kuala lumpur

the capital of malaysia is not on the coast, but because we had rented the car with our brazilian friends we took a detour and paid a short visit to kuala lumpur. in particular we wanted to visit the petronas twin towers which were designed by the argentinean architect cesar peli. they are the second tallest twin towers of the world and are connected by a bridge on the 88 floor. they are entirely of stainless steel. they are truly beautiful. as our luck would have it, we could not go up to see the view. on the day we visited the daily quota was already met, so we only enjoyed them from the outside. we also toured the rest of the city and went on our way. a short but productive visit to a busy and pretty city.

melaka

the port of melaka was the trade capital of the east around the 1500 and 1600s. it was a required stop for ships sailing between india and china. it was first colonized by the portuguese, then the dutch, and finally the british. this is a true heritage center full of museums and history. we rented a car and drove from johor bahru with silvio and lilian from brasil. They are also sailing around the world in their sailboat matajusi.



the road to Melaka is a top quality highway just like any german freeway. The country side is full of palm oil trees. no wonder why this country is the major palm oil exporter of the world. in melaka we walked around the center, visited the maritime museum and all the tourist areas. we slept in a modest hotel. it was our first night out of the boat. ironically we did not sleep so well on a king size bed in an air conditioned room. could it be that we missed the mosquitoes, the sticky and warm temperature of our boat and the noise of the fans near our tiny triangular shaped bed?

johor bahru, malaysia

this city is in the south tip of malaysia across from singapore. it is not very touristy. the danga bay marina is just a few minutes outside of the city by a very comfortable and cheap bus. the marina is inside a board walk which has restaurants, clubs, stages for concerts (with a concert or karaoke every night) an amusement park and a train ride. the entire complex is owned by a sultan who wants to attract sailboats to the marina as part of the sight and show of the city and therefore he allows the boats to stay in the docks for free!!! as a result there are plenty of boaters traveling like us, staying longer terms or simply leaving their sailboats here while they fly back home. we certainly enjoy the “free” part and docked here to enjoy the city but mostly do maintenance to the boat. esteban climbed up the tower to change the wind generator blades that were disintegrating. luckily the manufacturer of our air breeze gave us a new set to replace for free.




we also cleaned every locker and every detail and corner of the boat…. and lastly we cleaned the hull. that beautiful blue hull in which we once so proudly saw a reflection of ourselves had a nasty white stain all over because the salt had somehow glued to it since arriving in the marquesas… . here, with a lot of water, vinegar and a lot of muscle, esteban cleaned and polished for days. we now have the old shiny blue boat again!!!! all this was possible because we had running water all the time and the docks with shore power; which was the only thing they charge; and even that was only 7 dollars for over 10 days of electricity… unbelievable. danga bay marina was a christmas gift to us and the boat of course!

one°15 marina club

the name of the marina is because of its location at N01°.15 E103°.50 it is more a club than a marina and the main reason why our stay in singapore was so wonderful. the service was extraordinary and the place immaculate and beautiful. the marina facilities were excellent with great restaurants, hotel, steam room, pool, shops, etc… we recommend this place to all our sailor friends that have yet to arrive in singapore. i am sure they will love it as much as we did. the complex is in sentosa island which is connected to the singapore main island by a bridge and it is a resort island with parks, gulf courses and fancy residences, i think it is the best and prettiest place in all of singapore with monkeys running wild in the park trees and peacocks on the streets.


the marina provided a free on the spot around the clock service to the vivo city mall and underground train station. it worked prefect for us. we would normally spend a beautiful morning at the marina by the pool and then go to the city to tour around in the afternoons. too bad we could not stay there forever…. we would have gladly done so.