Sunday 3rd June – Malaysia Bound
I
was up at 8.00 a.m. to get myself prepared for leaving Indonesia and starting
my new adventures in Malaysia. Omar and
Ottan where both going to Surabaya as well so we shared a taxi to the bus station. The taxi was late and when it eventually
arrived we realised why – the driver did not realise that the car actually had
more than one gear and we crawled our way to the station. Once that the station we were straight onto
the Surabaya bus and on our way and entertained on the one-and-half hour
journey by a live DVD of the classic German rock band Scorpions. At Surabaya station I said goodbye to the
Iceland guys and now regret not getting their contact details. I then jumped onto the bus to the airport and
arrived about fours before my flight – much too early to check in. At 3.30 p.m. the check in desk finally
opened.
I’m
sure, like me, most people plan a flight by making sure they have three
important items – their airline ticket, their passport, a suitcase. Not in Indonesia. They just don’t bother with the
suitcase. I went to my check-in desk and
joined the lengthy queue and looked at the people in front of me. All they had were boxes – lots and lots of
boxes. Each person had at least six boxes
each and there were eight people in front of me. Not only did they have boxes, they had boxes
that had not been secured properly so upon reaching the desk they were handed a
roll of brown tape to fix them up. Each
box had to be checked in individually.
The longer I waited, the more frustrated I got. At one point I was going to just go to the
desk and say. ‘Look, I’m normal, I just have one piece of luggage to check in. Please help me escape from this
nightmare’. But I didn’t.
After
I was checked in I made my way through to the departure lounge. The reason I was so annoyed about the lengthy
queue was that I needed to buy a few things before the flight. If only I’d known what to expect I would not
have been worrying at all. The
departures area was pathetic. No book
shop, duty free that was more expensive than normal shops, and no ATM – I had
no money! With a four hour flight ahead
of me and knowing all I had in stomach was a small breakfast eaten seven hours
earlier I managed to scap together enough for a packet of Oreos and a Kit-Kat.
Fuming
at the facilities I boarded the flight, settled myself and opened my Oreos -
peanut butter flavour. I HATE peanut
butter. I cried, begged the cabin crew
to accept my card for a sandwich, failed, and cried some more.
The
flight from Surabaya to Kuala Lumpur is a westward flight so logic to me
dictated that the time difference would mean that I had to watch back one
hour. No so. Malaysia is one hour ahead of Java. That cut my flight time from my perceived duration
of four hours to two hours so before I knew it we were starting our descent
into KL. A very pleasant surprise
especially for my stomach which was now very upset with me.
Outside
the airport I took the Aerobus straight to Sentral Station (8 RM, one hour) and
then a taxi for 10 RM to my hostel, Reggae Mansions. I was so glad to reach there. It was 11.30 p.m. and I was greeted with the
fantastic news that the kitchen in the bar was closed. I had to satisfy myself with a few beers and
complimentary crisps in the rooftop bar before heading to bed at 1.30 p.m.
The
hostel looks amazing. It seems to have
everything a hostel should have. I’ll
probably be here for a few days so it’s perfect.
Monday 4th June – Strange Tales
I
got a really good sleep last night in a six-bed dorm but today was told I have
to move to a 16-bed dorm. The thought of
it sounded awful, but I have to say I have never been in such private dorm
rooms. It’s hard to explain the setup –
the room had eight lower and upper beds, but not bunk beds. They were built into the wall and each had a
curtain at the end so there was a lot of privacy. The best dorms I have slept in.
While
I was having breakfast I got speaking to a few people who had been in Reggae
Mansions for a few days and were telling stories of a few incidents that
happened. This place is amazing but it
does seem that there is a sinister side to it.
If I get more details on these stories I’ll definitely put them in the
blog but I want to wait to see if I can get it confirmed.
