Exercise In SE Asia

I used my first squat toilet and I even had to pay to do it. Giant sp!ders and using squat toilets were my two biggest fears about this trip. Previous experience with squatting in the woods ended up with me peeing on myself. I was so nervous about this that I started doing squats at home and read the following article three times before I left: http://www.wikihow.com/Use-a-Squat-Toilet.

Usually these look a little more used and there is water everywhere.

I was about to get on a 2 hour bus (which could mean 4 hours) so I paid to use the bathroom at the bus station. I came precariously close to peeing on my foot but walked away dry. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be though I wouldn't want to use one if I've been drinking. The upside to squatters is that they are easier to use with a huge backpack on than a normal toilet.

When I got to my hostel in Kuala Lumpur and discovered they only had squatters I thought, no problem, I just dominated this a few hours ago at the bus station. Later when I went to the bathroom my confident smile quickly faded when I finished and realized there was no toilet paper. Oh shit. I nervously looked at the bathroom hose and did what I had to do. I walked out of the bathroom with slightly wet pants and one step closer to living like a local. Practice makes perfect?

I later discovered there was another bathroom in the hostel with a western toilet.

I now also carry toilet paper with me wherever I go.

-Kim

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

After Malacca I headed to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. This was the third city of the trip and the third time I stayed in Chinatown....it's THE place to be. Good, cheap street food, a huge market and a lot of hustle and bustle.

Kuala Lumpur is this weird mishmash of rich and not rich. There are lots of shiny, new, flashy skyscrapers popping up in the city and a huge mall selling expensive Marc Jacobs, Salvatore Ferragamo and Gucci goods all of which are surrounded by shabby, run down buildings. The city is much grittier than Singapore and feels more alive.

Of course I had to see these bad boys:

And since they went from charging 0MYR to 80MYR ($26) to go up the Petronas Towers, we went up the Menara Kuala Lumpur Tower instead. It's one of the world's tallest communication towers coming in at 421m tall, just shy of the 452m Petronas Towers.

The view from the top:

Those are the Petronas Towers on the left.

And a little Christmas spirit from KL:

U Can't Touch This

Only Natalie will maybe appreciate this. Laura, Megan, Lynett and Dave....I'm sorry. I had to buy them.

I haven't had the courage to wear them in public yet. I'll start with the internet and then maybe in public when I get to a beach. But they look so good with my Birks and unkempt hair. They are the coziest thing since snuggies. Let me know if you want me to bring you back a pair :)

-Kim

The Boy Who Cried Indifference

So it's 20 hours until I am leaving on a short trip to Thailand to see my sister off on her endeavor to discover every shade of cray the world (or at least east Asia) has to offer. Everything that Ashley has told you about me is absolutely true. I'm not sure what she says, but I can't imagine she would lie, so let's roll with it.

I almost feel bad when I tell my coworkers and friends (which are mostly one and the same these days) that I am going to Thailand for 18 days and when they ask questions or propose suggestions I legitimately respond with "I'm not sure what exactly I am doing, I just know I am flying into Bangkok on the 18th and I get home on the 5th". This is not because I am trying to avoid a conversation, but because I actually have little to no idea what lies ahead of me. Ashley and Kim have done all of the planning and I am along for the ride. Whatever extra entertainment I can provide to the blog followers is a bonus, but as with most things, I probably won't post anything unless Ashley instructs me (just as with this post, is this good enough Ashley?) 

-Kyle

Mosquitoes

Sometimes I like to pretend I'm a hippie and so I opted for an all natural mosquito repellent containing eucalyptus and lemon scents. It definitely did not work. I had about 15 bites in my first 24 hours in Malacca. Aside from catching Malaria or Dengue fever, I consider mosquito bites a mild annoyance that are easily fixed with some anti-itch cream. But then I shaved my legs and this happened:

Alan, the man who runs the hostel I stayed at, taught a few of us how to make a cheap, effective mosquito repellent. Oh, how I love science experiments! First you buy some Johnson's Baby Oil.  Buy the kind with aloe because it'll make your skin extra soft. Then you buy some Dettol antiseptic. You add 5-10 drops to the baby oil and shake it up a couple times throughout the day. After a day or so, the mixture turns into a white semi-solid cream. Apparently mosquitoes don't like trying to bite through oil and they also don't like the smell of Dettol. You'll look like a greased up muscle man and run the risk of getting oil stains on your clothes but so far it seems to be working, especially when I combine it with a layer of DEET.

