More Travels

Systems at Malaysian immigration are STILL down, so I am still without job, income and anything to do.  Better explore Malaysia a bit more.

Cameron Highlands

Sepideh and I took a coach up the worlds windiest road to reach the rather chilly Cameron Highlands, an area of tea plantations and strawberry farms.  Located about 1500m above sea level the Camerons can get pretty chilly (by Malaysian standards), and can drop to 16 ˚C or lower (British summer).

The food in Cameron Highlands is great.  Lots of Indian.  We have overdosed on Teriyaki chicken and Naan.  Sepideh and I had the best meal I have had since I arrived in Malaysia; a South Indian steamboat.  The soup dish is cooked at the table.  Half the pot contains Tom Yam, one of the spiciest foods here (we ordered strictly non-spicy), and the other half is a vegetable broth.  The boiling pot is delivered with a tray of greens, meat, seafood, egg & noodles which you cook yourself in the soup.

Sepideh and the steamboat.

Slightly confused by the steamboat concept I asked the waiter for clarification please. 

Was told in reply: 'Sorry miss, we're fresh out of clarification'

Haha.

Public transport in the area is patchy, so Sepideh and I signed up to a tour.  We were in a group with 3 girls & 3 lads from Kent.  strangely I had already met the lads in Taman Negara, and one had graduated from Cardiff with me this year and was in halls with Colston.  Small world.  The tour began with a 3 hour jungle trek.  Unfortunately I had forgotten my trainers and lent my only rucksack to Sophie for the weekend, so off I trotted with a leather handbad and flip flops.  Absolute tool!

Sepideh & me at a Rafflesia, the worlds largest breed of flower. 

After the jungle trek we visited an aborigine tribe, who still hunt animals by shooting darts dipped in a poisonous homemade Ipoh solution from blow pipes.  The poison can take an elephant down in 4 seconds!  Health & safety is yet to be introduced here, so we all had a go at target practice with the blowpipes.  After practice we were able to buy a blowpipe for 25 ringgit (£5).  The boys bought 3.

On the way back to the van we passed the villages pet monkey, chained up ready to eat.  Bizarrely we were also told the aborigine tribe had just received support from the government for living, and then walked past a row of concrete houses with satellite.  At least after a hard days hunting with darts the aborigines can unwind with an episode of The Simpsons. 

The tour also involved a visit to a strawberry farm, reptile sanctuary & tea plantation.  I was in heaven at Boh Tea plantation, and bought 2 cups!  It's refreshing to be served tea properly.  The previous day I had ordered a tea in Starbucks only to be given an Earl Grey - as if that's the default.  I asked them politely to please change it for English Breakfast with a splash of milk, only to then receive such a tea with condensed milk.  & that was at Starbucks!!!!

View from the cafe at Boh Tea Plantation.  Me with my tea, & Sepideh.

After the tour we went for dinner and back to the hostel bar for drinks.  Randomly bumped into Miriam Jones, a girl from the flat above me in halls.  We stayed at Jungle Bar, the slightly less dead of the 2 bars in town.  We introduced Sepideh to English drinking, with a round of arrogance.  Basic concept: Pour any amount of your drink into a glass, the more confident you feel the more you poor.  Flip a coin.  If you lose drink, if you win pass the glass to the next player to add to. Hayden, one of the lads, was overly arrogant and overly un-lucky and ended up drinking the better part of a bottle of rum.  After a few rounds the game escalated and saw the boys get their tribal blowpipes out.  They spent a good 15 minutes blowing darts at each other from point blank range whilst the girls hid. 

 Recreating a David Attenborough documentary; one animal, one shooter, and one commentator.

Fair to say Sepideh was somewhat surprised by English parties.  She said it's really nice that we all spend time talking to each other at a get together.  Perhaps less nice that we shoot each other though.  I assured her this wasn't common.

Iranian Party

The night we got back from Cameron Highlands I was invited to a surprise birthday party for Parimah's boyfriend, Reza, with all Sepideh's Iranian friends.  The party was lovely and so polite.  As soon as we arrived Sepideh was dancing with her friends in a huge group, clapping and cheering each other.  They were teaching me the distinctive hip swing in the dancing of people from North Iran, and shoulder shimmy of southerners.  True to my roots I moved my shoulders.  Every time you sit down for breath some one drags you up again.

