51 days in

Not including planes, trains, buses or layovers, we have stayed in 20 hotels visiting 18 destinations in 4 different countries over the past 51 days. But today we stayed put relaxing on and snorkeling off of a single beach. And it made me realize how lucky we are that islands like this have beaches at all. Because they give us a stretch of land that is habitable (and also universally tranquil and relaxing) sandwiched between two places that humans are really only suited to visit: the rainforest and the ocean.

Our new friends on Pulau Tioman, Malaysia

And if you're worried about there not being any monkeys here, don't be. They're on our roof!

Melaka, Malaysia

I am going to miss having coffee pool-side one week, in the rainforest the next, curbside in Little India of an exotic city I never thought I'd go to the next, and riverside the next.

I am going to miss happening upon exotic animals like monkeys and monitor lizards on a regular basis.

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I am going to miss having a zillion kinds of freshly squeezed juice and shaved ice. 

Cendol is very popular is Malaysia.  The classic version is shaved ice with plum sugar, coconut milk and green worm-looking jelly things.  We were laughing because I got the classic version and Anson got a different one with ice cream on top and mine looked so much sadder than his.

I am going to miss my religion and history lessons taught by Anson.

I am going to miss markets.

And night markets.

I am going to miss taking neat pictures.  

And funny pictures.

Melaka was established where it is because around 1400 its founder saw his dog corner a mule deer, who in turn kicked the dog into the river.  He liked this - the weak overcoming the powerful - so started his empire here.  He was sitting under a Melaka tree at the time. 

I am going to miss constantly trying new and delicious foods.

I am going to miss eating a new version of chicken rice nearly every-other day.

I am going to miss experiences like stumbling upon the best Dim Sum we've ever had when we thought we were just going for steamed dumplings and coffee.

And I am going to miss the people selling us all this food being so thrilled to share it with us and then that we like it as much as we do.

I am going to miss Chinese parades right outside our guesthouse.

And I am going to miss guesthouse owners who are so nice they knock on your door to make sure you're not missing said parade.  (We were of course already outside watching it!)

I am going to miss personal bias realizations, like when you think the people parading with buckets are going to be seeking donations, when in fact they are handing out treats!  Of which, by the way, I happened to receive a mango one and a tamarind one (my two favorite flavors) - certainly lucky, if you ask me!

I am going to miss funnily-worded signs.

I am going to miss experiences like finding something to buy in this man's shop for the sole reason that he and his wife were literally the only salespeople I have been unable to say 'no' to this entire trip.

I am going to miss things like thinking I was getting a steal-of-a-deal when I bought a pair of earrings for 3.8 Ringget and then later the same day buying 7 pairs for 5.

I am going to miss not knowing what day of the week it is and the fact that it really doesn't matter.

I am going to miss having to remind myself that typically three day weekends are sooo nice and we have had 20 three day weekends in a row so far.

I am going to miss not doing dishes.

I am going to miss having an abundance of fresh mango, mango-flavored and mango-ingredient-ful foods around every corner.

I am going to miss things like deciding to spend 5 nights on a remote island because we ended up having 'too much' time in Malaysia.

And I am going to miss Anson being exceptionally easy to spot in a crowd.

Just about the only thing I am not going to miss is missing her

and all of our human loved ones too, of course!

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

It's weird to be in Kuala Lumpur (KL) because this whole trip, I've known this was one of our last stops, which means that because we are here we are nearing the end of our trip.  At the same time we still have nearly 2 weeks left, which is a good length trip in and of itself, so I like to think we're not that close to the end.

KL is a really interesting city, mostly due to the juxtaposition of the old and the new, the inexpensive and the cheap and the variety of cultures, and we have been doing some interesting things here.

Such as eating really yummy food in really gross places.

Like this alley, for example, where Anson saw rats coming up from the sewer.  We're used to this type of eating by now, though and it really in our experience, the best food is the least expensive food.  It's amazing that such a delicious meal can cost less than 9 Ringgit (3.1 Ringgit to the USD).  We've had a couple more expensive meals in Malaysia though such as Steamboat (hotpot) in Cameron Highlands and Din Tai Fun (you know the dumpling chain that's also in Seattle, Kelly?).  Compared to the ~10 Ringget meals we are used to eating those meals seem expensive, being 40-50 Ringget, but really they're still way cheap...er, I mean inexpensive (Dad), since that's how much you'd spend in dollars on a comprable meal in the States.

We also saw Betel leaf chew being made on the streets, which we of course did not proceed buy and try ourselves.  Or maybe we did and maybe it nearly made me puke.  Either way I can tell you that there won't be any red-stained teeth in the future for these two Browns!

We also visited a Hindu temple.

And saw many examples of the new by the old, just two of which are pictured below.

And learned why there is a sticker on the ceiling of our hotel in the shape of an arrow that says "Kiblat" (it's the direction of Mecca for Muslim prayer).

And took lots of pictures of the city.

When I decided to wear my white dress, we pretended like I was a particular British princess visiting SE Asia.

But the game of pretend kind of fell to pieces when it was time for me to put my borrowed and requisite Mosque attire on.  It wasn't quite as gorgeous as hers.

And we ate more delicious food in slightly less yucky places.  But really, I wish these restaurants would stop ripping us off.  8 Ringget for two lunches and two ice teas?!  Come on!

We also went to the Sky Bar (a bar that is WAY too cool and expensive for us, but cheaper than the touristy city-viewing tower) on the 33rd story of Shangri-La hotel to see the city view and took lots of pictures of the Patronas towers, which were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998-2003.  In fact, according to Wikipedia (which is a very reputable source, cited by one or more museums in SE Asia), Malaysia was the first country to out-build the US in terms of tallest building.

So naturally, we took lots of pictures of the towers.

But my favorite picture we took that night didn't have record-breaking buildings in it, just the shadows of two average-sized people.

Of course, you can't visit KL without visiting Batu Caves.

Which are full of way-too-tame monkeys, which were mostly fun to see and take pictures of - I think monkeys are more fun to see in their natural environment.  My favorite part, of course, was the dog whose job it was to guard the bathrooms from the monkeys (which I have a video of but again cannot get it to upload).

I nearly got attacked by a male with giant teeth after taking the picture below.

And my final photo was not taken near Batu Caves (it was taken in a park near central KL where we also saw monkeys), but I had to post it because it was so apropos to a prior post.