Malaysia
Finally in Malaysia. Our stops were designed to rush through the busy, city-type places so that we could relax on the beach for a while before rushing off somewhere else. We had also been there before, so we knew what to expect and what things we definitely wanted to revisit as well as what we didn't want to spend a lot of time on. That proved to be a bit problematic with the other couple that was with us. While they're great traveling companions, the rushing was too much and the resting was too little. Also, we didn't really allow for naps and just slowing down in the city places. I think we lost sight of the fact that Kara and Greg had never been there before and what they might want to spend more time on may have been different from our ideas. We just kept going with the mindset of, "Trust us, we've been here, these are the cooler things to do." That made us not-so-great "tour guides" and we would do things a bit differently if we knew then what we do now after the whole experience. That being said, we did have a great time together and saw some really great stuff!
Johor Bharu is really like Tijuana. Instantly different, a little jarring, and a place for transition between two very different countries. We were still trying to get in touch with Seow and tried finding an internet cafe. The mall we ended up in didn't have one, so we asked a group of boys for directions. They kept contradicting one another, so they just led us to one. We followed them out of the mall, across the street, into another small mall that winded down and around until we finally found what we were looking for. Jordan was just chatting away with the one that new English well and I was following behind (common to do in a Muslim-dominant country where the man gets the attention) and wondered the whole time if they weren't just "taking us for a ride." As we parted company, they were super nice and took pictures with Jordan. As for getting in touch with Seow, it never happened. No idea what happened there, but no calls or e-mails would reach her, so we decided to wander around JB for a while before heading off on the train late that night to KL.
An old Malay man made friends with Greg and offered to show around a bit. He got a security guard to store our bags for us. We left the mall and walked up a hill toward a large, beautiful castle/fort type place was, but he passed right by it and went to a small open-air restaurant. Okay...so we had drinks and bought a rice thing for the security guard as thanks, and the Malay guy was babbling about something that I was having a hard time understanding. We paid and left, then walked back up toward the big building...but stopped at a cab. He negotiated in Malay about seeing a house on stilts and whatever else we wanted for a certain price, the price was too high, we didn't have a ton of time, and the house on stilts they mentioned wasn't really capturing our attention, so we declined. Kara and I had a feeling the cab driver and this old "well-intentioned" guy were giving us the nice-to-your-face version of screwing us over for a lot of money.
We went to the big building and found out it was a government building and at the time that we were there, they were holding some kind of fair-type thing. Youth were skateboarding at a make-shift skate park, motorcycles and scooters were lined up like a car show, there were a few food and craft stalls, 100+ had a table, and there was entertainment as well. Punjabi dancers were there.
Hunger was setting in, so we left and tried to find Ah Fook street (a suggestion from the cab driver in Singapore) but decided to eat at the mall food court since we could each get what we wanted and be fast. We then bought our train tickets and found a place in the train station to camp out. Keeping the airline blanket and pillow was SO the right thing to do...I tried to take a nap but was woken up by Greg and Kara who said the security guard told them "no sleeping." So with contacts plastered to my eye balls and dry as freak, we took turns going to the bathroom to brush our teeth. Thank goodness for the eye-watering power of menthol toothpaste, my eyes watered enough to revive my contacts until we got to KL.
Once there, with an embarrassing-to-scratch mosquito bite on my butt (thanks, long-as train ride and loose shorts), we went off to find our church. We found the train station closest to where our church meets, but once we got out of the station, we had no idea where to go. After some very confused faces when we asked around to see where the street was that we were looking for, a man said he didn't even know if that street existed. Great. He decided to take us as close as could after he took food to his wife. Turns out his wife was in the hospital with their young baby who spiked a really high fever that wouldn't break in the night. Out of his good kindness he was willing to take us to church. I definitely prayed in my heart for his family during the trip. When we first asked him for directions, he asked us what was there where we were headed, Jordan said a church, and he said the area didn't get a lot of foreigners, and the foreigners that do come don't ask for churches...and that there were no churches in that area. I clarified by saying that we were Mormon and our congregation usually meets on a floor of a larger building. With the mention of "Mormon," it seemed that things clicked because he was aware enough of Mormons to know that their numbers in Malaysia are very small and that we meet in buildings above stores usually. He took us to where we needed to go, found that the street did in fact exist, and we thanked him profusely while wishing him and his family well while we unloaded ourselves and our bags.
