Righty ho folks,
On arriving in Singapore's immaculate airport (one of the nicest I have seen), I made a quick journey out via the extremely efficient MRT (mass rapid transport) to the apartment of Ole, the brother of the lovely Mira, whom I befriended in Bali. After a very hospitable welcome, including offers of laundry service usage and internet access, and having my first hot shower in over a month, I settled down for the night in a wonderful, clean, air-conditioned room. Heaven. The following day was spent traipsing round the city centre sites in my best attire (a remarkably still-white dress and rather worn gold shoes), such as the Merlion (statue of a lion/mermaid thing), various high-rise buildings, the arts centre and Clarke and Boat Quays. 'But why ever would you partake in such a sight-seeing spree in your only decent clothes?', I hear you ask. Well, the reason for this, my dear readers, is that I needed to look extra special and as unbackpackerly as possible to mark the one lavish extravagance I have allowed myself this year; dining at the exceedingly posh and sophisticated Raffles Hotel for luncheon. And it was marvelous. The hotel is grand, white, with colonial architecture; there are butlers and waiters and candle-stick makers to attend to your every whim; the swimming pool glistens like an azure gem in the midst of palm tree gardens and magnificent water-features; the ball room glows with charm and grace with twinkling chandeliers and royal red carpets; the dining room oozes class and style as the perfectly attentive waiters serve you impeccably. For lunch I dined on succulent pork shoulder drizzled with cherry compote, accompanied with garlic rosti and al dente asparagus and sweet, green beans. This beautiful main was preceded by a buffet of appetizers including fine smoked salmon, cheeses from the world, over twenty kinds of bread, salad, meats, soups and crackers. The desert was equally sumptuous, being presented on the shelves of a deep brown mahogany Dutch dresser, and boasting a selection of hot and cold desserts, ice cream, fruit, cakes, chocolates and biscuits fit for a Queen's palate. All of this was complimented by a bottle of sparkling wine of a ridiculous price, but made the experience worth every last cent.
As you've probably gathered, I loved my Raffles' lunch (thank you Auntie Sue for treating me to it!) I then spent the rest of the afternoon bloatedly waddling down Orchard Road, soaking up the expensive boutique shopping malls and moaning because my feet hurt (darn gold shoes!) The evening was then passed eating out with Ole and his colleagues and trying the famous Singapore Sling cocktail (yummy). The following day in Singapore was spent trundling round the food stalls and temples of Little India and China town, and catching up with 'The Brummies', Edward and Chris, whom I had met in Gili T and Kuta.
After the luxury of Singapore - a great city as far as cities go - it was off to Kuala Lumpur, city of nastiness, dirt, the Petronas towers, a communication tower, and not much else. With the company of Ed and Chris, I did manage to see the Batu caves to provide some excitement for the KL experience. Largely, though, KL was spent trying to sort out my superannuation claims in Australia and shuttling back and forth between police/embassies/commissioner of oaths try to get my passport photocopy verified. Fun. The next stop in Malaysia could not have been more different, however. Poles apart from the hustle and bustle of KL, the Cameron Highlands took me warmly in the folds of their rolling hills and gave me a much craved-for taste of home. The Cameron Highlands are not only cooler, being at higher altitude, but boast lush tea plantations spread like blankets over the hills, thus lulling me into a rather homely reverie. The first day I spent drinking tea, visiting the tea plantations, visiting the tea factory, visiting the Boh Tea Museum, and drinking some more tea. I also made some trips to a honey farm and a butterfly farm, a strawberry farm and a rose centre, as well as stopping off in the market to try some weird and wonderful fruits. The rose centre, bizarrely, had very few roses in it, but still contributed to the glowing, idyllic experience the highlands afforded me. After chowing down on some great Indian food afterwards, I made friends with a few people, and agreed to hike the hills the following day with new-found friend Michael. And that we did. The Lonely Planet specified that we should take a) water, b) waterproofs, c) a partner and d) a map. Well, three out of four ain't bad! (We forgot the map and spent 4 hours wandering the jungle and ended up hitching a lift back to town). After the highly successful morning's hike, we treated ourselves to scones and jam (and more tea, naturally) and watched some films in the communal area of the hostel. I love the Cameron Highlands.
As all good things must come to an end, however, I had to leave my dreamland destination of the pretty Camerons, and I headed straight up to Perhentian Islands, the showpieces and little jewels of Malaysia's north east coast. A bus trip and a boat ride later, along with an hour-long search of the beach for accommodation, I settled down for the night in a shanty shack on a hill, with a gecko, a spider, a bird and, at one point, a monitor lizard for company. It was cozy. The beach was beautiful - white sand, turquoise waters, all that. I did a snorkel trip in the Perhentians and met some fabulous people. The snorkeling was brilliant too, as the water was bath-warm and filled with fishes, turtles, sharks, coral, and all manner of sea beasties (like jelly fish - several of which stung me. Hmph.) Still, after my farewell night of drinking vodka watermelons on the beach with my fellow travelers, it was onwards and upwards to Thailand.
