Tioman island

Hanging out on rocks

We flew back to KL where we met Reza and Fido, and after a brief stop to borrow Reza's parents' people-carrier the four of us drove out towards Malaysia's East coast and the beautiful island of Tioman. A speed boat took us out to the island and as we approached at high-speed we saw the craggy mountainous peaks that famously make the island look like a sleeping dragon.

Salang Beach

Tioman island is covered with steep jungle, has no cars or roads, and the only way to travel between villages is by boat. We stayed in nice beach huts/chalets in the village of Salang, a fabulous palm-fringed beach with an easily accessible coral reef. Travelling with Malaysians was great and we had soon made friends with all the island locals and boat boys. Every day we snorkelled on the amazing reef and relaxed on the beach and every night we ate fresh fish, crabs and lots and lots of squid at the mouth watering beach-side barbeques.

One of our new local friends took us on a round-the-island day trip which was really good fun. We stopped at various beaches and a jungle waterfall where we all jumped off rocks into the cool fresh water. After lunch we continued to an awesome snorkelling spot where Holland swam alongside a black tip reef shark (scary!) and Bex saw a hawksbill turtle. We even found Nemo! After another stop, where we jumped off a pier into deep water, it was back to Salang for squids all round before heading to Akbars beach-bar our favourite night-time hangout.

Holland went scuba diving which turned out to be a day of highs and lows! He had a disastrous first dive which included a rubbish mask, a self removing weight belt and a dodgy ventilator which when the air got low stopped delivering at 15M. A panic set in and he grabbed the dive-masters spare air supply and headed straight for the surface! His second dive of the day made up for it though when with a new mask and ventilator he had an awesome time with loads of colourful big fish, swim throughs and great coral scenery.

On our last day the four of us hired kayaks and paddled round to Monkey bay where we saw monkeys and snorkelled around outstanding coral gardens. After a week we were very sad to leave :o(

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Borneo

After 3 weeks in Perth, a few days in Singapore and a week in KL we were feeling pretty bored with city life so we booked a cheap flight to Malaysian Borneo to trek the jungle! For us the name Borneo conjured up images of endless jungle and wild men with blow-pipes and although both exist here in Borneo, Sabah (the northern state) is also suprisingly well populated. However we didn't fly out here to see another city so we straight away booked on a wildlife river cruise.

As we drove 2 hours through the heavy tropical rain towards the boat quay we got a good tour of Borneo. The towns and villages are slightly more rural than peninsular Malaysia and the houses sit on stilts but like the mainland there is very little poverty here. As we jumped on the boat the rain stopped and we headed up the river in search of the freaky looking Proboscus monkeys and fireflies. We were quickly treated to an up close look at the big nosed fellows alongside the river. After spotting many groups of monkeys it got dark and we were treated to a display of fireflies on the river bank. The trees lit up like christmas trees, cool!


We decided to hire a car the next day and set off up to Mount Kinabalu (the highest mountain in SE Asia). After getting majorly lost we didn't arrive at the national park until early afternoon by which time the mandatory afternoon rain was gathering and the mountain was invisible. The 2 day climb to the top was fully booked for months in advance but, we decided to do a 2 hour trail even though the clouds were coming in. After getting dropped half way up the mountain by a mini bus. We headed into the jungle at which point the heavens opened and soaked us within seconds. We slid and sogged our way down the hill and eventually after embracing the wetness we started to enjoy being out of the city! 20kms further on we visited Poring hot springs where we soaked our aching muscles and watched football in a nice guest house.



Next day we drove all the way across Borneo to Sandakan where we spent the night and then the next morning headed to an Orangutang sanctuary. The morning feeding was really cool. Wild and re-habilitated orangutangs come swinging out of the jungle to get milk and bananas and generally show off to the tourists. Afterwards we drove off in search of a big cave where they climb high ladders to collect birds-nests for soup. Again we got thoroughly lost on unsealed roads, trashed the hire car suspension and nearly got conned by the guy that opens the gate but eventually we got to the caves. The nests were out of season but the 100m high ladders were still strung around the cave. A quick self guided walk around through the stench of guava and teeming cockroaches and we were out of there.


