Page 71 - Phonebox Magazine April 2008

Malaysia . . . Pizza Hut and Valentine’s Day . . .
We left it very late in the day to get to Kuala Lumpa and so had to settle for a minibus through the southern provinces of Thailand to Georgetown, Penang finding accommodation in the Chinatown district.
That evening we ended up having dinner in Pizza hut when the waitress staff asked for us to pose for some photos and then gave us some little gifts. This is when we realised that we’d forgotten it was Valentines Day!
Due to the language barrier, we were unsure why she wanted photos of us posing with our pizzas but images of billboards across Malaysia promoting Pizza Hut for Valentines Day have scared us ever since!
Walking back to our hostel, we stopped off to watch a Chinese ceremony as it was still in the run-up to Chinese New year, and fireworks which crackled and banged randomly outside peoples doorsteps.
we’ve ever been on, this has to be the best. The seats were literally like arm chairs and there was loads of leg room. As we arrived in KL the influences and way of life of the largely Malayan, Indian and Chinese became apparent as did the importance of Islam to a large significant percentage of the population.The best way to describe KL is a modern day metropolis set within large areas of Malaysian greenery. After a brief taxi ride, we checked into a nice hotel in the heart of China Town, walking through the busy market with stalls selling everything from fruit to Nike trainers. The stereotypical Asian ‘hard sell’ came into effect with every man, woman and entrepreneurial teenager trying to convince you that what they were selling could not be matched anywhere else (price, quality etc, we’re sure you get the idea).
Recovering from travelling and finding our bearings, we spent the next day visiting KL’s most iconic landmark, the
to make sure we got a ticket for the day, the pair of us moved through a long line of people in a trance like state, getting our tickets for an 11:15 viewing. At 452m high the Petronas Towers were once the worlds tallest buildings, now they have to settle for third place but are nonetheless very impressive. The highlight is the walkway which joins the two towers together on the 41st and 42nd floor, the towers themselves have 88 floors each.
Our guide informed us that we were allowed 15 minutes on the walkway before the next crowd would be along to view KL. When looking at the towers from the ground, you realise that they are tall but always assume they should be bigger for all the hype that surrounds them. It isn’t until you stand halfway up the building and look down, knowing there is twice the distance between you and the ground from the top floors that you understand just how high these buildings stand, it’s a case of perception.
Although far less impressive in
appearance, the view from the observation tower definitely topped the views from the Petronas Towers. At 270m high the observation tower is around equal height as it sits on top of a hill, meaning you can look over and almost down onto the Petronas Towers and many other high rise buildings that looked dwarfed in comparison. The view of KL extended to the skyline and everything could be seen from people swimming in their hotel rooftop pools to mountainous hills on the far edges of KL. Our evenings were spent eating and drinking with a couple from Sweden (who spoke better English than we did) and another couple from England.
Fried rice with sweet and sour dishes was usually on the menu along with copious amounts of Tiger beer. The nights were very entertaining amongst the districts smells and hustle and bustle of China Town, especially with one particular gentleman who kept us puzzled with logical thinking problems and magic.
To get to KL we booked another VIP
bus (Asian Luxury), of all the buses Petronas Towers. Queuing nice and early
B o r n e o . . . a n d Tu r t l e I s l a n d . . .
The original plan was to head down to Singapore after KL and that would signify the end of Asia however, we just weren’t ready to let go of SE Asia just yet. Being so close to Borneo and not knowing when we would return to this part of the world, we decided to book a flight to Sabah, Borneo Malaysia. This part of the world is known for it’s vibrant eco and environmental systems and a
huge variety of species that live on land and the seas around. Borneo today is nothing what it was supposedly like 20 years ago when incredible wildlife documentaries were being filmed, a lot of species here have sadly declined but even so a visit to Sabah in particular is going to be very rewarding. Flying from KL we touched down in rain after a little bit of turbulence in Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah. After a quick nights sleep, we caught a bus to Sandaken, a grimy, predominately concrete coastal town where we booked a trip to Turtle Island.
As the name might suggest Turtle Island is one of three islands around Sabah dedicated to enhancing
Sea. After a speedy journey witnessing beautiful cloud formations along the way, we ended up at another island, stopping for lunch. Forget turtles for a moment, food was on the agenda here and plenty of it too, delicious grub buffet style! Fully refuelled we set off for Turtle Island.
After spending the afternoon on the islands beach, we started the evening with a brief about the do’s and don’ts of conduct on the beach if we should be lucky enough to see a turtle. The night was spent playing cards and as the hours rolled on, cursing the tourist company for ‘guaranteeing us a turtle sighting’. At around quarter to midnight a ranger and our guide told us that a turtle was on the beach about to lay up to 60 eggs. Sticking to the rules but with a hasty attitude, everyone rushed over to the area where the turtle was laying eggs.
Competitively but politely we all gathered around for a view of a enormous green turtle. This magnificent creature began to lay her eggs and everyone there at that moment realised how special it was. Once the eggs were laid, the ranger took the eggs before they hatch. To end this very special night we witnessed around 10 baby turtles being released into the sea to fend for themselves. Releasing them at night increases their chances of survival which stands at around just three percent. The next morning we sailed back from Turtle Island and took a bus to Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation centre, to catch feeding time. We then got to watch the Orangutans playing and being fed before blagging a free lift back to Sandakan with another tour group.
boat driver even caught one and Emma got to hold it as the driver demonstrated what the fly looks like close up. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see any crocodiles, although we were unsure as to whether that was a bad thing in our little boat!
We also visited Mount Kinabalu National Park and ventured onto some of the rainforest’s trails, which were slippy after heavy rain, making sure there were no leeches attached to us. After this we caught a public bus to the Poring Hot Springs. Firstly we walked across a canopy walkway, 41m high in the rainforest and a few hundred metres long. It caught us by surprise just how rickety and scary the canopy was, but a great achievement considering Emma’s fear of heights. Near the canopy walkway were the Poring Hot Springs, a set of pools and baths containing naturally heated water from nearby magma chambers. After all of this it was time to leave Borneo, our budget didn’t permit us to spend any more and so it was off to Singapore via a short flight to Johor Bahru.
the survival of the leatherback and green turtles. Two of the islands are limited to staff access only but Turtle Island has room for up to 40 visitors each night. The day started with a cruise out into the Sulu
Next we went on a river cruise for the afternoon and got to see wild Probiscuos monkeys which have bright orange chests and bizarre noses. Once it turned dark we got to see fireflies in the trees. The
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