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Overview

  • 0 references
  • Fluent in English, Malay; learning Arabic, Spanish
  • 35, Male
  • Member since 2012
  • Editor
  • Bachelor of Tapai-making (Hons.)
  • From Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • Profile 75% complete

About Me

CURRENT MISSION

1) Sarawak from 23 Jul - 2 Aug (11 days). I'll try to hitch hike from Lundu to Lawas and snarf down some Mulongs somewhere along the way. Also going to climb some mountains and explore Gua Niah.

2) South Island, New Zealand from 19-26 Oct (7 days). Gonna be using rent cars, so I might have to splurge. Will try everything from glacier hiking to bridge jumping to swimming with dolphins. Can't wait!

3) Siem Reap, Cambodia from 18 - 30 Nov (13 days). This is more of a history and architecture trip. I'm going to attempt some parkour at Angkor Wat and then try to find a way to Prasat Preah Vihear up north, bordering Thailand.

ABOUT ME

I'm a 28-year old KLite of Javanese and Tamil (Mamak) descent. A Melayu Baru of sorts. My nickname's Zul, but I'm also known as Mr. Bubbles in some circles. My professional name, Zulhilmi Ghouse, actually rhymes with "Cool, kill me, House", in case you're wondering.

To sum me up in a sentence: I'm your typical outdoor and adrenaline junkie, who's as much into photography, freediving, and 7-day treks in the mountains as he is into TED talks, weekend Flipboarding, and gaming.

Anyway, I'm more than happy to be a guide if you're looking to find great hills and waterfalls near KL.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I just bought a duplex condo, but it's not going to be ready till early 2017, so I don't have a permanent place of my own yet, ATM. Here, take a rain cheque:

-------------------- Tear here ------------------

==========RAIN CHEQUE==========

I, Zulhilmi Ghouse, promise to let the bearer of this cheque couchsurf at my place when I finally get the keys sometime 2017-ish.

-------------------- Tear here ------------------

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've never couchsurfed before, actually. Attempted it once on a trip to Vietnam, but I felt like everyone who responded had ulterior motives or were running hostels they wanted me to stay at, so that was that. Wrong country to couchsurf in, I guess.

Interests

1) History and geography (Be there dragons in thy country?)
2) Culture (Of course, food, along with it. I like weird and spicy food)
3) Traditional architecture (Makes me feel like doing parkour on the spot)
4) Nature (Currently hunting for a fennec fox, chinchilla, and civet cat)
5) Photography (Everything from cute wee bugs to sunsets. But not selfies)
6) Extreme sports (Rooftopping? Cliff jumping? Mewants!)
7) Vintage stuff and maps (Vintage Americana and steampunk, mostly)
8) Animals, plants, zoos, aquaria, parks, and everything related
9) Books and reading (The reason for my having to wear glasses today)
10) Languages (Numbers, in particular)
11) Mountain climbing, scuba diving, and freediving
12) Wingsuit gliding (My express ticket to heaven)

  • animals
  • cats
  • aquaria
  • culture
  • books
  • architecture
  • photography
  • dining
  • running
  • reading
  • billiards
  • cars
  • music
  • outdoor activities
  • hiking
  • hunting
  • scuba diving
  • cliff jumping
  • sports
  • rock climbing
  • swimming
  • extreme sports
  • cartography
  • geography
  • history
  • languages
  • tourism
  • parks
  • mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Music:
I'm just into English, Malaysian, and Indonesian music now. Used to be into Korean and Japanese music, but I just can't keep up. They churn music out like processed food.

Favourite genre:
Classic jazz, classical music, opera, bossa nova, and acoustic. I'm a naturally laid-back kind of person, but I also like EDM.

Books:
More into self-help, non-fiction, and travel books these days. No, I don't read specific authors. The pretention of quoting Paulo Coelho or Haruki Murakami really gets to me.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Survived falling into a ravine near Mount Chamah, Kelantan. I was saved by some serendipitous vines. What's funny is that the guy who pulled me out fell into the same ravine a few minutes later. Life's funny like that.

Dived off of a 15 m diving platform into a swimming pool. Yeah, I think it was just 15. Really, really exciting. About as adventurous as I've been when it comes to heights (yet).

Rafted about 329 km along the Pahang River, from Kuala Lipis to Pekan. For 7 days, we paddled to certain checkpoints and stayed in different kampong houses each day. Some of our hosts were old couples, and they treated us like family. So when we said goodbye every morning, they actually cried. Met some very nice people in Pahang. I hope to get the same experience with CS.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you:
1) How to count from 0-10 in Tagalog, Thai, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Mongolian, Korean, Japanese, Tamil, Hindi, Swahili, Zulu, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, German, Russian, Greek, Turkish, Finnish, Icelandic, Berber, Arabic, & more (So you can demand 10-buck discounts in at least 20 countries. I might have forgotten a few of them, so I might need to refresh my memory)
2) How to read Arabic and Hangeul (Korean)
3) Ok, I don't know much else. Photography, maybe?

I can share with you:
1) Malaysia's lesser-known nature escapes
2) Good local music

Countries I’ve Visited

Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Malaysia

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