Night out in Cherating August 2, 2007
I am determined to finish chronicling my journey in Malaysia so, even though it is now January 26, 2009, almost a year and half since my trip, I will continue to blog my adventures and observations until the end. Fortunately, I had written it all down at the time, so it's just a matter of putting it in the blog now. The problem is that my laptop crashed, and I lost all of the data on the hard drive, including all of my pictures from my trip. I have searched, and I can't find my back up of pictures. I can't even remember if I had them on a flash drive or a CD. I know it will show up eventually, but I hope eventually comes sooner than later. For that reason, these next blogs will be without pictures for now. (It showed up! In January 2010!) So, back to Cherating...
My last blog left off with my determination to experience a little of the night life in Cherating. There are two bars on the beach. The one with the puppies is called Care For Cafe. The other one is right next to Muda's, but I have no idea what its name is. I never saw a sign, and later in my stay, when someone would ask me if I was going there, I couldn't for the life of me figure out what they were calling it. I will call it "Minum" (pronounced "me-NOOM") which is a toast in Malaysia like "Cheers" is in the US. Minum was my Cheers for a couple of extraordinary days of my life. The theme song for the TV show Cheers rings true for me when I think of Minum. Simple, safe, friendly, fun. They may not have been able to pronounce my name, but they new who I was and always seemed happy to see me.
I decide to go to Minum first because it sounds like a livelier place. I walk the short way to the beach and then down to the bar where the owner, Pablo, greeted me. Minum is what you typically expect of a beach bar. Under an awning is the bar and bar stools. The bar is just outside a small building where I assumed the beverages were stored, and the food was prepared. I heard they had the best banana pancakes, but I never got to try them. Besides the bar, there were maybe 10 little picnic tables and benches, and when I say little I mean "kid's table" little, in the sand. The bar area was lit with tiki torches. Pablo got me a Tiger beer, and I walked over to the tiny table and bench nearest the water which was still a good 10-15 yards away.
Just a little side note about beer...I mentioned that I ordered a Tiger beer. Tiger and Carlsberg are the most popular brands of beer in Malaysia. While almost everything in Malaysia is dirt cheap in comparison to the US, beer is not. To put it in perspective, the place where I was staying was 25 ringgits a night: the equivalent of less than $8. A can of beer was 9 ringgits: the equivalent of about $2.50. Imagine staying in a motel in the US for just 3x the cost of a can of beer. Since Malaysia is a Muslim country, their religious rules are intertwined with their secular laws. Muslims are not supposed to drink alcohol as part of their faith; therefore, in Malaysia, it is illegal for a muslim to drink alcohol. This means that most people who are drinking are the tourists so they jack up the prices. At least, that's my theory on why beer is so expensive in Malaysia.
As I was saying, I chose to sit at a table close to the water which was safely on the outskirts of everything else, minimizing my chances of being noticed. A goal for which I often strive. I know many people who know me superficially think that I am a pretty outgoing person, and I have no doubt that most of the people I work with think that I never shut up. These things can be true, but only after I have met someone. I am actually very shy when I don't know anyone and would never have the courage to start up conversations with strangers, especially in a foreign country. Fortunately for me, the two Dutch women and the one Dutch man at a table I had passed did not share my inhibitions.
As soon as I had sat down at my table, they came over and asked if they could join me. While I have no problem being alone, I welcomed the company. We decided to move to the next table which was larger and low to the ground so you were to sit on the ground. Pablo brought us straw mats on which to sit, and one of the bar cats (an actual feline) came over to be my friend. The cats in Malaysia do not look healthy. They are all thin and have sores and patches of fur loss. Most tourists wouldn't touch them, but I can't help myself so I had another new friend. The Dutch women, Jo(the J sounds almost like a Y and was short for something like Johanna) and Analisia (I think that was her name) had apparently been sitting next to me at dinner at the Bistro that night and were staying in the chalet next to mine. With my typical acute powers of observation, I didn't notice them at all. I tend to look more at places and things than people. In the same vein, the Dutch man named Sander had been turtle watching the night before, and we had ridden in the same van. Sander was also staying at the Payung guesthouse in the chalet across from Jo and Analisia. I had noticed none of these things. Let's just hope I never witness a crime because I'd probably describe every animal or building in a three block radius but be unable to tell whether the criminal was a man or a woman.
Incidently, Sander validated my paranoia and admitted that he also got concerned when we turned on that muddy, dark road during the turtle excursion. I just wanted to throw that out there.