After 3 hours dancing it was time for cake and presents. We watched and clapped as Reza opened his presents.  The cake was massive and the candle blow out climaxed from a count down of TWENTY-FIVE!!! Parimah then delivered Reza the knife to cut the cake with a fancy dance.  This is a traditional Iranian act, mainly at weddings, where the bride dances the knife to the groom.  Sepideh told me that all the guests had chipped in 30 ringgit for the cake and gifts.  In England the only chip in is some of drink for a dirty pint, and if you're unlucky something gross like washing up liquid (Colesy!). 

The party finished about 1am.  Before leaving each guest shakes hands with everyone in the room to say goodbye. So SO polite, and so much more civilised than a good old British stumble home to an afterparty or a round of blowpipe shooting!! Culture really is such a weird thing.  How we come to expect a party to be.

Perhentians

This weekend was a bank holiday, so Sophie and her French friend Anne sampled the delights of the Perhentians.  Randomly Sophie met the 3 lads there just before they came to the Cameron Highlands.  The small world gets smaller! Unfortunately Soph had another 250 ringgit (£50) stolen from out of her bag, when she left it behind hotel reception.  So bad that you can't even trust the staff.  When we were on Tioman Island one of our friends had 300 ringgit stolen from his wallet during a snorkeling trip, where the only guy on the boat with his stuff was the driver!!

Domestic Bliss

Back to KL now, and trying to stay put as I am rapidly running out of travel funds.  It's so frustrating sitting around in KL with nothing to do though.  I just want this bloody visa to hurry up!  Soph and I are going on a hot date tonight; dinner and a food shop.  Romance is not dead.  Probably hitting Bukitbintang (bar district) on Saturday too with Portugese Vitor, Malaysian Dennis and Romanian Iulia.

Sadly Sepideh has bought her ticket to go back to Iran.  She leaves on October 12th.  Means Soph and I will get our own rooms, but I'm really going to miss Sepideh.  She's been so kind and welcoming to us.

Travels....

There have been further delays to my Visa as the system for the entire Malaysian Immigration has been down, so I have met some awesome people, been traveling, seen 2 sharks, been to a Malaysian wedding, met the Mayalsian minister for Tourism, and had a good old time. On the downside I have been annihilated by bed-bugs, and have a foot the size of a cantaloupe melon after being bitten by a poisonous spider in the jungle. On the plus side, I am really falling in love with Malaysia. 

Penang.

German Vera and I got a sleeper train for 40 Ringgit (£8) up to Butterworth, where we caught a ferry for 1.2 RM (22p) over to Palau Penang (Penang Island).  Bargain! We stayed at Reggae Penang, where we met Luke.  Together the 3 of us caught a train which travels almost vertically up Penang Hill, to a viewing platform 2750 feet (823m) above sea level.  For some reason 'foreigner' train tickets were 30RM (£6), whilst locals paid a mere 4RM.  Nonetheless, the views were incredible and the Mojito disappointingly small.

Luke, me & Vera at top of Penang Hill

German Vera and I got pretty confused trying to navigate around Gerogetown.  Everywhere we went seemed to be signed towards 'Jalan Sehala'.  We thought  this old Jalan Sehala must be a pretty major place, and followed the signs around trying to find it.  Later on Luke helped us work out Jalan Sehala translates to 'One Way' in English.  That'd be why it wasn't on the map then.

In the evening we went out with some other travelers from Reggae to Penangs ridiculously over-priced 'club' strip.  Fortunately we met a rather splash African dude who showered the group with Moet Champagne and insisted on getting his ringgit out for a stroke during any song about money.  Also met a really nice couple called Wei and Fontain, and Wei starts working in KL in October. At the end of the night we took a trip to Malaysia's answer to Cardiff's chippy ally.  I was given a polystyrene box of 'fish balls and sauce'.  Apart from this bizarre dish the food in Penang is incredible!!

