Read this blog: The one where it wasn’t Robert farting for comedic effect this time Saturday 15th March 2025 We had designated Saturday as the day we would go out to the Semenggoh Wildlife Centre. This was set up in 1975 as a sanctuary for wild animals that had been previously kept illegally as pets, orphaned or found injured in the rainforest. Semenggoh is well-known as a refuge for orang utans. The word “orang utan” comes from the Malay words “orang” [meaning “person”] and “hutan” [meaning “forest”], so literally “person of the forest. We saw it written as one word, two words and with a hyphen so there did not seem to be any consistency or a consensus. Unusually – when it comes to words and spellings – Matilda agreed to acquiesce to Robert: we will be using two words here to reflect the Malay origins of the name. We had noticed that many of the photographs in the exhibition at Fort Margherita were captioned with the word orang before the names of Malay people which we thought might have been a form of address or title, but actually simply designated they were a person. Semenggoh Wildlife Centre is one […]
Malaysia
Read this blog: The one where Robert finds the Drunk Monkey without Matilda’s assistance Friday 14th March 2025 Robert had planned a route to help us become more familiar with Kuching; the capital of the Malaysian state of Sarawak and the largest city on the island of Borneo. It is often referred to as the ‘City of Cats’ and Kuching has embraced this, installing cat statues [see feature photo] and even opening a Cat Museum. The Waterfront Hotel, although not strictly speaking on the Sarawak River, is very close to the waterfront walk along the southern embankment. It is also adjacent to some of the most famous historical buildings of the city including the Old Court House Complex. Many of these old buildings were the product of the rule of the White Rajahs, a British family which became the hereditary rulers of the Raj of Sarawak. James Brooke, the first of the three White Rajahs, helped the Sultan of Brunei to suppress a rebellion against a very unpopular Governor in 1841 and was rewarded with political authority over the area and the title of Rajah of Sarawak. After James Brooke’s death in 1861 his nephew, Charles Brooke came into the […]
Read this blog: The one where we are able to drink in public again but can’t find the Drunk Monkey Thursday 13th March 2025 We had not been particularly impressed with the value for money offered by the breakfast at The Empire Brunei so we agreed we would try and get something at the airport. Once we had gone through passport control, Ramadan restrictions no longer applied and so we were able to get coffee and some brunch from Starbucks. The staff seemed pleased to have something to do and we spent enough to qualify for a free branded hand held fan. The airport seemed almost deserted and we could not imagine that any of the retail outlets were making a profit. Once again, the flight was not full so we were able to have a window seat each. The flight itself was short and low. So low that we were not above the cloud cover and Robert could see the coastline for the whole flight [see Video of the day]. We ordered a Grab from the airport to The Waterfront Hotel. Our room gave us a fine view across the Sarawak River to the New Sarawak State Legislative Assembly […]
Read this blog: The one where were Matilda shakes her Singapore Sling Monday 15th to Thursday 18th April 2024 We would undertake the journey back to Singapore in two stages: firstly travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Johor Bahru via Gemas by train before crossing the Johor Strait into Singapore. Robert, despite his enthusiasm for all things rail-related, is always reluctant to rely too heavily on train connections which could be subject to delays and had therefore planned for us to stay overnight in Johor Bahru. We went to Kuala Lumpur Sentral to catch the first train to Gemas. This was an aerodynamic high speed engine. The route took us through the lush Malaysian terrain. The onward train from Gemas to Johor Baru was running late and we became increasingly concerned that we would miss our next connecting train. However when Robert went to ask the ticket inspector he was confidently told not to worry as the service would wait. It transpired that the ticket inspector was also transferring to work on the connecting train which would definitely not leave without its full complement of staff. The Johor Strait, between the Malay Peninsuala and the Republic of Singapore is just three […]
Read this blog: The one where Robert is not allowed in a train carriage Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th April 2024 The MRT [Mass Rapid Transit] network in Kuala Lumpur has introduced a trial of women only coaches to provide them with a safer and more comfortable way to travel. We did not have to use the MRT during rush hour so there was generally plenty of space in both the mixed carriages and the women only ones. On some occasions, to ensure we were compliant, Robert stood behind the pink line while Matilda was able to take a seat on the other side. As we would not be leaving from the old Kuala Lumpur Railway Station we decided we should go and view the exterior, which is said to be very striking. Opposite the old station stands the Railway Administration Building, dating from 1917. It still houses the national railway administration for Peninsula Malaysia, which is now known as KTM [Keretapi Tanah Melayu]. The building was designed by the architect, A.B Hubback who was Assistant to the Director of Public Works for the state of Selangor. During the 20 years he held this post he also designed the Kuala […]
Read this blog: The one where we discover that shorter is higher Thursday 11th and Friday 12th April 2024 The day was to be taken up predominantly with travel so we went to fortify ourselves with breakfast at Wheelers again. This time Robert constructed his own breakfast by choosing items from a pick and mix menu [see Dish of the day]. As a Grab taxi is very reasonable and it was difficult to predict how long we might have to wait for the ferry, we decided to grab a Grab over the bridge to the station in Butterworth to catch our train to Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia. This would provide us with a different view of the crossing. Once in the capital, we went to catch the monorail towards our hotel. We were a bit apprehensive to find that not all the platform gates have been completed so there was a sheer drop down to the rails. We stood well back as the train arrived [see Video of the day]. We checked in to our hotel and as we were too tired to start sightseeing, we took a short walk to the Hard Rock Café. Robert had done his […]
Read this blog: The one where we travel on the steepest tunnel train track in the world Wednesday 9th and Thursday 10th April 2024 Using a combination of the Penang tourist map from the hotel and GPSmyCity, Robert worked out a route taking in some of the major sights. First we walked to the Church of the Assumption, the third oldest Catholic church in Malaysia. In front stands a small, open, domed Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima with vibrant blue stained glass which is reserved for private prayer. A church was originally established here in 1786, but the population of George Town increased steadily and in 1860 work started on the current cruciform church with two bell towers. It opened the following year in 1861. Next we passed St George’s Church. Built in 1816, this is the oldest purpose-built Anglican Church in South East Asia. A sign outside told us that it was closed for the public holiday. Since Ramadan 2024 began late on March 11 with the first fasting day being March 12, in most countries the three days of Eid al-Fitr were due to start on April 10th 2024. There were therefore quite a lot of businesses […]
Read this blog: The one where we reach our fifth country in South East Asia Saturday 6th to Monday 8th April 2024 We had one more full morning in Bangkok and as it was a Saturday we went to look at the Weekend Market, also known as Chatuchak Market. This is a vast retail space with over 8,000 market stalls spread over more than 14 hectares. You can buy almost anything here. There were plenty of shops selling vintage pre-owned clothing and Robert bought several more Hawaiian shirts [one actually made in Hawaii] to add to his collection. With temperatures well into the thirties, and the sweat free flowing, he did not want to try them on. [Once we got these purchases back to our room, Matilda felt that at least one of them was rather snug for Robert and so it might become a hand-me-down to her.] From here we went to Chinatown which is one of the largest in the world. It is also home to the oldest Chinese shrine in Thailand which dates from 1658. Chinatown was founded in 1782 when Bangkok became the capital of the Rattanakosin Kingdom. The immigrant Chinese who settled here were mostly Teochew […]