Tapah, the dump that is, and I'm back there for the third time in less than a week. I must nearly be classed as a local. Me and Bella got back here and I'm pretty sure we went to Restaurant Haji. Again. It's not even good food, it's just opposite the bus station which is handy. One quirk of the place is the local dude who had deformed (or is malformed, or differently formed or some other politically correct platitude) hands and feet and was a bit special (scew political correctness...!) came over to me every time I was in there and incessantly asked 'where you from?' until I acknowledged him. 'Romania' is my response in this situation, just to confuse people because they've never heard of it. I've said it before and I'll say it again, you have to make your own fun!
The bus back to Cameron Highlands was hell. Or at least as warm and uncomfortable as. Me and Bella waited a good half hour on the bus and it was roasting, air con not on but the engine wasn't running so I was looking forward to a nice blast of cold air when we got going. Not so. No air con. Anyone who has been on a non-air-con bus in Asia will appreciate how uncomfortable the following two and half hours of my life were, it wasn't even a nice bus with lots of room, it was a local bus. Grrrrrrrr!!!!!
I slept as best I could and listened to music, the usual 'pass the time on the bus' stuff one does when trying to pass the time on the bus. I think I've gotten too complacent about being in beautiful places, I remember my first journey up to the Highlands as a simple tourist and I was blown away by the tea plantations, the jungle, the lush greeness of it all and this time it was like 'oh, more jungle'...
I appeared in the office to some shock from Karen the boss and Deera who weren't expecting me back until the next day. I booked my ticket to Penang for the 27th and headed up to the lodge, my second home now, and checked into a dorm bed. I joked with Jue the receptionist that I should get a discount on the bed and a quick phone call to the boss and I was staying for free! There was, however, a catch... Bibi the morning receptionist had been off sick for the last two days and since Bella was with me there was no one available to do her shift and Jue had done two days 6.30am 'til 10pm. She's pregnant and very hard to say no to so I somehow agreed to work the following night.
Then I walked to Brinchang. Voluntarily. Strange, I know but I felt like a good walk in the mild climate and after four and half months I still hadn't been to the night market in the next town so me and Bella went for a 5km mooch, arriving in town before cars we had seen stuck in the traffic on the road! The night market was nothing to write home about, so I won't say anything about it. Whilst here I texted my friend who I hadn't seen for a couple of weeks (see my previous blogs...) and he was in Tapah where I had been literally hours before, frustrated much! He said he would text me if he got back at reasonable time. Interesting things happening whilst in Brinchang!
We hitched a lift in the back of a pick up back to Tanah Rata and I went and did what I do best, hung out on the sofas at the lodge. Spoke to my mum, Vix my best mate from back home called me to say I should be there getting drunk with her and Mama Jan, I caught up on emails and shiz and at 11pm I got a text off my friend which I was not expecting at all. Went round to his, watched a film I didn't understand and he couldn't be bothered explaining, and we had a really good chat and he learnt not to incur the wrath of a scouse bird! Eleven times I punched him before one of us stopped counting! Was really good to see him before I left, hanging out, having a joke and laugh, debating the merits or lack thereof of Michael Jackson (he loves, I hate, I get hit with a pillow...).
All in all I had probably one of the best Christmases ever, because it wasn't very Christmassy, I was warm, I didn't hear any irritating Christmas songs, no Coca Cola advert, only one bout of over feeding which I compensated for by not being able to eat for the next 24 hours, spent good quality time with some of my favourite people not just in Malaysia but in my life in general, and left my life in the Highlands on the best terms I can think of. And so the story of a Week in the Kampungs comes to an end... Normal service of a couple of blogs a months will resume. Hope you like the new layout btw...
Tuesday, 27 December 2011
Monday, 26 December 2011
A Week in the Kampungs Part III: Temoh
To pick up where I left you, with bated breath and a sense of anticipation no doubt, I was sat in my new local Restaurant Haji reading Catch 22. A great book by the way, really funny and I love a good war book. I digress... Bella missed the 8am bus from the Highlands so got the 11am and arrived about half one to see my table scattered with chai glasses and the remains of a roti. I needed to get on the internet and email a couple of people since it was Christmas Eve and all and I wouldn't have internet access again until at least Boxing Day.
Quick trip to an internet cafe, we bumped into Bella's sister. The whole familial way of referring to people is very confusing in Malaysia. People refer to each other as brothers or sisters when there is no blood, cousins, aunts and uncles can be anyone and in my job an uncle and nephew referred to each other as father and son which was well confusing at first when I hadn't got to grips with it. In the villages it was harder again, I would be introduced to another aunt or cousin and try to establish the acutal link and the girls wouldn't really know but they would know there was some blood relation somewhere or other.
We went back to the bus station and caught the Tapah-Kampar bus, there was a mad ass traffic jam and I thought there had been an accident or something (seen a couple of bad ones here including my first sight of a dead body...) but no, it was just really badly sequenced traffic lights at one of the junctions. We got off the bus at Temoh which is just off the main Tapah Road and about five minutes walk, a hell of a lot less scary than Deera's village location!
