Laid back Malaysia

Trip Start Nov 01, 2006
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58
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Trip End Aug 29, 2007


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Tuesday, April 10, 2007

It was great fun hanging out in Singapore with Jenny's family, seeing all of the sights and eating far too much food every day. After they flew back to the UK we magically reverted back to the scummy backpackers that we really are, snuck out the back door of the hotel with our backpacks (not to skip the bill, just because we were ashamed of our true identities...) and made our way to the Prince of Wales bar and hostel in Little India where we spent the weekend hanging out with Jenny's mate Rich. Rich is working in Singapore for a few months and was a great guide, giving us a good insight into the ex-pat lifestyle and introducing us to some of his mates here. His friend Emma is a seasoned ex-pat in Asia (something like seven years here) and was also full of information about the place.
Anyway, yesterday we got on our bus into Malaysia, country number eight of the trip and now into our fifth month. And, finally, we are into real Asian territory. Little food courts with excellent food for nearly no money, run-down backpacker accommodation complete with lumpy bed, mosquito net, crazy guesthouse owners and even hammocks, local dodgy buses for small change, serious heat and humidity interspersed with massive downpours of thunderous rain - you get the idea.
We breathed a sigh of relief after Singapore, it's a far more relaxed pace here. We even got a good night's rest - despite having the excellent attic room at the Prince of Wales, we were still trying to sleep above a pub. In the Sama-Sama guesthouse where we're staying the only danger is the strange owner - she's of Swiss origin, lives here with her husband, smokes like a trooper (with a cough to match in the mornings), has a strange gutteral laugh and an even stranger sense of humour, and burnt herself quite badly on the hand after we arrived by trying to move the ironing board out of our room, with the hot iron still sitting on it...
Malacca's a lovely spot, with Chinatown (where we're based) full of little alleyways to explore, with the ubiquitous hanging red lanterns everywhere, and lots of old temples, mosques and churches (though mostly Chinese temples). Malacca also has the oldest Portuguese buildings in the country, and a long history of feuding, having gone from Portuguese to Dutch to British to Japanese control (and back and forth) at various points in its history. Okay, so I went to the museum today - don't expect any further informational content in this blog. I won't be making a habit of it.
The Malaysian people seem extremely friendly, the friendliest I think we've seen so far on the trip. In the day we've been in the country so far we've had numerous cyclists, truck drivers, aged relaxing old people seated outside their homes and just general random folk giving us massive smiles, big hellos and ringing of bicycle bells. And a very friendly barber, whose view is that the world is full of happiness (so I'll leave that as my thought for the day - the sound of network gaming in this internet cafe is giving me a sore head so I'm off...).
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