a german moustachio market

The German Market in Birmingham

Over the Christmas period the Germans descend on Birmingham for....

Massive long sausages (giggidy), Christmas gifts, gnomes, woolly hats, beer, mulled wine, giant wooden market stalls, hundreds of Christmas lights, advent calendars, singing reindeer, father Christmas, cookies, someone filling the fountain with bubble bath and creating foamy snow, moustaches (which by the way, Dave and Josh are sporty in a very creepy way), ANIMAL hats, cold winter nights, coffee and other delicious treats.

So the photos show: the creepy faces of two moustachiooo men, cocktails called ZOMBIESS, the giant advert calendar stall, sausages, a christmassssy-take on a very dull picture, rosey nosey beer, the stalls all lit up and a bit of a couply moment. 

My favourite moments: Sausages straight from the grill, my earmuffs, Dave walking into a post and telling a poor girl walking past, a Russian Olympist doing a back flip in the street, the foamy snow prank, Dave being called 'Manueeelll' and attaching a helium star balloon to Dave as he tried to understand where it was.

Also, I saw the Coke advert... which everyone knows means.... CHRISTMAS IS SOON.

Day 19: view day

Day 19:

Being a celebrity (and a cheap one at that)

Our day started at 7am, sooo earrrly that we were on the LRT with all the commuters on their way to work. I meanwhile, had wet hair and a bag full of cheesecake and butter cake from this amazing bakery down the road to our hostel. CLASSY.

We were heading to the Petronas Towers... only to have one horrible shock. Unfortunately, the Petronas Towers were SHUT for maintenance (until 2012) which meant we decided to walk to the Menora Tower instead.

The Menora tower is not free to go up but once you have purchased a ticket you get free entry into a variety of other attractions surrounding the tower such as: the F1 simulator, small zoo on site or a ride on a tiny pony. I have heard they are all pretty rubbish. We opted for the F1 simulator but it was not a simulator at all, as it was basically like playing a computer game in a small room full of F1 memorabilia... which also whilst I was playing a woman dressed in a Ferrari jumpsuit kept steering for me when I went off-course and shut down the game before I crossed the finish line!! I was that bad. So all the extras are not really worth it. However, the actual tower is pretty incredible.

You get clear and vast views across the city and also headsets telling you about the various buildings you can see. I would recommend going early as it gets crowded pretty quickly, which I found when I got absolutely mobbed by a crowd of Chinese school children who all wanted photos of me because of my pasty skin! ha! So there may be hundreds of photos of me out there somewhere, looking very embarrassed and PALE. (I was taking photos with them for about 20 minutes) However, after the tower we sorted out our bus to the airport (bad times) and got some lunch in the markets:

I got pork and noodles (pictured) called Loo Chin Min Lee Mee something (or it was like that, I hope that does not say something different as I have no idea what it means) except after about 20 minutes of struggling to eat them with chopsticks a woman had to give me a fork. I am such an awkward tourist. We also tried a Malaysian coffee which is made with condensed milk, which is soooo delicious! We found if you go to the markets this coffee is more traditional and we drank ours whilst watching a terrified cat peeing... niiice. We also loved the mental shops that were in Kuala Lumpur, like ones selling Christmas trees (in the baking heat) and random plastic things like a panda fan, angry birds stuff everywhere and other bright and tacky things. 

We bought numerous things like a chanel bag for about £8 and two bottles of perfume for £5 each, huuraaah! Hello bargain. However, the rest of the evening it poured down with rain (which was lucky considering how sunny the day was) so we made a dash to get food (meat in a bun!!! Followed by a portion of egg fried rice with all the leftovers of the day so I got some nice pork crackling salty extras) and beer. Some market man even sang "I need a hero" at me when I ran past squealing like a little girl, drenched. We then played card games with two Aussies from our hostel. I also may have serenaded them with my take of... ITS THE FINAL COUNTDOWN DANANANA.

This is actually one of our last days, so it really is the final countdown of days booooo.

movember update

This is Josh's moustachioooo week 3 of 4.

What do you think?

If you are having a little gander please donate:

right here

It would be much appreciated

do you know what is quite sad?

How much I love Frozen Planet.

 

 Other things I am loving currently:

My tapas dinner out, Josh's moustachio tickles, getting excited about interviews, my earmuffs, Asda's hazelnut truffle chocolate bar for only a squid, X-men deeply misleading me about Wolverine, my hot water bottle, cheap whiskey, my travel photos getting nicely backed up by Josh's clever hard-drive, the German Market selling sausages and beer, steak pie, pay day, my new stripey jumper that should arrive in the post anyday now, my onesie, waistcoats, the dancing diggers that are due to perform tomorrow (whaaattt?), the fight I saw in Greggs when getting my sausage roll, going home, spooning my lovely friends, my naughty calendar I bought Nia.

