Day 50 - 54: enjoying the beach

And thus endeth my warblings... we've been at the beach on Penang for the last few days, and whilst they've been fun for us, there isn't much to write about, so forgive me if I leave it at that.

If you've stuck with the blog throughout the whole of the last two months and seen our progression from hapless innocents to slightly older, more grey, hapless innocents, then you'll know we've enjoyed ourselves a lot, but are now ready to come home.

I'm typing this from a cafe in Bangkok airport, so if all goes to plan we'll be back in Blighty in time for dinner tonight (not that it will feel like it to us after 20 hours of travelling). Thank you for all the nice comments about the blog you've sent me over the last weeks - it is nice to know it was useful :)

Signing off for now,
JQ & JP

Day 49: a mini-adventure to Kok Lek Si temple

We were off to see the iconic Malaysian buddhist temple of Kek Lok Si today. It is a big temple and the image of it is apparently as linked to the image of Malaysia as are the Petronas Towers or the orangutan. Since I hadn't come across it before we came here, I'm not sure I'd agree, but it is definitely worth a visit, so I'm happy to be converted :) It is even on wiki, so if you're curious, here's the link -

We caught the bus there, which always makes me happy and usually freaks JP out. He spent the whole journey fretting about where the stop was until I asked the driver to let us know. In due time we arrived and it was pretty clear as there was an enormous sign pointing the way, plus there were a fair few people all heading up the hill to where we could see the temple. You have to walk through a covered walkway of shops up the hillside, as clearly there is nothing to preclude doing good business as well as keeping the faith. After running the gauntlet of over-eager t-shirt vendors (cheapest ones yet!) we made it to the temple complex. The first thing you see is a turtle pool where people can feed them to atone for sins or ask for good luck for themselves or their family or business. The photo shows JP and a little boy who was very excited at being allowed to feed the turtles.



There are lots of parts to go see, but my favourite was the newest part of the structure at the top, where they are adding a massive standing statue of the Goddess of Mercy under a roof over 100 feet tall. You take a funicular to get up there (unless you're on a pilgrimage, in which case I suspect you probably have to walk).

Once we were done, we wandered back down the hill, just in time for a rainstorm timing itself perfectly with lunch, so we stopped off for a bite to eat. Then it was off to catch the next bus back and our next tourist trail stop, the Khoo Khongsi assembly hall.

We've seen chinese assembly halls in lots of places, and they all follow a similar pattern, but this is the most impressive one yet. Apparently, the original structure was even more impressive, but on the night it was completed, it burnt down, so they took that as a sign of divine jealousy and toned it down on the rebuild. The photo shows some of the decoration and it is still very impressive.

We're off to the beach for our last few days from tomorrow so we enjoyed our last evening in Georgetown by heading down Gurney Drive again to the hawker centre.

Day 48: in which we make it to the museum and eat lots of vegetables

We made it to the museum and learned lots some more about Penang, but after the bright idea yesterday of this being our first call, it didn't really offer much we hadn't seen elsewhere, so no great loss doing it today instead. The one thing I did see which I won't anywhere else is the funicular railway carriage in the photo. We were going to go up the Penang Hill, where the funicular was built years ago, but we found out it is being renovated, so we can't. Sad :(

We then headed out to see Chinatown a bit better. After walking for hours yesterday, when I looked at the map it seems we only discovered the outskirts of the area. An impressive feat when you consider that most of the centre of town is Chinatown! It isn't as distinctive as others in other cities in SE Asia. Georgetown is generally a nice place to be - well-spread out with pavements and spaces to sit if you want to watch the world go by. I like it.

By lunchtime I was hungry and rather than struggle to find somewhere that offered veggie too, we headed for one of the recommendations in the guidebook, a chinese veg restaurant down a side-street. It was tasty as it was a buffet and you picked what you wanted and paid according to options, so we could try out lots of new options, although we have no idea what they were called!

After lunch we visited the Cheong Fatt Tze mansion, which is now a hotel, but does guided tours twice a day to help with running costs. It won a UNESCO award for renovating the property so is a regular stop on the tourist trail. It is beautiful inside and out, a huge indigo blue property. It was built by a phenomenally successful Chinese merchant who was once known as "the Rockefeller of the East". Cue lots of arty photo's from JP and me.

After the tour, we headed back to the ranch to clean up before going out for dinner in the local area. We wandered in search of another food court, failed to find it, but found another veggie restaurant, this one with monks in it, so we ate there instead. Add in the delight of finding the fantastically named drink "Kickapoo Joy Juice" (see photo) and you'll see it was a happy food day for JQ :)

Day 47: exploring Georgetown

JP had a really good idea this morning - let's go to the main museum first, so that we know what we're looking at or learning about when we go round the town. Sounds fab. Only problem - turns out that the museum is closed on Fridays, and guess what day it is today...

