Macau & Hong Kong - bright lights, africans and dim sum

You may ask "why macau" or "wwwhhhere", well Macau is about 50km east of Hong Kong and when we were looking at flying to China from Malaysia we found a super cheap Air Asia flight to Macau. But Macau is a hidden little gem. It is a portugese colony (handed back to china in 1999) and is rich in history as well as money from gambling. It raked in more money than las vegas last year!!! But away from the glitzy casino lights and hoards of chinese day tripping to spend there yuan at teh casinos (photo 1) there are gorgeous little alley's tucked away the feel like you are in portugal (not that we have been there......yet...see photo 2). But apart from the laneways and forts the only other thing portugese is overpriced food targeted at foreigners. But there is some great macanese cuisine, such as egg tarts, almond biscuits and slabs of thin bbq meat which are marinated in honey and soy. you can sample all these for free at little shops along the lane ways.

We only had 1 night in macau but it is definately somewhere we would recommend. It is pricier than china, but a little less than Hong Kong.

We caught a 1 hour ferry to Hong Kong and checked into a guesthouse in a builing called Chunking Mansions (those familiar with HK will know the place). It is a huge building with 5 towers and is about to fall down. But it is a rabbit warren of shops selling EVERYTHING from phones to clothes on the bottom floors to restuarants serving Indian, African, italian, Pakistani and chinese cusine. On the other 15 floors are countless guesthouse and if you stood outside the main foyer you would see about 50 different nationalities in a few minutes. We tried to get into a place in our guide book but were recommended another place a floor lower. It turns out it was a nigerian run place and we were the only white people, there were load of africans staying there, all coming here to import cheap electronic back home. But the place was great, we often came home to the owner fixing our bathroom, and nat has promised some tours when they come to NZ. But the building is like a global marketplace with so many different cultures coming together haggling for counterfit rolex or nokia phones. It is estimated one quarter of all cell phones in sub saharan africa are bought here!!

Apart from this, we spent alot of time in Hong Kong.........shopping. We stocked up on more gear we need for europe, such as camping equipment. We got a multi fuel stove, thermarest matresses, some winter clothes, a water filter and all for 50% of NZ price. We also visited the northern territories near the chinese border to get Nat a new frame for her bike. Her paintwork started to come off, so trek told us to visit a shop in HK and they gave us a new frame. Pretty good service....thanks Trek.

We also went to the history museum, which was the best museum in asia to date. We had some fantastic food, steamed dumpings, wonton noodle soups (we are in a wonton and dumpling faze), and the odd Hong Kong breakfast of pasta in a chinese broth with a fried egg in it, strange but really good. He were staying in Kowloon on the main part, but we caught the Star Ferry over to Hong Kong island to wander the streets.

We really enjoyed our time in Macau and Hong Kong, apart from coming to grips with more expensive prices we would defiantely come back, and didnt really view it as a transit town like some do, it has so much character and buzz to it.

In Macau by walking a few blocks you can go from this.....


To this......


You say you want a police riot suit and chemical protection suit for xmas.....no problem, Hong Kong is the place to find it.

Kuala Lumpur - The end of of malaysia

After the last 4 weeks riding we have a week 'to kill' in Kuala Lumpur, a task we seem to do pretty well at.

We spend our time between, window shopping, some minor real shopping and a lot of eating. It has been pretty hot in Malaysia so we would often retreat to the air-conditioned haven of the large malls.

We spent a few days at Bangsar, the suberb Nat used to live in, which is where a lot of expats live. But they have some great restuarants out there we wanted to sample, plus some malls to escape the heat in.

We stayed in Chinatown near Petaling street which is the main tourist drag with a packed night market and plenty of touts to drive us mad. But it has some great street stalls where you can sample the chinese side of malay food.

Also went to the so-called 'must-see' in KL - the Petronas towers. They are like the 3rd tallest in the world, and Malaysians are very proud of their accomplishment.

After numerous discussions on our we would transport our bikes on the next stage of the trip - a flight to Macau - we decided on buying some bike bags from Ground Effect in NZ. They are great bags which fold down to A4 size and a small enough to easily carry it around with the bike inside. The company sent them Poste Restante to KL and they arrive a week later!!

We had to remove the wheels, pedals, seat, handlebars and derailer to fit them in the bag so we took the opportunity to clean the kids. After some cardboard padding, we thought they would be ready to be at the mercy of the friendly Air Asia baggage handlers (see photo).

