THE JOURNEY OF LEFT EYE HAU

“Your everyday life is the scenery I came a long way for.”

Chok Yen Hau, or we call him “Left Eye Hau” (author name) , had his first backpacking trip in 1997. He studied in Taiwan and had a weekend part time job there. He loves travelling, fantasies about travelling have yearned towards him when he heard the sharing from Taiwan’s Self-Guided Travel Association. Here is his story.

First backpacking trip in China for 50 days

When I was studying in Taiwan in 1997, that was also the first time I had been to another country. And my first trip began in 1997.  I did research from books and made almost 300 pages of a travel guide myself before our journey to China. There was a lot of regret because there was a lot of argument between the six of the peers during that trip. So I had my next journey to Europe for three weeks alone.

A weirdo in Cendor

I felt ashamed when everyone asked me what’s good in Malaysia and I can’t answer it. I know nothing about my own country. I wonder how to explore Malaysia other than just places that are well-known like Kuala Lumpur, Melaka and Cameron. I wanted to find the places that can represent Malaysia. Rumah tinggi, coconut trees, chickens and ducks everywhere, beach, sunshine, blue sky poped out in my mind. Without any information, I went to the East Coast of Malaysia, a place that is not induced and not commercialised where I can feel the purest humanity.

The view was amazing and I just kept capturing the photos. Takir, the owner of a stall which sells soft drinks and coconut water, was puzzled and asked whether I was a photographer. Takir showed me some photos in his laptop and asked for a comment. A folder with hundreds of photos which Takir captured for a day. Takir had taken photos for almost two years. I was nervous as I needed to go through seventy thousand photos. He told me he will just leave me with his laptop there. I was stunned. Then he just brought his family out for fishing. I wonder how he could just leave me like this without any vigilance. There was no one around and I could just grab his things and walk away. These simple and sincere people made the place prettier. This is travel, the soul of this country.

I wrote six books about this Malaysia Federal Route 3. Many travellers grabbed my book and walked on the route after that. Many of us are too lazy to explore these places and if someone did it for them, more and more beautiful places will be exposed to people. I always encourage everyone to be the spokesperson for our hometown and share our life with others. It is a good way to explore Malaysia. 

Travel is the process of exploring the world and exploring yourself

Travel must be alone. You can do a lot of crazy stuff and explore yourself. You can’t do this when you travel with your friends since you will just be going to the same place and talking the same thing with the same people. It’s not my way.

When you travel alone, you are forced to talk with strangers or yourself. Throughout this process you can know yourself better and gain more different perspectives from others. I love this. I travel at least once a year. I had travelled four Taiwan roundabout trips.

We get to learn many different things from everyone we meet and talk to in our journey. Chok learned to slow down my pace and the trust between humans from Takir. Travel is not only fun, it is also an opportunity for everyone to know themselves better and improve themselves.

Travel does not necessarily mean to be in countries far away from home, it can also be at locations that are near to us. Discovering those unremarkable things in our lives is also a journey.  I lived in Ipoh for three years and I position myself as a local and also a foreigner all the time.  Ipoh is probably the place that maintains the same industry in one street in Malaysia. For instance there is a dead street where the shops in that street sell coffins and stuff about funerals, a street which sells gold and one with fabric and so on. I will share my angles with the locals which they mostly did not realise.

Normal for locals, special for travellers

Kemasik is a very beautiful beach which is ranked in East Coast Malaysia. There is a sandbank over Kemasik Beach. I have never seen this scenario and it is so beautiful. I went there every month at that time from Kuala Lumpur. And I noticed that the ‘beach’ (sandbank) became shorter and shorter every time I went and it disappeared one time. I asked a local, Bob Ibrahim, an ignorant question: is it broken because I always brought people to walk on it. Ibrahim laughed and told me it broke every year and will appear again. It is a geography stuff that we learnt in school actually. The differences in the flow speeds of the waves and rivers are due to the presence of monsoon. it will cause the sand to gather and disperse. Before the sandbank forms we can see a lake formed in the sea, the process is amazing.

