Day 55 & 56 & 57: New Zealand, North Island

Day 55: Well today I went to the famous 'Sky Tower', which is the tallest tower in the Southern Hemisphere, it is 328 meters. It iwas pretty amazing up there to see the whole city. When you walked around they had pieces of glass instead of concrete where you can see all the way down to the street. Pretty scary in case the glass broke. I stepped very carefully over it. I have noticed there are alot of Maori people in Auckland and there seem to be alot of intermarriages between the Maori's and New Zealanders. They seem to be better integrated into the New Zealand society than what I have seen from Australia with the Aborgines. There are also alot of Asian people here as well.

Day 56: Today I headed out of Auckland. I was pretty relieved as I was starting to get a little restless in Auckland as there is not much to do here. I have been told there are more people in Auckland population than the South Island put together. By the way for those of you not familar with New Zealand. New Zealand is broken down into the North and South Island. Today I took a tour up to the northern part of North Island. We headed to the 'Bay of Islands'. When I first got out of Auckland I noticed all the sheeps everybody kept telling me were around everywhere. Then I noticed the beautiful scenery, the North Island is extremely hilly with different shades of green and yellow that cover the hills. There are flowers, patches of trees ,and forest that cover the hillside. Can't wait to see the South Island as I hear that is more beautiful down there.

Day 57: Went on tour of the Ninety Mile beach with the tour bus and then went to the Tasman Sea, to help our tour guide gather clams on the beach, I think for his dinner that night. I was hoping to try some, but he said I could only have them if I tried them raw, which I happily declined. Then we headed to the Sand Dunes, where we went sandboarding. Boy that was alot of fun. We climbed up to the giant sand dunes and used boogie boards to get down. We even had a guy in his late 60's try it. Then we headed to Cape Reinga, where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet. The Tasman Sea is blue and the Pacific Ocean is green. The Tasman Sea is named after the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, who named New Zealand. Then we went over the Pacific side. It was interesting we noticed the weather is very temperamental One minute it is warm and sunny and then the next it's chilly and rainy. I notice this more the in North Island than the South Island. Finish the tour with New Zealand's best fish and chips from Maungaturoto. Headed back to the hostel and had a nice glass of New Zealand wine with my Swedish roommate.

Day 52 & Day 53 & Day 54: Auckland...

Day 52: Was X-mas day and the youth hostel I am staying at had a nice BBQ for us for X-mas. Apparently I was told doing BBQ's for X-mas in New Zealand is quite popular. I also learned there is only about 4 million people on both the North and South Island and there are more sheep than people in New Zealand! I haven't seen any sheep as I have been only in Auckland so far. Auckland reminds me alot of San Fran. as well. With the rolling hills, the wharf, and it's very green. It is very similar to Australia in alot of ways. The currency looks similiar, they use the same type of words. Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand, and it is nicknamed the 'City of Sails'. I notice there are quite a few South Americans traveling around here. Hope everyone had a great X-mas!!!


Day 53: Was Boxing Day today and most places were closed, which was actually good for me to rest up for a bit. Boxing day got it's tradition when employers boxed gifts for their workers on the day after x-mas. I realized that on public holidays in New Zealand the restaurants are allowed to charge 15% more as I had gone out to a bar with a fellow kiwi. By the way I forgot to mention people don't tip in Australia, New Zealand, or in SouthEast Asia. I tried two New Zealand beers one called Steinlager, it was a lager didn't care for it and then the Black Mac, that was more of a malt beer similar to Guiness that was quite tastey. It doesn't get dark till about 8:45pm here...

Day 54: Today I was able to go out and explore more things.... The weather here has been rainy on and off the last couple of days. I started the day off going to the Auckland Museum to get my fill of Maori history. I was told that in school kids have to learn the Maori history and language. Then I headed to the Harbor to take a ferry over to Devonport. Devonport reminds me alot of Tiburon and Salusilito it's a cute little town across from Auckland. I walked around a bit and then took the ferry back to Auckland. I walked around the wharf area and noticed the Kiwi's love their Rugby team called 'All Blacks', as they have a giant clock displayed with the countdown in seconds until the Rugby World Cup in 2007, boy my Kiwi friend wasn't kidding when she told me the Kiwi's love Rugby!!!!

