South East Asia – Week One
We landed in Singapore at 10pm. The flight was great, very posh, we even had our own menu to choose what dinner we wanted and a bottle of bubbly to go with it. The airport is renowned for being the best in the world with even a rooftop swimming pool. To be honest we were more interested in getting to our hostel and getting an Indian! We caught the MRT (Train) to lavender where we got a taxi into Little India where we were staying. Although our taxi driver dropped us in front of the hostel we could not see it. It took us 15 minutes and asking 3 people to find it was literally across the road from us. Must be the jet lag that caused the temporary dumbness! The first thing we had to do was to take our shoes off, must remember that one! The hostel was nice, tiny room but it was a bed and we had air con which was sooo needed as the weather here was hot and humid. Even at 10pm it was in the late 20’s and the moment you step outside your feet are wet with condensation. We dumped our bags and went out for food. There were no Indians where we were though, eventhough we were meant to be in the heart of little india. We did find a 24 hours restaurant which even at midnight was still crammed with people. We had roast duck and rice for 1.50. After dinner we didn’t manage much else other than the quick walk home and bed.
Tuesday, we had breakfast with a Danish guy called Peter. It turned out that he was moving hostels today to the one that we had been recommend by Matt and Kate so we all packed up and walked there together. Although he said he knew where it was, his sense of direction told him to go the opposite direction, good job me with my navigation skills was there to intervene. Tom laughed all the way as Peter was about 7’ tall and towered above me. I looked funny with my giant bag and a giant man next to me. Once we got more into the heart of little India, you could smell it. Loads of spices and incense burning, it was like another world. We found the hostel and booked a triple for when Pad arrives tonight. We went out exploring the city and through the markets. There is loads of shopping here, all quite expensive though, even in the markets. No more shopping needed, just good to people watch. We hunted out a restaurant for tonight and were drawn by 2. One with a great Indian plate that looked lovely and the other, a barefoot dining, sitting on the floor type place. We opted for that one. We headed back to the hostel and stopped on the way for a couple of beers in this brilliant tapas bar where you sat on the floor on cushions. We had the upstairs to ourselves which overlooked the street below. They even started happy hour 3 hours early so that we would buy a beer from them! 2 beers later we couldn’t contain Toms excitement of getting to the airport to meet Pad so we got changed and then got the train over there. We were about 2 hours early and there wasn’t much to do or see there. We waited and waited. Even when Pads flight came in it took ages for him to come out. We were like kids with our noses squashed up against the window looking into the baggage reclaim section waiting to spot him. He spotted us first though and we ran in the hope that he wouldn’t see us. It was great to see him after 4 months with no Pad. I did get a bit of bag envy as his only weighed 13kgs in comparison to my 20kgs. We caught the train back, got showered, dressed up and then wandered to the restaurant. When we got there we were the only people there. The woman came and sat with us and practically chose our dinner for us. We tried to make a run for it but couldn’t think of a good enough excuse so were committed. We had been drawn in by the $3.50 beers, although now we were in it was only for one beer, cheeky bunch! The lady explained the hotness of the curries. 1 being mild and 6 being hot hot. Vindaloo was a 3.5!!! We opted for a selection, the hottest being a 4. Dinner was nice and the 4 was bearable. After dinner we went back to our beer place and had a few. We went to sit on the balcony and the waitress told us it was freezing out there, freezing, it was boiling even for me! It was a brilliant night and a late one!
Wednesday, i was awoken by a duo of trumpets. We got up and got to explore a bit. We wanted to move on from Singapore today and were hoping to find a way to get the Jungle Train to Koto Bharu that travelled during the day so that we could see the jungle. Before the bus / train shopping though we were off to Raffles for a Singapore Slinger. We walked all the way there decked out in smartness and shoes, by the time we arrived Tom had blisters, he's so used to wearing flip flops his shoes don’t work for him. Raffles was fun. All white outside with Indian doormen decked out in traditional Indian English attire. We found the bar and ordered our Slinger which cost 14 pounds!!! We blew our daily budget on 2 slingers, had to be done though. It was strange as it was the most stunning hotel and bar but the floor was covered in monkey nut shells as you are meant to just throw the shells on the floor after eating the nut so we tried to eat our body weight in nuts to make up for the 14 pound drink and added to the mess, feeling a bit naughty each time you threw one over your shoulder, not naughty enough to stop though! After the slinger we went wifi hunting to try to find a train. It didn’t happen though as you needed a Singapore mobile number to sign up for everything so instead we went back to our hostel and grabbed the next bus to Johur Bahru which is a town the other side of the border to Malaysia where you get trains and buses from to all over Malaysia. The bus was nice and empty and we filled loads of seats with our big bags. Then we stopped and were told to get out, we had no idea where we were