Really? I find it rather small,” Harry retorted sweetly. I gave him a tight-lipped smile, not really sure what else to do. It had been two weeks since the incident at Paradise and with the aid of my friends, I was unable to shake the embarrassment. Though, I still could not figure out if I was more mortified at my drunken behavior or upset that I did not end up hanging around him for longer. That could have been my chance to hook up with a pop star. In my current state, I’m sure he found that possibility quite far-fetched. 

“I’m Eliot,” Harry’s friend spoke after another moment of silence.

“Oh ha, sorry, I’m Jeanne. Nice to meet you.” My words were rushed and I decided to put my right hand forward to shake his. Eliot gave me an odd look before agreeing to the gesture. To ensure my follow through, I then decided to shake Harry’s hand. I saw his amused expression behind the words, “Hello Jeanne.” A strange feeling coursed through me when he spoke my name for the first time, his lips forming around the word delicately. It was only after I pulled away from his grasp that I realized how wet and sweaty my hands felt. I discretely whipped my hand on my shirt and I cleared my throat, finally saying, “Well lads, lovely to make your acquaintance, but we must return to the work at hand.” I gave a mini salute before I turned towards Dallas and pushed him into the room, crawling back on the bed and lifting my shirt.

After a few moments of silence as Dallas set up his equipment, he asked, “Did you realize that you just put on an English accent for those departing, lovely words?” He giggled like a prepubescent boy. Embarrassment washed over me yet again.

“Oh, fuck me dude!” I exclaimed and slapped my hand to my forehead. 

“I’m sure he thought that was super cool. You’re not like other girls, ya know?” Dallas responded sarcastically. I rolled my eyes and instead of responding, I reached for my phone and put on Kacey Musgraves once more. “Okay, not cool,” Dallas complained, starting up the needle and continuing my ink.

*

An hour and fifteen plays of High Horse later, my tiger was complete. I was always drawn to aggression in art and that displayed perfectly on my hip. A Bengal tiger prowled down my side as if it were a large branch in the jungle. 

“Thanks man,” I breathed out, glad for the constant burn to be absent. 

“I always take care of my girl,” Dallas smiled, showing off his big gap between his two front teeth. I ruffled his blond, shaggy hair and moved to stand up to be wrapped. “You know the aftercare drill obviously, but I do want to remind you that this is not the time to try out a new whip on your thigh for your daddies.”

“Um okay, you are never calling them that in front of me ever again,” I recoiled. He finished the wrapping and headed towards the main room so he could process my credit card.

“Whatever, you know what I mean,” he said, now behind the main counter, “Leave the whips and chains alone for a bit.”

“Whips and chains?” I heard an amused voice ask from across the room. I felt like I was going into cardiac arrest. For some reason, I assumed that whatever brought Harry and Eliot into the shop would have ended long before I left, leaving me free to exit without their presence. I was wrong.

“She works with horses,” Dallas told him quickly. I shot him an angry look.

“Oh really, that’s exciting. Do you play polo or…?” I was shocked again that Harry attempted to make actual conversation with me, especially after my accent blunder earlier.

“Oh, no I don’t work with horses, he’s just being an asshole.” Harry looked confused so I felt compelled to answer him myself. “I’m a…model…of the sort.”

Harry looked attempted to look impressed, but I could really see that my answer only muddled him further. Though I didn’t know his entire life story, I knew enough about Harry to know that his previous girlfriends were almost all thin models above 5’9. My short stature and thick thighs did not really fit into that stereotype. 

As I gave my card to Dallas, Harry stood by silently, almost begging through his body language for me to initiate conversation. I conceded. “So, come here often?” Not the smoothest, but it was passable. 

“No actually, my mate is getting his sleeve worked on. I usually go to a spot up in North London.” I just nodded, examining the smattering of tattoos visible on his arms.

“Cool mermaid,” gesturing to the ink on near his elbow, “I thought about getting one, but was not really sure if I wanted her to be coy or murderous so I gave up.” I wasn’t really thinking as I spoke. I found it easier to have my routine, weird conversations when I was not looking directly into his eyes. I chose, instead, to focus extensively on the topless sea creature on his arm. 

“Huh, interesting. I think this one does both. She kills with her beauty,” he replied, looking down at his tattoo. I nodded silently, not realizing until it was too late that I was tracing the line work with my black fingernail. Harry didn’t seem to mind that I was touching him relatively intimately, but I decided to pull away anyways. I turned back to Dallas who had a puzzled expression on his face, looking at me like I was an alien from another galaxy. He slowly handed me my card back as I widened my eyes at him in an effort to stop his behavior. 

“Thanks Dally boy,” I said sharply to him, roughly placing my tip for him in his hands before turning back to Harry again. I was not too sure how to end the conversation and leave unscathed. “Well, nice seeing you again.”

“Yea! How’s the tat?” Of course, he wanted to continue on. 

“Oh, Cecelia is doing swell.”

“Who?” 

“My tiger.”

I heard Dallas snort behind the counter. I struggled, forcing myself to not glare at him, before continuing. “I named her,” I said finally.

He smiled back. “Sick. I hope I can see Cecelia some time.” My eyebrows immediately rose at the statement, shock overtaking my entire being. “Oh no, no, not like that. Ha, I don’t know what I meant really, ignore that!” Harry followed up quickly, turning beet red. It was slightly comical to listen to his thick accent stutter over his words.

In an effort to make him feel less uncomfortable and dig myself into a deeper hole, I replied to his statement with, “That’ll be 50 pounds!”

For a moment, I thought it was funny. 

It slipped out so fast, I did not even comprehend that I not only passed myself off as a prostitute, but that I priced myself way to cheaply. I shook my hair into my face, to hide my mortified expression. Of course, my statement definitely made him feel better about his own declaration, his quiet laughter coming through. “I’ll be going now. Bye Harry,” I rushed out, speaking mostly to the floor as I turned to leave, jacket in hand. 

“Wait!” Harry followed quickly behind me. I turned to see his excited face and phone in hand. Large hands. I gulped. “Could I get your number? Maybe we could get a drink or something, you were a good laugh a few weeks ago.” I wanted to remind him that we met for a total of five minutes two weeks ago, but I was in too much shock to respond. Instead, and shockingly I might add, I grabbed his phone and entered my number, leaving a tiger emoji next to my name. When I looked up again, he was smiling brightly, putting his big dimple on display. It was truly hard not to smile back. 

“See you later Harry,” I breathed out. As I turned to head out of the door, pulling on my black jacket, I realized that my statement invited him to reach out to me. I wasn’t mad about it. I was terrified though.  

[ebaeschnbliah]

SCANDINAVIAN  REFERENCES

________________________________________________________________

In Sherlock BBC - and also a little bit outside of it 

While writing on DISTRACTION & CONSEQUENCES and CABIN ON THE MEADOW, involving Phil with his ‘explosive’ car and the Hiker with the bashed-in head, I couldn’t fail to notice that Phil’s unmoving car is a SAAB … which is a Swedish brand. 

According to the informations given during the promotion campaingn for the Escapre Room, TheGameIsNow, Sherlock lives currently in Sweden. Since these aren’t the only occasions where Scandinavian regions are mentioned in Sherlock BBC, the suspicion inevitably arose that those references could be of some importance. Reason enough to make another little list. :)

TBC below the cut ….

Short definition of Scandinavia

The term Scandinavia in local usage covers the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. 

In English usage, Scandinavia also sometimes refers to the Scandinavian Peninsula, or to the broader region including Finland and Iceland.  x

A Scandal in Belgravia

As mentioned above, Phil’s immobile car, which ‘explodes’ and thus distracts the Hiker who, as a consequence, is killed by his own boomerang, is of the Swedish brand SAAB. 

The Empty Hearse

Mr. Howard Shilcott, the ‘train guy (and mirror for Sherlock), possesses important informations about the Underground station at Sumatra Road, which once was built but then closed before it ever opened. He wears a ‘funny hat with earflaps’ made of Islandic sheep wool. That hat becomes an object of significance when Sherlock invites his brother to play deductions with him, just like in the old days.

MYCROFT: The earlier patches are extensively sun-bleached, so he’s worn it abroad – in Peru. SHERLOCK: Peru? MYCROFT: This is a chullo – the classic headgear of the Andes. It’s made of alpaca. SHERLOCK: No. MYCROFT: No? SHERLOCK: Icelandic sheep wool. Similar, but very distinctive if you know what you’re looking for. I’ve written a blog on the varying tensile strengths of different natural fibres.

His Last Vow

The main villain of this episode is designed after Doyle’s British character Charles Augustus Milverton. For some reason, in this adaptation, name and origin of the man have been changed into Charles Augustus Magnussen, who is now from Denmark. The fact that he is ‘foreign’ is driven home explicitly right at the beginning of the episode by the dialogue as well as the accent of the man, who is played by Danish actor Lars Mikkelsen.

GARVIE: Do you think it right that a newspaper proprietor, a private individual and, in fact, a foreign national should have such regular access to our Prime Minister? MAGNUSSEN: I don’t think it’s wrong that a private individual should accept an invitation. However, you have my sincere apologies for being foreign.

The Six Thatchers

Mr. Kingsley, a client, thinks that Sherlock’s deductions, once explained, are actually dead simple. Highly annoyed, Sherlock spontaneously invents a ludicrous story and tells the shocked man that his wife is actually Greta Bengtsdotter, Swedish by birth and the most dangerous spy in the world. She secretly works for none other than James Moriarty and uses her unsuspecting husband as cover to hide her true intentions which will finally precipitate in World War III. 

The first location Mary visits on her hiatus is Norddal in Norway. That’s a small place (ca. 1660 inhabitants) deep inside the Storfjord. Here she picks up a fake passport hidden inside the stonewall of a coastal watchtower. Her new name, Gabrielle Ashdown, is taken from TPLOSH, where Holmes chooses the pseudonym ‘Mr. and Mrs. Ashdown’ for himself and Gabrielle Valladon, the woman who consulted him in the case of her missing husband but is actually Ilse von Hofmannsthal, a German spy who pretends to be Mrs. Valladon. 

The Final Problem

One of the very last scenes of this episode shows a man dressed as Viking, including the (cliched) horned helmet. He lies motionless on the floor in the livingroom of 221b Baker Street (played by Paul Weller). John bends over him and examines his left eye. 

Vikings were highly skilled Norse seafarers who raided and pillaged (like pirates) with their infamous longboats (also well known as dragonboats). They acted as mercenaries but also as merchants, who traded goods across wide areas of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, European Russia and the North Atlantic islands. Some of them even reached the North-Eastern coast of North America. (X)

That Viking is not the only character in this story who ‘wears horns’. Furthermore, cow horns are also connected to the eye-goddess Hathor, whose other, dangerous side is represented by lioness goddess Sekhmet.

The way this Viking lays there … one leg sharply angled at the knee, the foot shoved beneath the other, outstretched leg and both arms straight beside his torso … it’s a bit odd and strangely reminds me of the ‘dancing men’ drawn on the blackboard in the shot displayed immediately before this one. It almost looks like the way this man lies there could have some meaning. 

And something else comes to mind: the way John bends over the Viking stunningly resembles the scene from Magnussen’s office in HLV, when Sherlock got shot by Mary. One could even say, there are three potential ‘pirates’ gathered in Magnusson’s bedroom in that scene ... Sherlock, John and ‘Viking descendent’ Magnussen. Interesting ...

The Game is Now - Escape Room Promotion

With the cliffhanger of The Final Problem in mind and still no official announcement regarding a fifth series on the horizon, one could come to the assumption that the ‘TheGameIsNow- EscapeRoom’ event serves as a sort of interlude and somehow resembles a ‘SherlockBBC-Hiatus’ (hopefully). Isn’t it interesting that here too, Scandinavia seems to play a role?

During the conversation with Mycroft, in the intercepted message Nr 1, Sherlock mentions that he currently is in Sweden. 

During the intercepted message Nr 2 a map of Scandinavia is shown in the background with informations regarding its natural recources: iron ore, copper, zinc, gold, IKEA and uranium. 

Additionally Mycroft confirms a second time where his brother might be found at the moment: ‘Missing, rumoured to be in Sweden’ is written below a picture of Sherlock, kept in black and white, but temporarily overlaid with pink and green  (Study in Pink and Green)

Scandinavian canon reference regarding the ‘hiatus’

In Doyle’s original story The Empty House, Sherlock Holmes tells Dr. Watson after their reunion that, for some time during his hiatus, he had stayed in Norway under a fake identity. 

