AWOL Geordie - Steve’s global adventure

One year ago, I was flying from Jakarta to Taipei. I was excited at the prospect of jumping into the unknown. I was actively looking for gainful employment as an English Teacher. This time two years ago I was being moved to tears in Hiroshima at the Peace Park museum. This blog has had almost 45000 hits. I am looking forward to the 53000 hit mark since I regard this as a kind of mile stone. Why? Because 53000 hits matches the number of people inside St James Park on any given match day.

After the Penang Hill ascent/descent which left me with aching calf muscles for the next three days, I spent two days at Batu Ferrengi beach with Geir and Rose. We swam a little and enjoyed a ludicrously expensive Arabic meal here:

 

This is the restaurant displaying a range of sheesh pipes. It turns out that the lasses in the black robes with only the eyes showing are actually Arabic and not Malay as I first thought. I purchased an obviously fake Toon top for 10RM or 1.50gbp. They wanted 40RM but I got it for 10RM. I suspect it is not even worth that - Made in Thailand crap! Just look at the pathetic state of the badge! I wore it the other night but felt a little like a football hooligan with some of the disdainful looks I was getting:

I had an almost successful ‘pulling’ attempt. I met Lillian, 30 at a bus stop. She works as an accountant for the posh Holiday Inn in Batu Ferrengi. Interestingly, she is one of identical twins (no……I wasn’t fantasizing). She agreed to meet me for dinner but ended up cancelling due to my inate repulsiveness. No, she ended up having to attend some unexpected family thing - as is the way with Asians. You quickly learn that families come before boyfriends. Anyway she was gorgeous but, as ever, I was moving on to pastures new.

I ferried to Butterworth to buy a bus ticket to Kota Bharu. Coincidentally, I met Rem whilst waiting for the ferry. I first met Rem at the nameless Clinic Hostel in Bangkok in Feb ‘07, again in Phnom Phen in Mar ‘07 and finally in BKK in June ‘07 before I went to Burma. He is now teaching English in Thailand. He is in Penang for a visa run and he was full of joys of spring in his drunken haze. We spent the afternoon together talking bollicks. We were laughing how we’ve both been involved with English teaching in Asia given the dubious circumstances of our first encounter.

Rem - class!

Rem’s mates from Oz and Ireland eating an Indian banana leaf meal with their hands - filthy buggers!

I caught my night bus and arrived in Kota Bharu at 0400. This quiet Muslim town is dead at 0400. Luckily I found a Chinese run cafe and watched Liverpool spawn their way past Standard Liege in the Champions League Qualifying round. My Guest House opened at 0700 and I crashed until 1100. After some Malay food I walked to the Thai embassy to see how much a two month visa costs (110RM + 2 photos). I am typing this blog now since there is an absolutely ridiculous tropical down pour. Also this internet cafe is only 2RM/hr whereas on the Perhentian Islands it is 20RM/hr.

I am going to the ATM soon to get three weeks worth of cash. I am going to the bankless Perhentian Islands tomorrow where I plan to spend time watching palm trees growing. Other than my mobile I will be incommunicado due to the extortionate internet prices there. My Austrian friend Armin is there now. He lives in Thailand and told me that these Islands are better than anything Thailand has to offer. He has tempted me so off I go. I might even do some SCUBA!

Kota Bharu is very quiet, very Malay and very Muslim. There are fewer Chinese and Indians here. I will look at some sights when the rain stops. In Kota Bharu many people shout ‘Welcome to Maslaysia’ which is very nice. It makes you smile and shout ‘Thankyou’ back. I have had a lot of fun here with the locals:

Me with a couple of canny lasses from the internet place. I felt like I was standing in between a lime and a tangerine!

These kids were taking the pee out of me!!! That drink the middle girl is holding is a coconut shake - they cost 1RM (16p) and are truly morish.

I am currently reading a book called ‘Fortune’s Bastard’ by Robert Chalmers. This is an absolutely hilarious read and I strongly recommend it. I like it because the main character becomes an English Teacher in Barcelona after ruining his career as a tabloid editor.

Hujan - Rain

Yesterday consisted of a climb up Penang Hill (833m). Myself, Geir and Rose took a bus to the tourist trap at the foot of the hill only to discover the mountain train was not running. Consequently the place was subdued. Undeterred we decided to climb the ridiculously steep train tracks. It was tough going and Rose ended up being sick! At the half way station Rose and Geir turned back and I continued to the top. The sweat was unbelievable. I saw huge 1 inch ants and many monkeys on the gruesome ascent up through the jungle. The cicadas were making an incredible droning racket:

The  At the top I chilled at the Hindu temple and mosque on the summit admiring the views of Georgetown. I remembered been here in Jan ‘07 with Fen.

I walked the 5km road back down to the botanical gardens passing many Chinese fitness freaks on the way. The gardens were beautiful and I enjoyed a pleasant stroll along with the many Malay ladies decked out in black robes with only their eyes on display. I was wondering how you can fancy a lass when you can’t see her face? I was thinking how we used to sing ‘Get your tits out for the lads’ at NUFC games if we ever saw a woman. In Malaysia they must sing ‘Get your face out for the lads’.

