Jungle Fun

 You can usually spot a monkey up there.

 You gotta love the jungle! Ah, nature.




Even if you put a motorcycle motor on your
longboat, it's still a longboat. A faster
longboat!

                These guys are serious jungle bunnies. And just look at the big smiles they have!

Of course, some of us prefer the city with all its mad traffic jams, glaring lights and noise. To each his own.

No Place Like Home!

As you adjust to the climate and begin to feel more at home in Malaysia, you may want to take another step in the direction of lengthening your visit by actually renting your own home. It's easy enough to do here. Perhaps you have passive income or savings or a way of making money online to support yourself for a few months. In that case, a little foreign income goes a long way in the exchange rate of approximately 3 to 1. (That's if you're dealing with American, Canadian or Australian dollars. It's even better in Euros.)

So, if you figure an average rent on a three-bedroom house here is about 400 RM, you'll be paying only one third of that every month. Although, if you'd like to go all-out and rent a furnished house, of course, it will be a tad more.

I'm the sort who doesn't mind roughing it to save a few bucks. It doesn't bother me to sleep on a mattress on the floor. But, owning a TV and DVD player sure does add to the quality of life. You can buy those quite cheaply at "The Store" or "Jusco" or even "Carrefore". I think I paid $10.00 Canadian for my DVD player.

One way to keep the price down on a rental is to have a local do the talking for you. Once they ascertain that the rent is as low as it would be for a local person, you can do the paper work and continue to pay your landlord. The banks here allow you to place cash into a bank machine directly into your landlord's account! I thought that was pretty cool. It saves the hassle of queuing inside the bank.

Personally, I find it's a great convenience to have a home base. It's so nice to come "home" after a few days or weeks of gadding about and just relax in your own digs! And cook your own food with no MSG added!

This is Malaysia!

 Via inheriting my son's computer, I discovered a few pics from a couple years ago. Here's a leaf in the jungle. They get pretty big.

 I believe this is Khota Bharu in Kelantan. This is the Nenggiri River. The rivers are the exact colour of te terik (pulled tea, or tea with sweet milk in it).

 Some of us just love the jungle. I love the trees and the diversity that can be found in what I call the "real" jungle. Primary jungle is not easy to find, what with all the logging going on and the plantations of palm oil palms.

If you're new to Malaysia and wondering why all the palm trees look exactly the same, all line upon line for miles and miles and miles, that's because they're growing palm tree for their cooking oil. Palm oil is very popular and is used as fuel as well as in many products around the world. If you check out the ingredients on many processed food packages, you
will find palm oil is one of them. It shows up everywhere. And Malaysia grows it like it's going out of style! It's just everywhere! I sure hope it doesn't get attacked with some kind of disease or this country is going to look naked.

 Hanging bridges give one a great view of the canopy. Watch out for ticks. You don't feel the bite until after the little sucker falls off. Then, it's really itchy!

 Love the jungle? Here are some authentic jungle bunnies. That's a hand-made thatched roof!

Complete with wall-to-wall broadloom. Or should I say, "slat-to-slat"? Breezy and natural, don't you think?

One Malaysia

 Chinese New Year celebrations.
These guys like to bang on drums
and make lots of noise. They also do their dragon or lion dance to ring in
the New Year.

Malaysia is multi-cultural and their theme is: "Satu Malaysia" or "One Malaysia".

Well, that's what they say, anyway. . .

 Whether noise and dancing is your thing, or you just want to hang around in McDonald's, Malaysia has lots to offer! (There's Wifi at most McD's. Here I go, advertising again.)

And, here's one of my grandsons, showing off his medal that he won running a half marathon. Malaysians love running, especially at 5 a.m. in the morning. That makes sense, really, since it's the coolest part of the day.