(no subject)
I'm sitting in the Executive Lounge on the 38th floor of the Sheraton Imperial hotel in Kuala Lumpur. Nothing in the lounge costs a thing - complimentry juice, chocolates, coffee, fruit.... Infact, since leaving Jakarta on Thursday I haven't spent anything. Yesterday we slept in late and then had brunch by the pool, then Justin and I spent the afternoon swimming and in the spa, before making our way up to the Exec lounge for complimentry nibbles and wine. Could it possibly be more differnt to the last few weeks?!
Last night we went to a beautiful restaurant just outside of the main city, it was so green it was like being in the jungle. The dining area was covered but it was all open air and had a very natural feel to it. From the road you walk down a long path through dense vegetation by candle light. And there was a pool with terapins and catfish in. The food was good too! I've been starting to eat a bit of meat just because my diet would be incredibly bland and I'd miss out on so much. In Indonesia I ate a snake (which I also held while it was alive), some snail, some fish which I'd caught (!), and chicken too. Being Islamic countries, there is no pig-meat in Indonesia or Malaysia, and beef really really disgusts me for some reason, so I think I'll stick to chicken and fish when there are no veggie options. I was quite suprised that I liked fish, as I stopped eating fish before I was a vegetarian, so it's been a really really long time. When I get home, I still plan to be a vegetarian, I'm just being flexible while I travel.
Anyway, enough about food...
It was kind of sad to leave Indonesia, and to say goodbye to Agus, the local friend we made. We saw hardly any of Java, and spent our time in Yogyakarta, but as we spent that time with local people we probably learnt more about the culture than we would have by travelling around and seeing a lot of things. I did a three day batik course with Agus which was really enjoyable and satisfying. It was great to do art again, and to learn an Indonesian art in Indonesia from a local artist. Agus taught Justin to cook for free, we just had to buy the ingredients. Even after I finished my batik, we kept going to his house each day. He took us to buy a snake, he took us fishing, and he took us to the place where they do batik on wood. Oh and we travelled around on the backs of scooters (they call them moto's). The first time I was absolutely terrified. It wasn't that he was a bad driver, just that I'm a wimp. And don't worry, I wore a proper helmet and the roads were not busy.
Anyway, the day before our flight we got the train back to Jakarta, and checked into a cheap hotel on Jalan Jaksa (the street full of backpackers, and the only pleasant thing about Jakarta). And we bumped into the local friends we had met ten days before in Jaksa! So that was nice. What wasn't nice was getting eaten by mosquitos. Again, I am covered in bites.
Last night we went to a beautiful restaurant just outside of the main city, it was so green it was like being in the jungle. The dining area was covered but it was all open air and had a very natural feel to it. From the road you walk down a long path through dense vegetation by candle light. And there was a pool with terapins and catfish in. The food was good too! I've been starting to eat a bit of meat just because my diet would be incredibly bland and I'd miss out on so much. In Indonesia I ate a snake (which I also held while it was alive), some snail, some fish which I'd caught (!), and chicken too. Being Islamic countries, there is no pig-meat in Indonesia or Malaysia, and beef really really disgusts me for some reason, so I think I'll stick to chicken and fish when there are no veggie options. I was quite suprised that I liked fish, as I stopped eating fish before I was a vegetarian, so it's been a really really long time. When I get home, I still plan to be a vegetarian, I'm just being flexible while I travel.
Anyway, enough about food...
It was kind of sad to leave Indonesia, and to say goodbye to Agus, the local friend we made. We saw hardly any of Java, and spent our time in Yogyakarta, but as we spent that time with local people we probably learnt more about the culture than we would have by travelling around and seeing a lot of things. I did a three day batik course with Agus which was really enjoyable and satisfying. It was great to do art again, and to learn an Indonesian art in Indonesia from a local artist. Agus taught Justin to cook for free, we just had to buy the ingredients. Even after I finished my batik, we kept going to his house each day. He took us to buy a snake, he took us fishing, and he took us to the place where they do batik on wood. Oh and we travelled around on the backs of scooters (they call them moto's). The first time I was absolutely terrified. It wasn't that he was a bad driver, just that I'm a wimp. And don't worry, I wore a proper helmet and the roads were not busy.
Anyway, the day before our flight we got the train back to Jakarta, and checked into a cheap hotel on Jalan Jaksa (the street full of backpackers, and the only pleasant thing about Jakarta). And we bumped into the local friends we had met ten days before in Jaksa! So that was nice. What wasn't nice was getting eaten by mosquitos. Again, I am covered in bites.