The Road Behind
VenezuelaTrinidad
Curacao
Galapagos
Ecuador
Peru
Bolivia
Paraguay
Argentina
Chile
Hong Kong
Thailand North
Thailand South
Malaysia
Cambodia
Singapore
Nepal
Kathmandu
Royal Trek
Nepal Trek
India
India Palace
Udaipur
Bangalore
Greece
Islands
Rhodes
Camping
Olympia
Turkey
Istanbul
Bath
Bursa
Cappadocia
Bodrum
South Africa
Garden Route
Cape Town
Namibia
Fish River
Etosha
Botswana
Zimbabwe
Wedding
Great Ruins
Germany
Bathroom
Netherlands
Spain
Madrid
Seville
Granada
Gibraltar
Morocco
Portugal
Sintra
France
Normandy
Egypt
Pyramids
Nile
Aswan
Abusimbel
Luxor
Valley of Kings
Alexandria
Red Sea
Jordan
Kings Valley
Aman
Palestine
The Road Ahead
IsrealCzech Republic
Austria
Italy
Switzerland
England
Find pages
Unused pages
Undefined pages
Page Index
Set your name in
UserPreferences
UserPreferences
Referenced by
LeftMenu
JSPWiki v2.2.33
Malaysia |
|
| Your trail: Main_media > EgyptValleyOfKings > England > ZimbabweZambezi > NamibiaDunes > NepalTrek > IndiaBangalore > IndexPlugin > Italy > TurkeyEphesus | |
Malaysia was an unknown quantity to us because most of the travellers we spoke with had quicky moved through on their quest for Thailand from Singapore. We were happy to be out of Thailand but a little nervous about spending time in a Muslim country. We could spend as little as a week or up to a month but we thought we would let Malaysia decided for us. The first border town we hit was Kota Bharu on the northeast corner of the country. The guide book informed us that this was a particularly strict Muslim region of Malaysia. The current political issue was restoring the penalty for stealing which in the Islam religion is cutting off the thief's hand. It was impossible to buy beer or find any bars but it did not take long for us to figure out that we liked Malaysia. The people were very friendly and a smile could be found wherever you went. We spent the night in a small hotel for $10 US and we planned on leaving the following morning for the Perhentian Islands. Oil was discovered off the coast of Malaysia and Thailand and they begin production in two years. This entire area will change from the influx of highly paid workers and good local salaries for skilled labor. It is hard to imagine what it will be like in five years, I guess we will have to make a return trip and see for ourselves.
We have another early morning taxi ride of about 1 hour and 30 minutes to Kuala Besar. Kuala Besar is the city where the boats leave for the Perhentian Islands. The taxi cost 20 Ringgits or $8 US, I am sure that our fellow backpackers are taking the bus for 50 cents but we just can't help ourselves. At our hotel in Kota Bharu we had purchased ferry tickets this morning. They filled out a voucher and we assumed that everything would work out. The boats left in the early morning and afternoon but as it turns out everything is done without too much formality. When we arrived at the travel office a man helped us with our bags, took our vouchers and said a boat was leaving soon. We had expected a large Ferry boat similar to the ones we boarded in Thailand but the local boats looked like converted wooden fishing boats. According to our quoted departure time we still had a couple of hours before our boat was supposed to leave. We had no problem going early so we ran around looking for supplies. Malaysia is a Muslim country so the sale of alcohol is very limited. We asked one of the guys behind the ferry counter about buying beer and he took us on a long walk to a little store were we purchased two six packs of Tiger Beer.
You have two options for getting to the Perhentian Islands by an old slow fishing trawler or the high speed motorboat. The ocean was very rough and I was glad we did not choose the high speed option it would have been a huge waste of money and very uncomfortable. The boat had about 10 people on it and we were all located in the front. After a few minutes at sea we were instructed to head to the back of the boat to avoid the getting wet from the crashing waves. Most of the fellow travelers on the boat were in low budget mode and would be staying at a bungalow for a week or two. We would be checking in for two nights and then moving on. The trip took a little more than an hour to get out to Pulau Perhentian Besar and Kecil. There are two choices at this point for accommodations budget beach or resort beach. When you get on the boat you tell the captain which beach you want to be dropped off on. Once the boat is close to the beach, the captain blows a horn and a smaller boat from the resort speeds out to pick up passengers. Everyone is in a minor state of confusion trying to decide if this is their stop. The boat crew did not speak English.
