Goodbye Perhentians, Hello Penang!

Photos of the Perhentian Island babies: the darling monkey baby in the rafters of the restaurant. And the other of a baby Monitor Lizard on our front lawn. The next two show the resort and how it is plunked on the beach with nothing but thick, virgin jungle all around it.

Arrived in Penang after a long Banana van ride with 5 Germans and two Americans--all very pleasant people.
Penanag is gorgeous--The Pearl of the Orient--to be sure. Jungle covered mountains and hills in the middle of the ocean. Georgetown is a wonderful mix of typical old Malaysia (almost Caribbean looking with their one story and two story wooden buildings in shades of pastels) with stunning colonial era buildings mixed in.
Our hotel is Huge with a great gym and fitness classes, a giant pool with a waterfall, many top notch restaurants and sweeping 360 o views of Penang. It will be interesting to be surrounded by many Buddhists here in Penang.
Three women were recently caned in Kuala Lumpur--two for extramarital sex and one for drinking beer!!!
Wow--Glee on TV is just singing Iz's "Over the Rainbow"--reminds me much of KW :)
I am resting in our Penang room while PJ checks out his conference.
Yesterday I was stricken with a nasty bacterial infection in my intestines. I felt pretty rough and spent the afternoon flat out in bed in our Perhentian Chalet. I started a dose of Cypro and feel much improved now. However, the van ride here was touch and go at some points.
It is hard to say goodbye to the Perhentians. Where else on earth is there absolutely nothing to do but become one with the sea? There was no night entertainment, no music playing, no bars, no TVs, no snack food what so ever. Breakfast never before 7, lunch at 12:30-2:30, dinner never before 7:30 pm. In between nothing to eat.
So you spend your days not wasting time on trivial pursuits such as snacking and watching teli, drinking beer etc. Instead you completely become ZEN. Peter spent many hours simply floating off our beach in starfish position in his sunglasses. He did that for hours! The sea is filled with more excitement than one can imagine--so one can snorkel, kayak, dive or starfish.
Every morning we had our "free" breakfast buffet at our resort in the outdoor restaurant (everything is outdoor on the Perhentians except the sleeping chalets). Lunch and supper: Peter and I would stroll down the Island, through many beaches and around the tip to eat at either Mama's or Coral view.
Oh how I miss that simple, simple tropical dream!
I had a weird experience yesterday morning. I was sitting on the beach in my bikini as Peter "starfished" and a Malaysian guy stood right beside me and got his friend to take his picture (he was pretending to point at the jetty but it was obvious he just wanted a shot of him with some woman in a bikini). He finally got up the courage to ask if he could take a picture of himself with me. I said sure, so he sat down right smack beside me on my towel and put his arm around me. His friend from down the beach rushed in and sat on the other side of me--and there you have it, the three of us posing for a photo session-- me  in my bikini and huge floppy hat, sandwiched between two guys with cigarettes in hand. They thanked me afterward and shook my hand lol.
Weird things about Malaysia: the plastic. They package their chips, toothbrushes, laundry detergent--you name it, it comes in typical looking plastic packaging. But try to open a bag of their chips--sure they want you to buy them but no one in Malaysia gives a damn if you can actually eat them or use whatever is inside of the wrap! It is super, indestructable, unopenable plastic.
Sugar--the Malays love it. The pop is syrup and their chips not only are salted but they are sugared too.
Missing my girls hugely! I can never last more than a week without profoundly missing my baby girls XOXOX.

Beans and Rice, Ain't that Nice!

Happy Anniversary!

Beans and rice, ain’t that nice, happy anniversary! Yes, we are celebrating 18 years of marriage today. Not a bad place to celebrate in.

