Toes in the sand will have to wait

Well, I jotted off to Malaysia for the third time, which used up my Delta credit. All told, including the balance of the plane ticket (I didn’t have enough left to cover that third ticket in full), I think I spent less than $150.

The plan went awry a bit, but I guess it wouldn’t be a true getaway if it didn’t. My flights to date had been so on time, I forgot sometimes they’re late, but that’s what happened.

Instead of arriving to the hostel at 11:30 p.m. like I had twice before, I was still at the train station at 1:30 a.m. Luckily, Suzy, the nice host at Traveller’s Palm, waited up for me.

So I couldn’t bear to ask her to wake up early for me to head out to Penang, which had been my original plan. Buses left at 7, 8, 9,10 and 10:30, and I’d hoped to be on the 7.

Well, so long as it spring eternal. I wound up getting on the 10 a.m. bus, which should have mathematically gotten me in around 2, but somehow I got there at 4. Ah well. I’d known it would be a quick vacation and not so much a relaxing one. The point, again, was just to get out of Jakarta and it worked for that.

When your trip’s goal was simply to stick your toes in the sand, it’s going to be a pretty modest trip.

Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to meet the goal, as I was a ways away from the sand beach, but I did the next best thing, which was to jaunt over to the jetty, where I plopped myself down on the rocks and listened to “Red Headed Stranger” and watched a couple of fisherman, lots of trash, a couple of chum pieces and then a live lizard entertain me for about an hour.

I guess I was an odd site, because this little stop was decidedly NOT a tourist spot. Two police officers came by to check me out, likely because they thought I’d made a wrong turn. Nope, I just sat under a tree, kicked off the Chacos and chilled out.

And that really was a highlight. I guess it sounds trite, but it was what the doctor ordered.

Not the chiropractor, unfortunately. Somehow I managed to throw out my back the first night and yikes. I really could barely walk, so it was nice to just sit at times.

Between that and the horrid blister I got on the top of my foot – right on the bunion scar – well, I am still in a bit of walking pain. And I did my last chiro visit this morning, so uh-oh on that.

Got sunburned, too, but not really all that bad. The weather is just so much nicer than Jakarta, likely because there are more green spaces and less air pollution.

Unlike last trip, not once did I eat in a restaurant. Instead, I opted for the food stalls. I have no idea what the food is, but basically if you put enough rice around it, I’ll eat it. I think I had Chinese, Indian and Thai, but I’m not really sure. I did miss out on a burger, which is kind of sad. I could use a nice hunk of meat about right now.

My last evening in Penang, I was set to take the overnight bus back to KL and then have a morning there before flying out. Considering I made no reservations in advance, it was a tad risky, but it worked out.

That last evening, it rained, and as I was wandering back to the hostel (another good choice – Penang Guesthouse) and trying to find the store that had this shirt I wanted, I witnessed a motorcycle accident. A man was driving and in the rain, he just skidded into another parked bike, sending his wife flying.

Fortunately, unlike in Jakarta, riders in Malaysia wear helmets or it would have been really, really bad. She pretty much landed on the side of her head, but she not only had the helmet but also a face shield. You could see where it had scraped – it looked like she’d stopped a slapshot.

The poor thing was incredibly dizzy and petty much fell over. I and her husband got her to sit down and a couple of shopkeepers brought a chair for her. She was *really* out of it and in pain, but after about half an hour she was back in her right mind. She worked at a hospital and knew the importance of X-rays, so I’m sure she’ll be fine.

I sat with her about 45 minutes as her husband tried to find alternate transportation. Their bike was OK – a broken rearview – but no way was she able to get back on. She was amazingly dizzy and said it hurt badly through her jaw.

I was just so relieved she was wearing a helmet. I mean, that could have been tragic.

The little time setback was enough to make me miss the dinner rush as well as the shirt. I never found the store again, so I guess it was closed by that time. I’m sure I’ll eventually find another clothing item that works for me.

The overnight bus back was all it was cracked up to be, including the freaking frigid temperature. I did not sleep more than one hour, if that, and was so cold it was insane. I pulled out my extra set of clothes and put the pants on up to my knees (I’d brought two pairs of capris) and pulled on the neck of the extra shirt and left my arms in. I still shivered all the way back.

And of course, we made great time on the way back. And what do you do in KL at 5:30 in the morning? Well, in my case, you sit in what is sort of a concrete park/bus station area/homeless person domain and try to get warm, which I discovered is hard even in tropical zones before the sun comes up.

There was a 24-hour McDonald’s right across the way, but I figured at that hour the AC would be blasting specifically to keep riffraff like me out, so I hung out and continued to listen to the MP3, although by that time I think I was on Phil Vassar.

At some random point, a man with a broom shooed me out, saying he needed to clean. I noted of all the people who were taking up less-than-valuable real estate, I was the only one he moved. I was the only white one and the only one who was awake. Both/either could have been factors.

So at that point, maybe 6:30 or so, it was still somewhat dark and chilly, but I decided to occupy McDonald’s anyway. And sure enough, it was darn cold, but they had hot htea.

My attempt to get a value meal (tea and hash brown) fell through and I just got the tea, but it turned out to be a bargain. Free refills, which is nice when you’re trying to warm up and wait out the sunrise.

I sat upstairs with what appeared to be more WASPy folks fresh off some kind of travel. They had wireless items, though. But I had tea, and that was important.

After four cups, I was pretty much ready to go except for the fact the McDonald’s staff was cleaning the bathroom. Do the math. I opted to wait it out and was entertained in the process.

During the whole time the woman cleaned the bathroom – which had to have taken 45 minutes – no fewer than seven guys came up to try to use it. She turned them all away. One guy plopped down next to me and tried to wait it out and I could tell by his fidgeting he was in a hurry. He would up leaving the building, probably to pee on the side of it.

The staff member did allow one woman with a small child in as she was cleaning, but the men were tossed out. For whatever sadistic reason, I thought that was funny.

After waiting out the facilities and grabbing a fifth cup of tea for the road, I wandered Chinatown again, though I didn’t eat there. The tea pretty much filled me up, so I waited until I got back to my old stomping grounds near the hostel to eat.

I walked the fancy schmancy mall and was again unimpressed (and unable to find a reasonable sports bra) and headed out the door, where I encountered all the painted bears.

By that point, it was nearing lunch and I figured I should give Little India one last go before heading to the airport, even though I was still stuffed from the fried rice I'd had as a late breakfast.

So I took one for the team and tried to find Little India, but I took a wrong turn. I’d been a little put off because on the monorail some Kenyan I’d never met before essentially professed his eternal love for me, so once we got off I just started walking.

I missed Little India but there are food stalls everywhere and I just wandered into one and said to bring me something. It had rice and was pretty darn good, although that time the tea didn’t do it for me. Too milky.

Basically, though, I feel I’ve pretty much eaten my way around Malaysia, although I’ll be damned if I’ve eaten anything Malaysian. I’m not even sure what that means, but I can guarantee you, if you’re hungry, that is a really good place to go.