Temoh is a lot different to Batu Sembilhan. There are only eight concrete houses so far but the government is building more, and most of the houses are concrete or brick based with wood and corrugated iron starting about a foot off the floor. They are much smaller houses and can have three generations living in them, that's why the government are building them more. They're not good quality buildings, just poured concrete and Bella's grandmother's house which she has been in less than a year already has some pretty big cracks, but she is lucky to have one of the new houses. I was amazed at the TV aerial mast which was a massive bamboo cane stuck in the ground with the aerial bodged on to it somehow, very old vs. new!
As we walked through the village we amassed a gang of about 10 kids following us to the house, I was the first white person there for a very long time and a lot of the kids had only ever seen white people on TV. After having food put in front of me almost immediately me and Bella went for a walk around the village and went to her uncle's house. Whilst here a two year old baby was plonked on my lap so his father could get a picture of his son with a white girl, rather surreal considering I'm terrible with children and the kid was proper freaked out by me!
On the way back to Bella's grandmother's house we went past a playing field of sorts and saw a load of local lads playing a game called sepak takraw. It's basically an elaborate game of keepy-uppy, with two teams and volleyball net played with a hollow wooden ball thing. This amused me for a good while, good looking, toned Orang Asli boys messing about in the late afternoon sun, t'was very Top Gun! The fun was spoilt by a local piss head hassling me and Bella's logical way to get him to leave me alone was to tell him I had a husband and kids in the Highlands, personally I would have told him 'fuck right off mate, you're fat, have no teeth, less hair and your boxies that I can see poking out of your pants look like they ain't been washed in a month, why in the world would I be interested in that?!'. Unfortunately my Malay isn't that good and my Orang Asli non existent so I kept a stoney silence whilst Bella invented a life for me. Next we mooched to the local waterfall with her neice Theresa who was well cute, apparently it used to be a beautiful site and then loads of Malays started going there for picnics and it got ruined and for a reason Bella doesn't know the little lake there was drained and people stopped going. Such a shame it's been ruined because people from the village have been going there for generations and kids like Theresa will never know how beautiful it was.
When we got back to the house a duck had been barbecued for me and I was made up! I explained to Bella that duck is a bit special back home, pretty expensive so a bit of a treat, so for a whole duck (in pieces obvs...) to be put in front of me and to be told to eat as much as I wanted was challenge accepted! I didn't eat it all but I made a pretty good effort and it was amazing, so juicy and amazing flavours going on. Me likey. After we had eaten it was time to go to church, kind of. I checked about a million times that no one would think me cheeky or disrespectful for attending the service but not praying or joining in and I was assured everyone would be fine with it. Being a commited atheist I could never bring myself to appear to worship but at the same time I really wanted to see how they worshipped, having attended Church of England primary and secondary schools and being forced to go to church three times a year against my wishes I know what a Christmas celebration should look like back home.
This one really surprised me. There was no priest, the service was kind of ran by Bella's auntie but everyone kind of chipped in with their ideas on what to do or sing next. There were 14 adults and 2 kids there plus me and the local drunk who was making a holy show of himself (excuse the pun) but he just got ignored. It was really nice how the service went, there were a couple of songs to start with, one of the local lads on his guitar, and then everyone there took it in turns to stand at the front and read form their own bibles the Christmas story in Malay and then explain to everyone their understanding of it. I was surprised that I understood where in the story they were, the rythm of the bible is very much the same and Bella said it's written in very dense language like the King James Bible is and that's why they were all explaining it to one another. A few more songs in Orang Asli, the Lord's prayer (again I recognised the rythm) and the service was over. I felt so privileged to have been there, it was a very community based service expressing their own thoughts and beliefs and not at all like the preachy services back home. Normally I will challenge anyone in a debate about God when they are openly expressing their faith but I felt touched that these people cared enough to worship. Oh and the language barrier would have been a particular challenge, I wonder how you say 'do you believe your God is omnipitent?' in Malay?!
Back at the house we sat on the floor, and I was getting quizzed - where are you from? What job do you do there? Are you married? Why not? Can I see a picture of your house? Poor Bella was having to translate for us back and forth but I suppose it's good for her language skills. Beds were set up and I was rather happy as I was pooped, me and Bella were sleeping on mats on the floor under a mossie net that was bright pink and I felt like I was sleeping in a castle! The fun and novelty of this was short lived when her uncle came back to the house drunk and started to have a domestic with her aunt, a window got smashed, things got rather heated so Bella got us to move into the bedroom where her other aunt was sleeping with her two sons. Bella said she was pretty scared and didn't want to stay another night which had been the plan so I told her we could go and stay in Tapah or Ipoh the next night if she wanted.
Woken the next morning by the standard assortment of animals already encountered at the last village, I had duck and rice shoved into my hand almost immediately and was expected to eat up. Another wander around the village and me and Bella had decided to get the bus to Tapah and if it was available to get on a bus back to the Highlands so we didn't have to pay for a hotel room unnecessarily. The ability to get about on Christmas Day astounded me, home grinds to a halt for at least two days but this was like any other day in Malaysia, which I really like because I hate Christmas. Dinner was at 11.30am and there was about 12 people sat on the floor surrounding a massive spread of all sorts of food, everyone said grace first which was a nice touch and we dug in, duck in about four different styles, ditto the chicken, rice, noodles, prawn cracker things, loads of vegetables, rice cooked in bamboo, something brown also cooked in bamboo which Bella couldn't quite translate for me, it was a feast indeed. When we had finished a load more food appeared as all the guests left and I was scared I would be expected to eat more but it was for the next lot of people who would inevitably be arriving.