After
breakfast I walked around Chinatown, bought a copy of Lonely Planet Malaysia,
returned to the hostel and spent a few hours investigating Borneo. Borneo is the main reason I have come to
Malaysia. A haven for wildlife and
natural wonders. I just need to work out my best route. Climbing Mount Kinabalu will be my first
adventure before heading off to see Orangutans and then to Mulu to visit the
largest caves in the world while watching two million bats fly out at
dusk. Yep, Borneo is the reason I have come
to Malaysia.
The
most famous landmark in Kuala Lumpur is the Petronas Towers – once the tallest
building in the world. I grabbed a map
and asked the guys working behind the reception how long it would take to walk. The reply: ‘It’s really far away. It’ll take about 30 minutes to walk. Get a train’.
It really has come to my attention how little people in cities
walk. Just because you can get a train
doesn’t mean you have to. You have legs
– use them.
So
it was that I set off on foot with map in hand.
Within 10 minutes I was lost. I
could see the towers looming in the distance but they seemed to be getting
further away with every step I took. I
quite enjoy getting unintentionally lost in cities. It just means you discover areas by accident
and have a more fun time getting there. It
wasn’t too long before I was on the right track again and heading towards the
towers. They were huge and magnificent
to look at. Even with getting lost it
only took me 40 minutes to walk from the hostel, located in Chinatown, to the
base of the towers. Unfortunately at
this time the World Gas Conference (or something like that) was on so there
were lots of marquees surrounding the towers spoiling the view. Once I walked around I made my way back to the
hostel (using the route I had planned to take on the way) and passed the KL
Tower and a building which had a camel engraved on its windows.
I
passed the rest of the evening reading more about the activities I can do in
Malaysia, had dinner in the hostel café and a few drinks in the rooftop
bar. Last night I didn’t even notice
that from the rooftop I could see the Petronas Towers and the KL Tower
illuminated in the distance – an impressive view. I headed to bed at midnight. Tomorrow I will book my flight to Borneo.
Tuesday 5th June – Exciting News
As
soon as I woke up today I grabbed my laptop to get online and book my Borneo
flight. Not to be – the internet in the
hostel was not working. It would have to
wait so I headed down for breakfast. While
having a coffee I got a text from Simone saying, ‘Check your email!’. With the internet now working I did. Brilliant news. Simone has decided that instead of staying in
Australia she would much rather come and see the wonders of Borneo. It’ll be 10 days before she can get to
Malaysia. The internet not working this
morning must have been fate. With no
flight booked to Borneo I can make plans with Simone.
The
rest of the day I spent rejigging my plans for travelling around Malaysia. Instead of heading to Borneo first I will
either go to the Cameron Highlands or Melaka or both and then come back to KL.
Simone
and I sorted out our plans. She will
arrive in KL on the 15th June and we will fly to Kota Kinabalu in
Sabah on Borneo on the 16th June.
In
the evening I again went to the rooftop bar.
After a few drinks I left to go to bed and on the way heard a scuffle
back in the bar. Maybe all these stories
I am hearing about Reggae Mansions are true.
Wednesday 6th June – Party Games
With
all the plans sorted for Borneo with Simone I now have a few extra days to
spend time in KL. Today after breakfast
I took a walk to the Lake Gardens to visit the Avery and The Planetarium.
From
the hostel in Chinatown it took only 30 minutes to reach the gardens. This is a very relaxing area and away from
the hussle and bussle of the city even though you can see the skyscrapers in
the distance towering over the tree tops.
I first came to the Avery – the largest in world if I remember
correctly. It was much too expensive – 50
RM. I can see birds for free above my
head! Next it was off to the
Planetarium.
What
a strange Planetarium. In the grounds
around the main building I came across a model of Stonehenge – smaller than the
real one but only slightly bigger than the Spinal Tap one. Further along I came to a massive
sundial. It was very detailed and lot of
information could be gleaned from the dial about the time day and year. Well I assume that would be the case if they
hadn’t built the gnomon in such a way that the shadow it cast was in the
opposite direction to the sundial rendering the whole piece utterly
useless. Baffled by this amazing blunder
I made my way into the main Planetarium.
