Monkeying Around the World

Ivan, Jennifer and I had to wake up at 4:30 am on August 14, 2009.  We would be flying to Sydney today. 

Ivan had set up a taxi the night before.  We left the Pint on Punt Hotel at 5 am.  We got to the airport and got our tickets.

We boarded the plane.  Our plane took off around 6:50 am.  We all took short naps on the flight.  We arrived at 8:05 am in Sydney.

Ivan and Jennifer grabbed the backpacks from the baggage claim.  We got a train to the wharf.  Jennifer took a nap on the ferry.

We got tickets for the ferry headed to Manly.  For the next two nights, we’d be staying with a couchsurfer named Joe and his girlfriend Lucy.  Ivan sent a text to Joe informing him that we had just boarded the ferry. 

We met Joe near the silver shell at the wharf.  Ivan and Jen put the luggage into Joe’s car.  We headed to his house.

Joe showed us the room we’d be sleeping in.  Joe made Ivan and Jen some tea.  I had a banana juice with me from the store.  We sat outside and chatted.  Joe is a nice guy.  He does hypnotherapy.  Right now, he’s going to school for Nursing.

Joe said he would be busy all day studying.  So, we were headed to the city.  Jennifer called her friend Marvin from Twitter.  She wanted to know if he wanted to meet up for dinner.  He said he would text back after lunch. 

We got ready to head out.  We were really tired from having only a few hours sleep last night.  Later, we would meet Marvin for dinner in Surry Hills.

We walked to the mall to find something for lunch.  Ivan thought Moreish looked good. 

Ivan and Jen got the cous cous, green bean salad and carrots to share.  I got the banana rice with vegetables and a banana soup.  The food was quite nice.

We boarded a bus headed to the city.  We wanted to walk around but our tiredness wasn’t helping.  Ivan suggested that we see a movie. 

We walked to a movie theatre.  We told Marvin by text that we’d be watching a movie and then headed to dinner.  He said to meet at a restaurant nearby at 6 pm.  Ivan and Jen went to see The Ugly Truth.  I watched Aladdin on Jen’s iPod.  Ivan fell asleep during the movie.  Jennifer stayed awake to watch and thought the movie was good.

We walked to the restaurant Longrain.  It’s a Thai fusion restaurant.  We got there a few minutes before 6 pm.  Marvin was right behind us and said hi to Jennifer.  Jennifer thought he looked different than his picture. 

Marvin has been to the restaurant before.  We were seated at a long table.  There wasn’t that many people in the restaurant.  Ivan and Jen started off with a betel leaf with prawn.  It was really tasty with lots of flavor.  I brought three bananas and some crackers for me to eat.  Marvin ordered a pork dish that is covered with a caramel sauce.  Ivan and Jen got a glass of riesling. 

Ivan and Jen had organic chicken with coconut cream and greens and a great perth (fish) dish that melted in their mouths. 

Marvin is a Disney special effects animator.  Ivan asked him lots of questions about his job.  We chatted for awhile.  It was great hanging out with Marvin.  He’s a cool guy.  He paid for the meal.  What a sweet guy!  Jen forgot to take a picture with Marvin.  Oh yeah, Ivan saw Barry Humphries sitting in the restaurant.  He acts as Dame Edna in England.  Jennifer has never heard of him, but she’s seen Dame Edna before.  Ivan wished that we were seated next to him during the meal.

We took a bus back to Manly.  We were so knackered.  Shortly after we got back to Joe’s house, we went to sleep.

Ivan, Jennifer and I slept in on August 14, 2009.  We walked down to Manley.  The beach is nice, but it’s too cold to swim. 

We saw beautiful views of the water while we walked along it.  Lots of nice condos and houses are located right by the beach.  We couldn’t find anything to eat. 

We walked to the Pier.  We decided to have Nando’s for lunch.  Ivan had a spicy chicken sandwich while Jennifer got a chicken sandwich. 

I had a chicken and banana pita.  The food was really nice.

We walked to the mall.  We bought some food for dinner later and some wine.  We walked back to the house.

Ivan and Jen used the internet for awhile.  They cooked their Lean Cuisnie meals.  I had a few bananas. 

