The Puala Pangkor Breakdown

This past weekend we desired a little fun in the sun and hightailed it out of KL to Puala Pangkor – Pangkor Island, an 8 km sq island off the northwest coast of Malaysia. Allow me to break it down: I want to get an early start. So we wake up at:



But Mr. Happy insists his eyes won’t open. So we re-awake at:


A cab refuses to pick us up. So we grab our packs and hoof it here:


At 8:45am we sprint toward the Puduraya bus station to catch the 9am coach. We make it!!



We ride for 4 hours with one break. I pay 30 cents to use this bathroom. Not worth it!!!



We exit the bus in Lumut and board a ferry to Pangkor:



We don't eat all day and enjoy a small snack:



This little boy screams for 40 minutes and makes Mr. Happy mad:

We catch a ride in the Mystery Machine:

Our friends suggest we stay here, where Pavarotti stays:

We decide to stay here, where backpackers stay:



We head to Coral Bay and have the beach all to ourselves.



This guy almost collides with me on his way to climb a tree.



We swim to Coral Bay Island. It’s about ¾ mile there and back. Mr. Happy insists I abandoned him on the return swim and refuses to talk to me for several minutes (I had my eye on him the WHOLE time).

We watch some Muslim girls swim in the berk-inis.



We chillax on our porch.

We watch this sunset.

We go to Daddy’s for all of our meals.



I start carrying this in case I see my monkey friend again.



On Sunday, we get some rain, so we hike to this Chinese temple.


Judging from the sculptures, I’m not sure what they worship, but the Holy Spirit grabs hold of Mr. Happy.

Mr. Happy grabs hold of the camera.

I grab hold of…I will not let Mr. Happy use the camera again.

A Shower without Rain

Today we held a surprise baby shower for our British friend, The Editor. The Editor took the surprise in stride and didn't experience any early contractions. The lunch was potluck and lasted allll day long. I left my apartment at 11 and didn't arrive home until 6:30!

I wasn't sure what to make as my kitchen is ill-equiped to make anything. I finally decided on MerBear's Famous Strawberry Spinach Salad. Unfortunately for my salad, I couldn't find any strawberries at the store. It was at this point I decided to debut MerBear's Famous Mango & Spinach Salad. It's pretty easy to throw together once you get past dicing the mango. I used a head of red spinach, 3 mangoes, and 1/2 red onion. The dressing consisted of the rest of the ingredients I had in the house: some brown sugar, yellow mustard, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, and a bit of chili powder for good measure.

All the food was delicious, but the real hit of the party?

The "Nappy Cake" painstainkingly assembled by our host. It was an incredibe, inedible creation!

BBQ in the Sky

Friends of ours just movod into the Suasana Lofts in KL Sentral and decided to throw a barbeque. Mr. Happy and I haven't been to a BBQ in a long, long time. Back in London the weather is always up in the air (ha, ha get it?) so people generally don't plan them. In Dubai, no one could be bothered to go outside. So we were looking forward to some grilling and chilling.

Unfortunately, the rain decided to fall smack dab in the middle of the Q and forced us indoors, but that was not before I came to the conclusion that the Suasana Lofts is the NICEST place to host a BBQ ever. They have individual grilling areas marked off by a manmade stream on the roof of the building. I should have snapped some more photos, but I was too busy having fun.

The husband ingredient of our host couple is Chilean and he knows meat (that's what she said!). This is all filet mignon. The biggest, thickest, most delicious filet I've ever seen.


We also devoured grilled chicken and kebobs. (Mr. Happy stayed happy with veggie kebobs!)

Along with mojitos garnished with sugar cane.

Formula One

The Formula 1 has come to KL! I've never been to a Grand Prix, but the tv ads promise a fun day in the sun followed by Jamiroquai (the London, acid jazz band. Napoleon Dynamite jams to their song "Canned Heat" in the flick.)
I'm pretty excited. Friends agree to give us a lift from KL Sentral out to the stadium at 2:30. The flag drops at 5. Mr. Happy and I pick up some crazy Vienna bagels at KLCC and a bottle of Thai whiskey hooch at Cold Storage.

We mix the whiskey with some orange and pear juice and make a powerful concoction I call - Formula 2. Then we head out to the race.
The highway is more aptly described as a parking lot. The drive should take one hour TOPS, but instead we are in the car for almost three. Methinks it could have something to do with the fact that Malaysia employs dummies (literally) to guide the traffic rather than real live human beings. Maybe all the road workers wanted to go to the race?