At night the three of us got drunk in the expensive Penang hot spots - top night. I congratulated myself on not smoking during the boozy session. I didn’t smoke thanks to the ’snuse’ that Geir gave me. This stuff is popular in Norway. You put a teabag looking packet of tabacco on your gums and let the nicotine seep into your body.  We were meant to go to Batu Ferrengu beach today but I suspect this has been cancelled due to severe hangovers.

This young lad was with a Christian church group half way up the hill. I felt cool for the first time in my life. We swapped emails and as I took out my phone he went: “Wooaahh….cool…..an E65!” I was laughing that he knew the model of my phone - obviously he’s a swept up technology guru! He told me how Malaysia has a population of around 26 million and that 26% of them are of Chinese ethnicity like him. 65% are Malay and 8% are Indian. I am surprised that only 8% are Indian in this multicultural society since I have seen millions of them. Maybe in the smaller towns there are fewer. I can verify this when I reach Kota Baru on the more Malay east coast. I am glad the Indians are here because their food is delicious.

This is Man Man my Penang marra, looking quite serious. He is a laugh. We drink coffe in this place every day. He is a tour guide and generally takes rich Arabs around Northern Malaysia. The last time I saw him he was talking with a Kazakstan ‘lady’ who was on a visa run from Pattaya.

This is my current bed complete with my new mosquito net. I have yet to see Geir smile on a photo which defies his true personality. Although he looks morose he is in actual fact a great bloke. Rose compensates by having her gleaming white teeth on perpetual display. As my Granny would say: They are a lovely couple. Worth mentioning is the fact that Rose weighs a paltry 37kg while Geir is more than double that. We are trying to fatten her up.

This is Geir and Rose enjoying a cup of tea in the small Chinese cafe. Here I successfully completed my first ever bluetooth data transfer. I didn’t even know my phone could do this. I transferred this photo to Rose’s mobile via bluetooth - get me! I am becoming a mobile wizkid.

Take a looooooook down the railtrack from Miami to Canada.

The steep track up Penang Hill. It’s quite an exertion climbing this. I had to ring the sweat out of my vest.

The mountain train reminds me of Llanberis in Wales where you catch the train up Mt Snowdon. I remember climbing Snowdon and being somewhat dismayed at seeing loads of Grannies from Rhyl drinking tea on the summit. It kind of diminishes your sense of achievement. The Peak in Hong Kong has a similar arrangement to this. You can see Geir peaking out - I think he is almost smiling - naaah it’s just the light.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Almost there. The terminal at the top.

These are the monkeys that reckon they are so hard. Here’s a mother with her baby.

This was a bit like gorillas in the mist. I spotted this beautiful creature in the bushes and endeavoured to get closer. I crept up slowly and was amazed that he didn’t scarper. I saw others like him but they were far too timid and legged it before I had the chance to get a shot. This guy kept on munching leaves even when I was only 2 meters away. I felt like Steve Irwin. He makes me think of Ewoks from Star Wars. That reminds me, I went to see Star Wars Clones at the Mall two days ago. I fell asleep half way through and had to be waken at the end by the staff. It was crap!

This is one of the many Hindu temples. As elsewhere in Asia, places of worship are very colourful. Can you see the two blokes with twelve arms? How many hands do you need for crying out loud? Can you spot Ganesh and Vishnu?

This fella was making floral decorations to enhance the already psychedelic theme.

This is a fantastic Muslim mosque in the centre of Penang. You can listem to the chants from the loudspeakers if it takes your fancy.

Since I had a Chinese buddhist temple on my last post, here’s a Christian church so they don’t feel left out. This is St George’s built by convicts back in 1816, it is the oldest Anglican Church in South East Asia. All religions are represented in multi-faith Malaysia.

This is a view of Penang from the top of the hill.

I have just checked out the BBC sport pages and was amazed to see GBR 4th in the Olympic medal table. Not bad for a country with 0.01% of the World’s population. I notice too that the Philippines has no medals. I’m not really surprised. If there was a medal for sleeping on your motorbike all day they would easily get gold. What a messed up country. It appears India have also under achieved. With a population comparable to China they only have a few medals. I think I know why. They are too fat. The Indian food in Malaysia is so good and the locals appear to eat too much of it. Just look at the Indian women here - they all have arses the size of double-deckers. No chance of seeing one of these lasses doing a pole-vault!

It also struck me how much China has moved on since the Tiananmen Square bloodshed:

To think this was happening in Beijing less than 20 years ago and now that very city is hosting the most prestigious sporting event on Earth. This emerging nation is slowly opening up and has demonstrated its strength with an awesome haul of medals. Better start learning Mandarin then!

Tandas - toilets

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Two years ago I was about to sail from Shanghai in China to Osaka in Japan. One year ago I was enjoying life in Bali Indonesia. Today I have travelled from the Cameron Highlands to Penang in North West Malaysia. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Two days ago Manna and I walked about 30km to ascend the 2031m Gunung Brinchang. It was cold, wet and cloudy up there which was disappointing as we were anticipating some spectacular views after the arduous jungle hike. We also saw ... [Continue reading this entry]

I am still in the Cameron Highlands. It is really good here. I am staying in a cheap little dorm room. It's like watching a conveyor belt as a new batch of backpackers arrive and depart everyday. They tend to ... [Continue reading this entry]

I am in Tanah Rata in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia. This is my second trip to Malaysia, the first been Jan '07. The weather here is pleasantly cool due to the elevated height. There are many tea plantations and the town has ... [Continue reading this entry]