The machine at the ferry terminal wouldn’t accept the man‘s credit card so I help out. He offers the 2 MR (about 50 cents), which I refuse. Some French in front of me are boarding the ferry with me, masses have arrived to cross the short pathway. Despite the short length, some people are still napping. A woman motions to me when I put my backpack too close to the doors. Others are filming the arrival. I am not tempted to, all I see are high rises  and water. The exit takes forever and when I find myself at the bus stop I am wondering to take one except that I don’t know where to get a ticket and while I am wandering around a taxi driver offers to take me to my hotel for 20 MR and I give in. He is rather talkative. Seeing the number of taxis I have taken so far, it is a negligible quantity of talkative taxi drivers, in fact he‘s only the second one who talks to me and he keeps pointing out various sights. I am deeply impressed, at the same time  taken aback by the plethora of cars. I was hoping that things would be different from Kuala Lumpur, they are worse, though. Sidewalks are not constantly present nor traffic lights and it is rather challenging to cross the road.

The noise never stops. Well into the night people are driving somewhere. Comes morning they must be heading for work. However, it is the first city where I actually see pushbikes albeit it is beyond me why people are taking that risk.

I followed AI’s advice and did some HIT yesterday which gave me a tremendous headache this morning or a virus I caught somewhere. Which is why I go for a massage first and then to the Blue Mansion.

What I love best about Malaysia is the importance placed on food. As early as 6 o‘clock in the morning you can already smell the wafts of breakfast. And that is something different from home: lunch is the first meal of the day. Eating is generally a social occasion: there are food halls all over the place in which people gather. You can get a decent meal for 4 MR (less than a euro) whereas a decent coffee is around 10 MR. Seeing that the milk gets imported from Australia it makes sense, the fish, which is in many dishes, is just round the corner. Everywhere you go you smell food. It is rather pleasant to my nose, even durian has a pleasant touch.

While eating Indian food I made up my mind about the skyway, i.e., a train supposedly going up the steepest route in Asia and being part of UNESCO heritage: just go for it. I wanted to take a peek, the train could not be seen, so I got a ticket.

It was steep indeed, but I looked down anyway. Some kids were sitting in the very front to enjoy the view. When looking at the skyway I was in two minds about stepping on it, didn’t overthink it though. 

Later I did think about taking the stairs back, when I read something about having to go on my knees I quickly gave up on the idea. I bumped into some girls who had made the way uphill on foot, they still looked fresh though. Going up is another story.

Am Bahnhof entdecke ich Europäer:innen, u.a. Italiener:innen. Die Züge werden vom Personal angekündigt und eine Tafel wird hochgehalten. Danach strömen die Massen gen ihrem Zug und nehmen die für sie vorgesehenen Plätze ein. Stehplätze werden nicht verkauft. Als mein Zug an der Reihe ist, eile ich zu meinem Wagen, just in case. Wenig später steigt eine junge Frau ein, die ihren Koffer auf die Ablage hochhieven möchte, ich zeige ihr den Platz zwischen den Sitzen. Nicht alle hellen Menschen kommen aus Europa, merke ich, sie ist aus Australien und als ich meine Herkunft nenne, stellt sich heraus, dass es auch ihre ist. Vor 14 Jahren hat es sich so ergeben, dass ihr dort eine Arbeit angeboten wurde und sie ist geblieben. In Malaysia ist sie zu einem Festival angereist, sie tanzt. Sie erzählt aus ihrem Leben, von ihrer Arbeit, vom Leben in Australien. Sie ist sehr sympathisch, ich mag es, wenn jemand von sich aus erzählt, manchmal reicht ein Stichwort. Wir tauschen Nummern aus und sie meldet sich kurze Zeit später für gemeinsame Unternehmungen. Wir besuchen den Spiegelsee und den Nachtmarkt, wo sie Früchte kauft und Pulver, in welches man diese eintunkt. Auchincloss probiere von einer exotischen Frucht, die an Apfel erinnert, das Pulver ist sauer. Zu schade, dass sie heute schon abgereist ist. Es ist wunderschön, mit jemandem etwas zu teilen.

