Hi everyone
After a few beautiful, relaxing days in the Perhentian Islands, Erik and I headed to the Cameron Highlands. After leaving the chalets, we boarded a boat taxi to the mainland and then took a minibus from there. On the bus, we met Helen and Melanie, two very friendly South African girls who now work as physiotherapists in London. The 6 hour drive to the Highlands seemed very short as we chatted with them the whole trip. Once there we checked in to the Cameron Inn, drank beer and relaxed for the rest of the night.
The following morning Erik and I took a trekking tour around the highlands with a tour guide that asked us to call him “Money” since is real name was too hard to pronounce. Money is 52 years old and lived his whole life in the Cameron Highlands. He’s worked several jobs all over the area and was very knowledgeable. He took us to a local tea plantation and explained how the workers pick the tea leaves. The many plantations in the area are a key source for the local economy. Money then took us trekking through the jungle where he showed us some very cool plants and we even got to climb a tree vine that looked like a gym rope. This guy knew every plants name and he had the sense of smell like a dog. He would just smell an area of the jungle and would find a particular plant that he wanted to show us. He then brought us to a strawberry farm (also a source of the local economy) where we had sundays and local jam. Our last stop on the tour was a butterfly farm where we got a chance to see thousands of butterflies, snakes, turtles, scorpions and a variety of weird insects. We then headed to back to the hostel and just relaxed and chatted the rest of the night with our new South African friends.
The next day we just relaxed and walked around to explore the town. Afterwards, we then took a bus to our next destination: Kuala Lumpur. The bus driver was a crazy person that was screaming and honking at everyone on the road. Also the road was on the edge of a cliff and not very straight. The driver was taking the corners pretty damn fast so sleeping on the way to KL was out of the question.
I’ll talk about KL in the next post.
Take care,
Jason
Monday, July 30, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Perhentian Islands, Malaysia
After checking out of our hostel in Singapore, Erik and I took a bus to cross the border into Malaysia. Before crossing the border, we had to get out of the bus and go through customs. We came out of customs and noticed the bus is not there anymore. We searched for it for a while but I guess the bus decided to leave without us. Luckily the Malaysian border wasn’t very far so we decided to walk to Johore, the town at the border. Once there, 
we took a taxi to the local bus station. We had decided to go to the Perhentian Islands but getting there was going to be a problem. The Perhentian islands are two islands off the coast of northern Malaysia and we were in the south. All busses heading there were sold out and there seemed to be no organization in the bus system. So 3 busses, one taxi, a boat taxi and 20 hours later, we finally arrived on the beautiful islands. We didn’t reserve ahead of time so we were a little lucky that there was a spot at the Moshin Chalets. The room that we got was very basic with two beds, toilet, shower and an air fan. After all that traveling we spent the rest of the day on the beach relaxing. The sand was like white powder and the water was crystal clear and very warm. The beach was great although the temperature must have reached 45 degrees Celsius.
The next day we went snorkeling around the islands. Our guide took us to a very cool spot around one of the islands where we got to see sea turtles, clown fish and even small sharks. Although they were small sharks, the guide did say that the day before his friend did get injured from a shark bite so I was a little freaked out haha. During the lunch break, we ate at a little beach
side restaurant where local goats would come up to our table to get some food. After a full day of snorkeling my back was completely burnt but I really enjoyed the experience. That night at diner, one of the owners of the chalets asked if Erik and I had any experience catching snakes. Erik and I said “no” and we were a bit confused as to why he would ask us such a question. He informed us that there was a 12 foot python in his room. I thought he was joking but he actually showed us a picture of the snake. Not being a big fan of snakes I was again freaked out. We checked out the next morning to head to our next destination. While getting ready to leave, I was brushing my teeth and spotted a huge cockroach that must have been 4 inches long behind the sink. I was so tired that I really didn’t mind it being there and I think it would have taken a baseball bat to kill the thing.
The Perhentian Islands was one of the highlights of my South East Asia trip and I hope I get a chance to visit similar areas of the world in the future.
Take care,
Jason
we took a taxi to the local bus station. We had decided to go to the Perhentian Islands but getting there was going to be a problem. The Perhentian islands are two islands off the coast of northern Malaysia and we were in the south. All busses heading there were sold out and there seemed to be no organization in the bus system. So 3 busses, one taxi, a boat taxi and 20 hours later, we finally arrived on the beautiful islands. We didn’t reserve ahead of time so we were a little lucky that there was a spot at the Moshin Chalets. The room that we got was very basic with two beds, toilet, shower and an air fan. After all that traveling we spent the rest of the day on the beach relaxing. The sand was like white powder and the water was crystal clear and very warm. The beach was great although the temperature must have reached 45 degrees Celsius.
