Hello from Malaysia!

Now, let's see. Last time I wrote I was still in Phuket, and during my six days there I did little else apart from spending time on the beach, eating and reading. I took one day trip out, as mentioned before, and enjoyed it immensely.

After a very early start, I was picked up from my hostel and transferred to a harbour around an hour away. Luckily, three people from the hostel were not on the trip itself but were taking the boat over to Phi Phi so had some company for the ride over. The boat trip took just over two hours, and on the way to Coral Bay we passed several gorgeous islands, all very deserted and full of vegetation. This is the sort of Thailand I had been previously expecting so was glad I got to see a good portion of white sands, deserted islands and turquoise seas before I left. The boat moored at Phi Phi Don, the larger of the two Phi Phi islands, and I then boarded a smaller boat to take us to the nearby Coral Bay for some snorkelling.

Fortunately it turns out that the appeal of snorkelling was not a one time thing, and I thoroughly enjoyed my second trip. Though the coral was not as impressive as what we had come across in Koh Tao, there were far more fish which gave me something to look at. And only swallowed one mouthful of seawater so I must be getting better. After an hour or so in the sea, we headed back to Phi Phi Don where we had an organised lunch at a nearby hotel. Unfortunately, I was allocated to a table completely inhabited by Spaniards, so I had a very mute dinner. After dinner, we had some free time to wander around Phi Phi before getting the ferry home, so I wandered around the very pretty main market street and bought some flip flops to replace my old ones which had given up, and some books. Once we'd taken the boat home and transferred to the hostel, it was evening so I just grabbed a quick dinner and had a shamefully early night.

The next day, I walked the 3km of Karon beach in a rare energetic burst, and then settled on some rocks at one far end, just in the tideline, for the afternoon and indulged in some reading. After grabbing dinner, I headed back and had a pancake and a chat with Lee, my roomate, before packing up ready to move on the following morning. Another early start later, and I got a taxi to the very tiny Phuket airport where I was flying out to Singapore.

Got to Singapore in the early afternoon, and got a taxi from the aiport to the hostel. The hostel was right by the Kallang MRT station so spent the evening wandering around Bugis which appears to be a big shopping district. Found a Topshop and foolishly went for a browse. It actually made me angry that I haven't got any nice clothes with me and that I can't buy any, so I left pretty swiftly. Spent the following day at Singapore Zoo which was fabulous. I haven't been to a zoo in years so I don't have all that much to compare it with, but I think it was a gorgeous place. It's set up like a giant forest with very little enclosure, most animals are just behind a small wall and some of the smaller, less aggressive ones (such as sloths and these gorgeous little things called mousedeers) are free to wander about. Got really close to soem lemurs and monkeys too which was an experience. Stupidly paid the extra S$5 for the tram around the enclosure, but because I can't map read, I went the wrong way and off the tram route, so didn't use it once.

Got back to the hostel in the late afternoon and grabbed some food from the MRT station. The heat and six hours of walking had done its magic and I was out like a light by 10PM. The next day I took the MRT to City Hall, and had a browse around the district, saw the City Hall, Raffles, Raffles City mall, the Singapore Flyer and a cathedral. After a restorative coffee and muffin, I headed back to Chinatown for a wander and then back to Bugis for some dinner and decided to take a trip to the cinema, as I was at a loss for things to do that night. Very, very nice setup, all red velvet drapes and black leather seats but unfortunately I went on a Friday night so I would hazard a guess and say I was the only single person there. Saw the new James Bond which happily whiled away a few hours, but wasn't as good as the first.

The following day, my hairdryer caught fire back at the hostel, I don't know how or why, but that meant I spent the morning wandering round a dozen shopping malls in a bid to find a suitably small hairdryer. Since Singapore is rather pricy, I ended up paying more than I had for my original, which annoyed me no end. I am almost certain that I did something else that morning, but cannot remember for the life of me what it was, so it can't have been that noteworthy. Went back to the hostel for a calming afternoon nap before heading out to Little India, where I had a very good meal, the first one I've enjoyed in a while. Spent the evening pottering and packing up my bits, not exciting to most people but right up my alley. Bright and early the next day, I took the MRT down to the airport and got my flight up to Kuala Lumpur.

Landed early in the afternoon and took a bus to KL Sentral and then a taxi over to the hostel. Realised too late that I'd already purchased a bus ticket with my flight, but as it was less than $3 I haven't dwelled on it too much. Am at my favourite hostel so far, it's very clean but very homely. Nice big lounge and very friendly atmosphere. Slyvia and Crawford, two Scots, arrived the same day as me and it was hear an almost familiar voice. Went for dinner with Sylvia in the evening, got a very good curry that was less that $4, so much more to my taste than Singapore prices.

The following day, Slyvia and I headed down to KLCC and visited the aquarium which made a nice change. The nicest part was the air conditioning. And I touched a big fish! It felt like slimy leather and made my skin crawl, but I'm facing my fears none the less. What with it being an aquarium, I wasn't prepared to see snakes, spiders and the like and really didn't appreciate it. I certainly didn't appreciate that most of them come from South America either. We strolled back (i.e. got lost) in the afternoon and indulged in a nap before joining Crawford on the sofa for a movie night. The next morning, the three of us got up very early in order to get a ticket for the Skybridge tour at the Petronas Towers. We managed to get tickets for the 11.45am tour, and while the others headed back to the hostel to wait, I was feeling particularly lazy so grabbed a coffee and some papers and camped out in a nearby mall instead. We met back up later to walk across the bridge connecting the Twin Towers at the 41st floor. It wasn't as high as I had expected but at least we didn't have to pay for the privilege. We spent the afternoon pottering about the hostel before I went out for dinner with Sylvia. Had a very poor curry, but not as poor as the fish head curry I'd seen at a place we had looked at before. Said goodbye to Sylvia since she was leaving in the morning and then watched Million Dollar Baby with Crawford and tea before we headed to bed.

And finally, today. Today I have done absolutely nothing noteworthy. I got up to say goodbye to Crawford who also left this morning, and then spent the majority of the day reading a Harry Potter I found lying around in the lounge. Had a full blown thunderstorm this afternoon, so waited until it had eased off before venturing out for some dinner. Have spent most of the evening reading and packing up my stuff as I head off to Bali tomorrow. I am definitely looking forward to getting out of the cities for a while and getting in some beach time. Unfortunately though, my flight time has changed and where I had to leave the hostel at 8am, I now have to leave at 5.45am, which has displeased me no end. So I will be having a very early night tonight in order to cope with my 5am wake up call. Here's to a 9pm bedtime.

Will check in soon, love as always xxxxxxxxxxxxxx