After reluctantly leaving Koh Tao the evening of the 18th March, I spent 29 hours- (Yes! Believe your eyes, you did read that correctly..) worth of traveling to get to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). Luckily I was so majorly sleep deprived from partying till silly o'clock in the morning, night after night in Koh Tao that I was deep in the land of nod most of the time. I left the island on a night boat at 9 o'clock that evening to then change transport 4 times and arrive at the destination at 3 o'clock the morning of the 19th March. Kuala Lumpur I would personally say is quite futuristic, you only have to look at the architecture of the buildings to get what I'm saying here. My mind ran away with itself at one point and I started to imagining scenes out the children's Cartoon Network space show, this would have been back when I was a child called "The Jetson's". It's worlds apart from being on an Island. I only spent one full day there before jet setting off to Borneo but I did enjoyed myself.

My taste of Malaysia this time round only goes as far as the capital city, Kuching. I plan to make my way back here in the very near future and volunteer at one of the Orangutang sanctuaries. "Trust the timing of your life" One evening (even though I'm meant to be on a detox) I took up an invite by a bunch of cool Canadians to go for a drink at the "Monkee Bar" This bar is run solely on volunteers and 50% of the money you pay for your drinks goes straight to the rehabilitation sanctuaries- This makes it ok for me to break the detox promise I made to myself right!? Ok! Back on track.. I made a connection with one of the volunteers who has now been apart of the programme for many years and she enthusiastically shared with me lots of information. Only that very morning was I feeling slightly bummed out after researching into other companies to offer my services and money to, to help putting these fascinating species back into the wild. (Did you know they are 96.4% human!?) I really wasn't feeling what I was reading as they were all swaying towards being more "tour" like and in my head I just want to get stuck right in, make a difference, be productive, work hard and be apart of the team. So after my conversation with Jess at the bar, I feel as if that organisation is much more suited to my wants. This excites me very much! Especially after visiting Semenggoh orangutang rehabilitation centre x2. The centre is located in part of one the jungles here in Sarawak and as a visitor you get to spend an hour in the morning or an hour in the afternoon or both depending if you wanted to hang around or not, watching them cartwheel (this is the entrance I was embraced with, it was hilarious) or swing from tree to tree into the feeding area where they will then go onto feast on a bunch of fresh fruits. I near enough had to be escorted out of the area as I physically didn't want to leave. My love for Orangutang's is not normal.

"The Treehouse B&B" is the hostel I stayed in whilst being in Kuching. After reading a fantastic review on the Internet I decided this was the place for me and it's safe to say I wasn't disappointed. What really stood out to me was the genuine kind nature of the staff that work there and the way they go above and beyond to ensure you have the best possible time throughout your stay whilst in Kuching. Siti, Annabelle and Jamal were the team running the hostel throughout the duration of my stay. My very first day at the Treehouse Siti and one of the guest were discussing going to a Zumba class that evening, so I then put myself forward to getting involved also. This was the foundation of a friendship that blossomed beautifully and which I highly value between Siti and I... The Zumba class took place at this huge public park. When we turned up to the open air platform just outside the public library at the park we were greeted by at least 50 locals shimmying to a fast tempo Malay song. We got stuck in immediately. It was so fast paced and energetic, the locals were loving the fact that we were dancing/working out alongside them. It really was so much fun, so much so we even went back for more the next evening. The outings didn't stop there, it then seemed to become a thing that as and when Siti wasn't working at the hostel we would go and hang out together. This was such a privilege, not only to get to know the sweetest most kindhearted lady but she also shared with me numerous cool spots to hang out or take me somewhere where we would eat proper Malaysian dishes. Malaysian food brings the best sensation to my taste buds, because of this I'm piling on the pounds quicker than I'm spending them these days! Haha. My last night in Kuching, Siti and i's last date as we would call them, she took me to a "Steam pot" buffet restaurant. It was heaving with Malaysians! This is always a good sign that the food your about to eat is going to be of great quality. We were greeted at the entrance of the food hall and lead to a table which had a *gas* underneath that was attached to a small stove. A bowl was placed in the middle of the stove which was then filled up with water after only seconds of being shown to the table. "Tom Yam or Chicken!!?" Was the question that got hurled at us next.. These were the flavoured stock cubes to put inside the bowl full of now boiling water. We went for Tom Yam, bit of spice! Spice is nice... The next part of the procedure was a trip over the the array of of different types of meats, fish and seafood, some marinated, some not. Then there was a whole stand full of different vegetables and eggs that you could boil. A stand with many trays holding different types of rices and noodle and then to finish a fridge full of chilled foods including tofu, fish balls e.c.t... It was a self cook service which was so much fun. The vegetables, tofu, shrimps would all be placed in the hot pot to boil cook whilst the meat would be placed on the stove round the outside to make the transformation from being raw to cooked. We feasted like a pair a of Kings! I came to the hostel as a guest but I left as a friend...