Ours was the second stop Flora Bay Resort on Besar or the Big Island. We unloaded our stuff into our beach transport and walked barefoot to the check in desk. We had no reservation and it turns out another major holiday was in a couple of days so we could only have an air-conditioned bungalow for one night. We could not believe how many five day holidays we have encountered. Our air-conditioned chalet was 10 feet from the beach and had hammocks everywhere. The cost for these deluxe accommodations was $25 US. It looked like paradise. We contemplated doing some diving but the dive shop and the dive master did not look up to speed so we settled for a two hour snorkel. Our goal was to find reef sharks at shark point but we later learned that they are very skittish and swim off when swimmers approach. The beer issue was a slight problem because we had no refrigerator in our room and the hotel would not give us any ice. Electricity comes from a generator and ice is used only to keep food cold. They were not to excited about us having beer and I think they were a little concerned about being a partner in the crime. The dive master had a small refrigerator so we stashed a couple of beers in his cooler and later decided that we really did not want to work that hard to drink beer.
On the other side of the big island is the Perhentian Island Resort that represents the deluxe accommodations on the two islands. Looking for exercise we set off on a one hour jungle trek to the Perhentian Island Resort. Our plan was to grab some food and decide if we wanted to move. It turns out we had made the right choice because the only thing Perhentian Island Resort had to offer was being very expensive. Our place was much nicer at half the price. We spent the next two days playing cards, swimming, hammock swinging, journal writing, eating, and talking to our bungalow neighbors.
Sunrise the following morning is a gorgeous mixture of orange and blue (Go Gators!) coming over the small jungle covered hill. The setting is perfect when combined with white sand beaches and a balmy breeze. We awake early and have a long day of unknown travel to Tamara Nagara National Park in the center of Malaysia. Checking out is simple and done over breakfast -- nothing computerized just sign and go. We wait at the beach for our boat and several boats arrive dropping off tourists and supplies but our host assures us our boat has not arrived. Around 8:30 AM we are transferred to another fishing trawler that has it pumps in full gear. Sitting in the back of the boat, Scooter is amazed at how much water is being pumped overboard. We make it to the mainland without sinking and we both felt we could have spent a week doing nothing. Malaysia was turning out better than we hoped.
Malaysia is not geared towards making tourist travel very easy. Somehow we had to get from the dock to the center of Malaysia and the first and largest National Park. Our guide book suggested catching a 3:15 PM train that has the reputation of being very late because it is coming from Thailand. We did not have any tickets and it seemed too difficult without spending another night in Kota Bharu. The bus was not an option because it was too hot and every person we asked seemed baffled by taking a bus to Tamara Nagara National Park. Our next and favorite travel option was to hire a taxi. The taxi's seemed very organized and we were quoted a price of 180 RM or $47 US from a man with a clipboard. The price was very fair considering the National Park was a seven hour drive and would eliminate a great deal of travel confusion. Scooter asked the clipboard guy if our driver knew how to get to the National Park and he assured us it would not be a problem. Did we mention that the taxi did not have air-conditioning and it was at least 95 degrees outside, it would make for a long and sweaty day. The taxi ride will take us almost halfway through peninsular Malaysia. We drive through the middle of the country, which is covered with rubber trees, palm-oil trees and natural jungles being forested. It is very green, hilly and still hot. Scooter and I are both stuck to the blue vinyl seats sweating our butts off. I am trying not to think about this and concentrate on what an exotic crop palm oil is.
It was time for a break after driving for four hours and lunch was on the menu. The taxi driver pulls over in the middle of nowhere at a group of roadside restaurants/shacks. We have been very careful about what and where we have eaten so this current choice did not excite us. The traditional way of eating in an Islamic country is to use your fingers. According to the guidebook there are many rules associated with eating with your hands. Some additional background is required on using the bathroom and how it relates to eating in an Islamic country. You are basically required to squat over a hole in the ground. The toilet can range from a white porcelain fixture with steps to a very simple hole in the ground. Once you get everything lined up, which takes some getting use to, your leg muscles have to be strong enough to support the squat for the required amount of time. It is not a place that you want to read a newspaper. After stage one is complete you can forget about finding any toilet paper. At most you will find a hose or a bucket of water for that cleaning operation. We are both baffled about how effective the water is and the requirement to walk around with a wet butt. We of course carry our own supply of toilet paper. Back to how eating and using the bathroom are related. The rule is you use your left hand for wiping and your right hand for eating and it is considered very bad for your left hand to touch any food. It gets slightly more complicated at group settings when you are required to pass a food bowl. Your right hand is covered with food so you are supposed to use your left hand for passing but care must be taken so the left hand does not touch any of the food surfaces. The only advantage eating with your hand is that owning or cleaning a fork is not required. We filled a plate with rice and found a table. At the table there was a water bowl and small plastic teapot. We watched our neighbor's table manners and determined you use the small pitcher to pour water over your right hand for cleaning. We didn't eat very much and laughed considerably trying not to get any food above our knuckles. After lunch Scooter and I were quite proud of our adjustment to local eating customs until we looked over at our taxi driver and he was using a fork. The check for the three of us came to $1.50 US. Scooter is quiet today reading a Tom Clancy novel -- I think he has read 550 pages in a few hours.
