Malaysia II, Haul Out & touring Jan 6 2009

Hello everybody.Please remember we're using the satphone and don't just reply to this--notthat most of you even acknowledge our existence out here!Still way behind.So---we hauled the boat at about 1 PM and Rose, Charlie and I were off.First stop the vet to board the cat. Harris, owner of the boat yard hadgraciously given us directions to his vet and it was near our hotel. Ofcourse, S E Asians have no sense of distance. So Harrises' go 100 meters,turn, go another 300 meters was more like 1 km, turn, etc. but we found theplace finally and it, like most of this area was a great deal. Boarding wasRM8/day including food. We also had to pay RM16 for the flea stuff theystick on the animals neck. That's about US$2.50, a tenth of the costin the states!!! Even veterinary medicine in the states is a rip.With Charlie boarded, off Rose and I went to the Krystal Suites Hotel, about10minutes from the yard and in the middle of a business district with tons ofrestaurants. Penang is sort of a Silicon Valley for Asia and had Agilent,Intel, etc., all the big players here. Our room, at RM150 ($40) really wasa suite with a living room (lounge) dining room with a small kitchenette,and office area. One bedroom and bath. Sweet!! (get it sweet, suite). Wealso had free internet, but the TV was a bit subpar--no HBO.The hotel was in an area near the airport and industrial parks housing allthe silicon valley companies and was in a kind of extended strip mallcontaining at least 15 restaurants including Domino's Pizza (YES!!) and aChinese Irish pub. So we ate really well. Twice at the Steamboat place.There, for a fixed price of RM26, we got enough food for 4, maybe 6. It'sone of those deals where they bring you a big pot, split in two, with 2kinds of broth of your choice (watch out for the Thai Tom Yam which isreally hot) and plates and plates of different food to cook in the broth,including just about everything you can imagine. Oh, dessert and appetizersincluded, all for about $7!!!! Then there was the Teppan Yaki Japaneseplace--like Beni Hana. We did that three times. The captain loves sake!!.There was also an excellent Italian place and several Chinese or Malay. Inthe Hotel ground floor was a chain restaurant that was pretty bad but hadgood pastry and coffee. We spent our early days checking out Penang whichis a fairly large island. We hit the snake temple where there are all sortsof snakes around--some Buddhist deal or something--but it took us 2 days tofind the place; the Komtar market downtown which is a rabbit's warren ofshops in a high rise and we did some other stuff which was so long ago, I'veforgotten. Must be the Mad Cow disease (for those of you not in the know,that's what Denny Crane in Boston Legal calls his Alzheimer's). Anyway,also spent some time planning our sojourn into Malaysia by car.Unfortunately, once again, we had hit a school holiday period and rooms werehard to find, but we did. More on that later.The boat was supposed to be out of the water for a couple of weeks so weplanned on about 7-10 days off island with the remainder back in Penang,sightseeing, which is a euphemism for visiting temples and shopping!!!First stop was Cameron Highlands (CH) up in the central mountains abouthalfway the 500 kilometers to Kuala Lumpur (KL), next was Genting Highlands(GH) just north of KL which is a mini Las Vegas with a finale in KL followedby a leisurely trip back up the coast if anyone thought it was worthwhile.So, off we go over the 15 km bridge between Penang and the mainland. We hadmaps, phrase books and tourist guides galore. Roads are well marked inEnglish and a couple of other languages so, believe it or not, we didn't getlost once. There is a relatively new back way to CH, and that knocked about60 km off the trip so we just followed the signs. Up in the mountainsproper, it was windy, twisty roads with lots of switchbacks but we made itto our "supposedly" 3 star hotel about lunchtime. Yes folks, I and theinternet said this place was 3 stars, but what a dump. We had no choice asevery other place we had tried, and it was several, were booked. It wasonly one night we said, so in we went. Cost almost as much as out suite inPenang!!! Hard mattress on the floor, bathroom about the size of the headon the boat but grotty and a pervasive musty smell. Moslem place so youwere supposed to take off your shoes on entry--right.... The (tehee)concierge arranged an afternoon tour and we set off for lunch. Found alittle bakery but also found a German place for dinner. To digress, dinnerwas awesome. We were into pork withdrawal--yes, it is very Islamic here andthe national religion--but this place was authentic. The Malay owner evenbought us a beer while we feasted on real sausage and sauerkraut.Our tour was RM25 and really a good value. We were in a minibus with a fewother people and hit all the highlights, some of which, like the butterflyfarm and a rose center, the captain skipped. We mainly wanted to see a teaplantation and that was cool. There are thousands of acres planted andprocessing is really quite simple with picking followed by cleaning,shredding, drying and packing. Because it was a holiday weekend, there wasan unbelievable traffic jam getting back to the hotel. We were just in timefor the most excellent German dinner--not much else to do up there exceptcommune with nature. Our plan was to get up fairly early--breakfast was notincluded in the hotel rate--and get a bite at the local Starbucks--they'reeverywhere--and check our email before taking off for GH. (sound of buzzer)Malaysia's a bit laid back so Starbucks wasn't open at 8AM. Plan B was tostart down and get something on the way. Surely there would be a place onthe way to the resort. (sound of buzzer) If we thought the northern approachto CH was twisty, the 50 k trip to the main road south was like an oldslinky. Navigated that to about 10 k from the main road (buzzer again).Landslide. Tree down blocking the road. Figuring it would take hours toget someone up there on Sunday to clear the road, we turned around andworked our way back to our starting point. By this time, 9 or 10, Starbuckswas open so we stopped for our coffee, muffin and internet. The rest of thejourney to GH was uneventful if you can a 100 km detour uneventful.Once again, we were able to just follow the signs to GH. We were staying inthe Theme Park Hotel and our room