Malaysia: Toilet Paper Not Included, Ko Samui: I Live Here After Melbourne

hello, all. it feels like its been ages since ive posted so i thought that now would be a perfect time before my skin officially burns from the thai sun. yes, now is the time to be jealous that im on the beaches of thailand and you are not.

but back to malaysia...

melaka:
there is not much to do in melaka. we left singapore bright and early to catch our first of many long train rides. we were off and i said goodbye to singapore. a lot of reading, sleeping and ipod action later, we were in melaka. wishful thinking led me to hope that the heat and humidity would lessen after singapore, but again, that was just wishful thinking. we had a very nice cab driver who spoke wonderful english take us to our guest house after we gently declined his invitation to stay at his house. he gave us a personal tour which allowed us to get a small idea of the lay of the land. we pulled up to our guest house, travellers lodge, and instantly loved its subtle charm. having not eaten since too many hours to count before, we headed to a hawkre center for lunch and refueled with some chicken rice and a fresh juice. we then felt engergized enough to explore but soon found that there wasnt much to search for. melaka has not one, but two, MEGA malls and they seem to take great pride in them. in one of these malls we found not only a starbucks but a coffee bean and tea leaf!! of course my iced green tea cost 10 times what my lunch cost but it was well worth it and still not enough to break the bank. malaysia is cheap, my friends. we headed back home, excited to relax on travellers private roof top terrace which was soon our favorite spot. before we knew it, it was time to eat again which is really the main thing to do in melaka. as my mom would say "if the shoe fits, buy it in every color" so we headed back to newton hawkre center to try some more local fare. lonely planet had told us to try kopiah which is a vegetarian spring roll, but in reality its more like a pancake filled with vegetables and plum sauce. regardless, it was amazing. we ate quickly so that we could enjoy the last bit of light on the rooftop with our books before heading to bed.

the following day we woke with the idea that today would be our tourist day in melaka. again, the heat was in full force which made everything that didnt involve air conditioning very unpleasant. we walked around the town hall square which was actually quite interesting. the buildings in this region are all painted red from when melaka was in the hands of the dutch. it makes that part of town seem more regal and noble. we then walked around chinatown which didnt seem too tourist friendly, more like shops for locals daily needs. the heat began to fry our brains so we decided that we had had enough and went home to relax on our roof. we had planned to go to a museum describing the idea of mutilation and beauty in malaysia but we had then realized that we were train ticketless and that we needed to find a working printer in order to make it to penang the following day. we searched high and low. every place that seemed to have a printer had a broken printer. finally, we got to an internet cafe (malaysian boys LOVE video games) and printed our tickets. frazzled from that long and frantic hour, we cozied up with a tiger beer before heading to dinner at capitol satay.

capitol satay gets its own section in this blog. lonely planet said that this place was enough to make anyone want to move to melaka. i laughed internally but they were right. id either move to melaka or open one of these bad boys in whatever city i choose to reside in next. this place was popular and we knew that our slight wait would be more than worth it. lonely planet wasnt lying, you walk in and there are literally, stainless steel tables connected to a propane tank which then fuel the BUBBLING VATS OF SATAY SAUCE in the middle of your table. we sat down, ordered some drinks and waited for the fun to begin. sarah and i just stared blankly at the massive wall of satay options. you walk to the wall and load your tray with anything you want, if you can decipher what is even there. i have no idea how the melakans (?) do it. i could barely recognize anything other than shrimp and tofu. there were obscure meat balls that these people seemed to recognize even though they were raw and had no name to describe them. maybe they just like to eat anything and will take a chance. sarah and i clearly needed help to decipher what was what. when our tray was full we let the fun begin. you are told how long each stick needs to cook and then just dunk it in the vat and wait. we certainly ate more than necessary but had to soak it all in. the best part? our many sticks and beers cost us about 7 dollars each! capitol satay also taught me something very important - real toilets are going to be harder and harder to come by. in capitol, squatters room only, of course, without toilet paper. luckilly, sarah and i had wised up by our second day in melaka and brought our own. i suppose this leads me to the title of my post: after we settled in at travellers lodge after our train ride sarah and i both went to the bathroom. we learned that there wasnt any toilet paper so we informed, like we assumed any guest would, the man working at the desk that there was none. he told us, the seriousness of his face never leaving that "toilet paper was not included in the price of the room." baffled, we just nodded and were on our way (in the end, we were never charged for the two rolls we acquired).

