For people who don't use facebook I've put my pics up here - http://picasaweb.google.com/Nukulah
There are 3 files, one for KL, one for Brunei and one for Borneo. Enjoy!
Showing posts with label Kuala Lumpur. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kuala Lumpur. Show all posts
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
Monday, 2 February 2009
I keep finding other things to do than sort through my photos! I'm going to try and get some up online tomorrow to stop people pestering me but for now here is a photo from each day of my trip:
All the first day consisted of was travel, and once I arrived I had a strange Malaysian dish for dinner. Nasi Lemak consists of rice (good), chicken and potato curry (good), cold anchovie stuff (hmm), half a boiled egg (ok.....) and some peanuts (wait, what?)
The next day I spent in KK, investigating options for trips to the mountains and shopping at the markets. In the evening I went to watch the sunset at a viewpoint up in the hills behind KK.
This day I spent in the mountain national park. It was kinda wet and coudy, but here is a pic of me at the start of the path to hike to the top of the mountain.
This was the day of my trip to an island just off the coast of KK. I spent a big chunk of the day lying on the beach!
On my last day in KK I went to the bird sanctuary and then the museum complex before watching the sunset and checking out the fruit and veg night market. These kids escorted me to the bird sancturay!
My next stop on the trip was Brunei. On the boat I met two Canadians and a German so we stuck together for our time in Brunei. In the evening of the day we arrived we went to the mosque as the sun was setting. It's a pretty impressive building at the best of times but that evening it looked even more spectacular.
We had a day visiting the tourist sights the next day - we went to a local waterfall, got a view of BSB from the top of one of the tallest buildings in the city and then went on a boat cruise to see the water villages, mosques, palaces and monkeys. Heaps of kids in the water village waved at us and called out hello.
We had a quieter day the next day and went to the mosque to have a look inside.
The others left early the next morning and I jumped on a speedboat to a place called Bangar to go for a hike up to a viewpoint in the middle of the jungle. It was hard work but totally worth it!
My last day in Brunei was quite slow. The weather wasn't too good and Chinese New Year was in full swing so I checked out some of the shopping centres and wandered the city aimlessly. I also went for one last roti and blueberry juice before flying to KL.
Had an early start to my first day in KL and went to the Petronas towers. I also saw a lion dance to celebrate Chinese New Years and in the evening I went to the KL tower.
My last full day in KL was alternated with shopping a tourist sights. I got a bus out to a cave system and climbed to the top to see some Hindu temples and crazy monkeys, and I also had a look around Chinatown until the rains started.
I had an afternoon flight back to Hanoi and spent the morning trying to cram all my stuff into my bags. I have make many shopping! Notice the jar of marmite - possibly the most exciting thing I bought!
The day after I arrived back I discovered that I had provided a feast for some bed bugs in KL. Both legs and arms are covered in these minging red bites:
Today I had a fun experience in a pharmacy trying to get some sort of treatment for the bites. The local pharmacy staff don't speak English and my phrasebook didn't tell me the translation for bed bugs so I had problems getting them to understand what was the cause of my bites. In the end I gave up and headed to a pharmacy in the Old Quarter where they spoke a bit of English and knew what bed bugs were so now I am stocked up with creams and tablets. Fingers crossed the bites go soon as I don't want to scare my students!
Also: This made me laugh hysterically:- http://uk.news.yahoo.com/blog/editors_corner/article/11975/
All the first day consisted of was travel, and once I arrived I had a strange Malaysian dish for dinner. Nasi Lemak consists of rice (good), chicken and potato curry (good), cold anchovie stuff (hmm), half a boiled egg (ok.....) and some peanuts (wait, what?)
The next day I spent in KK, investigating options for trips to the mountains and shopping at the markets. In the evening I went to watch the sunset at a viewpoint up in the hills behind KK.
This day I spent in the mountain national park. It was kinda wet and coudy, but here is a pic of me at the start of the path to hike to the top of the mountain.
This was the day of my trip to an island just off the coast of KK. I spent a big chunk of the day lying on the beach!
On my last day in KK I went to the bird sanctuary and then the museum complex before watching the sunset and checking out the fruit and veg night market. These kids escorted me to the bird sancturay!
My next stop on the trip was Brunei. On the boat I met two Canadians and a German so we stuck together for our time in Brunei. In the evening of the day we arrived we went to the mosque as the sun was setting. It's a pretty impressive building at the best of times but that evening it looked even more spectacular.
