Malaysia - Penang and Langkawi

So yes, I got to Penang... It was a really nice place! I was only planning to stay for a few days, but ended up staying longer. I met some awesome people there, and had a GREAT time! Well, after finally finding my way into georgetown (Id started walking the wrong way, before finally biting the bullet, and getting a taxi) and ended up at the Reggae Mansion hostel on Love lane. Nice place, and it turns out that a couple of people id met in KL had decided to go to the same place as well....

So yes, the first day, I hook up with one of them, a bloke called Clint, and Candi (an Aussie id just randomly pulled in with my charm and good looks *coughs*), and went up to Penang Hill. I was going to go there anyway, but they happened to be leaving at the same time, so I thought f**k it, why not. It was really nice up there...the views across penang were amazing, and it was just a really nice place to have a wonder around, and just soak up the scenary (and cooler air).

After that, I just headed back to the hostel and chilled out. Found a cheap bottle of vodka-ish stuff (7rm - $2.20) and a bottle of apple juice to hide the flavour (2rm - 80c), and a nice chilled beer, and chatted and played guitar till the small hours of the morning!

So yes, the next day I didnt do much, I walked around a bit, and sampled the food on offer. The food in Penang I should mention is phenominal. There is everything. Malay, Indian, Chinese, and its all ridiculously cheap. Also I discovered Jack Fruit, which are probably my favorite new fruit...Also I ran into a cool New Zealand / Indian Couple called Subesh, and Lucky, whove educated me in some amazing Indian food. Roti's are probably second below Laksa as my favorite dish over here...Also, a really cool German girl called Johanna. And bizarely a few french blokes who recognised me from Fremantle!

The next day I was considering getting a Scooter and driving around Penang...I almost did it too, except Im not very good at mornings, and id missed Johanna, Subesh, and Lucky by 30mins, so I walked around Penang a bit more, visted the museum, went to a few temples, stuffed myself full of amazing food, and washed it all down with fresh coconut juice. Its a hard life...

Met this cool bloke called Wan as well. He was a 50 year old Singaporian bloke, whod been a pilot in the army, before retiring, and had decided that he didnt want to be stuck in one place, and had gone around Asia for two months travelling...excellent bloke. He kept coming out with all these really deep and meaningfull sayings too. Ill have to try and compile the Little book of Wan one day I think. On top of this, he was a really good guitarist and singer, and its always nice to have someone else play guitar for a change! So yes, chilled out with him for a bit, and this other german girl, Carolina...

So yes, the next day, although I was going to cut across to the Perhintian islands on the east coast, I decided to go with Carolina to Langkawi instead...problem is, again, mornings. Didnt wake up again until 30mins after shed left, So thought fuck it. Ill go anyways. its only a small place...

Pah! Place is massive. Really nice though...a bit built up and resort like, but its got some cool beaches here. Never did find Carolina again though, but thats my fault for not having an alarm I suppose! :)

So yes, Ive just spent the last days here...im 100m from the beach, so ive just been mostly relaxing. The owner likes my guitar playing too, so Ive had (quite) a few free beers thrown my way, and a few nights rent etc. Its also had the best crowd of people coming through...everyone that comes in is awesome! I even got roped into playing ring of fire one night, which was really fun, but did actually kill me. I spent the day before yesterday curled up in bed in the fetal position, waiting for the world to swallow me up. I also broke the hinges on the room door. That was it. My entire day. I havent felt that bad in a long time after a night out..

..So yesterday I decided to make up for it by trying to do something useful with my day. There were a bunch of us, Sam (the manager), Lisa, Julia, Joe, and Me who were all talking seperately about hiring a moped and driving around the town, so we decided to all chip and get a car between us...

It was awesome...we drove up to this waterfall, and spent most of the afternoon swimming in this rock pool at the bottom, which was exactly what I needed to beat the heat. It was full of crazy locals though. The water would only come to the bottom of my thighs, but these kids were jumping in from 20ft up this bloody cliff. Mental Bastards...

