Member Since: 14 Jan 2008
Location: Aberdeen
Posts: 2528
Just as well it was a Pigeon and not the Monkey who ruined your shirt Its not the height of the fall but the sudden stop at the bottom that hurts!!
14th Mar 2024 2:52 pm
Gareth Site Moderator
Member Since: 07 Dec 2004
Location: Bramhall
Posts: 26779
25 years ago, I remember the driverless mono rail. Like something from the Jetsons !
14th Mar 2024 5:06 pm
Gareth Site Moderator
Member Since: 07 Dec 2004
Location: Bramhall
Posts: 26779
One memorable trip we took (if your stuck for ideas) was to get a train down to Malacca then a boat out to the island of Pulau Besar. Loads of history, and the island was interesting.
14th Mar 2024 5:12 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73130
They still have the mono-rail here, saw it from the airport train. Not planning to use it this time but did so last time we came here, just to tick off monorail. ISTR it had a humanoid driver then. None of the other metro/tube/light rail etc have drivers here, same as in Singapore.
Not heading to Malacca on this trip, did that in 2019, heading t’other way tomorrow. Got a hire car for 3 days (where we’re going there is no usable public tpt) so that’s going to be interesting, first time driving in Asia. At least here they drive on the right correct side of the road.
And going to be another booooooooootiful day, maybe a touch nippy as the max temp is down to 34c!
15th Mar 2024 12:21 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73130
Rescue01 wrote:
Just as well it was a Pigeon and not the Monkey who ruined your shirt
Absolutely!! But was more relived the pigeon’s aim wasn’t that good as he hit my shoulder rather than my head!! Hopefully no monkeys today, apart from the weird dreams last night!
15th Mar 2024 12:23 am
PROFSR G
Member Since: 06 Mar 2017
Location: Lost
Posts: 5065
yµ (idµ - eAµ) ψ=mψ
15th Mar 2024 12:51 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73130
Final pics from KL.
Now that’s what I call a tankard!! Just about the right amount to dive into.
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That big/cheating 2nd tallest building on the planet as seen from KL Chinatown. Didn’t look into going up it but I’m not that good with heights so better a stalagmite than a stalactite, ie better looking up than down.
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And from the LRT station, much to the annoyance of the security guard as I’d crossed the well worn yellow line!
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And finally, watch out for Tapirs. Chance would be a fine thing in central KL!
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Friendly local chap took some pics of us as we couldn’t work out how to do a selfie. SWMBO suitably cropped out but there are a few snippets in there for anyone that doubts her existence. Maybe.
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Hopefully might see them for real in a couple of weeks but deffo our fave creature. Fingers crossed as it will just make trip.
15th Mar 2024 12:06 pm
Rescue01
Member Since: 14 Jan 2008
Location: Aberdeen
Posts: 2528
Del that tankard photo reminds me of the size of the desert gins you used to make
Its not the height of the fall but the sudden stop at the bottom that hurts!!
15th Mar 2024 3:11 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73130
And greetings from here:
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Had 2 days here, one full one to go before next hop, and have a hire car. Not too difficult getting around, once you get used to the local customs (motos don’t do red lights and can drive on either side of the road), plus car hire is pretty cheap. Mind you, not as cheap as petrol, that’s 34ppl!!!!!!
Few pics.
Not a good place to go for a dip!
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This is meant to be a waterfall but no water!
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Saw a fair few monkeys, one giving out car serious attitude, and a couple of monitor lizards, but no hogs.
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We’re staying in a hotel in the capitol of the island, Kuah, and they had a night food market locally. It was really busy, hotter than hot on a hot day, and more food than you could shake a stick at. Unfortunately not many pics as I was kind of preoccupied with squeezing through between the stalls and not either tripping over petrol generators or bashing head on tarps used for shade. The one pic in did take was where we got scoff. I give you murtabak, a kind of filled omlette/pancake type thing with chicken or beef. Washed down with mango juice!! Deelish!
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Today was a trip up the mountains in a cable car. For the following remember I’m not good with heights! Now there were a couple of options that we could tick apart from the cable car return ride. One was the Eagle Nest Sky Walk. Luckily before we bought our ticket Mrs DSL clocked that it was a completely glass floor. Well that saved a few MRs as no way were either of us happy with that!
Here as seen from the cable car. It was only opened last week but doubt we were the first refusnicks!
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View from the viewing bit 3/4 way up.
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And up to the top, to then go down to the Sky Bridge.
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This doesn’t inspire confidence for the little pod thing that takes you down to the bridge.
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But nice view on way down. Bit like a rollercoaster in slow motion at 2,000ft up.
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Once there hang-on time, it’s drips all round and it wobbles!
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And final dose of vertigo, pano from the top. Saw one sea eagle up there but too far away to snap.
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They also had a pseudo 3d series of galleries where you could get unusual pics. Dino snack time. Bit strange but it was included in the ticket.
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Finally, as it’s lunch time back home, today’s main meal. Lunch of fish (barramundi) and chips, looking out over the beech, at Scarborough Fish & Chips.
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18th Mar 2024 12:47 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73130
Rescue01 wrote:
Del that tankard photo reminds me of the size of the desert gins you used to make
Ah, happy memories. Hic!
18th Mar 2024 1:01 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73130
Annnnnnnnnnd greetings from Penang!!