We had a 15kg limit, so the bikes weighed 14kg each and we took the rest of the gear in one pannier each as carry on. Suprisingly there was no charge for the bike.....which can be up to $600 (air france!!!!)

One naked bike in a bike bag.

Genting Highlands Day Ride

Today Nick decided to ride to Genting Highlands and back from KL. Genting Higlands is a resort situated in the mountains about 60km from KL. There is not much of interest at the top (a casino, a theme park and flash hotels) but it was the ride that was the main drawcard. The ride is part of a stage in the Tour de Langkawi, a world class cylcing race held in Malaysia.

It was a great days ride, clocking up 120km there and back and climbing to an altitude of 2000m.

The Breakdown (for all those cycling aficionados):
This ranks as one of the top cycling climbs in the world (according to a recent magazine article) and has 3 sections.

0-15km: Dodging traffic on the way out of Kuala Lumpur wasnt too bad, I left at 7am so I was going against the morning rush. It was mostly flat and I managed to avoid the expressways. (Jalan Pahang -> Jalan Golok)

15-43km: The most beautiful part of the climb. A gradual increase in gradient and the rode would its way up a valley under the shade of a tropical jungle with the odd monkey to keep me company. This road was very quiet as the expressway which is faster runs parallel to it. I saw a few other cyclists on this part of the climb.

43-63km: The main "genting climb". This starts at the base of the hill near the expressway exit. There is a police checkpoint which signals the start of the climb. the road is 4-6 lanes wide and gets steep quickly. There is a 2km downhill section at 49km. The road was viciously steep in sections, especially on some bends (see photo) and I was hurting even in my lowest gear!! This part of road was pretty busy with bus and car traffic but most were very considerate with lots of waves and toots of the horn. One car stopped to ask how long I had been cycling for and were amazed when I said 4 hours!!

The stats:
Distance: 121km
Average: 18.1km/hr
Max: 72km/hr
Altitude gained: 2000m

The 20km Genting Climb:
Distance: 20km
Time: 2:05

The main climb to Genting Highlands:


Through the jungle section:


An example of a "steep" corner:

Summary by Numbers

Since we are both scientists we thought it would be more suited to summarise our Malaysia leg of the journey with a statistical summary instead of a more "wordy" version.

Kota Bharu to Kuala Lumpur: Down the east coast and up the west

Total Distance: 1084km
Average Distance: 72km
Mean Average or Average Average: 19km/h
Number of riding days: 15
Number of rest days: 14
Hours Riding: 57.5
Average Hours in saddle per riding day: 4hrs

Number of curry stains on Nicks shorts: 18
Average accomodation cost: RM25 (NZ$10)
Number of roti consumed: 122
Number of crashes witnessed: 2
Number of punctures: 1
Distance on expressways: 15km
Number of other cycle tourers we met: 7 (1 tandem!!)
Number of times spat on: 1
Number of friendly people we met: countless
Number of times we handwashed clothes: 24

Into Kuala Lumpur (12th - 13th May)

Melaka to Seremban
Distance - 85km
Average - 19.0km/h

Bit hard to get back on the bike today after 6 days off. But the road to Seremban was pretty straight forward and we managed to avoid the expressways.

After our first drink stop Natalie's right knee was playing up so we had to take it easy coming into Seremban.

Once at Seremban the cheapest hotel we could find was 45 ringitt (bout $18nz), which is far more than we have been paying elsewhere. And it was also a dump which we did not want to stay in. I wouldnt have been suprised if a rat ran out from under the bed. So we didnt really know what to do as everywhere else was much more expensive. We managed to find a really nice hotel for 68 ringitt (bout $28nz) a night. This was triple what we normally spend, but given the alternatives we were happy to pay for it.

We found a pasar malam (night market) for dinner and had yummy nasi beriyani (a special type of rice) and malaysian satay.

Seremban to Kuala Lumpur
Distance - 69km
Average - 16.8km/h

We were worried about heading into Kuala Lumpur as it seemed like all the roads that headed in were motorways or expressways. If there were smaller roads, they werent on our map. We were told by a local in Muar that it should be possible to get in without getting on an Expressway, so this gave us a little confidence but didnt provide exact directions.

