07 May - 26 May 2009 Toronto

North America
People's Republic of Canada
Ontario
Golden Horseshoe 
Toronto M6G 2G5
Tyrrel Avenue 122
Guest room.


Click below for an interactive road map of our number-two grandson's birth place in Toronto:


 






Konni: Flying with Air Asia X (“Now Everyone Can Fly Xtra long”) in a red Airbus A 340 from Kuala Lumpur (KLIA-LCCT Sepang) to London (Stansted Airport) for MYR 1,024.- or US$ 288.- per person, one-way, all inclusive, and thereafter with Air Canada from London’s Heathrow Airport in a Boeing 767-300 to Toronto/Ontario (Pearson International Airport) for US$ 255.- per person, one-way, all inclusive, relatively near to the Mexican ground zero of a recent outbreak of the American swine flu H1N1 which has become both (i) a hyped-up pandemic, and, as replacement for the world-wide piracy hysteria, (ii) an overblown excuse for politicians to distract their voters from the deepest global economic recession since the Great Depression of 1929 CE, flying almost exactly half-way around the planet, crossing c. 180 meridians (thus adding my share to the XXXL carbon foot print of the up to 500,000 people that are on airplanes at any time), being issued with a 6-month visit permit to Canada on arrival (free of charge - welcome to Canada), and visiting for three weeks our daughter Ulrike, who gave birth on the 5th of May to our second grandson Tien, a healthy, 9.1249 lb or 4.139 kg heavy and 53 cm long great boy - congratulations, Ulrike & Chris.


Konni: Rediscovering a few almost forgotten life skills, like (i) building sand castles/baking sand cakes (with number-one grandson Raoni), and (ii) rocking babies to sleep (with number-two grandson Tien), both being tremendous fun.


   

Konni: Enjoying the impressive skyline of Downtown Toronto whilst ferrying from Jack Leyton Ferry Terminal near Queens Quay to the Toronto Islands, passing at a smart pace the Clothing Optional Beach Area which was already busy with many winter-hardened Torontonians, thereafter going up to the world-famous Glass Floor and Sky Pod of the 553-m high Canadian National Tower (“Canada’s Wonder of the Modern World”; senior citizen ticket: CDN$ 25.-, return), one of the world’s tallest towers, and taking in the most spectacular views of the magnificent coastline of Lake Ontario, Toronto's Harbourfront and Downtown Toronto on a wonderful and sunny day.
 
"Many formerly contented South African families have been torn apart by furious arguments over whether it is better to go to Toronto and put up with the weather, Los Angeles and put up with the earthquakes, or Sydney and put up with the Australians."

Konni: Flying with rock-solid Air Canada in a Boeing 767-300 from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport back to London’s Heathrow Airport for US$ 255.- per person, one-way, all-inclusive, and with Air Asia X (“Now Everyone Can Fly Xtra long”) in another signature-red Airbus A 340 from London’s Stansted Airport back to Kuala Lumpur (KLIA-LCCT Sepang) for MYR 1,024.- or US$ 288.- per person, one-way, all-inclusive, and being issued on arrival with my umpteenth 90-day-visit pass for a “social visit” to Malaysia, free of charge; once again selamat pagi, friendly Malaysia.

 
Click below for more blog posts about Toronto
28 Jun - 29 Jun 2014 Toronto
29 May 2014 Toronto
02 Jun - 01 Jul 2012 Toronto
01 Aug - 29 Aug 2010 Toronto

Click below for a summary of this year's travels
2009 Map Konni & Matt


Recommended books - click below for your Amazon order from Germany:

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09 May - 12 May 2009 Penang


Southeast Asia
Flawed-Democratic Federation of Malaysia
Penang Island aka Betelnut Island
Georgetown
Tune Hotel +60379625888 enquiry@tunehotels.com
Clean and adequate standard double room for only MYR 20.- or US$ 5.50 per night - a steal! Young and enthusiastic staff.
Click below for an interactive road map of the Tune Hotel in Penang's Georgetown, which we would recommend, and for directions:
N 05° 25.16' E 100° 19.63'








Matt: Taking a Rapid KL bus U81 from Kuala Lumpur's Pasar Seni Bus Station to Subang, about 25 km west-southwest of downtown Kuala Lumpur, and hereafter flying from Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport with Firefly (“Your Community Airline”) in a rather new and clean turboprop ATR 72-500 to Penang’s Bayan Lepas International Airport for only MYR 35.- or US$ 10.-, all inclusive and one way.



Matt: Watching a colourful and brightly lit float-and-candlelight procession in Georgetown, the bustling state capital of Penang (affectionately known as the “Pearl of the Orient”) and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, on Buddha Day aka Vesak Day (promisingly pronounced "we-suck day") when Buddhist devotees of various shades and ranks, a potpourri of Asian cultures and races, celebrate Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and death by carrying lotus-shaped candles, blue-yellow-red-white-orange Buddhist flags, luminous lanterns, fragrant flowers and smelly incense sticks, and by chanting monotone Buddhist prayers.

"Yes I am, I am also a Muslim, a Christian, a Buddhist, and a Jew."



Matt: Visiting the Kek Lok Si Temple +6048283317 at Air Itam, the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia, and climbing the seven-tier, 30-m high tower of its Ban Po Thar aka Ten Thousand Buddhas Pagoda which consists of (i) Burmese designs on top, (ii) Chinese at the bottom and (iii) Thai in between.



