Port Kelang, Malaysia

This port is the docking point for guests to access Kuala Lampur, the capital of Malaysia, with its famous twin towers (think Entrapment). I wasn't lucky enough to have time to get there, as it is nearly two hours each way. Instead I got off the ship with two of my friends, Ash and Eddie, English guys who work as stage technicians. We took the shuttle bus that was offered from the terminal, and it dropped us off at a really nice mall. Now there were all kinds of stores that I recognized, and plenty of ones I didn't. We went shopping in their grocery store, I tried a few local pastries (one, a roll with red bean in it, was pretty good and interesting). We saw a starbucks, but opted for the road less traveled, and did a bit of internet catch-up in a coffeeshop packed with Malaysian people. We got a few stares, but it was nice to try their food and relax. I had a potato curry. A few hours later, before we left the mall, I managed to eat again. We decided to check out the food court, where all the options were very decidedly Asian, the one thing very distinct from an American mall. I had a big plate of noodles and veggies. We passed a movie theatre in the mall, and I was tempted to take the time out to see a film and feel a bit like I was at home, but ended up doing quite a lot of wifi instead. As a nice surprise, I was able to skype my parents!!

We hurried back in the early afternoon as I had a reahearsal to get to (the reason why I couldn't get out to Kuala Lampur). We had a little hallway party each eating our cupcake from the box of 3 we had found for 5 Ringitts, less than $2.
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Singapore

Today I decided to tackle this brand new city on my own, without the aid of a tour. Jane and I took public trans into the downtown area of Singapore, and conquered their subway, or MRT here. Not to be confused with Hong Kong's MTR, the MRT is similarly easy to use. We walked around the city a bit and took photos of some of the amazing buildings. A visit was made to the famous Raffles Hotel, where their signature drink, the 'Singapore Sling', will set you back $26 singapore dollars (about $20 USD). Jane and I split one. It has 8 different ingredients, I can't remember them all, but one of them is definitely gin. There are plenty of yummy fruit juices too, so it tastes pretty good. After Raffles we walked along the main road of Orchard Grove for a while. On our way back to the ship we made a stop in Chinatown where I nearly got talked into buying an unlocked iPhone.

My overall impression of Singapore is that there is definitely so much more to see, I hardly scratched the surface of the city. It is clean and organized and interesting. I hope I come back someday!
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