Borneo Blog :: tarap, durian, coconut milk

Today has been epic! 

I wanted to buy a cheap tarap as a last goodbye to this amazing fruit, so Des took me to Dongonggon Tamu on his motorcycle. On the way he took a detour to a different market near Cyber City apartments close to KK airport. 

This market did not have tarap, but it had an incredible coconut milking machine! I say milk, but it was thick like cream. Oh so good. I got a 500g bag but only drank half as I was already still full from breakfast (my new favourite avocado, coconut oil and soaked walnuts). 

I put the rest in the fridge when I got back but after checking it a few hours later it has turned sour! Seriously the fridge in this hostel is absolutely rubbish at keeping milk fresh! 

So after this we went to Dongonggon and I was so disappointed to find that the tarap was more expensive than what I found in KK the previous day... However, I did find a lady selling just 1 for 3 ringgit. It's not the cheapest I've paid but it was still cheap in my opinion. It isn't ripe until tomorrow. 

As the tarap has to wait until tomorrow I decided today would be my final durian in Sabah. I had only planned on getting one, but as I'm addicted I ended up buying 4... I got a tray labeled as Musang king, but if it was it was over ripe. It didn't taste as amazing as I expected based on other people's reviews... And so I bought 3 wild durian. One after the other of course, after each one I said "OK this is the last" but it is by far my favourite durian I've ever tried so I had to eat until I was 100% completely sure I couldn't eat any more. 

I feel good though, I definitely did not over do it like in Ranau. 

Then to top off the day nicely I had a chat with my Mum :) it's been a long time since we talked, mainly because she works and I'm 8 hours ahead of the UK. 

Borneo Blog :: learning Malay at a coconut stand

I spent a lot of time at the coconut stand. I have been going mainly to eat the thick fatty coconut meat instead of drinking the water and this is the best place to go for that. 

Although they don't speak much English we can still converse. I was being taught descriptive words because there are a lot of Americans in town. It turns out they're in the military on a ship and have come to drink beer and party.. 

The reason I was learning descriptive words is because every time a western man walks past the lady says to me "wow, look at him, strong!". People here seem to think I'm after a husband. So I played along. From that moment we were pointing out tall men (tinggi), short men (rendah), bald men (botak), etc. It was definitely a fun way to learn Malay. However, that's really the only thing I can say (as well as some pleasantries of course). 

I was asked to help out sell snacks, but it was so quiet... I shouted over to many Americans to come for a coconut but they either declined (for beer) or ignored my call. 

At least I got to spend more time with this family, who are always smiling and willing to chat. I keep being invited to stay at their house but I politely decline everytime. They're Muslim and I don't think my Western dress would be appropriate... 

Borneo Blog :: Chinese New Year

Happy New Year everyone. This is my first experience of the Chinese New Year and I've been home all day! Say what? 

Well I returned to KK for this day but I ended up being too impatient to wait to do a food experiment, which required me to be home and next to a toilet... 

Luckily my friend Des came earlier to see me, which was nice. He gave me an ang pow. It's a red packet filled with money that traditionally is given to children and unmarried adults to wish them luck and prosperity and also to show gratitude. I thought it was a card at first but was really surprised to see money inside! Thank you Des for your ever increasing generosity. I've been away with the clouds so I never even thought to get a gift :/

I am speechless at the generosity I have encountered lately, from staying in Ranau and being taken to 2 orchards plus getting free fruit to being taken on motorcycle tours. The people of Sabah are really kind and amazing. 

I can definitely learn a lot from the people here. I'm so humbled to know that kindness is given away freely and doesn't have to be earned in anyway. I can tell when people genuinely want to help and make sure you have the best time. 

Thank you to Des and thank you Sherry and family. You've made my stay here welcoming and I feel so blessed to have been in your presence. 

May you have a wonderful year filled with good luck, peace and joy. I hope it's not too long before we meet again. 

Love Jennifer xxx

Borneo Blog :: stay in bed!

I so want to go to the tamu today, but yesterday I started feeling ill like I've done too much in a short space of time. When you consider that my normal level of activity is to cycle to the market and back and perhaps walk around locally, then this week I've definitely done too much and shocked my system once again. 

My throat is sore and feels like it is producing phlegm, my head has a slight banging and now my right foot feels strained, the arch is painful when I walk. If that's not a sign for "stay in bed" then I don't know what is. 

However, my stubbornness and need for ripe fruit may just keep me from relaxing all day. Plus my love for a tamu. I'm in one of those predicaments. The only ripen fruit I have is durian... The bananas need at least 1 more day as well as the rollinia. I have a small bag of mangosteen that I'm keeping for eating after durian. 

I have a feeling the durian may have contributed to my illness too, so I keep thinking that I probably shouldn't be eating it. I would Google all of these things if the Internet wasn't switched off... That's the only downside to staying here. The Internet is turned off at night and then turned back on whenever someone remembers in the morning. Well I tend to get up really early and this is normally when I do my Internet things, like uploading photos, replying to YouTube comments (I've been slow this week) and doing some research before I head out (weather, maps, etc). 

