Greeting from the Krabi Town Bus Station!
It's Saturday afternoon, and I'm waiting for my bus to Bangkok.
When we last spoke it was Wednesday evening. After I got back from the internet cafe I had a wonderful meal. I had gone back to "Where Else" (the group of bungalows where I was staying), and it started raining again really hard, and it was late. Therefore, I couldn't really venture out to find dinner. I have always been weary of "hotel food". The food served at a lot of places like this isn't authentic. However, Ann, the guy who runs the place, makes excellent Thai food. It was very, very good. I had Tom Yum Soup and a lemongrass curry of chicken and vegetables, and rice. It was all really fresh, they buy the food from the market everyday (and with a lot of fishing going on around Ko Lanta, the shrimp was some of the freshest and best I've had). It was really nice to see a place doing this kind of quality. One other thing I came to realize by this point, the food in Southern Thailand is very, very spicy. It's great! I got talking to some of the who work there, they take a lot of pride in the place. I also met another traveller, Ahmed, from Egypt.
On Thursday I took my motorbike out for a ride around the island. It's quite hard to get around without a bike. There's not a ton of taxis, if you want one and you're not in the town centre, you have to have one called for by the hotel. I went north to Saladan, the main town, and had breakfast of rice and masaman (sp?) curry. Excellent. After, I went to the south (past the bungalows) of the island and rode around the old town a bit. It was a bit of a long ride. After puttering around, I had some tasty food of course, for lunch. Fried chicken is very popular here, it has a spicy, red coating. It's served with a thin, spicy and sweet sauce. Very flavoful, very juicy. I also had some good grilled chicken on a skewer. I tried my first papaya salad, which is very popular in Thailand. It was amazing. It's shredded long strips of green papaya with vegetables and chili. It's spicy and sweet (common flavor combination here) and very good. If you can't tell by now, I really like the food in S. Thailand.
I rode my bike around more and got great views. I totalled about 58 km for the day. I got back in the afternoon and spent time walking around the beach, taking in the scenery (once again, I can't load pictures, I have a lot and will load them when I can). Since it's the low season there's very few people here. A lot of the time there isn't another person in sight. The weather isn't too bad. The rain comes down hard, but only in bursts, not really lasting more than 2-3 hours at most. I had dinner at a roadside stand. It was vegetable soup, once again it was fantastic.
Yesterday, Friday, was spent relaxing for some of the day. I had a great breakfast of rice with stewed spicy chicken (very hot) and vegetables. I also went for another ride thinking I would go in another direction. I headed south and turned in a different direction from the day before. Along the wayI stopped at a market along the road. I had some of that great fried chicken that's everywhere, and a bag of sticky rice (not the healthiest lunch) I went and kept going and going, thinking I was getting farther away. I wound up in Saladan. I drove back to the bungalows. I spent a lot of time walking on the beach. There's islands off in the distance that rise high out of the water, forming rocky mountains. I really got to relax too.
That evening I hung out at the bungalows in the lounge/eating area with Ahmed, we were the only guests in the place (once again, it's low season, and the few other people had checked out that day). Nonethless, they had really fresh food they had bought that day, they knew we were going to want to eat dinner there. We had really good, and spicy, shrimp curry with chilis, and baby corn and green beans and more. We also had a great pan fried fish with a spicy-sweet sauce (go figure), it was so flavorful and fresh, I can't begin to tell you. And of course, I had to eat the head parts to. Ann liked the fact that I knew to dig out the eyes and cheeks and tongue. After sitting around I went back to the bungalow to fall asleep.
This morning I woke up early and walked along the beach, which was a bit difficult, it was high tide (very high). I then drove to the market to get breakfast. It was delicious. I got some chicken, some rice cooked with coconut and sugar in a leaf, and noodles with peanuts and fishballs ( served cold). Once again, all very good. I went back and packed up. I had gotten my tickets to leave today. I got the bus from Ko Lanta to Krabi Town, where I am now. Soon, I will board the overnight bus to Bangkok, which arives in the morning.
Before I go, I should tell you about a few things.
The bungalows I was at had a pack of dogs (mother with 5 kids split between 2 generations). They loved attention, almost as much as Barcleigh. It was funny to watch them doing the stupid stuff dogs do. In the morning, when I would open my bungalow door, they would run in and sniff around and play and jump on my bed. They also gaurded the place, barking at other dogs that wandered near and such. I think Barcleigh would really like it here.
Also, the elephant in the room, the Tsunami. Ko Lanta did pretty well. Unfortunately a few people did die, but not nearly as many as elswhere. The place I stayed at only sustained major damage to a few bungalows. The people were safe, they headed to the mountains on the island. You see tsunami evacuation route signs all over the island.
One other thing.
Wednesday night, as I was hanging out listening to the waves (we're right on the beach), I started thinking about the big picture of what I was doing. Andrew had told me I would get this feeling when I travel. I am very far away from home. Very. Its a strange feeling, not a bad one though. It's a little overwhelming and eerie, yet very exciting too. I really am starting to love it here in Southeast Asia. I can't wait to see more.
Well that does it for me, I hope everyone is well and has a great Labor Day,
Mike
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Sure not feeling crabby in Krabi
THAILAND!
Greetings from Koh Lanta,
Well, I made it to Thailand, and it's beautiful. It's Wednesday night right now. Let's backtrack a few days, when I left you last.
On Sunday I headed out of the city to Kek Lok Si in Air Itam (outside George Town, still on the island of Penang). It's one of the largest Buddhist temples in Southeast Asia, it is pretty big. It's got a few prayer halls, walkways, and statues. It is very, very colorful, almost gawdy. I did get pictures, but I forgot to bring my camera with me to the internet cafe now, I'll get them up later. It was really cool to see, it was very decorative. Unfortunately, the 30m tall bronze statue of Kuan Yin was in scaffolding. Otherwise, I enjoyed it. The town is also famous for Laksa, a spicy noodle soup. Of course, I had to get a bowl. I foud the busiest place I could and ordered a bowl. Blech. I had a hard time eating it. The broth was really grainy, from spices I guess, and it got all on the noodles. The flavor was whatever. This time, Mikey doesn't like it.
That day I also had awesome Indian food. I had tandoori chicken with naan and chutneys, tasty! I wasn't there at a peak hour, so the guy cleaning up came over to talk with me. I bring this up because I want to tell you about how many of my brief conversations go.
"Hello"
"Hello"
"Where are you from, sir?"
"USA"
"Which part"
"Northeast, near Boston"
"Ohh. Who do you think will be next President? Obama? McCain?"
I can't count how many times I've had this conversation with various people I've met. We do get a chance to talk about other things, but this always comes up. Everybody is very clear and knowledgeable of American politics.
On Monday, I went to the Botanic Garden. It's right outside George Town. I was waiting forever at the main terminal for a bus. Then a fellow staying at the same hostel as me came over and said hello. He asked where I was going, and informed me that the bus I was waiting for comes by very sporadically. However, he was going there as well, and knows a different bus that drops you a 15 minute walk away for the garden. So we headed off and walked to the garden while talking about traveling, Malaysia and more. We headed different ways upon ariving in the gardens. They were alright, more of a park with a few exotic trees. One thing, next time you find yourself in the Botanic Garden in Penang, don't do the rainforest walk. I don't know why I did. No one else seems to do it. It's very steep, with a rock covered path. Of course when rocks are wet, we all know how much traction you get. Zero. Lots of fun. Fortunately it wasn't too too long. I never knew if I should have turned around or kept going, as I didn't know how long it was, and thus where the halfway point is.
I spent the rest of my afternoon deciding where I wanted to go next (after Penang). I knew I wanted to go to Thailand as I had always planned. I wanted to find somewhere nice in Southern Thailand, which is on the way to Bangkok. I decided to go to Krabi Province. From there I would go (probably) to Koh Lanta. Koh Lanta is inKrab Province, but buses go to Krabi town (the province capital). So I booked a ticket with a travel agency in Penang (which also runs, and has an office in, my hostel there). I was to leave Tuesday, the next day, at 5 am. The bus journey was to take 8 hours to get to Krabi Town (I had to book the travel to Koh Lanta once I got to Krabi Town). Thailand is an hour behind Malaysia, so for simplicity's sake I will write everything in Thailand time. Therefore, we were to leave at 4 am from Penang, outside the hostel. We did, picking up a group of 4 people on the way. We were in a mini-bus. A mini-bus is really just a passenger van, but they call it mini-bus, I don't know why. It holds 10 passengers, 2 up with the driver, 2 behind that, 3 behind that, and 3 more behind that. It was only the driver, myself, and the group, so we had plenty of space. Other important information, our bus had to stop at Hat Yai, in Thailand, where I was to board another bus. The reason being that Malaysian buses (and trains) can't go north of Hat Yai, which is a major transport center. Along the way we go through Malaysian Customs to exit and then through Thai Customs to enter. We continue on, arriving in Hat Yai. We arrived at 8 am, 4 hours after we left.
This is where it gets interesting. It's 4 hours from Penang to Hat Yai, and 4 hours from Hat Yai to Krabi Town. The travel agency in Penang said it was an 8 hour journey. Makes sense. What they failed to mention is that There was a gap of time between the two legs of the journey. When I arrived in Hat Yai, we were dropped at another travel agency, who works with the Penang one. When I unload, and the guy at the Hat Yai agency asks me where I'm going, he informs me I must wait an hour for the bus to Krabi Town. It leaves at 9. I then ask him how long it is to Krabi Town, and he tells me (I find out for the first time) its 4 hours. Wonderful. So now its a 9 hour trip, and but everything is going to pln in their minds (i.e. no delays/ breakdowns etc). Well the bus arrives at 9:15, because it had to pick up other people first. We then drive around Hat Yai for another hour and fifteen minutes, picking up people all over the city. We finally leave the city at 10:30. At this point, two and a half hours have been tacked on to the total Penang-Krabi Town trip. Well, our driver was able to knock a half hour off that. He drove like a ad man, nearly giving me about 47 heart attacks. He also carried a two foot sword, I saw him take off the sheath momentarily when we took a rest stop. Who knows....
We arrived in Krabi Town at 2 pm (2 hours later than anticipated). We were let off at a travel agent (of course). I booked a 3 pm mini-bus ride to Koh Lanta (an island). this bus was to take 2 hours. So, in the meantime, I had an awesome skewered piece of chicken which was really spicy. I forgot to mention the awesome bowl of noodles I had in HatYai while I was waiting. My first meal in Thailand, really awesome. Thin rice noodles in a light broth with cilantro and bits of pork and fishballs and more. It was delicious.
My 3 pm bus arrived at 3:15 (it was picking up others). It picked up other for another 45 minutes, thus really leaving at 4. We made our way to Koh Lanta. We needed to take two vehicle carrying ferry rides along the way. We arrived at 6 pm.
14 hours of travelling all together.
I got a taxi to a place to stay at I had read about. It's called Where Else. I get my own bungalow (made of straw and such), with an attached, quasi-outdoor bathroom with toilet and shower (no hot water). It does have electricity and a mosquito net. The cost- 150 Baht, about $4.45 US a night. We're right by the beach.
Koh Lanta is beautiful.
I've never been a beach person, but I really like it here. It is the offseason (rainy season). It's raining buckets right now. However, there's still plenty of good weather too, the rain comes in bursts. Still, accomodation is cheaper and it's less crowded. I won't complain. This is my vacation in a vacation I guess.
The island is really chilled out. The rest of Tuesday, yesterday, was spent hanging out, I was exhausted. I met a few other travelers who were also backpacking through Southeast Asia, and decided to hang out for a few days.
Today, I got a taxi into town. By the way, taxis in Koh Lanta are just a motorbike with a big covered sidecar which can fit like 4 people. I had a great breakfast of a really fresh, fried fish (I don't know what it was, small enough for it to e one serving) with rice, some cucumber and soup.
I also rented a motorbike.
It's really easy to drive, though I do go slower than others to be careful. The roads are wide and I stay to the side so others easily pass me. People go at all speeds, others go slow as well, so I'm not blocking traffic or anything. It's a lot of fun to drive (yes Mom, I have a helmet). I'll try to get you guys a picture of me with the bike. I rented it for two days, and it's less than $10 US a day, what a deal.
i also took time today to walk on the beach and hang out and see some of the island on my bike.
