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KL, Phuket, and Chiang Mai
Here’s a quick update because it’s been two weeks since I’ve written anything and it could be a while before I have time to write anything more. Kuala Lumpur I flew from Langkawi back to KL for a few days to take care of some errands, the most important of which was getting a 60-day tourist visa for Thailand. I slightly fouled up the application process my first time at the Thai embassy – I didn’t have a photocopy of my passport – and the embassy was closed the following day because of a national holiday, so I stayed in…
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Langkawi
On a hot and bright Monday morning in Penang, I caught the 8:30 Langkawi “fast ferry”, a simpler alternative to flying or taking the bus. As I learned that morning, the term “fast ferry” is a euphemism for “massive speedboat”. A bit before 9:00, about a hundred travelers boarded the boat and as we left the dock, everyone was in high spirits, looking out the windows, pointing, laughing, smiling, and taking lots of photos. However, the overall mood of the boat’s occupants was about to change very quickly. As we left Penang and accelerated to full speed, the bluish skies…
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Penang
For some inexplicable reason, it took me a little while before I got into the swing of things in George Town. I’d say it took me a solid 48 hours before I was starting to feel the city. I don’t have a good reason for this other than maybe the weather was getting to me; if it wasn’t hot and humid, it was raining. But I’ll give credit where credit is due: in the evenings in between torrential downpours, it’s very pleasant here. If it’s not too muggy. The art walk is what turned it around for me. In the…
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Middle of Malaysia
Taman Negara The minibus ride along the winding highway from KL to Jerantut was pretty uneventful, though I did have an unexpected moment of nostalgia along the way. At one point, I looked up from my book (On The Road, funny enough) to admire the countryside and was greeted by an expanse of rolling hills and valleys covered in dark green trees. A rest stop with a McDonald’s whizzed by, as did a massive billboard for paintball. Involuntarily, I was transported twelve years back in time, sitting on a Greyhound bus making its way along the winding highways in Pennsylvania…
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Kay Ell
Before getting into my thoughts on Kuala Lumpur and what I’ve been up to for the last week, I’d like to share the view I currently have from my table at Skybar: Yup, that’s happening. The Petronas Towers are the most beautiful buildings I’ve ever seen. They’ve got a futuristic look but they still have the classiness of sparkling diamonds. I’m so enraptured by these buildings that they alone could almost convince me to work for Petronas, if only it wasn’t an oil and gas company. Here are some much better photos taken with my camera and tripod: A quite…
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Final Thoughts on Ubud
As I sit here in one of Ubud’s many cafes with my laptop, I’m struck by the strangeness of having to write a summary of a place that has been my home for the last month. As I look up from my screen, my eyes are met by tourists peering through shop windows, locals riding two or three to a motorbike, poor children begging for money, touts yelling across the street at passersby, and even a mouse running up the side of a building, carelessly knocking offerings to the ground. All of this has become commonplace. It’s weird to think…
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More Like Ufud, Amirite?
This post is all about my food and drink adventures in Ubud. Now that you get the joke of the title (also consult this reference if necessary), feel free to groan and roll your eyes. I’ll wait until you’re done. Within twenty-four hours of arriving in Ubud, I was overwhelmed with all the amazing food options and had already experienced some of them firsthand. After that first day, I decided I wanted to try as many places as possible during my month-long stay. Elizabeth Gilbert had it all wrong. Forget praying or loving; Ubud is the place for eating! Drawing…
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Welcome to Ubud
Ubud is an interesting place. It’s the artistic and cultural center of Bali, but it’s also a boutique shopping and fancy spa destination for tourists, but it’s also a yoga and healing destination for hippies, but it’s also a quiet countryside destination for those seeking peace, but it’s also a culinary destination for foodies. There’s a lot happening here all the time. I’ve spent the last few days getting the lay of the land, walking for miles past shops and markets and touts constantly bugging me about taxis or sunglasses or tours. In that time, I’ve decided that I’m here…
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Byeland
Koh Phangan As I predicted in my last post, the rest of my time in Thailand was a pleasant continuation of the previous few weeks: lots of eating, motorbiking, massages, lounging around, reading, and Skyping with friends and family. The one exception to this life of leisure was a hike from Chaloklum (a fishing village on the north coast of the island) to Bottle Beach, a secluded stretch of sand accessible only by boat or a trail through the jungle. The blurb about the hike on my Koh Phangan map simply said the trek took “about an hour” and had…
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Full Moon and Beyond
I’m not going to mince words here: Full Moon was a shitshow. It was the shittiest of all the shitshows. Imagine tens of thousands of kids, many of whom are incapable of holding their liquor, partying on the beach. It was loud, obnoxious, dirty, and seemingly never-ending. And fun! Around 12:30, I snagged a water taxi from Haad Thien (where the Sanctuary is) and set off for Haad Rin. Normally I wouldn’t go to a party that late, but seeing as how I had to make it to sunrise, a late start seemed appropriate. The boat ride alone was almost…
