Singapore Sling

Well, after my palava at customs I finally arrived at the Wink Hostel in Singapore.  I was going to treat myself and stay in a really nice hotel but they were costing £90 upwards per night so I settled for a hostel.  Besides, it had better reviews that half of the 4 and 5* hotels.  The location was great, smack bang in the middle of Chinatown and the metro was 2 minutes around the corner.  It had been a hell of a long day so I just went online, showered then bed.

My 'pod'

The next day I woke early as I was off to Singapore Zoo.  I was booked in to have breakfast with the Orangutans!  I was so excited!  I could have got a taxi which cost me £14 but what's the sense of adventure in that?  So off I went on the metro.  One change and a bus ride later I arrived at the zoo.  I headed to the restaurant and had breakfast, then out came the Orangutans.  They were perched not far from my table and were having breakfast of their own.  There were also 2 baby ones.  I queued up with everyone to have my photo taken. They wanted $35 Singapore dollars (around £17 for the photo, they could piss off because the one I got on my camera was good enough.

After breakfast I headed off around the zoo.  It actually takes 3 hours to walk around the whole thing but I did it in 2 missing a couple areas out but catching an elephant show which was funny.

Spot the wickle baby...awwww

After a bus and metro and another metro I arrived back at the hostel.  I chilled out for the afternoon and watched a film in the movie room and then decided to go to Clarke Quay in the evening.

One metro stop away (probably could have walked but also would probably gotten lost lol) and I arrived at Clarke Quay.  It was amazing and huge!  It was a place of restaurants of everything you could think of, bars, pubs and nightclubs.  I walked around and it took me an hour to decided what I wanted to eat as there was so much choice.

I decided on an Indonesian restaurant.  Funny how that was my next port of call in the next few days.  I had a lush chicken noodle dish with chicken wings to start with and a glass of yummy wine.  After dinner I went to the smoking area (yes they have designated areas for smoking in Singapore which usually consist of a bin) then for a walk to another place i'd seen on my way around before.  It was churros time!  I love churros (like a donut but in strips and served with chocolate sauce) mmmmmm AND they sold wine....bliss!

Perfect end to the night

The next day I was off on the Duck and Flyer tour.  I wasn't feeling well at all (bad stomach AGAIN and I felt a little nauseous) but the problem was, if I didn't do the tour today I wouldn't do it at all because I was leaving the next day.  I have found that feeling ill on my trip can't stop you from doing things or I would never get to do them again.....so, I hung in there and off I went.  

The 'Duck' was a great experience.  We headed around the city and then the Singapore river and back again.  We also passed the Singapore Flyer....bloody hell it was high!  I was bricking it since my body, with age, has suddenly decided it doesn't like heights and my stomach was off again after finally settling down.  We were told that it was 5 meters higher than the London Eye...yeah, thanks for that mate!

Sod it, I did what I had done with every other height I'd come across....got on with it.  I'm glad too because the views were amazing!

My legs were shaking and my stomach was churning...you'd never guess haha!

That afternoon I was going to go to Raffles Hotel for a famous Singapore Sling but I decided to give my body a rest and prepare it for what lay ahead the next day.  I had an Indonesian flight to endure and a climb up a volcano!  Talk about pushing my limits haha!  In case you don't know, Indonesian airlines have a bad reputation and a lot of them are black listed by the EU.  I'd chosen Tiger Airways which was a Singapore airline and had a good reputation but it didn't help my nerves that the woman opposite me across the aisle was praying before take off!!!!!

Anyway, the next day I arrived safe and sound in Surabaya, Indonesia for my trip to Mount Bromo.  An active volcano which had erupted little more than 2 years previous!  What was I doing! Lol!

Let Off With A Warning!

Arrived in KL (Kuala Lumpur) at the Reggae Mansion and I must say its in my Top 10 Hostels so far on my trip.  It was great.  The dorms were all like little pods.  I didn't do much that night apart from get online for a bit and research my trip to Bromo and Bali.  At 9pm there was a draw taking place for the new arrivals.  I was lucky to be picked out and won a meal and drink in the bar worth 30 Ringgit (approx £6).