Forgive the vanity shots. I had to put some in—and it is our anniversary after all ;)

This is no place for serious vanity though—I have a red, shiny face and wild, uncontrollable hair at all times. No makeup possible and why wash one’s hair? It only gets filled with salt water, sweat and sunscreen all day long. My face is pink with humidity and heat and wet with sweat and sunscreen at all times. My hair is getting more bleached from the sun and salt water. I pile it on top of my head for snorkeling and to keep it off my sweaty neck. I fear my head looks like a cherry with a dollop of whip cream on top.

One thing that is unique about the Perhentian’s and Taman Negara is that in the night when I have to get up to use the washroom, I like to turn on the light because I am nervous a snake has crawled in the room and may surprise me in the dark. Last night I made record-breaking bathroom trips—I ate some Diavolo pizza for supper—filled with diablo peppers. I had to drink several liters of water to cool down my mouth!

Our room is always home to many geckos chirping away. And bats and monitor lizards roam our front garden—so one must be careful in the dark!

We take the boat back to the mainland tomorrow morning and then on the Penang in a Banana Van. Seriously, the fleet of minivan taxis are called Banana vans.

Will take it easy—I want one day not filled with terrifying activities!

Once Bitten—Twice Shy

Last pic is of Little Tommy Cat--runs the Perhentian Island Resort with an iron paw.

Yesterday we went snorkeling to 4 different spots for about 1h each. I was snorkeling in the deep blue sea for over 4 hours yesterday! It proved to be tiring by the last spot. However, I swam way out in the open sea with sea turtles—just like the one’s in Disney’s Finding Nemo. The largest was huge—it had to have a shell about 4 feet across and six feet long. I followed it as it swam and surfaced for air beside me. The sea is so turquoise and so calm and warm like a bath. The boat parked in the middle of the deep sea when the driver spotted turtles and told us to “jump in quick, quick!”—the only English he knew. There are no currents to take one far off course unexpectedly so it is easy to forget one is swimming in the deep blue sea.

Entering the water is a dream for snorkelers—Uber Snorkeler Theresa would love it! Smooth white sand and calm water—no rocks, no current to make it difficult.

The coral is fire coral and some of it is the most beautiful pink colour—like strawberry milk. There are so many stonefish here! Snorkeling in shallow water over coral always makes me nervous because I spot so many and I don’t want to brush up against one. Swam through many, many schools thick with 6 inch silver and black-stripped fish. They take little bites of me. I have tiny chunks of skin missing from the hungry little creatures.  They swim right at me with eyes wide and mouths open! And there are invisible sized jellyfish that cause needle like jabs occasionally that sting for about 10 minutes.

Saw another giant monitor lizard right on the beach walking home from an outdoor restaurant. They are like crocodiles! And the giant fruit bats are amazing to watch in flight also. And the snails are big with beautiful long shells.

Now onto the worst news: my last snorkeling trip. I borrowed a large T-short to put over my bikini from Peter as my bum was scarlet and painful from being burnt (morning snorkeling) despite 50 sunscreen. We snorkeled way out, looking for some big sharks. No sharks and I was getting tired—I snorkel on my own steam but Peter wears a life jacket in the deep water because he has always felt uncomfortable in deep water. As I headed to shore I felt a stabbing, searing pain on my torso below my chest. It hurt so much; I ripped off the T-shirt to see what was on me. I found nothing but a large patch of burning red (4 x 2 inches across). The pain was such that I wanted to cry. And then a big welt formed in the centre. We walked back to the resort and asked the snorkel guy what could have stung me—it hurt considerably. He said jellyfish and to put lime on it. We walked to the restaurant to get some lime. The juice relieved it momentarily but it till stung and was growing in size. I took a Tylenol and a antihistamine and waited it out. I felt nauseous and my bones ached for hours afterward. Now, I am slightly hesitant to go back in the sea. I know I will, but I am not wearing a T-shirt again for it to swim up! The jellyfish are rising in population thanks to global warming and hunting of sea turtles and sardines that dine on them.

