Malasia & Singapore

Our chapter in the more undeveloped world would come to a closure once we departed Siem Reap on an AirAsia flight to Kuala Lumpar. The flight was very choppy, going through bad areas of turbulence which made the experience more white knuckle than relaxing. On arriving to KL we made haste to finding our accommodation. We had actually booked a place before arrival which made things a hell of a lot easier. We dumped our luggage and Weli proceeded in having his afternoon nap. Afterwards we would go to the PETRONAS towers which have arguably put KL on the map or for you Hollywood enthusiasts watch Entrapment again with Sean Connery. We walked for a couple of miles armed with the free map given to us at the hostel. Around 7pm we found this really nice road full of fast food eateries mainly Chinese and Malayan food. We had some great food. After supper we went to an electronics mall and called it a day, we were tempted as we passed various happening bars on the way back to the hostel.
The next day Weli stayed in and Mark and I explored KL. We walked to the station and the national mosque as well as stopping by a few museums. We caught a taxi that would take us to the PETRONAS towers so we could visit the bridge. Unfortunately we got there too late, it really is something you have to plan in advance and wake up around 7am to queue by 8 am. We decided to do the next best thing KL tower which roughly 130m high. It offers fantastic views of the city with the big binoculars that these sorts of tourist attractions always have. It makes for perfect peeping into all the apartments and roof top pools. It is just a shame it was a cloudy day. We had booked the day before a 6 hour bus to Singapore. With all the travelling we have done i.e. planes, trains etc 6 hours goes by like minutes. We have developed some skill in keeping busy on the bus, Weli finds that sleeping helps him get through most journeys.
Upon arrival to Singapore we had to go through immigration control. It was a really nice building located just after the bridge that connects Singapore to the mainland. It was a slick run control point with no smoking signs punishable by law not the puny fines that similar signs in London offer. Weli had some problems getting through the check point and had his finger on David Milleband’s fast dial number just in case things went down. Finally we were in a taxi, Adam recommended that we stay above a pub in Little India called the Prince of Wales. We arrived around 9pm with the plan of looking around for places to stay of course we agreed on the first thing. So we stayed at the POW and got ready to go out and meet Adam K. We met Adam at the White Rabbit are really nice classy joint about 20min taxi ride away. The first thing he told me whilst getting a round of vodka red bulls and shots of sambuca “Fil the piss in Singapore is really expensive”. Wiser words have never been spoken. The drink prices are worse than London. That night Adam was on a serious mission and we enjoyed ourselves a great deal. We went to the world famous Zouk Club Singapore, it was immense. It’s a really cool club, good size, good sound and nice women all a growing man needs really. After Zouk we decided to end the night with a few swift halves at the “living rooms” at some classy hotel. It became immediately apparent that this is a place where men with money can meet so called ladies of the night aka professional women. It reminded me of Hotel Panorama but with the added class, the women at times were arguably men.
The next morning we woke up around lunch time and headed down to Orchid Road where you can find every type of mall i.e. electronics, clothes. It is a really wide road with shops stacked side by side, a smarter, cleaner and more organised Oxford/Sloane Street. We grabbed some food from the local canteens which can be found off some side streets. Our attempt at trying local dishes etc failed miserably the food was shit. May I remind the reader that up until recently I haven’t had a McDonalds for well over 3 months. We made a few purchases and met Ad who had a friend in a West Ham top, how that happened I will never quite understand. We drove to Sentosa Island to commence our lazy Sunday whilst simultaneously trying our best to heal very big hangovers from the previous nights minus Weli of course. Sentosa Island was beautiful and real estate companies have gone to town on it. We ended up by chance having a few coronas at Cafe Del Mar, it gave me a chance to talk about my visit to Ibiza as well as to explain how overrated the real Cafe Del Mar is. Ok so the beaches are manmade who cares, I’m sure the locals from Singapore don’t mind as their consistent weather all year round means they can stroll down the beach and do a spot of tanning. One thing that might worry that local from Singapore is that when he rubs the sun cream from his eyes and looks upon the shoreline he will find it contaminated with tankers. For me I have no problem with that similarly to me not having any problems with Battersea Power Station. Of course the environmentalists will as oil spills can be found if you look hard enough.
The remaining days in Singapore consisted mainly of malls and cinemas. We have watched nearly every movie out. Dragonball, Watchman, Streetfighter and Push were seen in one sitting. May I just add that Street fighter the chronicles of Chung Li is horrible and it would be a crime against film making to even put that on VHS let alone blue ray with all those lovely extra features you get these days. In fact all these films are extremely bad clearly amplifying the state of Hollywood and the lack of story lines with substance. They are remaking every film, how is it possible that 10 years on Van Dame’s version of Street Fighter is far superior to the more recent.
The Raffles experience is one that I will never forget. The place of origin for the famous Singapore sling (not the Dingaling). The bar had an old feel to it, like it had been preserved from the colonial days of men smoking cigars but had been given the modern touches i.e. speakers with surround sound. It is customary to eat the nuts provided and to throw the shells on to the ground, which felt good. The drink was delicious but pricey but worth every cent or dollar. The Raffles hotel looked amazing and old. We walked through the arcade area and the gardens in the middle I definitely would stay here in the future subject to salary. It oozed class and offered pure relaxation with that 5 star treatment. Once Adam arrived we made our way to a roof top bar that had breath taking views of Singapore at night even better than the Millennium wheel equivalent which I failed to mention we had done on the second day. For some reason happy hour made a bottle of Moet 25£ so the decision was made for us, we guzzled every last drop. Ladies night in Singapore doesn’t just mean free entrance while men pay extortionate prices it means free drinks also. I cant remember exactly the name of the club but it felt studenty and ME LIKEYYYY. They had a special on drinks and we let the good stuff flow. We met some of Adams friends they were cool and very friendly.
So next stop after Singapore was Hong Kong and it would be Jet Star’s turn to offer that service. WE arrived to the famous Hong Kong airport. Weli based his final year project on a similar scheme so I heard all the facts and intricacies of this complex project hmmmm interesting. We had booked on hostelworld.com a room in Kowloon a couple of stops from Hong Kong Island. Well let begin by saying that the photo that they posted on the website must have been taken in the 60s with a 14 mega pixel digital camera when the rooms were last decorated.