"Got No Troubles, Life Is The Bubbles"

Hey folks,

It is quite amazing to think about the achievements of the human race sometimes, and of nature even more so sometimes! I have seen so many spectacular things over the past few months that it often makes my head spin how it is all possible. But human beings have a unique ability to do things that merely seem impossible, or if not impossible, against nature's will and therefore quite exceptional. The two examples that come to mind the quickest are underwater exploration and space exploration, but since I don't count on joining NASA or being able to go on a public tour of the moon anytime soon, I guess I'll have to settle for scuba diving. And after the past week of exploration, I can say that it is one word... exhilarating!

My home base beach on Perhentian Kecil

Before beginning my scuba diving course to become certified as an open water diver, I was quite nervous because it would cause me to be severely out of my element and there are extra risks involved for a diabetic diver. Add to that all the risks included in the PADI manual and I was beginning to wonder whether diving was for me. The three major risks involved in diving are: holding your breath, squeezes, and decompression sickness. Holding your breath is incredibly dangerous because air is compressed when you are deep underwater and when you ascend, if you have held your breath, that air will expand and cause lung injuries. Squeezes occur when you don't pinch your nose and blow when you are descending because your nose and ears are air spaces and the air needs to released. Otherwise, you can end up with a ruptured eardrum and an uncomfortable healing process for several months. And finally, decompression sickness occurs when you spend too much time underwater and have so much nitrogen in your system that it doesn't release naturally when you emerge from the water, resulting in nitrogen bubbles in your skin all over your body and some painful symptoms. All these warnings got me into worry mode, something further accentuated by my Jewish upbringing...

But once I had my first experience underwater, my fears and anxiety dissipated because I knew I was in capable hands and I would escape not only unscathed, but very enriched for having put myself outside of my comfort zone. Turtle Bay Divers made me feel calm and relaxed throughout the whole experience, and supremely curious and motivated to learn all I could to advance my skills quickly and complete the course confident and desiring to dive at every opportunity. I enjoyed the reading about diving and ended up scoring a 98% on my final exam for the course, my only mistake being one so silly, I have to attribute it to still being half-asleep at 8AM. For those of you who know nothing about diving, this next paragraph is for you. For those of you who have dived before, I apologize for stating the obvious...

The basic equipment for diving consists of a tank, a regulator used for breathing, a secondary regulator as a backup for your buddy if he/she runs out of air or has a problem with his/her tank, a BCD which is like a life jacket but you control the amount of air that it contains in order to adjust your buoyancy and become weightless underwater, a weight belt to allow you to sink to the bottom, a console which consists of a submersible pressure gauge to tell you your depth and how much air you have used up as well as sometimes consisting of a watch and a compass, and a mask, a snorkel, and fins. Once all geared up, you can enter the water by falling backwards off the boat, after you have performed a buddy check to make sure everything is working properly. You can descend either by using a buoy line at the site of the dive, or by doing a free descent if there is not much of a current and you are a confident diver. Throughout the course, I learned how to clear my mask of water, what if feels like to run out of air, how to adjust my buoyancy with breathing (breathing in makes you float up, breathing out makes you sink down) and with my BCD, how to ascend without any air at all (and without holding breath of course), how to hover in one spot, how to use a compass underwater, twenty-five different hand signals to use with my buddy (excluding those used for different kinds of aquatic life), how to share air with a buddy, and how to retrieve my regulator should it come out of mouth...

When I started my first dive, my breathing was a little quicker than it should be. I was assured this is normal because everyone is a little stressed when they first adjust to breathing underwater. After all it's not "natural"... By my fourth dive though, I wasn't using as much air and could extend my dive by about five minutes which I was quite happy with. I hope to get even better with each subsequent dive because I know I have big lungs and use up my air faster than others and I want to be able to find a buddy to dive with who won't be mad at me having to surface early! I even found out how to treat low blood sugar underwater (although I didn't get the chance to practice the task) and I developed signals with my buddy if I should need to surface for some food...

The 180kg Humphead Parrotfish

The underwater world is quite incredible, and once past all the skills and worrying about my breathing (and simply surviving!), I took in all my surroundings, plenty of which were completely unique and new to my eyes. I got the chance to swim alongside beautiful coral and tons of marine life including: blue-spotted stingray, cleaner shrimp (which clean other fish like a carwash), blue-ringed angelfish, map pufferfish, titan triggerfish, raccoon butterflyfish, blacktip reef shark (not at all scary!), a school of yellowtail barracuda, flatworms, beaked coralfish, orange spine unicornfish, and a humphead parrotfish (which weighed about 180kg!). Now that I have completed the course, I am hooked and I plan on heading out for a fun dive tomorrow!

I am so happy I took a chance and became certified as an open water diver! It is a great life skill to have and I picked a beautiful location to get the training. The Perhentian Islands are quite spectacular and I will be sad to leave in a few days although I know Malaysia will continue to treat me well and I still have plenty of things to look forward to!

Ciao for now,

Max

P.S. Easy one, but try and guess what song the blog title comes from!

Taman Negara: World's Oldest Rainforest

Hey folks,

So it's been almost a week since my last post and it has gone from very busy to pretty slow and peaceful in the last few days, but it took awhile to get on a comp simply because they are so expensive in the areas I have been traveling to. Nevertheless, I couldn't stay away too long and so here you have the latest account of my adventures abroad.

