We arrived in Kuala Lumpur at 11pm and headed straight to our hotel in Chinatown for some sleep. KL turned out to be a really cosmopolitan place, with a good vibe to it.

We had tickets for the Petronas towers and walked across the bridge that joins the two towers, before travelling up to the 86th floor for a breath-taking view of the city. It really didn't seem like a big place from up there. It is supposed to all be walk-able, but we really struggled to navigate the roads so ended up relying on the cheap taxis to get around. That afternoon, we did some shopping to refresh our suitcases and also went to Times Square, the largest shopping centre we have ever been to - complete with its own roller coaster! We also found an awesome food court and had some yummy duck and rice.

The next day I tried to navigate us (unsuccessfully) to a hawker centre for lunch so we ended up in McDonald's and then taking a cab to our next destination - the National Museum. The museum wasn't the most riveting we had ever been to but it was good to understand a bit of Malaysia's colourful history. After a wander around the Lake Gardens, we headed to Central Market for some browsing. In the evenings, we enjoyed walking around the hustle and bustle of Chinatown. We were excited to find a Nando's, which was so cheap compared to the UK!

Our next stop was Tioman Island. After a 6-hour bus ride to Mersing and 2-hour ferry, we arrived just in time for sunset. We had no real idea on what to expect from the island as we hadn't read too much about it (other than the film South Pacific was shot there and the beer is duty-free!) It was the most undeveloped island we had ever been to (excluding maybe Koh Jum in Thailand) and just a bunch of beaches with a few basic beach huts. Most places didn't have air-con or hot water, so we were glad to have booked somewhere that had both. In the evenings, we enjoyed the duty-free beers and watching the beautiful sunsets.

We had two days there and took a walk into the island village to explore the island some more. There wasn't much to see so spent much of the rest of the time in the water or chilling on the beach. We went to a marine park which had artificial reefs and hundreds of fish. When we were snorkeling, some people were feeding them and literally hundreds of fish were around us. This was a bit much for Dave and the tickling made him squeal like a girl! We also did some snorkeling near to the beach. I also did a dive to Renggis Island and saw turtles and a black-tipped reef shark! The coral was also amazing and really diverse.

We then took the ferry back to Mersing and as we hadn't booked a bus in advance, had to hang around at the bus station 6 hours before we could get a bus to our next destination, Malacca. We arrived at Malacca at about 11pm and due to a mix up with our booking, the private room we had booked was taken and we had to stay in a 10-bed dorm room. We made the best of it and fortunately, got our room the next morning - all part of the travelling experience!

Malacca is a UNESCO world heritage city and in its day was a real trade port, linking the East and West. It has also been ruled by the Dutch, Portugese and English, which really comes through from the architecture and western, cultural feel of the town. It is small enough to walk around easily and get to all the places of interest, which are mostly the European-themed architecture. We did the river tour following the river that intersects the town, to get our bearings. We enjoyed just walking around Malacca, taking in the sights and temples and enjoying a juice at the many art cafes the little city has to offer…

In the evenings, we enjoyed walking down Jonker Walk which turned into a big market at weekends, having drinks overlooking the river (playing Uno!) and even getting a tour in a very jazzy tri-shaw pumping out cheesy music! All good fun and Malacca has definitely been a highlight of Malaysia so far J

We have just less than two weeks left in Malaysia before heading to Thailand, which will include the mountains, some more islands and one more town - Georgetown!