MALAYSIA

PULAU PENANG

Penang is an island on the north west coast of Malaysia Peninsular, just south of the Thai boarder. Caitlin and I found a place to stay in Georgetown- the mainstay on the island. The hostel we were staying in was a huge Chinese building with old wood carvings and wide stair cases. We paid for 2 spaces in the dorm room which turned out to be beds that filled the landing upstairs!

The afternoon we arrived we went out to wonder Georgetown's back streets, a 'sensory playground'. Passing mosques, chicken rice stalls, fortune tellers, coffee shops and loud speakers blasting out Indian pop music! It felt strange being not so far from Thailand and yet the culture was incredibly different due to the islands mixed population of Malay, Chinese and Southern Indian.

The next day was got a bus to Batu Ferringhi- Penang's best beach area where we saw the shirtless Muslim men walking the beach while the Muslim women were in full burka...even on the banana boat!

That evening we joined two other travellers from our hostel, Scott and Shane, and went out for dinner at the night market which sold a variety of foods of the different culture. I chose the teri-aki salmon, which unknowingly was accompanied by eye ball soup - had to give it a go!

PULAU PERHENTIAN

We got a night bus over to the east coast and got dropped off at the port in the early hours and were greeted by a chain smoking, fish head eating Chinese man who walked way too much about meeting Asian men "JUST FOR FUN!".

The Perhentian Islands are made up of 2 islands; Pulau Besar (Big) and Pulau Kecil (Small), we stayed on Pulau Kecil at Coral Beach. Coral Beach was a small crescent of white sand, turquoise waters with a jungke backdrop creating a chilled and hypnotic ambiance. We decided to base ourselves here for a few nights in a pretty chalet on the beach front. The first morning I woke up with a kitten in my bed who must of snuck in during the night.

We spent our time on finding a different beach each day, which sometimes involved a trek through the jungle, to snorkel and sun bath. On one of the days I organised a scuba diving trip for the morning. The dive site was a shipwreck, I felt like i was in a video game swimming in and around the wreck. Unfortunately the visibility was pretty poor (2 meters) as it had rain the night before, I did get to see a Bamboo Shark, but nothing else too exciting.

During our time on Pulau Kecil it was Caitlin's 22nd birthday! I could have wished for her to spend it in a more beautiful place. That evening we watched the sunset and went for dinner which included MEGA chocolate birthday cake and shisha. I hope she enjoyed herself as much as I did.

CAMERON HIGHLANDS

After the sticky days on the beach, the cool temperatures in the Cameron Highlands were a reprieve. We only had a short stay here during which we walked to one of the Cameron tea estates. The walk took a lot long than estimated as the map did not indicate the many turns on the mountain roads! Eventually we reached the estate and were rewarded with a stunning view of the blue peaks and the green humps of the fuzzy tea plantation. As it began to rain we went inside the tea shop. I tried Massala Tea milky blend of Indian spices, it was quite sweet and also reminded me of Christmas! As the rain got heavier we thought a taxi home was a good idea and watched films for the rest of the afternoon. We felt a bit sorry for some of the people coming back to the hostel who were returning, absolutely sodden, from trekking expeditions in the jungle. That evening we had a great street food dinner - curried fish on banana leaf with chapatti and dahl.

KUALA LUMPUR

Arriving late morning in the city Caitlin and I found a dorm to stay in in China Town. Walking around China Town I found that it's circuitous streets and cramped chaos creates a pressure cooker of sights, sounds and smells... not all of the pleasant! That afternoon we checked out the sights of the surrounding areas; Merdaka Sq., the Old Railway Station, Little India, Masjid Jamek (mosque),Central market - where we could see traditional Malaysian crafts and creativity and Petaling Street - a busteling street of tacky souvenirs including "genuine fake" Chanel, Paul Smith, Louis Vuiton, Gucci, Rolex and more!

The next day we got a little closer to Kuala Lumpur's Indian culture by visiting the Batu Caves. The Batu Caves are a system of 3 caves a short bus journey out of the city. The most famous cave is Temple Cave because it contains a Hindu shrine reached by 272 steps and is guarded by a giant 43 meter tall Murga statue (the biggest in the world!) and 1000's of monkeys too!!

Our last full day in the city Caitlin and I were up early to head over to the Golden Triangle, Kuala Lumpur's high rise business, shopping and entertainment district. We were in the cue at 8am to get tickets to go up the Petronus Towers. The view from the bridge was pretty cool however it was a shame that the bridge was the highest point open to the public - on floor 41 out of 84!

Later on we went over to the Kuala Lumpur Craft Complex. Styled like a Malay village the complex offers the best local ethnic handicrafts including local pottery, batik outfits, weaving, wood carvings, ornaments, brass and silver jewellery. We watched the resident artists at work and were even aloud to try our hands at making our own batik pieces.

MELACCA

It was recommended to visit the town of Melacca by my Nana and Grandad, who used to live close by some years ago. Melacca is on the south west coast of Malaysia. Considering the small population of the town it has a colourful history, in short it was founded by a Hindu Prince, protected by the Chinese then dominated by the Portuguese followed by the Dutch and finally the British. The multi cultural influences are obvious in the towns interesting and picturesque appearance. A striking feature of the town is the red buildings on Town Square. They were originally built white by the Dutch but the heavy tropical rain would splash up red soil and stain the walls, so it was the Brits decision to paint them red to save on maintenance fees!

The town itself is easy to walk around and explore by foot visiting the churches, art galleries, silk shop in Little India, Porta de Santiago - a Portuguese fortress, mosques, river side walks and when we got tired we would spend the rest of the afternoon in the tea houses in China Town.

During the time we were there we were able to try out much of the local food. Our favourite was "Nasi Lemak" rice steamed with coconut milk and Rendang chicken accompanied by a herd boiled egg, green veg, peanuts and dried anchovies. And "Cendol" shaved ice treats with jellies, fruits, coconut milk and Malacca's famous sugar cane syrup. We also found a great local dig, a Pakistani place which served up mouth watering curries with soft naans. One of the cafes close to our hostel put on live music and we were able to catch an evening acoustic set of the local talent.

I became very fond of this beautiful town, Melacca. It's so hard not to like!