Travel Monkeys

Singapore and Malaysia Trip Report: Days 14 and 15

May 20, 2022 – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Author: J)

After 4 long months, it is time to wrap up this trip report with our final day in Kuala Lumpur and our flight home, including a stopover at Jewel Changi.

When I planned our trip, we knew that I wanted to go to Singapore and P wanted to go to Borneo. The rest of the itinerary came together based upon flight availability in 2020. From Sandakan, our options were to return to Kota Kinabalu and fly home from there or fly to Kuala Lumpur and fly home from there. There were no flights from Sandakan to Singapore in 2020 (or in late 2021, when I rebooked our trip). The primary reason that I chose to fly via Kuala Lumpur was so that we could visit the Batu Caves. On the last day of our trip, that is where we headed.

After breakfast, we called a Grab and headed for the caves. The ride took us through some areas of KL we hadn’t had the chance to see, then through some outlying suburbs. Finally, we were dropped in front of a non-descript (other than the line of cabs) gate. Once we were through the gate, we were greeted with the jaw dropping sight of a giant golden Lord Murugan.

For those unfamiliar with the Batu Caves, it is a Hindu shrine built into a series of caves not too far from KL. It is featured in 99.999999% of YouTube videos about KL and bajillions of Instagram photos because of its photogenic set of multicolored steps. More important to our family, it is also home to a troop of macaques.

As we moved away from the gate, P huffed, “It doesn’t seem like there are any monkeys here at all.” Before the complaint had even left P’s lips, hordes of monkeys started making their way across the roofs of the complex. They were a rambunctious bunch. Two baby monkeys stole a box of plastic spoons and began throwing them about. Other headed straight for the oranges and bananas that had apparently been left for them and began fighting for the choicest bits.

Some of the reviews for the Batu Caves warn that the monkeys are aggressive. However, based upon our observations, I would describe them as paragons of restraint. While we watched, we saw tourists crowd monkeys for selfies, attempt to hand feed the monkeys, and standby without intervening while their young children attempted to pet the monkeys. None were attacked. The highlight for me was seeing a man step backwards to take a photo and inadvertently step on a monkey’s tail. The monkey responded by delivering a quick smack to the man’s bottom before scampering off. I can now say that I have seen a man spanked by a monkey.

If you do visit the Batu Caves, I would suggest giving the monkeys their space and leaving plastic bags and bottles at your hotel. The monkeys are quite adept at stealing food and, to them, plastic = snacks inside. And that’s logical from their perspective, because they are used to being offered food from plastic bags. The downside of all of this is that there was quite a lot of plastic garbage on the ground outside the caves, but there were also people hard at work cleaning up the rubbish.

After spending quite a while watching the monkeys, we headed up the steps and into the cave complex. It was mercifully cloudy and cool, which made the long climb more bearable. (Do keep in mind that you need appropriate attire to enter the temple; we saw women turned away because they wore shorts and tank tops).

Inside the cave are multiple shrines. The colorful statues would be a sight to see in any location, but they are all the more interesting inside their dramatic limestone cave setting. D, who knew nothing at all about the Batu Caves before our visit, was amazed by the experience. Given the number of YouTube videos I had watched while waiting for our trip, I can’t say that I was surprised by anything I saw. But the caves met my high expectations and then some. So, if you can avoid watching 4 or 5 dozen YouTube videos before visiting, I do think that would enhance your experience – but I would rate the Batu Caves a must visit either way.

After going inside the caves, we grabbed some drinks and took a walk to see the Hanuman statue around the side of the caves. Visiting Hanuman seemed appropriate given all of the monkeys we had just seen, and it also allowed up to stay away from the live monkeys while we had tempting drinks on our persons. Before departing the Batu Caves, we spent some additional time watching the monkeys. P was so enamored that he climbed back up the entire flight of steps to get better photos. He rated this day as one of the best in his life for the sheer quantity of individual monkeys observed.

We headed back to the gates and called a Grab, which took only a few minutes to arrive. (If you are worried about transportation, rest assured that there were also plenty of waiting cabs). Because the US was still requiring covid testing for incoming travelers at this point, our next step was to stop at Prince Court Medical Center. It took about an hour to complete our covid testing from start to finish and then we decided to walk back to the hotel.

We arrived at KLCC park after 1 and headed to the mall for lunch. If you are a foodie, you are likely to be appalled by our choice; we ate at Chili’s. Yes, that Chili’s. P has a weird obsession with the kid’s menu there and was really excited to find his old favorite halfway across the world. The Chili’s location at Suria KLCC is apparently quite popular and had a long wait. The upshot of this was that we didn’t finish our lunch until nearly 3. It was clear that we weren’t going to be hungry at 6, the time of our dinner reservation at a vegetarian restaurant in Chinatown. I tried to push our meal back, but there were no later reservations available – not surprising on a Friday night. We cancelled instead.

We spent our final afternoon relaxing by the pool at the MOKL and packing. With the time lost on covid testing, trying to cram in another sight didn’t seem doable to us. (I am sure that those of you who enjoy a more packed vacation schedule could have done better; our hope is that we will be back to KL in the future to see all that we missed).

That evening, we had a late dinner at NZ Curry House, which was recommended on TripAdvisor as a good place to eat a budget meal with a view of the Petronas Towers. Of course, D and P plopped down at the first table they saw, which had a view of the cash register, rather than the towers. But our food was good. I had a dosa – my first of the trip — and D and P each had naan and sambal. We also had our final taste of teh tarek, which someone really needs to start selling here in the states. Our entire meal worked out to less than $10 US.

After dinner, we had an enjoyable, if sweaty, walk back to MOKL. Then, we lightened our wallets by spending the rest of our ringgits on macaron from the cake shop. Since we hadn’t tasted durian yet, I took this as my opportunity to try a durian flavored treat. Back in my room, I took a bite of that cookie first – and did a spit take. It tasted how I imagine salty gym socks would taste. P wisely advised me that I couldn’t say I had given durian a fair chance yet because it was possible that whoever made the macarons was just terrible at baking. Fair point. Trying actual durian will have to wait for our next trip too.

May 21, 2022 – Changi Airport and Flight Home

The following morning, we had a final breakfast at the MOKL buffet and took a car to the airport. While waiting to check into our flight, I noticed that our covid test results identified P as “female.” (The nurse at Prince Court had been pretty set on referring to P as “my daughter” despite my repeated corrections, so I should have been more careful in reviewing the test results when they came). Fortunately, we checked into our flight with no problem. Because we had an 8-hour layover in Singapore, we checked our carry-on suitcases and headed to the gate with just our backpacks. I was glad that we had eaten a large breakfast because dining and shopping options in the KL airport were limited. (Hopefully that has improved as travel gets back to normal).

Our flight to Singapore boarded a little late, as all our prior flights had. But with a long layover, we weren’t worried. The flight itself was pleasant and our economy seats on the Singapore Airlines flight from KL to Singapore were probably the most comfortable and spacious economy seats I have experienced.

When we arrived in Singapore, we went through immigration and, after a warning to be back at least 3 hours before our flight, headed over to Jewel. (We did have to submit our arrival information for this visit even though we were there on a layover because Jewel is not in the arrivals and departures area).

We had a lot of fun at Jewel. I purchased combo tickets that included the mirror and hedge mazes, the climbing structure, and the topiary gardens. We also fit in some shopping and had dinner at a Korean Pizza place, which is apparently a thing. One thing to keep in mind is that Jewel is super popular with both travelers and locals, so you will probably have to wait for a table if you visit any of the restaurants at peak dining hours. We wisely chose to eat at 5:30, allowing us to sneak in before any of the restaurants got busy.