After leaving the amazing Cameron Highlands, I took a three-hour longtail boat down the Tahan River to the area known as Taman Negara, literally meaning "national park" and home to many rare species of animals and the world's oldest tropical rainforest. I had booked a tour in advance and it ended up being pretty good although I wish I hadn't booked so early because I probably could have just found one by showing up and for a lot cheaper as well. In other words, hindsight is a bitch... When I arrived, I wasn't in the best of mindsets, having been cramped and uncomfortable for the majority of the boat ride in and then having to wait ages for a meal to be set before me even though I showed up at the appointed "dinner time." On top of that, the other people on my tour consisted of two couples who kept to themselves, a family of four who also kept to themselves, two guys from England who were around my age or a bit older but who seemed to me to be complete morons from the moment I laid eyes on them, and then the one guy I was sharing a dorm with. I couldn't discern his age but he seemed to be around 35-40 years old and hailed from Australia. He was nice enough and I ate my meals with him throughout the tour, however, not exactly the company I was anticipating having in the middle of nowhere for a few days! That night after dinner, we had a night walk on a forest path with a guide to show as all the different insects. I actually found the guide to be quite knowledgeable and was excited about this prospect but I was at the back, stuck behind the two English idiots, and couldn't make out a lot of what he was saying. I was cursing the company I was stuck with when suddenly I felt a sharp prod on my behind and turned around quickly, ready for a confrontation with whoever was shoving me. To my complete and utter surprise, I found myself face to face with a weird looking creature, somewhere between a mini-elephant and a wild pig, which I soon was told was a Malayan Tapir, quite a rare sight in the area. This one seemed to be fairly affectionate and kept nudging me with its nose, as if to say to me, "Cheer up buddy, look where you are right now!" I couldn't help but smile at the funny appearance and disposition of the animal and I alerted the rest of the tour to my discovery while snapping a few photos. It really is a bizarre creature and has two different colours, a light patch and a dark patch, supposedly useful for camouflage in making it look like a rock or boulder. We also saw some antelope in the distance from a hyde we climbed up in, and different insects along the way, including a giant spider similar to a tarantula and many different kinds of ants, termites, and other creepy-crawlies. The night walk turned out to be not so bad after all and I went to bed in a bit of a better mood and looking forward to the next day's activities...

In the morning, we headed as a group to the start of the canopy walkway. It is the longest bridge/canopy walkway in the entire world and through increases in its structure over the years, it now stretches over almost 550 metres in the middle of the rainforest, with about eleven or twelve separate posts you can stand on in between the actual sections of the bridge. This bridge is not for the faint of heart or those afraid of heights (I suppose like me, although that fear has dissipated quite a bit) as it rocks back and forth mightily when you walk upon it and it does not feel completely secure. At times, you are suspended over fifty metres above the ground below and looking down is not recommended due to vertigo. There is even one part of the walkway which is like a diagonal ladder, bringing you up to a higher point and causing some people to take the alternate route and cut their journey short. All in all, it was a cool experience, but the novelty of it wore off after the first few parts of the walkway. Nevertheless, it had some great views of the surrounding forest and of the Tahan River from the outposts. After the trek along the walkway, we hiked another gentle incline up to Bukit Teresek, a small "mountain" one and a half kilometres up the path which gave a view of the surrounding area in the national park. I opted to hike my own way down, and instead of taking a boat from the jetty, I took some time to be on my own and hiked an extra two kilometres along a separate path back to my hostel room. I actually ended up being back before the group despite this detour and quite enjoyed the solitude, however brief it lasted. In the afternoon, we took a longtail boat further down the river and stopped after a few minutes at an Orang Asli tribe's village, similar to the one I went to in the Cameron Highlands. This time, however, the blow pipe demonstration was more impressive and there was an explanation and demonstration of how they make the weapon itself and the customs in the tribe for use of the blowpipe in order to find a wife and how the whole hierarchy works. Apparently, a man must go alone into the forest and bring proof back for the chief of the tribe (medicine man) that he has killed something before he can get approval to pick a wife of his choosing. There was also a demonstration on how they make fire, using a special type of wood to start the process and no flint, matches, or lighters. We continued further down the river after our cultural detour and shot the rapids, which was short-lived but fun nonetheless. On the way back, we spent about fifteen minutes at the side of the river with a rope swing and got some refreshment from swimming in the cool water of the river. It was a pretty satisfying day and a great aide in bringing up my spirits...

When I returned to the base, I headed to a nearby market on the side of the road and saw something that peaked my interest. Through all my travels in Thailand and Malaysia, I have heard whisperings about the durian, a large fruit that is quite smelly and not for the average palate to taste, certainly not to enjoy. However, the fruit is quite large and is also very expensive (about $10CDN/kilo) and I have never wanted to pay that much for something that is apparently disgusting. But here, on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, there was a stand that had durian juice for sale, and it was only about sixty cents so I couldn't resist the temptation. I drank over half the cup of juice to make sure I got the full experience but I really wish I hadn't because it caused me to burp continuously the rest of the day and I got a strong taste of it in my mouth everytime I did. It is hard to completely pinpoint the taste of the durian: it's somewhere between rotting custard and a very strong, possibly moldy cheese and the taste is incredibly potent! The aftertaste is more that of a fruit, something like a honeydew, however, it is hard to erase the initial taste from one's tastebuds. I can still taste the durian when I conjure up the image of the fruit in my mind and it has been several days since I tried it! It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience and one I will be happy not to repeat...