The day we left Penang coincided with a celebration at Reggae Penang for the Chinese Hungry Ghosts Festival.  Reggae staff cooked an absolute feast for the ghosts and burnt a pile of bank notes from hell.  Ghosts from the realms of hell rise to eat the food, and the burning alleviates their suffering.  The food was really tasty.

 

Feast and fire for the Chinese Hungry Ghosts Festival, Reggae Penang.

Mengkuang Titi

Luke and I paid to do a Homestay with an un-believably kind and welcoming family in a village near Butterworth, called Mengkuang Titi.  We dressed in traditional Malaysian clothes and celebrated the end of Hari Raya with them, by feasting and dancing.  Bizarrely the locals treated us like celebrities, wanting to shake our hands, sit us in VIP seats, give us food, and take photos.  We were invited up on stage to dance for the guests, and were casually ordered to receive curry from the Malaysian Minister for Tourism.  

 End of Hari Raya celebrations

 Receiving curry from the Minister of Malaysian Tourism. 

Minister: 'Do you like spicy food?'

Meg: 'Oh yes, love it!'  Shit. I lied to the minister!

Luke and I dancing in our traditionals.  The dress is a Baju Kurung.

 We had a go at making some local delicacies.  This is Dolon, a sticky chocolatey desert that needs to be stirred for 6 hours over a fire! 

The next day we attended a local Malay wedding, and an open house Hari Raya ceremony (where the host provides food at their house, for anyone and everyone to attend and eat) at the richest villagers house.  At both events we were handed plates and told 'Makanan, makanan, MAKANAN' ('Eat, eat, EAT'), just as you'd be offered a glass of something bubbly at a British wedding.  I makananed until I was sick on a bus. 

Tioman

After being stuffed to bursting we headed to Palau Tioman, for our own fasting period.  Tioman is really beautiful, and a bit more advanced than the Perhentians owing to the presence of a road, airport, electricity and hot water.  

Sunset on Salang Bay

 We made some good English and Malaysian friends, and together enjoyed the cheap duty-free alcohol on the island.  2 of the Malaysian group we joined actually work in KL and live just down the road from me in Bangsar.  They were a really nice couple from Romania (Iulia) and Malaysia (Dennis), going to try and meet up with them soon.  Had a bit of an embarrassing moment when I met a lad from Reading.  After introduced himself with the sentence 'Hi I'm Alec' I spent the rest of the day thinking what a cool name Malec was. Cringe!

The days were spent playing cards, sunbathing and snorkeling.  The sea is infested with jellyfish, and snorkeling is a bit of a contortionist feat trying to dodge the armies of tentacles.  Worth it though, Luke, Shane, Jodie, Alec & I saw 2 Reef Sharks when snorkeling just off the beach from our chalet.  One was about 1.5m, and the other a little babba. 

Jody, Alec, me & Shane snorkeling

Unfortunately my bed in the chalet had bedbugs, and I got bitten to pieces.  New traveling tip: Always check under the sheets of beds before accepting a room.  If the beds got bugs there will be tiny specks of blood over the mattress.  I found this out post-bites.  

IBM also emailed me to say there has been further delay to my visa application, and it has been put on hold.  Time to wait for my work permit somewhere else.

Lake Kenyir

The largest man made lake in South East Asia, containing 340 small islands.  Luke and I found it purely by looking at a map and liking the sound of the name.  We then hitched there from a nearby town where the bus dropped us in a car of 5 lovely Malaysian students/professionals.  

 Luke, Miza, Nur, Hazimah & me

We got there and checked into a house boat, which after being told was 'full miss, too full' in fact had no one staying on it at all. Bizarre!

House Boat

After showering and makananing we did a boat tour of the islands, which took us to a herbal farm and waterfall.  It was organised by the fancy Lake Kenyir Resort.  When we arrived the hotel had one guest booked in, and they didn't seem to mind us hanging out there in the day and doubling their guest figures.  We saw monkeys, Hornbills & an Eagle.

