Sunday, April 30, 2006
A Longhouse Visit
Selamat Pagi! Over the last 3 days, I decided to head off on a tour to visit a longhouse, the traditional dwelling of the Iban people. Aside from our guide, Harry, there were only 2 others on the tour - John and Jenny from Sweden.
On the morning of our departure, we met in the dining room for our breakfast of white bread, toasted, with tea or coffee (this seems to be the standard "Western Breakfast" here in Malaysia). Luckily, the food was to improve on the tour, except for the breakfasts, which remained the same at the longhouse minus the toasting. I'm not sure whether anyone will be able to follow that last sentence, but so be it.
Our first stop was the Semenggoh Nature Reserve, where we arrived just in time for feeding time. The reserve was the site of a successful orphaned Orang-utan rehabilitation program, so there are many Orang-utans that now live wild in the surrounding jungle. They still get a little help in the form of twice daily feedings for times when fruit is scarce in the jungle, which gives tourists a good chance to see them. We had a very good visit where we saw a large dominant male who had big flaps of skin on his cheeks and a large pot belly, a mother and son, and a few others.
The next stop was a crocodile farm/zoo. Again we saw a feeding time, but in this instance it was raw chickens tossed out and strung up from a wire over a pond so that we could watch a couple dozen large crocodiles heave themselves out of the water to eat. There were a number of other assorted animals that mostly didn't look very happy in their small cages - particularly the porcupine whose pen was mostly just a big slab of concrete. The sun bear was awfully cute as he sprawled out on his back to soak up the sun though.
Other than lunch, the other stop of interest on the 5 hour journey to the longhouse on the Krian River was a fruit market where our guide introduced us to a few exotic fruits and vegetables. Jenny and I were both big fans of the salak fruits which were scaly and somewhat avocado-like on the outside but inside tasted a bit like a combination of apple, pear, and strawberry. Which reminds me, I must try to find some more of those today, on my last full day in Malaysia.
Before going to the longhouse where Harry's parents live and where we were to stay, we stopped at an older, more traditional house to meet his uncle. The uncle explained in good English how his house was a second-generation house, as evidenced by the zinc roofing which had taken over from the original wood. There were no longer any young people staying in his longhouse, as they had all gone off to the city to work and would only come back three times a year to celebrate various festivals. So it was a bit like a nursing home. Except that there were no nurses. In fact, the older people, when ill, would not visit a doctor, but would still rely on the witch doctors of old. Harry's uncle, at 50-something, said he was happy to go into town to see a modern doctor whenever he fell ill.
Harry's longhouse, too, looked quite old and simple from the outside, and even in the shared verandah area that is used by all the people of the longhouse. But when we stepped through the door to Harry's parents' place, we walked into a brightly painted and neatly tiled, modern-looking home. Though they lacked the satellite dishes that many contemporary longhouses have, it wasn't as rustic as we had expected.
[hm. I'm getting hungry.]
To be continued...
On the morning of our departure, we met in the dining room for our breakfast of white bread, toasted, with tea or coffee (this seems to be the standard "Western Breakfast" here in Malaysia). Luckily, the food was to improve on the tour, except for the breakfasts, which remained the same at the longhouse minus the toasting. I'm not sure whether anyone will be able to follow that last sentence, but so be it.
Our first stop was the Semenggoh Nature Reserve, where we arrived just in time for feeding time. The reserve was the site of a successful orphaned Orang-utan rehabilitation program, so there are many Orang-utans that now live wild in the surrounding jungle. They still get a little help in the form of twice daily feedings for times when fruit is scarce in the jungle, which gives tourists a good chance to see them. We had a very good visit where we saw a large dominant male who had big flaps of skin on his cheeks and a large pot belly, a mother and son, and a few others.
The next stop was a crocodile farm/zoo. Again we saw a feeding time, but in this instance it was raw chickens tossed out and strung up from a wire over a pond so that we could watch a couple dozen large crocodiles heave themselves out of the water to eat. There were a number of other assorted animals that mostly didn't look very happy in their small cages - particularly the porcupine whose pen was mostly just a big slab of concrete. The sun bear was awfully cute as he sprawled out on his back to soak up the sun though.
Other than lunch, the other stop of interest on the 5 hour journey to the longhouse on the Krian River was a fruit market where our guide introduced us to a few exotic fruits and vegetables. Jenny and I were both big fans of the salak fruits which were scaly and somewhat avocado-like on the outside but inside tasted a bit like a combination of apple, pear, and strawberry. Which reminds me, I must try to find some more of those today, on my last full day in Malaysia.
Before going to the longhouse where Harry's parents live and where we were to stay, we stopped at an older, more traditional house to meet his uncle. The uncle explained in good English how his house was a second-generation house, as evidenced by the zinc roofing which had taken over from the original wood. There were no longer any young people staying in his longhouse, as they had all gone off to the city to work and would only come back three times a year to celebrate various festivals. So it was a bit like a nursing home. Except that there were no nurses. In fact, the older people, when ill, would not visit a doctor, but would still rely on the witch doctors of old. Harry's uncle, at 50-something, said he was happy to go into town to see a modern doctor whenever he fell ill.
Harry's longhouse, too, looked quite old and simple from the outside, and even in the shared verandah area that is used by all the people of the longhouse. But when we stepped through the door to Harry's parents' place, we walked into a brightly painted and neatly tiled, modern-looking home. Though they lacked the satellite dishes that many contemporary longhouses have, it wasn't as rustic as we had expected.
[hm. I'm getting hungry.]
To be continued...
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Borneo!
Who knew - Borneo isn't a country, but the name of an island encompassing parts of Malaysia, Indonesia and all of Brunei. I certainly didn't. But here I am, in the heart of Borneo. Sounds exotic! But actually I'm exagerating. It's been a long time since I've spelled that word - something looks wrong, but I'll assume you know what I mean. I'm not really in the heart, but more in the outer leaves somewhere, and in the city, not the jungle. To be precise, I am in the city of Kuching, Malaysia. Why Kuching, you ask? If you know me and you know what Kuching means, then you would understand immediately. You see, Kuching is Malay for "Cat". This is the city of the cat and though I have yet to see them, I hear there are cat statues and an ailurophilic museum. And being Malaysia, there are sure to be many cats as well, though surprisingly I haven't seen many of those either.