Now that I have the mosquitoes at bay, I am trying to get rid of the marks on my legs so I don't look like a leper. And so I can shave again. I promised my friends that while I may start to dress like a hippie, I would continue to bathe and shave on a regular basis. 

I started taking antihistamine pills and putting antihistamine cream on them but that didn't work so I went to a clinic in KL. I asked the doctor if he'd ever seen anything like this before and he bluntly said no and offered no condolences. But he gave me some antibiotics and told me to come back if it didn't clear up in a few days. It seems to be working and I look forward to shaving my legs very soon.

-Kim

How I Almost Stole a Monorail Car

One afternoon in Malacca, Werner, Sameli, Christian, AB and myself went to do the river walk. It's a bit like the river walk in San Antonio except less crowded and more open feeling. About halfway through the walk we started following along a monorail track above us. Sameli told us the story of how they spent millions of MYR to build the monorail and had a huge opening ceremony in 2010. Shortly after it opened the monorail started experiencing lots of technical problems, eventually broke and they never bothered to fix it.

As we neared the end of the walk, we looked up and saw the monorail car sitting at the station and decided to go check it out. We walked up two flights of stairs that had a lot of local art hanging on display. "How nice!" I thought. "They turned a bad experience into an art gallery."

We reached the top and the doors to the monorail were open so we got on to explore. I climbed into the driver's seat and noticed several of the buttons were lit up. I looked back at my friends and asked "Where to, gentlemen?" and almost pushed one of the buttons. Then I noticed a low humming noise, thought better of pushing the button and we disembarked after taking a few pictures.

We were sitting around in the shade chatting for about 30 minutes when a lady approached us and asked if we were waiting for a ride on the monorail. Knowing that she would tell us it was broken we jokingly said, "Yes, we would like a ride." "Ok, but you have to go downstairs and buy a ticket first." "Wait, you mean it isn't broken??" She laughed and told us "No, of course not."

Great security they have here in Malacca :) I'm very glad I didn't push that button. And just FYI, the Wikipedia page still says the monorail isn't running: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malacca_Monorail

-Kim

Malacca, Malaysia

I thought I would escape the heat of Singapore by heading to Malacca. (HA!). It was a fairly painless journey except when the locals go running off the bus at immigration, breeze through their special access lane in minutes while you stand at the end of a 30 minute line, you really start to worry if maybe it's common for the bus to leave people behind. I then fought my way through a very packed night market, knocking people aside with my backpack (not on purpose), cursing myself for never taking an orienteering class so I could confidently navigate side streets without a map. But I found the hostel on my first try in the advertised 10 minutes. This is a big accomplishment in my book.

My first day in Malacca I went to breakfast with an Italian named Werner then off I went to explore. I lasted one hour until I headed back to the hostel. I burst in, bright red and dripping with sweat from every pore on my body. "Howwwww do you do this?!" I asked Werner who was sitting at the computer. He replied, "It's the hottest part of the day. You stay inside and explore later." Oh. My problem was I kept thinking "MUST SEE ALL THE THINGS!!" and was going at a frantic pace to accomplish this.

Staying in Malacca was my Backpacking 101 refresher course where I relearned how to do extended travelling. It only took one day to get into my new groove and now my days look like this: Wake up around 9am. Shower. Go to breakfast with friends which can last about 2 hours and do a little exploring. Go back to the hostel and chat with people, look up info about your next destination etc. 2pm go to lunch. 3pm explore, ride bikes, see temples, etc. 8pm go to dinner. More chatting in the hostel or a bar. Shower. Go to bed. It's a much slower, more enjoyable and more manageable pace to live at.

About Malacca itself....it's a lovely city. It is known as the Historic State of Malaysia and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Like Singapore there is a vibrant Chinatown and Indian district. We spent our time walking up and down the river that weaves through town, visiting several markets and temples, chatting with the local firemen and expats, riding bikes by the sea and out in the 'burbs, and eating some DELICIOUS food. It was here that I discovered banana pancakes and even more importantly- coconut shakes.

We had been riding along the highway, which isn't as scary as you think. The drivers seem much more aware of what's going on around them here than back home and give you plenty of room. We had been riding for about 30 minutes when we passed a long line of parked cars. There didn't seem to be anything special happening or any monument or temple around so we backtracked to see what was going on. A coconut shake stand is what was going on. Freshly made and so delicious the locals line up and wait forever to get one. I almost ordered a second shake but  the sun was beginning to set so we had to head home.

If you find yourself in Malaysia, definitely stop in Malacca!

-Kim