Movin' On

This week has been one of transition with much travelling, three new countries and a new continent. First stop was Penang, an largish island just off the East coast of the Peninsular Malaysia. Traversed the Penang bridge to get there, one of the longest bridges in Asia at thirteen and a half kilometres. Penang turned out to be a very likable place with everything of interest and necessity within walking distance. It is very apparent that the British Empire has had a marked impact on the region, with place names such as Georgetown and Butterworth sprinkled in amongst Batu Ferringhi and Tanjung Bungah. The whole place has a real colonial feel to it which was a shift from Thailand where it felt like the Western invasion was a lot more recent and to some extent ongoing. Even my lodging (pictured), had a certain charm to it. After a quiet couple of days here I decided to move south to Kuala Lumpar (KL).

Unbeknownest to me, I was late for my bus to KL as I had not realised that Malaysia is one hour ahead of Thailand. So for two days I had been living one hour out of sync and had not realised. That just goes to show how little I have been relying on time and how few appointments I have to keep - it quite refreshing. Fortunately, nothing runs on time over here and I was still able to catch my bus... and what a bus!! I had expected the usual sub-megabus experience but was confronted with a monstrosity from the future, a huge bus and with only 20 seats, each of which could fully recline and each of which had a functioning automatic electronic massager!! A five hour bus journey has never felt so short.

I arrived in KL to find that the hostels I had earmarked to stay in were fully booked so ended up in a real hovel. Not wanting to hang around I headed straight out and straight to the only landmark in KL I was familiar with. The Petronas Towers stand at 450 metres and used to be the tallest in the world - you may recall them from the film 'Entrapment' starring Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta Jones. They are a shtunning shight and shtill the tallest twin-towers in the world. I approached them just before sunset, so was able to enjoy them in both daylight and then lit up when the darkness had settled in. During this wait I talked to a German chap, Flo, who had had a similar plan and he was also here for a quick stopover on his way back from a year in Australia. So ended up grabbing dinner and a beer with him, and getting the some good Germanic Oz advice.

My foot was still really aching from barefoot walking on sharp matter, so second day in KL I could not do my usual wander around aimlessly until I stumble upon something of interest. I was really at a loss of how I was going to spend my day, find a quiet cafe?!? But then I saw my saviour a bright pink and black bus, the city hop-on hop-off tour bus. And I quite literally hopped on! It gave me a much better insight into what the city has to offer and I hopped off feeling much more positive about KL than I had done. When you're backpacking in a city you generally stay in the cheap sections so if you don't make the effort to get further afield you can just leave with a real negative perspective of a place. That night ended up in Chinatown and feasted on some authentic duck pancakes at a roadside/middle of the road cafe.

But once again it was time to move on and it has to be said that the bus to Singapore was a real struggle without an electronic massager, it's amazing how you miss things you didn't know existed but a day before... After a journey without stress relief, me and my aching muscles were eventually put down in the centre of Singapore without a inkling as to where I was or where I was going. I was looking for a map or information on a place to stay but with no luck, fortunately however the locals were unbelievable friendly and technologically equipped. So two minutes after speaking to a Singaporese girl with an i-phone and I was winging my way to my latest abode.

Clean, busy and filled with bars and restaurants, Singapore really has a feeling of a place whose time is now. I was in the city for less than 12 hours and that proved a blessing in desguise as although there is plenty to do and much to see, it is an incredibly expensive place. I started off in Little India and had great vegetarian Indian meal, then walked down through the CBD and Chinatown. Everyplace had a different feel to it and was full of different people. Little India filled with Indian/Malaysians, CBD filled with urban professional suits of all nationalities, Chinatown filled with orientals. Clarke Quay was also an astounding place, covered with restraunts and bars at every turn. You could eat in a different restaurant every night for years without growing bored and I got the impression that people do just that. It also has a very impressive skyline especially afterdark. I got a real buzz about Singapore and it's probably the first place I've been that I could actually see myself living. A spotless and modern city that although big does not have the often isolating vastness of the likes of NYC or London.

The next day on the flight out of Singapore I was given a corker of a seat by the emergency exit, but with extra legroom, comes extra responsibility!! Had to pass a test, and confirm that I was willing to accept the burden of opening the door in the event of an emergency. I took to this head on and fell asleep for the majority of the flight. So now you find me in Perth, Western Australia. It's the first time I've been in the southern hemisphere, so I'm going to find out which direction the toilet water drains away, for the results of this test see the next post.