Day 52: Not even another church!

Mood: Thirsty (as ever, not a mood but how I feel)
Music: None

In a cunning shock... today started early! I was awoken by the alarm clock in the hotel room going of at 5:40am today. The only way, in my half sleeping panic, I could find of turning it off was to mash the top at random. I seemed to get there but only got it to go to sleep for another hour. When it woke me again an hour later I turned the light on and turned the damn thing off.

After breakfast we were met by the taxi drive from yesterday. I have to say that although this might not have been a good plan in hindsight we would never have seen some of the things we did without her. She was, without doubt, the slowest driver on the island amongst chaotic roads seemed to be in a world of her own most of the time while constantly suggesting other places we might like her to take us. "Very pretty, you like go XXXX" was the normal conversation "very cheap" was the price of everything in question...

Our first stop was an old mansion house museum in the centre of town, followed by the Khoo Kongsi, a family clan house/chinese temple. After that we went to the State Mosque, a Hindu temple and then the Kek Lok Si Temple, the largest Buddhist temple in East Asia. At the top it has a 36.5m tall statue of the Goddess of mercy. It is in front of this that Rolf is pictured, sat atop of the statue of the chicken, which was in a garden holding the other 11 Chinese year creatures. It also has a 7 story pagoda which is apparently one of the more famous buildings in the country. We were wanting to visit the recently renovated St George's church in the city but completely forgot to do so when we were on the same road as it. This meant we'd seen 4 major religious buildings, none of which was a church!

After that we parted company with the taxi driver at the State Museum and paid her for her time. The museum itself has a 1 ringgit entrance fee (20p) and was quite informative about the founding of the colony and the history of those who settled and live here now.

From there we walked around the rest of the city centre and stopped in "little india" for some food. On the way back to our hotel we spent a while trying to find the long distance bus station and in the end went into a travel agents and booked a minibus transfer to the Cameron Highlands which will pick us up from our hotel in the morning.

At this point I'll leave you for the night. Bye all!

Day 51: Another day "on the road"

Mood: Sleepy
Music: Air - Moon Safari

Today started fairly early when I rolled over and bashed my forehead on the bedside table... After this I decided that the day might as well start here. My only plans for the morning were to head for the balcony and pray that it was windy when I opened the curtains, so I could go sailing. As the tops of the trees were perfectly still as I opened the door and stepped outside, I realised I'd not begetting much done today. After eating breakfast, packing up and checking out we sat for a while before getting a cab back to the ferry terminal for the trip to Penang.

The boat trip took about two and a half hours but seemed to go much more quickly. I don't know whether this was due to the calm conditions or the new games I'd downloaded for my phone. Either way we got into Penang and found a female cab driver to take us to the hotel. On the way she suggested that she could do a sight seeing tour tomorrow to any of the places on the island (for about £5 per hour) and after a fair bit of deliberation we agreed to do so. I'll let you know how that goes tomorrow.

Dinner was from a Korean BBQ Chicken fast(ish) food type place. The chicken wasn't the nicest cuts of meat and although boneless, it wasn't nearly devoid of fat, gristle or large amounts of skin. I feel like having a load of chicken breast meat when I get back to the UK!

Bye for now.

Day 50: Cable car

Mood: So-so
Music: Chicane - Behind the sun

This morning was a bit of a write off due to an elongated lunch and then some time spent looking for a place to stay tomorrow night. At about midday we headed out to get a taxi to the bottom of the Langkawi cable car. This takes you up to the highest peak on the island at 700m above sea level. From here you have a set of stunning views back over the island and out to sea.

The top station of the cable car also has a bridge, joining two peaks many hundred meters in the air. It is on this that Rolf is pictured today. We spent quite a bit of time up at the top of the cable car and caught the sun somewhat between us. Mostly not me I'd like to point out!

At the village at the foot of the cable car I once again tried some of the Tom Yam. This time it wasn't quite as hot as it was in the hotel restaurant and I managed to wolf most of it down, much to the delight of the lady who cooked it. She giggled every time I coughed or spluttered a little due to the chili, it seemed to be a source of entertainment until they noticed I was well on track for finishing it all off.

When back in the hotel I had a brief 15 burst on one of their jet skis. I'm not a fan of the things but it's not like I'm going to get the opportunity to have a go in one very often. It was extremely powerful and I didn't hold it on full throttle for very long time over the whole stint. This was mostly due to the one or two foot swell that kept me bouncing up and down as I went.

After this I tried to go out in a laser for a few minutes before they closed up for the day. This was until I noticed that the wind had suddenly stopped dead. It wouldn't have been a very long sail to say the least.
Therefore I sat back and read my book for a while until I'd finished it and then got changed ready for dinner.

I have to admit to cheating a bit for this evening's meal... Spag Bol isn't exactly a local specialty, but I have been away for 50 days now and I've got to be allowed to slip every now and then. While eating I noticed a couple of geckos on the pillar behind where I was sat. They were quite cute but wouldn't hold still enough so I had to photograph them using a flash.

Anyway. Time for bed! :)

Day 49: Langkawi

Mood: Not what it ought to be
Music:  Moby - Wait for me

I recall the overnight train being much bumpier than the last one and this led to a rather bad night sleep. We were woken at 6am when the train made a scheduled stop and from here I decided to play on my ds instead of trying to fight for another few moments of sleep.