View from Lake Kenyir Resort

At sunset we walked to the one restaurant near our accommodation for some food.  They shut at 5pm.  WTF! Starving hungry we asked 2 guys called Eddy and K if there was anywhere else to eat.  Luckily they were driving to a local village for dinner, and so for the 2nd time in a day we hitched a ride with some locals.  I had Mee Goreng (fried chicken noodles) for 4.5 RM (<£1), which is fast becoming my favourite meal here.

Kuala Terengganu

One of the girls who gave us a lift to Lake Kenyir, Hazimah, invited us to stay with her family and attend her cousins wedding.  For the second time in a week I found myself in Baju Kurung at a traditional Malay wedding reception.  The married couple arrived with a band of hand drummers and the whole village turned up to watch and makanan.  Weddings run from 10am-4pm at the birdes house.  The whole village turns up.

 The bride and groom in red, surrounded by villagers and drummers

We congratulated the bride and groom at their thrown-like chairs, by placing rice and flower petals in their palms and shaking their hand.  Either side of the throwns are the wedding gifts.  The groom offers 7 presents to the bride.  She must better this offering but with an odd number of gifts.  One of the traditional presents is a boiled egg wrapped up as a flower.

Asiah, Luke, me & Zeemah in the bride and grooms throne

After the wedding Zeemah and her sister, Asiah, took us to a waterfall and night market.  In the evening her mother cooked a fish supper for the family, and we joined them to eat with our hands.  We tried all sorts of local foods wrapped in Banana leaves served with sweet tea. Hazimahs family were so so kind to us.  I can't wait to go back and visit them during the year, and have them to stay with me in KL.

The next day Zeemah and her fiance, Affis, gave us a tour of Kuala Terengganu, the capital of Terengganu state.  We tried our hand at some local crafts (Batik and leaf folding), visited and ate lunch at a local fishing village, took a boat ride along the river, and visited the Crystal and Floating Mosques.  It was a Friday so by law Assif, as a male, had to pray at a mosque.  They were really incredible buildings.  We had another taste of fame and respect during a rather intense photo-shoot with a group of Muslims at the Crystal Mosque.  They were really keen to meet us, taught us a bit about Islam, sang us some of the Arabic statements (which Muslims MUST learn in order to pray), took our names for Facebook, and even gave me a Qur'an to take away (which is now stored up high and safely in my bedroom, as per instructions).  For dinner we paid 2.5RM (50p) for a bowl of Laksa, a local fish broth dish with noodles, veg and an egg.

 Chilling with some Muslim women at the Crystal Mosque like an absolute celeb

Haffis, Luke, Zeemah & me outside Crystal Mosque

IBM informed me that the embassy still had my visa application on hold, as the system was still down, so Luke and I decided on Teman Negara national park as our next stop.  The jungle!

Teman Negara

Spent the first night in a 4-bed dormitory at a pretty dirty hostel called Rippi ran by 3 sarcastic and slightly odd Malaysians, but for 10RM (£2) a night you can't really complain.  Ate dinner on a floating restaurant, and decided to spend our second night sleeping in the middle of the jungle.  For 5RM (£1) you can book a night in a 'jungle hide'.  

After a challenging 12Km trek over streams, through tree roots, and up and down some pretty steep slopes we discovered that a hide is a dormitory room built about 5m off the ground to lessen the risk of death by animal eating, with 6 or so mattressless-bunk beds, no electricity and a toilet that has been blocked for a good year now.  It was basic.  We washed under a hose, stretched our legs, ate some rice and chicken which we had carried with us, played regimental rummy, and watched Peep Show on Luke's iPod before going to bed.

I'm amazed we made it if I'm honest.  6 people were booked into the hide but we were the only ones there.  Also, as with the jellyfish at Palau Tioman, Tamen Negara is infested with leeches and I was freaked out!!  The Wildlife Office advised me not to wear my flipflops (the only shoes that made it here in my 20Kg luggage allowance) into the jungle, but to invest 15RM (£3) in some super sexy gummy shoes.  I sported them with a bikini, sun top and shorts (I hadn't exactly planned to be away this long and had packed largely for the beach!).  During the day walked past this mega-serious trekking brigade, kitted out in waterproof head-to-toe everything and snazzy leech socks.  They did not look impressed with us.  However, in a group of 8 walking veterans they had had 21 leeches.  Luke had 2 and I had none.  Shorts are definitely the way forward because you can see when one of the little gits is on your leg.  

