Malaysia - Langkawi

We had a great time in the Philippines and then were off to Malaysia! 

... well, sort of. Due to a delayed flight, miscommunication about the TWO airports as "KUL" that are about 30min from each other, and a subsequent missed connection, we had the pleasure of the Sama Sama hotel at the Kuala Lumpur airport, which was quite amazing. Matt thoroughly enjoyed the buffet and specifically the crab curry legs... this is his 3rd plate...

Finally, after a great night's rest we were off to Langkawi! Upon arrival we quickly discovered how beautiful it was and we were excited to explore the island.

Here is the map of all of the things we could do!

Here is what we actually did the entire 2 days...

  

Oh, wait and this...

Haha, apparently we were in need of some serious relaxation time. We were supposed to go diving but because of the day delay we missed our dive trip. That was the only bummer of our time in Langkawi. Otherwise, we loved every single moment at the Westin Langkawi.

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While we didn't do much exploring, we did learn about the upcoming Malaysia election. Even though we didn't leave the resort, we noticed a million different flags all over the city on our way to our hotel and of course we had some questions. 

Here is the summary that we got: 

- This is the most important election for the Malaysian people for decades. 

- The ruling party, Barisan Nasional, has been in power since 1956. (post- British rule)

- This is the first time since that point that any party has proved to be any type formidable opponent. 

- The opposition, Pakatan Rakyat, is actually a three-party alliance. 

- Pretty much everyone we talked to was hopeful that the current regime would be ousted, however, were skeptical that the elections were actually fair. The general public (at least those we talked to) feel that the government remains corrupt in Malaysia and won't allow for any new government to take hold. I don't know how true this is or not, but I thought the quote from the Economist rang true " It is true it [current party] has been in power so long that the dividing line between party and government has become blurred." The full article here. 

Obviously, we are not incredibly educated on the subject, but will be looking for the election results come May 5th. 

...after we had a few more poolside drinks, of course.

Palawan - Underground River & Honda Bay

I realized I owe you a map of where we are!

Here is the map of Philippines & then a close-up on Palawan. We stayed in Puerto Princesa, but as many recommended, if you're planning a trip out here, head to El Nido (even the people in Puerto told us to go there and Puerto is beautiful!) It just involved a 6hr bus ride which we didn't have time for. Sore subject on the planning front on our end. Anyways, we were off for our tours!

Our first tour in Palawan was to the Underground River which was about 1.5hour drive away. We hopped into the shuttle and luckily Kelly & Ben were on this trip with us and they were also exhausted so we all slept during the drive, but I'm sure it was beautiful.

Once we arrived at the departure spot we were supposed to also do another tour on Ugong Rock, but it started to sound logistically complicated so instead Matt & I went for a quick zip line! it involved a little ATV ride, a quick mountain hike and then you're ready to go. Now, if you're afraid of heights, I don't know if I'd recommend this as they didnt really explain anything to you and you had to figure it out on your own. Luckily, Matt and I are pros at this. So they buckled us in and we went for our running start and we were off! It was quick but fun and worth the $10 since otherwise we would've just been waiting at the dock.

view from the zipline start

view from the other side. that's me!  (no poo face this time, you know what I mean, Hay, Tiff, Dani, Scott & Chris) ;)

view from the walk back from the zipline

After that and then lunch we took a boat over to the Underground River spot where we took some pics before getting in our river boat to head into the caves. First thing you notice is how gorgeous the entrance is with the clear aqua water and then the rocks going into the caves. Just beautiful. 

our boat for the ride over

oh and there were monkeys & monitor lizards at the park!

just a littl tree relaxing while we wait our turn

the gang's all ready!

Second thing you notice is the bats. Ugh. I do not like bats. Not sure why I didn't think about these creatures being a possibility but they are alive and well in the cave area.
Anyways, I swallowed my hatred and we hopped in the next boat and were headed into the caves. 

The Undergound River was recently named one of the 7 new natural wonders of the world. (link here) It was amazing!!! 

Entryway

Inside - Stalagtites & Stalagmites

  

The Holy Family

The bats hanging & 1 flying in the middle

Headed out

 My pictures of the inside are awful. Here is what is really looked like from a pro 

(stolen from the internet).

