Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Pankor, Penang
The first days we used to overcome our yetlag and also to do some site-seeing in KL. But although KL has nice spots, most impressive was the food we found here. Once we have eaten in a fishrestaurant with aquariums full of everything what is able to swim an lying there just waiting for you to pick them out. Fresher is not possible!!! Probelbly we have eaten the most delisious fishdish ever!!!
Also we have done some good bisuness concerning our mission "Cycling against Child-labour" and raised EUR 1000,00 extra. Finally its getting some shape..
I also heve been to a local hairdresser near Chinatown. Not nowing wat to expect we entered a shop which appeard to be a baber-school. It took them almost one and a half our before they were finished with me and most of the time they spend on a lovely massage!!!!!
The student who was serving me wasn't that good at cutting, but she new all about a good massage. It was a piity that you had to sit up in stead of going to sleep..
After a few days it was time to get on our bikes again. Fabienne brought us outside of the city to afoid the buzzy trafic. Finnaly we couldn't avoid it any more: No airconditoning. It was us and the sticky moiserous heat again. In the last three months we have hardly tuched our bike. The few days we did were not that hard. But oh my God... we we compleatly our of shape!!!
It was hard: the heat, our heavy packed bikes and our brand new saddles (on which you have to cycle at least 1000km before they get comforteble).
.At least our route allong the west coast is without any hills and so after a few days we feel better already. And also, beeing used to the traffic of South-America, the traffic in Malasia is not that hard or rude. But man I whised I was was the salesman for all these motercycles. There so many. If China is the land of bicycles, Malasia must be the one for motorcycles. Compleet families they manage to transport on ist, with the yongster in front of daddy or mummy on the tank with his hand on the steer.
Food isn't a problem overhere. It is cheap and in most cases delisious and you can get it everywhere, on every corner. It is not hard to adopt this live again. We are already addicted to it and the three months of Holland seem to be so lang ago and almost like we never have been there. We notice it when we want to speak with the locals. In stead of starting in English we often begin speaking Spanish...???!!! The people are very friendly without almost now exeption. Most of the great you when you pas by and we spend a lot of time waving and greating back.
After three days of cycling we had our first day off at Pankor. One of the islands on the westcoast of Malaysia. It was nice and very needfull for our buts, which were red as a strawberry by then..
Now we have already our second time of at Gorgetown/Penang. This island is a bit bigger and it is als to a good place to lesure a bit. We have found a hotel in Chinatown. Also here you can eat very well and do some internet..... Georgetown, (de capital of the small island Penang) we left behind us with good memories. Moslems, Indies and Chinese live there, as it seems, effortlessly together and give the city it colourful atmosphere. In the early morning, at sun rise, the city gets his wakeup-call from one of the minarets near the mosque. After that China town, where we stayed, is starting to get busy and everyone is preparing their little shop for an other day of business. And there are hundreds of shops. To stroll by the city is a voyage around the world in itself. In "little India" you imagined yourself also really in India. The many Indian people pleading with each other on the street, of course the Hindu-temples, the shops, the sweet smell of flowers which comes from everywhere, the nice restaurants with many kinds of bread, everything. As a white male you get al lot of attention from the ladies over there, with is not unpleasant, most of the times. Your attitude towards that changes dramatically if the lady in case is not a young and attractive female, but something in between. A guy, converted to a girl and has done ?hiss? boobies. These "boy-girls" phenomenon seems to be widely accepted in Asia. A lot of these wide shouldered girls, with bony heads, work as a prostitute. Also some of them were posted in our street at the evening. And especially when I walked alone, the were flirting at me? (Only the thought about it?brrr. ) The last days in the north of Malaysia went quietly. However, the north is much more conservatively and you see the men almost without exception in traditional clothing and the women with head-scarves. And although they were not unfriendly, the certainly were much more reserved toward us.
