Singapore, a Zoo!

   I decided to re-visit Chinatown and pick up some good luck charms. It is 10 days away from their New Year and the celebrations have started. There are no rooms available (I’m OK there) but the streets are packed and empty with cabs are hard to find. I did succeed and returned to Little India where I showered again. I shower two or three times a day but I’m still pretty sweaty.

   At 6:30pm, I walked a few blocks to where the shuttle bus would pick up people to go to the Night Safari. It was on time and the trip took 40 minutes through some traffic. Night Safari is next to the Zoo but not part of it. There is a tram ride through the park and the line for it was 30 minutes so it was dark when I got on. The tram rides on a path past various exhibits that are not obviously enclosed so there is a wild feel about. It is very dimly lit so most of my pictures didn’t come out. The guide was insistent on NO flashes and he stopped the tram once to reinforce the rule. There is a “Little Emperor” condition where a single boy child runs wild and there were a few of those. One kicked my foot until I growled at him and his parents moved away but still let him run wild. After the tram ride, I walked the trails which were even better since they were often BETWEEN the tram road and the exhibit (much closer!) I was very thirsty at that point and had a $4 lemonade (beer was $13!) I got back on the shuttle bus and after 105 minutes of heavy traffic, the driver gave up and said we are in Little India and pointed off at a 45 degree angle. A couple of the main streets were totally blocked off for a religious ceremony today. The first three policemen I asked had no idea    ( or didn’t understand me) as to where my hotel was. It is on a main road. Finally one said “very far” just what you want to hear at 11:3opm when you are hot,tired and sweaty. I walked over another street that had accessible traffic on it and grabbed a cab. It took another 10 minutes of traffic until the driver gave up and said it just two blocks ahead. I remembered the area and he was right. It was amazing the amount of foot and car traffic at midnight! The Indian and Chinese celebrations must be horrendous.

   I went out today for a $4 hotcake at Mc D’s and then went to see the “parade” There were a number of small floats carried on the shoulders of a single man. Looking closer, I saw many had a metal skewer through both sides of their cheeks which had to hurt if they let the load shift. My camera battery died then  (doesn’t it always!)  I recharged it and went back! The festival is Thaipusam and it’s banned in India! Most of the male marchers have multiple piercing, hooks, etc. They are also walking barefoot on the hot asphalt. They do this to give thanks for answered prayers (Lonely Planet) This was a very interestin day and I’m leaving for home tomorrow morning on a 6am flight. I’m probably not going to get a lot of sleep for the next two days so wish me well. This will probably be the last post from Singapore but stay tuned, I might post from Tanzania, Africa if I can find active Wi-Fi’s

Singapore (Clean but Expensive!)

   It was a tough day yesterday although it started well. The bus ride from KL was on an 18 passenger Deluxe Express bus. The seat was perhaps better than that in First Class in airlines. It was a power seat and laid back to near flat. We stopped once for lunch at noon. did the Emigration/Immigration thing at the border and arrived in Singapore at 4pm (Heavy traffic!)

  I went to the hostel I had stayed in previously and it was full. The Manager walked me around all the other hostels and hotels in the area. All were full or expensive ($120!) and you all know Cheap Chuck. She called another hostel in Little India and it had ONE bed left. There or the street? I went out to the busy corner and had no success getting a cab (others had problems too) I finally got one after 15 minutes of pitiful cab flagging.

  I got to the hostel in Little India, paid $16 for my bed, carried my packs up the stairs and checked out my top bunk in a 16 bed room. Think of 8 bunk beds in a 12X15 foot room. I dropped my gear and went out looking for an alternative since I’ve decided I’m too old to sleep in a room with 15 other guys (one shower, two toilets) I found a hotel three blocks away for $80. I had no luck in negotiating a lower price for three days. I went back to the hostel to get my packs and refund but was told NO refunds even though I hadn’t stayed there for a hour. My $80 room is great although they charge extra for everything. Wi-Fi, free most places is $18/day here and not available in fast food places like in the US

   Singapore is known for SHOPPING! (lucky me!) There’s a Mall across the street with a gazillion shops,restaurants, etc. It’s four floors up and three basements. Makes sense if land is expensive. 

More later. I’m going to a Night Safari in the evening. It’s supposed to be fun.

Kuala Lumpur Part Deux

My trip is over in four days so I’m working my way back to Singapore. I’m in KL staying at the same hotel which is now $4 more expensive. I got a small piece of good luck wood to tap early in my trip to allow me to eat street food :) So far it has worked well!