Whilst I am pretty smug about the leeches, I did manage to get some form of viscious poisonous spider inside my gummy shoe and now have a lovely swollen right foot. Fit! After parading it to Mum and Rach via skype and email I have been assured that it will unlikely need to be amputated, and the swelling will not spread up my body to my head. 

The spider that bit me.

(Mum, this is a joke).

The sounds of the jungle at night are insane!  It was like the wildlife was in my sleeping bag.  Some of the bugs imitated sounds, and we heard a chainsaw, a puppy, and I swear an old Nokia ringtone at one point!  We saw only a bit of wildlife on the trek; some type of Orb spider, a porcupine, a deer with a squashed in face, and organised armies of millions of ants.

 Walked the longest canopy walkway in the world

The whole experience kept making me want to sing Chase & Status: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbBEX1NxqgI 03:57 in.

Back to KL

Travels over, I moved back into the condo with the girls last night, and Sepideh's friend Parimah came over for an ice cream moving in celebration.  It feels so nice to be back in KL, with proper toilets.  The apartment is kind of starting to feel like home.  I just wish my visa would hurry up and get sorted, I really want to start my role and get some income.  Feels a bit like I'm in Limbo living here without income or work whilst Soph and Sepideh work and study.  After the stolen bag, Sophie's mugging, bed bugs, and big foot I feel as though I could do with some good luck.

Had a lovely visit from Zeemah and Asiah in KL.  Zeemah has invited me to her wedding next year, and their Mum has me a Baju Kurung especially for it, tailor-made to my exact measurments!  It's maroon with little flowers. So lovely.  I am so over-whelmed by their kindness!!

Sepideh, Parimah and I are thinking of going to the Cameron Highlands next week if the systems are still down.

Batu Caves

Spent the afternoon missioning it up 272 steps to Batu Caves, a limestone hill just outside KL with a series of Hindu temples.  It felt pretty good to finally do some exercise, until a couple of Malaysian guys started gunning it up and down, again and again. Nutters.  The actual temples are pretty cool, and there's an impressive giant gold Buddha at the foot of the steps, but you're greeted by an army of monkeys just past it who are after any food you've got.  One little kid got attacked by one and cried. 

Can't really argue with value for money here either.  There is no entry fee, and the train only cost 1 ringgit (20p).  Having said that I'm pretty sure we were being pulled up the track by a donkey or mule of some description, and probably could have walked there faster.  We sat in an all ladies carraige on the way which was bizarre.  Liss pointed out 2 girls who were slyly trying to get a picture of us and giggling.  It's strange that even girls want a photo.  I dread to think how many Malaysian facebook albums I now feature in.  The token white girl.

Saw my first dog since arriving at KL too.  Muslims believe dogs are dirty and spread disease, and so the streets are run but cats.  We also randomly bumped into the Leeds girls Lau and I met at Koh Phi Phi which was nice.  

Laura, Maisy, Kate, Alicia, Me, Vera & Hana at bottom of steps - after the climb!!



Had dinner at Little India. Love it there. The streets are full of bright colours, sounds of bollywood, and smells of curry.  The shops sell beautiful dresses.  The food was dead cheap and tasty.  Paid 5 ringgit (about a quid) for a plate of 3 vegetarian curries, in a restaurant with a fan and lots of staring diners.  For desert we had some selecetion box of weird sickly fudges and fried doughy things.  Enjoyed the curry main, but think I'll stick with apple crumble for afters.... (which by the way Scarlett, I miss greatly!!)

A roundabout in Little India

Liss has given me the photos of our day out.... This is us with our high-fashion umbrella hats in China Town:

We also held an Iguana.  After asking the park ranger what it's name was I was told politely 'Iguana miss'.  Poor little idiot English girl. 