Other than that, I don't have much to say about Kuching or Borneo yet, seeing as I just arrived. I will, however, pass on the recommendation that was given me to stay at the Borneo B&B to anyone who happens to come this way - it is terrific!
So, let me go back in time briefly with an update on what I've been up to since.. ah, Kota Bharu. Well, the Jungle Train was a good ride, and on it I met some Malaysian teenagers whose favourite singer is Avril Lavigne. They also let me try some "buah keraji" which is some sort of fruit that looks like a nut, has a spongy texture and tastes like prunes. They were "sedap", which means tasty.
At Taman Negara, I went on a mini jungle trek and stayed overnight at an animal hide with an English friend named Finn who I met in KB. During the jungle trek, Finn was brutally attacked and was left with large blood stains on his shirt. No, we did not encounter a tiger. In fact the largest animals we saw were the well fed rats in the hide. The culprits of the attack were the innumerable leeches that danced in the wet leaves all along the track. My gaiters offered me some protection against them, but I still flicked dozens of them off of my clothes and skin. Though we had started with grand plans to hike back on the longer, harder trail, in the morning we were happy to pile into a boat with our fellow "hiders" and cruise back down the river. Though not quite on par with the elephants we might have seen if we were lucky, I thought that the big black cow creatures we saw from the boat were pretty cool.
Back in civilization at Jerantut, I booked my plane ticket to Borneo and waited until 2AM for a train to Singapore with Finn and a german girl named Katrina. We were able to stay in a hostel waiting room where we watched "Sister Act" and 2 or 3 other movies on TV as we whiled away the hours.
In between a few spurts of sleep on the train, I talked with a Malaysian girl who was headed south to visit her sister with her mom and another sister. Though I have picked up a few words handy for the traveller, my Malay is not enough for much of a conversation. Her English was infinitely better, but still the conversation involved a great deal of smiling and nodding on both sides.
Upon arriving in Singapore and getting to the hostel, I discovered that it would not be possible (other than by a very expensive taxi ride) to get to the Johor Bharu (JB) airport across the border in Malaysia in time for my 7am flight the next morning. So, instead of checking in, I phoned the somewhat seedy-sounding (based on the Lonely Planet description) hostel (the only cheap option) in JB and told them I would arrive that evening. As I was rather tired from two nights of minimal sleep, the day in Singapore was a bit of a blur. We wandered around visiting such sights as parkades, stairwells, and construction sites, among others. Then, leaving behind a lively hostel and friends in Singapore, I made my way across the causeway towards JB...
If it wasn't for the Lonely Planet describing JB as a rather dowdy place where the "barber shops" are brothels, well and also if I wasn't so tired, I wouldn't have been so reluctant to go. Based on this description and the fact that the sun had set, I had decided to take a "Teksi" to the hostel rather than to try walking, and it was discouraging when all of the taxi drivers I came across seemed to be set on charging me 3 times what the guidebook said I should expect. As in KL, however, I found that by walking past the waiting ranks to catch a taxi as it drove down the street, I was able to get one for (close to) the official rate. What a relief it was when I got to the hostel and it turned out to be perfectly fine and in fact the staff were very friendly. And even better, 2 of the 4 cats came into my room to play (conversely, at the hostel in Singapore, there was a sign on the dorm room door saying "no cats"!).
And now.. I am off to explore Borneo. After I have a catnap.
Kat
Other than that, I don't have much to say about Kuching or Borneo yet, seeing as I just arrived. I will, however, pass on the recommendation that was given me to stay at the Borneo B&B to anyone who happens to come this way - it is terrific!
So, let me go back in time briefly with an update on what I've been up to since.. ah, Kota Bharu. Well, the Jungle Train was a good ride, and on it I met some Malaysian teenagers whose favourite singer is Avril Lavigne. They also let me try some "buah keraji" which is some sort of fruit that looks like a nut, has a spongy texture and tastes like prunes. They were "sedap", which means tasty.
At Taman Negara, I went on a mini jungle trek and stayed overnight at an animal hide with an English friend named Finn who I met in KB. During the jungle trek, Finn was brutally attacked and was left with large blood stains on his shirt. No, we did not encounter a tiger. In fact the largest animals we saw were the well fed rats in the hide. The culprits of the attack were the innumerable leeches that danced in the wet leaves all along the track. My gaiters offered me some protection against them, but I still flicked dozens of them off of my clothes and skin. Though we had started with grand plans to hike back on the longer, harder trail, in the morning we were happy to pile into a boat with our fellow "hiders" and cruise back down the river. Though not quite on par with the elephants we might have seen if we were lucky, I thought that the big black cow creatures we saw from the boat were pretty cool.
Back in civilization at Jerantut, I booked my plane ticket to Borneo and waited until 2AM for a train to Singapore with Finn and a german girl named Katrina. We were able to stay in a hostel waiting room where we watched "Sister Act" and 2 or 3 other movies on TV as we whiled away the hours.
In between a few spurts of sleep on the train, I talked with a Malaysian girl who was headed south to visit her sister with her mom and another sister. Though I have picked up a few words handy for the traveller, my Malay is not enough for much of a conversation. Her English was infinitely better, but still the conversation involved a great deal of smiling and nodding on both sides.
Upon arriving in Singapore and getting to the hostel, I discovered that it would not be possible (other than by a very expensive taxi ride) to get to the Johor Bharu (JB) airport across the border in Malaysia in time for my 7am flight the next morning. So, instead of checking in, I phoned the somewhat seedy-sounding (based on the Lonely Planet description) hostel (the only cheap option) in JB and told them I would arrive that evening. As I was rather tired from two nights of minimal sleep, the day in Singapore was a bit of a blur. We wandered around visiting such sights as parkades, stairwells, and construction sites, among others. Then, leaving behind a lively hostel and friends in Singapore, I made my way across the causeway towards JB...
