After our close encounters of the animal kind we headed to a more civil and less savage area - Petaling Street. Errr...right....
Petaling was a crazy maze of stalls intertwined with one another that created a Vegas feeling of never finding your way out. The walkways in between each side was approximately 18 inches and led to sideways walking and always touching something that someone was selling. Pausing and touching mean one thing to the sellers: you want it. If you pause for one second, examine an item for a breathe or raise your hand to touch it, you better be ready to a salesperson to come at you. There is no window shopping or pleasantly strolling through stalls (or even in shops) - it's an aerobic event for all. And they are ALL upsellers. We weaved in and out of stalls looking for goods to take back to our loved ones. It was mayhem! We'd walk in front of one another and let the other's know if we were stopping or moving on. I stopped the most, followed by Melissa and then Les. Les was in sensory overload and was in no mood to bargain, to banter, or to cut a deal. He laughed with us but was basically clawing for a way out of the claustrophobic mob scene. I bartered and had a great time with the stall-keepers (I keep using different names for these people bc I have no idea what the real name is for them: salesmen, stall-keeper, shop owner, etc). They'd play with you and groan when your price was too low and tell you it was your lucky day or anything to keep you looking. It was fun and alive with noise, color, and the sound of cash.
We had gone to the Central Market beforehand which is basically a small building with mini open shops inside - very mall like but still with stalls. It had a much calmer atmosphere, better items and less bargaining. Melissa really enjoyed the Central Market scene and fell in love with several scarves.
I liked the madness and the bargaining opportunities at Petaling St :) Surprised?
Les laughed at me and the results I got with some of the stalls. There's a fine line between good negotiation and insulting prices: I thought I stood on one side of the line, he thought I stood on the other. Hahahah :) Either way, yay! Was very close to getting a Coach purse (knockoff, of course) for about 60,000 RP which is about $7 USD.
After our shopping expeditions, we headed to find dinner.
We had our Frommer's Tour Book and had agreed on a place called 'Top Hat'.
We wound our way down the streets but when we arrived at the location, we were told it had been relocated! D'oh.
On to choice 2 - Shook!
It turned out to be at the bottom of a Marriott Hotel that was connected to the Starhill Centre.
We were worried when we found out that it was in the basement of a mall (ick, mall food) but found out soon enough that this mall started with Louie Vouitton and kept climbing the Brand ladder. We went downstairs and found about 6 great restaurants that we could have eaten at.
Determined we finally found Shook! (yes, it has the exclamation point in the name) and took a look at the menu. We were worried that our day clothes wasn't nice enough for this restaurant as it was beautiful and the hostess had a lovely black dress on. She didn't seem to care as she gave us the menu and encouraged us to try it.
We went for it.
It's menu was split into 4 different categories: Italian, Chinese, Japanese and the Grill.
It contained about 30 different pages of foods and probably over 100 different choices total.
It looked incredible. We started with drinks (Martini for me, Tiger Beer for Les, and a Caiproska for Melissa) as we were celebrating our amazing day. This dinner would be a treat for us all.
I got Short Ribs with Mashed Potatos and slaw from the Grill, Melissa got Spring Roast Chicken with Sweet Potato Purees and Les chose Tempura Vegetables with Udon Noodles. We devoured our dishes as they were the closest to 'home' food we had had in a while. They were excellent.
We had a great time over dinner discussing anything under the sun and totally enjoyed each other's company. Music was being played just next door on this mini stage and so the music set a beautiful tone to our meal.
We left full (we got chocolate fondue for dessert), tired and thrilled by our day.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Kuala Lumpur
Little unknown fact about Kuala Lumpur....it's actually a very scary place to go!
Things that scared Erika:
mysterious unknown small animal in the forest, dead spiders and large live insects within cases, and butterflies
Things that scared Melissa:
monkeys, groups of them together
Things that scared Les:
the Sun. Still. And Amusement Park spinny rides
It also is a very dangerous place!
