Our heatwave was finally broken yesterday by some of the heaviest rain I've ever seen, it was literally just walls of water falling from the sky. We had the misfortune to be out and about in Bangsar with no tools for combating the weather, so we bravely or foolishly - depending upon how you look at it - made a break for it. We only wanted to get across the street, but we were instantly drenched and the water in the street came up over my ankles (it had probably only been raining for 10 minutes at this point). We then thought we'd sit it out, but the sky had taken on that rather permanent look of rain and we seemed doomed to wasting our Sunday afternoon milling around the mall soaking wet and freezing so we broke down and took a taxi the three blocks back to the car. It was perhaps the best $1 I've ever spent.
On the upside, the rain really does seem to have broken the heat a bit, it's 7:55 am and I suspect we haven't even hit 90 degrees yet. It has been hot, ferociously hot, hot enough to even make the locals complain.
It's also been horribly hazy and smoggy. A lot of people (mostly Europeans) here complain about the smog. Typically I don't find it to be that bad - excellent by Southeast Asian standards and frankly far better than London and Los Angeles, let's not even go there. In any event, the smog and haze has been particularly bad and I assumed it just had something to do with the heat. Apparently, according to both the news and locals it's that the winds have shifted and it's all the smoke blowing across the Straits of Malacca from all the rainforest that the Indonesians are burning down (for oil palm plantations) on Sumatera. This of course provides the perfect excuse for the Malaysians to remind everyone that really it's the Indonesian's fault (everything is) and how Malaysia's environmental policies really aren't so bad after all . . . .
Showing posts with label Rain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rain. Show all posts
Monday, 16 May 2011
Sunday, 6 March 2011
Borneo: Part 2
Well despite a rainy day our impression of this place is not diminished and our spirits remain (mostly) intact. As yesterday was Ian’s 30th, we thought we’d make it extra special by going and paying a visit to the Orang-utans. The sanctuary here in Sarawak is home to about 20-odd orang-utans which have been rescued or were formerly kept as pets and have now been rehabilitated and roam freely within the reserve.
While we were waiting for the feeding area to open three orang-utans obliged us with an early visit. One juvenile, who plainly enjoyed showing off came crashing through the trees and was swinging around from branch to branch and hanging upside down. A mother with a tiny baby clinging to her also came along and the three of them came quite near, no further than 10 meters away and at one point were more or less overhead. Although later one of the park rangers piped up with this warning, ‘If they throw a small thing this is lucky, sometimes they throw a branch, sometimes they throw a snake, sometimes they throw a beehive.’ Thankfully, nothing was thrown.
After mother and baby departed another mother and baby came along and gave us a second photo opportunity. We were then allowed into the feeding area where we had to walk a couple hundred meters into the jungle. In there we found another young male who was greedily gobbling up fruit. At one point he had an entire bunch of bananas stuffed in his mouth and a mango in each foot. There were only about two dozen people there but easily must have been at least $50,000 worth of camera equipment. Needless to say it was a pretty special experience and amazingly only cost $1.00 each.
After the orang-utans we went Anna Rias which is a traditional Dayak village which welcomes visitors that sits right on the Indonesian border. On our way the gas tank suddenly dipped to near zero and started flashing. With no other option, we pulled over at a shack that had a motor services sign (no gas pump in site) and asked the barefooted, bare-chested proprietor if he had any petrol. I’m pretty sure he thought we were as strange as we found him. From nowhere he produced about five 1.5 litre Coke and 100 Plus bottles that had been refilled with gasoline. After Ian took a quick sniff to confirm it was indeed petrol, the man began emptying the Coke bottles into the gas tank and we were on our way.
We went and had a wander around the village and were offered a sample of their homemade rice wine (it was surprisingly good). The entire village is more or less on giant, rambling longhouse built about 15 feet off the ground and the floors made of strips of bamboo lashed together. The village was an odd collision of worlds, plenty of people were sitting around milling grain and weaving baskets and rattan mats whilst the place was dotted with astro satellites, children were running around with their Nintendo DS in hand and there was even a banner announcing their presence on Facebook.
We then returned to Kuching and had a delicious dinner of crispy soft-shell crab, Thai-style tilapia, midin which is a local jungle fern that looks like a bit like samphire but tastes like a slightly more bitter version of spinach and some rather boozy margaritas. Dinner was delicious and our lady-boy waitress took a very keen interest in Ian. She wouldn’t even look at me. We then had a few birthday beers and calling it a successful day, made it home in the pouring rain.
