GA Study Tour 2016

A 17-day adventure by Joanne Read more

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Trip start
July 28, 2016
GA Study Tour 2016 Joanne Meredith
Making my way to the starting point
July 28, 2016 on the Philippines ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C
So in the attempt to get over my jet lag - i flew out to Asia a week ago - stopping at HK to stay with an old friend and then a trip to Boracay Island in the Philippines for some relaxation and it is here where my trip proper starts - surrounded by Koreans and Taiwanese at Kalibo Airport for my Silk Air flight via Cebu to Singapore.Read more
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GA Study Tour 2016 Joanne Meredith
The Flight to Sin
July 28, 2016 on the Philippines ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C
A relatively empty first leg of 35 mins to Cebu - disembark - loo stop - spend last few pesos and then back on the plane.
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GA Study Tour 2016 Joanne Meredith
Arrival in Sin
July 28, 2016 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Nice meal on the plane and watched a few episodes of The Bridge and we were there - landed at 7:15pm and was through immigration and collected my bag in judt over 30 mins - Asian efficiency!! Decided to take the shuttle bus to my hotel S$9 or £5!! Just needed to wait for 20 mins!Read more
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GA Study Tour 2016 Joanne Meredith
Day 1 Ministry of Education and school
July 29, 2016 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
Our first visit was to the Ministry of Education's heritage centre - housed in a former primary school in Queenstown - a new town. He we received a guided tour from a former principal teacher through the history museum of Education in Singapore and their vision for 21st century education. Lots of photos and artefacts. Later we went to Seragoon Garden high school to meet the geography teachers and studentsRead more
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GA Study Tour 2016 Joanne Meredith
HDB and Punggol New Town
July 29, 2016 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
Our afternoon visit was to the Housing Department Board to see how 80% of Singaporean's are housed. The HDB was set up in 1960 to deal with the impending housing crisis and slum clearances. Planned new towns house provide affordable housing for 3.8 million people. Of these 95% own their own home which is paid out of a pensiob fund in which they and their employers pay into. We got to see inside some show flats and then later a group of us made our own way to Punggol Eco New town to see how Sustainable it really was.Read more
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GA Study Tour 2016 Joanne Meredith
Day 2 Little India
July 30, 2016 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
First stop - Many Tamil immigrants live and work in this area - typical stalls selling garlands, food, Indian sweets, agressive stall holders selling clothes and gifts and henna tattoos - so i had one done!Read more
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GA Study Tour 2016 Joanne Meredith
Colonial District & Merlion Park
July 30, 2016 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
Now to see the symbol of Singapore
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GA Study Tour 2016 Joanne Meredith
Thian Hock Keng Temple
July 30, 2016 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
Hokkien temple located in the financial district - built in 1842 and dedicated to Ma Zu, the God of heaven. Includes an Altar of Judgement with two large statues one small and black and one large and white with a very long tongue - General Fan and General Xie.Read more
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GA Study Tour 2016 Joanne Meredith
Chinatown
July 30, 2016 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
A visit to Singapore City Gallery URB to look at models which show the growth of Singapore - followed by lunch at Maxwell Road Hawker Centre and a wander around Chinatown.
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GA Study Tour 2016 Joanne Meredith
Marina Barrage and Singapore Flyer
July 30, 2016 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
A huge piece of civil engineering which has reclaimed land and constructed a barrage to construct a freshwater reservoir to provide 3 aims water, flood prevention and recreation. This was a guided tour around their interactive exhibition centre then onto the big wheel a 37 minute ride on the Singapore Flyer with panoramic views of the Marina Bay, Financial and Colonial districts - plus the F1 circuit ready for SeptemberRead more
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GA Study Tour 2016 Joanne Meredith
Hari Raya in Kampong Glam
July 30, 2016 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
So after a hectic day and a quick shower break I joined Ruth, Liz, Susan and David in the Malayan area of Singapore to sample the atmosphere and food - after taking photos of the Sultan Mosque we decided to sample the Murtabak and Biriyani at Zam Zam. We then headed over to the Malay Heritage Centre as we had heard there was some sort of market and music happening - little did we know it was actually a New Year Party and we would end up meeting the Minister for Home Affairs!! And be photographed and filmed by the press!!Read more
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GA Study Tour 2016 Joanne Meredith
Day 3 Singapore Botanical Garden
July 31, 2016 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
Our first visit of the morning was to the Orchard Garden in the Singapore Botanical gardens. Founded in 1859 the gardens have become a centre for the breeding of new orchid hybrids. There is a VIP section with orchids named after Dignitaries who have visited such as Margaret Thatcher, William and Kate and David Cameron! There is also a small cool house similating the tops of equatorial mountains where there were supposedly pitcher plants but I never saw any.Read more
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GA Study Tour 2016 Joanne Meredith
Gardens by The Bay
July 31, 2016 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
We moved on mid-morning to the Marina Bay area to visit what is supposed to be a second botanical gardens. Two huge doomed conservatories house a cloud forest with canopy walkway and a Flower dome with several biomes ranging from desert to Savannah and Mediterranean and a collection of baobab trees. Outside are the gigantic "Supertrees" which look like gigantic red golf tees. Which feels and creepers are growing up - in time I guess they will be covered in flora. Then a few of us decided to return to the hotel to rest and we will return later this evening for the light show!Read more
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GA Study Tour 2016 Joanne Meredith
Singapore by night
July 31, 2016 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
So our last night in Singapore we took a walk around the Marina Bay from Boat Quay to Marina Bay Sands Hotel to take a panoramic view from the 56th floor - called the Skypark. Arriving just before sunset we waited for the lights to come on.Read more
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GA Study Tour 2016 Joanne Meredith
Singapore to Melaka
August 1, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Having out final breakfast in the garage we left he hotel at 9 to drive out towards the Tuas bridge crossing from Singapore to Malaysia - Singapore immigration taking much longer than anticipated we were running 2 hours behind schedule when we said goodbye to put guide Susan changes coaches into a bright dayglo green seated bus and met Narin out Malaysian guide and Ali out driver.
Our first port of call was the New Development zone of Iskander Malaysia - where relocation of government administration, education including several British University campuses, industry and recreation from Johor Bahru - The state of Johor is one of the most prosperous states in Malaysia due to its proximity to Singapore and received huge amounts of investment asca result. Here we could see all the development taking place - visited the Brand new mosque and Marina development. Then we made our was to the old town for lunch at a large modern mall.

