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SEPTEMBER 29TH 2006 - Melaka
In true "winging it" style we managed to get the 9am bus to Melaka in Malaysia. Jen managed to wing it through customs following some in-depth discussion about her breakfast with the customs officer & how boring western breakfasts are compared to the curries & noodles they are used to having in the East. En-route our bus narrowly avoided killing a family of monkeys who were oh so casually trying to cross the motorway! Arrived at our luxury 5 star hotel where Jen no longer had to carry Bertha the Backpack (her backpack has now aquired an identity of it's own). Took a wander to the centre of Melaka - not a good idea in the heat of the day. Sweaty Betty's all round! With no air con in sight, Cathryn had a moment of madness and somehow ended up with a 4ft snake around her neck. Eventually gave in to the pressures of the flower power rickshaw men (who attach sub-woofers to their rickshaws at night and turn into ghetto rude boys!) Returned back to our luxury pad for a dip in the pool before glamming ourselves up with the ghd's for a night in china town. Entertained the locals with our noodle-soup eating skills (Cathryn quickly had to learn how to use chopsticks). The favour was then returned by the locals doing line dancing to abba in the hindu temple - random! We then ended our night drinking grasshopper cocktails in our hotel bar (80's retro lounge), but only once Jen had removed the china town bat poo from her hair!!
SEPTEMBER 30TH 2006 - Melaka to KL
Following an amazing breakfast we left our plush 21st floor Melaka pad along with FREE sewing kit, toilet roll, lamp and towel and headed for the bus station. Arriving in Kuala Lumpur, we were chucked off the bus in the middle of the main road - REALITY CHECK! Having been sat crossed legged for 3 hours (read between the lines for that!) we were met by "persistent" taxi drivers and hotel men. We considered setting Bertha onto them (i.e Jen turning around) but found Cathryn's "diplomacy skills" to be far more effective in getting them off our backs . . . . for the time being! After paying 5p for the use of a hole in the ground, we relented to the taxi men to get us out of the hell hole of the bus station (our 5 star luxury now a far and distant memory) Arrived at our home for the next 2 nights (the Green Hut Lodge) where we were made to leave our shoes outside, which we wouldn't have minded but this was no temple! Had to go to the local shopping mall for money, as our "temple" did not accept mastercard or visa! The local car promotion man/shopping mall DJ/all round stud-muffin wanted to double date us at the Beach House club with his mate who was dressed as a clown. How tempting! He thought he was on to a winner with us when we started to request tunes for a laugh. He got no date, we got him to play the Killers & Justin Timberlake to the whole of the 5 storey shopping mall in central Kuala Lumpur. Classy birds!!
OCTOBER 1ST 2006 - KL
Made the most of our free breakfast (toast and marmalade) and headed to the Twin Petronas Towers - the tallest twin towers in the world. Got pissed off with lack of street signs as soon as we left the hostel. Good effort all round though - we were at the towers for 9am for our free tickets. Went to the Batu Caves and found the one and only Umpa Lumpa in Kuala Lumpur on the bus journey there. Narrowly avoided being mauled by the food grabbing monkeys at the Hindu shrine in the caves - just one cornetto for the monkey!! Had a fantastic meal in China Town, but on the way home found ourselves in the middle of what seemed to be a huge all-male festival. Not good!! Went back to use our free tickets at the twin towers - would have been good if we didn't only get to go half way up. What's the point of such big towers if you can't go all the way to the top? Went window shopping at posh shopping mall afterwards - weren't prepared to pay for the toilets so thought it best to also avoid Gucci. Finally went to the top of a tower - the KL tower. woohoo! Then took our lives into our hands by walking home - KL doesn't cater for pedestrians - crossings only seem to have red men.
OCTOBER 2ND 2006 - KL to Penang
Sad to leave the friendly staff at Green Hut Lodge - but do think that the owner's 5 year old child, Danny, should be re-named Damien as he was clearly the Devil's child, biting a fellow guest despite Jen's attempts to save him. Refused to pay RM6 between four for a taxi (25p each) to the bus station - instead we walked for 20minutes with rucsacks in the blazing heat. Duh!! Chucked off the bus literally in the middle of nowhere so got a taxi regardless of cost. Donned our cowboy and policeman outfits and arrived at our YMCA in Penang. Is this for men only?? we keep getting strange looks. Feedback on our message board would be much appreciated! Having not learnt our lesson we wenr for ANOTHER walk in the gutters (still no pavements to be found in Malaysia) and met a very friendly Malaysian man who planned our trip for tomorrow. We learnt all about his sister who lives in Berkshire - saw photos of the Iron Bridge & Cavern Club whilst he ignored his Australian in-laws who had come to visit. As we chatted for so long - all the nearby restaurants were closed including his. crap! Got taxi back to unhelpful YMCA and ended up going to the hospital over the road in search of food/cafe. Met the oncall pharmacist and considered asking for i.v TPN, but settled for pringles for tea instead!!!! sorry mum!
OCTOBER 3RD 2006 - Penang
Could not just order plain jam & toast for breakfast. Had to have set menu at Bird's nest cafe in YMCA. So were given, fish fingers, mixed veg, fried eggs and toast. mmmmmmm!!! En-route to a temple on the bus, we witnessed an elderly Chinese man beating a young Indian man with a very big stick. Who knows what that was about! Walked to the top of a big hill to Malaysia's biggest temple - and no we don't want to buy a t-shirt. Came back via a lovely air-con bakery. Felt guilty for just using the air-con, so bought one bun between us. In return the baker dude walked half way down the street with us to help us find the bus for Penang Hill. Got a very slow train to the top of the hill, only for Jen to drop her bag off the top of the hill. Good one! Jen clambered through the bushes to retrieve her bag, then had to back again for the camera case. How very very funny for Cathryn! Back on the bus we were crushed by the local school kids and yet again missed our stop. Back in George Town outside 7/11, Jen had a mini breakdown. Cathryn watered her, and got the happy Buddha out to pull her through. Went to Little India and ate a fiery curry from a banana leaf - bargain meal for 2.50 for us both. All in all a good day - but we have both got renal failure!! Look forward to meeting Rebecca at Bangkok tomorrow - hopefully!!
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