sOleiLian

I’m currently in Kuala Lumpur-Subang Jaya for a week as I had to attend the Road Reels MUFORS Short Film Awards 2010 last Friday night, in which the 5-minute short film that my partner and I produced managed to bag the award for Best Cinematography.

Since my friend had already returned to his home in Sibu, Sarawak for the Chinese New Year celebrations, I had to attend the event alone. Kinda disappointed though, as we could’ve done a lot better than that. Yet the jury’s decision was final, and we could do nothing but to accept it, albeit rather unwillingly. Whatever…

By the way, did I tell you that famous personalities like Amber Chia (Malaysian model), Priscilla Patrick (LiteFM announcer and traffic coordinator), and Yasmin Yussuf (Miss Malaysia Universe 1978) also graced the awards night too? Anyway, this was our entry for the contest, entitled “A Photojournalist’s Life” and shot using my trusty LX3. The synopsis of this film can be found on its YouTube page.

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On Saturday, I went downtown KL with my cousins like a typical tourist and I decided to take B&W shots of our bustling capital city. I’ve always loved B&W photos as I think they give a whole different feeling to a picture and can be even more captivating than normal coloured photographs in many situations. How about you?

Ooh… I just heart my LX3! Don’t you? :D

c a t e g o r y | passport to nowhere
f l u f f e r p u f f | federal territory . kuala lumpur . malaysia . travels

17 sOleiLians

Despite our slight disappointment at Phra Nang, we lingered on the beach for quite some time before we decided to return to our resort for breakfast. On our way back, we were surprised yet delighted to see this…

So… It turned out that the sun was to greet us here in East Railay! Bummer. As a consolation though, we were pretty sure that we wouldn’t have made it to Phra Nang if it weren’t for our desire to catch the sunrise. This is what I call, a beautiful mistake. ;)

Beautiful villa at the posh Bhu Nga Thani Resort & Spa

What was for breakfast, you ask? It was a typical buffet spread, but I enjoyed it very much. They did serve some of my favourite food. And being a non-picky eater, I was easily satisfied with what I had that morning. Without doubt, a healthy morning meal had provided us a great start to a wonderful day ahead.

Potatoes, baked beans, cereal with yoghurt… ♥

Omelette with your choice of fillings! Nice… :D

After checking out of our resort, we returned to West Railay as we were to board a boat here to Ko Phi Phi, an island chain some 100 minutes away from Railay’s coast. Yes, we were heading to the legendary islands which had managed to establish themselves as a viable island destination ever since they walked out of the shadow of their notorious big brother, Phuket, in the past decade.

This shot of West Railay has got to be my personal favourite. Would you just look at the rich colours of the sky, sea, and sand? Now you know why I’m always mouthful of praises for this place! Truly awesome… ♥

Spotted a French-speaking family. What a big family they had! And I’m so envious of these kids. They were all so young yet they had already flown halfway around the globe! Not fair… :(

Soon, we found ourselves on board the boat to Ko Phi Phi! When we were a few hundred metres out on the sea, our boat gradually slowed down and eventually came to a stop beside a bigger ferry. That was when I realized that we had to change boats.

Gonna change from boat to ferry!

The boat crew were busy shifting the baggage of the passengers from our boat to the ferry. Big luggage, sling bags, rucksacks. And all of a sudden, shrieks of horror filled the air. A bag had fallen into the water (the boat crew literally flung the bags to the other side where the ferry crew were there to receive it, and this bag was short of a few metres and it just plunged into the water)! I was gazing at the beautiful seascape when my friends alerted me that it seemed to be my bag.

What? MY BAG?! Holy cow. I had two bags with me, and the one that fell into the water so happened to contain my travel essentials, i.e. my wallet and passport! I was flabbergasted. Thankfully, the crew was agile and quick to react. And within seconds of touching the surface of the water, the bag was scooped up and landed safely on the ferry.

