Friday 21st March
To remind us of our sailing2XS life…we are still in
touch with lots of our yachtie friends, by email and facebook. Mostly everyone is happy, having fun still in
Thailand, and making their way back to Malaysia. But there are still misadventures. For example, Jim and Gina (NZ) on Tiare
Taporo III (TTIII) have arrived in Pangkor marina. They got all tangled up with a big lump of
fishing nets on the way, and Jim had to plunge into the sea to cut it free from
the anchor. They had a restful time in
Pangkor, then set off again, on their way to Penang. Oh oops…more hideous net entanglement… They
had trouble hauling up the anchor with the weight of the ropes, and the
windlass gave up the ghost. They had to
lug the anchor out by hand, and then limp on back to Pangkor, to get it fixed…
Melaka/Molucca –
so lovely! Hot and steamy but…beautiful.
We are in a most
delightful little hotel, which emanates peace and harmony.
The manager, Bernard,
is himself a peaceful and harmonious man, who speaks beautiful English. Better than ours, actually…he uses elegant
phrases:
· scattered
showers are predicted for today
· we
need to keep a balance
(this in response to our wailing and gnashing of teeth re the palm oil
plantations)
· it
depends which side of the fence you sit on
Our room is simple
and basic, upstairs, with shutters which open out onto the river:
And we are right
in the middle of the old part of town
which is glorious
but which would be much improved by the absence of cars.
This morning we
left Gemas very early, to catch a bus to Tampin, to catch another bus to
Molucca. These local commuter buses are
a treat. They are very comfortable, with
very friendly drivers. And all of the
transport in Malaysia, other than limousines, is so very cheap. We calculated that our trip from Kulala
Lumpur to Tanah Rata (Cameron Highlands)(bus), then to Gua Musang (minivan),
then to Gemas (train), and on to Tampin and Molucca – and this is a VERY long
way, almost the length and breadth of Malaysia – has cost us approx. $80, for
the two of us. And all in safety and
comfort!
At the Gemas bus
depot there were some little food stalls…and we were hungry! They told us the bus, which was right next to
the café, would leave at 8.10 so we had nearly half an hour. We ordered cups of tea, and roti canai with
eggs. TOO delicious! It all arrived promptly
And we began to
tuck in with immense pleasure. Then we
heard…brrrm brrrm… our bus was leaving!
Oh the sadness, having to leave it all behind! I stuffed the rotis in a convenient Pringles
container and we chomped on it along the way, but…it was not the same…and our
cups of tea remained, hot and inviting, on the table, in Gemas.
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| I hadn't noticed the sign on the window at the time...but I can assure you we did NOT spit! |
When we got to the
bus depot in Molucca, we took a taxi to the old city centre. Our driver was very friendly – just for a
change…EVERYONE is so friendly, in Malaysia; we love it! He is 3rd generation
Malaysian-Indian. He said he had been
married to a Chinese woman. But, NO
MORE! He said all she would talk about
was money. During meals, in bed, out of
bed - MONEY!
At lunch time we went
straight to a restaurant where we had had lunch, when we were in Molucca for ne
short day, in November – Nancy’s Kitchen.
It serves nonya food and is only open at lunch time. And the food it totally DELICIOUS. I had eggplant curry; Pete had pork with
black nut. This black nut was like a
large sort of truffle, very fascinating.
There is always a queue, at Nancy’s.
We felt very smug as we left with full tummies while the queue stood
hungrily outside.
When we were on
our bus tour of the Highlands, Pete and I got separated at the flower farm. I was too enthralled with taking photos of
larger-than-life statues and fake flowers, while he explored the whole
area.
When we were back
on the bus he said, Well, you missed the
museum! oh dear…what a shame; what
did I miss? What I missed was – two
slightly dilapidated bikes, and an old sewing machine…
Pete now has a new middle name, surpassing Attenborough, and Macguyver. He is now Peter Sherlock Headlam! He has been trying to find an old friend, who was at uni in the same faculty a few years behind him. In 1989 Pete and Clare came to the Cameron Highlands and met up with this bloke, who was working for the Department of Agriculture in the region. They had a very nice time together, and then Pete and Clare stayed in KL with this man’s wife’s parents. Pete wanted to find him… which would have been a bit easier if he had remembered his name... All he knew was that his wife’s name was Lily, or maybe Rose, that he had been educated at Tas Uni, and that he had worked in the Cameron Highlands.
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| No photo of old bikes, but - a photo of some more beautiful Islamic calligraphy |
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| Lots of this furniture, in the Puri Hotel, where we are NOT staying (It was on my list and looks very lovely). Heeren House is much more simple and restful |
I thought this was a lost cause. But…Pete is very diligent and determined. At the Department of Agriculture in Tanah Rata, he talked to a man who had worked there for many years, and he said he thought he knew who Pete was talking about. He gave Pete a name and a phone number; Pete rang this man, who was a colleague of the missing friend, and who gave him a NAME. Koh Weng Wah. We bumbled around, up to the Catholic church on the hill – the colleague thought he might be involved with this church. No luck. Back to ringing this person and that, as suggested by one of the men at the church.
That night we had dinner at Kumar’s Indian restaurant, in the main street. While we were eating our very delicious food, I got talking to a friendly Chinese Malaysian woman at the next table. Patsy was very chatty, and Pete joined in the conversation. He told her about his quest to find Koh Weng Wah and she blinked a bit and said, Oh yes, I think I know who you are talking about. Mr Koh! She got on the phone and rang about five people, and then beamed at us – she had a phone number! Mr and Mrs Koh live in Molucca, she said – how convenient is that??
Pete rang this number and very soon was having animated chat with Nelly (not Lily or Rose…) Koh, who was delighted to hear from him. Yesterday afternoon Weng Wah and Nelly came to have afternoon tea with us, at our lovely Heeren House. And of course, yes, they are delightful people… Sherlock Headlam did well!
They have invited
us for dinner, and to stay the night, on Saturday… Nelly says she is of genuine
Baba Nonya descent and that she will cook AUTHENTIC nonya food… Oh bliss!
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