I suppose the only plus side to this is that I've been reading more. I usually find distractions on the Internet so I don't read these hundreds of eBooks stored on my tablet. The astrology book is by far the most fascinating read I've had in a long time. I am finding out who I am according to the stars and it's scarily accurate. I am becoming more aware of my personality based on astrology and I am becoming more aware of other people. 

I hope that this enables me to grow even further and use this knowledge for good, trying to develop areas where I'm lacking, or perhaps classed as my weakness and then building upon my strengths. 

I love to learn and learning about myself is possibly the best thing I could do right now. 

PS I went to the tamu, felt a bit weak but I bought lots of greens and I've just eaten some. I think perhaps I'm missing many minerals so over the next few days I'll load up on greens. 

Borneo Blog :: Living alone

Ranau has been an amazing place to relax, build routines and be carefree and part of that has been due to living by myself. I previously spent 3 weeks in KK living in a shared dorm so it was a welcome relief. However, a couple came to stay this evening and as nice as it is to socialise I've realised how important it is for me to have my own space in the evenings. 

I think that's partly why I was a bit reluctant for my new friend Nelli to stay because having another person here disrupts my flow, and although I'm adaptable as a Virgo I'm still easily put off doing things I'd normally do. I kept thinking how awful I was for not wanting Nelli to stay, was I selfish? But she ended up canceling and moving on from Ranau. 

I'm still trying to understand myself and this is one of the issues I need to examine closer. I have always been in relationships where I'd want to move in with a guy, but recently I just want to be on my own. I can really see now why my mum is OK living alone... I just want to do the same! 

The day time is for socialising in my opinion, the evening is for winding down and sleeping. However, it seems that the night time is when people normally come alive. This was the case when I lived in the tree house in La Palma, I would be disturbed all night as I tried sleeping. Thankfully the couple didn't make too much noise, it was just the creaking of heavy footing on the floor boards that created a noise, but now I have to be conscious about what I do, especially using the Internet! (When I upload my YouTube videos I cannot do anything else and it gets switched off at night and whenever I leave, but these times are the best times for uploading my videos and photos) 

I am not sure what my next destination is but I know that I'd like to be in a quiet place away from people. I guess I am introverted and like alone a time great deal. 

Borneo Blog :: Poring Hot Springs

I got on my bike again with my cycling shoes and went to Poring Hot Springs. I didn't fall off but the left pedal is really tough to remove so I need to look at it again to make sure I have it on the easiest setting not the hardest! My hand still hurts from the fall when I do my morning stretches and yoga plus doing handstands  (which I don't do often because of the hand), so I hope it heals soon!

Poring means bamboo in Kadazandusun language, so there's no surprise that you'll find a lot of bamboo in this area. It's 19km from Ranau and most of that is downhill. However, the last 4km is up some steep hills and past some dogs so it's best to dismount if you're not an experienced cyclist. I find that when I walk with the bike I actually get a calf workout more than when I'm on the bike, so it's a bonus to walk sometimes.

The scenery of this area is incredible. Jungle, mountains, wooden houses, paddy fields, fruit trees, etc breathtaking and beautiful. However, when you travel by bicycle it's hard to pay attention to it all because sometimes the other road users are inconsiderate and there are potholes to look out for.

When I arrived I changed into my normal clothes and shoes and ate my lunch, which were banana date dogs (like a hot dog with the banana being the sausage and the date being the bun). So good, especially after cycling! Surprisingly I didn't eat them all so I kept them in the container for later (and that was a welcome relief!) I have had my dates since leaving the UK, they're my emergency fruit but it's not really that necessary in South East Asia unless you're only transiting between countries, but most of the time there's always fruit at the airports!

I headed to the tropical and orchid gardens. When I got there the man was saying there's not a lot to see. He was really off putting, which was strange because they charge money to see these gardens on top of the conservation fee you pay at the entrance, so I'd have thought they'd want some money! I paid and he was right, but I still saw some amazing greens and a pitcher plant I've never seen before in my life, so it was totally worth it! As the last guests to visit entered the gardens over 11 days ago I walked through so many cobwebs, it was horrible! I wished so much I had my leggings on. The tropical garden had a 700m trail, but after going 250m and through an aviary enclosure I wanted to get out asap! The cobwebs here were just insane! This is one of the reasons I'm reluctant to go into the jungle.

I think I spent an hour here even though it felt really quick, I did take lots of photographs in the orchid garden so that's probably why time disappeared so quickly.

After these gardens I walked to the hot springs entrance and went to the butterfly garden. The same thing happened when I was buying my ticket! As it was raining lightly the man said there's no butterflies, but I wanted to go anyway. The gardens were beautiful and I saw so many butterflies! I think they need to be trained better here to avoid putting tourists off!

There's a room with dried butterflies, some are stunning. The colours are fascinating, pearlescent beauty, it makes me wonder about mother nature. How she produces so many wonderful things. Then there's a room for bugs *shudders* they're gross! After this room is the butterfly enclosure where they vary in size and colour. I think it's quite sad that they're kept in a cage because they just fly up to the sky and want to get out. I think just like zoos this is quite cruel and I do wonder if I should have paid for it, but at the same time they're providing a safe environment for the butterflies to enjoy the plants there. It's one of those vegan issues that I should contemplate.

So the butterflies were amazing and I loved watching them. When I left the enclosure I was treated to more butterflies flying in the open. Wow. I love these creatures.