This
morning was the rare celestial event of the Transit of Venus. As I walked in a huge sign informed me that
they had shown this live when it was happening.
I was very angry with myself for not checking beforehand as I would have
loved to have come up to see it. Inside
all the main displays were aimed at children so of course I had lots of
fun. I didn’t learn too much but
anything to do with astrophysics always satisfies me. I was impressed with all the information
available as it was laid out in a very easy to understand fashion and if it
helps get even one of the young visitors interested enough to pursue a career
in this area then I’m happy.
I
spent the next few hours wandering around the gardens watched a large family of monkeys fighting over a tarpaulin sign and seeing a few historical
monuments before returning to the hostel.
In
the evening I had drinks with a few people staying in the same dorm as me. It was at this point I found out more details
of what had been happening in Reggae Mansions over the previous few days. Allegedly on the night I arrived, a barman
working at the hostel and staying in the 24-bed dorm attempted to crawl into
the bed of a female guest while she was asleep and while he was only wearing a
towel. She obviously woke up and raised
the alarm. She then got a guy she was
friendly with to come and help her and they reported it to the reception and
security. Allegedly there is video
footage of this showing it all happening but still the hostel would not call
the police. Then last night the scuffle
I heard on the rooftop bar when I was leaving was allegedly the same barman
attacking the guy who helped the girl.
This is totally crazy and I’m glad I’ll be leaving this hostel tomorrow.
After
a few drinks in the courtyard we made our way to the rooftop where games had
started – musical chairs, limbo and the like.
I didn’t participate but had fun watching the other people making fools
of themselves (and I mean that in a funny friendly way).
After
earlier checking availability in Cameron Highlands and realising most of the
affordable rooms are all booked, I have decided to go to Melaka tomorrow.
Thursday 7th June – I Knew I Forgot
Something
I
got up and had my breakfast in the hostel and was glad to be leaving. Just before I left I got chatting to a German
girl who told me stories of other incidents in the hostel but not relating to
the bar staff but just people in her dorm. It seems to attract the crazies too.
I
left at 12.30 p.m. and made my way to the Puduraya bus station, a five minute
walk away. Very handy or so I
thought. I searched for the bus to
Melaka and it was nowhere to be found. I
asked a few members of staff who laughed and said, ‘It doesn’t leave from
here’. That would have been helpful if
they then told me where it did leave from.
It appeared to be some kind of secret they were not willing to
share. Finally I asked at an information
desk and was told I had to go to a completely different station across town, Terminal
Bersepadu Selatan (TBS), at which point I remembered that Simone had told me
all this before. I should have taken
closer note of her advice. The Lonely
Planet is out of date. So it was that I
jumped on the metro and with the very kind help of an American woman who now
lives in KL, I made it to the other station after only a short 15 minute train
ride. The bus to Melaka left 10 minutes later
at 1.30 p.m.
The
standard of Malaysian buses is much higher than those of Indonesia. It was fully air-con with loads of leg room
like first class on an aeroplane. After exactly
two hours I arrived in Melaka. From Melaka
Sentral I got a local bus to the city centre.
Before getting on an English guy advised me on where to get off as it
would be closer to my hostel, Ringo’s Foyer.
This advice could not have been more wrong. In the sweltering heat I got off the bus,
realised I had idea where I was and watched as the bus made its way further
along the road in the direction I believed (and which turned out to be) I
needed to go. I got out my Lonely Planet
to find out where I was. It was at this
point I cursed myself for not packing my electron microscope. I knew it would come in handy at some stage
and that was right now to read the Lonely Planet map of Melaka.
I
cast aside the Lonely Planet and decided that I could find my own way by asking
directions. This worked with the help of
a policeman and a couple of tourists in the street. As I made my way closer to the hostel I admired
the city. It did not in any way feel
like a S.E. Asia city. It seemed very
relaxed and peaceful.
Finally
after 20 minutes I reached Ringo’s Foyer.
When I arrived the owner was nowhere to be found but one of the other
guest, Adam from New Zealand, let me in.