If it wasn't for the Lonely Planet describing JB as a rather dowdy place where the "barber shops" are brothels, well and also if I wasn't so tired, I wouldn't have been so reluctant to go. Based on this description and the fact that the sun had set, I had decided to take a "Teksi" to the hostel rather than to try walking, and it was discouraging when all of the taxi drivers I came across seemed to be set on charging me 3 times what the guidebook said I should expect. As in KL, however, I found that by walking past the waiting ranks to catch a taxi as it drove down the street, I was able to get one for (close to) the official rate. What a relief it was when I got to the hostel and it turned out to be perfectly fine and in fact the staff were very friendly. And even better, 2 of the 4 cats came into my room to play (conversely, at the hostel in Singapore, there was a sign on the dorm room door saying "no cats"!).
And now.. I am off to explore Borneo. After I have a catnap.
Kat
Friday, April 21, 2006
The Police Chief and the Birdman
Oh so much has happened since yesterday afternoon. Kota Bharu was definitely a good choice of stops.
First order of business yesterday evening was to find some dinner. I felt like Thai food, and being near the border I figured it would be easy. Well, I wandered around town for a bit but wasn't really finding anything. Then I wandered past some sort of shop where there were about 12 employees standing around the entrance who said hello to me. I stopped and asked them "Restoran Thai di mana?" (di mana = where). There was much consultation and an English-speaker who I took to be the manager came out and gave me some directions to a rather out of the way spot that was supposed to be good. Famous, she said. Well, I went there (in the rain), but didn't find much. So I decided to just wander back up in the direction of the hostel and find something on my own. I ended up choosing a small Malaysian place where I ordered some Tom Yam soup. At the table next to me, a friend of the owner's started talking to me in English. Turns out he is the police chief. We had a nice conversation, in which he gave me several basic security tips and regularly told me he was a police officer despite that at that time he was wearing a sarong and not a uniform. He said he would be glad to show me around except that today (my only day in town), he is part of a motorcade to escort the Sultan to a city in the neighbouring state. He ended up paying for my dinner and we exchanged addresses so I will send him a postcard when I get home.
This morning at the open area near Zeck's Ttravellers Inn, where I am staying, was the weekly bird-singing competition. While I was wandering around trying to sort out exactly what was going on with all these identical birds in their ornate little cages, I was introduced to Mr. Khor, who is the official interpreter and visitor's guide for the competition. He explained that the birds were red-whiskered bulbuls, a native bird to Malaysia, and they were soon to be judged on four criteria. The first was showmanship - how well the bird held its posture and presented itself. The second was "diligence" - that is, how dutifully it sang, rather than preening its feathers or hopping around the cage. The minimum requirement was that it sang 5 times in the 2-minute judging period. The third criterium was melody - the beauty of the song. And the fourth was "resonance", which I found rather difficult to listen for, but described a fullness to the final note in the short song. (These bird guys were really into it). Prizes ranged from ghetto blasters to rice cookers to blankets, but those whose homes were overflowing with such prizes (like Mr. Khor), could instead choose to sell the prize back to the club organizing the event for cash. At the competition this morning, there were just over 200 birds entered, which is apparently fairly standard for the weekly event. The big competitions held on 3 particular dates each year could draw at least twice that many entries.
While this was somewhat interesting, the main thing I got out of it was meeting Mr. Khor, who was very kind and generous and an excellent tour guide. After the competition was over (one of his 6 birds entered today won a consolation prize), he took me and 3 other foreign tourists for a little tour. We inspected some of the many 'bird houses' in Kota Bharu, which are buildings that have been converted from regular homes and offices into dwellings for "swiftlets" - swalllow-like birds who are welcomed because of the nests they build using their own saliva. These nests, like so many other animal products, are prized by the Chinese as being nutritional and an aphrodisiac. Bird's nest soup is a dish that was once only available to emperors in China. Converting buildings to bird houses is profitable since 1kg of nests can fetch 5000 Malaysian Ringgits when exported to China. The nests are harvested once when first built then again after the bird rebuilds and rears a batch of young. The young birds will return to the same place to build their nest when they grow older, and so the returns continue to grow. Once you know about these houses, you start to look around and see the telltale filled in doors and windows with small ventilation holes, the barbed wire on the roof, and the strong padlocks on steel doors which are put in place to deter nest thievery - these houses are everywhere! At least the practice is relatively sustainable and presumably does not cause too great an inconvenience for the birds.
After the bird houses, we visited Mr. Khor's house where we saw more of his vast bird and trophy collection and also sampled mangoes fresh from his large mango tree. We then went to visit a wat with a very large reclining Buddha statue. Mr. Khor, being a Buddhist, was able to explain the significance of many of the items there and also described his one-day experience as a monk. Apparently all Buddhists at some time must be a monk, be it only an hour, a day, a week, or months. Oh and somewhere in there we stopped for a lunch of Wanton Mee (wanton soup and fried noodles with meat on the side). All in all, a fantastic day!
Tomorrow bright and early I am off on the jungle train, which will wind its way south and eventually deposit me at the gateway to peninsular malaysia's largest park, Taman Negara.
Katieo
First order of business yesterday evening was to find some dinner. I felt like Thai food, and being near the border I figured it would be easy. Well, I wandered around town for a bit but wasn't really finding anything. Then I wandered past some sort of shop where there were about 12 employees standing around the entrance who said hello to me. I stopped and asked them "Restoran Thai di mana?" (di mana = where). There was much consultation and an English-speaker who I took to be the manager came out and gave me some directions to a rather out of the way spot that was supposed to be good. Famous, she said. Well, I went there (in the rain), but didn't find much. So I decided to just wander back up in the direction of the hostel and find something on my own. I ended up choosing a small Malaysian place where I ordered some Tom Yam soup. At the table next to me, a friend of the owner's started talking to me in English. Turns out he is the police chief. We had a nice conversation, in which he gave me several basic security tips and regularly told me he was a police officer despite that at that time he was wearing a sarong and not a uniform. He said he would be glad to show me around except that today (my only day in town), he is part of a motorcade to escort the Sultan to a city in the neighbouring state. He ended up paying for my dinner and we exchanged addresses so I will send him a postcard when I get home.
