Planalto Cycles

Let’s say this day was framed or structured or dominated by food?
We, that was Yuhsuan, her mother and me, started with a tour to the tanjung bungah “wet” market, where you also had a food court. Yu Hsuan made a round with me, showing and describing what you could get there, and in the end, I had a big collection of different foods, one better than the other.

It was: veggie pao, corn pao, char koey teow (noodles), green bean paste cake (green beans but yellow), sweet fried bread. Eating up everything was still no problem! ?
We went to the fruits market and bought some local Nangka and Longan, and another bunch of bananas.
We went on to the Penang hills, took the “tram” (a slanting cable car) and made a walk there. The view down of course was great!

…and Hsuan was infected by the working men sign virus and found small ones on a map.
Of course, there also were other nice signs.

it is so intense, I would suggest “no vomitting” (Dilarang muntah)

On top of the hill, there was a fancy restaurant with a special interpretation of Xmas regarding tine (it was mid of November) and decoration

Walking on, we came to a shop selling a special mixture of yellow beans and cracking somethings, Indian “murukku”.

And only a few meters away was a place with the next highlight, creations of ice cream, fruits and shelved ice. There were plastic advertisements looking very realistic and a sign telling “don’t touch!”

At the food court, my friends had seen that I don’t leave food (I even ate up there soup), so they wanted to show my what they had learned 🙂

We went back to the cable car and had to wait half an hour before we could go down.

Back in the city, Hsuan brought me to Armenian Street in the old town, especially to a place with graffiti, one of them showing children riding a bike that in fact was standing in front of that wall. We had seen many t-shirts with this motif in shops everywhere.

Now, you could see people making photos with that bike.

During a rainfall, we had some Taiwan wheel cakes

and a few meters from that place, we had rojak (fruits and cucumber with a salty/sweet sauce) and laksa (a soup with again special noodles).
Now, a riddle: Which animal is meant with this old school Chinese character?

We went through some streets with similar “interactive” graffitis

and shops that are typical for a touristic area and then Hsuan fetched her father.
Now he was the driver to go to Batu Maung to have dinner at the famous Hai Boey restaurant. The are specialized in seafood but we got very soft Tofu and some vegetables, too.

On dish after the other came and build up

… and in the end, again all plates were finished! Then we saw relatives of that poor guy we had eaten. I am no Vegetarian, only at home I avoid buying meat, but on the trip I decided to eat what the locals eat and take a Vegetarian alternative it is at hand.


Hsuan would have to get up early to leave at 5:45 for her job and I wanted to keep my diary so, we made the evening a bit shorter. I could not do too much, I fell asleep during typing and gave up.
Back to the riddle:

this time, I was not interested in rain, it was too soon before arrival, but there were clear signs…

This time, it was not the call for prayer that woke me up at 4a.m., it was the noise of my Chinese hotel owner or his family or whoever else was in the house. But at least some light sleep was possible for me for the next 1,5h.
I was not motivated for another breakfast at a restaurant, so I left Bagan Serai around 7:30. It was wet from a rain at night and the temperature was comfortable. So, I just cycled my way, making short stops for a photo sometimes but going on until 25km were done. Then, so my plan I would make a Spot tracking point (my new rule is, to turn on the SPOT every 25km), change my shoes (I start in my normal shoes and change to the biking shoes most of the time after an hour or so, when I make a first break. I prefer to use them, when I don’t have to stop too often) and have some street food.
The food came first, again noodles with an egg and two somethings that were slightly sweet but still fitting to the noodles and, according to the seller, traditional Malaysian food.

Then I turned on the SPOT and went on. Of course, I had forgotten to change my shoes what makes me feel bungling.
Originally, I wanted to try to reach Penang by one of those big bridges, that are said to be forbidden for bikes, but I even didn’t see a street sign to them and soon was near the ferry.

At that time, a heavy rain began to fall. The ferry was first filled with cars, then I was allowed to go and then came a crowd of motorcycles, the last of them making noise, to make enough pressure to those at the front, so that they also would get some space on the ferry.