So instead, we did a bit of shopping for self-catering stuff, since we're in our own place for a few days, and then wandered, trying to imbibe some culture, but really just feeling exhausted and ready for a nap (in my case at least). We started to get our bearings of where the main sites were, and the sense that the British ruled this island until WWII is pretty clear. The choice of architecture and the layout is very British in feel. There are some really impressive buildings here, such as the Town Hall and the City Hall, which are next door to each other opposite the old cricket ground. Then there is an entire street of mansions, which apparently were built by Chinese merchants and it became known as "Millionaire's Row" - it is just behind the area we are staying so we've been having a look at the houses, and they are, or were, beautiful. Much of the old buildings have been left to fall into decay though, as the fashion seems to be for new high-rise beach front properties. There is one being built at the end of Gurney Drive which is two apartments per floor, each with their own enormous balconies containing an infinity swimming pool. We can't find what they'll cost, but as they have space for maids quarters which aren't even mentioned in the specification, chances are that they are pricey! The maids all come from Inddonesia, and the two governments have been in the news here for the last week trying to agree a payrise - that's how common it is to many Malaysian households. Incredible really, especially as Malaysia isn't yet a "developed" nation - there is still clearly a hierarchy of wealth around here.

So on our tour, we saw the old Fort, a Chinese assembly hall (where we saw the biggest incense sticks ever, hence the pic), before wandering into an area containing the clan jetties. Apparently 6 different villages from China moved here, and they set up their own communities living over the water of the bay on extended piers, which still exist. Mostly they are fishermen's families, hence staying close to the water, but there are temples and food stalls and allsorts. We chilled out on the Lim one for a while, in honour of our friend Jon Lim (who has nothing to do with it except sharing the name!!). They are made up of wooden huts mostly, although you sometimes get a really modern one in amongst all the others, so people are continuing to move in and live there.

Then it was off for a drink - having been to one of the Sarky brothers establishments in Raffles Hotel, we thought we complete the set by going to the Eastern and Oriental Hotel here in G-town. It is very lovely, although it is now on what appears to be a ringroad, with a ridiculous amount of traffic past the front door. Still, the bar is at the back, so here you have himself enjoying a wee snifter before our walk back home.

Day 46: Off to Georgetown

After a happy couple of days in the highlands, it was time to move on, this time to Penang. The last week of the trip is on this island, first in Georgetown, the capital, and then at the beach in Batu Ferringhi.

We caught the bus at 8am, and that was an interesting surprise - it was the cheap bus for locals, and therefore had an engine, some seats and a driver who thought he was auditioning for "The Italian Job" bus drive in the Alps. Two hours of being thrown round mountain cornerson our way down to the flats of Ipoh was not a soothing way to travel.

We had originally booked to stay a night in Ipoh, but from people's descriptions and trouble getting a hotel room, it was pretty clear it was a one-horse town we were best avoiding. So after arriving at the bus station on the edge of town, we set about finding a connection to take us to the ferry terminal at Butterworth instead so that we could be on Penang by evening.

As usual, one of us looked after the bags (JP) and the other went to find tickets (me). I wandered into the bus terminal and looked a little bewildered, until a helpful chap by the door asked me where I was going and pointed out the right row of booths. As soon as he did, the four ticket agents all started shouting at me to come talk to them from behind their booths. I didn't know who to talk to and am not good with ticket touts at the best of times, but I randomly picked one and bought two tickets.

The agent told me the bus number so I collected JP, who'd been laughing his socks off at the ticketing process, and we went to find the bus. The agent wasn't kidding when she said it was a "super-VIP" bus - it was double-decker, with plush armchair seating, only three to a row max, with mock wooden styling on the arms. After the bus in the morning, it felt like we were in bus heaven!

The journey was only a couple of hours and then we were dumped unceremoniously on a nearby roundabout to the ferry terminal. Throughout Asia we've had things like this happen - you get somewhere you think it's all organised, only to find you have to roll with the punches as chaos reveals itself. Thankfully a lovely fellow passenger from our bus helped us to find the ferry in the terminal - you'd think that was easy, but a ferry can be a tricky thing to find.

The view over to Georgetown isn't so very impressive, but as ever, I do love to arrive new places, so here's the view of G-town as we arrived, all gleaming tower blocks. There's lots of investment in Penang especially for tourism and electronics/computing - JP tells me it is the Silicon Valley of Malaysia.

