How do you write about hours lazing about on a beach and make it sound interesting? To readers trudging through the last vestiges of the year's working weeks no less. I don't know. So instead I'll just give you some tidbits about the last few weeks and hope it's adequate.

Can you tell my blog writing has gone terribly downhill? I maintain that this has coincided with a mutual decision between Sjane and I to change what we've been doing. One look at the bank account and it's plain to see the adventure is coming to a close. We need a bit of R&R before resuming our place in the world of working weeks. Somewhere between leaving Singapore and arriving on the soft, sandy beaches of Pulau (Island) Langkawi, we decided to trade cultural experiences for sunset cocktails on the beach. Take off the hiking boots and slip on the thongs. Stop travelling and start holidaying.

We had a night in Kuala Lumpur where we ate the best Indian meal either of us had ever had. We spent a couple of days hiking the National Park in Penang. After assuring Sjane that they weren't carnivores, I had an altercation with a resident monkey who seemed intent on biting my face off. We had dinner and coffee bought for us by a very patriotic and generous Malaysian politician; the secretary to the Prime Minister or some such. Sjane gave me a haircut. I read a book about a blind girl in World War Two that was heartwarming and harrowimg in equal measure. We slept in a tube (a concept hotel called Tubotel, very witty). We have fended off beach boys, and drank duty free ciders. We have slurped bubble teas, searched high and low for beef rendang, and wondered why a street vendor was selling empanadas. Mostly though, we have lazed on the beach, dipping in and out of the lukewarm teal waters of the Malacca Strait, and wondered if those stormclouds would loose their heavy rains. Mostly, they don't.

Not a very organised or entertaining read, I'm sure. Sorry about that. Perhaps I can come up with something a little more lively for the next installment. Or perhaps it'll just be more bumming around on the beach.