Tag Archives: Malaysia

Lounging in Langkawi and missed connections in KL

Asia September 13, 2013 Leave a comment

The ferry ride to Langkawi was excruciatingly long. In reality it was only 3 hours, but the choppy waves made for some really seasick passengers. Three hours of listening to people toss their cookies into plastic bags is way longer than anyone needs to sit through (especially if you might be hungover).

We finally made it to the dock (both Shan and I managed to keep our breakfast in our tummies) and couldn’t wait to get to the beach. We fought our way through the crowds of people exiting the ferry and made our way over to the taxi stand. We pointed to the strip of beach on a map that would be our home for the next few days and were off.

Langkawi is an island off the northwestern coast of Malaysia and is super close to Thailand (just a short ferry ride away). It’s a vacation island for many of the locals, and the white sand beaches and warm waters were perfect. We spent a couple days lounging on the beach and swimming in the ocean.

Pantai Cenang - the beach where we spent most of our time in Langkawi

Pantai Cenang – the beach where we spent most of our time in Langkawi

After a couple days, we were as relaxed as we could be so we decided to book some cheap flights from KL to Yogyakarta (thank goodness for Low Cost Carriers – what up Air Asia!) and planned on taking the overnight bus back down to KL. On paper, our plan was flawless. We had booked a 10am flight, and had arranged an overnight ferry/bus combo that would get us to Kuala Lumpur at about 6am – leaving us the perfect amount of time to take the train to the airport.

Well guess what? It didn’t work out that way. We made the ferry to bus connection alright, but somehow overnight the bus didn’t make the time it should have. Every time Shannon or I woke up, the bus was stopped at a gas station or for a break. It didn’t seem like we were ever moving. Around 8am, when we were stuck in early morning traffic trying to push our way into downtown KL, we started to get concerned and devised a plan to grab a quick cab to the airport. Around 9am our hopes started to fade and reality set in.

Arriving at the bus station with only half an hour before our flight was to take off, we knew there was no way that we were going to make it. Defeated, we decided to head back to the hostel where we had stayed at the beginning of our trip for a nap and a shower.

Kuala Lumpur Tower from the roof of our hostel (with the Petronas Towers in the background)

Kuala Lumpur Tower from the roof of our hostel (with the Petronas Towers in the background)

The missed flight was actually a blessing in disguise. It gave us a day to rest, do some laundry and re-organize ourselves. I had some paperwork I needed to finish for my upcoming contract in Bolivia, so it was the perfect time to get it sorted out and finished up. We also hadn’t gotten a good glimpse of the Kuala Lumpur Tower all lit up at night when we were in KL the first time. So the rooftop bar of our hostel was the perfect place to relax and wrap up Malaysia.

Street Art in George Town

Asia September 11, 2013 Leave a comment

Aside from having interesting history and amazing food, it turns out that George Town also has some really fantastic street art. Our first morning in George Town while Shan and I were having breakfast, the hostel manager came over to chat with us to see what we were planning to do. When he found out that we didn’t have much of a plan, he grabbed a bunch of pamphlets to help us out. One of them was all about the street art in the city. We flipped through it, but decided to stick to our original plan of just walking around and exploring.

While we were wandering through the streets, we stumbled on the one that was on the cover of the pamphlet. There was an old bicycle bolted to the wall and some children riding on it. It was like finding a hidden treasure in the city.

We didn’t even need to pull the pamphlet out to find more, it seemed that every time we turned the corner we stumbled on to a new piece, even better than the last. My favourites were the welded iron wall caricatures, they all creatively pointed out fun little facts about the area that you were in – like our own little cheeky tour guide of the city.

"Win Win Situation"

“Win Win Situation”

"Jimmy Choo"

“Jimmy Choo”

"One Leg Kicks All"

“One Leg Kicks All”

"Kungfu Girl"

“Kungfu Girl”

"Kids on Bicycle"

“Kids on Bicycle”

Shan playing some soccer

Shan playing some soccer

    

Penang

Asia September 11, 2013 Leave a comment

 I had heard great things about Penang, and was really excited to go. After a 6 hour bus ride from Kuala Lumpur, we arrived at the bus terminal and grabbed some dinner. Penang has a fantastic reputation for food and it’s hawker stalls, and our first meal definitely lived up to the hype.

