Last day and airport

Had a very enjoyable last morning. After breakfast I headed back to the Central Market to look through the stalls, intending to also get another fish foot spa on my last day while mum opted to look around Chinatown one last time and Linda joined her. Arriving at the Central market I discovered that they are late to open, probably because stalls stay open into the night so with time to kill I wandered down streets I hadn't ventured before and came upon a really good fabric shop that was selling material for half the normal price. We'd been looking for some nice material all the time we'd been in Chinatown without too much success - I sprinted back to Chinatown in search of Linda and mum and found them both enjoying their great discovery of the last morning - a chinese wet market selling fish, meat and fresh vegetables along a narrow aisle located behind the shop fronts. We all headed to the fabric shop and spent the next 45 minutes engrossed in selecting materials for dresses that we are hoping Aunty Vera will make into dresses for us from a copy of a dress I already have. After that we all split up again and I headed to Central Market and bought half a dozen of my favourite portuguese egg tarts for the flight home and then booked into a half hour fish foot spa and got talked into a further 30 minutes of foot massage to follow (not that I needed much persuading mind) Back to the hotel with only minutes to spare to check out and we caught a taxi to the airport - Linda's flight is some hours before ours so after having coffee together we've now waved Linda off through the gates and mum and I are going to potter around while we wait to check into our own flight home. In fact we've just checked our watches and see that Linda's flight is probably just taking off this very minute!

The last night's 'Food Festival'

I decided to forgo my breakfast this morning so I could go back to the hide at dawn and see what final birding I could get in and was rewarded with great views of 3 Hill Mynas flying in and perching in an exposed tree top. Also saw a large family of long-tailed macaques, enjoying their antics as they crossed the grassy area. By 9am we were all in the boat heading back to Temberling Jetty and Linda picked out Oriental Pied Hornbill's and a very large water Monitor sunbathing on an exposed, overhanging branch. Also nice views of a Crested Serpent Eagle. The sun was behind us as we cruised downstream giving us a lovely light. Arrived at the jetty by 11am and after some lunch and a short wait we boarded the bus for KL but our hearts sank when we saw it was the same bus driver - a really nice man but an awful driver. The tour agent stepped onto the bus to bid all of us passengers a farewell and informed us the ride back to KL would take 4 hours but we all agreed that that was just because he didn't know the driver, who we were sure would make the distance in just 2 hours judging by our previous experience of him. Heading back we passed many rubber plantations and saw how the trees had been tapped and the cups were collecting the rubber. Two very nice surprises have marked this trip - one being that 1 hour into the boat ride to Temberling I realised I'd forgotten to get my RM200 key deposit from Mutiara Resort at Taman Negara and didn't hold out too much hope of seeing it again but on arrival at the jetty found out the Resort had phoned ahead and made arrangements for me to be reimbursed at Temberling Jetty. On a second, earlier occasion I left my purse with my money in the internet cafe in Chinatown and didn't hold out much hope there either but on returning some hours later and enquiring was handed it back without any drama. Tonight was our last dinner together and so we've visited 3 food outlets and feasted on fried fish (Tilapia and Gumbo) BBQ'd in a marinade of chilli, ginger, and coconut creamm; 2nd outlet we got chicken sate sticks and peanut sauce and the 3rd outlet we got singapore noodles with shrimp and lilly pad vegetables. We'll have a final morning of activities tomorrow before heading to the airport.

