Kuantan and the South China Sea

Moving south to Kuala Lumpur, we only spent a day in this exciting city. I liked the mix of Chinese, Malay and South Indian culture in a modern Asian city, but we were headed east through row upon row of rubber trees to the coast. At a beach resort a few kilometres out of Kuantan we had our first swim in the South China Sea. 

Five buses around Penang

Sometimes too much travel can make you blasé. From a letter I wrote to my sister about Penang, I feel like I must have climbed to that point because the Snake Temple didn’t impress me. There was “only six snakes” and they were “only a metre long.” How spoilt, I must have become as if I’d already seen too many temples.

Penang Hill

As a child, I remember a neighbour’s oldest son, talking about Butterworth. He was a pilot who’d once been stationed there, so when we took a train up to Penang Hill, we could see Georgetown below and across the strait was Butterworth on mainland Malaysia. 

Penang

In Penang we stayed in Tanjung Bungah, eleven kilometres from Georgetown. Our upstairs room in a Chinese family’s house, overlooked the Malacca Strait. 

Have you ever crossed a border without being stopped?

Flying back to Johor Bahru from Kuching, I was going to bus into Singapore but none came in sight. Since I only had a backpack, I walked along the road towards Singapore. In fact, I kept walking and walking, until I trekked across the bridge joining the two countries, but no officials stopped me to check my passport!

Niah Cave into famous soup

Photo courtesy: Starlightchild — Wikimedia Commons

Only when I reached the cave entrance, did I realize I was in trouble. I had no flashlight. As someone was leaving, they thankfully handed me their torch and I ventured into the huge underground world.

Another loss before reaching Niah National Park

Photo courtesy: Azreey — Wikimedia Commons

Have you heard of bird nest soup? If you have, you might know its connection to Niah National Park, my sole reason for pinpointing Sarawak as my destination choice for a holiday.

Bako Blunder

Photo courtesy: Peter Gronemann, Switzerland  Wilimedia Commons

I bused towards Bako National Park, thirty-seven kilometres from Kuching, leaving the city behind. The road went as far as Kampong Bako. After that I took a half hour boat ride up river to the park. The driver steered the small craft through waters surrounded by beautiful rock formations and wild vegetation.

Sarawak’s Kuching

Photo courtesy: Shoestring@wts wikivoyage — Wilkmedia Commons

I didn’t have any expectations of the town with a name like money tinkling in a cash register. So I was pleasantly surprised by an orderly city along the fast moving Sarawak River.

Hey, I’m not done with Malaysia

Photo courtesy: Terence Ong — Wikimedia Commons

This was a year when my three daughters were off on a trip with their dad and I decided that six weeks sitting at home would be down right depressing. To break up the long stretch without them, I flew to Singapore and crossed over into Johor Bahru because I could catch a cheaper flight from JB over to Kuching in Malaysia’s Sarawak, rather than from Singapore.