Monday 11th November
Well yesterday we went PAST Lego World Malaysia and it looks sensational and HUGE! Pete and I so want to go there but…will there
be time?? So much to do, so many people
to see places to go aaaghh aaaghh…
I am
still just a bit shell-shocked, jet-lagged, exhausted. We went on our tour today, organised by Sail
Malaysia, and it was actually reasonably relaxing. First stop was this very imposing building –
only five years old, seat of government for Johor Province. Elizabeth, from SV Labarque, said she had
been there on a weekday and that the parliament buildings are very impressive
and very like the Australian rooms at Parliament House. Only grander.
(Of course…this is Asia after all!!)
I was
immensely impressed with the staircase, and the water feature.
And I so
wanted to talk to somebody about my darling Hamish, now 13 but once a tiny
toddler. Possibly nobody wanted to
listen to my cute story but…I have here a captive audience! When Hamish was first learning to talk, his
kindly Aunty Claire introduced him to the concept of water features. We would be at a park, or a museum, and he
would say, What’s that? Claire would beam and say, Hamish, it’s a water feature! So his very first words were along the lines of
yes, no, mummy, daddy, woofwoof,
and…water feature…People would look at us slightly strangely – how
precocious was our boy!
Our bus
was large, long and VERY chilly. I
clambered aboard, widened my eyes, and started whingeing. OH NO! I don’t have a warm garment! I asked the bus driver if I had tome to go
and get a sarong and a thermal garment and he sighed deeply. BE QUICK!
So I ran like the wind down the slippery walkways to 2XS, in danger of falling
over and plunging into the filthystinky water.
And got back to the bus to sit and wait…for another half hour…Never
mind; it was, as I said, a very relaxing day.
And I was warm, with a thick linen shirt and a thick sarong over my legs. People up the back of the bus were very
envious and wished that they too had made a dash for extra clothing.
Next stop
was PineappleWorld, (maybe it had another name…) a quaint museum dedicated
to…the pineapple.
 |
| So many different variations on a theme! |
We
wandered around looking at displays and absorbing a bit of information, and
very much enjoying cups of freshly squeezed juice.
Another
long, leisurely drive through the countryside of Johor Province, to…the
southernmost point of mainland Asia! Wee
hee!!
I have
almost completely lost my social skills.
(Temporarily, I hope…) I lost
Pete in the throng – I was off on a little platform trying to get a photo of
naughty monkeys rampaging through the trees being VERY photogenic until the
minute they espied a camera lens. So I
walked the two kilometres of boardwalk on my own, very happily, avoiding
conversation, stopping every now and then:
I do love
smelly steamy mangroves. Although I
heard John (SV Delphian) saying to Cecily, This
mangrove swamp is a plastic bottle nursery.
Yes it was a bit of a tip…but it is protected, and not being turned into
a high rise suburb, or a palm oil plantation.
Back near
the buses I found a darling water monitor frolicking in the khaki river:
And
Pete. So all was well. NO he wasn’t frolicking in the river but he
did need a nap:
 |
| The bus seats were so comfy... |
Were there dancing girls? I hear you cry. Yes of course!
The first
lot entertained us at lunchtime; the second lot at dinner, about an hour and a
half later… No I couldn’t eat at this stage, although our friends all managed
to tuck away a good meal. (I came back
to the boat and ate biscuits and cheese.)
 |
| Marian and our hostess |
I just
sipped on weak black tea (SO SWEET; not sure why but the urn was full of sugar
and it was unavoidable. A bit of a shock
but better than no tea at all, which was the alternative.) I talked to Kevin and Ros (SV Santana I) who
were laughing. Ros had made herself a
cup of coffee, from the urn, and had wanted to add a bit of cold water. Oh yummo; what was in the urn was…orange
juice! I said, Not too bad, you have made a jaffa drink! I went back to our table, and Marian
said, We have extra tea, in this china
tea pot! Do you want some? Well yes…so she poured from the teapot and out
came a stream of sweet milky nescafe, over the top of my weak black tea…
More
dancing!
And
more…with audience participation…
Normally I enjoy a bit of dancing, and am a big joiner of any activity
but…I am still SO tired I wilted somewhat when this lovely girl asked me to
come up and wave my arms around in a vaguely Malaysian manner…..
But I did
my best, twirling and swaying upon request.
When I got back to my seat Pete said, That was just lovely. And I am SO glad it was you, not me. I think he is just as tired as I am.
Today can we go to Lego World? Maybe…if we nick out of the technical
briefing, which is supposed to run from 11.00 till 3pm....
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