Dinner was also fried fish with rice and cucumber (very common here). This was a different kind of fish, pretty flat (not a flat-fish though, like flounder). it was in this ripping-hot suace which looked just liked pureed chilis. I liked it though.
Well, I'm getting tired. I just realized how long this post is. I'll fix all the typos later.
Take it easy,
Mike
Greetings from Koh Lanta,
Well, I made it to Thailand, and it's beautiful. It's Wednesday night right now. Let's backtrack a few days, when I left you last.
On Sunday I headed out of the city to Kek Lok Si in Air Itam (outside George Town, still on the island of Penang). It's one of the largest Buddhist temples in Southeast Asia, it is pretty big. It's got a few prayer halls, walkways, and statues. It is very, very colorful, almost gawdy. I did get pictures, but I forgot to bring my camera with me to the internet cafe now, I'll get them up later. It was really cool to see, it was very decorative. Unfortunately, the 30m tall bronze statue of Kuan Yin was in scaffolding. Otherwise, I enjoyed it. The town is also famous for Laksa, a spicy noodle soup. Of course, I had to get a bowl. I foud the busiest place I could and ordered a bowl. Blech. I had a hard time eating it. The broth was really grainy, from spices I guess, and it got all on the noodles. The flavor was whatever. This time, Mikey doesn't like it.
That day I also had awesome Indian food. I had tandoori chicken with naan and chutneys, tasty! I wasn't there at a peak hour, so the guy cleaning up came over to talk with me. I bring this up because I want to tell you about how many of my brief conversations go.
"Hello"
"Hello"
"Where are you from, sir?"
"USA"
"Which part"
"Northeast, near Boston"
"Ohh. Who do you think will be next President? Obama? McCain?"
I can't count how many times I've had this conversation with various people I've met. We do get a chance to talk about other things, but this always comes up. Everybody is very clear and knowledgeable of American politics.
On Monday, I went to the Botanic Garden. It's right outside George Town. I was waiting forever at the main terminal for a bus. Then a fellow staying at the same hostel as me came over and said hello. He asked where I was going, and informed me that the bus I was waiting for comes by very sporadically. However, he was going there as well, and knows a different bus that drops you a 15 minute walk away for the garden. So we headed off and walked to the garden while talking about traveling, Malaysia and more. We headed different ways upon ariving in the gardens. They were alright, more of a park with a few exotic trees. One thing, next time you find yourself in the Botanic Garden in Penang, don't do the rainforest walk. I don't know why I did. No one else seems to do it. It's very steep, with a rock covered path. Of course when rocks are wet, we all know how much traction you get. Zero. Lots of fun. Fortunately it wasn't too too long. I never knew if I should have turned around or kept going, as I didn't know how long it was, and thus where the halfway point is.
I spent the rest of my afternoon deciding where I wanted to go next (after Penang). I knew I wanted to go to Thailand as I had always planned. I wanted to find somewhere nice in Southern Thailand, which is on the way to Bangkok. I decided to go to Krabi Province. From there I would go (probably) to Koh Lanta. Koh Lanta is inKrab Province, but buses go to Krabi town (the province capital). So I booked a ticket with a travel agency in Penang (which also runs, and has an office in, my hostel there). I was to leave Tuesday, the next day, at 5 am. The bus journey was to take 8 hours to get to Krabi Town (I had to book the travel to Koh Lanta once I got to Krabi Town). Thailand is an hour behind Malaysia, so for simplicity's sake I will write everything in Thailand time. Therefore, we were to leave at 4 am from Penang, outside the hostel. We did, picking up a group of 4 people on the way. We were in a mini-bus. A mini-bus is really just a passenger van, but they call it mini-bus, I don't know why. It holds 10 passengers, 2 up with the driver, 2 behind that, 3 behind that, and 3 more behind that. It was only the driver, myself, and the group, so we had plenty of space. Other important information, our bus had to stop at Hat Yai, in Thailand, where I was to board another bus. The reason being that Malaysian buses (and trains) can't go north of Hat Yai, which is a major transport center. Along the way we go through Malaysian Customs to exit and then through Thai Customs to enter. We continue on, arriving in Hat Yai. We arrived at 8 am, 4 hours after we left.
This is where it gets interesting. It's 4 hours from Penang to Hat Yai, and 4 hours from Hat Yai to Krabi Town. The travel agency in Penang said it was an 8 hour journey. Makes sense. What they failed to mention is that There was a gap of time between the two legs of the journey. When I arrived in Hat Yai, we were dropped at another travel agency, who works with the Penang one. When I unload, and the guy at the Hat Yai agency asks me where I'm going, he informs me I must wait an hour for the bus to Krabi Town. It leaves at 9. I then ask him how long it is to Krabi Town, and he tells me (I find out for the first time) its 4 hours. Wonderful. So now its a 9 hour trip, and but everything is going to pln in their minds (i.e. no delays/ breakdowns etc). Well the bus arrives at 9:15, because it had to pick up other people first. We then drive around Hat Yai for another hour and fifteen minutes, picking up people all over the city. We finally leave the city at 10:30. At this point, two and a half hours have been tacked on to the total Penang-Krabi Town trip. Well, our driver was able to knock a half hour off that. He drove like a ad man, nearly giving me about 47 heart attacks. He also carried a two foot sword, I saw him take off the sheath momentarily when we took a rest stop. Who knows....
We arrived in Krabi Town at 2 pm (2 hours later than anticipated). We were let off at a travel agent (of course). I booked a 3 pm mini-bus ride to Koh Lanta (an island). this bus was to take 2 hours. So, in the meantime, I had an awesome skewered piece of chicken which was really spicy. I forgot to mention the awesome bowl of noodles I had in HatYai while I was waiting. My first meal in Thailand, really awesome. Thin rice noodles in a light broth with cilantro and bits of pork and fishballs and more. It was delicious.
My 3 pm bus arrived at 3:15 (it was picking up others). It picked up other for another 45 minutes, thus really leaving at 4. We made our way to Koh Lanta. We needed to take two vehicle carrying ferry rides along the way. We arrived at 6 pm.
14 hours of travelling all together.
I got a taxi to a place to stay at I had read about. It's called Where Else. I get my own bungalow (made of straw and such), with an attached, quasi-outdoor bathroom with toilet and shower (no hot water). It does have electricity and a mosquito net. The cost- 150 Baht, about $4.45 US a night. We're right by the beach.
Koh Lanta is beautiful.
I've never been a beach person, but I really like it here. It is the offseason (rainy season). It's raining buckets right now. However, there's still plenty of good weather too, the rain comes in bursts. Still, accomodation is cheaper and it's less crowded. I won't complain. This is my vacation in a vacation I guess.
The island is really chilled out. The rest of Tuesday, yesterday, was spent hanging out, I was exhausted. I met a few other travelers who were also backpacking through Southeast Asia, and decided to hang out for a few days.
Today, I got a taxi into town. By the way, taxis in Koh Lanta are just a motorbike with a big covered sidecar which can fit like 4 people. I had a great breakfast of a really fresh, fried fish (I don't know what it was, small enough for it to e one serving) with rice, some cucumber and soup.
I also rented a motorbike.
It's really easy to drive, though I do go slower than others to be careful. The roads are wide and I stay to the side so others easily pass me. People go at all speeds, others go slow as well, so I'm not blocking traffic or anything. It's a lot of fun to drive (yes Mom, I have a helmet). I'll try to get you guys a picture of me with the bike. I rented it for two days, and it's less than $10 US a day, what a deal.
i also took time today to walk on the beach and hang out and see some of the island on my bike.
Dinner was also fried fish with rice and cucumber (very common here). This was a different kind of fish, pretty flat (not a flat-fish though, like flounder). it was in this ripping-hot suace which looked just liked pureed chilis. I liked it though.
Well, I'm getting tired. I just realized how long this post is. I'll fix all the typos later.
Take it easy,
Mike
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Look, Mom! I'm parasailing!
Penang is a lot of fun!
When we last spoke, I was heading out to Penang from Kota Bharu. It's now Saturday night, and I'm safe and sound here in George Town, the capital city of Penang. I arrived Thursday morning after a 1 hour plane ride from Kota Bharu that only cost me $14 US. It was on a propeller plane, my first time in one. I headed into the city and found a place to stay around Chinatown; I knew there were a lot of hostels in the area.
I went exploring, and of course, that involves eating. George Town is a really nice city, it's consistently voted among the most livable cities in Asia, and I can see why. It's pretty clean, well developed, but not huge like Kuala Lumpur. Instead, the city maintains a lot of charm. It's an old British colonial city, and was recently named a World Heritage City by UNESCO (Melaka received the same honor) last month. Penang is the only state in Malaysia with a Chinese plurality. The state is mostly on an island (also called Penang), but also includes a small strip of land on the mainland which faces the island. George Town is on the northeast of the island.
Penang is famous for something else, the food capital of Malaysia! People here love to makan, which means "eat". There's street food everywhere. I had a great lunch of Indian food at this really busy place, some Ayam Goreng which is awesome spicy fried chicken (Indians fry a good chicken) with nasi, which just means "rice". The rice was topped with different curry sauces. Once again, one eat with the right hand. This meal was spectacular.
I walked around some more and got a good feel for the area. I worked up an appetite (of course) and found another one of the coolest things I have ever seen. It was a stand on the side of the street nearby, and it was pretty busy. It was serving Lok Lok.
The best term for it would be "Malaysian-Chinese fondue." There's a variety of foods on a stick available (Don't you love food on a stick? I do.). The end of each stick is color coded, which corresponds to a certain price (i.e. blue is 30 sen, red is 40 sen). The prices are great, of course, starting at less than 10 cents US a skewer. To start, they give you a small styrofoam plate. You then choose a skewer of food that looks good, and cook/heat up your selection in the provided boiling water. You can then dunk it in either peanut sauce, sweet-spicy chili sauce, or sweet soy (or you can spoon the sauce over on your plate, or however you like). Then you eat it. Make sure to keep all your skewers. Once you've eaten you give it to one of the two people working the stall (a Mother and Son, I think). They count up the amount according to your colored skewers and you pay. They're there prepping and replenishing food as it goes out.
The selection is great. There's a few things you don't dunk in the water, such as great little fried spring rolls and little fried dumplings. There's plenty of seafood, octopus, tiny squids, cockles (tiny clams), crab meat, surimi (fake crabs legs like you get at in crab rolls at cheap sushi joints, I like it), bits of fish. There's different kinds of tofu. One can get a couple of kinds of sausage, such as little round chicken sausages (one of my favs), spicy Chinese pork sausage, and even bits of hot dog. There's tons of balls of stuff (made from finely ground meat, essentially they're meatballs). There's all kinds of fishballs of various textures and flavors, a few meatballs (not like Mama's Italian variety). Perhaps my favorite selection was the chunk of pork fat, which had been barbecued Chinese style, with a bit of cucumber. As you're probably aware by now, I'm a huge fan of pork, especially the fat. And for all the organ meat fans out there, the Lok Lok stand has food for you too. Skewers of liver chunks are on display, as are skewers of intestines. Don't forget the pig ears, chunks of pig ear (yes, thin, flat pig ear, just like you see on the animal, cut into pieces) are skewered (it's already been cooked, just heat it up. The layer of cartilage throughout the inside of the ear provides a crunchiness unlike any other.
Tasty Little Chicken Sausages
After eating my way through the Lok Lok stand, it was late afternoon, I ventured around more, looking down all the side streets. I saw a few temples, really beautiful, very colorful. The city is really the attraction itself, walking around is one of the best activities, and I need it to burn off all these calories. Don't forget to stay hydrated. Have I mentioned how hot it is here?!?!
I relaxed a bit during the day and a bit in the evening in my room too, between my adventures. I was a bit tired, good to have little naps.
