No, it’s not what you think it is. The death penalty stands in Malaysia for such things.
I’ve been taken out to a hardcore seafood restaurant. One in which there is no menu. It’s much the same as the one in Penang, except this time we have a very large range of high quality and unusual sea creatures to choose from. With a lot of help from the main man, we chose a very large King Lobster, two very large Tiger Prawns (each about the size of a Coles lobster at home) and some “vegetable” which is actually some crunchy green thing that looks like a cross between a string bean and spring onion.
But that wasn’t all. We were walking around the tanks looking at what else was available, taking good care not to push any of the unsuspecting tourists – oops – diners, standing around photographing their dinner, into the drink. We were looking for oysters, and we found them, but not before stopping at a tank full of rocks. I was about to ask how they best prepare rocks for consumption when one of them moved. It turns out they were stonefish! I asked him why they were there, and he said they make great eating – if prepared correctly. He never did say whether the resident chef knew how to prepare them correctly. Regardless, I just had to try it.
Conclusion – a very tasty fish with a consistency not unlike scallops or crab meat. BUT, the entire skeleton is green! You have to see it to believe it, and I hadn’t brought my camera. Not only that, but I swear that as I sat at my table reflecting on my meal, my tongue and lips were tingling, my brain was a little fuzzy, and my body was very heavy. Could it have been the stonefish, or was it a combination of 660ml of guzzled Tiger Beer, mild sunstroke, tired contact lenses and sore paddling muscles?
I say it’s the stonefish.
Can I get jail for consuming a fish of dependency in Malaysia?
Footnote: Warning, truth follows. Stonefish venom is contained only in the dorsal fins, and is destroyed by heat.
Now, onto Japan where I hope to try some Fugu…
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My friend Veena booked me onto a white water rafting trip, sight unseen by me. Sounded like a good idea, so off I trotted to the van this morning at 8:15am.
The trip started in dubious fashion, but proved to be probably the most fun I’ve had since being away. White water rafting in Malaysia, on a hot day, in warm water, is absolutely fantastic!
On entering the van I proceeded to the back where the one remaining seat was. On my way I passed an Asian couple, the female telling me I can sit in the front. How nice of her to suggest that I sit in the child seat in between the driver and the guide, when there is a perfectly good seat available behind her. I muttered a polite “I’m right thanks”, and kept going. I don’t know whether she was looking after her Hong Kong mates (I found out later they were all from HK) or simply had a brain fade, but either way I was going to sit where I wanted to sit. The girl who’s belongings were taking up the last remaining available seat seemed terribly offended at having to move them, but my raised left eyebrow seemed to get the message through. Ultimately, I got the best seat in the house, with room to stretch my legs on what turned out to be a three hour ride. For the best part of these three hours, the Über-tourists (1 Portugese, 1 Macau, 2 very HK, 2 modern HK) alternated between Nintendo DS, iPod and sleep, behind either ridiculously Japanese super-sunglasses or those plastic sunvisors that pull down to create tinted welding masks, with towels placed over legs and any nearby windows (except mine – and they wouldn’t have wanted to try!).
Meanwhile an absolutely fascinating, thrilling and at times nerve-wracking ride through Malaysian villages over twisting, turning, rising, falling and bumpy roads ensued. It seemed that the driver was getting us in the mood for the rapids. The tourists missed the lot. I didn’t.
I tried to begin a conversation at a meal stop with the girls who were sitting next to me, and I initially thought they were just plain rude as they looked away then walked off. I discovered later that they simply didn’t understand English and didn’t know how to say so. Conversely, the girl who suggested I sit in the front turned out to be very nice, and we chatted about photography for a couple of hours on the trip home. Asians certainly aren’t anything like me, but so far they all seem pretty good once you get to know them. I am a little more nervous about Hong Kong though, now that I’ve met a couple of them. It could take a lot of work to make friends there.
Pedro and Donna turned out to be good company throughout the day. I approached Pedro as we waited at the train station for the final transfer to the rafting location. His accent led me to believe he may have been German, and he could speak good English, so I thought he would be worth getting to know. Turns out he is Portugese but with a German mum. His partner, Donna, was very quiet but sweet, and is based in Macau (effectively HK). I’m going to a nearby island tomorrow with them to do some snorkelling.
Pedro and I were the two front paddlers on our craft, led by Snoop Dogg. So named because that’s exactly who he looks like. It seems that tour group guides in both Thailand and Malaysia never have real names. They always go with something memorable.