-Next Day:

Peter and I took a two seater kyack out to some private beaches and bays. A workout! Snorkeled in the bays—just Peter and I. The water is so turquoise and clear. Saw a few more leather back sea-turtles and lots of clown fish and anemones. The turtles always have a few small but long yellow fish swimming right with them, practically attached to them where ever they go.  We spotted about 4 really big fish 6 feet ish—either sharks or tuna—but they made us tres nervous as we were the only ones swimming in the bay—so we stayed away. A lightening storm was cracking in the distance so we only stayed in the bays for about an hour and headed back to our beach. One can kyack all around the island and explore all of the coral reefs and bays in private.

No need to where deodorant here. The humidity is so high, my hair is in ringlets and I sweat of the deodorant and sunscreen in minutes.

They do make yummy banana cake J

PLEASE scroll down as I posted 2 posts today. Pics are pretty amazing of the sea and resort.

Perhentian Islands=Fantasy Island

Snorkeling today at 2 different spots. The entire sea floor of the inlet our beach is on was once coral. It must have been unbelievably beautiful and alive. Most of it is dead now—tourist galore. However, the patches that are alive are incredible--deep, dark purple. There are tons of fish, much like Hawaii. What is different are the sea cucumbers everywhere and giant sea anemones in green and purple--full of clown fish. Also HUGE oyster/clam? shells the size of large sinks—100’s of years old. I’d love to bring one home but they weigh far too much plus it is illegal. Most thrilling was that on my very first evening stroll, I bent down to touch an odd looking shape in the water and a small (about foot long) stingray darted away from my finger.

This morning I was shocked to see 3 small (2 feet) black tipped reef sharks almost immediately on entering the water. They were unlike all the other fish—very timid and fast. And most disturbingly I spotted 3 stonefish amongst the stones beneath us and we were in very shallow water so it was very hard to make sure we didn’t accidentally brush up against them. I got out of the shallows fast. Thanks to Pippi and her obsession with our book (at home) about dangerous sea creatures, I am now an expert on knowing which creatures are poisonous. I can’t believe all of the stonefish just off shore! They are so deadly and so camouflaged. I had to point them out to Peter and he took a long time to spot them, as they look so much like the rock. It is their little toad like faces that alert me flowed by the spines on their backs.

The S. China Sea is bath water and calm. No currents taking me out to sea--relaxing and gorgeous when not in rocky shallows.

Also this morning, we hiked to the other side of the island through the jungle and saw 4 Monitor lizards sliding in and out of a swamp. The largest was over 8 feet in length and Peter thought it was a crocodile. They are shy creatures luckily, as their bite can be deadly because their mouths house horrid bacteria.

A wild, tropical adventure—right out of Tarzan and Jane.

The Perhentian Island Resort is rather posh and so quiet. The entire Island is quite. There is no village on the Island—just small Malay style hut resorts in pockets along the shore. We can walk all over the entire Island and visit other restaurants. There is neither alcohol nor TV on the Island—making it so quiet. Our hut is right on the beach. We walk into the sea and snorkel at two different reef areas. The sea is so calm and warm we can swim any time of the day.

We walk to a restaurant called “Mama’s” run by Mama—an old, chubby Malay woman with arthritis in her legs. She is wonderful—so efficient, clean and organized. Her food is amazing—the best Malay I have tasted. I ordered a plate of cooked veggies last night and they were delicious. Not soaked in oil at all! Peter and I split a banana split and it was very tasty. She understands English quite well—all her workers and young men and she translates our order to them. It is an outdoor restaurant like everywhere on the Island. The only indoor buildings are the sleeping chalets—all on the beach. Everything on the Perhentians is done on a small scale. Guests arrive by small speedboat right on the beach—we are the only resort with a jetty. It is very much fantasy Island--quiet and intimate. Monkeys live high in the trees around the beach but are shy and secretive. I saw one running along a roof with long, dried leaves in its paws—obviously it was in a hurry to finish some construction project it was working on.

