Back in Action, now with photos

Sorry if the last post was a bit on the bummer side. Just like anything, travel has it's ups and downs, and I was in a down phase when I wrote it. I haven't written since then because I've been having a fantastic time in the past week, doing way more than I can possibly tell about here. But it's been great. That being said, I am still good and ready to come home. I just arrived in Singapore this afternoon, and I have three days here before I fly home. I'm so excited to come home again!!!! Singapore is an odd place compared to the rest of SE Asia. I haven't seen much yet, except that it's very modern and there is lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of shopping. Aaaandddd....It's not as clean as everyone makes it out to be! I expected gleaming and glittering without a speck of trash to be found, but that's not the case. THERE IS TRASH ON THE GROUND IN SINGAPORE!!! And I have gum that I smuggled in from Malaysia. Naughty! I'm writing this from a coin operated computer. You plunk in coins, and the things turns on. How odd is that? Since I last wrote, I have been to two great places. First was Cameron Highlands - Malaysia's biggest hill station. It was right up my alley - green, peaceful, lots of farms, and a tea growing center. I spent a lot of time just relaxing there, reading, taking walks, drinking tea, writing, and watching nightly movies at the guesthouse. (If you haven't seen Little Miss Sunshine, RENT IT NOW!!) I also got to visit my first tea plantation; something pretty exciting for a tea junkie.

Boh Tea Plantation

The highlight though had to be the Butterfly Garden, where they have hundreds of really big butterflies hanging around, and dozens of exotic creatures in cages, including rhinoceros beetles, snakes, tarantulas and scorpions. The man that worked there clearly got his kicks from freaking out tourists, and he made us hold pretty much every critter in the place, and not always just with our hands. I got to wear a (live) millipede as a necklace and put a huge scorpion on my bare shoulder. I guess its not as bad as the poor bald Dutchman who had to put the scorpion on his head. I actually get along pretty well with bugs, but it tested the limits of what I could handle without turning into a squealing little girl. And it was totally fun!

Leaf bug

Those are all live butterflies!
A very rare specimen indeed - a bisexual butterfly. Notice the two different wing patterns.

My sexy new milipede necklace, like it? This felt just as creepy as it looks.

I'm smiling, but inside I'm freaking out!

I left Cameron Highlands after 4 days to go to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. There were a few other tourists on the bus, but being tired and in an anti-social mood, I avoided starting any conversations for the entire ride. Shortly before it was time to get off, I overheard some of them asking the bus driver how to get to a certain area of the city, which happened to be where I was going also. I reluctantly forced myself out of the anti-social hole and offered to share a taxi with them -- best decision I could have made. It's funny how little things we decide to do can totally affect what happens afterwards. If I had kept to myself, I would have probably ended up spending much of my time in KL alone staying at a creepy guesthouse, but instead I had five great days staying in a lovely guesthouse with some great company - Merethe, Janne and Morden from Denmark, and Patrick from Colorado. The only bummer about meeting good people when you travel is that you eventually have to say goodbye, with no guarantees of ever meeting again. I was really sad to see all of them go.

Kuala Lumpur...KL...sort of an interesting city, but not my favorite by any means. The Petronas Towers, which are the world's tallest twin towers, were definitely a highlight. They are absolutely enormous. My first thought upon seeing them was "Wow, they are f'ing huge!" (Sorry for the cursing, but it was really the only thing way to describe it.) And, they are quite beautiful on top of it, especially at night all lit up. Unfortunately you can only go up to the 41st floor as a tourist. I think you have to own an oil company if you want to go any higher - there are 88 stories in total. I learned a whole bunch of other neat facts, but they are jumbled in my brain and I don't want to write anything wrong so I'll leave them out. Check wikipedia if you have time - there is some pretty interesting stuff there about the politics of setting records for "World's Tallest Building." It's not nearly as simple as you would expect!

The other highlight of KL, of course, was Thaipusam. I'll save the details for when I am able to post pictures -- and YES, I was able to get some great photos of all the masochistic feats that go on. And YES, I saw it all, up close and personal - guys carrying huge peacock feather shrines, putting spears through their cheeks, and hanging oranges and coconuts off of their skin with fishhooks, all walking for 14 km and up 200-odd steps. I even got to see them come out of their trances, one of the most fascinating things I've ever seen. I have so much to say about Thaipusam, but I will save it for when I can give it the proper attention and post some photos. I know, I'm such a tease!

The coolest thing though, was that we met a lovely family at the festival - an Indian man named Mohen, his wife and 3 children - who told us all about what we were seeing and what it all meant. Merethe and I also went to the Thaipusam homecoming procession, where we bumped into the same family again by complete accident (although I think we were meant to), and they took us to an area along the route where the local transvestite prostitutes get all dressed up and dance to Indian drumming. It was AWESOME, one of the most memorable moments of my entire trip. Then the next day, Mohen took us to a Hindu wedding reception where we got to eat great food and pose for photos with the bride and groom. A great example of why Malaysia is so wonderful - the people here are some of the most hospitable I have ever met.

I have nothing but wonderful things to say about Malaysia. Everyone should come here - it's such a fantastic place!

Ok, I'm running out of time on this computer and I have no more coins, so I'll wrap it up. Lots of crazy photos to come soon!