Day 50 & Day 51: Sydney and New Zealand

Day 50: I noticed today there are alot of German tourists here as the majority of the people staying at my hostel are German. Alot of Europeans come to Australia, because it is easy to work and travel in Australia compared to other countries like the U.S. I started the day buying my ticket to the Opera House. As I had a few hours to kill I decided to try some Fish &Chips and head over to Manly Beach. There was only a few minutes till the next Ferry and realizing that was the only one I could take, since I needed to be back in time for the Opera House tour, I headed to the ticket counter. The gentlemen told me that he didn't accept credit cards and not having cash with me as I was trying to dispose of it as I was leaving to go to New Zealand the next day and didn't see an ATM in sight, I explained to the gentlemen at the ticket counter that I was leaving Aussie the next day and didn't have enough cash on hand. He told me to hold on and talk to the gentlemen that was monitoring the line and then he motioned me to come through the line. The gentlemen said to me that he was in the X-Mas spirit and 'Merry X-mas'! Boy I though wow, I have really been lucky and have met some nice people at the ferry ticket counter. Manly Beach was nice, not as nice as Bondi Beach, maybe cuz it was raining. It had a cute downtown area. The Opera House was nice, it is considered one of the Engineering Wonders of the World. I then headed to the Sky Tour to see a view of the city. I bought my ticket and once I got up there it was so rainy and I couldn't see a thing. I told the lady at the counter, once I got down that I couldn't see anything. She told me I could come back another day and I told her I was leaving then she apologized for the weather and happily refunded my money back. Boy I thought I have really met some nice people here in Sydney.


Day 51: Today is X-mas eve and I left Sydney to head out to New Zealand (Aort. As I was checking in at the counter. The lady behind the counter asked me if I had another shirt (I had a T-shirt on) I could change into, looking puzzled at her question, she told me that she could bump me up to 'Business class' as the flight was fully booked, happily I accepted and looked thru my luggage for a more professional shirt to wear. I thought, boy this is the best x-mas present I could have gotten here is to travel via Business Class! Here's to Australia....... At first I wasn't sure how I would like it as I have been having so many culturally experiences and Australia was so similar to the U.S. I didn't quite get the cultural experience being in Sydney and Cairns that I had from the other countries I had traveled to so far. Australia being such a young country (it's even younger than the U.S.) and being a mix of many different cultural groups. I have enjoyed my stay in Australia, Australia I must say is a beautiful country with nice beaches, and some of the most friendliest and helpful people I have met so far on my travels. On the plane to 'Kiwiland' I met a Kiwi. She told me that the Kiwi is actually a bird with a long beak that doesn't fly and that the Kiwi's love rugby! When I got to Auckland (pronounced 'Oakland'), by the locals. I noticed how the Kiwi's are friendly and love to talk. My cab driver was telling me all about himself and his family on the ride over to the hostel!

Day 48 & Day 49: Sydney...

Day 48: Today I started the day going to Bondi Beach. It was a nice sunny day and the beach has white sand with blue waters. You have to walk down some stairs from the street to get to the beach. I would say it has been one of the most beautiful beaches I have seen so far on my travels. I then headed to check out some of Australia's convict past at the Barracks. The Barracks is the place that was first used to house the convicts that were sent from the UK to Australia. I went to go buy a ticket to take a night cruise around the Sydney Harbor. I had a couple of hours to kill before the cruise so I decided to take in the harbor view with a minced pie and a Coopers beer. Minced pies are popular here and Coopers is one of the local beers here. The harbor was pretty warm, but quite windy, as I had finished my lunch/dinner I took out my ticket for the night cruise, it was so windy that my ticket flew into the water. Pretty upset at the fact that I had just spent $24AUD (~$20 US) on it and my ticket was now in the water, I walked up to the ticket counter as I walked up to the lady at the ticket counter, I was searching my purse for some proof of the purchase of my ticket. I told the lady at the the ticket counter I had taken out my ticket and being so windy it flew into the water, I even pointed to her where it was in the water. Not being able to find proof of purchase of my ticket and looking pretty upset at the fact that I had just lost my ticket, the lady at the counter told me to hold on, then she motioned she to go through a line that led to the ferry, she talked to a gentlemen who was monitoring the line to let me him. I thanked her profusely and she told me that I looked like I had an 'honest face'. Boy I thought what a nice gesture...

Day 49: Today I went to the 'Rocks' and across the Sydney Harbor Bridge to the North End. I would say the weather is similar to San Fran, but it's warmer here and less windy. The streets and buildings reminded me of Boston in the North End. It stays light till quite late, till about 8pm. Then I headed ot the zoo and saw Kokala bears and wallabies (small version of a kangaroo). Then headed to Darlington Harbour to take in the view.