Upon seeing this, all my worst thoughts began to pacify. I could feel my pulse stopped for an infinitesimal moment, and then regurgitated back to life. Had the bag drowned into the depths of the sea, I would be in a big, big trouble. Perhaps I’d get stuck here for an indefinite period of time (although ironically, I very much wished that I could stay here longer)! *shudder*

The next thing I did was to check the condition of my bag contents. Besides some soaked pages of my travel itinerary, my wallet and passport managed to escape the mishap relatively unscathed.

I gave a biggggg sigh of relief.

Ain’t this view just plain gorgeous? ;)

A boat full of Caucasian tourists! We were like the only Mongoloids, and that made us feel like we were on some kinda Mediterranean cruise, LOL!

Waves

Tourists on the uppermost sun deck

Bamboo Island (Ko Mai Phai), a beach-ringed isle belonging to the Phi Phi archipelago

That’s Ko Phi Phi Don, our destination! :D

Everyone was busy checking out the amazing views

It was breathtaking scenery at every turn…

Ko Phi Phi, here we come! :D

Compilation of KRABI & KO PHI PHI TRIP 2010

• PART I   : Crossing borders: En route to paradise
• PART II : Sunshine Krabi
• PART III: East Railay: Backpackers’ haven
• PART IV : Sunset . West Railay
• PART V  : The night’s still young . East Railay
• PART VI : Morning, Phra Nang!

c a t e g o r y | passport to nowhere . yummylicious
f l u f f e r p u f f | beaches . food . southern thailand . thailand . travels

16 sOleiLians

Another morning, another day.

Before we left for Krabi from Penang, I read somewhere on the Net that we could catch the sunrise at Phra Nang, a fine stretch of white sandy beach at the tip of the Railay Peninsula. Furthermore, it’s been voted one of the world’s 10 most beautiful beaches and probably one of Thailand’s finest.

When the alarm on my phone went off at 5 something in the morning, everybody else was unwilling to wake up and we dragged for quite some time until I finally yelled, “Get up, get up!” And by the time everyone was ready to move, it was already 6! Goodness.

East Railay in the morning

A boat! I wonder where it was headed?

And finally we reached Phra Nang! Just 10 minutes’ walk from our resort.

Gorgeous limestone cliffs on the sea! ;)

Phra Nang is comparatively secluded than its sibling beaches in Railay. Not many souls were spotted on the beach in the early mornings (although I’d read that it can get pretty crowded in the afternoon) and thus you feel like having the beach all to yourself. Very tranquil. Apart from my friends and I, we only saw a jogger as well as some naughty monkeys next to the cave at one end of Phra Nang. Besides, there’s only one resort fronting this beautiful beach ~ the 5-star Rayavadee. Prepare to fork out at least 20,000 baht a night if you’re planning to stay here though. *gulp*

Another end of the beach

A boat happened to pass by…

I absolutely heart the crystal clear waters here!

A lamp trapped inside a cage. Nice…

A cave on the beach! :D

Oh ya, I gotta tell you this! Did you see those tiny objects at the entrance of the cave there? I didn’t realize their presence nor did I bother to find out what they were until I happened to chance upon them from the photos posted by the sweet ol’ little miss may on her Facebook a week or two ago.

And imagine the big surprise I got! Those things, were actually carved phalluses donated by fishermen seeking the favour of the spirit of a drowned princess (hence the name of the beach, Phra Nang) and they had dedicated a shrine to her in that cave. What a tale!

And nope, we didn’t get to see sunrise at Phra Nang. That was really a big let-down.

Now… Whoever told us that it was here!? Grrr…

Compilation of KRABI & KO PHI PHI TRIP 2010

• PART I   : Crossing borders: En route to paradise
• PART II : Sunshine Krabi
• PART III: East Railay: Backpackers’ haven
• PART IV : Sunset . West Railay
• PART V  : The night’s still young . East Railay

c a t e g o r y | passport to nowhere
f l u f f e r p u f f | beaches . southern thailand . thailand . travels

19 sOleiLians