A Year in Exile: June 2012

Friday, June 1, 2012

Cameron Highlands

KT is also still looking out for us and we joined him, Beyong, their friends, Bear and Wii and KT’s Canadian cousin (originally from Cambodia, he spent 5 years in a refugee camp in Thailand before being sponsored by a German Canadian pastor to go to Canada) for a trip to Cameron Highlands. What an amazing day! We were picked up at 9 and taken for breakfast, not our choice – no toast and coffee but noodles in a rich chicken gravy with different sorts of meat. I managed a few noodles by drinking strong black coffee with it and Brian didn’t fare much better. Anyway, we then set off, the scenery was goos from the start but when we reached Cameron Highlands we were unprepared for the mile upon mile of polytunnels set at impossible angles up and down the mountains. We stopped at a strawberry farm, acres and acres of it, all the strawberries in pots in rows, just stunning. We then went to see a friend of Wii’s (turned out to be an ex-boyfriend!) who owned a farm and a packing station. The station was packing tomatoes, graded by size and colour, lettuces, peppers, cucumbers, radishes (white and a foot or more long), cabbages and beans as well as all sorts of herbs and wild rocket. We were then taken in an old truck, we sat on the floor in the back, out to the farm. Well – it was like a roller coaster ride, the road was narrow and rough and the slopes were steep both up and down, what a ride! We were all giggling like kids and struggling to stay upright. The farm was amazing, 20 acres of hydro farming like I have never seen – so many varieties of lettuce you wouldn’t believe, plus the tomatoes, radishes, cucumber etc. Heng, the owner, proudly showed us round and told us that he had constructed everything himself and taught himself different farming methods from other countries, particularly Holland as he had built up the farm. After an equally bone-juddering ride back he treated us to a delicious lunch accompanied by copious amounts of Carlsberg.

We then set off for the tea plantation, we had thought of the area as being quite compact but it was nearly an hour higher into the mountains before we arrived at the BOH plantation. The approach was awesome, row after row of tea bushes as far as the eye could see planted on the steepest slopes and in every conceivable nook and cranny, there were also people picking leaves, by hand as the land was so steep, the ground looked like a luxurious green fitted carpet. Having looked around and studied the history – British influences of course, it was time to have the famous Cameron Highlands cream tea. Tea and scones for 7 - £17.50 – expensive by Malaysian standards, was enjoyed by all although the scones wouldn’t have passed English standards, they were very big and a bit dry and the cream was whipped cream, not beautiful Cornish clotted cream.

On the way back we visited several markets and bought strawberries, which no-one but us liked (too sour!), corn, which is so succulent you eat it raw and various other bits and pieces. When we arrived back in Ipoh KT informed us we were going to the night market for Lakse (the Malaysian signature dish) as Long Li had yet to try it. I had had it before in Melaka and enjoyed it but Brian found it a bit spicy, there was also yam cakes and chicken and we were given sugar cane juice to drink so more flavours to get our heads round. What a fantastic day – we both agreed that we were very lucky indeed to have been befriended by KT and Beyong, we could have had a day out in the Cameron Highlands for sure but it would have been very different!

strawberries as far as the eye can see

lovely!

some of the strawberry products - yum yum

tomatoes

the truck - hold on for a bumpy ride

the road to the farm

huge tomatoes

green coral lettuce

red coral lettuce

tea bushes

it's all tea

Boh tea plantation

Cuppa anyone?

Beyong, KT, Wii, Bear, Long Li, Me and Brian

Lunch

Tea and scones

Amazing views

Mushrooms - so pretty

Enjoying the view

Ipoh

We had planned to go to Ipoh on the bus but KT and Beyong offered to drive us, they also bought us lunch and took us to the Tourist office before leaving us. Ipoh looks as if it has a fair bit to offer and we took in the railway station, the Taj Mahal of Ipoh, and Little India before the skies opened and we went back to the hotel. Finding somewhere to eat was not so successful, there are Chinese nearby but Brian has taken against Chinese and after walking up and down and turning down everywhere we se we are set to take a taxi to a different area when we are told there is an Indian just over the road. A bit rough and ready but £2.50 later we have eaten a decent meal and decide to try the bar opposite the hotel for a drink. As soon as we entered we realise our mistake – it is a very loud Karaoke bar with very few people who all crowd round to introduce themselves. We are a novelty on two counts – 1 we are westerners and 2 Brian has his wife with him! All the other women are young, pretty and dressed up to the nines. After abortive efforts to get us to sing we are finally left alone to finish our drinks and scuttle off giggling!