   I remember eating a durian when I was in Thailand and not liking it much. I spent $2 today and bought a slice and I STILL don’t like it. It has a creamy, custard consistency and a burnt, rancid? flavor. All the hotels and guest houses have signs posted “NO DURIANS” At it ripens, it smells like what comes out of the back end of a sick dog. Graphic enough?

  I’ve been usually getting lemonade to drink at meals and I’m sure tap water is used. Cherries are very good (but expensive) at the Chinese market. My supper tonight was rice, a dark sauce with beef (turned out to be liver which I HATE),a chicken foot? and green beans in a hot sauce. It was with six skewers of chicken and beef. With the lemonade it was $3

It’s weird to be in restaurants where half the males are smoking. The restaurants are mostly open air but the smoke lingers. Smoking is alive and well in Malaysia among all ethnic groups and tourists too. I haven’t seen a lot of women smoking and of course, the Ninja Ladies would burn up their face covering.  I’ll be taking a six hour bus ride back to Singapore tomorrow and try to see a couple of things I missed the first time before I fly back

Cameron Highlands

  My hotel is a little shopworn but it has a six foot bath tub with a sloping back and real, hot water, not just a little coming out of an electric heater. The elevation here is 4000 to 5000 feet depending where you are at. The British imported tea plants from India and started plantations here. There are thousand of acres here and the leaves are NOT picked hand!

  I went on a laid back tour with two pleasant Brits. The one 40 year old?? had lost his job eight months ago and decided to travel the world for a year. I didn’t ask him how he afforded it but I was curious. We went to a tea processing center (bought nothing) a bee center (bought nothing) and a strawberry farm (bought a sundae) We then

 

We then went to a butterfly farm. I’ve seen a few but they are always wonderful.  We finished up at a Buddhist temple   the temple was very quiet and peaceful

  

  I’m taking a minivan back to KL tomorrow to start the wrap up of my trip.

Panang

I left Langkawi on a 2:45pm ferry and arrived in Penang three hours later. It’s hard to be positive about the town since I didn’t see a lot of it. There is a lot of history associated with it as it was the first British possession in the Far East, even before Singapore or Hong Kong. There are lots of museums, churches. etc but I get bored easily with those. My hotel room was one of the smallest I’ve been recently. The bed filled the entire room except for the entry room and shower. No toilet, that was down the hall! I may be a little cranky since I came down a cold. I used four handkerchiefs yesterday and I swear a liter of fluid drained from my nose. I didn’t sleep well either. I think it has settled in my lungs as I now have a dry, unproductive cough.

   Today, I took a van up to the Cameron Highlands. It was a four hour trip and the last hour was over very curvy roads  with a couple of 11% grades. Our driver was good but it’s a little scary passing on the inside of a blind curve. The flowers are beautiful here and it is much cooler as we are at 4000 feet elevation.  I’m going on another tour tomorrow.

Langkawi Part Two

   Today I went on the Mangrove River tour. We stopped at a fish farm where (surprise!), we saw some fish! The guide hand fed a sting ray and some other fish. We then motored over to an “eagle” site. Many of the tourist boats threw fish into the water and we watched the “eagles” (osprey?) feed. So much for letting nature fend for itself but it was entertaining. Further on, we saw some monkeys (fed them too) and then went through a cave full of bats (didn’t feed them) I always remember bats urinate as they hang from the cave roof right over my upturned face. Time to move on. We came back by the open ocean and our guide opened up the 200HP Yamaha outboard. An older Indian couple looked very nervous but everyone else liked the speed.

  After getting back into town, I ate lunch (fried noodles) and visited the Fish Doctor. I missed doing it in Indonesia and I had to make up for it. It cost $1.50 for 10 minutes of serious tickling.

Afterwards I stopped for a lemonade and talked with a Dutchman who spends the winter here with his wife. He had stories of WW II, serving in New Guinea with the Royal Dutch Marines. He spoke six languages including Malay and was teasing the waitress.

  I promised I would show you what is in my daypack. It ends up weighing 15# I bet with all the cameras, lap top, charging equipment, etc Tomorrow I’m going to take a ferry to Panang, an island a couple of hours south down the coast.

