BOOGIE NIGHTS!

Taxi from New Farm to Roma Street (at 4.30 am after being out till one, thanks boys!), bus from Roma Street to Gold Coast, plane (delayed 3hrs, thanks air asia) from Gold Coast to Kuala Lumpur, plane from KL to Penang, and taxi from Airport to Love lane.

I know, I know, these days most people would look at this thinking ‘oh shit, thats one hell of a carbon footprint, I better go plant a tree’ but to be honest after 18hrs of transit all I could think was ‘Damn Penang better be worth it’.

And it was. It was fantastic. It was everything I needed and more.

To start off with my hostel was amazing. I’ve heard so many stories about hostels in Asia, from bed bugs and broken air-conditioning to downright hideous sanitary conditions. Red Inn was perfect. Situated on what is touted as the ‘dodgy street’ of Penang, Love Lane, I thought it was actually a great location, walking distance to most things and far enough from the city centre to feel less like a tourist.

On my first day I met two lovely Swedish girls, Hanna and Emilie. They were a good source of knowledge as they had been in Penang for some time, and they were a great source of entertainment too.We went out to Batu Ferrenghi (CHECK SPELLING) the famous beach/resort strip. The stupid bus driver yelled at us and told us to get off the bus about 4 km before our final destination! Jackass. It is not a bad beach, lots of water sports available such as jet-ski, water skiing and paddle boats. For the land lovers they have horse riding, massage and windsurfing. So not really the most relaxing beach but good for absorbing the rays all the same!

I had a man offer to give us a massage who was quite lovely. He was so pleased when I said I came from Australia, ‘A miss, you from Australia?! Australia is all good now, Julia Gillard is in now, with the red hair, John Howard is jogging in Canberra and Kevin Rudd has gone fishing. Yes miss, Australia gonna be good now’.

I was so impressed, but I couldn’t help wondering whether he actually follows Australian politics or if he just has a speech prepared to suck us in!!

All up I stayed 5 days in Penang and it was my first real insight into travelling in Asia on my own. Here’s a few of the things that stood out for me;

Lady boys – They actually do exist! I spotted my first lady boy at the 7-11 on our corner and it took me a few minutes to figure out whether he/she was a woman with really flat boobs or indeed a lady boy. I know now to always check for the adams apple!!

Funerals – There was a street just of China Town riddled with “24 hr’’ funeral parlours AND I happened to witness a procession one day while waiting for the bus. The hearse had a huge photo of the deceased attached to the bonnet of the car and sombre music playing from loud speakers attached to the roof. Bizzare.

3 man – a dangerous yet undeniably fun drinking game introduced to us by the Sweds. A game of chance and two dice, not a good game if you are drinking beer or fizzy drinks.. Albert , the hostel owner, and Wee, Alberts right hand man, got right into it with us a few times and I truly hope it lives on at the Red Inn!! Booooogie Nights!

Hawker markets – the food markets here are just incredible. So many varieties of food from so many different countries. And nothing over 7mr ($2.50 Aus), you can basically get a 2 course meal and 2 drinks for under $10! Fabulous!!

One night I decided to be greedy and tried Eel sushi (not amazing), Satay Ayam (chicken satay, always fabulous), the local Laksa (very nice, different style to the one I make but delish all the same), and Frog Porridge. The frog porridge was actually not too bad. Tasted like chicken...

Rickshaws – I took a rickshaw ride on the last night, pretty much just for the photo opportunity! The man was so sweet and only charged me 5 ringgit and when I insisted on giving him 10 ringgit he started crying! He said that he had just payed all his bills and had no money and was so thankful! 10 ringgit is about $3.50! It’s quite humbling sometimes to think how different our realities really are and how lucky we are.

Mosques – I am not a religious person and I am certainly not a Muslim but I have to say I have fallen in love with Mosques. The ‘call to prayer’ has to be one of the most beautiful sounds I have ever heard. While I was in KL I visited a few mosques and learnt alot about Islam so more on this topic later.

All in all Penang ticked all the right boxes. Sunshine, shopping, excellent food and great people, at a reaaaaaally good price!

Ill be back Penang

Food. Glorious Food.

Some time ago I decided that I should do a cooking course in every country I go to . I absolutely love cooking and trying new things so it seems the perfect fit for me. If I had done this from the beginning I would have done 29 courses by now.. Oh well no time like the present to get stuck into it!

Penang is a place where the Malay, Indian and Chinese societies merge. This fabulous combination creates a hot pot of different cooking styles. At any one of the famous Hawkers food halls you’ll find Nasi Lemak, the unofficial local dish du jour, rice steamed with coconut water, crushed peanuts, cucumber, egg and hot sambal, and Roti Canai, an Indian flacky crispy crepe style bread served with curry and dhal not to be had without a mug of Teh Tarik (pulled tea). Frog porridge and frog leg stirfry sits beside the satay ayam (chicken satay), sushi, nasi goreng and even a burger stand.

