Travels in Singapore and Malaysia

To view the pictures from the trip, just click on the linked text below for the corresponding picture. Or to view them all, click here. Enjoy.

A string of consecutive holidays here in Japan allowed me to take a 9-day vacation from April 28th to May 6th. As this was my last extended vacation to take during my time in Japan, I wanted to visit a teacher I used to work with at one of my schools in Kumamoto. He and his family now live in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where he is an English teacher at the school for Japanese. So I decided to combine my visit to Malaysia with a short stop in Singapore to experience more sprawling cities of SE Asia.


SINGAPORE: Japan’s Shame

I arrived in Singapore for the second time in my life only this time I was actually going to leave the airport. I arrived on Thursday afternoon and planned on staying until Saturday night. The first day I spent with an acquaintance, Emily, from nearby Miyazaki. (She had a 15-hour layover in Singapore.) We decided to take a long walk and check out the sights. As we were walking along a main strip of bars and restaurants, we happened upon a pub overflowing with people out onto the sidewalk imbibing the fine brew. The interesting thing about these people was that they were all wearing bright orange shirts or hats. I hadn’t even realized I happened to be wearing the only bright orange shirt I own at the time. I was told by and woman with a beer in her hand and a baby strapped to her that anyone wearing orange would be awarded with free beer. Delighted, I went forward and heard a bell ring, meaning no more beer. Sadly, I left the orange throng and continued to walk. We found several famous landmarks of Singapore including the Mer-Lion, the Durian Opera House, Fullerton Hotel, Raffles Hotel and a memorial to civilians killed by Japan’s WW2 invasion. Finally we headed back to one of the best hostels in Singapore, The Inn Crowd, located right in bustling Little India.

The next day, I was again on my own and on a mission to find out about Singapore’s history. The city itself is only about 200 years old and was founded by this British fellow named Raffles. Since then it has existed as a huge melting pot for many cultures, the majority of the population of whom are Chinese, Indian, Malay and various Westerners. Due to my recent interest in WW2 and more specifically, Japan’s role in it, I knew Singapore had played a large part in the Pacific Theater of the War. In the morning, I headed for a small museum called Battle Box located in an urban park, Fort Canning. The Battle Box was the command center for British and allied forces during Japan’s invasion of Singapore in early 1942. This small bunker has been made into a replica of the command center complete with animatronic officers who performed the parts of the men who were there. It was very interesting to see how the generals and staff had to take into account so many factors regarding the rapidly approaching Japanese forces before realizing they had to surrender. I picked up a few interesting anti-Japanese propaganda post cards. I spent the rest of the day strolling Chinatown and securing a train ticket into Malaysia for the following evening.

That evening, I took a long train ride out of central city and headed for the starting box of The Lion City Hash. This was my second opportunity to join a hash outside of Japan. Along with about 60 other people, we started and followed the trail marked by chalk and biodegradable TP. Most of the people were middle age expats in Singapore for work. We ran through a forest that seemed like it wasn’t there just 40 years ago. There were overgrown buildings and abandoned factories through which the course winded. The highlight of the hash was when the trail went right through a small shelter with about 7 people just sitting and staring at us. There was one man and the rest were pretty good looking young women (one of whom was just emerging toweled from bathing in a little pond). I found out later these were probably Thai prostitutes living and working illegally in Singapore. I am sure they appreciated 60 people running straight through their living quarters—well, I appreciated it. After a funny religion and a down-down for myself as one of 3 guest hashers, we had dinner. I sat near a young Japanese woman and her middle-aged German husband. He was retired and she worked in Singapore. I am intrigued by the German accent and laughed for hours as I talked about Japan and Singapore life with them.

The next morning, I bid farewell to Nadia, Brooke and Chad, three Kumamoto JETs who had been in the same hostel as I. I headed for the small village of Changi near the airport. It was here that the Japanese imprisoned thousands of Singaporeans and allied troops. Today it is a very thorough museum and memorial to the prisoners and the victims of the Japanese atrocities. The conditions of the prison were appalling and the things the Japanese resorted to are just unimaginable. I saw that as many as 50,000 Chinese Singaporeans may have been massacred by troops. One of the prisoners painted massive religious murals at the prison’s hospital and they were restored in the museum. I then went into Changi Village and took a short nap on the beach as the planes came in for landings right over my head. That night I hopped in a sleeper car for the overnight train ride to Kuala Lumpur.

(Be sure to check out some photos of some pretty interesting and bizarre signs in Singapore.)


MALAYSIA: Concrete Jungle, Ancient Rain Forest

I arrived early on Sunday morning and was greeted by Mr. Motomura, my former co-worker in Kumamoto. After a delicious breakfast served on banana leaves at a local Indian restaurant, we hit a morning market to get some exotic fruits. Mr. M pointed out that the butcher was located below the market and away from all the other food stalls due to the religious customs of Islam and Hinduism. These two religions were easily the most prevalent in Malaysia and I was amazed to see huge Hindu temples standing next to elaborate mosques. It was quite a contrast just in architectural style. I was then brought to the Motomura residence located in a huge condominium, up on the 10th floor overlooking a beautiful park and mountainside. I had met his wife and cute 10-year-old twin daughters again after just a brief meeting in Kumamoto. During my time there, I was treated like a king in their house. Not only was my laundry taken care of, I had a room to myself, was cooked delicious meals and served more exotic fruits such as massive Papaya, Mango, Dragon fruit, Star fruit, Rambutan and countless others whose name I don’t know. For the day we went sight seeing around the city. We went up into the Kuala Lumpur Tower, the 4th highest radio tower in the world and got great views of the surrounding city and the magnificent Petronas Towers. I was really amazed at how so many buildings were based on Islamic concepts and designs, from the obvious to subtle. In the afternoon we went to a Malay dance performance and got to pose with the dancers afterward. We ended the evening at a delicious restaurant in the shadow of the Petronas Towers that was cook your own food in a large boiling vat called a steamboat. I at the largest crab claw I have ever seen.