Langkawi

    I moved way north to a resort town on the island of Langkawi. It’s just south of the border with Thailand. It has some beautiful beaches and a lot of tourists, both Asian and Western. It’s kind of funny to see women on the beach tanning in skimpy bikinis next to Ninja ladies. There are a few swimmers that are fully clothed. My room in 100 yds off the beach and about $33/night. This place kind of reminds me of Cancun without alcohol. Lots or rentals of jet skis, kayaks, Hobie Cats, etc This place abounds with restaurants but I am sticking with local food. Tonight was Sweet and Sour fish with some really hot peppers, rice, and lemonade for $6

  That was yesterday, today I went on a snorkeling trip. Typically 45 minutes by bus, then 60 minutes by boat. The coral was really worked over but I got in the water before the hordes and swam out to the pier, then under it. There were lots of sea urchins, grouper and one barracuda. Lunch was pretty basic but filling. I rescued a sunken hat from the depths of 12 feet, my limit now days. I may bring it home as a cheap souvenir.

  Dinner was Indian with Nan bread and Chicken Massala. Tasty but spicy and it was good thing I asked for a little spicy, not a lot!

KL Part two

   I stayed over to try to see more of the sights around KL and was close to going by myself when two couples booked and we had a trip.

  The first part was to a Chinese temple and the second was to a Hindu Cave-Shrine. We also stopped to shop at a pewter store and a Batik shop. Prices were outrageous and no one bought anything.

  Earlier I went to the Central Market to check it out and found a charcoal portrait artist. A great, friendly teen with perfect sketches on the walls. So I had one made (as I do on trips) and the wall sketches weren’t his, I guess. Another portrait for the basement!

   Supper was Pad Thai at a Thai restaurant. I almost didn’t get in as the “greeter” (a little drunk) kept telling me they only served Thai food and I kept repeating that I loved Thai food. A waitress rescued me and the meal was fine.

   For those that are interested, here is what my backpack contains. My daypack has a lot of stuff too; Maybe next blog

The Hindu temple had a LOT of steps and a bunch of monkeys

KL (Kuala Lumpur)

  Yesterday was a travel day with getting on the ferry from Tioman at 7am, the bus to KL at 10am and getting a room at 5:30pm. I looked at three and the first two were bad and on the third floor (no fun with a backpack) The third seemed OK but it was the WORST bed I’ve slept in a while and I pride myself on having a high tolerance for beds. There was a support going down the center and I straddled it all night. I’ve moved to a much nicer place now. It’s easier to find one when you aren’t tired and carrying gear.

  Today I did a City Tour of KL. I saw the Twin Towers ($26 to go up) and it was booked until 8pm I skipped it. I went to the KL tower which was only $15 and no wait.I toured on a loop bus that comes around every 30 minutes so you could hop off- hop on. (In fact, the name of the company) There is also a nice aquarium here that I visited.

  I hung around outside of my hotel drinking lemonade for $0.50 each studying Islamic head coverings and here it is Most of the women under 30 don’t wear scarves. Of those that do, most just wear a head scarf that covers the hair and neck area. A few wear that scarf with a full robe. When it’s black, they look like Nuns! Then there are the Ninjas, black head scarf, black robe, and black face scarf (only her eyes will show) And then there are the Super Ninjas- Ninjas wearing black, wrap around sunglasses!

   After all that hard work, I took myself to supper at a local place. A full plate of food and lemonade for $2, then to a McDonalds for an ice cream cone.   Earlier in the day, I passed a shoe repairman working on the sidewalk and my favorite sandals have been PAST their last legs for years so I handed my babies over to him. I sat for an hour while he rebuilt the heel area and replaced the sole, all by hand. He only wanted $15 but I made him take $20 for all his work and materials.  

  Some shots of KL

Tioman

  I spent the day on Tioman and did the BIG tour. It was a personal tour since there was no one to share the cost. We went to the east side of the island by 4 wheel drive road (not really but it was bad in spots.  We then hiked to a small waterfall that is the drinking supply for a local village. There were monkeys and monitor lizards in the road and enormous stands of big bamboo

 

The east side of the island had a turtle egg rescue operation run by a guy from Boston.

He said he was unemployed in Boston and said why not be unemployed in Tioman running the turtle rescue. There was a 6 year old Green turtle born without eyes It’s doing OK but may be sent to a Kobe aquarium to live in a better environment. We finished up at a marine park where I watched barracuda annoy smaller fish. I chatted with the woman manager at my resort about the island, tourists and island Islam (she said 60% of the men drink alcohol) School is NOT free and uniforms are worn, white shirts and ties for boys and school is 11 months a year.

   It’s the monsoon season and they only run one ferry each day so I need to be at the dock at 7am. I’ll probably catch a bus to KL in Mersing, stay a night, then head north to another island group. If that’s not practical, I’ll drift into Thailand where I know what is happening.