After the butterfly garden I went to the canopy walk. They charge you money to use your camera! Crazy. So I refused to pay and my time is just recorded in my memories. You'll have to take my word for it that it was incredible! At one point I fantasised about the ropes snapping, what would I do?! I loved looking at the trees above, producing a silhouette of leaves against the sky. Beautiful. Then I looked down and saw the water flowing. It was interesting to look down because I almost got frightened but I seemed to be OK once I accepted it.

Onto the hot springs. It's quite crappy in my opinion. They've built bath tubs to fill up with the water but it's really artificial and not very authentic. You can look at a natural spring but you cannot go in it. In Turkey you can go into numerous pools with rocks and the natural slime and even though some of that is man made (at least to make it usable by people) it still felt authentic. The bonus is I had a whole tub to myself! 

I made my tub really hot. Immediately I felt the benefits, my skin was even silkier, I felt so relaxed, even though I was unable to lay completely flat, and my muscles released all their tension. Ahhh bliss. I stayed in for about 30 minutes and then got changed into my cycling gear. 

The journey home was more fun as I got to go fast down the hills I climbed on the way, exhilarating. The steady inclines were not too challenging either. I gave myself 2 hours to get back and I did it in 1 hour 30 minutes so I was really pleased. 

Borneo Blog :: too much durian?

If you haven't been expecting this post I'd be surprised. So if you've been following my Instagram then you'll know I eat a lot of durian every day (pretty much since I got to Ranau). Therefore, it was inevitable that this day would come that I say perhaps I've been eating too much! :P 

This morning I didn't feel all that great in my stomach. I actually burped a bit of sick during my morning coconut. I thought perhaps I didn't leave enough time between dinner and breakfast. I've read some raw vegans leave at least 16 hours between their last meal and first meal. I think I left around 10 or 11 hours between my late salad and coconut. 

Yesterday I ate 1 normal durian, 1 wild durian and 2 packets of mixed durian, which together made me so full. It was an eyes bigger than my belly moment and I just couldn't resist, which makes me question whether durian is actually an addictive fruit. 

I was going to avoid eating durian today, but I went up to Kundasang with my new friend Nelli this morning and on the way back we stopped at a durian stall just outside of Ranau town. It had so many varieties like D24, D101, kura-kura, tembaga and many others. So I tried the D24 (Nelli thinks it wasn't actually D24) and I bought a kura-kura because someone on Facebook has asked me for the seeds. 

The kura-kura was actually quite poor, tasting like it may have been a day too old and it wasn't as sweet as the D24 I had. Then the lady at the stall offered us free durian so I had a few pieces and it was creamy and semi sweet. 

Early on before going to Kundasang I bought 4 wild durian. I left them at Nelli's hotel, which is opposite the market! Unfortunately one of them was so ripe it had cracked at all seams and was calling me with its scent, so I've just polished it off... 

Nelli has worked on some durian farms, collecting them in return for free food so she's had some amazing durian. She reckons the durian here doesn't taste as good as in Kuching (Sarawak) and I'm beginning to realise just how mediocre it is in comparison to wild durian, which packs a punch of flavours. I think from now on I'm just going to eat wild durian here in Ranau unless I'm presented with something amazingly sweet smelling. 

It's not that hard to pick it up around here, so fingers crossed I can continue to get some from the market. 

I've been planning my days this evening and I am thinking about cycling to the hot springs tomorrow to see the rafflesia flower (weather permitting). I've been sat around for too long, I need to get out and take some amazing photographs. There's a butterfly farm, orchid conservation centre, canopy walk and waterfalls at Poring, so it will be a long day in nature. I will pack my basket full of fruit so I will have the energy to see it all! 

I definitely want to see Kota Belud tamu on Sunday and proceed to Kudat, so I want to round off my time here in Ranau by doing the things I had planned to do when I was in KK. I just need to figure out the logistics of buses and taking my bicycle. If it's possible to cycle for part of my journey I am definitely interested in doing that! 

So even though I've eaten too much durian, I'm still going to to eat it but just wild durian because it's the most flavourful and apparently is lower in fat! 

Borneo Blog :: cover up with a hijab

Today I did something I never thought I'd do, inspired by a lady I met in Thailand last year I decided that I would cover up my body including my hair. 

After almost experiencing a sexual assault in Kota Kinabalu it made sense to try it and although I felt silly it felt empowering. However, the first few comments were not what I expected. I did this to almost blend in, to go unnoticed and be left alone, but as soon as I reached the market I heard people heckling "oh my god, beautiful!" 

Personally I felt ugly because sometimes I think my hair is what makes me pretty being golden blonde and all, but that wasn't the point! I didn't want people to make a fuss but of course a white woman wearing a hijab is going to generate attention. 

As I walked around to the rear of the market, where locals come and sell their produce, I had lots of stares, smiles, giggles, etc. I think perhaps one or two people talked about me in a negative tone but I've no idea what they said because I don't speak the language! 

One lady selling flowers came over to talk to me whilst I ate a really good papaya, she thought I was a local until she saw my face and then she was excited to practice her English. She very kindly gave me her English-Malay book because she thinks I should learn Malay. My dedication to languages is appalling but I do like this country and will probably visit regularly so it's only right to at least try! 

