Selamat tengah hari!

Greetings from Malaysia! This is first blog written on our new notebook laptop bought just hours ago on the mean streets of Kuala Lumpur but before all that...

We last left you in Singapore. Our last two days there we spent exploring the smaller hoods, Chinatown, Little India and Arabia Street, each having their own persona and most noticeably their own smell! We also visited the famous Raffles hotel although at the prices we didn't indulge in a Singapore sling. We then visited yet another huge mall right down on the sea front looking over to Sentosa Island where all the theme parks are was pretty cool. In the evening we ate some good food at hawker centres which are a bit scary but cheap and tasty and now we hustle for seats like the best of the locals and if we do get any trouble we're much taller than them so it doesn't last long!

Our 5th day in Singapore we got the bus to Melaka in Malaysia, couple of hours journey on a flashy luxury bus. Going through the border barriers there was posters everywhere - "Drug traffickers will be Hanged" we threw our paracetamol away! Arriving in Melaka we got a taxi and naturally he got lost and spoke no English but eventually we got to our guest house and that's when the fun began. The owner of the guest house was Howard, who having read reviews we knew all about, he is a social whirl wind. He immediately introduced us to everybody and signed us up for the bbq on the roof that night. We went out, partly to explore and partly to avoid more introductions, Melakas Jonker Street and surroundings are UNESCO world heritage sight and rightly so its very pretty and quaint despite the stinking river, open drains and stray dogs. Chinatown has the feel and look of an ancient village and has some really cool bars and cafes. We had lunch at Hoh Kee Chicken place which was good and cheap, 3 quid for chicken rice balls which is what it sounds like. Headed back to our digs for the bbq, reluctantly we crept up to the roof where obviously there was a Burmese python being passed about.... that was Eddies two worst fears - socializing and snakes!!! After an awkward half hour Howard made us sit with 3 Canadians, and we became the social hub for the night. After much lychee vodka and beer runs to the shop we all were singing along to one guy playing guitar. it must have sounded terrible but was much fun.

Next day.....hangovers and heat do not mix...day in bed!

Third day we explored Melaka and really liked it, found a great little cafe where we ate a couple of times, had a beer over looking the river and tried out the local specialities like cendol which is a coconut drink, laksa which is a curry broth and wife cakes. That night we thought we had managed to dodge the hostel activity but as we're sat at a bar, "Sam, Emma, it is good?" classic Howard, he and the gang had spotted us on their bike ride and invited us to the roof for some drinks.... oh by the way he thinks Fay is Emma!? Anyhow we met the Canadians on the roof for drinks and got to bed around 3am.

Up early where we joined the Canadians for our bus ride to KL (they're following us) or (we're following them!). Getting to KL we headed for our digs, which looked at first to be in a rough part of the city, and caught up on some sleep before heading to a street full of street vendors for dinner. Having dinner there wasn't exactly relaxing with the hassle of come to my shop, the noise of fire crackers going over head and the blistering heat but somehow with the atmosphere its very enjoyable.

Today, we headed for KL's Chinatown and Petaling street, where you can get everything you can think of fashion wise at knock off prices, obviously we indulged ourselves. Eddie got pair of Vans trainers = 6 quid, Barce shirt = 8 quid and a Real Madrid Shirt = 4 quid. Fay got a Cath Kidston bag for 13 quid, after some amazing bartering. From there we headed to Merdaka Square where there are some lovely looking buildings and the Sultan of Malaysias House. We were in search of an internet cafe when we stumbled into a mall specializing in electronics, so naturally we bought a laptop.....oops!

We are just waiting out the storm and then out for dinner.

Much love............ Selamat tinggal!