After dinner we went to get the bus to Tapah and I shook Bella's grandmother's hand. I had to bend a considerable way down to do this, no joke this woman was up to my hip. I know Asians in general are shorter but this was just scary! I asked Bella why she was so much taller and she said it's likely because she went to school in Penang and had better food and stuff. So this visit was sadly cut short but I still feel I got a nice feel for the place. The lads here were cheekier, they were asking Bella to teach them English so they could chat to me and they were sat outside the house showing off with their guitars. The village was smaller with more of a community feel, I hope this doesn't change when more new houses are built and there is a little bit more physical distance between houses, the wooden houses have maybe two feet between them, the new ones about six or seven feet which does feel like it makes a difference. More good food, more good people, more kids catching their first glimple of a Westerner, and another amazing experience with one of my best mates...
Quick trip to an internet cafe, we bumped into Bella's sister. The whole familial way of referring to people is very confusing in Malaysia. People refer to each other as brothers or sisters when there is no blood, cousins, aunts and uncles can be anyone and in my job an uncle and nephew referred to each other as father and son which was well confusing at first when I hadn't got to grips with it. In the villages it was harder again, I would be introduced to another aunt or cousin and try to establish the acutal link and the girls wouldn't really know but they would know there was some blood relation somewhere or other.
We went back to the bus station and caught the Tapah-Kampar bus, there was a mad ass traffic jam and I thought there had been an accident or something (seen a couple of bad ones here including my first sight of a dead body...) but no, it was just really badly sequenced traffic lights at one of the junctions. We got off the bus at Temoh which is just off the main Tapah Road and about five minutes walk, a hell of a lot less scary than Deera's village location!
Temoh is a lot different to Batu Sembilhan. There are only eight concrete houses so far but the government is building more, and most of the houses are concrete or brick based with wood and corrugated iron starting about a foot off the floor. They are much smaller houses and can have three generations living in them, that's why the government are building them more. They're not good quality buildings, just poured concrete and Bella's grandmother's house which she has been in less than a year already has some pretty big cracks, but she is lucky to have one of the new houses. I was amazed at the TV aerial mast which was a massive bamboo cane stuck in the ground with the aerial bodged on to it somehow, very old vs. new!
As we walked through the village we amassed a gang of about 10 kids following us to the house, I was the first white person there for a very long time and a lot of the kids had only ever seen white people on TV. After having food put in front of me almost immediately me and Bella went for a walk around the village and went to her uncle's house. Whilst here a two year old baby was plonked on my lap so his father could get a picture of his son with a white girl, rather surreal considering I'm terrible with children and the kid was proper freaked out by me!
On the way back to Bella's grandmother's house we went past a playing field of sorts and saw a load of local lads playing a game called sepak takraw. It's basically an elaborate game of keepy-uppy, with two teams and volleyball net played with a hollow wooden ball thing. This amused me for a good while, good looking, toned Orang Asli boys messing about in the late afternoon sun, t'was very Top Gun! The fun was spoilt by a local piss head hassling me and Bella's logical way to get him to leave me alone was to tell him I had a husband and kids in the Highlands, personally I would have told him 'fuck right off mate, you're fat, have no teeth, less hair and your boxies that I can see poking out of your pants look like they ain't been washed in a month, why in the world would I be interested in that?!'. Unfortunately my Malay isn't that good and my Orang Asli non existent so I kept a stoney silence whilst Bella invented a life for me. Next we mooched to the local waterfall with her neice Theresa who was well cute, apparently it used to be a beautiful site and then loads of Malays started going there for picnics and it got ruined and for a reason Bella doesn't know the little lake there was drained and people stopped going. Such a shame it's been ruined because people from the village have been going there for generations and kids like Theresa will never know how beautiful it was.
When we got back to the house a duck had been barbecued for me and I was made up! I explained to Bella that duck is a bit special back home, pretty expensive so a bit of a treat, so for a whole duck (in pieces obvs...) to be put in front of me and to be told to eat as much as I wanted was challenge accepted! I didn't eat it all but I made a pretty good effort and it was amazing, so juicy and amazing flavours going on. Me likey. After we had eaten it was time to go to church, kind of. I checked about a million times that no one would think me cheeky or disrespectful for attending the service but not praying or joining in and I was assured everyone would be fine with it. Being a commited atheist I could never bring myself to appear to worship but at the same time I really wanted to see how they worshipped, having attended Church of England primary and secondary schools and being forced to go to church three times a year against my wishes I know what a Christmas celebration should look like back home.
