Second time in Penang!!

Hey Folki,

I made it to Penang ok but didn't have the time to get into Thailand on the same day. Well, I could of gone to Hat Yai & spent a night there but I'd rather be in Penang so I decided to stay here for a night & do from here to Koh Samui in one stint. However I met a group of lads, Paul & Dougie the Scots, Phil the German & Cosmo the token English dude. Cosmo's a great kid, I reckon he's a bit of a rebellious lad though and too much time spent with him could lead you astray. So last night we were out on the lash watching Spain beat Germany 1-0. Poor old Phil took it quite hard. It turned into a bit of night and I turned in at 6.30am while those guys continued for a while. Consequently there was no way I was having an early start for Thailand this morning so I decided on another day in Penang which is bloody cool really as the food here is great and I like Penang. It was great to get off a bus somewhere for the first time where you actually knew the area and where you were going. Accommodation is cheap here, back at 75 Travellers Lodge with the likable Mr Low. Had my own room last night but sharing with Cosmo tonight.

I'm in the 8.30am minibus to Hat Yai in the morning. From Hat Yai I'll get a coach to Surat Thani where I intend to get on the night cargo ferry to Samui. Sounds like it's gonna be an adventure - Do not leave your bag unattended I've been told!! You sleep on the deck for the 6 hour crossing, save the cost of a nights accommodation and save a little on a normal ferry ticket. Plus you arrive in Samui before sun up so you can watch the sunrise and get an early start on looking for a decent place to stay, I win all round, as long as the crossing goes ok, that is.

So not sure when I'll post next, I hear Samui is expensive for things like Internet etc so maybe I'll not post for a bit. Take care all xx

5 Star, Shangri-la, back packa!!

Well folks as the title suggests I've been upmarket for a week! Blew the budget to pieces but ate like a king. I managed to get a bit of a discount on the published rates at Shangri-la Rasa Ria but It was still well above my usual budget & standards. Needs must however. The Rasa Ria is a fantastic place. I'd recommend it to those who can afford it. The sunsets there were amazing. Staff were fantastic, food was excellent, beds were comfy with mattresses over a foot thick.

You can see my 40RM breakfast above just waiting to be devoured. I'm sure I put weight on this last week. I did share it with Sonia, I promise. Breakie was included in my room price. Did you notice the bed head? There's also that Hawaiian beer shirt again - it's well travelled is that shirt. A wicked sunset and of course the young Orangutan.

Swanley crew, no in depth account I'm afraid. You'll have to use your imagination.

So I'm now back in KK just for one night. I leave here at 7am Sunday morning, bound for Penang. Once there I intend to try & get into Thailand via bus/train on the same day. I'm aiming for Koh Samui, Koh Phang nan & Koh Tao. 1 month of Island living is what I have in mind. No need to see sights, just want to be a beach bum for now. Oh, and the beer is cheaper in Thailand. I've been on rations in Malaysia due to the cost, so bring it on.

So I'm off for now, I'll post again from Thailand. Take care folks, be safe.

