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...
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