The next day we went snorkeling around the islands. Our guide took us to a very cool spot around one of the islands where we got to see sea turtles, clown fish and even small sharks. Although they were small sharks, the guide did say that the day before his friend did get injured from a shark bite so I was a little freaked out haha. During the lunch break, we ate at a little beach
side restaurant where local goats would come up to our table to get some food. After a full day of snorkeling my back was completely burnt but I really enjoyed the experience. That night at diner, one of the owners of the chalets asked if Erik and I had any experience catching snakes. Erik and I said “no” and we were a bit confused as to why he would ask us such a question. He informed us that there was a 12 foot python in his room. I thought he was joking but he actually showed us a picture of the snake. Not being a big fan of snakes I was again freaked out. We checked out the next morning to head to our next destination. While getting ready to leave, I was brushing my teeth and spotted a huge cockroach that must have been 4 inches long behind the sink. I was so tired that I really didn’t mind it being there and I think it would have taken a baseball bat to kill the thing.The Perhentian Islands was one of the highlights of my South East Asia trip and I hope I get a chance to visit similar areas of the world in the future.
Take care,
Jason
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Singapore, Singapore
The morning of May 22nd , Erik, a couple of his friends and I took a short flight to Singapore from Bangkok. I was pretty excited to go to Singapore because my co-worker and friend Vyoma is from there.
She gave me tips and a list of things to do while I was in her home country. We first checked into Sleepy Sam’s hostel where we slept in a huge dorm. We then ventured out in the city where we went to Clarke Quay, a very beautiful place in the city full of bars and restaurants. After that we went up to the 72nd floor of the Swiss Hotel to get a beautiful view of the city. Singapore’s city skyline is full of massive skyscrapers. Later that night we went to celebrate my 25th birthday (holy crap I’m already a quarter century... eesh) along Boat Quay where we had dinner along the river. Since Boat Quay is a strip of restaurants, each one tries to persuade you to come eat at their establishment. We finally chose the restaurant that gave us 2 free beers and a 10% discount. Not bad right? Well the prices of the meals were quite high, so we basically got screwed. To end the night we headed back to Clarke Quay for more beers.
The next day we visited the rest of the sights that were on Vyoma’s must see list. We first went to see the Merlion, which is a huge half lion half fish statue and is also a fountain. The Merlion is a very popular symbol for the city. We then walked down Orchard road, which is full of shopping malls. That evening we went back to Clarke Quay for some drinks where Erik and I were hit on by a whacked out cougar! She was pretty drunk and bought us a few shots. Good times.
I really enjoyed Singapore. It was a very clean multicultural city, with an amazing metro system but it was a little too humid though haha. Perhaps the reason Singapore is so clean is that there is a fine for everything from littering to eating on the metro. I asked Vyoma about this and she said there are fines for such infractions but they are not enforced that badly. It is mostly a joke for tourists that you can get fined for EVRYTHING in Singapore.
This is just a quick warning to those planning on bringing drugs into Singapore. The immigration card that we had to fill in before landing had this written on it in big bold red letters:
“ DRUG TRAFFICKING IS PUNISHABLE BY DEATH”
LOL! Good thing I left my pound of cocaine in Bangkok… haha.
Take care,
Jason
She gave me tips and a list of things to do while I was in her home country. We first checked into Sleepy Sam’s hostel where we slept in a huge dorm. We then ventured out in the city where we went to Clarke Quay, a very beautiful place in the city full of bars and restaurants. After that we went up to the 72nd floor of the Swiss Hotel to get a beautiful view of the city. Singapore’s city skyline is full of massive skyscrapers. Later that night we went to celebrate my 25th birthday (holy crap I’m already a quarter century... eesh) along Boat Quay where we had dinner along the river. Since Boat Quay is a strip of restaurants, each one tries to persuade you to come eat at their establishment. We finally chose the restaurant that gave us 2 free beers and a 10% discount. Not bad right? Well the prices of the meals were quite high, so we basically got screwed. To end the night we headed back to Clarke Quay for more beers.The next day we visited the rest of the sights that were on Vyoma’s must see list. We first went to see the Merlion, which is a huge half lion half fish statue and is also a fountain. The Merlion is a very popular symbol for the city. We then walked down Orchard road, which is full of shopping malls. That evening we went back to Clarke Quay for some drinks where Erik and I were hit on by a whacked out cougar! She was pretty drunk and bought us a few shots. Good times.
I really enjoyed Singapore. It was a very clean multicultural city, with an amazing metro system but it was a little too humid though haha. Perhaps the reason Singapore is so clean is that there is a fine for everything from littering to eating on the metro. I asked Vyoma about this and she said there are fines for such infractions but they are not enforced that badly. It is mostly a joke for tourists that you can get fined for EVRYTHING in Singapore.
This is just a quick warning to those planning on bringing drugs into Singapore. The immigration card that we had to fill in before landing had this written on it in big bold red letters:
“ DRUG TRAFFICKING IS PUNISHABLE BY DEATH”
LOL! Good thing I left my pound of cocaine in Bangkok… haha.
Take care,
Jason
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