Today is the first day of a national public holiday and spring break for the kids in Malaysia. There are at least five holidays listed for the month of May and we are not sure which one this is. We have been told to make reservations because everyone is traveling during spring break. Malaysians and Thais are big travelers and every holiday is a reason to vacation. Trains and buses are routinely sold out if you wait until the day of travel to purchase your tickets. If you are willing to pay the money, hiring a taxi for the day offers an easy solution at a fair rate. A couple of hours after lunch we started to get close so our driver was continually pulling over to ask directions. It became obvious that he had never been to the National Park. It was good to see him cautious and after a brief amount of driving we saw a road sign for Jerrantut our destination. Then we hit some road construction and made a detour that led us to a steep incline in the road. The driver had to try twice to get up the hill with a running start -- we could smell the clutch burning but we made it.
Onward we went until a few minutes later the car stopped! The clutch or transmission was gone and the car was not budging. Abdul the driver and Scooter got out of the car and look under the hood. As we sat on the side of a seemingly deserted road, people came out of the woods to study the problem. People riding motorcycles would pull over smoke a cigarette and chat. It was a roadside party and our driver offered everyone snacks and cigarettes. Of course we had no idea what the plan was but we decided to be patient. People were shuttled back and forth on moped from the local garage. I was hoping we did not have to wait for the taxi to be fixed because we were only thirty minutes from our destination. The locals were quite baffled as to why someone would take a taxi such a great distance but for the most part everyone was excited about making new friends. The taxi was not happy about working so hard in the heat and decided it wanted to further express her discomfort. We had been sitting on the side of the road for an hour when Scooter heard a hissing sound. He walked over and found the left rear tire had decided to spring a leak and it was flat in three minutes. Abdul took all this in stride he got out the spare changed the tire and wished he had not gone to work that day. A van arrived and we loaded up our bags, wished Abdul good luck and headed for Jerrantut.
Jerrantut is the closest small-big town to the National Park and we would check into a hotel for the night. The guidebook listed a couple of options and we went for the high end. This meant we would get a room tonight for less than $5 US. We checked into the Sri Emas and we were fortunate to get the last room. The place was booked solid because of the Malaysian Spring Break. The last room was an 8x8 windowless cubicle built in the middle of the hallway with two cots and a fan for $3.95 US. There was not a lot to distract us so we set out to see the sights, grab dinner, find money and get supplies for camping. The town was very small but they did have a very popular Kentucky Fried Chicken that allowed us a quality meal. It is pretty scary when KFC is considered fine dining. We planned on camping in the National Park so we purchased food supplies and a small gas canister for our equally small but compact stove. The hotel offers an orientation session at 8:00 PM about the things to do at the National Park so we hurried back for some education. Kenny, our host gave the attendees a map and proceed to explain the park, costs, terrain and services. The orientation also included warnings about biting fish and the need to wear a bathing suit, blood sucking leeches and stinging bugs. He was very knowledgeable and the orientation was worth the $3.95 we were spending on our room.
One of the main reasons we selected this hotel was because they offer a minibus tour to the park rather than a 3.5 hour boat ride. The tour takes back roads to a small town across from the National Park entrance. During the tour the guide stops at rubber tree, palm oil tree, and cocoa tree plantations. At each plantation the guide explains about how each of the crops is harvested and the impact the product has on the local villagers who do the harvesting. Most visitors take the boat to and from the National Park. This way we would get an informative tour to the park and we would only have to return by boat. In addition, we would arrive earlier than the boats delivering hoards of tourists which makes getting accommodations a little easier. At the conclusion of the orientation Kenny took care of any travel related details that we might have: Park entrance fees, licenses, return boat trip, and onward travel reservations by bus or train. This was first class service and we were amazed at how customer oriented the hotel was. After orientation it was time to face the communal showers and Asian squat toilets. I survived but did not sleep well. I would have slept with the light on for bug prevention if Scooter would have let me. The Sri Emas is the best hotel in town -- it is clean, friendly, and ultimately helpful.
