It has rained every day since my last blog. All be it not torrential downpours or all day but a little bit each day. Thankfully the rain hasn’t deterred me from doing anything but it still is annoying to be caught in a rain shower every day. In the Cameron Highlands, I got absolutely soaked the first day I was there and the second day got caught in a rain shower as well when going a walk around the town. Thankfully found shelter and was not as soaked as the day before. The Cameron Highlands was really pretty and I loved having tea and scones everyday for an afternoon snack followed by delicious Indian food at night. Malaysia’ ethnicity is Chinese, Indian, Malay and Orang Asli (Indigenous people) so there is a variety of delicious food to have, but I particularly love the Indian food.
Drinking Boh tea and eating scones
Looking over the tea plantation
From the Cameron Highlands, I caught a mini-van to Kuala Lumpur (KL), found a hostel in Chinatown and walked around Jalan Petaling, a famous shopping street, and the Central Market. It also poured while I was in the central market so had to wait the rain out before going back to the hostel to meet Sieske ad Sanne, as they came in from Melaka in the late afternoon. So nice to see them again! We went for a walk from Chinatown to Little India for dinner and ended up at the Petronas Towers, which are the famous landmark of KL. They are so pretty all light up at night time. We went to the Sky Bar on the 37th floor of the Traders Hotel for a drink and the great views of the twin towers. The next day, I was in line for 1.5 hours to get a ticket to the Skybridge of the Petronas Towers. The Skybridge is on a connecting bridge on the 41st floor of the towers. You definitely have to line up early if you want a ticket as I got in line around 10am and less than 30 people were behind me before they cut the line off. I did some shopping in the KLCC, which s the shopping center at the base of the towers, before my 2pm viewing. It was a nice view of the city and I am glad I did it, but wasn’t the most amazing view I have ever seen. I prefer the view from SkyBar over Skybridge. The gals and I took the LRT up to the Chow Kit market area and had various items from street stalls for dinner before I had to catch my night train to Singapore. It was sad to say a final farewell to Sieske and Sanne after having seem them every couple of weeks for the past 3 months but alas our plans really don’t meet up anymore for this trip.
Singapore is a very clean, modern city and very easy to get around.vAfter clearing customs, I walked to the MRT station and took it to my hostel in Little India. I spent the day wandering around the stores and malls of Orchard Road, also known as the Sacks Fifth Avenue of Singapore. I only bought one shirt that was on sale as couldn’t bring myself to pay real prices for real clothes. I have gotten into a backpacker, cheap spending mentality over here and with the Singapore dollar being very similar to the Canada, I got sticker shock. From Orchard Road, I went to Chinatown and wandered about the market streets where prices where to my liking. I ate in the food centers of malls, food streets or food makets as that is where the cheapest and tastiest food is in Singapore. My second day in Singapore, was a trip to the zoo. It is a really nice zoo with a rainforest setting and lots of cool animals. The highlight for me was that I feed manatees and saw beautiful free ranging organ-utans. I got dressed up, well as dressed up as I could get, and went with three American boys to the Marina Bay Sands Casino for the evening. I really wanted to go to a New Asia Bar on that 71st floor of the Stamford Hotel for a cocktail and the sights of the city but we got there ten minutes after it was closed. I was able to go up to the 71st floor the next day and see the daytime views of the city, which was really nice. Better than the views from Skybridge and SkyBar in KL. I wandered around the last places I had not visited yet, like the Merlion and Clarke Quay, before getting the MRT to the airport.
My flight to Bali was non eventful which is good and took a cab into Kuta Beach to find accommodation for the night. I probably should have booked in advance but after thirty minutes of walking around I found a cheap enough place to stay. The next day at breakfast, Sarah from Sweden struck up a conversation and we decided to go to Ubud that afternoon. So now I am in Ubud and it is lovely. So peaceful and relaxing with lots of greenery, with rice fields hidden in between houses and shops. Sarah and I wandered lots around the town, went to a Legong traditional dance show and went to the Monkey Forest Sanctuary to see the three temples and Balinese Macaques. We found the best little warung, Balinese for eatery, that has a pretty view of a rice field and the best peanut sauce I have tasted yet. I plan to be in Ubud for another couple more days to just chill out but Sarah did leave today. Hopefully the rain lets up so that I can rent a bicycle or a scooter to see some of the area around Ubud, and not get soaked in the process. Till next time xoxox
Sarah and I at our favourite warung
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