Choices

Day 304
As soon as I woke up I quickly got the last of my things together and left. The bus station was only a few minutes walk away and I picked up breakfast and some snacks on the way. I didn't want to eat junk food for the entire trip like I usually do and picked up some fruit instead.

I slept for most of the ride but did manage to get a bit of reading done. When I got to Hat Yai I had two choices, either go the rest of the way to Krabi and arrive around 1 am or stay in Hat Yai. I was tired of doing nothing and even though I had already spent about 8 hours on a bus. In the end I decided to go for it and get to Krabi.

I had a few hours to kill before the next bus and went for dinner. I really wanted to have some Thai food but I didn't want to chance getting sick on another long bus ride so I went to Pizza Hut. Oddly, they were out of pizza and I had a salad instead.

I had been assured by the guy who sold me the bus ticket that the bus station was right in the middle of town and that I wouldn't have any problems find a place to stay. This wasn't true at all. The bus dropped me off about 4 kilometers from the center of town and all of the hotels. I had the choice of walking there at 1 am on a street that I didn't know, or I could go with the only guy around offering me a ride on a motorbike. There weren't any cabs around at all. I went with the latter option.

The hotel I had wanted to stay at was shut for the day so I had to keep looking. The first place that was open offered me a room on the 6th floor with no elevator for 250 bhat. There was no way I was walking up and down all those stairs. I went up the street a bit more and found a room for only 100 bhat and I wouldn't need any stairs at all. That seemed perfect.

As soon as I was in the room I went to sleep. It had been a long day.

Still Waiting

Day 303
There was no need to set my alarm and I tried to sleep in. The beds were awful though. Not only were they uncomfortable but they were very loud and soon I was up. After a McDonald's breakfast I went in search of a different internet cafe. The one I had been going to wouldn't read my memory stick and I wasn't able to work in the blog there. My search proved fruitless though and I ended up there anyways just to watch tv and to type of some entries.

Eventually it was time to make my third and last trip to the Thai Embassy. I was a bit early and grabbed lunch nearby. Eventually the doors opened and in just a few minutes I had a shinny new visa in my passport. As I was checking it out I heard several screams from outside. There was some sort of protest march going on. By the time I was ready to leave it had just about passed and I had no problems leaving.

It's probably not too difficult what I did next. I went to the mall to see another movie. However I didn't stay for dinner. For some reason local food was once again not appealing to me and I had been eating far too much fast food again. I made myself go to a place near my hostel in Chinatown. It wasn't bad, it wasn't that good either, but it sure beat McDonald's.

After dinner I spent a bit of time online and then headed up to the bar. There was a going away party for a couple at the end of their trip. I chatted with a few people but didn't stay long. I wanted to be sure to make my 9 am bus to Thailand in the morning.

Waiting

Day 302
I was up before my alarm clock and tried to climb out of my super creaky bed without waking everyone up.

Malaysians must be some of the most patient people in the world. Just to go 10 minutes on the subway you have to wait in line to buy a ticket, then you have to wait in line to board, several trains may go by while this happens. Next you have to wait in line to get on the escalator and finally there is one last line just to leave you destination station.

I got to the Thai Embassy a bit early and waited outside a bit before getting to go in. When I did I filled out the paper work and waited in line for about 20 minutes. It seemed like everyone had to chat for a bit but I just dropped mine off without any problems.

After I was done I headed towards the train station. Enroute a French guy stopped me to ask about my Thailand plans. He was rather attractive and I said yes when he asked if I would like to have lunch with him. As it turned out he didn't speak English well and no matter how slowly I spoke or how careful I was with my word choice he didn't seem to understand me. He was on the rude side as well and all I could think of was how quickly I could leave. Right when the check was about to arrive he asked me something very dirty and inappropriate. I was so shocked that he thought he had the wrong word and repeated it. After paying my portion of the bill I made sure to quickly walk off in the other direction.

I headed to the mall and watched another movie. When it was over I made another stop at the internet cafe. After dinner I headed back to the roof bar. Once again not much was going on and I soon went to sleep.

Reflections

Day 302
I was up before 3 am and quickly finished packing. It was much easier to get a cab than I thought it would be. In no time I was at the airport. It was still closed but there were a lot of people around. It looked like most of them had come straight from the bar. When I did get on the flight I fell asleep instantly.