I went and payed a couple of the National Parks a visit whilst I was there also, Bako and Kubah... Both jam packed full of wildlife. Kubah mainly consisted of amphibians, weird and wonderful insects and tropical birds. I grew a very close attachment to one of the insects from the national park... Literally. As I was about to leave the Kubah national park I looked down at my feet to then notice this black blob on the part where your leg connects to your foot... I tried to just brush it of but that was proven to be more difficult than to just swipe it off my skin. So this is what it was... A blood draining leech!!! After a few strong tugs from the French man I was with, I was set free from Count Dracula. Bako was so up my street, the park held three different types of monkey's in which I got a sighting from all them. It was just perfect to see them so natural, not enclosed in a cage or behind metal bars just completely and utterly roaming around in acres and acres of jungle playground. I was at one with this family of Macaque's for about an hour, just observing and adoring their movements. Following them as they sauntered through the park. There were also a few babies within the pack so that was entertaining to watch. Ohhh I just loved it!

I brought a taste of Britain to the Treehouse dinner table and produced Shepherd's pie with lots of fresh steamed vegetable, soaked in of course, herb and beef gravy- That was cool to share with the team a meal like that as it is on the total opposite end of the spectrum to what they would usually eat. Annabelle took me to a second hand clothes store one evening which was also very cool. We spent such a long time rummaging through the rails to then find some real unique garments! This was my favourite activity to do on Sunday back at home and I miss it, so i defiantly got my fix that evening. Other evenings were spent kareoking. If you haven't participated in karaoke whilst in Asia you have not done it properly and that is just a fact of life. Siti really does have the voice of angel, she can really belt one out so the kareoking was always left up to her. Her voice would give me goose bumps every time without fail. Going back to our last "date" in Kuching after our feast, we went and found a karaoke spot and she sang a couple of times... Another listener in the crowd who was actually sitting just behind me commented on how nice her voice was and unbeknown to Siti or I placed in a song request. Sia-Chandelier... Siti was really nervous as she was unsure of the tune and the right song words so she ask the girl who requested the song to get up and sing with her. Magic happened! Their voices worked perfectly together, it was so thrilling to hear two powerful voices collide in that way. I couldn't think of a better ending to my time in Kuching!

3 Days in Singapore... This place wow'd me in ways I couldn't ever imagine. It is immaculate. The most classy concrete jungle! I spent my time there getting well acquainted with the city... My two favourite moments would have to be when a group of us from the hostel I was staying at tried to have a lovely stroll in Singapore's Botanical gardens, only after 10 minutes of being there the rain started. After the rain came the thunder and lightning... Then it pored... pored and pored, continuously! We were encountering a flash flood. It was ferocious and had no sign of clearing up any time soon. Now we had a problem on our hands, the train station was 1.5km away and we needed to make our way back there. I shot out from underneath the taxi rank we managed to hitch a ride to and with that I threw my hands up in the air and started to do a rain dance. We were going to get saturated anyway so I just bit the bullet. It didn't take long for the others to join in and we danced away. Barefooted we darted to the station and drenched didn't even do the state we were in justice. My second highlight would have to be watching the light show over at Marina Bay Sands. This is the most famous building/hotel in Singapore, constructed in such a way so that a infinity pool has been placed on the roof of the building looking out over the whole of Singapore. So impressive to look at and then with the light show display going off in front of it whilst little river boats also decorated with lights cruised past, then the sweet melody "wonderful world by Louis Armstrong" playing softly in the background. My farewell was ever so romantic.

Asia has well and truly been my wildest dream. I have never felt so content than I have done these past 4 months... I have learnt alot about the world and myself, I will forever treasure the memories made, the incredible people I've shared time with and the time of my life that I have had in my heart. Always! I feel blessed.

I can promise you this, It's only going to be a goodbye for now...

I really do hope you have enjoyed living my travels up to now with me. I miss you all so deeply!

Lots of love xx