She is very fond of saying when I will be, when you will be and the teacher in me is secretly correcting the “mistake” albeit I would call it an idiosyncrasy these days. We exchange numbers and she forwards an interview conducted with her a while ago. Her fiancé lives in Karlsruhe.

The train is belated. I was not going to head for the capital yet, it is only that the two cities I had been planning to visit are flooded.

At the hotel I meet a couple from France. Looks like Europeans rather flock here.

I was overjoyed to find a Thai place right by the hotel. However, the food I got there was not Thai at all, no coconut, nothing. 

After nearly two weeks I am longing for some nans, so I have them delivered to the hotel. In which I don’t see a singular European. In fact I see no Europeans anywhere. 

The hotels I am choosing are popular with locals, even in Indonesia I only saw Asians with the exception of two Americans. Mind you, the place in Indonesia was rather deserted altogether. There were so many people taking care of the huge property, hardly any guests, though.

Back to Malaysia: the hotel is featuring a garden by the pool, which is nicely kept. I was the only one to swim, I found a man in the gym. It is awesome to swim on seventh floor albeit I don’t see much difference to 15th where I have my room. High rises are one of Malaysia’s specialties, they got an award for some of them.

A short while later a heavy rain starts pouring down at which I exclaim my usual O dear! The driver says something sounding like yeah.

He repetitively offers to stop so I can take pics. I am observing all the motorcycles on the road. Mothers transporting two kids, one in the front, the other in the back, a little child standing in front and holding on to the bike, a father holding his sleeping child while riding his bike. Seems like there is no public transport. 

As the rain sets in again I see various school kids walking barefoot in the heavy traffic while getting drenched.

I ask the driver to stop in front of a café and I manage to talk him into getting one for him, too. He has a cigarette during the wait. The cafés usually come with an offer for some meat or other. The one in question has beef dishes while another one serves chicken.

The speed on the way back has significantly decreased. I am wondering if the driver thinks that I need to have the 3 hours I booked. I don’t.

On finding out that the closest Indonesian islands are just an hour away I decide to go and take a look. Another arrival card needs to be filled in and a party wanting to take part in the adventure, bypassed. I am dubious when asked to pay 104 euros for the visa and ready to give up on the project altogether. Then I remembered my son saying to go through with my plans and not to change my mind all the time. AI also says not to pay the requested amount and do so at the border. It would be 15 Euros then.

I was determined to take a taxi to the ferry terminal. It is only that I could not sleep that night and I had so much time to spare that I went by public transport. Amazingly enough, I did pretty well considering the various undergrounds and labyrinths you had to negotiate to find the proper one.

The four stops to the ferry terminal take forever. Eventually we arrive and I go straight to the desk. There are some Europeans here and there and while queuing up to get rid of my suitcase I meet some Germans from Tübingen. 

The lady tells me to board the ship at 10.30, but it is 11 before we can do so. I am barely capable of holding up, so I close my eyes to have at least some pretend sleep.

I have arranged for a pick up and have to reject various taxt drivers wanting to help out. Two men have come to collect me, one of them is holding a sign with a welcome note and my name on it. The driver apologizes for not speaking English so well which is why most of the drive is spent silently as the other man naps. That is if you don’t count the incessant messages the driver receives.

I am awestruck as we arrive at the place and even more so when one of the staff members shows me to my room. While I was barely able to move decently in the room in Singapore I am offered a rather luxurious room with seaview. I immediately regret not having booked a whole week.

So, I quickly change into my burkini. It is scorchingly hot and I don’t want to risk a sunburn. After a bite of a local dish I am unable to postpone my sleep any longer. Also, comparable to Singapore I initially suffer from a splitting headache and the desire to sleep which ultimately results in changing my sleep rhythm. I have to play it by ear, nothing can be done about it.

As always, everyone here has come with family or friends. Approaching anyone would be pointless, even more so since everyone is Asian and the language barrier may be insurmountable. 

