Tag Archives: tourist

Penang Clan Jetties – World Heritage Site

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enterance to jetty with hand painted World Heritage sign

There are 6 clan jetties in Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia. The historic sites include housing built over the water, which continue to be lived in today. Old town Georgetown, including the clan jetties was designated an UNESCO World Heritage site in 2008 (along with Melacca).

When the jetties were established in the mid-19th century everybody who lived on the same jetty had the same surname because they all came from the same fishing village in China’s Fujian Province. When they arrived they did not have money to buy land and so decided to build their own villages: the jetties. The families were used to living close to the water and most men who lived on the jetties worked as fishermen or as coolies in the port.
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The UNESCO World Heritage status saved the jetties from planned demolition. The fact that the jetties now have heritage status guarantees that they will stay.

– Francine Linssen, Passage magazine, Friends of the Museums of Singapore, Jan/Feb 2012

View from Penang Clan Jetty with modern highrises in the background

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Bishop Trail, Fraser’s Hill, Malaysia

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photo of trees along Bishop Trail in Fraser's Hill

Fraser’s Hill, Malaysia is a small town in the highlands (about 2 hours from Kuala Lumpur). There are quite a few nice trails that let you get a sense for a natural forest yet they are easily walked to from the many inns and hotels in Fraser’s Hill.

trees and trail on Bishop Trail, Fraser's Hill

The Bishop Trail is one of the longer trails with a few fairly difficult sections. I found it quite enjoyable, but be prepared for a couple sections that will challenge you to scramble across a creek bed or up a steep collapsed trail.

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18th Pasir Gudang World Kite Festival, Johor, Malaysia – Feb 19-24

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The 18th annual Pasir Gudang World Kite Festival will be held from the 19th of February until 24th February, 2013 (schedule). The kite festival draws enthusiasts from around the globe with competitors from over 20 countries. Videos of kites flying at the 2011 festival:

Video showing some scenes from the 2012 festival:

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Putrajaya Architecture

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Putrajaya is the home of the Malaysian government. It sits approximately 25 km south of Kuala Lumpur, next to Cyberjaya. Planning and construction of Putrajaya began in the early 1990s. The seat of government shifted to Putrajaya in 1999, from Kuala Lumpur.

The area does include housing, which is wise, but is dominated by large government building, many with interesting architecture, and wide causeways. 38% of the city is reserved for green spaces (including waterways).

photo of Malaysian Prime Minster's Office Building

Prime Minster’s Office Building, Putrajaya, Malaysia

photo of the pink Mosque, Putrajaya

Putra Mosque, Putrajaya, which is adjacent to the Prime Minister’s Office Building.

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The 9th Johor Bahru Arts Festival Packs the Calendar Events For the Month of September

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JB Arts Festival includes many events during the full month of September. Most the events are free, some require purchased tickets. It does take a bit of work to find out what you want to know using the web site, but it looks like it is worth the effort.

A calendar of events lists the events by day (it is a bit hard to read – just a jpg image file so it doesn’t increase in size very well). Separate pages provide details on the many arts related events (but those pages don’t tell you when or where the events are). Some highlights:

photo of dancers for Culture Malaysiana
Culture Malaysiana showcases and represents the vibrancy and richness of the Malaysian community, and truly achieves unity through the arts. The seamless transitions between the many dances are also representative of how elements of each culture are mixed together to create a unique Malaysian culture, a whole which is truly more than the sum of its parts.

Maskara Shorties is a marathon screening of short films curated amd selected by Sindiket Sol-jah. Sindiket Sol-jah is an arts activist group based in Rumah PENA (Persatuan Penulis Nasional Malaysia / National Writers Assosiation Malaysia). The event will showcase rarely-seen short films for your viewing pleasure produced and directed by passionate filmmakers from Malaysia and Singapore.

photo of 24 Festive Drums

The inspiration for the 24 drums was based on the 24 festivals in the Chinese lunar calendar throughout the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, which has guided the traditional Chinese agricultural community for thousands of years. A full troupe therefore consists of 24 drums, each bearing two bold Chinese characters representing each of the 24 festivals. The music and choreography are arranged to harmonise gracefully into a performing art that depicts the cycles of the 24 seasons in music, calligraphy and the rhythm of life.