This morning at the open area near Zeck's Ttravellers Inn, where I am staying, was the weekly bird-singing competition. While I was wandering around trying to sort out exactly what was going on with all these identical birds in their ornate little cages, I was introduced to Mr. Khor, who is the official interpreter and visitor's guide for the competition. He explained that the birds were red-whiskered bulbuls, a native bird to Malaysia, and they were soon to be judged on four criteria. The first was showmanship - how well the bird held its posture and presented itself. The second was "diligence" - that is, how dutifully it sang, rather than preening its feathers or hopping around the cage. The minimum requirement was that it sang 5 times in the 2-minute judging period. The third criterium was melody - the beauty of the song. And the fourth was "resonance", which I found rather difficult to listen for, but described a fullness to the final note in the short song. (These bird guys were really into it). Prizes ranged from ghetto blasters to rice cookers to blankets, but those whose homes were overflowing with such prizes (like Mr. Khor), could instead choose to sell the prize back to the club organizing the event for cash. At the competition this morning, there were just over 200 birds entered, which is apparently fairly standard for the weekly event. The big competitions held on 3 particular dates each year could draw at least twice that many entries.
While this was somewhat interesting, the main thing I got out of it was meeting Mr. Khor, who was very kind and generous and an excellent tour guide. After the competition was over (one of his 6 birds entered today won a consolation prize), he took me and 3 other foreign tourists for a little tour. We inspected some of the many 'bird houses' in Kota Bharu, which are buildings that have been converted from regular homes and offices into dwellings for "swiftlets" - swalllow-like birds who are welcomed because of the nests they build using their own saliva. These nests, like so many other animal products, are prized by the Chinese as being nutritional and an aphrodisiac. Bird's nest soup is a dish that was once only available to emperors in China. Converting buildings to bird houses is profitable since 1kg of nests can fetch 5000 Malaysian Ringgits when exported to China. The nests are harvested once when first built then again after the bird rebuilds and rears a batch of young. The young birds will return to the same place to build their nest when they grow older, and so the returns continue to grow. Once you know about these houses, you start to look around and see the telltale filled in doors and windows with small ventilation holes, the barbed wire on the roof, and the strong padlocks on steel doors which are put in place to deter nest thievery - these houses are everywhere! At least the practice is relatively sustainable and presumably does not cause too great an inconvenience for the birds.
After the bird houses, we visited Mr. Khor's house where we saw more of his vast bird and trophy collection and also sampled mangoes fresh from his large mango tree. We then went to visit a wat with a very large reclining Buddha statue. Mr. Khor, being a Buddhist, was able to explain the significance of many of the items there and also described his one-day experience as a monk. Apparently all Buddhists at some time must be a monk, be it only an hour, a day, a week, or months. Oh and somewhere in there we stopped for a lunch of Wanton Mee (wanton soup and fried noodles with meat on the side). All in all, a fantastic day!
Tomorrow bright and early I am off on the jungle train, which will wind its way south and eventually deposit me at the gateway to peninsular malaysia's largest park, Taman Negara.
Katieo
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Some observations in Malyasia
1. Lots of people smoke (and its allowed many places), but its almost exclusively men. I dont think I've seen a single woman smoking since I arrived.
2. Palm Plantations. They're everywhere. Perfect diagonal rows. And they collect the fallen fronds in neat little piles. But I don't know why!
3. Motosikals. The most popular form of transportation. Some are safety concious and wear helmets and follow road rules. Others put a helmet on their head and either let them dangle to the sides or hold them in their teeth to keep them out of the way. And they're all expected to ride on the edge of the road so they don't consume a lane when buses want to pass things on the highway.
4. Most people selling things will make every effort to get your business, rather than passively standing by. The funniest was buying a ferry ticket to Pulau Pangkor, where there were three ticket desks (for different companies, but all about the same price just leaving at different times). As soon as I approached, out of each window came a lady's hand fluttering a ticket and they all shouted at me to attract my attention. In the end I randomly chose the middle one.
5. Rivers are brown.
6. Entering a state ruled by an Islamic party this afternoon, my bus stopped first for a lunch break and later for a prayer break at a mosque en route.
7. There are CATS EVERYWHERE!!!
So here's a brief recap of what I've been doing lately. After leaving KL, my first stop was the resorty island of Pulau Pangkor (with the overly zealous ticket sellers). The place I stayed at was rather luxurious, with my own clean room, bathroom, and balcony. Unfortunately, it was a bit deserted since I had come outside of the high season. But the whole trip was made worthwhile by the DElicious and super cheap Indonesian restaurant between my accomodation and the nice beach. The fresh watermelon juice was absolutely wonderful, but that, luckily, can be had just about anywhere. The food has been good elsewhere too, but there it was incredible. I also managed to hire a bicycle (basikal) and ride around to explore some areas on the other side of the island, most interesting of which was a Chinese temple with a turtle pond and a miniature great wall. I also bought some delicious mangoes which I ate by the roadside.
After leaving the island yesterday, I planned to go to Taiping then walk up to the hill station at Bukit Larut the next day. But finding there was no direct bus to Taiping and realizing it was a bit out of the way for making it to my next destination, I opted instead to spend the night in the Royal City of Kuala Kangar, complete with a sultan's palace. My accomodation was far from palatial, but certainly spacious. In the afternoon I went for a walk out to the beautiful mosque and the palace, neither of which I could actually visit up close. Then it started pouring so I took shelter with two girls on bicycles and a couple on a motosikal in one of the little roadside covered patios designed for that purpose. I thought this would be a good opportunity to interact with some locals. I turned to the girls and said "Nama saya Katie". This brought some smiles and giggles and whisperings. I turned to the younger one and said "Nama?". She very quietly told me her name, then a little louder, but unfortunately I have forgotten it. I couldn't convince the older one to tell me hers. I opened my lonely planet to the language section looking for something intersting to say. Nothing presented itself, as asking them for directions to the nearest post office didn't really seem appropriate. I asked (in Malay) if they spoke English, but the answer was a shake of the head. We sat in silence for a little while, occasionally smiling at each other. Actually, they continued to whisper amongst themselves. Then a caterpillar wandered by. We all watched it wander its way around the bench. I pointed to it and said "Nama?", then to make sure they got the point, walked right up to it and again said "Nama?" At this point I think they must have decided I was crazy for wanting to know the name of a caterpillar, as the whispering increased but I didn't get another word out of them until the rain subsided temporarily and I saluted them with a "Selamat tinggal" and went on my way.