So after the market I went home and stayed home for the rest of the day. It was the hottest, clearest day today so I couldn't stand the heat in the clothes and hijab. I took it off around 3pm because I was just sweating profusely. 

It was definitely an interesting experience and I got excited about the different colours, accessories and clothes I could wear, but after posting on my Facebook page and having someone comment about the body I realised I don't want to cover up. Sure I should be more considerate and respectful of other cultures and religions, but I'm all about being natural. Let me quote Dane who replied to my post 

"I see nothing wrong with our bodies as they naturally are, and I think if someone has some sort of problem simply seeing another persons body, then they most likely have mental/emotional issues, or at the very least some strange ideas running through their mind. I think perhaps it would be better for these people to deal with their issues rather than have everyone cover up so that these people can happily ignore their issues and never have to face it... In fact I think covering up is what causes so much of the problem in the first place, it kind of makes a problem out of nothing, if everyone grew up seeing other peoples bodies all the time, it's highly unlikely they would have a problem with it, but because people cover up, then its becomes a big deal if people uncover themselves."

Borneo Blog :: Cycling up to Mount Kinabalu National Park

I took on the challenge of cycling to Mount Kinabalu National Park, which is roughly only 20km away from Ranau. Sure if you go by car it's a 40 minute drive, but if you decide to cycle and depending on your fitness it could take you past 2 hours or more. It actually took me 2 hours and 40 minutes because I had to stop many times for a break. The hills are quite steep and so challenging if cycling isn't your passion. 

I never consider myself a cyclist. You may scratch your head seeing as I'm travelling with my road bike and I have  cycling shoes/clothes, but that doesn't mean I'm a cyclist in my opinion. To me a cyclist is passionate about riding, loves to be on the bike training hard regularly and is excited by getting up steep hills. 

I am neither of these things. I cycle for fruit and to commute. Fair enough I love my bike and couldn't imagine life without it but I am not inspired to train on it. I see a hill and I curse. However, sometimes I do set myself challenges like today and I go for it (try to at least). 

I tackled some pretty challenging hills in Bali and La Palma, plus Doi Suthep in Thailand, but none of that could prepare me for this! I think it's so important to train on hills regularly so you have the stamina to keep going. I stopped within the first 10 minutes and probably after every 5-10 minutes after that. There are very few plateaus or descents going to the National Park entrance. 

My main challenges were my overall stamina, leg and back strength, mental stability and emotional poise. I think my cardiovascular health is fairly good, I was still able to sing and cycle (plus curse and shout at dogs) but this may have been helped with my regular breaks. 

I didn't struggle with keeping going, mainly because I didn't want to cycle past the dogs who chased after me again, I figured I had gone so far that I'd be pretty pissed at myself for turning back too soon. So I just kept going. 

The dog incident left me in tears. Nothing happened apart from my heart almost bursting out of my body. The dogs just decided to chase me for a long time, one almost got ran over but then got back on to chasing me and the others got so close I thought they'd bite me. I need to get some tips for this because it's a regular occurrence now. If they get too close I may just end up booting them in the face because I'm near breaking point. Animal cruelty only applies to animals who aren't trying to attack you!

As usual I had people beeping at me, waving and shouting "hello". I almost got crushed when a lorry took a corner way too fast and a pick up truck was in our lane coming the opposite way. People please be careful when taking corners. Be aware that there are other road users, not just you! 

When I saw civilisation I was so happy! I arrived in Kundasang town and the street was lined with fruit and vegetables. My heaven. Seriously I had the biggest grin on my face. But I didn't stop, I couldn't, I had to achieve my goal to reach the Park. It took me 40 minutes to reach the National Park from Kundasang. It got colder, cloudier and it even started raining lightly. 

Once I arrived at the National Park I was ready to leave! It was so cloudy I couldn't see a thing, plus after all that cycling I forgot my normal trainers to walk in and it was freezing but I didn't bring extra clothes either! I don't think I could have walked far anyway. So I took my descent back to Kundasang, I passed an organic farm (didn't stop) on the way. The ride was exhilarating and took about 5 minutes! 

When I reached the town I stopped to pee, took some photos, filled up my water bottle and headed to the fruit and veg stalls. Now I dislike how everything was in plastic wrap and polystyrene, but I loved the arrangements. So colourful. If my kitchen could be filled like that everyday I'd be in heaven! 

I bought 4kg of rollinia as this is my new favourite fruit, better than cherimoya! It tastes like the filling of a McDonald's apple pie... Sooooo amazing, perhaps cinnamon sprinkled on top would make it exactly like the pie (minus the fried outer and heat!) I wanted to buy more but I thought about the weight of the bike and I didn't want to overload it with too much. 

Rollinia 

The descent from Kundasang was also exhilarating, I didn't encounter any dogs and at one point I over took a wagon! It felt like I was home instantly. I do love going downhill but it scares me sometimes, especially on the road bike with its thin tyres. 

I don't think I'll be cycling back up there again during this trip, but maybe in the future. 

Borneo Blog :: durian orchard tour

I've relocated to Ranau, home of durian. It takes between 2-3 hours to arrive here by coach, depending on the traffic. There are many steep hills and if you get caught behind a lorry then the journey time increases! 

