Malaysia part B
Auf der Suche nach dem Hirschferkel
Kuala Lumpur
The first two days after arrival I stried to get over jetleg and that was not that bad. I took a taxi to the Botanical Garden, close there is teh Butterfly which I visited before entering Botanical Garden.
Butterfly Garden
is a very structured area with som esmall bridges countless small waterways and waterfalls, it was more humid than any other place visited in Malaysia later. The way toexit you get through a few showroioms with spiders, beatles, butterflies from around the wold and some two terrarias with monstershrecken and a scorpion, also frogs in one.
Near the exit is a shop for soveignirs, also icecream and drinks.
Botanical Garden covers some 20 hectars, is set on a hill, has interesting waterways but with fish from Nicaragua (should have been the Nicar. Zitronenbarsch, local Hechtlinge) which were hiding under the smooth rocks in the shallow water basins which had a waterfall. Some trees and bushes have a plates with infos, there is also a small stream with a bridge, rest places, pavillons, rose gardens and the more.
Near the exit you find the Museum of Islamic art, check opening times. To the east of Botanical Garden you get over some 3 km to China town. Walking can not be recomanded because it is hot and the big streets on many levels can hardly be taken on foot.
Check for Teksis or Metro stations from there (city tourist maps), or most might have some cellphone with app on that. Metro is the most appropriate and comfortable way to get fast over bigger distances in KL !
KL is vary variable, northern areas streets are often on ground level, in its center it is streets on all levels up to 4 th floor, the way to TBS the excellent Bus Terminal of KL you get immediatly taken on higher levels by elevators leaving busses, so no need to crawl between and around busses.
From Mersing the way to Melake you pass two major towns, modern and mostly with a shopping comlex in its center, you also get through thousands of hectars of Oilpalm plantations, what is teh case in many provinces in Malaysia.
Auf der Suche nach dem Hirschferkel
Oilpalm plantations seem to be Malaysias potatoes.
After having spent beautifull and relaxing days, beside the djungle trip of over 5 km
to Salang I headed further to Melaka which was on the Westcoast not to far NW of Johor and Singapur, the bordertowns at the mainlands southern tip.
Melaka
Melaka is well known and the namegiver for the total seastrait by the name Malakka strait which gets wider between Sumatra and Malaysia the further north. Not man harbours connect to Sumatra, but Butterworth or from Georgtown it should be possible, also Melaka teh guidbook says. Later at Pulao Pangkor they told me there was no ferroies from Pangkor to Sumatra.Melaka has shopping centers and the old woodboat by the name Flor de la Mar which sounded portugese to me, if not even spanish. It looked quite rediculouse and there could have been another museum inside. It had quite high woodplank walls at its side and was placed near the Old Towns cneter square, which was busy over days and nights. During nights there was teh park and the many shags and shopping locations often with lights and the loud horning threewheller cycles which took children, youngsters or fresh married on the decorated rikshaw and often with music rolling around during nights at the old Towns center squares and streets.
After some three or four days in Melaka I got to visist the old well which got built for a Sultans wive, but then over the last two centuries it got often poisened to kill the soldiers or foreign enemies.
Not far from Melaka and Port Dickson Portugese and Dutch had some batttles in their woodships, as to the south teh Melaka strait gets more narrow, but Sumatra or Singapur can hardly be seen in the moist and mist of the tropical climate. Usually at clear days Sumatra can be seen from the hill at Port Dicksons southend some 16 km from PD.
The well killed some thousand of people and the plates there told of the bad and ugly Japanese during 2nd Worldwar.
It got even protected by walls over the times, I know some wells from Goa where the snakes can not get out any more (Chekered Keelbacks) but on branches put inside, the Dutch fort at Pulao Pangkor had the size on ground of my house in the Alps, what made not even the indian women in a cab moving out to see it, they kept on sleeping with open cabdoors. Maybe it was only a gunpowder storage location from the Dutch.
For some reason I got to rest again in a nice street after years in Melaka during nights, a parallel one to Jonkers Walk, Jin Tokong, it is a good place, inviting and magic, keep it as that.
Later the days I headed on by bus the way north to Ipoh getting through KL again, pausing on way at TBS bus terminal. These overland busses are spacy and have comfortabel seats and AC.