Then due to reddiced time we had to skip the visit to Muar and headed directly to Malacca along the highway - a journey of around 3 hours - our hotel was located close to the river and we had change to explore and get some food - most places though we closed due to it being Monday - so with reduced choice we are at what seemed a popular Nonya Chinese restaurantRead more
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GA Study Tour 2016 Joanne Meredith
Melaka
August 2, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
Some of the group departed early to visit an international school - i took the opportunity to rest and sleep off a headache.
Around 1:45 we were taken to get lunch in a Mall and then we started a walking your through the former Portuguese and Dutch districts - the area in the process of restoration as a result of being designated UNESCO world heitage site. All former Dutch buildings are painted a Salmon pink colour.Read more
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GA Study Tour 2016 Joanne Meredith
Geographer Café for dinner
August 2, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C
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GA Study Tour 2016 Joanne Meredith
Kuala Gandha Elephant Sanctuary
August 3, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
An early check-out at 7:30 we left in a thunderstorm which has started around 5am, to make the long drive north-east by-passing KL to Taman Negara which means national.park via the Elephant Santuary at Kuala Gandah - this is a centre run by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks and is the only centre that specialises in locating and translocating elephants to refer habitats away from mainly plantation area which have encroached on the Elephant habitats and which the elephants are destructive. We saw some resident elephants those rescued and unable to be returned back to the wild - this involved us feeding them and watching them take a bath in the river.. very touristy and not that informative. Then it was back on the bus for another 3 hours until we reached The National Park - where we needed to catch a boat across the river to get the resort.Read more
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GA Study Tour 2016 Joanne Meredith
Mutiara Taman Negara
August 3, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
On arrival we checked into our chalets - the best accommodation so far - built from wood and bamboo. Surrounded by rainforests and a short walk to the boardwalk trails.
The rainforest is believed to be the world's oldest - the primary forest is 130 million years old and covers 4343 km2 .
After dinner we put on long clothing and covered ourselves in Insect repellent before heading out on a night walk to see what noctural life we could see - this mainly consisted of insects and spiders - unfortunately no mammals.Read more
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GA Study Tour 2016 Joanne Meredith
Canopy Walk and Cataracts
August 4, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
After breakfast it was back into the forest to experience life in the canopy bywalking along a walkway suspended 40m above the ground - some sections we bring repaired but we managed to cover 300m. With amazing views when I looked over the top of the forest.
Later we hiked up a steep trail beneath the canopy to reach the top of the 334m high Teresek Hill to view the full extend of the forest below.

With no time for lunch we were off again - this time by narrow boat to reach the cataracts of Lata Been On. The jouney upstrean allowed us to the view the forest from the river and some of the group even saw a Tapir. On reaching the lenses point we had to walk another 500m through the forest to reach the cascades - where it was time for a welcome swim!

