We finished up our pleasant but pretty uneventful week in Singapore on Monday with a Starbucks and an abandoned bag which sent the rattled Singapore airport security into a hilarious frenzy. However in fairness when it comes to getting though customs and bag drop, Singapore is the best I've seen so far!
Singapore was nice. It was clean and friendly and easy. Doubt I'd return even if we had the money to do it in style but I am glad I have been.
As we sat down and our Jetstar flight from Singapore to KL taxied to the runway I was asked an interesting question...the question posed by the wife was "do you even like SE Asia?" and my very prompt and honest response was not really. While I will always have fond memories of Vietnam my other experiences have been nothing short of 'just OK'. We agreed that we both don't really like this part of the world. It's not a dig at anyone who does or anyone who wishes to travel here, it's just not for us. But our honesty has meant a complete rewrite of the itinerary. We will now spend more time in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, returning home to see the great Googly Eyed Joe in HK and meet up with a couple of guns in Bali as the final destination.
This revelation and new plan of attack was made all the more emphatic upon our arrival in KL. Our hostel is in Chinatown, not far from KL Sentral. Again I don't want to offend anyone who loves it here, or wants to come, these are just my thoughts. But finding an adjective and keeping it clean is tough. The smells, to poverty, the disparity, the disfigurement and the hopelessness actually really effect and sadden me. Rats roam the streets where you eat, people barely surviving beg you for some relief, locals at best ignore you and at worst scream at you to get out of their way as they have their own problems to worry about. It's sad but I can't wait to get out of here. We head to Penang Thursday which I have heard is great and am looking forward too, then to Thailand to catch up with some amazing people. While I may have got myself a little bit worked up and needed to vent, I do not see myself other than a destination holiday or catching up with someone important ever traveling to this part of the world again. There is so much I want to see and this just isn't it.
We head to England on the 18th December, so there is still 4 weeks and we both plan to make the most of it. We will do some tourism and we will see the sights. Keep eating the local foods and keep our eyes open. The whole point of the trip tho was to find out what we don't like, what we do like and what we want to do with our lives. This is a part of that and a part of me has a sense of relief being able to be honest.
Apologies for the boring blog, promise to be more upbeat in the future, but needed to get it off my chest.
Until next time, Mighty Out