Later that evening, I went back for a bit more Lok Lok, just a few skewers. It was great again. I went headed into a bar nearby for a beer, and met Duss from Liverpool. We talked a lot about traveling, about where we're from (he had visited the States), the Olympics (which were on the TV). (On the topic of the Olympics, I've been asked about they're popularity here. They do watch them a lot here. There was a lot of hope that the badminton player from Malaysia might bring home the Gold. It would be Malaysia's first gold medal ever. Unfortunately, Malaysia lost to China in the end, and received silver). I've really discovered it's so easy to meet people when traveling, especially if you're alone. Other travelers are just as eager to meet people as you are. Penang is a really social place too. Quite a few Westerners are here, understandably, and there's a large expat community. Despite this, it still stays unique, which is great.
The next day, Yesterday, Friday, it was raining a lot. It rained most of the day. I made it out to get lunch in a clear spot of the day. Had some good duck and rice, simple and tasty. It was from this stall that sells roasted meat. It sets up outside a Minuman, which is a place with tables that serves drinks. It's a pretty common set up here, the building (open air with tables and chairs) serves drinks. Food stall(s) set up inside/outside the edge of the place. The food stalls draw in customers to whom drinks are sold, and the food stalls benefit in that their customers have tables to eat at.
Roasted Meat
I took it pretty easy, walked around a little more, but it started raining again. I hung out in the hostel for a bit, not too exciting. I later went to the mall to find a magazine in English (they're rather hard to come by), I had to go to a big bookstore type place, like Borders. I took my umbrella, but still got wet. In addition to my very expensive magazine (though Malaysia on the whole is cheap, an American magazine is very costly), I picked up some Malaysian junk food at the mall. I thought I would get a taste for it, it was alright. I can't decide which I like better, Honey Crab flavor crackers, or Cuttlefish flavor crackers.
I chilled more, ate some of my junk food, and read. Finally, by the evening, it had stopped raining. I had a little snack at a street stall, little cakes of fried tofu with tiny whole shrimp (heads, tails, shells and all) worked into them. The shells are really soft, and are easily eaten as part of the cake, like a soft-shell crab. You have little heads with eyes looking up at you, it's great!
After that snack I made it over to the Lok Lok stand, again (what can I say, it's delicious). After having a couple skewers, I was approached by another Westerner asking about the set up. After my explanation, she decided to join, and we talked a bit. Turns out she was from Iowa, the second American I've met so far in just over 3 weeks (the other was an expat who had settled in the Philippines, who I had met in Melaka). After eating quite a few more skewers of Lok Lok, we had a beer. After that I called it a day.
Today was another adventure. I wandered out of the hostel in search of a late breakfast/lunch (I guess you could call it brunch; I had slept in late). I was going to head over to the KOMTAR tower, a tall building here with an observation deck after my breakfast/lunch. Instead, I ran into the same person who I had met the night before and we got to talking. She convinced me to come to Batu Ferringhi, where she was headed. So, after a quick meal, we headed over to the bus. En route, we happened upon a cool market.
Market
We got on the bus, which wasn't one of the government buses, like we had originally intended. Apparently private companies run buses on the same route as the government and use similar route numbers. It's not anything dangerous really, and in the end you wind up in the same place, and it costs the same. They even use the same terminal. The buses themselves are a little bit to be desired though.
Luxury
The doors aren't closed while the bus is in motion
Batu Ferrenghi is a town/beach on the north coast of the island of Penang. I'm not really a beach person, but I'm glad I went. The ride there was rather scenic. In all honesty, the beach is pretty developed. It's beautiful though. The water is really warm. We didn't go swimming, but got the feet wet walking along the length of the beach. I can now say I've been in the Indian Ocean, pretty cool.
Oh yeah, I went parasailing. So it's a bit touristy, but I really wanted to try it out. It was pretty inexpensive too (I won't say how much). Let me say, it was a really fun experience, and I'm really glad I did it. Basically, they put a life jacket and harness on me, and gave me all the instructions on how it worked and what I needed to do when and so on. I stood on the beach, facing the water and they hooked up the parachute behind me, and a rope, which was attached to the boat, in front of me. The parachute took up wind, and the boat started going, when the rope pulled tight, I started running, and I was off the ground in no time (one doesn't get wet). I soared up into the air and the boat made a big loop, going the length of the beach and back. It was great views of the water, mountains, the beach and more, spectacular. It was really peaceful up there, my fear of heights didn't bother me at all, very relaxed. I landed smoothly on the beach. My fellow traveler got some great pictures
Getting Ready
Taking Off
Take Off Succesful
Coming In For Landing
Succseful Landing
We then headed back to George Town. After exploring some, we started to head back to the area where our hostels (and food) are located. It was evening, and we got terribly lost on the way. Finally, we made it, and had some satay and more Lok Lok.
More Lok Lok
After, we had a mango lassi (lassi is an Indian yogurt drink, really tasty, there's plain lassi, salted lasi, sweet lassi, and other varieties such as fruit, like I had).
That's about it. I know that was a really, really long post. In a few days I should be making my way to Thailand. I'll try to update you before then. I'm not totally sure what I want to do on my way to Bangkok. I want to stop somewhere along the way, but I don't think I'll be spending anytime in Hat Yai like I originally thought, supposed to be really boring. Maybe hit a nice seaside town on the way. I'm tired now, about to hit the hay.
Signing out,
Mike
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Food tastes best when it's grilled on the back of a motorbike
It's Wednesday night here in Kota Bharu, my last night here. Tomorrow morning, I leave for Penang.
These past few days in Kota Bharu have been interesting. In all honesty, I didn't do anything epic, or go very far, but it was a great experience.
On Monday, my first full day here, I just got a feel for the city. My lovely guesthouse is pretty close to the city centre.
I ventured into the Central Market, that place is very, very large. It has anything you could possibly want (except pork). There's a large section of fruit sellers outside. On the first floor are the vegetable sellers in the middle (it's an octagonal building), and the fish and meat sellers around them.
The other floors have other provisions like dry goods, textiles, cleaning supplies and more. An attached building has all sorts of food stands selling lunch. That's where I had a great bowl of "stomach" soup. I don't believe the guy when he told me the stuff in the soup was just stomach (from the cow). The stand had these different "parts" hanging from hooks, and they cut off pieces for my soup when they made it. One of the large parts I saw them cut stuff off from for my soup from looked like stomach, and another looked like cooked beef (the actual meat). I'm not really sure what the other two items were. One kinda looked like a funky intestine-y type thing, though it was all kinda tightly coiled with tissue connecting all the tubes. The other looked like, well, I have no friggin clue what it looked like. How did it taste? Offalicious. It had bean sprouts and herbs and a flavorful broth and vegetables. I enjoyed it, unidentified parts and all! Sorry, I forgot to get a picture of this one.
On Monday I also went to the World War 2 museum, it was OK. It didn't have a lot of "artifacts", only a few. It mostly just told the story via posters and pictures. It focused heavily on Malaysia's role in the war. Kota Bharu was the first landing point of the Japanese for the invasion of Malaya.
I wandered around the city some more and got some dinner, fried rice. It was good. I then headed over to the night market, which sets up every night outside the Central Market. It was alright, lots of vendors selling all sorts of clothes and accessories and pirated CDs and movies. I had a little snack there too, fish satay. The fish wasn't really in fish form, more like these weird little balls, and they didn't taste much like fish. They were super cheap though, 10 sen a piece (100 sen=1 Ringgit, 1 ringgit=30 cents US, so 10 sen is about 3 cents US). The best part was that the vendor was grilling them on the back of his motorbike. The setup was resting on the kickstand, and he had all the skewers ready to go in a large plexi-glass box on the back. Behind the box, resting on the back of the bike, was a charcoal grill on which he cooked the skewers. He would then dunk them into this sweet-spicy chili sauce and put them in a bag and give them to you. It was great! I had never seen something quite like it, definitely one of the coolest things I've seen.
Tuesday, yesterday, I wandered a lot more. I went to the Royal Museum, which is all about the Sultans and Sultanesses of Kelantan, focusing on the current ones. It had lots of their items and rooms from their homes from over time (they basically moved all the furniture and possessions and re-assembled the stuff in rooms at the museum). It was pretty interesting, Their Highnesses now seem to have a primarily ceremonial role.
For food I ate at some out of the way roadside stalls. I had roti cannai (I really like the stuff). Another meal was fried rice (again) which was also good. I also got some really good Chinese doughnuts. They fry em right there, so you get them while they're hot. One was like a kinda sweet, plain cruller, alright. The other was this disc that puffed up so it was hollow in the middle. Inside the cavity was a layer of (sweet) red bean paste. Red bean paste has got to be one of my favorite ingredients, it tastes soooo good! That doughnut (OK, doughnuts, I went back for a second) was spectacular. If you think red bean paste sounds gross as a dessert item, please try it. It's just awesome. It's pretty thick, mashed up boiled red beans (it's not very wet though) with sugar.
Today I did some souvenir shopping and went for a long walk outside the city centre. I didn't know there was so much in Kota Bharu, I had only gotten a little taste previously. It is a good sized city, about half a million people. I had a basic lunch of chicken with soy and rice, and a bit of soup at this hawker centre. It was good. This evening I went to the night market again. This time around I had a new food. I had grilled flattened dried squid. There are these little carts that set up near/around the night market. They hang up all these little flat dried squids (I don't know how they get to this stage) from strings running across the front of their cart. To make the dish they take the little squid and put it through this crank roller (with ridges that interlock). The squid gets really big (in surface area), though unrecognizable except for the little tentacles. It also takes on the texture from the rollers. The "squid" is then placed on the little charcoal grill for a few moments to heat it up (I don't think it really cooks), and flipped around a few times. It's then placed in a little plastic bag with a bit of sweet and spicy chili sauce (like with the fish satay, it's pretty popular condiment around here, a bit like our ketchup). You eat it out of the bag as is. It only costs 1 ringgit. It wasn't bad, I didn't think it was fantastic, but it was a good snack.
Tommorow morning I fly out to Penang back on the West Coast. I'm really looking forward to it, it's supposed to be great.
Well that does it for me, I gotta go to bed. Thanks for all the great comments, I love to hear them.
Goodnight,
Mike
These past few days in Kota Bharu have been interesting. In all honesty, I didn't do anything epic, or go very far, but it was a great experience.
On Monday, my first full day here, I just got a feel for the city. My lovely guesthouse is pretty close to the city centre.
I ventured into the Central Market, that place is very, very large. It has anything you could possibly want (except pork). There's a large section of fruit sellers outside. On the first floor are the vegetable sellers in the middle (it's an octagonal building), and the fish and meat sellers around them.
The other floors have other provisions like dry goods, textiles, cleaning supplies and more. An attached building has all sorts of food stands selling lunch. That's where I had a great bowl of "stomach" soup. I don't believe the guy when he told me the stuff in the soup was just stomach (from the cow). The stand had these different "parts" hanging from hooks, and they cut off pieces for my soup when they made it. One of the large parts I saw them cut stuff off from for my soup from looked like stomach, and another looked like cooked beef (the actual meat). I'm not really sure what the other two items were. One kinda looked like a funky intestine-y type thing, though it was all kinda tightly coiled with tissue connecting all the tubes. The other looked like, well, I have no friggin clue what it looked like. How did it taste? Offalicious. It had bean sprouts and herbs and a flavorful broth and vegetables. I enjoyed it, unidentified parts and all! Sorry, I forgot to get a picture of this one.
On Monday I also went to the World War 2 museum, it was OK. It didn't have a lot of "artifacts", only a few. It mostly just told the story via posters and pictures. It focused heavily on Malaysia's role in the war. Kota Bharu was the first landing point of the Japanese for the invasion of Malaya.
I wandered around the city some more and got some dinner, fried rice. It was good. I then headed over to the night market, which sets up every night outside the Central Market. It was alright, lots of vendors selling all sorts of clothes and accessories and pirated CDs and movies. I had a little snack there too, fish satay. The fish wasn't really in fish form, more like these weird little balls, and they didn't taste much like fish. They were super cheap though, 10 sen a piece (100 sen=1 Ringgit, 1 ringgit=30 cents US, so 10 sen is about 3 cents US). The best part was that the vendor was grilling them on the back of his motorbike. The setup was resting on the kickstand, and he had all the skewers ready to go in a large plexi-glass box on the back. Behind the box, resting on the back of the bike, was a charcoal grill on which he cooked the skewers. He would then dunk them into this sweet-spicy chili sauce and put them in a bag and give them to you. It was great! I had never seen something quite like it, definitely one of the coolest things I've seen.