The last 29 days in Indonesia have been some of the best in my trip. Well, all except for the jungle mishap. The only reason I even did the trip was because I was a bit nervous about being on my own. I just didn't want to say it at the time. Indonesia is a place that I will definitely be returning to in the future.

The worst part of Indonesia was the garbage. No one recycles let alone uses a bin. It makes some of the most beautiful sites lose their appeal. I did find out that several NGO's are working on that so hopefully that will change in the future.

The best part was the people. They were friendly and chatty and over all just nice people. I did get a few odd questions though, one guy asked if Obama was the only black man in the US, another if everyone looks like me there.

I woke up when the plane touched down. Immigration back to Malaysia was a breeze and in no time I was at my hostel. As soon as my stuff was in the room I headed to the Thai Embassy. Since I arrived in Asia Thailand has changed it's visa rules. It used to be that you received 30 days upon arrival, now it is just 15. I'm just too tired after rushing around Indonesia to do it again. Getting a visa for Thailand will give me plenty of time to see the country. Unfortunately I got there just as the embassy was closing. A guy offered to sneak me in for 30 ringget but then he pulled the necessary paperwork out of his trunk. This felt really sketchy and I decided to just wait until the next day.

Afterwards I went back to my hotel and spent some time on the internet. When I got bored I headed to the mall for a movie. I don't like KL and I did all the things I had wanted to see here on my first trip through. This is really just killing time time.

When the movies were over I headed back and after showering I went up to the rooftop bar at the hostel. Not much was going on and soon I just went to sleep.

Aliens

Day 274
I was up early and packed quickly. At the main office I had to wait forever to get my boarding pass. I wasn't able to get it before because I didn't have my passport on me. It took so long that I was afraid that I might miss the boat. I really shouldn't have worried about this though.

The waiting area was packed and there were very few seats. When boarding finally began there was only one guy checking tickets an d 5 people at immigration. I as lucky and rather close to the front of the line. I could see that a lot of people were have rather long discussions with the immigration guys. I was worried that I might have some problems as well, but there were none. I was instructed to sit towards the front of the boat and pile my back pack by the emergency exit. In no time there was limited to no access to the emergency exit with all of the backpacks. Strangely all of the westerners were instructed to sit in the same area of the boat. I waited on the boat for quite a while. It was meant to leave at 9 but didn't depart until 10:30

They quickly put some very loud and very awful music on the screen. The air conditioner was turned up to arctic and I had to get my sleep sheet out of my bag, my jacket was too far buried. I hadn't eaten earlier because I was afraid that I would be late and I had thought I would be able to buy snacks on the boat so I had not stocked up. The only thing to buy on the boat was a cup of noodles. Later on they gave everyone some slightly stale cake.

The boat was pretty rocky and I don't know how I managed to keep my noodles down. I did manage to sleep a bit, bu t the volume on the tv kept waking me up. Several times two screaming little boys came running into our cabin and would climb over the vacant seats and backpacks. I think this is why pe ople put their kids on leashes.

After 7 hours the boat finally docked. It took a bit of time to get everyone out, but everyone who needed to buy a visa on the spot was able to skip the long immigration line. While I was waiting I met a few people from the boat. It didn't take long for me to get my shinny visa and they to get stamped into the country.

Right before I stepped outside I was directed to go straight to the waiting bus. Outside was a mob scene and I was told that the bus was full. I could see myself that there was exhaling room only. A man offered me a good price for a ride to Medan including an ATM stop. I told him that I needed to wait for my friends. I went back into the mob and managed to find some of the other people I had met on the boat. Another man tried to offer us a better price, but one of the people in my group had been told by a cop not to go with him. We stuck with the first guy.

When we were dropped off at the first hotel it smelled awful and we felt that it was over priced. The second place was the same. The third place the guy brought us to was the cheapest and the cleanest. It was just right. T o save money undercover Israeli Zoe and I shared a room. It was just under US $2 each. I say undercover because Israelis are not allowed into Indonesia, Zoe has a French passport though and most immigration officers don't bother to look at the place of birth when issuing visas. The other people in our group were recently married Brits Kieron and Kate and another traveling couple Dave and Samantha.

