so, for our last 2/3 days of our big trip, we decided to glam it and stay at Traders overlooking KLCC.
It's a lovely hotel, with great views of the Petronas Towers from the rooms as well as the Sky Bar / Pool. We met up with Nick Smith here for a few beers on our last night.
We disposed of all the old, travelled clothes and shopped a wee bit ready for our job hunt in Brisbane...\
Next stop, Queensland...
Friday 22 May 2009
Malaka
After leaving SG, we took the bus up to Malaka.
We didn't know what to expect from Malaka but it was so good we stayed an extra day. Malaka's history is as rich or more than Singapores. We stayed at Sunny's Inn, which was a great place to stay with friendly staff.
The Roti Chania's were great opposite Sunny's and we took in a couple of movies, a bit of shopping and the local museums. We also had a great couple of nights in Chinatown, getting home on the rickshaw's.
So, we had a great time in Malaka and then we headed for KL knowing our holiday was almost over...
We didn't know what to expect from Malaka but it was so good we stayed an extra day. Malaka's history is as rich or more than Singapores. We stayed at Sunny's Inn, which was a great place to stay with friendly staff.
The Roti Chania's were great opposite Sunny's and we took in a couple of movies, a bit of shopping and the local museums. We also had a great couple of nights in Chinatown, getting home on the rickshaw's.
So, we had a great time in Malaka and then we headed for KL knowing our holiday was almost over...
Singapore
We had a wonderful time in Singapore with Darina and Thomas.
We entered Singapore on the bus from Johor Bahru on the way to meet Darina, funnily enough a stones throw away from the DHL office in SG. Darina and Thomas live in the CBD district in a great appartment that includes the use of tennis courts and swimming pools, so we definitely made the most of our stay, swimming, playing tennis (Tennille winning again but this time it was pretty close with 2 very long games that could've tipped it my way - one day!!!) enjoying great hawker food and walk around the city.
Singapore has a wonderful history and the asian cultural museum is definitely worth a visit...
We entered Singapore on the bus from Johor Bahru on the way to meet Darina, funnily enough a stones throw away from the DHL office in SG. Darina and Thomas live in the CBD district in a great appartment that includes the use of tennis courts and swimming pools, so we definitely made the most of our stay, swimming, playing tennis (Tennille winning again but this time it was pretty close with 2 very long games that could've tipped it my way - one day!!!) enjoying great hawker food and walk around the city.
Singapore has a wonderful history and the asian cultural museum is definitely worth a visit...
Thursday 14 May 2009
Tioman Island
We arrived at Mersing and took the busy ferry over to Tioman Island.
Our homework had told us that Selang, the last stop and 2 and a half hours away, had most of the reasonably priced places to stay.
Selang has a real surfy feel with no surf and we had a good time, with some great food and lots of friendly locals.
However, the local sand flies were a pain and the massive lizards kept Tennille on her constant guard.
Lots of cats though reminded her she'd see Barney in a weeks time...
Our homework had told us that Selang, the last stop and 2 and a half hours away, had most of the reasonably priced places to stay.
Selang has a real surfy feel with no surf and we had a good time, with some great food and lots of friendly locals.
However, the local sand flies were a pain and the massive lizards kept Tennille on her constant guard.
Lots of cats though reminded her she'd see Barney in a weeks time...
Kuantan
We arrived in Kuantan determined to take in the Elephant Sanctuary. To our dismay it was actually 3 hours away - my fault for not doing enough homework on this one. To make matters worse the buses to Tioman were fully booked for the next 2 days so we went ahead and booked for the day after and sought a hotel.
We stayed near the bus station trying 2 different places over the 2 nights.
Kuantan has a really nice, clean beach, which is 5 or 6k away and this gave us a good walk.
It's also got a wonderful mosque, great local markets and we stopped at one restaurant to watch the Manchester derby and were rewarded with some tremendous dishes - pork, prawns and chicken - mmmm....