The sunrise revealed paddy fields broken with outcrops of palm trees. This was the first real countryside of Malaysia that we'd seen, other than the forest and palm plantations between KL and Melaka. It was quite surreal and rather beautiful in the early morning light. Sadly the windows of the train were too micky to take any decent photos through.

At Arau we left the train and hopped in a taxi to take is down to the ferry terminal at Kuala Perlis. From here we boarded a small passenger ferry to be taken to Langkawi. The sea was almost dead calm and in just over an hour we were on land again trying to find something for breakfast.

A 25 minute taxi ride was all that remained to take us to the Sheraton Beach Resort here on Langkawi. I had a few issues while checking in but I'll not go into that quite yet as they still might resolve the outstanding problems. While waiting to check in I did see some exotic birds and a small troupe of monkeys in the trees behind reception. Photos of them to follow.

The afternoon was split between an hour spent sailing around the coast in a Laser, being sat on a sun lounger reading my book and dipping into the pool to sit by the bar and drink cocktails. It is the latter that Rolf is pictured doing today.

In the evening we watched the sun go down while wondering along the sea front and sipping a quiet beer at the bar, followed by a meal in their spice restaurant (a fusion of Indian, Thai, Malay and Singapore style dishes). The soup I had as a starter would have killed most people with it's aggressive spiciness and even I had to give up after eating most of the solids therein. It was the kind of think that would have Phil sweating from just looking at on the menu! (apologies to those who don't get this reference).

At that point I'll leave you for the day

Day 48: Another day on the road

Mood: Sugar rush
Music: Moby - Play

Today started early as I was woken by the birds in the trees opposite starting to squawk as if their lives depended on it. Luckily I managed to get back to sleep for a bit before getting up for breakfast.

We set of in the morning for the sultan's palace in melaka. We'd almost walked past it yesterday but hadn't gone in. The building itself is built from wood and used no nails in its construction. As it is a four storey building (albeit on tiered levels), this is write an impressive feat. The building has also been moved at least once in its history. It must have been one hell of a flat pack ikea set!

Street that we got a taxi back to the bus station, a coach back to kuala lumpur and them trains back into town. Rolf is pictured looking over at the train station from the bus station.

As we got to the last leg of the train journey, a monorail, we were hit by a thunderstorm. Watching the bolts of lightning strike as the monorail twisted as tilted its way towards the city centre was quite fun.

You now find me sat in a food hall (quelle surprise) waiting for the overnight train that will take us to the north of the country.

Bye for now.

Day 47: Stuff

Mood: Quizzical
Music: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication

Today started... one of these days I'll start a blog post without that phrase... not yet though. Today started with breakfast and then a stint of reading before venturing out into the blisteringly hot day. First stop was the rotating viewing platform which raises 80m above the city. From the top you should be able to see over to Sumatra but the morning was quite hazy.

After that we went for a protracted walk around the shopping malls of the city and down to the pier that leads out over the straights towards a small offshore island. The silt had built up heavily in the area, this was the main reason that the traders had stopped coming here in years gone by, it made the waves very small and wading birds were visible in the water.

The walk back to the hotel took some time included a long stop in a Japanese restaurant for lunch. We actually also took in some historical sights of the city too. There is a large gate remaining from the Dutch defenses of the trading port and on the top of the hill, a large church. This was build by the Portuguese and used by them and the Dutch as a church but the English used it as a gunpowder store when they took over the area, blowing up the dutch built defenses as they did so.

Tomorrow will see a fair bit of traveling ending with an overnight train to the north of the country. I doubt I'll get to post until the day after.

Until then...

PS. To continue on the bizarre Pringle flavours purchased (cheesy cheese, seaweed, pizza, dill pickle) today blueberry and hazelnut can be added to that list!

Day 46: Malaka

Mood: Sleepy
Music: REM - Accelerate

The train last night didn't allow for too much sleep. There was the leaving Singapore border check to contend with first, by midnight we were back in the cabin en route with a man at the door offering us food in little polystyrene boxes. The rice was quite good but I really don't think there should be that many bones in such small pieces of chicken! After that we had to wrap up warm against the bitterly cold air conditioning. In our bunk beds that wasn't too easy as the blankets were barely big enough to cover me head to toe. I guess I am a fair bit taller than the average person in these parts.

We arrived in Kuala Lumpur at 6:30am and stopped briefly to buy train tickets for the next northbound leg of our trip in a few days time. After breakfast we tried to locate the monorail station that should have been attached to the main terminus. After a bit of trial and error we found a map which firmly placed it the other side of a large construction site which covered the direct links on the map to the station. A change onto the overground local service later and we were heading towards the bus terminal, or at least where we thought it was. Thankfully a lady getting off a couple of stops before where we thought we were headed told us that, for the last month, most of the overground coach services we running from a new terminal at the stop we were about to arrive at.

The coach ride took a couple of hours and cost about as much as the taxi which took us from the bus station to our hotel in the centre of town. Either way this part of the trip was dirt cheap. The hotel room we are in is a large room overlooking the river here and costs £30 per night.

This afternoon was spent going for a walk around the locality and visiting a few of the local museums. One of which is a full size replica of a Portuguese trading ship (where Rolf is today). The inside of the ship is a museum with various displays chronicling the history of the settlement of Melaka through the ages and the numerous people who have ruled over it during that time (Portuguese, Dutch, British, Japanese, British, Malaysian).

Looking for dinner this evening was more of a challenge but we settled on a nice place which had seating down by the river. My curry was rather nice although the chicken used was in no way breast meat. I've a feeling I'm going to have to get used to that...

Night for now.