Today my day was consumed with the bus ride up to Kota Bharu, which is in the northeast corner of the country next to Thailand. In fact, I saw a thai license plate coming into town. I dont 'think I will hop across the border though, as my next stop is at Taman Negara where I will hopefully be able to do a little introductory jungle trekking and if I'm REALLY lucky, might even see an elephant.
Hmm looks like Im in for another wet walk back to the hostel, as the afternoon shower has set in late this evening.
Selamat petang!
Katie
2. Palm Plantations. They're everywhere. Perfect diagonal rows. And they collect the fallen fronds in neat little piles. But I don't know why!
3. Motosikals. The most popular form of transportation. Some are safety concious and wear helmets and follow road rules. Others put a helmet on their head and either let them dangle to the sides or hold them in their teeth to keep them out of the way. And they're all expected to ride on the edge of the road so they don't consume a lane when buses want to pass things on the highway.
4. Most people selling things will make every effort to get your business, rather than passively standing by. The funniest was buying a ferry ticket to Pulau Pangkor, where there were three ticket desks (for different companies, but all about the same price just leaving at different times). As soon as I approached, out of each window came a lady's hand fluttering a ticket and they all shouted at me to attract my attention. In the end I randomly chose the middle one.
5. Rivers are brown.
6. Entering a state ruled by an Islamic party this afternoon, my bus stopped first for a lunch break and later for a prayer break at a mosque en route.
7. There are CATS EVERYWHERE!!!
So here's a brief recap of what I've been doing lately. After leaving KL, my first stop was the resorty island of Pulau Pangkor (with the overly zealous ticket sellers). The place I stayed at was rather luxurious, with my own clean room, bathroom, and balcony. Unfortunately, it was a bit deserted since I had come outside of the high season. But the whole trip was made worthwhile by the DElicious and super cheap Indonesian restaurant between my accomodation and the nice beach. The fresh watermelon juice was absolutely wonderful, but that, luckily, can be had just about anywhere. The food has been good elsewhere too, but there it was incredible. I also managed to hire a bicycle (basikal) and ride around to explore some areas on the other side of the island, most interesting of which was a Chinese temple with a turtle pond and a miniature great wall. I also bought some delicious mangoes which I ate by the roadside.
After leaving the island yesterday, I planned to go to Taiping then walk up to the hill station at Bukit Larut the next day. But finding there was no direct bus to Taiping and realizing it was a bit out of the way for making it to my next destination, I opted instead to spend the night in the Royal City of Kuala Kangar, complete with a sultan's palace. My accomodation was far from palatial, but certainly spacious. In the afternoon I went for a walk out to the beautiful mosque and the palace, neither of which I could actually visit up close. Then it started pouring so I took shelter with two girls on bicycles and a couple on a motosikal in one of the little roadside covered patios designed for that purpose. I thought this would be a good opportunity to interact with some locals. I turned to the girls and said "Nama saya Katie". This brought some smiles and giggles and whisperings. I turned to the younger one and said "Nama?". She very quietly told me her name, then a little louder, but unfortunately I have forgotten it. I couldn't convince the older one to tell me hers. I opened my lonely planet to the language section looking for something intersting to say. Nothing presented itself, as asking them for directions to the nearest post office didn't really seem appropriate. I asked (in Malay) if they spoke English, but the answer was a shake of the head. We sat in silence for a little while, occasionally smiling at each other. Actually, they continued to whisper amongst themselves. Then a caterpillar wandered by. We all watched it wander its way around the bench. I pointed to it and said "Nama?", then to make sure they got the point, walked right up to it and again said "Nama?" At this point I think they must have decided I was crazy for wanting to know the name of a caterpillar, as the whispering increased but I didn't get another word out of them until the rain subsided temporarily and I saluted them with a "Selamat tinggal" and went on my way.
Today my day was consumed with the bus ride up to Kota Bharu, which is in the northeast corner of the country next to Thailand. In fact, I saw a thai license plate coming into town. I dont 'think I will hop across the border though, as my next stop is at Taman Negara where I will hopefully be able to do a little introductory jungle trekking and if I'm REALLY lucky, might even see an elephant.
Hmm looks like Im in for another wet walk back to the hostel, as the afternoon shower has set in late this evening.
Selamat petang!
Katie
Sunday, April 16, 2006
A day in KL
My first full day in Malaysia is now drawing to a close. Yesterday didn't count that much since after my initial wandering around a little, I fell into a deep slumber from about 4 or 5pm until I woke up to brush my teeth at 9 and then slept right through until this morning. I hadn't slept much on the plane since I got a bit hooked on playing Dr. Mario and besides they kept feeding us. So anyhow, today I was alert and ready to go.
My first adventure was trying to find the bus stop, as described in the lonely planet, to get me to my first destination. The first stage was easy enough, as I knew where to find the monorail and travelling on that to my chosen point of alightment was simple enough. As soon as I walked out of the station at KL Sentral, however, is when things got a little more complicated. Though I had gotten rather disoriented around noon the day before seeing as the sun near the equator here is of little use in guiding you that time of day, the morning sun clearly indicated east. And I knew I wanted to go northeast. So that didn't seem like it would be a problem. But that is before I accounted for the non-pedestrian-friendliness of most of KL's 8-lane streets outside of the touristy areas. And the uneasiness of walking around alone in a foreign country, particularly in the early morning when few people are about.
Nevertheless, after a few false starts, I managed to find my way to the Chinatown street that would lead to "Medan Pasar", which is where LP promised I would find an appropriate bus. At this point I realized I was Still following the monorail line and in fact should have gotten off two stops earlier than I did. This is one of the problems with using a 2-year-old guidebook (the latest edition) - when it was printed, I don't think the monorail had been completed which I assume explains why the stations were mainly not shown on the maps.
