Hello KL

A short three hour coach ride brought us from Melaka to Kuala Lumpur or KL as the locals call it, the capital of Malaysia. We had to walk from the bus station to our hotel in the midday heat (around 30 degrees) with backpacks on, which seemed to take forever.


KL is home to the worlds tallest flagpoll (above) which is where the British handed power over to Malaysia, next to the flagpole is also a cricket pitch and pavilions.



In the afternoon we walked to the KL Menara tower, the third tallest communications tower in the world (BT tower didn't make chart). After walking the long way round we went up to the viewing levels at the top, which had spectacular views across the city (see below).



In true Malaysian style, it started to rain just as we left so we had to get a taxi back, the taxi driver even managed to provide some entertainment and a bit of singing as we headed back. In the evening we went to KLCC, where the Petronas towers are located and had dinner before getting a few pictures of the towers lit up at night.

Start of the tour - Melaka

After crossing the Malaysian border, the first stop was at Melaka, which used to be the main port in South East Asia before Singapore took the crown. The red buildings are from when the Dutch invaded, before the British invaded.

London is a very long way away!


We had a trishaw ride round the town to see the sights including Chinatown and some beautiful temples, including the one below, which was build entirely from wood without any nails holding it together.

Sensota

Weather was good on Saturday so I headed to Sensota Island, Singapore's own holiday resort. You get to it by monorail or cablecar, I took the cablecar that goes from the top of a skyscraper across to the Island. The Island is completely artificial, full of imported sand beaches that overlook tanker ships heading to harbours and cheesey attractions like a 4D theatre (the extra D is where they shake you about).



It was the last night I was staying with Ed and Rachel in their luxury apartment complex complete with a choice of swiming pools. Had dinner at the Newton Hawker centre, the noodles were good bit the Singapore carrott cake is definately to be missed, there is no carrott in it, just raddish cocked with lard and something else.

Singapore at night

On Friday evening I headed back to central Singapore to check out what it looks like lit up. The Fullerton hotel above is pretty spectacular but downtown Singapore isn't as pretty or interesting as Hong Kong at night.

Friday Afternoon - Arab Quarter and Little India

Like the Chinese Quarter, Singapore also had an area designated for Arabs and Indians. The Sultan Mosque above is on Arab street, the focal point of the Arab Quarter.


The mineret on this mosque is wonky by 7%.



In Little Inida there are a range of different temples including this buddhist one with a massive gold Buddha and has an ornate giant footprint called the foot of buddha.

I'm in Kuala Lumpur at the moment but have a backlog of photos to upload and we're off to a homestay in a remote Malay village on an island in the middle of a lake so Internet access may be a little limited.

Friday Morning - Surprise sunshine

I woke up on Friday and discovered the sun was shining and it didn't look like it was about to rain - the perfect opportunity to get a boat tour up the Sinapore river.


They use Bumboat, that used to be used to transport goods from the ships to the warehouses on the Singapore river, the warehouses at Boat Quay and Clarkes Quay have all been converted into restaurants and bars. The boats have eyes on two eyes on them at the front as the boatmen used to believe it would help them navigate and stop them crashing.


Singapore looks much better in the sunshine.

Day Three - Going Colonial

I spend today wandering round the colonial district of Singapore (until it started raining again). I got a picture of me in front of the famous Singapore merlion, not quite the statue of liberty but I guess it serves it purpose. Lots of English influence on the buildings round these parts like the old Government building, in front of a Singapore Cricket Club ground.

There's plenty of new buildings around as well like Esplanade, which definately has more spikes than the Sydney Opera House

Finally, here's a picture of the man who founded Singapore, Sir Stamford Raffles, they built this statue where he first set foot on the Island.