We're cruising out of Singapore in Jan 2027 and are thinking about spending about a week (+/- a few days) in Malaysia before working our way down to Singapore for a few days before jumping on the ship. While we've been to Singapore a few times, we have not been to Malaysia yet. Our main interests are food, street/night markets, and interesting neighbourhoods.

I have penciled in KL, Penang, and possibly Malacca as locations to visit based on our interests, limited time and to a lesser degree climate for that time of year. Are my choices logical?

I'm also having a tough time wrapping my head around the best logistics getting to Malaysia, routing these three cities, and then making it down to Singapore. Ie. Trying not to go too hard since we'll be jetlagged, trying not to double back, etc. Any suggestions would be great.
Initial thoughts are to trying to get a reward flight from YVR (or elsewhere along the westcoast) to somewhere in Asia and then hop over to KL or Penang. I suspect there would be more options flying into KL but flying to Penang initially would prevent us needing to head north to Penang and back down again.

Any thoughts on whether to fly, take a train, or take a bus between KL, Penang, Malacca, and Singapore? We're willing to spend a few more dollars on convenience but with these "relatively" short distances, I'm not sure how much more convenient flying would be with all the associated timesinks associated with flying.

TIA