Penang / Georgetown Several hours later we were crossing the long bridge over to Penang Island, where we'd stay for a few nights in the old town of Georgetown.
We took a day trip up to the top of Penang Hill, aka Bukit Bandera, on the mini-railway to take in the scenic views. Probably nicer on a clear day, but nevermind.
Then we moved north to the northern-most tip of Penang, Batu Ferringhi, which means "Foreigners Rock" where we stayed for the remainder of our time on the island.
Note the similarity in the words ferringhi, foreigner, farang.
With Cindy only having 2½ weeks total and her flight home from Singapore's Changi Airport, we needed to move on.
A bus took us from Penang, down the Malaysian peninsula to Johor Bahru, then over the causeway and through immigration and we were in Singapore, with a 14 day stamp each in our passports. We stayed in a hotel along Orchard Road and it wasn't cheap, but it was only for a few days until she left for home at which time I could move into cheaper accommodation.
The first full day we decided to visit Sentosa Island, so we took the cable car from the World Trade Center, over Mount Faber and the Keppel Harbour, to Sentosa.
I'd heard about Bugis Street and it was a place I wanted to see, but even back at the end of 1998 I was too late. The MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) had taken over and Bugis was gone forever.
A day spent walking and taking in some sights, such as Little India, which is where I stayed after Cindy left, and the Raffles Hotel. But with a Singapore Sling at the Raffles Hotel priced at $18 Singaporian Dollars, I decided I wasn't that thirsty afterall.
Daytime strolls around the City led us to Suntec City Shopping Mall, the home of (at least at the time) the largest fountain in the World, called the Fountain of Wealth.
It didn't do much other than just shoot water in the same fashion repeatedly, but it was big. It was nice when the sun went down as they shone lights through it too. At times they allow people to walk around it while it's set on low, for good luck.
I said farewell to Cindy at Changi Airport and off she went. At least now I could visit Desker Road every evening without making excuses and also took a daytrip to Batam, Indonesia, by boat from the World Trade Center.
Batam is several hours away and well worth a visit apparently, as I'd heard that there's action there and the place is growing in popularity. I don't have any pictures of the place 'cos I'd left my camera in the hotel on purpose, why? .. I can't remember now. When I was there I visited a local market, got over-charged by a taxi driver and found a line of brothels. So job well done as it was only a day trip.
A final week in Singapore on my own where I naturally visited Orchard Towers to see what all the fuss was about. I only stayed for a few drinks as it didn't appeal to me, the numerous Thai girls wanted far more than I was willing to pay or knew I had to pay elsewhere.
However, I enjoyed the seediness of the backstreets of Little India, especially around Desker Road. I plodded those filthy back alleys many times but Sunday was not the day to do it, unless you didn't mind a sea of wall to wall Indians with full wallets from pay-day.
Back to Changi Airport, which incidentally is the best airport I have ever seen, and I was off for the next leg of my RTW ticket, soon to be landing at Denpasar Airport, Bali.
Bali
It's a shame when one has nothing good what-so-ever to say about a place visited and Bali is one such place for me, I was very disappointed. It safely ranks at the bottom of a long list of places I've visited over the years, even to this day, my memory of Bali is very negative.
The primary issue being the constant and seemingly never-ending harrassment from locals selling tourist trinkets and other crap everywhere you went, to this day I have never endured such a bothersome band of individuals wrecking a tourist's time. No matter where you went there were groups, squads or teams of people immediately giving you the full-on hassle-sell at the first opportunity and not taking no for an answer, so that's when I turned them off and ignored them all completely, but it didn't really make much difference. There was little chance of navigating a route out and about unbothered, so I became a bit reclusive within the confines of my accomodation area and hung out with fellow inmates as I waited for the days to tick past.
Hawkers stood right outside my bungalow complex, waiting, they hovered on all streets and corners and seemed to be everywhere you went on the beaches, leaning into restaurants and waiting outside shops for you. On the beach itself there was a rule that they were not allowed on the wet part of the sand, but they all ignored that in pursuit of a sale as they padded towards you with a stupid smirk on their faces.
It quickly reached a level where I simply could not wait to leave. The only saving grace on this visit to Bali was a short trip to Lombok, which was a lot less hassle, but no pics as I'd locked my camera away in the hotel safe.
A short clip of where I stayed, plus a bit of beach.
If you want a peaceful beach experience, I suppose the best thing is to not stay in the main tourist area, or book with a hotel who's zone also covers the beach, where sellers are forbidden, or basically stay away from the awful over-commercialised Kuta Beach, which must be the worst location Indonesia has to offer.
Then, after I was blatantly short-changed by a money-changer who grinned at me when I caught him red-handed, I thought enough is enough and I was out of there.
Hopefully (for Bali) they have reigned in the touts and sellers nowadays and put some sort of controls in place. For me, I have no desire to ever go back and find out.
Perth, Western Australia Boarding the plane out of Denpasar (Bali) bound for Perth was a relief.
I also had a bonus on this leg of the trip, I would be meeting and staying with a very good friend of mine from the UK who had emigrated to Perth a few years before. I was looking forward to some home comforts again and meals which did not include rice or noodles.
It's amazing what useless bits of information you can recall and what worthless memories remain lodged in the anals of our minds. Like the 2 cheeseburgers, fries and a chocolate shake I had at McDonalds in the KL Tower, Malaysia, my first food in Perth was a bacon and egg sandwich in crusty bread with lots of brown sauce. I remember because I emailed my mate the request after his wife had enquired what I might like to eat when I first arrived at their home, I didn't want them to make a fuss.
The simple pleasures in life but no pic of the bacon & egg butty :|
I was met at the Perth Airport by my mate and driven home in his car. No touts, no rip-offs, no bullshit, no worries mate. I was back in Farangland and I was enjoying the hassle-free environment. I had never been to Perth before, or even Australia, I liked it alot.
While my buddy had been living in Perth he had acquired a pilot's license and offered to rent a plane and fly the three of us (him, his wife and me) over to Rottnest Island, just off the coast of WA near Freemantle. Once there we hired bicycles and rode lap of the island, all very nice with few people about, plus it was a warm and sunny day. I also got to see a relatively rare marsupial while I was there, known as a quokka, which can be found on the island.
I stayed with my friend and his wife for around a fortnight in total - they insisted I stayed, not left - but I was missing Thailand and despite the fact my journey should continue in an easterly direction across Australia, I decided to head back to LOS.
I would return to Perth again later in the trip to pick up where I'd left off, but right now I had the Thailand-bug :o
"My advice is just thank the god that doesnt exist for the rib he didnt take to create the women thats not a women that he didnt make for the naturaly uncut cock n enjoy it, they sure are fun." - Boomdraw
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but no pic of the bacon & egg butty :|
