Markets of Kota Bharu

Ahh, the markets of Kota Bharu...also know as The Travelling Circus of Em & Alyss! Turns out Kota Bharu doesn't get many tourists, let alone to the more local markets. Suffice it to say everyone had a great time and Alyss & I were extremely well fed. And we also know that "suda beli" in conjuction with pointing to bags we're carrying makes everything a lot smoother in markets...translates to "we already have"!

Highlights:

1. Pasar Central: The central market was unbelievable. So many fruits (most unidentifiable), fish parts, coconut goo, carpets, fish...you really could get just about anything there. The best was all the vendors - just row after row of old ladies sitting cross-legged in the middle of all their goods and selling you anything and everything. The best was when I got nearly a kilo of rhambutans after specifically asking for two so I could show Alyss what they were. And the funniest part was she kept throwing more in the bag whenever I wasn't looking. Hilarious.


As for the rest of the old ladies, they were more concerned with the fact that we were 23 and not married! Yes, there was a lot of tsk-tsking. And the fact that we had boyfriends didn't really seem to help, but it did get rid of some of our male followers. Except of course the fish vendor that Alyssa made friends with...



2. Night Market: Again, few tourists but luckily it was dark so we didn't stand out (as much). Imagine a huge parking lot with row after row of carts hawking plastic bags filled with every type of food you could imagine! And then there were BBQ stalls with satays, murtabaks (a french toast meets curry chicken concoction), squid-on-a-sticks (no joke), and more. Even though we somehow weren't hungry, we still managed to get just about one of everything, except the squid because I just couldn't imagine eating something with eyes that big!

Best Train Ride Ever (ie. How Em & Alyss discovered the "Sleeper Car")

After our daring escape from Taman Negara, it was time to head to the beaches, and as Alyssa has already implied, about time I said! So after two of the most needed showers ever, we were finally clean, went to bed and set our alarms for 1am to get up in time for our 2:30am express train to the coast.

When we arrived, it turns out that the 2:30am express from Kuala Lumpur was sold out, but luckily there were still sleeper berths available on the 3:40 express arriving from Singapore. After much reading (Em) and ordering spicy soup (Alyss), it was finally time to expect our 3:40 train...Until of course the station manager arrived to mention that our train was unexpectadly dealyed at least 2 and a half hours. The reason - "engine trouble". Fantastic.

7:00am. Train finally arrives at the station and our weary heroines somehow straggle abroad with all their earthly possessions to discover...the most amazing train class of "the sleeper berth". Seriously, it's just too good to be true. Not only are the sleeper cars air-conditioned (Alyssa's new prerequiste for a good time), but each of us has a beautifully made-up single bunk bed complete with pillow, side table and window! Wow. See below,






































































All in all, it was probably the best 6 hours of transportation we've ever had. We slept mostly the whole way only waking up to snack on junk food in bed throughout the ride. Total slumber party styles. Later that morning we arrived in Wakaf Bharu feeling better than we had all trip. Now, where are those beaches...

-em.

Taman Negara (jungle), Part 1: Leeches

The idea of leeches in the jungle made me slightly more than worried, until Em pointed one out to me on the ground. These ones are terrestrial leeches and look like cute little inchworms, motoring down the trails doing their heat-seeking thing. Sometimes they stand up on end and wave around, hoping something hotblooded will come along.

After getting my first leech, I was wasn't too grossed out but decided they weren't all that cute anymore. You can't feel them at all usually, which is good. However, that also means that when you pull off your socks you sometimes find that one or two has managed to crawl THROUGH your smartwool, attach to your leg, and get so fat that they can't crawl out again. Luckily, bugspray (or traditional salt) works quickly to get them off.

Sometimes they just fall off when they've had enough - as Em found out from a giant purple spot left on her stomach on the last day (and giant bloodstain on her shirt). We both got 'leeched' a couple times - which we decided any jungle-goer should rightfully experience. Enjoy the pics!

P.S. Yup, that's em's stomach post-leeching. Once it stopped bleeding it looked like a purple gunshot wound for days. And in her current toasty sunburned state, you can barely notice it at all!

-alyss.

Taman Negara, Part 2: Bumbun Kumbang and the Abandoned Village

The main event of our Taman Negara jungle trip was a two-day hike to 'Bumbun Kumbang', a hide (stilted house) in the middle of the jungle from which you can watch and listen to wildlife. We trekked with two other travellers we'd just met, Colin and Joey (Seattle and England), which I loved because they provided novel company and lots of cookies.





The trek was challenging, not because of the trail but because of the heat and humidity. 12 clicks took almost 5 hours of hiking time plus food/water stops. However, we were rewarded at the hide when a tapir came to the watering hole just after dark and we were able to watch and listen to him slurping until we went to bed.