Once we had dropped our things off we headed to get some dinner. Over dinner the guy that had brought us to the hotel also tried to sell us a jungle trek. I declined because I have no business in the jungle and I didn't want to do anything that I knew would make me miserable.

After dinner we all took showers and then met for a beer. I was really enjoying chatting to everyone and I guess that I wanted to spend a few days with the same people. For unknown reasons I put in a deposit to go with everyone on the jungle trek. It wasn't peer pressure at all, just plan impulse on my part. Forget that, it was aliens. there could be no other reason I would do something like that. Damn aliens.

Non Travel Day

Day 273
I had been planning on visiting a few things around the island but woke up not really feel ing like doing anything. I had also managed to hurt my foot. I don't know how I did it, but I was limping just a bit and it was making walking a little less fun. I thought that today could be the perfect day to stay off of it.

After a few hours of reading I had grown bored and headed off to the movie theater. I ended up seeing Twilight. It was pretty bad, but for some reason I really liked it. Very strange. I also had dinner at the American Embassy, aka McDonalds.

When I was done sojourning into the Western World I headed back to my hotel to shower and pack. I didn't pack though, I simply retouched some of my Indonesia plans and read for a while before calling it a night.

Working

Day 272
I was up a bit later than expected and after a rather gross breakfast I headed back to the internet cafe. Not only did I have blog work to do, but I also had some flights to book. I made a bit of a mistake though in booking an exit ticket out of Indonesia before booking the boat ride there. I would only have 30 days in the country and the boats were often full. On realizing my mistake I quickly headed over to the booking office. I got lucky, there were a few seats left.

When it was all worked out I suddenly got very excited about Indonesia and went back to my hotel room to work out a better itinerary. This took me most of the day.

At 7 pm I met Sarah and she brought me to another bar where she had met some other people. The bar was owned by this crazy guy named Jim. He told us that the cure for cancer was to have sex for 6 hours continuously and that he was currently in talks to make a few movies with Angelina Jolie. I think he might have been on the crazy side. This was confirmed when it started to pour and he ran out to dance in the rain. Jim was also super flighty with all the girls, making everyone a bit uncomfortable. Due to this we didn't stay very long, but made sure to exchange email addresses before parting.

Penang Draw

Day 271
I was up pretty early and found a place around the corner for breakfast. I had wanted to try and switch hotels, mine smelled like moth balls, but every place that I checked at was full. That was really too bad. As it was still rather early I went back to my hotel and checked out the different pets they had around, there were some turtles, a chipmunk and a hamster.

My first stop of the day was the Goddess of Mercy Temple, built in 1801. There were a lot of people around and the smell of incense was every where. There was a woman selling birds that you could let free. I have heard that the birds are trained to fly back after some time and that it is all a hoax. I wandered Little India for a bit and bought a new mini flashlight. I don't know what happened to mine. I also found a colorful temple and some really fresh oj. The fruit juice here is just amazing, I can't get enough of it. The next temple I found had some wonderful carvings and I watched as people burned fake money.

Each separate Chinese clan had it's own house. The oldest remaining one is known as Cheoh Kongsi. The temple/meeting hall was just breathtaking. I don't think I would have been allowed inside so I didn't even try. Nearby was a wonderful and empty temple. It was nice to have it to myself and I got some really nice pictures. Next up was a bit of th e island's colonial heritage with St. George's Church and the Penang State Museum. My guidebook claimed th at this was the best museum in the country and I wanted to check it out.

Penang had been occupied by ancient tribes, however was basically empty when the British rediscovered it to use as a port town. This was when Georg etown was founded. Soon the island became a trading center and people from all over Asia began to move in. There were rooms dedicated to each of the major ethnic groups on the island. This was pretty interesting and concentrated on decoration and marriage ceremonies. My favorite part was on different locals. There was one guy who repaired shoes for about 70 years, and another who walked door to door selling trinkets.

The history bit was also quite good, but for some reason I didn't take very good notes on it so I don't really remember much. The museum was the best that I have seen in Malaysia, but then again, I haven't really seen much in this country.