Tuesday, yesterday, I wandered a lot more. I went to the Royal Museum, which is all about the Sultans and Sultanesses of Kelantan, focusing on the current ones. It had lots of their items and rooms from their homes from over time (they basically moved all the furniture and possessions and re-assembled the stuff in rooms at the museum). It was pretty interesting, Their Highnesses now seem to have a primarily ceremonial role.
For food I ate at some out of the way roadside stalls. I had roti cannai (I really like the stuff). Another meal was fried rice (again) which was also good. I also got some really good Chinese doughnuts. They fry em right there, so you get them while they're hot. One was like a kinda sweet, plain cruller, alright. The other was this disc that puffed up so it was hollow in the middle. Inside the cavity was a layer of (sweet) red bean paste. Red bean paste has got to be one of my favorite ingredients, it tastes soooo good! That doughnut (OK, doughnuts, I went back for a second) was spectacular. If you think red bean paste sounds gross as a dessert item, please try it. It's just awesome. It's pretty thick, mashed up boiled red beans (it's not very wet though) with sugar.
Today I did some souvenir shopping and went for a long walk outside the city centre. I didn't know there was so much in Kota Bharu, I had only gotten a little taste previously. It is a good sized city, about half a million people. I had a basic lunch of chicken with soy and rice, and a bit of soup at this hawker centre. It was good. This evening I went to the night market again. This time around I had a new food. I had grilled flattened dried squid. There are these little carts that set up near/around the night market. They hang up all these little flat dried squids (I don't know how they get to this stage) from strings running across the front of their cart. To make the dish they take the little squid and put it through this crank roller (with ridges that interlock). The squid gets really big (in surface area), though unrecognizable except for the little tentacles. It also takes on the texture from the rollers. The "squid" is then placed on the little charcoal grill for a few moments to heat it up (I don't think it really cooks), and flipped around a few times. It's then placed in a little plastic bag with a bit of sweet and spicy chili sauce (like with the fish satay, it's pretty popular condiment around here, a bit like our ketchup). You eat it out of the bag as is. It only costs 1 ringgit. It wasn't bad, I didn't think it was fantastic, but it was a good snack.
Tommorow morning I fly out to Penang back on the West Coast. I'm really looking forward to it, it's supposed to be great.
Well that does it for me, I gotta go to bed. Thanks for all the great comments, I love to hear them.
Goodnight,
Mike
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Form separate queues according to your gender, please
This is what the government of Kelantan, Malaysia asks.
It's Sunday evening here in Kota Bharu.
Yesterday, Saturday, was my last day in Kuala Lumpur. I had seen most of the major stuff in the city. I just figured I'd go out for a walk. I did wind up at both the Jemak Mosque and The National Mosque (which, presumably, is very large). Both were not very exciting, as tourists cannot enter the mosques, only walk on the areas around them. I saw one tourist get chased out of a prayer area (open air) by the cleaning guy using the stick end of the mop. It was pretty funny, no one got hurt. I got some good lunch, more Indian food, a spicy fried chicken with rice and vegetables and such. I made my way back to the hostel to chill out. I made it just in time, the tropical rain hit hard. I've never seen it rain like that for that long. There was tons of thunder and lightning too. A few of us just hung out and played scrabble. There was a "party" at the hostel that night, so I hung out there talking to other travelers, good conversation. I was the only American (I've only met one American so far in my travels, in Melaka, and he is an expat who settled in the Philippines). There were a few British, a Canadian, a German, a Dutch, an Iranian, and the Malaysian owner.It was a lot of fun.
This morning I woke up at 4:30 to catch my 7:30 plane to Kota Bharu. Coincidentally, the German guy was heading out on the same flight. The guy working reception at the hostel who checked him in found out about his plans (they always wask where you're going), and knew I was doing the same. This meant we could both justify a cab ride (we split it). Otherwise, I would have had to go to the central train/bus station by cab (monorail/trains don't run at that hour), then take an hour and 15 min bus ride out to the airport (its pretty far outside the city). Our taxi driver got us there in 35 minutes, his foot seemed to like the gas pedal, and there was no traffic. The plane ride went without a problem (this flight cost me about $34 US). It's on a super-budget airline, Air Asia, which flies out of a special terminal, not connected to the others, we boarded via tarmac. We landed an hour later, at 8:30.
I took a taxi to Ideal Traveller's House. Ritz-Carlton, watch out! Ideal Traveller's House is an experience. Only cold water here. My room is pretty basic. Cement floor, thin mattress, windows (glass slats that pivot, kinda like a venetian blind) don't quite close all the way, a ceiling fan and a fluorescent light. On the upside, it's only about 5 bucks a night! (ew, the hostel owner just farted). Fortunately they do have a little pay internet area that I'm on now. There's also a phone and cheap phone cards, so I got to call home which was great (Hi Mom and Dad!).
Before I go any further, I should tell you about where I am. Kota Bharu is the capital of the state of Kelantan. It's located on the East Coast of the Peninsula (Melaka, KL, Penang, which is my next destination, and much of the rest of the Malaysia population is on the West Coast). Kelantan is ruled by the opposition party, the Islamic Party of Malaysia. It's rather conservative Islamism in effect. It would be more conservative, but the federal government won't allow it. Many believe that Sharia (Islamic law) would be totally in effect if the federal government didn't interfere. Nonetheless, you see the differences from the rest of Malaysia. Headscarves are required for Muslim women (the ethnic Chinese don't wear them, nor do others such as Western visitors). I don't know how they know who's Muslim, and if this is ever enforced. All women aren't supposed to wear clothing that exposes shoulders, midriffs etc (I don't know if this is enforced either). One that nearly got me today is that men and women queue separately in the grocery store. I stopped in to pick up some juice and just got in the shortest line. The I looked up at the sign over the cashier and remembered what I had read a while ago. The sign had the profile of a woman's shoulder and head (whose hair is, of course, covered in a scarf) as well as the Malay word for "woman" (I forget what it is now, but I did recognize it at the time). I hunted down the men's line (there was only one for men as opposed to 4 for women, as women do most of the shopping here). The sign had the profile of a man (wearing traditional Islamic cap). My blunder wasn't noticed (I think), but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have been a big deal. I should also mention any female model on a billboard must also be wearing a headscarf. Needless to say, it's been a bit of a culture shock. It's a bit hard to take it all in when I think about it. It's difficult to understand "why" things are the way they are. Yet, this is the reason I came here, I knew I should see something very different from what I'm used to.
The men do dress more conservatively here too, though it's not required by law. I won't be donning shorts in the next few days. The sale of alcohol is nearly non-existent. The one exception is hotels run by ethnic Chinese (like my hostel). Sale of alcohol is permitted in these hotels only. Still, it's pretty expensive, I won't be indulging.
Today was mainly spent wandering around. I got a lay of the city which was good. I took a nice nap too. Of course, I ate good food too. I had a great bowl of noodles and accompaniments in a really spicy broth. I also had the local banana fritters (fried on the street). Dinner was rice with good roast pork (from the Chinese, of course, pork isn't Halal).
That about wraps it up.
Hope you enjoyed reading,
Mike
PS Andrew brought up a good point in a comment on a previous post. Kuala Lumpur used to be a tin mining town. It's name means "Muddy Confluence" (or similar). Needless to say, it's come a long way.
It's Sunday evening here in Kota Bharu.
Yesterday, Saturday, was my last day in Kuala Lumpur. I had seen most of the major stuff in the city. I just figured I'd go out for a walk. I did wind up at both the Jemak Mosque and The National Mosque (which, presumably, is very large). Both were not very exciting, as tourists cannot enter the mosques, only walk on the areas around them. I saw one tourist get chased out of a prayer area (open air) by the cleaning guy using the stick end of the mop. It was pretty funny, no one got hurt. I got some good lunch, more Indian food, a spicy fried chicken with rice and vegetables and such. I made my way back to the hostel to chill out. I made it just in time, the tropical rain hit hard. I've never seen it rain like that for that long. There was tons of thunder and lightning too. A few of us just hung out and played scrabble. There was a "party" at the hostel that night, so I hung out there talking to other travelers, good conversation. I was the only American (I've only met one American so far in my travels, in Melaka, and he is an expat who settled in the Philippines). There were a few British, a Canadian, a German, a Dutch, an Iranian, and the Malaysian owner.It was a lot of fun.
This morning I woke up at 4:30 to catch my 7:30 plane to Kota Bharu. Coincidentally, the German guy was heading out on the same flight. The guy working reception at the hostel who checked him in found out about his plans (they always wask where you're going), and knew I was doing the same. This meant we could both justify a cab ride (we split it). Otherwise, I would have had to go to the central train/bus station by cab (monorail/trains don't run at that hour), then take an hour and 15 min bus ride out to the airport (its pretty far outside the city). Our taxi driver got us there in 35 minutes, his foot seemed to like the gas pedal, and there was no traffic. The plane ride went without a problem (this flight cost me about $34 US). It's on a super-budget airline, Air Asia, which flies out of a special terminal, not connected to the others, we boarded via tarmac. We landed an hour later, at 8:30.
I took a taxi to Ideal Traveller's House. Ritz-Carlton, watch out! Ideal Traveller's House is an experience. Only cold water here. My room is pretty basic. Cement floor, thin mattress, windows (glass slats that pivot, kinda like a venetian blind) don't quite close all the way, a ceiling fan and a fluorescent light. On the upside, it's only about 5 bucks a night! (ew, the hostel owner just farted). Fortunately they do have a little pay internet area that I'm on now. There's also a phone and cheap phone cards, so I got to call home which was great (Hi Mom and Dad!).
Before I go any further, I should tell you about where I am. Kota Bharu is the capital of the state of Kelantan. It's located on the East Coast of the Peninsula (Melaka, KL, Penang, which is my next destination, and much of the rest of the Malaysia population is on the West Coast). Kelantan is ruled by the opposition party, the Islamic Party of Malaysia. It's rather conservative Islamism in effect. It would be more conservative, but the federal government won't allow it. Many believe that Sharia (Islamic law) would be totally in effect if the federal government didn't interfere. Nonetheless, you see the differences from the rest of Malaysia. Headscarves are required for Muslim women (the ethnic Chinese don't wear them, nor do others such as Western visitors). I don't know how they know who's Muslim, and if this is ever enforced. All women aren't supposed to wear clothing that exposes shoulders, midriffs etc (I don't know if this is enforced either). One that nearly got me today is that men and women queue separately in the grocery store. I stopped in to pick up some juice and just got in the shortest line. The I looked up at the sign over the cashier and remembered what I had read a while ago. The sign had the profile of a woman's shoulder and head (whose hair is, of course, covered in a scarf) as well as the Malay word for "woman" (I forget what it is now, but I did recognize it at the time). I hunted down the men's line (there was only one for men as opposed to 4 for women, as women do most of the shopping here). The sign had the profile of a man (wearing traditional Islamic cap). My blunder wasn't noticed (I think), but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have been a big deal. I should also mention any female model on a billboard must also be wearing a headscarf. Needless to say, it's been a bit of a culture shock. It's a bit hard to take it all in when I think about it. It's difficult to understand "why" things are the way they are. Yet, this is the reason I came here, I knew I should see something very different from what I'm used to.
The men do dress more conservatively here too, though it's not required by law. I won't be donning shorts in the next few days. The sale of alcohol is nearly non-existent. The one exception is hotels run by ethnic Chinese (like my hostel). Sale of alcohol is permitted in these hotels only. Still, it's pretty expensive, I won't be indulging.
Today was mainly spent wandering around. I got a lay of the city which was good. I took a nice nap too. Of course, I ate good food too. I had a great bowl of noodles and accompaniments in a really spicy broth. I also had the local banana fritters (fried on the street). Dinner was rice with good roast pork (from the Chinese, of course, pork isn't Halal).
