May 13, 2026

May 13, 2026

We ate the hotel breakfast this morning in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I tried the Thai Tom Yum Soup. It was spicy and tasty, but very difficult to eat without making a mess. Aimee is having to hand-wash my shirt every day.

After breakfast we caught a Grab car to take us the eight miles north to Batu Caves. This is a series of Karst limestone caves that have Hindu temples inside them. We visit the largest, dedicated to Murugan, the god of war. While the Hindu religion has ancient roots in Malaysia, these temples were established in the 19th century. A huge 140 foot statue graces the entrance.

It is a steep climb of almost three hundred slippery steps to reach the interior. It wouldn’t be so bad but for the climate. It is a cool 80 F but with 100% humidity, it is a sweaty exercise.

The exterior and interior are decorated with brightly colored deities. In addition there are dozens of Long-tailed Macaques climbing everywhere. They are looking to steal food from the unaware. A horde of pigeons crowd the entrance floor. On more than one occasion something startles them and they fly directly overhead straight at me. I hope they are not carrying bird flu.

We pass on visiting the other caves at the site. Instead we take another Grab back to the city center to visit Merdeka Square. Merdeka means Independence in Malay. It used to be the cricket field of the British colonial rulers. Now it is dedicated to the freedom they won in August 1957. After race riots between the Malays and Chinese, Singapore was kicked out of the confederation in 1965.

Kuala Lumpur means ‘muddy confluence’. It was established in 1857 to exploit the tin discovered here. Recently the confluence was cleaned up in a ‘River of Life’ civic project. The oldest mosque in KL sits at the junction. It is closed to non-Muslims today.

Chinese were brought in to work the tin mine. We next visit their enclave starting at the Central Market. I bought a miniature Petronas Tower to remember our visit. We walk around checking out two Buddhist temples. Like Singapore’s Chinatown, this one also has an out-of-place Hindu temple. It has one of the southern Indian, brightly colored Tamil gates. We finish our visit walking down Petaling Street, a more traditional rustic outdoor market.

I convince Aimee to do the lunch buffet at the KL Tower. This 1381 foot telecommunication tower has a revolving restaurant at the top. To keep my clothes clean, I concentrate on eating the fried Tempura items. They are pretty good. Aimee and I both pig out on desserts afterwards. Lunch comes with a bonus of views. KL seems to be in competition with their rival Singapore for the most unique and audacious building. Petronas is no longer the tallest in the city. The highest is the recently opened Merdeka 118. It is the second tallest in the world. We get great views of this and the other tall structures in this vertical city.

After lunch we Grab over to Petronas Towers and get the next tour slot. Petronas has a special interest to me. In a former life I once had the highest office in the world. It was a closet on the mechanical floor above the Observation deck of the Sears Tower. My customer who managed Sears Tower, was seduced to come work here at Petronas to manage its opening in 1996. Our tour starts on the Skybridge on the 41st floor that connects the two towers. It is mostly boring, but reminds us of the famous finale in the Sean Connery movie Entrapment we re-watched last week.

The second part of the tour is an observation deck on the 86th floor of tower 2. Not only do we get a bird’s eye view of the sloped top of tower 1, we also get a good view of KL Tower. I had read that KL is full of hotels and apartment buildings with rooftop pools Once we start looking we see them everywhere. If we come again, I have some cool spots in mind.

Since Aimee followed me around to these lofty spots, I now have to do the same while she strolls the huge shopping mall below Petronas. Afterwards we walked back to our hotel. We make a pit stop on the way at an Irish bar to quench our thirst.

May 12, 2026

May 12, 2026

Singapore is a very nice wealthy city. Aimee loves the cleanliness. But we are not finding the city to be too walkable. Sometimes we struggled to find a crosswalk on major avenues. The city is designed for cars and subway riders. And important to me, there is a stiff alcohol tax making beer expensive. So this morning we checked out of our hotel and took Grab to the airport. We are early, so after checking our luggage, we took the Skytrain to T1 and crossed under to the Jewel. This is a circular multi-level shopping mall with the largest indoor waterfall in the center. After taking some photos of the Rain Vortex, I follow Aimee around as she window shops. Eventually we get hungry and we stop at a Chinese restaurant for a Dim Sum lunch. We get a sampler of their dumplings with some cooked greens for Aimee. Yummy!

On our way back to our terminal, we run into a Laderach shop. That is the Swiss chocolate that we brought back in bulk from Zurich in 2024. I buy all I can with the last of my Singapore dollars.

At 1:40 our Malaysia Air flight departs. Interestingly the flight path goes southwest over the Singapore Strait. There are ships as far as I can see. The narrow passage is littered with hundreds of islands forcing ships into a narrow channel less than 2 miles wide. This strait is as important to world commerce as the Strait of Hormuz. One half of all oil and one fourth of all the world's freight passes through here.

