After arriving from K.K, here I was setting foot in my fourth country of the trip. I was so excited to see what It was like here in Singapore. I followed the very accurate directions to Little Red Dot hostel just a bit out of town, via a metro and a short stroll. When I checked in, the staff were super upbeat and friendly which made a nice change from K.K. I felt great energy here and that carried on when I met Chris from the UK. I was shown to the amazing dorm room which had 'capsules' to sleep in, similar to Reggae Mansion, which meant u had a lot of privacy, your own light, curtain and plug sockets. To my surprise, the staff member, Desmond told me I would not get a 'capsule' but instead got the very top space, pretty much the loft area which was huge. It was awesome! Not long after,Chris and I started chatting that evening about our previous travels and after telling him about the food night safari tour thing the hostel had going, he agreed to come along. It wasn't long before a group of us solo travellers had gathered to head out on the town to explore all the cuisine that Singapore had to offer. There we were, new friends Chris, Brett, Gemma, Lauren and Me, along with our driver and our upbeat guide Desmond. We hopped into the swanky air conned mini bus which took us around the city, while Desmond pointed out the great food stalls and the odd numbered Lobongs or lanes, where the infamous brothels were to be found. We had such a laugh on the trip and we all got along so well that I was so happy I had opted to go on this trip. The best thing about it was it was free. We stopped off at the first street stall where we ate a mix of vegetarian tofu dishes and tried out some stingray. Being vegetarian I really didn't want to but at the same time I would regret not trying these things when I am older so I went for it. 
We walked around town and checked out some of the unusual fruits at the very brightly lit and colourful stalls. Having been told about the oh so smelly Durian fruit, I opted to try some but after a few minutes of realizing how insanely gross it was, it only left Desmond with a big bag of the squishy uneaten fruit. The only way to describe it was like squishy onion mashed potatoes, and don't get me wrong I love potatoes, I'm Irish sure, but this was a no go! Never again! 
Afterwards we were brought down to the harbourside area of Glutten Bay were we saw lines of food stalls, selling all kinds of Singaporean food. Here we got more food, and sat by the beautiful night skyline. I couldnt believe how beautiful It was at night and I could not wait to explore the next day! The following day I had considered doing a full day trip on the city sightseeing buses which was super expensive but worth it i thought. That was until I spoke with Brett and the receptionist and it dawned on me that exploring a city by yourself is always much better. So I did! 
That day I started in Little India where I stopped off for a Masala Chai (Addict) in a local indian store, before carrying on to many of the city malls and to Bugis Street where the Asian markets sell super cheap clothes, gifts and crafts. I spent most of the day shopping and purchasing crazy cheap clothes at the markets and in high street stores that by the time I got to the Singapore Flyer, I had a dozen bags hanging off my arms. I paid $30 for the Singapore flyer which is higher than the London Eye and gave great views over the city during the 30 minute 'flight'. I coudlnt help but think It would be better at night time but nevertheless, the scenery was great! Afterwards I went to The Marina Bay Sands Hotel for a gander and then carried on via metro (my legs were killing me) to Chinatown for more shopping and some street food. I ended the day by taking a metro back to Lavender station towards my hostel and that evening we had a lovely group dinner together. It had started out quite funny because we pretty much ordered drinks in a posh Indian restaurant where we had imagined it would be cheap, and after ordering, we straight away asked for the bill to the disgust of the waiter, without ordering any food. He laughed in our faces as he picked up the bill full of coins, from an obvious group of backpackers, and we gathered ourselves and set off to find somewhere cheaper, which we did!
After our meal in a local restaraunt, we bough some beer and headed back to the common area of the hostel for a chat and some drinks before we one by one set off to bed. Gemma asked me to wake her up to say goodbye and swap email addresses which I did the next morning and kindly asked her to pass it on to Chris who was going to Bali the same time as me. I had recommended Bedbunkers to him and said I would see him there. Singapore had been great to me, It was short but sweet but I made some lovely friends and had some unforgettable experiences. And of course I came away with a backpack full of new clothes! 