We were all enjoying ourselves, Jo, Analisia, Sander, and I, talking about where we had been in Malaysia and what we had seen. Fortunately, they all spoke English since I don't speak a word of Dutch. All three of them had gone on the firefly trip that evening. They said it was pretty neat; although, it was impossible to get pictures. Sander showed me one of his pictures which was simply all black with orange dots all over. They also said that the mosquitoes were a nightmare so I was glad I had decided not to go. Jo, Analisia, and Sander were fascinating people. Sander was originally from England but had lived in Holland for over 10 years. He had been on "holiday" for 6 weeks. He had gone to Australia and was making his way, stop by stop, back to Holland from where he was moving to Scotland. I was so jealous. Jo and Analisia were born and raised in Holland, but as most Europeans seem to do, they had travelled quite a bit. They were on a three week holiday. They had just come from the Taman Negara which is a national park in Malaysia and the oldest rainforest in the world. They said it was amazing and they they had seen so many cool animals. An interesting little tidbit that they told me was that it cost 5 ringgits for a ticket to go into the Taman Negara and 1 ringgit to take a camera with you. That's nothing. In US dollars, it's less than $2. However, if you do not purchase the 1 ringgit ticket for your camera, you are fined 10,000 ringgits! And unlike in the US, it is not up to 10,000, it is 10,000 no exceptions. That would totally suck having to pay RM10,000 because you thought you would be slick and not pay the RM1 (30 cents) to take pictures. Before Taman Negara, they had gone to Pulau Redang (Redang Island) which they said was beautiful. It was much more crowded, but it was your typical tropical island with white sand, clear water, and great snorkeling.
We were joined later by their firefly tour guide, Iwan, and another local man named Dean. Dean was also interesting having lived all over the place, including New Orleans for a couple of years. Analisia commented on how nice the whole situation was. She said it was "keselecht" or something like that (it's actually spelled "gezellig" but it sounds like "keselecht) with the cht at the end sounding like you are hawking up a lugie (unpleasant, I know). They were impressed with my ability to make the sound, commenting that usually only Germans and Israelis can do it. Jo and Analisia said they could not think of an English word with the same meaning. Sander, who had a more extensive English vocabulary said there was no real translation. It kind of means "emotional coziness". That's what it was that night. Six strangers and a mangy cat sitting on straw mats steps away from the South China Sea, listening to Bananarama, drinking Tiger beers, watching Malaysian flame-twirlers, and sharing our stories. Emotional coziness.
Although I was enjoying the emotional coziness and relishing every moment, I decided it was time to leave my new friends and walk down the beach about 100 yards to the Care For Cafe to see the puppies. The difference in the atmosphere in the two bars was amazing. Minum had more people with a lively, festive feel. Since it seems that the late 80's have just made it to Malaysia, Minum played a lot of the fun 80's music like Culture Club and the Go-Go's. In contrast, Care For Cafe had three people there, 2 of whom worked there and oddly enough, one of them was a flame-twirler at Minum. It's a very small beach village. Their music was more rock n roll with Pearl Jam and Nirvana. But I didn't care how many people were there. I had come for a dose of puppy love. Three dogs belonged to the guys who worked there. One was an adult female, and the other two
were puppies from different mothers. That alone should give you an idea of the lack of animal population control in Malaysia. The dogs were like the bell over a door when it opens. Since the bar was outside with no door, they were the bell. Even though I had played with them earlier in the day when I saw them at the beach, they still barked when they first saw me. But then they remembered me and the brown one, Baik, who wouldn't come near me the day before, hesitantly approached me and let me pet him. We were making progress.
One of the guys got me a beer and the four of us sat around a big fire they had going. They didn't have a fire because it was cold. Trust me, it wasn't. They burn a lot of their trash at the end of the day. The fire was beautiful even though it was blazing HOT. The one customer who was there besides me turned out to be Canadian, complete with Canadian accent and all. He had moved to Cherating several years before. He had been a journalist, travelling through Asia for 16 years on assignments. He spoke three Asian languages: Malay, Mandarin, and one I can't remember. He went back to Canada for a few years and decided to move to Asia permanently. Cherating was his favorite place. He loved the personality of the village and, most of all, he loved the people he met who became his best friends.
After a little while, we heard a scooter coming up on the trail behind us. Nazri, who I had met at Muda's that morning, joined us making it a party of 5. Nazri asked me if I was leaving tomorrow, half laughing. He laughed because he was there in the morning when I was debating whether or not to leave. Apparently, it is not uncommon for people to come for a night and end up there for a week. I told him I was leaving, but admittedly, it was said with little conviction. He told me he was taking a group over to Snake Island to do some snorkeling in the morning and that he would give me a "good deal" if I wanted to go with them. Nazri was a bit like a used car dealer. His "good deal" was something like 30 ringgits instead of 35. I laughed at him. I ended up agreeing to 20, thus making my decision about whether or not I would leave the next morning. No. Our snorkeling trip would leave around 9am, and we wouldn't get back until noon or 1 pm. Of course, before I agreed, I did verify that Snake Island was not named for its large population of snakes. I was assured there were no snakes on the island; although, I still had my doubts. So with the knowledge that I would be staying at least another day in Cherating and that I would be snorkeling in the morning, I hugged the puppies goodbye and promised to be at the beach at 9am. I walked back to my chalet under the clear starlit sky enjoying the nighttime breeze off the sea. Emotional coziness.