Our guide has been doing these tours for 20years and pointed out all the different types of rocks and how they looked like a variety of different people/ places/ things. Quite a few Christian references in here: Virgin Mary, Last Supper, Holy Family and even more Jesus representations. The pictures really don't do it justice. Our guide has even spent the night in the caves when scientists come in to do research he is their host. (He told us after we were out of the caves about the spiders and snakes.) We did see a black mamba nestled in the trees once we were out. A little creepy... but worth it! I definitely won't be spending the night in there, ever.

I'm so happy we went and saw this!

The next day our tour was to Honda Bay for some Island hopping. Again, incredibly beautiful. We started off at Star Fish island, named for all of the Star Fish living on the island! Shocker... We are not talking your simple east coast star fish either, these suckers are huge! And all over the place! We did some snorkeling here and saw even more beautiful tropical fish, which if course I know the names of none of them.

The ride out to the islands

Our captain & first mate. hehe.

 Just practicing my best "Chinese tourist" poses 

Matt made another new friend!

It was high tide so I didn't actually get any good pics of the star fish so I'm posting some from online... again. Embarrassing, I know.

Here's an example of how big the starfish are:

Haha, JK!!! This is more accurate. And they are all over the place.

After Star Island, we headed to the reef for some more snorkeling.

Our last stop was Lulu island. Another beautiful spot complete with diving board, relaxing beach and more snorkeling. All in all a relaxing day out on the different island beaches. 

Matt's flip

My toe touch. Honestly, I'm pretty proud of myself to drawing back to my cheerleading days. I know my form isn't great, but I still think Coach Michelle would be impressed. Ha!

One of my favorite parts of the Philippines was how colorful everything is! Seriously there are vibrant colors everywhere. Not to mention the people are so kind. I love being called "ma'am" everywhere I go! :)

You might be surprised to learn that I got a little sunburnt. But only on the back half of my body. I could play red light / yellow light without needing to say a thing. So we are off to our next spot and I'm looking pretty great.

Adios Palawan!

Philippines - Palawan - Puerto Princesa

Welcome to Palawan!

Well, first we had to get there... Not sure if anyone saw my Facebook post about enjoying the luxuries of Business Class on the way to Manila. Matt booked that portion of the trip with his status and points. This was my plane view. Even a little icing on the cake with Daniel Craig.

Now this is Matt's view on our way to Palawan... I planned this portion of the trip. Sorry Matt!

Luckily, there were some fun games on the plane and Matt even won this awesome Cebu Airlines pouch! I think that made up for it...

After the great flight, we arrived into Puerto Princesa on Tues afternoon. 

Our B&B picked us up at the airport and we started on the quick journey through the town and then back into the jungle/neighborhoods where or B&B was located. To be honest we were a little sketched out by the journey and thought we might be in for a scam in the back alleys of the Philippines, but then out of nowhere appeared this cute little spot in the woods! The Palo Alto.  


Without anything planned for that day we just lounged by the pool. This turned out to be a great plan because we made some fun new friends! One couple, Sarah and Anders actually also live in Shanghai (oddly enough) and Ben and Kelly were from Cambridge. Both really fun couples. After pool time we headed out to dinner which turned into bar hopping which turned into clubbing. We made our way to Tiki Bar which had the most interesting band playing a good amount of Celine Dion, then some Whitney Houston and even a little Michael Bolton. What a treat! 

is that the kind of music you would expect to come out of this band?

As we were celebrating Anders & Sarah's birthdays, Kelly & I requested "My Heart Will Go On" in dedication to their love. It was a real crowd pleaser. Sarah paid us back by getting every couple a flaming waterfall shot. 

After that things went a little down hill... For example, during the band's intermission, they played mainly HipHop / Top 40 music so when the "Wobble" came on, I promptly pulled Kelly up on stage and we performed. I was positive some of our new Filipino friends would come up and join us but no such luck. Just Kelly & I. Good thing the crowd kept cheering us on! 

After too much fun we hopped on our first "tricycle" ride back to the hotel. What an adventure! There wasn't enough room in the buggy and to balance the weight I had to sit on back of the motorcycle side with our driver. He was quite friendly. 

it's also very hot & sweaty in Palawan

Home Sweet Home!

Palo Alto at night, pre-Instagram

 Palo Alto at night, pre-Instagram

Then we were off to bed before our early wake up call for our first tour.