Last Night on The Biz!

So my last nights on the SV Monkey's Business are complete. The picture on the left is of my bunk right before I took down my pictures on the wall and packed. As this saddens me immensely, I am also excited to move on. My last nights were spent in Johor Bahru, Malaysia; a place I have passed through many times before. I had a completely different impression of this town this time around. The boat was docked at a marina in a nice part of town, Danga Bay, which probably had a lot to do with my different perception of this city this time around. While we were their friends of ours on other boats also arrived. It was like a little reunion from the beginning days of Sail Indonesia. It was nice to see them and we went out to the clubs one night together. We also made new friends while there. The guy who came to fix our refrigeration system, James, was this awesome Chinese man. He brought me around town my last day to help me run my last minute errands. I could have never done it with out his assistance! I would have never found 'bubble-wrap', I don't even think I could have explained what I was looking for effectively in their language. We then invited him and his wife to my 'going away' party/diner we were having. They obliged us by coming and they were terrific company! His wife was hilarious! Also in attendance was another couple Jason had met on the dock only an hour before hand. They were a young Indian couple interested in boating life.
For dinner we went to this group of hawker stands across the street from the Marina. The food was unbelievable! Definitely an awesome experience! In the end our 2 new sets of friends were such gracious hosts that James paid for everyone's dinner, then the Indian couple bought everyone dessert! It was true Malaysian hospitality they showed us. We were overwhelmed with their kindness. They also each brought cases of Heineken which we all went back to the boat to consume after dinner! It was amazing, we only knew James for a day and the Indian couple for an hour before we invited each to join us! They were awesome, I love the Malaysian kindness! Both couples just wanted us to have a good time on our last night together. They understood that we would all be missing each other shortly. How sweet! The party went until 4AM and I left at 6AM for the Philippines, where I am now. I miss Jason and Laurel already!