10th October - Nongsa Point to Danga Bay marina - Singapore - Malaysia

Thursday October 10^th

Yes!  We have arrived in Malaysia!  We are now at Danga Bay marina – I think Danga Bay is a suburb of Jahore Baru, a big city, more than 1,000,000 inhabitants.  And fabulous street lights!  Black and gold and so elegant!

Getting here was – ummm, eventful… And totally fascinating!  We were able to leave Indonesia (Nongsa Bay) a bit after ten, and then we wre crusingn on past Singapore, in a thick pall of stinky smog.

through a huge conglomeration of boats

going in every direction.  It was a bit like being in a real-life game of Frogger…  SmoggyFrogger!!

There were tankers, barges, tiny fishing canoes, enormous rotund boats carrying enormous gas cylinders, cargo boats, tugs… Our favourite was a boat from the Wisdom Line, called, rather strangely, Eternal Diligence… Pete thought this was a boat named for him; when he was at school, his reports always said he was a diligent student…

Just before sunset we went under this bridge...holding our breath!!

We arrived at the marina in the dark, in a lightning storm, having navigated our way through dredges, barges, reclamation projects.  Both Singapore and Malaysia are frantically reclaiming land.  They dig up sand from the sea bed, making deeper shipping channels, and dump it close to shore where it becomes…prime real estate!

It all looked extraordinary, when we arrived.  Neon Heaven!  We thought we had arrived in RollerCoasterWorld but no…in the cold – well HOT – light of day, it is all quite ordinary.

One of our rallyfriends, Graham, from Harmony, is right next to us on the marina.  He said, “Welcome to heaven!”  The Englishman who had guided us in – the staff and given up on us and gone home – was less enthusiastic… We are thinking more along Graham’s line of thought, although the water around us is STINKY and a horrible khaki colour…

There is a restaurant nearby, at the Danga Bay Marina Club – GHASTLY, said our English helper; DELIGHTFUL, said Graham.  And yes…we had a delightful time…delicious food, dear little anxious waitresses who needed LOTS of reassurance.  A beautiful bottle of wine, which actually cost us quite a lot more than we had thought when we first ordered it but…never mind… And a live band, which we enjoyed very much.  We even got up and danced – only one song; we were VERY tired, but we gave it our all…

Today kindly Terrence, the marina manager, took us to the Air Asia office so we could change our tickets, and then, in the marina courtesy van, to the Danga Bay Mall to get phone credit, internet connections etc.  I didn’t do anything towards this; I think I will leave all of these complications until we return…

But Pete persevered and now has phone connection, not before totally bewildering the poor DigiGirl!

We were dry hungry and thirsty and we ordered drinks in the food court under the mall...mine was Lemon Menthol, Pete's some sort of technicolour mock sunsetcocktail...

I am sitting on the verandah above the marina restaurant - free WiFi, always a blessing... High above are - yes! - two sea eagles, soaring beautifully in the smoggy beige sky.  walking towards me is a security guard, with a large assault rifle strapped to his chest.  "Hi, Ma'am,", he says, cheerily...

PS Katy wanted to know if I was seasick, on our long overnighters.  No!  Not at all!  I did put on a scopatch twice, but they slid off – it is much too hot for a patch to adhere.  And I think the scopolamine made me feel worse anyway…I am very relieved not to have been sick…but I do find overnighters very tiring.  I spend three hours off watch not sleeping properly and three hours on watch not being awake properly…