Day 46 & Day 47: Cairns and Sydney

Day 46: The weather has been nice a bit of rain, but not too much...it is currently summer in Australia. Still feeling sick from what I believe to be the veggmite, but all the aussie swear it must have been something else that I ate or possibly the change in water. Anyways....I managed to get up today and I went to the Daintree River and rainforest. That's where I saw my first real life crocodile. It was pretty big. Then we headed to lunch. I was having lunch with a bunch of Europeans and I was explaining to them all the differences in words that Americans use compared to the Aussie and then realized that the other Europeans use the same type of words as the Aussie, probably from the British influence and of course so do most of SouthEast Asia. Hmmm.....makes me wonder how we came up with the words that we did for certain things. Then we headed to the Daintree rainforest, that's where we saw a stick spider. It pretty much looks like stick put together and if the spider looses one of it's stick part well it simply grows another one....I met a guy from London on the bus going Port Douglas who is of Greek descent, actually from Cyprus. Anyways, he was telling me that the island of Cyprus, part of the island belongs to Greece and part of the island belongs to Turkey and that you need to have a passport in order to cross over to the other side. Then I had to ask him if Greek life was actually similar to 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding', anyways he told me it was very similar, his parents were hoping he would marry another Greek, his sister didn't so they didn't have high hopes for him and then I had to ask him why everyone has the same name like Nick.. Chrisitine as the movie was explaining. Anyways, he was telling me that if he were to have kids, the Greece tradition is that the eldest grandson in each family will be named after the grandfather and the eldest granddaughter in each family will be namd after the grandmother. So you can just imagine if someone has a family of five and their kids all have kids and they all had boys then the first eldest from each of the family would have the same name ex. Nick. Anyways, he told me at family functions they have to distinguish the names by 'Fat Nick', or 'Nick#1', etc....Port Douglas was nice, it reminded me of California, similar to Carmel. That night I splurged (the sampler appetizer plate was ~22 AUD) and tried kangaroo, crocodile, and emu (the national bird of Australia). Kangaroo was pretty good it was simliar to steak to me, the crocodile I didn't care for, it had an odd smell and looked like chicken and the emu was pretty tastey.

Day 47: Got up early to catch my flight back to Sydney. Cairn has big sidewalks and most of the cars are parked in the middle of the road. Got a friendly farwell from the receptionist. Most of the people have been friendly here in Cairns. I got back to Sydney and headed to Hyde Park, Oxford St, Victor St., and Darlinghurt St. It reminded me of a little bit of Boston, I guess probably from the British influence. Then I headed to the supermarket and realized how expensive the food is here. It seems cheaper to go out to eat then to cook at home....

happy holidays

Hey Ro, I've enjoyed following your travels, and wish you more exciting adventures in 2007! happy holidays,
Kirstin.

Day 44 & 45: Cairns...

Day 44: Cairns is a pretty relaxed city by the beach. The people are very relaxed and friendly. I would say probably a little more friendly than Sydney. Today I spent snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef. It's interesting to see how big the 'Great Barrier Reef' is and how much sea life is down there. I met an Aussie, but he is originally from Tasmania. I learned that Tasmania is part of Australia, similar to how Hawaii is to the U.S. Then we were discussing some of the differences in words that we use, for example, we call the pouch that we use that we put in front of our waist a 'fanny pack', they call it a 'bum bag', makes you wonder how we came up with a 'fanny pack'! Then the other difference is that for 'trekking' they say 'bush walking'. I guess if you think about it we are walking around bushes. The other thing he couldn't get is that at the nice restaurant in the U.S. the more expensive the food, the less food you get, in Australia he told me the more money you pay the more food you get..... I met a Maori guy from New Zealand today as well. It was very interesting to talk to him. He was telling me that the reason that there is a high level of drug use and alcoholism in the Maori society in New Zealand is that the Maori people are in conflict with the Western culture and their traditional ways. The Western culture being a 'me' society and the Maori society being more of a 'we' society. After our talk I headed to dinner at an Italian restaurant down the road. It was late and I didn't want any caffeine in my drink a I had to get up early the next day. I looked at the menu and was happy to see 'lemonade' on the list, I ordered it. Once I got my 'lemonade', I realized I had a 'sprite'. I told my waitress that I ordered a 'lemonade', she was puzzled and I described to her what it was, she had never heard of it nor had ever seen it! The prices here are definitely higher than SouthEast Asia, not as expensive as the States, but close.