Overall, Taman Negara was impressive in some ways, disappointing in others. It felt highly touristy to me and I hadn't expected this. I would have been happier to have had next to no provisions and to have roughed it for a few days, leaving the park dirty and exhausted. The way the whole park works is a little frustrating too, as my hostel and the national park itself are on one side of the river, but all of the restaurants and mini-marts, as well as the office where all of the tour activities started, are on the opposite side of the river, meaning you have to cross by taxi every time you need to go do an activity or every time I wanted to go to my hostel. The journey is only a few minutes long but it is a hassle and costs 1MYR each way, which added up to quite a bit in three days! Nevertheless, the beauty of the forest and the river is still worth the trip and the run-in with the tapir and a chance to navigate the world's longest bridge were unique experiences I couldn't have had otherwise...

The trend continues with every destination I have traveled to in Malaysia being quite different from the last. I am currently situated on the Perhentian Islands, on the smaller of the two, one called Kecil. It is on the Eastern Coast of Peninsular Malaysia and the beach I am staying on (called Long Beach) is a haven for divers and an absolute paradise. The trip from Taman Negara to the islands was quite brutal unfortunately, eight hours in a minivan, where the driver was gearing up so fast my head jostled the entire ride and there was not one happy passenger in the vehicle. After the van, I had a half an hour ride on a speedboat, which was also so cramped and uncomfortable that I got off the boat with that feeling in my butt like I had just been on a bicycle for twenty-four hours straight! I was very happy to get to a bungalow and drop my bag on the ground before collapsing myself. Despite my lack of mobility and activity all day, transportation can sometimes be just as exhausting as a full day's activity! My second day, after purchasing some books at the local book shop, I sprawled out on the beach reading my third of four books I have read in the past week and a half. I am speed reading at this point and will have to buy myself a Kindle when I get home to accommodate my re-established adoration for the written word. Unfortunately, I was so enraptured by Stephen King's prose, I didn't reapply sunscreen and got savagely burned by the sun's strong rays. This has now delayed my scuba diving course a few days but I should commence the actual diving practice and open water dives in two days time, which I am both excited and terrified for. There's a lot of consequences to not being cautious underwater!

My next update will be an account of my adventures exploring the underwater world, and will probably be written from Kuala Lumpur. Until then, hope you are all happy in and in good health!

Ciao for now,

Max

"Thunder Only Happens When It's Raining"

Hey folks,

Malaysia definitely has a wealth of different backgrounds and scenery to offer... I have been to three destinations so far and they have all been notably different in terms of foliage, lifestyle, cuisine, economy, and tourism activities. Langkawi was an island built for tourists: tax-free, expensive, and home to beautiful white, sandy beaches. Penang was also an island but didn't feel like one, full of culture, history, colonial design, and glorious temples. And my latest destination, the Cameron Highlands, well they were like nothing I have ever seen. At times, I felt as though I could be back in British Columbia, surrounded by views of mountains and trees in the forest not terribly unlike the ones I am used to seeing back home. Then there's the landscapes that look like the rolling hills of Ireland, the quaint little area of Tanah Rata where I stayed which looks like a little English countryside town, and the millions of palm trees flanking me on either side on the drive out, making me think like I had all of a sudden stumbled into the jungles of Vietnam...

I arrived on Friday night after a crazy drive through the mountains full of twists and turns that would have made my brother Zack hurl after about five minutes! I'm not prone to motion sickness thankfully, but it was still an unsettling climb up in altitude and it wasn't like other trips where I could nod off and catch up on some sleep, or read a book. The views on the way in were amazing though, miles upon miles of green assaulting my eyes unabashedly. When I arrived in Tanah Rata, I found a hostel that was the cheapest I have stayed at in South East Asia so far, only $3 CDN a night for a decent dorm bed and use of a main lounge for watching any movie from their collection, with over 1500 to choose from! A good start to my stay in the Highlands. Unfortunately, later that night, things took a turn for the worse. The Indian food I had at a local restaurant did not sit well with me and I hardly slept that night due to stomach pains and trips to the bathroom. I canceled my tour in the morning and spent the day recuperating, sad to waste a full day I had planned for activities, but aware of the need to rest or risk getting worse...

The following morning, I went on a day tour which was a little overpriced but I wouldn't have seen the things I did without going on the tour, so it was worth it in my eyes. Our first stop was at a little village hidden in the mountains which is completely supported by the Malaysian government. Apparently, up until about ten years ago, the aboriginals there were complete savages and even still resorted to cannibalism. Today, they have become somewhat more civilized, altering their palate to the tastes of macaque monkeys and wild boar that they catch themselves. They gave us a demonstration on how they catch their food with some poison darts and a blowpipe. Everyone had a chance to give it a try and my aim

The world's largest flower, the Rafflesia!

wasn't too bad at the dartboard on the wall from about 20m back. You have to be careful with the blowpipe to inhale deeply before you take your aim and blow out. If you do it once the blowpipe is anywhere near your lips, you can risk inhaling the dart yourself, dead from either choking or the poison you would soon be digesting soon after inhalation! After our quick stop at the village, we climbed into an off-road vehicle and had a very bumpy ride up a muddy trail for about 500m until both range-rovers got stuck in the mud. We spent some time waiting as they got them free but were told it was best if we walked the rest of the way up the road to the trail head to avoid wasting more time. We then hiked for about forty-five minutes into the middle of the rainforest to view the world-renowned Rafflesia flower. Upon approaching it, I understood why it is so famous. It is the world's largest flower and is about one metre in diameter, if not more. We were told there is one that is 1.3m in diameter in the Cameron Highlands but you have to climb two mountains and over six rivers to get to it so it's probably not worth the journey! We were incredibly lucky to view the flower because there are only two in the entire state of Pehang, and on top of that, they are only in bloom for a period of three days, and this only happens once every fourteen months! In other words, I came at just the right time. After all our photoshoots with the flower, we headed back to the main road, and stopped for lunch before the half-day tour was over and I headed back to my hostel. Overall, a very good day!