“You may have read of the remarkable explorations of a Norwegian named Sigerson, but I am sure that it never occurred to you that you were receiving news of your friend.” (ACD, The Empty House)

Using Sherlock’s own words from The Great Game, one could say that, by now, the story told in Sherlock BBC as well as the EscapeRoom event have a …  ‘distinctly Scandinavian feeling about it’.  :)

Some Scandinavian side notes outside Sherlock BBC

Not Sherlock related. Should be taken with caution and humor: 

Radio Times, November 2018:  Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss reveale that Danish actor Claes Bang will be playing Dracula in their new series. ‘Hell has a new boss’ says the headline. Strictly speaking, the boss in Hell is generally considered to be the Devil (maybe also his grandma :) but surely not Dracula, who is after all just a human who desired immortal strength to protect and revenge the ones whom he loved. At least, that’s the story told in ….

Dracula Untold  (2014) -  some quotes:

"One day I will call on you to serve me in an immortal game of revenge … to unleash my wrath against the one who betrayed me."

“This is not a game!”

"Oh, what better way to endure eternity. For this, is the ultimate game. Light versus dark, hope versus despair. And all the world's fate hangs into the balance." 

Vlad Dracula meets his creator         Let the games begin

“You want me to shake hands with you in Hell? I shall not disappoint you.“  (Sherlock at Jim Moriarty, TRF)

How Dracula BBC came into being

“It came about several years ago,” Gatiss said. “We were filming  — we’d just started the third series of Sherlock, where he comes back from the dead, and we had to break off after two days to go to the RTS Awards (March, 2013) and I had a picture on my phone of Benedict silhouetted against the door of Mrs Hudson’s room. I showed it to Ben Stephenson, who was then the Head of Drama [at the BBC], and I said, ‘Looks like Dracula’. And he said, ‘Do you want to do it?'”  (RadioTimes, April 2019)

“We’re gonna go all Dane“

The same article from RadioTimes, contains an interview with Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss. When asked about their upcomming mini-series ‘Dracula’, if there will be more ‘homegrown talents’ among the cast, the producers answered the question in their most familiar way - with lots of laughter and giggling - obviously taking much pleasure in the announcement of their new ‘informations’.

“No, no ..., it’s strictly Dane from now on. We're only casting over Denmark. I don’t think Denmark’s being sufficiently represented and so we’re gonna go all Dane.”  

Strictly Danes …. well, well …. I’m more curious than ever ... and extremely exited!  :))))  

On Scandinavian name-giving tradition

It is a well known custom in Scandinavian regions to create personal names based on the given name of one’s father, grandfather or male ancestor by adding the ending -son/-sen/-søn or -dotter/-dottir/-dattir. This is called a patronymic (while the same method based on the mother’s name is called matronymic). A good example for this in Sherlock BBC is the character Charles Augustus Magnussen …. Magnus-sen = son of Magnus. 

This kind of Scandinavian name-giving tradition is based entirely on first names. Just assuming though, this method would also be applied to last names, then ... a female descendent of someone with the family name ‘Bang’ could be named ... ‘Bangsdotter’. :)))

A last funny detail:  the subtitles for Sherlock BBC, Series 4 (British Edition), display the name of the famous Swedish spy, Sherlock invents in TST, as Greta Bengsdotter. The correct spelling of the first name of Greta’s father (used here as patronymic) isn’t Beng though …. but Bengt.

Bengt (female, Bengta) is the Swedish equivalent of … Benedict.   :)))

As I said above ... to be taken with caution and humor.  :)))))

Thanks @callie-ariane for the scripts.    Related post by @tendergingergirl

Mai 2019

[elevenhoursinfront-blog]

29th November 2017

We slept fine considering how hot it was. It does literally make you feel like you're oxygen is running out, it's weird. We walked over to the toilet straight away as we were busting. We said good morning to a few fellow campers as we walked through the rest area.

We got back to the car and the camper'car' next to us was eating breakfast. They arrived last night as Steve and I were sitting in the car park bay in our underwear (what a sight). Two girls and one guy. He had a roof tent which looked pretty cool. They were all very inconsiderately loud and from Germany. I've met so many German's this year that I reckon I could speak it. I recognise it quicker than English now! Don't get me wrong, I've met a few gems that I'll be visiting and if I time it right, it'll be during Oktoberfest!

We got dressed in the car and had our breakfast cereal on one of the picnic benches. There were flies and birds everywhere which were slightly annoying. It will be nice to eat a meal at a table inside without insects. What a thought for the future.

We wanted to get on the road as soon as possible, so by 0900, we were off. It was my turn to drive so I did. Another five hour drive. I'm sure my bottom is going square.

It's funny how we consider a 5 hour drive to be a normal drive here and a 1 hour drive to be popping to the shops.

My ankle started to really hurt after about 3.5 hours. Our old girl does not have cruise control so you can imagine how much the ankle hurts after 5 hours. 

Even though the drives are really long, I really enjoy them. Steve and I get to talk to each other for hours and it's amazing how much you can still learn about your partner, even after years of being together.

We pulled up to our caravan park around 1330. It was called 'The Reef' and had loads of mermaids everywhere. We parked up and walked in. The door was locked and a resident came out of a massive RV to check us in. He started checking us in when his wife came and done the rest.

She was lovely and told us about all the good stuff to do in the area. She gave us a map and circled things off. She got us some leaflets including our surf lesson that we had picked to do prior to arriving. We'll be doing that tomorrow.

For the last few days, the rain hasn't really stopped. The skies were grey the whole drive down from Airlie Beach which is annoying. We parked in our spot and the park was fairly empty. The lady said it wasn't in season yet. We had picked unpowered because it was much cheaper, but still expensive.

I can't believe people are charging a good $50 a night when they know we're renting a home that costs $35 a night any way. It's so irritating.

We went for a wee and checked around the 'camp kitchen'. It wasn't much of a kitchen to be honest with you, it was a BBQ, sink and a kettle. That was all. We went back to our van and decided to drive to the town. This was the cheapest camp site in the area of Agnes Waters/1770 because it wasn't smack bang in the middle of the town. There were loads more along the beach front but you can imagine the price of those.

We jumped in the van and drove the 10 minutes in. The town itself was small. A lot smaller than either of us had pictured. It's very popular amongst backpackers but at first glance, I was struggling to see why. Most come here to learn to surf. It's the cheapest lesson along the coast only costing $17 for 3 hours. Elsewhere is around $70 for 2 hours.

We drove to the top of 1770 and parked up. There were a few lookout points which were meant to be stunning, and still were, it's just that it was the most miserable day. You don't appreciate a good view without the beautiful blue sky. The lookout points were a walk through the forest area which we did whilst we were starving. We hadn't eaten since breakfast this morning so we were walking around with a pack of Snack'A'Jacks. Steve was having a real 'mantrum' (tantrum for full grown men) because in his eyes, his East Coast trip had lead to this. I really enjoyed them and they're not very fattening. It filled a gap so what else can you ask for!

We walked back to the van, after I by accidentally hit Steve in the balls with the pack of Snack'A'Jacks. I was swinging them as I was walking but Steve managed to get in the way. He had one of those dramatic moments where he felt like he was actually, for real this time, dying. He was over it in a few seconds though and besides, it was an accident.

We drove to the bottom of the town and drove around. It appears there's a fair bit of money in 1770 and the houses were unreal. The majority of them are on a steep hill though and I am not about that sort of life. Imagine carrying your full shop up 10,000 steps just to get to the front door? Nope!

We pulled over at a shop that said 'Information Centre'. These are based in almost every town along the coast for backpackers to find out what is best to do. They're basically travel agents too so they will try to sell you as much as they can.

We walked in and picked up the leaflet for our surf lesson we pre-planned. The English lad in the agents said it's a good surf school and obviously, the cheapest. He said we didn't need to book in advance, we just turn up at the school at 0900. Woop!

There was one more trip I wanted to do in Agnes which is really, really popular and it's called 'Scooteroo'. It's basically a school of motorbikes which gets you dressed up in black leathers with flames on and you drive round like you're a red neck for the day. You don't need a bike license as they're not real big bikes although they're are the spitting image of Harley's! It's pretty awesome but it was $65 each. I didn't really want to waste so much money on driving round on a bike, although it looked so cool.

As we were in the store, the heavens opened and it was chucking buckets. We ran to the car and decided to go to IGA to get some washing liquid. We were desperate to do a wash but we didn't keep any of our laundry stuff. Silly, really. We went inside and I managed to get a 2L bottle for the price of a 1L bottle – bargain! I bet we don't even use 1L of it...

We decided on having Alfredo pasta so Steve picked up some chicken breast and a garlic bread to go with it. We left in our van and returned to our camp. I was quite chilly so I put a hoody on and got our stuff out for dinner. We have to try and cook before it gets dark otherwise we're stuck with only a head torch.

We got over to the camp kitchen and tried to preheat the BBQ. We didn't have a lighter so we couldn't light the gas. Luckily, a guy came over with one of those long clicky lighters and lit it for us. He was from Scotland and really chatty – a nice guy. He was on his own with his Labrador. Steve reckons he's split up with his wife and now on his own.

We cooked our dinner which was delicious. It got dark but luckily there were kitchen lights. Just as we were finishing, the guy's Labrador came running over to see if there was any left for him. He came running over shouting at his dog but ended up standing there, chatting to us for about 40 minutes. Steve was right – his wife left him. He didn't have enough money to get a house so he was forced to leave his job and buy a mobile type home. He has the dog luckily so he has some sort of companion. I felt so sorry for him, his world had just been turned upside down and he's lost everything. He did his year working visa when he was around 19 years old. He's a good 40 years old now. He moved to Brisbane and settled down there for the rest of his life. He has no intention on moving back home. He's going to travel Australia for the year and see where his life takes him. He must be so lonely, which is why I guess he stayed to talk to us for so long. He was enjoying some company for the first time in a week, two weeks.

I washed our stuff up and we jumped into the van. We got our stuff ready for a shower and went just before bed. Cold showers before bed to at least give us half a chance of not over heating.

We were back and in bed by 2100. The rain hadn't stopped since we saw it open up at the stores earlier. It was so heavy and loud on the van, I thought it might come through.

[gascon-en-exil]

Annoyed rambling about current events under the cut.

I know this isn’t the first time I’ve talked about him on the blog, but my regular lover for the last 3+ years can be such a nuisance in so many different ways. He’s become increasingly political the longer I’ve known him, and while I can brush off the ringing endorsements for the current American president and the misplaced Confederate pride in general because they concern things that have never been of any concern to me, it quietly enrages me whenever he insists on bringing the French into his numerous and rotating causes célèbres. For example, you may have heard that, in a much-belated move following the shootout at a black church in South Carolina two(!) years ago, New Orleans recently removed four Confederate-era statues that had been standing around the city. This move was extremely controversial among all the expected people for all the expected reasons - see this article for a detailed account of one of the removals - with my lover being one of several who is now publicly boycotting Orleans Parish (i.e. New Orleans proper) and displaying unabashed hatred for the mayor who initiated the process of removing the monuments and got it pushed through the relevant government bodies. 

This personally inconveniences me as we no longer have dinner or go on outings in the city but now make do with dull suburban Metairie and other such parts of the metro area instead, but as he knows where my political sympathies lies he never wastes an opportunity to needle into me that the monument removed in the article I linked above is that of Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard, a Creole and New Orleans area native among the otherwise mostly Anglo gallery of prominent Confederate figures. He has repeatedly insisted that I should be enraged at the apparent disgrace of one of my countrymen and that this will be a prelude to the removal of other French figures honored in statue form in the city (including Sieur de Bienville, founder of New Orleans, and Ste. Jeanne d’Arc, one of the city’s patrons - her statue a gift from France) and become prickly and uncooperative when I don’t respond to his liking. As I’ve retorted more than once, the descendants and countrymen of Beauregard saw our wealth, land, culture, social and political influence, and even language progressively stripped away, leaving us in poverty and nothing to sustain us but impotent bitterness and an absurd and impossible nationalism (that we are incapable of expressing to the people who might be most inclined to sympathize with us, moreover). After all that why in the world would he be upset at the removal of a hunk of bronze? He’s probably be just as angry as I am to see his image appropriated for the cause of Anglo racism alongside the likes of Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis, the very men whose military incompetence allowed New Orleans to be besieged and captured by the Union and whose cohorts forcibly converted into an English-speaking, Anglo-dominated city in the decades following the war.