Apparently Wayne, a dive instructor at Matahari, told Alicia that alcohol is illegal on the Perhentian Islands!! & all the Monkey Juice has been smuggled there.  He said that Black Tip, the beach bar my bag got stolen from, gets burnt down a few times a year when the police travel over!!  Having said that, a police man now co-owns the island and spot checks have become less frequent/thorough.  Not that slack though, Appy got put in jail overnight the week before I got there during a drugs check after he was urine tested for Weed!

Speaking of getting my bag stolen, a girl in Sophs team said she was lucky only her purse was nicked on Saturday.  This girl went out the night before and from her taxi saw a white girl run out into the road crying, with no bag etc on her on her, and clothes covered in blood.  She ran to a police car and got in.  I am so shocked by the crime round here!

On a brighter note, this is our song of KL, shown to me by Appy on  Perhentians: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkH_koweeEY

Sophie Moves In

Yesterday evening we moved Sophie into my room.  The apartment is going to be rather cosy for a couple of months as Soph and I will be sharing the master bedroom, and Sepideh will be in the 2nd bedroom.  Means our rent is less than 200 pounds each a month though, and I've always got time for a bit of goodnight spooning!  We're going to have international cooking come dine with me too, and introduce Sepideh to raost dinners, beans on toast, and marmite (that'll be my meal!). 

 

 

Alicia arrived back to The Hilton at 6am this morning, after going to The Perhentian Islands for a couple of days to get her PADI.  We're off to Batu Caves to walk up a million steps and see a giant gold buddah.

 

 

She had a pretty crazy journey there....  First off was an absolute nightmare getting her on the nightbus.  After about 5 drivers telling us the Jerteh 21:05 was 'next bus miss, next bus', we found out it had been and gone.  Most people were pretty rude and un-helpful, but one guy was lovely and got her onto another bus which would take her to meet her bus in 5 minutes - supposedly!  About 4 hours later the bus pulls into a cafe and the driver threw Liss off!!  Luckily Liss got chatting to a nice Malay man who was getting onto her next bus to Jerteh.  After being hounded by a load of Malay men who'd never seen a white girl before at the end stop, the nice guy took her to his house for breakfast with the whole Malay fam, and then drove her to the ferry jetty.

 



Friends

Many of the friends I made in the Perhentians and Koh Phi Phi have been in KL this week.  It's been brilliant.  They've mostly stayed at the Reggae Mansions in China Town - THE place for backpackers, apart from the lucky few who've bunked in the Hilton with me. We've had a great week of drinking the night away at the hostels rooftop bar, and spending the day in the mall/cinema to nurse the hangover.  

 The rooftop bar at Reggae Mansions, with Arjun, Nik, me & 'the exotic girl'

Vera treated me to a cocktail at the Skybar, 33 stories up in the Traders Hotel. Thanks Ver :-)

Alicia (Scarlett's sister) has been in KL for a couple of days this week, and we had a right laugh.  On Tuesday we got caught in a massive rainstorm.  Thankfully a nifty little Malaysian dude cracked some quality umbrella hats out of his bag and we happily purchased 2 at 3 ringgit a pop (about 60p), only to be told 'nice umbrella miss' by every subsequent local we met.  Liss has the photos, they'll be on facebook soon.

Good though the umbrella hats were we decided to go up the KL Tower to escape the rain.  The views of the city were great, and it's cheaper than going up the Petronas Towers (47Rm as opposed to 80RM).  The visit really highlighted how quickly the city is developing.  Images showing what the buildings are where were seriously out of date and lacking LOADS of new sky scrapers!  Most hilariously an Indian guys asked to have a photo with us up the tower, and within 5 minutes we were participating in a mini-photo shoot with all his mates. Literally felt like a celebrity.

Vera has been staying with me in The Hilton and we had a little fun with the Umbrella Hats.