After crossing the strait, our flight veers back north to the Malay Peninsula and we land in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur. I see vast fields of Palm Trees. Plantations like these now cover much of Malaysia and Indonesia to produce Palm Oil.

We head straight to border control and find a zoo of humanity waiting in long lines. Aimee says “We are not in Singapore anymore, Toto”. Fortunately our driver was very patient waiting for us. The airport is far from the city, so it takes us an hour to get to our hotel.

After settling in, we head out for an early dinner. Or at least we tried to. We called a Grab car, but it took quite a while for it to reach our hotel. KL rush hour traffic seems worse than Chicago. It takes another twenty minutes to creep the mile to the Traders Hotel. Shockingly the taxi fare was a pittance. This driver is making almost no money. We recently read that Malaysia is a great place to retire because it is friendly and extraordinarily inexpensive (except alcohol).

We take the elevator to the hotel SkyBar on the 33rd floor. We are reasonably early so we get a nice booth with the best view in town of the Petronas Towers. While the view is stupendous, the seating location next to the indoor pool is kind of weird. We ordered another Satay dish along with Tempura Cauliflower. I was disappointed to discover that Malaysia has an even higher alcohol tax than Singapore.

At sunset we leave and walk towards Petronas Towers. Shockingly there are hundreds of joggers on the hiking paths through the downtown area. Who knew Malaysians were so into exercise. As we cross the KLCC park at the base we see lots of people sitting by Symphony Lake watching the lighted fountain show. The Islamic-inspired Art Deco view of Petronas looking up is very cool.

May 11, 2026

May 11, 2026

Last night we took the Metro to the large urban park, Gardens by the Bay. There we ate at the Satay by the Bay Hawker Center. Aimee and I shared some tasty Chicken Satay we bought at one stall with a green bean dish from another.

At sunset we walked towards the SuperTree Grove I have often seen in photos of Singapore. I stopped to take a picture at a group of three. After glancing at my phone map I realized that the Trees are spread out. The main grove of twelve is on the other side of a long building. By the time we push through the crowd to get to this main grouping, the Garden Rhapsody light and music show has begun. The trees glow and pulse to the orchestral music of Star Wars. It is pretty amazing. Someone had to have had a wild imagination to build this venue.

To beat the crowd we leave before the end walking west toward the Marina Bay Sands Resort. In the basement we find a Metro station to carry us back to our hotel.

This morning we did a brief exploration of the Kampong Glam neighborhood north of our hotel. This is the old Malay-Muslim enclave. We see lots of Turkish restaurants and rug shops. Aimee is pleased to pass several fabric stores. We end at the Sultan Mosque.

We then hop on the Metro and take it back to Gardens by the Bay. We start at the south end and walk north. It is filled with curiosities like fish ponds and sculpture. One is a large floating baby called Planet.

We pass through the SuperTree grove. It looks so different in the day with no crowds. Surprisingly the trees are not just decorative but also support the mechanical needs of the nearby visitor center, gift shops, and restaurants. The center tree has an observatory at the top and there is an elevated walkway connecting the trees. We continue walking and find a nice view of them against the Water Lily Pond.

We next visit the two greenhouses but find the Cloud Dome is closed for its monthly maintenance day. Only the Flower Dome is open. It is the world’s largest glass greenhouse. It contains gardens representing habits from around the world. We are happy to find it is partially air-conditioned. I spend some time photographing some of the unique flowers. There is a special exhibit on Tulips.

We have a burger lunch next-door. It was very tasty but the fries came well after we had finished the burger. Aimee says this isn’t McDonalds. We finish with ice cream cones at a real McDonalds. Aimee makes a mess eating hers because the heat was melting it faster than she could eat it.

Because the Cloud Dome was closed we were given a ticket to watch a show at the nearby IMBA Theatre. We sat on bean bags and watched an in-the-round story of the life of the artist Fernando Botero. It was actually interesting. I had never heard of this Columbian but recognized his paintings of obese people. Botero said he didn't draw people fat, he just gave them volume.

Our timing was good because there was a brief rain shower while we were in the theatre. We finished our day at the Marina Bay Sands Resort. This very unique building consists of three towers connected by a surfboard rooftop. After walking the length of the three lobbies we take the elevator to the 57th floor for a drink at the rooftop bar Ce La Vi. There is a stiff cover charge but it comes with one free drink. Because of the rain shower we get prime seats along the edge. It comes with a great view of Marina Bay. I have another Singapore Sling while Aimee has wine. Unfortunately the setting sun is making our seats very hot.

On the way out we check the views in the other directions. One is to the swimming pool of the hotel. It is the world’s largest infinity pool. It is only open to guests. We thought about staying here our last night but found the price exorbitant for even the cheapest room. Aimee also said she wouldn’t get anywhere near the pool edge.