Luxury for a traveller x

So to update you on where I have been since Kuching, I will start with Miri where I turned up after 12hours on a bus which wasn’t so bad at all. I stayed at Coco House which, when I turned up and got my bearings, realized was not so close to town after all. After checking in to my huge empty dorm, and asking for directions and a map, my first day was spent at Taman Selera beach which I got to via a local bus. I took the bus from the local station which took me a few minutes to get to and to my surprise; I was dropped off at the side of the road and told that the building site across the road was the beach. I made my way through the rubble and what looked like a local neighbourhood, to the beautiful beach which was amazing, given that I tried to forget what was behind me. I stayed there for a few hours and then decided to take the long walk back into town, taking in a few temples and the local handicraft centre and the main streets which weren’t too impressive. The next day I had planned to go to the Niah Caves which were an hour or so away from Miri. I was picked up at 8am, just after the free breakfast and was surprised to find myself, the only western traveller on the tour. Everyone seemed so nice, but considering I didn’t speak Malaysian, I didn’t get the opportunity to mingle as much as I would have liked. That was until, the group separated and I was touring the incredible caves with three lovely Asian girls and our guide who I had a great time with. We giggled and screamed as we walked through the scary pitch blackness of the huge caves and spotted enormous spiders on the hand railings. We walked for hours and hours through the different parts of the caves, the jungle and met other tourists along the way. They took turns taking pictures with me which was cute, and made me laugh when two guys walked by, saying to me, ‘they’re cute boys no?, get their number yeah’? After a long day, our guide Danny took us to a local restaurant for our free meal while the other half of the group stayed to tour the caves. The Niah Caves were incredible and I was so glad I did it considering it was a bit over budget, but very highly recommended. I had been to many caves before including the Batu Caves in Kuala Lumpur and Halong Bay, Vietnam, but the Niah Caves had that special something, and with a quaint setting in the beautiful Borneo jungle, they are hard to pass up.

My time in Miri eventually came to an end and I decided to make my way to Brunei, another country to tick off my list. I took the early 8am bus straight to Bandar, the capital, which was a super smooth journey, consisting of two very quick and easy immigration stop offs. When I arrived in Brunei, I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was. I checked into K.H Soon Guesthouse which my friend Willem was staying at, and turned out to be the cheapest at $18 per night. I spent the day walking around Bandar with my very helpful, borrowed, guide book, and took myself to some of the most beautiful sights including the Mosque which is situated right in the city centre. When I say city, It is the smallest and most compact city I have ever been to which made it very easy to get around and see in one day. With luck continuously on side during this whole journey, I found myself chatting with a local woman from Brunei who had a small business with her husband, taking people on trips down the river to see the Kampong Ayer floating village, the proboscis monkeys and the other exceptional wildlife on offer so close to civilization. I agreed to go with Wann and her husband Mark for a two hour trip, one hour by myself, before we would pick up some others to take the wildlife section of the tour further downstream. It was a scorching day and I was very excited to spend it with locals on the river. The first hour was great, touring the Kampong Ayer village aka The Venice of Brunei, the Kampong Ayer museum and meeting many of Wann’s family members who were extremely friendly and welcoming -typical for Brunei communities I was told. I felt in great hands as we chatted and mingled with her family and when we returned to the boat, we travelled downstream to pick up a lovely couple who joined us for the rest of the wildlife trip, where we saw lots of proboscis monkeys, crocodiles, monitor lizards and many other animals. The sun was beaming down on us as we laughed and chatted together about our travelling experiences. We were so happy to have found this great tour and It was one of the biggest highlights of Brunei for me, by far. That evening, I made my way to the city centre again to check out the really nice night markets. I walked around in awe, as I watched families gathering to play sports and eat street food together in the cities open park with the magical backdrop of the beautiful Mosque. Tourists and locals walked around the markets sampling the street food while some sat and chilled in the park or by monuments near the Mosque. I sampled some street food before randomly spotting Willem from across the street in the local coffee shop. We chatted for a few hours there before heading back to our guest house and planned to leave to Kota Kinabulu the next morning via an 8hour bus journey. The next day, we set off at 7am and after 8 stamps and 4 border crossings we arrived in K.K as it’s locally known as. When I arrived in K.K, I said goodbye to Willem who was staying at a different hostel. When I took my taxi to Borneo Global Backpackers, I was a bit confused as to why wer drove so far out of town, and into a sort of industrial estate. Not what I had imagined! When i checked in, the guy was not able to help me when I asked about tours to Mount Kinabulu or The Tip of Borneo, which made no sense considering they doubled as a tour agency too. 
It wasnt long before I met Anna, a german girl from my dorm who seemed to have a lot in common with me.We chatted for a while and decided to take the 20 minute walk to the bus station the next morning together, where I would go to the tip of Borneo by local bus and she would go to Mount Kinabulu. The next morning, having been woken up by the torrential rain outside, Anna and I looked out and realized that today may not be the right day to go. Disappointed, as it was my only day In K.K, i decided not to dwell on it and would opt to wait it out and instead check out the city. Later on when the rain eased, we walked into town, where we went our separate ways, a short but sweet new friendship which I had learned a lot from. I had given her tips on yoga and studying her Teacher training in India while she advised me on places to go in Bali. It was great! The day was spent walking around the city which didn't impress me much, before ducking into a coffee shop out of the heavy rain. Fed up, I took a taxi all the way back to the hostel where I stayed for the evening and looked forward to getting to Singapore the next day. K.K was not what i expected but had it been nice weather, and had I been prepared for a mountain climb on this trip I think it would have made it better. As Anna said, people think when they travel that they have to do everything but they don't realize that they can always come back and do the things they've missed, if you really want to, you will. This gave me the closure I needed for Borneo and I was sure I would see Mount Kinabulu and The tip of Borneo one day.