The hockey is in an impressive stadium, Sultan Azlan Shah, named after the sultan of Perak who attends every day despite being in his 80s. GB are fairly unimpressive despite being pre-tournament favourites but it is good fun and once more we are a minority – there are 5 other GB supporters and no other westerners – and therefore ushered into the area for players, coaches and the media which luckily also has some heavy duty fans going non-stop. The pitch is blue with pink surrounds as the Olympic pitches will be and the games are entertaining so a worthwhile detour for us.

The owner of the hotel, Velu, has also taken it upon himself to make sure we are OK and has shown us around the old town, the nightlife (an amazing area with literally 100s of bars and nightclubs all right next to each other) and a visit to a Buddhist temple. Everyone at the hotel is really helpful, breakfast is just around the corner and a Chinese place to eat at night 5 minutes away.

GB v Malaysia

Giant Buddha

Miss Malaysia Model - in a shopping centre!

Buddhist Temple

Stadium Azlan Shah, Ipoh

An unlikely place to find a netball court!

The 5 other GB supporters

Stadium

Miss Martel - our one winner at Perak Turf Club

Lumut

When we arrived at the bus station early on Wednesday we watched all the smart coaches coming and going and for ours to arrive. When it did we wanted to cry, it was the crappiest bus we had ever seen, then to add insult to injury the driver said it would take 81/2 hours, not the 5 we were expecting. So this is travelling on a budget! Still we settled down to read and listen to music and the time went reasonably quickly, there weren’t many on the bus and by the time we were approaching the last two stops there were four of us, that’s when we realised something was wrong with the bus as every car that passed was flashing and pointing at it. We were already late and had text KT the owner who was picking us up. Anyway, the driver got off and armed with a newspaper and string tried to try and tie up the rear bumper that had fallen off, he managed it after about 20 minutes and on we went reaching Lumut with no further incidents and met by KT Tan and his wife Beyong.

We were then taken to Tesco to do some food shopping and then for a very nice Chinese meal, paid for by our hosts, then on to the apartment. Very pleasantly surprised, spacious and clean with a large living area and a balcony as well as the largish bedroom and bathroom – better than we had thought and all for £10 a night! The next day we had a long walk up to the 5 star hotel and then down to the beach, white sand, palm trees, blue sea and deserted. In two hours we saw 2 fishermen, one very large iguana and a baby monkey. We also tried out the swimming pool. All good so far. On Friday we decided to try out the shuttle bus to Tesco (the resort is a good 30 minutes from the nearest town but we had been told there was a daily shuttle either to Tesco or the town). First of all we were told no shuttle as the bus was in for a service , then if we could go at 9 and back at 2.30 they’d fit us in, the bus turned up at 9.15 and the driver said he wouldn’t be able to pick us up until 6! Made worse by the fact that Brian was throwing up and obviously not feeling well but we sat around, I did the shopping the we had a phone call about 2 saying we could be picked up in 15 minutes – to cut a long story short, an hour and a quarter later the bus arrived, the driver apparently ‘forgot’ to pick us up. Hopefully this aspect will improve and the shuttle will be more reliable.

On Saturday KT and Beyong arrived to take us to a turtle rehabilitation centre, the largest Chinese temple outside of China itself and for a meal in a ‘hawkers’ restaurant. This is where lots of different stalls sell a huge variety of food, you pick a table and go round ordering, we tried lots of bits and pieces, some better than others. On the way back we bought a load of fruit, some that we don’t even know the name of, to add to the passion fruit and bananas we were given from the Tan’s garden.

We are thinking of changing our itinerary if we like it here, the whole idea is to save money for Aus, and this is certainly cheap and spacious so we might base ourselves here and just spend the obligatory weekend in Thailand every 3 months – we’ll see.

We’ve settled into a bit of a routine, walking, scrabble, reading with excursions into Lumut or Tesco when necessary. We did go to Immigration to check what sort of visa we would need for Thailand and were happy to be told we don’t need one, just a stamp at the border. We had to get a taxi there and had asked him to wait but although we were only a couple of minutes he had disappeared. We had arranged to be picked up at Tesco and had no idea where we were in relation to there so walked to the main road to get a taxi. After about 5 minutes we came across 3 taxis but when we asked them to take us to Tesco they just muttered and basically told us to walk and gestured the direction. We had no choice but to do as they said and 25 minutes later, hot and in Brian’s case, very sweaty we arrived. I had to buy Brian a fresh T-shirt but we couldn’t get over the taxi drivers basically refusing a job – he could have driven round for 20 minutes and charged us what he liked – serves them right!

Golf course - 15th

Pool

Chinese temple

Golf course - 18th

Melaka

Of course when we went back to HSBC we were told to arrange it through the bank in Perth. So much for the the ‘world’s bank’. Still we live in hope, I may get a new ATM card before we return to Aus.