That about wraps it up.
Hope you enjoyed reading,
Mike
PS Andrew brought up a good point in a comment on a previous post. Kuala Lumpur used to be a tin mining town. It's name means "Muddy Confluence" (or similar). Needless to say, it's come a long way.
Friday, August 15, 2008
I saw the world's largest gold statue of Lord Murugan!!!!
Hi again,
Its Friday night here in Kuala Lumpur. The past couple of days have been fun, I've seen quite a bit.
It's amazing how fast this city is growing. You see a lot of tearing down the old and building up the new. It's a very tall city, there's high rises everywhere.
On Wednesday, my roommate from the dorm, and I walked around the city a biut more. We went up the KL tower, a very tall communications tower. It has an observation deck which allows for awesome views of the city. It was cool to see the whole city and beyond, it's flanked by mountains which makes for a spectacular sight. Unfortunately, it was a bit hazy. I wouldn't say the air quality here is really bad, but it can be less than optimal. Being next to traffic can be unpleasant, especially when there's a pack of motorcycles (a lot of people have them, and they always make their way to the front of traffic at a red light. When they take off they throw off horrible exhaust). We also visited Chinatown and Little India, which were both a bit of a letdown. Chinatown is centered around Petaling Street, which is nothing more than a street to buy items with a brand name (It's apparent the LA Lakers aren't getting royalty checks for their jerseys sold here). It has all the stuff like "Rolex" (stress on the quotations) and so on, not really my thing. Little India was pretty much non-existent.
We also visited Merdeka Square, which was a huge grass covered area with lots of flags. It wasn't too exciting. However, I must say, the Malaysian Flag is quite beautiful, and quite familiar looking. Here's a picture Malaysian Flag
I can't even remember what I ate that day. I do know we had lunch at a Malay Hawker Centre. To be honest, Malay food hasn't been my favorite, with a noteable exception for satay. However, I do love the Chinese and Indian food here.
Yesterday, Thursday, we visited the Batu Caves. They're just a bit outside the city. The Batu Caves are a holy site for Hindus. During the Festival of Thaipusam, about 1 million people visit the caves. It is quite spectacular there.
When you get there, you see an enormous gold statue of Lord Murugan, 42 meters tall. Then you see the stairs. There's 272 of them, the entrance to the caves is in the side of a cliff, but not at ground level. You need to climb the stairs to enter. One other thing, there's monkeys. Lots and lots of monkeys. They feed of fruit that people give them, as well as rubbish, a lot are playing with plastic water bottles and such. The caves (they're very, very large) are cool. There's statues inside (and a few dozen more stairs). It was all fun to see. However, the monkey are the best part. They all run around, acting like, well, like monkeys. They fight and play. There's tiny baby monkeys clutching onto their mothers as the mothers walk around. One person gave a banana to one. Watching a monkey actually eat a banana is quite funny. They do a perfect job of peeling it down as they eat it, just like you would see in a cartoon. On the way back down one chased me, it was eyeing my water bottle. It eventually gave up.
We headed back into the city and got lunch. That was really good, Chinese style barbecue pork with rice. I like pork, I like barbecueing, I like rice. I liked that dish. The pork was super tender, juicy and sweet. It also had crisped up a bit on the outside, just slightly. And it had plenty of fat, and pork fat is awesome.
Later, we went to the Lake Gardens. They were quite boring, a lot of it was under construction.
Last evening we headed out to a street near the hostel we heard about, filled with street stalls. I had a good bowl of noodles with bits of meat and mushrooms and bokchoy and dumplings, very good.
Today was really spent chilling out, it seems, in talking to the people working at the hostel, I've seen most of what the city has to see. I did head out on the Monorail to a neighborhood the receptionist mentioned. It's more of a Little India than Little India. Unlike the other boring Little India in KL, this one had lots of shops and restaurants and markets and such. I had lunch at a banana leaf restaurant (they're very popular with the Indian community). I think they guy there was having fun filling my banana leaf with food. It's an all you can eat type deal. And he kept dumping food on my leaf, even though I tried to refuse. He was kinda chuckling. Needless to say I couldnt finish, but I did give it my best.
Now I'm back here hanging out. I'm sure I'll find something for tommorow. On Sunday I leave for Kota Bharu (I originally thought I was leaving Saturday).
I'll try to get up more photos soon.
Take it easy,
Mike
Its Friday night here in Kuala Lumpur. The past couple of days have been fun, I've seen quite a bit.
It's amazing how fast this city is growing. You see a lot of tearing down the old and building up the new. It's a very tall city, there's high rises everywhere.
On Wednesday, my roommate from the dorm, and I walked around the city a biut more. We went up the KL tower, a very tall communications tower. It has an observation deck which allows for awesome views of the city. It was cool to see the whole city and beyond, it's flanked by mountains which makes for a spectacular sight. Unfortunately, it was a bit hazy. I wouldn't say the air quality here is really bad, but it can be less than optimal. Being next to traffic can be unpleasant, especially when there's a pack of motorcycles (a lot of people have them, and they always make their way to the front of traffic at a red light. When they take off they throw off horrible exhaust). We also visited Chinatown and Little India, which were both a bit of a letdown. Chinatown is centered around Petaling Street, which is nothing more than a street to buy items with a brand name (It's apparent the LA Lakers aren't getting royalty checks for their jerseys sold here). It has all the stuff like "Rolex" (stress on the quotations) and so on, not really my thing. Little India was pretty much non-existent.
We also visited Merdeka Square, which was a huge grass covered area with lots of flags. It wasn't too exciting. However, I must say, the Malaysian Flag is quite beautiful, and quite familiar looking. Here's a picture Malaysian Flag
I can't even remember what I ate that day. I do know we had lunch at a Malay Hawker Centre. To be honest, Malay food hasn't been my favorite, with a noteable exception for satay. However, I do love the Chinese and Indian food here.
Yesterday, Thursday, we visited the Batu Caves. They're just a bit outside the city. The Batu Caves are a holy site for Hindus. During the Festival of Thaipusam, about 1 million people visit the caves. It is quite spectacular there.
When you get there, you see an enormous gold statue of Lord Murugan, 42 meters tall. Then you see the stairs. There's 272 of them, the entrance to the caves is in the side of a cliff, but not at ground level. You need to climb the stairs to enter. One other thing, there's monkeys. Lots and lots of monkeys. They feed of fruit that people give them, as well as rubbish, a lot are playing with plastic water bottles and such. The caves (they're very, very large) are cool. There's statues inside (and a few dozen more stairs). It was all fun to see. However, the monkey are the best part. They all run around, acting like, well, like monkeys. They fight and play. There's tiny baby monkeys clutching onto their mothers as the mothers walk around. One person gave a banana to one. Watching a monkey actually eat a banana is quite funny. They do a perfect job of peeling it down as they eat it, just like you would see in a cartoon. On the way back down one chased me, it was eyeing my water bottle. It eventually gave up.
We headed back into the city and got lunch. That was really good, Chinese style barbecue pork with rice. I like pork, I like barbecueing, I like rice. I liked that dish. The pork was super tender, juicy and sweet. It also had crisped up a bit on the outside, just slightly. And it had plenty of fat, and pork fat is awesome.
Later, we went to the Lake Gardens. They were quite boring, a lot of it was under construction.
Last evening we headed out to a street near the hostel we heard about, filled with street stalls. I had a good bowl of noodles with bits of meat and mushrooms and bokchoy and dumplings, very good.
Today was really spent chilling out, it seems, in talking to the people working at the hostel, I've seen most of what the city has to see. I did head out on the Monorail to a neighborhood the receptionist mentioned. It's more of a Little India than Little India. Unlike the other boring Little India in KL, this one had lots of shops and restaurants and markets and such. I had lunch at a banana leaf restaurant (they're very popular with the Indian community). I think they guy there was having fun filling my banana leaf with food. It's an all you can eat type deal. And he kept dumping food on my leaf, even though I tried to refuse. He was kinda chuckling. Needless to say I couldnt finish, but I did give it my best.
Now I'm back here hanging out. I'm sure I'll find something for tommorow. On Sunday I leave for Kota Bharu (I originally thought I was leaving Saturday).
I'll try to get up more photos soon.
Take it easy,
Mike
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Kuala Lumpur!
I arrived in Kuala Lumpur today.
My last day in Melaka was pretty uneventful. I explored some more of the city. Had a good lunch of chicken rice balls. I didn't do anything too crazy, chilled out some.
This morning I boarded the bus to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital. It was about a 2 1/2 hour ride, not bad at all. I arrived in the early afternoon and walked over to the hostel from the bus station (about 1 km). The place seems alright, there's definetely a lot more backpackers here than there have been in the previous hostels I've stayed in. I'm in a 4-person dorm.
I went for a walk around the city with another person from the hostel. Lunch was at an Indian place, very good. We headed over to the Petronas Towers. Those things are HUGE. In fact, they're the second tallest buildings in the world (after Tapei 101). You can't go up to the top, only half way up to the skybridge that connects the two. I didn't go up, supposedly you have to get there really early in the morning for tickets, and I hear its not really worth it. Nonetheless, it was really cool to see. The whole downtown area is very busy, and very modern.
Dinner was in Tampong Bharu. It's a neighborhood in/next to downtown Kuala Lumpur. It's kind of a strange place, because its a tradtitional Malay neighborhood. The neighborhood has small houses, and other things such as chickens. But strangely, its right next to big skyscrapers and the hustle and bustle of KL. Very strange indeed, it feels like walking through a portal. Supposedly the area is worth over $1 billion or something. But the local elders refuse to sell it, trying to preserve the culture. It's awesome that a place like that exists amdist the growing city.
Anyways after searching around for a bit, we had a few skewers of satay (sate). I had it a few times in Melaka but failed to mention it, I don't know why. It's got to be one of the most amazing foods. Its not like the American version of satay at all. You know the kind, big chunks of meat on a skewer served with what is essentially melted peanut butter. These are little skewers of meat (pork or chicken), with little bits of meat on them. They're cooked over these long troughs of charcoal, close to the coals, imparting an awesome flavor. The cook fans the meat as it cooks. The meat is marinated, and is awesome on its own. But when paired with the also awesome dipping sauce, it becomes phenomenal. The sauce is peanut based, but not sticky. Its got fine bits of peanuts, some sugar, chili, and a lot of other stuff, not too sure what it is, but it's fantastic. It's quickly becoming one of my favorite foods. And at about 15 cents US a skewer, they're a steal.
We also had a legitimate dinner in the same area. I had what was like a stir-fried rice with all sorts of meat and vegetbles inside a large, but very thin omelette, drizzled with this sweet sauce, very good.
That about sums up the day. I don't know where I'll be heading tommorow. There is a lot to do in the area. I'll probably figure something out tonight.
Until next time,
Mike
My last day in Melaka was pretty uneventful. I explored some more of the city. Had a good lunch of chicken rice balls. I didn't do anything too crazy, chilled out some.
This morning I boarded the bus to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital. It was about a 2 1/2 hour ride, not bad at all. I arrived in the early afternoon and walked over to the hostel from the bus station (about 1 km). The place seems alright, there's definetely a lot more backpackers here than there have been in the previous hostels I've stayed in. I'm in a 4-person dorm.
I went for a walk around the city with another person from the hostel. Lunch was at an Indian place, very good. We headed over to the Petronas Towers. Those things are HUGE. In fact, they're the second tallest buildings in the world (after Tapei 101). You can't go up to the top, only half way up to the skybridge that connects the two. I didn't go up, supposedly you have to get there really early in the morning for tickets, and I hear its not really worth it. Nonetheless, it was really cool to see. The whole downtown area is very busy, and very modern.
Dinner was in Tampong Bharu. It's a neighborhood in/next to downtown Kuala Lumpur. It's kind of a strange place, because its a tradtitional Malay neighborhood. The neighborhood has small houses, and other things such as chickens. But strangely, its right next to big skyscrapers and the hustle and bustle of KL. Very strange indeed, it feels like walking through a portal. Supposedly the area is worth over $1 billion or something. But the local elders refuse to sell it, trying to preserve the culture. It's awesome that a place like that exists amdist the growing city.