Common area of hostel

The next day I was feeling exhausted.  You don't understand how when your travelling and moving on every 3 or 4 days, it really takes it out of you.  However, I decided to head to the Petronas Towers to take some pictures.  There was a huge mall there and even though I hate shopping, I was in need of some new linen pants because my Primani specials were wrecked.  Then I decided to head for the KL Menera Tower.  The observation deck was higher than the Petronas and for an extra £2 I could have afternoon tea in the revolving restaurant....check me out lol!

The views were ok.  I say this because as I was about to head up, the heavens opened and the cloud decended.  Bloody typical!  Still got some good pictures and had a lovely time in the restaurant stuffing my face with crustless sandwiches, cakes and endless cups of tea...with milk too!  That night I was told of a pub quiz in the hostel.  There I met 2 other English girls.  We lost miserably though haha.  The next day I was going to the Aquarium and they asked to join me.

Kl Tower

Misty views

Afternoon tea mmm

In the revolving restaurant

We arrived there around lunchtime.  We had to go through the mall to get there and after a few more purchases of vest tops and underwear, courtesy of M&S and Topshop, we arrived at Aquaria.  It was fun. The fish were huge and I'd never seen half of them before.  It was a long way from the Sealife Center in Blackpool I can tell ya.  What was also great was that I could see everything perfect.  What I mean is that when I wore my glasses, the magnified tanks made my eyes water and gave me a bad headache. (Thanks Ultralase!).

That night was my last.  Later the girls came by and I told them of a Sky Bar in the Traders hotel that had great views of the Petronas by night.  Well, 3 turned into 8 of us, including Kelley ( a girl i'd met on Koh Phi Phi can you believe).  We had a great night but the drinks were expensive so we went back to the rooftop bar at the hostel.  Kelley and I won a free drink for getting up and dancing and then I won a legs competition.  No seriously, I did! Ha Ha!  So another few free drinks later and I crawled into bed around 2:30am.

Sky Bar @ Traders

Me and Kelley from Phi Phi

View from the rooftop bar

The next day was my trip to Singapore.  Easy, I thought.  Jump on the bus, have a kip and arrive Singapore 5 hours later.  Oh how wrong I was!  Everything was ok up until we hit the border crossing at Singapore.  First, i'd forgotten to fill in the arrival card so had to re-queue when i'd done it....then I got a random check and all my bags searched.  I was not bothered as I knew no one had been in them and I had nothing to hide...so I thought.  The security lady pulled out my cigarettes (2 packets), sealed up my bags and told me to come with her.  I was shitting it!  What the hell was going on??  I thought that someone HAD managed to slip something into my bag somehow and I was bricking it.

In the office she told me that it was wrong of me to bring cigarettes into Singapore and I could face a First Offence and a fine of $500 per pack!  I explained I had no idea of this rule and profusely apologised.  She then filled in a form and photocopied my passport and took me over to the tax desk.  The lady in there was a lot nicer and said that I wasn't going to get a mark against me this time and let me off with a warning and I had to pay for the tax....$15.  She also told me that if I am to smoke these in Singapore then I must carry the customs receipt to prove I have paid tax on them as there are undercover police everywhere and their cigarettes carry a special brand on them.  A little relieved (no sorry, a lot relieved!) I exited the border office....only to find my bus had pissed off!  Normally, in this situation I would have had a cigarette, but as I was probably gonna get arrested if I did...I sat down and had a little cry.

It was only 2 packets of fags FFS!

A few minutes later I pulled myself together and went over to a bus with the same company logo as mine.  I explained what happened and he said he could take me if I had my ticket. My ticket, my ticket....SHIT!!! I'd only left it on the other bus in the pouch of the seat in front of me FFS!  He then said ok $10 (Singapore dollars that is)...which I didn't have any off yet!  He waved me away and I tried another bus.  This time, the kind bus driver changed me a few Ringgit for enough to get the public bus.  I arrived at the bus station and went straight to an ATM to get some money (which was my original plan).  Two trains later I arrived in Chinatown.  I grabbed a McDonalds because i'd not eaten all day and went to the taxi rank to get to my hostel.  After queuing for 30 minutes, a cab pulled up.  He said he would not take me because it was only across the bloody road!!!  By this time I was just laughing from hysteria.  I crossed the road and low and behold my hostel was right there....2 streets across!