Then we went over to Monkey Beach, where we chilled out and did a bit of sunbathing, looking out over Thailiand. Then we went around the island to this Hot Spring place, and then to Black Beach, which is where the sand is black (ish) due to the granite in the rocks, and some other minerals apparantly. I think its probably more to do with the massive cement factory 1/2 a kilometer away over the water, but never mind! :) So yes, had a look at that place, then went round the night markets in Kuah, the capital of the island, where I tried Mangostien (awesome), Some sort of pancakes (awesome), some real nice barbequed fish (awesome), noodles (awesome), and Durian (not so awesome. Smells like...actually. It smells like leeking gas, with a slight hint of pinapple).

So thats that...i was going to go to the Cameron Highlands for a few days before going home on wednesday, but I need to go into the bank on monday to sort some money out and I dont think ill have time. I want to be back in KL for Tuesday night, just incase something goes wrong with travelling, and I need to get another bus, or a transfer or something. To be safe essentially. Buggered if Im going to tear up another bloody plane ticket!

Thats okay though, because Julia is back in KL studying at the moment, and Lisa is flying out of KL at the same time as me, with the same people, so we'll all catch up in KL for dinner or something (and probably a bevvy or three!). Worryingly she goes to Amsterdam, and I go to Heathrow. And she lands in Amsterdam at 8am, and I land in london at 5am. So maybe im going to be going to Amsterdam instead...luckily she says she has a spare bed for me, so that could actually work out better. :) Maybe ill get on that flight anyways.. :)

So yes, one more night here, one more day on the beach, and then im back home! Get the red carpet ready guys! :)

Malaysia Baby!

Finally! They let me out of Australia! I can already hear the collective nation crying... :) What was that? A massive loss to Australian music..? I thought so too! :)

Anyways, because England is wet, and cold, and just an all round miserable place to be in from all accounts, I decided to go to Malaysia for a few weeks to check the place out. I did actually try and go to New Zealand, but apparantly they wouldnt let me travel because its too easy for me to skip back into Australia on a tourist visa, and dissapear. Who makes these rules, I have NO idea..

So yes, thats one more ticket wasted. Malaysia on the other hand turns out to be an awesome place. And cheap(er than australia by a long shot!) too. Somehow on the last night in Australia, I managed to get through nearly $100 on christ knows what. $100 will last a week and a half if you look after it.

So yes, got into KL, and ended up at this really cool backpackers in China Town called Reggae Mansion (they played Reggae once.. :P). I was a bit apprehensive, id booked myself into a 24 bed dorm because it was the cheapest room. Now, backpacking has taught me that this would be in a cramped 2x2 room, with some rickety Bunkbed..

...Nope. It was a huge huge room, and each bed (6 on each wall, 2 sets high) was a queensize double. Probably the best bed ive had in two years. They went back into the wall, and had a curtain you could pull across and everything. The people there were awesome too. Grabbed the ol' Gweetar and played for free beer on the first night, and that was that! Met too many people, because I cant bloody remember the names of any of them, but a great group!

I obviously walked around and saw all the sights as well, the Petrona towers, the museums, the parks. Chinatown, the Markets, etc. The parks were really beautiful..I met this really cool argentian couple as well, who were as lost as I was and we all explored them together....and the food. The food is ridiculously amazing, and really really cheap. You go to the street venders, and it costs 50p. :)

This blog isnt making much sense, but as the travellers amongst you are possibly aware, Asia is basically an assault on every one of your senses, and quite impossible to explain, and though Malaysia appears (so far) to be less hectic than say, Hong Kong etc, its DEfINATELY asia. :)

Now ive headed up to Penang today. I got the bus up (30ringitt), and enjoyed the spectacular scenary out the window..half the mountains look like a giant has come along, and taken massive chunks out of the side. Pretty cool stuff...

