Backpacking in Southeast Asia - Singapore, Malaysia, and Bali

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Day 1
carried backpacks to BART, took BART to SFO
11 hour flight to Tokyo, layover for 30 minutes - bought Mochi balls, looked at magazines, played free Playstation games
7 hour flight to Singapore (country map) (pic from Sentosa)
taxi to Sha villa hotel (pic) (their site) near Orchard Road - information from driver on Little India, Bali, and flooding of Penang.

Day 2
Good breakfast with great service in hotel
walked to 2 parks (park 1) (park 2)
edge of Chinatown - ate very good Dim Sum, checked out Bali prices
Shopped on Orchard Road, ate at food court (juices and ices) and sweet Dim Sum buns

Day 3
Good breakfast with great service in hotel
Botanical Gardens - rainforest trees and orchid garden
eat laksa and salad
book Bali trip
Shopped on Orchard road, ate at bad restaurant, went back to food court for soup and juice

Day 4
Good breakfast with great service in hotel
Sentosa island - took cable car there, went to underwater world, cinemania, went in merlion, Lieschen starred in Dolphin show, went to beach, rode monorail
Little India - bought CD's and shirt, followed other tourists to restaurant, ate very good Vindloo and naan

Day 5
Good breakfast with great service in hotel
took nice charter bus to nice hotel in Kuala Lumpur, book one night there
get noodles and Magic Corn at food court
swim
taxi to La Bodega in Bangsar - good paella, bad drinks

Day 6
Good buffet breakfast with first Roti Canai
swim
go to twin towers, observation area closed, crepes and Chicken Rice in food court
switch to less expensive Swiss Inn
shop in Chinatown - buy t-shirts
get body/foot massages for cheap on floor of small room, Lieschen gets ear cone
get first Satay on street in Chinatown - not so good, and pushy restaurant sellers

Day 7
buffet breakfast with fruit for Lieschen, but not much exciting for Eric
get laundry done, book jungle tour
Bukit Bintang - shop, eat outside, order too much good food (sitay and banana bread and rice cubes and veggies)
dance theater with buffet - not bad, drunk singer gets mad at crowd for not enjoying the show enough
checked out unimpressive clubs, didn't go in
watch Gattaca
laundry comes back, all of Eric's socks are missing

Day 8
Socks show up just before we leave
quick breakfast of fruit and leftovers
minivan to hostel in Jerantut, good lunch provided
beautiful 3 hour boat ride to Taman Negara
ride in 4 wheel drive to our small cabin (that's a duplex) in Park Lodge (view)
great dinner on floating restaurant - curry, rice, veg, soup, apple and watermelon shakes
night walk with our guide, and 3 Brits: Lucion, Joe, and Julie. See scorpion, huge ants, a frog, a snake, and more
wait for 4WD back to cabin

Day 9
bad breakfast in Park Lodge
hike to top of hill on trail with roots and wet clay. hot, humid, difficult (for Eric)
canopy walk on flimsy bridges - fun and scary!
more good food at floating boat - sweet & sour, noodle soup, and more apple shakes
rest, do some laundry, see a leech on the floor that is fresh off a guy's leg
visit Aboriginal tribe - chief makes blow darts, we shoot them, we all hit target on second try
Lucion, Joe, Eric ride back in tubes on "rapids", Lieschen and Julie and guide in boat
great dinner - curries, banana chocolate shakes, banana chocolate pancakes

Day 10
breakfast on floating boat - honey pancakes, sugar pancakes
2 hour boat back, arrives just in time for pee break
13 person minivan back to Jerantut
good lunch at hostel - sweet and sour, fried tofu, veggies, and creamy tea
public bus to Kuantun - not bad, lost our seats in shuffle at one stop, used terrible bathroom at station
3 hour taxi to Mersing in pouring rain, bad wipers, crazy driver - SCARY
picked random hotel to stay in, but turned out nice

Day 11
another hotel buffet breakfast, fruit for Liesch, not much for Eric
try 4 cash machines for cash on way to boat
crowded speed boat to Tioman island
dropped off at ABC - secluded, wild lizards and monkeys, great view, but beaches aren't great. Rooms aren't great either, but are very cheap (US $5)
snack - great Roti Canai and good shakes at Nazri's
get clean room, get laundry done, Liesch gets 2 more snacks, both with bugs in them, EB finds great snorkeling on beach
meet Brit Graham and Dutch Marissa at bar, go with them and Singaporean Mel and Malaysian guy to Salang
dinner in Salang, then have to wait 2+ hours for boat back to ABC - watch soccer and talk
ride on top of boat back - watch lightning storm, see flying fish

Day 12
good pancakes at Nazri's
walk to Muslim marine park on path
check out, take speed boat to Salang, get great AC room right on water (view)
fruit and milk and late' for lunch
Lieschen's 1st time snorkelling off beach, she loves it after getting used to snorkel. She's on a high the rest of the night after seeing "heaven below"
after good dinner of soya chicken, play card game "shithead" in bar with Graham and Marissa. EB loses consistenetly, buys watery drinks for all. Bed late.