but it turned out we were at the immigration point on the border. We dug around for our passports, got more stamps and then had to get back on the bus, however this time there seemed to be another 100 people all doing the same thing, we had no idea where they had come from. It was a big push onto the bus, struggling with the heavy bags and no one really helping or moving, it was every man for themselves. We stopped again and the next border check point in Malaysia and stayed off this time. We were now in Johur Bharu and we walked to the train station, once we had found our way out of the giant shopping mall it drops you in. We booked our train ticket for the next day, leaving at 8am and getting there for 9.30pm. It was exactly what we wanted and we were looking forward to seeing Malaysia from the train. We found a hotel and managed to get a twin room for the 3 of us, although the woman was intent on selling us only the deluxe family room which was obviously twice the price and us being westerners could obviously pay it, back to that again. The room was posh, even had its own tv, tea and coffee and ensuite. Once in and changed we went out in search for dinner. We first went to the waterfront where there were meant to be a lot of restaurants but we couldn’t find anything that was open, instead we found the best restaurant. It was a banana leaf restaurant which is basically an Indian that serves food on a banana leaf. The waiters all helped when we walked in, we asked for a plate and they invited us behind the counter to select what we wanted from the vats of different foods. Pad went behind and picked about 10 different things on the plate and so we had 2 plates of who knows what to share. The waiters brought over cutlery, but no one here ate with cutlery, this was an eat with your hand place and so we joined remembering only to eat with your right hand (as the left is meant to be for wiping a certain area!). Tom really struggled with this as he's left handed! By the end of dinner we had orange dyed hands but full tums. We paid and left and walked through the other market stalls. Everyone stared, we seemed to be the only white people around as people don’t tend to stay here, it was more a transport hub. The only place you can get beer is from Chinese restaurants, for religious reasons its not widely available but in a Chinese its plentiful. We sank a few giant bottles and then went back to the hotel. Tom and i shared a single bed, nothing new, but this one was tiny and only meant for one midget. We had an interrupted sleep and both pushed the other out of bed on more than one occasion, plenty of time on the train tomorrow for a quick snooze though!
Thursday we had a monsoon. We ran to the train station late after we were accosted by the hotel man who wanted to talk to us about everything, bless him. We arrived soaking wet through. The train was on malay time, ie late and when we got on it was fully air conditioned, not what you want with soaking wet clothes. We used the seats as changing booths and hung all of our wet stuff around the carriage. The journey was long but once we got higher up we passed through the Taman Negra Jungle which was out of this world. At Gemas we were joined by a crazy Ozzie who chanted ‘Gringos’ as he boarded, oh yes he had spotted the white men. He sat with us the whole way and im sure he didn’t stop talking for a moment of that. The majority of the time Tom and I pretended to be asleep, reading or deep in conversation leaving Pad to listen to him repeating the same stories over and over. He was a lovely guy but talked at a deafening decibel level and everyone on the train turned and tutted. He also talked a lot about religions and the Chinese, of which we were sitting in a carriage with, bit uncomfortable. He was called Graham and had left Oz 13 years ago. He had lived in Berlin and loads of other places and was currently cycling around Malaysia and camping outside at night. His plan for this night was to return to a town that he had camped at the week before and proceed to down 2 bottles of whisky on the train station platform in the most Islamic town in the area. Im sure they were happily awaiting his return. He was nuts, every time this little girl who was on the carriage walked his way he roared ‘hello daaaaaaaaaaaaaarling’ at her. If that was me, i would have squealed and run! We had 2nd class tickets which was comfortable and relatively clean, There were still cockroaches running along the floor and windows so dirty you couldn’t see out but it was ok. The dinner carriage was in front and getting to it was an experience each time. The doors were open and the point between the carriages was open with only rusty steps to jumps across. We spent a lot of time going into here for snacks and for our curry noodle lunch! Going through the jungle, Tom and I went to the back on the train where the door was open and leant out watching the world go by. Every time Tom leant forward to hang out of the door i was nearly sick, on the otherhand it was fine for me to do the same and i would say ‘no worries, don’t panic’ to Tom. Being the only gringos we attracted a lot of attention and the guys working on board had a few giggles and messed about every time we saw them, it all seemed in good spirits so we joined in. We were joined by a few of them as we neared the end and they practised their English with us, telling me that i was sweet and telling Tom that they hope he enjoys our marriage. We arrived late at about 10pm and negotiated a fee with a taxi to get us the 9km into town and to our hostel. Our hostel was still open and we booked in then headed out for dinner. We found a little cafe which was a bit westernised for our liking and had some dinner before retreating for the night.
