April 1, 2012

Novelty Snacks of Malaysia

Highs and lows.

Novelty Snack: Waffito Waffles by Daily Fresh
Description: The filling of your choice between two waffles. I picked chocolate and peanut butter.
Tastes Like: Extreme deliciousness much like Flavourspot in Portland but perhaps a bit easier to eat.
Verdict: Thumbs up!

Novelty Snack: Abrus Cantoniensis Herbs Tea Cooling Healty Drinks
Description: A mixture of herbs that helps to cool the body.
Tastes Like: Jaeger without the alcoholic kick, according to Mike. According to me it tastes worse that black licorice mixed with dirt. It was bitter and disgusting. I took a sip and immediately ran to spit it out in the drain. Mike thought I was puking. I had to get something to clean my mouth out immediately.
Verdict: Thumbs neutral, according to Mike. Thumbs way down for me.

Novelty Snack: Paddle Pop
Description: “Toffee and butter caramel flavored ice confection” from Australia.
Tastes Like: Frozen cotton candy.
Verdict: Thumbs up!

Novelty Snack: Chrysanthemum with Honey Drink
Description: Tea made from chrysanthemums and intended to cool.
Tastes Like: Drinking tea made from flowers. Not bad but not really good either. I don’t care for honey so that aspect didn’t help.
Verdict: Thumbs neutral

I purchase a few other items for snacking but upon research learned that they were made with shrimp. Not veggie friendly!

Malaysia is definitely in the lead for most disgusting novelty snack of all time and I hope it stays that way. I really don’t want to taste anything more disgusting than that mystery herbal tea. Yuck.

xo, jill

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March 12, 2012

Disappointing Highlands

Also known as Genting

We had one last day in Kuala Lumpur so we decided to check out Genting Highlands, home of the only legal land-based casino in Malaysia! This adventure was more for Mike than for me but I was happy enough to tag along. Besides, you get to ride a gondola…which sounded like fun (despite my fear of heights).

Well… the approximately one hour trip outside the city actually took more like three? And we just happened to arrive on the first day of the two week maintenance closure for the gondola. That meant a very long line for the shuttle bus.

The casino and theme parks were a bit run down but still amusing. Everyone likes giant reproductions of random famous things, right?

Mike played the slot machines but wasn’t quite as successful as his jaunt in Vienna. By the time he was finished, I was ready to go.

We didn’t even see any monkeys to not feed!

No gondola, no winnings, no monkeys.

The plus side to this disappointing trip is that the air in the Highlands is much cooler than in the city down below. I was actually chilly at times.

Early the next morning we headed back to Abu Dhabi, via Sri Lanka. I think we were ready.

xo, jill

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March 10, 2012

More Malacca.

And a bit of KL

Our second day in Malacca we set out early to explore a bit more of the city and enjoy breakfast in the cooler weather.

We stopped by the Malacca Fort and walked down to the Naval Museum and back through the main square.

Then we returned to our hostel, picked up our bags, and got back on the bus headed for Kuala Lumpur.

During our first stay in KL we didn’t realize how close we were to a major shopping district. With nothing much to do, we decided to head to the mall to have a nice meal and see a movie. Outside the mall we found the Buddy Bears! I had previously seen them in Helsinki so it was fun to bump into them again.

Malaysia’s Bear


He was performing a song on the radio while everyone filmed him on their phones.

After the movie we headed back to our hotel and caught a glimpse of the Petronas Towers on the way.

xo, jill

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March 8, 2012

The mixture of Malacca.

Getting away from KL

After staying the bulk of our trip in Vietnam, we had a few more days to spend in Malaysia. We knew we didn’t want to spend much time in Kuala Lumpur, so I asked Flora for advice on where to visit. She suggested Malacca. It sounded good to us so after spending the night in KL we jumped on a bus and headed out of the city.

The hot and sticky weather in Malaysia was certainly a change from the dry and chilly weather in northern Vietnam. I did not enjoy the long and sweaty walk to our hostel in Malacca. We stayed at a $5 place that was nice enough but definitely not luxurious. Or near our bus stop. Oh well.

We spent most of the day walking around the historical streets of Malacca and visiting a museum. The city definitely has a unique vibe due to the combination of several very different influences. For example, it was once a colony of the Portuguese, Dutch, and British. Plus, you can’t forget the local Malay and Chinese populations. It all comes together to form Malacca.

We got caught in a very wet downpour that night which was actually more delightful than anything else. Living in a desert will do that to you.

xo, jill
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January 10, 2012

A rough start.

I think I’m owed an upgrade.

I’m hoping those flights in and our of Bangladesh weren’t the beginning of an awful flight pattern, but it’s starting to look that way.

I’ll only share a brief overview but getting to Vietnam went like this:

On our way to Colombo for a layover I sat in the most uncomfortable seat ever created. Something in the back rest was broken and sticking into the width of my back. Since it was the middle of the night, sleeping would have been nice. Unfortunately, the “massage” kept me up most of the time.


Mike had 3D glasses keeping him happy.

Our second flight to Kuala Lumpur was also uncomfortable, but in a different way. I won’t say too much because I know it’s a touchy situation… but, I was sat on. The whole 4 hour flight. The man next to me would have benefited from purchasing two seats but instead used about 1/3 of my seat in addition to his own. I scooted over to Mike as much as possible and remained polite but it was awkward. I couldn’t fully lower my tray table to eat because his leg blocked it. Has anyone else been in this situation? What do you do? (Oh yeah, and the person in front of us was puking. Repeatedly. Actually, nearly all our flights involved pukers nearby.)


I already looked like this…and then was sat on.

We had an overnight stay in Malaysia and then an early flight to Vietnam the next day. This was perhaps the most stressful part of our journey. Despite having a receipt from the airline showing we paid, the company claimed we each still owed the full balance. In cash. It was a lot of waiting in long needless lines, running around the airport, and sweating. Luckily, Mike made a quick dash to the ATM and all was well.

So I won’t be flying with those two airlines again, but we made it to Vietnam!

xo, jill

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December 17, 2011

Away we go.

And away we go.

Mike and I are off to explore Vietnam and Malaysia for the next few weeks!

Don’t go away though because I’ve scheduled a few posts to avoid the blog going quiet. A few weeks ago I was browsing travel blogs and noticing people’s travel essentials. I thought that while I’m gone I could share the five things I always take traveling. And… it’s almost Christmas so you can expect a few holiday posts… including the annual Christmas video!

See you in the new year!

xo, jill

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