(Inter)National Express
Hello again
I've travelled a bit since my last regular bulletin, so quite a lot to cover. Bit of a long email again I'm afraid, perhaps I'll call the next one "contract proposal" or "interdepartmental coordination exercise" to make them look like work!
From Sydney, I flew to Singapore. Qantas have a very good relaxation music channel, it sent me to sleep which was a bonus! Singapore airport was it's usual mega efficient self, so I whizzed through quickly.
My hotel (Hotel 81 a budget chain) in Singapore was in Gehlang, a lively suburb to the east of the city. Gehlang has lots of late night cafes and shops, selling all sorts of goods late into the night. It is low rise, with lots of temples. It also has, ahem, massage parlours (the girls outside them tend to grab you as you walk past, and have very sharp fingernails) and 'ladies of the night'...naturally I went out to have a look, and buy a beer (my needs were of the liquid refreshment variety!).
Incidentally, in addition to the kettle and coffee sachet (with milk and sugar already included, yuk!) the room was provided with a cup of noodles, and a sachet of Milo...hmm, thinks...noodles, Milo...is Glen McMillan (ex Numerica Finance Aussie)working in hotel management these days?
I was only in Singapore last year, so there was no need to rush about seeing things, as I've already done it! It's nice to walk into town (if very hot) and revisit old favourites, such as the Botanic gardens. In addition to the lovely Orchid garden, I also visisted the Evolution garden, which as you walked along the winding path, showed the development of the various plant species.
The next day, I was picked up by my cousin Gerald, and taken back to his apartment to eat my favourite black pepper crabs (lunchtime and dinner!) and more importantly, see his new baby Ryan. Gerald is a Man U fan, but I am assured Ryan wasn't named after Ryan Giggs, just a happy coincidence
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=3a86scd&.dnm=9b1fscd.jpg&.src=ph
Ryan was very peaceful while I was there, but I am assured that he isn't so quiet the rest of the time!
That evening Gerald dropped me off at the night safari. In addition to the entertaining show, and the tram that drives around the zoo, I also took a walk along the various paths, which was quite exciting, with lots of animal noises, sights and smells all around. One highlight was hearing the wolves howl, you could hear them a long time before seeing them - on reflection, it's not surprising that the wolves were howling, seeing that both Birmingham and West Brom got relegated that day!
Back at my hotel, I got a text from Charlton, telling about Curbishley's resignation (a standard club text, not a personal one from the Chairman asking me to apply, sadly). In a state of shock, I wandered out to get a beer. Outside, all the cafes and food outlets had the tv on and everyone was glued to...Charlton vs Blackburn (they must be desperate!), so I went back to my room to watch it...
The rest of my time was spent wandering around, and visiting a couple of museums. The Sultan mosque is attractive, and surprisingly designed by an Irishman!
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=3a86scd&.dnm=4c0bscd.jpg&.src=ph
The next day, I took the bus out of Singapore to Malacca (or Melaka) in Malaysia, over the 'second' causeway. As the only non Malaysian/Singaporean, everyone else had to wait while I filled in my immigration card! The coach was quite comfortable and very roomy. Malacca bus terminal was somewhat confusing, but I found the exit and strode off (pack on back) to find my hotel. While walking along 4 local girls passed me giggling, one of them then called back that I was "very handsome"! No arguments there naturally, though they may have been less impressed if they knew I was walking the wrong way! Incidentally, that puts me one behind my holdall/backpack in terms of compliments from strangers, by bag being 'chatted' up twice in NZ and Sydney airport!
Malacca is an interesting city, the centre has a long history, as it was a major trading port, and has been rules by the Portuguese and Dutch as well as the British. It was much to see and many good museums, so I regretted slightly that I only stayed one night; I had already booked my Kuala Lumpur bus and hotel. There are also some nice Malay Kampungs (stilt houses) near the centre, which are treasured houses now. I was in Malacca 3 years ago, and remembered the terrible pavements, either narrow and uneven, blocked by street stalls or non existant, so you end up walking in the road between the traffic and the deep and open drains!
The next day I took a coach to Kuala Lumpur. There, I stayed in the same hotel as last year, right in the centre of Chinatown, so very convenient. Most of the main sights are very close by, getting there isn't so easy, the roads are terrible to cross. Whereas in Singapore, jaywalking is an offence, in Malaysia, you cross when you can make it, especially as the young motorcyclists quite often ignore red lights...
