Miri, Malaysia (Borneo)

Two Days ago, I arrived in Miri from Johor Bahru, Malaysia. I left Singapore that morning and headed back through their customs into Malaysia to fly out of Johor Bahru. It is the cheaper flight.

Singapore was a good time though. It was a nice break. I arrived at the hostel in town there and found the English girl and Canadian guy I had been traveling with in the Cameron Highlands and Taman Negara Phang. It was nice to meet up with some people I knew after the long bus ride and problem with customs. They left after my first day there but they are headed to Australia too. We made plans to meet up there in Sydney for Christmas and New Year's.

Singapore was worth the price. I got to do everything I set out to: go to the Singapore zoo, see the Singapore National Museum, Clarke Quay, the Christmas decorations on Orchard Rd, check out the Battle Box (the bunker where the British surrendered to the Japanese) and of course drink Singapore Slings in the Raffles Hotel, their birth place. The Singapore zoo was exciting, the zoo was well put together and the animals there all seem to be unusually close to the visitors. You could touch a lot of the more mellow animals if you wanted. No one was around at one point and I touched a huge tortoise. SUCCAS!

But a week before I got there a Malay janitor jumped into the White Tiger cage apparently to commit suicide. The tourists thought it was just a show until the tigers took him down. I stopped by their cages and those Tigers are huge, without a doubt the biggest cat at the zoo. I dont know what a good way to go out is but that definitely is not it.

Singapore is a very Western city. It is very clean and very easy to get around. The metro there is immaculate. It is much more commercial then the rest of Southeast Asia. I dont know how many malls are too many malls but Singapore is close to it. I almost felt some reverse culture shock going back into such a place.

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Borneo has been exciting. The city of Miri has a population of about 400 k, according to my cab driver, so it is pretty bigger then expected. The city has nearly everything a city should have, big hotels, taxis, malls, Starbucks, but at the same time getting around can be difficult.

Today, I went to the Lambir Hills National Park. I walked to the bus station and asked how I get there. I had to take a bus to a second station and then take another bus to the entrance. Easy Enough. 'OK, how do I get back?'
'Umm, You hitchhike.'

So I did, the park isnt suppose to have any wildlife. I guess that is by Borneo standards. I showed up at the park with my swimsuit in my bag ready to swim because it is suppose to be a safe place to swim. I actually met a local on the way in and he had just come from swimming. He said it was good swimming and wished me luck. After I paid my entrance fee, I walked maybe 15 feet to the bridge that crossed a small creek to get in the park. That is when I saw a 3 and a half foot lizard just floating in the creek with its head sticking out of the water. I initially thought it was a crocodile but its head was too short. Then I thought it was a Komodo Dragon because it looked like one. But having just been at the Singapore zoo I knew they dont live in Malaysia. But none the less, it was a big lizard and I wasnt even in the park yet. It was just letting the current carry it, but as it heard me step on the bridge it dove deeper and swam out of sight.

I went swimming anyway, there were locals there and I felt safe doing it. I ended up hiking probably 2 km after that. I would have gone further but it started to rain pretty hard and the sky was getting dark. The rain forest canopy helped slow the rain but as the rain collected on the leaves it just made the drops fatter. And water continued to fall on me even after it stopped raining as I navigated my way out by pulling on all the trees.

I got out fine and flagged down a bus to get back.

Tomorrow, I will wake up at 5 am to check out some local caves, the Niah Caves.

On the 24th, I will head to Gunung Mulu, that is suppose to be the best Park on Borneo and is only accessible by plane. So Ill be on a 30 flight to Mulu from Miri where I will remain for 4 days. I tried to book these flights online but apparently they only take Malaysian Credit Cards so I get to show up at the airport and slap down some cash for my flight. Im pretty excited to see what kind of contraption Ill be flying in. But seeing the park does have a sacrifice. It means I will be spending my Thanksgiving in the middle of the Borneo Brush, eating whatever it is I can scrap together, surrounded by locals who only see my presence as an intrusion. Which if you think about it makes my Malaysian Thanksgiving more authentic then your American Thanksgiving. . . . . . . . . . But if anyone wants to trade places, I would gladly do it. I am going to miss my Grandmother's stuffing.

