...arrived in KL on Chinese New Year (which also happened to be valentine's day but that of course didn't interest me). Considering the large Chinese population living in KL I was ready for a big celebration, but to my surprise the town was even quiter than usual as most stores were closed and people were at their homes celebrating with their families. Left KL a little dissappointed. My original plan was to head north along the western coast of Malaysia, making a couple of stops along the way and cross over to Thailand. But out of the blue I had the brilliant idea of cutting across the center, visiting a natural park, all the way to the east, where it was supposed to be less westernized and more Malay. So the city boy hit the jungle (and the jungle hit back)...
...I needed to cross the river to get to the waterfall. As I bent down to untie my shoes I noticed a wormlike creature crawling on my sock. Tried to pick it off but it was clinging pretty strongly, gave it a hard pull and got it off but this time it clung to my finger. After a few tries I was able to shake it off. Still not knowing what it was, went back to taking off my shoes and rolling up my panths. The scene I had to face as I rolled up my panths was something out of a horror movie. The stories my friend had told and warnings I had about these creatures suddenly flashed in my memory and instantly I knew I was having my very first encounter with the notorious leeches. There were ten of them clinging to my skin, sucking out my blood, my whole leg below the knee was covered in blood. The red stain covering my panths finally made sense as it was not from a tree trunk or plant I had rubbed against, which was what I had thought all along, but was my very own blood. Started to pull them off my leg while freaking out at the same time. Took off all my clothes, examined them and my body over and over again to make sure I had gotten them all and after half an hour or so I was calm and confident enough to put my clothes back on and move on. I inquired about them from a local guy I came across and he assured me that they were harmless, and were actually "good" for me as they were sucking out the "dirty blood". I decided I was happy with my dirty blood and hoped that they would stay off of me, but were relieved at the same time that I wasn't going to die :) ...
...if there's one thing in Kota Bharu to see it definitely is their market. Markets everywhere are refreshing, energizing and fun, but some of them have a vibe that sets them apart from the rest. And the one in Kota Bharu had that vibe. Situated in an octagonal building with three stories, it contained a great variety of things from squid to toys, from spices to silk dresses. But of course my favorite part was the food court. I think heaven must have a food court just like that one. Beef stews, chicken in different marinates, all sorts of veggies, and best of all the seafood. Crabs, squids, fish curries and prawns as big as a lobster, yummmmyyyy indeed...
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