Then we made the return journey to find a family of macaques had taken residence by our chalet!!Read more
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GA Study Tour 2016 Joanne Meredith
The Saw Mill
August 5, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
The drive from Taman Negara took us through a landscape of primary rainforest, areas which had been cleared and plantations - so it was enevitable that we would pass the Saw Mill - we had seen some lorries with logs on and the coach made an unplanned stop at a Saw Mill - here we observed the processes of preparing the wood for market - some was for export the rest local to be used in the construction and pallet making industry.Read more
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GA Study Tour 2016 Joanne Meredith
Tekam - Oil Palm Plantation
August 5, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
Enroute to the Cameron Highlands we had an organised visit to a plantation - a large company with housing and facilities for their workers - mainly from Bangladesh and Indonesia. We took a walk to see the grounds - which had many fruit trees including Durian, Rambutan, Cocoa and Cinnamon. We also learned about the Oil Palm tree and how the fruit is harvested. And how rats and snakes were controlled using owls. Quite unsustainable in terms of wateruse.Read more
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GA Study Tour 2016 Joanne Meredith
Cameron Highlands
August 6, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Our arrival in the Cameron Highlands was a welcome relief from the heat and humidty we had experienced in previous days due to lying at more than 1000m above sea level. An area of hills which are now mainly white due to the polytunnels reminiscent of Almeria. This area was known as the Peninsula's hill station where Chinese vegetable farmers and wealthy landowner's in search of a weekend retreat established tea plantations and built mock-Tudor buildings. Incredibly touristy everywhere we visited was busy. Not only is tea produced but also flowers, vegetables and strawberries. On our way to the hotel we stopped for some tea looking over the plantations.
The Heritage hotel was by far the best and most spacious that we had stayed in. Two queen sized beds and a large bathroom with both bath and separate shower.
Breakfast had lots of choice although due to the weekend was very busy - and this was to permeate through most of the day.
Around 9am we boarded two 4x4 ex-Austrian military vehicles to ascend to 2032m to Gunung Brinchang where we climbed a very rusty tower to get a view of the highlands. We then descended to the Mossy Forest where we were supposed to take the boardwalk through but deemed too busy by the guide we were taken "off track" through the forest - where all trees are covered in a spongy, soft cost of green - like a film set for the Hobbit.
Our next stop was at the BOH tea plantation with a quick tour of the production process - most picking is now done mechanically. Very busy we bought tea and then enjoyed a cuppa with the hoards overlooking the tea bushes before walking through these to the buses. Our last stop in the 4X4's was to a strawberry farm where we could see the hydroponics and I sampled a rather blend cheesecake. Close to the farm was a market which we browsed and bought cooked sweetcorn for lunch.
However a our previous experiences of mass tourism were lost when we had a private tour of the Sunlight flower farm - a family run enterprise growing Chrysanthamums for the export market. We saw the processes from cuttings taken from the mother plants which originated in the Netherlands to replanting and finally dyeing and packing. 50% of the flowers were destined for Japan. After picking and packing they are transported in a chilled lorry to KLIA at 11pm and would arrive in the destination at 6am the next day.
Our task was to look at the sustainability of the farm.Read more
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GA Study Tour 2016 Joanne Meredith
Cameron Highlands to Ipoh
August 7, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Our route took us along a road that has been constructed through the forest which has 600 bends. A few photo stops to see Orang Asli settlements, HEP station. Our first major stop at a small waterfall called Lata Iskander. Where there are stalls selling fruit and also wood and rattan wares lining the road next to the small cascade. Then driving through Tapah the lowest hill station where the Gukha troops camps are located we stopped off briefly at a bamboo basket weaving factory where they weave baskets for collecting vegetables in the Cameron Highlands - here the working conditions are poor and wages low.
Next stop Lata Kinjang waterfall 800m located in a former tin mining area - where the left over pools are now used for reading ducks and fish. Predominately chinese. Near Tapah forest reserve.
A short drive to lunch stop at Capati Corner...for you guessed it "Chapati" with Mutton curry plus a very sweet milky tea for 13 MYR (£2.50). Passing through Kinta Valley the former tin mining region. The next stop before Ipoh were the huge limestone caves of Gua Tempering - hot and humid and quite dry inside we were guided through these with a guide with limited English who pointed out forms made from the limestone like people and animals. The final stop was a view of Kellie's Castle - an unfinished mansion from the 1920's influences by Indian style he built an adjacent Hindu temple for his Tamil workers where they incorporated Kellie Smith as one of the deities in the facade.Read more
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GA Study Tour 2016 Joanne Meredith
Ipoh
August 8, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
After breakfast we departed for a visit to an Orang Asli Semiar sub-group settlement via Tesco's to buy provisions like rice to give to the villages - here we were met by Harry a man who works for an NGO who work to improve the life of these people. The Tesco store is the 2nd largest of 57 stores in Malaysia of 7000 square feet with over 200000 lines.
The village was located around 40 mins from Ipoh in Jantung Baru, in the rainforest area. Home to around 475 people, we were welcomed by the village chief who talked to us about the history of the Orang Asli people and the difficulties that they face today where they feel that they have no voice in the country when it comes to government decisions - although they have homes built for them they were not consulted on the planning esp regards to the shophouse which is not located where they wanted it, the school is too far away for many children who have no form of transport etc. We had a look around their village.
Then we drove to a nearby mall for lunch - for most it was KFC.

From there we drove to look in a geological museum with quite informative exhibits and details of mining in the region and the rest of Malaysia.

Our next stop was to a Buddhist temple Kek Look Tong built inside a limestone cave. Very airy with lots of statues and Buddha's.
Our final visit was to see the main buildings located in the old town which are a legacy of British Rule. The railway station, City Hall, Club and Padang, St.Michael's schook and Birch Memorial Clock tower.

We walked back to the hotel and stumbled across the Mural Art Trail where many walls had been painted with murals.
Dinner was at local cafe called Cakchibow.Read more
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