When the museum was done I grabbed some lunch before hitting the internet cafe. Unfortunately I couldn't upload pictures was was stuck just typing up future blog entries so that I wouldn't get too behind. When I was out of things to do I headed back to my hotel to take a nap and plan the next part of my trip. I was considering Indonesia.

After dinner I went t o a bar/hotel that looked like a backpacker draw to see if I could make some friends. I managed to meet English Sara wh o was also traveling alone. We spent most of the evening chatting and making plans for the following night.

Immediate Attraction

Day 270

I heard some girls get up the same time that I did, but just rolled over and went to sleep. I had been up way too late and needed to keep sleeping. After another hour I got up and got my act together. I had to pack in the dark though, this wasn't much fun. At checkout I thanked the super nice hostel people before heading out.

Getting to the bus station was easy. The ticketing area was a mad house though. It took me some time to find a booth that had a bus to Panang, most of them seem to have left even though it was only 8:15 am! I really should have shopped the day before. I did manage to find an 8:30 am bus though, but I might have paid more than necessary. I also didn't get a window seat. I really like being able see how many miles are left to go. The people at all the windows closed the curtains. I also hardly had enough light to read by. In the end I just gave up and went to sleep.

When I woke up some hours later I saw that my seat mate was looking out the window20but had the curtains wrapped around her head. The person across for m me was doing the same. It must be a conspiracy, I ended up giving my book another try.

I had thought that the extra expen sive bus took me all the way to Georgetown, on Penang island, but it only went to Butterworth. I had to take the ferry across. It was less than fifty cents though and so smooth that I hadn't realized we were moving until we were just about there.

In KL I had been given a map to Georgetown and had no problems finding a place to stay. The walk there was actually quite nice. My guidebook was quite right in saying that despite the garbage and a lack of sidewalks there is something endearing about the town. Once I had dumped my things I went off in search of lunch. When that was done I headed back to shower and figure out what I was going to do with myself for the next several days. By the time I had it all together it was almost dinner time. Before heading out though, I checked my email and let everyone at home know that I was alive.

For dinner I went to a stalls market and had some chicken and rice. I had wanted to try to be sociable, but there didn't seem to be anyone in the town. I ended up back at my hotel for an early night.

Cultivating a New Fear

Day 269
Today was my last day in Kl and I wanted to make sure that I actually accomplished something. I made sure that I got up early to do it. In no time I was at the Batu Caves.

The Batu Caves were made into a Hindu shrine in the mid 1800's. There are a lot of caves to check out, but most of them require a guide and even special permission. I was just there to check out the one main cave.

The first thing I saw was a giant standing golden god. I have no idea which one it was. Next to him were the 273 steps to the cave. I moaned to myself, I hate steps and it was really hot out. There was no way that I actually wanted to do this. Well, I wanted to do it, I just wanted it to be air conditioned and for there to be an elevator. Just then I thought I saw a rat run by me. At second glance I realized that it was a monkey. Suddenly I could see them all over the place. I love monkeys.

As I slowly climbed the stairs I took pictures of the monkeys and the view. I figured that the monkeys would just ignore the people. The staircase was split into three by two long railings. I had picked the middle one. There was a man to my right who was a couple of steps ahead of me. I didn't see what happened but I heard a loud noise and then saw that he was pretty much fighting off a monkey. When the monkey finally left he had a huge gash in his arm. Blood was flowing from it quickly. I have no idea if he someone taunted the monkey, or if it was just a mean monkey. I just stood there staring with my mouth open. Animal bites are serious business and I felt bad for the guy. He walked down to someone who I think must have been his wife. I wasn't sure if I should keep going or just leave. Suddenly the monkeys were scaring me half to death. In the end I decided to keep going, but to stay well away from the monkeys.

At one point a monkey started coming close to me and I backed away. A man climbing near by explained to me that if I held my water bottle under my arm it looked like I was hiding something. The monkey thought I might have food for him. I decided to hold my bottle by the neck instead. Another man told me that I should have brought bananas, that they could be bought at the bottom of the steps. I hadn't seen anyone selling bananas, and I wouldn't want to get that close to the monkeys anyway. He told me that the monkeys didn't like to have their picture taken if you didn't pay them with food. I really don't think the monkey knows that I was taking a picture of it.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I made it up without a scratch. Suddenly the monkeys were gone, but there were several crowing roosters. I had completely forgotten how many steps I had climbed or how hot out it was.