After waking up I am ready for morning swim, the sea isn’t though. It is taking a stroll or rather a hike, won’t be coming back for a few hours and I have to make do with the swimming pool. The kids are not bothered about what they wear for their swim. Despite the early hour they just come as they are, i.e. fully clothed. 

There are various things to eat, however no fruits and nothing sweet. The food is also nice and the iced coffee is irresistible.

Later, I book a massage and it is one of the best I have ever had.

After the sea‘s return I go in again. It is a very short swim as I am alone and too anxious to take a long walk for the appropriate depth.

I was also unprepared for the size of made luxe room coming with an even smaller window.

Yes, Singapore is way dearer than Thailand. However there are markets where you can get vegetables and rice for as little as 1.5 Singaporean dollars.  The local population is queuing up at some stalls as early as 10 o’clock to have lunch. Being indecisive by nature I spend most of the time cruising the stalls until I eventually give in to my hunger and have the vegetables with rice. As I see a man using glue I ask for some to fix my shoes. Unable to find a supermarket I have chicken with rice. Despite my caution I have to get some proteins.

On coming out I am surprised by rain. Which is rather welcomed. I still don’t take well to the heat and am happy about the moisture.

Lufthansa lässt sich nicht lumpen. Das Ticket war nur halb so teuer wie bei Condor, aber das Essen ist 5x so gut: 4 Menüs zum Abendessen  zur Auswahl und 2 zum Frühstück, während es bei Condor nur eine Apfeltasche gabt.

Die (betagte) Königin der Flugzeuge schwebt beinahe geräuschlos in der Luft. Luftwirbel federt sie ab, bevor sie  bei ihren Gästen ankommen. Sie geht auf die 30 zu, was für ein Flugzeug (Jumbo Jet) recht viel ist. Das macht sich bei der Technik bemerkbar: Ich kann weder meine kabellosen Kopfhörer gebrauchen,  noch ein Gerät laden.

Mein Nachbar ist ein französischer Vater, der überwiegend schläft. Auch ich schlafe viel, wiewohl nicht am Stück.

Ich bin ausgesprochen erschöpft und wie üblich, brauche ich mehrere Anläufe, bis ich mein Hotel finde, und das auch nur mit Hilfe eines Restaurantbesitzers.

In der U-Bahn höre ich einen Vater sagen, dass sie nach wenigen Tagen auf eine Insel gehen, Wie sich herausstellt, gibt es eine Insel, die nur 45 Minuten mit der Fähre entfernt ist und zu Indonesien gehört. Da will ich auch bald hin.                      

Ich bin fest entschlossen, mir die Sitzplätze selbst auszusuchen und bereite alles vor im Fitnessstudio. Das gespeicherte Passfoto erweist sich als praktisch, da der Ausweis für diese Reise nicht akzeptiert wird. Als ich sehe, wie viel ich für die Plätze ausgeben soll, überlege ich es mir anders und als ich es mir zu Hause noch einmal anders überlege, hat Lufthansa den Prozess beendet. Theoretisch könnte ich immer noch die Plätze ändern, aber das, was mir angeboten wird (lauter Mittelplätze), ist den Tausch nicht wert. Ich sitze beide Male hinten und auf dem langen Flug habe ich einen Gangplatz, was bei meinem Bewegungsdrang sehr vorteilhaft ist. Der Check - In erlaubt mir zudem, bis 18 Uhr am Flughafen zu erscheinen, ich wäre sonst um 16 Uhr dort erschienen.

Only 9 days left to start my big journey. I keep checking the Lufthansa app and Lufthansa keeps sending me offers for upgrades: “Make us an offer.“ I won‘t upgrade to business class. Flying to Thailand is comparable and I survived rather well minus the turbulences above India which might have been worse if I had been on my own in business class. 

In economy class I was sitting next to a well experienced (young) traveler who wasn’t as calm as my son, but still calmer than myself. I kept holding on to my neighbor‘s seat overhearing the captain saying “Cabin crew, be seated.“