I'm in a homestay that has 7 rooms, but I'm the only person here! I have 3 bathrooms, a large living area and dining area, kitchen (with so many pink plates, bowls, cups! My kind of living!!) and balcony. It's awesome compared to the hostel. Also the temperature is lower due to being higher up, which is a welcome relief. I have been wearing my jumper and leggings so I appreciate having them (I've been wondering if I'd ever use them in the tropics!). 

The owner of the property also owns an orchard and when I told her daughter (Sherry) I love durian she immediately suggested taking me to see it. Unfortunately on my first day here it rained heavily, which cancelled the trip. However, I visited this afternoon. 

We took some very long battered roads. It's as if the council has forgotten that there's roads there because it hasn't been well maintained. Pot holes, bumps and huge chunks of tarmac are missing, which makes it hazardous and if you don't concentrate you could easily damage your car. 

When we arrived there were rows of papaya trees lining the entrance with huge fruit dangling from them, all green. It was muddy due to the rain so I took a stick to help my descent. I guess at this point I should mention that it was very steep, I don't envy the job of the workers because they have to navigate the orchard every day in all weathers carrying durian up these steep hills. 

The workers still use traditional baskets for carrying durian up the steep slopes

There were coffee trees, bananas, langsat, salak (snake fruit), mangosteen, coconuts, rambutan, another fruit similar to longon, some jungle fruit and of course durian. 

From top left clockwise : coffee, banana, langsat, fruit similar to longon (unknown name) and salak 

The views were incredible. It was amazing to see the durian hanging off the trees and then spotting empty branches where they've fallen to the ground set amidst a backdrop of steep mountainous landscapes. Breathtaking. 

Unfortunately I wasn't fully prepared because my camera battery plus spare ran out of power! So did my action camera. I am pretty sure I got all I could though. The weather wasn't fantastic either so the lighting was poor. 

Once we had had enough of walking around the muddy slopes of the orchard we returned to the entrance, where there is a large wooden building, and sampled some durian. My favourite part! Unfortunately Sherry forgot to call ahead of time to arrange for them to have ripe durian for me, but we did have 1 ripe durian to share (well I say we, Sherry and her daughter don't like durian, but her husband does!). 

Doesn't it just look so creamy and beautiful?! 

Apparently the people who work in the orchard don't see tourists often so they were excited that I came, that might be why they gave me a whole basket of durian to take back with me! I think it's 10 durians to be exact. I will be in durian heaven soon. It needs to ripen over 1 or 2 days. 

I have forgotten the durian variety, it's very pale, creamy and tastes like vanilla. Incredible. Sherry said the fruits are mainly round. I will update you when I eat the ones I have. 

Borneo Blog :: Tai Chi, the other woman, Ranau

I woke up to a message from Des asking me if I wanted to go to the beach with him and his son Ronald (another spooky coincidence, my dad is called Ronald...). I am pretty sure I hadn't even put my socks on and he was at my hostel already! I was feeling rather shaky this morning so I needed to eat something. It's the Sunday market on Gaya Street, right outside my accommodation so I didn't want to break my tradition of tarap for breakfast so I got a huge one! Little did I know Des was buying me durian! 

We drove to the beach and Des showed me some Tai Chi moves after I played in the park of course lol. Ronald was too shy to show me how strong he is on the monkey bars so I just hung upside down from them instead! Eventually he showed me, wow for 7 years old he has great upper body strength! 

Ronald was so shy! 

I met Des' wife and then his in laws, which was slightly awkward given that he just takes me on the back of his motorcycle, leaves me standing alone feeling like I'm his mistress lol awkward... 

After I packed my things Des picked me up in the car and drove me to the bus station! Seriously this man has done a lot for me considering I'm a stranger. After a few snaps he left because his wife's car couldn't start and he was attending a course at 2pm, when my bus was leaving. I waited almost 2 hours. I cannot believe how slow the first hour went but then the rest of the time flew by. 

V for vegan!
When I look at photos I wish I'd have a more stylish appearance... 

The bus took around 2.5 hours and the roads were so windy but the driver drove quite fast around the bends and I felt sick because of it plus the air freshener that he sprayed at the bus terminal in addition to the automatic ones the goes off every 10 minutes. It was so easy to find my new accommodation though. 

The guy who is in the house, Sampson, was so kind when I arrived, he drove me to the market so I didn't get wet cycling and he did a quick tour of the down. Very quick actually because this town is so small!

The durian here is so cheap. I bought one with a slightly red tint on the spikes, it was very pale inside and when I tasted it I almost died... Creamy, check, good flesh to seed ratio, check, tootie fruitie flavour, check. Wow. I was so happy because I only paid 4 ringgit for this beauty. 

And now I am here, sat writing this after munching on some iceberg lettuce, some pretty strange tasting tomatoes and a very crunchy carrot. Someone is practicing their drumming which sounds awful and I have that weird energy feeling I've had all day. As if my chakras have been activated and they're waiting for me to do some deep meditation. So I'm going to floss, brush my teeth, poop and go to bed. Perhaps tonight I will go to the astral side... One can try! 

