KL to S'pore

So, Friday I headed back to Singapore.....with a long 4 hours at the airport. Why, you ask? Two reasons: 1) I was afraid there'd traffic and it would take me forever to get there (it only took an hour) ans 2) I thought my flight was at 3:15 (it was at 4:40). Yup, definite "toon" move. While hanging out in the airport, I "people watched" and made a list of random thoughts that I will share here:

- the "dirty" buildings in KL I think is actually mildew....some buildings don't have it - newer? more expensive & mildew resistant building material? somehow cleaned?

- the scooter drivers put on a jack backwards to protect their shirts from road debris and to cut down on the wind

- Malaysia also has cell phone towers "disguised" to look like evergreens - I saw 4 on the bus trip to the airport

- forgot to mention that these are former British colonies, do driving is on the left

- during the Singapore Nature Walk last weekend, checked out the restroom.....it was just holes in the ground so I waited

- I would definitely go back to KL, as I figured out how to get around on public transit and then left.....guidebooks were not helpful for this AT ALL

- I was amazed at what some women - obviously tourists - and the skimpy clothing that they were wear in a fairly conservative Muslim country

- on the flight to S'pore, the pilot announced that it was 28 (Celsius) and dry in Singapore..... obviously "dry" is a relative term

So that ends my random airport thoughts.....

::shout out to my cousin Chris who was winged today!!!!!::

So back in S'pore, I met up with Frank at a luxury condo - he is condo-sitting for his friend Queenie, who is in Canada right now. It's on the 18th floor - the top......plus a second story! It's a really nice place :) Sitting in comfortable a/c right now, watching a big screen TV (nothing on, so watching a countdown of the best guns), several pools, great views......

Shortly after I arrived, we took off for a performance of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. The program consisted of works by Beethoven, featuring guest violinist Leila Josefowitz (and guest conductor Eri Klas. The program was absolutely wonderful and interesting and exciting! Beethoven is one of my favorites and I actually was familiar with several movements in the works. I also think this was my first symphony concert. The concert was held at the Esplanade.

After the concert we ate at the hawker hall nearby. We had satay (AKA meat on a stick) and stir fried rice. To drink we had young coconuts that weren't as young as they should be. Then it was back to Queenie's place and I crashed.

Final KL Pictures

Totally Off-Topic

The lobster place across the street from where I work in Boston burned:

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/05/30/boston.fire.ap/index.html

The building on the right is one of the two towers in the complex and you can't see it, but the pedestrian bridge mentioned in the article is the one I walk across whenever I drive in and park in the "mud lot."

Day 6 – KL

(By the way, I uploaded three days' worth of posts tonight, so be sure to start with Day 4)

Well, this morning started off auspiciously. I’d set the alarm for 7:30, turned it off, and was awoken two hours later by housekeeping. Ooops. Not that I have anywhere in particular to be. I started to walk towards the transit station, but heard this loud music coming from a mall, so decided to check it out. Apparently it was the opening of Big Apple Donuts & Coffee….you should have seen the line! And it’s “Big Apple” as in NYC as I saw pictures of the city on the boxes of donuts. They didn’t seem like anything in particular to me and there’s already Dunkin Donuts all over the place. So on to the transit system – this line had the monorail. So off to KL Sentral I went. Found the buses ok and what I need to do on Friday to get to the airport. I’ve decided to leave the hotel by 11:00, just to be on the safe side. The flight is at 3:15 and the noontime bus should get me there by 1:15, but I’ve seen the traffic! I want an earlier bus if possible and certainly not a later one.

Next, on to Chinatown, which basically is Julan Petaling (Petaling Street). I’d found the Petaling stop on the transit stop and finally figured out that it was on the KTM Koumter line. Bought a ticket and off I went………ahem. The fact that it was a COMMUTER train should have been my first clue, as we headed OUTSIDE the city. Guess there’s a town with the same name. It was only two stops and there was a return train in 10 minutes. Back to KL Sentral I went.

So far every single train station I have seen has some sort of a covering (if it’s outside) and you’d really be pretty protected – both from the sun AND the rain. All the walkways and escalators all have roofs.

