Spilling Malaysia's secrets

So what if everyone you know has been to Malaysia and Singapore? It’s the quickest, cheapest way to get a taste of the phoren and there’s always more exploring to be done. Here’s a guide to some hidden treasures and offbeat adventures in these neighbouring countries.

From the inner-city secrets to vastly untouched areas of the Malaysian peninsula, there is plenty to explore in Malaysia.

Breakfast at Imbi Market
The official name is Pasar Baru Bukit Bintang, but everyone in Kuala Lumpur knows it simply as Imbi Market. Breakfast is like a party here with all the friendly locals recommending their favourite stalls. We like Teluk Intan Chee Cheung Fun, which serves a lovely oyster and peanut congee (rice porridge); and Bunn Choon for the creamy mini-egg tarts. Located on Jln Kampung, meals are around RM 10 and the stalls are open from 7 to 11 am.

Tasik Chini
So hard to get to and yet so worth it, Tasik Chini (Lake Chini) in Pahang state of peninsular Malaysia is a series of 12 lakes linked by vegetation-clogged channels. Its shores are inhabited by the Jakun people, an ethnic tribe. Locals believe the lake is home to a serpent known as Naga Seri Gumum, sometimes translated in tourist literature as the Loch Ness Monster. The best time to visit the lakes is from June to September when the lotuses are in bloom.

Sleeping options include the Tasik Chini Resort, which has little cottages strewn across a grassy slope right at the lake’s edge. There’s a restaurant, and you can arrange boat trips, canoeing, night treks, fishing, an overnight climb up Gunung Chini and other activities.

Pekan
The seat of the Pahang Sultanate, Pekan has a regal air and is uncommonly scenic with its wide, clean streets, spacious padang (city square) and many grand buildings surrounded by pristine lawns.

There is also a collection of old Chinese shophouses along a shady river (which is unfortunately filled with rubbish), friendly locals unused to seeing tourists, and some great accommodation at the Chief’s Rest House. Around the town centre are acres of traditional kampung houses.

Bukit Larut
Crouched some 1019 m above sea level is Bukit Larut (Maxwell Hill), the oldest hill station in Malaysia. It’s not nearly as developed as the Cameron Highlands, but there’s more of a sense of what hill stations were originally about: elegant bungalows, quiet lanes, sweet-smelling gardens and not much noise. There are no attractions other than these.

Few people visit Bukit Larut — in fact, bungalows here only accommodate around 70 visitors. Even if you don’t stay, Bukit Larut can be an excellent day trip.

Rimbu Dahan
It’s worth checking out the website of Rimbun Dahan (www.rimbundahan.org/home.html) , a private property about one hour from KL. There’s a gallery inside this centre for developing traditional and contemporary art. The property boasts a 19th-century traditional Malay house and an indigenous garden.

Inside the Merlion’s lair
Love it or loathe it, Singapore is hard to ignore. It’s a long-haul-stopover favourite, and yes, it’s guilty on all counts of pandering to hordes of package tourists who get shepherded around on air-conditioned buses.

But stay for more than a few days and you’ll find an intriguing brew of Chinese, Malay, Indian and Western cultures all blended into a diverse cultural melting pot. Among the best-kept Singapore secrets are:

Kranji farms
After years of being overshadowed by the commerce of Orchard Rd, the farm owners in Kranji decided to form a collective, Kranji Countryside Association (www.kranjicountryside.com) to promote awareness of their existence.

These farms are open to the public, so you’ll get a chance to sample and purchase organic vegetables, fruit and, yes, even goats’ milk. Other farms specialise in seafood (consumable) and koi (not consumable), pottery, frogs and wheatgrass. There are cafes and restaurants located on some farms. To complete the ‘out of Orchard’ experience, stay in a plush villa at D’Kranji Resort (www.dkranji.com.sg).

The best way to check out the farms is via a shuttle bus that runs every 1 ½ hours daily from outside the Kranji MRT. The bus stops at 12 farms along the return loop.

NUS Museums
Ask any local about the trio of small art museums in the National University of Singapore (NUS) campus and you’ll probably get a blank stare. Which is a shame, as these galleries are top-notch and house a more exciting collection than the heavily advertised Singapore Art Museum.

On the ground floor is the Lee Kong Chian Art Museum with artefacts and works spanning 7,000 years of Chinese art. Look out for ceramic pillows (ouch!) and delicate funerary jars from the Song dynasty. The concourse level features the South & South-east Asian Gallery with art from across the region.

Upstairs is the Ng Eng Teng Gallery, displaying 1106 paintings, drawings and sculptures by Ng Eng Teng (1934–2001), one of Singapore’s foremost artists, specialising in imaginative, sometimes surreal, bodily depictions.

Visit the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity while you’re on campus. Catch bus 95 from Buona Vista MRT to get here.

Lee Kuan Yew’s house
If you’re planning a jaunt down Orchard Rd, make a short detour along Oxley Road. The father of modern Singapore, Harry Lee Kuan Yew, lives along this street. In order to keep out the plebs, car gantries are installed at either end of the road. Pedestrians are free to walk through, but expect to be hurried along by heavily armed gurkhas. Go on, walk on the side of the guards for a closer look. We dare you.

Singapore’s last kampung (village)
As if willed into existence from an old black-and-white photograph from the 1950s, Lg Buangkok’s kampung, in an urbane corner of Singapore, is mainland Singapore’s last little blip of resistance against the tide of modern development.

Hidden behind a wall of trees, this little swath of land houses a ramshackle collection of wooden houses, many with zinc roofs. The few residents live an idyllic existence. Chickens roam the grounds, dogs flick flies away with a flap of their ears, and the 28 families here have carefree sensibilities not common in the general populace (the cheap S$30 (approx Rs 989) per month rents must help). The kampung is busiest during the weekend when curious locals and photo clubs descend for a slice of nostalgia.

Sadly, the owner of the land, Sng Mui Hong, might not be able to preserve this family legacy. Master plans by the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore have revealed that the land the kampung stands on is slated to be redeveloped into housing and schools.

To get here, either catch a taxi from the city (roughly S$15 or Rs 494) or take bus 88 from Pasir Ris or Toa Payoh and get off on Ang Mo Kio Ave 5 just after Yio Chu Kang Rd. Go north up Yio Chu Kang Rd and turn right onto Gerard Dr. Continue until you find Lg Buangkok. Look for an unpaved road leading into the village. Good luck, for it might have been bulldozed by the time this goes to print.

This is an extract from Malaysia, Singapore & Brunei 11th edition © Lonely Planet 2010.

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