The cave itself was amazing. It was green and dripping and had this otherworldly quality to it. I spent some time checking out the different rock formations. There were several small alters to check out. They all seemed to have a cartoon like look to them. I asked a couple of other tourists to help me out with some pictures.

When it was time to go down I made sure to put myself in the middle of a couple groups of people. I figured that the monkeys were get to them first. I was really happy when I had reached the bottom without any monkey bites. I didn't have to wait long for the bus back. I got a bit confused though and ended up getting off too soon and taking the monorail back.

It was just noon when I got back and I stopped at a curry place and got some banana pori for lunch. I also tried to figure out what to do with myself. I really didn't care for KL and none of the sites really motivated me. I decided to just go back to the hostel and hang out. The hostel was really rather nice. It was airconditioned and the staff was fabulous. I spent the afternoon watching tv and online.

After grabbing myself some dinner I curled up in front of the tv with the hostel cat named Naughty. I thought he was anything but naughty though. I stayed up way too late watching tv on the internet and went to bed with blury eyes.

Big Difference

Day 268
I was up early but I spent some time screwing around on the internet before getting my act together. My plan was to walk to the Patronas Towers and maybe go up them. The Patronas tower used to be the tallest building in the world. It has lost this title to Taipei (I think) or perhaps Dubai, but it is still a pretty cool looking building. You can see it from all over the city and I had used it as a reference point the day before when I was out.

The walk there only takes about 30 minutes, but goes through all sorts of different neighborhoods. I passed restaurants, street vendors, fast food joints and large apartment buildings. About half way there I passed some homes that were less houses and more shacks that looked like they would blow over in a strong breeze. There were chickens running around in the yards. It was hard to believe that this was so close to such a modern building. I also saw a chicken crossing the road.

I hadn't realized that the towers had a mall in them. It was still early enough for most of the stores to be closed and I wandered a bit checking it out. I felt bad though. The mall was full of super high end shops, Versace, Minolo, and Prada were among them. I kept thinking about how one purchase in those stores was probably more than the people who lived in those shacks made a month. It seemed really unfair. I didn't go in any of the shops as I usually would have done.

In the end I decided to not go up the towers, but instead I went to a movie. It was still early and I would be able to make it to the National Museum afterwards. My plans were foiled though, it was absolutely pouring when I went to leave. I, of course, am not smart enough to carry my umbrella with me, plus I had no no traction flip flops and I tend to fall a lot in them when it rains. I was stuck. For some time I wandered the levels, but that was boring. I though I would go to the book store and do some research on India. All the books were shrink wrapped though so I couldn't thumb through them. I ended up just buying a book and having a very long lunch to kill the time.

The rain didn't slow until 4pm and I could no longer go to the museum. Instead I simply walked back in the drizzle to my hostel. At least it was cool and dry there. That evening I met some Canadian girls and we headed out to a market for some street food. On the way we got a bit grossed out because there were cats chasing around rats. We decided to go the long way after that. I had rice and chicken for dinner. It was really quite good and at less than $2 with some fresh squeezed oj it was a steal.

I thought I would be up all night, but apparently walking around a mall does in fact tire one out. So I once again was asleep far earlier than I would have expected.

Sad Day, Happy Feet

Day 267
My alarm went off early and I packed in the cool of the morning. When I brought my things down I was happy to find out that I would be sharing the taxi with a French couple. This meant the cost would be 5 instead of 15 ringgets. The cab driver tried to pull a fast one on us though. He told us that it would be 10 for them and 10 for me. I pointed out that I had already been informed that the cost is 15 ringgets no matter how many people were in the cab and eventually he agreed. It wasn't really the money, it was more about getting ripped off. Five riggets is only US $1.30

I had just enough time before my bus left to grab some water and a coconut bread roll. The ride was uneventful. I spent most of the time reading and staring out of the window.