So it is the same with every single account of a terrorist attack in France, including the most recent one in Paris. He texts me news accounts of these things as if I would never have seen them myself otherwise, and I guarantee that the next time I’ll see him I’ll have to endure a rant on how the French are too soft on Muslims/Arabs (says the man who’s one-fourth Lebanese, but that’s “okay” because he’s Eastern Orthodox-converted-to-Catholicism-two-generations-back), that Président Macron is too weak, that the current American president is so amazing and will magically fix the Middle East with bombs or something, etc. I will appear to remain unmoved and so come off as indifferent just as I’ve had to do for every other act of terrorism in France in the last few years. It’s exceptionally tiresome.

EDIT: As I was typing this he called and my prediction came true. I played it off by pointing out that the Cathèdrale de Notre-Dame was defaced and turned temporarily into a temple to Reason by our own people during the Revolution, so this is really nothing new. My indifference coasts by primarily on a strong belief in the fundamental absurdism of politics and indeed all human nature.

[topfygad]

8 Reasons to Visit Malaysia

(Post written by Pete Saville)

Spanning across the southern tip of the South East Asian peninsular and 800 kilometres east across the ocean to the magnificent island of Borneo, where it has two states on the northern stretch of the island called Sarawak and Sabah, Malaysia is blessed with landscapes ranging from mountains, ancient rain forests, rolling green hills to stunning beaches and coral-gardened islands with some of the best diving and snorkelling sites in the world.

Although around 50% ethnic ‘Malays’ make up the majority of the population, there are also huge minorities of Chinese (30%), Indian (10%) and other smaller pockets of Portuguese in Melacca, and indigenous people – the ‘Orang Asli’, making Malaysia truly a multicultural nation.  This has also inevitably created an astonishing mix of religions and faiths: Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism and Sikhism, as well as Animist/Shamanistic beliefs living together in relative harmony.  When walking around Kuala Lumpur, you will likely see Hindu Temples alongside Taoist and Buddhist temples, as well as Churches and Mosques.

Malaysian food is as varied and colourful as Malaysia’s geography and multiculturalism. It’s quite possible to have a noodle soup for breakfast, an Indian for lunch and a Chinese for dinner. This variation is a real treat. Yes; It may sound a little cliché, but Malaysia really does have something to offer everyone; from young and adventurous nature lovers to beach-bums, from culture-vultures to food enthusiasts, and everyone else in between.

And the icing on the cake: Malaysia’s infrastructure and economy is way ahead of other nations in the region, making getting around almost always easy and comfortable. Practically everyone speaks at least some English in Malaysia and there is very little ‘hassle-factor’ or annoying touts to speak of.  Here are 8 reasons why your next trip to Asia should be Malaysia.

1. Beaches

Beaches in South-East Asia are arguably the best in the world. People so often overlook Malaysia for the more famous beaches in Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia.  This makes the less well-known beaches of Malaysia more tranquil with much less of a young backpacker crowd and no full-moon parties, those that have really spoilt once-serene beaches in places like Thailand.

Lie just off the coast of northern mainland Malaysia, close to the Thai border, the Perhentian Islands have by far my favourite beaches for relaxation. Between the two islands, Perhentian Kecil is more for the low-key backpacker crowd, and Perhentian Besar, slightly larger, quieter and more serene, has more high-end accommodation options, great for couples, honeymooners and families who want a slice of paradise and to get away from it all for a while.

The Beautiful Water of the Perhentian Islands

Snorkelling in Sipadan Island

Both islands are part of a Marine Conservation Area, and as such, the only way of getting around is on foot – which is relatively easy and fun due to the gentle topography. The area has some beautiful jungle paths linking between beaches – or ‘water taxis’ which can take you from one secluded beach to the next (or between islands) for a few dollars. Activities on these islands are very much limited to snorkelling or scuba diving, but fortunately there are lots of options for both. The water visibility here is always around 20 metres – crystal clear – and is home (and famous for) to large populations of turtles as well as tropical fish and reef sharks. The best site for diving is arguably the Pinnacle, also known as “Tokong Laut”- a coral-reef capstone spiralling out to the surface of the water. For snorkelling, Teluk Pauh is a great site for its sheer variation in tropical fish and turtles.  It’s impossible to pick a favourite as any beach on Besar Island is fantastic.

You can spend a week or two here ‘beach-hopping’ from one beach to another by jungle paths or water taxis and will be amazed when you come across those majestic sea turtles and fearsome looking but generally harmless Reef Sharks. Or just relax and work on that tan, enjoying the white, pristine, quiet beaches with their crystal clear water.

2. Food

With so many different cultures calling Malaysia home, you are in for an absolute treat when it comes to food. Virtually every town and city on the mainland and on Borneo has Chinese, Southern Indian and traditional Malay cuisine. In particular, the Malay national dish is widely considered to be Nasi Lemak – coconut rice with a sambal sauce (basically a spicier version of salsa sauce) and

anchovies. This delicious dish can be found everywhere and is the quintessential street food in Malaysia. Another very popular Malay dish you can find both on the street and in restaurants is spicy fried noodles (Mee Goreng) with seafood such as my personal favourite – tiger prawns, in a coconut rich yellowed curry sauce.   As for Indian – Southern Indian cuisine dominates here.  You can expect to find delicious Masala or Paper Dosai, which is basically thin crepes filled with vegetable or meat fillings, often served with Raita (a thin yogurt) and side dishes such as Dal (lentils).  And Malay-Chinese? Expect the usual authentic Chinese dishes such as Pork rib soup (Bak Kut Teh), as well as something unique to Malaysia, O-Chian.  It’s nothing but Oyster Omelette, fried until crispy and with a side dish of chili sauce. Simple perhaps, but absolutely delicious and is outright my favourite.

3. Culture

Although Kuala Lumpur has its own ‘Little India’ and ‘Little China’ districts that are interesting in their own right, Georgetown – a UNESCO World Heritage City is hands down the best place to see Malaysia’s multiculturalism.  Nestled in the north-west just off the Malaysian mainland, on the island of Penang, connected by one of the largest bridges in the world, Georgetown is filled in its colourful glory, with Hindu and Taoist Temples alongside numerous mosques and the odd Catholic Church. It’s just a joy to spend a few days in this place sampling the cuisine, visiting the wonderfully preserved temples from these numerous religions, and learning about the city’s colonial past.

Majestic View of Masjid Selat mosque, Malacca

Georgetown, Penang

Another UNESCO World heritage to visit for a dose of culture is Malacca.  This place offers a glimpse into an extraordinary empire founded centuries ago and later colonised by the Portuguese, Dutch and British.  Here you can find a rich tapestry of multicultural influences displayed through its heritage architecture, diverse lifestyles and unsurpassed charm.     Elsewhere in Malaysia, you can expect to find some pretty spectacular treats. Located at the entrance to the stairs of Batu Caves is the 43 metres high giant gold statue of the Hindu God Murugan.  Within the caves are other statues dedicated to Hindu gods such as Hanuman and Lord Rama.

4. Festivals

Major holidays in Malaysia coincide with some of the biggest cultural/religious festivals. Ramadan is the biggest Muslim holiday.  It includes fasting – at which times many restaurants maintain a low-profile to respect this Muslims ritual, regardless of whether they are Muslim or not.  However this doesn’t affect tourists much; just expect things to go a bit slower than usual with regards to service and transport. But when these fasts are broken, some really unique foods are on offer throughout Malaysia in Muslim communities. Nasi Kerabu, a multi-coloured dyed rice, Apam balik, a pancake-style snack stuffed with sugar, peanuts and sprinkle of corn, or Ayam percik which is chicken lathered in spicy chili, garlic and ginger sauce mixed with coconut milk are just a few delicious foods offered to break fast after Ramadan.

Chinese New Year is also a major holiday/festival, and you can expect to see a lot of terrific celebrations as tourist during this time, many involving huge amounts of fireworks, dragon dancing carnivals, and Chinese lanterns floating majestically through the night sky.

Finally for the religious-oriented festivals, Hindu Diwali is another enjoyable one for tourists: Meaning “festival of lights”, you can expect Hindus to fill their homes and businesses at night with thousands of candles, and like Chinese New Year, plenty of fireworks and religious ceremonies are performed at sites such as Batu Caves, and of course, Little India in Kuala Lumpur.

But besides these religious and cultural festivals, Malaysia boasts some well-established ‘contemporary ones’. Every August in Sarawak, on Borneo, is the ‘Rainforest World Music Festival’. Spanning over 3-days, the festival is just outside the city of Kuching in a forested area. It has music performers from all around the world – from Jamaica to France to home-grown Malaysian talent – as well as cultural attractions such as tribal arts that you can try yourself in ‘mini-courses’ included in the price of the ticket.

5. Adventure

For adventurous types, Malaysian Borneo in particular is a real treat.  In Sabah province, you can attempt to climb to the summit of Mount Kinabalu. At around 4000 metres, it is no easy feat, but no mountain climbing skills in particular are required, just a good level of fitness, hiking and some scrambling. And of course, a lot of willpower! The views from the summit can be spectacular if you are lucky enough not to have your view obscured by mist! You can see all the way to the Philippines when the sky is clear.

In Sarawak on the opposite side of Borneo Island are ample opportunities for trekking to indigenous hill-tribes. Belaga is the best place to organise such treks. Our Longhouse Safari Tour features a fascinating cultural experience with visits to an Iban longhouse village plus a chance to meet the once feared “headhunter”.

And finally, Gunung Mulu National Park, located almost slap-bang in the middle of Malaysian Borneo and near the border with tiny-nation of Brunei, is home to the largest known cave systems in the world that are still being mapped by scientists. Within Mulu National Park lies the biggest underground cave chamber of the world; Sarawak Chamber.  The longest cave of Southeast Asia, the Clearwater Cave, can also be found in this park, with a documented length of well over 75 kilometres. There are numerous caves within Mulu National Park, but only a few are accessible by visitors.  The most visited of these caves is the enormous Gua Payau or Deer Cave; as it is easily accessible from the entrance of the park.  And if you somehow get tired of caving, you can always attempt the walk on the 480 metre Mulu Canopy Skywalk, the biggest forest canopy walkway in the world. Gunung Mulu is truly an adventure traveller’s dream.

6. Snorkelling and Diving

Although one of the best places in Malaysia for underwater adventures has already been mentioned in this post – The Perhentian Islands – there is in fact a place a little harder and more expensive to get too, but more than worth the effort: The Sipadan Islands. Widely considered to be one of the best diving sites in the world – regularly appearing in ‘Top 3’ lists – it is hands down THE best diving site in Malaysia.

Located on the southernmost point of Sabah on Malaysian Borneo – right near the border with Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantan) – it takes a couple of Air Asia flights to get here from Kuala Lumpur.  Sipadan is a heavily protected Marine Park, and as such no one is allowed to stay on the island overnight, so your best options are to stay in Semporna or Mabul and organise your snorkelling or diving from the plethora of diving companies that operate here.

You can only enter Sipadan from 08:00-15:00hrs so all excursions with tour operators have to be between this time periods.

However, once on the island, a wade (or swim) of a mere 20 metres will get you to the absolutely spectacular 2000 metre drop-off, where the reef wall drops down a tectonic fault line into a magical world of multi-coloured coral gardens, turtles, hammerhead and leopard sharks, as well as tropical fish such as massive schools of Jackfish and Barracuda.

But perhaps the icing on the cake here is that Sipadan has one of the finest water visibilities in the world: You can expect to have a visibility range of 30 metres (unless it has been stormy, in which case it still reaches an admirable 10-15 metres at worst!) in waters that are seemingly like planes of glass as they are so clear.

7. Wildlife

Both peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo have some spectacular sites for all manner of fauna and flora, with a number of National Parks fairly well-protected by international standards. Kuala Tahan National Park is the stand-out attraction on peninsular/mainland Malaysia. It’s the largest park on the mainland, and is infamous for its rainforest, birds and insects. Entry is virtually free, and once inside the park, there are roped walkways that are easy for even young children and elderly to traverse and enjoy the wildlife sightseeing. Guides are unnecessary as all walking trails are well signposted, well-maintained and easy to navigate. However, those looking for more hardcore sightseeing can always opt to do the organised 100km hikes to the indigenous tribal.   A guide is highly recommended or in many cases compulsory for this type of hikes. In either case, expect to see all manner of rare birds, stick insects, praying-mantis, scorpions and – if you opt for a Night Safari with a guide- you can see the spectacular glow in the dark fungus! This is really special and comes highly recommended.