Day 45: Today I went the the aboriginal Cultural Center. It was interesting, they had a cultural show and dance and we learned about the difference herbs that they use. We even learned how to throw a boomerang! The aboriginal Culture reminds me alot of the American Indian culture in regards to how they utilize the land and nature. I headed to the 'Chemist' store after the show, the 'Chemist' is the word they use for 'Drugstore', my stomach was feeling queasy from I believe the 'vegemite' that I ate two days ago. I asked the pharmacists for some assistance, she directed me to a drug that relieved symptoms such as 'stomach wind',that is the word that they use for 'stomach gas'.

Day 42 & 43: Aussie Land

Day 42: This morning I arrived in Sydney. Even though I enjoyed being in Bali, I was happy to leave and go to new territory. When I arrived at the airport in Bali to leave, they were searching cars.... Security has been heightened since the last bombing attack last year and tourism has decreased. I arrived in Sydney and managed to get to my hotel and grab a sandwich at the deli. It's funny some of the lingo that they use here. It was funny at the deli I asked for a turkey sandwich, the lady behind the counter asked me if I wanted 'white' or 'wholemeal', I though she meant a whole meal , meaning chips and soft drink included, but didn't notice any around and then asked what a 'wholemeal' was and she told me it was 'wholewheat' bread...I have heard alot of 'hey mate', 'hey aussie', 'oohhh love', 'cheers' (they use that alot to say thanks). Sydney reminds me a mix of San Fran. and New York. San Fran. since it's by the water and the people are laid back and New York because of all the high rise buildings and metro system. I went out that night with my friend Peter, who is a native Australian. We hit the Circular Quay area, which is by the harbor for drinks and dinner. I had some red wine syrahs and the local brew 'Toohey New', which was quite good. I came to the conclusion Australians at least the people I have met in Sydney so far remind me of 'Americans', but with accents, my friend Peter of course thinks Americans remind him of 'Australians' with accents. The people have been generally friendly here so far.

Day 43: Today I went to Town Hall a shopping area to look for a new suitcase as my zipper had broken on mine. I noticed they had 'Woolworths', it was quite different than the one we have in the States, this one has a grocery store in it. Then I went to a nice coffee house on Victoria Street, where alot of quaint shops are and knew I had to try 'veggmite'. Veggmite basically looks like a hunk of soft chocolate. 'Veggimite' is made from leftover brewer's yeast (used to create beer). I had the veggmite on a slice of toasted bread, it was quite salty, definitely an acquired taste... I heard from others that is quite a good cure for hangovers. I am off to Cairns tonight....

Day 40 & 41: Bali..

Day 40 and 41: Was spent resting and relaxing at the beach, some hard core shopping as the prices here are very cheap, they are about the same as Malaysia if not a little more. I will miss not having to pay so much for food (is similar to Malay they have rice dishes, satays, noodles, and curries), lodging, etc.. as today I leave Bali and head to Australia and New Zealand.

Despite the 'Stalkers', oh I mean 'Hawkers' in Bali, Bali is a beautiful island, with beautiful sunsets, luscious green rice paddies, and a colorful culture. People are generally nice, friendly, and generally laid back. People are constanting asking me where I am from and they are always thrown off by the fact that I am American. I have to go back and explain the immigration of my parents in the 60's from India to the U.S. I have had some interesting conversations with the locals about the similarites and differences with the Indian Hinduism and Balinese Hinduism. People look a mx of Indian, Chinese, and possibly some European probably by the Dutch influence.

My experience in SouthEast Asia is coming to a close at the moment as I head to Australia tonight, I am hoping to make it to Laos and Vietnam before I come back to the States though. Not knowing too much about SouthEast Asia and figuring out I should spend some time in other parts of the world I have never been too, I have been pleasantly surprised at how much I have really enjoyed my time in SouthEast Asia, learning about the history, culture, and meeting the people, and to see how the two mightest empires at one time India and China, have impacted the history and culture of SouthEast Asia. I hope you have all learned something from my experience that I have had here in SouthEast Asia....Okay I am now off to enjoy my last cheap meal here, I better eat up!!!!

Day 38 and 39: Bali...

Day 39:Well today was quite busy as Made, my tour guide, came to pick me up at 8:45 and we had a full day planned out. We started the day going to another traditonal Balinese dance called 'Barong'. Barong depicts the 'Mahabharta' (from Hindu mythology). The Barong is a mythical character with a long swayed back and curved tail, represents good. The Barong dance represents the external fight between good and evil. The girls dancing style and outfits
in the show reminded me of the Indian, Thai, and Cambodian dance style and outfits. They were very colorful. We then headed for lunch.