We had a day visiting the tourist sights the next day - we went to a local waterfall, got a view of BSB from the top of one of the tallest buildings in the city and then went on a boat cruise to see the water villages, mosques, palaces and monkeys. Heaps of kids in the water village waved at us and called out hello.
We had a quieter day the next day and went to the mosque to have a look inside.
The others left early the next morning and I jumped on a speedboat to a place called Bangar to go for a hike up to a viewpoint in the middle of the jungle. It was hard work but totally worth it!
My last day in Brunei was quite slow. The weather wasn't too good and Chinese New Year was in full swing so I checked out some of the shopping centres and wandered the city aimlessly. I also went for one last roti and blueberry juice before flying to KL.
Had an early start to my first day in KL and went to the Petronas towers. I also saw a lion dance to celebrate Chinese New Years and in the evening I went to the KL tower.
My last full day in KL was alternated with shopping a tourist sights. I got a bus out to a cave system and climbed to the top to see some Hindu temples and crazy monkeys, and I also had a look around Chinatown until the rains started.
I had an afternoon flight back to Hanoi and spent the morning trying to cram all my stuff into my bags. I have make many shopping! Notice the jar of marmite - possibly the most exciting thing I bought!
The day after I arrived back I discovered that I had provided a feast for some bed bugs in KL. Both legs and arms are covered in these minging red bites:
Today I had a fun experience in a pharmacy trying to get some sort of treatment for the bites. The local pharmacy staff don't speak English and my phrasebook didn't tell me the translation for bed bugs so I had problems getting them to understand what was the cause of my bites. In the end I gave up and headed to a pharmacy in the Old Quarter where they spoke a bit of English and knew what bed bugs were so now I am stocked up with creams and tablets. Fingers crossed the bites go soon as I don't want to scare my students!
Also: This made me laugh hysterically:- http://uk.news.yahoo.com/blog/editors_corner/article/11975/
Friday, 30 January 2009
I'm back!
It actually felt cold when I stepped off the plane in Hanoi last night! I kinda missed the tropical heat. I did notice it was there to a lesser extent in HCMC when I had to change planes there so maybe a weekend there is in order soon. This next term I am woring 3 day weeks so I'm going to make the most of having time off to see some of the country. If I can find some cheap flights to HCMC I'll head there to have a look around as it looks like its a bit different to Hanoi.
I got the bus to mny new house yesterday. This was no end of fun to dea with at the airport. The taxi mafia were waiting to ambush me as soon as I cleared customs, and once I'd finally shaken them off I went out of the airport to get the bus there were heaps more waiting to try and rip me off. Itwasn't clear where the local buses went from so I headed towards the otehr buses figuring they must all go from the same place. There more people tried to hustle me onto various shuttle buses but I managed to shake them off by telling them that I was heading to Kim Ma. Pretty much all the shuttles went to Long Bien and the Old Quarter and I guess they asumes I would be heading there as thats where the majority of tourists go. I tried to ask some of them where the normal buses went from but thy told me "no bus. Take this one then taxi." It seemed unlikely to me that the buses wouldn't be running but I went back in to get some impartial info from someone who wasn't trying to get me to use their bus or taxi and established that the buses were infact running. She told me to go past the shuttle buses and fnd the bus there but there wer no signs or bus stops for local buses. I did spot some people lurking under a bridge thing across the road and eventually established that this was where the local city buses went from after finding one of the passengers who understood what I was trying to ask about the bus. I guess they don't want tourists to get the local bus for just VND5000 when they can fleece them for so much more with taxis and shuttles!
Last night I had to switch my aircon over to heat - after nearly teo weeks of fans and aircon tog et through the night without melting this was very strange - but its still not been particularly cold today. I went for lunch with my new housemate Zoe and it was eaten on midget plastic chairs by the side of the road and it was wa
I'm waiting for the city to come back to life after Tet and for the shops to all open again so I can go and get myself sorted with some bedding. Right now I am using my sleeping bag liner as I have no sheets. Thankfully I have a pillow and a duvet but I need to get linen but nowhere is open at the moment. I might venture out tomorrow and see if any of the places in the old quarter are open but they may well be closed until Monday.
Right now I'm sorting through my photos. I didn't realise quite how many I'd taken! Once I've sorted them I'll stick some up in various places but right now here are a couple of my favourites:
This is the mosque in Brunei. We went for dinner in the evening then headed to the mosque and got there as the sun was setting. This made the cky a cool colour alongside all the different colours of the mosque.