Em and I also slipped in a quick hike to the nearby village of Kuala Trenggan to check out a lodge supposedly rampaged by an elephant.

Lonely Planet got that one wrong though - the chalets were indeed torn apart, but by termites rather than an enraged elephant. We got this tidbit from a guy who docked his riverboat at the jetty (just as I was inconveniently having a pee on his beach), and sat chatting with us for a while and offered us coffee. When he left, Em and I jumped in the warm, silty river for a terrific skinny-dip and decided our side-trip had been well worth it.

In the hide the next morning I woke up before dawn and listened as the insect noises gave way to bird noises and then gibbons. I love being in the middle of uninhabited places, especially in the near-dark, being a quiet observer. Reminds me of planting, South America, and the cottage. We hiked out quitely that morning, stopping to look at beautiful insects and to listen to more birds and gibbons. It felt amazing to be in one of the oldest forests in the world, untouched by human or geological forces in over 135 million years.

-the nature-inspired side of Alyssa.

Taman Negara, Part 3: How we left

Part 3: How We Left

Prologue

Em and I are walking (unusually briskly) through the hot (and not unusually sweaty) jungle. We've been keeping our mind off our exhaustion by reminiscing about NT and Queen's through the last seven years. We're making good time. We'll be back earlier than expected and actually have time for a real lunch (i.e. not more crackers and PB) before I/we head off to explore caves for our last afternoon. We're actually enjoying the hike. And Em hasn't mentioned beaches in over two hours.

Then an idea hits me (Em calls it 'The most brilliant idea Titus has ever had') - I realize we can book it back to the trailhead in time to catch this afternoon's riverboat out of the jungle instead of tomorrow's... and gain one full day at our next destination, the beaches of the Perhentians.

The Saga

So it was a great idea in theory. When we got back to park headquarters we ran to the camping store to return our rental gear and grab the miscellaneous crap from our locker. Then saw a sad sign telling us the store was closed for lunch and wouldn't reopen until 3 pm, too late to catch our 2:30 boat. What basically followed was us running back and forth trying to find various people who worked at the park, trying to find various boat tour people to see if anything was flexible, and basically discovering that no one worked ANYWHERE in the middle of the day because it was a Friday and most Malaysians in the area are Muslim (Jumu'ah, a congretational prayer, is held Fridays after lunch). We felt very clueless, and helpless.

Sitting down to a calming popsicle, we reconciled ourselves to a shoddy plan B which involved taking the much-hated minibus later than night and spending more hot and sweaty time in the jungle in our hot, sweaty and bloody clothes.

However, after the lime/icecream infusion, our refreshed minds started concocting a riskier but potentially very satisfying plan. We would buy riverboat tickets, I would take the ferry back to the camping store at 2:15 in the hope than our guy had returned early from his break (someone had mentioned this possibility to us), Emily would stay at the riverboat and plead adorably with the driver and other passengers to wait an extra few minutes, and if she and I were both successful, I would run across the park and down the steps with our 50 pounds of gear, bribe the ferry dude to take me straight to Em, she would see me coming and reassure our riverboat people, and no one (and no one's stuff) would be left in the jungle!

It worked of course - and after many smiles and thanks and smiles again to the guys who helped us make it work (camping guy, ferry guy, riverboat guy.. who all thought we were nuts), we jumped into our riverboat laughing gleefully. (There's been a lot of gleeful laughter this trip it seems... that's what you get when you stick us together with no outside calming influence I guess).


The boat trip was relaxing, windy and cool, had a beautiful view (minus one young boy's full moon and then full frontal to us from across the river - actually, he was small enough for it to be cute), and the only slightly unpleasant part of the whole episode was having to pee very badly for the second hour of the trip. Well worth it, I say.



The jungle was adventurous and new, but sometimes leaving can be just as exciting.

-the long-winded storyteller side of Alyssa.

Malaysia feeds our heroines well!

Well, where to begin with the culinary delights of Malaysia? First of all, we haven't even gotten around to eating Malaysian food since we keep getting enticed by Indian and Chinese food!

1. Indian Food: Where to even start with our favourite food? Even though we're technically in Malaysia, we're eating like we're in India -- lots of curries and naans (called roti here) for all meals possible. Even breakfast, we've discovered "roti chani", which is a thinner, crispier naan bread baked with bananas, pineapple, honey and chocolate (or various combinations). Muy tasty.

