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Malaysia has a great food scene, the only downside (or not, depending) is that alcohol is either expensive/unavailable because of the whole Muslim-majority thing. There are day hikes you can do in Kinabalu National Park without necessarily climbing the mountain itself, and those don't need any permits. You can do some of them with just bus rides out from KK (we did this a couple of years ago). Maybe consider looking into Kuching in Sarawak too? It gets way less tourist traffic than Kota Kinabalu but we found it way more enjoyable. Lovely relaxed place with some beautiful colonial buildings and an actual sense of history, whereas KK got bombed to ruin in WW2 and is just a typical postwar concrete jungle. But there's loads of great spots in Malaysia - Malacca, Penang, Georgetown, Ipoh, Cameron Highlands.
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Feb 13, 2019 16:55
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Our new chemistry teacher is a Malay of Chinese descent and he has started brewing his own beer. I'm psyched to taste it.
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Feb 14, 2019 01:03
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Atlas Hugged posted:Our new chemistry teacher is a Malay of Chinese descent and he has started brewing his own beer. I'm psyched to taste it. Don't conflate Malay and Malaysian my friend or you might upset your cool new chemistry teacher.
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Feb 14, 2019 11:00
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Ah right.
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Feb 14, 2019 12:04
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Please confuse these as often as possible in front of both groups - and send video!
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Feb 14, 2019 13:45
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just say you're kidding and jangan tension
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Feb 14, 2019 17:42
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webmeister posted:Malaysia has a great food scene, the only downside (or not, depending) is that alcohol is either expensive/unavailable because of the whole Muslim-majority thing. +1 for Kuching. It's one of my favourite places in Malaysia, although... it's been about nine years since I was last there.
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Feb 16, 2019 08:24
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Philippines is a funny place. Ad-hoc everything! Need to board a local flight? Just go out the doors to the airfield and find the red plane sir. Careful when walking between the moving vehicles. Need to contact the local immigration office? The official email address is a yahoo mailbox. So far, I find it very funny - the answer to how things get done is just "somehow". I am about to do some visa paperwork, I hope I do not meet the side of "somehow not".
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Mar 3, 2019 08:50
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In my general experience in SE Asia, the thing that's unanticipated coming from like Japan or the US or something is the time factor. It's quite often not that things will or won't happen, or whether the end result will be correct, it's that there will be an inexplicable amount of time before the result can occur - and no one wants to, or (in many cases) will give any explanation for this that makes sense in terms of efficiency of the result, because the process involves people, and that's where the inherently selfish focus is. It's not the job to complete the job and produce the result, it's the job to maintain order within my hierarchy while helping myself, at the end of which ideally the job should be done - but, if not, I accomplished the other things and we can sort out the result part at the next opportunity that doesn't disrupt the order or my place in it. Within the context of the motivations and criteria that are involved it all makes perfect sense in its own way, it's just that the advertised process is overlapping with, but not identical to the actual process that's occurring.
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Mar 3, 2019 14:31
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So, I posted in here about a year ago to consider my first solo trip to Asia, only to chicken out on the Southeast region for Japan and Taiwan instead since I still felt like a naïve Canadian who gets lost easy. Now that I had a ball last year in baby mode Asia, I'm now re-considering my original plans. Gravitating towards Vietnam because it seems to have the most that interests me (love Asian food, cool hiking spots or signs of nature, and cultural centres, way less interested in nightlife, beaches or ruins). I have two questions about Vietnam. - How much is the heat and humidity going to effect my pasty white and overly sweaty ability to function in September? At this point it has become clear that I'm never going to get to go on vacation in the Spring in this region of the world so I was originally considering late October. However, I also would really like to see Sapa when there are still either green or yellow rice terraces and I also would like to hang out in Hue and Hoi An and am aware that the further into the Fall we go, the more likely a typhoon would ruin those plans. If I'm someone who definitely prefers things on the cooler side, anyone have any experience and can tell me to just suck it up and bear it or will I spend the whole time begging for mid-October weather? - Maybe a dumb question but how easy it is to find transportation on the outskirts? I have a weird knee issue that makes riding a bike a struggle and I am not certain I can handle a scooter in Asia. If I wanted to hang out in a more rural region like Tam Coc for a couple days, would I find myself stranded if I can't ride a bike to sites that are kilometres apart or is there always another transit option? I can live with an overpriced taxi or ride option.