This time found the correct train and got off at Pasar Seni stop and walked a couple of blocks to Julan Petaling. Which pales in comparison to Chinatown in Singapore, seemed to me just like anything you could buy at a street fair in NYC, and I bought nothing, other than lunch at the Swiss Hotel. I had a hamburger (it had a fried egg on it!) & fries – the hamburger looked a bit “suspicious.” It amused me that the Pepsi Light was KM 1 more than just a Pepsi. I was sitting in the bar and ESPN was showing a soccer (football) game – Everton vs. Sunderland (score 3-1 @ halftime which was when I left) and I *think* they’re two Australian teams, plus the fans (cheering for Everton) and the coaches were wearing heavy winter coats. The volume wasn’t up enough and during one break, ESPN was showing scores from a Saturday back in November and then when they went to halftime, I could have sworn the screen listed the game as being in Liverpool. Needless, to say, I am not quite sure what I was watching! Might have been a repeat.

After walking back and forth several times along Julan Petaling and taking a couple of pictures, decided to head to the tourist office to check my e-mail on the free internet. My timing was pretty good, as the heavens OPENED up and we had quite the thunderstorm for about an hour. I was sure glad to be inside and once again, I had good timing (which I know will have to end soon & I am purchasing an umbrella when I get back to Singapore). I spent a lot of the time watching a video of the “Colours of Malasyia” – an annual cultural dance & music program celebrating the country’s anniversary (this year it was 50 years, though I think the video was from 2007). I really liked the traditional Indian (as in India) dance.

Oh my word, on the way to the tourism office I passed three tourists – the woman had TAKEN OFF her shoes and was walking along the street (not even on the sidewalk) in her BARE feet. Ick!!! That’s a prime way to get diseases! (yes, I was reading the guidebook section on disease last night)

Once the storm was finally over, I made my way back to the hotel – via monorail – and just finished watching game 5 of the Boston Celtics vs. Detroit Pistons, which the Celtics just barely won. It wasn’t live, as I started watching it during the 2^nd quarter at which point it would have been 5 AM in Boston.

Well, as it is after 7 PM now, I should go scrounge up some dinner and then head to Starbucks so I can upload everything I’ve types to the blog (I love copy & paste) and the pictures to Facebook. Seems so strange that everyone back home is just starting Thursday and for me, it’s almost over.

PS. Had a Thai Chicken Salad for dinner in the hotel restaurant. Have been at Starbucks for about the past hour, uploading pictures and posting - doing a lot of waiting for the pics......

Chinatown - Thursday

Day 5 – KL

My first full day in Malaysia. The alarm went off at 6, as I’d been told that I needed to be at Petronas by 8 to get the free tickets for the skybridge (which is only at the 41^st floor and the buildings are 88 stories). I hit snooze. I reset the alarm. Hit snooze some more. Reset the alarm again. Decided that I’d go on Thursday. I finally did get up and had a complimentary breakfast buffet in the hotel restaurant – I had pancakes and then a garden salad. LOL. So, what to do now that Petronas is out? Not a clue, so decided to walk over to the Malaysian Tourism Office, which is actually not that far from Petronas. The tourism office seemed to be more for tours/traveling in other parts of the country and not really too much about KL in and of itself. But they had computers with free internet access! So I caught up on e-mail. There’s a limit of 20 minutes and while the computer doesn’t shut off after that point in time and no one was waiting – indeed, no one by then was on any other computer – I didn’t want to abuse the privilege so I signed off and left.

As I was quite close to Petronas at this point, I figured I might as well walk on over. At the very least, there’s a 6-story shopping mall inside the complex, so I could look for souvenirs. Ah-ha! There are still tickets left at 10:00!! My ticket is for 4:15. Ok. What do I do with myself for 6 hours? I headed outside as there is a beautiful park as part of the complex. There was a nice breeze, so not too bad I thought. Wrong! It was still HOT and HUMID, just with a breeze. I took pictures of the towers, but the park itself was pretty much just green. No interesting flowers and the better views of it are from the skybridge. So, back inside I went and I walked the mall. Again and again and again. Went in many shops. Bought almost nothing. Hung out in the book store for a while until I nearly fell asleep, so headed to Starbucks for a pick-me-up. A major downside to today’s world economy is that the shops are all mostly the ones we have at home and the ones that have a different name, really didn’t have any product that was different. I saw: L’Oreal, The Body Shop, Crabtree & Evelyn, Guess Kids, Marks & Spencer, Max Mara, Chanel, Hugo Boss……….. Did buy some water in the grocery store – Cold Storage. Isn’t that a neat name for a grocery store? I think so. Much better than Piggly Wiggly. I also bought a canvas bag in the store and used that to put my purse and packages in. Very convenient. Though when I went back later in the day to stock up on water (and diet coke), the cashier went to put my purchases in a plastic bag – I had the canvas one from the store sitting RIGHT THERE on the counter. Guess recycling is catching on slow here.

