Indonesian NO FLY ZONE

Hey welcome back and so soon. Mich and I are in Sentul City in Indonesia at the conclusion of the balloon festival. It was quite a different experience in comparison to Malaysia but we can't really complain with all the free food and accommodation. In the entire 4 day celebration Michelle's father only flew his balloon once! It was slightly disorganized and in between the rain, wind, and the difficulties of the balloons getting through customs; the event fell flat. At the same time, we got to visit another country and once again we were graced with superior hospitality and the friendliness of the Indonesian people! Maybe next year they can improve and the event can be smooth sailing. There are rumors that the organizers are offering a free weeks stay at Bali next year, so who knows we might just have to come back. Life is tough, haha!! 

View of Jakarta at 7am, the congestion here puts New York traffic to shame

Indonesian Hot Air Balloon organizers and sponsors

Sentul City Park - Me on a cable swing

The land in front of the Bogor President's Palace is full of reindeer. We don't know why but they are always obliged to take a picture with you.

The Indonesian Air Force were the crew for the ballooning festivities

Derek getting interviewed and learning to dance from a couple of Indonesian celebrities. The woman is dressed like Marilyn Monroe while the man is impersonating Elvis. Pictures wouldn't do this justice so I decided to record it instead!

The one thing that was a success was Saturday night's balloon glow. Everyone wanted a photo with us. Hopefully celebrity status won't go to our heads :)

Random Obama store in an Indonesian shopping mall??

Well that is it for this episode. The next time you will see us we will be in Myanmar. The political tension in this country has eased making this place a bit more easy to explore. Recently US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited the country and Myanmar is opening their doors to foreign trade. Cross you fingers, we don't run in to any problems : X  In reality, the Myanmar people are very courteous to western visitors with little to no history of crime. The only problem is that we are visiting during the country's elections. So we are hoping history is made for all the right reasons during our stay. 

If we don't talk to you in awhile it's probably due to the fact there are no sources of internet access. So we might have already flown to London. We miss you all as always. Cheers!

Let's Meet in Malaysia

At this point of the trip we have to make every moment count. We have less than 3 weeks in SE Asia. The two of us are enjoying this backpacking lifestyle and are not looking forward to re-entering the real world.

The conclusion of our journey will have us traveling to London and possibly France, or the Netherlands. It really depends on how much money we have left. With the 2012 Olympics just around the corner we don't expect anything to be cheap in London.

Michelle, her parents and I made our way to the island of Penang in Malaysia by way of night train.

View from ferry to Penang Island

Do you like Indian food??? Malaysia having such a large Indian population has some of the best Indian food in the world. Penang has a Little India which has endless food choices, shops, and spices. We feasted on banana leaf curry and/or savory rotis everyday and almost every meal. We even found a food cart that served samosas for 50 cents. The following day we headed out to Ferrengi Beach and I decided to go parasailing. It was quite relaxing up there and the view from above was sweet!

 Banana Leaf Curry!

WAHOO!!!

We only spent a couple of days in Penang since we had another night bus to Kuala Lumpur but Michelle and I would love to visit the island again. KL is metropolis of skyscrapers, office buildings, and shopping malls. If you have ever seen the movie Entrapment, featuring Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta Jones, you might remember one of it's most famous landmarks the Petronas Twin Towers. We met up again with Uncle Steve and Aunt Angela fresh from their trip from New Zealand. The six of us traveled to Batu Caves to see a Hindu temple inside of a limestone rocks. Up 272 steps you will find Temple Cave after passing several monkeys. Millions visit every year especially during January and February for a religious pilgrimage. In between the patches of rainfall we spent our time just lounging around the spa or the Petaling Street Market. Yet, the real purpose of our Malaysian trip was just around the corner with the Putrajaya Balloon Fiesta.

About to climb the stairs to the cave and temples 

Batu Caves 

GOT MILK??! 

Petronas Towers 

Putrajaya is a city outside of Kuala Lumpur. Here the city celebrated it's 4th consecutive festival. Putrajaya is where all the government buildings are located and is a beautiful mix of city and nature. It was my first ballon festival and it was very fun. The whole family took part crewing while Michelle's father was the pilot. We stayed at the Marriot where they had a 5 star amenities. We weren't exactly roughing it and we haven't had this much food since leaving Arizona. Dear Mom, I have put on 5 lbs. stop worrying :) The Malaysians put on their A - game and the event was a huge success. The crowds were massive and there were various activities including rock climbing, paintballing, and balloon tethers. Both Michelle and I met some awesome people and the team that we crewed with were so hospitable.

Michelle dancing with local children during the opening ceremony dinner 

 

Mich dad's balloon

The Putrajaya Balloon Festival featured balloons that were shaped like a birthday cake, a phone booth, a New Zealand kiwi, a tree trunk and birds.

In between the ballooning, Mich and I took a day trip with Uncle Steve and Aunt Angela to Melaka. It was boiling hot that day and we escaped the heat with a riverboat cruise. We also checked out St. Paul's Church, Portuguese ship and Chinatown. The city is famous for pineapple tarts and I definitely had my share. There have been various cities that have been tagged as a Unesco World Heritage site. We have visited a few and Melaka is one of them. These cities try to preserve the old customs and architecture and we were glad we visited. While the commute to Melaka was just as long as the time we actually spent there it was a nice break from the balloon festival.

