Advertisement
Published: April 26th 2015
With Chinese New Year fast approaching, my friends in China have long holidays. One of them decided to take a few days of her holiday to stop and visit me! I haven't seen her since we both left the university in China in June 2013, so we were long overdue for a meeting!
I picked her up at KLIA on Thursday. Thanks to traffic and an accident, it took me over five hours to get there. But, unlike everyone had predicted (based on their own experiences), I didn't get lost! Unfortunately, the sign for the airport parking was rather unclear (I thought it was parking for the hotel next to the airport), so I illegally parked like everyone else. I think the ticket cop was waiting for me. But we were on our way again and even with a few breaks to stretch our legs and eat a bit still made it back home in about four hours. By this point my phone/GPS had died so I navigated it from memory. Considering I've never driven in KL before, and the roads are quite curvy and confusing, I was pleased with myself. We unpacked the car and immediately went to bed.
Beach babe
This is one of my favorite shotsThe next morning I went to work. Luckily, it was Friday and we finished around noon. My friend and I chatted most of the afternoon before heading to Kuantan for dinner and mango cheesecake. We also stopped to buy egg tarts, a favorite treat of ours from China. Still tired from Thursday, we went to bed at a reasonable hour.
Saturday we were up early and out out the door. First stop was breakfast. I gave my friend three choices of traditional foods and she decided to try the kaya toast. (Which, thankfully, is what I was in the mood for.) Kaya toast is toast with a coconut spread and butter, and it's traditionally served with half boiled eggs and coffee. The first time I tried it was in Singapore and I've been hooked ever since. Unlike restaurants I've been to in the past, the one we went to (a local place that's always busy) served the eggs in small pots of water. This way you can cook them as long as you like. We must have looked perplexed, since the owner came by to explain how long it takes and to watch for the bubbles to stop.
They were the best eggs I've ever had.
After filling ourselves we went to the beach. The sun was out and it wasn't hot--perfect beach weather. We stood in the water, relaxing as waves crashed over our feet and ankles. Occasionally they'd splash a little higher and I wished I'd worn something other than rolled jeans. We then went up the beach a bit for some coffee and chit chat with views of the water...and no risk that the monkeys would steal our drinks! We actually didn't see any (thankfully) but in the past I've had them steal from me more than once.
On our way home we stopped at a temple just outside of town. It was peaceful and empty, but it was easy to see they were preparing for the CNY celebrations. Joss sticks taller than me were leaning against the wall and incense coils were stacked high. Red lanterns were strung from one end to the other. The temple sits atop a large hill and the views of the area are amazing. When you look out all you see are palm trees and a few power lines--it's hard to believe how many people live in
Penang noodles in soup with shrimp
This was amazing and only a dollar! the area.
The next morning we ate our egg tarts for breakfast before heading to the bus station. I dropped her off and she was on her way to her next adventure.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.067s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 10; qc: 24; dbt: 0.047s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