Once we arrived on land, we picked a taxi and headed for our digs, a B&B slightly out of town, in a residential area. We normally pick places in the centre of town, but this one had great reviews on Trip Advisor, and we never ignore the sage advice of TA reviews! We weren't disappointed - it is a really lovely house, now converted to two apartments, and as the owners are away on holiday for a week, we have the run of the place for our stay, as they don't usually book it out but took a chance on us :)

Once settled, we headed out to nearby Gurney Drive (see lovely arty photo by JP of nighttime view over bay) to find some dinner at another fab food court. JP is working through all the available food options and there are plenty of local specialities to keep him happy for the remaining week. Tonight's option was toufu, which is pick-your-own noodle soup, and he managed to spend RM 12.00 on it - to give you an idea, any normal dish is between RM 3-5, so he really outdid himself. In it were chinese sausage, fish balls (ick!), chicken balls, squid plus more, so it was value for money, just a bit grim for the veggie sitting opposite him. The things we do for love... more food tomorrow :)

Day 45: in which JQ discovers the delights of the tea plantation

Today we decided to go explore the area via an organised trip. We'd seen enough DIY trekking action to last us a lifetime, so today's activities were strictly tour territory. Having organised one of the standard half day tours, we were in reception at 9am, ready for pick-up. The itinerary was to take us around some of the highlights of the area, focusing on the agriculture for which it is famed.

First stop was the rose garden. Although there are a lot of roses and other flowers grown up here, these places seem to be little more than ornamental gardens set on the hillside, and for RM 5.00, that's quite a racket they have going. To put it in context, the main museum in Melaka, with four extensions included, cost the same price as this place, so it's easy money from tour groups. It's only about £1 to us, so not a huge expense.

It turned out to be quite a fun place. As the climate is so much cooler, they can grow plants much more like Britain, and as the area is an old British hill station, you can see how places like the rose garden were started. It was quite a big place and in amongst the plants, there were some very odd statues and constructions, hence the photo's here. JP was able to pose with Snow White, whilst I look lovely with two Chinese "weebles".

After the rose garden it was on to see a strawberry farm. This place was a bit odd too, but for different reasons. All the farm offered was a small covered area of four rows of strawberry plants on raised platforms, and then a shop selling strawberry-themed gifts and items. Why they take you there, I'm not really sure, other than to try to part you from more cash, but we dutifully had a milkshake and then it was time to continue our tour.


Next was the butterfly farm. The space allocated to butterflies is tiny compared to the space for the gift shop, or even for the random assortment of creepy crawlies and reptiles. Why there were snakes and beetles in the same place is a mystery, but it was quite entertaining. Again, RM 5.00 was the entry fee, so there is a definite killing to be made if you have a random idea for a tourist sight in these parts.

Onwards to the highlight for me - the tea plantation. This was the real reason I wanted to go on this tour, as transport up here is a bit of a pain, and an organised tour makes it simpler to get to it. We went to the Boh tea plantation, and as Boh tea is like PG Tips back home, this is a good place to see. They had a proper visitor centre and a factory tour, plus a tearoom which overlooked the fields, hence me sipping tea on the veranda :)

After the tea tour we then had a visit to a buddhist temple, a bee farm and then back home again. A very random morning, but entertaining nonetheless. The only other noteworthy highlight was me completing a very difficult sudoku in the afternoon. As I don't usually give the easy ones a go, this represents a major achievement for yours truly and well worth the prestigious award of a photo in the blog!

Day 44: Rumble in the jungle

Hmmm, you'd think I would learn. Two disastrous trips to the jungle and I'm still stupid enough to go jungle trekking today. You may question my sanity after finishing this entry...

We knew that there are walking trails here in the hills, and they start in Tanah Rata so we could easily access them. Before starting out, we read the following instructions on our dodgy walking map purchased from the hotel.

No.1: take plenty of water and food
No.2: tell your hotel where you are going
No.3: make sure you can complete a route before it goes dark
No.4: weather can be unpredictable so be prepared for sudden rain
No.5: wear suitable clothing
No.6: use good judgement and common sense.

I can confirm that we failed on all bar one of these! We tried to find an ordnance survey standard map, but funnily enough they don't do them here. Not every country shares the British enthusiasm for mapping things in the minutest of details, evidently. At this point, my spidey-senses started to tingle in an unpleasant manner. However, clearly our desire to live life on the edge on this trip has been awakened by previous events, as the lack of map did not deter us. "The trails are all clearly signposted" said our hotel concierge, so who were we to argue? We awoke bright and chipper, looked out at the sunny cool day ahead and decided to go for it.