Standing in front of the amazing tea plantations!

The next day, I wanted to take another tour but there was no one else signed up for it so I couldn't do it. Instead, I asked how easy it was to do all the activities on the tour on my own and the woman at my hostel was very helpful in explaining a route and what to do. I took a taxi to the nearby town of Brinchang and began my ascent of the trail leading up a mountain to a look-out point over all of the Cameron Highlands, a place called Gunung Brinchang. I had expected the hike to be fairly easy because the signs said it was only three kilometres long, however, I soon found that the hike was very steep, full of climbs over fallen trees and patches of mud that were like quicksand, squelching down a full half metre or so under my weight. In fact, I was so distracted by staying out of the mud, that at one point I looked down at my sleeve to see I had a scorpion climbing up my arm! I very carefully picked up a stick and swatted it off before I became a victim in the middle of the rainforest! I finished the climb in about an hour and twenty minutes (I was told it would take two hours so I was very happy with myself) and reached the top very sweaty, tired, and covered in mud. At the top, there was a watchtower where I got a view of all the mountains and hills of the Highlands, a spectacular sight to behold and worth the trek! I got there just in time because an eerie mist descended as I climbed down from the watchtower, a sign of the storm approaching. There are only two types of weather in the Cameron Highlands. In the morning, it is always sunny and there are blue skies all around. It is a full 10 degrees cooler in the whole region because of the higher altitude, something I appreciated because I could get somewhat of a break from all the sweating in Northern Malaysia! But in the afternoons, right on cue at around 2PM, the clouds swirl in all around you and in many areas, it pours down relentlessly for hours on end. This never changes from what I'm told and is pretty much the norm in the region, something I'm no stranger to coming from Vancouver. I headed down the main road quickly before the rain came, and saw some fantastic tea plantations along the way, along with men working in the fields with some special contraption that cuts the leaves away into a large potato sack. It is said that there are 5.5 billion cups of tea produced in Malaysia per year. However, it is also said that Malaysians drink 7.5 billion cups of tea a year themselves! Therefore, tea is not used as an export in the country and in fact, tea is imported from Sri Lanka in certain areas within the country. The plantations were some of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever witnessed and I could just imagine living in a little cabin perched on a hill overlooking the hills. Life would certainly be a lot simpler...

Today I said goodbye to the Cameron Highlands, much too soon but I had a tour in Taman Negara already booked and paid for so I couldn't extend my stay. Hopefully, someday I will make a return trip to the area as I would like to explore it further and do some more hiking. Right now, I'm sitting waiting for the ferry to take me to a nature reserve situated in the middle of the jungle. The next few days will be filled with lots of jungle exploration and maybe even some rafting. Definitely looking forward to yet another new landscape!

Hope you're all fantastic and update me on your lives!

Ciao for now,

Max

P.S. As always, attempt to guess which song the blog title comes from!

Diary Of A Hungry Man

Hey folks,

So since leaving Vancouver, I have considerably expanded my horizons when it comes to trying out exotic and interesting new foods, mostly in the meat department. I figure now is the time to try it as I travel because I'm surrounded with opportunities to taste something different. This will serve as an account of what I have tried so far:

Boiled Cow Tongue (Israel): I tried this dish several times in my first few weeks in Israel during the holiday of Sukkot. My friend's mother let the tongue boil for hours on end and it was some of the most savoury and tender meat I have ever had the pleasure of enjoying. It was also the first dish that everyone went for! RATING: 9/10

Grilled Chicken Hearts (Israel): This one didn't impress me quite as much. I found the hearts quite chewy and not full of a lot of flavour. With a lot of other great meat to try at the bbq I was at, I didn't find myself too drawn to the hearts. RATING: 6/10

Grilled Chicken Liver (Israel): I tried this several times in Israel, both at restaurants and in people's homes and it became a favourite Israeli dish of mine, especially when accompanied by some hummus and pita! RATING: 8.5/10

Salted Crickets (Thailand): Maybe if they had been coated with some sort of flavouring I would have felt different, but these insects I found revolting and I don't understand locals' inclination to ever eat them or why they would sell them except to tourists. They were also so dry that it took awhile to get down. RATING: 3/10

Raw Water Buffalo With Chili Paste (Thailand): I tried this on a jungle trek in Chiang Mai for breakfast and it was surprisingly very tasty although I didn't indulge in too much of it for fear I would spend a lot of time in the bushes...  RATING: 7/10 

Street Pig Snout (Thailand): Tried this one without even realizing what I was getting.  But halfway through chewing on the cartilage, I looked down and noticed the shape. Not terrible in flavour, but the texture and chewiness were not impressive by my street food standards. RATING: 5/10

Frozen Crab With Wasabi (Thailand): Now I've had crab before, and I've had crab in sushi or sashimi form many times living in Vancouver, but when the woman in Phuket served us crab that felt like it had just come out of the freezer, I thought that she had made a mistake. Maybe that's common, but if it is, I was new to it.  Pretty good but I still think I prefer the cooked version. RATING: 6.5/10

