Malacca/Melaka

...is a historic town with lots of traces of its colonial past; churches and forts built by the Portuguese, churches and admin buildings by the Dutch and schools by the Brits.

We had a short river trip past old houses, a "model" town built by the Brits for Malay pilots at the turn of the last century, some monitor lizards and a rare kingfisher.

Buddhist temple

St Francis Xavier (for Chris A)



View from the 33rd floor



There are many museums.  After lunch in a Chinese eating place we visited 4 before the heat finished us,   Perhaps the most intersting part of the day was a quick scoot through Chinatown where workmen were working on their haunches making pots and baskets etc alongside bike repair shops and very expensive antique shops.  We popped in to the oldest buddhist temple in Malaysia

Once again we were trapped in traffic as we got back to KL. This time due to a tropical thunder storm which broke out just as rush hour started.  Still, we were back just in time to take up our reserved cushioned lounging area in the pool bar on the 33rd floor with stunning views of the Petronas Towers.  The cocktails were very overpriced and "under- alcoholled"- though this was probably just as well as we had to walk along a narrow wooden deck over the edge of the pool to leave our alcove.

Q.I facts

KL has no poo in the main streets neither dog (unlike Paris) nor human (like Delhi)

KL has very very few beggars and none who importune passersby (unlike London etc etc)

KL has a totally inadequate road system...gridlock happens every Friday rush hour and whenever there is a downpour- which seems to be every evening

Despite all the progress the average life expectancy is falling.  This is possibly due to western junk food becoming evermore popular

Malaysia has no breakfast as such and nasi goreng doesn't appeal first thing (though it's delicious as lunch or supper)

It is a religiously tolerant society:  in Malacca in 1 street are a church, a mosque, a Hindu temple and a Buddhist temple.  Islam is less strict than in Arabia:  everywhere there are girls with their hair covered with pretty scarves but wearing skinny jeans!  They are out with their boyfriends and in mixed groups.

It calls itself a democracy but the army has a role and is headed by the king.  The latter changes every 5 years as 1 of the 7 sultans who head 7 of the States has a turn.  Demonstrations are illegal.  We saw the hundreds of police on the streets on Sunday as a demo over rising prices had been announced.  Nothing happened as the leaders were arrested in their homes the night before!

There are still laws to "protect the rights "of Malays at the expense of other races no matter how long they have lived here.  In many cases this has been for many generations.

As in many other countries, Malaysian governments seem to be hoping that expanding education will lead to rising wages and the susbsequent aquisition of consumer goods will keep the population passive.   Watch this space.....

Relations with Singapore are still wary.  The latest quarrel is over water supply.  This has been sold to S by Malaysia for many yrs at a price agreed 30 odd yrs ago.  M wanted to raise the price so S is building its own desalinisation plant.

KL

Summing up our impressions of KL: some worthwhile sights/sites for the tourist and a gentle introduction for Asia virgins like us but a city that has grown so fast that any unified city centre has been sacrificed to the motor car.  Highways carve up the city and it's hard for pedestrians to find their way via under and overpasses walking on pavements which are frequently uneven or broken.  That said ,there is a very efficient and "human" hop-on, hop-off tourist bus (it even waited for us for several minutes when the driver saw us hurrying towards a stop) and taxis are plentiful and very cheap.

Apart from the famous Petronas towers  there are many skyscrapers, some of very striking design and all built in the past 20 years. There are pockets of "authentic" ethnic neighbourhoods which have been preserved:Chinatown, Little India and Kampung Baru (Malay) but they almost seem artificial tourist attractions as they are so small and sectioned off from the rest of the city by highways and new developments. 



Giant bamboo



Despite the impression I seem to have been giving of a modern city "work in progress" it is very green with luxuriant trees everywhere and lots of green spaces including a massive park right in the city and a hill covered with rain forest where we walked this morning.  So there is evidence of some town planning alongside the race for growth.

