Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Note: I'm posting two today, so don't miss the one below!
East-siiiiide
I've been on the East Coast of Malaysia the last week. First, Kota Bharu, then Pulau Perhentian, then Kuala Terennganu. The east is more Malay, thereby more Muslim and conservative (rural, too). Except on the island.
I am currently in a dark internet cafe in Kuala Terennganu, with really loud computer game sounds coming at me from all directions. I had my interview with a guy at the state's Religious Council yesterday and my flight back isn't until tomorrow. I explored most of the town yesterday. So today I cafe hopped. At breakfast, a Malay man (who had just been horseback riding and was still in his boots) paid for my roti canai and lime juice as he was paying for his. I hadn't spoken with him, but had just been reading. Then, at lunch, a Malay developer/construction guy spoke with me as I was eating (fish and rice, with my hand). And HE paid for my lunch. Wow, small town friendliness I guess! And neither was sketchy!
I met an Australian girl who has been here the last few months, studying and doing an internship at an architecture firm. Sounds like quite a trip: a murder in her building, a suicide, another Austrailan girl nearly kidnapped and hit by a car a separate time. Egads!
She's friends with some Chinese guys who are big into taking 4x4 trips around Malaysia, camping and hiking and is going to set me up with them. It'd be a great way to see the country! And she told me about a great resort on Redang Island here. They stayed for 5 days and 4 nights, went on several snorkling trips, hiking and all the food and boat transfer all cost $100. Not bad! I'm thinking about staying on a beach for a week or so in September...maybe try to write my final paper then!
Tripping me out
I met a guy in Kota Bharu who read my future with some cards (my heart is concerned with money now). And my hands (I'll have a long life). When he looked at the soles of my feet (I was worried they were dirty from wearing flipflops all day!), he sort of laughed and said something in Malay. I asked my friend what he'd said: that I'd go to Egypt. But he'd laughed because he thought that was silly, since I'm an American girl. I freaked out--asking my friend if he'd told him that I had gone, but he swore he hadn't. The guy looked at my other foot and said that I'd go twice. My friend didn't know that I HAD been twice. That totally weirded me out.
The, in Perhentian, I met this guy who said he was there visiting his 19 year old sister who had started a dive shop. I had the strongest sense of dejavu I've ever had. Either someone had told me that he knew someone there that fit that description (in almost exactly those words) or I'd dreamt it. I'm still checking with all possible friends to determine if it was, indeed, a premonition.
This guy, H., is English-Malay and will be starting his Masters at Oxford this fall...to study Sufism!!!!!!! I had a lot of really good conversations with him and his family sounds great. His sister, Sunny, was super nice and cute (and I asked her about her travels around West Africa and Tanzania). There are two younger brothers back in the UK: one talks like Chris Rock and loves hiphop, the other has dreads. He studied at a Taliban school in Pakistan from ages 9-10.5, till his parents got worried at the start of the first Gulf War and took him out.
He'll be in Sarawak (Borneo) the same time I will be, so I think I'll be traveling with him and a Canadian girl he met a few weeks back. Yea!
While talking to him one day, a guy from Oregon joined in. He had converted to Islam after spending sometime in the mountains with lots of different books, trying to find himself/the way. He's living in Saudi Arabia now, married to a Malay woman with 5 kids. He trains the royal family's horses!
Shoeless Jill Jackson
Arriving to the island, most of the accomodation was booked up---well, all the cheap stuff. So I had to hike up and down the beach with my backpack, but finally managed to find a dorm for 25 RM/night ($6.5). Expensive for a dorm, but not for the island, and it was brand new and super clean. Food was expensive, too (10 RM/meal).
The island was nice, but maybe not quite the Paradise that had been described to me. I went snorkling one day but thought that the coral was more brightly colored in Langkawi and the Red Sea. But I did see three sharks and two turtles! (40 RM for the trip). And the guys weren't as sketchy as in Dahab, though there did seem to be some female-tourist/local-guy action going on.
One night it stormed. I love lightning on the beach! And in the middle of the afternoon, it started to rain. It was funny to see all the people scooping up their belongings and rushing to the nearest shelter.
The last night I left my flip flops outside the dorm (they were sandy) and when I went to get them, they were missing! So I have since bought two pairs of flip flops, but both hurt my feet, limiting my exploration of K.Terennganu a bit.
