Month: May 2013

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Ezra continues to have a fever. We are hoping that he feels better when we travel tomorrow. Stayed very close to the hotel. Played in the swimming pool. Ordered Dominoes Pizza.  Happy Birthday Dad.

All of our thoughts are on Ezra, at least for Dwana and I. Viena is just bouncing around wanting to go to the swimming pool. Ezra continues to have a high fever and aches. The anti-fever medicine works for about 2 hours. He was talking in his sleep all through the night. We all went to breakfast together. So mush good food, except, I held Ezra the entire time in my lap. He barely ate some yogurt and a little water and orange juice. We hung around the hotel all day and tried to make Ezra as comfortable as possible. Happy Birthday Dad-Dad. Viena and Dwana swimming. Ezra was fevery all over and could not do much. I guess I am glad we are at a nice air-conditioned place during this time. I made out reservations for the free shuttle that will take us to the Metro and the Metro will take us directly to the airport. Our contact in Chiang Mai has arranged for a “collection” at the airport when we arrive. That is the plan. We all took a late night swim. The lightning was showing in the East. The pool is shallow, but very visually cool to swim with goggles at night. Viena loves playing tag in the water and swimming and gliding near the bottom. Ezra only stayed for about 15 minutes before he needed to return to the room. He was fast asleep when Viena and I returned. A few pages of The Wind and the Willows and Viena was asleep as well. Bon JOur. Bon Noite. Fineaus and Fernie.

We arrived in the Capital City of Malaysia. Ezra has a fever. Viena and I went on a walking tour in an empty city that might come alive one day. Big buildings. Wide streets. Not enough grass. Not enough street food vendors selling 2 ringgit food items. Everything is regulated. Divided into precincts. Like the Hunger Games. A person can become pretty hungry walking around these vendor free streets. Viena had a great walk. We visited the main Mosque next to the Prime Ministers House. Very Beautiful.

Ezra is still not feeling good. He had a fever all through the night and talking through his sleep. He did not really cry out as he has done before, but he is definitely sick. We are on the bus to Kuala Lumpur. The taxi arrived just in time and with us carrying Ezra we made our connections. I have not really paid that much attention to our 2 hour entrance into the city, but the roads are very flat and wide and nice. Our plan is  to stay in the federal Capital of Malaysia – Putrajaya. The taxi driver did not know where the Pullman Hotel was but we with using Google Maps and GPS we were able to find the location. Once we were settled in I ordered Dominoes Pizza and made a reservation for the 3:00PM shuttle to the Alamanda area for Viena and I. Ezra is still burning up with fever. Viena and I had a wonderful time walking around this brand new city. Putrajaya is so new, the city does not even know how to walk. Viena and I were the only walkers in the city. I was picturing more open spaces and green spaces to walk and play, but all we saw was concrete. The mosque was impressive. We sat outside listening to the evening prayer session. We walked and played through water fountains along uncrowded city streets and had a great time.

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The photographs I did not take.

1) The bunny in the bucket.

2) The sunset, glorious spreading pink, over the Straights of Melaka and onto Sumatra.

3) The “fogging”for mosquitoes that sent the people of the streets running for cover and was thick like fog.

4) Viena’s rosy red checks at the end of the day after playing so hard with the bunnies and Mariam.

We went swimming in the morning with Mariam. We walked all the way. Mariam was our little 6-year-old tour guide. The Melaka pool was great to swim around. The children enjoyed playing in the small kiddie pool. Afterwards, we went to the playground and then to the mall to eat. We tried playing tag on the big grassy field but the sun was too hot. After coming home, the children headed straight for the bunnies. Ezra was not feeling well. I went with Kenny and his wife to the Pharmacy to buy some children’s Tylenol. All of the pharmacies close at 5:00PM, but he drove me to a nearby pharmacy that stays open later. While in the car, we saw “fogging” for mosquitoes and a beautiful sunset in the distance over the Straights of Melaka. Ezra fell asleep about 4PM and did not wake up until morning. I found some food at the end of the road. Everything is so close. Oh, we changed rooms and changed rooms again. Back and Forth. More travelers coming and going. Tomorrow we travel by  bus, and taxi to our new destination of Putrajaya, so I hope Ezra is OK.

Viena and Ezra and Mariam have taken over the upstairs lounge a coup of sorts and turned the usually backpacker internet café lounge into a bunnyland. All of the cushions are off of the sofas and are being used as fortress walls for the bunnies. Mariam knows more than just enough English to communicate well during playtime. I guess she plays well with German and French children as well. Ezra is “reading”a storybook about a bunny – but that does not last long. Now he is chasing the bunny. Amazing what you can build with sofa cushions and a coffee table. A penny for the thought of the bunny right now. Viena and Ezra have enjoted all the interaction with the bunnies, ducks, and chickens. The bunnies appear to be the favorites. Everyone is playing well  in the shade. Bicycles. Scooters. Hide and Go Seek. All what a home-stay should be. We are having such a restful time here at Apa Kaba in the Kampung of Banda Kaba. Imiagination central. I left the room at sunrise to take photographs af A’Famosa on the hill. I snapped a few photos and then walked on home. We are staying so close to A’Famosa  – about 5-10 minutes. We are also 5-10 minutes from India Town, and China Town. Such a great location. We even found a nice Vegetarian restaurant not more than 400 meters from the place, right next door to a Juice Bar serving up the very best Mango Banana Pineapple Smoothies – yes, for $1, OK, $1.25. So many good things, but the best is that Viena and Ezra can entertain themselves with all the animals, toys, and their new friend Mariam.

