Dec. 27, 2005
Bangkok to Singapore
This was the last working day of the year. After a few times of “See you next year” to my colleagues, I went straight to the airport. I bought the ticket of budget airline “Tiger Airways” run by the Singaporean government 2 months ago but still couldn’t get the best price. Service was not too bad and it was one of the last flights to Singapore on the day so the timing was perfect. As the airplane approached the airport, we could see the lights on the corridor alone the coast – a nice view. The airplane arrived before midnight. Although the immigration clearance was extremely fast and hassle free, I still missed the last subway. After waiting about 20 minutes, I boarded a bus heading downtown and finally found my hotel, Lee Traveler’s Club on the 6th floor of Fu Yuen Building on Beach Road. The room didn’t look like Singapore standard, but at $27 per night, I didn’t expect too much.
Dec. 28, 2005
Singapore
My hotel was about 5 minute walk to City Hall MRT Station. On the way I took some quick pictures of Raffles Hotel. Although probably favored by seniors, it looked quick normal to me. The MRT in Singapore is fast, efficient, easy to use, although… expensive. I couldn’t understand particularly why they didn’t have day passes for tourists. After submitting my visa application at the Royal Thai Embassy on Orchard Road, I went to see the symbol of Singapore – the Merlion and took a picture to post in my office. It was more appealing to me probably because it’s near the sea. Having walked a while and feeling a little bit tired, I entered an eatery place with about 10 restaurants. This is one of the many cheap, outdoor food centers in Singapore. I ordered a bowl of noodle for $5. Although it’s 5 times the price in Thailand, I enjoyed it – after all it was Chinese style.
My next task was to buy a Bluetooth headphone for my cell phone. I hoped to find a particular model that couldn’t be found in Thailand. First I checked out Funan Digilift Mall in the city center. It was kind of a high-end IT mall, very clean and comfortable. I couldn’t find what I needed and headed for the Pantip of Singapore – Sim Lim Square, a short walk from Bugis MRT. This place is more crowded and of course with more (and maybe cheaper) choices. I wandered through the shops looking and asking for the model I needed without success. I started to think this model was not for sale in Singapore before seeing it accidentally at a shop on the top floor. I bargained to $190 and thought I finally finished one important task for the trip (after I returned to Thailand, I found the headphone had many problems and I could hardly use it in many situations. I eventually lost it 2 months after the purchase and found the model was for sale at an IT shop in Bangkok for the same price 1 month later. I am still not sure if the shop gave me a bad one since all the reviews on the Internet looked pretty good for that model).
I spent the evening in the Night Safari. There are some restaurants in front of the entrance. The food was delicious and reasonably priced (less than $20). The Safari is the first of its kind in the world and it was quite well organized (with English and Japanese speaking guides on the train). Overall it was a pleasant experience.
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| Merlion |
Dec. 29, 2005
Singapore to Johor Bahru
I got up late in the morning, had an early lunch at the restaurant just next to the hotel and went to the Embassy to get my passport with visa. Everything was just smooth. Before I headed for Johor Bahru in Malaysia, I spent a few hours in the bookstores near the Embassy (one of my habits) and bought a map of Johor Bahru. Crossing the border is quite easy. Causeway Link yellow buses wait just next to the exit of Kranji MRT. You can buy tickets to several points in JB. I bought a ticket for City Lodge. A short walk from the downtown area, City Lodge is the terminal of several cross-border buses including bus No. 170 from Singapore. It’s also where you take the airport bus (that’s why I got here since the airport in JB is quite far from the city center). Compared with Singapore, JB looks a little more crowded, a little dirtier but the air quality is still better than Bangkok. I stayed at Down Town Inn on the 16th floor of Merlin Tower, the best budget hotel in city, for RM42 per night with fan (RM 63 for rooms with a/c). Other than the excellent location, the spacious rooms with great views of the Strait of Johor and Singapore are a real bonus. JB is a small town and there is not too much to see. I spent my night watching the Chinese movie “the Promise” at a cinema in City Square, the main shopping mall of the town.
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| Chinese Temple in Johor Bahru |
Dec. 30, 2005
Kuching and Gunung Mulu National Park
Since my flight to Kuching was at 7:00 a.m. I got up very early to catch the first airport bus at 5:30 a.m. After waiting for 30 minutes I couldn’t see the airport bus. I asked the people around and they just asked me to wait. Some said the airport bus might not even come. At around 5:50 a.m. I finally lost my patience and took a taxi and ended up paying a few more times the price of the bus. On the way to the airport, I saw one airport bus heading for City Lodge – was that the one that was supposed to leave City Lodge at 5:30 a.m.? This single incidence clearly tells the difference between Malaysia and Singapore.