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Mar 4, 2019 22:04
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ReindeerF posted:In my general experience I like the way you explained that. Very eloquently put- poetic even. kuddles posted:So, I posted in here about a year ago to consider my first solo trip to Asia, only to chicken out on the Southeast region for Japan and Taiwan instead since I still felt like a naïve Canadian who gets lost easy. Now that I had a ball last year in baby mode Asia, I'm now re-considering my original plans. Gravitating towards Vietnam because it seems to have the most that interests me (love Asian food, cool hiking spots or signs of nature, and cultural centres, way less interested in nightlife, beaches or ruins). I have two questions about Vietnam. It's going to be hot. Luckily Sapa and the northern part of Vietnam is much cooler than the south and you should be able to manage. Typhoons are a possibility, but I wouldn't let that deter you from going, just prepare for the possibility. Bring some quick drying clothes/shoes or flip flops and you'll be good to go. A little rain never hurt anyone. Finding a taxi/car shouldn't be Impossible in the more rural areas. Though it could be a challenge. The big hurdle is the language barrier, in more rural areas finding an English speaker may be impossible. What I would do is have someone who's fluent in English and Vietnamese write down some phrases/questions for you in Vietnamese so you can get your point across regarding getting a taxi. I was able to summon a minibus in a rural village with the help of a local. It might be a headache and cost you- but it is not completely impossible to have a taxi come get you. Whoever is accommodating you should b able to set that up. Going to cost you a good bit more than a motorbike would though, especially if the taxi has to drive a eile to get to you. In Vietnam money talks and you can make drat near anything happen for a 500k dong note I LIKE COOKIE fucked around with this message at 00:01 on Mar 6, 2019 |
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Mar 5, 2019 23:52
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I LIKE COOKIE posted:In Vietnam money talks and you can make drat near anything happen for a 500k dong note Yep. True of Vietnam, Cambodia, and the farther flung areas of Thailand. Extra money talks in populated Thailand. For the reasons Reindeer described.
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Mar 7, 2019 05:40
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doing a month in thailand this april bringing my road bike this time and i have a place to stay in chiang mai with a local i met last time i was over, actually she invited me back and shes even got a little nail salon business going on, spring fling 2.0 im going to make the most of it and do tons of cycling, all those drat mountains, treating it kinda like a spring training camp, at least while im in chiang mai i dont plan to stay the whole time in chiang mai and i dont plan to party quite like i did the last time i went i want to go to krabi and learn how to scuba, or another island, i love the islands they are next level and nothing like we have in canada, its literally a tropic paradise any recommendations for cool places to check out would be helpful, just in general, i have money to spend but my budget is limited but at the same time im totally willing to rough it if its cool i may end up riding from bangkok to chiang mai, but we will see how my legs feel and how i can move around my luggage numberoneposter fucked around with this message at 07:50 on Mar 7, 2019 |
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Mar 7, 2019 07:42
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numberoneposter posted:doing a month in thailand this april Up north: dunno how long it would take you but the Mae Hong Song Loop was fuckin awesome on a motorcycle and I saw several cyclists along the route. poo poo gets insanely squirrely and fun just north of MHS town. Also you sound like I LIKE COOKIE before his first trip to Vietnam, subbing a road bike for a skateboard and Thailand for Vietnam. If you're anything like him, you'll find your own cool poo poo, have an amazing and kinda unbelievable time, and become a resident expert.
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Mar 7, 2019 13:26
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People drive drunk, a lot, and don't respect the law in other ways. Make sure you are very visible with lights and clothing and always keep your eye on traffic. Make sure you can contact help if something happens too.
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Mar 8, 2019 04:21
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Gonna be the sensible boring one and say that while cycling from Chiang Mai to Bangkok would be an awesome thing to do, please don't. These are all incidents just in the last couple of years. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/singaporean-cyclist-killed-in-thailand http://www.samuitimes.com/two-british-cyclist-killed-thai-leg-round-world-trip/ https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1563778/long-distance-cyclist-killed-by-van-running-red-light Maybe take the train and stop off along the way at a few places? Thai drivers are insane and terrible, and the roads aren't cyclist friendly at all. Bardeh fucked around with this message at 09:11 on Mar 8, 2019 |
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Mar 8, 2019 08:12
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I mean that stuff happens pretty much everywhere, but yes Thai driving is the worst I have ever seen by a lot.