I was going to take everyone on an early adventure after toast and coffee, but I could not. Viena and Ezra were having so much fun just playing in the yard of Apa Kaba with Mariam to take them away to walk the city streets of Melaca and see fortresses – it just did not feel right. So, off I went solo to scout out the area. I found Jonker street – not impressive in the early morning. I was also able to find Little India and Little China, the Sikh Temple, the Melaka River, St. Pauls Church, St Francis School and the bank ATM that was not working next to a guy with a shotgun. I was NOT able to find the fresh juice place that was mentioned but we found that in the afternoon with the help of Kenny’s dad – Uppa”we call him. Uppa walked us through the village shortcuts of Banda Kaba and we found the fresh juice place that had all sorts of fresh juice and fresh juice smoothies and dare I say smokers which seemed to conflict their otherwise healthy image. They were in the “Buddhist”portion of the village and Ezra saw a rather large incense stick – an incense stick of unusually immense size burning outside the Buddhist temple and he said, “Look at that big smoker!” Looked like a cattail plant. We went swimming in the Melaka swimming pool. What a treat. The pool is wonderful on a hot day and wonderfully deep – over 4 meters and was a full 50 meter pool. Most of the swimmers (about 20) stayed in the shallow end or clung near the walls. Ezra was diving in the deep end. He even jumped right on my head which I was not too happy about. Very nice pool and very bright. I was unable to swim in my “baggy” swimsuit and had to rent (2 ringgits) a “tight” swimming suit. Photo not included. The other photographs I missed taking today were Ezra, Viena, and Mariam in the streets of China town at a shop that had hundreds of living baby fowl. Little white ducklings, little  black ducklings, little yellow chicks – all in shipping containers. The old Chinese guys was taking them out of one shipping container and placing  them in another container. Ezra was amazed and we could not persuade him to leave for nothing. The other missed photo of the day was Ezra, Viena andMariam playing in a water sprinkler in the evening light. Kenny was a good host and sprayed them down pretty well as he also watered the grounds. A great way to end a hot day. I slept well with dream of goodness.

A couple of buses and we arrived on the West Side.

The day has finally arrived – our ticket out of Jerantut, by bus – loKal bus. We tried to have breakfast at the same place knowing that their would not be any food on the bus, but no one was hungry. We had plenty of food and water in our travel backpack for the one hour trip to Temerloh. The bus was plenty full and I am glad I purchased my tickets in advance so we could all sit next to each other. The change of bus in Temerloh was a little frantic, because we were the only ones to exit the bus. A couple of European girls were travelling with their long skate boards. I wonder if they were allowed to skateboard through Singapore. The bus station had a aquarium which kept Ezra mesermized while we waited for our connecting bus to Melaca to arrive. Four hours later we were in Melaka. Ezra was not feeling so good on the bus and at one time tried to puke, but lucky he did not. We listened to Spiderman remixes on the phone. The taxi ride to our home-stay was uninteresting. I had a sense of “oh, here we are, another taxi ride.” Not sure why that feeling came over me. My camera was not even out and was in the trunk and I did not seem to mind. So, I did not take any photos where usually I am snappng away in a new place. I was ready to be at our new place and I was glad when we arrived and we were greeted with smiles and ducks and chickens and rabbits and air conditioning – for Dwana of course. An air-conditioned room in the family setting of Apa Kaba is just what we needed and a little girl Viena age lives here. She is closer to Ezra in age, buts has a personality more like Ezra. Soon the children were in bunny heaven. Dwana is still not feeling the best and so I went with Ezra and Viena to find some food. We walked through the small pathways that led to the main restaurant area. I was able to buy some shaved ice. A very large size with fruit and other toppings for $2. We also found some fresh vegetables. Yum. We have all been craving fresh vegetables. For some reason, none were to be found in the jungle. The streets were a bit more crowded than we have seen but the walk was not far. The picks were lit at night to save our feet and ankles from being eaten. The mosquitoes were bad during the evening hour and you never really see them.We met a  couple from Switzerland who are travelling in their van through Asia on the way to Australia.. Some day we will travel the coast of Australia, but we will wait until the US dollar is good and strong. Not this trip. Not missing our van yet. I really liked the bus ride. I was able to just sit back and let someone else do all the driving. And where will we go from here – an air conditioned room. The days of the wild jungle are far behind us, we are now in the civilized colonial city of Melaka. But mosquitoes live everywhere.

