It was quite a mission getting to Taman Negara National Park in Central Malaysia, but it was well worth the trek. The jungle aspect of our adventure began with a 3hr trip along the river to get to the jungle village. Passes and camera permits are needed for the National Park (a hefty fine or 3 years in prison awaited those who disobeyed) and access was across the river in little river taxis. It was super humid and hot, so walking any distance was quite a struggle for Ben and I. There was no chance that the heat was going to stop us doing the canopy walk though - it's one of the 100 things you must do before you die...It was pretty scary to start off - Malaysian engineering inspired less confidence than that of the Kiwis - but it was perhaps the most amazing thing that we've done all year. It's up to 30m high in some places, and the views that it offers of the jungle and the park are superb. Indian Jones eat your heart out. We also trudged up to the viewing point - real hard work, but wonderful views and amazing forest sounds all around. Another special moment was hearing the call to prayer at the top of a hill in the depths of the jungle. We spent much of our time here consuming liquid, enjoying the sounds of nature (and outboard motors!) and making the most of the relaxed pace of life.
Sorry to have neglected the blog for so long, we've a whole country to catch up on! We left Singapore by bus and arrived in Melaka (wonderful, slick, efficient border on both sides). Melaka is quite a splendid little town with lots of history and buildings from all religions.
The Melakkans could teach the Indians a thing or two about pedal-rickshaw decoration - we had to experience at least one ride in one, even though it was overpriced for the tourists. We also had great fun doing a night river cruise. All along the riverside, buildings were decorated in lights, and there was a curious display of all the letters of the alphabet and numbers counting down 100-1. Still, it was very atmospheric and great value for money.
Shopping and eating – Singapore’s favourite pastimes. A little uninterested in the shopping, we’re more than willing to participate, whole-heartedly, in the eating. Food courts (air-conditioned) and food centres (no aircon) are where most Singaporeans eat – and they eat out for most meals. Rather like a school canteen, there are tables and chairs in the middle with a range of stalls around the outside selling delicious food from China, Thailand, Malaysia and India to name but a few. Many places display pictures of the dishes on offer and some restaurants have plastic models of the food (something that’s very common in Japan).
We also indulged in a Singapore Sling at Raffles – it’s a touristy thing to do. Apparently it’s what the British were doing as Japan invaded in WWII. The highlights are being able to throw your peanut shells on the floor and the groovy oscillating fans on the ceiling.
In such a modern and technology orientated country (are you getting the picture yet?!)), it is easy to see how many are interested in computer games. From hand-held gadgets on the tube to massive amusement arcades (dark, noisy, busy) – and they’re pretty darn good at them too. Ben and I didn’t graduate much from Space Invaders, so we found our equivalent entertainment in a boardgame café (www.themindcafe.com.sg). We were not alone in our love of games, and there was much screaming and excitement from the large groups of locals playing everything from Pit and Uno to Jenga and plenty more besides. I think the UK is crying out for one of these places!
Lest you think that life for Singaporean youths is all fun and games, we’ve been shocked to realise how hard they work as well. It is their summer holidays at the moment, and yet when we went to the library to write up our blog we were surprised to see every table, chair and much floor space taken up by students studying.
With modernity comes technology and it is everywhere here. It seems rare to see someone on the street who isn’t clutching an iPod, a computer or a mobile phone (often using several of these things at once!) Ben was particularly delighted to discover that the technology fair was on and he took himself off to the exhibition hall to sample Japan’s latest inventions. Actually, he was a little disappointed at the lack of weird, new gadgets, getting excited by only 3 products: surveillance cameras in buttons and pens, a digital projector that would fit in your breast pocket (if you had strong pockets) and a pen that records what you’re writing in order to transfer the information to your computer into text form. We’re now the proud owners of one such pen!
I don’t know what you imagine Singapore to be like. We expected modern, clean, techno-whizzy and crowded. It is all of those things. Although everything seems so organised and efficient, you almost seem to forget that there’s a lot of people in such a small space. So much has taken our breath away – electronic adverts that move with the train on the walls of the tube, flashing light displays on buildings, lives operated by smart cards (tube, carparks, food courts, library fines). Even the libraries are modern and high tech – computers for checking out your own books, plenty of free to use computers…there’s even a shop.
Every traveler seems to have a few of these stories – I’ve read on other backpackers’ blogs how “we then bumped in to the Queen of Denmark and chatted for a while over tea”. Well, almost.
The guy in the photo is Louis, and his partner is called Puleen (though we haven’t seen her name spelt). He’s the Madagascan Consulate in Singapore. We (two Brits) met Louis when he was visiting his Malayan friend (and her Dutch husband) in Kashmir who happened to stop by for dinner at our American host’s house. You don’t get more multi-cultural than that.
The second photo is of Koon who studied at the same university as me (Ben) though we’d never met him before. Again, friend of a friend and all that, we met up with Koon who showed us around his suburb and bought us dinner.
Oh, and yes, pretty much everybody is as stunningly good-looking as these guys (not including the one in the white shirt).
Kauri trees made up most of New Zealand’s forests until colonials decided they’d look better as houses and furniture. Some of these giants remain, and the most amazing is Tane Mahuta. It stands at 51m with a girth of 13.8m and is between 1200 and 2000 years old. Ben and I are a bit skeptical about things that are hyped up, but this took even our breaths away.
Elsewhere in NZ, Ancient Kauri have been preserved underground in peat swamps, no-one really knows why they died, complete with the large clumps of gum that the trees use to seal injured limps. The water in the peat swamps prevented these trees from being either petrified or turned to coal. Now people are digging up these massive trunks and using them to make sculptures, furniture and plenty of tack for NZ tourists.
These things appeal to our sensibilities, NZ really is our kinda place. The otherwise unremarkable town of Kawakawa plays host to the most photographed toilets in New Zealand (and feature in the June edition of the NZ Top Gear). They were designed by the Austrian artist and ecoarchitect (whatever one of those is), Freidensreich Hundertwasser. I’d never heard of him, but his stuff is amazing. The loos are crazy, bright colours, wavy lines, glass bottles for windows, handmade tiles, mosaics and a garden on the roof.
Having been to the very south of the island (both the genuine most southerly point and the more popular southerly point, Bluff0 we had to drive up to the most northerly point. Once again there’s a northerly point for the masses, Cape Reinga, and the real north at the Surville Cliffs. Sadly, we didn’t have the time for the real north so we made do with touristy top. We were accompanied by a backpacking hitchhiker, Martin, who we’d picked up.
This place (Te Rerenga-Wairu) is very significant for the Maori (no eating or drinking allowed) because it is were souls depart on the journey to their spiritual homeland, and it is where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet, breaking together into bubbly waters.