We stayed near the bus station trying 2 different places over the 2 nights.
Kuantan has a really nice, clean beach, which is 5 or 6k away and this gave us a good walk.
It's also got a wonderful mosque, great local markets and we stopped at one restaurant to watch the Manchester derby and were rewarded with some tremendous dishes - pork, prawns and chicken - mmmm....
Taman Negara
We took the high speed boat from Bubbles back to Kuala Besut then boarded the bus to Taman Negara.
Taman Negara is a rainforest in central Malaysia reported to be 130m years old and it is teaming with life.
From our porch at the cheap-and-cheerful Park Lodge hotel we saw a tribe of at least 25 monkeys moving through the trees with more than a few taking great interest in us sitting there watching them.
The jungle itself is across a little river crossing, which is all very cute.
We headed for the canopy walk firstly - the largest appeal to TN and rightly so. It is the longest in the world and at 25m up it's pretty cool.
We also took a few short treks through the jungle getting lost at one point.
We had a great 2 days...
Taman Negara is a rainforest in central Malaysia reported to be 130m years old and it is teaming with life.
From our porch at the cheap-and-cheerful Park Lodge hotel we saw a tribe of at least 25 monkeys moving through the trees with more than a few taking great interest in us sitting there watching them.
The jungle itself is across a little river crossing, which is all very cute.
We headed for the canopy walk firstly - the largest appeal to TN and rightly so. It is the longest in the world and at 25m up it's pretty cool.
We also took a few short treks through the jungle getting lost at one point.
We had a great 2 days...
Thursday 7 May 2009
Bubbles, Parinthian Islands
We didn't think anywhere would come close to the beaches we experienced in Fiji last year during our honeymoon but the Parinthian Islands come very close.
We stayed at Bubbles for a couple of days and nights. Bubbles is pretty much the last resort on the big Parinthian island and has a bay all of it's own, with crystal clear waters and a cute little beach.
The beach and bay are also used by the many turtles who lay their eggs here and I was lucky enough to see one whilst snorkelling along with a stingray and many different colours and types of fish. The water is crystal clear here and very clean. Bubbles has a popular dive school here.
Tennille and I found ourselves alone on the beach for much of both days although all the chalets were taken - it's not the biggest of resorts here so you do get lots of peace and quiet.
In saying that the staff are excellent; extremely friendly and the food is very good at a very reasonable price.
As we make our way around Malaysia we are just loving the variety of experiences although one thing is constant; the friendliness and openness of the Malaysian people is a real treat and something we will not take for granted.
We stayed at Bubbles for a couple of days and nights. Bubbles is pretty much the last resort on the big Parinthian island and has a bay all of it's own, with crystal clear waters and a cute little beach.
The beach and bay are also used by the many turtles who lay their eggs here and I was lucky enough to see one whilst snorkelling along with a stingray and many different colours and types of fish. The water is crystal clear here and very clean. Bubbles has a popular dive school here.
Tennille and I found ourselves alone on the beach for much of both days although all the chalets were taken - it's not the biggest of resorts here so you do get lots of peace and quiet.
In saying that the staff are excellent; extremely friendly and the food is very good at a very reasonable price.
As we make our way around Malaysia we are just loving the variety of experiences although one thing is constant; the friendliness and openness of the Malaysian people is a real treat and something we will not take for granted.
Penang - Trekking, Hawker Food and Cooking Class
What a wonderful time we had in Penang.
We stayed in Love Lane Inn in Georgetown with the hospital and very informative Mr. Jimmy. Jimmy was definitely the mr fix-it and was able to help us with everything we needed to do or know.
We visited the National Park on the North West side of the island and trekked to Monkey Beach where we were greeted by several of the local monkeys - they were really cute but again we were upset by the amount of rubbish people leave around and one of the monkeys had a stump for a left arm, which only served to compound our increasing desire to tidy up the planet.
