I awoke this morning to the sound of rain-and a lot of it! I headed downstairs for a leisurely breakfast at 9 and was informed this was monsoon rain and would last on and off for a few days.

As I sat down in the dinning area I met Carmen, a lovely girl travelling from Hong Kong after graduating from university. We decided to go off shopping to get out of the rain and she led the way having been here for a few days already. We made it to the new shopping centre only getting a little bit drenched and browsed around the shops to dry off. The prices here are so cheap, everything from electricals to shoes start cheap and with a bit of haggling get discounted even further. We resisted buying too many pairs of shoes and headed off to get some lunch whilst the rain had stopped.

We decided to take a detour home via a more local shopping centre which was much busier and atmospheric than the modern one we had visited that morning. We also stopped off in the dry market to look at the more touristy items for sale, which included dried frogs made into purses and a vast number of pearls for which Borneo is famous for.

It started to rain again as we returned to the hostel which provided some welcomed cooling in the warm weather. We chilled in the dinning area catching up on emails etc before being joined by Richard, a just graduated doctor from Canada who said he would join us for dinner down by the waterfront.

We risked sitting outside to get a good view of the sunset but in the end it was too cloudy and instead we sat and discussed patriotism and the difference between England, Britain and the United Kingdom as you do!

We had been told of a traditional annual Harvest Festival being held tonight at Merdeka Field (local football ground) so we decided to have a stroll that way and see what was happening. In fact it was a colourful display of local cultural dancing and singing with many important dignitaries in attendance. We seemed to be the only tourists among the thousands of people who had travelled from all over Sabah for this festival but they welcomed us in and even got us dancing and singing along! In all it was an amazing experience.

Wondering home, still buzzing from the music and atmosphere we passed a cinema that just happened to be showing X-men, First Class at 2150, so we decided it was too early to head home just yet and brought tickets (£1.70 each). It was brilliant and I would recommend anyone who has enjoyed the last ones to go and see this one as in my opinion it was the best of them all so far.

When we left the cinema it was pouring with rain so we made a quick dash for the hostel, hoping someone would still be up to let us in now it was midnight. Luckily Daniel and the staff were still up and laid out several towels so we didn't drip water everywhere.

Until next time!

xxx