penang: we took our long cab ride back to the train station and prepared ourselves for another 9 hour journey. another enjoyable ride full of napping, music and some reading, i mostly gazed out the window at the vast expanse of jungle we were riding through. finally, we arrived at butterworth station and after our ferry ride, were in georgetown, the historic and most popular section of penang. we arrived at our guest house, 75 travellers lodge, hot, exhausted and ready to enter our double room with fan (as you travel further and further into air conditionless places, you realize how important your own room can be and that fans are luxuries). the house keeper told us as we wiped sweat from our eyes that our room was still occupied by the previous tenant because they were not feeling well and decided to stay another night. baffled and downright angry, sarah and i had zero energy to argue and took the two beds in the dorm room which, of course, was fanless. the windows were wide open and this led us to the first usage of our trusty mosquito nets which is like sleeping in a clostrophobic prison. too tired to truly care, we fell fast asleep. i now wonder what would have happened had there not been those two empty beds in the dorm...good thing we never had to find out.

we woke, changed rooms, and had breakfast. we decided to get our bearings so we took a hop on hop off bus of georgetown. unfortunately, this was no guide into the history of penang, more of just a free bus that happened to stop at "historic" spots. still happy to have seen a large portion of the city, we hopped off in little india for lunch. this is the kind of little india i imagined singapores to be like. there was bollywood music coming from all sorts of shops that were full of indian garb and shiny bangles that sarah and i had to refrain from buying. we stumbled into a delicious vegetarian restaurant and were quite pleased. sarah has a friend who is malaysian and when we asked her what to do, she bluntly replied, "eat" - so we did. we then checked out the penang museum and learned about penangs history and culture. i really enjoyed the museum and looking at the old artifacts it housed. we headed home then went off to gurney plaza which was wendy from singapores reccommendation for a little AC fix and a manicure if we fancied. manicure aside, this place was nothing sarah and i had ever seen before. if we thought the mega malls in melaka were huge this was a whole other ball game. i had never seen a mall this size let alone even thought that one existed. there were about 8 floors full of shops and restaurants and beauty salons. each floor was actually divided by "subject" keeping all like stores and services together to make for a less confusing shopping experience. sarah and i just rode the escalators with open jaws as we looked around. we then went to the hawkre center near by which did not disapoint. we tried another traditional dish called rojak which was a salad composed of fruits and vegetables (sarah and i could only name cucumber and pineapple) that are dressed with a thick combination of plum sauce and peanuts and maybe a few other ingredients. we had a great outdoor dinner of fried noodles with vegetables (in asia, "fried" just means wok seared which is something us americans could learn to pick up on) then finally found our way home after a few troubles navigating the penang bus system. for such a popular mode of transportation, these bus stops certainly do not want to be found!

the following day we went for a traditional dim sum breakfast which is something i reccommend everyone eating every day of their lives. after you get over the fact you are most likely eating lunch and dinner foods for breakfast, just enjoy. the best things we found were savory pastries filled with barbeque pork. we had some traditional chinese tea and made some english speaking friends. sarah and i appeared to be some kind of novelty in malaysia. people would just come talk to us, fascinated by the mix of american and english accents. people even asked to take pictures with us! i mean, i know were pretty but please!! after breakfast we waited for the bus and enjoyed a fresh juice. in penang, they just squeeze fresh fruit and vegetables and put it in a plastic bag with a straw then tie the bag up so you can wear it like a bracelet therefore making your drinking experience hands free! sarah and i loved the idea and hope it catches on at home. we then caught the bus to penang hill which was a nice little excusrion out of the city. we then took a funicular train up to see wonderful views of the city and look at a gorgeous temple and mosque. we headed back home and then got ready for our "fancy" dinner at a chinese restaurant. lonely planet again told us about this place and warned us that although the place looks like another hole in the wall you must dress the part which of course was dressy. well, dressing up was worth it. we had some of the best chicken and vegetables we had ever had. we then walked around and headed back home.

apparently, according to sarah, many people neglect malaysia (and singapore) during their gap year. i find this to be such a shame. both places are so full of culture and life (and great food) that they should not be missed. having said that, i think we planned perfectly and divided our time between places in a great way. another day in melaka would have been too many, one less in penang would have been too few.