Anyways after searching around for a bit, we had a few skewers of satay (sate). I had it a few times in Melaka but failed to mention it, I don't know why. It's got to be one of the most amazing foods. Its not like the American version of satay at all. You know the kind, big chunks of meat on a skewer served with what is essentially melted peanut butter. These are little skewers of meat (pork or chicken), with little bits of meat on them. They're cooked over these long troughs of charcoal, close to the coals, imparting an awesome flavor. The cook fans the meat as it cooks. The meat is marinated, and is awesome on its own. But when paired with the also awesome dipping sauce, it becomes phenomenal. The sauce is peanut based, but not sticky. Its got fine bits of peanuts, some sugar, chili, and a lot of other stuff, not too sure what it is, but it's fantastic. It's quickly becoming one of my favorite foods. And at about 15 cents US a skewer, they're a steal.
We also had a legitimate dinner in the same area. I had what was like a stir-fried rice with all sorts of meat and vegetbles inside a large, but very thin omelette, drizzled with this sweet sauce, very good.
That about sums up the day. I don't know where I'll be heading tommorow. There is a lot to do in the area. I'll probably figure something out tonight.
Until next time,
Mike
Sunday, August 10, 2008
My meal costs how much?!?!?!
$0.82 US.
Yup, that's right, I had breakfast for 82 cents this morning, and it was delicious and awesome.
I headed out of the hostel this morning in search of breakfast. I walked down the street and popped into this little open air restaurant I came across, they seemed popular, and full of locals. There were two guys working at this big griddle station making a dish. I had seen it before, but never had it, nor did I know what it was. I later found out, after asking the hostel owner, that it was roti canai. It's awesome how it's made. The guy takes a piece of this dough, holding it from one end, and whips it through the air, letting it smack down against the table. He does this repeatedly, and the piece of dough flattens and gets larger and larger and larger, making a HUGE, thin disc. It's basically a flat bread. Its then griddled, cooked with fillings, folded over and cooked and so forth. The finally result... deliciousness. I got mine filled with eggs and onions, as the cook suggested. It's served with a thick, spiced gravy with a few vegetables. I got a coffee with condensed milk too. Very filling. And it only cost 2.70 Ringgits, 82 cents US.
Breakfast yesterday was really expensive though, that cost 4 Ringgits, or $1.21 US. That included a coffee, a watermelon juice (freshly made), and an awesome bowl of Mee Rabes. Mee Rabes is another local dish. It's noodles in a spicy broth (noodles for breakfast is very common in SE Asia), with a couple of pieces of vegetables and sweet chilies, and big chunks of fry-cake. The fry-cake is hard to describe, I was told it has onions in it, its kinda like a spongy tofu, battered and fried. The chunks are served over the noodles, but you stir them in when you go to eat it, and the batter absorbs the broth. This breakfast was also awesome.
The guy working there was really friendly. It seems that this place (another open air place nearby the hostel filled with locals) just serves drinks, and if you want food, you order it from the cart outside (where I got my noodles). He guided me through what I should get, how to eat it and so on. He, like other people I met had questions about my trip, where I'm from, what do I do and more.
I gotta say, I've seen a lot of friendly faces in my time in Malaysia. From the moment I was at the bus station in Johor Bahru, I was getting many curious looks, smiles, and waves. Though there's definitely a strong base of tourists here, getting off the beaten path a bit helps, and the people here really seem to like outsiders visiting. Here In Melaka, I get more people saying hi, trying to help me with what I'm doing. Malaysia is famous for hospitality.
Yesterday, Saturday, I explored the area a bit. It's a very historical city, settled by the Portuguese. I walked around the old city a bit. I saw Chinatown which was interesting, some Chinese temples and such. I also visited Christ Church, the oldest church in Southeast Asia. In the evening I went back to Chinatown for the night market. Not my thing. It was jam packed with people, hard to move. It was very cheesy and touristy, not authentic like I hoped. The vendors were really selling crap you can get anywhere. I tried to get out, uit was difficult, with the massive amounts of people there. I went back to the hostel and fell asleep.
This morning after breakfast I checked out for the old city, heading in a different direction. I found the Indian community, and had lunch there of chicken biryani and more. It's not the afternoon, and I'm just hanging out. I took a nap. I don't know what I'll do tomorrow, maybe I'll rent a bike.
I know I mentioned it before, but this hostel/guesthouse really has some character. It's run by a Malaysian guy, Mark, who has some serious traveling under his belt. He lives in the hostel (I think in a room not much fancier than anyone else's). Mark's job seems to be hang out and talk with travelers, be at peace with the world, maintain a beard-ponytail combo and of course manage a small hostel. It's kinda basic here, one shower for the 14 rooms of people (the rooms are either single or doubles). There's no hot water; yup, thats right, cold showers with little pressure. Make sure you rinse and squeegee the floor, it's really just a shower head in the bathroom, no actual shower/bathtub. Much of the place is open air, birds fly through. I've seen lots of the little lizards that I mentioned, though they don't come far inside. There's a few koi ponds. Plants everywhere. There's no air conditioners (how could there be?), just fans. People walk around in various states of dress. Make sure you leave your shoes at the door. The fridge is stocked with soft drinks and yogurt. You serve yourself. You pay based on the honor system; you write down what you take on your page in a little book on the table. It's tallied up at the end of your stay.
Please pass the granola, man.
I probably wont be able to get any pictures up until I get to Kuala Lumpur, this computer's pretty old. I should head out on Tuesday, I'm really excited.
Feeling groovy in Melaka,
Mike
P.S. Barcleigh, I'm so glad your commenting on my blog. Your most recent post was very thought inspiring. I'm particularly amazed at the fact that you can use the computer, granted you don't possess fingers or thumbs.
Yup, that's right, I had breakfast for 82 cents this morning, and it was delicious and awesome.
I headed out of the hostel this morning in search of breakfast. I walked down the street and popped into this little open air restaurant I came across, they seemed popular, and full of locals. There were two guys working at this big griddle station making a dish. I had seen it before, but never had it, nor did I know what it was. I later found out, after asking the hostel owner, that it was roti canai. It's awesome how it's made. The guy takes a piece of this dough, holding it from one end, and whips it through the air, letting it smack down against the table. He does this repeatedly, and the piece of dough flattens and gets larger and larger and larger, making a HUGE, thin disc. It's basically a flat bread. Its then griddled, cooked with fillings, folded over and cooked and so forth. The finally result... deliciousness. I got mine filled with eggs and onions, as the cook suggested. It's served with a thick, spiced gravy with a few vegetables. I got a coffee with condensed milk too. Very filling. And it only cost 2.70 Ringgits, 82 cents US.
Breakfast yesterday was really expensive though, that cost 4 Ringgits, or $1.21 US. That included a coffee, a watermelon juice (freshly made), and an awesome bowl of Mee Rabes. Mee Rabes is another local dish. It's noodles in a spicy broth (noodles for breakfast is very common in SE Asia), with a couple of pieces of vegetables and sweet chilies, and big chunks of fry-cake. The fry-cake is hard to describe, I was told it has onions in it, its kinda like a spongy tofu, battered and fried. The chunks are served over the noodles, but you stir them in when you go to eat it, and the batter absorbs the broth. This breakfast was also awesome.
The guy working there was really friendly. It seems that this place (another open air place nearby the hostel filled with locals) just serves drinks, and if you want food, you order it from the cart outside (where I got my noodles). He guided me through what I should get, how to eat it and so on. He, like other people I met had questions about my trip, where I'm from, what do I do and more.
I gotta say, I've seen a lot of friendly faces in my time in Malaysia. From the moment I was at the bus station in Johor Bahru, I was getting many curious looks, smiles, and waves. Though there's definitely a strong base of tourists here, getting off the beaten path a bit helps, and the people here really seem to like outsiders visiting. Here In Melaka, I get more people saying hi, trying to help me with what I'm doing. Malaysia is famous for hospitality.
Yesterday, Saturday, I explored the area a bit. It's a very historical city, settled by the Portuguese. I walked around the old city a bit. I saw Chinatown which was interesting, some Chinese temples and such. I also visited Christ Church, the oldest church in Southeast Asia. In the evening I went back to Chinatown for the night market. Not my thing. It was jam packed with people, hard to move. It was very cheesy and touristy, not authentic like I hoped. The vendors were really selling crap you can get anywhere. I tried to get out, uit was difficult, with the massive amounts of people there. I went back to the hostel and fell asleep.
This morning after breakfast I checked out for the old city, heading in a different direction. I found the Indian community, and had lunch there of chicken biryani and more. It's not the afternoon, and I'm just hanging out. I took a nap. I don't know what I'll do tomorrow, maybe I'll rent a bike.
I know I mentioned it before, but this hostel/guesthouse really has some character. It's run by a Malaysian guy, Mark, who has some serious traveling under his belt. He lives in the hostel (I think in a room not much fancier than anyone else's). Mark's job seems to be hang out and talk with travelers, be at peace with the world, maintain a beard-ponytail combo and of course manage a small hostel. It's kinda basic here, one shower for the 14 rooms of people (the rooms are either single or doubles). There's no hot water; yup, thats right, cold showers with little pressure. Make sure you rinse and squeegee the floor, it's really just a shower head in the bathroom, no actual shower/bathtub. Much of the place is open air, birds fly through. I've seen lots of the little lizards that I mentioned, though they don't come far inside. There's a few koi ponds. Plants everywhere. There's no air conditioners (how could there be?), just fans. People walk around in various states of dress. Make sure you leave your shoes at the door. The fridge is stocked with soft drinks and yogurt. You serve yourself. You pay based on the honor system; you write down what you take on your page in a little book on the table. It's tallied up at the end of your stay.
Please pass the granola, man.
I probably wont be able to get any pictures up until I get to Kuala Lumpur, this computer's pretty old. I should head out on Tuesday, I'm really excited.
Feeling groovy in Melaka,
Mike
P.S. Barcleigh, I'm so glad your commenting on my blog. Your most recent post was very thought inspiring. I'm particularly amazed at the fact that you can use the computer, granted you don't possess fingers or thumbs.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Passport...Check! Bus Ticket...Check! Empty Stomach...Check! Hello Malaysia!
I made it to Melaka.
I originally thought I would head out tommorrow, Saturday. But I figured, why not, and went today instead. It was a bit of a journey to get here.
This morning, after sleeping in a bit and grabbing breakfast, I checked out of the hostel. I amde my way a few blocks over to the bus terminal from the CW bus (Causeway bus). I hopped on and took about a 20 minute ride to the border control at the Singapore end of the Causeway. For those who don't know, Singapore is separated from Malaysia by the Johor Strait, and is connected by the Causeway over the strait. We (the other passengers and I) hopped on the bus, while it continued one, to go through customs. We went through customs, got on another bus to go across the causeway itself. We got off again to go through Malaysian customs to enter. We got on yet another bus to go to Larkin, the Johor Bahru bus station. Johor Bahru is the city on the Malaysian side of the Strait. It pretty much seems that the buses just keep going, and pick up a new set of passengers for each leg. Passengers ride all three legs on the same ticket.
When I arrived at the bus station, I got my first glimpse of Malaysia. While its definitely not an underdeveloped country by any means, its not quite as developed as the West or Singapore either. I arrived at the station around 12:30. There were probably 15-18 coach bus companies selling tickets to various parts of Malaysia. I found one with the earliest departure heading for Melaka, at 2:30. Best of all it only cost 15 Malaysian Ringgits, or 5 Bucks US! I walked around the bus station, which doubles as a small market. It was interesting, I saw differences immediately. The most obvious was how the women were dressed, most were wearing head scarves. I had seen no shortage of it in Singapore, but not it was the majority (not all however, its not required, nor is everyone Muslim).
The bus to Melaka was pretty plush, very roomy. The view of the Malaysian countryside really fulfilled my expectations. Beautiful green forest, farmland, foggy mountains.