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Mar 8, 2019 16:09
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Nobody in my wife's family wears a seat belt when I go over there either, which is insane to me.
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Mar 8, 2019 16:17
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Fitzy Fitz posted:I mean that stuff happens pretty much everywhere, but yes Thai driving is the worst I have ever seen by a lot. People die on the roads all over the world, yes. The problem with Thailand is that it is much more likely to happen than almost anywhere else. You couldn't pay me enough money to go cycling on any decent sized Thai road. E: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate#List Only Libya has more dangerous roads. Bardeh fucked around with this message at 22:12 on Mar 8, 2019 |
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Mar 8, 2019 22:05
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Heat will be unbearable in April too.
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Mar 9, 2019 07:21
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Bardeh posted:People die on the roads all over the world, yes. The problem with Thailand is that it is much more likely to happen than almost anywhere else. You couldn't pay me enough money to go cycling on any decent sized Thai road. There's no doubt you are correct about Thai roads being dangerous, but the number of foreign cyclists who have died compared to the number of foreign cyclists there are is miniscule. Motorbike deaths happen constantly. Cycling lets you take back roads and ride deep in the shoulder and so on, and things move pretty slowly. It's not foolproof, but it's not a nightmare. It's a great place to cycle in most ways. I would recommend it, though keep your eyes peeled both directions all the time.
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Mar 9, 2019 19:25
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Finch! posted:I was in hospital on Samui with dengue, Have a college buddy who caught Dengue on PP during the rainy season. Said it was horrendous, hurt even to move his eyes left and right. How long were you hosed up, and how bad was it?
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Mar 10, 2019 09:53
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grellgraxer posted:Have a college buddy who caught Dengue on PP during the rainy season. Said it was horrendous, hurt even to move his eyes left and right. How long were you hosed up, and how bad was it? There are different degrees. The edges of the curve are basically light fever and aches on one end and hemorrhagic on the other. Hemorrhagic is the one that kills people, usually. In my experience, the middle of the curve just sucks, but if you drink a lot of fluids and have a healthy tolerance for discomfort it basically amounts to a lot of days where you would rather not get out of bed. Some important advice if you suddenly get a fever and chills and maybe red spots, but don't have congestion or other normal symptoms, is not to take anything that thins the blood - aspirin (actual aspirin), ibuprofen/nurofen, etc. It exacerbates the risk of hemorrhaging. Also, drink lots of fluids. If you're reasonably healthy, not an infant or elderly and you don't have a hemorrhagic case then it mostly is like being sick for several weeks without blowing your nose and coughing. The reasonably healthy people who end up in the hospital with a normal case are people who aren't properly hydrated and/or take blood thinning medications. Many people simply have a low tolerance for discomfort, not a severe case of dengue. If your case is severe you'll know it because your skin will develop blood red rashes and your organs will follow suit Of course, if you have an insurance card or cash and you go to a hospital in Thailand, they're going to admit you. It's not an indication of severity, necessarily. It's just the norm here to be admitted for all kinds of things that are outpatient in a lot of countries. Largely because why take the risk of not admitting? Still, it's usually not necessary. tl;dr: Dengue sucks, and in most cases that's it. Go to a hospital if you have flu-like symptoms. Don't take blood thinning medications. Drink lots of fluids (not beer!). ReindeerF fucked around with this message at 17:13 on Mar 10, 2019 |
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Mar 10, 2019 17:08
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There was one time where I might have had Dengue, but I never figured out if that was what was wrong with me, or something else. We took a trip down to Krabi one time, and the hotel had HUGE black and white mozzies in the room. I never saw one bite me, but day two or three I just felt...off. Minor aches, and a weird sort of brain fog where my vision was sorta blurred and I had no energy. It went on for long enough that I went down to a clinic where they took some blood, said 'your white blood cell count is high' and then gave me an antibiotic drip for some reason. It didn't help at all. It took me weeks until I felt mostly back to normal.
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Mar 10, 2019 17:33
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ReindeerF posted:tl;dr: Dengue sucks, and in most cases that's it. Go to a hospital if you have flu-like symptoms. Don't take blood thinning medications. Drink lots of fluids (not beer!). Good info on the blood thinning meds, I didn't know that and I would have been inclined to take ibuprofen. Last time I was in Bangkok, I took a walk in Lumphini Park around noon while wearing shorts. My legs got TORE UP by mosquitoes. I thought I was safe because them sumbitches are supposed to be most active dusk/dawn, but they hosed me up at high noon. I was paranoid about getting dengue after hearing my buddies horror story, even though it's far less common in Bangkok than down south. poo poo, you can even get Dengue in PR and FL now, guess it's just a matter of time. Maybe I'll actually wear the insect repellent I buy.