So we headed along for the first 30km or so with rolling hills along a relatively quite road. Natalie's knee was still a problem today, hence the very low cycling average. It will be good to have a rest in KL for it to repair itself.

Once we got into the outskirts of KL things started to change. We thought we found a small road heading right into the city but it quickly turned into a 8 lane expressway with tolls. We asked a local guy who informed us bicycles were ok on the expressway. With little other options we headed onto the onramp to fast cars and trucks flying past at 100km/h. But we stuck to our little side bar and got off and on again at all the exits, and after about 10km we were at our required exit. Then riding to our backpackers was on par with hectic city riding in Bangkok. But all in all we got here ok and vow not to ride on one of those expressways again.

So now KL for a week before we fly to Macau. Lots to do and see, like organise things for our bikes and check out the sights in KL.

Melaka (6th - 11th May)

Melaka is a large town on the south-east coast of Malaysia. We were really looking forward to getting here as we had heard much about the cuisine and history.

We ended up staying 6 nights here, at this cheap but nice backpackers. It was more like a flat than a backpackers as everyone staying there got along really well with a nice communal area to sit in. The building was this 100 year old chinese heritage site which had beautiful shutters and gold painting.

The first few days we wandered around Chinatown, Little India and other areas marvelling at the architecture and all the cheap eats. A few goodies that we found were Asam Laksa which is a sour noodle soup, with fish and tamarind. Other daily staples for food was Nasi Daun Pisang which is rice, vegetables, curry and side dishes served on a banana leaf. They keep on piling the rice and veges on your banana leaf until you have to fold your leaf in half to show you couldnt possibly fit another bite.

The Melaka museum was well laid out and super interesting as Melaka has so much history. The Portugese first ruled in Melaka from 1511, then they were taken over by the Dutch in 1640, followed by the British around 1840, then later the Japanese from 1941-45, then the British again and finally achieved independence in 1957. Having three European powers ruling at different times has left various legacies for the area.

While we were in Melaka it was ridiculously hot. So for the few hours around midday when it was unbearable to be outside we had to loiter around aircon areas. This usually involved the numerous shopping malls, but also internet cafes. Melaka was much hotter than the east coast, as on the coastline you still get a seabreeze which softens the heat.

There are photos to come on this post, but we just need to find an internet cafe that lets us load pictures. Keep posted.

Original shophouses


Nick testing out a new bike (so nat can ride in the cab!)


Christ Church (dutch era)

Sunrise to Sunset: From the east to west coast (3rd - 6th May)

Mersing to Kluang
Distance - 95km
Average - 17.1km/h


Mersing was our last stop on the east coast before we headed across the peninsular to the west coast. It felt like we have finished part one of the Malaysian trip and the west coast and the route up to Kuala Lumpur is part 2.

The ride across to Kluang was one of the best days riding. For a change it wasnt flat, but instead had nice rolling hills, nothing too hard but enough to keep us honest. The ride took us through some spectacular scenery, hills with palm plantations as far as we could see.

Nat got pretty freaked out by the monkeys that would often be swinging in the trees on the roadside, but I was pretty sure we could out run them if they tried to make a go to steal our bikes. Iguanas proved to be a bit of a menace too, big ones about 1m long that often would run out on the road then see us and scuttle back just in time. Judging by the huge amount as road kill on the road they are obviously not too road savvy.

We also rode our 2000km today and I put Murhpys curse on us by saying how we hadnt had a puncture to date. After our morning tea stop for Mee Goreng (fried noodles) we got our first puncture, but it was pretty easy to sort out.

Nick posing for a shot with the Palms



Kluang to Muar
Distance - 113km
Average - 21.4km/h


After overnighting in Kluang, a large modern Malaysian town, we headed off to Batu Pahat then Muar both on the east coast. I think Nat left her chain in the hotel room because she set a cracking pace for the morning. Even after 95km the prior day she was flying. We made a quick stop off before belting out our final 50km to Muar. After riding 113km at our fastest average we were both in high spirits.

Muar is a fantastic town that lies on a river about 40km south of Melaka. It has a beautiful centre of town with lots of old chinese buildings. As we have progressed further south and now to the east coast the proportion of chinese and indian people has increased and Muar is a strongly chinese town with a lethargic feel to it.

