Malaysia

Malaysia

12-Oct-00

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Malaysia
Malaysia started out as the Malay Federation; a made up country of ethnic Malays either directly under the control of the British or in there influence sphere.

Some members of the "Federation" were sovereign in and of themselves beforehand, and at least 2 (Singapore and Brunei) either chose not to join or split apart shortly after confederation.

The rest of the Malay peoples ended up as The Philippines (Spanish colony), Indonesia (Mostly Dutch sphere of influence; although some spots were Portuguese) or Timor (Portuguese)



Peninsular Malaysia is, for the most part, a very modern country and fairly wealthy. There are large Chinese and Indian minorities. Malaysian Borneo on the other hand is still stone age for the most part.



The currency is the Ringit.



Hello to friends new and old Larry & Sue Hook, Jackie Morrissey & Keith Maguire, Bal Patel, Laura Sarssam

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Malaysian flag for my backpack

Malaysian passport stamp
Most westerners, Americans included get 3 months in Malaysia without a visa.

Greetings from Singapore!

Hi Everyone!
Before I begin - a couple of explanations :
SaraGrace and I have made some changes to our internet usage - we found it difficult to maintain 2 distribution lists with most of the same people on it, so we merged them. Therefore some of you will be getting their first email ever from me, and others will soon be getting their first email ever from SaraGrace.
Due to space limitations, SaraGrace and I have created this email address for sending out our group emails only. Please continue to use our personal email address's for corespondance.

So, When I last left you, we were about to board a boat for Komodo.

