Singapore and Kuala Lumpur

Singapore is a place I have wanted to visit for a long time. Not because of a specific culture or specific attractions but because it sounded like a place of the future and I wanted to see it for myself!

I certainly was not disappointed. It’s a nation of only one city, millions of people all of whom seem to hail from a different corner of the world and buildings that test the imagination. It’s clean… almost too clean! This is the result of heavy penalties for littering, chewing gum and eating and drinking on public transport. I certainly have nothing against these restrictions, especially after Indonesia and watching people through their garbage out of train windows and bathe in rivers that could pass as garbage dumps. Pristine Singapore was the breath of fresh air we all needed. Sadly we only really had one full day to explore and there was a couple hours where I thought I may have less than that as the big bad bug I had picked up in Yogyakarta made a big bad comeback.

Lucky for me I woke up feeling much better and pushed myself to head out with Ally and Mia. Where did we go? Well the zoo of course! Singapore Zoo is by far the nicest I have ever seen and after seeing other Asian zoo’s it was great to see one that worked, one that seemed to be more for the animals than the homo-sapiens and one that made the spectator jealous of the creature comforts the animals were exposed to! I went off on my own and just soaked up the atmosphere. Although there were clearly thousands of guests mulling about (it was a Saturday) I never once felt crowded or like I had to strain to see something. If you ever find yourself in Singapore don’t miss the zoo!

After the zoo we cleaned up and headed out for our last big meal as a group. Naturally we hit up Little India and all ate until we nearly exploded. It was my first non-toast based meal in sometime and although perhaps Chicken Tikka wasn’t the best choice it was still a delicious one!

The next day we boarded a bus to Kuala Lumpur, but not just any bus, a luxurious, first class bus. This bus was extreme. We each had a message seat that could lay nearly flat and a VOD screen with movies and old school Nintendo games like Mario Kart.

Once in Kuala Lumpur we headed to our hostel. I was in Kuala Lumpur in 2009 with another friend and we had stayed at Backhome Hostel so I had booked it for the girls and I again. It was strange because the first time I was in KL I wasn’t too impressed. I mean the towers were amazing and I could have spent hours just looking up at them but KL itself wasn’t much. The second time however I found myself with more of an appreciation for the city. I felt completely comfortable even when I went out walking alone. It was still incredibly familiar! I could totally see myself living in Kuala Lumpur or Singapore in the future!

Before we knew it though it was time to board our flight to Laos and begin the last 3 months of our South East Asian adventure!