Our last day in Jerantut –  a hot one. Rained in the night. We had breakfast at the Café near the bus station. A friendly smaller gentleman was our server and I mentioned to Viena that he might be from the village of the small guys. I having been telling Viena that somewhere in the jungle of these island nations live a tribe of little people, so we are always looking for them. This guy was certainly smiling and very friendly with our small little guy Ezra, however, I am unsure if his ancestors were from one of these villages. Cononut rice appears to be the staple dish of our diet. In the afternoon, we had some waffles with peanut butter and Jelly and chocolate and sweet corn from the corner across from the bus station. Yummy. We tried doing a bit more shopping. Ezra bought some more soccer outfits. We went to the far boat playground in the morning and played tag. My right hip and right lateral knee are all bruised from trying to chased Viena and Ezra down the too tight for Foley slide. In the evening, we went to the main playground.The sun had descended and so many people were out with their children. Children are children all over the world. They all love a playground. I love the metal circular swingsets that are placed around the playground. We even saw one on a roof. We left around 8:00. Thunderstorms looked like they were happening in the North. We were able to see Mercury, Venus and Jupiter in the sky shortly after sunset. When will these three celestial bodies be grouped so closely together in the night sky. The full moon was seen in the morning. A pleasant way to end our time in the center of Malaysia.

A little girl is completely dressed from headdress to toe in Lokal Jerantut garments. She looks pretty Lokal and sounds pretty American as she sings “Where oh where is my underwear?”softly of course. Ezra, as soon as he understands the catchy chorus ups the sound level 100 decibels and stands up and jumps on the bed in front of the mirror. Quite a difference between Viena and Ezra. We are trying different techniques to reduce the noise level of our 4-year-old boy who is now dressed in his soccer uniform that he calls his running suit. We walked around Jerantut going to the park. Everyone appeared fatigued by the heat. I mailed some items at the post office this morning and found a seemstress to sew my backpack strap – 2 ringgits. Mailing packages is expensive, especially if you are accustomed to stuffing flat rate boxes to the max. Viena has received many pleasant looks from the lokals and smiles and even a 5 ringgit note from an Umma who said she looked so “chantik” – (SHAN-TEEK). Erza had an interesting encounter with an ant on the playground. I will let him tell that story. Viena has looked so happy after receiving her new waredrobe. We have enjoyed some boba drinks and even found a waffle and ice cream place. Yummy. I discovered that buses to Melaka is the way to go so we will leave at the end of the weekend. Maybe we can find a few more things to do. we sat down with the lokals and had a lokal breakfast of coconut rice. The day was cloudy but still hot. Had some good quality time in the air-conditioned room.

The bus was late but worth the wait.

We woke up to catch the 8:30 Lokal bus out of Taman Negara, however, the 8:30 bus was cancelled because of a holiday. So we waited and waited with another backpacking couple until the 10:00am bus. Because of this delay, we were able to finish our last breakfast in Taman Negara without rushing and even go back for seconds. The 10:00am bus was full of backpackers moving onto their next destination – Cameron Highlands, Kuala Lumpur, Perhentian Islands, and for us Jerantut and then Melaka. The bus ride was hot whichis why we wanted the early bus. I told Dwana to take Viena and Ezra and grab a seat on the starboard side on the bus to avoid the direct sun while I carried on all the big heavy bags. The bus driver drove crazy. He passed timber trucks and fruit trucks going around curves and up hills. I guess that is the way an average driver drives in Malaysia. In the end, we made safely arrived into Jerantut and most of the other travellers hurried to make arrangements for their next bus ride; however, we just walked over to the Town-Inn and checked into our air-conditioned room and went to eat at Pizza Hut. After eating we happened upon a playground – yes, a playground. Our first playground in over 50 days and Ezra and Viena loved the sight of a playground. They could not believe their eyes. This playground was combined with a few amusement park rides of a train, some cars, and a ferris wheel. After the sunset, the people of Jerantut flocked to the playground with their small children. Viena and Ezra rode on all of the rides  – a couple of times. The rides cost 2 ringgit (70 cents) and lasted so long. They even rode on the guy controlled chain operated ferris wheel that we saw the guy striking the gears with a pipe to make them start moving earlier in the day. I was the photographer for that one. The park was lit up at night with Christmas lights in trees all over. Needless to say, Viena and Ezra slept well  – we all did with the air-con.

CANOPY WALK ONE LAST TIME.

Our last canopy walk. Of course even with a preparatory briefing. Ezra did not listen and broke 90% of the rules. I was filming from below. I tried to capture some good photos, bu the trees and the light made things difficult. So if you really look and zoom in you can find Dwana, Viena and Ezra. They all seemed to be ahving a good time over 100 feet in the air (40 meters). We have definitely recorded some time in this jngle to claim the jngle as our own. The leeches have our blood, at least my blood and Ezra’s blood. We were the first to walk the canopy walkway in the morning. Ezra and Viena are now familiar with the pathways of the jungle and walk them with the confidence of Mowgli. The leeches did not show up on the boardwalk this day so we did not need to worry about them. We saw a blue bird with a nest and two eggs. I hope we did not disturb the mother bird too much by waking by, but her nest was in a vine right over the trail. Speaking of vines and Viena, Viena has turned into a jungle girl, grabbing any type of vine and swinging around like Tarzan or Jane. Everyone, including Ezra has been sleeping bettersince Ezra has been sleeping next to Dwana and we added an extra fan. The clouds  and the blue sky have been fabulous. The heat is barely bearable. I keep thinking that my body will adapt, but not yet.We took our last boat ride across the sughai Tembeling. Our favorite restuarant was still river locked in by the rising river. Ezra said he saw a cloud that looked lick a gorilla. A few treats here and there and here again. Trying to plan the rest of our May. I am certain the rest of the month will be fine since we survived 10 days in the rainforest jungle of Taman Negara. – without air-con.

