Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Hello!

Big cheery wave from KL! Blimey its hot again! The heat hit us as we got off the air conned bus from the Cameron Highlands. The journey was a bit of a nightmare to say the least. The roads coming away from Cameron Highlands were ridiculously treacherous. Very very windy mountain lanes with sheer rock face on one side and huge drops on the other and no crash barriers. Silly old me forgot to take my travel pills until we just got onto the bus so they didn't really have enough time to work before the twisty turns. What's more, the driver thought he was lewis Hamilton or someone of sorts. I think possibly as it was the start of Eid he was a bit keen to finish for the day and go to celebrate. As if the nail biting journey wasn't bad enough, he then let on some hitch hikers who proceeded to sit and vomit right in front of us. The bones in johns hand were a little crushed by the time we hit the motorway. I have really never understood why my mum and Nana get nervous when someone else is driving but now I see it! I think they would have genuinely passed out through fear on that journey- they even get a little stressed when Russell (mums brother) drives. I would rather get in a car with Russell with his eyes shut and hands tied behind his back than be back on that bus! But somehow, we did make it to KL! The  guesthouse was easy to find and we were greeted by another odd guesthouse manager. My mother would have been absolutely horrified at the state of his fingernails. I think he may be some hippy type but I don't know why that is an excuse not to wash? Even if he wants to save the planet and not use much water he could still have a decent wash in a small amount of water surely? I am not usually a snob and as friendly and helpful as he was I dont want to complain but I have never seen someone so filthy! I dread to think what his long hair under the hat was like *gulps*.

So after a decent if a little mozi bitten sleep we headed off to explore KL on Friday morning. We had invested in a jar of nutella to have on our toast- great decision. We had a free map that had some walking tours on it so we decided to do one of these as it all looked quite accessible. First thoughts of KL were that it was much more open, spacious and airy than bangkok. Much less grey and oppressive than bangkok. As we walked we saw more of the colonial style buildings we had seen in Georgetown and the mish mash of cultures was quite present still, with Chinese, Indians and Malays all milling around going about their day to day errands. The first stop on our DIY walking tour was the old courthouses. This was very interesting as it was mogul style architecture, like something you'd expect to see in morocco. There we're palm trees too, so quite surreal when we looked up and right behind were the tower block and sky scrapers of the financial city. There were a few buildings like this Arabic one and very beautiful. We then headed across the road where we went to the KL gallery. Here was quite a cool model of KL and a wood carving company who make anything from tiny pieces of wood. Sounds a bit rubbish when I describe it but they were spectacular. Things like the empire state building and the KL towers and you can see into the workshop. All of the pieces seem to be cut with lasers and then they assemble them - the company is called 'arch' if you fancy a google it really Is amazing. After the gallery we had some lunch and on our way to china town saw some very Tudor looking architecture- white buildings with the black beams and a British looking church! We had a mooch around china town before heading home.

Yesterday we decided to get the train to one of KL's main attractions- the Batu caves. The train was dead clean and nice and easy. The batu caves are a spiritual place for Hindus. There is a huge (biggest in Malaysia) golden statue of a Hindu god and many temples, some in the cave and some around. There's also monkeys. Lots and lots of monkeys. As we walked up to the caves there were tons of stalls selling Indian sweets, how could we say no! We got some orange ones that looked like mini pretzels and had a sugary liquid inside. Johns favourites were some bright pink coconut things. Similar to coconut ice we have at home but so sugary! We had to eat them quick so as not to get mobbed my monkeys. The cave itself wasn't over whelming but the temples were quite cool and I'm glad we went. We also witnessed a Hindu family having their car blessed! We sat watching a Hindu man throwing paint on the car and placing limes under the wheels. I went over and asked the lady and she explained they had just bought a new car and its tradition to have someone bless it before you take it home! We headed home on the train. As we were walking over the bridge we saw a few homeless people. Over the past two months I have seen a handful of heart wrenching views and situations which have brought me close to tears. So what's another homeless man? I don't know whether it was the way he looked at me or the dirt on his feet indicting that he probably hadn't appreciated a warm bath in a while but seeing him was one of the hardest. It was like all the others staring at me all at once. The overwhelming emotion hit me walking home and had a bit of a break down! I have been reading up on many things while I've been away but one thing I read which was very thought provoking was a blog called ' a girl called jack' by a girl called jack Monroe. She's not much older than me (25) and writes about food and the struggles some people in Britain have with it- more finding it. Give it a read it really is good. She's actually just got herself a book deal which is brilliant. One of her latest posts was trending on twitter . She wrote about how people could not buy a latte and use the £3 to buy a needy person 22 meals. As I walked home with the sadness from this mans eyes in my heart I promised to myself that when i am home (now I'll be on a grown up salary!!!) I will do this each week ad take it to the local food bank. I love a good earl grey from starbucks but im sure I can spare a few of those a week. Then as we headed past 7/11 we bought some brioche rolls so over then next day or so we had something to give the hungry looking homeless. Since then we've only seen two so looks like the parking attendent down the road has a lot of brioche to eat!!