Fried Frogs With Sweet Chili Sauce (Malaysia): Saw them on the menu for just $3 CDN and couldn't resist the temptation. They really didn't seem all that different from chicken wings except that the meat flaked off more like fish. Lots of bones involved but tasty nonetheless. RATING: 7.5/10

Fish Head Soup (Malaysia): Tasty soup I found at a food mall on my way down a mountain from Malaysia's largest temple. Definitely very fishy tasting but there was enough chili paste put in that I didn't mind. Probably would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't so hot from trekking up the hill in the heat! RATING: 7/10

Beef Tongue & Stomach Soup (Malaysia): I tried cow's tongue already in Israel but not in a soup and not mixed with the stomach! The rich Indian flavours of the soup and the delicious French bread that accompanied it makes my mouth water just thinking about it! RATING: 9/10

Venison Fried Kuay Teow (Malaysia): A mixture of white rice noodles, ginger, onions, mushrooms, delicious sauces and spices and... deer? I'd never had venison before but the meat was incredible and the dish was amazing! I only regret that the serving size was too small for my big appetite. RATING: 9.5/10

Durian Iced Fruit Shake (Malaysia): Quite possibly one of the worst tasting things I have ever had, but something I decided I needed to try because of its fame in South East Asia. It is known as an exotic, terrible smelling fruit, but who knew that the smell would translate so well to the taste. I had a good six to seven sips of the shake and the best description I can come up with is a mix between old custard and very strong, possibly rotting, cheese! This is followed up by a slightly fruity taste but the original taste you get in your mouth is overpowering. It stays with you for hours (I know from burping so much after!) and just the thought of it conjures up that foul smell and taste in my mouth again. Never to be tried again! RATING: 0/10

BBQ Sweet & Sour Lemon Glazed Shark (Malaysia): Stopping on the islands for a week, there was a lot of selection for seafood, and although I did feel bad about consuming something I was swimming next to a few hours prior, I didn't for too long because it was absolutely delicious. This was largely due to the fact that the sauce and lemon glaze they coat their seafood in is to die for, but on top of that, shark meat is incredibly tender and when barbequed right, simply melts in your mouth. I would definitely be willing to sample this one again! RATING: 9.5/10

Snickers Iced Milkshake (Malaysia): This isn't so much something particularly native to the Far East, however, it is a nice reversal of the absolute abomination of the Durian Iced Fruit Shake! Despite the fact you could probably find this on a menu in the US, I have never tried a chocolate bar shake before and Snickers happens to be one of my favourite chocolate bars. The shake takes the best part of the Snickers' taste and concentrates it tenfold, also allowing it to last for a much longer time because of the huge quantity they supply you with. I enjoyed every single sip of the shake and I'm glad I discovered it late on the island or else I would have gotten one every day! RATING: 10/10

BBQ Black Pepper Lemon Glazed Stingray (Malaysia): Another island oddity that I thought I would venture to try although this one didn't surprise or entice my taste buds as much as the shark. The meat was not as tender, the taste was not as unique, and there were a lot of bones to avoid while eating the steak, but the black pepper sauce was a nice addition and it was still a good piece of fish. RATING: 7/10

Fish Eye Curry With Rice (Malaysia): This was another case, like the pig snout, of me not knowing what I was actually getting myself into! I was eating at a buffet on a rest stop during my 11 hour commute to Kuala Lumpur and I mistakenly took this thinking it was a ground beef dish I enjoyed in Thailand because it looked similar and the texture wasn't discernible under all the heaps of sauce. As soon as I bit into it, I had the fishiest taste I have ever encountered in my mouth and I had to load heaps of chili sauce on to get the dish down and fill my stomach for the rest of the bus ride. Not a favourite of mine! RATING: 4/10

Boiled Pig Intestines (Malaysia): Not really sure what prompted me to try this one, maybe just because it was the weirdest thing on the menu, but it pretty much was what I expected. Chewy and not much flavour, plus it's loaded with cholesterol... And it's grey... Won't be trying it again RATING: 4/10

Corn Ice Cream (Malaysia): So I saw this the first 20 minutes I arrived in Malaysia and wanted to try it but it was all sold out! Well I finally saw it again my last few days in Malaysia and so it was time to taste-test. And I actually really enjoyed it, kind of like really good corn-on-the-cob but cold and melting in your mouth. It even had little kernels wedged in the ice cream! Another weird flavour for me to tell all my friends I like! RATING: 8.5/10

Bee Larvae (Laos): Didn't want to try this one at all and only did because I thought it was something else. Bitter, rancid juice squirted into my mouth when I bit into it and it was just bloody awful! Not something I will ever try again! RATING: 0/10

Pig Feet (Laos): There were plenty of weird things to try on this Chinese restaurant's menu but these were on the cheaper side and I think I made a wise decision. They were surprisingly tasty, albeit loaded with fat and not sure how I'll be feeling tomorrow! RATING: 7.5/10

Deep Fried A-Ping Tarantula (Cambodia): Only an hour after entering the country, I expanded my horizons once again and tried out a local delicacy in the town of Skuon, tasty fried spider! This one was actually surprisingly better than I expected, baring some resemblance to the crickets I had in Thailand in texture, but the taste was ritcher and a little sweet. Probably not something I would enjoy as a snack on a regular basis but far better than anticipated nonetheless! RATING: 5/10

Ox Tripe With Green Bananas & Morning Glory (Cambodia): Very tasty main course with more than enough tripe to enjoy, certainly more than I have ever had! The combination with the bananas (not sweet but kind of a chalky texture) and the morning glory was great! I would definitely eat it again and thoroughly enjoyed it! RATING: 8/10

Fresh Sugarcane Juice (Cambodia): Enjoyed some of this at a little stall in a tiny village in the countryside, about 15km outside of Phnom Penh. The woman made it right in front of me after I watched her skin the sugarcane herself in her backyard. She even let me have a go at peeling so I contributed to the beverage! Not overly sweet considering and it has a very nice aftertaste. Would enjoy a repeat tasting in the future RATING: 8.5/10

As I continue to broaden my food repertoire, I will add to this entry!

