K M Cheng-Travel Journal: KM's little travel stories - I see ! I hear ! I smell & I feel ! Sweet Memories & Melodies during my retirement years in travelling (2006

Retirement in 2006 was a major turning point in my LIFE, I started to learn about travelling starting with a clean sheet of paper. But I believe if one is ambitious & passionate in travelling, you could achieve at least seeing half of the world (assuming the world has 160 odd countries for you to roam in the present world like the Jurassic Park of yesteryears; I had thus far visited close to 80 countries !). Never mind if you are a slow learner having a poor sense of direction or a solo traveller without a Facebook but with modern mobile phone technology, you too could travel far & fast (unlike Marco Polo, a Venetian merchant, explorer & writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 & 1295 but I admire his courage !)

Travelling LIFE often is full of surprises, sweet memories & also widening your perspectives & horizons in LIFE ! In travelling, you win some you lose some & if you are healthy & able, you probably could win more !

Here are my little travel stories, short & sweet, the pictures say a thousand words !

1) LIFE begins after coffee ! KM's delight - enjoying a cup of dark & aromatic Hainanese coffee in Hainanese Kopitiam of yesteryears - Malaysian style ! Drinking oldtown white & black coffee give me the "oomph" especially during breakfast chats with my travel buddies & friends when travelling !

Hainanese Coffee, Kuala Pilah
Negri Sembilan

Street Art, Rengit, Johor (Dec 2019)

Kluang Coffee Powder Factory (1966)
Kluang, Johor

Antong Coffee Mill (1933)
Taiping, Perak

2) Crossing swords in my Cuti Cuti (Vacation) in various states of Malaysia ! A keris (dagger) when used by Malay rulers, signify their protection over the country & its constitution. Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy headed by a King & has 9 Malay rulers.

Mersing Monument, Johor

Keris Alor Gajah Square, Negri Sembilan
Tugu Keris Monument
Shah Alam, Selangor

Bulatan Simpang Lima
Klang, Selangor

Makam Mahsuri, Langkawi, Penang

3) The Siamese Twin of Malaysia. Petronas Twin Towers completed in 1999, nicknamed "the twin corn cob", one tower was built by the Koreans, the other was by the Japanese, this gave birth to a new hybrid of "Kojap Sweetcorn" now standing tall in Kuala Lumpur skyline !

4) The 2Ps (Publicity & Promotion) of durians in high traffic places of Bangkok & Kuala Lumpur. Mirror Mirror on the wall, Durian Durian on the floor, who is the fairest of them all !

Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia (2020)

Tha Maharaj Pier, Bangkok
Thailand (2019)

5) Bridging the gap between war & peace, connecting people, historic or now defunct, the construction of the famous Bridge of River Kwai near the Thai / Burmese border during World War 11 well remembered ! The bridge is a symbolic of communication & union ! The Begawan Solo is the longest river in Java & also a popular Indonesian song during the 2nd World War !

Bridge of the River Kwai
Kanchanaburi, Thailand (2016)

Victoria Bridge, Enggor, Perak (2020)

Bengawan Solo Bridge
East Jawa, Indonesia (2009)

6) Birds of a feather flock together (Malaysia is a Commonwealth country) - old railway stations in Malaysia modelling a colonial design history, just Go British if you are taking a train ride from Kuala Lumpur Railway Station to Ipoh or Singapore ! The same applies when you are taking trains in India ! A few of these grand railway stations still exist & functioning though they are over a century old !

KTM Railway Station (1892)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

KTM Railway Station (1917)
Ipoh, Perak

KTM Railway Station (1890)
Klang, Selangor

KTM Railway Station (1909)
Kluang, Johor

Howrah Railway Station (1854)
Kolkata, India

Lucknow Charbagh Railway Station
(1914), India

Mumbai Railway Station (1853), India

7) Damn it - the Yangtze river in China was damned giving birth to a mammoth three gorges dam, the world's largest power station & in my home country, Malaysia, the two closest dams I often visit are Semenyih & Sungai Selangor Dam in Selangor - equally scenic to look at from the lakeside though not open to public for viewing !

Sungai Selangor Dam, Selangor

Teluk Bahang Dam, Tanjung Bungah
Penang (2022)

Semenyih Dam, Selangor (2022)

Mengkuang Dam, Seberang Perai
Penang (2022)

Three Gorges Dam. Yichang
Hubei. China (2009)

8) Leg ! Lack ! Lake - in travelling, your two legs take you to places you yearn to see; but if you are lack of drive & initiative (not prepare to wash dirty linens), free & easy travelling may not be your cup of tea ! The natural beauty of world famous lakes is so charming to look at, the world has a number of spectacular lakes, how shall you describe these natural beautiful lakes the moment you stand at an edge of one of the world's most beautiful lakes .... pristine, stunning, exquisite & perhaps indescribable !

Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia (2009)

Jiuzhaigou, Sichuan, China (2009)

Plitvice Lakes, Croatia (2019)

Taiping Lake Gardens, Perak
Malaysia (2022)

9) The Big Fall & The Small Fall - big or small fall (as long as you are still kicking & alive), it is the waterfall I am after ! Overtly happy when I had the opportunity to witness & hear the roaring sound of Niagara Falls in USA & Canada (2019), the Huangguoshu Waterfall Guizhou (1998), Hukou Waterfall, Shaanxi (2017) & Dietian Waterfall, Nanning (2019), China, not to mention the Kota Tinggi Waterfall in Johor, Malaysia ! Like a waterfall, LIFE doesn't flow backward ! Likewise, travelling LIFE is like a waterfall, it is always moving & there is always an uneven flow of it !

Niagara Falls, USA (2019)
Dietian Waterfall, Nanning, China (2019)
Huangguoshu Waterfall, Guizhou (1998)
Hukou Waterfall, Lifen
Shaanxi, China (2017)
Kota Tinggi Waterfall
Johor, Malaysia (2019)

10) Make your travelling LIFE colorful each time you walk past a Hanging Umbrellas alley, lane or street & also shield away from a scorching sun ! A mind is like an umbrella, only useful when opens !