 It was onwards and upwards and next on my list was Singapore! 

My first few days in Borneo where great. I had mixed feelings to begin with, missing my travel pals, but at the same time, excited to experience something new. I spent an hour or so chatting to a group of girls in the kitchen over boiled eggs, toast and tea. We all agreed that Beds hostel was heaven on earth, providing us with unlimited eggs, and knowing me I was loving it. They had been telling me about their time in Borneo and where they planned to go next which gave me some ideas, considering I had arrived in Kuching with not a notion of where I actually was in the world. I quickly opened google maps and found myself, right there smack bang in Kuching, Borneo. I had no plans for a route and didn't have time to spend more than a week here so i thought I should get a move on with some ideas. They planned to go out sightseeing but after a previously heavy night, they opted for movies and junk food, which sounded appealing to me. Nevertheless I scrambled to get myself together and planned to get out and spend my day enjoying Borneo.


The best thing about the hostel was the friendliness of the staff. They gave me a lot of great tips and advice on what to do in Kuching and also gave me my own private room for the same price as a dorm, seen as their guests had extended their stay. I could see why! I took a map with me and headed out to explore the city. I walked towards the waterfront and admired the view of the small dainty river boats and the beautiful architecture of the government buildings across the way. 

I kept walking the promenade until I came across one of the many shopping malls, called Riverside mall. I headed in for a look around which only teases me because my bag is full as it is, but whatever. I went in! It wasn't long before I came across a hair salon which turned out to be around €6 for a hair cut. I opted in, In dire need of one and I thanked my lucky stars I hadn't caved in India, and gone to the pop up barber near the ashram. I had a quirky junior stylist who washed my hair without bringing me to the sink, which was pretty cool. He scrubbed, washed and massaged to his hearts content before taking me to wash it out. The shampoo and conditioner smelled luscious. He cut my hair exactly how I had asked him and styled it perfectly, leaving me still haggered looking but with beautiful voluminous locks. I tipped him, and headed on my way to the city. I could see an 'India Street' on the map, and so I headed that way. The street as it turned out, had not one single Indian person, nor textile but was apparently named so because of past settlers. The street was lined with market stalls and knock of phone shops which suited me. I hadn't planned to buy a phone and it was just 'out of curiosity' as my mam's catchphrase would go, that I decided to inquire about one. With crazy prices for a 'real' one and cheap prices  for the fake, useless ones, i thought id give it a miss. I set off instead to the textile museum, which i caught the last 15 minutes of, by chance. It was very interesting and reminded me of the textile museum in Sucre, Bolivia which I had liked. I made my way back through the city and stopped off at a roadside cafe where I ordered some yummy Fried Mee Hoon (Thanks Sarah), because when in doubt just order that. It was lovely! My Paneer Butter Masala addiction in India was now being replaced by this yummy veggie noodle dish and i had no complaints. 