KL has a number of museums and monuments that are worth visiting, such as the National museum, and the excellent Islamic Museum. The hibiscus garden was sadly closed, so instead I went to the excellent bird gardens, a giant aviary full of our feathered friends. I also needed to do some shopping, I replaced my lost Hollywood nail clippers (as in I bought them in Hollywood, I didn't mug Tom Cruise while he was cutting his toe nails) in a small Chinatown shop with twenty different types. Next was a couple of light coloured long sleeve tops (good for mosquito avoidance). Did I buy them from the street stalls, with their fake sportswear and DVDs? Did I haggle over a price with a seller in the Central market? No, I bought them in Debenhams! Nowhere else seemed to stock such items (and they were half price too!)
One of the joys now, is that I have no deadlines, and no prebooked itinerary, so I can go where I please, that day. Hence, the day before I left KL, I booked a flight to Kuching. Not exactly overland, but then Kuching is the capital of Sarawak, part of Malysian Borneo. Map enclosed for reference!
http://www.e-borneo.com/travel/map.html
The flight was on Air Asia, the Ryanair of SE Asia, and the plane was largely a tourist free zone. On landing, for some reason we all had to go through immigration again (despite it being an internal flight) so I now have two current Malysian stamps in my passport!
Kuching is a nice place, it has it's colonial past (James Brooke the white rajah founded it), it has old Chinese shophouses, it has Malay Kampungs over the river, and it has modern shops and hotels too, all near to each other. My first night was in a very cheap Chinese hotel. It was a bit basic though, so sadly I moved out the next day, into a comfortable (but still cheap) high rise hotel round the corner. I felt a little bit guilty leaving, as there seemed to be more family members than guests there...
So far I have visited a few museums, walked along the attractive riverfront and eaten at a great sea food, food court. You pick your fish(es) and tell them how to cook it, luckily the Malay waitress guided me through all this in excellent English, or else I would have floundered a bit. Kuching means Cat in Malay, so naturally they have a cat museum, on all things feline, and very enjoyable it is too. Getting there on a local bus was an adventure too...
I will visit the rainforest while in Sarawak, hopefully the only headhunters I meet will be of the recruitment agency type!
Mike
P.S. One final Aussie irritation. In NSW and Queensland (i.e. including Sydney and Brisbane) you can't buy alcohol from normal shops, only from special bottle/liquor shops. So this gives the strange situation where I can go into a 7-11 or other such convenience store in strict Singapore or most of Malaysia (a majority Muslim country) and freely buy beer and wine, but can't in Sydney or Brisbane!
I've travelled a bit since my last regular bulletin, so quite a lot to cover. Bit of a long email again I'm afraid, perhaps I'll call the next one "contract proposal" or "interdepartmental coordination exercise" to make them look like work!
From Sydney, I flew to Singapore. Qantas have a very good relaxation music channel, it sent me to sleep which was a bonus! Singapore airport was it's usual mega efficient self, so I whizzed through quickly.
My hotel (Hotel 81 a budget chain) in Singapore was in Gehlang, a lively suburb to the east of the city. Gehlang has lots of late night cafes and shops, selling all sorts of goods late into the night. It is low rise, with lots of temples. It also has, ahem, massage parlours (the girls outside them tend to grab you as you walk past, and have very sharp fingernails) and 'ladies of the night'...naturally I went out to have a look, and buy a beer (my needs were of the liquid refreshment variety!).
Incidentally, in addition to the kettle and coffee sachet (with milk and sugar already included, yuk!) the room was provided with a cup of noodles, and a sachet of Milo...hmm, thinks...noodles, Milo...is Glen McMillan (ex Numerica Finance Aussie)working in hotel management these days?
I was only in Singapore last year, so there was no need to rush about seeing things, as I've already done it! It's nice to walk into town (if very hot) and revisit old favourites, such as the Botanic gardens. In addition to the lovely Orchid garden, I also visisted the Evolution garden, which as you walked along the winding path, showed the development of the various plant species.
The next day, I was picked up by my cousin Gerald, and taken back to his apartment to eat my favourite black pepper crabs (lunchtime and dinner!) and more importantly, see his new baby Ryan. Gerald is a Man U fan, but I am assured Ryan wasn't named after Ryan Giggs, just a happy coincidence
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=3a86scd&.dnm=9b1fscd.jpg&.src=ph
Ryan was very peaceful while I was there, but I am assured that he isn't so quiet the rest of the time!
That evening Gerald dropped me off at the night safari. In addition to the entertaining show, and the tram that drives around the zoo, I also took a walk along the various paths, which was quite exciting, with lots of animal noises, sights and smells all around. One highlight was hearing the wolves howl, you could hear them a long time before seeing them - on reflection, it's not surprising that the wolves were howling, seeing that both Birmingham and West Brom got relegated that day!
