You must be thinking “WHAT?! Yet another fabulous holiday for the Malaysian Volunteers?! When will they end?!” Well, fortunately we have many more holidays planned for the remaining time we are here! It’s not over yet!
ALSO, hold on to your seats folks for I, Holly Busby, have actually managed to attach PHOTOS! Well done me. I love these technological advances 🙂 Look at me. I’m improving.
Project Trust: What did you learn during your year overseas?
Me: Well…let me blow your minds…
This weeks holiday was spent in Singapore and Bali (see title)
Singapore
As you can see, Singapore is just near the edge of Malaysia. So, to start off our trip we all met up in Kuala Lumpur for St Patrick’s Day! Much booze, little time!
From said meeting point we got a bus from Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS) that Reagan had booked. It was a little bit of a hassle when we got to the bus station as it was absolutely heaving with people and we had to wait in a queue for DAYS just to get a ticket to confirm we had already paid for the bus. It was ridiculous. I would say we nearly missed our bus but due to everything in Malaysia being 3 hours late anyway, we still had to wait at least half an hour for it to arrive anyway.
The bus journey took a long time, so I did what I do best and slept. A lot. It was a nightmare once we reached Singapore as we had to get off the bus, then back on the bus, then back off again then regroup and get back on and then finally we got off to go through immigration which took surprisingly a long time considering there was no one around. Once through immigration we waited for the bus to come back and pick us up.
And we waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Long story short – the bus never came.
It had ABANDONED us. Which was really annoying because it meant
- We had missed a good few hours of seeing Singapore
- We now had to FIND other transport to get us into the main part of Singapore, which is just too much effort for a bunch of people who had been getting on and off and on and off a bus for about 2 hours, and had then been waiting for said bus to come back and collect them, but being left disappointed.
Anyway, we found transport. Thank God. It drove us into the part of Singapore we needed to be. Then taxi searching. Oh yes, the joys of taxi searching. As there always seems to be at least 5 or 6 of us at one time, it makes looking for a taxi, very difficult. We usually need two, at least, but then only one person knows the address of the destination and only one person has the correct currency and its all just a massive faff. But somehow we managed that too. Go us!
Once we arrived at the hotel, we ditched our bags to go get some cash and then, after all that faffing, we got to go out. We got a taxi to Clarke Quay (which sounded a little bit like Kluckey when the receptionist told us) and headed to the bars! As we were all starving by this point, the first destination was food. Always food. So, as we were in Singapore, we thought “Vietnamese?”
It was delicious. No regrets.
I got to try a Singapore Sling too which is THE BEST cocktail I have ever had the pleasure to gulp down in hopes of intoxication.
Kyle mentioned that the 10th best club in the world, Zouk, was just round the corner from where we were eating so we decided to give it a try! But we don’t do queues and this one was an extremely long, boring one. So we decided, no. Instead, we sat at a table in a bar and had a couple of drink for our first night in Singapore. Glorious.
The following day, which I believe was a Sunday, we thought we’d see Singapore, the best parts, as we’re so cultural and open minded. So obviously we headed to Universal Studios. Despite the lack of cultural experience, I had an amazing time. It was a bit strange to be back in this world of English speaking people and hanging with Alex the Lion and looking around Jurassic Park. Are you jealous, Tom? (Who am I kidding, Tom doesn’t read my blog!)
We then had dinner at the Hard Rock Café AND I WASN’T VERY WELL! I’m angry and disappointed. We went to see Gardens By The Bay afterwards. Well the others did, I saw the toilets at Gardens By The Bay. And very lovely they were too…
The others headed out that night to try and get into Zouk again while I stayed in the hotel room and showed Kara what I had for dinner. She wasn’t that interested in seeing it unfortunately. I got as much sleep as you can get with your bum on the toilet and head in the sink and then the others got back and we headed to the airport for our flight to Bali!
Bali
If you go and have another look at the map, you can get a bit of an idea where abouts Bali is.
We got the flight veeerrryyyyy eeeeeaaarrrlllyyyyyy. I was still dying a little bit which was not good because the others wanted to get something to eat. So they walked through the airport searching for food while I crawled behind them. Yes crawled. That is no exaggeration. I purchased some motion sickness tablets and paracetamol. Not for the sickness, to throw at people if they asked me to do anything productive.
So anyway, I died and we arrived in Bali. Apparently there was a beautiful sunrise which the other took pictures of while my emaciated corpse lay across a young couple with a baby who I happened to be sitting next to.
Bali was not what I expected. Now this isn’t to say I wasn’t taken aback by how wonderful it was, but it was seriously the opposite of what I had in mind. First of all, there were no main roads? Now considering it was meant to be ‘Australia’s Ibiza’ I had more of an open plan in mind, but it was nothing like that. There were little stalls up and down the roads, although I don’t think you can even call them roads, they were more like little pathways that are just big enough to fit an average sized car down.
On arrival at the hotel, we were all behind exhausted, but FEAR NOT! WE ARE NOT WEAK! We first headed to the hotel restaurant where I ordered a salad and ate about three leaves and 2 slices of chicken due to my stomach shrinkage. We then had a quick game of Cards Against Humanity and then we were allowed to go up to the rooms and get ready for the beach!
The taxi driver we asked to take us to the beach decided to become our own personal chauffeur! Which was lovely. I’m 99% sure his name was Harry Potter. Very very sure. The beach he took us too was beautiful and I have never napped so hard before in my life. It was like it was a competition and I definitely won.