For those who love adventure and wildlife lover, our Ultimate Borneo Adventure boasts an action-packed itinerary featuring Sukau, Danum Valley and Kota Kinabalu.

Proboscis Monkeys, Borneo

Baby Orrang-Utan in Kinabalu Nation Park

For somewhere with even rarer species, Kinabalu Nation Park in Sabah, Borneo is the place to head too. The rare Proboscis Monkey, with its distinctive curved, wobbly nose, as well as Orang-utan in an open Reserve are the two creatures that top the list of people’s must-see animals here.  Chances are very high you’ll see both, as well as a myriad number of multi-coloured kingfishers, crocodiles on Kinabalu River and gigantic monitor lizards among other weird and wonderful critters. If you’re an active family looking to inject fun, education and adventure on a non-so-typical vacation, be sure to check out our 12-day private Malaysia Family Tour that features Selingan Turtle Island, Borneo and some R&R on the beach in Kota Kinabalu.

8. Natural Beauty

One place that simply could not be omitted from this post is the Cameron Highlands on Peninsular Malaysia. Despite the sometimes dreary British-style weather, the Cameron Highlands have a lot to offer in natural beauty. The highlands are generally green and rolling, and this lead to the British setting up massive tea plantations that last to this day. Green tea leaves cover the gentle slopes for mile after mile, and are an absolute joy to walk around and explore.

Cameron Highlands is also home to what is known colloquially as the ‘Mossy Forest’. Millions of years old makes it one of the oldest forests in the world with some of the Earth’s oldest trees.  It is also a cloud forest, constantly covered in mist, giving the whole area a ‘Lord of the Ring’s’ atmosphere! Cameron Highlands is featured on our Malaysia Highlights tour covering Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, Cameron Highlands and Penang.

Picking Tea Leaves in Cameron Highlands

Green Tea Hills of Cameron Highlands

But perhaps the highlight of a trip here isn’t just to see those beautiful rolling hills or hiking through cloud forests, Cameron Highlands is home to the largest flower in the world, the Rafflesia Flower, which can reach over 100cm in diameter. These flowers, truly a wonder of the natural world, look entirely alien as if they belong on another planet. The one hour long jeep ride to get here from the main town is well-worth it, especially when you can take refreshing swims in the beautiful waterfall in the forest.

So Malaysia…, what is there not to like? With so many things to do and see, there’s definitely something for everyone here!

  Recommended tours of Malaysia, backed by Rough Guides – a leading travel publisher :

For additional tours of Malaysia, be sure to check out our Malaysia & Singapore page.

source http://cheaprtravels.com/8-reasons-to-visit-malaysia/

[gsmatthews95]

The most long winded journey of all time

Second piece of the day. Sat in the same chair, under the same tree having eaten my pizza. The one good things about today's saga has been that it has enabled me to catch up on this little blog as I was a few days behind and was too lazy to write it yesterday. The result, we've had two days of complete chill to recharge our batteries. Onto the bustle of the capital city next woo yah.

Ok so the trip from zabljak to Kosovo (pec more accurately) the border town on the kosovan side of the border. So we googled the vest and quickest way to get to Kosovo from the national park. We thought this would be easy. Maybe 2 buses and take a few hours, simple. We were wrong. There were no buses. At all. The journey was long, windy and barely travelled. This country has not got great social mobility we concluded. But with the only recommended option being to travel back down to Podgorica and then get a bus to pec that arrived at 3am we decided to take it on. Coincidentally, this journey while taking a day and night would also have cost us 52 dollars. To get 3 hours east. Ridiculous. We decided to hitch hike. The journey was supposed to be six parts: 1) zabljak to Tara bridge, 2) tara bridge to mojkovac, 3) mojkovac to bijelo polje, 4) bijelo polje to berane, 5) berane to rosaje and 6) rosaje to pec. Easy as. 6 separate hitches in one day. 6 people nice enough to pick us up off the road and take us closer to our destination. We decided to take Lita of food and water and embarked early the next day upon our adventure. Exciting.

We set off. It was early, not even nine yet. We left for the bus station to see if there were any buses or if they even had any info for us. They didn't. We even met some Serbians who seemed scared for our lives that we were going to Kosovo. Great another good omen. It wasn't looking good for us but we persevered and walked to our street, found our spot, put our bags down and put our thumbs up. It was slow, maybe because there were so many cars right next to the town that no one felt empathetic enough to help us, they shifted blame to each other and didn't feel sorry enough to stop for us. Bastards. But then after 30 mins or so we got lucky and a mini bus with people going rafting was heading straight for Tara bridge, sweet. Trip 1 tick.

We got to the bridge, we hoped he'd stop so we could jump out. To our horror he carried on across the bridge (it was really long and quite narrow. I could see the trepidation in Alina's eyes as she was thinking what I was thinking. Were gonna have to walk back along that.) Then he took us further. Down a hill to the rafting and ziplining area. More walking yay. We got there had some breaky as we waited for him to drive back. He wasn't driving back. He shepherded the rafters to their rafts and came back and good us to wait as we asked if he could drive us back over the bridge. Luckily a man in a yute (his mate) was doing this exact journey and the nice bus driver hailed him down to give us a lift. So we made it to point two of our journey. Sat on the road, just past the stalls selling souvenirs with 40km of winding mountain roads ahead of us. We were there for ten minutes. Maybe 6 cars had gone past, all full. God this may be long. This was the scariest stretch of the journey as there are no buses going along it and very few cars as we've established. But after barely ten minutes a car pulls over, speaking English the two women ask where we're going. We reply "anywhere that direction please, but preferably mojkovac". They pull over, we clear the back seats and jump in. The two of us and our two big rucksacks on our laps. Not much space. It turns out the two women were German so they had a nice German chat with Alina while I sat in the back squished between two bags. They dropped us right off at mojkovac where we hoped to catch a bus only for a taxi driver to tell us there were no buses and we should take his taxi instead. No thank you. We ain't got that mulah. Back to the streets and hitchhiking. Point 3 reached and it wasn't even midday. We were confident.

This confidence was short lived. Maybe 10 minutes as we wandered up the windy road in the heat looking for a good place to stand where the cars could stop for us. We walked up and stopped. We tried to hitch. We didnt get far. No one stopped, some people seemed to be angry at us judging by their faces and gestures. Hmm. Bad signs. So we moved up the street to find a new spot. This was so long as we walked further up the hill, in the furnace midday heat, with our fat bags. It was bleak. Spirits were low. We stood on the side of the road at a bad place on the uphill on a curve. It was crap but we were tired. We kept trying then out of the blue pur messiah arrived. An angry looking man in a big white van. Be stopped we jumped in and we drove towards bijelo polje. As we got close, getting tired of his.... Questionable music he asked where exactly so we said berane, the next stop on our journey and we lucked out as it turned out he was heading there too. Easay oh, two legs in one wooooo baybey. Spirits were high, smiles were worn and we relaxed. These were the hardest parts of the journey down. We got there and crossed another bridge to find a spot for lunch on our road we had to head down. We set up legs three and four done, tick tick.

Our much was nice as we chowed down on our bread and cheese, fig rolls and crisps. We were on a patch of grass in the middle of the road basically in the shade under a sign. It was extremely nice, chilled and relaxing as we took advantage of our moments peace on this long day. There was one thing blocking the peace though. The fact that 60% of the passing cars took huge interest in us as they said hi, honked at us and waved. Very bazaar but a nice change nonetheless from the constant death stares and glowers we have been used to from the majority of people in these post communist countries. At one point a police car even went past and shouted hi at us. That was jokes. We felt welcome. If this was a sign of what Kosovo would be like we knew wed enjoy it and have fun. After lunch we moved ten meters up the road and reassumed our positions. Lowbehold 15 minutes later we had a car pull up and honk us. Bangin. We jumped in. This was a funny journey as the guys who picked us up were two early twenties Serbian psytrance heads.... For those who dont know psytrance is a very fast and aggressive style of music. Similar to dnb x10. They were sound tho and with the slight blip of the fact that they told us they hadn't slept for 2 days aside it was a funny journey as they chatted about the Balkans, festivals, psytrance and how they couldn't and wouldn't go to Kosovo cause they would probably be killed owing to the tense nature of relations between the two nations..... Never the less they got us to rosaje the fifth part of our journey. Tick. Onto the final leg.

We got to the bus station and were immediately hailed down by a man in German who wanted coffee with us. As Alina speaks German this is a common occurrence for us as a lot of old men who have worked in Germany and speak Germany and love Germany want to talk about it. Alina gets stuck talking to them and I am left like a lemon smiling and nodding as much as I can. This man told us the buses to Kosovo had all gone for the day and it would cost 20 euros to take a taxi. This didn't seem bad so we sat and ha d a coffee with him as he found us a driver. One came over. He had poor English but enough to say ten, ten pointing at me and Alina. Cool 20 euros for the two of us that seems fine for a border crossing and a 50km journey. This journey was simple. Through the mountains and across the Montenegrin side of the border. It was then a 20 minute drive till we hit the Kosovo side of the border which begged the question who owns this vast stretch of land in the middle?? According to maps.me it was kosovan though. We got to pec in very good time (much better than 3am) slightly underwhelmed because the last leg of the journey was so simple. But stick one more big tick as we'd completed leg 6. As we got out I gave him a fifty euro note expecting to get 30 change. I got 20. Classic. Excuse me. You told us it was 20. We had a heated exchange for five minutes before Alina realised the issue. Every time he said 30 it sounded like ten. So he'd actually said the same the whole time but wed thought he'd said 20. Very annoying. Whatever though. We saved 25 quid, had and adventure and got in at a much more convenient time. A good little journey.

Anyway the saga is now over by the way and all is well. We are on the bus to pristine now, the capital city. All is well.

See y'all soon, under 2 months!! G.

[trekwithtaylor]

Country #60 - Spain

The Guggenheim

Today I visited Bilbao, Spain! You’re probably wondering why I chose Bilbao of every amazing place in Spain that there is to visit and the answer is pretty simple. I spent a week in Spain last year with my mom when she visited me during study abroad; we visited Barcelona, Madrid, and Valencia, all of which I loved. However, ever since I heard about the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao it has sat at the top of my bucket list and a visit became a must. I am a huge fan of museums if you can’t tell, and especially modern art museums which the Guggenheim Bilbao is. Also, it seemed like a good idea to avoid Barcelona right now considering everything that is going on politically. So Bilbao, finally, it is!

I thankfully got a really good nights sleep before setting off for a full day in Bilbao. My first stop of the day was Catedral de Santiago. It was right near I was staying in the heart of Plaza Nueva area and was a beautiful example of gothic architecture. There was a nice audio guide that I appreciated and it was a really stunning Spanish church. From there I walked along Ria del Nervion O de Bilbao all the way to the Guggenheim. It was a beautiful walk along the water and I really enjoyed being able to see the city that way. When I arrived at the Guggenheim my jaw literally dropped. It is one of the most, if not the most, incredible buildings that I have ever seen. It is made of titanium (that’s as thin as tissue paper), stone, and glass. It is incredible and words simply cannot do it justice so please enjoy the pictures. The art outside (besides the creepy spider) was all amazing and I just so happened to walk by when the fog installation on the bridge went off which was really cool.

If I can give you any advice for visiting it would be to definitely buy your ticket ahead of time. The line outside went stretched up the long stairway entrance and down the street, but I was able to just walk right on in. Also, the ticket includes an audio guide! I took my time in the museum as it was the entire reason I was in Bilbao. And I was not disappointed. The first floor was filled with large installation pieces which I really enjoyed and will include some pictures of below. The second floor was entirely a video installation by one artist spread throughout the galleries which was really interesting. Lastly, on the third floor was the Guggenheim's permanent collection. It was a more typical gallery feel and included works by Rothko and Pollock.

I thoroughly enjoyed every floor as well as learning more about the building which is basically a sculpture in itself and was my favorite work of art on the day. It’s just such a cool building! I spent three hours in the museum and another hour outside taking pictures. I even walked up on the bridge next to it to get some better shots which I recommend if you visit. It was definitely worth travelling to see and I can now say that I have seen every Guggenheim museum (the others are in New York and Venice).

