Jungles, Beaches&Mountains

If it wasn't bad before, Tyler and I have gone into tourist overdrive in the last couple of weeks. We've spent less time working on our tans (to Tyler's dismay) and a bit more time ticking off tourist sights in and around the city. With that comes some cheesy tourist spots, the inevitable street-food induced sickness, and ultimately some cool experiences!

Last weekend, after both being sick, we thought we needed some fresh air (Stats say that due to the air quality in KL, it's like each person is involuntarily smoking 7 ciggies a day -_-). We jumped on a train, and landed in a forest reserve, FRIM, just outside the city. The reserve's main draw is that it has a canopy walk through the jungle. We arrived on a mission to get in the treetops, walked up the mountain to the canopy and realized we needed to get a ticket at the bottom of the hill...no problem. Anyone who is close to us knows that we are always game for a totally unnecessarily long and seemingly pointless walk (33 km midnight walking race comes to mind?) We walked up, wandered down, back up again, and back down once more. Pros: watching and hearing monkeys in the treetops overhead, getting a birdseye view of a jungle from a rickety canopy and learning that Tyler might not be so comfortable with heights. Cons: Well, who can complain about a day in the park!?

This past weekend was a busy one, as Tyler had a four day weekend, and although I had to work Monday and had Tuesday off, I was in full long weekend mode (perhaps subconsciously celebrating a Canadian Thanksgiving..who knows!?) We started Friday with a typical happy hour, dinner, drinks and as old habits die hard, a night of karaoke. Despite a bit of a headache, Tyler and I were up and off on Saturday to a nearby beach town called Port Dickson. Being as Port Dickson is one of the closest beaches to KL there are lots of resorts and lots of people. We checked into a VERY kid friendly resort and relaxed on the beach, watching the sunset and even caught a fireworks show. Although we both teach, and have quite the affection for children, the sound of 100+ screaming children fighting for a turn on the pool slides on Sunday morning was too much for us to handle, so we checked out, jumped in a cab and were off to Blue Lagoon Beach. Blue lagoon is said to be the cleaner beach area with less people...sounded ideal! Of course there were the mandatory landmarks we had to checkout when we arrived (we just can't resist). Trekking up a seaside mountain to snap a photo of the oldest lighthouse in Malaysia was a bit of a let down..perhaps because the lighthouse was closed, perhaps because we have seen one too many lighthouses being from (Tyler) the East coast..who knows? Quickly moving on, we followed a trail down the other side of the mountain, and through some questionable trails. When we felt we were never going to hit a beach, one just opened up to us...and the novel thing was (especially for Asia) no one was there! There was no one, and nothing; just a couple of kilometres of unmanicured beach all to ourselves! A perfect way to find some peace and relaxation on a Sunday! We later trekked out, avoiding the biggest, blackest snake we've ever seen, hoping we hadn't gotten Dengue fever from all the mosquito bites, but feeling ultimately like we had had a killer day! (Note- We didn't even make it to Blue Lagoon Beach..)

 

 

 

Once we arrived back in KL we met up with a couple of friends who had a visiting friend (always exciting for all those involved)! What was to be a quick bite to eat, then straight to bed kind of night, quickly turned into something a bit more full-blown.After a fantastic meal which, among others, highlighted tomyam soup, satay and bbq fish, we headed to a club called Sky Bar. Our friend Danielle had raved about this bar and had convinced me to check it out, if only for a minute, as I was still pretty committed to getting to bed early. Needless to say this is not how the night worked out. Sky Bar is on the 40th floor, has open windows facing the Petronas Towers and a huge swimming pool down the centre. I think it would be hard for anyone to check out early...So we danced, drank (20rm waters for those with day jobs..) and capped the night with a late night swim. After a pretty productive Monday at school, we got ready for a Tuesday vacation day celebrating Hari Raya Haji     (Feast of the Sacrifice- sacrifice of the best halal domestic animals (usually a cow, but can also be a camel, goat, sheep or ram)).

Since this is one particular holiday we were  not interested in (although I suppose millions of turkeys met the same fate in the West this past weekend), we spent the day out of the city checking out Genting Highlands. We had heard this was a place where we could see beautiful vistas, cool off from the heat in the city and gamble...add a little touch of Niagara Falls cheezzze, and Genting Highlands did not disappoint. We rode the roller coaster around the mall while taking in the sights of mini Big Ben, Golden Gate Bridge and Eiffle Tower, lost a bit of money at roulette and ate bad carnival-esque food. The highlight and redeeming factor was definitely taking the cable car down the mountain side. We came down at sunset, descending through the fog and mountains for about 15 minutes. It was beautiful and totally turned us around on the allure of Genting! We'll be back for the cable car (...and to put it all on black ;)

Although it seems like the long weekend just wrapped up, we are on the eve of a two week vacation from school! Needless to say, spirits are high! Next stop, Bali!