Things that hurt Erika: her bed post, her suitcase, a small post sticking out of the sidewalk (got her twice at once: toe and knee) and another piece of sidewalk
Things that hurt Melissa: tablechair to the pinky toe
Things that hurt Les: the Sun. Still.
Keep in mind that we were touring Kuala Lumpur and have stayed within city limits.
We are not out in the jungle, we aren't on an adventure trip, nope...we are just walking around the city. And getting wrecked! My feet were not pleasant before this trip and oh man...they have gotten even rougher! hahhaha
The first day in KL, we hit as much as we possibly could: the Petronas Twin Towers, Menara KL, Petaling Street (Chinatown on crack), Central Market, Little India (mini clustered electronic stores everywhere) and the Lake Gardens Butterfly Park.
The buildings here are awesome. Everyone is competing to the be the tallest "something".
Here they win for the Petronas Twin Towers. It is a masterpiece and really incredible engineering. We didn't end up being able to go in the Sky Bridge (the piece that connects as a walkway at the 41st floor) but we did the next day. We did go up the Menara KL (think the Seattle NeedlePoint Tower) and see the entire city from above. They had a bad ass self tour headset/video that you used for each look out window that explained history, gave a closer look to the outside/inside of the place and gave you a great rundown of the city. One of the best I've ever experienced.
From there, we walked down to get to the Jetlong Trail which is a mini nature trail that takes you into the forest to check out some tress and stuff. This begun our monkey encounters.
We saw a bunch of them playing and fighting and being silly so we took LOADS of pictures of them. We continued our walk and thus began our "jungle" experience and my first fright of the day. We were walking through tree after tree and I was already over this as bug upon bug and spider web after spider web had been passed. Don't know if y'all are aware of this but me no likey de spiders. So as we walked on my mind took a little imagination tour itself. Then suddenly to the left and down the hill, we heard and saw this bustle tear down the hill through the brush. It coulda been a large rat, monkey or gremlin, who knows. All I know is that I was OVER this walk. hahah But we continued walking looking at trees and spider webs. Boo.
I was ahead of Melissa and Les because frankly, I didn't care to read and look at things anymore, when all of sudden to my immediate left another bustle and close encounter with that gremlin happened about 2 ft from me. An out of body experience occured and a small (okay, quite loud) squeak/scream/squak come escaped my lips. Oops.
Les came over to see what was up and started laughing and asked if I was okay.
I said yup and my bad. :)
However, I was walking now 20 yards ahead of them and headed OUT of this place.
They stayed behind me and just kept cracking up about my speed and determination to peace out.
We finally got out of that dang jungle and were headed back up to civilization when we came across the monkeys again. They were on both sides of us and we had a great time taking pictures of them, especially the babies in the trees. Melissa got really close up to the babies and were taking great shots of them. Les and I were further back just watching. What we got to see if Melissa turned to the babies, while Mom, Dad or Uncle came down the other hill and get on the same path as us. We were like "Oh hey, Mel...you got a bit of company"
She turns to look at the older monkeys and starts taking pictures, then (And I WISH I had my camera on video-mode) a younger monkey jumps on a branch and swings right over her head. Melissa is now OVER these monkeys and the larger monkeys are ready for us to leave.
She starts heading over to us saying "I don't like these monkeys anymore. I think I'm done being around any of them anymore" and takes off down the stairs. This time Les and I are laughing. It's been quite the amazing forest experience for us.
We then headed to Petaling Street and the Central Market where everything is for sale and everything can be bargined. It's stimulation overload though. SO MUCH STUFF EVERYWHERE. We were starving by this time and decided to take a break, eat, and then go find the Lake Gardens because it had a closing time. Shopping here does not.
We headed to the Lake Gardens and after many uncrossable streets, turnarounds and guesses; we found the entrance way. We walked up and yay, we were at the Butterfly Park. Les and Melissa had been talking about this park for a long time and really really wanted to be sure to see this. I was less excited because to me, a bug is a bug. Prettied up or not, it's a bug and can get lost in your hair (personal experience), ears, mouth or suck onto you. So while butterflies are very pretty when they are by theirselves in the open nature; the idea of being in an enclosed arena with many well camoflauged and divebombers (about 6000 types they said) didn't exactly bring the 'joys' to me. hahaah
But I was excited because I knew they were very stoked and couldn't wait
It was a very pretty area and they were having fun discovering new ones, hidden ones, LARGE ones, pretty ones, etc. Once everyone had their fill, we were headed to the exit, me leading the way.
