24.5 Hours in Kuala Lumpur

It's 2:30 pm on Sunday, and I'm on the express train to the airport for our flight to Bali. Yesterday we arrived in Kuala Lumpur (KL) at 2:00 pm. Instead of an airport layover of a few hours, we decided to make it a day layover in Malaysia. Upon arrival we headed to the Brickfields neighborhood, or Little India, to browse at the market and fuel up with some delicious rice, curry, and naan served on a banana leaf and a mango lassi. Then we took the commuter rail to the Batu Caves, a sacred Hindu site.  The ride was so smooth enough that Neil even dozed for a few minutes.  We climbed over 300 stairs and observed Hindu priests and worshipers.  I was awed by the natural beauty of the cliffs, which emerge from the sprawling city that has expanded around the site. We then took the train back ($0.90 for the round trip) and made sure that we unknowingly didn't sit in the ladies-only cars on the train or break any of the rules of the train.  We found some delicious dinner and headed in fairly early so that we could squeeze in some sight seeing the next morning. KL Twin Towers, also called Petronas Towers, was our first stop.  As far as skyscraper design goes, the towers were refreshingly non-rectangular.  The architecture reminded me of a chedi from a Buddhist wat, incorporating curves and corners. When we arrived at the ticket counter, we learned that the tickets were sold out for the next four days.  So we walked to the KL Tower, which closely resembles Seattle's Space Needle. Here we were treated to a 360 degree view of a growing city surrounded by green mountains.  We had time for one more stop--Central Market--for shopping and lunch.  Here we found beautifully carved wooden items, endless scarves, sarongs, and pants, and some tasty lunch.  One more ride on the rail system wrapped up our quick tour of this skyscraper-filled city that feels quieter, less crowded, and more open than Bangkok.  A fun way to kick off our fall break!   Apparently, even Malaysia runs on Dunkin'

Let's Go Surfing Now, Everybody's Learning How

For me, traveling to Bali meant I needed to learn (or attempt to learn) how to surf.  Luckily one of my friends, who was one of my six vacation companions for the week in Bali, is an experienced surfer and helped me get started with a little land training and instruction--with many yoga analogies. 

We stayed a five minute walk and a two minute scooter ride from Echo Beach.  I arranged for my first beginner lesson on Tuesday afternoon.  In our excitement we decided to rent boards for an hour during high tide to practice getting out past the breaks and to practice paddling.  Our enthusiasm quickly turned to folly as the ocean taught us a lesson about who is the boss and why high tide wasn't the time to surf that spot.

The afternoon lesson, on waves much more appropriate for my zero experience with surfing, was a breeze compared to the pounding I received a few hours earlier.  I managed to stand up on my first attempt, riding the white wave towards shore.  From here my coach gave me pointers on my stance, footing, and approach.  I also gained lots of paddling practice.  Each time I rode a wave, I had to paddle the distance back out, against the waves. 

I learned, with mixed success, a few strategies for riding over the whites of the waves.  I was also flipped over plenty of times--resulting in a thorough irrigation of my nasal passages.  No need for a neti pot for a week after I go surfing.

Positive reinforcement from my coach continued, as I worked on my stance and footing...and as my arms became more and more fatigued.  I was riding a nine foot, wooden long board, which meant that my arms were my only form of propulsion (to be truthful, my coach was also helping with a quick push as I tried to catch each wave).  Additionally, paddling a surf board requires a perpetual low cobra yoga posture--keeping my head, shoulders, and chest raised by using my abdominal and back muscles.  This meant I was balancing on the board with my toes, knees, thighs, belly, and ribs, and this explains why I felt like I had bruised my ribs the next morning.

After riding one last wave in as far as I could, a shower helped wash the salt water off my skin and a fresh coconut water aided in washing down the half gallon of ocean water that I had inadvertently drank.

After my first lesson I wore a cheesy grin and was ready to sign up for my next lesson...which had to wait until Friday.

Friday morning my lesson was early, 7:30 am, which meant I surfed in a different spot since the tide and the swells were different.  After my first successful ride on the whites my coach decided that I was ready to surf the greens (which I inferred were bigger waves that I would catch before they broke).  I quickly learned that my timing mattered much more now.  If I didn't stand up fast enough, the wave would push the front of my board under water, and, instead of riding the wave, I would be taken for a ride.  Trial and error taught me well, and I managed to start standing up faster and more smoothly, allowing me to take a few longer rides, with better views, of both the beach and of the sand and rocks below the water.  [My thoughts while noticing the sand and rocks below the water as I surfed: that's pretty...wow, this must be a good long run...crap, those are rocks...don't fall here; don't fall here...]

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My second time out was fantastic, and I didn't feel tired until I was out of the water, at which point I was exhausted, yet still happy.  