Got here after journey from hell-ish yesterday. Flight was delayed by 3 1/2 hours as the runway was shut due to a nearby fire 20 minutes before we were due to take off plus looooooong wait for a bus to Georgetown, 7 401Es went the other way before one came our way after an hour’s wait!!
Felt they needed to add “eventually” to that logo. Still, we got RM100 each in flight credit and RM30 each for food which is not far off what we paid for the flights!
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And not something you want to see with its blue lights on from the a/c
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Great day up the Penang Funicular to the top of the hill. Gotta be the fastest funicular we’ve ever been on as it absolutely shifted, both up and down!!
Lot of wandering around up in the coolness before spotting a troop of dusky langurs/specticaled leaf monkeys up a tree. My pics are rubbish as just had the phone. Yes there are monkeys in these pics, honest!! We had a small set of binos with us which were worth their weight in gold.
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This is what we were watching, deffo not my pics! The were quite a few orange tiddlies with their mothers hanging onto them by their tails as they were SWEEEEEEEEEET bundles of trouble.
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And saw mamma jump with little ‘un just like this. Hold on tight and jump to the next tree.
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And deffo a place I could move to, fantastic views to the front and cute monkeys to the rear.
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Also saw giant black squirrels, greater racked-tailed drongos (which I thought was an Aussie insult) and a flying squirrel, which could have been a flying lemur.
Oh, and almost forgot, this bad boy. Deffo wasn’t letting him crawl up my leg!!
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Back to the hotel, off out on hunter-gatherer mission for water and cookies and came across street food market.
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Street food markets are hot places so naturally lots of drinks for sale. This is a bag rather than a cup (planet saved and more juice for moi) of watermelon juice.
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And to give a taste of what’s around (see want is did there? ) here’s a few random pics.
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And after wandering around for a while we made a bold choice, a couple of samosa each. Well it was a light post lunchtime nibble and don’t want to ruin appetite for tonight.
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Off out again shortly, there’s food in them thar night markets.
21st Mar 2024 9:54 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73130
Morning all, booooooootiful day here in Penang. Thought you lot might have the munchies so feed you another food pic, nasi lemak for breakfast at the hotel. Not going to need much food for the rest of the day.
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Went out for a wander last night but didn’t really fancy much more food. Went to Kimberly St area (we think) but it all looked a bit scary.
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Back to the market we found at lunch time for a cold drink, us and about a gazzilion (slight exaduration) moto drivers.
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Oh, and we didn’t need to set an alarm today, our hotel is next to a small mosque with very big speakers so Call to Prayers sounds out at 6:15am sharp!! Not something we’ve ever checked before, hotel proximity to mosques.
22nd Mar 2024 1:12 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73130
Morning peeps, hope it’s nice and warm back home, here it’s a boooootiful 33c with a nice light breeze and lots of sunshine.
As it’s breakie time, a couple of food pics to get digestive juices flowing.
Local cafe near our hotel that’s a hit with the Tok Tic generation. It was packed and most peeps looked about a third of our age!
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This is Char Kway Teow, think tagliatelle (but rice noodles) with bean sprouts, clams, sausage and prawns. Absolutely lovely and pipping hot as cooked in wok over jet flame!
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That was washed down with a bag of mango juice, see above pic but orange coloured juice, not red. Then deep fried jack fruit, straight from the wok so had to let it cool down a LOT.
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Seed inside was unexpected but scrummy, until SWMBO read that it need to be cooked for 30 minutes and shouldn’t be eaten by anyone on blood thinners. Oops!
But hey Ho, survived.
A few pretty pics from going to the Buddhist temple that dominated this part of Penang. It was weird, a Chinese “themed” Buddhist temple, but also items taken from Thai and Balinese influences.
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Climbed to the top of this pagoda, the one on the right rather than the one on the left.
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Carving for year of the monkey looks like something straight from Planet of the Apes!
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And belated HNY of the Dragon. Mrs DSL was born in the year of the dragon, explains much!!
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Off to Penang’s Little India in search of sustenance tonight, though the hotel does a rather nice, and free, afternoon tea so not sure theirs much room for proper food!
23rd Mar 2024 7:42 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73130
And successful hunter-gathering in Little India, tandoor chuck with butter nan and mango lassi to wash it down with.
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Not bad for £3.40.
Not finding any problems getting sustainable due to it being Ramadan, but that’s in Penang where there is a large Malayan Chinese community and many more tourists than in Langkawi, will be interesting when we go to one of the “most Muslim” (if that makes sense) parts of Malaysia while it’s still Ramadan.
Liking Penang, our kind of place. Good(ish) bus network, lots to do and good eating. All cheap. One thing we’ve found here is how friendly peeps are to two obvious tourists. Best example us letting us know when were at the main bus interchange as most tourists get off there. We didn’t but the thoughts are nice. Also today a local lady pointed us to the best way to the temples. Or her sisters shop, not sure, again nice thought. And no where near the same hassle factor in other Asian countries like Vietnam.
23rd Mar 2024 11:05 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73130
And greetings from Taman Negara National Park. Will bung up some pics of travels later as back in cabin after pretty strenuous hike to top of local hill for views.
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Deffo no pics of washing line with all the clothes we wore are hanging up to hopefully dry, we were both soaked through as we were climbing a 1,100 ft mountain hill in 35deg heat and high humidity. Both our only long sleeved shirts are in that lot as we’ll need them for tonight’s river safari. Going to be yuck putting on we stuff if not!
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