It looked like a really nice place.
Basic but homely. It wasn’t long
before the owner Howard arrived and I was shown to my room.
At
6.30 p.m. Howard took all the people staying at the hostel, Rory, Aneka, Adam
and I, out on bikes for dinner. We rode
to a food court where there was a selection of Asian food stalls. I ordered some kind of chicken soup and when presented
with it, the chef told me, ‘If you can chew it, you can eat it!’. I went with that axiom and found it to very
tasty even if I didn’t know exactly what I was eating. Rory bought a tin of Guinness. I didn’t but decided to try his. Whatever was in that tin was not
Guinness. It was more like fizzy
coffee. I almost gagged.
After
dinner we all got back on the bikes and went for a night tour of Melaka. We rode along the river, made our way to
Little India and then to Chinatown.
Melaka is a very pretty city especially at night. They love their fairy lights which are
hanging from every building and railing along the river.
Back
at the hostel we sat on the rooftop terrace and listened to some music. All night Aneka, from Holland, replied to
everything I said with, ‘I have no idea what you said. Can you speak slower’. I never had this problem with a Dutch person
until now. Eventually I think she understood
me, or maybe just gave up trying. We
were later joined by Roel, also from Holland.
He understood everything I said.
Friday 8th June – Today You Are a VIP
I
was dreading my sleep last night as the room only had a fan, no air-con, but it
was fine. The heat of the day seemed to
disappear quickly after the sun went down.
After
the basic breakfast of coffee and toast at the hostel, Roel and I took a walk
to explore Melaka. First we went to
Voyage Traveller’s Lounge for coffee before heading across the river to check
out the old buildings. We stumbled
across a market where, after three months of searching, I found a hat to replace
the one I lost in New Zealand. We then
walked past the ironically named Museum Of Enduring Beauty. The building is one of the ugliest in
Melaka. Wanting to escape the heat we
made our way to the mall for some food and walked around the shops which were
full of electronic goods. There are what
look like official shops but full of fake good.
Dr Dre’s Beats headphones for 20 RM (£4) – I don’t think so!
After
briefly getting lost we made our way back to the hostel and en route I
discovered what could be a major problem.
The lens covers on my Panasonic Lumix camera will not open
automatically. I can manually open it
but it’s not a good sign. The camera
works perfectly otherwise. I’ll have to
investigate this further.
Once
back at the hostel I went on my quickest and most successful shopping trip
ever. I cannot put into words how much I
hate shopping. Probably my number one
hate in life. I needed a new pair of
shorts and psyched myself up for the trauma ahead. I left the hostel, went into a shop less than
200m away, found the perfect pair and was done within five minutes. Waves of relief flowed through me.
Next
we all went to an Indian, now also joined by Philipp from Germany who had
checked into the hostel. I didn’t eat
but the food looked amazing. Once done
Adam, who has been in Melaka for a week, acted as a kind of tour guide and led
us to the old church and the Dutch Graveyard (which has more English buried
there than Dutch).
Yesterday
Howard had told us that we had all been invited on a free river cruise by the
local government. Free food and drink
would be provided. This sounded perfect
and like a lot of fun. What this turned
out to be was nothing any of us expected.
At
7.00 p.m. we went to the river and boarded a boat, just as the rain started to
pour from the sky. After a 10 minute
boat ride we were left off at a pier. and led to a marquee. The rain was now torrential. What we were actually attending was the
official opening of the Melaka Riverboat Festival. Not only were we attending, but we were VIP
guests! There was supposed to be a
buffet dinner but because of the storm this was cancelled. We all took our VIP seats and received our
goodie bags with food – assorted dried fruits and buns. We were later handed a second goodie bag, containing
the same items plus a chicken burger.
The photographers arrived and snapped lots of photos of us. I was even interviewed and asked why I was in
Melaka.
After
a delayed start the ceremony got under way.