We arrive a little after the start. Rather than shelling out the bucks for grandstand seats, we are in the "covered lawn" area. It's right next to the action and suits me fine.

I try and take a few photos of the cars, but they are too fast for me.

Finally, I get the hang of it...sort of. I want to cheer for Lewis Hamilton, but I can't make out which car is his. I yell for all the reds.

Then the rain begins.

You can basically set your watch to this rain. It happens every day. They should have raced earlier, but the start was delayed so the race could be broadcast on European TV. It gets muddy fast on the grass and people can't walk.

I rescue this couple from a filthy fate.

Finally, the rain stops, but they've decided to end the race. Boo Hiss! They crown Benjamin (no) Jensen Button the winner. Mr. Happy, is not living up to his name.

Luckily, we still have Jamiroquai to look forward to and rain doesn't scare him like these race car ninnies.

We are out of Formula 2 so we grab some food to refuel and head to the concert stage.

I don't really want to watch an opening act, but these guys, Heavenly Seven, are pretty wicked. It's an acapella group that vocalizes the sound of instruments. They are GOOD. They remind me of that guy on Police Academy, only even better (imagine that), and times seven.

Jamiroquai comes on and is great.

We dance and sing and then depart.

Jungle Fever - Part 3

(Note: These 3 Jungle Fever posts are best enjoyed when read in order)

Jungle Dave added a fresh cap to his trade that night and became Chef Jungle Dave. He cooked up a selection of chicken, beef curry, bean curd (for Mr. Happy), and rice. We feasted 'til sundown (though I feasted carefully - the last thing I wanted was a complicated trip to that latrine in the dark).

The night sky was lit by a half-moon which sent a lot of wildlife into hiding. On our night trek, we managed to see some gi-normous ants, the glowing red eyes of something I hoped would stay away from camp, and a large, hairy tarantula. With these images dancing in my head, I headed to my tent for some shut eye.

We "slept" rough on a glorified yoga mat with a towel on top of us. Mr. Happy complained he couldn't sleep. I checked my watch and suggested that might be because it wasn't yet 8:30.

Around 5:30am Jungle Dave "woke" us up. Today, we would hike into the jungle and lay in wait while wildlife came to us. "You must not move!" Jungle Dave warned. "Any motion will scare the wildlife away!" We doused ourselves with bug spray,

We set off on our hike before sunrise, but the gibbons awoke before we were in position. I climbed into my hiding place - not moving, not breathing. I really wanted to see a monkey. Swarms of mosquitoes gathered around me, but I did-not-move. I could see Jungle Dave and he was even more motionless than me. The trainees, on the other hand, had ants in their pants. They could NOT keep still. They waved around their walking sticks, swatted bugs, and even made a flyswatter out of jungle leaves. I wanted to scold them, but I have too sweet a disposition.

The only wildlife we saw were the mosquitoes and some more giant ants. We changed position, but it didn't help too much. We managed to see the trees move from a passing baboon. But we did not see the baboon. Two large squirrels chased each other and Jungle Dave got excited. Back in the States I can open my window and a squirrel will jump in, reach for the remote, and make itself at home. This wasn't exotic enough for me.

After five hours of crouching we headed back to camp. I cut my hand on a tree spike. It was a little bloody, but I was relieved when Jungle Dave reached for a bandaid and not his machete!

Muddy and exhausted we packed our things and started the long, hilly trek out of the camp. Today, the temperature was almost 96 degrees and we took several water breaks.

"What's the oldest hiker you've ever had on this trip?" I asked Jungle Dave while checking my pulse.

"97 years old. He was from Scotland." I kept quiet after that.

Just before we reached the road, Jungle Dave motioned for us to stop. He'd spotted a very rare, very poisonous snake resting on a log. We gathered in close to look.

"Be careful," Jungle Dave warned, "They usually travel in pairs."

At this news, Kim headed off to the car. The rest of us watched as Jungle Dave took a few photos to document the sighting.

"Oh, I am so happy you got to see this," Jungle Dave exclaimed, "Some more wildlife just before you leave."

I'd really wanted to see a monkey, or a baboon, or a jungle cat. But I was happy too.

(Mr. Happy was muddy and happy as we wait for our plane back to Kuala Lumpur)