Im in Georgetown for a few days now, then im going over to Langkawi I think..Set myself up on an amazing beach for a few weeks before my trip back to sunless, good beachless uk! :)

Melbourne, Melbourne, Sydney, Melbourne, Immigration, Melbourne

So yes, the final outcome of the passport debacle was that I sent away for a new one, which stupidly, goes to the High Commission in Canbera, who then send it off to the High Commission in Wellington NZ, who THEN send it off to London, who THEN send it back to me! What a bloody palava...

Anyways, I did it, and then just had to wait basically. So I go and watch paul play footy, helped him and Phoebe move into thier new house, found out that Ikea, if you sign up for thier free card, give you free tea and coffee. As much of it as you want, and bloody cheap (but nice and big portioned) meals as well . $2 for fish and chips and veg, $4.50 for a plate of meatballs mash and gravy. Cheaper than cooking! so went there quite a few days after speaking to immigration.

Then after that, Alex is driving up to Sydney to try and get some work. Ive sold my amp to a bloke the other side of sydney, and was a bit concerned about getting my money through, and so think sod it, ill jump in. Moneywise it was a bad decision. Id forgotton that Sydney just evaporates your money. You dont walk in a shop and youve spent $50 somehow..

But I did meet up with my mate Nancy, who Id met in Fremantle, one night. We just went to a bar, had a few drinks, caught up on the past year...It was really good to see her! then I won all my money back id spent that night on the Fruit Machine (put in $10 and won $40), then caught up with my mate Dom, who I also knew from sydney, and his flat mates. He left the monday just gone..

That was a good night. It was ANZAC day, where every australian celebrates thier victory (? I always thought that nearly everyone died in this battle?) in Gallapoli by getting absolutely wasted from 6am to midnight it seems. Its always a good day in Sydney, and I thought hell, ill capitalise. Unfortunately, everyone else had the same thought, and there was about 30 buskers per metre. I did make a fair bit of cash though, which was good. Then went and met up with Dom in this pub, and ended up being up on stage there with my hat down earning even more money, and also drinks.

Then the curse of Sydney struck, and I ended up with $50 the next day, which after $20 worth of train fares and $10 worth of food to get back to Alex and our mate Raj in Horsely park, seemed a bit annoying! Never mind eh?

So yes, after that I booked a ticket back from Sydney, and am back in Melbourne. Had to wait for paul to come in from work to get back into thier house, so I ended up going to watch the Avengers at the Cinema, which is an awesome film, if only because of the over the top explosions and fights! :P

Anyways, My passport has finally arrived. Ive managed to pull the whole chip off, where it had the sticker saying 'please peel off', so hopefully that wont cause any problems. Other than that, ive got a ticket to Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia booked tommorrow, where I plan to spend the next 3 weeks on a beach!

So yes, Ill keep you all posted, but looks like this is the last entry of Stottydoessydney, and the first of StottydoesKL :)

Bloody immigration

So yes, I get to the airport, give them my ticket, looking forward to the next step of my adventure, and the bloke says I need to print out the ongoing ticket. Not a problem, although time is ticking by. I run to the jetstar desk, print the ticket, run back.

Bloke then gets his boss. Now, Apparantly because the ticket I had from Christchurch in a month was (Well, is) going back through Melbourne Tullamarine, it apparantly didnt count. Also there wasnt enough time on my passport for the visa to be valid.

I explained quite clearly (for once) that the reason I was going to go to NZ was to GET said passport,, and then I could get a new visa, but it wouldnt matter, because I wasnt going to australia, I was going to MAL-AY-SIA. Like it says on the ticket.

Nope, apparantly this wasnt good enough. They also point out that my visa is about to run out, so I cannot stay. Anyone else out there seeing anything ridiculously stupid about this situation? *I* point out that I know, and THATS WHY I HAVE THE TICKET TO NEWZEALAND! (at this point in my minds eye im slamming the stupid woman behind the desks face into the table, but Im staying nice and calm). She says that I cant use the ticket to NZ because its comes back through Australia. *I* say yes...THEN on to Singapore, and THEN onto Malaysia. The other two bits on the ticket. Im not just going there and back again. 

