Xin Nian Kuai Le

Holiday time again!  One of the nice things about teaching abroad is the amount of vacations we get.  The combination of western and Chinese holidays make for lots of time off during the first half of the school year.  For Chinese New Year 2011, we decided to visit Singapore and two Malaysian cities--Malacca and Kuala Lumpur.

Arriving in Singapore
Our flight took us from Hong Kong to Singapore.  It was a three and a half hour flight.  Since our flight was around noon, we arrived in the afternoon on a wet Saturday.  Luckily Singapore has a nice transportation system, and we were able take the subway directly from the airport to our hotel in Clarke Quay. 

After settling in at the hotel, we decided to wander around the area.  Even though it was raining, we were able to see that staying right on the river was quite pleasant.  Shopping malls and dozens of restaurants and clubs lined the riversides making it a happening place, especially at night.  At dinner, we got our first true taste of how expensive Singapore really can be.  Pazi wanted to eat at a nice little Balinese restaurant.  We ended up paying American prices that included taxes and services fees.  Plates  were $15-30 dollars and drinks in the $8-10 range!  In case you were wondering, the food was alright, but nothing to brag about.  From this one experience we knew we would need to look for local food stalls and hangouts to save on meals during our stay.

Rain
Since Pazi is taking MBA courses online, our first objective the next morning was to find WiFi service.  This was not the easiest of tasks.  Due to an initiative by the local government, Singapore provides free Internet to anyone with a Singaporean phone number.  Therefore, no where could we get instant WiFi access.  It didn't help that it was raining even harder than the night before.  Finally, after doing some searching, we found Internet access and Pazi was able to turn in her homework before her due date.

Adan was hopeful that the rain would subside at some point so we took the metro to Raffles Place.  This part of the city is named after the modern founder of Singapore, Sir Stamford Raffles, a famous British statesman.  This area right off the mouth of the river is made up of some of the tallest buildings and important landmarks of Singapore.  At this point the rain was not letting up much so we walked until we reached the Asian Civilizations Museum.  Here we decided to buy a museums pass knowing that rain was going to be with us for at least another day.

For about two hours we learned about the history of Singapore dating back to the 2nd century AD until independence from Britain in 1963.  The museum also showcased the diversity that makes Singapore the world's 6th most foreigner populated country.  Chinese, Indians, Malays, Indonesians, Australians and others make up nearly 42% of the overall population.

Finally the rain stopped for a few hours after we left the museum.  This gave us a chance to see the famous Fullerton Hotel and the Anderson Bridge.  Additionally, the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, the Old Parliament House, Supreme Court of Singapore, and St. Andrew's Cathedral were within a few blocks walking distance.  We continued on seeing beautifully restored buildings such as the famous Raffles Hotel and the Chjimes Complex.  Finally, we made our way to Bugis Street.  This area was supposed to be one of the better night/street markets in Singapore.  It was more of a let down.  Then again we are quite spoiled in China where some of the world's best markets exist.  To end our evening we decided to have dinner at a small Thai restaurant with decent food and at a price much better than the night before.  It still ended up being about $25 total.  Yikes!

More Rain
Our third day was another rainy day.  Since we purchased the museum pass, we made our way to the Singapore Art Museum (the closest one to a metro station).  The museum was quite interesting.  The building is a 140 year old national monument that was restored in the 1990s at a cost of $30 million Singapore dollars.  Moreover, the art pieces were quite contemporary with mostly work done by Southeast Asians.  The most intriguing exhibition was life-sized wax-carved bodies of famous communist leaders.  All of them were deceased and in glass coffins except for Castro who was placed on what appeared to be his death bed.  Everything seemed very real.

After this we randomly found a food court near Waterloo Street.  It was extremely busy with locals so we figured the food must have been good.  Pazi decided on Chinese Chicken Rice, a local favorite, while Adan had what we later learned to be Indian food with Malay influence.  This place definitely was in the right price range as we paid only $15 dollars and even got beer and milk tea.

From here Pazi was very interested in seeing Singapore's Little India.  We hopped on the subway to get us there.  Pazi was hoping to find some of the same wonderful things she found in India from a previous trip.  She did find a few things, however stuff is pricey.  She ended up buying a few shirts, bangels, pillow cases, and masala chai tea packages.  Everything was marked up at least three times higher than in India.  The district is rather small, about three full city blocks in all really.  Within three hours we had seen enough and moved on to the nearby Arab Street.  This area was great for Adan to get photos of the old architecture of local buildings, many of which have window shutters of bright, radiant colors.  Since it's probably half the size of Little India, we spent about an hour here.