What's really annoying is the people I have been hanging out with are all traveling through South East Asia, and so either leave to go home this week or go on to Thailand or something.  It really sucks to have to keep saying goodbye.  Having said that, last night we went out to celebrate my birthday in KL and with a wicked crew of some of Sepideh's friends from Iran, and some Portugese construction workers we met at a bar a couple of weeks ago.  Proudly I introduced them all to my friend, Sam Bucca, and we danced like nutters. At the end of the night Sophie and I met some Irish and Aussie guys in a bar called Havanah, and they have invited us to start playing Gaelic Football with them.  They train and play matches each week and then go on socials at weekend.  It sounds pretty bloody perfect as a way to meet people who will be staying in the city, although Soph and I youtubed the sport earlier to discover a bizarre mix between football, basketball & rugby.  Hmm.... Patrick (Irish guy) assures me it is female friendly, so we're going to give it a bash.

The night was really fun, until the end when Sophie was mugged!!  Just like Sepideh had warned us, a motorcyclist drove past her, pushed her to the ground, and stole her purse.  Luckily Soph was not hurt, and did not have her passport, phone or camera on her, but in the space of a week we have between us had a bag and a purse stolen.  It's really pretty scary when it happens half way across the world and Soph and I seriously need to be careful with our stuff, and somehow get streetwise to the city to counteract being white and female.


In the day Soph, Vera & I went to Changkit Market.   Was such a cool place, selling crazy fruits, vegetables, spices, chillies, cows heads, trotters, tongues, eels, and other disgusting 'foods'.  The colour was incredible, and stalls were piled high with produce and stall tenders balancing on the corner.  The smells were pretty intense, varying from gone off fruit, to meat, to fish, to general shit. We saw a cat with its insides hanging out, and a couple of rats.  It's not really a very touristy spot, so we stood out like a sore thumb.  The locals shout beautiful at us as we walked by.  One even provided a rendition of 'isn't she lovely' in Malaysian as we strolled past a cows head stand, and another gave me lychees. Going to have to find somewhere like Changkit close to our apartment and start doing some house meals with Sepideh.
 

YUCK!

Vera & I are off to Penang for a couple of days, to stay in the Reggae Mansions there.  I might go to another island called Tioman after as well.  IBM have had another delay in getting my visa sorted, so my start date has been pushed back to September 10th!!  I've been in KL over 3 weeks not, and am really itching to get started, but hey ho.  Going to make the most of my final few days off.  Really need to get re-acquainted with Excel too!!

Perhentian Islands

Have spent 4 days on the most beautiful island in the world.  The Perhentians are 2 tiny islands off the North East coast of Malaysia. There are no cars or roads on the island, the signs on shops and guest houses are all hand painted, and you only get electricity during certain hours of the day.  Life on the island consists of sun, sand, diving, chilling out at beach bars listening to reggae, meeting people, watching live music, and drinking the local island alcohol 'Monkey Juice'.  I love it there.

Monkey Juice

Monkey Bar left where they have live music, Ooh La La restaurant on the right.

I spent my birthday with 2 new friends that I met on the way to the island.  A French Canadian guy named Joseph, and a German girl called Vera.  At midnight on Saturday 18th Vera got the band at Monkey Bar to play 'happy birthday' for me, and I was supplied with endless shots of tequila & monkey juice. Not a combination I appreciated the next day, but had a ball that night.  After chucking some serious shapes and cutting up some major rug on the beach we stumbled home to bed at 7am.  Would have been earlier had we not stopped to help a friends find his clothes and camera, which vanished from the beach when he went for a cheeky early morning skinny dip.  The sunrise was beautiful.  I treated my hangover with a birthday dive with Matahri (dive school).

 Jo, Vera and Me enjoying a cheeky glass of Monkey Juice.

Sunday 19th marked the end of Ramadan, and the beginning of the Malaysian new year.  During the day people greet each other saying 'Salamat Hari Raya', translated literally as 'happy day of celebrations', and Muslim families open up their homes for people to come and celebrate the festivities.  The women cook incredible feasts of curry, sticky rice, chicken satay skewers & sweets, and as you enter each home you are told 'makanan, makanan' which means 'eat, eat'.