Although this phenomenon is a norm to Bob and the locals as they observe it all the time, this is a new thing for me. I told Bob his hometown is wonderful. They will be proud when the tourists tell them how amazing their hometown is. These cultural exchanges make travelling more meaningful. Travel is the best way to know our country well. 

Globalisation to Glocalisation

I have a friend, Alex Lee, the owner of Terrapuri Heritage Village, Penarik. I admired him. He owns a guesthouse and prepared fish and chips to cater to the tastes of foreigners. Alex used Ikan Selayang to serve instead of fish fillets. Although the foreigners laugh at it, they get to know this type of fish. Alex has also started to bring them to the pasar, fishing village and fisherman to know more about the Ikan Selayang.

Globalisation is no longer the trend now as it makes every city seem similar. We travel to a place we hope to know the local things that we have never seen. It is not meaningful if the foreigner is still eating the classic fish and chips in Malaysia. 

Malaysia actually has many world-class attractions

There is a mosque in Kelantan which is in a Chinese temple, and it is called Masjid Cina. Pork stall and masjid are placed in the same street peacefully. Different races sit at the same table to have dishes. Kelantan, where the majority is Malays, has the most Reclining Buddha and Buddha statues. Without a slogan being politicised, this should be the real image we can see in Malaysia. 

Perlis is just like Ipoh in a lake with winding roads. 

Tasik Temenggor which is along the East-West Highway (Route 4), the most beautiful cross highway in Malaysia. Its size is equal to Singapore and is surrounded by 130 million years old virgin forest. If you are lucky you can see a large flock of hornbills which are as tall as half a human passing through the sky like  fighters. You can stay in the boat house to witness these. 

Sipadan Island is one of the top 3 diving spots globally. 

Gunung Mulu National Park in Sarawak is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A swarm of bats will swirl around the mouth of the cave just like a tornado to avoid being eaten by the eagle. After that they will fly away just like a black dragon in the evening. It is just a s if you are watching a live show on National Geographic.

Walk into the locals life

The mural of Kids on Bicycle is to encourage people to walk in the street but not just take a photo with the mural then leave. There are a lot of interesting stories to be explored. The old buildings like Khoo Kongsi are very big and have a lot of exits because it is easy to escape that time. It shows the wisdom of the people in those decades and also the things we should discover in our journey. 

Kuching is a city which combines the convenience of a city and the slow pace of a small town. A lot of youngsters will choose to stay there instead of working in other cities. The locals do not intentionally transform their city into a tourism industry, they keep it to be a city they are most comfortable with. The locals' life is actually the scenery the tourist is looking for.

No planning is the plan

I used to be a travelling planner. But for now, I prefer to travel without any planning. As a result I found more surprises in the journey. I can stay on a spot or have a talk with the fisherman for a few hours. Allow more flexibility when planning your trip and there will be unexpected surprises on the journey to fill the blank. I always told people around me that getting lost on a trip is a good thing because you will see the views you never planned.

Travel tips from Left Eye Hau

Don’t stick with your friend on a trip. Give yourself some time to have an individual tour and you can share with your friends at night. You also can exchange the route for the next day.

Don’t limit yourself. You can roughly plan the route but don’t be too detailed. Leave some blanks for the surprise or even startle. It will be a remarkable memory for you.

Use your mouth to get the route. Locals may be better than Google to bring you to those hidden spots. Communicate more with the locals.

Places recommended to travellers will be places where you never thought you’d go. I will suggest the Malaysia Federal Route 3, Perlis, Kedah and those unpopular spots. The more undeveloped city will remain the more original appearance and also the human touch.

Tools to explore places

I had two ways to explore these places. As you walk along the coastal road you can just stop at the spot that you think is beautiful. Try to talk to locals, they are your best tourist guide. 

Second is by using Google Maps. Don’t insert any destination and zoom it under satellite mode. The bird view angle will lead you to those unexplored places. Just go and check out those special topography you see in the maps. You can explore those unpopular places just by using technology and also with the locals.