Langkawi

Langkawi wasn't on our original itinerary - we were going to do the Jungle railway from Kota Bharu to Singapore with an overnight stop in Gemas. However, a couple of months ago Malaysian railways decided that they were going to "upgrade" the existing track and only run trains through the night. It was not much point catching a night train as we would have missed the forest section of the journey. So we cast our eyes about for an alternative - Langkawi was the consolation prize.  We decided to catch the ferry rather than do the short hop by air. I had read a lot of reviews about the ferry in the past couple of weeks and was starting to have second thoughts about the trip!

We boarded the ferry at Swettenham Pier in Penang - I made sure that I was well and truly drugged up to the eyeballs in case the journey was rough. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth it was.  The first 20-30 mins of the trip take you along the north coast of Penang which gave an entirely different view of Tanjong Tokong/Bungah through the constant haze:

 



The ferry took about 2 1/2 hours - nothing to see except water and ships until just off Langkawi when we sailed past some of the 90 odd islands that make up Langkawi. No public transport on the island so taxi ride to hotel on Pulau Cenang which is reminiscent of Phuket in the early 80's.  Lots of water sports and beach etc but not a lot else so a good place to veg for a couple of days.

The hotel is on the beachfront - this is the view from our room. How's the serenity??? lol

 

 

The beach is relatively clean and stretches for a long way...

 

 

 

Main street is quiet and full of clothing and nic nac shops with a couple of duty free shops as well.

 

 

 

Back to Singapore tomorrow for a couple of days before having to return to reality :(







Penang - continued

Lots of tripping around the past couple of days. We have been out to Batu Ferringhi via Tanjong Bungah (where we used to live) - so many changes and this area is now in danger of overdevelopment. There are multistory buildings on hillsides that used to have regular landslips. Hope the foundations are good or that they are all insured.  Saw the old house in Wee Hein Tze as we went through on the bus but didn't stop to take pictures - too many changes and it doesn't feel familiar anymore!

Spent some time looking through some of the older areas of George Town which are now under UNESCO listing. We started off at Kota (Fort) Cornwallis where the first Europeans set up camp in 1786...

where we spotted Francis Light surveying his kingdom. For those who may be unaware, Francis Light was the business partner of James Scott, my research topic. :)  Then off to St George's Church on Farquhar Street...

 

Then a walk down Pitt St now known as Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling or Harmony Street as it features a mosque, Indian temple and chinese temples.

 

Last night we went up Penang Hill but unfortunately the haze was dreadful and we were lucky to see the lights of Air Itam below.

 

Today we went to Pulau Tikus to look at the Burmese and Thai Buddhist temples which are opposite one another in Burma Lane. The Burmese temple was abuzz with activity as there is a festival tomorrow. The temple has changed since our last visit with a new building now behind the existing temple.

 

(More pictures for you when I get home Cho :)

 

Then across the road to the Thai temple to see the Reclining Buddha...

 

Tonight we had our last opportunity to eat Penang makan and we went to a street stall in Transfer Rd. Food was great. We had murtabak at this stall last night and tonight Peter had the same while I had nasi goreng.  It bucketed down just as we were finishing and we were kept amused by the stall owners putting out buckets to catch the rain before washing the floor with stiff brooms.  Ah Penang, moments like that are priceless :)



 

Pearl of the Orient - Penang!

Arrived last night after short flight from KL. First impressions of Penang?  Many high rise buildings have sprung up near the airport and in George Town but a lot of the island is still much as it was. We picked a hotel in George Town (main city on Penang) which is just outside the UNESCO world heritage area and have not been disappointed. The building used to be a row of Chinese shopfronts

and it is full of Peranakan furniture

 (hallway on our floor)

 

 

The rooms are fantastic



 

and the view from the top floor looks out over George Town

 

 

I spent today at the university doing some research while Peter prowled around the city.  Best of all, today we received our replacement Visa cards. Time to stimulate the Penang economy tomorrow :)

Mysterious Malacca

Today we braved the LRT (Light Rail Train) to connect with the bus to Malacca. All went well until we got to the bus station - we lined up for 25 minutes to pick up our boarding passes as I had booked online only to find they didn't know what to do! We were then sent upstairs for someone to sort it out and luckily still made the bus.

Things went downhill in Malacca though as Peter had his wallet stolen with a bit of cash but the biggest loss was our credit cards. We have spent a lot of the afternoon cancelling and trying to replace them!  Fortunately I have debit cards with me and some cash which should get us through until the emergency Visa card arrives.