My second day in Kuching saw me take the same route towards India street and this time, actually make a purchase. I had stopped off at The Chinese History Museum which was very interesting and then carried on. I got chatting to two young stall merchants and an older man who had great English. It seemed easier to buy a technological item from someone you could mutually understand, who knew? We chatted for ages and the older man I later came to know as Musa, gave me some great tips on travelling Sarawak, Borneo. I ended up buying a Samsung Galaxy S4 with screen covers and a phone cover for €65 which to me seemed fake, but i didn't care. A phone was a phone and until I could get another I phone, this would do! They set it up, registered my sim card for me and Musa even walked me over to my bus stop where I had planned to go to Semmongoh to see the Orangutans. Little did I know, he just heard Orangutans, and sent me off on the wrong bus, to my dismay. It wasn't until I got to Bako National Park an hour later that I embarrassed myself asking about the orangutans feeding times. When i realized where I was, It was too late, and too expensive to take part in any national park boat rides, or activities. I had wasted my time. Well, when i figured this out, and decided to go back to Kuching, I turned around and the bus had left, with not another one in sight for an hour. My patience was up. I would never make it back on time to go to Semmongoh. I just wanted to sleep! 

When the next bus took me back, I pushed the button when I suddenly saw my hostel and rushed off the bus as fast as i could. I headed into a local Chinese eatery where, yes, I got very much stared at for asking if they had a menu. Nevertheless, the lovely woman made me some spicy veggie noodles which were just what I needed before settling down in bed to watch The Great Gatsby. The beds were amazing in Beds, and It suddenly made sense... 'Ding'! My last day In Kuching, saw me sat for two hours on my computer trying to come up with a plan, while eating eggs and toast, obviously. I finally came to a decision to take the bus to Miri which would be 14hrs, not so bad considering my record is 36hrs or something. It would save me accommodation too which was a bonus for us travellers. I booked it for 9pm with Mr Chong, via the lovely hostel lady, who told me he would pick me up at 7:30pm. Hmm ok then! I headed off for my last chance to see the Orangutans at Semmongoh, not before stopping off with Musa to purchase a memory card for my phone, at a discounted rate of course.I pretended I had wanted to go to Semmongoh today as if yesterday I had actually wanted to go to Bako, luckily he didn't ask how it was. After thanking him for all his help and chats, I took some directions and found the K6 to take me to the right place. I had noticed that everyone was very friendly here, they all said hello in the street and smiled as they passed by and if you needed any help, everyone was there for you. I loved places like this. When I got to Semmongoh, we all walked for 1.3km before reaching the sanctuary. As i approached the crowds, I noticed them looking up at the rare sighting of a grandmother and baby orangutan outside of their feeding times. We watched for ages, while taking pictures of them swinging around and eating bananas, typical! When we went to the feeding area at 3pm, there was only one cheeky orangutan there eating all the bananas and grabbing coconuts to smash off the trees. He was entertaining enough. After taking the last bus back, I walked back through the city, taking in the sight of the beautiful Indian Mosque, and then made my way back to my street where I had a beautiful dinner of.. guess what... Fried Mee Hoon, in The Hong Kong Noodle House. Afterwards I headed back to Beds, where I waited for Mr Chong who arrived at 8pm, due to his dinner time. When he greeted me, I couldn't help but think of Mr Chow in the Hangover. He spoke very fast, broken English but expected me to know what he meant. As I got into his brand spanking new, gleaming white, Mercedes Benz, I began to think of human trafficking. There had been many situations in my travel life where I have had this thought, but after seeing 'Taken', you just never know. I figured the lovely lady wouldn't be in on it, so I trusted that he was taking me to a bus. As I sat in the front seat of the air conditioned car, which smelled like new leather and floral, I tried to respond to Chong's questions, blissfully unaware of a single word. At one point he asked if i was married and if he could come to Ireland, which we both laughed at, me being the one awkwardly laughing. As we got to the terminal, he pulled up and walked me to the counter and at this point it seemed like I had entered into an Indian style deja vu situation. As I walked around the terminal, every face turned to look at me as if i was something out of the ordinary. Promoters popped out of the wood work asking where I was going, slowly moving on to the usual 'Where are you from' 'Are you married' questions to which I laughed at. I couldn't believe it. It was Malaysia, what could possibly have changed from the outside world to inside this terminal. As I walked to the supermarket, everyone came after me asking if i was ok, if i knew where i was going and that i needed to be back for 9pm. When i came back to take a seat, all prospective passengers turned to stare at me, so I put my earphones in and blared some crazy tunes to keep me occupied. On board the bus at 9pm, we got comfortable, and as the bus pulled away, there of course, was Mr Chong, hysterically waving up to me. I couldn't help but wave and consequently burst into laughter, considering this was just a long line of weird situations I have been apart of. I set off on the 14hr journey to Miri and I was very much looking forward to chilling out, watching movies and pigging out on donuts, crisps and cookies. Bye Bye Kuching, It was an entertaining few days!