• Richard Phillips
  • Nicola Conboy
  • Richard Phillips
  • Nicola Conboy

Malaysia

A 64-day adventure by Richard & Nicola Read more
  • Trip start
    July 23, 2023

    Entering Malaysia

    July 23, 2023 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    After being stamped out of Thailand at Padang Besar we queued up to enter Malaysia which went nice and smoothly.
    We quickly bought a train ticket and jumped on the train.
    We realised that Malaysia is a lot more modern than Thailand just from being on the train they all have air conditioning and run faster than the trains In Thailand.
    We got off at Arau and set off on foot to find a cash machine as we had been unable to locate a money exchange at the border crossing.
    After withdrawing some cash we ordered a grab to the nearby ferry port so we could get the boat across to Langkawi
    The boat only took an hour and it was 30mins to get to our accommodation
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  • Langkawi - Cable Cart and Sky Walk

    July 26, 2023 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    After relaxing for a couple of days we hired a scooter from our hotel and hit the road.
    We decided to go to the other side of the island to check out the cable cart and sky walk.
    We must have timed it wrong as we queued for over an hour before even boarding the cable cart and when we finally made it to the top the clouds had rolled in 🙄
    We decided to wait it out and to be honest it didn't take long for the wind to pick up and move the clouds giving us the views we hoped for.
    When we got back down to the bottom we found a 3D art museum that was included as part of our ticket so we nipped in there before heading back to the hotel
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  • Delicious Night Market

    July 27, 2023 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    This evening we jumped on the scooter and headed to the local weekly night market and omg we were not disappointed.
    First up some chicken samosa's followed by what can only be described as a pancake / roti stuffed with curried chicken and it was delicious
    Then we moved onto an iced fruit drink and some rice with beef and sambal.
    We got some chicken satay to takeaway and some spring rolls with a sticky sweet sauce on it and a slice of homemade banana cake.
    All in all a successful evening and we left with fully bellys 😊
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  • Langkawi - Waterfalls and beachs

    July 28, 2023 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    Today we drove across the island to a waterfall which is less known by tourists and more frequented by the locals.
    Richard went for a quick refreshing dip after we climbed to the top!
    Then we jumped back on the scooter and headed for the coast.
    Stopped at a local food canteen for some lunch then relaxed on the beach before the rain set in
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  • Final Scoot Around the Island

    July 29, 2023 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    It's the last day with the scooter so we had a quick drive around to see the bits we had missed
    This evening we went to a restaurant just a couple of minutes walk from our hotel and the food was different....
    Nicki ordered the chicken chop which was basically 3 pieces of deep fried chicken with chips and it was smothered in BBQ sauce and cheese.
    Richard ordered something that came with spaghetti Bolognese and deep fried chicken which was a bit odd to say the least
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  • Travel day to George town

    July 31, 2023 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    A long travel day, 3 taxis, 2 ferries and 1 train later we made it to George town!

    And the first area we headed to was little India and we ate some delicious samosa's and pana puri

    After a couple of cocktails we headed back towards our hotel and on the way we found a roti restaurant so we stopped for a quick bite to eat before calling it a nightRead more

  • Street art of George Town

    August 1, 2023 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    After a long travel day we had a slow start this morning went for a late breakfast of coffee and bagels before hitting the streets to find the local Street art, luckily most of them were on Google maps so we didn't have to search to hard. We walked all over the city and out onto the famous Jetty before heading back to our hotel for a quick freshen up.

    Not sure on where to go for dinner we headed back towards little India and took a gamble on a busy looking restaurant.
    They didn't serve curry we are typically used to, they were offering dosa which is a type of pancake that can be stuffed with various fillings we both had the chicken tikka masala.
    Unfortunately for me half way through I felt some crunchy in my mouth only to discover a chicken claw 🤢
    It was enough to put me off the rest of it so Richard finished it and told me he had something crunchy in his but he swallowed it as he didn't want to know what it was 🤣
    We headed home and stopped for a beer at a local bar to finish off our day
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  • Temples and viewpoints

    August 2, 2023 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    We had planned to go to Penang Hill today but as we were leaving our hotel the lady at reception told us about a Chinese temple a 15 minute walk away that was well worth a visit so we hopped on a local bus out of town and arrived just outside the Temple and omg it was huge! And completely free!
    We wandered around the temple admiring the detail which was everywhere we looked and we rode the funicular to the very top which revealed amazing views of the city and a huge statue.

    Once we had taken it all in we headed over to Penang Hill and I have to say I was a little disappointed, after paying RM30 each to get to the top of the hill it felt like you had to pay to get a decent view of the city even though you have just paid to get up there.
    All the free Bench's you could sit on the views weren't great and the ones that had the best view you had to pay for so we had a walk around and came back down.

    After racking up lots of steps today we treated ourselves to a pudding at a desserts restaurant and we were not disappointed 👍
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  • Travel day Fail

    August 3, 2023 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    I had it all planned out, check out, get a taxi to a coffee shop and also grab a bagel then walk over and catch the 11.30 ferry then get the 12.45 train to Ipoh

    Well it had gone to plan until we got to the train station at 11.45 and I couldn't buy a train ticket as they were all sold out and the next train was at 16.00 😔

    We didn't really have any other options so we purchased tickets for the 16.00 train and sat and waited.......

    A few hours later we got on the train and we were off to Ipoh, we got talking to a couple who were also going to the same destination as us and so we chatted the whole journey and even walked together to our accommodation.