Finally, it was time to head down for my assigned time for the skybridge. There’s an interesting exhibit in the waiting area about the construction of the towers – they are currently the second highest buildings in the world and the highest twin towers. Once I joined the tour, we had to sit through a movie which was basically propaganda for Petronas Oil. Met up with a woman from Canada who was on her own and she’s an environmentalist, so she said she was gagging through the presentation. She’s been in Southeast Asia for several months (though had just arrived in KL) and is hoping to go to China - though at the moment they’re only issuing visas to their own citizens (at least in Malaysia, as she heard she could get one in Bangkok). It was nice to have met up with her, as we took pictures of each other on the skybridge. Found a thimble in the gift shop!

As this is a predominantly Muslim country, I had the opportunity to observe many head coverings (only saw a handful of women in the full, black outfit with just the slit for the eyes). While I may not agree with the conservatism that keeps these on women’s heads, what a fashion accessory! Some of them are absolutely beautiful and are matched to the outfit. Many are held on by elaborate pins, so that adds to the accessorizing! There are two things that I have a problem with, though: first, wearing a skimpy tight shirt and tight jeans with your boy friend’s hand high on your thigh while wearing a head covering – isn’t that just a LITTLE hypocritical? And second, the husband (one assumes that’s who he was) being so conservative that the wife has to wear the full garment with just the eye slots, yet HE is wearing jeans & a short-sleeved t-shirt (in other words, WESTERN clothing) and holding his wife’s hand (which I thought was a no-no in super conservative circles, but perhaps not). Boggles my mind. Oh well. There’s a reason I’m just visiting here and it’s something that I can’t change. (hope I didn't offend anyone)

One thing you definitely have to watch out for here in KL is the scooters! They are everywhere! Weaving through traffic, riding along the sidewalks (though not too often), parked all over the place (esp. in the evening), and zooming up to the front of traffic at a stop light. Oh, the KL police are just as effective as directing traffic here as at home……the light would turn, but they’d have the traffic with the red light moving, for no apparent reason.

Still need to decide what will be on the agenda for tomorrow, besides figuring out how to get to the airport. Enjoy the few pictures from today.

KL Pictures – Wednesday

Day 4 – S’pore to KL

Wow, day 4 already! (Am writing this on Word in the hotel room, as there is no Wi-Fi here….but there should be some in the lobby & if that doesn’t work, there’s always Starbucks or a bazillion other places with free Wi-Fi. I’ll just have to cut and paste, so it’ll be quick.) So, you know how I said I was all recovered from my jet lag? Nooooo. Nope. Nada. I was wrong. I didn’t get to sleep until about 4 AM and the alarm was going off at 8. Not that I got up quite that early…around 9 I think. After Frank headed off to see a student, I headed over to the Orchid Garden in the Botanic Garden. They sure do know how to grow orchids here! Here is a picture of one to whet your appetite and if you want more: Orchid Garden pictures. Be warned, it is NOTHING BUT ORCHIDS. Uncle Chuck, this is a must-see for you and it’s right around the corner from where Frank lives, so you could visit every day if you wanted! I had never realized quite how many varieties of orchid there is. The garden has over 2000! Don’t worry, I didn’t photograph all of them. Found a thimble in the gift shop!

The weather was hot. I’m sure you’re surprised. As I was leaving the gardens, I realized the sky was looking rather ominous and I was hearing thunder. Uh-oh. So I started walking faster and was checking out potential places to take shelter if the storm hit. I got lucky and it started sprinkling just as I rounded the corner onto the street and I was in the door before the skies opened up. Though it is apparently my day for rain (see below).

