the return of the junglist massive

haven't really sweated up here in the highlands, not til today anyway! went on a trek up around the highest peak in malaysia, into the 'mossy forest' which is something like 240 million years old? that's pretty fucking ancient if you ask me. it was ace, like a very moyst fairy wonderland, all crazy mosses & ferns & tangled roots & vines & pitcher plants which look a bit like an orchid but have a juicy sweet nectar floating in them which attracts bugs which they then EAT! but then there's these 2 kinds of spider that hang out on them stealing their dinner, and also birds that peck holes in them and drain out the nectar then eat the insects, and also some little tiny frogs that live in them too and eat the little bugs that accidentally wander in. and then the plant grows a brother which it feeds with the nutrients from the bugs, then when the brother is fully grown it sucks all the goodness out of the first plant which then dies & falls to the forest floor to return to the earth from whence it came. circle of life & food chain & man, i love this stuff!

anyway, that was easily the best part of my trip so far i reckon, i'd do it again in a second. we've also just enjoyed a tasty meal of weird snacks from the local market... sweetcorn with butter & some weird powdery substances added [maybe MSG?], rolls of coconut with crunchy brown sugar in the middle, all wrapped up in banana leaves, and two kinds of pancake - thin & crispy, fat & stodgy - with sugar, chopped peanuts & creamed sweetcorn [huh?] on them.... very tasty but the fat ones were too much for our bellies.

off to the beach tomorrow, pulau penang, i foresee swimming, more made-up scrabble & lots of napping in the not so distant future!