 

It is a wealthy place with countless shopping malls selling designer goods.  These are always thronged with people who are toting lots of bags.  This seemed a bit of a mystery to us as the prices are high relative to the weak £ and € and the average wage is about £7k pa.  Of course there is a huge gap between those at the top and those at the bottom of society.  These seem to be largely imported workers (1.8 million pa -and that's just the legal ones) as there is a chronic shortage of workers in every sector.

OK the details:  we loved the Craft and Cultural Centre where we saw many traditional and often beautiful objects and people making them.  The other standout for us was the Museum of Islamic Art.  This latter housed in a gorgeous building and displaying exquisite objects from all over the Moslem world from across the centuries.



A 14th century Q'ran



Petronas- sometimes has clouds at top

The other ingredient to making KL worth visiting is definitely the people who, almost without exception, are smiling and helpful- from the ubiquitous sweeping ladies to the waiters and hotel staff.  There is absolutely no problem asking anyone for directions and you are never made to feel you are a nuisance.

Later:  Back from dinner in the KLCC under the Towers...decided to go western for a change and had best steaks we've had for ages- Australian beef.  Sipped our holiday cocktails as the muezzen called the faithful to evening prayer.  A strange experience  .The PM of Malaysia is in our hotel tonight for dinner at a convemtion so the red carpet was out

KL sling





Cameron Highlands

We certainly packed lots of sights and experiences today and learned much about Malay life, attitudes, history and culture.  Our excellent guide and driver, Anwar, arrived promptly at 7.30 and we set off up the main highway north out of KL.  An excellent road so we made good time and turned off after about 1 1/4 hours to climb up to 1500m above sea level.

This road is incredibly windy and progress slowed down considerably giving us lots of chances to look at the miles of rain forest and the ranges of mountains stretching away.  We stopped to look at a waterfall before taking tea at a teahouse on a plantation- our first sight of teabushes and the amazing landscape they make, miles of short bushes snaking over the steep hillsides.

We dropped in on a rose "garden"- hundreds of flowers all grown in tiny beds packed into a small area of hillside.  This method of cultivation was also used at  butterfly  and strawberry "farms";ia very intensive use of land.  The flowers are exported to Hong Kong, Australia and even UK-there were lots that I had never seen before and all looked healthy.

Stingray fish plant



Green rose







 leaf insect



We toured one of the earliest tea gardens, established by the  son of an English civil servant -acres and acres of bushes carved out of the rainforest by manual labour.  The factory in use is the original one.  It only takes 2 days from bush to drinkable.  We bought some of the tea we liked most and then found it was the 1 left in our hotel room supplies!


Then it was lunch which we chose to eat like the locals with our hands (it wasn't rice!) and the long drive back. A street market was fascinating with fruit and vegetables unknown to us.  Everyone we came across was exceptionally friendly and this despite tipping being uncommon here.

The only low point was the traffic in KL on our return.  It took over an hour to reach our hotel from the outskirts.

Anwar and Bob bonding over-tea





BOH tea garden workers' village











We travel to KL

Last night in Perth was spent at an outdoor cinema in King's Park.  Olly provided a very tasty Coronation chicken picnic and the movie was "Made in Dagenham" an entertaining brit pic in the "Brassed Off" style.  Views of the city from the park on our way home were beautiful but my camera did not do them justice (sorry Chris)

We were up at 4 am and, you won't believe this, O and C insisted on driving us to the airport.  They have been beyond kindness to us over the past fortnight.

 Our Air Asia budget airline flight was excellent.  The seats were the best we've ever had with multiple positions and -best of all- going flat.  We both slept for a fair part of the 6 hour flight.