The next day was a vacation day for Mr. Motomura, so after stocking up at a food store for my camping trip the next day, he and I headed for the suburbs. Not too far from the city is a massive cave called Batu Caves that has been turned into a Hindu shrine. There were many colorful statues all around the place and even an audio tour to explain the significance of all of the Hindu gods. After a brief afternoon rainstorm, we headed back home for a relaxing evening.

The next day I boarded a bus at a downtown hotel and took the 4-hour journey to the ferry terminal at tiny Kuala Tembeling. From there it was a 3-hour, 60 km boat ride in a thin but long wooden craft to Malaysia’s largest National Park, Taman Negara. The park boasts one of the oldest rain forests in the world, over 130 million years old. It has gone untouched by ice ages and volcanic activity, which have affected other rainforests in the past. The park is also home to thousands of different species including Malay Tigers, elephants, rhinoceros and my personal favorite the barking deer. The boat ride was a little hot and my posterior was most certainly numb from sitting on hard wood, but I saw quite a few animals. A huge snake swam near the shore and a herd of water buffaloes cooled off nearby. I spotted a few interesting birds fishing. I got to the small town of Kuala Tahan near the park’s HQ and quickly set up camp. Just as I arrived, two 3 feet long monitor lizards scrambled past my feet into the woods. This was gonna be fun. My goal was to avoid the dank hostels in such a beautiful setting so I had brought my handy tent and gear for hiking and camping. The weather worked out great considering in was a rain forest but the biggest problem was the insects. I coated myself in mosquito repellant continuously, but I was still feasted upon for the 2 days I was there. Also, if I ventured near any river, I was immediately swarmed by bees. I didn’t get stung the entire time I was there but it was pretty uncomfortable slapping at the bees buzzing around me. The morning after I arrived at the park, I rose early and broke camp and set off for the riverside campsite of Kuala Trenggan, about 13 km away. I left around 8 a.m. and barely stopped walking until I made it to the camp at about 1:30. I came across amazingly tall trees and very interesting vegetation. When I arrived at Kuala Trenggan, I was out of water and needed a refill if I was to stay the night there. There was one man there working on something and he told me that this camp had been closed. No shower, fine; no facilities, no problem; bees, bring ‘em on; but potable water was a problem. I made the decision to hitch a ride with the man in his boat and head back to my original campsite, only about 10 km down the river. I rewarded myself with a delicious dinner at a local floating restaurant that night before retiring to my tent and the amazing orchestra of a rain forest at night. The next day I went to a special Canopy Walk constructed in the treetops of the nearby forest. A few planks were held up by ropes with nets on the side, but it was still a thrill walking as high as 150 ft above the forest floor. I did a similar treetop walk in Australia, but those were actually built from the ground, whereas these were suspended from the trees themselves. The planks actually swing and sway as you walk along. After that I climbed a nearby hill for great views of the endless forest in the distance. I had some lunch then set out down another path for a cave about 3 km away. As I walked, I came upon a family of Orang Asli, the group of native people that are legally allowed to inhabit and live off the forests of Taman Negara. There were 3 kids, one of whom was buck naked, and a mother with a baby hanging on her in a small wrap. She was topless other than the baby holder, but she was chopping some wood and ignored me as I passed by. I snapped a photo of some of the kids on my way back from the cave. I arrived at the cave with my headlamp and was ready to explore its depths. As I entered however, I saw that wasn’t going to happen. Not only were there many bats hanging from the low ceiling of the cave, a few were awakened by my presence and started flying around. I thought the better of it and decided to not go in. That night I laid down to sleep at about 10 and heard the unwelcome sound of thunder in the distance. I had full confidence my tent could withstand any caliber thunderstorm, but for some reason I felt uncomfortable set up under towering trees during a violent storm. I awoke again at 2 a.m. when the rain started to zip up my tent. I expected to be kept awake by the storm, but again fell asleep until I wake around 7 to a torrent on the walls of my tent. I would have waited it out, but I had to get a boat out of the park in the morning. I quickly packed up in the rain and headed out. The rain had stopped by the time I got on the boat and it was another long pleasant ride down the river. I arrived back in KL in time to join the Motomura daughters for some late afternoon swimming and then joined Mr. M for a night of fine foods and drinking with his co-workers at his school.

The final day I spent on my own going to various sites and shopping areas around the city. I finally got an up-close view of the beautiful Petronas Towers and the scarily massive shopping mall beneath them. I experienced another afternoon downpour, delighted to be in a place with fast changing weather much like St. Louis. At last, I met up with the Motomuras to say a million thanks and good-bye at the train station. I took the KL Int’l Airport Express and hopped on a flight back to good ole Fukuoka X.

The more I think about the trip, the better it gets. I was able to explore Singapore and get to know its interesting history and its unfortunate relationship with Japan. It was my first long trip completely on my own and now I can see how that’s almost preferable unless we are talking about family. I met many interesting people but was able to be independent and pursue my own interests. I met an old friend and was treated royally by him and his family. I experienced two huge cities and was able to retreat to one of the most remote parks in SE Asia for some well-needed quiet and nature injection.