I'm covered in bites

I've been travelling since I was a child and have been bitten and stung by all kinds of insects and other beasties. Normally I don't react to any. Sandflies on the beach are the worst for me.

In Nov 2013 I was sleeping in a hostel in Merapoh, Pahang, and during the night was aware of being bitten. I assumed it was mosquitoes. I had a really bad sleep because of the bites and also the heat. In the morning there were no signs of the bites so again I assumed they had been mossies, as I don't have any effects after the first 5 minutes or so.

But a few days later when I was home, the bites started reacting. The first night I had been bitten was Sunday, and by Thur the bites were really itchy. They came up in red lumps that oozed a clear fluid when I scratched them and this left a 'crust' on top.

I had them on both sides of my neck, right arm, and both thighs/upper legs. Luckily there were none on my torso, maybe as I'd been wearing a Tshirt. The leech bites on my lower legs and feet weren't really a problem. My leg -

It was only by the following Monday, 8 days later, that the bites started to reduce. But even over the next week days they were still itchy.

I have no idea what they are. The fact I got them indoors in a bed suggest bedbugs or maybe cat fleas or some form of mite.

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I got the bites on 17 Nov. Exactly 3 weeks later , 7 Dec, they were still noticeable, still a bit red, and still itchy if I touched them. I just hope there is nothing inside!!!

Thankfully 1 month after getting bitten, 15 Dec, the bites had virtually gone. Though there were still tiny raised lumps from those on my neck and I could still feel the spots on my legs and arm.
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I spoke (wrote) too soon. Dec 17 I accidentally scratched the bites on my neck and 2 of them got sore again.

Maliau Basin to be closed

I was lucky enough to be able to go to Maliau Basin in 2007. It is described as the lost
world of Sabah and was only found in the 1980s.

Now according to the Star, 15 Nov 2013, it will be closed to everyone for 50 years.
However the article is not really clear. It says "The Maliau Basin will not be touched
for another 50 years".
“This area will remain out of bounds to anyone – including our rangers – until the expiry
of the 50-year commitment,”.

But then it talks about 10 year plans and that "under the next plan, more intensive
research in the area would be carried out, as the first plan had focused on auditing the
area and placing basic infrastructure facilities. " This next plan is the second plan,
from 2014 to 2023.

The facilities already installed include camps, trails, bridges, observation towers, a
skybridge and a reception and information building.

And the last sentence says "Keen visitors must obtain permission to enter the Maliau
Basin in advance from Yayasan Sabah."

I found the whole article to be unclear.

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See my 2nd blog on Maliau, which was published on Wild Asia.

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Destruction opposite my condo 5

Since my last blog on 21 Oct, work continued on planting turfs at the top of the compound. The turfs were delivered to the side of the road and the workers loaded them onto wheelbarrows and took them up the hill. This was an encouraging sign as presumably they won't be doing any construction here.

Meanwhile the digger dug out the area by the main hut, leaving a very steep slope - note the ladder that has been put in place. The main hut was emptied and the floor removed.

But only a few days before people were installing the water tanks above the shower/toilet block.

11th Nov the JCB moved out, which was a good sign.

The fence panels were replaced after it left. The next day there was no sign of any  workers. So it looks like things have come to a standstill.....................

UPDATE -
The workers  moved out all their stuff one evening. But about 2 days later, a couple were back doing the turfs at the top behind the fence. And the night watchman was back.

Nov 22 the digger came back and started noisely moving the earth in front of all the shacks. I have no idea what they are doing.
Nov 27 they removed the main 'building' and levelled out the area. The next day they started building again and had installed an electric box.

Destruction of land opposite Siu Siu

I've been blogging about the destruction of land opposite my condo. A couple of weeks ago when I came home from a trip, I noticed that the land opposite the Siu Siu restaurant has all been cleared. This is just down the road from me.

 

The cleared land goes up to the Thean Hou temple car park. As it is a hill slope, I really wonder what they will do with the land.

It is slightly down the road from Siu Siu.

Update -
Theses signs appeared around Nov 22 , a 2 storey bungalow

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission

Courier post by FedEx

I never use courier post although in the past I have had things sent to me by courier. I don't really know the reason to use a courier as it is expensive, but assume it is for speed and a quick service. And nowadays the item can be tracked.

So I was quite surprised last week to receive an email from FedEx saying an item was on its way to me. It was the first I knew about it, as the sender hadn't told me anything was coming.

Having never used the tracking service before, I had a look to see progress. The item was sent to FedEx on 6th Nov, and the estimate arrival at Kota Damansara, KL, was 11th by 4.30pm. That didn't seem especially fast to me. Then on 8th, I had an email to say expected arrival would be 13th, not 11th. The service type was FedEx International Priority.

It was quite fascinating to see the tracking updates, these are what came by email -

6th - item registered to FedEx
7th - the shipment was tendered to FedEx Express
8th - item left France in the evening and now expected arrival 13th

But when I looked at FedEx tracking info online, it changed every time I logged in, which seems very odd and unreliable -

The item went from Jersey - Stansted - Charles de Gaulle France - Guangzhou China - Sepang - Kota Damansara.

It left Jersey on 6th and arrived at Sepang on 9th.

6th morning  - item information sent to FedEx (it had originated in Channel Islands)
7th                - item arrived and left Stansted
8th morning  - item arrived Charles de Gaulle France,
8th evening - item arrived and left Guangzhou, China
9th morning - item arrived Sepang , was released by customs
9th morning - item reaches Kota Damansara.  It then sat there over the weekend, 9/10th.

When I got home on the 11th afternoon, I found it under my door. Thankfully it had been left without a signature, which saves me the hassle of arranging another delivery time.

Abu Dhabi airport

In June 2013 I flew for the first time with Etihad which has its base in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi. is the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

I normally don't like transit flights but as this one had a short stop over time between London and Kuala Lumpur I decided to take it was one of the cheapest flights available - I only booked 27 hours before flying!

The flight from Heathrow was late leaving so I ended up having no time in Abu Dhabi airport at all. Luckily my connecting flight was held up to wait for the passengers from London. I managed to take these photos as I ran though the airport at 2 am local time.

I wasn't even sure where Abu Dhabi is, so took photos from the screen in the plane -

 I learnt it is south of Dubai

On my return journey, I landed at Abu Dhabi airport at 6 am local time. On the approach I could see everything was sand

and the sun at 05.45

Inside the terminal I watched the sun rising by the sail shaped control tower. But it was still quite hazy

There is free wi fi in the airport. The duty free alcohol is very expensive, at least compared to SE Asia. The airport was busy at this time of the morning and the waiting areas were full and the queues for the ladies toilets were really, really long.

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission

Parit in Perak

Parit is a small town in Perak Tengah. It is located west of Ipoh, between Ipoh and the coast. Parit is west of Pusing. It is not to be confused with Parit Buntar which is south of Penang.

The mighty Perak river flows through Parit, with the main town being on the east bank.

The shop houses are rather colourful, yellow is the predominant colour.

 

We had a drink in a coffee shop near the river

 

 The cash counter with bicycles parked in front

I love these old,  non air con buses -

A general store with a lot of biscuits

and another general hardware repair store with a tailors display

note the KLCC design on these yellow chairs

 

 

At the main crossroads is the clock tower - no longer working

 

Another view of the river

 © Liz Price
No reproduction without permission