It was off to the airport to head for Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia. I hailed a taxi all on my own – actually, I didn’t even have to put my arm out as it was rather obvious with a suitcase that I needed a ride – and off to the airport I went. I arrived super early, but I’d rather be early than late and at the Singapore Airport, there’s a separate terminal for the budget airlines: Tiger, Asia, and a few others. There were numerous places to eat (I had fish & chips (S’pore used to be a British colony!)) and shop (I just bought a diet coke as I had a desperate need for caffeine). And I saw children out of control and parents totally ignoring the fact – I felt right at home!

The gate for the flight opened 30 minutes before take-off, so at 2:45 I headed on over to stand in line. And guess what, it started raining! Then an announcement was made that the flight would be late due to the late arrival of the inbound plane……yikes, last time I heard that was two years ago in Spain and I ended up having to take a 4 hour bus ride to another city, thus missing the connecting flight to Berlin and having to sleep over night in the airport to catch one in the morning! But phew, the plane arrived, was off-loaded, then re-loaded. Except it sits on the tarmac and you have to walk out there. But wait, they have umbrellas. And not just any umbrellas, but AIG umbrellas (Shirley, please thank your company!). The flight itself was about 45 minutes and turbulent. Nothing too horrible, though.

Once landing in KL, it was time to head into the city. I knew the airport was about 70 km away from the city proper, so I planned to take the express train. I asked information where it was and was told it wasn’t at that airport! OK, what the heck airport am I at? Thought it was K.L. International, but maybe not. My choices are a taxi, van shuttle, or bus. I chose the bus, as the name of the street my hotel is on was on the company’s sign. Only RM 15, which is about $5. And the bus goes and goes and goes and goes. So, I am assuming that I WAS at KL International, just not at a TERMINAL the express train serviced. Thursday’s task is figuring out how to get back to the airport. Now, I’ve heard that the traffic in KL was horrendous. Not seeming bad, just like any big city at rush hour. Until we get off the highway. Oh my. At one point, the bus stopped and 90% of the people got off – I think they had to transfer to another bus and it was just myself and a British couple. It took FOREVER to finally get to my hotel and if I’d been feeling more comfortable about where I was, I probably would have gotten off and walked – it would have been faster! The guidebook mentioned the lack of sidewalks in KL, but in my observations from the bus, there usually was one. Just sometimes cars or scooters were parked on them.

Checked in to the hotel with no problem, took the lift to the 13^th floor (good thing I’m not suspicious about that) and could see the Petronas Twin Towers from the hallway windows. I hoped the whole way to my room that I’d have that view and look, I did!!!! I think they’re much more impressive-looking at night than during the day…and don’t worry, at some point they turn off the lights and just have the airplane warning ones blinking. Was exhausted, so ordered room service and went to bed. Watched ESPN while eating my pizza, sports nut that I am. And did you know, BADMINTON in big here? ESPN News devoted quite a bit of time to whether or not this injured player would be on the Olympic team or not – he says he’s fine and I am assuming that he missed some qualifiers, as there’s someone else currently slated to go whose place he’d take. Now I have something to watch for during the Olympics!

I do need to mention one room experience that I had. So, I open the door, switch on the light, and nothing. Lights don’t work. There was enough light from the Twin Towers, so I came into the room and tried every light switch. Finally called guest services and they said they’d send up maintenance. By this point I had the Palm Pilot out to use as a flash light. So I am checking out everything in the room and notice something by the door. Lo and behold, my room key goes in there and the lights come on! Thankfully I’ve encountered this set-up once before, though I can’t remember where so it must have been a while ago. I called to let them know I was all set.

Hotel Room & View - Tuesday

Singapore Day 3

So, I finally caught up on my sleep!! I slept so long, Frank was afraid I'd died. But I feel great!

Started off the day with a trip in to Chinatown, via the 191 bus. I did a little bit of shopping and may go back there again...depends on what I find in Bangkok. As it's a Monday, it wasn't horribly crowded, so I was able to look around. Then we went over to a hawker hall to eat....again, not lunchtime so not too insane. See the picture to the right. I had chicken and rice, which was very good. I tried a sip of coconut juice, which was very good and I am going to have some next opportunity.