I opened the door to what I thought was the exit and instead found cases upon cases of bugs.
I did my best to not focus my eyes on any one of them since spiders could lurkbehind any one of those glass plated boxes. I backed up and turned for the door. My mistake. Behind the door was a huge mounted case of different spiders: large, larger, largest and hairiest. I caught a glance and then ducked my head and diverted my eyes and jumped for the door. Melissa and Les were staring at me like "What?" and I calmly told them what was up and that I needed to get out of there ASAP. I said I needed to find the exit from there but couldn't look up for the signs. Les said he would lead me. I very nicely said "I'm super serious so please don't joke or try to scare me". Les was fantastic and led me out. What I wish there were pictures of was that sight. I was bent over as if I had a horrific stoop in my back with eyes covering my peripheral vision and kept my eyes on my toes. Les stood in front of me and led me by the hand up some stairs, around corners and halls and kept saying "don't look up, don't look up". I'm sure we were a sight to see. hahahah
So that was Scare # 2 for me.
Les and Melissa came out 15 minutes later with reports of live large scorpions in a tank (about 20 of them), foot long milipedes and crazy huge bugs. Oddly enough, the only spiders that were in the "Insect Park" (Trap of Death, as I called it) were the ones mounted on the wall that I saw. The other bugs, I coulda dealt with, maybe. But their descriptions of the rest of the exhibit pretty much sounded like Bugs on Crack. Much like the Ninja Turtles movie where ooze gets on animals and makes them large and mean. Or the Jose Cansecos of the bug world.
I think we can all agree that we could do in a world without Jose Canseco.
Alright, time's up.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of KL!
Things that scared Erika:
mysterious unknown small animal in the forest, dead spiders and large live insects within cases, and butterflies
Things that scared Melissa:
monkeys, groups of them together
Things that scared Les:
the Sun. Still. And Amusement Park spinny rides
It also is a very dangerous place!
Things that hurt Erika: her bed post, her suitcase, a small post sticking out of the sidewalk (got her twice at once: toe and knee) and another piece of sidewalk
Things that hurt Melissa: tablechair to the pinky toe
Things that hurt Les: the Sun. Still.
Keep in mind that we were touring Kuala Lumpur and have stayed within city limits.
We are not out in the jungle, we aren't on an adventure trip, nope...we are just walking around the city. And getting wrecked! My feet were not pleasant before this trip and oh man...they have gotten even rougher! hahhaha
The first day in KL, we hit as much as we possibly could: the Petronas Twin Towers, Menara KL, Petaling Street (Chinatown on crack), Central Market, Little India (mini clustered electronic stores everywhere) and the Lake Gardens Butterfly Park.
The buildings here are awesome. Everyone is competing to the be the tallest "something".
Here they win for the Petronas Twin Towers. It is a masterpiece and really incredible engineering. We didn't end up being able to go in the Sky Bridge (the piece that connects as a walkway at the 41st floor) but we did the next day. We did go up the Menara KL (think the Seattle NeedlePoint Tower) and see the entire city from above. They had a bad ass self tour headset/video that you used for each look out window that explained history, gave a closer look to the outside/inside of the place and gave you a great rundown of the city. One of the best I've ever experienced.
From there, we walked down to get to the Jetlong Trail which is a mini nature trail that takes you into the forest to check out some tress and stuff. This begun our monkey encounters.