now a glimspe into thailand. another 9 hour train ride turned into a 12 hour train ride but we finally arrive to surrat thani station. making our arrival 2:30 am instead of 11:30 pm, we were glad our hostel was literally, right around the corner from the station. we were also quite lucky that the station has "attendants" for lack of a better word working at the station and one was nice enough to walk with us to our hostel to avoid creepy windy streets in the black of night. we arrived at queen, were shown our room and passed out in the beds before we could even say goodnight to one another. we woke up and got ready for our bus and ferry ride to ko samui. another bus and a long song-tow ride later (think an open cab) we arrived in paradise, matlang resort. we have a private little wooden beach house with ensuite bathroom and, of course, a fan. our long days of travel were behind us and we instantly fell into the beach life.

we fill our days with sunning, swimming, walking along the ocean line and of course eating and drinking. occasionally we throw in a massage on the beach with a few games of cards here and there. we are zooming through books and forgetting all about the real world which is what the beach can do.

thats all for now. we leave for bangkok tomorrow - another glorious train ride, this time hopefully on time. a few days after our arrival, we begin our volunteer project at temple wat arun, otherwise known as the temple of dawn. sarah and i will be teaching english - this is where your confused looks can come into play - and partaking in daily meditation sessions with the monks. we have already pitched the idea to nancy mccann and as of now, meditation with ruthie and sarah is now going to be an after dinner activity for seniors only.

will report from bangkok...stay tuned.

Singa-what? Singa-who? Singa-(down)pour

greetings from melaka, malaysia. i know many of you are concerned for the wellbeing of the prime minister, my dear cousin lauren especially, but not to worry, i have neither seen zoolander around nor have i heard the song "relax" during my stay here. but enough about that, onto singapore.

as ive already told you, we had a great flight to singapore. we were met at the airport by our driver who made sarah feel very special when she saw him flashing a piece of paper that said her name in big, capital letters. he took us to our b and b, 1bnbsingapore (original, i know), located in the cute area of spottiswoode park.

we were met by some one of the caretakers and shown to our room which was lovely. the b and b had so much character and charm - 5 or so rooms, nice little dining and living room and a nice kitchen. the people could not have been nicer which made this so much more enjoyable than some of the previous hostels we have been staying at. our room was perfect, complete with AC, and cable tv. we were quite exhausted after the journey that 5 minutes into jimmy kimmel we both fell into a peaceful sleep.

we woke up the next morning ready to take on singapore. we woke up, had breakfast then headed off to explore. after getting a bit lost on the way out of spottiswoode, we finally made our way and started in the direction of chinatown. on our hot, humid, sticky and sweaty walk there we stumbled upon the buddah tooth relic museum which is a temple with different rooms and floors - combining temple with tourist attraction i suppose. there is one room that is covered in wall to wall buddahs (1000 to be exact). it was very beautiful and the colors were magnificent. the temple, of course, was next to chinatown which was perfect.

we walked along, browsing each stall trying to sell us various knick knacks and jewelry. we made it further and further in and stumbled upon a place to have lunch. weary of our stomachs we trusted this place due to the mix of people - tourists and locals alike seemed to be eating there. we braved it and instead of water, enjoyed our first of many tiger beers (possibly one of my favorite to date). lunch turned out to be delicious. weve noticed that fresh juice is a very hot commodity in singapore and malaysia. the spicy food makes you desperately need a palate cleanser and cooler in between bites. sarah and i learned this lesson early and have carried it with us thus far in our travels. we walked around a bit more, contemplating buying more art for the apartment i dont have in the city i dont live in but decided against it because whatever could be found in chinatown we are hoping can be found in china itself!

tired and dragging, we headed back to 1bnb for a little r and r before getting ready for our night safari. we stared with dinner at the famed newton circus, a massive hawkre center full of merchants touting at you because obviously they sell better food than the stall next door. in true singapore fashion, we reserved our table as the locals do, with a packet of tissues! apparently, if the tissues are down no one would dare go near your table. the tissues also are vital to have because napkins dont seem to exist here. so whether its for making sure youre eating cleanly or wiping the sweat from your face after eating some chili, youll be glad you brought the tissues.