For lunch, I went to a place in Ubud, called 'Bu Oka', which is famous for one of Balinese traditional dish of 'suckling pig'. In the true spirit of the 'suckling pig' , I ate like a pig (I had my first plate and it was so delicious and knew that I would probably never be back, I happily asked for another helping), or rather shall I say I ate the 'pig'. I was relived to know that I hadn't done too much damage on the waistline as my skirt I was wearing still fit after lunch. The dish was delicious, it had different parts of the pig and the Balinese spices in the dish were tastey. I met a local person from Ubud, who told me this was the best place to go for suckling pig. Basically they cook the pig like the Hawaiians. I then headed to do some shopping in the local market in Ubud. Ubud is known for it's wood carving, arts and crafts, and paintings. Then we headed for a view of Mt. Batur, which is an active volcano and biggest lake in Bali. Then we headed to Tanah Lot, which is the temple built on top of a rock. They are suppose to have great sunsets there, unfortunately it was raining so we were not able to see much of a sunset, but it was beautiful. Then we headed for seafood restaurant by the beach.

On the way Made and I were comparing the Indian Hinduism(from what I learned from my parents as I am not a practicing Hindu) and Balinese Hinduism. The similarities to Indian Hinduism that the Balinese Hinduism is that they have a prayer area in their house to pray to the gods, they celebreate Diwali, believe that the cow is sacred, therefore most don't eat beef, they also have a similar Hindu caste system, but they do not have untouchables. The differences are that the Balinese worship the same trinity Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu, but they also have one supreme deity called 'Sanghyang Widi'. They never put their trinity on show (where as the Indians do), they have vacant shrines everywhere. It's interesting these shrines are literally everywhere and they all have an umbrella over the shrines with offerings at the bottom of the shrines and sometimes part of the shrine are wrapped in black and white clothes. They have small offereings that they put in small little baskets that have flower and rice and other small things in their, in public areas, in front of homes, business, etc...to placate bad spirits and pay homage to good ones. I noticed a couple in front of my bungalow....

Day 38:Well today was a much better day then yesteday. I was able to go on a tour of the island today and get out of the area that I was staying in as it was slowly driving me crazy as the 'hawkers' or shall I stay 'stalkers' since they literally follow you around and are very determined to get your business. I am staying in Kuta, which is the beach area and alot of the shops are there.

For breakfast I tried Nasi Goreng, Nasi means 'rice' and the Indonesians and Malayasians both use the the same word. I realized that the languages are very similar as well. Anyways Nasi Goreng, is very popular in Indonesia and it is basically fried rice with prawn crackers on top, it was pretty tastey. I then headed to Ubud with my tour guide Made Pusaka, Ubud is absolutely beautiful. It is luscious and green and different colors of green, light green, med. green, and dark green. Ubud is in the middle of Bali and has small villages surrounded by green rice terraces (basically the rice paddies were planted on the side of the hill, so it looks like terraces). As we were driving I noticed alot of signs that said Made, I turned to Made and told him his name must be popular. He laughed and explained to me that in Bali, there are common names for the first four children. Meaning that the first born has a certain name and then another name to follow it, same as 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Made being the 2nd child received the name 'Made' and then his parents gave him the name 'Pusaka'. If the parents have more than four children the naming convention starts over. Then he explained to me that Bali's people are mainly Hindu. They pratice a differnt type of Hinduism, but many of the similiarities are there, the other islands of Indonesia are primarily Muslim. I thought that was interesting as the only people that I have ever known to be Hindu are other 'Indians' or 'Americans' that converted during the hippie era. We then headed to a Balinese Hindu Temple.

We then headed to the Monkey Forest Sanctuary. The monkey here are basically wild, so they are everywhere. When I got in I tagged along with a local father and daughter as I wasn't sure what to expect, since the monkeys are wild. Then we headed to a traditonal dance of 'Kecak' dance. Basically the chorus is made of about 100-150 men that chant the word '
kecak' repeatly during the whole show. The show goes into the renactment of the Ramayana (Hindu mythology). The show ends with a fire dance, a man is put into a trance by a holy man and then the man stomps out a big fire with his bear feet. It was pretty amazing. I then tried a
local fruit called 'mangosteen'which is brown/black on the outside about the size of an apple and then you have to cut open the inside to get to the meat of the fruit, which basically look like big white juicy seeds. It was quite tastey!

Indonesian History and Info...

