Travel Bits: June 2022
Travel takes flight......
After close to two and a half years literally marooned in my home city, I finally started to travel again.
In the space of three weeks, I had travelled to Malaysia and Cambodia. My trip to Cambodia's Siem Reap was my first flight in 30 long months.
My trip to Malaysia was an enjoyable one, connecting with relatives and friends. We drove north, crossing the land border between Singapore and Malaysia's southern state of Johor before continuing northwards passed the other Malaysian states of Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, and Selangor and finally reaching the state of Perak and the city of Ipoh. A total driving distance of about 550 km.
During my short one-week stay in Ipoh, I visited most of my favourite eating places, indulging myself and enjoying the culinary delights of Ipoh. Together with relatives and friends, we did a short 2-day, 1-night stay in Cameron Highlands, located on the border of the states of Perak and Pahang. At an elevation of between 800 metres (2,600 ft) to 1,603 metres (5,259 ft) above sea level, the cool weather in Cameron Highlands was a welcome respite from the heat and humidity that characterises Ipoh's weather for much of the year. And of course, there were the obligatory visits to touristy spots and also re-visiting my favourite Cafes in Tanah Rata and Brinchang.
Returning from my trip to Malaysia, there was a one-week interval to catch up with work before I travelled to Siem Reap in Cambodia. Arriving at Singapore's Changi Airport for the first time in many months was a happy and exciting experience. After spending some time at the Singapore Airline's SilverKris Lounge, boarding the plane and placing my hand-carry luggage into the overhead compartment was such a nice experience, one that I had been longing for during the entirely of year 2020 and 2021. Ah, the simple things in life!
Looking out of the plane's window at 30,000 ft was simply an experience to re-savour after such a long enforced absence.
Arriving at Siem Reap, I met up with old friends, made new friends and explored the city before heading to the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Angkor Archeological Park. Besides my visit to Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, I also cafe-hopped around Siem Reap city itself. Enjoying different brews of coffees and simply soaking in the beautiful experience of being on an overseas vacation.
I chatted with locals, saw and photographed wild Hornbills in the trees, walked along the Siem Reap River, went to the Old Market and observed the local's everyday life, ate at local eateries, shopped a bit and simply covered as much ground as I could during the nights when the weather was cooler than during the daytimes.
The month of May of 2022 was thus the month I started to travel again. In the first week of July, I will be going for a short 4-day, 3-night cruise from Singapore to Malaysia' Penang state. This will be my first ever cruise experience and also the first time I am travelling to Penang. There is also a trip to the Malaysian city of Kuala Lumpur booked for August followed by a trip to Indonesia's Bali scheduled in early-October. This will be followed by another cruise in end-October to Thailand's Phuket.
My travel calendar is thus mostly filled for 2022. Even though, I will only be travelling regionally within South-East Asia, the joys of being able to re-commence leisure travel is priceless.
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