Lots of speeches, lots of singing and dancing, lots of rain. We were sat at one side of the river while a
huge stage had been placed at the opposite side on which all the activities were
taking place. Suddenly a buzz started to
go through the crowd. We soon discovered
that the Chief Minister of Malaysia was about to arrive. This was big stuff. What looked like all the high ranking
dignitaries of Melaka were already here and now the Chief Minister of Malaysia
was arriving. After this excitement the
ceremony continued with a parade of pimped up boats along the river. This was followed by more speeches and
singing and dancing. It was right about
this point I got bored. The vast
majority of everything was in Malay and I had no idea what they were saying
(except when the Chief Minister welcomed all the international guests from the
Philippines, Singapore and Ireland!).
The weather was horrendous. I was
so hungry I wanted to eat the festival program guide and the Euro 2012 Opening
Ceremony was about to start.
After
three hours the festivities were over…almost.
Just as we started to leave we were instructed to line up along the red
carpet as the Chief Minister was coming to shake our hands. We did as told. As none of us knew what we were coming to
tonight we all just dressed in our usual clothes – shorts, t-shirts/singlets,
sandals. All the other attendees were in
their best outfits. The minister then
approached and shook all our hands, closely followed by all the other dignitaries
who thanked us for attending.
What
a surreal evening. Once it was all over
we got our boat back and went to the hostel.
A drink was needed on the rooftop to take in everything that had just
happened. Certainly another night I will
never forget.
Saturday 9th June – Ringo’s Foyer BBQ
After
waking up and trying to digest the weirdness of last night’s festivities I
grabbed my laptop and headed to Voyage for breakfast. My mission for the day was to get my ailing
camera fixed. I checked online for a
Panasonic shop in Melaka. No joy. I tried every method listed on the internet
for a DIY fix. No joy. Once back at the hostel I tried a final
method involving a vacuum cleaner and a pencil.
No joy.
So
off to the shopping mall it was. I tried
every camera shop (and there are many) and got responses ranging from, ‘Send it
back to Panasonic’ to ‘Buy a new camera from us!’. Still no joy.
I know it’s a simple fix and am very frustrated by it all. It’ll have to wait for another day.
The
weather today has been overcast and threatening rain, but undeterred, Howard
held a BBQ on the rooftop of the hostel for everyone. I tried to get a Spotify Party going which
everyone loved the idea of but it soon fell by the wayside. We gorged ourselves on meat, salad and
coleslaw and finished just in time before a huge wind arose and blew everything
all over the rooftop. We retired to the
covered area as the rain set in.
Tonight
Holland played Denmark in the Euro 2012 Championship. With four Dutch guys in the group we all headed
to a bar at 11.30 p.m. to watch the game.
I decided (just to liven things up) that I’d support Denmark. This was a lot of fun, but not for the Dutch
guys. Denmark had a shock 1-0 victory over
Holland.
Sunday 10th June – Fifteen Minutes of
Fame in Melaka
After
a late night watching the football I fell out of bed and went to Voyage for the
Set A breakfast – the perfect cure.
Sadly it was closed so I went to Geographer and had a very inferior
sandwich.
I
tried to write up my blog but being too exhausted I slept for a few hours. When I awoke I went into the common area of
the hostel and saw Roel and Phillip looking very excitedly at the local
newspaper – we were all in it! It was hilarious. The top story on the front page was the
opening of the Riverboat Festival. A
huge picture showed Roel shaking hands with the Chief Minister of
Malaysia. The next four pages were also
dedicated to the story. There was a
picture of me above the article and I could see my name mentioned in the text
but had no idea what it said at is was in all in Bahasa, the local
language. I quickly ran to the shop and
bought myself a copy. When I returned
Howard was in the hostel and he translated the interview with me – I did not
say a single word that they had printed!
But it was all good. We are
famous in Melaka – for today at least.
Every
weekend the main street in Chinatown has a night market with stalls selling
everything. While having a relaxed walk
around I spotted a Pizza Cone shop! A
must have. Just last week I was missing
being at Primavera Sound – my favourite music festival which is held in
Barcelona, AT Primavera they sell Pizza Cones.