This one really surprised me. There was no priest, the service was kind of ran by Bella's auntie but everyone kind of chipped in with their ideas on what to do or sing next. There were 14 adults and 2 kids there plus me and the local drunk who was making a holy show of himself (excuse the pun) but he just got ignored. It was really nice how the service went, there were a couple of songs to start with, one of the local lads on his guitar, and then everyone there took it in turns to stand at the front and read form their own bibles the Christmas story in Malay and then explain to everyone their understanding of it. I was surprised that I understood where in the story they were, the rythm of the bible is very much the same and Bella said it's written in very dense language like the King James Bible is and that's why they were all explaining it to one another. A few more songs in Orang Asli, the Lord's prayer (again I recognised the rythm) and the service was over. I felt so privileged to have been there, it was a very community based service expressing their own thoughts and beliefs and not at all like the preachy services back home. Normally I will challenge anyone in a debate about God when they are openly expressing their faith but I felt touched that these people cared enough to worship. Oh and the language barrier would have been a particular challenge, I wonder how you say 'do you believe your God is omnipitent?' in Malay?!
Back at the house we sat on the floor, and I was getting quizzed - where are you from? What job do you do there? Are you married? Why not? Can I see a picture of your house? Poor Bella was having to translate for us back and forth but I suppose it's good for her language skills. Beds were set up and I was rather happy as I was pooped, me and Bella were sleeping on mats on the floor under a mossie net that was bright pink and I felt like I was sleeping in a castle! The fun and novelty of this was short lived when her uncle came back to the house drunk and started to have a domestic with her aunt, a window got smashed, things got rather heated so Bella got us to move into the bedroom where her other aunt was sleeping with her two sons. Bella said she was pretty scared and didn't want to stay another night which had been the plan so I told her we could go and stay in Tapah or Ipoh the next night if she wanted.
Woken the next morning by the standard assortment of animals already encountered at the last village, I had duck and rice shoved into my hand almost immediately and was expected to eat up. Another wander around the village and me and Bella had decided to get the bus to Tapah and if it was available to get on a bus back to the Highlands so we didn't have to pay for a hotel room unnecessarily. The ability to get about on Christmas Day astounded me, home grinds to a halt for at least two days but this was like any other day in Malaysia, which I really like because I hate Christmas. Dinner was at 11.30am and there was about 12 people sat on the floor surrounding a massive spread of all sorts of food, everyone said grace first which was a nice touch and we dug in, duck in about four different styles, ditto the chicken, rice, noodles, prawn cracker things, loads of vegetables, rice cooked in bamboo, something brown also cooked in bamboo which Bella couldn't quite translate for me, it was a feast indeed. When we had finished a load more food appeared as all the guests left and I was scared I would be expected to eat more but it was for the next lot of people who would inevitably be arriving.
After dinner we went to get the bus to Tapah and I shook Bella's grandmother's hand. I had to bend a considerable way down to do this, no joke this woman was up to my hip. I know Asians in general are shorter but this was just scary! I asked Bella why she was so much taller and she said it's likely because she went to school in Penang and had better food and stuff. So this visit was sadly cut short but I still feel I got a nice feel for the place. The lads here were cheekier, they were asking Bella to teach them English so they could chat to me and they were sat outside the house showing off with their guitars. The village was smaller with more of a community feel, I hope this doesn't change when more new houses are built and there is a little bit more physical distance between houses, the wooden houses have maybe two feet between them, the new ones about six or seven feet which does feel like it makes a difference. More good food, more good people, more kids catching their first glimple of a Westerner, and another amazing experience with one of my best mates...
Sunday, 25 December 2011
A Week in the Kampungs Part II: 26 Hours in Tapah
Tapah is a small place. Very small. Not as small as Tanah Rata which is basically a one street town, but not far off with probably three or four main roads. Spending just a bit more than a day here without going stir crazy, and coping completely on my own for the first time since Hat Yai in October, was going to be a challenge.
Deera's godmother gave us a lift into town from the village so no bus conductors quizzing me on the British public transport network, and we got there about half 10. I went to the hotel I had scouted out the day I was passing through town. 30 ringgit (about 6 quid) for a private double room was well sweet, with the promise of free wifi in the room as well. I turned up at half 10 and the room wasn't ready so I went for a chai with Deera to pass the time. This was the second time in the same place, Restaurant Haji, and I sat at the same table and ordered a slight varient on my previous food with and egg roti. Exciting.
I put Deera on the bus about midday and went back to the hotel for some hardcore alone time. Don't get me wrong I love people, when they're interesting and don't resort to backpacker banter (I need to blog about this pet hate soon...), but getting proper alone time is pretty much impossible when you've been living in a dorm for four months. So I settled into my room, western toilet, my own plug socket, two pillows and everything, and couldn't get on the wifi! Because alone time equals naked time to me I couldn't be bothered getting dressed to moan about the wifi so I just watched Firefly on my computer between far too frequent dozing.
I did get dressed to go and buy phone credit and some water, not used to being in a very warm climate I'd forgotten to remind myslef to drink lots of water and was feeling dehydrated. I was the only white person in town, wandering around at eight at night, pretty much everything closed. The joys of small, non touristy towns! Phone credit bought it was back to bed for more alone time, I was texting a friend who was very confused as to why I was in such an arsehole of a town which amused me. That's how fun Tapah is, texting my friends in the Highlands is probably the highlight of my time there.
The next day, after leaving a suitable mess in the room, I checked out and went back to Restaurant Haji, same table, supping a chai, reading Catch 22 waiting for Bella to come down from the Highlands and continue my adventure with me...
