Tuesday: We went into Malaysia this day..We were supposed to go into the major city of Johor Baru, but instead Orbach thought it would be different to go to a typical Malay village, or 'kampong', to see what Malay life is like on a daily basis. We took a bus to the border and then drove across the straight into Malaysia. We picked up a tour guide at the Malaysian customs/immigration center and continued our drive into Malaysia. Immediately you could tell the differences between Malaysia and Singapore. Much more undeveloped land there, more green space..but also greater poverty and lower standards of living. The houses were one story and more spread out since they have more land to work with, but they were all mostly in bad condition, etc. We got off eventually and walked through a Malay town, all of which was built up on stilts in the water. The water itself was murky and muddy and full of trash and broken sticks and such. It smelled everywhere of fish or garbage or sewage..It was also rainy the day we went, so I'm sure that made everything look a bit more dreary as well. Everyone got around the village by bicylce or motorcycle/scooter. There were no railings on the pathways, so you had to be careful as these people passed by, for the water was literally right there...and some of the boardwalk-type paths didn't seem too sturdy. It was amazing to see an entire village built up on stilts over the water. We eventually decided to take a boat ride through the small harbor area to one of the nearby aquaculture floating docks. There were many and each was small and family-owned, it seemed. They were very eager to show us their fish and other creatures and products. Then we returned to the beginning of the village near where we came in and had lunch, family style. Everything is cheap in Malaysia - everything. I had a 10 dollar bill from the US and I changed it for 44 ringits.. After lunch and beer (and gum! the first I'd had since I have been here since they don't sell any in Singapore) I only had a few ringits left though, for souvenir purposes. :) I must say I was very very glad to return to Singapore. It's amazing how these two countries so close to each other can be so starkly different from one another.
Tuesday evening we went on a night safari, which was basically a zoo walk/train ride but at night. It was entertaining and interesting to see some of the native and other animals. I didn't take pictures since it was at night, and I guess there's not much to say about it...reminded me of the Wilds in the US..except more zoo-like and controlled than that. My favorite was the rhino, which did a nice little strut around his area for us as we passed. He was so cute - I wanted to jump in there with him..
Wednesday: We woke up really early to go to the MacRitchie reservoir and rainforest walk, which was probably my favorite part of the trip so far. We went early to avoid the heat, but really it didn't matter cuz it's hot here all the time and we all got soaked from sweating anyway. We got there and started this trek through the forest - covered the majority of the time, which was nice. It was the first time I felt really well and refreshed - I didn't cough the whole morning! We made it eventually to the suspension bridge and walked through the canopy. The whole morning's adventures were very exciting and beautiful. I absolutely love being outside and in the forest. I would do that every day if I could. We got to see monkeys and monitor lizards along the way. It was strange to suddenly emerge onto the side of the highway and hop on the bus. People gave us strange looks because we were all sweaty and out of breath..haha. When we returned to Harbourfront, we stopped for lunch and i finally obtained some medicine, much to my relief. After a well-deserved shower and some rest the whole gang went out to a mediterranean resataurant for Chantalle's birthday. It was a very good time, and they went dancing afterwards. I didn't go because I felt badly, but apparently it was quite the experience. Haha they said the club played 80s music and the men there primarily danced using hand motions and various signs to go along with the music's lyrics. Entertaining, I'm sure..
Today (Thursday): Some of the gang went to Malaysia and Indonesia for the weekend, so our numbers were slightly diminished. The 14 of us went to the Kanji Wetland Reserve - apparently the last real reserve of undisturbed land in Singapore. It was very beautiful and interesting, but since it was so undisturbed there were many many mosquitos, much to our dismay. The first part of the morning was quite enjoyable, but very quickly it became hot and buggy and I found myself walking briskly to get back to the visitor's station! Before the mad rush, I saw several monitor lizards - they were absolutely everywhere here, and much much bigger than ones we saw before. Also there were these cute little birds along the water's edge of the path that hopped along rather quickly. I don't know their exact name, but the best way I can describe them is "penguin chickens" haha they were black and white with little yellow tail-feather tufts similar to chicken ends..There were also very very large nerite snails in clumps on the trees that grew up out of the water. I think I saw an alligator swimming along in one of the ponds, and I definitely saw many many mosquitos! Lunch was in Bollywood at an organic farm. It was quite delicious, although spicy again, which I think I'm getting used to more and more. After our delicious and mostly vegetarian lunch, we took a walk through the "farm" which was more like a garden. Our guide was very animated and friendly, showing us all the plants and vegetables, fruits, and herbs, telling us to pick things and smell or taste them. It was a very interesting little walk, and the gardens were beautiful! The rest of the afternoon I napped and rested..which was very very nice indeed.
This weekend we have a couple free days so I plan on going to Sentosa tomorrow and we will take a day trip to one of the Indonesian Islands on Saturday, which should be fun, and I can get more stamps in my passport! wooo! I will probably not blog until Sunday evening..and by then it will be almost time to go home!
Pictures!
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| Last Week In Singapore |
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