SE Asia Trip Report

Well my trip to Southeast Asia was fun. A bit of a whirlwind for a 10 day trip but still a good time.  Malaysia, specifically Kuala Lumpur, had been on my bucket list for about 20 years.












I enjoyed KL, even with a bit of rain.  However, the best part of my KL adventure was getting a chance to meet up with Jessica, Dharma, Kartik, and LikMin.

The Bantu Caves were a great little day trip.  Plus I got to see the monkeys there.








I enjoy Malaysian food but honestly the best thing I found was brown sugar bubble tea.  I miss proper bubble tea with the tapioca balls.  The bubble tea I've found in Czechland just sucks.  Anyway, this was proper bubble tea with rich brown sugar tapioca pearls.  So yummy.

After a few short days in KL I headed to Brunei which all of my friends thought I was insane to go visit given the recent uproar about imposing the death penalty for homosexuals.  However, it was kind of ironic that I when I got to Bandar Seri Begawan that there was a big gay rainbow.

Natalie was "in the area" so she flew in and we met up in Bandar.  You've got to love random godparent meet-up adventures.  It's always so awesome getting some Nat time.  The last time I saw her was in March when we went to Malmö and Copenhagen.  

Bandar was interesting.  One day was definitely enough to get the feel for the place.  Honestly the company made this a way better visit.  Then we flew to Singapore which I think might be the 9th or 10th country we've visited together.

One thing to note about Brunei and Singapore is that both countries are tough on illegal drugs.  On the arrival cards for both countries there are warnings that drug trafficking will result in the death penalty.



From Singapore, Nat and I caught the train to Johor Bahru for day trip.  On Tuesday night Nat caught her flight back home to Wellington.



On Wednesday I did a bit of sightseeing down at the marina and in Chinatown.  I also finally got to try chilli crab.



On Thursday I caught a high-speed ferry and went to Batam for the day.  My first time in Indonesia.  It was interesting and the highlight of the day was visiting the former Vietnamese refugee centre.  I swear that sometimes I visit some of the most random sights but it's always an adventure.

Although it was a fast trip I managed to pack in quite a lot.  I definitely want to go back to Malaysia and Indonesia.  If only it wasn't a 13ish hour flight from Euroland.

Batam, Indonesia

The Riau Islands are an Indonesian archipelago about 19 km (12 miles) south of Singapore.  The three main islands are Batam, Rempang and Galang.  These three are collectively called Barelang and there are a few other small islands.

Batam is the largest city with a population over 1,2 million people.  It is part of a free trade zone and is the second most popular tourist destination in Indonesia.





On Friday I took a 45 minute ferry ride from Singapore to Batam.






The Barelang Bridge is the only bridge in Batam that connects it to the other nearby islands.

It actually consists of six different bridges and stretches 2,25 kilometres (1,4 miles).



Bridge I is the Teuku Fisabilillah Bridge connecting Batam Island and Tonton Island.  It is 642 metres long and resembles San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.  It's a popular spot to take photos.




From Batam it takes about 40 minutes to get to the Galang Refugee Camp.  It operated from 1979 to 1996 and about 250,000 refugees passed through it.

The 80-hectare (about 200 acre) facility was a UN High Commission for Refugees camp that helped Vietnamese Bota People and asylum seekers with temporary accommodation until they were resettled in the USA, Japan, Canada, Brazil, Australia and some European countries.

Facilities included camps, churches, hospitals and schools.  Today the camp is a museum and about 6.000 visit every month.  Many visitors were once housed in the camp before being relocated elsewhere.



Dragon fruit is local to Batam and after riding around the islands for a while there was a quick stop for a dragon fruit juice.  Quite refreshing.



The Maha Vihara Duta Maitreya Buddhist Temple is the biggest Buddhist temple in Indonesia.  Supposedly in all of Southeast Asia.




Batam made for an interesting day trip.  Though I think it is much more popular as a cheap holiday getaway.



Update:  March 2020 - The Vietnamese refugee camp on Galang Island is now closed to tourists.  The government has built a hospital there for COVID-19 patients.

Republic of Indonesia

Indonesia, in Southeast Asia is an archipelago between the Indian and Pacific Oceans.  There are 17.000 islands and shares borders with Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, and Timor-Leste.  The capital and largest city is Jakarta which is located on Java, the world's most populous island.

It's huge!  Almost three times bigger than Texas and it's the world's largest island country.  Indonesia is home to more than 267 million people making it the fourth most populous country in the world.  It's also the most populous Muslim-majority country.

Archaeologists estimate that the islands were inhabited some two million to 500.000 years ago.  There were Buddhist and Hindu dynasties between the 8th and 13th centuries.  Islam came in the 8th century and became the dominant religion by the end of the 16th century.

Europeans came in 1512.  The Dutch were the dominant European power here for about 200 years which is why is used to be known as the Dutch East Indies and the Netherlands East Indies.

WWII and the Japanese invasion put an end to Dutch rule.  Following the war, Indonesia declared indolence in 1945 and it was recognised internationally in 1949.

In 1975 Indonesia invaded East Timor but in 1999 it successfully seceded from Indonesia.

Today the Republic of Indonesia is a presidential republic and it was a founding member of ASEAN.


The country is very diverse.  There are about 300 distinct ethnic groups with the largest being Javanese at 40% of the population.

There are six officially recognised religions - Islam, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism.  There are 227 million Muslims mostly Sunnis.  Only about 10% of the population is Christian.  Like several Muslim countries, it does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.

The Rupiah (Rp) is the official currency.

The official language is Indonesian which is a standardised version of Malay.    Due to the country's population this makes it one of the world's most widely spoken languages.  But there are over 700 local languages.  700!



The flag is almost identical to that of Monaco.  The Indonesian flag is a bit larger and a slightly different shade of red.  I wonder how often this becomes a "thing".

In 2012 the Czech Export Bank and the Indonesia Exim Bank signed an agreement to support import/export activities between the two countries.  Czechland imports textiles, clothes, footwear, and rubber from Indonesia.  Indonesia imports machinery, chemicals, electrical and power generation and telecommunications equipment from Czechland.  It's about $500 million of bilateral trade.

Here's a 2016 video I found on YouTube about how powerful Indonesia is.

©Test Tube News

ASEAN

ASEAN is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.  It's a regional block made up of ten countries, something like the Southeast Asian version of the European Union.

Originally formed, by five countries, in 1961 as the Association of Southeast Asia, the group was intended as an alliance against communism.  Over the years it has developed into a powerful economic area.

The member nations are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.  Although not members, Papua New Guinea and Timor Leste both have observer status.

ASEAN is diverse.  There are 10 official languages but English is the working language.  Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim country while over 95% of Thailand is Buddhist and over 80% of the Philippines is Roman Catholic.

If ASEAN were a single country then it would be the world's 7th-largest economy.  By 2050 it is projected to be the world's 4th-largest economy.  ASEAN is home to more than 600 million people making it the world's 3rd-largest market.

In 2006, it received observer status at the UN General Assembly.  There's talk one day of having a single currency. like the Euro, but that's way down the road.

Here's a short video from 2016 that I found out on YouTube.

©Test Tube News