My last blog left off with my determination to experience a little of the night life in Cherating. There are two bars on the beach. The one with the puppies is called Care For Cafe. The other one is right next to Muda's, but I have no idea what its name is. I never saw a sign, and later in my stay, when someone would ask me if I was going there, I couldn't for the life of me figure out what they were calling it. I will call it "Minum" (pronounced "me-NOOM") which is a toast in Malaysia like "Cheers" is in the US. Minum was my Cheers for a couple of extraordinary days of my life. The theme song for the TV show Cheers rings true for me when I think of Minum. Simple, safe, friendly, fun. They may not have been able to pronounce my name, but they new who I was and always seemed happy to see me.
I decide to go to Minum first because it sounds like a livelier place. I walk the short way to the beach and then down to the bar where the owner, Pablo, greeted me. Minum is what you typically expect of a beach bar. Under an awning is the bar and bar stools. The bar is just outside a small building where I assumed the beverages were stored, and the food was prepared. I heard they had the best banana pancakes, but I never got to try them. Besides the bar, there were maybe 10 little picnic tables and benches, and when I say little I mean "kid's table" little, in the sand. The bar area was lit with tiki torches. Pablo got me a Tiger beer, and I walked over to the tiny table and bench nearest the water which was still a good 10-15 yards away.
Just a little side note about beer...I mentioned that I ordered a Tiger beer. Tiger and Carlsberg are the most popular brands of beer in Malaysia. While almost everything in Malaysia is dirt cheap in comparison to the US, beer is not. To put it in perspective, the place where I was staying was 25 ringgits a night: the equivalent of less than $8. A can of beer was 9 ringgits: the equivalent of about $2.50. Imagine staying in a motel in the US for just 3x the cost of a can of beer. Since Malaysia is a Muslim country, their religious rules are intertwined with their secular laws. Muslims are not supposed to drink alcohol as part of their faith; therefore, in Malaysia, it is illegal for a muslim to drink alcohol. This means that most people who are drinking are the tourists so they jack up the prices. At least, that's my theory on why beer is so expensive in Malaysia.
As I was saying, I chose to sit at a table close to the water which was safely on the outskirts of everything else, minimizing my chances of being noticed. A goal for which I often strive. I know many people who know me superficially think that I am a pretty outgoing person, and I have no doubt that most of the people I work with think that I never shut up. These things can be true, but only after I have met someone. I am actually very shy when I don't know anyone and would never have the courage to start up conversations with strangers, especially in a foreign country. Fortunately for me, the two Dutch women and the one Dutch man at a table I had passed did not share my inhibitions.
As soon as I had sat down at my table, they came over and asked if they could join me. While I have no problem being alone, I welcomed the company. We decided to move to the next table which was larger and low to the ground so you were to sit on the ground. Pablo brought us straw mats on which to sit, and one of the bar cats (an actual feline) came over to be my friend. The cats in Malaysia do not look healthy. They are all thin and have sores and patches of fur loss. Most tourists wouldn't touch them, but I can't help myself so I had another new friend. The Dutch women, Jo(the J sounds almost like a Y and was short for something like Johanna) and Analisia (I think that was her name) had apparently been sitting next to me at dinner at the Bistro that night and were staying in the chalet next to mine. With my typical acute powers of observation, I didn't notice them at all. I tend to look more at places and things than people. In the same vein, the Dutch man named Sander had been turtle watching the night before, and we had ridden in the same van. Sander was also staying at the Payung guesthouse in the chalet across from Jo and Analisia. I had noticed none of these things. Let's just hope I never witness a crime because I'd probably describe every animal or building in a three block radius but be unable to tell whether the criminal was a man or a woman.
Incidently, Sander validated my paranoia and admitted that he also got concerned when we turned on that muddy, dark road during the turtle excursion. I just wanted to throw that out there.