We are looking forward to our adventure today. Taman Negara is a huge National Park that has not been changed by man, floods, earthquakes, or volcanoes in 150 million years. They lay claim to being the oldest primary forest in the world. I am looking forward to camping in our tent, which I prefer to a cheap hotel room. Actually, I should not knock our hotel too much because they are great hosts and what they lack in facilities they make up the with customer service. Our first task is to re-pack one large pack and one day pack for hiking and camping. We are both carrying way to much stuff for a hike in the woods. We head downstairs for some breakfast and order an egg sandwich. To our surprise we get the best sandwich of our entire trip. A grilled tomato, egg and cheese, I think our food expectations have been significantly lowered. The crew we met the night before during the park orientation came slowly in for breakfast and our guide came in to make sure we would be ready by 9:00 AM. The group consisted of seven people, Norwegian newlyweds, a Brit. and two girls from Australia. Once we were fed and packed the driver answered our personal requests and stopped at the bus station, train station and post office. The service was very accommodating and everyone appreciated the ability to take care of ongoing travel requirements.
Three stops were on our tour before we arrived at Taman Negara. The first was a cocoa plantation -- it was amazing how little I knew. Cocoa is grown on trees, it literally grows out of the trunk and branches into 6-12 fruits with 50-60 beans in each. We each sucked on a few odd- sized beans just bigger than cherry pits. You suck the fruit but do not bite the bean because it is bitter. Unfortunately, the price of cocoa is declining and the Malaysian farmers are switching their crops to palm oil or rubber trees.
Next plantation on the tour was a rubber tree grove. I knew even less about rubber than cocoa. Rubber trees are tall and pretty -- similar to pecan groves. The rubber is harvested for latex gloves and condoms among other things. Our guide showed us how one side of the tree's bark is slowly "bled" of rubber, white, milky, sticky stuff and collected in a cup. Each night the farmer shaves a thin spiral groove of bark from one side of the tree. The tree's sap or rubber then bleeds from the tree and runs down the spiral groove were it is collected in the cup. When the farmer returns the following evening the rubber is collected and the process continues. A tree will produce rubber for 35 years then the grove is destroyed and replanted.
The final agriculture tour is of a palm oil grove. These trees are large, luscious and tropical looking. Our guide drives until he finds a worker harvesting palm fruit. The guy is using a 30 foot pole with a saw blade on the end. The farmer lifts up the heavy aluminum pole and balances it from one tree to the next. He then uses the pole to cut away palm fronds until he is able to get to the 40-80 lb. bunches of tightly packed fruit. The palm oil fruit is cut at the main branch and the huge weight drops to the ground. The bunches of red and orange fruit are then collected in trucks and sold to processing plants where it is used in cooking oil, cosmetics, soap and numerous other consumer items. This is very labor intensive and today we read in a newspaper article stating the Malaysian government had approval for 20,000 foreign workers in the palm oil industry. There is virtually no unemployment in Malaysia. Many of the groves are given out to Malaysian families through a lottery and a percentage of the profit is given to the government to pay for the land. Malaysia is a prosperous country and has one of the highest standards of living in Asia.
We arrived at Taman Negara about 12:00 PM via a kidney jarring dirt road. Our guide wanted to know everyone's accommodation plans so he could direct us in the right place. The small town across the river from the National Park has a few low cost hostels and budget accommodations. After everyone got checked in, we walked down to the floating restaurants to board long wooden boats to cross a narrow river. Scooter and I are camping and the two girls from Australia are going to sleep in a remote animal hides used for viewing animals at night. Our guide stays with us until all questions are answered and everyone has figured out what they are going to do. The group heads for lunch but Scooter and I have decided to camp at a waterfall 8 km via a hike in the jungle. It is now 1:30 PM and we need to get going before it gets to late. I fix peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from our supplies and purchase water from the local store. Scooter is going to carry the full pack, this will be our longest hike in full gear. I have my day pack and all the water so my load will also be difficult. The park quotes a hiking time of 30 minutes per kilometer so we are looking at four hours of walking. Lata Berkoh is the name of our trek and it leads to a water cascade and primitive campsite. The trail is in good shape, well marked and moderately sprinkled with ups and downs. The walk though thick jungle includes huge trees, vines, insects, leeches, butterflies, strange noises, rain and 100% humidity. Minutes into the walk we are soaking wet from sweat and rain. Scooter feels quite confident that he has never had so much sweat on his body at any one time. Close to our destination we cross a river and walking another 800 meters reach the water cascade and about 50 tourists. You can hire a motor powered long boat for four people and a half day at the water fall which is how must people make the trip. There is not a bathing suit in sight and every female head is covered. We are in Muslim territory and every one is taking a bath with their clothes on. It is quite the picture and we join in clothes and all.