We saw a bunch of them playing and fighting and being silly so we took LOADS of pictures of them. We continued our walk and thus began our "jungle" experience and my first fright of the day. We were walking through tree after tree and I was already over this as bug upon bug and spider web after spider web had been passed. Don't know if y'all are aware of this but me no likey de spiders. So as we walked on my mind took a little imagination tour itself. Then suddenly to the left and down the hill, we heard and saw this bustle tear down the hill through the brush. It coulda been a large rat, monkey or gremlin, who knows. All I know is that I was OVER this walk. hahah But we continued walking looking at trees and spider webs. Boo.
I was ahead of Melissa and Les because frankly, I didn't care to read and look at things anymore, when all of sudden to my immediate left another bustle and close encounter with that gremlin happened about 2 ft from me. An out of body experience occured and a small (okay, quite loud) squeak/scream/squak come escaped my lips. Oops.
Les came over to see what was up and started laughing and asked if I was okay.
I said yup and my bad. :)
However, I was walking now 20 yards ahead of them and headed OUT of this place.
They stayed behind me and just kept cracking up about my speed and determination to peace out.
We finally got out of that dang jungle and were headed back up to civilization when we came across the monkeys again. They were on both sides of us and we had a great time taking pictures of them, especially the babies in the trees. Melissa got really close up to the babies and were taking great shots of them. Les and I were further back just watching. What we got to see if Melissa turned to the babies, while Mom, Dad or Uncle came down the other hill and get on the same path as us. We were like "Oh hey, Mel...you got a bit of company"
She turns to look at the older monkeys and starts taking pictures, then (And I WISH I had my camera on video-mode) a younger monkey jumps on a branch and swings right over her head. Melissa is now OVER these monkeys and the larger monkeys are ready for us to leave.
She starts heading over to us saying "I don't like these monkeys anymore. I think I'm done being around any of them anymore" and takes off down the stairs. This time Les and I are laughing. It's been quite the amazing forest experience for us.
We then headed to Petaling Street and the Central Market where everything is for sale and everything can be bargined. It's stimulation overload though. SO MUCH STUFF EVERYWHERE. We were starving by this time and decided to take a break, eat, and then go find the Lake Gardens because it had a closing time. Shopping here does not.
We headed to the Lake Gardens and after many uncrossable streets, turnarounds and guesses; we found the entrance way. We walked up and yay, we were at the Butterfly Park. Les and Melissa had been talking about this park for a long time and really really wanted to be sure to see this. I was less excited because to me, a bug is a bug. Prettied up or not, it's a bug and can get lost in your hair (personal experience), ears, mouth or suck onto you. So while butterflies are very pretty when they are by theirselves in the open nature; the idea of being in an enclosed arena with many well camoflauged and divebombers (about 6000 types they said) didn't exactly bring the 'joys' to me. hahaah
But I was excited because I knew they were very stoked and couldn't wait
It was a very pretty area and they were having fun discovering new ones, hidden ones, LARGE ones, pretty ones, etc. Once everyone had their fill, we were headed to the exit, me leading the way.
I opened the door to what I thought was the exit and instead found cases upon cases of bugs.
I did my best to not focus my eyes on any one of them since spiders could lurkbehind any one of those glass plated boxes. I backed up and turned for the door. My mistake. Behind the door was a huge mounted case of different spiders: large, larger, largest and hairiest. I caught a glance and then ducked my head and diverted my eyes and jumped for the door. Melissa and Les were staring at me like "What?" and I calmly told them what was up and that I needed to get out of there ASAP. I said I needed to find the exit from there but couldn't look up for the signs. Les said he would lead me. I very nicely said "I'm super serious so please don't joke or try to scare me". Les was fantastic and led me out. What I wish there were pictures of was that sight. I was bent over as if I had a horrific stoop in my back with eyes covering my peripheral vision and kept my eyes on my toes. Les stood in front of me and led me by the hand up some stairs, around corners and halls and kept saying "don't look up, don't look up". I'm sure we were a sight to see. hahahah
So that was Scare # 2 for me.