On returning home we headed out to the main street near us where there are many street food come restaurant type places. Very basic type restaurants. We walked up the street and went into one at the top as john remembered it being busy before (we have been told busy=good food/no food poisoning). As we were flicking through the menu we came across something that made me fly off the handle a little and absolutely horrified. Shark fin soup. We were so shocked. Malaysia has appeared so modern and sophisticated so far. Maybe we were being naive but to find this barbaric and disgusting food in a modern city such as KL was just beyond us. I said to the waitress ' is this real shark?' To which she answered 'yes'. In hindsight I should have not said anymore but my mouth took over a little. The hot headed streak in me took charge and I asked her does she realise that sharks suffer and die because of this practice? She answered me with 'oh no the shark is alive In the ocean' which is really the exact problem with this practice. After that we were a bit put off our food and managed a bit of rice. On returning home john did some research into shark finning and in some countries it is legal (NZ) but you need to remove the fin once the shark is dead and must provide the carcass too. Although I still don't like it, this isn't really much different from us killing a cow so long as all the shark meat is used. But in some and many countries the fin is cut off and the shark put back into the ocean where it can't swim properly and sinks to the bottom where it drowns or gets eaten by a larger predator. Disgraceful. What's more is that some species of shark (whale shark and bull shark) fetch prices such as $20,000 per kilo for traditional medicines in China. Let's hope people come to their senses before its too late.

Today was a bit cheerier you'll be pleased to know! We went shopping! We had planned to go to some botanical gardens and a park but the weather wasn't playing. We went to check out central market instead. They had some wonderful little alley ways full of shops selling all sorts of Asian delights. Lots of batik clothing but we thought we would wait for Bali for that. We got a really cool orange and red Malaysian lantern though for around a tenner and some souvenirs for family at home. On the way home we walked past the hindu temple by our hostel and there was some sort of celebration going on. Every morning we have seen lots of hindus there painting their heads and going to pray. They also go to a sort of pit next door and angrily smash coconuts. Im not kidding! Looks like great fun! They have sacks and sack of coconuts waiting to be smashed and a little guy sweeping up the smashed ones. As there were a lot of people around tonight i asked one why they do this. He udnerstood from my actions what i was asking but he didnt speak english to answer me. He managed to find a kind old man who spoke a bit of english who explained to us that when your mind is busy and full of unpleasant thoughts, the smashing of the coconut represents the smashing and release of these bad thoughts! We thought that was brilliant! I hope the guy from this morning is feeling better as he was there a while! Probably much cheaper than anger management and i imagine a lot more satisfying! After lasts nights debacle with the shark fin soup we thought it was best to steer clear of that street tonight! There's a nandos down the road can you believe it so we had a look there and its still quite cheap so we will go there for some dinner soon.

So tomorrow the next leg of the adventure begins. We fly to Indonesia! Bali is our first stop, seminyak to be precise. We spend around 10 days on Bali and then to Lombok and the Gili islands. Three weeks and then we are home! It is a bitter sweet feeling as I am excited to be coming home for many reasons; seeing friends and family, enjoying home comforts again, and moving to Crawley to start the new job. But at the same time I will be so sad that this amazing trip is over! Time has flown by. But still three more weeks to enjoy in one of the most idyllic parts of the world! We have been told the food is incredible and the culture is strong so we are looking forward to eating, taking photos and johns looking forward to attempting to get me on a surf board! Its my birthday while we are in Bali and there have been hints that something has been arranged so I'm intrigued and trying to get hints about what that is!! ;) we might try and do a batik or cooking course while we are there too. Malaysia has been wonderful, very different to how I imagined and very unique. Definitely a place for those wanting a trip with cultural variety, some great architecture and historical sights, wonderful Indian foods and the comfort of English speakers. Definitely a little love for each of the countries I have been to so far, each special in their own unique way. So very excited to see what Indonesia has to offer.

I hope you are all doing well at home, hope the weather is still being nice! Those of you with holidays and time off coming up I hope you enjoy the break and relax :) lots of love and speak soon xxx