Tent set up went smoothly in the rain and dinner was cooked on our mini-camping stove. It is really hot even though it is dark and we constantly sweat and consume more water. Finally we run out of water and Scooter fills up the water bottles with clear river water and we use Iodine tablets to kill any bacteria or other things that can make you sick. We are sharing the campground with a Chinese family who have settled in and are occupying all the camping facilities. An hour or so later a group of five Malaysian college students on Spring Break arrive and set up camp. The next morning comes early and a boat is meeting us at 9:00 AM to take us along the river back to the main part of the park. We had the option of walking back but we decided we wanted to see the views from the river. It was well worth the $20 US fee because the scenery was stunning and we did not need to walk back. The boat is actually $20 US so normally you would split that among four passengers. Scooter noticed that all the other tents were surrounded by series of powdered circles and squares that were not there the night before. Our tent did not have a circle so we wondered if it was some sort of religious thing. He strolled over to the Spring Breaker's tent and asked what the powder was for. They replied to keep the snakes out of the tent. Our guidebook mentioned nothing about needing a snake ring.
Sounds like a jungle, feels like a jungle, must be a jungle. Before our boat arrived we went swimming, had a peanut butter/jelly sandwich and packed up our gear. The boat ride was very relaxing and scenic but somehow Scooter got another leech. He had picked one up the day before during our hike and he was determined to get video of the next one. Leeches are incredible little creatures. They start out as a small little worm that can stretch itself from a leaf until a shoe or animal passes by. It then grabs hold and heads for blood. They are so small and quick you never see them. They work their way into your shoe and then bite. They have adapted well and have some fairly trick ways of going unnoticed. They first inject the skin with a numbing agent that makes their bite undetectable. Then after they settle in they inject an anti-clotting agent so the blood will keep flowing. We got very good at checking our feet as often as possible but it is very hard to avoid getting at least one. To remove a leach they suggest salt or tobacco but when you discover a creature sucking your blood the last thing you do is ask someone to pass the salt. You rip the sucker off in panic then watch yourself bleed for 30 minutes. The anit-clotting agent is still active and it prevents your puncture wound from scabbing up.
Back at park headquarters we run into some of our crew from yesterday. They are going to the jungle canopy walk a short 2 km away. The canopy walk is only a couple of years old and is credited as being the longest and highest tree walk in the world. The walkways connect giant trees that have had platforms erected hundreds of feet in the air. The attraction gets very crowded and if you are afraid of heights you should skip the canopy walk. When you are on the ground standing next to a tree that is thousands of years old it gives you a unique perspective about age and beauty. If you find yourself three hundred feet in the air walking from giant tree-to-giant tree, you get an even better appreciation for the strength and splendor of a creature who has survived thousands of years. Every new platform we arrived at Scooter would thank the tree for letting us enjoy her view. The canopy walk takes about 45 minutes to complete and you feel completely safe swinging from the trees.
After roughing it for 24 hours Scooter and I treat ourselves to the park's resort restaurant. The main lodge and guest accommodations are first rate but a little expensive. The food is surprisingly good but expensive. The lunch cost $16 and the service was oddly slow. We have chores to do and we must leave our comfortable table and set up our tent. The park is very active due to the holiday and spring break activities and we watch hundreds of guests coming and going. The camping area at the main entrance that will be our home tonight is a zoo. Tents are scattered everywhere and clotheslines with dirty laundry is strung from every possible tree. We did not want to put the tent in the middle of this mess so we found a quiet spot near the park ranger station at the edge of tent city. The previous day's hiking had already produced a nice pile of laundry that judging by the smell was growing at an incredibly fast rate. I did laundry under a water faucet while Scooter set up the tent. I worked very hard on the clothes and I did not have them hung up for more than five minutes when the sky opened up and started dumping buckets of water. Hanging out in a tent during a massive rain storm in the middle of the day is not very exciting. We made a dash for the resort restaurant and spent the day drinking $4 beers, eating pizza and waiting for the rain to stop. Scooter found a lounge area for resort guests that had air-conditioning, satellite TV and a bartender. We took showers in the campground facilities-not very pleasant- and returned for a night of comfort watching TV and drinking beer.