The bus station in Kuala Lumpor (KL) was a nightmare. I ducked inside to get away from the taxi touts for a minute and to look on my map. I wasn't really all that far from where I wanted to go, but definitely further than I wanted to walk in this heat. The first driver I spoke to actually told me to just take the metro and that it was only a couple minute walk away. Well, it was slightly further, than that and I had to cross a busy highway without any lights twice. Still I managed to get there in one piece and after asking help several times and finally being led by a kind old man I managed to get to my hostel.

Inside it was air conditioned and there was a cat to play with. I decided to stay inside for a bit and work on blog. When I opened my email I had an email from Martin, one of the guys in Warsaw who I met up with again for Halloween. Another guy in our group, Jeremy, had been killed in a car accident back home. The only reason Martin knew was because he was meant to spend some time the following week staying with him and someone in Jeremy's family contacted him. If you don't remember Jeremy was the guy who I switched rooms with because of the really smelly man in our dorm room. He wasn't much older than me and on his first trip, he had planned to travel more. I wish that I had kept in better touch with him.

I wasn't really in the mood for much at this point but decided that it would be best to walk around a bit. I ended up heading to Chinatown. Now this was an actual madhouse and I was definitely not in the mood for it. I didn't stay very long. I wandered a bit more and found the tamer, but more boring, central market. It was kinda like a giant Pier One. This is really a tourist place. As I wandered I saw a sign that said 'cute fish'. I like fish and find them to be relaxing, but I don't think I would call them cute. It turns out that this was one of those places where fish give you a pedicure. I had heard about this in the States, but I remember it being quite expensive. For only 5 ringgets, or less than $2 I thought it sounded like a great idea.

After rolling up my pants and sitting down I stuck my feet in the water. Instantly loads of tiny fish were at my feet. It tickled so much that I had to pull my feet back out. After a second or two I stuck them back in. Getting used to the painless chewing sensation took a couple of minutes. I really had to force myself to stay still. Once I got used to it it actually felt kinda good. Some of the fish seemed a bit confused though and tried to nibble at the backs of my legs. When the ten minutes were up most of the fish had either gotten bored or there just wasn't any dead skin left for them to eat. The woman who worked there handed me a paper towel and I took my feet out. They definitely felt much smoother than before. That was money well spent. After taking a quick picture the woman said something to me that I couldn't understand. I then started to walk away, just to realize that I hadn't paid. Very embarrassed I apologized and gave her the money

On the way back to the hostel I accidentally bumped into a man. I apologized in English so I couldn't use my typical excuse of not understanding when he started to talk to me. He was following me a bit as well. This went on for about ten minutes. I walked slower and slower until he was a ways in front of me. Near my hostel I popped into a supermarket to get some snacks for the evening. As he was ahead of me I figured that I wouldn't see him again. Much to my unhappy surprise he was suddenly in the store as well. He must have doubled back as he had been in front on me. The creepy man kept looking for me in the different isles as I took my time waiting for him to leave. Eventually I just got in line behind a western looking person. He turned out to be from Holland. When I explained to him that I thought I was being followed and asked if he would walk out with me he asked me where the guy was. I looked around and saw that he was only two people in line behind me. When I said that they Dutch man told me that he would walk me back to my hostel, just in case. I thanked him and we went our separate ways. Oddly, I ran into him the next day on the other side of the city.

I am sure that the man was completely harmless, perhaps just confused by western movie messages, or wanted to chat. Still, I figured better safe than sorry. I do seem to be getting a lot of attention here, not just because of what I look like, but also because I am alone. Still, there is very little violent crime here, no more really than in Europe, so as long as I stay on my guard and ask for help when I feel uncomfortable everything should be fine. I did, however, decided to not wander any further than the next door 7-11 after night fall.

Back at the hostel I showered and then hung out for a bit in the common room. I thumbed through a communal China guidebook so that I could get an idea for an itinerary there. I had planned on spending the evening watching movies, but the dvd player wasn't working so I settled in with a book and called it an early night.

I have nothing creative left to say

Day 266
I was up early, but really how could I not be, I went to bed at 9pm. Early was good though, it meant that it wouldn't be so hot when I climbed up a hill to see a church. Breakfast was first though, and as rice didn't sound too interesting I ended up at McDonald's.