VILLAGE LIVING OF KUALA TAHAN.

Dwana was able to see her Hornbills. They were right where the guide told us they would be. The guide being “me” – F. Olee UU. Up the steep paved hill past the rainforest resort in the tall monkey tree house. We also saw monkeys who eventuall scared the hornbills away by chasing them from branch to branch. Interesting animal interaction. Worth the walk. the monkeys, after the scared off the hornbills, were curious about what the other primates wee eating 100 meteres below. The monkeys basically fell from their perches 100 meters in the air into the boughs and limbs down through space in a matter of seconds. Amazing to watch. I guess having 4 ways to hold plus a tail grab gives a monkey a little more confidence with tree navigation and gravity. So clumsily graceful. Ezra ate a baby frog leg. That is all I can say about that. You must ask him yourself how that tasted. Viena was a bit upset for about 5 minutes. Dwana said the frog was a toad. She had a frog -toad revelation right there on the trail and I was there to witness the entire revelation. For once, we did not rise after the morning Muslim prayer. We just kept on sleeping until the lights of the day became brighter. We had our usual breakfast at the market center. The market people are becoming quite familiar with our faces by now. Ezra had a small bout of “I want Ice cream!”we all scream for ice cream, but that too was over soon enough. We saw our hiker friend Kim taking off in a minivan onto Kuala Lumpur or KL. I felt a twinge of sadness. That was a good hike that we had together on the backside of bukit Teresik. However, I do not feel the need to return to the jungle trails. Maybe the canopy walk once more. Or Bukit Teresik the easy way. Studied with both Ezra and Viena on their workbooks. Viena is improving with her ability to receive instruction from me. The day was cloudy in the morning but now the heat is out. Maybe we will play soccer again with Viena. An easy day to play and play here and there in the land of Malay. And after that cute little jingle, I must tell the world that I had to kill the biggest wasp that was in our room. Yellow and Black and Big. Right over our tent. Boom.

HORNBILLS AND RUBBER TREES.

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Jungle Walk with Viena to find the top of Bukit Indah.

Slight rain in the morning, but the river is down and at least will can go to our favorite floating restaurant.

EZRA AND THE LEECH. EZRA AND THE LEECHES.

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LIGHTNING STORM THE GREATEST ON EARTH

HIKE THROUGH THE JUNGLE.

Yes. Monday. Saw a group of travellers off into the jngle for a nights rest. Have fun. We are barely hanging in here with the fan running and no A/C Tahan guest house. We took a morning walk on our side of the river Sungai Tembeling. Ezra was the first to wet his feet and Viena joined him shortly afterwards. For a brief moment the happiness of being children in a wild place took over. Not m=for Dwana and I, we just sat on the rocks with our feet in the muddy brown water watching Viena and Ezra placing mud, Tembeling Mud on themselves. We are at the junction of the Sungai Tahan and the Sungai Tembeling. Some saipans are crossing the river Tembeling and heading up the Tahan, but not many. We are staying in the Kuala Tahan at the Tahan Guest house, all namesd after the river that flows into the Tembeling. Tahan is a darker but less muddy river. We might today explore the watering hole on the Tahan Sungai – Limbok Simpon. And today, we stayed in town and waited for the internet cafe to open so we could skype with Mylon, but just because a place says it will open at 10AM does not mean it will open at 10AM. no luck. So we came back to the Tahan Guest house and Ezra and Viena played with the little girl Maya whose mom is running the guesthouse. They played so well together. Amazing. Who needs language? I went for an exploratory run to Matleon Village and around. The village appeared abandoned and seemed to be  a dream gone by to the wayside. I discovered a road that led me back to the guest house. I spoke to a French traveller about hiking and spending a night in the jungle. He showed the damage from the 2 leeches that left their mark. “Just let them suck you blood”! was the best strategy. Sounds like “Just Play Dead!”when you see a brown bear. Difficult to reason out at the time. We ater dinner at the corner market where all the food places are. Excellent fried chicken. Colonel sanders look out.

CANOPY WALK. I WAS SWEATING . EVERYONE ELSE WAS FINE.

Jerantut. Ezra saw something out the window. A ferris wheel lit up the night sky. The darkness and quietness of Jerantut at 5:30 in the morning … and then the Weems  family started moving out of our A/C room and on towards the bus station. Christmas lights are on the street overhead always. ther way of lighting the street. Another place, another time, another tut. I would have felt a little uneasy about the bus station in the darkness of the morning. A gang of 3 young Malay walked along the street as we sat aling the street under the big tree with the streets vacant. No problems. A guy drives his scooter up in front of us and says “Taman Negara?”I still hesitate in suspicion of people at first. A healthy skepticism I think. This was to be the bus driver and he was the nicest bus driver, nicest fella and asked if we wanted to stop for morning coffee and allowed us to stop and take pictures along the way. So, off to Taman Negara on our privatized Lokal bus for 18Ringgits. We arrived at our Tahan guest house and dropped off our bags and headed to the Taman Negara National Park – the oldest rainforest in the entire world. We ate coconut rice and eggs for 2 ringgits and large mineral water 2 ringgits and then to the mighty banks of the Sungai Tembeling to take our boat across to the other side – to the jungle. And then straight to the canopy walk. I must admit I was a little shaken by the canopy walk. Dwana can attest to this. I am not sure what it was, but maybe a combination of height, weight, holding a camera, swaying, creaking baords that kept coming unbolted under my feet, park workers telling me to hurry, not being able to take the photo that I wanted, seeing the big trees up close, seeing how far things were below, not being able to stop and rest, sweat pouring off my head onto my camera. But everyone appeared to have enjoyed the walk even more seeing me have to sweat it out. Viena says even the people behind me were looking at me, wondering. On the walk back we saw some huge trees. The walkway was constructed steps the entire way. We made the trip back to the river and onto our place to check in. The mosque next door played an afternoon prayer, and Ezra started moving in space on the balcony. Viena had a leg attack. We changed room to have a more Easerly facing balcony #8. Hot here but the room is nice and the lady is so friendly and has a 6-year-old girl. The kids are playing with the soccer ball in the back yard. No A/C in this room, but a nice view of the jungle canopy.