    We met up with them later in the evening for dinner and drinks, so had we managed to get the 12.45 train we wouldn't have met them and had such a great evening so I guess sometimes things do happen for a reason and you just have to go with it!
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  • Ipoh Street Art

    August 4, 2023 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    After a slow start to the morning we nipped out for breakfast before exploring the street art which is located just across the river from where we are staying

  • Kek Lok Tong - Ipoh

    August 5, 2023 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Today we headed slightly out of town to a temple located inside a cave and when you walk into the cave you notice light coming from the other side, you can walk all the way through the cave and come out into a beautiful garden with a small lake 😍
    They had lots of different Budda status in the garden and we walked around the walk before heading back into the cave to cool down.
    Unfortunately when we left neither of us had a mobile network so we had to walk half an hour back into town to get a signal so we could call a taxi, thankfully we had water with us as it was 35 degrees!!!
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  • Ipoh to Cameron Highlands

    August 7, 2023 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Short travel day today
    After a quick breakfast we headed to the bus station in Ipoh and caught the 10.45 bus to Cameron Highlands.
    It took a couple of hours to get here due to the winding roads
    It's a lot cooler there so it was a welcome relief after 2 months on the road.
    We quickly settled in and went to explore the town
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  • Boh Tea and Mossy Forest

    August 9, 2023 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    After taking a slow start to the day we wandered into town to find out more information about any tours that were running and it was harder than we thought it was going to be.
    Either the information office was closed or the out of 6 possible tours they had they were only running 1 🤷
    We did manage to find a company that had space for the next day so we quickly booked on so not to lose our spot, I have to say I was a little bit apprehensive about the tour but it was actually really good and really informative.
    Our guide gave us lots of information and we were very lucky with the weather so we got some great pictures
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  • Cameron Highlands to KL

    August 10, 2023 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Today we travelled to Kuala Lumpur, we hopped on the bus and hit the road, after 4 hours we pulled into KL and set off looking for the Metro.

    Unfortunately Nicki misplaced her foot and twisted her ankle causing her to fall over but thankfully no damage was done 🙏

    We checked into our hostel and set off to explore the city. We ended up at a shopping centre and wandered around the 7 floors, honestly Iv never seen a shopping centre so big!

    After a long day we settled for an early dinner at a local Nepalese restaurant and the food was delicious 🤤
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  • KL Tower

    August 11, 2023 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    We got up bright and early today and headed to Chinatown for some breakfast and a walk around the local market

    Richard wanted to take some pictures of the tallest building in KL standing at an impressive 678.9 meters, the 2nd tallest building in the world!

    Then we headed to the KL tower and luckily for us in Aug they have a 66% discount on all tickets so we headed to the sky deck which is 300 meters high and offers great views of the city

    That night we went to the roof top of our hostel and watched the changing lights of the skyline and chatted with some fellow travellers
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  • Petronas Towers

    August 12, 2023 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Tonight we walked to the Petronas Towers to see the water fountain light shower and see the towers all lit up

  • Batu Caves

    August 17, 2023 in Malaysia ⋅ 🌧 28 °C

    Today we headed out of KL city center to the Batu Caves
    After a late start we just missed the train meaning we had to wait an hour for the next one but it wasn't a problem as the station is right next to KL Central shopping center so we grabbed a drink and had a wonder around.

    When we arrived at the Batu Caves I was shocked to see the amount of litter on the floor, it's probably the most Iv seen since being in Malaysia and there were a lot of monkeys running around stealing things from people and trying to get food etc

    We walked up to climb the multi coloured steps but Nicki was stopped as she was wearing shorts, all women have to to cover their shoulders and legs down to the ankle. You could purchase a sarong but it was quite expensive so Nicki stayed at the bottom and Richard climbed the stairs to the top, entered the cave and took some pictures.

    Richard said it was nice but not the best we have seen so I didn't feel like I missed out.

    We headed back to the train station but it was another hours wait to get the train back so we hopped on the bus which ended up being free and then got the mrt back into the city.

    That evening we met up with some friends we made back on the island of Koh Chang in Thailand and they are staying in the same apartment block as us so we went for a quick bite to eat then we showed them the light show in front of the Petronas Towers
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  • Final day in Malaysia for a while

    August 21, 2023 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    We meet up with our friends Dani and Linus for a final meal at the local food truck and headed to see the Petronas lights
    We sat and chatted for about an hour and ended up watching 3 different light shows before heading back to our apartment for some tea and TimTams ( they are the Australian version of penguin bars)
    We really enjoyed our stay in the apartment in Kuala Lumpur ❤️ but we must move on to the next destination of Indonesia
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  • Back in Malaysia - Melaka

    September 19, 2023 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C

    We flew back from Bali and landed in KL. We hopped on a bus for 2 hours heading south and arrived in Melaka - we are here for 5 nights before heading for Singapore 👍

  • Melaka

    September 21, 2023 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    Today we headed into town to see the sights and stretch our legs, Melaka was once a Dutch colony so lots of beautiful architecture to see

    We walked along the river in the evening and checked out the street artRead more

  • Off to Singapore

    September 24, 2023 in Malaysia ⋅ 🌧 27 °C

    We caught the bus from Melaka to the Malaysian border and to be honest after reading some horror stories about long immigration queues and the bus leaving without people it all went very smoothly 👍

    Trip end
    September 24, 2023