A great day at Taman Negara

As planned I was up earlier than both Linda and mum and I had breakfast and headed off for the trail I remembered from my last time here that had led to the swim hole, Rentis Simpon. Two hundred metres along it and the first bird I got was a male Great Argus! It's hard birding in the rainforests here as so many birds stick to the canopy but along this same trail I also got Maroon Woodpecker and Green-winged Pigeon very well. The best birdng today was enjoyed from the 'Tahan' hide though as I enjoyed great views to the canopy and amongst the birds I got there were Lesser Green Leafbird, Scaly-breasted Bulbul, Thick-billed Green Pigeon and Little Green Pigeon and many others. The weather has been good today and managed to get only three leeches on me and even mum got one too. Other critters incuded a visit last night from a Slow Loris in the rafters between the roof and the rattan ceiling sheets (apparently a regular occurance in our bungalows) and another unidentified critter that ate into a guava we'd left out on the counter in the room last night. Dinner tonight was a bit later, since we held off until all the floating restaurants had lit up and looked inviting across the river before we took the boat over and had Ginger Fish, Ginger Chicken, and Sweet and Sour Chicken and for dessert - fried bananas. Tomorrow we have to catch the 9am boat back to Temberling sadly and then back to KL for our last night in Malaysia.

Taman Negara

Arrived at Taman Negara after a bit of a hair-raising van ride as the driver had a real lead foot and road conditions were wet. At Temberling jetty we needed to purchase our Entry Permits to the national park and then had a lovely lunch at a local eatery while we waited for the boat. The boat ride was two and a half hours long and we finally arrived around 4pm and settled into our accommodation at the Mutiara Resort. The rainy conditions eased and then cleared so we caught a river taxi over to the floating restaurants and had dinner. Tomorrow I'll be up early and off to bird the trails while mum and Linda have opted to do a bit of exploring including across the river and around the Kampung. We'll all meet up again around midday and most likely have a dip in the river. We've already had a visit by a local - a rather greedy, overly confident but cute 'wild' boar around our bungalow who also visited next door for a wallow in a dust bath under their bungalow which like ours, is raised on stumps. While I type this I think I'm hearing an owl calling outside which is pretty torturous as I've not got a torch with me. We're thinking about going on a guided jungle walk tomorrow night.

Back together again and Lin's caught up with her blog updates

Here we are moved into the Swiss Inn Hotel in Chinatown just across the road from the 5 Elements Hotel where the coach departs in the morning at 8.15am for Taman Negara. Linda has typed up her blog for the last 3 days when she and mum were in KL so just refer down to the next 3 blogs for hers and mum's update. All the fruit is what the Cheaws gave me to bring back to KL for mum and Lin to try. Tonight we're all looking forward to eating out from the stalls in Chinatown.

Heritage walk in KL

Weather sunny then wet. We caught another train to Pani Seni for our free heritage walk. Absolutely excellent. We had to wear a headscarf and long coat to walk around the Mosque, Masjid Jemak and we learnt about Islam, which means 'Peace'. Went through Indian money lenders area, and visited a Chettinad food restaurant - all food fresh ingredients, and served on a bannana leaf. This is food from South India and you eat it with your fingers. We went to a chinese Taoist temple, and it was explained to us that the temple's purpose is mainly for teaching, money from donations are given to poor people as a bursary for education for those poor people and they have to apply for it every year. After the heritage walk we spent time looking around Central Market, which was the old wet market in years gone by, We had ginger chicken with rice and mum had seafood goreng, from the 'Little Wok'. Tomorrow our 'Mum' is back, but we did manage with not too many difficulties. A wonderful day.

Lazat cooking class

Picked up by the transportation at 9.10a.m. and taken to the cooking class, We met lovely Ana and Syriad. We cooked Prawn Fritters, then Beef Rendang, Cucumber Salad and Keuh Koci for dessert and had an absolutely super time. It rained all day so a good day to do it. Finished at 2.00 pm so back to the hotel for a rest, before we braved the rail system to go to a night market at Kampung Bharu. A bit daunting as no tourists around at all, but we managed to find it; it is a very kocal market. I recognised turmeric leaves from cooking this morning, so I bought some, but whether they let me take them through customs is another matter. Lovely old wooden malay houses to see, everyone eats out in Malaysia. Apparently a lot of people don't know how to cook. Back on the train again and we took a walk through the park before heading back to the hotel. Very pleased we managed to buy the tickets electronically and got on the right direction home. All in all a very good day.