Southeast Asia - Week of July 9: Philippines Week 5/Malaysia Week 1

Welcome to my country transition week. I'm leaving the Philippines after about 4 weeks; flying to Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia, to start my Malaysian adventures. I plan to travel on the peninsula and spend time on Borneo. 

I started the week in Panglao at my favourite resort. On Monday, I traveled by ferry to Cebu City for two nights. On Wednesday afternoon, I flew to Kuala Lumpur for the next five nights.

The Philippines was an amazing place to visit. Beautiful scenery on every island. Non-stop hospitality irrespective of where I traveled (and I went to several places). I even started to become accustomed to my new title -  'Sir David'. The Filipino people I met were warm, friendly and just wanted to help me enjoy their country. I also was flattered by generous guesses on my age. The common guess was that I was in my early 50's. I was told by one person that most people my age in the Philippines would be afflicted by arthritis restricting their ability to walk as much as I did. I know I will return one day soon.

Most locals were surprised by my choice to walk to destinations from the hotel. The Cebu hotel staff reaction to my walking was reflective of the overall response. They were mystified by my desire to walk to the local sites which were about 2.5 km from the hotel. They perceived the distance to be quite far. 

A quick note about recharging electrical gadgets. In my three plus months of traveling I might have had to use an adapter a couple times. In those exceptional cases, the hotel I was staying at provided the adapter (albeit I carry my own suite of adapters).

Travel Update

Inter-country Travel: Philippines to Malaysia

Malaysia Travel: Malaysia Travel Summary

Ananyana Resort - Doljo Beach (Panglao)

Triathlon

Sunday was a big day in our part of the world. It was triathlon day! This abbreviated version (750 m swim, 5K run and 20K cycling) starting in the water by Doljo Beach was hosted by the Bellevue Hotel which is a short distance from where I was staying. 

Meals

Marve created yet another culinary delight for my Sunday evening meal! I've suggested to Marve that I will be returning to the Philippines so she can share her culinary skills and experiences with me. Loved to be able to prepare similar meals as she created for me. 

Sunday was also special for a second reason. I purchased two round pan cakes from the San Augustin bakery, presenting them to Marve in celebration of her 25th birthday (was on July 3rd, same day as my son Jonathan's birthday). Unfortunately I was unable to find the necessary fixings to create a proper birthday cake. Marve improvised by putting one cake on top of the other and adding chocolate drizzle. Marve mentioned that this was the first birthday she had ever received! Marve, through her actions and her words, has been both humbling and reminded me of how significant our acts of kindness can be for others in our life. Thank you Marve!

Sinigang na Baboy

Daily breakfast - brewed coffee, fresh mango
juice, toast fried egg, homemade pineapple jam
and longganisa (sweet sausage)

Saying goodbye to my family

Monday morning was a sad time as we said our goodbyes - for a second time! We were blessed to have Antony available for our photo session. I am so much a better person for having spent time with these awesome and amazing friends!! Special heartfelt thanks to my good friend Michelle for ensuring that my stay was truly special! Thank you!

Cebu

I had one full day to visit the key city highlights that Lloyd, the front desk person at my hotel, had identified as must sees. I've provided links to various references if you want to learn more about each of these places I visited.

My original intention in visiting Cebu was to spend about eight days on the local beaches. Somehow I managed to whittle down my time on Cebu to only two nights. I will definitely need to revisit spending more time on Cebu when I return to the Philippines. Think I might have missed something. 

Basilica Santo Nino de Cebu

Bascilia Minore del Sto. Nino (inside)

Bascilia Minore del Sto. Nino (outside)

Background info for those who want to know more

Magellan's Cross Pavilion (Magellan's Cross Pavilion)

This pavilion was within the same general courtyard as the Basilica. 

Mural depicting the baptism of Rajah Humabon and his household by Fr. Pedro Valderrama and the planting of a wooden cross by Ferdinand Magellan.