From its humble beginnings here in Johor Bahru, the 24 Festive Drums has garnered recognition and acclaim both locally and internationally. The performing art is not only popular in Malaysia, but has also become popular and gained a following in Singapore, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States

photo of Akasha (Malaysia music group)

Using various instruments, Akasha ventures into many different genres, including blues, bluegrass, latin, bossanova, middle eastern, classical, old western and Irish.


AkashA is a 7-piece Malaysian band, playing world fusion music with a distinctly Malaysian twist. Like Malaysia itself, AkashA is a fusion of four cultures – Malay, Indian, Chinese, and Western. Watch YouTube video highlights of an AkashaA performance.

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SE Asia Travel: Siem Reap, Cambodia

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One of the many advantages of living in Malaysia is the number of great tourist destinations that are fairly easy to travel to. The plane trips are so much better than the horrible system now in place in the USA (much better service, no TSA security theater, many fewer delays…). Prices are reasonable also. I will gladly pay $50 US to fly on the airlines like Malaysia Airlines (which I flew this time) and Singapore Airlines over some of the budget airlines. I just don’t want to deal with companies that are going to try to rip you off any chance they get and have much less reliable flights (cancelling them more often, etc.). I will fly Firefly.

The flights from Johor Bahru are not very good, pretty much you have to go through Kuala Lumpor, which is fine, but you can be stuck with long waits which I don’t like. Still often it is preferable to flying out of Singapore (though not always). On this trip, to avoid that long delay I was able to fly JB to KL to Siem Reap and then on the way back fly Phnom Penh to KL to JB. These both had short layovers but Siem Reap to KL to JB had over 4 hours wait. I took the bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh.

photo of the outside of the airport at Siem Reap, Cambodia

Siem Reap, Cambodia Airport

The Siem Reap airport is nice, new and small. You need a passport photo for your visa (which I just happen to carry with me from my memories as a child of needed them, but I hadn’t read anything about needing them). Those with passports from many countries you can get a visa at the airport (you don’t need one in advance) but you should make sure this is true for your country in advance. The cost was $20 US. I would imagine that you can get the photo there (for a high price, I would guess) but even more annoying is probably the delay it would add of waiting in another line).

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Kuala Lumpur Bird Park

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The Kuala Lumpur Birdpark is in downtown Kuala Lumpur right next to the Museum of Islamic Art.

It isn’t very obvious how to walk from one to the other but I was able to do so. I would guess I walked maybe 2km – the problem is getting to the entrance of the bird park (I think the properties actually touch each other).

photo of pathway in Kuala Lumpur Birdpark

Kuala Lumpur Birdpark

All of the photos in this post were taken by John Hunter and can be used with a link back to this post.

Crested Goshawk

Crested Goshawk (Lang Sikap)

If you like seeing birds and you have time in Kuala Lumpur I think the birdpark is worth a visit. But it really isn’t so special and other things may be a more valuable use for your time. If you have time and want an outdoor activity though it is fine (for example if you are living in Kuala Lumpor or staying for an extended period). The park is a bit run down and it is a bit sad how small the enclosures are for some of the birds.

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Arulmigu Sri Raja Kallamman Indian Hindu Glass Temple in Johor Bahru

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The Arulmigu Sri Raja Kallamman temple in Johor Bahru (CBD) is an Indian temple with walls covered in glass tiles. This Hindu temple is located in the Central Business District of Johor Bahru. It is a very interesting and beautiful temple. The temple actually was first established in 1922 but the current glass temple was completed in 2009.

Arulmigu Sri Raja Kallamman Hindu Temple

Arulmigu Sri Raja Kallamman Temple, Johor Bahru

Over 95% of the temple is embellished by a mosaic of 300,000 pieces of red, blue, yellow, green, purple and white glass. The centrepiece in the Athma Lingam sanctuary is a lotus for Lord Shiva, on which devotees can pour rose water and perform their prayers.