Around 8, we headed back to our terminal, where we cleared security and found our gate. The next few hours were tough. We struggled to stay awake until boarding started for our midnight flight. With little open in the airport, there wasn’t much to distract us from our exhaustion. It was a relief when we could finally board. We spent the 17+ hour flight from Singapore to Newark watching movies, napping, and eating. Singapore Airlines really spoiled us; I can’t imagine taking a flight of this length without the comfort and service level that SIA offered.

We landed in Newark early on Sunday morning. After a long wait for immigration and another long wait to claim our bags, my parents picked us up at the airport. We visited with them for a bit before driving home to Boston. Meanwhile, my parents boarded a plane to Italy, where they were soon to contract covid and spend 2 weeks in quarantine – but that is another story.

Singapore and Malaysia Trip Report: Day 13

May 19, 2022 – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Author: J)

If you are considering visiting Kuala Lumpur (and I hope you are), rest assured that it has lots more to offer than what my family was able to experience. By the time we reached our final destination, we had had lots of early wakeups, full days in the hot sun, and minor travel stresses. We were in need of the proverbial vacation from our vacation, and the Mandarin Oriental provided us with a great location for that vacation.

We woke up well-rested and decided to start our day with a leisurely breakfast at the hotel. The elaborate breakfast buffet at MOKL fit the bill. (While the buffet is a bit pricey, the exchange rate made it a splurge we could indulge in more than once during our stay). The buffet had pastry, Western, Chinese, Malay and Indian stations with so many options that it would take weeks to eat all of them. D and P stuck with Western choices again, while I did my best to sample a little bit of everything. I was particularly excited to try the nasi lemak station because I had not yet tried this ubiquitous Malaysian dish.

Once we were all over-stuffed, we headed out for the day’s activities. Our original plan had been to visit the bird park. But P was not feeling up to a whole day out in the heat. He requested that we instead visit Aquaria KLCC, which had the advantage of air conditioning. The aquarium was just a short walk from MOKL, a walk that gave us the chance to enjoy KLCC park. We arrived at the aquarium, which is located in the lowest level of the KL Convention Center, just as it was opening.

In total, we spent maybe 90 minutes in the aquarium. It is modern, with interesting exhibits, but not very large. The highlight is the moving walkway that goes through a tunnel underneath an enormous aquarium tank. Unfortunately, once you go through the tunnel, there is no way to turn around and visit other exhibits. This led to some disappointment as we had skipped over certain exhibits due to crowds with plans to revisit them.

I will never not laugh at this picture of D mansplaining something to a shark.

After the aquarium, we stopped in the food court in the convention center for teh tarik (yum!) and then went to Suria KLCC, a large mall, for some window shopping and lunch at the food court. P and I shared a thali from a vegetarian Indian stall and D had a sandwich (from Subway, which really is everywhere, it seems).

We spent the afternoon relaxing at the rooftop pool in MOKL. Although not as elaborate as the pool area at Shangri La, this was probably our favorite hotel pool of the trip. The pool area had lovely landscaping that made you feel like you were in a little jungle oasis in the city. And the pool staff were friendly and attentive, making sure that we had towels and water (and bar items if we were so inclined).

That evening, we had reservations at Lai Po Heen, a Cantonese restaurant at the hotel. When I originally booked the trip back in 2020, I chose this restaurant because the chef had a vegetarian tasting menu. In my zeal to recreate the elements of our original trip, I didn’t think to double-check the menu at Lai Po Heen before rebooking. Unfortunately, it turned out that the tasting menu was no more and the veg options were very limited. We did not go hungry, but we probably could have eaten better elsewhere. On the plus side, the Lai Po Heen dining room has great views of the park and excellent service.

After dinner, we went outside to watch the fountain show in the park. This free show combines lights, music and choreographed jumping fountains; from the right vantage point, you can watch the show with the lit-up Petronas Towers in the background. Enjoying the show in the perfect evening weather was another one of those moments that reminded us of how lucky we were to take this trip.

Singapore and Malaysia Trip Report -Day 12

May 18, 2022: Sabah & Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Author: J)

Our final day in Borneo was the only one without an early wakeup time. Much to P’s disappointment, we did not request a final river safari, knowing that we were in for a late night. Instead, we slept until a reasonable hour – the sun was up and everything — before heading down for our final breakfast. It was another British style meal featuring eggs, baked beans, and the like. Our boat back to Sandakan did not leave until 9:30, so there was time to savor our food.

Around 9, one of the restaurant staff told us we could board our boat. We hadn’t been given any instructions about check out, so I handed our room key to one of the restaurant staff and we headed to the dock. We were promptly sent back to the restaurant as the boat was not, in fact, ready for passengers. About 20 minutes later, we saw other guests boarding the boat and went back to the dock. This time, we were permitted to board.

As we made our way up the river, our guide received a call. The lodge staff had not been told that we had a large account credit because of our cancelled cave tour. As a result, they believed we had skipped out on our bill. I explained to the guide that we had an account credit worth more than twice the amount we had charged to our room – and requested that the surplus be distributed to the lodge staff as tips. I am hopeful that despite the confusion and disorganization at checkout, the surplus credit made it to the staff. We had already tipped our guides, but the rest of the staff was equally deserving of tips. (As an aside, we seemed to be the only guests who tipped the guides during our stay. While we understand that tipping is not customary in Malaysia – indeed, it was listed as “optional” in our Sukau booking confirmation – we were mindful of the fact that much of the lodge staff was out of work for a good portion of the pandemic).

The remainder of the boat ride was very enjoyable. Between the perfect weather and the extra sleep I had gotten, I was able to stay awake for the whole time. And since I had slept through our voyage to the lodge, everything seemed new to me on the return trip. I particularly enjoyed bouncing along as we crossed the sea on our way back to the harbor in Sandakan. The sun, the spray of the water, and the mild thrills of a speed boat ride made for a fun final leg of our trip.

In Sandakan, we docked at the now familiar boat club and, after a comfort stop at the restrooms, we piled into a bus for one last tour in Borneo. Our plan for the day was to visit the Rainforest Discovery Centre and Sandakan Memorial Park before our 6:30 pm flight to Kuala Lumpur. If there is any silver lining to having to put off our trip for two years, it is that we were able to partake in these activities. In 2020, P was a first grader and we were wary of keeping him up past his bedtime, so we booked an early flight to KL. By 2022, P was routinely staying up later than D and I, so the later flight seemed more doable.

On our way to the Rainforest Discovery Centre, we chatted with the other travelers on the bus: a couple from California and sisters from England. The Californians had just come from KL. “There’s so much to do there, but it’s all closed,” they told us. This put me into a panic. Were we going to spend our two days in KL confined to our hotel room? I posted a question to the TripAdvisor forums and was quickly reassured that life was carrying on as normal in KL. (And, at the risk of spoilers, we were able to personally visit and enjoy some of the attractions that the couple claimed were closed. The moral of this story is, I guess, never trust someone you meet on a tour bus. Ask the folks on the TA forums instead).

Our final meal in Borneo was at a restaurant near the Rainforest Discovery Center. This was my least favorite meal of the trip. I ordered a vegetable curry, which was bland and undercooked. D and P ordered noodles, which were better than the curry, but still nothing special. After lunch, the couple from California headed to the Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, while we joined the English sisters for a walk in the Rainforest Discovery Centre.

I had no idea what to expect from this stop. The description in our tour itinerary made it sound like a zoo. It was, instead, a park set in primary jungle. We started out by visiting the Canopy Walkway. I was a little nervous because the Canopy Walkway was exactly what it sounded like and I am usually afraid of heights. Fortunately, my uninterrupted string of not being a wimp on this trip continued and I was able to enjoy the walk with nary a panic attack. This was our first experience seeing primary jungle in Borneo and I was amazed at how much taller the emergent layer of trees was in this area when compared to the secondary jungle around Sukau.