I did not sleep well that night due to the heat and in the middle of the night we both heard a large animal shaking a tree. Scooter went out to investigate and returned with tales of seeing a baby elephant. I had to laugh because the odds of seeing a baby elephant this close to the main lodge were impossible. It turns out that Scooter saw a tapier which looks like a giant ant eater. This was verified at the Singapore zoo when Scooter announced that is what I saw in Malaysia. It is fun to camp and it is fun to stop camping.
The mode of transportation for leaving the park was a three hour boat ride in a long canoe that could hold twenty passengers. The ride was long but worth it. The National Park is now under private management and looks to be developed into a busy tourist destination. The locals who visit for the weekend never venture more than a few hours from the main park but for the outdoor adventure you can get lost on numerous treks that last 30 days or more. If you are really adventurous a local tour company offers an aborigine survival package with the natives of the jungle. Your only supplies are a blow gun and a bag of rice, sounds like fun.
After the boat drops us off, we catch a taxi back to the Sri Emas hotel and the bus station. We had purchased our tickets for Kuala Lumpor (K.L.) before we left for the national park but somehow they were for the wrong day. The 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM buses were full and we would have to wait until the 6:30 PM bus. K.L. was only two hours away so we went back to the Sri Emas hotel took a shower and hired a taxi for the ride to K.L. We were so impressed with the hospitality of the Sri Emas hotel that we wanted to set up a brochure for them on the WorldWander web site. Scooter asked them for a brochure and tried to explain what he wanted to do but it only confused them. They knew about the Internet and where we could check e-mail but the concept was still foreign to them. An air-conditioned taxi picks us up and whisks us away to K.L.
We were happy to be heading to a big city. With the exception of our 12 hour stay in Bangkok it had been over a month since Hong Kong our last big city. We both like the comfort and options that a traveler can find in a modern metropolis. The road to K.L. is mostly highway with no straight lines. Our driver was practicing for his future as a race car driver and Scooter and I spent most of our time sliding back and forth in the rear seat. We arrived in K.L. at 5:00 PM and stay at the Concord hotel in the golden triangle district. The dollar is so strong that a nice hotel with breakfast buffet included was $50 US a night. The Concord is owned by the Sultan, and the Hard Rock Cafe, Scooter's favorite travel restaurant, is part of the hotel. They have work out facilities, a huge breakfast buffet and a great location. We dropped off our stuff and under the guidance of the guidebook set out for a one hundred year old restaurant called the Coliseum Cafe.
The city of Kuala Lumpor was a major British trade port at the turn of the century. Malaysia had an abundance of tin mines and a good location for trading. Britain did not last very long in Malaysia and setup a new trading port called Singapore. The Coliseum Cafe was a frequent stop of the Brits who called K.L home. We had the city map and the address from the guide book and the doorman told us it was not far. We got into a brand new taxi driven by a young Chinese man. The taxi was metered and we gave him the address. It became very clear that this guy had no idea were he was going or he was trying to increase the fare. He kept turning on roads that according to the map had nothing to do with our final destination. He then would think he was close so he would bend down his head and look out the window for the address on the building. We would yell, "Hello, you are not even on the right road." He would ignore us and keep driving around in circles. At one point, Scooter yelled "do not turn left on this road again." I finally spotted the place and we yelled for him to pull over. We had all the intentions of paying the guy $2 US instead of the $8 US on the taxi meter. As we got out of the car, Scooter told the guy not to quit his day job. The Coliseum Cafe was somewhat interesting, both our waiter and the tablecloths had been working since the early 1900's. The food was delivered quickly, I had a glass of wine and we were happy to be in a big city.
Malaysia has put all of its focus on developing K.L. into a world class city. They currently have the world tallest building, the world tallest flag pole, etc. They are also technology and shopping junkies. The economics of Asia has created huge budget problems that have delayed numerous construction projects in Malaysia. The current big ticket item is a new capitol that the entire focus will be state-of-the-art technology. K.L. is working very hard to keep up with Singapore. The laptop was still broken so we planned our day around going to IBM, checking e-mail and eating. The IBM building was located in a large office complex in the suburbs. When we went to get security badges, thoughts of work came flooding back to me. This was the first office building I had been in four months and I missed the feeling. Even though I was wearing shorts and tennis shoes, my mind was turned on. I was stimulated and began thinking about career options and directions. You can take the women out of business but you can't take business out of the woman. On the walls of the IBM building were posters encouraging workers to "step up their pace", "customers are number one" and "continuous improvement." The messages seem to work because Scooter was taken care of quickly and told to come back the next day for a diagnosis.
