Sunday, 28 August 2011
Saturday, 27 August 2011
Wednesday, 24 August 2011
Busking in Kuantan
Monday, 22 August 2011
Malaysia
We cycled up into Malaysia over the causeway and spent the first night in JB in the first hotel we found, because it was getting late and the motorway wasn't the safest place to be. We set off in the morning along Highway 3, which is the only road we'll be on for however long it takes us to get up the East coast.
It took us a while to get to the next town Kota Tinggi in the heat of the day and we rolled in about 5. It had a good vibe. Malaysia is somewhere between Singapore and Indonesia in terms of many terms. Much cleaner than Indonesia and calmer and wealthier and more organised.
They have a big bazar in every town every night in August for Ramadan. They break their fast as the sun goes down (7.20pm here) and shop in the bazars before, so we started busking at the one in KT and we must have been the first buskers to ever play there. The people were very generous and one guy even bought us a hotel room! Which we swapped for his uncles house out in the countryside when he came along and gave him the money back. Still he bought us dinner. The uncle was a great guy. 65 years old, 8 children, 20 grandchildren, a widower, youngest son only 11. We stayed up late watching Man City vs. Bolton. There's more Premier League here than in England. It's the main sport.
This morning we got to Mersing which actually has westerners in and it was a bit touristy. we were here earlier and the bazar was bigger and we did even better - all the stall holders gave us food and the people were lovely. we're staying in a fleabitten chinese hotel without any stars but we can live off busking for the first time since australia so that's good news. Malaysia will work out well!
We're on the coast now and it's much cooler.
It took us a while to get to the next town Kota Tinggi in the heat of the day and we rolled in about 5. It had a good vibe. Malaysia is somewhere between Singapore and Indonesia in terms of many terms. Much cleaner than Indonesia and calmer and wealthier and more organised.
They have a big bazar in every town every night in August for Ramadan. They break their fast as the sun goes down (7.20pm here) and shop in the bazars before, so we started busking at the one in KT and we must have been the first buskers to ever play there. The people were very generous and one guy even bought us a hotel room! Which we swapped for his uncles house out in the countryside when he came along and gave him the money back. Still he bought us dinner. The uncle was a great guy. 65 years old, 8 children, 20 grandchildren, a widower, youngest son only 11. We stayed up late watching Man City vs. Bolton. There's more Premier League here than in England. It's the main sport.
This morning we got to Mersing which actually has westerners in and it was a bit touristy. we were here earlier and the bazar was bigger and we did even better - all the stall holders gave us food and the people were lovely. we're staying in a fleabitten chinese hotel without any stars but we can live off busking for the first time since australia so that's good news. Malaysia will work out well!
We're on the coast now and it's much cooler.
Friday, 19 August 2011
Heading to the party
Pool!
Thursday, 18 August 2011
Would you like a house concert?
I'll be back in Europe in November and will be booking a house concert
tour then. Would anyone like to host a show? (Check my website
www.thejackstaffordfoundation.com for info on a house concert.
tour then. Would anyone like to host a show? (Check my website
www.thejackstaffordfoundation.com for info on a house concert.
Last time I toured with the bicycle interail pass but it was too
expensive, took a long time and was quite difficult, so this time I'll
tour by plane. Also, last time the shows were donation-based, but
attendance fluctuated a lot because people said they were coming but
pulled out at the last minute, so this time I'd like to do pre-sale
and hosts to guarantee at least 20 people, as I have to book a flight
in advance. Unfortunately it isn't feasible to nip round Europe with
the bicycle and in November it wouldn't be fun anyway.
I'd like to have stayed longer in Asia. It's a breath of fresh air
Western Europe and the people are so enthusiastic. The weather is
great and the food is even better. It is very cheap to live, but
unfortunately the shows don't pay much, so I need to come back to
Europe to some better paying shows and then go again.
If you're in North America or somewhere else in the world and would
like a house concert that's still a possibility. I would have to have
a few bigger ones to get the flight over. Message me and I can see how
many responses I get, if it's worthwhile.
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Monday, 15 August 2011
Singapore
Arrived in Singapore. It reminds me a lot of London, same road markings, left hand drive, buildings, double decker buses, lots of rain.
The ride from the airport to town was something special, through the east coast park by the sea. People strolling along enjoying the good weather as the sun went down, and there are hundreds of container ships anchored there, so many that when it got dark their unbroken line of lights made it look like there was another coastline across the water. The biggest surprise was seeing everyone else riding a tandem. It turned out they rent them in the park and it's not typical of Singapore.
It's so clean! They call it a 'fine city' because it's very nice, but if you do anything wrong it costs $1000 minimum. A nice change after Indonesia, where littering seemed to be compulsory ;)
Sunday, 14 August 2011
Saturday, 13 August 2011
And that was Indonesia
We left at 6am to get a taxi to pick up the tandem from the station and then hire a bus to get to the airport, anticipating huge delays, traffic and problem but it all went fine and we're here hours early. Sunday morning thankfully. We waited at the station outside the parcel office for hours until we realised it was locked from the inside so the workers were asleep in there. Banged loudly and they came out. Taxis were too small for the tandem so we gave one of the small buses $30 (a small fortune) to take it over and the driver was over the moon. The airline has no problem with the tandem either, just $25 extra. Our stars were aligned.
2nd show
Friday, 12 August 2011
Jakarta
In the taxi to the hotel now after the mall gig. We just arrived in Jakarta a few hours ago and Bemmagz, an Indonesian magazine, are looking after as, organising shows, taking us round, putting us in a hotel and even feeding us. We're very grateful and we are waiting for the swimming pool, as we can finally wash our clothes. It's been a wonderful week but we're both pretty exhausted now. Either we've been performing, on a scooter, in a taxi on a bus or waiting to do one of the above. Hectic. Everyones so friendly and happy to see us that it makes it all worthwhile.
Thursday, 11 August 2011
Jaf radio
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
Gorging
Tuesday, 9 August 2011
Nasi
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