We’ve also booked a hotel in Ipoh, near the Cameron Highlands, where there is a pre-Olympic hockey tournament taking place and GB are in it, thought it would make a change and Brian is debating contacting papers to see if they want some copy.

Being in the centre of town has made a big difference, we have sacrificed size for location but at least we can now explore the town and go out in the evenings. We walked to the huge malls we had seen from the bus previously that all seem to be linked together and found a lovely café, Lievito, with homemade bread and cakes, wandered through Chinatown and found the No 1 rated restaurant in Melaka just around the corner from our hotel. It is called Pak Putra, an Indian restaurant with 30+ tables set out on the pavement and more inside, the service was quick and efficient and the food was really good, no wonder it is packed from the moment it opens! Since it is just 2 minutes away I guess it is our new local, fine by me. We have also visited the night market on Jonker Walk, the highlight of the week for visitors apparently (most visitors seem to be weekenders anyway). It was lively, colourful and busy with all ages, locals as well as tourists and a variety of nationalities, the only disappointing thing was the food selection. We tried some radish cake which was OK but doubt we’ll go for it again, but nothing else caught the eye.

We have also booked up for the two weeks before Ipoh, an apartment on a golf complex that looks really nice in a town called Lumut, we’re hoping that it will be really good and we can then book up for a further stay.

When we went out on Saturday we saw some tents up on the area outside the shopping centre. A huge grassy area between malls it now had tents set up down both sides with chairs for spectators, a stage and opposite thye stage a VIP area, the whole thing at least twice the size of a football pitch. We asked what was going on and it was some kind of singing and dancing performance, we asked if we could go in and were ushered in. We were the only spectators for some very good acts, what a shame. Especially as we had asked at the tourist office what was happening and were told nothing! I should say that at the same time as the concert there was also a demonstration going on with several thousand chanting for electoral reform and a huge police presence (not required) sitting listening to the concert.

Always on the lookout to save money we found a café offering breakfast (eggs, beans, toast and coffee) for £1 each so definitely trying that tomorrow for breakfast! Then decided why not try dinner and not bad at all, dinner and beer £6, we’ll take that. After doing the obligatory stroll up and down Jonker Walk we went for a beer at a place near the hotel and as we were leaving we were accosted by a man who literally leapt into our path and said “I saw you at the demonstration – you were taking pictures”, he then proceeded to give us a rundown of the whole political system in Malaysia, why people were demonstrating and how all the good guys were Muslim! I do seem to have a face that a) people remember and b) they think they can talk to – I’ve been asked the way to places, the time, when the buses go and where to – Brian thinks it’s because I have the kind of face that looks friendly – what!

We’ve decided that the Indian place is definitely the best food and we have found a really good combination, potato nan, potato keera (spicy roast potatoes), dahl for me and tandoori chicken for Brian, if we stick to water, a big bottle between us, we get away with under £6 and it’s delicious. We are also regulars to Lievito, the bread shop where we always get freebies to try, have acoffe and a cake and take a loaf of wolfberry, sunflower seeds and nuts home for the next day’s breakfast.

We have done a lot of walking around and one of the best walks is along the river. We went for an hour along one bank, had a drink then back down the other side. They have made a great effort with the river and the whole of this stretch on both sides and in the other direction has plant pots with trees and shrubs every 4 or 5 metres, it is also lit up at night. There is the occasional strong smell of what it was like before they invested 100 million ringratts but they are really trying to make it tourist friendly.

I haven’t slept well since we came to Kota Lodge, nothing to do with the room but more to do with the nocturnal goings on. For example, last night just as we went to bed some music started, whether it was karaoke or a concert I don’t know, then at 1am – I kid you not – the bin men came and were emptying bins in the locality for the best part of an hour, then the cats and dogs started and just as I was drifting off, around 4, they start setting up the market! So, much as I have enjoyed Melaka, and I have, I am looking forward to a bit of peace and quiet.

Finally, after 8 weeks and 2 abortive attempts HSBC, ‘the world’s bank’, have managed to get a new bank card to me, we just had to sit in the branch in Melaka and wait for the DHL man to arrive for a couple of hours! While we were in the bank I stood up to take a look outside and my shorts literally fell down! I knew I had lost a couple of pounds but come on! How embarrassing, luckily I retrieved the situation without too many people noticing but might have to put that particular pair away for a bit.

As we were coming to the end of our stay in Melaka we decided to treat ourselves to a Thai massage, I went for feet and shoulders and Brian for feet and head but I suspect we had pretty much the same experience. Poor Brian, I’m not sure what he was expecting but I don’t think it was the pummelling his body received or the telling off he got afterwards because his body is so inflexible. The girls tutted and demonstrated on his legs – more pain – and told him he needs daily massage for at least a week to loosen his joints and muscles!