Tuesday,( Malaysia), 11 Oct., 2015
We had a long bus ride today starting at 8:55 am for a drive to Cameron Highlands.  This area is much higher, some 3000 feet, and much cooler. The first part of the drive was on a modern 4 lane tole highway.  Minor rest stops were available every 15 to 20 minutes and major ones with food available every hour.  We had lunch at one of the biggest that boasted a |KFC, Baskin Robins, and Dunkin Donuts as well as several Malaysian food vendors.  Lunch cost 17 ringgits,  about $6 Canadian and included deep fried chicken, rice, lettuce and a large beverage.
   Leaving the main highway we started uphill on a 2 lane highway and as we neared our destination we stopped at the Lakehouse Hotel for ‘high tea’ which included an assortment of sandwiches, cakes, and fruit.  This was late enough in the afternoon that neither Eva nor I found we wanted supper later.  We stopped for a bit of shopping at a small town in the highlands then on to the Strawberry Park Resort for a 2 night stay.  Our room at Strawberry Park is in building D and is huge, about 24 x 35 ft, including a monster bathroom.  We have a balcony overlooking dense jungle.  Despite not doing a lot we were very tired and went to bed about 9:30 pm.

Wednesday ,( Malaysia), 12 Oct., 2015  - Cameron Heights to Penang
   Leaving our hotel was a bit of a challenge for our bus driver.  A short distance from the hotel was a 180 degree switchback turn that took 2 reverses to get the bus around the corner.

The first stop was at the Sam Poh Tong temple which is inside a natural limestone cave.  Accessed from the back of the temple is an open shaft perhaps 100 ft. deep with an enclosure holding over 100 tortoises up to almost 2 ft. long.

 

 Continuing on to the Ubudiyah Mosque, the largest Mosque in Malaysia, we could not enter as it was a prayer time.  However, the many golden domes and the architecture were very beautiful.


 This town, called Kalua is what the Malay call a “Royal Town”.  In other words, the town in which the Sultan of the state has his palace.  This particular sate actually has 3 royal families, each ruling in turn, for 5 years at a time. 
Malaysia is a kingdom, not a republic.  When is was unified into a nation, the Sultan’s of the various staates realized that armed conflict for power was threatened, and agreed to take turns ruling the entire country for 5 year terms, with the title of “King of Malaysia” but also maintaining their title of “Sultan” of the smaller individual states.  The system has worked very well.  Malaysia is democratic in that they elect a Prime Minister, a senate and a House of Representatives, copying the British system.  The elected politicians serve for 5-year terms.

   The bridge to Penang is 13.5 km and has 2 lanes each way with a lane each way for motorcycles. This is the only area with a toll for motorcycles, 0.5 ringgits for riding in the lanes for larger vehicles.

   After getting settled, at 7 pm we headed out to the Golden Thai Seafood village for dinner. This was a set menu with several large platters on the table from which we helped ourselves.  After dinner we strolled through the ‘Night Market’, but didn’t see anything that caught our eye.

Thursday ,( Malaysia), 13 Oct., 2015  -  Penang
   Penang is mainly an island of 2855 sq. Km with 1200 sq. km. on the mainland.  The capital is George Town.

    Our morning started with a visit to the Kek Lok Si Buddhist temple which was originally scheduled yesterday.  The temple dates from1893 and was supported by the consular representative of China in Penang.
   Next stop was a visit to the Khoo family clan house and temple.  These clan houses were set up to assist immigrants of the particular family when they first arrived and as needs arose. They are supported by successful members of the family clan and are made up of people with the same family name, in this case, Khoo. 
   A visit and tour of Pinang Peranakan Mansion, formerly a private home and now a museum, followed.  A guide showed us through the mansion and pointed out many ancient and historically interesting items and customs. 
   Lunch was obtained at an Asian version of a food court.  Eva and I shared a bowl of  ‘Fish Ball Soup’ and a fruit drink for lunch, 11 ringgits, (about $4 cdn).  Some of the group took a walking tour of ‘Little India’, but we were getting tired and headed to the bus to wait for them.

   Before we returned to the hotel we had a quick visit to St. George Anglican Church.

   After arriving back at the hotel for a short rest we changed into bathing suits and headed to the beach behind the hotel. Unfortunately there were so many shells in the sand as we entered the water, we decided to forgo an ocean swim and went up to the hotel’s outdoor pool.
   We went out of the hotel for dinner and found a restaurant where we chose the items to go into our soup and they then cooked it for us. It was very good.

Sunday, (Malaysia), 9 Oct., 2016 - Malacca, Malaysia\
 Wake up was 5 am to be ready for 6 am breakfast and 7 am departure for Malaysia. The island/city State of Singapore is only ‘1 marathon by ½ marathon’, (42 miles by 21 miles), so it didn’t take long to reach the boarder.  We had get off the buss to go through ‘exit immigration’ which happily went very fast but our guide told us it has on occasion  taken several hours.  We then reboarded to drive across a long bridge to Malaysia, get off the bus and go through immigration then board a different buss with a different guide, Mr. King.  The trip to Melacca, (or Melaka, both are correct), took about 3hours.
   We were early due to the fast trip through immigration so on the way we stopped at a rubber plantation and saw how the trees are tapped for latex.  Across the road was an oil palm plantation and our guide explained the collection to the fruit from which palm oil is extracted. Malaysia produces about 51% of the world’s palm oil.

Our guide, Mr. King,shows us rubber tree seeds. Cup for collecting sap is on the tree beside him.

