11/7/2009  10:35 am   Off the coast of Malaysia

Hi Everyone,

  We are mid passage between Besar and Port Dixon.  Our anchorage last night was quite comfortable and today the sun is shining.  We left at 7:30 am which was a good thing since right this minute we’re only making 4.9 knots because of the adverse current.  When the tide changes about 11 am our speed should pick up.  Hopefully.  Today’s passage is about 40 miles. 

We are cruising alone at this point since the rally tends to break up during the lag days between scheduled events.  We’ll certainly have rally boat company in Port Dixon since it’s a major stop between Johor and Lumut, our next rally stop. 

Ru

DoraMac

Tour Johor Part 3

Lunch was good. Actually all of the meals provided by Sail Malaysia and also Sail Indonesia were pretty good. You might not always know what you were eating and some of it might have been way WAY too spicy hot. But it was all very interesting and usually very filling. I do avoid most of the fish dishes because of the bones and the really strong fish paste too. Everything else I always try.

Not a tea pot!

As I went to get in line for my food ( with 100+ cruisers it’s always buffet style) I noticed one of the local ladies putting this kettle on the table near some cups. When I sat back down I noticed a brown colored liquid in the cups. Says tea to me. LUCKILY I didn’t have a cup, for if I had, I’d have poured myself a cup of tea. When I asked for a cup so I could have some tea, the lady looked at me oddly and so I pointed to the pot and said, “Tea.” She smiled and shook her head. “For washing hands.” Then she picked up the pot and showed me that you poured the water over your hands into the holder below. Muslims always wash their hands before eating. Cruisers go with the flow….since there isn’t always anywhere to wash anything. I have noticed that all Muslim restaurants have sinks. Some also have soap and a very few also have a towel for drying your hands. Interestingly, I noticed a sink just outside the entrance to the big synagogue in Singapore. I think customs get shared geographically no matter the religion. I don’t think hand washing before prayers was the custom in our synagogue in New Bedford. So anyway, I washed my fingers for the experience and then took my cup up to the juice dispensers and finally had my pineapple juice.

Lunch was rice, fish, curried chicken, some veggies and by the time I was done and also finished the last bit of Randal’s fish, I was ready for the National Park walk.

Our lunch was served in the front yard of one of the local Homestay houses. Randal and I sort of did that when we stayed in the longhouse in Kumai, Indonesia. It’s different than a B&B because you are there to learn the customs of the area, not just sleep and have breakfast.

This lovely lady was putting out plates of watermelon.

There was a table of locally made baskets and local snacks for sale.

Dried fish and peanut crackers, yellow banana chips, and the folded up things tasted like sugar cones.

Each locality makes those fish crackers differently. These were only okay as were the ones I bought in Kuching. My absolutely, I got addicted to them favorites, were the ones I bought in Terengannu. The folded up sugar cones got eaten on the first day we left Puteri and we haven’t broken into the banana chips yet. ( I have to admit that I ate all the cones myself though not all at one time.)

Then it was off to the Tanjung Piri National Park where you could walk to the tip of Mainland Asia.

The giant globe at the end of the jetty.

At the end you get a certificate with you name written on it to prove you have been to the tip. This is my certificate. I probably didn’t deserve it. I did walk there, past the mean macaque monkeys, but I didn’t take a photo at the giant globe and can’t even tell you what we are looking at. I was just not in the mood for anything other than the walk. Randal and I have been to Key West’s end point in Florida and to the tip of Province Town in Massachusetts. And at the end I forgot about the certificate but our guide had brought some bland ones for those of us who forgot to get one.

Actually not only did I forget to get my certificate, but I followed some other cruisers back through the mangrove so I wouldn’t have to deal with the monkeys alone. I followed them right past one of those signs with a red line through the center, over some really rickety trail planks right up to the point where one park worker spotted us and waved his arms for us to stop. He moved aside a rusty old exit gate to let us out.

Oh well, I got my certificate.

Where was Randal during this adventure…..he opted to stay on the bus and read.

A lucky shot of the flowers at the National Park.

High School kids on a field trip.

The boy here with his “girl friends.” He wanted to know if I thought he was “cute.” I said I thought they were all cute.

I spoke with one young girl who was a sophomore in HS and wanted to go on to be a doctor.

They were bright, friendly, polite, spoke excellent English and were happy to talk to all of the cruisers. I loved the way the girls had funky hats on top of their head scarves. These are the kinds of kids you want to see grow up and run their country.

Then it was away from the park for the hour long drive back to Puteri. There was one last stop for coconut milk drinks but this time both Randal and I took a pass. It really isn’t my favorite drink and I was just ready to be done.