The rain was so strong, that everyone standing near the side of the ferry got wet by the rain or by raindrops that were bouncing off somewhere.
After landing, it was only 11-something, so I decided to wait until the rain would stop as I had told Khoo, my CS-friend on Penang, that I would arrive between 14 and 15h, so I had time enough.

Half an hour later, I could go on. Still, I arrived too early. I decided to again go to a restaurant down the hill that I had climbed .

view from the restaurant down to the floating mosque

They had a buffet with many different vegetables and although I was not that hungry at that time, I enjoyed a big portion and climbed again the hill. Meanwhile, Khoo had messaged me, that she would be later, but I didn’t want to go down and up once more, so decided to wait there and do my business as usual, only outside and as long as the battery allows.

my out door office

Yuhsuan came, and when I now change from Khoo to Yuhsuan, then because by the way I learned that this her first name and Khoo her surname, only for Europeans she had used Khoo as a name to call her.
In the apartment, we talked a bit and played a bit guitar. One song, Yuhsuan sang and I played the chords. Her mother, Lin, came home, who only knows a little English, and Yuhsuan translated. Lin is from one of those Taiwan People who lived there before the Chinese came and Yuhsuan also learned a bit of her mother tongue. And after 7, we went down to meet Yuhsuan’s father, who went with all of us to a Taiwanese restaurant. He is good in English, he, like his daughter, had been studying in GB for a while. He told me many interesting historical things.
After that very delicious food, we made a short round through the old town and Yuhsuan left to meet a friend.
At home, I felt very tired, ok, it was after 11, but in my theory the other reason is that when I reach somewhere, the tension and energy goes down.

I saw so many cars with interesting combinations of letters, e.g. “BMW” on a Toyota, and could not take a photo fast enough. The most seen combination was “WC”, followed by “PKK”. In combination with “WHY” and “WHO” and “AKP”, you could even make small political sentences. I also saw “MA 24 37” and all the time was looking for “MA 2412” (An Austrian Tv series, I never saw).
On this photo you see a PKW named PKW (PersonenKraftWagen = a technical term for car)

this rusty ship reminded me on Dubai…

Normally, I set an alarm, so I most of the time wake up just 15-30min before it. Otherwise I would wake up much earlier, because I get the feeling of being late. Today, I more or less slept until 6:45, because I had forgotten to set an alarm – the best what can happen to a neurotic like me, but I cannot do that on purpose.
Anyway, I was later than I wanted, because in the last days, I try to catch up with my blog by loading up one in the morning and one in the evening and there was no time left. Additionally, there is a problem, because Lulu’s photos from the i-phone have a different format and so far, I could not upload them to the blog.
So, I just packed up and went outside to the restaurant where I had eaten yesterday. This time, I chose fried noodles (with a bit of veggies at least) and a fried egg.
And then I was on the road. Today, it was mainly main road,

still near Sitiawan. first, it looked like one strange ship, but here are two

but some nice little roads in plantations and forests were in between.

Longan

I nearly saw more dead animals on the road then alive, a monkey, two monitor lizards and a snake. Another monitor lizard was swimming in one of those many canals accompanying the roads. When I stopped, he dove, and I waited and looked around to find him again. It was hot enough to give up and, in that moment, when I put back my camera to my bag, I saw him in the grass on the other side.

And with the gopro I could catch a group of monkeys crossing the street by cables leading from left to right.
At km48 I allowed myself another cool drink, because the old lady had smiled to me and waved hello and this was nearly in the right moment, because I wanted to do that at km50 anyway. For a self-test, I took all the ice cubes that remained after drinking and put them in my drinking bottles. When I was done, the lady brought me some more in a cup that maybe was clean or not. We will see (or feel) if this has any effect!
And at km90 I repeated this with a kind of chocolate-tea mixture and again I had cool water for the next 4 drinking sessions (we remember: every quarter of an hour I get something!).
So, if today nothing happens I feel safe for the future ?
Besides that, I had bought a bunch of these small bananas, because back in Vienna I don’t want to regret having not eaten enough local fruits, and later I bought a mango. It was hard, so I asked if it is ready for eating and they gave me a slice of such a mango. It was white and a bit sour, so I took only one to test it with my protein mixture.
Since I had started the Malaysian tour, I came along houses all looking very similar to each other: Three-story and rather narrow and with an incredible (artificial) bird noise.

