Villa Latitude, Bali

I have been missing for a while and this is the reason why. I had the opportunity to stay at the stunning Villa Latitude which sits on the southern coast of the Bukit Peninsula in Bali, Indonesia. The breathtaking views are literally like nothing that I have ever seen before and was definitely worth waking up at the crack of dawn with my camera gear to watch the sunrise.

I really don't have the right words to describe the place so I'll just let the photos speak for themselves. 

Garama River Cruise

Went to a river cruise that was arranged by Only in Borneo Tours. I've never been on a river cruise before so it was really exciting, but mainly because I had a chance to snap some photos :D

The cruise is an opportunity for people to see the long tail macaques, proboscis monkeys and the silver leaf monkey, the guides dubbed it the "David Beckham monkey" because of its natural Mohawk hair. xD

Other animals that could be seen included monitor lizards, crocodiles [very unlikely because only the really young ones linger around this river, the adults move on to another place], and eagles. Sadly it was difficult to get any kind of a closer image to the monkeys unless they were close by because I don't have a longer zoom lens and add to that the fact that silver leaf monkeys are very shy so they tend to hide further in the trees. The guides were fantastic with spotting these creatures even from far, and incredibly informative about them.

Anyways, I tried to make the most out of the disadvantage from the short focal length of the kit lens. I tried to be as creative as possible when framing the shots, and playing around with the flares. It's always during times like these that I get to learn new things in photography.

This cruise session had two boats because there were about 18 people altogether. There was another photographer in the cruise, he has a Canon EOS 5D Mark II and a 1000D with a 24-105mm and a 70-200mm lens and by the looks of it, had no problems zooming into the monkeys.

There was a small village along the river belonging to a tribe which I completely forgot what it was called.

As the cruise neared nightfall, we had a chance to see some fireflies. We really didn't think we would because it looked like it was threatening to rain, but I guess we got lucky. They were like Christmas lights flickering inside the bushes :) the guide caught one and it looked like a really tiny beetle, almost like a tiny cockroach. It's very much like the 'photinus pyralis' firefly from the photurinae sub family.

It was impossible to get a sharp image with slow shutter speeds because it was close to dark and the boat was moving.

We got back to base camp after that to enjoy a delicous buffet dinner :D

Genting Highlands

Here's some photos from Genting Highlands. Its a great place to go to, but be warned, food ain't the cheapest thing there. ;p But im sure if you do plan to go there, you are prepared to burn some cash :)

The place is enormous, Its quite easy for first timers to get lost around there. The theme park looks amazing, and there's so many things that you can do there. If you are planning to travel around Malaysia and you haven't been here, then it should be on your checklist. :)

Trip to Kundasang & Ranau

6 Person Max :O

This family trip we took was intended initially to go to Perkasa Hotel, Kundasang to view Mount Kinabalu, but when we got there the weather or timing wasn't the best because it was raining, foggy, and worst of all the entire mountain was shrouded in clouds. We couldnt wait there the whole day hoping for the clouds to move so then we set our sights to the Kinabalu National Park, where we had lunch, after which we decided to go to the Poring Hotspring in Ranau. We entered the Canopy Walk there which is a 1km trek through the jungle, having to climb lots and lots of steps up the hill and then having to walk through bridges suspended on trees towering probably 100 feet above ground [really scary] which would occasionally sway when walking across and then walk down more steps to get back. It took us an hour and a half just to get through that 1 km and we were exhausted.

Trip To Kudat [The Tip Of Borneo]

Gongs.

Boy villager.

Boy villager.

I have no idea how long it took to make a gong this huge.

A very ambitious buffalo.

This is probably the nicest water puddle I've ever seen.

They make and sell beads here.

The Longhouse.

Scene outside the Longhouse.

Scene outside the Longhouse.

Finally at the tip of Borneo.

A panorama image of the tip of Borneo.

Long story short, we stopped by a few places on the way to Kudat which started at a gong making factory. We got ourselves a few souvenirs and saw some pretty large gongs. After that, we made our way to a bead making factory, bought a few things, and set out to a Longhouse where we had lunch prepared by the residents in the village. [Fried Fish, Vegetables, and Rice] yum!. They were more than happy to have visitors stop by. Feeling rather full, we said our goodbyes and continued the journey to the tip of Borneo. After hours of sitting in the car feeling a little sore and in serious need of a restroom, we reached our destination and we were treated to a view of the ocean which I dont think any certain word or any of the pictures I took there could have done it any justice.
when we were done taking in the view and some pictures, we had a drink at the cafeteria and started the long journey back home.