I'll have malaria, with a diet coke

The thing I like about Malaysians is their willingness to help. If you ask a question they do their very best to answer, or find someone who will, or if all else fails, just agree with what you're saying. Yes, when they agree with what you're saying - that always ends well. Keep that in mind for the malaria story I'm about to tell.

So Annie got absolutely DESTROYED my mosquitoes - we don't know what it is, we don't know why or how, but her legs are covered in - a counted 478 bites. 
478.
Four hundred and seventy eight.
Ridic. 

I've put it down to her being juicy, but her legs look like the moon. They are all pitted...like craters on the moon. Chances are she's probably got malaria actually, even though Malaysia is not a terrible hot spot, we've passed so many rice patty fields, that it's enough to induce a sickening fear in all of us. Considering I yolo-ed it with no shots and medications for the trip, chances of malaria are high when we're roaming around rice patty fields at dusk just for the fun of it. And with that many bites, it's not even funny. Enjoy pictures of her while you still can. We met a local, who spotted Annie out from across the street and then came to talk to her. the conversation went a little like this;

"Hey, your bites, your bites!"
"Oh, yes...ha, I got bitten by mosquitoes.."
"You have malaria!"
"Uh...I don't think so..."
"You go to doctor!"
"Um.."
"You go to doctor! You have malaria!"
"Well...hang on..not actually.."
"You have malaria! You die!"

Okay old Asian man, ok.

O.R.I.E.N.T.A.L   V.I.L.L.A.G.E

So the roads here are hectic. Like, the traffic isn't as bad as Penang, or KL even, but people seem to lack a common sense with using indicators, and being a courteous driver, and I don't know, - having any awareness of anyone else on the road. In such a crazy place, I'd love/hate to know what the road toll is. You'd have to be crazy to driver here.

So considering this, we did the most sensible thing.

Rented motorbikes, of course.

If you know me well, you'll understand that I can barely ride a bike without falling off. A motorbike is indeed risky business. We rented the bikes for the equivalent of $7 for the entire day...and a gas fill up cost us $2 AUD. $2 AUD for a tank of gas. I shudder when I think of how much money a week I used to spend on petrol at home.

So we jumped on these bikes, and spent the day whizzing around the beaches, and through the jungle forests of Langkawi. An absolutely amazing experience. The island, to be fair, is actually quite small, so the traffic isn't too bad out of the city...mostly empty highways in dense jungle, or the roads are filled with other locals carrying bags of rice on their bikes, or tourists whizzing past wearing dinky helmets and taking selfies on the way.

As I have a need for speed, I soared up to over a hundred km/hr down some roads, and with the wind in my hair, the helmet slipping over my eyes and the genuine stomach-cramping fear that comes from riding a motorbike so fast - I had the time of my life.

We zipped through the jungles, passing cattle wandering the highways and chickens hanging out on the pavement. Lizards and birds surrounded the jungle, and the monkeys - oh the monkeys. I stopped to take a photo of them, after passing tens of different groups, and as soon as I stopped it was as if they all noticed and flocked towards me, running on their little monkey legs, screeching, arms outstretched. Given the rabies scare and my general bad luck with animals, I was pretty alarmed. Especially as the ring leader of the pack manged to get up to my bike and literally start climbing aboard...which then initiated panic mode (rabies, monkey bites, mokey on my bike, ect) so then I quickly revved the engine and took off, leaving the flock of crazy marsupials behind. 

Seriously. Watch Tarzan. The scene where there are like 50,000 crazy red-eyed mokeys chasing them through the jungle? That was me. Except with far less grace and swag than Tarzan.

We swam in warm picturesque beaches, drank coconut juice and ate noodles, before zipping on and off our bikes, enjoying the 30 degree + weather and the amazing views that the island of Langkawi had to offer. 

Me doing  handstand

Me being a beach babe goddess

L.A.N.G.K.A.W.I   C.A.B.L.E   C.A.R

So apart from the malaria scare, we're all chipping on fine and enjoying our tax-free lifestyle. Actually, having said that, I'm blogging from outside, under the crummy lamp in the humidity...and I'm feeling mosquitoes bite me and we speak. Whilst I'm scratching my legs with malaria in mind, -  gtg kids.