Malaysia

Next stop, we flew to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. What is there to see besides the Petrona's Towers? mm...not much! Bintang Walk is a famous area where you can find restaurants and do some shopping. We stayed in a beutiful 4 star hotel (yes, we took a break from the backpacking scene), and there was a pretty cool swimming pool (those who know me, understand how happy that makes me!). Well, I decided to go for a swim and do a few laps...when my husband reminded me that this is a muslim country and that I should cover my shoulders going down in the elevator. I was wearing a black bathing suit and a shawl, before I left I added another shawl to cover every part of my body! The strangest part of all was that I felt so naked in the pool! yes! the other women were fullly dressed watching their children enjoying the water, and the 2 other women actually in the pool were wearing a one piece bathing suit with a little skirt over it! I felt quite uncomfortable! weird! In the hotel's room there are arrows indicating were one should pray...I believe always facing Mecca.

After a few days, we went to Lankawi, an island on the north west of Malaysia. It is gorgeous! We stayed in a beautiful place, we rented a scooter to exlore the island, and we celebrated our anniversay with a bottle of champagne watching the sunset! unforgetable!

Hope you like the pics!

Indonesia continues (Bali)

We went to Prambanan (the largest Hindu temple) and to Boroduru a Buddhist temple; both of them are in Java- Indonesia. They are quite impressive! Both part of Unesco World Heritage. Lot's of school children go there as a field trip with their teachers; and since they are noy used to seeing many foreigners we felt like celebrities when they asked for pictures with! haha...yes! Specially Enda...they kept saying: "Picture please! so beautiful!". For the record I agree!! My husband is absolutly gorgeus!

We also went to see a traditional Ballet...I loved it! for Enda...mmm... a bit too long!

At 3 am we woke up to see the sunrise in Gunung Bromo, and active volcano. Here again, the locals wanted pictures with us. The view spectacular! Absolutely worth it!

Finally, Bali...well, let me tell you that I had high expectations for this place! I thought it was going to be absolutely amazing...well not quite! Kuta, the beach, is very turistic and full of surfers (I prefer shallow waters...just realxing with my floti).

Ubud however, in the island of Bali if beautiful! It's a tiny cultural town-very pretty. With lots of rice fields and an average of one temple per street. Something that called my attention was the offerings they leave on the temples/streets (check the last picture).

Jakarta + Yogyakarta - Indonesia

Ok, so we are finally back from the trip and I am starting to sort out the over 1,000 pictures we took! Don't worry! I promise I will only post 30 pictures at a time! ;)

Here you can see pictures of Kraton: The Sultan's Palace, the market, the town (not much too see) and the most common method of transport: the tuk-tuk

Hope you like it! There is more to come!

First nigth in Jakarta

Indonesia's capital, Jakarta is chaotic, dirty and poor. By first impressions it's difficult to take in the slums and traffic jams (side comment: since there is so much dirt, there are quite a lot of cats! let's just say I was not a happy camper!)
We were in a hotel just in the centre (Jaksa area) for u$22 per night. We were exhausted from the whole airport saga, that we decided to get a few beers at a bar around the corner.

People are very friendly, they smile at you and try to practice the little English they know. Everything seemed harmeless...until we realized what was "really" going on!

In the hotel bar there was an Englishman (in his mid-40's) talking with a local boy (maybe 18 years old) and a local girl (in her 20's). They were all having a great time...talking and laughing...suddenly the kid puts his hand under the man's shorts (massaging his private bits!)...mmm... a bit strange we thought! The woman started walking around and chatting to other men. It was here that things took a new turn.

A local man (in his 30's) started walking around with a sheet of paper, writing names and collecting money. Later we realized across the street was the Brothel (Telo en Argentina), so the local guy was the Pimp and of course the hookers with their clients. When the hook up was made, they would go to the bathroom in the bar we were at, to wash their private bits and then cross the street to do the nasty!

After all this, we ordered another beer and went to another bar to have a few games of pool. Overall, a strange but interesting night!

Flight to Jakarta - Part 2

So, since things were getting a bit awkard, I decided to play my "Oscar winning I'm from Argentina performance" (usually when mentioning Maradonna people smile and get soft), well, not this one!! haha...so, then I changed to plan B: with watery eyes I started "I come from a 3rd world country, don't have a lot of money, we earn Argentinian pesos, not us dollars!! please!!" nop! didn't work either.
So, he looks at me and says "we help you, you help us"...I didn't get it at first, so I got quiet...Enda quickly responded "how much?" to what the officer said "how much can you give?" Enda says "u$20"... the answer was "mmmmm....." not very happy!

They pulled us to the side and we said "ok, we want to buy a new ticket...can it be refundable?" (which basically means that you purchase the ticket and when yo uget to your hotel you cancel it!). They said NO!! so, again I started getting really pissed (no acting now). I said "but we just paid u$50! give us the money back and put us back on a plane!'. No response...so Enda says "ok, we don't have much money, we'll give u$40". The officer went to check the supervisor you gave him the thumbs up!

Again, went to passport control showing the passports with the u$40 inside!! Here, they continue giving me attitute! He said "you know, this is the last time...I help you! if you have friends of family here don't say anything because we know..."

With the sour taste we arrived in Jakarta...first stop in Indonesia...first time bribeing!!

Flight to Jakarta - Part 1

We got a fight from Hong Kong-singapore-jakarta for u$160, with a 6 hour lay over at Singapore. We thought we were going to the city and do some sightseeing, but once I learned that it has been voted the best airport in the world we decided to stick around. The airport is huge! and I couldn't believe there were showing free movies, there is free internet access every 5 minute walk, there is a hotel...and...the best part: there is swimming pool!! (unfortunately I couldn't use it...I found it just 40 minutes before leaving!)

After the 6 hour wait, we go on the flight to Jakarta (Indonesia). The 2 1/2 hour flight was great...the problem started when we landed!
We knew that in some countries we would need a visa, which it's not a huge problemsince they issue the visa at the airport. So, after looking at our passports, they gave us an option: either get a 7-day visa for u$10 or a 30-day visa for u$25. Since we didn't know how long we were going to stay, I said; "c'mon! let's just get the 30-day visa!". When we were going to pay, they asked when we were leaving and since we had no ticket (we don't know where we are going next or when!) we had to speak with an officer. He was not thrilled , buthe said: "ok, we'll give you the visa". Great! we thought...well, not for long!

The next step was to go through Passpot Control, where the first question was; "where are you going next?' since our response was the same as before: "don't know", they told us we had to purchase a ticket now...otherwise we would stay at the airport!

Guess what happened next?...stick around for the next post...

Victoria Park

Every Sunday the maids/helpers/nannies gather in Victoria Park. They are mostly from Malaysia and the Philippines; and Sunday is their day off. It's very common to have a maid here, it's quite cheap: 4000 HK = 400 pounds = 2000 pesos Argentinos per month. By law, they have to live-in with the family, which could be a bit awkward. But the loss of privacy is compensated with great service! Unfortunately, many people abuse this service; and it's not uncommon to make the maid sleep in a tiny closet, on the living room floor or even in the bathroom! Some are even sex slaves! really...unbelievable! I guess the good part is that they can work for 13 years and retire! or support their families back home with their jobs in HK.

What exactly do they do in the park/street? well...eat, talk, show pictures, pray, dance, do their make-up and hair and gossip of course!

What do you do on your day off?