Auf der Suche nach dem Hirschferkel
Ipoh
Ipoh was famouse as it was kind of center place at teh once Zinngruben times , when the Elafant by whom the provinces got its name got out of the waters with his legs covered with Zinn (tin) when it got discovered.The city has a nice wellknown railway station, the Taj M, in front a square reminding of 2nd worldwar victims, the court at the side and the street straight from the railway into old town you get to shops, caffees, restaurants and over Deepawali, an indian malay holyday the many smells of duup and incense turns Little India into an oven of spicy smells. (problem in EU)
Ipoh has as well these atmospheric cafees and tropical open restaurants, even on first floors as many other medium sized cities in Malaysia. The many Oilpalm plantations and my headhunt mission are another chapter. The hotel was ok but it had this full atumatic check in counter which hardly needed either the hotel guest neither the reception. (flatcreen checkins)
It was as with these taxis which could not be recognized easily when they had no plate reading teksi taxi, on them, or even yet a driver then (when it gets to autonouse eu cars as was a thema some years ago there) I was on my headhunt mission but forgot that over some nice days and nights in that tropical heat.
Anyway I knew Dick and Powell were hunting quales, if not even shot each other over the times.
From Ipoh I moved further north along the westcoast what made me to decide to head Taiping set between the flat and ofte mangrove coastal areas and the hillrange in back.
Cranes during morning
Taiping is a medium sized city in tropical heat and some said it was the city of the first. That means that in Malaysia 11 000 year old cavemen bones got found, Taiping had the first train, first railway connection, first museum, first coffee roastery, first and older busstation beside the very modern ones I got to see, it had worlds first Watchtower and a Watergarden park a bid out of town not far from the djungles along the smooth rising hillranges.Duirng that night Taiping, had a night festival, with a colorfull and loud parade, chinese wagons, dragons, dancing people getting along, swinging hips and sticks, some looked as cars to me and had loudspeakesr on them, the others were decorated wagons, maybe that was in conection with Deepawali. It took place over some hours during the night in Taiping just two blocks around the way to the hotel.
Some people watched the parade from their somehting like looking as cars but most had fun in the streets, passing also chinese like looking Dragons did not bite or eat me, even as I tried to asked them on the targets of my mission far there in Sabah and Sarawak, I got some hints. These qualehunters were elsewhere.
The big highlight for me was that the next morning in Taiping when there flew some 10 cranes high in the sky, that must have been cranes from Russia or Siberia even, not too far and majestic circling during the days first hot thermics.
From Taiping I reached Kumanting were you need to change busses to Lumut twon to get from there to Pulao Pangkor, another nice island.
Lumut town and area looked quite industrial to me and had some factorylike buildings in its vicinity so it too a while to getg by bus around the big riverdelta with its swamps and mangroves.
Auf der Suche nach dem Hirschferkel
Moving out from the amusement areas near Lumut jetty on ship we passed docks and shipyards. The water did not look too clean there but some 20 minutes later on the islands westside by the name Nipah.Pulao Pangkor
Pangkor is a mostly diverse island as it has durty free areas with shops and restaurants, the jetty close, moving out NW it ha sopen beach areas whcih are nt so busy and some 6 km further N it gets more quiet offseason and off weekends. People can do island hopping and find best views over the coast and sea.Nipah on Pangkor island was another small village placed along its westcoast, wich had more rooms and hotels, also ressorts than local inhabitants, who seemed to be hiding somewhere close .... at streams and near the woods with gardens and picknik locations, paths into the woods and the more.
It was offseason and that was good as there were then no frogmen, no swollen faces and red eyerings, no busy roads and everywhere oktoberfest like atmosphere, it was offseason till Chinese New Year and that was good.
Biotops and habitats were best fitting the Whitebellieds, Malabar Pied Hornbills which got very close even on verandas and balconies during heavy rains, and are a bid smaller than at the subcontinents side. Changeable Hawk Eagles at the islands north, ind.Pied Robins, Djungle Doves, Swifts and Swallows, Monkies and the more.
I knwo I had to go for my headhunt mission on Dick, also Powell, they were farmers and qualehunters from the US, who shoot each other on daily base so my headhunt mission was no problem, most volks on Tioman and Pangkor new that and if tehy had red eyerings and swollen lips from scuba diving. That is what peole get to see daily on tv in the EU and US.
new tv standards
Later back to the Alps I decided to make it to my standard to watch only as was possible in modern civic aeroplanes, that means a choice of some trailers and movies and always the correct info from the frontmens seat on flight altitude, temperature, course, topography and rivers below, no more odd junk, nomore netflix and apps, only some info on the course, options on short movies, and mst exact data on actual control mode on altitude, time to and from, outside temperature, compass and ground controlls next location with topography.That would be my new set for watching some eu tv.
Nipah
I knew that Petaling street in KL had same programs and as well Nipah on Pulao Tioman and Pangkor, I went on on with my mission but most touris had no infos of the whereabouts of Dick and powell.I was one of the ones who took even the island roundtrip route, which was partly blocked by fallen trees and construction sites on its N and NEastern areas, getting then out of the djungle road I could see the fast predator Changeable Hawk Eagle, broad wings and nice moves, he prefers different territories to the Whietbellied Seaeagle and different prey, the Changeable Hawkeagle takes squirrels, lizards, small monkies and alike.