Later Hsuan explained me that there bird nests are produced so I imagine (but don’t know!) that that sound should attract the swallows to come (back)
On my further way, I heard that sound also from some normal houses and saw swallows flying around, maybe a proof for this theory?

One of my new rules (I always invent something like that!) says, that after km100, I am allowed to look for a place to stay. The first I saw, was a homestay and I wanted to try that again. The man on the phone was friendly the price (~12$) ok but he had no wifi and for my “work” this is important. So, I went on and after 5km I found the first hotel. It looked like a mixture of the first and the second on this trip and the price was exactly in the middle and the bathroom in some way, too. The shower was complete but this time, there was no sink.

In fact, I don’t need a sink, except for brushing the teeth or so. It is easier so than to do it under/with the shower without getting wet all over. But this is not paradise where everything is perfect, it is reality where you learn to make compromises and again, I keep in mind that I luckily have no bigger problems!
The owner had suggested to take the bike in the room, so I don’t have to take off the bags. A nice and considerate thought! Only the corridor was so narrow with some corners that I am not sure what would have been faster – taking off the bags or “sieve” the bike to the room.

I tried to cut that mango, but it was obvious that it is totally unripe, be it white or yellow inside, so I finished my little bananas, six were left.
According to my new tradition, I went to a restaurant for dinner. I had fried noodles, but I didn’t see some of the hot peppers in it and got burned although I had vegetables to dilute it. I also drank a lot and now I wonder about the effects and my self-test with the ice-cubes is corrupted.
Ah – ice, that reminds me:
aiskrim, motorsaikel, basikel, teksi, kompleks and so on are some nice Malayan words ?

At 7:30 I left my cosy nest with its near to perfect bathroom. The market where I wanted to buy some fruits for the day, was closed. Maybe logic, after it was open at night…
The first part of the ride was similar to yesterday, parts on the main road and parts on those narrow but good roads through plantations.

And Mr.G wanted me to go through such a plantation to reach the ferry. But this one had not only a gravel road, it was private and at a barrier was an officer (on his shirt was written polis, but why should polis protect a plantation?) and he sent me back. This was hard! The ferry would have been in 5km and the detour that I now had to do was more than 10km additionally. Mr.G was confused, but after a while he found his way and after another while, “we” seemed to be on his original track. But then, I became suspicious, because the ferry should have been nearer, and I had to make strange turns. So, I consulted my phone and the offline map (maps me) and saw that the ferry was about 3km behind me. And when I made a U-turn, suddenly Mr.G squealed happily and send me back the road that he before had told me to go in the opposite direction, and he suddenly knew where the ferry was. So, it was the same game like yesterday, after losing the track, Mr.G has a strange concept how to bring things back into order. I thought, I was prepared this time, but still he could trick me, adding another 6km to the detour.
I said to myself that a bike trip is not meant to be completely without any problems and troubles and that unnecessary 16km are bearable. But I was not in best shape, I felt very hot and was not fast although it was totally flat and no wind, so this was an hour that I had lost and in the end of the today tour, I took the first hotel that I saw (~15$ but not exactly worth that)
At the ferry, the normal passenger where not allowed to enter the first time, because there seemed to be ceremony. One guy covered with only one white cloth carried a jar, maybe an urn, covered with flowers. He put it in the water in the middle of that river and some other white cloth, too. Then the ferry came back, and the passengers could go.
An hour later, I had my first heavy rain on the bike in Malaysia, it was only around 20min but of course I was completely wet and enjoyed

i said “I enjoyed”! don’t know why I don’t look happy. and my shirt doesn’t look wet, but it was – completely!

