Somewhere between...Malaysia

---

Crossing the causeway to Malaysia was quite easy. We hired a taxi that was able to do the cross border trip and got lucky enough not to have to get out and open our suitcases for a search. They just waved us through. Things seemed to be going smoothly. We got ourselves to the Hyatt in Johor to pick up our rental car, again planned out by Jo’s sister. The only thing was that the car wasn’t there where we we’re told it would be. Hmmm, okay we’ll just hang out a while. We finally managed to get the car delivered up to the hotel only to discover that we could have picked it up right by where the Singapore taxi had dropped us off. Two hours wasted, but no problem. We got on the road and had a pretty good trip up to Kuantan, Jo’s hometown.

It took a few minutes for me to regain my sense of driving on the left side of the road. What really messes with your mind is when you turn a corner and have no oncoming traffic. It’s easy to automatically go to the right. I think I’m over it now. The rental car was an automatic Proton Wira, a small Malaysian made Toyota Corolla equivalent. We drove up the east coast of the Malaysian peninsula through lots of palm oil plantations and costal plains. In some spots we saw signs of deforestation and rampant building along with small towns a roadside fruit stalls. In one section crossing from Johor state into Pahang state we saw monkeys on the road. Just after we got on the road it started to rain, a repeat of our trip three years ago when we drove the same road. It rained quite hard in some spots and I contemplated pulling over, but never did. Once we got half way through the 340km trip (roughly 210 miles) the rain stopped and we could speed up. With the dry roads I could do about 60-70mph. The roads are generally two lanes (one each way) though in spots they do have passing lanes, quite similar to the state highways in Missouri.

We stopped in Mersing, a small town on the coast, to give the kids a chance to stretch and use the restroom. Mersing is the jumping off point for a group of islands off the coast, and has a park along the beach. The kids liked playing on the playground while Jo and I had some pisang goreng (fried bananas). Before getting back on the road, we used the public toilets at the park. You have to pay 20sen (a few cents only) to enter. Will had a reintroduction to the asian-style toilet that he hadn’t seen since he was last in Malaysia three years ago. Needless to say he needed a steady hand to help him keep his balance!

We arrived in Kuantan just after it got dark and went to Jo’s parents house after grabbing a bite to eat. The kids were quite happy to see their grandparents along with aunt Sue Ann and uncle Poh, Jo’s sister and brother. Will loves his uncle Poh so much and never leaves him alone. It’s a good thing he likes kids. After a short visit we head up to the place that we’ll call home for the next month and a bit, a condo/apartment that Jo’s friend’s uncle owns. We could at last settle down and start to feel at home.

---

Photos

No more forest
While most of the way between Johor and Kuantan was either forest, farm or plantation we did see enough of this site to cause a deep impression. It's not pretty is it?

Me at Mersing after the rain
We stopped for a rest in Mersing on the 4-5 hour drive up to Kuantan from Singapore.

Viv at Mersing
relaxing....

Playtime at Mersing
Letting off some excess energy

Will vs. the potty
It's enough to scare anybody the first few times, I guess.

3 generations
A snapshot of our boy Will with his uncle Poh (his mom's older brother) and his KongKong (grandpa). Will had such a fun time there he was meant to stay the night but ended up staying 3 after we arrived!