Also if this does not make you all squidgy and happy, I don't know what will

And 

On a little bit of a pooey note, things I got angry about:

Train fines, my current job that is draining me, angry people in the city centre, Polar Bears starving marving (it makes me sad), that Cancer research advert with the old man crying on the sofa, the cold.

Phewww.. the nice list is longer :)

Day 18: I see things...

I see them with my eyes, I see things often in disguise
KUALA LUMPUR 

Day 18: 

The Petronas Towers and me

The route to Kuala Lumpur was on a very colourful bus with snacks galore! We had: some bakery treats like croissants (I know its not Asian, sorry!) and these biscuits called Tak Sar Biscuits and some crisps called Miaow Miaow cheese crisps! Tak Sar Biscuits are like onion cakes, so crumbly it was like holding magic dust and pretty grim, but the day gets a bit weirder... when we arrived at our hostel.

We stayed at Wheelers Guesthouse, which is one of the best hostels I have stayed at! Its this really kooky hostel which is right in the heart of the markets and Chinatown. It has a rooftop bar and lots and lots of animals!! It had: turtles with snouts, big ugly fish, hundreds of goldfish, hamsters that can do back flips, hedgehogs, kittens and a mummy tabby cat and then randomly a monkey wearing boxers. It has warm showers and large enough rooms that you don't have to shuffle around. The communal areas are a massive plus too, especially when there are KITTENS playing around them. 

As we spent all day on coaches, we decided to take an evening stroll. We went to the night market and had massive noodles and I did my first bit of haggling for perfume (which later on, one of the flowers fell off the lid... mmmm the real deal). Then we took the LRT to the twin towers of Kuala Lumpur. The LRT is like a monorail/train above the city without a driver, ooo spooky! You can reach most things by LRT and the Petronas Towers are only a wee stroll from the KLCC stop. The towers are also surrounded by other really pretty lit-up buildings like the Menora tower and some coooool hanging lights (I am literally like a wide-eyed child on Christmas, I love lights!**).

By the evening we had found another Reggae bar (huzzaahh) and I had a bright blue cocktail and some more wandering. I realise now, most of our evenings ended like this. I hope we sound cooler than just a couple of tipsy people walking around strange countries getting excited about lights and towers BUT that night I had the best nights sleep evverrrr.

**When I was younger I could never fall asleep in the car as I was always looking out of the window at the lights on the motorway. That's good old electricity working its magic on keeping me awake. My parents hated this, in fact I think they are one of the reasons why motorway lights now are turned off at night. Well, its either that or my mum is the sole contributor to global warming in order to screw over electricity.

Day 17: crayon temple

The Lok Key Si temple or Kek Lok Si temple is perched on the top of the hill in Penang and its possibly one of the most hidden treasures of this island.

 

Day 17

The brightest day of the travels

The bus from Georgetown to the temple is super easy to use and quick however to get to the Lok Key Si Temple entrance you have to go up through this winding staircase of markets that's hidden within the food market, its a bit of a maze! We were lucky that the bus dropped us close to the bottom and a local man pointed us in the right way but you basically know your on the right track when you get to a little opening with a small bridge over a pool full of TURTLES.

The surprises just kept coming. The temple is so colourful its like walking around a box of crayons and you don't expect it from the outside! Also a cable car - or how they describe it - an inclined lift (ha!) - takes you to the top where this massive statue of the goddess of supreme bliss and tranquility is standing over the whole city. And the goddess really was doing a good job making the place nice and peaceful. There are lots of goldfish (which is a big deal for me), wishing ribbons you can hang on trees and its meant to make them come true, lots of random panda statues and other animals, golden Buddhas, colourful buildings and odd shapes windows.

I would really recommend a wee trip here :)

Afterwards we went for lunch in the local market where I dined on kiwi juice and some sort of yellow rice and chicken combo whilst Josh had a local dish called Laksa Asam. This is basically SOUR FISH STEW. yuck yuck yuck. He quite enjoyed it, I could not have hated it more.

We spent the afternoon walking around Penang (getting lost and being overly excited to see things) where we picked up Bombay mix from the Diwali celebrations and ate at the port whilst watching the sunset... dreamy/what a soppy fool! 

The Reggae bar was also a stop off point where we met a lady called Bree which makes me think of the cheese I was missing. Bree was a teacher in Thailand, there was another guy (forgot his name) and then there was this American man who was a doctor from Chang Mai... who was the weirdest man I have ever met. Drinking turned into a lot of drinking and we ended up talking with the group until American man got angry and so we made a smooth exit in order to satisfy our crisp cravings. Then it poured it down with rain which is when something horrific happened....