KK

Well I've been pissed off today! I've been trying to sort out accommodation and or transport to get to my lady. The Rasa Ria wanted over 500Rm a night to put me in a room of my own or to put a bed in Sonia & Janet's room. So given the choice I'd rather have my own room. But that kind of money could keep me travelling for some time and so I'm reluctant to stay at that luxury resort. Maybe when i see it, I'll see it different!!
So I've managed to sort out a car with a little help from a local guy called Charles Lai. He runs a Chinese restaurant called Kedai Kopi Kinabalu on Gaya Street behind the RSB bank. He's a great guy. I was there last night eating and got chatting to him. He initiated the conversation and said his friend could do me a car cheaper than other places. He was right. Abdul @ the Beach street hostel has beaten all the quotes I got from elsewhere today, I pick the little car up tomorrow at 10am. Woo hoo, I have wheels and can get around Sabah. The public transport system here is not like it was in Peninsular Malaysia. It is present but timetables are not in existence and if they were, they certainly wouldn't be adhered to. I was the only whitey on both buses I took yesterday. The locals are not as friendly as they are on the peninsular either, that's not to say they want to do you harm, but they are not as liable to approach you as they are on the peninsular. English is not as widely spoken here either which probably explains the lack of communication. Hence navigating your way around on local transport is difficult.
Anyway, back to Mr Charles Lai. I was sitting chatting to him last night when a deaf girl rocked up selling toys. You know how they do in the UK, they present a card explaining that they are deaf and asking if you can purchase something to help with their fundraising. Well, Mr Lai gets the girl to sit down and explains to me what she's doing & that he has purchased several toys from her. His children who all work in the restaurant justified his claims. He then proceeds to get his kitchen staff to feed & water her before she goes on her way with no charge. A little while later she reappears with two deaf companions who are doing the same as her. He feeds & waters them both also for no charge. They are great kids and make no mistake, they were kids. Now, they will be off to Thailand at the end of the month doing the same thing which makes me wonder who's exploiting them. Somebody appears to be, although if that's the way that these kids keep their bellies full and a water tight roof over their heads, is it really exploitation?
However you see it the fact remains that Mr Charles Lai appears to be a good guy. He done what most in the western world wouldn't. Charity before profit. That makes him a good guy in my book, he deserves good things, so if you're in KK visit his restaurant. Eat well and bear in mind that whatever you spend, it's not all profit, some of it will find it's way to a needy cause because that man has a good heart. I took some friends & their friends there for food tonight and he gave us free fruit for dessert, two plates full of chopped apples & oranges. As I said before, he's a good 'un. Pay the man a visit & just ask if you need help with anything. I'm sure he'll do his best to put you on the right path.
So tomorrow all being well I get to see my girl who I've not seen for over three months. And her wonderful mum who is a star.
Well that's it for now. Peace, love & unity to all. 10 - 4 good buddy, over & out!

Kota Kinabalu

Well the weathers not too great in KK. It rained most of the day yesterday and is raining again now. Yesterday was pretty much a DVD day - Stay in lodge has a box full of DVDs, DVD player & TV all in the communal area for use by guests for no charge. Free tea & coffee and Internet too! Not bad eh?

Someone commented a while back that there was no mention of girls on this blog. The main reason for that is that this trip was never about sowing seeds around the world, but also as they suspected, there is a girl in the UK that I'm attached to although maybe not the kind of relationship that everybody would understand. Anyway, she is arriving at a very nice resort 30km outside of KK tomorrow for a two week break. So today I thought I'd catch the local bus up that way to see how easy it's going to be to get back & forth. 1.5 hrs on a local bus (4RM) into a town called Tuaran where you would of thought I was an alien strolling about. Obviously not many westerners bother to head up there, either that, or I had a something stuck on my face! It was also hard to find anyone that spoke English which is not the case following the standard tourist path in Malaysia, especially on the Peninsular. Consequently I walked for over an hour in search of said resort before running out of time. I had to turn back! The last local bus back to KK leaves at three, or that was the way I understood the locals. So I am still none the wiser, I will maybe try again tomorrow, perhaps hire a bike or a car. The only other alternative is to book into that 5* resort which is well beyond my budget. And after travelling for three months & doing things cheaply you sort of get into this mind set where you would rather spend a quarter of a taxi fare on getting the bus instead. I also can't stand to pay more than a tenner a night on a room! Tight git eh? That's what budget travelling is all about. The sooner the monies gone, the sooner you have to go home and I'm not ready yet! I need some more Island living - I love being on a island with nothing to do but chill, snorkel, swim & eat!

My visit to Tuaran wasn't a complete waste though. I stumbled across this great 9 storey pagoda temple (Ling San) so had a look around. 2RM admission fee was well worth it! So there's a couple of piccies above of the temple and some sunsets from the area around the night food market in KK. It is a great place to watch sunsets from. I'll be heading off down there for a feed in a bit.