this relief from burning sun (and burning sun-burn from yesterday). In less than an hour later, I was dry, and the on-the-bike BBQ was continued until I found that place to stay.
To cool down, I made a stop and bought a coconut drink. I wonder where all those shops get their ice from and if my little digestion problem later has it’s cause here or from the big bananas I had bought in Sungai Besar and that are most probably more for cooking than for raw eating.
Today, I saw many animals, monkeys, cranes in white,

grey and black, a small and a huge monitor lizard (or the like, the second was thick like my lower leg and first I thought it was a snake or maybe it was, I just saw a part of half a meter and the skin was snake-like, only the movement was to fast to my opinion) and a dark (river?) otter. Besides the white cranes on a photo, I only could catch one monkey and the small monitor lizard with the gopro.
At the hotel, the manager spoke nearly no English, but in the end, everything was clear, and I even managed to get a place for the bike. Before that, he said I would have to leave it on the street. The room was better than that yesterday (price difference 5$), but the shower still did not deserve that name.

But when I stand exhausted, sweaty and naked in the bathroom, I am not in the mood to go down to complain, and did what had to be done, could be done and I needed to be done.
Food: first, I ate some of those little bananas, I had bought somewhere on the road, together with a portion of my high energy/protein-rich composition of nuts, seeds, dried fruits and chocolate that I had brought from Vienna. I had eaten most of it until Armenia, but since Iran I had no chance to eat it up, so I still have one pot and try to get rid of it to be free for all that food around here.

And then, I went downstairs to the neighbouring restaurant crowded by locals of all origins (Indian, Chinese, Malay) and bought a dinner. I could select between some things, took egg and rice and a too hot sauce on the rice and the owner estimated the price. The price was ok, and the owner said, I also could come for breakfast, he would be open at 7.
Back at my room, I continued my editing/uploading work. It is indeed work, because if I don’t do it every day, I would forget even more things than now, and I want to preserve this unique experience as good as possible. On the other hand, I know that it would be possible to enjoy it more than I can.
But I try my best and as a part of that, I try to make some stops to eat or drink something delicious.

in Iran, it was “a car stopped and….” here, only sometimes, a motorcycle caught up or stopped. He had seen a bike tourist last month and before, too. The GPS sends all of us through this lane 🙂

the last view from Fays’s home was extra nice

Surprisingly, I could sleep to 6a.m. although this new chapter of my trip excited me even awake. So, I even could take a shower after packing the bike, because this alone made me sweat. Faye made a farewell breakfast and together we left, she by car and I behind her (for a while).
The first 20km, it was going through

the cathedrals of capitalism now are higher than the religious buildings everywhere in the world

and out from K. Lumpur and after 30km, I came to villages and plantations and partly had narrow street with little traffic.
I saw my first bananas aside the street, additionally with a meditating little dragon, but during the selfie countdown of my camera, not only my eyes closed, he jumped away.

fake living scarecrows are dancing….

…. some real dead (or their ashes?) are lying here

Mr.G made only one ridicule detour after I had lost his track. I had found it again, but he didn’t accept. So, instead of the right turn that he originally wanted (as I later saw), he told to go left, and left and left, until I realized that I come back to the original route, but now Mr. G felt better and let me go.
At Km90 and km 95, I saw homestays, but I wanted to do at least 100km and it was only 15:00, so I went on. When I then started to look harder to find something, there was nothing to see and so I asked Mr.G for is suggestions and the next possibilities in my direction were 14km away. I was a bit tired, because I had not been cycling more than 50km since a month (to Lar, see day 90).
The first homestay looked nice, but closed and nobody took my call. I moved on to the next and got a call back but when I said what I want the woman hung up. At the next address, the man at first wanted 100$, then would have been ok with 40 and 30$, but I hadn’t so much in cash and by that a good excuse to go. The last homestay in that area was the original one that Mr.G had planned the route to, but this one was not to find.
On the way to a bank to withdraw new money, I found a hotel (25$) and later I saw other hotels, too and in the end took the first after the ATM, and that was a Chinese one where I had to go upstairs to the reception. They could only communicate in Chinese, but the price, 10$ was clear. I had some imagination what I could expect there and that was near to reality. The shower was broken, the owner showed me a big cup meant to pour water over you.