I wandered through a chinatown street market that was just starting up for the day - it was in many respects similar to Vancouver's or just about any other city's Chinatown, but the live chickens walking around on crates, the guy with an ashy cigarette hanging out of his mouth as he filleted a fish, the beggar with the lower half of his leg missing and the stub on display, and the cars brushing past pedestrians on the narrow street did help to reinforce that this is a different country.
[Just lost connectivity and a large chunk of this post I had already written and could not recover, so I may skim over the next bits instead of retelling them in great detail. Then again, that's probably a good thing since I was rather longwinded.]
Now, where was I. Ah, Chinatown. Ya. Wandered around that a bit then an Indian man tried to force me to buy a pearl from him for first 50, then 40, then merely 10 ringgit (~$17 - ~$3.50 Canadian) in exchange for some minimal directions. He claimed to have 'studied stones' and believed, based on my birthdate, that the pearl is my lucky stone. Then some more confusion with attempting to find the bus named in the lonely planet (both major bus companies have changed names since the guidebook was printed, apparently). But finally I found my way to my destination of Batu Caves.
The caves are the site of a series of Hindu temples and shrines, which are scattered around and within the main very large cavern with the biggest stalactites I have ever seen. Out front is an enormous golden-yellow statue whose head probably reaches near to the level of the 272nd (highest) numbered step which leads up into the cave. Everywhere there are carved and painted figures of all sorts of interesting creatures. The shrines were alright and the cave was pretty impressive, but for me then main attraction was the monkeys. Already I have achieved my goal of seeing monkeys! I think they were long-tailed macaques, but I'm not sure. They were quite little, but it was amazing to me how human they seemed in their actions and expressions. One of the little baby ones was whistling. Like, sitting on a stone and pursing its lips together and whistling, seemingly because it had nothing better to do. Just like a person! I think it was the eyes, being positioned on the front of the head and all that made them look the most human. And, like many of us, they seemed to avoid looking at me directly in the eye, although I could get quite close to them. That is, all except the relatively large and old-looking male who came up and grimaced menacingly at me when I was trying to take a picture. I spent most of my time in the cave watching the monkeys.
Oh dear, I'm just about out of time here and I haven't even talked about taking a taxi out to the Orang Asli Museum, more fun with busses trying to get to the Lake Gardens, the huge thunderstorm, lunch, the National Museum, the spiciest but very yummy thai meal (larb moo) that I had for dinner, and everything else that I have done today. But so be it, I should be off. Tomorrow I am looking forward to leaving the city...
ok, bye!
My first adventure was trying to find the bus stop, as described in the lonely planet, to get me to my first destination. The first stage was easy enough, as I knew where to find the monorail and travelling on that to my chosen point of alightment was simple enough. As soon as I walked out of the station at KL Sentral, however, is when things got a little more complicated. Though I had gotten rather disoriented around noon the day before seeing as the sun near the equator here is of little use in guiding you that time of day, the morning sun clearly indicated east. And I knew I wanted to go northeast. So that didn't seem like it would be a problem. But that is before I accounted for the non-pedestrian-friendliness of most of KL's 8-lane streets outside of the touristy areas. And the uneasiness of walking around alone in a foreign country, particularly in the early morning when few people are about.
Nevertheless, after a few false starts, I managed to find my way to the Chinatown street that would lead to "Medan Pasar", which is where LP promised I would find an appropriate bus. At this point I realized I was Still following the monorail line and in fact should have gotten off two stops earlier than I did. This is one of the problems with using a 2-year-old guidebook (the latest edition) - when it was printed, I don't think the monorail had been completed which I assume explains why the stations were mainly not shown on the maps.
I wandered through a chinatown street market that was just starting up for the day - it was in many respects similar to Vancouver's or just about any other city's Chinatown, but the live chickens walking around on crates, the guy with an ashy cigarette hanging out of his mouth as he filleted a fish, the beggar with the lower half of his leg missing and the stub on display, and the cars brushing past pedestrians on the narrow street did help to reinforce that this is a different country.
[Just lost connectivity and a large chunk of this post I had already written and could not recover, so I may skim over the next bits instead of retelling them in great detail. Then again, that's probably a good thing since I was rather longwinded.]
Now, where was I. Ah, Chinatown. Ya. Wandered around that a bit then an Indian man tried to force me to buy a pearl from him for first 50, then 40, then merely 10 ringgit (~$17 - ~$3.50 Canadian) in exchange for some minimal directions. He claimed to have 'studied stones' and believed, based on my birthdate, that the pearl is my lucky stone. Then some more confusion with attempting to find the bus named in the lonely planet (both major bus companies have changed names since the guidebook was printed, apparently). But finally I found my way to my destination of Batu Caves.
The caves are the site of a series of Hindu temples and shrines, which are scattered around and within the main very large cavern with the biggest stalactites I have ever seen. Out front is an enormous golden-yellow statue whose head probably reaches near to the level of the 272nd (highest) numbered step which leads up into the cave. Everywhere there are carved and painted figures of all sorts of interesting creatures. The shrines were alright and the cave was pretty impressive, but for me then main attraction was the monkeys. Already I have achieved my goal of seeing monkeys! I think they were long-tailed macaques, but I'm not sure. They were quite little, but it was amazing to me how human they seemed in their actions and expressions. One of the little baby ones was whistling. Like, sitting on a stone and pursing its lips together and whistling, seemingly because it had nothing better to do. Just like a person! I think it was the eyes, being positioned on the front of the head and all that made them look the most human. And, like many of us, they seemed to avoid looking at me directly in the eye, although I could get quite close to them. That is, all except the relatively large and old-looking male who came up and grimaced menacingly at me when I was trying to take a picture. I spent most of my time in the cave watching the monkeys.
Oh dear, I'm just about out of time here and I haven't even talked about taking a taxi out to the Orang Asli Museum, more fun with busses trying to get to the Lake Gardens, the huge thunderstorm, lunch, the National Museum, the spiciest but very yummy thai meal (larb moo) that I had for dinner, and everything else that I have done today. But so be it, I should be off. Tomorrow I am looking forward to leaving the city...
ok, bye!