Borneo

Hey Folki, well all went well. I got stamped out of Malaysia and into Singapore with ease. Singapore was hectic. It is after all a western city. Two days there was not enough really, there is shed loads to do there although it is expensive. I met a couple of Californian lads (Brad & Paul) on the bus from Melaka to Singapore so we hung out while I was there. We traipsed around on the first night looking for somewhere to stay without a great deal of success. We ended up at the Inncrowd hostel on Dunlop street in an 11 bed dorm. The hostel was nice but I don't really like the dorm thing, people are just too inconsiderate. Someones alarm clock went off both nights at 1am and seemed to only wake me! The first night was also interrupted by a bunch of Asian girls coming back from a night out and turning the light on at 2am, then it went off only to come back on again a little while later. The second night and around 1.30am a girl from a different dorm decides to stroll right through our dorm to get out on the roof terrace for a smoke, so in the space of 10 mins 4 doors were banged, wicked!!
The morning after my arrival I went out & looked at two temples and then the Art gallery with the lads. However my back has been playing up again gradually getting worse over the last 2 weeks. I had to go back to the Hostel & take a pill then have a siesta. I also had the top bunk there which took me back some 25 years! A right pain to get in & out of. The dorm thing is not for me!! So if you're headed to Singapore book your accommodation before you get there, if not you'll do lots of walking and still only find a dorm bed.
So I left Singapore on the 13th and breezed through immigration - stamped out of Singapore & back into Malaysia - a fresh 90 day visa for free, woo hoo! If you go this way watch out for the taxi touts, they are sharks. They tried to get me to part with 50RM for a ride to the airport (Senai International, Johor Bharu) which you can do for 8RM on the bus. Then another one tried to tell me the bus doesn't run from Johor immigration to Kotaraya terminal (where you get the bus from to go to Senai International). Lying git! He gave me a good hand shake when I pointed out that I knew 100% that there was a bus. It pisses me off that these guys are very religious but willing to lie & deceive to get you in their taxi. I suppose you can't blame someone for trying to turn a shilling in order to feed their family but it still jars my nut! So, you've been warned.
The same day I got caught at Senai by Air Asia. Apparently my backpack has gained 5 kilos since I've been travelling. God knows how! But it know weighs 18.1 instead of 12.9 when I left the UK. So I was charged 45RM for being 3 Kilos over (Air Asia only allow 15KG hold luggage & 7KG hand). So I need to buy a bigger day pack so as I can take a bit more hand luggage on the plane as I will still need several Air Asia flights before I return to the UK. I also need to go through that pack and dump some stuff that isn't needed or hasn't been used yet! Perhaps I'll need to wear several layers of clothing each time I fly.
So I'm now in Kota Kinabalu (KK) in Malaysian Borneo. First impressions of this place are not great. I shared a taxi from the airport with a Swiss girl called Sonia & a Chinese girl who's name I didn't get. Accommodation in KK is more expensive than in Peninsular Malaysia so Sonia & I are roomies for the next night or so. We stayed at Trekkers Lodge last night and have moved this morning to Stay in Lodge ( www.stayinlodge.com ) and managed to find a cheaper room. Went out for a beer last night after bumping into Jess who I met in Kota Bharu a week or so ago, she arrived here yesterday too although on a different flight. Was funny to watch the locals trying to pull themselves a western girl, one young Malay even confided in me his plan to snare & marry a western so as he can live in Europe. These young guys can't afford to marry local girls as they have to pay a kind of Dowry amounting to thousands of Ringgit. Seems a shame that their culture & customs are forcing them to go against tradition. Maybe they've seen too many western folks who are not bound by the same culture/customs/religion and think life would be better elsewhere. If only they knew - the grass always looks greener. Life in the west is not without it's problems - they'll find out in good time!! So I'm off to do some investigating, I'll post again in a couple of days, take care folks.

Melaka

I arrived at Sentral bus station just outside of Melaka town completely unscathed - remarkable considering how many bus crashes there's been in the last two weeks! My night bus was regularly doing 100kmh on normal roads. They seem to forget they've got 40 innocent people sitting right behind them. Anyway, from Sentral bus station I took local bus 17 to town square where I was informed by way of a sign that I am 10,623 KM away from London - quite a long way from Bacon sarnies & PG pyramids.