We also check out the view to the east overlooking Gardens by the Bay. We get a great view of the SuperTrees and the Flower Dome. In addition we see hundreds of ships moored offshore and the coastline of the Indonesian island of Sumatra across the narrow Strait of Malacca. Singapore is the second largest port in the world.

Our last stop is in the basement wandering around the huge indoor shopping mall. Every luxury brand from around the world is represented. There is even a Venice-like canal down the middle. Apple and Louis Vuitton even have island stores connected by underground passages. We have a Chinese dumpling snack at the food court. We wash it down with Coconut Water.

May 10, 2026

May 10, 2026

I had a quite tasty Malaysian Laksa soup in New Zealand a few years ago and wanted to try it again in its real home. We found a restaurant serving it last night not far from the hotel. It was delicious (and spicy) but served in a bowl with noodles. There is just no dignified way to eat a bowl of wet noodles (no matter how tasty) with a spoon.

One reason we wanted to come to Singapore was watching the cute movie Crazy Rich Asians. It was filmed in this fantasy-like urban playground. We went walking after dinner to find a scenic spot to have an after-dinner drink. We started at the rooftop of the National Galley. It had a beautiful view overlooking extensive soccer fields but the bar for some reason was not open. Seeing the Fullerton Hotel in the distance we next checked it out crossing the Singapore River over the antique Anderson Bridge. The rooftop was closed for a special event.

Punting we took the hotel viaduct across to Fullerton Promenade. We easily found couch seating at a bar overlooking Marina Bay. I ordered the signature Singapore Sling. Aimee had Ginger Beer. We stayed long enough to watch the light show.

Afterwards we walked along the promenade to the Helix Bridge that crosses Marina Bay. It is lit up colorfully at night. We were a little stymied though by lots of construction. Exhausted we took the subway back to our hotel.

This morning we left our hotel using the Grab App. It is the Uber of Southeast Asia and works almost identically. We took it fifteen minutes west to Fort Canning Park. This hilltop is the old military command center of British Singapore. To cross the road we took the pedestrian Tree Tunnel. The open stairwell is shaded by a tree that is an Instagram favorite. Not surprisingly there is a long line of young females wanting to do a selfie. Aimee and I chuckle and make our way uphill.

We signed up for a 10 am tour of the underground bunker Battlebox complex. Guarding the narrowest point of the Strait of Malacca choke-point, Singapore was considered the Gibraltar of the East. After Pearl Harbor, Singapore was the next most important target of the Japanese. They attacked just two months later.

A retired Singapore Army veteran gave us an interesting introduction and then got us going on the audio tour. Each room of the tour is filled with life-like models and related a different phase of the battle. The Japanese had done their homework and caught the British flat-footed. Despite a large numerical advantage, the British surrendered after only a week. The Japanese commander was relieved. He didn't have the supplies or men to fight a longer battle. Churchill was stunned, calling it the worst defeat in British history.

From the Battlebox, we walked across the park to Clarke Quay on the Singapore River. This former port facility is now a tourist mecca. To honor the British I have a lunch of Fish and Chips while Aimee had Chicken and Rice.

After lunch we walked east along the river to Raffles Landing Site. This monument honors the Brit Sir Stamford Raffles who chose Singapore in 1819 to be the new capital of the British Straits Settlements. He chose it because of its strategic location at the narrowest point of the Malacca Strait. It flourished and grew rapidly.

We finished next door at the Asian Civilizations Museum. We are here for the history and for the air conditioning. We begin with the Tang Shipwreck exhibit, the highlight of the museum. Discovered only twenty-five years ago, this 9th century shipwreck illustrates that the Asian communities traded far and wide for millennia. It was far more important than the land-based Silk Road. Living at the choke-point of that trade, the indigenous Malays were a key player. And their Malay language became the ‘lingua franca’ of the commerce. Surprisingly this Arabian ship was full of Chinese pottery for probable trade with the Middle East. Tens of thousands of standard size bowls were found packed in large clay vessels. All were decorated uniquely.

We breezed through the rest of the museum. The religious beliefs provide insight on the interactions. At one time locals had converted to Hinduism and Buddhism because of trade with India. Later when the Arabs started dominating this trade, Islam become the primary faith. There is a special exhibit on games that got Aimee’s interest, partly because she plays Mahjong with a local ladies group. Gaming is an intrinsic human phenomenon.

From the museum we walked along Marina Bay again. We stopped for a photo of the Merlion, the iconic symbol of Singapore. Singapura means Lion City in Sanskrit, so a ‘Sea’ Lion seems an appropriate symbol. We took a Grab car back to our hotel to rest for the afternoon.

On a lark we checked out the hotel pool and were delightfully surprised to find an open rooftop oasis within this urban jungle. The huge pool has mattress seating within islands of greenery. And they have a bar serving Singapore’s Tiger beer. We spend a couple hours relaxing; something Aimee rarely gets to do on her Mike tours.