WE SAW A MASSIVE RAT.

It ran right past me, traumatising. So to not end on that note... check out this CAT:

I like the fact the shop lady also moved the sign to wherever the cat decided to sleep, which meant she had her work cut out. So that was day 17. TADAAA

movember

So, Josh is growing what looks like a bit of a creepy moustachiooo, all to raise money for Movember and prostate cancer (men's health).

Therefore I shall be updating his facial hair on this blog in order to:

1. Have a laugh at his funny moustache (and maybe wonder if he is in fact a hardened criminal)

2. Raise awareness for this cause 

and 

3. In case people want to make a donation... I shall pop a link on the end of the pictures so you can give any of your pennies towards it.

Also, moustaches are so dignified. Like my favourite man Lenin (who I named my pet shrimp after) and therefore me and my panda friend (in the picture above) are slightly jealous

He is sexy
 http://www.justgiving.com/creepy-moustache-fun

Day 16: fish and shoes

Day 16
The last of the beach days

Penang does not offer many beaches, but the ones that are on offer are FULL of little bars, restaurants, people and all sorts of water sports. Batu Ferringhi is the best one of the bunch and is about a 40 minute bus ride from Georgetown (bus 101). Although, because Penang is a little less touristy, many of the locals are still wearing full burkas and you feel kinda naked to be in a bikini, therefore we avoided the Muslim men who liked to have a stare and found a little spot to frolic in the water.

Batu Ferringhi is a long long beach and its fairly beautiful, but not a patch on the Thailand islands like Koh Phangnan. Its most famous for the water sports available and the fact it is one of the only unpolluted beaches on Penang.

We found a place called the Sunflower bar to have lunch and went for the catch of the day. We got an entire seabass with salted fish rice and it was INCREDIBLE. I am a fussy fish eater (ie. I don't really eat fish) and I ate so much that we licked the plate clean. We later went walking down the beach to watch all the water sports that were taking place (we later realised we had left the towel back at the bar and had to walk the entire way back). We were tempted to go banana boating but unfortunately we only had brought enough money with us for the bus home and so we just sat to watch.

However, as we were innocently watching a sky parachute water thing decided to crash land right where we were sitting, which cracked me up so much as we discovered Josh's shoes were under the parachute. We also had to try some random ice creams like Josh's banana one that actually had Jelly in and one that ended up tasting like a magnum. In Malaysia we found they put Jelly in most things, like DRINKS. This is a weird experience to be glugging a Fanta-rip-off and finding small lumps of Jelly in the can.

The rest of the evening we spent eating at a curry house called Kaspian in 'Little India' with the best curry I have eaten and an amazing array of dishes, also as it was Diwali then the whole city was covered in lights and fireworks were randomly going off. The walk home also included a scary guard dog barking at us, spotting rats ** (gross) and drinking at the Reggae bar. Trust me, Reggae bars are the place to go. Free drinks to lady travellers and a pretty decent atmosphere. We met the most people at these bars.

** There are a few rats in Penang, partly because they used to have sewers running around the city and although they are not used anymore they still make brilliant runs for the rats. However, don't let this put anyone off visiting Penang as they are rare to spot and also the city is gradually blocking off the old sewers meaning there are only a few remaining in the cheaper areas of town, away from the hostels and bars!!

Day 15: chicken lickin

Day 15
The good food route to Malaysia

Hat Yai is famous for Thai fried chicken and yellow rice. Its crispy roasted chicken with a special Thai spicy flavours over the most amazing yellow rice. We got recommended this place in the lonely planet and knew we had to go. So after booking our bus to Malaysia (Pulau Penang) we went for a massive lunch of Thai Fried Chicken in a restaurant brimming with people! Also, in Had Yai there was a big celebration going on so the whole city was decorated and randomly big floats would go past with monks on the back banging drums. It was very colourful and we wish we had longer to see more of the city.

However, the bus we had booked was a bit of a good luck as we ended up with the nicest bus driver and met a really funny American guy who was telling us all these stories about his travels. The border crossing into Malaysia was also uber easy. So arriving into Penang we were taken straight to our hostel and had time to explore.

Pulau Penang is a massive island that feels more like a city squished full of multi-cultures with a coastline. We stayed in Banana hostel near Chinatown (the cheaper area to stay) which was only walking distance to little India and had the most FANTASTIC food.