Frank was hoping that this building nearby still had an exhibit, which it did! It's the Master Plan for Singapore and shows every single building in the city/country. Simply an amazing work of artistry to create and really gives one a good sense of the city and what is planned for the future. There were displays of information as well, including one that mentioned the recently completed Henderson Wave and Tree Top Walk. We questioned a guide and she found out for us that we just needed to go to the Harbourfront stop and the start of the trail was near there. Most of today's pictures are form this walk and links can be found at the end.

So we exit the station and find signs to Henderson Wave, which brings us up up up Mt. Faber, across the top to the other side. Where we found a car park and also saw several buses that go up the mountain...... Finally found proper signage to Henderson Wave, which is a bridge over Henderson Road, shaped like a wave. On the other side of the bridge started the Tree Top Trail. Literally this high aluminum walkway through the tree tops.

Next stop, the Alexandra Arch.....again, a bridge over Alexandra Road and shaped like an arch. The views from the path were unbelievable and it was so peaceful, despite the amount of people also walking along.

Along the trail, everything was so so green around us, but very few flowers. Then, we found the Hort Garden. All of the pictures can be found in my Singapore Day 3 photo album. It was garden after garden after garden, all with beautiful flowers artfully arranged, including a "Wizard of Oz" garden. If you are a flower lover, this is definitely a place to visit.

We decided to continue along to Kent Ridge Park and on our way up the path, numerous runners passed by. This is the best time of day to exercise, as the sun has gone down and it is at least relatively cooler and the humidity not as bad. Again, so much greenery every where and beautiful views. And there were fitness centers - rings, bars for chin ups, logs to jump over, etc - here and there. Obviously a place people come to a lot. We finally found a path downward, into some random housing section, where we caught a taxi back to Frank's.

We've been watching the movie "Rendition" while I was uploading pictures, etc. Very powerful movie....don't watch it if you have a weak stomach, as it deals with terrorism. The documentary after the movie is even better!

I uploaded two albums of pictures to Facebook, which has a public link to view:

Singapore Day 3 (orchids & greenery) and Singapore Day 3a (everything else from today)

So ends day 3....tomorrow morning I am going back to the Singapore Botanic Gardens to see the Orchid Garden and then off to Kuala Lumpur in the afternoon.

Day 2 - Singapore

Well, after a measly 1.5 hours of sleep last night (see post below), I was up and at 'em this morning at 8 AM. The reason? Church with Frank's friend Tara. She picked me up in a taxi and off we went to the International Baptist Church (AKA "IBC" - small world). This morning was a special service by the Women's Concert Choir and Bell Ensemble from Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. What a wonderful service of music and sharing. The director of the choir - Hong Xiangtang - is working on her doctorate, but received her Masters in Choral Conducting from Westminster Choir College (which some of you will recognize). I have heard bell choirs before, but this group was really amazing as they played not only the bells, but used mallets plus had this "bells" that looked like long, skinny, rectangular pieces of metal. Several of the women would be frantically playing one, putting it down, turning a page, grabbing another instrument, putting it down to pick up the bell....

After the service, I experienced my first taxi ride [in Singapore] by myself. Of course, Tara hailed it and told the driver where to drop me off and since it was the Borders on Orchard Street that I had been past the day before, I was pretty ok. I wandered around Borders - oh, what a hardship - for a while before meeting up with Frank, then we headed over to the Marmalade Pantry at Palais Renaissance, where Tara joined us. She teaches Sunday School to 11 year olds and before I left the church, we'd talked about how she's a scientist and that the students ask her how she fits that in with being a Christian.

After lunch Tara left, while Frank & I headed off to do a wee [and I mean wee] bit of shopping. After dropping our bundles back at his place, we headed off to a Cello & Piano Duo Recital by Joshua Roman & Benjamin Loh (Ben is a friend of Frank's). We were both absolutely exhausted, so we sat in the back row in case one of us fell asleep. Came close a couple of times and thank goodness there was an intermission (we ran & grabbed some caffeine). They played pieces by Beethoven, Benjamin Britten, and Brahms. There were two [short] encores and the second one was this lively piece. A young boy in front of us was really into the music, bopping his head around and just overall very excited about it.