So our hapless travellers set off on trail "no.4: Pasit waterfall", a trail for beginners, only 1km long and likely to take no longer than half an hour there and back. We manouevred past the fallen tree and along the path where the bricks had been long since "reallocated" probably to people's front paths, and found our waterfall in no time at all. It was not a pretty sight, as there is rubbish all over, but somehow I managed to get one nice shot of it.

Having found the waterfall so easily, we wandered on, looking for the next sight on the trail, the Pasit watchtower. It turns out that after a very steep uphil climb for ten minutes, you reach the top of the hill to find that when the sign says that the watchtower is "under renovation" this means it has collapsed and there is no sign that anyone is rebuilding it. We climbed over the debris, and having seen that the trail continued, we consulted the map and decided to continue. After all, it was going so well and it was only 11:30am.

On we wandered, but to our consternation, after another 20 mins or so, we found a signpost for route no. 6. As the Lonely Planet warns not to go near this one as it is often neglected, we were a bit concerned, especially as the only route 6 on the LP map was on the other side of the valley and not supposed to be anywhere near us. However, since it meant going back up a big hill, we thought we'd carry on for a bit, figuring we were in the right place according to dodgy tourist map.

An hour later, we were not so convinced. Hot and sticky, in the middle of a jungle, with a dodgy trail ahead and a long way from our start point, we started to wonder if we were actually still on our trail. To our credit, we stayed calm and after some consideration, we decided that ahead was just as good an idea as going backwards. This turned out to be a good choice, despite the increasingly erratic trail, and the amount of scrabbling up and down hills that was necessary. We eventually found our way back to Tanah Rata after three hours, and never have I been more grateful for civilisation!

The rest of the day was spent calming down again and rehydrating from our adventures. No more jungles for me for a long time!!!

Day 43: The cool air of the hills revives the weary travellers

We made it to somewhere wonderful - the Cameron Highlands. It is sooooo nice and cool, with beautiful scenery and so much which is like an Asian version of the English countryside that we felt at home as soon as we arrived. We stayed at Tanah Rata, a small town in the middle of the highlands and it was a good choice.

We arrived after another marathon travelling day, this one taking 8 hours on three buses to complete, but it was worth it. The hotel is fantastic - brand new and all sparkly as a result. After the delights of brown showers and cockroaches in the jungle I was ready to cry with relief when I saw this one. Our hotel and many of the others around all look like they are copies by an alpine-obsessed architect who wanted to recreate Salzburg in Malaysia.

The Cameron Highlands are important for various crops, with lots of farms producing strawberries, honey, vegetables and tea. The latter was a key draw for me as there are tea estates you can visit, and I do so love a factory tour :)

After checking in, we wandered into the town and it was amazing how much cooler it was than anywhere else we've been on this trip. To be able to walk in the cool air is one of the highlights for me! We're all set for more walking tomorrow in the local forest.

Days 41-43: in which JQ confirms she hates the jungle

I can confirm that after a second try, I really do hate the jungle; give me civilisation any day. I like hot showers, cold days needing layers of clothes, reliable land transport, coffee shops and pizza, all of which the jungle is conspicuously devoid of. Instead, the jungle appears to consist of at least 80% humidity, enormous insects keen to view you as a walking meat feast, cramped and uncomfortable boat rides that last a lifetime and lots of trees. I still like trees.

We visited Taman Negara, the largest national park in Malaysia. I had my reservations after our last jungle trek went awry in Cambodia, but I rationalised that we were just unlucky and this one would go better. The trip was organised through a tour company this time - the sort of package which is supposed to make everything easy on the innocent tourist who wants to venture into the dark heart of Malaysia.After a bus journey, we reached the boat quay, where we were all plonked onto the smallest, rickety old boat I've had the misfortune to go on, and off we went on our "3 hour" boat ride up river to the park. Four and a half sunstroke-inducing hours later, desperate for restrooms and a chance to stretch our aching bodies, we arrived at the park (see photo for how cramped we were!).

Arriving so late meant we had to race to down food and get back for our night-time jungle trek. This was a little disappointing as the highlights consisted of 2 giant millipedes, the alleged home of a scorpion (she was out when we called), a watering hole with water, but no animals (unless you count the loud Chinese tourists), and then finally, just as I had given up hope, a Slow Loris, which is a nocturnal bushbaby wannabe, all big eyes and cute furry face.

Back to the hotel, where we discovered that the tap/shower water only ran cold and lukewarm, and appeared to come straight from the jungle judging by the lumps of mud/tree/unidentifiable gunk coming through the taps with it. Add in a huge cockroach I spotted crawling on the dressing table near the bed, plus dirty towels, and you get the general gist of how lovely it all was and how happy we were to be there!