2. Chinese Steamboat: Consists of a hug wok-pot thing of steaming broth and vegetables and a pile of uncooked vegetables, meat and unrecognizable seafood (our best guesses include cuttlefish, jellyfish and fish eyes). Then, you throw all the uncooked things into the broth, wait 3 minutes, and voila! Soup dinner! Souper tasty and highly recommended from those chilly nights in the Cameron Highlands.

3. Malaysian Tom Yam Soup: Strange name since involves no yams but a soupy, spicy tomato mixture with a generous diversity of noodles, fish and seafood. Currently Alyssa's favourite meal.

Anyways, that's it for this edition of the Wandering Gourmet, but stay tuned for next installments as we continue to eat our way through Asia! Mmmm..

- em

Some thoughts on the people

The people in Malaysia seem very good-natured and friendly - and not only "buy-my-stuff" friendly; they're genuinely happy and interested to talk to you or just have a smiling exchange. The restaurant owners sometimes hassle you a bit and try to smile you into choosing their fried mee hoon over the fried mee hoon at any of the next four places, but if you smile and shake your head they send you on your way with another, genuine smile. (Granted, maybe that's because they know you're more likely to come back and choose them tomorrow, but I still get the sense that they are wishing you well.) The cab drivers range from quiet-friendly to funny-friendly. The hostel staff are eager to chat, help, show your around, or help you with your Malay. And everyone always wants to know, "How do you like Malaysia?", "What have you seen in Malaysia?", "Where are you going?"... There doesn't seem to be any resentment towards tourists or the demands of the tourist-system (if there is, there isn't a lot and it's well-hidden) - Malaysians seem genuinedly interested in us being there, or at least interested in us. The children are definitely intrigued. The older kids smile and wave, the younger ones smile and giggle (or moon us like one boy today on the river!), and the littlest ones just stare.

I was expecting to go pretty much unnoticed, one tourist among the throngs of others here, but I'm still waved at, called to, and smiled at, everywhere I go. I get the idea we're the biggest sightseeing attraction of all, to Malaysians. And I'm happy to provide that entertainment to such a friendly lot.

-alyss.

Cameron Highlands, AKA the only civilized climate around here

Welcome to my paradise! Not only is there a climate deserving of blankets at night here (and blankets, plural!), but the local town is friendly, is near enough jungle walks and hilly views to satisfy any Titus, AND is littered with tasty Indian food restaurants. And as you can see, internet everywhere (although connection speed leave something to be desired so we're falling behind in our picture-posting...). So far we've had 3 Indian meals in 2 days, and been on the internet roughly 5 hours. Ha, and Em thought she would wean me off it... (Em, this is NOT a challenge)

We're staying at a great little guesthouse with our own bathroom and shower with hot water (if you are Emily and the hot water likes you... MY first shower was lukewarm at best but refreshing). There are hibiscus (hibiscuses? hibiscii?) all around, food, books and movies, and info about local hikes and sightseeing.

Today we went on a great guided tour of the Boh Tea Plantation and nearby "mossy forest", one of the oldest forests in the world. It's covered in yes, moss, but also tons of orchids and pitcher plants of all sizes. Our guide was this ex-insect-poacher turned naturalist/conservationist who knew EVERYTHING about the biology and history of the area. He was also a good salesman and almost convinced us to buy his packaged tour to Taman Negara (the real rainforest 6 hours away), for RM 650, the equivalent of $220 Canadian or a small local mansion.

We're such efficient and energetic travellers that we're already done with the Highlands, moving on to Taman Negara tomorrow (via a cheaper minibus) and from there to the Perhentian Islands for some beaching and snorkelling/diving. I doubt we'll be able to keep up this pace forever, but for now it's perfect and somehow I feel totally relaxed.

Off to upload some pictures. Blast this slow connection and lack of card-readers! They may have cell phones but we've got decent internet...

-alyss.

Miss Malaysia and How Pepsi Nearly Ruined Our Lives...

This afternoon, we met a 30-something year old British guy wandering around KL Sentral looking for a cheap place to stay in Kuala Lumpur. Obviously, we recommended our new favourite budget haunt, the Coliseum. Turns out he was saving money so he could stay in KL long enough to win back his old girlfriend. As he put it, his story was "one of long lost love". His lost love, who he'd met in a bar in KL on an earlier trip, had recently been crowned Miss Malaysia! We had no idea whether he was bluffing, but who would lie about something like that? (So we decided to believe him.) He'd been running around all over town trying to give her roses and needed a cheap place to stay to stock up on funds. We wished him luck and decided to keep an eye on the Malaysian tabloids to see if anything ever worked out for him.

