Coasts of Malaysia and Tea Time

 From Langkawi we set sail to the island of Penang where we checked out some beautiful temples and ate ALOT of street food. (Mystery Meat)

 Tom had his fortune told by Auntie Sim and she went on and on about his future marriage(s?) and children (or none?) and his lucky numbers (or ages of his life?) and etc. etc.
All of this was summed up by an underpaid interpreter (Uncle Something or other) in about 6 words.
So in old Uncle style: Very lucky if married if you want to get married, good business stuff and 27,29,41, 44, 57.
Oh and also, most importantly: You should wear a good moustache from ages 51 to 55.
This last one was enough to make the whole thing a raging success for Tom who looks forward to Double Moustache Prosperity in 30 years or so.



From there we travelled to the Cameron Highlands, home of Malaysian Tea.

We really loved CH for all of it's multitude pleasures, 'civillized' and less so, and delicious fresh Strawberry Jam.










High tea at a fancy British teahouse in the hills.

 We toured nearby villages and learned how to use a blowpipe, did some 'Xtreme' 4x4ing and even saw the worlds biggest flower, the Rafflesia ...

 Isn't it... breathtaking!?
Oh by the way it smells like rotten meat and has flies coming out of it at all times!

Actually it was really neat but seemed unreal, as it was nearly a metre wide and looked like plastic.

From CH we travelled to the Perhentian Islands which... were not particually photogenic at the time and included some fun times such as a terrifying boat ride and a tsunami avoidance picnic in the hills. Stories better in person.

Both of us feel really terrible for the people of Japan and it was alot different hearing about such a big tragedy when it might affect all of the people around you. Thanks to our Dads and families who called while we were on an island without electricity and phones.
Our hearts really go out to Japan.


On a lighter note, Chelsea has gone on a cuddling spree and no charismatic baby animal is safe - take note, all you little baby monkies, kittens, puppies, tiger cubs, human and elephant babies... etc.

all in a day's work...

Love Tom and Chel

Ice cream man!

One thing we forgot to mention about Borneo was also one of the funniest - the ice cream trucks.

When we saw this particular one we imagined one back home on a happy little street with the music playing and excited little kids running out to the street in the sunshine.Like this:

Now try to imagine the ice cream truck reality we saw in Kota Kinabalu; picture the same excited kids but on a dim back alley in Chinatown at night, oh and there is still music...but ice cream trucks here play:

The Halloween (a horror movie) theme song

unsettling, spooky, delicious. Ice cream was 30 cents.

Pulau Langkawi (Paradise #1)

Langkawi is Beautiful! We just spent two weeks on the beautiful sand... and that's pretty much it.
We also:
                         
Visited a huge Waterfall.                                   

Got Mugged by these monkeys on the way out.

 (Please do not mention to Chelsea - traumatized.)

 Visited an Aquarium and were attacked by an escaped Malaysian Otter.

We ran through a coi pond to escape.

The zoo kept the otter in the coi pond.

Next to a sign that says they eat fish.

Langkawi is Beautiful.

Today, we left the beach and have arrived in the city of Penang. Tom is grumpy now.

So, hopefully you look forward to more pictures of beaches later in the trip.

Sick in Singapore and Borneo Adventures

 Singapore was a blur of big city, Chel was sick and we breezed threw in a few days, but checked out some cool sights like a botanical garden with more than 50,000 kinds of orchids and a whole bunch of ukuleles!!!

 

 

Arriving in Borneo, we saw that Kota Kinabalu was a big and developed city with huge shopping malls and great food and not everything was exactly as we expected it...
















 ... but then again some things were exactly as expected!


Life was reminiscent of Honey I Shrunk the Kids, and the Jurassic Park theme song was song quite often for a month or so.
















We took a Jungle Safari down the Kinabatanagan River, a huge mud brown crocodile "infested" flow of water that went through some of the most bio-diverse rain forest on the planet. Chelsea and Tom take turns narrating like a PLANET EARTH DVD while we float past families of 8 different species of primates including wild orangutans, monkeys and lemurs and thousand of species of brightly coloured birds. 

Trekking through the jungle at midnight we stopped to hear the growls and trumpets of a herd of WILD PYGMY ELEPHANTS that we stopped to watch through the trees - an unforgettable experience!

 A family of wild Probiscus monkeys at the river side.

 A glimpse of the WILD PYGMY ELEPHANT... Celebration Dance. 

Taking place after our jungle trek discovery!

Just when it seemed Borneo couldn't get any more unforgettable... Chelsea Cowle decides that she will attempt to climb the highest peak in South East Asia. Full stop.

 Super Majestic.

At over 4000m Mt. Kinabalu is almost half the height of Mt. Everest! It was a serious hike to the high camp at 3600m where we stayed the night before ascending the mountain at 3:00am to be at the peak for sunrise. Chelsea and Tom were the second party to reach the top, even before groups of spandexed super hikers who cleaned out MEC on the way to the airport. 

At the top, sunrise was replaced by a torrential downpour and we hightailed it off the summit. But as if we wouldn't get a picture to prove this one!

Rain drops and headlamps of other climbers from the summit... basically the view from the top!

 Doesn't this look fun!?

Quote "Okay. Joseph (our guide) snap it and get us the **** off this ******** mountain. ****."

Yes, we have been taking French lessons on the trip!

 Anyway onto Kuching, the beautiful capital of the other province of Malaysian Borneo.

 

Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre.

 A close relative - the Orangutom.

Discovered in Borneo after Tom didn't shave for a month and made Malaysian children cry at the mall (haha seriously).

 Borneo was a huge adventure and we would go back to see everything that we missed!

With sore legs making us walk like cowboys for a few weeks after the mountain, we decided that the near freezing temperatures on the mountain were too close of a call to seeing snow this winter (sorry) so we headed to Pulau Langkawi in West Malaysia!