The Banana hostel was really busy and had a really massive bar area, however I would not recommend this as a place to stay. The air conditioned rooms (much more money) seemed to be in a building across the road and looked really pleasant, meanwhile the fan rooms (the ones we went for, about £2.50 a night) are up a tiny staircase and the heat is UNBEARABLE. There is no fan in the corridors and the lights are kept on all night which means you feel like you are sleeping directly under the sun (even with the fan in the room on all night).

We went out for food (obviously) to a little market place and just randomly selected treats to eat. We ended up getting fish balls although it wasn't their actual balls, deep fried pork, spring rolls, rice fish package thing, chicken satay sticks and freshly squeezed watermelon juice. The chicken satay man thought we were drunk because we were so eager to try the chicken! Later on we found a bar that was randomly showing Manchester United vs. Liverpool and so grabbed a few beers to watch. (It was odd seeing football back in England in the afternoon when it was dark in Penang). This escalated to me ordering Long Island cocktails in a bottle and being so excited by this that I ordered a fair few and then quite drunk I had to order garlic bread!!

This resulted in .... bad bad sleep. I first blamed my excitable mood and the fact I was pretty drunk off cocktails... but then the room's heat and the stupid light in the corridor that shone directly at me all night meant I barely slept at all! Josh had to get up through the night to make some sort of towel curtain to cover the light coming in and the fan was turned up to maximum (even though we thought it might fall off the wall).

However, I do like the name bananananananassss! 

Day 13 - 14: the half day and the night of disasters

Day 13
The day (well, half day) after the Full moon party

The next morning/afternoon we woke up and headed onto our little porch where our doggie companion emerged from under our bungalow, he slept there every night. However, we were not feeling so great after the full moon party so after a breakfast of hangover treats such as coke, we spent the day just walking around the coast and watching the sunset on a sand island thing in the middle of the sea. We only really felt alive after a shower and a pit-stop to the chicken lady who serves the most amazing chicken on a stick soaked in some sort of sauce (Josh's new crush). Then our evening was spent in a little place run by a guy from Manchester, with delicious Thai food and beer - the place came complete with a Thai baby who couldn't stop staring at Josh and was the centre of attention.

We then moved to the beach and watched this amazing thunderstorm that was happening way in the distance and dogs kept sneaking up on us to sit with us. A few more drinks turned us into deep meaningful people who were sad to leave the beach the next day.

Day 14
The day that ended in a massive strop

We had to get up early the next day in order to catch a boat back to Surat Thani and so we had one last prance and frolic on the beach and a nice breakfast before packing up and heading to the port. We got given stickers showing our destination and got onto the boat called 'Joint'. The rest of the journey we spent lying out on the deck with our feet dangling off the edge. Considering our last boat trip I got very burnt we suncreamed up. But even with suncream, my poor feet were forgotten about and burnt. Excellent.

Getting off the boat we boarded a coach towards Surat Thani. We then had a weird stop over in a shack where a little puppy was playing and we picked up the classy treat of Oreos, finally we found ourselves packed into a TINY minibus to Hat Yai by a very shouty man! This is where things build up on the Hannah strop-o-meter.

The angry bus driver continued to yell at us throughout the 7 hour journey, making us get out of the mini bus at random petrol stations and telling us to put our bags on our laps, leaving us with no leg room at all (especially with leggy Josh). We took some sort of University detour to pick up a girl taking (what looked like) all her room's contents in big white sacks which made the minibus even more packed and although we were due into Hat Yai at 10pm we didn't get there until gone midnight. We were dropped off by a random hostel the taxi man was trying to convince us to stay at that looked pretty scary and empty (not good signs). We found this is a normal trick bus drivers use and we were having none of it but when we tried to explain this to angry man he decided to drive off. Most people in Thailand are so friendly and welcoming, this taxi man was very angry and didn't really help us out at all. We were left pretty lost.

Then two motorcyclists offered us a ride which was very nice, but with my big backpack and handbag and the fact I am not a stable person I was not at all tempted. I kind of wanted to keep my body in tact, I am NO ballerina... I'm more Bambi on ice. We then walked around with my sun burnt feet killing me trying to find someone/anyone.

Finally we found a tuk tuk but Josh wanted to barter our fee and so made the driver drop us off at the train station that was meant to be a five minute walk to the hostel. (Even though I wanted to be dropped off at the hostel, by this point Josh's pride meant we could not go back on the deal). The five minute walk turned into a trek across the train tracks, going to a random food shack where locals who spoke no English crowded around our map and welcomed us into their home to try and help us. We realised they were friendly but didn't really understand us so we walked a bit further....

We then ended up in a red light district.

Meanwhile the local Thai man from the shack had got on his scooter and followed us to tell us we were on the wrong side of the train tracks and so we had to walk all the way back whilst dogs barked at us and the red light district ladiesss were all enjoying their evening.

