Day 7 Tioman Island to Melaka

After arranging accommodation on Salang the day before, we said goodbye to the wonderful staff and also the resident kittens at Impiana Inn and made our way to the jetty to wait for the next ferry. We were told that the ferry could come at anytime and there was no real schedule which is very typical of the relaxed, laid back island life style. We enjoyed a 2 hour wait at the jetty which I  didn't mind at all, reading a book in the shade with a cooling sea breeze I could of stayed  their forever. After we did finally make it to Salang we put our packs on our sunburnt shoulders and hiked off to Ella's Place only to be told they were full & they had let our room to somebody else. WOW ok... there was nothing we could do or say so we walked the length of the village asking if anybody had accommodation. Unfortunately we were told there was nothing, the 1st of May is a Malaysian public holiday and Tioman is quite popular with the locals. The only option was to get on the ferry back to Mersing...we were so disappointed to be leaving this stunning place. We could see the ferry in the distance so we ran back to the jetty & sat on the ferry soaking wet with sweat for 2.5 hours back to Mersing. We arrived in Mersing at 5pm and had 30 minutes to go to the bathroom, find a pace to book accommodation in Melaka, buy some potato chips & water (we realized we had nothing in our tummys apart from the small bowl of cereal we had that morning) and buy a ticket for the last bus to depart for Melaka at 5.30. 4.5 hours later we arrived in the historical town of Melaka on Malaysia's west coast...

Day 5 - 6 Tioman Island

I was never expecting Tioman Island to be quite like this...and its still hard to explain in words. Breathtaking, crystal water, a humid jungle teeming with wildlife, simplistic & relaxed. An island that has one of the most beautiful backdrops in the world yet you don't have to compete with other tourists for a glimpse. The slight & fit  locals are pleasant but not overly friendly and allow you to explore every inch of their backyard without batting an eyelid. We stayed at The Impiana Inn in Genting (one of Tiomans smallest villages) we had a little cabin at the edge of the jungle and 50 meters from the beach. We shared our home for 3 nights with quite a few noisy geckos, they actually turned out to be quite good flatmates as they caught all the creepy crawlers. Mike & I decided to walk to Tekek (the main village on the island) on our first day in paradise, a walk that spiraled through Genting Village, past little home made "food & drink spots" featuring plastic chairs, hammocks, and an array of noodle dishes, hamburgers & juices. We then climbed a steep bank up into the jungle greeting a few locals on the way who had managed to haul their motorbikes up the cliff. After a few awesome viewing spots we made our way down to Turtle Cove (a turtle nesting beach) it was by  this point in the journey that we realized what was supposed to be an easy 2 hour walk was going to be dam hard in the heat. We soldiered on though as I kept thinking about those little 60 year old men who managed to climb up the hill dragging their motorbikes along with them.  15km later, 2 Liters of water each, not enough sunblock, and some noisy monkeys attempting to steel golf balls from the beautiful golf course that lined the entrance into Tekek, we had never been so happy to sit down & eat fried rice in our life. Tekek hosted one of the main resorts on the island which was huge & walking through it almost felt like you were in another country. It was grand, majestic and had  one of the most amazing pools I had ever seen however it wasn't an authentic representation of Tioman. There were many duty free shops (Tioman doesn't have any tax on alcohol & cigarettes) and shops selling an array of souvenirs. After our little adventure to Tekek we caught a boat taxi back to Genting & enjoyed a seafood BBQ, with tiger beer & cold milo around a beach fire. Day 2 in Tioman we went on a full day snorkeling trip that took us on a little fishing boat to 4 different dive spots...Tulai Island, Long  Beach, Monkey Bay, Regis Island. They say that people come to Tioman for whats under the water which we found to be so true. The water was the clearest & bluest I had ever seen, their were so many tropical fish, coral, and plants and we even saw a shark. We stopped off at Salang for lunch (the main tourist village in Tioman) and we decided there was so much more to see on this beautiful island so we took the opportunity to organize a couple moe nights accommodation (follow up post to come on this experience). The day of snorkeling was awesome and a little exhusting so we spent the rest of the evening lying on hammocks drinking $5 cocktails and watching the sunset......ahhhhhh I'm really rubbing it in, sorry you cant be here!!!

Day 4 Singapore to Malaysia

An early rise and we were off to the Queen Street bus terminal to catch a bus to Johor Baru in Malaysia an hour trip that cost $2 SG each. We had to quickly jump off the bus before leaving Singapore to pass through Singapore imigration. We lined up with scary looking men everywhere with guns and before you know it Mike is stopped...He pulls out his passport but the scary little man has only one very important question for him "how tall are you?" after Mike revealed the answer to this all important question the little man replied "woooh you big" and let him pass through. Back onto the bus to Larkin Station where we boarded a bus to Mersing a 2.5 hour journey to the east coast of Malaysia. Mersing is a little fishing town where the ferry departs for Tiomon Island. We drove through acres of palm tree plantations, old run down buildings, and muddy rivers (relatively different to the modern skyline of Singapore) and arrived at Mersing. The heat was like nothing I had ever experienced and with our packs on our backs we hiked off to the jetty for our ferry... another 3 hours later we arrived at beautiful Tiomon Island. WOW...I am trying to figure out how to upload photos from the ipad to my bog (which is proving a little tricky) if anybody knows how, or what app I need help would be appreciated. I cant really explain this place in words.

Day 2 - 3 Singapore

Day 1 Melbourne to Singapore

April 22nd 2012 It was much more emotional leaving 26 Balmoral than anticipated but after boarding our flight bound for Singapore, enjoying a glass or two of wine, and just stopping for the 8 hours our excitement kicked in. Flying into Singapore at night was like flying over a virtual sim city, the infrastructure and amazing buildings looked almost unreal lit up in the dark sky. Mike with his superior sense of direction managed to find the way of the mind boggling Singapore airport and we even managed a trip on the terminal sky train to have a quick look around. In true Singapore fashion (this country is the epitome of organized) we found our bags waiting for us and were out of the airport in seconds. A short taxi ride later through the clean streets of this pretty country we arrived at Fragrance Hotel in the Clark Quay and were well and truly ready for bed in preparation for a big couple of days of exploring ahead...