Fort San Pedro (Fort San Pedro)

Fort San Pedro (Fort San Pedro)

Great Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral (Great Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral)

Treats

And I was successful in finding a bakery close to my hotel. I was unsuccessful in finding the Chocolate Chamber outlet in Robinson's Galleria. Contrary to what Google Maps indicated, the outlet had disappeared from the mall. I was disappointed as I was looking forward to visiting the Cebu location now that I had visited their store on Doljo beach. 

Malaysia 

My introduction to Malaysia was witnessing this beautiful sunset from the airplane as we were approaching Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Wednesday afternoon. 

Kuala Lumpur

An important highlight in visiting Malaysia was the opportunity to see the Petronas twin towers in person. Most photos I've seen of Kuala Lumpur would have these towers highlighted. I treated myself by booking a Traders Hotel room on the club floor that had the Twin Towers view. I am so blessed to have this extraordinary gift on my trip! The second gift I had early on was the taxi ride from the airport. I had the pleasure of traveling in Mercedes S300 - luxury plus along with a great driver. 

I made a couple last minute changes to my initial Malaysian itinerary. I had planned to spend four nights in KL, then take the bus to Cameron Highlands (home to tea plantations), then take the bus from the Highlands to Penang. I dropped the idea of spending two nights in the Highlands knowing that a tea plantation visit would take a few hours at most. I had seen a tea plantation in Sri Lanka and I've previously had an in depth tea plantation visit when I was traveling in southern China back in 1995.

Petronas Towers from my hotel room 
That's raindrops on the window obscuring
the view

Fountain in front of Twin Towers

I spent Thursday securing my Malaysian SIM card and learning first hand how to use the local transit system (five separate lines; combination of LRT/MRT) to get from my hotel to the one of the two main bus station - TBS (Terminal Bersepadu Selatan). My plan was to take the bus from KL to Malacca for a day trip as well as take the bus from KL to Penang Island north of KL. I did discover there were small idiosyncrasies in using the various transit lines that were incompletely explained to me. I had more adventure (and a few unintended side trips) than what I had planned for.  I can happily report that I successfully purchased my bus tickets for my Malacca trip and returned to my hotel much faster than my initial trip to the bus station. Haha!

Malacca (Melaka - local spelling)

My return trip to TBS for my trip to Malacca was uneventful. Two hours later we were in Malacca. Two Malacca tourist destinations include Dutch Square and Jonkers. The churches, clock tower and replica ship are within or close to Dutch Square. The entrance to the Jonkers area is directly across from Dutch Square - all very convenient for us tourists. Jonker Street, Jonker Walk or Jalan Hang Jebat, is the centrepiece to Melaka’s Chinatown and is one of the state’s most popular attractions. Please note, as with the Philippines and Sri Lanka, the Dutch, Portuguese and British all had influence on the country's development dating back to the 1500's. 

Being the efficient tourist that I am, I had visited everything within two hours. I now avoid museums as best I can. Quite cynically, as interesting as museums can be, I now figure whatever facts shared is just more information that I will soon forget. I decided to return to KL early so I could enjoy the free drinks and nibblies available on the Traders Club Floor between 5 and 7 pm. At first I thought I could reschedule my bus ticket - just like it said on the website. Not true. The ticket is neither refundable or reschedulable as advertised. Thank goodness the bus ticket was less than $5 Cdn equivalent.

Christ Church

St. Paul's Church remnants

Malacca Straits from St. Paul's church

Malacca Straits from St. Paul's church

A'Fomosa fortification remnants

Replica of the Portuguese ship - Flor de la Mar

Jonkers Entrance

Melaka Clock Tower

S

Sweet tooth heaven - Jonkers

So excited to find my first Malaysian bakery (and remember to take photos) and my first Malaysian chocolate store. I make my customary purchases. Such happiness!

My first Malaysian bakery

Delicious!

Malaysian dark chocolate made here

Next Week

I leave Kuala Lumpur on Monday morning; headed by bus for a beach on Penang Island. Georgetown is a famous destination city on the island. On Friday afternoon I fly to Langkawi Island to enjoy four more nights on the beach. Apparently Langkawi is a duty free island where beer is to buy than Coca Cola! Will the miracles and blessings in life ever end???