Portuguese Ship 

St. Paul's Church - Built in 1521 by a Portuguese sea captain 

Riverboat Cruise Ship 

Tapestry of artwork on the buildings adjacent to the river 

She's on a boat! 

The taxis had colorful flowers and booming sound system 

Me w/o my shirt on... Actually this is a statue of the Malaysian Arnold Schwarzenegger 

Pineapple tarts fresh out the oven

The final two days of ballooning were just as exciting and the crowds were even larger. At times we felt like celebrities because the media would ask to take a photographs of all us. Michelle having blonde hair and blue eyes was the object of affection on several occasions. I wouldn't be surprised if her photo showed up in a magazine, haha! At times we even needed police escorts to block traffic as our truck needed to retrieve Derek and the passenger as they completed their balloon ride!!

Using the fan (and tongue) to inflate the balloon 

Mich, Nor, and her son posing for the camera 

Ahmad and I  

Approximately 25 balloons were at the fiesta

We finished on a Sunday and came together for the closing ceremony. We got a chance to give our thanks to the organizers and our new Malaysian friends. The following morning we headed to they KL airport for the Indonesian Ballon Festival in Jakarta. We said are final goodbyes to Mike, the head crewman, and Ahmad, Nor, and their little boy. Michelle and I promised to keep in contact and if at all possible try to attend next year's events.

2012 Putrajaya Best Ballooning Team: (left to right) Mike, Whiskey, Me, Mich, Maureen, Derek, Daughter #1, Daughter #2, Nor, Ahmad, and Table. Hopefully we can return in 2013!!!

Another day, another country! Here we come Jakarta!

Ta-Ta Thailand

Welcome back! We officially hit the 4 month mark as March 7th. Geez where has the time gone?!? Our travels have led us from Bangkok to Hua Hin then Prachuap Kiri Khan and finally to Bang Saphan. This will be our last stop before we take an overnight train to Malaysia.

Returning to Thailand is always fun as the nostalgia of our first month here comes into play. Unfortunately the hostel we stayed overnight was infested with bed bugs. Let me warn you if you ever stay on Khoa San Road avoid Mom's Guesthouse. They really gave us the cold shoulder when we told them the problem and I'm positive we are not the first to let them know of these parasites. Regardless we revisited Ethos, Michelle's favorite vegan restaurant and set off for a day of shopping at the market!

We left the following morning to rendezvous with Michelle's parents to travel to Hua Hin. Her father had pulled some strings and was able to get us a 2 night free stay at Rest Detail, rated the #1 Boutique Hotel of Thailand for 2011. This place had everything: infinity pool, room service, massages, A/C, restaurant, all-u-can eat breakfast buffet, bar, complimentary snacks, turndown service, etc. We went from the worst place to stay to the very best. Karma has a way of always rearing it's head. Hua Hin is the home of the Royal Family's summer house. We could see from our resort navy ships guarding their estate from the ocean. It was also home to the greatest mango and sticky rice in the world! Hua Hin is the closest thing to Florida I have seen! Old couples and young families were everywhere. Fun place to visit and a good place for the "worrisome traveler" to avoid any culture shock.

The Rest Detail's Logo

Sweet infinity pool 

Michelle in front of the private pool 

Our room 

The resort even had complimentary pajamas... me posing as Capt. Morgan!

In front of the Hua Hin train station 

But as always good things must come to an end. Rest Detail is a place where we could have stayed forever. We took a bus to Prachuap Kiri Khan where we stayed two days. The accomodation was very nice and the town was sleepy but charming. We have noticed it getting warmer everyday and the humidity will have you pooling in sweat in seconds. We visited the local beach which was located on an Air Force Base. It was a local spot and the food was super cheap. Even had some time for some fried ice cream.

I like to call these two: SPF 50 and SPF 30 

 Fried Ice Cream w/ Man United pennant

Locals drying out fish for various foods 

The following morning Michelle and her parents headed up to Wat Thammikaram (I slept in). From the top you got a great view of the bays. The monkeys were equally entertaining as they would go for a swim and dry off in the sun.

View of bay in Prachuap 

Monkeys going for a swim 

... and drying off

Lastly after a failed attempt to ride the local train (4 hour delay), we took a bus to Bang Saphan. We stayed in bungalows on the beachside and spent a few days just relaxing and checking out the town. Our beach was flooded with jellyfish so we had to find another watering hole. Luckily we found this picturesque location where we stayed for hours. Our train for Penang in Malaysia left at 9pm. Our first night train, choo -choo! We got our own bed but the ride was bumpy. 18 hrs later we finally made it to Malaysia.

 Attack of the jellyfish

 Michelle made fun of my last haircut and said I looked like a pineapple head. When she saw this group during a parade she couldn't resist to take a photo and tease me.

Night Train

We just arrived in Malaysia and it is HOT!! We will soon be crossing the equator. Visas are free for Americans. Looking forward to some Indian curry and vegetable samosas. We will catch you later! I hope it's not too cold in the Northwest, lol.