Moving Through Malaysia
23 November 2015 | Pangkor Marina, Malaysia
Heather
Gosh, we are really enjoying Malaysia. Jon is no longer tapping me and saying "we're in Malaysia" so I know the newness has worn off & we've settled in. It feels somewhere between the more affluent part of Indonesia (Bali) and Singapore as far as development goes but with a full on blended culture that seems very rich & interesting. The country prides itself on the idea of being a harmonious mix of Indian, Chinese and Malay cultures and it feels that way. The food is much improved from Indo and you can actually get things here. There's a lot to do and we've been ticking off some touring as well as attending rally functions, but we've also begun to focus on what the boat needs and how we are going to organize our time here. We were saddened to hear about the attacks in France. Being in a Muslim country, we struggle to understand it all. But what is going on in the Middle East and that twisted form of radical Islam is not the Islam that is being followed here. The people we've met have been nothing but welcoming and genuinely nice. We have witnessed a lot of affection and happiness. We spend a fair amount of time thinking about what we experience each day and trying to put it all together but have come to the understanding that we're never going to understand it! Mix together religions we can't relate to and a way of life that exists in these countries that is so different from our own and you end up shaking your head a lot at what you see. But what we have gained in these months is a greater sense that there are so many ways to live on the same planet.
The trip we took to Malaysia's capitol- Kuala Lumpur, was great. On the way there with Jan & Rich, the driver had to swerve to avoid a monkey darting across the road in front of us- now that's a change from the usual skunks, deer, etc. We've seen so many monkeys now. Jon found a really nice, inexpensive hotel centrally located and we spent 3 nights there. It's funny, we always get slippers in our room nowadays. We did all kinds of things in KL and it was so easy to get around because they have a monorail, a subway, and a train service. This along with taxis, even Uber and buses. We went to a bird park, aquarium, textile museum, a couple of art museums, markets, parks, a Malaysian traditional dance show put on by the department of tourism, several gardens and a really well thought out Islamic Arts Museum full of beautiful things. It was a fancy building in itself with ornate domes and had so much interesting material on world Islam. Its much more widespread than I realized and has woven its way into lots of pottery, jewelry and paintings over many, many years. They had all those pieces there. There was an exhibit that played the common prayer songs that are broadcasted from the mosques and it was translated into English so you could understand what was being said- that was helpful! We have so appreciated that so far, the mosques here are much quieter than in Indonesia, more like a whisper in the distance and they are not on every corner. Which is funny because you see more adherence to the head covering and many more burkas here than in Indonesia. Despite the museum, we still have many unanswered questions. On the other end of the spectrum, we were in KL for Deepavali- the important Indian holiday of the festival of lights. We saw many colorful rice murals, mainly in the fancy malls and we also went to a sacred temple site called the Batu Caves. These are rather impressive caves that have been "decorated" with huge manmade sculptures that are significant to the Indian people. It was a busy day at the caves as well as the train we took to get there but it was great to witness the festive atmosphere and the gorgeous dresses that the women & children wear for this special day. At one point we were asked by a group of people if we would pose for a picture with them. When we asked where they were from...... you guessed it- Indonesia of course!
We are still amazed at how modern some parts of Malaysia are and how much building is going on but then there are also a lot of brand new buildings- empty! The malls here are some of the biggest ones we've ever been in, ever, and they have every American chain you could imagine. And to our surprise, Victoria's Secret is here and so we know that marketing and fashion are going to change the world more than anything else. We haven't seen a hijab (head covering) with a Nike swish on it yet- but we believe it is coming! With the burkas, shoes are an important form of expression for women. So... we've seen some really crazy shoes peeking out from underneath! And we wonder who is wearing Victoria's Secret too....
We did an overnight from Admiral Marina to Pangkor Island, 145 miles up the west coast. We had decent weather despite a couple of ominous thunderheads that formed but stayed in the distance. We're waiting to get pummeled by one of these but so far so good. Someone has already been struck by lightening and lost their electronics. I think that this trip was the busiest we've ever had for fishing boats and we spent the night standing up alert to the horizon at all times, weaving through the mass. Sure makes your watch go fast! They are lit with anything & everything or not at all (thankfully, that was only one), and they move as they wish. Some have AIS but it is installed like backwards or something so the boat is facing one way on your screen but the track is going off at a different angle. But most don't have it. We had plenty of yachtie company too with all the rally boats. We all piled in to Pangkor Marina, which is the next rally stop. James, the owner, gives each boat 5 free days in the marina, hosts incredible meals and tours and then gives 50% off boat storage so we might be storing the boat here in the coming months!