We arrived around 6. At this point, I could have taken a taxi, another 15 Ringgits, but I opted for the local bus, which cost 1 Ringgit, about 32 cents US! It was a bit of a pain finding the right one, and where to get off, but I managed. Malay is the only official language here, and while some people do speak a little English, you can't count on it. I better get used to it!
I made it to the guest house, and fortunately they had a room tonight, or else I would have had to find one elsewhere, and come back for the nights I did reserve.
(Call to prayer is echoing in the background)
This guest house is really cool. The owner is very relaxed, and he runs a really relaxed place. No shoes inside, though I'm not totally sure where outside ends and inside begins. Its all very open, there's an awesome garden, good for chilling out. The rooms themselves (I'm in a single) aren't even separated by full walls that go up to the ceiling. Rather, they just go most of the way. You see critters around like little frogs/toads and little lizards, though the flies/mosquitoes stay away thanks to the citronella. The critters really stay to the outer perimeter though. The place is decorated with all sorts of odds bits from around the world, included an old Singer pedal-operated sewing machine.
I don't know If I'm gonna go out tonight, I still feel a bit sick, though I'm much better than the other day. I did see some of the town from the bus, it seems pretty cool, can't wait to see it.
Well, I best be wrapping things up.
Goodnight,
Mike
I originally thought I would head out tommorrow, Saturday. But I figured, why not, and went today instead. It was a bit of a journey to get here.
This morning, after sleeping in a bit and grabbing breakfast, I checked out of the hostel. I amde my way a few blocks over to the bus terminal from the CW bus (Causeway bus). I hopped on and took about a 20 minute ride to the border control at the Singapore end of the Causeway. For those who don't know, Singapore is separated from Malaysia by the Johor Strait, and is connected by the Causeway over the strait. We (the other passengers and I) hopped on the bus, while it continued one, to go through customs. We went through customs, got on another bus to go across the causeway itself. We got off again to go through Malaysian customs to enter. We got on yet another bus to go to Larkin, the Johor Bahru bus station. Johor Bahru is the city on the Malaysian side of the Strait. It pretty much seems that the buses just keep going, and pick up a new set of passengers for each leg. Passengers ride all three legs on the same ticket.
When I arrived at the bus station, I got my first glimpse of Malaysia. While its definitely not an underdeveloped country by any means, its not quite as developed as the West or Singapore either. I arrived at the station around 12:30. There were probably 15-18 coach bus companies selling tickets to various parts of Malaysia. I found one with the earliest departure heading for Melaka, at 2:30. Best of all it only cost 15 Malaysian Ringgits, or 5 Bucks US! I walked around the bus station, which doubles as a small market. It was interesting, I saw differences immediately. The most obvious was how the women were dressed, most were wearing head scarves. I had seen no shortage of it in Singapore, but not it was the majority (not all however, its not required, nor is everyone Muslim).
The bus to Melaka was pretty plush, very roomy. The view of the Malaysian countryside really fulfilled my expectations. Beautiful green forest, farmland, foggy mountains.
We arrived around 6. At this point, I could have taken a taxi, another 15 Ringgits, but I opted for the local bus, which cost 1 Ringgit, about 32 cents US! It was a bit of a pain finding the right one, and where to get off, but I managed. Malay is the only official language here, and while some people do speak a little English, you can't count on it. I better get used to it!
I made it to the guest house, and fortunately they had a room tonight, or else I would have had to find one elsewhere, and come back for the nights I did reserve.
(Call to prayer is echoing in the background)
This guest house is really cool. The owner is very relaxed, and he runs a really relaxed place. No shoes inside, though I'm not totally sure where outside ends and inside begins. Its all very open, there's an awesome garden, good for chilling out. The rooms themselves (I'm in a single) aren't even separated by full walls that go up to the ceiling. Rather, they just go most of the way. You see critters around like little frogs/toads and little lizards, though the flies/mosquitoes stay away thanks to the citronella. The critters really stay to the outer perimeter though. The place is decorated with all sorts of odds bits from around the world, included an old Singer pedal-operated sewing machine.
I don't know If I'm gonna go out tonight, I still feel a bit sick, though I'm much better than the other day. I did see some of the town from the bus, it seems pretty cool, can't wait to see it.
Well, I best be wrapping things up.
Goodnight,
Mike
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Pepto Bismol, save me now!
Oh man...
I knew it was coming. I knew that sudden, radical changes in one's diet produces undesired gastro-intestinal results. It really hit today.I'm not feeling too great, glad I brought the Pepto. I've grown tired of being around porcelain.
One might ask, "Now Mike, was it worth eating all that crazy food?"
To which I answer, "Absolutely!"
I'm hoping I'll feel better tommorow. I feel like I might "Merlion" soon.
I did manage to go to the Botanic Garden today. It was alright, kinda chilled out, although a bit touristy. It was interesting to see all the plants, but my physical condition really limited me, and I left within 2 hours of getting there.
Food today was pretty unexciting. My stomach couldn't handle much. Pretty much had a breakfast of coffee and toast with kaya. I caved and had a bit of "western" food, mango ice cream on a funky, rainbow swirl/marbled piece of bread, making an ice cream sandwich. They seem to be pretty popular here, I see the vendor everyday doing a brisk business. I really couldn't handle much more than that.
I'm thinking I might head into Malaysia on Friday, instead of Saturday like I had originally planned. Still not too sure. I'll keep you guys posted.
That does it for me tonight. I got all the pictures up for the previous post.
Goodnight,
Mike
P.S. Thanks to everyone for all the comments. I really enjoy reading them!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Oh Crap! A Crocodile!
Or is it an alligator?
Hi everyone,
Today, Tuesday was a lot of fun. I went to Pulau Ubin. It's rural part of Singapore, an island about 1 kilometre off the coast off the main island.
Yes, rural Singapore.
I had to see it to believe it.
Singapore, as I think I have mentioned is very hectic and crowded. But I heard about this island you can visit that is part of Singapore and is still pretty undeveloped. So after a 20 minute subway ride towards the east end of the island, and a half hour bus ride, I arrived at the dock. It was quite an adventure just getting to this far, trains (subways) are easy, buses aren't. I waited about 15 minutes on one side of the road, only to find out I was on the wrong side, and had to wait another 15 before catching the right one. Surely I had missed at least one that was going in the right direction.
Anyways, I finally got to the dock. It was only a few dollars to get on a bumboat headed to Pulau Ubin. A quick trip over and I arrived. You get off at a little area with 2 or 3 open air restaurants, some bike rental paces, a police station and a visitor centre. Though there is a decent amount of tourism to the island, its not too heavy, and the fact that I went on a weekday probably helped. I saw very few other tourists in my time there. It was really nice to have the peace and tranquility after spending time in the main areas of the city.
I rented a bike and headed off. The island has a few villages you see as you ride around. It feels like stepping back in time.
I was able to get a lot of great exercise, and take in some awesome scenery. It's really thick tropical forest, and there are secluded paths. After riding a few minutes, I went over a bridge over a little stream. Then I saw it there in the stream, a crocodile (or alligator, I'm not sure). It wasn't a huge one, but about 3 feet is big enough. I stood there, staring at him for a few seconds in shock, then he dived deeper and I couldn't see him. I got to see some other cool animals. A big lizard walking along the same stream (it was probably 2 feet long). I saw mudskippers and birds and fish and more. I also saw at least 10 wild boars in a pack. Supposedly they're rather elusive, the pamphlet for the island says its very rare to see them, which made it all the cooler. I was biking down the path, and they started running across it about 50 feet in front of me. I didn't dare get any closer. I saw a few, and thought that was it, then a few more, and more still. I waited a while to make sure they were all gone, I hear boars can be pretty vicious.
Later, I saw another crocodile. This one nearly made me crap my pants. I was flying down this really narrow, really secluded path, close the the shore of this little lagoon, in thick forest. Then, outta nowhere, about 5-7 feet from me I saw this second crocodile go running off. I assume I startled him. He sure startled me.
I saw something else, no idea what it was. I got a ways of the main paths again. I had to park my bike and walk, as the "bridge" was too precarious for a bike. All i know is it had a huge tail, it was in the woods near me, and it booked it outta there on my approach.
In addition to the awesome wildlife, and great bike riding, I got great views. Plenty of coastline and lagoons. I saw a mangrove swamp which was really cool, they had this open air "tower" you could climb up to look over the swamp.
There was also a boardwalk (no bikes) to walk on to go through the swamp. Another cool thing was this really long coastal boardwalk, I was there at high tide, though at low tide you supposedly can see all the marine life that gets exposed.
Hi everyone,
Today, Tuesday was a lot of fun. I went to Pulau Ubin. It's rural part of Singapore, an island about 1 kilometre off the coast off the main island.
Yes, rural Singapore.
I had to see it to believe it.
Singapore, as I think I have mentioned is very hectic and crowded. But I heard about this island you can visit that is part of Singapore and is still pretty undeveloped. So after a 20 minute subway ride towards the east end of the island, and a half hour bus ride, I arrived at the dock. It was quite an adventure just getting to this far, trains (subways) are easy, buses aren't. I waited about 15 minutes on one side of the road, only to find out I was on the wrong side, and had to wait another 15 before catching the right one. Surely I had missed at least one that was going in the right direction.
Anyways, I finally got to the dock. It was only a few dollars to get on a bumboat headed to Pulau Ubin. A quick trip over and I arrived. You get off at a little area with 2 or 3 open air restaurants, some bike rental paces, a police station and a visitor centre. Though there is a decent amount of tourism to the island, its not too heavy, and the fact that I went on a weekday probably helped. I saw very few other tourists in my time there. It was really nice to have the peace and tranquility after spending time in the main areas of the city.
I rented a bike and headed off. The island has a few villages you see as you ride around. It feels like stepping back in time.
I was able to get a lot of great exercise, and take in some awesome scenery. It's really thick tropical forest, and there are secluded paths. After riding a few minutes, I went over a bridge over a little stream. Then I saw it there in the stream, a crocodile (or alligator, I'm not sure). It wasn't a huge one, but about 3 feet is big enough. I stood there, staring at him for a few seconds in shock, then he dived deeper and I couldn't see him. I got to see some other cool animals. A big lizard walking along the same stream (it was probably 2 feet long). I saw mudskippers and birds and fish and more. I also saw at least 10 wild boars in a pack. Supposedly they're rather elusive, the pamphlet for the island says its very rare to see them, which made it all the cooler. I was biking down the path, and they started running across it about 50 feet in front of me. I didn't dare get any closer. I saw a few, and thought that was it, then a few more, and more still. I waited a while to make sure they were all gone, I hear boars can be pretty vicious.
Later, I saw another crocodile. This one nearly made me crap my pants. I was flying down this really narrow, really secluded path, close the the shore of this little lagoon, in thick forest. Then, outta nowhere, about 5-7 feet from me I saw this second crocodile go running off. I assume I startled him. He sure startled me.
I saw something else, no idea what it was. I got a ways of the main paths again. I had to park my bike and walk, as the "bridge" was too precarious for a bike. All i know is it had a huge tail, it was in the woods near me, and it booked it outta there on my approach.
In addition to the awesome wildlife, and great bike riding, I got great views. Plenty of coastline and lagoons. I saw a mangrove swamp which was really cool, they had this open air "tower" you could climb up to look over the swamp.
There was also a boardwalk (no bikes) to walk on to go through the swamp. Another cool thing was this really long coastal boardwalk, I was there at high tide, though at low tide you supposedly can see all the marine life that gets exposed.No one in sight
Anyways, I got plenty of time out there to chill, and not see anyone else, just staring off towards Malaysia.
Malaysia
I met a group of Singaporean guys (all retirees) who were also out for a walk. We chilled out there and talked about food and Singapore and travelling. They gave me some great tips. They had all sorts of questions for me, like about my trip. When they heard I was from near Boston, one of them mentioned the Big Dig! I thought it was pretty funny that they had heard about it (and what a mess it was). They were also asking about the food where I live and so on. It was a unique and great experience.Late in the afternoon I caught the boat back. I stopped for Nasi Lemak near the dock, supposedly that's the area with the best Nasi Lemak. Nasi Lemak is a Malay dish. It more of a meal than just one dish. It has rice cooked in coconut milk, cucumbers, chili sauce, an egg, fried chicken wing, and tiny crunchy salty dried fish. Definitely not my favorite thing I've eaten. It was edible, but not something that made a good impression on me. I dunno what it was, just didn't like it.