Day 13
Breakfast with Graham
Snorkel at Coral island with Graham - get soaked on boat out, but great snorkeling, relax on nice beach, both of us get medium sunburns
Nap, shower, snack
order 1/2 chickens for dinner. Yum!
more "shithead", EB continues to lose

Day 14
Decide to leave island, so pack up and get breakfast
very rough speed boat ride back, painful slams against water
still with Graham and Marissa, all take public bus back to Singapore
meet Percy, gives us ride to Chinatown to his guest house. EB makes bad choice to take unimpressive smelly room
We eat great tapas at Spanish restaurant

Day 15
breakfast, switch to much better hotel for barely more money, walk to heart of Chinatown - very clean, good shopping, get more good Dim Sum
go to Chinatown Heritage museum
Night safari - ok dinner there, walk to see great animals, walk through bat cage, barely make last tram to see more

Day 16
breakfast, then more Chinatown, pick up Bali tickets at Orchard road, take first MRT ride
taxi to modern art museum (okay), then walk to Little India
eat good Nepalese food, look for Graham and Marissa, but don't find them, take MRT home
Eric gets Dim Sum snack, then we taxi to Zouk - 3 clubs all pretty cool, especially Velvet Underground "lounge"

Day 17
Take MRT (subway) to Boat Quay, walk along water, check out old colonial buildings, walk to Merlion fountain
taxi to Suntec city, fountain is closed for Deepvali holiday, eat in mall restaurant and find great lotus buns to go
taxi back to hotel, then MRT to airport
fly to Bali, get long shuttle to beautiful hotel, Melia Benoa (site) (pic), look around

Day 18
good buffet at hotel, send in some laundry
relax in pool, have bad cocktails at swim-up bar
go to spa, get private hot tub, Indonesian massages in same room, and flower bath and tea
get snack of lumpia, shower and get ready
taxi to Jimbaron for sea food right on sand of the beach - each pick own fresh fish, for total of 3.5 kilos, almmost finish it
taxi to Legian, see bombing memorial, get drinks in cool lounge, go to club on boat that is almost empty, go home

Day 19
same breakfast
private snorkel tour in glass bottom boat, lots of great different fish.
Also stop at "Turtle Island Sanctuary" to see turtles, bat, snake, lizard, and eagle. We start to wonder about the legitimacy of the "sanctuary" when we see a cock fight and several turtle shell products for sale
lunch at hotel - good BBQ skewer and fish
take bus tour to Ubud art centers - Eric buys overpriced backgammon/chess board and woodcarved Buddha
Elephant cave temple (2)- good, but drive through rural areas, seeing rice fields and temple ceremony is even better
Ubud - monkey forest and shopping, Eric buys painting, Lieschen buys incense
eat at Balinese restaurant in raised sit-on-floor booth, then ride back to hotel and relax

Day 20
same breakfast
spa - foot massages, Lieschen gets head treatment and braids while Eric walks and finishes his book, "I know why the caged bird sings"
shuttle to other Melia hotel since our beach is closed. Tide is out and beach has pushy sellers, so we walk to another temple and get snack of coconut and ice cream
taxi to Kuta - find cheap and terrible dinner. Walk on nice kuta beach and get dessert elsewhere. Taxi home (one more pic).

Day 21
same breakfast
hang by pool
check out, shuttle back to airport, snack at McDonalds
fly to Singapore, store baggage
take MRT to Fountain of Wealth - cool but for cheesy light show. eat so-so Dim Sum at food court. Walk to Raffles hotel. taxi back
get to airport at midnight, Eric buys "Stupid White Men". Stay up until 3:00 AM to check in for 6:00 AM flight

Day 22
Stayed up all night, get 6:00 AM flight to Tokyo
buy sake and eat edamame during 45 minutes in Tokyo
10 hour flight from Tokyo to SFO, arrives 7:00 AM
BART back to Rockridge, walk home, so tired