It's 45 mins of mad driving into KL from the airport.  We passed acres of palms interspersed with new tract housing and then glimpses of huge buildings.  Our driver was not chatty so we didn't learn anything.  The Traders is a vast hotel of some 33 floors right below the Petronas.  Having unpacked and sorted out our stuff I did my usual, "I'll just have a nap", and was woken 2 hours later by a very loud thunderstorm.  That was too frightening to venture out into so we're room -servicing tonight  for an early night as we're up at 6.30 tomorrow to be driven up into the Cameron Highlands.  The pace slackens after that and we have no more early starts (as far as I know)

**No pix as I just can't share the video of B sleeping in his smashing plane seat- too cruel

Last few hours in Perth

Another day of almost 100 degreesF as we start to feel sad at leaving Oz.  Will we ever be back?

Chris and Oll took us to Fremantle which we obviously failed to explore thoroughly 5 yrs ago.  Unlike Perth it has lots of older buildings which gives the town a quirky, backwater feeling quite lacking in Perth which feels modern and rich with lots of building going on.  Loads of students,backpackers, sailors (off the giant freighters and the Saga Ruby in the port) however means a real buzz is going on. 

There is a moving memorial to all the immigrants who arrived here over the years.  It takes the form of Welcome Walls covered with names and the dates of arrival and touching life-sized statues are dotted throughout the town.

We had snapper or squid and chips by the water before catching some zzz's back at the flat.  We finished our washing, ironing and packing and now we're all set for a movie in the park with picnic: "Made in Dagenham"

Forgot to post yesterday that Chris and Bob wandered down to the WACA yesterday evening to see a bit of a Sheffield Shield match but there were more players on the field than spectators in the stands......although the visiting team had come all the way from Tassie.

Downtown Perth

Spent today taking a look round the city centre.  3 frequent, free, airconditioned bus routes cover the area and it's very tourist-friendly- as are the locals (a lady, not much younger than us,got up on 1 bus to give us her seat!)

First we took the ferry across to the other side of the Swan river, had a mooch about and an iced coffee then back to stroll around the main "malls"....everything seems very expensive.

Bell Tower

All this walking in a temp of 96degrees!

The guys who started it all

On our way back we stopped off at the mint and looked at huge nuggets and bars of gold, silver etc worth millions.  Also watched a demo of pouring molten gold into a bar.  It hardens in 20 secs and is cool enough to touch after just a min or 2 in a bath of water.

After another of Olly's very tasty meals and an evening so lively talk on their balcony -off to bed

Meeting old friends from Bermuda



Zoe

 Had a lovely day with Louise, her daughter Tara and grand-daughter Zoe.  So good to see them again after a good few years.  Travelled back on the local commuter train- frequent, clean and efficient.  No "Sunday timetable " here.

With friends again

Had a stress free drive back up to Perth yesterday and found our way to Olly and Chris' flat easily.  Stopped for lunch overlooking  another empty beach

Walked along the Swan River but our quiet drink in a smart bar was somewhat compromised by the hordes of young uns' enjoying TGIF

Going up to the rooftop pool for a swim- I could get used to this lifestyle.

View of the WACA from flat

A tramp though the forest

Just staggered in from 2 hr tramp through the woods near Margaret River.  Actually v. pleasant under the trees...only on emerging do you start to sweat.
More exploring in the car yesterday and found a really gorgeous bay, sheltered from the wind.  Couldn't resist the water....BBQ'd venison sausages in the evening and tried watching a bit of Oz TV- dire!  Now I know where Ben Elton has fetched up:  he's  host on a stand-up show.

Must walk back to the cottage now to get our bathers and head for the beach again

Thanks for the emails-good to know someone is looking at this!