Well, we did board the boat - but 3 days later than planned due to an unexpected case of Bali-Belly on SGK's part. Boy would that have sucked! imagine 4 days on a tiny boat in the Indonesian sea with the runs - and the only toilet is straight into the sea!
It actually worked out better that we left later as on that next trip were some people that we had met on the Padangbai-Lembar ferry; Frank, Una, and Brent.
The boat trip was FANTASTIC! We got to see a part of Indonesia that would have otherwise been completely inaccessible - the Islands north of Sumbawa. The downside of the boat was that we had to sleep on the deck - and got soaked as the waves continually crashed over the bow.
Komodo itself was quite worth the trip - not just for the legendary Dragons, but also the snorkeling was out of this world. After the disappointment of Gili (the Coral at Gili seems to have all died since we were there 2 years ago) I must say that the coral at Komodo is the best I've ever seen.
So, after 5 days, 4 nights on the boat eating nothing but Fish, Rice and noodles; we were ready for Flores.
Labuanbajo on the western end of Flores is a little slice of heaven. Quiet! No hawkers yelling at you to buy their wares! Our whole group liked it so much that 10 (out of 14) of us decided to hire a bus and take a trip across to the easternmost part of the island to see the coloured lakes of Keli Mutu.
Well, the LP guidebook says that it's 15 hours driving time to Keli Mutu from Labuanbajo. They are dead wrong. DEAD wrong. It took us the better part of 4 DAYS. That's driving all day, with only a few VERY short stops. Down bumpy-ass roads in a bus with bad springs. One other thing about Flores is that it's pretty primitive - there are next to no facilities on the whole Island. I mean NONE. The restaurants we were forced to eat in only had Giardia-infested meat and probably hadn't had another Boolay (Indonesian slang for Gringo) show up at them for years.
The hotels had moldy, lumpy mattresses that made both of our allergies go ape-shit. I don't think that there was a proper western style toilet on the whole island.
Aside from that, our group was great. We were quite a mix - Diana was Sumbanese from Java; Kevin, SGK and I from CA, Marrion and Michael of 'Team Holland', Debbie whose last name is Holland but from the UK, Frank who's fathers name belongs to a famous Dutchman, but is really a Hamburger, Johan the only Snuss-less Swede I've met, and Jason-of-the-Giardia also from the UK.
When we finally pulled into Keli Mutu we found that the road had been washed out. But have no fear! Our bus driver decided to go for it anyway and managed to get the bus stuck in a river. We spent a couple of hours pulling on ropes and digging in the mud, but eventually got it unstuck. Whew! Now only an 8km hike up to the top to see the lakes. DAMN GOOD THING it wasn't fogged in after all of this!
Now for the second part of the plan - we had all purchased tickets to take the PELNI ship back to Bali.
PELNI is a passenger shipping line in Indonesia. We had all wanted to buy the Rp249,000 (about $25US) second class tickets for the 4 day journey, but the guy at the office would only sell us the Rp74000 (about $8.00US) Ekonomi tickets. No amount of pleading would change his mind, so we bought them anyway.
When the boat pulled up, there were literally 3775 people in Ekonomi class already on the boat (it's licensed to carry 914). Next to none got off. About 1000 people did manage to get on. SGK and I didn't. We found out the exact amount of the overbooking from the Capitan whom we met later on the dock. He said that 4 people DIED on the way from Timor due to overcrowding, and that that was considered normal for a sailing.
We thought that we were now well and royally screwed. We didn't want to take another 4 day bus ride across Flores to Labuanbajo to catch the Sumbawa Ferry then an 18 hr bus ride to another ferry, for yet another 6 hr bus to yet another ferry to yet anther bus back to Kuta on Bali. When we had enquired several days before about flying, we were told that no planes were flying until July.
We decided on his advice to try and fly from Maumere (8 hrs drive away) instead of trying to fly from Ende (where the boat left from) as there are more flights available from there.
Indonesian bureaucracy never ceases to amaze me. There were flights, and they were empty! But they wouldn't let us on them! We tried telling them that SGK was preggers. Nope. We tried telling them that our Visa's were in danger of expiring. Nope. SGK even turned on the tears. Nope. I even tried bribing them with the equivalent of 30 days wages. Nope. They let a plane fly with empty seats rather than let two Boolays on who lacked proper paperwork onboard.
That evening we splurged on the only air conditioner in town. We needed to at least feel partly comfortable. One good thing though is that the Merpati guy (Merpati is the airline - their motto: It's Merpati, I'll fly if I want to!) felt sorry for us and came to our hotel that evening and put together the proper paperwork for us to be able to fly the next day.
Well we finally made it back to Bali and caught up with everyone else. After much drinking we caught an early flight to Singapore where we are now.
We have already spent a couple of days here in Sing with Bill, Ling, DJ CC, and Pizza-Pie Nini. He's living in absolute expat-elegance. A 4 bedroom, 3500 square ft apt on the 23rd floor overlooking the South China Sea with a 500 square ft balcony and a live in maid!!!!! Wow. Way cool of him to let us stay!
Well, where do we go from here??? Tomorrow we go into Malaysia to enquire about flying to Borneo to see the Orangutans, then on to Brunei and back to peninsular Malaysia. We plan on seeing the Cave's again after we return from Borneo - Bill wants to do some diving in Malaysia, then we are off to Thailand to see my other friend Bill, then Cambodia where we hope to meet SGK's friend Wolfgang and see Angkor Wat, then back to Thailand with SGK's Brother and his wife before jetting out to India.
Cheers!
MRA

Around Singapore

Around Singapore

25-Jun-00 thru 28-Jun-00

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Around Singapore
Some shots from around Singapore

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Sentosa Beach, Singapur, Singapore, Singapore

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Freighter from Sentosa Beach

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Merlion, Singapur, Singapore, Singapore

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Singapore skyline from the top of the Merlion

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SaraGrace Keenan. Bedok Rd, Singapur, Singapore, Singapore

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Flowers on a pedestrian over-crossing on Bedok Rd
This overpass was on the way from my friend Bill's house and the Singapore metro. It was blooming with bougainvillea.

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Singapore

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The beanie-babies store
Before we left home there was a craze for these little bean bag toys. I was amazed to find an entire store dedicated to the stupid little things.

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Singapore

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Mambo #5
No idea what this place was; but liked the sign.

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Singapore

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Chinese temple

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Singapore

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Rooftop in Chinatown

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Singapore

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Another Rooftop in chinatown

Travels With SG:Singapore

Hello everyone!