East-siiiiide
I've been on the East Coast of Malaysia the last week. First, Kota Bharu, then Pulau Perhentian, then Kuala Terennganu. The east is more Malay, thereby more Muslim and conservative (rural, too). Except on the island.
I am currently in a dark internet cafe in Kuala Terennganu, with really loud computer game sounds coming at me from all directions. I had my interview with a guy at the state's Religious Council yesterday and my flight back isn't until tomorrow. I explored most of the town yesterday. So today I cafe hopped. At breakfast, a Malay man (who had just been horseback riding and was still in his boots) paid for my roti canai and lime juice as he was paying for his. I hadn't spoken with him, but had just been reading. Then, at lunch, a Malay developer/construction guy spoke with me as I was eating (fish and rice, with my hand). And HE paid for my lunch. Wow, small town friendliness I guess! And neither was sketchy!
I met an Australian girl who has been here the last few months, studying and doing an internship at an architecture firm. Sounds like quite a trip: a murder in her building, a suicide, another Austrailan girl nearly kidnapped and hit by a car a separate time. Egads!
She's friends with some Chinese guys who are big into taking 4x4 trips around Malaysia, camping and hiking and is going to set me up with them. It'd be a great way to see the country! And she told me about a great resort on Redang Island here. They stayed for 5 days and 4 nights, went on several snorkling trips, hiking and all the food and boat transfer all cost $100. Not bad! I'm thinking about staying on a beach for a week or so in September...maybe try to write my final paper then!
Tripping me out
I met a guy in Kota Bharu who read my future with some cards (my heart is concerned with money now). And my hands (I'll have a long life). When he looked at the soles of my feet (I was worried they were dirty from wearing flipflops all day!), he sort of laughed and said something in Malay. I asked my friend what he'd said: that I'd go to Egypt. But he'd laughed because he thought that was silly, since I'm an American girl. I freaked out--asking my friend if he'd told him that I had gone, but he swore he hadn't. The guy looked at my other foot and said that I'd go twice. My friend didn't know that I HAD been twice. That totally weirded me out.
The, in Perhentian, I met this guy who said he was there visiting his 19 year old sister who had started a dive shop. I had the strongest sense of dejavu I've ever had. Either someone had told me that he knew someone there that fit that description (in almost exactly those words) or I'd dreamt it. I'm still checking with all possible friends to determine if it was, indeed, a premonition.
This guy, H., is English-Malay and will be starting his Masters at Oxford this fall...to study Sufism!!!!!!! I had a lot of really good conversations with him and his family sounds great. His sister, Sunny, was super nice and cute (and I asked her about her travels around West Africa and Tanzania). There are two younger brothers back in the UK: one talks like Chris Rock and loves hiphop, the other has dreads. He studied at a Taliban school in Pakistan from ages 9-10.5, till his parents got worried at the start of the first Gulf War and took him out.
He'll be in Sarawak (Borneo) the same time I will be, so I think I'll be traveling with him and a Canadian girl he met a few weeks back. Yea!
While talking to him one day, a guy from Oregon joined in. He had converted to Islam after spending sometime in the mountains with lots of different books, trying to find himself/the way. He's living in Saudi Arabia now, married to a Malay woman with 5 kids. He trains the royal family's horses!
Shoeless Jill Jackson
Arriving to the island, most of the accomodation was booked up---well, all the cheap stuff. So I had to hike up and down the beach with my backpack, but finally managed to find a dorm for 25 RM/night ($6.5). Expensive for a dorm, but not for the island, and it was brand new and super clean. Food was expensive, too (10 RM/meal).
The island was nice, but maybe not quite the Paradise that had been described to me. I went snorkling one day but thought that the coral was more brightly colored in Langkawi and the Red Sea. But I did see three sharks and two turtles! (40 RM for the trip). And the guys weren't as sketchy as in Dahab, though there did seem to be some female-tourist/local-guy action going on.
One night it stormed. I love lightning on the beach! And in the middle of the afternoon, it started to rain. It was funny to see all the people scooping up their belongings and rushing to the nearest shelter.
The last night I left my flip flops outside the dorm (they were sandy) and when I went to get them, they were missing! So I have since bought two pairs of flip flops, but both hurt my feet, limiting my exploration of K.Terennganu a bit.
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hey jill, are u going to be in kuching for the rainforest festival next weekend? will be there too, so give me a buzz so we can catch up - lu sean.
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