Leaving Malaysia

It seems like only yesterday i landed in KL airport and found my way to the Reggae hostel, yet today is friday and tomorrow i check out at midday and have to head to Phuket Thailand. I have thoroughly enjoyed my stay here and Kuala Lumpur has been a great introduction to the backpacker lifestyle. The people i have met here have given me a good idea of what im heading into. A lot of people are arriving in KL at the end of their trip so they have stories and advice from the places i havent reached yet.
I must mention David Graham who was a very gracious guide to a newbie on his first day in KL, we both stayed in Reggae 2 so on my first day i tagged along with dave to discover the petronas towers, KL city centre, how to haggle in chinatown, and the best way to avoid exorbitant tourist prices around the city, I continued through as many points on my map as i could find and after my 5 days i think i can fairly say i have seen a decent share of whats to be seen in KL.






As for staying in a hostel in general its a lifestyle not unlike college. Everyone is making their own way in an unfamiliar environment, we're all saving our cash and looking for the cheapest bargain, and everyone is a bit unwary and nervous on their first day in a new dorm. Nights are usually quiet with intermittent drunk people crashing onto their bunks, snoring, mumbling and the faint glow of screens from iphones, ipads and various mobile devices availing of the free wifi to book tomorrows tickets. It's the same everywhere I guess, as the sign in Delaney's Irish bar said, there are no strangers here, just friends that haven't met yet.
After the first few encounters it becomes normal to just introduce yourself at random to anyone you see wearing a backpack or cargo shorts. Soon short term friendships are forged and there is always a reason for celebration, be it someone arriving in a new place, Leaving to go home, Birthdays.. Etc. The nervous tension between strangers is easily dissipated by suggesting a beer/coffee/shishah in the local backpackers haunt. Here for example we have the Reggae bar its a bit of a dive but its a good spot to grab some food and use as a rendezvous point. Talking to people who have been to Landmarks or cities ahead of you is the best reviewing service one could ask for, genuine accounts of how expensive things are, whether they were worth the distance and expense, dangers to avoid and unknown gems to be discovered.






So now I am just relaxing in the hostel writing this blog and drinking a coffee, certain creature comforts are still available although slightly different at the same time, for example the coffee is good, but instead of milk the standard additive here is powdered creamer, Carlsberg is available everywhere but glasses are much smaller than a pint. Small differences but it makes you realise you really are 11,000 kilometers from home. Thankfully the spectrum of nationalities adds to the feeling of comraderie, for example i started my trip with an australian roomate, followed by a chance encounter with Jochen a german zoologist i met in the national bird park, that evening we teamed up with Viktor a russian economist who is holidaying through SE asia. This morning as i left the hostel i joined forces with Tsu a korean girl who wanted to see Bukit Bintang the central shopping district (i was going nearby to find an irish bar) It almost reminds me of my Rockwell days where these nationalities were the normal demographic. I Still havent met any irish people but im not too bothered as im sure i'll find plenty of them in Oz.
Thats everything for now i think so i shall leave you with some various photos from the last few days and I will re-establish contact once i touch down in Phuket Thailand. For those interested i will be in the Phuket Backpacker Hostel

Talk Cha!!

KUALA LUMPUR.

