• Joanne Meredith

South-east Asia Adventure

A 16-day adventure by Joanne Read more
  • Day 3 Singapore

    July 31, 2016 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Another breakfast in the car port and then onto the bus to the first of our two visits. The Singapore Botanical Gardens to see the Orchid Garden. So many beautiful orchids including some special VIP hybrid varieties for dignitries who have visited - I saw Maggie Thatcher and William and Kate! After an hour there we travelled by bus to The Gardens by the Bay - i would describe it as the Eden Project on Steroids minus the fauna. We visited the two times which again reminded me of Bank Holiday in a Garden Centre the to the crowds - i liked the less crowded Cloud Forest canopy walk. Outside were the Supertrees - large red golf tees with ferns and climbers growing up.
    Then it was back to the hotel for free time, noodles at Adam's Corner and a swim.
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  • Marina Bay by night

    July 31, 2016 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    After a relax back at the hotel and a swim in the pool on the roof we headed to Boat Quay on the MRT. By this time it was full storm mode so it was the perfect opportunity to visit Singapore's Cat Cafe. A place in which 13 rescued cats interact with the customers if they choose to!! Ruth and I walked around the Marina Bay over the Jubilee Bridge and then watched a sound-check for a Jazz concert on the esplanada then took the world's first circular bridge "The Helix" to the Marina Bay Sands. Then up to the Skybridge on the 56th floor of the hotel. We waited for Sunset which was a bit disappointing and then got a coffee - Sat on the deck by the perspex glass walls to wait for the light shows. After taking photos we headed back, waiting in a huge queue to buy our MRT ticket, to get Murtabak at Zam Zam again.Read more

  • The Journey to Malaysia

    August 1, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Final breakfast in the garage then we loaded up the bus to depart for the western bridge crossing of Tuas into Malaysia. Passing the south western industrial zones of Johor

    Here we had to pass through both Singaporean and Malaysian Immigration and Customs which involved very long waits on the Singapore side

    Once in Malaysia we changed dayglo buses and guides - saying goodbye to Susan and hello to Narin!

    The border town of Johor Bahru is the home of Kota Iskander a new development zone which was our first visit in Malaysia. All the adminisitrative functions plus education including many British Universities,recreation and tourism (legoland and Hello Kitty Land) of the state of Johor are moving. We visited the Mosque completed in 2015 and drove around the site of the new city administrative area. Although the economic downturn and fuel price fluctuations has slowed development. We then drove a short distance to a new Marina development called Puteri Harbour - clearly aimed at ex-pat investors and rich Malaysians and the New industries.

    We were then taken to a Mall in Johor Bahru for lunch of our choice in the food court.

    Following this we drove 3 hours to Melaka - the smallest state in Malaysia. To stay in the old town area built by the Dutch.
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  • Melaka and the Geographer Café

    August 2, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    This is the first stop in Malaysia - we stayed at the pretty average Hallmark hotel - having arrived at the hotel we found out our room was basically a cupboard with no window's - we swiftly changed to the 3rd floor - we wandered around the local area laughing at the disco cycletaxis decorated in Hello Kitty or various other cartoon characters - to find dinner but found most were closed as it was Monday - so we settled for one near Jonker St. Serving Nonya Chinese food - very tasty and cost 35 Ringgits for a big meal with 2 beers! Awaking to the call to prayer and a headache the morning was pretty lazy - i ventured as far as the Chinese Temple then came back to lie down. The others returned from a visit to Matrix International school at 1:45 and then the bus took us to a Mall to get lunch - i went for chicken and noodles.
    Our walking tour of the Colonial area began at 3:45 - the area has been restored since it was given UNESCO world heritage status - firstly colonised by the Portuguese then the Dutch and finally the British - it still retains mainly Dutch style architecture. We saw the Puerto de Santiago and the St.John's church and various other building painted Salmon pink. We then crossed the bridge into Jonker Street - in the Chinese district which is now full of restaurants and tourist shops - here I remained until we all met at the aptly named "The Geographer Café" - yes - i bought the T-Shirt, took the photos, drank the Sour Plum Juice and ate the Geographer platter
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  • Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary

    August 3, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    We left Melaka in a thunderstorm, at 7:30am which has started around 5am, the first serious rain I had seen since arriving in Asia. Our drive to the rainforest was to be long, by-passing Kuala Lumpur and heading in a North-East direction for around 3 hours until we reached out first stop in Kuala Gandah. Run by the Wildlife Department, here they care for elephants being relocated to reserves from areas of habitat destruction. We arrived in time to feed some of those elephants that can't be relocated and see them take a bath in the river.
    After a couple of hours we continue driving to our final destination of the way.
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  • Mutiara Taman Negara

    August 3, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    On arrival in Kuala Tahan, the bus parked up and we needed to walk down a steep hill to get to the river and then take a boat across to the Taman Negara resort - also located inside the national Park. Our accommodation was in wooden chalets with woven bamboo walls. Nice a spacious which went down well with the group.

    I opted for the Buffet dinner @50 MYR as i hadn't really eaten today and then we met at 7:30pm for a Jungle nightwalk
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  • Trip end
    August 4, 2016