AWOKE AT 5AM TO CATCH THE JUNGLE TRAIN TO JERANTUT.

Tune Hotel. We left early in the morning to catch the East Coast Line Train south from Wakah Bharu. We were the first at the train station. Early in the morning. A ferris wheel lit up the morning and brightened Ezra’s eyes. Eventually other people and foreigners started showing up and we caught the train without incident. I should write about the cracked window of my seat and how the seat was not my seat in reality after a quick thought and a prayer. “That’s just a girl with a SMOKER.” Lots of people smoke in these parts. The train ride was exciting for the first hour and then slowly the excitement wore off. Over the next seven hours, especailly when the A/C seemed to stop working. Ezra fell asleep 15 minutes before we had to deboard. So, Dwana had to carry Ezra off the train, while I carried all of the bags. We scampered through town and found found our hotel with A/C not problem. We just follewed some other backpackers off of the train. The Town-Inn. I sought out some local pizza, some cold drinks and some ice cream bars and popped in a movie for the kids and we tried to chill out. The train ride, the taxi ride in the morning had zero headlight. A funny God one for Dwana. This entire part of our trip, I have been trying to clue into the God-happenings around me, around us. So many happening. So glad that we are all healthy and we have a good place to sleep with a view of Jerantut.

We were booted off the island. One night in Kota Bharu. The speedboat ride was pretty bumpy. Back on the main Malay Peninsula. Viena and Dwana had a good time shopping at the local market.

What a beautiful day spent travelling in transition. From our place at Ewans through on Kecil Perhentian to a tour of the big island over to the jetty at Kuala Besut into our taxi. We did not go to the market. Communication issues. Onto Kota Bharu and into the Tune Hotel. Air conditioning! Shopping at the KB mall for some stuff. We ater for about half the cost of the island. We stocked up on provisions for the week in the jungle. The speed boat ride was pretty bumpy but made many smiles and blew lots of hair in faces. Not really sad to leave the islands. Time for other things. One week was good enough. Our taxi driver drove a bit slower, but still a bit crazy. The scenery reminded me of growing up on the gulf coast. The rains fell in Kota Bharu tonight. Shopping was fun buying $2 shirts. Caught a taxi to go and purchase our train tickets. We are on the 9:15 jungle train ride in the morning. Bought $70 worth of food, so I feel like a local and enjoy a good workout with the bags. Ezra and I played in the Hotel room, while Viena and Dwana had their Malaysian shopping mall experience. Ezra was so playful and was so tired by dinner time – falling asleep at the dinner table. Stories of the fresh king fish, the back porch of Ewan’s place, the chicken foot on the beach, the truckload of chickens on the road. The bright sun overhead at noon.

Finally saw the Sunrise. Had to go solo. Ezra woke up screaming in the middle of the night at 2:30 AM, so everyone else slept in. Eating breakfast at Ewan’s place. Toast and Omelettes and $1 ice coffee.

“Come on Ezra! Let’s go get Pounded!”Conversations at Long Beach. I graduated from Long Beach. I broke my flip-flop on Long Beach. Shortly after my flip flop flipped for the last time, I was casually asking God for a remedy, and one flip-flop showed up on the trail. A little small in size, but the right foot. A little boy named Jesse moved into the chalet #9. Jasper, Kristin, and Jesse. And guess what they are doing. They too are travelling the world for a year with Jesse. Glad to see. Ezra had his prayers answered as well. Viena played in the waves for so long at Long Beach, screaming her mantra – LETS GO GET POUNDED. We were there all morning. We even rented an umbrella for 10 ringgits. I felt like I was being burned by the sun through the umbrella. We even ate at Long Beach. Everything was 1-3 ringgits more expensive with 1-3 less smiles. The price of having a good beach. Looking forward to the smiles at Ewan’s place for dinner. I can not believe how much Ezra and Viena loved playing in the waves. The right size of wave and the right temerature of water. Small warm waves. I asked if anyone wanted to go watch the fish under water, but everyone declined. The day was warm, hot, unceasing. A whole section needs to be written about the shower sequence like a sauna that goes on when we return home from our adventures. Hot Hot water. Need to use the water n the pail first. I causght the sunrise this morning –  a good one. Our last night. Tomorrow we leave the island.

We did it!