We weren’t far along the walk when we noticed an unpleasant smell that our guide quickly identified as orangutan urine. Sure enough, there was an orangutan in the treetops next to the walkway; we were at eye level! Because the orang did not have any sort of tracking collar or tags, the guide was confident that it was a wild born animal. We spent some time watching and photographing the orang while our guide chatted with some local families who were out enjoying the park. His enthusiasm for sharing his love of his country’s wildlife was inspiring. Despite all of the deforestation that we saw on our trip, it does seem like there are reasons to be hopeful.

After our walk, we visited the small museum at the Centre, which had interesting exhibits on local animals and plants, including a station where you could smell spices that came from the jungle. Then we loaded back into the bus and headed to Sandakan Memorial Park. Sandakan Memorial Park sits on the sight of the former Sandakan camp, a Japanese POW camp during World War II. Most of the Allied prisoners at the camp died, many in Sandakan death marches, a series of forced marches designed to prevent the liberation of prisoners as Allied forces advanced on Borneo. Because a handful of prisoners who escaped camp survived long enough to be rescued, the museum in the park contains first-hand accounts of what the prisoners endured. They are difficult to read. The park outside the museum is peaceful and beautifully landscaped, which allowed for some reflection after learning about the camp and the death marches. I was glad we had the opportunity to visit, although I think that passing on the experience when P was younger was probably the right call. At 9, he was disturbed by what he read, but had enough maturity to process it.

Sandakan Memorial Park. Much of the prison camp was destroyed to hide what happened here; what remains is displayed along the pathways.

When we had finished at the Memorial Park, it was time to say goodbye to Borneo. Our guide dropped us at the airport where we had a long wait for our flight. It was so early that we could not yet check-in or go through security. The departures area in Sandakan airport does not have adequate seating for the number of passengers it handles, but it does have a nice selection of places to buy snacks. We treated ourselves to ice cream; it had been several days since our last dessert, after all.

We checked in for our flight at the first opportunity and headed through security to our gate where it was time for more waiting. We passed some of that time by visiting the two small gift shops and picking out a Borneo magnet. To my surprise, the clerk followed us out of the store. I was puzzled until I saw that P had a cat figurine in his hand. “You can’t take that out of the store! It’s stealing!” I screeched. P looked at me blankly for a minute; he had been so excited to show the cat to D – a cat lover – that he hadn’t considered the possibility he was committing a crime. We quickly returned the purloined cat and apologized, then returned to our seats.

What followed is a cautionary tale that I hope will spare others from the near heart attack I experienced. When boarding began, we were sent to a short line for families with children, and good thing too. We showed our tickets to the gate attendant, and we were told that we could not board because we had not cleared immigration. Apparently, it is necessary to go through immigration when traveling from the two Malaysian states on Borneo to peninsular Malaysia. That we would need to go through immigration for travel within the same country is something that never occurred to me. And because we had arrived at the airport so early, immigration wasn’t yet open when we went through security. Fortunately, immigration was just outside the gate area and the line wasn’t too long. Knowing that our plane was already boarding made the wait seem interminable, though.

When we arrived back at our gate, we were able to jump on the end of the boarding line. With a potential crisis averted, we took our seats. Malaysia Airlines gets additional thumbs up for this flight. Our very affordable ticket price included a hot meal and seatback entertainment. My favorite part of the entertainment was that any bad words in the films were dubbed over, but with words chosen to match the actor’s mouth movements, whether they made sense or not. Kudos to the crazy “son of an itch” [actual dialogue] who came up with that idea.

Of course, it was not all sunshine and bad movie dubs on our flight; we also had crying babies to contend with. On this flight, there were not one, but three babies crying, and they were positioned to give us a true surround sound experience. I chalk this up to the timing of the flight, which had us mid-flight at the baby witching hour. (If you are wondering, we did fly with P when he was a baby. Mercifully, he never cried on a plane, something that subjects you to intense judgment in the US but appeared to be no big deal for any of the passengers on our flight to KL).

Upon arrival in KL, we had a very long wait for our checked bags and then a fairly long ride to our hotel, the Mandarin Oriental. Once there, we were whisked into the lobby where we stood out like sweaty, stinky, hiking boot-clad sore thumbs in a lobby full of beautiful people dressed for a night on the town. We made our way to our room as quickly as possible where we were greeted with a big, comfy bed and an excellent view.

Singapore and Malaysia Trip Report: Day 11

May 17, 2022: Kinabatangan River, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo (Author: J)

As I mentioned – due to attraction closures — our day 11 itinerary was fairly similar to our day 10 itinerary. That meant an early wakeup for another wildlife watching cruise. Most of the travelers in our boat were interested in looking for monkeys this morning, so our guide set out for a branch of the river that usually yields good monkey sightings. Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent that our wildlife viewing would be limited to a few swiftlets and hornbills. An area palm oil plantation had set fires (not to burn down more rainforest, our guide assured us) and the smoke had sent any wildlife in the area running. I couldn’t blame them; the smoke smell made for an unpleasant journey, like sailing through a barbeque grill.

After our disappointing morning safari, we headed back to the lodge for breakfast. This morning, we had a Western style breakfast with eggs, beans, hashbrowns and the like. Since most of the items on the buffet were vegetarian friendly, we did not receive a special veg option.

We had a long gap between breakfast and our next activity, an evening safari. When we received notice that our cave tour had been cancelled, I was pretty worried about how we would fill the day. It turned out not to be a concern, even with the pool closed. We began by spending some time on the back deck of our cabin where we watched various birds and squirrels. When the mosquitos chased us back inside, we decided to take a walk on the boardwalk trails around the lodge. Just a few steps up the path, we noticed a swaying tree. Remembering what we had learned about how orangutans move through the forest, we staked out the area. Sure enough, a young adult male orang was foraging just off the boardwalk. We watched him for a while and then completed our loop of the boardwalk trail. On our way back to our cabin, we ran into one of the nature guides who was out looking for orangs and we were able to point him in the right direction.

Back in the cabin, I did the lion’s share of the unpleasant chore of repacking our suitcases. We then decided to head down to lunch early so that we could visit the gift shop for some final souvenir shopping. Because we still had a large account credit, we decided to splurge and buy a mug and two figurines. (Somehow, we got these fragile items home safely).

After lunch, we headed back to the cabin. We weren’t there long before we heard something in the trees outside. We grabbed our cameras and went to investigate. We quickly spotted a group of tourists looking up, so we did the logical thing and joined them. It turned out that they were watching two different troops of monkeys. The first was a troop of macaques playing in the trees. Those monkeys were responsible for the sounds we heard; from time to time, they came down from the trees to scamper across the cabin rooftops.

The second group was more unusual; it was a family of langurs being followed by a lone male proboscis monkey. The langur family was pretty adept at evading the proboscis monkey, making it hard to know exactly how many monkeys we were observing. But we did see at least two adults, one juvenile, and the piece de resistance, a baby. Baby langurs look like something out of a children’s show (specifically, Teletubbies). They have bright orange fur that comes to a point at the top of their heads. Try not to squeal when you see them. (Squealing is a sure way to scare off a troop of langurs). We spent a long time tracking the langurs and trying unsuccessfully to get an orange baby photo. Unfortunately, the proboscis monkey made that difficult because he kept the langurs on the run.

A guide later told us that the proboscis monkey seemed to be trying to install himself as leader of the langur troop. The langurs – understandably – were having none of it. Langurs live in small family groups of a mom, dad, and offspring, so the proboscis monkey’s behavior was a little like a random man showing up at your house and telling your kids that he’s their new dad.