Singapore, Singapore

I just arrived in Singapore from Langkawi.

I went from Georgetown, Penang to Langkawi. And from Langkawi, I took a 14 hour bus ride to Singapore crossing the entire Malaya Peninsula from North to South. The bus ride actually wasnt that bad. There were frequent stops along the way to pop a squat or grab some grub. Each rest stop has all you need. Toilets, Buttered Corn, Fresh Fruit, and His and Hers Prayer Rooms. All in all not the worst bus trip Ive had.

Georgetown was OK. I ended up seeing Fort Cornwalis, the place of the British's initial settlement in Malaya. It was pretty small not really worth the stop and an International Spice Garden there. The garden was actually really nice. As soon as I left I saw about 10 large monkeys walked across the telephone lines towards the garden. They were using the tail to hold on to the wire above them while they walked on the one below. They looked like hairy bumper cars.

I went to Langkawi to hit the beach. The beach was nice but the weather was nearly unbearable. I ended up sitting in the sun all day for the two days I was there and got pretty sunburned in the process. It makes carrying my backpack that much worse. But the opportunity to play some volleyball made it too hard to leave the sand. I think I almost had heat stroke after the second day. I was really tired, felt sick and I had a bad headache. I was fine after some water and Mango juice but I had to take a nap afterwards just to recompose myself.

When I first got on the island from the Penang ferry, you have to take a taxi to get to the hotels. I asked these Norwegian girls if they wanted to share a taxi to save the fair and I ended up hanging out with them the two nights I was there. Two of the five had just spent a month in Hawaii and they seemed pretty pleased with their American experience. It was pretty funny one of them was obsessed with the idea of New York City at Christmas time. She loved hearing about American Christmas and talking about where she went when she was there. It kind of made me jealous that I wouldnt be home for it myself.

It was actually really lucky I met these girls, because they helped me out in Singapore. Like I said I took a 14 bus ride from Langkawi to Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. It started at 5 pm and I arrived at 7 am. I got maybe 7 hours sleep over four different periods. So when we arrived at the Malaysian customs I was pretty out of it. Everyone gets off the bus goes through the departure customs, hands over their departure cards, gets their passports stamped, and gets back on the bus. No Problems! Now, Singapore Entry Customs. This time we have to carry all of our luggage off the bus to go through customs. Now as I said I was pretty out of it and not really thinking and when I got into the Customs Terminal I took two pictures, with my bright flash on, of the 'No Chewing Gum' Sign. Dumb Move. I put my camera away and turn around and a security guard reprimanded me for taking pictures in their customs area and said I could be arrested for that. I apologized and he eventually walked. I get to the custom counter and handed my passport over to the customs official and once again they have a problem with matching my beardless passport picture with the now studly, bearded Doug Jeffery. He eventually agrees that I am me, but then asks if I tested my camera in the terminal. I think he saw me do it so I just confessed to doing it. He seemed to get pretty flustered and then called his supervisor to deal me. I apologized to him and told him that I would just delete the picture if he wanted. He said it wouldnt make any difference. He then proceeds to give me a 30-day visa and then void it once his supervisor arrives. The supervisor then escorts me into their side security office and ask me if I took a picture. I told them I took two and showed them to them. They asked why I took them. I said it was just a novelty thing. He then asked me if I had any gum on me; I said no. He eventually said OK, quizzed me on my personal information and my itinerary and let me go.

They whole thing made me take probably 30 minutes longer then everyone else on my bus. So when I went back out to get on my bus I couldnt find them. I think they just wrote me off and went on without me. So once again I had entered a new country without getting their currency ahead of time and was nearly marooned barely within the border. But luckily, the nice Norwegian girls I had met in Langkawi had just been to Singapore and had given me S$7 that they didnt need. So I was able to hop on a packed rush hour city bus into town. In was a bit touch and go there for a while but it worked out in the end.

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Ill be here for 3 days before I head out to Borneo.

Also, I just got word that my Australia Holiday visa was approved. I now can work in Australia for up to 12 months. I guess my Chest X-Ray was clear.