Slummin' in paradise

Last we chatted, we were in Kota Bharu. It's the very conservative, predominately Muslim, northeastern corner of Malaysia, a place with no malls, movie theaters, alcohol, or bowling. It is home to traditional Malay culture though, since the people were basically cut off from the rest of the country until fairly recently, when they built a road on the east coast. We went to the Kelantan State museum while we were there and saw an exhibit on the elaborate kites of the region. We also took in a performance that included a mock Silat fight (Silat is a Malay form of martial arts), which was one of the top ten oddest things we have witnessed. I won't try to describe it, you'll have to watch the movie when we get it uploaded. The musical accompaniment was by oboe (normally one of my favorite instruments, but in this scenario, think snake charmer, not symphony orchestra) and various drums and gongs. The oboe player was truly amazing - he could somehow play continuously without a single break in the sound- we have no idea how he did it. Before the Silat performance, another group of men played kertoks, which are drums made out of coconut husks with a wooden board attached to the top. You bang the board with a dowel wrapped in rubber bands (I got to try it, and yes, once again impressed Colin with my total lack of rhythm), and it make a lot of noise. I had fun!
The next day we took a speedboat the 16 miles to Pulau Kecil (Little Perhentian Island). You all would have hated it! The island is really rustic- electricity by generator (our bungalows only had power from 6:30pm until 8:00am), no phones, no vehicles other than boats. There is almost no development on the island- just three sandy beaches, a few bungalows and dive shops on each, and one dirt path across the middle through dense jungle to connect them. Our bungalow was right next to the water (we would open the sliding door and watch the boats from the bed in the mornings). The water was so clear! We went snorkeling by swimming right out into the bay- we didn't even have to take a boat trip to get to live reef. The sea creatures were amazing: we saw giant clams (the clams themselves are really colorful, the shells have coral grown around them), huge parrot fish, gobies, sea cucumbers, and... NEMO (okay, his distant relations. They were clown fish and lived in anemone houses nonetheless.)! We also saw all sorts of colorful coral formations, a HUGE puffer fish, and other technicolor fish we couldn't identify.
As for other island fauna, our constant companions in the open cinderblock bathroom vent were a pair of tokay geckos (blue with orange spots), which we believe, accounted for the lack of mosquitoes in our bungalow. There are also monitor lizards of small to very large (5ft?) size strolling freely everywhere. The greatest excitement for everyone was when some of the local men caught a reticulated python that was probably 6ft long in a palm tree in front of our veranda. The men were talking animatedly about its barbecue potential (it was hard to tell whether or not they were joking; we had vegetarian dishes that evening for dinner).
After an epic boat to bus to bus to bus to hotel in Kuantan to bus to Kuala Lumpur journey, we're settling here in KL through the weekend for the F1 race (hopefully we won't get too waterlogged- rain is in the forecast, but it's a nice, warm deluge!)and to plot our next move.

Don't get your panties in a twist.

When I said we are flying back on April 6th, what I meant to say was May 13th. Actually, we've decided that this is still fun, and since we don't have to be anywhere anytime soon, we will continue our travels to either Sumatra or Borneo (haven't decided which, but either way, I see orangutans potential in our future). We're in Kota Bharu right now, heading for the Perhentians (finally) tomorrow.

The lack of new photos on smugmug is because we have yet to find an internet cafe that is set up for uploading photos. We will add them when we can. As someone once said, "patience is a virgin."

And remember: it's good to be flexible.

Coasting toward the finish line

Let's just say it's good to be flexible with one's traveling agenda. Instead of going to the Perhentians, we detoured to Kuala Lumpur (heretofore known as KL) for the purpose of obtaining Formula 1 tickets for the race at Sepang the first weekend in April. That will be our last hurrah since we have actually committed (with mixed emotions) to a return date of April 6 from Singapore to Portland. sigh...

While in KL, we stayed in Chinatown on the main drag, Petaling Street, which is the place to get genueeeen (the shopkeepers say they're real, so mustn't they be?) Fendl or Louis Vittoon bags, Billadong t-shirts, and real Rolex watches for a very low price. It's chaotic and noisy: we were serenaded each night by our mega nightlight of a video screen with psycho soundtrack promoting Malaysia tourism (it served its purpose- it made us want to go anywhere else just to escape the noise). But it was fun. KL is an interesting mix of Moorish, colonial, and very sleek, modern architecture and has a multi-ethnic culture like much of the country. We spent one day in the National Museum learning about Malay culture and history and were both quite inspired by the spirit of cultural harmony that pervades the nation's independence. Unlike so many places that had long, bloody battles, here the three main ethnic groups (Malay, Chinese, and Indian) sat down together with the British and ... talked. How novel! We were there on what must have been an elementary school field trip day (permission slips must have read: "Dear parents, we will go to the National Museum for the day. The main activities will be running, squealing, and whistle blowing. Please ensure your child wears appropriate running shoes and brings his/her favorite noise maker.") . All I can say is, it must be much easier for Muslim girls to get away with things at school, because in their matching uniforms and head scarves, they all looked very similar.