On the way back across to Borneo's East coast we stopped again at the Kinabalu national park where this time we were lucky and early enough to see the beautiful mountain out of it's cloak of clouds. This time we did a longer and majorly challenging trek down a jungle valley. The rain held off this time and we arrived back at the base camp tired but happy.



Unfortunately on our last day Holland was unable to move for a hellish flu, so we couldn't do our visit to the local snorkelling islands, but we weren't too bothered as we knew our planned week with our friends on Tioman island would make up for it!

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia

Twin towers

After Singapore we took the bus to Kuala Lumpur (KL), the Malaysian capital. We stayed in the hectic Chinatown area where the hostels are cheap and the streets are busy with food stands and cheap bags, watches and belts. KL is altogether a fairly hectic city which mixes clean, super modern buildings and shopping centres with bustling markets and vibrant Indian, Chinese and Malay food and cultures. The Metro trains here are small and crowded and the doors slam shut in less than a second and without warning which Holland found out first hand when he got his arm slammed!


Holland has a friend from university, Reza, who lives here in KL and who kindly showed us around for a week. We have been treated to a tour of KL that you can only get with the locals. We were taken to all the best bars, restaurants and all in all had a great time. The food here is absolutely incredible, blending mouth-watering Indian, Chinese, Thai and Malaysian styles. We have eaten the best and cheapest meals that either of us have ever had in our lives.


During our time exploring KL we visited all the tourist attractions and during one of the frequent thunder storms we even saw the Petronus Towers (the tallest twin towers in the world) struck by lightning.

Reza and his friend Fido took us for Sunday swimming in a rainforest river overlooked by a waterfall which was great. At one point the strong river current nearly swept Reza away and Holland heroically jumped in, but not to save Reza, rather the beers he was holding, thankfully both beers and Reza were fine. Unfortunately we also met the local leech population here and we both ended up with a few leeches on our feet (yuck). Afterwards we all went to a restaurant where we were totally spoilt by Reza and Fido who insisted on getting us to try all the yummy local dishes on the menu.

Singapore

Singapore

We started our journey through South-East Asia with a few days in Singapore and it was crazy. Everything in the city centre seems sterile and clean, even the hawker stalls, and there is an efficent metro making getting around really easy. The huge space-age shopping centres with big dome glass roofs are all spotless and air-conditioned as the weather here is so hot and humid. The only place that isn't clean seems to be our hostel - the communal backpacker toilets are going to take some getting used to after travelling in Oz!

Once out of the central area you can find a bit more authentic culture. Little India is crammed full of Buddhist and Hindu temples and exotic smells of spices and cooked meats (and the pungent smell of people who had too much curry the night before). We visited here on a Sunday night and got swept along in the weekly Sunday market with loads of Indian men bustling in the streets and market vendors yelling with microphones. Becky felt a bit exposed as there were very few women to be seen at night in this part of town but Holland delved right in and tried several spicey Indian dishes which he ordered by pointing and discovered what they were by dipping his hand in and tasting some (the local way). All the dishes here seem to be very hot and some even tingle your fingers before you even get the food to your mouth. Yum.

We also explored Chinatown, firstly taking in the cultural centre to learn about the areas history then walking around streets which are dripping in red paper lanterns and have interesting food stalls selling such delicacies as dried squid and curried fish head. The main language appears to be English, except in the localities mentioned above which use Indian languages and chinese respectively, so we found it easy enough to get around. The only thing that slowed us down were the daily rain storms, so heavy that all we could do was shelter ASAP.

Singapore also has a whole leisure island called Sentosa. We took a cable car over here from the top of the world trade centre one evening and watched a lazer and light show which was incredible. We also briefly explored the high-rise central area with its shiney skyscrapers. We saw the Merlion and got an idea of industrial Singapore as we overlooked the enormous port. Finally we finished our time in Singapore in the colonial Raffles hotel and tried their famous cocktail the 'Singapore sling'. All in all a good easy going introduction to South East Asia.