Kampung Bekok

A group of stargazing friends and I are planning for yet another trip to Kampung Bekok, Malaysia. It is going to be my second time there. I didn't get to see the Milky Way the first time I was there. In fact, we didn't see any stars at all. It was the monsoon season, we tried our luck and went up to Kampung Bekok anyway but all we saw for two nights were rain, rain, and more rain. I really hope I can get to see the Milky Way this time.

Here are some pictures that we took the first time I was there. Prior to my virgin trip, Gary, Dave and Ava have been visiting Kampung Bekok for quite some time and they were kind enough to show me around and introduced the local delicacies to me, which were absolutely tasty by the way. Kampung Bekok is a small Chinese village in the state of Johor, Malaysia. It takes about 3 hours to get there by train from Singapore. It has a laid-back sort of lifestyle. The air is clean and the night sky is not polluted by city lights. That was why we choose to go there.

From Singapore to Kampung Bekok.

Map layout of Kampung Bekok.

It was also my first time taking a train to Malaysia.

Dave and Ava.

Shot of the Bekok train station.

Another shot of the train station taken from the bridge.

Overview of our hostel.

The front entrance of the hostel.

The room. It's quite clean.

The bathroom. It's clean, too!

A shop house.

An abandoned and dilapidated house. 

Dave, myself, and Thomas.

Looking for food.

Beaten eggs with onions.

Fried lemon chicken.

Ramly burger! My personal favourite.

Sambal stingray.

Stir-fried wild bore meat. Another personal favourite! 

Mixed dishes.

That's Gary on the right and the owner of the hostel, Peter, on the left.

Fried rice and a plate of kangkong.

What do stargazers do on a stormy night? We play poker cards, mahjong, tell jokes, and perform magic tricks! We really had a fun time eventhough we couldn't complete the main objective, which was to see stars. Here is a picture of the mahjong game. I was quite a noob at it, so Gary taught me the basics.

Stop mind reading my mind! >.<

The boss of the hostel, Peter, was also friendly and kind enough to show us his personal collection of toys and antiques in his huge, decorated storeroom.

Anyway, I will be trying my hands on astrophotography for the first time when we go to Bekok. My cousin has decided to lend me her Cannon EOS 550D DSLR for the coming trip. I still know nuts about the manual controls of the camera.