1. Watching a guy label his pempek.
Got a taxi to the airport with Brodie as he was travelling to Surabaya the same day. Having a coffee whilst waiting for my plane to board, I was reminded of the reason most people visit Palembang. Sipping my coffee, I noticed a man with a great big box, like so many others at the airport, containing pempek. This is Palembang's speciality food consisting of fish powder and various fillings, like egg or papaya. Sometimes fried, sometimes grilled. Surprisingly not bad. So as everyone has the same cardboard box with this delight inside, it's important to write your name in big letters on the side.
2. A guy doing pull-ups from under the plane in Palembang.
Waiting for the plane to take off in my window seat, I was looking around and I noticed one of the baggage guys hanging from under the plane doing his daily exercises. Glad they know how to have fun at work.
3. The hilarity of not knowing left from right. Went to the wrong side in Jakarta LOL. He said go to the right and I went to the left.
Not much to say on this, apart from that I think it is impossible to learn left and right. If I hadn't noticed I was in the wrong place I could have found myself on a plane to Singapore instead of KL.
4. Haven't played "Judge Men's Shoes" in ages.
Whilst waiting to board the plane I played my favourite game that I liked to do when travelling to and from work in Central London. I think you can guess a lot about a man from his shoes. Fun game, you should try!
5. (KL)
When the Lion Air flight landed I was surprised to find myself in the posh terminal, as I'm pretty sure Lion Air is classed as a budget airline. However this was fortunate because it meant I didn't have to faff around finding a bus to the other terminal, I was already there! So I came out and had a look around, got some food. Then I went to wait at the bit where everyone comes out. Was there for a long time, watching and judging how German everyone looked (as Hazel was arriving on Lufthansa). Eventually she came out and we said hello and stuff. After finding our hostel we went out to explore Chinatown and get some food. Mum provided Hazel with a Christmas cracker which we pulled in the restaurant, much to everyone else's amusement (or confusion, I'm not sure). Inside was of course the paper crown, a bad joke, and a miniature ten-pin bowling set. Pretty good!
The next day we had a wander around. Found Merdeka Square, with the tallest flagpole in the world, and went up the KL tower before catching a bus to Cameron Highlands.
6. Got asked to have our photo taken with a group of guys. Of course they were Indonesian.
The bus to Cameron Highlands was quite long, with some very narrow and windy roads for a big coach. We got there and found our hotel, the Camellia Budget Hotel. It was ok, but could do with some redecorating. The next day we went to a lot of places including a rose garden, honey farm and tea plantation. The tea they grow there is for a Malaysian tea company called Boh, the biggest company around I think, owned by a Scottish family. Whilst there you can look at the rolling tea fields, see how the tea is processed in the factory and sample the tea they have on offer. As we were walking around taking pictures, a guy asked me to take a picture. I soon realised what they actually wanted was to be in a picture with us. I thought this is weird, and asked him where they were from. Indonesia. Surprise surprise. Those guys are not shy. Had a quick conversation and practised my skillz. I think they were impressed. Lucky I was wearing my represent Palembang t-shirt that day.
7. The things people mention when you say you're from England.
"London, Paris, New York!" "Ahh, David Beckham!"
8. Don't forget to write about seeing the giant flowers n that.
We went for a trek into the jungle to seek out the giant Rafflesia flower. This involved climbing up and down little tracks through the forest. Saw loads of amazing flowers and a wild millipede! Also many a cool butterfly. We eventually made it to the site of the flower up a very steep slope. It was amazing. Inside there is what looks like a detachable spiky bit and it's probably about a metre in diameter. Our guide showed us the different stages of the life cycle from bud to dying. Awesome morning.
In the afternoon we were taken up a windy mountain road to take in the Mossy Forest. Definitely mossy. Definitely magical. Walking felt like stepping over sponge and a mysterious mist filled the air. We saw insectivorous pitcher plants in the wild, never thought I would see that. I remember looking at pitcher plants at Cambridge Botanical Gardens back in August last year. Also wild orchids, yay I love orchids!
The last stop of the day was at a butterfly farm. In addition to butterflies we were all shown and had the opportunity to get up close to the animals that you can find in the surrounding area of Cameron Highlands. The guy was very funny. "Sisteeeeer come here. Don't bite" and shoved an (insert name of animal here) into my hand or just onto my head or something. Animals held include snakes, giant stick insect, leaf insect, praying mantis, chamelion, butterflies, SCORPION!
9. Mutley laugh is ON. Fun times losing your voice on holiday :D
After our fun high jinks (unsure of spelling) in Cameron Highlands, we caught a bus to the Kuala Kedah jetty and got a boat over to Langkawi. We booked to stay at The Cottage, where I stayed with my dear friend Joyce back in 2012. Sadly the owner Zul wasn't there but I met his brother again and made sure that I practised my Indonesian on all the staff there as much as I could. I think it went down pretty well considering Indonesian and Malaysian are two different languages. Anyway, the reason for note number 9 on the Starbucks napkin is that I somehow managed to lose my voice whilst in Langkawi. Luckily it was only fully gone for about a day, a day of whispering and mutley laughter.
So, apart from that we had a great time on this lil island. One of the days we went to some different places around Langkawi. First stop the cable car up the mountain, which was closed due to rain at the top the last time I was there. Upon reaching the entrance to buy tickets - "Closed due to yearly maintenance." For all of the days we were staying there. Unfortunate, guess it's not meant to be. We also went to a nearby waterfall called "Tujuh Telaga" I think, or Seven Wells. It involved many many steps, but a really nice waterfall and at the very top you could see out to sea and all the forest and stuff. Good substitute for the cable car, and we got to do strenuous exercise in the tropical heat. Win win. After that we went to relax on a nice, less crowded beach.
The next day we went island hopping, which was really cool. Went to one island called the pregnant lady island or something, and in the middle there was an amazing freshwater lake, sooo nice to swim in. Also saw eagles and went to another island with really nice sandy beaches.
Bought some mugs for my student of the month prizes. I'll leave Langkawi at that.
10. I bet cats love a fish restaurant. Mmmm snapper.
Just thought about this while at a fish restaurant. I bet that was hard to guess. Hazel's first experience of eating a whole fish, where you can see the eyes and head and stuff. I think she liked it.
11. Remember KL!! And AirAsia pilot serenade.
So on the way back to our first destination of KL, upon landing the plane the captain decided to serenade the passengers with his take on "Unchained Melody". Bizarre but amusing, he did manage to get a round of applause and some cheers. Especially from me and Hazel. Well done old chap. Back in KL we visited the Petronas Towers, just took pictures around, didn't go up. Still fun. We went to Batu Caves and saw fireflies by the river in Kuala Selangor. A really nice last day.
12. Making friends on the bus.
At 7am I had to leave the hostel and catch the bus to the airport. A man came and sat next to me. He started talking. At 7am. I though I didn't really feel like talking to anyone at that time but he was actually a really interesting man. He was an old guy from Sabah, Borneo, living in KL and going back to his home town for a few days. He knew all about Palembang and the origins of Malay culture. Felt a bit bad that I was pretty much just listening and saying yeah and agreeing most of the time. He was very interesting to listen to though, and people like that always inspire me to try and learn more about stuff in general. Thanks man!
So that's all my notes on a Starbucks napkin. An amazing holiday and so nice to see my best sister again after seven months. And still time flies on! I'll be going to Lampung in Sumatra and Bali again. I know you're eagerly watching this space so I will do my best to write something. Bye bye.
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