Langkawi

Our last stop in Malaysia was the off-shore archipelago of Langkawi, a group said to contain 99 island, with the biggest being also called Langkawi.  For us it was here the nation’s natural scenery finally started to get really interesting.  The island group is a UNESCO designated geopark, and a great deal of it remains undeveloped, with majestic steep mountains, cliffs, waterfalls, emerald rain-forest and (by Asian standards) clear ocean waters.  Of course the day we visited the most beautiful parts we forgot the camera!

Local inter-island boats at a jetty in the principle town of Kuah, Langkawi 

Declared duty free in 1986 and the site of expenditure of vast amounts of government ‘seed’ money in an attempt to kick start a rival to Singapore’s trade dominance and Thailand’s tourism, Langkawi’s ‘new’ infrastructure is already rapidly aging, and has a ‘gone to seed’ feel.  The Asian economic crisis and tsunami have left many projects half built and/or abandoned.  The islands however continue to attract at least some of the 'golden hordes' – Malaysians flock here to holiday and duty-free shop, but also nationals from other SE Asian countries along with a reasonable sprinkling of westerners.

An example of a failed tourism orientated business involving large capital outlay – a glass factory on the island of Rebak.

One of Langkawi’s more memorable functioning tourist attractions, we hoped on board this cable car without giving it too much thought – afterwards we found it was billed as having the world’s longest, steepest single span cable ascent.  My goodness rectums contracted when we realised, just seconds after the door slammed shut that we had probably made a very dire mistake indeed.  Within half a minute we were breathtakingly high, going practically straight up, swinging in the not insubstantial breeze, and totally, totally reliant on Malaysians and their talent for infrastructure maintenance on a shoe string! Oh crikey, crikey crikey...

The summit views across the other 98 islands of the archipelago were majestic, but Nina and Vicki refused to walk across this ‘sky walk’ spanning two rocky crags on the mountain’s top (note restrained smiles).  Zeke claimed to enjoy it – I found some of the loose planking challenging to say the least.  And we still had to get back down......

A rather unlikely highlight was our visit to the Langkawi Air Show.  As you can see, security was pretty tight (with the kids that is tee hee).

Most of our time in Langkawi was spent in another western style marina on the small island of Rebak.  We spent a month there with Mum and Dad again hard at work on boat maintenance (new bimini, new shade cloths, new batteries, repairs to dinghy and oars, new dinghy tie-down points, changes to the running rigging, more engine repairs, genoa repairs and a host of minor jobs – oh yeah and a ‘bottom job’ too).  Meanwhile Zeke and Nina again were off catching up on play-time with other children.

When we first arrived school term was still is session.
Some pre-Christmas classes were conducted beach side...

... and others bar side!  What parents!

Our first Christmas away from Australia – Santa somehow managed to find us...

Zeke and Nina trying out one of their presents.

Dad trying out one of his (the bike).

46.

Zeke and his good mate Shae.

Nina’s friends, Angie (top) and Tanzi.

Feelin’ kind a blue...(maybe they're smirfs)

... but that same night would you believe, marvelous how a little alcohol (not to mention a shower) can do help you see the brighter side of life.  With friends Gary and Vanessa.

Georgetown, Penang

The Poms opened up 'shop' in India early in the colonial era, but seem to have been a bit slow getting a slice of the action in SE Asia, with the Portuguese and Dutch certainly getting the jump.  I'm guessing the 1786 establishment of Georgetown on the small off-shore island of Penang was an important foothold.  Georgetown started life as a British company town; an administrative outpost of the East India Company.  

Keen to finally and firmly establish naval (and thus economic?) dominance in the straits, the British formalised ‘Straits Settlements’ at Georgetown, Melaka and Singapore in 1826. As the western gateway to the straits Georgetown rapidly developed.  It wasn’t just the British who came here seeking financial opportunities, but also many Eastern ethnic and cultural groups, particularly those of Chinese and Indian origin.

We really enjoyed trying out the large variety of local tucker on offer in Penang, reflecting the city's many sub-cultures (no fish and chips though!).

