We were actually staying in little India so there were quite a few Indian restaurants in the area, but despite that, throughout Malaysia we found several restaurants with different cuisines mainly Indian, Chinese and Malay, and actually at times it was more difficult to find a traditional Malaysian restaurant that only served traditional food. Not that we were disappointed, having never (or not yet) been to India I can safely say that I had the best Indian food I have ever had in Malaysia, starting with that first night on plastic chairs opposite our hostel. I had honey chicken which came in a sweet, dark sticky sauce and some Naan bread accompanied by a variety of diping sauces. From then on I knew that an Indian in Malaysia would be a pretty safe bet.
During our few days in Penang we visited the usual site-seeing haunts (most of which I can't remember the name of now) and absorbed the culture of the world heritage town.
This picure isn't particularly interestering but I found it quite amusing. On the morning of our first full day in Georgetown we tried to find a place that would serve something simple for breakfast like a coffee and toast. We wandered around for quite a while, not really find anything when eventually we spotted something that said coffee outside. It's possible one of the most confused places I have been to as at first it looked like it was trying to be an American diner (note metallic table and bagel and mustard and ketchup bottles which confusingly had ketchup in the yellow bottle and chilli sauce in the red!) but then on the other wall there was an array of asian food all written in (I think) chinese! It was a bit odd, and my bagel didn't even have a hole in...
It appears that I took quite a few photos in Georgetown! Here are a few:
Look at the colour of the pink one! The others were apparently iced tea so I had to see what the pink one was. It was supposed to be strawberry but it tasted more like those pink and yellow 'fruit salad' sweets, or those chewy drumstick sweets that you used to get on a stick in the penny sweet shop.
Traditional jetties along the coast.
We would soon find out that most towns in Mayalsia had these bike taxis, I suppose in place of Tuk tuk's, the most decorative of which were in Melakka which even had speakers fitted into the back to blast out an array of music from Indian to Drum and Bass!
Funicular Railway up to... some sort of view point.
Look at the size of this Millipede! We placed a coin next to it to demonstrate its size, which admittedly doesn't mean much to people at home who have no idea of the size of Malaysian coins. It was big anyway.
These next few photos are from the biggest temple in Asia, complete with its own hawker stalls out the front...
Prayer ribbons. Each one bore a different wish such as 'Academic progress', 'Good health for family' or 'Wishes to come true'. You chose the one relevant to you, wrote your name and wish on the back and then hung it in the temple amongst the others.
These who pictures were taken in the early morning whilst we were waiting for the bus to take us to the Cameron Highlands. The picture on the right shows the start of Little India and also the street that our hostel was in. Consistent with the rest of South East Asia, the bus was late, but it did eventually arrive and after a big struggle to get our enormous bags into an already full mini bus we were on our way.
We only allowed one full day for the Cameron Highlands which was just as well as there didn't seem to be that much to do there other than Hiking or going on various tours. The main attraction it seems was the hike to see the Rafflesia, the largest flower in the world. It does prove rather difficult to see though as it is only in flower for about 5 days every six months so you have to pick the right time to go and see it. In this case as well it involved a 4 hour trek and as it had been raining heavily that day I was dubious to how easy it was going to be to get there. Luckily for me when we came to book our tour, we were recommended not to go on the long trek as the flower had finished it's bloom, and we were most likely to be disapopinted. We were also told that there are many more in Borneo and Indonesia so hopefully we should get to see one at another time during our trip.
(Random giant fruit garden in the town we stayed in)
Usually I would prefer not to book a tour and just to explore for myself, but because the town seemed to be a little far away from the tea/strawberry plantations/hiking and we had no mode of transport the tour seemed to be the easy option, especially as we had to fit it all into one day. Well, it was certainly a busy day, and my fears of booking tours were certainly confirmed. We were ushered into the back of an old jeep early in the morning and then driven to various attractions where we were let out and told '10 minutes' during which we would have to rush around the honey farm or tea plantation, or butterfly farm before being ushered back into the car again. Our driver hardly spoke any other words to us during the whole tour, and when he was driving up the windy roads to the top of the tea plantations I was genuinely fearing for my life. At one point we met a few cars blocking the road as they had come face to face with a couple of cars coming down the one way hillside track, and neither of them had anywhere to go. After about 15 minutes of honking and shouting our driver decided to 'off-road' on the steep side of the track, past the two cars going the same way as us and nudge his way in-front of the queue gradually advancing on the car coming down until it had back up a suitable distance for him to speed past again.
Anyway, it may not have been the best tour, but I did get a few good photos. That is until my camera battery ran out and I forgot to bring the spare..
Spot the leaf insect.
Okay, that was easy. Spot the leaf frogs! There are two.
Tea plantations.
Next on the agenda was the capital, Kuala Lumpur.
Our first stop was the largest aviary in the world.
Lovebirds munching on a Chilli!
Next some memorials and museums followed.
Below is the KL building which felt it had to justify the price of your ticket by providing either a horse ride, a F1 simulator or entrance to the animal park. We chose the F1 simulator which was basically the same as those car racing games you get in arcades. Nevertheless the view from the tower was pretty good, and had there not been brightly lit souvenir shops all the way around the observation deck I might have been able to get some good photos.
A few more city shots including the Petronas twin towers.
After the tower visit it was quite late and we were not sure where they would still be serving food. Most of the restaurants inside the tower were closing so we decided to have a wander towards and area where we were told there would be some local restuarants. About 50 meters from the base of the tower we spotted a restaurant called 'nz' which had lots of people outside and appeared not to be closing. We thought we might as well give it a go and wandered in to fins a canteen style set up with several Indian dishes in hot trays behind a counter. I was a bit duious at ordering food that may have been sitting out for hours, but the place seemed busy and we were hungry so we sat down. It turned out to be the best Indian I've ever had! The Naan bread was so soft and fluffy with a crispy base and it was covered in this amazing sweet coconut sauce. I think I had some sort of Soy chicken curry, and I'm not sure what Justin had, but anyway it was amazing and if I ever go back to Kuala Lumpur I will be sure to go back!
Spotted this view on a postcard at the top of the tower and thought that it was perfect as it had both the twin towers and the KL building in it. Looking at the back told us exactly where it was taken so the next day we headed to this lake where we got the shot. I think that a few more buildings must have been built since the postcard shot was taken though as their photo seemed to be a lot less obscured! There were also a few other bits to see in the same area including an Art gallery which had some amazing massage chairs in the 'relax area' which cost around 50p for a 3 minute knead.
Our last stop in Malaysia (or at least peninsular Malaysia) was Melakka, another world heritage town, and to be honest if I had to choose I would say that I preferred it to Georgetown. It was like the friendlier and cleaner version.
A short queue had formed outside this vendor so obviously we stopped to check it out. There was a small machine production line churning out fish shaped treats, so obviously we bought one to try.
It was pretty good, it tasted a little like waffle, or a thick pancake batter with some sort of yellow custard goo in the middle.
Traditional tea tasting.
Although they were all Chinese teas, we didn't do anything like this in china and it was fun to learn about the correct way to make and drink tea. It involved a lot of rinsing and pouring from various pots to others but the tea was delicious. I'd have liked to get one of the tea sets but I think it may not be a practical thing to carry. Perhaps on the way home...
Our tour of Melakka was concluded by another fantastic curry and a visit to the gate to the old city. The lady at our hostel advised us that it would be cheaper if we bought the bus to Singapore directly from the station so we found out the times, and caught a taxi to the station for the afternoon bus.