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Mar 10, 2019 21:23
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Ibuprofen does not thin blood
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Mar 10, 2019 22:28
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Got dengue or zika, doctor wasn't clear, after a trip to the islands off Sihanoukville (Ko Rong/KRS). Only tested for malaria, and negative. Lots of time in bed wanting to vomit but not vomiting, dizzy, weak as gently caress, not sniffling or coughing, just extremely hosed up and unable to move much. Lots of fluids and electrolyte packs, nonstop rest for +/- 3 days, hosed up and confused but slowly nursed back to health in a posh AF apartment rental in Saigon. A++++ would recommend spending mad cash on a comfortable spot to convalesce with/after tropical illnesses.
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Mar 11, 2019 02:48
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I got Dengue in Lombok, Indonesia. I didn't want to do a stay in hospital but I was there as a student and so the option I was given was stay in hospital or be kicked off the program if I didn't stay in hospital. It was the worst pain I have ever had in my legs though, was excruciating at first. Someone where I was living got Dengue a couple of weeks later, they just stayed home and watched movies for a week and I was incredibly jealous. Centusin fucked around with this message at 04:37 on Mar 11, 2019 |
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Mar 11, 2019 04:32
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I appreciate the road advice, my experience last time was about the same as you guys have said in that Thais are some of the worst drivers out there. I don't plan on touring but instead using Chiang Mai as a home base and riding Doi Inthanon among other routs, like a trip to Pai, etc. I rode a Honda CB300 over there last time and I was thankful to have the little bit of extra power to launch clear of the scooter mob at stop lights. I rode the Maesong Loop or whatever, to Pai, and Doi Sutep and the Grand Canyon lol, and some of the back roads all over the place. Did Pai -> Chiang Mai in less than 2 hours if you believe it. Ripped around the whole island of Koh Phangan on a Honda Grom. The place is great for riding a motorbike on. I did crash a scooter on Koh Chang, the surface is very slippery with all the tour buses and sand and concrete surface. The plan is to ride my bicycle but I'll probably get behind the bars of a moto as well. I think in terms of heat management if I leave early the numbers arn't anything I havn't done before. I just need to watch out for the late afternoon. The bike I'm bringing is an older frame I have and I'm going to build it up with some nice climbing gears. There were so many times during my last trip that I wished I had my bike, so here we are. Leaving on the 31st, I'm not stressing, but I'll be there before I know it so I'm getting all my ducks in a row and it will be a busy to get it all done. numberoneposter fucked around with this message at 06:14 on Mar 11, 2019 |
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Mar 11, 2019 06:10
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Something that has been a surprise to me was how lovely all the websites are in Philippines. I want to buy some company's product/service yet seeing a barely-functional half-assed website with outdated content is among the better outcomes. Even those that let me "order" something seem to just be forms that end up sending an email to someone. I would have thought that operating in a country with a huge population would increase the desire to have minimum-friction online sales experiences but it seems that everyone wants walk-in customers instead. Every service seems to have Whatsapp and/or responds reasonably fast to regular texts, which is nice, though, especially as the voice call quality here seems abysmal. I am in downtown Manila and yet the mobile connectivity is as if I were in some remote village back home in Europe. Not complaining, just sharing my learning. This place sure is pretty to citty-dweller me! They said it was polluted and overcrowded. To me it just feels like home. 
EssOEss fucked around with this message at 07:04 on Mar 11, 2019 |
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Mar 11, 2019 06:58
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simplefish posted:Ibuprofen does not thin blood
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Mar 11, 2019 07:49
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EssOEss posted:I would have thought that operating in a country with a huge population would increase the desire to have minimum-friction online sales experiences but it seems that everyone wants walk-in customers instead. There's a whole host of sociological things going on there, but one of the key ones is that there no desire to limit the human contact or decrease friction. It's actually the opposite, because the presumed foundation that exists for you, me, Zhou Q. Singaporean, Taro Tanaka and most of the developed world is trust. In cultures like the Philippines, the friction is part of the trust verification process - you've probably experienced the "make a deposit, take a photo, send over chat" thing if you've bought enough stuff. I'm not saying everyone likes the way things work, but they haven't solved the trust issue to the level where transactions can become fluid. Like I say, though, it's never just one thing. A lot of it's just old school thinking, no expertise, network cultures, etc. Still, given that Filipinos are like the backbone of the English language online marketing BPO world, I agree it's even weirder to see things so behind domestically.