Up and down the Caves Rd

Olly and Chris left us today to drive back to Perth-taking their dongle with them!  So, it's back to Notepad and the internet cafe in town.....C and O  have been great at taking us to places we would not necessarily have gone to and, of course, it's been the ultimate in relaxation to be driven around.  (Not to mention that Chris doesn't drink often so we 3 could do some tasting in the wineries.  There are 100+ cellar-doors here so it's essential to have recommendations otherwise....?)
 We spent the day visiting galleries up the route which serves the coast and, despite the very unfavourable exchange rate, Bob "persuaded" me to buy some unique earrings and a lovely litle watercolour of the local Splendid wren (bright neon blue and glimpsed on our last trip further south where it's cooler.)
Chatting to a guy who has spent the past 2 !/2 yrs travelling round Oz in his motorhome served to re-inforce our impression that the country has not fallen into the current recession and is set to boom further beniftting from ever-increasing trade with China.
We're really enjoying rediscovering just how friendly everyone here is.  We're told all sorts of stuff which adds background to what we're actually looking at or experiencing.  I also like the greeting:" Hi guys..." which often precedes an encounter with a local...makes me feel younger!!

We dropped in on 2 beaches though it was very windy on the coast today.  They were virtually empty- a strange sight for Europeans used to swarms of people on even the stoniest beach.  The water was clear and warm-ish.

Quiet day

After visit to animal park we chilled out and are waiting for dusk to go possum watching.....a very quiet day.

Chauffeured round M River

Gorgeous day...Chris drove us to several bays where we watched surfers.  Then we visited several wineries and the chocolate factory and the day became ever rosier.  Finally Chris took us to a sure-fire 'roo hangout. and there they were!!  Until then the only ones seen were roadkill.

Now it's BBQ time

More connection problems!

Margaret River, W.A.

Welcomed at Perth by Chris and Olly and arrived back at their flat to be welcomed by a fab firework display!  How's that for hospitality.  They have joined us in MR for 3 days where we have rented a small cottage, close to the town but set in bush.

Backtracking, our flight from Paris was on time but seats in Premium Economy not as comfortable on Air France as good old Air New Zealand so I got little sleep.  I did enjoy the movies, however, especially "The Social Network".  We over-nighted in a hotel at Changi airport before taking Tiger Air to Perth.  We had been expecting problems with this flight as Tiger has a v. bad rep but all went smoothly.

Saw lots of gorgeous places on our drive down here and revisited some we'd been to 5 yrs ago.  Off to chocolate factory so can't write more.

Finally on!

Paris, Charles de Gaulle.  Wednesday Feb 9th 2011
The first flight of our trip completed here we are with 5 hours to kill before the biggie to Singapore.  Left Spain on a beautiful day having cleaned and generally tidied up the house for Melissa, our trusty cat-sitter.

Stange experience of culture blur as we drove through an industrial estate to reach the airport: at least half the names on the premises were in chinese!  Whether this has long been the case and I'm just more aware than usual in light of our destination, I don't know.  At the airport there were several Chinese passengers on our full flight to Paris and there were whole crocodiles of school children here from China......a sign of the times?
C d G is huge and we had to walk miles but at least we were not in a hurry!  Tried to buy some internet time but Paypal was not in a cooperative mood.  At least it's very quiet and clean here though sofas would be a good idea.
Our first connection with a fellow traveller this trip helped pass the time: a guy born in Vietnam but brought up in Italy who was off to spend time with his wife in Vietnam his first wife, an Italian, having died from malaria 3 years ago.  He showed us pictures of his new bride who looked as stunning as a model but who is a gyaenacological surgeon specialising in oncology but not qualified to work in Europe.  So he has a long distance marriage with frequent trips between asia and europe.  Fascinating glimpse into someone's life and an example of the kindness of strangers when he tried to give us the software for his transaltion programme we were using to comunicate by (he in Italian, we in Spanish).

Pre-Trip practice

This is my first attempt at blogging and I'm sure that's going to be obvious!  It's Sunday evening, just waiting for The Archers.  Had lovely day: glorious sun all day and great lunch at June and David's in Margarida.  Julia and Phillip also there.  Not seen them for a long time so lots of catching up.

Journey to the village made even more pleasurable by the almonds blossoming on ever side.   3 days til our big trip.....