Moving right along it's now, believe it or not, the end of our second week in Langkawi and coincidentally less than 7 shopping months til Christmas and about a week until Ramadan begins... where is 2016 going? And, more to the point, we wonder where we'll be at Christmas time this year. Short answer... who knows? It's been quite a week and after 2 weeks in Langkawi we have a reasonable idea of the island: from point A to point B will invariably take 30 minutes. Doesn't matter where you start or where you go, 30 minutes is a safe bet. Or an hour if there is torrential rain and you're creeping along at 30 kms avoiding scooters with no lights, dogs with no sense, cows with no concerns in the world and of course, aqua-planing. We know the all important words in Langkawi - thank you / chicken / beef / fish / egg / veges / rice and fried. Amazing how functional life can be (mind you, the vast majority of folks we've encountered speak incredible English). So here we go... the week, that was.

Thursday 26th May - We started off with a jaunt into Kuah (more so Koo-Ah!) with the emphasis on the Ah! There's a great Indian joint just opposite the Langkawi Parade mall which we've been to a couple of times now - incredible vegetarian options for about 8 ringgit a plate. Or 13 ringgit a tray if you're not in the mood to buy drinks which tend to be over priced. We're obviously getting into the swing cos that's the difference between say A$3 and A$5... Big money in these parts.

Friday 27th May - We started the day with a slither and slide down our sea-wall-in-progress and a walk along the beach. Far from actually going mad (which was the initial assessment), there's a bird in the forest around us who sits outside during the night, always at intermittent intervals, making electrical sounds. Imagine the sound when you phone/tablet/laptop/whatever, is running out of juice and is frantically trying to warn you. Similar. Positively nut-driving in the middle of the night when you're in a strange house and trying to figure out what it is. 'Tis "Electrobird" in full swing. Friday night was our first real go at our local Padang Lalang night market. (Last week the jet-lag and sheer knackered-ness meant it was all a blur.) We stocked up about 5 days of lunches and dinners for around A$35 or 100 RM.

Saturday 28th May - For all intents and purposes, a rest day. We took a morning beach walk and met a pack of 4 wild dogs who were concerned about us using the beach. Ignoring them eventually worked and we walked back unmolested. The local dogs are beautiful creatures - similar to an Australian Dingo. Or an anorexic Labrador.

Sunday 29th May - In Malaysia Friday and Saturday are essentially the weekend, with Friday being serious Mosque-visiting day. So Sunday we were back into it. We started the day with a local breakfast. A short walk up the road took us to the Roti Canai Shop. Fluffy pastry/flat bread type stuff with curry on the side. We had Roti Telur (that's the same thing with an egg cooked into it). Also had a coffee with milk. Was exciting as it came out with milk at the bottom and coffee on top - condensed milk of course - thank heavens I asked for it without sugar... otherwise we'd still be humming. Returned home and hung a picture in the guest house, did a bit of DIY on the bed which was developing a nasty habit of falling apart in the middle of the night. Successfully fixed with cable ties and rope. Never, ever travel without cable ties. Ever. A cable tie cannot however fix everything. Bugs for instance. You'd go bonkers trying to fix the wet season bugs of Langkawi. The butterflies are gorgeous however and flit around the verandahs in charming fashion. Less charming was what flew into the house during a massive evening storm. We had left one tiny door open for air circulation and the torrential rain and gales sent a small bat into the house in a screaming panic. Bit like me to be honest. It's a fear of long haired folks the world over, having a bat caught in hair and going mental (the bat that is). As it turns out that wasn't our biggest fear. Having the bat collide with the ceiling fans and sliced into squillions of little bits and flung around the room in a weird bat teppanyaki fashion. That was the fear. Thankfully not realised. So bugs, butterflies, massive monitor lizards, monkeys, wild dogs and bats. That's it on the wildlife so far.

Monday 30th May - We visited our next housesit owner tonight to pick up keys and have a handover before moving in tomorrow for 11 days. Before we left home we saw a huge, swollen pregnant monitor lizard, easily 6 feet long, double-timing it across the property. That is going to be a lot of eggs and a big increase in the local monitor population in the near future. The handover went well and one of our 5 cats, little Betty, also has a story to tell about monitors... in particular the one that snuck up on her one day during an outdoor nap and munched her head. We call her the little munchkin and she needs a lot of looking after - but as they say, it's not the size of the cat in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the cat and she is a toughie and so full of love. After the handover we drove down through the rainforest (or jungle) and that was a hoot - avoiding kids, chooks, roosters, scooters and even the occasional cars. We saw our first padi fields on the way home and tripped over the location of the Monday Night Market which was good for a look. We didn't need much more than a top up and then it was off for a spot of luxury and fish and chips on the beach as the sun went down. It's been storming like crazy for the last few nights so it was great that the evening was fine and went along with our plans.

Tuesday 31st May - This morning we packed and cleaned the guest house then headed to Padang Matsirat, our new local village. One of our favourite Ikan Bakars is here, the lunchtime "all you can pay" joints. So that was an easy lunch. We eventually made it to the house to the delight of the cats - Hammy, Dot, Comel (pron: Chomelle - it's Malay for Cute), Betty the Munchkin and Kitten, who's anything but. Our first night in the jungle was like doing a sleepover at the zoo - thankfully all the critters are outside, but the sounds are mind boggling. We have continued our mission to check out every night market on the island. Wouldn't bother with the Tuesday night market again... nothing flash. Tired, tired, tired - super keen on a good sleep.

Wednesday 1st June - The good night's sleep was not to be as the current bed is on the exceedingly hard side of firm. Probably character building, but neither of us got a wink of sleep. We vowed to fix the issue and headed into Kuah in search of a mattress topper or even just a bit of foam to add some squish to the bed. Harder than we thought. Six or so shops later and we were even more exhausted. The temperature as around 33 degrees but "felt like" 43 degrees or so and humid. Phew... We finally gave up at about 4.30 pm and headed to the Kuah Night Market (Wednesdays and Saturdays). It was just as we drove over the bridge that I saw a mattress and furniture shop so we did a zippy u-turn and headed back Success! Two foam pads for A$30. Together they cover the King Size bed to perfection. Utter comfort and a good nights sleep on the way. We think they'll perform so well that we may have to take them with us!