The ability to explore on your own – something that is not feasible at every ecolodge — pushed Sukau to the top of the list of ecolodges we have visited. We tracked monkeys for most of the afternoon, stopping only because it was time for tea, followed by our evening cruise. The difference between our evening and morning cruises was night and day, both literally and figuratively. We saw multiple large troops of macaques, and smaller troops of proboscis monkeys and langurs. The highlight was spotting an adult langur with red fur. Sightings of the red morph of the dusky langur are rare; our guide’s excitement at finding one was palpable.

These monkeys are sitting on a sign that says “keep out”; our guide was amused.

More long-tailed macaques. P took these photos. (Per P, “You can tell these are long tailed macaques by looking at their tails.”)

After our evening cruise, we enjoyed our final dinner at Sukau. It was tasty, as usual; we all agreed that we would miss the food when we left the lodge. P and I ended the evening with a final night cruise.

Singapore and Malaysia Trip Report: Day 10

May 16, 2022: Kinabatangan River, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo (Author: J)

We spent 3 nights at Sukau Rainforest Lodge. When we initially booked our trip, the itineraries for days two and three at the lodge (the two full days) were quite different from one another. Day two was to include river cruises to spot wildlife, while our day 3 was to include hiking and a visit to Gamantong caves. Unfortunately, about a month before our trip, Borneo Ecotours reached out to let us know that the cave would be closed to tourists during our trip. They proposed we do additional river cruises on day 3 to replace the hike and cave tour. (Indeed, due to staffing shortages at the time, there were no options other than river cruises). We were disappointed but agreed to the changes rather than postponing our trip yet again. As a result, our two full days at the lodge were very similar – so much so that they blur in my mind a bit – but I will do my best to keep them straight.

If you have done any wildlife watching, then you know that animals are most active early in the morning and early in the evening. Thus, staying at an eco-lodge usually involves an early wakeup. Sukau was no different. We began day 10 of the trip with an early morning boat tour to spot wildlife on the river. Our guide was delighted to spot the elephant herd almost immediately. Other animals we saw included proboscis monkeys, macaques, a monitor lizard, and hornbills.

We returned to the lodge just in time for a buffet breakfast. On this morning, it was a Malaysian style breakfast with items like rice, noodles, and curries. We received a special vegetarian option to replace the meat items on the buffet. My favorite item on the breakfast buffet each day was the house-made coconut jam for the toast. My least favorite item was the instant coffee, which I was only able to drink if it doctored it with an equal amount of milk.

After breakfast, we took a guided walk along the lodge’s boardwalks. In quick succession, we saw a pygmy squirrel and a Sunda giant squirrel. The contrast in size between the two squirrels was pretty amazing. And the pygmy squirrel had tufts of fur that stuck out to the sides of his head, making him look like a tiny, furry Einstein. Sadly, both squirrels skittered off quickly, so I wasn’t able to get any photos. We did not have any other memorable animal sightings on the walk, but we did enjoy learning about the plant and insect life at the lodge.

By this time, we were hot and sweaty, so we headed back to the room to shower and rest before lunch. Lunch was another buffet of Malaysian specialties. Although I cannot remember which items were served on which days, I do know that we always enjoyed our meals. We particularly appreciated the effort that the chefs put into ensuring that there were a variety of vegetarian options; we had no repeat dishes during our stay.

After lunch, there was supposed to be a talk about orangutans, but our guide had not given us details as to the time and location, so we missed it. Instead, we visited the gift shop to spend some of the credit to our account and relaxed in our room. Our relaxation was interrupted by a knock at one point; it was one of the guides letting us know that an orangutan was near the boardwalk trail. We hurried over and had the opportunity to watch the young juvenile eating and swinging through the trees. We were all delighted, but none more so than P, who said: “Seeing one orangutan in the wild is worth seeing a thousand in captivity.” As we watched the ape, the guide explained that you can tell when there is an orang in a tree versus a monkey because monkeys shake the trees with their jumps, while orangs cause the trees to sway as they swing. This would come in handy later. He also shared my favorite orang fact. If you are watching orangs early in the morning, they are likely to be female; the males often sleep until late morning or even early afternoon, while the females are up first thing in the morning.

After the excitement of seeing the orang, we needed a bit more rest before heading to the dining area for afternoon tea. Today’s snack selection was a battered and fried root vegetable that tasted sweeter than a white potato, but not quite as sweet as a sweet potato. Instead of tea, we ordered some cocktails and played a round of wiener dog cards. We wrapped up the afternoon with another boat cruise.

The afternoon cruise returned to the lodge just in time for dinner. In a valiant effort to use up our lodge credit, we ordered more drinks to go along with dinner. Dinner was enjoyable except for the persistent gnat like bugs that really wanted to drown in our drinks. P came up with a clever solution; he created a watery perimeter around the table using the condensation from our water glasses. Most of the bugs stopped when they reached the water pooled on the table, drowning there and never reaching our glasses.

During dinner on clear nights, staff will come around to offer a night cruise add on. D was not interested, but I agreed to go with P, who was anxious to try and spot some nocturnal wildlife. The night cruise sticks closer to the lodge than daytime cruises, slowly moving along the banks of the river while the guide uses a spotlight to look for animals. We sat in the back of the boat near the guide, which meant we had lots of company from moths attracted to the spotlight. Our first animal was a big one – another elephant. I was starting to doubt our guide’s claims that elephant-sightings were not guaranteed. But, sure enough, these elephants proved to be the last ones we saw in Borneo. Other notable sightings were a baby crocodile, lots of sleeping birds in many brilliant colors, a civet, and some sleeping monkeys.

After the night cruise, we returned to our cabin exhausted and headed right to bed.

Singapore and Malaysia Trip Report – Day 9

May 15, 2022: Sandakan, Sepilok, and Kinabatangan River in Sabah, Malaysia (Author: J)

part of the pygmy elephant herd; the baby crosses in between adults for safety

Finally, the morning we had been waiting for: our chance to see the famous dancing orangutans of Borneo. Just kidding. We were actually in Borneo to see proboscis monkeys, the primates that P had asked to see many moons ago as an adorable 6-year-old. Fortunately, as a 9-year-old, he is still just as interested in monkeys as he ever was, so he was pretty excited to be setting off for almost guaranteed monkey sightings.

It was a good thing that P was excited because it promised to be a long day. We were up at 4:30 thanks to our alarm and the wake-up call that the hotel had arranged. (I am always paranoid about alarms not going off, so kudos to the Shangri La for removing that stress and allowing me to sleep). We were dressed and in the lobby to grab our breakfast boxes and officially check out before 5 am. Everything went seamlessly; our driver arrived just as we completed check out and we were on our way to the airport ahead of schedule.

Because I was worried about our bags being overweight, I had paid for checked baggage. This was probably overkill as no one asked to weigh our carry-ons during any of our flights. Still, since I had paid for tickets that included checked bags, we all checked our bags. Then we found an ATM, something that proved more difficult than anticipated because some of the ATMs in the airport were out of order. Once we had our ringgits, we proceeded through security and took a seat near our gate to wait for our flight. (I was surprised that we were allowed to carry the juices in our breakfast boxes through security, but – in Malaysia – you are allowed to bring larger liquids if they are factory-sealed). I am not someone who skips meals, so I ate my pastry and fruit and drank my juice while I was waiting. D and P often skip breakfast — despite it being the most important meal of the day — and they rejected their boxes. I ate an extra croissant, put the juices in my backpack, and pitched the rest.

Boarding for our flight was confusing. Our gate area was being used by 2 flights. They announced the flight to KL in both Malay and English, but no announcement was made about the Sandakan flight as far as I could tell. Our boarding time came and went without any word. Fortunately, I decided to get up and check what was going on; at that point, I realized that there was a queue of people with tickets to Sandakan making their way through the boarding gate. I frantically gestured to D and P and we proceeded through the gate and on to our flight.

