accomodation in johor is expensive...compared to the rest of malaysia anywho...i found a hotel, had a cup of chai, and started walking...malaysia is the first mostly islamic country in which i've traveled, so women are generally dressed pretty conservatively...well, compared to the west anywho...headscarves are the norm, though by islamic standards malaysia is pretty relaxed...the headscarves go with jeans and long sleeve shirts...i wandered around and saw several mosques, all very different from each other...johor is a big city, just like singapore...i think it wants to be singapore, just on the other side of the border, but it's not quite there...it does howeva have several large malls, including the all important coffee bean and tea leafs outlets...hee hee...
from johor i went to mersing...i had hoped to book an island tour from mersing, but when i got there, i found several things had closed, including two of the budget hotels listed in the book...also closed was the company that ran the tour i wanted to take...oh well...i walked around town like always...i found a mosque that overlooked much of the town and enjoyed the sunset from up there...mersing isn't particularly picturesque, but sunsets from any height are always nice...finding the bus station in mersing wasn't so easy...when i arrived in town, the bus dropped me off in the center of town, so i didn't know where the bus station was...when i looked at the map, it seemed easy enough to find, so i walked to that location, and found nothing but sand...walking back through town i asked a few people, and they pointed in all directions...of the four people i asked, they pointed in all four directions...not very helpful, eh? i kept walking, in hopes that i would somehow stumble upon the bus station...i ended up meeting a guy named stefan, from switzerland, who was also looking for the station, so we walked together...he's from bern, and on 3 weeks of his annual 6 weeks of leave...we finally found it, woo hoo...it turned out we both wanted to go to kuantan, so i figured i'd see him again the next day...but when i got to the bus station the next day.........
all the buses to kuantan were full...how does that happen? i don't know...anywho, the guys at the ticket window told me to go to another town, then take two local buses after that, and i'd get to kuantan, albeit through a much longer route...i opened up the guidebook and found that one of the towns he suggested along the way actually sounded all right, so i decided to make that my destination for the day instead...pekan used to be a royal town, way back when...so there are a few more mosques, and a few istanas...(where royals lived, i think...though i'm not sure)...it's a peaceful town now, not much going on...no big malls, no big buildings in general...a polo club at which prince charles (i think?) is supposed to have played, once upon a time...
from pekan i finally ended up in kuantan...it's a city, much like johor...i enjoyed just walking around, soaking up the atmosphere...there is one major mosque in the middle of town, quite pretty...it overlooks the playing fields (malaysia is soccer CRAZY) which are kept in immaculate condition...i had one of my best meals ever, served on a GIANT banana leaf, which i ate with my hands...being a foreigner, they put a silverware holder on my table, but when i looked around and saw no one else using silverware, i figured i didn't need to either...so i used my hands...my right hand anywho...(in muslim countries your left hand is for dirty tasks, like wiping your bum, putting on your shoes, etc...your right hand is for eating, receiving money/gifts, etc...mixing tasks with the wrong hand is quite an insult...thank goodness i've had the right handed habit since moving to korea)...i can eat with my hand, but of course i'm quite messy, hee hee...it's fun though, and i look forward to doing it again...
from kuantan i took a cross peninsular bus to melaka (malacca)...melaka used to be an important port city in southeast asia, and its still easy to see evidence of the british and dutch...the portuguese left behind their egg tarts, and the chinese are still there...(my hostel was right in the middle of chinatown)...melaka is perhaps one of the most multicultural cities in malaysia, because of it's origins...within 5 minutes of walking from my hostel, i could see a mosque, a hindu temple, a buddhist temple, and a church...not bad, eh? melaka is one of the biggest stops on the tourist trail, so there were tons of tourists...i never really felt like i got away from them...even walking a lot, which normally gets me somewhere, didn't do any good... one of the days i was there i heard someone speaking in a strong american accent...(a slow southern drawl)...it was hard to ignore, because it was loud...anywho, out of curiosity, i asked where she was from...north carolina...and get this, she is currently an ESL teacher in korea...she was traveling with a filipino who currently works in graphic design in singapore...anywho, the three of us ended up spending the rest of the day together, mostly just wandering around...at dinnertime (well, it was just drinking, there was no food:) a canadian joined us, he was in melaka on business...at one point, ingrid (the north carolinian) got up and sang with the guy who was playing the guitar...she may be loud while speaking, but she's even better while singing...an amazing voice...strong, confident, and very much in tune...she brought the house down...i ended up getting back to my hostel a whole lot later than i had planned, but it was just one of those days that was perfect...i was sad that they were leaving the next day... there is a little india section of melaka, but it's not all that great...the food wasn't nearly as good as i had hoped...of course, it probably didn't help that while i was eating my dinner one night the waiter kept trying to strike up a conversation with me...(while i had food in my mouth!! my parents taught me manners so i kept making him wait for a response:)...it felt awkward, and i was only too happy to finish eating, pay, and leave...
No comments:
Post a Comment