Photos from Malay, SG, & TW
- Thread starter adeptitus
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planeman said:
No I didn't eat stingray in Singapore, but had it in JB Malaysia. In SG, I usually have kaya toast + tea for breakfast, fruits for lunch, then whatever my friends feed me for dinner. I'm a bit spoiled since I can get stuffs like barley drink and Indonesian satay in Los angeles now:
This was my first time staying at a hotel by Orchard Road area, usually I'm too cheap & prefer to stay near Bugis or some roach motel in <cough> Geylang. But my friend's family is in Clementi and they came to pick me up for Johor trip, so I didn't want to be a pain in the butt and stay on the other side of the island.
I was surprised at the lack of traffic on Saturday going from SG to JB. There was no line at the bridge -- perhaps we took the one with less traffic. The price difference between SG and MY on fuel and cigs was an eye opener.
Nice pics!
Geyland? Ha! I remember that I had to stay in SG for 2 nights in Motal 81 there. Beds, like all else, were neat but small but 3 people. *shivers* We wouldn't have been there without my chicken pox though.
Dang, where did you find these better foods? During that trip, we could barely find anything that had taste.....
Geyland? Ha! I remember that I had to stay in SG for 2 nights in Motal 81 there. Beds, like all else, were neat but small but 3 people. *shivers* We wouldn't have been there without my chicken pox though.
Dang, where did you find these better foods? During that trip, we could barely find anything that had taste.....
sumdud said:Nice pics!
Geyland? Ha! I remember that I had to stay in SG for 2 nights in Motal 81 there. Beds, like all else, were neat but small but 3 people. *shivers* We wouldn't have been there without my chicken pox though.
Dang, where did you find these better foods? During that trip, we could barely find anything that had taste.....
It helps if you know some locals. I attended CSU Fullerton in California and have some alumni's who returned to Taiwan/HK/Macao/Singapore/Indonesia/etc. So it's easy to look them up while I'm there, plus I have family in TW.
Photos DSC00875 - DSC00887 were taken in Johor Malaysia. For those unfamiliar, Johor is the Malaysian State just north of Singapore. There are 2 bridges that connect Singapore to Johor and you can just drive over. Because petro is subsidies in Malaysia, they require Singapore cars to have 3/4 full gas tank and pay RM 20 before entering. Exchange rate is around RM 3.8 : 1 USD.
Prices for most things are cheaper on the Malaysian side. I think cigs are $11-12 SGD/pack in Singapore vs. $1.x USD/pack in Malaysia. While we were driving in Johor I saw billboards advertising new townhomes starting at RM 100,000 and single family homes at RM 160,000. I think these come "bare" and you have to pay for things like toilets and kitchen cabnets. If anyone is interested in retiring to Malaysia and save $$, you can read the MMSH info here:
The financial requirements are higher if you're under 50, but they give 10 year VISA which is a lot better than Thailand.
Photos DSC00889 - DSC00943 were taken in Singapore. The funny "james" ads were taken in MRT stations near Orchard Road area. I'm not big on eating in expensive restaurants, so you'd see some photos of cheap food courts I found near Chinatown area. You can eat lunch for $2-3 USD easily at those places.
What I found surprising is that there were a lot of tall Asians walking around Orchard Road area. I'm not sure why, but when I walk around Bugis I don't get that impression, but when I was around Orchard Rd area I saw a lot of tall guys & girls. I'm 6' and was once considered tall in Taiwan and among Asians in California, but not any more. My friend's younger brother (in SG) is 185cm (6'2"?).
Photos DSC000944 - end were taken in Taiwan. The most expensive meal I had on this trip is DSC00983 (my uncle paid for it X_X). That plate of pale-looking meat is mountain pig and the total bill for 2 came out to be about NT 1,200 (~$38 USD). Keep in mind that a bowl of noodles from street venders in Taiwan is NT 30-40 (~$1 - $1.25 USD), so that's like 30+ bowls of noodles. LoL.
I think some people have this misconception that folks in Taiwan are wealthy and the kids drive sports cars. The reality is quite different. Entry level jobs pay about NT30,000 (~$960 USD) and most younger folks ride scoopters (see DSC00947). The rise of China as manufacturing hub has sapped Taiwan of its light manufacturing industry. It's great for the environment (less pollution) but only enriched businessmen and some white collar workers, leaving many blue collar workers underemployed.
Relations and opinions of Mainland China in Taiwan is mired in irony. For an example I have some Taiwanese relatives in extended family who live in Nantou, which I think is a pro-DPP Taiwanese stronghold. They're poor farmers and lean toward DPP/Pro-TI, but at the same time, really look forward to exporting produce to China in hope of bigger financial gains. Farmer's life is really hard and they depend on their 2 kids subsidizing their monthly living expenses. The son is in Hsinchu (lots of Hakkas there) and the daughter travels to Shenzhen often for her work. The daughter's opinion of Shenzhen is a place of opportunity, but also uneven development and the people are very rude (fighting for taxi's by grabbing for the door handle).
I was supposed to go to the Philippines on this trip, but when I booked my tickets, there were some political instabilities there so I changed the destination to Singapore & TW instead. Hopefully later this year I'll be able to make it out to either Philippines or Thailand, and will bring back more photos for you guys. ^^
p.s. I came to the conclusion that folks in places like Taipei and SG are leaner and more fit than Americans, because they walk to MRT (light rail/subway) stations and eat less, versus life in America = driving to supermarket, fighting for parking space so you walk less, and eating super-sized meals. x_X
:coffee: Good choice, delicious! (although the tea normally served with kaya toast is a bit thick - or was that coffee? - I can remember what it tasted like but couldn't tell which it was, I think they used condensed milk or something equally gaustly :nono:adeptitus said:
To what I know, most of modern East Asia have subways and bus systems (some with express fare cards which makes things waaaaay faster. ^^) People in the urban use the public transportation anyway.
Private cars aren't in, but it seems to be changing now.....
Bicycles are still popular in the rural though.
By the way, do you know about Johor's plan for a harbor at a place near and across the channel from Singapore? I think that idea is going to kill Singapore a bit.
Private cars aren't in, but it seems to be changing now.....
Bicycles are still popular in the rural though.
By the way, do you know about Johor's plan for a harbor at a place near and across the channel from Singapore? I think that idea is going to kill Singapore a bit.