At this point we saw the clearest sky of our entire trip and with about two hours before sunset, we decided to make our way to the famous Singapore Flyer.  Dubbed the world's largest Ferris wheel, it reaches 42 stories in height.  The wheel is really 28 observation decks that rotate around giving breathtaking views of Singapore's Marina Bay, skyscrapers, and even the South China Sea.  The entire ride lasted 37 minutes and we were accompanied by eight other people in our capsule.  It cost us about $30 dollars a person, but it was actually worth the money.

No Rain...Finally
With our first day of no rain, we decided to go to Sentosa Island.  A small island off of Singapore, Sentosa has gone through major construction for tourism development in recent years.  You can't help but think that this area tries too hard to be like Disneyland.  Much of the island is artificial and built to appeal to tourists.  Examples are the fake beaches, a second, gigantic Merlion, a casino, and even Universal Studios.  Some of the highlights for us was doing luge in a flash flood that hit us just at the right (worst) moment.  This is where you get taken up a cable car and go back down the small mountain in a luge car on a racing track.  Fun stuff.  We also enjoyed walking up and down the boardwalk and its views that connect Sentosa to Singapore.

Quick trip to Chinatown and off to Malacca
We spent a half day in Singapore visiting Chinatown before heading off to Malaysia.  The influence of Chinese in Singapore dates back to the 14 century so there are deep traditions here.  The major Chinese ethnic groups are the Hokkien form Fujian province, Teochew from Chaozhou in Guangdong province, and the Cantonese from the Guangdong and Hong Kong area. 

This part of Singapore is full of small shops, eateries and historical sites.  We walked down the major market streets just taking in the sights and sounds.  Nothing looked worth buying so we just wandered about.  We visited the Taoist, Buddhist, and even Hindu temples while we were here.  Ultimately, it seems that once you live in China, visiting Chinatowns just aren't as interesting.

Before leaving Singapore, we decided to have lunch at a joint called Brewerkz at Clarke Quay.  It was a great decision as we ordered some amazing western food.  Pazi requested Chili that was covered in melted cheese with homemade corn bread.  Adan ordered BBQ chicken and half rack of ribs with mashed potatoes.  The food was excellent and we couldn't even finish it all.

The journey to Malacca, Malaysia was done by bus.  We took the subway out to the bus station and then waited for our departure.  Our trip was to take two hours minus border crossings.  The immigration stations for Singapore and Malaysia were very easy to go through.  However, some of the people in our group needed special accommodations to enter and it took us several extra minutes to cross.  By the time we reached Malacca it was late.  We were forced to take a taxi to the city center.  Once we arrived our main objective was to find a room.  It did not take us long before we found a guesthouse nearby.  This is where we would stay for our two nights in Malacca.

We chose to visit Malacca for two reasons: 1) it is UNESCO World Heritage City with great history, and 2) it is nearly half way between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.  Malacca is located in what was at one time the most sought after region by Sumatra, Chinese, and later by European traders.  The area was a favored port for resupplying ships moving through the spice route.  The remnants of Chinese, Portuguese, and Dutch are extremely visible today and make Malacca such an interesting tourist attraction.  Even the intermingling of these groups have created new ethnic groups such as the Peranakan culture.

Since we hit Malacca right on the official start of Chinese New Year, we had to stay in Chinatown.  It did not disappoint.  The people were in full force celebrating with fireworks, temple ceremonies, and lots and lots of food.  Our time here was spent on foot seeing the four or five blocks of historical sites during the day and at night.  This was another example of diverse cultures existing together.  the prime example of this was the street near our guesthouse.  Walking down this street one can visit a Hindu temple that is located directly next to a Muslim Mosque, and 300 meters down is a Taoist and Buddhist temple.  Amazing!

Time for Kuala Lumpur
Two days in Malacca was just right and next we were ready to take on Malaysia's capital city Kuala Lumpur.  We took the two hour bus trip to Kuala Lumpur and hopped on the light rail train to get to our hotel.  We learned that the transportation system is similar to a city like Bangkok, where you need to get on and off different rail lines or even complete systems to reach destinations.  However, Adan made a good move in booking a hotel near KL Central.  This is the main hub for transportation where all systems meet.  This allowed us to avoid transfers and wait times that come with them.  Pazi needed some study time for school so we took it easy for the rest of the day.

