Blogs from Johor, Malaysia, Asia - page 9

As I push through the swamp, wary of snakes and spiders, I brush against a palm tree. Centimetre long red ants in their tens come rushing out and attack me, biting all over. Their acid enters my skin and a pain much like an electrical current pulsates through my body. I crush them with my open palms but more come to take their place. I drop my guard and waddle through the knee deep water and mud as fast as I humanly can to the dry ground up ahead. I clamber over a toppled section of a barbed wire fence, slide the backpack off of my shoulders, dispose of my shirt and trousers and jump about, swatting away my attackers. Native American dance over, I stand there and rethink the reasons for coming here. Ten days ... read more

Its strange how things come together and how travel and learning something new brings people together. Thomas and I have been talking about learning scuba diving for years but never found an agreeable time to do so. And then, it all came together within 2 weeks. My work trip got postponed, JL's hol trip got postponed, Thomas and Dennis had an available weekend and so off we went. 3 guys and a gal off to Dayang for our padi open water beginner course. We had taken our pool and theory the previous weekend under a a very jovial and humourous instructor. Pity he couldn't come with us on our open water dives. Things got excited as the weekend neared. Slightly fearful of the drills in the open sea, the unknown and breathing underwater from an ... read more

Day 4 - Today has been a very quiet day indeed. We decided we had had enough of crossing the border to Singapore and just chill in Johor Bahru. We strolled out about midday and headed to a couple of shopping centres. Conveniently close together we visited Tesco and Jusco along with the myriad of specialty stores that you get in a modern shopping mall. I found a Starbucks Coffee Shop in the mall, and of course in Malaysia they provide free wi-fi internet access. In saying that, I did eventually find out that wi-fi is free in Singapore once you register with SG wireless, although you do need a mobile phone for them to SMS a password to you. After shopping we got a cab back to the hotel where we imbibed in some of ... read more

Pulau Rawa We left Pulau Tioman at about 7:30AM for Pulau Rawa. The ferry dropped us off right in the middle of the island. As soon as I stepped out of the boat, I was stunned! This place was amazing. It was only about 1000 meters long and 300 meters wide and the beach didn't even stretch across the whole island, but it was beautiful. You'll like the pictures of the island, but those don't even really do it justice. I had my camera in my room during the day when it was sunny, but I refused to leave the beach to go get it. We started out by going to the top of the island to take a few photos of the scenery. Then, after lunch, we hung out all day and did a bit ... read more

A Kelong trip was in the making for quite some time and we finally did it! We set off early Sunday morning in a group of 9 across the causeway into our neighbours land for a short break away from our work. Isaac, Kelvin, Ivy, LH, GM, Pauline, HW, Jace and myself made the trip. Traffic was light and we had breakfast at a coffeeshop. I had black sause wanton noodles which I thought was tasty. I must have been hungry. Our first stop was the Go-Kart Track at Plentong. The former Permas Jaya track had shifted into a plantation and we crossed our fingers that the driver would not complain of the 3.5km undulating terrain into the plantation. Lucky for us he did not. This was my first Go-Karting experience and it was fun with ... read more