After all that kerfuffle we finally got to see some of Malacca!

 (old fortress)

 

 

(Malacca River)

(Jonker Walk)



Kuala Lumpur - night time

Hi everyone

A few photos of KL at night :)

Kuala Lumpur

Today was a relatively quiet day for us.  We went for a walk through one of the shopping malls before catching the LRT (metro) down to Chinatown.  While the LRT was crowded it was nothing compared to the chaos on the streets - trying to cross the road is dangerous as few of the pedestrian lights seem to work.

 

 KL is a city of contrasts with lots of skyscrapers and modern buildings and then you turn the corner and find old shopfronts and houses. Across the road from the hotel they are constructing a new high rise building and nestled behind it and opposite Petronas Towers is a small two storey house!

 

 

 

We took the free GO KL purple line bus which gave us a fantastic orientation of the area around Chinatown. Jalan Petaling (one of the main streets in Chinatown) was packed with lots of stalls selling fake brand name bags, jewellery etc and reminded us very much of what Penang was like.

We also went across and had a look at the central market which was full of clothing and  souvenir shops before heading back to the hotel.

This afternoon we have been sitting watching the rain - seems to rain about 3.30 every day as we found out yesterday when we got caught out in it! The skyline is fantastic to watch and I haven't got sick of looking at the Petronas Towers yet. Tonight we are hoping to go and photograph some of the Hari Raya Haji signs providing the rain has cleared!

The slow train to KL

Our day began at 5.30 am so that we could get to the Woodlands Station before 8 am. We caught an express bus and were told that it would take around an hour. So we got to the bus station about 6.20 am and got a bus straight away. The trip took 35 mins to the checkpoint at Woodlands. We walked across to the Train checkpoint and then sat in the waiting room - no food, no toilets nothing!

The train check in opens 30 minutes before the train leaves and you have to  clear Singapore immigration and Malaysian customs and immigration before you can get on the train.  Unfortunately for us, the train was its usual (as we found out later) hour late so it was almost 9.30 when we left.

(Crossing the causeway)

 



The Rakyat Expres (People's express) is really not an express as it stops at most stations between Singapore and KL including stops in the middle of nowhere for minutes at a time. The first class carriages have reclining seats and the air conditioning was freezing!

 

 

The scenery was quite repetitive after the first hour or so - lots of palm oil plantations with the odd bit of jungle or rubber in between.

 



We finally arrived in KL about 4.30 pm and off to our hotel which is close to the KL City Centre and PETRONAS towers.  This was the view from our hotel room last night...

No I am not kidding - when we booked we did ask for a view of the Towers if possible and that is what we got :)

This is the bathroom - not bad! So far the hotel has been fantastic and I would recommend it if you are looking for somewhere to stay in KL.

And of course Doppelbandy enjoyed the view of the city from the lounge:

Today we spent most of the day exploring KL on the free bus routes.  We stopped at a couple of shopping malls and at one, there was a display of animals celebrating one of the religious festivals.

This weekend is Hari Raya Haji and there are street lights etc marking this important time. 

Singapore - Day 3

Today was a great day as all of the research was out of the way and we could spend time just being tourists. We walked through Bugis Street and the markets near our hotel. We also found some wonderful colonial buildings on our walk:

Then off to check out the MRT (train system) for our trip out to the Changi Museum. Some of you will not be aware that two of my second cousins were Prisoners of War in WW2 and both were interned at Changi before being sent to work on the Burma Thailand Railway. The museum is excellent and portrays the reality of life for all in Singapore during WW2.  The museum contains a replica chapel and murals from that time.

In the forecourt there is a small chapel where you can leave messages:

and I paid my respects to Aub (executed by the Japanese on 6 June 1942 Tavoy) and Frank who was one of the POWs who worked on Hellfire Pass before being sent to Japan to work as a labourer in the coal mines.

Singapore - Day 2

Today we spent the morning at the National Archives looking at East India Records. The archives are located near Canning Park so lots of greenery and older style buildings close by.  After the archives we went across to the Marina Bay area - all reclaimed land and full of hotels and shopping centres!

We decided to do the Moonlight Adventure tour which was great.  We went to eat at local hawker stalls and then off to the Gardens at the Bay to see the light show:Supergrove Trees at Gardens by the Bay

 Well worth seeing if you are ever in Singapore!  Then we had a ride in a bumboat on the Singapore River - the Marina Sands Hotel looked fantastic from the water!

 

 

Past the Merlion and then back to Clarke Quay.