We were all enjoying ourselves, Jo, Analisia, Sander, and I, talking about where we had been in Malaysia and what we had seen. Fortunately, they all spoke English since I don't speak a word of Dutch. All three of them had gone on the firefly trip that evening. They said it was pretty neat; although, it was impossible to get pictures. Sander showed me one of his pictures which was simply all black with orange dots all over. They also said that the mosquitoes were a nightmare so I was glad I had decided not to go. Jo, Analisia, and Sander were fascinating people. Sander was originally from England but had lived in Holland for over 10 years. He had been on "holiday" for 6 weeks. He had gone to Australia and was making his way, stop by stop, back to Holland from where he was moving to Scotland. I was so jealous. Jo and Analisia were born and raised in Holland, but as most Europeans seem to do, they had travelled quite a bit. They were on a three week holiday. They had just come from the Taman Negara which is a national park in Malaysia and the oldest rainforest in the world. They said it was amazing and they they had seen so many cool animals. An interesting little tidbit that they told me was that it cost 5 ringgits for a ticket to go into the Taman Negara and 1 ringgit to take a camera with you. That's nothing. In US dollars, it's less than $2. However, if you do not purchase the 1 ringgit ticket for your camera, you are fined 10,000 ringgits! And unlike in the US, it is not up to 10,000, it is 10,000 no exceptions. That would totally suck having to pay RM10,000 because you thought you would be slick and not pay the RM1 (30 cents) to take pictures. Before Taman Negara, they had gone to Pulau Redang (Redang Island) which they said was beautiful. It was much more crowded, but it was your typical tropical island with white sand, clear water, and great snorkeling.
We were joined later by their firefly tour guide, Iwan, and another local man named Dean. Dean was also interesting having lived all over the place, including New Orleans for a couple of years. Analisia commented on how nice the whole situation was. She said it was "keselecht" or something like that (it's actually spelled "gezellig" but it sounds like "keselecht) with the cht at the end sounding like you are hawking up a lugie (unpleasant, I know). They were impressed with my ability to make the sound, commenting that usually only Germans and Israelis can do it. Jo and Analisia said they could not think of an English word with the same meaning. Sander, who had a more extensive English vocabulary said there was no real translation. It kind of means "emotional coziness". That's what it was that night. Six strangers and a mangy cat sitting on straw mats steps away from the South China Sea, listening to Bananarama, drinking Tiger beers, watching Malaysian flame-twirlers, and sharing our stories. Emotional coziness.
Although I was enjoying the emotional coziness and relishing every moment, I decided it was time to leave my new friends and walk down the beach about 100 yards to the Care For Cafe to see the puppies. The difference in the atmosphere in the two bars was amazing. Minum had more people with a lively, festive feel. Since it seems that the late 80's have just made it to Malaysia, Minum played a lot of the fun 80's music like Culture Club and the Go-Go's. In contrast, Care For Cafe had three people there, 2 of whom worked there and oddly enough, one of them was a flame-twirler at Minum. It's a very small beach village. Their music was more rock n roll with Pearl Jam and Nirvana. But I didn't care how many people were there. I had come for a dose of puppy love. Three dogs belonged to the guys who worked there. One was an adult female, and the other two
were puppies from different mothers. That alone should give you an idea of the lack of animal population control in Malaysia. The dogs were like the bell over a door when it opens. Since the bar was outside with no door, they were the bell. Even though I had played with them earlier in the day when I saw them at the beach, they still barked when they first saw me. But then they remembered me and the brown one, Baik, who wouldn't come near me the day before, hesitantly approached me and let me pet him. We were making progress.One of the guys got me a beer and the four of us sat around a big fire they had going. They didn't have a fire because it was cold. Trust me, it wasn't. They burn a lot of their trash at the end of the day. The fire was beautiful even though it was blazing HOT. The one customer who was there besides me turned out to be Canadian, complete with Canadian accent and all. He had moved to Cherating several years before. He had been a journalist, travelling through Asia for 16 years on assignments. He spoke three Asian languages: Malay, Mandarin, and one I can't remember. He went back to Canada for a few years and decided to move to Asia permanently. Cherating was his favorite place. He loved the personality of the village and, most of all, he loved the people he met who became his best friends.
After a little while, we heard a scooter coming up on the trail behind us. Nazri, who I had met at Muda's that morning, joined us making it a party of 5. Nazri asked me if I was leaving tomorrow, half laughing. He laughed because he was there in the morning when I was debating whether or not to leave. Apparently, it is not uncommon for people to come for a night and end up there for a week. I told him I was leaving, but admittedly, it was said with little conviction. He told me he was taking a group over to Snake Island to do some snorkeling in the morning and that he would give me a "good deal" if I wanted to go with them. Nazri was a bit like a used car dealer. His "good deal" was something like 30 ringgits instead of 35. I laughed at him. I ended up agreeing to 20, thus making my decision about whether or not I would leave the next morning. No. Our snorkeling trip would leave around 9am, and we wouldn't get back until noon or 1 pm. Of course, before I agreed, I did verify that Snake Island was not named for its large population of snakes. I was assured there were no snakes on the island; although, I still had my doubts. So with the knowledge that I would be staying at least another day in Cherating and that I would be snorkeling in the morning, I hugged the puppies goodbye and promised to be at the beach at 9am. I walked back to my chalet under the clear starlit sky enjoying the nighttime breeze off the sea. Emotional coziness.
posted by Meredith @ 1/25/2009 11:32:00 AM
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