In order to learn more about the local Malay cooking I enrolled myself in a cooking class at ‘The Tropical Garden’ (http://www.tropicalspicegarden.com). There were 9 of us, 8 Australians and 1 American so naturally we hit it off instantly. To get us in the mood we were taken on a tour through the Spice Garden. Our fabulous guide showed us an amazing range of ornamental and edible plants. I personally was a bit captivated by the coriander and basil plants! We saw purple chillies, the herb that absinthe is made from, a cinnamon tree and a very old rubber tree.

We were led to the cooking area and it was time to pop on our aprons and get stuck into it! Our class instructor was a lovely local woman by the name of Nazlina. She had four dishes she wanted to share with us, Beef Rendang, Salted Fish Curry, Angle beans Prawn salad and Sambal Belachan. It wasn’t the kind of class where we each had all the ingredients and utensils to make your own, it was more of a combined effort. Naz would show us what needed to be done and we would all take turns doing different jobs.

We learnt to crack open coconuts ‘the lady way’, using your thumb to hold the coconut like a bowling ball and a hammer to crack that bad boy open. Once opened Naz took to showing us how to shred the coconuts. She explained that you can either straddle the machine or ride it side saddle ‘like a lady’.

Naturally I went for the first option.

Apparently in Malaysia your coconut shredding style and ability is paramount to finding a good husband. If the coconut is finely shredded then you are eligible for a good husband. She also showed us how to make Sambal, chilli paste. She had this amazing great big mortar and pestle style rolling block just for the job. Basically we were to crush the whole chillies down to a loose paste. Again a chore that could score you a great man! This time it is based not on the end product (coz lets face it, chilli paste is chilli paste) but on the rhythm of your chilli crushing.

Lets just say I will not be getting married anytime soon!!

Meanwhile we were turning shredded coconut into a chocolate type paste by crushing it in the mortar and pestle. We also had a chain of garlic crushing, lemongrass slicing, vege dicing and meat prepping happening. Just before we threw it all together Naz showed us how to make fresh coconut milk. It basically involved immersing the coconut shreds back through the coconut water a few times and then pouring it through a sieve. Then, one handful at a time, you squeeze the now wet coconut shreds over the coconut water and the end product is coconut milk. It was definitely fun to do but to be fair I will be sticking to the canned option I think!

Together we took turns to combine the ingredients, stir the woks until finally it was time to eat. The meals were amazing, the prawn salad with Angle beans was my stand out favourite and just quietly I did go back for a second serving of the salted fish curry!!

It was a truly fabulous morning, thanks to Naz and my fellow master chefs for such a memorable day.

Oh, and did I mention that the setting for the class had us peering through the Spice Garden on one side and gazing at breathtaking views of the beach on the other?

Bliss.

Massage from hell...

What is it they say? You get what you paid for?

Well I just paid to have my back pummeled like a slab of cow about to be turned into mince.. and for only $7.5

Im in KL so its a great spot for a stupid cheap massage etc.

I decided to treat myself to a pamper afternoon, a fish spa (little fishies eating the dead skin off your feet), a foot reflexology massage and a back and neck massage. The first two were fine (just quietly the fish spa was pretty awesome, ticklish but awesome!!) but the woman who did my back and neck massage may have killed me...

I normally go to a fabulous Masseuse by the name of Nea, a skinny tall and stupidly strong woman from Nurture Studio in New Farm, She hurts me. But in a good way. She swears at me, but in a good way. She cups my back so it looks like I've been abused by someone holding cement tennis balls, but in a good way.

This woman hurt me, not in the ''nea swore at me and pummeled my back but feck it felt good' kind of way. She hurt me in the 'wholy f*&k shit balls whore my back is not a piece of meat and your hand is not a knife' kind of way.

I was squirming and making noises and even a few times said 'STOP you are hurting me..'

But in the end I had to get up off the table and walk away!

Being the idiot that I am I still offered to pay her half the fee we had agreed on but she kept yelling, 'Miss you lay down, miss no you walk away ' so I said 'YOU HURT ME and I am kind enough to be offering you some money, if you do not take it now I will walk away'. Her response? 'miss you sit down I fix you miss'

So I walked away...

And now my back is so sore, no not sore, bruised. I am on a 14 hr flight tonight and my back is so sore I can even put my back pack on.. this is going to be one hell of a flight.

Merrijig – A regular Hollywood location

So I watched The Man From Snowy river and I’m not sure if I liked it.. The story is cute I guess, but for me the only real appeal was that it was filmed in Merrijig using locals as extras and utilising the fabulous horsemanship the town embodies.

Speaking of the locals, they do love to have a chat about the time the ‘movie people’ came to town. If you manage to get one started they will tell you all about their 15 minutes of fame, the horses that were used, the onset scandals and just about any other little piece of gossip they know!

The story line may have left a lot to be desired but the scenery and horsemanship displayed throughout the film was incredible and inspired me to go on a horse trail.

Laura and Christian from Hidden Trails (www.hiddentrails.com.au/riding) came highly recommended through someone at work so I found myself a riding buddy (thanks Maggz!!) and booked us in.

The day was incredible. The weather had been less than favourable the week prior and that morning we woke up to clear blue skies! Lucky US!!!

Laura and Christian are a fantastic couple. New to the area they have both been involved with horses for a long time and have only recently decided to fire up their own trail rides company. They offer all types of rides, from 2 hr trails to week long trips out into Ned Kelly Country!

