2005
“I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.” — Mark Twain
Marvellous Malaysia – 2005 
Our 2004 holiday had been our first holiday in fifteen years. I was made redundant in 1995, after which I started my own company, so there was little cash left for holidays after funding the company and living. Prior to ’95, with two high school children still at home, we could not afford holidays, so our ‘holidays’ were all based around home – it was cheaper. We enjoyed the Malaysian visit in 2004 on the way home from the UK, so much so that we decided to have a holiday, just in Malaysia in 2005.
During the research period, two friends asked if we wanted company because they liked what we had told them about Kuala Lumpur. Of course we agreed, so I started planning for four. A couple of weeks later another couple asked if they could join us, and I revised my plans to accommodate six. By September the party of holidaymakers had grown to eight. All of us had been friends of the person who died in May 2004.
After checking the Internet prices I approached a number of travel agents for a ‘good deal’ on eight tickets to Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysian Airlines offered the best deal, via one of the agents, so I booked for a departure on Sunday the 13th March 2005.
A timetable was produced, with suggested accommodation and the number of nights in each. The holiday was to be ten days, and I wanted to keep it under $2,000 per person for all transport and accommodation and sightseeing. The group agreed the basic timetable and estimated costs and I was asked to arrange everything.
To get us all to the airport it was cheaper to hire a minibus, with driver, than mess about with separate cars or taxis. At that time there were a couple of companies in our area that specialised in this type of work so by the use of a few e-mails, rates were obtained, and our own dedicated minibus was arranged. The minibus would collect us all from a single meeting point, my home, and return us at the end of the holiday. A single pick up was much cheaper than four individual pickups.
The flight was a Sunday afternoon departure that arrived in KL around 9.00pm. The travel agent had arranged for a local Malaysian company to meet us with a minibus large enough for eight Aussies and their suitcases and hand baggage. We cleared customs & immigration quite quickly, and made our way to the meeting place. Within a short time the area became very quiet as most of the other passengers caught buses or taxis to their destination. This was when I started to have misgivings – where was our transport? It had taken about an hour to clear customs an immigration so it was now around 10.20 pm. I tried to ring the local phone number, that the Sydney agent supplied, but all I heard was the normal message about their opening hours – they would not be open at 10.30pm on a Sunday night!
I left the others, who didn’t seem to be all that concerned, (innocents abroad?) and went in search of transport for the sixty-minute drive to the hotel. My first effort at arranging a group holiday had fallen at the first fence!
Fortunately I met a young Malaysian who could see that I was a little ‘concerned’ and he arranged for another minibus to take us in to the city. Of course we had to pay again (I had already paid the Sydney travel company when I made the booking).
This experience was a steep learning curve for me, and it was the last time I relied on anyone else to handle the meet & greet part of our holidays.
Because Maureen and I had such a pleasant experience in 2004, at our request the agent booked us in to the Renaissance Hotel We were in our rooms just after midnight (our body clock was 3.00 am Sydney time) – the phone rang at 8.00am – it was the original company telling me that they thought we were arriving on Monday i.e that day! The young Malaysian, who helped us at the airport, must have informed them of our arrival. At the end of the holiday I wrote to his company to let them know how helpful he had been and we were not even his clients.
The caller was very apologetic and asked if I had a receipt for the transport. Of course I did, so they sent a messenger around with the cash to reimburse my expenses along with a written apology from the manager. I couldn’t fault their service recovery.
We used this company later for additional ground transport.
In the meantime, we all wanted to see Malacca (now spelt Melaka) so I asked the Sydney agent for a rate for a day trip. The drive to Malacca was about two hours from KL, mainly freeway driving.
The Sydney agent’s rate (which was to include lunch) would be AUD $53 per person, which I thought was rather expensive. I contacted a travel agent in Kuala Lumpur and asked for a a day rate for a minibus and an English speaking driver who would also act as our guide. They came back with RM 380 for the day. At that time, this equated to AUD $129.00 or $16.13 per person – but we would have to buy our own lunch! I knew from my time at sea that in the heat of the tropical day we would eat very little for lunch, but we would need plenty of water. We booked with the KL agent.
Because the KL agent’s Malacca rate was so much cheaper than the Sydney agent, we also used him for a three and a half hour morning sightseeing trip around KL – the cost was $8 each for our own air-conditioned minibus.
We were shown the Sultan’s Palace, War Memorial, the main Malaysian Mosque, the meeting of the two rivers (the Klang and Gombak) which gives Kuala Lumpur its name – Kuala means junction and Lumpur means muddy – KL means ‘muddy river junction’.
Sultan’s Palace War Memorial Main Mosque
We also visited a batik factory, Selanger Club, the Old Railway station, drove through China town, visited an Indian temple and then back to KLCC (the Petronas Twin Towers) for lunch.