The flight to Sandakan from KK is less than 30 minutes from takeoff to landing. But Malaysia Air did not allow the short duration of the flight to get in the way of good service. Once we reached cruising altitude, the flight attendants came through the cabin to distribute orange juice and peanuts. As soon as they reached the back of the plane, they hustled to the front to collect our garbage and prepare the cabin for landing. Before we knew it, we were bouncing along the runway (literally, thanks to a bumpy landing) and deplaning in Sandakan. When we arrived at the luggage carousel, our bags were already waiting for us. We grabbed them and headed into the arrivals area where we were met by our Borneo Ecotours guide. (This is a place where the benefit of taking a few notes becomes apparent because I do not remember the names of any of our guides in Borneo; fortunately, I do know that they were all excellent).

We were the only Sukau guests arriving by plane that morning, so we had the tour bus to ourselves as we headed to Sepilok, a 20 to 30 minute drive from the airport. Given the delays in boarding our flight, I had been worried we might arrive at the orangutan rehabilitation center too late for the morning feeding. Instead, we arrived early, which gave us plenty of time to stow our bags in lockers and use the restrooms before starting our tour. When it was time to enter the rehabilitation center, our guide paid our entry fee and we paid the camera fee (which is charged only for actual cameras and not phones and was why we needed cash). The rehabilitation center cares for orangutans who have been orphaned as a result of logging and the pet trade. It abuts a protected area where some of the orangs who have been successfully rehabilitated are released. It seems like the center’s work and the work of other conservation organizations in Sabah are paying off because the number of orangs in Sabah has been increasing in recent years.

Although our guide warned us that orang sightings are not guaranteed, we caught our first glimpse of one nearly immediately. A juvenile had built a nest close to the boardwalk trail and we saw him as he woke up and made his way to the feeding platforms for breakfast. This was a situation where having a guide really paid off because a sleeping orang looks an awful lot like a pile of leaves. After snapping some photos, we made our way to the first feeding platform where the babies are fed. The center has installed seating behind a viewing window, allowing visitors to get a great view of the action without disturbing the babies too much. We arrived just as the fruit was being set out. Soon, we saw some movement in the bushes and then a little head appeared. It was a pig tailed macaque ready to take advantage of the free buffet. One of the center employees shooed him away. But as soon as the employee’s back was turned, the macaque made a beeline for the feeding platform. I have never seen a monkey stuff bananas into his face so quickly.

While our monkey friend was gorging himself, baby orangs started to arrive, using the overhead rope system to swing themselves to the feeding platform. More macaques also arrived, scampering from the bushes and shimmying onto the platform. Fortunately, there was enough fruit to go around and we enjoyed watching everyone have their breakfast. Once the orangs had swung off, our guide led us to a second feeding platform where larger orangs (and more macaques) were served their breakfast. We would highly recommend a visit to the Sepilok orangutan rehabilitation center at feeding time; it was a really neat experience.

the viewing area provides an excellent vantage point to watch the action

After seeing the orangs, our guide suggested a drink break, which sounded great to us. He unlocked the bus for us and we rummaged around looking for the promised beverages. At that point, we realized that the guide expected us to have our own drinks. Fortunately, we did have the juice from our box breakfast. D ran to the lockers to grab it for us. This is an area where the tour company probably needs to rethink things; they just eliminated single use plastic and advised us to bring refillable water bottles. But since you cannot carry a refillable water bottle full of liquid through security at the airport, they should expect that most people will arrive for their tour without their own drinks.

It was then time to visit the orangs’ neighbors, the sun bears. Sun bears are the world’s smallest bears. They are threatened by bear bile farming and, due to their incredible cuteness, the pet trade. Because there is not a set feeding time at the sun bear rescue, it is a little trickier to see them than it is to see orangs. We were fortunate to see several foraging for food and delighting the crowd by walking around on their hind legs – a sight so cute that it borders on ridiculous. I understand why people might think that baby bears are appealing pets — but the harm done to the bears by being kept in captivity is also made apparent by a visit to the center. Multiple bears suffer from permanent health issues caused by their time as “pets.” Unfortunately, my camera chose this opportunity to freeze again, so I wasn’t able to get any decent pictures of the bears.

the front side of a sun bear is the cute side

After a wonderful morning visiting the orangutans and sun bears, we headed back to Sandakan and had lunch at a local hotel. Because the buffet did not offer any vegetarian main dishes, our guide arranged for a special vegetarian noodle dish for us. I confess that I was not expecting much, but the noodles turned out to be amazing. We rounded out the meal with some fruit and desserts from the buffet. After settling the bill for our drinks (lunch was included in the tour), we had a short time to walk around Sandakan before our boat transfer. We powerwalked to several malls to look for cameras, but ultimately returned to the bus sweaty and camera-less.

It was a quick boat ride to the marina for our boat transfer to Sukau Rainforest Resort. After another opportunity to use the restroom, we boarded a speed boat and set off for the lodge. I cannot tell you much about the boat ride because the early wakeup got to me and I slept through most of the ride. When I woke up, we were already making our way up the Kinabatangan towards the lodge.

At the lodge, we were welcomed with juice and room keys and had an opportunity to rest a bit before our afternoon river cruise. At the time of our visit, Sukau had only recently reopened to international guests. While it did not detract from our trip, it was fairly apparent that Sukau had weathered the pandemic by laying off its staff and shuttering the lodge. The most obvious impact of this neglect was on the swimming pool, which was roped off because it was now a hole instead of a pool. (Post-trip research tells me that the pool collapsed at some point during the pandemic and the lodge is waiting on a replacement). In the same vein, some of the cabins at the lodge were roped off while workers got them ready for guests. The disappointment at not having use of all of the promised facilities was largely offset by the excellent service that every member of the team at Sukau provided.

After settling into our cabin (the same one that Judi Dench stayed at when she visited), we headed back to the dining area for afternoon tea. We enjoyed some tea and fried bananas and then met our guide for an afternoon cruise along the river. Just minutes into our cruise, our guide got really excited and it wasn’t hard to see why. A herd of elephants was crossing the river. We sat and watched them for quite a while, as did boats from many other lodges. Our guide told us that this packed audience represented just a fraction of the boats that would have been out in pre-covid times. He also told us a bit about Borneo’s elephants, a pygmy species endemic to the island. We were apparently in the perfect spot to see a river crossing as the elephants prefer to cross at bends in the river where the current is strong; that provides a measure of protection against crocodile attacks on the cute little baby elephants.

In addition to elephants, we saw proboscis monkeys, long tailed macaques, and a variety of hornbills. As it started to get dark, we headed back to the lodge. For those keeping count – as P was – we hadn’t even finished our first day in the jungle and had already seen 4 species of primates. Unfortunately, the environmental issues in Borneo were also readily apparent. We passed lots and lots of palm oil plantations, highlighting the extent of the deforestation on the island, frequently smelled smoke from intentionally set brush fires, and saw lots of plastic in the water. I later learned that the plastic bottles were not trash, but rather markers for fishing nets, which took some of the sting out of seeing so many of them.

We were a bit early for dinner, so we decided to make another attempt at our vacation ritual of pre-dinner drinks and cards. We were more successful this time because the bar at Sukau was open. I ordered a Sabah Sling, their tasty riff on a Singapore Sling, and we played a hand of go fish. As we were wrapping up, one of the restaurant staff let us know that dinner was served.

Meals at Sukau are buffet style. If you have special dietary needs, as we do, your main dish is delivered to your table. Our dinner the first night was my favorite of the bunch: a vegetarian beef rendang. With fruit, rice, and pumpkin from the buffet, it made for a delicious meal. (One thing we did notice is that there are apparently no desserts served at Sukau; the fried bananas at teatime were as close as it got).

