Well after more than 4 months of being on my own and wishing Lett was with me, I am finally on my way home where Lett and I will pack up the house, put most of our belongings into storage, say goodbye to freinds and family, and then head off to Mebourne to spend Christmas with family, and then on boxing day we will fly to Singapore where we will spend 4 nghts, and then finally to Dhaka in time for New Years.
On my way home I have been fortunate to be able to have a 3 night stop-over in Kuala Lumpur andanother 2 nights in Bangkok. It has been many years since I visited either of these cities, and had mixed feelings about staying over because back in the eighties, both KL and Bangkok where big, dirty and very noisy Asian cities, wwhich most of the time you couldn't wait to get out; but I was pleasantly surprised to find that both cities have undergone huge traansformations in regard to cleanliness, service, infrastructure and traansport, and noise (no horns honking 24 hours per day as was the case years ago, and like Dhaka is now). The other really amazing change is the taxis in Bangkok, which are now very heavily regulated, which means that almost every cab is new, very clean, and properly metered. A lot of the drivers can't speak or understand much English, but this too is not a problem because you just need to get someone at your hotel to write dowwn in Thai where you need to go. The airport has a great system whereby every passenger is given a docket with the name of the cab driver, where you are going and the approximate cost, so if you have any problems you just call the Taxi regulator office and you have all the details. Taxis in both KL and Bangkok are also still a very cheap way of getting around (about $3 will get you to pretty much anywhere within the CBD. Tuk-tuks are still a fun and cheap way of getting around Bangkok, but you need to haggle for the price before setting off, and many of the drivers get commissions so will try to take you to other places that you maybe don't want to go - can take a firm hand to make sure that you go only where you want to go, and at a reaasonaable price.
While in KL I stayed out at Bangi which is about 45 minutes drive from the KL city, in a very luxurious resort that serves the locaal golf course (frequented by thousands of Japanese every year), and the many industries based in Bangi which has become Malaysia's industrial capital. My main purpose in visiting Malaysia was to finalise a contract with Carrier Air Conditioning, but as this took less than a day, I had plenty of time to go shopping and sight seeing. I went to China Town where I bought plenty of copies of big brand name clothes, Central Market which has a fantastic array of local handicrafts, clothing, and knick-knacks. I aalso visited the iconic Petronis Twin Towers, and had a great night at the faamous Beach Club nightclub. I also spent many hours just walking around the city, checking out the sights and the many little road-side markets and stalls, not to mention eating heaps of fantastic Malay food. I also sent an afternoon out at Putri Jaya, which is Malaysia's new capital city. It is being built from scratch, and was started in 2000, and planned for completion in 2015. It is an amazing place, where everything has been designed by some of the world's best architects and engineers. Unfortunately after spending about 2 hours walking around the Central Mosque and Prime Ministers; Office end of the city, it started to pour with rain, which meant that I could only see the parts of the city, which contain all of the government offices, spectaacular bridges, and residential areas, from inside of the car - hence no photos of these areas. There is almost no private enterprise or no government employee housing in Putri Jaya, which has been set up exclusively for government offices only. However, just outside of the Putri Jaya boundary is Cyber Jaya, which is Malaysia's veersion of Silicon Valley and where it's booming IT manufacturing industry iss located. The Prime Ministers office and nearby residence, are both spectacular, but also in my opinion a gross waste of tax payers money. Putra Jaya also has housing for every government employee working in the city, all of whom have the option of purchasing their house or apartment, but if they leave the government they have to seel their house back to the government. No one other than governmeent employees can live in Putra Jaya; this city is for public servants only.
From KL I flew onto Bangkok on Royal Jordanian Airlines whom I was very impressed with ($200 AUS for Business Class). The aircraaft was very clean and well maintaained, the staaff exceptionally friendly (even the Captain came down and chatted to the passengers while waiting to take off), and the food and wine list was very impressive.