Astonishingly the Changeable Hawkeagle got also seen on way back from Port Dicksons south waitng at some busstop loooking like something, two Eagles during noon themrics doing their swift circles up in tropical skies. They can be recognized by longer tail than all other eagles. Eagles have mostly short tails but not Hawk eagles. As it was half open country with plantations at P Dicksons south and with only a small lot of djungle I was quite surprised to see them there.
Pangkor islands northern bay had an old Clipper at its coast, it looked as stranded for its last years, but yet possible to get renovated what would need much of investments. These kind of ships renovation needs lots of money as was alos the the case with an old clipper at HHamburg (Gorch Fokk) not far from the costly opera house which was another eurosucking hardly ever finished project near HHs new hafencity. (see HHs gallery)
In Malyasias bigger cities you get even newspapers but hardly on islands.
On Pangkor I did not see any scuba divers as daily on Tioman who got out and in the water from the shores, Pangkor was easy going as well, season soon over and flocks of people only coming over weekends, they were mostly Malaysians then.
Nipa has also djungle in its back and Great Huge Trees , coastline is bay like with cliffs, lovely isalnds and even a Baywatch Tower to save swimmers from drawning, but local volks told the tower would be out of use since by watchdogs. Now they have an automatic weather warning system in the concrete towers top, when weatehr and sea was bad it would send a signal.
I was disturbed by that news, and thought about that many baywatch life savers and rettungsschwimmer, hardly forgot hasselhoffs and his boats and knight cars. Whatfor such a solid concrete tower when it was of no use anymore (optioal rent later with AC).
Finally they in da west got to see so many "lost places" series on tv.W.ww. Nipah must have been full of good swimmers once. It made me stick more strongly to my headhunter mission. Baywatch series seem to have been for nothing in CA, senseless, I needed to fullfill my headhunt.
Auf der Suche nach dem Hirschferkel
Back to KL
The last days back to Kl I visited the Central Marcet where the women of a wood artefacts and woodart and wood masks from all around the world explaiend to me some rare exponates, some of them quite heavy and then I got happy when I got to see the real headhubters knifes from Sarawak and Sabah. My mission was going to be successfull,Central Marcet KL
It was the room where things could be bought and I took two of the long knifes. During the flight back some took the many kauris (kowris shells) from my bag but the headhunter knife staied in the big luggage. Many other shells were there in the main luggage but not the bag with kauris, what was little sad.
Central marcet in walking distance from China town and Jin Petaling had many nice things as also schmucktiles, arts, christalls, food places, icecream , art shops and AC, knifes and trad. stile ones, outside in the heat on verandas some good coffe houses and not far in site the Merdeka 138 somehow overlooking China town.
The headhunters missions price was rising sharply and nobody got a glipmse of it, it was the Year of the Snake.
The old hunters knifes from Sabah and Sarawak were about 1000 dollar togather. I was well proceeding on my hhunters mission, no doubt about that.
It was from the rooms where that stuff could be sold, from other rooms with vitrines it was not for sell as masks, shadow figures, wood carvings, harpunes, arrows, blasrohre and arrows, wooden house tools, wooden earweights, pictures of tattoeing and the more.
Dick and Powell were lost with qualehunting.
LOW YAT PLACA
From one of world biggest Places for Digital Equipment (also electro and hich tech), SOUND, FOTOS, COMPUTERS, LAPTOPS, MOBILES, TABS, CAMS and the more I decided on a big Subwoover from the the Low Yat Placa with me, what saved me some 800 euros. That is the place to get digital and music stuff, maybe the worlds tallest and with most companies ever heared of.
On Transit
Nobody wanted to know of my chinese ceramic piece any more which I found last summer not far from Lavrio.gr, nore of the things which they took from my bags here and then or the house once. I had the tickets, the papers and even newspapers here and then, which was much more relaxing on news than preempt fabricated news on some channels and stories far away whih I did not want to get anymore.The many other shells beside the two hands of kauris made me check Grandmas relevanth scibook, (less some app) and the deadly Kegelschnecke is still in good shape. It made me think that I will return, on my mission between the Bengal sea, the strait of Melaka and the Indopacific. Nobody dared to touch the Kegelschnecke on route back, which was deadly when alive, I got very sure of my hh mission and will return.
The people who had no idea about the where abouts of Dick and rumsfeld had also no idea about many other things, it was offseason and the baywatchtower at Nipah PPangkor, out of service since long, nomore swollen lips nomore red eyerings and frogmen without submarines. I had a very good time.
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