Borneo Blog :: Mari-Mari Cultural Village

Saturday 

Today I was invited to visit Mari-Mari Cultural Village with my new friend Desmond. Let me tell you about his name. He was the only boy at school with a non English name, so his friends told him to choose one. He chose Desmond because of a Beatles song that was popular at the time. Now if that's not destiny then I don't know what is. (I was born in Liverpool, home of the Beatles...) 

Des was picking me up at 4pm so I had the morning and early afternoon to laze around and take it easy. I went to the coconut stand and had one of the biggest coconuts I think I've ever seen (the previous day I had the biggest I've ever seen lol) and it was really sweet, but nothing beats the one I had at the beach so far that tasted like milkybar. 

I was sure I wanted tarap, so I got one from the market. I should have known that when it dripped on me in the market it was not a good one. Nevertheless I bought it. When I opened it the pods were purple and some had gone pink, gooey and rancid. So determined to get a good tarap I went back to ask for a better one or my money back. I ended up getting half my money back because the woman who sold it to me was only looking after the stall. Fair enough, I'm glad I got something back. 

So I didn't get one after that. 

Des picked me up early and we went walked around a park. He showed me where he does Tai Chi. It was a beautiful park. 

Then we went to the Brahma Kumaris centre that teaches Raja Yoga, which was interesting and I hope I taught them something about eating clean with my raw vegan lifestyle! 

After our visit we headed to the Cultural village. It was beautiful, a stream, bamboo buildings, trees, so much greenery. It got dark soon after we arrived so the photographs and videos will be quite dark. Stay tuned. There were many tasters, all non vegan of course but at the end after watching a dancing show with music you get to eat a buffet meal. Fortunately Des speaks many languages so he was able to pre order a raw vegan meal especially for me. I had watermelon, papaya, carrots, tomatoes, cucumber and then shredded salad. It was so good! 

On the way back (by motorcycle of course) I felt so chilled out, almost in a meditative state. I had my eyes closed for the majority of the journey allowing my senses and body to feel everything, from the wind in my hair, to the vibrations from the foot pedals on my feet through to my legs. Wow. This was probably the best journey I've ever had. I kept repeating the question "who am I?" and the sensations became stronger. Incredible. 

Perfect day. 

Borneo Blog :: short and sweet

Today I'm very tired after a sleepless night. The dorm was filled with 4 snorers last night so I ended up having a midnight durian feast and then felt tired enough by 2am to sleep, although I did need to listen to some meditation music in order to mask the sound of the snoring.

Needless to say I had a very late morning, I got up just before 11am and have a very chilled out day. I spent about 1.5 hours at the coconut stall eating a young coconut and a sprouted coconut, then I ate papaya! 

I watched The Wedding Ringer at 3:15pm, which was funny. I love going to the cinema to watch films and as I've mentioned before, to just forget I'm in a foreign country where people stare at me because I'm Western. I don't like being the minority, this is the only downside to travelling outside Europe. 

So before I sign off for the night I hope you take the time to watch my video of the adventure I had with my new friend. This was the best day of my travels so far and I hope I've made a friend for life! 

My amazing motorcycle tour

Borneo Blog :: possibly the best day of my travels so far...

Wow, what a day. I've seen more of Borneo today than I have over the last 17 days! It all started earlier this morning. I had my bikini on ready to go to the islands but I wanted to pick up my t-shirts from the print shop before hand so I started walking over. I hadn't realised it was 9:30am and I'm pretty sure the shop didn't open till 10am so I was summing up whether I should just sit outside and wait or have a coconut instead. 

The coconut won because I didn't have one for breakfast and it's a good job I went else I would not have met Des, aka Chew. He's a 52 year old Malay from Kuala Lumpur and let me tell you I was so shocked when he said he is 52! He looks at least 10 years younger in my opinion. He loved that comment so bought my coconut for me! 

What a man he is. Well travelled, knowledgeable in raja yoga, tai chi and vegetarianism (his mother is 90 and is a thriving vegetarian!). I don't think he is vegetarian though,but when he was with me he only ate fruit and salad (with mayo but still no meat). He is married and has a son, but not biological (this man has some great stories!) 

So we talked for a long time in the morning and instead of going to the islands I'd agreed to meet him back at the coco place at 2pm so he could show me some waterfalls and watch the sunset high in the mountain on his motorcycle. Well of course when someone mentions motorcycle I'm in. I get such a thrill from riding motorcycles, although this was not the case as a child, I was frightened of my uncles bikes. 

Well I was early and had another coconut whilst I waited. I ended up having a conversation with an American stay at home dad. It's crazy how many people I've spoke to recently, my dream definition was right! 

I'm going to cut it short because I need to research the place names and it's way past my bed time so here goes, 8 hours condensed into a few sentences. 

We went up to the mountains, it was gorgeous, so many trees. The buildings looked very Americanised in my opinion. The river was stunning. The first waterfall was lovely but I got attacked by mosquitoes. We ate durian and then left. Onto the second waterfall. I got such a numb bottom on the bike so I started doing butt clenches to try to build up my muscle and natural padding! The second waterfall was also amazing but we didn't stay long. We ascended a really steep hill for the views of KK at sunset. 