WHAT A DAY!!!!!  Ah well, early night me thinks and early rise....to have breakfast with the Orangutans at Singapore Zoo.  It just has to be better than the day i've just had!

Down & Out in Ipoh to...a Little Piece of Heaven

I arrived in Ipoh around 11:30pm.  I knew it was going to be a disaster when I got in to the taxi and he said 'your staying there? really?'.  My hotel was way out of town.  I checked in and thought i'd just get some sleep and change it in the morning.  I woke up around 10am and went straight online.  I managed to find a hotel in the center of Ipoh and booked it for my remaining 2 nights.  After I finally found a taxi and numerous stares at the bus stop from the locals I headed off into town.  The taxi driver told me he'd never heard of the Hong Hin hotel....oh bollocks, here we go again!  For some reason I didn't write the address down or the phone number DOH!  I got my kindle out and tried to search it online...but the bloody thing wouldn't work!  Fifteen minutes of determination (and paddys) later I managed to find the address and we pulled up outside.  The room was ok actually.

The park

I dumped my bag and headed for reception.  They didn't have an agency there so I asked for a map and where we were.  The lady didn't know.  She was from Kuala Lumpur and had only been working there 2 weeks!  Plus, the map was in 3D (printed badly) so I couldn't make out what was where.  I decided to just go out and have a wonder round (with the hotel address in my pocket).  I found KFC and had lunch then I called Barclaycard to find out why I couldn't reload my currency card when they had just given me a £2k extended balance.  It turned out that I only had £150 left of cash advance to use. Bollocks!  So much for staying out here until June.

I flagged a taxi down to take me to a park with a Japanese garden to think things through.  The lovely man told me I could walk it in 5 minutes and gave me directions.  This was the first time I wasn't ripped off by the buggers.  Anyway, I got lost as usual and headed to a hotel for directions.  It was right behind me!  I wondered in to find the garden...which was nowhere to be seen.  I was truly fed up so I called mum.  I talked through my finances and decided that I would cash my shares (which had quadrupled since I came out) and use some of it to fund my trip and save some for when I got home.  It was then that I stumbled upon the garden.  Things were looking up!

Japanese Garden

The next day was my last...thank god! I stood outside my hotel waiting for the rain to stop and a local came to talk to me.  He asked my plans for the day and he said he would take me anywhere for free and we could have dinner later.  Yeah...as if!  He was probably lovely (like all the Malaysians i've met) but mummy said don't talk to strangers, let alone go anywhere with them!  I politely refused.  I got a taxi to a local cave temple which was lovely.  I wanted to see another one but my driver got confused and took me back to my hotel.  Couldn't be bothered to tell him.  Good job really because the heavens opened and a massive thunderstorm, which lasted hours, moved in.  I was going to go to the hot springs that evening but the though of a 40oC bath in this heat...I don't think so.  The next day I headed for the Cameron Highlands.

I arrived in the afternoon and I instantly knew I would love it here.  The hotel I found online was a real find at £4 a night.  The weather was much cooler which was a nice change and the village of Tanah Rata was like a ski resort but in the summer....really picturesque.  I booked on a trip for the next day and got online to update my blogs....accompanied by all the free coffee and tea I could drink.

Father's Guesthouse...home sweet home

The next day I was off to the Mossy Forest.  We headed up the hills and stopped to take pictures of the Tea Plantation.  It was beautiful!  Then we hit the forest.  OMG...white trainers not such a good idea.  We hiked through and I was ankle deep in mud.  I wasn't impressed.  We were told to take lots of pictures...of what exactly???  All there was were trees covered in moss and these plant thingys that caught small creatues.  I wanted out.  After, we headed into the tea plantation for a cup of....well yes....tea!  There was a massive queue so I didn't bother....plus I had decided that I didn't like tea without milk which was a sacrilege here haha.