Ed. note: And did we ever - a few days later in Tanah Rata we found a front-page spread detailing the apparently non-existent relationship status of Ms. Malaysia...Doesn't look good for British dude:

We, on the other hand, had been running around town with no roses, but 50 lb packs for the whole morning getting things organized to leave KL for the countryside. After cabbing to KL Sentral, price-shopping for an hour, standing in line for 2 hours to book, searching for ATMs and phone cards for another while and realizing that a) Alyssa's shirt had turned from opaque white to translucent white and b) we don't know how to end a sentence, we decided a cold drink was in order.

Pepsi in hand, we grabbed a taxi to the Puduraya bus station and rushed to get tickets for the next bus out of town. In the madness that can only ensue in a bus station in a developing country, we horrifyingly realized the Pepsi in Em's hand had somehow replaced the Lonely Planet Malaysia.

There's only one thing worse than losing your Lonely Planet Malaysia" - realizing you have a chapter on Malaysia in your "Lonely Planet Southeast Asia" which is currently sitting at home after being excised with an exacto knife to cut down on travel weight.

After much swearing (by Em) and poor attempts at cheering-up jokes (by Alyss), we decided to retrace our steps and/or find a bookstore since life could clearly not continue without a Lonely Planet travel guide. Here is the following sequence of non-amusing events:

1. Pudu Hostel across the street to try and buy a copy: Nope.
2. From Pudu manager: "Bookstore? Yeah...there's one on the corner": Non-existant
3. Alleged bookstore on another corner: Also non-existant
4. Finding the right corner to catch a cab (much harder than it sounds)
5. Different street corner to catch a cab...
6. KL Sentral to seach ticket counters in case we left it there (although likely left in the back seat of our first cab)
7. First bookstore in KL Sentral that conveniently had seveal Lonely Planets, including Lonely Planet Maldives, which led to us seriously considering changing our travel plans
8. Second and last bookstore in KL Sentral that rewarded us with a beautiful, shrink-wrapped, glowing LP Malaysia!!!! Yay!!!

We laughed gleefully, jumped around a bit, sang a few choruses of Hallelujah and probably seemed insane to the lady behind the counter! But that just doesn't matter when you have your Lonely Planet back....

-alyss (and transcribed/edited by em)

Hong Kong impressions

It's crowded. We took some pics last night of the markets and some shopping areas that were curb to curb people. It was a Wednesday.

The street are packed with people, double-decker buses, and signs. The crosswalks, instead of making chirping noises like in toronto, sound like mini-jackhammers.

They pave mountains here. And there are a lot of mountains! On the Peak, behind our hotel... pretty much anywhere bordering the city area... they throw concrete all over the hills, leaving holes for the trees and gutters to drain rainwater. They even paved the entire slope of Victoria Peak, this huge mountain in the middle of the city. Seriously though, how do they do it?


And it's fast. Even the escalators move quicker than in Canada! The subways are well organized, clean, well-signed, and they have anti-suicide glass in front of the tracks (at least that's what we call them). At the airport they also have announcements saying how long the next train will be, and signs saying "relax. the next train will arrive in 3 minutes." It's pretty cute.

The rip-off labels are a hoot. We've seen a bazillion Tshirts with things like "Dolce and Grbbrnr." So far we've resisted the call of these hot items and only window shopped.

As for what we actually did...Day 1 highlights included managing to stay awake to sightsee Victoria Peak, a huge (paved) mountain right in the middle of Hong Kong with great views of the harbour and expected, yet still breathtaking, tall buildings.

Day 2 involved much walking, from the flower and (avian-flu-free) songbird gardens to the crazy aquarium shops to strolling along the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade (where alyssa promptly fell asleep) to a nighttime ride on the Star Ferry for amazing views of the Hong Kong Harbour. Finally, we crashed back at our room and somehow managed to wake up at 5am for our flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Wow.

-- alyss & em

PS. There's more Hong Kong pics on our Flickr website (follow the link on the right)

Packing: Not much better in Em's room

OK, So I couldn't resist...Here's my bed! It really is less than it seems...I would also like to acknowledge ziplocs and moms (and dads) and chocolate? Where's this chocolate?

Packing...

After one final MEC run (the 6th or 7th between us?) we've started the process. All I can say is thank god for ziplocs, chocolate, and moms. Not quite sure how "pack lightly" turned into 30 pounds of hygeine/first aid stuff and Em conceding to bring 3 bathing suits instead of 5 (yes yes, I know they're small)... But things are coming along and if it turns out I don't need 3 bottles of sunscreen, I can make a donation to some poor sunburned tourist.

All cynicism aside, I'm finally getting those pangs of excitment that I only get right before an adventure and I'm going to sign off right now so I can get back to organizing my lonely planets and feeling giddy. :)

-alyss.