Ripe seeds on an 'Oil Palm'.  These are pressed to extract the oil.  This is one of the newly developed trees that are not as tall and therefore easier to harvest the seeds.

    Next stop was our hotel, Casa del Rio on the Malacca River Sr.  Due to late check outs our rooms were not ready so we had lunch then went on a walking tour. First stop was the Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum.  This is a combination of 3 homes owned by the same Chinese family who moved out during the Japanese occupation and later turned the homes into a museum, We then visited the oldest Chinese temple in Malaysian, the Cheng Hoon Temple, which houses the 3 major doctrines, Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism.

Years ago Chinese women with the smallest feet were considered the most beautiful so children's feet were bound and forced not to grow.  This is an actual shoe made for one of these women.

   One of the things I found very interesting was the decorations of the many trishaws.  You can see in the photos how elaborate they are.  Cost to rent one is about 40 ringitts per hour, ($10 US).

  We then took the bus to a still occupied Malay home for tea.  Actually, tea, coffee, and typical sweet snacks. 
   It was then back on the bus to travel to the rivers docks for a cruise on the Melaka River to our hotel where we disembarked and finally checked in at about 7:00 pm.
      Have a good day........................  Eva and Dick

Friday, 7 Oct. 2016 - Singapore
   We woke early, about 4:30 am.  Still not time adjusted. It was raining and continued past noon.  The included buffet breakfast was great with both local and western cuisine.  We both ate a large breakfast, figuring on a light lunch. 
   At 9 am we boarded the bus and headed for the National Orchid Garden.  By this time the rain was quite light and it was only later we needed an umbrella.  The garden hosts over 1000 species with 2000 hybrids and their program began in1928.  This garden hosts the largest display of orchids in the world and is 1 of 3gardens in the world that ate UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

   Next was a short cruise on a bumboat on the Singapore River.  This is a fresh water river and the source of drinking water for the city. Therefore only electrically powered boats are allowed.  The boats, former garbage scows, have all been converted and put to use servicing tourists.

   We then went by bus to the Thian Hock Keng Temple in Chinatown which features both Buddhist and a Taoist Temple.  I found it interesting that it was originally built on the shoreline but due to land fill, it now faces a busy street with shops on the other side.
   We met again at 5pm and after a beverage in the lobby we went for a ride in a trishaw for about 30 minutes.  These vehicles are propelled by a bicycle beside the passengers.

 From there it was on to the famous Raffles Hotel and the ‘Long Bar’ for a Singapore Sling in the place where they were first invented so ladies could enjoy an alcoholic beverage in public that didn’t look naughty.  Then it was off to the dining room at the Raffles Hotel for a delicious buffet dinner of Indian cuisine.  After dinner we explored the public areas of the hotel until it was time to return to our “Hotel Jen”.

Have a good day.     Eva and Dick

|It’s 6 pm on Oct. 6 in Singapore, 6 am in Belleville.  We made all our connections with no trouble and even got to sleep on the 15 hour flight to Hong Kong.  1'st thing we did when we checked in was crash for 3hours.  We meet with our tour director tomorrow morning.  We are in the lovely Hotel Jen and just got back from a short walk about to get an idea of the area.  During the flight to Hong Kong, which left at 1:45 am, the cabin lights were turned off almost the whole flight.  The 300+ passenger plane from Hong Kong to Singapore was less than ½ full.
      |Have a great day.    ...........................  Dick and Eva

QUICK CORRECTION/UPDATE
In the post on 30 Sept. I gave the web site to see our 'Singapore/Malaysia tour'.  The one that comes up shows the revised itinerary for 2017.  Make sure you go to the 2016 tour. 

We’re off again. This time it’s a 5 week trip beginning in Singapore, then Malaysia, Taiwan, Cambodia, ending in Vietnam.  Tuesday, 4 Oct., we are going to Toronto and will have dinner with Cathy Brian and Deborah.  We catch a Cathay Pacific flight at 1:45 am on 5 Oct. for Hong Kong, (15 hours), a 3 hour layover, then 3 hours to Singapore arriving at 11:45 am on 6 Oct.

    Most of our travel is with ‘Go Ahead Torus’. The first part of our schedule begins in Singapore, (see goaheadtours.ca/sam), and ends in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  We are not taking the tour extension to Bali, Indonesia. 
    We are then on our own for 3 days in Kuala Lumpur then we fly to Bangkok, Thailand were we spend 3 days before joining another Go Ahead Tour of Thailand and Cambodia, (see goaheadtours.ca/tai).  This time we take the extension to Siem Reap, Cambodia. 
    Instead of returning to Bangkok to fly home, we leave the group at Siem Reap and fly to Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam, (formerly Saigon).  Our son Bruce is vacationing in Vietnam and well meet us at the airport in Ho Chi Min City as he arrives from Hanoi 20 minutes after we do.  We spend 3 nights in Ho Chi Min then go up the coast to the beach area at Mui Ne for 3 nights.  We then return to Ho Chi Min for one night then fly back to Canada via Hong Kong, again about 21 hours traveling arriving about 8pm.  In Toronto we will go to a hotel for the night before driving home.

I will try to keep this up to date but much will depend on internet access.  So long for now and check back again in a few days.   .....................   Dick

I've been a bad boy and not posted for too long.  To quickly bring things up to date, in the spring of 2015 Eva and I took a 15 day trip to China.  There were 10 days on a bus tour then 5 cay cruise on the Yantze River.  The hotels were first class and the cruise ship comfortable.  Meals were great.