After eating I checked out a strange little park that had a plane, a train and an ox cart in it. I then checked out the main square that had a decidedly Dutch feel to it. I then took a couple pictures of the Portuguese Santiago Port. It had been burnt by the British in 1795, but a few buildings still remained. Up the hill was St. Paul's church, which was surrounded by a Dutch cemetery. Inside were more Dutch headstones. There was also some guy playing a guitar and singing in a rather eerie manner.

My next stop was the People's Museum. This actually had three different sections to it. The first was on the cultural makeup of Malaysia, the second on kites and the last on concepts of beauty around the world. The first bit was kinda boring but I did find out that Malaysia is made up of Malays, Chinese, Chetties (mix between locals and Indians in the 15th century), Indians, Portuguese and the Baba-Nyonya (mix between the Chinese and Malay). One of the boards said that the Malay group were the natural leaders of everyone else. The rest of the section concentrated on some weird top spinning game.

Upstairs was the kite section. I had never seen these in a museum before and took pictures of several of them. Apparently kites were invented about 25 hundred years ago as a way to connect with the heavens.

Out of the three museums the beauty museum was the most interesting. It was also the least well taken care of. The pictures and write ups were fading all over the place. I think that the purpose was to show how beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I just couldn't get over the sections on scaring and lip plate piercings though. It wasn't what they looked like, but the pain they must have caused. I also can't imagine having something like that done in not perfectly sanitary conditions. There was also a section on corsets. Oddly they used Queen Elizabeth as an example for every single type, it was the same picture too.

Back out in the heat I headed to China town. Most of the shops were closed though and I decided to visit again later in the day. I did find a few Temples though and popped my head in. I had never been in one before. I am very used to the austerity of medieval cathedrals and the bright paintings were a bit shocking at first. After a few minutes though I learned to appreciate the carvings and the paintings. I loved how the dragons leapt right off of the walls.

After some more wandering I headed back to the hotel to sleep off the afternoon heat. I couldn't sleep through it all though and spent a bit of time with my book.

Chinatown at dinnertime was a whole new experience. The shops were open and there were a lot more people around. After grabbing a sandwich I wandered the streets taking pictures of the buildings. Two women invited me to take a picture of their very traditional living room. It was a very nice gesture. The people here are really very friendly.

When I had run out of streets to wander I went back to the hotel. After showering to cool down I spent some time reading before calling it an early night.

Satay, Satay

Day 265
I was up early and had no problems getting to the bus station. This was probably the most comfortable bus I have ever been on. Not only was it air conditioned, but there were also only three seats across. It was like riding in first class on a plane. The border crossing into Malaysia took a bit of time and as usual I picked the wrong line, but there were no actual problems.

On the bus I met an English girl who had been traveling on her own in the Middle East for some months now. She had a prebooked hotel and I decided to tag along with her there. Despite her months of budget travel experience she seemed appalled when there wasn't anyone to carry her bag up the steps. We were both quite hungry and headed out for lunch. The first place we picked didn't have anything that looked good so we ended up at what we thought would be hawker stalled, but turned out to be a mall food court. What we got was disgusting and neither of us could really eat it.

After lunch we split up, we didn't get on to well anyway. I ended up at an internet cafe before headding back to the hotel to do some much needed laundry.

Malaca isn't far from Singapore, but it might as well be an entire world away. There were no sidewalks and a small drainage ditch ran in front of all the buildings. People seemed to use it as a garbage can and I saw several throwing fruit peels and random liquids into it. In places it really smelled bad. A friend of mine told me that this was his first stop after Africa and that it felt very western to him. I really couldn't understand how.

Once my stomach began to rumble I headed out for some dinner. I picked a nearby satay place in my guidebook. I am determined to get over my food phobia here. I picked five skewers, all would be cooked in the same sauce. I picked meatballs, sausage, pig skin, tofu and fish. I was a bit worried that I wouldn't cook everything for long enough, but it didn't turn out to be a problem. My favorites were the sausage and the tofu skewers. The pig skin didn't taste bad, it just had a really odd texture to it.

After dinner I did a bit of wandering and tried to check out a night market, but not much seemed to be going on there. In the end I just went back to the hotel. I'm a bit out of my travel comfort zone and I think it will take some time before I want to be out after dark again. I spent the evening reading and planning my next move.