Because it is so hard to maintain two separate distribution lists, Michael and I have formally 'merged' our distribution lists...
So, those who have not received a travel dispatch from me in the past, now will, (I'm sure you all know who I am...:) and ditto for those who had not received one from Michael (you definitely all know who he is..,:)

Indonesia

Since I last wrote, we have taken an Indonesian cooking in Ubud...
More like a "stuff yourself silly" class, toured "all" the temples on Bali, had a most relaxing massage, had our 3rd round of J.E., and Rabies shots, had a major bout with "Bali-Belly" (sound glamours doesn't it??? Layman terms-THE RUNS), did the four day boat trip to Flores via Komodo and Rinca Islands to see the 'komodo dragons'-which looked like large lizards, huge claws and a snake-shaped head...Then we chartered a bus along with 8 others and toured Flores for 4 more days...
Flores is a very beautiful island (ah, the colored lakes-volcano craters that change colors-see the photos...) but, it is a very difficult island to leave...

Why, you ask? Well...
When you go to the Merpati office (an Indonesian airline) they tell you that there are no flights till July...
So you do the only 'logical' thing and book a trip back to Bali on the 'god-forsaken' Pelni Boat, and spend 2 more endless nights in Ende (nothing here) waiting for the Pelni Boat to arrive...
They have no more first or 2nd class cabins on the Pelni Boat, so you are stuck in economy class...
Sleeping on top of each other, smells of vomit, body odor, dirty bathroom, etc.etc.etc....
I'm too old for this shit!!!

When the day finally arrives for us to leave Flores, the boat looks packed (it is over packed!)...
They let people on the boat before letting people off the boat(ummmm, does this sound a bit stupid or what???)...
We decided to say goodbye to our traveling companions, and find another way off the island...
While we were watching this "chinese-fire-drill" we met the captain of the Pelni boat...
He said, and I firmly quote, "YOU DO NOT WANT TO GET ON THAT BOAT!"

The boat claims to sell 915 economy seats...
Well, they actually sold 3700 economy seats! 2 passengers died in economy class prior to getting to Ende, and 2 were thrown in jail...
To make a long-story short (I'm really trying)...
We quickly befriended the captain, or did he befriend us??? We had coffee with him and the chief of police for Ende before chartering a bemo (small van) back to Moni...
The captain reserved us 2 seats on the Merpati plane, leaving from Maumere the next day...

The next day...
We caught public transport (no aircon) to Maumere (four hours crammed in the back seat with 2 other adults...these seats are really made for 3 adults-and you all know how big Michael is)...
Got to the Merpati office, and they have never heard of us, or Mr. Josef (with whom our captain made our reservations)...
We press them, and they suddenly find our names on a "stand-by" list, and tell us that Mr. Josef is at the airport...
ON TO THE AIRPORT...
No, Mr. Josef only works in the office, never at the airport, but they will do everything that they can to get us on the flight...
We wait...
They take our bags...
They take our money...
We make it through the "security" check point and into the waiting lounge!!! We see our bags board the plane...
YIPEE!!!!

But, alas, it is not to be...
They come collect us and tell us that we can not fly today without a proper ticket, and the office is closed till 8am tomorrow (it is now 2pm)-even begging and crying does not work (believe me, I put on the waterworks)...
They retrieved our bags, we retrieved our money $$$...
Get this...
There are no Taxi's at the airport-NO, I am NOT KIDDING!!!...
A very nice Indonesian man, who had seen everything that we had gone through (along with 2 other Indonesian business men-who are also in the same predicament) takes pity on us all and drives us to a hotel-get this...
He does NOT want money!!! Even in our deepest darkest hour, there is a bit of light!!!:)

Later that night...
One of the Merpati guys comes and tells us that he can get us on the flight tomorrow...
He just needs our money (are we on candid camera, or what???)...
We tell him that don't have enough money-we will have to go to the bank tomorrow, and then to the office...

He comes back one hour later with proper tickets-our names are on them and everything...
We give him rupiah and some American cash-ALL SYSTEMS GO!!! I wonder how he got proper tickets at 8pm at night when the office closed at 2pm??? INDONESIAN B.S!!!...
Is the camera still on???