We also went to the Petronas Towers (the tallest twin towers in the world and one of the tallest buildings overall) and took the elevator to the 41st floor skybridge for a panoramic view of the city. The elevator was actually the most amazing part of that trip- it took 41 ear-popping (literally) seconds to climb 41 floors. And in and amongst all of our really delicious regional meals, we had dinner at a Papa John's (here they provide sit-down service with white tablecloths and china, but the garlic sauce still tastes like home!) with dessert in leather club chairs at the Krispy Kreme next door! We really haven't eaten much western fast food on this trip, but every now and then, pizza and donuts is a nice, comforting addition to the culinary mix.

After KL, we took the bus to Melaka (or Malacca, both are correct) and have been here for 5 days. We've visited virtually every museum devoted to every darned thing here (we're officially getting museum-ed out). The old parts of the city have been beautifully restored- it's a colonial mishmash of Portuguese, Dutch, and British with Chinese, Indian, and Indonesian styles rolled into one city. We've seen the ruins of the Portuguese fort and Catholic church with its 400-year old head stones, the Dutch stadthuys (governor's home and town hall), the oldest Chinese temple in Malaysia, the People's Museum (exhibits on traditional kite making and top-spinning as well as one on beauty practices like foot binding and lip plating), the Naval and Maritime Museums. Wow, that was a lot of sightseeing. We've also eaten a whole lot of great food (my pants still fit, though). Tomorrow we begin the journey to the northeastern part of the country to hit the Perhentian Islands for real this time. See you soon!

Chicken claws: they're not just for breakfast anymore!

Well, Phuket (we now pronounce it, eeewwww) was not our cup of chowder. Two days was all it took to determine it is Thailand's answer to South Beach, Myrtle Beach, and Cancun wrapped up into one convenient, over-priced, crowded package. We did see plenty of large, leathery, old European tourists in speedos and other inappropriate attire, as well as at least four McDonald's in a twenty minute walk along the beach road. And... our pal Bernie from George Town was right where he said he'd be! We did have a nice afternoon chat with him while standing shoulder-deep in the Andaman Sea, so it wasn't all bad, but we did move the next morning. Since we enjoyed our extended stay in George Town, we decided to head toward Malaysia via Hat Yai (I've mentioned it before) for a couple of days.
There's really not much to do in Hat Yai besides plan an exit strategy to somewhere else, so we took the local bus to Songkhla, a nice, little city on the coast with some interesting sculptures, for the afternoon. After walking the shore picking up some really neat shells and taking photos of the sculptures, we decided to join the hordes of school children and locals in their quest for lunch from the food vendors lining the sidewalk. Lots of people were ordering what looked like salad with some kind of sea life (abalone maybe?) from one lady, so we went to investigate. I asked what it was, and she replied, "chicken foot," NOT what we wanted. The next tray had actual pieces of chicken meat, so I (thought I) ordered two salads with chicken, and we sat down on the grass to wait for lunch. When she handed me the first tray, it was... the chicken foot salad. Thinking it must have been my fault for ordering the wrong item, I accepted the tray with thanks (you'd be proud, Mom) and pointed at the chicken meat before she made the second one. Colin and I sat there looking at this tray of food in front of us, wondering what we're going to do with it. I have no earthly idea how exactly one prepares chicken feet to acquire such a ghastly appearance, but imagine floppy, irregularly shaped pieces of a pure, white substance with the texture of scaly chicken foot skin that looks like it's been soaking in a tub of lye for hours. Now imagine trying to put that between your lips. Our mantra is, if millions of people eat it, it can't be that bad...WE STAND CORRECTED. So Colin (not me) tried it. He managed to get it in his mouth, bit down and found something hard, either a claw or a piece of bone that somehow remained un-gelatinated by the cooking process. A horrible gagging sound emanated from Colin's mouth at the same time our lady turned to give us the second tray of food. I really thought he was going to spew, but he managed to keep the contents of his mouth between his lips until the nice lady turned back around and then he spat it into a tissue. I was impressed by his efforts but determined that no way, no how was I going to make the same mistake. The surrounding salad itself was quite tasty. After this and a nice walk back into town, we hopped the bus back to Hat Yai. That night, we went to the local market for dinner to have one of our favorite local meals, khao mok kai, which is a Muslim-Thai chicken and turmeric rice dish. It always comes with a bowl of clear soup with some vegetables in it. Well, when Colin put his spoon to the soup bowl, he asked, "is that what I think it is and if so, please remove it before I see it in its entirety." It was what he thought is was, another chicken foot, lurking at the bottom of the bowl under a piece of winter melon. If anyone had ever told me that there would be a day in our lives in which we'd have chicken feet in two meals in one day, I'd have said, "get outta here," (or something much less polite). Anyway, Colin survived, and I'm just glad to be old enough to ignore the two bite rule we had in our house growing up.
The next day, we took a minibus back to Georgetown. I am going to be really disgusted when we get back to the states and see gigantic SUVs with one person inside after this trip. Our minibus was a 4-row minivan with 10 adults and 3 kids plus luggage inside. The kids were well-behaved throughout, but unfortunately, the little boy sitting in his mother's lap next to me shot back two boxes of milk at the beginning of the journey and then happily bounced around for awhile. I knew the state of events was getting ready to change for the worse when he got very quiet and laid his head against the seat back in front of him. When he started gagging, I moved my bag to my lap (off the floor), and his mom gave him a towel to throw up in. Colin had an empty plastic grocery bag and handed that over to the boy, who promptly hooked one handle over each ear like a horse's feedbag (now why didn't I think to do that in my younger days when I was Barfarella?). We thought it was ingenious until he started holding it up to his mouth and breathing into it. He was on the right side of natural selection that day and survived the remainder of the drive.
Anyway, we made it back home to George Town (they even gave us our old room back!!!!) and will be here until Monday. Then we go to the east coast to Kota Bharu and the Perhentian Islands for awhile. There are more photos on smugmug, including some from the end of the Chinese New Year celebration in George Town. We thought it was the year of the tiger, not the year of Tigger (see photo)!

