Escape from Langkawi...Hello Koh Lipe!

When I left you I had bought my ferry ticket to Langkawi.  I arrived yesterday and just wasn't feeling it.  It was too commercial (a duty free island), I was staying in skank pit #3 (I can't even go into it), the beach wasn't that nice and the water was murky...no thanks, adios.  I booked a speed boat ticket the same day and took off this morning for Koh Lipe Thailand.  I must congratulate myself, this might just be the most brilliant thing I've ever done (ring a bell Lloyd?).  I met three Germans on the boat and I just finished having dinner with them.  They're heading over to my beach tomorrow (they are staying on the other side of the island) and Alana who I met in Langkawi is heading over on the boat tomorrow too, so it should be good fun.  Here are some quick pics I took today.  I'll also enclose the pic of my Chinese seal engraver Mr. Ng. from the last post.  I've gone bamboo.  Peace out...Jan

Mr. Ng. and My Chinese Seal

My Bamboo Hut

The View From My Front Porch

The Gorgeous Turquoise Water

Keong Hee Huat Chai!

That's Happy New Year to all of you who don't speak Hokkien.  Well, if you did as I instructed in my last post and assumed I was propped up in a chaise lounge on the beach, laying in the sunshine with an ice cold beer, good book and delicious seafood, you can save me the trouble of writing about the ten days immediately following that post.  I just couldn't leave Pangkor.  I loved it.  It was relaxing, the locals were really great and the beach was nice.  I originally booked for three nights, then I extended it two nights, then two more, then three more.  The next thing you know I had been there for ten nights!  Thank God I was meeting Justin in Penang or I would still probably be there.  After I tore myself away from Pangkor I took the ferry back to Lumut, the bus to Butterworth (mainland Penang) and then a quick ferry over to Pulau Penang.  I checked into Hutton Lodge and met up with Tracy for beers and dinner.  Tracy is a friend I met on Pangkor who is originally from Australia but is now teaching in China.  That morning I got up and took a tour of the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion.  He lived from 1840 to 1916 and was a Hakka who basically became the Rockefeller of the east.  I planned to stay at Hutton for three nights but I got a call from Justin saying his sister Phyllis who lives south of KL had rented a three bedroom apartment that they were staying in with her and I should move over there and join them, so I did.  We were one big happy family...Phyllis, her husband Tony, son Juan-Matthew (pronounced John-Matthew but called John Boy), daughter Jomanda, Kamal and Justin.  That night the whole family came over to "our" house for reunion dinner.  Reunion dinner happens on Chinese New Year eve and everyone in the family, who is able, is expected to attend.  Justin's sisters Catherine and Pat came along with numerous cousins, spouses and their children.  Let's see if I can remember everyone...Justin, Kamal, Phyllis, Tony, Jomanda, John Boy, Pat, Catherine, Helen (Justin's Mom), Joanne, Dino, Dilia, Kyle, Pam, Johnny, Byron, Timmy, Edward, Wai Lee, Sally and Lily (wonder how I did).  Before dinner you have Yee Sang; a really delicious salad with veggies, peanuts, raw fish, etc.  It's crunchy, sweet, salty, spicy and yummy.  The entire family (and me) grab chops sticks and stir the salad together to stir up good fortune in the new year, the higher the salad is tossed (no jokes some of you) the more prosperous you will be in the new year.  For dinner we had steamboat, a big vat of boiling water spiced to perfection and filled with multitudes of processed fish products, veggies, tofu, chicken, etc.  My new Chinese family were even kind enough to make one of the steamboats without chicken so I could eat everything in it.  You fill your bowl with the seasoned broth from the steamboat and then "go fishing" in the vat with a little wire scoop and pull out all your favorite items and then spice it up with chili sauce.  It was really delicious.  We stayed up that night waiting for the midnight fireworks but they barely materialized so we went to bed around 1:00 am.  The next morning we were up bright and early to head over to "Mommie's" (Justin's moms house) for Phang Teh (the traditional tea ceremony).  The tea ceremony is for the young to pay respect to their elders and wish them longevity and for the elders to give blessings to the children.  The ceremony starts with Justin's mom being served a small portion of tea by her oldest child, they wish her happy new year and then she gives them ang pow (a red packet with money) for good fortune in the new year. The tea ceremony proceeds with the rest of her children, nieces, nephews and grandchildren (and me) wishing Mommie happy new year.  You aren't allowed to wish anyone else happy new year until you have had the ceremony and wished your parents happy new year first.  It actually pays to be a spinster during Chinese New Year because everyone (older than you I think) gives you ang pow if you're not married.  I may not get a tax break or shower gifts but I do get ang pow!  After Justin's mother has been wished happy new year by everyone the rest of the family follows the same routine where each of her children are served tea by their children, grandchildren, etc.  After the ceremony it's time to go visit the open houses (I think we did five) of your aunties, godmothers, etc., where you get more ang pow!  You sit, chat, eat, repeat.  Justin's mom stays home and receives visitors while we are out.  Then after all the visiting is done, you go back to Mommie's and...you eat again.  