#flashbackfriday Pulau Langkawi

Look at me, being all trendy, using hashtags n’ junk. I thought I’d cash in on this trend and use Fridays to take a trip back in time and reflect on past travels.





Pulau Langkawi was an absolute dream ending to our Malaysia trip last December (previous posts 1, 2, 3). We spent most of our time swimming in the resort’s infinity pool (occasionally drinking face-meltingly-strong cocktails in the swim-up bar), reading in the sunshine, eating delicious foods, and marvelling at the wildlife. The one day we set off to explore the island, we decided to take a ride on the huge cable cart to admire the views from the top of a mountain. Not a great idea, really, considering Rufus is extremely afraid of heights. But man, what a rush! And what a view!

We were lucky enough to score a beach-front room at the resort, so the first thing we did after walking through the door was run straight to the back door to admire our view. Incredibly rude of us apparently, as we disturbed a huge dragon (lizard, like the one below) that was chilling out in the backyard. Sorry buddy! We also saw squirrels, Malaysia’s national bird, kittens, and a multitude of adorable monkeys!

penang.

When I got home from work last night, my Rufus had printed a bunch of photos from our Malaysian adventure and stuck them up around the bedroom. It was a wonderful reflection on our trip, and made me realise I hadn’t finished updating the blog! (Previous posts from the Cameron Highlands and Kuala Lumpur.)

Georgetown was a hot, sweaty, delicious, insane mess of a city. I loved it.

I loved the street art in the Heritage part of town (the city has been declared a  UNESCO World Heritage Site). I loved the random bursts of colour throughout the city – the tiles in the photo above (not a rarity), the flamboyant trishaw decorations, the gorgeous fairy lights in Little India. I loved the food – especially the hawker stalls at the night market. It was a disgustingly hot night, and I waited in line for the better part of half an hour, but I got to eat the tastiest Char Kway Teow in Penang. We sat amongst the crowded collection of plastic tables and chairs with our new friend – an American on a motorcycle tour of South East Asia – and shared Tiger beers as we sweated profusely (I’m quite sure the chili in our dishes didn’t help). For dessert, we tried a local delicacy; Cendol, the thought of which makes my mouth water.

On a particularly rainy day, we visited the largest, oldest Buddhist temple in South East Asia – Kek Lok Si. It was stunning. The colour! The detail! The religious statues and rituals surrounding them! It was humbling, and a little overwhelming to be standing in a place steeped in so much tradition, history and importance. I didn’t take any photos inside the temples, as it felt a little disrespectful, but trust me – it was just as beautiful inside as out.

We visited the Reclining Buddha (and took photos with an extremely friendly Indian couple), rode in a trishaw to Little India (where we ate some absolutely delicious, authentic Indian cuisine), we drank a lot of Milo, and we explored the cobbled city streets at length before setting off to our next destination – the beautiful island of Pulau Langkawi.

As hot and exhausting and smelly as Malaysia was, I find myself missing it quite frequently. I hope that one day we can go back.

the cameron highlands.

The Cameron Highlands were absolutely breathtaking. We visited a tea plantation, where we learned about how different kinds of teas are processed (which I found incredibly interesting!); we took a brief hike through a beautiful mossy forest, during which our guide expressed the importance of rainforests and lamented over their destruction; we visited a butterfly farm where we also encountered a pit filled with scorpions; we sat and savoured cups of fresh tea with our newly formed friends from Holland; and we marvelled at the spectacular view.

The weather was so much cooler at higher altitude, which we were so grateful for (even if we did tempt fate during the windy, predominantly blind cornered road up to the highlands)! We stayed in the beautiful Father’s Guest House – which I could not recommend highly enough – and ate delicious Indian food most nights. We were happy little Vegemites.

Next stop: Penang.

kuala lumpur.

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! I hope you had a beautiful Christmas period with plenty of family, friends, and fantastic food – I know I did! It’s been a long time and I’m so excited to share what’s been going on with ya’ll! In my last slices of weekend post, I coyly hinted that we had some big things on the horizon.
Firstly – as you can probably infer from my title – Rufus and I went to Malaysia for a brief holiday. It was absolutely fantastic and I plan to inundate my blog with photos very shortly. Secondly, um, Rufus and I are moving to Melbourne! I was lucky enough to get a job at a Melbourne university (for which I could not be more thankful), and we do love the big, exciting city (as evidenced here and here), so we’ll be leaving early in the new year! I’m so incredibly excited (and nervous, and a little overwhelmed) – I’m looking forward to exploring and eating at a thousand new restaurants and living (and working!) with one of my favourite humans in the entire world, and I fully intend on documenting every single step along the way!

First things first though – Malaysia! Our first stop was Kuala Lumpur.

We ate some absolutely delicious Indian food on the first night, then spent the rest of our time wandering the streets of the city at length, peering through the windows of designer shops in the multitude of fancy shopping malls throughout the city. The food was so wonderfully tasty and spicy – Rufus especially enjoyed eating curry and rice for breakfast every morning! We met some beautiful little animals and saw some awe-inspiring temples at the Batu Caves just outside the city… Oh! And we fed papaya to baby elephants!

That little guy was my favourite! As someone who is very much affected by animal cruelty, I was so relieved to find the elephant sanctuary so environmentally friendly. The elephants are rehabilitated after injuries or run-ins with farmers of the palm oil plantations, and set back into the wild in more appropriate areas, where they are often able to be found by their herd!

We were expecting just another big, dirty city, but we actually had such a great time in Kuala Lumpur! There was so much to do – so many day trips to take – we left feeling as though we could have used an extra couple of nights in the city!

Next up: the Cameron Highlands.