Nope, nothing. Ive had more productive conversations with my tea cup. So after chatting with an immigration lady, who told me to go down to the office first thing on tuesday, because its a bank holiday and immigration is apparantly open for everyone when theres the promise of a beer and a barbeque on, and get it sorted out.

So yes. Thats it. Back to pauls I go...It was pretty good actually. I get to see more of him and Phoebe before I leave, but bloody stressful. On top of that, Air NZ took my airfare twice, and it took me 1.5 weeks to get it back....

So yes, que 3 weeks of immigration fun. Sorted out now though, which is all good....

The Two M's, Mildura and Melbourne

So after farming I went into Mildura for the weekend, and caught up with my old mate German Chris who id met in Red Cliffs last year..It was pretty cool, I went out, did a bit of busking which went really well out there. I even got about 3 offers to play in bars, but unfortunately my visa was running out and I didnt have time...Then after busking I met up Chris, and had some drinks.

The next day I managed to run into another old friend, Jake, who I met in Red Cliffs last year, and actually travelled to perth with which was a nice suprise! I was supposed to meet up with beers but didnt have time in the end, which was a shame. I met up with Benji from Broome, and Dan from Mildura too, so yes. It was a busy few days...It was nice catching up with everyone, but equally nice to get the hell out of there!

So to Melbourne I went...It was good to be back, although Alex wasnt taken with the city. Hes more of a Sydney man I think, but then again theres no accounting for taste.. :P. The first few days I stayed over at my friend Ruth's (who I met in Broome) house and caught up with her, which was pretty cool. Did a bit of busking, and made my plans to go home...

Which basically, because my passport was running out (It had 3 months left) and the only place you can sort out your passport in Australiasia is New Zealand, I thought a month in NZ was the only logical choice. Then onwards to Malaysia. Then home. Bosh, Job done.

So with this in mind, I catch up with my mates Paul (welland, from back home!) and his Girlfriend / almost wife Phoebe for a few days, put my amp on Ebay, because theres no way I can safely carry it around Asia. It would die.. Go to a party with alex and my mate from Melbourne Dave round my mates neil, Chandler, and Jess's house, dance and barbeque the night away. It was a fucking awesome party, and really good to see everyone again..I even got offered a 60% discount on a hooker (at $160) at this brothel in Wellington which this blokes mum owned somehow...Gotta admit, thats the first time thats ever happened!

And went off to the Airport the next day, where everyone lived happily ever after....

Adelaide

So yes, as I was saying in my last post, I went round my mates Reece and Alex's house in Adelaide. My original plan was to get there and do lots of busking, because it was the fringe festival. This didnt work because partly the people of adelaide arent actually impressed by anything. In fact, there was this bloke I was watching, balancing on a ladder, juggling flaming knifes, and stripping down to his pants, and noone even clapped first of all! It was pretty funny. The bloke (who was english) was like 'oh come on! Its taken me 2 years of practice alone just to balance on the ladder, not to mention the juggling, AND! im stripping! What does it take to impress you people...CLAP!' .

So yes, that says it all. They did clap after that, but when my depressing folk music is up against stripping, balancing knife jugglers, I was onto a loser really. I got a bit of cash, but nothing like the money I was hoping for, so yes. I went to plan B, and spent 2 days getting pissed and having barbeques around Reeces house. I think this is called Job Hunting, yes? (it sounds boring, but it wasnt. Its just there wasnt much more content to it than Goon, Ice pops (as ice cubes. Can I get an 'Oh yes!'), burgers, movies, and catching up on old times (thats one year ago.. :) )

Anyways, yes. Job Hunting. It was definately job hunting, because I rang up a farner I worked for last year, and got me and Alex (Gosbee) a job picking mangos on his farm!