On my first day in Bangkok I took a taxi to the Royal Palace which is spectacular to say the least (just beware of the many touts trying to sell you tickets to alternative locations and tours, and the pick pockets). Inside the grounds of the Royal Palace is the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Thailand's most revered religious artifact), as well as the Royal family museum which is very interesting and contains items dating back over a thousand years to the start of the Rama dynasty. From the Royal Palace I walked to the Temple of the Reclining Budda, which at 150 feet long and covered in gold gild, is an amazing sight. After that I took a Tuk tuk to the Chatajuk markets which only operate on the weekend and are huge (you could spend an entire weekend walking around and still not see everything. Although the thing that I like most about this market is the distinct lack of foriegners which means that prices are generally better and theere is almost no hum-bugging by stall owners to come in and buy there items, there is also a lot less haggling over price because you know that the starting price is already pretty close to the mark. After having an great meal (crispy pork belly with bokchoy, and some BBQ chicken kebabs at on eof the locaal food stalls, I then had the not so bright idea to work my dinner off by walking back to the hotel, which didn't look far on my GPS. Well after 3 hours of very brisk walking I finally made it back to my room, where I quickly changed and caught a taxi down to Soi Cowboy which is one of Bangkok's (in)famous bar districts. However, like the rest of the city these areas such as Patpong and Nana Plaza have also had a complete mack-over and the Go Go bars aare only a part of what they offer. I spent about 3 hours just relaxing at a couple of different beer bars from where I watched the antics of the Go Go girkls trying to lure cusstomers into their dance arenas, the street hawkers trying to sell their wares and food, and the amazed looks on some of the obviously first time visitors as they walked through the maze of neon lights and scantily clad girls.
On my lst day in Bangkok, I went to a local spa which the concierge had recommedned, and had a 2 hours Thai massage. For those who have never had a Thai maassage, it is borderline between excrutiating pain (how those tiny Thai girls caan put so much pressure on every muscle and nerve is amazing), and incredible bliss 9after the pain has subsided. I am now ready to face the final leg of my journey back to Ausstralia (9 1/2 hours from Bangkok to Sydney, 3 hour stop-over, and then 4 1/2 hours Sydney to Darwin).
This time tomorrow, I will be home again and with Lett.
The famous Beach Club in KL
Putra Jaya, Malayasia's new capital
On my way home I have been fortunate to be able to have a 3 night stop-over in Kuala Lumpur andanother 2 nights in Bangkok. It has been many years since I visited either of these cities, and had mixed feelings about staying over because back in the eighties, both KL and Bangkok where big, dirty and very noisy Asian cities, wwhich most of the time you couldn't wait to get out; but I was pleasantly surprised to find that both cities have undergone huge traansformations in regard to cleanliness, service, infrastructure and traansport, and noise (no horns honking 24 hours per day as was the case years ago, and like Dhaka is now). The other really amazing change is the taxis in Bangkok, which are now very heavily regulated, which means that almost every cab is new, very clean, and properly metered. A lot of the drivers can't speak or understand much English, but this too is not a problem because you just need to get someone at your hotel to write dowwn in Thai where you need to go. The airport has a great system whereby every passenger is given a docket with the name of the cab driver, where you are going and the approximate cost, so if you have any problems you just call the Taxi regulator office and you have all the details. Taxis in both KL and Bangkok are also still a very cheap way of getting around (about $3 will get you to pretty much anywhere within the CBD. Tuk-tuks are still a fun and cheap way of getting around Bangkok, but you need to haggle for the price before setting off, and many of the drivers get commissions so will try to take you to other places that you maybe don't want to go - can take a firm hand to make sure that you go only where you want to go, and at a reaasonaable price.
While in KL I stayed out at Bangi which is about 45 minutes drive from the KL city, in a very luxurious resort that serves the locaal golf course (frequented by thousands of Japanese every year), and the many industries based in Bangi which has become Malaysia's industrial capital. My main purpose in visiting Malaysia was to finalise a contract with Carrier Air Conditioning, but as this took less than a day, I had plenty of time to go shopping and sight seeing. I went to China Town where I bought plenty of copies of big brand name clothes, Central Market which has a fantastic array of local handicrafts, clothing, and knick-knacks. I aalso visited the iconic Petronis Twin Towers, and had a great night at the faamous Beach Club nightclub. I also spent many hours just walking around the city, checking out the sights and the many little road-side markets and stalls, not to mention eating heaps of fantastic Malay food. I also sent an afternoon out at Putri Jaya, which is Malaysia's new capital city. It is being built from scratch, and was started in 2000, and planned for completion in 2015. It is an amazing place, where everything has been designed by some of the world's best architects and engineers. Unfortunately after spending about 2 hours walking around the Central Mosque and Prime Ministers; Office end of the city, it started to pour with rain, which meant that I could only see the parts of the city, which contain all of the government offices, spectaacular bridges, and residential areas, from inside of the car - hence no photos of these areas. There is almost no private enterprise or no government employee housing in Putri Jaya, which has been set up exclusively for government offices only. However, just outside of the Putri Jaya boundary is Cyber Jaya, which is Malaysia's veersion of Silicon Valley and where it's booming IT manufacturing industry iss located. The Prime Ministers office and nearby residence, are both spectacular, but also in my opinion a gross waste of tax payers money. Putra Jaya also has housing for every government employee working in the city, all of whom have the option of purchasing their house or apartment, but if they leave the government they have to seel their house back to the government. No one other than governmeent employees can live in Putra Jaya; this city is for public servants only.
