Holiday Diaries: Day 4

Kuala Lumpur to Langkawi:

After a breakfast of cheese omelette by Mr "Sunny Side Up" man and lots of fruit juices I went for a walk round the park taking photos of the waterfall and the tower AGAIN! We were then collected by David Marshall-Singleton who had to emphasis his name and claimed that he had been round Malaysia 700 times. He used a mini-microphone to talk to us, whilst reading a schedule, whilst also trying to drive & change gears on the motorway.
David speaking in a west Indian/ Indian/ Malaysian accent told us lots of facts about our new destination of Langkawi & KL and then talked about fish restaurants before suddenly changing the subject to wrestling and some guy dyeing in an on fire limousine. He then pointed out of the minibus to the left saying what a superstar hotel is, however we thought he was talking about a run down hotel and then only later out behind a McDonald's popped a palacial "7 star" hotel where all the rich and famous stay. Mr Singleton also said that Malaysia is a couple of years away from becoming a developed country, due to it's natural rubber and palm oil plantations and its oil reserves.
After having my photo taken with our very interesting guide we checked in at the airport and watched TV in the departure lounge for a bit. One of the main stories was about an angry elephant who trod on a person, then nosed a car and continued with head butting a palm tree, as part of it's way for coping with stress. News seems to be much more interesting here in Malaysia than back home.

Landing in Langkawi the weather 40 minutes flight north of Kuala Lumper is very different...rather than being sunny with rain at night it's just rain, rain ocassional sun and then some more rain. Having said that it is sooo hot and humid and you really feel like your somewhere completely different.

My accommodation is at the west of the island in a resort called Berjaya Beach Resort. Set on a hillside with a long sandy beach wrapping round the coastline, there are little cabins on stilts hidden in amongst the jungle, as well as hovering ones propped above the sea on concrete posts, which is what I shall be staying in. :-)

Holiday Diaries: Day 3

KL-"The BIG Salad"

Day three and it's the city tour with our Chinese tour guide John (that's his English name I guess, who knows what it really is) who resembles a cuddly Panda :-) He says such phrases as, "the Muslims pray five times a day and the Chinese eat 5 times a day" he says jokingly chuckling and rubbing his tummy. He calls Kuala Lumpur the big salad due to it's mix in cultures, with Malay, Chinese, Indonesian and Indians amongst the many cultures living in this city side by side.
I read in a travel guide that KL was formed on muddy unattractive land of a confluence of 2 rivers where Kuala Lumpur gets it's name from meaning 'Muddy Rivers' founded by the Chinese, in their search of tin and later trading posts were set up with the British taking it over, as part of the Great British Empire installing the most important of necessities , such as a cricket pitch.
First stop on the city tour was a Chinese Temple, with it's bright yellow hanging paper lanterns, pond full of terrapins, a garden with animal sculptures of all the Chinese new year and numerous statue's the worship...the most popular being the one associated with the seas.
Next stop was to go to KL's war memorial. It's a wonderful peaceful place situated on the top of a hill amongst government building's with fountains everywhere. There's a tall column commemorating those involved in the 2nd world war with a pavilion behind that has badges on the roof associated to all the different battalions. At the centre of a deep blue mosaicked pool is a gigantic bronze sculpture of Malaysian soldiers surrounded by bubbling fountains.
From the war memorial John drove us through a tropical park, which houses the largest covered bird park in the world, as well as Orchid Garden's before stopping off at the Colonial Square, which was the heart of British Kuala Lumpur. Red and white bricked colonial architecture lines one side of the road with a cricket pavilion on the other side of a cricket pitch and at the far end is the worlds tallest flagpole at 100 metres high and the old colonial train station...all surrounded by ever towering sky scrapers. Moving through the busy afternoon traffic we got to the Indian quarter, which is full of narrow roads with street stools selling all manner of items. The centre piece of the Indian quarter is a ornate Hindu Temple bustling with people and surrounded by flower stands. John continued to say more things about the city, whilst weaving amongst the traffic before taking us to a silly craft shop and then to the final destination of the golden triangle.
The golden triangle is made up of 3 large shopping centres with Imbi Plaza being the oldest full of lots of computer shops, which you can easily get lost in. Low Yat Plaza has many floors and has a very Chinese feel about it with the smell of foods wafting through the air and little mobile phone stands, big clothes and record stores and web cafe's.