The food in Penang was excellent and we visited the Red Garden Hawker food court both nights and had completely different food both times from some of the many hawkers there - great food at great prices - probably one of the best food courts in the world and beats the western concept of fast food courts hands down.
To try to re-create the Red Garden delicacies we contacted Pearly Kee through the wonders of google and she offered to teach us 4 or 5 dishes during a one day cooking class. Pearly and her husband Chundra are absolutely wonderful hosts and we thoroughly enjoyed our cooking class and are now armed with 4 or 5 knockout dishes - so if we invite you around for dinner, you know what we will be cooking up - a few Penang specials...
We stayed in Love Lane Inn in Georgetown with the hospital and very informative Mr. Jimmy. Jimmy was definitely the mr fix-it and was able to help us with everything we needed to do or know.
We visited the National Park on the North West side of the island and trekked to Monkey Beach where we were greeted by several of the local monkeys - they were really cute but again we were upset by the amount of rubbish people leave around and one of the monkeys had a stump for a left arm, which only served to compound our increasing desire to tidy up the planet.
The food in Penang was excellent and we visited the Red Garden Hawker food court both nights and had completely different food both times from some of the many hawkers there - great food at great prices - probably one of the best food courts in the world and beats the western concept of fast food courts hands down.
To try to re-create the Red Garden delicacies we contacted Pearly Kee through the wonders of google and she offered to teach us 4 or 5 dishes during a one day cooking class. Pearly and her husband Chundra are absolutely wonderful hosts and we thoroughly enjoyed our cooking class and are now armed with 4 or 5 knockout dishes - so if we invite you around for dinner, you know what we will be cooking up - a few Penang specials...
Saturday 2 May 2009
Cameron Highlands
We never realized we loved trekking as much until this year.
After our trekking in South America we jumped at the chance of trekking through the Malaysian jungle in Cameron Highlands - 4 hrs by bus from Kuala Lumpur.
We arrived around lunchtime and headed straight away to a short jungle trek that ended at a tea plantation. The tea plantations are wonderfully scenic and we had a great afternoon. We managed to hitch a lift back to Tanah Rata to our hotel before enjoying some Indian dinner at night.
The next day had us up and out by 8am for a 6 hour, 20k trek through fantastic jungle, to another tea plantation before walking back past the multiple strawberry farms.
The strawberry farms are great where you can pick your own and enjoy lots of strawberry drinks and dishes.
Cameron offers 14 trails, some through the jungle and some easier.
It's also nice and cool compared with the heat of KL and Penang.
A must to visit whilst in KL if you enjoy walking and trekking.
After our trekking in South America we jumped at the chance of trekking through the Malaysian jungle in Cameron Highlands - 4 hrs by bus from Kuala Lumpur.
We arrived around lunchtime and headed straight away to a short jungle trek that ended at a tea plantation. The tea plantations are wonderfully scenic and we had a great afternoon. We managed to hitch a lift back to Tanah Rata to our hotel before enjoying some Indian dinner at night.
The next day had us up and out by 8am for a 6 hour, 20k trek through fantastic jungle, to another tea plantation before walking back past the multiple strawberry farms.
The strawberry farms are great where you can pick your own and enjoy lots of strawberry drinks and dishes.
Cameron offers 14 trails, some through the jungle and some easier.
It's also nice and cool compared with the heat of KL and Penang.
A must to visit whilst in KL if you enjoy walking and trekking.
Kuala Lumpur
I remembered how much I enjoy KL last week.
Dinners with Yogan, Sri, Su Li and Chui Ha, trips to Batu Caves and FRIM trekking, and shopping at all the different malls, as well as going to the movies for the 1st time in months - it was great to be back in KL.
Dinners with Yogan, Sri, Su Li and Chui Ha, trips to Batu Caves and FRIM trekking, and shopping at all the different malls, as well as going to the movies for the 1st time in months - it was great to be back in KL.
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