Blogs from Pulau Tioman, Pahang, Malaysia, Asia

Malaysia has always been one of my favorite Asian destinations - and I have long and hard wondered why. When people ask me what I like about this country in particular, I mostly just stumbled something related to food and access, but being a little more introspective, this can't be the whole story. It is especially strange for me to like a destination like Malaysia, because my usual travel interests are heavily related to history, culture and food. Malaysia - if looked at closely - has for long struggled to promote its culture to the outside world. The country is pretty much a mix of native Malay, Chinese and Indian cultures, whereas the Chinese and Indian Malays are mostly living in the major cities. Attraction wise, most places will have some mosques, Chinese pagodas and South ... read more

I crossed the country to the East coast and ferried to the island of Pulau Tiomin. Some footage of it is claimed to have been filmed here for South Pacific (1958!!!!). Well for me it has been spoiled. If you were going to the super resorts at super prices I am sure it is lovely. Many young people come to get their PADI open water certificates - I would tell them to go to Tobago - it was nicer there! I was spoilt by by stay on the beach in Thailand... I swam every day out to the pontoon and had a very relaxing time. It also happened to be to be the worst accommodation I had stayed in the whole trip, so left a couple of days early to go to Singapore, so travelled on ... read more

After a very pleasant 2 and a half weeks back in Australia visiting family and friends I caught a flight yet again to Malaysia. I arrived early in the morning, caught the bus into KL and then made my way to Bukit Bintang and found some accommodation. I had a quick shower and then caught a taxi to the Chinese visa centre to apply for a tourist visa. After a bit of confusion I eventually lodged my application and was told to return the following morning for an interview. The next morning I arrived early and after a 1 minute, 2 question interview I was told to come back a few days later to pick up my passport hopefullly with a 90 day visa in it. Seeing it was still early in the morning I decided ... read more

Hello everyone, I just spent 5 days in paradise! Let me tell you how the paradise is. So last time I was leaving Melaka. I took a bus to Mersing (roughly 5 hours). Mersing is a really little town with nothing to visit. There are 2 main streets and…. That’s it. This is just the stop over to go to Pulau Tioman (Tioman island). So obviously to go there, you have to take a boat (that’s an island after all!) and that’s already really great. On the way, you can see some beautiful landscapes, feel the wind in your hair… You know what I’m talking about. Then the island: this is a 39 km long and 12 km wide and is a paradise for scuba diving and snorkelling. The particularity of this island is there are ... read more

Singapore-Mersing lähtö klo 06.00 aamulla. Onneksi ihana ystävämme Frank lupautui varmistamaan toivottomien unikekojen herättämisen, ja koputteli huoneen oveen virkeänä viideltä aamulla. Matkaan siis hurjan bussikuskin kyydillä kohti rentoutumista, turkoosia merta ja hiekkarantoja. Perille päästiin pomppuisen kyydin jälkeen ja lauttamatka saattoi alkaa. Lauttamatka kului huokaillessa ihastuksesta, oltiin saapumassa todelliseen paratiisiin Tiomanin saarelle! Lautalla tutustuttiin kahteen espanjalaismieheen ja Eve pääsi käyttämään kielitaitoaan. Toinen miehistä oli vanhempaa ikäluokkaa ja toinen oli saavuttamassa kolmeakymmentä. Lauttamatkan aikana päätettiin vaihtaa alkuperäistä suunnitelmaa ja liittyä espanjalaisten seuraan Salangille. Muutama päivä Tiomaneilla kuluikin espanjalaisten seurassa puhuen välillä espanjaa ja välillä englantia Hannan yrittÃ... read more