Dec 13: Singapore Day 1

As promised, I'll start with the train journey...

So we boarded the train at KL, making our way to the premium sector. From what I was told, you could either sit upright all night in a standard chair, or camp out in the communal bunks... or pay more for the luxury of staying in your own private (double bunk) cabin - Uncle organised for us to have the last option! So... here you go: a view of some of the bunks, and the ensuite toilet. A summary: toilets on a moving train is much the same as one on a plane. Just with a few more bumps...

So I slept for much of the journey: snapped a few pics in and around KL at night, then slept for a LONG while. Next thing I knew... we had stopped at Jahore Baru Station: the 'border town' and last stop in Malaysia. Arrival there was at 0550, with a Malay Immigration officer walking up and down along the train, checking passports and collecting departure cards.
After a short wait, we crossed over the bridge connecting to Singapore, sliding into Woodlands Station shortly at 0620. Alighting into an early morning fog, and a VERY COLD atmosphere (my lenses all immediately fogged up: glasses, camera, and camera viewfinder too!), we (briskly) heading into the terminal, crossing Immigration and Customs - needed to keep reminding myself that we were "International Rail Travellers".

Heading out of the other end of the terminal, we came out... into MUGGINESS! They say so much about the humidity in Singapore... and it's no joke: walking out of the air-conditioned terminal, a solid blast of humidity hit me - much like a sauna, but not as toxically hot. A short taxi to Woodlands Interchange (with quite a number of motorbikes on the road at 6.30am), then caught the MRT on the NS line to Somerset. Feels just like another subway train, just like the MTR in HK =)

Coming out of station, we didn't know where to go! Crawling up to street level, we walked out to Orchard Road... and then we were stuck. Uncle knew that it should be somewhere nearby... but we didn't have a map. Asking a passerby who kindly pointed us down the other end of Orchard St, we managed to find the right place 15 minutes later: The Holiday Inn, Parkview. The management was very efficient: we were able to check in with the rooms already waiting for us within 30 minutes of arrival. So: went up, dumped our luggage, then refreshed and relaxed for an hour - recovering from the rigours of the aforementioned train ride.
At 9.15, we left the hotel to look for a decent breakfast (anything better than the cold rice or noodles and that bun...) - and spent the next hour eating Indian food in a Halal eatery just outside: 4 mugs of Teh Tarik alongside a Roti John (savoury mini-pizza with weird sauces), Roti Canai, and a banana patik (think pancake/crepe).

Time for the day to begin! First stop: Dhoby Ghaut MRT station. We caught a direct train to Harbourside, then followed the signs through the plaza up to the Sentsa Express Monorail.

Next stop: Universal Studios, Singapore. Simply: think of it a cross of Disneyland with Movie World. I won't go too much into this: needless to say, my brother and I spent the next 7 hours on most of the roller coasters, choosing to come back and have a second go at a few of them.

'twas about 6pm when we finally got bored enough to head out of USS. Candylicious was the first place we saw: situated right outside the USS entrance/exit, it was wall-to-wall and floor-to-roof full of chocolate and other snacks: Hersheys especially.

Next stop was a place to sit down and relax, so we got a hot coffee and chocolate from "Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf": let's just say our feet were VERY tired. So after sitting around for a good half hour, I insisted that we head up to the Imbian Lookout, to get a short trip up and around the top of Sentosa Island. It's a pity that I only have 2 days in Singapore, as Sentosa PlayPass is something worthwhile to look into: apart from USS, Sentosa does offer a number of other activities such as a Luge route, a Sky Tower, Bushwalk, amongst other things. However... since it was 7pm, there was no time to play.

After thoroughly enjoying myself, we took the monorail from Stop 3: Imbian Station, and headed over to the far end of the network, getting a few snaps of the views at Sentosa Beach Station, remaining on the car until it took us back to VivoCity.

My brother and I quickly met up with Uncle and Auntie (who enjoyed a 7-hour session free of two young adults), we took a taxi to Thompson St (at the Novena Gardens district) for dinner. Cheekily, I used my iPad and the 'ieat Hawker' app to help point the cabbie to the right place: Wee Nam Kee Chicken Rice. Two plates of veggies, MSG soup, 3 bowls of chicken rice, full and a very-flavoured steamed Hainan chicken filled up us 4, for less than S$50 (A$35). End of my first day in Singapore: we experimented and took a bus back to Orchard St, and back to the hotel.

Dec 11: Malaysia Day 2

Day 2, and what a way to start the day: being awoken by my brother's iPhone alarm at 7. Well... instead than going back to sleep, I flicked on my iPad and had a quick catch up with my friends back home... those who were bored enough and be online at 10am Sydney time, that is. Just kidding... you know I love you guys :P

'Twas 9am when I finally rolled out of bed (took a bit of a nap too during this time =P). I was too sleepy and lazy to shower the night before, so I shuffled over to the bathroom... to find that there was two shower heads to choose from: your ordinary hand-held one, or one of those ceiling-mounted square ones! 20mins later I emerged from a steamy bathroom, freshly cleaned and ready to tackle another day of tropical mugginess.

