Malaysia... a brief tour.

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From Singapore it was a bus trip into Malaysia and up to Melaka where we stayed in the most chilled out guest house run my Gabi a Swiss/German hippy woman and her Chinese Rastafarian husband who played reggae music for most of the day. This super chilled out vibe was only interrupted when the mosque situated across the street (and opposite my bedroom window) blasted out the call for prayer at 6am ! So, after they pulled me off the bedroom ceiling I decided it was time to go. One other amazing memory of Melaka was while sat in the local Indian restaurant a huge swarm of flying ants attracted by the florescent lights came into the restaurant and then got by the ceiling fans that were going full blast due to the very hot and humid air resulting in everyone in the place getting smacked on the top of the head by very large and very concussed ants... priceless.

Another bus trip up to Kuala Lumpur where I did the sights (again) and also had to check if the apple crumble in the revolving restaurant at the Menaras Tower was just as good as last time.... it was.
After a couple of days in Kuala Lumpur it was a local bus up to Kuala Kangsar and then a boat to one of the remote islands to stay with Aziz and Asiah, a Muslim Malay couple to learn about the authentic Malay lifestyle and eat typical Malay food (have you noticed how food plays a big part in these blogs ?). This was a fantastic experience both from the point of being culturally immersed and also in respect of being on an island with no phones / TV / internet etc. It was then back on the boat to Kuala Kangsar before getting another bus and then ferry over to Penang. Here I practiced what I'd learnt at the island by ordering typical Indian food that was served onto a large banana leaf and eaten with just the fingers, and not a dinner medal in sight, it's definitely the way forward.

I'm afraid Malaysia was a little brief and there are a lot more places I will visit next time including their artificial surfing wave just north of KL which I would have surfed but apparently it was only open to surfers for 2 hours at the weekend, so ..... I will be back.
OK, onto Thailand.

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Photos

Trishaw Gadgee in Melaka
I liked this blokes ability to cover all bases for selling his trishaw rides, we've got an indian theme, an animal theme, a floral theme and a nautical theme - why wouldn't you want a ride ?

School Run
The local school run on one of the remote islands near Kuala Kangsar

Sukasuka Island Retreat
Our island retreat for 3 days