We hung around and relaxed till it was time for Boo Lan Sai, the lion dance.  The lion comes to your home (you hire a troupe) and he blesses your house and brings you good fortune for the new year.  He is accompanied by a troupe of musicians who loudly beat drums while he dances around.  You hang lettuce and ang pow in your doorway for the lion to jump up and take; he spits out the lettuce but keeps the money.  You also leave him a beer to drink (which he does) but I'm not sure what the beer signifies.  There is also a bowl full of water and coins, the lion fills his mouth with the coins and spits them into the crowd and everyone gathers eighty cents and puts it in a ang pow envelope and carries it in their wallet throughout the year for good fortune.  When he is finished dancing you light a really loud and really long firecracker; the noise chases away evil spirits.  After the Boo Lan Sai we went back to our house to rest before everyone came over for leftover steamboat dinner; if you're me you "rest" for three hours and Jomanda has to wake you up at 9:00 so you don't miss dinner.  So it was more steamboat, a couple beers and then it's time to play "in between" or Kaliao as Justin's family calls it.  It's a card game where each player has two cards laid down in front of them and you bet (yes, real money, goodbye ang pow) if the next card will fall in between those two.  You have to put in 1 ringet at the beginning to join the game and the pot builds as people (like me) begin to lose.  The minimum bet is 10 cents, there were times that Justin was betting 50 ringet!  If you think the chances are good that your card will fall in between you say "kaliao" which means "all" in Hokkien and you match whatever is in the pot.  You either win the entire pot or if you lose pay that amount back into the pot.  If you are unlucky like me you "kaliao" and have the misfortune of having to pay double the pot because your card is equal to one of the existing cards.  I lost all but 13 ringet of my ang pow money, oh well, easy come easy go.  The next day Kamal, Justin and I went to Justin's cousin Edward's apartment to hang around the pool and swim all afternoon (guess who wanted to do that).  Edward was having his open house and lion dance that night so we chilled at the pool all day and then went to Edward's for dinner.  Everyone brought fireworks so we headed to a dead end street by Edward's apartment and "played" fireworks.  They really get some serious stuff, I'm not talking sparklers, these are REAL fireworks.  I have a video of the biggest one but I'm not sure I can post it to my blog, I may have to upload it onto YouTube.  Justin and Kamal brought lanterns from KL with them for each member of their family to light and send into the air with a new years wish so we did that after the fireworks; they were really beautiful.  When that was done Justin, Kamal and I walked from Edward's apartment to the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia, Kek Lok Si "temple of supreme bliss".  It was excellent, part religious monument, part Disney light parade.  By then it was after midnight and we headed back home for bed.  Oops, I forgot, we ordered McDonald's and had it delivered to the apartment, snarfed it down and then went to bed.  It's really weird, the only places that deliver here are fast food restaurants.  The next morning we all had to pack up and move out of the apartment.  Phyllis and her family were headed back home and Justin, Kamal and I had to go find a place for me to stay.  We dropped our stuff at Mommie's and then met up with all our housemates and had breakfast.  I of course had my new favorite beverage teh ice.  It's iced Indian "pulled" tea, which has condensed milk; so sweet and delicious.  Joanne, Dino, Dilia and Kyle met us there too.  After that we headed downtown and searched for a place for me to stay but everything was booked because of Chinese New Year.  I had called my favorite place Hutton Lodge a bunch of times to check to see if there were any cancellations or check outs.  I had resigned to staying in the dorm rooms but we arrived to find out even the dorms were full.  Suddenly my savior who recognized me from my previous stay found an available room for me so I was home again and in a private room.  After that we headed out to Batu Ferringhi to go to Sunset Bistro for dinner and cocktails on the beach before Justin and Kamal had to fly back to KL.  It was great, it was the kind of place where if you lived here you would head out to on the weekends with all your friends and spend all afternoon drinking, playing games and chillin by the beach.  At 8:00 pm we headed back to Mommie's to pick up our luggage and say goodbye.  I want to give a big thanks to everyone for including me and making me feel so welcome.  So here I am now at the Hutton Lodge writing this post.  Yesterday I went to the Penang Museum and to some small temples and mosques.  Last night I had dinner at the apparently famous Nasi Kandar Line Clear where I had rice with fish curry and of course two teh ices.  I was so proud of myself, I was sitting there eating with my hand like a local and ordering a second teh ice and someone asked me if I lived in Penang...I was so authentic they thought I was a local!  Today I bought a ferry ticket to Pulau Langkawi (yes another island) and went to see Mr. Ng, the Chinese seal engraver, to have him make me my very own Chinese seal with my last name in Chinese characters.  I'm really excited, I get to pick it up this afternoon and will try to post pictures of it and him next time.  So that's it for now.  I don't know how long I'll be on Langkawi but I'll try to post from there.  Peace out...Jan       

