Watch out for Hop-ons...

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Sorry for the epic intermission. Without further ado, here is the finale of our Spring Festival trip.

We were up bright and early for our 20 hour bus ride down into Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We piled into a mini-bus, took the ferry over to the mainland, and hopped onto another bus heading south to a lunch stop about 2 hours from the border. We grabbed some AMAZING sandwiches at a pub run by a man from New Zealand who was not afraid to pile on the sliced turkey and cheese. Our rag tag group of bus mates into Malaysia all decided that it was a good idea to start by yelling at our driver in various attempts at broken English. I think that they were either trying to figure out how long it would take to get to Kuala Lumpur or how long we would be stopping at our next break. Either way, t was going to be another loooooong ride. Crossing the border was fairly uneventful. Katie and I managed to get out of Thailand before our one-month visa expired. It is a good thing we didn’t cause any trouble or the border monkeys would have been all over us. That’s right- border monkeys. After adding a few more stamps to the passport, we were waiting for the others to be processed. I looked up and saw several monkeys parading around on the support beams high above our heads. They were strutting about and looking very official. I’m sure that their idea of throwing the book at any troublemakers would have involved throwing something else entirely.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in our mini-bus. As much as it was hard to spend an entire day in transit, it was kind of nice to be traveling in daylight. All of our previous long haul bus rides had been overnight, so I spent most of my time sleeping. We got to see the land. There were times when I could have sworn that I was just cruising down I80. All of the signs were written in letters from the Latin alphabet rather than in distinct characters. I have become so accustomed to seeing Chinese characters and Thai writing that I immediately noticed when there were none. As daylight bled into dusk, and dusk faded to dark, Alexes, Katie and I played one of our favorite time wasting games: we think of any group of seven people (or things) and assign one to each member of our group. So far, we have been the 7 Dwarves, the poor stranded seafarers of the S.S. Minnow (I am Gilligan), characters from Full House (and practically every other late 80’s early 90’s TV show or cartoon) and the 7 Deadly Sins. That killed far more time than it should have. Soon it was around 7pm and we were pulling into our dinner stop. We had 3 hours to wander around before we got on our last bus to finally take us to Kuala Lumpur. We ate a nice dinner and Nick added a Malaysian coin to the list of currency that has been up his nose. He wasn’t the kid that stuck stuff his nose, but apparently he is the adult that can’t keep his spare change out of there. We finally made it on to our last bus, which was a big coach bus. I sat next to Money Nostrils. I was quickly able to nestle in and start to dose, but he kept fidgeting. He finally turned completely around in his seat in a frustrated/defiant/sarcastic attempt to get comfortable. Naturally I flopped over to continue the joke only to find that we were both really comfortable and ended up sleeping like that for about an hour. When I woke up, things were confused. Well, I was confused. The bus was stopped and it was still dark outside. People were standing up. Nick kept insisting that we were there, but I could have sworn that we had just started and it was still the middle of the night. Alexes and Katie were about as confused as I was, and Nick had to usher all of our sleepy heads off the bus and help us gather our baggage. We wandered around in the pre-dawn light to the nearest hostel we could find, hoping to find a place to crash for the day. Less than a block away we found a place that said that they wouldn’t know if that had any openings until 9am. They offered up their lobby (complete with about a half a dozen love seats and a big screen TV) for us to crash until we could find out. I was thankful for a place to catch a few more winks before navigating a new city. After a catnap, we learned that they had no openings, so we ventured out into Kuala Lumpur. We had a list of a few places that were cheap and close enough to the things that we wanted to see in the city. We hailed a cab to take us to the first name on our list. He looked a little confused and was nice enough to let us know that we were only a block or two away, so we decided to walk it. In our short trek, we passed a McDonald’s, Starbucks, A&W Rootbeer, and Kenny Rogers Roasters. Any guesses where we ended up? That’s right friends, we stayed in Chinatown. Like I said before, it met our requirements of being cheap, close to things, and cheap. All four of us were able to stay in one dorm room with two rickety bunk beds. We had chilidogs and root beer for lunch (we just couldn’t resist…) and then boarded Malaysia’s first Hop On/Hop Off Bus Tour. For a few bucks, you got a 24 hour bus pass for the Hop On/Hop Off line. It stopped at all of the hot spots around the city, from the metropolitan shopping district, to the palace, to the “green lung” gardens. There was an English language commentary running, so it was like we had our own commentary. We got off (and back on) at a few stops including Lake Titiwangsa, home of the Eye on Malaysia ferris wheel. We took a spin and got a great view of the city. We decided to just ride the bus around the city without getting off to get our bearings. The next morning, we would use our remaining time on our ticket to head over to the Butterfly Garden and Bird Park.
We were excited by all of the Western food that we saw, so we decided that a trip to Outback Steakhouse was a very good idea. After ordering drinks (wine and margaritas- all the good stuff that you just can’t find in Wuhan), we received (most of) a chocolate cake from a group of rowdy revelers at the next table. It was one guy’s birthday, and they decided that we got the cake. They were excited to hear that we were from Chicago. One man immediately jumped up and yelled, “OBAMA!” They were big Barack fans and they went on and on about how they liked that he looked like them. They wanted us to join them for a night out at the clubs, but all we wanted to do was go to the Irish Pub across the street for a Guinness. We declined, saying that we needed to meet friends. As soon as we got to the pub, we found our “friends”- two older couples seated across the bar. We needed a reason that our good friends-Ethyl, Reginald, Lillian and Ethan- weren’t sitting with us. Again, our imaginations went into overdrive and there was soon the most elaborate and implausible back-story ever. Alexes and I left early, leaving Katie and Nick arguing over which daughter was Ethan and Lillian’s youngest (was it the one with the glasses or the blonde?)