We awoke bright and early next day to go on a jungle trek, and the smiles had returned with the morning light, hence why I look so perky in this photo of me modelling how to convert my utility pants into shorts :) In our trek group were two other sets of people, both from India, who had also come up on the same boat the day previous. One was a couple, somewhat older than us, and then an extended family group. We are perpetually amazed at how unprepared some people are whilst travelling. There was a child of 5 years and two septuagenarians in the family, and as the grandma was wearing a sari and sandals, it was pretty clear they weren't prepared for a strenuous jungle trek. Thankfully they had already negotiated with the tour guide so that they were going to do only the canopy walkway and then head back to the village. JP and I had a great time on the canopy walkway, despite his being terrified of heights. No wildlife spotted, but we weren't expecting any, so that was fine, and the views were fantastic.

Next was the trek itself. After the guide dispatched the others off to the village, JP and I were the only ones left, which was great. We were able to go at our own pace, and the guide was really keen to tell us as much as he could about the plant and insect life in the jungle. The fungus in the photo only lives for a day - it appears in the morning and is dead by evening, and is really lovely to look at with the delicate lacework of the skirt around the stem.
About half way through the trek, climbing up Teresek Hill, we heard the trees moving a short distance away. We all froze and started peering through the foliage to see if it was anything notable or a breeze. We were rewarded with a rare sighting of monkeys, eating and grooming and generally relaxing in the midday heat. We should have been doing the same, but that's the wisdom of hindsight talking. At the time, we were amazed at how much two people could sweat, in particular himself, hence this lovely close-up of sweat literally dripping off (and yes, he did approve the use of this photo!).

After we'd climbed all the way to the top and been rewarded with this view, we then headed back to camp for lunch. There were additional activities planned in the afternoon, but as we were exhausted, we called it quits, instead choosing to relax at the hotel. This was an excellent choice as JP became ill over the course of the afternoon. We now know it was heat exhaustion, but I was worried at the time as he's normally the strongest of the two of us. Apart from playing Nurse Nancy, the only other thing I did that day was cry over the hotel manager after finding that there was nothing I could eat in the hotel restaurant. Lesson learned: macho men will do anything to get a weeping woman to stop crying. Hindsight tells me I was exhausted too and the worry about JP pushed me over the edge, but the tears at least procured me a meal I could eat. The manager sent his customer service manager, his deputy hotel manager, the desk clerk AND the restaurant manager in a deputation to deliver the food, which was then followed by another deputation with tea and coffee facilities, followed by another visitation a little while later carrying assorted drinks. I was definitely feeling the love of the Rainforest Resort by the end of the evening.

We left the jungle the next day on an early bus (not repeating that boat trip down river!!) and headed for the Cameron Highlands, which is where we are now. JP is recovered and we're making sure to drink plenty of liquids whilst trekking now. However, more on that in my next post...

Days 39 & 40: Kuala Lumpur

Onwards to KL in order to be able to get to the national park we want to see next. Only a 2 hour bus journey this time from Melaka to KL, for which I am grateful - have had enough long trips, although we'll have more before the end of this trip.

We came to KL on our second holiday together about 4 years ago, so we were unsure if it would be as we remembered it. We're staying somewhere different this time as the exchange rate is not as good now as it was then (thanks to European debt crisis and general election) so we're not able to stay in the same lovely hotel, but ours is ok. Not outside the Petronas Towers this time, but close enough to allow the obligatory photo opp!

We haven't done much here in KL as we saw all the major sights last time and to be honest, there isn't much to see here. For a capital city it is very glam thanks to the new skyscrapers and glitzy hotels and malls, but actually isn't really that geared up to tourists unless you want to shop or are here on a brief stopover.

We wandered down Jalan Petaling to see the main action, after getting soaked in another tropical rainstorm. It's funny to remember that we were caught in a rainstorm in KL last time too, and just as we did then, we bought a new umbrella here too. We're now the proud owners of a burberry style checked umbrella - given the amount of piracy and faked goods here, you can't buy anything which isn't a knock-off, although at least ours doesn't try to pretend it is a real burberry by including the brand name. Jalan Petaling ("Petaling St.") is the heart of the counterfeit goods trade here, and as you walk down the street, you're continually accosted by traders trying to persuade you to purchase their versions of Gucci handbags or Ray Ban sunglasses, not to mention clothes, watches, DVD's and anything else that is made out this way and sold at a profit in the west.

