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Published: April 30th 2006
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27.04.06
We caught our 8am speed ferry back to Mersing. It took us 2 hours so there was certainly nothing 'speedy' about this boat!
Looking back at Tioman, something we forgot to put on the other blog was that we saw 2 wild porcupines, there were always lots of butterflys and cats. In the evenings there were lots of little low flying bats. Everynight there was a massive thunder and lightning show with thunder like we'd not heard before.
As soon as we were off the boat we are greeted with touts and taxi drivers. We bypassed all them and were met by Dave who had caught the 7.30am ferry back. We dumped our bags and went in search of a ticket to Melaka, on the west coast. We bought our tickets, but the bus wasn't leaving until 1.15pm, a few hours to kill.
First things first the 4 of us went for some breakfast/lunch. Andy and I had 'pancakes' with some curry dip. They were nothing like pancakes, they were made of some shredded stuff, but tasted good. We also sampled a plain roti (this is just a type of thin buttery bread) with curry sauce as Dave had
told us he was addicted to them they must be good. They were nice and are always on the lookout for them for a light lunch. (as we now both have extra bellies!)
Steph and Dave got on their bus to Singapore and we waited around for another hour. We always seem to meet nice people who are going the opposite way to us which is a shame as it would be nice to travel with another couple for a little while.
The bus journey was long (only about 5 hours but seemed longer and we didn't stop!) and a little hair raising. We had heard that the bus drvers in Malaysia were a little crazy, but we had yet to experience it.
Anyway we arrived in Melaka safe and sound at around 6pm. Again we were joined by touts and taxi drivers. First stop was the toilet, or the squat hole! and then onto a local bus to get into the centre. The thing we have noticed about foreign countries and being a tourist is the number of touts and people ready to pounce on you at every given opportunity. Including getting off buses and going in shops.
We've learnt that when you get off a bus you have to try and ignore the touts the best you can and give yourself 5 minutes to get your bearings for being in a new place. Sometimes can be a little daunting.
We headed to China town as there was a hotel we had heard was good. On inspection it wasn't all that and the staff were not inviting or friendly so we moved on. We walked all the way to the other side of town to the Travellers Lodge. This place was the opposite! It was lovely, so clean and the staff were really friendly and polite. We checked out 3 different room and chose the one in the mid range price. Still only 5 quid for the 2 of us and it's lush!
We were straight out to find us some dinner. We went to the big shopping complex and grabbed something in the food court. We also checked out the times for the cinema for tomorrow. Via the supermarket for bread and jam for breakfast (as there is a kitchen)
Back at our lovely hostel we watched a bit of the nightly movie, read and then
bed.
28.04.06
We had a lazy morning today. First stop when we did actually get out was to find the post office to send my Grandmas postcard from Singapore! This proved quite a task but eventually we found it and completed the mission.
We had a brief walk around the shopping centre, but got fed up of being pounced on the moment you walk through the door. This again is a joke. You are always followed at close range by the assistants trying to sell us things! Even in the chemist!
We headed to China town to try and find some food. We went to Cafe 1115 which happened to be in the lonely planet and you get 15mins. internet free! Andy had a fry up wth 4 beans! I had something with noodles that Andy ate too.
Next stop was the internet cafe to update as we are suffering from blog lag. (very behind and I know my dad just can't wait). This was the best place to be as the heat was unbearable.
After our Rotis for dinner we went to the cinema to see 'Fragile' which was very good and scarey! (we had lovely caramel popcorn).
29.04.06
Another lazy morning, Melaka has not inspired us much. We are going to do a bit of a different tour to leave on a good note.
We went out to do a bit of sight seeing as Melaka is an old port with Dutch and Portuguese heritage. Basically we just headed to the town square and to an old fort/church (Porta de Santiago, then up the hill to see St Pauls church) the church was your typical touristy destination, lots of Chinese taking photos and generally getting in our way and lots of people busking and selling crap! This was our sightseeing over!
We went to a food court for more roti's.
Now for something a bit more exciting and different. We were just chilling in the hostel when Alias (our guide for tomorrow) introduced himself. A little while later he comes back to us and asks Andy what's he doing for the next couple of hours, did he want to make RM40? We assumed it would be some manual work, but no he wanted him to go and teach some english to some children! Andy with his dodgy northern accent who's still learning proper english himself!
Andy declined but I said I would go if we could do it together. And we did!
So the people picked us up and took us to the language school. On the way we asked them what they wanted us to do (we had already been thinking of ideas to do) he said just talk to them and they will ask you questions that's all. Easy!
Got into the room with no further briefing, no teacher in sight. Then we heard the door close. So here we were in front of a class of 20 noisy kids raning from 6 to 15 years. So we introduced ourselves, some listened some didn't and this is how it remained for the next hour and a half. Bear in mind most of them had no idea what we were saying and we had no idea what they were saying and at times they would all laugh too, at us. We played games and generally tried to keep them interested for the next hour and a half, which felt like an eternity and was a major challenge.
Well we survived it and made RM40. That evening we treated ourselves to pizza and then
Crazy chinese guy
This was a man in china town sticking his fingers through cocnuts! He is in the Malaysian Record book. went to China town. In China town they had a very busy market and food stalls all laid out. It was hectic.
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