Where I’m At: April, 2018 – Kuala Lumpur edition
A weekly newsletter of great travel reads and news by James Clark from Nomadic Notes.
Where I’m At: April, 2018 – Kuala Lumpur edition
[Where I’m At; a monthly update of what I’ve been up to, site news, and where I’m going next.]
Greetings from Kuala Lumpur! When I’m in KL it usually means I’m on the way to somewhere else. In this case, back to Australia. Here’s where I’ve been for the last month.
Where I’ve Been
Saigon
After returning to Saigon from a month of solid travel I kicked my bag under the bed and spent most of the month catching up on work. I had planned some side trips but I needed a solid few weeks of not moving around.
During the month I relaunched an old domain, Future Southeast Asia. The site originally covered location independent/digital nomad lifestyle tips in Asia. I’ve found though that this topic is already well covered, and I will continue to post such articles on Nomadic Notes. Instead, I’ve repurposed the livinginasia.co domain to cover urban design, heritage, infrastructure, and transport in Asia. I’ve already been covering such topics on Nomadic Notes, though some topics I’m researching is straying far from the travel/nomad lifestyle theme of this site. Read more about the new site here.
I’ll be covering major cities in Southeast Asia first, and as I am in Saigon I’ve started off with current and proposed construction projects.
I’ll also be posting more transport project articles here, expanding on future Southeast Asia rail news.
[The Landmark 81 Tower – one of the new developments in Saigon.]
Penang
I’m heading back to Australia for my annual visit, so when I was booking a ticket I was looking for a flight that goes through the day. I don’t sleep on overnight flights, which makes me feel like I’ve lost a day of my life whenever I take one. Instead of flying direct, I prefer to make stopovers so I can get a day flight. In this case there is a day flight from KL to Melbourne. rather than flying to KL first though I took advantage of the direct Saigon-Penang flight instead.
Penang is one of my cities that I revisit annually, so it made sense to go on the way to somewhere else. It’s a great digital nomad hub, though on this trip the internet was slow everywhere I went. There are great cafes everywhere, and wandering around the UNESCO World Heritage streets never gets old.
Kuala Lumpur
From Penang I got the fast train to KL (at 160km/h that is fast by SE Asia standards). KL is such a familiar transit hub for me now that I can pretty much get around without a map. I met up with a friend for coffee during a tropical downpour, and then went exploring for the afternoon. When I was in KL last year I made a note of the changes going on in the old city. It seems that KL have finally realised that they are sitting on a tourism gold mine with the old town area, so there have been many improvements in the area. There is a new river walk (River of Life), footpaths are being widened, and some of the old shophouses have been renovated.
Travel Reads
How the Cosmopolitan Railway Could Have Made Denver the Center of the World
“William Gilpin’s big idea in the late 1800s would have made Denver the crossroads of the world—the place where “the zodiac of nations closes its circle.””
The stowaway’s story chimes with the explorer in us all
“Whatever currency drives adventure, whether fame or fortune, a stowaway trying to cash in on glory often features in the story.”
Uncomfortable Silences: A Walk in Myanmar
“Now what I remember most about my guide is what he said about the Rohingya. But I walked 50 kilometers with him before he said it.”
The dizzying story of Symphony of the Seas, the largest and most ambitious cruise ship ever built
“As Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas sets sail on its maiden voyage, this is the inside story of how cruise ships went from pensioners’ pastime to floating cities engaged in an all-out entertainment arms race”
I Wanted To Love Paris, But It Didn’t Love Me
“When I went to Paris for a semester abroad, I thought I would find the truer, best version of myself. But I didn’t realize that you don’t get to choose how you’ll be seen.”
God Save Austin
“To my astonishment, Austin is now the second-most popular tourist destination in the country, behind Las Vegas, which puzzles me. One can already sniff the artifice and inauthenticity that transforms previously charming environments into amusement parks for conventioneers.”
The Surprising Reason that There Are So Many Thai Restaurants in America
“You may have noticed that the ratio of Thai restaurants to Thai people in the US is high—and it’s no coincidence.”
Photography
30,000 Hidden Images Reveal the World of a Soviet-Era Photographer - Atlas Obscura
The secret trove of film and negatives, stashed in a Russian attic.
Travel News
US proposes aggressive new social media screening for non-citizens
“Unveiled in the Federal Register today, new visa forms would require any Facebook and Twitter screennames used in the last five years.”
Saudi Arabia issues tourist visas: The world's newest travel destination is also its most controversial
“This mysterious destination has year-round sunshine, beaches resorts and secluded islands - but just don’t bother packing your bikini.”
Boracay: Philippines closes popular tourist island for ‘rehabilitation’ | The Independent
One of Asia’s top holiday islands faces closure by presidential decree. Rodrigo Duterte, president of the Philippines, has called for Boracay to be placed off-limits to tourists for six months while it is cleaned up.
Maps
Some German fella has made a map of London’s “S-Bahn” network, and it’s glorious
“An S-Bahn is a type of suburban rail network with a bigger footprint than a traditional metro, which links a city to its outer suburbs and inner commuter towns.”
Southeast Asia Railways
Cambodia's missing railway link to Thailand rebuilt after 45 years
“Passenger trains began operating Wednesday between the border town of Poipet and Sisophon, a Cambodian provincial capital.”
Instagram
Walkway along the "River of Life", Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia.
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