Fire, Muslims, and Australia

UPDATE: Sorry, YouTube and I were also fighting, but we're friends again. Videos should work.


You realize this is the 8th blog in one month? I'm spoiling you all...

First off, the spell check doesn't wanna play with me. Sorry about that one.

So we've had a pretty sudden change in plans. We had just crossed the Thai border into Malaysia when we got word from a friend we'd met saying we had a job opportunity at a resort in Australia. This was a mixed blessing. On one hand, we'd just made it to Malaysia. We had several spots to see, and weren't planning on Australia for at least another few weeks, hopefully more like a month. On the other hand, we were running out of money quick and could use the work in Oz to refill the coffers. After some debate, we decided to go for it.

So, we stayed on the island of Langkawi for a few days, then hopped a bus to Kuala Lumpur. I'm writing from a pretty cool hostel in KL, with plans to go into Singapore tomorrow, where Jen and I will hop a plane bound for the land of the Aussies. That'll be 3 countries inside of a week. Not bad, if a little tiring.

Chinatown in KL

But I thought I'd do some filler here real quick, some background for those who are curious.

Jen and I chose a rotten time to do all this. Granted, most of us didn't know we'd have a global economic crisis, but the money we earned for travling, and for buying a house, was all in Korean won, which was the worst performing currency in Asia in 2008.

Think about that. Worst performing currency for the largest continent on earth. Nepal did better. The Mongols posted better currency numbers than South Korea. That no one called.

So we're traveling on a lousy currency. That sucks. And what should be over 10k for a house is actually around 6k. But that's why it's all sitting in Korea, waiting for the world to figure out what the hell is going on.

Part 2: No one told Southeast Asia the world ran out of money. The currencies here, which are not as "globalized" as their wealthier counterparts, were not devalued like the won. So they're actually performing better against the euro, pound, dollar, etc. than they have in quite a long time- maybe ever. This won't last, the readings tell me, maybe a month or two. Guess what we were planning on doing for the next month or two... yeah, traveling on the worst performing currency in Asia.

But that's ok. Australia awaits!!! Of course, it's currency is actually doing worse than Korea, but it's got signs of rallying soon. We hope.

That's all the bad news. The good news is I'm about to visit Australia, something I've dreamed about since I was, I don't know... 8? Benoit can tell stories about a little 7th grade kid wanting to be dropped in the middle of the Outback with nothing but his trusty walking stick.

(Benoit- I don't have the walking stick with me... it's sitting in storage. How nuts is that?)

Oh, wait, one more piece of bad news. Jen and I misread the visa process. We actually can't work in Australia without applying for this special visa, which must be applied for and granted while outside the country. We discovered this after spending $1000 on plane tickets... it'll be ok for the moment, we've got it covered. It just means we'll be going to New Zealand for a week or so. They also have the "Working Holiday" visa that Australia does, and this time we'll make certain we read the fine print.

NG_ERROR_9">Ok, that's the boring stuff.

I'll got some pics of Langkawi up, but I have to share what the pictures don't.





Langkawi sits just off the northwestern coast of the Malay pennisula. It's a beautiful island, sparkling beaches, the whole 9 yards. Plus, it's a duty free island. You can buy an ice cold beer for .50 cents American. All the time. Wow, you think, this must be a party island like no other, right?

Wrong.

The thing is, Malaysia is a Muslim country. Jen and I walked into four different stores on our little stretch of tourist wonderland only to be told by the owners that they didn't sell alcohol. We found some, eventually, and got to enjoy a cold drink on the beach watching the sun go down. This led to a few thoughts:
1. I still don't like beer.
2. There is something odd about a tropical paradise where half the folks are wandering around in bikinis and board shorts, and the other half are covered head to toe.
3. There was, on one of the tiny islands nearby, a huge "full moon" party, which was banned by "unimpressed local Muslims" (so sayth Rough Guide: Southeast Asia). It felt a little like Saved By The Bell, with Mr. Belding being played by Muslim locals. It's a little surreal.
4. Complain about political incorrectness all you want, but don't judge me until you've seen conservative Muslims owning and operating a Bob Marley shop on the beach front, complete with huge tie-died marijuana towels and t-shirts...



The island was beautiful, though. Jen and I stayed the first night in a dorm-style room, which is where you've got anywhere from 6 to 20 people all sleeping in the same room. We were closer to 20. After an early morning of discovering exactly how loud plastic bags can be, we splurged and went for the beach front room with air con, hot water, and a noticable lack of 18 complete strangers. Cost us $33 American, give or take.

The view from our room

Anyway, we're in KL. I haven't taken many pictures because there just isn't much to show. It's an amazingly clean city, a far cry from Seoul or Bangkok, and a truly cosmopolitan place as well. Chinatown and Little India boast some amazing food, and I'm loving every gut-busting second of it.

I'm a little nervous about Singapore. For those short on history, about 10 years ago an American spray painted a car and got caned for it. The US made some official request to not have him caned, but everyone knew he had it coming. That's the law in Singapore. Chewing gum will get you fined something like $150. Jaywalking is around $100. I'm just certain I'm going to spill my Coke and end up broke and possibly beaten...

Ok ok ok, let's see some fun stuff.



How cool is that? We were at the Babylon Mat Lounge. It sits right on the beach, and they give you mats. surprisingly enough, and you can sit and listen to a really good Marley cover band. We're doing just that when they announced they'd be doing a fire show.


Now THAT guy had better to be able to get a date..


I've had this fire motif going on for a while there. First there was this (watch your volume):





And then there was this:




And... as a result... there was this.





That's karosene, by the way. It's actually tasteless, but you can't help but swallow a little bit. Everytime I burped for the next 12 hours, all I could taste was gasoline. Ugh. But it was SO AWESOME...

Hey, all these vids and pics... here's another treat. Just because ya'll been so good.

How about a SIGN TIME 2fer?


I didn't have a problem with this, until I say the New Town Black Coffee out in the alley. Moreover, I had no idea which one to go to. Then Jen reminded me I don't drink coffee.



Nah. Too easy.

Much love,