Malaysia

Our past 3 weeks, spent in Malaysia, have been beautiful, relaxing, and uneventful. Our trip to Singapore was quickly followed by a train to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, and a city that easily compares. It nearly tops my list of favorite cities, left behind only by Tokyo and Singapore. KL's claim to fame are the Petronas Towers, a seemingly impossible feat of modern architecture. The twin towers, replicas of the Muslim star, are relatively disappointing in the daylight, but spectacular when lit up after dark. I visited at night with a friend and had one of those experiences when it all sinks in. The pair of us, a Canadian and a Brit who met in Taiwan, laid on the pavement in Malaysia looking at the Petronas Towers and exchanged pictures of the Taj Mahal. It's a charmed life!

From KL we made our way to the Cameron Highlands, a much appreciated reprieve from the heat of big cities. The pink parade, in all of our pink glory, boarded the rickety local bus to the tea plantation. We hiked through the plantation, which was lush, lush green and beautiful......until it began pouring rain and we realized the person responsible for the directional signs was likely stoned when they took the measurements. 2km really meant an uphill 5km. Still, it was a worthwhile hike for the pink parade, if for no other reason than it ended in chocolate covered strawberries, Pringles, and stolen coffee. After the Cameron Highlands we descended into the heat of Teman Negara, Malaysia's 20 million year-old rain forest. We trekked for about 8km and starting sweating like ____________ (insert your inappropriate comment here, Ben!) from the word go. We walked across a series of canopy bridges about 10m off the jungle floor and took in some amazing views. Definitely a cool thing to have done, heat and all.

We rewarded ourselves for all of the walking in Cameron Highlands and Teman Negara by a trip to the amazing Perhentian Islands, where we did the following:


Nothing.

Sweet, blissful, unproductive nothing. Doing more than 1 thing a day became exhausting and downright intrepid, so we were forced to split up our tasks of checking email, getting money and doing laundry over a course of 2 weeks. It was kinda gross. Our laziness was bordering on repulsive, but who can blame us when lazy looks like this:
A hut on the beach, 30 feet from the crystal clear sea, and days topped off with fresh seafood and tropical fruit shakes. A total motivation killer, but in an absolutely fantastic way. Nothing could've made me happier over those 2 weeks then being the unemployed sloth that I was/am.In effort to rejoin humanity, we have now left the islands and find ourselves in Cambodia...on a beach. We're sad, sad excuses for human beings. My excitement to get home is beginning to wear down my travel bug, so Cambodia will be a short trip at under a week. Following this we'll bid our 2 years in Asia farewell with a little shopping in Bangkok and Hong Kong before heading to London, England on May 16th. I'll be visiting my sister, whom I haven't seen since I left the country over 2 years ago. After that we'll head to an as of yet undecided sunny spot for one last hoorah before our most exciting destination yet...CANADA. I can't wait. So much has changed since April 29th, 2005 and I can't wait to get caught up. And speak English, not Chinglish. And pee in a toilet, not a hole. And eat a pita.