Ciao for now,


Max

Penang: Jewel Of The Orient

Hey folks,

Not too long since my last post but Penang has been so interesting and full of experiences that I had to log some of it now while it is still fresh in my mind. Tonight is my third night here, and I am taking it easy and doing some reading, something I'm latching onto again now that I'm on my own. But my first night in the city was quite interesting and crazier than expected.

It started out with a great meal of fried rice and fried frogs at the local food mall. I spent fifteen minutes trying to decide what to eat because there were about twenty places to choose from, all affordable and seemingly pretty tasty. Eventually, curiosity for something abnormal and new won out and I tried some frog. It really didn't taste too different from fried chicken, except the texture of the meat was more similar to fish as it came off in flakes. Still worth the experience! After stuffing my face, I headed to the area where the bars were concentrated, all offering happy hour specials which were decently affordable considering the taxes Malaysia imposes due to their disapproval of alcohol. While I was enjoying a margarita, a group of about thirty Aussies shouted for me to come join them and feeling a little bit lonely, I took their offer and went and sat down with the rowdy bunch. It turned out they are all in the army and are doing some of their jungle training in Butterworth, a nearby city with an air force base. Several of them were completely nuts but they were quite fun to hang out with and they were buying me drinks and food so I stuck around and went to a few bars with them. After a few hours, I snuck away when they became a little too belligerent and headed back to my hostel.

Khoo Kongsi clanhouse, the grandest in all of Malaysia

On Wednesday, I started my day early and had a full day of walking around Georgetown set as my task at hand. I started things off with a visit to the nearby pier, where I found it a bit of a strange sight to see the crystal clear blue waters considering how much of a mainland city Georgetown seems to be. In only twelve hours, I had almost forgotten I was actually on an island! Next, I headed over to Fort Cornwallis, the largest standing fort in Malaysia. The fort was intended as a defense against the pirates, Kedah, and the French because of the Napoleonic Wars, however, it has never actually been engaged in any battles. It is also home to a large cannon called the Sri Rambei Cannon which traded hands between the Netherlands, Indonesia, and Portugal before the British finally placed it in Penang where it currently resides. My next stop was the famous clanhouse, Khoo Kongsi, the grandest in all of Malaysia. In 1894, the clanhouse burned down, allegedly struck by lightning, however, the Chinese believed that it was due to its resemblance to the Emperor's palace, which provoked the gods. It was rebuilt ten years later and still seems pretty magnificent to me in its present form, the architecture fairly intricate and heavily ornamented. After a brief nap at my hostel, I headed back out for a late-afternoon meal in the area of Little India, a several-block region in the heart of Georgetown where you can hear Indian music blaring from the video stores and you can waft scented candles and the frying of samosas. I found an amazing restaurant where I chowed down on butter chicken, garlic naan, samosas, pakora, and about five different dips with a rich variety of spices, all for under five dollars of course. After walking around for an hour or so, I retired for the evening, exhausted from the heat and activity of the day.

Kuan Yin bronze statue at Kek Lok Si Temple

Today, I left Georgetown to explore another area of Penang, Air Itam. On the way, I got off the bus near the local stadium and found a hidden flea market my hostel had warned me about where I picked up some electronic accessories I was in need of. The flea market was really like any other, although at this one there were plenty of vendors selling a strange assortment of iced tea drinks. After the market, I headed for my actual destination, the awe-inspiring Kek Lok Si Temple, the largest temple in Malaysia. Penang seems to be all about having the biggest and best when it comes to historical sites! But this temple surely couldn't have been surpassed, as I could see it as soon as I got off the bus before I climbed the hill for twenty-five minutes to reach it. The sheer amount of time and effort that must have gone into constructing such a massive temple is hard to imagine and they still add on additional buildings to this day with the limited funds they receive from people buying souvenirs and using the cable car to reach the highest point. At the highest point is one of the biggest statues I have ever seen, named Kuan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy. The statue stands 30 metres high and is made of solid bronze. After wandering around the temple for an hour or so, completely famished from the steep hills and blistering heat, I returned to the lower part of Air Itam and had a bowl of fish head soup, an interesting lunch to say the least. The plan for the afternoon was to visit a place called Penang Hill, known for its cooler temperatures and its botanical garden, but unfortunately the bus that is supposed to go there wasn't running and so I had a relaxing afternoon instead. For dinner, I continued my experimentation with new foods and went to an Indian soup stall where I ordered beef tongue and stomach soup, which was absolutely delicious! I will continue to keep trying weird foods every chance I get!

Next stop is the Cameron Highlands tomorrow, where I will be staying in a quiet little inn known for their strawberry tea and scones. The area is supposed to be reminiscient of the rolling hills of Ireland and I'm looking forward to some hiking in the hills and the cooler weather (it's a full 10 degrees colder!).