Les and Melissa came out 15 minutes later with reports of live large scorpions in a tank (about 20 of them), foot long milipedes and crazy huge bugs. Oddly enough, the only spiders that were in the "Insect Park" (Trap of Death, as I called it) were the ones mounted on the wall that I saw. The other bugs, I coulda dealt with, maybe. But their descriptions of the rest of the exhibit pretty much sounded like Bugs on Crack. Much like the Ninja Turtles movie where ooze gets on animals and makes them large and mean. Or the Jose Cansecos of the bug world.
I think we can all agree that we could do in a world without Jose Canseco.
Alright, time's up.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of KL!
Monday, August 4, 2008
Phuket
Awwww Phuket, beautiful, beautiful Phuket.
(prounounced 'poo-ket', not 'foo-ket' like I called it for awhile. And no! not 'fuk-et'!!!!!!)
Melissa and I had planned the trips and hotels in an order so as not to get tired or used to the same type of place or hotel.
Hong Kong - Matt's apt
Singapore - YMCA room
Bangkok - traveler hostel style
Chaing Mai - country b&b
And now,Phuket. Our relaxing, beachy and beautiful hotel stop.
Perfect timing.
The hotel was huge and spacious with it's own private beach and gorgeous pool overlooking the waves. Fabbbbbbbbbbbulousssss.
It was surrounded by a little town full of shops & restaurants that were just dying for business.
It's Thailand's low season so everything is an additional 30% off plus your bargaining skills.
We could see it be a very *happening* little place during the busy season, but as for now, it was longing for people.
After exploring and taking a night swim, we headed to our beautiful room to sit on the balcony and look at the sky and listen to the sea. This was my favorite part of the room. The patio overlooked the pool and into the ocean.
It was the perfect picture for a girly beach book. Imagine: a girl in the hotel's bathrobe, lounging on a patio chair, with feet resting on the railing, drinking tea and looking out into the view. Her hair piled ontop of her head since the wind was doing what it wished and a small smile on her face while she breathed deeply and sighed.
That was Phuket for me.
We spent the majority of the next day at the beach and playing the waves.
They were HUGE!
They rocked our world for awhile and we shrieked with laughter when one of us ducked too late, not at all or just misjudged the wave strength. There are pretty good sandbars out there so we could walk pretty far out. The result? Grand ol' times.
The view was breathtaking: on one side of us, the never ending Indian Ocean and on the other, the beach and green brush behind our hotel. None too shabby. Reminded me a lot of the time spent in Hawaii. Bit of homesickness, gotta admit.
The one catch to this beautiful paradise is the absolute need for sunscreen.
Alas, poor Les.
Poor, POOR Les.
Or as we could call him, Lobster Les.
Wowza.
He shall never make that mistake again.
Don't worry anyone, we've been capturing his color and now peeling skin ala "Jenny Craig" style with before and after pictures. He's starting to peel now (7 days later), the color is fading (a bit) and his bubbles are going down.
We headed to Patong to see the "Simon Cabaret" that evening.
This show was very highly recommended and our opportunity to see the Ladyboys.
Ladyboys are basically DragQueens; but more believable and prettier.
That was the word on the street.
The show was absolutely horrible. HAHHAHAHA
It basically was a high school lip-synching competition to different pop songs of America, China, and Thailand. There was some choreographed dancing (some. it was just bad) but mostly it was glitter and sparkle and crazy costumes. We just all looked at each other and started laughing; it was so bad it was funny. Melissa fell asleep for portions of it while Les and I just chuckled and shook our heads. Some were better than others but basically, the songs just gave you a chance to gawk at these Ladyboys. They WERE beautiful.
After the show, we had the chance to take pictures with him and see them up close.
Some were much taller than I thought and some you could tell now that you were closer.
However, a lot of them it was still hard to tell!!!!
Little bones, little bodies, little waists, they looked good!!!!
Is it wierd, as a woman, to be jealous of a man dressed up like a girl?
HAHAHAHAHAH
Patong was a cool town and was the most happening place to be. Restaurants and bars lined the streets with stalls and shops trying to get traveler's money. We've been told again and again that it was rare to see Americans over here so everyone just guessed that we were Australian. Catcalls and 'G'day Mate!' was shouted at us repeatedly. Good stuff. Made me proud. :)
We had eaten at an Irish bar called Molly Malone's as no one was ready for more Thai food (or bad food). Les and Melissa got Cottage Pies and I got a burger. Ahhhh, grease that we were used to.
