9 posts tagged “malaysia”
When we arrived in Malaysia, I made a bold declaration, "Malaysia smells of sick." And it did, a strange smell lingered at immigration. I smelt it again at KL bus station. "Can't you smell it, Ben? It smells of sick," but Ben never does smell the things that I can. It wasn't until my hand touched something soft and squishy in Ben's rucksack that I had to retract my harsh judgement on the entire nation of Malaysia.
Rewind a little. We'd asked our friends in Thailand if we could bring them anything that they missed. We were in New Zealand and confident that we could get hold of anything that they were after. They asked for cheese. Doesn't transport well, I hear you say. Ah, but, when we were in India we met a Dutchman who was making cheese in Kashmir. He sealed his cheese in wax and it travelled brilliantly. We took it all around India without the hint of a problem - or a whiff. So, we bought cheese in wax, perfect.
Except it would seem that the quality of our Dutchman's wax was somewhat superior to that of the New Zealand supermarket. In the heat of Malaysia, the wax on Ben's block of cheese had cracked, cheese had oozed out and melted in his bag. We thought that removing the cheese (and leaving it for the hostel's cleaners to discover) would get rid of the problem, but we soon found that the smell of cheese can infiltrate everything. In fact, it wasn't until we arrived here in Thailand that we were finally able to empty the bag, wash what we could and spray everything with de-ordoriser. But even now, when you walk in a room, occassionally you can detect a faint aroma of cheese, and it smells a little like sick...
These ones weren't for children - honest. They were just by the National Mosque. Public exercise "machines", for strengthening the waist, anaerobic workout and leg toning. Not sure when they were last used...
Ben and I spent HOURS in this children's science museum and we never finished it all - we had to leave in order to get food and water! Much of it was Petronas propoganda, but it was still fascinating - taking a simulated helicopter ride to a mocked up oil rig etc.
They had a large area dedicated to Formula One reflecting their involvement. They had lots of activities that drivers would use for training - such as the reaction trainer that Jenson Button holds the world record for. There was a thing that measured brain activity, pitting you against an opponent; the person who was most calm and relaxed won the game...I didn't stand a chance! The girls in the picture are in mock-Formula One cars practising reaction speed off the starting grid.
The middle pictures are interactive screens with moving images projected onto them that react to the position of your shadow - very clever. The butterflies land on you when you stand still, something the kids never quite managed (!), and the other had sand trickling down from the top of the screen that you could catch or redirect.
All this for just over 2 pounds...come to England, Petronas.
We paid a visit to the National Mosque in KL. We were welcomed with open arms by the volunteers who were happy to explain different aspects of the mosque and talk about their beliefs. The arrow in the left-hand picture was on our hotel-room ceiling, it points to Mecca.
In the days before I was a wise and hardened backpacker (a little exaggeration here), I was a little lacking in my knowledge of the world. When I first met Ben, he had just returned from a trip to New Zealand, with a brief stop in Malaysia, visiting the capital for 3 days. As he was telling me about his journey, I fell around laughing at the mention of Kuala Lumpur. Please bear in mind that I have a reputation for being gullible, and people enjoy playing jokes on me.
Me: Ha, ha, ha, Kuala Lumpa, that's not a real place
Ben: Errr, what do you mean, of course it is
Me: No, it's not, it's made up
Ben: It's the capital of Malaysia
Me: Don't be daft. Kuala Lumpa is where the Umpa Lumpas live
Well, I didn't spot any Umpa Lumpas while we were there, just a glitzy, modern city. We went up the KL Tower for night views of the city, but failed to get a ticket for the Twin Towers.
We went on a great night walk safari in Teman Negara. Although we didn't hear an awful lot of what the guide was saying from the back of the group, we did get to see some groovy insects and bugs and we enjoyed all the noises of the jungle at night.
It was quite a mission getting to Taman Negara National Park in Central Malaysia, but it was well worth the trek. The jungle aspect of our adventure began with a 3hr trip along the river to get to the jungle village. Passes and camera permits are needed for the National Park (a hefty fine or 3 years in prison awaited those who disobeyed) and access was across the river in little river taxis. It was super humid and hot, so walking any distance was quite a struggle for Ben and I. There was no chance that the heat was going to stop us doing the canopy walk though - it's one of the 100 things you must do before you die...It was pretty scary to start off - Malaysian engineering inspired less confidence than that of the Kiwis - but it was perhaps the most amazing thing that we've done all year. It's up to 30m high in some places, and the views that it offers of the jungle and the park are superb. Indian Jones eat your heart out. We also trudged up to the viewing point - real hard work, but wonderful views and amazing forest sounds all around. Another special moment was hearing the call to prayer at the top of a hill in the depths of the jungle. We spent much of our time here consuming liquid, enjoying the sounds of nature (and outboard motors!) and making the most of the relaxed pace of life.
Sorry to have neglected the blog for so long, we've a whole country to catch up on! We left Singapore by bus and arrived in Melaka (wonderful, slick, efficient border on both sides). Melaka is quite a splendid little town with lots of history and buildings from all religions.
The Melakkans could teach the Indians a thing or two about pedal-rickshaw decoration - we had to experience at least one ride in one, even though it was overpriced for the tourists. We also had great fun doing a night river cruise. All along the riverside, buildings were decorated in lights, and there was a curious display of all the letters of the alphabet and numbers counting down 100-1. Still, it was very atmospheric and great value for money.