Won't you take me to, Phuket Town?

Sorry once again for being out of touch for better than a week, but we were busy lounging on Hat Sai Ree beach on Ko Tao (yes, that is Colin's knee in the photo, and that was our view). It's a scuba diving mecca (unfortunately, neither of us dives and were both waaayyy too busy reading under our favorite tree on the beach to bother getting certified) in the Gulf of Thailand. The water is a clear teal color- so clear that we could see the tan lines on our feet when standing in five feet of water. Our bungalow was about 75 feet from the water's edge with a nice "veranda," upon which we sat and watched the birds and the boats while eating our breakfast from the 7-11 (they are ubiquitous in Thailand and have cheap cereal and yogurt, which is of great value when staying in a bungalow on the beach- you HAVE to be able prioritize, you know..). When we felt the need, we took walks around the island, to the southern end and the east coast (which was UP and over the mountainous middle of the island- boy, am I out of shape...). In our original itinerary, our time in the islands was supposed to be spent figuring out what to do next, and we actually did some thinking (until our brains overheated and it got too difficult, then we got back in the water to cool our heads). It is really hard to make decisions about our futures when we have virtually no obligations! We may now have a plan for the next year or two (stay tuned for further developments, since our plans change more than the weather) that involves being out of the US when "Pol Pot" Palin is nominated as the presidential candidate representing the Teabaggers. (How can you NOT see the similarities when she and her ilk seem to think all educated city-dwellers are elitist and evil?!?!?!).
Yesterday we took the bus to Phuket (get your minds out of the gutter, it's pronounced poo-get) to see what islands on the west coast in the Andaman Sea look like. It's a big, affluent island province with lots of rubber and palm plantations and big, fancy resorts (we are not staying in one of those, though). We will be renting a motorbike for a couple of days to explore the island's beaches and do some snorkelling. Hopefully we'll also be able to locate our friend Bernie from George Town while we're here; he emailed me with the location of the beach near the police station where he likes to sit between specific hours of the afternoon (he's a character). We may still be here when our bowling partner Alan and his wife, Maggie arrive as well. Who knows, it may just turn into a big, happy reunion!