The next day we headed to Phang Nga Bay for sea kayaking and a day at sea.
Les needed to get out of the sun and couldn't stand even thinking about it so we assured him that this trip would provide all the necessary coverage and shade he needed. :)
We boarded this large boat with about 20 other people from ALL over: Italy, Spain, Singapore, the Middle East, Ireland, India and France. The cool thing about traveling over here is that you see EVERYBODY. It's rarely just Europeans and Americans - we are defininately the minority. It's Eastern Europe, China, Japan, India, Malaysians and then Australians, Western Europeans and maybe some Americans. It's awesome. I love seeing the differences in dress, in family, in communication...
Let me just say....we whiteys love our khaki.
The Sea Kayak trip took up to several of the Thailand's different islands including Hong Island, Panak Island, Lawa Island and the "famous" James Bond Island from the Man with the Golden Gun (1970s?). We saw limstone caves, monkeys, walking fish, crazy trees and rock formations. It was cool. In the sea kayaks, there were some caves that we have to lie completely down to get thru. That was pretty cool. The crew was hilarious and service was top notch from these 20-something guys. Drinks, snacks, lunch was provided but more importantly, their attitudes and sense of humour. They loved joking with everyone and on our trip back they danced to MC Hammer, R&B and then had their own Ladyboy performance. It was hilarious and put everyone in a great mood. The day was beautiful and perfect. We were on the boat for about 7 hours.
The day was perfect and just being at sea made us happy. Wind in hair, surrounded by islands and seeing God's amazing creation. What an imagination He has. Some things are just crazy!
Not bad for 2.5 days!
Thailand - check.
On to Kuala Lumpur (KL).
(prounounced 'poo-ket', not 'foo-ket' like I called it for awhile. And no! not 'fuk-et'!!!!!!)
Melissa and I had planned the trips and hotels in an order so as not to get tired or used to the same type of place or hotel.
Hong Kong - Matt's apt
Singapore - YMCA room
Bangkok - traveler hostel style
Chaing Mai - country b&b
And now,Phuket. Our relaxing, beachy and beautiful hotel stop.
Perfect timing.
The hotel was huge and spacious with it's own private beach and gorgeous pool overlooking the waves. Fabbbbbbbbbbbulousssss.
It was surrounded by a little town full of shops & restaurants that were just dying for business.
It's Thailand's low season so everything is an additional 30% off plus your bargaining skills.
We could see it be a very *happening* little place during the busy season, but as for now, it was longing for people.
After exploring and taking a night swim, we headed to our beautiful room to sit on the balcony and look at the sky and listen to the sea. This was my favorite part of the room. The patio overlooked the pool and into the ocean.
It was the perfect picture for a girly beach book. Imagine: a girl in the hotel's bathrobe, lounging on a patio chair, with feet resting on the railing, drinking tea and looking out into the view. Her hair piled ontop of her head since the wind was doing what it wished and a small smile on her face while she breathed deeply and sighed.
That was Phuket for me.
We spent the majority of the next day at the beach and playing the waves.
They were HUGE!
They rocked our world for awhile and we shrieked with laughter when one of us ducked too late, not at all or just misjudged the wave strength. There are pretty good sandbars out there so we could walk pretty far out. The result? Grand ol' times.
The view was breathtaking: on one side of us, the never ending Indian Ocean and on the other, the beach and green brush behind our hotel. None too shabby. Reminded me a lot of the time spent in Hawaii. Bit of homesickness, gotta admit.
The one catch to this beautiful paradise is the absolute need for sunscreen.
Alas, poor Les.
Poor, POOR Les.
Or as we could call him, Lobster Les.
Wowza.
He shall never make that mistake again.
Don't worry anyone, we've been capturing his color and now peeling skin ala "Jenny Craig" style with before and after pictures. He's starting to peel now (7 days later), the color is fading (a bit) and his bubbles are going down.
