A true melting pot, Malaysia also have Indian and Chinese cultures tightly woven into their society. It has been decribed as a "steamy" colonial country where the heavy humid air hangs over the mainland cities of Penang, Melaka, Kuala Lumpur. The contrast to this is Malay Borneo, a playground for divers, trekkers, and explorers.
The best time to visit is May through September mostly for a better chance of seeing clear skies.
Things to see are the Petronas Towers and the walkway that links them together half way up. It was famous after a popular movie was filmed there several years ago. Think it was a Bond movie. Besides this set of towers, they also boast the KL building. The tea plantations are a must to see, as are the colonial grandeur and dragon tiled temples of Penang. They also have the best Chinatown with bustling shops and restaurants.
Things to do include staying in a longhouse on Borneo's Batang Rejang River. Or how about diving with sharks and turtles on the reefs of Sipadan? You can enjoy a tropical island experience at Pulau Perhentian of Pulau Langkawi. That's where our camera was made inoperable due to the extreme humidity, while filming fish eagles diving for chicken bits on a river boat trip. Totally shut the camera down, making it necessary for us to locate a new lens somewhere in South Africa.
A visit to the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center sounds exciting. A trip we would like to do someday, after hearing about it from someone who did it several years ago. Perhaps the next time the ship travels near Indonesia, which it did not this year.
If nothing else, you could visit the 66 modern malls in Kuala Lumpur alone. The shopping experience could find you buying either knock-off designs, or the real thing. Luxury boutiques carry the finest silks, traditional batiks, silver jewelry, Chinese medicines, or wood carvings. At Royal Selangor Visitor Center, you can tour the factory and see the production process. It includes the casting, filing, polishing, soldering, hammering, and finally, the engraving. There is a shop for souvenirs too. And you can see the largest beer mug in the world, which sits outside at the entrance to the center.
What is there to eat? A treat for the locals is nasi lemak, a coconut rice steamed in banana leaves. Or try flat bread with a curry dipping sauce called roti canai. For a special drink, try the Tarik, a pulled tea with condensed milk. There is also tuak, a rice wine from Borneo.
Trademarks are the Petronas Towers, orangutans, dense jungles, logging, colonial relics, and hawker food.
A random fact is that Malaysia is home to the world's largest flower, the Rafflesia, a foul-smelling bloom up to three feet in diameter.
Ship tours ran from 4.5 hours to 8 hours, and cost $60 to $135, rather affordable for a change. On our first visit here on the Seabourn Sun, we had the best guide, who happened to be a Sikh. He explained the differences between Sikhs and Muslims, which was very informative. We learned he had never cut his hair, and it was tradition to wrap it up in a turban. Much the same as the doormen at Raffles we saw yesterday.
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Since we have been on tours to Kuala Lumpur (three of them), we chose to take the complimentary shuttle later this morning. It took guests to the Aeon Bukit Tinggi Shopping Center, about a 30 minute drive away from the pier. The buses ran from 9:30am to 4:30pm. The last time we were here, a few years ago, we did the same thing, and happened to find some pretty good pizza. So that was our plan for today as well.
Two days trekking through Singapore had left us a bit wiped out, so today, we were in no big hurry to get up early, and go at it again. A nice breakfast was enjoyed in the dining room first, then some computer work in an effort to finish everything from our two fabulous days in Singapore. We had assumed that some passengers left the ship at the last stop, but after asking Endrien, we discovered that no guests had left….only crew members, whose contracts were up. It was not a designated segment. Quite a number of stateroom and dining room stewards look new to us, although the rumor has it that fewer replaced those who went home. Continued stories say that many of these crew members are leaving HAL, taking jobs with other cruise lines instead. We do know for a fact that several familiar HAL fellows turned up on the Disney Cruise we took a few years ago (Panama Canal re-positioning). They had left because they could get a shorter contract, four months at a time, and better pay and perks. Can't say we blame them, since four months is a long time away from their young and growing families.
Not sure we mentioned that a couple of folks had missed the ship while we were in Hong Kong. They had to fly to Singapore to rejoin the ship, spending those extra days at a hotel, we assume. The ships waits for no one, except maybe ship tours and the Captain. This is definitely not the first time we have seen this happen.
Right before we headed out at 11am, a delivery of President's Club gifts arrived. One 30 inch tall flower arrangement has been added to the fresh one we still have, and 14 bottles of vitamin water were brought to us by Nestor. We thought it strange that he took a moment to take a photo of the water bottles and the card with our name on it with his cell phone. Wonder if they have had problems with people complaining about the numbers delivered? The only problem we have had is with the dates of expiration. Upon checking, these are good to May 2017.
The complimentary shuttle took us to the Aeon Bukit Tinggi Shopping Center, the same place we had been to. It is one of the 66 plus modern malls that you can find around the Kuala Lumpur area. The only thing is that the only money they accept, besides credit cards, is Malaysian ringgit, at 4.44 to the $1 USD. From what we calculated, we got some good deals with that exchange rate.
There was a money changer on the second level, and we had Singapore dollars left over to exchange. No problem. Something we have been noticing, is that when the conversion cards had been printed back at the end of 2016, the rates may have been higher. Now, the USD is stronger, enough that when we buy other foreign currencies, we have not lost hardly a nickel in the process. Not so if you do this on the ship. They will buy back the foreign money, but convert it back to USD. Then you can buy the next country's money with the US dollars, paying the fees again. We are learning how this works finally, and are certain we can find money exchangers everywhere we go. In addition, the ship has a time limit on buying back your left over foreign money. If you miss the deadline, you are out of luck here. That happened to one man, who was not happy that he had a large amount of Hong Kong dollars, and was refused the chance to sell them back. Understandable, the ship is only a temporary convenient bank, not the same as land-based companies. Of course, they deal with the USD all of the time.