Today was a work day so we ventured to an Internet cafe called Global Cafe in the trendy suburb of Bangsar. The cafe is located in a mall, how convenient for getting work done. I had not been in a mall for a couple of months and enjoyed just wondering around looking at everyday items that I absolutely had no use for. My most difficult decision of the day was choosing between the myriad of shampoos. Window shopping kept me busy for at least an hour. Finally, I made my way to the Internet Cafe and found Scooter hard at work. Six hours later it was time for a dinner break and we headed to a friendly neighbor hood restaurant called "Chile's." After dinner I felt the shopping bug hit me and I headed over to a jewelry counter. I bought a gold ring from a she-man of which there seem to be many in K.L. His/her name was Jackie and He/she talked me into purchasing the gold ring. I had no good reason to buy a ring but it was a good deal. The price is based on the actual weight of the jewelry and the current gold price. It was a nice change to buy something over $5 US and was not related to travel or toilet paper.
The suburb of Bangsar is full of foreign business people who live in K.L. We coincidentally ran into Gabby and her son, who we had been chalet neighbors with a week earlier in the Perhentian Islands. We chatted for a bit and talked about getting together over the next couple of days. It sure was fun running in to someone you knew at the mall. Scooter and I walked down the street to the night life district of Bangsar. What a fun night spot -- there were loads of places to eat of every ethnic flavor and lots of open sidewalk cafes. We chose Martini's Cocktail World -- not for its original name but because it had a foosball table. I finally got Scooter to leave after a couple of hours of fierce foosball with the locals. In an effort to squeeze in all we could that night we went to a place called Malibu near our hotel. It was fairly busy with a disco downstairs and pool tables upstairs. During our second game of pool, a woman ran up to our table, put all the balls in the pockets, told us to stop playing and covered the table with a cloth. We went along with this wondering what the deal was; we hung around -- a few moments later the music downstairs stopped and about 100 dancers came running up the stairs. Right behind them were the police, government officials, and press photographers. It was a Raid! They were looking for illegal activities like playing pool after midnight and drinking draft beer instead of bottled beer. It was all very entertaining to watch the government officials looking serious posing for photographs. The next day's newspaper said 30 bars and video game parlors were raided in a two hour period. A local we talked to told us the government was having a hard time keeping the Muslim hard liners happy. It would be very difficult to compete as a world class big city if buying beer is a major problem.
The lure of shopping malls was too much to resist. Scooter was not ready to sightsee so we set out to get laundry done which turned out to be a pain in the butt. All we wanted was a self-service place that we could finish in an hour. We were directed to a Chinese Laundry that claimed to be a self-serve place. The place was a dump and had clothes hanging everywhere. He informed us that he charged by the article and quoted us an outrageous price of $1 to $2 per item. This guy was giving us the run around and complained about how high rent was and all his other problems. We probably would have had him do our laundry if he would charge by the pound. He told us that they do not do that. Scooter pointed out the sign over his head that stated the price per pound. Scooter told him they should probably take the sign down if they no longer offered the service. The owner then replied that it would leave holes in the wall if he took the sign down. Scooter then told the guy he could always buy a picture and hang it up over the holes. We did not give the guy our business. After some searching we found a very nice laundry service that charged by the pound and actually used a washer and dryer. Our laundry was done that evening. The last place we had our laundry done took three days, was beaten on a rock and hung in a tree to dry.
Into the malls we went Lot 10, Bukit Bintang Plaze we did not buy anything but Scooter got a haircut. They have a shampoo girl who washes hair buy giving a head massage without using water- they of course use a sink to rinse the shampoo. The massage lasted fifteen minutes and Scooter wanted to know if he could get his hair cut again tomorrow. The malls were very American with retail stores like Pepsi, Marlboro, Levis and all the major fast food outlets. There are also the upscale shops: Mikimoto, Waterford, and Ferragamo. After shopping, we were going to find a movie theater or cineplex as they are referred to in K.L. We got into a cab with an opinionated driver who thought we should be sightseeing instead of going to a movie. Menara Kuala Lumpur was where he decided to take us. This is the fourth largest observation and communication tower in the world at 421 meters. The top three are CN tower in Toronto, Ostankino tower in Russia, and Shanghai tower in China. It provided a 360 degree view of the city. I was more fascinated by the monkeys we saw playing in the parking lot -- a whole pack of wild monkeys living in the city. TGIF Fridays for dinner and then home to bed.