Johor Bahru is not well known as a tourist spot. I think this temple is a great idea for tourists looking for something to visit in Johor Bahru. It likely won’t take more than 30 minutes, but it is quite captivating and offers something to remember for Johor Bahru.

Arulmigu Sri Raja Kallamman Indian Glass Temple

Arulmigu Sri Raja Kallamman Indian Glass Temple

Village Briyani Indian Restaurant and Danga City Mall are quite close. If you time your visit close to lunch time I recommend eating lunch at Village Briyani (it is walking distance, but a bit confusing to find so make sure you have a clear idea on your map of where it is located – you can call and get directions I would think).

Related: Johor Bahru Zoo – Tourist Stuff in Kuala Lumpur – Big Lizards in Johor Bahru CBD

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Pasir Gudang World Kite Festival in Johor Bahru: February 15th to 19th, 2012

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The above webcast is of the 2011 International Kite Festival at Pasir Gudang, Johor Bahru. The 2012 festival, will run from February 15th to February 19th and is the 17th year the kite fair has been held. This looks like quite an enjoyable event.

Their web site says that last year over 180 international kite flyers from 25 countries came to Pasir Gudang. It also say 100,000 spectators cheer the opening ceremony. That number seems amazing to me. The web site also offers a schedule of events.

There is also a Kite Museum.

I am pretty sure the taxi rate they list on the festival web site it out of date (it would be more now). If you know the buses that can be taken from JB Sentral to Pasir Gudang, please add a comment?

Related: Johor Bahru Zoo – Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia in Kuala Lumpor – Tourist Attractions in Kuala Lumpur


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Johor Bahru Zoo

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Photo of Kuching batu

Kuching Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis borneoensis). There are 12 species of leopard cat, one is found on Borneo and another on peninsular Malaysia.

The Johor Bahru Zoo offers the chance to see quite a few animals but has an obvious problem with funding. In the last couple of decades small zoos are losing out as the costs increase and people’s expectation for the treatment of animals has been raised. Even very expensive zoos with lots of money and relatively nice enclosures have serious questions to answer about whether locking up animals for our recreation is acceptable. Small zoos have been closing and zoos that remain open have been increasing the quality of spaces for animals and funding research as a way to feel better about what we do.

photo of the chimpanzee Enclosure at the JB Zoo

Chimpanzee enclosure at the Johor Bahru Zoo. The Grand Palace is visible in the background.

The Johor Bahru Zoo is still small and obviously not very well funded. The enclosures are small. I talked to several of the people that work there and they were very nice and well intentioned, it seemed to me. But there is no denying the zoo has too little funding to provide what is expected in many places today (I didn’t talk to the people that work there about funding I just observed the conditions – also the entrance fee is only RM 3. The Singapore Zoo is hailed as a wonder and the entrance cost is about 40 times as much (and I wouldn’t be surprised if the attendance was 40 times as high). You can certainly make things look nice for 1,600 times (40 * 40) as much money (plus I would imagine corporate sponsorship, members… give the Singapore zoo even more).

photo of a lion cub at the Johor Bahru Zoo

Lion cub, Johor Bahru Zoo. The lion enclosure is the similar to the one for chimpanzees. All the photos are by John Hunter.

The zoo was built by Sultan Ibrahim in 1928 and was was opened to the public in 1962.

I can understand people feeling bad for the animals at the Johor Zoo. I also can believe kids may well very much enjoy it (many were as I was there). It does seem to me, if they intend to keep the zoo, they really should look at ways to increase funding by a factor of at least 50 – 100. And then look to decrease the number of animals and give those that remain larger and more interesting enclosures. But that is just my opinion, others are welcome to their own opinions. I am sure, some people know they wouldn’t want to see a small, older zoo. But if you don’t feel that way, I think the zoo is one of the more interesting tourist attractions in Johor Bahru and worth a visit.

Related: Tourist Stuff in Kuala Lumpur – Visiting Lizard – photo of the Johor Bahru Zoo in the 1970s – Snow Leopard Playing in the Snow in Ohio Zoo

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