After the Guggenheim, I was starving but everything was, unfortunately, closed thanks to Siesta being an actual, annoying, thing. I get that it is a cultural thing but, speaking solely as a tourist, it is annoying to find things closed in the middle of the day. I found an ice cream place that was open at least. It wasn’t the ideal lunch situation but it was enough to hold me over until a large dinner later in the evening. After getting the ice cream I walked to Federico Moyúa Plaza which was filled with people and was just a cool spot in the center of the city to see. From there I walked to the Museum of Fine Arts of Bilbao. The permanent collection there is free from 6-8 so I waited ten minutes before entering and it was great!

I really enjoyed the museum because it covered all time periods, from Medieval to Modern and everything in between in sequential order. I also enjoyed my time there as it wasn’t huge but was high in quality even having works by Picasso. I spent about an hour in the museum before walking by the next door Doña Casilda de Iturrizar Park for a few minutes and then walking back across the river to Plaza Nueva for dinner. I had originally planned to take the Metro back until I realized why their streets were swarming with people - Bilbao Athletic Club (soccer team) was playing Barcelona (FCB) tonight! There were fans everywhere and I even saw an approximately ten police car long motorcade escorting the Barcelona team bus. This added to it being a Saturday meant people were everywhere! As a result, I decided to walk and people watch instead of packing into a metro. I did not see any protests due to politics the entire day and the only thing I saw on my walk were lots and lots of soccer fans and a few chants!

Plaza Nueva is basically the heart of Bilbao. It was absolutely packed. I think it is just a thing in Spain for children to run around squares at night while their parents socialize because I have seen it multiple times before. This one was no different other than some of the kids were wearing Halloween costumes. My favorite was definitely the little girl dressed as Iron Man; she was SO into it it was fantastic. She would try to blast everyone she saw with her hands like Iron Man does.  It was adorable.

It was a bit of a struggle to find a place to eat because ordering tapas off of the bar is a little stressful, but especially in Bilbao where English was much less common than in cities like Madrid or Barcelona. I found a sit-down restaurant on the square and only had to wait for the table for a few minutes! It was great. A French family came up and sat at the rest of my table. It wasn’t ideal because it was just a bit weird - they didn’t talk the whole time. My server told me, while they were deciding to sit down, that what they were doing was considered incredibly rude in Spain! It was weird but my food was fantastic and included some of my favorite tapas: croquetas, manchego cheese, and Iberian ham.

After dinner, I sat in Plaza Nueva for a bit and called my mom. My bus to Madrid didn’t leave until 1:00am so I had to find something to do to pass the time. I eventually found a cafe around the corner that served my favourite Spanish dessert, churros and chocolate! You dip the churros in the melted chocolate and it is as good as it sounds. I sat there for about two hours and then made my way back to my hotel to pick up my luggage and head to the bus station. I arrived about thirty minutes early and we started to board not long after. It was a four-hour ride to the Madrid airport and I slept at least two of them.

When I arrived in Madrid there was almost no one in the airport as it was 5:00am. Security was, as a result, really easy. Of course, the information boards didn’t say which gate to go to because Europe is the worst at this, but I used the American Airlines app to find out since I was flying home using a family pass. It was a long wait but I watched some TV and worked on my blog. I then had to do the new extra security screening for the first time. It’s the one that was just enacted where you have to answer questions (to the airline employees) about your travels. It was just as stupid and pointless as I thought it would be. I was asked what my occupation is and where I travelled in Spain. It was more annoying than anything else.

I got a seat on the plane even though I was low on the standby list and, excitedly, it was an exit row seat! There was nothing in front of me and I had tons of space for the entire flight. I watched two movies (The House and The Big Sick), slept for three hours, ate two meals, and worked on the blog. It was not turbulent at all and was overall a good flight back! I’m going to work in Dallas for a bit before heading out on my next trip back towards the Middle East! I had an amazing time on this trip, notably in Iceland and Spain. I highly recommend you visit both. I wish I could have done more of Spain on this trip but just know that Barcelona, Madrid, and Valencia are all also amazing Spanish cities that you should definitely visit. Spain is such a unique country (or countries, depending on what happens there) and I have loved every second I have spent there!

60 countries down, 137 to go.

For more information on Spain click here to read my guide.

[megaclearstudentgarden-blog]

Article from Burqas & Beer page

Check Your Punjabi Privilege: The Hijacking of Malala by Non-Pashtun Pakistanis

When Malala Yousafzai won the Noble Peace Prize, Afghans and Pashtuns internationally rejoiced. A member of the tribe won!

But quickly, this state of joy and pride was robbed from us when non-Pashtun Pakistanis began to claim Malala as their own. To me, this is equivalent of a white American pretending to know or even understand the Ferguson struggle. Please – check your Punjabi/Muhajir privilege.

For those of you who don’t know what the hell I’m talking about, Malala is an ethnic Pashtun. She is from the Swat Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, also known as KPK, which was formerly known as the North West Frontier Province. The changing of the name to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, or “land of the Pashtuns”, was a minimal demand by Pakistani Pashtuns, but even that was met with strong resistance from the Punjabi & Muhajir majority which controls the government and military.

This is a place where my relatives hail, and where my entire nuclear and extended family lived before their transition to America. This area is known as the “drone capital of the earth”, where my people, the Pashtuns, are “collateral damage”, and “casualties” in the fight against the Taliban.

The prevailing jokes of Pakistan culture are that Pathans (Pashtuns) are dumb and uncivilized Talibs. But all of a sudden, when an intelligent, educated and prolific Pashtun makes headlines, she becomes the symbol for the “Pakistani struggle”….fasho.

Let me tell you a little about our newly moved in neighbors to the south. The political and social structure in Pakistan is unevenly distributed, with Punjabis and Mohajirs (immigrants from India) at the top, and indigenous Sindhis, Pashtuns, and Balochis, at the bottom. Illiteracy, extremism, and violence plague the KPK, as the people suffer at the hands of both the Taliban and the Pakistani military.

In the east is the Punjab, where the Green Revolution of Pakistan boosted the economy. Lahore and Islamabad took off, while the Pashtun provinces struggled to even get a small benefit from the programs.

And even though Pashtuns are a major ethnic group within Pakistan, their language is overlooked and unrecognized, with Urdu and even English making the list of national languages.

Pashtuns are treated like second-class citizens in a place that’s been home for 6,000 years. My mother tells us stories from her time there, when she lived in Hangu and Peshawar, and how she was amazed at the differences between Pashtun/Afghan occupied areas compared to Punjabi areas.

Malala is an Afghan by ethnicity and a Pakistani by nationality/citizenship. And Afghans know much more of the struggle of being from the KPK and other Talib-controlled areas than anyone living in the Punjab would know.

Her name is even a testament to her heritage. She is named after Malalai of Maiwand, a famous Pashtun poetess and warrior woman from southern Afghanistan, who we consider our heroine, and the symbol of the Afghan struggle against Great Britain. Her last name, Yousafzai, is that of a large Pashtun tribal confederation that is predominant in the Swat Valley. Swat is a historic Pashtun land, and my family, being ethnic Pashtuns, would know how to navigate there much better than any Urdu-speaking Pakistani.

So when non-Pashtuns rejoice and revel in the fame of Malala, how can Afghans and Pashtuns not be annoyed? This cultural hijacking of the Afghan struggle in Pakistan is an example of Punjabi/Mohajir privilege going unchecked.

If you are a non-Pashtun of Pakistani nationality, please do not pretend to know anything of what it means to be an Afghan living in Pakistan. Don’t try to pretend for one second that you know what it means to be Pashtun:

Since 2001, Pakistani, Afghan, and NATO troops have rushed into Pashtun lands. US drones fill the sky. This year has been especially rough for Pashtuns in Pakistan, with more than 2 million forced to flee military offensives in Swat and nearby areas.

“It’s like a Pashtun genocide,” says Ayeen Khan, of Swabi, NWFP, echoing a phrase heard across the region. “In different areas a lot of Pashtuns are being killed. They need someone to stop the killing.”

Many who fled the fighting said they want neither the Taliban nor the Army in their lands. They say the Punjabi-dominated security agencies control both forces, with the Army periodically fighting the militants, then receding and letting the Taliban reimpose their terrorizing rule. Pashtun civilians say they are caught in the middle of this “double game.”

And even if Malala identifies with her Pakistani nationality, I think she would agree with my notion of Punjabi/Mohajir privilege.

When we ignore Malala’s Pashtun identity, we are denying her from thousands of little Afghan girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan who share her struggle.

She was targeted by what YOU created, not us.

She suffers from YOUR meddling, not ours.

The KPK is broken because of YOUR drones and attacks, not ours.

Her struggle is the Afghan struggle, not the Punjabi one.

When a Pashtun is a freedom-fighter, or when a Pashtun is a displaced refugee, he is “othered”. When he is portrayed in the Pakistani media, he is a savage, with an archaic culture and no brains along with it. I remember hearing that a group of young Pakistani-Americans, when finding out that my cousin was a Pashtun, said, “Oh, Pathans. Yea, we consider them the ‘blondes of Pakistan'”. Okay. Forsure.

But when a Pashtun makes a TIME Magazine cover, lets praise them and post it all over Instagram.

This is what bothers me the most. How we are exploited when there is a gain, but left to die when they’re done parading us.

There is no way for a non-Pashtun to know what Pashtuns in Pakistan go through. Even I can’t fathom it. I in no way want to take ownership of these people and pretend like I understand their struggle, because at the end of the day, I’m sitting in sunny Los Angeles.

But what I do know, as a Pashtun woman who has grown up in a Pashtun household, who only spoke Pashto until grade school, whose family lived in the KPK for years- is that any non-Pashtun claiming a connection or taking pride in the Pashtun struggle is just wrong. Just like a white guy in America can’t pretend to know what 2pac is rapping about, stop fronting like Malala is the champion of all Paki girls everywhere.

So please, do yourself a favor. Check your Punjabi privilege.

[perfectblendmedia]

Trump’s Least Favorite Crowd — The Media — Shows Up To His Hotel In Droves

How will you state Trump in Shine?

“Trrrrump,” the Polish cameraman explained at Donaldtrump‘s luxurious Trump Global Hotel in downtown Washington Thursday.

On the road in to the resort, a significant dark haired guy in a match that is dark ceased me to request who I had been: push or “FBI?” he requested.

Millions of correspondents from all around the globe waited hours and entertained the greater area of the ballroom plus some of his kids to exhibit up to get hopefully a several soundbites that and a ribbon-cutting may fulfill the information period. During his talk, in a subdued, tranquilized tone, Trump congratulated the resort on being “under budget and in front of time.” He likewise offered a shout out to former GOP House Audio Newt Gingrich for his look on Monk News’s Megyn Kelly‘s plan by which he explained Kelly was “fascinated with sex” and “doesn’t worry about public policy.”

Congratulations Newt, “By just how,” Trump stated silently and comfortably. “That was a meeting that is amazing. Play activities are don’ted by us ? Newt? We don’t perform games.”

It was not plan move Trump. It was Trump on downers.

And journalists are feeling campaign fatigue.

A Television writer for just one of the main information systems had two phrases for me personally: “Two weeks.” The reporter informed me he functions 20- can’t and hr times watch for a rest. He explained this really is it. He’s never addressing another race.

IJR‘s Creative Representative Benny Brown came into the beautiful ballroom chomping ferociously on an apple. He quit the browning primary relaxing on the corner beneath a reflected wall therefore he might remain amid hordes of correspondents waiting (and waiting and waiting) to determine what Trump needed to state.

It’s uncertain if Brown actually went to go back to his apple.

Trump was a far more than the usual trendy half an hour late when he strolled toward the gold podium at 11:30 a.m. together with his kids, Ivanka and Jesse Jr. The Trump strategy requested Television and camera people to get to 5:thirty a.m., which is pretty excruciating considering the things they got.

The Reflection went into WaPo‘s lefty writer Dana Milbank, who is really as brief personally as he appears on Television. Such as the Incredible Hulk (nicely, perhaps Hulk’s 10-year old kid), Milbank intentionally towered over me to show that he’s higher than me since I’ve formerly explained him as “petite.” (Your mantra must be SMALL WRITERS UNITE!)

I requested if he believes Bloomberg‘s Mark Halperin was “soulless” prior to the 2016 presidential election. As much. He carefully weighed his solution column stated. Difficulty develops, I speak with you,” he explained. He explained his fiancé is 5’1″ high. He offered me a fast, apparently soulful embrace and strolled away.