Indonesia is made up of 17,508 islands, some of the main islands are Java (where the capital Jakarta is located), Sumatra, Bali, and Flores. Indonesia has the biggest Muslim population in the world and is the 4th most populous country in the world. Language is simliar to Malaysian.

With the Indian and Chinese trading merchants in this area came the spread of Hinduism and Buddhism. The Buddhist Srivijaya empire held the Malaysian Pennisula and southern Sumatra. The Hindu Mataram and Buddhist Sailendra kingdoms dominated central Java. Around 10th century AD the Hindu Matram started to declined and was replaced in 1294 by the Majapahit empire (Hindu kingdom). They controlled much of Sulawesi, Sumatra, Borneo, and most of Java, Madura, and Bali. Islam soon arrived and the Majaphits fled to Bali, where Hindu culture continues to flourish, leaving Java to the powerful Islamic sultanates. The Dutch East Indies company established it's trading post. By 1700 The Dutch took control. By the beginning of the 20th century the Dutch took most of the control of Indonesia. The Japanese swept thru Indonesia during WWII. The Dutch unwilling to give up it's power and supported by the British, who had entered Indonesia to accept the Japanese surrender moved quickly to reassert their authority. There was resistant and the Indonesians fought an intermittent war with the Dutch, the Indonesians won in 1949 and received independence.

Day 35 & 36 & 37: Farwell to KL and Hello to Bali.....

Day 35: Well today was my last day at KL and I still needed to go to the Petrona's Tower, which is one of the wonders of the world. It's the worlds tallest twin towers. It has five layers, which represent the five pillars of islam. They were surpassed as the tallest structure by Tapei 101. The Petrona's Tower houses Petronas, which is Malaysia's government owned oil company. I got up at 5:30am in the morning and headed out to go see it. The doors didn't open till 8:30 so I ended up waiting for a couple of hours as I got there by 7:00 and there were already people in line. The view was great and I got to see more of the architecture around KL. I have really enjoyed my stay in Malaysia and will miss it as I have met some very nice people here.

I headed off to Bail. Once I arrived in Bali, one of the immigration officals told me that the Bollywood stars were leaving Kuala Lumpur and coming to Bali and would be in Bali vacationing for the next 2 weeks. I guess they must be following me. I hope to catch a better glimpse of them this time.....


Day 36 and 37:
Bali...is very western as there are many, many western tourists there. I headed out to the Beach today and relaxed as I had been on the go last couple of weeks and needed some down time. The beach was nice, but I guess I was expecting something even better. I guess after going to Rio De Janiero, it's hard to find a beach that compares. Needless to say, it is a nice beach and I was able to watch the sunset, which was very nice. The part that I don't like is that there are constant people trying to sell you things on the street, and it comes to a point where it is just down right annoying. I am not sure coming out here is worth the constant annoyance from the street vendors. Taxi's even stop in the middle of the road to ask if you need a ride. I hope to get a better perspective of Bali when I do the cultural actvities.

I tried the Gado Gado, which is a steamed salad with peanut sauce, BinTang (the local pilsner beer here), Jaffle, and satays. The Gado Gado and Bin Tang were pretty good. I also tried the Jaffle, which is basically grilled bread pressed together with egg, tomatoe, or onion in the middle.The satay was excellent. The food is similar to Malay food, as they have alot of rice dishes and they use alot of peanut sauce. Not having wine in a couple of weeks as foreign wine is expensive and most of the countries don't grow their own wine, I was happy to try the Balinese wine 'Hatten'. I tried the red, it was a pretty light wine, it was okay, not as good as the French and American wines.

Day 33: Melaka & Day 34:KL Day

Day 33: Today I went to Melaka on a group tour. Melaka formerly known as Malacca has a very colorful history. Melaka was where Islam was first introduced to Malaysia. It was part of the Dutch East Indian company. It was ruled by the Melaka Sultan, Portugese, Dutch, Japanese, and the British. There were alot of religious buildings that represented the different cultures that were in Melaka, we saw a Portuguese church, Chinese temple, and a Hindu temple. We saw the 'Strait's of Malacca', which seperate Malaysia from Indonesia.

Day 34: For breakfast I had Roti Canai, basically Roti with Chicken curry, then I headed off finishing up the rest of sightseeing in KL. I started the day off at Masjid Jamek, it's the cities oldest surviving mosque. Then headed to 'Little India', and then to a couple of other famous architectures. I then headed to a Malaysian Cultural Dance show, the show was only $1.5. It was really good, lively with colorful dancing and costumes, they had dances from some of the different states in Malaysia as well as an Indian and Chinese dance. Then I headed off to KL Tower, it is the 4th largest communications tower and saw great views of KL and it's wonderful architecture.