At this point it was early morning, my feet were killing me and so...

I threw a massive strop

After a bit of cheering up we continued to finally find Cathay Guest House. We had a pot noodle and a beer before heading to bed but this is when I noticed our bathroom had a squat toilet and cockroaches.

I had another strop.

Unfortunately I was not in a good mood that day! ha ha. Although when we both got woken up at 8am by loud traffic and random trucks with speakers on - it made me giggle to see Josh equally as pissed off. We got up and tried to find some THAI FRIED CHICKEN. (Yes, we really would travel all this way for chicken)

Also, to be honest, Cathay Guest House has a lovely vibe, with a beer garden/courtyard and friendly staff but it is a budget place... so expect the quirky wake up calls of the street and cockroaches!

Day 12: the full moon bucket busting party

FULL MOON PARTY 2011

The Full Moon Party in Haad Rin is a massive party on the beach with over 20,000 people! ITS AMAZING!

Buckets of alcohol, glow sticks (and apparently Minnie mouse headgear), the best 10 baht toilet, dancing on platforms, drunk Aussies saying Josh looked like Brad Pitt and wanted to marry him, glow paint, finding Dom again in the crowd, dancing to Rhianna "make me feel like I'm the only girl in the world" with some girl, going down the slide, fire dancers, a random girl yelling about Alan, fire rope jumping - which looked really dangerous as one man burnt his face, spring rolls, spritzerrrr, dancing everywhere, people pissing in the sea and falling over - making us laugh, the strongest red bull I have ever had (it was like waking me from the dead) which is also how I made it to SUNRISE, Josh stealing a passed out man's hat, getting back to the bungalow at 10am!

And waking up the next afternoon at 3!

Day 11: Welcome to paradise

I know its cheesy BUT seriously, have you seen that beach??

Koh Phangan is incredible. Its one of those islands that has become really touristy due to the full moon party but has not lost its stunning beaches. I'm talking white sands, clear blue water and palm trees. (mum... you jealous yet?) I was really put off staying at Haad Rin (where the full moon party is held) so we stayed a bit further up the island in a lovely place called Liberty Bungalows, which for a sea view and private bungalow was only £3 each (300 baht).

The rest of the day was sun, sea, sun, crab chasing, food, sea, fanta, cats and dogs everywhere, beer on the beach and the food challenge: The food challenge is where we go to a 7 eleven and choose each other a meal that includes random foods that we could not get in England. I bought Josh pizza flavoured fish snacks and shrimp noodles. Josh bought me seaweed crisps and then... A CHEESE TOASTIE. Kind Josh!

We spent the rest of the night drinking on the beach and it was blissful.

I LOVE THE BEACH


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Day 10: palaces, pancakes, pirates, ports and paradise

Day 10:

Bangkok to the beach 

(I like alliteration today)

p.p.p.p.p.p.p.p

All night in Bangkok it rained and we had been caught in it, therefore I woke up craving pancakes (hint hint). There are loads of little stalls on wheels that normally sell these thin crispy pancake type treats but after wandering around I found no such delicious breakfast. I settled for a little Thai place and some scrambled eggs. nom nom.

Then we decided to visit the royal palace. There are a lot of locals who often surround the palace telling you that either: the palace is closed, you are wearing inappropriate clothing (too slutty!), to use the other entrance... etc... this is all a lie! I don't really know why they say it, but the palace is open daily from about 9-3 and there are clothes you can hire inside in order to walk around the palace. This is where Josh got his sexy trousers from:

The palace is really stunning inside and the most elaborate thing evverrrrrr. Also, even though it looks a bit dreary in the photos that's only because of all the rain the night before and it was still freakishly hot.

We had to catch a bus that evening to Koh Phangan (excitiiing) and so our day was kind of cut short. I managed to squeeze in a little pancake fun just before - banana and chocolate pancakes huzzaaah - and then we picked up supplies and headed to catch our coach. (This is where my tenuous link to pirates comes in... the film showing on the bus was Pirates of the Caribbean.) Anyways, we met a lovely lad called Dom and also had FRONT ROW SEATS... which for leggy Josh means we actually had a good night sleep with excess leg room. However, we were still woken up at 5am when we arrived at the port and waiting to board a high speed boat.

Dom had brought rum and beers for this little trip and it was hilarious seeing him tuck in at 5am. We also met the lovely Maddie whilst watching the sunrise!

The sun shining also meant I was ridiculously burnt on the boat.

Then we arrived to Koh Phangan our little slice of paradise... although technically that's day 11! (I'm so lame)


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