Hello Singapore, and your infinite options: ASIA TRAVELLLLLING

SO. Now that I'm over talking about Uni, I can concentrate on topics I consider more fun. Like traveling. Time goes unbelievably quickly! I've already been in Singapore for two (2) months! Even though I must confess, three weeks of that time I've been traveling abroad..

One thing good to remember is that the prepaid card you have for your phone doesn't work abroad. It might be good to carry your finnish sim with you abroad, so you can reach people. It is convenient assuming you aren't traveling all by yourself.

#throwback

I started my "see asia" travels with Tioman, a small island in eastern Malaysia. It's a super cute island, where you can do snorkeling, diving and tanning, for example. It's beaches are actually small, so - walks on the beach and stuff, you know - don't exactly work. We did a day trip on a small boat around the island, stopping in a few places to do snorkeling (saw some awesome fishies and corals - and a shark!!!!), eat and to check out a cute waterfall. If you are not a BIG crew, i mean BIG CREW, don't spend more than one weekend at the island. You might get bored xD. It's more of a backpackers place, and so, is not the cleanest.
Also REMEMBER to check the room out before you actually take it !!!!! The negative part of the island is that most of the hostels/hotels have a bug problem... So if you have a room there, i do recommend you to pack all your stuff in plastic bags (minigrips of 6L, can be bought from IKEA) and don't keep your bags on the floor. Or you might end up having a bug problem back home in Singapore (we have heard of such cases).
You can't really walk through the island, for it is all jungle and mountainy. It's a nice weekend getaway though, and doesn't cost almost ANYTHING. The bus trip there takes about 4-5 hours, changing the bus in Malaysia. You should take a morning bus, leaving 6AM or so, because the ferries from Mersing to the island don't operate during the evenings due to the tides. There are several bus companies, but we took the public transport from close to Little India. Back and forth, our bus trips cost in total about 10 to 15 euros. Not BAAAD!

From Mersing

Boat trip around Tioma

The "Waterfall"

Our driver.. found it more relaxing just to chill in the front

Children playing at Tioman

One of our snorkeling sites

Next up was KL. To Kuala Lumpur we also did a one-weekend-trip. The perfect amount of time to spend there. In KL, you can do a lot of shopping, at least Clinique's lotions were a lot cheaper than in Finland! Stay at Chinatown, you'll get a good price for your stay there. Again, bug alert! We stayed in Swiss Inn, which was an excellent choice, cheap and good quality (bug-free). It's in the heart of Chinatown, so the little shops on the street, or market area if you like to call it so, was right in front of us. Remember to bargain, BIG TIME. You can find nice stuff there, just remember the quality is what it is. Take a transport from your hotel to Batu Caves, remember to ask the driver to wait for you. It's hard to get a taxi back, and they'll charge you overprice. Check out the Petronas and do some shopping in the city center. Get drinks at the Trader's hotel Sky bar. You'll get a cool view to Petronas, the drinks not being too expensive. If it's sunny, take your swimwear with you, they also have a pool to cool down at the bar. If you actually want to go up the Petronas, go early enough. They have a limited amount of people going up there per day. Another option would be the Menara tower, the seventh tallest communication tower. If you like walking, KL is actually ok for that. I liked exploring the city by foot and walking from tower to tower. From chinatown we also went jogging one morning to checkout the National Mosque on the opposite side of the river.

To KL you can always fly (quite cheap), but you can also go by bus (even cheaper). In all, the buss trip will be around the same duration as the flight taking into account checkins, security checks, boardings, the flight itself, and then getting to the city from the airport, as the airport isn't exactly close to KL. We did the trip by bus. The seats are normally comfy and you can do studying on the way, or read, or sleep. It's a nice way of seeing a little of Malaysia besides KL.

Oh, and one thing; Embrace yourself, for the smell of durian cannot be avoided in Chinatown. If your not completely bonkers, you'll find it appalling.