From KL I flew onto Bangkok on Royal Jordanian Airlines whom I was very impressed with ($200 AUS for Business Class). The aircraaft was very clean and well maintaained, the staaff exceptionally friendly (even the Captain came down and chatted to the passengers while waiting to take off), and the food and wine list was very impressive.
On my first day in Bangkok I took a taxi to the Royal Palace which is spectacular to say the least (just beware of the many touts trying to sell you tickets to alternative locations and tours, and the pick pockets). Inside the grounds of the Royal Palace is the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Thailand's most revered religious artifact), as well as the Royal family museum which is very interesting and contains items dating back over a thousand years to the start of the Rama dynasty. From the Royal Palace I walked to the Temple of the Reclining Budda, which at 150 feet long and covered in gold gild, is an amazing sight. After that I took a Tuk tuk to the Chatajuk markets which only operate on the weekend and are huge (you could spend an entire weekend walking around and still not see everything. Although the thing that I like most about this market is the distinct lack of foriegners which means that prices are generally better and theere is almost no hum-bugging by stall owners to come in and buy there items, there is also a lot less haggling over price because you know that the starting price is already pretty close to the mark. After having an great meal (crispy pork belly with bokchoy, and some BBQ chicken kebabs at on eof the locaal food stalls, I then had the not so bright idea to work my dinner off by walking back to the hotel, which didn't look far on my GPS. Well after 3 hours of very brisk walking I finally made it back to my room, where I quickly changed and caught a taxi down to Soi Cowboy which is one of Bangkok's (in)famous bar districts. However, like the rest of the city these areas such as Patpong and Nana Plaza have also had a complete mack-over and the Go Go bars aare only a part of what they offer. I spent about 3 hours just relaxing at a couple of different beer bars from where I watched the antics of the Go Go girkls trying to lure cusstomers into their dance arenas, the street hawkers trying to sell their wares and food, and the amazed looks on some of the obviously first time visitors as they walked through the maze of neon lights and scantily clad girls.
On my lst day in Bangkok, I went to a local spa which the concierge had recommedned, and had a 2 hours Thai massage. For those who have never had a Thai maassage, it is borderline between excrutiating pain (how those tiny Thai girls caan put so much pressure on every muscle and nerve is amazing), and incredible bliss 9after the pain has subsided. I am now ready to face the final leg of my journey back to Ausstralia (9 1/2 hours from Bangkok to Sydney, 3 hour stop-over, and then 4 1/2 hours Sydney to Darwin).
This time tomorrow, I will be home again and with Lett.
The view from my room at the Hotel Equatorial Resort in Bangi - Malaysia
The beautiful pool and grounds of the resort where I stayed in Bangi
One of the few remnants of Colonial rule still preserved in KL - St Andrews Prebyterian Church (unlike Singapore which retains aa lot of it's colonial era buildings, KL seems to have obliteratted almost all trace of it's colonial heritage, which I believe is linked to it's Muslim culture).
The very impressive Petronis Twin Towers
The state owned Public Bank of Malaysia
The KL city skyline
The famous Beach Club in KL
Putra Jaya, Malayasia's new capital
The Office of the Prime Minister
The Prime Minister's Residence
The National Mosque (holds 15,000 people inside and as many again in the external courtyard)
The National Library
The main strip looking towards the business end of the city
Towards the Pime Minister's Office
There are a total of 8 bridges across the river, each one different,and many of them engineering marvels
Looking across the river to the residential area
Various views of Putra Jaya
Bangkok
The Royal Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha
The Emerald Buddha
Many of these Bonsai Trees are over 100 years old
The old and the new palace defences
Temple of the Reclining Buddha
The symbol of Bangkok - the Tuk Tuk
Sights around Bangkok
Ministry of Defence
Office of the Prime Minister
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