Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end. Our time in Thailand passed quicker than we would have liked, but the show had to go on, so Malaysia here we came! First stop was Penang, where we stayed for one night. For the first, and probably the last time- we were actually taken to the hotel of our choice, which happened to be a busy and lively backpackers joint.

Checked in, we counted down the hours till the footy, which had been delayed by an extra hour due to time difference and was startin at 245am- but i guess from baijus perspective, it was all worth it! Wasnt much to see in Penang as it turns out, apart from a trip to the Komtar Tower via a 'dangerous walk' as wed been told by the hotel owner, only to find out it was a 10 minute walk down the road.

We headed down to kuala lumpur that afternoon, via a bus that was driven by some hardcore muralitharan lookalike- he even drove with his bent elbows whilst lookin the other way on his mobile. Sittin in front of us on the coach was this couple- an irish girl and geordie guy, and this random american hula dancing girl. So what ensued for the next 3 hours was hilarious- where the guy was jus being friendly, hula girl flirting and the girlfriend jus gettin completely jealous and giving the guy some hardcore silent treatment! We were greeted in kl, as usual, by some random indian guy, kind of looked like some sort of guru- but turned out he was actually the owner of a hostel nearby that turned out to be pretty decent. Body clock was all over the place by now, so staying up to watch the game wasnt a prob- esp cos it was actaully a decent one and resulted in a man u/chelsea fianal- 21st may was goin down straight into the diary!

We were dangled the dream of nando's on our first day, but upon arrival we'd been toyed with due to the fact it had no veggie meals! grr. but the disappointment didit last too long luckily, as we found a classy, dirt cheap indian place with the nicest dosas! There was loads of cheap places to eat- which neither of us complained about! managed to find a decent couple of bars too, esp reggae bar which played numerous old skool reggae tracks, had decent beers and good pub grub! Managed to see the main sights on kl over two and a half days- which incorporated the Petronas Towers, KL Tower and the numerous shopping malls. Petronas Towers were 'disappointingly small' according to Baiju lol, but we had jokes taking pics in front of it jumping and 'flying'. went to this place called batu caves the day after, a south indian temple set in the midst of three huge caves 30 minutes south of kl. after climbing 250-odd steps, not all in one go mind lol (i know, typical poor fitness proved once again to let us down), the temple wasnt actually that great- but managed to see pics of how it gets rammed at the time of thaipussam- a tamil festival where sacrifice, torture and religious devotion result in men pushing spikes through various parts of their body (trust me, as we found out in the near future, it doesnt make pleasant viewing!)

Never anticipated there would be so many tamils in kl, they must have outnumbered malay ppl- at least where we stayed! esp in the night markets- where i managed to buy some sunglasses and baij got chased down the street in order to buy some cufflinks, good story this one. so the cufflinks, some sort of blue stone it seemed- price 120 ringitt, bout 20 quid. guy gives baij the calculator and says enter a price- so he puts in 40- bit low i think. 2 minutes of haggling, gusy says ok, 40. but, not bein the nicest cufflinks, baij says no, i dont want them. start walking away, guys says ok, 35, 30- had a bad day, need to feed kids kind of thing. 20 metres down the road, baij says ok, slips him a 20 note and takes them!

On the last night we had in kl, we attempted to check out the main bars and clubs, which were located on one busy and bustling road- full of nice cars, dressed up guys and gals and rich single male tourists splashing the cash, resulting in several cringeworthy moments! unfortunately, the dream was dashed as we werent 2 of the dressed up guys- posh dress doesnt really fit into a backpackers attire it seems! managed to have a drink at a roadside bar, albeit we were constantly pestered by a bartender who may have suffered from ocd and possessed a need to straighten barmats on our table!

I think we spent the right amount of time in KL, just under three days was enough to not only see the main sights, but to also hop on and off a hopper bus numerous times and become familiar travelling around the city- whilst indulging the in the numerous cuisines available, apart from nandos- yep still bitter bout that one! still, looking back, kl was a good prelude to singapore, our next destination.