It also looks pretty cool changed into black and white!
A monkey!!!
Petronas Towers at night
It actually felt cold when I stepped off the plane in Hanoi last night! I kinda missed the tropical heat. I did notice it was there to a lesser extent in HCMC when I had to change planes there so maybe a weekend there is in order soon. This next term I am woring 3 day weeks so I'm going to make the most of having time off to see some of the country. If I can find some cheap flights to HCMC I'll head there to have a look around as it looks like its a bit different to Hanoi.
I got the bus to mny new house yesterday. This was no end of fun to dea with at the airport. The taxi mafia were waiting to ambush me as soon as I cleared customs, and once I'd finally shaken them off I went out of the airport to get the bus there were heaps more waiting to try and rip me off. Itwasn't clear where the local buses went from so I headed towards the otehr buses figuring they must all go from the same place. There more people tried to hustle me onto various shuttle buses but I managed to shake them off by telling them that I was heading to Kim Ma. Pretty much all the shuttles went to Long Bien and the Old Quarter and I guess they asumes I would be heading there as thats where the majority of tourists go. I tried to ask some of them where the normal buses went from but thy told me "no bus. Take this one then taxi." It seemed unlikely to me that the buses wouldn't be running but I went back in to get some impartial info from someone who wasn't trying to get me to use their bus or taxi and established that the buses were infact running. She told me to go past the shuttle buses and fnd the bus there but there wer no signs or bus stops for local buses. I did spot some people lurking under a bridge thing across the road and eventually established that this was where the local city buses went from after finding one of the passengers who understood what I was trying to ask about the bus. I guess they don't want tourists to get the local bus for just VND5000 when they can fleece them for so much more with taxis and shuttles!
Last night I had to switch my aircon over to heat - after nearly teo weeks of fans and aircon tog et through the night without melting this was very strange - but its still not been particularly cold today. I went for lunch with my new housemate Zoe and it was eaten on midget plastic chairs by the side of the road and it was wa
I'm waiting for the city to come back to life after Tet and for the shops to all open again so I can go and get myself sorted with some bedding. Right now I am using my sleeping bag liner as I have no sheets. Thankfully I have a pillow and a duvet but I need to get linen but nowhere is open at the moment. I might venture out tomorrow and see if any of the places in the old quarter are open but they may well be closed until Monday.
Right now I'm sorting through my photos. I didn't realise quite how many I'd taken! Once I've sorted them I'll stick some up in various places but right now here are a couple of my favourites:
This is the mosque in Brunei. We went for dinner in the evening then headed to the mosque and got there as the sun was setting. This made the cky a cool colour alongside all the different colours of the mosque.
It also looks pretty cool changed into black and white!
A monkey!!!
Petronas Towers at night
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
I have to go back to Vietnam tomorrow :o( I'm looking forward to getting back I guess but I've got that feeling you get at the end of a holiday where you just don't want it to end. I've definitely adjusted to the tropical heat and i'm no doubt going to feel cold back in Hanoi, even though by British standards it's really not that cold there right now. One thing I'm not going to miss is the tropical rain though! Winters in Hanoi are dry so it will be nice to be able to go out without expecting to get rained on.
That said, yesterday was the first day of my trip that its not rained at all. I arrived really late on Monday eve - by the time I cleared immigration and got the bus into the city it was nearly 1am by the time I checked into the hostel. I half expected it to be closed by the time I got there but I guess as this part of the city is pretty much open 24 hours (having worked out that jam means hours in Malay the signs in restaurants etc advertising 24 jam suddenly make so much more sense!) the hostel is too. It''s the same place I stayed in a few years ago but its changed since then. They've taken over the next door building too and the place is a bit of a maze, plus I don't remember the beds being this uncomfortable last time. The bunks are really wobbly and that gets kinda annoying after a while. Still, the place is right in the centre and despite being a little rough around the edges at least its safe.
I didn't get much sleep that first night as I was on the top bunk and the bed kept wobbling so much I thought I'd be rolled off. Also, the fan kept rotating to blow cool air at my feet and legs every so often. That in itself wasn't a problem but it made my liner rise up then fall back down onto my legs. That drove me round the bend after a while. I think I got about 3 hours sleep in the end and I gave up when I woke up for the millionth time at 6.30 and got out of bed to head to the Petronas Towers. I got there about 7.15 and already there was a bit of a queue. By the time the ticket counter opened at 8.30 the queue was massive and I was grateful for the early start. I was able to get a ticket to go up at 9.15 and so hardly had to wait at all compared to the last time I went up and had to wait ages for the privilege of doing so! I guess the view's not changed much since last time but as its free, why not? Also the towers are right next to the shopping centre that has stores like Topshop and Marks and Sparks so I was planning to head there anyway. There is also a park outside where I sat for a bit waiting for stuff to open. Stupid Chinese new year means a lot of things opened later or closed earlier yesterday as they celebrate it here too, just not to the extent as in Vietnam.