Our ride was awesome. Our horses were gorgeous and very well behaved. We did a simpler ride as neither Maggz or I had ridden in quite some time but I think next time will definitely call for a trickier ride! All the same it was fantastic! We had a moment where we crossed a stream and Maggz’s horse lost balance but recovered VERY nicely!

After the ride we had a fabulous little morning tea with

Tim Tams and tea! YUM

All in all it was a perfect day, followed by a BBQ in the spring sun at Will and Maggz place, thats two things in one day.

BOOOYA!!

Things to do...

My 5 months stint in the Victorian High Country was coming to an end at it was high time I got into tourist mode. 5 months of work, 4am treks home through the valley from Changue Road with Sean and Team Sammy, drunken day trips to Mt Buller with Kazz and Mon, cook ups will Will and Maggz, golf and puzzle solving with Fi, late nights drinking pinot noir with Sylvain and Michael and many trips into Melbourne to see Allan left me little time to explore the local area.

With my spare time I got educated. Yep.

I learnt to ski, I learnt to drink red wine, continued to learn to drive and learnt to use crutches for the first time on the snow (but thats a story for another time!).

Excuses aside one week before leaving I found myself cramming in to tick off my list of tourist essential ‘things to do’.

1 – Day trip through King Valley wineries and Millawa cheese

2 – BBQ in the spring sun

3 – Watch ‘The Man from Snowy River’’ and ‘Ned Kelly’.

4 – Go for a horsey ride a’la Man from snowy river

5 – Have a steak at the Hunt Club

So stay tuned, keep an eye out and open your ear holes coz there will be a few stories to follow

xx

Flight ME5FNR to Kuala Lumpur now boarding...

My suitcase is a nightmare. It is currently sitting in the holding cabin of this plane and I’m quite certain that if the customs officials were to find reason to open it they would be amused to see what is inside.

There is sanitiser gel, berocca, 3 types of mosquito repellent and anti-diarrhoea tablets sitting alongside my anti-histamines (for my allergy to the cold) , heat packs and cough lollies. They’d find singlets and shorts, thongs (jandals, pluggers..) and a hat, sitting atop 3 beanies, 3 pairs of gloves, two scarves, a neck warmer and a pair of legwarmers. Next to the bathers and beach appropriate onsey there is a pair of ironed black working pants and a black vest. In the outer section of my suitcase they will find ‘the folder’, full of the paper bits and pieces important enough to take this trip with me, but not essential enough to relax in the comfort of my passport wallet. My resume is in this folder, refreshed, translated and ready to impress. If they searched deeper they would find ‘old faithful’, my Lonely Planet - Europe on a Shoestring, also known as the Bible, a book that I long ago realised was more a friend than a written publication. Old Faithful is still an adolescent at a mere 3 years old but next to the younger and much less used (at this moment in time anyway) ‘Lonely planet – Malaysia, Singapore and Borneo’ she looks tired and worn. Together they represent two vastly different parts of the world, both interesting and captivating, and both pulling on my backpack straps to keep me in their time zone.

If someone were to ask me right now what my plans are for the next few months my answer would be simple. Look in my suitcase. Here they would find indecision in its most unashamed form. Packed for both the heat and the cold, the poverty stricken nations and the abundant nations, the working holiday and the backpacking holiday, the owner of this suitcase clearly has a few ideas where it would like to be and where it would like to go. It is ready for any eventuality and open to every opportunity, but right now all she can think about is lazing on the beach in Penang, sipping on a coconut and getting a massage, and what flavoured Cornish pasty to get at London’s Kings Cross station.

Three words LOW. COST. CARRIER

Three words – Low. Cost. Carrier.

This has been my first experience with Air Asia and I am certain it will not be the last. So we had a 3 hr flight delay, so 40 peoples luggage was left at the Sunny coast airport, so I missed my connection to Penang and had to wait hours for a transit flight.. I could join the hoards of pissed off travellers, the ones threatening to sue, bitching and moaning that they have never had such a bad flight experience in their lives. But seriously people, 3 words; Low Cost Carrier.

What the hell do you expect when you pay less than $250 for a flight that would cost over $500 with any other airline?

And seriously its not that bad, I actually thought the whole thing was quite funny. Watching the check-in staff as they tried to hide the fact that it wasn’t a problem with documentation it was actually a problem with the plane itself. A fact the pilot decided to share with us 5 minutes after boarding, ten minutes before telling us we had to wait for another hour on the tarmac as the problem had not, it seems, yet been resolved. Shit.

Eavesdropping on the 18 yr old girls who were clearly on their first trip overseas stressing over whether to let their parents know about the delay, “Mum did say to call if there were any problems..” Been there.

Listening to the resounding sigh of relief turn to uncertainty as the overhead speaker lady informed us it was now safe (yes she used the word safe) to board the plane.

Joining in the laughter as the captain announced we were ready for take off and locked all the toilets to the shock of a woman in the middle of doing her lady business. Her shriek followed by the laughter of the entire cabin crew was enough to keep me relaxed!

Kuala Lumpur here we come!