A beautiful but run-down house in Muar


When we rode into Muar we had no map so tried to wing it to find our hotel. When we stopped on a corner to find some road names we were swamped by friendly locals offering directions. We met Lok, a young chinese man who is a member of the local cycling club. After giving us directions to the hotel we went and met his cycling club members. They are a great group of 12 guys who loved to hear our travel plans and what we had to say about Malaysia. We met them the following morning for a delicious chinese breakfast of Won Ton Mee (noodle soup) and chinese pancakes (a pancake filled with peanuts and sugar). Their group then headed off for a mountain bike ride and we headed off to Melaka.

That night we had a great Nonya dinner. Baba Nonya is an ethnic group which originated from Chinese traders marrying malay women and the Baba (men) Nonya (women) children are the result. They have a distinct cuisine similar to
Chinese but with Malay overtones.


Muar to Melaka
Distance - 45km
Average - 19.4km/h


After our breakfast with the Muar cycling club we headed off for a lesuirely 45km ride to Melaka, the historical centre of Malaysia. Melaka is where Malay's set up a trading port for chinese and indian traders before it was taken over by the Portugese, then the Dutch followed by the British. So we are keen to check it out.

An example of Portugese influence on the outskirts of Melaka

Kuantan to Mersing (29th April - 3rd May)

Kuantan to Pekan
Distance - 50km
Average - 20.7km/h

After having a super big brekkie of roti channai and toseh we set off on a medium distance ride to Pekan.

The first 20km or so were pretty easy, with a nice flat road. Then we came across some men and women waving down cars off the road. Our first instinct was that they had broken down and needed a bit of help (of which we were of no use on a bicycle). Then we saw that a car was on its side in the ditch. We quickly stopped and saw that two younger men had managed to get out of the car, but there was still another girl inside. Nick put his senior first aid training to use to look after the girl when she was removed from the car. The two guys had minor scratches and were a bit shaken up, but the girl (who was about 15) was in a lot of pain but little blood.

So Nick spoke to her in Bahasa Malayu (with the help of a dictionary) and found out that it was mainly head injuries. He made her lie down and looked after her until the ambulance arrived. It was interesting that heaps of other vehicles stopped to see what happened, but not a single one tended to the victims. I dont know whether it was a cultural issue, or that they were simply untrained to help. But these three young people were extremely grateful for Nick helping them while waiting for the ambulance. They were more in need of support than people staring at them.

After the ambulance took them off to hospital, we hopped back on our bikes and felt glad that we could be of some use.

Our destination of Pekan was an ordinary Malaysian town and for us just a place to rest our legs for the journey further south.


Pekan to Kuala Rompin
Distance - 95km
Average - 19.0km/h

The ride today was a challenge as we were both quite tired. Kuala Rompin was another simple Malaysian town. After the ride our afternoons seem to consist of find hotel, shower, washing clothes, lunch, internet, read, dinner, sleep. So nothing to really report on here.


Kuala Rompin to Mersing
Distance - 66km
Average - 19.2km/h

We were both looking forward to Mersing as from what we had read, it seemed like a cute little town that serves as a jumping point to the famous Tioman island. We decided not to go to Tioman as we previously saw beautiful beaches along the coast without needing to get on a three hour boat to see more. Also taking bikes on the boat would be a bit of a challenge. This choice seemed to suprise most locals, as they see Tioman as their little gem. But we love Malaysia anyway without having to go to a resort filled, over rated island. So instead we stayed in Mersing for three nights.

Our first accommodation choice was a bit odd as you check yourself in (no one is there) and someone comes in the evening to collect the payment. The next day we moved a little further out of town in a garden filled bungalow guesthouse. While the garden was beautiful, as was the communal areas, the whole place was mosquito filled, damp and with very unclean bathrooms, so we dont rate the guesthouse highly at all.

But otherwise it was nice to relax in Mersing for a few days. We mainly did extensive research into further Europe and India plans. And we came to a conclusion. Be back in NZ to start 2008 uni year. When we get to Europe in July, cycle round for 4 months then fly to India and cycle round India for two months. Then fly to Aussie and cycle from Brisbane to Sydney over a month to catch up with family and friends (yes that means you Jane, Anita and Chris). Then back to NZ in Feb. All of this means we need to buy camping gear for Europe so we decided on a Macpac tent and a few other accessories that we will need to buy over the next few months. We are both excited about camping in Europe, and seeing India, but also it will be nice to be back in NZ for 2008.