The Mossy Forest

The creature capturing thingy lol

That night I watched a film and went to bed.  I just couldn't sleep.  The bed creaked everytime you moved and so did everyone else's which woke you up and others in the room.  Although, it wasn't the creaky beds I was bothered about, it was the fact that my bunk bed was shaking!  'No it can't be...' I thought.  Yes it was!  The dirty bugger above me was having a ham shank!!!  It had to be, there was no other reason for the shaking unless he was having a fit!  The dirty git!  He obviously didn't realise I was having a sleepness night.

mmmmmm wine mmmmm

The next day was Sunday.  I had a lie in as you do then headed for 'Ye Olde Smokehouse' for Sunday dinner.  I'd read about it months before I came on my trip and I was dying for a good roast dinner.  £30 later!!!!  Could not believe it!  I only had roast beef dinner, a glass of wine and bread and butter pudding!!!  Ah well...credit card it!  I thought that since I was on a spending spree I'd buy a bottle of red wine for the evening with some snacks and watch another film.  Nowt else to do after 10pm.

This smile was before I got the bill!

Was yum but they couldn't make yorkshire puddings for shit lol

On my last day I decided to go strawberry picking and to the rose center.  Well, all the strawberry places must have also been hairdressers because they were all bloody shut on a Monday!  So the rose center it was.  Had some lovely flowers there.  Later I headed back to the hotel and chilled for the afternoon and evening.  I'd met a lovely couple from London the day before so we bought some wine and chatted til late.  I went to bed around 1am and couldn't sleep again.  I was tossing and turning until at least 4am but it appears I was not the only one...tossing!  What is it with men?  I know you lot do it quite frequently but in a dorm room surrounded by 9 other people...please!!  It was obvious due to the noise.  You know the one, where you pull your cheek and it makes that slapping noise haha!  Also, he got up after and went to the toilet, as I suspect, to clean himself up.  Definately time to move on.....to KL (Kuala Lumpur).

Roses...my favourite flower

A lilac rose....never seen one before

Stowaways and Conspiracies

Well I finally left Koh Tao and headed off for my ferry to Penang, Malaysia. When I arrived I was pointed in the direction of the dock I needed, passing all the huge ferries going to Chumphon. When I got there I saw a small boat consisting of an upper and lower deck but the boat was tiny. Smaller than the ferries that ship people between the islands! I felt sick at the thought of a 9 hour journey on this thing and almost caught a taxi back to the Lotus Resort but I had to do it sometime right? As we all boarded we were allocated a slot...I mean bed which was a foam mattress of which connected to another 8 mattresses. It wasn't too hard to sleep, if you didn't mind if your arms and legs connected with your neighbour. Plus I'd had a sea sickness tablet which made me kind of drowsy. I woke up feeling a little nauseous and found the Aussie boy on my left was snuggled up into my armpit! I'd had my arms above my head as I didn't know where to put them so he was literally nose first in my underarm. Good job for him i'd deoderised before I got on the boat hahaha!

My sleeping quarters

We arrived in Suratthani at 5:30am and got a taxi to the travel agent where I was to meet the bus. It appeared that my VIP bus (you know...a 40 seater with reclining seats and air con) was sneakily changed to a bleedin minibus. A 12 seater with hardly no air con and I was forced to sit on the back seat in the middle of 3 guys. Six gruelling hours later (and 1 toilet stop)....I arrived in Hat Yai to change to another minibus. This time I managed to get a single seat with a bit more room but the sun was on my side of the window and it was a hot and sticky 3 hours (via the Malaysian Border) to Penang. Luckily, I spotted the street opposite where we were dropped off and it just so happened to be where my hostel was!

