Back To The City

Hello it's Mark again (Liza is working on something else at the terminal beside me). Well here we are in Kuala Lumpur. It is HOT here. Yay. Our time in Borneo wasn't bad, but it rained all the time and oddly enough 20 degrees feels cold. We went to Sepilok to see the Urang Utans. Seeing their interactions with each other and the monkeys that hung around was very endearing. We then decided to go to Turtle Island to spend the night and see turtles lay eggs. Apparently the turtles show up on this island 365 days a year to lay their eggs. Liza was SOOOO excited for this. Unfortunately when we got to the boat jetty, the travel man informed us that he cancelled the boat because there MIGHT be a storm in the middle of the water. We phoned Mr. Lum up and asked if we could have our room back. He agreed.

When we returned, Mr. Lum informed us that the room was being cleaned and that he could hook us up with a friend of his who would take us around to the Proboscis monkey sanctuary and the Kinibatangan river, and all for one low price. We happily agreed. The proboscis monkeys where really interesting and Borneo is the only place that they live. The river ride was also enjoyable, and it didn't rain (quite a bonus). We saw monkeys (Macaques and Langurs) and Urang utans and Proboscis. We also saw a mangrove cat snake and a couple of monitor lizards.

The next day wouldn't you know it was a sunny one and would have been perfect for a trip to the turtle island. Alas, we had a plane to catch, and so left the potentially beautiful Borneo. After a short search we found our hostel. It is by far the shadiest place we have stayed yet. You go past a little snack stall across from the reggae bar. Up some stairs that are grimy and have roaches (big ones) scurrying along them, and arrive at the second floor. The second floor has fresh paint and flowers, as well as a bird cage with pretty little birds in it. In the lobby area there are 8 or 9 large aquariums with turtles and fish. We are greeted by the clerk, and after a brief search for our missing reservation he/she??? agrees to show us a room. The room is kind of grubby, so we take it, what else.

Across from our hostel is the Chinatown market. It is sensory overload. People are walking shoulder to shoulder while merchants are asking you to buy their knock-off hand bags, watches, shoes, and wallets. I have never seen so much Louis Vuitton hideousness in all my life. Also people are trying to sell pirate DVD's. One guy even offered me pirated porn. Liza found that to be hilarious. There is all sorts of food every where too. This makes it like some sort of curious heaven for Liza and I. Being so close to Chinese New Year it is particularly crazy in this area. Parades of dragons and drummers march by at all times and lights are flashing in various colours and intensities. There should probably be a warning for epileptics.

On day two we hopped on the public transit and went to central station. We are taking a train through the Malaysian Jungle to Singapore on the 25th, and needed to buy tickets. Once we got there we were quite shocked to see a large crowd of people waiting to buy tickets. We had to get a number and the number we drew was 3055. the screen said 2039. Needless to say this caused us a minor panic until we realized that the 30 and the 20 represented different counters, or dates. Unfortunately only night trains are available, so we won't see much jungle. We will however be sleeping on bunks in a train car with 38 other people. Different but at least we get to be horizontal.

Yesterday, after a breakfast of dosa (indian crepes) and sauces, we went to the Batu Caves. They are used as a place of worship for the Hindu. There are various sculptures of deities and animals here, but first you have to climb 274 stairs. at the top of the stairs we got a picture of us with a python draped around our necks. I found the stalactites to be beautiful, and the long tailed Macaques entertained us both. In the evening we went to see the Petronas Towers. When we arrived at the subway station we found there was a huge (6 floors) mall at the bottom of the towers. We found a theatre and saw a horror movie (They Wait). It wasn't bad. After this Liza got her eyebrows waxed and then we went outside to see the towers. They are absolutely stunning. Especially at night - the lights were spectacular.

We were so enamoured by the mall that when we got up this morning we decided to return. We had lunch, and then we had dessert. Liza had been looking for this thing called an Iced Kachung since Borneo. We learned yesterday that it is also called an ABC, and something else. So we found an ABC. It is shaved ice with condensed coconut milk, beans, corn, several jellies, and bananas. It was actually pretty good in a strange way. We then saw a movie (Rec.). It is apparently the Spanish movie that inspired Quarantine. It was great, and so we decided to return after dinner to see another horror movie. It was an Indonesian movie called Tisen. As soon as the camera went on I said to Liza "oh, oh this is going to suck." And it did. but it was so bad that I couldn't help laughing. It was a great laugh. The only thing scary about it was the loud sound effects that I pray have not permanently harmed my hearing. Liza actually put in ear plugs because the movie was so loud.

Tomorrow morning we get picked up bright and early to go on a 5-6 hour bus ride. Then we take a boat up a river for 3 hours into the Teman Negara jungle. We will spend 3 days there - we hope to see many animals, insects, lizards and birds. We probably won't, but this is our best chance. Won't likely have Internet in the jungle ... so hope to catch up with you all when we get to Singapore. Happy Chinese New Year!!!!!!!!

Mark and Liza

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