When we got to the top there was cloud cover everywhere. We were in a restaurant and had ordered some fruit juice and salads. The juice was delicious by the way, pineapple, orange, celery and apple. I suggested that we both close our eyes and imagined the cloud moving away so that we could see the sun and KK below. After 2 minutes or so I say enough and within 10 minutes the clouds started clearing! We had some amazing views of the city but unfortunately the clouds covered the sunset. I was so amazed that it worked and it solidified my belief that what we think has a lot of power. 

After the food we head back down. Des showed me many places, the tour wasn't over. We went up another steep hill closer to the city, he took me to his shop and showed me his house and then we watched a water fountain show. 

I have had one of the best days of my life. I saw my first firefly and fell in love all over again with motorcycles, KK and the generosity of a stranger. 

I am so blessed to have met Des and I appreciate everything he did for me today. I think he was sent to me to show me that not all men are a waste of space! 

Borneo Blog :: meditation

Today started off well, I went on the bike to collect more sprouted coconuts, drank a coconut at the coconut stall and then combined the meat with papaya, which was super sweet and then I had the sprout around 10:30am.

I took my bike to the bike shop for a service, but it's not going to be ready till Thursday. After that I went to the cinema. I figured it was too hot and sunny to be out at midday so I just went. I ended up watching The Boy Next Door with Jennifer Lopez. She's the only reason I saw it and I reckon this is her worst film. It was such a bad storyline and the ending was so ridiculous. I didn't review Into the Woods (from what I can remember) well that film was better, but I thought they should have let the film end after 1 hour or so. Happily ever after suited me lol

Well let's get back to my day. Prior to this I was at the hostel and I received an email from Ronnie aka Fruity Ronster. He's also a fruit eater/801010er and I subscribed to his newsletter so I often relieve very long emails from him (this reminds me I need to set up a website and get a newsletter going to personally spam you hehe). I always enjoy reading what Ronnie has to say and I always relate. This time was spooky. He had written about forgiveness, how he had forgiven himself for how he handled a relationship and I have been thinking about my previous relationships recently and how I need to forgive myself, synchronicity. His email definitely helped. 

Once I finished reading I sent a reply and then I looked on YouTube for a meditation video. There's so many, but I decided 30 minutes was the right time for me. I was crying within minutes. It was such a powerful guided meditation and exactly what I needed. 

Check it out here. 

I have lost track recently, forgotten what's important and what I want to do on my journey. La Palma was just perfect, I meditated daily, gave myself so much love, I appreciated every day, said my prayers every day and I had the best time. But it's amazing how 2 months can change everything. I need to get back on track and I think this email from Ronnie was the sign telling me to do so. I aim to get back to daily meditations, prayers and gratitude and work on my spiritual growth. 

Often I get distracted or become side tracked, sometimes I recognise immediately but most of the time it takes a while to notice. It's important that I forgive myself for this. Forgiving is hard but empowering. I have to learn in order to grow. 

I recommend that you start meditating, whether it's 5 minutes or 1 hour. It's important to learn how to do this. Personally I prefer to lie down flat on the bed, close my eyes, put my headphones in and ether listen to a guided meditation or a meditation for the chakras. Sometimes I like to do it before I eat, sometimes after. Find the time that suits you and be consistent. It gets easier with practice. 

Let me know if you need any suggestions regarding meditation. 

Peace and love 💟

Borneo Blog :: coconut sprout!

Wahoo today I finally had a coconut sprout. I heard about this when I left Thailand in July 2014, I had watched a video by Sweet Natural Living on YouTube and was so amazed that you could eat a sprouted coconut (truthfully I had never even pondered the idea that coconuts sprout, but obviously they do so new trees can grow!) 

I took some video footage but that won't be up on YouTube for a few days. For now check out the pictures. Oh and I didn't take one before the guy smashed into it! 

So the story of where I got the coconut from is like this, I cycled to the wetlands centre about 5km away (up some hills and then down again with some AMAZING scenery) but it was shut. I didn't realise it's closed on Mondays. I decided instead of going back and sitting in the hostel I would stay out in the bike and try to find fruit to forage. Desperate to fulfil this goal and being surrounded by lots of different trees I thought there must be something to pick. 

I cycled around another 2km and found this large lot with coconut palms and banana plants. I looked on the ground and there they were, many coconuts. Some had massive holes in them and the land didn't look like it belonged to anyone in particular so I walked over to the sprouted coconuts, picked 2 up and took them back to my bike. I decided to only take 1 in case they were no good and I had stuff in my basket already. 

When I had finished cycling and taking in the scenery I went to the coconut stand and asked them to cut it open for me. They're so friendly and kind and did it without hesitation. At this point there's a large group of people drinking coconuts and they're pretty much intrigued to see what's happening so there's a lot of attention on my coconut! 

I was sooooo happy when he revealed the spongy interior, the locals here think I'm crazy for asking if I can eat coconuts that have sprouted. If they can understand me they laugh and say "no, no, no its for planting". Well actually it's very common for raw foodists to eat coconut sprouts so I'm right and you're wrong on this one! 

Well this is how it tasted, the outer part was crispy and the inner part was very moist. It was slightly sweet and had a very subtle flavour. I was following the directions as suggested on YouTube to wipe the spongy bit on the oily meat and wow it was incredible. 