Dragon dance on stilts

The Love Lane Inn was the basic of all basic hostels but what can you expect for £3 a night. I was so tired but I headed on out for Chinese New Year to the Esplanande (promenade). The show was fun and was being broadcasted live for Penang TV so I did the waving thing when the cameras came over to the audience. The fireworks went off at midnight but there was no shouting, drinking, kissing or wishing every stranger 'Happy New Year' which I found strange so I headed back.

The next day I had to change from my private room to a dorm (as was the way I had to book it). I headed on out to the Esplanande to take pictures and to see Fort Cornwallis (where a bird shat on me! Only me eh!). There was a free bus around the city so I then headed off to Komtar Mall to head up to the observatory on the 60^th floor of the nearby building...but it was closed for the New Year until Wednesday. BUM! I then met the local guy I was speaking to at the bus stop previously. He told me to go upto the Cinema on the 8^th floor and they had great views of the city. 

8th floor view

An hour later, after not letting me go until we had discussed the death of Michael Jackson, Marilyn Monroe, JFK and if Neil Armstrong ever landed on the moon.....he decided to escort me upto the cinema FFS! Then he started talking to a random ladyboy and tried to get me to play pool with shim until her/his film started. I apologised and told them I was going to Penang Hil and it was getting late. So.....he escorted me back down to the bus station and said his 'goodbye forever'. The bus was taking forever and I was tired so I headed back to the hostel.

Fort Cornwallis

As I walked through to the stairs, a guy fresh out of the shower was stark bollock naked and drying himself off! I looked down pretending not to have seen his floppy widgie (only because he was about 50yr old and looked like Grizzly Adams lol). He apologised and I ran upstairs. I went on the net for a while, until the owners decided to set a huge line of firecrackers off right behind me which flew everywhere and hit me! Fucking loonatics! They told me they were having fireworks in 15 minutes so I thought it best to disappear for dinner before I had 1^st degree burns and a bald patch! I went to seek out Little India....I really fancied a curry. It was gorgeous but my stomach can't hold much anymore and so most of it went to waste.

That night in the dorm was terrible. We had one giant fan to cool 9 beds. Then.... we had a bleedin powercut. It was horrible! Hot, sticky and a mossie fest. I couldn't sleep until about 3am. At 9am I was woken by loud music and drums outside in the street below. The were doing a dragon dance...AT 9AM FFS! 

I tossed and turned and slept til 11am. I wanted to go to the concert where the 'Gangham Style Man' was performing live but it had already started and I didn't know where to go. Good job really because the guests that went came back like lobsters due to the 35oC sun. Instead I sorted out my next stop to Ipoh and headed out to the Botanical Gardens. A bit disappointed really. Not many flowers, no one knew where the Japanese Garden was (my reason for going...love them) and the waterfall could not be found either. Hot and bothered....I got a taxi back.  

That night I ate in the Red Garden.  Utter chaos but the food was really nice.

The Red Garden

YUK!!!

After another hot and sweaty night I was exhausted.  My bus to Ipoh didn't leave until 7:30pm so I had a full day to kill.  I'd not yet been to Penang Hill so I headed out.  It was a huge hill (believe it or not lol!) with great views over Penang.  I sat at the bus station and was debating whether to sack it off and go to the cinema but I was here to 'see' Penang and not spend time watching movies.  After standing up on a jam packed bus for 45 minutes we arrived.  I followed the sheep and headed for the Hill.  There were steps leading up to the temples which led your through an under cover bazaar.  I was walking up when my phone vibrated.  I had my earphones in, sunglasses on and a bottle of water in my hand.  I struggled to answer the call from my dad.  I threw my headphones over my shoulder and finally managed to speak to him.  It suddenly got really dark so I lifted my sunglasses upto my head with my water bottle hand and didn't realise the bloody thing was open!  Yeah...I ended up pouring half a bottle of bloody water over my head lol!  It could only happen to me!  I was soaked hahahaha!

I continued upto the top where the temples were.  I was soaked from water and from sweat.  It was afterall, 35oC remember.  I wondered around and took some pictures but I couldn't find the tram to take me upto the top of the hill.  I was knackered so I took defeat and headed back to the bus to go home.  Later that night I headed off to Ipoh.