Church was pretty good...usually I love going to church in other countries because it's a non-American perspective on the same gospel and the same Jesus, but this was apparently a Sunday for the American transplants to speak in church, and so it was more of the same stuff I've heard for the last forever that I've been Mormon. That being said, I didn't hate it, and they had some good points, but it seemed stale to me with the same testimonies and the same issues all white-American Mormons have and face. Oh well. Jesus is still the Savior, that part doesn't change. And for more religious opinions, experiences, and doctrine, see my other blog (which I will also someday update...maybe...hopefully).
A lady at church invited us to dinner the following night, so that was super nice. But dinner for our first night in KL was going to be with a couchsurfer that Jordan befriended on the website. While waiting for Chris at KLCC we encountered a crazy Indian man who thought Greg had autism (he most certainly does not and displays no sign of anything on the autistic spectrum...except he was tired and kept quiet) and scolded Kara for interrupting (which she did not). Once Jordan and Chris met up with us, the five of us left the crazy and went to eat at a Mamak eatery. So I'm a bread lover. Crazy bread lover. If it's bread, I'll eat it. Probably. The naan, roti canai, roti pisang, and roti tisu made up most of what I ate, but we did have meat in the form of chicken tandoori and a spicy beef dish. Chris was a really awesome guy and Jordan and he chatted for most of the dinner; we definitely hope to see him again whenever we are in KL next.
Batu Caves was great! The monkeys were everywhere and the monkeys on the stairs leading up to the caves were crazy. They threw things and were little theives, but they didn't steal our stuff, thank goodness. We almost got pelted by a coconut shell, a water bottle, and anything else they were finished or displeased with they threw down the stairs, humans be damned, though. Many of the monkeys actually ran away from the humans, which is a good sign, so we weren't too worried about being assaulted by the primates while trying to enjoy the scenery which had not yet been marred by the traffic pollution or the Indonesian fires that would surely cloud it up later in the day. Inside there were vignettes of Hindu gods and events from the Ramayana and other various somethings that a bunch of the deities had done. Monkeys mated as we left. Oh the excitement.
With a visit to the night market after dinner with a few couples we met the previous day at church, our night was complete. I got fruit, of course (I can never get enough when we're in Asia), Jordan got a Malaysia jersey, and Kara and I looked at some cute shoulder bags. We had very specific ideas in mind for what we wanted our bags to look like, so when we didn't find what we wanted, the young guy tending the stall yelled at us for wasting his time...while I wanted to shout "Screw you!" with middle fingers raised, I refrained and we just ignored him as we walked away. Can't say I'm enticed to buy something to save you from having wasted your time which you spent not talking to us other than to tell us the white-guy-special price of a bag that isn't even close to what I want...but I digress.
We finally arrived in the Perhentians after missing a bus, catching a train, a flight, a super long wait for a bus, almost missing another bus, and another long wait for our boat (but during this wait we got to watch a herd of cattle take a leisurely stroll through the town). I love the Perhentians...I love it...I love love love it. If you couldn't tell, I love the Perhentians. This was Greg's first time snorkeling ever, so we gave him a few tips and off he swam. He had a great time, from what they told us =]. We went diving at three places, The Pinnacle (Tokong Laut), T3 (Terumbu Tiga), and Sugar Wreck. STUNNING. There were schools of cuttlefish, Bamboo sharks, turtles, Jenkin's Whipray, Emperor Angelfish, Bumphead Parrotfish, Nudibranch, jellyfish, squid, eel...a ton of stuff. Jordan saw a young octopus while he was snorkeling, they are such amazing creatures. I was super jealous. Last time he saw a black-tip reef shark, this time he saw an octopus...both I didn't get to see. Way jealous. But I've mostly gotten over it. Kind of...
After our 3 days in the Perhentians, which never seems long enough no matter how many days I'm there, we wandered around Kota Bahru with Haza, another couchsurfing contact, and took a bunch of pictures before parting ways to wait for a bus to take us Penang. Our bus got to Butterworth with quite a bit of time to spare before the ferry arrived to take us to Penang, so we tried to get a little more sleep, but that pretty much failed for me. Same thing when we got to our hotel in Penang...sleeping in the lobby until they'd let us check in doesn't work very well with a mosquito flying too close for comfort and me without enough bug spray on, a ton of Chinese people talking (sounds more like yelling) to one another, children running around, and super noisy massage chairs that beep when you sit in them for too long without paying. Jordan took a walk to get some breakfast around 4am while the rest of us tried to nap. He found a Jewish cemetery in a predominantly Chinese area tended by an Indian Hindu lady too. Church in Penang was much better than when we were in KL, so that was a nice treat. A tour by a super friendly local, good food, lots of waiting for a free bus that never came, and many leisurely walks later, our time in Penang came to a close and we headed back to KL to catch our flight to Cambodia.
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