I took a walk on the beach nearby as well. It was a pretty neat area, though on the main island, it's far away from the hustle and bustle of downtown.
I made my way back and pretty much chilled out.
That was a long post.
But, I need to inform you about the food, of course.
I have no clue what I had for breakfast. Before I headed off for my little trip, I stopped in a Hawker Centre nearby. I found the longest line and got in it. However, everything was in Chinese, no English. When I got towards the front, and they asked me what i wanted, I just pointed and asked for the same thing that the person in front of me ordered. It was interesting. I was given three dishes. One was these white, flat, chewy noodles with this sweet-spicy sauce. They were good for the first few bites, but after that, not so much. the other was these finer noodles, with lots of sesame and another slightly sweet sauce. This one was really good. The other was a rice porridge with scallions and little crispy fried noodle-type pieces. I still have no idea what this was all called.
No idea what this is called
Tonight (my Nasi Lemak was my lunch/dinner), I had an interesting snack. It's an Indian thing served on the street here. It's like a small funnel cake, fried tile very crispy and very greasy. Then it's submerged in this vat of thick, red-orange sugar syrup. Its drained slightly, and you eat it. It's made fresh to order. It's calorific. The crunchiness and the sugar syrup makes it almost seem like a candy, but greasy, and awesome :).
That about wraps up my day.
One other thing, I know this is a really long post...
I have to answer a few questions that have been asked.
The white stuff on the Sup Tulang-Raw cabbage
What is a Hawker Centre- A building in which a variety of food stands are located. They're very cheap and delicious. Sorta like a food court, but all the food is made fresh, by independent businesses. They often specialize in just one or a couple dishes. They're open air and very casual. Basically, Singapore wanted to "clean up" the streets. That meant getting rid of street vendors, but they didn't want to destroy all the great food culture. So they were all moved to these centres. They're called hawkers because they often "hawk" their food. As you walk by some of them will try to convince you to buy their dish.
What is a durian- A very very stinky fruit. Loathed by many, loved by many others.
Spent Durian shells
Singapore is a fine city.
Goodnight,
Mike
Monday, August 4, 2008
I Like This City
Hi all,
So it's been an interesting past couple of days.
On Saturday I went to Chinatown. It was fun to see, but honestly, didn't live up to my expectations. First of all, it's kinda strange that Singapore, with about 75% of its population being ethnic Chinese, needs a Chinatown. However, Chinatown is mostly Cantonese, whilst the rest of Singapore is Hokkien. Chinatown has some restored shops, restaurants, decorations and street markets (catering to tourists). It was cool to see the shops selling traditional Chinese medicine such as deer antlers and dried seahorses and much more. I did get to visit a huge hawker centre which I happened upon.
The highlight of my day was happened during my visit to the Maxwell Food Centre which was nearby (not the same as the huge one I just mentioned). There I got to try the quintessential Singaporean dish, Chicken Rice. I got it from Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice stall. This place is famous, believed by many to be the best in Singapore, and there was about a 15 minute wait in line. Basically, it's boiled chicken and white rice. The chicken is very flavorful and tender, having been cooked in a fragrant broth and then shocked in ice water. It's served at room temperature. The rice is very flavorful as well, having been cooked with the broth and garlic and ginger and so on. The rice is placed on the plate, and sliced of the chicken are put over the top, and it has some cucumber on the side. Its served with chili sauce and dark sweet soy both on the side. It tasted awesome. Really one of those dishes in which simplicity is the key. One of the best dishes I've eaten, ever.
The rest of my Saturday was spent hanging out near the hostel. I really need to be mindful not to overdo any of the activities, it's easy to get exhausted and overheated in this weather.
I did do some shopping for toiletries nearby at Mustafa Centre at night. Let me say, Little India is NUTS on weekend nights. It is soooooo crowded. Its hard to get used to how one walks around here. It's a bit of a culture shock, it really feels like everyone is trying to get around you and cut you off and get in your way. And everyone is doing it to everyone. It's definitely hard not to take offense, but really one just has to realize that it isn't being rude, it's what everyone does to everyone. There's just too many people for Western interpretation of etiquette to be practical.
On Sunday, I went downtown and walked along the river. It was nice, just taking a leisurely stroll. It is a little touristy at parts, but its cool to see the downtown and the water. It wasn't too busy, being a Sunday, which was a good thing. I saw Merlion, Singapore's mascot. He's basically a huge half-fish half-cat statute on the water's edge and he spews a giant stream of water out of his mouth. In fact, Singaporean slang for to vomit is "to Merlion."
Today, Monday, was an experience. In short, I'm now going to be on Indian TV. There had been an ad in the hostel looking for Caucasian and African extras for an India TV commercial. I answered it on Sunday night, and had to be there this morning at the theatre downtown. It paid a 100 dollars!!! Though, I had to pay $30 for the appropriate clothes to wear (I needed to get a long sleeve shirt and pants).
Here's the gist of the commercial...
It's for a breath mint they're introducing in India (I have no idea what it's called). Basically, the audience was a mix of races, but they wanted a strong Caucasian presence as well. The commercial was this Indian musician (whether he was a real musician or not, I have no clue) getting an award for artist of the century at an awards show. We, all the extras (about 200 of us) were supposed to be all the people that sit in the front at the awards ceremonies, like we were other people in the industry (this is what they told us). We basically had to applaud as he walked up to the stage, during which he popped a breath mint (which he kept spitting out, he said he hated it). Then we gave a standing ovation while he raised the award over his head. We had to be "enthusiastic."
It was kinda cheesy, but it was fun. And, I made some money too.
And of course I have to mention the food I've been eating the past few days.
Here it is in no particular order
Kopitiam breakfast with soft boiled eggs
Sup Tulang (Bone soup, mutton bones with bits of meat and fat attached, stewed in a hot and sweet bright red chili sauce. The best part is sucking the marrow out of the bones. You also get bread to sop up to sauce, absolutely awesome).
Pig Organ Soup (Pork meatballs, slices of pork, pig intestines, pig stomach, pig liver, cilantro and vegetables in a flavorful broth. Served with a bowl of rice and a side of chili sauce. Really delicious, especially the liver.)
Duck Rice (dark, moist boiled duck served with rice. Much like chicken rice, but with the addition of soy making the duck and rice brown. Really tasty. Served with chili sauce and cucumber. Also one can get an egg.)
Fish Head Curry (What it sounds like. A whole fish head, stewed in a heavily spiced, thick broth, with vegetables like okra. Really, really tasty. The head has the most flavor of the fish. You eat all the meat around it and various other bits. Yes, the eyes are eaten, and really are the best part. The flavor is very concentrated in the eyes.)
Ice Kachang (A Singaporean version of sno-cone, but better. The bottom of the bowl has various ingredients like black gelatin pieces, sweet red beans, and other stuff I can't remember, maybe coconut. It's covered in a big pile of shaved ice. Then different syrups are poured on. Some fruit syrup, coconut syrup and palm sugar syrup. It's topped off with a spoon of creamed corn, yes, creamed corn.)
So it's been an interesting past couple of days.
On Saturday I went to Chinatown. It was fun to see, but honestly, didn't live up to my expectations. First of all, it's kinda strange that Singapore, with about 75% of its population being ethnic Chinese, needs a Chinatown. However, Chinatown is mostly Cantonese, whilst the rest of Singapore is Hokkien. Chinatown has some restored shops, restaurants, decorations and street markets (catering to tourists). It was cool to see the shops selling traditional Chinese medicine such as deer antlers and dried seahorses and much more. I did get to visit a huge hawker centre which I happened upon.
The highlight of my day was happened during my visit to the Maxwell Food Centre which was nearby (not the same as the huge one I just mentioned). There I got to try the quintessential Singaporean dish, Chicken Rice. I got it from Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice stall. This place is famous, believed by many to be the best in Singapore, and there was about a 15 minute wait in line. Basically, it's boiled chicken and white rice. The chicken is very flavorful and tender, having been cooked in a fragrant broth and then shocked in ice water. It's served at room temperature. The rice is very flavorful as well, having been cooked with the broth and garlic and ginger and so on. The rice is placed on the plate, and sliced of the chicken are put over the top, and it has some cucumber on the side. Its served with chili sauce and dark sweet soy both on the side. It tasted awesome. Really one of those dishes in which simplicity is the key. One of the best dishes I've eaten, ever.
The rest of my Saturday was spent hanging out near the hostel. I really need to be mindful not to overdo any of the activities, it's easy to get exhausted and overheated in this weather.
I did do some shopping for toiletries nearby at Mustafa Centre at night. Let me say, Little India is NUTS on weekend nights. It is soooooo crowded. Its hard to get used to how one walks around here. It's a bit of a culture shock, it really feels like everyone is trying to get around you and cut you off and get in your way. And everyone is doing it to everyone. It's definitely hard not to take offense, but really one just has to realize that it isn't being rude, it's what everyone does to everyone. There's just too many people for Western interpretation of etiquette to be practical.
On Sunday, I went downtown and walked along the river. It was nice, just taking a leisurely stroll. It is a little touristy at parts, but its cool to see the downtown and the water. It wasn't too busy, being a Sunday, which was a good thing. I saw Merlion, Singapore's mascot. He's basically a huge half-fish half-cat statute on the water's edge and he spews a giant stream of water out of his mouth. In fact, Singaporean slang for to vomit is "to Merlion."
Today, Monday, was an experience. In short, I'm now going to be on Indian TV. There had been an ad in the hostel looking for Caucasian and African extras for an India TV commercial. I answered it on Sunday night, and had to be there this morning at the theatre downtown. It paid a 100 dollars!!! Though, I had to pay $30 for the appropriate clothes to wear (I needed to get a long sleeve shirt and pants).
Here's the gist of the commercial...
It's for a breath mint they're introducing in India (I have no idea what it's called). Basically, the audience was a mix of races, but they wanted a strong Caucasian presence as well. The commercial was this Indian musician (whether he was a real musician or not, I have no clue) getting an award for artist of the century at an awards show. We, all the extras (about 200 of us) were supposed to be all the people that sit in the front at the awards ceremonies, like we were other people in the industry (this is what they told us). We basically had to applaud as he walked up to the stage, during which he popped a breath mint (which he kept spitting out, he said he hated it). Then we gave a standing ovation while he raised the award over his head. We had to be "enthusiastic."
It was kinda cheesy, but it was fun. And, I made some money too.
And of course I have to mention the food I've been eating the past few days.
Here it is in no particular order
Kopitiam breakfast with soft boiled eggs
Sup Tulang (Bone soup, mutton bones with bits of meat and fat attached, stewed in a hot and sweet bright red chili sauce. The best part is sucking the marrow out of the bones. You also get bread to sop up to sauce, absolutely awesome).
Pig Organ Soup (Pork meatballs, slices of pork, pig intestines, pig stomach, pig liver, cilantro and vegetables in a flavorful broth. Served with a bowl of rice and a side of chili sauce. Really delicious, especially the liver.)
Duck Rice (dark, moist boiled duck served with rice. Much like chicken rice, but with the addition of soy making the duck and rice brown. Really tasty. Served with chili sauce and cucumber. Also one can get an egg.)
Fish Head Curry (What it sounds like. A whole fish head, stewed in a heavily spiced, thick broth, with vegetables like okra. Really, really tasty. The head has the most flavor of the fish. You eat all the meat around it and various other bits. Yes, the eyes are eaten, and really are the best part. The flavor is very concentrated in the eyes.)
Ice Kachang (A Singaporean version of sno-cone, but better. The bottom of the bowl has various ingredients like black gelatin pieces, sweet red beans, and other stuff I can't remember, maybe coconut. It's covered in a big pile of shaved ice. Then different syrups are poured on. Some fruit syrup, coconut syrup and palm sugar syrup. It's topped off with a spoon of creamed corn, yes, creamed corn.)
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