It was pretty cool. Just outside of Red Cliffs (I know I swore never to go back, but what can you do??). Colignan. There was nothing there but the farm basically, but we could stay on the farm, and it was a pretty cruisy job (although it broke alex a bit, as hes used to doing 3 days on 3 days off in an aircraft office now I think). I got a 4x4 and a bucket, and Alex got the chance to drive a tractor...Ken the farmer offered me the job, but I thought its going to come in a hell of a lot more handy for Alex than it is for me now. Ill just pretend I did in the future! :)

So yes, that went on for 10 days in the end. On our day off, this bloke Dennis took us out fishing. Turns out hes the luckiest man alive..he was saying at one point how hed put $2 in the pokie (fruit) machine, and got $4k out of it, then he'd won $160k on the lotto, and then $1.6million. THEN he'd won a boat..and this bloke. Well, he just looked like a farm hand. Certainly not a millionaire, so when we went round to his little cottage (which he got for free), for him to take us fishing, there was a boat there. Which he'd won. And a brand new Hi-lux. And whilst he was fishing, he was saying we should all go and get pissed next weekend, but oh wait. No, he couldnt because he was picking up his brand new Mazda from town...So yes. He really was the luckiest man alive! :P

Good bloke though,...he drove us around the national park too, showed us a few of the sights. Its a shame we had to go, but the job ran out...narrowly missed Flower Picking, which I dont think I would ever have been able to live down, despite the fact they were 'spikey MAN-FLOWERS' according to the farmer :P. The other farmers daughter didnt particularly want us there in the end though...shed got friends with the two german girls who were working in the packing shed, and kept them on, and kicked us out. Still, it was good while it lasted...

Also met some cool people. On top of Dennis, there was Bob, a 65 year old Abalone diver, who was keeping up with 20 year olds picking oranges, mental bloke. He didnt look a day over 40 either...it was only when he mentioned that he was going to collect his super (annuation) in a few weeks that it clicked, and Jay a crazy french guy! He was only there for a few days at the start, but he is definately added to the growing number of french ive met that are actually cool people, and not in the slightest bit selfish and arrogant. In fact, I now know more good than bad french, so perhaps they really have changed! :)

Coober Pedy

Coober Pedy, or White Man Down Hole in the local aboriginal translation, is a beacon in the desert. They have nothing for hundreds and hundreds of kilometers either side apart from flat scrub and dessert. Then suddenly you see these piles. Then next thing you know, youre in this tiny place, full of opal miners..

It was also where Mad Max and some other space film was filmed, and you can still see the giant space craft sitting there in town! Also, because its the hottest place in australia, where temperatures in summer regularly exceed 53c, they all live in underground houses..they have an upstairs bit, and then dig into the rock underground to make mansions that they can live in at a comfortable 25c all year round.

Unfortunately we didnt have enough money spare at this point to stay in an underground hostel, but we went in a few underground houses and the underground church.

There is also a pile where you can fossick for opal, because the miners have taken out all the big bits, and dumped the rest of it. We were barking up the wrong tree first of all, just sieving through rock, when this twister sprang up, took our water bottle, took alex's hat, and nearly took mine! (it did break the crocodile band off it though. It still needs re-gluing!). So alex, who wasnt going to lose his hat for any bloody reason, chased after it, and it had landed on this big lump of quartz crystal. So he thinks 'hmmm', hits the thing with a hammer, and finds a bit of opal inside!

So we grab a few bits of opal, and made our millions, and now live on the moo..oh, alright, they were only tiny bits, but it was pretty awesome non-the-less! That was it really, we packed up after that, and headed down into South Australia..

Stopped off in Port Lincoln for a little bit, then drove all night through this thunderstorm (the lightning was hitting 15m each side of our van. Bit hair raising!), and went to my mate Reece and Alex's house...