Holiday Diaries: Day 2

And so it begins...

We have had no sleep since taking off at 12:00 in the morning at Heathrow and have travelled 12 hours, but have landed at 7:10 in the morning in Malaysia to see the sun rise. KL's airport is miles away from the city and you even have to get a mono rail train to get you to the baggage collection. After fetching our cases we got on a mini-bus and rolled past the F1 track along empty roads and contrasting chock-a-block roads where no one indicates and there seem to be no rules. At least the roads are lined with manicured hedges and flowers that hide the crash barriers behind them.
After an hours drive I arrive at my destination of Trader's Hotel, KL where I shall be staying for the next 2 nights. It is a ultra-modern hotel situated opposite the Petronas Towers. Everything is shiny and glitzy and it is oh so modern that it has to have it's reception on the 5th floor for no particular reason. Trying to operate the lifts is quite hard, it's all about timing...you insert your room card in a slot then quickly with draw it and press the floor, however if your a tiny bit to slow then it won't work and you will go to the wrong floor. For this reason we ended up 5 floors too high and lost my mum in the lifts, as she was too slow in getting out of the lifts. The room is very swish with breathtaking views of the Petronas Towers and park with it's paddling pool, playground and jogging track.
Now after travelling for 12 hours your meant to overcome jet lag by not sleeping through the day and just getting on with it however, the bed looked so comfy so I had to test it out and ended up falling asleep for 5 hours or so. OH WELL! Sleep is good :-)
3 in the afternoon I went for a walk around the park to the nearby shopping centre, supermarket and its strange delights which you can get to if your lazy by the hotel's golf caddy type thing. The rest of the day was spent gauping at the Petronas Towers at various times of the day and night, as they are so spectacular, eating food at an American restaurant, which has really really nice steaks and strolling through the park at night staring the water fountain show, which lasts till about half ten at night.

Holiday Diaries: Day 1

In flight entertainment:

I don't think I've ever been on a plane with so much to do, with games, music, books, magazines, films etc... After watching many Family Guy & Simpson's episodes I decided to learn about Kuala Lumpur, but that was pretty boring, so instead I tried to learn Malay (the language of Malaysia).

Here is a little guide to some words for anyone who might end up travelling to Malaysia, however they do speak English so this may be completely pointless :)

Numbers-

0= Kosong 1= Satu 2= Dua 3= Tiga 4= Empat 5= Lima 6= Enam 7= Tujuh 8= Lapan 9= Sembilan 10= Sepuluh 11= Sebelas 12,13,14+ end with belas 20= Dua Pelah 30= Tiga puluh 40= Empat Pulah 100= Seratus 1000= Seribu

Days-

Monday= Isnin Tuesday= Selasa Wednesday= Rabu Thursday= Khamis Friday= Jumaat Saturday= Sabtu Sunday= Ahad

Time of Day-

Morning= Pagi Midday= Petang Evening= Senja Night= Malam

Words-

Airport= Lapangan terbang Map= Peta Bedroom= Bilik tidur Street= Jalan Luggage= Bagasi Taxi= Teksi Supermarket= Pasar reya Train= Kereta Api

Food-

Breakfast= Sarapan Lunch= Makan Tengah Hari Dinner= Makan Malam Chicken= Ayam Coffee= Kopi Milk= Susu Water= Air Wine= Wain Beef= Daging Lembu Pork= Daging Babi Fish= Ikan Fork= Garpu Knife= Pisau Spoon= Sudu

Phrases-

Good Morning= Selamat Pagi Good Night= Selamat Malam Goodbye= Selamat tinggal
Thankyou= Terima Kasih Your welcome= Sama-sama Im sorry= Maaf kan saya Help= Tolong I don't understand= Saya tidak faham.

Questions-

What time is it? Pukul berapakah sekarang?
Where do you come from? Dari manakah anda berasal?
I come from... Saya berasal dari...
How much does this cost? Ber apakah harga ini?
It is... Ia berharga...
What is your name? Apakah nama anda?
My name is... Nama saya...Paul!
Could you take a picture of us? Bolehkah anda bantu meng ambil gambar untak kami?
Yes give me your camera= Ya, sudah tentu, hulurkan kamera anda.

Waffling Update

Okay...it has been a while and a lot has happened since my last post so it is time to get posting once again and to see if anybody can be bothered to view my posts! Well at least i have good photos to show anyway :-)