Honestly it's flavour was very subtle unlike a durian, but I'm actually appreciating that more than durian. I think I may have lost my appetite for durian because of all of the better tasting fruits like tarap, rollinia, etc and because it can be quite potent and unsettling in my stomach. I tried to Google the nutrition of coconut sprout but I've not found anything yet.  I'm mainly interested in the fat intake. I think I'd rather eat a coconut sprout than durian but I should be careful about the fat intake! 

If you've ever tried coconut sprout what did you think? Do you know the nutritional components of this tasty meal? Do you want to try one now I've (possibly) introduced you to it? 

Let me know your thoughts. 

Check out my YouTube video I posted today about ciku (so many different spellings, chiku, chikoo) 

Borneo Blog :: snoring and Sunday Market

I almost forgot that I need to blog tonight. I'm feeling a bit out of it due to a lack of sleep last night. There's a very overweight (probably classed as morbidly obese) Malay man staying here for work and for the first time he slept in the same room as me. He snored all night and it was so disturbing. I ended up getting out of bed after 1:30am and headed to the kitchen to watch videos. 

I saw that there were people setting up their stalls for the Sunday market around 2 am, that's just way too early! I went back to bed around 4:30am and I seriously hoped I'd sleep, but his snoring was so loud and consistent that I ended up listening to a smooth jazz radio station and falling in and out of sleep. 

What I (re)learned from this experience is that I dislike people who snore, I love the saxophone (it's got a really sexy sound) and I prefer my own room with no one else in it! Right now I could not see myself in a relationship with anyone sharing the same bed or the same room! I much prefer to sleep alone at all times. 

Sunday is my favourite day because of the market right outside the door! So for breakfast I just walked outside, found a coconut seller and then had a look around before deciding what to eat. 

I bought 2 huge bunches of red bananas for 5 ringgit each (under £1) both with 15 fat bananas on, a large tarap for 5 ringgit (this was my breakfast as well as 2 red bananas that broke off in transit), I got 1.5kg of rollinia (sweet heavens my favourite), 3 coconuts, jicama, cucumbers and a butter fruit. I ended up topping up my vegetables and some papaya from Central Market. I spent about 50 ringgit and I'm sorted for a few days! 

Having spoke to people in the market about where the fruit comes from the 2 main places are Ranau and Tenom so I definitely need to explore these places. 

I will keep you updated, but for now I'm leaving it here. I have to floss and brush my teeth (a chore and a bore). 

Goodnight! 

Borneo Blog :: heaty and cooling foods

I first heard about this when I was in Thailand stuffing my face with durian at the World Durian Festival in Chanthaburi. The locals would tell me that I needed to eat mangosteen after durian because durian is a "heaty" food whereas mangosteen is cooling. 

I disregarded this information as pish tosh thinking it's an old wives tale and I'm Western so it doesn't affect me. Well it turns out that when you let something important slip through your mind it comes back at some point. 

Yesterday I had my first ever "Ionic Detox Foot Therapy" session in KK plaza shopping centre, at 15 ringgit or 10 ringgit to be a lifetime member plus 13 ringgit a session (and after 5 sessions you get 1 free, essentially the membership is free if you pay for 5 sessions anyway) it's a bargain. Apparently it retails at $40-$60 in Australia! 

So you stick your feet in a foot spa that releases ions that go through the 2000 pores in your feet, into your system to your organs, which apparently releases the toxins and free radicals. The water changes colour, depending on your health you may get bubbles and floating residue. 

As you can see the water in mine went slightly orange, lots of dark bubbles and many floating bits. I went into this without any research. I believed everything I read and everything what I was told. When I got home I did some research and a lot of it was negative saying the colour change is from the device (probably true) and it's all about scamming you out of money. I paid tuppence so I disagree with the last comment. 

I was told my cholesterol was normal, my liver function is good (because I sleep from 9pm till 5/6am so my body has enough time to repair itself over night) but my kidneys are a concern, I'm not drinking enough water and my body is very heaty. 

It was back, that heatiness. I decided that it must be significant. I have noticed a lot during my stay in Borneo that when I eat durian I get really hot and I sweat more. It makes sense. Plus she was right about the water intake. I had been listening to other raw foodists talk about water consumption, someone I was living with said we don't need to drink much, then the guys I stayed with in La Palma also said they don't drink as much anymore, so I reduced my intake from 5l a day to 1.5-2l max. This resulted in a lot less peeing (on 5l a day I was peeing 1-2 times an hour, sometimes 3 and I would get up at night to pee). 

I have been researching these cooling and heaty foods, it's the balance of yin and yang in Chinese medicine. It's very interesting and I'm assuming that as I'm in a very hot country my food intake should be predominantly cooling. So if I have durian I need to eat a cooling food after or drink coconut water! Or simply not eat durian... Yeah right! 

I still need to do some more research and perhaps compile a list of the foods I am likely to eat. 

I am going back to have more Ionic Detox Therapy (buy 5 get 1 free right!) so I'm hoping to implement a new meal plan and see whether my toxicity improves! 

Have you ever tried this type of therapy? Are you interested? Do you think it's a money making scam or is there some truth in it? Let me know your thoughts :)