We all get ready to go out.  Ivan read about a housewarming party in Manly from the Couchsurfing forum.  So, we headed out the door to the party.  We were thinking of taking a bus, but it was taking too long to arrive. 

Ivan hailed a cab.  We got to the party and it was filled with lots of young people.  It looked like a college party.  It was really loud and everybody seemed to be in individual groups.  Ivan and Jen wanted to leave.  We walked to the Pier. 

We went inside a pub to have a drink.  Ivan and Jen each had a glass of red wine.  The band playing was okay.  We decided to take a taxi back and call it a night.

August 21st, 2009 | Category: Australia, Food, Manly, Sydney | Leave a comment

Ivan, Jennifer and I woke up late on August 12, 2009.  It was showering today.  Cold, rainy and wet isn’t fun.

We walked to Squeeze ‘n’ Bite for lunch.  Ivan ordered a tomato soup and museli with yoghurt.  I got a banana salad with chicken.  Jennifer got a vegetable panini.  The food was great.

We got a tram to the city. 

We went to the Salvador Dali exhibition called Liquid Desire. 

It features a lot of his early work.  It also included some of his surreal art.  I’m glad that most of the art had a description about the work.  It usually explained what was in the picture.  Otherwise I wouldn’t have seen it or understood it!  Cool stuff.  Surreal art is very interesting.  Jennifer and I didn’t know that he planned to make a film with Disney.  It never got made.  But, a few years ago some French guy from Disney decided to make it.  They showed that film Destino there.  It was pretty kewl.

We walked to the Syn Bar.  Ivan signed up himself and Jennifer up for a salsa class.  It’s a free class no Wednesdays.  I sat down and watched because there were no monkeys for me to partner up with.  The teacher was really good.  She taught them some basic moves. 

The girls had to move around each time to get a new partner.  Jennifer said some guys were good and others were just okay.  It was definitely a workout!  Ivan and Jen had fun, but salsa seems challenging.

We got a tram to the Red Monkey Bar.  Ivan and Jennifer read about it in a free tourist magazine.  I’ve been there, but in the monkey section and it was busy.  It’s a happening monkey hangout.  The Red Monkey Bar was empty except for one person. 

Ivan and Jennifer walked around to find a place to eat.  They were going to eat at a restaurant.  But, two big tables had just ordered.  So, it would probably take awhile for us to get our food.  We decided to walk around.

Ivan found Urban Burger.  It’s a burger place that has some healthy options. 

Ivan got the Urban Turban which is a tandoori chicken with mango, chili relish and zesty aioli.  I had a Brie Twist with bananas – basically a chicken breast with pesto, brie, aioli, salad and I added bananas.  Jennifer got the C.A.B. without the bacon.  It was a lovely chicken burger with avocado, salad and aioli.  The burgers were quite big and tasty.

Ivan and Jen went to see the movie Bruno.  I watched Gorillas in the Mist on Ivan’s iPod.  They really thought the movie was really funny.

We got a tram back to our hotel.  We went to the Pint on Punt pub.  It was karaoke night.  The people singing weren’t very good.  Ivan and Jen each had a glass of red wine. 

I had a banana juice.  We only stayed for a short time before heading up to sleep.

Ivan, Jennifer and I moved to a room with a double bed and a single bed on August 13, 2009.  It was bunk beds which is weird. 

I was happy to have my own bed for the night. 

We went to Fifteen for lunch.  It’s Jamie Oliver’s restaurant.  The chef training foundation allows people 16-24 (who have been homeless, had drugs/alcohol problems in the past or unemployment) the opportunity to learn skills to work at the restaurant.  Ivan and Jennifer wanted to do the Express Lunch which includes a two course meal for $15. 

The first course was ribollita which consists of tuscan bread soup with cavalo nero, cannelini beans and olive oil. 

The second course would be rotolo of baby spinach, baked ricotta, mushrooms, marjoram and lemon with brown butter.

I was told by one of my monkey friends at the Red Monkey Bar about the secret menu at Fifteen.  I asked the waiter for the secret monkey menu.  It was an express lunch only for monkeys.  My first course   was banana spring rolls with vegetables.  The second course consisted of penne with a light creamy sauce and bananas on top.