Today we walked around the south tip of the island. Yahoo! What  a good trek. We woke up around 5:30am and did not arrive back home until 4:00PM. A full day, no doubt. The early morning was the most difficult. Just walking up the hill to Long Beach in the dark, Ezra was having a hard time, complaining every step of the way. Even before the the real hill started. Even before the rains fell. Even before the sun rose. We stayed for a few moments at Long Beach to see if the sunrise might be spectacular, but nothing special. We found the powerline trail and started up the steep slope. The hike had just begun so I did not feel like giving Ezra a gravity assist. Viena was doing just fine. She was wearing her strapless Crocs. I was wearing my Native shoes. Ezra had his Croc Malay copycat shoe and Dwana had her Keen sandals. I mention this because the hike was hard on the feet. Little peices of granite kept falling in our shoes and irritating the feet. The rains started to fall just as the sun began to shine. Difficult to tell if the shower was going to be a big one. On the second big steep slope, I grabbed Ezra. The bugs were eating us and our day was quickly heating up. The rains continued to fall all the way to the fishing village. The tall grasses that we walked through appeared less creepy snce we were already wet with the sensation of rain. The fishing village was just wakingup when we arrived. All of the children were already in school. Men were seating in breakfast shops having coffee and the women were cooking. Took us a while, but we found a place to serve some food that Ezra and Viena might like. We found some Kati and cocnut rice – yummy. We could have caught a boat back to Coral Bay, but the day was still young. So, off we continued along the trail. From the fishing village the trail is in much better shape and we were walking along bricks. I guess they made this trail 10 years ago to connect the places. Now the jungle is trying to reclaim some of the trail. The trail even has concrete steps and railings at times. Compared to how our morning had started, the second part of the hike was a breeze, a piece of cake, a walk in the jungle park. Both Ezra and Viena had energy. the birds were whistling full force. We saw some monitor lizards. We went through Petani BEach and Miri beach on the way to our secret beach where I saw the reef tip shark. Glad to finally jumo in the warm water. Not that refreshing, but great after all we had treked. My shirt was drenched in sweat – again. Does not take much in the heat of the jungle. Ezra and Viena played taxi driver in the sand. We snorkeled a little before making the last push back home into Coral Bay … for ice coffees, cocnut milkshakes and pineaple lassies.

Today we met some other children at breakfast and arranged to just play all day at their chalet on the water. The girl was 10 an the boy was 7. They spoke very little English but everyone spoke the language of fun. The photo I was not able to take was of the 5ft Monitor Lizard – A cousin to the Komodo – that was waiting for me in the stream bed that I was running up. I stopped about 10 feet from him and he did not move. I finally turned and went down another trail. My run took me from Coral bay North up the West coast to Turtle Beach. At Turtle beach, I went snorkeling and saw a small bat ray and some other cool fish. The sun was setting as I was making my way back along the thinly marked trail through the jungle. Whoever tagged the tree limbs with red and white tape to mark “the trail” – thank you.

On the one day that we did not charge out , sneak out of the house  and plow on to Long Beach to watch the sunrise – the sunrise from our vantage point of our chalet veranda looked to be clear and spectacular with high clouds and a sliver of the moon leading the way. We walked to the fishing pier with our Dutch neighbors to see them off. We could see many fish from the pier and the start of a very sunny dy. Their boat was a bit late but eventually arrived. I need to call and confirm our departure. At breakfast we encountered a family on holiday from Germany with small children 9 and 6. While the parents were at dive school,  Ezra and Viena played with the other children the entire day. A good play date. Their chalet has a bunch of palm trees which make for good shade and any time of the day. Instead of doing another hike to secret beach we just decided to stay at the beach of Coral Bay and play with the other two children. The day went great. I even swam out to the floating doack in the afternoon. I even had a chance to pull out the word card game and play. I am so glad for the shade of the cocnut trees in front of their chalet. The day was so hot and the water ironically on this hot day did not appear inviting since the thought of coming out with hot salty skin was not appealing. What this island is lacking is a fresh water source to shower off after a dip in the ocean. The dive center had a shower, but nowhere else. Divers pay big bucks to come here. I am sure the dives are worth the price. Seeing the coral underwater is still so amazing to me. I feel like the coral and the underwater sea is a whole new world. Who knows maybe one day I will return here and attend Dive School. Later that afternoon I took a hike to explore the wild North part of the island. What a hike! Past romantic beach. Over teh rock coastline. And then into the deep forest, following only a small trail lined with red flag markers every 50 feet. I was going to try to find a different trail back instead descending again to romantic beach, so I stuck to the markers. The trail was strong and then the markers stopped. The trail kept going until a small riverbed that had a trickle of water not really flowing. I stopped here briefly and decided to bound up the riverbed in hopes of finding another red marker. After my first bound, but before my second, I saw in a small pool of water the largest monitor lizard – He was staring at me  – not moving. Must have been almost 2 meters. Twice as big as the others we had seen and especially big in the jaw area. We had a stare off, but I needed to move towards him to go back down the trail. If I needed any other sign, this was my turn around point.