It was barely 10:00 am, so it was time to eat breakfast on the beach and listen to my Cards make a comeback against the Red Sox in game #2 (thanks to the incredible power of technology, wifi, and a smart phone).  Then Neil and I retreated to the shade of a beach umbrella to nap and lounge on the beach for a few hours. I was hoping to rest enough to be able to rent a board in the afternoon and surf with my friend, Farrah.

The waves quickly lulled me to sleep.  (Although the umbrella didn't protect us from the rays of the sun--ouch.  If you find yourself hiding from intense sun, especially near the equator, please learn from my mistake: an umbrella may provide shade but it doesn't guarantee UV protection.)  

Hours later I felt rested enough to test myself on a new set of waves--without the literal push that I had gotten each time before, from my coach.  Farrah and I found long boards to rent and headed out to try the waves. High tide was starting to retreat, which meant I had to work a lot harder to get out past the first break. This gave me the opportunity to learn when to ride/jump over the wave and when to ditch my board and dive under. 

After what felt like 20+ minutes of jumping, diving, paddling, and being washed in by a large wave, I still wanted to prove to myself that I could catch a wave without a coach's help.  Kindly, the ocean gave me a wave big enough to get me up yet small enough for my tired body to handle.  Farrah and I both caught the wave, and I happily rode my last wave on Echo Beach.  Here's my last surf!

Echo Beach, hard to find...hard to forget.

Chiang Mai, Day 1--Cook like a Thai

We were picked up by 9:00am for an all-day cooking and eating experience. We started by selecting the five dishes we wanted to learn to prepare (and then eat).  Then our lead chef, Nok, took us to a nearby market and gave us an overview of the ingredients we would be using--from types of cooking oil to fresh coconuts and lemongrass to kaffir limes. 

First dish--fried noodles with chicken for me, and Neil cooked his favorite, cashew chicken.  We each cooked in separate kitchens (three kitchens for different dishes) and returned to eat at our low table with mats and triangular pillows for chairs.  My fried noodles with chicken was light and delicious, a Pad Thai, light in texture and fresh in flavor. Neil shared a few bites of cashew chicken, and the flavors were incredible. 

Next dish--appetizers!  I selected spring rolls, and Neil picked papaya salad. First we stir fried the chicken, tofu, and vegetables. Then we made the rolls and deep-fried them to golden brown perfection. Both of these tasted even better than when we have eaten them in restaurants; however, we don't claim to be impartial judges.

For our third course we had our choice of soup. I opted for seafood coconut soup, and Neil made Tom Yum (hot and sour) soup. I was surprised to learn about the ingredients are used just for flavor, not for consumption. These included lemongrass, galangal (Thai ginger), and kaffir lime leaves.  I also reaffirmed my opinion that I do not enjoy fish balls. Luckily the shrimp and squid were delicious.

Next up--nap time. Seriously. We curled up on our mats and laid our heads on our triangular prism pillows and slept. This was amazing for me as I went to bed late the night before, woke up at 3:45am, and didn't sleep on our short flight.

After our rest, we prepared dessert so that we could enjoy it immediately after eating our curry (smart strategy).  I opted for mango sticky rice, and Neil chose fried bananas with ice cream.  I have tried mango sticky rice twice since we have been in Thailand and honestly haven’t been thrilled.  However it is a well-loved Thai dessert (and the mangoes are always delicious).  The rice was pretty straightforward:  steam sticky rice and make coconut-sugar sauce (with both granulated sugar and palm sugar, which is like a gooey brown sugar, and a dash of salt).  Then we poured the sugary coconut sauce over the rice and let it sit and soak up the flavors.

Now it was time for the most intimidating portion of the class—making curry!  Green curry for me, and Panang curry for Neil.  Surprisingly, this wasn’t too difficult.  It involved mincing veggies (green chilies, shallots, garlic, Thai ginger (galangal), lemongrass, kaffir lime peel, coriander root, turmeric root), then grinding them with mortar and pestle, and adding a bit of shrimp paste.  Bam!  Homemade and fresh green curry, with a kick!  Then I made green curry chicken (with two kinds of eggplant, baby corn, Thai basil, and coconut), and it was fantastic!  Neil’s Panang curry was delectable!

Then it was time to enjoy dessert too.  Surprisingly I liked my mango sticky rice—it was noticeably less salty than other ones that I had tried.  I also helped Neil with his deep friend bananas and ice cream! 

Two thumbs up for Baan Thai Cooking School. 

And two thumbs up for Rimping Village Hotel which took great care of us, immediately upon arrival. (If you had this tree in front of your hotel, you would use it as the logo too.)

After a swim, we wandered through a small part of Chiang Mai, finding the night market.  Then I enjoyed my second nap of the day while getting an hour-long foot massage (for $6) and finally we found the 24-hour flower market.

POST-SCRIPT:

Three days later, we have purchased a mortar and pestle and successfully made papaya salad and coconut chicken soup at home—success!

If you want a particular recipe, email me so you can try to cook like a Thai too!