The food turned out great!  It’s such a bargain especially in a town like Melbourne.  There’s nothing really express about it in terms of time – but it’s worth the wait! 

We took a tram to the city.  We went to the Victoria Library.  Ivan was going to walk around the city.  I worked on the blog in the library.  Jennifer used the free internet there.  Meanwhile, Ivan did some shopping.

We walked to a bar nearby.  Ivan and Jen each had a few glasses of red wine.  I had some banana juice.  We wanted to be in a good mood since we would be going to see Dracula’s Cabaret. 

We got a bus to the Dracula’s Cabaret.  There was a long line to get in.  We were a few minutes early.  It was a bit cold outside.  Ivan didn’t think it would be so busy on a Thursday night – but there was lots of people. 

We went inside.  We were told our seat numbers for the show.  We got into the Ghost Train with two other people.  The people behind us kept poking us to scare us.  Ivan kept screaming jokingly.  It was a short, fun ride.

We were seated in a long table.  Unfortunately, we were facing away from the stage.  We were planning to turn our seats to get a good view of the show.

The waiters were dressed up in gothic clothing.  Our waitress had on a black dress with lace on it.   I brought bananas for my dinner.  Ivan and Jennifer were served a quiche with onions, semi-dried tomatoes and cheese.  Jennifer gave me a few bites of her quiche – I added bananas on top.  It tasted good, but probably wasn’t too healthy. 

Ivan gave the waitress coupons for a free drink and a souvenir.  The drink came with a free plastic spider on top.  The drinks were fruity but weren’t very strong with alcohol.

Ivan and Jen got a bottle of Shiraz to share.  The main course was a choice of beef, fish, chicken, lamb or vegetarian. 

Ivan got the fish while Jennifer ordered the chicken.  The food was quite tasty.  I had some of Ivan’s dish with a little banana on top.

Dessert was a chocolate coffin with a white chocolate mousse inside.  The people around us ate the chocolate mousse, but not the chocolate coffin. 

Ivan and Jennifer happily ate the whole thing.

The show is called Black Blood Return of the Romantics.  It consists of a drummer, two men and two women.  It’s a funny goth show.  They did lots of singing, dancing and comedy. 

This is some of the acts they performed.  There was a Bejing Midget Olympics which was puppets that made fun of the olympics.  Ramsay’s Cooking Nightmare was another puppet making fun of the cooking chef.  The Stones Zombie Puppet Tour was really funny with Stones music and scary looking puppets.  Return of the amazing Pink Floyd Robots played great music by Pink Floyd and had robots. 

The main comedy guy walked around and made fun of the audience.  He was good at improv.  Jennifer thought he looked like a gothic version of Professor Snape from Harry Potter.  The singing was really good with songs from the 80’s.  This is a must see show in Melbourne! 

We went back on a bus feeling full and very entertained.

August 21st, 2009 | Category: Australia, Food, Melbourne, St. Kilda | Comments (2)

Ivan, Jennifer and I woke up after noon on August 10, 2009.  Christine was still sleeping.  She had to work at 7 pm. 

Ivan booked a taxi.  We would be spending the night at Auntie Nilda’s house.  Nilda is Jennifer’s mom friend – they went to high school together.  She’s Filipino.

Christine woke up while we were waiting for the taxi.  The taxi driver got lost.  She said that she could take us there. 

We got directions from Google Maps to Deer Park.  The ride was a long one since we got lost.  Nilda lives in Deer Park.  It probably should have taken about 40 minutes to get there.  But, we arrived about an hour later at 4:30 pm.

We said thanks and goodbye to Christine.

We waited until Uncle Lemuel got home before we ate dinner.  It was our first meal of the day, so we were really hungry. Auntie Nilda cooked pancit (noodles) with chicken, oysters and fish.  I had some pancit with bananas.  The food was good.

We chilled and used the internet. 

We took a walk to the store.  It was a long walk, but w waneted to get some exercise.  Ivan and Jennifer got some food.  They would probably be hungry soon.

Ivan and Jennifer watched part of The Holy Man on the laptop.  Ivan and Jen had some Lean Cuisine meals.  I had a banana on toast. 