the night safari was incredible. you can walk and or take a tram through the designated paths full of animals from all over the world, mainly focusing on asian and african animals. sacha, jennifers friend whom we met for drinks the following night, told us that the lighting on the animals at the safari was done by a theatrical lighting director which made lots of sense after going through the safari. each animal was illuminated as if by spotlights and it was so cool to see them at night. the safari is so life like that you can rarely see the barriers between you and the animals, if there even was one. my favorites would have to be the tigers, lions, male elephant and the hyenas. contrary to what the lion king shows you, they are very pretty animals that i kind of wanted to just hug, but didnt, for fear of being bitten by the strongest jawed animal second to the lion.

the following day we decided to explore the colonial district which is full of great architecture and famous buildings such as the parliament buildings (old and new), courthouse, etc. this area sits along a gorgeous quay (pronounced key) full of river boats and taxis and cute waterfront shops and restaurants. we met sir stamford raffles who has a big statue right at the beginning of this area. we explored a bit, again, getting very sticky very quickly. sacha, who gave us an insiders guide to singapore, recommended a lunch place near by so of course we took him up on his offer and enjoyed some delicious prata bread, of course with juice, for about 3 US dollars! then we headed to the ancient civilizations museum which is housed a very picturesque building but honestly, the museum was a bit disappointing. sarah and i found ourselves most entertained in the exhibits designated childrens sections where the learning was hands on and much more fun.

as we were leaving the MRT (singapores version of the metro which is 1000 times nicer than any metro system i have ever been on) we were caught in our first downpour. the rain was coming down hard and fast and not one part of our bodies were dry by the time we reached cover under the police station. we waited, and waited, and waited until the rain began to clear and we made it home without being caught again. the second we entered 1bnb, the rain continued and did not look like it was going to let up. lucky for us, tonight was the one night we wanted to look nice because we were meeting jennifers friends, sacha and wendy, for drinks at the famous raffles hotel. while sarah and i seriously contemplating getting a room there, we figured our 1000 dollars were better spent elsewhere. we opted for a cab and made it raffles looking nice and dry. sarah went for the raffles famed singapore sling but after doing a bit of research on the ingredients i opted for anything other than what resembled cough syrup with alcohol (sarah referred to it as "fruit juice"). wendy and sacha were such lovely people and it was great to meet them. they even gave us some tips for penang which will be very useful.

we left them in search of yet another hawkre center, lau pa sat. both sacha and wendy recommended that i try chili stingray which, much to my surprise, was amazing. the best comparison i could get was the consistency of salmon, maybe even a bit more tender with the white color of swordfish. any fish lover should try stingray. exhausted, we made our way back home and sunk into bed.

i woke up not feeling so hot so opted to stay home from the national museum of singapore. i figured there was no better place to feel sick than at 1bandb. i fell back to sleep and woke up to be greeting by csi sunday on tv. nothing like a little horatio and gil grissom to make one feel better! sarah made it back and regaled me with singapores history and even brought me a present - percy pigs! who knew that singapore would have a marks and spencer? well that certainly made me happier. we were both starving so we made our way back to chinatown and got our lunch before downpour take 2 hit. this storm was amazing. the lighting and thunder were so close and the rain would not let up. we sat, took our time eating and drinking tea for a good 2 hours before the rain eased enough for us to buy umbrellas. we then made our way to little india which was not my cup of tea at all. neither sarah and i were finding anything we wanted to look at or eat for dinner so we decided to go back to the quay and eat along the river. everything was so beautiful when lit up and we had a delicious meal in an even better setting. we stayed along the river for a bit then headed home to pack up before leaving the following morning on our train to melaka.

my general impressions of singapore were quite good. the city, and country, were much more developed than i had expected, actually, i didnt really know what to expect. and they are right when they say that singapore is clean, there are people on every street corner sweeping up anything that hits the ground. you really take notice of it when there arent just various pieces of garbage strewn about. the people were overall very friendly and with the exception of the touting at hawkre centers, which is illegal, i never felt too out of place or awkward like a typical tourist. i think that feeling will quickly subside as we getting deeper and deeper into asia.

we are leaving melaka today for penang so keep your eyes out for that post. again, i am quite disappointed in all of my readers. my followers number is still a measly 7 people. jump on the bandwagon, folks! thats all for now!