There is an excellent little food court there though, with a whole veggie stand, so at least I won't starve :) The standard of english speaking is generally better too, as there are so many foreigners passing through or living here. This morning (Friday) when we went to a western-style coffee shop for breakfast, there was an english guy carrying out a meeting with some malaysian guys, selling the services of his company I think, and everywhere we go there are lots of western faces amongst the mix. It's very cosmopolitan and feels very westernised, as we remembered it. Now we've been to Singapore, we can see that it is still quite Asian though.

The one thing I love here is the malls. It is like Singapore again - huge malls with floors of shops, with nice toilets (seriously, you don't appreciate them until you've had a month of grim holes in the floor) and exciting food options, all air-conditioned and clean and lovely. I can see why they are so popular and so big - they are a marked contrast to Jalan Petaling. The photo is of me outside the mall nearest our hotel - as this is year of the tiger (and so was the year I was born) there are lots of tiger themed things all over the place in Asia at the mo. This one celebrates year of the tiger and the world cup, hence the tigers foot is on a football! Football is watched here just as much as home, and I've lost count of the number of people who find out we're from UK and say "ah, Manchester United!" or "ah, Chelsea!" - since we know nothing about football, it's usually a conversation stopper.

We leave KL tomorrow for the jungle. We're off to Taman Negara, the biggest national park in Malaysia, and apparently filled with leeches, so when I get back online in a few days, I may have some very grim leech photo's to share...

Day 38: Chillin' in Melaka

Taking it easy was the name of the game, i.e. we could not be bothered with any more museums today. We spent the day wandering around town before I suggested we try out the reflexology centres. This seems to be a big thing for tourists to go do, so it seemed a good idea at the time. Half an hour later, flinching with every move the reflexologist made, I wasn't so convinced. JP loved it, but he likes feet massage too, whereas yours truly is not a fan. It was interesting and hopefully it helped my ropey tum, but I'd have to be persuaded to try it again any time soon.


After that, we went to the teahouse down the street for a tea ceremony and learnt lots. The owner must have seen JP coming, as she was able to convince the man who doesn't even like tea back home to buy not only a tea set, but also two lots of very expensive tea. It made me chuckle how into it he was getting, as if I ever have tea at home he turns his nose up. The tea set is very lovely, but whether it will make it home in the right number of pieces is another matter.
Whilst we were there, we saw the owner's little girl, who was just back from school, and it made me smile to see that it's not just us foreigners who get worn out by the heat :)


We wandered to get our laundry across town (yep, still have to do the mundane tasks like laundry, as there is only so much handwashing I can cope with!) and as we walked over the bridge across the river, JP spotted movement in the banking. I was too slow with the camera, so all you can see properly is the tail, but this is a monitor lizard which had crawled out of the river into what looks to be the storm drain. It was about three feet long!

On the way back to the hotel, we were hot and bothered again, so we stopped off to try one of the local desserts, chendol. It is shaved ice heaped up in a pile on top of green jelly pieces and sweetened kidney beans, with coconut milk over it, and then topped off by black treacle. Very odd combination, but it tasted really good, which surprised me. There are similarities between desserts in all the countries we've been to, mainly the need for ice and the appearance of coconut milk and jelly in them, but they've all been tasty.


We also went on one of the trishaws today. I picked it based on whether it was completely tacky or not - i.e. I wanted lights and music and flowers. We ended up with Boney M playing us round Melaka for an hour. JP was not that impressed :)

It was back to the good old Geographers Cafe, scene of our first evening again for the night, as it was jazz night again plus they did good veggie food and after Pizza Hut, I wasn't about to chance trawling through town with no success again. Nadia and her father were playing, as they had been on Monday night, and they are great. He plays keyboard whilst she sings, and it was a great evening. She took a shine to us as we were the only people paying attention and clapping on the first evening, so tonight she was keen to play songs we liked. A great end to a really good day.

Day 37: Melaka turns out to be a ghost town

Hmmm, clearly messed this one up. We went out for dinner last night and admittedly the veg thing didn't help, but we had about two options in the entire town. Turns out that Melaka only gets lively from Fri-Sun, and we're here Mon-Thurs! Typical!!

Still, we managed to find somewhere and during the day the town is more awake, so we can still see all the sights we wanted to. There is a ridiculous number of museums to choose from here considering the size of the place. We've decided to give the Islamic, architecture and government democracy museums a miss, but we've seen the main Melaka museum and it's off-shoots. Add in a wander along the river and round Little India (not like the one in Singapore!) and that's a full day's sightseeing sorted.

The wander to Little India included me having an interesting experience in a chinese pharmacy. I wandered in to see if they had any herbal remedies for tummy troubles, as I seem to be plagued this holiday. As well as two chinese pharmacists, the two other customers in the place wanted to help diagnose me and get the right medicines too. It's not often in life I've been questioned about how much gas I have by strangers, and can't say I want to repeat it.