We went inside the room.  It was nice that the room had it’s own heater – so it was nice and toasty.  Ivan used his laptop while Jennifer read her book Snow Blind by P.J. Tracy.  I went to sleep on Jennifer’s bed.  Ivan and Jen went to bed after awhile.

Auntie Nilda woke us up around 9 am on August 11, 2009.  She had set up a ride for us with her friend Raffi.  He would take us to St. Kilda at 10 am. 

Auntie Nilda cooked boiled eggs and croissants.  I had toast with two bananas.  It was yummy! 

Raffi and his friend Carl arrived at 10 am.  We all chatted awhile in the kitchen. 

We put our backpacks into the trunk of Raffi’s car.  Carl is Australian and Raffi is Filipino.  We chatted in the car on the way to St Kilda’s.  They were partying last night and hadn’t slept in over a day.

We thanked them and said bye.

We checked in to the Pint on Punt Hotel.  It’s located right over their pub. 

We walked to Soul Mama for lunch.  Ivan heard it’s a good Vegetarian restaurant.  Ivan got the eggplant in oil and chick peas. 

Jennifer got the eggplant curry and spicy dahl.  I got a salad with bananas.  The food was good and healthy.

We got a bus to the city.  We met up with a couchsurfer named Michael.  He wanted to speak to Ivan about stage hypnosis.  We went to the Victoria Library. 

There was a free exhibit about books.  It was pretty boring.  We did get to see Ned Kelly’s armour.  It looked really bulky and heavy.

There’s free internet at the library for either 15 minutes in one area and 60 minutes on the 2nd floor.

We walked to a pub nearby to have a drink.  Ivan and Michael started talking about hypnosis.  Jennifer read some magazines. 

Jennifer and I walked to the internet area at the library.  She was going to use the internet for an hour.  We waited in line for about 10 minutes for a free computer.

Ivan and Michael met us at the library.  We walked to a couchsurfing meetup at a pub.  It was kind of noisy in there.  You could talk but only to people who were nearby.  Ivan and Jen each had a glass of wine.  They were getting hungry.  They decided to order a chicken burger to share. 

It tasted pretty good.  We chatted for awhile with Michael.

We said goodbye to Michael.  We wanted to get some dinner.  We walked around and saw a Nando’s.  Ivan thought we should try it.  It’s definitely more expensive than the Nando’s in Malaysia.  They don’t have Garlic Peri sauce there which is Jennifer’s favorite Nando’s sauce. 

Ivan and Jennifer both ordered a chicken pita.  I got a chicken and banana skewer. 

We got a bus back to St. Kilda’s.  We chilled and soon went to bed.

August 21st, 2009 | Category: Australia, Food, Melbourne, St. Kilda | Comments (3)

Ivan, Jennifer and I checked out of the Flinders Station Backpackers Hotel on August 8, 2009.  We stored our luggage in a locker there.  You have to pay for 24 hour use.

We walked to Healthy Appetite for lunch.  I got a banana and tuna wrap.  Ivan ordered a roasted vegetables wrap while Jen got the chicken and avocado wrap.  The wraps weren’t that big, but they were tasty.

We walked around the city.  Ivan wanted to ride the free tram around the city.  It’s great that it’s free.  It gives you a nice scenic view of the city.  Also, it lets you rest your feet.

We got back to the hotel right before 3:30 pm.  We were meeting Jennifer’s old friend Christine.  They met a long time ago on a bbs called MC back in the 1990’s.  We would be staying with her for two nights in North Melbourne.

She drove us to her townhouse located in Epping.  It took about 20 minutes to get there.  We stopped by a grocery store to get some food.  I made sure to get some bananas.  We all took showers.  Jennifer’s eyes were really hurting today. 

Everybody got ready to go out for the evening.  We were all getting hungry.  It took an hour by train to get to the city.

We walked around to find a restaurant.  We looked at one place but their menu wasn’t too exciting. 

It was a really cold night.  I had to sit inside Jennifer’s jacket to stay warm.

Everybody agreed on the World Restaurant.  It was pretty inside.  There was a fireplace.   I ordered the banana ziti with chicken.  Ivan and Jennifer got a bottle of delicious Shiraz wine to share. 

Ivan and Jennifer decided to share the chicken pappardelle with roast chicken, mushrooms and spinach and the roast pumpkin salad with feta.  The food were big portions and tasted really great.  We all chatted for awhile.

