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Mission Impossible? <br />To travel the world and give you all a run down of adventures, experiences, things to see and the best bars in town! I may even stop here and there and earn a few bob...but after this who would have me...

Asia, part IX: Malaysia

Richard Rosss
2006-04-03 13:50:44

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I left Koh Pan Ngan at 9pm on the overnite ferry to Surat Thani then I caught the 8hrs bus across the border to Penang. Upon arrival I checked into the Golden Plaza hostel and grabbed some dinner. Dinner was curried vegs/chicken/rice and nan bread! First food for 12 hrs and I was starving - it was so good! Went for a wee wander round the streets, but really tired still so headed to bed early. A bat was in my room flying around - then I switched the light off and I heard a thud and a squeak. This morning the bed next to me has a dead bat on it - so much for their superior sonar!

13/9 - Went to check out Fort Cornwallis (old British fort) on the front, then the Penang Museam, which was ful of colonial stuff! The UK coat of arms was made in Glasgow! Interesting museam! I failed to mention that I enjoyed curry for brekkie and lunch - I like Malaysia! Its pretty devoloped and rich in comparism to the rest of SE Asia. Went for a wander round the streets to check out the colonial style buildings and chcek out the chinese temples

My hostel was next door to the bext curry place in Penang, so I pigged out on curry threee times a day. I then headed to the Cameron Highlands.

They were first settled by a group of Scottish colonisers from the Clan Cameron - they came over on boats owned by the East India Co. They settled in the cool highlands and were content to hunt haggis (introduced!) and grow tea. I had some lovely tea & scones there! Us Scots get everywhere. I spent a few days in KL; checking out the limited sights and superb shopping. Chinatown was a great place to watch the locals and tourists run around and shop/eat. The Petronas towers were pretty amazing and had some ace views over the skyline of KL, which was full of sky-scratchers.

Next I went to Melaka - the oldest colonial settlement in the land which was coloniased by the Portugese (Bom Dia), Dutch (Schtop! Schtop!) and the Brits. Nice place - for a few hours! Although, the Kenny Rodgers (US country western singer) Roasters had some amazing chicken and muffins...mmm! Also the cyclos here had lights all over them and had music blaring from them...hi tech!

I spent my last few days in Malaysia on Tioman island. A spectacular island in the S China sea. Golden beaches (full of sandflies!) and crystal clear waters made this a nice, quiet place to rest for a bit. You could walk out 15m and see coral and fishes. The beach was dominated by the monkeys (who came down to play) and the kitten munching monitor lizards. Yesterday, I arrived in Singapore. Had a wee wander down by the river and past the main sights (Raffles long bar!). Off out later to the 71st floor of the Swisshotel for some beers. Looking forward to spending more of my overdraft here (quite expensive!). Strangely though, I am still mistaken to be Dutch/Swedish and European...mmm?