Changi Airport, Singapore,
So it’s been few days since I haven’t written my journal, my bad!
I was so much in a hurry, busy to move out of the country.
It was kind of a hectic 3 days from Gerik up to my departure flight in KL.
So in this journal entry, I am going to do a little differently and try to summarize what happened in the last few days.
Firstly I left Gerik, after getting back my recorders from the Belum-Temenggor forest. The team from Miloko was very professional and brought and took the 3 recorders back on Wednesday morning. However, one of the recorders got completely destroyed along with the microphone MikroUsi, and the power bank. It was a risk that I took, it is sad but at the same time, it is funny to know that this was caused by an elephant. I was able to retrieve the memory card so there might be some nuggets inside.
I packed again my stuff on my bike, which with honesty I can say is not meant to transport that many bags. Unfortunately, I have accumulated more stuff throughout my 1-year stay in Malaysia. On my way down South, I navigated through the rain, not easy to predict in a tropical climate. All of sudden, a real shower can fall down from the sky! Luckily I found a shelter while heavy rain was beating the ground. I arrived in the evening at dark at Bukit Merah near the lake and not far from Taiping. I was already tired.
The next morning I went to explore the mangrove area nearby as I never really explored these in Malaysia. It was pretty much deceptive, but the light in the morning gave some good photo shots. The area I scouted on the map was far enough from humans but the industrial palm groves area was too close, and probably influence the ecosystem in a bad way. Anyway, it was an interesting trip, then I had to go to the police station to ask my permission letter to cross the state. The Oran-Utan island I wanted to go to was closed (not because of covid but because of Ramadhan). So I made my way south, this day was the longest road I did, an extenuating journey. I crossed the state to Selangor, I was surprised that the police officer did not check anything, just let me go. I stayed in Kuala Selangor for the night, Before sleeping, I tried to go and see the famous firefly 5km away but again this place was closed and inaccessible. So many places closed!
The next morning I went to Taman Alam of Kuala Selangor, this was probably one of the greatest Nature parks I have been to in Malaysia. And I was able to get close and even inside the great Mangrove ecosystem. As I walked inside the park, the sound of the traffic disappeared, and the soundscape became magical. It was my last walk in nature in Malaysia. I recorded as much as I could. I think they do a great job of preserving this area. I found it rich and interesting.
Then, no surprise, I continued my bike journey towards KL, my last stop. I decided to stay in Cyberjaya, not far from the airport, and also because I still didn’t know this neighborhood.
I had nice accommodation which allowed me to prepare for my departure. I went for a mandatory covid PCR test at Sunway Medical, then I bought a suitcase so I can put all my stuff. The only flight I was able to book has surprisingly a 35kg check baggage included. Thus it is a great opportunity to bring my stuff along with me. We’ll see later if I want to get rid of some of them.
The day after I could explore a little bit of Cyberjaya, I went to Tamarind square, a very nice place. From there I could print all the rest of the documents I needed to print.
Flying during these times is very not easy. And this is part of the reason why I stayed in Malaysia for so long, but now I have no other choice as the government decided to have all their overstayed visitors leave the country. In the afternoon I bring my bike to my friend’s place in Bukit Jalil, and again I took a magnificent rain shower on the bike, the last one this time. My friend was very kind to allow me to keep my bike in a safe place (the parking of his building). I hope I can find it back again one day!
Then was my time to pack the final luggage, and this morning I took my first flight from KLIA. The airline agent took so much time to verify everything, all in all, it was about 20-25 minutes at the counter just to be sure I was meeting all the requirements. I felt a little stressed, as I had no plan B if they refused me to board. Eventually, everything went well. I am now in Changi airport in Singapore, waiting for my second flight. It is a 10h transit time at the transit lobby here, a very nice lobby, but with a melting pot of many travelers transiting from all over the world, it is kind of scary by these times even with all the precautions we take. We have good wifi and a nice seat here, so I can work and write my journal entry. I hope everything will go well to reach my destination.