We went to Crown Casino.  We tried to get into the nightclub, but I guess we weren’t dressed nice enough.  We went to a bar there and Ivan and Jen had a glass of wine.  Christine was lots of fun. 

Jen was a little drunk.  We started talking about sunscreen.  She started asking people if they wear sunscreen.  She said that 1 in 2 people get sunscreen.  She recommended that they wear SPF 30.  Jennifer is very outgoing when she’s drunk. 

It’s weird that the casinos have signs next to the slot machine discouraging you to play or saying you should set a limit .  They would never do that in Las Vegas.

We went to another bar nearby and talked there.  It was time to head back to Christine’s place.  We got the train back to Epping.

Ivan, Jennifer and I woke up around 11:30 am on August 9, 2009.  We had cup of noodles for lunch at the house. 

We went shopping at Epping Plaza.  It’s located about 5 minutes away.  Ivan bought a few things. 

We went back to the house and used the internet.  I decided to stay in and watch Madagascar on Jen’s iPod.  Ivan, Jen and Christine were headed to a movie.

Christine drove them to the mall.  They found a restaurant called Casa Bella.  Ivan and Jennifer shared some tapas.  They got marinated mushrooms, marinated eggplant, tandoori chicken and 3 dips (hummus, eggplant and yoghurt) with bread.  It was good. 

They walked to the mall to watch the movie The Hangover.  It turned out to be a good, funny movie.

They drove back to the house.  Ivan and Jennifer played a game between the two laptops.  They used the internet.  Then, it was time for everybody to get some rest.

August 17th, 2009 | Tags: movie | Category: Australia, Food, Melbourne | Leave a comment

Ivan, Jennifer and I checked out of Tune Hotel on August 6, 2009. 

We got a taxi to the airport.  Today, we’d be headed to Melbourne, Australia.  Our flight was scheduled to leave at 1:40 pm.  It didn’t actually leave until 3:20 pm because of an electrical issue.

The plane arrived a few minutes after 1 am. We got a taxi to our hotel. It cost $60 AUD ($50 USD).

We checked in to the Flinders Station Backpackers Hotel.  Ivan booked two dorm beds.  Australia is expensive for accommodation even for hostels.  I got to sleep in Jennifer’s top bunk bed.

We used the internet.  Our body clocks were used to Malaysian time so we didn’t get to sleep until 4 am.

Ivan, Jennifer and I woke up around 10:30 am on August 7, 2009.  Right now, it’s Australia’s winter – so it was cold.  Jennifer said it’s even colder than winters in Las Vegas.

Ivan and Jen are trying to eat healthy in Australia.  They’re going to try to cut out cheese, fried foods and pizza.  It’s kind of a diet, but not so extreme.  Ivan wanted to get some exercise.  It seems like that will be possible since they won’t be taking any taxis.  They will be walking and taking buses, trams and trains.

We got sandwiches at Subway.  Ivan got a 6 inch veggie patty while Jennifer got a 6 inch tuna sandwich.  I had a chicken and banana sandwich.

We went to Target to look for jackets.  Target was having a massive sale.  Ivan bought a blue jacket.  Jennifer got a blue jacket and a purple shirt. 

We walked around Bourke Street.  There were lots of sales going on.  There’s lots of artwork in Melbourne.

We chilled at the hostel for awhile.  Jennifer and I took a nap.  We didn’t sleep much the night before. 

It was time to watch a movie.  We got a taxi to the Imax theatre.  We were going to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.  The first 20 minutes of the movie was in 3D.  The movie was pretty good.

We walked back around trying to find a nice restaurant for dinner.  We finally decided on Cafe Andiamo.  The restaurant gave us free water. 

Ivan and Jennifer shared the warm chicken salad and the gnocchi with onions, garlic and napoli sauce.  I ordered a banana ravioli dish.  The meal was really good! 

We walked back to the hotel.  Ivan and Jen watched part of the movie Holy Man in the common room.  Then, it was time for bed.

August 17th, 2009 | Tags: movie | Category: Australia, Food, Melbourne | Leave a comment

Ivan, Jennifer and I had lunch at the Midview Mall on August 5, 2009.  We did a lot more shopping at this mall.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any Eee PCs there. 