Thailand's first stop was Nakhon Si Thammarat, a rather untouristy destination specialising in Wats (temples) and shadow puppets, and exceptionally hospitable people. On the nine hour train ride up, I was befriended by several locals, one of whom offered to accommodate me, and had an hour long Thai-English learning session (using the phrase section of the Lonely Planet) with a great kid called Pha. My new Thai phrases came in rather handy in Nakhon as I appeared to be the only tourist in town, and actually became something of a 'local attraction'! I found the locals to be super - friendly, helpful, smily, curious, welcoming, hospitable, generous. I had coffees bought for me, taxi rides given free of charge, and had an amusing time trying to communicate using my sparse Thai vocab coupled with elaborate gestures and a fair amount of pointing and sign language. As well as being entertained (and probably reciprocally entertaining too) the locals, I got out to a few of the temples to witness monks praying, golden Buddhas lining the alleys, massive metallic shrines, and more worshippers than would grace Worcester Cathedral at Christmas. The real highlight, nonetheless, was seeing the shadow puppets. The museum displayed puppets from all across asia, while the staff gave me demonstrations of how they made them. I was shown how the buffalo hide is dried and how intricate designs are chiseled in and then the skin in dyed with fruit-dye to form beautiful puppets. I bought a plain black non-moving puppet of Magkhala, who in legend is an angel. When evil Ramasoon, a demon, tried to axe a diamond from her body, the sound of the blow created thunder and the clash of the axe on the diamond created lightening. Unfortunately I was the only visitor that day so they wouldn't put on a show for me, but I imagine with such passionate craftsmen and artists it would be wonderful.
And so I will sign off for now, and continue Thai tales next time.
Love for now,
Helen xxx
As all good things must come to an end, however, I had to leave my dreamland destination of the pretty Camerons, and I headed straight up to Perhentian Islands, the showpieces and little jewels of Malaysia's north east coast. A bus trip and a boat ride later, along with an hour-long search of the beach for accommodation, I settled down for the night in a shanty shack on a hill, with a gecko, a spider, a bird and, at one point, a monitor lizard for company. It was cozy. The beach was beautiful - white sand, turquoise waters, all that. I did a snorkel trip in the Perhentians and met some fabulous people. The snorkeling was brilliant too, as the water was bath-warm and filled with fishes, turtles, sharks, coral, and all manner of sea beasties (like jelly fish - several of which stung me. Hmph.) Still, after my farewell night of drinking vodka watermelons on the beach with my fellow travelers, it was onwards and upwards to Thailand.
Thailand's first stop was Nakhon Si Thammarat, a rather untouristy destination specialising in Wats (temples) and shadow puppets, and exceptionally hospitable people. On the nine hour train ride up, I was befriended by several locals, one of whom offered to accommodate me, and had an hour long Thai-English learning session (using the phrase section of the Lonely Planet) with a great kid called Pha. My new Thai phrases came in rather handy in Nakhon as I appeared to be the only tourist in town, and actually became something of a 'local attraction'! I found the locals to be super - friendly, helpful, smily, curious, welcoming, hospitable, generous. I had coffees bought for me, taxi rides given free of charge, and had an amusing time trying to communicate using my sparse Thai vocab coupled with elaborate gestures and a fair amount of pointing and sign language. As well as being entertained (and probably reciprocally entertaining too) the locals, I got out to a few of the temples to witness monks praying, golden Buddhas lining the alleys, massive metallic shrines, and more worshippers than would grace Worcester Cathedral at Christmas. The real highlight, nonetheless, was seeing the shadow puppets. The museum displayed puppets from all across asia, while the staff gave me demonstrations of how they made them. I was shown how the buffalo hide is dried and how intricate designs are chiseled in and then the skin in dyed with fruit-dye to form beautiful puppets. I bought a plain black non-moving puppet of Magkhala, who in legend is an angel. When evil Ramasoon, a demon, tried to axe a diamond from her body, the sound of the blow created thunder and the clash of the axe on the diamond created lightening. Unfortunately I was the only visitor that day so they wouldn't put on a show for me, but I imagine with such passionate craftsmen and artists it would be wonderful.
And so I will sign off for now, and continue Thai tales next time.
Love for now,
Helen xxx
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