We all thought that the $8 cost was well worth the trip.
The following day was Melaka
Christ Church Flor de la Mar
Our time in Malacca was all too short and we vowed to return one day and book over night accommodation.
Inside the replica of the Portuguese sailing vessel Flor de la Mar, is a maritime museum, which I found very interesting. If you feel energetic, and the heat doesn’t bother you too much, a climb to the top of St John’s Fort would give a great view across the town and out to sea. The whole town is steeped in history – if you have the chance, do visit Malacca.
Back at KL it was happy hour – buy one and get the next one free – around the Renaissance pool – a great way to relax after a long day and the heat.
One can not visit KL without visiting the shops – at that time Times Square was advertised as the largest shopping complex in Asia – I have my doubts, but they did have a full scale ‘thrill ride’ i.e a switch back ride, all under the one roof, which is called the
‘Supersonic Odyssey’
The only way to go shopping!
In the afternoon we visited Petaling Street – the street famous for its fakes, from DVDs & CDs to famous named handbags. I think the only thing that was for sale that was original, was the beer in the Swiss Hotel, which is right on Petaling Street.
We decided to have a cold drink at this hotel and were sitting outside on the pavement when suddenly the stallholders started to frantically dismantle the stalls and pack up their goods. It was a raid by Malaysian customs. The ‘genuine’ fakes disappeared faster than snow in the summer. During the raid a crowd gathered near us and seemed quite agitated. It turned out that one of the stallholders, an elderly man, in his rush not to be caught had a heart attack and died on the street.
Within an hour the raid was over and the stallholders were setting up their stalls once again. It had a feeling that a shower of rain had caused the close down and now that it had passed it was business as usual.
If one is buying DVDs the stalls have portable DVD players to allow you to check the quality. Some copies of major films have been filmed with a hand held camera in the cinema, which includes the coughs and sneezes of the audience. Buyer should beware.
Of course, as one of our group works in the funeral industry we had to take photographs of the local coffin supplier.
After four nights in KL we packed our bags and left in two hired vehicles for the Cameron Highlands. These Highlands were very popular with the British during the colonial times. The building of ‘imperial belvederes’, as Robert Aiken, the hill station historian, called the bungalows and hotels, were practical as well as symbolic.
The original idea was for sanatoriums to preserve the health of the British in the tropics. In time these bungalows and hotels, miles away from the tropical heat of the low land areas, became a world of their own. The highlands were named after William Cameron in 1885.
What used to take days before the road had been hacked out and upgraded, took us four hours from KL to the Strawberry Park Resort.
We did a two hours drive on a freeway and then climbed the highlands via a very winding road that took a further two hours. A few of us were affected by the vehicles swing around curve after curve of the road. Once at the top the view was spectacular and the sickness soon left us. The hotel was my choice, but booked by the travel agent. Each room had a small balcony with bougainvillea flowers around the railing.
The local town, a short taxi ride away, was Tanah Rata.
The following day we hired a local minibus and driver for a four and a half hour drive around the area. We visited a flower and cactus farm, a tea plantation, a butterfly farm with insects and the local flower and veg market.
Cameron Highlands is famous for the strawberry farms. We tasted strawberries with real taste, on their own, with cream and scones, as a milkshake – the berries grow all the year round. About 7% of the land is used for towns and farming, the remainder is still tropical jungle. We found the area very interesting with its own mystery of Jim Thompson, the founder of the modern Thai silk industry. On Easter Sunday 1967, he was 61 years old, and staying at Moonlight Cottage, which is very close to the Strawberry Park Resort. He liked to walk alone and left the cottage at 3.00pm and was never seen again. A massive search with local trackers took place but they have never been able to find his body or any signs of where he went. Thompson’s sister, living in Philadelphia at the time was found murdered in August of 1967. This helped build the ‘mystery’ of the missing man. It was a year to the day that Thompson’s dog, in Bangkok, went missing and has never been found.
As much as we enjoyed the Cameron Highland, we only allowed ourselves two nights at the Strawberry Park Resort before moving on to Penang. It was a four and a half hour drive. For the first hour and a half we descended the Highlands, via a different route than we used to get to the top. It was a much better road, wider and with far less bends, more like a mini freeway.
The new (to me) bridge joining Penang Island and the mainland of Malaysia is magnificent. It is 13.5 km long. Although opened in 1985 it has already been expanded from a four lane to a six-lane highway. Click on the bridge link for more details.
Malaysia is in the process of building another bridge between Penang and the mainland, which will be 24 km long and will be the longest bridge in S.E. Asia
Our destination was the Bayview Beach Resort at Ferranghi Beach. We had a ‘side on’ room, which gave us a view of the ocean, and also allowed us to look inland to the hills.
