Team Leeds hits Paradise!!! Don't worry; we've managed not to spoil it too much!! Well, after leaving the horrendous internet cafe where a young Asian boy decided to show us all porn on his computer and make suggestive comments (whatever he's heard about Western girls, it is so wrong - I think Anne-Marie's face said it all!) we made our way over to the Butterworth bus station and wondered where the rest of the backpackers were as we were the only Westerners around and again, got the stares etc - getting used to it now though. Got on the "VIP Luxury" bus to the coast to get the boat to the Perhentian Islands where we could finally lay our traveling boots (well flip flops) and have some sleep. The bus ride, we've collectively decided, is going down as one of the worse yet. Some Malay man sat next to Anne-Marie and kept falling asleep and then falling on her, which obviously made the 10 hour journey a bit uncomfortable for her. It was freezing cold, to the point where me and Claire-Lou put the seat covers over our feet to keep warm, the driver apparently didn't speak English so when Claire-Lou attempted to ask him to put some heating on he just grunted and I'm positive it got colder...but then we all know Claire-Lou's English at 3 in the morning...!! ;-) Two Buddhist Monks were sat in front of us. Now we're not quite sure about what the deal is with Monks, apparently we're not allowed to sit next to them, talk to them or even look at them....this I know now but at 4 in the morning when one of them is reclining his chair so far back onto you cant move, I'm sorry but monk or no monk I've got to have a word, particularly when I've not had any sleep for 2 days (those who know me, know what sort of mood this will put me in). So I just politely tapped him on the shoulder and asked him to pull it up. Major mistake? God knows, but he obviously didn't get the message as he kept doing it so I had to tell him off...I think he quite liked the tapping of the shoulder personally...later found out that was a bit of a misdemeanor on my part and not at all permitted in Asian society. Someone should write about this in the Lonely Planet perhaps?? Got kicked off the bus in the middle of nowhere at 4 in the morning, thankfully we managed to find a taxi driver that not only spoke English but didn't appear crazy or like he was trying to rip us off, perhaps Saint Christopher looking down on us again? Turns out he was slightly ting-tong, realised after we got in the taxi he had no petrol so he then drove around like a mad man trying to find a petrol station open in the middle of nomanland. Succeeded in his mission, we were all fighting to stay awake just to be sure that this bloke was not an absolute nutter, he then drove 120 miles an hour to get us to the 7 am boat in time....they have no clue about speed limits here...or safety, since my seat belt was just rope hanging from the chair. Got to the boat in one piece, miraculously, but not without the usual Selina-over-tired tantrum (sorry Taylors, again) all over a return ticket and people in my face when I'd just woke up...me and sleep deprivation equals evil possessed person I think. FINALLY made it to the islands after a crazy speed boat ride where I think my stomach jumped into my mouth at least four times and it was worth every single nightmare journey moment of the last two days. It is literally paradise. We are living in a Bounty advert! The water is so clear you can see to the bottom all the way out to the middle of the sea, the beach is so white and the sand is the softest sand I've ever been on without sounding like a complete cheeseball. I have to pinch myself that I'm actually here and it's real. Had a bit of a mission trying to find somewhere to stay but finally got a bungalow, they don't appear to acknowledge travelers in threes so we've just got one double bed for the three of us. Its working out OK despite my reputation as a 'fidget arse' whilst sleeping, we have developed a system! The resort we're staying on has a little monkey that lives nearby, it's so cute. Still working up the courage to and play with it, weighing up whether will bite and I will then get rabies - is it worth it? We spent the first day predictably laying on the beach and getting back a bit of the tan that Thailand and Laos evilly took away from us with the rain. It's slowly but surely returning - the freckles are out in full force!On Tuesday we arranged to go on a snorkeling trip. The day was amazing. The water is so clear here you can snorkel at the top and see all the way to the bottom. However soon as we got in the water someone shouted 'did you see the shark' and I freaked and swam possibly the fastest I've ever swam back to the boat and attempted to get back in. The only reason the instructor probably managed to calm me down was the fact I couldn't get back in the boat as it was too big and I was just this thing scrambling on the side feeling like an extra in Jaws or something. Calmed down and realised that everyone has to face their irrational fears so just got on with it which is a good job as we then went onto Shark Bay and saw three of the b*****s and they were quite big and look exactly how David Attenborough shows! However, he has a lot to answer for I reckon as he makes them look so aggressive and these were OK, I felt quite calm, even when a big one was right underneath me so fear sorted....for now! After Shark Bay we headed to a turtle spot and all had to wait poised ready to jump in and swim after a turtle when we spotted one come up for air. I still can't believe how massive these animals are. The first one's we saw were quite fast; we managed to keep up with it for a while. The second spot we went to had Hornbuckle turtles and apparently these are lazy turtles (suits us to the ground) and we could swim right next to them. I managed to keep up with one for quite a while; it was about the same length as me and looks like a mini-dinosaur. When it came up for air I managed to touch its head and shell. It was possibly one of the most amazing experiences I've had on the trip so far! I kept getting over-excited though and going too deep under the water, swallowed so much sea water I was nearly sick - classy as always!!! All three of us managed to burn our backs which were annoying as we've been so careful so far, fingers crossed no peeling. The most annoying American woman I've ever had the displeasure to come across was on our trip and kept screeching about how burnt our backs were and how we were going to get skin cancer. I just replied 'no pain no gain' and that shut her up. She was one of 'those people' who are allergic to everything (first thing she says is that no one was allowed to bring nuts near her as she cant apparently even smell them...so tempted to chuck a nut at her...), wears factor 50 sun cream and a lifejacket in the sea, accused people of stealing her sunglasses when she couldn't find them, made the Captain stop the boat so she could get out and "go pee" and then had to give everyone a running commentary on it. Lovely. All this and she was about 50 years old! My niece doesn't share so much about her toilet activity and she's three! I was cringing the whole time.Last night we decided that enough was enough, we'd detoxed for about 3 days and surely deserved a night of drunken fun?! Plus chilling and detoxing doesn't suit us, me and Claire-Lou were starting to climb the walls...more so after speaking to Miss Thompson and hearing about Sonar and her birthday activities, cant let you lot back in old England have all the fun. So the night begins at the beach bar which only sells bottles of alcohol. Cue about 5 bottles of vodka later and we've gathered a little beach crew and having a drunken fun time. Until the police turn up. As Malaysia is a Muslim country it's really strict on drinking etc and turns out none of the beach bars have licenses so they confiscated all their alcohol and speakers etc. We saw the police and thought ahead, being the girls we are, and legged it to the next bar to buy more vodka before they got to it...then I declared the beach party not to be over and me and Anne-Marie went to get the Ipod speakers and starting blasting out some beats to keep the party going. We ended up with quite a big gang of us and had a brill time, I think we finally stumbled home after the ipod had died and the vodka had gone and Claire-Lou's eyes starting to do their half shut thing about 4.30...

By far the best part of the night and perhaps one of the highlights of the trip for me was spotting a shooting star (or maybe a comet?) in the sky whilst we were drinking on the beach...it was jaw-droppingly unbelievable, like a scene from a film like Stardust or something, it just flew through the sky lighting it all up. Before you say it, it WAS NOT a firework, the locals say they get them all the time. It was, for lack of a better word, AMAZING. Made more so by the fact it was a full moon as well - can it get much better? Sat on a beach in paradise seeing a shooting star? We all made a wish after we'd gotten over the 'wow' factor - hope it comes true....

This then brings me right up to date to today, feeling very very rough and hungover. Turns out although you're in paradise, hangovers are still the same!!! Time for a detox again me thinks...watch this space!!!