I then headed to the Petronas Towers to meet up with Jane and Charmaine (the Malaysian Chinese mother and daughter, I had met during my Beijing trip). They took me out for a dinner for Baba Nonyan (mix of Malaysian and Chinese) food. Charmaine came well dressed in the occassion as she had on a Chinese top and a Malaysian skirt. The meal was faboulous. We had an appetizer and a couple of traditonal Baba Nonyan dishes, one which Charmaine told me literally translated into fish stomach, it was a green dish and it was very good. The Baba Nonyan dishes had a more of a soury taste compared to the other traditional Malaysian dishes. We finished off dinner with Ice Kacchan, my favorite!!!!

Then we headed back to Petronas Tower as that is where Charmaine's car was. When we got there were litterally hundreds of people on all levels of the Petrona's Tower. Wondering what the crowd was there for, we asked around and found out that 'Bollywood Film Awards' were being held that night and famous people like Amita Bachan, Ashriya Rey, Sharuk Khan, etc... (famous Indian Bollywood stars), were there. We did see people going on the elevators from the 1st floor to the 5th floor with security guards as they got off on the 5th floor the crowd went wild, unfortuantely I wasn't able to make out the figures getting off the elevators. Jane and Charmaine were well familiar with these Bollywood stars, as they had watched Bollywood films...

Day 31: Penang Day 32: Back to KL

Day 31: Food, food, and more food...... Today is the day my friend Gaylie and I commited the deadly sin of 'gluttony'. I probably should mention we had a good reason for eating so much as Penang is famous for it's food, it is the hawker capital of Malaysia, and that was our last day as we were leaving the next morning back to KL. Penang is an island to the northeast of mainland Malayasia, it lies on the Andaman sea.

First we started the day off at the national museum and learning about Penang and the differnt ethnic groups that make up Penang, the Malays, Chinese, Indians, and the Baba Nonya (a mix of Malay and Chinese). There were also some Armenians, peple of Jewish background, and Arabs that had settled in Penang many generations ago, as it was part of the Dutch East Indian Trade company. Then we headed for some shopping and eating. We tried some food from the local hawkers on Gurnie Drive, which is right by the beach. We tried cendol, pasembur, rojak, poh piah, asam laksa, and satays. We even were able to find Baba Nonya cakes, which is made from rice and covered with peanut sauce.

Day 32: We headed back to KL from Penang. Gaylie went back to Singapore, so I was pretty much solo, I met a nice lady named Grace, at the hotel, who was from Penang who invited me to dinner with her and her brother. We ended up going to Chinatown for dinner and had a great meal of shark fin and prawns in chili sauce. Grace is a real estate agent in Penang and told me alot of Europeans like to retire in Penang as it is so culturally diverse and open. We tried the local beer 'Tiger' beer which was really good. It is from the same company as Guiness Stout. We had the beer while watching one of stall owners put away and then put back his collection of fake watches. He had a walkie talkie in hand and his accomplace was around the corner watchin out for the policemen. We were thinking he was probably an illegal immigrant (probably of Nepalese descent), as there were many stalls, aside from his that were selling fake items.

Day 29: Kuala Lumpur & Day 30: Penang

Day 29: Kuala Lumpur (aka... city of 'Garden Lights', as you see many lights hanging from the tree), is a very modern city with a colorful mix of Malays (majority), Chinese (2nd), and Indians (3d), each very proud of it's heritage and culture, with magnificent architecture and well manicured gardens. The Malay woman wear the traditonal clothes call 'baju kurung', which is a a head scarf,flowing full-length skirt, and blouse, and you can even see Indian woman wearing sari's still, and you can see western dressing as well.

I started the day taking a city tour of most of the famous
architecture structures around Kuala Lumpur (most commonly referred to as 'KL'). There is alot of the Islamic influence in the architecture, they even have buildings where there is a mix of British and Islamic. My tour guide explained to me that the government does not allow two buildings to be built the same, you need to get a government permit to build a building. Foreigners can own property and they don't have to be citizens.