Polish press was much more useful.

“Finding a scapegoat in press may not be the best move to make,” Marcin Wrona, a U.S. reporter for TVN Poland, informed The Reflection.

He explained severe problems like Obamacare and health rates “don’t curiosity the polish individuals at all.”

What exactly gets interest on airwaves?

“What gets protection is gender scandals Wrona said. “They’re absolutely less thinking about [Hillary’s] emails.”

A lot like sticking steak the reporter, inside your hot-fudge sundae claims he retains placing the main topic of emails in to the mixture of sex scams simply to have them in. But he reasoned of the intercourse, “Europe is just a little more relaxed due to that. Obviously news is what individuals love.”

Questioned how he seems about Trump bashing on the press at every change, he explained, “It is irritating, but so what can you state? INCORRECT? You will find components in public places existence that often blame the press for everything incorrect within their lives.”

But violence toward the press is nothing fresh, he explained satellite vehicle that burnt throughout a demo in Warsaw ten years before.

“We can’t overlook that some allegations are true Wrona said. “It’s nothing like we’re bright as snowfall. We really should perform a public admission — or even the National press should.”

Canadian Broadcast Network’s Steven D’Souza understands anything about addressing an applicant like Trump. He lined the overdue break smoking Toronto Mayor Rob Ford.

“Some might view it opportunistic stated using the press of Trump’s connection. Ford was seen with by We’ve. He frequently discussed the press being against him and people believed him.”

He said some of sense is made by the media don’t.

For instance, Trump claims the press doesn’t display how large his crowds are. But he won’t allow them maneuver around and stays them. They are called by “He on issues they can’t officially do stated.

A male writer since the selection to get a Middle-East market (that will be how he desired me to explain him) stated he isn’t scared of Trump’s anti-Islamic guidelines. “I’m not since it couldn’t occur worried using the lingo,” he explained. “There are inspections and amounts within this nation that won’t permit half the material [he desires].”

The correspondent, whose market is in Iraq Iran and Syria, claims the press is used by Trump to his advantage.

He claims his market doesn’t provide sex scams to a riff about Trump’s. Iran, for example, is concentrated on sections that were atomic. He isn’t sure just how much Trump knows about foreign-policy, but damaged, “At minimum he understands where Aleppo is.”

Requested if it’s short for press shops to concentrate on rankings, he responded, “Yes, particularly the printing media who are dying.”

WaPo‘s Milbank may also consider meeting classes from Television Tokyo’s Kodai Uchida, who had been pleasant and prepared to keep in touch with The Reflection about purposeful press problems. And he speak Language.

Alternatively, he hailed his translator from a packed space without turning to drawing images so we’re able to comprehend one another.

Questioned what it’s been like addressing Trump, Uchida rattled anything in Japanese that incorporated two English phrases off.

“Very challenging,” he explained.

Their translator, Television Tokyo maker Benjamin Dalton, described more of Uchida’s thoughts:

“Trump isn’t totally available to the press. Personally I think that Trump is benefiting from the media.”

How can Uchida experience Trump contacting the press “liars” and “dishonest” at his rallies?

“It’s good if we’ve that critique from our visitors, but having this type of [from him] I can’t accept he explained.

Let me make it clear, press hate is worldwide.

“Even in China, when issues aren’t currently heading their method, the press is blamed by individuals Uchida said. “That’s universal.”

What common that is isn’t are appetites for scams. Compared Belgium, for instance scandal protection is all of the trend, Tokyo isn’t involved to. Atleast based on Television Tokyo.

Important is what transmission as reality,” he explained.

Dalton interjected below to express, “We don’t wish to proceed within the Monica Lewinsky path if we are able to help it to. We’re not necessarily thinking about intercourse scandals.”

Unlike many journalists, Uchida chooses Trump over Trump.

“He claims he favors to record anything severe as ideas that are opposed to comical Dalton stated, relaying Uchida’s.

What do individuals usually think in Asia of Trump?

Completely, Clinton is wanted by them.

“Out of 100 people we requested who they would like to be leader, 97 people responded 3 individuals and Clinton responded Trump Uchida said.

But let’s return to the press that is annoying.

Gesturing towards the space moving with push, Dalton stated the National advertising is actually biased.

“I believe half is just a joke and 50% of this really is severe, but I don’t understand which component is serious ” he explained. “…I dislike to say this, but we type of possess a Antoinette situation — allow them eat dessert. I’m not saying she earned to get rid of her mind but there’s a cutting block for obfuscating facts.”

But it’s never as if Trump’s campaign makes it simple for correspondents who don’t work with Breitbart Information.

A bright male National correspondent in the resort occasion favored to talk on situation of privacy.

He explained covering a drag in they don’t “return e-mails or his calls after I require it. Radio silence. No Wish Hicks. Yes, annoying.” He finds Trump’s conduct toward the media “disingenuous.”

The press was his closest friend . “Now that he’s switched over several stones — a ton of stones — today he’s performing a brand new tune.”

Washington Post press writer Paul Farhi was additionally in work within the Trump ballroom. (Milbank might consider classes from him, also.)

Requested about Trump’s therapy of the press, “He’s undoubtedly been really crucial was stated, by Farhi. Nobody enjoys people, but he’s managed to get a place to bash at the push. It’s a great strategy.”

However the nationwide press author isn’t thrilled about this.

“Who likes ” he requested. “I also don’t believe it’s personal.”

In the same period, he included, “If you’re likely to be considered a presidential prospect, you’re likely to endure it from all us.”

Farhi thinks Trump’s conduct toward the press will have enduring effects that are adverse.

“I believe it’ll,” stated Farhi. “We’ve never experienced large respect, but I believe [this selection] required along a large knee. I don’t believe we’ll actually recover. Trump has undoubtedly pressed it along.”

Following the resort event concluded shouts of ” might be noticed in the brisk drop atmosphere. A medium sized group of protestors yelled such things as Trump is just a pig and moved indicators! “Shame and ” on Trump! Pity on Trump!”

Outside along Washington’s famous Pennsylvania Method, CNN’s Dana Bash experienced a testy one-onone with Trump together with his spouse, Melania, by his part.

“First, I do want to request you below,” stated Party. Audiotape of you referring to the truth that you actually have depended on the proven fact and also your recognition that people arrived at your occasions which can help you . Is the fact that what it was about?”

“No, never Trump responded. “This was in front of routine and under-budget. The nation that is …If might do this it’d maintain form that is definitely better. …Yuu have already been addressing for the, very long time that was last. I did so recently main messages and there eight stops. …For yet and one to ask me that question is clearly really insulting because Clinton does one-stop after which she moves house and rests you’ll ask-me that query. I believe it’s an extremely irritating query to tell the truth with you.”

Trump included, “We’re performing excellent all over…CNN doesn’t state it, but I believe we’re gonna win.”

Bash pressed hard for herself to invest on marketing on just how much of the check the applicant might create. “How much have you been prepared to place in to put fresh advertisements up?” she questioned repeatedly.

Trump stated he’s $100-million for that and he’d place in “much more.”

Party again pressed to get a check quantity that was particular. That’s when had it.

For the next question ” he explained in a tone “Let’s go.

Each day such as this isn’t finish with no taxi drive home that is insane.

Giggling at-all the protestors he claims and chuckled, “He’s insane. He’s getting a lot of drugs.”

Wherever he’s from the dark cabbie having a lengthy, crazy, bright, frizzy hair won’t inform me. Actually, he’s media informs and savvy me something he claims but I can’t use his title can be written by me. I will state “taxi driver.”

I am rapidly told by him, “We have been in difficulty. He’s likely to be elected.”

And just how does he understand this?

“I don’t believe National lady are prepared for lady leader,” he explained, detailing he was a political science key in university and performed their own arbitrary study. “When I say, ‘Are you likely to vote for Hillary?’ they say ‘THAT BITCH.’”

Crazy Hair isn’t any less dull about them of the press and also Trump.

“Oh guy, that person is humorous,” he explained giggling hysterically. “He hates you.”

More fairly, he explained, “No, press is like culture. Press is just a blend. The press isn’t legal. This person is stupid.”

Voting for Hillary and that’s.

“I’m likely to vote for Hillary, but my election will be considered a misplaced vote.”

When I was disembarking, Crazy Hair asked, “Wanna befriends?”

Canadian Broadcast gets prepared to get a chance that is live. 

Trump’s appearance is prepared for by Jackson. 

The press colonies a ballroom inside Hotel Worldwide.  

Lights action Wrona of Poland. 

Protestors point the road away from resort. 

Don’t ignore that lady using the backpack that is red.

With red streaked hair along with a “Code Pink” indication, the girl yelled: “Donald Trump is just a sexist pig!” 

The post Trump’s Least Favorite Crowd — The Media — Shows Up To His Hotel In Droves appeared first on perfectblend-media.

from perfectblend-media http://perfectblend-media.com/trumps-least-favorite-crowd-the-media-shows-up-to-his-hotel-in-droves/

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8 Reasons to Visit Malaysia

(Post written by Pete Saville)

Spanning across the southern tip of the South East Asian peninsular and 800 kilometres east across the ocean to the magnificent island of Borneo, where it has two states on the northern stretch of the island called Sarawak and Sabah, Malaysia is blessed with landscapes ranging from mountains, ancient rain forests, rolling green hills to stunning beaches and coral-gardened islands with some of the best diving and snorkelling sites in the world.

Although around 50% ethnic ‘Malays’ make up the majority of the population, there are also huge minorities of Chinese (30%), Indian (10%) and other smaller pockets of Portuguese in Melacca, and indigenous people – the ‘Orang Asli’, making Malaysia truly a multicultural nation.  This has also inevitably created an astonishing mix of religions and faiths: Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism and Sikhism, as well as Animist/Shamanistic beliefs living together in relative harmony.  When walking around Kuala Lumpur, you will likely see Hindu Temples alongside Taoist and Buddhist temples, as well as Churches and Mosques.

Malaysian food is as varied and colourful as Malaysia’s geography and multiculturalism. It’s quite possible to have a noodle soup for breakfast, an Indian for lunch and a Chinese for dinner. This variation is a real treat. Yes; It may sound a little cliché, but Malaysia really does have something to offer everyone; from young and adventurous nature lovers to beach-bums, from culture-vultures to food enthusiasts, and everyone else in between.

And the icing on the cake: Malaysia’s infrastructure and economy is way ahead of other nations in the region, making getting around almost always easy and comfortable. Practically everyone speaks at least some English in Malaysia and there is very little ‘hassle-factor’ or annoying touts to speak of.  Here are 8 reasons why your next trip to Asia should be Malaysia.

1. Beaches

Beaches in South-East Asia are arguably the best in the world. People so often overlook Malaysia for the more famous beaches in Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia.  This makes the less well-known beaches of Malaysia more tranquil with much less of a young backpacker crowd and no full-moon parties, those that have really spoilt once-serene beaches in places like Thailand.

Lie just off the coast of northern mainland Malaysia, close to the Thai border, the Perhentian Islands have by far my favourite beaches for relaxation. Between the two islands, Perhentian Kecil is more for the low-key backpacker crowd, and Perhentian Besar, slightly larger, quieter and more serene, has more high-end accommodation options, great for couples, honeymooners and families who want a slice of paradise and to get away from it all for a while.

The Beautiful Water of the Perhentian Islands

Snorkelling in Sipadan Island

Both islands are part of a Marine Conservation Area, and as such, the only way of getting around is on foot – which is relatively easy and fun due to the gentle topography. The area has some beautiful jungle paths linking between beaches – or ‘water taxis’ which can take you from one secluded beach to the next (or between islands) for a few dollars. Activities on these islands are very much limited to snorkelling or scuba diving, but fortunately there are lots of options for both. The water visibility here is always around 20 metres – crystal clear – and is home (and famous for) to large populations of turtles as well as tropical fish and reef sharks. The best site for diving is arguably the Pinnacle, also known as “Tokong Laut”- a coral-reef capstone spiralling out to the surface of the water. For snorkelling, Teluk Pauh is a great site for its sheer variation in tropical fish and turtles.  It’s impossible to pick a favourite as any beach on Besar Island is fantastic.

