Category: Trips

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Malaysia

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What motivated this?

Well, two things. We’re not really fans of large cruise ships and would opt for something smaller and more focused. “Mekong Delta” came up and not having been to SE Asia thought it would be a great introduction. YouTuber Gary, told of his trip on the Indochine II and I stashed this info onto the bucket list.

Then we learned that one of Rose’s nieces is living in Kuala Lumpur (KL) and that tipped the scales to make a go of it. Visit some spots in Malaysia and then join the cruise up in Siem Reap mid December and be home on January 3rd.

Long flight to Hong Kong and then down to KL but very nice to recuperate with Clare & Paddy in their high rise apartment and especially swim in their 50m pool downstairs.

HKG sky bridge to satelite terminal.
Beautiful 50m pool where we’re staying.
Looking towards downtown KL from the 33rd floor.
A few distinctive high rises.
First dish: Mushroom & kale salad.

Spent the first day adjusting and finding the local restaurants, pubs & grocery store. Then we plucked up courage and headed out to our first tourist stop, Batu Caves. To get around we signed up with “Grab”, the local equivalent of Uber and trusted them to get us to our destinations.

Batu Cave entrance with the large statue of Murugan.

Wikipedia says: Batu Caves is a mogote that has a series of caves and cave temples. It takes its name from the Malay word batu, meaning ‘rock’. The cave complex is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India, and is dedicated to Murugan.

Lots of monkeys around that keep away from you unless you have a bag of food in your hand which they regard as fair game.

Snack time.
Plenty of macaque monkeys on the lookout for food.
Hindu Temple at the base, note the monkey in the foreground.
Photo shoot at the base of the steps.
Looking up the 272 stairs.

At the top you descend a bit into a massive cavern that is open at the top. You are supposed to have your shoulders and knees covered but there is lax enforcement.

Inside.
Temple sculptures.
Some found at odd locations.
Prayer session.

Next door is Ramayana Cave,

Entrance to Ramayana Cave.

a much quieter cave, you have to pay a small entrance fee whereas Batu Cave is free, and the sides are lined with dioramas telling their story.

One of the dioramas story telling scenes.
At the peak of the cave Ramayana getting a facelift.
Do you like Rose’s entourage?
Numerous “take your shoes off if you want to go here” sites.
Ghee Thosai with sauces for lunch.

Next day we headed for KL China Town, starting with an audio visual presentation at REXKL , fun but I needed to be in my 20’s and have an hallucinogenic drug in me to be able to trip out.

Next was Petaling Street, supposedly the heart of China Town but in reality it is a chaotic walk street filled with vendors from all over selling a range of wares and as a tourist I had no idea as to the quality or value of the goods. Watches I avoided but would buy a new wallet if I could tell leather from fake leather and find the design I wanted. Needless to say I enjoyed the sights and kept a tight fist on my wallet.

Petaling Street in China Town.
Continuous string of vendors with plenty of non-Chinese competitors.
Sensory overload.
Why not capture the local ambiance?
Always something but not the item you want.
Rose partaking in the street art.
Kastrui walkway street.
Sri Maha Mariamman Temple, closed to the public.
Burning joss paper in the Guan Di Chinese Taoist Temple.
Inside the Taoist Temple.

After that we had a Carlsberg beer at a food court and could not help capture a local having his lunch.

Local having lunch.

Back in the land of expats, and more specifically the GAA club in KL (Kuala Lumpur), they were having a Father Christmas at their local pub, we tagged along for the fun.

Clare & Paddy’s local Irish Pub.

Here are our hosts having their moment with Santa: Paddy, Aoife, Clare & Aishling.

The pub hosts a Father Christmas event for the kids.
Aishling mesmerized with her new swimming goggles.
Grand parents and great auntie Rose with Aoife.
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Next stop will be the Cameron Highlands and then George Town on Penang Island.