Deera's godmother gave us a lift into town from the village so no bus conductors quizzing me on the British public transport network, and we got there about half 10. I went to the hotel I had scouted out the day I was passing through town. 30 ringgit (about 6 quid) for a private double room was well sweet, with the promise of free wifi in the room as well. I turned up at half 10 and the room wasn't ready so I went for a chai with Deera to pass the time. This was the second time in the same place, Restaurant Haji, and I sat at the same table and ordered a slight varient on my previous food with and egg roti. Exciting.
I put Deera on the bus about midday and went back to the hotel for some hardcore alone time. Don't get me wrong I love people, when they're interesting and don't resort to backpacker banter (I need to blog about this pet hate soon...), but getting proper alone time is pretty much impossible when you've been living in a dorm for four months. So I settled into my room, western toilet, my own plug socket, two pillows and everything, and couldn't get on the wifi! Because alone time equals naked time to me I couldn't be bothered getting dressed to moan about the wifi so I just watched Firefly on my computer between far too frequent dozing.
I did get dressed to go and buy phone credit and some water, not used to being in a very warm climate I'd forgotten to remind myslef to drink lots of water and was feeling dehydrated. I was the only white person in town, wandering around at eight at night, pretty much everything closed. The joys of small, non touristy towns! Phone credit bought it was back to bed for more alone time, I was texting a friend who was very confused as to why I was in such an arsehole of a town which amused me. That's how fun Tapah is, texting my friends in the Highlands is probably the highlight of my time there.
The next day, after leaving a suitable mess in the room, I checked out and went back to Restaurant Haji, same table, supping a chai, reading Catch 22 waiting for Bella to come down from the Highlands and continue my adventure with me...
A Week in the Kampungs Part I: Batu Sembilhan
It all started a couple of months ago when Bella, who I work with invited me to her village for Christmas... I was planning on diving somewhere amazing like Sipidan to make everyone at home insanely jealous but I couldn't pass up this opportunity. As it got closer to Christmas and time for me to plan my steps after the Cameron Highlands Deera asked me if I would like to go to her village and I couldn't say no to her either! So I formulated a plan, three nights in Deera's village, a night in Tapah, meet Bella there and go to her village for two nights to celebrate Christmas.
I woke up at the ungodly hour of 7am on Dec 20th, got the last of my stuff together and went down to the hotel where Deera works to get the bus. We went to the bus station and ended up waiting a good hour for the bus, this is Asia after all! I slept most of the bus journey down the mountain, waking up just in time to get off the bus, otherwise I would have ended up in KL... We got some food, onion roti for me, and then got the bus from Tapah to Kampar. Quick shop around Kampar, including a cake for Deera's family then we got the bus from Kampar to Chenderiang. The conductor on the bus started quizzing me about how the buses work in England, do we still have conductors? What do the tickets look like? How much does it cost? How modern are the buses? Considering the tickets on this wooden floored bus were distributed from a wooden rack the questions were rather pertinent!
When the bus dumped us at the last stop, pretty far from anywhere I got slightly freaked out and panicked, but not as freaked out and panicky as when Deera's brothers turned up with two motorbikes to take us the rest of the way to Batu Sembilhan, the kampung. I was slightly concerned with a heavy bag on my back, another one across my body, a bottle of water in one hand and my hoody in the other but I made it alive and was so happy to get to the village. It's a pretty modern village in alot of ways, the vast majority of the houses are concrete, some with wooden extensions, electricity, running water pumped from the local river, a shop in someone's wooden extension, roads...
However, there aren't many Westerners who come to the village and I was a bit of an attraction. Loads of kids were walking past the house peeking through the windows, one of Deera's cousins was really freaked out by me and started crying when I went into her Auntie's house and her youngest brother followed us everywhere! I was really made up that I was the first Westerner a lot of the younger kids had ever seen, what an introduction to white people...
They are always cooking in the houses, definitely one thing I noticed. I had to check with Deera every time I was offered food if it would be rude to say no, and every time it would be so I had two meals within four hours of being there. Normally I struggle to eat two meals in a day so I was so stuffed. The food is amazing, basic rice and fried chicken but the flavours are amazing, really well spiced and the meat is so juicy. The second meal I had they had barbecued a chicken for me and although I had some misgivings as to whether it would be cooked I figured they had been cooking that way for so many generations they were unlikely to kill me with food poisoning. Deera's mother was always smiling, I couldn't really talk to her because my Malay isn't very useful outside of being able to insult people and express some emotions, but a smile really does say a thousand words. I asked Deera and apparently it was a privilege for them to have me staying. I went to bed for a nap at about 7pm and only woke up at 8 the next morning!
The hustle and bustle of the house woke me early, along with the cacaphony of chickens, geese, ducks and other assorted animals! Food was already cooked by the time I was awake and it was predictably delicious. We watched a film with the family, more aunts and cousins turned up to see the Western girl in the house, more kids peering through the windows and running away giggling when I smiled to them, and then Deera wanted to go and see her godmother.
