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Published: January 27th 2009
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Ah, the sweet smell of Singapore! We are back in Changi airport, where we lived for four days after our plane from Heathrow was diverted due to those pesky protestors at Bangkok. At the time we didn't really appreciate it, but today we have been taking in the sights, scents and sounds prior to our flight to Bali. We couldn't help but go into the lobby of the Crowne Plaza hotel, just to take a whiff of the distinctive musky but sparkling clean smell of the place. It is one of those smells that always reminds you of a time or place and it was a strangely joyous lungful that we took in upon stepping through the door. Wary of over indulging, we stayed for just a few seconds before continuing our comeback tour of the airport. Having now been to places like Phnom Penh and Hanoi, we can see just how amazingly clean they keep it here compared to the rest of the region. Everywhere you look there are cleaners, porters and dedicated trolleymen. Each toilet has it's own cleaner, just waiting for someone to go in there are dirty the place up. Catherine had to find a different loo
simply beacuse both the cubicles were being cleaned by different cleaners.
Our flight is not for another four hours but we have a prime seat with a view of the runway which, although it sounds amazing, is actually pretty dull as nothing is happening. It may be early but we are both very glad we got here. The Chinese New Year has caused havoc with the travel arrangements and all the buses from Melaka to Singapore were full. Persistence paid off, and we managed to get two tickets for the 0730hrs departure that had been returned by someone else. The only other option was looking to be a 3hr taxi ride in a Proton (Malaysia's national and probably only car), a real sting to the already abused wallet.
So being here brings to a conculsion our little round trip of South East Asia. The last leg of our journey started in Kuala Lumpur, a two hour 'VIP' bus journey from Tanah Rata. The coach was great, with tonnes of space for our weary legs, but it did make a worryingly loud creaking sound as it negotiated the windy mountainside roads leading down from the Cameron Highlands. In Kuala
Lumpur we were met with toe to toe traffic and the searing heat we'd managed to escape up in the mountains. After a small public disagreement, Catherine got her way and we got a taxi from the bus station to our guesthouse a few kilometres north. (.....erm can I add, this was after Nic had made us walk around for ages in the 'searing heat' looking for a metro station saying "I don't even know where we are!" A taxi was the sensible option!)
We found KL to be a really enjoyable, exciting and well organised city. It has plenty of places to get away from the heat, including a real rainforest right in the centre (complete with wild moneys), a spectacular skyline dominated by the twin Petronas towers and the KL tower, tasty Malay and Indian food, a great transport system and an exciting and friendly atmopsphere. The guesthouse was good too, apart from being in a room on the 4th floor with no windows and the constant fear that if there was a fire below we'd be burned alive. Luckily there was no fire, but there were some annoying fellow guests. I had managed to find the
Andy Murray Australian Open match on TV and was getting well into it when an American girl asked if she could put a film on. The cheek of it! Am I allowed to say no?! And it turned out to be the worst film ever made, called the Bank Job, or something. It was heartening to find out later that Murray continued on despite my support and pulled through.
After our first night there we got up very early and joined the queue to go up to the skybridge connecting the two Petronas Towers. The tickets are free on a first come first served basis and I was determined to be amongst the first served. Before the trip we were treated to a seven minute 3D commercial justifying the existence of Petronas and the fossil fuel industry as a whole. We came out of there with our minds washed, as intended, and then went in the lift up to the 44th floor. The lift alone was an experience, it went so fast that our ears had popped by floor 36, and it is a double decker lift, which is great. Within seconds of leaving the ground floor we were
looking out across and above KL, watching the matchbox cars below bunched up at traffic lights on their way to work.
We have tried to eat in as many authentic places as we can, so to continue this we went to Chinatown for a lunch with the locals. As happens every time, we seemed to get a different menu to everyone else. They alll had really good tasty looking plates of food and ours was a westernised bowl of deep fried fat soaked in sweet and sour sauce. If anyone knows how to eat what everyone else does then answers on a postcard please, it is getting annoying now.
After lunch, a cultural shot in the arm at the Museum of Islamic Art. As interesting as it was, there are only so many pieces of old clothing and models of mosques you can see in one session. Luckily the lady on reception managed to convice me that I was a student so we got in half price, and had the use of the exclusive Student Locker Area. We felt like VIPs all over again.
We left KL via the crazy Pudaraya bus station, a chaos of a
place and it was pretty much by luck that we managed to get on a bus heading for our next intended destination - Melaka, on the southern west coast of peninsular Malaysia. During the journey we treated ourselves to a packet of Skittles Sours each. Big mistake! Unlike the UK, in Malaysia they are potent little balls of acidic solidified toxic waste. They were so sour they managed to kill our tastebuds for 24hrs, and Catherine still has a hole in her tongue from where she foolishly decided to suck them one by one. They also made me sweat more than a bucket of vindaloo.
Melaka is an attractive Dutch colonial town with many historical sights but for me it will always be tinged with a sense of loss and anger. Out of respect for the Muslim hostel in which we were staying (for four pounds a night), I left my great, comfortable, waterproof shoes in the corridor overnight. I woke up the next day to find they had been stolen by some _____. Well, this is a family blog so I won't say what I think of the lowlife that decided he had a right to make them
his own. I will, however say that I hope they falll apart on his very soles as he is walking across a big scorching hot desert somewhere. The sad fact is that they won't as they are incredibly good quality. So now I am sitting here, looking at a Silk Air Boeing 737 wearing sandals. But no socks.
Last night we had very few Malaysian Ringgit left so we made do with pot noodles and sugary bread from Seven Eleven for tea. With no money, were were at a loose end and we spotted two girls from our hostel in the town centre. With a flash of genius and putting all my non-existent surveillance tactics into practice, we followed them though the streets of Melaka, spying from a safe distance. What a great way to while away four hours! In fact, after five minutes Catherine decided that it was too creepy so aborted the mission. We lost the subjects amongst the bright fairly lights of the trishaws that flood the town's old streets. Still, if you are bored ever, I would reccommend following someone around, just buy yourself a big newspaper and cut out holes for eyes.
And
now we are here, having topped up with a few Singapore Dollars meaning we can eat McDonalds instead of stalk people. Having said that, it's still three hours until the flight departs...
Stay safe
Nic
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m.swan
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So sorry about the shoes Nic! Hope you are recovering. Catherine why are you not wearing your lovely sunglasses glasses? Mumxxxx