Blogs from Asia - page 146

Today we got the train from KL Sentral to Butterworth for Penang, another new experience. I had booked the tickets online and chosen seats behind each other so we could both be next to a window. The cost was £15.50 each, as it was only a tiny bit more for Business Class, and this was so worth it! We got to the station early and went in the food court upstairs. I think it’s quite new, I remember going downstairs before. Only a few places were open and it was cheap but very average. We had teh tarik and he did the pouring it from a great height thing, which makes quite a head on it. My roti telur (eggs on toast) were cold as she had said they weren’t mine and then realised they were. ... read more

Dive photographers are something of a rare breed. As you’ll discover if you ever give it a go yourself, it takes a certain degree of perverse perseverance. And in our modern world of instant gratification, perseverance is something of a dying trait. Truth is, once upon a time all photography was this hard. Back when it all began you forked out a fortune for all manner of unwieldy equipment with which to practice your art: cameras, tripods, film, flashlights, developers & darkrooms. All this to create hazy sepia images of wealthy repressed side-burned gentlemen who all looked like they'd previously placed some unwieldy equipment of their own up their nether regions. It seemed to take an age for folk to discover that foreign objects were not strictly de rigueur, and that photos looked much better if ... read more

The last few days of our Borneo holiday we wanted to spend on Pulau Mantanani, an island 45 minutes off the west coast of Borneo. Our guides dropped us off at Rampayam Jetty north of the town of Kota Belud, and from there we caught a boat to the island. It was only a 45-minute trip, but it was a hell of a ride. There were a lot of waves, and our captain was keen on racing the boat through them, so more often than not the boat would jump off one wave and hit the bottom of a wave valley hard. I tried to sit as upright as possible in order to prevent my discs from any damage. Luckily neither Mizzi nor I got seasick. But the staff passed plastic bags to several passengers who ... read more

Crossing the border from Singapore to Malaysia by bus is a breeze. We got a Grab to the bus station and were far too early but I was relieved to see that our easybook booking had gone through so we were OK for the 2 front seats. You have to go up to the 707 window and show your booking, then he ticks you off and he writes the bus reg number on it so you know which one. There is nowhere to sit at the bus station so we sat on our bags in the shade and used the loos at the last minute. Everywhere was very clean and being hired down and wiped constantly. There were posters up giving health advice about the virus. The 707 service bus pulls in across the road in ... read more

Well we got away on time from Phnom Penh 9.45am. for six and a half bus ride giving us an arrival time of 4.15pm Ho Chi Minh City, ended up being close to 5pm. Overall it was a great bus trip, Giant Ibis Bus company, they were brilliant. We had two drivers and a jockey....the jockey informed us and rounded us up when needed for a couple of toilet stops and also took great care of us at the border crossing, taking all our passports and visas to immigration and getting them all stamped whilst we had coffee and some had a bite to eat....all went very smoothly. Lovely airconditioned bus with free water and even a breaky croissant to start off the trip. Were very lucky the bus terminal in Ho Chi Minh was quite ... read more