You can spend a week or two here ‘beach-hopping’ from one beach to another by jungle paths or water taxis and will be amazed when you come across those majestic sea turtles and fearsome looking but generally harmless Reef Sharks. Or just relax and work on that tan, enjoying the white, pristine, quiet beaches with their crystal clear water.

2. Food

With so many different cultures calling Malaysia home, you are in for an absolute treat when it comes to food. Virtually every town and city on the mainland and on Borneo has Chinese, Southern Indian and traditional Malay cuisine. In particular, the Malay national dish is widely considered to be Nasi Lemak – coconut rice with a sambal sauce (basically a spicier version of salsa sauce) and

anchovies. This delicious dish can be found everywhere and is the quintessential street food in Malaysia. Another very popular Malay dish you can find both on the street and in restaurants is spicy fried noodles (Mee Goreng) with seafood such as my personal favourite – tiger prawns, in a coconut rich yellowed curry sauce.   As for Indian – Southern Indian cuisine dominates here.  You can expect to find delicious Masala or Paper Dosai, which is basically thin crepes filled with vegetable or meat fillings, often served with Raita (a thin yogurt) and side dishes such as Dal (lentils).  And Malay-Chinese? Expect the usual authentic Chinese dishes such as Pork rib soup (Bak Kut Teh), as well as something unique to Malaysia, O-Chian.  It’s nothing but Oyster Omelette, fried until crispy and with a side dish of chili sauce. Simple perhaps, but absolutely delicious and is outright my favourite.

3. Culture

Although Kuala Lumpur has its own ‘Little India’ and ‘Little China’ districts that are interesting in their own right, Georgetown – a UNESCO World Heritage City is hands down the best place to see Malaysia’s multiculturalism.  Nestled in the north-west just off the Malaysian mainland, on the island of Penang, connected by one of the largest bridges in the world, Georgetown is filled in its colourful glory, with Hindu and Taoist Temples alongside numerous mosques and the odd Catholic Church. It’s just a joy to spend a few days in this place sampling the cuisine, visiting the wonderfully preserved temples from these numerous religions, and learning about the city’s colonial past.

Majestic View of Masjid Selat mosque, Malacca

Georgetown, Penang

Another UNESCO World heritage to visit for a dose of culture is Malacca.  This place offers a glimpse into an extraordinary empire founded centuries ago and later colonised by the Portuguese, Dutch and British.  Here you can find a rich tapestry of multicultural influences displayed through its heritage architecture, diverse lifestyles and unsurpassed charm.     Elsewhere in Malaysia, you can expect to find some pretty spectacular treats. Located at the entrance to the stairs of Batu Caves is the 43 metres high giant gold statue of the Hindu God Murugan.  Within the caves are other statues dedicated to Hindu gods such as Hanuman and Lord Rama.

4. Festivals

Major holidays in Malaysia coincide with some of the biggest cultural/religious festivals. Ramadan is the biggest Muslim holiday.  It includes fasting – at which times many restaurants maintain a low-profile to respect this Muslims ritual, regardless of whether they are Muslim or not.  However this doesn’t affect tourists much; just expect things to go a bit slower than usual with regards to service and transport. But when these fasts are broken, some really unique foods are on offer throughout Malaysia in Muslim communities. Nasi Kerabu, a multi-coloured dyed rice, Apam balik, a pancake-style snack stuffed with sugar, peanuts and sprinkle of corn, or Ayam percik which is chicken lathered in spicy chili, garlic and ginger sauce mixed with coconut milk are just a few delicious foods offered to break fast after Ramadan.

Chinese New Year is also a major holiday/festival, and you can expect to see a lot of terrific celebrations as tourist during this time, many involving huge amounts of fireworks, dragon dancing carnivals, and Chinese lanterns floating majestically through the night sky.

Finally for the religious-oriented festivals, Hindu Diwali is another enjoyable one for tourists: Meaning “festival of lights”, you can expect Hindus to fill their homes and businesses at night with thousands of candles, and like Chinese New Year, plenty of fireworks and religious ceremonies are performed at sites such as Batu Caves, and of course, Little India in Kuala Lumpur.

But besides these religious and cultural festivals, Malaysia boasts some well-established ‘contemporary ones’. Every August in Sarawak, on Borneo, is the ‘Rainforest World Music Festival’. Spanning over 3-days, the festival is just outside the city of Kuching in a forested area. It has music performers from all around the world – from Jamaica to France to home-grown Malaysian talent – as well as cultural attractions such as tribal arts that you can try yourself in ‘mini-courses’ included in the price of the ticket.

5. Adventure

For adventurous types, Malaysian Borneo in particular is a real treat.  In Sabah province, you can attempt to climb to the summit of Mount Kinabalu. At around 4000 metres, it is no easy feat, but no mountain climbing skills in particular are required, just a good level of fitness, hiking and some scrambling. And of course, a lot of willpower! The views from the summit can be spectacular if you are lucky enough not to have your view obscured by mist! You can see all the way to the Philippines when the sky is clear.

In Sarawak on the opposite side of Borneo Island are ample opportunities for trekking to indigenous hill-tribes. Belaga is the best place to organise such treks. Our Longhouse Safari Tour features a fascinating cultural experience with visits to an Iban longhouse village plus a chance to meet the once feared “headhunter”.

And finally, Gunung Mulu National Park, located almost slap-bang in the middle of Malaysian Borneo and near the border with tiny-nation of Brunei, is home to the largest known cave systems in the world that are still being mapped by scientists. Within Mulu National Park lies the biggest underground cave chamber of the world; Sarawak Chamber.  The longest cave of Southeast Asia, the Clearwater Cave, can also be found in this park, with a documented length of well over 75 kilometres. There are numerous caves within Mulu National Park, but only a few are accessible by visitors.  The most visited of these caves is the enormous Gua Payau or Deer Cave; as it is easily accessible from the entrance of the park.  And if you somehow get tired of caving, you can always attempt the walk on the 480 metre Mulu Canopy Skywalk, the biggest forest canopy walkway in the world. Gunung Mulu is truly an adventure traveller’s dream.

6. Snorkelling and Diving

Although one of the best places in Malaysia for underwater adventures has already been mentioned in this post – The Perhentian Islands – there is in fact a place a little harder and more expensive to get too, but more than worth the effort: The Sipadan Islands. Widely considered to be one of the best diving sites in the world – regularly appearing in ‘Top 3’ lists – it is hands down THE best diving site in Malaysia.

Located on the southernmost point of Sabah on Malaysian Borneo – right near the border with Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantan) – it takes a couple of Air Asia flights to get here from Kuala Lumpur.  Sipadan is a heavily protected Marine Park, and as such no one is allowed to stay on the island overnight, so your best options are to stay in Semporna or Mabul and organise your snorkelling or diving from the plethora of diving companies that operate here.

You can only enter Sipadan from 08:00-15:00hrs so all excursions with tour operators have to be between this time periods.

However, once on the island, a wade (or swim) of a mere 20 metres will get you to the absolutely spectacular 2000 metre drop-off, where the reef wall drops down a tectonic fault line into a magical world of multi-coloured coral gardens, turtles, hammerhead and leopard sharks, as well as tropical fish such as massive schools of Jackfish and Barracuda.

But perhaps the icing on the cake here is that Sipadan has one of the finest water visibilities in the world: You can expect to have a visibility range of 30 metres (unless it has been stormy, in which case it still reaches an admirable 10-15 metres at worst!) in waters that are seemingly like planes of glass as they are so clear.

7. Wildlife

Both peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo have some spectacular sites for all manner of fauna and flora, with a number of National Parks fairly well-protected by international standards. Kuala Tahan National Park is the stand-out attraction on peninsular/mainland Malaysia. It’s the largest park on the mainland, and is infamous for its rainforest, birds and insects. Entry is virtually free, and once inside the park, there are roped walkways that are easy for even young children and elderly to traverse and enjoy the wildlife sightseeing. Guides are unnecessary as all walking trails are well signposted, well-maintained and easy to navigate. However, those looking for more hardcore sightseeing can always opt to do the organised 100km hikes to the indigenous tribal.   A guide is highly recommended or in many cases compulsory for this type of hikes. In either case, expect to see all manner of rare birds, stick insects, praying-mantis, scorpions and – if you opt for a Night Safari with a guide- you can see the spectacular glow in the dark fungus! This is really special and comes highly recommended.

For those who love adventure and wildlife lover, our Ultimate Borneo Adventure boasts an action-packed itinerary featuring Sukau, Danum Valley and Kota Kinabalu.

Proboscis Monkeys, Borneo

Baby Orrang-Utan in Kinabalu Nation Park

For somewhere with even rarer species, Kinabalu Nation Park in Sabah, Borneo is the place to head too. The rare Proboscis Monkey, with its distinctive curved, wobbly nose, as well as Orang-utan in an open Reserve are the two creatures that top the list of people’s must-see animals here.  Chances are very high you’ll see both, as well as a myriad number of multi-coloured kingfishers, crocodiles on Kinabalu River and gigantic monitor lizards among other weird and wonderful critters. If you’re an active family looking to inject fun, education and adventure on a non-so-typical vacation, be sure to check out our 12-day private Malaysia Family Tour that features Selingan Turtle Island, Borneo and some R&R on the beach in Kota Kinabalu.

8. Natural Beauty

One place that simply could not be omitted from this post is the Cameron Highlands on Peninsular Malaysia. Despite the sometimes dreary British-style weather, the Cameron Highlands have a lot to offer in natural beauty. The highlands are generally green and rolling, and this lead to the British setting up massive tea plantations that last to this day. Green tea leaves cover the gentle slopes for mile after mile, and are an absolute joy to walk around and explore.

Cameron Highlands is also home to what is known colloquially as the ‘Mossy Forest’. Millions of years old makes it one of the oldest forests in the world with some of the Earth’s oldest trees.  It is also a cloud forest, constantly covered in mist, giving the whole area a ‘Lord of the Ring’s’ atmosphere! Cameron Highlands is featured on our Malaysia Highlights tour covering Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, Cameron Highlands and Penang.

Picking Tea Leaves in Cameron Highlands

Green Tea Hills of Cameron Highlands

But perhaps the highlight of a trip here isn’t just to see those beautiful rolling hills or hiking through cloud forests, Cameron Highlands is home to the largest flower in the world, the Rafflesia Flower, which can reach over 100cm in diameter. These flowers, truly a wonder of the natural world, look entirely alien as if they belong on another planet. The one hour long jeep ride to get here from the main town is well-worth it, especially when you can take refreshing swims in the beautiful waterfall in the forest.

So Malaysia…, what is there not to like? With so many things to do and see, there’s definitely something for everyone here!

  Recommended tours of Malaysia, backed by Rough Guides – a leading travel publisher :

For additional tours of Malaysia, be sure to check out our Malaysia & Singapore page.

from Cheapr Travels https://ift.tt/2JZUZFO via https://ift.tt/2NIqXKN

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8 Reasons to Visit Malaysia

(Post written by Pete Saville)

Spanning across the southern tip of the South East Asian peninsular and 800 kilometres east across the ocean to the magnificent island of Borneo, where it has two states on the northern stretch of the island called Sarawak and Sabah, Malaysia is blessed with landscapes ranging from mountains, ancient rain forests, rolling green hills to stunning beaches and coral-gardened islands with some of the best diving and snorkelling sites in the world.

Although around 50% ethnic ‘Malays’ make up the majority of the population, there are also huge minorities of Chinese (30%), Indian (10%) and other smaller pockets of Portuguese in Melacca, and indigenous people – the ‘Orang Asli’, making Malaysia truly a multicultural nation.  This has also inevitably created an astonishing mix of religions and faiths: Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism and Sikhism, as well as Animist/Shamanistic beliefs living together in relative harmony.  When walking around Kuala Lumpur, you will likely see Hindu Temples alongside Taoist and Buddhist temples, as well as Churches and Mosques.

Malaysian food is as varied and colourful as Malaysia’s geography and multiculturalism. It’s quite possible to have a noodle soup for breakfast, an Indian for lunch and a Chinese for dinner. This variation is a real treat. Yes; It may sound a little cliché, but Malaysia really does have something to offer everyone; from young and adventurous nature lovers to beach-bums, from culture-vultures to food enthusiasts, and everyone else in between.

And the icing on the cake: Malaysia’s infrastructure and economy is way ahead of other nations in the region, making getting around almost always easy and comfortable. Practically everyone speaks at least some English in Malaysia and there is very little ‘hassle-factor’ or annoying touts to speak of.  Here are 8 reasons why your next trip to Asia should be Malaysia.