The beds were huge, and one member of our group commented that he was glad that he had two mobile phones as this allowed him to talk to his wife when they were in bed. The bathroom was one of the largest I have seen with a full size bath with a shower over the bath and a separate shower, which was big enough to invite ‘friends’ to join you. The hotel was right on the beach with plenty of lawn to separate the sandy beach from the hotel’s pool area.
We stayed for four nights at $79 a room per night, which included breakfast for two; it was great value as the hotel was listed as a four star.
After checking in to the Bayview we strolled around Batu Ferringhi (it means ‘foreigners rock’ in English) and decided to have dinner at a Chinese restaurant a short walk from the hotel. The tables were outside in a courtyard area, where we were entertained by a large number of monkeys running along the power and phone wires, which were strung across the road. At least they kept their distance and just shouted at us during our meal.
As night began to fall the stallholders started to rig their stalls. Some were lit with kerosene lamps and others, with the help of a small generator, electricity. Trestle tables piled high with goods for sale soon attracted us. The market stretched for two or more kilometres along the beach side of the main road. The other side of the road was a mixture of small bars and restaurants. If you didn’t feel like walking trishaws were available for hire. The atmosphere of the place encourages slow strolling, fingering the goods and buying after bartering with the stallholder. Although enjoyable, the choice of goods offered was not as comprehensive as the market in Pateling Street, Kuala Lumpur.
There are a number of travel agents along the road, so, during our stroll we booked a minibus for a tour of Penang Island for the following morning.
The tour was four hours. As today was a Sunday we visited a flea market, which is only open on Sundays – it was more for the locals than the tourists, but the batteries for cameras, torches etc were cheap. This was followed by visit to a snake farm, a snake temple (quite interesting) and China Town. It was hot, so four hours sight seeing was enough, back to the hotel for a lazy afternoon at the pool.
The following day we hired another minibus to see the botanical gardens, they were beautiful, but we had to keep an eye out for the monkeys, as they would steal handbags etc.
Next stop was the Peak Railway.
The ride to the top was about thirty minutes, with stops at a couple of small stations on the way. Although the view on the day we arrived was not as good as I have seen in photos, due to air pollution I think, it was still dramatic and well worth the trip. In 2010 they stopped the service for an upgrade and now, according to reports, the trip will only take ten minutes. It is a shame as the ride in the train is a big part of the pleasure of visiting the Peak. At the Peak there are old wooden rail cars that were used many years ago. Check this link for some great photos of the Peak railway system.
The oldest mosque in Penang was our next stop followed by Chinese Clan houses, and then Fort Cornwallis and the Francis Light Museum.
Fort Cornwallis,
The end of our sightseeing was at the Farquhar Bar at the Eastern and Oriental Hotel. This hotel is a real oasis for those suffering from the heat of the day. We were so impressed with the E & O that we promised we would return one day to stay overnight. The E & O has now become one of our favourite hotels.
Farquhar Bar at the E & O.
Being from Australia we had heard so much about Butterworth in Malaysia that we just had to go and see the place where our forces used to be based.
We caught the ferry across to the mainland and passed through waters that brought back many memories for me. As a young man, in my teens and early twenties, during my time at sea, a regular port of call was Penang. At that time we anchored off shore and worked cargo in to lighters and barges. After forty years ships still anchored off Penang and worked cargo.
Ships working cargo. Penang ferry to the mainland.
The ferry trip is about ten minutes and on arrival at Butterworth, after passing what appeared to be a type of railway museum, we found a couple of taxis to take us to the military camp. The town is not a tourist destination. The military base is now a Malaysian base.
The following day was our last day in Penang. The island is called the Pearl of the Orient, and it is a pearl of a place. During our time in Ferringhi we met a Dutch couple that had just arrived for their 26th or 27th visit. We were told that Penang grows on you; I think this is true.
Penang is a cross roads between the East and the West. Fortunately many of its building have been preserved and to walk down certain streets is to walk in to the past.
Clan Houses One of the many older buildings
The smell, the ambience of the place took me back forty years to my youth. With such scenes it was easy to imagine being a spice trader a hundred years ago.
Tomorrow we leave for home.
We were away for eleven nights and the cost per person came in lower than my original estimate of $2,000. It came in at $1,747.00, which included airfares, bed and breakfast, tours and all transport to the Cameron Highlands and from the Highlands to Penang. Airport transfers to the city and from Ferringhi to Penang airport, I was happy with the price as it was cheaper than similar travel agent packages, and we controlled the pace and places that we wished to see.
We were in the minibus from Sydney Airport to our homes, when someone shouted ‘Where are we going next year?’
It was nice to know that people enjoyed themselves so much that they were willing to risk another holiday arranged by an amateur.
