Malaysia / Singapore / Brunei Darussalam

Malaysia Pt. I

Georgetown / Penang

After an awfully long day spent on buses, taxis and Tuk-Tuks, and yet another pedestrian border crossing, me and my lovely German travel buddy Anne arrived in Georgetown late at night and in pouring rain. After looking at about five hostels madame was pleased (to be fair I wouldn’t have wanted to stay in the others either..) and we called it a night. The next day went by meandering through the city which promised colonial charm – we could not quite find it here and decided to leave the next day.

Mountains and city and ocean

Kota Bharu

Traversing the peninsula from east to west this predominantly Muslim city off the touristy trail made for a culturally interesting stopover on our way to the Perhentian islands.

Perhentian Kecil

The smaller one of the two islands was our destination and a (more or less) smooth but wet boat ride brought us there. Accommodation was more on the run down side, so after one day of hiking around for good views we stayed at the main beach for a few more nights. Awesome beach parties to be had here including a fun Swedish Midsommar. I went for a few dives with Lazy Buoy Divers and Anne made first baby steps snorkeling, although still hesitant, if not to say reluctant. This should soon change. Trust me, I will get you below the surface!

Spectacular hiking views

Beachlife

Happy Midsommar!

Kuala Terengganu

Good for a stopover and colorful lit pine trees.

q.e.d.

Cameron Highlands

This place has the highest density of Range Rovers in the world. No kidding. A retreat set up by the British during the colonial era as a getaway sitting lofty amidst the surrounding hills. It rained most of the time we were there, but we enjoyed the chilly climate for a change and engaged in hikes through the lush tropical forests and a tour past the vast vineyards where a hilariously funny local guide explained and entertained. I also have deep respect for the maybe 14 year old son of the lady who owned the lovely hostel we stayed at. He knew all the Bayern Munich football players from the 70s until today. What a champion!

Darjeeling fields

Kuala Lumpur

Bustling KL is a gem of a South East Asian city. Tradition and modernity combined, a multicultural hub and boy, oh boy, the food. Our whole trip was pretty much about food anyway (that and drinks) and whether it was a local market or a Nasi Goreng from a street vendor or a good Italian restaurant, we enjoyed what we were served most of the time. One day we watched the stunning color play during the sunset over the Petronas Twin Towers from a bar with absurdly expensive prices and an inside pool on the 30-odd floor. The views made up for the price - big time. And then it was back to Reggae Mansion, a full-on party hostel with a rooftop bar overlooking the city, where we paid a visit every now and then.

Petronas Twin Towers

At the Hindu temple

Building at Merdeka Square

Singapore          

The city state of Singapore is quite a contrast to other South East Asian cities. It looks rather Western in that it is a city focused mostly on business with a skyline that is dominating the views. Although I found Singapore to be pretty sterile or even clinical it does have a few nice corners where you can find interesting local culture. But then again most big Asian cities have a Chinatown or Little India, so that wasn’t really surprising. In addition to that, the city is really expensive and hadn’t Anne and I had onward transportation to Borneo we probably would have shortened our stay there altogether. Thus we spent a few days just strolling around, walking a lot and trying to get used to that very humid climate in the city. One day we did a pretty cool tour on little scooters with a local guide who took us on a trip through Singapore’s colonial past under its founder Sir Stamford Raffles that ended in the huge gardens by the bay where we stayed for dinner and a cool light show. Another afternoon we eventually took the elevator up the fancy $250-a-night Marina Bay Sands which features a massive rooftop infinity pool with spectacular views of the city at sunset. In order to be granted access to the balcony bar you had to a) dress up and b) purchase a drink. We had a Singapore Sling at $26 for the lady and bottled beer for some $16. Ouch!

Singapore corners I

Singapore corners II

Marina Bay Sands

Mimi

The coolest thing during our stay though was definitely the Night Safari at the zoo. We got to observe some exotic animals from all over the world during their active night hours. But wildlife should soon get even more spectacular.

Malaysia Pt. II

Miri
Off to the island of Borneo it was. The only reason to fly into Miri was because we caught the plane from Johor Bahru just out of Singapore and that meant it was a dirt cheap domestic flight within Malaysia. Miri in turn is pretty close to our next destination, but a total waste of time itself. Especially so when you get poured upon whilst desperately trying to find a decent place to eat and grab a pint. Stay away from there! You have been warned.

