TravelWriter – Maria Dass the World

Food Wars and Cultural Listings: How a Small Island State Pulled the Rug from Under Its Larger Neighbours

My first article for the year in the Vibes.com 😊 Unesco listings: A means of cultural appropriation? https://www.thevibes.com/articles/culture/13632/unesco-listings-a-means-for-cultural-appropriation

Flying Retro ✈️

My paternal uncle bought a house in SS14 Subang Jaya in the 1980s. At that time this neighbourhood was the Hounslow of Malaysia – and a hub for airport and airline staff. It’s proximity to then Subang International Airport meant that planes would be flying over your house every hour or less. That put off…

Breaking The Pattern

Sign of the times – boxes and lines on the beautiful tiles of the late 19th century Cheong Fatt Tze (Blue) Mansion. The beautiful geometric patterns of the tiles imported from Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England have been marked with black tape to remind visitors to maintain social distancing as they visit the popular Heritage house,…

Sunset @ The Datai

The harmonious sounds of the sea, gentle breeze and night sounds from the forest @
The Datai Langkawi

Lakeside Lure @ Sepang

Sites of interests in Sepang, Selangor: Cyberjaya Lake Garden

Gopeng’s Legendary Love Tree

Gopeng’s ‘Lover’s Tree’ embodies the legend of a past forbidden love affair, but stands as a symbol of everlasting love today.

Gopeng’s Saucy Secret

Check out Gopeng’s famous and only surviving traditional soya sauce factory that has flavoured the town’s fare for 104 years and counting.

Sunset: Morib Beach

I’ve always found it odd that Malaysians do not see ourselves as beach bums. We do alive in a peninsular after all. In general the beaches along the West Coast of Peninsula Malaysia can never compete with the clear waters and white powdery sand of beaches along the east coast that face the open South…

Tea-ing Up With My Brews

I’ve always been a caffeine addict. From six cups of coffee a day at one time, I’ve moved on to teas. It first started with the good old teh tarik (pulled tea) sessions with colleagues after a long day at work (something most Malaysians will relate to). I then moved on to Teh C– a…

Cherai Beach: After the Rain

If I could bottle my favourite scent I’d call it ‘After Rain’. It will capture the fresh scent of wet grass, vegetation, palm frond, fresh earth and the subtle scent of tropical flowers. The scent of nature scrubbed clean, and the fresh cool air especially after a heavy downpour. The shots below were taken on…

Colours of LaBoqueria

Confined to home for more than a month, except for short runs for provisions at nearby shops, I’m beginning to miss the vibrancy of what I once took for granted – the simple things like the colourful scenes, smells and variety of a market. Below are some pictures of the La Bouqueria market on La…

Tangkuban Perahu: Java

This may not be how it looks like today, but the Tangkuban Perahu Volcanic Crater an hours drive out of the city of Bandung was a spot of serenity when we visited about three years ago. There was a major volcanic eruption in 2019, so am not sure if the scenes are the same today.