was okay but actually did overlook theTheme Park. Luckily the screaming did come to a stop at 10p.m. This place issomething, and totally crammed onto the actual top of a mountain. There isa giant 6,500 room hotel as well as a couple of others besides ours and bothindoor and outdoor amusement parks with about 10 casinos and a millionrestaurants. Great, right--ring that buzzer. Millions of kids, difficultygetting a drink--Muslim you'll recall--and what I imagine Circus Circus inVegas must have been like years ago. We'd planned on 2 nights but secretly,I was hoping to extend--until we got there. But we did make the best of it,and anything was better than the CH dump. Had fun people watching and I wonsome money. Would have done about 400 better except for a crazy woman whohit against a dealer's 6. They didn't have craps which I'd expected, butthey also did not have true Blackjack. There's a new game out there I raninto in Sydney called Pontoon. It's pretty much blackjack but they take allthe tens out of the deck. There are some other rule changes as well infavor of the players. Too much to describe here--Google it if you want toknow more. Anyway, I did Google it as I figured this had to improve thehouse odds--otherwise why change. Nope, according to several sources on theinternet, Pontoon, played correctly, unlike that b@#*& who cost me RM400, isbetter for the players. So we did a lot of people watching, had some goodfood, wandered, gambled and had a pretty nice time. Also took the cable cardown and back which had lovely scenery.Man, I need a break, and I'm sure you do, as I haven't even got us to theadventure filled trip to KL. Take a breath. I'll be back.I can't believe I'm still about 6 weeks behind and much exciting hasoccurred for you to read about in our next installment!! Can hardly wait,eh? It's 50 k from GH to KL, and, on the north side, is a big Hindu templeinside a cavern called Batu Caves. Of course, we had to stop, and then wehad to walk up the 272 steps to the actual cave and temple. And, yes, wedid and without too much huffing and puffing nor too many rest breaks Cool,lots of photos. Back in the car and off to central KL the site of our hotelwhich we were hoping would be okay. The normal rate was about RM275/nightwith breakfast and we got an internet deal at 160. We were notdisappointed. Great hotel--Ancasa, look it up on the internet. This was areally nice hotel and the breakfast buffet was huge, although it would benice to get bacon and real, not chicken, sausage. Basically we just parkedthe car and explored on foot or by taxi. Taxis are pretty cheap all over,but they almost never use the meter so you have to ask in advance andnegotiate. We found out from one guy that the government hadn't allowed arate increase in 17 years so the metered rate is ridiculously low.We did the KL twin towers that are a famous landmark and have a bridgebetween them you get to visit and cross. We did China town and the markets.Got a new optical fiber Christmas tree as we think we inadvertently leftours with the locals in Tanna, Vanuatu. Loads of authentic fake Rolexes(and every other kind of watch), Mont Blanc pens, designer women's stuff andjust about anything your heart desires. I even got a green laser thingwhich they sell in the catalogs as a rescue beacon for about $200--cost me$25--range is about 3 miles--cool!!! Found one favorite Chinese place weate at three times and frequented the Reggae bar, an expat hangout. The Tshirts are amusing with a pic of Bob Marley, and "Reggae bar, Chinatown KL,Malaysia"--covers it all. The owners also started a Beatles Bar across thestreet where we also spent some time. KL is a very civilized city withexcellent infrastructure. In fact, the entire country is very well kept,and they have built on what the British left instead of letting it fall intoruin like the BVI. Just as a side note, this is a really great littlecountry and worth a visit for all you world travelers. It's not as cheap assome (but it's till inexpensive for what you get), but it is clean, wellrun, great food--I mean really great, and the people are super nice. Whilea Moslem country, they are not anal about it and are very tolerant ofeveryone and all religions which are legion here with the blend of IndianChinese and all other SE Asia. Big thumbs up from Rose and Tim.Our last day, we wanted to go on an organized city tour which was offered atthe hotel--RM80/each. At the last minute the chick called and said theywere full but said she had a friend who could do it for 60 each. Hey, we'rein, and the car was very nice instead of a bus. We did a huge Chinesetemple, the war memorial, the national museum--another example of how niceand modern the country is, the national mosque, which was gigantic and theyactually let Rose go inside--the captain wasn't interested. I get a bitpissed off when some of these mosques won't let infidels inside but you seeMuslims touring all the other temples. We drove past a bunch of otherattractions like the railway station, etc. Now it's getting towardslunchtime, and the driver wants to take us to the obligatory tourist trapswhere, if we buy something, he gets a cut. We did leather; we did batik; wedid souvenirs; we said enough Jeeves. Home please. Back at the hotel, Islip the guy his RM120 and start in. He chases me down and explains it's60/hour, not 60/person. No wonder he was stretching it out. Rose got thegirl who booked us who, of course, denied everything, so we gave him 180 forthe 4 hour tour. At least we didn't end up like Gilligan. Believe it ornot, this is coming to an end.Enjoying KL and with nothing much else to do we tried to extend our stay--wereally liked the Reggae bar and the Chinese joint. First the hotel saidthey had no rooms, then they said okay, but at the RM275 rate. Nah, we'retoo cheap. After a while here, even though a ringgit is only $.30, itstarts to get to you and you start thinking it's real money, even thoughit's only a third. I don't know--you sort of have to be here to get it.You should see Rose yell at the cabbies over 20 ringgit!!! Anyway, we likedPenang and there is really nothing on the coast on the way up so off wewent.I think I'm going to stop here, and pick up on our return next time. Lotsgoing on. Stay tuned. The excitement, including almostsinking--twice--will be in upcoming episodes. I'm going to make an honesteffort to catch up this week.CheersTim & Rose