Malaysia
We visited three places in Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur, Mersing, and Tioman Island.
Kuala Lumpur
We really liked Kuala Lumpur. It was clean and the people were very nice. We stayed in an affordable hotel that was clean and in a great location (Mayview Glory Hotel). The night manager at the hotel was a big soccer fan and every time we walked by he commented on the boys' soccer jerseys, often shaking his head at their choices. The man had a deep booming voice and a great smile and laugh. He helped us know where to go for things and gave us good advice. The subway system was clean and easily navigable. We visited a bird park and some of the old parts of the city.
Every kind of Asian food was available and there were multiple markets for shopping. The Petronas Twin Towers and the nearby city park were really enjoyable. We even went back at night to see the light show. However, we did NOT visit the sky bridge. We tried but quickly learned that the tickets we thought were free turned out to be $30 per person. We had just come from Manila where we stayed on the 20th floor and reasoned that we didn't need to pay $30 per person to go up another tall building.
Mersing
Mersing was (thankfully) an intermediate stop on our way to Tioman Island. We stayed there 1 night on the way to the island and 1 night on the way back from the island. We didn't have a great experience in Mersing. The first hotel rooms we got had ants all over the beds and the sheets were dirty. The manager grumbled and acted like he was doing us a favor to switch our rooms. We slept little that night and could not wait to leave. On the way back through Mersing we did not stay at the same place and it was much better. Food options were limited in Mersing and there was nothing to see or do. We basically just slept there on our way to other places.
Tioman Island
Elaine has already documented the journey to the island. I'll just say that I'm proud that no one in our family threw up on the boat ride. While we were there we:
- Swam and snorkled in luxurious emerald water
- Had an introduction to scuba diving course
- Saw monkeys and very large monitor lizards (very scary)
- Saw all kinds and varieties of colorful fish
- Walked on the beaches and looked for shells
- Hiked through the jungle for an hour to get to a secluded beach
- Had our food stolen by a sneaky monkey
- Had multiple emergency taxi rides to the medical clinic on another part of the island
- Ate at the hotel restaurant at least one meal each day and just put it on our "tab"
- Enjoyed many beautiful sunsets
- Had a great tropical island vacation
I'd recommend Tioman Island.
Singapore
We took a bus from Mersing to Singapore. The border crossing was uneventful and we immediately noticed that it was very, very clean. The bus dropped us fortuitously across the street from our first backpackers hostel: Green Kiwi Backpacker Hostel. Green Kiwi was just about perfect for our needs. The people were friendly. The location was good. It included a simple breakfast (fresh fruit and toast). The WiFi was good. They had nice counters we could work on. The price was fair. The air conditioning worked. Bunk beds would sure take up a lot less space when we get home...
Public transportation was pretty easy to navigate. There were some miscommunications about what was needed in terms of passes and how much they would cost but other than that getting around was pretty smooth. When we were done there was still credit on our EZ Link card and we were able to get refunds.
The second hostel we stayed at was called Grace Lodge. We decided that it was not a family-friendly place since we had struggled to be happy and comfortable there. Others might have been happier there. One of the reasons we booked it was because it advertised that it was air conditioned. When we checked in we were informed of their policy that air conditioning ("air con") would only run from 9pm to 9am. With 6 of us in the room doing school and work during the day we were literally dripping with sweat. Even with the fans on and the door open it was stiflingly hot. When we asked for the air conditioning to be turned on we were reminded about their unadvertised "policy" of not having the air conditioning on during the day. I tried to gently remind them that I had paid for air conditioning. I wanted to express my "policy" of not staying at or recommending places where I am uncomfortable but I didn't. In the end and with enough persistence we were able to have the air conditioning on when we needed it. For plain backpacking tourists Grace Lodge would be ok as long as you are out of the facility during the day but for a family that doesn't always leave for the day we were pretty uncomfortable.
We visited a few tourist places:
The day before we left we coordinated a taxi to take us to the airport that was large enough for all of us and our luggage. Our flight left at 6:45am and so we had to leave the hostel by 4:30am. At about 4:15am we noticed that the hotel manager was already awake and on the phone. Our large taxi had broken down and he was coordinating two smaller taxis to get us to the airport. We had only enough cash to pay for the large taxi and hoped that the cost of two smaller taxis would be the same. He arranged it and it worked out. The flight to Australia was on Malaysia Air and was fantastic. It was comfortable and there were entertainment screens for every seat.
We enjoyed Singapore. Elaine already made a great post on culture shock in Singapore describing a little bit more of what it was like.
Public transportation was pretty easy to navigate. There were some miscommunications about what was needed in terms of passes and how much they would cost but other than that getting around was pretty smooth. When we were done there was still credit on our EZ Link card and we were able to get refunds.
The second hostel we stayed at was called Grace Lodge. We decided that it was not a family-friendly place since we had struggled to be happy and comfortable there. Others might have been happier there. One of the reasons we booked it was because it advertised that it was air conditioned. When we checked in we were informed of their policy that air conditioning ("air con") would only run from 9pm to 9am. With 6 of us in the room doing school and work during the day we were literally dripping with sweat. Even with the fans on and the door open it was stiflingly hot. When we asked for the air conditioning to be turned on we were reminded about their unadvertised "policy" of not having the air conditioning on during the day. I tried to gently remind them that I had paid for air conditioning. I wanted to express my "policy" of not staying at or recommending places where I am uncomfortable but I didn't. In the end and with enough persistence we were able to have the air conditioning on when we needed it. For plain backpacking tourists Grace Lodge would be ok as long as you are out of the facility during the day but for a family that doesn't always leave for the day we were pretty uncomfortable.
We visited a few tourist places:
- Merlion (like mermaid but with a lion)
- The triple-towered hotel with the boat on top
- The shopping mall street
- A food court that had a large variety of food
The day before we left we coordinated a taxi to take us to the airport that was large enough for all of us and our luggage. Our flight left at 6:45am and so we had to leave the hostel by 4:30am. At about 4:15am we noticed that the hotel manager was already awake and on the phone. Our large taxi had broken down and he was coordinating two smaller taxis to get us to the airport. We had only enough cash to pay for the large taxi and hoped that the cost of two smaller taxis would be the same. He arranged it and it worked out. The flight to Australia was on Malaysia Air and was fantastic. It was comfortable and there were entertainment screens for every seat.
We enjoyed Singapore. Elaine already made a great post on culture shock in Singapore describing a little bit more of what it was like.
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