#30Stays: Next Stay

My next stay is... oh, I will let you know when I’m back! Watch this space then!

#30Stays: Holiday I Want To Do Over

I would love to go to Italy, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Morocco and Iceland again and again!

#30Stays: Favourite Travel App

My favourite travel apps include TripAdvisor, Booking.com, Kayak and Venere.

#30Stays: Things I Always Forget To Pack

I hardly ever pack any ointments or sea cucumber cream or Axe Brand medicated oil, well, not yet anyway. It’s not that I forget to pack them but I never have (not yet!). I’m one who makes lists because I know I can be ditsy and forgetful. As such, I don’t normally forget things when I pack.

#30Stays: Place Everyone Has Been To Except Me

It seems everyone has gone to South America and I haven’t!!! OK, I know I’m exaggerating but when oh when will I ever set foot there??!

#30Stays: Trip When I Was Most Out Of My Comfort Zone

This is definitely the Nepal trip no doubt about it! I went alone as usual and did a leap of faith over Pokhara. Nepal is a poor country and we all know people in poor countries don’t place hygiene as a top priority(heck even Malaysians don’t place hygiene highly!). The roads there are bad, the cities are busy, dusty and dirty. You see litter and dog poo even at temples and the locals also like to spit – even at UNESCO Heritage Sites. And don’t let me mention the public washroom... I think even India is a lot better.

All the above doesn’t mean I hate Nepal. I’m just stating my observation and letting you know that it was there that really had me out of my comfort zone.

#30Stays: Place I Can’t Wait To Take My Kids

If and that’s a big IF I ever have kids, I would bring them everywhere. Not just amusement/theme parks but also to the mountains, to the ancient city, to the desert, to perform Umrah or preferably Haj together. Then again, dreams are one thing, while reality, well reality is a different thing altogether.

#30Stays: First Thing I Do In A Hotel Room

First thing I do is put my bag on the luggage rack, fill up the kettle, make a cuppa and then study my map while having my cuppa. If I haven’t performed prayers and thought I’d be out for a while, I’d then perform prayers. Then only would I venture out to explore the area.

#30Stays: Most Beautiful Place On Earth

Oh this is a tough one. Iceland was beautiful, Prague and Český Krumlov were beautiful, Sarajevo and Mostar were beautiful. I can’t decide on one single place really.

#30Stays: Most Welcoming Place I’ve Stayed

I think the most welcoming place I’ve stayed at was Noordin Mews in Georgetown, Penang. I arrived after 11 pm and yet I was received very warmly. I was told I could check in the next morning but as I didn’t think it would take long, I said I would just check in then and they accepted this. They brought me to my room and minutes later, a male staff appeared with a late-night fruit snack and some Chinese tea. I could not fault their service throughout my stay even if I wanted to.

#30Stays: If I Only Had One Holiday Left

I don’t think you can call a Haj or Umrah trip a holiday but if I had only one trip left before I meet my Maker, I would like to visit Makkah and Madinah. It’s too much to ask to have the privilege of dying and being buried in the Holy Land though...

#30Stays: Place Everyone Loves But I Hate

I absolutely dislike Bali and especially Kuta – I thought it was so darn tacky. I didn’t hate the trip we took to the terraced rice fields and farm in the heart of Bali though.

I must also say that I found Salzburg disappointing. It didn’t help that I arrived there from Český Krumlov which surpassed my expectations. The horrid grey dull wet Salzburg weather didn’t help of course (plus it gave me a cold). I wouldn’t say I hate Salzburg but I certainly didn’t find it all that great.

#30Stays: Place I Wish I’d Visited Sooner

I wish I had gone for Haj a little bit sooner so I wouldn’t have to wait so long for my second trip - but then again, as a single girl, I need a muhrim and I couldn’t go any earlier even if I wanted to. I wish I had visited Egypt earlier. But no regrets. I am where I’m supposed to be and God has His reasons why I went to the places I went when I did. Thank You, God.

#30Stays: Most Mind-Blowing Place I’ve Spent The Night

I wish I could say I’ve spent a night under the stars somewhere, camped in a yurt in the steppes, slept in a cave in Cappadocia but alas, I haven’t. I had slept in a tent in a desert with hundreds of others though – this was in Mina when I performed my Haj and it was challenging to say the least.