My Malaysian friend on the island called Appy, who I met last year with Scarlett, invited me to the fishing village on the island to join his families celebrations.  Appy took me to a market on the mainland (where children shouted 'minahsalleh' at me in the street, Malaysian for 'female Westerner') to buy a traditional Malaysian dress, called a baju kurung, which I wore for Hari Raya.  It's a completely covered dress and I was boiling!

Appy is in the White. The guys in the red are in the same family, and so all wore the same colour.

By 9am on Sunday I was sat on the veranda of Appys house on a hill, tucking into some curry with my hands, trying desperately not to spill it on my new white baju kurung.  Whilst I ate, hoards of local Malay children visited the house on the hill, all in the dresses, to receive money from Appys Mum to congratulate their months fasting.  The kids visit most houses in the fishing village on the morning of Hari Raya, receiving a few ringgits at each place.  Appys sister collected 112RM in total, equivalent of about £25!

Appy and I spent the morning visiting all his friends and family in the village, all desperate for us to 'makanan makanan'.  It was such a cool experience, and people were so friendly and welcoming.  I left very full and hot.

Unfortunately I have no photos of me and Appy during Hari Raya, because the next night my bag was stolen.  Crime seems to be surprisingly common on this tiny island with no roads.  I guess as a bunch of Western tourists who are quite often drunk(!) we make easy targets.  I've had to say goodbye to my camera, pictures of the trip (hurts more than the camera), purse, cards, money, phone, 3 lip balms, and a chocolate bar.  Vera, on a significantly smaller scale, had her flip flops pinched.  I definitely need to have my wits about me a bit more, and realise the world is not always as trustworthy as Devon and Cornwall.

So bit of a shitty end to an otherwise awesome weekend, but it didn't ruin my trip.  Met some really cool people and can't wait to go back there.

Ko Phi Phi

Had a great 4 days in Ko Phi Phi with my friend Laura.  The island is so beautiful, but sadly quite crowded and Westernised.  There are guesthouses blanketing the beaches, restaurants called 'Little Britain' advertising 'Full English Breakfasts', strips and strips of bars hosting drunk guys in vests flirting with drunks girls in mini skirts, and promoters line the streets handing out '2-for-1 bucket' promotions for various venues. Pretty shocking given that less than 10 years ago the island was devastated by the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami!!

The Thai locals have certainly seen us tourists coming too.  As you arrive on the island you are hounded by locals asking you 'where you want go miss?'.  Some one is always trying to sell you something.

Really hate to say it but I think the Joni Mitchell kind of sums Koh Phi Phi up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWwUJH70ubM (copy and paste into URL). Kind of like Asias answer to Magaloof! 

Sunday 15th August was the Queens birthday - or mothers day as it is known in Thailand - and everything on the island closes down.  Laura and I traveled to one of the un-inhabited islands with a group of about 30, and some wicked Thai tour leaders.  We spent the night on Maya Bay, the beach where 'The Beach' was filmed.  

Paradise!

Amy, Laura, Me, Laura & Kate. Really nice group of English girls we met on the trip.

Wit & Art, our tour leaders. Art would NOT stop stealing my sunglasses, so when we got back to Phi Phi Don (inhabited island) I bought him some as a present.

After snorkeling, watching sun set, enjoying a delicious Thai curry, making new friends, drinking far too many buckets of a savage local alcohol - Samsung, singing to Arts (Thai guide's) guitar, racing land crabs (hmmm!), and midnight swimming, we slept on 'THE beach' under the stars. We were stupidly under the illusion there might be a tent or 2 kicking about. Don't be ridiculous; Mat, sandy sleeping bag, hard pillow, and the most beautiful sky. I saw 4 shooting stars.

Next day on Koh Phi Phi Don we had a Thai massage, and Lau's masseuse was a Thai Lady Boy!! Hahahaha.

On Phi Phi I was re-united with Fruit Shakes, an ice blended smoothie type drink. Scarlett and I fell in love with Watermelon Shakes when we traveled here last year.

 
On the journey home the ferry caught fire! Not even kidding. No one came and told us why the deck had filled with smoke or why flames were coming out of the machine room, the ferry just stopped for 5 mins and then started again. Smoke still filling the deck.  Health and safety is literallty a non-existent concept over here.