SINGAPORE AND KUALA LUMPUR - Friday 30 March onwards

SINGAPORE

Friday 30 March continued...

We learned once we were on the plane that the flight was only seven hours. We thought it would be around twelve hours so we were very, very happy. And we would arrive in Singapore at a good time. In time for a few beers in the hotel bar.

Once we arrived in Singapore it was still so hot. We caught a taxi to the Holiday Inn Park View which we thought would be half way between the airport and the city centre. The hotel was lovely. Big and posh even though it was called Holiday Inn. We had a few beers in the hotel bar and listened to the entertainment. After a beer the lady started singing our song. After a while, this little kid got on stage and did a fast rap song. He was so funny and knew all the words and moves. I was hoping to video him and include him on this blog but I'm not sure his family would have approved.

Saturday 31 March:

We checked out of the hotel because we wanted to find one which was closer to one of the main areas of Singapore. We caught a taxi to the YMCA but they didn’t do double beds so we eventually checked into the YWCA. The room was really big but had a crap TV which wasn’t tuned in properly and the shower dripped. You were lucky to get wet standing underneath it. We were only about a 10 minute walk from the main shopping strip, Orchard Road, where all the large shopping centres were. We stopped off on the way for a beer at Giraffe which was a nice but expensive bar surrounded by water. The ladies toilet light had broken though so I had to go to the toilet in the dark. I couldn’t see what I was doing so I pulled what I thought was the toilet chain only to realise that it was the disabled person alarm. This one member of staff was in a panic so I quickly explained that I was ok – luckily I had time to pull my pants up. The shopping along this one street is amazing. The shopping centres are really big and they line the street on either side.

In the evening we decided to find a nice place to drink so we walked up Emerald Hill Street, which we found from the Lonely Planet Guide, where there were a few nice pubs and bars. We ended up watching the last half hour of the Liverpool/Arsenal game in Ice Cold Beer. What on earth were Arsenal playing at? Or not as seemed to be the case. We then wondered along and stopped off at a bar called Alley Bar where we had a couple of mohitos.

Sunday 1 April:

We spent a few hours on the internet trying to find a decent hostel to stay in because we wanted a decent shower and a decent TV so that we could watch Heroes. The places we had found and phoned were all fully booked though. We left our bags at the hotel and decided to walk to Little India which Carl didn’t think was too far. I had read up on a few hotels in the Lonely Planet Guide. The walk took half hour in the end and every hotel we passed was fully booked. We weren’t in the best of moods because it was so humid and we were so fed up with not planning properly and finding somewhere to stay a day in advance. Little India was disgusting but we’re not sure if that was because we were in a bad mood or because it really was horrible. We decided straight away that we wouldn’t ever be staying in this area so we walked straight through and walked back to Orchard Road where we asked at a few large hotels. They were all too expensive for what we wanted to pay so we walked back towards the YWCA. We noticed on the way down Orchard Road that there was a Holiday Inn and it happened to be the same one we had stayed at when we landed. We had no idea we were this close to one of the main areas of Singapore so we checked back in. Unfortunately they only had a room on the executive floor but I didn’t care by this time so I paid it. And then the receptionist upgraded us to an executive suite. God bless Singapore. This meant that we could have free breakfast, free drinks between 6pm and 8pm and also free food between those times and all in the Executive Club Lounge. We felt very important people. And it was only for an extra S$40 than Carl had paid the previous time we stayed here and that was just in a normal room.

Monday 2 April:

Nothing really happened today apart from spending hours on the internet trying to update this blog and review laptops and cameras. The internet cafe we went to was full of local people playing games which made quite a bit of noise. We also decided to stay another night to be treated like royalty. Of course, we did have a bit to drink in the bar afterwards and listened to the entertainment which Carl didn't like so much.

Tuesday 3 April:

Again, t'internet and we also booked another night in the hotel. We felt like we were being a bit naughty because we were meant to be backpackers but haven't actually done any backpacking yet. We went shopping in one of the shopping centres and managed to buy a laptop which Carl had reviewed so hopefully the blog will be up to date soon. It was quite a bit cheaper out here and we bought it from an Apple dealer as the other shops seemed a bit dodgy. When we got back to the hotel we booked another night for Wednesday and also booked a train to take us to Malaysia. If we hadn't have booked the train we thought we might end up staying in luxury for another week which wasn't really the idea of our trip. We went out to eat at one of the places close to the hotel and were charmed into eating at a particular one. Not a restaurant - more like a take away joint with seats. They talked us into eating all sorts of local food and I felt brave at the time. The locals ate it so we should try. Some of the food was actually really nice but there were others that we tried, that I tried, that almost made me gag. As they had persuaded us to eat there, we waited until they were busy and did a run for it. After paying of course.

KUALA LUMPUR

Wednesday 4 April:

We checked out of the hotel with our backpacks in tow. We caught the 1pm train to Kuala Lumpur which took about seven hours in total and cost about twenty pounds which was cheap as chips. We were unlucky in where we sat though. Although we had paid to sit in first class, we had this local guy who sat in the next row and for the seven hour journey he kept coughing and sucking on whatever he had coughed up. I kept giving him evils but I don't think he understood why. We had to go through customs and show our passports to get on the train and also half hour later we had to get off the train to do the same thing again. The first class carriage was great though. We had so much room and the chairs reclined quite a way. If we had caught the night train, which we were originally going to do, we would have had beds. I had booked us into a hotel on the internet yesterday so once when we arrived we caught a cab which took about twenty minutes and cost an expensive one pound fifty. The taxi driver was lovely and warned us of the fares when we caught taxis. We checked into the Prince Hotel and, once again, had a Premier Executive room. Oh my Lord. If we thought the Holiday Inn was luxury, this one was one hundred times more luxurious. We had the same benefits but the room was three times as big and the view was breathtaking. There were two bars and three restaurants. You would not even be able to stay in a B&B in London for the price we paid to stay in this hotel. We also couldn't help notice that it was the week that the Grand Prix would take place in Kuala Lumpur.

Thursday 5 April:

We went to the gym this morning for an hour which I'm very pleased with. The only trouble is I'm only getting to go about once a week so it's not really worth it for me to go. I keep talking myself out of it. We decided to book into the hotel for another night. We finally bought some protection for our laptop so are now able to use it. Plus I bought a great camera. Apparently it's technology week which we think is a ploy to make us spend lots of money in their shops and it seems to be working. We also bought a helicopter for twelve pounds. It's only a tiny one but it'll keep Carl quiet for the next couple of days. We ate in the restaurant at the hotel which was lovely and then got drunk in the bar.

Friday 6 April:

Today we visited Aquaria KLCC which is the biggest aquarium in the world and it is the best we have seen. After here we went to the Petronas Twin Towers which is 451.9 metres high. Unfortunately you have to get there for 8.30am and get tickets on a first come, first serve basis. We didn't get there until about 2pm no we stood no chance. So we visited the Menara Telecommunications Tower instead. It stands 421 metres high and has 2,058 stairs to reach the top but we chose the lifts again. Once at the top you could see the whole of Kuala Lumpur and its surrounding area. There was also an audio tour which was interesting as it pointed out all of the buildings of interest. After here we walked along a short nature trail which took us to lots of monkeys in the trees. We wish we could have stayed longer here but we couldn't. We were there for no longer than four minutes and we had been bitten about fifteen times each around our ankles so we ran for our lives back to a taxi to take us back to the hotel.