Melaka was colonised first by the Portuguese, then the Dutch, followed by the British who lost it to the Japanese during WW2 before reclaiming it after the war was won. We pulled out in 1957 when Malaysia won it's independence from the commonwealth. Consequently there are lots of different races & religions all living side by side in perfect harmony. Where else would you find Chinese, Muslim & Hindu temples all on the same street? There's Indians, Malays, Eurasians and a big head of Chinese here. In fact they have the best China town I've been in so far! It's hard to describe but I just felt great roaming the streets there. Not once was I harassed to buy anything, there were no market stalls with cheap mass produced imported shite being forced upon you. No "Hey Mr, special price for you". It is still a working China town where the locals live & ply their trades from local shophouses. Basket makers, blacksmiths, silversmiths, souvenir makers are all there doing what they've done for decades, centuries even.

I'm so glad my plans changed and I came here, I'm just gutted that I've only got two days! The old center of town is where the bulk of the history lies, the suburbs are spreading ever wider as the town develops. There are now huge shopping malls, a cinema, bowling alley & the big hotels are moving in - progress they say - let's hope the old town retains it's charm & character while the suburbs sprawl across the surrounding countryside. One good side of that is that I found a Nando's brother Tom! My usual in the UK was under half the cost here including government tax and service charge although it didn't seem as good - maybe because my Nando's eating partner wasn't there! Also found a great bar (D'Arts cafe, 121 Jonker street, Tel 016-661-5558, dart@streamyx.com )with bottles of Malaysian beer for 5RM, great music & a friendly owner. I'm off there in a minute!!

I'm staying at Travellers Lodge and have a tiny room with shared facilities for 20RM per night. Maybe i ought to think about upping the accommodation budget.

So tomorrow morning I leave here bound for Singapore. Will be there for two nights only before heading back into Malaysia for Johor Bharu airport and my Friday 13th flight! Not the best idea I've had this trip but it was the cheapest flight I could find.

Pictures above are of Christ church (built by the Dutch), the ruins of the old Dutch fort and yours truly in front of a fantastic temple.

Onward travel plans!!

Ok folks, I leave Kota Bharu on a nightbus tomorrow (Sunday) evening bound for Malaka. Will take 10 hours, hmmmm, not nice but needs must. So I'll have a few days there before moving into Singapore for a few days. Then I have a flight on Friday 13th from Johor Bharu to Kota Kinabalu, Borneo. Will see some of Sabah maybe Sarawak too before heading off elsewhere. Not sure where yet, still considering Indonesia although Sri Lanka is a must for this trip and I still want to take another look at Thailand. I'll post some more pictures soon. Take care folks

People watching!!

While sitting at Zecks today chatting to other guests, a guy called Bill from Singapore said "Birds of a feather, flock together", "I've been watching". He's pretty much correct too. The Germans, French, Swiss, Dutch, Canadians etc all seek out the company of their own kin. I do it too. I find it easier to talk to and form friendships with other English folk. Why is that? That's not to say I don't speak to other nationalities, I do, but the better their English is, the easier I find it to talk to them - how uncultured am I?
Now that leads on to the friendship issue. You meet lots of folks while travelling. Some can be tolerated for a very short period before you feel the need to distance yourself from them. Others make good company for an evening or two while some become friends that you spend several days with. These folk all invariably move on at some point. Either you or they are going in a different direction. It's hard when you've got to know and consider as a friend these folks - then they're gone. The cycle starts again......
Now, Malaysians are pretty friendly on the whole. I've met loads who are pleasant & accepting. Some will go well out of their way to make you feel welcome and generally Malaysia is a safe place for westerners to be. I've no doubt that there are some dodgy happenings here occasionally but Malaysia is a great place. I for one have become increasingly fond of it since I've been here and would definitely come back.......I have several invites in KL for food & tea tarik that I feel i should attend!
However lots of Malaysians working the tourist circuit tell lies - there's no local bus, the guesthouse you want is full or closed or has bed bugs etc etc. Occasionally it's the truth but rarely as the entire system works on kick backs. The taxi driver gets a commission for taking you to a particular guesthouse, the guesthouse owner gets a drink for getting you into a particular taxi, boat or minibus. Tickets have an uplift built into them so as the seller gets a commission. The entire system works on commission's, don't believe anybody that tells you different. Use the local government run transport whenever you can, you'll pay the same for your seat as a local and try to sort out your own tickets.