As we walked around, we saw lots of the infamous trishaws that can be found around Melaka. Trishaws existed in Singapore too, but the ones here are famous for their lights and sound system. Even in the daytime they look fab.



Dinner was a bit problematic as we went to a chinese food court, where I picked a "veggie" option, only for it arrive with chicken legs in it. We ended up in Pizza Hut in the end. Thank goodness for Pizza Hut; I never thought I would say that!

Day 36: Onward to Melaka

Off to Melaka, so crossing into our fourth country of the trip, Malaysia. Glad we've changed our plans as the news from Thailand is not improving, with the Foreign Office now telling people not to go to the parts of the country we were thinking of due to random outbreaks of violence. JP keeps muttering darkly about being unlucky, but it's one of those things, and we're lucky that we could find an alternative rather than having to cut the trip short.

Melaka should be fun as it is another world heritage city, with lots of Dutch and British colonial architecture mixed in with the Malay and Chinese buildings. It is supposed to be a lot of fun in the evenings too. First impressions are that it is pretty, as this photo of our hotel shows. It is in a street known as "millionaire's row" and was the street of choice for the wealthy chinese merchants in the 1800's.

Day 35: JQ is freaked out in Little India

Another late start, as no major plans for the day. After breakfast at the local food court (I finally found a muesli option at the soya milk stand - a major find as I'm craving simple western food at the mo) we caught the bus to Singapore National Museum. It was a great choice. The guidebook doesn't do it justice. We learned about opium dens and secret societies in Chinatown, plus lots about the history of the trading in Singapore and more besides. The three historically important cities for trading in this part of the world (for Britain at least) were Singapore, Melaka and Georgetown and we're now seeing all three on this trip.

After dragging ourselves away, we headed north so we could book some tickets for our journey to Melaka. Then it was off to Little India. I'd read that the area changes a lot at the weekend, when it comes alive with people thronging the streets, and I can confirm it's true. As we walked into the area, I couldn't believe how busy it was, with hundreds of Indian men filling the pavements and road. It was like they were waiting for something, all standing around, talking. In the first five streets, I counted two other women besides me and felt like I was the proverbial sore thumb sticking out. As we headed for the main food centre, we started to see some families, but still the ratio of men to women was about 40:1. There are lots of Indian men who come here on contracts to do labouring for a few years at a time, and they all flock to Little India at the weekends, just as all expats seek out their own communities, but it is a bit overwhelming for outsiders. Not rushing back!

Day 34: Orchard Road

After the 11 hour animal fest of yesterday, we were shattered today so we had a lie-in and decided to head for Orchard Road for an easy day of shopping. According to "Lonely Planet", shopping is a hobby for Singaporeans, so we were doing our touristy duty by hanging out at the mall.

We headed up on the MRT, i.e. the tube, which is cheap and clean and reliable - all seem to be normal Singaporean traits, and yet more reasons why I love this city. We wandered in and out of the shopping malls for a few hours, mostly lingering in the food courts to see all the (to us) unusual food options.
We eventually ended up in the fresh air in need of daylight and found ourselves following the sound of very loud drums to see an excellent youth drum band that wouldn't have been out of place on a west end stage. They were playing to fund raise, so we donated our bit and then continued along the street, trying to find me something veggie to eat.

Having been unsuccessful for about an hour, we gave up and only then did we stumble across a buddhist fair. Since, unlike Cambodian buddhists, the buddhists here are veggie, I was more than catered for. It was destined to be, as just as we arrived in the marquee, the heavens opened and we had another impressive rainstorm which lasted for about half an hour (see photo of JP with rain!).

After all the shopping and eating, we needed to walk it off, so we headed to Emerald Hill. It is a side street off Orchard Road and a world away from the noise of the shops as it is filled with beautiful old Peranakan houses, the local Sino-Malay style of housing. There was a bar there that we stopped in for liquid rehydration, and it was like stepping back in time. Just as with the Raffles bar, there were bowls of peanuts on the counters for customers to help themselves, and you can throw the empty shells on the floor. I can't imagine why this gimmick is appealing, but people seem to like it here.

Then it was home for dinner (another food court) and then drinks close to the hotel (yet another food court). I've rediscovered a drink I found in Borneo which we didn't find out the name of then, but I now know is called "rose bandung". It is vivid pink, and looks like a very artificial strawberry milkshake, and all I know so far is that it has a rose syrup and evaporated milk in it, but it is tasty and I have it everywhere I can find it. JP's not a convert, preferring to stick to his Tiger beer :)

Day 33: Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari

Having spent a few days in the city centre, we ventured a little further out to the zoo today. It is a train and then a bus ride out of the centre, so a bit of a pain to get to, but well worth it. It is a fantastic day out, especially as we teamed it with the night safari, a separate attraction next door.

