Oh yeah

Clearing of forest for Palm oil Plantations

Forgot to write about the Jungle Railway, Was probably beacuse there is not much jungle left. Very sad a lot of the jungle has been cleared and replaced with palm oil farms and rubber plantations. was still a great trip, lost of small towns and shacks along the way to check out. Just looked out the door, there is a boy feeding one of the many feral kittens and cats soy milk out of a popper, very cute!

Jungle Railway

Photo of my dorm and train station in Gemas

I caught bus from queen st bus stop to the border crossing into Malaysia. Was a very strange experience, didnt know where I was going and there were no other westerners around except me, but I managed to find my way back to the bus which took me to Johor bahru. I got through immigration and got my visa for Malaysia, valid for 3 months. Next had to find way to train station for a train to Gemas, was 4 hour trip but sat next to a lovely Malaysian man and chatted to him all the way, he pointed out things of interest along the way such as temples, workers cottages on palm oil farms and rubber farms. Got off train and found a hotel, 25RM for the night but was pretty dodgy felt more like a horse stable than a hotel room. I locked my door and went for dinner, hoping that my stuff would still be there when I got back. I walked around town looking for something to eat, got heaps of stares, no smiles, found a place to eat but I couldnt speak malay and for some reason their language wasnt in my SE Asia phrase book. So I managed to get fried rice but had to pick out the meat, finished meal and went back to my room. Was happy to find my things were still there, there were some nice guys in the halls we tried to communicate without speaking english, was interesting but neither had any idea what the other was trying to say. Today, caught the train to Jerantut which was about 4 hour ride, lovely little town people are very friendly and helpful, staying in a nice place tonight, very helpful staff can speak english too. Tomorrow I get minibus to jetty and from there catch a boat up to Taman Negara.

Singapore Zoo

Went to the night safari at Singapore zoo last night. It was an amazing experience! Caught a bus from Little India out to zoo, the ride was great, got to see a lot of vegetation very green and lush! Got there had to line up for the tram which would take us around the property, there were so many people in the lines it was quite overwhelming, literally hundreds of people! Got on tram and plunged into the jungle saw so many animals, lions, hippo, elephant, rhino all very active, eating and socializing. Stopped off for a walk deeper into the jungle to see sugar gliders and bats, the bats were centimeters from me feeding on fruit was amazing, I stood there and watched them for ages something I will never forget! Just filling in time now waiting for the currency exchange to open to convert my money to Malaysian RM. Will be catching a bus into Gemas as soon as I convert my cash, will stay there for the night then get on the jungle railway tomorrow. spending NYE deep in Teman Negara, "a buzzing, leech infested 130 million year old primary rainforest".

First day in Singapore

Woke up early in a room full of 17 guys snoring, the backpackers was terrible! As I arrived so late I was sent to a building around the block in a backstreet full of people! The showers were good but the toilet room was so tiny i had to squash myself inside to close the door. I decided to head off and look for a coffee. I found a place pretty quickly and sat with a few locals to enjoy a nice sweet milky coffee, it wasn't too bad. I spent the day wandering around Singapore, checked out Boat Quay and Clarkes Quay, had a nice walk along the river it looked pretty muddy and dirty but saw a big turtle swimming in it so couldn't be that bad. Walked through some amazing food markets full or meat, fish, veges and lots of other food. I also went to Raffles and had a Singapore Sling, very sweet! not really my thing. Going to a night safari at the zoo tonight and hopefully heading off to Malaysia tomorrow if there are free seats on the train. Hope you like the self photos hahaha!

Making comments

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Singapore

Temple in little india, Floral arrangements made in stalls all around little India, One of the many fruit stalls around town.

Arrived safely in Singapore, flight was good, found my way on train to Little India, was pretty easy as train routes here seem pretty easy to follow. Just ate a delicious veg briyani which was a mixture of curry and kinda fried rice. Bought a tiger beer from a roadside stall for 2 dollars going to go drink it while i find somewhere to sleep xxx

Merry Christmas

Hey just wishing you all a merry christmas, sorry I couldnt call to say goodbye as my mobile ran out of credit. Very excited about my trip, fly out at 1.40 tomorrow afternoon, arriving in Singapore at 7.30 pm. Will probably stay at a backpackers in Little India.