Malaysia: Trip Planning
Exciting news for upcoming travel plans! With no big trip plans on the horizon till late summer and stepdaughter finishing up the last of her school exams in late May, we’ve decided to plan a quick trip to Malaysia and Singapore as a nice getaway to celebrate.
As usual I’ll be flying separately, leaving a little earlier than them to make the most of the time available (because I’m not about that 8h flight each way to then only spend five or six nights in the destination)!
I’m headed back to Borneo for starters, my first visit since way back in 2010, and right back to Sabah where I was the last time. The impetus for this visit was more or less focused on climbing Mount Kinabalu, but seeing as you apparently need to book that months in advance these days (or pay an outrageous amount for a last-minute booking) I’m reevaluating the possibilities – perhaps Sepilok Orangutan Center, perhaps several days of hiking snorkeling in Tunku Abdul Rahman just across the bay from Kota Kinabalu, perhaps some other wild card that comes up as I start to look more into planning. Time will tell for this one.
After that, our Malaysia trip plans are not entirely set in stone, but it seems likely we’ll end up in Penang for at least a few nights to catch some beach time and do a bit of hiking in the forest and wandering through the old colonial town. While I have spent time in Penang once previously, it’s not a place that I remember much about and certainly not somewhere that I explored in any depth or took a great many photos from, so it could be nice to get back there. However, the wife and stepdaughter have only a limited amount of time for this trip, so it’s also very possible that the island will get cut completely in order to free up more days elsewhere.
Kuala Lumpur was a constant through my years living in East Asia, the Air Asia hub and therefore a regular stop on the way to and from basically anywhere. I always quite liked the city, very multicultural and photogenic and full of excellent food options; so, I’m very keen to get back and revisit now to see if that impression holds up after so many years.
Two of the absolute tourist must-dos that I recall from years ago are the Batu Caves (a cave temple complex on the edge of the city, full of shrines and bats and lots and lots of pilgrims) and the Menara KL Tower – an alternate viewpoint to the Petronas Towers and importantly one that actually includes the Petronas in the skyline for those iconic city shots. These two have also never been to East Asia before, like ever, so I reckon a nice walk through Pasar Seni and Jalan Petaling is almost certainly in the plans as well.
Finally, and sort of a surprise even to myself at how much I’m looking forward to it: Singapore. I’ve been here twice before, for a combined total of three days in all, and the city never really grabbed me in the way that most other Southeast Asian destinations have done. However, I think it’s fair to say I never stuck around long enough to give it a fair chance, so I’m planning to spend four or five nights before the ladies arrive and then another few with them in order to really have a bit of time to scope things out.
Some time spent in museums and galleries, for sure, if only to escape the heat and humidity that even in late May can be frightful. Lots of photography plans, especially focused on markets and night-time long exposures, and maybe some short island hikes as well if I can make time to find anything decent looking. Plus I’ll be staying in the Little India area before they arrive, so lots of good curry and hopefully some time exploring temples and museums and the like as well.
The ladies have insisted that both Gardens By The Bay and the ArtScience Museum must be on the list, so that’s the whole first afternoon accounted for, but the rest of the time I’d like to focus more on the interesting neighborhoods scattered across the city (Kampong Glam first and foremost, of course, as one must make content for the social networks!) and of course on eating ridiculously good food at all the hawker centers everywhere.
Before we leave, it’s a good opportunity to check out the manmade attractions inside Changi Airport. The Canopy Bridge is the one that most immediately appeals to me, but we’ll see what the family has to say about the others.
As always, our greatest difficulty will almost certainly be trying to fit far more than is possible into far less time than I’d prefer – one of the constant struggles, I’m afraid, at least until the wife one day decides to retire and isn’t constricted by the working woman’s vacation limitations!
And, of course, there’s gotta be snacks for the folks back home – perhaps some of those amazing pineapple tarts from Singapore?
