Our last day in Darwin happened to be our anniversary.After checking out of our room we had 10 hrs. to kill before leaving for the airport so we thought to ourselves, when in Darwin do as the native Darwinians (aka Aboriginals) do, so we bought cheap champagne (2 for 1), packed up a picnic and sat under the shade of a tree in the park.We fitted right in.The next thing we knew we were sitting on the plane with a bit of a hangover.We were so excited to leave Darwin and be real backpackers again.It also brought home the very real fact that we are now on our last continent and this trip that seemed like it would last forever now had an end in sight.

20 hrs. after checking out of our hostel in Darwin we landed in Singapore, utterly exhausted.We only had 8 hrs to kill before we could check into our hotel so we sat in McDonalds, the only thing open at 4 am, wishing the hours away.Our first afternoon in Asia was unfortunately spent in bed catching up on sleep.When we eventually woke we re-celebrated our anniversary, Singapore style.First step was to the famous Raffles Hotel, where the Singapore Sling was invented.I think there was liquid gold in these cocktails, or at least they cost like they should have gold in them.After a delicious Thai meal, we continued the night at Clark Quay's quirky bars, one being "clinic" themed where the drinks are served in blood bags and it had wheelchairs as chairs.Funny watching all the drunk people trying to zoom out of the bar in them.The following day was spent shopping, eating amongst the locals at street stalls, sampling the most amazing local cuisine for dirt cheap prices before dancing the night away to live music.All in all Singapore in a great city; clean efficient friendly and the food is to die for.Although we did avoid any food stalls that had a distinct smell of wet dog - we didn't want to risk it.

We then boarded the 7 hr. train ride to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where we arrived at 11 pm.There were only 3 other tourists on the train and we were all a little confused as to where we get our stamp into the country.We received a departure stamp from Singapore and expected an entrance stamp in Malaysia, a standard procedure you would think, but there was no one there to provide us with one.We asked a police officer and he was just as perplexed.Eventually he told us to go and sort out the missing stamp when we leave the country….hmmm, so Mr. Police man, we are here illegally?He assured us it is OK!?! - keep an eye out for us on CNN or BBC.We hoped to leave KL the next morning but slept in and missed the bus by a couple of hours so fate had us taking in some sights, doing some more shopping and eating from the many food stalls.The markets here sell anything and everything, from fake Fendi handbags to shoes, purfume, belts, watches, glasses and lots of other crap.We walked through, side glancing at the stalls to see what was on offer but determined to not make eye contact with the hawkers, at which point they were Greg's best friend and offered "special price for you" - what a generous bunch of guys.We made a sharp emergency exit out of there before Greg belted one of the 6 guys that was tugging at him.The next day we were more than ready to leave.

We hiked in the heat to the "bus station" where hundreds of touts fought for our business on their buses.They will say anything to make a sale like "my bus is the only bus to there", "his bus isn't direct", "there is no bus at 11, only mine at 12."It makes it impossible to trust anybody!We settled in for the 4.5 hr. ride that climbed up to the Cameron Highlands 1800 meters above sea level until we were amongst the clouds.For the first time since Tasmania, the air was crisp.The climate creates perfect condition for fruit farms and more famously, tea plantations.The scenery during the drive was amazing.Rolling green hills scattered with make shift wooden huts where locals played games, waving as we past.We were picked up by Bob who took us back to Fathers guesthouse.What a place - set in majestic hills and the owners were fantastic.Out "room" cost $10 and was a corrugated iron hut - like a mini airplane hangar.The following day our guide Sanyet took us on a tour of the area.First stop was for a view of Boh, the largest tea plantation in the area, before heading into the surprising highland jungle. Sanyet taught us how to survive on the local plants and kept an eye open for animal tracks - when he pointed out the footprints of a black panther the jungle walk came to an end.This guy had some crazy stories of his time in the jungle and we weren't ready to experience Man vs. Wild stuff just yet.Next stop was the Boh Estate to enjoy a freshly brewed cuppa tea while watching workers hand pick tea leaves in the fields below.We were then dropped into the town of Brinchang where there was a Hindu festival going on, apparently there is a huge Indian population in this area.This is when the day took a strange turn of events and we saw some weird stuff that we will never forget.The festival was to celebrate the end of the Hindu version of lent.Most people fast of don't eat meat, and others go as far as to mutilate their bodies.There was lively music and everybody was dancing.That's when we saw a man, dressed kind of like a transvestite version of George of the Jungle.His back had 160 large hooks piercing his skin.The most disturbing part was these hooks had 8 feet of rope attached to each one and at the end was 2 men firmly pulling back on the ropes.The guy keeping his body straight would lean almost parallel to the ground and the men would pull him back up vertical, blood seeping down his back.The he would go into a trance when a spirit or something entered his body, the music would get louder and people would chant and cheer…and there is Greg and I, the only white people in sight having no clue as to what is happening, glancing at each other wondering if we should be here or not.It was an interesting few hours.

That night we sampled local Indian food that was supposedly mild for tourists bud had terrible repercussions later.While on the subject, let me give you a little run down on the state of toilets in Southeast Asia: it is a porcelain hole in the ground, with grips for your feet on either side, then there is either a hose to wash your business away or a bucket of water with a scoop; 2 scoops fo flush and one scoop to "wipe".If you have struck gold, there will be a tap to wash your hands.I am now armed 24/7 with hand sanitizer and toilet roll.

The next day, after we were all tead out, we hiked to town and got the bus to Penang.Our bus driver, who was accelerating down the mountains and overtaking everything else on the road including on blind corners, obviously thought he was playing a play station game.I fell in love with 3 local Malay kids on the bus and filled them up on chocolate biscuits giving them a sugar rush that our fellow passengers didn't appreciate - they were just too cute.5.5 hrs. later we arrived in Georgetown on the island of Penang.

We stayed in Chinatown, where there are no sidewalks and you would swear the scooters aim for clueless tourists.English isn't widely spoken here making eating an interesting experience.We were trying to watch the locals to do as they do but still had no clue how to order, what we were eating or how to eat it.We learnt quickly and the next day we were ordering a dim sum breakfast of steamed pork dumplings, fried prawn wontons and lots of other deliciousness we can't even begin to explain.That day was spent visiting temples and Mosques scattered around the city.There are so many cultures mixing here and most people are very eager to teach us about their religion.We have come across so many people such as taxi drivers and touts that are just out to rip us off that it is hard not to be stand offish when people approach us.However this is a terrible attitude to travel with and our faith in people has been restored by the kindness and friendliness of people such as Lim Poey Kee.He was an elderly man who approached us near a Chinese temple dragging us into a "museum".His English was very broken and would point to things stating the obvious - "100 year old iron, 150 year old tea cup, this door…180 year old" smiling widely with excitement.Greg and I were muttering bets as to how much he was going to charge us for this "tour".It turns out he was just a sweet old man fascinated by us and wanted to talk to us.He insisted on each of us getting photos with him and his eyes lit up when we promised to send him copies.Not only did he not charge us for his tour but he ran after us with cold bottles of water to cool us down.It just goes to show that some people just have very big hearts.Shame on us for expecting the worst.We had a delicious Malay dinner of Laksa and Char Kway Teow totaling a whopping $3 for 3 dinners (Greg couldn't resist seconds) before retiring for our last night in Malaysia.Tomorrow we get the 10 hr. bus ride to Thailand where we are going to celebrate Greg's birthday the only way we know how…in style.