Hop On Hop Off Bus
Since the weather was much nicer here, we purchased the Hop On Hop Off Bus tickets that allow tourists access to some 40 different attractions.  Tickets cost us about $13 dollars.  This was well worth it as the bus stops were right up at the front entrances to many sites.  We spent the first part of the day visiting Merdeka Square and Central Market.  Merdeka Square is a formal parade grounds that was the exact location where independence was claimed for Malaysia back in 1957.  Facing the square are several unique architectural buildings done in both Islamic and European styles.  Almost right behind this area is the Central Market.  This is a very touristy area set up with shop and boutiques but tries to come across as a local market.  Prices here were definitely marked up.

Later in the day we visited the Chinatown and the Little India.  Both had some shopping and eateries, but really lacked major appeal.  Since we didn't feel compelled to stay long, we decided to scope out the famous Petronas Towers.  At 88 floors and a height of 450 meters, these towers are the world's tallest twin buildings.  Our guidebook said that it can be difficult to receive the free tickets to gain access to the towers' skybridge viewing deck so we decided to see up close how the ticket system worked.  It seemed that below the towers' main entrance was a ticket booth area that opened at 8:30 am and would give out tickets until 1,000 were reached.  Apparently this is the daily maximum number allowed.  After this we decided to explore the Suria KLCC retail mall.

Petronas Towers Disaster
We got up the next morning bright and early to make the commute from our hotel to Petronas Towers.  We arrived at 7:55am, 35 minutes before the ticket counter would open.  Well, when we got downstairs there was already a line of what appeared to be 400 or so people.  We took our place and waited.  And waited.  And waited some more.  Finally after waiting for over two hours we made our way towards the front of the line.  Then with just two more groups in front of us, a woman came out and said they were sold out.  The whole queueing system the Petronas Towers follows is a joke.  They allow way to many people down stairs.  There was no dividers so the lines just kept going everywhere and on many occasions people tried to cut in line.  Finally, the topper of it all, tour guides can come and get up to 25 tickets at a time and then sell them to tourists.  When we asked the staff why the system was so terrible they just shrugged.  Adan asked for recommendations for tickets and the man said, "Come back tomorrow and be here before 7:00am."  For such a major tourist attraction the Petronas Towers is one of the poorest run operations in the world.

In place of seeing the towers, we headed out to the Batu Caves.  This is a Hindu site on a limestone hill.  It is made up of several cave temples located about 15 kilometers outside of Kuala Lumpur.  The distance was no problem.  The light rail system now has a train that goes out to the caves and costs just a few dollars to go there and back to the city.  Supposedly this location is one of the most popular Hindu sites outside of India.  It sure did seem this way as we noticed several groups visiting the temples during our trip.  The actual limestone formations here are estimated being about 400 million years old.  It is said that the indigenous people of the area used it as a shelter long before it became a temple site.  The location became a religious site in the late 19th century dedicated to Lord Muraga.  Recently in 2006, after three years of construction, a 42m high statue of Lord Muraga was unveiled being the largest of its kind in the world.

Later at dusk, we decided to visit the KL Tower.  This was the next best option after our Petronas Towers fiasco.  At 421 meters, it is the world's fourth tallest telecommunications tower.  The tickets were about $12 dollars each.  The views were pretty good, however the glares from the lights reflecting off the glass inside the tower made it hard to take any good pictures.

Finally, we made our way to Bangsar, the expat area with upscale shopping and many restaurants.  We ate some local dishes like Nasi Lemak.  Pazi really liked this dish.  It is coconut rice, hot chile chicken, with anchovies, cucumbers, peanuts, and egg.  Adan ordered a Laksa, which is a spicy noodle soup with chicken and seafood.


In the End
Our last day in Kuala Lumpur was spent visiting the last few areas of interest in Kuala Lumpur.  Pazi wanted to see if she could find any Indian goods at Masjid India, another Indian neighborhood that's near a mosque and bazaar.  There was nothing that really caught her attention and so we continued walking around the city seeing the Old Railway Station, the National Mosque, a Hindu temple, and a Catholic church.

Overall, we enjoyed the vacation.  We got to see areas we had been wanting to visit.  It was an excellent opportunity for us to experience two of the most famous cities in Southeast Asia.