Her godmother's house is amazing, it's in the style of a Balinese longhouse, set in 18 acres of jungle including a stream that runs right through the land and it's so peaceful. I could see Deera was instantly at ease when we got there and she seemed relaxed and happy. Su Win taught Deera how to speak English and I made a point to tell her how proud she should be, Deera speaks better English than I do! We hung around the house, played with the dogs and just chilled. Food here was also immense. When her Uncle Phillip arrived there ensued a discussion of politics, religion, the Malaysian legal system (he's a lawyer) and the work they do with the Ornag Aslis in the village. Phillip and Su Win help them with their English and even sponsor some of them to go to university. They are also building a football field and playground for the kids and want to get them playing in a league. They are amazing people and seem to want to really help those who are happy to take it and see the opportunity they are getting. That night I went back to Deera's home feeling really happy that she had such amazing people to support her as she was growing up and somewhere to find some peace.
Day three and we were picked up by Su Win and taken to Tesco in Kampar. I felt so Western in there and spent a good ten minutes contemplating buying the most expensive block of cheese they had. Any backpackers reading this should appreciate how terrible the plastic cheese is here, but I came to the conclusion that even the most expensive cheese in a provincial Tesco in Malaysia would not compete with even the most mediocre cheese I would get back home. Off to the local school next where one of Deera's friends was getting their exam results. She did really well getting B's and C's and she was really happy. I spent the afternoon falling alseep in front of the TV watching Wipeout with Deera, humour that translates to any culture! Another interesting conversation with Phillip and Su Win, along with Johnnie Walker Double Black Label and 1904 Gold Medal Winning Jack Daniels, and it was time to sleep in this jungle mansion. Just a word about the shower. Amaze. You have a view of beautiful and dense jungle as you take a shower, I was gobsmacked.
Last day, Su Win took us to Tapah so Deera could get the bus back to the Highlands and I could get checked into a hotel. I had a brilliant time with Deera and her family and I like that for some kids I'm their first taste of what a Westerner looks like. The food was brilliant, everyone was so hospitable and I couldn't have been made to feel more welcome. I've been invited back to the village for a wedding which I think would be immense so I may try and get back there at the end of March. My advice to anyone - if you get chance to spend time in a real Orang Asli village in Malaysia grab it with both hands because it is a fantastic experience. These people don't have much but they're happy, they have a great sense of community and family and get on with life no matter what is thrown at them...
I woke up at the ungodly hour of 7am on Dec 20th, got the last of my stuff together and went down to the hotel where Deera works to get the bus. We went to the bus station and ended up waiting a good hour for the bus, this is Asia after all! I slept most of the bus journey down the mountain, waking up just in time to get off the bus, otherwise I would have ended up in KL... We got some food, onion roti for me, and then got the bus from Tapah to Kampar. Quick shop around Kampar, including a cake for Deera's family then we got the bus from Kampar to Chenderiang. The conductor on the bus started quizzing me about how the buses work in England, do we still have conductors? What do the tickets look like? How much does it cost? How modern are the buses? Considering the tickets on this wooden floored bus were distributed from a wooden rack the questions were rather pertinent!
When the bus dumped us at the last stop, pretty far from anywhere I got slightly freaked out and panicked, but not as freaked out and panicky as when Deera's brothers turned up with two motorbikes to take us the rest of the way to Batu Sembilhan, the kampung. I was slightly concerned with a heavy bag on my back, another one across my body, a bottle of water in one hand and my hoody in the other but I made it alive and was so happy to get to the village. It's a pretty modern village in alot of ways, the vast majority of the houses are concrete, some with wooden extensions, electricity, running water pumped from the local river, a shop in someone's wooden extension, roads...
However, there aren't many Westerners who come to the village and I was a bit of an attraction. Loads of kids were walking past the house peeking through the windows, one of Deera's cousins was really freaked out by me and started crying when I went into her Auntie's house and her youngest brother followed us everywhere! I was really made up that I was the first Westerner a lot of the younger kids had ever seen, what an introduction to white people...
They are always cooking in the houses, definitely one thing I noticed. I had to check with Deera every time I was offered food if it would be rude to say no, and every time it would be so I had two meals within four hours of being there. Normally I struggle to eat two meals in a day so I was so stuffed. The food is amazing, basic rice and fried chicken but the flavours are amazing, really well spiced and the meat is so juicy. The second meal I had they had barbecued a chicken for me and although I had some misgivings as to whether it would be cooked I figured they had been cooking that way for so many generations they were unlikely to kill me with food poisoning. Deera's mother was always smiling, I couldn't really talk to her because my Malay isn't very useful outside of being able to insult people and express some emotions, but a smile really does say a thousand words. I asked Deera and apparently it was a privilege for them to have me staying. I went to bed for a nap at about 7pm and only woke up at 8 the next morning!
The hustle and bustle of the house woke me early, along with the cacaphony of chickens, geese, ducks and other assorted animals! Food was already cooked by the time I was awake and it was predictably delicious. We watched a film with the family, more aunts and cousins turned up to see the Western girl in the house, more kids peering through the windows and running away giggling when I smiled to them, and then Deera wanted to go and see her godmother.
