Opposite end of the spectrum

Upon leaving Indonesia we arrived in Danga Bay Marina, which is near Johor Bahru Malaysia, at the very south end of the country. Sail Malaysia doesn't officially start until November 9th, or 12th or 16th... typical of South East Asian schedules. So in the meantime we decided to take advantage of the lull in sailing and explore.

Traffic on our way into Danga Bay.

We spent a day exploring Johor Bahru or JB as the locals call it. It is a modern city full of shopping malls and the likes. You can find everything you "need" including McDonalds and Starbucks. Thankfully we didn't spend too terribly long of a time in the malls and took the time to get lost on the streets. We found a nice little cafe for dinner before returning to Danga Bay for the night.

Welcome to Malaysia!

 Johor Bahru highlights including an awesome container tea shop and our dinner cafe.

Only a short bus ride from Johor Bahru and easy customs clearance a shining city of the future awaited. In all honesty I wasn't to excited about Singapore. I prefer the open spaces of the world and was expecting Singapore to be a big, dirty city. Indeed it was a big city but far from dirty and we stumbled on some really cool neighborhoods and met some great expats who made us feel welcome and showed us a great time. I think if I ever have to return to the real world and work again I would put Singapore on my list of potential cities to live in..

We spent four nights in Singapore in the Little India neighborhood. It was Deepavali, the Indian festival of lights, so the streets were never quiet but we ventured all over the island during the day, utilizing their state of the art subway system. Its an incredibly clean and modern city. Such a change from where we've been in Indonesia.

Omar and Rhiannon relax in our hostel.

Buying flowers for Deepavali.

Singapore had some incredibly modern architecture which is guarded by the Merlion in the Marina by the Bay.

Haji Lane, a trendy alley we stumbled into while exploring one night. Probably my favorite part of Singapore

In the Raffles Hotel.

Har Paw Villa, a cultural museum built by the Tiger Balm moguls in the 1930s as a gift to the people of Singapore. The Ten Courts of Hell was definitely the highlight to this bizarre little theme park.