After our time in Singapore we boarded an early morning bus and headed north to Mersing, a small fishing town on Malaysia’s east coast.
Mersing: Cats, Coffee & a (False) Spider Bite
Mersing welcomed us with a wall of heat—seriously, intense. Add that to lingering gastro symptoms and the chaos of getting the kids set up for online school in a new country, and let’s just say… our motivation to explore wasn’t exactly peaking.
But, as travel often goes, even low-energy days can bring unexpected highlights. We stumbled on a cozy café with surprisingly great coffee—a rare and much-needed win in Malaysia so far. Our first traditional Malaysian meal came courtesy of a quirky, music-themed bar: fun vibes, decent food, though sadly lacking a solid beer selection.
The town seemed ruled by cats—everywhere we turned, another feline, which delighted the kids and, let’s be honest, us too. We also had our first monitor lizard sighting, scurrying in an open drain. It was huge—possibly the biggest we would see.
We took a quiet moment to visit our first mosque, a peaceful and grounding experience. And of course, no family adventure is complete without a little drama: Hartley had a full-on panic thinking he’d been bitten by a spider. Turned out it was just some random critter—no harm done, but definitely added a jolt to the afternoon.
Our time in Mersing was brief, but it gave us a soft reset and got us back into travel mode. Next up: hopefully somewhere a bit cooler, spider-bite-free, and with another elusive good cup of coffee.