When I was done there I headed to a different shopping centre after hearing a rumour about a Dorothy Perkins store there. This turned out to be fact and made me very happy indeed! I then went to yet another centre to see what 9 floors of retail could resent to me - turns out not that much as a lot of the shops were places I'd already been to in other centres or shops I wouldn't want to go to anyway. There was a Borders there though and I picked up a few books I've been after for a while. I also got a couple of books in Brunei for a bargain price of a pound each so am taking a somewhat heavier bag back to Vietnam. When I'm done with them I'll be able to take them to the book exchanges and get more in return as they are new copies and so in the long term its a good investment! As I was leaving the centre I passed a crowd of people waiting around for something so I decided to join them as I was in no hurry to get anywhere. It turned out they were waiting for a lion dance. Some guys started banging drums then two guys in a Chinese lion costume came along and jumped all over the place. It was actually pretty impressive as they were jumping for post to post and hanging off them, all whilst keeping together and keeping hold of the lion suit!
Yesterday evening I decided to go to the KL tower. I didn't go last time but I do like city views so I made my way there. I got there when it was still light and went up to watch the sun set and see the city by night. The ticket also provided entry to a few attractions at the base of the tower. The first I went to was the winter garden - basically a lot of statues of snowmen and penguins and random Christmas scenes. I then went to the animal centre which was a bit of a random mix of animals, but there was a very cool parrot there. I figured it was worth seeing these things as I guess I'd paid for them with my ticket.
This morning I got a bus to the outskirts of KL and went to some caves. The main cave is reached by climbing up 275 steps that they have thoughtfully numbered just to taunt you as you ascend. There were some monkeys along the stairs though who didn't appear to be scared of people so they got pretty close which was cool. In the cave there are some Hindu temples and the like and some more monkeys so it was worth the effort needed to climb the stairs.
The bus back from the caves stopped right in the middle of Chinatown so I went to the central market for a look around. I didn't really want to buy anything available so I decided to leave, only to find that it was tipping it down. I decided that this was a sign that I should go and get something to eat instead so I had a disappointing Thai curry. The standard has been set by the amazing curry I had in Brunei and this place didn't;t even come close in matching it. The rain hadn't stopped in this time either and was showing no signs of stopping so I gave up waiting and ran to the station. I was only in the rain for a minute or two but I was absolutely soaked by the time I got back under cover. Am not looking forward to when this sort of rain hits Hanoi.
I headed back over to KLCC tonight to do my shopping - I was just browsing for most of the day yesterday trying to decide what to buy with my limited funds - and went out into the park to see the Petronas towers lit up at night. Of course when I was the other side of the park the heavens opened again and I got drenched for the second time today. I now have two sets of clothes drying at the hostel! The good thing to this tropical heat is that things dry so quickly they will be dry in time for me to pack tomorrow. Thats pretty much all I intend to do tomorrow - its probably going to be a pain as I've accumulated a few books and some clothes these apst couple of days, as well as the cushion I got in Brunei. I did buy that mainly for the cover so I guess I could leave the actual cushion behind and just take the coer with me if I get desperate! I have to go to the airport about 11.30 so I'm going to try and find some decent food before I go - shouldn't be too hard with the food street the next street along from the hostel. There is so much choice there it will no doubt take me forever to decide on my last meal before Vietnamese noodles become the staple again!
cushion
That said, yesterday was the first day of my trip that its not rained at all. I arrived really late on Monday eve - by the time I cleared immigration and got the bus into the city it was nearly 1am by the time I checked into the hostel. I half expected it to be closed by the time I got there but I guess as this part of the city is pretty much open 24 hours (having worked out that jam means hours in Malay the signs in restaurants etc advertising 24 jam suddenly make so much more sense!) the hostel is too. It''s the same place I stayed in a few years ago but its changed since then. They've taken over the next door building too and the place is a bit of a maze, plus I don't remember the beds being this uncomfortable last time. The bunks are really wobbly and that gets kinda annoying after a while. Still, the place is right in the centre and despite being a little rough around the edges at least its safe.