Met some more friends of Frank's after the concert & while we were waiting for a ride, Frank realized that the reason he was so tired - as he slept fine last night - was because he'd barely eaten all day and really hardly ate at all during the past week!! So it was back to Orchard Road for us and some meat at Billy Bombers - a retro American diner.

Today's impressions of Singapore: it was very hot; thank goodness for a/c; it's an attitude of "I don't care if I win, but I don't want you to win either" when getting on a bus or subway; everything is very clean and there are trash barrels & recycle bins all over the place; they drive on the left as in England (having been an English colony); absolutely everything is imported and the island has no natural resources; did I mention it was hot?

I am getting comfortable with the mass transit system and could definitely take the number 171 bus back to Frank's without a problem!

Day 1 - Continued

Just a few things to add to day 1 - the meal I ate was called mee goren. And jet lag caught up with me, big time. I was up ALL night Saturday night & finally fell asleep at 6:30 AM.......with the alarm going off at 8. Oooops.

One major impression of Singapore is how clean & efficient everything is. Frank's friends say that coming to Singapore first is a good way to ease in to the rest of Asia.

Day 1 in Singapore

So, I have been in Singapore just over 24 hours now! Spent most of the daytime sleeping - which apparently was a good thing as it was hot even by Singapore standards. Frank had students this morning (he teaches piano) and he also napped when he got back.

We headed out to the Botanical Gardens arrive 5:00 and the weather was superb! Still hot, but there was a slight breeze playing. Saw the bonzai garden and this area that looks like the desert, and walked through an area that might have been rain forest, but I am not positive. I do want to still go see the orchids - they are apparently amazing, if you like orchids.

Afterwards we took the bus to Orchard Road, which is the big shopping area and has mall after mall after mall - all with practically the same thing in them. I hit the ATM, we bought a sheet, and I got an MRT (public transportation) card so all I have to do now on the bus or trains is tap it. So nice! But you have to remember to tap when you get off the bus or there is a huge fine.

Then we headed to East Coast - AKA the beach. We met up with Frank's friend Craig, who he's known since he arrived here nearly 8 years ago. Sarah also joined us - she's from Dubai, has been working here for a year, and she's one of Frank's students. We ate at a restaurant that overlooked the beach - I forget what I had, but it was a typical dish. Noodles, vegetables, and some shrimp.

Then the four of us walked along this path that runs along a good portion of the coast and Craig was telling me what I need to see in Bangkok.

Now back at Frank's and since I need to be ready to leave by 9:15 in the morning for church, I had best get going. Adios!

Arrived in Singapore

I made it - safe and sound! Left my house Thursday morning at 6 and arrived in Singapore at Frank's at 12:30 AM on Saturday. Good night!!

Itinerary

A trip wouldn't be complete without an itinerary! So, for the curious (all times local), here is the basic outline for when I am in Singapore:

Thursday, May 22
lv. BOS 9 AM ar ORD 10:36 AM
lv. ORD 12:20 PM ar SIN 11:35 PM (Friday, May 23)

Tuesday, May 27 - Friday, May 30 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Monday June 2 - Thursday, June 5 in Bangkok, Thailand

Sunday, June 8

lv. SIN 6:40 AM ar. ORD 2:20 PM

lv. ORD 9:05 PM ar. BOS 12:21 AM (Monday, June 9)

-- I am going to call & see if I can get on an earlier flight!

As an FYI, time difference between the east coast of the US and Singapore is 12 hours - Singapore being 12 hours ahead. So while I am landing close to midnight on Friday in Singapore, at home it's only about noon (on Friday).

I am all packed, but need to reconfigure the carry-ons as I currently have no room to bring anything back with me! But I think I've figured it out - essentially, drop the laptop bag (& put that in the backpack) and bring a different small bag that I can fit more in.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Southeast Asia (I *think* you can click on the image to make it larger):

One Week Until I'm Leavin'......

....On a Jet Plane!!!!

That's right, just one little week until I head to Singapore. I'll be posting more details about the itinerary in a few days, but needed to get the initial post set up! The trip dates are May 22 (though I don't arrive in Singapore until May 23rd at 11:40 PM local time) through June 8.