New blog

Okay, I've decided to try something new. My new blog (if you can call it that) can be found at http://unusualorthodoxy.wordpress.com. I've had 53 views since I started it a couple of days ago, which is not all that bad.

This blog will also migrate to wordpress, if I can still be bothered to write it.

Back in the UK

I took the coach back up to KL and then took a flight back to London. Then the coach up to Nottingham to visit my sister. Back in London tomorrow for graduation. My holiday's been fantastic. Thank You to all my friends that made it great: Farah, Jonathan, Amna, Ginger, Chung Lee, Brian, Wee Shen. I really owe you guys!

I had my graduation ceremony yesterday. Feels weird to be a graduate.

Singapore 2

Had amazing mutton biryani (I finally gave into my craving for more familiar food) in a Malay wet market. Basmati rice damn good lah! It was also the cleanest and driest (no water on the floor) I've ever seen. This is Singapore. Nothing's dirty. Not even the toilets.

Went to Asian Civilisations Museum in the morning. Pretty good. Stayed there till 4pm. Then went to Lau Pa Sat and had sweet potato fries. Yummy. Took the mandatory picture of the Merlion. Finally went to a music concert in Esplanade. The music, soprano and tenor were all good, though the place felt a bit like a high school sports hall. Memories of lousy school productions were the last thing I wanted while attempting to enjoy music. Then more biryani. Now sleep. Early start tomorrow.

Change of plans

I'm staying in Singapore for another day. I changed my ticket to 9AM tomorrow morning instead. So the plan is to arrive in KL on Monday afternoon and take my flight back to London on Tuesday morning. That should leave enough buffer time for problems.

Singapore

Wow. Singapore is fantabulously dazzling. I didn't know what to take pictures of. Every few seconds there's something stunning. I took the Singapore Airline Hop on Hop off bus, which took me around to most of the tourist attractions (except the bit where the Merlion and Esplanade are because those roads were closed for national day parade rehearsals). My day included viewing impromptu Singapore airforce rehearsals for national day, fireworks above Esplanade (a stunning building itself), an art-house play, hanging around the legendary Raffles hotel (maintaining its c. 1915 colonial architecture), Singapore Art Museum (modern South East Asian art) and the usual tourist sights. And yes, I did go to the shopping malls. Very little shopping though. I'm skint.

My bus back to KL is due to leave tomorrow at 3pm. But I might end up staying in Singapore for another day. We shall see.

Arrival in Singapore

After submitting my passport to the Singapore High Commission in KL yesterday, I spent last night in Melaka. I'm pretty broke so took a dorm bed and hoped no one would steal my stuff. Went up to KL this afternoon to collect my passport and then took the bus down to Singapore. The bus there was pretty standard price (RM30) but the bus back (which I had to buy in advance for immigration purposes) cost RM75! I was badly ripped off but that was the only place I found that sold a ticket back.

I was singled out and had to spend 45 minutes in a separate room in customs, where I had to fill in some form. My bus almost left me behind. Its only because my new friends in the bus pleaded to the driver to wait for me that I the driver waited for me. The joys of holding a Pakistani passport. Bus arrived outside this rauncy Thai mall at Beach Street. Awful. Staying at Nazir's place. Plan tomorrow is to head down to Orchard MRT and take a SIA Hop on Hop off bus.

Pulau Kapas

Day trips to Redang were too expensive so I went to Pulau Kapas instead. Beautiful! Rented a canoe and snorkeling gear and paddled around all day. Only to lose balance and fall into the water while coming ashore, which ruined the camera (sorry Sana!) but the memory card and photos survived. Then trekked through the forest that runs to the other side and back. Even ran into an LSE Alum. Didn't expect Crush! to come up in a tiny island 6km off the coast of Peninsular Malaysia but it did.

Handed in my passport to Singapore High Commission and am due to receive my passport with visa at 2pm tomorrow. Will probably head down to Melaka to hang out with Farah in the evening (I really do not want to spend another night in KL).

KT

Farah got me in touch with her cousin in KT and he showed me around. Saw Pasar Payar, where there was batik and all sorts of food on sale. Although its neither as big as Chow Kit in KL nor has as much variety, I liked it better. I was compelled to try eating a tortoise egg. Got very grossed out and didn't do much except lick it. And one of the aunties selling stuff gave me lots of Malay sweet dishes for free when I seemed intrigued at what they were. She kept of saying 'try this, try that' and I ended up taking home things I couldn't eat there.

Plans for Taman Negara have been scrapped. It would take me two days just to get to camp headquarters from KT. I was thinking of scrapping Singapore plans instead but looks like I'll end up going. After my poor exam results yesterday, I'm not too keen on making the prolonged trip to TN and then spend another two days there. Maybe for another time. I'd like to return to Malaysia to go to Sabah and Sarawak. Maybe then.

So, I'll stay in Terengganu for another day. I hope to take a day trip to Pulau Redang tomorrow and then head back to KL in the evening. The amazingly efficient Singapore authorities, after taking only two weeks to process my visa application (sic) will take two days to give me my now-approved visa. So I have to give my passport on Thursday morning, only to get it back on Friday afternoon. Which means bumming around in KL for another two days. Oh well. I think I've had enough excitement for one trip. TN would've been nice if I was still in the mood.

The last 7 days

Sorry for going AWOL on you guys, and thanks for the concerned phone calls! I'm alive and well. I just haven't had the time to blog. So, here's a summary of my last week:

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday - Penang was awesome! I stayed at Ginger's parents' beach house in Batu Ferringhi, which was brilliant. We ate amazing seafoood, including crab, oyster, squid and the best Char Kuay Teow I've tasted. Water sports were great too. I was scared shitless while parasailing but it was still fun. And that was followed by four of us on a banana boat, which included a plunge into the river when the boat took a sharp turn. Saw the sights, including Fort Cornwallis, Khoo Kongsi (the Khoo clan's meeting place and temple), Kek Lok Si (a huge Buddhist temple with a pagoda made of three different levels of different styles and huge bronze statue of the goddess of mercy), Penang Museum, Air Itam dam, and climbed a little known waterfall just behind the beach house.

Thursday and Friday - Cameron Highlands. Saw a tea plantation, a strawberry farm (where I had fried ice cream - not bad), a butterfly farm, a bee farm, an orchid farm, and went to Gunung Berinchang (at 6666 ft, the highest part of Cameron Higlands that can be reached by car) where our guide took us for a short hike through the mossy forrest. Made my bus to KL in the nick of time (had to pay the taxi driver extra to get me there on time).

Saturday - Genting Highland. Don't know how I agreed to go to an amusement park. The queues were really long so we only got on four rides (a twisty roller coaster, a really sharp dropping thing, a water slide and a moving cinema thing). Saw the casino. Nothing special.

Sunday - Went to Melaka with Farah and chilled. Came back to KL in the evening.

Monday - I'm in Kuala Terengganu to take advantage of the beach and snorkel if I have the chance. Plan to do that tomorrow and then head to Taman Negara (national park) for some serious jungle trekking.