#30Stays: Favourite Road Trip

I don’t enjoy long road trips anymore; I prefer flying or taking the train. I don’t mind short road trips and some of those that I enjoyed were to Melaka, Cherating and the recent weekend trip to Kuala Selangor and Sekinchan (my first time there evah! - believe it or not). If not for the winding roads that I have to endure on my return leg from visiting my nephew at his boarding school and the long drive to visit my niece at her boarding school, I would have visited them more often.

#30Stays: Best Person I’ve Met On Holiday

One of the best persons I’ve met on holiday is Andrea. We have since travelled to Sri Lanka and Indonesia together and I’d gone to visit her in Manila twice. She’s now married and staying in Bacolod and I haven’t had the opportunity to visit her new home yet.

#30Stays: Place I Visited At The Wrong Time

I can’t honestly think of any place that I’ve visited at the wrong time. It was of course too hot when I visited Myanmar the first time but I suppose it was normal for a place like Myanmar to be that hot at that time of the year. And I visited Iceland at the right time; I was just unfortunate not to have sighted the Northern Lights.

#30Stays: Favourite Hotel Room

This would be a close call between the Hotel Penaga room and the family room (an upgrade) at Noordin Street House, both in Penang and both converted from pre-war terrace shop houses. I had a noisy tenant on the room above me at Hotel Penaga though who was doing some acrobatic, gymnastic or maybe just plain somehow noisy aerobic throughout the night thumping my ceiling so Noordin Street Houses edges out as the winner if I have to choose between the two.

#30Stays: Place I Didn’t Expect To Love

Hmm, this is one tough one. I either love a place, dislike it or feel neither love nor hatred for it (neutral). I do have places I didn’t expect to dislike and that would be Bali because I find it tacky.

#30Stays: First Holiday With My Partner

Partner, what partner? I don’t have a partner. I do have ‘partners in crime travel’ though. Next!

#30Stays: Best Hotel Freebie

The posh Taj hotel I stayed at in Mumbai had this toiletry set for female guests which include nail polish remover among other things.

I don’t know if it’s a freebie but I took a bear from the Conrad Hong Kong Hotel when I squatted in Lin’s room when she was there on official duty.

#30Stays: Best Meal On Holiday

I’m not a foodie but had the best lahmacun at a Turkish restaurant at Lake Como of all places! Had it every day I was there (I wasn’t there that long enough though).

#30Stays: Weirdest Place I’ve Woken Up

Two candidates for this:

1. Hostel Celica where Lin and I stayed at in Ljubljana. It was a former prison (Celica means cell). This was a knackered me after having just checked in (actually, I was feeling very weak. I was lacking sugar then).

2. Hostel Merlin in Český Krumlov with its steep steep narrow stairs and my top floor attic-like room. Oh, but talk about a room with a view!

#30Stays: Reason I Travel Alone

Travelling alone gives me the flexibility and freedom to see what I want, when I want and how I want to see it. I’m also free to decide how and where to spend my time. People ask me if I feel lonely and my reply is No. I may be alone but I’m not lonely. And they ask if I’m not afraid and my response is if I let fear conquer me, I will never push myself and never find out what I’m capable of. Of course I take extra precaution for my safety and I find that I’m more alert when I travel solo than when I travel with someone else as I always have the complacency of someone else watching out for me too.

There are annoying people who say they would only travel if they are with their family and my reply is, well, I don’t want to have to wait until I can travel with my family (parents and siblings or my own family). What if my family member isn’t free, can’t spare the budget or isn’t interested in the destination? What if I never got married? And why should I let all these stop me from travelling?

#30Stays: Place I Regret Not Going To

I don’t like to regret because regrets are a waste of time and energy. I don’t have a place I regret not going to; while there are many places I haven’t been to, I don’t regret not having gone there yet as I hope I would set foot there eventually one day.

#30Stays: Holiday Selfie

Actually I don’t like to take pictures of myself because I’m not photogenic and because I much prefer taking pictures of the scenery, the ruins, buildings and, of late, cats. Having said that, I checked my albums and discovered that I had taken quite a few selfies actually...

In Vientiane, December 2008. Met Andrea on the plane and had known her for all of three hours when we took this

 Heading to the domestic airport in Vientiane for my evening flight to Luang Prabang, December 2008

On the boat to Pak Ou Caves near Luang Prabang, December 2008

 At Central Plaza Chiangmai Airport Shopping Centre, February 2009

 On a boat to a floating market at the outskirts of Bangkok, March 2009

Gaysorn Shopping Centre, Bangkok, March 2009

On the train with Andrea from Kandy to Colombo Fort, Sri Lanka, December 2009

My first motorbike ride ever! In Hue, Vietnam, September 2010 

 On boat crossing the river from Niah Park Headquarters to Niah

 Taking a break from Icelandic horse riding, Iceland, February 2012

 Halászbástya (Fisherman’s Bastion), Buda side of Budapest, May 2013

Aboard Yeti Airlines from Kathmandu to Pokhara, December 2013. Look how small the plane is!

