Saturday, November 13, 2010

Root Beer and Bubble Tea

Malaysia.

When Air Asia added Bangalore to its list of destinations early this year and offered cheap introductory fares to Kuala Lumpur, a bunch of us made a spur of the moment decision to visit the country that was 'truly Asia' during the Diwali break. We didn't realize then that early November is the beginning of the monsoon off-season. It turned out to be quite a blessing because the hotels and resorts were all offering low season discounts.

The Paradiso Bed and Breakfast in Bukit Bintang is a clean, comfortable, backpacker's hostel, which is, interestingly, and initially frighteningly, located above an 'unprofessional' foot massage parlour. The narrow staircase is guarded till the wee hours by overly made-up women in short-skirts hawking their wares making every return to the hotel vaguely embarrassing. The proprietor and the employees of Paradiso more than make up for this inconvenience with friendly service, a convenient breakfast, and useful suggestions about how to spend time in Malaysia.

The first suggestion was a walk through the more interesting parts of Kuala Lumpur. The Islamic Art Museum apart from their regular exhibits was hosting a display on Islamic architecture in India. For me, the fascinating part was the discovery of how big an influence Islam has had in China. Actually, I should have known; after all, the Mongols were all Khans!

At the Bird Park we sheltered from the giant raindrops in the Hornbill Restaurant. This restaurant's balcony is within the walk-in aviary of the Bird Park, so we had three species of hornbill, a hill myna and some really greedy, beady-eyed egrets for company over lunch.

Petaling Street, on the way back in China Town, has all the designers that I have heard of and plenty that I haven't, all made locally. Oh, and I love bubble tea - the original milk tea flavour.

Bukit Bintang is a fascinating place. There was something happening every evening on the sidewalk just across the road from our hotel - a BMX biking competition, a Brazilian martial arts demonstration - on Halloween there was a Count Dracula, two vampires, five Stormtroopers and an assortment of night creatures walking about the street. Oh, and I love root beer.

If Bukit Bintang is the place where things happen, then Tioman Island in November is the place where nothing happens. Colourful fish in clear blue water, white sand beaches leading steeply up forested slopes, lonely waterfalls - paradise. We met a man there who's probably living the retired life that most people just dream of. This man of Punjabi and Malay descent retired from KL to be the caretaker of a shack on Juara Beach, spending his days bumming around one of the most beautiful places in the world.

From one of the world's most beautiful islands, we went to one of the world's oldest tropical rainforests in Taman Negara. The journey to Taman Negara was a three hour bus ride through rubber and palm plantations followed by a two hour panoramic boat ride up the Tembeling River. We had a huge dorm room to ourselves. The pair of tapir we saw on the first night were probably the highlight of the trip. The forest floor is alive with scorpions and centipedes and the trees are hung with webs in innumerable patterns. Actually, maybe the highlight was the tarantula we saw. Or maybe the barred kingfisher or maybe swinging from a tree into the river or maybe the walk through the canopy. Or... sigh! Or maybe it was just the company of Sylvie and Jean-Loup and the plans we made of exploring Nice and Cannes with them.

And then there was Melaka. The best part of Melaka was Jonker's Walk and the visit to the Baba Nyonya museum (the guide, Sabrina, was full of loud, innuendo-laden advice about the matters between the sexes). Of course, there was the Hakka artist whose home studio we walked into. One look at me and he says in Hakka, "You have long earlobes, just like the Buddha. You will live long." There's something comforting about finding someone that speaks the same language that you do in an unfamiliar place.

My visa's valid for a year.... Langkawi, Penang, Borneo!

More photos...