We headed to Patong to see the "Simon Cabaret" that evening.
This show was very highly recommended and our opportunity to see the Ladyboys.
Ladyboys are basically DragQueens; but more believable and prettier.
That was the word on the street.
The show was absolutely horrible. HAHHAHAHA
It basically was a high school lip-synching competition to different pop songs of America, China, and Thailand. There was some choreographed dancing (some. it was just bad) but mostly it was glitter and sparkle and crazy costumes. We just all looked at each other and started laughing; it was so bad it was funny. Melissa fell asleep for portions of it while Les and I just chuckled and shook our heads. Some were better than others but basically, the songs just gave you a chance to gawk at these Ladyboys. They WERE beautiful.
After the show, we had the chance to take pictures with him and see them up close.
Some were much taller than I thought and some you could tell now that you were closer.
However, a lot of them it was still hard to tell!!!!
Little bones, little bodies, little waists, they looked good!!!!
Is it wierd, as a woman, to be jealous of a man dressed up like a girl?
HAHAHAHAHAH
Patong was a cool town and was the most happening place to be. Restaurants and bars lined the streets with stalls and shops trying to get traveler's money. We've been told again and again that it was rare to see Americans over here so everyone just guessed that we were Australian. Catcalls and 'G'day Mate!' was shouted at us repeatedly. Good stuff. Made me proud. :)
We had eaten at an Irish bar called Molly Malone's as no one was ready for more Thai food (or bad food). Les and Melissa got Cottage Pies and I got a burger. Ahhhh, grease that we were used to.
The next day we headed to Phang Nga Bay for sea kayaking and a day at sea.
Les needed to get out of the sun and couldn't stand even thinking about it so we assured him that this trip would provide all the necessary coverage and shade he needed. :)
We boarded this large boat with about 20 other people from ALL over: Italy, Spain, Singapore, the Middle East, Ireland, India and France. The cool thing about traveling over here is that you see EVERYBODY. It's rarely just Europeans and Americans - we are defininately the minority. It's Eastern Europe, China, Japan, India, Malaysians and then Australians, Western Europeans and maybe some Americans. It's awesome. I love seeing the differences in dress, in family, in communication...
Let me just say....we whiteys love our khaki.
The Sea Kayak trip took up to several of the Thailand's different islands including Hong Island, Panak Island, Lawa Island and the "famous" James Bond Island from the Man with the Golden Gun (1970s?). We saw limstone caves, monkeys, walking fish, crazy trees and rock formations. It was cool. In the sea kayaks, there were some caves that we have to lie completely down to get thru. That was pretty cool. The crew was hilarious and service was top notch from these 20-something guys. Drinks, snacks, lunch was provided but more importantly, their attitudes and sense of humour. They loved joking with everyone and on our trip back they danced to MC Hammer, R&B and then had their own Ladyboy performance. It was hilarious and put everyone in a great mood. The day was beautiful and perfect. We were on the boat for about 7 hours.
The day was perfect and just being at sea made us happy. Wind in hair, surrounded by islands and seeing God's amazing creation. What an imagination He has. Some things are just crazy!
Not bad for 2.5 days!
Thailand - check.
On to Kuala Lumpur (KL).
Andddddddddddddd we're back online!
Hello!
Our last hotels didn't have internet and we basically just forgot to look for cafes!
So we have much to catch yuo up on.
So yes, we are safe, yes, we are having fun and yes, we have much to share!
I promise not to log on such looooooooooooong posts like Chiang Mai.
So here we go: Phuket (Thailand), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and the beginnings of Bali, all coming to a post near you!
Our last hotels didn't have internet and we basically just forgot to look for cafes!
So we have much to catch yuo up on.
So yes, we are safe, yes, we are having fun and yes, we have much to share!
I promise not to log on such looooooooooooong posts like Chiang Mai.
So here we go: Phuket (Thailand), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and the beginnings of Bali, all coming to a post near you!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
Posts