The town is rich in cultural and historic heritage and like Melaka, large sections of it have been inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We faithfully pounded the pavement trying to check out as much as we could.

Fort Cornwalis, first established in 1786, featuring the ‘Sri Rambai’ canon, captured by the Poms.

Godowns (top right – always loved that word ‘godown’ conjures up all sorts of edgy, romantic, clandestine Eastern images), and shophouses.

Colonial splendor, the 1903 British built town hall.

Penang’s ‘clan jetties’ are the historic home of the Chinese families of poorer traders, fishermen and dockworkers. 

The clan jetties, built entirely out over the water, are self contained stilt towns with homes, shops, temples and yes, beauty parlours.

Back on dry land the ‘Pinang Peranakan Mansion’ was built for Kapitan Cina Chung Keng Kwee at the end of the 19th century.  The Peranakans (or Baba-Nyonyas), a wealthy community of Straits Chinese traders with eclectic tastes, incorporated Chinese, Malay, British and European elements into their homes.

 Like so many houses of this era and climate, the mix of indoor and outdoor spaces is stunning.  Airconditioning really has a lot to answer for!

We were lucky enough while visiting the mansion to get a private lesson (from Michael) on aspects of Nyonya haute couture.

In Penang the Chinese organized themselves into clans, reflecting their ancestral places of origin.  Each of the clans established ‘clan houses’ usually focused around a temple, but also including elements such as opera stages, housing, schooling and other social support structures such as banking and rural retreats.

This is the courtyard and temple in the clanhouse complex of the Khoo Kongsi.

Khoo Kongsi clanhouse opera stage (right above) and assorted awesomely intricate detailing.

Kuala Lumpur

Parking Mojombo in Kelang we took a train ride into Malaysia's national capital, ‘KL’ as most folks call it.

Many of the city’s government office buildings are colonial treasures – this one, built by the British in 1897 currently houses the federal and high courts.

Oil and gas rich Malaysia celebrates this new found wealth with the Petronas Towers (Petronas is the national petroleum company).  For a while it was the world’s tallest building.

The infuence of the Indian sub-continent is very strong in Kuala Lumpur and the highlight of our visit was the Batu Cave – a Hindu shrine and pilgrimage site.

Approaching the Batu Cave

Access to the main cave is reached via 272 steps, guarded by a 43m high Murga statue.

The ascent begins...

...stopping for a rest...

... finally entering the main cavern, filled with little shrines...

.... like this one.

The temple at the very top.

Melaka

With out doubt our favourite Malaysian city, Melaka has a wealth of cultural and historic heritage on display for visitors, some of it dating back almost 500 years.

Melaka’s Dutch or Town Square

Strategically located at the narrowest part of the Straits of Malacca, Melaka began as an insignificant fishing village, but well before the arrival of Europeans had already become a strategic Islamic trading port linking India, China and places beyond.  In 1511 the Portuguese became the first European power to wrest control of the town, largely on account of its importance to the lucrative European spice trade.  After several pitched battles, in 1641 the Dutch East India Company assumed control.  Britain informally occupied the town in 1795, formalised after a trade with the Dutch in1825.  Occupied by the Japanese between 1942 and 1945, British independence was granted (as with the rest of Malaysia) in 1957.

Each of these successive waves of political and economic control has left indelible marks on the city, as has its diverse blend of Eastern cultural and ethnic communities.  So intact is much of the old city that in July 2008 large areas were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Melaka River

Streetscape in the area formerly known as Kampung Belanda (Dutch Village) because it was where many of the Dutch colonialists lived.  Gradually taken over by Pernanakans (also known as the Baba-Nonya), a wealthy Chinese/Malay merchant class, the area is now known as Chinatown.

Interior of a beautifully restored shophouse on Heeren Street in Chinatown, with its mix of indoor and outdoor courtyards.

Shophouse features

 Beautiful villa, Chinatown.

Malaysia

Our view of Malaysia was not the most interesting one.  For a start we spent much of our time in western style marinas – marinas that look pretty much the same as they look anywhere else in the world (except here they are at least affordable).  When Mojombo wasn’t in a marina she was motoring up the western side of the Malay Peninsular – up through the Straits of Malacca.  On the port side there were ships, lots of them, and on the starboard side a low, and generally unremarkable coastline.  