Friday, Tom had been eaten alive. All that remained was a trail of destruction and about 30 mosquito bites all over his body. Poor thing was itching like mad. We went out in the hope of finding some breakfast but instead found that everything was shut on a Friday. Friday seems to be a religious day and so nothing opens till late. We had a wander about before finding a local restaurant where we managed to order Rotl Changi which is a flat bread with a curry dip and a coffee. Again we attracted attention and everyone seemed thankful that we had eaten there. We walked back to the hostel, had a beer and made some plans for our time. Our hostel had loads of cats and rabbits all running around. Some a bit mangy looking so we watched but didn’t touch. 2 cats started fighting, then ganged up on a gecko which they played to death, it was sad but we couldn’t interrupt. We then went out for further exploring down to some of the Islamic temples and grounds. After this we caught a taxi to the beach with Mr mat. He had to hot wire his own car and the noises the car made only showed how knackered it was. We seemed to roll there at about 20 mph and cars and push bikes overtook. We stopped for petrol and the staff in the shop pointed and laughed at the sight of 3 gringos in the back. We got to the beach after Mr Mat had given us the low down on Malaysia and the politics that surround it. We found out that 4 countries or states have oil and that all of the money made from the oil is tied up in Swiss bank accounts and doesn’t get to the people. Once at the beach we had some lunch. The waterfront is packed with restaurants all selling battered fish in all shapes and sizes on sticks. We found a busy restaurant and picked a selection of crab sticks, prawns, fish balls and cuttlefish. They deep fry them again to heat them and them serve them with chilli sauce and crushed peanuts. They were very nice. After this we strolled along the beach before calling Mr Mat to come and collect us. As we waited we watched the kites flying. There was someone commentating what we thought was a kite flying competition. It was only when Mr Mat arrived and we asked him that we found out that there was a snake show going on. He pulled the car over in a really bad place and we went to have a look. There was a cobra which they were pushing with their foot and then huge pythons which they taped the mouth shut on and other ones, all they enticed so that they would jump and bite. They then got out some oil which dissolved polystyrene and tried to sell it. We later found out it was like a deep heat oil, made from snake venom. Mr Mat was blocking 3 cars, 2 of which were trying to leave., We saw his car moving as someone tried to push it and alerted him that it was time to go, he didn’t care and wanted to stay but we were done and so practically dragged him back. He said that they were going to put a king cobra in their mouth next and we would miss it, think he was disappointed he had to leave! Dinner tonight was going to be at the night markets but we couldn’t find them. We walked for an hour and found the clothes market but no food. Seems food was off tonight. We found a little food place and had noodles and fresh apple juice. Was nice. Back in our hostel we had more beers and got the books out for Borneo. We were joined at the table by a 3 legged cat who wanted to snuggle up to us until...it sneezed, all over my book. The boys laughed and laughed, I was a little upset that the new Lonely Planet was now mucked up. Pad got up to go to the loo and Tom read his book, at that moment, the cat sneezed again, this time all over Pads book and over Toms trousers. Ha, thats Karma for you.
Saturday, we had an early start to get to the airport for 7.30am. Our hostel man took us, the cat wanted to come with us and sat on the bonnet for ages not getting off. We finally got there and checked in. Our bags were over their weight limit and we had to pay, bum. We found breakfast in the form of Cheese and chicken roti and a chocolate and banana roti and a tea and coffee. The tea here is made with condensed milk and so is sooo sweet. Yuk. Our flight to Kuala Lumpar was good, managed to get a quick snooze in. We then had a couple of hours in the airport till our next flight to Borneo. This is where we realised that we had a different flight back to Pad. We were flying on the 18th and Pad on the 19th, the error...down to me being distracted, making alcohol smuggles whilst advising on which flights to book last week! Oops! Air Asia weren’t much use when we asked if we could change the date. It cost more to change it than to just book a new one. We would worry about that another time. We flew to Koto Kinabalu and got a bus into town from the airport. We needed another bus from the bus station to where we were planning on staying, when we asked the bus companies they took ages to work out how to get there and what bus would take us there. Once finally on the bus, it took 10 minutes to get there, down a straight road!!! I over paid the bus man as he understood my 3, for 3RM (currency) instead of 3 people. I got my change though, with the help of the locals. When we got off the bus an old man told us to follow him and he directed us to where we were going, all because he had over heard us saying where we wanted to go. Very helpful and lovely people here. We found the hostel , It was another hostel where you had to take your shoes off. Tom and I had worn our walking boots to save on some weight for the flights and had 20kgs on our backs, 5 kgs on the front. I couldn’t see my feet, let alone take my shoes off. We sent Pad in for the negotiating. No rooms, more walking to do. We found one soon enough though and booked in. Then shut the door and blasted the air con to cool down. We had dinner at a place which looked nice, all beit a tad expensive. It was a place designed for tourists, not locals. The beer was expensive, 10RM, and when it arrived it was only a small can and the food was dull. Bit disappointed we walked ot the sea front and found a good bar which served 4 bottles of beer for 15RM. A few 4 bottles later we staggered home for a snooze in the ice box of our room.
Sunday was mission day to get our trip booked for climbing Mount Kinabalua. We got up and out late after a wee headache and a lazy breakfast watching films in the hostel. The market was on today so we had a quick wander round it and then headed to the various tour companies to negotiate the best deal. We found one deal which seemed too good to be true and booked it quickly. We were due to leave at 8.30am tomorrow for a 2 days and 1 night climb, we couldnt wait! After loads of worrying on my part that Pad only had his normal bag, we went for some late lunch at the indian resturant. We again got loads of stares but the food was good. We also got a trip booked to go down the Sungai Kinabatagan river in the jungle a day after finishing Kinabalua. We were all planned and set. Tonight was Skype night, then another few beverages of the alchoholic variety before spending the night packing the bags for the climb. We turned the air con down tonight, not soo much of an ice box...