Friday, April 14, 2006
In the Singapore Airport
This is my second time in the Singapore airport. Actually, I guess it is the third. But I think they must have upgraded recently (within the last 3 years), because I don't remember it having this much Stuff. There are these free internet access terminals all over the place. There is a little movie theatre (though it seems to be playing some pretty obscure movies this morning). There is a rooftop sunflower garden with "cool mist" spraying out at you. There is a pond with Koi and tropical flowers all around it. And of course, more perfume and liquor stores than one could ever possibly need. Then if you want to pay for it, there is a gym and massage parlour, etc too. I'd say it's certainly one of the better airports you could hope to be stuck in (I'm not actually here for that long this time around, however). I am excited about getting to Kuala Lumpur in a few hours' time. Amazingly enough, by sheer coincidence I will be staying at the same backpackers' that my mom stayed at when she went through KL on her way to India.. so it sounds like it was a good choice. Everywhere else I tried to phone seemed to have a disconnected or not-in-service number anyhow.
I'm still not entirely sure what I will be doing in Malaysia, though I do have a rough idea of a few places I'd like to get to. My primary goal is to see my first ever monkey. Well, I suppose I've probably seen them in zoos before, but that doesn't count. From what I have heard, I don't think this goal will be hard to achieve, so I don't expect I will be disappointed.
My breakfast on the plane this morning (Singapore Airlines) was rice vermicelli with chicken and veggies.. it also contained 2 VERY spicy bits of red chili pepper. After numbing half of my mouth on the first one, I removed the other and opted not to apply the extra chilli sauce supplied on the side. But it was pretty tasty.
Well, onwards and upwards.. or something. Perhaps I will go take a closer look at the fish pond.
I'm still not entirely sure what I will be doing in Malaysia, though I do have a rough idea of a few places I'd like to get to. My primary goal is to see my first ever monkey. Well, I suppose I've probably seen them in zoos before, but that doesn't count. From what I have heard, I don't think this goal will be hard to achieve, so I don't expect I will be disappointed.
My breakfast on the plane this morning (Singapore Airlines) was rice vermicelli with chicken and veggies.. it also contained 2 VERY spicy bits of red chili pepper. After numbing half of my mouth on the first one, I removed the other and opted not to apply the extra chilli sauce supplied on the side. But it was pretty tasty.
Well, onwards and upwards.. or something. Perhaps I will go take a closer look at the fish pond.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
I'm back!
Hi all,
Sorry about the lack of blogging lately. I'm sure you have all given up on me by now. But that's what staying in one spot tends to do...
Which is why the reason you are hearing from me now is that I am no longer in Perth. Not for the last couple of weeks in fact. I am currently on the other side of the country in Brisbane, where for the last two weeks I have been travelling around with Scott in our little white rental car. This morning, I dropped him off at the airport and the car at Thrifty's, and now I am off to other adventures, but I will get to those soon enough.
First, some highlights from my adventures with Scott:
1. FRASER ISLAND
This was our first stop. A four-day hike on the Fraser Island Great! Walk, past warm sandy lakes and through jungle-like forest. Highlights included the following:
- seeing a huge python from the 4WD Taxi the night we arrived
- eating the most delicious pineapple ever then surreptitiously disposing of the remains rather than carry them with us for 4 days
- swimming in the shallow lakes
- seeing many many large goannas
- nearly walking into the BIGGEST SPIDER WEB EVER with a HUGE GREEN AND RED SPIDER IN THE MIDDLE OF IT and meanwhile being ATTACKED BY BLOODSUCKING LEECHES from below
- dingoes (AKA dogs)
- walking through Tarzan-style jungles
- encountering some amazing trees and plants
- surviving the walk despite my acheing knee with the help of a little Ibuprofen (which I must admit, actually seemed to help)
- swimming in the aquamarine waters of Lake Mackenzie, despite all the tourists
2. GREAT KEPPEL ISLAND
Stop 2, which we nearly missed our first day on due to a little too much meandering en route, but with some hasty packing, we managed to catch the last boat. We stayed at the YHA ("The Quiet Alternative"), which I would highly recommend. Our days consisted of walking to one of various deserted beaches with our snorkel gear and hopping into the water. Some underwater highlights included:
- a SEA SNAKE
- a little green turtle
- a little fish that befriended first Scott then me and swam along with us nibbling bits of who-knows-what off our skin
- lots of fishies
- lots of bleached-looking fluorescent yellow coral
(it was overall much like snorkelling at Ningaloo, but with some subtle differences)
3. SCOTT LEARNS TO DRIVE STANDARD
I'm not sure exactly where this fits in, since there was a little bit of it here and there. But it was er.. interesting :). No really, he did pretty well, particularly given that they drive on the other side of the road here.
4. BLACKDOWN TABLELAND NATIONAL PARK
We drove in in the rain, and had to cross a few little creeks and puddles. It rained a little more. We were a little afraid of making it out in our little car. But in the end all was good. There were some pretty lookouts that reminded me of hiking in the Blue Mountains.
5. CARNARVON GORGE NATIONAL PARK
A pretty park and the closest to the outback we got (which wasn't very close at all). There was one main track running down the gorge to the campsite 10km in, with lots of little mini side trails to various points of interest. One little gully had some enormous King Ferns which were like normal ferns, only huge. I don't know what else to say about it. Defintely worth the visit.
6. NOOSA
We decided to go to the town of Noosa for the night for the beach and to catch a movie. Well, it was cloudy when we got to the beach, and there was nothing worth watching at the movie theatre (the most likely choice would have been Ice Age 2, but we gave it a miss).
7. GOLD COAST
For a sunny beach experience, we decided to stop by the Gold Coast. The size of the highrises was stupefying. But swimming in the waves was fun. Except when one pounded you into the beach and your ears were filled with sand.
