The first visit to Malaysia

Last weekend (actually from Fri - Mon) we made quite a spontaneous trip to Malaysia with my roommate Ryan and the two Finnish girls Jaana and Maiju. The girls had planned the trip quite well in advance but with Ryan we made the decision to go at midnight previous night. It was easy tho, just booked the buses and hostels that the girls recommended for us.

The Buses we used to go to Singapore and back were the most comfortable ever. Ask Ryan!

From Singapore we went to Malacca (Melaka in Malay) which is a nice and quite small historic place with European heritage. The bus trip took about 3,5 hours including the border control. We spent our first night in Voyage Guest House we (or actually the girls) found in Lonely Planet. It's located in Chinatown where were in that night a night market with lots of goods to buy and some live performances to see. In Malacca we looked for the sights and enjoyed a good and very cheap local food. A regular meal on the street costed around one euro.

Maiju, Jaana and me in Malacca

Chinatown

Next day (Satuday) we continued our journey to the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, where we stayed for the rest two nights. The first evening was pretty much just seeing sights and eating. As I was on antibiotics I wasn't able to drink any alcohol and therefore clubs and nightlife in general was pretty much no go for me. On Sunday me and Ryan went to MegaMall for some shopping. I bought a local movie and a tablet PC (as it was WAY cheaper than in Finland). In the evening we met with the girls again and got some drinks outside. One Dutch girl from the same hostel (Backpackers Travellers Inn, also in Chinatown) joined us.

Cheap and tasty food in Kuala Lumpur

Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur

On Monday Ryan, me and the Dutch girl went to Batu Caves once we woke up. This is a breathtaking place in Kuala Lumpur and easy to go with a local train. Batu Caves is a limestone hill, which has a series of caves and cave temples. It takes its name from the Sungai Batu or Batu River, which flows past the hill. The cave is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India.

The entrance to Batu Caves

Somewhere inside the caves

After visiting Batu Caves our paths with the Dutch girl got separated. Ryan and I started started to kill time and spend the rest of our money. Killing time with the new tablet was quite easy. The bus to Singapore left a little bit after midnight and we were back at home in the morning.

Btw, I got sick again. The same thing that I had earlier came back yesterday... Should have some time to write the blog now I guess.

Two weeks behind

First I thought not to write any blog while staying in Singapore but after all I find this an easy way to keep my friends and relatives in touch. Especially now that I've been four days sick (my throat is killing me), I have nothing but time to write.

So here we go. As this is my first post and I've already been here for two weeks now, I have a lot to say. Still I try to keep it short and relevant. These first two weeks were mostly holidays and the time was spent making new friends and getting to know Singapore. We are surprisingly many people from Finland and with a few of them we've been hanging out quite a lot going all around Singapore. I also have three roommates now that the third guy, Vincent, also arrived. Ryan and Vincent are from Canada and Mike is from Holland. Nice guys!

Here are some places I've visited in Singapore so far...

Sentosa

The beach

Jaana, Maiju and Mike

Last week we visited Sentosa with Ryan, Mike and a few girls studying business. Sentosa is a resort island in south. It has the nicest swimming beaches of Singapore. The beaches are actually all artificial and made out of sand from Malaysia and Indonesia. It's a lovely place to enjoy sun and warm sea water.

Pulau Ubin

The map of Pulau Ubin, the island is just 10.19 km²

This fellow was waving for us

Me and a Alstonia angustiloba

We visited Pulau Ubin last weekend with some Finns, Ryan and a couple of German girls. It is a small island in the north east. Pulau Ubin is kind of a nature park with abandonded granite quarries. It's a place where you can mostly hike or rent a bike and see stuff.

Singapore Downtown, Marina Bay

The Finns in front of the club Avalon

We had the first real party in a quite fancy club called Avalon. Clubbing ain't cheap for guys as 20-30 dollars (S$ 30 being about 20 €) seems to be quite a typical price to get inside. Usually it comes with a free drink tho. Beer is usually more expensive than most of the coctails. I already started prefering Mojito. Wednesdays are ladies' nights meaning that girls get free drink vouchers and free entry to almost everywhere.