1. Beaches

Beaches in South-East Asia are arguably the best in the world. People so often overlook Malaysia for the more famous beaches in Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia.  This makes the less well-known beaches of Malaysia more tranquil with much less of a young backpacker crowd and no full-moon parties, those that have really spoilt once-serene beaches in places like Thailand.

Lie just off the coast of northern mainland Malaysia, close to the Thai border, the Perhentian Islands have by far my favourite beaches for relaxation. Between the two islands, Perhentian Kecil is more for the low-key backpacker crowd, and Perhentian Besar, slightly larger, quieter and more serene, has more high-end accommodation options, great for couples, honeymooners and families who want a slice of paradise and to get away from it all for a while.

The Beautiful Water of the Perhentian Islands

Snorkelling in Sipadan Island

Both islands are part of a Marine Conservation Area, and as such, the only way of getting around is on foot – which is relatively easy and fun due to the gentle topography. The area has some beautiful jungle paths linking between beaches – or ‘water taxis’ which can take you from one secluded beach to the next (or between islands) for a few dollars. Activities on these islands are very much limited to snorkelling or scuba diving, but fortunately there are lots of options for both. The water visibility here is always around 20 metres – crystal clear – and is home (and famous for) to large populations of turtles as well as tropical fish and reef sharks. The best site for diving is arguably the Pinnacle, also known as “Tokong Laut”- a coral-reef capstone spiralling out to the surface of the water. For snorkelling, Teluk Pauh is a great site for its sheer variation in tropical fish and turtles.  It’s impossible to pick a favourite as any beach on Besar Island is fantastic.

You can spend a week or two here ‘beach-hopping’ from one beach to another by jungle paths or water taxis and will be amazed when you come across those majestic sea turtles and fearsome looking but generally harmless Reef Sharks. Or just relax and work on that tan, enjoying the white, pristine, quiet beaches with their crystal clear water.

2. Food

With so many different cultures calling Malaysia home, you are in for an absolute treat when it comes to food. Virtually every town and city on the mainland and on Borneo has Chinese, Southern Indian and traditional Malay cuisine. In particular, the Malay national dish is widely considered to be Nasi Lemak – coconut rice with a sambal sauce (basically a spicier version of salsa sauce) and

anchovies. This delicious dish can be found everywhere and is the quintessential street food in Malaysia. Another very popular Malay dish you can find both on the street and in restaurants is spicy fried noodles (Mee Goreng) with seafood such as my personal favourite – tiger prawns, in a coconut rich yellowed curry sauce.   As for Indian – Southern Indian cuisine dominates here.  You can expect to find delicious Masala or Paper Dosai, which is basically thin crepes filled with vegetable or meat fillings, often served with Raita (a thin yogurt) and side dishes such as Dal (lentils).  And Malay-Chinese? Expect the usual authentic Chinese dishes such as Pork rib soup (Bak Kut Teh), as well as something unique to Malaysia, O-Chian.  It’s nothing but Oyster Omelette, fried until crispy and with a side dish of chili sauce. Simple perhaps, but absolutely delicious and is outright my favourite.

3. Culture

Although Kuala Lumpur has its own ‘Little India’ and ‘Little China’ districts that are interesting in their own right, Georgetown – a UNESCO World Heritage City is hands down the best place to see Malaysia’s multiculturalism.  Nestled in the north-west just off the Malaysian mainland, on the island of Penang, connected by one of the largest bridges in the world, Georgetown is filled in its colourful glory, with Hindu and Taoist Temples alongside numerous mosques and the odd Catholic Church. It’s just a joy to spend a few days in this place sampling the cuisine, visiting the wonderfully preserved temples from these numerous religions, and learning about the city’s colonial past.

Majestic View of Masjid Selat mosque, Malacca

Georgetown, Penang

Another UNESCO World heritage to visit for a dose of culture is Malacca.  This place offers a glimpse into an extraordinary empire founded centuries ago and later colonised by the Portuguese, Dutch and British.  Here you can find a rich tapestry of multicultural influences displayed through its heritage architecture, diverse lifestyles and unsurpassed charm.     Elsewhere in Malaysia, you can expect to find some pretty spectacular treats. Located at the entrance to the stairs of Batu Caves is the 43 metres high giant gold statue of the Hindu God Murugan.  Within the caves are other statues dedicated to Hindu gods such as Hanuman and Lord Rama.

4. Festivals

Major holidays in Malaysia coincide with some of the biggest cultural/religious festivals. Ramadan is the biggest Muslim holiday.  It includes fasting – at which times many restaurants maintain a low-profile to respect this Muslims ritual, regardless of whether they are Muslim or not.  However this doesn’t affect tourists much; just expect things to go a bit slower than usual with regards to service and transport. But when these fasts are broken, some really unique foods are on offer throughout Malaysia in Muslim communities. Nasi Kerabu, a multi-coloured dyed rice, Apam balik, a pancake-style snack stuffed with sugar, peanuts and sprinkle of corn, or Ayam percik which is chicken lathered in spicy chili, garlic and ginger sauce mixed with coconut milk are just a few delicious foods offered to break fast after Ramadan.

Chinese New Year is also a major holiday/festival, and you can expect to see a lot of terrific celebrations as tourist during this time, many involving huge amounts of fireworks, dragon dancing carnivals, and Chinese lanterns floating majestically through the night sky.

Finally for the religious-oriented festivals, Hindu Diwali is another enjoyable one for tourists: Meaning “festival of lights”, you can expect Hindus to fill their homes and businesses at night with thousands of candles, and like Chinese New Year, plenty of fireworks and religious ceremonies are performed at sites such as Batu Caves, and of course, Little India in Kuala Lumpur.

But besides these religious and cultural festivals, Malaysia boasts some well-established ‘contemporary ones’. Every August in Sarawak, on Borneo, is the ‘Rainforest World Music Festival’. Spanning over 3-days, the festival is just outside the city of Kuching in a forested area. It has music performers from all around the world – from Jamaica to France to home-grown Malaysian talent – as well as cultural attractions such as tribal arts that you can try yourself in ‘mini-courses’ included in the price of the ticket.

5. Adventure

For adventurous types, Malaysian Borneo in particular is a real treat.  In Sabah province, you can attempt to climb to the summit of Mount Kinabalu. At around 4000 metres, it is no easy feat, but no mountain climbing skills in particular are required, just a good level of fitness, hiking and some scrambling. And of course, a lot of willpower! The views from the summit can be spectacular if you are lucky enough not to have your view obscured by mist! You can see all the way to the Philippines when the sky is clear.

In Sarawak on the opposite side of Borneo Island are ample opportunities for trekking to indigenous hill-tribes. Belaga is the best place to organise such treks. Our Longhouse Safari Tour features a fascinating cultural experience with visits to an Iban longhouse village plus a chance to meet the once feared “headhunter”.

And finally, Gunung Mulu National Park, located almost slap-bang in the middle of Malaysian Borneo and near the border with tiny-nation of Brunei, is home to the largest known cave systems in the world that are still being mapped by scientists. Within Mulu National Park lies the biggest underground cave chamber of the world; Sarawak Chamber.  The longest cave of Southeast Asia, the Clearwater Cave, can also be found in this park, with a documented length of well over 75 kilometres. There are numerous caves within Mulu National Park, but only a few are accessible by visitors.  The most visited of these caves is the enormous Gua Payau or Deer Cave; as it is easily accessible from the entrance of the park.  And if you somehow get tired of caving, you can always attempt the walk on the 480 metre Mulu Canopy Skywalk, the biggest forest canopy walkway in the world. Gunung Mulu is truly an adventure traveller’s dream.

6. Snorkelling and Diving

Although one of the best places in Malaysia for underwater adventures has already been mentioned in this post – The Perhentian Islands – there is in fact a place a little harder and more expensive to get too, but more than worth the effort: The Sipadan Islands. Widely considered to be one of the best diving sites in the world – regularly appearing in ‘Top 3’ lists – it is hands down THE best diving site in Malaysia.

Located on the southernmost point of Sabah on Malaysian Borneo – right near the border with Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantan) – it takes a couple of Air Asia flights to get here from Kuala Lumpur.  Sipadan is a heavily protected Marine Park, and as such no one is allowed to stay on the island overnight, so your best options are to stay in Semporna or Mabul and organise your snorkelling or diving from the plethora of diving companies that operate here.

You can only enter Sipadan from 08:00-15:00hrs so all excursions with tour operators have to be between this time periods.

However, once on the island, a wade (or swim) of a mere 20 metres will get you to the absolutely spectacular 2000 metre drop-off, where the reef wall drops down a tectonic fault line into a magical world of multi-coloured coral gardens, turtles, hammerhead and leopard sharks, as well as tropical fish such as massive schools of Jackfish and Barracuda.

But perhaps the icing on the cake here is that Sipadan has one of the finest water visibilities in the world: You can expect to have a visibility range of 30 metres (unless it has been stormy, in which case it still reaches an admirable 10-15 metres at worst!) in waters that are seemingly like planes of glass as they are so clear.

7. Wildlife

Both peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo have some spectacular sites for all manner of fauna and flora, with a number of National Parks fairly well-protected by international standards. Kuala Tahan National Park is the stand-out attraction on peninsular/mainland Malaysia. It’s the largest park on the mainland, and is infamous for its rainforest, birds and insects. Entry is virtually free, and once inside the park, there are roped walkways that are easy for even young children and elderly to traverse and enjoy the wildlife sightseeing. Guides are unnecessary as all walking trails are well signposted, well-maintained and easy to navigate. However, those looking for more hardcore sightseeing can always opt to do the organised 100km hikes to the indigenous tribal.   A guide is highly recommended or in many cases compulsory for this type of hikes. In either case, expect to see all manner of rare birds, stick insects, praying-mantis, scorpions and – if you opt for a Night Safari with a guide- you can see the spectacular glow in the dark fungus! This is really special and comes highly recommended.

For those who love adventure and wildlife lover, our Ultimate Borneo Adventure boasts an action-packed itinerary featuring Sukau, Danum Valley and Kota Kinabalu.

Proboscis Monkeys, Borneo

Baby Orrang-Utan in Kinabalu Nation Park

For somewhere with even rarer species, Kinabalu Nation Park in Sabah, Borneo is the place to head too. The rare Proboscis Monkey, with its distinctive curved, wobbly nose, as well as Orang-utan in an open Reserve are the two creatures that top the list of people’s must-see animals here.  Chances are very high you’ll see both, as well as a myriad number of multi-coloured kingfishers, crocodiles on Kinabalu River and gigantic monitor lizards among other weird and wonderful critters. If you’re an active family looking to inject fun, education and adventure on a non-so-typical vacation, be sure to check out our 12-day private Malaysia Family Tour that features Selingan Turtle Island, Borneo and some R&R on the beach in Kota Kinabalu.

8. Natural Beauty

One place that simply could not be omitted from this post is the Cameron Highlands on Peninsular Malaysia. Despite the sometimes dreary British-style weather, the Cameron Highlands have a lot to offer in natural beauty. The highlands are generally green and rolling, and this lead to the British setting up massive tea plantations that last to this day. Green tea leaves cover the gentle slopes for mile after mile, and are an absolute joy to walk around and explore.

Cameron Highlands is also home to what is known colloquially as the ‘Mossy Forest’. Millions of years old makes it one of the oldest forests in the world with some of the Earth’s oldest trees.  It is also a cloud forest, constantly covered in mist, giving the whole area a ‘Lord of the Ring’s’ atmosphere! Cameron Highlands is featured on our Malaysia Highlights tour covering Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, Cameron Highlands and Penang.

Picking Tea Leaves in Cameron Highlands

Green Tea Hills of Cameron Highlands

But perhaps the highlight of a trip here isn’t just to see those beautiful rolling hills or hiking through cloud forests, Cameron Highlands is home to the largest flower in the world, the Rafflesia Flower, which can reach over 100cm in diameter. These flowers, truly a wonder of the natural world, look entirely alien as if they belong on another planet. The one hour long jeep ride to get here from the main town is well-worth it, especially when you can take refreshing swims in the beautiful waterfall in the forest.

So Malaysia…, what is there not to like? With so many things to do and see, there’s definitely something for everyone here!

  Recommended tours of Malaysia, backed by Rough Guides – a leading travel publisher :

For additional tours of Malaysia, be sure to check out our Malaysia & Singapore page.

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