I didn't get much sleep that first night as I was on the top bunk and the bed kept wobbling so much I thought I'd be rolled off. Also, the fan kept rotating to blow cool air at my feet and legs every so often. That in itself wasn't a problem but it made my liner rise up then fall back down onto my legs. That drove me round the bend after a while. I think I got about 3 hours sleep in the end and I gave up when I woke up for the millionth time at 6.30 and got out of bed to head to the Petronas Towers. I got there about 7.15 and already there was a bit of a queue. By the time the ticket counter opened at 8.30 the queue was massive and I was grateful for the early start. I was able to get a ticket to go up at 9.15 and so hardly had to wait at all compared to the last time I went up and had to wait ages for the privilege of doing so! I guess the view's not changed much since last time but as its free, why not? Also the towers are right next to the shopping centre that has stores like Topshop and Marks and Sparks so I was planning to head there anyway. There is also a park outside where I sat for a bit waiting for stuff to open. Stupid Chinese new year means a lot of things opened later or closed earlier yesterday as they celebrate it here too, just not to the extent as in Vietnam.
When I was done there I headed to a different shopping centre after hearing a rumour about a Dorothy Perkins store there. This turned out to be fact and made me very happy indeed! I then went to yet another centre to see what 9 floors of retail could resent to me - turns out not that much as a lot of the shops were places I'd already been to in other centres or shops I wouldn't want to go to anyway. There was a Borders there though and I picked up a few books I've been after for a while. I also got a couple of books in Brunei for a bargain price of a pound each so am taking a somewhat heavier bag back to Vietnam. When I'm done with them I'll be able to take them to the book exchanges and get more in return as they are new copies and so in the long term its a good investment! As I was leaving the centre I passed a crowd of people waiting around for something so I decided to join them as I was in no hurry to get anywhere. It turned out they were waiting for a lion dance. Some guys started banging drums then two guys in a Chinese lion costume came along and jumped all over the place. It was actually pretty impressive as they were jumping for post to post and hanging off them, all whilst keeping together and keeping hold of the lion suit!
Yesterday evening I decided to go to the KL tower. I didn't go last time but I do like city views so I made my way there. I got there when it was still light and went up to watch the sun set and see the city by night. The ticket also provided entry to a few attractions at the base of the tower. The first I went to was the winter garden - basically a lot of statues of snowmen and penguins and random Christmas scenes. I then went to the animal centre which was a bit of a random mix of animals, but there was a very cool parrot there. I figured it was worth seeing these things as I guess I'd paid for them with my ticket.
This morning I got a bus to the outskirts of KL and went to some caves. The main cave is reached by climbing up 275 steps that they have thoughtfully numbered just to taunt you as you ascend. There were some monkeys along the stairs though who didn't appear to be scared of people so they got pretty close which was cool. In the cave there are some Hindu temples and the like and some more monkeys so it was worth the effort needed to climb the stairs.
The bus back from the caves stopped right in the middle of Chinatown so I went to the central market for a look around. I didn't really want to buy anything available so I decided to leave, only to find that it was tipping it down. I decided that this was a sign that I should go and get something to eat instead so I had a disappointing Thai curry. The standard has been set by the amazing curry I had in Brunei and this place didn't;t even come close in matching it. The rain hadn't stopped in this time either and was showing no signs of stopping so I gave up waiting and ran to the station. I was only in the rain for a minute or two but I was absolutely soaked by the time I got back under cover. Am not looking forward to when this sort of rain hits Hanoi.
I headed back over to KLCC tonight to do my shopping - I was just browsing for most of the day yesterday trying to decide what to buy with my limited funds - and went out into the park to see the Petronas towers lit up at night. Of course when I was the other side of the park the heavens opened again and I got drenched for the second time today. I now have two sets of clothes drying at the hostel! The good thing to this tropical heat is that things dry so quickly they will be dry in time for me to pack tomorrow. Thats pretty much all I intend to do tomorrow - its probably going to be a pain as I've accumulated a few books and some clothes these apst couple of days, as well as the cushion I got in Brunei. I did buy that mainly for the cover so I guess I could leave the actual cushion behind and just take the coer with me if I get desperate! I have to go to the airport about 11.30 so I'm going to try and find some decent food before I go - shouldn't be too hard with the food street the next street along from the hostel. There is so much choice there it will no doubt take me forever to decide on my last meal before Vietnamese noodles become the staple again!
cushion
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