Her godmother's house is amazing, it's in the style of a Balinese longhouse, set in 18 acres of jungle including a stream that runs right through the land and it's so peaceful. I could see Deera was instantly at ease when we got there and she seemed relaxed and happy. Su Win taught Deera how to speak English and I made a point to tell her how proud she should be, Deera speaks better English than I do! We hung around the house, played with the dogs and just chilled. Food here was also immense. When her Uncle Phillip arrived there ensued a discussion of politics, religion, the Malaysian legal system (he's a lawyer) and the work they do with the Ornag Aslis in the village. Phillip and Su Win help them with their English and even sponsor some of them to go to university. They are also building a football field and playground for the kids and want to get them playing in a league. They are amazing people and seem to want to really help those who are happy to take it and see the opportunity they are getting. That night I went back to Deera's home feeling really happy that she had such amazing people to support her as she was growing up and somewhere to find some peace.
Day three and we were picked up by Su Win and taken to Tesco in Kampar. I felt so Western in there and spent a good ten minutes contemplating buying the most expensive block of cheese they had. Any backpackers reading this should appreciate how terrible the plastic cheese is here, but I came to the conclusion that even the most expensive cheese in a provincial Tesco in Malaysia would not compete with even the most mediocre cheese I would get back home. Off to the local school next where one of Deera's friends was getting their exam results. She did really well getting B's and C's and she was really happy. I spent the afternoon falling alseep in front of the TV watching Wipeout with Deera, humour that translates to any culture! Another interesting conversation with Phillip and Su Win, along with Johnnie Walker Double Black Label and 1904 Gold Medal Winning Jack Daniels, and it was time to sleep in this jungle mansion. Just a word about the shower. Amaze. You have a view of beautiful and dense jungle as you take a shower, I was gobsmacked.
Last day, Su Win took us to Tapah so Deera could get the bus back to the Highlands and I could get checked into a hotel. I had a brilliant time with Deera and her family and I like that for some kids I'm their first taste of what a Westerner looks like. The food was brilliant, everyone was so hospitable and I couldn't have been made to feel more welcome. I've been invited back to the village for a wedding which I think would be immense so I may try and get back there at the end of March. My advice to anyone - if you get chance to spend time in a real Orang Asli village in Malaysia grab it with both hands because it is a fantastic experience. These people don't have much but they're happy, they have a great sense of community and family and get on with life no matter what is thrown at them...
Monday, 12 December 2011
Time to Say Goodbye
Well not quite yet, but in 7 days time I will be leaving Tanah Rata and a whole little life I've got going for myself. I'm going to miss this place, chai in the Highlander at 2am, smuggling various local spirits (mainly Stanley, the bastard!) into the Jungle Bar, random conversations hanging out on the sofas, the very occassional journey into the actual jungle...
This place is always going to hold some very special memories for me. It's here I met Bel, Winter and Liam, they have turned into great mates and my life plan has changed dramatically because of these three people. Australia was never part of my plan until Bel and Winter came into my life and now it feels like one of the most exciting things about this journey. I say journey in the normal sense of the word, in that I am travelling and journeying to places, not the emotional bull crap that journey now defines.
Bella and Deera are a whole other kettle of fish. They're like sisters and best mates and I am so determined to keep them in my life. I've never felt this protective over people, which is strange because they're so independent and in most ways have their head screwed on more than me! It's so sweet that they come to me with problems, tell me all the gossip, even if it is rather delayed, and I don't think I've been hugged as much in my whole adult life as I have by these guys here...
There is one more person here who has changed me, we don't see each other often, haven't been able to see each other for a couple of weeks. But he is an amazing person and like everyone else I'm glad I've had him in my life here even if it took me a while to notice just how special he is.
I'm terrible at goodbyes, it's kind of my own fault for getting so attached to people here. Even Jue the Muslim girl I work with who came across as really mean when I first started working with her has turned out to be really sweet. She said she is going to miss me when I leave and wants me to come back, I kind of really want to because she's pregnant and her baby is going to be bloody gorgeous! I don't know if coming back would be too hard, I'm trying not to plan too much so it could happen but it's pretty unlikely...
This place is always going to hold some very special memories for me. It's here I met Bel, Winter and Liam, they have turned into great mates and my life plan has changed dramatically because of these three people. Australia was never part of my plan until Bel and Winter came into my life and now it feels like one of the most exciting things about this journey. I say journey in the normal sense of the word, in that I am travelling and journeying to places, not the emotional bull crap that journey now defines.
Bella and Deera are a whole other kettle of fish. They're like sisters and best mates and I am so determined to keep them in my life. I've never felt this protective over people, which is strange because they're so independent and in most ways have their head screwed on more than me! It's so sweet that they come to me with problems, tell me all the gossip, even if it is rather delayed, and I don't think I've been hugged as much in my whole adult life as I have by these guys here...
There is one more person here who has changed me, we don't see each other often, haven't been able to see each other for a couple of weeks. But he is an amazing person and like everyone else I'm glad I've had him in my life here even if it took me a while to notice just how special he is.
I'm terrible at goodbyes, it's kind of my own fault for getting so attached to people here. Even Jue the Muslim girl I work with who came across as really mean when I first started working with her has turned out to be really sweet. She said she is going to miss me when I leave and wants me to come back, I kind of really want to because she's pregnant and her baby is going to be bloody gorgeous! I don't know if coming back would be too hard, I'm trying not to plan too much so it could happen but it's pretty unlikely...