Back at my hotel, I got a text from Charlton, telling about Curbishley's resignation (a standard club text, not a personal one from the Chairman asking me to apply, sadly). In a state of shock, I wandered out to get a beer. Outside, all the cafes and food outlets had the tv on and everyone was glued to...Charlton vs Blackburn (they must be desperate!), so I went back to my room to watch it...
The rest of my time was spent wandering around, and visiting a couple of museums. The Sultan mosque is attractive, and surprisingly designed by an Irishman!
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=3a86scd&.dnm=4c0bscd.jpg&.src=ph
The next day, I took the bus out of Singapore to Malacca (or Melaka) in Malaysia, over the 'second' causeway. As the only non Malaysian/Singaporean, everyone else had to wait while I filled in my immigration card! The coach was quite comfortable and very roomy. Malacca bus terminal was somewhat confusing, but I found the exit and strode off (pack on back) to find my hotel. While walking along 4 local girls passed me giggling, one of them then called back that I was "very handsome"! No arguments there naturally, though they may have been less impressed if they knew I was walking the wrong way! Incidentally, that puts me one behind my holdall/backpack in terms of compliments from strangers, by bag being 'chatted' up twice in NZ and Sydney airport!
Malacca is an interesting city, the centre has a long history, as it was a major trading port, and has been rules by the Portuguese and Dutch as well as the British. It was much to see and many good museums, so I regretted slightly that I only stayed one night; I had already booked my Kuala Lumpur bus and hotel. There are also some nice Malay Kampungs (stilt houses) near the centre, which are treasured houses now. I was in Malacca 3 years ago, and remembered the terrible pavements, either narrow and uneven, blocked by street stalls or non existant, so you end up walking in the road between the traffic and the deep and open drains!
The next day I took a coach to Kuala Lumpur. There, I stayed in the same hotel as last year, right in the centre of Chinatown, so very convenient. Most of the main sights are very close by, getting there isn't so easy, the roads are terrible to cross. Whereas in Singapore, jaywalking is an offence, in Malaysia, you cross when you can make it, especially as the young motorcyclists quite often ignore red lights...
KL has a number of museums and monuments that are worth visiting, such as the National museum, and the excellent Islamic Museum. The hibiscus garden was sadly closed, so instead I went to the excellent bird gardens, a giant aviary full of our feathered friends. I also needed to do some shopping, I replaced my lost Hollywood nail clippers (as in I bought them in Hollywood, I didn't mug Tom Cruise while he was cutting his toe nails) in a small Chinatown shop with twenty different types. Next was a couple of light coloured long sleeve tops (good for mosquito avoidance). Did I buy them from the street stalls, with their fake sportswear and DVDs? Did I haggle over a price with a seller in the Central market? No, I bought them in Debenhams! Nowhere else seemed to stock such items (and they were half price too!)
One of the joys now, is that I have no deadlines, and no prebooked itinerary, so I can go where I please, that day. Hence, the day before I left KL, I booked a flight to Kuching. Not exactly overland, but then Kuching is the capital of Sarawak, part of Malysian Borneo. Map enclosed for reference!
http://www.e-borneo.com/travel/map.html
The flight was on Air Asia, the Ryanair of SE Asia, and the plane was largely a tourist free zone. On landing, for some reason we all had to go through immigration again (despite it being an internal flight) so I now have two current Malysian stamps in my passport!
Kuching is a nice place, it has it's colonial past (James Brooke the white rajah founded it), it has old Chinese shophouses, it has Malay Kampungs over the river, and it has modern shops and hotels too, all near to each other. My first night was in a very cheap Chinese hotel. It was a bit basic though, so sadly I moved out the next day, into a comfortable (but still cheap) high rise hotel round the corner. I felt a little bit guilty leaving, as there seemed to be more family members than guests there...
So far I have visited a few museums, walked along the attractive riverfront and eaten at a great sea food, food court. You pick your fish(es) and tell them how to cook it, luckily the Malay waitress guided me through all this in excellent English, or else I would have floundered a bit. Kuching means Cat in Malay, so naturally they have a cat museum, on all things feline, and very enjoyable it is too. Getting there on a local bus was an adventure too...
I will visit the rainforest while in Sarawak, hopefully the only headhunters I meet will be of the recruitment agency type!
Mike
P.S. One final Aussie irritation. In NSW and Queensland (i.e. including Sydney and Brisbane) you can't buy alcohol from normal shops, only from special bottle/liquor shops. So this gives the strange situation where I can go into a 7-11 or other such convenience store in strict Singapore or most of Malaysia (a majority Muslim country) and freely buy beer and wine, but can't in Sydney or Brisbane!
posted by Michael Conway at
11:20 am
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