Bangkok, round two

Well, we've been in Bangkok for five days now, and I will say I didn't give it a fair chance on the first visit. The bus ride here was quite comfortable (on a VIP bus with blasting cold aircon, cushy, reclining seats, and lunch! of course, everything is better with food included), and arriving with at least somewhat of an idea where we were going helped as well. There are many spectacular sights in the city, and we've tried to take in a bunch of them. One day, we went to see Wat Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace grounds. Wat Phra Kaew is the home of the Emerald Buddha, probably the most sacred Buddha image in Thailand. It's not very big (about 26 inches high) but it's carved from a single piece of jade (not actually emerald). It's placed high up on an altar in the temple, and many people make pilgrimages here to see it. The building itself is really impressive in its over-the-top-ness; there's an abundance of mirrored mosaic tiles in primary colors and LOTS of gold. All of the doors and shutters are wood inlaid with intricate mother of pearl designs. We also went to Wat Pho, which is the oldest temple in Bangkok and home of the largest reclining Buddha (46 meters long!). The feet were the most amazing part, with the 108 auspicious virtues of the Buddha also inlaid in mother of pearl along with whorls on his toes (I think he may have needed corrective arches though, because the feet were as flat as could be).
Another day we walked to Dusit Park to see Vimanmek Palace, one of the homes of the former King, Rama V (the current one is Rama IX). It's a 72-room home built of golden teak with NO NAILS! It is a really beautiful building; Colin once again commented how good it is to be king. The other buildings on the grounds have exhibits on silk production, amazingly intricat bamboo and fern basketry, gold and silver traditions. There was also an exhibition of the "Masterpieces," created in honor of many different occasions in the monarchs' lives. It was all a bit more than our tastes could handle (Colin said if he was king, his first decree would be, "enough with the gold, already"). Today we went to the Jim Thompson House, which is actually six old teak houses put together, filled with antiques and artwork. Jim Thompson was the man who introduced Thai silk to the western world after WWII. They came to prominence after being featured in the movie, "The King and I," which our guide had never seen, since it's still banned in Thailand. Thompson disappeared in the Cameron Highlands of Malaysia in 1967. No one knows what happened to him, but an astrologer warned him that his 61st year would be a bad one for someone born in the year of the horse, and he was 61 when he disappeared. Our guide warned Colin against traveling to Malaysia when he is 61 (he's also a horse...I'm a monkey, whoever would have guessed that). We don't have many photos of any of these places because cameras were forbidden within all of the buildings.
Enough about the cultural stuff. Bangkok has a seamy city, and we have seen some of that in our visit as well. We wandered Khao San Road, which is the tourist "ghetto" and didn't find it to our liking, although if anyone is in need of a diploma from Oxford or the London School of Economics and would rather blow the college fund on a trip to Thailand, you can buy one on Khao San Road (along with fake dreadlocks and an assortment of ugly t-shirts). Last night we had dinner at a Japanese steakhouse in Patpong, the seedy district favored by American GIs on R&R visits during the Vietnam War and now a night market and tourist trap. The restaurant looked (and smelled) like it hasn't changed since it opened 50+ years ago, and the food was terrific (you know us, it's all about the food).
Tomorrow we will take the train back to Chumpon and will hop a ferry to the island of Ko Tao (renowned for the snorkelling and diving), or maybe we'll go to Phuket to find our new friend from George Town, Bernie. We haven't decided, so we'll let you know when we get there!

Decisions, indecision...

We've spent the past two weeks debating whether to continue traveling in Malaysia or to take the ferry to Sumatra for a few weeks. Each and every itinerary of the approximately 23 we came up with had its strong points, and after all that hemming and hawing, we decided to go to... THAILAND! Our original intent was to spend some time in peninsular Thailand in order to see some of the islands and do a little snorkeling, but because of the high frustration we experienced in Bangkok trying to get to the south, we bypassed everything we wanted to see in the southern half of the country. And on top of it, virtually everyone we've spoken with has told us that Bangkok is a really interesting city to spend a few days. Since we didn't give it a fair chance, we're going to head in that direction tomorrow and work our way back down the peninsula to Malaysia again, stopping off along the way when and where the fancy strikes us. We really enjoyed our extented time in George Town and most definitely will return to see other parts of the country (and maybe stop back in G-Town for just one more banana leaf lunch. Oh, and one more banana roti and a dim sum dinner also... okay, maybe we shouldn't go back for fear of never leaving!)

Now that we've ended our stasis, be looking for more photos and blog posts. I'll try to overcome my sluggy habits and put more frequent updates on here!