Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur (KL) is a three hour drive from Johor Bahru (JB). It is a sprawling modern city with about 1.3 million inhabitants. It is the seat of government, and the centre of Malaysian commerce and finance.


I stayed at the Concorde Hotel which is in the Golden Triangle. The view from the room was fantastic, the Petronas Twin Towers, probably the most iconic symbol of both KL and the city. At 452 meters high, they are the tallest twin towers in the world. The sky bridge, which is the viewing platform for visitors is 170 meters above the street level. They were designed by architect Cesar Pelli, who also designed Canary Wharf, and were built by two separate companies. The other major tower in KL is the Menara KL Tower. Though only 421 meters from ground level, that ground level is 94 meters above sea level, meaning the top is actually higher than that of the Twin Towers. It is the 4th tallest tower in the world, and the tallest in South East Asia. Unlike the Twin Towers, the KL Tower has a 360 degree viewing platform giving a wonderful view of the city and the area beyond.

A good thing to visit at night is the pasar malam, or night market, in China town. Here you can buy 'genuine copies' of most designer goods, watches, handbags, clothing and leather goods. The areas around are filled with hawkers stalls selling all kinds of food, don't be put off by the look of the stalls, as a rule of thumb, if there are locals eating, it can't be too bad.

Desaru

Desaru is on the East Coast of Malaysia is the closest beach to me. Six of us decided it was high time we got some sand between our toes and headed off in search of the sand sea and sun. It should take about 1.5 to 2 hours to get there so we decided an early start was not required.

The lead car, not mine, said they had a map, so off we went. I should have known that we were doomed when they almost missed the first turning. The drive was interesting, we pasted some WWII pill boxes, a lone monkey, and some flat animals. We witness probably the most extraordinary overtaking manoeuvre I have ever seen, we were on what we know of in the UK as an 'A' road, with cars overtaking on both sides simultaneously!

After a little longer than expected we turned off the main road and after a while came to a dead end. At this point the lead car had to come clean. Their map was of most of South East Asia, not Johor State Malaysia. We consulted a larger scale map and found we were some 75 Km north of our destination. Off we go again, down another side road shown on the new map. Relief we were heading in the right direction, and what is that on the horizon? The sea. All of a sudden the potholes were getting bigger, that's no pothole, it's got a JCB in it , yes a JCB not a Case. Actually a JCB with the cab and electrics I helped design back in 1994! Then the potholes stopped, it was just cinders now. We carried on regardless, passed a chap with 2 Km of road to build with a builder's cement mixer! In the distance we could see the bridge on the map, but as we got there we could see it is blocked. Do you think that stopped us? We swerved around it to be confronted by a man on a deck chair waving a red flag. We stopped and asked is we can get through, no, the bridge is not finished. So what have we learnt so far, Malaysian maps are rubbish. They either have no roads marked, and those that are may not be built.

That was it, time to take control. I got the map, jumped into my car and sped back off the way we had come, over the cinders, swerving around cavernous potholes with a JCB in, back past the Pill boxes and the flat animals to the correct turning.

So four hours after we left we got to the beach, and it was well worth it. We all went for a swim in water that was as warm as the River Trent on a canoe course (Catherine knows what I mean). We lazed in the sun, and the shade, swam some more, two went jetskiing and just did nothing. Just before we went there was the obligatory hole digging, well you can't go to the beach without digging a hole can you? The return trip was very uneventful, but all in all a good day out.

Singapore and the Sevens

Singapore is on the doorstep. From the condo balcony I can see it. There are frequent trips across the causeway mainly to go shopping or for events such as The IRB Singapore Sevens. This was a two day tournament, 9 of us went for finals day. It was eventually won by Fiji, who thrashed England 40 - 19, much to the discussed of the sizable Ex-pat community that were watching.


Other events have been ??????? leaving do, this ended with me spending the next day in bed and the loo in equal measures. It started off in an area of the island called Holland Village. Here we drank far too much beer, then a B52, followed by rum and coke. We then moved on to Insomnia night club at Chimes. Here it was load bands and Gin and Tonic. I know, it's my own fault, but it was a night to remember.


The food in Singapore is as varied as it is in Malaysia. There are plenty of hawkers stalls serving good food that is dirt cheap. You can have a good size lunch with a drink for S$5, about 2 pounds. All the shopping malls, and there are lots, have hawkers stalls in the basement, there is a great choice, Indian, Chinese, Korean, and some that I don't think I will be trying. I have walked past to look at exactly what the soup looks like, and frankly I don't know. All I can say is the bits I saw, I did not recognize from Tesco...

There is still plenty to see in Singapore, I have walked past the Raffles Hotel, but I have always had shorts on, so they will not let me in.

The First Week and Weekend.....

My first week was hectic to say the least. Landing on the Monday night, then having to be at work at 8 am the next morning, all because JD was in town.....

On Thursday I was told I was no longer in the Hyatt Hotel, much to my relief, as I had a condo.
The condos are the 'C' shaped building with the swimming pool at the bottom left, the Hyatt the crescent shaped building on the right.

I moved in on the Saturday. This meant my first, of many, shopping trips to Ikea in Singapore. It was then onto Orchard Road, the Oxford Street of Singapore as Hadley and Matt, the two I was with, wanted to look around the Apple store.

After coffee at Starbucks we went to the Night Safari. This was wonderful. They drive you around on an electric open bus, so you can see all the animals from a safe distance, but not through fences. They use ditches, hidden fences, and good old electric fences to keep the animals from eating you, and each other. All the enclosures have low level light which is as bright as a full moon, so the animals are not disturbed by it. It is definitely worth a visit.

Sunday involved being woken at 9 am by kids in the pool, you get used to it, NOT, followed by an interesting trip to Giant, the local supermarket. I am sure every Malaysian woman in the place peered into my trolley to see what a white man eats. Actually there was not too much food in the trolley. I bought essentials like, washing powder, floor cleaner, loo rolls and beer. There was one comment from the mother of a young boy who insisted in helping unload my trolley. "All this for one man?" How she knew I wasn't out here with Catherine and the kids I don't know. May be it was the beer and no sherry!

Leaving is such a hard thing to do.

The day has finally arrived, I am off to Malaysia for six to seven months. I leave the house after saying goodbye to Catherine, my wife, Sam my 14 year old son, and Zoe my 11 year old daughter.

It is a one and a half hour drive to Heathrow where I join up with Jono who is also off to Malaysia for the same time. We sat and waited for our plane only to find it was delayed. It arrived 30 minutes late, it had just arrived from the workshop. We then sat on the plane for over an hour while they loaded it with bags, food, and fuel. Just when we thought there was nothing else to delay us, Afghan airspace was closed, so a detour was required.

The flight itself was good, with very little turbulence. The biggest problem I had was the person sitting next to me, no it was not Jono. This bloke was on his way to the Commonwealth Games, and slept nearly all the way making it very hard to get out and have a pee.

When we reached Malaysia, 2 hours late, we flew down the west coast. Even from 33,000 feet, the beaches look good. There was a great sunset, though most people missed it, hey had the blinds shut! We landed in Singapore to 30 plus degree C heat. It had snowed that morning in Brinkworth. In to a taxi, and then the long trip across the causeway. I will leave that for another time.....