We got a taxi to the Low Yat mall.  Ivan found some new speakers for the iPod.  Also, he found a great Eee PC there.  He was thinking about getting white but thought it would be too noticeable.  It’s not good to call attention to yourself when you have a laptop. 

We went shopping at Sungei Wang.  We used the internet cafe there.

We went to Nando’s for dinner.  Ivan got the peri soup which is a good chicken and mushroom soup.  I had a chicken and banana pita.  Ivan and Jen each got a angry mango chicken sandwich.  Nando’s food is cheap and tastes good!

August 17th, 2009 | Category: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Leave a comment

Ivan, Jennifer and I checked out of D’Oriental Inn on August 3, 2009. 

We walked to the post office to mail off a package. 

We got a taxi to Tune Hotel.  We all got Subway sandwiches for lunch.  We checked in to the Tune Hotel.

Ivan and Jennifer watched the rest of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in the room.  I went for a walk trying to find other monkeys.  I didn’t have any luck.

We hopped into a taxi.  It was headed towards the I.T. mall called Low Yat.  Ivan was shopping for a new laptop.  I went to the Sungei Wang mall with Jennifer.  We shopped for awhile.

We met up with Ivan at Low Yat.  We got a taxi back to the hotel.

I stayed in the hotel.  Ivan and Jennifer wanted some alone time.  They were celebrating their 2 year anniversary.  I gave them a card and a bunch of bananas earlier in the day. 

I got another Subway sandwich for dinner.

Ivan and Jennifer got a taxi to Cafe Cafe.  This is the French and Italian restaurant they went to before.  They were served tasty bread.  Ivan and Jennifer ordered the potato and leek soup to share.  It tasted okay.  They enjoyed a nice Cabernet Sauvignon from California. 

Jennifer got the chicken breast while Ivan had the salmon.  They decided to order the awesome chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream.  It takes awhile to make so they ordered it during their main course.

You can ask the chef to write something for you in the chocolate.

Ivan and Jen got a taxi to the Pacific Regency Hotel.  Ivan read about a cool bar called Luna. 

Ivan and Jennifer each ordered a drink.  Ivan got a lychee martini.

Jennifer got a strawberry mojito.  Jennifer’s drink was a lot better.  There’s a lovely view of the Petronas Towers from Luna.  There’s a pool right behind the bar and there’s no roof above the pool.  There’s also a balcony upstairs.  It’s a nice bar to just chill out in.

Ivan, Jennifer and I got ready on the morning of August 4, 2009.  We got in a taxi to head to Sunway Lagoon.  We ate our Subway sandwiches in the car during our car ride. It’s a waterpark and theme park located about 20 minutes from our hotel. 

We entered the park.  It was time to ride some rides.  You can buy tickets to different places in the park like Extreme Park or the scary park.  Ivan and I rode the ATVs around the park.  Jennifer felt too hot to ride anything.  Ivan and Jennifer shot some paintballs at a shooting range.  That looked fun.  They didn’t have a monkey-sized gun so I couldn’t try it out.  Bummer!

Ivan rode on a pirate ship ride.  It went all the way around instead of just back and forth.  Ivan also jumped on and down on the trampoline.

We walked across the longest suspension bridge.  It was high up over the main pool. 

The park doesn’t have that many water rides.  It was fun just hanging out in the big main pool. 

They had an activity with a small Orb ball.  But, unfortunately, it was only for kids so Ivan and Jennifer couldn’t ride it.  It was placed on the water so they could walk on it like a gerbil.  I didn’t think it looked very fun.  The girl I watched kept falling down.

We went to the Sunway Pyramid mall.  Everybody wanted to check out the shops.  We went shopping for awhile.  Ivan and Jennifer really liked the Mini Toons store.  It’s filled with cute items to buy.  They bought some souvenirs and colored shoelaces there.  There’s an area called Asiatown.  It’s supposed to look like an area in Tokyo.  The shops were interesting there.

We went ice skating.  Ivan and Jen bought their tickets and skates.  They were required to buy gloves.  I’m sure it might come in handy in Australia since it’s winter there now.  They didn’t have monkey-sized skates, so I just sat on Ivan’s shoulders. 