I’ve seen them nowhere else but here was a whole shop dedicated to them. I had one and thought of all my Primavera
buddies.
I
had a proper dinner of chicken cubes and fried rice at Far East Café before
going back to the hostel and making a dent in blog. Once completed I went to Discovery Café with
Roel, Phillip and Howard to watch the Spain - Italy game. This was an important game relating to
Ireland and the final score was 0-0. As
the game approached its close so did Discovery Café. They actually closed the bar before the game
was over, approached us in the outside area and asked if we would kindly switch
off the TV on our way out and left us to own devices. At the end of the game we switched off he TV
and exited the deserted bar.
Monday 11th June – Hot and Lazy
With
the weather outside being much too hot to do anything, today was a very relaxed
and lazy affair.
I
went to Voyage for breakfast and while there published my blog. It was then back to the hostel to write more
of my blog, Geographer for dinner, back to hostel for yet more blog writing and
bed by 11.00 p.m.
A
nothing day but a perfect day. Catching
up on my blog was the plan for Melaka and it’s working.
Tuesday 12th June – Melaka By Night
At
6.00 a.m. I was woken by a thunderous roar.
I looked out the window of my room and saw heavy rain and flashes of
lightening. I made my way to the rooftop
and spent the next hour watching at least three thunderstorms circling the
city. It was a beautiful pre-dawn sight.
I
went back to bed and slept until 10.00 a.m. at which point I repeated what has
become my Melaka routine – breakfast at Voyage, back to hostel to write blog
and dinner at Far East Café.
With
all its fairy lights Melaka is a very pretty city. Once night had fallen I took a walk with
Katie (from Chicago but now working at a Christian school in Pakistan) around
the river to photograph the illuminated city.
On the way back we stopped off at Geographer for a few drinks where she
told me about her life in Pakistan. I
quickly realised I knew nothing of Pakistan and its customs. It was an interesting and revealing
conversation.
Wednesday 13th June – The Numbers Game
As
my broken camera is infuriating to use I had taken no photos of Melaka to speak
of until last night so at 7.00 a.m. I got up and wandered around the city and persevered
with taking photos. It was good to avoid
the heat of the day and also have the streets and sights to myself. Once done I passed by Voyage for breakfast and
spent my time n there reading National Geographic articles from the 1970s. Simone had told me about these and it was
really interesting to see the topics in the old editions. I read an article about rats. The facts about these have changed little in
the last 40 years. The rest of the
morning was spent in the hostel writing my blog.
The
shorts I bought a few days ago are perfect for the heat in Malaysia so I took
the decision to buy another pair. Everywhere sold them and as I walked down
Jonker Street I dropped into a few shops before finally finding the colour I
wanted.
Two
and three. Very different numbers and,
when spoken, very different sounds. So
how the following conversation managed take to place is a mystery:
- - Hi. Do you have these shorts in size 32?
- - Sorry sir, we only have them in 32 or 34.
- - Yes. Can I try the 32?
- - Sorry we don’t have size 33. Only 32 or 34.
- - Yes I want 32.
- - We don’t have 33.
- - (while holding up two fingers to emphasis what I’m saying) Yes. I know! Can I have a 32. Size 32!
- - We don’t have size 33.
- - (Baffled I finally come up with a method to resolve this ludicrous conversation) Tell me again, what sizes do you have these shorts in?
- - We have 32 or…
- - GIVE ME THOSE!
- - (He walks off and reappears) Sorry, we have no size 32 left.
My
head spinning I left the shop wondering what had just happened and how I came
to be carrying a bag in my hand with a pair of size 34 shorts.
Not
long after getting back to the hostel Howard and I went to an Indian for
dinner. Later in the evening I went to
Geographer with Katie, Sonya (from Germany) and a girl from Japan. We ended the night with a few more drinks on
the rooftop and talked about different religious belief systems.