The next day started bright and early and back on the Hop On/Hop Off. We went straight to the Butterfly Garden, which was swell. As soon as you entered the covered garden, you were never more than a few feet away from a butterfly. They came in shapes, sizes and colors that I had never seen. The beautiful landscaping made it ideal for photographs, but the twitchy little buggers were flitting about making it really hard to get a good shot. I was stunned to see some that were so large that each wing was nearly the size of my palm (and I do not have small hands). One of the highlights of the whole place was the turtle pond. Tucked away in a nook along one of the paths there was a little Turtle Sanctuary. Turtles always remind me of Michigan and all of the hours we spent watching turtles on Minor Lake. I wasn’t the only turtle fan, and they soon had an entire cheering section. There was one little guy bathing on the rocks and trying as hard as he could to climb up onto one of the rocks. He had so much heart, but his ascent was a no-go. Then, there was a giant turtle that we named Smiley, because it literally looked like he was grinning.

We left the Butterfly Garden and headed toward The World’s Largest Covered Bird Park. On our way, we accidentally stumbled into Jumanji. We were about to cross the street when about two dozen monkeys ran across the intersection in front of us. There were old ones, young ones and babies clinging to their mothers’ bellies. We stopped in awe as they looked both ways before darting into the street. I wonder if people from other countries are as amazed by squirrels or raccoons as we are by monkeys. The aviary was fun, as well. Many of the birds were out in the open, rather than in cages or specific areas. I was able to get pretty close to some little lovebirds and there was a peacock crashing a party at Flamingo Island. He was trying to act cool and blend in, but he wasn’t very successful. The map said that there was a Bird Show soon, so we headed over to the amphitheatre. I don’t know what we were expecting or why we were so keen to check out the bird show, but as soon as they started we each had the realization of, “Oh. A bird show.” It was parrots riding bicycles and ringing bells. I have clearly been spoiled by quality, educational zoos (like the Brookfield Zoo) where you can learn about the animals instead of seeing their parlor tricks.

After the aviary, we headed back to the hostel to freshen up for our big night with the fireflies. Allow me to explain. The reason we decided to go to Kuala Lumpur was that we had heard about colonies of fireflies that blink in unison along a riverbank. We couldn’t just head out on our own, so we booked a group tour. Our tour bus was about half an hour late and our tour guide was…special. As soon as we got on, she started her spiel, which SERIOUSLY needed work. She was incredibly uncomfortable and she kept repeating herself. She was, according to Nick:

“…the most awkward tour guide in the world grasping for things to talk about and frantically looking around for something interesting to say while we all just wanted her to shut up. She was very nice, but not very well-informed, was not being loud enough, and looked terrified. It became funny after a while, as she told us for the third time that we were heading for Selangor state, which we were already in, and that there are 13 states. She also said we were going southeast when we were clearly going northwest. This led me to doubt everything she said, basically.”

She also asked if everyone was okay with shellfish. She became extremely distraught and flustered when two women said that they didn’t eat shellfish. She almost accused them of…choosing the wrong tour? “The seafood dinner,” she said, “was the highlight of the trip.” Ironically, no one in the group knew that the included meal was going to be seafood. Our first stop was a lighthouse where we could feed monkeys. It was surreal to be so close to simians. It was one of those creepy situations where the animals have been conditioned to expect to be fed and get aggressive about it. It reminded me of geese or goats at a petting zoo, except the monkeys are so much like people. They pull at your clothing with little hands. There were a bunch of mothers with babies clinging to the bellies. The adult silver leaf monkeys are blackish, but the infants are a beautiful auburn.