Ciao for now,

Max

Lazing In Langkawi

Hey folks,

So it's now been almost a week in Malaysia and it has been quite the mixed bag so far. I started things off with a minivan ride down from Krabi last Wednesday to Langkawi, an island on the North-Western tip of Malaysia that is known for some of its white-sand beaches, tourist hotels, and duty-free shopping. On the way, I met and became travel buddies with two girls from Manitoba who were sharing the minivan with me. Because of the change of plans with scuba diving in Thailand, I was heading to Malaysia a couple of days early and didn't have a place booked for the first two nights in the country. Neither did the girls, so we decided to check out what Lonely Planet had to say and found a backpacker's place near the main beach and main road on the island. After a somewhat lackluster meal of fried noodles (which we got because they were cheaper than most of the $5 meals in the area), we hit up a bar where I introduced them to the wonderful world of sheesha with one of the hookahs they had there. Despite all the travel, it was feeling like a pretty good day and it was nice to have some companions to talk to. Unfortunately, when we returned to the hostel, things took a turn for the worse...

That night, I tossed and turned due to the fact that I felt like I was getting bitten all over. In the morning, after only a couple of hours of rest, I looked myself over in the daylight and realized I had been bitten at least fifty times, twenty-five bites which were concentrated on one spot on my right elbow. This worried me right off the bat because it looked reminiscent of the bites I had two summers ago from bed bugs. This hostel had been one where I had forgotten to check the mattress and by the time I was coming to these realizations, I wasn't at the hostel but on a tour, island-hopping with the two girls. To make things worse, not only was I preoccupied by thoughts of impending costs for laundry and the hassle it would cause me, the island tour itself was the worst tour I have been on so far in my travels. Our boat driver didn't speak a word of English and there was no actual explanation of what places we were stopping at. Our first stop was at a lake called The Lake Of The Pregnant Maiden. I assumed at the time that there was a story behind the name but there was no one to tell the story to us and the lake itself was a little too warm and not too impressive-looking. I would have been happy to stop there for maybe 20 minutes but we were stuck there for an hour before our boat returned to pick us up. Next, we had a stop at an island with a nice white sand beach. Unfortunately, the weather turned when we were there and it was overcast and a little on the chillier side. On top of that, I have seen much nicer beaches already in Thailand and so this one paled in comparison. Finally, we were off to do the activity that had been the draw for me for the tour, eagle feeding! But once again, my expectations were too high as we didn't even stop but simply drove by an area with lots of eagles in the sky and there was no feeding involved. There was supposed to be a fourth stop but it never happened. All in all, despite the cheapness of the tour, it wasn't worth the money I spent on it. When I got back to the hostel, I checked the mattress for bed bugs and was relieved to see they didn't exist there. The woman at the front desk assured me that the bites on my elbow looked like ant bites and apologized, telling me that the previous guest in my dorm bed had brought food up there and she had tried to rid the area of ants but had obviously not been completely successful. My bad day started to look better with this good news and we went to the night market in the area where I found some delicious food for dirt cheap, a welcome treat after a disappointing day. The girls were also nice enough to share a double bed room with me that night so I didn't have to brave the dorms again. The next day, I went to the local beach with the girls and then said my goodbyes before heading down the road about 5km to my next hostel.

The next place I stayed felt much different, and although it was more expensive, the extra cost was worth it. The surroundings were much quieter and they had a nice library where I found a book that I had wanted to read for awhile. I've spent the last few days in lazy mode, down at the beach the first day (but decided against it after that because of lots of jellyfish) and then by the pool the following days, spending nights in the common area watching movies and going to bed early. The solitude has been nice, although the past few days have been the most homesick of my seven months away from home, maybe due to lack of activity or just the realization of how long I actually have been away from Vancouver. Nevertheless, the time alone has given me the opportunity to go on a run to the tip of the island (where I was followed for several hundred metres by a group of monkeys), to finish an entire book (which I haven't done since my first week in Israel), to explore the area on my own at my own pace, and to do lots of thinking about the future. There were a few spots I could have checked out on Langkawi for tourists, namely Seven Wells Waterfalls and the Langkawi Cable Car. But for one, the cost of a taxi there and back was grossly inflated and a motorbike rental was a possibility but I didn't feel comfortable riding by myself with no one there if something happened to me. Second of all, I have seen plenty of waterfalls in the past few months and they are starting to lose their allure, and the cable car although cool is expensive and quite feasibly a tourist trap. Last night, my hostel put on a delicious free dinner consisting of biryani rice, chicken skewers and green beans and it was great not only for the quality of the food, but for a chance to meet lots of backpackers because everyone was there for it. I sat around with several people my age till late at night discussing experiences traveling so far and getting some tips for my future months ahead...

Today, I made the ferry trip over to Penang, another island south of Langkawi known for its central city of Georgetown where I am now staying. The plan for the next few days is to exhaust my feet by exploring the city by foot. I already found a great little food mall where I tried frog legs for the first time tonight. And yes, they do taste like chicken...

That's all for now. Don't have too much concretely booked for the rest of my travels now, which is both a relief and a bit daunting as well. Lots of opportunities present themselves and I want to make sure I choose wisely. Then again, life's about not being afraid to make a mistake or two, right?

Hope you're all doing well and I leave you with a list of some cultural differences I have noticed so far in Malaysia...