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Mar 11, 2019 07:58
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ReindeerF posted:I know the doctor specifically told me not to take it because of the blood issue, so when I looked it up it says that the issue is that it affects the ability of blood to clot. Roughly close enough - just generally speaking don't take it if you might have dengue. Fair enough. I was going off the fact that it cancels out aspirin's blood thinning effect from what I read before, happy to stand corrected
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Mar 11, 2019 08:13
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grellgraxer posted:Have a college buddy who caught Dengue on PP during the rainy season. Said it was horrendous, hurt even to move his eyes left and right. How long were you hosed up, and how bad was it? I'd had a partial shoulder reconstruction about six months prior to getting dengue, and my shoulder hadn't given me any trouble or pain for about five months. I woke up one day and it was sore, but I'd also spent most of the prior day moving about one hundred scuba tanks between boats so I thought I'd just worked a bit too hard. The next day was the same but on the third day everything was sore - even my eyes. It took a couple of days for the blood tests to tell me what I already knew, and I was sent to Bangkok Hospital Samui for four nights. I was pretty wrecked - sore, tired, not interested in food or water. I was on a drip for most of the time and fed godawful hospital food. I had a gnarly rash, too, which was kind of hilarious when I was escorted onto the catamaran from Tao to Samui with a nurse holding a drip - nobody wanted to be near me. I think the long-term impact probably took about six months or a year to go away entirely. I was mostly just tired, but within a week or two of being discharged from hospital I was functioning as normal - but I slept a lot. 0/10, would not recommend.
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Mar 11, 2019 08:44
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Ally McBeal Wiki posted:Got dengue or zika, doctor wasn't clear, after a trip to the islands off Sihanoukville (Ko Rong/KRS). Only tested for malaria, and negative. Lots of time in bed wanting to vomit but not vomiting, dizzy, weak as gently caress, not sniffling or coughing, just extremely hosed up and unable to move much. Lots of fluids and electrolyte packs, nonstop rest for +/- 3 days, hosed up and confused but slowly nursed back to health in a posh AF apartment rental in Saigon. A++++ would recommend spending mad cash on a comfortable spot to convalesce with/after tropical illnesses. Are you sure you didn't have a bad case of food poisoning? I had the same thing a couple months ago. I only vomit if I move around when I get food poisoning so it is really hard to tell aside from what felt like a bomb landing in my gastrointestinal system for a week afterward.
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Mar 11, 2019 16:28
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Cheesemaster200 posted:Are you sure you didn't have a bad case of food poisoning? I had the same thing a couple months ago. I only vomit if I move around when I get food poisoning so it is really hard to tell aside from what felt like a bomb landing in my gastrointestinal system for a week afterward. Could have been, dengue and zika were the doctor's suggestions. That goofus also tried to diagnose me with scabies when he saw some scars on the back of my hand and I was so loving sick in his office I couldn't really answer him straight about when I got them. A couple days after the worst of the suspect illness passed I slathered myself head to toe in near agony with the permethrin cream "just to be sure." Did it again a week later "just to be extra sure." First couple weeks in Vietnam were lovely but I swear it helped make the rest seem like Candyland across the board.
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Mar 12, 2019 00:15
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Applying for a India Visa has got to be the most painful thing I’ve ever done in my whole life.
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Mar 13, 2019 18:45
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Tab8715 posted:Applying for a India Visa has got to be the most painful thing I’ve ever done in my whole life.
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Mar 13, 2019 19:01
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Tab8715 posted:Applying for a India Visa has got to be the most painful thing I’ve ever done in my whole life. It's not so bad, I've done it a coupla times. You can even pay by paypal now
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Mar 13, 2019 19:42
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Tab8715 posted:Applying for a India Visa has got to be the most painful thing I’ve ever done in my whole life. Tell me about it. We had to have an actual interview in the consulate in Chiang Mai for a loving tourist visa. Mostly seemed to be an excuse for the official to...be officious. I know it's a national pastime for Indians but holy gently caress it was a massive waste of time. India itself was really lovely though once we finally got there.
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Mar 13, 2019 20:42
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