A funny thing happened while in the money changer line. A fellow was listening to us talk about the ship's exchange, and he agreed, but also added he worked for HAL. Arriving to Singapore a few days ago, he said the airlines had lost all of his luggage, and he happened to be packing chewing gum and cigarettes. He claimed he had two choices when confronted about the infraction. One was a $1000 Singapore fine with jail time, or sign a paper saying he would never enter the country with such contraband. He instantly said, hand me a pen. Fast. Now thinking back on this, we wonder if he will show up on stage, as possibly a comedian, and this will be part of his act? Time will tell.
What does the world have in common that ties us to each other? Shopping malls. Every high end shop and boutique, and familiar restaurant chains can be found in most every mall throughout the world, we think. This shopping center had it all on four or five levels, including a gigantic supermarket.
After walking to find the money changer, we strolled past all of the stores, window-shopping only. The prices were not outrageous, and it was apparent when we saw many of our crew members with bags full of their purchases. Our best deal was lunch at Vivo Pizzeria, where we dined once before. Get this…..a 14 inch thin-crust margarita pizza with two large sodas for the equivalent of $11.34, including taxes and service charge. Wow. Other restaurant choices were Indian, Chinese, Malay, Pizza Hut, and McDonalds among dozens of others. One fellow passenger said he had a hankering for a Big Mac, and indulged here. Happy camper…. he was lovin' it.
We still had ringgit left over, so the best way to spend it was in the grocery store. Guess what we saw for sale? Tim Tams from Australia, no less. Picked up five packages, which will last until May for sure. For more healthy room snacks, we purchased some blocks and wheels of cheese. Not sure if there would be extra tax, we still had some more money left. So we went back for Snickers and a soda, leaving us one ringgit in change. How fun was that?
The shuttle bus was waiting at the drop-off, and once we boarded, it began to rain big time. A passing shower, but heavy, making the rest of the guests run fast. Our timing had been perfect, by accident. No doubt, this is the tropics, the "chance of rain" in the newsletter had been right on.
By the time we got back to the ship, it was cleared up, and we actually saw the sun. The haze had blown away. We spent the rest of the afternoon doing photos before we headed off to the sail away on deck eight aft. We had successfully gone floor-to-floor in the cruise terminal without buying any souvenirs, which we heard were really good buys.
Thank goodness, there was a nice breeze blowing across the aft deck, or else we could not have stayed outside too long. All aboard was at 5:30pm, with the sail out of the area by 6pm. We would be heading northwesterly through the Straits of Malacca tonight and tomorrow. It is a place known for dangerous sailing, due to many pirates going after the cargo ships and tankers. However, we believe it is heavily protected by allied forces as well, out of sight, but there never-the-less. One good thing, we will be in the shipping lanes with many sightings of various vessels.
Dinner for us was at a table for four with friends Susie and Woody. Six of their tablemates had gone on overland trips, so that gives them a chance to dine with other folks for a week or so. We had a wonderful time sharing our adventures of the past years we have sailed together. Many happy times.
The carpet-layers have been busy replacing well-worn areas of the ship. Namely, the aft stairwell. It looked so much better seeing the elevator landings and stairs covered in new dark blue and beige carpeting….spongy under our shoes. About time….
Some familiar fellows took the stage tonight with hits from the Temptations, Four Tops, Nat King Cole, and Lionel Richie to name a few. They were familiar, because they sat across from us on the shuttle this morning. Most definitely, they were from England, judging from their accent.
The clocks went back one hour tonight….so welcomed by everyone.
Bill & Mary Ann
A boat of fishermen
Appears we are docked up a river or a mangrove
Very industrial
Sure reminded us of Phu My in Vietnam
The dock and bridge to the cruise terminal
Boustead Cruise Center
A unique way to debark a ship
If it was raining, we would not get wet
Ship is tied with ropes
Up tight to the dock
Asian-style
It was a long walk to the terminal
In the heat and humidity
Always…the Welcome Home sign is hung
Always appreciate seeing the sign
Might be a container for our ship
A small cruise boat for locals
Inside the terminal
Start of the ride to the mall
Many apartments along the way
The freeway to Kuala Lumpur or the mall
One way to get a ride to town
Many cranes
Normal jungle
Water tower
Housing
Many decent homes
Even new ones being added
Looks like a school to us
Freeway
Obviously, it rains a lot here
A nursery on the way to town
A gas station tied to Petronas
The mall
Aeon Bukit Tinggi Shopping Center
Modern mall
Outdoor canopy to get to the parking lot
Entryway at the Aeon
New cars in the mall entrance
Texas Chicken must be a chain
Many restaurants here
Spacious, new, and air-conditioned
Four floors of shopping plus the garage
Suermarket
Every shop and boutique you will find at home - worldwide
Many kids today…..it was Saturday & no school
A wedding shop
Gorgeous
Furniture for this area
Candy store
Going down
Lunch at Vivo
Sodas
Thin crust margarita pizza
The best
Can you tell we liked it?
Yep, eat your heart out!
Assorted fish (uncovered)
Lamb chops, also uncovered
Salmon - coho
Sudden rain shower
A good downpour
Glad we are already in the bus
Passing cloud
Ended just as fast as it came down
Newer apartment complexes
Housing for a growing economy
An industrial park will be built here
Middle of nowhere
Bet this will be housing next time we come here
Swamps
Freeways are good
New water tower
Few trees left here
New villages
Nice-looking housing
Parks
Possibly a mosque
This way to the ship
Gate at the terminal
Cruise Center
Good security
Amsterdam docked
Pier terminal
Buses nearby
The dock, customs, immigrations, and souvenirs, of course
This place has been cleaned up big time since our last visit