I asked for another room, but he shook his head. So, I did what has to be done, because I was tired and wanted to wash myself and was not interested in a performance as a mature consumer. The water was cold, of course, and made me fresh.

shared room…

…with shared soap (but I like this idea! Everyone in a hotel leaves pieces of soap that are only once used and I fear they don’t serve any other purpose after that.)

After that, I tried to upload a video, but the internet connection fits to the rest and is poor.
I left to buy a few things to eat and drink and now wonder if the bananas were comparably expensive, because they are or if I got a “special” price. Tomorrow, I will go to another shop.

In the morning, Lulu’s mum went to the “wet market” (called that way because you get fruits and vegetables and other non-dry things) and she bought a lot of things for me to try, so my breakfast was big and reach ?

Then we went to the shop to say good bye to Lulu’s father and to fetch her aunt who came with us to the airport where Lulu left to Singapore.

We will see each other in half a year which would be long in other cases but for travelers it is short enough to cope with it. She will have been in China with her dad and later alone in Iran in the time between, and I should have done all the way to Taiwan and “down” to Australia. Tomorrow, this biggest part of cycling will start!
The next stop was the train station for me to bring me back to KL. Aunt and mum of Lulu said good bye and we hoped to meet again. There was a time when I would have said this will not happen (and then so many things happened unexpectedly!), so I just wait for the future…

I made a short turn in front of the train station and took some photos, one of the Burma death-rail monument…

The system or train stations is like that I know from China, only less strict. You stay in the waiting area and only a few minutes before the train comes, you can go to the platform. You have numbered seats and the tickets are checked at the gate, but still, seconds after the opening of the gate most people rush there, forming a crowd as if the would have something to lose or gain.
This time, I would be prepared for the refrigerator temperature on the train but is seems to be less cold or my circulation is better than at night time or my Laptop is warm enough or a combination of all.
The train arrived even a little bit early and because of the training with Lulu, I easily found the counter for the inner city train KTM and could reach one train earlier. But still, it took ~50min from the Central station to Batu Tiga and 12min walk to Faye’s home.
There, I started preparing my stuff until Faye came home. She prepared a maybe easy and fast, but in any case, nice dinner and then we made a recording of two lines of the Bürgschaft (“The pledge” by Schiller) to continue the poem where Lulu and Lip at read. (see day 116). I wanted to cut a video soon after it, but since days Magix bothers me with an update, so I did it and of course that was a waste of time, but the internet was fast at that time and so I wanted to get rid of this problem.

It was a late evening, but my body made a normal morning, so I had time for typing, reading, uploading, business as usual. At least my blog post will be up to date soon.
We made a first stop for breakfast, eating toast, Lip and Lulu with liquid egg and I with Kaya, a sweet spread made of eggs, (palm)sugar, coconut milk and flavoured by pandane leaves (German Schraubenbaum, “screw tree”).
The picture doesn’t show “Schraubenbaums”, but “Trompetenbaums” (“trumpet trees”), that seem to grow here easily and need special attention in Austria.

We had tasted the beautiful strawberries from Kea farm market and they had little taste, even a bit sour. So, we hoped to get better ones at a second try and on the way back to Ipoh made another stop there.
But even the farmers themselves said, they wouldn’t have sweeter ones. At a place nearby, they were more persuaded by their fruits but they sweetness of the fruits still was not convincing. So, I only bought one box for Faye, instead of 3-4 (for Lulu’s and Lip’s parents and for us).
I just wonder why people grow strawberries at every free space if the result is not worth it.