After dinner, we headed back to our cabin for bedtime, dodging low-flying bats along the way. As we walked along the boardwalk, I suddenly heard a horrible screeching sound coming from my left. I screamed and ran. It turned out to be two juvenile macaques playing with one another. Fortunately, they ignored my behavior, despite screaming and flailing about being highly offensive in monkey-society. We completed our walk to our cabin without incident. An early bedtime was in order because we had another early wake up the next morning.

Singapore and Malaysia Trip Report – Day 8

May 14, 2022: Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo (Author: J)

The Shangri La’s location makes it a great base from which to explore the surrounding area, including Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park. But with only one full day at the hotel, we chose to relax and enjoy the resort’s amenities, rather than venturing out to explore.

We started our day with breakfast at Café Tatu, the resort’s buffet restaurant. The selection and quality of the food was amazing. Like Town at the Fullerton, Café Tatu had Western, Indian, Malay and Chinese options, but where the Fullerton had one or two selections in each category, Café Tatu had one or two tables of selections in each category. There were also several action stations, including an egg station and a teh tarik station. I feel confident in predicting that just about anybody will find something to like at the Café Tatu breakfast. We were sad that our early departure the next morning meant only one chance to sample the selections.

After breakfast, we went up to our room to put on our pool gear. The plan was for P and I to swim while D visited the spa for a massage. We arrived at the pool just as it was opening. P and I were some of the first to jump in. The pool area at the Shangri La is nicely situated overlooking the ocean and features a large pool, several slides, and a water play area. Every time that I book a hotel with a waterpark, I imagine P having a ball on the slides. Then we get to the hotel and I am reminded that P hates waterslides. He refused to even try the slides at the Shangri La, so I decided to give them a try myself. The slides were fun and offered mild thrills suitable for most anyone – except P, of course.

Tiger beer on the beach at the Shangri La

P and I spent most of our time in the pool swimming and playing with a beach ball that we purchased from the beach toy cart near the pool. The fun came to an end when I decided to get out of the pool to dip my toes in the ocean and take some beach pictures. My camera chose that moment to die. The lens jammed halfway between open and closed, the camera flashed an error message, and that was it. I thought that perhaps new batteries would help, so I ran back to the room for those. Unfortunately, the battery change had no impact, so I decided to shop for a new camera. I learned that the Shangri La does not sell them, but I was able to find a camera store in town with some affordable options in stock.

While I had been desperately trying to fix my camera, P had been swimming on his own. His patience for that was beginning to run out. We decided to head to lunch. As we were drying off, D returned from his massage. We headed to Coco Joes, the outdoor bar and grill, as a group. Coco Joes has mainly Western style food. P ordered pizza, D ordered shrimp, and I had the veggie burger. My burger was very enjoyable; it was topped with beet relish, jalapenos, and a creamy dressing, making for a nice combination of sweet, spicy and creamy flavors. Service was also excellent.

After a leisurely meal, we went up to the room to change. I was planning to call a Grab to go camera shopping. On a whim, I gave my camera another try before heading out. It turned on! Since the camera seemed to be in working order, I decided not to spend the time or money on a new camera. (This turned out to be a mistake because the camera lens repeatedly jammed throughout the rest of the trip and there was nowhere to buy a replacement once we left KK).

Good service at a hotel is often difficult to describe in words because it is often small, unobtrusive touches that make your overall experience great. But what happened next provides a very nice illustration of the level of service at the Shangri La. I checked my phone to find a What’s App message from the concierge. They had noticed that we had an early transfer to the airport the next morning and were reaching out to arrange a wakeup call and complimentary box breakfast. I was delighted to say yes to both offers and used the opportunity to let the concierge know how much we were enjoying the resort and how sad we were that we could not stay another day.

We did very little for the rest of the afternoon. P watched some soccer on TV while I repacked our suitcases and did some bird watching from our balcony. Eventually, we convinced P to leave the room to play some pool and air hockey in the game room. After that, we made a quick visit to the hotel’s clown fish discovery center, a sad room of barren tanks full of fish. Then, P headed back to the room for more TV while D and I took a walk along the beach. As we were watching the ocean, we were approached by a local who was excited to see foreign tourists back in KK. He told us a bit about his time studying in the US in the 70s, chatted with us about the US NBA basketball playoffs, and shared his insights into Malaysia’s government. (His opinions were of the sort that you would expect from that one uncle – you know the one — at Thanksgiving here in the US). He was very interested to hear where we were headed after KK but seemed almost disappointed when we told him we were heading to Sandakan the following morning. “Haven’t you seen orangutans in zoos?” he asked. Then, after a thoughtful pause, he said, “The problem with the wildlife here is that no one has trained it.” When we didn’t respond, he continued. “Have you been to Thailand? They teach the monkeys to dance there. That’s what we need here, but we don’t have the skill to train them.” “It’s not so much skill,” I replied. “They just give the animals a good beating.” Our new friend didn’t know how to respond. I was tempted to say more about how seeing animals in the wild was the main attraction for us, but I didn’t want to be too rude, and I really wasn’t sure if the dancing monkeys remark had been a joke. We transitioned back to the safer topic of basketball. Eventually, we made our excuses and headed back to the room to find P.

Our family has a vacation tradition of playing cards at the hotel bar before dinner and we attempted to continue that tradition at the Shangri La. For this particular trip, we had purchased a deck of cards with pictures of dachshunds, which meant that we could start each game with jokes about playing with wieners. Yes, we are very mature. Unfortunately, the lobby bar was closed – I assume due to staffing issues – and wind made it impossible to play cards at the beach bar. We gave up on the wieners and headed for an early dinner at Shang Palace, the resort’s Chinese option. Even though it was a Saturday night, the restaurant was mostly empty, save a few tables of guests there for peking duck (which requires preordering). We ordered a selection of items from the a la carte menu, including braised bean curd, mock chicken in sweet and sour sauce, and vegetables with fermented bean curd sauce. We wrapped up a nice meal by sharing a few desserts. This was one place where supply chain issues seemed to come into play because several items on the dessert menu were unavailable.

After dinner, we headed back to the room to relax; with a 4 a.m. wakeup call the next morning, an early bedtime was in order.

Singapore and Malaysia Trip Report – Day 7

May 13, 2022: Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia (Author: J)

view from our room at Shangri La Tanjung Aru

After 5 wonderful nights at the Fullerton, it was time to check out. Because we had an afternoon flight to Kota Kinabalu (the only flight I could find between Singapore and KK at the time I booked), we were in no rush. We began the day with a leisurely breakfast at Town. I decided that we would finally take advantage of Town’s patio overlooking the river, so we requested an outdoor table. Although it was already muggy, the patio had large fans to circulate the air, making outdoor dining somewhat comfortable. The opportunity to enjoy the sights and sounds of Singapore waking up one final time made up for the humidity and bugs.

Our breakfast at Town was excellent, as usual, and we were sad to say goodbye to the hosts and waitstaff who had treated us so well during our stay. Afterward, we headed back to our room one final time to grab our suitcases and do the compulsory sweep of the room to look for forgotten items. When we emerged from the elevators into the lobby, we were immediately greeted by a bellman who offered to hold our bags while we waited for our ride. We took him up on that offer, as well as an offer to call a taxi for us. Just moments after our bags were whisked away, we were told that our taxi was ready. “Now we’ll have to wait for our bags,” I said. I was wrong. The bell staff was already loading them into the taxi when we went outside.

The ride to the airport was quick, giving us plenty of time to check into our flight. With covid protocols, we had not been able to check in online. I’m not sure why because no one at Air Asia verified our vaccination documents, instead taking our word for it that we had the proper paperwork and had downloaded the MySejahtera app. The next thing to deal with was luggage. Although we were travelling with only carry-ons, I was worried because we knew that one of them was over the maximum weight. We decided that the thing to do would be to check it and carry on the other two. However, I made this call too late, and we missed the deadline to buy a checked bag online. That meant that we needed to wait for an agent.