Well at some time I knew I would start felling it. You know. That feeling that you feel like you are on a boat, but instead you are on land. We have been in the water alot during our stay in the Perhentians. We are on the small island and our location could not be better. Long Beach is sandy and shallow and both Ezra and Viena love just walking out in the warm waves way out there. We have had some thunderstorms recently which has made some 1-2 foot ways – perfect for them to play in. This morning, we went googeling – snorkeling without the snorkel – for about 3 hours. We saw some cool coral and some big colorful fish. The water is so warm and calm that googeling is not uncomfortable. Plus, Ezra swims like a fish. Viena loved swimming out to a floating dock about 200 meters off shore. The water depth at the floating dock that Ezra named Maui was about 10 meters. The morning clouds made the temperature not too hot. Ezra said he wanted to stay on the dock until nighttime, but we did not bring any water so we had to go back to shore. We have a small one room chalet at Ewans Place on Coral bay about 100 meters from the beach. We eat most of our meals at Ewan’s restaurant. You can kinda shape the picture here. Viena and I have been eating fruit and porridge and fich and chips. Ezra has been sticking to french fries and yogurt. Dwana likes a chicken and rice dish where they place a small thin omelette over the top. We see them bringing in the fresh fish in wheel-barrels to fillet on the back porch of the restaurant. Big fish about 1.5 meters long and think. We have not seen these fish swimming during our googeling, but we have seen some other tasty looking fish. Most of the foreigners come here to go diving and very few if any are chartering trips to do sports fishing. Most foreigners are from Europe and speak English to communicate with the locals. We try to stay inside during the peak heat of the day and venture out during the morning and evening. One beach (Long Beach,  10 minute walk)  is perfect for catching the sunrise and the other beach (Coral Bay – 3 minutes) is perfect for watching the sunset. We have seen very few families travelling here on the island even though this island is perfect for children, especially our children. Our chalet only has a ceiling fan so the temperature has been quite hot even at night. We sometimes must take a shower in the middle of the night to cool down. The first couple of night everyone but me was eaten by bug (I slept in the tent while they used the bug net) When you are playing rock paper scissors remember Tent beats bug net which beats sleeping without bug net. Nothing beats tent. Now we have both tents set up in the room – one on top of the bed, the other outside on the porch. Bug bites have decreased exponentially, but the itch and the memories remain. For those that are interested, the Malaysian mosquito is a very small stealthy pest. They are rarely seen and like to hang out in the moist shadowy places. They attack and leave before you know it leaving only their mark which swells quite large on Ezra and Viena. They appears to love joints – Knees and especially ankles. They are out there in unknown numbers, for we can not see them. Our only defense from the mosquitoes besides the impenetrable tents is a lone rather large bat that swoops and darts through our porch during the dusk. Take your choice. The wavey feeling has subsided so until next time.

We woke up adnd walked to Long Beach to watch the sunrise. Ezra and I went snorkeling out in the waters by the pier. We saw lots of fish and Ezra was enchanted. I love being able to stand on sandy ground and support Ezra while he just floats and looks at fish. The waves were coming in and the water was not as clear as the other day, but the fish were still available. Interesting how the boats are anchored to the shore. A walking hazard. The storm was moving in and the taxi boat drivers were hurrying to bring their boats out of the water. We left Long Beach and returns to Ewans to eat some breakfast, or maybe we went ot town to have some porraige at Coral Bay. We have been eating most of our meals at Ewan’s place. Viena loves the fish and chips. Ezra loves the yogurt. The cafe is crowded with foreigners at night looking for a bite to eat and a strong internet connection. Dwana has enjoyed beach combing on the sandy shores, especailly at secret beach. No bird feathers to find in the jungle, but plenty of beach glass. Ewan has major fannage in his restaurant. We are always envious of all of W=Ewans fans as we are in our chalet that only has one fall. We have been sleeping fairly well once we put a tent on the bed and one tent outside. sat inside and watched a movie during the heat of the day. Both Viena and Ezra were so excited to just stick in a video and try to chill out. Our budgethas been about 100 ringgit a day to eat on ($30). We have tried to limit the drinks and stay wit the menu items that the children as familiar with and will eat. I ahve a dream with the revolutionary Simon Boliviar. Not sure what that dream was about. The Malaysian elected went without chaos and the currnet administration retained support. Ewan has a meal with some squid, chicken, shrimp with eggs and rice. So far the sunburns have stayed away. We still have a long way to go with this equatorial travel. We have tried to stay hydrated by drinking lots of water. We found a place that fills water bottles for 1 ringgit.

We found an enchanting beach after a jungle walk that made us all jump out of our flip flops at least once