At the chocolate factory, the strawberries didn’t even look nice and the price was double or more, so I took only lavender cookies for Lulu’s mum’s birthday.
I had been fallen asleep a bit when we made a stop to visit Gua (=cave) Tempurung. So I forgot my camera for this excursion and maybe this was good, because Lulu’s photos with her phone were really good! This cave was at least the longest of those three I head seen in Malaysia so far and without religious design, so nature alone made it impressive. There were 5 platforms to climb, each with a special name related to what you saw (golden flowstone) or heard (Echo) or felt (Wind) except the last, called “top of the world”. From there, you could look down to foggy and dark depths…
so, here come some of Lulu’s photos, maybe a third of what she sent to me 🙂

i say “Gua”

for sure there is an explanation why this photo is turned like that. But I haven’t got it

We went home and said good bye to Lip.
Lulu’s mum had birthday and so we had dinner outside with some special food, called Nga choi gai. It had two components that you would get everywhere in similar quality (noodles and chicken) but the soja sprouts. Have special quality in Ipoh and so this dish is a must-have for people coming here.
The birthday cake had to wait at home for a while, because everyone had eaten enough or too much.

8:30 Lulu’s friend, Lip came to pick us up. First stop was for breakfast in Ipoh. Then we drove to the mountains. There were some cyclists on racing bikes, because the streets are good, the scenery is nice and sometimes the elevation is challenging.
Our first break was at chocolate factory with a lavender and a strawberry garden.

Unfortunately, the factory itself was not open for visitors this day, only the shop with a variety of dried fruits, chocolate and combinations of both. I bought a Durian chocolate, I ate some pieces the next morning, it was stinky like Durian but when I read the ingredients, there was no Durian in it, just flavour. Whoever tried to copy that smell, he did a good job, but whoever made this chocolate had been a cheater…

Not far away is the kea farm market, were you can buy local products, especially those strawberries that are grown all around.

not sure, if this fly eating plant was for sale or just to eat flies

We also saw a special accommodation: little huts in rows. You paid maybe more for the fun or special experience than for quality.

By the way, not everything what they build there is a good view, maybe it provides one…

On a narrow street with great view, we drove on to the Boh tea plantation.

There was a little walk up to a hill with a restaurant on top. On the way up, we saw a group of people all dressed in pink t-shirts and orange sweaters.

It was a funny and colourful contrast to the deep green of the tea, however we thought to better be fast to get a seat. The restaurant was big enough for everyone, but we got a table at the terrace with even better view. We wanted a table for three, and three German girls wanted the same, so we moved two tables 50cm apart, but the waiter came soon to reunite them. Also, a second try later was fruitless, the tables just had to be joined! The cake tasted well in any case ?

Many people made photos of the scenery, but two couples made my day making selfies and her face was covered. At least by the colours of the clothes later they can tell if he took the photo with the right woman…

Heavy rain started, so we stayed a bit longer and watched the workers in the plantation fast cutting the tea leaves with big scissors and putting them in big bags, out in the rain that made at least me freeze.

Before we went to dinner, we stopped at Lip’s family’s airb’n’b apartment. We were three and there were also three bedrooms and without arguing each of us chose one ?
Next highlight was dinner in a restaurant in Tanah Rata, for hot pot!

We had ordered a vegetarian variant but had got a mixed one and as the corn and other stuff was missing, we got some things extra. At that time when we started dinner, I had felt cold, but hot por warmed from inside and by the steam and the pot also from outside. And we were full!
But people who know me, also know that the second stomach starts craving for a sweet finale. So, I was not sure if Lulu and Lip just agreed to going to a café or had similar cravings. We had a recommendation from the restaurant and went a while to find that place. When we finally found it, it was closed, and we went back, just to see a café under the restaurant we had been eating in (we had left through an under exit).
We had three different cakes with a clear ranking (carrot cake was best), some nice talk, also some Smalltalk with the waiter and went home.
Besides other things,

we made some recordings of Lip and Lulu reading a few lines from “Die Bürgschaft” (The pledge) by Friedrich Schiller. This was one of two project-ideas I had had for this trip, to have a mixed version of many friends citing parts of the poem.
I think it will not so much be a message of unity of all people in the world or other meaningful thing but fun to produce and in the best case fun to see and hear.