Ivan and Jennifer were trying to get used to skating.  It was fun, but a little cold there.

It was time for dinner.  We found the Shogun Japanese buffet.  It’s owned by the same group as Saisake buffet.  The restaurant had just opened for dinner so it was empty inside. 

We got lots of sushi and fish.  Jennifer got one roll that was shaped look a heart.  The food tasted awesome!

We shopped around more.  Then, we headed back to the hotel by taxi.  We used the internet and then decided to get some rest.

August 17th, 2009 | Tags: waterpark | Category: Food, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Leave a comment

Ivan, Jennifer and I slept in on August 1, 2009.  We had some food at a restaurant in Chinatown.  Ivan and Jen both had Singapore mee hoon with chicken.  I had the mee hoon with bananas.

We got a taxi to Times Square mall.  Ivan and Jennifer went shopping for clothes.  Jennifer had a facial.  Ivan and I shopped some more while Jen was getting her facial. 

Ivan and Jennifer watched the movie The Taking of Pelham 123.  I watched Curious George on the iPod.  They really enjoyed the movie.  A girl let her phone ring three times and she picked it up once and started talking.  How rude can you be?  Jennifer told her to shut off her phone but she didn’t listen.

We walked to the internet cafe in the mall.  We all used the internet.  It was so loud in there.  There were three girls who kept playing stupid music and playing a dance game.  They were so loud.  Jennifer said shut up to them because it annoyed her.  I don’t think they understood because they kept making a racket.

We took a taxi back to the hotel.  We decided to have cup of noodles for dinner.  Ivan and Jen each added mackerel in theirs and I added bananas.

Ivan and Jennifer wanted to hear some live music.  We got a taxi to Asian Heritage Row.  It was really empty there.  There was a place with live music but nobody was inside.

We got a taxi to the Hard Rock Cafe.  The band there was playing rock music and didn’t sound too good.

We got a taxi to the Hilton Hotel.  Ivan read that the hotel had a good live band.  We went to the Zeta Bar.  The band was really good there.  The drinks were expensive, but good.  Ivan and Jennifer had different mojitos. 

We all danced for awhile.  We decided we would come back to see this live band again.

Ivan, Jennifer and I checked out of the Swiss Inn on August 2, 2009.  We checked in to the D’Oriental Inn.  The rooms are nice and there’s free wi-fi in the rooms. 

We walked to Nando’s for lunch.  Ivan and Jen started off with the Novo Pita.  I had the banana and chicken kebab.  Ivan had the Angry Mango Chicken Sandwich. 

Jennifer had the grilled chicken with rice and fresco salad.  Ivan and Jen shared the cous cous salad. The food was really good.

We went shopping again in Kuala Lumpur. 

We got a taxi to the street where Frangipani is located.  There are lots of restaurants there.  We walked around to find a nice place.  Ivan thought the tapas restaurant called El Cerdito looked good.  We sat down outside.  Ivan and Jen ordered a Rose Raspberry Sangria.  They said it tasted pretty good.  I ordered a banana omelet, grilled bananas in a creamy sauce and chicken and banana skewers. 

Ivan and Jennifer shared a spanish omelet, chicken skewers, roasted potatoes, sauteed mushrooms in garlic and olive oil, roasted eggplant stuffed with spanish vegetables and San Simon cheese and salmon fillet.  The food was really good.

August 17th, 2009 | Category: Food, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Comments (1)

Ivan and Jennifer had the free breakfast on July 30, 2009.  I had two bananas. 

We checked out of Su’s Cottages.  We packed everything up.

Ivan got a taxi for us.  We went to the Dynasty Hotel.  We stored our luggage there for the day.  We just said we’re checking in later and that we’ll be back in a few hours.

We walked to Oceans 27.  It was empty as usual.  We were all hungry and decided to order lunch. I had a noodle dish with bananas. Ivan and Jen both got the Nasi Goreng.  We also ordered shakes – banana for me and Ivan, strawberry for Jen.  My noodle dish was alright.  The Nasi Goreng was really plain – just regular rice with raisins. 

Thank goodness there was a tomato sauce that came with the bread.  They added the sauce to the Nasi Goreng and it tasted better. It was a really expensive Nasi Goreng, but then I guess that’s what you would expect from a fancy beach club.