Later that evening, we told Mr Potter we wanted to go out for food and he replied “I have a friend” so took us to this lovely place to eat. However, it was a little pricey and not much selection, so back into Harry’s car we got and we decided to try out Potato Head. Harry replied “Ahh yes. I have a friend”. It was a beautiful place! Right on the beach! I did not expect somewhere called Potato Head to be so beautiful! Ha, no. That’s a lie. Anything even remotely linked to potatoes I think is beautiful.
After dinner, we sat in the bar of Potato Head and had a few drinks. Of course. But oh my lord the wind from the sea was so strong, I thought I might actually blow away. It was like there was a hurricane or something!
The next day of Bali, Harry took us on a tour of Bali! We got to see things like traditional Indonesian dancing (which looked a lot like shuffling about to me), silversmiths, coffee plantations, paddy fields and a waterfall. We got to try different flavours of tea and coffee which was lovely, although when I choose my hot beverage I don’t usually even glance at poo. Not ever. Poo never really comes into mind. But here it was, a hot cup of poo. Cat-poo-chino. Not my first choice, I must admit. It was unfortunately too windy and cold to jump off the waterfall or go swimming but the pictures we got were worth it! That night we all went out again! Hurrah! We ended up going to the Sky Garden which I liked very much. When we all got back we were all so tired that we slept through an earthquake. We actually slept right through! I still can’t quite believe it. 6.4 magnitude!
The Wednesday we headed to another beach later on in the day as we all woke up very late. We had to climb through a cave to get down to it! What fun. Sadly, I did not tan or even burn because the sun wasn’t out! Annoyed. That night, you guessed it, off out we went again.
The next day was activity day! We decided to do snorkelling, jet skiing and feeding turtles. Harry replied “I have a friend” so we managed to get a discount! I loved snorkelling, although after a while the sea got a little rough so we decided to get back on the boat. Well, some of us TRIED to get back on the boat. Others did not succeed…Ha. I now love turtles. I want one. Are you reading this mother, turtles. Want. Jet skiing scared me a little as the dude who was with me was what I can only describe as a psycho who wanted us to both die. But it was fun and I’m glad I did it. I didn’t even fall off.
Sea: 2 Holly: 1
Friday we spent the day looking around markets and souvenir shopping, then we headed back and spent some time in the pool at the hotel which opened up a very funny door for us all. Kyle could not find his glasses. For a very long time. We got ready to go out, still partially believing Erin had done something to them. She has a suspicious laugh. Later on, as we were just heading out of the hotel for the night, someone noticed something at the bottom of the pool. Yep. Glasses. Apparently no one had actually put them in there, although we all kind of wish we had. We stood just staring at them for a good 10 minutes before actually asking someone for help. Luckily, a nice man jumped in and got Kyles glasses back. Hero of the night. We had one last night out in Bali and then eventually headed back, napped for a few hours and then got Harry to drive us to the airport.
Bye Bye Bali.
Hannah and Erin managed to get themselves arrested at customs and the only way they were allowed in was by booking flights out of the country. Ahhh, its good to be back in Malaysia. The land of no sense.
(They weren’t actually arrested its fine, they’re alive don’t call the British government)
Reagan abandoned us for her family, selfish, and the rest of us got ready to go out for Kyle’s birthday. Woo woo. We went to Healy Mac’s first, obviously, and then moved on to a club. Kyle found out that Zouk, the famous club in Singapore, was also in KL. It had followed us back, how kind. We decided to go there, but Malaysia being wonderfully convenient you had to be 21 to get in. I AM AN ADULT! HOW DARE YOU! LET ME IN! I proceeded to think to myself quietly as I’m scared of confrontation. We tried another club but it was deader than me on the plane to Bali so we left and went to the hotel to play Cards Against Humanity.
On the last day of fun, I booked a night bus because I wanted one more day in KL. Kara left at 10 o’clock but the others stayed in KL until later that evening. Halim graced us with his wonderful presence after waiting about an hour and a half for him. But it was very nice to se him! My favourite Malaysian. Kyle then decided to abandon us too, which was rude, so Erin, Hannah and me headed to the bus station so they could also get a train.
My bus was at 9.30 so I went down the gate and waited for it to arrive.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
I seem to have done a lot of waiting this holiday. Anyway, the bus didn’t leave the terminal until midnight. I was very annoyed. I could’ve had food! I didn’t arrive back in Jeli until 8.00am the next day. Ah the joys.
Luckily for me as well I had to cover a class at 9.00am! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I managed to quickly shower and get changed and run to the school so I could make it in time for the class. I was so tired.
This week I’ve been by myself while Reagan’s been with her family. As much as I enjoy being alone and doing my own thing, I’m glad she’s back today. No one spoke to me! I need the Scottish conversation back! (Or just any conversation AT ALL)
Bali and Singapore was really fun! I really enjoyed going and I had a really good time with everyone! Singapore was very expensive but I think, when I marry a rich man, I’ll go back and see more of it, especially considering I didn’t see much else other than a toilet bowl.
I can’t wait for the next holiday (yes there is another one coming) as I just can’t get enough of seeing the world. It may just be a small section of the world, but nevertheless I want to see it! And I think if you were somewhere where it meant you were able to cheaply see different countries and cities every few months you wouldn’t be able to get enough either.
Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it!
A Malaysian Experience 