We went out for breakfast and bought a SIM card for my phone and at the furniture shop tried to activate the card. It didn’t work, so we went back to the shop. The seller explained that we would have to top up for general internet (Social media were included in the basic version). Still it didn’t work and after studying the conditions, he said we again would have to top up. (so far it was 10RM for the card and 2x 30RM for “normal” internet). When we left, I got 2 emails and thought it would be done.
We went to the Kek Look Tong cave and on the way, I tried to use ecosia (google for world improvers and tree fetishists) but it was impossible. So, there still was a problem and 70RM (~18$) enough to want to get it solved.
But first, we visited the cave, again an impressing natural limestone cathedral,

this time in Buddhist interpretation.

This cave had another entrance and there was a nice park. But behind the park, there was a noisy factory and another of these very special hills was abraded.

This is one of those contrasts or contradictions that sometimes shock me like here, sometimes fascinate or amuse me. (Factory on no good picture)

“forbidden!”-signs tell also something else or give something to think about. Here: no rabbits (?!)

On the way back, we had a late lunch at a buffet with so many delicious offers that it was hard not to exaggerate, because Lulu’s mum would soon cook dinner.
At the shop, first we tried to fix the phone, but as it did’t work, Lulu called a friend who is phone dealer and we went there.
He couldn’t do much and another colleague, too, but at least we then knew that there are the two systems GSM and CDMA and my phone uses the wrong one for Malaysia. There seemed to be no good remedy, so Lulu invited me for a tasty orange cake as a comfort when we walked around the old town of Ipoh.

here WAS some old town

Then we went back to the shop where her mum had cooked delicious food and after that, we read about CDMA. According to that, we changed the settings to 3G instead of 4G and the phone more or less started to do what it should.
The orange cake needed another interpretation ?

my mosquito protector?

The morning was dedicated to uploading blog and video updates. Then we had a first part of breakfast and brought my bike to a bike shop, because I was sure that after 2000km, I would need a new chain and new brake pads and I hoped to get my original bike stand back to the bike. But the man in the shop checked chain and brakes and said I could go on another 5000km with this chain and those brakes and that he had not the right screws for the bike stand. So, we went off again.
In an Indian restaurant, we had the second breakfast, some thin bread, and plain or filled kind of pancakes with some dips.

The music there was not inviting for having a nice time, it was monotone sing-sang, maybe religious or similar depressive.

…but their happy mood is stronger than depressive music ;)In a supermarket, we bought ingredients for cooking at home and again I was surprised how many things you can get there that I never had seen before.
In the early afternoon, we went to the Batu caves.
It is a very special natural place that is turned to a Hindu temple structure. In a flat area, suddenly a maybe 100-200m high rock-formation arises and the rock is formed in surrealistic ways and has some caves.
And here, long, coloured stairs go up to a cave entrance.

The cave is high as a cathedral and goes far inside the mountain. There, again stairs go to a second higher “room” and when you are up there, you see that it is open on top. On every possible place in the walls, some trees or smaller plants grow and all around are some smaller or bigger religious temples or places for worship.

comes the rock-star-pose from religion or is it the other way round here?

On the way back, heavy rain began to fall,

and Faye explained that normally the rain starts in the afternoon around 3 or 4 and goes on for some hours. So it was today, too.
At home Faye and Lulu started cooking and as they said the would do it alone, I again read, wrote, edited and uploaded.
From Berlin court I had got a letter after 5 months telling that my judicial entry of “reminder” should not have been refused (I really don’t understand the pros and cons justified there) and so the process can be continued which is very good for me. If the next steps also take so much time, it will continue until I am back in Vienna.
Food was great and then it was time for Lulu and me to go to Ipoh.
Faye brought us to the train station. I will come back after Ipoh and Faye and Lulu will re-meet in Ipoh in December, so it was no big farewell situation.
Lulu and I will arrive late at night but luckily her Mum will bring us home.