In the afternoon we went to one of the gardens in KL, which had beautiful sculptures and well designed manicured bushes.
Alot of the bushes even the ones in the middle of the highways are well manicured. Then we went to a chocolate factory and learned that chocolate is made from cocoa seed which is kept out for 7 days then mashed, water and sugar are added to make the chocolate. The oil from the coca seed is 'coca butter'. Malayasia has many rubber and palm trees, so we saw how rubber is taken from the tree, they take the sap from the rubber tree twice a day. When you take the sap it is pretty running and then it solitifies quickly, sap is taken from the rubber tree twice a day. Then we headed to 'Batu Caves', one of the oldest Hindu shrines in Malaysia. I was interested in learning from my tour guide, who is 3rd generation South India, that many of the 2nd and 3rd generation Indians and Chinese still know how to speak their parents native tongue. He said even though the different ethnic groups maintain their heritage and culture they coexist well together. There are Chinese and Tamil schools available the government does require that Malay and English is taught in all schools.

Then I headed to dinner, Malaysia is know for it's 'hawkers' they are basically different stalls of food in one common area. I tried the 'Nasi Lemak', which is rice with chicken, sardines, cucumbers, sambal, and peanuts. It was better than the one I get at home at 'Banana Leaf'......

Day 30: My friend Gaylie and I took a trip to Penang (aka 'Pearl
of the Orient'), it's about a 4 hour bus ride. It is part of Malaysia, it is an island off of mainland Malaysia. The highways are very modern and the bus was very comfortable, it had reclining chairs, with air conditioning , the bus ride was only $8!!!!! What struck me when I got there was a billboard welcoming me to Penang with pictures of all the different groups of people that make up Malaysia, the Malays, Chinese, Indians in their native costumes.

We went to the beach and relaxed and then headed to the night market called 'Batu Ferringhi'. Then relaxed to Pina Colada's by the beach....

Malaysian history and information....

Malaysia (formerly called Malaya), is a beautiful country with a colorful mix of Malays (~60%), Chinese (2nd largest), and Indian (3rd largest). Malaysian history is very interesting, below is brief history on Malaysia:

The aborginal Malays (Orang Asli), began moving down the pennisula probably from southwestern China about 10,000 years ago. By 2nd century the Europeans and Indian traders came. From 9th to 13th century the Buddist kingdom of Srivijaya, what is now Sumatra (now part of Indonesia) dominated. 14th century the powerful Hindu kingdom of Majapahit based on Java (part of Indonesia) dominated. Around 15th century Islam arrived. Malaka (historical city in Malaysia) was major trading post where Chinese, Arabs, Malays, and Indians traded precious goods. Drawn by rich trade the Portugese came in 1511, then the Dutch in 1641, and the British in 1795. In the early 20th century the British brought in the Chinese and Indian to help with rubber plantations and other work. Malaya achieved independence in 1957. In 1963 the north Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak along with Singapore joined Malaya to create Malayasia. Singapore withdrew in 1965 and became an independent republic.


Malay language is a mix of Sanskript(from India), Arbaic, and English. Islam is the offical language. Islam was brought in by the Muslim South Indians, and Muslim Gujurati's (from North India). The Malays control the government and the Chinese control the economy. Malaysia made up of 13 states.

Day 27 & 28: Farwell to Singapore...Hello to Malaysia

Day 27: Singapore (aka...Lion City) is composed of Chinese (76% ), Malay (14%), and Indian(10%, most from South India). Singapore is one community, but each of these groups still strongly maintains it's culture as there is a Little India, Chinatown, and an area that Malays live. I spent the day on Sentosa Island next to Singapore, and went to go see the 'Images of Singapore', where it displays the different communities that make up Singapore, Chinese, Malays, and Indians. Then I went to Lau Pa Sat (Victorian style Hawker center, they have all different kind of food stalls there), I tried some Kacchan, basically it's Chinese fruit and jelly cube looking things with mounds of ice on top drizzled with syrup and coconut milk and it is was goooody! I tried some of the Chili crab, Lasak (noodles in curry sauce, very popular dish here and very good), and Singaporean style noodles. The people are very much into making sure you clean up after yourself, as twice I was sitting down and eating and was relaxing after I finished my meal and as soon as I finished my meal, there was a service worker ready to take my tray. FYI...there is free internet access at the airport!!! Day 28: I arrived in Kula Lumpur today, there is alot of greenery when I arrive and what struck it was the the Islamic influence in the architecture of the buildings. The make up of the people is similar to Singapore, where there are Malays, Chinese, and Indian populations here. It is not as modern looking as Singapore.

Thanks Linda for the heads up in Fiji, I am still debating on going there. I'll see how the situation is in the next couple of weeks. Thanks, I did try the Lasak, it was very good!!!!!