Thursday 14th June – Back to KL
I
went for my final breakfast in Voyage today before heading back to the hostel,
packing my stuff and leaving at 12.00 p.m. to get the bus back to Kuala Lumpur. I was joined by a girl from Lithuania who was
staying in the same dorm room. At Melaka
Sentral Bus Station we went to buy our tickets and were baffled to discover
that the bus back to KL was 12.50 RM whereas the bus from KL to Melaka only cost
10 RM. Arguing was useless until we
stumbled across a bus for 9.90 RM. After
a one-and-a-half hour bus journey we reached KL,
Wanting
to avoid the weird Reggae Mansions I booked a room in Fernloft, also in the
Chinatown area. The map on their Hostel
World page seemed straight forward and I was a bit confused as to why people
had complained that it was not accurate.
I quickly found out why. I
wandered up and down Jalan Hang Kasturi, a relatively short street, and could
not see hide nor hair of the place. Even
after asking a local who told me exactly where it was I struggled until I found
a very small sign above a door behind a pillar.
It’s a nice hostel with a rooftop terrace.
Once
freshened up I took a walk around Chinatown to find somewhere to get laundry
done. Is it just me or is it ironic that
I couldn’t find a laundry in Chinatown?
While walking around the markets I was approached by what I thought was
a local guy who immediately asked, ‘Have you ever been to Singapore?’. I replied ‘No’ and tried to walk away from
him. I have read about many scams which
start with strangers approaching tourists in the Chinatown area and not long
after they find themselves in a backroom of some cafe owning 10,000 RM for
something or another. But as I walked
away he followed and kept asking me questions about travelling. It turned out he was from Sumatra in
Indonesia and had just arrived in KL and was heading to Singapore
tomorrow. I still didn’t know what to
make of him. He appeared more nervous
than me. Eventually I said I had to go
back to my hostel. We said goodbye and
as I walked away a truck beeped its horn.
I looked back and saw the guy almost jump out of his skin. He really was just a new traveller and
nervous. I now feel horrible for not
being more friendly to him. I hope he
was ok.
In
the evening I went to Reggae Café (not associated with Reggae Mansions) for
dinner and had a delicious Thai green curry.
While having a drink after my dinner I noticed that the couple sitting
beside me were from German. Simone
arrives tomorrow and is making a monumental journey to get here so I thought
the least I could do was learn a few German phrases to say hello. I asked the German couple to help me and they
very kindly did. I stayed chatting with
them and practiced my (as always terrible) pronunciation before heading back to
the hostel , having a Tiger beer on the rooftop and heading to bed.
Friday 15th June – Simone Is Back!
Staying
at Fernloft a breakfast is included with the room as is the case with the vast majority
of places in Malaysia. This breakfast
was horrific. Awful bread with awful
coffee.
In
the early afternoon I headed back to the markets in Chinatown as I was in need
of a new wallet. My current one is
falling to pieces and I’m sure to lose money at some stage as it keeps falling
out. I saw a stall selling them for 10
RM, a bargain, so I inspected the wallets.
Every single one of these wallets had been used. Or to put it another way, every single one of
these wallets had been stolen. I eventually
found the exact wallet I wanted for 25 RM at a different stall. I spent the rest of the afternoon writing my
blog and having a sleep.
Finally
it was time to go and meet Simone. I
headed to Kuala Lumpur Sentral, a short one-stop metro trip away. Her bus from the airport arrived at 7.00
p.m. She had just endured a 36-hour
journey to get from Cardwell in Queensland, Australia to Kuala Lumpur via
Cairns and Sydney. It was brilliant to see her again. I said my German phrases. She understood, smiled and laughed. More practice needed I think.
We
headed back to the hostel, grabbed some snacks and beers and hit the rooftop. We chatted for ages and filled each other in
on what we had been up to and all our stories.
As we sat there several rats ran riot around the kitchen area, jumping
in and out of pots and pans and cupboards.
It was an easy decision not to have breakfast here in the morning.
Tomorrow
we catch our flight to Borneo, Kota Kinabalu in Sabah to be exact. We are both very excited about travelling to Borneo.