Clouds looming over the ancient maritime highway, the Straits of Malacca

We were motoring because mostly there was barely a breath of wind – or if there was it was on the nose.  As well, compared to Indonesia Malaysia enjoys considerable wealth and with this wealth they have built highways, shopping centres, parking lots, gas stations and yes marinas – and well... much of it felt a bit deja vu.  However there were some delightful highlights, particularly Melaka, Penang and Lankawie.

Puteri Harbour
Preparation is everything!!??  Trouble is... if you take the time to make all necessary and desirable preparations for ocean voyaging you might never leave - there is always at least one more thing that would be a really good idea.  So making our departure from Brisbane in Mojombo we just set a date and left – despite lots still needing doing.  Puteri Harbour was the first place that proved really convenient for undertaking some of the outstanding work.

A stones throw from the shops of Singapore and an attractive place in its own right - at Puteri Mum and Dad worked on a new mainsail cover, a sun awning and on the engine – along with a host of minor things.

Meanwhile Zeke and Nina met brother and sister, Elliot and Marina.  Starved of some good kid company, all four got on like a house on fire.  While Mum and Dad worked the kids pretty much had the run of the docks and shore facilities – we could allow this with confidence knowing they were safe. 

The marina provided some good toys too!

Nice dresses huh??!

While there Elliot turned twelve and the boys had a bang-up party and sleep-over!

Raj – a really lovely man - a Nepalese guest worker and security guard at the marina – here enjoying some of Elliot’s birthday cake (all the guards wore spats - nice colonial touch huh?)

Singapore

It’s a small island, large city and a nation state. An exotic mix of old and new, it’s a financial, manufacturing and world trade hub. A highly visible (and audible) state of the art military protects its shores.  Its per capita income level is the envy of most other SE Asian countries, and, so unlike most of SE Asia, it is clean, tidy, efficient, and most everything works.  It even has a thriving contemporary artistic and theatrical scene!

Perhaps not entirely without issues, for instance Singapore, like Australia, has a rapidly aging population.  It has a large and some would say, exploited, guest worker population, some remaining social and political oppression (though I understand its a lot more relaxed than it was), a flagging industrial and manufacturing base and, like most of SE Asia, a very skewed distribution of wealth.

 Approaching Singapore; crap visibility, almost constant squalls, thunder and lightening and ships thicker’n grandma’s gravy.  Singapore lies across the doldrums – equatorial belts of little wind (except during storms) and high electrical storm activity.

The new casino, the one I understand that is causing havoc to Australia’s international casino market share.  It certainly has wow factor!!

The financial district:  As you’ll appreciate, we hung out there a lot!

 

Architecture: old and new.

 Singapore really is a shopper’s paradise – even for Gary!  This is the ‘hardware’ district, a fascinating mélange of small Chinese merchants – many highly specialised, ie: pipe and tube fitting retailers, big ship pump shops, electric motor rebuilders, vendors of assorted aluminium extrusions; bronze, stainless and aluminium billets cut to size; machinery control systems – whatever you want it is likely there somewhere!

Wanna buy a Buddha?

Mojombo never actually made it in to Singapore – she slid right past, going from Indonesia into Malaysian waters.  However we visited Singapore by bus from Malaysia on several different occasions as day visitors, crossing Johor Strait over a big impressive bridge, accompanied by tens of thousands of Malaysian day workers traveling mainly by bus, but also by car and motorbike.

Each morning on the Malaysian side of the bridge each bus passenger disembarks to clear customs and immigration out of Malaysia, then embarks for the ‘no mans land’ bridge crossing and then disembarks to clear customs and immigration into Singapore before a final embarkation for the remainder of the bus trip to the nearby commuter hub.  And each evening each bus commuter does the process in reverse.

Lots of Indonesians do a daily boat commute across the Singapore Strait as well.

As you can imagine, processing that many day visitors the customs and immigration infrastructure and procedures have evolved into slick, well oiled operations – as has the mass rapid transport system that underpins this important component of the tiny nation’s function.