Hey its now Tuesday (i think?) and were in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. I tried to update this blog yesterday from Melaka but the internet cut out just before I finished so this one might be a little big more vague as I am writing it for second time round!

On our last day in Singapore, where my last blog ended, we decided to hit the botanical gardens. It was absolutely scorching heat and the humidity was crazy, sweating like a roasting pig I was! The gardens themselves were really nice, there was a massive lake in the middle and loads of green areas to sit down and relax for a bit. We also saw a waterfall and took Debs to the ginger garden, I dont think she was impressed... haha then in the evening we headed for the Royal Peacock Hotel in chinatown to meet up with the rest of the group. I think me Matt and Debs all thought it may just be us 3 and Moises but were pleasantly surprised to find a girl called Hannah and an older couple from Vancouver, Canada were also doing the tour. All together there are 8 of us which included Pauline, our tour leader who is from northern Thailand.

We went out together in the evening for meal at Fatty Wengs in china town! I had sweet and sour pork which was ok, no 'travellers tummy' yet! We then wandered round chinatown for a while before heading back to the hotel for an earlyish night!

It was an early start the next morning as we had to catch a bus. We woke at 6:15am, yes thats quarter past 11 in the evening in England(!), and headed for the bus station in taxis. The bus was ok, although I think the gearbox was mangled because everytime the driver went for second gear he had to try about 5 times before it actually went in. Crazy times... After about 1 hour we stopped on the far north point of singapore to go through Malaysian passport control (I LOVE STAMPS! haha) and then again about 5 minutes later for a very half assed bag search. Luckily (?) we werent carrying anymore than 2 new pairs of shoes or we would have been rejected, although Matt did manage to smuggle (kind of) a banana through. It was then another 3.5 hours to Melaka.

The town of Melaka is a port town with some history about the dutch and Sir Stamford Raffles but i dont really know much more than that. Wikipedia anyone? Its quite a small place so was very different from Singapore and considering they are so close the culture is also quite different. Its clearly much less affluent and a lot dirtier although our hotel was ok. We only had 1 thing on our itinerary which was a trishaw ride! I wasnt particularly looking forward to this but our guide was an absolute legend and we all bundled into trishaws and set off round the town with music blaring. Now this part of my story wont mean as much until you see the photos which I will upload as soon as I get home i promise but it was so funny! Anyways,. after that we headed to the local food court for some food where we ended up with a chicken and noodles dish (maybe not chicken!?!?) which was served still sizzling with en egg still cooking on the side. I just ate the noodles... Me, Matt and Debs then headed up the observation tower which was cool before walking back to the hotel as we were all pretty shattered. I also managed to flood our bathroom but that is a story for another day when I'm not paying for internet...

Next morning (this morning) we got on another bus for a shorter 2 hour journey to Kuala Lumpur! Our hotel again is quite nice but the part of the city we have seen so far is a real dump. The smells are definately authentic and there is a big market strip where the traders are quite loud but its all good fun. Tonight we are going to head for the more developed part of the city for some food and a quick look at the petronas towers, KL's main attraction. We then have a half day guided tour tomorrow morning which will at least hep us get our bearings as KL is much harder to navigate than Singapore, before having the afternoon free to wander as we please. The best thing about being here is the price of everything! An hour of internet in here is about 4 ringgetts, thats approx 85p? I was going to buy a belt earlier in the market that was priced at 15 RNG, thats 3 quid and I definately couild have haggled that down quite a lot further. Apparently it will be even chepaer in Thailand so let the good times roll! I'm now off to wash some clothes in the hotel sink.

Peace out :) xxx