8. LAMINGTON NATIONAL PARK
This is where we stayed for our last two nights. Up in the mountains, it didn't feel like Australia anymore, especially at night when my fleece was greatly appreciated. Scott and I did a long dayhike, though his day was longer than mine since I turned back early after lunch and took an alternate route back through a pretty valley. The highlight of the day definitely came at our morning granola bar break at the first lookout. It was a nice sunny little rocky outcrop and we had just gotten ourselves comfortable, removing our boots to air our feet, when Scott heard something in the bushes just behind him. We looked over to see a large (think diameter of a baby's forearm or so) snake slowly sliding away from where it had been coiled jsut next to Scott's seat. It retreated to the shadows in the nearby bushes where we tried to take a few pictures of it, though it was difficult to get a good one with the bushes in the way. Then Scott ahd the brilliant idea to attach a camera to the end of a trekking pole and use the timer to get a closeup. Apparently he didn't think I'd take him seriously since he hastily began to lace up his boots when I started attaching my camera to my pole. It took a few attempts since it was hard to get the angle right and actually get more than a little bit of the snake's coils in the picture. After about four or five, when Scott was giving it a try, the snake struck at the camera. After making a hasty retreat, I examined the camera to see a drop of venom next to the lens. Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture of the strike. Other than that, we've seen very few snakes compared to what I saw on the Bibbulmun and in Tasmania. Oh the other good thing about lamington was all the cute little pademelons hopping about the campsite.
And that's it. Scott is off to Canada early tomorrow morning. It was a short trip, but a lot of fun.
Meanwhile, I have nearly three weeks to kill before my flight back to Perth... I am looking for a cheap ticket to Malaysia...
Katie kat
Sorry about the lack of blogging lately. I'm sure you have all given up on me by now. But that's what staying in one spot tends to do...
Which is why the reason you are hearing from me now is that I am no longer in Perth. Not for the last couple of weeks in fact. I am currently on the other side of the country in Brisbane, where for the last two weeks I have been travelling around with Scott in our little white rental car. This morning, I dropped him off at the airport and the car at Thrifty's, and now I am off to other adventures, but I will get to those soon enough.
First, some highlights from my adventures with Scott:
1. FRASER ISLAND
This was our first stop. A four-day hike on the Fraser Island Great! Walk, past warm sandy lakes and through jungle-like forest. Highlights included the following:
- seeing a huge python from the 4WD Taxi the night we arrived
- eating the most delicious pineapple ever then surreptitiously disposing of the remains rather than carry them with us for 4 days
- swimming in the shallow lakes
- seeing many many large goannas
- nearly walking into the BIGGEST SPIDER WEB EVER with a HUGE GREEN AND RED SPIDER IN THE MIDDLE OF IT and meanwhile being ATTACKED BY BLOODSUCKING LEECHES from below
- dingoes (AKA dogs)
- walking through Tarzan-style jungles
- encountering some amazing trees and plants
- surviving the walk despite my acheing knee with the help of a little Ibuprofen (which I must admit, actually seemed to help)
- swimming in the aquamarine waters of Lake Mackenzie, despite all the tourists
2. GREAT KEPPEL ISLAND
Stop 2, which we nearly missed our first day on due to a little too much meandering en route, but with some hasty packing, we managed to catch the last boat. We stayed at the YHA ("The Quiet Alternative"), which I would highly recommend. Our days consisted of walking to one of various deserted beaches with our snorkel gear and hopping into the water. Some underwater highlights included:
- a SEA SNAKE
- a little green turtle
- a little fish that befriended first Scott then me and swam along with us nibbling bits of who-knows-what off our skin
- lots of fishies
- lots of bleached-looking fluorescent yellow coral
(it was overall much like snorkelling at Ningaloo, but with some subtle differences)
3. SCOTT LEARNS TO DRIVE STANDARD
I'm not sure exactly where this fits in, since there was a little bit of it here and there. But it was er.. interesting :). No really, he did pretty well, particularly given that they drive on the other side of the road here.
4. BLACKDOWN TABLELAND NATIONAL PARK
We drove in in the rain, and had to cross a few little creeks and puddles. It rained a little more. We were a little afraid of making it out in our little car. But in the end all was good. There were some pretty lookouts that reminded me of hiking in the Blue Mountains.
5. CARNARVON GORGE NATIONAL PARK
A pretty park and the closest to the outback we got (which wasn't very close at all). There was one main track running down the gorge to the campsite 10km in, with lots of little mini side trails to various points of interest. One little gully had some enormous King Ferns which were like normal ferns, only huge. I don't know what else to say about it. Defintely worth the visit.
6. NOOSA
We decided to go to the town of Noosa for the night for the beach and to catch a movie. Well, it was cloudy when we got to the beach, and there was nothing worth watching at the movie theatre (the most likely choice would have been Ice Age 2, but we gave it a miss).
7. GOLD COAST
For a sunny beach experience, we decided to stop by the Gold Coast. The size of the highrises was stupefying. But swimming in the waves was fun. Except when one pounded you into the beach and your ears were filled with sand.
8. LAMINGTON NATIONAL PARK
This is where we stayed for our last two nights. Up in the mountains, it didn't feel like Australia anymore, especially at night when my fleece was greatly appreciated. Scott and I did a long dayhike, though his day was longer than mine since I turned back early after lunch and took an alternate route back through a pretty valley. The highlight of the day definitely came at our morning granola bar break at the first lookout. It was a nice sunny little rocky outcrop and we had just gotten ourselves comfortable, removing our boots to air our feet, when Scott heard something in the bushes just behind him. We looked over to see a large (think diameter of a baby's forearm or so) snake slowly sliding away from where it had been coiled jsut next to Scott's seat. It retreated to the shadows in the nearby bushes where we tried to take a few pictures of it, though it was difficult to get a good one with the bushes in the way. Then Scott ahd the brilliant idea to attach a camera to the end of a trekking pole and use the timer to get a closeup. Apparently he didn't think I'd take him seriously since he hastily began to lace up his boots when I started attaching my camera to my pole. It took a few attempts since it was hard to get the angle right and actually get more than a little bit of the snake's coils in the picture. After about four or five, when Scott was giving it a try, the snake struck at the camera. After making a hasty retreat, I examined the camera to see a drop of venom next to the lens. Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture of the strike. Other than that, we've seen very few snakes compared to what I saw on the Bibbulmun and in Tasmania. Oh the other good thing about lamington was all the cute little pademelons hopping about the campsite.
And that's it. Scott is off to Canada early tomorrow morning. It was a short trip, but a lot of fun.
Meanwhile, I have nearly three weeks to kill before my flight back to Perth... I am looking for a cheap ticket to Malaysia...
Katie kat
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