"According to a popular legend, Parameswara was resting under a gray tree near a river while hunting, when one of his dogs cornered a mouse deer. In self-defense, the mouse deer pushed the dog into the river. Impressed by the courage of the deer, and taking it as a propitious omen of the weak overcoming the powerful, Parameswara decided on the spot to found an empire on the very place that he was sitting. He named it 'Melaka' after the tree under which he had taken shelter. Another version of the story says that Parameswara chose the name 'Malacca' from the [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Kuala Lumpur late in the afternoon and once we arrived at our hotel we wandered around the food stalls across the street and wound up eating in a restaurant called The Ship because rain looked like it was looming and we wanted to be indoors when it hit. The restaurant was ok with western food and a decent menu but the best thing was how far they took the nautical theme. The staff were all in uniforms and the back of the menu told you what the rank was of each person. The admiral presented us our check [View Full Entry]

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Since it has been a month plus I figured we'd do a brief recap. Coolest Building: Alan: I really liked the clan house in George Town that was just covered in dragons. Petronas Towers in KL were also awesome but I was expecting those. Kat: The purplish blue Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion Hotel in Georgetown, Penang was beautiful, and even though it's a museum, you can still book a room there. Favorite food: Alan: Roasted Duck. 'nuff said. Second was Dim Sum at the Red Garden (which I incorrectly called Night Garden in our George Town blog) Kat: Pork and Noodle [View Full Entry]

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So we arrived at George Town around 8pm. We had already rung a guesthouse from Penang earlier today to hold a room for us. After a tiring 20 minute walk (these packs have too much stuff in them) we arrived. I was very glad i called as our name was written on the board and a room was held for us. After we settled in and went out on the town we realized we may have once again gotten the last room in town. We saw multiple backpackers hunkering down for the night on the patios of guesthouses and hostels with [View Full Entry]

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So we arrived on Pulau Langkawi and took a cab to our hotel at Pantai Cenang. We chose one from our guidebooks that promised nothing fancy but that was clean, comfortable and feet from the beach. Checked in for 2 nights and were glad the hotel lived up to its rep. We unloaded our bags and started strolling the main street to see what our little town had to offer and then made our way to the beach and walked back to our hotel. We spent two days lazing around and then decided it was time to move on. The beach [View Full Entry]

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After a completely and thankfully noneventful ferry and bus ride we arrive in Krabi. Our last "planned" part of the trip thru Thailand that we arranged with a travel agent in Bangkok. And to be technically correct here we didn't actually go to Krabi we went to Ao Nang which is a smaller beach just kilometers from Krabi proper. I liked Ao Nang and I think Kat did (she's currently sleeping in as we are tucked in a nice hotel in Kuala Lumpur and after today start "roughing it" again). Although it was kind of like Thailand's answer to Myrtle Beach [View Full Entry]

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Ok. So after reviewing our blogs I realize it reads as a string of misadventures and mishaps. So we're going to go back in time a few days and talk about our incredible day at Ang Thong National Marine Park. We booked the excursion thru our hotel. There were a variety of options and we chose the one that was at sea for the day instead of the interior of Ko Samui. As mentioned for some reason everything starts very early so we had to be in our lobby at 6:30 to be picked up by an air con mini-bus to [View Full Entry]

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Hey all, it's Kat this time, Alan's taking a break. We just arrived in Malaysia yesterday, but I need to catch you up on the rest of our Thailand trip. We left Bangkok by rail to travel to Chumphon, a town on the west coast where a boat would meet us and take us to Ko Tao island. The train was a blast, our tickets were second class bunk w/ AC. You get a curtain for privacy (and guy comes around and turns your seat into a bed) and a bunk light to read by. I think we only traveled 350 [View Full Entry]

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There are beautiful places and things to see in Bangkok. We sent postcards home of all of them. We also hope to see them someday. Kat realized we needed prescription goggles for the impending scuba adventure since she's blind. No problem. A bit of Google and we know where to go (mostly) so we start out to the subway. Our hotel is a tourist hotel. So it goes without saying there are tuk-tuk drivers and vendors on the fringe of the property much like barnacles on a boat. We usually just grin and shake our head and say no thank you [View Full Entry]

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We have left behind the quiet, calm and order of Hong Kong and have emerged in Bangkok, which is neither quiet, calm or orderly. But change is good, and in this instance, that has definitley been true. If any of you have the chance to fly Air Jordanian I highly recommend it. It was like air travel in America in the 70s. Warm towels, eye shades, lush blankets, comfy pillows, real meals complete with silverware and first class treatment even in economy class. Excellent. Bangkok has been overwhelming to me in the exact same way Vegas is. Too many people, too [View Full Entry]

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