Flawed-Democratic Federation of Malaysia
28 Tengkat Tong Shin
Mutiara Villa Condos
Fully-furnished one-bedroom 700-sqft apartment (no. A-25-F) on 25th floor for MYR 1,750.- or US$ 483.- per month, with balcony and including free access to gym and swimming pool with Jacuzzi. Stunning views over the city.
Strolling through the leafy residential streets of Kampung Baru which are lined with old-fashioned wooden houses, a Malay neighbourhood just a few hundred metres from Kuala Lumpur’s high-rise business district and also one of the most valuable tracts of land in Malaysia, estimated to be worth up to US$ 1.5 billion but where up until now the elders have persisted in turning developers away, saying that they want to preserve their ethnic Malay lifestyle.
Balancing over a 200-m long canopy walkway, consisting of a series of shaky wooden planks suspended with ropes from tall dipterocarps (rainforest trees) up to 30 m above the jungle floor (where most of the action in a tropical rainforest happens), and - back on earth again - hiking the extensive nature trails on the jungle floor below, behind the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia in Kepong, a half-hour ride by KTM Komuter train away from Kuala Lumpur Sentral.
Watching the skies opening up and FIA race director Charlie Whiting red-flagging the Malaysian Formula 1 Grand Prix at Sepang (free entry for senior citizens) on lap 32 (out of 56 laps) because of a torrential downpour - coupled with lightning - that had made driving conditions impossible and racing a gamble on (full wet or intermediate) tyres, as Jenson Button (UK) of Brawn GP was leading Nick Heidfeld (Germany) of BMW Sauber and Timo Glock (Germany) of Toyota and was later declared the winner.
Flying with Firefly (“Your Community Airline”) in an ATR 72-500 from Kuala Lumpur's Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport at Subang over vast palm oil plantations to Johor Bahru’s Sultan Ismail Airport at Senai for all inclusive MYR 35.- or US$ 10.- per person, one way, thereafter taking the local bus no. A1 for MYR 3.50 per person from the airport to Johor Bahru’s Larkin Bus Terminal and from here the Singaporean bus SBS no. 170 for MYR 1.80 per person via the Malaysian checkpoint (Malaysia and Singapore were both former British colonies, once part of the same country but now two suspicious and independant neighbours) over the 1,038-m long Causeway and the Singaporean checkpoint (travelling with German books: being issued with a 90-day visit pass to Singapore on arrival, free of charge, lah) into Singapore’s city centre (Queen Street Bus Terminal) and having a sharp lookout for Alfred Russel Wallace’s Chinese merchant, who “… is generally a fat round-faced man with an important and business-like look. He wears the same style of clothing (loose white smock, and blue or black trousers) as the meanest coolie, but of finer materials, and is always clean and neat; and his long tail tipped with red silk hangs down to his heels. He has a handsome warehouse or shop in town and a good house in the country. He keeps a fine horse and a gig, and every evening may be seen taking a drive bareheaded to enjoy the cool breeze. He is rich, he owns several retail shops and trading schooners, he lends money at high interest and on good security, he makes hard bargains and gets fatter and richer every year.”
Click below for a summary of this year's travels
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