Thursday, 1 December 2011
December, The Month of Movement
So December has happened, wow weeee..... I have plans for this month, like serious plans which will see me doing actual stuff! Outside of Tanah Rata as well, which will be a novelty.
The month has started on a bit of a downer, someone who I've gotten really close to here has had to do something which means I won't be able to see them before I leave town. Shit man... It's kind of taken the shine of my anticipation for the coming few weeks but I've got to get on with things, I can't hold it against him in any way. Also, Liam got sacked about a week or so ago. It was just after my last blog but I was all about writing about the Rafflesia and being proud of myself to mention it. We were smoking Gudang Garams, some under the counter Indonesian clove cigarettes and a guest thought we were smoking weed (chance would be a fine thing) and told on Liam. He also got some very bad reviews on TripAdviser which are actually quite funny if you know the boy and how anti social he can be.
My last 17 days in town will hopefully be spent persuing someone who I've kind of ignored of late, and hanging round with Bella and Deera. Backpackers are still annoying me and I've decided I'm not going to bother with them unless they bother with me and are genuinely interesting people. Case in point, Kaarina came through a few days ago and was a bundle of fun and we got on really well and the conversation flowed without the need to resort to Backpacker Banter, she was good people. After the next 17 days (really should tell the boss I'm leaving...) I'm going to Deera's village for three days where I'm going to go actual blow pipe hunting in the jungle, play about in a waterfall, go fishing in a stream with my hands and go fruit picking in the jungle. Excited much! After there I'm going to spend the night in Tapah, the first town out of the highlands on the way to KL, and then go to Bella's village for Christmas. Those who know me will be aware that I hate Xmas and tend to spend the day in bed not being in any way festive, but to get the chance to spend it with one of the sweetest people I've ever met, in an Orang Asli village that is Christian was too good to pass up. After all of this I think I'm going to spend NYE in KL.
The prospect of leaving town has gotten a little bit easier with me not being able to see my friend, and knowing that I will get some hardcore time in with Bella and Deera before I leave. I'm ready to move on, this town has served it's purpose. When Winter did me a tarot reading focussing on my fears she said I had to get out on the road again and do some hardcore travelling and confront my fear of the unknown and to get out of my comfort zone. I think I'm in the right head space to do this and going to two aborigine villages should be a great start to this.
Oh, I've also finally gotten round to dying my hair. My theory was that I wouldn't need to dye it again and I would let the sun work it's magic on it. This worked fine until I got to the Cameron Highlands where it rains every day and when it is sunny I seem to be stuck in work. Fingers crossed I won't need to dye it again because my next few stops are Cambodia, Indonesia and East Timor which should provide me with a healthy dose of sun kissed locks and allow me to get my tan going again. Putting on sun stuff every day might get annoying again though...
The month has started on a bit of a downer, someone who I've gotten really close to here has had to do something which means I won't be able to see them before I leave town. Shit man... It's kind of taken the shine of my anticipation for the coming few weeks but I've got to get on with things, I can't hold it against him in any way. Also, Liam got sacked about a week or so ago. It was just after my last blog but I was all about writing about the Rafflesia and being proud of myself to mention it. We were smoking Gudang Garams, some under the counter Indonesian clove cigarettes and a guest thought we were smoking weed (chance would be a fine thing) and told on Liam. He also got some very bad reviews on TripAdviser which are actually quite funny if you know the boy and how anti social he can be.
My last 17 days in town will hopefully be spent persuing someone who I've kind of ignored of late, and hanging round with Bella and Deera. Backpackers are still annoying me and I've decided I'm not going to bother with them unless they bother with me and are genuinely interesting people. Case in point, Kaarina came through a few days ago and was a bundle of fun and we got on really well and the conversation flowed without the need to resort to Backpacker Banter, she was good people. After the next 17 days (really should tell the boss I'm leaving...) I'm going to Deera's village for three days where I'm going to go actual blow pipe hunting in the jungle, play about in a waterfall, go fishing in a stream with my hands and go fruit picking in the jungle. Excited much! After there I'm going to spend the night in Tapah, the first town out of the highlands on the way to KL, and then go to Bella's village for Christmas. Those who know me will be aware that I hate Xmas and tend to spend the day in bed not being in any way festive, but to get the chance to spend it with one of the sweetest people I've ever met, in an Orang Asli village that is Christian was too good to pass up. After all of this I think I'm going to spend NYE in KL.
The prospect of leaving town has gotten a little bit easier with me not being able to see my friend, and knowing that I will get some hardcore time in with Bella and Deera before I leave. I'm ready to move on, this town has served it's purpose. When Winter did me a tarot reading focussing on my fears she said I had to get out on the road again and do some hardcore travelling and confront my fear of the unknown and to get out of my comfort zone. I think I'm in the right head space to do this and going to two aborigine villages should be a great start to this.
Oh, I've also finally gotten round to dying my hair. My theory was that I wouldn't need to dye it again and I would let the sun work it's magic on it. This worked fine until I got to the Cameron Highlands where it rains every day and when it is sunny I seem to be stuck in work. Fingers crossed I won't need to dye it again because my next few stops are Cambodia, Indonesia and East Timor which should provide me with a healthy dose of sun kissed locks and allow me to get my tan going again. Putting on sun stuff every day might get annoying again though...
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