Mama spotted us walking the beach with bags of laundry and approached us. “You have laundry? Come.” She weighted our laundry and determined it weighed 5 kgs. 8rr a kg. Mama does it all the old fashioned way –no machines and hangs it to dry. We walk over to pick it up this morning. One cannot help but love Mama. She runs her place with such authority. She works hard yet is very warm and friendly. The owners at Travellers Home recommended Mama’s for her amazing BBQ. Peter had some and it was good. We will head to Mama’s for supper every night. While walking the beach we witnessed an older French couple arriving by boat with heavy backpacks, one of the resort owners who we’d been chatting with on the beach (a Malay man with 3 adorable little kids in tow) announced they were a French couple who had been coming to his resort since 1991. He rushed down the beach with his family to great the French couple. It was wonderful to watch as they all greeted each other so warmly, like family returning and the French woman was delighted to see all the little kids again.

The Europeans are so much more private and cool in general. Especially the Dutch, German and French. The S. Europeans are more open. I really notice the difference in culture. As a N. American I seem to be the loud extrovert.

More Taman Negara

Pics are from Taman Negara and Travellers Home resort.

Things I have learned:

-in the jungle you cannot age a tree by counting its rings—the trees have no rings. Their growing season is year round.

-the small bats navigate by radar however the big bats are fruit bats and they have large eyes so they do not navigate by radar but by sight.

-The Malay people are fun loving by nature. They like to tease and smile easily. The women are shy and more serious and the men more playful. One cannot help but fall for their charming smiles. The urban and Island Muslim men are so charming which is in such contrast to the rural Muslim  men-- who are down right frightening. I guess it is the difference between Extremist Muslims (rural mainland) and regular Muslims (the island and urban men I find so charming and warm).

Travellers Home proved to be a unique experience. The owner and his wife treated each and every guest like family. We were well cared for and any problem they were there to help. One felt very comfortable and safe there. They ate breakfast with the guests each morning. I would highly recommend the resort simply because it was like staying with family who cared and were very wise about al the goings on in Malaysia. The meals were all home cooked by the kitchen staff. It was a warm, comfortable experience.

Malaysian food is not the best. I’ve been warned not to drink the water or eat raw produce or else traveler’s diarrhea. Thus, there is nothing for me to eat! I dislike the greasy meat and the cooked veggies are cooked in so much oil that I feel sick all day after eating them. And despite bananas, papayas and mangoes growing in the jungle—try to find one to eat around here! All I can find are leechi type fruit which are jellyish and rather tasteless. 

The Batek Tribe, Taman Negara, Malaysia

These are some of my greatest photo treasures to date. They are all from the aboriginal Batek settlement in  the Taman Negara jungle.

What a day. Adventure at every turn. We caught a ride to the river at 9 am and took a boat down stream to the entrance of some jungle trails and the jungle canopy hike. Hiked straight up a jungle mountain in the humidity and heat (thankful I was practiced at Bikram yoga and hiking up Paul’s Tomb in the heat-- they trained me for it). Very steep and the roots provided natural steps. We arrived at two different viewing platforms for panoramic views of the jungle. The canopy is so dense, one thinks they can step off the edge into brush but the brush is actually treetops and the jungle floor is about 100 m below. The guide cut me off a piece of “mountain spice” tree or sassafras tree from high in the jungle. The wood smells strongly of root beer—I treasure that piece of wood! Unfortunately hiked far too close to a family with about 5 little French boys who were so loud, we saw no animals!  The majority of tourists here are: French, German, and Dutch. We’ve met no other N. Americans! I suppose the European like more eco/adventure vacations and the N. Americans comfort vacations perhaps.

