The Republic of Singapore is a small independent country on the southern tip of Malaysia. As a former trading post of the British East India trading company, the British influence is still noticeable today.  For the 5th year on a row it has been ranked as the most expense city in the world to live in, and I had heard, even for a tourist it was very expensive, but I didn't find it nearly that bad.  English is one of 4 official languages and the one most often spoken.  The MRT, or Mass Rapid Transport, was fast, efficient, easy to use and took me everywhere I needed to go.  As a US citizen, I didn't need a visa to visit. https://www.mfa.gov.sg/content/mfa/overseasmission/washington/visitor_information/Visa_and_Entry_Requirements.html   I had heard so much about Singapore being very clean and beautiful. I'm not sure it lived up to all the hype, but there seemed to be flowers everywhere, even on bridges and pedestrian walkways. I’d say it was about the s...

Our next stop was just a short distance away, in Sepilok.   It was a rehab facility for orangutans and Bornean sun bears.  We started the afternoon at the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Center http://www.bsbcc.org.my/ .   They were started in 2008 to rescue and rehabilitate sun bears.   They try to rehabilitate and release as many as possible back in to the wild.   There are currently 42 bears living in the center in huge forest enclosures and we only saw a few of them. As you walked around the elevated platforms, you could see these habitats were densely forested and they gave the captive bears a very natural environment.   The bears were quite well hidden, in fact, I walked past one several times before someone else spotted it asleep in the tree.     After lunch we went to see the orangutans in the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre.   Founded in 1964, the 43 sq km park is protected land next to the Kabili Sepilok Forest Reserv...

As soon as I knew I was going to Asia, both Borneo and Hong Kong were on my must-see list.   I booked a tour for Borneo because I wanted to see some of the less populated spots and I had heard about a great tour company called GAdventures.   https://www.gadventures.co.uk/ .  Visit the Embassy of Malaysia website for the most current visa information, but I didn’t need any special paperwork or visa for entry.     I didn’t know anything about Borneo, besides the fact that orangutans live there, so I turned to Wikipedia.   It is the 3 rd largest island in the world and is divided into 3 countries.   Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.     Malaysia has thirteen states and three federal territories.   It’s is separated by the South China Sea into Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo. Peninsular Malaysia borders Thailand in the north and Singapore in the south. The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, which I visited a month before an...

Hong Kong was one of the places I’d always wanted to visit, and I was finally there.   It was a beautiful area to fly over, I had no idea there were so many islands. I was very impressed with the public transport system, everything was fast, efficient, and very clean.  In a city with that many people, I guess it would have to be.   My hotel was right in the middle of a huge market area on Hong Kong island. The reviews did talk about being next to some fish stalls and the smell, but I was on the 20 th floor so that wasn’t a problem. But just walking down my street, I did see some interesting meat for sale; half a pig's head, snouts, ears, testicles and penises. Walking home one day, I saw an eyeball on the ground. Most of the stalls have animals hanging, not just cut up steaks like we normally see. This was an eyeball from some large animal, but it almost looked human. I sure hope it wasn't.   Right around the corner from my hotel I found a really nice little...