Matt: Exploring the many ornate kongsi (Malaysian Chinese clan houses, mostly Hokkien), recovering between each visit in one of the excellent-value eateries in Georgetown, hailed as the food capital of Malaysia, and tracking down Penang’s Malay, Chinese and Indian heritage in its unique cuisine (e.g. from yong tau foo [bean curd and veggies stuffed with fish paste] via assam laksa [fish soup spiked with tamarind paste and a mint garnish, served with thick, white rice noodles] to chee cheong fun [broad, paper-thin rice noodles that are steamed and rolled around a filling of prawns, served with a chilli dip sauce]) which is additionally spiced up by the cooking of a multitude of immigrants to Penang (e.g. Europeans, Armenians, Jews, Arabs, Japanese, Ceylonese, Javanese, Burmese, Siamese, Achinese, Buginese), and eventually trying to arrange and organise my overwhelming impression of bustling Penang from the 60th-floor observation deck (entry: MYR 15.- or US$ 4.-) of the 232-m tall Komtar building in downtown Georgetown.



Matt: Flying with Firefly (“Your Community Airline”) in a reliable turboprop ATR 72-500 from Penang’s Bayan Lepas International Airport back to Kuala Lumpur's Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport at Subang for only MYR 35.- or US$ 10.-, one way and all inclusive, and catching a KL Metrobus 9 from the airport back to Kuala Lumpur Sentral.


Click below for more blog posts about Penang

 Click below for a summary of this year's travels
2009 Map Konni & Matt

Visit the Konni & Matt online albums and order high res travel photos
Konni & Matt Travel Photos


Recommended books - click below for your order from Germany  
For your orders from the United States click here 
For your orders from Canada click here 
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Destination: ,

25 Apr - 09 May 2009 Kuala Lumpur


Southeast Asia
Flawed-democratic Federation of Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur
Golden Triangle
Tengkat Tong Shin A 28/25/F
Mutiara Villa Condos
Fully-furnished 700-sqft one-bedroom apartment (no. A-25-F) on the 25th floor for MYR 1,750.- or US$ 483.- per month, with balcony and free access to gym and swimming pool with Jacuzzi. Stunning views over the city.

Click below for an interactive road map of the Mutiara Villa Condos in Kuala Lumpur and for directions:
N 03° 08.77' E 101° 42.45'





  



Meeting Tilo and Herry, the German and Romanian founders and administrators of the informative travel website Backpacking Asia, realising that backpacking in comparison to perpetual travelling is like charter sailing compared with liveaboard cruising, and twigging the driving forces of Southeast Asia's booming backpacking industry: (i) the immense spending power of many well-off backpackers (...and their middle-class parents) who hurry from dorm to dorm during their holidays or sabbatical leave and who are keen to cover as many destinations in as little time as possible in order to enhance their status on their curriculum vitae, (ii) the desperate effort of many overegoed backpackers (during their quarter-life crisis) to overcome their subconscious xenophobia, which (a) steers them to overpriced and greenwashed backpacker ghettoes with names like "One World", "Rainforest", "Trekker", "Green" or "Eco", (b) makes them always double-check the seals of their water bottles, (c) attracts them to seemingly hygienic international (fast-food) chain restaurants with "Western food" instead of local (slow-food) eateries, (d) gets them ready to believe the silly travel warnings of the politicians and civil servants in their home countries and (e) holds "malicious bacteria", "contaminated water" or the "sickening climate" accountable for their self-induced psychosomatic sufferings, and, last but not least, (iii) the obsession of many blogging, tweeting or facebooking backpackers who are busy around the clock with their netbooks and smart phones in order to tell the Joneses about their adventures as travellers and as explorers (not as ordinary tourists, perish the thought) on this not-so-lonely planet: backpacking obviously means arriving … back home in Western Europe, in the UK, in Australia, in north Mexico, in Canada, soon-to-be also in Russia (including Poland), China (excluding Tibet) and in India, the world's fastest growing economy and democrazy.
"Modern tourist guides have helped raised tourist expectations. And they have provided the natives - from Kaiser Wilhelm down to the villagers of Chichacestenango - with a detailed and itemized list of what is expected of them and when. These are the up-to-date scripts for actors on the tourists stage."



Konni: Circumnavigating one half of the globe to Toronto/Ontario and changing temporarily my identity from a "perpetual traveller" to a "domestic helper" (an unpaid permatemp, alas) in order to assist our number-one daughter Ulrike who had just given birth to our second un-cloned grandson Tien at home (planned home births reduce the rates of obstetric interventions and other adverse perinatal outcomes compared with planned hospital births).

"I cannot follow you, my love,
you cannot follow me.
I am the distance you put between
all of the moments that we will be.
You know who I am,
you've stared at the sun,
well I am the one who loves
changing from nothing to one.
Sometimes I need you naked,
sometimes I need you wild,
I need you to carry my children in
and I need you to kill a child."



Click below for more blog posts about our grandchildren
01 Aug - 28 Aug 2010 Toronto
07 May - 26 May 2009 Toronto
24 Oct - 04 Dec 2008 Khao Pilai
01 Jan - 10 Mar 2007 El Gouna
01 Jan - 25 Aug 2006 Ashkelon

Click below for a summary of this year's travels
2009 Map Konni & Matt 

Visit the Konni & Matt online albums and order high res travel photos


Facing Malaysia
© Konni & Matt


Recommended books - click below for your order from Germany

For your orders from the United States click here
For your orders from Canada click here
For your orders from the United Kingdom click here
Destination:
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