After flying one hour across the ocean, I landed in Kuching, the first city in Sarawak of my trip shortly after 8 a.m. I had a few hours to change flights here so I decided to get into the city to have a quick look. There are 2 buses coming to the airport. Since they are very infrequent (only a few times a day), I stopped a taxi on the highway that passes the airport. The taxi driver is Chinese and obviously he is very proud to be Chinese and a definite patriot although he had never been to China. Like every Chinese Malay, he speaks good Mandarin. We had a good talk about China. The trip to the city took less than 1 hour and cost RM18. Although praised by LP, the city center in Kunching looked a little messy to me. The river was nice although a boat trip could only take you to see the outside of Istana. I was lucky to have enough time to catch a Chin Lian Long (CLL) bus No. 8A back to the airport.
The Malaysian Airlines airplane to Mulu stopped at Sibu, Bintulu and Miri on the way but arrived quite on time 3 hours later. The airport at Mulu is a small one in the forest. There were vehicles waiting outside the airport to take you to the national park for RM3. I already booked a bungalow run by the national park. It was quite nice with reasonable price (RM48). After having a snack in the attached restaurant, I started the 1 hour hike to Deer Cave and Lang Cave. This is probably the easiest hike I had ever experienced in a national park – it’s actually walk, not hike. Despite that it’s quite pleasant with all the trees, etc. Deer Cave is quite long and I saw some tours were still there. Many bats already started to move out of the cave. Lang Cave is just a few hundred meters away. When I reached there it was officially closed – lights turned off. Luckily with my own flashlight, I explored it quickly before going to the observation station between the two caves to view endless bats flying out of Deer Cave. It was around 6 p.m. I had my dinner at the only restaurant outside the nation park. Mulu is definitely not a Muslim society. I had some very delicious pork and vegetable dishes for around RM20. It was unforgettable.
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| Entrance to Mulu National Park |
Dec. 31, 2005
Mulu National Park and Miri
I had only half a day to explore the two other open caves of the park. I took the boat run by the national park early in the morning (RM25). It took about 30 minutes to reach Wind Cave. The guide from the national park was already waiting there (RM5 for the guide). He showed us around the cave for about 1 hour then we took the boat to Clearwater Cave. Some people chose to walk a few minutes to the cave. The water was nice but not as clear as I expected. The cave itself is smaller and takes less time to explore. The waterway under the cave is said to be the longest of its kind in the world although we only saw a very small part of it. Unlike most people in the tour, I decided to walk back to the park headquarters although my boat ticket allowed me to return (same price for one way ticket). It is a 1 hour and half journey and it is hike, not walk (some uphill and downhill stuff). On the way I passed Milk Cave. You must bring your own flashlight to pass the cave since the lighting system inside the cave is not turned on (I wonder why they ever built the system).
There are a few flights a day between Munu and Miri, all before 4 p.m. I booked the last flight back to Miri but arrived at the airport quite early (nothing to do after lunch). I changed to an earlier flight (a RM5 surcharge) with a very small airplane. The airplane can only have about 10 people. There were no waiters or waitress on board and I could see all the manipulations of the pilot and all the forest views between Munu and Miri. It was unforgettable.
I arrived at Miri airport in mid afternoon, waited about 30 minutes for bus No. 28 to the city. Like all the city buses in East Malaysia, the buses are not frequent, in poor condition (don’t expect air-conditioning) but still acceptable. I checked in Fairland Inn for RM30 and started to explore the city. Miri looked better than Kuching to me perhaps because the streets are more organized. People drive very slowly and always yield to pedestrians. I spent 1 hour at an Internet café in the shopping mall next to the bus station until it’s closed around 6 p.m. for New Year’s Eve. Apart from checking emails, I also found a cinema in the city from the Internet. This solved the problem of how to kill the time in the evening since there is no New Year Countdown in this small town. I saw a Hong Kong movie “Perhaps, Love”. The movie was so-so but it finished just before I could have some night meal and saw the count down on TV. Malaysia is very keen about festivals like New Year Countdown, etc. As expected, I could see the festival in KL from one of the only few local channels on TV. After listening to the bilingual speech by the Minister of Tourism of Malaysia and the “10, 9, 8… 3, 2, 1” stuff, I went to bed to have my first sleep in 2006. This was also my last day in Sarawak.
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| Miri is very "Chinese" |
Jan. 1, 2006
Brunei
Although said to be difficult by guide books, I still decided to take buses to go to Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB) from Miri. It turned out not that difficult. The bus from Miri only takes you to the border. There is no need to take the first bus at 7 a.m. The 2nd one around 10 a.m. just does the job well. The border formalities were quite straightforward and it didn’t take a lot of time. Passengers changed to a Brunei bus to Kuala Belait (fare included in the bus ticket from Miri). When we arrived at Kuala Belait Bus Station, another bus going to Seria was already waiting there and left 5 minutes after we boarded on it. The bus arrived in Seria around noon. I withdrew some Brunei dollars from the HSBC next the bus station and had my lunch at a fast food restaurant in the same shopping complex.
