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3 months, 23 cities, and 29 hotels. What a whirlwind. A crazy, beautiful whirlwind. As I sit here taking it all in and enjoying the Florida sunshine with my pup back on my lap, I can’t help but get lost in my memories. Sean and I have gotten many questions specifically around our travel route and where we stayed in Southeast Asia. The biggest question we’ve gotten is: “Is it really that cheap?” and the answer is a lot of YES and a bit of NO. It depends on what you want to do, how safe you want to feel while doing it, and where you want to stay. I will dive into each country individually in future posts, but I figured I would start my virtual diary (in essence) explaining our travel route in hopes that it will inspire you to get out there, and step outside of your comfort zone! Although I had a preconceived notion of our timeline and cities we wanted to visit, we generally flew by the seat of our pants. The only accommodations we pre-booked were the flights into Singapore and our hotel upon arrival. This was the BEST decision we could have made, as our “plan” uncontrollably and drastically changed 5 days into our trip.
Hi Love Bugs! Wow, it feels good to be writing again. It has been way too long, and I am a few posts behind where I’d like to be. To be honest with you, my body has had an extremely tough time adjusting to Southeast Asia. Since leaving Singapore on the 8th, I have been very sick, sprained my toe, and been focusing on my health. I finally feel well enough to update you on our travels! I know you are all wondering what the heck happened to me, so for the sake of time and bearing you the gritty details, the enviornment here has taken me a long time to get use too. The cities in Malaysia are very hazy and polluted. I only expect this to get worse or stay stagnant as we make our way through Southeast Asia. I’ve noticed through traveling people are always sick (coughing & sneezing all over the place, close to food, and/or on public transit), so my immune system could not keep up, and my sinuses went horribly out of whack! As for the toe, the streets are very uneven here, and often have metal slabs sticking out of the cement. If I have learned one lesson, it is to constantly watch for your next step! I kid you not, yesterday [while in Kuah, Langkawi] Sean and I were walking home from dinner, and he almost stepped in a 1- foot hole, and 150 yards later, we saw a random 3-foot hole just chilling by the sidewalk ready to break someone’s leg. Unfortunately, I learned this the hard way by stubbing my toe very hard into a metal casing sticking out of the sidewalk, and I went flying. Needless to say, I AM A-OKAY!
Well we made it to Malaysia! I am blogging to you from my bed looking out at the beautiful Kuala Lumpur skyline, and famous Petronas Twin Towers! Sean and I decided to take a coach bus from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. This journey at max should have taken 5-6.5 hours with traffic, two stops of immigration (leaving Singapore, and entering Malaysia), and one potty break. Prior to booking our tickets, we were told it should only take 5 1/2 to 6 hours, and boy were we in for a surprise! More to come on choosing the right bus for your long haul journey across Southeast Asia. Let me just tell you, you get what you pay for, and apparently we paid for 9.5 hours of traveling with multiple unnecessary stops. By the time we made it to KL, we were delirious to say the least, starving, and ready for a shower!
Back to Singapore, our favorite city thus far. I could live in Singapore. I would honestly contemplate it if it were a city in the U.S., and closer to my family. I highly recommend everyone taking a visit to Singapore at least once in their lifetime. I love the colors, culture, food, structure, and ease of navigating. I also love how the country is on the forefront of technology. Singapore is an incredibly Western city. If you were dropped off in the middle of the city, without anyone around, you would absolutely think you were in the U.S. One of my favorite things about the city is the night life. Singapore truly comes alive at night. Whether you stick around Marina Bay to watch the twice nightly laser show, or you take the MRT to Clarke Quay for a night full of live music and dancing, there is never a shortage of things to do.
My absolute favorite night activity was walking the OCBC skyway through the Super Tree Grove. The OCBC skyway is a suspended bridge connecting the fiber optic super trees giving you the best views of Marina Bay Sands and the city. It was truly breathtaking!
Watch Singapore come alive in the video below:
Traveling Love Bug 