May 9, 2026

May 9, 2026

To get our body clocks adjusted to the drastic time change, we thought we would start with a long walk through the Singapore Botanic Gardens, the small country's only World Heritage Site. It was a short subway ride away. The garden was started in 1859 by a British botanist to develop a strain of rubber trees that would thrive in this area. He must have been successful as the Malaysian Peninsula soon produced half the world’s rubber. Nearby Indonesia made the other half. That would be a problem for the USA during WWII when the Japanese captured the area. You can’t make Jeeps without rubber tires. Fortunately my fellow chemists rode to the rescue with a Manhattan Project scale effort to develop synthetic rubber.

The extensive Gardens are a joy to walk through. They are lush like a jungle but very well designed and very subtly manicured. It must take an army of gardeners to maintain. There are dozens of specialty gardens, like Rubber, Heliconia, and Ginger. There is even one designed to tell the story of the Evolution of Plants. The only drawback is the humidity. It is punishing. We are both dripping in sweat.

The Gardens are all free except for the Orchid area. Despite the abundance and variety of color, it was not my favorite section. Although the chilled Cloud Forest greenhouse was a well-needed break from the heat.

We exited the opposite end of the gardens and took another subway line southeast to Chinatown. When the British settled this colony they assigned the many different imported ethnic groups their own enclaves. Our first stop was at one of Singapore’s many signature Hawker Centers. They are essentially giant food courts. We chose Thai because that is our travel comfort food. The Green Curry was delicious but piping hot. And it took forever to cool in the stifling humidity.

We took some time out to shop the many stalls looking for a belt for me. It was surprisingly hard to find any kind of belt selection. We had almost given up when Aimee spied a shop selling exactly what I wanted. And they were on sale. I bought two for a bargain price.

We finished our time in Chinatown visiting two Chinese Buddhist Temples that seemed overtly commercial for religious establishments. The highlight for me was an out-of-place Hindu Temple. It was gaudily painted in a fashion that I think is common in southern India.

Aimee is thinking we overdid it for our first day, so in the early afternoon we take the subway back to our hotel to enjoy the A/C and rest our tired feet. The killer humidity is draining our curiosity.

May 7-8, 2026

May 7-8, 2026

Yesterday's travel hiccups were merely an annoyance. Today the real travel pain begins. We are back at the San Francisco airport early to begin an excruciatingly long 16+ hour flight across the vast Pacific Ocean to southeast Asia. I figure we need to do these faraway trips while we still can. We are headed to Singapore but the travel gods kept telling me we should have considered India instead. Our shuttle bus picked up over a dozen Indians at a nearby hotel. At SFO we were given access to the Air India Maharaja lounge, and on the flight I had two delicious Indian curry meals. We might just have to sign up for that southern India tour I have been thinking about when we get back.

Normally I like to sit by the window and watch the scenery pass. This time Aimee didn't trust me with all the cute Singapore girls in their stylish uniforms managing our flight so she made me sit next to her in the middle row where she could keep an eye on me. After the first meal I tried to get some rest in between three movies.

Finally in Singapore, we made it through customs, got our bags, and found our waiting driver. A half hour later we were checking into our hotel. We arrive to rainy weather. We are exhausted and lost a second day crossing the International Date Line.

May 6, 2026

May 6, 2026

Clearly the worst part of travelling is getting to the destination. No matter how experienced and prepared we are, there are just too many variables. Travelling is months of planning combined with last minute packing hoping we didn't forget anything in the rush. This time I left with no belt. We also learn this morning that our flight to San Francisco is delayed two hours due to fog. No surprise, this happens half the mornings on this route. And then somehow my boarding pass came with Aimee's middle name voiding my TSA Pre-check. Arrrgh!

Our flight path passes Phoenix, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas and the eastern slope of the still snowy Sierra Nevadas. We turn left at Yosemite and fly over San Francisco Bay. I am shocked to see ponds of vivid red water. This is caused by halobacteria that thrive in the still operating salt evaporation ponds of the estuary.

We arrive in San Francisco to find our hotel shuttle doesn’t operate in the afternoon. After running down the list of options in tax-heavy California, we punt and cancel our plans to explore downtown San Francisco. Instead we find a food court that serves wine with our burger.

January 28, 2026

January 28, 2026

Aimee and I took our neighbor to see a movie this afternoon, a rare event for us these days. Song Sung Blue is about a duet Lightning (Hugh Jackman) & Thunder (Kate Hudson) who have a Neil Diamond tribute act in southern Wisconsin. It starts out a cute love story that runs into tragedy. We went partly for the music we enjoy, but also because we have a personal connection to this true story. The real-life female lead, Claire Stingl is a cousin to a guy Aimee and I have played golf with often. The only problem is I now find myself whistling Diamond tunes all the time.