We arrived at the zoo via a dodgy route, having been caught out by ticket touts at the train station - we believed them when they said they worked for the zoo and then found out they were touts when we arrived at the turnstiles. How we fell for it I'm not sure as we're normally a lot more careful, but luckily our tickets were still valid. We were lucky I guess, given that the tickets had cost us £50.

The zoo is on the edge of one of the large reservoirs in the centre of the island so it is a beautiful setting. We were really impressed with the zoo. The only downside was the rainstorm that started just as we were off to see our last show for the day and didn't stop until it was time to leave. Rainstorms here are a major event by UK standards, I've not seen storms like it before, but they don't matter here - life carries on around it, with drivers still making it through flooding on the roads and people just donning raincoats or getting the ever-present umbrella out. Umbrellas are sold in more places here than even in the UK, plus you can get disposable rain ponchos at most places on the street. Unlike the umbrellas, which have the added bonus of becoming fashion accessories if you want, the poncho remains a purely practical item, making the wearer look a wally, especially if it is designed for a smaller person than the unfortunate westerner wearing it...

We saw most of the animal enclosures and even fed some of the animals. JP wanted to feed the white rhino's and I fed one of my favourites, the giraffes. There were two giraffes who came up for feeding, a male, Growie, and a female, Roni, and the male was a real attention hog, wanting all the food. To get so close to the animals is a really great experience and we both loved it, although JP teased me about being all starry eyed over the giraffes, hence the photo.

The night safari is basically a cross between a zoo and a safari park, with parts you can walk through and parts you take a tour through. There is also a live show with some of the animals and that was excellent, especially as some of the animals were playing up with their own idea of what to do. However, the best bit was when mid-way through the show, the keepers have to "find" one of their animals. They go out into the audience and go looking under the seats of some of the lower rows (we were up near the top of the amphitheatre). After about five minutes and getting lots of people to move out of the way, they "find" Maggie. Maggie turned out to be a python about 8-10 feet long and she'd been lying in a special box under some people's seats. I'm glad we were nowhere near, but I did have a furtive check of our seats to be on the safe side :)

Day 32: JP's birthday

Today was a treat day as it was JP's birthday so the budget went out of the window and we had some fun. First it was off to the colonial district, via the Asian Civilisations Museum, which was really good. We took the guided tour, but there was still time to take daft photo's of JP.

Then it was off to see the Merlion. This is a statue on the edge of the harbour and it is half-mermaid, half-lion, and a weird-looking thing it is too. I have no idea who made it up, but it even has it's own little park with a second mini-version just behind it. Cue lots of Japanese tourists doing weird poses again, but you get to see me doing my pose instead in front of the big one.

Across the bay you can see Sentosa Island, the playground of Singapore. There is a lot of spending over there and the result of the latest development is this amazing looking resort - it is the Marina Bay Sands resort, with just about every man-made pleasure you could want. The shelf topping the towers is an enormous pool and deck area, and I still can't believe how big it is. It looms over the whole area, and is a real talking point here. Every taxi driver so far has asked us if we are going, telling us we should because it is free to foreigners!

We stopped for lunch amidst the skyscrapers, jostling elbows with the city folk getting their food too, which tickled me since usually that is us when we're in London, getting annoyed with the tourists in the way. Then it was off to the landmark that is the Raffles Hotel. The photo here is me and himself with our singapore slings (what else?!) in the Long Bar. They were truly awful. I read the local newspaper later and saw an article devoted to where to find the best sling in Singapore, and Raffles wasn't even rated because it was so bad. The perfect example of trading on a name and not having to work for the trade. If anyone is ever thinking of it, get a sling somewhere else and stick to plain beer or spirits at Raffles. Thankfully, JP liked the atmosphere and it didn't dampen his birthday spirits.

Afterwards, we wandered into Fort Canning park, where the British fort used to be situated, one of a chain guarding the island. It is now really lush and green, and on the edge of it is a really nice restaurant, "Flutes at the Fort". We wandered in and they happened to have a table free for later in the evening, so that's how we booked JP's birthday dinner. We had a brief trip back to the hotel to clean up and I gave JP his birthday cake and a little toast to celebrate, hence the photo. Hard to do the birthday thing in the same way here, but thanks to a patisserie round the corner and a corner shop down the street, I managed to rustle up something as a surprise.