After the mountain hike we hiked to the giant jungle canopy bridge—actually 5 rope bridges suspended high above the jungle—one after the other with small platforms built around exceptionally tall trees separating them. The bridge itself was made up of flat planks of wood about 10 inches wide placed on ropes with rope rails. There is no turning around, no changing your mind—each walker must follow no closer than 10 m behind the next to keep it from swaying wildly. The first bridge was rough—terrifying once I was on it and realized how unbelievably high above the jungle I was and how narrow it was and how the bridge swayed—only one foot placed in from the other would fit.  I finally reached the first platform to discover there wasn’t one but many more bridges ahead of me. The second bride was terrifying it was really long and higher than all the others. By the end I started to panic a bit and had to chant to myself to get across it. Then there were 3 more! I felt weak from fear. But there was no way out. I had to keep walking onto the next bridge. The fourth was frightening because there were ladder like stairs leading down a steep portion of the bridge to the lower platform. The stairs swayed wildly. I gripped the ropes so tightly with each step. But I made it! I faced a huge fear that I didn’t even know was upon me until ½ way across the first bridge—when the whole situation dawned on me.

Next, we took the boat back to another resort right inside the park. We met up with the Irish couple and had drinks and pizza outside and awaited another boat to the aboriginal Orang Alsi settlement down stream. They are called Batek peoples. We caught a smaller canoe with no top. It was great as only our Irish friends and us went with the guide. The catch was that we had to shoot through 5 sets of rapids before reaching the settlement. I got completely drenched, not to mention rather terrified. But we arrived at the village: a very small settlement of aboriginals—they have been living as hunter/gatherer in the jungle for centuries. They are a small boned tribe with chocolate coloured skin and afros. Their ancestors originally came from Africa. They have an oral language, live by hunting game such as squirrel and monkeys with blow darts. The children do not go to school and the tribe receives no medical interventions—the women birth behind trees in the jungle. They move when the food runs out or a tribe member dies. The do not bury the dead. They wrap the body in palm leaves and carry them to the top of the tallest tree and build a platform for it. It is closer to heaven. The women and children were shy and hid in their huts but the men were open to demonstrate how they make fire with their bare hands and make blow darts and arrows. It was all so fascinating I cannot believe it. The poisonous arrows are made from the bark of a particular tree--sliced super narrow. The poison on the tip of the dart is from the boiled sap of yet another tree. They use a leaf that feels like sand paper to finish the dart by rubbing it in the leaf on their leg—thus no hair on the men’s right thighs. Strong enough to kill a human—stops the heart. The blow tube is made from special narrow bamboo wood found high in the jungle mountains, a several days walk from the settlement.

 I took some wonderful pics of the settlement but felt horrible about it at the same time-- I tried to be friendly to the people (as suggested by our guide)and show them the photos I took of them—the children loved it but the women ran from me and hid. I felt like an idiot tromping through an exhibit, treating my fellow humans like fascinating museum pieces--taking pictures of them in their homes. It was a horrible feeling and I regret taking the photos of the women and children. The guide suggested we do it, so I did. Yet in my gut I felt it was a violation of their humanness and privacy, despite the fact they had a deal with the guides and got paid for putting their entire village on display. I purchased some of their handcrafted items to relieve myself of some of the awkwardness of the entire situation and also because I thought they were some of the most beautiful material treasures on earth today. I learned that although it was an amazing photo opt, and our guide encouraged us to take the photos, and instructed us that the children and women are shy but just show them the pictures and they’ll be happy, I was acting no better than the dreadful paparazzi.

A part of me wonders though, if the settlement where they meet the tourist isn’t a just a small, vacation style settlement for the hunters and where the tribe brings village members to say for the day to meet with tourists for the summer, but the tribe actually lives at a better and more private settlements close by during the rain season. However, the Batek people are nomadic so their main settlements will shift at least every few years.

There seemed to no old tribe members. I asked where the elders were and the guide said that they were living at other settlements, away from the tourists. It was hard to figure out. I’m guessing though, that it is a temporary small settlement and that the tribe has a better settlement down stream. How else could they survive all of the prying tourists?

The way home included shooting 5 rapids again and getting soaked. We just finished supper in the main house with all the other tourists. It is such a different experience meeting travelers and chatting with them. The Irish couple is a lot of fun.

