The day we were meant to be flying from NZ to Cebu in the Philippines it was hit with a devastating earthquake. It probably would have been ok for us to fly but we heard there were some bad aftershocks and rumours of a tsunami, so we decided to fly to Kuala Lumpar and explore bits of Malaysia we hadn't been to before.
We took a bus and boat to the island of Pangkor - it is a beautiful place and one of the nicest beaches we've ever been to, but there was a strange undercurrent to the whole place. The government had invested a lot of money into making it like a Thailand beach resort town and every shop had the 'I love Pangkor' tshirts everywhere. It was nice but we were only there for a few days, soaking up the sun and beautiful sea water.
We had intended to dive there as the Malaysian's say it's the nicest place to dive in the whole country. We couldn't find a dive shop anywhere. So the plan was to move across the country to the next big dive site called Terranganu. We took a ridiculously long bus journey half way before being told we had missed the last bus to the coast. So we ended up going back to The Cameron Highlands. It was our favourite place on the last trip so we didn't mind too much. We ended up staying there 5 days which is long for us, but it was beautiful and there was lots of nice walks to do. We then went to book our bus to Terranganu but were told the coast was shut because of the monsoons.
So... no diving in Pangkor because there were no companies, no diving in Terranganu because it was shut. So we decided to try a place called Genting Highlands, described as Malaysia's answer to Las Vegas.
Mumbai was going to take some beating for the title of 'Worst place on the whole trip' but I think Genting managed it. The cable car to the top of the mountain was the best bit, but in a nutshell - a tacky, expensive, horribly lit up amusement arcade for Asian tourists. The plan was to stay there for a few days and do some gambling. Instead... back to KL.
We dabbled with another city outside KL, which was nice for a day trip but in the end resorted to the fact that we were staying in KL. We had a nice few days, it is a lovely city. Visited the towers, did a little shopping, visited the parks and made the decision to risk flying to the Philippines.
Which was fine. You would never have known it was meant to be damaged. Cebu city was a nice place and the people there friendly. We ate well, drank well and stayed in a lovely boutique hotel called Europa. And went north to Malapascua, one of the big dive sites in the Philippines.
INCREDIBLE! One of the highlights of the trip. The beaches were better than any I've ever been to, the water pristine and the people lovely. We visited the local schools, saw cock fights (razor blades attached to their feet - it was messy!) and finally, FINALLY, did some diving! In three dives on one day we saw eleven thresher sharks, one bamboo shark (I found it sleeping in an alcove) and four white tip sharks, one of which was the biggest I've ever seen for white tips. The threshers were incredible, really long tails and big staring eyes, lovely animals. We also did a wreck dive of a Japanese ship that was sunk by the Americans - still with bombs on board! And the fifth and last dive was a nice relaxing deep dive (28 metres) where I think I got a little high and started talking with Nemos (I since found out that they can be viscous little buggers and where I thought they were coming close to me to be friendly, they were probably trying to bite my head off!)
It was worth the wait! Malapascua was gorgeous! We also met Jao and Maria from Portugal and spent every day with them. A lovely couple and a good crack
After a long journey back to Cebu we were back on a plane and this time to Hong Kong to see Dom. It was a long journey and we didn't get in until 3.00am. We thought we might be in trouble when no one seemed to speak English or want to be any help at all - finding a bus to take us to Dom's was a nightmare! But finally we got in, caught up and had a late one. And Dom was fantastic, taking us all over the city and introducing us to some amazing food (Dimsum at Maxims was superb, pigeon was a treat, schezuan pepper corns made us tingle in delight - and Tanya cry with pain - chickens feet were "sloppy") and some great nights out.
We did sight seeing too - the oldest temple in HK, the evening time light show where all the buildings lit up and 'danced' to the music, the avenue of stars where all the chinese film stars have put their hands in concrete (tiny, little Jet Li has bigger hands than I do!!!), the ladies market, Shark Fin alley (Grr! 90% of Hammer head sharks wiped out because of this sort of thing!) and the peak which overlooks a huge part of the city (although it was foggy that day and we couldn't see Jack____!
On the final night got very drunk and stayed up late watching Game of Thrones - the following morning we were meant to leave for a flight at 7.45 and didn't manage to actually get out of bed until an hour after that! It was a bit of a brown pants moment trying to get a taxi, screaming at the guy to NOT STOP AT ORANGE LIGHTS! but we managed to get to the airport as everyone was lining up to get on the plane!