Now at the Concorde, guests are given the choice to gorge themselves at the complimentary breakfast buffet until 10.30 everyday. On Sundays, however, this privilege is extended until 11am. And what else can I say... it was simply AMAZING! Crossaints and pastries, freshly cooked-to-order pancakes and waffles, omelettes and other eggy goodness! With everything being Halal as well, I didn't have to worry about the food... especially the Asian options that were on offer as well: 'char siu bao' and devon slices (with chicken, of course), noodles and congee, etc. One cup of coffee, two glasses of pink guava juice, scrambled eggs and chicken sausages, chocolate crossiants, spring rolls and a cup of peppermint tea later, I was fully stuffed and ready to face another day. Can't believe that this is only the 4th morning since leaving Sydney... Wow! *burps quietly*

Now, Auntie and Uncle had left a little earlier to get things done, and arranged to meet us later. So at 11, there we were at the hotel lobby, ready to have some more fun! We met up with Ajiit (the taxi driver from last night), who introduced us to his brother Ravi. With Ravi as our guide, we spent the next 3 hours in a taxi around Petrajaya: a bridge, the Petrajaya International Conference Centre (affectionately known to locals as 'the Mushroom', or PICC on maps), the exterior of the Prime Minister's Office building, and the big Putra Mosque nearby.

We were all still full from brekkie, so we headed Lakeside and sat down and got drinks. Aunt and Uncle got Teh tariks, whilst me and my brother tried the 3 Layer Tea. Well... anything sweet will do me, and this was no exception: palm sugar, milk and strong sweet tea all mixed together! At RM2.50 a cup, it was a fraction more pricey... but that's the price you pay for eating at a touristy zone, as Ravi pointed out.

He's a decent bloke, stopping the taxi frequently to kick me out =P What I mean to say: whenever we stopped at a decent place to take a snapshot, he'd let me know in advance and quickly find a decent place to stop the taxi, so I didn't need to walk too far. The 3 hours went by quickly, and it was 2pm when we got back to a crowded KL. First, he drove and stopped by the Royal Palace and explained that a change in the Ruling Families is taking place, and why the usual guards weren't apparent. Afterwards, he drove straight into Chinatown central... and everywhere was crowded: he explained that Sundays is the day off for the labourers (whilst we nudged out way forwards in heavy pedestrian traffic), and so they came out and congregated.
When we finally left Ravi's taxi, the first thing that hit us was the muggy heat: 'twas about 27 degrees that day. Second thing that hit me was the huge sign of Petaling Street: Malaysia's Chinatown - reminds me of Stanley Markets in HK, or one of those in the Kowloon region (I'm not as familiar there), or Paddy's Markets back in Sydney. There were soooo many stalls, and even more people. T-shirts, jeans, jewelry... almost anything could be found there!

The rest of the day was designated Walkabout Day: and we simply kept on walking. First stop: snacks at the food court in Central Market. Here, Uncle introduced me to Kaya Toast, an experience I would later enjoy in Singapore. Instead, I went for an ice-cream toast with a Grass Jelly Drink. Next was the many markets downstairs, ranging from arts and crafts, to edible delights such as dried satay fish (a delicacy we brought back as a gift for some of our relatives).
From there, we took a train (yes, a proper train and not a monorail) to KLCC, and angled our way back to a supermarket we saw on the basement of Suria Mall. Oh, and for a referent standard, a 500ml bottle of Coke only costs RM2.29...

At this point, Uncle and Auntie suggested that my brother and I split off, and go exploring for a little before joining the pre-booked Petronas Tower tour: so we spent the next hour wandering before heading over to the tour-start point. Now travelling up that Tower is worth the RM50 spent to have a good view of the KL skyline. Though there's not much to be said of staring at the surrounding buildings, the feeling you get, standing at the 41st floor Skybridge, and then the 86th floor displays... comes close to being indescribable! Now if you haven't seen Entrapment (the movie), then you might not understand... Go watch it now, starring Sean Connery...

The tour itself isn't that long: spent 15 minutes at the skybridge, then 25 mins at the top... but I reckon it was worth it. Anyways, dinnertime was coming, and I was starting to feel rather peckish. Walked over to the Pavilion Centre, only to find food courts here in KL are HUGE!! Try taking the Westfield Bondi Food Court, jam in 20% more shops, and then double the length whilst keeping the same density of eateries... And you might be getting somewhere close. Tonight we queued up a little at Teppen-Yaki Express, where food (as expected) is cooked in front of your eyes. Coming at 7.30pm, we still needed to wait about 10mins whilst the staff waited to fit us 4 together. After getting seats and placing our order, we still needed to wait for reasons unknown... So I dug out my iPad and started typing away at this.

It's now 8pm, and the queue is massive, about 15 people outside the designated stall area, waiting patiently in single file... This place must be goooooood! Price-wise, it seems a touch more expensive, with meal sets starting at RM15 for meat, veggies, soup and rice. A fried rice by itself would set you back about RM9, with side (extra) orders of meat pricey at RM12. Overall though, it wasn't the best, but good value for the Aussie dollar. The thin sliced beef and beef rolls were fractionally overdone, the chicken breast too, and the veggies were old ><". All said and done, the thin sliced lamb was reasonable... so it's a worthwhile place to try, at least.

Well, as always, desserts needed to be had; and explore the rest of the foodcourt, we did. Given how much I just ate, I settled for a Passionfruit Red Tea from 'Little Taiwan' - think EasyWay (though I did notice a few couples nearby with Chatime as well.) Uncle picked a Hot soya drink with Yow Jar Gwai from HK style eatery... though that was VERY oily. Oh and before I forget... boiled lollies: I've attached a pic below where I (like every other tourist) stood around watching it being created!! =)

That was all the fun for another night, and returned to the Hotel by the Monorail. The only other thing worth mentioning, apart from the nightmarish traffic, was a street band: a group of youths dancing on the street corner at Jalan Bukit Bintang, with a few of them tapping away at metal trash cans like drums. Unfortunately, there was too big a crowd for me to capture a decent shot...but it's a good memory =)