Ciao for now,

Max

Cultural Differences In Malaysia:

1. Corn: Right off the ferry entering Malaysia, I was greeted by the smell of corn. It seems the residents here have a fascination with the vegetable and use it for pretty much everything. So far I have seen several different types of corn on the cob, corn used in pastries and desserts, corn tea, corn juice, and corn ice cream. Not sure if this was just a Langkawi thing or exists all over Malaysia but time will tell...
2. Movies: Censoring in movies on television here is rampant and can be quite amusing actually. Not only is any word that might be considered offensive blocked out, cigarettes and alcohol are blurred out and scenes that feature kissing or anything related to sex are completely removed, even if the scene contains critical dialogue to the movie...
3. Women's Clothing: While Thailand was the land of the ladyboys, Malaysia is the land of the burqa. Religion is all of a sudden quite apparent all around me and I am reminded on a constant basis by all the women who are covered up in any situation. For example, several women took their kids into a kiddie pool at the lake I stopped at on my island-hopping tour, but didn't show any skin. They simply went in in all their clothing, whether it was several layers, jeans, or a burqa...
4. Bugs: I thought I had started to get used to the bug situation in Thailand and although I got the occasional bite, it didn't bother me too much. But in Malaysia, the bugs have a fervor I can't quite describe and I've suddenly got more bites than I would ever care to have on my ankles, knees, hands, wrists, elbows, and lower back. Not only that, it's no longer just mosquitoes but ants and bed bugs I have to be cautious of... 
5. Language: Although it's hard to notice when it's being spoken, Malay is quite similar to English when written out, at least for some words. I have noticed so many signs that have English words, but spelled in peculiar ways, mainly due to Malay not having the letter "c". Some examples are: klinik (clinic), ais krim (ice cream), and karbohaidreit (carbohydrate)...

Hard To Be Crabby In Krabi

Hey folks,

One of the beaches on my island-hopping tour

So the past week has been an interesting one... It was the start of travels on my own, things didn't exactly go according to plan, and it was the first time I stayed in one place for more than three days for the past month. Starting with traveling alone, this has not been an issue for me so far. Sure, I miss my buddies Goose and Dan and they were a blast to travel with but it has also been nice to have some solitude, to have my own single room, to explore the streets of the city without a timeline or an obligation to others, and to have a chance to meet new people (which I feel is easier if traveling solo). It's hard to say how being alone will affect me after a long period of time but so far, after one week, I'm doing all right. After doing a kayaking tour my first day, I followed it up the next day with a rock-climbing course. The backdrop for the climbing was magnificent, the course being held at a place called Railay Beach which is one of the nicest places in Krabi and in Southern Thailand. I realized after a few attempts that I'm getting a lot better at rock-climbing after having done it once already, and confidence is a big help when inching up a rock face at heights of 20 metres. Getting down is still terrifying for me, however, as you have to essentially lean back off a cliff and trust in the person belaying you on the ground. I also did an island-hopping tour of four smaller islands this past week, which was maybe the best deal I have had yet in Thailand. For a day where I was driven to the beach, chauffeured around on a longtail boat, given a delicious buffet lunch, unlimited bottles of water, and snorkeling equipment, 400 Baht ($12 CDN) is not a lot to pay! The sun was ready to make an appearance as well and was shining down the whole day in all of its glory, as if to say "I know you've missed me, well here I am!" The rest of the week, I have been lazing around the hostel, exploring the neighbourhood a little, and getting chores done like passport photos and finding more insulin. My original plan was a little different...

I planned to take a scuba diving course a long time ago and it is something I have been looking forward to for a long, long time. I know how many amazing diving spots there are in Malaysia so I wanted to be certified to dive there before arriving so that I could take advantage of the amazing sites around the country. However, things don't always go according to plan. Because of the crazy weather in Thailand, tons of people were stranded on the islands, thousands trying to get off of Koh Tao, the very island where my scuba diving was supposed to take place. This concerned me and so I called the diving outfit and asked them, "Is everything okay over there? Do you have water, food, electricity, all the essentials? And most importantly, are you still running diving courses for beginners?" They assured me that things were getting back to normal and that boats were running to the island. The people at my hostel told me it was a bad idea to head to an island where people were being evacuated, especially because that very day, the government had sent the only aircraft carrier in all of Thailand to rescue 700 tourists! But based on what I was reading online and what Ban's Diving Resort had told me, I was ready to go anyway. I wasn't ready to sacrifice my dream of scuba diving!

Fate had a different idea... I booked my ticket that day for a bus to the ferry terminal in Chumphon and a ferry over to Koh Tao, but the next morning I awoke to find out that the flooding in Krabi (where I was staying) had caused major damage to the main bridge in Phang Nga Bay and the bridge had collapsed! This bridge is the only way by land to exit Krabi and the gateway to all of Northern Thailand, and so my options were now either to fly somewhere close to Koh Tao (which would mean a flight, a bus, and a ferry, plus a lot of dough!) or to take several ferries and a very indirect route (which would take 24 hours or more). It seemed that it was time to give up my scuba diving dream and so I called Ban's and asked for a refund on my deposit, which thankfully they were able to give me. Because I had already extended my visa in Thailand for the course, I decided to take a few extra days in Krabi to relax, and that leads me to now...

Having a week to spend in one sole location has been quite nice. Things have gotten a little boring from time to time, but having a home base and not having to keep packing up my bags every night has been a relief. Now I'm taking off for Malaysia and a whole new set of experiences and I can't wait! I'm ready for a new culture and some new scenery and I'm sure I will find it there!

Hope you're all safe, happy, and healthy and more to come soon!

Ciao for now,

Max