The rapids themselves were rated 3-4. This made them moderate, and although I was apprehensive when first seeing them from the train, once I got into the water I felt totally at home. I think I’m a natural at this as I was able to easily ride the waves and used my paddle intuitively to keep balance. Three or four of the half dozen rafts capsized during the run, so I think we did well to remain in control for the entire 30-odd kilometres. I took four opportunities during the trip to leave the boat for a body-ride down some of the more gentle rapids, as the water was warm and my camera was in it’s waterproof case.
The second half of the day was spent in torrential rain, making it even more fun. The ride home was via large speedboat and the surrounding dense tropical mountains were very much Jurassic Park. All in all, it was an awesome day, and one that I could repeat daily if time and money allowed.
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Today I set off for the Rainforest Discovery Centre where I was hoping to stumble across some hornbills amongst other things. I did end up seeing one, but it was too far away to photograph. Instead, I saw what looked like a goanna (it was a monitor lizard), and some very interesting flora.
After lunch and a rest back at the lodge, where I continued to try to photograph these giant “bees” (can anyone tell me what they are?), it was off to the Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary.
What an interesting drive. We were transported in a small minivan over extremely bad roads for about an hour. To make it more precarious it started to rain steadily. Of course we got bogged, when the transmission bottomed out, and we had to get out to help push the van free. Other than that, no real dramas ensued on the way. The sanctuary itself was great. Plenty of monkeys around, four groups apparently, and they either had no fear of the rain or they were very hungry.
Four hornbills were around too, so I was thrilled to finally get a shot of one in the wild.
The rain stopped not long after we arrived, however the trip back would not prove to be so easy and I asked that we get the number of the sanctuary in case we had to send for a 4WD to bail us out. For one, the roads were now very muddy and slippery, and secondly we needed to be back at the airport in 2 hours. It took nearly that long, but our driver did a fantastic job of negotiating the almost impassable bogs. We got stuck once, but after moving me into position over the rear wheels my recent excess baggage helped regain grip and off we went.
Not helping was the grumpy water buffalo that seemed ready to gore the van to death whenever we got too close. The thing had been tethered by the horns to a tree, and was none too happy about it – tossing it’s head around and constantly crossing the road just as we were ready to rush past. After about 20 minutes debating what to do, I was about to get out and pull it back to it’s original tether location whilst the van got past, then all of a sudden he looked the other way for long enough that we floored it. In hindsight I am sure he was very gentle and just wanted to let us get on with our life so he could get on with his.
Arriving back to the Magellan Sutera Resort in KK (Kota Kinabalu, Sabah) I’m completely exhausted. However I’m told by reception that I’ve been upgraded to the Premium Suite (or whatever it’s called) as the room I was meant to be in has been in very high demand. This upgrade is sensational. It’s a suite nearly as big as my house, and it’s right on the ocean edge so I get to hear the waves crashing all night. Perfect – I might not go anywhere now.
Actually, I’m off to do 30kms of Grade 3-4 whitewater rafting tomorrow, so better get to bed.
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I’ve got a lot of preconceived ideas about Borneo, or more specifically Sabah. My friend Veena has been telling me how much better it is than KL so expectations are high, and I also am very keen to see Orang-Utans in the wild. I imagine there should be plenty of opportunity to see wildlife and rainforest. Let’s see…
It’s a 5am start as I have to get to KLIA by 6:30am to check in. Once again it was raining at the airport. However once we are in the air, it’s a totally different story. This is what a stormy sky can look like when you’re above it, and the sun is rising. Notice there are storm clouds still higher than the plane (at about 33000 feet) over to the left.
It’s very hot when I reach KK. The Magellan Sutera resort is spectacular, and the views across the sea to the nearby islands are postcard-worthy. I’m writing this a few days after the fact and I can tell you that it gets even better than today. You’ll have to wait for that one. The sea is crystal clear and green, and the fish by the jetties and in the shallows are aquarium quality, able to be seen so easily as the water visibility is perfect.
We take lunch at the Waterfront, where Veena knows the local restaurateurs by first name. I haven’t been to the Aussie bar yet, and as it’s not in keeping with my mission here, I doubt I will.
The surroundings are too idyllic to leave, so late lunch turns into early tea as we wait for the sunset, watch the fishing boats meander in and out of the harbour, and duck as the local public transport system roars overhead every 15 minutes.
They seem to have an aversion to putting alcohol in the cocktails in Asia, but at least it looks good as the sun sets into the nearby island.
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