Election day. A day of rest for the Malaysians as they elect their new government officials. We saw all the flags flying for the opposing candidate all through Kota Bharu. But we are here secluded and safe from all in the Perhentians. I was wondering what would happen if the Malaysian government elections did not go smoothly and we would be stuck in a paradise of sorts. Ewan closed his cafe and shut down his generator and took his family into the village to vote. We went for a walk. Our early walk took us to Long Beach. I love the fact that you can walk 10 minutes and be on the other side of the island on a nice beach. We walked the trail in darkness with Ezra leading the way with his light and the lightning in the Eastern sky challenging the sun’s impending approach. So we all gathered on Long Beach. The thunder. The lightning. The Sun. The sand. The clouds. The horizon taking shape with colors only to be wiped out by a rain storm – but only for a moment. Viena , Ezra and I played i thw warm waters and watched as lightning struck straight down on the ocean. Ezra said, “This is the best time I have ever had in my life!” That made me happy as we ll played in the shallow storm waves of the morning. Long Beach is so shallow you can walk way out like in the Great Lakes. So warm. Everyone was singing the praise of the day. Blessed is the day , today! And then the rains sstart, soft at first and then heavier and harder – and yet we continued to  play in this warm rain. A moment to cherish. This fresh morning warm rain, the kind you tilt your head to the sky and drink in the gift from the clouds. And this was just the beginning of our day. We huddled in a tarped food shack contructed of sticks while the hardest rains fell from the sky, and then we trekked back up the hill to our place and Coral Bay. After filling our bellies and cleaning off a bit, we packed and headed for a secret beach of sorts on the the trail. So, through the jungle we walked with the promise of oversized lizards at every turn. And we were not to be denied. After a slow start we must have spotted 5 of those creatures. They are officially monitor lizards. Most about 3 feet in length and looking like a small crocidile. We sat nd watched one and I even tried to spook one towards the others – but I was caught by a thorny vine that wanted to wrap itself around my shoulders, arm and face. I required Dwana’s help to entangle the wicked plant. We had secret beach all to ourselves. We snorkeled and saw all sorts of fish and looked at the coral close to shore. I even saw a small reef tip shark that I chased for a little bit and then tried to sho Viena who tried to pursue as well. I have never seen a shark in the wild like that and I am glad that curiousity and not fear prevailed. Thanks Matt.

We woke up this morning and walked the trail to Long Beach in the dark with the flashlights looking for the over-sized lizard that I saw yesterday. The walk across the small P

erhentian island at the narrow point took about 20 minutes. We were rewarded not with a sighting of the oversized lizard, but by a beautiful sunrise on the East facing Long Beach.

Two meals at Ewan’s place. A sunrise morning. Fish swimming around us, eating out of the palm of our hands. Colorful fish. Lots of fish. A fish drean experience. Warm morning waters of Long Beach. We hiked up the trail in the darkness and the torch was still burning in the morning from the prior nights festivities. A few taxi boat drivers arriving to pick up passengers and people that booked an excursion and needed to go somewhere else. We were where we needed to be already. Viena and Ezra are really loving snorkeling in the warm water – without a snorkel. All you need are your swim googles and you are ready. And we were ready. I have waited 44 years to have fish surrounding me eating out of the palm of my hand – cute small colorful fish, not like salmon. But maybe the fishermen need to try feeding the fish some white bread. When we returned to our chalet without A/C, I went on a run around the island. I love being able to run around islands. An island runner. Anyway, the water taxi driver mentioned this morning that the island did not have any trails and all the maps that you see that have trails marked are wrong. Well, he was mistaken, or trying to earn some more business in the area of water taxi. I was able to run easily from Coral Bay around the southern tip and all the way back to Long Beach. I say easily, not because the run was easy, but the trail can be easily found. Follow the red brick road. Took about 3 hours. Nice Run/Walk/Hike. Found some great beaches along the way.

We made it to another Island. This one is a beauty.

I am outside on our lanai – our porch – our veranda. We awoke in Kota Bharu and just as planned, our taxi was waiting for us at 7:30AM. What was un-planned was that the taxi driver drove light a bat out of hell. I can say that because I have recently seen bats. But maybe drove like Batman would be better. The heat takes over our minds sometimes, so we ill not mention hell or any other hot places. I could write about travelling with a 3 year old, but we do not have a 3-year-old any more. Ezra is 4. But occasionally, most of the time, he still behaves – like he is 3. Especially on the day number 3 of the month. But I could go on and on. the reviews to be writtten by people who have seen us on our travels and observed our family interactions – what would they say? A book in itself. The guy drove too fast, but maybe all taxi drivers drive fast. Even when I mentioned to him that Ezra might be carsick, he sai, “OK No speeding, only medium, not slow. And so he drove “medium” the rest of the way – which was still like driving with batman. We arrived at the jetty an hour ahead of the ferry in Kuala Beset. For the first time in our travels we saw the traditional backpacker groups. Europeans, Ethiopians, Palestinians, Dutch, Indian, French, and German backpackers travellers all booking passage to the Perhentian Islands. Most of the other travellers had pre-booked with a tour resort activity group. Not us, We have our room, at Ewan’s place, and I was so glad he held our room for us. Nine chalets and we were in chalet number 8. Very hot here. The boat ride across a slice of the Indian Ocean was fast, very fast. Viena and Ezra were so quiet on the speed boat ride. If we could just transport them to a speed boat mind everytime they are going crazy. If we could only. That’s why the Balinese take their children on scooter rides. Here we are with all of our luggage – basically all our possessions. Twice as much luggage as the average bear. Difficult the watercraft was pretty difficult with all the bags, but but the jetty was nice and we made it to corl bay. I saw the sign pointing towards Ewan’s place on the beach. 200 meters later we arrived at Ewan’s place and here we will be for a week, The scene of the hilly jungle dropping onto a sandy beach was amazing. Just needs some waterfalls or a fresh water source. We swam in the warm warm water. Ezra was like a fish. We saw some fish and some sea cucumbers. The fish were friendly and would swim right up to us in the shallow water. Looking forward to finding snorkel spots and hiking to Long Beach.