The bus to BSB was quite old and without air-conditioning. It doesn’t seem to match Brunei standard. Since air quality in Brunei is good, it’s not a big deal with windows open. The countryside in Brunei is very nice. After about 2 hours, the bus arrived at BSB. The bus station there was very crowded. I had a feeling that I was at a bus station in KL. I got my free map and a travel book about the city from the Visitor Center and found a budget hotel there too. This guest house, K.H. Soon Rest House, doesn’t seem to be mentioned in any guide books but it’s very conveniently located on Jalan Pemancha in the city center. The rooms were very clean and quite spacious. I took one with shared bath for $30. BSB itself is very clean with many modern, colorful buildings. I visited the must-see Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque and Kampung Ayer behind the mosque. Kampung Ayer is a collection of water villages similar to those in Southern Thailand. Although nothing special, it’s still interesting to explore – it’s definitely different from the rest of BSB.
As the sun set, I continued to explore the city. I found one cinema. Although only 2 movies were shown, at least there are cinemas in Brunei. Even though Brunei is a straight Muslim country, I didn’t find it too different from other cities in Malaysia although it is a little boring after you see the city in a few hours.
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| Kampung Ayer |
Jan. 2, 2006
Brunei to Kota Kinabalu
The first Muara Express bus to Muara at 6:50 p.m. has just enough time to catch the first boat to Pulau Labuan, a federal territory of Malaysia with endless duty free shops. For some reason, there were only 2 boats to Kota Kinabalu on this day and the 9:00 a.m. one obviously left when I arrived in Pulau Labuan. While waiting for the 1 p.m. boat, I explored the city quickly. There was nothing interesting although the Bak Kut Teh I had (RM6) was really delicious and original. I arrived in Kota Kinabalu of Sabah in the late afternoon and missed the last bus to Mt. Kinabalu. I ended up using a taxi. Although the two other people who were supposed to join me didn’t show up, I still paid only RM35 for the trip (supposed to be 1 person’s fare). The driver was quite nice too. All these gave me a good impression of the last destination of this trip. I arrived in the park in the evening. Some attractive ladies in military uniforms welcomed me at the visitor center. They call each other friends and speak very good English. For this national park I only booked one bed in a doom room. This alone cost me RM42. The room has 4 beds. I was assigned a bed upstairs on top of a foreign lady. It was so cold that night and I couldn’t sleep even one minute.
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| Pulau Labuan Ferry Terminal |
Jan. 3, 2006
Mt. Kinabalu
I got up in the morning and had my breakfast in the cafeteria of the park. Luckily the sky was quite clear and there was a good view of the peak near the cafeteria. The mountain looked splendid and I took the opportunity to take a few pictures of the peek. This turned out to be the only chance I saw the peak since it started to rain later in the morning. I did two trails near the park headquarters, one along a river and one with a spot to see the ocean. The trail along the river is the longest one with over 5,000 meters. It was really a challenge on that one since one part of the trail disappeared due to the rain. I ended up using my body to pass that part and all my clothes got very dirty. Luckily this was the last day of my whole trip. The hike was a good exercise to me. After getting some food to take to eat on the bus from the cafeteria, I went to the visitor center to get by bag checked there and say good bye to the ladies. They asked me about my feeling of the trails and wished me to come back. The way they speak is quite different from the rest of Malaysia. It makes me feel more like in Canada. Their frankness and hospitality are really unforgettable.
I stopped a bus passing the national park heading for Kota Kinabalu (RM15) and arrived in the city in mid afternoon. KK is a pleasant coastal city but it is too small to do anything there. I watched another Hong Kong movie “A Chinese Tale Story” and spent the rest of the time shopping for my colleagues in Bangkok. The Air Asia flight was late as usual but it was not too late for me to have a KFC dinner at Bangkok airport before heading back home to sleep.
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| Mt. Kinabalu Peak |
Overview
Singapore is a city of efficiency. It is one of the cleanest cities in the world but don’t expect too much – some areas are not too different from cities like Bangkok. East Malaysia is quite different from the west part of the country. The towns are smaller, quieter, less crowded, and all that make you feel more relaxed. Everything is slow, from buses to people. The two national parks I visited are good places to have some exercises while breathing some fresh air. The national parks also give you opportunities to experience the local minority people who are quite different from the rest of Malaysia. Brunei is a place worth seeing between Sarawak and Sabah although there is really no need to spend more than 1 day there.
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