The next day we land on Bali...
Go to Kuta and get a hotel with pool and phone-we splurge big time...
$18/night!!! (we usually pay $2-4/night) I have never been so happy in all my life to get to Kuta!!! We change our tickets to get out of Indo ASAP, and on to Singapore!!!

Singapore

We are being spoiled rotten! We are staying with Bill Cave, (an old co-worker of Michael's) his beautiful family, Ling, and their 3 kids-DJ (age 13) NiNi (3 1/2), and CeCe (2)...
And one on the way!!! They live in a very large "apartment" (about 2500 sq/ft, plus a 500 sq/ft balcony) 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom, overlooking the eastern harbor...
We have our own room, bathroom and ...
AIRCON!!! They also have a live in maid...
Who did our laundry yesterday...
Talk about a change from Flores!!! We are so BLESSED!!!! It really has been an enjoyable week-with a family...We really needed it!

Singapore claims to be a "western" country...
We have been here a week, and my impression is that it is a Chinese Country (The culture is very Chinese, and for some reason the people are VERY RUDE...
It is so unbelievable-it only seems that the people from India smile and are friendly to travelers, and want to be of service-whether in a shop or at a restaurant)...
But Singapore does have all the western conveniences-drinking water from the tap, flushing TP down the toilet, malls, capitalism, materialism, malls, and the "keep-up-with-the-jones" syndrome...more malls!!!

We have seen quite a bit of Singapore and will be heading on to Malaysia Friday...

We'd love to hear from you, and don't forget to check out our photos!!!

All for now!
Luv,
SG

Raffles Long Bar

Raffles Long Bar

26-Jun-00

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Raffles Long Bar
"The Long Bar" is a Singapore legend. It's the birthplace of the "Singapore Sling". We ran into our friends Debbie and Johan from the Komodo- Kelimutu trip here.

A plaque on the bar proudly proclaims:

The precise origin of the Long Bar is shrouded in mystery.

Legend has it that a rather longish bar was constructed by the Sarkies Bros, the original proprietors in the early years of this century in the hotel's main building.

Here the inventive barman Ngiam Tong Boon served up his original Singapore Sling and Million Dollar cocktails.

In the intervening years the location of the long bar moved several times.

During the 1989-1991 restoration of raffles hotel, the long bar was given a new home where Mr. Ngiam's famous recipes are prepared in the traditional manner (and cost about 0!!)

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Johan Sidén, Raffles Hotel, Singapur, Singapore, Singapore

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Michael Alessio "MRA", and SaraGrace Keenan. , Raffles Hotel, Singapur, Singapore, Singapore

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Debbie Holland, Raffles Hotel, Singapur, Singapore, Singapore

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SaraGrace Keenan, Debbie Holland, Johan Sidén, and Michael Alessio, Raffles Hotel, Singapur, Singapore, Singapore

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With our (expensive) drinks.

Sentosa Island

Sentosa Island is an island south of the main island in Singapore. It is basically one large park.

25-Jun-2000

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The view from Mt. Faber

The merlion from afar

Singapore's mascot - a fabled protector of the straights

The Caves

SGK in the cable car from Mt. Faber to Sentosa island

The Gaurdian of Lung Ya Men (Dragon Teeth Gate)

A sign here said: "
Known to ancient Chinese mariners as Lung Ya Men - The Dragon Teeth Gate - The present date Keppel Harbour was once a sheltered passage connecting East and West Asia.
After a long hibernation, this custodian of Lung Ya Men has arisen to greet a new and prosperous Singapore on its doorsteps - in itself an economic dragon of the east"

The drooling dragon

Close-up of the merlion

Turtle in under-water-world

We thought that Joe might like this job...

Dugong

Reminds me of a manatee

Lionfish

Tunnel in under-water-world

Potato cod

Bill and daddy's little girl

Man eater!

Sand sculptures...

...They were later wrecked in a hunt for buried treasure

Our trip to Bills House

22-Jun-2000 thru 25-Jun-2000

We spent a week in Singapore at Bill Caves house



One Arch McDonalds






Nini and CC



Bill and family



Hey Dave - you can get your "Fook Kiong Reptiles" here!



No Durians on the MRT... If you've had one you'll know why



DJ and CC



Karate Practice