Jon & I hopped right to it & slopped on some varnish, did a couple more chores and then rented a car for 2 days to head up to the highlands. There are a few mountain towns in peninsular Malaysia and each one seems to offer something different to do. The Cameron Highlands were the closest to where we are now and the lure of cooler air, hiking trails and tea plantations drew us there. We rented a true POS car from the marina (we seem to be the only ones who were blessed with this) and drove up, up, up to 6500 feet to a very lush, beautiful natural landscape. Sadly, this is also a prime agricultural area so farming of vegetables, strawberries, bees & flowers has marred the place somewhat. There are greenhouses perched on any angle of land, by the hundreds. Hydroponic strawberries were a big thing and we are having strawberry shortcake tonight with the ones we bought. At this one farm we visited, a man from Bangladesh took us on a little tour and was very polished at having us pose for some funny pictures using strawberries as props. We did a beautiful rainforest loop hike and another one on a mountaintop- called the Mossy Forest. It was mossy because it rains all the time and we got wet doing it but it was worth it. We met up with some friends on Firefly- Paul & Susie, and had dinner with them that night which was fun. The restaurant was called the Barracks and used the old wartime Nissen Huts from WWII as their building with a landscaped courtyard for the dinner tables. I got a much needed decent burger with SALAD for a change! And we got homemade cream of mushroom soup. We have been enjoying fantastic fresh mushrooms since arriving in Singapore and for some reason, cream of mushroom soup is very popular. Even though soup is not really what we need at sea level these days, it was OK in the highlands.
The best part of the highlands (aside from the temp) were the tea plantations. There are several huge plantations (with 80 year old tea plants) set on rolling hills making for some lovely views. We also got to see how they cut & process the tea leaves in the factory. It smelled so good in there! Plus, there were flowers everywhere. We weren't sure the car was going to make it up some of the hilly roads since the transmission was skipping so badly. When Jon lifted the lever to let me in the trunk, the handle fell off in his hand. And coming back down to the marina after dark in the rain was very difficult to see, plus the dash lights didn't work. When I got out of the car to get in the marina gate, I could see why- we only had one headlight! Sure was good to give the car back the next day! But we did manage to get up at 6am first and go to a laundromat. I love the laundries here- they have brand new, big machines that automatically dispense free detergent & softener and it is dirt cheap to wash your smelly clothes. It seems like each stop we make has another great laundry.
The rally events here at Pangkor have been top notch. They bused us all around yesterday to various marine & hardware stores, malls, grocery stores, etc so we could see what's available and get some things we've been doing without. Not being the average tourists, it was interesting to see the haul in the luggage area of the bus full of hoses, pumps, paint, groceries, air conditioners, breadmakers and our new little Christmas tree. We decided Evergreen needed an evergreen this Christmas. While we aren't looking forward to doing boat work, we're slowly warming up to the idea and trying to imagine this area as home for a little bit- a few months from now. But we'll keep going up to Thailand to check out other options too. But this could work. In the town, we could see so many modern buildings with storefronts on the bottom floor and then fancy windows where you might think there would be apts up top. But taking a closer look shows that inside those open windows is a concrete block wall inside with little holes knocked through in rows. Those holes are for the swiftlet birds that the Asians "grow" for birds nest soup! Supposedly birds nest soup is a delicacy as well as some supposed medicinal quality. Whatever- at least they are not killing the bird. It is just one of those shake your head moments...
And today, as part of the rally, we took a 15 minute ferry to Pangkor Island and had a tour. We saw an old Dutch fort which was pretty small, another Buddhist temple, a wooden boat building facility and a satay fish processing plant. We now understand the boats that look like a high heeled shoe! They're made of hardwood from Indonesia and they usually are trawlers with large nets. They have a massive prop for dragging the nets and the high backs are to protect the stern from waves when hauling the nets so that they don't sink. They have a wide midship beam to hold the fish. There were two boats in progress and it takes 6 months to build one. The fish processing shed was smelly and interesting. Several men were both hand & machine sorting all sizes of tiny, dried sardines and there were bags of heaped fish everywhere. They were huge tarps with fish laid on them drying in the sun. In town, all those piles of sorted fish were there to buy. It was so funny seeing all of us cruisers walking around drenched in sweat. Everyone has all these blotches on their shirts and grease slicks on their faces. Back at the dock, one by one boats are succumbing to the need for an AC. So much so that the breaker popped and the whole dock's power went out today. But they got it back on- thank whomever you worship! We all piled back into the buses and were taken to the western side of the island to a lovely beach with tables set for a delicious lunch in the shade of the trees. It was such a nice day.
And there's more tomorrow. At least we ride around in style- Asian buses have brightly decorated interiors with fancy scalloped curtains above the windows. You feel like royalty except for the fact that it's a bus.
I guess that's the round up. We'll be having cornish hens for Thanksgiving dinner since we haven't seen any turkeys running around. And I scored some fresh cranberries for sauce from the good ol' USA, but no pumpkin for pie. Best wishes to our friends and loved ones for a wonderful Thanksgiving. We are thankful to have you in our lives.