Dinner was good, but not spectacular. There was some calamari, crab (that was really hard to eat), sweet and sour fish and fried rice. We got to see a beautiful sunset over the river.

Finally, we got to see the fireflies. We suited up in our life vests and stepped into our shallow, wooden rowboats (complete with someone to paddle us up and down the river). From the moment that each of us sat down, we were silent in anticipation of wonder. We began to glide away form the dock noiselessly, except for the occasional creak of the oars and drips of water kissing the surface of the river. As we drew closer to the opposite bank, the first twinkling became visible. It was pure magic. The guide had compared it to Christmas lights, but it was more like pixie dust. The trees and bushes had a glittering heartbeat. The living rhythm was mesmerizing. It was like the stars themselves had sent little ambassadors down to say hello. The experience was easily the most incredible part of our entire trip, and one of the most memorable things that I have ever done in my life. It was simply a wonder of nature. Man can’t create beauty like that. I am so glad that we added Kuala Lumpur to our agenda. The fireflies alone were worth it.

We got up early the next day to make it to the Petronas Twin Towers early enough to get 4 of the 1200 tickets that they allow each day. We arrived by 9am only to find out that the towers are closed on Mondays. So much for our trip to the World’s Tallest Twin Towers. At a loss for what to do next, we grabbed a quick breakfast and decided to wander around the nearby park, then head to the Aquarium during the oppressive mid-day heat. The park was a beautiful “green lung” in the heart of the city. We found the world’s most EPIC playground. I was blown away by the dozens of interconnected towers and play places, so I can only imagine how a small child would react. Katie sprinted to the swings. A guard immediately said, “Hello! Hello! No.” Katie was CRUSHED. We then headed over to the KL Tower. Inside, there was a display of the World Federation of Towers. The John Hancock Building was represented, which got us wondering about what qualified as a “tower”. Apparently, the Hancock is the “tallest multi-use building”. There was a nice panoramic view of the city from the observation deck. Free telescopes with labeled pictures helped us to locate the sights we had already seen such as Lake Titiwangsa and Chinatown. The juxtaposition between the urban high-rises and the surrounding hills was remarkable.

Following our birds-eye view of the city, we had lunch and made it to the Aquaria by 1pm. The aquarium wasn’t bad. It was decorated to recreate natural jungle environments. There were tropical sounds piped in and faux foliage covering everything. Plenty of English signage helped us to identify species. I was shocked to find many of the tanks completely open on top. The sea turtles, for example, were in a tank that was a little higher than my waist. I was able to lean over and take pictures. I cannot believe that they are so trusting of people not to reach in and touch the animals or drop things into the tank. My favorite part was the underwater tunnel. You got to stand on a people mover through a giant tank filled with fish, rays, eels, and sharks. They swam next to and over us as we glided along.

We dressed up and hit the town for a nice Indian dinner and some dancing. The meal was incredible. It was so nice to get a chance to eat different kinds of food while we were traveling. I love Chinese food (or as I call it now…food), but I miss variety. We had less luck trying to find a place to dance. All of the bars and clubs had bad bands all night. The next day, Katie decided to treat us all to a swanky hotel for the night. Our flight left at 6am the following morning. Rather than wait around in our cramped hostel room all day and wake up in the middle of the night to make it to the airport on time, we got a room at an airport hotel. We swam in the pool, napped, showered, repacked and got ready to head home. When we got to the airport, we got in line to check our bags and such. The line was not so much a line as a jumbled mess. Ahh, yes. We truly were on our way back to China.

The entire trip was an experience of a lifetime. I know that it is a big world out there and there are so many places that I want to visit, but I would go back to Thailand and Malaysia in a heartbeat. If anyone ever wants to go, just give me a call J

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Photos

Group Shot with the Petronas Twin Towers
We were actually all doing "jazz hands", but you can't tell.

Here he goes again...
Killing time waiting for the bus.

Always a good look.
Nick has big nostrils

Hop On...
Alexes and Katie

Hop Off.
Cori and Nick

National Palace
We had a 5 Minute Hop Off photo op.

Petronas Twin Towers
View from the Ferris Wheel

I love this sign.
I don't know what each of the symbols stand for, but most of them are hilariously ambiguous.

Look at this picture!
If there wasn't that pesky garder hose in the picture, it would be brilliant.

Pretty
I have a puzzle with this exact vine/flower in it. :)

Butterfly
They are so hard to photograph

Stop Sign
For some reason, I really like seeing familiar signs with unfamiliar elements.