Coral Beach on Pulau Pangkor from the Chinese Temple

Outside Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion

Everyone Digging Into Steamboat

Tea Ceremony - Mommie Being Served Tea by Dilia

The Lion Blessing Edward's Apartment

 

Pam and Johnny Sending Up Their Lantern

Kek Lok Si Temple

Kek Lok Si Temple

Justin Tan, Tea Plantations, Thaipusam, not...Malaysia!

When I last left you I was getting ready to leave Egypt.  I met Jennifer for dinner that night and then took off for the airport.  At the Cairo airport they have a bunch of different times you have to pass through security.  At the last security check just before boarding there was this guy ahead of me, tall, thin, pasty white with little round glasses and a black sparkling glitter shirt who was getting his bag searched.  All of a sudden out come the "Love Cuffs", he starts flailing around, jumping in the air trying to grab the box while security waved them around, it was hilarious!  Anyway, I arrived in Kuala Lumpur (KL) and took the KLIA express train to town, transferred to the local monorail and arrived in the Golden Triangle, my neighborhood for a couple nights.  A friend of mine from NYC who is originally from Malaysia is back here and living in KL...Justin Tan, aka JTPI.  He was out of town for work my first night so I got settled and headed to the hawker stalls.  YEAH!  I'm back in Asia where the food is DELICIOUS!  No offense to Morocco and Egypt but you can only eat so many vegetable tagines and couscous.  I had "famous spicy prawns", what ever that means, and ice cold Tiger Beer.  Yes, beer, it's everywhere!  The next day I did some "business", banking, laundry, etc. and I walked to the bus station and bought a ticket for the next day to go to Cameron Highlands and then walked to the Petronas Towers...WOW.  They are beautiful.  I took a ton of photos during the day but somehow managed to not take any night time photos which was a big mistake.  At night they look like diamonds and lace.  I know it sounds like a bad country song but they are probably one (or do you say two?) of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen (sorry Empire State Building).  That night I met Justin and Kamal (Justin's Husband) for an excellent dinner at another hawker stall where we dined on sting ray, squid, prawns and veggies.  The next morning I was on a bus to the Cameron Highlands.  It's about a four hour bus journey from KL winding up to around 6000 feet above sea level.  It's really peaceful and lush with tea plantations, strawberry farms and insect eating flowers.  I arrived in the early evening at Father's Guest House, got situated, had dinner and made myself comfy in the communal room where I watched Blades of Glory.  One of the great things about Asian guest houses/hostels is they almost always have communal areas with movies playing (it's actually probably a bad thing since you should be out doing something cultural or intellectual).  The next morning (well I slept till noon, so not sure I can call it morning) I went to a tea plantation...Gorgeous!  The hills are blanketed in lush green tea plants.  The rows of plants almost look like giant, dense, plush corduroy.  It's still a bit colonial up in the hills so I sat at the cafe admiring the view and had tea and scones like any proper young (that's a stretch) lady (even bigger stretch) would do.  That night I had dinner with Jenny (another traveler) and watched more movies, Lovely Bones (they always have new pirated movies) and Deja Vu.  The next day I just chilled around Father's before I took off back to KL.  