 Just before I took my leap over Sarangkot and Pokhara, Nepal, December 2013

 On board the bus from Pokhara to Chitwan, Nepal, December 2013

 Inle Lake, Myanmar, February 2014

With my driver who once worked in Malaysia and is still fluent in Malay, Mrauk U, Myanmar, February 2014

 Český Krumlov, Czech Republic, May 2014

#30Stays: Most Exciting Holiday

Wow, this is another tough question. Most exciting holiday would be with my parents and sister when we went to Los Angeles with side trips to Tijuana in Mexico and Las Vegas, or the trip when we visited Akak in Tokyo when among others, we took the shinkansen to experience it. It could also include when Lin and I were in New York City and then we took the Greyhound (!) to Niagara Falls in Canada (better than the US side) and then we flew down to Orlando to the theme parks. Or it could be my solo trips to Prague, Croatia and Bosnia. It’s just difficult for me to pinpoint one particular holiday. 

#30Stays: Favourite Travel Buddy

I have had a few travel buddies: Mummy, Lin, SM for two trips now (Guilin and Taiwan) and my munchkin nephew. Mummy relied heavily on me when we travelled but she was an enthusiastic traveller. She stoically endured the day-long van ride to Chiang Rai and the borders of Laos and Myanmar; the bus rides in Shanghai and other cities; the angkot ride in Bandung and bajaj ride in Jakarta. Lin travelled with me a few times to London, a few cities in Western Europe, a few cities in Eastern Europe, Russia and Morocco. My munchkin nephew has travelled with me to Solo and Jogjakarta (along with his sister), Jakarta, Turkey and Japan.

I must say that my most favourite travel buddy is me, myself and I. I love my company and I love the freedom, independence and flexibility of travelling solo. I love having my me-time to spend however long I want at some ruins, moving along my schedule however and whenever I want to. I may be alone but I’m not lonely. I have my maps, guidebooks and brochures and novels to occupy me. Having said that, I won’t deny that there are trips where it would be better, wiser and more enjoyable to have some company.

#30Stays: Life-Changing Trip

This is a tough one. I think all trips will change us somewhat: change our perception, add to our experience and enrich our life. I would like to say that my Haj trip was a life-changing trip but I’m still learning - even now - how to better myself, because to me, we should continuously learn to improve ourselves. Backpacking in Europe when I was an undergraduate helped change me to become more confident and independent but it took me some time before I was brave enough to undertake my first solo trip to Prague and a few years before I embarked on a solo fortnight-long trip to a few Eastern European countries. I would like to say they have all changed me but I know I’m still somewhat reserved in striking up conversation with fellow hostellers but I know I can improve on this.

#30Stays: First Trip Abroad

My first trip abroad was across the Causeway to Singapore with my parents and Akak. We had a few relatives in Singapore (my parents are from Johore and when Singapore divorced itself from Malaysia, my dad’s sister stayed on in Singapore and became a citizen of the republic.). I think I went there at least twice: I recall a HDB unit and on another visit, we stayed at a relative’s house.

My first trip abroad by plane was to Perth when I was 7. Dad was there for nine months and we went to visit him a month before he was due to return. It coincided with our year-end school holidays. We came back around Christmas and I remember thinking how it sucked that we couldn’t experience winter but how awesome it was that we could enjoy barbecue. We had to transit at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport on the return leg and it was then when I was introduced to the concept of paid washrooms.

My #30Stays

I have, over time, used a variety of sites to book accommodation. I relied heavily on Venere before, especially in Europe, and if I couldn’t find anything that caught my fancy, I tried Hostelbookers (which I prefer over HostelWorld. Oh, and I hardly ever use Agoda). I can’t recall now when and how I started using booking.com but I remember I was already using in when I stopped in London for a night before heading home from Iceland in February 2012. I’ve been a regular user of booking.com since and have been strongly recommending the site to a lot of people travelling either on personal or official trips.

Anyway, this post is my way of responding to the #30stays posed by booking.com in September. Yes, you were supposed to tweet back to @bookingcom while I’m responding to it by way of blog posts and yes, I know I’m a month behind but I reckon it doesn’t matter much. My #30 stays posts will start tomorrow ;)