When we explained the situation to the agent, she felt guilty charging us for a checked bag. She suggested that we remove some items from the bag to make it lighter and she would check it as a carry on. So we took items from our overweight bag and moved them into our other suitcases, rendering those overweight. Then we checked the compliant bag and carried on the two overweight bags.

With that pointless reshuffling of our possessions out of the way, we went through immigration and security and located our gate. Then, because we were so early, we decided to wander around the terminal a bit. We started at a small food court where P had some pizza. Having once again not eaten his breakfast, he was hungry for elevenses. We then explored the cactus garden, which serves double-duty as the smoking area. Finally, we poked our heads into a few shops before resigning ourselves to spend the rest of the wait sitting outside the gate area.

The flight to KK left only a little behind schedule and was, on whole, more pleasant that my prior dealings with Air Asia had led me to expect. Upon arrival in KK, I turned on my phone to find a Whatsapp message letting us know that our airport transfer was running late. Fortunately, the line for immigration was tremendous. After a long wait in line, we presented our passports and proof of vaccination (downloading MySejahtera was apparently on the honor system) and, much to my relief, were allowed to proceed into Malaysia. Finding our driver proved to be the next challenge, but we were able to identify him with the help of a photo that he texted me.

Kid’s side of the room in the family suite

The drive to Shangri-La Tanjung Aru was quick, as was check in. With all of the delays at the airport, it was after 4 by the time we arrived – pretty close to our 5:30 reservation at the Sunset Bar. We headed to our room where we decided to put our swimsuits on under our clothing so that we could go swimming after our reservation. (The pool at the Shangri-La closes early).

On our way to the Sunset Bar, we stopped to play with some of the lawn games that the hotel has out for guests. P’s favorite was a supersized version of pool where you kick a soccer ball into other balls. Just before 5:30, we arrived at Sunset Bar, which is an outdoor bar built on a platform that juts out into the South China Sea. We were shown to our sun lounger and settled in. The first thing that we noticed was that the views were wonderful, although taking them in required squinting into the sun. The second thing that we noticed was that the sun lounger was really uncomfortable.

When the server came by to take our order, it became apparent that there had been a misunderstanding regarding our reservation. When I booked our spot, I was told that there was a per table minimum if we wanted to order from the a la carte menu. However, the bar apparently does not offer that option anymore, requiring everyone to buy a package that allows each guest to choose one drink and one food item from a limited menu. The pina colada I was trying to order was not on that menu. The server decided to bend the rules and let us order a la carte, which meant I got my pina colada. When the drink arrived, I was immediately taken with its presentation; it was served in a cute little coconut emblazoned with the bar’s logo. Then I took a sip and became less enamored. The drink was more or less entirely rum. While I know that many people would be happy with such a strong drink, I had been hoping for something more coconutty.

After spending 30 minutes at the bar squinting into the sun and nibbling on some bar snacks, P and I decided we would head out for a swim. D said he would stay to finish the drinks and would meet us at the pool. P and I had a pleasant swim and then bought ourselves some ice cream. The views of the sunset from the pool area were beautiful. (Although I know that the Sunset Bar is highly rated, I would personally recommend skipping it and enjoying the sunset from one of the many less expensive and more comfortable locations elsewhere at the resort).

When the pool closed and there was still no sign of D, we decided to head to the room to look for him. He wasn’t there. We waited a bit. Still no sign of D. Although logic told us that there weren’t many places that D could have gone, we were starting to worry. We decided to head back to the Sunset Bar to look for him there. At the bar, we didn’t find D. What we did find was an unpaid bar tab, which we settled; no one at the bar could remember when D had left, though. By this point, I was angry. But with no other obvious place to look for D, we headed back to the room.

D arrived shortly after we did. He had apparently had a lovely time watching the sun set while little fish jumped out of the ocean – so lovely that he had no memory of his promise to meet us at the pool after he finished his drink. He had instead ordered more drinks and stayed at the bar until the sun went down. Words were exchanged. Eventually we called a truce and put on a soccer game for P while D and I read. Both P and D passed out with the game on and could not be budged when it was time for lights out. That’s how I came to spend our first night in Borneo in the bunk beds in P’s room. It was a tough choice, but I went with the bottom bunk.

Singapore and Malaysia Trip Report – Day 6

May 12, 2022 – Singapore (Author: J)

Our last full day in Singapore followed a now familiar pattern: up early and ready for breakfast by 7:30, greeted warmly and overfed by the staff at Town, ready for adventure by 9. Our original plan for this morning was to visit Sentosa, but we decided against it after researching operating hours for the attractions. Many – including the aquarium, which D wanted to visit after watching the Singapore Airlines arrival video — were still operating on a limited schedule because of low pandemic crowds, I assume. While we certainly could have found something to do on Sentosa, we decided to instead stick closer to the Fullerton.

P voted for visiting a museum and, to my surprise, selected the National Museum of Singapore. The museum was a doable 15-minute walk from the Fullerton, so we decided – over P’s objection – to walk. We were no more than a few blocks from the hotel when P began complaining that he was thirsty. He hadn’t had anything to drink at breakfast; eating and drinking when meals are actually available has always been anathema to him. I opened my mouth to argue, but soon realized that I was wasting my breathe. Instead, I promised that we would look for one of the many drink vending machines that Singapore conveniently has along the sidewalk. (As it turned out, we had already passed the only ones along our route).

I had selected a walking route that took us through Fort Canning Park, a hilltop park full of historical sights and gardens. Unfortunately, if you are going to enjoy a hilltop park, you need to get to the top of a hill. That meant climbing an imposingly steep staircase. Despite P’s attempts to quit and turn around, we made it to the top of the stairs and set out through the park. Along the way, we stopped to swing on a bench swing, take photos of birds, and look at a display about archeological excavation at the park. (The hill on which the park sits was once the site of a 14^th century palace; a portion dig sight has been retained – safely covered with a clear top – so that park visitors can view it).

Park mural of important events in pre-Colonial Singapore history

There was a lot more to see at the park, but P was getting increasingly cranky about the lack of beverages, so we continued on to the museum. We arrived just as the museum was opening, purchased our tickets and headed to the café. Then we waited because – though the café said it opened at 10 – there were no humans in sight. Finally, we went back to the ticket counter to ask; we learned that the café would not be opening until 11. We tried to convince P to drink some tap water from the bathroom, but he rejected that suggestion, which was probably for the best.

Since we had quite a while before the café opened, we headed into the Singapore History Gallery. The displays in the gallery trace the history of Singapore from pre-colonial times to present day. The gallery had a nice selection of artifacts displayed in interesting ways. We were most surprised to see a bell baring the familiar words “Revere Boston.” Apparently, Paul Revere’s daughter was married to the first American consul to Singapore, so Revere sent Singapore a bell — as one does.

By 11, we had reached the displays on World War II. Rather than rush to cover the rest of the gallery before our snack break, we decided we would return to explore modern Singapore history after our snack. We powerwalked our way through 80 years of history and made a beeline for the café. It was mercifully open, so we grabbed a table and ordered. Even though we hadn’t yet had lunch, D and P settled on ice cream sandwiches and bottles of soda; I had a tea. Then we powerwalked from the 1200s back to the WWII era to resume our tour of the Singapore history gallery.

We spent a good chunk of time in the WWII gallery. I always enjoy when history is presented through the stories of individual people and this gallery included first-hand accounts from locals who lived through the Japanese occupation, along with interesting military and civilian artifacts. We then learned a bit about the birth of modern Singapore before we exited the history gallery. It was getting close to lunch time at this point, so we decided we would visit one final gallery.

