Skip to main content

Singapore-Malaysia Trip Highlights


"I'd like to blog each night while we are on the road," I told my partner about this plan prior to our two-week Singapore-Malaysia trip. He replied I could but would never do it; he knew I'm getting lazier when it comes to writing travel posts and essays. So before our recent experience will just fade into the background like most of my wanders for the past three years, allow me to enumerate five highlights of our Singapore-Malaysia trip, one for each area we visited. 

Singapore



Escaping from the bustling city life, we tried one of the recommended nature trails in Singapore. We originally planned to take the 6-km trail to and from their tree-top walk, but since we didn't want to take the same way back to the starting point, we continued trekking the MacRitchie reservoir nature trail until we saw the main highway. For five hours (about 13 kilometers, including breaks and photoshoots), we experienced Singapore from a different, green perspective. Apparently, though the country is known for its unique, modern architecture such as the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Art Museum, it has preserved thick rainforests that house a vast array of plants and animals. Along the way, we saw lizards, squirrels, turtles and colonies of monkeys that made our day. 

Cameron Highlands, Malaysia



We signed up for a group tour in Cameron Highlands to make our stay in this cool area time-efficient. Among the four destinations, the one-hour trek in the creepily beautiful mossy forest was the most exciting and interesting for me. The roots and branches of trees are covered with moss, fern and other cold-seeking plants. Our amiable guide shared fun facts and trivia about various plants (wild orchids, snow-like moss, mint shrub, etc.) we could find in the area.

Penang, Malaysia



A visitor needs a day to explore Penang National Park and see its beaches, lakes and infrastructure, but unfortunately, we didn't have sufficient time for all its features. We have reserved our afternoon for other popular spots in the historical island. Luckily, on our way to the hanging bridge, we sighted a couple of water monitor lizards on the beach. One of them hurriedly passed by the pathway, which allowed us to estimate it's about 3-5 meters in length (from head to tail). After our walk, we rested at an area where the said beach is visible, and bingo! Dan spotted the lizard swimming in the sea. It noticed we tried to get closer for a better photo, so it hid away from us. In the photo above, you can only see the head and upper part of its body. It almost looks like one of the rocks. Camouflage, amazing!

Langkawi, Malaysia



Langkawi, a touristy archipelago in northwestern Malaysia, uses Brahminy Kite as its symbol. One of the guides told me that in the Malay language, "lang" means eagle and "kawi" means brown. Curious, we took the mangrove tour to see how they behave in Langkawi Geopark, and there right before our eyes, we saw more than a dozen of eagles freely flying in the sky. Seeing their wings flap unhesitatingly was sheer joy. I have seen some of the biggest eagles in the world as I live close to the Philippine Eagle Center, but regrettably they are caged due to extinction.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia



Entering the National Mosque of Malaysia wasn't part of the plan. While waiting for Dan finishing his sketch, I walked around the compound and read that they actually have visiting hours. Since we only had a few minutes to wait, we joined the queue for the purple robes. The in-charge handed to me an oversized one and covered up my head with a hijab. The mosque seems bigger when you're inside the building. Its statue-less design, square columns and no-footwear-inside policy told me it's totally different from the Catholic churches. This experience is definitely a milestone not only in my travel diary but in my life as well. More insights in one of my future blogs.

We have more "first times" to share about our Singapore-Malaysia trip, so I hope I will be a prolific blogger for the rest of the month.

Comments

  1. Great post Kit. Cant wait to read more of your travel tales about this recent trip. Will use this for my own trip too this Sept.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Olan, sure no worries. Thanks for dropping by.

      Delete

Post a Comment