I was headed back specifically to meet Justin, Kamal and Arlene (Justin's cousin) to go to Thaipusam.  Thaipusam is a Hindu religious festival celebrated at the Batu Caves where millions of pilgrims come to pay homage to Lord Murugan.  Let's just say there is a long procession with a 5 ton chariot, devotees, trances, piercing and head shaving...but how would I know, I didn't get to see it!  We headed out to the caves a little before midnight because that's when the fireworks and height of the festival were supposed to happen.  We sat in traffic for about two and half hours and once we arrived we couldn't find a parking space.  Shiva take the wheel!  Are you kidding me?!  Really?  I bet if I was going to a Betty Crocker bake off followed by knitting classes and ballroom dance lessons it would actually happen!  Oh well, like any good Malaysian would do (or so I'm told) we promptly took ourselves out for a late night snack (it has a name but I forgot) and then headed home at about 4:00 am.  We thought we would give it a second try the next night so one of Kamal's friends was going to pick us up and take us there.  Guess what?  His car broke down and he didn't make it.  There were a couple slashings (that's what Kamal calls them, I think it means getting cut with a knife but I never really clarified) and a kidnapping so I'm just going to assume that someone (maybe Ganesh?) was looking out for me just like the time I couldn't book a hotel on the Tsunami side of Thailand and that's why it didn't pan out.  I forgot to mention that I stayed with Justin and Kamal this time around for four nights; they have a great apartment, a really cute dog named Bobby Brown, Bob or Uncle Bob and they are excellent hosts, thanks for the hospitality guys.  That night Justin, Arlene and I went to Chinatown shopping and out for Thai food.  The next day Arlene treated us (including Justin's good friend Christine who was in town from Singapore) to dim sum at the hotel where she works, it was delicious.  Justin and Arlene dipped in quickly to the "Fish Spa" where hundreds of tiny fish eat the dead skin off your feet.  I have been dying to do this ever since I heard about it, but in Malaysia they use a communal tub and you all know how I feel about sharing, no fish spa for me.  That night we ordered Domino's pizza with a funky phyllo dough crust and stayed up playing Wii till 4:00am.  I'm excellent at tennis and bowling but my guitar hero and boxing skills could use some work.  Monday was a holiday, so after another sleep in we went to Kamals cousin's restaurant for banana leaf.  It's traditional, vegetarian, Indian food served on a banana leaf that you eat with your hands, I loved it!  We ran around and did their errands and mine and then headed home to watch the Grammy's.  The next day I caught the morning bus to Lumut and then the ferry to Pulau Pangkor, an island off the west coast of Malaysia where I am now.  Yesterday I swam in the ocean, baked in the sun and had beers with Stuart, a guy from London who I briefly met on the bus/ferry and now we are staying at the same hotel.  I'm meeting Justin and his family in Penang around the 12th for Chinese New Year so I may stay here the whole time or head up to Langkawi island, I'm not sure yet.  I probably won't have much to report until after Chinese New Year so just assume I'm propped up in a chaise lounge on the beach, laying in the sunshine with an ice cold beer, good book and delicious seafood.  Peace out...Jan

Petronas Towers

Tea Plantation

Justin & Arlene at the Fish Spa

Justin's Feet in the Fish Spa

Justin, Kamal & Christine at Banana Leaf Lunch