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I met Raynard 7 years ago when he was attending a training class. We did not keep in contact after the class and only recently I was re-introduced again by another friend to Raynard’s travel blog (Explore and Experience the Extraordinary). When I browsed through his travel story, my reaction was and is still “wow”. As travel blogger myself, I could see how much work he has done in writing the story and in capturing the moments of his travel. In particular, I am very impressed with his photo and video capture from the drone. They are just spectacular.

Recently, I finally met Raynard and had a great time sharing experiences in travel, photography, videography and in particular, his passion for “The Adventures of Flying Monyet”. The following is a snippet of our conversation.

What inspired you to create the travel blog?

I’ve always wanted to have my own travel blog since I started traveling many years ago, but I have never made the first step to make it happen. Working and traveling have always been my excuses. After the pandemic hitting us last year, I had (still having) a lot of free times and I started exploring the hiking trails in Hong Kong, I have then discovered a lot of amazing places.

I came across a few wonderful blogs while doing my hiking research and then I realized this is something I have always wanted to do, blogging and sharing extraordinary places with people around me. I have left it behind for a long time, I know this is the best opportunity for me to start my own travel blog. It is now or never!

The theme of your blog is very unique. How did you come out with the title “Explore and Experience the Extraordinary”

Something short and catchy is always ideal for people to remember your blog, “Explore and Experience the Extraordinary” is exactly the way I travel and exploring places. Therefore, using it as my travel blog title is just perfect. I love simplicity, so the theme and style of my travel blog is based on that.

Why “Flying Monyet”?

Ever since I was a young boy, I’ve always loved monkey. With my active and playful characteristics, “monkey” has then becoming my nickname, especially among my friends, until now.

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To me, flying is freedom & happiness, the 2 things I always chase for in life. That’s how I got this name, “Flying Monkey”. In Malay language, Monkey is Monyet, thus, “Flying Monyet”, truly represents who I am.

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Among all the places you have been, which one is the most memorable to you?

There are many but if I have to pick one, I’d choose my visit to Manaus, Brazil. Visiting the Amazon forest has always been in my bucket list, when I visited Brazil in 2018, it had to be in my itinerary. Before arriving Manaus, I have read so much about the tourist’s safety issues and the violent crimes in the city, that had really made me skeptical about going. However, my adventure side had me convinced going and experiencing myself, and I did.

In the end, I had a wonderful time there visiting a rural village, meeting the villagers dressing in their traditional costumes having their tribal celebration, I got to dance with them. The most memorable moment was definitely swimming with the pink dolphin and feeding her in the river.

Walking in the city, I was always alert and paying attention to my surroundings because of what I have read. As a tourist, no matter where we go, I guess we should always be respectful to the cultures of others and at the same time not letting our guard down, to keep ourselves safe.

One of the special feature of your blog is the drone video shots which are just spectacular. Could you share some of your experience in using the drone?

I travelled to Morocco 2 years ago, bringing my drone without making a customs declaration on arrival. At the end of the trip, I was in Marrakesh leaving the country. There are baggage scanners at the entrance of the airport, as soon as they found out a drone in my suitcase, they had me opened my suitcase and checked my drone, asking me for customs declaration. I was unable to provide it to them, so they called the police and I had to go with them to the office for an interview, while they’re checking my drone’s memory card to see if I had been taking any footages in military areas.

The whole process took 40 minutes and in the end they told me they had to confiscate my drone. The customs officer was very nice to explain me about the procedures of getting it back if I wish to, by making an application through the official customs website, using the case reference number I got.

As soon as I am back in Hong Kong, I followed the procedure and submitted my application. 3 months later, I received a reply from them stating the status of my application was successful. I was so happy and I flew to Marrakesh during my 10 days annual leave, bringing my drone back and having a short holiday in the beautiful city.

I learned my lesson, I will be more aware of the customs regulations when I travel in the future, especially when I bring along my drone.

What is your goal in the future? For you and also for your travel blog.

I will continue to write and grow my travel blog, hoping one day it can be a successful blog and inspire people who read it to step out there, to “Explore and Experience the Extraordinary”! Click on the link below to checkout my travel blog.

Explore and Experience the Extraordinary : The Adventure of Flying Monyet