Perhentian Kecil.

Ok first & foremost, a big apology to Clare & Eurig for running out on them. I had another terrible night at Ideal. Was laying on the bed reading and had small insects crawling across the page! Consequently spent a sleepless night scratching myself stupid! As soon as owners were up, booked a taxi & boat ticket & got out of there. Did knock your door guys (not very loudly, I must admit) to say goodbye but didn't want to wake you. So, Sorry guys!

24/05/08

So I've just had one of the better nights sleep I've had on this trip. I'm staying at D'Lagoon http://www.geocities.com/d_lagoon_my on the Northeast tip of Perhentian Kecil. It's a great place here - beach is small but only D'lagoon use it. Better than that is the coral, fish & black tipped reef sharks that you can snorkel with just in front of that little beach. I saw 7 of them yesterday. Dorm beds are 15RM, room in a longhouse are 30RM with either a double or two singles, room with three singles is 40RM or semi detached chalet with attached bathroom are 60RM. There's also a tree house for 20RM - unfortunately it's fully booked! There's also two other beaches within a 15 minute walk that are isolated & unoccupied. All in all, a great place. Turtles lay eggs on the beach here and there should be some hatchlings in about a months time.

25/05/08

More snorkeling today. Saw some huge lumphead Parrot fish and a spotted porcupine fish - wicked - the underwater world is amazing. Suddenly you realize just how true to life "Finding Nemo" really was. While sitting eating in the restaurant tonight a Civet came down looking for food - who needs Taman Negara?

26/05/08

Well I've been feeling a little under the weather for the last day or so and travellers diarrhoea has well & truly settled in today. I'm shaking, hot & cold shivers, sweating, aching all over, light headed and obviously toilet visits every two hours even through the night. Birthday wasn't too bad though. Sam & Christina had already left the Island but had left a beer behind for me - how nice was that? Thanks guys. Ben & Saskia also ensured I wasn't alone and we had a couple of beers together - they are leaving on the 8 o'clock boat in the morning. Had a great little group there for a few days - safe travels to you all.

27/05/08

Still dog rough! The owner of D'Lagoon has just given me a sachet of something to sort out my tummy. Let's hope it works as I'm running low on funds but can't travel to Kota Bharu like this - a bit of a dilemma!

29/05/08

Last night was another strange one although after my midnight dash to the loo I was OK till 1PM today - I'm on the mend. Stomach cramps have stopped and bowel movements are less frequent although still not quite right. I've also just been told that Sam & Christina have prepaid the turtle snorkelling trip for me as a birthday present. I'd known them for about 4 days - I'm actually blown away by their kindness & generosity. That was a real nice thing to do guys, I'll not forget turning 36. Thank you very much. You are still a card cheat though Sam!!

I went to Turtle beach a couple of nights back to watch a turtle laying eggs. I was disgusted with the behaviour of mainly the Malays but other nationalities too, who couldn't follow the rules about keeping their distance. They had to touch the turtle and pose for photo's - shocking! Only four of us from a group of 25 kept away. I wish I hadn't witnessed the whole saga.

30/05/08

Last night was a massive storm. The entire longhouse shook like it was an earthquake with each clap of thunder. The sky was completely illuminated with sheet lightening. It was like someone was turning on a huge floodlight - awesome! Today I went on the turtle trip. I swam with those huge, graceful creatures. Another once in a lifetime moment!

01/05/08

This morning I had a great surprise. A turtle on the beach right in front of my very eyes. See the pictures above. Also there is the bay during daylight and a sunrise shot. I left the island at 8am and am now back in Kota Bharu. This time I am at Zecks travellers inn ztravellers_inn@hotmail.com zecktravellers@yahoo.com where the beds are cleaner and the mattresses thicker. This place was highly recommended by several people on the Island and so far it looks good. Zeck & his wife Marianne are very friendly folks. Should be a decent nights sleep. Right, I'm off to the night market for some Malay grub, hmmmm you lot don't know what you're missing!