Our travel pace has definitely slowed down since hitting K.L. - we are busy but not traveling. We are seriously considering going to Bali, Indonesia for a few days while we wait for the laptop to get repaired. The riots in Jakarta and the political uncertainty keeps us in K.L. but we decide to make a side trip to Cambodia and see the Angkor Wat ruins. www.worldwander.com/cambodia We arranged for a private city tour by taxi to see the three or four things worth seeing in K.L. It should only take about four hours and the taxi picks us up at 9:00 AM. The sightseeing list includes the Railway Station, National Mosque, Selangor Club, Masjid Jamer, IBM, Lake Garden, Orchid Park, Butterfly Park, National Monument, Templar Park, Batu Caves, Pewter outlet and drop off at central market. Most of the places were uneventful but you got to see everything at least once. The taxi driver got us sucked into a couple of tourist traps and it was a little annoying. I bought a salt and paper shaker at the pewter factory and found out later I paid too much. When we loaded up into the taxi, our taxi driver told us he had to use the bathroom so he hurried back inside to get is cut. The next tourist scam came at a batik clothing outlet. They gave us a brief non-working demonstration of how batik clothing is made and then I got hit left and right about buying something. For this particular stop our taxi driver got $5 US even though we did not buy anything. The taxi driver then tried to talk us into going to a watch factory and we told him that we were done playing. He told us that he gets $10 US for taking people to the watch outlet. He was trying hard and was honest about it.
Scooter was supposed to be updating the web site but at times it is hard to motivate sitting in a hotel room. We head down for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. Scooter normally gets the pig in a blanket sandwich which amounts to a pork sandwich. Because we are in a Muslim country the pig in a blanket is actually a lamb in the blanket. Scooter opts for the giant 2/3 lb. hamburger and declares that it is the best hamburger he has ever had. When we were in Singapore we verified at the Singapore Hard Rock Cafe that the burger was equally as good if not better. From now on Scooter will always order a 2/3 lb. burger at the Hard Rock. After eating that much meat the last thing he wanted to do was work. We jump in a taxi and head for the Sun Pyramid mall which has been heavily advertised on local TV. It is a colossal mall with an Egyptian theme. They have about every store known to the western world plus a complete computer store section. I leave Scooter to walk around all the computer stores and I go looking for shoes. The main reason we came to the mall was to visit Sega City. It turns out to be a big game room with a couple of virtual reality rides. I did play "Big Game Fishing" complete with fighting chair and a real rod and reel. Scooter caught a dolphin and I caught a huge marlin. The other interesting attraction was a rehash of the old photo booth. This was a big hit with couples because the man and woman each have their picture taken then the computer combines the images to show what their kids will look like. The entire process is shown on a large television set and everyone had a great time watching the computer perform its magic. We were both too chicken to try it.
I was having a craving for popcorn and the only place we could find it was at the movie theater. The theater had six screens with a mixture of English and Chinese films. Neither one of us had seen "Wag the Dog" a spoof on the president starting a fake war to avoid press coverage of a sexual encounter with a young girl. I was excited to get my popcorn. I put that first bite in my mouth only to find that each kernel was covered with sugar. It tasted like cereal and I was extremely disappointed. This is how they eat their popcorn in Malaysia. It was tough, as an American, watching a movie that busted on the President of the United States. The thing that made it difficult is that this fictional movie was being played out in real life in newspapers across the world, thanks to President Clinton. I was still depressed about my popcorn but found an immediate solution to the problem. On our way out of the mall I found a Sushi restaurant that delivered food via a conveyer belt. The Sushi chef keeps making dishes and places them on the belt for anyone to purchase. As you sit there, if you see a piece of fish you like, you grab it and add to your pile of colored plates. Each color plate has a different price. When you are done they add up your bill based on the number and color of plates in front of you.
Our side trip to Cambodia is scheduled for the next day and when we return we will catch a bus for Singapore. We spent six days in K.L. and it is the first city we have been to on our trip that if the opportunity presented itself I would have no problem moving there. Of course, I would not want to be away from family for more than a year. It is a beautiful city with super nice people that would be easy to call home.
|
Go to top
|
| This page last changed on 17-Apr-2006 23:10:21 EDT by 70.171.24.221. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |