Sunday, August 28, 2011
Back on track...new journey is just around the corner!
Just want to give everyone heads up on my upcoming trip to Prague, India, Thailand and Bali. Should be another amazing 6 months.. I will really try to get this going and upload some cool pictures and videos along my way. Stay tuned!
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
First 7 days in Malaysia..
Oh boy..its going to be a week since I arrived to Malaysia...What a great 7 days! Since I got here, I am just amazed how wonderful and friendly people here are..they are starting conversations with me in a bus, subway, while I am standing on a street with a map, always ready to help, speaking perfect English..Right at the airport some guy both me a 10$ subway ticket just to welcome me and make good impression about his country..it definitely worked.
KUALA LUMPUR
I have to say I fell in love with this city. Despite the high rises and freeways its one of the greenest cities I ve ever seen. I had a great CS(couch surfer) host Mun, who hosted me at his place for the first 3 days. He lived little further from the city but i loved it since i got to see the real apartments outside of KL and people living there..Mun was awesome. He is an CS ambassador for Malaysia so he has lots of contacts and friends all over the city. He was very accommodating, generous, always made sure I have everything I need .His friend just opened a restaurant downtown KL, really nice place,almost reminded me of some US restaurants, so we spent some time there just hanging out and talking with random people and friends..
There seems too be very strong CS community in KL. CS's and their hosts and getting together a lot during a week, partying,bar hopping, pretty much good time every night. In those 3 days i stayed in KL, i haven't gone to bed earlier then 5 am...i felt like being 15 again haha! The only problem is that alcohol is so expensive that you just have to learn how to have fun without it( i mean if you on a budget). Since this is a Muslim country there is still lot of people who cant drink or who simply don't drink which is kinda weird but I am slowly getting used to it.Still strange when you out with friends and you are the only one drinking...but drink 5-7 cocktails like in the US? forget it!
I was very lucky to spent Halloween with Mun and his friends who came from all around KL just to party with us..we bought some bottles of whiskey and vodka and a liqueur store and in a classic way- we smuggled it inside a club. Thanks to Mun we got to go to few parties where i would never got into since there were lines and dress codes and well we weren't really prepared for that. Spent that night partying on a street lined up with tens of little bars and clubs - DJ's played really good house music and people were dancing in the streets...lots of fun till 6 am...met lot of bar/restaurant owners from all around the world - they all fell in love with Malaysia...
Few more things I noticed about KL:
People eat all the time. Noodles or rice for breakfast,lunch,after lunch, around midnight and around 4am when they go home from the clubs.
Some places are open 24 hours,always packed with eating people. I can't believe these people are so thin and small! Each ethnic community brings something to the table - most importantly in a form of cousin - making eating the standout experience...
Mc'Donalds seems to be very popular, always packed with young chatting people munching on burgers and fries...i guess its such a big deal since its a nice change once in awhile from noodles and rice...If you get lucky, you might see some monkey eating the leftovers....bizarre!
People are really nice when it comes to answering your questions, but they don't give a shit when you crossing a street...no rules here when you driving a car or motorcycle..or when you on a crosswalk
Everyone speaks perfect English, even very little kids...If people think they are cool that they speak two different languages, they should come here...even young kids usually speak 3+ languages and parents talk to them in English as well. Very impressive!
When you order a food, its like 50/50 surprise about what you gonna get...Asian people are very nice and their answer is always yes, no matter if they know what are you talking about or not..
MELAKA
After few days in KL, i decided to head down south to Melaka which was about 3 hours in a bus. This town was founded in 14 century and the history of the town is pretty impressive. Founded by the Chinese, it was later dominated by Portugese, then the Dutch and finally ceded to the British. Melaka was at one time the busiest port in Southeast Asia which could accommodate 3,000 ships at the same time. The town was very cute and scenic, with small river running trough the town. After the sunset, the whole town lit up with colorful lights, which created really romantic atmosphere.
I stayed for couple nights with my CS host Jordan,who was originally from Canada but traveling Asia and teaching yoga in Malaysia for awhile. Jordan lived in abandoned spa house, where were bunch of empty rooms with small pools or massage chairs.Kinda weird to sleep in a facial room with no windows but hey, it was for free so why not. I met some nice people there as well, like Spanish twin sisters in their 40's who have been traveling for 4 years now....Every time i think I am doing something cool, i meet people who are doing even more HC things then me....After couple days in Malaka i decided to go across the peninsula on the east coast, since i heard there might be some waves...and cleaner ocean.
KUANTAN
It was a 7 hour bus ride across the county. Since there was nothing besides palm trees i quickly fell asleep and woke up shortly before arrival to Kuantan. I choose this little town since it's suppose to be a known surf spot during monsoon season, which is starting on the east coast this week. Kuantan is a small town with not much going on, but it has an amazing jungle and first nice beaches I've seen since I've arrived...I found another CS who was able to host me for another couple days. I feel very lucky since these home stays are saving me tons of money + I get to meet locals and see the real life here.My host Chin was in his 40's, living with his 2 kids in really cute house close to the beach.So here I am, walking to the beach and I see this white boy riding a bike down the hill. So I look closer since he looks kinda familiar to me and I can't believe it it's a french guy I met in KL few days ago!!! 300 miles away here we are in a middle of nowhere! Ha! What a small world!
Chin took me out to eat some good Malaysian food, fish on a BBQ, sticky rice and Satay that night and it was so far the best food I had since I arrived here.Today I went back to the beach hoping for some better waves but it pretty much sucked so I went to this 4 star hotel right on the beach, pretended I am a guest and had a nice day by the pool drinking beer and relaxing.
Tomorrow I'll be heading back to KL for couple days since I met someone who wants to take me around for a few days. There is a Hindu "festival of lights" on Friday and I'll be going to Batu Caves, where is Hindu shrine and 43 meters high statue of Murga - the tallest in a world. Then escape to Cameron Highlands for a few days - with hills high in the mountains full of tea plantations, waterfalls and green humps.before hitting up the party place Penang Island...but about that later...
KUALA LUMPUR
I have to say I fell in love with this city. Despite the high rises and freeways its one of the greenest cities I ve ever seen. I had a great CS(couch surfer) host Mun, who hosted me at his place for the first 3 days. He lived little further from the city but i loved it since i got to see the real apartments outside of KL and people living there..Mun was awesome. He is an CS ambassador for Malaysia so he has lots of contacts and friends all over the city. He was very accommodating, generous, always made sure I have everything I need .His friend just opened a restaurant downtown KL, really nice place,almost reminded me of some US restaurants, so we spent some time there just hanging out and talking with random people and friends..
There seems too be very strong CS community in KL. CS's and their hosts and getting together a lot during a week, partying,bar hopping, pretty much good time every night. In those 3 days i stayed in KL, i haven't gone to bed earlier then 5 am...i felt like being 15 again haha! The only problem is that alcohol is so expensive that you just have to learn how to have fun without it( i mean if you on a budget). Since this is a Muslim country there is still lot of people who cant drink or who simply don't drink which is kinda weird but I am slowly getting used to it.Still strange when you out with friends and you are the only one drinking...but drink 5-7 cocktails like in the US? forget it!
I was very lucky to spent Halloween with Mun and his friends who came from all around KL just to party with us..we bought some bottles of whiskey and vodka and a liqueur store and in a classic way- we smuggled it inside a club. Thanks to Mun we got to go to few parties where i would never got into since there were lines and dress codes and well we weren't really prepared for that. Spent that night partying on a street lined up with tens of little bars and clubs - DJ's played really good house music and people were dancing in the streets...lots of fun till 6 am...met lot of bar/restaurant owners from all around the world - they all fell in love with Malaysia...
Few more things I noticed about KL:
People eat all the time. Noodles or rice for breakfast,lunch,after lunch, around midnight and around 4am when they go home from the clubs.
Some places are open 24 hours,always packed with eating people. I can't believe these people are so thin and small! Each ethnic community brings something to the table - most importantly in a form of cousin - making eating the standout experience...
Mc'Donalds seems to be very popular, always packed with young chatting people munching on burgers and fries...i guess its such a big deal since its a nice change once in awhile from noodles and rice...If you get lucky, you might see some monkey eating the leftovers....bizarre!
People are really nice when it comes to answering your questions, but they don't give a shit when you crossing a street...no rules here when you driving a car or motorcycle..or when you on a crosswalk
Everyone speaks perfect English, even very little kids...If people think they are cool that they speak two different languages, they should come here...even young kids usually speak 3+ languages and parents talk to them in English as well. Very impressive!
When you order a food, its like 50/50 surprise about what you gonna get...Asian people are very nice and their answer is always yes, no matter if they know what are you talking about or not..
MELAKA
After few days in KL, i decided to head down south to Melaka which was about 3 hours in a bus. This town was founded in 14 century and the history of the town is pretty impressive. Founded by the Chinese, it was later dominated by Portugese, then the Dutch and finally ceded to the British. Melaka was at one time the busiest port in Southeast Asia which could accommodate 3,000 ships at the same time. The town was very cute and scenic, with small river running trough the town. After the sunset, the whole town lit up with colorful lights, which created really romantic atmosphere.
I stayed for couple nights with my CS host Jordan,who was originally from Canada but traveling Asia and teaching yoga in Malaysia for awhile. Jordan lived in abandoned spa house, where were bunch of empty rooms with small pools or massage chairs.Kinda weird to sleep in a facial room with no windows but hey, it was for free so why not. I met some nice people there as well, like Spanish twin sisters in their 40's who have been traveling for 4 years now....Every time i think I am doing something cool, i meet people who are doing even more HC things then me....After couple days in Malaka i decided to go across the peninsula on the east coast, since i heard there might be some waves...and cleaner ocean.
KUANTAN
It was a 7 hour bus ride across the county. Since there was nothing besides palm trees i quickly fell asleep and woke up shortly before arrival to Kuantan. I choose this little town since it's suppose to be a known surf spot during monsoon season, which is starting on the east coast this week. Kuantan is a small town with not much going on, but it has an amazing jungle and first nice beaches I've seen since I've arrived...I found another CS who was able to host me for another couple days. I feel very lucky since these home stays are saving me tons of money + I get to meet locals and see the real life here.My host Chin was in his 40's, living with his 2 kids in really cute house close to the beach.So here I am, walking to the beach and I see this white boy riding a bike down the hill. So I look closer since he looks kinda familiar to me and I can't believe it it's a french guy I met in KL few days ago!!! 300 miles away here we are in a middle of nowhere! Ha! What a small world!
Chin took me out to eat some good Malaysian food, fish on a BBQ, sticky rice and Satay that night and it was so far the best food I had since I arrived here.Today I went back to the beach hoping for some better waves but it pretty much sucked so I went to this 4 star hotel right on the beach, pretended I am a guest and had a nice day by the pool drinking beer and relaxing.
Tomorrow I'll be heading back to KL for couple days since I met someone who wants to take me around for a few days. There is a Hindu "festival of lights" on Friday and I'll be going to Batu Caves, where is Hindu shrine and 43 meters high statue of Murga - the tallest in a world. Then escape to Cameron Highlands for a few days - with hills high in the mountains full of tea plantations, waterfalls and green humps.before hitting up the party place Penang Island...but about that later...
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
It doesn't fit! :)
So once again I am packing my backpack. Although I should already know how to stuff it in, I am having quite a few problems with all these necessary objects I "really need". I am trying to limit myself on
I got some news yesterday about place on the East coast of Malaysia where should be good surf beginning next week. It 's a seven mile hike across the island where I'll be staying but hopefully it will be worth it. I was also able to managed Couch surfers in almost 70% of Malaysia so hopefully I'll get a good sneak peak about the locals, their culture, food and life..Mun, my first host, should be waiting on me in Kuala Lumpur Centra Train Station at McDonals, 2 hours after my arrival..I hope he doesn't think like like me dad that coming from the US I am craving a fast food burger...
So the 24 hour countdown is on. Malaysia is waiting. Just looked at the forecast - 94 Degrees.
I am sweating already.
- 4 tank tops
- 2 shorts
- 7 dresses
- 3 swimsuits
- 2 hoodies
- few electronic devices
- the other 15 pieces of clothes I think I really need :)
I got some news yesterday about place on the East coast of Malaysia where should be good surf beginning next week. It 's a seven mile hike across the island where I'll be staying but hopefully it will be worth it. I was also able to managed Couch surfers in almost 70% of Malaysia so hopefully I'll get a good sneak peak about the locals, their culture, food and life..Mun, my first host, should be waiting on me in Kuala Lumpur Centra Train Station at McDonals, 2 hours after my arrival..I hope he doesn't think like like me dad that coming from the US I am craving a fast food burger...
So the 24 hour countdown is on. Malaysia is waiting. Just looked at the forecast - 94 Degrees.
I am sweating already.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Traveling West Coast with my thumb up :)
I was always a big fan of hitch hiking, ride sharing and any kinds of road adventures I can think of. Throughout the years I picked up many random people on side of the roads, in the middle of nowhere, in snowstorms around Tahoe or random places I never thought of seeing people without cars at.. I was never really exposed to a real danger, but definitely met interesting people i would never met otherwise..and that's why I love it..
When i bought my ticket to Europe from Seattle, i knew right away how I'll get up the coast. Even though my friends tried, ( and they tried hard) to talk me out of it, my mind was already set up. First, i was on a budget, second Greyhound bus is most likely more dangerous then hitchhiking and third, I wanted to see numerous places up the coast where bus or train would never stop anyways...
September 7th, 6am, morning after my goodbye party and I was already heading down to the beach to meet up with Suzi. It was cloudy and cold and I wont lie i didnt feel that great so we gave up on our last surf session. We drove down PCH and had a feast in Huntington..last sushi load before returning back Cali...Suzi dropped me off at Long Beach airport from where i was heading up to San Francisco. This was my only flight, thought it is a good idea since Orange County is pretty hard place to hitchhike from and well, to be honest, all I wanted is to be up north already......
Prior to my departure, I have chosen 4 stops along the way – Arcata,California, Eugene and Portland in Oregon and finally Seattle in Washington State. I got really lucky and managed to ride share with two guys from Marine County, which starts right after Golden Gate bridge. Tomas, my Czech friend, was nice and curious enough to give me a ride on the other side of the bridge. Sure enough i had no idea who is going to show up, but when I saw the two little 18 year old I was almost more scared than ride sharing with big tattooed guy who just got out of prison. Only one had driving license (4 months) and they both were very, very 420 friendly so i was worried especially when my driver started to fall asleep after 45 minutes of driving...well we made it. They were fun,young,moving to Portland,excited about their new life...nice kids. They dropped me off in Arcata where I couch surfed with two great girls Heather and Katie...
Another journey was to get up north from Arcata to Eugene,Oregon. Somehow i underestimated the distance and didn't look at the map right so in the last minute i realized i have about 600 miles to go and 8 hours of light. I took my backpack and headed on the nearest highway ramp. After about ten minutes, this young lady stopped and told me to get away from there, since it is supposedly the most dangerous place to hitchhike in NorCal and I will be most likely murdered in a bushes nearby...She mentioned that she works for local Search and Rescue and that they are looking for two bodies at the moment...well, I really didn't want to know that! After hour of waiting, i was really worried. I never ever waited so long in my life. Total waiting time 1 hour 20 minutes!!! Finally someone stopped, dad with two kids, so you guys can imagine I was happy its not some crazy weirdo...he only went about 100 miles up north but after I showed him my sad eyes he drove an extra 20 miles to drop me off in the nearest town so I can get on another road to Oregon...I didn't realize that but that day i had to change cars 3 times since the roads were really complicated and no one was really heading my way..I was already thinking about Survival Man since i did not have a tent and matches to make a fire in the woods...
There i was, small town in a middle of nowhere. Later on Suzi told me its a known surf spot..but I really didn't have the time and energy to go check on the waves... There was really nice homeless guy who wanted to talk to me while I had my thumb up, but since i didn't wanna look like we are "together" i had to politely send him away. I got lucky, a car stopped in 10 minutes! Harley Guy. Once again that guy wasn't going to Eugene but at least drove me another 300 miles..Thanks God he had some tacos and burrito, I basically ate his lunch, after he offered it to me, but i didn't feel bad since I am starving traveler on a budget...This guy traveled the States when he was young and did bunch of cool stuff till he got into an accident on his motorcycle which basically stopped his life for a few years...Well he dropped me off in Grand Pass which is on Oregon boarder, from where I had to take my last ride to Eugene, which was about 250 miles away. Grand Pass was really hot and it took me about 1 mile to get on a ramp toward Eugene freeway, so by the time I got there i was hurting,sweating and swearing..the worst surprise was another hitchhiker (guy) with a little dog ( a trap)..so cause I know the hitchhikers' etiquette, but i didn't want to give up my spot, i politely asked him if I can stand there with him.( pretty obvious who's going to get picked up first,riiiiight?)
Thanks God he took off somewhere on his feet in couple minutes and there I was by myself again waiting for the next lucky driver..:) Another 10 minutes and I was heading up the freeway with San Diego Manager who was going on a vacation to Washington. I though it would be great to know him before,since i could ride with him all the way from San Diego, but then i realized my trip wouldn't be that fun with one driver the whole way. The only bad thing was that this poor guy got about 11 speeding tickets in past 3 years so we literally drove 55 mph the whole way...BUT 8 pm and I finally got to Eugene! I couldn't believe i made it since the distance was pretty long. I stayed with 3 couch surfers in their beautiful house for 2 days. Great, great times in beautiful Eugene. Just rode bikes, trees everywhere, blue skies,good beer....very nice.
Thanks God he took off somewhere on his feet in couple minutes and there I was by myself again waiting for the next lucky driver..:) Another 10 minutes and I was heading up the freeway with San Diego Manager who was going on a vacation to Washington. I though it would be great to know him before,since i could ride with him all the way from San Diego, but then i realized my trip wouldn't be that fun with one driver the whole way. The only bad thing was that this poor guy got about 11 speeding tickets in past 3 years so we literally drove 55 mph the whole way...BUT 8 pm and I finally got to Eugene! I couldn't believe i made it since the distance was pretty long. I stayed with 3 couch surfers in their beautiful house for 2 days. Great, great times in beautiful Eugene. Just rode bikes, trees everywhere, blue skies,good beer....very nice.
The third day and decided to head up to Portland, about 250 miles away. There were some interesting people stopping me on the side of the road which i had to say "no" to. Finally some weird guy stopped and gave me a ride to Salem, which is about half way to Portland...All he was talking about was War in Iraq, abortion and sex education at school, all my favorite topics...I really didn't know what to tell him and I didn't want to argue so I was just looking out of the window and hoped we will be there soon.
This guy, once again, dropped me off in a middle of nowhere and actually the ramp was so small i was risking of being killed by every car driving by,so i was just praying to catch a ride soon. Well after another 5 minutes i cough ride with David, who actually drove me to Portland! Yay! This guy was cool, gambler, recovered alcoholic, big Vegas goer :) he showed me on his Iphone he just won 25,000$, I couldn't believe it. I almost asked him if he wants to contribute to my trip, since I am starving traveler on a budget, but then I thought it's not a good idea ( he had 6 kids, college is expensive...:)
After I spent another 2 days with another couch surfer in Portland, I managed, once again, get another ride over CL. First I posted an add, which stated that I need a ride to Seattle. In 5 minutes i got a MSG asking if I am still interested. Yes, I said. When you planning to leave? Anytime, he said.I don't have any business there, but will give you a ride. Why would you drive me there then, I said? Well, I am just trying to be a good person and help you out. Don't worry, i wont be asking you any favors for that, lol...he said. So i deleted his number, my post and replied to another one which i saw there that morning.
After I spent another 2 days with another couch surfer in Portland, I managed, once again, get another ride over CL. First I posted an add, which stated that I need a ride to Seattle. In 5 minutes i got a MSG asking if I am still interested. Yes, I said. When you planning to leave? Anytime, he said.I don't have any business there, but will give you a ride. Why would you drive me there then, I said? Well, I am just trying to be a good person and help you out. Don't worry, i wont be asking you any favors for that, lol...he said. So i deleted his number, my post and replied to another one which i saw there that morning.
Ended up getting a ride with a 19year old and her baby in a smelly car full of stuff, food and textbooks.. The girl was really nice but after telling her about my life and my upcoming trip, she almost had a breakdown about her situation and about how much she fucked up her life. That was sad.
New friendships, new adventures. That's why I love hitchhiking. :)
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