--E-gads, a giant coach roach just scurried across the floor of our cottage. I hope they don’t crawl up onto beds. The thing has 2-inch antennas!

Tiger Ears

Pip in her "tiger ears" hair style created by her sis Mistaya.

Just picked up the Tabs from school. She called saying she had upset gastro track. Home again for the day. I am starting my thesis prep today--see how nicely I can stall!? 

Mist is going out with friends tonight--a last youth night of the season so Peter and I have postponed date night until tomorrow.

Grace and Courtney arriving for the long weekend on Saturday. I hope the warm weather comes back--it is cooler today.

Purchased for rose bushes for my back slope. I didn't realize how much I adore roses until I walked out into the yard behind the greenhouses and spotted acres of rose plants waiting for a new home. I felt giddy in love. They are so beautiful in every way and as luck would have it, they are the only plant that I have any luck growing--roses and lavender that is. 

Malaysia trip looking good: 2 nights Kuala Lumpur, jungle railway to Taman Negara Park (boat or jeep to Rainforest Resort) for 2 nights of jungle safari, jungle railway to coast and boat to Perhetian Islands for 6 nights, boat and railway to Penang for four nights at 5* hotel for conference. Home through Hong Kong. Must get way too many travel vaccs: typhoid, Japanese encephalitis, Hep A & B. Not to mention all of the jungle fevers that I can't get shots for--it is a little unnerving! And I must wear long pants in boots for the safari--leeches and snakes.

Pip at preschool so I really must tackle the last MA frontier: my thesis...

The Big Buzz for BC Children's Hospital

Here she is in all her bald glory: darling Mistaya. On Friday she had her head shaved to raise money for Bc Children's Hospital. Mistaya raised $500 personally for the cause. Thank-you to all that supported her! And I just have to say, could that little bald head get any cuter? She still has the stork bite birth mark at the back of her scull I have noted ;). She is pictured with a friend who also made the bald journey.
Yesterday was exhausting. A field trip to a retirement centre. I chatted one on one with an elderly women. I will call her Ev. She was very interesting. Her teenage memories about her schizophrenic mother made her tear up and cry. It was so heart wrenching, how cruel her mother was to her that I nearly cried too! She was forced to leave home in Winnipeg to live with her Aunt on the coast. She always knew when her mother was taking her meds--there would be amazing fresh bread greeting her in the kitchen when she came home from school with homemade jam. But Ev's mother often went off her meds and was cruel.
Also, Ev's stories about how she met her husband after WWII were so romantic. He had just returned from the war and was finishing his studies at UBC. She was working as a telegraph operator. They met at a bus stop and he got on her line and off at her stop even though he really was supposed to be on another bus line.
Then we drove down to the second field trip in Penticton. We studied Kettle Valley Railway artifacts at the museum. I adore KVR artifacts as I love the old railway line--biking, hiking along it is paradise--I never want to leave. Also, I wrote my first junior fiction novel based on the railway line. It definitely fires up my imagination.
Tabs played well in Soccer while I was away. She has been busy creating a power point presentation for school. Even though the teacher said not to start yet, she couldn't resist and has spent her free time creating an amazing presentation on the rainforest with video even.
The girls received updates on their orangutan sons in Borneo. They are so adorable. I am leaning towards Peter and I doing a snorkeling holiday in Malaysia and then a jungle trek through Borneo and stopping to visit our dear little boys at the orangutan sanctuary. So two weeks spent in Malaysia and Borneo in July. The conference is only 3 days in Panang, so we have plenty of time to explore and Malaysia is supposed to have some of the best diving/snorkeling on earth! I read of a three day jungle exploration on a river boat through Borneo--I want to do this as you see all the amazing wildlife like orangutans in their habitat. I have to find out all the vaccinations I'll need. The jungle is something else.
And today all 3 gals are heading up to Aunties for dear little Artemisia's 4th birthday party--lately she and Pip have had yellow mustaches from smelling all the dandilions in the yard--they are so precious.