Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia
So I've started this thing now where I write postcards to myself from the places I have been, and I really like it because the postcard makes for a great souvenir for myself, a sort of snapshot of that time in that place that I can keep. Plus, as much as I do enjoy taking photos, the ones on the postcards are usually better. I got my postcard from Malaysia today, sent from Kuala Lumpur on our last day, and decided it was therefore appropriate that I sit down and write this!
Basic overview: a day in Singapore, meet up with Stephen, overnight to Kuala Lumpur (KL), a day there, early morning flight to Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei, then down the coast over the next six days to Kuching, then back to Hong Kong through KL.
Singapore was beautiful and clean and English, and the food was fantastic, but I wouldn't have wanted to spend more than a day there. Chinatown was great, Orchid Road was everything I expected, and Little India went above and beyond my expectations - it was remarkable how much it looked, sounded and smelled like some of the cities I had seen in India. The only things that were missing were the dogs everywhere and the garbage.
This was a street of shopfronts in Chinatown, Singapore. It was a very picturesque city. So picturesque, in fact, that this is their police station:
Next was KL for a day, but first we had to get there; the trains were all sold out (basically the only disappointment of the whole trip) so I was hunting for bus tickets. I tried probably a dozen places before I was offered seats for that evening's 11:59 bus to KL, which was perfect timing. Overpaid for them, but had no choice because not only did I know there very few tickets still available, the guy also knew there were very few tickets left. But only with tickets in hand could I go and enjoy the rest of Singapore, so voilà.
When it came time to actually get on the bus, it was a wonderfully amusing gongshow affair, a great start to our trip, and a perfect way to remind ourselves that we were in Malaysia to experience it in all of its Malaysia-ness. [Read: We eventually got on our bus by yelling a matching "KL! 2!" at a lady standing on the street in front of a bus. I don't think we even showed her our ticket.] The bus we got on, however, was swank.
KL in the morning was spectacular, and I was definitely lacking sleep by then. We had some dim sum, decided that dim sum should stay in HK and not in Malaysia, checked into our hostel (took a wonderful shower!) and then headed to the Batu Caves, which were easily accessible and definitely worth it. The monkeys were entertaining, the caves were cool, and the golden statue of Lord Murugan was appropriately huge and gold.
We wandered KL's Chinatown the rest of the day: ate some really great food, tried a blood dragon fruit, discovered a new favourite mystery food, enjoyed a little rainstorm, lost a clock tower, and then headed back to our hostel to catch at least a few hours of sleep before flying to Brunei early the next morning.
Bandar Seri Begawan was absolutely unreal. We loved it as soon as we got off the elusive purple bus we had taken from the airport and saw a covered market spread down a riverbank in the middle of the city. Wander-mode in full-swing, we explored the stilt-house village of Kampung Ayer [Well, first we stopped in at the tourist centre and picked up a few necessary I <3 Brunei pins.] and then headed back to land and continued our wander.
The next morning we hit up the sultan's Royal Regalia Museum, which 1) required us to take off our shoes to better appreciate the marble flooring and plush carpets, 2) was the most excessive museum I will likely ever enter, 3) was hilarious.
This is what he came in on for his coronation:
After the museum, we went to the beautiful Masjid Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin. I donned some extra clothing, kindly provided by the mosque, and we were able to step inside, although it was admittedly more impressive from the outside. The grounds were spectacular, and the lake it was built on gave the mosque a peaceful and eternal feel.
We left that afternoon for Niah National Park, in Malaysia, and arrived without mishap and with great food (satay!!!!) just after sunset. Our first rainforest the next day, as well as some caves to explore! The lady at the park desk was wonderful - I do wish we could have left her a note when we left - rainforest was cool, lunch in the town was perfect, the caves were mind-blowing, the green was stunning, and we loved it.
This was the entrance to one of the caves, which continued in a rather non-linear fashion to the other side. There was a crazy dark part where I was asking God to keep our flashlight battery and light bulb strong, and when we stopped walking and shut off the light, it made my heart race it was so dark.
After Niah we headed down the coast to Kuching, and made plans to head to Bako National Park for two days. Bako was absolutely incredible - real rainforest, compared to Niah, intense hikes, monkeys, beaches, waterfalls, rainforest mud . . . all of it.
Bako was hard to leave. It was fantastic! But the next day we went kayaking through rainforest so . . .
We started with a visit to an orangutan sanctuary, which was hilarious, and then we got kayaks and got on the river. Our guide was stellar, and the whole day was pretty perfect.
Our last day in Kuching we did a few things in the city (including a terrifying/hilarious shave for Stephen) and then decided to go to Damai Beach for a few hours. It was cold, but pretty.
We headed back to Kuching for dinner, and then headed home to Hong Kong.