We chilled at Oceans 27.  It’s great sitting there since you’re in the shade (from the umbrella).  You just have to order $5 per person to use their pool.  Ivan and Jen went in the pool.  They were reading the magazines they had bought yesterday.

Ivan tried to fly the dragon kite again.  There was a man selling kites.  He said that the head of the kite was making it difficult to fly. 

I guess we should have gotten a plain kite.  It did go in the air, but not  for very long.  It really was a kewl kite though.

We walked to Queens of India for dinner.  Ivan and Jennifer ordered the masala papadums to start off with.  The papadums come with three sauces.  This time the sauces weren’t just in the small tin container, but in the sauces were in a bag.  Ivan asked why he had to pour the sauces into the container.  The server said that somebody complained that it wasn’t hygienic.  He was basically saying that the restaurant could have re-used the sauces.  That’s just stupid!  Restaurants wouldn’t do that.  I don’t think they will continue putting it in the packets.  It’s an inconvenience to the customers.  I got the awesome mint bananas.  Ivan and Jen shared the mint chicken and the kashmiri chicken curry.  It was great food like last time.

We got our backpacks from the Dynasty Hotel.  We hopped into a taxi headed towards the airport.  We were flying to Kuala Lumpur (KL).  The flight was delayed an hour.  We arrived close to midnight. 

When we got there, we were thermally scanned for the swine flu.  They asked Ivan and Jennifer for a mobile phone number or a number back home.  They said they don’t have one.  What would it matter if they gave a home number.  It’s not like they can contact them anytime soon since we’re traveling for awhile.  Ivan and Jen wrote down an e-mail address.

We took a taxi to the hotel.  We checked in to the Swiss Inn.  It was time for some food.  Ivan and Jen grabbed a cup of noodles for each of them at a store nearby.  I had two bananas.  Soon after, we got some rest.

Ivan, Jennifer and I slept in on July 31, 2009. 

We had lunch at Nando’s.  Ivan got the angry Mango chicken sandwich with 3 bean salad and peri fries.  Jennifer got the chicken pita with peri corn.  I got the banana and chicken sandwich with peri bananas.  They have great sauces that goes well with the food.  We love the garlic one.

We got a taxi to Sungei Wang mall.  We shopped for new clothes – well, Jen and Ivan, I don’t wear any clothes since I’m a monkey and monkeys are okay with being naked all the time.  We all used the internet in a cafe.

We walked to the Pavilion Mall.  We were meeting couchsurfers for a meetup.  We arrived around 7 pm. 

There was about 40 people total there.  We couldn’t believe that so many people showed up!  Our buddy, Dimas from Bandung was there.  Also, a girl we met from Singapore was there as well.  We met her with Ily at a bar.  It was time for dinner.  At 8 pm, we walked to a restaurant.

Everybody sat down in a room toward the back in the Nagasari Curry House.  The menu had Indian and Asian foods.  Ivan ordered the Pad Thai. 

Jennifer got the Spicy Chicken and Rice.  I got the Rice with Bananas.  Considering that about 35 people ordered, the food came pretty fast.  We had our dishes 30 minutes after we ordered it.  The food tasted great too!

Some of the couchsurfers wanted to go chill at a bar.  Only a few people made it to a bar nearby.  I can’t remember what the name was.  It was really smoky in there though.  That’s annoying!  Ivan and Jen each had a glass of red wine.  We met a guy who is a media activist.  Ivan and Jen weren’t sure what that was and asked him to explain.  He handed his business card to them.  It says

“Building capability for the use of electronic media technologies by southeast Asia independent media and civil society organizations towards the enhancement of press freedom, democracy and human rights”

Ivan and Jen got even more confused by that.  I’m sure the glass of red wine didn’t help!  The guy Sean said that he teaches people how to overthrow the government.  Jennifer said Couldn’t you get arrested from that?  Sean said that he couldn’t go to Vietnam.  Wow, it’s not everyday that you meet a media activist.  We chilled for awhile talking to people.  Then, we got a taxi back to the Swiss Inn.

August 7th, 2009 | Category: Bali, Food, Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur, Kuta, Malaysia | Comments (2)