We headed up the stairs and walked through the first door we saw, which took us into Story of the Forest. This is a multimedia display by teamLab, the same collective that created some of the exhibits at the ArtScience Museum. Inside a dome, animated plants bloom as local wildlife like tapirs putter around.

After visiting our forest friends, we hoofed it back to the Fullerton in the heat of the afternoon sun. The walk was grueling despite our beautiful surroundings. We had lunch at Breworkz at One Fullerton, which met our only criteria for a lunch spot: close to the hotel with open tables. We all had veggie burgers and D and I each had a beer. Then, we headed back to the Fullerton to rest, swim, and get P his final free ice cream of our stay. I also dealt with the unpleasant task of packing

For our final dinner in Singapore, we decided to go to Herbivore, a vegetarian Japanese restaurant that had excellent online reviews. Herbivore is in the Fortune Centre, a short walk from the Bugis metro stop. The neighborhood between Bugis and the Fortune Centre was packed with locals on their way home from work, giving it a nice energy.

We arrived at Herbivore at the start of the dinner rush and we were seated at one of the few open tables. We had a hard time selecting items from Herbivore’s extensive menu, but settled on a sushi roll, curry noodles, and a seitan katsu bento box. When the food began to arrive, it was clear we had ordered too much. The bento box alone, which included not only the katsu, but also soup, salad, fresh rolls, a number of side dishes, and a kanten dessert, easily fed two people. Despite our best efforts, we had lots of leftovers and had to reassure our server that we had enjoyed our meal.

We took a different route back to the metro, which took us past Bugis Junction. I really enjoyed walking in this neighborhood, which had lots of interesting restaurants, shops and even a cat café. It was a nice end to our trip (and reminded us that we would need to return to Singapore at some point to explore its many neighborhoods).

Singapore and Malaysia Trip Report – Day 5

May 11, 2022 – Singapore (Author: J)

Our third full day in Singapore began much like the prior two. We were up early – though not as early as the day before – and headed down to breakfast around 7:30. We were greeted by name and seated quickly. Adjusting to the time zone meant that our appetites were not what they had been. P and I ate just buffet items, while D ordered a main dish and ate very little from the buffet.

The weather was looking a little ominous this morning, so we went back to the room after breakfast to wait out the storm. Around 8:30, the weather map showed that the rain was starting to clear, so we decided to take a gamble and call a Grab to our destination.

After some nail-biting moments in rush hour traffic, our driver dropped us safely at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. The hope was that we might see some more monkeys, but in the wild this time. Although it was still drizzling, the reserve was packed with locals walking and jogging. We started with a short hike to a quarry, where we enjoyed some nice views, but saw no monkeys (other than the ones on the sign reminding hikers not to feed the monkeys). Then we did a longer hike on one of the trails – longer being a relative term, because we didn’t get too far between the heat and our difficulty reading the trail maps.

We spent about 90 minutes total hiking various trails and looking for wildlife. Other than a few lizards and what was either a ground squirrel or some type of shrew, we came up empty. But being outdoors in nature is always a nice experience with or without wildlife sightings.

After a rest break to cool off, we headed out of the reserve towards our lunch destination: the hawker center at Beauty World, which was a short 10-minute walk from the reserve. Given my failure to locate an adequate meal the night before, I was a little frightened that we were in for another miss. Fortunately, when we arrived at the 4^th floor of the mall where the hawker stands are located, Guan Yin Vegetarian was open for business. Guan Yin serves vegetarian versions of traditional rice and noodle dishes. The owner told us that he had two choices available that day; I ordered one of each despite not knowing what either dish was.

When our order arrived, we had one dry noodle dish with broad noodles and various types of seitan, veggies and tofu and one noodle soup with thin noodles and assorted seitan, veggies and tofu. Although both had similar looking brown sauce, the differences in seasoning and noodle types gave them different flavors. Everyone was happy with this meal. (P says it was his favorite of the trip). It was filling, tasty, and only around $10 total. The two dishes were more than enough to feed all three of us; we actually wound up with leftovers. My only complaint was that I was not able to add chili paste to my food since I was sharing with two people who are anti-spice.

After lunch, we stopped to buy some kueh lapis (colorful rice flower and coconut treats) at a table set up just outside the hawker center. Then D needed a minute to admire a painting of a cat at an art shop before we left the mall. There was a short wait for our Grab, but we still arrived back at the Fullerton by early afternoon, just in time for our traditional afternoon activities of ice cream and swimming.

I mixed things up a little this afternoon by taking a solo walk to visit Merlion Park while the boys got started on their swim. I started out walking in the wrong direction, which gave me an opportunity to take some pictures of Boat Quay. Then I retraced my steps and made my way to the park for some merlion selfies. When I got back to the room, D and P were still at the pool, so I grabbed my book and joined them for another afternoon of relaxing jackhammering sounds.

After our swim, P asked if we could return to Gardens by the Bay to see the Cloud Forest Dome. I agreed and decided we would make an evening of it. We once again took the metro to the gardens and then walked to Satay by the Bay. It was a longer walk than I expected, and we arrived hot and sweaty.

Satay by the Bay really seems to be hurting due to the reduced number of tourists. Very few stalls were open, which was just as well because there were very few humans around to purchase any food. We ordered food from a Turkish/Indian stall and a coconut and some juices from the drink stall. The food was just above okay in quality, but it was convenient and got the job done.

After dinner, we had our first big wildlife sighting of the day – a monitor lizard wandering near the exit to the hawker center. Then we walked to the Cloud Forest Dome and bought our tickets. My frugal minded side didn’t love this plan because it costs more to buy individual tickets to each dome on separate days; had we seen both domes on the same day, we would have saved about $25 by purchasing combo ticket for each of us. In the end, though, I was glad that we splurged.

Unlike the Flower Dome two days earlier, the Cloud Forest Dome was crowded with people. It was impossible to walk in certain areas of the dome without stepping into people’s selfies. I didn’t even try to get the classic Instagram shot standing in front of the giant waterfall. It was enough to admire it in person.

Because I am afraid of heights (and had a panic attack boarding a skyride on our last vacation), I was a little nervous about the sky walkways. For whatever reason, though, my no worries attitude from the flight continued and I was able to not only do the walkways without panicking, but also enjoy the views.

After enjoying the Cloud Forest Dome, we decided to get a treat before the Garden Rhapsody light show. We stopped at Shake Shack and ordered three shakes to go. Although its an American chain, I have never visited a Shake Shack before and nothing about our experience in Singapore made me want to visit a second location. Our shakes were watery (about the consistency of skim milk) and not the least bit indulgent. Because they were pricey, I dutifully carried mine around for a while, but I only drank about ¼ of it.

From Shake Shack, we headed to the Supertree Grove to get a good spot for the light show. (Note that this was entirely unnecessary; we just had nothing else to do and needed a place to sit). We passed the hour before the show lying on our backs looking up at people on the OCBC Skywalk. As it began to get dark, we noticed that someone on the Skywalk was holding a glowing red stick. P was sure it was a lightsaber and began creating new Star Wars characters to fit the setting. He started with more erudite choices like “Grovey Wan Kenobi,” and “Grove-gu,” but it wasn’t long before the names devolved into “Grove Grove Grove Grove,” which is, of course, a play on Luke Skywalker.

Eventually the OCBC Skywalk Sith disappeared and the light show started. Laying up on my back watching the trees light up on yet another evening of perfect Singapore weather, I felt very lucky indeed. D was thinking similar thoughts, although his came with an added layer of guilt because he was thinking of his father, who always vowed to travel when he retired, but passed away a few weeks short of retirement. In a way, I owe my FIL a thank you for this trip because his death reminded D that our adventuring time is finite. Suddenly, vetoes of certain destinations began converting into “why nots,” and we have been able to have wonderful experiences in a number of countries. Our magical evening at Gardens by the Bay is definitely near the top of that list of experiences.