So here i am,
Flying from Ireland to Kuala Lumpur was a much longer journey than i expected
although then again, my longest journey before that was to spain, so i realise how unprepared i was. Firstly in Shannon airport the flight was about half an hour late in taking off, because well it wouldnt be irish if it went to schedule. once we landed in Heathrow a bus was waiting at the rear of the plane to take us directly to the international exchange centre at terminal 4. I cannot stress how HUGE heathrow is for any of you who havent been, luckily finding my gate and terminal was no problem, however it was only after passing through customs i discovered one major problem, heathrow is a NON SMOKING complex, there is nowhere to smoke and you cannot leave the terminal if your flight is within 2 hours! pure evil. So I got some good 'ol british bangers and mash while waiting around and boarded the Malaysia Airlines flight in good time. Now im not a small person, I clock in at 6'4" so trying to remain comfortable even in my aisle seat was impossible. Thankfully being a B747-400 there is plenty of aisle space for walking around. Although at 4am (Irish time) only halfway through the flight I was in all kinds of pains and aches, walking had lost its appeal, and i do believe i watched every episode of american tv shows available in the in-flight entertainment. I must say the malaysian airlines crew are very nice and genuine people, food and drink was never far away. An elderly couple in front of me were celebrating their 50th anniversary so around mealtime the crew arrived with a bottle of moet champagne and flowers! other than that the flight was uneventful, short fits of sleep interrupted by screaming banshee children or strange cramps.
Landing in Kuala Lumpur i began to get an idea of the surroundings palm trees everywhere and red soil. From the airport the KL express train takes you directly to KL sentral (thats how they spell it) from here a moderately overpriced taxi took me to my destination. The Reggae guest house. AIR CONDITIONING!!! i now understand why everyone keeps going on about it. Thankfully it is standard everywhere so one just needs to step into any shop for some cool air. The hostel is very nice, modern and well furnished. After dropping off my bags and having a shower i guess it was around 9pm, so off i wandered into the markets of chinatown. Everything you could imagine is for sale here, and haggling is standard my first haggle was thrown upon me as a malay man managed to put a watch on my wrist as i pointed at something. "New rolex! very nice i give you good price!!" 300MR! (5/1 exchange rate so 5 euro is 1 ringit)
not a chance, "i dont even need a watch like this" walking away will get you a bargain apparently because as he talked on and on i finally talked him down from 60 euro to 10, and then walked away without buying it in the end. Valuable lesson learned for this evening though!
This morning I teamed up with a fellow resident from the hostel and we made our way to the petronas towers, we arrived at 9.30 and were still surprised to find a huge que waiting and a screen stating tickets were now being issued for 2.20pm...? No! Back out on the streets we found a row of little food stalls and open front cafes. Hygene... not to be dwelt upon here, just drink from a sealed can and eat something that's been cooked within an inch of its life, Banana Pancakes!! from here we wandered into the gigantic shopping complex adjoined to the towers.
I will admit it was quite surpising how western the mall is. Topman, Starbucks, Nandos, even O'Briens sandwich bar!! After a quick coffee we left and decided to split so he could continue north to meet friends while i forayed south to the KL Tower.
The Walk to the tower is an experience in itself, high rise buildings covered in glass and steel surrounded at ground level by tiny one room shops and restaraunts made from tin and dirt, an apple store next to street sellers or a bar that i cant tell if it was painted black or was just that way from age..
Upon reaching the tower I made my way to the top via the elevator 275 metres in 50 seconds! It was definitely a worthwhile experience not just for the view and scenery but also for the audio commentary supplied to each person along with a small iphone sized video player. This starts by telling you the history of the tower and its grounds, it then continues to guide you to each window and tell you what your looking at! excellent for someone on their first day. With the audio tour I learned of each of the buildings of note in the city, what goes on there, how to get there and what they all look like, a fantastic source of inspiration in the case of being overwhelmed by the vast city and its attractions.
Once on ground level again I ventured into the animal centre, first booth...? A 15ft long python followed by every reptile, serpent, arachnid, and rodent found in the local area! Even monkeys, one of which actually managed to swing up a branch, climb the cage push his arm through the bars and grab my iphone. All before i knew what was happening, long story short, I won. But i need a new phone cover!
From here i went for a good 2 hour trek through the forest surrounding the tower. now one might assume that due to being within a city and only covering 10 hectares it wouldnt be that interesting but you would be wrong, it was an incredible place. Deafening in parts with a Caucophony of crickets. all sorts of Flora and Fauna to be found. After this i made my way back to the streets and decided to walk back to the hostel... 2 hours later, i made it to the hostel. I didnt get lost by accident, more by design, the streets just draw you in and chinatown especially is irresistable. So for now I write this sitting in the hostel once more, tired but ready for more.
i will update again in the next few days once i have made a bit more of a mark on the city.

Talk Cha!!

So this is it

Its 10pm on saturday the 19th of february as im writing this im sitting in the living room at home in Raheen. My rucksack is packed and my boarding passes are printed.
For the last few weeks i have been talking to people and thinking about the places i'll go and things i'll see. Yet it is only in the last few days where it has really started to sink in, suddenly i find myself less than 17 hours from my first flight. The last week has been a thoroughly memorable experience starting with the work party that carried on until 6 o clock in the morning, followed by another session of the same caliber the next night with friends. The rest of the week continued in the same fashion, including thursday night in bakers corner and friday night in the ship, the local watering hole with a full pub of neighbors and friends. I have had some great parties, conversations, and experiences this past week and I would like to thank everyone that came along for a pint. And so, after the fun and the goodbyes I now am left looking forward to tomorrow afternoon.
I have no idea if I am what one could call prepared but after repacking my rucksack reviewing all of my paperwork and reading over all of my flight information i feel at least moderately ready for the initial journey. After that i have no idea what is in store for me, the hostel im staying in looks very good, the Reggae Guest House 2 in Kuala lumpur so i have 5 days booked there. After that i plan to make my way into thailand, but from there its open to suggestion.
Some basic details about contacting me should you so desire.
My hotmail has been spamming junk emails to everybody so im going to use my gmail
Thefrankenator@gmail.com
Skype you can add me by searching frank molloy
Also anyone with a gmail account can comment on this blog so feel free to leave a shout.
thats all for now, i think im going to head to bed soon enough once i finalize a little video i have made, a kind of going away montage i suppose.

Talk Cha!