Brunei Darussalam

Bandar Seri Begwawan

Certainly one of the more exotic countries I have been to. It was en route to our proclaimed destination Sandakan, so we decided to spend the day and one night here. Brunei is a Sultanate and one of the smaller but rather wealthy nations on earth due to petroleum and gas. We did a boat tour on the river that took us past some wildlife and through Kampong Ayer (“water village”) where the wooden buildings (including a fire station, schools, etc.) of some 40,000 inhabitants are constructed on stilts above the river. This reminded me instantly of Belen in the Amazon. We also enjoyed a stroll over the local market just across from our hotel and the visit to the impressive Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque in traditional body cover.

Swimming village

The Mosque and I

Since the country’s law is still based on the Sharia (which has actually just recently been enforced to implement a tough penal code) alcohol is nowhere to be found. Or is it? On our quest for a place to watch the Wimbledon final with German participant Sabine Lisicki we stumbled across an article from the Wall Street Journal that claimed there was a top secret bar called “The Lounge” in a well-known hotel in town. We asked at our hotel’s reception and they had question marks all over their faces, but were so friendly to make a few calls and gave us an address. We showed up at that hotel and inquired about the bar. We were then asked how we found out about it and I came up with some story of a friend who had stayed here before and recommended it. Then we were pointed to the elevator and they had to push a button from the reception as we got in. The doors closed and when they opened again we found ourselves in a darkly lit room with a big TV screen on the wall, we had to repeat our story because the girls working they were quite surprised about how we possibly could have heard about this place, but a few minutes later we were sinking a beer and watching tennis amongst a bunch of Chinese expats who seemed to usually occupy this bar. We found the only illegal watering hole in the entire country – winning on all levels.

Malaysia Pt. II

Labuan / Kota Kinabalu / Mount Kinabalu

We took a ferry to Labuan island which has a tax friendly policy and so locals go there to buy cheap alcohol and cigarettes. There is really nothing to be done there except for playing pool and waiting for your onward ferry to Kota Kinabalu the next day. Kinabalu had a great fish restaurant with all the different creatures on display in aquariums. You point at them and shortly after they land on your plate. Yum! We also did a boat trip to Pulau Sapi and enjoyed the (heavily crowded) beach there… well kind of. We thought it better to quickly move on to Mount Kinabalu and I was debating to hike up all the way Malaysia’s highest mountain (4,095 m), but my still hurting and healing foot and the rather rainy weather once I hiked up the first hour or so, made me turn around and just explore the hiking paths at the foot of the mountain for the remainder of the day.

Eat me!

Mount Kinabalu

Sandakan / Sepilok / Kinabatangan

Sandakan was cool since me and Anne used some of our hotel points from our times in consulting to stay at the Four points by Sheraton for a few days. It came with an infinity pool overlooking the city which became our main hangout for those days. I also enjoyed a decent workout at the gym – you don’t get them very often when you’re travelling. The highlight and main reason to come here was without a doubt the Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary. The Malaysian state of Sabah is one of the two areas in the world where you can still see wild orangutans and they were just the coolest thing when they showed up to grab some bananas from the rangers. The animals here are usually reported by someone and freed from being kept by local people who buy them illegally from hunters and keep them as pets or the orphans are rescued from logging sites and plantations. They are then brought to the camp and fostered there for a few years and they teach them wildlife skills to prepare them for their exodus in the jungle. Once released some of them return to the camp every night or only leave reluctantly in the first place, but after a few days and weeks they get used to their new surroundings and friends and enjoy a life free of captivity. A few of them still remember to show up for the daily feeding show at 10am which is why the visitors come here. There were about six or so that day we went and it is a remarkable sight observing our close relatives (97% genetically identical) swing on the ropes and doing all kinds of monkey business.

Just monkeying around...

Food secured

Pretty nice was our overnight stay at Kinabatangan river about two hours out in the jungle where we did a few cruises to spot wildlife. We saw a wild orangutan in the trees as well as some proboscis monkeys (the ones with the ridiculously long noses), interesting birds, alligators and a few other creatures, but unfortunately we missed the (wild) elephants that apparently had been there just a few days earlier. After a final night indulging ourselves in the luxury of aforementioned infinity pool in Sandakan we hopped on a plane to Kuala Lumpur where someone in our group (no names) ended up taking a 4am bath in the hostel’s fresh water tank on the rooftop J

Hungry monkey

Monkey with big nose

Off to the airport with a massive hangover … Indonesia calling!

Made it a habit to take pictures with the people who asked for pictures with us