It has been a long time, or so it seems, since the last entry, and we have come a long way.
After crossing the Bay of Bengal, which was uneventful, taking four days, we arrived in Port Kelang. This is the main port in Malyasia, and provided access to Kuala Lumpur.
Having survived the Indian ports, this was a revelation. Clean and well organised, it was pleasure to pass through. So well organised that we actually left on our day long excursion ten minutes ahead of time! The drive in took about an hour, but the time seem to fly by. This probably was due to our guide, a Malay-Chinese lady(Christine) with very good english and a real sense of humour. She was joy to be with. On the tours, there is a laid out programme, which the guides are expected to stick to. Somehow, Christine managed to sneak in an extra in the shape a call at the Taoist-Buddist temple. This was modern, having been completed about seven years ago, though it appeared to be much older. Quite spectacular, and when we arrived there was service going on which added to the drama.
In the middle of the city is Independence Square, a large green space with sports pitches. Our call day was Sunday and on the road at the side was a gathering of well personalised cars, and further down a performance trial was going on. We walked from there to our next point of call. Kuala Lumpur is given its name from the junction of two rivers, and though now in channels, they are still there in the middle of the city. After an excellent lunch, we moved on to the Central Market. Very interesting and fascinating, though we did not buy anything( neither of us are small enough!! for the normal range of clothes on offer)
Our last visit was the Kings Palace, he was at home, but did not invite us for tea. Malaysia is made up of 13 states, of which nine have Sultans. One of these is elected king by the other eight.
He holds the post for five years, and then must stand down. He cannot be elected twice.
From Malaysia, we sailed to Singapore, arriving at midday on 16th. Our arrival was greeted by heavy rain, and that was how it stayed until late afternoon, which rather put a damper on things. We took the cable car over to Sentosa, and island just offshore, but the rain rather spoilt it, so we returned to the ship. We the took the underground into the city centre, and made our way to Raffles Hotel. After exploring the building, we found ourselves in the famous Long Bar. Here we both had the world renowned Singapore Sling. For messy eaters, this place is a must. Peanuts still in the shells are provided, and the shells are discarded onto the floor!
Back to the ship again to shower, and we made our way to China Town, and had supper at a table in the middle of a street, buying our food from a couple of street vendors, and our drink from another. It had stopped raining. Afterwards, we strolled round the remainder of the area, and Sue actually bought something, a rather nice, loose, blue skirt.
Day2 in Sigapore dawned dry, and as we were to discover, very hot. Having had breakfast, we set off for the city, and to Little India, having strolled through its quaint and narrow streets, we walked on to the Arab quarter, This turned out to be very pleasant and attractive part of town. A bit more walking found us at an underground station, and the train took the strain to the main shopping street, Orchard Road. Sue was very happy, as one of the first signs she saw was Marks and Spencers. We had to make a visit, but for the lady readers, this is not a low cost place to shop. Everything was more expensive than Marks in the UK, with some things twice the price. But Orchard Road is not just shopping Malls with air conditioning, it is an experience in itself, and place one can buy just about anything. By now, we were both very hot, sweaty, and a bit frazzled. It was about 3.30pm. We made a decision to return to the ship, shower, change and plan our evening.
Before going on, a bit about the Singapore underground or MRT. All the trains are air condioned, so nice and cool. There are no platforms open to the trains as they are in London. On going to the platform are, one is faced by a long glass wall. The train, which is driverless, comes in, and automatically aligns itself with the doors in the wall, and then both the train and platform doors open together. When they close, they do so with a brief warning, and quickly. There is no opening and closing because someone is trying to hold a door open. They shut hard. On the original two lines, even the staions are air conditioned. The ticketing system is also very different. When you buy a ticket, you pay a refundable deposit. At the end of the journey, you take the ticket to a ticket machine, and get the deposit back. The system is spotlessly clean, and very busy.
Back to our day. After leaving the ship again around 5.30pm, we took the MRT back to the city centre, and had a drink on the 70th floor of the Stamford Hotel, with views overlooking the city.
Another short stroll took us to the Singapore River, and we had singaporean dinner at a table beside the river, watching the small tripper boats leisurely moving up and down. It was quite romantic.
At 11.40pm local time we set sail for our next port of call. This is a change from advertised, and is Chan May, the port for Da Nang. We should have gone into Ho Chi Min City(Saigon) but they are building a new bridge across the river, and we are too big to get underneath the scaffolding.
Both KL and Singapore were great stops. Hot, humid, clean and very interesting.
We would go back to both again, with the emphasis being on Malaysia.