Back to the grind stone as they say. Teaching is just pants. Wanted to show the class the rest of Braveheart today but noo- the cleaner had the key for the room- after tracking her down, someone had kindly taken the VCD player I had been using. Had to go hunting down another VCD player (while my class sat waiting for me), eventually found one, only to discover there were no cables for it. And then discovered that the extension cable I had previously borrowed from a teacher had been broken so I am later going to have to apologise profusely although I have no idea what happened to it. So after much flustering and may I say the office staff were (and are in general) no help what so ever (they don't speak English so have fun taking the piss in Malay, thinking I don't understand, when its blatantly obvious what they're saying most of the time). So just as I was reaching the end of my tether, the kind Chinese teacher's tried to help me out. Think I may have come across as a bit rude since I was so flustered so will also need to apologise to them later. Ended up taking my class to the ICT room to watch the VCD on the comp- but of course the comp decided not to work as well. So most students ended up playing on the internet while I finally sorted out one of the computers and was able to play the VCD but only a small number of students were bothered enough to watch it. Pants pants pants. Annyway. Lets skip back to the weekend. Had a fab night on Friday night- completely stuffed my face at Little Italy again- almost popped after eating a pasta and pizza dish. We then headed to the Hyatt to catch the cheap deal at the bakery (after 7pm the cakes and buns are marked down by 50%). So Aman, Georgie and I bought some cake and cookies and went to the water front to stuff ourselves even further. We then headed back to NBC for an early night, but ended up running into a Swedish couple we had previously met at NBC and they filled me in on everything I should do in Vietnam. Got me soo excited talking about the famous street lined with tailors. The girl was telling me how she had all of theses dresses and shoes and everything made and she chose the exact material she wanted and was taken around the town to choose designs etc and each item only cost about 10 us dollars. Immense. They then showed us a portion of the 100s of DVDs they bought for like 50p each. Georgie and I sat down to watch Brokeback Mountain and I have to say, it's officially the most romantic film I have ever seen ever! It's one of the best films I think I've ever seen- we just sat there- unable to hear a word Heath Leger was saying- well any of them (the sound quality was a bit pants cos it was a pirate copy) but even without understanding a word of it- it was just amazing. Tear-jerker. Next day, Aman, Georgie and I headed out mega early to catch the first boat to Labuan island- Duty Free! We arrived to find oober cheap alcohol but the chocolate was about the same price as the main land- still, we bought loads! We then jumped in a taxi and drove to the Sheraton Hotel where we booked ourselves into a big double room overlooking the sea. Georgie and I headed straight for the War memorial and cemetery, while Aman chilled out in our room. The cemetery was obviously really touching and was the resting place for all of the soldiers I had previously read about in Sandakan. There were some really poignant comments written on the headstones, but some only said "A soldier of war- known unto God". I felt a bit confused when I saw a similar thing written on most headstones- "His duty nobly and rightfully done" - cause these men didn't exactly get a chance to carry out any duty- they were all tortured and murdered- so how can family members say that they died fighting for a righteous cause etc? I don't know. Anyway, at first, we found it exciting- just chilling out in a 5 star hotel- relaxing by the pool and indulging in our Rose wine in front of our big TV. But then, later on, when we went out "Down Town" for dinner, we realized that the place was pretty seedy. The locals were really sleezy and we felt pretty uncomfortable there. We had a quick Chinese, which was really good, had a look in a nearby club but all was pretty quiet since it was early in the night- then we decided we'd rather spend our night in the hotel. So we found our way back and just chilled out in our room for the rest of the evening. Next day, Georgie and I indulged in a huge buffet breakfast. Pancakes, roti, scones, doughnuts, hash browns- we ate soo much! Was ab fab! We then set off for the boat back to KK. Every taxi we had previously used on Labuan, had charged us RM5, so when we stopped and the driver charged us RM7, we said no, gave him RM5 and went to get out the taxi- but then her protested and grabbed my bag and wouldn't let go until we paid him extra. Was an absolute farse- never been treated like that in Malaysia before and never expected it from any of the locals. We were getting an ever worsening impression of Labuan. Our ferry had been cancelled so we had to stick around for 3hrs for the next one- so to kill time, Georgie and I went to find a net café, while Aman went to get her photos copied. Splitting up was a baad idea. We should have stayed with Aman, cause when she tried to find us, she asked some locals where the net café was, and was passed from person to person until she found herself being physically dragged along by a couple of men. She managed to get away from them, but was obviously shaken up and twas mine and Georgie's fault for leaving her. We eventually got on the ferry and were all feeling quite happy to be off the island. Was not a nice place to visit and we now appreciate how kind and friendly the locals in KK. Forgot to mention- as we arrived in Labuan- we mega randomly bumped into a guy from Finland, Aman and I had met on our first night in Hong Kong. Was so funny to see him so we chatted for a bit and ended up seeing him and his friends again when we arrived back in KK. They said they really loved it here but were heading back to Hong Kong pretty soon. Anyway- as you can see, we're back at the school now and I'm getting more and more excited about Mum and Gran coming out to see me. Only 5 more days- know it's gona take forever to pass though! Just gota get through this week of teaching, then I'm off to Sarawak next Tuesday! Soo can't wait!! Right, better go and sort this bloomin VCD player out before my next class crashes and burns as well!