Singapore, Melaka, Ipoh

Saying goodbye to Bali we boarded a plane from Dempasar to Singapore a short 2 and a half hour flight. Missing my evening wine just a tad I splashed out on a small bottle of Marlborough Sav, flying qantas but Jetstar everything has to be paid for, the first wine since leaving Brisbane. Oh boy it was good! Nothing memorable about this flight and now being "porter savvy" our arrival in Singapore was flawless. The only time our concerns were raised was queing at passport control where literally dozens of young gIrls and some men too were havIng theIr passports held and very offIcIally marched In groups by offIcIous ImmIgratIon offIcIals somewhere out the back of the buIldIng. Garys face was a pIcture when It was our turn to go through.A swift but expensive taxi ride to our rather overposh hotel and out on the town for a qick hawker fix to balance our budget.
Wow, Singapore is so, so hot but also so, so clean. There is a lot of money in Singapore but also a great deal of poverty - there is a huge divide unfortunately. Now Gary and I are not one for expensive restaurants, the food is better where the locals eat, and it wasn't long before a gummy, older local was pointing us in the right direction to a basement local food hall. As always we were the only Europeans evident and that makes the locals both hesitant but welcoming at the same time. Language is no barrier as long as you have fingers to point , a sense of adventure and a sense of humour.
We enjoyed the most amazing Indian meal with everything on our plate for $5S - so much food we had to sheepishly ask for a doggy box. Not only was this ok I was called back and offered a bag to put the doggy boxes in. All this and not a word was spoken that either he or I understood. Communication was made though and we were all happy. I LOVE this part of travelling. Anyway Singapore was just a stopover really, a transition between Bali and Malaysia. We made the most of our short stay there exploring Orchard Street and of course Scott Street. A must was a visit to the "Lucky Plaza" to get a new battery for my watch that suddenly dIed. Whilst we were in the watch shop haggling over the $25S charge we met a couple from the UK and got to chatting with them. Amazingly he was born 1 day before me and she 6 days before me all in the same year in the UK. They have the perfect lifestyle spending their time between the Isle of Mann, Germany and Spain on a yearly rotational basis. They'll be at their German base when we are In Germany so they have invited us to catch up with them there. It will be interesting if it all happens and we left with big hugs all around and firm new friends. WIth tickets kindly booked by the lovely concierge at our hotel on an express coach to Malaysia for the following day it was goodbye Singapore, hello, Melaka but not before a final visit to our basement foodhall for our last Indian fix. CatchIng a local taxI to the express bus station we arrived with time to spare to fInd the right counter in a sea of counters and pay for our tickets. ThIs was also good because we then had to walk 2 blocks to the pick up point. It was a comfortable bus with foot rests etc and we were armed with local rolls and treats to carry us through the 5 hour journey. Crossing the border caused us no issues whatsoever, no visas were required, but we were the only Europeans crossing which tended to cause a few giggles and flutterings amongst the locals. Driving through torrential rain on a very boring highway we arrived in Melaka in brilliant sunshine and another taxi drive took us to our concrete block hotel on a busy road with no footpaths quIte a way from the town square!,,,,,. But wait this is fine! Remember we have a restaurant on site, a coffee shop on site, a beautiful garden to walk in, a concierge to tell you all about the local sights etc, a rooftop swimming pool, a jacussi. We have asked for a non smoking room with a view over the water as the website suggests is possible. Mmmmm...... none of that exists! To be fair there is a rooftop swimming pool as deep as our waists but the brown scum mark around it is pretty off putting. All we have is a concrete block building, asphalt and a room that stinks of smoke. A quick room change and the ability to keep our sense of humour alive and we brave the road in search of food. All worked out well and we were to walk that road many times more to discover for ourselves the joys of Melaka. The Dutch and Portuguese ruins that have been unearthed, Jonker Road, the town square, China town, Little India, Fortresses, Palace reproductions built with no nails and full of interesting history, great, refreshing smoothies and very noisy, over the top decorated bicycles with sidecars taking gullible tourists for short rides for exorbitant prices. All good fun. Once again the back roads of Melaka were our favourite places to eat and explore and the walkways along the edge of the river had some exquisite, boutique hotels nestled along it. After 3 nights it was time to move on again as we need to focus on being in Georgetown by 4th April to meet Foo and Neil and want to see as much of Malaysia as possible. A quick trip to the local bus station again and our next stop Ipoh the capital of Perak a state of Malaysia the following day. A 6 hour trip for 35rn ($14nz) on a very nice comfortable luxury coach. Approaching Ipoh the scenery reminds me very much of China. The mountains/hills seem to be made from the same porous rock with sketchy trees covering them and there are small caves high up which I wonder whether people still inhabit. We were not lucky enough to be able to visit these mountains whilst in Ipoh unfortunately. School holidays meant we were unable to find a driver to take us there. Ipoh is a town divided by a bridge. On one side of the bridge is the new town and on the other the old town. I am still confused as to which was which because it all looked the same to me. The shops are kept cool by concrete archways, like cloisters, which are quite efficient and we managed to find the area where all the spices and dried foods are sold. The spice smells were heavenly especially of Cardamon as there is a very strong Indian influence in Malaysia. We saw huge red chilies, dried starfish, small anchovies being deboned, jelly fIsh satay, amazing fungi, food street hawkers making amazing food and the most beautiful dried flower garlands. Lou Wong was our next stop. Famous for it's " chicken chop with beansprouts" - a must have. By this time though the heavens had opened and the rain was torrential. Whilst we were sheltering in a wholesale shop we saw and bought a whole box of Snicker bars for $NZ12!!!!!! That has become our Malaysian stash. So dashing across the road into Lou Wongs and dripping wet we were served with the famous dish. My only requirement was "no bones please" ,which is easier than trying to explain that a breast piece would be nice, and omg it was delicious. This meal cost us 11rm which is $NZ4. Discovering the night market we bought a "Rolex" watch each for $NZ6 and turned down many offerings of foot massages by burly Malay men. I would imagine them to be very painful and only men seemed to be partaking in this torture. Stopping to pick up a couple of large bottles of Carlsburg lager we headed home for a quiet night In front of Malaysian TV!!!!!!!! Our next host in Lamut was mailing us regularly in Ipoh suggesting places we could visit so "beautiful street" took us on our next adventure. You have to remember that every exit from our hotel room is an adventure in it's own way - in fact just crossing the road is one too. Do you think anyone knew beautiful street? No! So with GPS in hand we set off and yes, after much searchIng, we found it. This is a street where local artists have painted on the walls of buildings. Cute pictures of children playing simple games like hide and seek using the buildings, drainpipes etc as hiding places. It was really quite cool. Our last night in Ipoh we had a meal in a very busy open restaurant which was apparently very famous for it's soup (we had no idea at the time) and most restaurants in Ipoh seem famous for something or other. Because the place was so busy we were joined by a lovely young couple who explained all the complexities of eating in "The Best Restaurant" in perfect English. They were both auditors, a common profession here, but whilst he was explaining everything in detail she ate most of what they had ordered. The Malaysian people eat sooooo much and they are all sooooo small! So that was our last night - another great experience and tomorrow KT, our next host in Lamut, is picking us up at 10am to take us to our next abode. Gary and I are bearing up well through the rigours of travel and the heat. We are eating and drinking well so please nobody worry about us?????? Till our next blog Bye for now and love to all xxxx