HK was ace! And a nice little relaxing time (apart from the airport bit) before we head to Cambodia to start working in the orphanage and school...
We took a bus and boat to the island of Pangkor - it is a beautiful place and one of the nicest beaches we've ever been to, but there was a strange undercurrent to the whole place. The government had invested a lot of money into making it like a Thailand beach resort town and every shop had the 'I love Pangkor' tshirts everywhere. It was nice but we were only there for a few days, soaking up the sun and beautiful sea water.
We had intended to dive there as the Malaysian's say it's the nicest place to dive in the whole country. We couldn't find a dive shop anywhere. So the plan was to move across the country to the next big dive site called Terranganu. We took a ridiculously long bus journey half way before being told we had missed the last bus to the coast. So we ended up going back to The Cameron Highlands. It was our favourite place on the last trip so we didn't mind too much. We ended up staying there 5 days which is long for us, but it was beautiful and there was lots of nice walks to do. We then went to book our bus to Terranganu but were told the coast was shut because of the monsoons.
So... no diving in Pangkor because there were no companies, no diving in Terranganu because it was shut. So we decided to try a place called Genting Highlands, described as Malaysia's answer to Las Vegas.
Mumbai was going to take some beating for the title of 'Worst place on the whole trip' but I think Genting managed it. The cable car to the top of the mountain was the best bit, but in a nutshell - a tacky, expensive, horribly lit up amusement arcade for Asian tourists. The plan was to stay there for a few days and do some gambling. Instead... back to KL.
We dabbled with another city outside KL, which was nice for a day trip but in the end resorted to the fact that we were staying in KL. We had a nice few days, it is a lovely city. Visited the towers, did a little shopping, visited the parks and made the decision to risk flying to the Philippines.
Which was fine. You would never have known it was meant to be damaged. Cebu city was a nice place and the people there friendly. We ate well, drank well and stayed in a lovely boutique hotel called Europa. And went north to Malapascua, one of the big dive sites in the Philippines.
INCREDIBLE! One of the highlights of the trip. The beaches were better than any I've ever been to, the water pristine and the people lovely. We visited the local schools, saw cock fights (razor blades attached to their feet - it was messy!) and finally, FINALLY, did some diving! In three dives on one day we saw eleven thresher sharks, one bamboo shark (I found it sleeping in an alcove) and four white tip sharks, one of which was the biggest I've ever seen for white tips. The threshers were incredible, really long tails and big staring eyes, lovely animals. We also did a wreck dive of a Japanese ship that was sunk by the Americans - still with bombs on board! And the fifth and last dive was a nice relaxing deep dive (28 metres) where I think I got a little high and started talking with Nemos (I since found out that they can be viscous little buggers and where I thought they were coming close to me to be friendly, they were probably trying to bite my head off!)
It was worth the wait! Malapascua was gorgeous! We also met Jao and Maria from Portugal and spent every day with them. A lovely couple and a good crack
After a long journey back to Cebu we were back on a plane and this time to Hong Kong to see Dom. It was a long journey and we didn't get in until 3.00am. We thought we might be in trouble when no one seemed to speak English or want to be any help at all - finding a bus to take us to Dom's was a nightmare! But finally we got in, caught up and had a late one. And Dom was fantastic, taking us all over the city and introducing us to some amazing food (Dimsum at Maxims was superb, pigeon was a treat, schezuan pepper corns made us tingle in delight - and Tanya cry with pain - chickens feet were "sloppy") and some great nights out.
We did sight seeing too - the oldest temple in HK, the evening time light show where all the buildings lit up and 'danced' to the music, the avenue of stars where all the chinese film stars have put their hands in concrete (tiny, little Jet Li has bigger hands than I do!!!), the ladies market, Shark Fin alley (Grr! 90% of Hammer head sharks wiped out because of this sort of thing!) and the peak which overlooks a huge part of the city (although it was foggy that day and we couldn't see Jack____!
On the final night got very drunk and stayed up late watching Game of Thrones - the following morning we were meant to leave for a flight at 7.45 and didn't manage to actually get out of bed until an hour after that! It was a bit of a brown pants moment trying to get a taxi, screaming at the guy to NOT STOP AT ORANGE LIGHTS! but we managed to get to the airport as everyone was lining up to get on the plane!
HK was ace! And a nice little relaxing time (apart from the airport bit) before we head to Cambodia to start working in the orphanage and school...