While we were waiting for the feeding area to open three orang-utans obliged us with an early visit. One juvenile, who plainly enjoyed showing off came crashing through the trees and was swinging around from branch to branch and hanging upside down. A mother with a tiny baby clinging to her also came along and the three of them came quite near, no further than 10 meters away and at one point were more or less overhead. Although later one of the park rangers piped up with this warning, ‘If they throw a small thing this is lucky, sometimes they throw a branch, sometimes they throw a snake, sometimes they throw a beehive.’ Thankfully, nothing was thrown.
After mother and baby departed another mother and baby came along and gave us a second photo opportunity. We were then allowed into the feeding area where we had to walk a couple hundred meters into the jungle. In there we found another young male who was greedily gobbling up fruit. At one point he had an entire bunch of bananas stuffed in his mouth and a mango in each foot. There were only about two dozen people there but easily must have been at least $50,000 worth of camera equipment. Needless to say it was a pretty special experience and amazingly only cost $1.00 each.
After the orang-utans we went Anna Rias which is a traditional Dayak village which welcomes visitors that sits right on the Indonesian border. On our way the gas tank suddenly dipped to near zero and started flashing. With no other option, we pulled over at a shack that had a motor services sign (no gas pump in site) and asked the barefooted, bare-chested proprietor if he had any petrol. I’m pretty sure he thought we were as strange as we found him. From nowhere he produced about five 1.5 litre Coke and 100 Plus bottles that had been refilled with gasoline. After Ian took a quick sniff to confirm it was indeed petrol, the man began emptying the Coke bottles into the gas tank and we were on our way.
We went and had a wander around the village and were offered a sample of their homemade rice wine (it was surprisingly good). The entire village is more or less on giant, rambling longhouse built about 15 feet off the ground and the floors made of strips of bamboo lashed together. The village was an odd collision of worlds, plenty of people were sitting around milling grain and weaving baskets and rattan mats whilst the place was dotted with astro satellites, children were running around with their Nintendo DS in hand and there was even a banner announcing their presence on Facebook.
We then returned to Kuching and had a delicious dinner of crispy soft-shell crab, Thai-style tilapia, midin which is a local jungle fern that looks like a bit like samphire but tastes like a slightly more bitter version of spinach and some rather boozy margaritas. Dinner was delicious and our lady-boy waitress took a very keen interest in Ian. She wouldn’t even look at me. We then had a few birthday beers and calling it a successful day, made it home in the pouring rain.
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
BYOB
Apologies for the gap between updates, but really I've had very little of interest to report. I've been pulling 10 hour work days sitting in front of a computer, so as a result nothing interesting has been happening to me and I don't really want to look at a computer screen when I get home.
Anyway, as I type Ian is currently tinkering with our plumbing. I went to wash the dishes yesterday and this is what came out of our tap:
It's been 48 hours and this is still going on. I suspect this is a result of the heavy, heavy rain we received over the weekend. It poured. Now one of the very few things Malaysia regularly gets right is sewage and drainage - mostly due to the constant threat of malaria and dengue fever - so when several roads wash out and your plumbing is screwed it probably rained pretty hard.
All I can say is thank goodness it's cheap to eat out and don't be expect to be invited round ours for drinks anytime too soon.
In other news travel plans for a trip to India in June are in full swing. A very dear friend is getting married, so we're off to Madras for a 5-day South-Indian wedding and then I've got nearly two weeks travelling around with my French-Canadian sidekick who previously survived two weeks in Morocco with me.
Otherwise we are off to Borneo at the end of next week and our anti-malarial regimen beings on Friday. Orangutans, snorkeling and drinks with tiny umbrellas in them, here I come.
Anyway, as I type Ian is currently tinkering with our plumbing. I went to wash the dishes yesterday and this is what came out of our tap:
It's been 48 hours and this is still going on. I suspect this is a result of the heavy, heavy rain we received over the weekend. It poured. Now one of the very few things Malaysia regularly gets right is sewage and drainage - mostly due to the constant threat of malaria and dengue fever - so when several roads wash out and your plumbing is screwed it probably rained pretty hard.
All I can say is thank goodness it's cheap to eat out and don't be expect to be invited round ours for drinks anytime too soon.
In other news travel plans for a trip to India in June are in full swing. A very dear friend is getting married, so we're off to Madras for a 5-day South-Indian wedding and then I've got nearly two weeks travelling around with my French-Canadian sidekick who previously survived two weeks in Morocco with me.
Otherwise we are off to Borneo at the end of next week and our anti-malarial regimen beings on Friday. Orangutans, snorkeling and drinks with tiny umbrellas in them, here I come.
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