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Published: August 10th 2007
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Streets Of Makassar
Enjoying the city streets from the comfort of a Becak. So, I suppose it could be seen as a good thing that the indonesian government only gives two-month visas at a time for tourists...
otherwise guillaume and i may have never visited Singapore or Malaysia...and that would just be sad because we are having a great time here.
Before leaving the country we were in Makassar, Sulawesi...
having a joyous time after a very hellish 30 hour boat ride.
All I can really remember about Makassar is:
taking many becak rides (bicycle rickshaws), eating fresh fish, drinking fresh soursop juices, watching Indonesian idol in the hotel room with cold beer and air-con while trying to escape the midday heat, drinking "es kelapa muda" (iced young coconut juice), singing karaoke with the staff at the hostel (the Scorpions to be exact, always the Scorpions), and eating green popcorn on the boardwalk at sunset.....
we liked it there, to say the least.
We took a flight from Jakarta to Singapore, and just landing in the airport we could tell that we had landed in a completely different world than Indonesia.
Even at the airport, free internet stalls everywhere, and the immigration officer has a bowl of mints on the desk and when you
Indonesian Idol
Rockin' out in the hotel room watchin' Indonesian Idol. arrive he smiles at you warmly and says
"Please, take a mint, welcome to Singapore"
then continues to check your passport details.
We took the train to our hostel, SO efficient, its not like being in Indonesia at all. Everything runs on time and very smoothly.
We only spent one night there and caught a bus the next morning to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Thats where we met up with our friends, Suzanne and James (finally!) and they introduced us to all of KL's dirty pleasures....
incredible cuisine, massive shopping malls, and incredible cuisine (yes i meant to write that twice)...
We just stayed for four days but it left our bellies fuller than ever and a massive hole in our budget. Ouch.
We visited the Bird Park and it was really quite spectacular, if you like birds..and we do.
It is the biggest enclosed bird park in the world and there are alot of great birds to see.
Guillaume totally flipped out when we spotted NOT ONE...BUT TWO Birds of Paradise
(now maybe he wont force me to hide out in a tree hut for three weeks in the forests of Papua New Guinea to try to spot one on
Becaks
Dont even think of trying to walk anywhere in the city of Makassar, because either the heat will get you or the becaks drivers will convince you to take a ride. the wild).
That night we went to visit the Petronas Twin Towers and they were quite lovely. I didnt know that I could feel that way about a building, but they just sparkle and seem so magical at nighttime.
We met a local who was also photographing the buildings and he insisted to buy us dinner at an indian restaurant nearby...
so we let him. It was so delicious.
The next day we took the bus to Penang island, where we are now.
We checked into the hotel, recommend by the wonderful Lonely Planet guidebook...only to find out that it was the dirtiest, creepiest hotel room we had ever seen (and we had just come back from Flores , known for the horrible accomadation).
Instead of leaving a chocolate on our pillow...we found a cigarette on the ledge above the headboard..
yup...it was THAT kind of place.
It was sort of expected when we walked in a saw Asian and Indian transvestites everywhere.
We got out of there as quickly as we could.
Though where we ended up staying last night we did become the victims of a massive bedbug infestation and didn't get much sleep.
So, we've switched to
You know you are in a Muslim Society when....
They dont even show hair on the shampoo bottle. yet another hotel for tonight...cross our fingers.
Though we have already taken an afternoon nap and didn't get bitten once, so that is a good sign!
So, we have already renewed our visas, it took just over 24 hours, and it was so easy.
I'm glad we came here instead of having to wait 5 working days in Kuala Lumpur.
Its extremely hot here, and walking anywhere is very tiring. But there is alot to see and alot of places to explore.
The buildings here are great, we are staying right in the middle of Little India and Chinatown, so there is a mix of a lot of different things going on.
And the food is something else.
Its unreal...so amazing.
There are food hawkers (little portable food stands) EVERYWHERE you look, food courts (with every type of food imaginable) and also your normal restaurants.
This afternoon we went to another indian restaurant for lunch and while we were eating a local man came up to us and said
"You should really try the Mutton Curry , its delicious"
Ok, well we were already eating our vegetarian banana leaf lunch sets, so Guillaume said
"Next time"
And the next thing
we knew, the waiter was bringing over a bowl of Mutton Curry, then two cans of Coke.
The man came back and said
"I ordered this for you, I paid for everything, dont worry about it". Then he left.
Guillaume ate the curry, agreed that it was delicious and we thought it was a very nice gesture.
When we got up to leave, we tried to pay the bill and the waiter told us that the man had paid for EVERYTHING, the whole lunch...so we didnt have to pay anything.
That mysterious stranger had just bought us lunch, and he didnt even really talk to us, just suggested a curry...
Wow.
Anyways,
We will stay here for the weekend and have more culinary adventures...
Also planning to visit a tropical fruit farm, have High-Tea at a fancy hotel and visit some temples.
Then on Tuesday we will leave for Sumatra, Indonesia.
more news coming soon.
xx
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russ
non-member comment
hotel
We had a nasty hotel like that in Rome. There was a prostitute right outside the door every night. No smoke on the head board though, that's deluxe!