Without much of a plan, we got up early and decided that we’d explore. George Town isn’t too big, so we set off on foot from our hostel and headed over to Fort Cornwallis. I’ve been to a ton of forts as a Tour guide and am always amazed how much history is housed in them, so I  was actually really looking forward to this one. Even though it’s the largest standing fort in Malaysia, it was ended up being pretty boring – the fort never engaged in battle. Not much of anything seemed to have happened there. It was built by the British Military, but was only ever used as an administrative site rather than a defensive fort. Shan and I went through the fort museum and then headed out to find some actual history. We figured there was bound to be something interesting since Georgetown is listed as a UNESCO heritage site.

Next we ended up among some of the clan houses in Chinatown. We headed into Leong San Tong Khoo Kongsi and were blown away by the intricate ornamental decorations throughout the entire building. It was the clan house of the Khoo family who emigrated from South China in the early 1850s. Tucked right next to Chinatown was Little India. We decided it was time for some lunch and found a little south Indian place on one of the corners. It was probably one of the best Indian meals I’ve had outside of India and transported me right back to Madurai when my fragrant meal was served to me on a banana leaf.

Leong San Tong Khoo Kongsi

Leong San Tong Khoo Kongsi

We spent the afternoon wandering the streets of Chinatown and Little India and ended up stumbling upon the famous Cheong Fatt Ze Mansion (also know as the Blue Mansion because of it’s striking indigo colour) – which is also a UNESCO heritage site. We contemplated going inside, but instead were drawn to the iced tea truck outside it’s gates. We relaxed in the park across the street with our ice teas before heading back to our hostel to freshen up.

Our final stop in George Town was the Red Garden night market for some of Penang’s famed hawker food. We found a plastic table and settled in for some fantastic food from the surrounding stalls set up almost like a food court. We stuffed ourselves with amazing fishead curry, Char Koay Teow (stir fried flat noodles with bean sprouts) and satay (meat on a stick).

pumped for dinner at the Red Garden night market

pumped for dinner at the Red Garden night market

Having spent a couple days in Penang staring at the ocean, it was time for us to head to the beach and enjoy it. We bought ferry tickets that afternoon and packed up for an early morning departure to yet another island – Langkawi.

Kuala Lumpur

Asia September 11, 2013 Leave a comment

 I landed in Kuala Lumpur after three long days of travel and as soon as I came down the escalator I was greeted by my favourite tall blonde friend. Shannon had landed about half an hour earlier on her flight from South Korea. We caught a bus that took us to a train that brought us to downtown and then made our way to our hostel. We grabbed some dinner, caught up a bit and then called it a night so we could get up bright and early to start exploring.

Petronas Towers!

Petronas Towers!

We set off first thing in the morning with great intentions to head up the Petronas Towers, but it turns out that you have to be suuuuuuper early to get tickets to go up. It was about 9am, and the only option they had left was to go up at 8pm. We decided we would try again the next morning and decided instead to wander around the park outside to get some pictures of the towers. Bonus for us, cause there was a sweet wading pool that we literally chilled in for a bit before grabbing lunch.

After lunch we hopped on the subway and made our way up to the famous Batu Caves. It was great, because we’d managed to somehow show up when there were hardly any other tourists. We braved the monkeys (they were everywhere) and climbed up the steps to the cave. Unfortunately we also found out that the lack of tourists meant that the caves weren’t lit up in all their glory. Most of the spotlights on the statues were off, so we had to navigate through the shadows to get a good look at them.

Batu Caves!

Batu Caves!

The next morning we finally got our act together and got up early enough for morning tickets up the Petronas towers. When we got to the top, the wait and early mornings were definitely worth it. The view was spectacular (and we were grateful to have spent the morning in the air conditioned tower). After finally making it up the tower, we decided that we had had enough of the city heat and were going to take off that afternoon for the coast.