February 25, 2008

Perhentian Islands (MALAYSIA)

Beach Football and a Hellish Nightmare: Bed Bugs

I woke up at 5:00 am this morning itching furiously at my forearm. As I rolled out of bed to see what was wrong, I a ray of light caught my arm and I saw dozens of small bites. I was sleeping in only boxers for the night, and little did I know my bed was infested with nasty mites, better known as bed bugs. Looking up and down my body I saw hundreds of small, millimeter size red dots, marking the places I was bitten - even without looking I could feel the itching everywhere. Immediately, I took a 30 minute frigid-cold shower to ease the pain - refusing to scratch any more - and spent the rest of the morning in severe pain.

I joined the American girl from North Carolina, Jessie, for breakfast at a hostel overlooking the beach, propping myself again the railing to keep from upsetting the bites. The view from up here was amazing, and slightly made up for what I was enduring.

We ended up hanging out here for a few hours, and were joined by an English girl, Shanlee, waiting tables for her room & board and a Malaysian handyman, Halip, who proved to be the entertainment for the day. In his 52 years on this planet, he has picked fruit in Australia, visited underwater topless bars in New Zealand, been irretrievably lost in the London Underground, and stayed with gay friends in Bristol - a city he says to stay clear of!

Right when the sun was at its very hottest, Shanlee, Jessie, and I headed down to the beach to read and take part in some sun-worshipping. I could only stand the heat for an hour before retiring to Moon Light Bar for some spicy fried rice. I struck up a conversation with a Swedish couple, Salah and Sanna, who had a football between them, and we arranged to play a match on the beach at 5:00 pm.

Although it was only three of us at the start, by the time we started setting up goals our group had grown to a dozen people, and by the time the match started we closed the game at 20 people. Seemingly everyone under the age of 30 were out there playing with us. It was a great deal of fun - beach sports always are - and I forgot all about my itchy bites. Scoring goals, loads and loads of goals, always does that!

For dinner, I met up with Salah, Sanna, Jessie, an Australian (Jamie from the University of Melbourne) and an Englishman (Nick from Manchester.) I loaded my plate of fried noodles with diced chilies from the back - greatly impressing locals when I asked for my second helping - and recognized that my New Year's Resolution to give up spicy foods is impossible. Our late dinner turned into a late night of drinking as we decided to sample the local alcohol, called Monkey Juice. The closest thing I can compare it to is rum, and it sold for only 25 ringgit ($7USD) for a small bottle - whereas a can of beer is 10 ringgit ($3USD).

We eventually switched to a small shack, mysteriously known as Buffalo Bar, where we met six or so other people hanging out. However, I was catching the 7:30 am ferry, so at 3:00 am I called it a night and said goodbye to everyone.

Back in the hut, I laid my sarong, a bamboo beach spread, and a new sheet over the bed, hoping, hell praying, that there would be no more bites through the night.